Task 1: I'm not sure they were necessarily sim cursed this year, but this is important enough to talk about anyways. For 26 seasons, a single team reigned above all others for the title of Most Dominant. They held over 1/3rd of all Ultimus titles, they had the 2 possible GOAT QB candidates, they had the single greatest GM in league history. S27 did not change any of that, but Orange County did miss the playoffs for the first time in their history. One season removed from a year where they were considered a powerhouse, they not only missed the playoffs, they weren't even close. They tied for the 3rd worst record in the league, and were generally out of contention by halfway through the season. What led to this point? Well, you can probably look towards a specific position and lay a lot of the blame right at the feet of the RBs for Orange County. Top Running Back Tatsu Nakamura left the team this offseason, and he left them with about 500 total TPE at the position...after the draft. This led to a bit of a scramble, where Jeffrey Phillips changed position to RB from TE, too late for it to apply to the first 2 games of the season. My guess is that part of the reason Phillips ended up one of 5 receiving backs in the entire league, as well as the only RB1 who was a receiving back (hell, one of 2 RB1s who wasn't a Speed Back) was because of the position change rules requiring a certain amount of TPE to be kept in its prior place, although don't quote me on that. The other hypothesis I have is that, because Phillips was inactive, and the new sim rules make the last 5 points to max out a stat much more costly than it used to be, that he didn't have enough TPE to be a good speed back and was definitely not going to get enough to be a good speed back. Either way, Phillips was in a build that was probably substandard. Besides Phillips, the other issue with the team was a lack of depth. Past the peak players at any position, the pool of talent was very limited, and this led to a middling performance both on offense and defense. Add that to a D that probably got a bit unlucky with its points against vs how many yards it gave up, and you have a recipe for Orange County missing the playoffs for the first time in league history.
As for the other side, hey there Hahalua! I can say for certain that this team was not expected to make the playoffs, much less get the 1st seed. With an inactive QB, the worst WR group by a long ways, and one of the worst offensive lines in the league, this team storming out the gate was a massive surprise. Granted, its D was pretty good, but that didn't change the fact that their only offensive player with more than 800 TPE going into the season was an inactive QB. That D wasn't even all that great, Shawn Dawkins was the only top talent in the entire secondary, and while Waters wasn't a slouch they were going to be carrying a low TPE inactive and a S25 player along. The DEs were great, the best pair in the league maybe, but that was the only part of this defense that was even above average. And yet, all the stars aligned. The inactive QB, Skywalker, performed well enough until they traded for Chika Fujiwara, the Defense was one of the best in the league, and this was enough to get them to a bye in the playoffs in part due to some clutch performances and some sim screwage. At this point, they have a decent shot at going from worst to first, especially if dumb things continue to happen and the Sailfish get upset by the Yeti. Which would just be typical at this point considering the bullshit that has happened in literally every single playoff game this season, in both leagues. Yes I'm still salty and I feel I have a right to be.
Finally, the Copperheads. I feel a number of people might have jumped the gun when they gave this team the playoffs. They were too young this season, and this especially rang true for their Quarterback. The real worry at this point is how much did they give up to get to this point, in this league where heavy favorites can lose in the blink of an eye. They have 3 amazing S23 players, and 3 amazing S24 players, and they should be great for the next 2 years, but this year Daytona being the lowest TPE QB in the league by far hurt too much, and Zoe Watts performed extremely poorly compared to her previous seasons. Those who put them aside thought their Defense would let them down, and it somewhat did, but it turns out that their offense actually performed worse, with the only team scoring less points per game being the hapless Hawks this season.
As for the other side, hey there Hahalua! I can say for certain that this team was not expected to make the playoffs, much less get the 1st seed. With an inactive QB, the worst WR group by a long ways, and one of the worst offensive lines in the league, this team storming out the gate was a massive surprise. Granted, its D was pretty good, but that didn't change the fact that their only offensive player with more than 800 TPE going into the season was an inactive QB. That D wasn't even all that great, Shawn Dawkins was the only top talent in the entire secondary, and while Waters wasn't a slouch they were going to be carrying a low TPE inactive and a S25 player along. The DEs were great, the best pair in the league maybe, but that was the only part of this defense that was even above average. And yet, all the stars aligned. The inactive QB, Skywalker, performed well enough until they traded for Chika Fujiwara, the Defense was one of the best in the league, and this was enough to get them to a bye in the playoffs in part due to some clutch performances and some sim screwage. At this point, they have a decent shot at going from worst to first, especially if dumb things continue to happen and the Sailfish get upset by the Yeti. Which would just be typical at this point considering the bullshit that has happened in literally every single playoff game this season, in both leagues. Yes I'm still salty and I feel I have a right to be.
Finally, the Copperheads. I feel a number of people might have jumped the gun when they gave this team the playoffs. They were too young this season, and this especially rang true for their Quarterback. The real worry at this point is how much did they give up to get to this point, in this league where heavy favorites can lose in the blink of an eye. They have 3 amazing S23 players, and 3 amazing S24 players, and they should be great for the next 2 years, but this year Daytona being the lowest TPE QB in the league by far hurt too much, and Zoe Watts performed extremely poorly compared to her previous seasons. Those who put them aside thought their Defense would let them down, and it somewhat did, but it turns out that their offense actually performed worse, with the only team scoring less points per game being the hapless Hawks this season.
