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+---- Thread: *Season 40 Chicago Butchers Recap (/showthread.php?tid=44691)
*Season 40 Chicago Butchers Recap - soevil - 04-07-2023
The Chicago Butchers had a pretty solid run in the 40th season of the International Simulation Football League. In this media piece, I hope to give a general overview of the Chicago Butchers season and go over the week-by-week results to give a more detailed look at how the season unfolded.
The offseason prior to S40 had some promising moments for the Chicago Butchers. Most notable was the addition of Quarterback Adrian St. Christmas, acquired via free agency. St. Christmas had just come off of a championship season with the Yellowknife Wraiths and expectations in the Chicago locker room was that he could recreate the magic in Chicago. A second addition of note was that of Cornerback Apollo Program. Apollo Program stepped in to be the CB2 on the Butchers after blue chip Safety Quendyn Quarterstorm moved out wide to the cornerback position. Other offseason news for the Chicago Butchers included the "last rides" of longtime Butchers Vincent Sharpei Jr. and Dexter Hall. Because of this, they were selected as captains for their final season.
Vincent Sharpei Jr first played for the Butchers in S31 after being selected 4th overall in the S30 draft and finished his career in Chicago after S40. His career statistics set several franchise records for the Butchers including catches (861 - 12th ISFL all time), receiving yards (10,967 - 20th ISFL all time), and receiving touchdowns (80 - 15th ISFL all time). Overall, Vincent Sharpei Jr had an outstanding career with the Butchers where I expect he will be inducted into the Chicago Butchers Hall of Fame.
Dexter Hall first appeared for the Chicago Butchers in S30 after being drafted 10th overall in the S28 draft. Hall managed to have a solid career for the Butchers, finishing his career in Chicago 2nd in tackles (984), T-2nd in tackles for loss, 2nd in sacks (101), 8th in passes defended (74), 2nd in forced fumbles (23), and 3rd in fumbled recovered (9).
Alright, now that those shout outs are done, lets review the Chicago Butchers season 40!
To start off, not many people believed that Chicago would have a very successful season. We can try to verify this in three ways: S40 Season predictions, S40 Casino O/U betting slips, and weekly prediction results.
Looking at the S40 season predictions there were 259 responses. The average of those responses had Chicago at a 4.59 place finish, behind Yellowknife, Sarasota, and Cape Town, and grouped with Berlin and Colorado (4.76 and 4.83). The bulk of responders placed Chicago in 6th place with 80 votes, followed by 5th place with 51 votes, and 4th place with 54 votes. A fair amount of users had selected them to finish 2nd or 3rd, with 25 and 34 votes respectively.
Although the S40 Over/Under bets have a much smaller sample size, it could be theorized that users making these bets might have a higher level of insight than the standard user. Overall, there were only 8 unique users that placed bets on Chicago 7.5 win mark. Of those 8 users, only 3 would cash out with an over bet. Those that took the under would manage to lose a collective $12.25M while the overs would reap $24.7M.
The third way that we might be able to verify that the general userbase did not see Chicago as a playoff team, or even a playoff team, is to review the selections of weekly prediction matchups. @“thecc” was kind enough to write me a script so that I could check this without wanting to blow my brains out. I think this will more or less give a temperature check representative of how the league as a whole viewed the Butchers on a weekly basis compared to their opponent.
Some likely may have believed that the preseason results might be indicative of how the Chicago Butchers season was going to play out, as they finished 1-3, only defeating the Honolulu Hahalua. The preseason definitely left a lot to be desired for Chicago fans, but what wasn't accounted for with the grit and willpower swirling inside the Butchers locker room.
