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+---- Thread: *The S21 Second Line vs. The Best Teams Ever (/showthread.php?tid=20462)
*The S21 Second Line vs. The Best Teams Ever - nickyvmlp - 03-27-2020
The New Orleans Second Line are right now making a mockery of the rest of the league. They’ve scored the most points by a comfortable margin. They’ve allowed the fewest points. They have the best one-two punch at running back in Forrest Gump and Marcella Toriki. Stan Francisco is looking like a sneaky good MVP candidate. They have the sack leader in Johnny Slothface. They even have the highest-scoring kicker. No team from Season 21 can hold a candle to these guys. But how do they stack up against the best teams in league history?
As of the time of this writing, the Second Line just squeaked out a 24-19 win over the bottom-feeding Outlaws to bring their record to 9-0. So, at first, I went back and found every team in NSFL history who won their first nine games. This wasn’t hard. There’ve only been two other teams in NSFL history who’ve ever started a season 9-0. And it hasn’t been done in nearly fifteen years. Season 7 Yellowknife and Season 3 Arizona, both of whom eventually went 13-1, and both suffered their first loss in Week 10 or later. I thought this was going to take more work.
![[Image: 9tCw9L7.png]](https://i.imgur.com/9tCw9L7.png)
Looking at all three teams stat-wise (the only way we can at the moment), the Second Line are a little behind in stats, but not by much. And luckily for the Second Line, both the Wraiths and Outlaws in question fielded that season’s MVP, Mat Akselsen and Jayce Tuck, respectively. Although to be honest, it’s really hard to compare stats from seasons this far back. It’s like comparing Tom Brady’s Patriots to Johnny Unitas’s Colts or Otto Graham’s Browns. The NSFL was just that much different 15 or 20 years ago. There has to be a better pool of teams to draw comparisons from, right?
Well, luckily for me, there just so happens to be a list of the best teams of all-time that’s just been compiled. Infinitempg’s Historical March Madness has gathered up 32 of the greatest teams of all time, but we aren’t going to use all of them. These teams go back to Season 6, and as we’ve seen, those stats are a bit foreign. So how about we just look at teams in the 10-team era, AKA since Season 15. Granted, some of these teams won the Ultimus by getting hot at the right time and weren’t exactly a dominant team (S16 Arizona, S17 Orange County), and some of these teams’ histories are so crummy that the second-best team they’ve fielded isn’t that impressive (S18 Austin, S19 Colorado), but I think this’ll still give us a good gauge as to how these Second Linesmen stack up to the modern NSFL.
![[Image: hCP2PhC.png]](https://i.imgur.com/hCP2PhC.png)
Now, this is a better setup for what we’re looking for. Here we can see just how dominant this year’s Second Line is. Amongst their peers, the S21 Second Line are among the best in nearly all statistical categories. But let’s make this a little easier to read and score each ranking. A 1st is worth 1 point, a 13th is worth 13 points, so a lower score is better. Let’s see who’s the best this way.
S19 Orange County: 37
S21 New Orleans: 38
S17 Arizona: 40
S15 San Jose: 41
S18 Yellowknife: 43
S15 Baltimore: 48
S18 Orange County: 50
S16 Chicago: 52
S19 Colorado: 62
S20 Austin: 66
S17 Orange County: 82
S18 Austin: 84
S16 Arizona: 85
There you have it, this year’s Second Line are only behind S19’s Orange County Otters, a team that just nabbed one of the #1 seeds in the March Madness bracket. One thing to note, just because they’ve started this hot doesn’t mean they have the championship on lock. Of the top five on this list, only one went on to win the Ultimus, S19’s Otters. Winning these games only earns you a shot at the trophy, so New Orleans’s need to stay on the throttle if they want to truly go down in history as one of the best teams ever.
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*The S21 Second Line vs. The Best Teams Ever - slothfacekilla - 03-27-2020
I won’t count on this sim being rational at all... but I want to believe!
Awesome article, loved the hard work you put in
*The S21 Second Line vs. The Best Teams Ever - Jay_Doctor - 03-27-2020
It is always an honor to even be mentioned among all-time great teams
*The S21 Second Line vs. The Best Teams Ever - iseedoug - 03-27-2020
I refuse to listen or read anything where S15 Baltimore is not praised.
*The S21 Second Line vs. The Best Teams Ever - nickyvmlp - 03-27-2020
(03-27-2020, 01:47 PM)iseedoug Wrote:I refuse to listen or read anything where S15 Baltimore is not praised.I mean, they're in the top half dozen...