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Fargo (-1) at Atlanta - After escaping Death Valley 's near miraculous comeback, the Sodbusters circled the wagons and punted the Stampede back to the stone age. QB Sherman looked every bit the second year player throwing two interceptions in the first half en route to a dismal 39.9 QBR but RB Holzer and the defense came up trumps. Familiarity with both of Boise City's quarterbacks , along with serious film study, led to a crazy 6 interceptions. An early deficit forced the Stampede to air it out and play right into the Sodbusters' comprehensive game plan.
Atlanta's fans went through the wringer last week. The Firebirds were thoroughly outplayed in the first half and had to overcome a 17 point deficit at the break and they actually did. Whatever HC Shillingford gave the team during halftime had CB Traxler and WR Bunten playing out of their minds and got the whole team back on their feet. They played a nearly perfect half to complete the comeback and that's really all that can be said. Props to them.
This game is a tough one to handicap. On the one hand, Atlanta is a well balanced team with solid talent on both sides of the ball. CB Traxler and the ATL secondary have decent individual matchups against WRs Fence and Crabtree, holding each to 12 and 36 yards respectively in their week 5 meeting while FAR's back end let WR Shelton torch them for 172 yards on 13 receptions without WR Reis around to draw the double team.
But... Fargo is the more consistent, experienced, and well coached team and the betting sharps agree. I would have expected Atlanta to be laying points with as many tickets as there are on the home team but the line has moved the other way. So, sure, I think the Sodbusters will get QB Sherman back on track and make the adjustments on the defensive end to lock the Firebirds down. FAR to face DUR in the championship after taking ATL down: 36-30.