I can’t believe we’re already on our 15th game review, and yes I know I missed yesterday, I was too busy playing the Battle of Polytopia, which is an awesome game I recommend everyone to go download right now on their phone. Yes, this is a sponsored message. But back to the game reviews, which I will be doubling up on today to make up for yesterday. So really this is the 15th and 16th game review, I hope. It’s hard to keep track at this point. Let’s use some RNG again to find ourselves a game.
Oooh, a S15 game. An a week 13 one. Ok it’s going to be a game between the Hawks and the Liberty. Hawks are coming to Philly as an 11-1 team. Philly is 7-5 and trying to get that last playoff spot. The Wraiths were 5-7, so if Philly lost this, and the Wraiths won, these two teams played each other next week, meaning the winner goes to the playoffs. PS, the Wraiths won both their games, so if Philly wins this game they can make the playoffs. If they lose this one, they’re out. But it’s hard to beat the Hawks team, and they were riding a 9 game win streak.
The first play of the game is a sack by the Philly defense. It’s 2nd and 16, and Gambino finds Valentine for 6 yards. On 3rd and 10, Gambino is sacked for the 2nd time in 3 plays. Philly starts out on their own 31 yard line, and they clearly had a gameplan to beat Baltimore, and that was to run the ball. Apparently they really like Vander Jones. They hand off to him 4 times in a row, but now it’s 3rd and 4. So what do they do? They hand off the ball to him again! And he goes no where. So it’s 4th and 4 from their own 49 yard line, and they hand off again! But he goes for 17 yards. They hand off to him twice more, and finally, they do something other than a running play, right? Wrong. Falconi does a QB draw, which goes nowhere. Then they go back to what they were doing earlier and hand it off to Jones 3 more times, and its 3rd and 8 from the Baltimore 8. So they finally pass, after 11 straight carries by Jones. It’s an 8 yard strike to Bush in the endzone. Philly goes up 7-0 with 6 minutes to go in the first quarter. That drive took up 7 minutes. A good return by Valentine sets up Baltimore on their own 37 despite a 5 yard penalty. On a 3rd and 6, Gambino throws a checkdown to Brown which was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Hardshaft. Philly starts at the Baltimore 41 yard line, and everything that could go wrong for Baltimore just did. 2 sacks and an interception in just the 1st quarter. Falconi really likes Bush, and goes to him back to back, for 7 yards and 12 yards. After a throwaway ball from a blitz, they get a false start and it’s 2nd and 25. Falconi finds Bush for 25 yards, and Falconi has completed 4 passes so far, all to Bush. Now they’re at the Baltimore 2 yard line, and they just give it to Jones, who manages to punch it in for the TD after 2 plays. Philly goes up 14-0 with 1:39 in the first. Gambino shows us why he’s a GOAT by throwing 5 straight completions for 8, 7, 9, 10 and 18 yards. His next throw would be broken up, but 1 penalty later they are at the Philly 4 yard line. Gambino finds Maddox for a fade pass in the back of the endzone, as Gambino goes 6/7 for 59 yards and a TD on this drive. Liberty gets off of their gameplan from the first drive, but they try letting Falconi work his magic after last drive, which clearly doesn’t work as he throws 3 straight incompletions, 2 of which were money passes but dropped, and they punt right back to a Baltimore team with all the momentum. Baltimore squanders it, and neither team seems to like running anymore, as Gambino throws 3 straight incompletions also, punting right back to Philly. But a sack and back to back tipped passes from Roenick gives Baltimore the ball back again. Gambino finds Maddox for 44 yards on the first play, a huge bomb that sets them up well in Philly territory. But the drive goes horribly wrong as they can’t convert a 3rd and 4 and elect to punt from the Philly 34 with 9 minutes left in the game. Both teams traded punts twice, and Philly decides to stick with the rush, as Jones opens the drive with a 9 yard outside run. But then they pass, and Falconi throws a simple curl route that gets intercepted, and Baltimore has the ball on the Philly 27 yard line. But on a 3rd and 15, Gambino throws a pass that’s undercut by the defender and picked off! But this time it’s a huge return and he manages to run it back 50 yards before getting tackled. Pair a 13 yard pass completion with a 11 yard pass and now Philly is at the Baltimore 5. They try running play action which fails and they just run twice with Jones, but elect to kick a FG when they’re 2 yards away instead of going for it. Philly goes up 17-7 with 4 and a half left in the 2nd quarter. Baltimore needs some points here before the half, and they start out well, with some great runs by Brown plus a nice pass by Gambino setting them up at the Philly 32. A screen pass goes for 8, and on the next play, Gambino goes deep for Maddox, who’s open in the endzone for a TD. The score is now 17-14, and it’s a close game as the 1st half is winding down. Philly can’t do anything and punts the ball back to Baltimore. With 31 seconds, Baltimore gets to the Philly 38 but time expires in the half before they can attempt a FG.
