1. The Season 42 Ultimus and Ultimini have officially come to an end. Congratulations to the the Norfolk Seawolves and Arizona Outlaws for each winning their respective championships. How did each of the finalists in either the Ultimus or Ultimini arrive at the playoffs? Were there any teams that surprised or disappointed during the playoffs? Did the outcome of either championship game surprise you at all?
The Ultimini between the Seawolves and Grey Ducks was a clash of the titans with the Seawolves deservingly coming out on top. This season mirrored last year's season in many ways with the North having a single team above .500 and the South having 3, including one team that matched the Grey Ducks record and ended up missing the playoffs entirely. On paper, the Seawolves had a bit of an advantage as they scored only one point less than Minnesota while giving up 15 points less. In fact, these were the top two teams by Points For and Points Allowed. Let's dive into how they got there!
The Seawolves were starting a rookie quarterback, Maximus Boudreaux, who had quite the debut. He was fifth in pass attempts and tied for the league lead in touchdowns. Overall he was 4th or 5th in most individual statistics in the league it was an impressive display of game management overall and avoiding mistakes and capitalizing on your team's strengths is to your benefit. He had two mega targets in returning WR, Stetson David who somehow improved from a 1367 yards and 8 TD performance last year to 1480 yards and 16 TDs. Starting opposite Stetson was a super rookie receiver in Tyler Hunt who put up numbers eerily similar to Stetson's last year with 1357 yards and 8 TDs to cap off what is undoubtedly the most unguardable duo in the league. On the ground the results were more mixed with 2 rookie running backs in a roughly 55/45 split, with Oskar Clark getting more yardage and being slightly more efficient, even he was only middlingly efficient. Overall this offense was dangerously efficient as even though their yardage actually lagged behind their opponent they lead the league in scoring.
As I said they were actually outgained by their opponent so if you are wondering about how they wound up with the defense with this it's because they eschew the common bend don't break philosophy in favor of highlight set in an absolutely ferocious defense that aims to create game-changing plays every drive to strip the opposition of morale. As a team they were first or second in the league in Tackles for Loss , Fumble Recovery, Sacks, and Interceptions. They absolutely blew out the competition getting turnovers via the air as their 21 interceptions was 6 more than the next closest team, and more than any 2 of the bottom half of the teams combined. Sticky Hands was the star of the show and a very probable DPOTY in my estimation with 6 interceptions, and 4 Fumble Recovers on 6 Forced Fumbles. A truly devastating weapon any team would love to have. Rossi also would be a #1 corner on most any team as he tied for second with 5 interceptions. A truly special group of CBs here for Norfolk.
Moving on to Minnesota, you see their offense seems to be based around short passes with Zisia Ojeisndiwoseodj taking the second most attempts per game, in a devastatingly effective ball control offense. They feature 4 Wide Recievers that saw at least 400 yards with Thomas Sutha being the only one to reach 1000 yards, just barely at 1018 and end zone distribution being fairly even, making them dangerous to predict around the end zone. On top of that they have the leading rusher in the league, Reginald Shrubbery, who was more efficient than his counterparts in Norfolk and managed to be more involved in the passing game as well. Overall it's an impressive ball control offense and they managed to grind their way to 9 wins and the most points in the league with it.
On the defensive end they lead the league in fewest yards allowed and outgained their opponent by 8 yards a game. Hardly a landslide but like their opponent they had a sound strategy. They lead the league in Sacks by a large margin and also lead it in Passes Deflected, despite the fact that they often controlled the ball for large swathes of their game. The standouts for the Ducks were their star defensive ends who tried to one up each other all season as they combined for 21 Sacks, 5 more than the next closest pair of Defensive Ends and only 2 less than the entire Bondi Beach team.
In the semi-finals both teams posted dominating statement wins against their lesser competition, with the Ducks beating last years representative, the Coyotes by 20. 2 Fumbles cost the Coyotes dearly as despite outgaining the Ducks they never won a quarter or even scored after the first. Similarly the Seawolves disposed of last years Ultimini winners by 19 in the Semis. Just like the other semi matchup the Luchadors outgained their opposition, but this time the efficiency of the Seawolves was simply unmatched by their opposition. Maximus Boudreaux threw for 302 yards and 4 TDs with a single interception and Hunt and David tying for 110 yards and a touchdown each as the Seawolves doubled up their opponent 38-19.
In the Ultimini, we saw the dominance of Maximus Boudreaux continue as he threw for a crazy efficient 258 yards on 22 attempts with 3 TDs and no interceptions with again Hunt and David going for over a 100 yards each. The Seawolves seemed to put the clamps on the Ducks in the second half as despite being out to a 10 point halftime lead they never got much going in the second half of the game and it felt over once the game was tied to be quite honest. If the Ducks can see a true star emerge next year among their young receiver crop next year maybe they can take the next step and win an Ultimini but I think the playmakers for the Sea Wolves were just too much for them to overcome this year.
