Ramblin' On... Philly Village Challenge 2006 and on...

[CubsFan915]

Just to officially close the books on the 2005 season: year-end score is 82; 78 performance, 100 value, 67 profit, 71 difficulty. We lost $4.3 million last year.

2006 Preseason

The Hall of Fame welcomes Eugene Robinson, James Hasty, and Jerry Rice.

In a suprise announcement, K Olindo Mare has retired. Drat; I was hoping for another year or two out of him. Since we made the playoffs again, we will not look to replace our scout or coach. This is going to be a rough off-season: we've got 31 players signed, only $26.3 million in cap room, and Kurt Warner is a free agent. Guess who's getting the franchise tag?

For the most part, I'm just looking to plug the most immediate holes in free agency, primarily be resigning players: I've got offers out to bring back Bubba Franks and Craig Hentrich. I'm chasing Wade Richey to replace Mare, Jason Belser at safety, and (personal bias) Brian Urlacher at linebacker. We lose Urlacher to Tennessee in Week 3. Hentrich resigns in Week 4; he'll probably retire as an Eagle. We manage to sneak in on DeWayne Washington; he signs for a hefty contract, but allows us to relase Walt Harris (who has a much heftier contract, and rapidly deteriorating skills). Belser signs with the Jaguars; we'll chase Leland Tubbs. Tubbs signs with Denver the very next week. Wade Richey signs with Indy in week 8; I am thouroughly unimpressed with the rest of the kickers in the free agent pool, and will look for one in the draft, or post-camp. Bubba Franks finally re-ups in Week 10. In week 12, we fill one of the holes at safety, as Steve Stuart signs on for two years; he'll likely start. In Week 11, C Steve Lane signs on for 2 years. In Week 20, we bite the bullet, and resign Kurt Warner: a "mere" $39.48 million over 3 years. We end free agency with only 36 players signed, and only $9 million in cap room. Hmm...

The Draft

28. RB B.J. Dillard, Illinois
Terrance Meadows is a free agent after this year, and Dillard looks to be better. The grandson of the founder of the store chain, B.J. looks like a bruiser in the mold of Jerome Bettis, if as little shorter; he's a mere 5'7" in height.

60. K Edward Bowers, Stanford
I hate taking akicker this high, but to be honest I considered taking him in the first round. He's pretty good, and considering we've got nobody else there...

92. C Leonard Jacques, Georgia Tech
Must have been a transfer student; I'm surprised to see him fall this far, as I was close to grabbing him in the second round. We'll take him and run with it, though there are questions about his conditioning, which could be expected for a guy who's 6'2", 339 pounds!

124. LB Stephen Burns, Princeton
Don't let the school fool you; Burns should be a solid all-around linebacker. Nothing spectacular, but a solid player.

156. G Stephen Winslett, N.C. State
Best remaining player.

188. DT Horace Ainsworth, Millersville
Ditto.

220. T Chad McGregor, Tennessee
Hoping for a breakout; otherwise, he won't make it to the season.

We let the scout set training camp, and hope for the best. McGregor was a mild breakout; he won't be a starter, but a decent backup. Everyone else stayed wthin a few points; Dillard may actually start, as he may have pulled ahead of Meadows.

We sell out 63,400 season tickets out of 65,400 and go to the preseason.

2006 Pre-Season

Philadelphia 30, Iowa City 10
Buffalo 27, Philadelphia 18
Seattle 38, Philadelphia 6
Pittsburgh 19, Philadelphia 10

We manage to avoid any significant injuries, and begin the season.

2006 Regular Season - 1st Half

Philadelphia 24, Cleveland 13
Kennedy Garth gets the game ball, catching 10 passes for 95 yards and 2 TD. Terrence Meadows won the starting job, and responded, with 122 yards and a TD on 19 carries.

Dallas 20, Philadelphia 17
We tied the game up at 17 with a 32 yard field goal from rookie Edward Bowers. Dallas then marched 48 yards in 1:15 for the game winning field goal with only 14 seconds left. Kurt Warner was under 200 yards for the second straight game, and Terrence Meadows rushed for only 67 yards.

