TTFBA 2009 Super Bowl Preview

NW Missouri Rednecks vs Tillman Rangers   Both of these teams know their way around the playoffs. The Rednecks have gone every year in the 9 year existence of the league, winning 6 division crowns including the last 5 consecutive seasons. The Rangers have only missed the playoffs one year and have 5 division crowns. A strong case can be made that the Rangers have the tougher division primarily because of arch-rival North Carolina. NW Missouri rarely has a tough division matchup.   However, the proof comes down to the Big Show and the Rednecks clearly have more experience there. This is their 6th appearance in a Super Bowl and, incredibly,  their 5th consecutive!  They've one the TTFBA Championship twice following perfect 16-0 seasons. This season they passed North Carolina as the winningest team in TTFBA history boasting 112 wins.   The Tillman Rangers, the 2nd winningest team, has only 1 Super Bowl appearance, losing to the Wausau Blue Bombers 7 years ago. They are 2-4 in Conference Championship Games. That's one of those glass half full, half empty scenarios. Though it may seem a blot for a championship caliber team, most of the teams in the conference have never made it that far.   NW Missouri Offense vs Tillman Defense   The Rednecks are the highest scoring offense in the league (33 pts per game) led by touchdown passing machine Carson Palmer. Palmer threw 41 TD passes during the regular season primarily to the Quadruplets: Torry Holt (14), Tony Gonzalez (8), Steve Smith (8) and Michael Westbrook (6). Westbrook was one of the best RBs in the league with 1,424 yds, 9 TDs and a sweet 5.3 yard rushing average. NW Missouri has the best offensive line for the run. If there is any chink in the armor, it could be Palmer's INT percentage. He had a terrible game vs Nashville during the season throwing 5 INTs.   This high-flying squad faces off with the defensive wall of the Tillman Rangers, 2nd in the league in points allowed at 13.1 per game. Tops against the pass allowing only 157 yds a game and picking off opposing QBs 22 times. The run allows some yards, allowing almost 100 per game but only 4 TDs. One startling stat, as mentioned in the Conference Championship article, is they allowed 4.8 yards per carry, the worst in the league.   Top hosses on the Ranger defense are S Bob Sanders and DT Jamal Williams. The talent is very good but not top notch across the board so the defensive numbers are probably helped considerably by the bulldozer running game of the Rangers. In their base 4-3 defense, Tillman has 34 passing defense points which is 10th best. In nickel, it goes up to 40 which is 6th best in nickel defenses.   Tillman Offense vs NW Missouri Defense   The Rangers get it done with a mob of running backs, ripping up the turf for 2,673 yds and 23 TDs lead by Len Dale White's 834 yds and 14 TDs. The passing game was only 13th in yards per game (208) but still ranked 6th in passing TDs, tossing 29. There is also excellent depth in QB with David Garrard being the top gun backed up by Todd Collins and Tavaris Jackson. There are some durabilty concerns here with the top rated QBs, Garrard and Collins, having 3 durability but with only one game to go, the depth is ample enough to make it.   Which brings us to the interesting matchup the Rednecks provide on defense: The #1 run defense in the league. They only allowed 69 yards a game, 4 TDs and 3.3 yards a carry. That's #1 across all three of those categories. Big Boys Albert Haynesworth, Michael Strahan and Demarcus Ware plug things up. The pass defense is very good as well, picking off opposing QBs 23 times lead by Terence Newman and Ken Hamlin. The Redneck defense is tough even in their second favorite platoon 3-2 Dime.   NW Missouri Rednecks +6.5 vs Tillman Rangers