Week 1 - Chicago Butchers vs. Colorado Yeti
What some around the league view as a rivalry game did not disappoint as the opener for S40. Chicago fans celebrate "Morley Bobblehead Night" whenever Colorado visits Chicago in the regular season, meaning if Morley scores on that game, everyone in the stadium wins the seasons edition of an Austin Morley bobblehead. The players and fans were filling the stadium with the electricity of excitement before the opening kick. Colorado would end up winning the toss and elected the receive the ball to start the game. Uneventfully, the opening kick would be kicked out of the back of the endzone for a touchback, giving Live Laughlove and the Yeti offense the ball at their own 25 yard line. The Yeti would take end up scoring on their first drive of the season after an 18 yard field goal by Orlando Doom was made, giving them a 3-0 lead. The excitement really started on the ensuing kickoff. Below is a radio excerpt of the Butchers first kick return of the game.
Fielded in the endzone by Morley, he brings it out! Down the middle up to the 20, he cuts left, to the 25, he's got an alley down the left side! To the 40, 50! He cuts back across the field! Its a footrace! To the 40, to the 30, 20, 15, 10, 5, TOUCHDOWN! Austin Morley, 102 yard touchdown! Bobble baby, bobble!
That kick return touchdown would be the first of Morley's career and more importantly gave Chicago the 6-3 lead as the point after was missed. On the next Yeti drive, things would get a little chippy. On a 2nd and 13 play, Linebacker Dexter Hall would get a free rush off the line of scrimmage, bulldozing running back Ceti Pyxis on his way to sack Laughlove for a 6 yard loss. On the following 3rd and 19, Laughlove would complete a short pass for 5 yards, however, a personal foul penalty by Pyxis would negate the play, leading to a 4th down punt by the Yeti. The next drive would actually be Chicago's first offensive drive of the season. After a 1st down rush by Zohri for 14 yards, the next would prove disastrous for the Butchers. The first pass attempt by new Chicago Butchers quarterback Adrian St. Christmas wound up going the wrong way. As St. Christmas slung the rock toward Frank Dux, Yeti cornerback Cross-Erickson snatched the ball out of the air and returned it down the left sideline all the way for a touchdown. The rest of the 1st quarter would remain uneventful and the teams would head to quarter 2 with the Yeti up 10-6 over the Butchers. A third of the way into the 2nd quarter the game would see its next touchdown, this time in the form of a 1 yard rush by Lalu Muhammed-Zohri. This would put the Butchers back in the lead 13-10. The following Yeti drive would prove to be fruitless, as a 1st and 10 sack by Xave Valorian would dig them into a deep hole that they couldn't climb out of. After two more incompletions, Orlando Doom would punt the ball away to Austin Morley. Punting from their own 19 yard line, Doom shanked the ball for only 33 yards. Morley would pick it up off of a short bounce and dodge one defender one his way down the left sideline. It was a footrace but one Yeti defender managed to have the angle. As fast as Morley is, he can't outrun trigonometry. As he sprinted for the goal line, he dove from the 5 yard line but was knocked out of bounds at the 1. The following play would result in another Zohri 1 yard touchdown run, giving the Butchers a 20-10 lead. The next Yeti drive would end up resulting in a 38 yard field goal by Doom, closing the Butchers lead 20-13, making it a one score game. Morley would then take another kick 44 yards to set the Butchers up with great field position, but ultimately the drive would stall resulting in a punt by David Doug. The rest of the half would be a slog with no points being scored, brining the score at halftime 20-13. The third quarter began with a short drive by Chicago ending in a punt. On Colorado's next drive, Big Joe Reed had his first highlight of the season. On a 3rd and 9 with the Yeti pinned back at their own six yard