After the first 2 weeks of the season, the Portland Pythons are 2-0. A breath of fresh air compared to last year’s Python team. To be fair, many reports around the league had us fighting for first place in the West this season. So why the review? Because the Pythons have a +3 pt differential over two games. Are there underlying issues that will predict a Python downfall? Or did the sim gods just decide to give a few extra grey hairs and 1st place is still a reality? This article will hopefully explain some trends seen over the first 2 weeks. As an aside, I mean no disrespect to our opponents. Both games were awesome to watch.
Week 1: vs NOR
What a game. Pythons come away with a one point win. Seems like a real barn burner. Both teams at each other’s throat clawing for every point, right? Well, yes it did come down to the very end of the game but I don’t think it should have been as close as it was for 3 reasons. 1) The Pythons had 10 more minutes in time of possession compared to the Seawolves. Increase time of possession usually correlates with a good defence and/or an offence that manages to elongate drives. In this case the Pythons team had both. The Pythons offence managed a 61.5% 3rd down efficiency while the defence kept NOR to a 37.5% efficiency. POR also had more passing attempts (51) than NOR had both rushing and passing plays (46). Simply put, POR controlled the ball. 2) Yards. Portland amassed 452 yards in this game. That is staggering. They had over 100 more yards than the Seawolves. 3) The Pythons stayed very disciplined compared to NOR. NOR had 13 penalties for 90 yards. That’s almost the full length of the field, not to mention many of these penalties gave POR a first down, or nullified a good play for NOR offence. Meanwhile, POR had 3 penalties for 15 yards.
So again, why was this game close? NOR made huge plays when it counted. First play of the second quarter, the Seawolves block a punt. So instead of getting pinned deep in their zone, they now have the ball past midfield. They go down and score. 4 minutes later, POR misses a 42 yard FG and NOR takes over with good field position. They go down the field and score. In the third quarter, POR looking to take the lead with the ball on the 8-yard line, NOR intercept the ball in the end zone and take it back 50 yards. And later on, just after the Pythons finally managed get the lead back, Conall O’Sullivan breaks out a 56-yard run, which was the craziest play I’ve seen. While the Pythons ended up with the win after scoring again with 6 minutes left, the Seawolves made it a crazy game. Looking back at it, the stats show the sim gods got it right.
Week 2: vs TIJ
What a game. Pythons come away with a two-point win. Seems like a real barn burner. Both teams at each other’s throat clawing for every point, right? Sound familiar? This game, by looking at the overall stats should have been and was a barn burner. The Pythons dominated possession in the NOR game but in this game TIJ out-possessed POR by 28 seconds. POR had a better pass game and fewer turnovers while TIJ dominated the run game and had fewer penalties. Both teams even punted the ball 6 times each. So where did that 2-point difference come from? My best guess is that the Pythons stayed on the field slightly longer because of their 50% 3rd down efficiency compared to TIJ’s 33.3%. This extra time on a drive resulted in the only field goal of the game from Portland.
What had all of us in Portland worried was that at the end of the 3rd quarter and during the 4th quarter, TIJ had the ball and the lead. They then proceeded to fumble the ball 3 times in their next 6 possessions. Even taking away one of those fumbles that late in the game would have probably resulted in a loss for the Pythons. Sim gods smiled on us.
All in all, the Pythons are glad to be at 2-0. The underlying stats show that while the +3 point differential might be worrying for some, the Pythons are a very good team at moving the ball down field and the defence is well equipped to hold teams to reasonable yardage. The sample size is small, so hopefully weeks 3 and 4 will give me more to write about.
GRADED
Week 1: vs NOR
What a game. Pythons come away with a one point win. Seems like a real barn burner. Both teams at each other’s throat clawing for every point, right? Well, yes it did come down to the very end of the game but I don’t think it should have been as close as it was for 3 reasons. 1) The Pythons had 10 more minutes in time of possession compared to the Seawolves. Increase time of possession usually correlates with a good defence and/or an offence that manages to elongate drives. In this case the Pythons team had both. The Pythons offence managed a 61.5% 3rd down efficiency while the defence kept NOR to a 37.5% efficiency. POR also had more passing attempts (51) than NOR had both rushing and passing plays (46). Simply put, POR controlled the ball. 2) Yards. Portland amassed 452 yards in this game. That is staggering. They had over 100 more yards than the Seawolves. 3) The Pythons stayed very disciplined compared to NOR. NOR had 13 penalties for 90 yards. That’s almost the full length of the field, not to mention many of these penalties gave POR a first down, or nullified a good play for NOR offence. Meanwhile, POR had 3 penalties for 15 yards.
So again, why was this game close? NOR made huge plays when it counted. First play of the second quarter, the Seawolves block a punt. So instead of getting pinned deep in their zone, they now have the ball past midfield. They go down and score. 4 minutes later, POR misses a 42 yard FG and NOR takes over with good field position. They go down the field and score. In the third quarter, POR looking to take the lead with the ball on the 8-yard line, NOR intercept the ball in the end zone and take it back 50 yards. And later on, just after the Pythons finally managed get the lead back, Conall O’Sullivan breaks out a 56-yard run, which was the craziest play I’ve seen. While the Pythons ended up with the win after scoring again with 6 minutes left, the Seawolves made it a crazy game. Looking back at it, the stats show the sim gods got it right.
Week 2: vs TIJ
What a game. Pythons come away with a two-point win. Seems like a real barn burner. Both teams at each other’s throat clawing for every point, right? Sound familiar? This game, by looking at the overall stats should have been and was a barn burner. The Pythons dominated possession in the NOR game but in this game TIJ out-possessed POR by 28 seconds. POR had a better pass game and fewer turnovers while TIJ dominated the run game and had fewer penalties. Both teams even punted the ball 6 times each. So where did that 2-point difference come from? My best guess is that the Pythons stayed on the field slightly longer because of their 50% 3rd down efficiency compared to TIJ’s 33.3%. This extra time on a drive resulted in the only field goal of the game from Portland.
What had all of us in Portland worried was that at the end of the 3rd quarter and during the 4th quarter, TIJ had the ball and the lead. They then proceeded to fumble the ball 3 times in their next 6 possessions. Even taking away one of those fumbles that late in the game would have probably resulted in a loss for the Pythons. Sim gods smiled on us.
All in all, the Pythons are glad to be at 2-0. The underlying stats show that while the +3 point differential might be worrying for some, the Pythons are a very good team at moving the ball down field and the defence is well equipped to hold teams to reasonable yardage. The sample size is small, so hopefully weeks 3 and 4 will give me more to write about.
Code:
775 words. Ready for gradingGRADED
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