Whatever expectations the San Jose Sabercats had coming into this season has to have been exceeded by now. The Cats are 4-1, matching their win total from last year, and are leading the ASFC, and now all of the critics are coming out of the woodwork. “The Sabercats are lucky”, “they’ll choke in the playoffs”, “they’ve only beaten one real team”, “something something Saberkitties”, blah, blah, blah. OK, let’s examine it then. Let’s see what’s causing this surprising surge, and whether or not it can keep going.
Week 1 (23-14 loss to New Orleans)
The lone blemish on San Jose’s record came at the hands of the defending champions, the New Orleans Second Line. It was a close game, but there were a few things that the Sabercats didn’t do very well here. Their running game, particularly rookie Rando Cardrissian, wasn’t very good, San Jose out-penalized New Orleans 10-2, and the defense was carved up by Marcella Toriki and Forrest Gump on the ground and Austin McCormick through the air. It was a very rough start, but there were some bright spots.
For starters, Dan Wright was damn good. I don’t get to say this a lot, so let me relish this for a second. His two big receivers, Action Jackson and Deondre Thomas-Fox both put up big numbers, over 80 yards and a touchdown each. Plus on the defensive side, Inspectah Deck and Tyron Brackenridge were tackling machines out there, and the entire defense locked down basically every receiver except McCormick.
San Jose struck first with a score to Action Jackson midway through the first. For the rest of the first half, both teams struggled to punch it in. Herbert Prohaska would miss a chip shot field goal for the Second Line near the end of quarter #1, while Dan Wright would get picked off by Ugarth the Dissector in the second, who nearly took it all the way back. Austin McCormick would snag a score, and another missed field goal by Prohaska meant the two teams departed for the locker rooms tied at seven. When action resumed, New Orleans came out swinging. After a quick three-and-out by San Jose that included a sack by Dorfus Jimbo Jr., New Orleans drove down the field quickly and scored with a pass to Bona’beri Jones, 14-7 New Orleans. After another drive that went nowhere for the Sabercats, Prohaska finally put one through to make it a two-score game. Then San Jose managed to cut into that deficit in the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass to Deondre Thomas-Fox to make it 17-14. We needed to make a defensive stop on the next possession, but it just didn’t happen. Forrest Gump scored, we were out of gas, they won 23-14. It was a tough loss for sure, but we had reason to think this wasn’t going to be another season of despair.
Week 2 (33-28 win over Arizona)
When you play the Outlaws, you better be ready to light up the scoreboard, and that’s exactly what happened. After a rough debut, Rando Cardrissian was a man on fire. 148 rushing yards and three scores in just his second career major league game, what a show. And that vaunted Outlaw offense? We put them to sleep in the first half, they only made it past midfield twice in the first half. And we managed to get to the quarterback four times. That’s been a bit of a struggle for us in the past, but this week was a real improvement there. And we at least held back their running game, they didn’t even break 80 yards total despite both Baby Yoda and Jay Cue having some extraordinary running games this season.
But then, there was Jay Cue throwing the ball, which he did really well against us. He threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns, with no picks (although we did have several deflections that were really close). And both Jah Bur’berry and Saba Donut had their way with our secondary, both topping the century mark on just five receptions each, and combining for three touchdowns. At least we got hot at the right time to stop the bleeding, but yikes.
