Welcome to the playoffs! Who will move on for the conferences championships?! Here Marty with the quick results:

We are now in Tallahassee. Home of the reigning champs the North Florida Renegades. They managed to stay on top of their division and are now playing in this divisional round against the Austin Blues. The young sensation QB rookie Ica Laanemaa, after getting the team back around in mid season, had the huge task of leading the charge against a Renegades team led by Caryn Becker, determined to get a second title. As soon as the Blues would start the game with their first possession, it was clear for the Austin’s offense that North Florida was not joking around. Ica, who was usually in control, was hurried constantly by the pass rush of the Renegades, it would lead in the first quarter of Ica’s interception, by Sam Samsonite, as North Florida was already leading 7-0. Moments later, Renegades would score a second time with a short rush by Jesse Oahu, making the score 14-0. The Blues would try to bounce quickly but Ica was sacked at the end of the second quarter. The second quarter was not getting better, as Caryn Becker would show herself in control, as they would once more get another scoring a TD from Blumenthal, making it 21-0. Other than Flint Kurosawa, who was having a strong game on the receiving side for Austin, not much else would be going well with the Blues’s offense. At halftime, it was 21-0 for North Florida, can the Blues make the right changes and get some rhythm going?

The second half at North Florida would get going, and try as they might, it was more of the same. While the INT hurt Ica’s performance, he fought valiantly to the end. After a rather quiet third quarter the action would turn up in the fourth, as then Carny Becker showed nothing will mess with her quest for a Back2Back. In the redzone, Carny Becker would break out and run the ball for 23 yards and scored a touchdown herself to cap off an amazing game (25/30, 243 yards, 2 TDs, 35 rush yards, 1 rush TD). As now the score was 28-0, it seemed clear the game was out of reach for Austin, the team regardless continued to play for Pride, this would eventually lead to Ica’s first ever playoff TD (a Wyatt Curran 12 yard pass TD) making the score 28-7. It would then pretty much be the end for the Blues. The quarter ended, and North Florida would triumph in front of their fans in a ruckus Red Hills Coliseum. Austin may have lost, but they certainly have a bright future ahead of them in that Anaconda by the name of Ica Laanemaa. North Florida won this one 28-7 and moved on to the Continental Conference Championship game.

Nashville at New York

Things definitely didn’t get off to an auspicious start for the Tuts today, as fullback Robert Ball had to be helped off the field with a foot injury on the very first play of the game. Though they would bounce back to get a first down on third and 7, the drive would stall out and Nashville would be forced to punt. That would actually become a reoccurring theme for the Tuts throughout the first quarter. They faced third and seven or longer on four separate occasions in their first three drives. The Defiant seemed to have a much easier time, scoring a touchdown on a pass to Justice Matari on a drive that went 57 yards in seven plays without ever seeing a third down. Nashville finally put together a good drive going into the second quarter, converting a fourth and inches with a marvelous 24 yard Bubba Deezen breakaway run that took them down to the Defiant 24 yard line. Unfortunately, on the very next play Marcus Hopper intercepted Ramon Oliviera’s pass intended for Dexter Mullen, and two plays later Justice Matari took a pass 55 yards for his second touchdown of the game. They’d add a third score on a William Hobbs goal line plunge. The Tuts wouldn’t cross midfield again until the final play of the half, when they tried to catch New York offguard with a flea flicker with only 14 second remaining. It actually worked, and Charmaine Baldrick looked to have an open run for a touchdown, but Exxord Carthabell managed to run her down for the TD-saving tackle. At the half, the score is NYD 21, NSH 0

So, good news and bad news for the Tuts in the third quarter. The bad news is that New York dominated the time of possession, with Nashville only running ten total plays all quarter. The good news is that the Tuts defense finally got its act together and held the Defiant scoreless, while Nashville finally got on the board with a 51 yard field goal. The defensive success would continue into the beginning of the fourth quarter, with New York having 1st and goal from the 9 yard line and being forced to settle for a field goal. Unfortunately, Marcus Hopper would pick off Oliviera again, setting up an easy touchdown pass to Desmond Widmore. Down by four scores with only three minutes left to play, the Tuts actually turned in their best offensive performance of the game, flipping the field with a 49 yard catch and run by Baldrick and scoring their first touchdown of the game on a pass to Mullen. They’d line up for an onside kick, and Mullen would actually recover it for the Tuts! Two quick passes to Mullen would get Nashville into the red zone…and Oliviera tosses his third interception of the game to seal the win for the Defiant. Final score: NYD 31, NSH 10

