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Last Playoff Appearance:San Antonio 2009 Oakland 2007 Playoff Records:San Antonio 4-6 (0-1 World Bowl) Oakland 5-5 (1-0 World Bowl)
Head to Head: This is the first playoff game between these teams. San Antonio beat Oakland 40-6 Week 2 of this season.
Injuries:San Antonio 7 probable Oakland 6 probable, 1 questionable
Prediction:San Antonio 30 Oakland 16
San Antonio dominated Oakland in Week 2 and has had a better season in wins and stats. An upset by Oakland can certainly happen but I'm not picking it. ____________________________________________________________________________
Honolulu is having their best season in awhile and the Hawaiians are 3-3 vs playoff teams this season while Michigan is 2-4. The team stats are similar offense vs defense but Honolulu is 2nd in the league in turnover margin. Michigan QB Willie Reddish has an 18/21 TD/INT ratio and the opportunistic Hawaiians defense should get a turnover or two to swing the momentum their way. __________________________________________________________________________________
Anything can happen when 2 Southwest teams get together but if you go by recent history, Houston swept Oklahoma, had a better statistical season and had a better record against playoff teams, going 4-2 to Oklahoma's 2-5. Now that I think about it though, take out the Houston sweep and it's 2-2 vs 2-3, not much difference. Oklahoma is 3-4 their last 7 games while Houston is 6-1.
Jacksonville comes into this game hot, winners of 5 straight and 9 of 10. Four of their last 5 wins have come against playoff teams while the other was against Orlando, who had made the playoffs 11 years in a row before that streak was snapped this year. Jacksonville finished 5-2 against playoff teams while Birmingham was 1-4. The Stallions are certainly capable of winning but I can't pick against the hot Bulls. _______________________________________________________________________________
Pittsburgh Maulers (10-6) @ Philadelphia Bell (13-3)
I was all set to pick Philadelphia until I got to the injury list. Philadelphia has a head to head win over Pittsburgh and a better record against playoff teams. Leading Jason Wharton is doubtful to play as is a good chunk of their defensive line. That's bad news against the #1 running offense of Pittsburgh. _____________________________________________________________________________
New Jersey Generals (9-7) @ Washington Federals (13-3)
Last Playoff Appearance:New Jersey 2009 Washington 2004 Playoff Records:New Jersey 42-27 (4-6 World Bowl) Washington 19-19 (0-5 World Bowl)
Head to Head: Washington is 5-1 against New Jersey in the post season. Washington beat New Jersey 19-13 Week 13 of this season.
Injuries:New Jersey 2 probable, 1 questionable, 1 doubtful Washington 8 probable, 1 questionable
Prediction:Washington 24 New Jersey 13
New Jersey has the worst QB in the playoffs, lost to Washington already and is 1-5 against playoff teams with worse team stats than Washington. The Federals were 3-3 against playoff teams and should be able to beat the Generals again.
Last Playoff Appearance:Honolulu 2009 San Jose 2009 Playoff Records:Honolulu 2-14 San Jose 11-19 (1-0 World Bowl)
Head to Head: San Jose is 1-0 against Honolulu in the post season. These division rivals split this year with Honolulu winning 44-21 Week 8 and San Jose winning 12-3 Week 16.
Injuries:Honolulu 3 questionable, 1 doubtful San Jose 5 probable
Prediction:San Jose 22 Honolulu 14
I'm leaning San Jose in the rubber match between these teams. I figure with the SaberCats having the week off, they had time to come up with a good game plan. It's a shame someone has to lose because both teams have had excellent seasons. Honolulu should at least come in with confidence, having beat San Jose once and holding them to 12 points in the loss. The Hawaiians definitely have a chance at the upset but I think the SaberCats offense will do enough to get the job done. _____________________________________________________________________________
San Antonio Gunslingers (14-3) @ Houston Gamblers (14-3)
Last Playoff Appearance:San Antonio 2009 Houston 2008 Playoff Records:San Antonio 5-6 (0-1 World Bowl) Houston 47-18 (9-1 World Bowl)
Head to Head: This is the first post season game between these division rivals. San Antonio beat Houston 25-6 Week 5 and Houston beat San Antonio 30-20 Week 8.
