04-01-2023, 06:47 PM
(This post was last modified: 04-01-2023, 08:58 PM by Caleb_H. Edited 1 time in total.)
[1951 words, ready for grading]
This season was very intriguing in the DSFL in terms of the parity of the teams. The best team went 10-4, the worst team went 4-10, and every other team finished in between. In this article I thought I'd take a look at each team's performance this year and which aspects of play really drove the bus or killed them. It should be noted that I only looked at regular season stats here - feel free to judge me based on playoff performance in the comment section.
DSFL North
Kansas City Coyotes
How They Won: Kansas City boasted a young and hungry front seven that terrified teams across the league. The team recorded the second-most sacks in the league and forced the most fumbles. The leaders behind this were DE Ryan Lawrence, who had the second-most sacks of any player, rookie Lukas van Ness who was third, and linebackers Rodney Rosadino and Big Bad Wolf who were fifth and seventh. On offense, the leader of the pack was rookie running back Eilliot Berry who led the league in rushing yards and had the joint-most rushing touchdowns with 15; Berry paired with backup option Jake Jefferson helped secure the league's third-best rushing attack. And of course, I would be remiss if I talked about the Coyotes without mentioning the greatest kicker of all time, Ray Baker, who picked up the league's third-best field goal percentage.
How They Lost: Mathias Mayhem and Jake Jefferson were the players under center for the Coyotes, and with them the Coyotes had the league's worst passing offense with only 228.6 yards per game. The pair only combined for 16 passing touchdowns all year. The effect on the team through this can be seen through the defense - even though it was one of the league's best for yards at third place, they only ranked fifth in points against due in part to starting with short fields.
Minnesota Grey Ducks
How They Won: The Ducks had a lethal two-headed passing attack between quarterbacks Painted Penguin and Blaine Falco, combining for the second-best passing offense in the DSFL. Minnesota had six players record over 300 receiving yards on the season, led by 1,000 yard receivers Branden Rojas and Florida Man. On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Liath Squirrel made a case for Defensive Rookie of the Year with over 100 tackles, including 13 for a loss, 6 sacks and 4 pass defenses.
How They Lost: For all those yards, Minnesota had trouble converting them into points on the scoreboard with the second-worst third down conversion rate on offense (see below) - Top running back Cape The Party Rhino only had three touchdowns and the run game as whole only scored 9, the fewest in the league. Also, it's a minor thing, but Minnesota for some reason had kicker Jayme Jayne Jay-Jaymison try 10 field goals from 50+ yards out, of which he only made three - Kansas City's Ray Baker was the only other kicker to try more than five from this far out. Even if a missed field goal and a punt count the same on the scoreboard, the huge disparity in field position for the other team makes this a head-scratcher. This is more the fault of the sim than anything within the control of a human, but still annoys me just looking at it.
Portland Pythons
How They Won: To get started on what made the Pythons' reign of terror click, let me show you a little chart I made.
![[Image: BlIWl5Y.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BlIWl5Y.png)
I went through the boxscores of every game this season and tallied up each team's converted and attempted third downs on both offense and defense - a team closer to the top left was better at both converting their own third down situations and stopping the other team. Almost every team was between 30-40%, with a couple exceptions. See that dark green dot at the upper left, so far away from the others it may as well be in a different solar system? That's Portland. They were the only team to convert more than 40% of their offensive third downs and the only team to allow fewer than 30% on defense.
The engine behind this defense lies in a front seven anchored by rookie edge rusher Bruce White, who recorded the most sacks in the league with 18. Other pieces like Damarcus Cole, Leo Stud, and John Stark VIII also were huge pieces of the pass rush, helping the Pythons record the most sacks in the entire league with 60. On offense, the Pythons boasted a versatile offense that featured star quarterback Donovan Winters III as well as a two-headed rushing attack in Tyler One and Ben Goodwood. Portland had 1907 yards on the ground - almost 100 more than the next-best team - and Winters had the highest completion percentage and passer rating in the league.