We started the game about as well as you could imagine. We held Arizona to a three-and-out to start where they didn’t even make it out of their own redzone. On the ensuing Sabercat drive, the Cats marched down the field, and punched it in with Rando Cardrissian. Next drive, another three-and-out, followed by a big play-filled drive for San Jose that ended with an 18-yard touchdown pass to DTF. After that, the defenses for both teams held down the fort for a bit until the middle of the second, when the Sabercats regained control and scored again with Rando. Arizona would finally respond with points, but only six of them. Saba Donut found paydirt, but their kicker couldn’t give them the extra point. 21-6 at halftime. San Jose got the ball to start the second half, and immediately put more points on the board with Rando’s third score of the day. 28-6, what could go wrong? Well lots, I guess. Arizona remembered their offense kicks ass and proceeded to go ham on the Sabercats. The Outlaws scored immediately on a drive that included a picture-perfect 43-yarder to Bur’berry, capped off by a score to Saba. Then, after an interception by Stanislaw Koniecpolski, Bur’berry got a score of his own. Then another pick, this time by Tyler Oles Jr., followed by another TD pass to Baby Yoda. A successful two-point conversion later, and a 22-point lead was just erased in less than eight minutes of game time, 28-28 all. After a promising Sabercat drive ended in a beauty of a punt by Matthew McDairmid that downed Arizona at the three, Arizona couldn’t escaped the confines of their endzone, and rookie LB Lawrence Bass took down Jay Cue four yards behind the goal line, do the safety dance, we’ve got the lead again, 30-28. And we got possession, which McDairmid turned into three more points. Arizona nearly made one more comeback, making it all the way to our redzone, but Chip Otle got another big sack and they ended up turning the ball over on down. Sabercats win, 33-28.
Week 3 (28-16 win over Honolulu)
You don’t really get a ton of credit for knocking off a team in their first season, but hey, the Hahalua look like a competent team who should improve as the years go on. The match between San Jose and Honolulu honestly looks like a game that ended after three quarters. The stats from neither team really blow you away, besides from the receivers. Action Jackson and DTF had big games, but so did Jed Podolak. The running games were a little slow with no one hitting four yards per carry or 75 yards. And there were zero turnovers on each side. It was a bit of a boring match that ended before it could reach a satisfying crescendo.
The game started as a defensive showdown with four straight three-and-outs before the Hahalua got seven points off a 15-yard Jed Podolak reception. San Jose responded with a drive highlighted by several Dan Wright dots, including a 23-yarder to Action Jackson that tied it up. Not to be outdone, his teammate, Deondre Thomas-Fox also pulled in a long touchdown pass of 27 yards to give San Jose the lead. Honolulu came very close to responding, but an impressive goal line stand resulted in an 18 yard field goal, and they went to half down 14-10. To start the second half, the Sabercats milked half the quarter away, and Tyerucker punched it in to make it 21-10. Honolulu did manage one more score, a six-yard run by Ke’oke’o Kane-Maika’i, but missed the two-point conversion to leave the score at 21-16, but the following drive took seven more minutes off the clock, and one more score to DTF later, they were down 12 with less than four minutes left. Game over, 28-16.
Week 4 (24-17 win over Orange County)
So far, the Sabercats had been picking off weak prey. Their only two wins at this point were against two teams who had one win combined. The Otters though were coming into this game undefeated with a defense that was hard to stop. And even if you could get going on their defense, they had the three-time defending MVP to compete with. This was our first big test to see if we were for real. But this week, it was our defense that came to play. We limited Franklin Friggin’ Armstrong to just 118 passing yards and no passing scores. He did score twice on the ground, but even then, his yards per carry was well below what mobile QBs normally have. In fact, the running game in general was quite lacking for the Otters, as Tatsu Nakamura couldn’t even crack three yards per carry, and Ludicolo Bigby barely topped 50 yards. It wasn’t a perfect game though. Wright had a solid day if you ignore the two picks. And uhhhhhhhh, well besides those picks, there really wasn’t much to complain about.
First play of the game, Wright was intercepted by Kacey Dream. Second play of the game, Armstrong runs it in from the 1 yard line. Massive oof. To our credit, our defense stepped up after that, and later in the first, after a banger of a punt that downed Orange County at the 1, HeHateMe PickSix forced a fumble that was recovered by Inspectah Deck. Three plays later, DTF scores, and we’re tied again. Cut to the second quarter, and Armstrong runs it in again with under five minutes to go in the half. We put our four-minute drill into motion and covered 92 yards in just under four minutes, tying the game up with a score to Action Jackson. Coming out of halftime, the Otters retook the lead with a field goal, 17-14. After some more defensive stands, Matthew McDairmid drilled one from 46 yards to re-tie the game, and on the ensuing drive, on a 3rd and 10, Trey Staley, the wily vet in his final season, stepped right in front of Jammerson Irving and he was gone. 49 yards to the house, Sabercats on top 24-17. The Otters got the ball back, and confusingly decided to punt the ball away, close to midfield with five minutes to play. San Jose got the ball, and ran out the last five minutes. If you’re familiar with Jon Bois’s Surrender Index (which determines the level of gutless-ness a punt has) from his nearly hour-long video about punting, this punt would produce a Surrender Index score of just over 20, whereas the average punt from when he did that video was about a 3. I sure wouldn’t have done it.
