PBE PT
QUARTERBACK MATCHUP:
Coming into the playoffs we had ourselves 4 teams with amazing quarterbacks leading their teams ready to go. In the stacked ASFC we had Joliet Christ, leading the 12-2 San Jose Sabercats offense, hosting Gus T.T. Showbiz and the Orange County Otters. Both superb talents with offenses loaded with weapons for them to go to. In the NSFC the Colorado Yeti, led by kicker turned quarterback, Micycle McCormick would be hosting Adriana Falconi and the Philadelphia Liberty. I'm sure most people were more excited to see Christ go head to head with Showbiz, but personally, I was more excited for the NSFC matchup. The Yeti sold out their future picks hard at a chance for an Ultimus game win in S13 or S14 and were here in the playoffs like they'd hoped but needed to get through Philly first. At regular seasons end, Falconi and McCormick were the 2nd and 3rd best quarterbacks by QB rating respectively and were poised to put on a show. Unfortunately, the actual result was much less of a QB shootout and more of a blowout by the Yeti on their home turf. McCormick would go on to throw for 4 touchdowns not even 5 minutes past halftime while Falconi would end up getting picked off 5 times by 4 different members of the Yeti defense. A real laugher of a game in what should have been a much more highly contested game based on regular season stats.
It Is Our Time:
Going into next season the NSFC has made a large jump in talent level. The Hawks added a metric ton of talented free agents including names like Marquise Brown, Asipi III, Ben Horne, and a bunch of others I'm too lazy to list out here. With that being the case they become clear favorites to finish 1st in the conference. However, outside of the NSFC championship game, the battle for that second NSFC playoff spot should still be highly contested between the Philadelphia Liberty and the Colorado Yeti. Like I said already, Philly losing star running back Marquise Brown to free agency and a rival hurts the offense a decent amount, fortunately, they decided to add a talented player on the opposite side of the ball to help them out marginally. Former Arizona Outlaws safety Bucky Barnes was traded almost as soon as the final whistle was blown at the conclusion of the Ultimus game across the country to the Liberty in exchange for some picks and young wideout Sam Hardwick. Barnes steps away from being one of the best players on the Outlaws defense to hopefully guide this talented Philadelphia defense back to the playoffs. Getting to the playoffs will be the true test. If we can manage to take most of our games against our conference rivals and get into the playoffs then we enter into "any given Sunday" mode where anything can happen in a single game elimination style tournament.
SPOTLIGHT ON THE YOUTH:
If my lazy ass had decided to stop procrastinating and written this a week and a half ago before the Ultimus Game was played the "youth" player I would have been looking out for on every play would have to be S12 draftee, Colorado Yeti linebacker Beau Montgomery. This guy has had himself a decent start to his career to this point and, in what I assume was his first playoff game (I'm not going back to look because it's late af and I'm lazy like I said) in the NSFC championship game against the Liberty he snatched himself 2 interceptions, 3 pass defenses, and 4 tackles in the blowout victory. After that fantastic performance, he had to be on everyone's radar for guys to keep an eye on in the Ultimus game against the stacked Orange County Otters. This game was close from the opening kickoff until the final seconds ticked off the clock in what would eventually be a 24-21, so both teams needed their defenses to be all hands on deck. Montgomery didn't have himself nearly as incredible of a game as he did the prior week but he still kept his stat sheet respectable. He only managed to grab 6 tackles for his team, but at this point in the season it's more about not making too many mistakes which I don't think he did from watching the game.
QUARTERBACK MATCHUP:
Coming into the playoffs we had ourselves 4 teams with amazing quarterbacks leading their teams ready to go. In the stacked ASFC we had Joliet Christ, leading the 12-2 San Jose Sabercats offense, hosting Gus T.T. Showbiz and the Orange County Otters. Both superb talents with offenses loaded with weapons for them to go to. In the NSFC the Colorado Yeti, led by kicker turned quarterback, Micycle McCormick would be hosting Adriana Falconi and the Philadelphia Liberty. I'm sure most people were more excited to see Christ go head to head with Showbiz, but personally, I was more excited for the NSFC matchup. The Yeti sold out their future picks hard at a chance for an Ultimus game win in S13 or S14 and were here in the playoffs like they'd hoped but needed to get through Philly first. At regular seasons end, Falconi and McCormick were the 2nd and 3rd best quarterbacks by QB rating respectively and were poised to put on a show. Unfortunately, the actual result was much less of a QB shootout and more of a blowout by the Yeti on their home turf. McCormick would go on to throw for 4 touchdowns not even 5 minutes past halftime while Falconi would end up getting picked off 5 times by 4 different members of the Yeti defense. A real laugher of a game in what should have been a much more highly contested game based on regular season stats.
It Is Our Time:
Going into next season the NSFC has made a large jump in talent level. The Hawks added a metric ton of talented free agents including names like Marquise Brown, Asipi III, Ben Horne, and a bunch of others I'm too lazy to list out here. With that being the case they become clear favorites to finish 1st in the conference. However, outside of the NSFC championship game, the battle for that second NSFC playoff spot should still be highly contested between the Philadelphia Liberty and the Colorado Yeti. Like I said already, Philly losing star running back Marquise Brown to free agency and a rival hurts the offense a decent amount, fortunately, they decided to add a talented player on the opposite side of the ball to help them out marginally. Former Arizona Outlaws safety Bucky Barnes was traded almost as soon as the final whistle was blown at the conclusion of the Ultimus game across the country to the Liberty in exchange for some picks and young wideout Sam Hardwick. Barnes steps away from being one of the best players on the Outlaws defense to hopefully guide this talented Philadelphia defense back to the playoffs. Getting to the playoffs will be the true test. If we can manage to take most of our games against our conference rivals and get into the playoffs then we enter into "any given Sunday" mode where anything can happen in a single game elimination style tournament.
SPOTLIGHT ON THE YOUTH:
If my lazy ass had decided to stop procrastinating and written this a week and a half ago before the Ultimus Game was played the "youth" player I would have been looking out for on every play would have to be S12 draftee, Colorado Yeti linebacker Beau Montgomery. This guy has had himself a decent start to his career to this point and, in what I assume was his first playoff game (I'm not going back to look because it's late af and I'm lazy like I said) in the NSFC championship game against the Liberty he snatched himself 2 interceptions, 3 pass defenses, and 4 tackles in the blowout victory. After that fantastic performance, he had to be on everyone's radar for guys to keep an eye on in the Ultimus game against the stacked Orange County Otters. This game was close from the opening kickoff until the final seconds ticked off the clock in what would eventually be a 24-21, so both teams needed their defenses to be all hands on deck. Montgomery didn't have himself nearly as incredible of a game as he did the prior week but he still kept his stat sheet respectable. He only managed to grab 6 tackles for his team, but at this point in the season it's more about not making too many mistakes which I don't think he did from watching the game.