1956 AFL Season

 

 

East Division
The East was once again fairly top-heavy for another year, though it took some time for the top teams to separate themselves from the rest. The Federals seemed to have a repeat of last year: they started out on a post-championship hangover at 3-3 but would win 4 out of their next 5 games leading up to the final week to potentially win repeat division titles. The usual suspects helped out again, though rookie S Bobby Loes proved to be a lethal backfield combination with Josh von Bank, with many toting their secondary as the best in the league. Even with the rest of the division being weak, they would not have a straight shot to a division title like last year, but it wasn’t the expected foe as it was the year before. That team would be the second-year Boston Dragons, who lived up to their expansion year expectations. The team avoided major injury and had QB Sam Eagleburger step up to the starter role, going from 3-9 last year to 6-4-1 and a shot at the division title. Even with a change at QB, their offense was the third worst in terms of scoring, but the real reason for their success came from the defense. Thanks to players such as LB Bob Jessup, DB Lynn Sharp, and S Carl Allyn, the Dragons allowed the fewest points per page since the inception of the league, coming 10 points shy of the total that the Hawks allowed in 1950. Coming into the final week, the Dragons had to win against Pittsburgh and hope that Washington lost to Philadelphia to win the East. The game between Boston and Pittsburgh was a back-and-forth affair, but the Dragons broke the tie late to score a 24-21 victory. Their efforts would be for naught, as Washington held off Philadelphia just long enough to secure a 15-10 victory and their second straight division title. Had the Dragons not tied with the Rattlesnakes in week 5, they would have won the division due to a better division record than the Federals. Boston will have to get through the semi-finals against the next-best team in the East in order to prove that they are not just a lucky team and are a legit contender. As for the other teams, Buffalo struggled to keep up with the best of the East, starting out tied with the Federals for the division lead at 3-3 but kept at the .500 mark the rest of the year mainly due to a 4 game skid during that time that kept them out of the division title race. Buffalo seemed to struggle with the lack of veteran presence and a very young offensive line, so it may just be a down year while some of the youth gets acclimated. Due to the rest of the division being under the .500 mark, the Hammers would continue their streak of making the playoffs every year since joining in 1952. The Lions stayed at 4-8 for another year, though the team did start 0-4 before QB Roy Woodward got knocked out for the year due to a broken shoulder. Backup QB Gary Byrne came in to replace him, finishing 4-4 to close out the year and throw the question of who the better QB is. Pittsburgh wasn’t an absolute disaster this year, finishing a half game ahead of the last-place Rattlesnakes. They made a relatively controversial move in naming longtime backup QB Eric Trueblood as the starter over 3rd overall pick Aksel Kahr in an attempt to revamp the offense. Their offense failed to perform at the same level as they did last year and the defense performed about the same, resulting in the Shamrocks putting up the worst point differential in the league at -55. Philadelphia performed about as expected for an expansion team, holding on to the second overall pick for next year as the ragtag group of backups didn’t mesh and floundered as a result. The defense was about average, but the offense relied solely on 1st overall pick RB Mickey Greene. Greene practically carried the Rattlesnakes to any semblance of relevance even with the mediocre offensive line. He would still win Rookie of the Year honors, providing a lone bright spot in an otherwise forgettable first year.

