The Bill Gates Challenge, Part VI: Flirting With Destiny

[Kodos]

In the 49-year history of the NFL Super Bowl, only 9 teams have repeated as champions in back-to-back seasons. Of those 9 teams, 8 failed in their bid to return to the Super Bowl for a chance to capture the elusive third consecutive championship. What follows is the story of the 9th team on the list, the Gatesville Silicon Pirates, and their quest to become the first team in NFL history to win 3 Super Bowls in a row.

<pre><font face="courier">
Super
Bowl Result
========================================
L ??
XLVIX Gatesville 52, New York Jets 13
XLVIII Gatesville 34, New York Jets 7
XLVII Cincinnati 20, Gatesville 12
XLVI Arizona 30, Cincinnati 17
XLV Pittburgh 38, Green Bay 14
XLIV Buffalo 38, Chicago 13
XLIII San Francisco 33, Pittsburgh 0
XLII Green Bay 23, Indianapolis 0
XLI St. Louis 34, Pittsburgh 18
XL New Orleans 19, Wichita 14
XXXIX Washington 48, Miami 13
XXXVIII Washington 27, Oakland 24
XXXVII Indianapolis 20, Green Bay 17
XXXVI New England 42, Arizona 18
XXXV Green Bay 19, Baltimore 14
XXXIV St. Louis 23, Tennessee 16
XXXIII Denver 34, Atlanta 19
XXXII Denver 31, Green Bay 24
XXXI Green Bay 35, New England 21
XXX Dallas 27, Pittsburgh 17
XXIX San Francisco 49, San Diego 26
XXVIII Dallas 30, Buffalo 13
XXVII Dallas 52, Buffalo 17
XXVI Washington 37, Buffalo 24
XXV N.Y. Giants 20, Buffalo 19
XXIV San Francisco 55, Denver 10
XXIII San Francisco 20, Cincinnati 16
XXII Washington 42, Denver 10
XXI N.Y. Giants 39, Denver 20
XX Chicago 46, New England 10
XIX San Francisco 38, Miami 16
XVIII L.A. Raiders 38, Washington 9
XVII Washington 27, Miami 17
XVI San Francisco 26, Cincinnati 21
XV Oakland 27, Philadelphia 10
XIV Pittsburgh 31, L.A. Rams 19
XIII Pittsburgh 35, Dallas 31
XII Dallas 27, Denver 10
XI Oakland 32, Minnesota 14
X Pittsburgh 21, Dallas 17
IX Pittsburgh 16, Minnesota 6
VIII Miami 24, Minnesota 7
VII Miami 14, Washington 7
VI Dallas 24, Miami 3
V Baltimore 16, Dallas 13
IV Kansas City 23, Minnesota 7
III N.Y. Jets 16, Baltimore 7
II Green Bay 33, Oakland 14
I Green Bay 35, Kansas City 10
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Speaking of history, here are the links to the 5 preceding chapters of the Bill Gates Challenge for anyone who might be a first-time reader:

Part I: In The Beginning... (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=7941)

Part II: Don't Mess With Texas! (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8069)

Part III: A New Hope (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8145)

Part IV: The Lords Of The Rings? (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8698)

Part V: Big Trouble In Little Texas... (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=10481)

[Kodos]

Farewell, Kyle Diaz...

After 13 seasons with us, wide receiver Kyle Diaz became the first home-grown Silicon Pirate to hang up his cleats. Diaz, who we picked up as an undrafted free agent after the 2002 draft, was with us right from the start during the early years when we were rebuilding from scratch in New York. Though never a star, Kyle was a solid contributor for us right up through our second consecutive Super Bowl win last season. Here's a look at the cumulative career statistics of one of Gatesville's favorite sons:

601 receptions
7430 receiving yards
32 touchdowns

His rookie season was his best year in terms of statistics, when we literally had nobody else to throw the ball to. During that season, Diaz made 96 grabs for 1117 yards and 4 touchdowns. The consumate team player, Diaz accepted a reduced role without complaint when more physically gifted receivers came to Gatesville. Acting as a mentor to the younger receivers, Kyle's great work ethic set a positive tone for the rest of the team. Teammate Devin Bergeron once told reporters that Diaz had "milked more yardage out of his limited physical potential" than any receiver he had ever seen. High praise from a two-time Super Bowl MVP... :) I can honestly say the Diaz is one of my two favorite players in Gatesville history.

[Kodos]

Hello Again...

It is my pleasure to announce the signing of the recently retired Kyle Diaz as our new head scout! At the tender age of 35, Kyle has agreed to a 5-year deal worth $390,000 per season. Here is a look at Diaz, who will bring his extensive knowledge of the passing game in to replace the offensively wretched Randall Parra.

<pre><font face="courier">
Kyle Diaz
===========================
Age: 35
Record: 0-0
Quarterbacks: Very Good
Running Backs: Good
Wide Receivers: Very Good
Offensive Line: Good
Kickers: Poor
Defensive Line: Good
Linebackers: Good
Secondary: Good
Young Talent: Good
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Shorty3281:

Is that really him, or are you just going to 'pretend', if you will? I didn't know players could become coaches and scouts.

[Kodos]

Let's just say that it is an unprecedented thing to do...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Stan G:

I believe it is all 'pretend' but we still can still enjoy. Great dynasty. This is the one that got me started on FOFC. Great job Kodos!! :cool:

[Kodos]

Thanks for the support, Stan G! I've been known to take a few artistic liberties with this dynasty. There is no way to hire a player as a scout, but you can hire somebody the same age and rename them...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Alf:


You can even pretend he has the same age...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Alf:
You can even pretend he has the same age...

Actually, I didn't have to pretend on that part. :)

[Kodos]

2015 Ticket Prices

The Cowboys opted not to raise their ticket prices in light of their falling attendance percentage, while we opted to not raise our ticket prices either in hopes of continuing our upward trend in attendance.

[Kodos]

2015 Free Agency Period:

Cowboy Huntin':

At the beginning of the free agent signing period, the Cowboys had only 27 guys under contract. However, most of their unsigned guys were restricted free agents, so we could not do much in the way of plundering their roster. Pretty much nobody out there was worth taking.

Tit for Tat:

As for our own team, we had nearly 50 guys under contract heading into free agency. However, a couple guys were in the final year of their contracts, and would no doubt be looking to get huge payouts in 2016.

First was defensive tackle Joey Rhoades, who was by far our best defensive lineman. In 6 seasons, Rhoades had started 71 times in the 76 games in which he had participated. Over that period, Rhoades made 139 tackles, 72 assists, and 26 sacks. As with most DTs, his job was to clear the way for the linebackers to tackle runners, and he did that admirably. Sadly, the fact of the matter was that we would not be able to pay him what he would be asking for in 2016. Thus, we put him on the trading block in order to get something in exchange for our loss. After talking with the Colts, Cards, and Steelers, we ended up sending Rhoades and our 1st round pick in the upcoming draft (#34) to Richmond in exchange for their 1st round pick (#14). In so doing, we saved $5.72 million against our 2015 cap.

After a failed attempt at a renegotiation with RB Tommy Douglas, he was shipped to Green Bay in exchange for their 2nd round pick (#45). This move saved us another $860,000 in cap money.

Contract Renegotiations:

As I mentioned earlier, the Cowboys had only left slim pickings available, so we opted to extend some of our key players' contracts instead of pursuing any former Cowboys. Here are the details:

Starting left guard Rusty Pleasant was signed to a 3-year, $14.13 million deal with a $3.76 million bonus.

Starting right tackle James Pond agreed to a 4-year, $27.60 million offer that included a $7.3 million bonus.

Place kicker Broderick Hidalgo signed on for another 3-year stint for $5.24 million and a $1.42 million bonus.

Unrestrict Free Agents:

We offered Edgar Justus, our starting RCB over the last few seasons, $29.88 million over 3 years with a $5.78 million bonus, but he opted for a more lucrative 2-year, $21.46 million deal with Kansas City after Week 1 of free agency, thus dealing a huge blow to our already weak secondary. Apparently, despite his last name, Edgar was more interested in money than in dishing out justice to the Cowboys. :(

Al Ingram, our longtime stud WILB, agreed to come back for a 3-year, $17.4 million contract that included a $4.2 million bonus in Week 7.

[Kodos]

2015 Draft:

We went into the draft hoping to find a replacement for Justus in the secondary, or perhaps another promising receiver to add to Berg's arsenal. Our dream pick, Trevor Booker, a receiver who both Kyle and I thought would be a real game-breaker, went to New England at pick number 5. Max Foley, a WR out of Notre Dame, looked to be a decent alternative with Booker off of the draft board, but neither of Kyle nor I could stomach the thought of dealing with a Golden Domer. With no decent corners available who fit in with our only-draft-defenders-from-Texas rule, we were left with a choice between two linebackers who both looked to be pretty good. While Ellis Desimone appeared to be the more polished linebacker, we believed that Sam Viola out of Texas-El Paso had a better upside, and thus chose him with pick number 14 overall. Desimone, out of Baylor, went two picks later to the Bears. Albert Alexander, an OT our of Illinois State with decent run blocking and pass blocking skills, was our pick at number 45. Here's how the rest of our draft went down:

Rnd 1 - Sam Viola, LB, Texas - El Paso
Rnd 2 - Albert Alexander, T, Illinois State
Rnd 2 - Dexter Mincy, LB, Texas Tech
Rnd 3 - Marcus White, RB, Mississippi State
Rnd 3 - Mitchell Horner, TE, Eastern Michigan
Rnd 3 - Derek Brandon, CB, Baylor
Rnd 4 - Butch Fields, G, Virginia Tech
Rnd 5 - Xavier Samples, C, Texas A&M
Rnd 6 - Tim Terrell, WR, Wisconsin
Rnd 7 - C.J. Ingram, WR, Penn State

[Kodos]

Post-Draft Trade:

After the draft, we decided to send backup QB Luke Birk and a 7th round pick in 2016 to Seattle in exchange for their 5th round pick in 2016. Basically, Birk was in the final year of his contract, and we felt Dana Alston was good enough to assume the role of the top backup at QB. The Birk trade saved us $900,000 against the 2015 salary cap.

[Kodos]

2015 Training Camp:

As always, we focused our attention on the Singleback, Strong, and I Formations on offense. On defense, the 4-3 and the nickel were emphasized, while we also added the 3-4 into the mix due to our weak defensive line and our relatively good linebacking corps. In light of our weakened secondary, we emphasized zone defense over man coverage, though both were given fair amounts of time. Unfortunately, we did not have much time left to allocate to special teams, where we spent most of our time working on our field goal unit.

Here is a look at our 2015 roster following training camp. Top picks Sam Viola and Albert Alexander both had good camps, as did our third pick Dexter Mincy, while some of the later round picks, such as Butch Fields (G)(4th Rd.), Xavier Samples (C)(5th Rd.), and C.J. Ingram (WR)(7th Rd.), failed to impress and were cut following camp.
<pre><font face="courier">
Position/Player Current Est Future Est Exp Sgnd
QB Devin Bergeron 18 19 6 2018
QB Dana Alston 6 10 3 2019
QB Blake Crews 3 8 1 2021
RB Cedric Wagner 5 7 3 2019
RB Herb Matthews 13 16 3 2016
RB Everett Schwarz 12 12 2 2016
RB Marcus White 8 9 1 2017
FB Levon Wallace 13 13 7 2016
FB Antoine Wright 4 6 1 2015
TE Chuck Farley 17 17 9 2016
TE Ross Corbett 9 9 2 2016
TE Mitchell Horner 10 10 1 2017
WR Ralph Randle 11 14 5 2017
WR Ty Robbins 10 14 4 2016
WR Earl Thornton 14 15 4 2016
WR Antoine Dugans 6 6 2 2020
WR Tim Terrell 4 4 1 2017
C Jonathan Farmer 12 12 9 2015
C Ben Mathis 8 13 3 2015
C Gene Flannery 13 14 2 2017
G Darren Cruise 14 14 12 2016
G Rusty Pleasant 18 18 10 2017
G Rob Stanton 11 15 3 2016
G Alfred Vaughn 7 11 3 2019
T James Pond 11 12 11 2018
T Terrance Read 13 13 7 2016
T Conrad Bellamy 5 7 3 2019
T Albert Alexander 9 17 1 2017
P Bill Carr 12 12 2 2015
K Broderick Hidalgo 17 18 10 2017
DE Peter Hickman 5 5 4 2018
DE Frankie Farley 5 9 3 2019
DE Lamont Eafon 4 7 3 2019
DT Eric Cash 8 8 4 2018
DT Paul Everett 5 10 3 2019
DT Patrick Sanders 8 11 3 2015
DT Dusty Szilter 4 7 1 2021
DT Jose Mason 4 8 1 2021
LB Allen Whitfield 9 9 13 2015
LB Al Ingram 12 12 12 2017
LB Terrance Fuller 10 10 10 2016
LB Maurice Rousseau 5 8 3 2019
LB Norbert Holmes 4 9 1 2021
LB Dexter Mincy 6 7 1 2018
LB Sam Viola 5 18 1 2019
CB Joel Harden 15 15 10 2017
CB Mike Eagle 6 10 3 2016
CB Jack Basford 5 5 1 2021
CB Derek Brandon 4 4 1 2017
S Dave Sanders 16 17 7 2017
S Percy Stewart 5 5 3 2019
S Ernest Conner 5 5 2 2015
S Alan Hines 5 6 1 2021
</font></pre>

