Front Office Football Central - View Single Post - House Arrest Black Squirrels, 2008-

QuikSand · 12-20-2000, 06:28 PM

2008 season

I make my usual shifts to my gameplan. For what it’s worth, here’s what I’m doing each year:
-adjust short-yardage percentages to 55% run
-bump down running behind C, and then rebalance there
-bump down 1-10 yard pass %, then rebalance
-adjust to 100% 4-3 defense
-check (and rarely adjust) my formations (I tend to run from I/split, pass from single/shotgun)

In preseason, we lose WR Jared Antonick for a couple months—which is bad, as I have no depth at WR. He’s my nominal #3, but I only am carrying 5 guys. I put my rookie RB in as my 4th wideout for now, and keep Antonick out of the game plan.

In our opener, we beat the hell out of Denver—a good and important sign. We beat Kansas City next—but we lose RB Bruce Pettus to an injury early. Young Britt Hoffman comes in and plays pretty well (115 yards and a TD) but I’m worried. Fortunately, it looks like Pettus will be okay soon. I’ll go with Hoffman as my starter for one week, and then we’ll try to bring back the workhorse.

We try to give this one away, btu Minnesota’s fourth quarter rally falls one score short, and we win 26-21. RB Hoffman does okay—19 carries for 60 yards. We edge Green bay for win number 4, and Hoffman is largely bottled up (though he did score two TDs)—but we win it 34-31.

Pettus returns, but we’ll be without QB Paul de los Santos for a few games, as he has a sprained ankle. Fortunately, we have a bye, and this will help everyone’s recuperation. We escaope Buffalo with a 31-30 win, scoring two TDs in the final 1:31 of the game. We must have recovered an onside kick—but QB Curtis Marshall hit McCaughey for both TDs to get it done.

We host Seattle, and go to town on them 40-17. Pettus had 127 yards rushing, and reserve QB Marshall threw 3 more TD passes. In week 8, we stay home for Oakland, and beat them 41-23. They scored two late TDs to make it look like less of a spanking than it was. We finish the tree-game home stand with another big win, 35-14 over a good Jets team. Interceptions TDs by my two starting safeties Frank and Giles helped to put us way ahead.

We go into KC unbeaten, but they were ready. The Chiefs beat us 17-14, as de los Santos has 5 interceptions. The fact that we were ahead for much of the game is pretty telling here. We also will be without DE Phil Banks for a few weeks. I’ll try to have LB Sam Hwang again fill in as a designated pass rusher when he can.

Our next game in Tampa Bay takes things from bad to worse. We completely unravel. They outrush us 227 to 36. Not good at all. DE Burt Horner also falls to injury, thinning me periloisly there.

We get back on track over San Diego, winning 27-17. Our next game is a big one, in Seattle—who lurks only one game back in the division. The Seahawks take us 30-21 behind back-to-back first quarter interception TDs by their DB Damien Robinson. They also got their main RB going, after grabbing that early lead, and they ran for over 200 yards on us.

We rebound in San Diego with a 35-27 win, as Bruce Pettus has 188 total yards and 4 TDs. Our 10-3 record puts us a game ahead of Seattle, who lost this week. We’re tied with New England for the AFC’s top record—so the race is afoot for a bye week, with Tennessee and the Jets one game back.

We host Denver—who at 7-6 is in need of a win, and would love to play spoiler here. We out-FG them 6-3 to get the critical win. We then take Chicago 20-10, behind two TD passes from de los Santos to Bo Wayman. At 12-3, we have wrapped up an AFC bye week—probably as the top seed.

We get back our two starting DEs, which is a huge boon. Our finale is a 48-20 romp over Oakland, cinching the top AFC seed with a 13-3 record. Our kicker gets hurt, but my punter Mo Sanderson steps in and hits an extra point, and then later on nails a 40-yard FG. We look well-set heading into the postseason.

Stat leaders:

QB Paul de los Santos: 3,288 yds, 58.1 yds, 7.43 ypa, 20/17, 80.5
RB Bruce Pettus: 241-1,120 yds, 12 TD (4.6 ypc)
WR Matt McCaughey: 90-1,180 yds, 6 TD (59.6%, 13 drops)
WR Bo Wayman: 69-1,108 yds, 10 TD (52.2%, 7 drops)
G Joey Houle: 27/72 KRBs (37.5%), 4 sacks allowed
OL unit: ~35% KRBs, 32 sacks
LB Dominick Barlow: 83 tackles, 7 sacks
DT Tracy Cassidy: 32 tackles, 8 sacks, 1 block, 2 hurries
S Steve Frank: 88 tackles, 8 interceptions, 2 TD, 10 PD, 45.0 PDQ

Overall stats (off/def/avg):
Rushing: 3.7 / 3.7 / 3.8
Passing: 7.2 / 6.5 / 6.5

This was not a statistically dominant team, as is evident. There aren’t any obvious reasons why we were so good in record, without dominating games. We did have 7 TDs by our defense and special teams, and we did have a solid +9 turnover ratio. However, our points ratio of 459-323 and our 13-3 record suggest that we’re the real deal. Go figure.

I’m not too thrilled about having a QB who threw 17 interceoptions… and 5 in one game. That’s the kind of thing that can obviously get us a one-way ticket out of the playoffs in a hurry. We’ll hope that we can play within ourslves at defend our home turf again through the postseason.

