(S1) - Weekend PT #2 - Media Frenzy

[Bzerkap]

[div align=\\\"center\\\"]Rushing the Passer in the NSFL. Too Easy?[/div]

With Season 1 fast approaching fans are excited to see their teams march on to the gridiron. One question, however, still looms large. With the complete lack of offensive line talent in this draft, how will defenses take advantage?

Let’s start with some statistics from the preseason. Over the twelve games of the preseason there were an average of 7.6 sacks per game, with a high of 11 in the week 2 matchup between Arizona and Colorado, and a low of 4 in the week 3 matchup between Yellowknife and Colorado. Here are the averages in sacks given up per game by each team, Yellowknife with 2.5, San Jose with 3, Orange County with 2.75, Baltimore with 4, Arizona with 7, and Colorado with 3.75. The top sackers are Devitt of the Otters with 7, and Metas and Cox of the Sabercats and Yeti with 5 each. There were 42 different defenders with at least one sack, showing that the high sack rate really isn’t because there are a few extra scary pass rushers, but more that the offense can’t seem to stop the rush.

Based on the statistics above it really seems like the defense has one up on the offense in this early stage of the season. Something this reporter is looking forward to is, can the Arizona Outlaws fix their protection woes, and will Yellowknife and Orange County maintain their strong line play?

[Admin]

Josh Garden suspension looming?
There have been rumblings all off season about Yellowknife Wraiths wide receiver, Josh Garden, the number two overall selection in the inaugural S1 NSFL draft, and a potential drug related suspension. Reports started to surface before the draft that Garden had been spotted in a club bathroom with a rolled up $100 bill and a banned substance. Shortly after that a grainy cell phone picture started to show up around the internet supporting these accusations, but the picture was low quality and it was too difficult to tell if the man in the picture was in fact Josh Garden or just man who looked like him. Josh Garden and his agent have refuted the reports, calling them "preposterous" and "disrespectful to the man Garden has become". The Yellowknife Wraiths general manager, Bubba Nuck has refused to answer the question, quickly redirecting conversations to other topics about the team. The most telling move may be the recent position change by Alexandre LeClair to wide receiver. The team may be preparing for life without Garden and the move by LeClair could be a reaction to information the team has been given about Josh Garden that they are not yet sharing with the media.

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@NUCK @Zoone16

[Muford]

Baltimore Hawks a Surprise?

With the preseason ending, only one team finished undefeated, and that was the Baltimore Hawks. A lot of talk heading into preseason that the Hawks secondary was the weakest unit in the league, but they continue to prove everyone one. Throughout those four games, they allowed one Passing Touchdown to three Interceptions. The defense is also holding opposing teams to a staggering 7.5 points a game.

Another surprise the team has had, has been the ability to move the ball up and down the field, and score. In the preseason, they scored in double digits three times, only failing to reach that number once in game four against the Outlaws where they only scored 9. The offense is averaging 20.25 points a game, which is looking very good heading into the regular season.

Kicker Turk Turkleton has been leading the Special teams this preseason, hitting ten of twelve Field Goals which is 83%. Both kicks he has missed so far were from the 40-49 yard range, so as long as Mr. Turkleton builds his leg strength, he should have no problem to continue being accurate and helping lead Special Teams.

Hopefully the Baltimore Hawks can continue to surprise and show the league what it is like to be preyed on by a Hawk.



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[HENDRIX]

Fans of the Baltimore Hawks were worried about how the offensive line would hold up. The line has two promising young players in Sharpei and Weal, but the rest of the line is made up of undrafted free agents (bots). The offensive line is the back bone of a football team. They don't have the most glamorous jobs, but arguably nothing is more crucial when trying to win football games. They're pivotal in giving the quarterback time to find receivers and giving the running backs lanes to sprint through. Unfortunately, their preseason performance did not quell those concerns. Over the four game preseason the team gave up sixteen sacks. Some of that could be attributed to youth and inexperience, but there is a definite lack of talent. Looking toward the future the Baltimore front office will surely invest money and draft picks into the offensive line to hopefully help sure it up. In the meantime the coaching staff will have to do their best with what they currently have. That means specific formations and play calls to help keep their quarterback, Scrub Kyubee, on his feet will have to be implemented. They would also be well served to lean on their talented running back duo as well.