line, Reed bullrushed passed the right tackle of the Colorado line and crushed Laughlove, resulting in a strip-sack that Reed himself would recover. Reed argued that he recovered the ball in the endzone and that it should have been a touchdown, however the replay review concluded that the ball was recovered on the Colorado 1 yardline. The following play the Butchers Muhammed-Zohri would score their third 1 yard rushing touchdown of the game, bringing the score to 27-13. The next drive by the Yeti would result in another field goal by Orlando Doom, this one from 36 yards out, bringing the score to 27-16. The Butchers following drive would end with an interception, as St. Christmas tried to force a ball to Morley that was intercepted again by Yeti defensive back Cross-Erickson and returned for 11 yards. Once Laughlove and the Yeti offense got the ball on a short field, it was only a few plays until he would connect with E. Phenssta for a 1 yard touchdown pass, bringing the score to 27-22 after a failed 2-point conversion. Chicago would get the ball to start the 4th quarter up 5 and would do their best to chug the clock. On their first possession of the quarter they managed to eat up over 7 minutes and ended it with a 37 yard field goal by Doug, bringing the score 30-22. The Yeti would take the next possession and fight like hell to win this game. They would end up going punting after making one first down thanks in part to a -9 yard sack by Big Joe Reed. The Butcher offense couldn't capitalize, though, and had to punt the ball after a 3 and out. Colorado would get the ball back with 4:20 (blaze it) left in the game and would go down and score thanks to a 5 yard touchdown pass from Laughlove to Fingers. The Yeti would go for 2 to tie the game but came up just short after a big stop from Dexter Hall on the goal line, making the score 30-28. With just 1:43 left on the clock, the Yeti would hold the Butchers to another 3 and out and would get the ball back at their own 30 yard line with 1:23 to go. Yeti star quarterback Live Laughlove would drive his team down, managing the clock effectively and using timeouts to set up a 51 yard field goal for the win. WIth 25 second remaining, Orlando Doom trotted out to attempt the kick but the crowd noise was deafening. He missed the kick wide right, and the Butchers would send the kneel down unit onto the field to end the game.
Result: Butchers 30 - Yeti 28.
Post game recap: Based off the weekly predictions, it seemed that a majority of the league (204 out of 278) believed this game was going to go in favor of the Butchers, so this can’t be considered an upset victory. If anything, it looks like the Yeti made it more of a game than many expected. The thee Butchers stars of this game to me were Zohri, Morley, and Reed. Zohri with 122 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns (2 assisted by Morley and Reed. Morley with a great game on special teams and Reed with 2 sacks in key moments of the game.
Week 2 - Chicago Butchers vs. Yellowknife Wraiths
This game would more or less end the way everyone expected, and I don't really want to revisit this shellacking lmao. The Wraiths running backs absolutely ran wild on the Butchers defense, racking up 224 rushing yards and 4 total touchdowns between Archipelago and Akinfenwa. Calvin Spiff also scored through the air and had 5 receptions for 83 yards. For the Butchers, Walter McKinley would record the teams only touchdown by a 5 yard touchdown pass from St. Christmas.
Result: Butchers 10 - Wraiths 41
Post game recap: The weekly predictions for this game suggest that most everyone knew how this game was going to go (34/273 selected the Butchers). It makes sense, though, as the Wraiths were the defending champions and had a significantly higher TPE total than the Butchers. The three stars of the game for the Butchers were McKinley (1 rec touchdown), Morley (134 receiving yards), and Rumble Ronson (11 tackles, 4 tackles for loss). For the Wraiths, the stars were Akinfenwa, Archipelago, and Cussion.
