Playoff Series MVP:
While many would predict otherwise, the Hawks beating the Wraiths in Baltimore is not particularly surprising. Similarly, I doubt anyone would be overly surprised to hear that the game was a close one, only a two point margin of victory. Finally, as one last thing on the list of completely unsurprising developments, I could add that the Hawks offense struggled to produce, but that their defense was able to hold the Wraiths to only 14 points. This is kind of where it starts to get surprising. The Wraiths offense only scored 7 points, the other seven coming from special teams. Even the 7 points came from a short field. In the first half, the Wraiths only ran 26 plays from scrimmage, resulting in 6 punts and an interception. It was the most dominant 30 minutes of defense seen, and it was completely led by Antoine Delacour, who held Josh Garden to 0 catches for the entire game. Three times Garden was targeted, and every time the ball was jarred loose by Delacour’s hit. To lock down ANY receiver is an impressive accomplishment, but to completely shut down a receiver who caught for over 1200 yards and 8 touchdowns? That’s a playoff MVP performance.
Bottom Half:
The NSFL, due to being so new, is generally considered to be a talent-driven league. Very little thought is paid to scheme, system, or any kind of coherent team vision. Generally, the most talented team wins (unless on the road, but that’s another issue). The Colorado Yeti, though, have shown that talent can only get you so far. In their case, it can get you to the worst pick of all the teams who didn’t make the playoffs. The Yeti, by TPE, were the most talented team in the league, but a complete neglect of offensive line led to only the 5th most points scored in the league, one game above .500, and losing the tiebreaker to make the playoffs. The same lack of attention was also the downfall of the Las Vegas Legion. Despite lacking the protection for any receiver to get downfield, the Legion traded away their future for Stormblessed, exclusively a deep threat receiver. As Bercovici got sacked over and over waiting for his #1 WR to get open, #2 WR Alexander LeClair ended up emerging as the alternative, finishing only 16 yards shy of the franchise superstar. Both, however, finished well outside the top ten, ruining the only strength the Legion were expected to have.
Offensive Comparison:
The owner of the league rushing title versus the runner with the most all-purpose yards. While Arizona vs Baltimore was not a much-anticipated matchup, seeing these two compete definitely was. Throughout the year, Mackworthy was insanely productive. He was the lead running back in receiving yards, the league leader in punt return yards, and in the top half for kickoff returns as well. He was also second in rushing yards. For the rookie Farlane, the claim was simpler: he had the most rushing yards and it wasn’t close, winning over Mackworthy even on average yards per carry. In the Ultimus Bowl, though, a slightly different story was told. Farlane was reliable as ever churning out yards, carrying a staggering 31 times (as many attempts as his QB had) for 104 yards, earning nothing else through the air. Mackworthy managed 97 yards and a TD on 27 carries, earning a slight edge on efficiency, but also had another 29 yards on two receptions. As if that wasn’t enough, Farlane put up 127 yards on 6 kick returns. Mackworthy, being on the team not giving up as many scores, only had 2 kick returns, but posted an impressive 93 yards on those two opportunities. Farlane may be impressing as a rookie, but Mackworthy showed that there is still a lot to learn.
Defensive Comparison:
Harriff Ernston and Darnell Turner may seem an odd pair of players to compare. One of them joined the league in Season One, the other in Season Two. One of them is a linebacker, the other a cornerback. One of them played for the defending champions, the other for a team that finished 4-10 last year. Despite those differences, though, both found themselves lined up at cornerback in the Ultimus Bowl, and both being the best corners on their teams. How did they fare? Ernston, matched up almost solely against Vincent, allowed 12 yards on three catches for 12 yards, but made up for it with an interception on a pass to Baker. Turner fared…less well. A total of 94 yards on 6 catches to 3 different receivers. He did partially redeem himself with an interception, which he returned for 71 yards. I’d like to say that he improved as the game went on, but it would be fairer to say he improved against Mark Strike. In truth, I felt sorry for Turner. Baltimore’s offense was struggling all game, and after seeing how constant three and outs hurt Cushing against the Hawks the previous week, it’s easy to see how constantly being on the field against such a versatile offense was mentally and physically draining.
Ultimus Recap
In the interest of fairness, I have to remind everyone of a couple of numbers from the Season One Ultimus Bowl. Those numbers: 29, 6, and 5. Twenty-nine was how many points the Outlaws scored against the Yeti. Six was how many the Yeti scored back. Five was the number of pass attempts then backup QB King Bronko had. So, while last night’s game was a blowout, it isn’t the first championship blowout. That said, the Yeti went into the half down only 16-6, far more competitive than the Hawks were. Now, on to the game. The Hawks got embarrassed. At halftime, the score was 18-0, but the first half was more one-sided than even that looks. In the first half, the Hawks had already given up a touchdown, THREE field goals, and a safety. The Outlaws, conversely, had not even allowed the Hawks on to their side of the field. The Hawks didn’t get that honor until less than 18 minutes left in the game, with the score already 28-0. I would suggest that the Hawks were already in garbage time at that point. In fact, King Bronko was benched at the start of the fourth quarter as the Outlaws prepared to make it 31-3. From that point on, against backup Mark Strike (who threw two interceptions on only 7 attempts), the Hawks still failed to finish strong, outscoring the Outlaws second string only 6-5.
