July 22, 2025
By Evan Lepler
After 144 games across 13 weekends, we are now ready for the best of the best.
The 2025 UFA playoffs begin in just four days, with four first round games that’ll reveal the final eight teams still alive for a coveted trip to Championship Weekend.
Chicago (12-0), Salt Lake (11-1), Atlanta (9-3), and Boston (9-3) are ready to host division title games in a couple weeks, while the other eight playoff teams are gearing up for elimination ultimate this Saturday.
The action begins right around 7:00 PM/ET, as DC hosts New York and Madison visits Minnesota. An hour later, around 8:00 PM/ET, Austin and San Diego will get things started in Texas. And at 9:00 PM/ET, Colorado and Oakland will launch their own intense battle in the East Bay.
All four matchups feature fascinating backstories, with plenty of suspense, drama, and pressure packed in for all participants. Half of these eight teams will see their title dreams shattered, while the other half will march onward, encouraged, inspired, and determined to keep things rolling on the road a couple weeks later.
The bulk of today’s Toss will be about diving into the aforementioned playoff pairings, but first, here’s the warp speed version of a Week 13 recap. For my own amusement and organizational sanity, let’s break down the 14 games into different categories.
Battles Between Playoff Teams
Salt Lake 22 Minnesota 18
Another disastrous first quarter for the Wind Chill offense, but the Minnesota D showed its toughness in the second, transforming an early 6-1 deficit into a one-goal game at the half. But Salt Lake’s speed, skill, and relentlessness was superior down the stretch, and the Shred groove into the playoffs on an 11-game winning streak.
New York 22 Boston 21
For a game that didn’t matter in terms of East Division seeding, it was still a very entertaining and topsy-turvy battle. Boston led 18-16 after scoring with 24 seconds left in the third, but then a thrilling Empire buzzer-beater launched a 5-0 spurt that surged New York to the one-goal win. That’s four straight wins for New York; can they keep it rolling at DC this Saturday?
Oakland 17 San Diego 14
The Spiders clinched the two-seed and an opening round home game, building a multi-goal lead in the first quarter and maintaining it the rest of the way against the Growlers. Perhaps most notable for Oakland: the returns of Robin Vickers Batzdorf, Raekwon Adkins, and Dillon Whited, a trio that had played just five games combined prior to Saturday’s finale.
Chicago 24 Madison 18
Five minutes in, Chicago was down 3-0. But the Union immediately responded, taking a 5-4 lead before the close of the opening quarter. Overall, it was a strong statement from the Union, who converted 11-of-17 break chances and capped off a perfect regular season at Madison’s Breese Stevens Field, the site Chicago hopes to return to for Championship Weekend in exactly one month.
Playoff Teams Getting Worked By Non-Playoff Teams
Carolina 24 Austin 19
It was 3-3 early, but then the Flyers scored 11 of the next 15 goals, thoroughly dominating the Sol and forcing Austin to play again this coming weekend as the two-seed in the South. Credit to Carolina for bringing their A-game, but it was also undoubtedly a disappointing and demoralizing day for the Sol, giving up the golden opportunity to take a free pass to the South Division Finals.
Philadelphia 24 DC 15
Gaudy stats from Philly’s ever-impressive trio—Sam Grossberg, Scott Heyman, and Sean Mott combined for 1,817 total yards, 14 assists, nine goals, 125 completions, and only three turns—highlighted Saturday night’s DC beatdown. The Phoenix sweep the season series from the Breeze, yet still will watch from their couches as DC hosts a playoff game this Saturday, while Philadelphia narrowly remains on the outside looking in at the East’s premier triumvirate.
Playoff Teams Cruising Toward the Tournament
Colorado 24 Seattle 15
After sneaking past Seattle in double overtime on the road, the Summit never trailed in the rematch by the Rockies. Weird Quinn Finer day, though, as the Colorado star finished minus-two, with two goals, one assist, four throwaways, and a drop. Summit need Quinn to cook this weekend if they’re gonna win in Oakland.
Chicago/Minnesota 74 Detroit 25
The Union had a season-low seven turnovers on Saturday, while the Wind Chill had 14 turns in their 24-goal win on Sunday. As for the woeful Mechanix, 70 turnovers in two games, and broken 53 times. Brutal.
The Best of the Rest
Montreal 23 Toronto 16
Royal snap their five-game losing streak to finish in fifth place in the East, sending the Rush to the cellar. Promising moments for both these teams throughout the season, but home for the playoffs again.
