(S3) - Ultimus Week

[Sanctus]

[Darnellthebeast]

Offensive Comparison: Compare one offensive player from each team in a series. Can be completed at any point
In the NSFC championship, the battle to watch was between rookie Trey Willie and sophomore Fox North. North had had a great season last year in Philadelphia, whereas last season Willie was just picked up for a few games. However, Willie really showed who was boss in this game. Fox North had four catches on the game for 84 yards, averaging 21 yards per catch and with a long of 33 yards. Seems like a good game, right? It was nothing compared to Trey Willie's. Willie had 5 catches for 117 yards, averaging 23.4 yards per catch and a long of 45. That wasn't the big difference maker though; the real difference between the two and the reason for the blowout in the final score was Willie had 3 touchdown catches while North had 0. Willie came out and proved he was a big time player and absolutely dominated Fox North in every category. The receiving corps of the Hawks beat out the Liberty's receiving corps as a whole as the Liberty passed for less than 260 yards while the Hawks broke 350. The Hawks and Trey Willie showed that they were the best team and player in the NSFC.
Defensive Comparison: Compare one defensive player from each team in a series. Can be completed at any point
These playoffs were about as boring as they could possibly be. Not a single game in the league was close, from the championship to the conference championship, but I will go over them anyway; the playoffs started with the Otters visiting the Outlaws in the ASFC championship. I am not even sure why this game was actually simmed, as the Otters have gotten destroyed the previous two years already. In fact, I'm not sure if the Otters have ever beaten the Outlaws in Arizona. Anyways, Er decided to demoralize Orange County fans anyway and simmed the game, ending with a result of 27-7, Outlaws. Mackworthy just barely missed the triple digit rushing yards mark with 99, however he did have two touchdowns. The next game was between the Philedelphia Liberty and Baltimore Hawks. With the Liberty on the road, everyone except for the blind Philly players knew that the Liberty didn't have a chance, and they didn't. They were thouroughly demolished by the Hawks 34-3. They managed to lose to the Hawks by more than the Otters lost to the Outlaws. The championship was a repeat of Hawks @ Outlaws. Admittedly, I hoped the Hawks had a chance since they won in Arizona earlier, but they didn't and ended up losing 12-49.
Bottom Half: Write about why two of the four teams were not able to make the playoffs. Can be completed at any point
Why did the Outlaws make the playoffs but the San Jose Sabercats didn't? A pretty stupid question considering how many answers there are for it, but I am going to answer it anyway. Let's start with passing; the yards were actually close. San Jose beat out Arizona in passing yards by less than 100 yards. Unfortunately, that was about it. Arizona slightly edged them out in touchdowns only to destroy them in passer rating, interceptions, and Touchdown to interception ratio. Onto rushing. San Jose really struggled in this aspect. While the Outlaws rushed 1577 yards and 15 touchdowns, the Sabercats managed a measely 1058 yards and six touchdowns. Defense was another area where the Sabercats were outshined. The Outlaws had a league leading 108 sacks while the Sabercats had barely half that with 55. In the interception catagory it was closer but the Outlaws still edged out San Jose 23 to 18. In the touchdown category, the Outlaws won once again destroying the San Jose Sabercats 4-1. Finally, we will compare the teams punting. These two teams were the best in the league at punting, however Arizona still out punted San Jose by an average of 2 yards per punt.
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Playoff Review: Write a short review of the playoffs and each of the matchups. Must be completed after the Championship Game
These playoffs were about as boring as they could possibly be. Not a single game in the league was close, from the championship to the conference championship, but I will go over them anyway; the playoffs started with the Otters visiting the Outlaws in the ASFC championship. I am not even sure why this game was actually simmed, as the Otters have gotten destroyed the previous two years already. In fact, I'm not sure if the Otters have ever beaten the Outlaws in Arizona. Anyways, Er decided to demoralize Orange County fans anyway and simmed the game, ending with a result of 27-7, Outlaws. Mackworthy just barely missed the triple digit rushing yards mark with 99, however he did have two touchdowns. The next game was between the Philedelphia Liberty and Baltimore Hawks. With the Liberty on the road, everyone except for the blind Philly players knew that the Liberty didn't have a chance, and they didn't. They were thouroughly demolished by the Hawks 34-3. They managed to lose to the Hawks by more than the Otters lost to the Outlaws. The championship was a repeat of Hawks @ Outlaws. Admittedly, I hoped the Hawks had a chance since they won in Arizona earlier, but they didn't and ended up losing 12-49.

