root for the underdog
Eventually they have to win, right? The Otters have won a total of one game against the Outlaws in their entire seasonal and post season matchups. So why are they going to win? Well a few things. First, there are a few doubts. The Otters have one win over the nine (4 times in season 1) meetings of consequence. The defense of the Arizona is leagues above everyone else and the roster of years passed, is not as strong in Orange County as it was last year. Bowers has been replaced by Burnsman who is not bad, but he’s not Bowers, so why will this team win? Well, it’s simple. First, don’t like the W-L column fool you, the Outlaws haven’t had a history of winning with ease against their rivals in Orange County. The games have been closer than the scores realize, as last time, the Otters basically held the Wraiths defense in the red zone more often than not. Moreover, the offense of Boss, Phelps and Westfield has been nothing short of amazing. This is the offense Yellowknife wishes they have. The roster is also still strong, and while they did lose players to a lot of outside factors, the Otters roster never really has stepped back. They always start the season slow and while it came down to the last 4 games for the other ASFC seed, the Otters have been able to upset teams like the Hawks at home, so if they can play the football to the way they like shut down the run, the Outlaws could be in for an upset loss.
New Talent:
It should be no surprise that adding Phillipe Carter to the Outlaws roster was a boon, but I don’t think anyone here understands how big of an impact the former Yeti cornerback had. At the start of season 3, the Outlaws were strong defensively in everywhere but cornerback. Hell, they had Isiah Rashad as the starting cornerback, and he was last seen 1 week into the season 2 preseason. Yes they drafted Franklin Harris Jr and were looking at possibly putting touted wide receiver prospect Zheng as the corner across from his draft compatriot, but if the tale of Benson Bayley is any indication, rookie cornerbacks weren’t the best choice against top receivers. Thus, enter Carter, who was traded because the Yeti decided they needed to lose as much as possible. It should be no surprise that Carter would improve the Outlaws, but the addition for their only defensive hole basically made this season’s results basically the least surprising thing all season. The Outlaws losing was more a surprise than them winning the Ultimus. No one was going to stop the top Yeti corner who has faced off against Garden countless times, they had an experienced veteran to help the team become even stronger.
Playoff Review:
If there’s a way to describe the playoffs, it would be unsurprising. The race to the playoffs was more than the playoffs themselves.
Outlaws v Otters: If this was last season, I’d have a lot more faith in this game, and while this had the potential to be another nail biter, the Otters fell short. It was a bad game start to finish and Boss, who until then put up an MVP season, failed to remind people why he was MVP. The game was bad start to finish as the Outlaws manhandled Orange County.
Hawks v Liberty: What’s to say about this? The better team won, yes, but realistically, the team that had started off so slow making it to the playoffs was a feat in itself. Yes, the Philadelphia Liberty had no business being there, and it showed, but the team made it to the playoffs with rookie QB Rove, and was able to knock out the Wraiths in what was a surprising twist of fate.
Hawks v Outlaws: I’ve defined the Hawks as Outlaws-light, because they have no weaknesses, but the Outlaws were just better. Although the Hawks did beat the Outlaws at home, it was more a fluke than a rule. Result was quite predictable. It would be no surprise that the Outlaws would once again Outperform the Hawks for the second championship game in a row.
Bottom Half:
Talk about what you know, right? The SaberCats came in stronger and harder than last year, but the perennial chokers did what they did best. The defense was a liability last season, now it was their biggest strength. Canton may have not had his pass deflections from last year, but he was able to shut down people and help Bayley out, and the line led by Dan Miller and coupled with Safety-gone-linebacker Torque Lewith was able to shut down most oppositions to a degree, the problem was that the #sabersabersabercats were inconsistent on offense. It didn’t help that the Sabercats boasted the worst run game in the league. Diaz may be on the upswing, but that’s not going to happen until s4, Durden had a chance to lose the job, and Diaz just couldn’t capitalize on it. Couple it with the fact that Hunt is a greatly inconsistent quarterback. Don’t get me wrong, there a quarters where it is abundantly clear that Hunt is the best QB ever to play this game, but there are also quarters where he looks like the love child of Pierno and Berc. Couple that with the fact that the ‘Cats lost winnable games to the Legion and Yeti, it’s no surprise they didn’t make the playoffs.
Hate the player or the game:
The Wraiths should have made it, the Liberty should not have. In fact, the Philadelphia liberty lucked out on the a few tiebreakers and wins that otherwise would have sent Yellowknife back to their likely third one-and-done playoff appearance. So why shouldn’t Philly have made it over Yellowknife? Well by numbers alone, the Wraiths were on a player-by-player comparison the Wraiths were a better team. Scheme aside, the Wraiths had one of the best QBs, RBs and WRs in the league on offense and a great CB and LB to boot. The D-Line was about a wash, but despite the pedigree of Yellowknife, the team did not perform when they needed and once again failed to meet expectations. What Philly did was have a few lucky wins and the Wraiths had a few unlucky losses. While the Canadian team had a strong game all around, the schemes were never really designed to work and often ended up working against the very team that had the strengths to utilize the plans. As a result, the Wraiths, who were handed the weakest NSFC they have ever seen in terms of wild card competition got complacent and failed to capitalize on their gains.