Indianapolis 25 Pittsburgh 18
Seven blocks for Indy’s Jason Kempe, and the AlleyCats close their season with two straight wins to finish in fourth place in the Central. Meanwhile, the Thunderbirds are about as far from the Tyler DeGirolamo era as they’ve ever been.
Carolina 25 Houston 21
The Flyers are the only team in the league to finish with a winning record and miss the playoffs. Small margins are the story. If Carolina had scored when receiving the pull in double overtime against San Diego on May 23, they’d be heading back to Austin this Saturday, bracing for another showdown against Atlanta. Instead, the Flyers miss the postseason for the first time in franchise history.
Seattle 26 Oregon 17
Like Carolina, Seattle falls from Championship Weekend to fourth place in their division. The 2024 Cascades went 5-2 in games decided by three goals or fewer. The 2025 squad went 0-4.
Los Angeles 18 Vegas 15
The Bighorns matched their largest lead of the season when they jumped in front of the Aviators 2-0 on Sunday afternoon, but Vegas only converted just 33 percent of its break chances for the full game, finishing their winless inaugural season at 0-12. Meanwhile, the Aviators went 3-9 for the second straight year after making it to the West Division Championship in 2023.
The Full Field Layout
Alright, enough about the past. Let’s focus on the future.
East Division
The New York Empire are the hottest team in the East heading into Saturday’s showdown at DC. Does that matter?
“It’s been a season of highs and lows,” said first-year Empire Everest Shapiro. “Great new additions to the team alongside some tough injuries. But one thing has remained consistent: every person on this team has a wild hunger for winning. Going into the playoffs on a four-game winning streak is exactly what we needed, and everyone else should be afraid of the team that we’ve become.”
While I very much doubt that the Breeze fear New York, DC can certainly expect a very different challenge compared to the Empire’s June 7 visit, when the Breeze dominated down the stretch and won 23-15. That was a banged up New York roster that dropped to 3-5 on the year. But the Empire haven’t lost since.
“Our O-line has tightened up our system and increased our chemistry,” said John Randolph, who’s played his way into the MVP conversation with a fantastic final four games. “We’ve honed in on which guys play O over the course of the season, and we’ve developed chemistry with that core.”
Consequently, the Empire have earned a trip to DC, where they will meet the Breeze for the fifth time ever in the playoffs. DC beat New York in the postseason back in 2016, but the Empire eliminated their East Division rival in 2018, 2022, and 2023.
“We’ll attack DC the way we always do, which is to try to take away their short breaks directly in front of the disc,” said Randolph, explaining the keys to the game against the Breeze. “Force them to huck. Force their weaker throwers into high-pressure scenarios. Put in extra legwork on O to get into the right spaces early. Don’t throw into their poaches.”
The game-plan is certainly easier said than executed against a team of DC’s caliber, who feels it’s especially battle-tested heading into the playoffs.
“Being part of the East Division this year has been a constant battle with all the teams being talented,” said Breeze Coach Lauren Boyle. “We are well-prepared and practiced facing strong opponents. The approach will be the same: trust in the work, make adjustments, find ways to fill the atmosphere with our energy.”
One interesting roster note for New York: Ben Dameron, who made his Empire debut this past weekend with a solid four-score, 30-completion, 473-total yard performance against the Glory, is not on New York’s active roster for this Saturday. Meanwhile, the Breeze expect to have Christian Boxley, who will play against the Empire for the first time this season, but the status of Cole Jurek and Gus Norrbom remains uncertain. Both are listed as “questionable.”
As the Empire and Breeze fight for the right to battle Boston in a couple weeks, the Glory are in a bit of a strange predicament. Whereas the Union, Shred, and Hustle went a combined 29-1 against their respective divisional opponents during the regular season, the Glory have dropped three of their last four games against the East, with two losses to DC along with this past Saturday’s setback at New York.
Of course, starting 8-0 gave Boston the flexibility to falter down the stretch and still be at home in their biggest game of the season.
“Overall, I think we are in a great spot,” said Glory Captain Brendan McCann. “I’m very confident in our team. We have not had our full lineup together yet this season. In New York, I think we were missing about nine starters. It was a luxury to do what we needed to do early season so we could use the [late-season] games for development, pressure-free.”
A year ago, Boston won its first playoff game in franchise history, escaping past New York on Jeff Babbitt’s thrilling buzzer-beater. On August 9, the Glory will be looking to take another huge step forward, seeking to advance to the team’s first Championship Weekend.
“Between now and then, our first priority is to get healthy,” said McCann. “We have a big weekend of practice…Lots of bonding, lots of reps, lots of shenanigans. And I know when the time comes, we’ll be ready.”
