What do you expect when a team averaging 30.8 ppg (Ravens), and a defense allowing a league low 22.4ppg (Seahawks) heading into Week 6 face each other? How about a combined 17 TDs, 7 INTs & a fumble-recovery for good measure? This game had a combined score of 119 points. Heading into this game, the Seahawks had only scored 126 point on the season. Both teams were absolutely bonkers! Maybe we should have seen this coming, as very early on in the game, the Seahawks attempted a deep pass which was in the hands of Ammar Jessa… but just like Alshon Jeffrey, it slipped through his fingers and ended up with Shoaib Mamdani for an easy touchdown. It was TD-galore in this game with 5 players with at least 2 receiving TDs. It’s a testament to these QBs who do a wonderful job spreading the ball around.

The final score of the game was 63-56, but that has to be a shocking final. The Seahawks had 6 turnovers in this game (5 INTs, and 1 Fumble loss)! You’d have to think if they did a better job taking care of the ball, they may have had this game with ease. The Seahawks are the only other team besides the 1^st place Lions to have a positive Pt. differential – which makes you think they’re a better team than their record (1-4-1). The Seahawks were glad to have Abuzar Abbas in this one as he had 4 receiving TDs to lead the team in that category this week, and earn himself the offensive player of the week.

The Ravens welcomed back Ammar Jessa who had 2 interceptions this game, and while he had minimal impact on offense, his teammates picked up the slack this week. Ahsan Raza had 3 TDs, while Hussein Champsi and Ali Merali combined for 14 catches and 4 TDs. Muhammad Ali also chipped in with a TD and 2 interceptions. Hisham Ali had the deep ball working but he didn’t need it much as the Ravens worked with a short field on a number of occasions. Hisham Ali now has the second most passing TDs in the league at 29.

We previewed this last week, and mentioned that we expected this game to be intense. The Patriots were coming off being shut-out by the Seahawks (who just gave up 63 pts in Week 6), and they had a mid-week practice to improve their play. It was a mixed bag for the Patriots in this game, as they came out with unmatched aggression early in the game as Mehdi Nasser picked off Said Samater. The Raiders continued playing man defense, as they have elite speed, and have played man defense on just about every team in the league. In a second consecutive week, Khizer Jamal continued to struggle against man defense going 18/32 with 3 passing TDs, 2 INTs and 3 sacks. Khalil Najarali had his best offensive output of the season with 4 receptions and 1 TD. Farhan Ratansi had 7 receptions and 2 TDs; this is the 3^rd consecutive week where Farhan has led his team in receptions.

While the Patriots did a great job defensively early in the game, the situation changed once Taha Ali arrived, and changed the dynamic of the game. Taha Ali and Ammar Dayani both had 5 receptions and a TD each. They have worked well together getting each other open, and getting their teammates open. Said Samater was 14/23 this game, but it wasn’t entirely on him. Early on, his team didn’t do him any favours with the drop routinely putting their QB in a tough position on 3^rd and 4^th down. Said was able to keep the damage to a minimum as he only had one interception this game (leading the league with 11 interceptions). The star of the game for the Raiders was Mohamed Railey. He was a demon on the defensive side of the ball, playing the corner, and rushing the QB at various points in the game – ended with 2 sacks, 3 flag grabs and 3 pass deflections. The Raiders continued their streak of winning every other week, this could be good news for the Seahawks.

The Panthers were undefeated in their last 3 games, and they were a confident bunch heading into this game facing the 1^st place Lions. The Panthers allowed 56 points in their first meeting to the Lions, since then their defense has improved. The Panthers were allowing 21ppg in their last 3 games heading into Week 6, and whatever defensive strategies they had, went out the window in this one. The Lions methodically picked them apart early and often in this one scoring 42 points. QB Kumail Meghani continues his torrid pace and is now averaging 4.5 TD for every interception (1^st in the league). Asghar Molu is also enjoying a career season, currently on pace for 30 TDs (his career high is 18 set back in 2017).  The Lions have 5 players in the league with at least 5 TDs (only team in the league), and sit comfortably in first place at 5-1-0 with a +69 point-differential.

The Panthers might be a matchup-based team this year, as the Lions are one team that have handled them comfortably in Weeks 1 & 6. They will now face the Patriots who also put up 56 points in their first matchup. The Patriots might be salivating over this matchup as their offense has gone dry in the last couple of games. The lone bright spot for the Panthers continues to be Alla Al-Salem who had 7 receptions and 2 TDs. Danial Ali had an unusually quiet game with 1 reception – the Panthers won’t be able to win against the top teams without their top players performing better. The Panthers don’t lack confidence even after this defeat, as Muzammil Rizvi exclaimed “See you in the Finals!” after the game.  

