Coming into the playoffs at 12-3-1 and as the regular season champions, it seems fair to say that Chicago was the favorite to win the Ultimus. They lived up to expectations and their banner now sits atop the site, with some beautiful rotating action showing off all their players and renders. Honestly, I have to say it is one of the more tasteful rotating banners I have seen in my time in the league, and I can not help myself and giggle every time I see that sloth or whatever it is. Truly, it is beautiful. The Butchers' season really was driven by a TON of success in the first half of the season. They picked up a week one win against Baltimore, lost to New Orleans, and then went on to beat Berlin, Yellowknife, Philly, Colorado, Sarasota, and Orange County consecutively. Through 8 games, they were an amazing 7-1. They still had not lost a game in the division, the only concern really was that their week 9 loss had them 0-2 against the ASFC, which may have been a concern should they make the championship game. Bouncing back from the loss to the Copperheads, they won another three in a row against the Yeti, Sailfish, and Salamanders. Their only conference loss came on the road against Baltimore in week 13. They finished an incredible 11-1 in the regular season in the conference and never beat an ASFC team in the regular season. The closest they came was a tie on the road in Arizona. There were way too many ties this season, but that is a topic for another post. Despite failing to win back to back games for the first time in the season in weeks 13 and 14, they finished the regular season off in impressive fashion, beating Yellowknife and putting up 52 points against Philadelphia before getting the first week of the playoffs off to rest up and put a bit more time into postseason preparation.
The Butchers played their first game of the playoffs in the conference championships, squaring off with the Berlin Fire Salamanders, who had just stomped the Sailfish in the first round. The Fire Salamanders had been nipping at the heels of the Butchers all season, coming in only a game back of first place with an 11-4-1 record. Unfortunately, Berlin lost both regular season games against the Butchers by double digits. But, as I am sure we all know, it is hard to beat the same team three times in a single season. Berlin had a good start to the game, leading 10-6 at the half and extending the lead to 17-6 going into the fourth quarter. But Chicago apparently wanted it more, coming from behind to put up 17 points in the fourth quarter to pull off the win and advance to the Ultimus game to face off against the Hahalua, who eliminated the Outlaws in a blowout win in their semifinal matchup. The Butchers got off to a better start this time, going into the half with a 17-10 lead. The Hahalua had it all tied up going into the fourth quarter and then took the lead with a safety a few minutes into the final quarter of the game. Chicago responded with a 64 yard tuchdown pass and a field goal, but the Hahalua weren't going to go down without a fight. With 55 seconds left in the game, they put the ball int he endzone and secured the two point conversion to send the game to overtime. Ultimately, Chicago punched it into the endzone with a Madison Hayes 1 yard run to secure the championship victory, taking both the regular season crown and winning the last game of the season. When I first joined the league, Chicago was honestly a bit of a laughingstock. They were known for making bad trades and were a bit of a meme in my draft class with a handful of users making it public that they refused to play for the Butchers. Then the GM collapse happened and a new regime came into power. The team has completed an impressive turnaround and seeing them hoist the trophy is pretty neat. Congrats to the Butchers, please stop beating my Yeti.
709 words.
The Butchers played their first game of the playoffs in the conference championships, squaring off with the Berlin Fire Salamanders, who had just stomped the Sailfish in the first round. The Fire Salamanders had been nipping at the heels of the Butchers all season, coming in only a game back of first place with an 11-4-1 record. Unfortunately, Berlin lost both regular season games against the Butchers by double digits. But, as I am sure we all know, it is hard to beat the same team three times in a single season. Berlin had a good start to the game, leading 10-6 at the half and extending the lead to 17-6 going into the fourth quarter. But Chicago apparently wanted it more, coming from behind to put up 17 points in the fourth quarter to pull off the win and advance to the Ultimus game to face off against the Hahalua, who eliminated the Outlaws in a blowout win in their semifinal matchup. The Butchers got off to a better start this time, going into the half with a 17-10 lead. The Hahalua had it all tied up going into the fourth quarter and then took the lead with a safety a few minutes into the final quarter of the game. Chicago responded with a 64 yard tuchdown pass and a field goal, but the Hahalua weren't going to go down without a fight. With 55 seconds left in the game, they put the ball int he endzone and secured the two point conversion to send the game to overtime. Ultimately, Chicago punched it into the endzone with a Madison Hayes 1 yard run to secure the championship victory, taking both the regular season crown and winning the last game of the season. When I first joined the league, Chicago was honestly a bit of a laughingstock. They were known for making bad trades and were a bit of a meme in my draft class with a handful of users making it public that they refused to play for the Butchers. Then the GM collapse happened and a new regime came into power. The team has completed an impressive turnaround and seeing them hoist the trophy is pretty neat. Congrats to the Butchers, please stop beating my Yeti.
709 words.