I don't know if I'll do the blog for week 9, most of the games weren't close, so I'll just write some notes as I look at each game.
* Birmingham just keeps rolling, 8-1 now. The Stallions weren't caught looking ahead to next week's trip to Washington.
* Speaking of Washington, they put up 53 against Charlotte to improve to 8-1. I'm looking forward to the battle of 8-1 teams this week.
* Two of our close games ended 16-13 in OT, Chicago over Michigan and Arizona over San Antonio.
* Denver lost their second in a row 27-10 against defending champ Houston. Coupled with Oakland and Arizona wins, the West Division is now a 3 team race. Denver hosts Southeast Division leaders Tampa Bay this week.
* That Houston win helps them stay 1 game ahead of 8-1 Memphis who steamrolled Shreveport 48-23.
* I don't know what greyghost did to make the schedule makers mad, but his Force are in the middle of a brutal stretch of games. They have lost 3 in a row to 8-1 Birmingham, 8-1 Washington and 9-0 Baltimore. Their next 2 games are at defending champs Houston(9-0) and the rematch with 8-1 Birmingham. That's followed by a 2 game respite before hosting 8-1 Memphis.
* Baltimore comes back to New Jersey Week 10 looking for revenge. The Stars were hoping for a trip to World Bowl XI but were denied. I've got a feeling New Jersey will be seeing Stars after this game, but I've been wrong before.
If the rest of the season holds form, 5 of the 6 playoff spots are decided in the National Conference but we'll have a mad scramble for the #6 seed. Currently the (NY) Stars are #6 at 5-4 but we have 3 teams at 4-5, three more at 3-6 so the last 7 weeks should be fun.
Tampa Bay and Birmingham have 4 game leads with 2 to play so they should win their divisions. Baltimore and Washington will both make the playoffs and one has to be a wildcard, despite probably being at least 13-3 and possibly 15-1. New Jersey has a 2 game lead and if the Generals fail to win their 8th straight division title, they should be a wildcard.
In the American Conference LA has a 3 game division lead, Chicago 3.5. Houston and Memphis will likely be the #1 and #5 seeds, order TBD. The West is currently a 3 team race and one might not make the playoffs. The divisional games down the stretch will go a long way to sorting out that quagmire.
The rest of the conference is no better than 4-5 and someone will need to win 6 or 7 down the stretch to become a factor.