Playoff Recap Graphic:

[Perry87]

Bottom Half: Make a graphical stat comparison of a team who failed to qualify for playoffs to another team that qualified for the playoffs from their division.


Future Talent: Make a sig for a S3 player who you feel will or did make a large impact for their team in the playoffs.


Playoff Matchups: Make a graphic displaying the matchups in the first round of the playoffs.


Conference Final MVP Sig: Make a sig for a player of your choice who you felt was the MVP of a Conference Final matchup.


Playoff Recap Infographic: Make a graphic displaying the results of the playoffs.

[Rindiee]

*WIP*

Offensive Comparison: Compare one offensive player from each team in a series

What better way to make a comparison then putting the generals of each team up against one another. the Quarterbacks. For this comparison we will head over to the NSFC where we have the Philadelphia Liberty vs the Baltimore Hawks. Rookie QB vs Seasoned Veteran QB. Starting with the Liberty rookie Clifford Rove contributed to a successful season finish 8-5-1, a major improvement for the city of Brotherly Love. Rove completed 286 of his 514 passes this season, threw for 3,461 YDS and net a total of 20 TD. Although this sounds like a solid stat line for the Rookie he also went on to throw 24 INT would potentially hurt what could have been an amazing season for the Liberty. Heading over to Baltimore with the NSFC Champions, Scrub Kyubee completed 289 of his 482 passes, threw for 3,518 yards as well as netting 20 TD's and 15 INT's. Although these two QB's stats weren't totally similar it seemed to pay off for the Liberty as well as Rookie QB Clifford Rove improving from 5 to 8 wins in only 1 season! We look forward to seeing how both these teams perform next year with both QB's returning to their respected team for another season.

Defensive Comparison: Compare one defensive player from each team in a series.

For this comparison we stay in the NSFC division. A defense that at the beginning of the season, many were considering could compete with the Outlaws as the best in the league, the scary, Philadelphia Liberty defense. Although many players on this Philly defense are high TPE gainers we have decided to focus on the S2 DROY, Tyler Oles, CB. In this comparison we can also not count out Baltimore as their defense also played a great part in their historic season. We stay with the theme of CB's in Baltimore as we will be focusing on Antoine Delacour also a CB. Throughout this comparison keep in mind both players have the same archetype, but are both built very differently. Delacour has a slight advantage in TPE but it is hard to notice this by looking at the stat sheet. Oles finished 2nd in interceptions with 7, but only had 12 pass deflections the entire year. We'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say they were no possibility for them to be caught. He also had 1 Pick 6 on the year as well as 59 tackles. The Liberty can most definitely attribute a lot of their success in the secondary to Tyler Oles this season. Delacour had 6 INT's on the year, but would net 24 pass deflections. In comparison with Oles, he would also collect 1 Pick 6 but would net 67 tackles. We can assume Delacour had the advantage in tackling due to the advantage in speed he has over Oles. Unlike our QB comparison we see more similarities between these two stats and I look forward to see how they will continue to match up overtime.

Playoff Series MVP: Choose an MVP for one of the playoff series and write about why you chose them.

When I think of Playoff Series MVP I also think of the potential OROY. If that doesn't give away who i'm talking about then you must have been under a rock for the entirety of Season 3. Not only did the Hawks star Trey Willie put up over 1,100 Receiving Yards, putting him top 8 in the entire league in that aspect, but he potentially broke records with his amazing outing against my Philadelphia Liberty. As the Baltimore Hawks steam rolled the Philadelphia Liberty 34-3 Willie put up historic numbers. A game in which he net 117 receiving yards, on 5 receptions, averaging almost 24 yards a reception. In those 5 receptions he net 3 receiving TD's, not including a 103 yard Kick off return for a touchdown. With all this being said, there is no doubt in my mind Trey Willie takes home the NSFL Championship MVP. With all that being said, there is a very high chance Willie is also able of bringing home some regular season hardware with the honors of OROY. It will be very interesting to watch this kid progress overtime and see if he has what it takes to out due himself in the years to come.


