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1) This week will see the S26 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? Who do you think will win the final? If you’re writing this after the finals were decided, were you surprised by the outcome?
For this subject, we have to talk about the Ultimini and how that ended up shaking out, right!? Right! Well as many already know, the Dallas Birddogs have won the Season 27 Ultimini championship and defeated the Kansas City Coyotes 23-21 with a late field goal by Dallas Dole after a great stop by the Dallas defense and a great drive by the Dallas offense. Looking at the overall box score and team stats, you would definitely believe that Dallas won the game but the teams were close as well overall though most stats tilted towards the dogs of the bird variety except for turnovers. Let's look at how each team got to the big game!
Dallas:
The Dallas Birddogs were the number one team in the Southern division and I believe the number one overall seed in the entire DSFL as well though I am not entirely sure on the tiebreaker versus Portland in the North who had the same record. I believe because Dallas had a better overall conference record they would have been home field throughout the playoffs regardless of the Northern matchup but who knows. Dallas began the season with an extremely hot start coming out of the gate 4-0 before a close loss to Bondi Beach before rattling off another streak of wins, this time of 7. Dallas had all but locked up the best record in the DSFL by week 12 with 2 games remaining and the team having accomplished what they needed to, appeared to take their foot off the pedal for a couple games, dropping their last 2 to Portland and Kansas City, the playoff teams from the North.
Dallas was led all season by an exciting offensive attack and a defense that largely remained in the top half in most categories as well so the combination of high powered offense and strong defense definitely helped Dallas storm to their best record ever. Led by quarterback, Joliet Christ Jr., son of ISFL hall of fame quarterback Joliet L Christ, and running back Sirdsvaldis Miglasķēms, the team was definitely not short of weapons. With wide receivers Chunt the Badger, Bayley Cowabunga, and Borgo San Lorenzo as huge options in the passing game and Migs and Gaare in the backfield, stopping Dallas was not really a huge option. The only chance you had was to outscore Dallas in a shootout normally.
As far as the playoffs go, Dallas, facing an underwhelming Tijuana team were challenged the whole game and the infamous Automatic first down will ring in Mexico for years as QB Christ Jr. orchestrated a comeback win capped off by a 14 yard TD pass to Chunt the Badger. Dallas was Ultimini bound with a 28-27 win against the Luchadores!
Kansas City:
Kansas City on the other hand was a barely there playoff team, finishing at 7-7 and 2nd to Portland in the northern division and needed the last week win against the Dallas Birddogs to lock in their playoff spot otherwise I believe London would have been going to the playoffs at 6-8 with tiebreakers but honestly I am not 100% sure there and don't want to have to figure it out. Kansas City would go on to the playoffs regardless with their win.
Kansas City was 0-2 against the Portland Pythons and their untested QB Lebron James III was that did not stop the Coyotes from proving that they belonged in these playoffs even when many would count them out. They dominated James III and made him look like a below average quarterback in a 31-21 statement win by Kansas City as they forced last year's MVP to a 43.6 passer rating and 2 interceptions.
The Big Game:
It was the best team in Dallas versus the hungry Coyotes and with how Coyotes dismantled the Python attack and their quarterback, it was on to bigger and better things as they faced a truly good quarterback in Christ Jr. Stopping Christ was not as simple so Kansas City really had to focus on the ground attack of Miglasķēms and Gaare and force them to beat them. For the most part, they did a good job against Sirdsvaldis, the regular season leader in rushing yards and touchdowns. They held him to 2.3 yards per carry though did give up 2 rushing scores to him. Gaare had some more success rushing for 78 yards on 8 tries including a big 35 yard run as well. Surprisingly Kansas City held Dallas to 23 points this game despite the Birddogs getting 461 total yards from their offense. Christ threw for 333 yards and a score and despite throwing an interception was named player of the game on offense by the sim. The game was back and forth and ended in an interesting way as Dole missed the extra point that would have tied the game at 21. After a big stop and drive by his teammates, Dole got another shot in a big moment and knocked through a 23-yard field goal to win the game.
The better team won at the end but I have to credit the Coyotes on an amazing run to the Ultimini and a hell of a fight in the title game.
Former players:
QB Joliet Christ Jr. (HON/BER) (1x Ultimus Champ)
WR Deondre Thomas-Fox (SJS) (2x Ultimus Champ)
QB Joliet L. Christ (SJS) (Hall of Fame) (1x Ultimus Champ)