This is Robbert Graaf. Currently 4/4 in guessing the playoff this season. Some teams are in a hurry. Some are not. The Rangers just won their wildcardgame last night, and they play again as soon as tomorrow evening. As the other wildcardgame in SHC has not been played yet, we better split this up in 2 blogs. All not from DLE love this filling up the blog, but thats how it gonna be. The game we bring you now are:

Praag Grizzlies vs Bilbali Rangers

Lets start with the 2nd seed overall in SHC. Grizzlies are entering the playoff now after a byeweek. They won SHC North with a 9/6/1 record. Only losing 1 game. They beat the Rangers in the competition for the byeweek with a better conference winpercentage. It doesn't get more close than that.
The Grizzlies are a team packed with +ST and got 5 of those running around. This also means that Grizzlies are a real running team. They run the ball, and they hit hard. All 4 blitzres got MB, so the hit can come from pretty much any angle. If we must point to a weakness it is the many rookie linemen the team has got during the season, when better players has lost their lives, or just the will to play through injuries. For the Grizzlies to move on a couple of big stars must rise to the occation. Blitzer Jace Amaro (+AG/Block/Tackle/Dodge/Leap/Side Step/Mighty Blow) and Blitzer Siffridus Draken (+ST/Block/Dodge/Guard/Mighty Blow/Piling On). Jace is the baller above all on the team. He got 36 TD in 70 games. And he is a 2 times selected ProBowler for SHC. He is not only TD maker, but he also got the ability to disrupt opponent drive. Draken has made 16 cas in his 3 games for the team and is leading the team in that category. In order to beat the Rangers takeout is vital.
If you don't remove Rangers, they remove you. Its as simple as that. One issue for the Grizzlies is that Ed Stinson (+ST lino) is missing. And he will be missed. But Grizzlies is a well rounded team. They got no 1 + no 3 allrounders(1cas+1TD+1Comp) in the league, and the team is 5th in the league with blocks made(742). They are also split 5th best defence this season. This is a versatile team, and it will be exciting to see what strategy they will use. Stick to run/bash, or try moving more away from the opponent?

Now, on to the Rangers. They come from the wildcardweekend with a 1-0 over the Greenskins. That was a good performance, and keeping Art Monk from scoring is something only few teams has accomplished. Can they stop Jace Amaro also? From the wildcard round Kony Ealy stepped up and made the only TD in the game, and got 20 yards rushing. Ramiro Maextu and Giovani Bernard were leading the team foreward with 12 and 11 blocks during the game, setting the tone for the team. They only made 1 cas between them and must do better if they want to beat the Grizzlies. Another dissapointment was topfouler Julen Guerrero, who only got in 1 foul before the ref spotted him. It is tough to be a well known dirty player among the refereing guild, and Julen must conseal his doing better.
As a team Rangers excel in several categories. Hold on!
- Split 4th in TDs scored.
- 1st in Casualties made.
- 3rd in blocks made.
- 1st in team fouls.
- 2nd in rushing yards.
- Split 1st in least CAS taken.
- 2nd in team growth.(740k)
- 1st in least TV lost.(50k)
Need We say more about this team? I think the numbers speak for themselves. We could also list a number of achievements by the players, but we dont. Lets just say this is a well-organized team, where everybody do their part.

We only have 1 previous meeting between the 2 teams. That was a 1-0 win for the Grizzlies. With Rangers being favorites on paper and team strenght, the Grizzlies have history on their side. This is a top game between 2 top teams. And we have not even talked about Kislev White Wolves(no1 seed in SHC) yet! But I must call a winner.

Rangers wins

It is close, and I could easy see this one go into overtime. The current team strenght where Stinson is out for Grizzlies, and they got a couple of rookie linemen on the team, as well as the well oiled machine that is the Rangers this season, makes me tip it to Rangers.

Game is set to saturday evening.

Robbert Graaf out