Central Division
The defending champion Minnesota Wind Chill have had a pretty strange season. They’ve won five games by double digits, dominating overmatched opponents, with a defense that is capable of getting breaks against anyone. But the Minnesota offense has been plagued by inconsistent errors and structural deficiencies, forcing the Wind Chill to urgently adapt and improve.
“Our offense has gone through significant change throughout the season,” said Minnesota cutter Gordon Larson. “It feels like every week, we either win by 20 or are playing a title contender. Against the lesser opponents, we don’t actually learn anything about our systems or tendencies, because no matter what we do, it works. Then we show up to play Atlanta or Chicago or Salt Lake and suddenly everything looks completely different.”
Of course, somewhere on the spectrum between contender and doormat sit the Madison Radicals, who have also shown that they can create chaos against the Wind Chill offense in short spurts. But can Madison maintain it for four quarters?
Two weeks ago, the Rads led Minnesota at halftime, but still fell short in the fourth. Madison also played Chicago tough in both of their regular season matchups, yet succumbed to the undefeated Union both times, losing by five in June and by six this past Sunday.
Compared to the other three divisions, the Central feels like the quadrant where the gap between the top seed and the other two is the widest. Yet Minnesota and Madison are clinging to the belief that, in one game, anything can happen. It’s a mindset that both will carry into this Saturday’s showdown in St. Paul.
“We’ve beaten Madison twice this year, but they are a very capable team that could pull out a win at any moment,” said Minnesota’s Cameron Lacy. “If there’s one thing that should be taken away from this season, it’s that any team could win on any given night.”
The Radicals have had their own issues offensively, though the team’s hold rate has improved with Noa Chun-Moy shifting onto the O-line and Eric Sjostrom taking over as a key handler midway through the season.
“Playing in this offense and with Eric has been super fun,” said Chun-Moy, who led the Radicals with 34 assists in the regular season. “Eric has some amazing break throws and hucks that really open up the field for this team.”
The Radicals also have the UFA’s goal-scoring leader Anthony Gutowsky, coming off a 56-goal regular season, as a top downfield weapon. In their two games against Minnesota, however, Madison only converted around 35 percent of their offensive possessions, a number that would rank last in the league if extrapolated for the entire season.
“We need to not beat ourselves with execution errors or poor-decision making,” said Chun-Moy. “Providing our throwers with multiple options will enable our offense to flow smoothly. If we consistently hit the open man, we will win the game.”
Sjostrom had 41 completions with zero throwaways and 471 throwing yards at Sea Foam Stadium on July 12. If he can replicate that efficiency, the Radicals will certainly have a shot.
“I think we’re all just feeling some quiet confidence,” said Sjostrom. “Yes, the lack of a marquee win so far probably looks rough to the outsiders, but we know that we’re just now starting to hit our stride [...] Personally, I’m pumped to get out there and compete in a win-or-go-home situation. I love competition, and having the opportunity to go into the reigning champs’ house and take a win home is something gI would love to do. Especially after we gave them a bit of a scare at their house a couple weeks back.”
South Division
Both coming off a Week 13 loss, the San Diego Growlers and Austin Sol have little time to dwell on their recent misfortune. Regardless of anything that’s happened over the last three months, one of these squads will be heading to Atlanta in two weeks to compete for a berth to Championship Weekend.
The quick turnaround is especially vital for the Sol, who are still smarting from Friday’s poor performance against the Flyers.
“Friday night was tough, no question,” said Austin Coach Steven Naji. “We came in with a clear opportunity to lock up the top seed, and while we fell short of that goal, I’m proud of how we fought. We won the fourth quarter and proved we won’t ever quit, regardless of circumstance. We simply shot ourselves in the foot far too many times.”
If the Sol are going to bounce back, the team’s offense will have to avoid the slow start that has plagued them several times this season.
“We seem to have the habit of having terrible first quarters,” said Austin Captain Reese Bowman. “I don’t know why that happens, but it does a lot…If our offense can keep the game manageable early till everyone wakes up, we will take down San Diego. My mantra for the O-line this season has been ‘we are just here to get D back out there.’”
One thing’s for sure, the Growlers have got to be licking their chops for this opportunity. Yes, it’s a tough road challenge in the Texas heat, but San Diego coughed up a fourth-quarter lead against the Sol back in June and have been yearning for another shot against Austin. Furthermore, a win would send the SoCal squad to Atlanta, and they battled the Hustle tough in both of their regular season matchups back in May.
