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+---- Thread: *Portland Pythons: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Part 2 (/showthread.php?tid=25123)
*Portland Pythons: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Part 2 - zeagle1 - 08-21-2020
Portland Pythons: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Part Two
The Portland Pythons have had an eventful couple of games, going 2-1 over the last three. Beating London by a resounding score of 23-10 and Kansas City with a great offensive showing, 38-24, is impressive enough on paper, but is even more so when you consider that both of these wins occurred on the road. Away wins make it that much sweeter. However, losing to a less than great Minnesota 19-15 at home is a puzzling result that will leave the GMs cursing the sim. Home losses sting even more. All in all, it was a positive series of games through weeks two through four for the Pythons.
The North is not the strongest of the two divisions, but there is incredible parity throughout it, with three teams at 2-2 and one at 1-3. The Pythons sit atop this merry bunch of northerners by way of having the only positive point differential in the division. Portland has a tough series of games ahead, at Myrtle Beach and hosting Tijuana, that will be a real indicator of the quality of the Pythons.
Through these three games there were ups and downs, so let’s discuss.
The Good:
1. The Pythons are first place in the north. No, you didn’t misread that last sentence, The Portland Pythons are, in fact, first in their division after finishing in last place in the previous season. Given, they are only 2-2 and only in first place due to point differential, but still. Having the only positive point differential in the division is a good indication of Portland’s quality this season, especially since they got blown out by the buzz saw that is Norfolk in week one. This very well could change in weeks five and six, as Portland has two tough matchups. The team is trending up though and could continue to rise to the occasion and pick up some more gritty wins.
2. Both of Portland’s wins were away games. In the sim, home field advantage is as OP as OP gets. Portland’s talented GMs put their players in the best position to win these games and got lucky. Both of these wins were fairly convincing, with a 13-point win over the Royals and a 14-point win over the Coyotes. These wins put Portland in great position to sweep the season series against London and Kansas City. Going 2-0 against two different division rivals pretty much guarantees a good record, and Portland seems to be close to making that happen. This is the most promising start to a season that Portland has had in years.
3. Receiver Korbin Brown continues his march towards superstardom with a string of impressive performances. After putting up two TDs, 39 receiving yards, and 45 kick and punt return yards in week one, he added 52 yards on 6 receptions in week two plus 96 return yards, in week three he posted 78 yards on five receptions, adding 46 additional return yards, and in week four he had his best showing with 5 receptions for 64 yards and a TD with 188 return yards and a return TD. His highlight of the season came in week four, returning a kickoff 98 yards for a TD when the momentum seemed to be slipping towards Kansas City. Through for games he has a whopping 608 all purpose yards and 4 TDs.
4. The defense has continually shown flashes of greatness throughout the early parts of the season. Giving up 24 points against Kansas City is not a great showing but holding London to 10 and Minnesota to 19 (with no offensive help) are great results. As I mentioned previously, the secondary is the star of the show. They may have allowed 258 passing yards vs London, but that was on 50 attempts, and they conjured up two interceptions, one from Davriel Lavigne and one from Darren McBobby, leaving QB Cortez with a pitiful 43.6 QB rating. Against Minnesota, they allowed a combined 11/21 for 109 yards, a TD and a pick. Despite Minnesota getting the win, the secondary did a great job containing the air attack. Kansas City has one of the best passing attacks in the DSFL, and it showed, with Covington III putting up 212 yards on 22/38 passing, but the secondary held up where it mattered, allowing only a single TD and an interception.
5. Sam Howitzer. The man with a cannon for an arm and an artillery piece for a last name. As of the end of week four, Sammy boy has the third highest QB rating, coming in at 83.2. The second highest QB rating is only 84.1, so with a good performance in weeks five and six, he very well could rise up into the second spot (Norfolk is on a whole ‘nother level, so second is basically first). His season stats thus far are 64 for 109, 622 yards, 4 TDs and only one interception. He’s middle of the road in most stats, but 4 TDs is good for a tie for 4th most, and his single interception is the lowest among QBs with at least 10 attempts. Sam is yet to really take over a game, but he definitely has not cost his team any games this season.
The Bad:
1. Portland may be first in the division right now, but they have a tough schedule coming up and very well could find themselves last after week six in a worst-case scenario. At Myrtle Beach is a tough fixture, and hosting a hungry Tijuana is never easy. Myrtle Beach has had an up-and-down season, beating Kansas City by 10, and shutting out London 13-0. On the downswing, they got blown out at Tijuana and at Norfolk. You can’t hold getting blown out by Norfolk against any team, but other than that they’ve had some good successes and big losses. If the team that shut out London shows up in week five, Portland will have a rough time. Tijuana started 2-0, then lost their next two, one in OT at Kansas City, and the other in a five-point game at Minnesota; they were a couple plays away from being 4-0. Both of these teams are a big threat to Portland, and they very well could play two solid games and go 0-2.
