In my preperation to join the league, im writing a piece about weeks 1-4 in the dsfl to familiarize myself with the teams. I will write about week 6-10 as the weeks come and do them one a time to save me some time now. This will not only give money in preparstion for my players introduction at the trade deadline, but will give me a very clear idea of which teams are doimg well and not. I will be looking at players, and strengths and weaknesses of all the teams. This will be completely unbiased seeing as i have zero affiliation with any team at the moment, and am learning about them as i go through the index. This obviously isnt perfect but its going to be the best it can be with my limited knowledge. I am going completely based off of the index and have not watched the first few weeks live.
Week one
• Minnesota vs tijuana : Min 13-10 Tij
This seemed like a completely defensive battle. Minnesota held Tijuana QB M. Boss Jr to almost nothing in the air. The Tijuana ground game seemed much better. Mills stood out to me with his 105 yards on 17 carries and the Luchadores only TD. Despite his success on the ground, they only managed 10 points. Equally Impressive the Tijuana defense gave up 136 yards and a TD in the air, and 150 yards on the ground, yet still only allowed 13 points. This was like juggernaut defenses punching each other in the mouth and I loved it. In a bit of a shock, Minnesota got a victory by unaminous decision on the road which is quite impressive. Im wondering if this was a fluke or if the defense is the real deal.
Offensive player of the game: B. Mills: 17 carries, 105 yards
Defensive player of the game: P. Sabor: 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defense
• Norfolk vs Portland : POR 21-0 NOR
This game definitely was not close. Norfolk really only had one good player in this one sided affair and that was M. Forty Two, who had 116 yards un 25 carries. In my opinion both quarterbacks kind of played really badly, but Portlands signal caller L. James did have 136 yards and a touchdown. James also somehow managed to run for negative 10 yards but still had a touchdown on the ground. D. Pama led the portland backfield with 23 carries and 105 yards with a TD. Im going to be honest, this doesnt really feel like it should have been a 21-0 game, o feel like portlands numbers arent all that great to win in such a desisive way. It seems like the only real difference between the two teams was portland had much better pass rush and slightly better QB play. Oh did i forget to mention? D. Mcbobby had 5 sacks. Thats wild. That poor Norfolk qb. Between Mcbobby and skeeter he was sacked 7 times. That pass rush in portland is something else and i expect their defensive dominance to continue.
Offensive player of the game: D. Pama. 23 carries, 105 yards, 1 TD.
Defensive player of the game: D. Mcbobby: 12 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 Fumble recovery.
• London vs Dallas : Lon 30-13 Dal
This is another game that wasnt close. The drfending champion Royals team lived up to the hype generated by winning the last Ultimini, and they did it in impressive fashion. The royals did struggle through the air, Cortez only threw 83 yards and less that 50% completions with an interception. But they dominated on the ground. B. Hana ran for 110 yards on 23 attempts, and added 2 touchdowns to his resume. T. Yaki added an extra 81 yards and another touchdown. The London defense wasnt particularly standout, they played an incredible team game with all the stats pretty spread out. They had 2 interceptions, courtesy of LeClerc and Van perkins, and Burfict forced a fumble that was recovered by Wadham. Dallas struggled in most areas of the game. They did have slightly better numbers through the air. Caliban completed 19 out of 31 passes for 179 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. The Dallas running backs both struggled, with neither able to get any significant runs or yardage. Linebacker R. Leaking led the team in tackles on defense with 13, bit B. Blackwell generated the teams only turnover with his interception. In the end this was a one sided affair with London dominating both sides of the ball. They look to be a strong contender.
Offensive player of the game: B. Hana: 23 carries, 110 yards, 2 touchdowns, 4.8 yards per carry
Defensive player of the game: G. Leclerc: 7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass defense, 1 interception.
• Myrtle Beach vs Kansas City : MB 33-7 KC
This was another dominating performance that saw Myrtle Beach Decimate the opposing Kansas City team. This was shock and awe, and it looked like all Kansas City could do was stand there and take it. J. Daytona was the weeks best quarterback, completing 20 passes out of 31 attempts for 214 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both running backs for Myrtle Beach played a great game, though they didnt see much volume of carries. McJimmerson was Daytonas favorite target, catching 7 passes for 81 yards. Defensively Myrtle Beach was perfect. They forced 2 fumbles and recovered 2, and added an interception. The coyotes struggles massively in every aspect. Peterson had serious trouble throwing, finishing barely over 50% completions, and an interception. This trouble extended to the ground game, as both running backs ran 13 times, kitchens ends up with 60 yards, while Tutenkhamen had 32. The defense for Kansas City just couldnt do anything to stop Myrtle Beach in the air or ground. The only noteable stat came from Yeboah who recorded a sack. The outcome of this game has me leaning towards Myrtle Beach being the team to beat after this dominating victory.
Offensive player of the game: J. Daytona: 20/31 completions, 214 yards, 2 touchdowns, 106.1 quarterback rating
Defensive player of the game: J. Hoffman: 5 tackles, 2 pass defenses, 1 interception.
Week one power rankings
1. Myrtle Beach Buccaneers (1-0)
2. London Royals (1-0)
3. Portland Pythons (1-0)
4. Minnesota Grey Ducks (1-0)
5. Tijuana Luchadores (0-1)
6. Dallas Birddogs (0-1)
7. Kansas City Coyotes (0-1)
8. Norfolk Seawolves (0-1)
Week two
• Kansas City v. Norfolk : KC 20-7 NOR
Kansas City boumced back big in week two against the winless seawolves. Peterson played a decent game, he completed 13 of his 26 passes for 156 yards and 1 touchdown which was offset by an interception. S. Kitchens played a pretty solid good game again, rushing 18 times for 77 yards and a touchdown. The Kansas City defense showed marked improvement this week, allowing only 88 yards rushing, and 88 yards through the air. The run defense was absolutely solid, only allowing 2.6 yards per carry, and combining for 7 tackles for loss. Patterson added a pass deflection and an interception in the air. For Norfolk the struggles from week one continued to week two. Rune played slightly better against a weaker Kansas City defense, but still, 11/17 and 88 yards with an interception is not much of an improvement. M. Forty Two played pretty awful throughout, rushing 34 times, but only gaining 88 yards. Thats a whopping 2.8 average. He did get a touchdown to pad his stats a little bit, but he had no room to run all game. Really the only truly good performance on Norfolk, at least in my eyes came from D. Rodgers on defense. His 2 tackles and 1 sack were some of the only defensive stats. Jaxon-Waxon did record an interception, and 2 pass defenses though. This was a pretty one sided affair, which seems to be a common theme for teams playing Norfolk. Im interested to see if they can turn it around.