*WIP*

[Symmetrik]

Offensive Comparison: Compare one offensive player from each team in a series in a side by side graphic. Can be completed at any point

Defensive Comparison: Compare one defensive player from each team in a series in a side by side graphic. Can be completed at any point

Bottom Half: Make a graphical stat comparison of a team who failed to qualify for playoffs to another team that qualified for the playoffs from their division. Can be completed at any point

Playoff Recap Infographic: Make a graphic displaying the results of the playoffs. Must be completed after the Championship Game

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

@4D Chess

[StevenOSullivan]

Offensive comparison:

In the title game of the Ultimus trophy game, the Arizona Outlaws faced the Baltimore Hawks. The performances between the two Quarterbacks could not have been more differently. On the one hand, Outlaws Quarterback K. Bronko had 249 yards and 4 touchdowns, with 0 interceptions. On the other hand, Hawks quarterback S. Kyubee had 221 yards, 0 touchdowns and 5 interceptions. That in itself shows how one-sided the game was. The game ended up being 49-12 for the Outlaws.

Even in the regular season, Bronko had the better year, getting 3650 yards with 25 touchdowns and 8 interceptions while S. Kyubee had 3518 yards with 20 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. Still, one would have expected this game to be a bit closer and not quite so one-sided, but I think the Arizona defense showed once again how amazing they are and completely shut down Kyubee. The Arizona defense is elite and truly showed that. F. Harris Jr. and P. Carter both had two interceptions each.

One of the reasons for this, may have also been that the Hawks had to throw deeper because of being behind all game. Kyubee had a higher average per pass and per completion in this game.

Defensive comparison:

The defensive challenges in the title game were interesting. Outlaws have one of the most dominant defenses and several of their players made a huge impact in the title game. The Hawks are less dominant on defense but still have some good talent. I will compare former MVP Jayce Tuck and K. Hendrix.

Both had a very similar game, but the most valuable player of season 2 (and perhaps again season 3), showed that he is the best. Hendrix had 6 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 1 sack, while Tuck had 6 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and 3 sacks.

For Defensive Ends, sacks are the most important category. Tuck just broke the sack record in an absolutely dominant fashion, getting so many more than anyone else ever did. He had 32 sacks in one season. In the title game, he had three sacks for the Outlaws who pressured Kyubee all game long. Hendrix only had 1 sack, though he had the same numbers of tackles and tackles for loss as Tuck, so he did not have a bad game either.

Tuck showed why he is the best and dominated the game and allowed his secondary to get five interceptions.

Bottom Half:

The Colorado Yeti and the Las Vegas Legion were the worst two teams in the league and were not even close to the playoffs, but they were in that spot for very different reasons.

For Colorado, they were blind-sided by their star Quarterback being banned for a season and having to trade for a replacement. While the replacement has a bright future, Pierno struggled all year, getting 35 interceptions and breaking the record for most interceptions in one season. The Yeti do have talent in several positions though and could definitely improve next year.

For the Legion, the situation looks a little more bleak. They just do not have the activity needed to contend in the league and it seems very hard to imagine a situation where they improve any time soon. This will have to be a rebuild that will take a long time, probably several seasons and will require great drafting and adding good players in free agency, but it will be hard to imagine many players wanting to play in Las Vegas.

To give an idea just how bleak the situation is, you must only see that only seven of the Legion players have updated their player in the month of October, and we have the 22nd of October today. Additionally, only two further players had updated since September 9th. That is just atrocious and will not be an easy fix.

Championship Game Recap:

In the early stages of the championship game, the Outlaws and the Hawks were still fairly close and the Hawks still had hope to be the first team to beat the Outlaws and win a title.

Reg Mackworthy had brought the Outlaws on top early on with a touchdown, but the Hawks got a field goal to at least keep close by. After an Outlaws punt, the Hawks had the chance to take the lead.

