2036 playoffs

We are three quarters thru the season so let's take our 1st look at who is in, who is out and who has a chance at making the playoffs.

AXC

1. Buffalo Skull Crushers (11-1)
2. Cincinnati Defenders (10-2)

3. Dakota Blizzard (10-2)
4. Vancouver Vandals (9-3)
5. Kansas City Chaos (9-3)
6. New York Empire (8-4)

7. Houston Roughnecks (8-4)
8. Texas Hold'em (7-5)
9. Oakland Outlaws (7-5)
10. Michigan Wolverines (7-5)
11. New England Crusaders (6-6)

10 teams within 1 game of the playoffs

11 teams within 2 games of the playoffs

NXC

1. Carolina Cobras (10-2)
2. Saint Paul Punishers (9-3)

3. Vegas Black Aces (9-3)
4. Brooklyn Hitmen (8-4)
5. Philadelphia Slayers (7-5)
6. Tampa Bay Fireballs (7-5)

7. Zehlendorf Zecken (6-5-1)
8. Montana Grizzlies (5-6-1)
9. Providence Islanders (5-7)
10. Seattle Barbarians (5-7)
11. Atlanta Dominators (4-8)

8 teams within 11/2 games of the playoffs

10 teams within 2 games of the playoffs

11 teams within 3 games of the playoffs

WEEK 13


AXC

1. Buffalo Skull Crushers (12-1)
2. Cincinnati Defenders (11-2)

3. Dakota Blizzard (11-2)
4. Kansas City Chaos (10-3)
5. Vancouver Vandals (9-4)
6. Houston Roughnecks (9-4)

7. Oakland Outlaws (8-5)
8. New York Empire (8-5)
9. Texas Hold'em (7-6)
10. Michigan Wolverines (7-6)


10 teams within 1 game of the playoffs


NXC

1. Carolina Cobras (11-2)
2. Saint Paul Punishers (10-3)

3. Vegas Black Aces (10-3)
4. Brooklyn Hitmen (9-4)
5. Tampa Bay Fireballs (8-5)
6. Philadelphia Slayers (7-6)


7. Zehlendorf Zecken (6-6-1)
8. Montana Grizzlies (6-6-1)
9. Providence Islanders (5-8)
10. Atlanta Dominators (5-8)
11. Seattle Barbarians (5-8)


8 teams within 1/2 games of the playoffs

11 teams within 2 games of the playoffs

WEEK 14


AXC

1.  Buffalo Skull Crushers (13-1) y
2.  Dakota Blizzard (12-2) y

3.  Cincinnati Defenders (11-3) x
4.  Kansas City Chaos (11-3)
5.  Vancouver Vandals (10-4)
6.  Houston Roughnecks (10-4)

7.  Oakland Outlaws (9-5)
8.  New York Empire (9-5)
9.  Michigan Wolverines (8-6)

Buffalo just needs a win to lock up the #1 seed. Dakota has won their division and Cincinnati has punched their ticket for the playoffs. The West is a 3 horse race and Michigan is on life support!


NXC

1.  Carolina Cobras (12-2) z*
2.  Saint Paul Punishers (10-4) y

3.  Vegas Black Aces (10-4) y
4.  Brooklyn Hitmen (10-4) y
5.  Tampa Bay Fireballs (8-6)
6.  Zehlendorf Zecken (7-6-1)

7.  Montana Grizzlies (7-6-1)
8.  Philadelphia Slayers (7-7)
9.  Providence Islanders (6-8)
10.  Seattle Barbarians (6-8)


All 4 division winners have been decided and Carolina has wrapped up the top seed thanks to wins over Saint Paul, Vegas and Brooklyn so they can lose their last 2 games and still be the top seed! Tampa is in the driver's seat for one of the 2 Wildcard spots and would be their 1st playoff in 15 seasons and just their 2nd overall! 6 teams are battling for the 2 Wildcard spots with 2 teams having ties to add more drama!

Playoffs? You kidding me? We're just trying to win a dang game here.

hehe

Once we get over this cap hit weaver is gonna cost us and getting someone to replace him, we should be good. With two more wins already than last year, I feel we're moving in the right direction. Of course we are far from challenging the top dogs( and you know who you are) in this league but seven or eight wins look better than five. Playoffs in two or three years isn't unreasonable for this fairly young team. Had a decent draft so.........