• Portland v. Myrtle Beach - POR 44-10 MB
Portland wins again in dominating fashion. They threw, they ran, they defended. Portland really enforced a no fly zone rule in week two as 5 different players recorded a pass defense, and Skeeter returned an interception for a touchdown. Z. Mouse in Myrtle Beach also nabbed an interception but that was about the extent of Myrtle Beachs prowess on defense. They played awful to put it simply. Portland did whatever they wanted and the buccaneers couldnt stop them. Both Portland running backs had 80+ yards, L. James threw for 245 and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception. This was just a blowout through and through. The buccaneers seemed to be one of the better teams as of week one, but they got hit in the mouth by Portland and sent packing. J. Daytona went from leagues best, to awful in one game. He completed less than 50% of his passes, but did throw 200 yards with a touchdown, but that pick six will haunt him. Portland rolls on, and the buccaneers crash back down to reality.
OPOTG: L. James III - 26/34 completions, 245 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, 103.2 QBR.
DPOTG: M. Skeeter - 5 tackles, 1 pass defense, 1 interception, 1 touchdown.
• Dallas v. Minnesota MIN 20-17 DAL
Dallas looked teady for this road game in icy minnesota. Unfortunately they just couldnt hang on. After a 14-0 start they blew the lead and fumbled the game away in overtime. They looked much better than week one though, but still couldnt get the win. R. Negs was efficient for the ducks, completing 20 of his 35 passes for 186 yards and 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Vermillion led the way on the ducks ground game with 122 yards and 23 carries. Rotchburns was close behind with 97 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Defensively the ducks were led by FS, D. Blackfyre who had 6 tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass defense and an interception. For dallas Caliban continued to struggle. He only completed 13 of 26 passes for 138 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The bright star in dallas was C. Kai who ran for an eye popping 144 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Despite his efficiency on the ground dallas couldnt score. If that Minnesota defense keeps up the pass defense and bend dont break attitude they will be a contender for sure. Dallas just needs to rely on the ground game more and take some pressure off of Caliban who seems to be struggling. Overall a great win for Minnesota, who should be looking to add improved offensive play to counterbalance that defense.
OPOTG - C. Kai - 16 carries, 144 yards, 1 touchdown, 9 yards per carry
DPOTG - D. Blackfyre - 6 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass defense, 1 interception
• Tijuana v. London - Lon 31-12 Tij
London came out swinging in this one to move to 2-0, while Tijuana struggled to do much, falling 0-2. Despite the ending, Tijuana had the lead at the end of the first quarter 9-7. They would only muster a single field goal the rest of the game. M. Boss jr of Tijuana looked effective but uninspired as he completed 19 of his 36 passes for 136 yards. B. Mills had another solid outing, continuing to look like one of the leagues best running backs. He failed to reach the endzone this week though, but Gilbot did, both Tijuana running backs ran well, but not well enough to secure a win. The Royals however, played lights out once again to secure a solid win. Cortez had a pretty solid, turnover free game, but aside from his Touchdown pass the numbers were pretty average. T. Yaki broke the 100 yards barrier on the ground, but it took him 28 carries. B. Hana had 77 yards on only 12 carries making him the more efficient ball carrier when he did have it. Both eunning backs for London scored, with Yaki scoring twice and Hana scoring once. The royals defense played well all around, no one truly stood out in this game though. Van Perkins led the way with 9 tackles and 2 pass defenses, while burfict had 2 sacks and Lover and Siegel each forced a fumble. This was a solid gsme for London as they move up to 2-0 while Tijuana fall short and remain winless.
OPOTG - C. Cortez - 16/26 completions, 157 yards, 1 touchdown, 91.3 QBR.
DPOTG - M. Cadaire - 5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss.
Week two power rankings
1.Portland Pythons (2-0)
2. London Royals (2-0)
3. Minnesota Grey Ducks (2-0)
4. Kansas City Coyotes (1-1)
5. Mytrle Beach Buccaneers (1-1)
6. Tijuana Luchadores (0-2)
7. Norfolk Seawolves (0-2)
8. Dallas Birddogs (0-2)
Week three
• Minnesota v. Myrtle Beach MB 13-6 MIN
This game was a clash of kings if you will. I just learned about the TPE trackers and found that Minnesota has the most defensive TPE and myrtle beach has the most offensive TPE. This is the classic unstoppable force against the immovable object. It ia hard to pronounce a clwar winner, Myrtle Beach did win the game, but their offense only managed 13 points . J. Daytona played about his worst game yet against the top passing defense. He only conpletely 14 passes out of his 33 attempts for 150 yards, but he did throw a touchdown. On the ground both Buccaneer running backs were held below 50 yards with zero touchdowns. The Myrtle Beach defense was stout also as this game was decided by defense entirely. The edge for Myrtle Beach was 2 forced turnovers, both coming from J. Hoffman, an interception and a forced fumble. They did give up a lot of yards but proved capable to hold strong in the redzone, allowing only field goals. The Minnesota offense sputtered to a halt in this one. Quarterback Negs played enough considering the loss, he was 18/30 with 200 yards, but he threw an interception with no touchdowns. Vermillion played a great game on the ground running 26 times for 107 yards while rotchburns went for 75 on 15 attempts. Unfortunately despite the advantage in yards, Minnesota couldnt score. Which is a shame for the defense because they held the leagues top offense to only 13 points. All they needed was 2 touchdowns to win. The defense in Minnesota was stout all around, but couldnt force a turnover which could be tied to the loss. In any case both teams played great on defense, but the myrtle beach offense did just enough to edge out the Minnesota offense. I am expecting both of these teams to make a strong push for the playoffs.
OPOTG - J. Daytona - 14/33 completions, 150 yards, 1 touchdown, 66.5 rating.
DPOTG - C. Larson - 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defense
• London v. Norfolk NOR 20-17 LON
In an outcome that I dont think anyone saw coming, the winless Seawolves knocked the defending champions off their winless throne. This winning effort from Norfolk was led by E. Rune, who hasnt played great thus far in the season, but had probably the best game any QB has had this season. Completing 20 of his 29 passes for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns. He torched the Royals defense any which way he wanted. The ground game for Norfolk however was horrifying. M. Forty Two had a 2.2 yard per carry average and 32 carries, that should tell you all you need to know about that. London really shouldnt have lost this game. Reminiscent of dallas choking the game away to Minnesota in week two, they had every chance to win this game but just couldnt finish. Cortez played really well, completing 16 of his 25 attempts for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns. The run game in London was better by a huge margin, which given the opposition, was not a hard task. But still T. Yaki had a 4.9 yard per carry average and 93 yards. The Royal defense didnt play bad, utterly shutting down the run game for Norfolk. I think perhaps, Runes poor performance in previous games, and the seawolves reliance on the run game caused London to overcompensate the run defense, leaving gaping holes in the secondary that Rune exploited. Londons status as a contender should not be questioned quite yet, I think this was a bit of a fluke game where the better team had a bad day. However if Rune can play this well each week moving forward, and the Seawolves can magically improve the run game, they might be able to win some games and be a dark horse, but my spidey sense says unlikely.