How They Lost: It's hard to really pinpoint a weakness on this team that was so dominant all year, but if I had to go in on one it would have to be the depth in the secondary. Rookie corner Benjamin Duvernay led the league in pass defenses with 30, and fellow rookie Saveour Piethons also was high in the rankings with 23, but Portland only had one human safety in Mr Robb who didn't contribute much to the pass defense. The Pythons only had the sixth-best pass defense by yards in the DSFL.
London Royals
How They Won: The Royals had one of the most electrifying offenses in the league in S40 by excelling in the passing game. Willier Miller threw for over 4,000 yards with Mike Ehrmantraut, Don Tollibeo and Diego Lopez Alonso all picking up over 600 yards each and Nick Williams and LeAnthony LeDavis adding extra depth. With all these options, it was just impossible for a team to effectively cover all of them. On the ground, even though London's team had the second-fewest rushing yards in the aggregate, their bellcow back Lord Farquaads put up over 1200 yards and 15 touchdowns to make defenses respect the run.
How They Lost: How does a team with all that gaudy offense only go 8-6? By having the worst pass defense in the league. It all came down to that. The Royals averaged 30.1 points against over the course of the season, which was the highest of any team. The run defense was actually pretty stout, with rookie linebacker Loose Cannon leading the league in tackles and finishing eighth in TFLs. Unfortunately, having only two human DBs hurt London as their best player in the secondary, James Moriarity, was a GM bot. Maybe it was TPE, maybe it was a scheme, but the Royals allowed the most passing yards in the league.
DSFL South
Dallas Birddogs
How They Won: Dallas saw success with a solid offense-by-committee approach headed by quarterback NCADV RAINN, who had an impressive 29/7 TD/INT ratio. The Birddogs spread the ball around, as their three running backs KK Slider, Nakiri Ayame and Alita Battle Angel all rushed for over 400 yards and had a modest 10 touchdowns. Where the attack really got going was in the air. Led by rookie The Riddler picking up almost 1200 yards, the Birddogs scored 30 receiving touchdowns, the fourth-most in the league. Fellow rookie Dr. Livesey chipped in with almost 1000 yards and Wolfie McDummy Jr. racked up almost 800.
How They Lost: Remember that chart of the third-down conversions on offense and defense? That little gold dot way off to the right is Dallas. They were, by a margin of over 5%, the worst team in the entire league at preventing their opponent from converting third downs, meaning that opposing offenses could wear the Birddogs defense down with long drives. As a result, Dallas averaged 408.1 yards against per game, the most in the league, and the pass rush struggled to get home with only 21 sacks. To give this defense credit, they did block a punt, a PAT and two field goals, leading the league in the latter two totals.
Bondi Beach Buccaneers
How They Won: A ball-hawking defense that racked up 21 interceptions on the year - eight more than second place - was a huge asset for the Bucs, who allowed the fewest points in the DSFL on the season and scored the most. Smokin' Jay had a great season with 36 touchdowns to only 7 picks, and like other teams discussed in this article he had three great options to throw to in Plant Based, Kairo Knight and rookie Oliver Tolliver, who all had over 700 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, rookie safety Mary Marie formed a potent secondary with DeAndre Crover and Reshad Morris, roaming the backfield to combine for 15 interceptions between them.
How They Lost: Even though Bondi Beach had the most points scored in the league, they were only 6th in total yards. While this can be attributed to short fields from turnovers, the Bucs were also the worst team in the DSFL at converting their third-down situations at under 30%. These turnover opportunities also tended to come in bunches, as Bondi Beach's defense had a 5-turnover game and three 4-turnover games while having 8 games with 1 or fewer turnovers.
Tijuana Luchadores
How They Won: Tijuana boasted a lockdown secondary with cornerbacks Synsystyr Gates, Ezra Azazel and bot player Scooter McNutty, helping the Luchadores allow the second-fewest passing yards of any team. On offense, Lloyd Bannings stepped up as the only rookie quarterback to be a team's starter (granted, the only other QB in the class was me) to put up a 3500-yard season and 28 touchdowns. Helping him in this quest were a pair of 900-yard receivers in Eli Prince and Benji Aguilera.
