1) This week will see the S26 Ultimus and Ultimini races begin in earnest. How did each team arrive at the playoffs? Were there any dark horse teams that went unexpectedly far, or any presumptive favorites that fell flat? Who do you think will win the final? If you’re writing this after the finals were decided, were you surprised by the outcome?
It's the night after the week 7 games of the season and the New Orleans Second Line locker room is feeling dejected. They just lost at home to the Arizona Outlaws and are 2-5 on the season. At this point it would take a miracle to make it into the playoffs from this position. With a home game coming up against Philly we knew practically every game left on the schedule was a must win. We did end up beating the Liberty at home, but then fell to the Sarasota Sailfish in week 9 to put us at 3-6 with only 7 games remaining. First up was a home game against the SaberCats, one of the few teams we had beat earlier in the season. San Jose was off to a hot start and we were down at the half 21 to 3. Not looking good at all for us, but then Ben Slothlisberger came out of the tunnel for the second half on a mission. He hit Austin McCormick for a 73 yard pass to make it 21 to 10 and then led us down the field later in the 3rd quarter where Mr. Forty-Two punched it in to make it 21 to 16 after a failed 2 point conversion. Only a few minutes later at the beginning of the fourth quarter Slothlisberger hit Ed Barker for a 57 yard touchdown to give us our first lead in the game. The SaberCats kicked a field goal with just over 2 mintues left to tie the game, but that tie didn't last long as Slothlisberger hit Barker for a 64 yard pass and then found Bodenhamer in the endzone to give us the lead with just over a minute remaining! This was the turn around point of the season. Had we lost this game we would not have made the playoffs. This was the start of a four game winning streak where we also beat Honolulu in their own stadium as well as New York an Baltimore at home. We then fell at Orange County in a close matchup before ending the regular season strong with two more victories. That lead to a wildcard matchup at Arizona where we had just won in week 16, and we kept the momentum going in Arizona in the wildcard round where we won by 20. Next up we travel back to Honolulu in what is going to be an extremely tough matchup. The Hahalua only lost twice at home during the regular season, and one of those times was to New Orleans in week 11. In that game Honolulu took a 10 to 0 lead into the locker room at halftime, but then Slothlisberger lit up the Hahalua secondary in the third quarter with two touchdown passes. The Hahalua then got a safety and a field goal to make it 15 to 14 in the fourth quarter, but Mr. Forty-Two had a nice 16 yard run to put us up by 5 with 4:30 left on the clock. The Hahalua then drove down the field and got close to the redzone at the 27 yard line, but on 3rd and 10 newly acquired Hahalua QB Fujiwara tried to pass the ball to Podolak for the third play in a row and the reigning defensive player of the year, David Rector, took advantage and got an interception. Every win for the Second Line down the stretch was huge, but this was another big win and shows that we can go to Honolulu and get a win, so don't count the Second Line out just yet. I'm not sure if there has ever been a bigger comeback in a season than what New Orleans has pulled off this season. We were near the bottom of the standings at the halfway point looking like we would have a top five draft pick, but then the third quarter of that San Jose game happened and it all turned around. If this happened in real life there would be a movie made about it. Or at least a 30 for 30. Regardless of how the rest of the season goes I am so proud of this team and not giving up hope.
Enough talk about my own team, let's look at the other side of the bracket as there is another pretty astounding team still alive in the NSFC and that is the Colorado Yeti. The Yeti went into week 16 at 10-5 in the standings and needing a miracle to make it into the playoffs. They not only had to win or tie on the road in Honolulu, but they needed the Yellowknife Wraiths to lose their game at Philadelphia. Both of these things happening would practically take a miracle. Yellowknife was a very good team at 10-5 and had swept the Yeti in the regular season. Meanwhile, Philadelphia was only 5-10 and one of the worst teams in the NSFC, but Yellowknife got trounced by the Liberty losing 31 to 10. This opened up the door for the Yeti to possibly make the playoffs. It was a close game throughout and with 59 seconds left the Yeti tied the game. Then in OT the Hahalua and Yeti traded field goals and the time expired before the Hahalua could score again, so it ended in the first tie of the new sim, which gave both Honolulu a half game advantage for first place in the ASFC, but the Yeti a half game advantage for the wildcard spot in the ASFC. The Yeti didn't squander their opportunity either as they beat a very good Chicago team in Chicago to make it to the conference finals. It will be interesting to see if these two wildcard teams continue their hot streaks tonight.