Eventually they have to win, right? The Otters have won a total of one game against the Outlaws in their entire seasonal and post season matchups. So why are they going to win? Well a few things. First, there are a few doubts. The Otters have one win over the nine (4 times in season 1) meetings of consequence. The defense of the Arizona is leagues above everyone else and the roster of years passed, is not as strong in Orange County as it was last year. Bowers has been replaced by Burnsman who is not bad, but he’s not Bowers, so why will this team win? Well, it’s simple. First, don’t like the W-L column fool you, the Outlaws haven’t had a history of winning with ease against their rivals in Orange County. The games have been closer than the scores realize, as last time, the Otters basically held the Wraiths defense in the red zone more often than not. Moreover, the offense of Boss, Phelps and Westfield has been nothing short of amazing. This is the offense Yellowknife wishes they have. The roster is also still strong, and while they did lose players to a lot of outside factors, the Otters roster never really has stepped back. They always start the season slow and while it came down to the last 4 games for the other ASFC seed, the Otters have been able to upset teams like the Hawks at home, so if they can play the football to the way they like shut down the run, the Outlaws could be in for an upset loss.
Code:
268 wordsNew Talent:
It should be no surprise that adding Phillipe Carter to the Outlaws roster was a boon, but I don’t think anyone here understands how big of an impact the former Yeti cornerback had. At the start of season 3, the Outlaws were strong defensively in everywhere but cornerback. Hell, they had Isiah Rashad as the starting cornerback, and he was last seen 1 week into the season 2 preseason. Yes they drafted Franklin Harris Jr and were looking at possibly putting touted wide receiver prospect Zheng as the corner across from his draft compatriot, but if the tale of Benson Bayley is any indication, rookie cornerbacks weren’t the best choice against top receivers. Thus, enter Carter, who was traded because the Yeti decided they needed to lose as much as possible. It should be no surprise that Carter would improve the Outlaws, but the addition for their only defensive hole basically made this season’s results basically the least surprising thing all season. The Outlaws losing was more a surprise than them winning the Ultimus. No one was going to stop the top Yeti corner who has faced off against Garden countless times, they had an experienced veteran to help the team become even stronger.
Code:
204 wordsPlayoff Review:
If there’s a way to describe the playoffs, it would be unsurprising. The race to the playoffs was more than the playoffs themselves.
Outlaws v Otters: If this was last season, I’d have a lot more faith in this game, and while this had the potential to be another nail biter, the Otters fell short. It was a bad game start to finish and Boss, who until then put up an MVP season, failed to remind people why he was MVP. The game was bad start to finish as the Outlaws manhandled Orange County.
Hawks v Liberty: What’s to say about this? The better team won, yes, but realistically, the team that had started off so slow making it to the playoffs was a feat in itself. Yes, the Philadelphia Liberty had no business being there, and it showed, but the team made it to the playoffs with rookie QB Rove, and was able to knock out the Wraiths in what was a surprising twist of fate.
Hawks v Outlaws: I’ve defined the Hawks as Outlaws-light, because they have no weaknesses, but the Outlaws were just better. Although the Hawks did beat the Outlaws at home, it was more a fluke than a rule. Result was quite predictable. It would be no surprise that the Outlaws would once again Outperform the Hawks for the second championship game in a row.
Code:
230 wordsBottom Half:
Talk about what you know, right? The SaberCats came in stronger and harder than last year, but the perennial chokers did what they did best. The defense was a liability last season, now it was their biggest strength. Canton may have not had his pass deflections from last year, but he was able to shut down people and help Bayley out, and the line led by Dan Miller and coupled with Safety-gone-linebacker Torque Lewith was able to shut down most oppositions to a degree, the problem was that the #sabersabersabercats were inconsistent on offense. It didn’t help that the Sabercats boasted the worst run game in the league. Diaz may be on the upswing, but that’s not going to happen until s4, Durden had a chance to lose the job, and Diaz just couldn’t capitalize on it. Couple it with the fact that Hunt is a greatly inconsistent quarterback. Don’t get me wrong, there a quarters where it is abundantly clear that Hunt is the best QB ever to play this game, but there are also quarters where he looks like the love child of Pierno and Berc. Couple that with the fact that the ‘Cats lost winnable games to the Legion and Yeti, it’s no surprise they didn’t make the playoffs.
Code:
212 wordsHate the player or the game:
The Wraiths should have made it, the Liberty should not have. In fact, the Philadelphia liberty lucked out on the a few tiebreakers and wins that otherwise would have sent Yellowknife back to their likely third one-and-done playoff appearance. So why shouldn’t Philly have made it over Yellowknife? Well by numbers alone, the Wraiths were on a player-by-player comparison the Wraiths were a better team. Scheme aside, the Wraiths had one of the best QBs, RBs and WRs in the league on offense and a great CB and LB to boot. The D-Line was about a wash, but despite the pedigree of Yellowknife, the team did not perform when they needed and once again failed to meet expectations. What Philly did was have a few lucky wins and the Wraiths had a few unlucky losses. While the Canadian team had a strong game all around, the schemes were never really designed to work and often ended up working against the very team that had the strengths to utilize the plans. As a result, the Wraiths, who were handed the weakest NSFC they have ever seen in terms of wild card competition got complacent and failed to capitalize on their gains.
Code:
200 words[div align=center]
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