10/10
While many would predict otherwise, the Hawks beating the Wraiths in Baltimore is not particularly surprising. Similarly, I doubt anyone would be overly surprised to hear that the game was a close one, only a two point margin of victory. Finally, as one last thing on the list of completely unsurprising developments, I could add that the Hawks offense struggled to produce, but that their defense was able to hold the Wraiths to only 14 points. This is kind of where it starts to get surprising. The Wraiths offense only scored 7 points, the other seven coming from special teams. Even the 7 points came from a short field. In the first half, the Wraiths only ran 26 plays from scrimmage, resulting in 6 punts and an interception. It was the most dominant 30 minutes of defense seen, and it was completely led by Antoine Delacour, who held Josh Garden to 0 catches for the entire game. Three times Garden was targeted, and every time the ball was jarred loose by Delacour’s hit. To lock down ANY receiver is an impressive accomplishment, but to completely shut down a receiver who caught for over 1200 yards and 8 touchdowns? That’s a playoff MVP performance.
Bottom Half:
The NSFL, due to being so new, is generally considered to be a talent-driven league. Very little thought is paid to scheme, system, or any kind of coherent team vision. Generally, the most talented team wins (unless on the road, but that’s another issue). The Colorado Yeti, though, have shown that talent can only get you so far. In their case, it can get you to the worst pick of all the teams who didn’t make the playoffs. The Yeti, by TPE, were the most talented team in the league, but a complete neglect of offensive line led to only the 5th most points scored in the league, one game above .500, and losing the tiebreaker to make the playoffs. The same lack of attention was also the downfall of the Las Vegas Legion. Despite lacking the protection for any receiver to get downfield, the Legion traded away their future for Stormblessed, exclusively a deep threat receiver. As Bercovici got sacked over and over waiting for his #1 WR to get open, #2 WR Alexander LeClair ended up emerging as the alternative, finishing only 16 yards shy of the franchise superstar. Both, however, finished well outside the top ten, ruining the only strength the Legion were expected to have.
Offensive Comparison:
The owner of the league rushing title versus the runner with the most all-purpose yards. While Arizona vs Baltimore was not a much-anticipated matchup, seeing these two compete definitely was. Throughout the year, Mackworthy was insanely productive. He was the lead running back in receiving yards, the league leader in punt return yards, and in the top half for kickoff returns as well. He was also second in rushing yards. For the rookie Farlane, the claim was simpler: he had the most rushing yards and it wasn’t close, winning over Mackworthy even on average yards per carry. In the Ultimus Bowl, though, a slightly different story was told. Farlane was reliable as ever churning out yards, carrying a staggering 31 times (as many attempts as his QB had) for 104 yards, earning nothing else through the air. Mackworthy managed 97 yards and a TD on 27 carries, earning a slight edge on efficiency, but also had another 29 yards on two receptions. As if that wasn’t enough, Farlane put up 127 yards on 6 kick returns. Mackworthy, being on the team not giving up as many scores, only had 2 kick returns, but posted an impressive 93 yards on those two opportunities. Farlane may be impressing as a rookie, but Mackworthy showed that there is still a lot to learn.
Defensive Comparison:
Harriff Ernston and Darnell Turner may seem an odd pair of players to compare. One of them joined the league in Season One, the other in Season Two. One of them is a linebacker, the other a cornerback. One of them played for the defending champions, the other for a team that finished 4-10 last year. Despite those differences, though, both found themselves lined up at cornerback in the Ultimus Bowl, and both being the best corners on their teams. How did they fare? Ernston, matched up almost solely against Vincent, allowed 12 yards on three catches for 12 yards, but made up for it with an interception on a pass to Baker. Turner fared…less well. A total of 94 yards on 6 catches to 3 different receivers. He did partially redeem himself with an interception, which he returned for 71 yards. I’d like to say that he improved as the game went on, but it would be fairer to say he improved against Mark Strike. In truth, I felt sorry for Turner. Baltimore’s offense was struggling all game, and after seeing how constant three and outs hurt Cushing against the Hawks the previous week, it’s easy to see how constantly being on the field against such a versatile offense was mentally and physically draining.
Ultimus Recap
In the interest of fairness, I have to remind everyone of a couple of numbers from the Season One Ultimus Bowl. Those numbers: 29, 6, and 5. Twenty-nine was how many points the Outlaws scored against the Yeti. Six was how many the Yeti scored back. Five was the number of pass attempts then backup QB King Bronko had. So, while last night’s game was a blowout, it isn’t the first championship blowout. That said, the Yeti went into the half down only 16-6, far more competitive than the Hawks were. Now, on to the game. The Hawks got embarrassed. At halftime, the score was 18-0, but the first half was more one-sided than even that looks. In the first half, the Hawks had already given up a touchdown, THREE field goals, and a safety. The Outlaws, conversely, had not even allowed the Hawks on to their side of the field. The Hawks didn’t get that honor until less than 18 minutes left in the game, with the score already 28-0. I would suggest that the Hawks were already in garbage time at that point. In fact, King Bronko was benched at the start of the fourth quarter as the Outlaws prepared to make it 31-3. From that point on, against backup Mark Strike (who threw two interceptions on only 7 attempts), the Hawks still failed to finish strong, outscoring the Outlaws second string only 6-5.
10/10
![[Image: BVsashy.png]](https://i.imgur.com/BVsashy.png)