Week 3 - Butchers @ Fire Salamanders
For Chicago's first away game of the season, they have to travel all the way to Berlin to face the Fire Salamanders. This would wind up to be another close game that would have fans on the edges of their seats by the time the clocks hit zeroes. The Butchers would receive the opening kickoff and after moving the ball solidly would begin to sputter out near the red zone. They would end up settling for a field goal as David Doug would make a 39 yarder to give the Butchers the early 3-0 lead. The first Berlin drive would be aided greatly by a slew of defensive penalties, including a Neutral Zone infraction but Reed, Unsportsmanlike Conduct by Valorian, Encroachment by Walt, and defensive pass interference by Quarterstorm. That would end up putting the Fire Salamanders on the Chicago 11 yard line, resulting in a 9 yard touchdown pass from Santa-Cruz to Dangle, giving Berlin the lead 7-3. After a 23 yard kick return by Morley, St. Christmas would fire off 7 straight completions to McKinley, Sharpei jr, and Dux to set up a 1 yard Zohri touchdown run, bringing the score to 10-7 Butchers. On the following Fires Slamander drive, Santa-Cruz would hook up with Octavio Perez for a 71 yard bomb for a touchdown, bringing the score to 14-10 Berlin at the end of the quarter. The second quarter began with the Butchers having possession of the ball. A couple chunk rushes by Zohri and Dux and a 24 yard catch and run by Morley would take the Butchers into Berlin territory. From there, St. Christmas and Morley would connect for a 34 yard touchdown, putting the Butchers back ahead 17-14. On the next Berlin drive, a sack by Big Joe Reed would back up the Fire Salamanders offense early, causing them to need to punt the ball back to the Butchers, who would then also go 3 and out and return the favor. Doug would shank the punt for only 35 yards, setting up Berlin with plus field position. in only two plays Santa-Cruz and the Berlin offense scored with a 10 yard throw and catch to Really Creative-Name. The score was now 21-17 Berlin. The rest of the half was full of punts and penalties, with the only plays of note being a Dexter Hall interception and a David Doug field goal to make the score at halftime 21-20 Berlin. The start of the second half would be taken up by Berlin driving down the field and Known Acquaintance kicking a 21 yard field goal to extend Berlin's lead to 24-17. Morley would bring out the following kickoff for a gain of 45 yards, although the Butchers offense couldn't capitalize on the field position and needed to punt for a touchback. A series of punts later, the end of the 3rd quarter would finally end with a St. Christmas touchdown pass to Walter McKinley for 2 yards, giving the Butchers the lead 27-24. The 4th quarter would begin with the Fire Salamanders making a very questionable decision to go for it on 4th and 4 from their own 32 yard line. Santa-Cruz would throw an incomplete pass resulting in a turnover on downs. Again, though, the Butchers couldn't fully capitalize and only managed a field goal. The score was now 30-24 butchers. Santa-Cruz would lead the Fire Salamanders down the field to score the go-ahead touchdown with 4:46 left in the game, Berlin leading 31-30. St. Christmas would do what he does best and lead the Butchers offense down the field, finishing with a 10 yard touchdown pass to Dux. The Butchers would punch in the 2 point conversion, giving the Butchers the final lead change of the game. The score would hold up 38-31 Butchers.
Result: Butchers 38 Fire Salamanders 31
Post game recap: Out of the 278 predictions for this game, a surprising majority (185) selected the Fire Salamanders to win. Perhaps this is due to the previous week’s murder of the Butchers by Yellowknife, so I think it is fair to call this result an upset. This game really came down to the great passing offense that Chicago used. The Butchers stars of the game were St. Christmas (35/49, 407 yards, 3 TDs), Morley (8-141-1 and 131 KR yards) and McKinley (13-88-1).
Week 4 - Butchers @ Sailfish
After an away trip all the way to Berlin, the Butchers had to travel down to Sarasota in order to play the Sailfish. The game would start off rough for the butchers as on their opening drive, Morley would fumble the ball resulting in a change of possession. On Carter Knight's first snap for the Sailfish, he would be clobbered by Big Joe Reed for a loss of 10 yards. Sarasota would end the drive with a 51 yard field goal by league best kicker Swantavious King. The next Butchers drive would sputter out as well after a big sack and a following punt. Sarasota's next drive would look very similar to their first, this time ending in a 50 yard field goal by King. Chicago would continue to struggle on offense, only gaining 16 yards on 5 plays before punting the ball away again. Knight would take another big hit, but this time by Rumble Ronson. The Sailfish would end up punting again and Chicago finally began to move the ball after 4 straight completions to Morley. A big sack by rookie Ginand Toxic This would essentially end the first quarter of