[12.23.05]
Written by: President Puck

Puck Bowl VII: Preview

Puck Bowl VII [12.23.05] Pontiac, MI -- Puck's World Fantasy Football League prepares to draw another record crowd to the Pontiac Silverdome for this year's winter classic, Puck Bowl VII. The 2005's verson of the Puck Bowl matches up for the first time in Puck Bowl history the Kalamazoo Vikings and the Rocko Bengals. Kalamazoo vs. Rocko is a notable matchup because it pits the only two teams to make the playoffs in four consectutive years.

Kalamazoo was able to sneak into their seventh consectutive appearence in the playoffs after a horrible 0-4 start. Starting out the playoffs against the #1 seeded Rhode Island Ridicule seemed to make Kalamazoo's goal of a third straight Puck Bowl appearance a long shot. However, Kalamazoo was able to overcome Ridicule Tiki Barber's outstanding game by posting solid outings from A. Boldin, E. James, and S. Alexander to win 82-76. The loss of most of Rhode Island's runningback depth proved to be their undoing in such a close contest when they were left with two active runningbacks on their roster.

Rocko, making their second appearance in the winter classic, rode a different path. Never posting a losing record all year, Rocko was one of the top teams for most of the season. Rookie quarterback Carson Palmer led the way while long time starting quarterback Donovan McNabb battled injuries all year before falling on IR halfway through the season. Rocko took their 3rd seed and just dominated their semi-final matchup in the playoffs last week against Seattle. The final outcome, 147-103 in Rocko's favor, was over before Todd Heap's 26 point outing even happened Monday night.

Rocko vs. Kalamazoo is also a well storied rivalry going all the way back to the leagues inception. The thirteen games played between the two all-time could be second most games between two teams (Kalamazoo vs. Seattle). While Kalamazoo leads the series by a large margine (10-3), Rocko has been making most of their damage in the last 3 years including the only other playoff game featuring these two teams (Rocko over Kalamazoo 85-78 in 2002).

The record between these two teams hasn't deterred Willa, of Rocko, from boasting some mighty smack in the direction of the Kalamazoo Vikings. "You're going down!" is a very common phrase heard between the two owners when they are within any proximity of each other. Willa is quite confident her aerial attack will overwelm the Vikings who rely very heavily on their ground game to win ball games for them.

Lets look at the matchups as both owners have pretty much finalized their starting lineups for the Puck Bowl. Outside of minor tweeks, which arn't likely due to both team's injured bench this is what we are likely to see:

Quarterback - Rocko will be bringing to the field the best field general in the league this season, Carson Palmer. There is little doubt that Palmer will put up some big points. On the other side of the field, the Vikings will be countering with 3rd string quarterback Brad Johnson (Culpepper and Bulger were put on IR earlier in the season). This will certainly be a mismatch and no contest, advantage Bengals.

Wide Reciever - T. Holt and Chad Johnson have been one of the best reciever tandums in the league for years. That will certainly be the case again in this game. Kalamazoo's wide outs have been disappointing to say the least. Boldin has been riding a recent hot streak, but Moss and A. Johnson have been slow and had almost benched for new addition D. Stallworth during the stretch run. If Moss and Johnson light it up as is possible, Kalamazoo might be able to keep up with the Bengals. However, I see Moss's injuries and the hot play of Glenn spelling another advantage Rocko

Runningback - The Bengals have never had a strong running game. Dillon, back from an injury plagued season showed up huge last week, along with Cooley, however they are not consistant producers of points. Rookie Ronnie Brown came up injured halfway through the Seattle game and is a game time decision with his leg injury. This is Kalamazoo's strength. E. James and Alexander have been dominating the league for years and this year was no exception. Along with Taylor, this three headed monster is always dangerous. However, new recently surfaced of Kalamazoo's runningback's coach Tony Dungy's son was recently found dead which could have an adverse effect on the backs' play this weekend. When all said is done, this is still way more of a Rocko weakness and Kalamazoo's strength. Advantage Kalamazoo

Special Teams - Heap vs. Gonzalez, Wilkins vs. Stover, Jaguars vs. Vikings; those are the matchups we see. This is a very close one that could go either way. Gonzo gets the nod over Heap, because Gonzalez has a history of coming up big in the Puck Bowl. Wilkins vs. Stover is a push. Both should put up a decent amount of points. Vikings and Jaguars are also a tough one to call because both have been playing really good this season and puting up the points where it counts. Overall, a slight edge to Kalamazoo

In conclusion, this should be a pretty good matchup for a Puck Bowl that has been lacking a close game in a number of years. Vegas odds makers have Rocko up Kalamazoo by 3 points. The Yahoo line has Rocko winning 96-85. However, this president will have to go against the grain and select Kalamazoo by 5 over Rocko to capture their 3rd straight Bribin Cup and to be the first fourth seed to win it all. Gotta go with the champs, until someone knocks them off.