OPOTG - E. Rune - 20/29 completions, 195 yards, 2 touchdowns, 110.6 rating
DPOTG - L. Burfict - 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss.
• Dallas v. Tijuana
Two winless teams clash here and one of them will emerge victorious. Unfortunately for dallas they emerged as the only winless team left. Tijuana came out and played really well on both sides of the ball, but then again so did dallas. This was a really close game in terms of numbers, with both teams being pretty equal in most areas. The quarterback numbers however, werent really that close. M. Boss jr. Threw 16 LESS passes than Caliban, but had 6 more yards. He pushed the ball deep and made his 11 completions count. While Caliban had 21 completions, they went for half the yards per catch and less yards total. Tijuana made better use of their passes than dallas by a large margin.The ground game today was led by C. Kai again, who had 135 yards, but he was pretty alone in the dallas backfield in terms of efficiency. The Luchadores utilized a one two punch backfield by committee and it worked out, as both running backs had over 4 yards a carry, with one of them almost at six. They had less yards overall but were very efficient in yards per carry as a duo. Defensively the Luchadores played a much better game, especially in the air as they allowed less pass yards and had 5 pass defenses and an interception as a team. Dallas didnt have a single pass defense all game. Luchadore, V. Jones led the game in tackles with a massive sixteen, while Dallas' B. Slammu had 9 tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. Dallas really didnt play that bad in this game, they were well within range to win, even tying it up in the third. But for the second week in a row they just couldnt finish strong enough to win a very winnable game. If Dallas has any hope turning the season around they are going to need to be able to win these contested games. Tijuana will be hoping to continue this good form into next week and come out of week 4 at .500.
OPOTG - C. Kai - 29 carries, 145 yards, 1 touchdown
DPOTG - V. Jones - 16 tackles, 1 sack
• Kansas City v. Portland POR 14-12 KC
This was a very hotly contested matchup that saw both defenses playing A+ football. Portland got out to an early 14-0 lead after a James touchdown pass to Messi and a Darren Pama TD run. L. James played a decent enough game, threw a touchdown and no interceptions which is all you can ask for from a rookie. The ground game in Portland was mediocre at the very best. Pama did have a touchdown and 113 yards, but they came with a 3.9 yard per carry price tag. The Portland defense was headlined by M. Martinsson who had 7 tackles and 2 tackles for loss with 2 sacks and a pass defense. The Kansas city defense played really well considering the opponent has one of the top offenses so far. They kept both running backs below 4 yards per carry, and contained James pretty well all game. The star of the show in Kansas city on defense was T. Rose who had 11 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. Offensively Kansas City struggled. M. Peterson barely completed half of his passes, but he did have 135 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He didnt play bad, but didnt ay good either. The ground game had trouble as well, possibly because of lackcof carries. Both running backs had less than 15 carries, but over 4 yards per carry and neither one broke the 60 yard mark. They were efficient when they got it, but they obviously didnt get the ball enough. Portland continued rolling here, though they didnt allow an offensive touchdown, they gave up a Kitchens punt return for a TD. They will be hoping to continue this undefeated streak into week 4. Kansas city has had some struggles, and lost some close games that they could have won, if they want to see these close losses turn into wins they need to less loose and attack on offense.
OPOTG - S. Kitchens - 11 carries, 49 yards, 4.5 yards per carry and 1 seventy eight yard punt return touchdown.
DPOTG - M. Martinsson - 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 pass defense.
Week three power rankings
1.Portland Pythons (3-0)
2. Myrtle Beach Buccaneers (2-1
3. Minnesota Grey Ducks (2-1)
4. London Royals (2-1)
5. Kansas City Coyotes (1-2)]
6. Tijuana Luchadores (1-2)
7. Norfolk Seawolves (1-2)
8. Dallas Birddogs (0-3
Week four
• Dallas v. Kansas city KC 34-17 DAL
Remember before when I said that Dallas kept blowing close games? This wasnt one of them. The Birddogs were outplayed in every aspect of the game here. Kansas City went up 21-3 at halftime, and Dallas didnt score enough meaningful points until it was already way too late. Caliban played awful, which seems to be a recurring theme, and despute having more yards he threw two interceptions and had a 33.1 rating which I shouldnt have to tell you is absolutely awful. Peterson didnt play an excellent game himself, but he had a touchdown to offset his interception. Cobra Kai had an uncharacteristically slow game, with only 15 carries and 75 yards. He split carries perfectly with Miglaskems and both scored a touchdown. S. Kitchens was undoubtedly the best runner of the day with 27 carries and 129 yards with 2 touchdowns. The lone bright spot for dallas was wideout M. Callous who caught 7 of the teams 11 passes for 110 yards. On defense three dallas players had more than 10 tackles, with Leaking having 18. Despite those massive tackle numbers, the defense as a whole didnt have hary any other noteable stats aside from rumpers fumble and Mckenzies interception. I think the massive number of tackles just shows they could not get the coyote offense off the field. Not a good thing in my opinion. On the KC side of the defense, P. Patterson was the star of the show as he rallied 7 tackles, 2 pass defenses and an interception. The big difference here in this game I think was the time of possesion battle. Kansas city won by nearly 10 minutes as they had possesion for 34:34 compared to dallas 25:26. This game was about as one sided as it gets. Dallas continues their winless streak, hoping to break the mold in week 5, in order to do so I think one key is to spread passes out to more than just one player. While Kansas City improves to 2-2 and look to catch up to Minnesota and Portland in the SFC behind the strength of their run defense.
OPOTG - S. Kitchens - 27 carries, 129 yards, 2 touchdowns.
DPOTG - P. Patterson - 7 tackles, 2 pass defenses, 1 interception.
