13 weeks complete and only a single playoff berth is secure
After 104 regular season games, only the River Rats have qualified for the 2021 playoff season. Not only have they qualified, but they will be enjoying a week 15 bye before they host a semifinal game in the Sewer, where they haven't lost since week four. In fact they haven't lost anywhere since week four and are looking to enter the playoffs on a 10 game winning streak with a win over the 'Canes this weekend.
In other Eastern Conference action, there are two "win and you're in" games at the top of the slate. The Bombers host the Edge in the battle for .500. The winner will hoist the Manadnock trophy and even their record at 7-7. They will enter the wild card game as a big underdog against the winner of the Bad Co., Staggerer matchup at the Badlands. The loser of both will go home. This is a tale of two teams moving in opposite directions. The Bombers were playing for next year before they toughed out a couple of gritty wins over the last two weeks. But the real story in this division is the five game skid by the Edge. When Kyler Murray went down, a sea change swept over the them as they watched their once powerful grip on the division slip away. Murray is back ... is it too late for the Edge?
The Staggs are looking to sweep Bad Company on their way to the Eastern Conference wild card spot. Bad Company was an early season powerhouse before an injury to Russell Wilson set them back. Like the Edge, they are hoping to right the ship just at the nick of time. The first meeting was in week five when Bad Company was rolling along at 4-0. Wilson was healthy, but Dalvin Cook was not. The Staggerers put a beatdown on them then and they're looking for a repeat now. This is the presumptive "game of the week" as the toughest division in the CVFL figures out who the second playoff representative will be.
Four teams are battling for three spots in the West. In a strange twist of fate, none are playing each other. All four can get in or be bounced. The bottom of the Conference will have as much impact on the playoff race as any ever has!
The Titans and the Bovine enter the final week tied atop the Hogback Division at 8-5. A late season surge by the Titans has blocked the once easy playoff path of the Bovine. The Titans finished the regular season on a 6-1 run while the scuffling Bovine played .500 ball down the stretch, including a tough divisional loss to the Titans two weeks ago. The Bovine can capture the Division Title with a win over the archrival Greenbacks. It will be the 200,000th meeting between the two clubs! The more likely playoff path for the Bovine would be a Titan loss against the solid, upstart Chudsters.
They Greylock division looks mighty familiar with the two heavyweights tied for the lead. Lately it seems as though the Fruit Loops and the Gasmasters are perennial favorites to win the divison, win the conference title and capture a Championship. This year is no different. Locked in a tie at 9-4, the Loops own the tiebreaker based on the result of a week 11 matchup. Win and they're the top seed in the West. Lose and they are in elimination danger. They lose all tiebreaker scenarios for the wild card.
The Bovine can't get the wild card spot because they win the division with a win, and have a sub par record if they lose. But the Titans can and they win tiebreakers against both the Loops and the Gasmasters.
To summarize the Western Conference. The Bovine, Fruit Loops and Gasmasters are in if they win. The Bovine still get in with a Titans loss. The Loops get the bye with a win or a Gasmaster loss and a Bovine loss and a Titan loss. The Titans are the only team that needs to win to stay alive. If they win, a loss by any of the other four puts them in ... I think. The Gasmasters need a win or a Bovine, Loops or Titan loss. They can grab the bye with a win and a Loop loss. I believe there is a way for all four teams to earn the bye as well as be eliminated. What? Disclaimer: it's pretty hard to know every combination with four games impacting the final standings. Use this info at your own risk!
God help us if there's a tie (especially in the Bomber - Edge game, which would mean a sub .500 team in the playoffs) ... I didn't really bring that up did I?