1) Playoff Predictions, Reviews
To the shock of literally everyone on Planet Earth, the Tijuana Luchadores stunned the world and knocked off the juggernaut San Antonio Marshals by a final of 30-21 in the first game of the DSFL conference championship round. San Antonio dominated the regular season with a 13-1 record thanks to surefire DSFL MVP Morgan Marshall and a tough as nails defense that boasts multiple future early NSFL draft picks. During the regular season, San Antonio faced the Luchadores four times, and won all four of them, so despite a couple of close calls (a three point win in Week 6 and a six point win in Week 14), it was clear that the Marshals were the heavy favorites going in. And despite the fact that both Marshall and the San An defense showed up to play, Tijuana just did more. Forrest Gump had perhaps the play of the season with an amazing 96 yard touchdown run, where he barreled over several defenders before winning a foot race against Walt Green. On the other side of the ball, the Luchadores defense clamped down when it was necessary, forcing San Antonio to dink and dunk the ball down the field on the final drive because the big plays just weren't available. Tijuana will now more on to the Ultimini, where they'll have a chance to defend their title against the Portland Pythons.
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3) All about the QBs
I've talked about various quarterbacks a lot in my MVP Ranking series, and two of the quarterbacks that I mentioned at great length were Joliet L. Christ and Gus T.T. Showbiz of San Jose and Orange County, respectively. These are two quarterbacks heading in opposite directions. At the start of the season, Christ was playing out of his mind. His Week 1 and Week 2 performances finished the season as the second and third best performances all year. But that level of play was sadly unsustainable, and as the season progressed, Christ steadily fell down my leaderboard, and he finished the season in 5th. Meanwhile, Gus T.T. Showbiz was always on the radar to break into the list, but his play was just too inconsistent early in the season to justify his inclusion, especially with so many other quarterbacks in that hunt. But then, Week 12 happened. Gus did horrible, horrible things to the Outlaws. This was the only performance by anyone that topped Christ's early season work, and he posted numbers the next two weeks that weren't that far off his mind-bending numbers from Week 12. Showbiz finished 4th in my rankings, and I think his strong showings as of late will help propel Orange County to a third straight trip to the Ultimus.
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7) Next year
I love the Solar Bears chances of making a gigantic leap into DSFL playoff contention next season. All season long, the Solar Bears were among the most active teams in the league. According to the research I did for the Pro Bowl, Palm Beach had the most active players as of April 1st with 14, including our quarterback, both running backs, and seven defensive starters, all of whom were rookies this year. Plus with the addition of the two expansion NSFL teams, along with some players staying down even if they're drafted by a major team, we're likely to bring back a bunch of these players from Season 14. And their TPE is only going to increase as Season 15 goes on. Throw in the fact that they'll have the second overall pick in next year's draft, and they'll have the cream of the next rookie crop ready to fill in any holes that the NSFL Draft will have left behind. Plus, having been in the Palm Beach locker room, I can say with certainty that any newcomers to the team will be met with open arms and dank memes. It's a fantastic community that several people therein have stated they don't want to leave by being drafted. It's that strong of a group.
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9) Rivalries
Listen, I understand that since there's only six teams in the DSFL, and four of them make the playoffs, there's bound to be a team or two that simply aren't playoff material, but point blank, the Norfolk Seawolves were not worthy of going to the playoffs. They started the season strong, three straight wins to start as an expansion team, well done, high fives all around. But after that victory over Palm Beach in Week 3, they only won three more games for the rest of the season. And all three of those wins came against the lowly 2-14 Kansas City Coyotes. Once the playoffs came around and they took on Portland, they squandered a nice lead, like they had done so many times this season. Seeing as how both the Seawolves and my Solar Bears came into existence at the same time, a lot of people will be connecting the two teams together. Did the Solar Bears do very well this season? No, but there are signs that the team is getting better. Norfolk though? Unless they just kill the draft this year, they're on their way down. Kansas City will improve and they'll still have to contend with Portland. Year 1 between the two expansion teams may've swung Norfolk's way, but we'll see who makes it to an Ultimini first. My money's on Palm Beach.