However, on 3rd and 8, S. Kyubee was trying to find star receiver N. Stormblessed, when rookie first round pick F. Harris Jr. stepped in front of the pass and intercepted Kyubee. Harris then took the ball and returned it for 24 yards for a touchdown. It put up Arizona up by 11 early on and the Hawks never got close again.

Harris had already shown his worth during the regular season, when the rookie lead the entire league in Interceptions with 8. He also had two touchdowns during the regular season, but none was bigger than the one he had in the Championship Game, leading to the three-peat for the Arizona Outlaws. He will be exciting to watch for years to come!

Playoff Review:

The playoffs this year had three very interesting games on paper, but all of them ended up being decided very clearly, without much trouble.

In the first game, the Liberty faced the Hawks. Both had similar seasons in the regular season and while the Liberty were happy to be in the playoffs for the first time, the Hawks were the clear favorite. In the end, the Hawks took an early lead and never lost it. The game ended in a dominant fashion, 34-3 for the Hawks.

In the second game, the Otters faced the Outlaws. This seemed like a preview of the championship game, with arguably the best two teams in the league facing off. The Outlaws had a 13-1 record and were the big favorites to get a three-peat. The Outlaws immediately took the lead and a 17 point 2nd quarter put them up by 20 points. With not much happening in the 2nd half, the Outlaws ended up with a dominant win and entered another title game.

In the title game, the Hawks faced the Outlaws. The Outlaws defense performed beautifully, intercepting Kyubee 5 times and getting two defensive touchdowns. In the end, the game was 49-12 win for the Outlaws, who became the three-peat champion and this might have been their most dominant year yet. Who will be able to beat the Outlaws first?

[loco]

ultimus banner (bronko is girl robot in back cuz he a lil girl)


beaut moment


bracket

[Apache_Chief]

offensive comparison
When looking at the different teams competing for the ASFC Championship Title, we have to take a look at the most important position in football; The Quarterback. Coming into this, I think most people will agree that Boss was the best Quarterback in the league. However, when everything had settled, Bronko had proven that he truly was the most elite of the two. Boss brandished a measly 50.1 QBR and had two interceptions to one touchdown while barely breaking the 200 yard mark. When it comes down to it, Boss continues to fall short when the game is on the line and Bronko shows the veteran poise a two-time ring winner should. With Boss' upcoming free agency, teams might want to really look into if Mike Boss has the leadership to take their team all the way. It's also important to point out that Boss' weapons failed to step up as well, with the two leaders at the receiver position barely managing to hit the 200 yard mark - together. While it might not just be Boss who needs to step up, what is for sure is that Bronko and his offense have the talent to be a continuous dynasty in the playoffs.

defensive comparison
As for the defensive side of the ball, the tale of the tape was big plays. The Otters put together a pitiful performance against the monster that is the Outlaw's offensive line, amassing a total of 4 sacks. While they did step it up against the run, racking up 4 TFL's to the tune of 0 on their opponents side. Sadly, thats about all they could stop, with only one interception to their name as well. Comparatively, the Outlaws had ten sacks and two interceptions. As previously mentioned, the defense held the two best receivers in the league to 200 combined yards and one touchdown. When it came down to the nitty-gritty, the Outlaws just have that something on defense that wins championships. If the Otters want to make it past the divisional game, they need to make a splash in FA and build up a defense that can actually make plays when it counts. Having stars means nothing if they don't come out to play when the trophy is on the line. Thats the Outlaw difference, the regular season means nothing, its only for real when their dynasty is on the line, and so far, the Otters have yet to threaten that.

bottom half
The two worst teams in the league were the Colorado Yeti and the Las Vegas Legion. Oddly enough, both teams share a key reason for their lack of success - poor front offices. The Legion tried to win it all in their first season by trading away all their picks for established players. Obviously, this did not work and has subsequently stunted their growth. While they have started a new rebuilding process, shakeups and uncertainty in the GM position do not leave much to be desired. It'll be a lot of work if they plan to make it out of the bottom and the damage might have already been done. As for the Yeti, we'll they too had shakeups in the GM position, but that's because their elite QB was caught cheating - knocking out his ability to help the team in both a leadership capacity and on the field. The Yeti were also caught in a poor situation when many star players wanted out of the failing organization. However, they have the groundwork in place to potentially make it back to playoff contention so long as they make the right moves, especially in a weak division like the NSFC which is always up for grabs.

