Horsemen opponents continue record scoring pace

The hits just keep on coming for the Horsemen. Two less yards by Philip Rivers or three more yards by Matt Ryan (or one less fumble, for that matter) and the Horsemen would be sitting comfortably at 5-3 atop the division – but, as fate would have it, Strictly Southern scored the most points of the weekend (a three way tie between SS, XBT and EH) and tied the Horsemen 116-116.

Early on it looked promising. Julian Edelman shined in the 4th quarter Thursday night, outscoring Dion Lewis 20-16 – while Lamar Miller had a rough game but chipped in 8.

Everything started to fall apart on Bloody Sunday, though.

The Horsemen were not immune from the barrage of injury assaulting the league – losing their stud back, Le’Veon Bell, after only 45 yards. In what was most likely the most jarring injury of an injury filled weekend, suddenly the entire team was deflated. Matt Ryan was so upset that he fumbled and threw an interception – either of which would have been the difference between winning… and tying. Justin Tucker and Julio Jones did their part, chipping in 20 points apiece in the effort, but it just wasn’t enough.

Tyler Eifert’s lack of effort to fight for that final winning yard was upsetting for management, who now are forced to figure out if he truly is the answer at tight end.

The Horsemen are now 4-3-1 through 8 games, half a game ahead of the Nosebleeds and Closet Hillbilly for the division lead – a slim lead in a fast intensifying playoff race.

The Horsemen continue their road tour in week 9, this time against the Extreme Baby Throwers coming off a huge win led by Drew Brees against Closet Hillbilly. In their victory, XBT scored more than 100 points for the first time in 2015 – hitting 116 points (50% of which was Drew Brees) and ending their losing streak after 3 games, begun by the Electric Horsemen in week 5.

A loss this week would likely leave XBT one game away from elimination.

The Horsemen took the lead in the series 4-3-1 with their week 5 107-100 victory, their second straight win over XBT. The series has been pretty lopsided since the 2013 season with the Horsemen up 4-1-1 and averaging 109-83. History seems irrelevant this year for the Horsemen, though, as opponents have been scoring at an alarming rate. Coming into week 9, an average of 108.0 points per game have been scored against – more than 2 points greater than the record 105.8 scored against the 2013 Baby Throwers.

We are now in what has been the doldrums of the regular season for the Horsemen. They have a losing record in weeks 6 through 9 historically – and sit at 33% for week 9, alone. This is also the third game of a road tour (the first two have gone 0-1-1), and the Horsemen have struggled severely on the road, winning only 38% of games.

The loser of this week may have to begin concentrating their efforts on the 2016 season.