(S15) - Ultimus Week

[TomHanks]

Strategies
Well now here’s the thing. I design the strategies and I really thought we had a good one coming into the conference championship. We practiced extensively, and really got dialed in both on offense and defense. Thing is, clearly that didn’t translate to the field. When you design a tactic that results in your quarterback throwing 5 interceptions, you’ve made a pretty serious miscalculation as a general manager. With the talent we have in the receiving core, there’s no reason that should ever happen. As such, I want to apologize to my team and to Corvo, because the blame for that falls on my shoulders. For next season, we have to modify our passing plays to get guys open, instead of forcing Corvo to throw into coverage every time he drops back. Initially I want to get some short crossing routes going, since he makes some really good throws once he gets in a rhythm. That way, as the game progresses, we’ll be able to stretch the defense a little more, especially if our running game is as efficient as it was that game. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention our defense. The best defense in the league allowing 17 unanswered points in the 1st quarter absolutely blindsided us and had us scrambling the rest of the game. The strength of the defense during the regular season was built on getting to the quarterback, and I clearly used the wrong blitz packages in that game. Lesson learned, don’t try to get cute, just use what worked during the season.

Head to Head Matchups
I want to talk about a matchup that was electrifying no matter what side of the ball you were on in the SFC conference championship, the offensive player of the game, Forrest Gump (shameless plug) facing off against new Palm Beach signing and defensive player of the game (on his debut!!) Daniel Gilsack. On 27 carries, Forrest scampered for 142 yards and found pay dirt three times albeit the last two were when the game was pretty much decided, with the last one coming with 24 seconds left to make it a 2-possession game. Not all that useful that late in the game. Even still, Forrest is as Forrest does, and he continued to perform at a high level that game. Gilsack, however, came out of nowhere, walking onto the team for the playoffs, netting 10 tackles and being a monster for Corvo Havran, getting both a sack and an interception. Gilsack was all over the field and was consistently either tackling Forrest or forcing him into a position where a teammate would be able to make the tackle. The same can be said about his linebacking partner and proven talent, Guy Nikko, who also had 10 tackles. Every time the team got going, and especially Forrest, one of those two linebackers made a key tackle that slowed the team right down.

All About the QBs
I was going to avoid talking about Tijuana in this one for what I imagine are pretty obvious reasons, but the Palm Beach Tijuana game was such a masterclass in bizarre quarterback play that I can’t ignore it. These were, in my mind, the top 2 quarterbacks this season, but it was not on display that game. I’ve already talked about Havran’s five interceptions in the strategies task so I don’t want to focus too much on that. But what I didn’t mention was his 25.6 passer rating. If you drop back and throw every ball into the dirt, your passer rating is 39.6. So that figure is just, really something. It’s not quite Nathan Peterman numbers, but it’s still something. Granted, he had 40 attempts and completed 17 of them for 266 yards which is very efficient, and nothing to scoff at. On the other hand, Palm Beach’s Easton Cole dropped back a mere 15 times, and only completed 6 of those passes for a grand total of 60 yards. He, like Corvo, never found the end zone, but he avoided throwing any picks and ended up almost exactly doubling his passer rating with a 52.1. Cole also ran the ball 3 times for 6 yards, although his longest run of the day was 6 yards, where Corvo ran 8 times for a total of 37 yards.

Playoff Predictions
I’m not exactly being bold with this prediction but let me tell you why the Baltimore Hawks are taking home the Ultimus this season. First of all, the first and second favourites for MVP this season are both on this team, and somehow are both on offense. If your quarterback and running back are both putting up numbers better than anyone else in their position in the league, you’ve got an offense that is firing on all cylinders. In terms of points, total yards, and passing yards, this team is the best offense in the league, and in terms of points allowed they are the best in their conference, and the second best in the league. Granted, the number one defense in the league by that metric is their opponents, the San Jose Sabercats. SJ is also the reigning champs, meaning they know how to win in the playoffs (lmao). The problem is that SJ just doesn’t have anything close to the offense that the Hawks have. Joliet Christ has thrown for 3576 yards this season and 17 TDs, and Orosz, their running back, has rushed for 772 yards with 4.3 yards per carry and 8 touchdowns. Childish Gambino has thrown for 4328 yards and 45(?!?) TDs, breaking the all time record. Brown has added 1577 yards on the ground, on far more carries than Orosz, but he’s still been noticeably more efficient with 4.5 YPC. Oh, he’s also managed to get in the end zone 14 times, making him the only running back to get there in double digit figures.