[div align=\\\"center\\\"] DSFL S(22) Power Rankings Edition 2 [/div]
![[Image: Gi504hV.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Gi504hV.png)
Welcome everyone to another week of DSFL power rankings. While last weeks DSFL rankings were a bit short in content, this week we at the NSFL Media Bros have made sure to deliver some high quality content for our DSFL readers, including a review of the first 2 weeks of the DSFL regular season, and a team spotlight on the Tijuana Luchadores.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"] Method [/div]
1. No method changes this week. We streamlined our images so you can expect them every week, with hopefully new cool backgrounds!
2. For the DSFL (and likely for the NSFL) going forward I will likely just point out teams that interest me for the power rankings. We will still cover each teams week in the weekly reviews, but in the interest of saving time and not having to repeat ourselves, we will trial it like this.
3. For the image boards, the TPE section is where they stand TPE wise, which is essentially the preseason rankings. The Last Week section is what it says it is. Since its only been 1 week, it too is the preseason rankings
[div align=\\\"center\\\"] Results [/div]
OFFENSIVE POWER RANKINGS
![[Image: 4JROh7z.png]](https://i.imgur.com/4JROh7z.png)
(number in brackets denotes TPE rankings)
1. London 1.333 (2)
2. Myrtle Beach 1.211 (3)
3. Minnesota 1.043 (4)
4. Kansas City 0.919 (7)
5. Dallas 0.877 (5)
6. Norfolk 0.865 (8)
7. Tijuana 0.771 (1)
8. Portland 0.482 (6)
TEAMS OF NOTE
1.
jump all the way to the top after the Luchadores struggled and the Royals had 2 very strong early season performances. Playing at home does have that effect and it will be interesting to see if they can continue this next week with 3 out of 4 games to be played on the road.
2.
were the only team to truly outperform their preseason ranking, which may be the case of simply having them too low to begin with. They played 1 relatively strong defensive team in Norfolk and a game against the resilient London Royals and put up a total of 43 points.
3.
and finally we have Tijuana. My #1 ranked team coming into the season offensively. The loss to London on the road is to be expected, but the loss at home, putting up only 6 against Norfolk is concerning. They have a chance to redeem themselves next week with games against the Buccs at home and the Grey Ducks on the road.
DEFENSIVE POWER RANKINGS
![[Image: 71qZG3H.png]](https://i.imgur.com/71qZG3H.png)
(number in brackets denotes TPE rankings)
1. Myrtle Beach 1.333 (1)
2. London 0.794 (8)
3. Minnesota 0.567 (2)
4. Norfolk 0.558 (5)
5. Dallas 0.535 (6)
6. Kansas City 0.535 (7)
7. Tijuana 0.474 (3)
8. Portland 0.456 (4)
TEAMS OF NOTE
1. This is a headscratcher. How did the Royals go from 8th to 2nd? This again might be home field advantage at play. I would like to wait one more week before drawing any more conclusions about this team.
2. Tijuana is again on this list, as not only was their offensive anemic, so was their defense. With only 2 games played, we’ll see how Tijuana deals with the early adversity.
3.
I feel like last season I was the only person not in the Pythons organization that was touting their horn. This season I had them ranked slightly lower due to some call ups, but it seemed I underestimated how badly the callups would effect this defense. Giving up 34 points in both of their opening games, and scoring 0 in their home opener to the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers, this team has a bit of soul searching to do before a tough road matchup against the Birddogs next week.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"] FINAL COMBINED POWER RANKINGS WITH INDEX[/div]
(First bracket number is purely stats/performance. Second number is TPE rankings)
1. Myrtle Beach 2.605 (1)(2)
2. London 2.056 (2)(7)
3. Norfolk 1.993 (5)(5)
4. Minnesota 1.974 (3)(3)
5. Kansas City 1.846 (4)(8)
6. Tijuana 1.785 (7)(1)
7. Portland 1.733 (8)(4)
8. Dallas 1.612 (6)(6)
[div align=\\\"center\\\"] Weeks 1 and 2 Review[/div]
Presented by Sakrosankt and Baron1898
DSFL Week 1
Kansas City Coyotes @ London Royals , 10-31
The first game of the season saw the 5th ranked London Royals come away with a home victory over the 3rd ranked Kansas City Coyotes. London opened with 10 points before Deonte Washington caught a touchdown to keep it relatively close for Kansas City at 7-10 going into halftime. But the Royals pulled away in the second half, bolstered by a 52 yard pick six from Ed Ball, and scored a decisive three score victory. Colby Jack threw for 3 touchdowns and a pick, while his opponent Reginald Covington III didn’t even manage to cross 100 passing yards and threw 2 interceptions to boot. Despite narrowly leading in time of possession, the Coyotes were outgained both on the ground and through the air, and only managed 12 first downs for the entire game. It remains to be seen whether this is the fault of the staunchness of the London defense or the ineptitude of the Kansas City offense.