See you in the Finals! – Muzammil Rizvi

The Panthers started the season 0-2 and allowing the most points in the league. Since then, they’ve gone 2-0-1, and boasted the 2^nd best defense in the league. It was only a matter of time that a team boasting Alla Al-Salem, Danial Ali and Muzammil Rizvi will pick up their defense. Muzammi Rizvi had a strong defensive campaign last season, and was struggling ailing from a heel injury early in the season. With all of these safeties, the strongest defensive game might have been from Alykhan Gangani as he had 8 flag grabs this week!

The Panthers would take an early 14-0 lead in this game, and it was a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. The Ravens can look back at this game, and know that they didn’t have Ammar Jessa, but that’s not the reason they lost this game. Hisham Ali was a fantastic 30/36 this game with 5 TDs and spread the ball beautifully with each player having at least 3 receptions. The reason the Ravens may have lost this game was because of 2 false-start penalties. On their first two series, the Ravens were called for false starts early in their drives, and on both drives, they did not score. Sometimes, it’s the little things that lose you the game. Last year’s MVP Alla Al-Salem had 11 receptions and 2 TDs, who paces the league with 37 receptions and is second with 8 receiving TDs. The Panthers will be facing their stiffest competition, when they gave up 56 points in a loss to the Lions during their first week loss.


The Raiders have won every other game this season with their first win in week 2, and they would continue this trend in Week 5. The Lions had a lot to do with that early on as they continue their torrid pace early in the season – they have scored at least 5 offensive TDs in every game. The Lions would go up early, with the TD-leader Asghar Molu making another play beating Taha Ali on an out-and-up route. Then the rest of the half belonged to Asim Mirza, who had a second consecutive multi-TD week. Overall, QB Kumail Meghani did a great job spreading the ball around with each receiver having at least 3 receptions.  

The Raiders became one-dimensional this game as they took too many deep shots when they were clearly not working. Said Samater ended the game just 12/26, and only 2 offensive TDs. The Raiders did play good defense after falling behind 21-0. The Lions didn’t score again well into the second half, when they were able to score 3 more times. While the Raiders were missing Zolfakar, they should have been better than getting each of their receivers only 1 reception outside of Taha Ali & Ammar Dayani. The Raiders will be facing the Patriots in their next week matchup when the game ended in a tie. It was a game that both teams deserved to win, and thought they should have – two fiery, competitive teams… we expect there to be some fireworks.


The Seahawks were winless heading into this game and made a QB change, and it seemed to make a world of difference. The Seahawks have dealt with a plethora of injuries as they have now lost Imran Ebrahim, Taqi Baig and Fayaz Ladha for the season; we wish them all the best in their recoveries. Back to the game, the Seahawks hadn’t lost a game with more than one TD, so there was reason for optimism. Right away, the offense seemed to have a little more flow as QB Ali Haroon continues to be a dangerous dual-threat QB. QB Shoaib Mamdani led the attack with 5 receptions and 2 TDs. Mujataba Abidi, Shabbir Rizvi & Abuzar Abbas all contributed with a TD.

However, the story of the game was defense. The Patriots came into the game as the second highest-scoring in the league. They seemed to have forgotten their game during the break, as they were having trouble making the easiest completions. The Seahawks had a lot to do with that. The Seahawks played man defense during the game except in end zone situations, and it worked beautifully as Khizer Jamal routinely tried to throw deep and found no one. Man defense seemed to really bother the Patriots, as the players started imploding when they weren’t getting touches… enough so, we have heard of a mid-week practice to rectify the situation. The Seahawks also overcame 3 defensive penalties to hold the shutout. The Seahawks will now face the Ravens in Week 6; it was a tightly contested game and the Seahawks had held the Ravens to 0 pts in the first half, before giving up 4 TDs in the second half.

The Lions & Seahawks are two teams heading in different directions. Last year’s captain Shoaib Mamdani has shown that standings in the regular season don’t mean much, and it’s all about the preparation leading up to the playoffs. However, the early season struggles have to start weighing on him as the Seahawks aren’t doing anything particularly well at the moment. The Lions welcomed Omar Khamissa for his season debut, and he didn’t disappoint giving us an early Play of the Game on a contested TD reception in the first half (he would add a second TD later on). Asghar Molu has started to emerge as Kumail Meghani’s go-to option; after 3 weeks he leads the league with 21 receptions and 8 TDs. With that said, the Lions are far form a one-man team on offense as Mikael Ratansi & Ali Jessa are 3^rd and 4^th respectively in receptions. The Lions are still a team that is not yet clicking on all cylinders as Asim Mirza has yet to get going, and that’s a scary thought for the league.

