09-30-2023, 10:12 AM
(This post was last modified: 09-30-2023, 10:13 AM by Water. Edited 1 time in total.)
The Ultimus of Season 43 ended with the two top teams, who had been dominant all year facing off in a highly anticipated matchup. The Baltimore Hawks and the New York Silverbacks were very clearly 2 of the top 3 teams that separated themselves from the middle brawl this season, along with the Cape Town Crash, so it surprised absolutely no one to see them face off in the finals. Perhaps what was surprising was the 16-10 final score and the fact that after a first playoff round featuring shootouts and blowouts that defense dominated for the Semifinals and the Ultimus. These were the two most high flying offenses and the second and third best defenses. In fact this game was 10-0 going into the fourth where they both finally seemed to have had enough and broke out for 16 points in that last half. Both teams only combined for 30 first downs and under 550 yards of total offense. The Hawks didn't convert on a single third down all game in 10 tries and held the ball for 11 minutes less than the Silverbacks. The Silverbacks turned the ball over twice, missed two field goals that would have tied the game and sent it to OT and had their QB sacked 7 times.
The Baltimore path to the championship game was definitely a more daunting task than the Silverbacks as they had the other team that truly separated themselves from the pack in the CTC in their conference as well as having to face a sneaky Berlin team that had sent home Cape Town and Baltimore the year before to reach the Ultimus themselves. The Baltimore offense is incredibly dangerous and centered around the most dangerous running back in the sport arguably with over 2000 yards from scrimmage and leading the Hawks in both Rushing and Recieving, Kumquat Archipelago. On the whole they are more of a run centered team, but their passing offense is deadly as well as Preston Beatz had the highest QB, most Touchdowns, and second fewest interceptions in the league despite only taking the 7th most attempts. That offense saw them blow the doors off of a Berlin team they lost to the year before, in the first round, 51-20. They threw it early and often and Beatz was incredible in this game throwing for close to 350 yards and throwing 4 TDs without a pick. The semifinals game was much closer as CTC went into the half with a 17-13 lead and Baltimores struggles on 3rd down that would appear again in the Ultimus reared their ugly head as they were only 1/14 on third downs in this game. CTC managed to completely remove the rushing part of the game from their game plan and prevent the big plays that sunk Berlin. They managed to get a game winning field goal in the waning seconds of the game to win 19-17, as their defense held steady in the second half.
Much like the Baltimore Hawks the star of the Silverbacks season was their Running Back, Michaelangelo McTurtle, who went for over 1900 yards and scored 18 touchdowns. Unlike Baltimore though they doubled down on the running back position relying on a second 1000 yard rusher in the backfield in Frank Dux who also went for just under 1700 yards with 14 touchdowns of his own. New York is a team that wants to run the ball down your throat and then punish you on defense with devastating hits. While it's fair to say Baltimores defense was led by their secondary and superstar linebacker Bruce Buckley Jr., the star of the show here for New York is Fat Jack who had a monstrous breakout season in his 8th year in the league and second with the Silverbacks. With 14 Sacks and 5 Forced Fumbles, he is about the last guy you want to be hit by in the league. In the first round the Silverbacks got the Copperheads in the first round. The Copperheads were a pretty average team in the regular season, and although some uncharacteristic mistakes by Falco let them stay in the game until halftime, they stuck to their plan on route to a comfortable 11 point win in the end where they controlled time of possession and were unstoppable on the ground, while racking up over 550 yards of total offense. The semis matched them up against last years champion, the Outlaws who looked to be closing out the Silverbacks before a furious fourth-quarter comeback in the last five minutes of the game. They were down 13-3 with 12 minutes left before a long drive for their first touchdown and then a pick-six on the very next play very quickly changed the atmosphere for the home crowd and they walked away into the Ultimus just barely in a tough tough loss for Arizona.
The Baltimore path to the championship game was definitely a more daunting task than the Silverbacks as they had the other team that truly separated themselves from the pack in the CTC in their conference as well as having to face a sneaky Berlin team that had sent home Cape Town and Baltimore the year before to reach the Ultimus themselves. The Baltimore offense is incredibly dangerous and centered around the most dangerous running back in the sport arguably with over 2000 yards from scrimmage and leading the Hawks in both Rushing and Recieving, Kumquat Archipelago. On the whole they are more of a run centered team, but their passing offense is deadly as well as Preston Beatz had the highest QB, most Touchdowns, and second fewest interceptions in the league despite only taking the 7th most attempts. That offense saw them blow the doors off of a Berlin team they lost to the year before, in the first round, 51-20. They threw it early and often and Beatz was incredible in this game throwing for close to 350 yards and throwing 4 TDs without a pick. The semifinals game was much closer as CTC went into the half with a 17-13 lead and Baltimores struggles on 3rd down that would appear again in the Ultimus reared their ugly head as they were only 1/14 on third downs in this game. CTC managed to completely remove the rushing part of the game from their game plan and prevent the big plays that sunk Berlin. They managed to get a game winning field goal in the waning seconds of the game to win 19-17, as their defense held steady in the second half.
Much like the Baltimore Hawks the star of the Silverbacks season was their Running Back, Michaelangelo McTurtle, who went for over 1900 yards and scored 18 touchdowns. Unlike Baltimore though they doubled down on the running back position relying on a second 1000 yard rusher in the backfield in Frank Dux who also went for just under 1700 yards with 14 touchdowns of his own. New York is a team that wants to run the ball down your throat and then punish you on defense with devastating hits. While it's fair to say Baltimores defense was led by their secondary and superstar linebacker Bruce Buckley Jr., the star of the show here for New York is Fat Jack who had a monstrous breakout season in his 8th year in the league and second with the Silverbacks. With 14 Sacks and 5 Forced Fumbles, he is about the last guy you want to be hit by in the league. In the first round the Silverbacks got the Copperheads in the first round. The Copperheads were a pretty average team in the regular season, and although some uncharacteristic mistakes by Falco let them stay in the game until halftime, they stuck to their plan on route to a comfortable 11 point win in the end where they controlled time of possession and were unstoppable on the ground, while racking up over 550 yards of total offense. The semis matched them up against last years champion, the Outlaws who looked to be closing out the Silverbacks before a furious fourth-quarter comeback in the last five minutes of the game. They were down 13-3 with 12 minutes left before a long drive for their first touchdown and then a pick-six on the very next play very quickly changed the atmosphere for the home crowd and they walked away into the Ultimus just barely in a tough tough loss for Arizona.
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