Myrtle Beach Buccaneers @ Portland Pythons, 34-0
An away game shutout doesn’t come around frequently, but given the disparity in teams it wasn’t that big of an upset. The Buccaneers, ranked 2nd in the DSFL Preseason Rankings, had a field day on offense, scored 17 unopposed points in each half to pull away with a victory that never seemed close. While Chris Ramos has a solid if unremarkable outing, the primary credit on offense goes to the Myrtle Beach run game, whose backs put up 238 yards and 3 touchdowns led by 3 Jeffrey. Their defense also played spectacularly, abusing the Pythons’ offensive line to the tune of eight sacks. Eugene Smoothie led the way with 5 tackles, 2 sacks, a pass deflection, and an interception off the hands of George O’Donnell, who completed only 12 passes for 118 yards. Myrtle Beach managed to almost double the total yardage put up by their opponent, who went 2/15 on third and fourth downs.
Norfolk Seawolves @ Tijuana Luchadores, 17-6
The second road win of the day, the 4th ranked Seawolves pulled off a comfortable upset over the top-ranked Tijuana Luchadores. Tijuana scored first with a Jacob Small field goal, but Norfolk responded with a Luke Skywalker touchdown drive and a field goal of their own to make it 10-3 going into half time. The third quarter saw the final two scores of the game, another Small field goal and Skywalker touchdown pass making it 17-6, while the fourth quarter was devoid of anything except punts and turnovers. Both teams split snaps between quarterback starters, with Norfolk edging out Tijuana primarily because Skywalker was the only passer to throw a touchdown. The running games were not so even. Tequila Sunrise outgained the entire Tijuana backfield on his own, contributing 129 yards on 28 rushes. The linebacker duo of Shepherd Marshall and Ryan Scott were everywhere on defense; combined, the two put up 17 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble. Time of possession, penalties, and even total yardage was a remarkably even split between both teams.
Minnesota Grey Ducks @ Dallas Birddogs, 15-27
The 6th ranked preseason team lost their away opener to the 8th ranked Dallas Birddogs in a game that was never as close as the final score suggests. Dallas opened up larger and larger margins with each passing quarter, with Minnesota only scoring a safety and two field goals before a literal last second touchdown drive in the 4th kept the final tally within two scores. Monty Jack averaged over 15 yards per completion, boosted by an insane 5 reception, 116 yard, 1 touchdown statline from Mike Lee, while Kichwa Jones put in 115 yards on the ground and a score of his own. A key factor in the loss was ball security, which the Grey Ducks completely whiffed on, fumbling the ball three times with one being recovered by Dallas to go on top of a Sim SnowBow interception. Philip Stein performed admirably for the Grey Ducks, averaging 51.8 yards per punt and kicking 2 of his 3 field goal attempts through the uprights. On defense, Blade McCoy led both teams with 16 tackles to go along with a tackle for loss and two forced fumbles.
WEEK 2
Norfolk Seawolves @ Kansas City Coyotes 15-33
Norfolk is facing the winless Coyotes on the road. They were able to beat as #5 ranked team in the preseason power ranking the leading Luchadores on the road. Now they travelled to the bottom of the list, the Kansas City Coyotes.
The game starts with a fumble from Norfolk by Sunrise, which was recovered by Ammons. Kansas didn’t ask twice and converted this turnover into a touchdown, Covington found Cooper who carried a defender and the ball into the endzone. After a fumble by the Coyotes’ RB Nova which was recovered by Banks, Sunrise scored. But the combination of Covington to Cooper, who drags ball and defender into the endzone, striked again soon after. And to make it three, Covington found again - this time wide open - Cooper, who had no problem to score again. The game continued with turnovers, as Covington threw an interception and Son Goku forced a fumble and recovered it in one of the next drives. Some field goals on both sides and a late rushing TD by Nova finished the game 33-15 for the home team. A turnover heavy game ended with a clear victory for the team that used their chances after the turnovers better. The passing attack from Kansas City looked really good, Covington tracked a 104 passer rating and Cooper finished with 109 yards and 3 TDs. On the side of Norfolk, the passing attack still has lots of improvement, the run game seems to work better.
Tijuana Luchadores @ London Royals 16-39
The #1 ranked team from preseason power rankings visits #7 on the list. The favorite role is clear, although Tijuana is on the road. The game starts in the worst way it could for the Luchadores though. On the first possession, Slothlisberger got sacked in the endzone for a Safety. Not much else than punts happened till the end of the first quarter, when Waters found Vequain who fought his way for a 30-yard TD into the endzone. And the second quarter started even better for Tijuana, as Hexagon intercepted Jack near midfield. But two consecutive sacks, a penalty and an interception from Slothlisberger by van Perkins paved the way for London’s first TD by Susan Cash. A minute before halftime, London grew it’s lead with a TD by Batista. After the second Slothlisberger interception of the day at their own 20, King rushed for the next Royals TD. And the Royals kept rolling. After a good drive resulting in a TD, they immediately forced another turnover and scored again. Some garbage time scores and another Tijuana interception set an ending to the game. The Royals defense was the game changer here, racking up 3 interceptions, a fumble recovery and a Safety, providing their offense a huge advantage in field position.