Here is some more in-depth information about the 53 men who will endeavour to win a third straight title for the Gatesville Silicon Pirates:
<pre><font face="courier">
Name # Pos HT WT Exp Stat College
Bergeron, Devin * 3 QB 6-4 186 6 ----- Delaware
Alston, Dana 1 QB 6-6 199 3 ----- Northwestern
Crews, Blake 7 QB 6-3 206 1 ----- Pittsburgh
Wagner, Cedric 43 RB 5-8 196 3 ----- Florida
Matthews, Herb 45 RB 5-9 243 3 Inact Oklahoma State
Schwarz, Everett 44 RB 5-6 215 2 ----- Vanderbilt
White, Marcus 38 RB 5-9 215 R ----- Mississippi State
Wallace, Levon 40 FB 5-10 254 7 ----- Auburn
Wright, Antoine 23 FB 6-0 225 1 ----- Missouri
Farley, Chuck 81 TE 6-7 268 9 Inact Syracuse
Corbett, Ross 84 TE 6-2 278 2 ----- Florida
Horner, Mitchell 86 TE 6-3 249 R ----- Eastern Michigan
Randle, Ralph 87 WR 6-3 198 5 ----- Washington
Robbins, Ty 88 WR 5-11 180 4 ----- Arizona State
Thornton, Earl 85 WR 6-1 188 4 Inact Arizona
Dugans, Antoine 80 WR 5-9 197 2 ----- East Carolina
Terrell, Tim 83 WR 6-0 194 R ----- Wisconsin
Farmer, Jonathan 56 C 6-5 271 9 ----- Virginia
Mathis, Ben 53 C 6-3 335 3 ----- Kentucky
Flannery, Gene 59 C 6-0 281 2 ----- Miami, Florida
Cruise, Darren 60 G 6-5 289 12 ----- Kansas
Pleasant, Rusty 73 G 5-11 277 10 ----- Georgia
Stanton, Rob + 77 G 6-5 326 3 ----- Columbia
Vaughn, Alfred + 61 G 6-0 314 3 ----- Maryland
Pond, James 63 T 6-6 309 11 ----- Cal. - Poly SLO
Read, Terrance 72 T 6-5 289 7 ----- Texas A&M
Bellamy, Conrad 79 T 6-6 311 3 ----- Tennessee
Alexander, Albert 71 T 6-4 277 R ----- Illinois State
Carr, Bill 16 P 6-2 205 2 ----- North Carolina State
Hidalgo, Broderick 12 K 5-10 195 10 ----- Nebraska
Hickman, Peter 95 DE 5-10 300 4 ----- Wisconsin
Farley, Frankie 98 DE 6-2 251 3 ----- Southern Methodist
Eafon, Lamont 92 DE 6-4 272 3 ----- Texas
Cash, Eric 93 DT 6-3 292 4 ----- Virginia
Everett, Paul 90 DT 6-3 292 3 Inact N. Carolina Central
Sanders, Patrick 97 DT 6-2 308 3 Inact Rice
Szilter, Dusty 96 DT 6-4 260 1 ----- Wyoming
Mason, Jose 94 DT 6-1 276 1 ----- Purdue
Whitfield, Allen 55 LB 6-0 246 13 ----- St. Francis, Pa.
Ingram, Al 51 LB 6-6 211 12 Inact Southern Methodist
Fuller, Terrance 57 LB 6-1 237 10 ----- Brigham Young
Rousseau, Maurice 91 LB 6-0 262 3 ----- Miami, Florida
Holmes, Norbert 58 LB 6-3 251 1 ----- Boston College
Mincy, Dexter 50 LB 6-2 275 R ----- Texas Tech
Viola, Sam 52 LB 6-0 228 R ----- Texas - El Paso
Harden, Joel 37 CB 5-6 204 10 ----- Texas - El Paso
Eagle, Mike 34 CB 5-11 209 3 ----- Texas Tech
Basford, Jack 27 CB 5-9 190 1 ----- Stanford
Brandon, Derek 36 CB 5-9 208 R ----- Baylor
Sanders, Dave 49 S 5-10 202 7 Inact Louisiana State
Stewart, Percy 21 S 6-0 192 3 ----- Evansville
Conner, Ernest 48 S 5-11 215 2 ----- Texas
Hines, Alan 26 S 6-3 183 1 ----- Colorado State
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Post Camp Notes:

2015 Season Ticket Sales:

The good news after camp was that we had sold 36,300 season tickets this year, up from 30,700 in 2014 and just 26,200 in 2013. In just two years, over 10,000 more people had come into the fold. Maybe there is hope for this alien yet! :)

Kodos - The Dumbest Creature In All Of Creation?

In what can only be described as an insult to my basic intelligence, the Seahawks offered me a third round pick in exchange for cult hero Chuck Farley. Are you people pulling my tentacle?!? Are you out of your minds?!? Are you wacked on Scooby snacks? Listen closely, because I'm only gonna say it once: "HELL, NO!!!"

Hell Hath No Fury Like A Jayhawk Scorned!

In a move that is sure to draw the ire of DataKing, we shipped Kyle McAfee, the former Jayhawk offensive tackle, to the oh-so-bright Seahawks for their 6th round pick in 2016. This saved us $1.16 million. I'd just like to note that Darren Cruise, another proud Jayhawk, is still under contract with us... Please, DK, don't hurt me! :eek:

[Kodos]

2015 Exhibition Season:

We managed to go 3-1 in the preseason, and played in front of decent crowds (by our admittedly low standards) at home. The poor Jets were unable to come away with even a meaningless preseason victory against us.
<pre><font face="courier">
Week Opponent Result Attend No-Shows
Week 1 OPEN
Week 2 Seattle Seahawks W, 23-17 49,400 4,700
Week 3 New York Jets W, 24-9 49,400 3,600
Week 4 CAROLINA PANTHERS W, 44-7 41,900 4,500
Week 5 BALTIMORE RAVENS L, 20-26 41,300 6,500
</font></pre>

The Cowboys had a little rougher preseason, as they managed to drop 3 out of 4 games.

<pre><font face="courier">
Week Opponent Result Attend No-Shows
Week 1 OPEN
Week 2 New England Patriots L, 20-27 53,000 5,000
Week 3 Pittsburgh Steelers W, 24-17 65,000 3,200
Week 4 TENNESSEE TITANS L, 6-7 44,200 3,400
Week 5 NEW YORK JETS L, 21-35 44,200 4,500
</font></pre>

Here's a look at the final standings for the exhibition season.

<pre><font face="courier">
NFC East W L T Pct PF PA
**Gatesville 3 1 0 .750 111 59
Philadelphia 3 1 0 .750 91 60
Washington 3 1 0 .750 65 43
Arizona 2 2 0 .500 72 69
Dallas 1 3 0 .250 71 86
</font></pre>

Key Injuries:

We didn't escape the preseason without injuries, as WOLB Allen Whitfield suffered a broken foot (2 weeks) and LCB Joel Harden is dealing with a case of turf toe and may miss up to 5 weeks. Again, not good news for our secondary. :(

[Kodos]

2015 Regular Season Schedules:

The scheduling gods may have smiled on us a bit this year. If we can get off to a strong start during the first half of our schedule, which features many road games, then it could really boost our attendance at the plentiful home games down the stretch. Cross your fingers folks!
<pre><font face="courier">
Week Opponent
Week 1 Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 2 Washington Redskins
Week 3 Arizona Cardinals
Week 4 CINCINNATI BUNGLES
Weak 5 Dallas Cowboys
Week 6 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Week 7 OPEN
Week 8 WASHINGTON REDSKINS
Week 9 Baltimore Ravens
Week 10 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 11 SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS
Week 12 ARIZONA CARDINALS
Week 13 Philadelphia Eagles
Weak 14 DALLAS COWBOYS
Week 15 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS
Week 16 St. Louis Rams
Week 17 CHICAGO BEARS
</font></pre>

Here is the Cowboys' schedule for 2015. I hope Jon Adams, last season's NFL MVP, runs wild all over them in Week 2!
<pre><font face="courier">
Week Opponent
Week 1 Philadelphia Eagles
Week 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 3 GREEN BAY PACKERS
Week 4 ARIZONA CARDINALS
Week 5 GATESVILLE SILICON PIRATES
Week 6 Washington Redskins
Week 7 Detroit Lions
Week 8 OPEN
Week 9 WASHINGTON REDSKINS
Week 10 Cincinnati Bungles
Week 11 ST. LOUIS RAMS
Week 12 Tennessee Titans
Week 13 PITTSBURGH STEELERS
Week 14 Gatesville Silicon Pirates
Week 15 PHILADELPHIA EAGLES
Week 16 BALTIMORE RAVENS
Week 17 Arizona Cardinals
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

2015 Starting Lineups:

Offense:

Although Everett Schwarz beat out Herb Matthews for the starting job at RB, Matthews will still see plenty of action. If Schwarz falters, Matthews could see his name move up to the top of the depth chart quickly. Backup offensive linemen Albert Alexander (T), Gene Flannery (C), and Rob Stanton (G) should all see significant playing time as we groom them to eventually take over for our aging starters. Other than Schwarz, our entire starting offense from 2014 returns to start again in 2015.

QB - Devin Bergeron
RB - Everett Schwarz
FB - Levon Wallace
TE - Chuck Farley
FL - Earl Thornton
SE - Ralph Randle
LT - Terrance Read
LG - Rusty Pleasant
C - Jonathan Farmer
RG - Darren Cruise
RT - James Pond

Defense:

Patrick Sanders will move inside from last year's job at left end to replace the departed Joey Rhoades at left defensive tackle. Frankie Farley will move from the right to the left end, while Paul Everett will get his first starting job at right end. Eric Cash returns at right tackle. Hotshot newcomer Sam Viola will get the start at SILB, while Mike Eagle and Alan Hines will be the new starters in our revamped secondary.

LE - Frankie Farley
LT - Patrick Sanders
RT - Eric Cash
RE - Paul Everett
WOLB - Allen Whitfield
WILB - Al Ingram
SILB - Sam Viola
SOLB - Terrance Fuller
LCB - Joel Harden
RCB - Mike Eagle
FS - Dave Sanders
SS - Alan Hines

I don't know about you folks, but I'm ready to forget about all of this trivial offseason crap and get this season underway. LET'S GO PIRATES! :D

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


Hell Hath No Fury Like A Jayhawk Scorned!
In a move that is sure to draw the ire of DataKing, we shipped Kyle McAfee, the former Jayhawk offensive tackle, to the oh-so-bright Seahawks for their 6th round pick in 2016. This saved us $1.16 million. I'd just like to note that Darren Cruise, another proud Jayhawk, is still under contract with us... Please, DK, don't hurt me! :eek:



*grumble* *grumble* *grumble*

I suppose that, given Darren's starting position with the Pirates, I can forgo your transgressions...this time.

But I'll be watching you, tentacle-boy! :mad:

All in good fun, of course, Kodos. Given your financial straight-jacket, paying over 1 million for a backup tackle just won't cut it. But why did you have to send the poor kid to Seattle of all places?

[Kodos]

I shopped him, and they were buying. Simple as that! :)

[Kodos]

2015 Regular Season

Week 1
Gatesville (0-0) at Pittsburgh (0-0)
=============================================

Injury Report:

Starting LCB Joel Harden (turf toe) and starting WOLB Allen Whitfield (broken foot) were both inactive for this game.

The Game:

Our quest to threepeat began quite inauspiciously after the Steeler scored a touchdown on their first possession. Things got worse when Berg's first pass of 2015 was intercepted by Carlos Thayer and returned 35-yards for a score! Five minutes into the new season, and we were trailing 14-0. :eek:

Thanks to an 8-yard Herb Matthews receiving touchdown and a 3-yard touchdown scramble by Berg, we had cut Pittsburgh's lead down to 17-14 by the half.

An Hidalgo field goal early on in the third tied the game up, and Mike Eagle's interception gave us a chance to take the lead. However, we soon fumbled the ball back to the Steelers. Ryan Longwell's field goal gave the Steelers a 20-17 lead going into the final quarter. Another Hidalgo field goal was not enough to give us the victory, as Steeler QB Buddy Mattingly hooked up twice with Kelvin Everett to finish us off by the final score of 34-20. Crap!

Key Performers:

Herb Matthews had 11 carries for 42 yards, as well as 4 catches for 47 yards and 1 TD.

Berg had a really off day, as he completed 21 of 36 passes for 239 yards, 1 TD, 2 interceptions and 1 fumble.

Earl Thornton pulled in 6 passes for 86 yards.

New Injuries:

Starting RB Everett Schwarz hyper-extended his elbow and will miss 2 weeks or so. Matthews will get the nod at RB in Week 2.

SOLB Terrance Fuller suffered the same injury as Schwarz, but will require 3-5 weeks recovery time.


=============================================
Dallas (0-0) at Philadelphia (0-0)

The Cowboys pounded the Eagles for an-opening day victory. Double-crap! :mad:

[Kodos]

Week 2

Gatesville (0-1) at Washington (0-1)
=============================================

The Game:

Redskin QB Jimmie Bernstein threw 4 TD passes, Berg left the game early in the third quarter with an injury, and backup QB Dana Alston threw 3 interceptions in less than 2 quarters. Final score: Washington 28, Gatesville 14.

Key Performers:

Berg completed 9 of 22 passes for 120 yards before leaving the game.

Dana Alston completed 11 of 28 attempts for 145 yards, 1 TD and 3 interceptions.

Ty Robbins caught 9 passes for 160 yards.

Rookie Sam Viola made 12 tackles in his second NFL start.


=============================================
Dallas (1-0) at Tampa Bay (1-0)

Jon Adams and the Buccaneers ran over the Cowboys, 20-10, to drop the Cowboys to .500. :) That's more like it!

[Kodos]

Week 3

Gatesville (0-2) at Arizona (1-1)
=============================================

Injury Status Report:

SOLB Terrance Fuller and LCB Joel Harden both were inactive for this game.

The Game:

Though it was only Week 3 of the 2015 season, we came into our game against the Cardinals badly needing a win to end the skid and to keep ourselves alive in the race for the NFC East title. A string of losses to division foes would spell doom for our threepeat attempt.

An 8-yard touchdown grab by Chuck Farley that was set up by a nice 27-yard gain by Ralph Randle put us ahead 7-3 midway through the first quarter. The Cardinals responded by marching from their 21 to our 15 before running out of steam and settling for a Ledyard field goal. At the end of one quarter, we had a precarious 7-6 lead.

After a mostly quiet second quarter, Hidalgo kicked a 51-yarder with 2:31 left in the half to extend our lead to 10-6. However, Ledyard would kick his third field goal of the half as time ran out to send us into the break nursing a 10-9 lead.

Midway through the third quarter, Terry Zink found Ted Pierce for an 11-yard score that put them ahead 15-10. Fortunately, their 2-point attempt failed when defensive end Peter Hickman stuffed Kimbrell behind the line. 15-10, Cards.

On our ensuing possession, Berg and the offense put together a 10-play, 50-yard drive that culminated in a 47-yard Hidalgo field goal which cut the lead to 15-13.

The fourth quarter started off well, as a blitzing Allen Whitfield broke through the line and caused Zink to fumble the ball. Nose tackle Patrick Sanders recovered it and was able to rumble for 19 yards to our 45 before a Cardinal could bring him down.

Taking advantage of the good field position, Bergeron moved the offense downfield with confidence, and capped the drive with a quick 3-yard touchdown toss to Earl Thornton. With 11:46 to go, we were leading 20-15.

A 16-play, 76-yard Arizona drive that ate up 10-and-a-half minutes came next. Though the Cardinals had worked their way to a first-and-goal from our 3 yard line late in the game, our defense stood tall just when it needed to most, as rookie sensation Sam Viola knocked away Zink's pass to Wade Aleman on fourth-and-goal from our 2 to preserve the win. Berg and the offense ran off the remaining 2:48, but they knew that it was our defense that had carried us on this particular day...

Though it was an ugly win, it nonetheless evened our divisional record at 1-1.

Key Performers:

Patrick Sanders had 1 tackle and 2 big fumble recoveries.

Berg secured the Game MVP award by completing 21 of 32 pass attempts for 239 yards and 2 TDs. He also ran 7 times for 35 yards.

Everett Schwarz had 9 carries for 60 yards.

Earl Thornton had 4 catches for 58 yards and 1 TD.

Chuck Farley had 2 grabs for 11 yards and 1 TD.


=============================================
Green Bay (1-1) at Arizona (1-1)

The Cowboys came out on top versus the Packers, winning by a 16-10 margin. Jerks.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by CAsterling:


Just wanted to comment as this dynasty has kept me sane through the last two days of a really boring training course !!

It is one of the funniest saga's I have seen and whilst I not convinced about the true brilliance of Mr C Farley, I think his cult status is well deserved.

You have my sympathy in regard to your attendance, (please put me down for a season ticket), and the press conferences/interviews are truely priceless.