The Seahawks had a great performance by their captain Shoaib Mamdani, who had 2 INTs, and a receiving TD. The second INT gave his team a chance late in the game to tie, or possibly take the lead with a 2-pt conversion. Another player with a great offensive performance was Fayaz Ladha, who finally had his breakout performance of the season with 9 receptions and 1 TD. In positive news, Mujataba Abidi had a completion percentage of 70%,and used his wheels more this time around with a rushing TD. He also discovered the deep ball late in the game to bring his team back. Seahawks would fall in this one by a TD margin, and are now 0-3 on the season. Even with an 0-3record, a lot of the Seahawks issues are solvable. They were atrocious on their flag pulls, and consistently gave additional yards to the Lions. They also have to limit their turnovers, and that goes back to the QB; sometimes, a good defense is a good offense.

Flags All Day – Mujahid Hemani

We made a note last week of the Patriots already looking forward to their matchup against the Lions, and that proved to be the case. The Patriots were not prepared against the Ravens, and if there’s one guy you have to gameplan against, it’s Ammar Jessa. The Ravens came out firing early in the game by locking up the Patriots’ receivers, and shutting down a team that had just dropped 56 points the week before. You don’t have to look anything beyond the box score for the dismal performance by the Patriots as no receiver had more than 3 receptions, and Khizer Jamal went only 15/27 in the game. One player we’d like to highlight this week is Mujahid Hemani, as he seemed like the only person who showed heart, and is firmly putting himself in the conversation for the Defensive Player of the Year. He had 6 flag grabs, Farhan Ratansi had 6 flag grabs and Mehdi Nasser had 3… no one else had a flag grab on the Patriots. If the Patriots hope to challenge the Lions in the upcoming matchup, that number has to improve and they’ll need defensive contributions from everyone.

Hisham Ali continues a MVP-caliber season as he currently paces the league in completion % at 74%. The Ravens combine a unique combination of speed, IQ and height that makes them perhaps the most complete team in the league. Sarfaraaz Kara finally got some extended playing time and came away with the Defensive Player of the Week honours with his INT-TD to seal the game early in the second half. The Ravens’ offense works in all levels as Ali Merali runs the deep route, Hussein Champsi & Muhammad Ali play the second level, and at any moment, Ammar can turn a check down pass into a long-TD. The Ravens also have creative designs for their running plays with some misdirection, and reverses. At one point, the Ravens may have gotten a little too cute on their designs which turned into an INT for Muhammad Ali. We only bring this up because Muhammad Ali wanted his INT-stat counted from Week 1… we just wanted to make sure we counted this as well 😉

In the end, the Ammar factor was too much for the Patriots even though they had Mehdi Nasser shadowing him for the game. He had 5 receptions, and he turned that into 4 TDs. Make sure to keep checking back for week 3 highlights,the last of his TDs was truly ridiculous (Play of the Game/Week/Season?). In the future, we may just say “Ammar did stuff… check the highlights,” because at a certain point, even we’re speechless. We’re excited to watch next week’s matchup between the Ravens and the Raiders; we’re highlighting this one as our Game of the Week.

That’s what happens when I guard you, you can’t catch. – Taha Ali (directed at Danial Ali after a dropped catch)

Well, this is a score we didn’t expect. Muzammil Rizvi was confident in his team’s ability, and their new defensive gameplan for Week 3 against an undefeated Raiders team. This game was over before it began, as Said had 3 INTs on his first 4 throws of the game… not sure if we’ve ever had a statline like this to start a game. The Raiders played man, and played well defensively, but when you only score 1 TD late in the second half… you’re not going to win many games. The Raiders were without Ammar Dayani, however we feel there’s more talent than just Ammar and Taha on this team. This loss is on the shoulders of their QB who took responsibility of the loss, and now leads the league in interception thrown.

The Panthers played far from a perfect game, as we counted at least 5 long would-be TD passes missed by QB Taleb Zaidi (2 to Danial Ali, 2to Ahmed Al-Waili & 1 to Alla Al-Salem). But this wasn’t a game about offense for the Panthers; this was all about defense. Coming into the game, the Panthers were allowing 56 PPG! To put that into perspective, even after only allowing 7 pts, the Panthers still lead the league in Pts allowed by 2 TDs. Alla Al-Salem had another great week with 5 receptions and 3 TDs. The Play of the Game goes to Muzammil Rizvi who had a long TD reception, but it was the celebration that stole the show (Juju Smith-Schuster would be proud). Lastly, someone whose numbers don’t really show up on the boxscore but had a great game defensively was Farhan Jafri. He routinely pressured the QB, and didn’t allow many catches in his zone altogether. We’re still waiting for both Jafri brothers to have their annual blow-up games where they go for 3+ TDs with 10+receptions.

