The OTTAWA ROSS RIDERS return home to host ERIC’S E-ALLS. After a solid start to their season, the Eazy E’s are looking to stop a two game slide. That’s not going to be an easy task against Ross’ 5-2 Riders who are unbeaten at home, and looking to extend a 5 game winning streak. QB Joe Burrow is back fresh off a bye, but does Ross stick with Jordan Love under centre favouring his matchup against the Vikings over Cool Joe vs the Niners? Either option at QB will be throwing balls to a deadly receiving core that was huge last week and is likely to do the same in Week 8. Unfortunately for Eric, Lion’s RB David Montgomery’s status is not looking good, but Dallas’ Tony Pollard is back from a week off so he should be ready to step in. He’ll definitely need to get consistent scoring from his other big weapons too - Kennan Allen, George Kittle, and Davante Adams - if he wants any shot of handing the Riders their first loss since Week 2.

After picking up a win at home, the STAND ALONE AMERICAN heads north once again to face HOOKED ON A THIELEN. Don’s Purple T’s are also coming off a big win last week - without some key pieces they were able to go into Crystal Lake, score 142 points, and come out with their fourth win. Now Don’s getting Ja’Marr Chase back so he’ll be looking to score even more this week, and he could get out to a fast start tonight with Stefon Diggs and Rachaad White in action. Rick will again be without an injured Deebo Samuel, but ESPN is still projecting big points from his lineup… LeMar is expected to tear apart the Cardinals defence, and you can probably depend on McCaffrey to be very “McCaffrey-like” again this week versus Cincy. I’m anticipating some big numbers being put up by both sides in this match, and it could be very close. 

Two 4-3 teams will both be looking to keep their winning records in the showdown between MARC’S FUNKY BUNCH and STRAIGHT OUTTA COUGHLIN. Matt is trying to win his third in a row, while Marc attempts to rebound from a tough loss against Matt’s brother last week… this is actually his third consecutive match against a Mitchell. The Bunch could have Bills RB James Cook and Bucs receiver Chris Godwin going in tonight’s game, and they might look to close it out on Monday with star receiver Amon-ra St. Brown. For Matt, WR Adam Thielen is back from a bye who has been a huge surprise in his lineup so far this season. With their two straight wins, SO-CO has been able to quickly climb the standings from 7th all the way up to 3rd place. With another win this week and some help, they could take yet another step up towards the top. 

The CRYSTAL LAKE SLASHERS will have to get over last week’s loss quickly to be ready to face first place 3RD AND LONG in Brooklin. Some good news for Glen - Jalen Hurts was a little banged up after last week’s game, but it appears he’s good to go against an awful Commanders D. Some bad news for Glen - he’s going up against a 6-1 team with not a lot of weaknesses in his lineup right now. Since their Week 4 loss to the Darth Raiders, 3&L has won three straight and averaged about 124 points per match. The league’s top receiver Tyreek Hill is averaging about 27 points a game for Ryan… and with David Montgomery down in Detroit, Jahmyr Gibbs is poised to have another big week for the Beer Bottles who are hoping to stay atop the ICLAFF. 

The bottom two teams in the league hookup on the Death Star - the LAS VEGAS SUN WORSHIPERS and the DARTH RAIDERS. Combined, these two have just 3 wins in 14 matches. The D-Raiders have lost three in a row and are currently in dead last. It’s not like Howie isn’t trying to turn things around - he has made 27 roster changes so far this season, the most of any team owner. His squad has put up reasonable scores in some weeks, things just have not been going their way. Look for QB Pat Mahomes to score big for Howie this week against a Broncos team that he’s never lost to in his career. For Rich, he’ll be happy to get his Dallas players back in the lineup and he needs some serious scoring help… the current Finkle holder has the fewest points in the league again this season. With another Worshipers loss, they would likely swap spots with the D-Raiders and be back in the ICLAFF basement. To say this is an important match for both sides is a drastic understatement. Unless these teams can turn their seasons around quickly, this could very well be a 2023 Toilet Bowl preview.

And then there’s this… a match in The Shwa between two bitter rivals PURDY GOOD and J-OSHAWA ALLEN. Since 1987 these two have been at each others throats when it comes to just about everything - street hockey, video games, ping-pong - whatever they could compete against each other in. Last season in their only ICLAFF meeting it was Mike who thumped Shawn 120-77, this year we’re lucky enough to have this heated showdown twice. Mike just ended his painful losing streak last week, now it’s Shawn who has dropped 3 in a row… and he’s coming into this affair after his worst showing of the season. He’ll certainly need a better overall effort than he gave last week when his whole lineup was only able to fetch him a single touchdown and just an embarrassing 61 total points. I expect this match (and the smack talk that comes along with it) to show some of the same intensity as their epic battles of the past. Traditionally Shawn is the louder one on our group chat, but there’s actually been more noise out of The Shwa ahead of this one - it’s funny what one win can do for your confidence. Shawn did come back with a beauty on our chat the other day in regards to their high school yearbook photos used in the website banner… he boldly stated - “that was the last time Mike had hair”.  I would consider that shots fired - game on gentleman!