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[automatic]

The Preseason Collapse of the Otters:
Rolling 2-0 in the first two weeks of the preseason, the OC Otters emotions went into a huge swing following the results of week three and four Preseason games. Already notching wins over the Outlaws and the Yeti, the Otters looked unstoppable coming in to the second half of the preseason, however their spirits sharply fell after seeing their performance in weeks three and four.
Taking a 9-0 lead in the second quarter, the Otters would be shut down throughout the course of week three against the hawks. One can only speculate if their vaunted smashmouth offense ran out of steam, or their running backs fell off a cliff, or their passing game failed to bail out unit with additional third down conversions. The only thing for certain is, the Otters gave up this game in a hard way. The Otters were primed to recover following a tough matchup against the wraiths.

The Wraiths game might be the only one in which the game went out of hand for the OC Otters. While the Otters had only given up one touchdown for the entire preseason, the Wraiths scorched the Otters for two offensive touchdowns and two defensive turnover touchdowns. You can bet the Otters are steaming for another chance to face the Wraiths

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[ErMurazor]

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[White Cornerback]

Lavelle says "criticism is warranted"
Following the recent publishing of the "Waiver Watch" , an article which focuses specifically on players who fell to the waiver. Lavelle was criticised due to his poor handling ability. Critics share the same consensus that Lavelle will not step up to claim the #2 spot, which will be taken by Henri Rivere. Although Lavelle is a more athletic player, we don't believe that will make up for a lack of handling ability. Lavelle responded to these claims by issuing a press statement " I understand where these claims are coming from, I'm unproven, but believe me when I say this, I'm ready for this. I hope that come the end of the season my stats record will speak for itself and I can lead the Wraith's to a championship". Lavelle will likely line up in the #2 spot for the wraiths this year, dependant on performances. Lavelle didn't set expectations alight in the pre season, tallying up only 11 tackles and 1 pass deflection. Regarding next years draft possibility, Lavelle responded " I'm only focusing on the here and now, I'm giving my all to this organisation and if you all want to speculate, then speculate and leave me out of it"

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[Grapehead]

The media is buzzing after the recent comments from Orange County Otters owner Andreas Hearst. Hearst indicated that not only would his team be the most dominant defensive team in the league, he also guaranteed that they would win the first NSFL Championship. A bold prediction for any owner to make of his team, and perhaps one that will come back to bite him. The Otters opened the preseason with two wins, but then came up with two losses in the second half. Through that time the defense did appear to be capable of dominance, but the offense let the team down multiple times. If the team is going to live up to the Andreas Guarantee then they will need to find a way to bring in more points. They've been entirely too dependent on their star kicker Brandon Walsh. On top of that, the QB battle turned out to be something of a disappointment, as Mike Boss proved to be the clear number one with Hunt and Bercovici struggling in their appearances. Robert Phelps and Bradley Westfield appear to be a deadly receiver combo, but the ground game needs some serious work. So the Otters have all the pieces to make a run at the championship, but it certainly doesn't seem like a guarantee at this point.

[Anti-Hype]

The Hawks are Tops

Going into the preseason I don't think many were expecting the Baltimore Hawks to be a huge threat. With a change in GM just before the draft some folks felt that they did not come fully prepared. Those thoughts were put to rest come preseasons end as The Hawks were the ONLY team to come out unscathed and a lot of the time...It wasn't even close! Starting out their first stand on defense against a quite potent Yetis offense ended up in a quick 3 and out. Scrub Kyubee took charge of the offense and was actually sacked twice in a row in his first two NSFL downs. It was a back and forth battle up until near the end of the 1st quarter where Kyubee reached Wren Piper for a 10 yard touchdown.
Kicker Turk Turkleton happened to miss the extra point putting the Hawks up by just 6. Thus started quite a trend for the Hawks preseason games. From this point until the last game they put up big points and played shut out D. Just look at the score for their first 3 games! Against the The Yeti they won 25-3, When they took on the Wraiths they walked out the victors 31-10, and In OC they won 16-9 and those 9 points were ALL field goals. Oddly enough they seemed to struggle against the Arizona Outlaws who up to this point have not won a game. They had trouble getting anything started on offense but came away with a 9-8 victory.

It seems like The Hawks had it working on both sides of the ball almost all off-season. But will this translate into the regular season? We will have to wait and find out.

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[enigmatic]