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Hawks' through Week 5 Recap and Analysis - Noppadet - 06-20-2017
Preseason through Week 5 Recap and Analysis, Part 1: Preseason
With one third of the inaugural season of the National Sim Football League down, I wanted to bring in some stats, records, and player analysis, as well as give my forecasts for the next 5 game stretch. Some of this may very slightly fit into statistical analysis, so you'll have to excuse the blurring of lines with this article. I originally intended to do this with all six teams, but it was getting verbose enough with just the Hawks' games so I decided to stick with just them, being that they're my team.
The Hawks started extremely strong in preseason, actually capturing a perfect record to start off the first four games of the inaugural National Sim Football League season. Despite some low expectations for them in general around the league, they pulled off what no one thought they would.
Game 1: Hawks vs Yeti
Score: 25 - 3 Hawks
Analysis:
This was a very strange game. The time of possession for the Yeti was 34:35 compared to the Baltimore Hawks' time of possession which was 25:25. The Yeti had 20 first downs compared to the Hawks' 10 first downs, and the Yeti had a 50% third down conversion rate (ten out of twenty) compared to the Hawks 5/15 or 33.33% third down conversion rate. The Yeti beat the Hawks on both total rushing yards, rush yards per attempt, and receiving yards (although Kyubee was more efficient with 6.3 ypa compared to the Yeti quarterback Noble having 4.3 ypa).
OPOG: Scrub Kyubee (Hawks)
DPOG: Stephen Harrison (Hawks)
Information to glean from this game:
I believe this game came down to defense and quarterback play. The Hawks managed three turnovers to the Yeti's zero. Despite having more air yards Noble was less efficient than Kyubee with a comparative rating of 48.9 to 105.8.
The Yeti however dominated on time of possession, rushing, and third down conversions showing some very strong motivation. It's truly a wonder how they only scored 3 points in this game despite the statistics showing a lot of strength elsewhere.
Hawks' needed area of improvement:
Third down conversions.
Yeti's needed area of improvement:
QB efficiency.
Game 2: Wraiths vs Hawks
Score: 10 - 31 Hawks
Analysis:
The Hawks here had a better third down conversion rate than their previous game against the Yeti, posting a conversion rate of 5/11 or 45.45%. The Hawks also improved greatly offensively for this game with Kyubee posting a nearly perfect QB rating. Not bad for a rookie. LeClair of the Wraiths also had a very respectable 87.9 rating. Neither quarterback threw an interception. Viewers of this game had the joy of watching superb quarterback play every drive of the game.
Both the Hawks and Yeti were a bit impotent with their rushing attack, posting 3.5 and 3.2 yards per rush attempt respectively. Kyubee enjoyed a 340 yard game with LeClair bringing 181 yards of his own to the table.
West on the Hawks also posted his second 100+ yard receiving game. Christmas, and Lecavalier were hot on his heels nearly bringing their own 100+ yard games themselves.
OPOG: Scrub Kyubee (Hawks)
DPOG: Trent Bender (Wraiths)
Information to glean from this game:
The Hawks and Yeti both brought excellent special teams play, with Josh Garden really shining on Kick Returns. The biggest area of improvement for both special teams squadrons is punt returning.
Kyubee again brought his A game.
Booter and Stephen Harris were very close statistically with both having a slight edge on each other in difference categories.
Defense on both sides were a bit quiet. Shelton and Hendrix led their respective teams in tackles, and the sack count for the both teams was three for the Wraiths and one for the Hawks, while the Hawks defended three passes to the Wraiths' one.
Hawks' needed area of improvement:
Rushing attack.
Wraiths' needed area of improvement:
Rushing attack.
Game 3: Hawks vs Otters
Score: 9 - 16 Hawks
This was a game to watch, as both the Hawks and Otters wanted to come in and preserve their as of then perfect preseason record.
Analysis:
The Hawks again were heavily dominated in first downs, third down conversions, and time of possession. The Otters had the ball nearly an entire quarter longer than the Hawks the entire game, and this time Kyubee wasn't there to put the team on his back offensively. It's really a wonder that the Hawks managed to pull the win in this game.
The Hawks had 7 first downs, with a shocking 2/15 third down conversion rate (13%), compared to 13 first downs by the Otters and 5/19 on third downs (a conversion rate of 26). No receiver broke 100 yards, the Otters beat out the Hawks in rushing, but not by a whole lot, and the teams punted nearly an identical amount of times - 8 times for the Otters, and 9 times for the Hawks.