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To the shock of literally everyone on Planet Earth, the Tijuana Luchadores stunned the world and knocked off the juggernaut San Antonio Marshals by a final of 30-21 in the first game of the DSFL conference championship round. San Antonio dominated the regular season with a 13-1 record thanks to surefire DSFL MVP Morgan Marshall and a tough as nails defense that boasts multiple future early NSFL draft picks. During the regular season, San Antonio faced the Luchadores four times, and won all four of them, so despite a couple of close calls (a three point win in Week 6 and a six point win in Week 14), it was clear that the Marshals were the heavy favorites going in. And despite the fact that both Marshall and the San An defense showed up to play, Tijuana just did more. Forrest Gump had perhaps the play of the season with an amazing 96 yard touchdown run, where he barreled over several defenders before winning a foot race against Walt Green. On the other side of the ball, the Luchadores defense clamped down when it was necessary, forcing San Antonio to dink and dunk the ball down the field on the final drive because the big plays just weren't available. Tijuana will now more on to the Ultimini, where they'll have a chance to defend their title against the Portland Pythons.
230 words
3) All about the QBs
I've talked about various quarterbacks a lot in my MVP Ranking series, and two of the quarterbacks that I mentioned at great length were Joliet L. Christ and Gus T.T. Showbiz of San Jose and Orange County, respectively. These are two quarterbacks heading in opposite directions. At the start of the season, Christ was playing out of his mind. His Week 1 and Week 2 performances finished the season as the second and third best performances all year. But that level of play was sadly unsustainable, and as the season progressed, Christ steadily fell down my leaderboard, and he finished the season in 5th. Meanwhile, Gus T.T. Showbiz was always on the radar to break into the list, but his play was just too inconsistent early in the season to justify his inclusion, especially with so many other quarterbacks in that hunt. But then, Week 12 happened. Gus did horrible, horrible things to the Outlaws. This was the only performance by anyone that topped Christ's early season work, and he posted numbers the next two weeks that weren't that far off his mind-bending numbers from Week 12. Showbiz finished 4th in my rankings, and I think his strong showings as of late will help propel Orange County to a third straight trip to the Ultimus.
217 words
7) Next year
I love the Solar Bears chances of making a gigantic leap into DSFL playoff contention next season. All season long, the Solar Bears were among the most active teams in the league. According to the research I did for the Pro Bowl, Palm Beach had the most active players as of April 1st with 14, including our quarterback, both running backs, and seven defensive starters, all of whom were rookies this year. Plus with the addition of the two expansion NSFL teams, along with some players staying down even if they're drafted by a major team, we're likely to bring back a bunch of these players from Season 14. And their TPE is only going to increase as Season 15 goes on. Throw in the fact that they'll have the second overall pick in next year's draft, and they'll have the cream of the next rookie crop ready to fill in any holes that the NSFL Draft will have left behind. Plus, having been in the Palm Beach locker room, I can say with certainty that any newcomers to the team will be met with open arms and dank memes. It's a fantastic community that several people therein have stated they don't want to leave by being drafted. It's that strong of a group.
214 words
9) Rivalries
Listen, I understand that since there's only six teams in the DSFL, and four of them make the playoffs, there's bound to be a team or two that simply aren't playoff material, but point blank, the Norfolk Seawolves were not worthy of going to the playoffs. They started the season strong, three straight wins to start as an expansion team, well done, high fives all around. But after that victory over Palm Beach in Week 3, they only won three more games for the rest of the season. And all three of those wins came against the lowly 2-14 Kansas City Coyotes. Once the playoffs came around and they took on Portland, they squandered a nice lead, like they had done so many times this season. Seeing as how both the Seawolves and my Solar Bears came into existence at the same time, a lot of people will be connecting the two teams together. Did the Solar Bears do very well this season? No, but there are signs that the team is getting better. Norfolk though? Unless they just kill the draft this year, they're on their way down. Kansas City will improve and they'll still have to contend with Portland. Year 1 between the two expansion teams may've swung Norfolk's way, but we'll see who makes it to an Ultimini first. My money's on Palm Beach.
227 words