In Aspen, the second divisional playoff game about the Crushers and the Ponies was about to begin. Aspen (aha get it?) Redfield and Jillian St-Claire were set to face off against one another as they were looking to get their crack at a shot at the Furbowl title. Colorado would get possession first and strike first as Redfield threw a short pass to De la Rosa for a 7-0 lead. After a great kickoff return from wide receiver Hailey Reisman, Baltimore would strike back just as quickly with a TD pass to Reisman to tie things up at 7-7. Then the games would start to get a little chippier, as multiple penalties would be called, leading for Colorado to finally get another TD from Jeordi Khalil to make 14-7 Colorado. In the second quarter, Baltimore would make their way to Colorado’s side only to have their FG attempt by Tyler Kim miss for 37 yards. Baltimore would get the ball back quickly but to no avail. Next possession Colorado would take advantage of a couple of penalties to squeeze another set of points with a FG kick from Borregales. 17-7 Colorado. In the next few sets, Jillian St-claire threw a pass for Tardif and was tackled by Sandy Bonilla. Tardif would fumble the ball, which Bonilla recovered and get stopped after 5 yards. But what was worst about this play, is that Jillian St.Claire was on the floor after being tackled following her pass. She was clenching her chest and seemed in a lot of pain. So much so that the medical staff quickly would come on the field and the cart would be asked over. Both teams watched on as she was carried away from the field, as now the Offense of Baltimore was in the hands of Edward Eaton. Colorado would kick another FG in the first half to make the game 20-7, as we would reach the same score at the end in Halftime. Can the Ponies get back up from that big blow of potentially losing St.Claire?

As the second half would start, the report would show the worst: an abdominal tear of a muscle would rule St.Claire out from the game and possibly for the whole playoffs. Baltimore gets the ball and Eaton went to work, after a sack, he would keep going as thanks to some penalties from the Crushers they made their way in and Kennedy Rodriguez would rush for a touchdown to make the score 20-14 for Colorado. Colorado gets nothing, as on the next possession, the Ponies managed to get a FG from Tyler Kim, making the score now 20-17. Is Baltimore going to do it? Colorado tries to chew clock somehow with a couple of rushes but can’t go further in the Baltimore zone as the Ponies once again get the ball as the fourth quarter would commence. Both teams exchanged possession as Baltimore would get the ball and start an assault. In the Red zone, the Ponies would try to capitalize as on 3 and 14, they seemed to run out of luck…but hold on! Facemask penalty on Colorado, Ponies maintains possesion! Soon enough, Eaton would get connected with Reisman for a crucial TD to make the score 24-20 for the Ponies! They are in the lead! Colorado, sensing the momentum shifting, needed to do something! But on the next set of downs….FUMBLE! A receiver gets tackled and Baltimore would jump on the ball! That might be it! The defense held once more time as the Crushers were down to their last attempt deep in their own zone! 4th and 5 on their 7, Aspen would connect with Gary Bear…for 3 yards. Turnover of downs! Ball kneeled. Ponies win! Baltimore wins 24-20 and moves on to the Continental Conference Championship game, thanks to an inspiring game from Edward Eaton (16/20,184 yards, 1 TD) and Hailey Reisman (115 receiving yards, 2 TDs.)

Montreal at New Orleans

It’s the miraculous upstarts versus arguably the best team in the league over the past three seasons. And for the first quarter at least, it’s a fairly even match. Montreal opens the scoring with an Erik Sulzbach catch for a touchdown on the opening possession. But the Corsairs would sack Appleby twice and score a field goal of their own. But New Orleans seems to be playing conservative against the top-rated passing defense of Montreal. With Lopez still on the shelf, seventh-round rookie Dennis Jones is being leaned on to carry the rock, with Dupre only attempting three passes in the first quarter. The second quarter would start in the same fashion, with five Corsair rushes in the first six plays of the quarter. They finally had to let Dupre throw it on third and 9…and Pat Snow would immediately jump the route and take the interception back for a 56 yard touchdown. He’d redeem himself somewhat on the next possession with a 19 yard pass to Stephen Harris, but they’d still have to punt anyway. Appleby would respond with six consecutive completions, including a 42 yard pass to Robert Loera, capping off the drive with a touchdown pass to Nicholas Baker. Just like that, it goes from a four point game to the Corsairs being down by three scores. They’d uncork Dupre’s arm from there, and he’d finally start moving the ball downfield, making it into the red zone with six completions in less than a minute. But he’d get sacked by Arius Argyle on first down and would lose the ball, which Argyle jumped on to recover for the Royal. 45 seconds with Appleby under center would be enough for Montreal to pad its lead, but cornerback William Jones would return the favor, punching the ball out of Baker’s hands and recovering it for the turnover. Unfortunately, the play had begun with only three seconds left in the half, and the refs ruled that time had expired by the point that Jones recovered the ball. At the half, the score is MTL 21, NOC 3

