With another season in the books it seemed like this season were these 2 team’s best chances at making the leap to being top teams. The Liberty, a team that was able to make the playoffs for 2 consecutive seasons after their inaugural season, seemingly underperformed and barely missed out on the playoffs at 8-6, after last season where a miracle happened, and everything went right for them to make the playoffs. The SaberCats on the other hand haven’t been able to make the leap to the playoffs, where they are still one of two teams to not make the playoffs, the other being the troubled team in Vegas. So, this raises the question, which team can lay claim to being the best mediocre team?
First up we’ll go to Philly, where they were setup to make the playoffs and were aggressive in the offseason to make that final push that they needed. After a solid start to the season, they faced the SaberCats and seemed to lose all momentum, getting beat 37-13. In this 5 game stretch, including the SaberCats loss, they would go 1-4, with their only win coming against the Legion. They would lose to the Otters, Wraiths, and Hawks as well in this stretch, setting them up for a bad end of season situation. They would win 3 out of their last 4, but the Hawks did not slip like they did last season, and as such the Liberty were out before they could make the playoffs for the first time since season 2. The Liberty can definitely lay claim to being the best at being mediocre, as they have had a lot of hype every season since S3, but have not lived up to the hype.
Now we go to San Jose, where the SaberCats missed out on the playoffs again this season and showing that they may never make the leap to the postseason as they had their best chance with the Outlaws seemingly in a rebuild season. They started off looking at the playoffs, immediately knocking off the Otters and showing that they may have the stuff this season. Then the Outlaws came to town and beat them 30-22 and gave them what may be a crucial tiebreaker, with the Outlaws winning in San Jose the SaberCats would now have to go into Arizona and win. They would go on a 3-game losing streak after beating the Liberty, with the losses to the Legion (who had only 1 win), Otters, and Outlaws, all 3 losses coming on the road. The Legion loss was 37-19, and it became a crucial loss as every other team swept the Legion (yes, including the Yeti). With the SaberCats missing what looked to be an easy win, and then losing to the Outlaws in Arizona, they had to win out to make the playoffs. They went on a 3-game winning streak, before the Liberty ended their hopes with a revenge game where they won 49-14. The last game of the season meant nothing after that, simply being a pity win for the SaberCats as they took out some frustrations on the Legion.
So, who is the most mediocre team? Well it’s easily the SaberCats. The Liberty at least have success and have been able to make the playoffs, the SaberCats have never ended a season better than 3rd place in the ASFC and have never been able to get over the hump. They lost key games this season, and a trap game, on their way to missing out once again. Who knows when they’ll first make the playoffs, but for now, this team will be known as Next Year team, next year they’ll make the playoffs, well keep saying that, because it doesn’t look like this year will be that time. I don’t know what they have to do to change, but I’d be expected a bit of a rebuild from this team shortly to try and figure out what is going wrong for them.
(667 Words, ready for grading)
GRADED
First up we’ll go to Philly, where they were setup to make the playoffs and were aggressive in the offseason to make that final push that they needed. After a solid start to the season, they faced the SaberCats and seemed to lose all momentum, getting beat 37-13. In this 5 game stretch, including the SaberCats loss, they would go 1-4, with their only win coming against the Legion. They would lose to the Otters, Wraiths, and Hawks as well in this stretch, setting them up for a bad end of season situation. They would win 3 out of their last 4, but the Hawks did not slip like they did last season, and as such the Liberty were out before they could make the playoffs for the first time since season 2. The Liberty can definitely lay claim to being the best at being mediocre, as they have had a lot of hype every season since S3, but have not lived up to the hype.
Now we go to San Jose, where the SaberCats missed out on the playoffs again this season and showing that they may never make the leap to the postseason as they had their best chance with the Outlaws seemingly in a rebuild season. They started off looking at the playoffs, immediately knocking off the Otters and showing that they may have the stuff this season. Then the Outlaws came to town and beat them 30-22 and gave them what may be a crucial tiebreaker, with the Outlaws winning in San Jose the SaberCats would now have to go into Arizona and win. They would go on a 3-game losing streak after beating the Liberty, with the losses to the Legion (who had only 1 win), Otters, and Outlaws, all 3 losses coming on the road. The Legion loss was 37-19, and it became a crucial loss as every other team swept the Legion (yes, including the Yeti). With the SaberCats missing what looked to be an easy win, and then losing to the Outlaws in Arizona, they had to win out to make the playoffs. They went on a 3-game winning streak, before the Liberty ended their hopes with a revenge game where they won 49-14. The last game of the season meant nothing after that, simply being a pity win for the SaberCats as they took out some frustrations on the Legion.
So, who is the most mediocre team? Well it’s easily the SaberCats. The Liberty at least have success and have been able to make the playoffs, the SaberCats have never ended a season better than 3rd place in the ASFC and have never been able to get over the hump. They lost key games this season, and a trap game, on their way to missing out once again. Who knows when they’ll first make the playoffs, but for now, this team will be known as Next Year team, next year they’ll make the playoffs, well keep saying that, because it doesn’t look like this year will be that time. I don’t know what they have to do to change, but I’d be expected a bit of a rebuild from this team shortly to try and figure out what is going wrong for them.
(667 Words, ready for grading)
GRADED
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