I look forward to the next installment, and hope you can still go on to further success with the obstacles Bill has put in your way :)
Good luck in sunny Gatesville.

[Kodos]

Thanks, CAsterling! I've been meaning to post more updates this week, but each night something has come up to stop me. More is coming soon though!

[Kodos]

Week 4

Cincinnati (1-2) at Gatesville (1-2)
=============================================

Attendance: 46,000 (6,500 no-shows).

The Game:

What started off as a 27-7 laugher victory for us turned into a wild shoot-out that featured big play after big play. Missed field goals, fumbles recovered by the offense and taken to the house, a 51-yard Chuck Farley touchdown, an 85-yard Ty Robbins score, fumbles returned by the defense for scores, an intentional grounding call in the end zone that produced a safety, a failed 2-point conversion, a 73-yard punt return for a TD -- this game had it all. In the end, Berg's 30-yard strike to Antoine Dugans with 29 ticks left on the clock allowed us to survive the Bengals comeback bid, 33-32. The fans got their money's worth watching this game, that's for sure! The win evened our record at 2-2 a quarter of the way through the regular season.

Key Performers:

Berg captured the Game MVP award by completing 17 of 27 attempts for 390 yards, 3 TDs, and 1 interception. He also ran the ball 4 times for 18 yards and a score.

Levon Wallace gained 40 yards on 6 carries from the fullback position.

Ty Robbins had a whale of a game, as he amassed 156 yards and 1 TD on 5 receptions.

The venerable Chuck U. gave the fans something to cheer about with 3 catches for 71 yards and 1 TD.

Antoine Dugans caught 2 balls for 56 yards and the game-winning TD.

Running backs Everett Schwarz and Herb Matthews both had wretched outings, as they averaged 1.7 and 1.8 ypc, respectively.

New Injuries:

Receiver Ralph Randle sprained his knee and will need a couple games to recover.


=============================================
Arizona (1-2) at Dallas (2-1)

The Cardinals dropped the Cowboys to .500 with a 20-10 victory in front of the remaining Dallas faithful.

Next week, we will travel to Dallas to renew the series with the Cowboys, and one of us will be dropping below the .500 mark...

[Kodos]

From: Kyle Diaz
To: Kodos & Bill Gates
Subject: Dallas Cowboys

Injury Report:
Gino Burroughs, WR - Out
Marlon Linquist, DE - Doubtful
Tracy Mazurek, QB - Probable
Derrick Quinn, LB - Questionable

Offensive Overview:

Starting Quarterback: Tracy Mazurek
70 for 114, 669 yards, 3 TDs, 6 interceptions this season.
Excellent at throwing short passes.

Starting Running Back: Norbert Healey
38 carries for 124 yards, 1 touchdowns this season.
Very good overall runner.

Starting Flanker: Dale Corbett
20 receptions for 182 yards, 2 touchdowns this season.
Very good third down receiver.

Starting Split End: Peter Duvall
15 receptions for 137 yards, 0 touchdowns this season.
Very good hands.

Defensive Overview:

Starting Left Defensive End: Marlon Linquist
7 tackles, 2 assists, 1.5 sacks this season.
Very good defender against the run.

Starting Right Defensive End: Herb Page
6 tackles, 4 assists, 0.5 sacks this season.
Good pass-rusher.

Starting Nose Tackle: Sean Ross
10 tackles, 3 assists, 4.5 sacks this season.
Very good pass-rusher.

Starting Left Outside Linebacker: Jamal McElroy
8 tackles, 3 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Fair man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Left Inside Linebacker: Troy Tompkins
35 tackles, 9 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Very good pass-rusher.

Starting Right Inside Linebacker: Derrick Quinn
2 tackles, 0 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
No real strengths to speak of.

Starting Right Outside Linebacker: Bruce Leatherwood
12 tackles, 3 assists, 0.5 sacks this season.
No real strengths to speak of.

Starting Weak-Side Cornerback: Joel Flannery
10 tackles, 2 assists, 0 interceptions this season.
Very good zone pass defender.

Starting Strong-Side Cornerback: Jerome McCarthy
6 tackles, 4 assists, 0 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

Starting Free Safety: Greg Drayson
26 tackles, 7 assists, 0 interceptions this season.
Excellent man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Strong Safety: Shawn Treadway
15 tackles, 9 assists, 1 interceptions this season.
Good pass intercepter.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


Geez...look at the 'Boys linebackers. With the exception of Tompkins, they just plain suck. You could have a field day with screens and the short passing game.

Go Pirates! Go Chuck U!

[Kodos]

Week 5

Gatesville (2-2) at Dallas (2-2)
============================================

Injury Report:

SOLB Terrance Fuller was unable to play with a hyper-extended elbow, so rookie Sam Viola slid outside and took over for Fuller.

Split end Ralph Randle was out with a sprained knee, and was replaced by Ty Robbins in the starting lineup.

The Game:

Herb Matthews replaced the thus-far ineffective Everett Schwarz at RB for our duel with the Cowboys, as we tried to find a spark to get our stalled running game back on track.

The Cowboys first drive of the day was a quick three-and-out, and following a short punt, we took over control of the ball from our own 47. Three consecutive passes to Ty Robbins for 10, 18, and 25 yards got us into the end zone in 80 seconds, and a scarce 4 minutes into the contest we found ourselves with a 7-0 lead.

In a hole early, the Cowboys embarked on a long, time-consuming drive that took them from their 20 to our 8 in 17 plays. However, our defense stiffened up just in time, and the Cowboys came away with only a 23-yard field goal. 7-3.

The fortunes were not smiling on us for the ensuing kick return, as rookie kick returner Cory McElroy coughed up the ball and the Cowboys returned it to our 9. Three plays later, the Cowboys went on top 10-7 with a 6-yard Flaherty run.

Five minutes into the second quarter, Herb Matthews ran around the left end behind Darren Cruise for a 4-yard touchdown that would prove to be the only score of the quarter, so we went into the half holding a small 14-10 advantage.

In the second half, we looked to pull away from the Cowboys, as Broderick Hidalgo kicked a 30-yarder and Ty Robbins capitalized on linebacker Dexter Mincy's interception of a Tracy Mazurek pass with a 13-yard touchdown reception that pushed our lead to 24-10 with five minutes to go in the third quarter.

Our post-touchdown celebration turned out to be short-lived, as Joel Flannery took the ensuing kickoff 105 yards for a score to trim our lead to 24-17.

In the fourth, another long Cowboy drive ended with a 40-yard field goal that made it 24-20 with 11 minutes remaining.

In response, our offense reached the Cowboy 41 before stalling, but a decent Carr punt had them backed up to their own 12. I can't explain the feeling of blinding rage that passed through me as Oliver Carnahan broke free of our secondary and went the entire 88 yards in one play to make it a 27-24 Cowboys lead with 7 & 1/2 minutes to go.

Determined to pull this one out, Berg and the offense took to the field starting from our 13. A steady mix of passes and Everett Schwarz runs moved us up the field, with Earl Thornton making 4 consecutive receptions in once stretch. At the two minute warning, we found ourselves just 18 yards from victory with a fresh set of downs. An illegal contact call on the Cowboys advanced us to the 13 before three consecutive Schwarz runs netted us minus 3 yards. On fourth-and-13 from the 16 with 57 seconds left in regulation, Hidalgo hit a 33-yard field goal to tie the game at 27 all.

Just looking to get us to overtime, the defense withstood the Cowboy attack and the fourth quarter ended with the score still knotted at 27-27.

In overtime, we won the toss and elected to receive, but the offense was quickly forced to punt it away.

With their first possession of the extra period, the Cowboys were able to advance to just past midfield before being forced to punt too. With 9:12 left in OT, we took over from our 24. After a couple of runs set up third-and-3, Berg found Earl Thornton for 15 yards to move the chains for us. A 20-yard strike to Ty Robbins carried us past midfield to the Cowboy 34. From there, a Berg scramble and a short pass completion to the fullback Levon Wallace set up Broderick Hidalgo with a 29-yard attempt that could win it for us. With just 4:39 remaining in the overtime period, Hidalgo's kicked sailed true, sending us to victory and the Cowboys to below .500 for the season! Final score, 30-27 Pirates in OT. Whew! Go Gatesville!

Key Performers:

Berg put up some big numbers en route to dealing the hated Cowboys a painful loss, as he hit on 30 of 45 pass attempts for 379 yards, 2 TDs, and no interceptions. He also ran the ball 9 times for 57 yards.

Ty Robbins, who got his first start of the season due to Ralph Randle's knee injury, responded to the opportunity with 14 catches for 213 yards and 2 scores! :eek: Someone please tell me what that guy had for breakfast!

Earl Thorton had himself a pretty good outing too, as he pulled in 9 passes for 123 yards.

Everett Schwarz, who filled in after Matthews left with a sprained ankle, carried the ball 12 times for 49 yards.

Al Ingram, who loathes the Cowboys as much as anyone does, recorded 8 tackles and 2 assists on the day.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by SplitPersonality1:


I can't explain the feeling of blinding rage that passed through me as Oliver Carnahan broke free of our secondary and went the entire 88 yards in one play

He.He.He. Isn't it amazing how a silly little fictional team can just completely tick you off. :D

Great win over the 'Boys. You had me worried there for a moment.

[Kodos]

I had me worried too. A loss to the Cowboys to drop us below .500 is almost unthinkable. **shivers**

[Kodos]

Week 6

Philadelphia (1-4) at Gatesville (3-2)
============================================

Attendance: 48,400 bought tickets, 4,500 were no-shows.

The Game:

Ralph Randle's third touchdown of the day, an 11 yarder, which was set up by Randle's own 46-yard gain a few plays earlier, put us on top 35-10 in the fourth quarter, and that wound up being the final score.

Key Performers:

Randle won the Game MVP award with 10 catches for 161 yards and 3 TDs.

Berg, the man getting all those touchdown passes to Randle, completed 22 of 40 passes for 329 yards, 4 TDs, and 1 pick.

Ty Robbins pulled in 5 passes for 85 yards.

New Injuries:

Flanker Earl Thornton broke his nose and will need a couple weeks to recover fully.


============================================
Dallas (2-3) at Washington (2-3)

Washington absolutely crushed the Cowboys, 41-10, to drop them to 2-4 on the year. Someone remind me to send the Skins a nice fruit basket. :)

[Kodos]

Week 7

Bye.

============================================
Dallas (2-4) at Detroit (2-3)

Unfortunately, the Lions came up a bit short against the Cowboys, 20-17. Oh well - try as they might, the Cowboys can't lose 'em all, I guess. :rolleyes:

[Kodos]

Week 8

Washington (4-3) at Gatesville (4-2)
============================================

Attendance: 51,300 bought tickets; 5,000 elected not to attend.

The Game:

The Redskins, who defeated us 28-14 back in Week 2, came into town looking to take over first place in the NFC East. On the other hand, we were looking to stay in first, and to get some good old fashioned revenge.

Chuck Farley took first blood with a 2-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter, but Redskin QB Jimmie Bernstein soon connected with a Brant George to even the score at 7-7. The second quarter saw a field goal scored by each team, so we went into halftime all tied up at 10.

Ty Robbins' 20-yard touchdown grab in the third quarter put us up 17-10, and from there it became the Broderick Hidalgo show, as he hit 3 field goals en route to a solid 26-10 victory over our division rivals.

Key Performers:

Berg claimed the Game MVP award with 30 completions in 46 attempts for 278 yards, 2 scores, and no interceptions. He did fumble once, but recovered the ball himself.

Our woes at running back continued, as Matthews gained just 27 yards on 11 carries. Matthews did redeem himself somewhat with 7 catches for 67 yards.

Chuck Farley caught 8 passes for 20 yards and 1 TD.

Ty Robbins had 6 grabs for 85 yards and 1 TD.


============================================

Dallas had a bye this week.

[Kodos]

Week 9

Gatesville (5-2) at Baltimore (3-4)
============================================

The Game:

Herb Matthews, apparently fired up by the bad press he got during the week leading up to this game, scored 3 times in the first quarter, twice on the ground and once through the air, to put us up 24-0. Chuck Farley got in the act in the third quarter with a pretty 17-yard touchdown grab, and we cruised to an easy 48-23 victory over the Ravens. The win was our sixth in a row after our rocky 0-2 start.

Key Performers:

Berg once again was selected as MVP. Before leaving the game in the third quarter with a 48-10 lead, Berg completed 19 of 30 attempts for 301 yards, 4 TDs, and no interceptions. He also ran 8 times for 50 yards.

Matthews ran the ball 7 times for 53 yards and 2 TDs. He also caught 4 passes for 38 yards and another score.

Chuck Farley made 7 grabs for 82 yards and 1 TD.

Earl Thornton had 4 catches for a buck twelve and 1 TD.

Ralph Randle made 3 catches for 56 yards and 1 TD.

New Injuries:

Starting MLB Al Ingram sprained his knee. Estimated recovery time is 2 weeks.

Starting LG Rusty Pleasant has turf toe and will also need a couple weeks to heal up.


============================================
Washington (4-4) at Dallas (3-4)

The Cowboys moved back up to .500 with a 23-12 victory over the Deadskins. :mad:

Next I will have the midseason report for your perusal. It's always fun seeing how much better we are than the Cowboys. :D

[Kodos]

2015 Midseason Report:

With half of the 2015 season now in the books, our team had an 80 power rating, which was good enough for first in the NFC. The Cowboys, on the other hand, had a 47 power rating, which was good for ninth place in the NFC. Pittsburgh was first overall with an awe-inspiring 98 power rating. Currently, we have scored 226 points (2nd), while the Cowboys have scored 142 (tied for 24th). Our defense has allowed 179 points (tied for 24th :(), while the Cowboys have yielded only 158 (13th). Still, most statistics are slanted in our favor.

After a poor start that saw us drop our first 2 games, we recovered nicely with 6 consecutive wins. The second half of our schedule features 5 home games, but also features 5 teams with 5-3 or better records. It won't be a cakewalk, that I can tell you right now. Here is how things stack up so far:
<pre><font face="courier">
NFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
**Gatesville 6 2 0 .750 226 179 4-1-0 4-1-0
Arizona 6 3 0 .667 150 137 3-1-0 5-1-0
**Dallas 4 4 0 .500 142 158 2-3-0 4-4-0
Washington 4 5 0 .444 206 187 3-3-0 3-4-0
Philadelphia 2 7 0 .222 133 211 0-4-0 0-7-0
</font></pre>
The Cardinals seem to have returned from their down years, and are presenting a serious challenge to us for the NFC East title.