Week 5 (28-23 win over Austin)
With our big win over Orange County in our back pocket and our confidence was sky-high, we came back home to take on the Copperheads, a team that had much higher expectations than they’re currently living up to. Easton Cole had a decent day, despite a pick. Mako Mendonca was alright, and Rod Tidwell and Net Gaines each went for 80 yards and a score (two for Tidwell). That’s about all you can say about the Copperheads. Their defense only contributed one sack all day (by Troen Eggheads). No turnovers, not even a deflection. This let Dan Wright throw for over 200 yards and two scores on just 21 throws. Rando nearly hit the century mark, Quindarius Tyerucker scored twice, Jackson did hit the century mark and scored, and DTF had maybe his worst game of the season, and still went for 5-89-1.
Austin started off strong with a touchdown to Net Gaines, but on the next drive, it took San Jose all of two plays to get all the way down the field and score a 34-yard TD to DTF. Austin would get the lead back with a field goal, but in the second, the Sabercats overcame a 3rd and 21 at one point, and scored a touchdown from QT to give the Sabercats the lead back, and they’d never relinquish it. A pick by HeHateMe led to an Action Jackson TD to make it 21-10. Austin would put another score on the board with Tidwell, but QT would respond right back to make it two scores again. And after one final Austin score, San Jose ran out the clock, and took home a 28-23 win to bring us to their present-day 4-1 record.
And who is responsible for this incredible turnaround? Well, the obvious first candidates are Deondre Thomas-Fox and Action Jackson, both of whom have become top-five receivers in the league. DTF is second in receiving yards, and first in touchdowns, while Jackson is fourth in yards and tied for third in touchdowns. And while it’s easy to miss the third Large Lad, Leon McDavid, he’s fifth among all tight ends in receiving yards, third in pancakes (among TEs), and is generally a terrific safety valve. This has led to one hell of a swansong season for Dan Wright, who’s currently leading the league in completion percentage, passing touchdowns, and passer rating. For the first time in my career, I can legitimately say that Wright could be in the MVP conversation, and that’s incredible to me.
And on the defensive side, Lawrence Bass is an absolute unit at stopping the ball carrier behind the line, with four TFLs and that game winning safety against the Outlaws. Trey Staley’s pick-six won us the Otters game, and he also forced a fumble in the New Orleans game. Inspectah Deck is leading the team in tackles with a respectable 45, and Tyron Brackenridge has a solid 38 tackles, three sacks, and three deflections. And lastly, there’s our specialist, Matthew McDairmid, one of only two players this season who hasn’t missed a field goal or an extra point (the other being Alex D), and the current league leader in yards per punt. I mentioned his punting ability a few times in the article, and his ability to down kicks inside the five is unmatched.
Unfortunately, we do have some pretty glaring weaknesses, our pass defense is still one of the worst in the league, particularly to tight end. Austin McCormick and Jeffrey Phillips both had strong games against us. And our rushing offense has cooled off a bit since the start of the season, and is now a league-average unit. But we’re incredibly young at both running back and the secondary, so these issue will only get resolved with time on the clock.
So what can we take away from all of this? Can the Sabercats keep this going? Short answer, yes. The Sabercats schedule this season is ridiculously easy right now, they only have two more games this season against teams above .500, Week 7 against Yellowknife and Week 12 against Orange County again. They don’t have to play Colorado, the league’s only remaining undefeated team. And most of the elite defenses, in terms of points allowed, are in the NSFC. So I think the Sabercats won’t be challenged too much through the rest of the season, and should cruise into the playoffs. I’ll say they finish 10-3, losing one of their remaining tough games I mentioned and one surprising loss to one of the weaker teams, maybe Honolulu in Week 11.
