I think I will try to make this a series for every game but we shall see how active I really end up being in terms of writing media for every game.
But let's start the season, shall we?
New Orleans comes into this season as a team with a lot of hope and enthusiasm for the future, coming off of a rebuild that seems to be working very well. There are some hopes to be a playoff team this season and I think we have the shot to do so. I think we have a really good team on our hands and can surprise some teams.
In the first week, we were facing Austin on the road. While this seems like a probable win on paper, it was still a hurdle to take, as a road game especially and in a very unsure first week with strategies and such still being very much a guess work.
The game started with the New Orleans Second Line receiving the ball first. We were immediately faced with a 3rd and 8 but a pass to Tyler Swift lead to a first down and kept the drive going. Two Forrest Gump runs lead to another first down, but then the drive stalled. From the opposing 48 yard line, we elected to punt and pushed them to their own 10 yard line.
We almost immediately managed to stop them, but they got a 10 yard pass on third and 9 and managed to keep the drive going but eventually we did stop them and they had to punt.
Sadly, that drive lead to nothing as we went three and out right away and punted.
After another meaningless drive by Austin, they were forced to punt again.
On 2nd down, we finally managed to get the offense going. Stan Francisco found Vladimir Fyodorovich for a 36 yard gain and put us into Austin territory. After a penalty on Austin, Swift got a 10 yard run and put us into the red zone. After a run and catch by Gump, we were at 1st and goal on the six yard line. A quick pass to Fyodo brought us halfway there and then Tyler Swift punched the ball in from the three yard line for the first New Orleans touchdown of the season. 7-0 New Orleans
The following drive by Austin was quite impressive as well. Two long passes from Cole to Anoai and Tidwell lead them to the redzone. We held them to a third and 8, but they managed to get exactly the 8 yards needed to get another first down, first and goal actually, from the four yard line. Here is where our defense first showed what it is made off though, forcing an incomplete pass and then stuffing the runners twice for minimum gain to keep them out of the endzone, forcing Austin to kick an 18 yard field goal. 7-3 New Orleans
After some good runs from Swift and Gump, I connected with Gump for a 23 yard pass. However, after that we got stopped and forced to punt.
Austin then put together a really good drive, aided by three penalties to our defense, but also a couple longer passes. In the end, Cole found Anoa'i for the 6 yard touchdown, giving Austin the first lead of the game. 10-7 Austin
It was clear that this offense needed a spark after giving up the lead and thankfully we got it right away. On 2nd and 10, I found Bonaberi Jones, recently re-signed Wide Receiver, for 59 yards to put us into the redzone. Sadly, after a sack, we were forced to settle for a field goal, which Frost thankfully hit. 10-10 tie
With 1:15 left on the clock in the first half, Austin tried to get something going and took some timeouts, but were forced to punt, leading to half time, tied at 10.
The second half started with Austin getting the ball first. They were immediately forced to a three and out though and had a good punt.
I found Bonaberi Jones for 17 yards right away, but then we stalled. Faced with a 4th and 4 on our own 39 yard line, we decided to go for it, which seems like a very risky decision in retrospect, especially in a tied game. We went with a Gump rush, which went three yards and forced a turnover on downs.
Once again the defense was under pressure and managed to hold up fairly well. We kept them to small gains and forced them to kick a 40 yard field goal, which Crisco missed and the tie was still there.
Despite a 12 yard pass to Swift, we were unable to get a first down in the next drive, due to a sack by Grayson Kuusela, famously a former New Orleans Second Line player.
A few drives ago, NOLA decided to go for it on 4th down in our own half and I guess Austin did not want to be left behind with risky decisions, so on 4th and 5 in their own half, they also decided to go for it but got stuffed by our amazing bot DT.
After a 0 yard run and a penalty, it looked like yet another drive was stalling, but then I was able to connect with the guy who is still doing it on the highest level for New Orleans, all these seasons later and hit Vladimir Fyodorovich for a 49 yard strike and touchdown. 17-10 New Orleans
Again it was time for the defense to show their strength. After a first down for Austin, we put the pressure on them and Johnny Slothface came through on third down to get the sack and force a punt.
After a bad punt by Crisco, NOLA immediately found themselves in a good position to add to the lead. After a short pass to Jones, on third and 1, I found my newest target, rookie wide receiver Action Jackson for 20 yards to put us into first and goal. After a 3 yard run by Swift, Gump came in for a 5 yard run and got his first touchdown of the season. 24-10 New Orleans
With a decent lead, you just want to keep at it and keep a lead that is secure. At this point, just don't give up a touchdown. Austin had a good drive going and were in our territory already. But our defense kept at it and forced a punt.
With the game looking strong, I found Gump for a 35 yard gain. However, then Stan Francisco made a terrible mistake. Lavelle Jr jumped the route and Austin was suddenly back in the game again, with a big play like that.
