*NSFL in Review: Philadelphia Liberty

[iamslm22]

Welcome to the Season Three NSFL in Review series! There will be 8 parts to this, one for each team in record/elimination order.

We have already had
NSFL in Review: Las Vegas Legion, The Good, The Bad, The Future.
NSFL in Review: Colorado Yeti, The Good, Bad, and Future
NSFL in Review: San Jose SaberCats, The Good, Bad, and Future
NSFL in Review: Yellowknife Wraiths, The Good, The Bad, The Future.


Next up is the Philadelphia Liberty, who finished 2nd place in the National Simulation Football Conference this season, which most certainly qualified them for the playoffs.


The Philadelphia Liberty

8-5-1
Second in NSFC


The Good

Going from 9 losses in Season Two to only 5 in Season Three, it’s safe to say that there was at least SOME good for Philadelphia this year.

Number One: They a have stars in important positions. This year they had the best left tackle in the conference with Micah Hendrix having a crazy year. Tyler Oles was an interception, and joined by Marmeladov and Jefferson, giving the Liberty strength in the back part of their defense. Fox North was the NSFC's leading receiver in terms of both Yardage and Receptions. And despite a down year from Ramrio, they still have the most talented Defensive Tackle in the conference. It's easier to fill holes when you have absolute stars at these positions, and having a foundation like the Liberty does is impressive.

Number Two: Turnovers. For an 8-5-1 team, the Liberty were actually very unimpressive in yards, finishing 6th in yards gained and yards allowed. One might think a team like that would suffer, finishing near the bottom, but the Liberty had a very high-risk defense. Those risks paid off big for the Liberty, giving them the second-most forced turnovers (after Arizona, tied with San Jose). Those turnovers put them in good scoring position, or took their opponents out of it enough times to make a difference.

Number Three: They won when they were supposed to. Yeah, this one is pretty weak…or is it? As a Wraith (this paragraph written by kckolbe), I LOVE being on a team that believes they can take on anyone, but we can (and did) LOSE to anyone, too. The Liberty got 6 wins at home, only losing once at Taco Bell Stadium, and that was to the Arizona Outlaws, whose location near the border prepared them for what I can imagine is a LOT of diarrhea…a literal shitload. Losing to Arizona is hardly something to be ashamed of, though. In addition, they got 2 road wins over the Yeti and Legion. Impressive? No, not at all. But not dropping a SINGLE easy game? That’s a ticket to the playoffs.

The Bad


Number One: This offensive line outside of Hendrix is piss poor awful. I mean absolutely dreadful. The Liberty allowed 65 sacks on the year which lead the NSFL. That's right! The Liberty allowed more sacks than the Legion, more sacks than the Yeti, and nearly double the sacks of the Hawks, Otters and Outlaws. To have a guy who allowed NO sacks from the LT position and still finish last in the league in sacks allowed is disgraceful. Clifford Rove was a rookie QB last year, and if the Liberty want to improve they HAVE to do better in pass protection. They had three players alone (Walters Bennett and Milan) who all allowed double digit sacks.

Number Two: Gravity. Based on their negative point differential, this is not a great team, and the competition will improve next season. The Liberty may have entered Season Three as the most active team, but they seem to slowly be losing activity as well. Sure, going to the playoffs likely gave them a shot in the arm, and they are not the only team to lose active players, but this team is done moving up through the league, passing up teams left and right with energy. Now that that has subsided, I think it’s only natural for gravity to take effect, for the prospect of greener fields to tempt, or for disappointment to slowly sap more energy. With a little less luck, they could easily go back to being 3rd place.

Number Three: It’s no longer about the future. The trade for Mark Ramrio seemed like a nail in the coffin for the Legion, especially with the Season Four draft class consisting of…three people? I dunno, not many, but with Ramrio having gone inactive, the Legion may have gotten the better end of it. Then you remember that the Liberty ALSO gave up their Season Five first rounder in that trade, and the Season Five draft class is insane. In addition, Philadelphia has to re-sign a LOT of players, basically their entire roster, before the end of Season Four. While it seems that a lot of Liberty players are happy where they are, no one bats 1.000 in life. Some players will want to try something new. Or…some might just want more money than the Liberty can afford. Most notable is S3 free agent A.C. Hackett, who commanded a league record 20 million dollar pay day. Not only is that the largest per-year salary in the league, it ends after Season Four. While Hackett is a great player and clearly made an impact, I can’t help but wonder how much better he would be if he wasn’t forced to blitz so much and was maybe able to play at SLB where he’d be in coverage more. His tackles and passed defensed took sizeable hits compared to Season Two. Will that be enough for him to go elsewhere?

(Full disclosure: Stephen Harris is still an amazing kicker, so much so that I wanted to use him in the good section, but a kicker with ZERO 50+ yard attempts just isn’t a threat. I blame nothing except the sim for that, but it is reality.)

The Future

Are we sure the Liberty are good? Think about ONE position group on the Liberty that you genuinely fear when you play them. Did you pick none of them? Good. That’s the right answer. Is there part you look forward to going up against? Maybe Clifford Rove? Maybe the GENEROUS duo of Oles and O’Sullivan? The LIberty allow so many passing yards, that even though their secondary SHOULD be a strength, teams aren't afraid of passing on them. Receivers certainly aren't afraid (see Willie, Trey - NSFC Championship Game). A Philly game gives you more to look forward to than to fear. And while it’s easy to point to their winning record, it’s also easy to point to their point differential of NEGATIVE 2. There were TWO teams this year (Wraiths and Otters) who finished with a worse record and yet a better point differential. This does not bode well for the future. This is right back to what kckolbe spoke about in point two. Logic dictates a team over performing like the Liberty did will come back to earth next year.

The Liberty DO have areas however where they will be obviously improved. Eli Kamaka will get better and give the Liberty another dominant O Lineman. Clifford Rove will continue to improve and bounce back even stronger for S4. The Liberty have almost no one leaving in Free Agency this year, so if they can get a lot of in house improvement from guys they can be even stronger than they were this past season.

1243 - Ready for Grading. 50-50 split with me and @kckolbe

[ExemplaryChad]

This is really great, as all of the editions of this series have been. As someone who hasn't played in the NSFL yet, it's great to get some real perspective on what the teams have and where they're going.

[ItsJustBarry]

As always, these are great to read. I think there's too much emphasis for point differential to determine whether a team is "good".

[kckolbe]

As always, these are great to read.  I think there's too much emphasis for point differential to determine whether a team is "good".

I think there's too much emphasis on record. If you followed DSFL at all this season, you'd see PD was a far better predictor than w/l. A great example is that there was a 1 mil bet that marshals would win (not by a Marshal) and a 1 mil bet on SeaWolves. No one bet on Chicago, even though they had the best record all year.

Also, thanks to slm for doing this. I had this damn thing halfway written for a week before giving up. Strep kicked my ass hard.