We have reached the conclusion of the 2024 IFL Season. It's hard to believe it's been nearly 4 months since opening week and this has been such a fantastic season. Amidst a lot of turmoil and chaos in the Arena football world, the IFL continued to be the model of consistency and showcased some really great talent and some phenomenal games -- Week 18 included!
What was not so phenomenal in Week 19, however, were the picks.
Week 18 Review
Green Bay Blizzard vs Jacksonville Sharks - Over 89 - Loser
Combined for 87 points -- GB kneeled on the ball at the 1 yard line
Sioux Falls Storm vs Iowa Barnstormers - Sioux Falls +1.5 - Loser
Iowa wins & covers, 65-54
Quad City Steamwheelers vs Tulsa Oilers - Tulsa +4.5 - Winner
Quad City wins 39-35, Tulsa covers
San Antonio Gunslingers vs Tucson Sugar Skulls - San Antonio -7.5 - Loser
San Antonio wins 49-43, Tucson covers
Vegas Knight Hawks vs Northern Arizona Wranglers - Over 101.5 - Loser
Combined for 100, NAZ couldn't score from the red zone twice with 15 seconds left
Bay Area Panthers vs Duke City Gladiators - Under 85.5 - Winner
Combined for 78 points
Ugh. A 2-4 week this late in the season is NOT what we needed when we're trying to finish above .500. We've got the last week of the IFL regular season on deck and the last time we'll see 8 of these teams play in 2024.
Pour one out for our fallen IFL homies:
Sioux Falls, Iowa, Jacksonville, Tulsa, Tucson, Duke City, San Antonio and either Arizona or Northern Arizona (depending on how this weekend turns out).
But no pressure, no diamonds. Our back is against the wall, we need winners.
2024 IFL Record: 54-56-1
LET'S FIND SOME DAMN WINNERS!
Massachusetts Pirates vs Tulsa Oilers (Friday 7/19 @ 7:05 PM CT)
The Play: Under 84.5
""- Liam Neeson"" - Calvin Bundage
Was this game played on Friday? Yes it was. But HERE is my proof of posting before the game started. If you look up integrity in the dictionary, it says "see Off The Wall's Week 19 Betting Picks blog".
This is either going to backfire tremendously or I am going to look cool as hell, but I like the Under here because both defenses have been playing really well and while the Pirates have put 50+ a couple times over the past month -- 2 of those came against the Gunslingers, so take it with a massive grain of salt.
Mix in a revenge game for Tulsa LB Calvin Bundage against his old team, a great rushing threat in Massachusetts RB Jimmie Robinson and we've got a recipe for a very physical ground and pound game.
Prediction: 40-35 Massachusetts
Quad City Steamwheelers vs Jacksonville Sharks (Saturday 7/20 @ 6:05 PM CT)
The Play: Jacksonville +4
Honestly, same.
This Kaleb Barker led Sharks team is a feisty bunch! They scored on nearly every possession last week vs Green Bay and were very close to pulling off the upset. If you were to extrapolate this late season Sharks team over the full 2024 season, they might be the ones in the playoffs at this point
(idk if I used extrapolate correctly or not but let's just assume I did)
Quad City doesn't have anything to play for in this one, so I wouldn't be surprised to see them fall behind early and just coast to get out of this one as healthy as possible.
I think Jacksonville wins outright in this one and ends their season on a positive note.
Prediction: 48-41 Jacksonville
Arizona Rattlers vs San Antonio Gunslingers (Saturday 7/20 @ 6:05 PM CT)
The Play: Over 104.5
We've got ourselves an old school DONNYBROOK!
This is a massive point total, but walk with me here:
Arizona wins this game, they are in the playoffs. They have a dynamic QB in Dalton Sneed and are going up against a bad-bad defense who is giving up 54.9 PPG on AVERAGE
San Antonio's offense is a spectacle, and they are close to achieving something unique. QB Sam Castronova is sitting at 72 Passing TDs & 22 Rushing TDs on the year - a combined 94 TDs. With the Gunslingers out of the playoffs, we're about to see a stat padding game unlike any we've ever seen in this league.
Points. Points. POINTS. Let's go out with our sword in our right and the shield in our left.
