Playoff Predictions:
First up (as far as I know) is Colorado at Baltimore. The Yeti somehow made the playoffs despite losing Ryan Applehort in the offseason, and will now play their former QB. The Hawks have been the #1 defense in the league, though they have struggled to make plays on the ball. McCormick will likely pass 45 times and put a couple of scores on the board, but Baltimore will carve up the last ranked Yeti defense en route to a clear win. The Otters will travel to New Orleans to face the Second Line. Both teams are very inconsistent, but both teams are capable of serious volume passing. In the end, odds are too great of Orange County making a critical mistake, though honestly this is a really good matchup. Finally, the Second Line will host the Hawks in the Ultimus. Both teams are very comparable, though Baltimore has done a much better job of maintaining a balanced offense, as Maximus led all QBs in the league in rushing and passing. As a result, I would be inclined to give the edge to Baltimore, if this were being played in a neutral location, but since the game will be played in New Orleans, I will pick them in a narrow victory.
Hate the Players/Game:
The Colorado Yeti are returning to the playoffs. Here’s a question: why would they want to be there? Normally these questions are to point out a team that wasn’t good enough, but honestly, Colorado is good enough. Despite a league-worst defense, their offense, led by McCormick, was able to keep up most games, and they generally started off in the lead. So this isn’t about them not deserving a spot, because none of the teams that sat out were better. However, Colorado is not really a contender, and their odds of winning it all are close to nil. After this season, there is an exceptional draft class, and Colorado will be drafting at the second half of it. Wouldn’t they have been better off waiting until they could draft a good QB and just trading for Metaxas for a couple of seasons instead? Now they have a solid QB who will be crap by the time the team is ready to contend again. Meanwhile, Philadelphia actually wanted a taste of success, and didn’t care about the draft picks. It just seems that both teams would have been happier if the Liberty had made the playoffs over Colorado, and that is why Colorado shouldn’t have made it.
Playoff Review
In Baltimore, Colorado started out with a 7-0 lead, but apparently felt that was enough, staying at 7 while Baltimore blew up with 45. McCormick completed only 12 passes all game on 35 attempts, a career low for completions. Applehort, by comparison, set a season high with 58 attempts. As with the first game, the road team found the end zone first, with Orange County going up 7-0. However, also as with the first game, the home team then lit it up, with New Orleans scoring 34 straight points. The Ultimus, according to the index, hasn’t happened, but I remember a bit. The biggest takeaway, for me, was that neither team seemed to play according to the other team’s weaknesses. New Orleans ran the ball all day, giving the now-mediocre Smallwood over 30 carries against the best DL in the league. Baltimore, meanwhile, aired it out all day against the best secondary in the league. It really seemed that neither team wanted to win or, for that matter, was able to. The sim agreed, with both teams tied at the end of regulation. However, despite carrying all day, Smallwood somehow managed to summon a bit more to find the end zone in OT, winning the game for NOLA.
Playoff Series MVP
With the index yet to be updated, it’s hard to say for sure who the really was, but I am gonna go out on a limb and say it *might* be Vladimir Fyodorovich from New Orleans. In the conference finals, which we got to see twice, Vlad caught 5 passes for 101 yards and 2 touchdowns, making him tied for the leading scorer and second only to Smallwood in total yards from scrimmage. He also had 6 returns for a total of 91 yards, making him the leader in all-purpose yards. In the finals, he was even more impressive. With 2:29 remaining in the first quarter, the score tied at 7-7, and Maximus with only 43 yards on 10 attempts, Fyodorovich took a punt return 50 yards to the end zone, giving the Second Line their first lead of the game. At the end of the second half, after a 20 yard punt return, he caught a 29 yard TD pass to score his second touchdown, this time with 3 seconds remaining in the half. A 12 yard TD pass in the 3rd quarter gave New Orleans an 8 point lead, their biggest of the night. Finally, down by 5 with under 4 minutes to go, he caught a final touchdown pass to give them the lead. Without Fyodorovich, the Ultimus win would instead have been a blowout loss.