How They Lost: The 'Dores had some growing pains with Bannings, who had 15 picks this season, but ultimately it was the run game that sank Tijuana. Led by veteran starter Gucci Gurley augmented by rookie Kyle Crane, the Luchadores only averaged 94.6 rushing yards per game for the lowest total in the league. They even tried throwing corner Ezra Azazel out there for 30 carries for 123 yards. Tijuana also struggled heavily with kicking issues throughout the season, as rookies Lewis Monsieur and Alex Roth combined to make only 6 of 14 field goals all year, including going 2/8 between 40-49 yards. An offense that can't consistently get points when getting into field goal range will doom a team, especially when taking into account that the Luchadores only converted 32.5% of their third-down situations, good for fifth in the league.
Norfolk Seawolves
How They Won: The Seawolves' defense excelled at all facets of play this season, allowing the fewest yards in the league and finishing in the top half for points against and all three yardage metrics. This defense particularly stood out at rushing the passer and forcing fumbles, racking up 38 sacks and forcing 17 fumbles. While there wasn't a particular standout among the bunch, they worked together well as a group and didn't give up much to opponents. On the offensive side, Ross Franklin had a great year with almost 3400 yards and 23 touchdowns, and unlike other teams Norfolk's best receiver was a TE in Big McLarge Huge, who had the league's only 500-yard season at his position, let alone the 1,072 yards he ended with. This was augmented by a two-headed rushing offense in Sticky Hands and Howard Coward, who each had over 800 yards.
How They Lost: As with Portland, it's tough to find a flaw in a 10-4 team, but I would have to go with their league-low 7 interceptions all year. While the Seawolves defense was otherwise impeccable, not being able to get turnovers in the passing game was their Achilles heel.
~~~
Hope you enjoyed this piece! Now feel free to yell at me in the comment section for being wrong about your favourite team.
This season was very intriguing in the DSFL in terms of the parity of the teams. The best team went 10-4, the worst team went 4-10, and every other team finished in between. In this article I thought I'd take a look at each team's performance this year and which aspects of play really drove the bus or killed them. It should be noted that I only looked at regular season stats here - feel free to judge me based on playoff performance in the comment section.
DSFL North
Kansas City Coyotes How They Won: Kansas City boasted a young and hungry front seven that terrified teams across the league. The team recorded the second-most sacks in the league and forced the most fumbles. The leaders behind this were DE Ryan Lawrence, who had the second-most sacks of any player, rookie Lukas van Ness who was third, and linebackers Rodney Rosadino and Big Bad Wolf who were fifth and seventh. On offense, the leader of the pack was rookie running back Eilliot Berry who led the league in rushing yards and had the joint-most rushing touchdowns with 15; Berry paired with backup option Jake Jefferson helped secure the league's third-best rushing attack. And of course, I would be remiss if I talked about the Coyotes without mentioning the greatest kicker of all time, Ray Baker, who picked up the league's third-best field goal percentage.
How They Lost: Mathias Mayhem and Jake Jefferson were the players under center for the Coyotes, and with them the Coyotes had the league's worst passing offense with only 228.6 yards per game. The pair only combined for 16 passing touchdowns all year. The effect on the team through this can be seen through the defense - even though it was one of the league's best for yards at third place, they only ranked fifth in points against due in part to starting with short fields.
Minnesota Grey Ducks How They Won: The Ducks had a lethal two-headed passing attack between quarterbacks Painted Penguin and Blaine Falco, combining for the second-best passing offense in the DSFL. Minnesota had six players record over 300 receiving yards on the season, led by 1,000 yard receivers Branden Rojas and Florida Man. On the defensive side of the ball, linebacker Liath Squirrel made a case for Defensive Rookie of the Year with over 100 tackles, including 13 for a loss, 6 sacks and 4 pass defenses.
