Sim Gonna Sim Task:
Last season saw some remarkable bad luck in the sim for some teams. Two of the preseason favorites, the Sarasota Sailfish and the New Orleans Second Line, both had incredibly disappointing seasons, missing the playoffs entirely. Sarasota finished the season with a record of 7-9 and New Orleans finished with a record of 8-8. New Orleans in particular had an incredibly unlucky season. They went 8-8, but all 8 of their losses were by only one score, and they had the second best point differential in the league. Some of their losses were clearly examples of bad sim luck. Here is a brief recap of the unluckiness of the sim results for New Orleans this season.
In week 1 against the Outlaws, the Second Line had more yards, more third down conversions, more time of possession, and a plus two turnover differential. Things just didn’t work out for the win. Some ends of drives included four straight plays inside the Arizona 2 yard line resulting in just a field goal, making it to the red zone before a sack and two penalties pushed them out of range, two missed field goals, a fumble, and a seven yard pass on 4th and 7 ruled short of the first down.
In week 2 against Austin, the sim inexplicably called a pass on 3rd and 1 from the 32, resulting in a 4th and 13 incompletion to lose rather than running the ball and at worst attempting a 48 yard game tying field goal. In this game, New Orleans also had more first downs, yards, and third down conversions and time of possession than Austin.
In week 3 against San Jose, the sim decided Elessar Jones should throw an interception on a would-be game winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
In week 5, Elessar was again driving down the field for a game winning drive. Down two points, they only needed a field goal to beat Orange County. After a miraculous 40 yard play on 3rd and 21, the Second Line had worked down to the OCO 40 yard line. They essentially needed five or fewer yards before attempting a game winning field goal. And again, the sim dictated that Elessar ought to throw a game losing interception for the second time in 3 weeks.
Week 8 felt very unlucky. It was against the other unlucky team, the Sarasota Sailfish. Our curse was stronger though. NOLA ran up the score early, and after Carter Knight’s second pick six of the game midway through the third quarter, a 31 yard return by Orpheus Czargyos, the Second Line were sitting on a 14 point lead. NOLA had three and outs on four of their next five possessions, and Sarasota actually took the lead late in the fourth, 34-31. However, it looked like Sarasota’s bad luck might shine through. A roughing the passer penalty allowed NOLA to make a 54 yard field goal to send it to OT. Unfortunately for the purple and teal, Sarasota won the toss and took six plays to drive down for the game winning touchdown.
Week 9 saw NOLA jump out to a 17-0 first quarter lead against Berlin. New Orleans’s offense was then shut out for the entirety of the second half, and the fourth quarter had a strip sack deep in NOLA territory for Berlin to take a 28-20 lead. At the end of the game with a chance to drive down for a touchdown, Elessar threw an interception.
Week 10 is clear in terms of bad sim luck. Orange County’s Thomas Robinson scored on a 75 yard touchdown reception with only a minute left in the game to take a 31-30 lead.
Week 14 against Austin was the worst. It was an emotional roller coaster. In a tie game with 1:18 to play Austin QB was sacked, then spiked the ball, then attempted a 4th and 19, which came up 2 yards short. NOLA had the ball with a tie game and a chance to drive down the field and kick a field goal, or they could run out the clock and go to overtime. In typical fashion for the season, Elessar Jones threw an ugly interception, essentially ending the team’s playoff hopes as Austin kicked the winning field goal.
Last season saw some remarkable bad luck in the sim for some teams. Two of the preseason favorites, the Sarasota Sailfish and the New Orleans Second Line, both had incredibly disappointing seasons, missing the playoffs entirely. Sarasota finished the season with a record of 7-9 and New Orleans finished with a record of 8-8. New Orleans in particular had an incredibly unlucky season. They went 8-8, but all 8 of their losses were by only one score, and they had the second best point differential in the league. Some of their losses were clearly examples of bad sim luck. Here is a brief recap of the unluckiness of the sim results for New Orleans this season.
In week 1 against the Outlaws, the Second Line had more yards, more third down conversions, more time of possession, and a plus two turnover differential. Things just didn’t work out for the win. Some ends of drives included four straight plays inside the Arizona 2 yard line resulting in just a field goal, making it to the red zone before a sack and two penalties pushed them out of range, two missed field goals, a fumble, and a seven yard pass on 4th and 7 ruled short of the first down.
In week 2 against Austin, the sim inexplicably called a pass on 3rd and 1 from the 32, resulting in a 4th and 13 incompletion to lose rather than running the ball and at worst attempting a 48 yard game tying field goal. In this game, New Orleans also had more first downs, yards, and third down conversions and time of possession than Austin.
In week 3 against San Jose, the sim decided Elessar Jones should throw an interception on a would-be game winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
In week 5, Elessar was again driving down the field for a game winning drive. Down two points, they only needed a field goal to beat Orange County. After a miraculous 40 yard play on 3rd and 21, the Second Line had worked down to the OCO 40 yard line. They essentially needed five or fewer yards before attempting a game winning field goal. And again, the sim dictated that Elessar ought to throw a game losing interception for the second time in 3 weeks.
Week 8 felt very unlucky. It was against the other unlucky team, the Sarasota Sailfish. Our curse was stronger though. NOLA ran up the score early, and after Carter Knight’s second pick six of the game midway through the third quarter, a 31 yard return by Orpheus Czargyos, the Second Line were sitting on a 14 point lead. NOLA had three and outs on four of their next five possessions, and Sarasota actually took the lead late in the fourth, 34-31. However, it looked like Sarasota’s bad luck might shine through. A roughing the passer penalty allowed NOLA to make a 54 yard field goal to send it to OT. Unfortunately for the purple and teal, Sarasota won the toss and took six plays to drive down for the game winning touchdown.
Week 9 saw NOLA jump out to a 17-0 first quarter lead against Berlin. New Orleans’s offense was then shut out for the entirety of the second half, and the fourth quarter had a strip sack deep in NOLA territory for Berlin to take a 28-20 lead. At the end of the game with a chance to drive down for a touchdown, Elessar threw an interception.
Week 10 is clear in terms of bad sim luck. Orange County’s Thomas Robinson scored on a 75 yard touchdown reception with only a minute left in the game to take a 31-30 lead.
Week 14 against Austin was the worst. It was an emotional roller coaster. In a tie game with 1:18 to play Austin QB was sacked, then spiked the ball, then attempted a 4th and 19, which came up 2 yards short. NOLA had the ball with a tie game and a chance to drive down the field and kick a field goal, or they could run out the clock and go to overtime. In typical fashion for the season, Elessar Jones threw an ugly interception, essentially ending the team’s playoff hopes as Austin kicked the winning field goal.