As for the league in general, this year looks to be the most competitive race for the championship that I can recall. There are a lot of very good teams out there right now. To quote John Houseman, if we are going to threepeat this year, we are going to have to "earn it."
<pre><font face="courier">
NFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Tampa Bay 6 2 0 .750 173 102 4-1-0 5-1-0
Green Bay 4 4 0 .500 120 114 2-2-0 3-4-0
Chicago 3 6 0 .333 115 154 2-2-0 2-4-0
Detroit 2 6 0 .250 148 206 1-1-0 2-4-0
Minnesota 2 6 0 .250 100 166 1-4-0 2-5-0

NFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
New Orleans 6 2 0 .750 188 112 5-1-0 5-2-0
Richmond 6 3 0 .667 201 127 3-2-0 5-2-0
St. Louis 5 3 0 .625 216 177 4-2-0 5-2-0
San Francisco 5 3 0 .625 177 143 1-3-0 2-3-0
Carolina 3 5 0 .375 129 172 2-3-0 3-4-0
Atlanta 2 6 0 .250 119 188 0-4-0 2-4-0

AFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Buffalo 7 1 0 .875 193 132 4-0-0 5-0-0
Des Moines 6 3 0 .667 173 145 5-1-0 5-2-0
New York 5 3 0 .625 172 132 3-2-0 3-3-0
New England 2 6 0 .250 147 209 1-4-0 2-5-0
Indianapolis 2 6 0 .250 105 166 1-4-0 1-6-0
Miami 2 7 0 .222 117 198 2-5-0 2-7-0

AFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Pittsburgh 8 1 0 .889 246 109 5-1-0 6-1-0
Jacksonville 6 3 0 .667 198 159 3-3-0 4-3-0
Tennessee 4 4 0 .500 155 170 3-3-0 4-3-0
Cincinnati 3 5 0 .375 144 179 3-3-0 3-3-0
Baltimore 3 5 0 .375 140 146 2-2-0 3-3-0
Cleveland 2 7 0 .222 146 193 1-5-0 2-6-0

AFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Denver 6 2 0 .750 174 112 3-1-0 5-1-0
Seattle 6 2 0 .750 169 176 3-1-0 5-1-0
Kansas City 5 4 0 .556 158 164 3-2-0 5-3-0
San Diego 4 4 0 .500 189 160 3-3-0 3-3-0
Oakland 3 6 0 .333 142 187 1-3-0 1-6-0
Wichita 2 6 0 .250 125 166 1-4-0 2-5-0
</font></pre>

Top Performers:

Berg is putting up stellar numbers again, while our running game is looking less impressive to say the least. Sadly, Berg is our top passer and rusher right now.

<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Silicon Pirates

Devin Bergeron 169/278, 2275 yards, 18 TDs, 4 interceptions
48 carries, 266 yards, 2 TDs
Everett Schwarz 69 carries, 206 yards, 1 TD
Ty Robbins 45 catches, 781 yards, 4 TDs (in only 3 starts)
Earl Thornton 34 catches, 580 yards, 2 TDs
Ralph Randle 28 catches, 394 yards, 4 TDs
Chuck Farley 25 catches, 219 yards, 4 TDs
Al Ingram 45 tackles, 16 assists, 1 sack
Allen Whitfield 6 sacks, 21 tackles, 8 assists
Dave Sanders 2 interceptions, 35 tackles, 20 assists
</font></pre>

What can I say? The Cowboys do not have very many bright spots on their roster right now. Mazurek has thrown 8 picks against 5 TDs, 2 of their top 3 receivers had 1 TD each, and their runners aren't much better than ours. This team just is not very good. :)

<pre><font face="courier">
Dallas Cowboys

Tracy Mazurek 134/229, 1389 yards, 5 TDs, 8 interceptions
Claude Flaherty 91 carries, 372 yards, 4 TDs
Peter Duvall 34 catches, 333 yards, 1 TD
Oliver Carnahan 21 catches, 284 yards, 1 TD
Dale Corbett 33 catches, 273 yards, 4 TDs
Greg Drayson 60 tackles, 18 assists
Sean Ross 6.5 sacks, 20 tackles, 6 assists
Shawn Treadway 4 interceptions, 42 tackles, 19 assists
</font></pre>

Anyhow, I am looking forward to the second half of the schedule. Right now we are in position to make a run at the third title, but things can really still go either way for us. With Tampa Bay up next, we will be tested early and often in the coming weeks. I think we will pass, just as long as we've got Berg firing on all cylinders.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cheese:


hey im new to the boards, ive really enjoyed this dynasty! keep up the good work.

[Kodos]

Thanks, cheese! Interesting username you got there! I'd have chosen Cheddar myself, but that is because Cheddar is the King Of All Cheeses in my book. Anyhow, glad you've enjoyed it so far. There should be more coming soon...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


Berg an Ty Robbins are lighting it up!
Chuck U. needs to pick up the pace a little though, we want a trip to the pro bowl!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Alf:



Originally posted by Kodos:
Thanks, cheese! Interesting username you got there! I'd have chosen Cheddar myself, but that is because Cheddar is the King Of All Cheeses in my book.


Ouch, Kodos ! You must visit France ! We have over 400 different types of cheese and I can tell you that Cheddar would not even rank in my top 200 list :p

[Kodos]

Bah! What do the French know about cheese?!? NOTHING!!!!

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cheese:


i couldnt decide which cheese to pick, so i decided to show my love for all of them :D

[Kodos]

Week 10

Gatesville (6-2) at Tampa Bay (6-2)
============================================

Injury Report:

Starting middle linebacker Al Ingram is nursing a sprained knee which still needs a couple weeks.

Starting left guard Rusty Pleasant's turf toe will also require about 2 more weeks to recover.

The Game:

On a sunny, 80-degree day in Florida, we took the field to face a Buccaneer team that, like ourselves, was thinking Super Bowl this season. Lady luck appeared to have given us a gift, as just last week, Jon Adams, the 2014 NFL MVP running back, had gone down with a sprained back. His return was not expected until the playoffs. However, Dwight Norris, Tampa Bay's starting QB, after many years as a backup, had finally come into his own as one of the league's top QBs. Instead of their usual punishing running game, the Bucs looked to come after us with the passing game.

Thanks to a nice kickoff return by Percy Stewart, we started out with great field position at our own 43. Looking to surprise the Buc defense a little, we kept to the ground with 5 consecutive runs to move to the Tampa 36. From there, Berg took to the air with an 8-yard dump-off to Chuck Farley to move us to the 28. Unfortunately, a short Herb Matthews run and two incompletions forced a 43-yard field goal attempt. Hidalgo hit a line-drive that was blocked at the line of scrimmage by blitzing cornerback Brandon Cook, who also recovered the ball at the Tampa 37.

Tampa went three-and-out, and we took over from our 27 midway through the first quarter. Our next drive saw running back Herb Matthews handle the ball a lot, with a run and a couple of receptions, but it was Everett Schwarz who found his way into the end zone with an impressive 20-yard gallop behind backup left guard Rob Stanton to put us ahead 7-0 late in the first.

For the second time in as many tries, the Tampa offense was ineffective, and it was another quick three-and-out. This time, we followed suit.

The second quarter began with Tampa's third offensive series without a first down. An 8-play, 67-yard drive ended with Chuck Farley on the receiving end of a 2-yard touchdown pass from Bergeron that increased our margin to 14-0.

The Bucs were finally able to get a few first downs, as they drove from their 22 to our 33 with Norris gaining most of the yardage on passes or scrambles. However, Ronald Ingoglia's 50-yard field goal attempt fell short with 5 minutes left in the half. Neither team could do much of anything for the rest of the quarter, so we went into the break with a 14-0 lead.

A 48-yard completion to Andre Barker on their first play of the second half helped set up the Buc's first score, a 10-yard touchdown pass to Donovan Burroughs in the back left corner of the end zone. 14-7, Gatesville.

With 7 minutes left in the third, Dave Sanders picked off Dwight Norris and returned it 10 yards to give us the ball just this side of midfield. Our offense capitalized quickly with Matthews picking up 28 yards on 2 carries and Earl Thornton finishing the drive with 2 receptions, the second of which was a 7-yard touchdown that made it 21-7 Gatesville with 4:30 to go in the third.

The Buccaneer offense came to life once more in the fourth quarter, as Norris took advantage of good field position by punching in a 5-yard touchdown pass to Andre Welch to cap a 58-yard drive and to move within one score of us, 21-14 with 13 minutes left in the contest.

Looking to regain the momentum with our next possession, fullback Levon Wallace tried to gain a little extra yardage, but instead ended up fumbling the ball into linebacker Marco Curtis' hands on our 31. Five plays later, the Bucs made us pay with a 3-yard touchdown run by Deon Arnold to tie the game at 21-21.

A holding call on the ensuing kickoff set us up on our own 5, and Berg left the game with a pulled groin after handing it off to Wallace on our first play. In came untested backup QB Dana Alston, but we kept it on the ground until we were forced to punt the ball from our 24. With an impeccable sense of timing, punter Bill Carr boomed the ball all of 30 yards. Following Shawn Spoljaric's return, the Bucs had the ball on our 47 with 6 minutes remaining.

The horror continued as the Buc's offense could do nothing, yet a defensive holding call set up Ingoglia's go-ahead field goal attempt from 53-yards out with 4:31 to go. Of course, it was good, and for the first time of the day, we found ourselves trailing, 24-21.

A 17-yard completion by Alston to Matthews on third down was not enough to overcome 2 runs which netted -1 yard and a holding penalty, so we were quickly forced to let Carr punt once again.

With just 2:13 left on the clock, the Bucs kept to the ground, and an illegal contact call on third-and-11 assured that our offense wouldn't get a final chance. End of contest. 24-21, Bucs.

Key Performers:

Before leaving the game in the fourth quarter, Berg completed 16 of 27 attempts for 156 yards and 2 TDs, with no interceptions.

Backup QB Dana Alston completed his only pass attempt for 17 yards.

Herb Matthews ran the ball 13 times for 31 yards, while also catching 6 passes form 72 yards.

Everett Schwarz ran 11 times for 66 yards and a score.

New Injuries:

Berg's pulled-groin will cost us his services for an estimated 3-5 weeks.


============================================
Dallas (4-4) at Cincinnati (3-5)

The Bengals earned themselves a big blue star for beating the Cowboys 17-12 to drop the 'Boys below .500. Ordinarily, this would have been cause for celebration, but Berg's injury has dampened spirits around here considerably. :( We can make due without just about anyone except Berg, but I honestly don't think we can win many games without him.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by illinifan999:



Berg's pulled-groin will cost us his services for an estimated 3-5 weeks.


NNOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! :mad: :(

[Kodos]

Week 11

San Francisco (6-3) at Gatesville (6-3)
============================================

Attendance: 52,500 people bought tickets for this important game against the playoff- contending 49ers, a record at Microsoft Stadium.

Injury Update:

With Berg out for 3-5 weeks, the fans spent the entire week decrying the fact that we had shipped last year's backup QB, Luke Birk, to Seattle for a 7th-round pick. Sadly, I found myself agreeing with them. I rolled the dice on this one, and came out the loser. Dana Alston, who has thrown 1 regular season pass, will get the start in Berg's place. Hurry back, Berg! Pleeeeease!

Al Ingram has returned from his sprained knee and will resume his role at starting middle linebacker.

The Game:

Dana Alston's first NFL touchdown pass went to cult hero Chuck Farley midway through the second quarter to put us on top 10-3. Soon after, Alan Hines intercepted Buddy Stargell and returned the ball 58-yards to set up a 2-yard Matthews run that expanded our lead to 17-3 before the half.

Ralph Randle's 14-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter gave us a comfortable 23-3 lead, and we held on to win 26-10.

Key Performers:

Dana Alston performed reasonably well despite a couple of miscues. On the day, he went 30 of 44 for 254 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 interception. He also fumbled once.

Herb Matthews improved on his previous performance by gaining 62 yards and 1 TD on 15 carries, while also pulling in 9 passes for 75 yards.

Ralph Randle caught 5 balls for 52 yards and a score.

Chuck Farley caught his 6th touchdown of the season en route to a 4-catch, 20-yard performance. He hasn't been a big yardage producer this year, but I like his frequent scoring. :)


============================================
St. Louis (6-3) at Dallas (4-5)

The Cowboys narrowly edged the Rams 19-17 to get back to .500. :( The good news is that it doesn't look like the Cowboys are going to make the playoffs. :)

[Kodos]

Week 12

Arizona (6-4) at Gatesville (7-3)
============================================

Attendance: 52,500.

Injury Report:

No miracles this week - Berg is still out with the pulled groin, and may need up to 2 more weeks to fully recover. The good news is, his return would be just in time for the Dallas game. :)

Left guard Rusty Pleasant will also need a couple more weeks to overcome his turf toe injury.

The Game:

In Week 12 of 2015, the second-place Cardinals came to town looking to take the lead away from us in the NFC East. We had beaten them back in Week 3 by the score of 20-15, so they were trying to get some measure of revenge against us. A loss to the Cards would drop us to 4-2 in the East, and put them just ahead of us at 4-1 within the division.

We caught a little bit of a break against them, as their regular signal-caller, Terry Zink, was out with a dislocated knee, and backup QB James Porrus would be starting in Zink's place. Whether or not we would be able take advantage of Zink's absence remained to be seen...

Late in the first quarter, backup cornerback Jack Basford knocked the ball out of Conrad Wyoming's hands on a kickoff return, and Derek Brandon was able to scoop it up and return it 17 yards to the Arizona 23. One play later, Dana Alston connected with Ralph Randle, who dodged and dashed his way to paydirt, making it a 10-3 score in favor of the good guys. Another Alston passing touchdown to Herb Matthews in the second quarter would send us into the half with a 17-6 advantage.

The only score of the third quarter was David Ledyard's third field goal of the day, a 44 yarder that made it 17-9.

With 10 minutes left to go in regulation, a 28-yard Bill Carr punt set Arizona up at their own 31. Three plays later, running back Bruce Klemm went around the right end of the line and tore through our secondary for 42 yards before someone finally dragged him down at our 14. On the very next play, Klemm tried the same thing and found himself in the end zone without ever having been touched. Feeling that momentum was on their side, they gave the ball to Klemm again for the 2 point conversion, but this time defensive end Peter Hickman was there to stop him. 17-15, Gatesville, with just under 8 minutes left.

I have to admit that they caught us a bit off guard when they went for the onside kick. That element of surprise allowed Cardinal's safety Ronnie Campbell to come up with it, and there they were with the ball again on their 41. Following a 19-yard Klemm run that moved the Cards to our 39, Klemm was given a breather, and fullback Brandon Kimbrell was given the call. Strong safety Alan Hines hit Kimbrell at full steam, and although Hines was the one who went flying, the ball came flying out too. Happily, right end Frankie Farley was there to fall on it at our 45, and we had dodged a bullet.

Regrettably, Alston and the offense were unable to do anything with the opportunity, and soon we reluctantly sent Carr on to do his thing. Surprisingly, he pinned Arizona on their 16 with 4:45 remaining. Suddenly, things weren't looking so bleak. One more defensive stand might be enough to win it for us!

A series of Klemm runs with occasional Porras passes thrown in moved the Cards to our 29, and with 1:21 left to go, they took an 18-17 lead on a 46-yard Ledyard field goal, his fourth of the day.

With the game now hanging in the balance, Alston and the offense took over from our 20 with a buck-sixteen on the clock. Immediately, Alston went to the air, but 4 passes later, we had gained just 3 yards, and the ball went back over to Arizona on downs with 34 seconds left.

Final score, Arizona 18, Gatesville 17.

What hurt so much about this loss was that it easily could have been a win. But a win was apparently not meant to be on this day, as Arizona took over first place in the East with 5 weeks to go, while we dropped down to second place.

