If you wanted to sleep through this matchup, I don’t blame you. It seemed like many of the players wanted to do the exact same thing. You know it’s bad when the first play of the game is a pick six by Muzammil Rizvi. You know it’s worse when captain Imran Ebrahim forces his way under center, only to throw the awaited first interception that had the crowd dying of laughter.
With QB Taleb Zaidi ruled out at the last minute, captain Muhammad Ali took the responsibility of playing QB into his own hands. As expected by everyone (including probably himself), that didn’t turn out great. Although there were some throws that made you cringe, Muhammad Ali was able to slice through the defense on others, including a beauty to Ahmed Goralwalla.
The Colts continued to do what they do, spreading the ball around to multiple targets as four of their players hauled in TDs. QB Kumail Meghani tacked on a few passing touchdowns as well as a pick six to most likely seal his campaign for Most Valuable Player.
On the theme of sleep, the Vikings sleepwalked through a dismantling loss to the Texans, who could be the league’s hottest team right now. While a close loss would’ve definitely hurt, the brutality with which the Texans dominated the Vikings puts a major hold on the Vikings’ playoff aspirations. Before this week, many would’ve expected the Vikings to give the Colts a run for their money. But with a performance like this, league members are wondering if they can beat the 3rd place Patriots.
QB Salim Ladha threw seven touchdowns to his two favorite targets this season, Khaleel Kassam (3 TDs) and Omar Khamissa (4 TDs). However, the biggest feat for this team was keeping an Ali Haroon-led team out of the end zone for most of the game. Khaleel, Salim and Mikael Ratansi each forced an interception while holding the Vikings to their lowest scoring game of the season.
Playoff Preview:
Colts vs Texans 10AM
Season Record: Colts 3-0
Matchups to Watch:
Omar Khamissa vs. Colts’ defense.
Colts’ spread offense vs. Texans’ CBs.
While the standings show that this is a 1-4 matchup, the play on the field clearly projects a much closer battle. Don’t expect a lot of scoring, as the top two defenses go head to head. If the Colts can find a way to slow down Omar Khamissa (23 TDs) and force QB Salim Ladha to look at his second, third and fourth options, they could see themselves in the finals. Meanwhile, the Texans have to have a near perfect game on defense as the Colts have shown no reluctance to spread the ball around to every option on offense.
Prediction: Colts 6 Texans 4
Vikings vs Patriots 11:10AM
Season Record: Vikings 2-1
Matchups to Watch:
Muhammad Ali, Ahmed Goralwalla, Asghar Molu vs. smaller Vikings defenders.
Vikings speed on offense vs. Patriots lack of speed on defense.
After the horrid performance by the Vikings this past week, we’re quick to forget that they were playing without their QB Hisham Ali. Adding their QB gives them a top-tier receiver in Ali Haroon. If Ahmed Goralwalla can match up with Ali Haroon throughout the game, the Pats may be the ones advancing. Captain Mujtaba Abidi is sure to have a big game, but it’ll come down to Shoaib Mamdani, Abuzar Abbas, and the rest of the Vikings’ supporting cast to take down the Patriots. Missed flags will decide this one.
Prediction: Patriots 8 Vikings 7