the game. To start the second quarter, the Butchers would send out David Doug and the field goal unit hoping to get on the board for the first time. The 41 yard field goal ended up being blocked by Mistah Freddy and the score would remain 6-0 Sarasota. Taking control of the ball, the Sailfish would march down the field deep into the red zone. Chicago linebacker Brian Duke would come up clutch and sack Knight on a 3rd and 2 from the 4 yard line, forcing Kings 3rd field goal. The score was now 9-0 Sailfish. After a solid kick return by Quarterstorm, the Butchers hoped to finally get something going on offense. Morley would take a slant for 43 yards before being caught by the safety. Thinking this would finally be the drive to get them on the board, St. Christmas was sacked by Harley Andrews and lost the ball, turning the ball over. Fortunately, after two plays, Dee Walt would end up intercepting Knight to give the ball back to the Butchers. With just over 3 minute left in the first half, Chicago managed to get on the board with a 9 yard touchdown pass to Austin Morley, making the score 9-7 Sarasota. The rest of the half would end with another deep field goal by King, this time a 48 yarder. The score at halftime was 12-7 Sarasota. The Sailfish would get the ball to start the second half and this drive would go like most of them before it, ending with another 45 yard field goal by King. 15-7 Sailfish. The Butchers would be set up with good field position after a 37 yard return by Morley. The next several plays would be positive gains to set up a 10 yard touchdown run by Zohri bringing the score 15-13 after a failed 2 point conversion. The next Sailfish drive would result in Dee Walt's second ijnterception of the game, where he returned it 20 yards to the Sarasota 15 yard line. Thinking this is where the Butchers would take the lead, Andrews again strip sacked St. Christmas to give the Sailfish the ball back. Joe Reed would return the favor on the next play by getting a sack of his own to set up yet another Sarasota punt. In the final seconds of the third quarter, St. Christmas would connect with Frank Dux for a 40 yard touchdown strike to finally give the Butchers the lead, 20-15. On the following Sailfish drive, they would be stopped on a 4th and 1 play on their own 34 yard line, bringing in to question the coaching and play calling. That blunder would set up another Muhammed Zohri 1 yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 27-15. Carter Knight would send the Sailfish downfield, connecting with Johnny Blaze Jr. on a 10 yard touchdown pass, shortening the lead to 27-22. The Butchers would then go 3 and out and give the ball back to Sarasota with 4 minutes left in the game. The end of the game would go back and forth on possession. A third Joe Reed sack would cause a Sarasota punt, however they would get the back back after another 3 and out by Chicago. With 1:34 left in the game and the Sailfish down 5, Knight led them down the field into a 1st and goal situation with 19 seconds remaining and no time outs. After an 5 yard gain on 1st down and a big Brian Duke sack on 2nd down, Knight had to spike the ball on 3rd down. It was 4th and goal from the 8. Knight dropped back with 7 seconds to go. He dumped it off to Sconnie McSix who dashed toward the endzone but would be stopped just short as he was outmuscled by cornerback Quendyn Quarterstorm, stopped at the one yard line. The Butchers would then take an intentional safety to make the final score 27-24.
Result: Butchers 27 Sailfish 24
Post game recap: This was another game in which a large majority selected the Sailfish to win (245/274 predictions), making this another upset victory for the Butchers. I think the key to this game was the "bend but don't break" style of defense of the Chicago Butchers, forcing 5 field goals for the first 5 scoring possession for the Sailfish. The three Butchers stars of the game were Dee Walt (6 tackles, 3 PDs, 2 INTs), Joe Reed (5 tackles, 3 sacks, 1 Forced fumble), and Zohri (88 yards and 2 touchdowns).
Week 5 - Butchers @ Secondline
The third week in a row that the Butchers needed to travel for a game, this time to New Orleans. This game would prove to be relatively uneventful. It was definitely a game centered around both teams ground attack. After a scoreless first quarter, the first score of the game would be a passing touchdown from St. Christmas to McKinley in the second. The next two scores would be chip shot field goals by Dos Santos and by halftime the score was a low 7-6 Butchers. In the third quarter, New Orleans runningback Armor Queen would plow into the endzone on a 1 yard score to give the Secondline their first lead of the game, bringing the score to 14-7 after a successful 2 point conversion. In the 4th quarter, Dos Santos would knock through another short field goal to extend the lead to 17-7. And tried as they might, it was a lead that the Butchers couldn't overcome. A 4 yard Zohri touchdown run in the final minutes closed the gap to 17-14 but that would be the final score of the game. Dropping the Butchers to 3-2 on the season.
