3)
Let's take a look at the S23 playoff situation, shall we? The defending champs, the Colorado Yeti, were 6-6 by week 12, an interesting situation, and it was anyone's game at that point in the NSFC. The Liberty and Hawks just had to win enough games and pray the Yeti lose some, but unfortunately that was not the case. The Yeti won out and the Hawks fell flat, going 2-2 in that final stretch and losing otu the final spot to the Liberty, who made the playoffs for the first time in a minute. Boosted by a strong S22 class, no doubt. On the ASFC side of things, OCO and NOLA were the dominant forces and Arizona and Austin were left to scrap over the final playoff spot. Arizona had a 1 game lead and it looked like it would come down to their week 15 matchup. Arizona had HFA, so it seemed like they would walk away easily with a win and a playoff berth, but Austin wouldn't go down without a fight. Neither QBs played well, and it was a game of defenses. A late TD scored by the Copperheads at the end of the 4th quarter gave enough time for Arizona to march down the field, but the Austin D-Line came up clutch and sacked Cue twice on the ensuing drive, effectively ending the game and giving Austin prime position to make the playoffs. Cue's 2 interceptions in the 4th quarter certainly did not help at all. All the copperheads had to do was beat SJS at home, pretty easy, and they would be in the playoffs. Of course, they did just that and Arizona went home sad, ready to come back next year and flop again. This was the start of a miracle run by Austin. Before week 16, their cahnces of making the playoffs were low thereof, and of going even further than that, well, it was virtually impossible. Moving onto the actual playoffs, wild card weekend started with the Liberty visiting Colorado. Tied 25-25 with 6 minutes left to go, Wolfie McDummy marched his team down the field, throwing absolute lasers and scoring a TD in 3 minutes. The liberty only had 3 minutes to respond, and they marched down to the Colorado 18 with less than a minute left when Immanuel Blackstone came up with a clutch 11 yard sack, essentially ending the game, and sending Colorado to Yellowknife. Meanwhile, in NOLA, a different result happened with a similar situation. The Austin defense played extremely well, limited NOLA to 4 FGs, and no TDs, i nthe first quarter. Austin managed to score a TD with 7 minutes left and was leading, but Francisco did what he did best and drove down to the AUS 8, but this time, the 1OA pick Mendoza picked off Francisco in the endzone, and Austin managed to chew enough clock so that NOLA didn't have enough time to do anything on offense. Austin had a stunning upset, but they were not over yet. In Yellowknife the next week, the Yeti drove? or flew to YKW, I wouldn't know, but I doubt that city has an airport. It was a game of defense, and no one scored in the 4th quarter, except a field goal on the first play of the quarter. Neither team could do anything, and YKW missed a field goal too. On Colorado's final drive, they got a penalty and McDummy got sacked. 3rd and 23 is not an appealing situation. After a 13 yard completion, a pass to Ashley Owens was broken up by Jensen, ending the game and sending YKW to the ultimus for the 5th time in the past 6 seasons. Something even crazier happened in Orange County, as the Copperheads visited. The underdog of the season managed to keep it close until the 4th quarter, as they were only trailing by 2. They opened the 4th quarter with a picksix, giving Armstrong a bad time. OCO offense didn't manage to do much the next couple of drives, but they got a FG. Austin capitalized on this opprtunity and punched it in the endzone another time, ending OCO's hope for a comeback. Miraculously, AUS made the Ultimus, despite being a longshot to make the playoffs 2 weeks before it was finalized. The Copperheads story ends there though, as they get absolutely trashed by the better team, Yellowknife. Many will not remember the miracle that was the S23 Coppereheads, but rather the story of YKW getting their first ultimus win after 4 straight losses. The YKW defense was suffocating, and even though Bigsby threw 2 ints, the team still won 38-13. Austin had no turnovers, and were just as good as rushing, but they only converted 4/14 3rd downs. YKW converted 12/14, and that's why they won. And thus concludes the story of the S23 season and the playoffs.