We will be taking individual photos for the 2019 season before each game, so please remember to bring your best look to MFL. If you’d like on how to do your hair, please contact Muzammil Rizvi, affectionately known as Shiny Face.

Just a rule clarification for this season, QB kneels are allowed to run out the clock.

You’re not catching anything today – Taha Ali (directed towards Abuzar Abbas)

This was one of those instances where the game actually lives up to the hype. Both teams heading into this game felt like they should have had a better result in Week 1. The Seahawks were coming into this game hoping for a better result after losing Imran Ebrahim for the season last week. Their defense hadn’t allowed a point until that injury, and they were out to prove that they’re a top-notch defensive team. On the other side, the Raiders played an emotional game against the Patriots the previous week which ended in a tie. We mentioned the Raiders speed last week, and it was on display early and often on this one.

Early on, it was the Ammar Dayani show. As he had a long TD, an INT and a pass defensed early on in the game. We also have a feeling he’s vying for MFL to introduce extra point and field goals so he can show off his kicking prowess with his new TD-celebration. And while early on it was Ammar Dayani, later on it was Shoaib Mamdani who beat Ammar deep twice for long-TDs, one of them a tightly contested catch. While the Raiders won this game at the buzzer, the play of the game came slightly earlier when Mohammad Railey caught a one-handed INT in the endzone, and took it the distance with no one in 15 yards of him.

The Raiders played a mix of man & zone, and one of the game within the game was the matchup between Taha Ali and Abuzar Abbas. Early on, Taha told Abuzar “you’re not catching anything today,” and in the end, Abuzar Abbas only had 1 reception. The Raiders have played excellent defense, and can line-up man on any team. The Seahawks have had trouble moving the ball down the field consistently. It’s a learning curve for the new QB Mujtaba Abidi, and after two weeks, he has a 4:3 TD-to-INT ratio. It’ll be interesting to see how much patience Shoaib Mamdani will exercise before he decides to make a change. The Seahawks have also played well defensively, but without a consistent offensive attack, they’re second from the bottom. Seahawks will face the undefeated Lions next week, while the Raiders face the winless Panthers.

The Ravens played the last ten seconds of their game against the Seahawks, and Muhammad Ali got an interception on the first and only throw of that game (yes Mumlee, we recorded the stat for you). Much jubilation was had… but alas, a double header was in store for the Ravens (if you can really call it that). The Ravens were facing an undermanned Lions team missing Asim Mirza, Bilal Sabowala and Omar Khamissa. The Lions didn’t get the memo, as the Lions came out roaring on the first drive with Asghar Molu doing much of the heavy lifting coming fresh off the Player of the Week from Week 1. Asghar seems to be aging like fine halal wine; as he keeps on getting better, and has fit right in with the Lions this year. The Lions took an early 2-TD lead, and were in control of the game in the first half.

The Ravens started the game off playing a mix of zone and man, but eventually had to put Ammar Jessa on Asghar Molu, and safety over the top. The Ravens should have been better defensively, as they were not consistently rushing the QB, and 6 players should be able to guard 4 offensive players. The Ravens also ran into a little bit of bad luck as a couple of drops in the end-zone really changed the complexion of this game in the first half. QB Hisham Ali had an efficient game going 21/27. For the Ravens to be successful, the deep ball seems like a must for their game, and Ali Merali had a few opportunities this game getting behind the defense. Muhammad Abbas Amarshi also turned in a solid outing with 2 TD receptions.

It was hard to narrow down a play of the game as a lot of players made some great catches in this game. Offensive Player of the Week Miakel Ratansi had a great TD catch on 4^th down at the back of the end-zone while falling down on a one-footed throw by QB Kumail Meghani. Ali Merali had a long TD late in the second half where his head bounced off the turf, yet he held onto the ball. But the play of the game (and possibly the season so far), was made by Ali Jessa. A ball that looked like it was thrown away by QB Kumail Meghani was caught by Ali Jessa while tip-toeing the sideline.