West Division
The fight for the playoffs in the West was one of the tightest races in the short history of the AFL. The one constant was that of the division leader, as Cincinnati took hold of the lead in the first week and never let it go the entire year. QB Lester Parker led the Rivermen to their best season ever in professional football in total wins and an MVP award for himself. The Rivermen held control over the West for most of the year, but the team that unfortunately held strong in the basement was the Cleveland Crows. Something has not clicked over the past few years since the departure of OC Vincent Merritt, and in an especially tough division they were not able to keep up with everyone else. That fall could be attributed to an injury to star RB Max Panders in week 5 that essentially sidelined him for the rest of the season, leaving the Crows scrambling to find a replacement in the backfield during that time frame. Their defense let up the most points out of any team, resulting in the league’s worst point differential at -61. Besides those two outliers, the remainder of the teams in the West were neck-and-neck the entire year. The first team to bow was the Hawks in week 11, needing a win against the Crows to stay alive in the playoff race. Tri-Cities kept up with the other teams up above them, but needed everything to go right for them to continue the magic from last year. Instead, the injury bug hit them late, knocking out several key players in the week upcoming to this pivotal game. They would play to a 23-23 draw, and were eliminated after nothing else went their way that week. That left 3 teams to fight for the remaining two playoff spots over the remaining two weeks. The obvious team here is the Hogs, who were unable to keep up with Cincinnati for the division but still held strong with another stellar year from RB Billy Gould and the defense. Their plan hit a snag when they lost to Detroit in week 1, leaving them even with the remaining two playoff contenders in the West. Those two remaining teams were none that anyone expected to compete this year: the forever underachieving Detroit Knights and the expansion St Louis Stallions. Early in the year, the Knights looked like they were going to play dark horse and potentially win the division, with QB Mike Major playing up to form with a potent offense that had been stifled by coaching these past years. RB Jesse Brown and WR Paul Kent made their first All-Star appearances in an offensive explosion, and for the first time in years the defense was not a liability. The Knights cooled off a bit to end the year, but could clinch a playoff berth with a win over the Hogs at Thanksgiving. St Louis was not expected to compete like Philadelphia, but QB O.J. DeMille had something to prove this year. He was far and away the leader that the Stallions needed, as he carried a team of mostly nobodies into relevance, with WR Anthony Wheatland of championship infamy as his top target of the year. Their defense was surprisingly average, which may have been a detriment to any other team but to the Stallions it was more than enough to keep them in playoff contention. With every one of those teams at 7-4, the winner of Chicago-Detroit would automatically be given a spot, and it would come down to tiebreakers if the Stallions were not able to beat the Hawks in this critical final week. The Hogs and Knights rivalry was renewed for a Thanksgiving Day clash, with the two teams trading blows in a fairly brutal game. Several players on both sides got a beating, but the Hogs would ultimately survive on a late field goal to put them ahead for a 20-19 win and another trip into the playoffs. Detroit’s only chance of making it in the playoffs was for the Stallions to get blown out at home due to tiebreakers. The Hawks would in fact play spoiler to the playoff-hopeful Stallions, pumping the breaks on a home playoff game in a 33-9 throttling. Tri-Cities did not put up enough points though, as the final tiebreaker came down to St Louis’ +22 to Detroit’s +20, giving the expansion Stallions a ticket to the playoffs in their first year of existence. It was a devastating blow to the Knights, who had achieved their best season in nearly half a decade with a complete regime change in the background. It will certainly be a few interesting years for the West, now that nearly every team has proven to be competitive.

Awards:
Most Valuable Player: CIN QB Lester Parker
Offensive Player of the Year: CHI RB Billy Gould
Defensive Player of the Year: BOS LB Bob Jessup
Rookie of the Year: PHI RB Mickey Greene
Coach of the Year: BOS Robert McNamara

East Division Semifinal: (3) Buffalo Hammers @ (2) Boston Dragons
1956 H2H: W8 - BUF 9-23 BOS, W12 - BOS 7-17 BUF
Historic H2H: 3-1 BUF
Playoff H2H:  0-0

Buffalo makes its way into the playoffs once again, though they made the playoffs due to the rest of the East being weak. Boston took advantage of a division unwilling to win and took hold of the 2nd seed, living up to their expansion expectations just a year behind schedule. The fact of a weak East leaves some doubt if Boston is actually a good team or just had a lucky year, so this game will be a true test of legitimacy for them. Buffalo still has the same core that took them to the division finals last year, while Boston underwent a QB change and is still mostly made of scraps from other teams. The Dragons may be the better team on paper, the Hammers might have just enough in them to squeak by and set themselves up for a playoff rematch against the Federals.
My Pick: Buffalo

West Division Semifinal: (3) St Louis Stallions @ (2) Chicago Hogs
1955 H2H: W3 - CHI 30-27 STL, W8 - STL 27-17 CHI
Historic H2H: 1-1
Playoff H2H:  0-0

St Louis may have done the unthinkable and made the playoffs in their first year of existence, but they’ll have the ultimate task of trying to get their first playoff win over what may be the most dominant teams in professional football. The Hogs just want to get past the Stallions for a much-anticipated rematch against the Rivermen for the championship. It may not be an easy matchup for the Hogs as they would want it, as they have struggled a bit against St Louis in their two games this season. The Stallions are a pesky bunch to say the least, as they will put up a good fight as long as QB O.J. DeMille is under center. Chicago is the same team they have been the past few years, and they’ll find a way with RB Billy Gould to get past the Stallions and get themselves facing Cincinnati in the playoffs once again.
My Pick: Chicago