*NSFL Opening Week Game Reviews, 2 days late!

[LordMacharius]

Code:

3033

The first week of the NSFL is in and the scores have been logged, and, in my humble, was the best week of the NSFL that I have yet to watch (pay no mind to the fact that it was the FIRST week of the NSFL I have had the pleasure of watching). I’m planning on starting from the first game, and writing some predictions and then moving on to a description of the game and the thoughts of a first time rookie.
First, the stream as a whole. Coming from the PBE, it’s jarring to see that there is no commentator or anything. Additionally, Draft Day is definitely a very different experience than OOTP. I do really like how quick the streams are, and the activity in the chat all talking about the games that are currently going on is a lot of fun.
Update. This took a little to compile so some of my info is late/out of date. I’m sorry.
Now onto the games:


Game 1 - Yellowknife Wraiths at Baltimore Hawks
Game 1 was a great opening day match. The battle of the juggernauts, two teams in the top three of total effective TPE and the two teams with the highest average effective TPE. And, unlike the Bears vs Packers, it truly lived up to the hype.

Going into this game, which was, as I understand it, a rematch of the NSFC, I expected the Wraiths to win after a close fight. The Hawks, Outlaws, and Otters, on paper, are the only ones with enough TPE to beat the Wraiths, but the Wraiths are clear favorites with regards to total effective TPE.
Players-wise, the dual threat WRs of the Hawks in Sunnycursed and Errol Maddux have a tough match-up in the secondary with Johnny Snuggles and Danny Grithead to contend with. Corvo Havran and Cooter Bigsby are both two S14 studs that are going to have a big effect as the years go on, but Havran has to throw against Snuggles, Grithead, and, to a lesser extent, Selich which ultimately makes Havran’s job more difficult.

Now onto a game description: The Wraiths got the ball first, but after an ineffective opening drive at the hands of a sack from LB Ben Horne, the Wraiths punted it through the back of the endzone and the ball finally made its way into the hands of Corvo Havran. Like I mentioned earlier, Havran had some work cut out. And yet, immediately, Havran connected with three out of four passes, each over twenty yards, to Sunnycursed. Despite the strong start to the drive, the offense stalled and, a few plays after Strong Safety Giannis Kroustis dropped Havran in the backfield, ForThe Brand split the uprights for a 28 yarder putting the Hawks up 3-0. Bigsby got the ball back and drove down the field. Off the back of a 29 yarder to Batoff and a 26 yarder to Canton, Neo Donaldson equalized with a 23 yard field goal. After two more ineffective drives, the Wraiths punted the ball short from their own 30 and, off of a 14 yard return, the Hawks got the ball right on midfield. After a 29 yard pass to Sunnycursed and an 18 yard pass to Espeeyeeseetee, Havran hit RB Ludicolo Bigby in the endzone for a 5 yard touchdown putting the Hawks ahead 10-3. With two minutes left, Danny Grithead received the kickoff and raced down the left side for a 40 yard return. Despite a penalty and a sack by Marquees Acho, the Wraiths completed their two minute drill successfully and put 7 on the board to tie the game as the first quarter came to an end. After a very slow six minutes where Danny Grithead racked up 3 sacks, Bigsby took a snap and dropped back in the pocket. Winding up, he threw the ball to Canton — but Acho, hawking the route, snagged the football and took it back 43 yards to the house, putting the Hawks up 17-10. After two more, slow minutes, Havran got the ball within the Ravens 20 yard line and, following two incomplete passes, threw a pick that gave Bigsby short field position. After a 19 yard reception TD, the game was tied at 17. The Hawks did march down the field one more time, and Brand got another field goal, leading to a score of 20-17 Hawks going into the half. The Hawks received the ball, and... stalled. They punted it to the Wraiths, who got the ball around midfield and stormed down the field for a solid 7 points which, for the first time in the game gave them a lead. Wraiths, up 24-20, promptly squandered their lead after an electric 108 yard return from Sunnycursed. The offenses were silent until late in the fourth. A notable play, however, happened at 11:14 left in the fourth where recently acquired weapon Ryan Leaf Jr. dropped Havran for a loss of six and put a drive in the ground. After a mostly uneventful drive containing a Canton fumble recovered by Canton, Neo Donaldson equalized and set the game up for an eventual overtime. Despite a sack and a penalty, the Hawks converted and won the game 33-27

Thoughts: Wow, I wrote way more than I intended to. I loved this game and it was the first game I ever watched. It was a great intro to the league. Like I said earlier, Alex Selich, Danny Grithead, and Snuggles all had a strong effect on the game. However, on the other side of the ball, Sunnycursed still seemed to run all over the Wraiths secondary. All in all, it was an evenly matched game between two evenly matched teams that ended with an offense that had been clicking all game rolling through a defense that seemed to bend just a little too far. I won’t be going as detailed in my game descriptions for every other game, just got really into it.