Philly gets gifted with an offsides penalty to start out the 2nd half with a 1st and 5, but they still manage to go 3 and out. Baltimore starts off well, with a great run for 1 yard on 3rd and 1 by Brown. They liked that run so much, they gave it to him 3 times in a row, and he gained 32 yards on those 3 carries. Gambino wanted his turn, so they let him pass 3 times in a row, but he only got 21 yards on 3 completions. Then they let him pass again and it fell incomplete. But by now they’re on the Philly 3 yard line, and it’s 3rd and goal. They hand off to Brown, and he dives for the pylon, but he’s half an inch short. So they pussy out and kick a FG, tying the game. Philly starts out with that same sluggish offense we saw with the first drive of the half, and they go 3 and out. So far Philly has gotten 2 yards this quarter. Baltimore imitates the Philly special, and they go 3 and out after an amazing pass breakup by Hardshaft. An amazing return sets up Philly on the Baltimore 42, and that gives them the jolt they needed. But, did it? It’s 3rd and 2, and Jones gets the handoff and goes straight up the middle, and they rule it as a 4th down initially, but they bring out the sticks and apparently it was a first down, and on the next play, a blown coverage leads to a wide open Von Matt, who caught a 32 yard TD, the biggest play of the game. Philly goes up 24-17 with under 4 and a half left in the third quarter. Baltimore knows they need something here to not fall behind, so of course they go 3 and out. Falconi stayed on fire from last drive, and his first throw goes for 24 yards to Bush, and he followed that up with a 6 yard completion to Hank. Unfortunately, he can’t complete a pass after that, and 2 straight incompletions forces them to kick a FG. Now, you might be wondering how they were even in FG, but let me tell you kids, they already had great field position from the terrible punt. Special teams is the 3rd phase of the game, ladies and gentlemen, it’s not just offense and defense. Philly goes up 27-17 with under a minute to go in the 3rd. Gambino starts off well, with a risky 10 yard pass to Maddox. Gambino goes to his trusty Valentine, but the ball gets picked off for the 3rd time this game, and disaster strikes. Falconi opens up the 1st drive of the 4th quarter with a 15 yard dart to Brannigan. 3 straight rushes gets them 14 yards, and then on 2nd and 7 they can only get 6 yards on a screen. But on 3rd and 1, the pass is broken up by Asipi, and Philly kicks a FG. Now they are up 30-17, and Baltimore can still comeback. But 2 straight inaccurate passes on the next drive won;t help them, and they decide to punt after a 8 yard pass on 3rd and 10 doesn’t get them the yardage they needed. A questionable choice considering they were down 2 scores with 11 minutes left, but they were at the 11 yard line, and if they failed the game would be truly over. They hoped for a defensive stop or turnover, but a 9 yard pass on 3rd and 6 wasn’t what they were looking for as Philly keeps the drive alive and the clock chewing. Did I mention they were at the 38 yard line? Well, for some damn reason, they completely stall and go for it on 4th and 6 from the Baltimore 34. I like it, being aggressive and trying to close out the game, but if you had kicked a FG, you would have surely closed the game. Now, again, Baltimore can’t do anything, and it’s a 4th and 2 from the Baltimore 42 yard line, down 13 points. Now, they need to go for it here, but they decide to punt. They would not get the ball back. Philly goes on a long drive, with a 3 yard run on a 3rd and 2, and then a 5 yard run on 2nd and 4. Mix in a couple complete passes, and this game is as good as over. They completely bleed out the clock and Baltimore doesn’t call a single timeout. It’s like they wanted to lose or something.
