*Week 6 & 7 Fan Reviews

[IsaStarcrossed]

With weeks six and seven played, we are now half way through the season and the playoff seeding is really starting to shape up. Lets dive into another segment of fan reviews as I share what I observed in my sim viewing experience!

@ 20-45, Butchers win. Another spectacularly average day for Adriana Falconi, another abysmal day for Marquise Brown, another dissection of the worst defense in the NSFL, another loss for the Philadelphia Liberty. This is our reality now in the NSFL. We keep expecting big things from a team that played in the championship game this past season. We keep getting disappointed every time the take the field. In a game that was incredibly one sided, the highlights consisted of Sam Torenson and Aksel Danielsson combining for 259 yards and four scores on the ground. They were an unstoppable two headed beast all game long and it allowed for Chicago to absolutely consume the time of possession and take this game home.

@ 10-31, Outlaws win. This was supposed to be one of the best games of the week. This game was supposed to see the two top teams in the NSFL duke it out for control of first place. For one half, it looked like that was exactly what we were going to get as we headed into the half 14 to 10. Then the Outlaws came out, took over in the third, and never looked back. I would have loved to have put this game entirely on Yellowknife's offense and their lack of production. Not a single player on their team seemed to be able to get any separation. Instead of blaming them, I'm instead going to congratulate Arizona's defense for playing one hell of a game. They managed three sacks, knocked down 10 balls and picked off another two, giving Cooter Bigsby nightmares. They put pressure on him as a unit early and often and it led to him making mistakes and continuously passing into coverage. This secondary got in between Bigsby and a little over 25% of his targets, making him completely ineffective on the day.

@ 31-13, Hawks win. After picking up two wins last week, everyone was thinking upsets and storybooks entering this one. They were so wrong. The story line here? Wolfie McDummy bad. Corvo Havran good. McDummy's 50% completion rating with only 134 yards simply was not anywhere remotely enough to match Havran's monster day. He was nearly perfect. 23 of 26, 329 yards, three scores, and only a single turnover in route to a 141.2 quarterback rating. He played out of his mind as he carved up the Yeti defense like it was an art. He was aided in big part by receivers Errol Maddox and Ahri Espeeyeeseetee who combined for 11 catches, 216 yards, and two touchdowns. They were absolutely impossible to cover. To add insult to injury, Colorado also gave Dorfus Jimbo his first points of the season. Pecker Cox and his three tackles for a loss were the only good thing the Yeti got out of this game and even that wasn't flashy enough to warrant attention.

@ 40-20, Otters win. The Copperheads had looked pretty competitive to this point in the season. Against everyone but Orange County. Their first match against the Otters was a 13 to 43 loss at Orange County, then for this meeting they let Orange County come in and absolutely stomp on snek. Easton Cole and Ashley Owens both managed to have their worst games of the season at the exact same time. A 64.5 quarterback rating and two costly turnover from your young quarterback followed by 48 rushing yards from your first round pick simply is not enough to win games in this league. On the other side, we saw a spectacular show put on by Johnny Blaze and Sunnycursed who combined for 14 catches and 213 yards. Every time Austin thought they had one covered, the other found a gap and made the Copperheads pay. I don't know what is different about this Orange County squad, but the Copperheads simply can't figure out how to compete with them.

@ 27-37, SaberCats win. This was an absolutely soul crushing loss for the New Orleans Second Line. They came out of the gate red hot and went up 27 to 14 over San Jose by the half. They absolutely dominated the SaberCats in the first two quarters and fans were already seeing all the possible paths out of their current seat in last place of the league. Then the SaberCats came out after the second half and completely locked New Orleans down. Four punts, a missed field goal, and a 54 yard interception return was all they managed in the second half as the SaberCats never let the Second Line back near their end zone. Defense alone wouldn't have marshaled this comeback though as on the other side of the ball, Joliet L. Christ had an absolutely mind boggling game. Its not every day you get to throw for 440 yards and three scores while never turning the ball over. Mix this with the fact San Jose had three different pass catchers go over 100 yards and you can see why they were such an unstoppable machine in the second half. When Christ plays this well, the SaberCats are terrifying.

