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+---- Thread: *Chathack'rius Smith IV Year in Review (/showthread.php?tid=33193)
*Chathack'rius Smith IV Year in Review - Rockiesfan4ever - 06-30-2021
We came into the year wondering what Chathack’rius Smith IV could do to improve on his previous seasons, especially with the limited competition and training facilities that the DSFL offers in comparison to the ISFL. The elephant in the room is the Bondi Beach Buccaneers and just how god awful they were this last year. In season 28, the Bondi Beach Buccaneers finished 6-8 and, somehow, they wormed their way into the playoffs (which you could write a whole nother story about). While their playoff run was not any miracle or storybook ending, things were still promising in Bondi Beach; then the call-ups came. Lots of stories have been written about Bondi and how they were ravaged by called ups and lost a lot of talent that they were not able to add in the season 29 DSFL draft. Smith IV was tapped to be one of the leaders of the team and propel them to another successful season and, oh boy, he did not succeed in that.
The Buccaneers’ defense this year was not good as they allowed over 31 points per game (while their offense averaged only 17 points per game) and that is not a winning formula. Their offense did not put them in a position to win, but their defense did no favors as well. Is this indicative of the leadership shown from Chathack’rius Smith IV who was known to care more about his personal stats over the team’s stats this year? I guess we should have seen this coming by their preseason results of 1-3 with a score differential of -59 (53 points for and 112 points allowed). Smith IV posted a solid preseason with 6 tackles in game 1, 4 tackles and a pass defense in game 2, 6 tackles and a pass defense in game 3, and 3 tackles with 2 pass defense in the final preseason game. 19 tackles is a solid preseason, but to be expected from Smith. The refreshing thing to see was his 4 passes defensed in those 4 games. Hopefully that was going to be a bigger emphasis in his game going forward.
Week 1:
Week 1 brought the Bondi Beach Buccaneers north to face the Norfolk Seawolves. This game was as close to a no contest as you see nowadays in the DSFL. Norfolk raced out to a 14-0 lead by the end of the 1st quarter and was up 34-7 by halftime. The lopsided score meant that Norfolk spent a lot of time running the ball (22 pass attempts to 45 rush attempts). Obviously the lack of pass attempts meant that the defensive backs for the Bondi Beach Buccaneers didn’t have many attempts to load up the score sheet, even more so when Raeni Clark completing 17 of 22 passes (for a 77% completion percentage). We only saw 1 pass defensed all day by the Buccaneers’ secondary and only 1 sack from the front line. The 1 pass defense did not belong to Chathack’rius Smith IV however, as he had a clean stat sheet besides 6 tackles, which was good for 3rd on the team. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 6 tackles.
Week 2:
Looking to bounce back in week 2 the Bondi Beach Buccaneers were set to open their season at home against the Minnesota Grey Ducks. This game was completely different from game 1 besides the initial 14 point onslaught by the opposing offense. The Grey Ducks brought a more balanced attack to Bondi Beach as they passed the ball 30 times to their 35 rush attempts. These 30 passes meant that the Buccaneers’ secondary was able to fill up the score card. 4 Buccaneers recorded at least 1 pass defensed and 3 of them secured an interception, but Buccaneers’ QB Dexter Zaylren also had 3 interceptions as the Buccaneers were not able to take advantage of 4 total turnovers from the Grey Ducks as they post a Grey Duck egg of 0 in the score column. The 2 rushing touchdowns from the Grey Ducks in the first quarter were plenty as they cruise to a 14-0 victory. This loss for the Buccaneers saw Chathack’rius Smith IV post another empty score sheet besides the 7 tackles he recorded. He was 2nd on the team in tackles, but would you say he was the 2nd best defender since other members of the defense were able to record other impactful plays. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 13 tackles.
Week 3:
Would week 3 in Tijuana be the week that the Bondi Beach Buccaneers were able to record their first win of the year? Tijuana was able to get out to another fast start against this Buccaneers’ defense as they put up a 10-3 lead after the first quarter and a 24-3 lead by half. The defense wasn’t sharp for Bondi Beach and neither was the offense as they never really had a chance to compete in this game. With such an early, commanding lead, the Tijuana Luchadores were able to do what the other teams against the Buccaneers have done this year and run the ball in the 2nd half. Overall you saw the Luchadores only throw the ball 21 (while only completing 18 of them). Despite the few attempts we did see the Buccaneers record an interception, and it did come at the hands of Chathack’rius Smith IV. Smith IV records his first interception (in the regular season) since his rookie year to go along with 7 tackles, which seems to be his baseline. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 20 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 pass deflection.