Everybody eats! – Farhan Ratansi

The final game of the week featured the Patriots and the Panthers. The Patriots lost Shaneali Kara for the season, and we hope for a speedy recovery for him, he was replaced by Roman Ahmed. The newcomer didn’t waste much time introducing himself to the league. He went absolutely beserk in his first week with 4 TDs. It’s silly to discuss Rookie of the Year this early in the season, but he’s our way too early season pick for ROY. The Patriots were unhappy campers with a tie game last week, especially since they had an opportunity on their last drive to win the game. Well, they took out their frustration on the Panthers in a complete manner. Captain Farhan Ratansi coined “everybody eats,” and they were all well-fed by QB Khizer Jamal. The Patriots took an early lead in the game, and never looked back. The aforementioned Khizer Jamal was brilliant in this one, earning himself Defensive Player of the Week in limited playing time on defense. He had a very good case for Offensive Player of the Week. The Patriots lived off big chunk plays, mostly via Farhan Ratansi & Mujahid Hemani in the middle of the field. The Patriots seem to have playmakers all over the field. Khalil Najarali has been a defensive stalwart, and was heard saying “trust me, I can catch” after he caught his first TD of the season. Another playmaker is Mehdi Nasser, who had an interception on the very first play of his MFL career (and a long TD on a later drive). The Patriots will be a tough team to face each week without a true weakness, and they’re a confident bunch asking “who can really hang with us?” They were already looking forward to their game against the Lions in Week 4, the Ravens may have something to say about that in Week 3.

The Panthers had a second consecutive week where their defense let them down. It’s a surprising development from a team many expected to be very good defensively with reigning MVP Alla Al-Salem, reigning DPOY Danial Ali and Muzammil Rizvi playing safety – this should be a stand-out defensive team. We still expect them to get better as the season goes on, and the players get to know each other’s tendencies on defense. QB Taleb Zaidi had 3 INTs in this one, but we cannot put the blame on him as his players were dropping balls on early downs to set up difficult 3^rd and 4^th down scenarios. We counted at least 3 drops by captain Ahmed Al-Waili; that’s something we expect to change. The Panthers also need more dynamic playmaking from someone beyond Alla Al-Salem and Danial Ali; currently it’s a two man team. Speaking of dynamic playmaking, the play of the game was by Alla Al-Salem who made a gravity defying one handed grab on a ball thrown behind him, and with one juke, he was in the end zone. It was his second one-handed grab of the game. The Panthers get a difficult matchup against the Raiders in Week 3; we’d like to see a little more fight with this team otherwise some changes may be coming on the horizon for the Panthers.

Welcome Back! The season has finally started after what seemed like a never-ending offseason. Before we get into the game recaps, we’d like to thank all the players for adhering to the new rules. We continue to strive to be better, and we’ve made some modifications to the rules based on player feedback.

Some rules to be aware of:

• There is a new rule regarding steamboats and deadclock. The new rule is 5 steamboats and the defense can rush, and at 10 steamboats, the play is dead. If the defense rushes past the line of scrimmage after 5 steamboats, the dead-clock of 10 steamboats is no longer in effect.
• There are 3 timeouts each half (used to be 2), however 2 of the 3 timeouts are untimed timeouts, which means it will stop the game clock, however the play-clock will start right away.
• No jewelry (includes bracelets, earrings, necklaces, etc.), hats, aqeeqs, or glasses without athletic bands are allowed on the field. This isn’t a new rule per se, but we will be enforcing it more vigilantly this season.
• Lastly… the toques! Wearing toques inside the dome will be permitted as long as there is no flap starting week 2. Bandanas and headbands are also permitted.

When you look at the Raiders, and the first thing that jumps out at you is speed. This team will continue to be a matchup problem for any team that they face, and you cannot gameplan for one or two players, because they have weapons everywhere. Our congratulation to Mohammad Railey for winning the Instagram contest by registering early, and being entered into a draw. He was a proud recipient of new gloves, glove juice and a MFL shirt. He put the gloves to good use as he made a catch in the back of the endzone and was adamant that he, in fact, can catch. Said Samater looked good at QB, however it seems it may take him a few games to learn the tendency of his players. The best play of the game was when Ammar Dayani ran a seam down the middle, and Taha ran a deep out-route on the same side of the ball, the safety stayed with Taha, and Ammar was left wide open deep down the field for a long TD.