How They Lost: For all those yards, Minnesota had trouble converting them into points on the scoreboard with the second-worst third down conversion rate on offense (see below) - Top running back Cape The Party Rhino only had three touchdowns and the run game as whole only scored 9, the fewest in the league. Also, it's a minor thing, but Minnesota for some reason had kicker Jayme Jayne Jay-Jaymison try 10 field goals from 50+ yards out, of which he only made three - Kansas City's Ray Baker was the only other kicker to try more than five from this far out. Even if a missed field goal and a punt count the same on the scoreboard, the huge disparity in field position for the other team makes this a head-scratcher. This is more the fault of the sim than anything within the control of a human, but still annoys me just looking at it.
Portland Pythons How They Won: To get started on what made the Pythons' reign of terror click, let me show you a little chart I made.
I went through the boxscores of every game this season and tallied up each team's converted and attempted third downs on both offense and defense - a team closer to the top left was better at both converting their own third down situations and stopping the other team. Almost every team was between 30-40%, with a couple exceptions. See that dark green dot at the upper left, so far away from the others it may as well be in a different solar system? That's Portland. They were the only team to convert more than 40% of their offensive third downs and the only team to allow fewer than 30% on defense.
The engine behind this defense lies in a front seven anchored by rookie edge rusher Bruce White, who recorded the most sacks in the league with 18. Other pieces like Damarcus Cole, Leo Stud, and John Stark VIII also were huge pieces of the pass rush, helping the Pythons record the most sacks in the entire league with 60. On offense, the Pythons boasted a versatile offense that featured star quarterback Donovan Winters III as well as a two-headed rushing attack in Tyler One and Ben Goodwood. Portland had 1907 yards on the ground - almost 100 more than the next-best team - and Winters had the highest completion percentage and passer rating in the league.
How They Lost: It's hard to really pinpoint a weakness on this team that was so dominant all year, but if I had to go in on one it would have to be the depth in the secondary. Rookie corner Benjamin Duvernay led the league in pass defenses with 30, and fellow rookie Saveour Piethons also was high in the rankings with 23, but Portland only had one human safety in Mr Robb who didn't contribute much to the pass defense. The Pythons only had the sixth-best pass defense by yards in the DSFL.
London Royals How They Won: The Royals had one of the most electrifying offenses in the league in S40 by excelling in the passing game. Willier Miller threw for over 4,000 yards with Mike Ehrmantraut, Don Tollibeo and Diego Lopez Alonso all picking up over 600 yards each and Nick Williams and LeAnthony LeDavis adding extra depth. With all these options, it was just impossible for a team to effectively cover all of them. On the ground, even though London's team had the second-fewest rushing yards in the aggregate, their bellcow back Lord Farquaads put up over 1200 yards and 15 touchdowns to make defenses respect the run.
How They Lost: How does a team with all that gaudy offense only go 8-6? By having the worst pass defense in the league. It all came down to that. The Royals averaged 30.1 points against over the course of the season, which was the highest of any team. The run defense was actually pretty stout, with rookie linebacker Loose Cannon leading the league in tackles and finishing eighth in TFLs. Unfortunately, having only two human DBs hurt London as their best player in the secondary, James Moriarity, was a GM bot. Maybe it was TPE, maybe it was a scheme, but the Royals allowed the most passing yards in the league.
DSFL South
Dallas Birddogs How They Won: Dallas saw success with a solid offense-by-committee approach headed by quarterback NCADV RAINN, who had an impressive 29/7 TD/INT ratio. The Birddogs spread the ball around, as their three running backs KK Slider, Nakiri Ayame and Alita Battle Angel all rushed for over 400 yards and had a modest 10 touchdowns. Where the attack really got going was in the air. Led by rookie The Riddler picking up almost 1200 yards, the Birddogs scored 30 receiving touchdowns, the fourth-most in the league. Fellow rookie Dr. Livesey chipped in with almost 1000 yards and Wolfie McDummy Jr. racked up almost 800.
How They Lost: Remember that chart of the third-down conversions on offense and defense? That little gold dot way off to the right is Dallas. They were, by a margin of over 5%, the worst team in the entire league at preventing their opponent from converting third downs, meaning that opposing offenses could wear the Birddogs defense down with long drives. As a result, Dallas averaged 408.1 yards against per game, the most in the league, and the pass rush struggled to get home with only 21 sacks. To give this defense credit, they did block a punt, a PAT and two field goals, leading the league in the latter two totals.
