Robbed:
I honestly think all teams that made playoffs this year deserved it. The 4 teams that did not make it, failed to do so because their teams failed at the simple task of inning football games. But, if I had to be picky, I would say the fans that got robbed the most this season were the Sabercat fans. The team was not in position to win this season, but they were in position to do better than one win. They have had a couple years where they drafted well and have assembled a team that, on paper, should be on par with the Liberty. Philadelphia was able to muster a 7-7 season and while that was short of playoffs, it gives their fan base hope for the coming seasons. San Jose has continually failed to put together a team to be proud of, and that is a robbery of the fans wallets and of their time. And on the real life side of the coin, there's people who play this game who are a part of that team, and have been for a while and I think this constant failure is bad for them. I wouldn't want to play for a team that seemingly had no desire to win every game possible.
(214)
Playoff Review:
Heading into the playoffs, if I were a betting man, I would have won money. They played out exactly as the seeding and rankings showed they would. There were no upsets to be had or surprises in the outcomes. But there were some things that are worth looking at, in retrospect. The Second Line defeated the Otters quite handily in the first round. While the odds were that New Orleans were going to win, I do not think anyone expected them to dominate in the fashion they did. Their regular season meeting was much closer and the Otters, after that meeting, retooled their playbook to better suit Showbiz's talents and really started to show a different team. There were plenty of people coming out and saying Orange County were a dark horse to win the Ultimus, but the Second Line put them back in their place. The Second Line's defeat of the Hawks in the Ultimus Game was no shock either, but like with Orange County, many were calling the upset. There was that "feeling" around the game that it was sort of a trap atmosphere for the Second Line, and that even though Baltimore were the reigning champs, they were somehow the underdog. Well, New Orleans once again proved their haters wrong.
(213)
Unsung Hero
The Second Line has a lot of stars, and given their output of points, a lot of the media fame goes to Borkus Maximus III, Darren Smallwood and Vlad Fyodorovich. And for good reason, as those 3 really were the focal point of the big explosion of points. But what the big media hype doesn't talk about is the defense. In the first round they held the Otters to 13 points. That's not an easy feat. Rookie Tana Keita had a phenomenal playoffs with 15 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 Passes Defended and 1 interception. Considering he is only a rookie, that is a very impressive stat line. He wasn't the only one on the Second Line's defense who had a great playoffs though. Perennial star, Benson Bayley had a decent set of games as well. He posted 14 tackles, 2 passes defended and had an interception as well. And, while Vlad Fyodorovich is getting accolades for his 5 offensive touchdowns through the set of 2 games, they're forgetting he also played well on defense and returned a punt for a touchdown. There is a lot of factors that went into the championship run that New Orleans put forward and it is difficult to shine a light on every aspect of it. And because Borkus and Fyodorovich did so well on offense, it is hard to not focus on their connection.
(230)
Going to Disneyland!:
The entire New Orleans Second Line team should go. But that's not how this works. I have to pick one player, and it shouldn't take long to pick. While Borkus Maximus was on fire and played some of the best ball he ever has, i'd be hard pressed not to give it to the guy who was responsible for 6 Touchdowns through 2 games. Quarterbacks are supposed to get a lot of touchdowns, but a single receiver dominating so heavily? It's pretty amazing. I do not have the stats on hand but I can not recall a singe receiver having such a dominant performance in a playoffs before. Usually teams who won the game did so with 2-3 stud receivers. And not to take anything away from Law and DiMirio, who did not do poorly by any stretch, but Vlad was heads and tails the star of their offensive explosion. In addition to being the explosive threat on offense, Fyodorovich was also a threat on special teams. In the penultimate game of the season, Vlad returned a punt for a touchdown in the first quarter of the game. Being able to be a dual threat like that is call enough for an MVP vote, but what if I told you he was a triple threat? He was also able to bring the pain to the hawks on defense. He had no time off between catching plays, because he was out defending passes on defense. He registered 8 tackles and deflected 2 passes in the Ultimus game. That's a good stat line even if that was all he had to do. But that's all in addition to the other things he contributed to this team's Championship. He truly is an MVP.
