We're about a third of the way through the DSFL season and I feel trends are starting to present themselves. Keep in mind in a chaotic league like the DSFL things are bound to change, some teams that start hotter will regress and the inverse will be true as well. Take the Portland Pythons for example. Two tough games (both away, against the two 3-1 teams) saw Portland lose weeks one and two, but they won the next two weeks and now lead their conference, if by razor thin margins. I'm probably not going to organize this too well, but I want to look at some of the league's statistical leaders and see what conclusions I can draw.
KC's quarterback Fujiwara leads the league in passing yards with 608. What I find surprising is that they've only added 1 TD and 1 INT on top of that. Unsurprisingly KC also has the highest yards per game of any DSFL team, and their RBs have a league leading 6 TDs between the three of them. The league TD leader is, interestingly enough, Luke Skywalker of Norfolk, who's thrown 7 TDs so far. Skywalker is also the most accurate QB with over 50 attempts, completing 61.2% of his throws; he's also one of two QBs with over 50 attempts that hasn't thrown an interception (Waters being the other). There are also three QBs who have thrown over 100 passes so far, the Jacks and O'Donnell. How has that worked out for them? Not great, they've all got below 50% completion and have thrown three or four touchdowns (and picks) each. You can't be surprised these three are throwing it all day, they play for the only teams that have a single quarterback on the roster. If you were to combine the statline of all the other teams QB duos so that you compared NOR QBs, TIJ QBs and so on with the jacks and O'Donnell, you would find that only MINN has performed as poorly. I expect most of these QBs to regress towards the average as the season progresses, although I think the Jacks will continue to struggle due to their teams' expansion statuses.
`But we all know the DSFL is a rushing league, let's see how things are going on that front. The league leader in both carries and yards is Acura Skyline with 117 and 559 respectively. They've only found the endzone twice from all that, but production like this is going to be very attractive to NSFL teams I'd think. Frost and Panda are another two backs that are going to be top performers by the end of the season. They won't get Skyline's touches, but they're highly reliable offensive center pieces that are backed up by more great RBs in Apollo and Sunrise. I think Nova, McTaco, and Barker are all going to be underappreciated in comparison to guys like Frost and Skyline. Barker is already maxed out, and by the end of the season when the other two have even more TPE under their belt they're going to be very scary. I also think the value of having a pass catching back like Sunrise or Gilbert can't be understated. A pass catching RB can do so much to transform an offense from being flat and stagnant to being surprising and reliable.
The best pass catcher in the league so far is Passman. I guess those sacrifices are paying off cause he's hauled in 20 catches and racked up 1 TD and 243 yards. Cash Jr., Vequain, Okusi, Johnson, and Bravestone are the only other receivers that have eclipsed 200 yards. I had expected Eddie Jeeta to be higher on this list (he's still at 185 yards mind you) but KC feeds so many mouths that he's still the no. 2 wideout on his team. I expect Jeeta to become better and better as the season moves along. Also, Norfolk's leading receiver is a FB, Haugland. Although I was pretty sure he was a TE this whole time, so who knows. Either way, he's also the reception touchdown leader with 4. What a time to be alive.
Myrtle Beach
MB are still definitely one of the teams to beat and a loss in Minnesota doesn't change that. They looked somewhat shaky against the Royals though and are no longer at the top of their table. They're going to hope they win their first in conference games coming up; A porous Birddogs defense shouldn't scare them too much, but Norfolk is going to be very difficult.
Norfolk
NOR established themselves as a team to beat in weeks three and four, and the start of conference play will be big for them as well. Their defense seems to get better every week, and the special team's ability to dominate the field position game will prove to be fundamental in two make or break games
Tijuana
Tijuana's matchup with Norfolk will be big in determining who gets a playoff spot in the SFC. Their offense will be hard to slow down, so Norfolk's best bet is keeping them off the field. Whoever wins the turnover battle might win that one.
Dallas
Good luck, Birddogs.
Portland
The Pythons know a win away to Grey Ducks could be a turning point to the season. Portland have some of the most talented players in the league, and they have a good chance of going 2-0 this week. The visiting Birddogs shouldn't be too troublesome, but a road game in minnesota is as close to a must win as you'll find in the DSFL.
Minnesota
The Ducks have underperformed thus far this season, and their QBs will have a hard time finding their form against Portland's corners. The Grey Ducks have a high chance of settling into mediocrity these next two weeks. But it's any given sunday in the DSFL, and at this point if they were to get a pair of wins everything would be different. Things are going to be messy in the NFC if teams stay near .500 much longer.