Result: Butchers 14 Secondline 17
Post game recap: A relatively boring game with all things considered. The majority of the league predicted that the Secondline would win (164/244) and they ended up being correct. There isn't much to recap after this game. Offense couldn't get anything going even though the defense did a good job of limiting the Secondlines scoring opportunities. I don't even feel like doing a stars of this game smh.
Not gonna lie I am starting to run out of steam but I am going to keep going as best as I can here.
Week 6 - Butchers vs. Crash
This would end up being the start of a stretch of games where the Butchers would get into a good rhythm. The game would start with yet another 1 yard Zohri touchdown run. Prince Pleasure himself would answer with his own 34 yard touchdown reception to tie the game up in the 2nd quarter. Dee Walt would then show up big again with a 48 yard pick six, pointing and mocking Craig Jerrith IV on the way to the endzone. The rest of the game would basically be a lot of David Dough Field goals. The final score would be a 30-17 victory for Chicago.
Result: Butchers 30 Crash 17
Post game recap: This game was almost split right down the middle as far as weekly predictions go, as the Butchers had 127 selections against 125 for the Crash. The key to victory for this game was that the Butchers were able to completely stifle Cape Town running back Jarvis Harbinger Marjin to a measly 2.7 yards per carry. The stars of this game were definitely David Doug (3 FGs), Dee Walt (pick six), and Zohri (2 TDs)
Week 7 - Butchers @ Hawks
The second game in a string of wins for the Butchers. Chicago was able to score first by a 14 yard touchdown run and held the Hawks scoreless in the first quarter. At the start of the second quarter St. Christmas was able to connect with Morley for an 8 yard touchdown strike to give Chicago the 14-0 lead. From here the Hawks would attempt to keep pace with the Butchers with a couple of touchdown passes of their own. After a 49 yard wheel route to Zohri for a touchdown, the Hawks just didn't have the heart to battle back. The final of this game would be 31-21.
Result: Butchers 31 Hawks 21
Post game recap: A majority of the predictions had Chicago winning this game (168/263). I suspect that had something to do with most everybody believing that the Hawks were driving the tank this season. , but 95 picks still seems like a decent amount for a tanking team to get. The key to victory this game for the Butchers was probably the 360 passing yards from St. Christmas and a rating of 116.7.
Week 8 – Butchers vs. Hahalua
Game three in the winning streak saw the Chicago Butchers absolutely obliterate the struggling Honolulu Hahalua with a 4116 victory. This game was definitely dominated by Chicago running back Lalu Muhammed Zohri who had 14 carries for 130 yards and 4 (!) touchdowns. The Hahalua had no answer for them and also could not get anything going on the offensive side of the ball. Butchers linebackers Brian Duke and Rumble Ronson took over this game as they combined for 19 tackles, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble and recovery.
Result: Butchers 41 Hahalua 16
Post game recap – This was probably one of the most lopsided predictions in the season (I could have looked but forgot until after I grabbed all the numbers). Of the 239 users who made predictions on this game, only 5 selected the Hahalua to emerge victorious. Those are die hard Honolulu fans and I definitely appreciate your dedication to the team – I do the same thing with the Butchers.
