Offensive Comparison:
At first glance, these two performances could not be any different: E. Burnsman and R. Mackworthy had very contrasting stat-lines.
Burnsman: 34 yards, 0 TDs
Mackworthy: 99 yards, 2 TDs
Clearly Mackworthy had the better game plus his team destroyed the Otters on their way to their potential third title in a row.
But beyond the numbers, Mackworthy was just trusted to do more by his team, plus the lead allowed his team to run the ball more. Mackworthy ran the ball a staggering 31 times. Burnsman, on a team that was behind all game, only got to run the ball 10 times. Ultimately, that means that Burnsman actually had a better average per run.
Mackworthy was clearly the much better player today but he gets heralded as the big hero, while his stats show a darker truth, an ineffectiveness that could be an issue in the title game. Will he be able to improve against Baltimore? Chances are, that game will be equally tough for Arizona, though they are clearly the big favorite yet again.
Burnsman might be disappointed today, but he can be proud of a good rookie season that ended in the playoffs. He will be stronger next year.
Defensive Comparison:
Luke Luechly and Julian O'Sullivan had very similar statistics all year long. One ended with 95 tackles, the other with 97. Both had three Tackles for Loss. Both forced one fumble. While Luechly had more sacks, O'Sullivan had more interceptions and pass deflections. In the end, both had a fantastic season.
Arizona had the better end all season and also in the playoff game between the two teams. Both Luechly and O'Sullivan had impressive games. Both lead their teams in tackles. O'Sullivan impressed with 13 tackles, while Luechly had 8. However, O'Sullivan could not add any other stats in this game, a fact that definitely hurts his impressive performance. In a game where his team needed a big play, he could not provide it. Luechly on the other hand managed to play to his strength. The one category he was better in during the season, sacks, he shined again, with two sacks at crucial points in the game to help his team.
Overall Luechly had the better game with the sacks and the fact that his team won handily. O'Sullivan can still be proud of his game though, as a true rookie he had an impressive season and should be a real threat next season as well.
Bottom Half:
The two teams in the bottom half that stick out to me are the Colorado Yeti and the San Jose Sabercats.
Colorado was dealt a tough hand this season when their star player Logan Noble was suspended for cheating. The behaviour was unacceptable and changed the landscape of the NSFL drastically. The Yeti traded for Pierno, a young unproven quarterback who was pushed into a starting role much too early in his career. He ended up winning three games for the Yeti, while throwing only 8 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. In coming years, Pierno should be better and lead the Yeti back to contention.
The Sabercats drastically improved from last year and for parts of the season even held a playoff spot. Eventually, the Otters predictably overtook them and ended up the better team. The Sabercats gave up 338 points this season, the 3rd most of any team in the league. One might wonder if they regret not picking a defensive player in the first round besides Benson Bayley after all, with several rookies like J. O'Sullivan and F. Harris Jr. having fantastic seasons already, while I. Blewitt had a solid year, but one might imagine a defensive player could have done more than a kicker.
Playoff Series MVP:
Trey Willie was a very good pick by the Baltimore Hawks in the Season 3 draft. The Hawks were the only team really looking for Wide Receivers, but more teams might have been able to use Willie. Willie impressed almost right away and ended his rookie season with a very impressive 1163 yards (7th in the league among all Wide Receivers). During the regular season, he only had three Touchdowns though.
Well the rookie did not back down from a challenge and showed up big time in the first round of the playoffs. Against a very good Liberty secondary, Trey Willie had five catches for 117 yards and he equalled his season total in one game, catching three touchdowns. He was also responsible for a fourth touchdown, a 103 yard kickoff return touchdown. Trey Willie had a monster game and the rookie will want to have a repeat performance in the final to be able to bear Arizona. Either way, he will be a feared receiver next season based on this performance. One might argue that in some ways, this was the most impressive performance in the play-offs yet, let alone by a rookie! He was incredible.
Hate the player or the game:
The Yellowknife Wraiths were the obvious team that was left out of the playoffs but deserved to go. The Wraiths ended the season with a better Point Differential than the Liberty, by quite a bit. But the Wraiths only managed a 7-7 record and had to watch from home. At times it felt like they did not do enough or maybe the focus was not there. At times they were just unlucky. A week 2 last-second loss against the Sabercats hurts especially at the end of the year. Another loss that hurts came in week 9, against a Yeti team that only won three games with a replacement quarterback. And then it was the Sabercats yet again that sealed their fate with a week 12 loss for the Wraiths at home against a usually inferior team. Those three losses are the reason why the Wraiths are only watching the playoffs from home, but one might wonder if they could have challenged the Hawks more than the Liberty did, with the Liberty only managing three points against Baltimore. As it was, star players like Orosz, Nuck, Akselsen, Garden, Cushing, Lavelle, Tiernan, Bjornsson, Maddox and others had to watch the playoffs from their couches.
