Playoff races tighten as Albany eyes a clinch scenario, Nashville returns from a bye in a critical seeding battle, and Minnesota’s breakout sparks debate heading into Week 9.

by Alana Klein

What to watch for this week

• Playoff scenarios hot off the press! First batch of the season!
• Albany’s looking to punch their ticket to the playoffs while Beaumont is looking to improve their possible seed.
• Nashville and Michigan both return from a bye in a critical matchup, with Nashville looking to solidify its #2 seed and Michigan fighting to make it into the top 6. Can the Kats keep focused with Minnesota, 2 games against Albany, & Washington in the near-future?
• Kentucky suffered a horrible loss to Minnesota last week. Can Oregon rally behind last weekend’s defensive performance to shock the Barrels?
• Oceanside has got to feel good about how they played in Albany. Did we get a glimpse of an improved Minnesota or was it just one of those games where everything was working?

PLAYOFFS?! Don’t talk about playoffs! PLAYOFFS?! Are you kidding me?!

• Albany
  • Can clinch a playoff berth with a win OR a Michigan loss.
  • Can clinch a #5 seed with a win AND a Michigan loss (via H2H tiebreaker over Washington).

🔥🔥🔥 Hot Take of the Week 🔥🔥🔥

The league desperately needs to work on describing the unique rules and penalties of arena ball.

As fans, we are more than likely familiar with the basic penalties — such as (offensive) holding, false start, offsides, pass interference, etc. Some of us may even be familiar with the subtle differences in penalties — such as illegal contact v. defensive holding v. pass interference.

But why is the responsibility on us to know (or look up) the difference between the mac and the jack linebackers or the myriad of ways to get flagged for illegal defense (DL not having a hand on the ground during the snap, “stunt”ing, LB going outside of the “5-yard box”).

They could easily provide video for the jumbotron if you’re at the game or add that into the color commentary on TV and streaming.

I’ve seen 3 calls for kick catch interference and, seeing as I watch a lot of football, I’m fairly familiar with the rule. However, there was a play this weekend wherein a kickoff bounced off the metal framing of the rebound net and it bounced right to a member of the kicking team, who caught it in stride. Neither he nor one of his teammates contacted any potential returner in the immediate vicinity to the effect that you sometimes see in the NFL or college. However, I guess the rule is that the receiving team needs to be given first opportunity to field it off the net unless it hits the ground. And I’m fine with that. I just need to know what the actual rules are. Especially since they’re hyping up and growing the fan experience.