If there ever was an upset, then this game was just that. The Lions were never expected to get the victory, but they have shown the league that they are there and can battle it out, coming away with an amazing 28-7 victory over the Ulaanbaatar Raptors, giving the Lions their second straight victory, and also giving them a two-game lead in the division.

In the surprise of the season, the Lions came out of the gates storming, intercepting the Raptors twice and forcing a safety all in the first quarter. For a quarterback that hadn’t seen an interception in the previous five weeks, the Lions came out to play from the start, and despite their own interception from Joe Chacon, his 12th of the season, another two touchdowns and 314 yards were a big difference to what many predicted. The Lions also all but stopped the run game, with 11 yards, while Steven Alvarado got a solid 55 yards on his return from injury, and just a casual 100 receiving yards from 12 receptions, and a touchdown. The Lions just kept on going through the whole game, rarely getting off the throttle, it was only until the fourth quarter that the Raptors could get onto the scoreboard. It was ultimately a game to forget for the Raptors.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez spoke about how the team have built their confidence up each and every game and how they are approaching the final grouping of games for the season:-

“The boys are feeling good, a victory will do that and to defeat a team like the Raptors, a team that is perennially at the top of their game week in and week out, is a great result for everyone. It really does show that each week, our plan is working, that we are on the right track. Obviously we aren’t resting on that, or resting on the victory, but we are serious about learning from the positives and the negatives and ensuring that we are ready for our next game. That is how we are playing this season, just taking it one game at a time, and however our season goes, we are going to be looking at it as a positive experience for us all, so that we have a building platform for the next season and the season after that”

The Lions have the second last of their two-game away trips beginning this week, as they head to Los Angeles to face off against the 3-7 Earthquake side, who are coming into the game off the back of an amazing 25-14 divisional victory over the Baguettes. The victory was their first in their last five games. Quarterback Mike Tyson failed again to throw a touchdown, the fourth straight game and while he did throw for 284 yards, the most for him this season, and the Lions will hope to have another game like that, and they could be in with a chance here for another victory. The Earthquake defense has been strong, letting in an average of 16 points over the last four games, with the likes of linebacker Hipolito Hamlett (39 tackles in last four), Bora Bora Humblesnags (24 tackles), they are coming in with some solid stats. The issue for the Earthquake again has been the offense, who have struggled, with passing yards down at 25th in the league, rushing yards at 17th in the league and while the Lions are worse off on the ground, sitting at an average of 79.4 yards per game (23rd in the league), they are only giving up just under 94 yards per game whilst the Earthquake are giving up almost 116 yards.

The Lions have made a gutsy call to return rookie running back Brett Snow for the game, looking like the neck complaint is not as bad as originally thought and medical staff have cleared him for game time, with the look like being limited participation, but with almost 500 yards in his performances whilst Alvarado was out with an injury, it seems that he is coming back to provide more support on the ground. The only other serious injury concern is still with Thomas Wright who has suffered a slight setback and looks still to be out for the remainder of the season, but Head Coach Roy Rodriguez confirming that they are still looking to welcome him back at the end of the season and that, at the moment, they are not shutting him down and hope that he will bounce back in his recovery.

Game Prediction: We think the Lions will get this one, by 10 points

The Lions were unable to get that elusive third straight victory as they fell to the Earthquake in a close 9-7 game, and after getting off to a solid start on their opening drive, it was a highly physical and defensive battle, but the kicking leg of Alexander Clement was the difference, with the Lions unable on their final drive to muster anything and with 1:21 left on the clock, the second interception by Joe Chacon was all the Earthquake needed to kneel out the game. The Lions failing to get the win, and the second time this season, and third in a row, that they have been unable to convert for a third straight win.

The Lions looked to be the stronger of the two in the matchup, managing 15 first downs to 7, more net yards compared to Los Angeles, and prevented the Earthquake from getting even one single third down conversion all game, along with their only redzone visit resulting in the 2-yard touchdown pass from Joe Chacon to receiver Tony Lockett. Just the luck of the drives went against the Lions. Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was pleased with the efforts that he saw, and talked about the positives that come out of a game like this for the Lions:-

“Look, we would have loved to have won the game, I am sure of that. We don’t go into games saying to ourselves that we want to lose. We always want to win, and sometimes, you come out of it on the wrong side of the coin. It’s part of playing the game. Los Angeles played better, they pushed us to the limit, and we pushed them to the limit. To come away from that with nothing but our heads held high, it shows promise and it shows that we are on the right track. We of course still have a ways to go to beat the best of the best, to be up there with them, but we have come such a long way in 11 short weeks, and we will keep on fighting every single game for the win, and to be the best of the best.”