2. Portland’s rushing defense has been up and down in the past three games, stifling London and allowing only 98 yards from 24 attempts on the ground, getting trampled by Minnesota to the tune of 174 yards on 43 attempts and holding Kansas City to 111 yards on 27 rushes. Interestingly enough, the run defense only allowed rushing TDs to London and Kansas City. The rush defense is actually first in the division, but only fourth in the league. If the Rushing defense can shore itself up a little bit, Portland will have one of the best all around defenses in the league.
3. The north division is bad. Like really bad. The fact that Portland is the only team with a positive point differential is a big ol’ yikes. An unnamed Portland GM said that the worst team in the DSFL is in second in the division. Portland’s spirits are high, and rightly so, but this could all come crashing down if the rest of the north picks up some steam. A quick drop down the rankings could crush Portland’s morale, which would be devastating for the rebuilding team.
4. Sam Howitzer, despite his statistically solid season, is not putting up enough yards to really carry the team on his broad, muscular shoulders. Portland is third in the north in passing yards, and sixth in the DSFL. Portland is a run-first team, but they only average a mere 155.5 passing yards per game. This is weighed down by Sam’s 115-yard performance against London in the 23-10 win. Portland has been able to find the end zone fairly well without Sam putting up massive yardage, but that very well could change.
5. Portland has started to struggle to protect Sam Howitzer. After not giving up a sack to Norfolk, Portland allowed three sacks versus London, two against Minnesota, and one against Kansas City. While six sacks over three games isn’t back-breaking, it sure is not good, and the OL will have to rally to protect Sam Howitzer.
The Ugly:
1. Minnesota 19, Portland 15. That’s it, that’s the ugly. In all seriousness though, Minnesota is probably the worst team in the DSFL, and Portland somehow lost to them at home. The game was awful for Portland, the worst part being they didn’t find the end zone! Five field goals is cool, especially with 4 from 40+, but field goals don’t win championships. Two turnovers at bad times killed Portland, who couldn’t quite string together a couple plays to win the game. Terrible red zone offense was another culprit, obviously, as Portland couldn’t find the endzone at all. The failed fourth down conversion was the cherry on top of this shit cake. Portland’s best bet is to forget this game ever happened.
2. Third down efficiency. Someone needs to tell the Pythons that you want to convert third downs. Going 3/15 at London (and somehow winning), 5/15 against Minnesota, and a slightly better 5/11 against Kansas City is not good. Ok it’s worse than that, it’s terrible. How on earth did the Pythons beat the Royals with three third down conversions? These terrible numbers are a product of falling behind the chains by way of incomplete passes on first and second down, leaving the offense with the world to do on third and long. Portland struggled in this category in week one as well, which is a sign that this might be a problem that continues on for the entire season.
3. Someone needs to get the Pythons some discipline. Five penalties for 30 yards at London, eight (!!!) penalties for 44 yards against Minnesota, and a better three penalties for 24 yards against Kansas City. Frankly, both wins can be partially attributed to winning the penalty battle, with London and Kansas City committing far more penalties in those games. Despite this, Portland is committing far too many penalties and needs to clean this up to maximize their win chances this season.
4. Ok, back to the Minnesota loss because it was that terrible. Portland had one less turnover than Minnesota. Portland Passed for 64 more yards than Minnesota. Portland had 30 more total offensive yards than Minnesota. Portland had a higher yards per rush than Minnesota. Penalties though. Eight penalties for 44 yards vs Minnesota’s four penalties for 22 yards. I don’t have anything else to add other that the express frustration with the sim.
5. Portland is the only team without a home win. While it’s impressive that Portland has the tied best road record, the fact that even Dallas and Kansas City have road wins should make Portland feel badly. What’s wrong in Portland? They’ll need to figure something out soon, as the only way they can have any appreciable success this season is through racking up home victories. With how prevalent home-field advantage is in the sim, this is impressively terrible.
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1872 WordsRE: Portland Pythons: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Part 2 - Crodyman - 08-22-2020
Listen Chuck, from one Dartmouth alum to another, let me just say that you are wrong about Minnesota, and I look forward making that fact painfully evident when we meet again in week 10.