(S21) - Ultimus Week

[Matty7478]

1) Playoff Predictions, Reviews:
Written: Give a short write up of one or multiple playoff matches. If completed before the airing of the sims, give your predictions; if it is afterwards, give a review of the game.

Tonight's DSFL Conference Semi-Final sees the Kansas City Coyotes host the Portland Pythons in a historically interesting match-up. The Portland Pythons go into this game off an 8-6 record in the regular season, capped off by a 2-win streak in the final weeks against the expansion teams. Their offence centres on the chemistry in their passing game. Holding a 3rd place in overall passing yardage, their maxed out QB George O'Donnell has been key to unlocking the ability of their receiving core, namely Raheem Okusi who has managed 894 yards and 6 TDs. Meanwhile, their defence allows the least amount of points overall in the league, with 4 scarily high TPE send-downs in their front 7: Linebackers Gregor MacGregor and Perry Tucker Jr., DE Logan Noble Jr. and DT Jaune Arc. Whilst their yards against are not the best in any category, they are tough customers to deal with defensively. On the Coyotes sideline meanwhile, the team has a somewhat balanced overall setup between pass and run. With Chika Fujiwara, they too have a maxed out QB, who has made great use of wide-outs Witheblock and Jeeta this year. Meanwhile, their main RB duo of Fakon and Nova have produced top-half numbers in a league that has produced outstanding rushing effort all season from every team. On defence, the team holds key players such as safeties Bois and Murphy, as well as the most feared prospect in the upcoming NSFL draft; DT Phat Boi. Overall, this will be a very interesting battle between the teams who were easily the best in their conference. In the end, I predict that home field advantage and better special teams play will win Kansas City this conference championship, and they will advance into the Ultimini game against a currently unknown opponent.

Code:

297 words

4) OL or K/P Appreciation
Written: Write about an active human offensive lineman or special teamer that is in the playoffs, and how they will or did affect the outcome.

As a playoff K/P myself, and since it has not been outlawed by the task producers, I will talk about the experience of my player so far this year. Matthew McDairmid - one of 2 K/P that currently play for the Kansas City Coyotes - has plied his trade in the DSFL this year mostly in the role of Punter. With Lefty Louis being sent down and being more proven at this level, the KC coaches felt it was necessary to assess McDairmid's consistency from the tee and from hand before placing the onus on him as the season wore on. His stats were relatively good throughout the season; with a average punt distance of 42.8 yards and 8 of his punts being downed inside the 20, his stats placed him relatively close to his nearest K/P rivals. However, there are rumours circling throughout the league now that McDairmid may have found his way into taking both the kicking and punting roles for the Coyotes' push to the Ultimini. How will this change the KC gameplan on certain distances from the goal-line? Well, it's simple: Louis is an accurate kicker with a decent leg, however KC have decided against using him from longer distances due to his less powerful leg making longer kicks less automatic. With a power K/P in McDairmid however - whose rookie season has revolved massively around his growth as a power punter - those longer field goals become more achievable. And in a close game where KC is struggling to make inroads past the opponents 30 yard line, having a kicker with a bigger - yet still somewhat accurate - leg may be the key to winning match-ups against the tough teams that await in the playoffs. Of course, McDairmid will be hoping the game is won before he has to put the team on his back for any field goals - after all the team winning always comes first - but he will definitely be ready to prove himself as an owner of the clutch gene should the situation arise.

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345 words

8) Revenge
Written: Write 200 words about a team you’d like to get revenge on next season and why. Did they knock you out of the playoffs? Blow you out?

The team I personally would like to take revenge on next year is the Minnesota Grey Ducks. The game being discussed here is the final game of their season (and hopefully the 3rd last of ours) in our home stadium. The maths behind the game were simple; win the game, and we would have home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Lose the game, and if Myrtle Beach overcame Tijuana away, they would have home field advantage through the playoffs. As we hosted the game against Minnesota, morale was extremely high. We were ready to beat the reigning Ultimini champs and run into the playoffs ready to overcome everyone in our home field. What followed was one of the silliest slip-ups I have seen from a special teams unit in a long time. Our offence was as electric as normal; Fujiwara threw for 167 yards and 2 TDs, along with a 107.5 passer rating. Further, Nova rushed 25 times for 144 yards and a touchdown as well. Our defence forced them to punt a high 7 times, and held them to 253 yards and 6/14 on 3rd down all day. However, 2 other things would lead to our downfall with a score of 23-20. Firstly, the punt coverage unit allowed a 79 yard punt return TD by Yoda - which counts as 7 points given up by the special teams unit that more than likely would've won us the game. And secondly, Lefty Louis - our kicker - had a nightmare game, going 0/2 from Field Goals and missing an extra point. Overall, a 14 point swing was given up over 60 minutes by our special teams, and these mistakes inevitably lost us our home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Therefore, next season, Minnesota will be the one team that the Coyote faithful will be happy to challenge and hopefully overcome.

Code:

310 words

11) Rivalry
Written: Which team or player would you consider to be your greatest rival? Write 200 words on why you are rivals with them and why you want them to lose (don’t harass other users please).

As a Kicker/Punter at the DSFL level, I don't feel that any of my fellow players that rep the Brand are my rivals, as we've all got the same goal - to become the top kickers of our generation. And so I will discuss the team that I feel is the biggest current rivals against my team, the Season 21 Kansas City Coyotes. And, if you have watched any games in the DSFL this season, you would know that the only team really capable of being our current rival is none other than the number 1 seed for the playoffs overall - the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers. The Buccaneers are stacked in almost every position; offensively they have great offensive lineman, their running game borders on cheating, their wide receivers sure do also exist. But seriously though, having as good a running game as they do thanks to their RBs Dax Frost and J.B. Apollo makes defending against them almost impossible. And, while their mobile QB Ramos has struggled to be the greatest QB in the league this year, because of how much emphasis teams must put on stopping the run, the field suddenly opens up for him a whole lot more than it would've without this killer rushing attack. Their defence also has multiple high earners, along with a disgracefully good secondary and a trio on the defensive line in Egghands, Longshot and Clemente that makes opposing linemen and offences scream for help. In truth, the biggest reason I want Myrtle Beach to lose tonight in the conference championship round is that I don't want to face them again. They are without a doubt the toughest challenge we would face on our way to the Ultimini - having beaten us twice already this season - so while I believe we could beat them even if they did make it, it would surely be easier to take on other teams in their place.

Code:

322 words