The Lions have to bounce back quickly, as they head into the final five games of the season, starting off with a visit to Oviedo, a team that during the offseason was due to be joining the division but were then instead placed into the FB North. The Tardigrados are also looking to bounce back, suffering a 30-13 defeat to the Harnosand Harbourmasters, a game that almost shows a look like what the Earthquake had against the Lions. With quarterback Tiberius Shambles likely to either miss or be severely limited this week following his hand injury, there could be a chance for the Lions to take a solid lead, added in that Shambles struggled, with 4 interceptions in the one game, the most for his career since Week 14 of the 2023 season when he threw five, it could be a game for the Lions to manage a lot better.

On the flipside, the Tardigrados have been a team that has prevented opposing offences from getting going, ranked 16th for passing yards (169.8 yards per game) and 14th for rushing yards (93.4 per game), while at the same time punishing the defense with the 8th best passing yards (201 yards per game) and the 6th best rushing team (137.6 yards per game). The Lions will need the likes of linebacker William Williams (78 tackles this season), cornerback Thomas Hartley and safety Urban Montaigne to step up their game and get both parts of the Tardigrados offense on hold for as long as possible, with a team that can, on a good day, limit a team to just over a quarter of the game clock with the ball in hand.

Penrith are going to have to come at this game with all that it has, however, the serious concern has been this week with cornerback Luis Walsh and it was confirmed yesterday that he will miss the remainder of the season, and with reports surfacing that he is now considering retirement following his nasty ankle injury, it could be the final time the Lions fans see him on the field. It has allowed Richard Ballard to come back in, as well as seeing the return of tackle Brian Fernandez which should help in getting rh O-Line some better reinforcements for the final push towards the end of the season and hopefully another postseason berth for the Lions.

Game Prediction: Lions to bounce back this week, 7 point win coming up (we hope)

Penrith showed how they can bounce back from tough losses, with a stunning 16-0 victory over the Oviedo Tardigrados. In an interesting move, Oviedo didn’t attempt a single pass all game, running for over 200 yards, with 97 of those yards from Colinabo Ciencia, a further 87 from running back Richard Freeman gave the Lions more freedom to play their own game, and while once again quarterback Joe Chacon threw another three interceptions, they were able to manage to get the job done, with tight end Wayne Snyder managing a 4-yard touchdown late on in the second quarter. The effort from the defense was astounding, with a massive 30 tackles from rookie linebacker William Williams, which is a season and league record, eclipsing Ja’Quan Freud’s 22 tackles for Derry in a 2022 loss to Nottingham.

Speaking to the media after the game, Team Owner Leam Mark Farrar talked about what a victory like this means, with the team managing a seventh victory, besting their win record from 2023, something that the team was aiming for this season:-

“The boys are in good spirits and the victory means a lot not just for them, but for the whole organisation. We have spent a lot of time focussing on where we have gone wrong over the last two years, and to manage the victories that we have, it shows the hard work and determination and commitment that everyone has put in but we also know that we aren’t 100% where we want to be, and the coaches, the players, the staff all know that the job isn’t done and it won’t be done until we are the ones lifting the trophy at the end of the season, and then it starts all over again. We keep on striving to achieve that greatness every season”

The challenge of that purist of greatness goes on as the Lions head back home for their second-to-last home game of the regular season, as they welcome the Entebbe Elders to town, a team that not only is coming into this game off the back of a close 15-13 loss to Stockholm but will also be looking to even the ledger between these two teams, having lose their last encounter in 2023 23-6, also at home. The Lions this season have only lost twice at home, whilst Entebbe are currently 0-5 away from home and have struggled when away from Mandela National Stadium. The Elders have struggled, playing both Clifton Suarez and Joe Montana at quarterback, it has meant that the Elders offense has also struggled to get into a rhythm with one quarterback. Against Stockholm, Joe Montana managed a career-low 9 pass completions, and a season-low 112 passing yards. Where the offense has gone is another question, the Elders have only managed only 11.25 points per game, over the last four whilst the Lions are up at 19 points per game, conceding a low 4 points per game across the last four, which has included two shutouts (Florence and Oviedo).