For the Patriots, Khizer Jamal made his much-anticipated return to MFL after dealing with various injuries the past couple of years. He had one INT early-on; we’ll chalk that up-to early season jitters. Similar to Said, it may take Khizer some time to build rapport with his new players, however the one player that he didn’t have an issue with connecting is Shaneali Kara. The last time these two were together, Khizer won MVP and Shaneali won Offensive Player of the Year – during the same season, Farhan Ratansi was the Defensive Player of the Year. That is a fearsome threesome. Last year, the Patriots had a chance to go 5-5-5, but alas, an opportunity missed. They may be trying to hit that mark this year as the very first game of the season ended in a tie 28-28. The Patriots had a couple of opportunities to put this game away. Farhan Ratansi had a chance at a pick-6, but the INT slipped through his fingers, and the Raider would later score to tie the game. On the last play, the Raiders switched to man-to-man defense, and Mohammad Sabowala was able to get free, but the pass was just out of his reach.

The Lions and Panthers was the highest scoring game of the week. It wouldn’t have seemed so early on, but penalties, and poor defense is to blame. The Panthers (formerly the Steelers) had the best record in the league last year, and captain Ahmed Al-Waili is out to prove that he can build a championship-caliber team two years in a row. The Panthers took an early lead in this one, after Kumail Meghani’s very first pass of the season was an interception to the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Danial Ali. Despite the final score, QB Taleb Zaidi looked excellent, as each of his receivers had a reception, and 5 of his receivers had TD. The issue with the Panthers was on the defensive side of the ball, but the Lions had a lot to do with it.

Preseason murmurs about the Lions weren’t too kind as they may be the most slow-footed team in MFL history. However, they counter that challenge by being the possibly being the highest IQ team in MFL history. The Lions were missing one of their star players in Omar Khamissa, but that didn’t matter much as the rest are more than capable to picking up the slack. The star of the morning was Asghar Molu, who earned Week 1 Player of the Week honours with his 9 receptions and 4 TDs. The play of the game was a long TD to Bilal Sabowala, where the defense was focused on the short to intermediate zone, and Bilal was able to break free behind the defense and made a head-high grab for a TD. The Lions also had 5 receivers with at least 1 TD. The Panthers will look to regroup and face the Patriots in a rematch of last year’s semi-finals.

We’re not entirely sure if the Ravens & Seahawks knew that there was a game this week, as both team were sluggish in the first half. The only score of the half came on a pick-6 by Shabbir Rizvi (DPOW).  We would like to give credit to the Seahawks defense in the first half, they looked dynamic, and they were coming up with all of key stops, and were not missing flags (this changed… dramatically). On the flip side, this was the official quarterbacking debut for Mujtaba Abidi. He has played QB sparingly in the past, but it looks like he’s making the switch on a full-time basis for the Seahawks. While the percentages aren’t great, he made some throws that only a few could make; at other times, he seemed to rush his throws. We seem to think he’s capable of playing the position full-time with some of his performances in pickup; however, if he’s not successful, they have more than a capable backup in Ali Haroon.

Back to the game, the Seahawks would strike early in the second on a TD to Imran Ebrahim. Unfortunately, Imran was hurt on the play, and will miss the remainder of the season. We wish him a speedy recovery, and hope to see him on the field again in future seasons. With Imran gone from the game, it seemed to take the life out of the team, as the Seahawks defense would falter. The Ravens woke up in the second half and started utilizing some creative plays, one that led to a long TD by Ali Merali. The Seahawks also used an amazing playcall when needing TDs late in the game called the “human cheatcode”. We’re not sure which one should be the play of the game, so we’ll count both of them. With Imran no longer in the middle to grab flags, the Ravens dialed up the human cheatcode, where the QB takes the snap, and hands the ball to Ammar Jessa, and then walks off the field to get his defense on the field… cause that boy gone! Ammar Jessa took two to the house late in the game, and caught another one earlier in the game as well. The game had to be halted, and the remaining 10 seconds will be played in between game 1 and 2 of week 2. The Seahawks have the ball with two timeouts trailing 21-28 to the Ravens.

Registration is now full – to be added to the waitlist, please email us with your name and years of experience playing football. Waitlist before the season will be on a first come, first serve basis. Once the season begins, we will do our best to replace injured players on an equal talent-level basis.

Bengals @ Patriots

Not many had given the Bengals much of a shot to beat the Cardinals in the first round, much less be playing in the championship game. The Bengals came into the playoffs as heavy underdogs after the team lost its starting QB 10 weeks into the season. Danial Ali was thrown into the fray and while he had some flashes of brilliance, the team overall didn’t look as in sync as they did earlier in the season. Even in the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Bengals didn’t pull off the most convincing of wins as they required overtime in both games to reach the Finals. The second of those wins against an undermanned Steelers team playing with their backup QB.

