As promised, I'm continuing my daily game review series, and this is a special thanksgiving edition game. I'm literally just picking random seasons and scrolling through the weeks to see if there's any close games that I could review that might be cool. Well I was going to choose the game where Arizona blows out San Jose 62-0, but I already reviewed a SaberCats blowout yesterday, and I don't want to be mean. I decided to choose the game of the Wraiths visiting Balitmore in S19. The 1-1 Wraiths were in the middle of their Ultimus streak, and the 2-0 Hawks had big ambitions on their mind this season. They kept losing to the Wraiths in the playoffs, and this rivalry was going to set up a good game. Baltimore had the home field advantage, but let's see how it went.
We open with a 34 yard kick return by Swift, and 2 plays later it's a 3rd and 5. Bigsby heaves it downfield for a 44 yard bomb, setting them up at the Baltimore 16 yard line. A tripping penalty and incomplete pass makes it 2nd and 20. 2 passes later, it's 4th down and they kick the FG, taking the first points of the game, setting themselves up 3-0. A 40 yard return from Maddox sets the Hawks up with awesome field position but they squander it after a 0 yard rush and a 0 yard pass. They punt back to Yellowknife, which can't do much on their next drive, and they punt back to Baltimore. 2 straight drops stalls out the drive and they punt back to the Wraiths. It's punts on punts on punts on punts. A huge sack by Marquees Acho on 3rd and 2 forces the Wraiths to punt again. But guess what happens on this next drive? 2 straight pass deflections from the Wraiths secondary forces a punt, and I can't say this was unexpected. A 14 yard rush by Hanyadi injects some life into the team, but a sack by Fabricio Baldari sets up a 3rd and 8 situation on Baltimore's 42. Baltimore can get the stop here and force a punt, but if they give up the 1st down, the Wraiths will be in field goal range. Bigsby throws a short screen pass that explodes for 29 yards but the offense stalls out on the Baltimore 5 yard line, and they kick a chip shot FG to add to their lead, making it 6-0. An excellent return by Green sets up the Hawks with great field position, and after a penalty making it 1st and 15, Havran throws a deep crossing route for 24 yards to Espeeyeeseetee. An unnecessary roughness penalty on the Hawks makes it 1st and 25, but a 37 yard catch and run by Maddox sets them up at the Wraiths 11 yard line. Selich sacks Havran, stalling the drive and making them kick, cutting down the Wraiths' lead to 3. The score is now 6-3 with 11 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. The Wraiths woke up feeling dangerous today, and a methodical and surgical drive lets them score a TD with 7 minutes left in the quarter. It was a 11 play drive in which they converted 2 3rd downs, and finished with a 14 yard screen to Hanyadi. Both teams trade punts TWICE afterwards and Havran gets sacked twice on the last drive of the half, keeping the score as 13-3 going into the half.
Now stuff gets kind of crazy in the 2nd half. It's 3rd and 5 on the opening possession for the Hawks, and they do not want to go 3 and out. They do something even better. Havran rolls out to his right and throws a terrible pass on his back foot which gets picked off by Leonard and returned for 6 yards. Wraiths almost squander the amazing field position, and it's 3rd and 7 on the Baltimore 45. Bigsby throws a slant to Swift who dives and manages to barely get the first down. But on the very next play, a screen pass is blown up, and Green intercepts the ball and runs it back 61 yards to the house, giving the Hawks the momentum they needed. The score is 13-10. 2 sacks on the Wraiths next drive makes it 4th and 17 and they have to punt. Havran and Bigby take turns making play after play, never throwing an incomplete pass or rushing stagnantly, and they drive all the way down and score, and take the lead for the first time in the game. The score is 17-13. After Hanyadi starts cussing at the refs, he gets flagged, and then they have to punt. A facemask penalty on the Wraiths doesn't help them on the Hawks next drive, but they still managed to fuck it up and they punt again. Guess what happens on the next drive? The Wraiths punt. What a shocker. Too many penalties. A terrible punt and great return sets the Hawks up on the Wraiths side of the field and they waste no time in getting in FG range and extending their lead, 20-13. Bigsby decides he wanted to play again and throws 4 straight completions for 36 yards, 3 of which were to Hanyadi. Bigsby throws 2 back to back completions to Swift for 9 yard each, sprinkle in a couple rushes here and there, but it's 3rd and 1 at the Baltimore 22. A questionable play action play is called instead of a run up the middle, and it does not pay off. Asipi III gets his hand on the ball and knocks it out, forcing the Wraiths to kick a field goal here. With 9 minutes left, the Hawks have the chance to put this game away with a long drive and a score. What they don't want is an immediate 3 and out. It's not immediate, but they manage to convert on a 3rd and 1. They can't convert on the 3rd and 1 though, and they give the Wraiths the ball back with 7 minutes left. An incomplete pass followed by a