Bottom Half: Write about why two of the four teams were not able to make the playoffs. Can be completed at any point
Sometimes “good” just isn’t good enough, a lesson the Colorado Yeti learned the hard way as they watched this year’s NSFL playoffs from the outside looking in. While the tiebreaking methods that left the Yeti out of the playoffs deserves to be re-examined, as the team led the entire NSFC in point differential, no amount of hand-wringing will change the fact that the Hawks and Wraiths were in the playoffs while they weren’t. On the defensive side of the ball, the Yeti were the class of the NSFC when it came to preventing points. But you have to score to win football games and the Yeti simply struggled in that regard. As others have written, and Yeti players themselves have acknowledged, the root of their offensive problems likely stemmed from a piss-poor offensive line. Noble is as talented a quarterback as there is in the league, but he can’t throw from the ground
From the ASFC, the expansion Las Vegas Legion finished with a 3-11 record, “good” for last place in the conference. There really isn’t much to say about the Legion’s situation except that they aren’t particularly talented at the moment. They have a few stars on either side of the ball: Tyler Varga and Mark Ramrio on the defense and LeClair and Stormblessed on offense, but aside from the big names the team is incredibly shallow. Credit their GM for being willing to take major risks at the beginning of his tenure, but, unfortunately, those decisions likely set the Legion back several years in their development.
Future Talent: Write about which S3 waiver pickup will or did have the biggest impact in the playoffs. Can be written at any time depending on if you choose to write about who already has or who will do good
Objectively speaking, Brice Boggs was not the most impactful S3 rookie in the playoffs. Fuck objectivity.
In his one game in the playoffs, Wraiths MLB Brice Boggs recorded five tackles and no secondary stats. And, for my money, it was the most meaningful 5-tackle game that has ever been or ever will be. Of his 5 tackles, 3 of them were 3rd-down stops. Obviously you need to record tackles to get in that situation, but when the team needed him Boggs delivered like clockwork. But Brice's contributions transcend what can be recorded in a box-score. We all know the cliches that "you can't measure heart" or "It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog," but, in Boggs' case, those sayings fit like a glove. Whenever the Wraiths needed a big play in their games against the Hawks, or in their season in general, Brice was there.
Moving to the intangibles, Brice has one of the trickiest roles in the entire league. In a traditional scheme. the MIKE linebacker is responsible for making the reads for the entire defense. Even though that's technically Brice's job, he's also sandwiched between the two smartest linebackers in the league, both of whom think they can predict the upcoming play. Over the course of both the playoffs and the regular season, Brice masterfully managed the twin intellects (and egos) in order to make sure the defense ran smoothly.
Whatever team lands Brice in the draft, watch out, you're getting a real one.
@Daybe
Playoff Predictions: Give a short write up on each of the playoff matches (including the championship game). Must be completed before the simulation of the Conference Finals. (Completed 8:18 EST, 8/28/17)
In the NSFC championship game, the star-studded Yellowknife Wraiths will face off against the upstart Baltimore Hawks. As has been discussed ad nauseam , the Hawks are in the midst of a worst to first turnaround. Last season the Hawks finished with the conference's worst record and as the consensus worst team in the league. This season, on the back of star rusher Darlane Farlane, they placed first in the conference and are looking for more. Unfortunately, their limited secondary isn't a match for the receiving duo of Josh Garden and Bailey Cook. At home or no, expect the Wraiths to win in a one-sided shootout.
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In the ASFC, the defending champion Arizona Outlaws are facing off against the Orange County Otters in a rematch of last season's ASFC title bout. Last season, the Outlaws came within a field goal of tripling the Otters point total and, unfortunately for Otters fans, I forsee a similar outcome tonight. With the utmost respect to the Otters, a well-balanced team that in any other era would be a true contender, the Outlaws are just in a different weight class. The Otters will put up a fight, but beating the Outlaws at home is neigh impossible
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Of courser, this leaves us with the Wraiths matching up against the Outlaws. The NSFLs most explosive offense against its most terrifying defense. While the league's prognosticating class has overwhelmingly picked the Outlaws in this matchup, this one feels different. With the addition of star WR Bailey Cook and hired gun linebacker AC Hackett, the Wraiths have gotten faster, smarter and more athletic. Even though it'll be an uphill battle, if the Wraiths can force a shootout, they can topple the Evil Empire.