However, once again the defense bailed us out, forcing two incomplete passes and leading to another punt.
While the running game wasn't always working in this game, we managed to keep the drive going with a couple 3rd down conversions in the passing game. However, in the end, Francisco got sacked once more to force a punt.
This was the last chance for Austin. With 5:35 left on the clock and down by two touchdowns, they were forced to take more risks, which lead to having to go for it on 4th and 16 from their own 14 yard line. We forced another incompletion and the game seemed over.
Finally, at this point, the run game lead to some good gains and after Swift got us a first down, Gump pushed it in once more for another NOLA touchdown. 31-10 New Orleans
With the game practically over, Austin tried one more time to get something going and used their timeouts but even then they weren't able to get points anymore and the game ends.
After a close first half, the second half really pushed us over the edge and got us the win, in a fairly dominant way in the end. But this game was probably closer than the final score shows.
Here are some statistics that show that:
Austin had more time of possession and more first downs (19 to 14). The passing game is really where the game seemed to be decided. NOLA had 306 yards there to Austins 238, despite having 10 fewer completions and 21 fewer attempts. We were just more efficient in that area. The defense also showed that we were able to bend, but not break, even after giving up the only turnover of the game.
Some statistics for our players:
Stan Francisco: 16/24 for 306 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, for an excellent rating of 106.2
Tyler Swift: 19 attempts for 65 yards, 2 catches for 23 yards, 1 touchdown
Forrest Gump: 15 attempts for 40 yards, 5 catches for 76 yards, 2 touchdowns
Vladimir Fyodorovich: 3 catches for 88 yards, 1 touchdown
Bonaberi Jones: 4 catches for 93 yards
Action Jackson: 2 catches for 26 yards.
William Harrison: 11 tackles, 1 PD
Johnny Slothface: 11 tackles, 1 sack
Quenton Bode: 8 tackles, 1 PD
Deon Taylor: 5 tackles, 2 PD
Brayden Ennis: 4 tackles
And with that I will choose my player of the game from the NOLA team:
Offensive player of the game: Forrest Gump
Defensive player of the game: Johnny Slothface
Congratulations!
With this, New Orleans starts the season at 1-0 and will now face a tough San Jose Sabercats team at home in week 2, which seems like a very open game that could go either way. They won their first game 31-24 against Orange County and look like a very good team.
Nonetheless I am confident we can continue our strong showing and compete.
But let's start the season, shall we?
New Orleans comes into this season as a team with a lot of hope and enthusiasm for the future, coming off of a rebuild that seems to be working very well. There are some hopes to be a playoff team this season and I think we have the shot to do so. I think we have a really good team on our hands and can surprise some teams.
In the first week, we were facing Austin on the road. While this seems like a probable win on paper, it was still a hurdle to take, as a road game especially and in a very unsure first week with strategies and such still being very much a guess work.
The game started with the New Orleans Second Line receiving the ball first. We were immediately faced with a 3rd and 8 but a pass to Tyler Swift lead to a first down and kept the drive going. Two Forrest Gump runs lead to another first down, but then the drive stalled. From the opposing 48 yard line, we elected to punt and pushed them to their own 10 yard line.
We almost immediately managed to stop them, but they got a 10 yard pass on third and 9 and managed to keep the drive going but eventually we did stop them and they had to punt.
Sadly, that drive lead to nothing as we went three and out right away and punted.
After another meaningless drive by Austin, they were forced to punt again.
On 2nd down, we finally managed to get the offense going. Stan Francisco found Vladimir Fyodorovich for a 36 yard gain and put us into Austin territory. After a penalty on Austin, Swift got a 10 yard run and put us into the red zone. After a run and catch by Gump, we were at 1st and goal on the six yard line. A quick pass to Fyodo brought us halfway there and then Tyler Swift punched the ball in from the three yard line for the first New Orleans touchdown of the season. 7-0 New Orleans
The following drive by Austin was quite impressive as well. Two long passes from Cole to Anoai and Tidwell lead them to the redzone. We held them to a third and 8, but they managed to get exactly the 8 yards needed to get another first down, first and goal actually, from the four yard line. Here is where our defense first showed what it is made off though, forcing an incomplete pass and then stuffing the runners twice for minimum gain to keep them out of the endzone, forcing Austin to kick an 18 yard field goal. 7-3 New Orleans
After some good runs from Swift and Gump, I connected with Gump for a 23 yard pass. However, after that we got stopped and forced to punt.
Austin then put together a really good drive, aided by three penalties to our defense, but also a couple longer passes. In the end, Cole found Anoa'i for the 6 yard touchdown, giving Austin the first lead of the game. 10-7 Austin
It was clear that this offense needed a spark after giving up the lead and thankfully we got it right away. On 2nd and 10, I found Bonaberi Jones, recently re-signed Wide Receiver, for 59 yards to put us into the redzone. Sadly, after a sack, we were forced to settle for a field goal, which Frost thankfully hit. 10-10 tie
With 1:15 left on the clock in the first half, Austin tried to get something going and took some timeouts, but were forced to punt, leading to half time, tied at 10.