Week 9 – Butchers @ Copperheads
The week 9 matchup here is always one I look forward to as 3 childhood friends get to play against each other in the big leagues. Big Joe and Morley take on Brandon Mason. This is another game that came down to the wire that Chicago would manage to leave victorious. The first quarter was nearly scoreless until with 15 seconds remaining the Butchers knocked in a 24 yard field goal to give them the 3-0 lead. In the second quarter, the Butchers would strike again, this time in the form of a 27 yard touchdown pass to Zohri. Austin would finally get on the board with a 45 yard field goal by Levy Tate. Not to be outdone, however, David Doug would hit his own 46 yard field goal at the end of the second quarter. The third quarter would begin with the Copperheads getting the ball and scoring a touchdown by a 3 yard Johnny Patey touchdown catch. Also in the third quarter Frank Dux would rush from 3 yards out for a score to make the score 20-10 going into the final quarter of the game. Early in the 4th quarter, Jeff Newman would pound home a 1 yard rush for the Copperheads to close the gap to a 20-17 Butchers lead. Frank Dux would not be stopped, however, as he would score his own 3 yard reception bringing the score to 27-17 with 8 minutes remaining. The Copperheads would try to battle back with a Delores Bickerman 35 yard touchdown catch, however they couldn’t finish the comeback as they failed to score again, leaving the final 27-24.
Result: Butchers 27 Copperheads 24
Post game recap: This was a good back and forth battle between two good teams. Weekly predictions favored the Copperheads heavily, earning 219/251 selections. Both quarterbacks in the game were highly efficient and total yards for both teams were pretty even. The one thing that made the difference in this game was that the Copperheads were the only team to turn the ball over, which definitely made the difference in this one score game.
Week 10 – Butchers vs Sabercats
The week 10 game against the San Jose Sabercats would end up marking the 5th straight victory for the blazing Butchers. Another close game that was really taken over by the two Wide Receivers of the Butchers, Sharpei Jr and Morley. Morley had 5 receptions for 114 yards to include a 75 yard touchdown catch while VSJ had 4 receptions for 97 yards and a touchdown. The teams combined to punt 15 times for like, 750 yards, with Doug pinning the Cats inside their own 20 on 6 punts.
Result: Butchers 22 Sabercats 20
Post game recap: As I mentioned above, I think the key to this game was probably the special teams performance of David Doug for the Butchers. He managed to give the Sabercats poor field position on several drives. The explosiveness of the Butcher receivers also played a vital role. Weekly predictions here had the Butchers by a wide margin (234/249), probably because of their long win streak during this time.
Week 11 – Butchers vs Fire Salamanders
You know its gonna be a boring game when the sim gives the offensive player of the game to the kicker. The Butchers would win this game 17-10 behind the leg of David Doug and a short Zohri scamper. Both offenses in this game were basically trash, I don’t think a single player had a respectable performance. Butchers defensive players Brian Duke and Joe Reed had solid games as well each with 5+ tackles and 2 sacks.
Result: Butchers 16 Fire Salamanders 10
Post game recap: The weekly predictions on this game heavily favored the Butchers 211/226. As I kind of said above, there wasn’t much to go off for this game. I wish I could spice it up but really it is what it is lmao.
Week 12 – Butchers @ Wraiths
Man, I’m not even gonna lie. I don’t want to write this game up either. Scroll all the way up to week 2 and just read that again. I’m sick and tired of Adebayo Akinfenwa. That man is a power back that can run faster than anyone on the field and it pisses me off watching him dance around the line of scrimmage and then rumble for 35 yards a carry. Obviously that’s hyperbole but bah gawd that man had 26 carries for 162 yards and 4 (!) touchdowns against us. Both games combined that’s like 3421423 yards and 145 touchdowns. The man just cant be stopped. Joe Reed and the defensive line failed us this game. Linebackers didn’t fill the gaps smdh. I hate this game.
Results: Sad face
Post game recap: Weekly predictions had it right at 221/243 selecting Yellowknife. At least David Doug had 5 punts and 5 inside the 20 I guess.
Okay, I have to tap out here. This is becoming terrible lmao. I had hoped I could do recaps for every game like I did the first three games but that was torture and my baby is crying. Below I do want to highlight every Butchers game weekly prediction results just to kind of have them all in one spot for people to look at if they want.