• Tijuana v. Portland TIJ 13-10 POR
This was another defensive battle, a theme that has become common between some of the better teams. These games are won by the defense and which offense can do less bad. L. James won a close quarterback battle, having slightly less yards, but a higher completion percentage and even though he threw an interception he was the only QB in this game who threw a touchdown. The run game was dominated by Portland and Pama. He rushed 22 attempts and took those 22 carries 104 yards. The Tijuana ground game was uncharacteristically lackluster, kudos to Portland for taking away the Tijuana strength. Despite that, Portland could not come away with the win. The Tijuana defense proved tougher, forcing an interception and a fumble. While Portland played great defensively, only allowing 13 points, they failed to force any turnovers. Tijuana is undoubtedly happy with the outcome here, strong defense holding back a potent Portland offense to secure a win and move to 2-2. Portland no doubt will want to recover from this loss and rebound with a win against a tough Minnesota team.
OPOTG - D. Pama - 22 carries, 104 yards
DPOTG - M. Gillion - 11 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery
• Minnesota v. Norfolk MIN 30-7 NOR
After a big victory in week 3 Norfolk was looking for another upset against Minnesota. Unfortunately they were met by a vengeful Grey Ducks team that needed a rebound after a tough loss to myrtle beach a week ago. Minnesota got that rebound here in dominant fashion. E. Rune didnt play horrible so to speak, against a tough minnesota pass defense. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 100 yards, but failed to reach the endzone and added an interception to top it off. While he did not play good by any means, given the circumstanxes it could have been much worse. Just by looking at his yards and touchdown, you would think M. Forty two had a good game. He did have 134 yards and a TD after all, only thing is it took him 34 tries to get there. Thats a measly 3.7 yards per carry. Not exactly peak efficiency in my opinion. Norfolk overall won the time of possesion battle by a minute or so, but they obviously couldnt put points on the board with all that time. Minnesota on the other hand found the endzone often. R. Negs had his best game yet, completing 18 of his 30 pass attempts for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns. With the loss of starting running back J. Vermillion, minnesota had to rely on workhorse M. Rotchburns to move the ball on the ground, and while he ran for 140 yards, he needed 40 carries to do it. He was the opposite of efficient, but still, he carried the load by himself and scored a TD. On the defensive side Minnesota didnt force many turnovers, the lone interception coming from J. Lenkins. But for Norfolk that was really the only positive thing they did, forcing two fumbles. Another huge factor in this game was penalties. Man Norfolk might have set a record for most penalties in a game. They committed 12 penalties for 99 yards in the game. Compared to Minnesotas 4-30. That is a big contributing factor, but shouldnt take away from the fact that Norfolk didnt come out strong enough, and minnesota did.
OPOTG - R. Negs - 18/30 completions, 221 yards, 2 touchdowns, 105 quarterback rating.
DPOTG - S. Roes - 7 tackles, 4 tackles for loss.
• Myrtle Beach v. London MB 27-16 LON
After a tough upset loss last week against Norfolk, London came in needing a win. Unfortunately Myrtle Beach had other plans. The Buccaneers were dominant on the ground today. With both running backs at about 95 yards and a touchdown on about 20 carries. Daytona struggled a bit through the air as he completed 17 of his 30 passes for 189 yards. He didnt turn the ball over which is good, but he failed to reach the end zone. Defensively the Buccaneers ran a one man...or should i say one mouse show. Z. Mouse led the day with 8 tackles, but that doesnt matter. What matters is TWO (2) interceptions, and one returned 63 yards for a touchdown. Guy was unstoppable. Anything thrown his way was batted down or picked off. Now the Royals, aside from the two Mouse interceptions, played a decent game, and would have likely won were it not for the pick six. Cortez completed 19 out of his 30 pass attempts for 227 yards and a touchdown with of course, 2 interceptions. The London run game was so awful I wont even mention numbers (theyre both below 3 ypc). Now the man who made it all happen on Londons offense was T. Speedman. This dude had 150 recieving yards. He didnt score, but he caught 9 passes and took those 17 yards per catch for that 153 yards. On defense their isnt much to say, L. Burfict had 11 tackles and 2 for a loss, and E. Lover had 2 sacks. Myrtle beach dominated the time of possession by 11 minutes and did really well running to control the clock. Despite that London could have won this game had they not turned the ball over as many times as they did, and obviously the pick six. Myrtle beach moves to 3-1 while London falls 2-2.
OPOTG - T. Speedman - 9 catches, 150 yards
DPOTG - Z. Mouse - 8 tackles, 2 pass defenses, 2 interceptions, 1 touchdown
Week four power rankings
1. Portland Pythons (3-1)
The Pythons get the top spot here because they have probably the best, most balanced team on the field
They have a solid defense, and a potent offense, but when the two work together in tandem its a thing of beauty. They get the edge over myrtle beach because they obviously dominated the buccaneers in their first matchup.
2. Myrtle Beach Buccaneers (3-1)
The buccaneers get the #2 spot here because they have a solid record of 3-1 obviously, but they have a solid offense in the air and on the ground, and a decent defense that does enough to win. They have beaten some tough opponents like Minnesota, and their only loss is away to a really good Portland team.
3. Minnesota Grey Ducks (3-1)
The grey ducks get the number 3 spot here because thet are rocking one of the best defenses in the league, and despite having played a relatively lackluster schedule vs norfolk and dallas, they beat a good Tijuana team on the road and their only loss is to the top rated Myrtle beach in an away game.
4. Tijuana Luchadores (2-2)
The luchadores get the number four spot because I think theyve faced tougher opponents than the other 2 and 2 teams, and they are the only team to beat portland so far. But they do have a solid team that could make a late push for the playoffs.
5. Kansas City Coyotes (2-2)
Kansas city takes number 5 because they have lost both games to the top two teams myrtle beach and portland, but they arent higher because theyve only beaten the two worst teams. That isnt their fault I know, they cant pick the schedule, but they should get at least a couple more wins on the season, though im not confident that they will make a serious push for the playoffs.
6. London Royals (2-2)
The royals take 6th and not 5th because I cant overlook the blunder that was a loss to norfolk. They blew that game that was easily won, but it never should have been that close. After the next game was blown to fall 2-2 after starting 2-0, i lost a lot of confidence in Lo don who i thought would make a strong push, I just dont know that they have the IT thing to be elite.
7. Norfolk Seawolves (1-3)
Despite having a win, I almost ranked them lower than dallas. I feel dallas might be the better team, but Norfolk has shown flashes of life, if they can hit the gas and light a fire under Rune, they might win a few more games. Still, not a good team but they might suprise a fee teams with some upsets just like they did to london.
8. Dallas Birddogs (0-4)
While they might be actually better than Norfolk, I cant look past their inability to finish games. They get into winnable games with teams and blow it at the last minute. This lack of discipline and clock management is worrisome. There is still a lot of time for them to turn it around, but as of now my hopes are not very high for them to win more than 5 games, but anything is possible i suppose.