Week 4:
Would the home crowd be able to will the Buccaneers to their first win of the season against such a tough opponent, the London Royals? This time the Buccaneers’ defense held the Royals to only 7 points in the first quarter, but the offense didn’t show up as the Buccaneers went into half down 20-14 after 14 points in the 2nd quarter. If you thought the last couple of weeks were rough when it came to pass/run attempts this year against the Buccaneers defense then you will want to not look at this next stat. The London Royals ran the ball 47 times and threw the ball only 11 times, while completing all 11 of them. On the flip side the Buccaneers ran the ball only 11 times and threw it 56 times, thus pushing the time of possession in the Royals’ favor. Completing 11 of 11 passes doesn’t leave the opposing defense a lot of time and opportunities to make plays as the Buccaneers’ secondary was shut out from the score card yet again this week. Chathack’rius Smith IV kept his baseline, however, by recording 6 tackles, which was good for 3rd on the team. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 26 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 pass deflection.
Week 5:
Week 5 saw the Buccaneers back on the road and at this point they were looking for anyway that they could turn this season around as their pirate ship was taking on water fast. At this point it seems like the book is out on this Buccaneers defense, run the ball. Portland did just this, passing it 17 times and running it a whopping 51 times. Despite the massive discrepancy in pass/rush against the Buccaneers defense, the Portland Pythons only scored 16 points, which was the lowest amount the Buccaneers had allowed on the year. However, their offense only put up 3 points; perhaps a result of the 13 minute time of possession deficit that the Buccaneers had. If I gave you 1 guess to guess how many tackles that Chathack’rius Smith IV had in this game, would you guess 6? If so, you would be correct as he had another 6 tackle performance with an empty score sheet. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 32 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 pass deflection.
Week 6:
We see the Minnesota Grey Ducks come back to Bondi Beach to see if, maybe, the Buccaneers’ offense could come to life against the Grey Ducks, unlike in week 2. Well, it won’t matter because this week 6 game was nothing like the week 2 game. Minnesota jumped out to an early 14 point lead in the first quarter and stretched that lead to 31-0 by halftime. At this point, there was nothing the Buccaneers’ offense could do. They tried to push the score, but by the end of the game it was Grey Ducks 38 and the Buccaneers 21. Much like the first time these 2 teams met the Grey Ducks ran the ball twice as many times as the passed it, leading to a diminished stat sheet for the Buccaneer’s secondary. For the 4th time in 6 games Chathack’rius Smith IV had 6 tackles and zeroes in every other stat category that mattered (we are ignoring his attempts at returning kicks/punts this year because they were not good). Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 38 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 pass deflection.
Week 7:
At this point the Buccaneers were 0-6 and everyone in the locker room realized that the playoffs were not happening this year. Also, on the same terms of “realizing that things weren’t going to happen” the Buccaneers stepped up to KC looking for their first win of the season. After the first quarter the Buccaneers actually had a lead, which is a sad state as this was the Bondi Beach Buccaneers first lead of the season. Now it did not last very long as 6 minutes later the Coyotes took the lead with a 69 yard rushing touchdown, but the Buccaneers responded and took a 10-7 lead to the 2nd quarter. However, the Buccaneers were outscored 21-8 over the next 3 quarters as the Coyotes took control. The Buccaneers defense has a nice spread of stats, except for Chathac’rius Smith IV who posted his worst game of the year with only 3 tackles. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 41 tackles, 1 interception, and 1 pass deflection.
Week 8:
At the halfway point of the season, the Buccaneers were winless, barely had led any games in the season, and Chathack’rius Smith was falling further and further behind other safeties in the competitions for ‘Safety of the Year’. He was making tackles, pretty much 6 per game, but he wasn’t making any other game breaking plays. The 1 interception and 1 pass defense was nice, but those numbers were not going to hold up for an entire season if he wanted to win awards and/or be selected to the DSFL Pro Bowl. Chathack’rius Smith extrapolated season stat total: 76 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 2 pass deflections.
Week 9:
Holy Shit the Bondi Beach Buccaneers have won a game! I repeat, the Bondi Beach Buccaneers have actually won a game! Now, I know some of you may think that that was spoilers, but the excitement was palpable throughout the league. What we see is that the way the Buccaneers win is by forcing the other team to pass the ball more than they run and for their offense to run the ball more than passing. The defense was able to force a couple of turnovers and one of those was another interception by Chathack’rius Smith IV. Along with his normal, 7 tackles, and 1 pass deflected. So, if our estimates above are correct then that should be the last interception Chathack’rius Smith IV records on the reason and we can skip the last 6 weeks of recaps. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 48 tackles, 2 interceptions, and 2 pass deflections.