The second half didn’t start well for New Orleans, with a false start and a sack forcing them to punt after failing to convert a third and 22. The 57 yard touchdown pass that Appleby would throw to Keonte Hughes three plays later didn’t help either. The next drive didn’t start well for New Orleans, with a sack forcing them to punt on fourth and 13. The 4 yard touchdown pass that Appleby would throw to Keonte Hughes three minutes later didn’t help either. Wait, is anyone else experiencing some déjà vu? The next drive didn’t start well for New Orleans, with a taunting penalty and a sack/fumble recovered by the offense forcing them to punt after failing to convert a third and 23 and now I KNOW I’m having déjà vu. And so are the Corsairs, as this quarter was literally the same disaster repeated three times in a row, with minor variations. At least Vito Ligustica scored the third Royal TD of the quarter instead of Hughes. Anyway, the score going into the fourth quarter was 42-3, and Norman Mancini is coming into the game at quarterback for Montreal. It’s been an amazing ride, and I look forward to what they can do for next season, but New Orleans’ improbable journey ends here. Final score: MTL 42, NOC 3

Now here the detailed previews for both conferences championships!:

(3) Montreal Royal (13-5) @ (1) New York Defiant (13-5)
Season Series: New York won both games this season: 28-27 in New York in Week 7, and 26-13 in Montreal in Week 18.

Well well well. Did we really think either of these teams would not make it to the United Championship game after the season they've had? It's seemed like an inevitable collision course since the midway point of the season, especially after the fireworks both of their regular season matchups brought us. The Royal faced little resistance in their 39-point drubbing of the Corsairs; the likes of which we very rarely see in the playoffs in this league. Tyron Appleby had a perfect passer rating, only one incompletion on the day, and threw four touchdowns in three quarters. The Defiant faced a little more resistance, but it also ended up being a blowout as the Tuts didn't score a touchdown until garbage time to make the score look slightly more respectable. As a result, despite two lopsided duds in the Divisional round, we get Round 3 of the highest heavyweight vs heavyweight bout this season for the United Conference crown.

Keys to victory:
Montreal: Playing a perfect game in the trenches - quality blocking for the running game early and often, and giving Appleby time to make better decisions. The Royal averaged almost 140 yards per game on the ground, and added 131 in a game in New Orleans that was largely decided by the middle of the third quarter, and it's led them to a combined 14-5 record with the best rushing attack in the conference. The Royal were held to under 100 yards in their first meeting this season, and the Defiant forced Tyron Appleby into several missed throws and an interception before he was knocked out of the game in the third quarter. They then put an emphasis on the run game in their second meeting three weeks ago, running for 137, and would have likely come out on top if, again, New York didn't pressure Appleby into throwing a costly interception late in the fourth quarter to seal the game away. If the Royal can't keep Appleby comfortable in the pocket, the paths to victory will be scarce.

New York: Keeping consistent pressure on the quarterback, and making sure receivers don't get open. If there's one game that the Defiant's defensive playmakers need to have the game of their lives, it's this one. Defiant defensive backs led the league with 21 interceptions and 6 defensive touchdowns overall, adding three more INT's of Roman Oliviera in the Divisional round. Interestingly, both the Defiant and Royal are the bottom two teams in sacks in the United Conference, but the Royal have allowed 19 sacks via missed tackles, whereas the Defiant have only allowed 10. They've intercepted Appleby four times in two games this season, and those types of tough, tight throws need to continue here in Round 3 for the Defiant if they want to reach their first FurBowl in eight years.

X-factors:
Montreal: Their offensive line. The Defiant's defense may not be the best statistically when it comes to giving up yards and big plays, but the weapons they have on that side of the ball, such as Uka Nakoyak and Marigold Wu, are capable of making the kind of plays that can change the momentum and trajectory of the entire game with one ill-timed mistake. They've proved that twice so far this year, and to avoid a third defeat to their division rivals, they must make sure Vito Ligustica and Yash Zuro have time and space to run. Not just that, but out of the four remaining quarterbacks, Appleby comes last in mobility - pass rushers cannot be allowed to bring him to the ground several times per drive. They must make sure Appleby has time to make the throws he needs to make.

New York: Emi Tachibana. There's plenty of tape for Montreal to use to plan for her this week, and despite coming out victorious in both regular season meetings, a sub-100 passer rating in both games will not be enough in the playoffs this time around. This game will ultimately rest on her shoulders. I don't have proof to back this up but I'm willing to bet that no team has ever beaten the top-ranked defense 3 times in one season - top defenses make the adjustments they need to depending on the game plan, and the Defiant cannot hope the Royal make the mistakes they did in the regular season. If Tachibana has another average 60% completion percentage game, one touchdown and one interception for example, and the run game can't rush for more than 100 yards (as only a small handful teams have done this season against this Royal run defense), the Royal win this game nine times out of ten regardless of results in the regular season.

