IFL Week 17 Picks
- offthewallfbpod
- 5 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Week 17. Holy cow. The season has absolutely flown by and has been a ton of fun.
We've got some catching up to do since the last picks blog dropped, so let's see how we faired the past couple of weeks.
IFL Week 15 & 16 Review
Week 15 Iowa +14.5 - Loser
Jacksonville wins & covers 58-40
Massachusetts-Quad City Over 78.5 - Winner
Combined for 91 points
Fishers +8.5 - Winner
Freight win outright, 33-7
Bay Area-Northern Arizona Over 84.5 - Loser
Combined for 71 points
Green Bay ML - Loser
Rattlers win outright, 48-28
Vegas -5.5 - Loser
Knight Hawks win but Tucson covers, 59-55
Week 16
(didn't post a blog due to it being a small slate, but still posted picks on X)
Massachusetts-Iowa Over 92.5 - Loser
Combined for 85 points
Tucson -1.5 - Winner
Tucson wins & covers, 58-28
San Diego +5.5 - Winner
San Diego wins outright, 46-38
Vegas -5.5 in Week 15 hurt because they were covering all game until the very end. Freight winning out right was surprising but not shocking all things considered, but we are starting to turn the corner in Week 16! We've got 3 weeks to finish strong and get back above .500 for the second consecutive season.
I'm breaking the 'break in case of emergency' Pacino motivation speech glass and hammering the button:
The inches we need are everywhere all around us. In every break of the game, every second. On this team, we fight for that INCH.
Why not us? Why can't we just go on an absolute heater? LET'S FIND SOME WINNERS!Â
2025 IFL Record: 41-43
Vegas Knight Hawks vs Bay Area Panthers (Friday 7/11 - 10:05pm ET)
The Play: Over 84.5
We've got great news:
We're starting this week off 1-0.
Not gonna dive too far into it but this game was an absolute THRILLER. This is a game of the year nominee and one that you can point to and show people who have never watched indoor or arena football, then say "look, this is AWESOME" and get them hooked.
San Antonio Gunslingers vs Jacksonville Sharks (Saturday 7/12 - 7:05pm ET)
The Play: Jacksonville -13.5
I still can't trust this San Antonio offense. They are averaging just 34.8 points over their past 6 games and offensive they just can't get things going consistently. I originally had the pick as Under 81.5, but this Sharks offense has been on a tear lately -- scoring 55 points per game in the month of June heading into the bye last week.
Sharks can clinch a playoff spot with a win here and I anticipate that they are going to roll on San Antonio. Gunslingers will need a massive defensive game from Ravarius Rivers & co in order to keep the game in striking distance of their low octane offense.
Just can't see it happening.
Prediction: 51-35 Jacksonville
Green Bay Blizzard vs Quad City Steamwheelers (Saturday 7/12 - 8:05pm ET)
The Play: Quad City -1
This is going to be one of the more fun games of the weekend: Quad City has a chance to really take a stranglehold on the number one seed with a win here, while Green Bay is fighting for their playoff lives. I think this game ultimately will come down to which defensive line can wreak the most havoc on the opposing o-line.
Green Bay's has star power with multiple All-IFL DLs from 2024, but Quad City's group has been arguably the best in the league to this point in the season. I give the edge to Quad City in a game that is as close to a coin flip as you can get, and it will ultimately come down to who blinks first and makes the first mistake.
Quad City at home in the John Deere unis. BOOK IT.
Prediction: 45-41 Quad City
Massachusetts Pirates vs Tulsa Oilers (Saturday 7/12 - 8:05pm ET)
The Play: Tulsa +1.5
THIS game is my most anticipated game of the week. Tulsa laid an absolute egg a few weeks back against Fishers in a 33-7 loss, so they responded by signing 2025 NAL MVP QB Carl Robinson III AND 2025 AF1 MVP QB Sam Castronova.
The Tulsa brass saw that bad-bad offensive performance and said, "Absolutely not".
But this Massachusetts-Tulsa game is going to come down to the defenses. Both of these defenses have been playing really well all year and are 2 of just 6 teams in the league that are giving up less than 40 points per game on defense. They've got talent at every level and this should be a very physical game at the start, and should see some things open up in the second half.
I'm very interested in seeing how the QB situation plays out for Tulsa, but they've already had a ton of talent on the offensive side of the ball and just need someone to step in at QB to facilitate -- and I think both additions in Robinson & Castronova are more than capable of that.
Gimme the homedogs in Tulsa to get the W.
Prediction: 46-39 Tulsa
Fishers Freight vs Iowa Barnstormers (Saturday 7/12 - 8:05pm ET)
The Play: Over 90.5
Iowa Overs. I gotta ride with it. Even if they burned me last week when they scored six (6) points on offense in the first half.
Iowa Overs. Iowa Overs. Iowa Overs.
Prediction: 51-47 Fishers
San Diego Strike Force vs Arizona Rattlers (Saturday 7/12 - 9:05pm ET)
The Play: San Diego +5.5
I like this San Diego team. They are riding a 7 game win streak and have been executing really well on offense, and have found creative ways to continue to get both RB Ed Vander & QB/WR Rudy Johnson in the mix on offense while still trusting in QB Nate Davis to lead the way.
Arizona just recently course corrected with a big win over Green Bay and I would expect to see a ton of RB Ron Brown Jr in this one. San Diego's defense has been playing well, especially in the secondary, and I expect them to be able to keep Arizona's offense in check for this one and extend the win streak to 8.
Prediction: 50-42 San Diego
Tucson Sugar Skulls vs Northern Arizona Wranglers (Saturday 7/12 - 8:05pm ET)
The Play: Tucson -7.5
There is just something about this Sugar Skulls team that makes me love them. They are scrappy. They usually have 5-6 guys getting carries out of the backfield and making an impact on the ground and the window for Tucson to sneak into the playoffs is still open...but they gotta win out.
WR Tripp Harrington has been a massive playmaker in the passing game and helped open things up for this offense and this Tucson defense has been playing TOUGH this year and has played particularly well against the Wranglers in both of their first meetings.
Northern Arizona should put up a good fight and make it interesting late, but I think a Kevin Macias FG and/or deuce will be the decider on if this covers or not.
Prediction: 46-37 Tucson