Portland Pythons @ Minnesota Grey Ducks 13-34
Minnesota hosted the Pythons in an interesting NFC matchup. Both teams lost their first game of the season, so they tried to get their first win in this game. Both teams started nervous, the first drives all ended quickly in punts. Minnesota started the scoring with their first good drive of the evening, resulting in a SnowBow to Brooks pass TD. Fieldgoals on both sides ended the first quarter. In the second quarter, a punt return TD by Lackson and a FG set the half time lead of Minnesota to 20-3. Following an Interception in the second half, Pythons scored by McZeal, but Minnesota didn’t allowed the Pythons to come back. In the following drive, they immediately answered with another TD to set up the old lead again. Portland needed another good drive to keep their hopes up, but the Grey Ducks managed a goal line stand and left the Pythons only a FG. The kickoff brought the seal to the game, as Brooks returned it for a 96-yard kickoff return TD. The second special team touchdown of the game for Minnesota already. The game winner in this matchup was the effectiveness of the special team paired with a good balance of offense and defense. Minnesota managed to limit the Pythons offense and set an end to their efforts when it counted, and moved the ball well on their own drives.
Dallas Birddogs @ Myrtle Beach Buccaneers 6-26
Both teams went into this matchup victorious, showing off what they got in week 1 already. The Bucs were the big favorite in this game, playing at home and entering the first matchups as #2 in the power rankings.
The first drives were solid efforts, but were stopped near midfield. Myrtle Beach started scoring by a TD pass from Ramos to Despacito Jr. The Birddogs on the other side weren’t able to set anything going for themselves, and had to see the Bucs score another time, again Ramos found Despacito Jr. in the endzone. A field goal by Myrtle Beach set the half time score of 17-0. The first points the Bucs allowed this season came in the 7th quarter played, so the 3rd in this game. Dallas finished two drives in field goal range, and converted both kicks into points, shortening the lead to 17-6. What followed was a punt session on both sides, before the Bucs started another drive that resulted in a TD. This time, Ramos passed to Bodenhammer to get his 3rd passing TD of the evening. Ramos finished with a fabulous 139.4 rating in this win over Dallas. A perfect day from the QB and an astounding defensive performance with 5 sacks from 5 different players paved the way to the second victory in the second game for the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers for their 2-0 record.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"] Tijuana Luchadores[/div]
Presented by Sakrosankt
The Tijuana Luchadores start into this DSFL season as one of the teams with the highest TPE players on their roster. While some teams had to wave many building stones of their last years team goodbye, the Luchadores seem to not be hit too hard with callups. And where holes opened up, they neatly fixed with draft picks. Let’s recap what happened to the Luchadores in this offseason.
Last season, Tijuana finished the season with a 6-8 record, resulting in the third place in the SFC and missing the playoffs. They had a good scoring offense, but the defense allowed too many points, which resulted in a point differential of only +8.
Callups
• Ed Barker, RB, S21, 379 TPE, NOLA
• Julio Tirtawidjaja, RB, S22, 296 TPE, Chicago
• Gronk Robertoswki, TE, S21, 240 TPE, Yeti
• Thomas Passmann, WR, S22, 307 TPE, Arizona
• Calvin Golladay, OL, S22, 299 TPE, Arizona
• George “Corpse Grinder” Fisher, LB, S22, 287 TPE, San Jose
• Ugarth the Dissector, LB, S21 314 TPE, NOLA
• Andrew Witten, CB, S22 310 TPE, NOLA
In the offseason, Tijuana had to let go 3 of their last years senddowns. Ed Barker and Ugarth the Dissector were called up to play in New Orleans, and Gronk Robertoswki will be of service for the Colorado Yeti.
In the NSFL draft, 5 more players were immediately called up to their new teams. Andrew Witten was selected in the first round by New Orleans. Thomas Passmann and Calvin Golladay headed to Arizona, George Fisher was selected by San Jose and Julio Tirtawidjaja was the second pick of Chicago in the draft. The rest of the S22 draft class will play for at least another season in Tijuana.
Team Overview
QB
• Ben Slothlisberger, S22, 316 TPE
• Jim Waters,S22, 299 TPE
Tijuana might have the best QB room in the entire league. Ben Slothlisberger and Jim Waters were both drafted last year, and both are high earners who already exceeded the DSFL cap of 250 TPE. Besides the problem that there is only one QB per snap, they have many options opening up with this comfort. They can adjust their game on whatever strengths are needed in what formation and can alternate their players there.
