Wow guys, long time no see, and welcome back to my 16th game review for the season. Yes, I will be using a random number generator again, because I can’t just keep picking games. I wonder what’ll happen when I’m on my 43rd game review and I accidentally review a game I had already reviewed because it’s hard to keep track of each and every one. You know, ideally, I should set up a document with a list of each game I have reviewed so far so I can update it every time I do a game review quickly instead of manually fetching all that data at a farther point, but why would I be proactive now when I procrastinate and blow off the work for later. Anyways, let’s get to the numbers.
Our first number is… 21! So it’s going to be a relatively modern game, from season 21. Oh wow, would you look at this, we got week 15, which means we will be doing the conference championships. Oh wow, we got the NSFC one. What does this mean? It’s going to mean our longtime rivals, Yellowknife and Baltimore, will be playing for a chance to win the Ultimus. Now, this is the 4th meeting between these two teams in the conference championship in the last 5 seasons. And one team has won every single time. I feel bad for the other team honestly, but I feel even worse for the team that won every time because they lost every single Ultimus. Those familiar with league history will know who I’m talking about instantly, but some of you newer guys may not be familiar with it. I talk like I’m a league veteran, but I’m pretty sure I have more knowledge about past games than many of you, simply because of how much time I spend combing through the index. Anyways, no more chit-chat, let’s get into the meat of things.
The game starts out SUPER boring, with a 3 and out from the Wraiths. Let me just give a spoiler alert. There’s 10 combined punts in the 1st quarter. Yeah, it’s not great, but the 2nd quarter makes up for all of that. Havran starts out with 3 straight passes, the first 2 going incomplete and the 3rd one only getting 8 yards, so they have to punt back Yellowknife. The Wraiths handoff 3 consecutive times to Hanyadi, who only gets 8 yards combined, so they have to punt back. We’ve seen just 3 out of the 10 punts scheduled for this quarter, and we’re 3 minutes in. The Hawks would be more diversified on their next drive, with a rush for 0 yards and then 2 straight incomplete passes. Then they punt. Wraiths add some spice into things, as Bigsby gets sacked on a 3rd and 10 and they have to punt back again. Baltimore one-ups that and Havran gets sacked on the first play of the drive. Then a cool pass deflection and an incomplete pass forces them to punt again. Yep, that’s 6 drives in just 5 minutes, ladies and gentlemen. What an action packed game. 2 straight rushes by Hanyadi set up a 3rd and 5, and they handoff again , and it looks like it’s going to be another 3 and out, but somehow they handed off to a different guy? Who’s this Drake dude? I don’t know, but he manages to get the first 1st down of the game. That gives the Wraiths the life they needed, and I just want to say, through all these punts, the field position for each team has shifted tremendously through the distance of the punts and the returns, and the Wraiths start from their own 41 yard line for this drive. Anyways, on a 2nd and 5 following a 5 yard gain from Hanyadi, Bigsby makes a big throw to Gordon for 27 yards. Now they’re at the Baltimore 16 yard line, but we can’t have points scored. So the league officials come in and tell the refs to rig it, and they call a BS tripping penalty, setting them back at the Baltimore 31 yard line. Then Bigsby gets sacked for 11 yards and the Wraiths punt… Wow. Baltimore did all that just to go 3 and out for the 4th time in a row. But don’t worry, they were 1 yard short, so it was semi-exciting. Seems like that 6 yard rush by Drake for the first first down of the game woke up the Wraiths and they remembered how to play football again, because guess what, on a 3rd and 3, Drake rushes again for a 6 yard gain, on another 3rd down. I don’t know who this guy is, it seems like he’s some angelic figure that only comes down from Heaven on 3rd downs and then manages to convert. But Bigsby doesn’t need no damn runningback’s help, as he finds his trusty Swiffer for 23 yards. Sorry, did I say Swiffer? I meant Swift, or did I? Sorry it’s late at night and I’m tired let me think I’m funny. Wraiths now have a 1st and 10 from the BAL 34, but Bigsby can’t do anything after that big gain, and 3 straight incompletions force a punt. Baltimore immediately goes 