Long Island EFL Week #5 Roundup and PLAYOFF BRACKET MADE

[Long island EFL]

                     2023 LONG ISLAND EFL SUPER BOWL XVIII BRACKET

THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM ...WEEK #5 ROUNDUP: (Long Island Electric Football League Week #5).  In the LIEFL Week Five can be a crazy week because it's also a prime time for teams who have been eliminated from the playoff picture to go all out and upset teams who are still in contention. That's usually the goal so with that said, it's hard not to reflect on the league's history of upsets. The intensity will be great in the final three games of the league. Long Island Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, Historian Andy Slawson predicts that in the AFC East it will be the Buffalo Bills clinching an AFC East title. Slawson said, "I don't even think we've seen the best of Buffalo yet. They are tournament type team who will be ready for the challenge if Bino plays his cards right, but truth be told, nobody coaches the Bills like Billy O'C. It's going to be a tug of war between Miami and New England in the East crossing the finish line. The Chargers are going to win the AFC West. They beat Denver already who has a chance to make the playoffs, but I don't even think Kansas City is going to make the playoffs. I think the Browns will win the AFC North even though they are (1-3) at the moment. Cincinnati's not strong enough, and the Ravens could go neck and neck with Cleveland, but the Steelers just aren't ready this year. They are one or two players short of their goal. In the AFC South I think Houston and Indianapolis will battle right to the end. Never count Texans Ron Dayne out, but he has to play well in the big games."

Slawson predicted that in the NFC East, Washington is going to win the NFC East and Dallas will follow suit and again make the playoffs. Further, he said, "I still think that Seattle and Los Angeles, and San Francisco will all compete heavily in the final weeks, and Arizona has already been mathematically eliminated. It will be nice to see the Chicago Bears make the playoffs this year because they've been knocking on the door for three straight seasons, but reality the road to victory is going to go through Green Bay. The Packers will win that division and make the playoffs for the 11th time for the storied team. They might even end up in the NFC Championship Game with the Washington Redskins which will be an incredible battle. Finally, Atlanta is going to win the NFC South because I think they're better than Tampa Bay who will fold in the end. I think Carolina and Atlanta will go neck and neck, and both made the playoffs last season, but Carolina has been to the NFC Championship Game twice in five seasons, losing to the LA Rams both times." Super Bowl Prediction Buffalo Bills against Washington Redskins. "My winner I will pick on game day," said Slawson.

Some Long Islanders think that they are the only ones' who play this game or who have knowledge of the game. Don't forget there are technically more than seven million people living on Long Island, and there are more people here than some small metropolitan cities in the United States. Plenty of competition! I am sure that there are many more avid players who don't even know about Tudor's revival. Coach Joey Pizz said, "My college group popularized the game!"

2016

While it wasn't a regular season set of games, the LIEFL New York Jets in 2016, played in a memorable 32-team throwback tournament here on Long Island with 16 different coaches, none of them from the LIEFL. Coach Joey Pizz said, "My 2016 Jets bring back memories of beating some rugged competition. We won a THROWBACK tournament against a huge group of ballers who had their own league. I went to Hofstra University with several of them. In that tournament, my Jets went 5-0, and we won the tournament!" Pizz was ecstatic. That season in the LIEFL, we thought for sure the Jets were going to be a top contender, and for the most part they played great, but they were (4-3) in the regular season, and they qualified for the LIEFL Super Bowl Tournament.

Pizz continued, "In fact, Billy O'C and I tried to recruit the runner up of the competitive THROWBACK tournament when the LIEFL made a great comeback. The runner-up of the THROWBACK tournament, Willy Fierst, was just too occupied and really loved the idea of joining the league, but he told us that he wouldn't be able to make the commitment to a full season. In fact, LIEFL rookie coach Bobby Biggs had his own teams in that tournament, and he was blown out in the first game by Fierst, something like 28-6, and then his second team lost in a close one."

The Jets took second place in the LIEFL AFC East that's 2016 season and played in the AFC Wild Card Game where they played huge, upsetting the Pittsburgh Steelers 34-31 in overtime! They went on to lose to a tough New England Patriots team 35-31, in the AFC Divisional Championship Game and that was as far as they would go. The Patriots lost too, to Johnny Freeport's Detroit Lions 42-17, in LIEFL Super Bowl XII. In fact, that's the farthest New England ever went in the LIEFL. Both the Jets and Patriots are the type of teams that can pull off upsets and unhinge a contender because they keep up with the competition. New England did last year in their upset over Miami in Week Five on Miami's home turf!  If the Patriots take a game to overtime and win a coin-toss, they could break the better teams.

Washington (4-0), San Francisco (1-3), Green Bay (4-0) and Los Angeles Chargers (3-1), are all coached by Ed Viggs. At (12-4) this season. Viggs said, "This is a week where I reflect prior to any games because I'm not going to allow my teams to fall into that trap, and in this league anybody can pull off an upset in any game, so we have to be mindful of the opponents strengths and weaknesses. These teams are all competitive. Every single team in this league is primed to win PERIOD! Just because a team hasn't won a game doesn't make them a bad team at all. The breaks are the breaks, mistakes cost games! That's what I've learned about the league in my years that we've built it. Coaches are constantly changing player bases until they find the right mix. My teams have been worked and reworked to exhaustion because I still care about winning. That's just me in life."

Coach Bobby Biggs said, "I learned not to do so much chatter and instead try to put the best team on the field. Over the summer I said some things, but since then, I have worked to create teams that can win. It worked well last week when we upset the Giants with the Saints. I'm just trying to hone in on my skills figure each team out and how they perform, and study the coaches, but it takes a season to find my comfort zone. In my mind I know that I can compete with anyone. I just have to find the right group of guys on the field who can get me to the show."

WEEK#5 SCHEDULE GAMES BEGIN TODAY

1.      Raiders (2-2) at Dolphins (3-1)

2.      Falcons (3-1) at Texans (2-2)

3.      Chiefs (2-2) at Bears (2-2)

4.      Chargers (3-1) at Jaguars (1-3)

5.      Packers (4-0) at Giants (2-2)

6.      Titans (1-3) at Bills (3-1)

7.      Jets (1-3) at Redskins (4-0)

8.      Cowboys (3-1) at Cardinals (0-4)

9.      Eagles (0-4) at Seahawks (1-3)

10.  Broncos (3-1) at Vikings (1-3)

11.  Rams (3-1) at 49ers (1-3)

12.  Ravens (2-2) at Browns (1-3)

13.  Bengals (2-2) at Steelers (1-3)

14.  Saints (1-3) at Lions (1-3)

15.  Colts (4-0) at Patriots (2-2)

16.  Panthers (2-2) at Buccaneers (3-1)

Game of the Week:

Player of the Week: