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+---- Thread: *Portland Pythons Week 11 and Week 12 Review (/showthread.php?tid=6230)
*Portland Pythons Week 11 and Week 12 Review - CDub2 - 12-01-2017
Welcome back. The Portland Pythons continued their winning ways for Weeks 11 and 12. They played their final match up against division rival Norfolk and then took on East favourite San Antonio. Only needing 2 out of 4 wins in the next 4 weeks to secure top spot in the division had the Pythons resting easy, but rest they did not. The goal is to win every game we can. And we did.
Week 11 - vs NOR
Again, I feel bad for NOR. They just can't beat us. They beat everyone else, but just not us. The same way we can't beat CHI. But onto the stats. A 6 point differential in the game was reflected in the team stats. Portland controlled the ball for 3 and half more minutes, and gained 60 more yards of total offense. The penalties were about equal, as was pass yardage. The main difference in this game was the new and improved run game that has developed in Portland. For too long, teams have disrespected the Portland run game and defence. The past 10 weeks have shown that the POR defence can do it's job. They're not the best, but they hold the opponents to reasonable numbers and give the offense a chance to earn their win. Now, POR has proven the league wrong again. The addition of D. Turner at RB, along with Ferrell, gives Goose a little more support to pound the rock, especially late in games. Limiting Goose to 20-25 carries is where he can be most effective. While Turner did not have a great game, averaging under 2 yards per carry, making the run a bigger part of the offence shows that POR is committed to diversifying the offence. The difference seen in yardage and time of possession is likely due to POR being more effective at running the ball this game. The longest run of the day was 14 yards. This shows that it wasn't one huge run that made up the difference in rush yardage between the teams, but it was the focus on the run game.
NOR, while giving up almost 350 yards of offense, did keep this game interesting. They caused 2 turnovers while not turning it over themselves. Inside the 2 minute warning, down by 6, the Sea Wolves had the ball on the POR 15 yard line. It could have very easily been game over for Portland right there. Luckily, the POR defence held on and caused the turnover on downs.
All in all, one of the cleanest games this season, and as always, loved playing NOR again. Verdict: Sim gods got it right.
Week 12 - vs. San Antonio
The second home game of the sim, this was lined up to be the game of the week. SA wanted some revenge for a very close Week 8 loss to the Pythons. Well, they lost again. We aren't even sure who the favourite is in these matchups, but POR is 2-0 against SA. The main matchup is POR pass game vs SA defence. Everyone knows that what will win the game. I'd say at this point in the season, SA doesn't have the juice in the pass game to control a game. They need a strong run performance and/or a dominant defensive performance. Well, POR defence held up well enough against SA run game and the SA defence played well, just not well enough to win the game. The POR offense still managed 240 yards passing, and was one of the few teams to rush 100+ yards against the SA defense this season. So for a matchup of best defence vs best offense, it wasn't nearly as big as it could have been. 350+ yards and 23 points, the SA defence couldn't slow the train down. Verdict: Sim gods got it right. Maybe SA isn't the favourite in every match up anymore.
Thanks for reading. Week 13 and 14 coming soon.
Code:
653 words. Ready for gradingGRADED