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Week 1 (23-14 loss to New Orleans)
The lone blemish on San Jose’s record came at the hands of the defending champions, the New Orleans Second Line. It was a close game, but there were a few things that the Sabercats didn’t do very well here. Their running game, particularly rookie Rando Cardrissian, wasn’t very good, San Jose out-penalized New Orleans 10-2, and the defense was carved up by Marcella Toriki and Forrest Gump on the ground and Austin McCormick through the air. It was a very rough start, but there were some bright spots.
For starters, Dan Wright was damn good. I don’t get to say this a lot, so let me relish this for a second. His two big receivers, Action Jackson and Deondre Thomas-Fox both put up big numbers, over 80 yards and a touchdown each. Plus on the defensive side, Inspectah Deck and Tyron Brackenridge were tackling machines out there, and the entire defense locked down basically every receiver except McCormick.
San Jose struck first with a score to Action Jackson midway through the first. For the rest of the first half, both teams struggled to punch it in. Herbert Prohaska would miss a chip shot field goal for the Second Line near the end of quarter #1, while Dan Wright would get picked off by Ugarth the Dissector in the second, who nearly took it all the way back. Austin McCormick would snag a score, and another missed field goal by Prohaska meant the two teams departed for the locker rooms tied at seven. When action resumed, New Orleans came out swinging. After a quick three-and-out by San Jose that included a sack by Dorfus Jimbo Jr., New Orleans drove down the field quickly and scored with a pass to Bona’beri Jones, 14-7 New Orleans. After another drive that went nowhere for the Sabercats, Prohaska finally put one through to make it a two-score game. Then San Jose managed to cut into that deficit in the fourth quarter with a touchdown pass to Deondre Thomas-Fox to make it 17-14. We needed to make a defensive stop on the next possession, but it just didn’t happen. Forrest Gump scored, we were out of gas, they won 23-14. It was a tough loss for sure, but we had reason to think this wasn’t going to be another season of despair.
Week 2 (33-28 win over Arizona)
When you play the Outlaws, you better be ready to light up the scoreboard, and that’s exactly what happened. After a rough debut, Rando Cardrissian was a man on fire. 148 rushing yards and three scores in just his second career major league game, what a show. And that vaunted Outlaw offense? We put them to sleep in the first half, they only made it past midfield twice in the first half. And we managed to get to the quarterback four times. That’s been a bit of a struggle for us in the past, but this week was a real improvement there. And we at least held back their running game, they didn’t even break 80 yards total despite both Baby Yoda and Jay Cue having some extraordinary running games this season.
But then, there was Jay Cue throwing the ball, which he did really well against us. He threw for over 300 yards and four touchdowns, with no picks (although we did have several deflections that were really close). And both Jah Bur’berry and Saba Donut had their way with our secondary, both topping the century mark on just five receptions each, and combining for three touchdowns. At least we got hot at the right time to stop the bleeding, but yikes.
We started the game about as well as you could imagine. We held Arizona to a three-and-out to start where they didn’t even make it out of their own redzone. On the ensuing Sabercat drive, the Cats marched down the field, and punched it in with Rando Cardrissian. Next drive, another three-and-out, followed by a big play-filled drive for San Jose that ended with an 18-yard touchdown pass to DTF. After that, the defenses for both teams held down the fort for a bit until the middle of the second, when the Sabercats regained control and scored again with Rando. Arizona would finally respond with points, but only six of them. Saba Donut found paydirt, but their kicker couldn’t give them the extra point. 21-6 at halftime. San Jose got the ball to start the second half, and immediately put more points on the board with Rando’s third score of the day. 28-6, what could go wrong? Well lots, I guess. Arizona remembered their offense kicks ass and proceeded to go ham on the Sabercats. The Outlaws scored immediately on a drive that included a picture-perfect 43-yarder to Bur’berry, capped off by a score to Saba. Then, after an interception by Stanislaw Koniecpolski, Bur’berry got a score of his own. Then another pick, this time by Tyler Oles Jr., followed by another TD pass to Baby Yoda. A successful two-point conversion later, and a 22-point lead was just erased in less than eight minutes of game time, 28-28 all. After a promising Sabercat drive ended in a beauty of a punt by Matthew McDairmid that downed Arizona at the three, Arizona couldn’t escaped the confines of their endzone, and rookie LB Lawrence Bass took down Jay Cue four yards behind the goal line, do the safety dance, we’ve got the lead again, 30-28. And we got possession, which McDairmid turned into three more points. Arizona nearly made one more comeback, making it all the way to our redzone, but Chip Otle got another big sack and they ended up turning the ball over on down. Sabercats win, 33-28.