Key Performers:

Game MVP Bruce Klemm ran through our defense for 139 yards and 1 TD on 30 carries.

Herb Matthews, our best rusher, gained 75 yards on 12 carries. Matthews also caught 3 passes for 12 yards and 1 TD.

Dana Alston played decently enough, as he completed 17 of 34 for 162 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 interception. Still, our offense is clearly missing the presence of Berg behind center.

Ralph Randle led our receivers with 6 catches for 59 yards and 1 TD.


============================================
Dallas (5-5) at Tennessee (6-4)

A very average Tennessee team throttled the Cowboys 30-13 to once again drop them to below .500 on the season. Now if they can just stay there.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by CAsterling:


I'm impressed with Dana Alston, to come in to replace Berg and put up respectable numbers, shows the boy has character !

[Kodos]

CAsterling: Ya might want to wait for the results of our next game vs. Philly before you go heaping too much praise on Alston... :eek:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by CAsterling:


Thanks, now I'm Paranoid ;)
You never know Dana may become the Gary Kubiak of Gattesville, hopefully.
As long as Berg is healthy for the Dallas Game thats the important thing.

[Kodos]

Well, for better or worse, Alston is signed through 2019.

[Kodos]

Week 13

Gatesville (7-4) at Philadelphia (2-9)
=============================================

Injury Report:

Berg sat out for our game versus Eagles, but should return for the Dallas game next week.

The Game:

In a game against a very weak Eagles squad, turnovers and botched special teams plays led to most of the scoring in what could only be described as a wretched offensive showing by both teams. The Eagles finished the day with 268 total yards of offense, which looked pretty good compared to our 244 yards.

Tied at 20 after 60 minutes, we headed to overtime to decide it. Mercifully for the fans, the game finally ended with 6:45 left in overtime when Vernon Talley kicked a 23-yard field goal to win it for the Eagles, 23-20.

Key Performers:

Dana Alston had a miserable outing, completing 17 of 31 attempts for 147 yards, 1 TD, and 2 picks. He also fumbled once.

Herb Matthews ran 13 times for 81 yards, and caught 6 passes for 26 yards. In the end, it was not nearly enough to save our anemic offense.


=============================================
Pittsburgh (8-3) at Dallas (5-6)

The Cowboys continued their trend of hanging right around .500, as they beat the formerly high-flying Steelers, 16-10, to move to 6-6 on the season.


=============================================
The Playoff Picture:

In a small favor to us, Tampa Bay (9-2) defeated Arizona (7-4) to keep us in the running for the NFC East crown. Here is how the NFC playoff field looks after 14 weeks:

1. Tampa Bay (10-2)
2. New Orleans (8-4)
3. Arizona (7-5)
4. - 6. Gatesville, Richmond, & St. Louis are all 7-5.

[Kodos]

From: Kyle Diaz
To: Bill Gates & Kodos
Subject: Dallas Cowboys

Injury Report:
Gino Burroughs, WR - Out
Joel Flannery, CB - Questionable
Michael Robertson, G - Questionable
Juan Phan, T - Questionable
Troy Tompkins, LB - Probable
Jerome McCarthy, CB - Doubtful
Greg Drayson, S - Questionable
Marlon Mercer, C - Questionable
O.J. Bell, CB - Probable
Bruce Leatherwood, LB - Questionable

Offensive Overview:

Starting Quarterback: Tracy Mazurek
217 for 373, 2302 yards, 7 TDs, 12 interceptions this season.
Excellent at throwing short passes.

Starting Running Back: Norbert Healey
122 carries for 420 yards, 3 touchdowns this season.
Very good overall runner.

Starting Flanker: Dale Corbett
48 receptions for 425 yards, 3 touchdowns this season.
Very good third down receiver.

Starting Split End: Peter Duvall
52 receptions for 532 yards, 2 touchdowns this season.
Excellent hands.

Defensive Overview:

Starting Left Defensive End: Herb Page
27 tackles, 7 assists, 3.5 sacks this season.
Good pass-rusher.

Starting Right Defensive End: Marlon Linquist
18 tackles, 6 assists, 2.0 sacks this season.
Very good defender against the run.

Starting Nose Tackle: Sean Ross
31 tackles, 9 assists, 7.5 sacks this season.
Very good pass-rusher.

Starting Left Outside Linebacker: Derrick Quinn
16 tackles, 14 assists, 1.0 sacks this season.
No real strengths to speak of.

Starting Left Inside Linebacker: Troy Tompkins
66 tackles, 22 assists, 1.0 sacks this season.
Very good pass-rusher.

Starting Right Inside Linebacker: Howie Hitchcock
27 tackles, 6 assists, 0.5 sacks this season.
No real strengths to speak of.

Starting Right Outside Linebacker: Jamal McElroy
43 tackles, 12 assists, 0.0 sacks this season.
Fair man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Weak-Side Cornerback: Joel Flannery
32 tackles, 11 assists, 0 interceptions this season.
Very good zone pass defender.

Starting Strong-Side Cornerback: Damon Tanner
29 tackles, 6 assists, 1 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

Starting Free Safety: Greg Drayson
79 tackles, 20 assists, 0 interceptions this season.
Excellent man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Strong Safety: Shawn Treadway
68 tackles, 31 assists, 4 interceptions this season.
Good pass intercepter.

[Kodos]

Week 14

Dallas (6-6) at Gatesville (7-5)
=============================================

Attendance: Apparently disappointed with our two-game skid, we sold only 49,500 tickets for the Cowboys, and 3,000 of those folks ended up being no-shows. Apparently, these people don't take our blood-feud with the Cowboys as seriously as we do...

Injury Report:

While Berg was still not 100% back from his pulled groin, he insisted on playing versus the Cowboys. That's my boy! ;)

The Game:

Having watched us go 1-2 in his absence, Berg was eager to get back on the field and help right our ship. It took him a couple of drives to shake off the rust, but on our third drive, Berg hooked up with Earl Thornton for a 5-yard touchdown to put us up 7-0.

Seven plays into the Cowboys' ensuing drive, rookie SILB Sam Viola picked off Tracy Mazurek's pass and returned it 33 yards to the Dallas 21, but it was all for naught as nose tackle Sean Ross knocked the ball out of Berg's hand on the very next play, and LOLB Derrick Quinn took it 74 yards the other way for a touchdown. Instead of going up 14-0, we found ourselves mired at 7-7.

To begin the second quarter, Berg and the offense took to the field once again. With grim efficiency, Berg disemboweled the Cowboy's defense with passes of 19, 33, and 13 yards en route to a 4-play, 76-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 13-yard TD by Earl Thornton.

Norbert Healey finished off a 13-play drive that covered 71 yards with a 4-yard rushing touchdown to tie it at 14 all before the intermission.

Things got pretty quiet in the third quarter, as Broderick Hidalgo's 32-yard field goal midway through proved to be the only score of the quarter. Thus, we took a tenuous 17-14 lead into the final quarter.

A 45-yard Hidalgo field goal with 10 minutes left extended our lead to 20-14, and our next possession ended with a 20-yard receiving touchdown by Levon Wallace. Our attempt to push the lead to 14 failed when Herb Matthews was brought down short of the goal line on the 2 point try, so the score remained 26-14.

With just 5 minutes remaining, Curtis Perez's 19-yard field goal at the end of an 81-yard drive made it 26-17, but time was running out for the Cowboys. Unable to do much on offense, we gave the ball back to the Cowboys, but they too were soon forced to punt, and this time we made them pay. Ty Robbins' 18-yard touchdown catch with 1:54 left sealed the deal, and we won by the final score of 33-17. In the wake of our recent troubles, the victory over our sworn enemies tasted all the more sweet.

Key Performers:

After a slow start, Berg lit up the Cowboys for 356 yards and 4 TDs with 25 of 42 passing to earn the Game MVP award. He also threw one interception and fumbled once, but in light of the 4 TDs, we were willing to forgive a little rustiness on his part.

Herb Matthews' struggles continued, as he ran the ball 8 times for 54 yards.

Ralph Randle made 7 catches for 131 yards.

Ty Robbins caught 5 passes for 99 yards and 1 TD.

Earl Thornton caught 4 passes for 54 yards and 2 TDs.

New Injuries:

Left guard Rusty Pleasant, just back from a turf toe injury, now has bruised ribs, and will miss 2 more weeks.


=============================================
The Playoff Picture:

The Cardinals beat Minnesota to move to 8-5 and stay just in front of us in the East. St. Louis and Richmond also won to stay even with us at 8-5.

1. Tampa Bay (10-3)
2. New Orleans (9-4)
3. Arizona (8-5)
4. Gatesville, Richmond, and St. Louis are all 8-5.

It should be noted that the Cowboys' loss dropped them behind Washington (7-6) in the race for the playoffs. While technically still alive, the 'Boys are definitely gonna have a hard time making the playoffs. Such a shame... :D

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


yikes, this quest for a three-peat is getting a little difficult. time for Chuck U. to take the offense to a new level!

[Kodos]

Yep. It's been a tough 2015 campaign, but we are still in the running. Berg's return should really help get us back on track. And Chuck U could come to life at any time. He seems to get his touchdowns in bunches.

[Kodos]

Week 15

Jacksonville (10-3) at Gatesville (8-5)
============================================

Attendance: 52,500 people bought tickets; 4,500 didn't show up.

The Game:

We came into this game as a small underdog against a Jacksonville team that had only lost 3 games, but nonetheless found ourselves leading 31-0 early in the second quarter. Alan Hines opened the scoring with a fumble return for a touchdown; Chuck Farley followed with a score of his own; then Earl Thornton caught a 42-yard touchdown; and finally, Herb Matthews ran in a 21 yarder - all in the first quarter. Though Berg left early in the second with a bruised shoulder, we still cruised the rest of the way to a convincing 58-30 victory. One telling statistic: The Jags gained just 6 yards on the ground in the first 3 quarters.

Key Performers:

Earl Thornton caught the Game MVP award with 5 catches for 144 yards and 2 TDs.

Berg completed 7 of 13 for 112 yards, 2 TDs, and 0 interceptions before leaving the game with the shoulder injury.

Dana Alston went 21/33 for 289 yards, 2 TDs, 3 interceptions, and 1 fumble in relief of Bergeron.

Herb Matthews ran 11 times for 47 yards and 1 TD. He also made 8 grabs for 85 yards.

New Injuries:

Berg bruised his shoulder and will need 2 weeks or so to recover. Crap. He may play anyhow.

Right guard Darren Cruise sprained his knee. The estimate: 2 weeks.

SOLB Terrance Fuller has a dislocated shoulder and will miss 3-5 weeks. He is definitely out until the playoffs.

Chuck Farley has a hyper-extended elbow, and will miss a couple weeks. He is out next game for sure. We need him to be healthy in the playoffs. Unfortunately, this will end his quest to catch 10 touchdowns in the regular season. :(

Backup safety and kicker returner Percy Stewart has shoulder tendonitis and needs 3-5 weeks to recover.

Gene Flannery, who has rotated with Jonathan Farmer at center this year, has a broken foot. 3-5 weeks.

Backup guard Rob Stanton is demanding a trade. Jerk. Way to be a team player.


============================================
Philadelphia (3-10) at Dallas (6-7)

The Eagles edged the Cowboys, 16-13, to drop the Cowboys to 6-8 on the season. For all real purposes, their playoff hopes are gone. :)


============================================
The Playoff Picture:

Arizona (8-5) was defeated by Washington (7-6) by the score of 21-10. The Cardinals' loss, combined with our victory, put us back in first place in the East with 2 games to go! It also moved us up to the third seed in the NFC.

New Orleans (9-4) lost to Richmond (8-5), 24-14, to keep our hopes of getting a first round bye alive. However, Richmond has now passed us in the race for the number 2 seed.

Here is how the playoff field is shaping up:

1. Tampa Bay (11-3)
2. Richmond (9-5, 7-4 in NFC)
3. Gatesville (9-5, 6-4 in NFC)
4 & 5. St. Louis and New Orleans are both 9-5
6. Arizona (8-6)
---------------
7. Washington (8-6)

This is getting interesting folks. We have a game in St. Louis next week and we will play host to Chicago in Week 17. With a little luck, we can still secure the bye and let some of our men (especially Berg) try to get healthy for a playoff run. Definitely stay tuned - this looks like it could go down to the wire! :eek:

[Kodos]

Week 16

Gatesville (9-5) at St. Louis (9-5)
============================================

Injury Update:

Ross Corbett got the start at tight end in place of the injured Chuck Farley.

With a possible bye at stake, as well as the chance of missing the playoffs entirely still a possibility, we rolled the dice and let Berg play despite the shoulder injury.

The Game:

We carried a 17-7 lead into the fourth quarter in St. Louis, but Everett Schwarz's second fumble in less than a quarter gave the Rams the ball on our 20 with 7:40 left in the game. Three plays later, Kurt Warner hit Kevin Castillo for a 3-yard touchdown that brought the Rams to within 3, 17-14.

Pinned deep on our own 7, Schwarz tried to redeem himself with consecutive runs of 10, 16, and 5 yards to move us out to the 38. However, a dropped pass by Randle and a sack ended the drive and forced a punt. Bill Carr, who has let us down time and time again this season, surprisingly came through with a 52-yard punt.

Kurt Warner and the offense started off at their own 22 with 3:49 on the clock needing a field goal to tie the game. However, 2 Warner completions were not enough to overcome an offensive holding call, and the Rams were forced to punt it back to us.

Our next drive was failure in that we couldn't run out the rest of the clock, but we did manage to force St. Louis to use all of their time outs.

Starting from their own 36 with just 1:19 left to go, Warner hit Irv Chambliss for 44 yards on their first play. Crap! Following 2 short runs, Lamar Shea kicked a 36 yarder to tie up the game at 17-17 with 10 seconds left. Overtime, here we come.

St. Louis got the first crack at the ball in overtime, and they were able to move to our 45 before they ran out of steam. A good punt by Reed forced us to start from our 7. Berg was able to hit Ty Robbins for 20 yards to move us out from the shadow of our own goalpost, but three consecutive soon incompletions forced us to punt it away.

On their ensuing drive, the Rams were able to move the ball to midfield before being forced to punt once again. This time, we got the ball on our 18. The drive started inauspiciously when Levon Wallace was stopped 3 yards behind the line, but we made up for it on second down, when Berg hit Ross Corbett going across the middle, and Corbett proceeded to break multiple tackles en route to an 85-yard touchdown! Sweet victory for Gatesville, 23-17! What a finish! Chuck U, look out!

Key Performers:

Berg captured the Game MVP based on 26/46 passing for 400 yards, 3 TDs, and 0 interceptions. He also ran 5 times for 31 yards.

Everett Schwarz had a bad day after coming in for Matthews, who left the game with a bruised shoulder. Schwarz ran 11 times for just 42 yards, and also fumbled twice deep in our territory. Not impressive. Not impressive at all.

Ross Corbett certainly filled in for Chuck Farley in heroic fashion. In all, he caught 8 balls for 175 yards and 2 TDs. Nice work, Corbett! Why didn't somebody tell me that this kid was so good?!