3 and out after a sack. See, the Baltimore offense is playing terribly. The score is 0-0, but Baltimore hasn’t gotten a 1st down all quarter long. At least the Wraiths have shown some spurts of offense. It would finally pay off, as on a 3rd and 4, a HB draw for Hanyadi gets 8 yards and Bigsby follows that up for 30 yards to Swift. Fortunately they are in FG range, so now their drive can stall out in peace, which is exactly what happens, as they kick a FG and take the first points of the game. I can’t believe what Baltimore does on their next drive. Quick, everyone gather around. They hand the ball off to Reed, and, and, and he actually gets a 1st down on an amazing 12 yard run. 16 minutes into the game and Baltimore finally got a 1st down. But, the drive immediately stalls and they punt right back. The Wraiths are feeling themselves. Every drive, they’ve made smaller steps towards a complete drive. The first drive they got all the way down but had to punt after a penalty and a sack. The 2nd drive they got very close but chickened out and elected to punt instead of taking the long FG. The 3rd drive was a FG, and they managed to get in FG range and not choke it. What will they do this drive? Hanyadi rush. Bigsby completion. Hanyadi rush. Bigsby completion. Hanyadi rush. Bigsby completion. Hanyadi rush. Bigsby completion. Bigsby incompletion. Bigsby completion. TD! Wow, what a balanced drive, full of great runs and great throws. Yellowknife gets the first TD of the game, and they go up 10-0 with 8 minutes to go in the game. Baltimore gets their heads out of their asses, and they open with a 27 yard completion to Quinn, but 2 plays later, Reed coughs up the ball, but luckily he recovers it. Havran decides to go deep again, but the ball gets picked off, and get this, it gets returned all. the. way. YKW goes up 17-0 with 6 minutes to go in the 1st half. Baltimore responds immediately by going 3 and out. But on the punt return, Snuggles manages to break a tackle and races almost all the way before getting tripped up by the punter himself at the 5 yard line of Baltimore. YKW is 5 yards away from making this a 24 point game, and 3 plays later, an endzone fade to Swift makes it a reality. YKW goes up 24-0 in a span of 8 minutes. Havan decides to stop sucking, and completes 3 straight passes for 31 yards. A couple of plays later and they are at the YKW 27 yard line. A sack kills the drive but luckily they get a FG off, making it a respectable(?) 24-3 at the half.
Baltimore starts off their 2nd half strong, getting 2 first downs before punting. Wraiths start off well, with the man of god himself coming in to convert a 3rd and 4, all hail Drake. Wraiths would convert on another 3rd down later, 3rd and 7, but it would be their last one of the drive, as a clutch pass deflection by Vans kills the drive and the Wraiths punt from the Baltimore 37 yard line. Havran tries scrambling on his first play and gets popped immediately by Alexander, but luckily he recovers. They somehow get past an unnecessary roughness penalty, and on 2nd and 18 they get a huge 15 yard completion, and it looks like they might actually have some offense this drive. They run for 4 yards on 3rd and 3, but on a 3rd and 6 later on they can only get 4 yards, and they kick a short FG to make it 24-6. But those last 2 drives from both teams were lengthy, and they took up 9 minutes combined. So now there’s only 2 minutes left in the half, and they’re down 18 points. Wraiths would get a 1st down through the strong rushing game before the drive stalls and they have to punt. Baltimore goes 3 and out, the exact opposite of you want. The Wraiths decide to go on an extremely long drive, a 13 play drive for only 46 yards, and it ends with a punt anyways a sack by Walt Green pushes them out of FG range. Baltimore can only get 1 first down before 3 straight incompletions kills theri drive, and it looks like a comeback is out of the picture as they punt back with 8 minutes left in the 4th. But wait, on a 3rd nad 10, Bigsby throws a pick! Several plays later, + 4 Havan completions, Baltimore manages to score and it’s 24-13. But they took 3 minutes off the clock, and now there’s only 4 in the game. Wraiths immediately go 3 and out, and the Hawks need a big play here. They start out on the YKW 37 with 2 and a half to go and they score a TD, but it might have taken too long, as there’s only 49 seconds left when they scored. Wraiths run out the clock as they recover the onside kick, and game is over. Wraiths go onto the Ultimus to try and break their losing streak!