This was a defensive game through and through. Hendrix again led tackles among both teams with 14, and each quarterback had one interception lost. The turnover differential in fact was 0 between the teams. Neither quarterback had a touchdown either.
Two players showed up offensively for the Hawks that put the game in the bag: Turkleton the Hawks kicker who went 3/4 on field goals, and Novel the Hawks second string running back who scored the only touchdown of the game, with 5 yards per attempt on average on 7 touchdowns. Turkleton and Walsh, the Otters kicker, played extremely closely with the Otters' kicker also going 3/4 on field goals. U
OPOG: Brandon Walsh (Otters)
DPOG: Romeo Devitt (Otters)
Things to glean from this game:
Kyubee had a bad day here, and to an extent so did Hunt and Bercovici of the Otters. I wouldn't look too strongly at this, as both the Otters and the Hawks brought strong defensive games. Ultimately it came down to the Otters' having poor red zone efficiency this game, kicking field goals from both the 6 yard line of Baltimore, and the 2 yard line of Baltimore. Had those field goals been touchdowns the game would have quickly swung the other way.
Hawks' needed area of improvement:
Quarterback play.
Otters' needed area of improvement:
Red zone efficiency.
Game 4: Outlaws vs Hawks
Score: 8-9
*Boom*. This onomatopoeia describes the thunderous roar and simultaneously the adrenaline filled hearts of Baltimore and Arizona fans alike throughout the nation at the end of this game. To say this was a close one undervalues the meaning of the word close.
Analysis:
What a way to start the game for Arizona. The very first score which took place at 4:34 in the first quarter was a safety. Lee was the perpetrator who tackled the Hawks' quarterback Kyubee in the end zone for 2 points.
Again the Hawks struggled with third down efficiency, converting only 2 for 13, or 15%. The Outlaws on the other hand went 5/17 or 29%.
Kyubee raised himself back up this game, which while he scored no touchdowns he got his kicker Turkleton within field goal striking distance three times. Kyubee posted a rating of 64.9. Draxel the Outlaw's quarterback had a fairly respectable 55.1 rating, and was actually the slightly more efficient quarterback on average. West and Stormblessed were the star receivers of the game with 4 catches for 75 yards for West, and 6 catches for 94 yards for Stormblessed.
Robinson and Mackworthy, running backs for their respective teams, led both their units with a 4.7 and 5.2 respective average rush gain. Kyubee tried to take a bit of the rushing game into his own hands, but unfortunately netted -2 yards.
Defensively the Hawks unit is very good - with that said standouts for the Hawks were Hendrix, Delacour, Peterson, and Harris. Peterson led the Hawks team in interceptions with 1, and also was able to defend two passes. Harris also posted two sacks, which led both teams.
For the Outlaws, their defense was also statistically excellent as a unit. Lee had 11 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, a sack, and of course the big safety. The Outlaws unit as a whole posted 4 sacks, 1 interception, and 2 passes defended.
OPOG: Adrienne Nugent (Outlaws)
DPOG: Jaylon Lee (Outlaws)
Things to glean from this game:
So far in the preseason defense seems to excel, at least when the Hawks are playing. Neither team put a touchdown in the books, and it came down to kicker efficiency in the end. Turkleton went 3/3 and Nugent went 2/3 which made all the difference in this low scoring game. This could have easily went either way, and both teams kept each other under 10 points which is a feat in and of itself.
Hawks' needed area of improvement:
Third down conversion rate.
Outlaws' needed area of improvement:
Special teams.
Summary:
The Hawks had two very close games that they managed to eek out the W, and two games where they won by significant margins. Although they went into the regular season undefeated in the preseason, so did the infamous winless 2008 Lions. Fortunately that isn't the story for the Hawks' inaugural season, but look for part two where I'll go into the first five regular season games where the win loss record really counts, and after players have had some more time to design their players, general managers have had time to take a better look at their rosters and game plans, and where what happens on the field has implications for season beyond.
Aside:
Thank your for taking the time to read this anyone who has, I'd like to be slightly more consistent with what exactly is presented in each game's analysis, looking at each unit for each team, each game. I doubt I'll hit every game, but I wanted to take a look at exactly what's going on in games, and try to identify teams' strengths and weaknesses. If I was hard on your player please note I was trying to approach this objectively. I also know I missed a ton of guys who probably did really well.
Code:
Ready for grading: 1,708 words