[b] (3) Baltimore Ponies (11-7) @ (1) North Florida Renegades (11-7)
Season Series: North Florida won both games this season: 17-10 in Tallahassee in Week 6, and 33-17 in Baltimore in Week 17.

There's a reason why rookie quarterbacks don't typically do well in the playoffs should they manage to make it there. The Renegades welcomed Ica Laanemaa and the Austin Blues to Tallahassee to the tune of seven pass deflections, five pressures, an interception, a sack, and most importantly, not allowing a single point until garbage time late. As a reward, they welcome the Colo- sorry, Baltimore Ponies? The Ponies were down by two scores going into halftime and just lost their franchise quarterback to an upper-body injury that will likely keep her out of the rest of the postseason, and yet they didn't allow a single point in the second half, coming all the way back to set up the sixth game between Baltimore and North Florida in the past two seasons. Unfortunately for Ponies fans, the Renegades have won four of those previous five, including knocking them out in the Divisional round last year.

Keys to victory:
Baltimore: Winning at the line of scrimmage, forcing turnovers, and trusting the abilities of Edward Eaton. In five games this year, Eaton has completed 72% of his passes, thrown nine touchdowns, and ZERO interceptions, good for a passer rating of 112.6. However, this is going to be the biggest start of his career facing off against the defending champions, who rank in the top six of every major category defensively in the UFFL this year, and just went almost 57 minutes without allowing a point in the previous playoff round. In every aspect, Eaton is a wild-card. He has shown that he can provide quality quarterback play, and there's zero doubt he has the ability to keep a football game competitive no matter the circumstance. The Renegades did see him briefly in Week 6 when Jillian St. Claire went down with her mid-season injury, and despite the small sample size, he did throw for 82 yards with 8/10 passing in just over a quarter of play. But, despite all this, the Renegades are looking to repeat as champions, and they will be trying much, MUCH harder than that Week 6 tilt. As a result, Baltimore's pass rush needs to match North Florida's pass rush, disrupt Becker early and often, and make sure she doesn't stay comfortable in the pocket. Becker has thrown a conference-high 18 interceptions this season - if they want to win this game, they must make her panic.

North Florida: Shut down Baltimore's run game, and trust in the talent that won them the championship last year. If the Renegades lose this game, it will not be because they allowed Kennedy Rodriguez to rush for triple digits and multiple touchdowns. Because of the Ponies' quarterback situation, there is reason to believe the Ponies will lean on the 2023 2nd-overall pick heavier than normal and try to get a run game going that averaged 126 yards per game during the regular season. If they can bottle up Rodriguez and force Eaton to have to throw to keep pace with the Renegades' offense in a game in which the Renegades have more talent, experience and poise, Renegades fans would sign up for that every day of the week and twice on Sundays. They've been in this same situation last year on the way to winning FurBowl IX with most of the same core of players; there's no reason to suggest they're in significant danger against a backup quarterback starting the biggest game of his career thus far - with all due respect to Edward Eaton, of course.

X-factors:
Baltimore: Consistency. I wrote last week that this is a Baltimore team that's largely volatile, having both a four-game win streak and four-game losing streak at different points this season. As a homage for this season, it was a tale of two halves in Aspen in the Divisional round. It looked like they were going to get run over by the Crushers going into the half in what could have been a bigger blowout than the one in New Orleans. However, they came out of the half and completely shut down the Crushers, didn't allow another score, and escaped with their tails between their legs still intact. There could be arguments made that it was a result of the Crushers taking their foot off the gas, but what cannot be disputed, is that the Ponies cannot do that in the Conference Championship. If they take their foot off the gas the same way the Crushers did in the second half last week, the Renegades will take full advantage and eat them alive. They have more than enough talent to represent the Continental Conference in FurBowl X, but they've got to find a way to give it 100% for all 60 minutes for that to happen.

North Florida: Being able to stay disciplined and not losing poise as a team. The reason the Renegades are so dangerous as a team is because they have a variety of weapons in multiple positions on both sides of the ball, so there's no real way to pick one or two players that could make or break the game as a whole. Their running game is among the best that operates via committee, and despite Olen Reuyters being just a few receptions and touchdowns away from winning the triple crown for receiving, they have six receivers with more than 20 catches; five of those with more than 300 yards. It's very much known that Baltimore's defense is either among the best, or THE best in the conference this year depending on the metric. It's likely the Renegades will not be able to replicate the 33 points they hung on the Ponies in Baltimore in Week 17, especially if they take nine penalties like they did that game, but what they can do this time around is control the game by playing clean, continuously moving the chains, making the appropriate in-game adjustments and trust in themselves as they've done all season. On paper, the Renegades have the most talent down the board of any team in the conference. If they play to their abilities and keep Baltimore's offense at bay, they'll be playing to defend their title in Ann Arbor in two weeks time.

Who going to Participate at Furbowl X? See you this sunday!