Philadelphia 48, Giants 13
What a way to get on track! Terrence Meadows wushed only 10 times, but gaines 174 yards, with TD runs of 51, 52, and 5 yards. Warner only threw for 128 yards, but with 2 TD, as we intercepted Giants QB Damon Huard 3 times.

Arizona 20, Philadelphia 7
Warner gets his highest yardage total of the year (258), but throws 3 picks in the loss, completing exactly half of his passes. Arizona scored all 20 before we get a meaningless TD with 57 seconds left in the game. To add injury to insult, starting CB Norm Carlisle broke his ribs, and is out for 2-3 months.

Philadelphia 24, Detroit 13
S Tommy Bennett earns the game ball, as his 95 yard interception return with a mere 1:17 left in the game seals the win. Despite getting only 12 yards from Terrence Meadows on 15 carries, Kurt Warner's 344 yard, 2 TD performance puts us in position to win. WR Joe Horn was the hot receiver today, as he caught 7 passes for 166 yards, and TD receptions of 79 and 20 yards. We get a bye week next week, and have a lot of minor injuries that should be helped.

Washington 28, Philadelphia 10
We had almost 100 more yards in total offense, but Washington got two returns for touchdowns out of 5 Kurt Warner interceptions. Meadows rushed 13 times for 144 yards.

Baltimore 28, Philadelphia 24
We're tied as we start the 4th quarter; Tim Couch throws 2 TD passes early in the 4th, and the Ravens defense holds off our comeback late. Another 300-yard day for Warner, with 3 TD and 0 picks.

Philadelphia 28, Arizona 23
A 5 yard TD run by Terrence Meadows with only 1:50 left salts the game away. Meadows runs for only 75 yards, but has 3 TD.

Through 8 games, we're .500; if the season ended today, we'd be the least wild-card via tiebreakers. Our next three opponents are currently all 6-2, two in our division (Dallas and Washington, tied for the lead), so we should find out if we belong soon. Only two of our remaining opponents are under .500; both the Giants and Panthers are 3-5.

QB: Kurt Warner is having a rough year; could the new contract be going to his head? He's completed 54.1% of his passes for 1776 yards, with 11 TD, 11 INT, and a 71.5 rating.
RB: Despite a couple of off games, Terrence Meadows has racked up 649 yards (4th in the league) and 8 TD (#1) on only 110 carries (#10), for a 5.9 average (#3). Rookike B.J. Dillard has been solid, with 51 carries for 222 yards, a 4.3 average.
WR: Kennedy Garth has been Warner's favorite target, catching 41 passes for 522 yards and 4 TD. Joe Horn has added 34 catches for 541 yards and 4 TD, with Ryan Russell adding 3 TD in just 16 catches.
K: Rookie Edward Bowers has kicked 7 field goals in 11 tries (longest: 44), and converted all 23 PATs.
Defense: Morris Lattimore is on file, leading the league 10 sacks in just 8 games. Jevon Kearse has added another 7 sacks fron the other end position, good enough for 9th in the league. MLB John Abraham leads the team with 54 tackles (8th in the league), followed by Dat Nguyen with 46.
Pass Coverage: Tommy Bennett has 2 interceptions, including the game winner a few weeks back, and John Abraham has 1.

[CubsFan915]

2006 Regular Season - 2nd Half

Philadelphia 17, Atlanta 13
We were down 13-3 going into the 4th quarter, then Kurt Warner rolled up his sleeves and went to work. He found Ray Money in thd end zone with 13:03 left, and found Kennedy Garth with 6:02 left to win the game. Terrence Meadows continues to be strong - 22 rushes, for 129 yards. Garth caught 7 passes for 101 yards. 3 picks for the defense helped seal the deal.

Dallas 38, Philadelphia 35
This one hurts - we're two back on Dallas, and they swept us. We just let them too dar up. as the score at the end of the first half was 31-13. We scored 22 in the second half, but they just had to add one TD to win it. Warner completed 23-34 for 272 yards and 2 TD, while Meadows added 93 yards and 1 TD. Garth caught 10 for 137 yards.