Kansas City
A surprising team to beat. A pair of home games and a leading defense makes me think they have a great quiet week where they collect a pair of wins while everyone struggles around them.
London
Good luck, Royals.
KC's quarterback Fujiwara leads the league in passing yards with 608. What I find surprising is that they've only added 1 TD and 1 INT on top of that. Unsurprisingly KC also has the highest yards per game of any DSFL team, and their RBs have a league leading 6 TDs between the three of them. The league TD leader is, interestingly enough, Luke Skywalker of Norfolk, who's thrown 7 TDs so far. Skywalker is also the most accurate QB with over 50 attempts, completing 61.2% of his throws; he's also one of two QBs with over 50 attempts that hasn't thrown an interception (Waters being the other). There are also three QBs who have thrown over 100 passes so far, the Jacks and O'Donnell. How has that worked out for them? Not great, they've all got below 50% completion and have thrown three or four touchdowns (and picks) each. You can't be surprised these three are throwing it all day, they play for the only teams that have a single quarterback on the roster. If you were to combine the statline of all the other teams QB duos so that you compared NOR QBs, TIJ QBs and so on with the jacks and O'Donnell, you would find that only MINN has performed as poorly. I expect most of these QBs to regress towards the average as the season progresses, although I think the Jacks will continue to struggle due to their teams' expansion statuses.
`But we all know the DSFL is a rushing league, let's see how things are going on that front. The league leader in both carries and yards is Acura Skyline with 117 and 559 respectively. They've only found the endzone twice from all that, but production like this is going to be very attractive to NSFL teams I'd think. Frost and Panda are another two backs that are going to be top performers by the end of the season. They won't get Skyline's touches, but they're highly reliable offensive center pieces that are backed up by more great RBs in Apollo and Sunrise. I think Nova, McTaco, and Barker are all going to be underappreciated in comparison to guys like Frost and Skyline. Barker is already maxed out, and by the end of the season when the other two have even more TPE under their belt they're going to be very scary. I also think the value of having a pass catching back like Sunrise or Gilbert can't be understated. A pass catching RB can do so much to transform an offense from being flat and stagnant to being surprising and reliable.
The best pass catcher in the league so far is Passman. I guess those sacrifices are paying off cause he's hauled in 20 catches and racked up 1 TD and 243 yards. Cash Jr., Vequain, Okusi, Johnson, and Bravestone are the only other receivers that have eclipsed 200 yards. I had expected Eddie Jeeta to be higher on this list (he's still at 185 yards mind you) but KC feeds so many mouths that he's still the no. 2 wideout on his team. I expect Jeeta to become better and better as the season moves along. Also, Norfolk's leading receiver is a FB, Haugland. Although I was pretty sure he was a TE this whole time, so who knows. Either way, he's also the reception touchdown leader with 4. What a time to be alive.
Myrtle Beach
MB are still definitely one of the teams to beat and a loss in Minnesota doesn't change that. They looked somewhat shaky against the Royals though and are no longer at the top of their table. They're going to hope they win their first in conference games coming up; A porous Birddogs defense shouldn't scare them too much, but Norfolk is going to be very difficult.
Norfolk
NOR established themselves as a team to beat in weeks three and four, and the start of conference play will be big for them as well. Their defense seems to get better every week, and the special team's ability to dominate the field position game will prove to be fundamental in two make or break games
Tijuana
Tijuana's matchup with Norfolk will be big in determining who gets a playoff spot in the SFC. Their offense will be hard to slow down, so Norfolk's best bet is keeping them off the field. Whoever wins the turnover battle might win that one.
Dallas
Good luck, Birddogs.
Portland
The Pythons know a win away to Grey Ducks could be a turning point to the season. Portland have some of the most talented players in the league, and they have a good chance of going 2-0 this week. The visiting Birddogs shouldn't be too troublesome, but a road game in minnesota is as close to a must win as you'll find in the DSFL.
Minnesota
The Ducks have underperformed thus far this season, and their QBs will have a hard time finding their form against Portland's corners. The Grey Ducks have a high chance of settling into mediocrity these next two weeks. But it's any given sunday in the DSFL, and at this point if they were to get a pair of wins everything would be different. Things are going to be messy in the NFC if teams stay near .500 much longer.
Kansas City
A surprising team to beat. A pair of home games and a leading defense makes me think they have a great quiet week where they collect a pair of wins while everyone struggles around them.
London
Good luck, Royals.
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