1. Hate The Player or the Game:
Honestly when you look at who should and shouldn’t have made the playoffs, I think its fair to say that the Yellowknife Wraiths should’ve gotten into the playoffs over the Philadelphia Liberty. Granted, the Liberty’s 8-5-1 record was better than the 7-7 record the Wraiths put up this season, but there’s more to the story than that. If you look, both teams had similar offenses. Yellowknife had 332 points for, and Philadelphia had 326. The points against, however, is where they separate. Yellowknife only allowed 275 points, the 3rd lowest total in the league. Meanwhile, Philadelphia allowed a whopping 328 points against. Needless to say, the defense of the Wraiths was far superior to that of the Liberty. Even when we break it down into yards per game on offense and defense, Yellowknife has better numbers across the board over the Liberty: passing yards for, passing yards against, rushing yards for, rushing yards against. The two teams did split their season series, with the home team taking the victory each time. The two teams are ranked closely to each other all around, but Yellowknife just happens to be on top in category it seems. They Shouldve made the playoffs for sure. (201)
2. Playoff Series MVP:
I’m pretty sure that this is the easiest thing I’ll have to write, potentially ever. When talking about the Playoff MVP for the S3 NSFL playoffs, there is only one clear choice. That choice is Arizona Outlaws QB, King Bronko. The king once again carved up his competition, starting with the Orange County Otters. The Otters were the victims of a 344 passing yard game by Bronko. Yeah, he only threw one touchdown in this game, but that’s because Reg Mackworthy had a couple of short yard touchdowns. If Reg didn’t get in, there’s not doubt that Bronko could’ve finished the job. And then in the Ultimus, Bronko went back to work on the poor souls from Baltimore. Bronko would throw for another 249 yards, and he’d score 4 touchdowns in the second half, finding Charles Arthur Chess for 3 of those touchdowns. His personal stats were actually brought down a bit since the Arizona Outlaw defense actually was outscoring the Baltimore offense at one point, 12 to 6 before the half. If King was on the field, there’s a very good chance that he’d have found himself over 300 yards with another touchdown or two. So that’s my NSFL Playoff MVP: King Bronko. (204)
3. Bottom Half:
Writing about two of the league’s non-playoff teams feels like rubbing salt in the wounds. I also feel like “because they were terrible” should not be a valid reason why they didn’t make the playoffs, but in the case of the Colorado Yeti and the Las Vegas Legion, that’s exactly the case. They’re terrible. I do not know anything about each team’s history, but how are they both this bad? The Las Vegas Legion allowed 444 points this season? How is that possible? There’s only 14 games! Averaging a monumental 31.7 points per game while only scoring an average of 14 a game is exactly the reason why this horrible team missed the playoffs by a couple thousand light years. And what are you smirking at Yeti? You’re just as shitty. The highlight of your entire season was beating Yellowknife and keeping them from the playoffs. If your SEASON HIGHLIGHT is causing someone else to miss the playoffs, there’s an issue. There’s also an issue with your offense and defense: They both suck too. In fact, your offense is WORSE than Las Vegas, averaging a scant 13 points a game. Both of these teams had such dismal seasons on both sides of the ball that league management is seriously considering relegation to the DSFL. (214)
4. Playoff Review:
And now, a quick review of the Ultimus playoff games! First up is the matchup between the Arizona Outlaws and the Orange County Otters. Basically, it was all Arizona from the get go. They would chip away bit after bit and end up leading 20-0 at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, Orange County would cut the lead to 20-7 as Mike Boss found Bradley Westfield for an 18 yard TD. However Arizona would get the 20 point lead back as Reg Mackworthy would pound his was in for his second TD of the night. The other championship game pitted the Baltimore Hawks against the Philadelphia Liberty. The Hawks came right out of the gate and made the Liberty’s day terrible. The Hawks dominated every single facet of the game, and on the back of Scrub Kyree’s 4 touchdowns, they walked to a 34-3 win. Finally, in the Ultimus, Arizona faced off against Baltimore. The last time these two met, Baltimore was handing Arizona their first and only loss of the season, 26-23. The Outlaws didn’t forget it. The defense had two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the first half, and combined with a Reg Mackworthy rushing TD, the Outlaws raced to a 21-6 halftime lead. When the second half opening, the Outlaws kept chugging along and couldn’t be stopped as they cruised to an easy 49-12 win. (228)
5. Championship Game Recap:
When a team absolutely smacks around its opposition in a championship game, its really hard to just pick one play that “made the game”. However, in the first quarter of the game, the score was 7-3 Arizona. Baltimore had just kicked their field goal, and the team was stealing momentum from the Outlaws. When the Hawks kicked the ball off back to Arizona, the defense stepped up. Baltimore forced a three and out, and Arizona was sending the ball back to Baltimore. The Hawks completed a short pass, and then an Outlaw penalty helped Baltimore some more. After that the Hawks were sacked for a seven yard loss. And then it happened. Scrub Kyubee tried to find his wide receiver Noah Stormblessed but instead he was picked off by Franklin Harris, Jr who returned the ball all the way for a touchdown, and a 14-3 lead. Harris made an excellent break on the ball as he baited the Baltimore quarterback, and before you knew it Arizona had seized momentum and threw off the entire Hawks sideline. Arizona would get a second pick six to finish off the Hawks late in the first half, but it was the first one that really stole the game back for Arizona. (207)