The Lions aren’t out of the woods themselves, with the team seemingly finding the difficulties in the run game, with a lowly 19.7 rushes per game, second worst in the league, only better than Sumpan, whilst Entebbe up at 26.3 rushes per game. The rushing yards also doesn’t paint a better picture, for either team, with both struggling at around 77-78 yards per game, giving up well over 100 yards (Penrith 105 yards, Entebbe 115.3 yards). The Lions have seen a slight improvement over the last couple of weeks, with the combination of Steven Alvarado and Brett Snow, who are both close to marking another 500 yards on the ground.

The Lions are heading into this match, and the final four games of the season off the back of a solid 3-1 record over the last four weeks, and besides Tillamook who could be in a winning record by Week 15, they play no team that has a winning record, which could be a good sign for the Lions to finally get the monkey off their back and get their first divisional title, and another postseason. With the team currently sitting with the 4th seed, it could be on the cards but they will have to be careful not to let these sorts of things get too far ahead and keep on playing the game that they have been all season. With the likes of safety Miguel Logan coming back from several weeks off due to his knee injury, and the likes of offensive guard David Mallory getting through the captain’s run and being declared fit, after suffering what looked like a foot injury during training this week, the Lions have a good compliment of their roster available and will be looking to take the positive momentum from the last several weeks into the final four games and make a gallant charge into the season and hopefully the postseason.

Game Prediction: Thinking the Lions can do this, get another victory, by 7 points.

The Lions surprised most of the league and probably themselves with another shutout victory, this time over the 5-win Entebbe Elders. The Elders, coming into the match with 12 new faces after a late season clean out of the locker by the ownership group, managed to only crack the 100-yard mark with their quarterback in Clifton Suarez, who was coming into the game, looking to garner more support around him, but the Lions defense did not get the memo, running riot, with 6 total sacks and 2 interceptions, with the returning safety of Miguel Logan with one of those interceptions. The rookie linebacker corps showed another faultless game, with John Matthews topping the tackle count with 10, and William Williams not far behind with 9 tackles himself and a sack. The Lions offense seemingly could not be stopped, managing every time they reached the redzone to score, and while there are still some glaring holes, managing only three scoring drives in the first half, the signs of improvement are there with the acquisition off the waiver wire this week of Jon Geisler, who was one of the 12 released earlier in the week by the Elders.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez, who has taken a 4-12 team to the brink of the postseason, spoke about what a game like that, and a result like that means for the whole team moving into the final three games:-

“It means a lot to them, they have played their hearts out, left everything out there on the field and ensured that we are looking into a positive and upwards trajectory for the remainder of this season. We set out at the beginning to make one goal our mission, and that was to play like champions each week and these results show that we are playing the brand of football that we want to play, that we are champions in our own books, and in the eyes of the fans and supporters. This season has been about setting the stage for future seasons, and to come away so far with 8 victories, and another three games to come, we are in a solid position not just for the remainder of this season but for future seasons to come”

The Lions will get the chance to go one game closer to a divisional title as they get ready for the final three games of the season, three solid divisional games to close out the regular season, starting with a visit to the Corpses, a team that has been nothing but sitting on struggle street all season, staring down the barrel of a 2-win season, and a very large fall from grace for a team that last season was one win away from the league title. The Lions, with a 3-game lead on both the Sharknado and Fools could wrap up the FB West title if they win and both Tillamook and Florence lose, and with both teams facing off against the FB South (Tillamook against Hong Kong, Florence head off to play Nice), it could be likely and would allow the Lions to maybe consider resting some stars for the postseason. With the Lions likely to be either a 3rd or 4th seed in the postseason, it could be the time to do so and with some stars likely to need some rest, this game could be more crucial than they think.

The Corpses, having been decimated by serious league sanctions at the beginning of the season, have just been there to make up the numbers, and have ultimately been at the bottom of the pile all season, with their only two wins coming against Grand Rapids and Los Angeles, and while both wins have been a bright light for the team, it has been few and far between, with the Corpses managing a lowly 6.1 points in their last six games, all losses, whilst the Lions are sitting high with an average of 18.6 points in their last six, whilst only giving up on average 4.6 points in the same six games, this could seriously turn into a one-sided affair for one team. The Corpses have seemed out of it all season, giving up the third most rushing yards per game, but the fourth least passing yards at only 147.5 yards per game, but the Lions are the most pass friendly team when it comes to their own offense, sitting at the top with 230.5 yards per game, but giving up almost the same as the Corpses at 142.9 yards. This could be a one-sided match, but it could also be a very close one and another chance for the Corpses to pick up a third win in a season that needs to come to a quick and painless end for them very soon.

Game Prediction: The Lions will get this one, could we see a third-straight shutout? Time will tell.