Week 1 – Butchers 204 – Yeti 74 (Majority Wins)
Week 2 – Butchers 34 – Wraiths 239 (Majority Wins)
Week 3 – Butchers 93 – Firesalamanders 185 (Majority Loses)
Week 4 – Butchers 29 - Sailfish 245 (Majority Loses)
Week 5 – Butchers 80 – Secondline 164 (Majority Wins)
Week 6 – Butchers 127 – Crash 125 (Majority Wins)
Week 7 – Butchers 168 - Hawks 95 (Majority Wins)
Week 8 – Butchers 234 - Hahalua 5 (Majority Wins)
Week 9 – Butchers 32 – Copperheads 219 (Majority Loses)
Week 10 – Butchers 234 - Sabercats 15 (Majority Wins)
Week 11 – Butchers 211 - Firesalamanders 15 (Majority Wins)
Week 12 – Butchers 22 - Wraiths 221 (Majority Wins)
Week 13 – Butchers 124 - Sailfish 122 (Majority Wins)
Week 14 – Butchers 218 - Hawks 6 (Majority Wins)
Week 15 – Butchers 153 - Yeti 89 (Majority Wins)
Week 16 – Butchers 64 - Crash 184 (Majority Wins)
Looking back at these prediction numbers, it looks like the Butchers only had 3 upset wins according to the userbase. I’m not sure what to do with that information but there it is.
(514 words of good stuff for .5x)
This is the part where I’m going to write about why I love the ISFL, to include the people I’ve met, how it's changed my life, and shoutouts to who has made this a brilliant place for me to be a part of. Really, the biggest reason I love the ISFL is because of my competitive nature. To me, it feels like one more thing that I can try to be the very best at. That isn’t to say there aren’t other reasons why I like the ISFL, though. There are a handful of people that I would like to shout out for various reasons.
Other than my real life friends in the league, @firstfray has been an O.G. to me since I joined the league. While I think it’s fair to say that’s most people don’t particularly like me, FF is always there to put a good word in for me. He always gives me solid advice and guidance, being sure not to sugar coat anything. Even when I turned out to be just another shitty co-gm he has stuck by my side. FF, I appreciate you being a real one.
@Twenty6 thanks for putting up with me. I feel like you’re one of the few that I can really get along with even though I can be a pain in the ass sometimes.
@Painted the “good cop” GM. Thanks for making me feel like a valued member of the team on a personal and player level (at least that one time). I also can’t get enough of the LR emoji you made for me. It’s actually my favorite thing lmao, I laugh every time I see it.
@TheCC the “bad cop GM. I know to you I am just a tool (/s) but I appreciate that you are always upfront and honest about things. You’re also always willing to lend a hand however you can when I’ve got some dumb shit that I’m trying to do.
@Muford listen - I appreciate the humor that you bring to the war room. Keep on keeping on.
@IceBear32, @MMFLEX, and @OrbitingDeath - you three did a great job of showing me that it is possible to like others in the league. I went in to FA with no expectations to leave Chicago but you guys really gave it your all, and I really felt like you were genuine in our conversations. Thanks for being pretty cool.
@dustywilson22 The mothafuckin’ goat. You really are an inspiration and I am happy to have gotten to know you at least a little bit. You’re awesome.
Damn, I still have like 100 words to go. Uh, well I can’t come up with any more specific people, but let me give a quick shoutout to anyone that I’ve reached out to for scouting conversations. Even if they seem insignificant, I truly enjoy chatting with each and every one of you. Regardless of if who I’m scouting for selects you, I appreciate getting to know you and hope that you find fun and success wherever you go or will end up.
RE: Season 40 Chicago Butchers Recap - dustywilson22 - 04-07-2023
I was wondering why I got pinged this late haha appreciate the love man, all love from me as well!
RE: Season 40 Chicago Butchers Recap - firstfray - 04-07-2023
Appreciate the kind words! Pretty surprising to see that the user base picked the Butchers heavily especially down the stretch but I’m sure that was mainly because of our good record
RE: Season 40 Chicago Butchers Recap - OrbitingDeath - 04-08-2023
Thanks for the shoutout