Week one
• Minnesota vs tijuana : Min 13-10 Tij
This seemed like a completely defensive battle. Minnesota held Tijuana QB M. Boss Jr to almost nothing in the air. The Tijuana ground game seemed much better. Mills stood out to me with his 105 yards on 17 carries and the Luchadores only TD. Despite his success on the ground, they only managed 10 points. Equally Impressive the Tijuana defense gave up 136 yards and a TD in the air, and 150 yards on the ground, yet still only allowed 13 points. This was like juggernaut defenses punching each other in the mouth and I loved it. In a bit of a shock, Minnesota got a victory by unaminous decision on the road which is quite impressive. Im wondering if this was a fluke or if the defense is the real deal.
Offensive player of the game: B. Mills: 17 carries, 105 yards
Defensive player of the game: P. Sabor: 6 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defense
• Norfolk vs Portland : POR 21-0 NOR
This game definitely was not close. Norfolk really only had one good player in this one sided affair and that was M. Forty Two, who had 116 yards un 25 carries. In my opinion both quarterbacks kind of played really badly, but Portlands signal caller L. James did have 136 yards and a touchdown. James also somehow managed to run for negative 10 yards but still had a touchdown on the ground. D. Pama led the portland backfield with 23 carries and 105 yards with a TD. Im going to be honest, this doesnt really feel like it should have been a 21-0 game, o feel like portlands numbers arent all that great to win in such a desisive way. It seems like the only real difference between the two teams was portland had much better pass rush and slightly better QB play. Oh did i forget to mention? D. Mcbobby had 5 sacks. Thats wild. That poor Norfolk qb. Between Mcbobby and skeeter he was sacked 7 times. That pass rush in portland is something else and i expect their defensive dominance to continue.
Offensive player of the game: D. Pama. 23 carries, 105 yards, 1 TD.
Defensive player of the game: D. Mcbobby: 12 tackles, 5 sacks, 1 Fumble recovery.
• London vs Dallas : Lon 30-13 Dal
This is another game that wasnt close. The drfending champion Royals team lived up to the hype generated by winning the last Ultimini, and they did it in impressive fashion. The royals did struggle through the air, Cortez only threw 83 yards and less that 50% completions with an interception. But they dominated on the ground. B. Hana ran for 110 yards on 23 attempts, and added 2 touchdowns to his resume. T. Yaki added an extra 81 yards and another touchdown. The London defense wasnt particularly standout, they played an incredible team game with all the stats pretty spread out. They had 2 interceptions, courtesy of LeClerc and Van perkins, and Burfict forced a fumble that was recovered by Wadham. Dallas struggled in most areas of the game. They did have slightly better numbers through the air. Caliban completed 19 out of 31 passes for 179 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. The Dallas running backs both struggled, with neither able to get any significant runs or yardage. Linebacker R. Leaking led the team in tackles on defense with 13, bit B. Blackwell generated the teams only turnover with his interception. In the end this was a one sided affair with London dominating both sides of the ball. They look to be a strong contender.
Offensive player of the game: B. Hana: 23 carries, 110 yards, 2 touchdowns, 4.8 yards per carry
Defensive player of the game: G. Leclerc: 7 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass defense, 1 interception.
• Myrtle Beach vs Kansas City : MB 33-7 KC
This was another dominating performance that saw Myrtle Beach Decimate the opposing Kansas City team. This was shock and awe, and it looked like all Kansas City could do was stand there and take it. J. Daytona was the weeks best quarterback, completing 20 passes out of 31 attempts for 214 yards and 2 touchdowns. Both running backs for Myrtle Beach played a great game, though they didnt see much volume of carries. McJimmerson was Daytonas favorite target, catching 7 passes for 81 yards. Defensively Myrtle Beach was perfect. They forced 2 fumbles and recovered 2, and added an interception. The coyotes struggles massively in every aspect. Peterson had serious trouble throwing, finishing barely over 50% completions, and an interception. This trouble extended to the ground game, as both running backs ran 13 times, kitchens ends up with 60 yards, while Tutenkhamen had 32. The defense for Kansas City just couldnt do anything to stop Myrtle Beach in the air or ground. The only noteable stat came from Yeboah who recorded a sack. The outcome of this game has me leaning towards Myrtle Beach being the team to beat after this dominating victory.
Offensive player of the game: J. Daytona: 20/31 completions, 214 yards, 2 touchdowns, 106.1 quarterback rating
Defensive player of the game: J. Hoffman: 5 tackles, 2 pass defenses, 1 interception.
Week one power rankings
1. Myrtle Beach Buccaneers (1-0)
2. London Royals (1-0)
3. Portland Pythons (1-0)
4. Minnesota Grey Ducks (1-0)
5. Tijuana Luchadores (0-1)
6. Dallas Birddogs (0-1)
7. Kansas City Coyotes (0-1)
8. Norfolk Seawolves (0-1)
Week two
• Kansas City v. Norfolk : KC 20-7 NOR
Kansas City boumced back big in week two against the winless seawolves. Peterson played a decent game, he completed 13 of his 26 passes for 156 yards and 1 touchdown which was offset by an interception. S. Kitchens played a pretty solid good game again, rushing 18 times for 77 yards and a touchdown. The Kansas City defense showed marked improvement this week, allowing only 88 yards rushing, and 88 yards through the air. The run defense was absolutely solid, only allowing 2.6 yards per carry, and combining for 7 tackles for loss. Patterson added a pass deflection and an interception in the air. For Norfolk the struggles from week one continued to week two. Rune played slightly better against a weaker Kansas City defense, but still, 11/17 and 88 yards with an interception is not much of an improvement. M. Forty Two played pretty awful throughout, rushing 34 times, but only gaining 88 yards. Thats a whopping 2.8 average. He did get a touchdown to pad his stats a little bit, but he had no room to run all game. Really the only truly good performance on Norfolk, at least in my eyes came from D. Rodgers on defense. His 2 tackles and 1 sack were some of the only defensive stats. Jaxon-Waxon did record an interception, and 2 pass defenses though. This was a pretty one sided affair, which seems to be a common theme for teams playing Norfolk. Im interested to see if they can turn it around.