WEEK 15


AXC

1.  Buffalo Skull Crushers (13-2) y
2.  Cincinnati Defenders (12-3) y

3.  Dakota Blizzard (12-3) y
4.  Kansas City Chaos (12-3)
5.  Vancouver Vandals (11-4)
6.  Houston Roughnecks (11-4)

7.  New York Empire (10-5)

Buffalo just needs a win over the Titans (6-9) to lock up the #1 seed. If they lose, KC, Dakota and Cincinnati can win and all 4 finish 13-3. Buffalo beat Cincinnati and Dakota and common games goes to Buffalo so according to me Buffalo should be the #1 seed win or lose but I've been wrong before. I could see if Cincinnati wins and either KC or Dakota wins while Buffalo loses...Cincinnati wins the 3 or 4 way tiebreaker due to a 10-2 conference record despite Buffalo beating Cincinnati.

Cincinnati should win the #2 seed if they and Buffalo win due to Conference record. Dakota can get the #2 seed if they win and Cincinnati loses. KC needs a win and have Dakota and Cincinnati lose to get the #2 seed.

KC needs a win or Vancouver lose to secure the division while Vancouver needs a win and KC lose to win the division. Both are in the playoffs either way since Vancouver beat Houston.

Houston plays New York with the winner securing the last Wildcard spot.


NXC

1.  Carolina Cobras (13-2) z*
2.  Saint Paul Punishers (11-4) y

3.  Vegas Black Aces (11-4) y
4.  Brooklyn Hitmen (11-4) y
5.  Zehlendorf Zecken (8-6-1)
6.  Montana Grizzlies (8-6-1)

7.  Philadelphia Slayers (8-7)
8.  Tampa Bay Fireballs (8-7)

Carolina has locked up the top seed.

Saint Paul needs to beat Brooklyn to lock up the #2 seed. If Brooklyn wins, they need Vegas to lose to secure the #2 seed and Vegas needs a win and Saint Paul lose to secure the #2 seed.

Zehlendorf and Montana both just need to win and they are in...Zehlendorf plays Arizona (0-14-1) while Montana plays Gem City (5-10).

Philadelphia needs a win and either Zehlendorf or Montana to lose to secure a Wildcard spot.

Tampa Bay looked in great shape in week 13 but 2 straight loses including a lose to Philly in week 15 has them needing a win and a ton of help. They need Philadelphia and either Zehlendorf or Montana to lose. Philly plays Atlanta (5-10)

XFL 2036 PLAYOFFS

WILDCARD WEEKEND

AXC

BYES
1.  Buffalo Skull Crushers
2.  Cincinnati Defenders

6.  Houston Roughnecks
@
3.  Dakota Blizzard (-5)

5.  Vancouver Vandals
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4.  Kansas City Chaos (-1)

Buffalo
The defending Champs have made the playoffs 17 straight seasons under Smirt211 and have made the Title game 3 of the last 4 seasons winning it all twice. They have 6 total Title game appearances including 3 Championships

Cincinnati
The first playoff appearance since 2033 and only their 2nd appearance in the last 12 seasons. The 3rd year under new owner Blondie1977 and the team is heading up.

Dakota
A record 19 straight playoff appearances all under original owner Cjfred68. They always have a chance with 7 Title game appearances including 3 Championships.

Kansas City
They are making their 2nd playoff appearance in the last 3 seasons under owner CaseyL. He has turned this francise around since this is only their 5 playoff appearance in francise history.

Vancouver
They are making their 3rd straight playoff appearance in 5 seasons under owner Villagerchris. The francise only has 5 playoff appearances total in 19 seasons. Another new owner improving a francise.

Houston
The team is making thier 4th playoff appearance in the last 5 seasons under owner PrivateSnowflake's 7 years of ownership. This is PrivateSnowflake's 2nd time as a team owner when he was an original owner of Oakland for 6 seasons, leading them to 2 Championships. Can he make history and win Titles with 2 teams?

NXC

BYES
1.  Carolina Cobras
2.  Saint Paul Punishers

6.  Zehlendorf Zecken
@
3.  Vegas Black Aces (-5)

5.  Montana Grizzlies
@
4.  Brooklyn Hitmen (-5)

Carolina
This is Carolina's 9th straight playoff appearance under owner Slowtospeak's 12 seasons of ownership. He won a League Championship is he only Title game appearance.

Saint Paul
They are making their 7th straight playoff appearance under owner Wolveraider who has owned the team for 14 seasons. They are the defending NXC Conference Champion and have been knocking on the door for a league Title for years.

Vegas
Claymore had owned the team for 15 seasons and they are making thier 4th straight playoff appearance. In total, they have made the playoffs 10 times in 15 seasons under Claymore but haven't gotten past the Conference Championship game.