The Patriots were on the opposite end of the spectrum, as they started the season so-so, but came on strong in a latter half of the season and secured 2^nd place in the last week of the season. The Patriots had the best attendance of any team during the season, and they played each team tough as evidenced by their 4 ties. The Patriots were also coming off an absolute thrashing of the Raiders in a game they didn’t allow a second half score.

With these facts, and the fact that the Bengals were without Ahsan Raza and Asad Mewawala, it would have surprised no one if the Bengals would have laid down, and taken a beating from the Patriots. The game started inauspiciously for both teams, as both QBs threw a pick on their first drive. Perhaps it was the pressure of the Finals with both QBs not wanting to make a mistake, but due to their apprehension, they did exactly that. Once that was out of the way, we finally got to watch two teams that deserved to be in the Finals. The Bengals were the first to strike, and they would do so 3 times in the first half, forcing the Patriots to switch to man-defense. The Patriots defense was ghastly in the first half, as Danial Ali routinely threw to open receivers who would have no one around 10 feet of them.

The Bengals would take a two-TD lead late in the second half, and Patriots would reply quickly to make it a one-TD game at 28-21. All of the Bengals were playing a strong game defensively, and it was the reason they had the lead late, however, it would take a drive on offense to clinch the victory in the Finals. After an incompletion, and short passes to Asghar Molu & Taha Ali, the Bengals were set-up on a 4^th and one pylon past half for what could be the final offensive drive of the season. The Patriots stuck to their man defense which had done well in the second half on this final play, and it prove to be their undoing. Taha Ali ran a crossing pattern against Abuzar Abbas, beating him with pure speed in the front-left corner of the endzone and giving the Bengals a 35-21 lead. One the ensuing drive, Danial Ali clinched the game by intercepting Haroon Ali, and giving Shoaib Mamdani’s Bengals a championship in his inaugural season as a captain. The loss was especially tough for Ali Haroon & Farhan Ratansi, as they have now lost in the Finals 3 of the last 4 seasons.

Heading into Week 15, all but one spot is guaranteed, and that’s the #1 spot. Regardless of the results from Week 15, the STEELERS will be your 2018 Regular Season Champions!

Raiders (currently in 2nd place)
The Raiders are currently in 2nd place after what may have been the most (or second-most) exciting game of the season. With a buzzer-beating win against the Bengals, the Raiders now control their own destiny – win and they get the Bye. However if they lose, they can finish 4th, and if they tie, they could come in 3rd.

Highest possible finish: 2nd
Lowest possible finish: 4th
MFL Prediction: 2nd

Patriots (currently in 3rd place)
The Patriots tied their 2nd of their 2 games in Week 14, and it put them in a predicament. We joked earlier in the season that the Patriots were very good at tying games, but they are trying to become the first team in MFL history to finish 5-5-5… okay fine, maybe they’re not trying to – but if would be cool to see.

Highest possible finish: 2nd
Lowest possible finish: 5th
MFL Prediction: 4th

Bengals (currently in 4th place)
As the clock hit 0:00; the Bengals were in 2nd place… or so they thought. A pass interference call in the end zone gave the Raiders another play, and the Raiders would convert. This meant the Bengals go from 2nd to 4th. That TD at the end, made all the difference and while the Bengals do not control their own destiny, they do face an opponent they have had success against. If the Raiders lose their 10am game against the Cardinals; the Bengals would control their own destiny.

Highest possible finish: 2nd
Lowest possible finish: 6th
MFL Prediction: 3rd

Cardinals (currently in 5th place)
The Cardinals could leap-frog the Bengals, and while extremely unlikely, also tie the Patriots and win on point differential (again, extremely unlikely). However, their focus should be to not have another 7 turnover game. With a win, the most likely scenario for the Cardinals would be to be in either 4th or 5th place (which would mean a second round date with Said’s kryptonite – the Steelers).

Highest possible finish: 3rd
Lowest possible finish: 6th
MFL Prediction: 6th

Giants (currently in 6th place)
The Giants could have been in the mix for a Bye, had they not given up a late TD to the Patriots. However, with the Steelers short-handed this upcoming week, we expect a W from the Giants, and expect them to give a run for their money to any team that stands in their way. Their turnaround has been nothing short of spectacular, and they’ll have to continue it, if they are to win it all.