Let's take a look at the S23 playoff situation, shall we? The defending champs, the Colorado Yeti, were 6-6 by week 12, an interesting situation, and it was anyone's game at that point in the NSFC. The Liberty and Hawks just had to win enough games and pray the Yeti lose some, but unfortunately that was not the case. The Yeti won out and the Hawks fell flat, going 2-2 in that final stretch and losing otu the final spot to the Liberty, who made the playoffs for the first time in a minute. Boosted by a strong S22 class, no doubt. On the ASFC side of things, OCO and NOLA were the dominant forces and Arizona and Austin were left to scrap over the final playoff spot. Arizona had a 1 game lead and it looked like it would come down to their week 15 matchup. Arizona had HFA, so it seemed like they would walk away easily with a win and a playoff berth, but Austin wouldn't go down without a fight. Neither QBs played well, and it was a game of defenses. A late TD scored by the Copperheads at the end of the 4th quarter gave enough time for Arizona to march down the field, but the Austin D-Line came up clutch and sacked Cue twice on the ensuing drive, effectively ending the game and giving Austin prime position to make the playoffs. Cue's 2 interceptions in the 4th quarter certainly did not help at all. All the copperheads had to do was beat SJS at home, pretty easy, and they would be in the playoffs. Of course, they did just that and Arizona went home sad, ready to come back next year and flop again. This was the start of a miracle run by Austin. Before week 16, their cahnces of making the playoffs were low thereof, and of going even further than that, well, it was virtually impossible. Moving onto the actual playoffs, wild card weekend started with the Liberty visiting Colorado. Tied 25-25 with 6 minutes left to go, Wolfie McDummy marched his team down the field, throwing absolute lasers and scoring a TD in 3 minutes. The liberty only had 3 minutes to respond, and they marched down to the Colorado 18 with less than a minute left when Immanuel Blackstone came up with a clutch 11 yard sack, essentially ending the game, and sending Colorado to Yellowknife. Meanwhile, in NOLA, a different result happened with a similar situation. The Austin defense played extremely well, limited NOLA to 4 FGs, and no TDs, i nthe first quarter. Austin managed to score a TD with 7 minutes left and was leading, but Francisco did what he did best and drove down to the AUS 8, but this time, the 1OA pick Mendoza picked off Francisco in the endzone, and Austin managed to chew enough clock so that NOLA didn't have enough time to do anything on offense. Austin had a stunning upset, but they were not over yet. In Yellowknife the next week, the Yeti drove? or flew to YKW, I wouldn't know, but I doubt that city has an airport. It was a game of defense, and no one scored in the 4th quarter, except a field goal on the first play of the quarter. Neither team could do anything, and YKW missed a field goal too. On Colorado's final drive, they got a penalty and McDummy got sacked. 3rd and 23 is not an appealing situation. After a 13 yard completion, a pass to Ashley Owens was broken up by Jensen, ending the game and sending YKW to the ultimus for the 5th time in the past 6 seasons. Something even crazier happened in Orange County, as the Copperheads visited. The underdog of the season managed to keep it close until the 4th quarter, as they were only trailing by 2. They opened the 4th quarter with a picksix, giving Armstrong a bad time. OCO offense didn't manage to do much the next couple of drives, but they got a FG. Austin capitalized on this opprtunity and punched it in the endzone another time, ending OCO's hope for a comeback. Miraculously, AUS made the Ultimus, despite being a longshot to make the playoffs 2 weeks before it was finalized. The Copperheads story ends there though, as they get absolutely trashed by the better team, Yellowknife. Many will not remember the miracle that was the S23 Coppereheads, but rather the story of YKW getting their first ultimus win after 4 straight losses. The YKW defense was suffocating, and even though Bigsby threw 2 ints, the team still won 38-13. Austin had no turnovers, and were just as good as rushing, but they only converted 4/14 3rd downs. YKW converted 12/14, and that's why they won. And thus concludes the story of the S23 season and the playoffs.