Brooklyn
This is the 6th season of ownership for Waitwut and he has made the playoffs all 6 seasons including a Conference championship in 2033.

Montana
17 seasons of ownership for Trslick and this is their 2nd straight playoff appearance and only 2 playoff appearances in francise history. They never finished over .500 until last season but finally they are cashing in on years of top picks.

Zehlendorf
This once proud francise has been in flux with owner Ctiger77 taking ownership during the season. They managed to make the playoffs in his 1st season taking ownership. The francise had made the playoffs 5 of the last 6 seasons including 4 Conference Championships and 2 League Championships

TOTAL
The AXC has 13 former Conference Championship and 6 XFL Championship winners in the playoffs.

The NXC has 7 former Conference Championship and 3 XFL Championship winners in the playoffs

WILDCARD WEEKEND

AXC

Vancouver Vandals 21
@
Kansas City Chaos 24 (OT)

The division rivals played the rubber match with both teams winning at home. Kansas City won at home during the regular season 22-20 in week 1 where they held league MVP WR Joe Narvaez to just 63 yards receiving but Vancouver would blowout KC at home in week 7, 48-19 where WR Joe Narvaez went off with 10 receptions for 340 yards and 5 TD receptions. So the question would be can KC limit WR Joe Narvaez in thus game? The answer was yes and no, WR Joe Narvaez was shutout in the 1st quarter but exploded in the 2nd quarter for 2 TD receptions for 144 yards. The 1st half ended with Vancouver in the lead 21-14. In the 2nd half Joe Narvaez caught just 2 ***** for 50 yards and Kansas City managed a 8 play, 80 yard game tying touchdown drive midway through the 4th quarter. Vancouver got the ball on their own 46 yard line with 3:11 left in the game and went on a 7 play drive down to the KC 13 yard line where it was 1st and 10 with 0:55 seconds remaining. In a much debated play call, Vancouver threw the ball instead of running the ball to bleed the clock since they were clearly in fieldgoal range and the pass was picked off by RDE John Bermudez. The decision to not only throw the ball but to not throw to the MVP WR Joe Narvaez was all the media wanted to talk about after the game.

With the game tied, it went into overtime where Vancouver won the coin toss and got the ball first. They drove towards midfield but a costly false start penalty pushed them back to 2nd and 13 where the drive stalled with a 4th and 4 from their 47 yard line. Kansas City went on a 11 play, 66 yard drive aided by another costly penalty by Vancouver where Michael Molter was called for a 15 face mask penalty which was tacked on to Allpro TE Tommy Navas 19 yard reception which put the ball on the Vancouver 19 yard line. A few plays later, K Mark Moore kicked the game winning 32 yard fieldgoal.

Houston Roughnecks 20
@
Dakota Blizzard 37

This is a rematch from week 9 where Houston beat the Blizzard 17-10 at home. Houston held QB Jason Matson to one of his worse days passing during the season during week 9 where he went 22/37 for 270 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs with a QBR of 72.32. The rematch was in Dakota and QB Jason Matson had a very profient game where he went 25/35 for 240 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs with a QBR of 137.76.

Houston hung with Dakota in the 1st quarter where the score was 14-10 after one quarter but the Blizzard would start to pull away in the 2nd quarter where they took a 28-10 lead into halftime. Houston's Allpro RB Edward Johnson couldn't be stopped as he ran the ball 17 times for 163 yards and 1 TD but trailing in the 2nd half, he only ran for 17 yards and on his last carry of the game he fumbled with 2:15 left in the 3rd quarter.

After the fumble, with the score being 37-10, Houston abandoned the run and passed the ball 25 times and ran only 3 more times and all with RB James Vines. Houston actually outgained Dakota (357/303) and had more 1st downs (14/13) but turnovers (4) and sacks (4) killed drives and led to 17 points off those turnovers when Dakota was given short fields 3 times coupled with Dakota going 5 for 5 in the redzone.

NXC

Montana Grizzlies 9
@
Brooklyn Hitmen 17

These two teams haven't met since week 1 of the 2035 season where Brooklyn beat Montana easily at home 42-20. Montana made the playoffs on the back of their defense but Brooklyn took the opening kickoff and went 7 plays, 75 yards for a touchdown. Montana would answer with a nice 5 play, 52 yard drive on their 1st possession but K Dennis Neese missed a 40 yard fieldgoal attempt.

