Next Year
Next season will be the year that the Orange County Otters repeat as NSFL Ultimus champions. Now I know they won the championship last year, but I'm going to still write about them because last season I was on the Yellowknife Wraiths, a team that got bounced in the first game they played (at home, mind you). The biggest change I'd say from Yellowknife to Orange County that I'd think would lead to our success next year is the winning culture. Not to throw shade at Yellowknife at all, they've built a great team, but it's hard to beat being the what, six time champions? I mean, Orange County knows how to win and their GM is (in my opinion at least) the best in the entire league. My player, Jaylen Storm, should be able to carve out a significant role on the squad as the #1 CB, moving up from the #2 he played across from Johnny Snuggles last year. The Otters are getting great on offense with pieces like Franklin Armstrong, Apollo Reed, as well as Hugh Mongo all hitting their stride, and the defense remains stout with great coaching and a pedigree for winning to back the squad up.
Kickers are people too!
Can we talk about this little bitch Kicky Bobby for a moment? I mean, the Yellowknife Wraiths were destined for success this year. Following a strong 11 and 3 season last year, the Wraiths still managed to capture the #1 seed in the NSFC an earn a first round bye. Their NSFC division game at home versus the Baltimore Hawks was not going the best for them, but they were still well within the game throughout. The Wraiths didn't play an exceptionally strong game, but the offense never really woke up until the 3rd quarter, where they scored 14 points to the 3 for Baltimore. Kicky Bobby was perfect throughout the game entering the fourth quarter, the youngster hitting a 27 yard field goal earlier, as well as a trio of extra points. And yet, the Wraiths were still down by three points in the fourth quarter, and they desperately wanted to avoid the heartbreak they suffered the year before once again. Cooter Bigsby executed one of his signature drives, marching down the field going 75 yards in 8 plays and setting the Wraiths up for a chip shot field goal, 22 yards out for Kicky Bobby. The rest is NSFL history, with an infamous miss that the Wraiths never were able to recover from.
Unsung hero
The unsung hero of the NSFL playoffs was none other than the rook, Franklin Armstrong. Who would've thought that it would be Armstrong, leading the 7-6 Orange County Otters to three straight wins, the last two being on the road in some of the toughest environments to play? Throughout the playoffs, Mr. Armstrong delivered 6 touchdowns to 0 interceptions along with two rushing touchdowns, going perfect throughout. The first round against San Jose saw Armstrong get off to a hot start. The playoff atmosphere did not faze him one bit as he delivered two early touchdowns. The Otters went up 17-0 at halftime and that was all the points they needed to secure the win against the in-state rivals. The climb would just get more uphill from here, as the Otters faced the defending champions Arizona Outlaws next. Another playoff game, another extremely quick start for the young buck. The Otters' prized rookie outdueled Andrew Allen Reese, the Outlaws quarterback as the Otters won handily by 3 scores, en route to a championship showdown with the Baltimore Hawks. The Otters did not call upon Armstrong's number often, but when they did, he was wildly efficient, going for more than 10 yards per attempt and scoring all four Otters touchdowns in a 28-17 win, crowning them the champions.
Playoff review
The Chicago Butchers vs. Baltimore Hawks game was certainly a confusing one on paper. The final score was 40-6, despite both quarterbacks playing some of their worst football of the year, each throwing below 50% in completions and throwing 3 picks together. I've identified the biggest issue with the Butchers' game as just not coming up big in the right moments. The team was just flat on third down, and when you can't string together drives consistently, you need big plays to back it up. The Butchers had neither and they struggled. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Hawks were similarly bad on third down, but they got lots of big plays. The reason why Corvo Havran was able to get away with completing less than 50% of his passes was because he was averaging around 17 yards per completion, and consistently hooked up with his two dynamos, Errol Maddox and Sunnycursed down the field. The Butchers' gameplan was much too conservative for a team going on the road in Baltimore, and their lack of aggressiveness and not being willing to go after the future conference champs cost them because they dug themselves in a hole and they weren't prepared to get out of it.