Fun game, very weird in the beginning with 10 punts in the 1st quarter but still fun to review overall.
Our first number is… 21! So it’s going to be a relatively modern game, from season 21. Oh wow, would you look at this, we got week 15, which means we will be doing the conference championships. Oh wow, we got the NSFC one. What does this mean? It’s going to mean our longtime rivals, Yellowknife and Baltimore, will be playing for a chance to win the Ultimus. Now, this is the 4th meeting between these two teams in the conference championship in the last 5 seasons. And one team has won every single time. I feel bad for the other team honestly, but I feel even worse for the team that won every time because they lost every single Ultimus. Those familiar with league history will know who I’m talking about instantly, but some of you newer guys may not be familiar with it. I talk like I’m a league veteran, but I’m pretty sure I have more knowledge about past games than many of you, simply because of how much time I spend combing through the index. Anyways, no more chit-chat, let’s get into the meat of things.
The game starts out SUPER boring, with a 3 and out from the Wraiths. Let me just give a spoiler alert. There’s 10 combined punts in the 1st quarter. Yeah, it’s not great, but the 2nd quarter makes up for all of that. Havran starts out with 3 straight passes, the first 2 going incomplete and the 3rd one only getting 8 yards, so they have to punt back Yellowknife. The Wraiths handoff 3 consecutive times to Hanyadi, who only gets 8 yards combined, so they have to punt back. We’ve seen just 3 out of the 10 punts scheduled for this quarter, and we’re 3 minutes in. The Hawks would be more diversified on their next drive, with a rush for 0 yards and then 2 straight incomplete passes. Then they punt. Wraiths add some spice into things, as Bigsby gets sacked on a 3rd and 10 and they have to punt back again. Baltimore one-ups that and Havran gets sacked on the first play of the drive. Then a cool pass deflection and an incomplete pass forces them to punt again. Yep, that’s 6 drives in just 5 minutes, ladies and gentlemen. What an action packed game. 2 straight rushes by Hanyadi set up a 3rd and 5, and they handoff again , and it looks like it’s going to be another 3 and out, but somehow they handed off to a different guy? Who’s this Drake dude? I don’t know, but he manages to get the first 1st down of the game. That gives the Wraiths the life they needed, and I just want to say, through all these punts, the field position for each team has shifted tremendously through the distance of the punts and the returns, and the Wraiths start from their own 41 yard line for this drive. Anyways, on a 2nd and 5 following a 5 yard gain from Hanyadi, Bigsby makes a big throw to Gordon for 27 yards. Now they’re at the Baltimore 16 yard line, but we can’t have points scored. So the league officials come in and tell the refs to rig it, and they call a BS tripping penalty, setting them back at the Baltimore 31 yard line. Then Bigsby gets sacked for 11 yards and the Wraiths punt… Wow. Baltimore did all that just to go 3 and out for the 4th time in a row. But don’t worry, they were 1 yard short, so it was semi-exciting. Seems like that 6 yard rush by Drake for the first first down of the game woke up the Wraiths and they remembered how to play football again, because guess what, on a 3rd and 3, Drake rushes again for a 6 yard gain, on another 3rd down. I don’t know who this guy is, it seems like he’s some angelic figure that only comes down from Heaven on 3rd downs and then manages to convert. But Bigsby doesn’t need no damn runningback’s help, as he finds his trusty Swiffer for 23 yards. Sorry, did I say Swiffer? I meant Swift, or did I? Sorry it’s late at night and I’m tired let me think I’m funny. Wraiths now have a 1st and 10 from the BAL 34, but Bigsby can’t do anything after that big gain, and 3 straight incompletions force a punt. Baltimore immediately goes 3 and out after a sack. See, the Baltimore offense is playing terribly. The score is 0-0, but Baltimore hasn’t gotten a 1st down all quarter long. At least the Wraiths have shown some spurts of offense. It would finally pay off, as on a 3rd and 4, a HB draw for Hanyadi gets 8 yards and Bigsby follows that up for 30 yards to Swift. Fortunately