Earlier this season I discussed the expectations for the Tijuana Luchadores, as they came off a hard-fought championship run. While it is too early to tell if they will win it all, they certainly are on the right track, holding the best record in franchise history at 10-4, and having home field advantage during the playoffs. If they can win the first round and make it to the championship again, the Luchadores will have gone from a team that never won a playoff game to appearing in 3 consecutive Ultimini games under the leadership of Epictitus Milburn, Icy Douglas, and Payton.
While the primary expectations of winning are going according to prediction, the run/pass game is quite different. Many expected the team to be a powerful run-first team, but they have shown quite the impressive passing game throughout the season. In fact, this heavier than expected passing game has broken records, with both WR Flash and QB Falconi on the verge of breaking touchdown records. This unexpected balance of run and pass should give them an advantage in the playoffs, as other GMs will have to take a random guess as to what offensive mixture they will use. The team has also had success of defense, with Thad having success at both safety and cornerback throughout the season and rookies Troyski and Oats both playing well in the secondary.
I have some bad news, I didn’t do that TPE. However, I can still talk about what they were, you’ll just have to take my word for it. In terms of the Hawks, the expectations were always Ultimus or bust. Headed into the last week of the season the Hawks have clinched home filed advantage for the NSFC Championship game against the Yeti. It’s not a lock by a long shot, as the Yeti have ruined our dreams more than once, but with a 2-0 record against them on the season, we’re cautiously optimistic. With an upset win (as much as I hate to say it, yes, it would be an upset) tonight against the Second Line, the Hawks would clinch home field advantage for the Ultimus.
In regard to Owen Taylor, despite this being his first season of regression, he’s actually improved upon last season in nearly every way. With 1 game left in the season he is currently averaging 4.2 yards per carry, has already eclipsed 1300 yards rushing (something he’s only done once before) and set a career high for rushing touchdowns. Although it would be nice to win my 5th RB of the year award, it looks unlikely this season as he’s currently third in rushing yards. However, he does have the highest YPC of any starting running back and is second in TD, so there’s a very small, but very unlikely, chance.
[OPTION]Johnny Snuggles || CB || Yellowknife Wraiths || Hall of Fame [OPTION]Height/Weight: 6'1", 205 [OPTION]Number: 21 [OPTION] Draft History: S13 #1 Overall [OPTION]=========================================== [OPTION]Trophy Case/Achievements:[OPTION] Ultimini Champs: S12 [OPTION] Defensive Rookie of the Year: S13 [OPTION] Pro Bowl: S14, S15, S16
It’s been kind of a mixed season for predictions. On one hand, Fitzpatrick has well-exceeded the marks I set for him at the beginning, when I predicted a TANY/A of 2.5. He’s currently just over 3. His record is about where I expected it, 2-11, with one possible win remaining on the road against SJS. Granted, I expected 3-4, so there is still a chance I will fall significantly below that mark. On other QBs, there have been bigger surprises. Mat Akselsen has underperformed terribly. The saddest thing about that is that, due to regression, it is extremely unlikely that he bounces back. The best he can hope for is to just play as well next season. Logan Noble did far less damage to his career numbers than expected, throwing 2 TDs against San Jose and another 2 against Arizona to avoid setting the record for fewest TDs. His interceptions have also been ridiculously low considering how many incomplete passes he’s thrown. It would seem that experience (or just luck) have been very kind to him. His TANY/A is almost double what I expected at the beginning of the year. The biggest “correct” prediction I had was with Ryan Applehort, who had a huge breakout year.
See? This is why I keep my expectations low and my hopes high. I don't get disappointed and then I am only made happier when my expectations are exceeded. That's basically how it went this season.
First, I wrote that I expected my player to disappoint me only slightly less than the season before. Unfortunately, this hasn't really been the case. I should still end up #2 in total receptions in the league as I have the last two seasons, but my touchdown count has again dwindled (four last year to three so far this year with one game to go). Basically, not much to write home about.
But my HAWKS have freaking killed it out there. I said we could potentially finish as good as 11-3 and we have a chance to make that happen tonight in New Orleans. They are a good team but we've already beaten them once this season. We have secured home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs and have a chance tonight to secure it for the Ultimus matchup. Not only that, but the Wraiths have choked away their chance at a repeat leaving us to face up against the only team unluckier than us--the Colorado Yeti.
D’Pez is a simple man, and he only really had three major goals this season after being drafted third overall by Portland. #1, he wanted to become the full-time starter, and even though he shares reps with Elijah Lagerfield, D’Pez has more attempts and is the primary back in the Runningback by Committee in Portland which is killer. #2, D’Pez wanted to take the league by storm and show why he deserves to be there, and he has, Averaging 5.7 yards per carry and rushing for over 1100 yards. M. Brown was ahead of him, with 126 more carries for 502 yards, which is a 3.9 yard average. If D’Pez got those reps, he’d easily be the leading rusher in the DSFL, just a goal to set for next year. The third and final goal that D’Pez has set out, was help get Portland to the playoffs. The Pythons sit at 8-6, second in the NFC North behind the Kansas City Coyotes. Portland also supports one of the best defenses in the league, to go along with the best rushing game in the league, so going into the playoffs all they have to do is trust in Lagerfield and Poopsie and who knows what the team will accomplish.
08-08-2018, 01:39 PM (This post was last modified: 08-08-2018, 01:40 PM by Titan127.)
At the beginning of the year, I was expecting an explosive increase in production, coming off a 4 sack season in which I was playing on the interior of the defensive line. Unfortunately, well, it hasn't played out quite like the pro-bowl campaign that I was expecting to tear through. At this rate, I'll have trouble matching last season's totals of four sacks, twenty seven tackles, and two tackles for a loss, having currently tallied a sub-par twenty four tackles, two sacks, and an at least productive seven tackles for a loss. I would need to finish the year with a two sack, three tackle game to match my production in those categories from last year, but, furthermore, it wouldn't be unwarranted. The team has to win, and needs Colorado to lose, in order to make the NSFL playoff, a scenario that I never thought we'd find ourselves in. Before the season opened, I believed that we would regress slightly, possibly to 10-4, but I never foresaw a 7-7 or 6-8 campaign in which we might not make the playoffs. This entire season has, in short, been disastrous, but a playoff run and another shot at the trophy could change that. Should we, however, fail to reach the tournament, this will be a year that would be better off forgotten.
Antonio Summer is someone a lot of people probably don't know, but is a name that fans of the NSFL will learn in the next few weeks leading up to the draft. Summer is a great running back who is joining the football league straight out of high school, having graduated back in June from MUCC (Melfort and Unit Comprehensive Collegiate) based out of Melfort, Saskatchewan, Canada. Summer was preparing for his first season of DSFL action when an injury part way through his senior season at MUCC put him on the sidelines for the rest of the season and knocked him out of eligibility for the S10 draft class. Even though Summer is still considered injured after this long amount of time, he has decided to announce that he will be in the S11 draft class instead and work his way towards being one of the best in his class. It will be a long and hard road for the young player, especially since he will be playing against competition far tougher than what he is used to having come from a 3A school in central Saskatchewan. There are many people who doubt his ability to make the change into the DSFL, but their fire is only fueling Summer to push himself and be greater.