38 35
Playoff Series MVP
There are truly no wrong answers to the question of who deserves the title of Playoff Series MVP (with the exception of Mark Strike, with a passer rating of 0, he would be the wrong answer). If you’re a valor-in-defat kind of guy, AC Hackett recorded 12 tackles, a pass defended, a sack and forced a fumble in the Wraiths 16-14 defeat at the hand of the Hawks. If rewarding team dominance is more your fancy, we could very easily make like the NBA in January 2015 and award the entire Outlaws roster playoff MVP for their dismemberment of the Baltimore Hawks in the Ultimus Cup. The list of people who have plausible cases for series MVP is close to endless.
But even though there is no wrong answer to our aforementioned question, there is a right answer. It comes in the form of a man who didn’t record a single stat in his best game. If you were solely going by the Hawks stat sheet, it’d be fair to ask if star corner Antoine Delacour even dressed for the conference championships. In a full 60 minutes of football, Delacour failed to record an interception, pass defended or even a tackle. But a quick gander at the Wraiths’ side of the sheet tells you all you need to know about the job Delacour did. Last season’s top Wide Receiver, voted the fourth-best player in the entire NSFL, did not record a single catch. In that game, Antonie embodied the idea of a “shutdown corner,” playing such airtight defense that the quarterback didn’t even dare to make the throw. For a game the likes of which professional football rarely see, Antoine Delacour is my playoff series MVP.
@37thchamber
Conference Final MVP Sig: Make a sig for a player of your choice who you felt was the MVP of a Conference Final matchup. Must be completed after the Conference Finals
![[Image: 10xhx87.jpg]](http://i66.tinypic.com/10xhx87.jpg)
Sometimes “good” just isn’t good enough, a lesson the Colorado Yeti learned the hard way as they watched this year’s NSFL playoffs from the outside looking in. While the tiebreaking methods that left the Yeti out of the playoffs deserves to be re-examined, as the team led the entire NSFC in point differential, no amount of hand-wringing will change the fact that the Hawks and Wraiths were in the playoffs while they weren’t. On the defensive side of the ball, the Yeti were the class of the NSFC when it came to preventing points. But you have to score to win football games and the Yeti simply struggled in that regard. As others have written, and Yeti players themselves have acknowledged, the root of their offensive problems likely stemmed from a piss-poor offensive line. Noble is as talented a quarterback as there is in the league, but he can’t throw from the ground
From the ASFC, the expansion Las Vegas Legion finished with a 3-11 record, “good” for last place in the conference. There really isn’t much to say about the Legion’s situation except that they aren’t particularly talented at the moment. They have a few stars on either side of the ball: Tyler Varga and Mark Ramrio on the defense and LeClair and Stormblessed on offense, but aside from the big names the team is incredibly shallow. Credit their GM for being willing to take major risks at the beginning of his tenure, but, unfortunately, those decisions likely set the Legion back several years in their development.
Future Talent: Write about which S3 waiver pickup will or did have the biggest impact in the playoffs. Can be written at any time depending on if you choose to write about who already has or who will do good
Objectively speaking, Brice Boggs was not the most impactful S3 rookie in the playoffs. Fuck objectivity.
In his one game in the playoffs, Wraiths MLB Brice Boggs recorded five tackles and no secondary stats. And, for my money, it was the most meaningful 5-tackle game that has ever been or ever will be. Of his 5 tackles, 3 of them were 3rd-down stops. Obviously you need to record tackles to get in that situation, but when the team needed him Boggs delivered like clockwork. But Brice's contributions transcend what can be recorded in a box-score. We all know the cliches that "you can't measure heart" or "It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog," but, in Boggs' case, those sayings fit like a glove. Whenever the Wraiths needed a big play in their games against the Hawks, or in their season in general, Brice was there.