(291)
I honestly think all teams that made playoffs this year deserved it. The 4 teams that did not make it, failed to do so because their teams failed at the simple task of inning football games. But, if I had to be picky, I would say the fans that got robbed the most this season were the Sabercat fans. The team was not in position to win this season, but they were in position to do better than one win. They have had a couple years where they drafted well and have assembled a team that, on paper, should be on par with the Liberty. Philadelphia was able to muster a 7-7 season and while that was short of playoffs, it gives their fan base hope for the coming seasons. San Jose has continually failed to put together a team to be proud of, and that is a robbery of the fans wallets and of their time. And on the real life side of the coin, there's people who play this game who are a part of that team, and have been for a while and I think this constant failure is bad for them. I wouldn't want to play for a team that seemingly had no desire to win every game possible.
(214)
Playoff Review:
Heading into the playoffs, if I were a betting man, I would have won money. They played out exactly as the seeding and rankings showed they would. There were no upsets to be had or surprises in the outcomes. But there were some things that are worth looking at, in retrospect. The Second Line defeated the Otters quite handily in the first round. While the odds were that New Orleans were going to win, I do not think anyone expected them to dominate in the fashion they did. Their regular season meeting was much closer and the Otters, after that meeting, retooled their playbook to better suit Showbiz's talents and really started to show a different team. There were plenty of people coming out and saying Orange County were a dark horse to win the Ultimus, but the Second Line put them back in their place. The Second Line's defeat of the Hawks in the Ultimus Game was no shock either, but like with Orange County, many were calling the upset. There was that "feeling" around the game that it was sort of a trap atmosphere for the Second Line, and that even though Baltimore were the reigning champs, they were somehow the underdog. Well, New Orleans once again proved their haters wrong.
(213)
Unsung Hero
The Second Line has a lot of stars, and given their output of points, a lot of the media fame goes to Borkus Maximus III, Darren Smallwood and Vlad Fyodorovich. And for good reason, as those 3 really were the focal point of the big explosion of points. But what the big media hype doesn't talk about is the defense. In the first round they held the Otters to 13 points. That's not an easy feat. Rookie Tana Keita had a phenomenal playoffs with 15 tackles, 2 sacks, 4 Passes Defended and 1 interception. Considering he is only a rookie, that is a very impressive stat line. He wasn't the only one on the Second Line's defense who had a great playoffs though. Perennial star, Benson Bayley had a decent set of games as well. He posted 14 tackles, 2 passes defended and had an interception as well. And, while Vlad Fyodorovich is getting accolades for his 5 offensive touchdowns through the set of 2 games, they're forgetting he also played well on defense and returned a punt for a touchdown. There is a lot of factors that went into the championship run that New Orleans put forward and it is difficult to shine a light on every aspect of it. And because Borkus and Fyodorovich did so well on offense, it is hard to not focus on their connection.
(230)
Going to Disneyland!:
The entire New Orleans Second Line team should go. But that's not how this works. I have to pick one player, and it shouldn't take long to pick. While Borkus Maximus was on fire and played some of the best ball he ever has, i'd be hard pressed not to give it to the guy who was responsible for 6 Touchdowns through 2 games. Quarterbacks are supposed to get a lot of touchdowns, but a single receiver dominating so heavily? It's pretty amazing. I do not have the stats on hand but I can not recall a singe receiver having such a dominant performance in a playoffs before. Usually teams who won the game did so with 2-3 stud receivers. And not to take anything away from Law and DiMirio, who did not do poorly by any stretch, but Vlad was heads and tails the star of their offensive explosion. In addition to being the explosive threat on offense, Fyodorovich was also a threat on special teams. In the penultimate game of the season, Vlad returned a punt for a touchdown in the first quarter of the game. Being able to be a dual threat like that is call enough for an MVP vote, but what if I told you he was a triple threat? He was also able to bring the pain to the hawks on defense. He had no time off between catching plays, because he was out defending passes on defense. He registered 8 tackles and deflected 2 passes in the Ultimus game. That's a good stat line even if that was all he had to do. But that's all in addition to the other things he contributed to this team's Championship. He truly is an MVP.
(291)
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