• Portland v. Myrtle Beach - POR 44-10 MB
Portland wins again in dominating fashion. They threw, they ran, they defended. Portland really enforced a no fly zone rule in week two as 5 different players recorded a pass defense, and Skeeter returned an interception for a touchdown. Z. Mouse in Myrtle Beach also nabbed an interception but that was about the extent of Myrtle Beachs prowess on defense. They played awful to put it simply. Portland did whatever they wanted and the buccaneers couldnt stop them. Both Portland running backs had 80+ yards, L. James threw for 245 and 2 touchdowns with 1 interception. This was just a blowout through and through. The buccaneers seemed to be one of the better teams as of week one, but they got hit in the mouth by Portland and sent packing. J. Daytona went from leagues best, to awful in one game. He completed less than 50% of his passes, but did throw 200 yards with a touchdown, but that pick six will haunt him. Portland rolls on, and the buccaneers crash back down to reality.
OPOTG: L. James III - 26/34 completions, 245 yards, 2 touchdowns, 1 interception, 103.2 QBR.
DPOTG: M. Skeeter - 5 tackles, 1 pass defense, 1 interception, 1 touchdown.
• Dallas v. Minnesota MIN 20-17 DAL
Dallas looked teady for this road game in icy minnesota. Unfortunately they just couldnt hang on. After a 14-0 start they blew the lead and fumbled the game away in overtime. They looked much better than week one though, but still couldnt get the win. R. Negs was efficient for the ducks, completing 20 of his 35 passes for 186 yards and 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Vermillion led the way on the ducks ground game with 122 yards and 23 carries. Rotchburns was close behind with 97 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Defensively the ducks were led by FS, D. Blackfyre who had 6 tackles, a tackle for loss, a pass defense and an interception. For dallas Caliban continued to struggle. He only completed 13 of 26 passes for 138 yards, a touchdown and an interception. The bright star in dallas was C. Kai who ran for an eye popping 144 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Despite his efficiency on the ground dallas couldnt score. If that Minnesota defense keeps up the pass defense and bend dont break attitude they will be a contender for sure. Dallas just needs to rely on the ground game more and take some pressure off of Caliban who seems to be struggling. Overall a great win for Minnesota, who should be looking to add improved offensive play to counterbalance that defense.
OPOTG - C. Kai - 16 carries, 144 yards, 1 touchdown, 9 yards per carry
DPOTG - D. Blackfyre - 6 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 pass defense, 1 interception
• Tijuana v. London - Lon 31-12 Tij
London came out swinging in this one to move to 2-0, while Tijuana struggled to do much, falling 0-2. Despite the ending, Tijuana had the lead at the end of the first quarter 9-7. They would only muster a single field goal the rest of the game. M. Boss jr of Tijuana looked effective but uninspired as he completed 19 of his 36 passes for 136 yards. B. Mills had another solid outing, continuing to look like one of the leagues best running backs. He failed to reach the endzone this week though, but Gilbot did, both Tijuana running backs ran well, but not well enough to secure a win. The Royals however, played lights out once again to secure a solid win. Cortez had a pretty solid, turnover free game, but aside from his Touchdown pass the numbers were pretty average. T. Yaki broke the 100 yards barrier on the ground, but it took him 28 carries. B. Hana had 77 yards on only 12 carries making him the more efficient ball carrier when he did have it. Both eunning backs for London scored, with Yaki scoring twice and Hana scoring once. The royals defense played well all around, no one truly stood out in this game though. Van Perkins led the way with 9 tackles and 2 pass defenses, while burfict had 2 sacks and Lover and Siegel each forced a fumble. This was a solid gsme for London as they move up to 2-0 while Tijuana fall short and remain winless.
OPOTG - C. Cortez - 16/26 completions, 157 yards, 1 touchdown, 91.3 QBR.
DPOTG - M. Cadaire - 5 tackles, 3 tackles for loss.
Week two power rankings
1.Portland Pythons (2-0)
2. London Royals (2-0)
3. Minnesota Grey Ducks (2-0)
4. Kansas City Coyotes (1-1)
5. Mytrle Beach Buccaneers (1-1)
6. Tijuana Luchadores (0-2)
7. Norfolk Seawolves (0-2)
8. Dallas Birddogs (0-2)
Week three
• Minnesota v. Myrtle Beach MB 13-6 MIN
This game was a clash of kings if you will. I just learned about the TPE trackers and found that Minnesota has the most defensive TPE and myrtle beach has the most offensive TPE. This is the classic unstoppable force against the immovable object. It ia hard to pronounce a clwar winner, Myrtle Beach did win the game, but their offense only managed 13 points . J. Daytona played about his worst game yet against the top passing defense. He only conpletely 14 passes out of his 33 attempts for 150 yards, but he did throw a touchdown. On the ground both Buccaneer running backs were held below 50 yards with zero touchdowns. The Myrtle Beach defense was stout also as this game was decided by defense entirely. The edge for Myrtle Beach was 2 forced turnovers, both coming from J. Hoffman, an interception and a forced fumble. They did give up a lot of yards but proved capable to hold strong in the redzone, allowing only field goals. The Minnesota offense sputtered to a halt in this one. Quarterback Negs played enough considering the loss, he was 18/30 with 200 yards, but he threw an interception with no touchdowns. Vermillion played a great game on the ground running 26 times for 107 yards while rotchburns went for 75 on 15 attempts. Unfortunately despite the advantage in yards, Minnesota couldnt score. Which is a shame for the defense because they held the leagues top offense to only 13 points. All they needed was 2 touchdowns to win. The defense in Minnesota was stout all around, but couldnt force a turnover which could be tied to the loss. In any case both teams played great on defense, but the myrtle beach offense did just enough to edge out the Minnesota offense. I am expecting both of these teams to make a strong push for the playoffs.
OPOTG - J. Daytona - 14/33 completions, 150 yards, 1 touchdown, 66.5 rating.
DPOTG - C. Larson - 8 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defense
• London v. Norfolk NOR 20-17 LON
In an outcome that I dont think anyone saw coming, the winless Seawolves knocked the defending champions off their winless throne. This winning effort from Norfolk was led by E. Rune, who hasnt played great thus far in the season, but had probably the best game any QB has had this season. Completing 20 of his 29 passes for 195 yards and 2 touchdowns. He torched the Royals defense any which way he wanted. The ground game for Norfolk however was horrifying. M. Forty Two had a 2.2 yard per carry average and 32 carries, that should tell you all you need to know about that. London really shouldnt have lost this game. Reminiscent of dallas choking the game away to Minnesota in week two, they had every chance to win this game but just couldnt finish. Cortez played really well, completing 16 of his 25 attempts for 162 yards and 2 touchdowns. The run game in London was better by a huge margin, which given the opposition, was not a hard task. But still T. Yaki had a 4.9 yard per carry average and 93 yards. The Royal defense didnt play bad, utterly shutting down the run game for Norfolk. I think perhaps, Runes poor performance in previous games, and the seawolves reliance on the run game caused London to overcompensate the run defense, leaving gaping holes in the secondary that Rune exploited. Londons status as a contender should not be questioned quite yet, I think this was a bit of a fluke game where the better team had a bad day. However if Rune can play this well each week moving forward, and the Seawolves can magically improve the run game, they might be able to win some games and be a dark horse, but my spidey sense says unlikely.