Game 2 - Arizona Outlaws at Chicago Butchers
Game 2 was an incredible and shocking opening day match. Even though I haven’t spent that much time in the league, I still thought that this was one of the predictions I was absolutely going to get correct: there is no way the Outlaws lose to the gd Butchers, right? RIGHT?

You don’t even need to analyze positions to know which team is better. The team with the second least amount of effectve TPE was playing the team with the second most? No contest. The only concern was “How many points is Andrew Reese going to post on this patchy Chicago secondary?”
I knew for a fact that homefield could not carry the Butchers to a win, so I was excited for the 0.5 free TPE. This is why I love and hate football.

Game Description: If I were to tell you that one team was leading 14-0 after 1 and won the game 38-16 after leading 38-7 going into the fourth quarter while having shut the other team down for two frames, you would factually tell me that it was obviously the Outlaws, right? Well, no. Like we all expected, Rose Jenkins cruised to victory after two early passing scores to Kaz Oles and Felix Hasselhoff. The Outlaws tried to claw their way back into the game with a touchdown in the second quarter to cut the lead to 7, but RB Marquise Brown (recently acquired in a controversial offseason trade) quickly silenced any thoughts of a comeback. After a 55 yarder from Kulture Fulture, The Butchers walked into their locker room with a comfortable 24-7 lead. It was never close after that (at one point, Chicago was leading by 31 points and had their second string RB taking most of the snaps). Despite a tuddie halfway through the fourth and a [[[safety]]], the game seemed out of the Outlaws hands as the Butchers cruised to a comfy 38-16 win. Marquise Brown really showed what that he was worth the trade this game, running for 26 and a TD but also nocking 156 receiving yards to his statline. Rose Jenkins made a statement, passing for 377 yards with a Comp Pct of 0.788 and 3 touchdowns (finishing the day with a passer rating of 131.9). Rose got the ball out of her hands quick, a strategy that obviously worked. On the other side of the ball, LB Guy Nikko got 6 tackles, two sacks, and a pass deflected.

Thoughts: Wowee, my first upset. I was so confident I would get the 0.5 TPE from this, so it was tough to see the Outlaws fall apart like they did. I do like a lot of the guys in the Butcher’s LR, so I’m happy to see them win, but still a real shocker. Seems like Jenkins and Brown have a real connection and, somehow, the Butcher’s defense was able to stop the Outlaws great QB Andrew Reese. Obviously, this success won’t propagate through the rest of the season, but still — always nice to see a fun upset in the first week.


Game 3 - Austin Copperheads at New Orleans Second Line
Game 3 was a match that was close on paper, and for a long time it really felt like either team could win. These two teams have insanely close TPE totals, but the biggest storyline was the trade that involved Blake Faux and Brayden Ennis, who then got to hit the team that gave them up.

I had New Orleans winning this game in my predictions. Looking back at it, it seems like the strengths of the Second Line plays straight into the strengths of the Copperheads. Forrest Gump had to run against Brayden Ennis, and Stan Francisco had to throw it with Chase Jensen running around in the secondary. Ultimately, I had NOLA winning because it's typically easier to move the ball down the field than stopping the ball from going down the field, unless you have some serious starpower on the defensive side of the ball
Home field was also a consideration for me, and traditionally, New Orleans is a tough place to play. Humidity and temperature tires out defenses, which affects them more than offenses, so I felt confident that Gump could beat Ennis and Francisco could avoid Jensen.

Game Description: I was right about the winning team, but I downplayed the role of the defenses in this game. With only 29 seconds off the clock in the 1st Quarter, Blake Faux made his presence known with a 4 yard sack. It took 7 drives for any team to put points on the board, and came off a short punt by Frost that allowed the Copperheads to take over near midfield. After three darts of 10, 15, and 10 yards, Cole hit Larson in the endzone for a 15 yard gain and a touchdown, putting the Copperheads up 7. The very next drive, Stan Francisco drove deep into Copperhead territory, when Brayden Ennis decided to reintroduce Francisco’s bottom to the New Orleans turf. A tough 11 yard sack killed the drives momentum, and NOLA settled for 3. The kickoff preceded a mostly impotent drive that was capped off by a 35 yard Crisco punt. Francisco, with the ball in his/her hands and presumably upset about the unceremonious end to the previous drive, decided to take revenge. Gump, wanting to help his friend, was more than happy to assist. 8 rushes and 6 passes later, Francisco found Jones in the endzone to put the Second Line up by 3 with 5 minutes left in the half. That was the score going into half-time, and, since NOLA deferred, they had the chance to take a commanding lead early in the 3rd Qtr. They… did not take advantage. After punting the ball to a Copperhead offense that just couldn’t seem to get it going, Francisco led their team down the field and put Frost in position for a 36 yard field goal to put NOLA up by 6. The very next drive, Crisco cut that lead to 3 and I imagine that Austin felt confident about their chances right about here. A key sequence of events occurred as the third quarter wound down: 3:40, kickoff returned for 31 yds. 3:35, Francisco completes a 36 yard medium pass. 3:25, Francisco completes a 28 yarder to Rodriguez. 1:27, Forrest Gump scores a TD to put the Second Line up 10. The Copperheads cut the lead down to 3 with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth, but, from a 4 yard rush by Gump that put the 2nd Line up 10, the Copperheads never really seemed like they had a chance.