Week 3 (28-16 win over Honolulu)
You don’t really get a ton of credit for knocking off a team in their first season, but hey, the Hahalua look like a competent team who should improve as the years go on. The match between San Jose and Honolulu honestly looks like a game that ended after three quarters. The stats from neither team really blow you away, besides from the receivers. Action Jackson and DTF had big games, but so did Jed Podolak. The running games were a little slow with no one hitting four yards per carry or 75 yards. And there were zero turnovers on each side. It was a bit of a boring match that ended before it could reach a satisfying crescendo.
The game started as a defensive showdown with four straight three-and-outs before the Hahalua got seven points off a 15-yard Jed Podolak reception. San Jose responded with a drive highlighted by several Dan Wright dots, including a 23-yarder to Action Jackson that tied it up. Not to be outdone, his teammate, Deondre Thomas-Fox also pulled in a long touchdown pass of 27 yards to give San Jose the lead. Honolulu came very close to responding, but an impressive goal line stand resulted in an 18 yard field goal, and they went to half down 14-10. To start the second half, the Sabercats milked half the quarter away, and Tyerucker punched it in to make it 21-10. Honolulu did manage one more score, a six-yard run by Ke’oke’o Kane-Maika’i, but missed the two-point conversion to leave the score at 21-16, but the following drive took seven more minutes off the clock, and one more score to DTF later, they were down 12 with less than four minutes left. Game over, 28-16.
Week 4 (24-17 win over Orange County)
So far, the Sabercats had been picking off weak prey. Their only two wins at this point were against two teams who had one win combined. The Otters though were coming into this game undefeated with a defense that was hard to stop. And even if you could get going on their defense, they had the three-time defending MVP to compete with. This was our first big test to see if we were for real. But this week, it was our defense that came to play. We limited Franklin Friggin’ Armstrong to just 118 passing yards and no passing scores. He did score twice on the ground, but even then, his yards per carry was well below what mobile QBs normally have. In fact, the running game in general was quite lacking for the Otters, as Tatsu Nakamura couldn’t even crack three yards per carry, and Ludicolo Bigby barely topped 50 yards. It wasn’t a perfect game though. Wright had a solid day if you ignore the two picks. And uhhhhhhhh, well besides those picks, there really wasn’t much to complain about.
First play of the game, Wright was intercepted by Kacey Dream. Second play of the game, Armstrong runs it in from the 1 yard line. Massive oof. To our credit, our defense stepped up after that, and later in the first, after a banger of a punt that downed Orange County at the 1, HeHateMe PickSix forced a fumble that was recovered by Inspectah Deck. Three plays later, DTF scores, and we’re tied again. Cut to the second quarter, and Armstrong runs it in again with under five minutes to go in the half. We put our four-minute drill into motion and covered 92 yards in just under four minutes, tying the game up with a score to Action Jackson. Coming out of halftime, the Otters retook the lead with a field goal, 17-14. After some more defensive stands, Matthew McDairmid drilled one from 46 yards to re-tie the game, and on the ensuing drive, on a 3rd and 10, Trey Staley, the wily vet in his final season, stepped right in front of Jammerson Irving and he was gone. 49 yards to the house, Sabercats on top 24-17. The Otters got the ball back, and confusingly decided to punt the ball away, close to midfield with five minutes to play. San Jose got the ball, and ran out the last five minutes. If you’re familiar with Jon Bois’s Surrender Index (which determines the level of gutless-ness a punt has) from his nearly hour-long video about punting, this punt would produce a Surrender Index score of just over 20, whereas the average punt from when he did that video was about a 3. I sure wouldn’t have done it.