What a bad ending, and Baltimore coaching staff looked a lot like the Jets right there.
Oooh, a S15 game. An a week 13 one. Ok it’s going to be a game between the Hawks and the Liberty. Hawks are coming to Philly as an 11-1 team. Philly is 7-5 and trying to get that last playoff spot. The Wraiths were 5-7, so if Philly lost this, and the Wraiths won, these two teams played each other next week, meaning the winner goes to the playoffs. PS, the Wraiths won both their games, so if Philly wins this game they can make the playoffs. If they lose this one, they’re out. But it’s hard to beat the Hawks team, and they were riding a 9 game win streak.
The first play of the game is a sack by the Philly defense. It’s 2nd and 16, and Gambino finds Valentine for 6 yards. On 3rd and 10, Gambino is sacked for the 2nd time in 3 plays. Philly starts out on their own 31 yard line, and they clearly had a gameplan to beat Baltimore, and that was to run the ball. Apparently they really like Vander Jones. They hand off to him 4 times in a row, but now it’s 3rd and 4. So what do they do? They hand off the ball to him again! And he goes no where. So it’s 4th and 4 from their own 49 yard line, and they hand off again! But he goes for 17 yards. They hand off to him twice more, and finally, they do something other than a running play, right? Wrong. Falconi does a QB draw, which goes nowhere. Then they go back to what they were doing earlier and hand it off to Jones 3 more times, and its 3rd and 8 from the Baltimore 8. So they finally pass, after 11 straight carries by Jones. It’s an 8 yard strike to Bush in the endzone. Philly goes up 7-0 with 6 minutes to go in the first quarter. That drive took up 7 minutes. A good return by Valentine sets up Baltimore on their own 37 despite a 5 yard penalty. On a 3rd and 6, Gambino throws a checkdown to Brown which was tipped at the line of scrimmage and intercepted by Hardshaft. Philly starts at the Baltimore 41 yard line, and everything that could go wrong for Baltimore just did. 2 sacks and an interception in just the 1st quarter. Falconi really likes Bush, and goes to him back to back, for 7 yards and 12 yards. After a throwaway ball from a blitz, they get a false start and it’s 2nd and 25. Falconi finds Bush for 25 yards, and Falconi has completed 4 passes so far, all to Bush. Now they’re at the Baltimore 2 yard line, and they just give it to Jones, who manages to punch it in for the TD after 2 plays. Philly goes up 14-0 with 1:39 in the first. Gambino shows us why he’s a GOAT by throwing 5 straight completions for 8, 7, 9, 10 and 18 yards. His next throw would be broken up, but 1 penalty later they are at the Philly 4 yard line. Gambino finds Maddox for a fade pass in the back of the endzone, as Gambino goes 6/7 for 59 yards and a TD on this drive. Liberty gets off of their gameplan from the first drive, but they try letting Falconi work his magic after last drive, which clearly doesn’t work as he throws 3 straight incompletions, 2 of which were money passes but dropped, and they punt right back to a Baltimore team with all the momentum. Baltimore squanders it, and neither team seems to like running anymore, as Gambino throws 3 straight incompletions also, punting right back to Philly. But a sack and back to back tipped passes from Roenick gives Baltimore the ball back again. Gambino finds Maddox for 44 yards on the first play, a huge bomb that sets them up well in Philly territory. But the drive goes horribly wrong as they can’t convert a 3rd and 4 and elect to punt from the Philly 34 with 9 minutes left in the game. Both teams traded punts twice, and Philly decides to stick with the rush, as Jones opens the drive with a 9 yard outside run. But then they pass, and Falconi throws a simple curl route that gets intercepted, and Baltimore has the ball on the Philly 27 yard line. But on a 3rd and 15, Gambino throws a pass that’s undercut by the defender and picked off! But this time it’s a huge return and he manages to run it back 50 yards before getting tackled. Pair a 13 yard pass completion with a 11 yard pass and now Philly is at the Baltimore 5. They try running play action which fails and they just run twice with Jones, but elect to kick a FG when they’re 2 yards away instead of going for it. Philly goes up 17-7 with 4 and a half left in the 2nd quarter. Baltimore needs some points here before the half, and they start out well, with some great runs by Brown plus a nice pass by Gambino setting them up at the Philly 32. A screen pass goes for 8, and on the next play, Gambino goes deep for Maddox, who’s open in the endzone for a TD. The score is now 17-14, and it’s a close game as the 1st half is winding down. Philly can’t do anything and punts the ball back to Baltimore. With 31 seconds, Baltimore gets to the Philly 38 but time expires in the half before they can attempt a FG.
