by Gerald Udowiczenko

Well another regular season is over and the lottery of the end of season cull happened to us all. We didn't do too badly, as we only lost 3 players (all of which I hope to replace in the draft) for 6 points to retirement. Had 8 step losses (of which one was on BQ) and had 11 points of reductions. So all in all not too bad. The only problem being we got little in the way of LPs. 39 to be precise.

Looking on the bright side, well you've got to don't you? (. I've still got most of the squad in one piece. So I'm not complaining too loudly and most importantly I've still got most of my No.1 ranked offensive in one piece. Ok, so we did lose an Offensive Lineman, but I should be able to replace him and in general (touch wood) we should be able to improve on this seasons stats? Which even if I do say so myself (and I am) were quite impressive (Bets Offensive anyone? :o)

Brady didn't do too badly for a 2 year old QB. If only we have scored 2 more TDs or the Browns hadn't, Brady would have finished the season with the most TDs in the league. But 42 isn't that bad (only 1 behind the Browns) and hopefully can be improved on next season?

We also finished with 6,414 in combined yards (4,759 passing & 1,655 rushing). Only 18 yards behind the record set by the Rams in the 2001 season and only 17 yards of getting in the top 5 passing yards for a season. We only failed one week (13 - very unlucky for me) against the Browns not to score a TD and had 11 games were we rushed for over 100 yards. So hopefully we can set new records next season, with the team a little older and wiser?

Also nice to see the no team in the AFC East had a losing record, as both the Jets & Fish finished 8-8. What a tough division, especially as we had 3 out of the top 5 offensives and 3 out of the top 8 defensives. And in total only 8 teams (out of 24) had losing records.No kicker was perfect, the Steelers came closest only missing 1 XPT and perfect on all their FG attempts.

Only the Steelers, Saints, Buccs, Skins & Cards failed to get a safety. While the Eagles had 6.And the Cards were the only prefect team. Sad to say they were prefect in not wining a single game, extending their losing streak to 45.

Well that's enough stats, let get on. Thanks to Graham & Brucey for their invaluable contributions this week.

WILD CARDS

TT (10-6, W1) @ NE (11-5, W3) Last time : wk 4, 2005 (24 - 20)
Gerald : No comment.
Graham : NE by 7
SPLATT : New England by 5.

MV (9-7, W1) @ PE (9-7, W1) Last time : wk 11, 2005 (10 - 23)
Gerald : Tough one to call, but the Eagles do seem to do well when required and I think they'll do so here. Eagles by 10.
Graham : PE by 1
SPLATT : Philadelphia by 4.

SILVER BOWL

WR (9-7, L2) @ PS (9-7, L3)
Gerald : With no one at home (are you there Scoobs?) the current Champions (for 4 more weeks) should stroll it. Skins by 21.

SR (8-8, W4) @ NJ (8-8, L1)
Gerald : The Rams look good for a impressive run in the Con Bowl, as they seem to have found some form. Rams by 10.

DL (8-8, L2) @ MD (8-8, L1)
Gerald : Fish by 2.

SF (8-8, L1) @ OR (7-9, W4)
Gerald : The Raiders look like another good bet for the Con Bowl. Raiders by 9.

KC (2-14, L8) @ AF (6-10, L3)
Gerald : These two team love playing each other and haven't done so for a while. But homefield should be the difference. But only just. Falcons by 2.

TB (2-14, L1) @ CI (2-14, L1)
Gerald : Bengals by 3.

by Graham Canwell (Week 16)

	Offence	Cleveland	Not just a lot of yards but no turnovers and heaps of points, so almost perfect really. The Bengals would have had a shot if it hadn't been for those four fumbles and the Pats were again very good.
	Defence	New England	For the second week running and this time even better, shutting out the Jets on the road and forcing seven turnovers in the process. Frankly no-one else came close.
	Coach	Udowiczenko (NE)	Did everything that could have been asked to give his team a shot, even if the Bills rendered it meaningless by failing to foul up. I suspect no-one will be looking forward to meeting the Pats in the playoffs after this display.
	Offence	St Louis	OK, they still turn the ball over too often for comfort but when they get this many yards they can get away with that. Even managed to look like a ball-control offence (over 36 minutes of possession) which is rather out-of-character. The Falcons deserve a mention for guts against a very powerful Saints outfit.
	Defence	Philadelphia	A usually reliable unit, who produced the goods big time to shut out the World Champions in a do-or-die game. I've had to give a lot of defensive Rammys to Philly over the years so to be honest I'm running out of things to say...
	Coach	Philadelphia	It was THE crucial game in the NFC by some way and it was won comprehensively by Jon's Eagles so he gets this award by a considerable margin.
	The Diddley	Tennessee	Even allowing for the fact that Cincy have a new coach, this was a rather lifeless effort by the playoff bound Titans and they can consider themselves a trifle fortunate to have escaped with a win.

Graham to Jon : Well done! Good luck in the playoffs.

Graham to Paul S : Bad luck on missing out, especially now you've got the hang of postseason games...

Graham to Gerald : See you next season!!!!!!

Paul Spence to Apple : Congrats on winning the division. Was it really that easy?

Paul Spence to Jon : Congrats on getting the wildcard. I'm a bit peeved about getting shut-out. I created a really different gameplan but posted it on Monday night and it didn't get there on time. Only my self to blame though.

Paul Spence to Apple & Jon : Go NFC East. Hopefully you guys can kick some ass for us in the playoffs. Good Luck and hopefully I'll give you a better run for your money next season.

Paul Spence to Brucey : Mate, what happened to you. You beat me week one and went on a run and then finished 8-8. Did you feel sorry for me and thought you'd try to meet me in the Con Bowl. It'll probably have to be an extra Pre-Season game instead at this rate. Row E rules by the way.

Paul Spence to Gerald : Remember I won the Superbowl from the Wildcard game last season so it's your turn this season.

	The Cowboys
	by Apple
Very pleased with my teams performances of late, a great run of form has taken me to the top of the East & crowned champions. I thought I could do well in this division but anticipated it would take a season to get settled with my team & training, which were in such a state at the beginning of this season. Initially I thought the draft was OK but having seen some of the other AB squads it seems I have been dealt with a little harshly in comparison, all my retirements came on the D with 3 vets going (7pts) added to that 6 step losses across the O + D & only 70 Lp's to play with plus 13 Reduced players. I think I'm going to be about the same as last season squad wise, when I was hoping for a slight improvement.

Little time as I've got to get this in the post NOW!!