12-20-2000, 06:28 PM	#3
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	2008 season I make my usual shifts to my gameplan. For what it’s worth, here’s what I’m doing each year: -adjust short-yardage percentages to 55% run -bump down running behind C, and then rebalance there -bump down 1-10 yard pass %, then rebalance -adjust to 100% 4-3 defense -check (and rarely adjust) my formations (I tend to run from I/split, pass from single/shotgun) In preseason, we lose WR Jared Antonick for a couple months—which is bad, as I have no depth at WR. He’s my nominal #3, but I only am carrying 5 guys. I put my rookie RB in as my 4th wideout for now, and keep Antonick out of the game plan. In our opener, we beat the hell out of Denver—a good and important sign. We beat Kansas City next—but we lose RB Bruce Pettus to an injury early. Young Britt Hoffman comes in and plays pretty well (115 yards and a TD) but I’m worried. Fortunately, it looks like Pettus will be okay soon. I’ll go with Hoffman as my starter for one week, and then we’ll try to bring back the workhorse. We try to give this one away, btu Minnesota’s fourth quarter rally falls one score short, and we win 26-21. RB Hoffman does okay—19 carries for 60 yards. We edge Green bay for win number 4, and Hoffman is largely bottled up (though he did score two TDs)—but we win it 34-31. Pettus returns, but we’ll be without QB Paul de los Santos for a few games, as he has a sprained ankle. Fortunately, we have a bye, and this will help everyone’s recuperation. We escaope Buffalo with a 31-30 win, scoring two TDs in the final 1:31 of the game. We must have recovered an onside kick—but QB Curtis Marshall hit McCaughey for both TDs to get it done. We host Seattle, and go to town on them 40-17. Pettus had 127 yards rushing, and reserve QB Marshall threw 3 more TD passes. In week 8, we stay home for Oakland, and beat them 41-23. They scored two late TDs to make it look like less of a spanking than it was. We finish the tree-game home stand with another big win, 35-14 over a good Jets team. Interceptions TDs by my two starting safeties Frank and Giles helped to put us way ahead. We go into KC unbeaten, but they were ready. The Chiefs beat us 17-14, as de los Santos has 5 interceptions. The fact that we were ahead for much of the game is pretty telling here. We also will be without DE Phil Banks for a few weeks. I’ll try to have LB Sam Hwang again fill in as a designated pass rusher when he can. Our next game in Tampa Bay takes things from bad to worse. We completely unravel. They outrush us 227 to 36. Not good at all. DE Burt Horner also falls to injury, thinning me periloisly there. We get back on track over San Diego, winning 27-17. Our next game is a big one, in Seattle—who lurks only one game back in the division. The Seahawks take us 30-21 behind back-to-back first quarter interception TDs by their DB Damien Robinson. They also got their main RB going, after grabbing that early lead, and they ran for over 200 yards on us. We rebound in San Diego with a 35-27 win, as Bruce Pettus has 188 total yards and 4 TDs. Our 10-3 record puts us a game ahead of Seattle, who lost this week. We’re tied with New England for the AFC’s top record—so the race is afoot for a bye week, with Tennessee and the Jets one game back. We host Denver—who at 7-6 is in need of a win, and would love to play spoiler here. We out-FG them 6-3 to get the critical win. We then take Chicago 20-10, behind two TD passes from de los Santos to Bo Wayman. At 12-3, we have wrapped up an AFC bye week—probably as the top seed. We get back our two starting DEs, which is a huge boon. Our finale is a 48-20 romp over Oakland, cinching the top AFC seed with a 13-3 record. Our kicker gets hurt, but my punter Mo Sanderson steps in and hits an extra point, and then later on nails a 40-yard FG. We look well-set heading into the postseason. Stat leaders: QB Paul de los Santos: 3,288 yds, 58.1 yds, 7.43 ypa, 20/17, 80.5 RB Bruce Pettus: 241-1,120 yds, 12 TD (4.6 ypc) WR Matt McCaughey: 90-1,180 yds, 6 TD (59.6%, 13 drops) WR Bo Wayman: 69-1,108 yds, 10 TD (52.2%, 7 drops) G Joey Houle: 27/72 KRBs (37.5%), 4 sacks allowed OL unit: ~35% KRBs, 32 sacks LB Dominick Barlow: 83 tackles, 7 sacks DT Tracy Cassidy: 32 tackles, 8 sacks, 1 block, 2 hurries S Steve Frank: 88 tackles, 8 interceptions, 2 TD, 10 PD, 45.0 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.7 / 3.7 / 3.8 Passing: 7.2 / 6.5 / 6.5 This was not a statistically dominant team, as is evident. There aren’t any obvious reasons why we were so good in record, without dominating games. We did have 7 TDs by our defense and special teams, and we did have a solid +9 turnover ratio. However, our points ratio of 459-323 and our 13-3 record suggest that we’re the real deal. Go figure. I’m not too thrilled about having a QB who threw 17 interceoptions… and 5 in one game. That’s the kind of thing that can obviously get us a one-way ticket out of the playoffs in a hurry. We’ll hope that we can play within ourslves at defend our home turf again through the postseason.