Highest possible finish: 4th
Lowest possible finish: 6th
MFL Prediction: 5th

The Raiders and the Patriots are very similar teams. Both teams feel that they’re underachieving in the season, yet both teams are still in it for a first round bye. The game began with both teams playing solid defense on the first drive, and then the Patriots began to play like they’re capable of playing on offense gaining chunk plays in the middle of the field. This was still a game at halftime with the Patriots up 21-7. After halftime, the Patriots switched to man defense since the Raiders were missing Ammar Dayani and Taqi Baig. The Raiders had no answer as they struggled to move the ball down the field. We discussed previously that the Raiders were the highest scoring team in the league, but in recent weeks, the drop-bug has hit them once again and they have been putrid (only 4 TDs in the last 2 games).

Ali Haroon did a great job once again spreading the ball on offense with Farhan, Abuzar & Ali Merali all had 4 or more receptions. Mikael Ratansi & Mujahid Hemani both contributed with TDs (2 for Mik, 1 for Muj). It will be interesting to see if the Patriots employ the man defense more often this season. Two teams seemed to have switch to a man-defense scheme, trusting their individual skill; it’ll be a gutsy call, but one that may prove fruitful.

After the Patriots win, the standings are as close as it can get, and beyond the Steelers, any team can rearrange themselves from 2-6. Only 3 games remaining in the regular season, and the Raiders have already seen themselves drop from the 2nd seed to the 4th seed. If the Raiders lose to the Giants next week couple with a Cardinals win, the Raider will drop to the 6th seed. The Patriots are still vying for the 2nd seed and a bye in the first round of the playoffs. They may not want to look too far ahead, but they face the Bengals for the final game of the season, a match-up that could decide the bye between the two teams.

We’re glad that we don’t have any game tape for this one – this game was U-G-L-Y. But this is the type of grind-it-out game that we can expect from most teams as we near the playoffs. Both teams played man defense, and it seemed that the Giants had a tough time in the offense acclimating Shaneali Kara. We expect that to change over the next few games as Shaneali has been known to find pay-dirt more often than not. The Giants man-defense wasn’t terrible in this one, as they only allowed 1 second-half TD on a tipped ball to Areeb Khan, and Said was 10/24 in this game (with 4 TDs, and no INTs).

We suspected in the power rankings that the Cardinals may switch to man defense since it worked well the previous week, and it worked beautifully against the Giants. The Cardinals held Taleb to 9/29 with 4 INTs and we’d venture to guess that this is his worst performance of his career. Khaleel Kassam was a stand-out on defense as he took on the challenge against Shaneali Kara and held him to one catch. Khaleel had 1 INT, and could have had a much bigger day as he dropped 2 would-be INTs, and a long TD pass in the second half. Said Samater also had a big game defensively, stopping Mujtaba from his torrid pace; limiting him to just 3 receptions (on what seemed like double digit targets). Said also had 2 INTs in the game, and Omar Khamissa was responsible for the other interception. This was the first shut-out this season.

Heading into this game, the Bengals were trailing the Steelers by 2 games in the standings. With a win, the Bengals could pull within one game, and have a legitimate shot at the #1 seed if they were to run the table. The Steelers were missing their starting QB, and early on, they were getting by just fine. Captain Ahmed Al-Waili QB’d, his first attempt since Week 1 of the season, and in his first drive, he threw the longest pass of his career which was hauled in amongst two defender by Muzammil Rizvi. After that, Hamood struggled at QB as a lot of his passes weren’t crisp, and usually lacking direction. The Bengals are also without Hisham Ali for the rest of the season, and started Danial who filled in admirably. Danial showed great poise in the pocket, and was uber-efficient in the first half. His receivers were getting open for him with Ali Raza Rizvi (Offensive Player of the Week) being the biggest beneficiary. The Steelers cycled through receivers as Muzammil Rizvi also gave it a try, and after one successful drive, he realized QB’ing is much harder than it looks. Ultimately, Ali Jessa started QB’ing, and was brilliant. The Bengals were up 42-14 at one point in this game, and were up 42-21 with 7 minutes to go in the game.

The switch to Ali Jessa was a key one for the Steelers, as after early drives by Hamood and Shiny, their offense really bogged down. Ali Jessa moved the offense quickly, and outside of 1 INT thrown, he was flawless. On the Bengals side, this was a game that was won. However, some stingy D by the Steelers, and some boneheaded plays cost them the W. The Bengals were still up 42-35 with less than 2 minutes to go, and Danial Ali threw a ball towards the end zone and Alla Al-Salem made a clutch interception. It was an unneeded throw on 2nd down for the Bengals. On the ensuing drive, Mohamed Railey made a great diving catch on second down to put the Steelers in great position. The drive was finished off on a shoe-string catch by Ahmed Al-Waili and eventually ending the game in a tie. This was one of the best games of the year; emotions ran high, great plays were made on both sides, and ultimately there wasn’t much separating the two teams.