Earl Thornton caught 4 balls for 63 yards and 1 TD.

New Injuries:

Herb Matthews suffered a bruised shoulder and will need 2 weeks to get back to good health.


============================================
Baltimore (3-11) at Dallas (6-8)

It was "Hello, Losing Season!" for the Cowboys once again, as the Ravens beat them 24-14 to seal the Cowboys' fate. As always, Bill and I enjoyed a bottle of fine champagne in celebration of the 'Boys annual march of futility.


============================================
The Playoff Picture:

We officially captured the NFC East title with Arizona's loss to Philadelphia. Our good fortunes continued when both Richmond and New Orleans lost too. When all was said and done, we had moved up into the number 2 slot in the NFC with one week left to go in the regular season. :)

1. Tampa Bay (11-4)
2. Gatesville (10-5)
3. Richmond (9-6)
4.-6. Washington, St. Louis, and New Orleans at all knotted up at 9-6.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by SplitPersonality1:


Congrats on the NFC East title. Nice win over St. Louis. Threepeat. Threepeat. Threepeat.

Good luck.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by revrew:


Um, excuse me. Let's not talk sacrilege. Corbett had a fine game because he was playing it for Chuck. It was Chuck's motivation from the sideline, Corbett's dedication of the game to Chuck that made the difference. It's not like Corbett could continue that.

Besides, it was obvious the Rams MLB was doped up on heroine. Did you see his eyes? His pupils were swimmin in pools of strawberry-rhubarb jelly. My grammama could have caught 100yds against that fool.

Hold your tongues, Kodos.

[Kodos]

I figured the Chuck fans wouldn't like my touting Corbett as the next great tight end. ;) Don't ya worry - Chuck's job is safe. I will start using more 2 tight end formations though.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


chuck is getting up there in years right? :(

maybe its time to groom the successor, especially when he has a monstrous game like that.

[Kodos]

Chuck's in his 9th season, but I don't see him slowing down yet. He's running out of chances to achieve his 10 TDs in one season goal. He had a chance this year before he got hurt... :(

[Kodos]

Originally posted by revrew:


Originally posted by cthomer5000:

chuck is getting up there in years right?
maybe its time to groom the successor, especially when he has a monstrous game like that.

What is this?! Conspiracy! Conspiracy, I tell you! Buy a gas mask! Hide the children!

Oh, wait. I'm sorry. I..I...I guess I've been locked up in this compound too long :o

[Kodos]

Originally posted by CAsterling:


Ross Corbett and Dana Alston, the future is bright. Maybe the added competition will push Chuck and Berg to new heights :)

[Kodos]

Alston poses no threat to Berg in my mind. Besides, Berg is only in his sixth season, and has led us to 3 Super Bowls, 2 of which he was voted MVP in. Alston is a backup, and not that great a backup at that.

[Kodos]

Week 17

Chicago (7-7-1) at Gatesville (10-5)
=============================================

Attendance: 52,500 bought tickets for our final regular season game, but 4,000 apparently had something better to do come gameday.

Injury Report:

Matthews, Farley, and linebacker Terrance Fuller all sat out this game in order to get healthier for the playoffs.

The Game:

The Bears went up early on a 45-yard Dwayne Ward field goal, but Corey McElroy soon put us on top with a 62-yard punt return that made it 7-3. In the second quarter, we traded field goals and went into the half leading 10-6.

In the third quarter, Ralph Randle extended our lead with a 2-yard touchdown reception, but Ward kicked a 50-yard field goal to keep them within 8, 17-9.

The fourth quarter saw the Bears even the score with a 25-yard Reuben Linquist run and a successful pass on the conversion from Tee Martin to Steve Hoag. 17-17.

With 1:34 left in the game, Broderick Hidalgo broke the tie with a 54-yard field goal to give us a 20-17 advantage. A Derek Brandon interception set up another field goal with 34 seconds left, and we held on to win 23-17.

Key Performers:

Cornerback Derek Brandon's possibly game-saving interception earned him the Game MVP award, despite the fact that he only had 2 tackles and 1 assist.

Berg, his bruised shoulder not fully healed, had an off day, completing just 17 of 35 passes for 213 yards, 1 TD, and 1 interception. He also ran 3 times for 18 yards.

Everett Schwarz ran the ball 10 times for 15 yards. Sad. I swear, we have so much trouble getting a decent running back here in Gatesville. They start off strong, and then trail off into worthless little running backs...

Ralph Randle added one more touchdown to his season total while catching 6 passes for 79 yards.


=============================================
Dallas (6-9) at Arizona (8-7)

Their season already officially in the shitter, the Cowboys got a meaningless win against the Cards, 19-10. Big whup. It just means a worse drafting position for 'em. :p


=============================================
The Playoff Picture:

The Rams' 34-24 victory over the Broncos secured them the NFC West title and the number 3 seed in the NFC. Here's how the teams will be seeded for the 2015 Playoffs:

1. Tampa Bay (12-4)
2. Gatesville (11-5)
3. St. Louis (10-6)
4. Washington (10-6)
5. New Orleans (10-6)
6. Richmond (9-7)

Notably, Richmond is one of only 2 teams out of the 12 that made the playoffs that did not win 10 games or more. Getting our threepeat won't be easy, no matter who we end up facing... :eek:

[Kodos]

2015 Final Standings

Here is how the divisions looked after all was said and done in the 2015 regular season.
<pre><font face="courier">
NFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
**Gatesville 11 5 0 .688 447 335 5-3-0 8-4-0
Washington 10 6 0 .625 356 267 5-3-0 9-4-0
Arizona 8 8 0 .500 250 272 4-4-0 7-5-0
*Dallas 7 9 0 .438 265 315 3-5-0 6-6-0
Philadelphia 5 11 0 .313 218 336 3-5-0 3-10-0

NFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Tampa Bay 12 4 0 .750 392 223 6-2-0 9-3-0
Chicago 7 8 1 .469 231 235 5-2-1 6-5-1
Detroit 7 8 1 .469 282 322 5-2-1 6-5-1
Green Bay 5 11 0 .313 204 272 2-6-0 3-10-0
Minnesota 3 13 0 .188 208 324 1-7-0 3-10-0

NFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
St. Louis 10 6 0 .625 413 306 7-3-0 8-5-0
New Orleans 10 6 0 .625 311 240 7-3-0 8-5-0
Richmond 9 7 0 .563 303 248 5-5-0 7-6-0
San Francisco 9 7 0 .563 293 279 4-6-0 6-7-0
Atlanta 7 9 0 .438 250 312 4-6-0 7-6-0
Carolina 4 12 0 .250 223 341 3-7-0 4-9-0

AFC East W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Buffalo 12 4 0 .750 305 242 7-3-0 10-3-0
New York 9 7 0 .563 340 288 6-4-0 7-6-0
Indianapolis 8 8 0 .500 278 265 6-4-0 6-7-0
Des Moines 7 9 0 .438 272 326 5-5-0 6-7-0
New England 6 10 0 .375 262 372 3-7-0 5-8-0
Miami 6 10 0 .375 232 331 3-7-0 3-10-0

AFC Central W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Pittsburgh 11 5 0 .688 400 259 8-2-0 9-4-0
Jacksonville 10 6 0 .625 344 328 5-5-0 8-5-0
Cincinnati 9 7 0 .563 314 308 6-4-0 8-5-0
Tennessee 9 7 0 .563 309 315 5-5-0 7-6-0
Cleveland 7 9 0 .438 341 323 4-6-0 5-8-0
Baltimore 4 12 0 .250 258 325 2-8-0 3-10-0

AFC West W L T Pct PF PA Div Conf
Seattle 10 6 0 .625 296 316 7-3-0 9-4-0
San Diego 10 6 0 .625 385 271 6-4-0 8-5-0
Wichita 9 7 0 .563 322 265 6-4-0 8-5-0
Kansas City 8 8 0 .500 329 386 5-5-0 7-6-0
Denver 8 8 0 .500 399 338 5-5-0 7-6-0
Oakland 4 12 0 .250 241 388 1-9-0 1-12-0
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


so they Jets missed out on a 3rd chance to go for the title? too bad... that would have been classic.

[Kodos]

2015 Playoffs - Wild Card Round

NFC:

The Rams, who we defeated 23-17 in overtime back in Week 16, edged Richmond and will come to Gatesville next weekend for the Divisional Round. The Redskins will travel to south to face the Buccaneers.

<pre><font face="courier">
5. New Orleans (10-6) 10
4. Washington (10-6) 29

6. Richmond (9-7) 17
3. St. Louis (10-6) 20
</font></pre>


AFC:

We had a couple of close games on the AFC side, but the underdogs, Jacksonville and Cincinnati, will be watching the rest of the playoffs on TV despite gritty performances.

<pre><font face="courier">
5. Jacksonville (10-6) 7
3. San Diego (10-6) 13

6. Cincinnati (9-7) 6
3. Seattle (10-6) 10
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:
so they Jets missed out on a 3rd chance to go for the title? too bad... that would have been classic.

Mercifully, yes. No Buffalo Bills jokes for them this year...

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


let's go Redskins! you gotta come up with a win against Tampa to make the road to the title again run through Gatesville, Texas.

[Kodos]

Yep, but before that, we have to beat a Rams squad that we had a tough time against just a couple weeks ago... Keep those fingers crossed!

[Kodos]

2015 Playoffs - Divisional Round

St. Louis (11-6) at Gatesville (11-5)
=============================================

Attendance: A record crowd of 52,500 showed up for this game, with nary a no-show.

Injury Report:

SOLB Terrance Fuller, still not fully back from a dislocated shoulder, elected to play anyway, it being the playoffs and all.

Percy Stewart, our return man and backup safety, has shoulder tendinitis and was put on the injured reserve list.

Gene Flannery, our center who rotates with Jonathan Farmer, was inactive for this game due to a broken foot.

The Game:

Herb Matthews, despite his lackluster performance through most of this season, got the start at RB over the even more lackluster Everett Schwarz.

Both teams came out looking really stiff in the first quarter. After 15 minutes of play, the combined offense for both teams was less than 100 yards. The second quarter wasn't much different, as we ended up totaling just 52 yards rushing and 41 yards passing in the entire first half. Unsurprisingly, we went into the half in a scoreless tie.

We finally hit paydirt in the third quarter when Berg hit Matthews for a 3-yard touchdown to put us up 7-0. On the ensuing kickoff, safety Edward Jenkins (who we picked up just this week after placing Percy Stewart on IR) recovered return-man Dodge's fumble and returned the ball 40 yards for a touchdown! How 'bout that?! No scoring for almost 40 minutes, and then 14 points in 17 seconds!

With 11 minutes to go in the fourth, Broderick Hidalgo hit a 38-yard field goal to make it 17-0, and it looked like we were on our way to victory.

Kurt Warner and the Rams apparently saw it differently. On consecutive plays, Warner, in search of a third Super Bowl ring, hit Irv Chambliss for gains of 41 and 36 yards, with the second reception going for a touchdown. At 17-7 with 9:44 remaining, the Rams were down, but they weren't out just yet.

Sensing a possible shift in momentum, our offense took to the field looking to finish the Rams off. On first down, James Pond sprung Herb Matthews up the middle for a 52-yard scamper that ended at the St. Louis 28 yard line. A Berg scramble and a Farley reception gave us another first down at the Rams' 17. However, three straight incompletions brought on the field goal unit, and Hidalgo's kick sailed true from 34-yards away to push our lead to 20-7. Still, the Rams were within striking distance.

Strike they did, as they once again manufactured a 2-play touchdown drive with a pair of long passes. This time Chambliss struck from 36-yards away to pull them to within 20-14.

With clearly no help coming from the defense, Berg and the offense once again trotted out onto the field and took over from our 20 with 6:17 left in the game. Immediately, Berg dialed up Earl Thornton for a 20-yard gain that moved us out to the 40. A Berg scramble and a completion to Ralph Randle netted us another first down, and from there Chuck Farley caught passes for gains of 22 and 12 yards to move us to the Rams' 14 with just over 3 minutes left. Looking to take as much time off of the clock as possible now that we were in scoring position, we ran the ball a couple times and sent Hidalgo out to try a 28-yard field goal after failing to get another first down. With 2:41 left, Hidalgo sent the ball right down the middle, and it was once again a 2-score game, 23-14.

Our defense, having just allowed 2 touchdowns in 4 plays, rose to the occasion this time, and forced the Rams to go three-and-out and punt it away as we hit the 2 minute warning.

We would have liked to have run out the clock, but we went three-and-out too, and gave the ball back to the Rams with 1:14 remaining in regulation. Dave Sanders' interception of Kurt Warner on third-and-19 sealed the deal, and we escaped the Rams' comeback bid with a 23-14 win. With our game decided, we would have to wait to see how the Bucs would fare in their game versus Washington on Sunday night.

Key Performers:

Herb Matthews won the Game MVP with a 16-run, 127-yard performance, which he supplemented with 5 catches for 53 yards and 1 TD.

Berg once again seemed to be off of his game, as he completed just 19 of 40 passes for 211 yards and 1 TD. I don't need to tell you that those are not very Berg-like numbers... :(

Chuck Farley caught 4 passes for 48 yards.

Dave Sanders made 5 tackles and 3 assists before making the game-winning interception.

[Kodos]

2015 Playoffs - Divisional Round

NFC:

The Bucs had an easier time with the Skins than we had with the Rams. Thus, we will travel to Tampa Bay in hopes of upsetting a very tough Buccaneers squad that beat us 24-21 back in Week 10 without the services of their best player.

<pre><font face="courier">
4. Washington (11-6) 9
1. Tampa Bay (12-4) 27
</font></pre>


AFC:

Pittsburgh and Buffalo both took advantage of the home field to advance to the AFC Championship game.

<pre><font face="courier">
3. Seattle (11-6) 15
2. Pittsburgh (11-5) 38

4. San Diego (11-6) 3
1. Buffalo (12-4) 20
</font></pre>

Send us your good thoughts this week. We're gonna need 'em... :)

[Kodos]

From: Kyle Diaz
To: Bill Gates & Kodos
Subject: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Injury Report:
Luther Monroe, DT - Out
Renaldo Apolonio, DE - Probable
Brock Platt, T - Doubtful
Marty Card, DE - Doubtful
Luke Lane, G - Probable
Mario Oliver, LB - Out

Offensive Overview:

Starting Quarterback: Dwight Norris
182 for 298, 2216 yards, 18 TDs, 3 interceptions this season.
Excellent at throwing very long passes.
Loves to run the football.

Starting Running Back: Jon Adams
193 carries for 797 yards, 5 touchdowns this season.
Excellent overall runner just back from a sprained back. Last season’s League MVP.

Starting Flanker: Donovan Burroughs
60 receptions for 819 yards, 8 touchdowns this season.
Excellent runner after the catch.

Starting Split End: Ethan Hevey
53 receptions for 612 yards, 6 touchdowns this season.
Very good go-to receiver.

Defensive Overview:

Starting Left Defensive End: David Fisher
35 tackles, 14 assists, 7.5 sacks this season.
No real strengths to speak of.

Starting Right Defensive End: Renaldo Apolonio
36 tackles, 8 assists, 4.5 sacks this season.
Very good defender against the run.