Philly gets gifted with an offsides penalty to start out the 2nd half with a 1st and 5, but they still manage to go 3 and out. Baltimore starts off well, with a great run for 1 yard on 3rd and 1 by Brown. They liked that run so much, they gave it to him 3 times in a row, and he gained 32 yards on those 3 carries. Gambino wanted his turn, so they let him pass 3 times in a row, but he only got 21 yards on 3 completions. Then they let him pass again and it fell incomplete. But by now they’re on the Philly 3 yard line, and it’s 3rd and goal. They hand off to Brown, and he dives for the pylon, but he’s half an inch short. So they pussy out and kick a FG, tying the game. Philly starts out with that same sluggish offense we saw with the first drive of the half, and they go 3 and out. So far Philly has gotten 2 yards this quarter. Baltimore imitates the Philly special, and they go 3 and out after an amazing pass breakup by Hardshaft. An amazing return sets up Philly on the Baltimore 42, and that gives them the jolt they needed. But, did it? It’s 3rd and 2, and Jones gets the handoff and goes straight up the middle, and they rule it as a 4th down initially, but they bring out the sticks and apparently it was a first down, and on the next play, a blown coverage leads to a wide open Von Matt, who caught a 32 yard TD, the biggest play of the game. Philly goes up 24-17 with under 4 and a half left in the third quarter. Baltimore knows they need something here to not fall behind, so of course they go 3 and out. Falconi stayed on fire from last drive, and his first throw goes for 24 yards to Bush, and he followed that up with a 6 yard completion to Hank. Unfortunately, he can’t complete a pass after that, and 2 straight incompletions forces them to kick a FG. Now, you might be wondering how they were even in FG, but let me tell you kids, they already had great field position from the terrible punt. Special teams is the 3rd phase of the game, ladies and gentlemen, it’s not just offense and defense. Philly goes up 27-17 with under a minute to go in the 3rd. Gambino starts off well, with a risky 10 yard pass to Maddox. Gambino goes to his trusty Valentine, but the ball gets picked off for the 3rd time this game, and disaster strikes. Falconi opens up the 1st drive of the 4th quarter with a 15 yard dart to Brannigan. 3 straight rushes gets them 14 yards, and then on 2nd and 7 they can only get 6 yards on a screen. But on 3rd and 1, the pass is broken up by Asipi, and Philly kicks a FG. Now they are up 30-17, and Baltimore can still comeback. But 2 straight inaccurate passes on the next drive won;t help them, and they decide to punt after a 8 yard pass on 3rd and 10 doesn’t get them the yardage they needed. A questionable choice considering they were down 2 scores with 11 minutes left, but they were at the 11 yard line, and if they failed the game would be truly over. They hoped for a defensive stop or turnover, but a 9 yard pass on 3rd and 6 wasn’t what they were looking for as Philly keeps the drive alive and the clock chewing. Did I mention they were at the 38 yard line? Well, for some damn reason, they completely stall and go for it on 4th and 6 from the Baltimore 34. I like it, being aggressive and trying to close out the game, but if you had kicked a FG, you would have surely closed the game. Now, again, Baltimore can’t do anything, and it’s a 4th and 2 from the Baltimore 42 yard line, down 13 points. Now, they need to go for it here, but they decide to punt. They would not get the ball back. Philly goes on a long drive, with a 3 yard run on a 3rd and 2, and then a 5 yard run on 2nd and 4. Mix in a couple complete passes, and this game is as good as over. They completely bleed out the clock and Baltimore doesn’t call a single timeout. It’s like they wanted to lose or something.
What a bad ending, and Baltimore coaching staff looked a lot like the Jets right there.