RB
• Richard Gilbert, S22, 275 TPE
The departure of Ed Barker, max capped RB and Julio Tirtawidjaja won’t be as hard for the Luchadores than losing a top RB can be, as Richard Gilbert, himself already maxed out for DSFL level, will take over there. So Tijuana will head into another season with an already maxed RB, which is a good asset to have in this run-heavy league.
WR
• Jordan McCann III, S17, 192 TPE
• Friedrich Vequain, S22, 162 TPE
• Jackson Kingston, S23, 130 TPE
• Doug Howlett, S23, 119 TPE
• Damien Hands, S23, 67 TPE
Thomas Passmann catches balls in the NSFL now and leaves a big hole behind for Tijuana. Jordan McCann III, a S17 relict at 192 TPE may be used for a last time this season. But there’s also Friedrich Vequain, who already showed his productivity last year. Vequain will need to step up to WR1 now, but Tijuana also drafted three young wideouts in Jackson Kingston, Doug Howlett and Damien Hands. Kingston and Howlett are already good earning, they will fight for the starting job with the experienced options there.
TE
• Ben Kenobi, S20, 144 TPE
• Rondo Jones, S22, 83 TPE
• Ethan Smith, S23, 59 TPe
At TE, Gronk Robertoswki was called up to fulfill his duties in Colorado. This leaves Ben Kenobi and Rondo Jones as the options for Tijuana next to rookie Ethan Smith. Smith will need some time to develop his attributes and turn into a good earner to challenge Kenobi for the starting gig. Kenobi currently sits at 144 TPE, so once one of the other TE start earning, there could be a competitive fight for the starting position at TE.
OL
• Kevin Malone, S23, 137 TPE
• Sylvester Berlin, S22, 86 TPE
• James Carson, S22, 69 TPE
• Bryant Alexander, S19, 50 TPE
At O-Line, Tijuana secured the services of Kevin Malone to build up their human controlled line. They had to see Golladay go, but Malone will immediately take over for him. Sylvester Berlin is the other OL Tijuana used last season and will do so this year too most probably.
DE
• Tycker Om, S23, 150 TPE
• Daniel Winkler, S22, 77 TPE
• D’Briskshaw Cannon, S22, 67 TPE
DT
• Bane Ka’ana’ana, S23, 157 TPE
• John Nesbitt, S22, 57 TPE
• Kade Hines, S22, 52 TPE
The defensive line was the big problem for Tijuana last year. They lacked in quality at DE and DT last year, and tried early on to fix this problem in the draft. With their second and third selection they got top prospects DT Bane Ka’ana’ana and DE Tycker Om to fix this weakness. Those are the only players of over 80 TPE at these two positions, and they have already earned over 150 TPE. This will help Tijuana fix up their line, as this position group didn’t even lose anyone to callups.
LB
• Junior Lopez, S18, 206 TPE
• Nat Wright, S22, 139 TPE
• Griffin Porter, S23, 131 TPE
• Devaunte Sackpieder, S22, 97 TPE
• Julius Andersson, S22, 50 TPE
To complete the D-Line, Tijuana is known to use LB to fill it up. Although Ugarth the Dissector and George Fisher were called up into the NSFL, they still have one of the best LB rooms in the DSFL. Junior Lopez, a S18 player, and the two S22 draftees Nat Wright and Devaunte Sackpieder are more players already than you normally need at LB. But with their first pick, Tijuana also brought in Griffin Porter, another LB to work with. As the D-Line needs some help, there is enough talent now to build up a nasty D-Line and LB corps.
CB
• Ozamataz Buckshank, S22, 116 TPE
• Killian Carnahan, S23, 69 TPE
• Nick Jones, S22, 50 TPE
The CB position can be seen as the weakest position on the whole Tijuana roster. After the departure of top CB Andrew Witten, Ozamataz Buckshank (116 TPE) and rookie Killian Carnahan (69 TPE) have to take care at CB now. The current players can turn into playmakers quickly, when they start earning continously. Although CB may be the weakest spot currently, the secondary in Tijuana has big potential to turn into a no fly zone.
S
• Howard Ryan, S18, 268 TPE
• LiterallyJust A. Hexagon, S22, 251 TPE
• Magnus Valdyr, S22, 221 TPE
• Dick “Dickie” Cheese III, S23, 50 TPE
The reason for this is the extraordinary talent at Safety. Howard Ryan, LiterallyJust A. Hexagon and Magnus Valdyr are all capped or near cap of 250 TPE and will be the base of the secondary. With draft pick Dick Cheese III, they even have a backup there, but he will have to start earning to become a viable option next to the experienced ones.
K
Jacob Small, S22, 167 TPE
At Kicker, Jacob Small goes into his second season in continues his steady earning. At 167 TPE, he turned into one of the best kicker in the league already.
All in all, the Luchadores have a good combination on offense, with maxed QBs and RBs and a solid receiver group. On defense, the line will be bolstered up by the best LB-depth in the DSFL, and the secondary will be lead by a super strong Safety group. This combination is, what could lead Tijuana to glory this season, if they accomplish to build up a strategy to combine all the individual pieces they have.