Thoughts: Fun games, close games, have no fellow. This is an example of that. Although the game felt like a foregone conclusion, it still was plenty of fun to watch. I liked watching and keeping track of Blake Faux and Brayden Ennis to see who won the trade. Neither player had a huge effect on the game, though. I think that the Copperheads defense had a tough time really ever feeling dominant, even though they killed a lot of drives. It always felt like they couldn’t stop Gump, even though they had some solid guys on that side of the ball, which ultimately led to their loss.


Game 4 - Philadelphia Liberty at Colorado Yetis
Game 4 was an awesome comeback game. Not only was it fun to watch, but it had some of that football, anything is possible magic. The Yetis have a far lower average effective TPE and the Liberty have a star QB that’s unfortunately regressing. It was a Thucydidean conflict: Falconi, the S10 star on the decline, had to compete with McDummy, a rising stud of the S16 draft class.

In my predictions I had selected the Yetis to come away with the win. My reasoning was, this time, not based on the logic of TPE and star players. The Liberty had the advantage there. Instead, I focused on matchups. James Bishop vs Emondov Emoji. Advantage, Yetis. Adriana Falconi vs Logan Lejune. Advantage, Yetis. Sam Torenson vs Mo Berry. Advantage, Yetis. Yes, these matches are cherry picked. But that’s the way I made my decision.
Additionally, I felt like the high altitude air of Colorado benefited the Yetis. The fact that a defensive team that relied on, amongst other things, a good secondary had to compete with a consummate athlete like James Bishop put them at a disadvantage

Game Description: After the first quarter, I felt like an idiot. Bishop had been totally useless, and the Liberty had pulled ahead 9-0 from 3 field goals out of Baxter Frost as Falconi seemed to know exactly how to get the big gains. Going into half-time, I felt stupider. Bishop had only caught 1 pass for 7 yards. Torenson had run in a TD. The Yeti were losing 16-3 against the Liberty going into half — their only saving grace was that they started the second half with the football.
But that drive didn’t get there. They punted a short punt and put the ball into the hands of Falconi, who was determined to do some damage. She had great field position. Torenson gained six yards on a rush, and then Falconi dropped back and found an open receiver for a medium ga— sike. Quentin Sinclair snagged the ball out of the air and sent the Liberty offense off the field. With this momentum and the great field position, the Yetis converted 7 points off a long bomb and cut the lead down to six. If they could stop the Liberty here, they could equalize and hold the lead in a shootout as the third and fourth quarters finished. But no. Falconi completed 2 bombs of 37 yards and 43 yards (with the 43 yarder ending in a TD). Libs were up 23-10 with 21 minutes left in the game. Still a lot of time.
But not with field goals. The Yetis were unable to put seven up and had to settle for three, keeping the game at a two score lead. Luckily for the Yetis, after a promising drive, Falconi also stalled and the lead stayed 26-13. The Yeti’s got a TD and cut the lead to six when on her own 19, Falconi threw a pick that ended in the Yetis scoring a TD with 4 minutes left. Nothing past that happened.

Game Description: Wow. Fun game to watch again! Yetis mounting a comeback in the fourth quarter wasn’t exactly heart pounding but still very interesting. It’s times like these when I wish we had an announcer — the tension was there but not inherent and could’ve benefited from someone announcing major plays and events quickly.



Game 5 - Sabercats at Otters
This description is going to be short because there’s not much to talk about here. Sabercats, the currently worst team in the NSFL, got blown out by the defending Ultimus champions. Surprisingly, they were both scoreless through 1, but that quickly changed. There were three pick sixes, funnily enough, and the Sabercats actually scored first on a 49 yard interception returned for a TD. Then, Frank Armstrong ran in a TD. He threw in a TD. Gus Showbiz ran in a 60 yd pick six. Alex D. kicked 2 field goals. Korin Abernathy ran in a 70 yard pick six.
In what basically amounts to an exhibition match, Armstrong put up a passer rating of just 70.8. He extended plays on the ground, but he’s going to need to work on his accuracy. Kolby Deringer went off, for 8 tck, 1 pick six. Not bad for a star well past his prime.

Game Description: Just a massacre. Sabercats really had a slim to no chance just based off of TPE differentials, which is tough. The Otters never really let up, and just kept pounding their point home. Looks like they are going to be a tough team to beat.

Thanks for listening! I know this might be drivel, but Big Mack needs his equipment!

[Dylandeluxe]

Excellent write up!

I think the no commentary thing is a temporary thing. Traditionally we have an announcer for the NSFL games and I'm guessing it'll come back