Washington 16, Philadelphia 13
This one virtually eliminates us, as we're 3 back of both Washington and Dallas, and both hold the tiebreaker on us. We still have a shot at the wildcard, as Minnesota has the last spot at 6-5 to our 5-6, but we've got a bear of a schedule down the stretch. 3 picks by Warner led to 4 Washington field goals; there's your ballgame. On the plus side, Kennedy Garth continues to show that his keeper tag was justified: 8 catches, 158 yards. CB Norm Carlisle broke his ribs, and is done for the year.

Philadelphia 17, Chiacgo 13
Not a terribly impressive win, but it's a win. Warner passed for 306 yards and a TD, but threw 2 picks. He also ran for only the 2nd TD of his career, which provided the difference. Garth is over 100 yards for the 4th straight week: 10-131. Backup RB B.J. Dillard pulled a groin (his own, I hope) and is out until the playoffs.

Philadelphia 20, Pittsburgh 19
A win against the cross-state rivals put us in the drivers seat for the last wildcard spot. Kurt Warner finds Bubba Franks for a 26 yard TD with only 5:02 left for the win. Meadows only added 56 yards; Warner threw for 295 yards and 1 TD, while Garth had 6 catches for 81 yards.

Philadelphia 17, Carolina 13
Not a terribly storng game, but Carolina played worse, which works for me. Terrence MEadows had 93 yards on 21 carries, plus the eventual game-winning TD. We're still a game up on everyone for the last wildcard spot.

Philadelphia 13, Jacksonville 9
A HUGE upset, as we were 8-6 coming in, while the Jags were 12-2. Fullback Xavier Buckley had the only TD of the game. Even though Meadows never found the end zone, he gets the game ball: 20 carries, 117 yards. Simple task nexxt week: win and we're in; lose and we may go to the tiebreakers.

Giants 17, Philadelphia 14
A good day from Meadows (24-114, TD); a bad day from Warner (20-31, 182, 2 INT), including one with 1:25 left on our 44. Now, we see what happens: Detroit and Tampa are the two teams to worry about. Detroit loses; so does Tampa! We're going to the playoffs after all! We'll be going to Chicago for the first round; we beat them in the Vet as part of our 4-game winning streak to get into the playoffs.

QB: Warner started all 16 games, but had his worst year ever, at least in rating: he rated a 75.1 this year. 58.2% completion percentage, 3747 yards (6th in league), but a 20-21 TD-INT ratio, which is the first time he's been close to throwing more picks than TD. Still, he got the job done when we needed it late in the year.
RB: Terrence Meadows, on the other hand, had his BEST year ever: 266 carries (#5), 1355 yards (#1), 5.0 yards per carry (#4), and 12 TD (tied for 1st). We'll definitely try to bring him back next year. He's a contender for Offensive MVP, and should easily win 1st Team All-Pro.
WR: Kennedy Garth had a fantastic year as well: 100 catches (#2), 1301 yards (#4), and 5 TD. Joe Horn had 71 catches, 980 yards, and 8 TD (tied for #5).
K: Bowers hit all 38 extra points, and 18-27 field goals, long of 50 yards. He should improve in years to come, as well.
Defense: Offensive line coaches figured out Morris Lattimore in the second half of the season; he had only 1 sack in the second half of the year, finishing with 11. The Freak had 10. LB John Abraham had 119 tackles, tying him for 1st place with Zach Thomas of the Giants. One of the problems we had was a lack of picks; only 10 for the team, with nobody having more than 2. We ended up with a -13 turnover ratio; New England was next, at -2.