@ 3-33, Butchers win. As quickly as the dream sparked to life, Colorado's sparkly gleam of hope has been resolutely butchered. After going up 27 to 0 in the first half, all the Butchers had to do was put it on cruise control and let it happen.
Wolfie McDummy didn't make the mistakes he normally makes to lose the game for Colorado, but he didn't do anything to help either. His outstanding 41% completion rating made it so the Yeti never really managed to put a drive together. It certainly doesn't help that Chicago's first ranked defense absolutely smother the Yeti receivers and James Bishop was the only guy who could find any daylight at all. His 105 yards almost out gained the entire rest of the offense. Combined. The Butcher defense managed to rack up five sacks against the dazed and confused McDummy including two from Cole Walker. They were in his face all day and they may have won this game by themselves. Chicago's running game did their job, amassing a combined 231 yards on the ground and controlling the ball for 40 minutes. This gave the pass rush plenty of rest in between drives and they made the most of it.

@ 13-21, Liberty win. For the first time in six weeks, the Philadelphia Liberty show some fight. This is a team that has been free falling all season long and they have finally managed to pump the breaks a little. Adriana Falconi had a very solid game where she wasn't forced to take too many risks. She was able to keep passes short, her volume low, and for the first time in a while didn't have to play the entire game desperately trying to come back from behind. Much of this was due to Marquise Brown having one of his vintage games. Brown has been overwhelmingly underwhelming so far this season, but with this 104 yard, one score game he was able to show what this offense can do when he actually gets moving. The Philadelphia defense put up a stout game, able to actually put a full game together now that they weren't on the field for almost the entirety of the game. They held Dorfus Jimbo to a paltry 47 yards a carry with a 2.6 yard average and forced Corvo Havran into throwing two picks. If Philadelphia wanted any chance to make the playoffs, they had to win this game. Luckily for now this keeps them in the running. For Baltimore? They were a team that came out of the gate looking hot but as Jimbo has cooled down, so have they. They need to get him back into form because they cannot afford to lose another game like this if they want a shot at the Ultimus.

@ 30-17, Outlaws win. The first place team in the league reminded everyone in the league why they are the defending champions with a dominant affair over the Otters. The Outlaws went up 30-3 half way through the third quarter and everything after was garbage time. There was never a point that this game was even remotely close and it came off of one of the worst games of the season for Franklin Armstrong. He threw not one, but two pick sixes in this game. Hike Mughes and Lucas Knight were able to put these on their highlight reel on a night where Arizona's defense was every bit as effective as their offense in scoring. These two guys locked down both sides of the field, swatting away everything that came at them while their front seven produced a massive five sacks. This was the game of nightmares for Armstrong and probably not one he'll forget in the near future. The Outlaws solidified their first ranking while the Otters got to remind themselves that they are still bringing up a young quarterback.

@ 25-33, Wraiths win. New Orleans marched into Yellowknife and made themselves competitive with one of the best teams in the league. After leading for more than half the game, they had a late collapse that allowed Yellowknife to take the game back. Nate Swift and Bona’beri Jones put together a heroic effort that saw them combine for 202 yards and a score to desperately put New Orleans in position to win. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't stop the one man wrecking crew known as Jerrod Canton. 218 all purpose yards and two touchdowns saw Canton have a career game that he will never forget. Canton almost single handed won this game for the Wraiths while handing New Orleans a soul crushing loss. This Second Line squad battles with everything it has but they've now faced heartbreaking loss after heartbreaking loss in route to last place in the league. It doesn't matter what they manage to do right, they just can't seem to get a point in the win column. Meanwhile, Yellowknife managed to squeak one out against a team at the bottom of the standings. If they want to make it clear they are a top team in the NSFL, they need to be better about putting these games away.

@ 17-20 SaberCats win. Austin put together another very competitive game. If anything this season, they've shown they can match even the best teams when they're playing well. Ashley Owens had another underwhelming game as he tries to adjust to the NSFL, but Easton Cole returned to form with his 75% completion rating, two scores, no turnover, 105.5 quarterback rating game. Unfortunately for him, Joliet Christ is currently in MVP form and simply performed just enough more to seal the SaberCats three point victory. This was aided in part by the excellent play of San Jose's defense. Six total sacks, three tackles for a loss, and seven passes defended. It was a dominant defensive effort that ensured Christ didn't have to reach too hard to pull this one off. For me, player of the entire week was linebacker Chad Pennington. 10 tackles, two sacks, and three passes defended. He was present in all three phases of defense and shut down multiple Austin drives by himself. This was one of the top defensive performances of the year and was a joy to watch. Even so, the Copperheads aren't letting many top teams march all over them, which is a definite improvement from last season. They have a chance at playoffs still, but no matter what this team has to be excited about the development they have taking them into the future.