It finally happened, but the Lions have ticked off another achievement, beating the Les Republicans de Paris by a score line of 10-0, and it being not only the first ever victory against Paris in four attempts, but also what is also their first every victory in team history over a league champion (Paris having won the title in 2026). Penrith, by the scoreboard could have been considered to have been the better side, forcing Paris into an interception on their opening drive, but it wasn’t that, with an opening play fumble, uncharacteristic from Jerry Surge, but he bounced back and finished with a solid 96 rushing yards to put his season total now up to 685 yards, with a real possibility he could eclipse the first 1,000 rushing yards for the team. It was also a solid performance from the defence, leading Paris into their second shutout of the season, as well as their highest average punting yards (50 yards average over 8 punts), with only 7 drives resulting in more than 3 plays, and three interceptions on quarterback Mixolydian Fugue, his worst (and the teams) since 2028.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was pleased with the effort, but knew that it was still only one game and that they still had some tough matchups to face as they head into what could be their second consecutive postseason berth:-

“Seriously, we aren’t talking playoffs. We just aren’t. That isn’t our goal at the moment. Our goal is to compete in each and every match that we have. One game at a time, one week at a time. We still have two strong divisional games to go, and overall, we have five strong opponents to face. Each of them have their strengths and weaknesses, as do we. Our focus is on ensuring that we have the game plan in place for them, and that we can exploit those weaknesses to our advantage and make our weaknesses as less exploitive to our opponents. Can’t be more plain than that. We will discuss the playoffs when they come around, and like this season, we will take it as one game at a time”.

Penrith have those five remaining games left on the schedule and with a two-game lead on Florence in the race for the divisional title, any slip up now by the Lions could bring them back into the equation. The Lions face off against the Sumpan Crazy Wolves this week, as the Crazy Wolves themselves also find themselves in a tight divisional race, being right there alongside the Oryx and both teams will want to keep their win streaks alive, Penrith aiming for a ninth straight, and Sumpan looking for their fourth straight (would be their longest since 2028). The Crazy Wolves come into the match off the back off a solid 20-11 win over Pozzallo and will be looking to make it three wins out of four against the FB West this season, while Penrith will be looking to keep on the opposite side of last week and keep their unbeaten run against Sumpan alive.

On paper, the Crazy Wolves have been on a downward trajectory this season, star quarterback William Oscar managing only 8 touchdowns so far, and only one rusher over 300 yards, that being Grady Bucy, who also has one of the two rushing touchdowns for the team this season. With only 2,220 yards thrown (good enough for seventh in the league), some might say that he has the advantage over John Decaro (1,821 yards, good for 16th), and that they are throwing around the 65% mark, with Decaro just slightly higher, that Sumpan could easily throw the ball around and have this victory, but Penrith have shown that this season is a massive improvement for them, across the board. It’s evident that records or being at the top of the league in numerous categories is not their sim, that they aim for the results on the field.

The Lions are showing that they are using all facets of the game to achieve victories and move themselves up in the discussion and the pecking order, so to speak. They might be down on passing yards per game compared to Sumpan, but their defence is there to prevent the opposition from getting away from them, as they give up the second least passing yards in the league (136.2 yards per game), they sit eight in rushing yards per game, and they are fifth in yards per attempt, whilst giving up the fifth least in the same category. The Lions are slowly becoming a well-rounded team and while this season might be a high point for the franchise, they honestly have needed something like this for some time and it has shown off the hard work that has gone in to get them to where they are right now.

There has also been very little change with the injury front for the Lions over the last few weeks, allowing them to retain a solid portion of their offense and defence on the field, allowing them to have a more stable roster and allowing players to get much quicker together on the field. Star running back Antiono Rojas looks likely to make a slow return next week if everything works out well with his fitness test, and while he will miss this weekend's game, there is still hope that he will be back to full fitness in time for the postseason. Linebacker John Matthews will also likely be able to return to light training in a week or two and will be fighting for a slot come the postseason, while it does look unlikely that Gregory Bradshaw will feature at any further point, with his ankle not recovering as quickly as the medical staff feel that it should have been.

Prediction: Again, could be a tough one to come out and win but there is the hope that a victory is another step in the right direction. Sumpan will need to seriously come out and slam the Lions offense on the floor from the get-go if they are to have a shot. It’s been a wild ride so far this season, can it last a few more weeks and can it keep on rising this weekend in this game, with another solid performance. Time will tell...

Penrith keep improving week in and week out, with another solid victory, this time a 20-0 shutout of the Sumpan Crazy Wolves, to move themselves to a 10-2 record, equalling for the third time their best win/loss record in a season, and with their ninth straight victory, they take a two-game lead in the division, as they take their second straight shutout victory as another step towards the top. Unlike with the victory over Paris, this game started with a solid defensive start, forcing quarterback William Oscar into one of his two interceptions of the game, and while the Lions were able to nab a field goal and touchdown in the opening quarter, they were not immune to some defensive problems, with quarterback John Decaro sacked five times and intercepted twice himself.