The Ultimini between the Seawolves and Grey Ducks was a clash of the titans with the Seawolves deservingly coming out on top. This season mirrored last year's season in many ways with the North having a single team above .500 and the South having 3, including one team that matched the Grey Ducks record and ended up missing the playoffs entirely. On paper, the Seawolves had a bit of an advantage as they scored only one point less than Minnesota while giving up 15 points less. In fact, these were the top two teams by Points For and Points Allowed. Let's dive into how they got there!
The Seawolves were starting a rookie quarterback, Maximus Boudreaux, who had quite the debut. He was fifth in pass attempts and tied for the league lead in touchdowns. Overall he was 4th or 5th in most individual statistics in the league it was an impressive display of game management overall and avoiding mistakes and capitalizing on your team's strengths is to your benefit. He had two mega targets in returning WR, Stetson David who somehow improved from a 1367 yards and 8 TD performance last year to 1480 yards and 16 TDs. Starting opposite Stetson was a super rookie receiver in Tyler Hunt who put up numbers eerily similar to Stetson's last year with 1357 yards and 8 TDs to cap off what is undoubtedly the most unguardable duo in the league. On the ground the results were more mixed with 2 rookie running backs in a roughly 55/45 split, with Oskar Clark getting more yardage and being slightly more efficient, even he was only middlingly efficient. Overall this offense was dangerously efficient as even though their yardage actually lagged behind their opponent they lead the league in scoring.
As I said they were actually outgained by their opponent so if you are wondering about how they wound up with the defense with this it's because they eschew the common bend don't break philosophy in favor of highlight set in an absolutely ferocious defense that aims to create game-changing plays every drive to strip the opposition of morale. As a team they were first or second in the league in Tackles for Loss , Fumble Recovery, Sacks, and Interceptions. They absolutely blew out the competition getting turnovers via the air as their 21 interceptions was 6 more than the next closest team, and more than any 2 of the bottom half of the teams combined. Sticky Hands was the star of the show and a very probable DPOTY in my estimation with 6 interceptions, and 4 Fumble Recovers on 6 Forced Fumbles. A truly devastating weapon any team would love to have. Rossi also would be a #1 corner on most any team as he tied for second with 5 interceptions. A truly special group of CBs here for Norfolk.
Moving on to Minnesota, you see their offense seems to be based around short passes with Zisia Ojeisndiwoseodj taking the second most attempts per game, in a devastatingly effective ball control offense. They feature 4 Wide Recievers that saw at least 400 yards with Thomas Sutha being the only one to reach 1000 yards, just barely at 1018 and end zone distribution being fairly even, making them dangerous to predict around the end zone. On top of that they have the leading rusher in the league, Reginald Shrubbery, who was more efficient than his counterparts in Norfolk and managed to be more involved in the passing game as well. Overall it's an impressive ball control offense and they managed to grind their way to 9 wins and the most points in the league with it.
On the defensive end they lead the league in fewest yards allowed and outgained their opponent by 8 yards a game. Hardly a landslide but like their opponent they had a sound strategy. They lead the league in Sacks by a large margin and also lead it in Passes Deflected, despite the fact that they often controlled the ball for large swathes of their game. The standouts for the Ducks were their star defensive ends who tried to one up each other all season as they combined for 21 Sacks, 5 more than the next closest pair of Defensive Ends and only 2 less than the entire Bondi Beach team.
In the semi-finals both teams posted dominating statement wins against their lesser competition, with the Ducks beating last years representative, the Coyotes by 20. 2 Fumbles cost the Coyotes dearly as despite outgaining the Ducks they never won a quarter or even scored after the first. Similarly the Seawolves disposed of last years Ultimini winners by 19 in the Semis. Just like the other semi matchup the Luchadors outgained their opposition, but this time the efficiency of the Seawolves was simply unmatched by their opposition. Maximus Boudreaux threw for 302 yards and 4 TDs with a single interception and Hunt and David tying for 110 yards and a touchdown each as the Seawolves doubled up their opponent 38-19.
In the Ultimini, we saw the dominance of Maximus Boudreaux continue as he threw for a crazy efficient 258 yards on 22 attempts with 3 TDs and no interceptions with again Hunt and David going for over a 100 yards each. The Seawolves seemed to put the clamps on the Ducks in the second half as despite being out to a 10 point halftime lead they never got much going in the second half of the game and it felt over once the game was tied to be quite honest. If the Ducks can see a true star emerge next year among their young receiver crop next year maybe they can take the next step and win an Ultimini but I think the playmakers for the Sea Wolves were just too much for them to overcome this year.
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