Bigsby scramble for 7 yards sets up a key 3rd and 3, but Hanyadi gets stuffed and they're forced to punt. The Hawks get the ball back with 6 minutes left, up 4 points, and can for real put this game away now. 2 straight 10 yard plays set them up at the Yellowknife 46. It's not looking food for the Wraiths. With 4:30 in the game, and the Hawks with a 1st and 10 in the Wraiths territory, some fans were already heading to the parking lot, oh wait sorry they have no fans because no lives there. Somehow, the Hawks fuck it up and are faced with a 4th and 2 at the Yellowknife 38. Brand punts it 70 yards into the crowd, and I think that constitutes as a touchback? Critics would say take the 55 yard FG, but fuck the critics. With 3:30 left in the game, Bigsby has to drive 80 yards in order to score. The first play of the drive is a huge one, a nice out route to Swift for 28 yards, and they go to quickly spike the ball, for some reason. It's 2nd and 10 at the Yellowknife 48, with 2:30 left to play. They are down 4 points. A field goal won't do shit. Bigsby slings it to Drake for 4 yards, but an illegal block below the waist makes it 3rd and 16 at their own 42 yard line. A short pass by Drake is batted down by Jimbo, making it 4th and 16 with 1:21 let to play. It's do or die time. Bigsby lines up in shotgun, yells an adjustment to his runningback, who moves out to the left, making it a 5 wide situation. He snaps the ball, he sees Swift doubled team, Hanyadi matched up with a safety, and he turns to Helanen, who is covered by a linebacker, he knows that's a mismatch. Helanen runs an out route, and Bigsby throws a bullet to him. Helanen catches it, jukes out a defender and runs until he's tackled in bounds at the Baltimore 19. Yellowknife takes a timeout. Baltimore somehow managed to give up a 4th and 16, quite unfortunate. They run the ball for some reason, and can someone check up on the Yellowknife coach, I don't think he's feeling all right. They get 6 yards and take the timeout with 6 seconds left. They have 13 yards to go and only 1 timeout left. They line up with Hanyadi in the backfield, a TE on the right side. Swift is 1 on 1 with a cornerback, but there's 2 safeties over the top. Bigsby has 2 receivers on the right, but it looks like they're playing man coverage. He audibles to Swift, tells him to run a out route. He motions Swift closer to the middle of the field. He snaps the ball, and as Bigsby thought, it's a cover 2 man. But wait, the linebacker is blitzing. Hanyadi picks up the blitz and drops his route, but Bigsby has to scramble to keep the play alive. The play is blown up and they can't throw a short pass and cal a timeout. He scrambles to his right, and there's no one open, so he scrambles back around to his left, and Swift is running, and he manages to fit it in the perfect spot in the back of endzone, and Swift easily catches it and toe taps his way to victory with 00:00 showing on the clock.
Heartbreak for the Hawks, but the Wraiths go crazy. An amazing game, and the Wraiths win 23-20.
We open with a 34 yard kick return by Swift, and 2 plays later it's a 3rd and 5. Bigsby heaves it downfield for a 44 yard bomb, setting them up at the Baltimore 16 yard line. A tripping penalty and incomplete pass makes it 2nd and 20. 2 passes later, it's 4th down and they kick the FG, taking the first points of the game, setting themselves up 3-0. A 40 yard return from Maddox sets the Hawks up with awesome field position but they squander it after a 0 yard rush and a 0 yard pass. They punt back to Yellowknife, which can't do much on their next drive, and they punt back to Baltimore. 2 straight drops stalls out the drive and they punt back to the Wraiths. It's punts on punts on punts on punts. A huge sack by Marquees Acho on 3rd and 2 forces the Wraiths to punt again. But guess what happens on this next drive? 2 straight pass deflections from the Wraiths secondary forces a punt, and I can't say this was unexpected. A 14 yard rush by Hanyadi injects some life into the team, but a sack by Fabricio Baldari sets up a 3rd and 8 situation on Baltimore's 42. Baltimore can get the stop here and force a punt, but if they give up the 1st down, the Wraiths will be in field goal range. Bigsby throws a short screen pass that explodes for 29 yards but the offense stalls out on the Baltimore 5 yard line, and they kick a chip shot FG to add to their lead, making it 6-0. An excellent return by Green sets up the Hawks with great field position, and after a penalty making it 1st and 15, Havran throws a deep crossing route for 24 yards to Espeeyeeseetee. An unnecessary roughness penalty on the Hawks makes it 1st and 25, but a 37 yard catch and run by Maddox sets them up at the Wraiths 11 yard line. Selich sacks Havran, stalling the drive and making them kick, cutting down the Wraiths' lead to 3. The score is now 6-3 with 11 minutes left in the 2nd quarter. The Wraiths woke up feeling dangerous today, and a methodical and surgical drive lets them score a TD with 7 minutes left in the quarter. It was a 11 play drive in which they converted 2 3rd downs, and finished with a 14 yard screen to Hanyadi. Both teams trade punts TWICE afterwards and Havran gets sacked twice on the last drive of the half, keeping the score as 13-3 going into the half.
