Aces back to gutter, Horsemen set sights on battle with Legs

After an explosion of points in weeks 7 and 8, the Drunken Aces regressed back to their standard poor performing selves. Even with an iffy showing from the Steelers, the Horsemen scrounged up enough points from the rest of the team to silence the Aces early.

At 3-6, the Drunken Aces are more or less eliminated – barring a miraculous set of circumstances that I can’t even describe. But the first step is overcoming the lowly Straight Laced… which is the most doable part of the feat.

Elsewhere in the league, it’s do or die time for several teams – most of which appear a game or two away from elimination (assuming 7 losses eliminates from contention). The entire Outer Loop is surely cheering for the Electric Horsemen for the first time in history, as their hopes at claiming the division lead hinge on the Horsemen handing Legs With Holes a loss this week. Much like the last couple seasons, without winning the division it may not be possible for an Outer Looper to make the playoffs – especially with Closet Hillbilly being granted a gimme against the eliminated Extreme Baby Throwers this week.

 

The Horsemen now enter a treacherous stretch of schedule including two division leaders and a currently projected playoff participant in three of their final four games. Despite improving their offense to 96.3 PPG (still the least in franchise history through 9 weeks), they still trail the three ‘good’ teams remaining on the schedule. Despite their shortcomings for the first part of the season, they still have the second best record in the league and finally have their complete team together with no bye week fill-ins for week 10.

It’s nice to come into week 10 with 7 wins already in the books, tying a franchise records for regular season victories, but they’re still chasing that ever-elusive Inner Loop title – and this week brings a relative challenge to that goal.

The Horsemen have only played Legs With Holes four times in franchise history – the least of any opponent. They haven’t won any of these games (this obviously hasn’t mattered, as the Horsemen have gone on to the championship game two straight years while Legs rested comfortably at home). In these games, they have also averaged only 86.5 PPG – the least against any team, and the only average below 91. Week 10 also seems, historically, like an inopportune time for this matchup – the 2nd worst week on average of any week of the season at 86.25 PPG.

Can the Horsemen overcome the 16.75 average deficit against Legs With Holes and claim their first victory in franchise history? With a perceived advantage across the board, I don’t see why not.

A home matchup and a revenge narrative for Ben Roethlisberger (released mid year in 2015 by Legs With Holes, only to be claimed by the Horsemen) should reignite the stagnant Steelers offense and, coming off byes, we should see well rested and recovered versions of Lamar Miller, Tyler Eifert, LeGarrette Blount and Stephen Gostkowski.

The revenge narrative comes from the other side, as well. Jay Cutler is currently second in the all-time QB scoring list for the Horsemen – and #8 across all positions – after only 12 starts. Ben looks to overcome him this week, needing only 24 point to surpass him on this list of legendary Horsemen.

The line on Friday afternoon was Horsemen -20 with a 77.9% chance of victory via ESPNinsider.

Legs With Holes, despite claiming their dominance via a 5-4 edge on head to head this year, have thus far refused to bet anything on the game – even candy – and have likened this week to a bye week.

Only one team with 6 wins through week 9 has missed the playoffs… 2014 Legs With Holes.

 

Game of the Week
Bumpy’s Berries over 3rd & Unpredictable

Other Games
Closet Hillbilly over Extreme Baby Throwers
Nosebleeds over Strictly Southern
Drunken Aces over Straight Laced

Last Week 1-3
Overall 22-14