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*London Royals: First Half of Season Review - crow19 - 07-09-2020
Where we are at:
At three wins and six losses and tied for last in the NFC North, it is a long climb for the London Royals to make the playoffs. As Royals fans keep hope alive for the next five games, here is a review of how we have gotten here and a glimpse at what we all have to look forward to in Royals football.
The Preseason:
London had a stellar preseason with three wins and only one loss. The one loss came from the Dallas Birddogs who are currently seven and two. The Royals would get there revenge later on, but more on that later.
The first preseason game was against the Kansas City Coyotes at home, and we saw an even game for the first half. The Coyotes and Royals went back in forth to end the first half fourteen to fourteen. It was the second half where the Royals ran away with the game. Jacoby Batista would take an eleven yard rush in for a touchdown. Then Danny King would take a sixty five yard touchdown to the house. After that Phastbawl would make two field goals, a twenty six yard chip shot and a forty three yard kick. The Royals defense dominated with eleven sacks. The preseason game was full of errors on each side with six total turnovers, three a piece. The game was a heck of a way to start the season, however, it would not reflect the course of the rest of the season.
If you like field goals, the Royals second game was the game for you. Phastbawl was four for five on field goals, only missing one that was for forty plus yards. The first half was dominated by the Royals, leading the Norfolk SeaWolves sixteen to zero in their home game. In the second half Norfolk would make a field goal and throw for a touchdown to finish the game, however it was impossible for the SeaWolves to outpace the Royals. The final score was thirty three to ten. Another light shining on the upcoming Royals seasons. Each of the Royal's quarterbacks threw for a touchdown and Danny King ran for one as well. Another all around great game for the Royals! This is where excitement for the season really started to build.
The first bump in the road for the Royals was against the Dallas Birddogs in Dallas. This was the first away game for the Royals. A low scoring affair, the Royals were never able to score a touchdown. The final score was ten to three with one passing touchdown. The real difference came down to 3rd down efficiency, where the Royals were under thirty percent and the Birddogs were over fifty percent. Not to mention the two failed forth down conversions by the Royals. The Royals would get their revenge during the regular season; however, this game has been more reminiscent of the Royals season, an inability to finish important drives with points, turnovers, and poor third down efficiency. Most importantly, holy penalties! The Royals committed ten penalties totalling sixty four yards. In a game decided by a touchdown, those penalties will surely have an impact.
Bringing us to the end of the preseason, the Royals took on the Grey Ducks at home. This game came down to the wire, but the Royals were in control, leading the Grey Ducks for all but five minutes of the game. This game was full of offense totaling over seven hundred yards. The Royals led the way in passing with nearly two hundred yards while the Grey Ducks led the way in rushing with nearly two hundred forty yards. The Royals snagged two fumbles and controlled the clock all the way through. The final score was twenty three to twenty but that does not accurately reflect the game. The Royals had this one all the way through.
The Royals won all of three out of four of their games in the preseason. Their lone loss was on the road and all of their wins were at home. It appears that the long travel time from London strongly affects the success of the Royals. Alternatively, that home town crowd really benefits the Royals, as there is a clear home field advantage. Unfortunately for the Royals and the city of London, up to this point the Royals have not been .750 like the preseason. There is still time for the Royals to make a playoff run; however, they have certainly made it difficult for themselves. But what are the Royals missing from that tremendous preseason? For starters, averaging twenty five points for per game while their opponents averaged under twelve points against per game. That sort of difference is going to stick with you, but as we move our discussion to the regular season and how the Royals have faired, The Royals points per game are currently just under twenty while their opponents are just over twenty. I will foreshadow now by saying the defense has put up some stellar games. The losses tend to come on the back of errors, turnovers, a lack of clutchness at times. This is in no way saying their is a single side of the ball or player to blame for the rough record up to this point. Rather this is me saying that the Royals are incredibly close to success. The Royals have an incredibly talented team and this could have been their year, still could be, but they have hit some road bumps.
The Regular Season:
The Royals started the season with a three game losing streak. Not exactly what we would hope to see from a team that had Ultimini aspirations. Granted, the first two games were on the road and we have already seen how the home field advantage can mean to the London Royals.