[CubsFan915]

2006 Playoffs

Atlanta (12-4) 51, Washington (10-6) 30
Baltimore (12-4) 38, Indianapolis (97-) 17
New England (11-5) 42, Buffalo (8-8) 27

The day opnes cold and snowy in Chicago. Kurt Warner leads the team down the field on the opening drive, but the draive stalls on the 28, and we settle for a quick field goal to draw first blood. Charlie Batch leads the Bears offense back downfield quickly, and when he finds Antonio Freeman in the corner of the end zone, it's 7-3, Chicago, with 7:04 left in the 1st quarter. We go three and out on the ensuing kickoff, and Chicago takes over with great field position on our 46. 4 plays later, Fred Taylor runs 16 yards up the middle, and just that quickley, it's 14-3 Bears, with 2:51 still remaining in the 1st. Kurt Warner is on target to end the 1st quarter, geting us from our 15 to the Bears 48 as time expires.

The drive stalls, and punter Craig Hentrich pins the Bears at their own 6. Batch is just on fire, as on three successive passes he drives 20 yards, and out of danger. We finally hold them to a 49 yard field goal, but with 8:04 left in the half, it's Bears 17, Eagles 3. Another three and out, and they take over on their 40. Another field goal makes it 20-3, and we really need for the offense to make some noise. The drive falls just short, as time expires on the 2 yard line.

Philly takes the opening kickoff of the second half and drives all the way down the field, capping a 9 minute drive with another TD. It's 27-3, 5:56 left in the third, and it looks like the rout is on. A quick drive down the field results in another field goal, and it's 27-6. They come right back down the field as the 3rd quarter ends.

The 4th quarter doesn' start any differently: Batch throws another TD pass, and it's 34-6. We get down to the 10, but stall out; another field goal makes it 34-9. They get another TD late, and the game ends 41-9, Chicago.

Divisional Round
Atlanta (13-4) 17, St. Louis (14-2) 3
Baltimore (13-4) 18, Jacksonville (13-3) 14
Dallas (11-5) 34, Chicago (11-6) 7
Kansas City (11-5) 39, New England (12-5) 24

Conference Finals
Dallas (12-5) 27, Atlanta 10
Baltimore (14-4) 41, Kansas City (12-5) 27

Before the Super Bowl, we manage to reach contract extensions with Terrence Meadows, Jevon Kearse, Andrew Tuggle, and Joe Horn. All 4 were starters this year, and in the least year of their contracts.

Dallas upsets Baltimore 41-16 to win the Super Bowl.

John Abraham was named 1st team All-Pro at LB, while Terrence Meadows and Garth Kennedy were snubbed.

We get a rating of 73 for this year: 63 performance, 100 franchise value, 50 profit/loss, and 70 difficulty. I'm suprised we did that well in profit, as we lost $50 million, primarily due to signing bonuses for the four big players extended at the end of the year.

[CubsFan915]

2007 Pre-season

Man, am I glad I didn't extend Chad Brown and Bryant Young; both retired rather than test free agency again. Green Bay has moved to Des Moines, Iowa. The Hall of Fame opened its doors to Jessie Tuggle, Emmitt Smith, Randall Cunningham, and Vinny Testaverde.

Nobody worth the franchise tag. In an effort to boost revenue, though, we raise ticket prices a bit.

In an effort to free up a bit more cap room, and get younger, we move Morris Lattimore to Carolina for DT Donald Peterson and a 5th round pick next year. We then sign free agent DE Fred Sims, who is younger and better, to a cheaper contract.

THE DRAFT

23. S Frankie Healy, South Carolina
This guys projects to be a top all-around safety, missing only special teams ability.

55. DT Winston England, Michigan State
Best athlete left - not a huge need position, but we'll take him. He should be a solid all-around lineman.

87. QB Artie Dole, Texas
Not a great one, but a solid 50's to 60's across the board. We need a QB anyway, and he looks like the best of the bunch.

119. T Ricardo Viola, Texas Tech
Questions about his stamina are why he lasted this long. We'll take him, and be pleased if he develops into a solid tackle.

183. WR Johnnie Rockwell, Northwestern
Not only the best WR left on the board, but a breakout prospect.

215. QB Bryce Velthoen, Louisiana STate
Another breakout hopeful; he won't break camp if he doesn't.

We sign some hopefuls, and move into training camp.