At first glance, these two performances could not be any different: E. Burnsman and R. Mackworthy had very contrasting stat-lines.
Burnsman: 34 yards, 0 TDs
Mackworthy: 99 yards, 2 TDs
Clearly Mackworthy had the better game plus his team destroyed the Otters on their way to their potential third title in a row.
But beyond the numbers, Mackworthy was just trusted to do more by his team, plus the lead allowed his team to run the ball more. Mackworthy ran the ball a staggering 31 times. Burnsman, on a team that was behind all game, only got to run the ball 10 times. Ultimately, that means that Burnsman actually had a better average per run.
Mackworthy was clearly the much better player today but he gets heralded as the big hero, while his stats show a darker truth, an ineffectiveness that could be an issue in the title game. Will he be able to improve against Baltimore? Chances are, that game will be equally tough for Arizona, though they are clearly the big favorite yet again.
Burnsman might be disappointed today, but he can be proud of a good rookie season that ended in the playoffs. He will be stronger next year.
Defensive Comparison:
Luke Luechly and Julian O'Sullivan had very similar statistics all year long. One ended with 95 tackles, the other with 97. Both had three Tackles for Loss. Both forced one fumble. While Luechly had more sacks, O'Sullivan had more interceptions and pass deflections. In the end, both had a fantastic season.
Arizona had the better end all season and also in the playoff game between the two teams. Both Luechly and O'Sullivan had impressive games. Both lead their teams in tackles. O'Sullivan impressed with 13 tackles, while Luechly had 8. However, O'Sullivan could not add any other stats in this game, a fact that definitely hurts his impressive performance. In a game where his team needed a big play, he could not provide it. Luechly on the other hand managed to play to his strength. The one category he was better in during the season, sacks, he shined again, with two sacks at crucial points in the game to help his team.
Overall Luechly had the better game with the sacks and the fact that his team won handily. O'Sullivan can still be proud of his game though, as a true rookie he had an impressive season and should be a real threat next season as well.
Bottom Half:
The two teams in the bottom half that stick out to me are the Colorado Yeti and the San Jose Sabercats.
Colorado was dealt a tough hand this season when their star player Logan Noble was suspended for cheating. The behaviour was unacceptable and changed the landscape of the NSFL drastically. The Yeti traded for Pierno, a young unproven quarterback who was pushed into a starting role much too early in his career. He ended up winning three games for the Yeti, while throwing only 8 touchdowns and 35 interceptions. In coming years, Pierno should be better and lead the Yeti back to contention.
The Sabercats drastically improved from last year and for parts of the season even held a playoff spot. Eventually, the Otters predictably overtook them and ended up the better team. The Sabercats gave up 338 points this season, the 3rd most of any team in the league. One might wonder if they regret not picking a defensive player in the first round besides Benson Bayley after all, with several rookies like J. O'Sullivan and F. Harris Jr. having fantastic seasons already, while I. Blewitt had a solid year, but one might imagine a defensive player could have done more than a kicker.
Playoff Series MVP:
Trey Willie was a very good pick by the Baltimore Hawks in the Season 3 draft. The Hawks were the only team really looking for Wide Receivers, but more teams might have been able to use Willie. Willie impressed almost right away and ended his rookie season with a very impressive 1163 yards (7th in the league among all Wide Receivers). During the regular season, he only had three Touchdowns though.
Well the rookie did not back down from a challenge and showed up big time in the first round of the playoffs. Against a very good Liberty secondary, Trey Willie had five catches for 117 yards and he equalled his season total in one game, catching three touchdowns. He was also responsible for a fourth touchdown, a 103 yard kickoff return touchdown. Trey Willie had a monster game and the rookie will want to have a repeat performance in the final to be able to bear Arizona. Either way, he will be a feared receiver next season based on this performance. One might argue that in some ways, this was the most impressive performance in the play-offs yet, let alone by a rookie! He was incredible.
Hate the player or the game:
The Yellowknife Wraiths were the obvious team that was left out of the playoffs but deserved to go. The Wraiths ended the season with a better Point Differential than the Liberty, by quite a bit. But the Wraiths only managed a 7-7 record and had to watch from home. At times it felt like they did not do enough or maybe the focus was not there. At times they were just unlucky. A week 2 last-second loss against the Sabercats hurts especially at the end of the year. Another loss that hurts came in week 9, against a Yeti team that only won three games with a replacement quarterback. And then it was the Sabercats yet again that sealed their fate with a week 12 loss for the Wraiths at home against a usually inferior team. Those three losses are the reason why the Wraiths are only watching the playoffs from home, but one might wonder if they could have challenged the Hawks more than the Liberty did, with the Liberty only managing three points against Baltimore. As it was, star players like Orosz, Nuck, Akselsen, Garden, Cushing, Lavelle, Tiernan, Bjornsson, Maddox and others had to watch the playoffs from their couches.
![[Image: card6.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/692421772183601193/1053345472418431016/card6.png)
