Each week it is looking more and more likely that we will have a rematch of last year's conference championships. With the Philadelphia Spinners beating the Washington D.C. Current, Philadelphia and the Boston Whitecaps are now are locked in the east. This leaves one spot left and the Seattle Rainmakers have all but taken it with their most recent victory over the Vancouver Nighthawks. What we do have though is two incredible battles shaping up to get the top seed in each conference, perhaps with the largest game of the season coming this weekend.
#1 Boston Whitecaps: 5-1
Last Week: #1 Change: +0
The Current loss has put the Whitecaps into the playoffs for the fourth straight season. They remain the only team that will have made the playoffs every single year of the MLU's existence. Making the playoffs though is not at the top of the list for Boston, they want another championship. Philadelphia will make that difficult, this week Boston is on a two game road doubleheader and the Whitecaps need to get through unscathed.
#2 Portland Stags: 6-1
Last Week: #2 Change: +0
Things were smooth sailing for the Portland Stags since the start of the season. Don't look now but the Rainmakers have now started to creep back into their radar after winning five straight. The Stags can easily coast the rest of the season but if they slip at all Seattle will be right there and primed to battle for home-field advantage the final week of the season. Right now there are no injury issues and the team still looked great after a loss in Boston. They will face each Western Conference team one more time this season starting with the Nighthawks this week.
#3 Philadelphia Spinners: 6-1
Last Week: #3 Change: +0
At home, the Spinners took care of a depleted D.C. roster to clinch their second postseason spot in team history. They have depth and talent very similar to the Stags out west. Against the Current, they took care of business in the second and third quarter's doubling up D.C. 14 -7. This included a 6-1 scoring run in the second that allowed the team to cruise the rest of the way. In fact, Philadelphia has led at halftime every single game in 2016, pushing out to large leads in most of them. However, in the fourth they allowed the Current to go on a small run, a quarter that the Spinners struggled with against the Whitecaps three weeks ago.
#4 Seattle Rainmakers: 5-2
Last Week: #4 Change: +0
The Rainmakers were missing six players coming into their game this weekend and only used 18 on the field. The team somehow was still able to topple the Nighthawks for the fourth time this season. Take away the first ten minutes and the Rainmakers are on top 17-7. A total of 11 breaks by the Seattle defense brought the team back from a surprising 3-0 hole (that were all breaks by Vancouver). Using to the rain to their advantage, they prevented Vancouver from scoring with a 28.5 offensive percent scoring efficiency. This primarily due to the fact that Seattle had a defensive turnover efficiency of 85 percent. One more win and this team is in the playoffs.
#5 Washington D.C. Current: 2-5
Last Week: #5 Change: +0
It would have been tough for the Current to make things interesting in the east, but injuries hurt this squad heavily against the Spinners. Coming in already missing their superstar and East MVP candidate, Lloyd Blake, they lost two more O-line players Joe Freund and Zach Norrbom in the first half. From there it was difficult to keep the primary offense out on the field, splitting reps with the defensive unit. The team is now officially eliminated from the playoffs and will head into another bye (weird scheduling for the team this season) and figure out who will be their new go-to guy on offense.
#6 New York Rumble: 2-5
Last Week: #6 Change: +0
Three games remaining on the year and all of them against the Whitecaps. Win them all and you have the best record of your team's history, win two and you have the best record in three years. This is a team that is constantly rebuilding but has always been able to take away some victories at the end of the year to some of the top contenders.
#7 Vancouver Nighthawks: 1-7
Last Week: #7 Change: +0
Early on it appeared the Nighthawks were going to have the chance to win a second game in a row. Three breaks in a row, at home, in dreadful weather conditions, had the making for another upset. After those breaks though it went all out of the window, offense couldn't score and the defense only scored one more time for the remainder of the game. The team was only able to get six blocks in the game leading to Seattle controlling the pace on offense. So went their chance of getting their second win of the year as they now head to Portland and San Francisco for their final two games of the year. Congratulations though to Taylor Nadon completing 26 out of 26 throws in 20+ mph and rainy game.
#8 San Francisco Dogfish: 1-5
Last Week: #8 Change: +0
The Nighthawks sure had the Dogfish fans fooled in the opening minutes of the game on Saturday. The win by Seattle now has the San Francisco Dogfish facing a huge uphill battle with the season winding down. They can make it interesting by playing the Rainmakers twice, but traveling back to Portland will be too much for the team to overcome.
Final Thouoghts
Every year the host team of the Eastern Conference Championship has gone on to win. Which means we are going to have a dog fight on our hands this weekend. The Whitecaps at the Spinners with the winner controlling the east and is in the driver's seat to get the #1 seed. Boston will also face the Rumble on Sunday (trap game) for the second part of the doubleheader for the squad. Every team in the west will be in action as a healthier Seattle team makes a long road trip to play the Dogfish and the Nighthawks play in Portland. The Current meanwhile are on their third bye week of the season preparing for their second doubleheader.