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+---- Thread: *Merv's Corner #2 (/showthread.php?tid=14423)
*Merv's Corner #2 - hihihi_62 - 07-30-2019
Merv’s Corner (Episode #2) - Ready for Grading
Well ladies and gentlemen, with the Coyotes Week 13 loss to the Marshals and the Pythons Week 13 win over the Seawolves the DSFL playoff picture is officially set in stone and I for one am goddam excited for some playoff football.
In today’s episode I’m going to breakdown the playoff picture and try to be as unbiased as possible although we all know I’m Pythons all the way … hiss hiss (Sorry Coyotes fans).
Over in the SFC to absolutely nobodies surprise the round one matchup is going to be the San Antonio Marshals against the juggernaut Tijuana Luchadores. Unfortunately for the Solar Bears they have come crashing back to Earth after last years exhilarating Ultimini run although that was completely expected considering they are an all bot team. Let’s take a brief look at the season series between these two division rivals to see how they fared against each other in their 4 matchups against each other this season.
1. The teams first met in week one in a hotly contested back and forth bout in San Antonio. Things were looking grim for the Marshals in the first half as the world famous Tijuana wall bullied their way to a 17-3 lead at halftime lead by a big performance from the Luchadore’s young RB Ducky Donut. Something big happened in the locker room at halftime because coming out of the break the Marshals answered back with two majors of their own to tie things up at 17 a piece going into the 4th quarter. Early in the 4th Jordan McCann III hit Trey Moffat for a TD that would end up being the dagger. 24-27 final score for Tijuana.
2. Coming into their week four matchup the two teams were on completely different paths as Tijuana was off to a hot 3-0 start and the Marshals were sputtering at 1-2. The Marshals came into this home game confident that they would be the first team of the season to put a chink in the Tijuana wall but by the end of the game the Marshals had been completely embarrassed on their home turf succumbing to the Luchadores 40-6 behind a huge performances by Ducky Donut and Trey Moffat who both rushed for over 100 yards and a massive 3 pass deflection/ 2 INT performance by my boy Jordan Andrews.
3. Week 9 was the first matchup between the two teams in Tijuana and this time featured a defensive struggle. Tijuana QB Jordan McCann III had a terrible 3 INT performance but was bailed out by two huge 100+ yard rushing performances by Ducky Donut and Chase Osborn to help seal a 17-9 Tijuana home win.
4. The final regular season matchup of the season between these two took place in week 12 back in Tijuana and was a back and forth dog fight between these two bitter rivals. Going into the 4th quarter of this one the game was all knotted at up 10 a piece. Several minutes into the 4th Ducky Donuts (who was once again player of the game with 130 yards on the ground) punched one in to help Tijuana take a 17-10 lead. Not to be outdone Marshals backup RB Max Vaz scored a rushing TD of his own to tie things up. The rest of the quarter was a defensive struggle but with 51 seconds left in the 4th Quarter Tijuana kicker Joshua Jones hit a clutch 34 yard field goal to give Tijuana the win.
Key Stats:
Tijuana 4-0 against San Antonio this season
Total Yardage - 1548 for Tijunana and 1363 for San Antonio
Total Points Scored – 101 Tijuana and 49 San Antonio
Merv’s predictions: Although Tijuana swept the season series between these two teams three of the four games ended in a one score game and I expect to see much of the same when these two line up come playoff time. If consensus #1 pick in the upcoming draft Ashley Owens can get his legs going early and the Marshals defence lead by Bubba Thumper can hold Ducky Donut and the Tijuana rushing attack under 100 yards I think there’s a good possibility of an upset here. That being said I don’t think either of those things happen and my prediction is Tijuana 28 – San Antonio 13. Player of the Game Ducky Donuts as once again the Marshals don’t have an answer for him.
Over in the NFC we have a matchup that I think has potential to be the game of the year between the Portland Pythons and the Kansas City Coyotes. Both teams feature some exciting young rookies that figure to play a prominent role in deciding this one. Here’s a brief overview of how these two shaped up against each other this season.
1. Week one featured the first matchup between these two squads in Kansas City. The house was packed for this division showdown and the stadium practically erupted after an early TD run by Coyotes rookie RB Octavius Godspeed. Unfortunately for Kansas City there wasn’t much to cheer for from that point forward as the Portland Python’s secondary established themselves as one of the leagues best secondary’s lead by a 2 Pass deflection, 2 INT, 6 tackle night from rookie safety A.C. Payton. By the final whistle Coyote QB Jay Longshaw had thrown 4 INTs and the Pythons stole one on the road 31-13.
2. The week five matchup between these two squads will go down as one of the most infamous collapses of this DSFL season. Coming into the game the Pythons were 4-0 welcoming the 1-3 Coyotes onto their home turf. Going into the 4th Quarter the Pythons were up 19-3 and the Coyotes were looking helpless as Python’s RB NA Rkansaw racked up 148 yards and 1 TD on the ground. Then something changed and the Coyotes turned the Pythons on their heads. The Coyotes opened the 4th with a 28 yard FG from placekicker Michael Locatelli to cut the Python’s lead to 13. The Pythons offence began to struggle and midway through the quarter Coyotes QB Jay Longshaw ran in a TD to make this a 19-13 game. With two minutes left on the clock Longshaw engineered a drive ending in a connection between himself and DSFL all-star Dexter Banks III to take a 20-19 lead with 60 seconds left to send the Pythons fans home crying.
3. The week 9 edition of the battle between these two came in Kansas City as a resurgent Coyotes team was suddenly looking like a legitimate title contender. KC got out to a healthy 21-3 lead at halftime and kept their foot on the gas in the second half to torch the Pythons 38-10. Jay Longshaw put up one of the biggest performances by any QB this season against the Pythons defence leading the team with 3 TD passes. Over on the Pythons side of the offence the story was much different for Franklin Armstrong who threw 0 TDs and 2 INTs both to Lewis Lights.
4. The teams will matchup again in week 14 and although the game is meaningless since the Pythons have already clinched first in the division be sure to expect fireworks when these two matchup.
Key Stats:
KC leads season series 2-1 with one regular season matchup remaining
Total Points scored – KC 71 – Portland 60
Total yardage – KC 1046 – Portland 938
Merv’s Prediction: This is a really tough one for me especially considering the Pythons are my team. Both teams feature studs on the offence and lockdown defenders and regardless of the outcome of this one I expect it to be a back and forth hard fought battle. I think this one comes down to which QB can protect the ball better. Franklin Armstrong has been hot and cold all year but when he’s good he’s REAL good. Jay Longshaw has been consistent all season and in the only defeat KC has suffered at the hands of the Pythons this season it was primarily due to his 4 INT performance. Dexter Banks III has been my Kryptonite all season but if I can hold him under 100 yards and keep him out of the endzone I think Pythons win. In the most biased pick of the week I think Pythons win this one in an absolute blood bath 28-24 lead by player of the game Franklin Armstrong.
Disagree? Tell me why in the comments below!
Merv
*Merv's Corner #2 - Duilio05 - 07-30-2019
Great stuff. Did you know in the last three seasons the top team in the SFC lost their conference playoff game?
*Merv's Corner #2 - hihihi_62 - 07-31-2019
(07-30-2019, 08:11 PM)Duilio05 Wrote:Great stuff. Did you know in the last three seasons the top team in the SFC lost their conference playoff game?
I Did not! Let's hope your Marshals keep that streak going ...