Word Count=3581
Please pay Sakrosankt 60%, Baron1898 20%, and Isidore94 20%
Welcome everyone to another week of DSFL power rankings. While last weeks DSFL rankings were a bit short in content, this week we at the NSFL Media Bros have made sure to deliver some high quality content for our DSFL readers, including a review of the first 2 weeks of the DSFL regular season, and a team spotlight on the Tijuana Luchadores.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"] Method [/div]
1. No method changes this week. We streamlined our images so you can expect them every week, with hopefully new cool backgrounds!
2. For the DSFL (and likely for the NSFL) going forward I will likely just point out teams that interest me for the power rankings. We will still cover each teams week in the weekly reviews, but in the interest of saving time and not having to repeat ourselves, we will trial it like this.
3. For the image boards, the TPE section is where they stand TPE wise, which is essentially the preseason rankings. The Last Week section is what it says it is. Since its only been 1 week, it too is the preseason rankings
[div align=\\\"center\\\"] Results [/div]
OFFENSIVE POWER RANKINGS
(number in brackets denotes TPE rankings)
1. London 1.333 (2)
2. Myrtle Beach 1.211 (3)
3. Minnesota 1.043 (4)
4. Kansas City 0.919 (7)
5. Dallas 0.877 (5)
6. Norfolk 0.865 (8)
7. Tijuana 0.771 (1)
8. Portland 0.482 (6)
TEAMS OF NOTE
1.
jump all the way to the top after the Luchadores struggled and the Royals had 2 very strong early season performances. Playing at home does have that effect and it will be interesting to see if they can continue this next week with 3 out of 4 games to be played on the road. 2.
were the only team to truly outperform their preseason ranking, which may be the case of simply having them too low to begin with. They played 1 relatively strong defensive team in Norfolk and a game against the resilient London Royals and put up a total of 43 points. 3.
and finally we have Tijuana. My #1 ranked team coming into the season offensively. The loss to London on the road is to be expected, but the loss at home, putting up only 6 against Norfolk is concerning. They have a chance to redeem themselves next week with games against the Buccs at home and the Grey Ducks on the road. DEFENSIVE POWER RANKINGS
(number in brackets denotes TPE rankings)
1. Myrtle Beach 1.333 (1)
2. London 0.794 (8)
3. Minnesota 0.567 (2)
4. Norfolk 0.558 (5)
5. Dallas 0.535 (6)
6. Kansas City 0.535 (7)
7. Tijuana 0.474 (3)
8. Portland 0.456 (4)
TEAMS OF NOTE
1.
This is a headscratcher. How did the Royals go from 8th to 2nd? This again might be home field advantage at play. I would like to wait one more week before drawing any more conclusions about this team. 2.
Tijuana is again on this list, as not only was their offensive anemic, so was their defense. With only 2 games played, we’ll see how Tijuana deals with the early adversity. 3.
I feel like last season I was the only person not in the Pythons organization that was touting their horn. This season I had them ranked slightly lower due to some call ups, but it seemed I underestimated how badly the callups would effect this defense. Giving up 34 points in both of their opening games, and scoring 0 in their home opener to the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers, this team has a bit of soul searching to do before a tough road matchup against the Birddogs next week. [div align=\\\"center\\\"] FINAL COMBINED POWER RANKINGS WITH INDEX[/div]
(First bracket number is purely stats/performance. Second number is TPE rankings)
1. Myrtle Beach 2.605 (1)(2)
2. London 2.056 (2)(7)
3. Norfolk 1.993 (5)(5)
4. Minnesota 1.974 (3)(3)
5. Kansas City 1.846 (4)(8)
6. Tijuana 1.785 (7)(1)
7. Portland 1.733 (8)(4)
8. Dallas 1.612 (6)(6)
[div align=\\\"center\\\"] Weeks 1 and 2 Review[/div]
Presented by Sakrosankt and Baron1898
DSFL Week 1
Kansas City Coyotes @ London Royals , 10-31
The first game of the season saw the 5th ranked London Royals come away with a home victory over the 3rd ranked Kansas City Coyotes. London opened with 10 points before Deonte Washington caught a touchdown to keep it relatively close for Kansas City at 7-10 going into halftime. But the Royals pulled away in the second half, bolstered by a 52 yard pick six from Ed Ball, and scored a decisive three score victory. Colby Jack threw for 3 touchdowns and a pick, while his opponent Reginald Covington III didn’t even manage to cross 100 passing yards and threw 2 interceptions to boot. Despite narrowly leading in time of possession, the Coyotes were outgained both on the ground and through the air, and only managed 12 first downs for the entire game. It remains to be seen whether this is the fault of the staunchness of the London defense or the ineptitude of the Kansas City offense.