Statistically, the Growlers and Sol are pretty similar. Their offenses are ranked eighth and ninth in the league in hold rate, while their defenses are 10th and seventh in D-line break rate. San Diego’s the better hucking team with superior red-zone efficiency, but the two teams had the exact same number of turnovers—202—in their 12-game regular seasons.
A bit of good news for the Growlers is that Head Coach Kevin Stuart does expect his veteran star Travis Dunn to play. A standout for the Growlers since the franchise’s inception, Dunn missed the team’s final two regular season games after suffering a back injury during warmups before the Growlers’ July 5 game against LA. Dunn is listed as probable, but Stuart is confident he will be in the lineup on Saturday. KJ Koo remains questionable, with a decision coming after the team’s Wednesday practice.
The Sol have also been battered by injuries, losing Jackson Potts to a torn ACL and seeing Connor DeLuna, Myles Armstrong, Oakley Armstrong, and Mick Walter also endure various ailments in recent weeks. Thankfully, DeLuna, Myles Armstrong, and Walter are all expected to play on Saturday.
“We’re going into Saturday with confidence,” said Naji. “Nobody comes into Texas and has it easy. Yes, we’re the two-seed, but we felt success and failure the same number of times as the team who is the number one seed. We earned the right to host this game and [have] already proven when we play our A-game, [we] can come away with a positive result against a very feisty and veteran San Diego contingent.”
Despite trailing by as many as five against the Growlers on June 7, the Sol rallied to win 23-21. Without that victory, this Saturday’s playoff collision would have been held on San Diego’s home turf.
“That win in San Diego was a pivotal turning point in our team’s belief that we can overcome anything this season,” added Naji. “We have something special. There’s absolutely no overlooking what Travis Dunn and his star-studded teammates are capable of, but over the course of 48 minutes in the heat, I welcome their high-level challenge wholeheartedly.”
West Division
The Colorado Summit and Oakland Spiders are both tantalizingly talented, with fun mixes of veteran standouts and young rising stars that could lead to the most thrilling four quarters of the weekend. But both these teams have also had their ups and downs throughout the season, particularly against the Shred, who went 4-0 against their fellow West Division playoff counterparts.
Coming off Week 13 wins, however, both the Summit and Spiders carry the belief that their teams are coming together and set to peak at the right time.
“Earning the home playoff game was certainly satisfying,” said Oakland Coach Caleb Merriam, reacting to the Spiders’ Saturday victory over San Diego. “Even more was watching our defense continue to raise their level in terms of generating pressure and executing when getting blocks.”
The Spiders finished with a season-low six blocks when they lost at Colorado on May 30, but both sides are anticipating a very different feel to the rematch.
“[Oakland’s] really tough at home,” said Summit Coach Tim Kefalas. “The wind in that stadium is pretty unique, but we have a lot of experience there and we’re ready for that challenge. They have a really fast-paced offense, but we’ve got some great matchups for their core four O-players, and we had a good amount of success against them defensively in our previous matchups after we took away some of their downhill dominator type motions they really love to run.”
The quartet that Kefalas is referring to consists of Walker Frankenberg, Leo Gordon, Evan Magsig, and Adam Rees, four players that combined for 226 scores this season. The Spiders will certainly lean on their stars to make big plays, but it’s important to Merriam that his team remain patient, an area where he felt they fell short in the regular season setback.
“That last Colorado game, we kept trying to huck our way out of situations that required more of a grind,” said Merriam. “[Noah] Coolman also telling TK that he was going to switch to defense to guard Leo and their [force-middle] nullified him in a way that we hadn’t seen all year…Most of our changes will revolve around being smarter about our defense, especially regarding Tobi [Brooks] and the spaces we want to allow him to operate in and making sure we are ready to work through difficult moments with our legs and not our throws.”
Brooks went 74-for-76 for 796 throwing yards in the Summit’s win over the Spiders, but Kefalas is expecting the Oakland defense to create different roadblocks on Saturday.
“On film, Oakland’s been doing a lot of rollers with both double-teams and single-marks, so I’d assume they’re going to throw a bit of that our way,” said Kefalas. “We’ll be prepared to navigate those sideline situations right off the bat.”
More than any other opening round game, this pairing feels like it has all the ingredients to go down to the wire. The last two times Colorado traveled to Oakland, the Spiders prevailed by a single goal both times.
“Two good teams,” said Kefalas. “We both respect each other. Both teams will be ready for a battle.”
Coming up later today in “Seven On The Line”, some additional thoughts, facts, and forecasts as we wrap up the thrilling regular season and enthusiastically prepare for the playoffs.