The second half started with Austin getting the ball first. They were immediately forced to a three and out though and had a good punt.
I found Bonaberi Jones for 17 yards right away, but then we stalled. Faced with a 4th and 4 on our own 39 yard line, we decided to go for it, which seems like a very risky decision in retrospect, especially in a tied game. We went with a Gump rush, which went three yards and forced a turnover on downs.
Once again the defense was under pressure and managed to hold up fairly well. We kept them to small gains and forced them to kick a 40 yard field goal, which Crisco missed and the tie was still there.
Despite a 12 yard pass to Swift, we were unable to get a first down in the next drive, due to a sack by Grayson Kuusela, famously a former New Orleans Second Line player.
A few drives ago, NOLA decided to go for it on 4th down in our own half and I guess Austin did not want to be left behind with risky decisions, so on 4th and 5 in their own half, they also decided to go for it but got stuffed by our amazing bot DT.
After a 0 yard run and a penalty, it looked like yet another drive was stalling, but then I was able to connect with the guy who is still doing it on the highest level for New Orleans, all these seasons later and hit Vladimir Fyodorovich for a 49 yard strike and touchdown. 17-10 New Orleans
Again it was time for the defense to show their strength. After a first down for Austin, we put the pressure on them and Johnny Slothface came through on third down to get the sack and force a punt.
After a bad punt by Crisco, NOLA immediately found themselves in a good position to add to the lead. After a short pass to Jones, on third and 1, I found my newest target, rookie wide receiver Action Jackson for 20 yards to put us into first and goal. After a 3 yard run by Swift, Gump came in for a 5 yard run and got his first touchdown of the season. 24-10 New Orleans
With a decent lead, you just want to keep at it and keep a lead that is secure. At this point, just don't give up a touchdown. Austin had a good drive going and were in our territory already. But our defense kept at it and forced a punt.
With the game looking strong, I found Gump for a 35 yard gain. However, then Stan Francisco made a terrible mistake. Lavelle Jr jumped the route and Austin was suddenly back in the game again, with a big play like that.
However, once again the defense bailed us out, forcing two incomplete passes and leading to another punt.
While the running game wasn't always working in this game, we managed to keep the drive going with a couple 3rd down conversions in the passing game. However, in the end, Francisco got sacked once more to force a punt.
This was the last chance for Austin. With 5:35 left on the clock and down by two touchdowns, they were forced to take more risks, which lead to having to go for it on 4th and 16 from their own 14 yard line. We forced another incompletion and the game seemed over.
Finally, at this point, the run game lead to some good gains and after Swift got us a first down, Gump pushed it in once more for another NOLA touchdown. 31-10 New Orleans
With the game practically over, Austin tried one more time to get something going and used their timeouts but even then they weren't able to get points anymore and the game ends.
After a close first half, the second half really pushed us over the edge and got us the win, in a fairly dominant way in the end. But this game was probably closer than the final score shows.
Here are some statistics that show that:
Austin had more time of possession and more first downs (19 to 14). The passing game is really where the game seemed to be decided. NOLA had 306 yards there to Austins 238, despite having 10 fewer completions and 21 fewer attempts. We were just more efficient in that area. The defense also showed that we were able to bend, but not break, even after giving up the only turnover of the game.
Some statistics for our players:
Stan Francisco: 16/24 for 306 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, for an excellent rating of 106.2
Tyler Swift: 19 attempts for 65 yards, 2 catches for 23 yards, 1 touchdown
Forrest Gump: 15 attempts for 40 yards, 5 catches for 76 yards, 2 touchdowns
Vladimir Fyodorovich: 3 catches for 88 yards, 1 touchdown
Bonaberi Jones: 4 catches for 93 yards
Action Jackson: 2 catches for 26 yards.
William Harrison: 11 tackles, 1 PD
Johnny Slothface: 11 tackles, 1 sack
Quenton Bode: 8 tackles, 1 PD
Deon Taylor: 5 tackles, 2 PD
Brayden Ennis: 4 tackles
And with that I will choose my player of the game from the NOLA team:
Offensive player of the game: Forrest Gump
Defensive player of the game: Johnny Slothface
Congratulations!
With this, New Orleans starts the season at 1-0 and will now face a tough San Jose Sabercats team at home in week 2, which seems like a very open game that could go either way. They won their first game 31-24 against Orange County and look like a very good team.
Nonetheless I am confident we can continue our strong showing and compete.
![[Image: card6.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/692421772183601193/1053345472418431016/card6.png)
