For the Philadelphia Liberty, this season has started out in an electric way. Going 4-1 to open up the season has really left us feeling strong and confident as a team. Our one loss was against Colorado, and they're a very strong team so while winning that one would've been incredible, the loss isn't the end of the world. As long as we're winning the games we should be winning, we'll be in good standing as the season continues. We do need to win a few of those close games, and again with our performance through those first four games, I think we can really pick it back up during the rest of this week. As far as my player is concerned, this year has been amazing for Matt Cross. Over the offseason, due to many coinciding situations in Philly, I switched from FS to RB. This transition has been extremely fun and I love being a RB. I feel like in these first 5 games, I have had a far stronger impact as a part of the team than I ever did as a FS. Through the first 5 games of the season, I have 38 attempts, with 174 yards. This has lead to a 4.6 yard average, which I'm pretty happy with. I'd love to get that above five yards per carry for my average by the end of the year, but I don't have much control over that besides the earning I can continue to do. While those obviously aren't super impressive numbers, as I'm just a RB2 behind the goat Lonnie Jackson, another part of my game is as a receiver. On 17 targets, I have 146 yards and 2 TD's, with an 8.6 yard average. So I have a total of 320 yards from scrimmage, with 2 TDs in just the first 5 games of the year, I'm stoked about that. It's hard to predict how my performance might pan out as the season continues, especially with how early it still is in the year, but with Negs as QB and the fast paced offense we've developed, I have high hopes.
Well it's been a streaky season so far in Sarasota. We're not having the start we hoped for, that's certain, so we're trying to get back on the right track and I think heading in the right direction. We're certainly playing well enough. Mike Boss Jr. is 2nd in passing yards and 4th in completions, with just 3 INTs on the year. Jackson Kingston leads the league in catches and sits 3rd in receiving yards. I have to come up with a rad nickname for our running back tandem of Huntsman and J'Vathon, because they've both been awesome. Even the offensive line is on top of their game, led by Stumpy Jones, of course. Sarasota's 2nd in the league in team pancakes, and even Mike Boss Jr. gets in on it; he's one of just two QBs to record a pancake this season!
Starting the season with three straight losses was rough, and honestly a little baffling. Chalk some of it up to plain old bad luck. I think the two most recent games are a better indicator of where this teams expects to finish the season; we just finished off two 20-point wins over two pretty good teams in Chicago and Berlin. Keep this up and that rough 0-3 start will be a distant memory by Week 16! As a defensive player I think I speak for all of us when I say that we need to step it up. The offense is chugging along, even though we got some bad bounces those first three weeks. It's on us to answer the call when the offense is struggling. Two defensive TDs on the season already is great to see, but we've been basically league average in most other statistical categories. If the offense keeps doing their thing and we as a defense can improve just a little bit we should see big things from the Sailfish the rest of this season!
As for Spike Daniels, he's doing pretty well for a rookie! Had a strong start with a strip tackle and an interception in the first two games, but it's been a little quiet since then. That's OK though! The important thing is keeping the rookie mistakes to a minimum, and so far so good there. Working as Cuco Clemente's apprentice has been a great experience and Spike's made some huge improvements to his game already thanks to that mentorship. Speaking of improving your game, it's time for practice. The work continues!
How has the team started so far? Well let me tell you about the unstoppable force of the Norfolk Seawolves. We have been rolling over every team this year. Last night we finished both games with a PF/PA differential of 104-33 blowing out 2 of our top divisional opponents. Our offence is humming to what we imagined it would be with all of our capped players and the defense is also doing exactly what we thought it would be doing even though we lost one of our key corners.
When it comes to my player, I'm happy I got promoted to WR2 this season so I am getting the ball a lot more. Last season I had four touchdowns total the entire year and I already have four in the first 3 games of the season. It seems like nobody will be able to stop us from winning it all with how these first three games have gone. I know the sim is completely random so I think it will be the only reason we can lose from some last minute siminess.
The Minnesota Grey Ducks currently sit at a record of 1-2. Although this is not ideal there is a lot of cause for optimism. The team is really starting to come together, and after two tough losses to start the year they were finally able to snag their first W against Kansas City. The Ducks plan to ride this wave of positivity to more wins as the season progresses. Rookie sensation Dax Dangerfield has really started to catch his rhythm out there on the field, too. Already one of the fastest players on the turf, Dax is starting to put together the other elements of playing defensive back. Remember, Dax played quarterback in college and is learning this new position on the fly. The rapid improvement from week to week in his play shows just how high his ceiling is. In fact, it's indicative of the team as a whole. Each player is making massive strides from week to week and it will result in Minnesota being a squad that no one will want to play when the postseason rolls around.