Moving to the intangibles, Brice has one of the trickiest roles in the entire league. In a traditional scheme. the MIKE linebacker is responsible for making the reads for the entire defense. Even though that's technically Brice's job, he's also sandwiched between the two smartest linebackers in the league, both of whom think they can predict the upcoming play. Over the course of both the playoffs and the regular season, Brice masterfully managed the twin intellects (and egos) in order to make sure the defense ran smoothly.
Whatever team lands Brice in the draft, watch out, you're getting a real one.
@Daybe
Playoff Predictions: Give a short write up on each of the playoff matches (including the championship game). Must be completed before the simulation of the Conference Finals. (Completed 8:18 EST, 8/28/17)
In the NSFC championship game, the star-studded Yellowknife Wraiths will face off against the upstart Baltimore Hawks. As has been discussed ad nauseam , the Hawks are in the midst of a worst to first turnaround. Last season the Hawks finished with the conference's worst record and as the consensus worst team in the league. This season, on the back of star rusher Darlane Farlane, they placed first in the conference and are looking for more. Unfortunately, their limited secondary isn't a match for the receiving duo of Josh Garden and Bailey Cook. At home or no, expect the Wraiths to win in a one-sided shootout.
42 21In the ASFC, the defending champion Arizona Outlaws are facing off against the Orange County Otters in a rematch of last season's ASFC title bout. Last season, the Outlaws came within a field goal of tripling the Otters point total and, unfortunately for Otters fans, I forsee a similar outcome tonight. With the utmost respect to the Otters, a well-balanced team that in any other era would be a true contender, the Outlaws are just in a different weight class. The Otters will put up a fight, but beating the Outlaws at home is neigh impossible
35 7Of courser, this leaves us with the Wraiths matching up against the Outlaws. The NSFLs most explosive offense against its most terrifying defense. While the league's prognosticating class has overwhelmingly picked the Outlaws in this matchup, this one feels different. With the addition of star WR Bailey Cook and hired gun linebacker AC Hackett, the Wraiths have gotten faster, smarter and more athletic. Even though it'll be an uphill battle, if the Wraiths can force a shootout, they can topple the Evil Empire.
38 35Playoff Series MVP
There are truly no wrong answers to the question of who deserves the title of Playoff Series MVP (with the exception of Mark Strike, with a passer rating of 0, he would be the wrong answer). If you’re a valor-in-defat kind of guy, AC Hackett recorded 12 tackles, a pass defended, a sack and forced a fumble in the Wraiths 16-14 defeat at the hand of the Hawks. If rewarding team dominance is more your fancy, we could very easily make like the NBA in January 2015 and award the entire Outlaws roster playoff MVP for their dismemberment of the Baltimore Hawks in the Ultimus Cup. The list of people who have plausible cases for series MVP is close to endless.
But even though there is no wrong answer to our aforementioned question, there is a right answer. It comes in the form of a man who didn’t record a single stat in his best game. If you were solely going by the Hawks stat sheet, it’d be fair to ask if star corner Antoine Delacour even dressed for the conference championships. In a full 60 minutes of football, Delacour failed to record an interception, pass defended or even a tackle. But a quick gander at the Wraiths’ side of the sheet tells you all you need to know about the job Delacour did. Last season’s top Wide Receiver, voted the fourth-best player in the entire NSFL, did not record a single catch. In that game, Antonie embodied the idea of a “shutdown corner,” playing such airtight defense that the quarterback didn’t even dare to make the throw. For a game the likes of which professional football rarely see, Antoine Delacour is my playoff series MVP.
@37thchamber
Conference Final MVP Sig: Make a sig for a player of your choice who you felt was the MVP of a Conference Final matchup. Must be completed after the Conference Finals
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