new talent
Easily the best trade in the off-season was the Outlaws acquiring of Phillipe Carter from the Colorado Yeti. The Outlaws had a monster front seven but they had a few holes in their secondary which could be exploited in a league rich with talented wide receivers. In the draft they took a young prospect in Franklin Harris Jr., but there was no way he could alone fix the Cornerback problem. By bringing in Carter, they brought in a veteran presence to help in the bettering of their new rookie, as well as getting a true CB1 to match up with the likes of Garden, Phelps and Westfield. Even if the trade only brought in Carter for the one season, it still got them a ring and also helps set a precedent for veterans to look towards Arizona for a good organization if they need a new start. This is especially important in the biggest free agency period in the leagues history. Carter was a shut down corner who when paired with the rest of the elite Arizona secondary set a new precedent for what Defense is. With Harris Jr. now ready to take the reigns, any team will have a steal when they sign Carter.

playoff series mvp
The MVP for the biggest game of the season, the Ultimus Cup, was without a doubt rookie Franklin Harris Jr. with his electric performance. Harris busted the game wide open with his 24-yard Interception Return TD. While the Outlaws were ahead, the game could easily have gone either way, but once the talented DB took the ball to the house, it became their game to lose. Not to mention, a play like that is an emotional game changer as well. You put your team in a position to win, while demoralizing your opponent. While that play was huge, it wasn't the only thing that made Harris' night MVP caliber. The Rookie had another interception that unfortunately did not end in a score for him, three passes deflected and finally a seven tackle performance that almost topped his teammate Lee's 8. While everyone contributed to the win in the Ultimus Cup, Harris had a performance that would have been MVP caliber for a talented veteran, let alone a rookie who was making his first trip to a game this big. While it's rare for a defensive player to get the award, I think it's pretty clear who deserves the MVP Trophy and fancy new truck.

[Bzerkap]

Offensive Comparison: Compare one offensive player from each team in a series. Can be completed at any point
I wanna look at a rookie vs an established vet, Trey Willie and Fox North. Both were extremely productive this season with Fox North posting a 70/1217/8 stat line and Trey Willie busting out with 64/1163/3 in his first season. It was another great season as the focal point of the Liberty attack, albeit with a rookie QB at the helm. The true breakout star of the NSFL was Trey Willie though, showing us all what can happen when you work hard and stay dedicated to the craft.

Each WR had their own advantages as they went into this game, Willie had a much better QB in Kyubee, and North had one more year in the league to hone his craft. So who had the better game?

Fox North had a spectacular game for the Liberty with four catches for 84 yards, averaging 21 yards a catch. Really incredible, but unfortunately it wasn't enough as Trey WIllie went hulk mode on the Liberty defense. Trey Willie had five catches for 117 yards and three touchdowns. That's an average of 23.4 yards per catch, and with a long of 45 yards he was dynamic, explosive and an absolute terror for the Liberty defense.

Defensive Comparison: Compare one defensive player from each team in a series. Can be completed at any point
Two of the best defenders in the NSFL met in the ASFC championship game, Jayce Tuck and Dominic Verns.

Jayce Tuck is the all-world defensive end for the Arizona Outlaws. He has led the league in sacks every single season he has been in the league and has set a new sack record each year as well. He has won the best DL award two years in a row, defensive player of the year in S2, and was the MVP last season. He looks like the front runner for defensive player of the year and top DL this year again. He is, simply put, unstoppable.

Dominic Verns is the best moneybacker in the league and probably the best defender on the Otters D. He plays about half his snaps at LB and the other half at DB, giving him some insane stats this season. He's versatile, quick, smart, and well on his way to his third pro bowl season.

How did they do? Tuck was his normal juggernaut self, racking up three tackles and two sacks, disrupting the backfield all game long and likely contributing to a few more plays than just those five. Verns was the versatile player we've come to expect with seven tackles, two sacks, and one pass deflection. He was all over the field, a hurricane of disruption. I think I'll have to give this battle to Verns, even though they lost the game. He is on a less talented D and did a little more with it than Tuck.

