For the first game of the 2019 Indoor Football League Playoffs, the bracket goes to the north to see arguably the two hottest teams in the league face off in Green Bay.
The Blizzard are rolling into the playoffs with a three-game win streak that earned them their best overall record – at 9-5 – since the 2012 season.
They’ll welcome in the Nebraska Danger, who finished up their season by upsetting the No. 2 seeded Iowa Barnstormers at Wells Fargo Arena.
No matter who’s able to pull away on Friday night, there is going to be fireworks.
The IFL’s two hottest teams do battle in Green Bay
The most intriguing part of this matchup might be the offense that the Nebraska Danger have been able to put together as the season has come to a close.
Former Nebraska Cornhusker Tommy Armstrong Jr. seems to have a great grasp on the offense thanks to the aid of running back Davonte Sapp-Lynch and a group of the IFL’s best veteran receivers.
Armstrong Jr. is currently the league leader in rushing touchdowns and sits in the top five in rushing yards, passing yards, and passing touchdowns.
To go with it, Sapp-Lynch is third in the IFL in rushing touchdowns, giving the Danger offense a one-two punch.
The offense was impressive before the team added wideout Mike Tatum, but his pair of touchdowns last week against Iowa helped the Danger cement their biggest win of the season.
With Greg Dent and Eric Thomas in the same unit, there is no reason not to think that the Danger can put up big numbers on the scoreboard throughout the postseason.
That’s when Green Bay’s defense will come into play.
Marquez Gollman returned to the field late in the season after an injury and finished with 42 tackles and a pair of interceptions.
Him and Bakari Triggs, the IFL’s interception leader, will be leading the secondary.
It’s clear to see, that when Green Bay is on defense in this game, a lot of big names will be on the field.
On the flip side, the Green Bay offense is led by quarterback Lenorris Footman, who has come in as a rookie and taken the roster spot with some swagger.
Footman is third in the league in rushing yards per game – right behind Armstrong Jr. – with 50.6 yards per game.
Him and the Nebraska gun slinger play very comparable games, but Footman might toss the football a little bit more, racking up 140.6 yards per game through the air.
The rookie is joined by veteran wide receiver and IFL Hall of Famer B.J. Hill who returned from injury late in the season, like Gollman.
On a team with a plethora of players that weren’t with the Blizzard during the streak of playoff misses from 2013 to 2018, it’s valuable to have a veteran, especially one of Hill’s caliber.
Hill is the IFL’s single best kick returner in the history of the league. He came into the season with the most return yards and most return touchdowns anyone has seen in the league, and only built on his leads in both categories.
He can still ball, too.
Hill gathered 772 yards on returns during the season and has caught seven receiving touchdowns on the year.
When a team has someone as smart as him on roster where he is still putting up numbers, it’s a good mix. We’ll see if it pays off in a playoff game.
Green Bay and Nebraska will face off in the first round of the playoffs on Friday at the Resch Center with a 7:00 p.m. CT kickoff. The game will – per usual – be livestreamed on YouTube.
The winner of the game will go on to face the No. 1 seeded Arizona Rattlers in the second round if the Sioux Falls Storm hold off Tucson on Sunday. If Tucson pulls off the upset, though, then the winner will be headed to Des Moines to face No. 2 Iowa.
It all goes down this weekend and @LWOS_IndoorFB will have full coverage on both Twitter and Instagram.