Myrtle Beach Buccaneers @ Portland Pythons, 34-0
An away game shutout doesn’t come around frequently, but given the disparity in teams it wasn’t that big of an upset. The Buccaneers, ranked 2nd in the DSFL Preseason Rankings, had a field day on offense, scored 17 unopposed points in each half to pull away with a victory that never seemed close. While Chris Ramos has a solid if unremarkable outing, the primary credit on offense goes to the Myrtle Beach run game, whose backs put up 238 yards and 3 touchdowns led by 3 Jeffrey. Their defense also played spectacularly, abusing the Pythons’ offensive line to the tune of eight sacks. Eugene Smoothie led the way with 5 tackles, 2 sacks, a pass deflection, and an interception off the hands of George O’Donnell, who completed only 12 passes for 118 yards. Myrtle Beach managed to almost double the total yardage put up by their opponent, who went 2/15 on third and fourth downs.
Norfolk Seawolves @ Tijuana Luchadores, 17-6
The second road win of the day, the 4th ranked Seawolves pulled off a comfortable upset over the top-ranked Tijuana Luchadores. Tijuana scored first with a Jacob Small field goal, but Norfolk responded with a Luke Skywalker touchdown drive and a field goal of their own to make it 10-3 going into half time. The third quarter saw the final two scores of the game, another Small field goal and Skywalker touchdown pass making it 17-6, while the fourth quarter was devoid of anything except punts and turnovers. Both teams split snaps between quarterback starters, with Norfolk edging out Tijuana primarily because Skywalker was the only passer to throw a touchdown. The running games were not so even. Tequila Sunrise outgained the entire Tijuana backfield on his own, contributing 129 yards on 28 rushes. The linebacker duo of Shepherd Marshall and Ryan Scott were everywhere on defense; combined, the two put up 17 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble. Time of possession, penalties, and even total yardage was a remarkably even split between both teams.
Minnesota Grey Ducks @ Dallas Birddogs, 15-27
The 6th ranked preseason team lost their away opener to the 8th ranked Dallas Birddogs in a game that was never as close as the final score suggests. Dallas opened up larger and larger margins with each passing quarter, with Minnesota only scoring a safety and two field goals before a literal last second touchdown drive in the 4th kept the final tally within two scores. Monty Jack averaged over 15 yards per completion, boosted by an insane 5 reception, 116 yard, 1 touchdown statline from Mike Lee, while Kichwa Jones put in 115 yards on the ground and a score of his own. A key factor in the loss was ball security, which the Grey Ducks completely whiffed on, fumbling the ball three times with one being recovered by Dallas to go on top of a Sim SnowBow interception. Philip Stein performed admirably for the Grey Ducks, averaging 51.8 yards per punt and kicking 2 of his 3 field goal attempts through the uprights. On defense, Blade McCoy led both teams with 16 tackles to go along with a tackle for loss and two forced fumbles.
WEEK 2
Norfolk Seawolves @ Kansas City Coyotes 15-33
Norfolk is facing the winless Coyotes on the road. They were able to beat as #5 ranked team in the preseason power ranking the leading Luchadores on the road. Now they travelled to the bottom of the list, the Kansas City Coyotes.
The game starts with a fumble from Norfolk by Sunrise, which was recovered by Ammons. Kansas didn’t ask twice and converted this turnover into a touchdown, Covington found Cooper who carried a defender and the ball into the endzone. After a fumble by the Coyotes’ RB Nova which was recovered by Banks, Sunrise scored. But the combination of Covington to Cooper, who drags ball and defender into the endzone, striked again soon after. And to make it three, Covington found again - this time wide open - Cooper, who had no problem to score again. The game continued with turnovers, as Covington threw an interception and Son Goku forced a fumble and recovered it in one of the next drives. Some field goals on both sides and a late rushing TD by Nova finished the game 33-15 for the home team. A turnover heavy game ended with a clear victory for the team that used their chances after the turnovers better. The passing attack from Kansas City looked really good, Covington tracked a 104 passer rating and Cooper finished with 109 yards and 3 TDs. On the side of Norfolk, the passing attack still has lots of improvement, the run game seems to work better.
Tijuana Luchadores @ London Royals 16-39
The #1 ranked team from preseason power rankings visits #7 on the list. The favorite role is clear, although Tijuana is on the road. The game starts in the worst way it could for the Luchadores though. On the first possession, Slothlisberger got sacked in the endzone for a Safety. Not much else than punts happened till the end of the first quarter, when Waters found Vequain who fought his way for a 30-yard TD into the endzone. And the second quarter started even better for Tijuana, as Hexagon intercepted Jack near midfield. But two consecutive sacks, a penalty and an interception from Slothlisberger by van Perkins paved the way for London’s first TD by Susan Cash. A minute before halftime, London grew it’s lead with a TD by Batista. After the second Slothlisberger interception of the day at their own 20, King rushed for the next Royals TD. And the Royals kept rolling. After a good drive resulting in a TD, they immediately forced another turnover and scored again. Some garbage time scores and another Tijuana interception set an ending to the game. The Royals defense was the game changer here, racking up 3 interceptions, a fumble recovery and a Safety, providing their offense a huge advantage in field position.