WR Howard Taylor didn't break out, but he's still servicable. We'll keep him. Bad news at QB, though: not only did Velthoen NOT break out, but Artie Dole busted! I don't want to suffer his cap hit, so we'll dump Velthoen, keep Dole, and look for another body. We sign some warm bodies, including a decent backup QB in Giovanni Carmazza, and move into preseason. Bad news right off the bad: CB Norm Carlisle is still out 2-3 months, as his ribs STILL haven't healed. In a salary move so that we can sign a replacement, we trade C Steve Lane and S Tommy Bennett to Indy for S Rodney Harrison. Harrison should step in and start for us, and the move frees up $3 million in cap room. We then sign a decent replacement, and move on. We sold out 64700 of 65400 season tickets.

2007 Preseason

Atlanta 35, Philadelphia 7
Minnesota 27, Philadelphia 24
Cleveland 30, Philadelphia 6
Seattle 28, Philadelphia 3

2007 Regular Season - 1st Half

Arizona 24, Philadelphia 10
Not a good day. B.J. Dillard had his best game as a pro, coming in for the injured Terrence Meadows: 15-84, 1 TD. The only concern is that 68 yards came on one play. Warner threw for only 223 yards, and 2 INT.

Washington 23, Philadelphia 3
Warner was knocked out of the game, and the rest of the offense couldn't pick up the slack.

Kansas City 21, Philadelphia 10
Carmazzi started for Warner, and didn;t kill us; only 90 yards passing, but 1 TD and 0 INT. We just couldn;t get anything else going, and KC just stuffed us.

Washington 33, Philadelphia 17
It's not quite a lost season yet, but it's getting close. Warner returned, but completed only 19 of 41 for 212 and 2 TD, 2 INT. What really hurts are 27 total yards rushing.

Philadelphia 38, Oakland 13
Oakland may have been 0-4 coming in as well, but it's a win, and that's what counts. Warner throws for 3 TD and 267 yards.

Philadelphia 31, Des Moines 18
Warner looks to be back: 30-51, 293, 4 TD, 0 picks. I wish we could get the running game going; Neadows has started 6 games, and has only 178 yards. Dillard has been slightly more effective, and will take over.

San Diego 16, Philadelphia 10
Disgusting. Warner only threw for 166, with 2 picks, and 0 TD; take out the 63 yard TD run by fullback Xavier Buckley ans we rushed for only 57 yards.

Philadelphia 38, Seattle 35
Again, we beat a winless team, but it's a win. Dillard ran for 82 yards, 80 on one play. Warner only completed 16 of 31, but he had 296 yards and 3 TD, offset by 3 picks. Game ball definitely goes to Kennedy Garth: 7 catches, 215 yards, 2 TD, including a 98 yarder!

At the halfway mark, we're 3-5, in 3rd place, two games behind Washington and Dallas tied at 5-3.
QB: Warner continues to struggle, as it appears he may be on the backside of his career. (Josh, you may want to see about getting a QB of the future.) He's currently rated at 74.9, with a 56.6 completion percentage, 1477 yards, 12 TD, and 10 picks.
RB: A major disappointment. Meadows has been benched after 6 starts, but Dillard hasn't been much better. Dillard has 296 yards on 66 carries (4.4 per rush); Meadows 192 on 55 (3.4).
WR: Kennedy Garth continues to amaze, as he has caught over 40% of Warner's completions. He's got 50 catches (#2) for 735 yards (#2) and 6 TD (tied for #3).
Defense: Newly acquired Fred Sims has 6 sacks (tied for #8), while Kearse has 4. Dat Nguyen leads the team with 55 tackles (tied for #10 in the league), while John Abraham and Rodney Harrison have 51. Derrick Fitzgerald leads the team with 2 interceptions.

[CubsFan915]

2007 Regular Season - 2nd Half

Philadelphia 34, Giants 6
Warner had aheck of a game - 31-46, 422 yards, and 3 TD (including a 90 yarder to TE Bubba Franks). We got 119 yards rushing, 53 from Dillard, 41 from Meadows. Both Garth (9-131) and Bubba Franks (7-139) were over 100 yards, and each had a TD.