OPOTG - E. Rune - 20/29 completions, 195 yards, 2 touchdowns, 110.6 rating
DPOTG - L. Burfict - 11 tackles, 2 tackles for loss.
• Dallas v. Tijuana
Two winless teams clash here and one of them will emerge victorious. Unfortunately for dallas they emerged as the only winless team left. Tijuana came out and played really well on both sides of the ball, but then again so did dallas. This was a really close game in terms of numbers, with both teams being pretty equal in most areas. The quarterback numbers however, werent really that close. M. Boss jr. Threw 16 LESS passes than Caliban, but had 6 more yards. He pushed the ball deep and made his 11 completions count. While Caliban had 21 completions, they went for half the yards per catch and less yards total. Tijuana made better use of their passes than dallas by a large margin.The ground game today was led by C. Kai again, who had 135 yards, but he was pretty alone in the dallas backfield in terms of efficiency. The Luchadores utilized a one two punch backfield by committee and it worked out, as both running backs had over 4 yards a carry, with one of them almost at six. They had less yards overall but were very efficient in yards per carry as a duo. Defensively the Luchadores played a much better game, especially in the air as they allowed less pass yards and had 5 pass defenses and an interception as a team. Dallas didnt have a single pass defense all game. Luchadore, V. Jones led the game in tackles with a massive sixteen, while Dallas' B. Slammu had 9 tackles, a tackle for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. Dallas really didnt play that bad in this game, they were well within range to win, even tying it up in the third. But for the second week in a row they just couldnt finish strong enough to win a very winnable game. If Dallas has any hope turning the season around they are going to need to be able to win these contested games. Tijuana will be hoping to continue this good form into next week and come out of week 4 at .500.
OPOTG - C. Kai - 29 carries, 145 yards, 1 touchdown
DPOTG - V. Jones - 16 tackles, 1 sack
• Kansas City v. Portland POR 14-12 KC
This was a very hotly contested matchup that saw both defenses playing A+ football. Portland got out to an early 14-0 lead after a James touchdown pass to Messi and a Darren Pama TD run. L. James played a decent enough game, threw a touchdown and no interceptions which is all you can ask for from a rookie. The ground game in Portland was mediocre at the very best. Pama did have a touchdown and 113 yards, but they came with a 3.9 yard per carry price tag. The Portland defense was headlined by M. Martinsson who had 7 tackles and 2 tackles for loss with 2 sacks and a pass defense. The Kansas city defense played really well considering the opponent has one of the top offenses so far. They kept both running backs below 4 yards per carry, and contained James pretty well all game. The star of the show in Kansas city on defense was T. Rose who had 11 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, a sack and a forced fumble. Offensively Kansas City struggled. M. Peterson barely completed half of his passes, but he did have 135 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. He didnt play bad, but didnt ay good either. The ground game had trouble as well, possibly because of lackcof carries. Both running backs had less than 15 carries, but over 4 yards per carry and neither one broke the 60 yard mark. They were efficient when they got it, but they obviously didnt get the ball enough. Portland continued rolling here, though they didnt allow an offensive touchdown, they gave up a Kitchens punt return for a TD. They will be hoping to continue this undefeated streak into week 4. Kansas city has had some struggles, and lost some close games that they could have won, if they want to see these close losses turn into wins they need to less loose and attack on offense.
OPOTG - S. Kitchens - 11 carries, 49 yards, 4.5 yards per carry and 1 seventy eight yard punt return touchdown.
DPOTG - M. Martinsson - 7 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 1 pass defense.
Week three power rankings
1.Portland Pythons (3-0)
2. Myrtle Beach Buccaneers (2-1
3. Minnesota Grey Ducks (2-1)
4. London Royals (2-1)
5. Kansas City Coyotes (1-2)]
6. Tijuana Luchadores (1-2)
7. Norfolk Seawolves (1-2)
8. Dallas Birddogs (0-3
Week four
• Dallas v. Kansas city KC 34-17 DAL
Remember before when I said that Dallas kept blowing close games? This wasnt one of them. The Birddogs were outplayed in every aspect of the game here. Kansas City went up 21-3 at halftime, and Dallas didnt score enough meaningful points until it was already way too late. Caliban played awful, which seems to be a recurring theme, and despute having more yards he threw two interceptions and had a 33.1 rating which I shouldnt have to tell you is absolutely awful. Peterson didnt play an excellent game himself, but he had a touchdown to offset his interception. Cobra Kai had an uncharacteristically slow game, with only 15 carries and 75 yards. He split carries perfectly with Miglaskems and both scored a touchdown. S. Kitchens was undoubtedly the best runner of the day with 27 carries and 129 yards with 2 touchdowns. The lone bright spot for dallas was wideout M. Callous who caught 7 of the teams 11 passes for 110 yards. On defense three dallas players had more than 10 tackles, with Leaking having 18. Despite those massive tackle numbers, the defense as a whole didnt have hary any other noteable stats aside from rumpers fumble and Mckenzies interception. I think the massive number of tackles just shows they could not get the coyote offense off the field. Not a good thing in my opinion. On the KC side of the defense, P. Patterson was the star of the show as he rallied 7 tackles, 2 pass defenses and an interception. The big difference here in this game I think was the time of possesion battle. Kansas city won by nearly 10 minutes as they had possesion for 34:34 compared to dallas 25:26. This game was about as one sided as it gets. Dallas continues their winless streak, hoping to break the mold in week 5, in order to do so I think one key is to spread passes out to more than just one player. While Kansas City improves to 2-2 and look to catch up to Minnesota and Portland in the SFC behind the strength of their run defense.
OPOTG - S. Kitchens - 27 carries, 129 yards, 2 touchdowns.
DPOTG - P. Patterson - 7 tackles, 2 pass defenses, 1 interception.
• Tijuana v. Portland TIJ 13-10 POR
This was another defensive battle, a theme that has become common between some of the better teams. These games are won by the defense and which offense can do less bad. L. James won a close quarterback battle, having slightly less yards, but a higher completion percentage and even though he threw an interception he was the only QB in this game who threw a touchdown. The run game was dominated by Portland and Pama. He rushed 22 attempts and took those 22 carries 104 yards. The Tijuana ground game was uncharacteristically lackluster, kudos to Portland for taking away the Tijuana strength. Despite that, Portland could not come away with the win. The Tijuana defense proved tougher, forcing an interception and a fumble. While Portland played great defensively, only allowing 13 points, they failed to force any turnovers. Tijuana is undoubtedly happy with the outcome here, strong defense holding back a potent Portland offense to secure a win and move to 2-2. Portland no doubt will want to recover from this loss and rebound with a win against a tough Minnesota team.