Bondi Beach Buccaneers How They Won: A ball-hawking defense that racked up 21 interceptions on the year - eight more than second place - was a huge asset for the Bucs, who allowed the fewest points in the DSFL on the season and scored the most. Smokin' Jay had a great season with 36 touchdowns to only 7 picks, and like other teams discussed in this article he had three great options to throw to in Plant Based, Kairo Knight and rookie Oliver Tolliver, who all had over 700 yards. On the defensive side of the ball, rookie safety Mary Marie formed a potent secondary with DeAndre Crover and Reshad Morris, roaming the backfield to combine for 15 interceptions between them.
How They Lost: Even though Bondi Beach had the most points scored in the league, they were only 6th in total yards. While this can be attributed to short fields from turnovers, the Bucs were also the worst team in the DSFL at converting their third-down situations at under 30%. These turnover opportunities also tended to come in bunches, as Bondi Beach's defense had a 5-turnover game and three 4-turnover games while having 8 games with 1 or fewer turnovers.
Tijuana Luchadores How They Won: Tijuana boasted a lockdown secondary with cornerbacks Synsystyr Gates, Ezra Azazel and bot player Scooter McNutty, helping the Luchadores allow the second-fewest passing yards of any team. On offense, Lloyd Bannings stepped up as the only rookie quarterback to be a team's starter (granted, the only other QB in the class was me) to put up a 3500-yard season and 28 touchdowns. Helping him in this quest were a pair of 900-yard receivers in Eli Prince and Benji Aguilera.
How They Lost: The 'Dores had some growing pains with Bannings, who had 15 picks this season, but ultimately it was the run game that sank Tijuana. Led by veteran starter Gucci Gurley augmented by rookie Kyle Crane, the Luchadores only averaged 94.6 rushing yards per game for the lowest total in the league. They even tried throwing corner Ezra Azazel out there for 30 carries for 123 yards. Tijuana also struggled heavily with kicking issues throughout the season, as rookies Lewis Monsieur and Alex Roth combined to make only 6 of 14 field goals all year, including going 2/8 between 40-49 yards. An offense that can't consistently get points when getting into field goal range will doom a team, especially when taking into account that the Luchadores only converted 32.5% of their third-down situations, good for fifth in the league.
Norfolk Seawolves How They Won: The Seawolves' defense excelled at all facets of play this season, allowing the fewest yards in the league and finishing in the top half for points against and all three yardage metrics. This defense particularly stood out at rushing the passer and forcing fumbles, racking up 38 sacks and forcing 17 fumbles. While there wasn't a particular standout among the bunch, they worked together well as a group and didn't give up much to opponents. On the offensive side, Ross Franklin had a great year with almost 3400 yards and 23 touchdowns, and unlike other teams Norfolk's best receiver was a TE in Big McLarge Huge, who had the league's only 500-yard season at his position, let alone the 1,072 yards he ended with. This was augmented by a two-headed rushing offense in Sticky Hands and Howard Coward, who each had over 800 yards.
How They Lost: As with Portland, it's tough to find a flaw in a 10-4 team, but I would have to go with their league-low 7 interceptions all year. While the Seawolves defense was otherwise impeccable, not being able to get turnovers in the passing game was their Achilles heel.
~~~
Hope you enjoyed this piece! Now feel free to yell at me in the comment section for being wrong about your favourite team.
![[Image: Jefferson_Gif.gif]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/763536517183701003/1077303232566661170/Jefferson_Gif.gif)
Byron Blackwell - S22-S25 - Dallas Birddogs CB
Kevin Morrison - S26-S31 - New Orleans Second Line OLB / Honolulu Hahalua DT
Jake Jefferson - S40-
S24 - DSFL CBOTY
S31 Ultimus
![[Image: wizard_literal.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/wizard_literal.gif)