It's the night after the week 7 games of the season and the New Orleans Second Line locker room is feeling dejected. They just lost at home to the Arizona Outlaws and are 2-5 on the season. At this point it would take a miracle to make it into the playoffs from this position. With a home game coming up against Philly we knew practically every game left on the schedule was a must win. We did end up beating the Liberty at home, but then fell to the Sarasota Sailfish in week 9 to put us at 3-6 with only 7 games remaining. First up was a home game against the SaberCats, one of the few teams we had beat earlier in the season. San Jose was off to a hot start and we were down at the half 21 to 3. Not looking good at all for us, but then Ben Slothlisberger came out of the tunnel for the second half on a mission. He hit Austin McCormick for a 73 yard pass to make it 21 to 10 and then led us down the field later in the 3rd quarter where Mr. Forty-Two punched it in to make it 21 to 16 after a failed 2 point conversion. Only a few minutes later at the beginning of the fourth quarter Slothlisberger hit Ed Barker for a 57 yard touchdown to give us our first lead in the game. The SaberCats kicked a field goal with just over 2 mintues left to tie the game, but that tie didn't last long as Slothlisberger hit Barker for a 64 yard pass and then found Bodenhamer in the endzone to give us the lead with just over a minute remaining! This was the turn around point of the season. Had we lost this game we would not have made the playoffs. This was the start of a four game winning streak where we also beat Honolulu in their own stadium as well as New York an Baltimore at home. We then fell at Orange County in a close matchup before ending the regular season strong with two more victories. That lead to a wildcard matchup at Arizona where we had just won in week 16, and we kept the momentum going in Arizona in the wildcard round where we won by 20. Next up we travel back to Honolulu in what is going to be an extremely tough matchup. The Hahalua only lost twice at home during the regular season, and one of those times was to New Orleans in week 11. In that game Honolulu took a 10 to 0 lead into the locker room at halftime, but then Slothlisberger lit up the Hahalua secondary in the third quarter with two touchdown passes. The Hahalua then got a safety and a field goal to make it 15 to 14 in the fourth quarter, but Mr. Forty-Two had a nice 16 yard run to put us up by 5 with 4:30 left on the clock. The Hahalua then drove down the field and got close to the redzone at the 27 yard line, but on 3rd and 10 newly acquired Hahalua QB Fujiwara tried to pass the ball to Podolak for the third play in a row and the reigning defensive player of the year, David Rector, took advantage and got an interception. Every win for the Second Line down the stretch was huge, but this was another big win and shows that we can go to Honolulu and get a win, so don't count the Second Line out just yet. I'm not sure if there has ever been a bigger comeback in a season than what New Orleans has pulled off this season. We were near the bottom of the standings at the halfway point looking like we would have a top five draft pick, but then the third quarter of that San Jose game happened and it all turned around. If this happened in real life there would be a movie made about it. Or at least a 30 for 30. Regardless of how the rest of the season goes I am so proud of this team and not giving up hope.
Enough talk about my own team, let's look at the other side of the bracket as there is another pretty astounding team still alive in the NSFC and that is the Colorado Yeti. The Yeti went into week 16 at 10-5 in the standings and needing a miracle to make it into the playoffs. They not only had to win or tie on the road in Honolulu, but they needed the Yellowknife Wraiths to lose their game at Philadelphia. Both of these things happening would practically take a miracle. Yellowknife was a very good team at 10-5 and had swept the Yeti in the regular season. Meanwhile, Philadelphia was only 5-10 and one of the worst teams in the NSFC, but Yellowknife got trounced by the Liberty losing 31 to 10. This opened up the door for the Yeti to possibly make the playoffs. It was a close game throughout and with 59 seconds left the Yeti tied the game. Then in OT the Hahalua and Yeti traded field goals and the time expired before the Hahalua could score again, so it ended in the first tie of the new sim, which gave both Honolulu a half game advantage for first place in the ASFC, but the Yeti a half game advantage for the wildcard spot in the ASFC. The Yeti didn't squander their opportunity either as they beat a very good Chicago team in Chicago to make it to the conference finals. It will be interesting to see if these two wildcard teams continue their hot streaks tonight.
![[Image: Q5ECYaB.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/Q5ECYaB.jpg)
![[Image: Award_Card_Template_-_S26_DPOY.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/721761354846961716/815756424684503110/Award_Card_Template_-_S26_DPOY.png)
[OPTION]Height: 6'1"
[OPTION]Weight: 195 lbs.
[OPTION]Birthplace: Raleigh, NC
[OPTION]Number: 22
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[OPTION]Career Stats
[OPTION]G || Tck || TFL || FF/FR || Sck || Int || PD || TD
[OPTION]141 || 597 || 1 || 5/1 || 6 || 30 || 163 || 3
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[OPTION]Playoff Stats
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[OPTION]Awards
[OPTION]S26 Defensive Player of the Year, S26 CB of the Year,
[OPTION]S23 Defensive Breakout Player, S23 Defensive Performance
[OPTION]Pro Bowls: S22, S26
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