Starting Left Defensive Tackle: Chuck Fields
32 tackles, 10 assists, 0.5 sacks this season.
No real strengths to speak of.

Starting Right Defensive Tackle: Fernando Dawkins
26 tackles, 9 assists, 0.5 sacks this season.
No real strengths to speak of.

Starting Left Linebacker: Mark Dixon
64 tackles, 18 assists, 3.0 sacks this season.
Good pass-rusher.

Starting Middle Linebacker: Marco Curtis
67 tackles, 29 assists, 3.0 sacks this season.
Good zone pass defender.

Starting Right Linebacker: Lance Adams
38 tackles, 14 assists, 2.0 sacks this season.
No real strengths to speak of.

Starting Left Cornerback: Danny Carty
36 tackles, 7 assists, 3 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

Starting Right Cornerback: Wesley Castleberry
51 tackles, 14 assists, 4 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

Starting Free Safety: Adrian Strong
74 tackles, 33 assists, 8 interceptions this season.
Excellent man-to-man pass defender.

Starting Strong Safety: Junior Martinez
77 tackles, 18 assists, 4 interceptions this season.
Very good pass intercepter.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


this must be destiny! Honestly their defense looks like it can be had, a big day by Herb Matthews should be in order against that weak-ass D-line. Chuck also needs some customary clutch plays.

Me fearless prediction:

Gatesville wins 30-24 in overtime!

[Kodos]

2015 Playoffs – NFC Championship Game

Gatesville (12-5) at Tampa Bay (13-4)
============================================

The Game:

Coming into our rematch with the Bucs, who had beaten us 24-21 back in Week 10, we found ourselves faced with a case of “pick your poison” - either to try to stop Jon Adams, the 2014 NFL MVP running back, or to try to stop Dwight Norris, a veteran quarterback who had become a star in his own right in recent years. After going back and forth for a while, we concluded that Adams represented the bigger threat, and thus predicated our defensive game plan on stopping him.

On a balmy, rainy day in Florida, the Bucs won the toss and decided that they wanted the first crack on offense. Following a 23-yard return of a short Hidalgo kickoff, Tampa started out at their own 34. To nobody’s surprise, Adams got the ball first and plunged through the line for a 3-yard gain. Following an incompletion, Norris connected with Donovan Burroughs for a 22-yard gain. Alternating Adams runs with Norris passes, the Bucs moved down the field with an aura of absolute self-confidence. On the thirteenth play of the drive, Jon Adams charged around the left end for a 1-yard touchdown to give them an early lead, 7-0.

Our first possession started on our 27. Chuck Farley dropped Berg’s pass on first down, but with good reason – the defender had grabbed himself a nice handful of face mask. After the penalty was walked off, we were on the 42. Berg’s second pass went Farley’s way too, and this time the big man caught it for a 10-yard gain and a first down at the Buc 48. Herb Matthews got his first opportunity next, and gained thirteen yards around the left side of the line behind center Jonathan Farmer. From there, Berg took to the air for the third time in four plays, and this time found Earl Thornton on his way to the end zone. Touchdown, Gatesville! Regrettably, Hidalgo lost his footing on the extra point and it sailed right, so despite our touchdown, the Bucs stayed on top, 7-6. Time would tell whether or not Hidalgo’s miscue would come back to haunt us.

Maurice Rousseau’s 7-yard sack on the first play of their next drive put the Bucs offense in a hole that they could not get out of, and they quickly punted following a three-and-out.

Taking advantage of good field position, our offense quickly moved into Buc territory, but 2 sacks in 3 plays forced us to settle for a 47-yard Hidalgo field goal at the beginning of the second quarter after we had advanced into the red zone. 9-7, Gatesville.

Following unsuccessful drives by both the Bucs and ourselves, the Bucs started off with great field position at their 43. Dwight Norris did most of the work with his passing, and Adams finished off the drive with a 12-yard run around the left end to score his second touchdown of the day and recapture the lead, 14-9.

Things got considerably worse for us on the first play of our ensuing drive, as Berg was picked off deep in our territory. A 23-yard Adams run helped set up a 3-yard quarterback keeper by Dwight Norris. In less than 2 minutes, our 2-point lead had become a 12-point deficit.

Determined to get some of those points back, Berg went to the air starting from our 16 with 3:33 left before the half ended. Ralph Randle provided Berg’s first target, and he gained 19 yards across the middle to move us to the 35. Next, Berg found Herb Matthews out of the backfield for a 22-yard gain, and followed it up with a 30-yard strike to Ty Robbins that moved us to the Tampa 13. With the Bucs defense back on its heels, we switched things up and gave the ball to Matthews on the ground, but he was stuffed for a 2-yard loss. A Berg incompletion and a Matthews reception that fell well short of a first down brought on the field goal unit. Hidalgo’s 27-yard attempt sailed true to bring us to within 9, 21-12.

We started the second half with the ball, and after picking up one first down, Everett Schwarz was called for spearing and was ejected from the game. The 15-yard penalty proved to be too much to overcome, so we were quickly forced to punt.

Following a Buc three-and-out, we drove to the Tampa 28, but Hidalgo’s field goal attempt sailed wide left and the score remained at 21-12 in the Bucs’ favor.

Starting from their own 35, the Bucs went to the air on their next drive with great success. Soon they had marched to our 29, and following a 15-yard run by Jon Adams, Norris hit Andre Barker for a 14-yard touchdown that made it 28-12 with 3:48 left in the third quarter. I’d like to tell you that our offense came alive and we came roaring back to defeat them, but that just didn’t happen. The Bucs scored 2 more touchdowns before time ran out on us, while we failed to put up even a single point in the second half. When all was said and done, the Bucs had thrashed us to the tune of 42-12. Like the 8 teams that had tried before us, we failed to make it back to take a crack at a third consecutive Super Bowl victory. We had flirted with Destiny, but clearly, she hadn’t flirted back. Thus we became the 9th team in NFL history to try for the threepeat and fail.

Key Performers:

Dwight Norris, the Game MVP, just picked our defense apart, as he completed 20 of 26 attempts for 246 yards, 3 TDs, and no interceptions.

Our attempts to slow down Jon Adams worked to some extent, as he only gained 83 yards on 22 carries. However, his 2 touchdowns alone were enough to beat us.

Berg, who never seemed to be quite himself after he returned from the groin injury in Week 14, had a miserable day. He completed only 11 of 25 passes for 148 yards, 1 TD, and 3 interceptions. Our top receiver on the day, Earl Thornton, managed only 35 yards. Berg will now have a very long off-season to recover. :(

Herb Matthews did not have the monster day some expected, as he only gained 82 yards on 17 runs.

[Kodos]

2015 Super Bowl

Buffalo (14-4) at Tampa Bay (14-4)
============================================


Despite having both of their superstars, Jon Adams and Dwight Norris, leave the game early with injuries, the Bucs still found a way to defeat the Bills, who were never able to climb back into the game after they fell behind 21-7 in the second quarter. Tampa Bay backup QB Leonard Marshall had a fairy tale performance, as he racked up almost 400 yards and 5 TDs on the day. The final score: Tampa 41, Buffalo 26.

Super Bowl MVP: Leonard Marshall hit on 25 of 35 attempts for 396 yards and 5 TDs.

Andre Barker also had a field day, as he caught 7 passes for 154 yards and 3 TDs. Incredible performances for both those guys!
:eek:

[Kodos]

2015 Individual Statistics

QBs

Berg was in the midst of an excellent regular season before he got injured. In all, he threw 30 TDs, but he probably could have broken the NFL single-season passing TD record if he hadn't gotten hurt towards the end of the season and missed significant playing time.
Berg's 101.3 passer rating was tops in the league, while Tampa QB Dwight Norris finished second-best with a rating of 99.8. Dana Alston's numbers, including a 65.0 passer rating, leave a lot of room for improvement...
<pre><font face="courier">
Name Tm GP GS Att Comp Pct Yards Avg Lg
Bergeron, Devin GTV 13 13 441 260 58.9 3512 7.96 85
Alston, Dana GTV 7 3 178 100 56.1 1049 5.89 51
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name TD Int Sack Yards Rate
Bergeron, Devin 30 6 30 193 101.3
Alston, Dana 8 10 10 65 65.0
</font></pre>

RBs

Herb Matthews led all rushers despite the fact that he failed to eclipse the 500-yard mark. Not so good. We will be looking for help at RB in the draft.
<pre><font face="courier">
Name Tm GP GS Att Yards Avg Lg TD
Matthews, Herb GTV 14 11 119 497 4.1 34 5
Schwarz, Everett GTV 15 5 127 440 3.4 35 3
Bergeron, Devin GTV 13 13 62 339 5.4 15 2
Wallace, Levon GTV 16 16 62 196 3.1 22 1
</font></pre>

Receivers

Two guys (Ty Robbins and Earl Thornton) topped the 1000-yard mark receiving, while Ralph Randle also came somewhat close to doing so. Thornton just seems to have the knack for getting the ball into the endzone. Chuck Farley missed another chance to catch 10 touchdowns in a season when he got hurt. Maybe next year...
<pre><font face="courier">
Name Tm GP GS Ctch Yards Avg Targ CtPct
Robbins, Ty GTV 16 3 68 1073 15.7 114 59.6
Thornton, Earl GTV 16 15 64 1053 16.4 129 49.6
Randle, Ralph GTV 15 14 69 923 13.3 135 51.1
Matthews, Herb GTV 14 11 60 540 9.0 84 71.4
Farley, Chuck GTV 14 14 42 330 7.8 73 57.5
Corbett, Ross GTV 15 2 14 265 18.9 22 63.6
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name Lg TD YAC Drop PsPly TgPct
Robbins, Ty 85 5 476 5 486 23.4
Thornton, Earl 51 9 586 6 563 22.9
Randle, Ralph 46 7 423 10 480 28.1
Matthews, Herb 20 3 441 4 317 26.4
Farley, Chuck 51 7 277 4 361 20.2
Corbett, Ross 85 3 69 2 103 21.3
</font></pre>

Defenders

MLB Al Ingram led all tacklers, as usual, while newcomer Sam Viola looked very good in his rookie season. If he has a good camp next year, he will replace the aging Ingram at MLB.
<pre><font face="courier">
Name Tm GP GS Tckl Asst Sack Blk Hurr
Ingram, Al GTV 15 15 89 35 2.0 0 2
Sanders, Dave GTV 16 16 73 39 0.0 0 0
Hines, Alan GTV 16 16 73 14 0.0 0 0
Viola, Sam GTV 16 16 65 18 1.0 0 0
Whitfield, Allen GTV 15 15 60 23 8.0 0 1
Fuller, Terrance GTV 10 10 49 25 0.0 0 0
Harden, Joel GTV 13 13 44 10 0.0 0 0
Eagle, Mike GTV 16 16 43 13 0.0 1 0
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name RnPly PsPly PRPct TkPct
Ingram, Al 286 448 0.8 17.1
Sanders, Dave 341 511 0.0 13.1
Hines, Alan 369 550 0.0 9.4
Viola, Sam 251 290 0.3 15.5
Whitfield, Allen 289 433 2.0 12.6
Fuller, Terrance 168 208 0.0 19.6
Harden, Joel 254 363 0.0 8.7
Eagle, Mike 333 456 0.2 7.0
Eafon, Lamont 89 285 3.5 11.7
</font></pre>

Pass Defenders

As usual, Dave Sanders and Joel Harden led the secondary in interceptions, but we really could have used more picks this season. Hopefully we will be able to grab a solid second cornerback in the offseason.
<pre><font face="courier">
Name Tm GP GS Ints IRYd TD Cght Dfns
Sanders, Dave GTV 16 16 4 62 0 35 16
Harden, Joel GTV 13 13 4 62 0 24 3
Eagle, Mike GTV 16 16 2 18 0 29 2
Stewart, Percy GTV 16 1 2 11 0 21 0
Hines, Alan GTV 16 16 1 58 0 38 7
Viola, Sam GTV 16 16 1 33 0 29 1
Brandon, Derek GTV 16 2 1 23 0 17 3
Mincy, Dexter GTV 16 8 1 0 0 14 2
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name PsPly PDQ
Sanders, Dave 511 43.6
Harden, Joel 363 34.8
Eagle, Mike 456 22.8
Stewart, Percy 303 22.9
Hines, Alan 550 23.4
Viola, Sam 290 17.3
Brandon, Derek 221 27.2
Mincy, Dexter 169 27.6
</font></pre>

Sack Leaders

Our d-line was not able to produce many sacks this year, so WOLB Allen Whitfield picked up some of the slack.
<pre><font face="courier">
Name Tm GP GS Tckl Asst Sack Blk Hurr
Whitfield, Allen GTV 15 15 60 23 8.0 0 1
Farley, Frankie GTV 16 15 15 5 6.0 1 2
Everett, Paul GTV 16 16 9 4 6.0 0 1
Sanders, Patrick GTV 16 16 30 16 4.0 1 1
Hickman, Peter GTV 16 1 13 4 4.0 3 2
Eafon, Lamont GTV 16 0 33 8 3.0 3 4
Mason, Jose GTV 16 0 14 2 3.0 1 4
Ingram, Al GTV 15 15 89 35 2.0 0 2
</font></pre>
<pre><font face="courier">
Name RnPly PsPly PRPct TkPct
Whitfield, Allen 289 433 2.0 12.6
Farley, Frankie 220 175 5.1 6.5
Everett, Paul 262 223 3.1 3.9
Sanders, Patrick 307 462 1.2 6.5
Hickman, Peter 174 390 2.3 3.7
Eafon, Lamont 89 285 3.5 11.7
Mason, Jose 101 190 4.2 6.5
Ingram, Al 286 448 0.8 17.1
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

2015 Player Awards

Berg was one of only 2 Silicon Pirate to earn any recognition in 2015, but he got three of the biggest awards out there: NFL MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, and 1st-Team All-Pro QB. Not too shabby, especially considering that he missed 3 full games and parts of other games.

Levon Wallace earned 2nd-team recognition at the fullback position.