Game one of the season was against the Kansas City Coyotes. If you remember, the Royals took down the Coyotes thirty four to fourteen the first week of the preseason. It was a very different story when the Royals traveled to Kansas City. The first half started out slow with each team only scoring by way of their kickers. Phastbawl would kick one field goal for thirty six yards, while the Coyote’s kicker, Karmichael Hunt, would kick three field goals. One of them being forty plus yards. Going into the second half down nine to three, the Royals really fell behind during the second half. Each of the teams kickers would kick another field goal; however, the real nail in the coffin was a three yard touchdown pass by the Coyotes. The final score was nineteen to six. What went wrong in this game? Well, for starters, the Royals were one for twelve on third downs. With inefficiency like that, we cannot expect the offense to put up points. This did make for a great day for Phastbawl though. Looking at passing, the Royals had a passing completion rate just over twenty five percent, and their yards per pass was an abysmal 2.3 yards. London defense showed up this game with two picks. One of them was by Crooks and one by van Perkins. I would like to chalk this first loss up to early season nerves. This performance was uncharacteristically bad for the Royals. I will say that a performance like this sticks with you and likely contributed to their three game losing streak. But, this is certainly our worst offensive outing of the season.
Game two of the regular season pitted the London Royals against the Minnesota Grey Ducks. A much better showing all around for the Royals in a narrow loss. The Grey Ducks started the game of quick scoring two touchdowns in the first half. The first touchdown was a six yard pass from Zed Keppler to Sim SnowBow. The second was a fifteen yard touchdown pass from Daymond Brooks to SnowBow. I am not one to usually advocate for switching up the quarterback, however, it clearly worked here for the Grey Ducks. In the second half the Royals would find themselves two touchdowns as well, one by air and one by land. The first went from Colby Jack to Jacoby Batista for six yards, and the second was a short run by Danny King. Unfortunately for the Royals, the Grey Ducks would score two field goals in the second half, each under thirty yards, which led to the final score twenty to fourteen, Grey Ducks. A high paced offensive game resulted in over seven hundred yards of offense. There was a fair share of turnovers during the game three for London and four for Minnesota. Special shout out to the Royals rookie linebacker Juan Domine who had fourteen tackles and two interceptions in the game. He was everywhere! This game closed the gap from last week, a much closer game that likely made the Royals much happier than their last outing. There is still more to improve on however. The next game would be closer still, however, it was a home game that they likely expected to win.
Week three saw the Royals take on the Norfolk Seawolves at home. A back and forth game that leaned more heavily on offense than defense. London got off to an early fourteen to ten lead in the first half. Jacoby Batista ran in for both of the touchdowns and it looked like the Royals were going to run away with this one. Unfortunately when the Royals came out of the locker room for the second half they could not get their game going again. Other than a long field goal and a last second passing touchdown, all eyes were on Norfolk. This game was especially interesting because the Royals controlled time of possession. Additionally, they led in total offense, third down conversion percentage and they had less penalties. So what happened? Turnovers happened. Three total for the Royals and none on Norfolk’s side of the ball. The lack of ball discipline really hurt the Royals in this one, and it appears that this may be the trend in games that they lose. If the Royals want to see an Ultimini, and at this point in the season, bounce back from zero wins and three losses, they are really going to need to start taking care of the ball. Otherwise, it does not matter how close to the endzone you can get, or how dominant your defense is.
Week four was the first win for the Royals. Taking on the Dallas Birddogs at home, the Royals got some revenge for their one preseason loss. A quick field goal and touchdown (and missed extra point) in the first quarter started the Royals off right with a nine to zero lead. The second quarter saw the Birddogs bot kicker, Kicky Boy, making two field goals, while the Royals scored another touchdown by Danny King, but also yet another missed extra point. Missing extra points is definitely an abnormality for the Royals kicker, but that would not tear them down. Going into the second half with a significant lead, the Royals would add to their lead with a pair of touchdowns, one passing and one rushing. It was not until the fourth quarter that the Birddogs would score a touchdown but it was much too late. The final score was twenty nine to thirteen, but what came together to give the Royals their first regular season win? First, discipline. Discipline is a characteristic that the previous games had been missing. The Royals had it and the Birddogs did not. The Birddogs totaled over one hundred penalty yards against them, giving the Royals a significant edge. Neither team had any turnovers, and the Royal turnover had been a thorn in their side week after week. Other than that their was not anything too showy. Offensive numbers were very similar, though the Royals edged out the Birddogs on third down. On top of that, the Royals defense did have four sacks. Putting the quarterback under constant pressure may be the key to getting wins for the Royals. After the Birddogs was a stretch of two away losses, but this first win of the regular season was needed for a morale boost. The city of London wants to see their team in the championship!