Brooklyn would take their 2nd possession 7 plays, 43 yards and hit a 46 yard fieldgoal to extend their lead to 10-0. Montana struggled to move the ball on offense and Brooklyn tacked on another touchdown with 5:36 remaining in the 1st half. Montana again was forced to punt before their defense finally woke up when FS Richard Mizrahi intercepted QB Bobby Moreira to give Montana a short field. Montana got the ball on the Brooklyn 24 and moved it down to the 7 before QB Gilbert Spriggs was sacked by CB Albert Chee and they had to settle for a fieldgoal to make the score 17-3 at halftime.

In the 2nd half, Montana's defense began to take over the game allowing Brooklyn just 46 total yards and getting 3 more interceptions. Despite getting short fields 3 times and outgaining Brooklyn in the 2nd half 159-46 total yards, Montana got 2 fieldgoals on 3 redzone visits. Montana did close the score to 17-9 with 10:36 left in the game and with 7:43 left in the game, Montana had the ball, 1st and 10 from thier 19 yard line. They would put together their best drive of the game, going 12 plays and consuming 6:32 off the clock. The drive moved the ball down to the 11 yard line where it was 1st and 10 but 4 straight passes resulted in no yardage and Montana turned the ball over on downs which essentially ended the game. Montana would use all 3 timeouts and get the ball back at thier 38 with 0:54 seconds remaining but despite getting to the Brooklyn 43, a holding call pushed them back where on 4th and 18 from their own 47 yard line, they hit a pass to RB Justin Lewis who broke a tackle but couldn't break enough as he gained 20 yards and the clock expired.

Zehlendorf Zecken 3
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Vegas Black Aces 39

These teams played in week 10 at Vegas where the home team won 13-10 in a close game. This game was also in Vegas and with 12:45 left in the 2nd quarter the game was tied 3-3 with Zehlendorf having missed a fieldgoal earlier in the 1st quarter...thats as close as this game would get!!! From that point forward, Vegas would score 36 unanswered points, outgaining Zehlendorf 392 to 37 total yards, getting 2 interceptions and 2 sacks. Vegas RB William Pearson ran for 109 yards while QB James Henry threw for 309 yards and 3 TDs. TE Robert Perada led all receivers with 7 receptions for 105 yards and a TD. Vegas K Michael Smart went a perfect 6/6 on fieldgoals including kicks of 55, 55 and 56 yards in this lopsided affair.

DIVISIONAL ROUND

AXC

Kansas City Chaos
@
Buffalo Skull Crushers (-12)

These teams last met in the 2034 Divisional Round where Buffalo won 40-7 at home.

Dakota Blizzard (-1)
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Cincinnati Defenders

These teams last met in week 2 of the 2034 season where Dakota won 35-10 at home. They met in the 2020 Divisional Round where Dakota won 16-13 in overtime on the road. They also met in the 2019 Wildcard Weekend where Dakota won 17-3 at home.p

NXC

Brooklyn Hitmen
@
Carolina Cobras (-7)

These teams last met in week 6 where Carolina won 27-6 at home. They met in the 2031 Divisional Round where Carolina won 16-13 on the road.

Vegas Black Aces
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Saint Paul Punishers (-8)

These teams last met in week 2 where Saint Paul won 30-12 at home. They met in the 2035 Conference Championship game where Saint Paul won 44-30 on the road.

XFL DIVISIONAL ROUND

AXC

Kansas City Chaos 3
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Buffalo Skull Crushers 39

This game started slow with Buffalo taking an 8-0 lead into the 2nd quarter before they started to pull away. They tacked on 2 fieldgoals and another touchdown in the 2nd quarter taking a 20-3 lead into halftime. Buffalo kept running the Shotgun Normal HB Flare over and over, running it 7 straight plays on one drive in the 2nd quarter and 19 times overall. In fact, it's the only play they ran out of the shotgun all game but KC never had a serious answer for the play.

The 2nd half, KC was completely outclassed totaling just 33 yards of total offense while Buffalo tacked on 19 more unanswered points to win going away. Buffalo RB Martin Adams led all rushers with 83 yards on 10 rushes and 1 rushing TD. Buffalo QB Ricardo Dodds had a big day throwing for 410 yards and 3 TDs. WR Jeff Weir led all receivers with 129 yards receiving and 1 TD reception.

Dakota Blizzard 34
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Cincinnati Defenders 17

Dakota came out with guns blazing as QB Jason Matson hit WR Derek Looney for 69 and 35 yard TD strikes on thier first 2 possessions before Cincinnati managed a 1st down. Both teams hit one and missed one fieldgoal in the 1st half before Matson hit Looney for a 3rd TD pass, this one going for 51 yards giving Dakota a 24-3 lead before Cincinnati finally hit paydirt to trail 24-10 at halftime. The 1st half featured Cincinnati passing the ball 28 times to only 7 runs after falling behind so quickly which wasn't typical for the team with the 6th best rushing offense who averaged over 30 rushes per game.