<pre><font face="courier">
Award Player Team
**NFL MVP Devin Bergeron GTV
**Offensive Player of the Year Devin Bergeron GTV
Defensive Player of the Year James Skerritt JAX
Offensive Rookie of the Year Kim Voigt STL
Defensive Rookie of the Year Daryl Bassett CAR
Super Bowl MVP Leonard Marshall TBY
**All-Pro 1st Team Quarterback Devin Bergeron GTV
All-Pro 1st Team Running Back Bob Macias SFO
All-Pro 1st Team Fullback Alex Schroeder KCY
All-Pro 1st Team Tight End Spencer Sprouse SDO
All-Pro 1st Team Wide Receiver Wade Aleman WAS
All-Pro 1st Team Wide Receiver Cornelius Terry PIT
All-Pro 1st Team Center Phil Fitzgerald TEN
All-Pro 1st Team Guard Clyde Hare KCY
All-Pro 1st Team Guard Lawrence Hartland STL
All-Pro 1st Team Tackle Jim Stapleton SFO
All-Pro 1st Team Tackle Billy Joe Scott PHI
All-Pro 1st Team Punter Brant Dawson PHI
All-Pro 1st Team Kicker Lamar Shea STL
All-Pro 1st Team Defensive End Toby Stavros CLE
All-Pro 1st Team Defensive End Geoff DiGiacomo MIN
All-Pro 1st Team Defensive Tackle Edward Bray DSM
All-Pro 1st Team Defensive Tackle Britt Rackers CIN
All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker Buddy Russell DSM
All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker Graham Stone MIN
All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker Jorge Barton SEA
All-Pro 1st Team Linebacker Fernando Cano CHI
All-Pro 1st Team Cornerback T.J. Dove CLE
All-Pro 1st Team Cornerback Dean Hambrick BUF
All-Pro 1st Team Safety James Skerritt JAX
All-Pro 1st Team Safety Adrian Strong TBY
All-Pro 2nd Team Quarterback Marty Petkovich DEN
All-Pro 2nd Team Running Back Keith Duran JAX
**All-Pro 2nd Team Fullback Levon Wallace GTV
All-Pro 2nd Team Tight End Kenneth Conway DSM
All-Pro 2nd Team Wide Receiver Sedrick Henson NOS
All-Pro 2nd Team Wide Receiver Lamar Talley SDO
All-Pro 2nd Team Center Tito Hickson PIT
All-Pro 2nd Team Guard Brant Wooden NOS
All-Pro 2nd Team Guard Chuck Hicks BUF
All-Pro 2nd Team Tackle Chris Samuels GBY
All-Pro 2nd Team Tackle Russell Farrell STL
All-Pro 2nd Team Punter Drew Alexander WAS
All-Pro 2nd Team Kicker Calvin Connolly RIC
All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive End Hardy Gordon WIC
All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive End Corey Benson KCY
All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive Tackle Wes Dougherty SEA
All-Pro 2nd Team Defensive Tackle Kevin Von Hagel NYJ
All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker Sammie Connell SFO
All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker Mo Reeves CIN
All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker Tito Malewitz CAR
All-Pro 2nd Team Linebacker Jared Updike JAX
All-Pro 2nd Team Cornerback Donovan Ross RIC
All-Pro 2nd Team Cornerback Tim Lowe ATL
All-Pro 2nd Team Safety Winfred Armanda OAK
All-Pro 2nd Team Safety J.J. Tweedie WIC
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


it can't be!

How could Gatesville lose?!!!!??

arggghhhh!

why did i bet my house on the game? :eek:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:
why did i bet my house on the game? :eek:

LOL. Don't worry, Berg will buy you a new one. He feels like it was his fault that we lost.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


tell him he can find me in the alleyway between St. Peters Hosptial and Southwest Burrito in New Brunswick, New Jersey. I am easily mistaken for messy copies of the Sunday Star Ledger and Home News Tribune.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


Tough break with the Buccaneers, Kodos. It was a damned shame to watch Berg and Co. walk off the field with their heads down like that. They've got nothing to be ashamed of, as far as I'm concerned.

And the repeated success will certainly help you keep your job. What is this, four straight playoff berths?

[Kodos]

I believe it is our 6th straight playoff berth (2010 - 2015). We also appeared in the Super Bowl 3 consecutive years before this season, and won the last 2 Super Bowls that we appeared in. So we're having a pretty good run. And it's actually conceivable that we could have our first home sellout next season. :)

[Kodos]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz:


Just caught up with this year's story. Bummer you missed the three-peat, but a great read as usual!

You've got to believe that your success is costing Dallas fans. Be nice to see them hit the road!

Have any of the other teams moved?

Looking forward to next year!

[Kodos]

Nobody has moved. I think the Bears tried to move, but got rejected.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


Good thing, too. If the Bears ever moved out of Chicago, the GM would probably wake up next to a horse's head. :D

[Kodos]

Or a horse would wake up next to the GM's head...

[Kodos]

2015 Season Final Team Ratings:

Season Ending Power Ratings:

We finished the year with a pretty respectable power rating, but we just didn't carry enough momentum into the playoffs to get to our fourth consecutive Super Bowl. The Cowboys team was very average this year, and their power rating shows it. :)

<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville: 89
Dallas: 51
</font></pre>

Team Rankings for 2015 Season:

With our porous secondary, nobody even bothered trying to run on us. Thus our deceptively good looking run defense ranking of 4th. Our passing game was great as usual, but our running attack left a lot to be desired. We need more of a go-to back, and I suspect that either Matthews or Schwarz has played his last game with us.

<pre><font face="courier">
Rushing offense 1513 yds 24th
Passing offense 4561 yds 1st
Rushing defense 1353 yds 4th
Passing defense 3743 yds 31st
</font></pre>

Our sacks ranking fell from 4th in 2014 to 15th this year, probably due to the departure of defensive tackle Joey Rhoades in the 2015 offseason.

In the past, our defense has been good at generating turnovers even though we sometimes allowed opponents to rack up good yardage. This year, we just didn't create as many turnover opportunities as we are accustomed to.

Our points allowed also dropped from 14th in 2014 to 28th in 2015. Unacceptable.

<pre><font face="courier">
Sacks 42 15th
Interceptions 16 21st
Turnover margin 0 20th
Points scored 447 1st
Points allowed 335 28th
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

2015 Franchise Info:

Average Yearly Attendance Through 2015:

Good news here as our average attendance jumped by 4,400, while the Cowboys' attendance dropped by 3,600. Looks like a lot of folks are spendin' their Sundays in a new stadium! :D In 2 years time, the Cowboys have lost 7,900 in average attendance, while ours has risen by 5,900. This is just the kind of thing we have been working for! I actually believe that if things go well in 2016, we could have our first sellout ever! Ohhhh, dare to dream, Kodos, dare to dream!

<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Dallas
Attend. %Attend. Attend. %Attend.
2007 35,400 59.7 55,400 84.3*
2008 36,200 61.1 55,500 84.4
2009 38,200 64.5 59,300 83.7**
2010 35,400 59.7 61,800 87.2
2011 39,600 66.8 58,700 82.9
2012 42,300 71.4 50,300 71.0
2013 43,200 72.9 55,900 78.9
2014 44,700 75.5 51,600 72.8
2015 49,100 82.9 48,000 68.9
</font></pre>
* Our first year in Gatesville
** Dallas' first year with their renovated stadium.

Fan Support Through 2015:

Well, our loyalty climbed just a bit, but the best news here was that the support for a new stadium in Dallas fell to 0 from 12% just last season. Looks like if Jerry wants to get himself a new stadium, it won't be in Dallas! :D
<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Dallas
Fan loyalty New stadium Fan loyalty New stadium
2007 0 0 69 0
2008 0 0 63 0
2009 0 8 56 0
2010 0 16 45 0
2011 0 26 36 0
2012 6 46 25 0
2013 20 70 18 0
2014 31 87 28 12
2015 33 85 23 0
</font></pre>

Franchise Values Through 2015:

More progress here, as we gained two spots, and the Cowboys lost two.
<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Dallas
2007 $515,700,000 (28th) $614,790,000 (9th)
2008 $537,350,000 (29th) $576,170,000 (22nd)
2009 $546,000,000 (29th) $539,500,000 (31st)
2010 $590,860,000 (29th) $654,660,000 (17th)
2011 $616,350,000 (20th) $595,290,000 (26th)
2012 $647,970,000 (24th) $557,030,000 (32nd)
2013 $652,850,000 (27th) $547,870,000 (31st)
2014 $726,040,000 (14th) $587,820,000 (30th)
2015 $734,520,000 (12th) $591,740,000 (32nd)
</font></pre>

Yearly Profits/Losses Through 2015:

Here's where the bad news starts. We cut our losses by $2.12 million in comparison to 2014, but that isn't nearly enough if I'm trying to keep my job. Not good. Not good at all.
<pre><font face="courier">
Gatesville Dallas
2007 -$158,340,000 +$1,270,000
2008 -$156,020,000 -$14,750,000
2009 -$175,240,000 +$64,470,000
2010 -$216,300,000 +$52,820,000
2011 -$174,590,000 -$5,030,000
2012 -$157,570,000 -$8,200,000
2013 -$131,510,000 -$5,090,000
2014 -$64,880,000 +$1,940,000
2015 -$62,760,000 -$9,160,000
</font></pre>

Cumulative Table Of Losses Through 2015:

More trouble. I now have less that $100 million in losses left to work with... **GULP** :(
<pre><font face="courier">
Season Team Losses
=====================
2000 $620,000,000
2001 18,000,000
2002 14,000,000
2003 134,600,000
2004 169,300,000
2005 122,100,000
2006 6,731,700,000*
2007 158,300,000
2008 156,000,000
2009 175,200,000
2010 216,300,000
2011 174,600,000
2012 157,600,000
2013 131,500,000
2014 64,900,000
2015 62,760,000
=====================
Total $9,106,860,000
</font></pre>

* Bill Gates bought the right to rename Waco to "Gatesville" in 2006 for $6.6 billion dollars.

And The Squeeze Gets Tighter...

Just as a refresher, before the 2014 season, my pal Billy gave me 5 years to start turning a profit with this team. However, if our cumulative losses exceed $9.2 billion before those five years are up, I will be fired immediately; The only caveat being that he will not fire me after any season the ends with a Super Bowl victory for Gatesville. My margin for error is now only $93.14 million...

So it's looking like this: If our finances don't improve drastically soon, I will be out of here following the 2017 season... :eek:

<pre><font face="courier">
$9,200,000,000
-9,106,860,000
==============
$93,140,000
</font></pre>

2013 vs. 2014 vs. 2015 Financial Performances: A Closer Look

It appears that our increased average attendance this season was cancelled out by the fact that we hosted two fewer playoff games than we did last year. All that progress for nothing... Basically, our total revenues and total costs were about the same as they were last year. In other words, things are not looking too good for ol' Kodos' job security these days...

<pre><font face="courier">
2013 2014 2015 %chg
====================================================================
Television contract $56,840,000 $57,520,000 $58,200,000 +1%
Ticket revenue $45,830,000 $50,380,000 $48,510,000 -3%
Suite revenue $0 $0 $0 --
Concessions $4,240,000 $4,760,000 $4,770,000 0%
Parking $2,240,000 $2,520,000 $2,520,000 0%
Advertising $10,700,000 $13,290,000 $15,850,000 +19%
====================================================================
Revenues $119,850,000 $128,470,000 $129,850,000 +1%
====================================================================
Player contracts $95,840,000 $96,960,000 $101,600,000 +4%
Player bonuses $23,680,000 $46,600,000 $37,500,000 -19%
Training $12,070,000 $7,270,000 $7,890,000 +8%
Coaching $70,000,000 $22,400,000 $22,400,000 0%
Scouting $45,000,000 $14,850,000 $17,550,000 +18%
Stadium maintenance $4,770,000 $5,210,000 $5,670,000 +8%
Stadium payment $0 $0 $0 --
====================================================================
Costs $251,360,000 $193,350,000 $192,610,000 0%
====================================================================
Profits/Losses -$131,510,000 -$64,880,000 -$62,760,000 +3%
</font></pre>

[Kodos]

Well, that pretty much does it for Part VI of The Bill Gates Challenge. Sadly, we fell short of our main goal this season, but still we made some significant strides toward our ultimate goal of driving the sinister Jerry Jones and his dreadful Cowboys out of Texas. However, the time has drawn short. It is quickly becoming do or die down here in Gatesville, at least as far as yours truly is concerned. Things should be interesting during the upcoming two seasons.

Speaking of the next couple of seasons, I should also tell you that I am going to be taking some time off from this dynasty for a while. With a little luck, a shiny new copy of NCAA 2003 will be arriving at my doorstep tomorrow, and I plan to invest most of my gaming time in the upcoming month into that gem until Madden 2003 comes out. Basically, I'm thinking that I will take some time off to recharge my batteries and then come back and finish up this dynasty in the fall. For now, there is certainly no shortage of good dynasties to read out there. Who knows, with a little luck, perhaps the mighty X-com thread will return soon! ;) I'll leave you now with the solemn oath to come back and finish this thing sometime this fall. Until then, enjoy the rest of your summer. And remember, football's return is just around the corner. :) God, I love football!

Take care until next time,

- Kodos :cool:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by stkelly52:


With FOF 4 now out, does that spell an end to The Bill Gates Challenge? Do the Cowboys actually win?

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


Kodos has maintained that the dynasty will not die with the presence of FOF4, and he will indeed complete the challenge. I can't wait until it gets going again!

[Kodos]

stkelly: I can verify what cthomer says. The advent of FOF4 will have no effect whatsoever on this dynasty. I will also tell you that it will still be a while before Part VII sees the light of day. But I can also tell you that I have big plans for finishing this thing and sending this dynasty off into the sunset in the best manner possible. :) Thanks for your continued support of myself and the Pirates!

- Kodos :cool:

[Kodos]

Originally posted by JAG:


Hey Kodos,
Just read your dynasty from start to finish...GREAT stuff! I can't think of any better praise to give than to say I'm a huge Cowboys fan yet I'm rooting for Gatesville to drive the 'Boys out of Texas. I think the attendance stats of the past 5 years are amazing considering you're playing in a city of 110k vs. whatever million are in Dallas yet last year you outdrew them. Good luck getting those finances in order though, considering your player salaries and bonuses combined are worth more than your total source of revenue and doesn't include scouting/coaching costs, etc... Seems like you may have to play with a self-imposed salary cap, but then a less competitive team means less fan revenue...catch-22. I'm interested to see how you handle this...it'll also make it quite difficult financially to upgrade the stadium unless you can sell Bill on the image of the upgraded Microsoft 2.0 Stadium.. Again, very well done and hope you get back to it soon.

Jamie

Kent: Kent Brockman here, with Campaign '96: America Flips A Coin. At
an appearance this morning, Bill Clinton made some rather cryptic
remarks, which aides attributed to an overly tight necktie.
Kodos: I am Clin-Ton. As overlord, all will kneel trembling before me
and obey my brutal commands. [crosses arms] End communication.

[Kodos]

Glad you enjoyed it, JAG. You're right, of course; I am in deep doodoo with Bill's financial ultimatum. The only loophole is that I can't get fired in a season following a Super Bowl victory. We'll have to see if that comes into play... Right now, that may be the only hope for my continued employment after the 2017 season.

Anyhow, it will be at least a few weeks before this thing kicks back in to gear, but it will be back at some point. Till then, enjoy watching the wretched real life Cowboys... lose. ;)

[Kodos]

Originally posted by DataKing:


How about Microsoft Stadium XP? No sharp angles in the entire building, nothing but rounded edges, and cartoon-ish drawings of Chuck U. Farley and other Silicon Pirate heroes?

Just an idea. :D

[Kodos]

I think Kodos Stadium sounds good, personally.I think Kodos Stadium sounds good, personally.

[Kodos]

Originally posted by cthomer5000:


hopefully with miniture american flags for all! :p

[Kodos]

Kodos: Abortions for all!
Crowd: Boo!
Kodos: Very well; abortions for none!
Crowd: Boo!
Kodos: Abortions for some, tiny american flags for others!
Crowd: Yay!

That is one of my favorite Simpsons episodes of all time.

[Kodos]

Here's the link to Part VII: The Return! (http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~fof/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4588)