Hello again. Here is another update on the Portland Python DSFL season. So far so good for the Pythons who are sitting at a 6-2 record and finally managed to climb out of negative point differential. Week 7 saw the Pythons get a much needed win against the only team to hand them a loss and Week 8 saw Portland escape with a win against the league favourite. Also, again, sorry for the bias nature of the writing. I try to keep it focused on the stats though.
Week 7 - vs CHI
Finally. Oh my. After being crushed by the Blues in Week 3 and Week 5 by over 20 points, it was an indescribable feeling to put up 42 points on the Blues and win by 35 points. The Pythons are a prideful bunch, we try not to be too cocky, but we were really mad losing back to back games against the Blues by over 20 points. We couldn't figure out what was going on. So finally having game planning and player progression pay off was very rewarding. But enough of the run down, let's get into some stats.
Well, it was simply not a good game for the Blues. The Pythons beat them in every single major stat across the board. The Pythons had 5 more first downs, 16% better on third down efficiency, 104 more total yards, 2.5 more yards per pass, 0.5 more yards per rush, 4 less penalties for 49 less yards, 2 less turnovers, and +3 minutes in time of possession. That is dominant.
So one thing I have noticed in the previous games against the Blues is that even though they whooped us by +20 points on the scoreboard, the underlying games stats didn't show complete domination. Our losses came to poor ball management or being unable to solve CHI's stingy pass defense. In this case, when we dominated CHI on the scoreboard, the same pattern did not apply. CHI did not manage to beat us in any team stat. There was not much of a silver lining to look at in this game for CHI, so maybe the sim gods were paying us back for the stomping we took earlier in the season. Still, the season series is 2-1 for CHI so they can still hold that over us. Verdict: Sim gods got it right.
Week 8 - @SA
How did we win this one? I'm not entirely sure. Coming into the game, everyone was talking about how Pythons offense is one dimensional and the defense is subpar, especially agaisnt the run. I was very worried because SA has 2 very competent and smart GMs who gameplan very effectively, and they were at home. Not to mention they have good pass defense and a very run heavy offense just by nature.
The game unfolded exactly as you'd expect, and how both sets of GMs game planned for. The Pythons passed frequently and couldn't run the ball, and SA just kept pounding the ball down our throats. I don't think anyone expected the Pythons do behave any differently. What most of us didn't expect was that the Pythons air attack was successful, and extremely successful. POR managed to amass 306 yards through the air, while only 33 yards on the ground. Even the SA game plan to stop the pass couldn't contain the offense. People call it a one dimensional offense, but it's a large dimension that is hard to contain.
This game was a toss up. Decided by a field goal and POR's only touchdown was a pick 6. This probably could have and should have been a loss for POR, especially on the road. So the point I will try to make in this last part is that people have continually slept on the Python defense. Starting in the second quarter, the Marshalls had 2 drives that were not a 3 and out. 7 times the Marshalls got the ball in the last 3 frames and didn't managed to gain more than 10 yards. For a "mediocre" defense against a very good run team, that is an incredible feat. The Pythons defense, just to measure up against the league, is on the field the least amount of time but has the most sacks in the league by 5 and is rated top 3 in the league in the other major team stats. Verdict: Coin toss, sim gods probably got it wrong.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. See you for Weeks 9 and 10.
Week 7 - vs CHI
Finally. Oh my. After being crushed by the Blues in Week 3 and Week 5 by over 20 points, it was an indescribable feeling to put up 42 points on the Blues and win by 35 points. The Pythons are a prideful bunch, we try not to be too cocky, but we were really mad losing back to back games against the Blues by over 20 points. We couldn't figure out what was going on. So finally having game planning and player progression pay off was very rewarding. But enough of the run down, let's get into some stats.
Well, it was simply not a good game for the Blues. The Pythons beat them in every single major stat across the board. The Pythons had 5 more first downs, 16% better on third down efficiency, 104 more total yards, 2.5 more yards per pass, 0.5 more yards per rush, 4 less penalties for 49 less yards, 2 less turnovers, and +3 minutes in time of possession. That is dominant.
So one thing I have noticed in the previous games against the Blues is that even though they whooped us by +20 points on the scoreboard, the underlying games stats didn't show complete domination. Our losses came to poor ball management or being unable to solve CHI's stingy pass defense. In this case, when we dominated CHI on the scoreboard, the same pattern did not apply. CHI did not manage to beat us in any team stat. There was not much of a silver lining to look at in this game for CHI, so maybe the sim gods were paying us back for the stomping we took earlier in the season. Still, the season series is 2-1 for CHI so they can still hold that over us. Verdict: Sim gods got it right.
Week 8 - @SA
How did we win this one? I'm not entirely sure. Coming into the game, everyone was talking about how Pythons offense is one dimensional and the defense is subpar, especially agaisnt the run. I was very worried because SA has 2 very competent and smart GMs who gameplan very effectively, and they were at home. Not to mention they have good pass defense and a very run heavy offense just by nature.
The game unfolded exactly as you'd expect, and how both sets of GMs game planned for. The Pythons passed frequently and couldn't run the ball, and SA just kept pounding the ball down our throats. I don't think anyone expected the Pythons do behave any differently. What most of us didn't expect was that the Pythons air attack was successful, and extremely successful. POR managed to amass 306 yards through the air, while only 33 yards on the ground. Even the SA game plan to stop the pass couldn't contain the offense. People call it a one dimensional offense, but it's a large dimension that is hard to contain.
This game was a toss up. Decided by a field goal and POR's only touchdown was a pick 6. This probably could have and should have been a loss for POR, especially on the road. So the point I will try to make in this last part is that people have continually slept on the Python defense. Starting in the second quarter, the Marshalls had 2 drives that were not a 3 and out. 7 times the Marshalls got the ball in the last 3 frames and didn't managed to gain more than 10 yards. For a "mediocre" defense against a very good run team, that is an incredible feat. The Pythons defense, just to measure up against the league, is on the field the least amount of time but has the most sacks in the league by 5 and is rated top 3 in the league in the other major team stats. Verdict: Coin toss, sim gods probably got it wrong.
Thanks for reading if you made it this far. See you for Weeks 9 and 10.
Code:
756 words. Ready for grading
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