Quote:[table border=\\\'0\\\' align=\\\'center\\\' width=\\\'95%\\\' cellpadding=\\\'3\\\' cellspacing=\\\'1\\\' id=\\\'QUOTE-WRAP\\\'][tr][td]QUOTE [/td][/tr][tr][td id=\\\'QUOTE\\\'][!--QuoteEBegin--]CW #1 Robbed: Write about why a team that failed to make the playoffs should have over somebody else. Can be completed at any pointIt's hard to say a team got robbed when the result was decided fair and square on the field of play but that's exactly what I endeavor to do here.
The Philadelphia Liberty and Baltimore Hawks ended the season with identical 7-7 records, tied for the final playoff spot which went to the Liberty by virtue of their Week 14 win over the Hawks in an all-or-nothing regular season finale for the ages that gave them a 2-0 head-to-head advantage in the season series. While the Liberty making the playoffs over the Hawks makes for an incredible narrative (making up 3 games in 3 weeks culminating in a failed two point conversion with less than two minutes to play in the final game), narrative crafting is not what the playoffs are for. The playoffs seek to pit the two best teams in each conference against each other for the right to play for the Ultimus. The Philadelphia Liberty were the better team in the two games they played against the Hawks but the Hawks were the better team over the course of the full 14 game season as evidenced by their massively better point differential and the fact that the Liberty won 75% of their games decided by one score (3 of 4) versus 50% for the Hawks (5 of 10) suggests more than a little luck went the Liberty's way.
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Quote:Playoff Predictions: Give a short write up on each of the playoff matches (including the championship game). Must be completed before the simulation of the Conference FinalsNSFC:
On the 4th of December the Yellowknife Wraiths will host the Philadelphia Liberty with a ticket to the Championship on the line. The Wraiths earned home field by virtue of winning a single game more than the Liberty, boasting a 8-6 record to their 7-7. The previous meeting in Yellowknife didn't go well for the Wraiths as they lost by a slim 2 point margin so they will be out for revenge. I imagine they will be the favorites, too, thanks to their home field advantage and their date=]Root for the Underdog: Pick an away team in an upcoming game and try to convince yourself (and us) why they can win. (Must be completed before the playoff series you write about)[/quote]
In all honesty, either of the road teams could win this weekend. It's easy to say the Philadelphia Liberty as they swept the season series and come in on a 3 game win streak but let's take the road less traveled and talk about why Orange County can do the unthinkable and dethrone the Outlaws.
First of all Orange County, despite finishing 3 games behind in the standings, is just as good as Arizona. In the season opener in Orange County the Outlaws escaped with a 6 point overtime victory and in the Week 7 rematch the Otters came up 12 points short thanks to an 8 minute stretch in the 3rd quarter that saw the high-octane Orange County offense gain just 1 1st down in 3 drives as the Outlaws scored 16 points to blow open the game. Mike Boss went 2/6 for 17 yards during that stretch. That is certainly a credit to Arizona's defense but that sequence going even slightly different changes the complexion of the game. I expect the Orange County coaches to come out throwing early and often (Boss has 112 pass attempts against the Outlaws this season) and all it takes is one blown coverage, one tipped ball, one missed tackle to change the game and while the Arizona defense is quite good, it's been only mediocre against the pass. This season Boss has averaged a touchdown every 18.4 attempts yet has just one every 37.3 attempts against the outlaws. If we see that stat regress to the mean even a little we could be in for a 4 or 5 touchdown performance for Boss. It's not likely, it's not probable. But it's possible. And anything can happen in one game.
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Quote:Playoff Series MVP: Choose an MVP for one of the playoff series and write about why you chose them. Must be completed after the playoff series you write aboutBradley Westfield is without a doubt the MVP of the ASFC championship game. In the fourth edition of Otters vs Outlaws and the Outlaws looking for their fourth win, an Orange County player needed to step up and make the difference for his team. Bradley Westfield was that player as he carried the day, catching 6 passes for 64 yards and 3 touchdowns - the only 3 touchdowns the Otters scored. On a day where the Otters' passing attack was clicking on all cylinders (Mike Boss finished with nearly 9 ANY/A) only one receiver put points on the board and that was Westfield.
But Westfield's performance isn't completely represented by his stat line, we need to look at Mike Boss's. Boss only attempted 38 passes in this game which is nigh unheard of for the Otters. Had Westfield not scored early and often the Otters would've been airing the ball out quite a bit more and he likely would've ended with close to 10 receptions and would've almost surely broken 100 yards. He got his job done early, though, and was able to save a little something for the Ultimus where he scored 2 more touchdowns on 6 more receptions for 145 yards. Not a bad playoffs for the receiver.
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