Question 4
While I don't think it drastically altered the outcome of the season, the San Jose Sabercats had some very poor sim luck this season and were the epitome of "Sim gonna Sim". To set a bit of a background, the Sabercats had one of the highest average TPEs for their players heading into season 28 of the ISFL, yet they finished finished with a very disappointing 5 and 11 record. While TPE is not always the be all end all of a team's success, the Sabercats had some very unfortunate sim luck with four games going to overtime this season and each of those games ending in a loss for San Jose.
The first overtime game was week 2 against the New York Silverbacks. After a furious comeback and a bomb of a 61 yard field goal the Sabercats had forced overtime with the silverbacks. The teams cats got the ball back first and that's where things started to unravel. Immediately Monty Jack is sacked on the first play of overtime and the drive sputters. This in itself is not unlucky, but what happened next is. McDairmaid the man who just booted a 61 yard field goal came out to punt and his punt went.... 32 yards. That's right the highest TPE kicker or punter only was able to hit the ball 32 yards. This gave an incredibly short field to the silverbacks who capitalized on it for a win.
The second overtime game was just a week later against Honolulu. This game was a back and forth affair with Honolulu kicking a last second field goal to send the game to overtime. Again, the Sabercats won the toss and started with the ball in overtime. Similar to the previous week, the offensive line crumbled and Monty Jack was sacked early. This time he star quarterback fumbled the ball which was scooped up by the defense. Honolulu only had 25 yards to go to score the game winning touchdown, plunging San Jose to a second straight overtime loss in only 3 weeks of the season.
It took until week 10 for the third overtime loss to occur for the Sabercats. This time they were playing against the Colorado Yeti. After a furious comeback capped off by a touchdown and two point conversion, the Sabercats forced overtime. This time however their coin flip luck had run out and Colorado won the toss and elected to receive. The first two plays for the Yeti only gained 5 yards setting up a huge 3rd down and five. The Sabercats made a huge stop on the play holding the Yeti to only 4 yards and seemingly forcing a punt. However, the Sabercats were called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on the playing, gifting the Yeti fifteen yards and an automatic first down on the play. The Yeti used this penalty as a huge momentum shift and proceeded to drive the length of the field and set up a one yard rushing touchdown. This touchdown sealed the fate of the Sabercats in the game making them now 0 and 3 in overtime games.
The fourth and final overtime game this season came in week 14 against a familar opponent, Honolulu. This time the game script was a bit different as the Sabercats jumped out to an early lead. However, down ten in the fourth quarter, Honolulu was able to rally and tie the game. San Jose did nothing with their final possession and so the game went into overtime. In overtime the Honolulu started with the ball and began to march down the field. Luckily the Sabercats were able to stop the Honolulu team before they were able to get in the endzone. Powers kicked a field goal giving Honolulu the lead but a chance for San Jose to get the ball and match or beat the score. San Jose though had the same problems arise in overtime as the last game against Honolulu. Monty Jack was under constant duress and was sacked on a crucial third down play. On the final play of the game, Jack was scrambling for his life and fired a pass downfield that was intercepted. This put an end to the game and marked the fourth overtime loss for San Jose in the season.
Apart from these overtime losses, San Jose further had 4 more games that were decided by one score. The team may have had one of the unluckiest seasons in ISFL history with so many close losses. The team did lose 11 games so it is unlikely that even flipping a few games would have lead to a playoff appearance, but San Jose can take comfort in the fact that they were competitive for most games this year. The team should plan to retool moving forward and make a push with the players that are just entering regression this season. If the sim gods decide to smile on San Jose, then maybe it can be the other teams saying Sim gonna sim next year as the cats lift the Ultimus trophy.
While I don't think it drastically altered the outcome of the season, the San Jose Sabercats had some very poor sim luck this season and were the epitome of "Sim gonna Sim". To set a bit of a background, the Sabercats had one of the highest average TPEs for their players heading into season 28 of the ISFL, yet they finished finished with a very disappointing 5 and 11 record. While TPE is not always the be all end all of a team's success, the Sabercats had some very unfortunate sim luck with four games going to overtime this season and each of those games ending in a loss for San Jose.
The first overtime game was week 2 against the New York Silverbacks. After a furious comeback and a bomb of a 61 yard field goal the Sabercats had forced overtime with the silverbacks. The teams cats got the ball back first and that's where things started to unravel. Immediately Monty Jack is sacked on the first play of overtime and the drive sputters. This in itself is not unlucky, but what happened next is. McDairmaid the man who just booted a 61 yard field goal came out to punt and his punt went.... 32 yards. That's right the highest TPE kicker or punter only was able to hit the ball 32 yards. This gave an incredibly short field to the silverbacks who capitalized on it for a win.
The second overtime game was just a week later against Honolulu. This game was a back and forth affair with Honolulu kicking a last second field goal to send the game to overtime. Again, the Sabercats won the toss and started with the ball in overtime. Similar to the previous week, the offensive line crumbled and Monty Jack was sacked early. This time he star quarterback fumbled the ball which was scooped up by the defense. Honolulu only had 25 yards to go to score the game winning touchdown, plunging San Jose to a second straight overtime loss in only 3 weeks of the season.
It took until week 10 for the third overtime loss to occur for the Sabercats. This time they were playing against the Colorado Yeti. After a furious comeback capped off by a touchdown and two point conversion, the Sabercats forced overtime. This time however their coin flip luck had run out and Colorado won the toss and elected to receive. The first two plays for the Yeti only gained 5 yards setting up a huge 3rd down and five. The Sabercats made a huge stop on the play holding the Yeti to only 4 yards and seemingly forcing a punt. However, the Sabercats were called for an unnecessary roughness penalty on the playing, gifting the Yeti fifteen yards and an automatic first down on the play. The Yeti used this penalty as a huge momentum shift and proceeded to drive the length of the field and set up a one yard rushing touchdown. This touchdown sealed the fate of the Sabercats in the game making them now 0 and 3 in overtime games.
The fourth and final overtime game this season came in week 14 against a familar opponent, Honolulu. This time the game script was a bit different as the Sabercats jumped out to an early lead. However, down ten in the fourth quarter, Honolulu was able to rally and tie the game. San Jose did nothing with their final possession and so the game went into overtime. In overtime the Honolulu started with the ball and began to march down the field. Luckily the Sabercats were able to stop the Honolulu team before they were able to get in the endzone. Powers kicked a field goal giving Honolulu the lead but a chance for San Jose to get the ball and match or beat the score. San Jose though had the same problems arise in overtime as the last game against Honolulu. Monty Jack was under constant duress and was sacked on a crucial third down play. On the final play of the game, Jack was scrambling for his life and fired a pass downfield that was intercepted. This put an end to the game and marked the fourth overtime loss for San Jose in the season.
Apart from these overtime losses, San Jose further had 4 more games that were decided by one score. The team may have had one of the unluckiest seasons in ISFL history with so many close losses. The team did lose 11 games so it is unlikely that even flipping a few games would have lead to a playoff appearance, but San Jose can take comfort in the fact that they were competitive for most games this year. The team should plan to retool moving forward and make a push with the players that are just entering regression this season. If the sim gods decide to smile on San Jose, then maybe it can be the other teams saying Sim gonna sim next year as the cats lift the Ultimus trophy.