Honestly when you look at who should and shouldn’t have made the playoffs, I think its fair to say that the Yellowknife Wraiths should’ve gotten into the playoffs over the Philadelphia Liberty. Granted, the Liberty’s 8-5-1 record was better than the 7-7 record the Wraiths put up this season, but there’s more to the story than that. If you look, both teams had similar offenses. Yellowknife had 332 points for, and Philadelphia had 326. The points against, however, is where they separate. Yellowknife only allowed 275 points, the 3rd lowest total in the league. Meanwhile, Philadelphia allowed a whopping 328 points against. Needless to say, the defense of the Wraiths was far superior to that of the Liberty. Even when we break it down into yards per game on offense and defense, Yellowknife has better numbers across the board over the Liberty: passing yards for, passing yards against, rushing yards for, rushing yards against. The two teams did split their season series, with the home team taking the victory each time. The two teams are ranked closely to each other all around, but Yellowknife just happens to be on top in category it seems. They Shouldve made the playoffs for sure. (201)
2. Playoff Series MVP:
I’m pretty sure that this is the easiest thing I’ll have to write, potentially ever. When talking about the Playoff MVP for the S3 NSFL playoffs, there is only one clear choice. That choice is Arizona Outlaws QB, King Bronko. The king once again carved up his competition, starting with the Orange County Otters. The Otters were the victims of a 344 passing yard game by Bronko. Yeah, he only threw one touchdown in this game, but that’s because Reg Mackworthy had a couple of short yard touchdowns. If Reg didn’t get in, there’s not doubt that Bronko could’ve finished the job. And then in the Ultimus, Bronko went back to work on the poor souls from Baltimore. Bronko would throw for another 249 yards, and he’d score 4 touchdowns in the second half, finding Charles Arthur Chess for 3 of those touchdowns. His personal stats were actually brought down a bit since the Arizona Outlaw defense actually was outscoring the Baltimore offense at one point, 12 to 6 before the half. If King was on the field, there’s a very good chance that he’d have found himself over 300 yards with another touchdown or two. So that’s my NSFL Playoff MVP: King Bronko. (204)
3. Bottom Half:
Writing about two of the league’s non-playoff teams feels like rubbing salt in the wounds. I also feel like “because they were terrible” should not be a valid reason why they didn’t make the playoffs, but in the case of the Colorado Yeti and the Las Vegas Legion, that’s exactly the case. They’re terrible. I do not know anything about each team’s history, but how are they both this bad? The Las Vegas Legion allowed 444 points this season? How is that possible? There’s only 14 games! Averaging a monumental 31.7 points per game while only scoring an average of 14 a game is exactly the reason why this horrible team missed the playoffs by a couple thousand light years. And what are you smirking at Yeti? You’re just as shitty. The highlight of your entire season was beating Yellowknife and keeping them from the playoffs. If your SEASON HIGHLIGHT is causing someone else to miss the playoffs, there’s an issue. There’s also an issue with your offense and defense: They both suck too. In fact, your offense is WORSE than Las Vegas, averaging a scant 13 points a game. Both of these teams had such dismal seasons on both sides of the ball that league management is seriously considering relegation to the DSFL. (214)
4. Playoff Review:
And now, a quick review of the Ultimus playoff games! First up is the matchup between the Arizona Outlaws and the Orange County Otters. Basically, it was all Arizona from the get go. They would chip away bit after bit and end up leading 20-0 at halftime. After a scoreless third quarter, Orange County would cut the lead to 20-7 as Mike Boss found Bradley Westfield for an 18 yard TD. However Arizona would get the 20 point lead back as Reg Mackworthy would pound his was in for his second TD of the night. The other championship game pitted the Baltimore Hawks against the Philadelphia Liberty. The Hawks came right out of the gate and made the Liberty’s day terrible. The Hawks dominated every single facet of the game, and on the back of Scrub Kyree’s 4 touchdowns, they walked to a 34-3 win. Finally, in the Ultimus, Arizona faced off against Baltimore. The last time these two met, Baltimore was handing Arizona their first and only loss of the season, 26-23. The Outlaws didn’t forget it. The defense had two interceptions returned for touchdowns in the first half, and combined with a Reg Mackworthy rushing TD, the Outlaws raced to a 21-6 halftime lead. When the second half opening, the Outlaws kept chugging along and couldn’t be stopped as they cruised to an easy 49-12 win. (228)
5. Championship Game Recap:
When a team absolutely smacks around its opposition in a championship game, its really hard to just pick one play that “made the game”. However, in the first quarter of the game, the score was 7-3 Arizona. Baltimore had just kicked their field goal, and the team was stealing momentum from the Outlaws. When the Hawks kicked the ball off back to Arizona, the defense stepped up. Baltimore forced a three and out, and Arizona was sending the ball back to Baltimore. The Hawks completed a short pass, and then an Outlaw penalty helped Baltimore some more. After that the Hawks were sacked for a seven yard loss. And then it happened. Scrub Kyubee tried to find his wide receiver Noah Stormblessed but instead he was picked off by Franklin Harris, Jr who returned the ball all the way for a touchdown, and a 14-3 lead. Harris made an excellent break on the ball as he baited the Baltimore quarterback, and before you knew it Arizona had seized momentum and threw off the entire Hawks sideline. Arizona would get a second pick six to finish off the Hawks late in the first half, but it was the first one that really stole the game back for Arizona. (207)
![[Image: tTMB4jP.jpg]](https://imgur.com/tTMB4jP.jpg)