First up (as far as I know) is Colorado at Baltimore. The Yeti somehow made the playoffs despite losing Ryan Applehort in the offseason, and will now play their former QB. The Hawks have been the #1 defense in the league, though they have struggled to make plays on the ball. McCormick will likely pass 45 times and put a couple of scores on the board, but Baltimore will carve up the last ranked Yeti defense en route to a clear win. The Otters will travel to New Orleans to face the Second Line. Both teams are very inconsistent, but both teams are capable of serious volume passing. In the end, odds are too great of Orange County making a critical mistake, though honestly this is a really good matchup. Finally, the Second Line will host the Hawks in the Ultimus. Both teams are very comparable, though Baltimore has done a much better job of maintaining a balanced offense, as Maximus led all QBs in the league in rushing and passing. As a result, I would be inclined to give the edge to Baltimore, if this were being played in a neutral location, but since the game will be played in New Orleans, I will pick them in a narrow victory.
Hate the Players/Game:
The Colorado Yeti are returning to the playoffs. Here’s a question: why would they want to be there? Normally these questions are to point out a team that wasn’t good enough, but honestly, Colorado is good enough. Despite a league-worst defense, their offense, led by McCormick, was able to keep up most games, and they generally started off in the lead. So this isn’t about them not deserving a spot, because none of the teams that sat out were better. However, Colorado is not really a contender, and their odds of winning it all are close to nil. After this season, there is an exceptional draft class, and Colorado will be drafting at the second half of it. Wouldn’t they have been better off waiting until they could draft a good QB and just trading for Metaxas for a couple of seasons instead? Now they have a solid QB who will be crap by the time the team is ready to contend again. Meanwhile, Philadelphia actually wanted a taste of success, and didn’t care about the draft picks. It just seems that both teams would have been happier if the Liberty had made the playoffs over Colorado, and that is why Colorado shouldn’t have made it.
Playoff Review
In Baltimore, Colorado started out with a 7-0 lead, but apparently felt that was enough, staying at 7 while Baltimore blew up with 45. McCormick completed only 12 passes all game on 35 attempts, a career low for completions. Applehort, by comparison, set a season high with 58 attempts. As with the first game, the road team found the end zone first, with Orange County going up 7-0. However, also as with the first game, the home team then lit it up, with New Orleans scoring 34 straight points. The Ultimus, according to the index, hasn’t happened, but I remember a bit. The biggest takeaway, for me, was that neither team seemed to play according to the other team’s weaknesses. New Orleans ran the ball all day, giving the now-mediocre Smallwood over 30 carries against the best DL in the league. Baltimore, meanwhile, aired it out all day against the best secondary in the league. It really seemed that neither team wanted to win or, for that matter, was able to. The sim agreed, with both teams tied at the end of regulation. However, despite carrying all day, Smallwood somehow managed to summon a bit more to find the end zone in OT, winning the game for NOLA.
Playoff Series MVP
With the index yet to be updated, it’s hard to say for sure who the really was, but I am gonna go out on a limb and say it *might* be Vladimir Fyodorovich from New Orleans. In the conference finals, which we got to see twice, Vlad caught 5 passes for 101 yards and 2 touchdowns, making him tied for the leading scorer and second only to Smallwood in total yards from scrimmage. He also had 6 returns for a total of 91 yards, making him the leader in all-purpose yards. In the finals, he was even more impressive. With 2:29 remaining in the first quarter, the score tied at 7-7, and Maximus with only 43 yards on 10 attempts, Fyodorovich took a punt return 50 yards to the end zone, giving the Second Line their first lead of the game. At the end of the second half, after a 20 yard punt return, he caught a 29 yard TD pass to score his second touchdown, this time with 3 seconds remaining in the half. A 12 yard TD pass in the 3rd quarter gave New Orleans an 8 point lead, their biggest of the night. Finally, down by 5 with under 4 minutes to go, he caught a final touchdown pass to give them the lead. Without Fyodorovich, the Ultimus win would instead have been a blowout loss.
![[Image: BVsashy.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BVsashy.png)