The Sumpan offense may have had some major problems, unable to get any traction, forced into an average of only 3.84 yards per drive (with an average of 3.3 plays per drive), and seemed to struggle with an offense that over the course of this win streak has been more and more focussed on a run game, where Jerry Surge once again managed another 100+ rushing game, his third this season, and has eclipsed the rushing record for the Lions, and is edging even closer to that magical 1,000 yard season on the ground.

Speaking after the game, Head Coach Roy Rodriguez was pleased with the effort, and how the season has been going, but was also not looking too far ahead:-

“Another victory, and it’s a good boost for the morale and momentum of the team and there is a decent amount of buzz around the locker room, but we need to make sure that we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves. It is still one game at a time, and make sure that we don’t get too far ahead of ourselves, it is important that we focus on each game on its merits. We have some positives to work with, that we can all focus on being in our best interests to keep improving on, but we still have some serious weaknesses, that at the moment, we have been able to get away with, and not have them cause too much of a problem, but we still have to work on them every week at practice and in the game to make sure that we keep on the right side of the ledger, because there are so many teams coming for our position, and we can’t just give up now when it gets tough. That is not us”

Penrith will now have a chance to get another away victory and to take that next step in their endeavour to finish the season with a perfect divisional record, as they take on the North York Wildcats, who are at the opposite end of the division and at a completely different position than the Lions, sitting at 2-10, following a fifth straight defeat, going down 10-0 to the Silverbacks. They have been in a big struggle of late, with only 23 points in total over the last five games, while the Lions are sitting at 107 points over their last five games. The Wildcats also have not seen their offense firing, with quarterback Quimbus Baconmaker managing only 704 yards, and only throwing one touchdown (to 6 interceptions and 16 sacks) while John Decaro has thrown 968 yards (along with 7 touchdowns, 4 interceptions and 13 sacks). Add to the fact that the Wildcats have given up roughly the same amount of passing yards that the Lions are throwing (roughly 167 yards per game), while the Lions are still the second best defensive team when it come to passing yards, giving up just under 130 yards per game (the best is Pozzallo at only 122.5 yards per game, a team the Lions are playing in Week 16). The Lions are also running up the standings when it comes to rushing yards, sitting 6th in the league at 126.1 yards per game, which might be slightly inflated by the solid rushing attempts of Jerry Surge, especially since his move over to running back earlier this season, but they are still giving up well over 110 yards to opposition and while they have had two shoutouts in a row, the Wildcats defense led by the likes of safety Joshua Polansky (91 tackles, equal 3rd in the league), linebacker Walter Johnson (88 tackles, equal 4th) and safety Neil Francis (71 tackles, equal 16th), while the Lions are finding that more and more of the team are working together, with only three players this season over 50 tackles (linebackers Andrew Meeks & John Simon and cornerback Aaron Downwind).

The Lions still are waiting for the likes of center David Munoz, and defensive players John Matthews and Ernest Delcambre to come back from their injuries, while confirming this week that linebacker John Simon has confirmed to miss the remainder of the season, with leg injury now requiring surgery and he will be done now. The issues on the defense have now seemed to spread to the offense with a few players like wide receiver Jack Garvin, offensive tackle Charles Decker and even offensive tackle Nathan Peterson facing injuries, and while several players are playing through some serious concerns, with the medical staff looking after as much as they can with the injuries that are piling up, having both Gregory Bradshaw and Charles Decker out, the Lions have brought in third-year player Enrique Little to provide adequate support for the offensive line while they work towards returning their players to better active and healthy status.

Prediction: Even with the injuries that seem to be mounting up, this could be a history defining moment for the Lions. We almost had this moment last season, but unlike last year, I don’t see that the Lions are going to fall over and drop four games in a row. The Wildcats are in a bad spot right now, and are looking at a long, multi-year rebuild coming up, while the Lions are at the top of their game right now and pushing themselves to put themselves in the top tier conversation. Lions are looking strong to win this one, and their tenth victory in a row.

[quote="CaptainFarrar89"]

No Week 14 preview, printer was jammed and didn't get the final copy to the printing press in time for the deadline

Prediction: Even without a preview of the game, we still think it's important to get out the inactives and the prediction of the game. That bit was the easy bit to get done. Sadly, we all feel at the office that this is the end of the winning streak, and the Lions will be brought crashing back down to earth in a see of Tomb Kings touchdowns, extra points and field goals. They are just way too strong for a Lions side that is on the up and up but is still not there at the upper echelons of the league.

No Week 15 preview, writer was sick this week and didn't have the energy to sit in front of the computer and write... true story

Prediction: Another week, another reason for new preview. But unlike the preview, the winning ways we feel will return to Penrith once more. Florence are just looking for a reason to have positive momentum into the postseason while the Lions will not want to fall over like they did last season with those nasty three straight losses. Unlike last season, the momentum has been with Penrith for quite some time and we think that they will bounce back and defeat the Fools in a high-scoring affair.

[WEEK 15 RECAP]

No Week 16 preview, sorry but the energy at the moment to keep up with this is not there

Prediction: Does the game really matter at the moment, we've won the division and we are assured of another home postseason game. Let's just predict that we hope nobody gets too badly injured and has to miss out on what could be a solid and impressive run in the postseason coming up. We've had a great season so far, let's not let it get run down like it did last season or like many others might think it will be again for the Lions. We have the faith.

[WEEK 16 RECAP]