Week five brought the London Royals to Tijuana to take on the Luchadores. I need to begin by saying that turnovers was the chief problem of the Royals. Five of them to be exact. How a team recovers from that in a game, I do not know. Tijuana hit the Royals hard in the first half, getting ahead twenty four to seven. The one touchdown for the Royals was pretty sweet, a ninety one yard kick off return by Danny King. Later in the game Danny Kick would run for another touchdown, thirty three yards. The final score was forty to twenty four, and it was hard to watch. The defending Ultimini champs came to play and their offense could not be stopped. The defense had one sack, but tackles in general were hard to come by. It seems that ball discipline and pressure on the quarterback, the recipe for success the previous week, were out the door this week. Hopefully the Royals can find that moving forward. Unfortunately, the upcoming week would be a loss as well.
Traveling North to Portland for week six, the Royals were up against the Pythons. In a game that the Royals seemed to have control over, they came up short. The Royals got off to a thirteen to zero lead in the first half. Not to mention that London would have zero turnovers in the game. But something happened during the half time break that motivated the Pythons and they shut down the Royals in the second half. Not to mention their two touchdowns and two field goals. This one was a heartbreaker that the Royals probably should have won. With a final score of twenty to thirteen, there is no logical reason for the Royals to have a completely scoreless second half. Looking at the numbers, the Pythons quarterback was under absolutely no pressure, with the Royals defense putting up zero sacks. Could this be the key to when the Royals are successful and when they are not? To answer that, let us look at week seven where they brought home a win.
Week seven was a home game against the Buccaneers, and the home London crowd loved seeing the win. In a flip from the previous week, the Buccaneers got off to the early lead, ten to three in the first half. But that half time speech really was something as it led to the Royals putting up twenty four unanswered points in the second half. Let’s take a look at those defensive numbers shall we? Three sacks, three forced fumbles, and four tackles for loss. That is dominance on the defensive side of the ball. You know how they say defense wins championships? Well I think they are right. The anecdotal evidence appears to show that win the Royals defense shows up they win, and when they do not, they lose. With two games left to review, let us see how the Royals did.
Week eight gave the Royals a chance of redemption at home against the Kansas City Coyotes. Unfortunately, they Royals could not hand the Coyotes a loss. In a game where the Royals had one passing touchdown and a pair of field goals, the Coyotes scored in just about every way possible. The Coyotes had a pair of field goals, one over fifty yards, two rushing touchdowns, and a safety. While the Coyotes defense was busy getting a safety, the Royals defense did not have a single player with double digit tackles. London gave up two turnovers and seven penalties in a game that they likely should have won at home.
Week nine hopefully sets the course for the rest of the season, a win at home against the Minnesota Grey Ducks. Though the Grey Ducks would score first, London would score repeatedly until the end of the game where the final score was twenty nine to ten. However, this game may come as a surprising win because the Royals threw three interceptions. The Royals made up for it with decent third down efficiency and of course their defense came to play. With six sacks by five different players, I would hate to have been the Grey Ducks quarterback. Not to mention the Grey Ducks quarterback getting tackled in the endzone for a safety. Even in a game full of errors for the Royals, pressuring the quarterback appears to have worked very well. We can hope that there are more of those types of games in the future for the London Royals.
What we learned:
With a large sum of the season already complete, what can we say? Well, for a team to be successful they need to cut down penalties and turnovers. Maybe that intelligence attribute needs to be reevaluated? Additionally, third down efficiency appears to be a key statistic in the teams that are successful. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, defense wins championships. As a lifelong Chicago Bears fan this has been engraved in my memory since childhood. When the Royals can put pressure on the opposing team’s quarterbacks, they tend to win games. Putting up sacks and taking the ball away is a great way to win games. Not to mention it is fun to watch. The team from London also benefits greatly from that home field advantage. I have to imagine that all of that travel time leaves them jet lagged for those away games.
Where we go from here:
The Royals have five games left in the regular season, three away games, and two home games. Mathematically, it is still possible for them to make the playoffs, but they are really going to need to show up for some tough games. The next two games are Norfolk and Dallas on the road. Two tough ones, and if they can win at least one they should be proud. The two teams are sitting at six and three, and seven and two, respectively. The Birddogs will surely be trying to redeem themselves after their last loss. The last three games are home, home, and away against the Luchadores, Pythons, and Buccaneers respectively. Each of these are very winnable for the Royals if they stick to the game plan. I am hoping that the Royals can stage a come back and make it to the playoffs. Regardless, they have had some great games this season and should be in a great position going into next year.