Welp the last regular season week has come and passed, actually it was my players last regular season ever and we were lucky enough to make the playoffs this season. I think the things that really really paid off for us was figuring out our passing defense well really our defense as a whole. Our pass attack really started to hit its truest at the end there so there was that factor as well. Our run game has always been pretty powerful with the two headed monster in Howard coward and Jeff Newman, those two are absolutely unstoppable. Heading in to the playoffs I think we just need to keep on doing what we have been doing this whole season, just grinding and following the game plan out coaching staff is laying in front of us and executing and doing all of our individual jobs and assignments. Hopefully we can go all the way in my final season.
For the Minnesota Grey Ducks, the path to the playoffs is clear: WIN WIN WIN. No seriously, if we just win out our odds of making the playoffs are basically guaranteed. Now, for us, winning hasn’t come easily this season, but we’ve won 3 of our last 4 and have been looking way better each and every week. This week, I truly believe that the Ducks will be in their absolute best form and be in prior position to win out. As long as we play to our strengths, which I believe we typically do pretty well, we SHOULD have this locked done. The next part of course, is that we really need KCC to lose. DSFL is hard to predict at times, so can’t count them out yet, but you better believe I will be using all my magic to ensure the Ducks lock down the division and take this thing all the way!
In New York I think we pretty much had it made. But you always want to head into the playoffs playing your best football. So ending the season with a win is a must. It is your last chance to make those minor changes in your game to get it to the next level. It is also the last week for the coaches to get a gameplan ready. I definitely dont think that we need to do much. Our coaches put together the best gameplan each week for any opponents that we face. We were in the championship game last season. So I am confident that we can make it back there again. We have a great roster on both sides of the ball. But as the saying goes Defense Wins Championships. I believe that in order for us to go all the way, the defense will need to step up and play lights out like we did all last season. I know we can do it.
Cape Town has made it to the endgame, yet again. Clinching a first round bye and home field advantage through the playoffs has made the path a little easier for the Crash to reach the Ultimus, but if they want to take home the trophy for the second time in 4 seasons, it's going to take a herculean effort and single-minded focus to get it done. That's all going to start with QB Craig Jerrith IV who is having an absolute banner season. The entire locker room has been in shock at how few Interceptions he's thrown all year. It's made even more impressive by the fact that the relative youth of the CTC WR room has led to more passing plays than in the past, though both of CTCs RBs also had extremely productive seasons with both eclipsing 1000 yards rushing. Backed up by a veteran-led defense that has stepped up to become a shut-down force, Cape Town has the tools and recipe to take it all the way. The only question is if they can perform under pressure after the week off.
Unfortunately i dont think YKW is going to make it this year, but this is probably the final year we do not make the playoffs, knock on wood. I mean, I think we can make it moving forward, but we are in a rebuild and we need to keep improving to get to that final dance! I think it was not anything anyone did wrong or played poorly but I think we just just need to keep grinding it out in the gym and in the weight room and we should be in good shape moving forward. I think in terms of the season iteself, if we wanted to make it, had we not got simmed a few times, we would have made it in! Pretty sure there was two games this season whereby we lost on the last PLAY, I think if that was reversed, BOOM --- playoff spot instantly!
Honestly I'm not entirely sure if there's anything the Bucs could have done differently this season. Last season we had drafted a lot of incredible talent, and wouldn't you know it, their ISFL teams wanted to call them up as soon as possible. We had a lot of holes to fill when the DSFL draft came around, and we did what we could to get them plugged, but the class just wasn't big enough.
We picked up and retained some great defensive talent, but relying on a bot kicker and newly created skill position players left us in a hard position. Our ground game was pretty solid, but pounding the rock isn't what you want to do when you're struggling to convert scoring chances. We had a steady offense, but with bad kicking we just weren't able to routinely get points on the board despite our defense's best efforts. I have high hopes for next season, but as a home town guy I'm known to be a little delusional.