Week 10:
Could the Buccaneers repeat the miracle they had last week and pull off the upset against the Dallas Birddogs? No. There’s not a lot that can be said about this game as the Birddogs stuck to the script against the Buccaneers and ran the ball 21 more times than they passed it (38 to 17). The domination we saw also doesn’t help when your quarterback throws 2 pick sixes in the game. The Birddogs did have one turnover of their own as Chathack’rius Smith IV was able to secure his 3rd interception of the season and his first career back to back weeks with interceptions. Granted, this came at another week of a lower tackle total, but I think him, the Bondi Beach Buccaneers, and the Austin Copperheads would take that every day going forward. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 52 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 3 pass deflections.
Week 11:
Now the Bondi Beach Buccaneers season was shot, destroyed, over. However, could Chathack’rius Smith IV continue his torrent streak in the 2nd half of the season? In week 3 against the Tijuana Luchadores Chathack’rius recorded his first interception of the season, could he repeat that performance? Tijuana definitely gave them many opportunities as they are one of the few teams who threw the ball more against the Buccaneers than they ran the ball (40 attempts to 22 rush attempts). However, even with the increased work load against the secondary, no Bondi Beach Buccaneer was able to record an interception, however, Chathack’rius Smith IV did record another pass deflection to go along with his 5 tackles. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 57 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 4 pass deflections.
Week 12:
Since the season is over at this point it is all about Chathack’rius Smith IV racking up the stats and pushing to be the DSFL Safety of the Year over Kelvin Harris. Again the London Royals found themselves out to a quick lead against the Buccaneers (as we saw from every team this year), but they still maintained a pretty balanced run/pass attack. Despite the balance and the increased time of possession for the Royals (almost 35 minutes) Chathack’rius Smith IV posted one of his worst games of the season. He did, however, record his 3rd straight game with a pass deflection, but only recorded 3 tackles. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 60 tackles, 3 interceptions, and 5 pass deflections.
Week 13:
Could Chathack’rius Smith IV continue his pass deflection streak against the Kansas City Coyotes? The answer to that is yes as Smith IV records the best game of the season, by far. Smith IV recorded a team high 8 tackles, his first sack of the season, along with 1 interception, and a pass deflection. This statline led the Buccaneers to their 2nd win of the year and Smith IV to win defensive performance of the week. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 68 tackles, 1 sack, 4 interceptions, and 6 pass deflections.
Week 14:
At this point in the season you could say Chathack’rius Smith IV was on a hot streak, recording 16 tackles, 1 sack, a pick, and 3 pass deflections in his last 4 games as his DSFL Safety of the Year stock keeps rising quickly. The week 13 game against Portland saw Chathack’rius Smith IV return back to his old ways recording an empty stat sheet besides 6 tackles. Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 74 tackles, 1 sack, 4 interceptions, and 6 pass deflections.
At this point Kelvin Harris and Chathack’rius Smith IV were neck and neck for the DSFL Safety of the Year with pundits giving a slight nod to Harris at this point. Could Smith IV have the game of the season to push him over the top? Unfortunately the Buccaneers were playing the Dallas Birddogs, a team notorious for running the ball more than passing. This rush heavy attack against the Buccaneers limited Chathack’rius Smith IV’s productivity to another stat empty stat line besides tackles. His 8 tackles pushed him to a career high and was good enough for 11th in the DSFL (tops amongst all safeties, free and strong). Chathack’rius Smith running season stat total: 82 tackles, 1 sack, 4 interceptions, and 6 pass deflections.
Looking back at Smith IV’s season you could say this was the best year of his career, as to be expected. He posted a career high (or tied a career high) in tackles, missed tackles (lowest of his career), and interceptions. This isn’t even including his return stats of 35 kick returns, 600 yards, 17.1 yards per return, 22 punt returns, 153 punt return yards, 7 yards per attempt, and a long of 53 yards. Was this season what Chathack’rius Smith IV expected? Probably. Will it be good enough to win DSFL Safety of the Year from Kelvin Harris? Probably not.
Word Count: 2750
1.5x media- https://forums.sim-football.com/showthread.php?tid=33143
RE: Chathack'rius Smith IV Year in Review - Void_DCXI - 06-30-2021
I know you’re gonna get that call up soon!