Next season will be the year that the Orange County Otters repeat as NSFL Ultimus champions. Now I know they won the championship last year, but I'm going to still write about them because last season I was on the Yellowknife Wraiths, a team that got bounced in the first game they played (at home, mind you). The biggest change I'd say from Yellowknife to Orange County that I'd think would lead to our success next year is the winning culture. Not to throw shade at Yellowknife at all, they've built a great team, but it's hard to beat being the what, six time champions? I mean, Orange County knows how to win and their GM is (in my opinion at least) the best in the entire league. My player, Jaylen Storm, should be able to carve out a significant role on the squad as the #1 CB, moving up from the #2 he played across from Johnny Snuggles last year. The Otters are getting great on offense with pieces like Franklin Armstrong, Apollo Reed, as well as Hugh Mongo all hitting their stride, and the defense remains stout with great coaching and a pedigree for winning to back the squad up.
Kickers are people too!
Can we talk about this little bitch Kicky Bobby for a moment? I mean, the Yellowknife Wraiths were destined for success this year. Following a strong 11 and 3 season last year, the Wraiths still managed to capture the #1 seed in the NSFC an earn a first round bye. Their NSFC division game at home versus the Baltimore Hawks was not going the best for them, but they were still well within the game throughout. The Wraiths didn't play an exceptionally strong game, but the offense never really woke up until the 3rd quarter, where they scored 14 points to the 3 for Baltimore. Kicky Bobby was perfect throughout the game entering the fourth quarter, the youngster hitting a 27 yard field goal earlier, as well as a trio of extra points. And yet, the Wraiths were still down by three points in the fourth quarter, and they desperately wanted to avoid the heartbreak they suffered the year before once again. Cooter Bigsby executed one of his signature drives, marching down the field going 75 yards in 8 plays and setting the Wraiths up for a chip shot field goal, 22 yards out for Kicky Bobby. The rest is NSFL history, with an infamous miss that the Wraiths never were able to recover from.
Unsung hero
The unsung hero of the NSFL playoffs was none other than the rook, Franklin Armstrong. Who would've thought that it would be Armstrong, leading the 7-6 Orange County Otters to three straight wins, the last two being on the road in some of the toughest environments to play? Throughout the playoffs, Mr. Armstrong delivered 6 touchdowns to 0 interceptions along with two rushing touchdowns, going perfect throughout. The first round against San Jose saw Armstrong get off to a hot start. The playoff atmosphere did not faze him one bit as he delivered two early touchdowns. The Otters went up 17-0 at halftime and that was all the points they needed to secure the win against the in-state rivals. The climb would just get more uphill from here, as the Otters faced the defending champions Arizona Outlaws next. Another playoff game, another extremely quick start for the young buck. The Otters' prized rookie outdueled Andrew Allen Reese, the Outlaws quarterback as the Otters won handily by 3 scores, en route to a championship showdown with the Baltimore Hawks. The Otters did not call upon Armstrong's number often, but when they did, he was wildly efficient, going for more than 10 yards per attempt and scoring all four Otters touchdowns in a 28-17 win, crowning them the champions.
Playoff review
The Chicago Butchers vs. Baltimore Hawks game was certainly a confusing one on paper. The final score was 40-6, despite both quarterbacks playing some of their worst football of the year, each throwing below 50% in completions and throwing 3 picks together. I've identified the biggest issue with the Butchers' game as just not coming up big in the right moments. The team was just flat on third down, and when you can't string together drives consistently, you need big plays to back it up. The Butchers had neither and they struggled. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Hawks were similarly bad on third down, but they got lots of big plays. The reason why Corvo Havran was able to get away with completing less than 50% of his passes was because he was averaging around 17 yards per completion, and consistently hooked up with his two dynamos, Errol Maddox and Sunnycursed down the field. The Butchers' gameplan was much too conservative for a team going on the road in Baltimore, and their lack of aggressiveness and not being willing to go after the future conference champs cost them because they dug themselves in a hole and they weren't prepared to get out of it.
retired
![[Image: LPLD95s.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/LPLD95s.gif)