Playoff Review: Write a short review of the playoffs and each of the matchups. Must be completed after the Championship Game
The S3 playoffs started with one question. Will anyone be able to topple the Outlaws dynasty and thwart a threepeat?

The NSFC championship game featured the solid Hawks and young upstarts in Philadelphia. The Hawks were the only team to be able to beat the Outlaws in the regular season and seemed like a good contender to be able to do this again but they had to go through the Liberty first. The game wasn't close at all with the Hawks beating the Liberty 34-3. Offensive MVP was Trey Willie with five catches for 117 yards and three touchdowns. Defensive MVP was Stephen Harrison with ten tackles, two sacks, a forced fumble and recovery.

The ASFC championship game was another segment in the long history of the Outlaws vs Otters. These two teams have faced off six times in the regular season and twice in the playoffs before this matchup. The Outlaws have won each game, they're up 8-0 in the series. Unfortunately, this championship game was no different as the Outlaws won 27-7. Offensive MVP was Reg Mackworthy with 31 attempts for 99 yards and two touchdowns. Defensive MVP was Franklin Harris Jr. with three tackles, three pass deflections and two interceptions.

The Ultimus was then a rematch of the S2 Ultimus and the only team to have beaten the Outlaws in the regular season. Hawks vs Outlaws. Unfortunately, the Outlaws are too dominant and won in such a fashion, 49-12. Offensive MVP was King Bronko passing 22/48 for 249 yards, four touchdowns, and no interceptions. Defensive MVP was Franklin Harris Jr. with seven tackles, three pass deflections, two picks and a defensive touchdown.

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
Stephen Harrison - Hawks - NSFC Championship Game


Championship Banner: Make a banner (sig style) featuring the MVP of the Championship Game and another player of your choice from the winning teams and S3 Champions or something similar to that. Must be completed after the Championship Game

[Deusolis]

Bottom Half: Write about why two of the four teams were not able to make the playoffs. Can be completed at any point

The Las Vegas Legion’s problem this year was identical to their problem last year, the team just isn’t very good. Despite the efforts of workhouse back Ardie Savea among others, the Legion are bereft of talent all across the roster. Even worse than just being talentless, the Legion are talentless AND lazy. Starting at the top with former star quarterback Josh Bercovici, a culture of losing permeates the team and everything around it. Unfortunately, the team seems to be caught in a vicious cycle. Without practice they won’t see any on field improvement but the lack of success means players are less likely to practice. At every positional group the Legion can look to improve, but at least they have the cap space to do it.

Unlike the Legion, who were foreseeably bad, the Yeti’s fall from grace was a shock to the entire league. From the jump the team was snake-bitten, as star quarterback Logan Noble was suspended for the year following a massive PED scandal. With their leader gone, the Yeti were left with no choice but to be rebuild. Immediately, the Yeti’s new management staff set to work trading established players such as Wyatt Fulton for picks. Failing to make the playoff was the first step in the Yeti’s rebuild plan, the offseason will determine what the next phase looks like.

New Talent: Write about which S3 trade 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

The most impactful new addition in the S3 playoffs, at least by way of trade, was none other than Stormblessed. In the middle of the season, the league’s pre-eminent journeyman was shipped from the Las Vegas Legion, a team he’d only been with for a season and a half, to the Baltimore Hawks in exchange for a package of picks and young receiver John Baker. The trade was initially met with confusion as the Hawks were incredibly deep at wideout, with names like Cooper Christmas and Trey Willie all suiting up for Baltimore. And positional fit aside, Stormblessed came with baggage as a player who spent very little time on the practice field. Although Stormblessed ended the season with a respectable 982 yards and 8 touchdowns, albeit with the second most drops in the league, based on the regular season it appeared that those who questioned the trade were in the right.

That all changed in the playoffs, particularly in the Hawks first round matchup against the Philadelphia Liberty. In that fateful game, he flashed the skillset that makes him one of the most dangerous receivers in the league. Stormblessed was able to get behind Philadelphia’s slow but skilled secondary the entire night, ending with 112 yards on only 5 catches.