Playoff Preview

[Paul-London]

Birmingham at Montreal

The Fire on paper dont look great, 15th ranked offense, 13th ranked defense but QB Joe Hamilton has played well, they have had injuries at HB but seem to make the right plays when needed.  Montreal are probably the most quiet 12-2 team ever, they dont have any fanfare and just play well as a team with no huge standout.  They dont have a 1000 yard rusher but manage to grind out the yards, as always QB Wuerrfel had a great year.  With homefield advantage they should win.

Montreal by 7

Frankfurt at London

Classic old EFC matchup, Frankfurt have played well lately, London were on a 6 game winning streak until losing to Scotland last week.  London have a great offense, by passing instead of rushing like previous seasons.  Should be a close encounter but London at home have the advantage, also seem to have more weapons. 

London by 3

Raleigh-Durham at Ohio

John Navarre who has been out over a month returns at QB, will he be rusty or will he return to the form which made him the top QB in the league by passer rating ?  HB Jarrett Payton is playing much better for the Glory.  For Raleigh they snapped a late game losing streak, their 10-3-1 record is best in their history and Mark Munro has done a great job.  Raleigh used to be a laughing stock, specially their defense but this year the defense finished ranked as the best, their offense 6th.  Ohio's defense has allowed a lot of yards this year, could be close, we go for the upset.

Raleigh by 3

Scotland at Berlin

Berlins offense is the best in the league but will be without Avon Cobourne.  Berlin are similar to a Thunder squad from years ago, Pat Barnes was benched, then came back a year later to win his job and take his team to the final.  Could it happen here ?  After a great rookie year Jeff Rowe was benched but won his job back this year and has been superb.  Scotland won in Week 14 to grab the last wildcard spot, they have a good team but losing star WR Ruvell Martin and his 94 catches to injury really could hurt them this week.

Berlin by 7