Prediction: 61-54 Arizona
Green Bay Blizzard vs Sioux Falls Storm (Saturday 7/20 @ 7:05 PM CT)
The Play: Green Bay -10.5
Embrace the Blizz.
This is my "Don't overthink this" play of the week (which didn't work out for me last time but WHATEVER). Green Bay needs a win to lock in the number one seed in the Eastern conference and they outclass Sioux Falls across the board here.
Sioux Falls got rolled by Iowa in the first half last week and was able to fight back to make the final score look respectable. I do not think they will be able to claw back the same way against this Green Bay defense.
I'm fearful of a backdoor cover here but I'd expect Green Bay to come out and take care of business in this one.
Prediction: 49-36 Green Bay
Iowa Barnstormers vs Frisco Fighters (Saturday 7/20 @ 7:05 PM CT)
The Play: Over 94.5
Frisco 50-burger loading
Frisco. That's the reason. Frisco Overs are 11-4 & Iowa Overs are 9-6 on the year (thanks to our friends at Sports Coast to Coast for that pull). Iowa has been giving up a TON of points in recent weeks and Frisco is a damn WAGON on offense lately.
Frisco needs a win here to have a shot at home field all through the playoffs, and they are going to be all over the Barnstormers here.
Also, it's Texas Wrestling night in Frisco for the final home game of the year. My FOMO is through the roof. Take the over.
Prediction: 59-43 Frisco
Bay Area Panthers vs San Diego Strike Force (Saturday 7/20 @ 8:05 PM CT)
The Play: Under 88.5
What this..uh...mechanic is saying?
THE MF CALI CLASH IS BACK BABY! For the 4th time this year, we get the best rivalry in the IFL. The first 3 times these teams played each other this season:
Bay Area 53-50 San Diego
Bay Area 33-32 San Diego
Bay Area 42-43 San Diego
3 games being decided by 5 total points is hilarious. What a great matchup.
Bay Area Unders have been so good this year, and feel like we get another 43-42 type of game in this one. Both of these defenses have been playing really great football and find ways to create turnovers, which I think we'll see for both sides. This Under is probably gonna be a sweat, but that's showbiz baby.
Prediction: 41-39 San Diego
Tucson Sugar Skulls vs Vegas Knight Hawks (Saturday 7/20 @ 8:05 PM CT)
The Play: Vegas -13.5
$5 on 24 & $5 on Green
Vegas has a potential home playoff game on the line, if they win this game and San Diego loses to Bay Area -- they could leapfrog them to the 2 seed. Vegas has been cooking the past couple of weeks and are facing a Tucson team that lucked into scoring 43 against that bad Gunslingers defense last week.
Tucson has started 8 different QBs this season and wouldn't surprised to see them start a 9th at this point. Vegas is just a much better team with some additional reinforcements they've signed in recent weeks for their playoff push.
Plus, one of Tucson's 2 wins on the season came against Vegas to end their undefeated start to the season. I'm sure Vegas will have that in their mind too.
Prediction: 56-39 Vegas
Northern Arizona Wranglers vs Duke City Gladiators (Saturday 7/21 @ 4:05 PM CT)
The Play: Under 94.5
whimpering Gladiator noises
The timing of this game is SUPER interesting, depending on what happens on Saturday. This game could mean absolute nothing for either team or EVERYTHING for NAZ.
If Arizona loses to San Antonio, Northern Arizona will clinch a playoff spot with a win against the Gladiators. But if Arizona wins, this game has no implications whatsoever.
But that being said, NAZ has been super impressive on offense with QB Joshua Jones playing really great ball all year. He should make the All-IFL Rookie team and will look to end on a positive note here, regardless of the implications of the game. But I don't have any worry about NAZ doing their part -- it's Duke City we have to focus on here.
Throughout this entire season, Gladiator totals have exceeded 94.5 points just 4 times (vs Tucson, vs San Antonio, at Arizona, vs Frisco). With how they've been playing on offense and how they've been splitting time between their QBs, it's hard for me to see them scoring the 42-45 needed to achieve the over here.
Maybe next year we'll be able to trust Duke City's offense. Maybe.
Prediction: 46-40 Northern Arizona
コメント