Now stuff gets kind of crazy in the 2nd half. It's 3rd and 5 on the opening possession for the Hawks, and they do not want to go 3 and out. They do something even better. Havran rolls out to his right and throws a terrible pass on his back foot which gets picked off by Leonard and returned for 6 yards. Wraiths almost squander the amazing field position, and it's 3rd and 7 on the Baltimore 45. Bigsby throws a slant to Swift who dives and manages to barely get the first down. But on the very next play, a screen pass is blown up, and Green intercepts the ball and runs it back 61 yards to the house, giving the Hawks the momentum they needed. The score is 13-10. 2 sacks on the Wraiths next drive makes it 4th and 17 and they have to punt. Havran and Bigby take turns making play after play, never throwing an incomplete pass or rushing stagnantly, and they drive all the way down and score, and take the lead for the first time in the game. The score is 17-13. After Hanyadi starts cussing at the refs, he gets flagged, and then they have to punt. A facemask penalty on the Wraiths doesn't help them on the Hawks next drive, but they still managed to fuck it up and they punt again. Guess what happens on the next drive? The Wraiths punt. What a shocker. Too many penalties. A terrible punt and great return sets the Hawks up on the Wraiths side of the field and they waste no time in getting in FG range and extending their lead, 20-13. Bigsby decides he wanted to play again and throws 4 straight completions for 36 yards, 3 of which were to Hanyadi. Bigsby throws 2 back to back completions to Swift for 9 yard each, sprinkle in a couple rushes here and there, but it's 3rd and 1 at the Baltimore 22. A questionable play action play is called instead of a run up the middle, and it does not pay off. Asipi III gets his hand on the ball and knocks it out, forcing the Wraiths to kick a field goal here. With 9 minutes left, the Hawks have the chance to put this game away with a long drive and a score. What they don't want is an immediate 3 and out. It's not immediate, but they manage to convert on a 3rd and 1. They can't convert on the 3rd and 1 though, and they give the Wraiths the ball back with 7 minutes left. An incomplete pass followed by a Bigsby scramble for 7 yards sets up a key 3rd and 3, but Hanyadi gets stuffed and they're forced to punt. The Hawks get the ball back with 6 minutes left, up 4 points, and can for real put this game away now. 2 straight 10 yard plays set them up at the Yellowknife 46. It's not looking food for the Wraiths. With 4:30 in the game, and the Hawks with a 1st and 10 in the Wraiths territory, some fans were already heading to the parking lot, oh wait sorry they have no fans because no lives there. Somehow, the Hawks fuck it up and are faced with a 4th and 2 at the Yellowknife 38. Brand punts it 70 yards into the crowd, and I think that constitutes as a touchback? Critics would say take the 55 yard FG, but fuck the critics. With 3:30 left in the game, Bigsby has to drive 80 yards in order to score. The first play of the drive is a huge one, a nice out route to Swift for 28 yards, and they go to quickly spike the ball, for some reason. It's 2nd and 10 at the Yellowknife 48, with 2:30 left to play. They are down 4 points. A field goal won't do shit. Bigsby slings it to Drake for 4 yards, but an illegal block below the waist makes it 3rd and 16 at their own 42 yard line. A short pass by Drake is batted down by Jimbo, making it 4th and 16 with 1:21 let to play. It's do or die time. Bigsby lines up in shotgun, yells an adjustment to his runningback, who moves out to the left, making it a 5 wide situation. He snaps the ball, he sees Swift doubled team, Hanyadi matched up with a safety, and he turns to Helanen, who is covered by a linebacker, he knows that's a mismatch. Helanen runs an out route, and Bigsby throws a bullet to him. Helanen catches it, jukes out a defender and runs until he's tackled in bounds at the Baltimore 19. Yellowknife takes a timeout. Baltimore somehow managed to give up a 4th and 16, quite unfortunate. They run the ball for some reason, and can someone check up on the Yellowknife coach, I don't think he's feeling all right. They get 6 yards and take the timeout with 6 seconds left. They have 13 yards to go and only 1 timeout left. They line up with Hanyadi in the backfield, a TE on the right side. Swift is 1 on 1 with a cornerback, but there's 2 safeties over the top. Bigsby has 2 receivers on the right, but it looks like they're playing man coverage. He audibles to Swift, tells him to run a out route. He motions Swift closer to the middle of the field. He snaps the ball, and as Bigsby thought, it's a cover 2 man. But wait, the linebacker is blitzing. Hanyadi picks up the blitz and drops his route, but Bigsby has to scramble to keep the play alive. The play is blown up and they can't throw a short pass and cal a timeout. He scrambles to his right, and there's no one open, so he scrambles back around to his left, and Swift is running, and he manages to fit it in the perfect spot in the back of endzone, and Swift easily catches it and toe taps his way to victory with 00:00 showing on the clock.
Heartbreak for the Hawks, but the Wraiths go crazy. An amazing game, and the Wraiths win 23-20.