OPOTG - D. Pama - 22 carries, 104 yards
DPOTG - M. Gillion - 11 tackles, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery
• Minnesota v. Norfolk MIN 30-7 NOR
After a big victory in week 3 Norfolk was looking for another upset against Minnesota. Unfortunately they were met by a vengeful Grey Ducks team that needed a rebound after a tough loss to myrtle beach a week ago. Minnesota got that rebound here in dominant fashion. E. Rune didnt play horrible so to speak, against a tough minnesota pass defense. He completed 13 of 22 passes for 100 yards, but failed to reach the endzone and added an interception to top it off. While he did not play good by any means, given the circumstanxes it could have been much worse. Just by looking at his yards and touchdown, you would think M. Forty two had a good game. He did have 134 yards and a TD after all, only thing is it took him 34 tries to get there. Thats a measly 3.7 yards per carry. Not exactly peak efficiency in my opinion. Norfolk overall won the time of possesion battle by a minute or so, but they obviously couldnt put points on the board with all that time. Minnesota on the other hand found the endzone often. R. Negs had his best game yet, completing 18 of his 30 pass attempts for 221 yards and 2 touchdowns. With the loss of starting running back J. Vermillion, minnesota had to rely on workhorse M. Rotchburns to move the ball on the ground, and while he ran for 140 yards, he needed 40 carries to do it. He was the opposite of efficient, but still, he carried the load by himself and scored a TD. On the defensive side Minnesota didnt force many turnovers, the lone interception coming from J. Lenkins. But for Norfolk that was really the only positive thing they did, forcing two fumbles. Another huge factor in this game was penalties. Man Norfolk might have set a record for most penalties in a game. They committed 12 penalties for 99 yards in the game. Compared to Minnesotas 4-30. That is a big contributing factor, but shouldnt take away from the fact that Norfolk didnt come out strong enough, and minnesota did.
OPOTG - R. Negs - 18/30 completions, 221 yards, 2 touchdowns, 105 quarterback rating.
DPOTG - S. Roes - 7 tackles, 4 tackles for loss.
• Myrtle Beach v. London MB 27-16 LON
After a tough upset loss last week against Norfolk, London came in needing a win. Unfortunately Myrtle Beach had other plans. The Buccaneers were dominant on the ground today. With both running backs at about 95 yards and a touchdown on about 20 carries. Daytona struggled a bit through the air as he completed 17 of his 30 passes for 189 yards. He didnt turn the ball over which is good, but he failed to reach the end zone. Defensively the Buccaneers ran a one man...or should i say one mouse show. Z. Mouse led the day with 8 tackles, but that doesnt matter. What matters is TWO (2) interceptions, and one returned 63 yards for a touchdown. Guy was unstoppable. Anything thrown his way was batted down or picked off. Now the Royals, aside from the two Mouse interceptions, played a decent game, and would have likely won were it not for the pick six. Cortez completed 19 out of his 30 pass attempts for 227 yards and a touchdown with of course, 2 interceptions. The London run game was so awful I wont even mention numbers (theyre both below 3 ypc). Now the man who made it all happen on Londons offense was T. Speedman. This dude had 150 recieving yards. He didnt score, but he caught 9 passes and took those 17 yards per catch for that 153 yards. On defense their isnt much to say, L. Burfict had 11 tackles and 2 for a loss, and E. Lover had 2 sacks. Myrtle beach dominated the time of possession by 11 minutes and did really well running to control the clock. Despite that London could have won this game had they not turned the ball over as many times as they did, and obviously the pick six. Myrtle beach moves to 3-1 while London falls 2-2.
OPOTG - T. Speedman - 9 catches, 150 yards
DPOTG - Z. Mouse - 8 tackles, 2 pass defenses, 2 interceptions, 1 touchdown
Week four power rankings
1. Portland Pythons (3-1)
The Pythons get the top spot here because they have probably the best, most balanced team on the field
They have a solid defense, and a potent offense, but when the two work together in tandem its a thing of beauty. They get the edge over myrtle beach because they obviously dominated the buccaneers in their first matchup.
2. Myrtle Beach Buccaneers (3-1)
The buccaneers get the #2 spot here because they have a solid record of 3-1 obviously, but they have a solid offense in the air and on the ground, and a decent defense that does enough to win. They have beaten some tough opponents like Minnesota, and their only loss is away to a really good Portland team.
3. Minnesota Grey Ducks (3-1)
The grey ducks get the number 3 spot here because thet are rocking one of the best defenses in the league, and despite having played a relatively lackluster schedule vs norfolk and dallas, they beat a good Tijuana team on the road and their only loss is to the top rated Myrtle beach in an away game.
4. Tijuana Luchadores (2-2)
The luchadores get the number four spot because I think theyve faced tougher opponents than the other 2 and 2 teams, and they are the only team to beat portland so far. But they do have a solid team that could make a late push for the playoffs.
5. Kansas City Coyotes (2-2)
Kansas city takes number 5 because they have lost both games to the top two teams myrtle beach and portland, but they arent higher because theyve only beaten the two worst teams. That isnt their fault I know, they cant pick the schedule, but they should get at least a couple more wins on the season, though im not confident that they will make a serious push for the playoffs.
6. London Royals (2-2)
The royals take 6th and not 5th because I cant overlook the blunder that was a loss to norfolk. They blew that game that was easily won, but it never should have been that close. After the next game was blown to fall 2-2 after starting 2-0, i lost a lot of confidence in Lo don who i thought would make a strong push, I just dont know that they have the IT thing to be elite.
7. Norfolk Seawolves (1-3)
Despite having a win, I almost ranked them lower than dallas. I feel dallas might be the better team, but Norfolk has shown flashes of life, if they can hit the gas and light a fire under Rune, they might win a few more games. Still, not a good team but they might suprise a fee teams with some upsets just like they did to london.
8. Dallas Birddogs (0-4)
While they might be actually better than Norfolk, I cant look past their inability to finish games. They get into winnable games with teams and blow it at the last minute. This lack of discipline and clock management is worrisome. There is still a lot of time for them to turn it around, but as of now my hopes are not very high for them to win more than 5 games, but anything is possible i suppose.
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