15) Alright this one is easy because I can just choose my player's best game, luckily it was a phenomenal win for the entire team. That game is Week 10, Orange County Otters at Philadelphia Liberty. We find Philadelphia in an uncomfortable position: their record is 4-5 and they look like they're going to miss the playoffs if things don't change, and things don't look like to change. Their next four games are two home, two away, the home games are against juggernauts OCO and Colorado. Early on in the first quarter Armstrong makes a critical error in forcing the ball towards Eriksen, who picks it off. From there on they found it impossible to establish a tempo or gain momentum. Two touchdowns from Phoenix to Varga put Philly in good position, and OCO can only answer with a field goal. Right before halftime Armstrong makes a fatal error in getting picked off by Eriksen again, who takes it home for a defensive touchdown. At halftime the score is 21-6. From then on it was a defensive showcase as Liberty add another field goal in the second half and Orange County added a lone touchdown. The final score was 24-13 as Philly began a four game win streak that would ultimately just barely scrape them into the playoffs.
(217 words)
13) I think Safeties are underrated. A lot of times their stats get spread around, a couple of sacks, a couple of picks, a handful of tackles and that's it. They can struggle to get the INT numbers of a CB, or the tackle numbers of an LB. Sometimes you get a player who manages to be exceptional regardless. The Swiss Army Man I think should win Safety of the Year, is none other than Matt "Son of Havoc" Cross. Cross was third among safeties in tackles this season, bringing in a monstrous 119 tackles, but what he has on the lads ahead of him in that regard, is everything else. Cross added 3 picks, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 1 recovery this season, not to mention 12 PDs as well. He did absolutely everything. It'd be hard to take this award away from some of the other frontrunners (Blaylock comes to mind), but for this young man to fly under the radar the way he has is preposterous. He's the glue that holds together his secondary, like a melted cheese on a Philly cheesesteak, and if I were still working on the Awards Committee, I'd be putting this guy on the ballot first.
(204 words)
7) I think success starts at the defense. They buy time for your offense to take a breather, they frustrate your opponent, occasionally defenses score points as well. In that way a defense could single handedly win a game, theoretically. No one seems to have as many single-handed game changers on defense as the New Orleans Second Line. Two come immediately to mind: Mason Blaylock and Ugarth Dissector. For this prompt, I'm going to talk about Ugarth the Dissector. In terms of sheer tackles Dissector is all the way down at 15th (his companion Bode does most of the dirty work getting tackles over the middle) and yet he still racked up 121, averaging about 7.5 tackles a game. You'll find Dissector fails to top any one category, but he's a machine regardless, because his game allows him to do everything at once. Most LBs either specialize in run stopping, blitzing, or pass protection, but Dissector is able to do all of these simultaneously. Not only does he have all those tackes, he also knocked down 19 passes (I am massively in love with PDs, especially for LBs, so this is a big deal to me. An LB who can pass protect is worth their weight in gold) and sacked the quarterback 10 (!!!) times. He's an absolute engine of a player. He even got an interception (and forced a fumble) this season and took it back for a touchdown. There's literally nothing the man can't do. There's barely anything else you could ask of them, maybe some TFLs, but not a ton of LBs rack up that statistic. It's also absurd he can put up these numbers in a system that has him playing alongside over exceptionally skilled players. I feel a lot of players get awards or nominations because they have to pick up the slack from the rest of the team, but that could not be further from Ugarth's position. I also feel awards often go to one dimensional players who do one thing the most, which is understandable, but I think it can lead to players like Dissector, who contribute far more to their team with their versatility, in the lurch. I hope the Awards Committee isn't blind and can realize this gem of a player in his prime and get him the kudos he deserves. Although I bet he doesn't mind either way. His play has led his team to a god-only-knows-how-many playoff appearance, and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down yet.
(417 words)
(217 words)
13) I think Safeties are underrated. A lot of times their stats get spread around, a couple of sacks, a couple of picks, a handful of tackles and that's it. They can struggle to get the INT numbers of a CB, or the tackle numbers of an LB. Sometimes you get a player who manages to be exceptional regardless. The Swiss Army Man I think should win Safety of the Year, is none other than Matt "Son of Havoc" Cross. Cross was third among safeties in tackles this season, bringing in a monstrous 119 tackles, but what he has on the lads ahead of him in that regard, is everything else. Cross added 3 picks, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 1 recovery this season, not to mention 12 PDs as well. He did absolutely everything. It'd be hard to take this award away from some of the other frontrunners (Blaylock comes to mind), but for this young man to fly under the radar the way he has is preposterous. He's the glue that holds together his secondary, like a melted cheese on a Philly cheesesteak, and if I were still working on the Awards Committee, I'd be putting this guy on the ballot first.
(204 words)
7) I think success starts at the defense. They buy time for your offense to take a breather, they frustrate your opponent, occasionally defenses score points as well. In that way a defense could single handedly win a game, theoretically. No one seems to have as many single-handed game changers on defense as the New Orleans Second Line. Two come immediately to mind: Mason Blaylock and Ugarth Dissector. For this prompt, I'm going to talk about Ugarth the Dissector. In terms of sheer tackles Dissector is all the way down at 15th (his companion Bode does most of the dirty work getting tackles over the middle) and yet he still racked up 121, averaging about 7.5 tackles a game. You'll find Dissector fails to top any one category, but he's a machine regardless, because his game allows him to do everything at once. Most LBs either specialize in run stopping, blitzing, or pass protection, but Dissector is able to do all of these simultaneously. Not only does he have all those tackes, he also knocked down 19 passes (I am massively in love with PDs, especially for LBs, so this is a big deal to me. An LB who can pass protect is worth their weight in gold) and sacked the quarterback 10 (!!!) times. He's an absolute engine of a player. He even got an interception (and forced a fumble) this season and took it back for a touchdown. There's literally nothing the man can't do. There's barely anything else you could ask of them, maybe some TFLs, but not a ton of LBs rack up that statistic. It's also absurd he can put up these numbers in a system that has him playing alongside over exceptionally skilled players. I feel a lot of players get awards or nominations because they have to pick up the slack from the rest of the team, but that could not be further from Ugarth's position. I also feel awards often go to one dimensional players who do one thing the most, which is understandable, but I think it can lead to players like Dissector, who contribute far more to their team with their versatility, in the lurch. I hope the Awards Committee isn't blind and can realize this gem of a player in his prime and get him the kudos he deserves. Although I bet he doesn't mind either way. His play has led his team to a god-only-knows-how-many playoff appearance, and he doesn't show any signs of slowing down yet.
(417 words)