The 2nd half saw the scoring slow down as both teams combined to throw 5 interceptions. Dakota did manage to add 10 points, 7 of which was set up by a short field off an interception to lead 34-10 before Cincinnati added a touchdown to make the final 34-17. Dakota RB Carlton Smith led all rushers with 157 yards on 23 carries and a TD plus he added 7 receptions for 78 yards receiving. QB Jason Matson threw for 339 yards passing, 3 TDs plus 2 INTs. WR Derek Looney set the tone for the game making 5 receptions for 174 yards including 3 1st half TD receptions. Cincinnati SS Carlos Morrison had 16 tackles which is tied for 3rd in playoff history behind only SLB Louie Cannon 19 (OAK) 2023, WLB Lonnie Pearson 18 (BRO) 2027 and tied with WLB Donald Kindig 16 (VAN) 2025.

NXC

Brooklyn Hitmen 16
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Carolina Cobras 9

The closest game of the weekend was all about 2 defenses playing solid in the redzone and limiting scoring. Carolina had the edge in total yards (329-273), offensive snaps (73-58), 1st downs (19-9) and time of possession (34-26) but their drives stalled just outside the redzone. They managed just one trip inside Brooklyn's 20 and were held to a fieldgoal. Brooklyn managed only 2 trips inside Carolina's 20 and settled for 2 fieldgoals. The game basically hinged on a 1st quarter interception by Carolina's QB John Jones which set Brooklyn up on Carolina's 28 yard line and Brooklyn's QB hit WR Jerry Jeudy one play later on a 28 yard TD strike. The score was 10-9 Brooklyn going into halftime.

The 2nd half was ruled by both defenses as each team had only 2 significant drives. Carolina had drives of 60 and 50 yards which resulted in an interception and a turnover on downs while Brooklyn had drives of 45 and 54 yards which both resulted in fieldgoals making the score 16-9. Carolinas last best chance came with 2:24 remaining in the game from their own 7 yard line. They hit a big 41 yard pass to make it 1st and 10 from their own 48 yard line but on 4th and 8 from the 50, QB John Jones hit TE James Aubrey who was dragged down by WLB George Weisinger 1 yard short of the first down marker with 1:42 left in the game. Carolina's RB Noah Fant led all rushers with 63 yards plus he added 3 receptions for 49 yards. Brooklyn's QB Bobby Moreira did just enough throwing for 250 yards and 1 TD without an INT. Brooklyn's WR Jerry Jeudy led all receivers with 4 receptions, 120 yards receiving including the game winning TD reception.

Vegas Black Aces 3
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Saint Paul Punishers 41

55,000 fans jammed into The Castle to watch Saint Paul punish Vegas. The Punishers looked like a team on a mission to win its 1st Title, they took the opening kickoff and went on a 10 play, 65 yard touchdown drive. Vegas managed to cross midfield just once in the 1st half reaching just the 45 yard line of Saint Paul and went into halftime down 24-0.

The 2nd half saw Vegas take the opening kickoff and go 10 plays, 50 yards and settle for a fieldgoal to break the shutout but Saint Paul answered with a TD drive to make the score 31-3 and then the wheels really fell off for Vegas. They threw 4 interceptions on thier next 5 possessions and Saint Paul cruised to an easy win. Saint Paul RB Bradley Pickett led all rushers with 102 yards. Saint Paul QB Kenneth Powers threw for 361 yards including 5 TD passes which moves him into 3rd Alltime with 31 TD passes in the postseason. WR John Marrero led the Punishers in receiving with 8 receptions for 163 yards and 2 TD receptions.

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

AXC

Dakota Blizzard
@
Buffalo Skull Crushers (-5)

This is the 3rd straight Conference Championship game between these 2 teams and 8th meeting Alltime. Buffalo has won the last 2 games but Dakota is up 4-3 Alltime.

NXC

Brooklyn Hitmen
@
Saint Paul Punishers (-10)

This is Brooklyn's 4th appearance in the Conference Championship game where they are 1-2 Alltime. Brooklyns last made the game in 2033 where they beat  Zehlendorf 28-6 on the road.
This is Saint Paul's 6th Conference Championship game where they are 1-4 Alltime. This is their 2nd straight appearance where they won last season 44-30 on the road.