they are in FG range, so now their drive can stall out in peace, which is exactly what happens, as they kick a FG and take the first points of the game. I can’t believe what Baltimore does on their next drive. Quick, everyone gather around. They hand the ball off to Reed, and, and, and he actually gets a 1st down on an amazing 12 yard run. 16 minutes into the game and Baltimore finally got a 1st down. But, the drive immediately stalls and they punt right back. The Wraiths are feeling themselves. Every drive, they’ve made smaller steps towards a complete drive. The first drive they got all the way down but had to punt after a penalty and a sack. The 2nd drive they got very close but chickened out and elected to punt instead of taking the long FG. The 3rd drive was a FG, and they managed to get in FG range and not choke it. What will they do this drive? Hanyadi rush. Bigsby completion. Hanyadi rush. Bigsby completion. Hanyadi rush. Bigsby completion. Hanyadi rush. Bigsby completion. Bigsby incompletion. Bigsby completion. TD! Wow, what a balanced drive, full of great runs and great throws. Yellowknife gets the first TD of the game, and they go up 10-0 with 8 minutes to go in the game. Baltimore gets their heads out of their asses, and they open with a 27 yard completion to Quinn, but 2 plays later, Reed coughs up the ball, but luckily he recovers it. Havran decides to go deep again, but the ball gets picked off, and get this, it gets returned all. the. way. YKW goes up 17-0 with 6 minutes to go in the 1st half. Baltimore responds immediately by going 3 and out. But on the punt return, Snuggles manages to break a tackle and races almost all the way before getting tripped up by the punter himself at the 5 yard line of Baltimore. YKW is 5 yards away from making this a 24 point game, and 3 plays later, an endzone fade to Swift makes it a reality. YKW goes up 24-0 in a span of 8 minutes. Havan decides to stop sucking, and completes 3 straight passes for 31 yards. A couple of plays later and they are at the YKW 27 yard line. A sack kills the drive but luckily they get a FG off, making it a respectable(?) 24-3 at the half.
Baltimore starts off their 2nd half strong, getting 2 first downs before punting. Wraiths start off well, with the man of god himself coming in to convert a 3rd and 4, all hail Drake. Wraiths would convert on another 3rd down later, 3rd and 7, but it would be their last one of the drive, as a clutch pass deflection by Vans kills the drive and the Wraiths punt from the Baltimore 37 yard line. Havran tries scrambling on his first play and gets popped immediately by Alexander, but luckily he recovers. They somehow get past an unnecessary roughness penalty, and on 2nd and 18 they get a huge 15 yard completion, and it looks like they might actually have some offense this drive. They run for 4 yards on 3rd and 3, but on a 3rd and 6 later on they can only get 4 yards, and they kick a short FG to make it 24-6. But those last 2 drives from both teams were lengthy, and they took up 9 minutes combined. So now there’s only 2 minutes left in the half, and they’re down 18 points. Wraiths would get a 1st down through the strong rushing game before the drive stalls and they have to punt. Baltimore goes 3 and out, the exact opposite of you want. The Wraiths decide to go on an extremely long drive, a 13 play drive for only 46 yards, and it ends with a punt anyways a sack by Walt Green pushes them out of FG range. Baltimore can only get 1 first down before 3 straight incompletions kills theri drive, and it looks like a comeback is out of the picture as they punt back with 8 minutes left in the 4th. But wait, on a 3rd nad 10, Bigsby throws a pick! Several plays later, + 4 Havan completions, Baltimore manages to score and it’s 24-13. But they took 3 minutes off the clock, and now there’s only 4 in the game. Wraiths immediately go 3 and out, and the Hawks need a big play here. They start out on the YKW 37 with 2 and a half to go and they score a TD, but it might have taken too long, as there’s only 49 seconds left when they scored. Wraiths run out the clock as they recover the onside kick, and game is over. Wraiths go onto the Ultimus to try and break their losing streak!
Fun game, very weird in the beginning with 10 punts in the 1st quarter but still fun to review overall.