Portland Pythons @ Minnesota Grey Ducks 13-34
Minnesota hosted the Pythons in an interesting NFC matchup. Both teams lost their first game of the season, so they tried to get their first win in this game. Both teams started nervous, the first drives all ended quickly in punts. Minnesota started the scoring with their first good drive of the evening, resulting in a SnowBow to Brooks pass TD. Fieldgoals on both sides ended the first quarter. In the second quarter, a punt return TD by Lackson and a FG set the half time lead of Minnesota to 20-3. Following an Interception in the second half, Pythons scored by McZeal, but Minnesota didn’t allowed the Pythons to come back. In the following drive, they immediately answered with another TD to set up the old lead again. Portland needed another good drive to keep their hopes up, but the Grey Ducks managed a goal line stand and left the Pythons only a FG. The kickoff brought the seal to the game, as Brooks returned it for a 96-yard kickoff return TD. The second special team touchdown of the game for Minnesota already. The game winner in this matchup was the effectiveness of the special team paired with a good balance of offense and defense. Minnesota managed to limit the Pythons offense and set an end to their efforts when it counted, and moved the ball well on their own drives.
Dallas Birddogs @ Myrtle Beach Buccaneers 6-26
Both teams went into this matchup victorious, showing off what they got in week 1 already. The Bucs were the big favorite in this game, playing at home and entering the first matchups as #2 in the power rankings.
The first drives were solid efforts, but were stopped near midfield. Myrtle Beach started scoring by a TD pass from Ramos to Despacito Jr. The Birddogs on the other side weren’t able to set anything going for themselves, and had to see the Bucs score another time, again Ramos found Despacito Jr. in the endzone. A field goal by Myrtle Beach set the half time score of 17-0. The first points the Bucs allowed this season came in the 7th quarter played, so the 3rd in this game. Dallas finished two drives in field goal range, and converted both kicks into points, shortening the lead to 17-6. What followed was a punt session on both sides, before the Bucs started another drive that resulted in a TD. This time, Ramos passed to Bodenhammer to get his 3rd passing TD of the evening. Ramos finished with a fabulous 139.4 rating in this win over Dallas. A perfect day from the QB and an astounding defensive performance with 5 sacks from 5 different players paved the way to the second victory in the second game for the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers for their 2-0 record.
[div align=\\\"center\\\"] Tijuana Luchadores[/div]
Presented by Sakrosankt
The Tijuana Luchadores start into this DSFL season as one of the teams with the highest TPE players on their roster. While some teams had to wave many building stones of their last years team goodbye, the Luchadores seem to not be hit too hard with callups. And where holes opened up, they neatly fixed with draft picks. Let’s recap what happened to the Luchadores in this offseason.
Last season, Tijuana finished the season with a 6-8 record, resulting in the third place in the SFC and missing the playoffs. They had a good scoring offense, but the defense allowed too many points, which resulted in a point differential of only +8.
Callups
• Ed Barker, RB, S21, 379 TPE, NOLA
• Julio Tirtawidjaja, RB, S22, 296 TPE, Chicago
• Gronk Robertoswki, TE, S21, 240 TPE, Yeti
• Thomas Passmann, WR, S22, 307 TPE, Arizona
• Calvin Golladay, OL, S22, 299 TPE, Arizona
• George “Corpse Grinder” Fisher, LB, S22, 287 TPE, San Jose
• Ugarth the Dissector, LB, S21 314 TPE, NOLA
• Andrew Witten, CB, S22 310 TPE, NOLA
In the offseason, Tijuana had to let go 3 of their last years senddowns. Ed Barker and Ugarth the Dissector were called up to play in New Orleans, and Gronk Robertoswki will be of service for the Colorado Yeti.
In the NSFL draft, 5 more players were immediately called up to their new teams. Andrew Witten was selected in the first round by New Orleans. Thomas Passmann and Calvin Golladay headed to Arizona, George Fisher was selected by San Jose and Julio Tirtawidjaja was the second pick of Chicago in the draft. The rest of the S22 draft class will play for at least another season in Tijuana.
Team Overview
QB
• Ben Slothlisberger, S22, 316 TPE
• Jim Waters,S22, 299 TPE
Tijuana might have the best QB room in the entire league. Ben Slothlisberger and Jim Waters were both drafted last year, and both are high earners who already exceeded the DSFL cap of 250 TPE. Besides the problem that there is only one QB per snap, they have many options opening up with this comfort. They can adjust their game on whatever strengths are needed in what formation and can alternate their players there.
RB
• Richard Gilbert, S22, 275 TPE
The departure of Ed Barker, max capped RB and Julio Tirtawidjaja won’t be as hard for the Luchadores than losing a top RB can be, as Richard Gilbert, himself already maxed out for DSFL level, will take over there. So Tijuana will head into another season with an already maxed RB, which is a good asset to have in this run-heavy league.
