A week of divisional battles as Utah takes on Los Alamos in their house, and Phoenix welcomes Denver.
Phoenix are 1-point favorites in-game, and Utah are 2-point favorites. Could be some close matchups...Los Alamos is missing its star rookie rusher in "Cucumber", but the Patriots probably thought the Packers would roll over and die with Matt Flynn in place of Aaron Rodgers, too. Both teams are dealing with a rash of other more minor injuries, too - Los Alamos on the offensive line, and Utah in their secondary, where two of the top three corners continue to sit out.
3rd-year man Richie Ingram's injury is particularly tough, but it looks like coaches are expecting him to return from the broken fibula for the playoffs, and therefore have not put him on injury reserve.
A Utah win gives them a commanding lead in the division. However, Los Alamos has been the surprise of the early going of this year, especially with their knocking off of Denver. If the Monsters win, they are right in the mix for the division title.
Denver and Phoenix are both recent division winners that have fallen on hard times this year. A Denver win would plummet Phoenix to bottom-feeder status, so I am expecting Strick to pull this out and keep the evenly-matched, consistently mediocre theme of the AC West going. Can't we get some write-ups about more powerful divisions with better teams?
Fun fact: LA 5th-year receiver Jason Durham and 5th-year linebacker Tommie Nowakowski are both in their second year with the Monsters, and both 2015 Utah Bees draft picks, at 4.32 and 5.17, respectively. It was my second draft in the OSFL. The top run-defending DEs on each team - Timothy Fletcher (LA) and Tito Terrell (Utah) - were both first round selections from that same draft; Fletcher at 25 and Terrell at 17.
Phoenix are 1-point favorites in-game, and Utah are 2-point favorites. Could be some close matchups...Los Alamos is missing its star rookie rusher in "Cucumber", but the Patriots probably thought the Packers would roll over and die with Matt Flynn in place of Aaron Rodgers, too. Both teams are dealing with a rash of other more minor injuries, too - Los Alamos on the offensive line, and Utah in their secondary, where two of the top three corners continue to sit out.
3rd-year man Richie Ingram's injury is particularly tough, but it looks like coaches are expecting him to return from the broken fibula for the playoffs, and therefore have not put him on injury reserve.
A Utah win gives them a commanding lead in the division. However, Los Alamos has been the surprise of the early going of this year, especially with their knocking off of Denver. If the Monsters win, they are right in the mix for the division title.
Denver and Phoenix are both recent division winners that have fallen on hard times this year. A Denver win would plummet Phoenix to bottom-feeder status, so I am expecting Strick to pull this out and keep the evenly-matched, consistently mediocre theme of the AC West going. Can't we get some write-ups about more powerful divisions with better teams?

Fun fact: LA 5th-year receiver Jason Durham and 5th-year linebacker Tommie Nowakowski are both in their second year with the Monsters, and both 2015 Utah Bees draft picks, at 4.32 and 5.17, respectively. It was my second draft in the OSFL. The top run-defending DEs on each team - Timothy Fletcher (LA) and Tito Terrell (Utah) - were both first round selections from that same draft; Fletcher at 25 and Terrell at 17.
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