(S25) - PT 5 - Playoffs? You Kidding Me?

[Memento Mori]

The Philadelphia Liberty missed the playoffs in Season 25, finishing with a Jeff Fisher style 7-9 record which put them 6th of 7 teams in the NSFC. The league is extremely competitive right now, in large part due to HO's continued conservatism when it comes to expansion. With almost every team sporting a roster of active, almost-max earners 9 of the league's teams finished within one game of .500, and two of the teams that didn't are expansion teams (who finished with 3 and 4 wins). This meant that in the NSFC, 3 teams went into Week 16 with a shot at taking the final playoff spot - Philadelphia, Baltimore and Chicago. Baltimore and Chicago each finished with 8 wins, meaning that (as Philadelphia had tiebreakers over both teams) had Philadelphia beaten Colorado they would have made the playoffs. Instead, they lost 26-24 at Taco Bell Stadium with the killer blow being a 37 yard field goal from Yeti kicker Silver Banana with 1:58 remaining. In my opinion, the main reason the Liberty missed the playoffs was the performance of the defence. Philadelphia allowed 428 points in S25, the worst mark by any NSFC team not named the Berlin Fire Salamanders. Philadelphia's last 3 first round picks were spent on defensive linemen Tex Wrecks, Dorothy Zbornak and Tycker Om. Despite this, the Liberty finished in the bottom half of the league in both sacks and tackles for loss, and their leading sack artist was actually linebacker Spike Suzuki. Philadelphia was an above-average offence held back by a poor defence, which must now replace long-time starting defensive back Richard D'Attoria V who has announced his retirement. (275 words)