WR
• Jordan McCann III, S17, 192 TPE
• Friedrich Vequain, S22, 162 TPE
• Jackson Kingston, S23, 130 TPE
• Doug Howlett, S23, 119 TPE
• Damien Hands, S23, 67 TPE
Thomas Passmann catches balls in the NSFL now and leaves a big hole behind for Tijuana. Jordan McCann III, a S17 relict at 192 TPE may be used for a last time this season. But there’s also Friedrich Vequain, who already showed his productivity last year. Vequain will need to step up to WR1 now, but Tijuana also drafted three young wideouts in Jackson Kingston, Doug Howlett and Damien Hands. Kingston and Howlett are already good earning, they will fight for the starting job with the experienced options there.
TE
• Ben Kenobi, S20, 144 TPE
• Rondo Jones, S22, 83 TPE
• Ethan Smith, S23, 59 TPe
At TE, Gronk Robertoswki was called up to fulfill his duties in Colorado. This leaves Ben Kenobi and Rondo Jones as the options for Tijuana next to rookie Ethan Smith. Smith will need some time to develop his attributes and turn into a good earner to challenge Kenobi for the starting gig. Kenobi currently sits at 144 TPE, so once one of the other TE start earning, there could be a competitive fight for the starting position at TE.
OL
• Kevin Malone, S23, 137 TPE
• Sylvester Berlin, S22, 86 TPE
• James Carson, S22, 69 TPE
• Bryant Alexander, S19, 50 TPE
At O-Line, Tijuana secured the services of Kevin Malone to build up their human controlled line. They had to see Golladay go, but Malone will immediately take over for him. Sylvester Berlin is the other OL Tijuana used last season and will do so this year too most probably.
DE
• Tycker Om, S23, 150 TPE
• Daniel Winkler, S22, 77 TPE
• D’Briskshaw Cannon, S22, 67 TPE
DT
• Bane Ka’ana’ana, S23, 157 TPE
• John Nesbitt, S22, 57 TPE
• Kade Hines, S22, 52 TPE
The defensive line was the big problem for Tijuana last year. They lacked in quality at DE and DT last year, and tried early on to fix this problem in the draft. With their second and third selection they got top prospects DT Bane Ka’ana’ana and DE Tycker Om to fix this weakness. Those are the only players of over 80 TPE at these two positions, and they have already earned over 150 TPE. This will help Tijuana fix up their line, as this position group didn’t even lose anyone to callups.
LB
• Junior Lopez, S18, 206 TPE
• Nat Wright, S22, 139 TPE
• Griffin Porter, S23, 131 TPE
• Devaunte Sackpieder, S22, 97 TPE
• Julius Andersson, S22, 50 TPE
To complete the D-Line, Tijuana is known to use LB to fill it up. Although Ugarth the Dissector and George Fisher were called up into the NSFL, they still have one of the best LB rooms in the DSFL. Junior Lopez, a S18 player, and the two S22 draftees Nat Wright and Devaunte Sackpieder are more players already than you normally need at LB. But with their first pick, Tijuana also brought in Griffin Porter, another LB to work with. As the D-Line needs some help, there is enough talent now to build up a nasty D-Line and LB corps.
CB
• Ozamataz Buckshank, S22, 116 TPE
• Killian Carnahan, S23, 69 TPE
• Nick Jones, S22, 50 TPE
The CB position can be seen as the weakest position on the whole Tijuana roster. After the departure of top CB Andrew Witten, Ozamataz Buckshank (116 TPE) and rookie Killian Carnahan (69 TPE) have to take care at CB now. The current players can turn into playmakers quickly, when they start earning continously. Although CB may be the weakest spot currently, the secondary in Tijuana has big potential to turn into a no fly zone.
S
• Howard Ryan, S18, 268 TPE
• LiterallyJust A. Hexagon, S22, 251 TPE
• Magnus Valdyr, S22, 221 TPE
• Dick “Dickie” Cheese III, S23, 50 TPE
The reason for this is the extraordinary talent at Safety. Howard Ryan, LiterallyJust A. Hexagon and Magnus Valdyr are all capped or near cap of 250 TPE and will be the base of the secondary. With draft pick Dick Cheese III, they even have a backup there, but he will have to start earning to become a viable option next to the experienced ones.
K
Jacob Small, S22, 167 TPE
At Kicker, Jacob Small goes into his second season in continues his steady earning. At 167 TPE, he turned into one of the best kicker in the league already.
All in all, the Luchadores have a good combination on offense, with maxed QBs and RBs and a solid receiver group. On defense, the line will be bolstered up by the best LB-depth in the DSFL, and the secondary will be lead by a super strong Safety group. This combination is, what could lead Tijuana to glory this season, if they accomplish to build up a strategy to combine all the individual pieces they have.
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