Week 5 (28-23 win over Austin)
With our big win over Orange County in our back pocket and our confidence was sky-high, we came back home to take on the Copperheads, a team that had much higher expectations than they’re currently living up to. Easton Cole had a decent day, despite a pick. Mako Mendonca was alright, and Rod Tidwell and Net Gaines each went for 80 yards and a score (two for Tidwell). That’s about all you can say about the Copperheads. Their defense only contributed one sack all day (by Troen Eggheads). No turnovers, not even a deflection. This let Dan Wright throw for over 200 yards and two scores on just 21 throws. Rando nearly hit the century mark, Quindarius Tyerucker scored twice, Jackson did hit the century mark and scored, and DTF had maybe his worst game of the season, and still went for 5-89-1.
Austin started off strong with a touchdown to Net Gaines, but on the next drive, it took San Jose all of two plays to get all the way down the field and score a 34-yard TD to DTF. Austin would get the lead back with a field goal, but in the second, the Sabercats overcame a 3rd and 21 at one point, and scored a touchdown from QT to give the Sabercats the lead back, and they’d never relinquish it. A pick by HeHateMe led to an Action Jackson TD to make it 21-10. Austin would put another score on the board with Tidwell, but QT would respond right back to make it two scores again. And after one final Austin score, San Jose ran out the clock, and took home a 28-23 win to bring us to their present-day 4-1 record.
And who is responsible for this incredible turnaround? Well, the obvious first candidates are Deondre Thomas-Fox and Action Jackson, both of whom have become top-five receivers in the league. DTF is second in receiving yards, and first in touchdowns, while Jackson is fourth in yards and tied for third in touchdowns. And while it’s easy to miss the third Large Lad, Leon McDavid, he’s fifth among all tight ends in receiving yards, third in pancakes (among TEs), and is generally a terrific safety valve. This has led to one hell of a swansong season for Dan Wright, who’s currently leading the league in completion percentage, passing touchdowns, and passer rating. For the first time in my career, I can legitimately say that Wright could be in the MVP conversation, and that’s incredible to me.
And on the defensive side, Lawrence Bass is an absolute unit at stopping the ball carrier behind the line, with four TFLs and that game winning safety against the Outlaws. Trey Staley’s pick-six won us the Otters game, and he also forced a fumble in the New Orleans game. Inspectah Deck is leading the team in tackles with a respectable 45, and Tyron Brackenridge has a solid 38 tackles, three sacks, and three deflections. And lastly, there’s our specialist, Matthew McDairmid, one of only two players this season who hasn’t missed a field goal or an extra point (the other being Alex D), and the current league leader in yards per punt. I mentioned his punting ability a few times in the article, and his ability to down kicks inside the five is unmatched.
Unfortunately, we do have some pretty glaring weaknesses, our pass defense is still one of the worst in the league, particularly to tight end. Austin McCormick and Jeffrey Phillips both had strong games against us. And our rushing offense has cooled off a bit since the start of the season, and is now a league-average unit. But we’re incredibly young at both running back and the secondary, so these issue will only get resolved with time on the clock.
So what can we take away from all of this? Can the Sabercats keep this going? Short answer, yes. The Sabercats schedule this season is ridiculously easy right now, they only have two more games this season against teams above .500, Week 7 against Yellowknife and Week 12 against Orange County again. They don’t have to play Colorado, the league’s only remaining undefeated team. And most of the elite defenses, in terms of points allowed, are in the NSFC. So I think the Sabercats won’t be challenged too much through the rest of the season, and should cruise into the playoffs. I’ll say they finish 10-3, losing one of their remaining tough games I mentioned and one surprising loss to one of the weaker teams, maybe Honolulu in Week 11.
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