Injuries:San Antonio 2 probable Houston 6 probable, 2 questionable
Prediction:Houston 20 San Antonio 19
I don't have a good read on this game and I'm picking Houston based on playoff pedigree. The 9 time champion Gamblers missed the playoffs in 2009, and now that they're back I'm sure they're highly motivated to keep going. Of course San Antonio wants to advance just as bad and they have a talented team that is more than capable of winning. I see this as a coin flip game going down to the wire.
New Orleans looks dominant some games and pedestrian in others but one thing that's been constant these last 3 seasons is they find ways to win. Pittsburgh has a team capable of winning this game, and they might actually do it but I can't pick against the 15-1 back to back champs. ___________________________________________________________________________
Jacksonville Bulls (12-5) @ Washington Federals (14-3)
Last Playoff Appearance:Jacksonville 2009 Washington 2004 Playoff Records:Jacksonville 11-15 Washington 20-19 (0-5 World Bowl)
Head to Head: Washington is 2-0 against Jacksonville in the post season. Jacksonville beat Washington 17-13 Week 4 of 2008.
Injuries:Jacksonville 4 probable, 2 questionable Washington 4 probable
Prediction:Washington 34 Jacksonville 31
Jacksonville has been one of the hottest teams down the stretch and they've now beat 4 playoff teams in a row going back to Week 14. Washington has been flying under the radar this season and both teams have shown they can put up points while both defenses can also give up some points. Eventually I think the Bulls will get worn down by this string of high quality teams they've faced and today just might be that day.
It's Conference Championship Day today, best of luck to Smirt211, Cjfred68, thanos4real, and dadub3. San Jose is seeking their 2nd World Bowl trophy, Houston their 10th, Pittsburgh their 3rd, and Washington their first.
American Conference Championship
Houston Gamblers (15-3) @ San Jose SaberCats (15-2)
Playoff Records:Houston 48-18 (9-1 World Bowl) San Jose 12-19 (1-0 World Bowl)
Head to Head: Houston is 4-3 against San Jose in the post season. Houston beat San Jose 34-6 Week 8 of 2008
Injuries:Houston 7 probable, 1 questionable San Jose 2 probable, 2 questionable
Prediction:San Jose 25 Houston 22
It's not easy to pick against Houston in the post season but I get the feeling San Jose wins tonight. Obviously Houston has a great chance to win but I just feel that San Jose's defense will make one more play than Houston or perhaps the offense will be the one to make that extra play. Perhaps it's the way Smirt has been altering his game plans week to week. Not that he didn't do that previously but from the outside looking in, it seems he's more honed in this time around.
National Conference Championship
Pittsburgh Maulers (12-6) @ Washington Federals (15-3)
Playoff Records:Pittsburgh 26-17 (2-2 World Bowl) Washington 21-19 (0-5 World Bowl)
Head to Head: Pittsburgh is 1-0 against Washington in the post season. Pittsburgh and Washington split their two regular season games. Pittsburgh won 25-24 Week 3 while Washington won 24-10 Week 7.
I'm basing this pick on their regular season games. Washington got out to a big lead in the first half of the first game, only to lose when they allowed Pittsburgh to keep the ball for 90% of the second half. They seemed to learn their lesson the second time around when they beat the Maulers by 2 TDs. I don't expect Pittsburgh to go down without a fight, if they even go down at all but Washington has had the best of Pittsburgh this season despite the split.
The owner of the Houston Gamblers responded to the social media post predicting a San Jose victory in the Conference Championship game with the following image with the caption
The owner of the Houston Gamblers responded to the social media post predicting a San Jose victory in the Conference Championship game with the following image with the caption
"No Comment"
The USFL social media team is aware of the Gamblers past achievements, and while it's quite impressive, we are unsure how those 9 rings help Houston beat San Jose tonight.
In fact, rumor has it that the ring pic was made into posters which are now plastered all over the San Jose locker room as motivation.
