06-16-2019, 05:49 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-16-2019, 06:11 PM by speculadora.)
1) PBE Affiliation
2) Playoff Predictions, Reviews
What a sad, sad affair the round one matchup between Orange County and San Jose was. The Otters had suffered through a season that fell well short of expectations yet, in usual fashion, found themselves in the playoffs once more. That, it seemed, could have been all it took to propel them on a championship run similar to the Liberty of Season 7 with the possibility of back-to-back road wins en route to an Ultimus. If any team could do it, you'd have to believe it would be Orange County. The talent was there, really. And it seemed that they truly might be ready to complete the first leg of that journey as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead on San Jose in the first 6 minutes of the game. They struggled to get anything going after that, with San Jose pouring on 23 unanswered points. A brief glimmer of hope came in the form of a 4-yard Apollo Reed touchdown in the third quarter that brought the game within one score, but the Sabercats quelled any hope of that with an early fourth quarter touchdown by Corwin Davenport that all but closed the book on the game and the Otters' disappointing season.
3) Spotlight on Youth
I'm going to fudge the rules a little bit here and name two young players who I believe had a major impact on this season's Ultimus game. The Hawks drafted well in the large Season 15 class, grabbing two premier safeties who have blossomed into quite the duo in the back half of Baltimore's secondary. Fatih Terim and Walt Green definitely left something of a mark on the playoffs, combining for 10 tackles and a fumble forced and recovered. As most anyone who knows football will know, however, a good defensive back's impact is often unseen in the box score. They impact plays in different ways, as good coverage can disrupt the designed reads for any given pass play. Or they can come up in the box and disrupt the running game. They can be used to disguise coverages. The list goes on. This was the sort of impact they made in Baltimore's opening round matchup against the Liberty, as the two made little in the way of box score impacts, unlikely their Ultimus performances. It's rare to see a team as good as Baltimore be able to count on such young players for so much, but here we are seeing it before our very eyes. The Hawks secondary certainly has a bright future with these two being guaranteed to pass through expansion untouched.
4) Strategies
Orange County had a terribly disappointing season, finishing just 8-6 despite hopes for bringing home hardware this season. They lost a handful of winnable games, blowing home contests against San Jose, Baltimore, and Colorado. The first two are nothing to sneeze at, but they are games that good teams still find a way to win. Losing to the Yeti in the season's final week, however, was inexcusable for a team with as much talent as these Otters. So, what do the Otters need to do to return to their winning ways? Quite frankly it will come down to execution. There is far to much talent on this team to find ways to lose games. That's what separates great teams from good ones. 8-6 isn't really a record to sneeze at, though Orange County's excellent history might have altered expectations for them, but it's a record that is nearly inexcusable for a team of their talent. And it comes down to execution. If you execute when you're supposed to, you're going to win the games you're supposed to win. Sometimes you'll play a good game and still get beat. It happens. But it could be argued that all 6 of the Otters' losses were individually winnable. Certainly you wouldn't expect them to run the table, but turn two of those losses into wins, including the home loss against San Jose, and you're staring down potential home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Instead they finished a full three games back. So, provided they can keep their core in tact through expansion, the Otters really just need a reminder on what it takes to play championship level football.
2) Playoff Predictions, Reviews
What a sad, sad affair the round one matchup between Orange County and San Jose was. The Otters had suffered through a season that fell well short of expectations yet, in usual fashion, found themselves in the playoffs once more. That, it seemed, could have been all it took to propel them on a championship run similar to the Liberty of Season 7 with the possibility of back-to-back road wins en route to an Ultimus. If any team could do it, you'd have to believe it would be Orange County. The talent was there, really. And it seemed that they truly might be ready to complete the first leg of that journey as they jumped out to a 10-0 lead on San Jose in the first 6 minutes of the game. They struggled to get anything going after that, with San Jose pouring on 23 unanswered points. A brief glimmer of hope came in the form of a 4-yard Apollo Reed touchdown in the third quarter that brought the game within one score, but the Sabercats quelled any hope of that with an early fourth quarter touchdown by Corwin Davenport that all but closed the book on the game and the Otters' disappointing season.
3) Spotlight on Youth
I'm going to fudge the rules a little bit here and name two young players who I believe had a major impact on this season's Ultimus game. The Hawks drafted well in the large Season 15 class, grabbing two premier safeties who have blossomed into quite the duo in the back half of Baltimore's secondary. Fatih Terim and Walt Green definitely left something of a mark on the playoffs, combining for 10 tackles and a fumble forced and recovered. As most anyone who knows football will know, however, a good defensive back's impact is often unseen in the box score. They impact plays in different ways, as good coverage can disrupt the designed reads for any given pass play. Or they can come up in the box and disrupt the running game. They can be used to disguise coverages. The list goes on. This was the sort of impact they made in Baltimore's opening round matchup against the Liberty, as the two made little in the way of box score impacts, unlikely their Ultimus performances. It's rare to see a team as good as Baltimore be able to count on such young players for so much, but here we are seeing it before our very eyes. The Hawks secondary certainly has a bright future with these two being guaranteed to pass through expansion untouched.
4) Strategies
Orange County had a terribly disappointing season, finishing just 8-6 despite hopes for bringing home hardware this season. They lost a handful of winnable games, blowing home contests against San Jose, Baltimore, and Colorado. The first two are nothing to sneeze at, but they are games that good teams still find a way to win. Losing to the Yeti in the season's final week, however, was inexcusable for a team with as much talent as these Otters. So, what do the Otters need to do to return to their winning ways? Quite frankly it will come down to execution. There is far to much talent on this team to find ways to lose games. That's what separates great teams from good ones. 8-6 isn't really a record to sneeze at, though Orange County's excellent history might have altered expectations for them, but it's a record that is nearly inexcusable for a team of their talent. And it comes down to execution. If you execute when you're supposed to, you're going to win the games you're supposed to win. Sometimes you'll play a good game and still get beat. It happens. But it could be argued that all 6 of the Otters' losses were individually winnable. Certainly you wouldn't expect them to run the table, but turn two of those losses into wins, including the home loss against San Jose, and you're staring down potential home field advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Instead they finished a full three games back. So, provided they can keep their core in tact through expansion, the Otters really just need a reminder on what it takes to play championship level football.
![[Image: rq0K779.png]](https://i.imgur.com/rq0K779.png)