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+---- Thread: *Season 35 Playoffs (/showthread.php?tid=39695)
*Season 35 Playoffs - Nathan - 06-06-2022
With the Regular Season in the books and the playoffs set to begin tonight I think it would be best to look at the teams currently vying for the Season 35 Ultimus Trophy.
- Honolulu Hahalua 13-3, 1st in ASFCThe obvious favorite to win the Ultimus this season would be Honolulu, with 10 players over 1000 TPE, and with five players in the top 10 of TPE earning players any opponent will need talent, coaching, and luck to beat them. With the best run defense in the league the Hahalua look to force teams to beat them in the air. Despite being decidedly average in terms pass defense, even with elite players like Lip Gallagher and Miles Weperom in the secondary, it could however turn out to be an Achilles heel should they fall short.
On the offensive side of the ball opposing teams have to pick their poison with an elite receiving group and pass catching options at tight end and running back, as well as the workhorse in Cobra Kai running between the tackles. Every receiver has over 800 yards, two within 50 yards of 1000, and tight end Buffalo Hunter and aforementioned running back Kai have 814 and 626 receiving yards respectively. The trade for Dexter Zaylren in Season 34 is proving to be the correct decision at quarterback, as Joliet in Germany has been...I think the less said the better.
- Arizona Outlaws 13-3, 2nd in ASFCThe Outlaws are an electrifying team, and is only playing in the wildcard because of tiebreaker with Honolulu. Jay Cue Jr. breaking the rushing yards record with 1900 this season and 16 touchdowns is easy MVP candidate if not winner. The passing game is no slouch with 3rd year starter Wendell Sailor throwing to Quinton Cash and Kotoni Staggs. If both are covered he still has options in Cue and tight end in Herc Kirkby.
The defense, while certainly less talent rich as the offense is no slouch, allowing the 2nd least points per game this season. Glenn Smart can rush the quarterback and has done so effectively racking up 10 sacks this season. Elder statesman for the defensive line Chuck Roth can do the same along with being an elite run stopper, even if he isn't as talented as he used to be. In the secondary, a quartet of solid 600-750 TPE corners is led by 1200 TPE safety Tre'Mendus Johnson.
- Orange County Otters 9-7, 3rd in ASFCThis is a team who while good with great players on roster doesn't live up to snuff compared to the top two teams in the ASFC. Quarterback Tron Carter, who while being 1100 TPE, is inactive and hasn't updated since April. His 14 interceptions certainly don't help matters. What doesn't help matters as well is that both of the user created wide receivers in Rodka Raskolnikov and Ken Oath are both inactive. What is the key for this team to upset the ASFC is Goat Tank Jr. Leading the team in rushing yards and receiving yards, Tank Jr. has proven to be a massive piece to the Otters offense and has paid off with this playoff berth. If Goat Tank Jr. isn't enough, his partner in crime Zane Cold won't help matters going for another 850 yards and 8 rushing touchdowns.
Defensively, the secondary leads a lot to be desired. Out of safety Rean Schwarzer and a little help in linebacker Bender Rodriguez the secondary is either talent deficient or too young like rookie Ace McAllister. The long and short of it is that the defense is too young this year to really contend, while the offense is in its prime right now.
- Baltimore Hawks 9-7, 1st in NSFCThe NSFC was the closest it has been in a long time, with the difference between 1st and 6th this year being two games. Baltimore has earned the bye as the 1 seed by virtue of tiebreaker vs Chicago with a higher points for. This high flying offense is led by a duo of 1300+ TPE running backs in Dante King and Busch Goose. Both running for 1000 yards and 7 TDs has boosted the Hawks along with their lethal passing game to the best offense in the ISFL. Speaking of the passing game, with Gimmy Jarappolo Jr.'s 45 TDs and 4600 yards, albeit with a damper of 19 picks. His favorite target by far is Luke Quick, with 1200 yards and 11 receiving TDs. Outside of Quick, Preston Parker eclipsed 1100 yards as well, tight end Leonard Graf has been a good option with 800 yards, and Goose has proven to be a good safety valve with 700 yards.
The defense on the other hand has decided to take a vacation. Despite allowing the least passing yards in the NSFC, that rush defense is 3rd worst in the league and is the main culprit in a bottom five defense in both allowed points per game and yards per game.
- Chicago Butchers 9-7, 2nd in NSFCThis is a team with a large amount of talent at on both sides of the ball and have a serious chance of repeating as champions, but has choked over and over again. They are 5-6 in one score games this season, and blew a chance of a first round bye with their loss against Baltimore in Week 16. This wouldn't have occurred had Chicago not started 0-3 including losses to Sarasota and Philly, but whatever. Pivoting to the team's composition, Kazimir Oles Jr. has continued to produce at a championship level along with the receiving core. Vincent Sharpei Jr., Rejoignez LordeSombre, and Mike Hunt all racked up over 1000 yards, and the first of the bunch with over 1400. In the backfield, Lalu Muhammad Zohri has proven to be a great running back with over 1100 yards. Old man Madison Hayes is still getting touches as well with 800 yards.
The defense's achilles heel appears to be their run defense, similar to the Hawks. The difference is however is that the Butcher don't have an absolute tire fire defense and can at least be competent most drives.
- Yellowknife Wraiths 8-8, 3rd in NSFCFunnily enough this team is the exact opposite as the first two NSFC teams. Yellowknife has an elite defense but an offense that if you were to call it pedestrian would be putting it nicely. Even with a solid receiving core of Bernd Brot, Troy Abed, and Mark Walker, all of whom had over 900 yards receiving, this team was still bottom five in passing yards. Neither running back had over 1000 yards either. I could take the easy route of blaming it on Dustin Parmalee, but a 1200 TPE QB is what almost every team would want.
The elite defense is led by old man Leonard Taylor at the edge, along with 2nd year player Daron Arnold creating a formidable duo. In the secondary is an incredibly young group of DBs, led by 900 Kalam Makhar at CB1. The oldest player in this secondary is Jay Spears, who was drafted back in Season 30.