St. Louis 34, Philadelphia 24
St. Louis has the best record in the league. We played one of our best games of the year, but it just wasn't enough.

Philadelphia 31, Giants 19
Warner only threw for 207 yards, but more important are the 3 TD, versus 0 INT. Meadows started and rushed for 57 yards. 3 sacks and 2 picks by the defense sealed things.

Philadelphia 27, Dallas 14
Garth caught 13 passes for 109 yards. Warner threw for 279 and 2 TD.

Detroit 21, Philadelphia 19
This was a big game, as Detroit is one of the teams we're chasing for the wild card. Warner threw for 431 yards and 2 TD in the loss, but an INT for TD turns out to be the difference.

Philadelphia 30, Arizona 29
275 yards, and 4 TD from Warner. Joe Horn caught 7 passes for 86 yards and 2 of those TD's, while Garth Kennedy caught 5 for 109 and the other 2 TD. There are 4 teams, including us, who are all tied at 7-7; San Francisco (who we play next week in a key game), Carolina, Des Moines, and us. Detroit is 8-6 to hold the 5th spot.

Philadelphia 27, San Francisco 13
We effectively eliminate San Fran. Des Moines beat Detroit, so we still have 4 teams at 8-7; 2 of them will get into the playoffs. It's down to Des Moines (whom we beat), Detroit (who beat us), and Carolina (who we didn't play). Right now, Carolina and Des Moines have the upper hand.

Philadelphia 27, Dallas 24
3 points. That's what kept us from the playoffs: a 2 point loss to Detroit. For the first time in 8 years, we're home for the holidays, and 3 points is the margin. Damn. Plus, we only finished 1 game behind Washington for the division; we win one of those games, and we not only make the playoffs, but win the division.


2007 Playoffs

Washington (10-6) 24, Detroit (9-7) 21
Minnesota (10-6) 20, Des Moines (9-7) 17
Jacksonville (10-6) 47, San Diego (10-6) 0
NY Jets (9-7) 17, Jansas City (10-6) 14

Divisional Round
Chicago (11-5) 45, Minnesota (11-6)16
Jacksonville (11-6) 21, Indianapolis (10-6) 14
Pittsburgh (10-6) 24, NY Jets (10-7) 21
St. Louis (11-5) 38, Washington (11-6) 7

Conference Finals
Chicago (12-5) 34, St. Louis (12-5) 9
Pittsburgh (11-6) 47, Jacksonville (12-6) 9

Chicago defeats Pittsburgh 28-3 in the Super Bowl.

Stats

QB: Kurt Warner really came on in the second half, finishing with a rating of 86.1 (#4 in league) on 59.1% completions, 3946 yards (#4), 31 TD (#1), and 16 INT.
Rushing: The Achilles heel, as between our top 2 RB, we ended up with a mere 995 yards. Meadows had 523 and 1 TD; Dillard 472 yards and 4 TD.
Receiving: Kennedy Garth had another outstanding year: 109 catches (#2, by 1 catch), 1520 yards (#2, by 19 yards), 11 TD (#2, by 1 TD); easily his best year yet. Joe Horn wasn't half bad either, with 61 catches, 763 yards, and 8 TD (#7).
Kicking: Edward Bowers hit all 41 conversions, and 21 of 26 field goals.
Defense: Free agent signing Fred Sims finished with 13.5 sacks (#5), while Jevon Kearse had 6. Old friend Morris Lattimore, who was replaced by Sims, had 8.5 sacks. S Rodney Harrison led the team with 98 tackles (#10), with Dat Nguyen finishing with 94 and John Abraham 93.
Pass coverage: Post training camp signee CB Derrick Fitzgerald led the team with 6 picks, while S Rodney Harrison finished with 4.

WR Kennedy Garth and S Rodney Harriosn both make the 1st team All-Pro; QB Kurt Warner and DE Fred Sims make 2nd team.

I'm going to make Frankie Healey my keeper, though put in strong recommendations for DE Fred Sims and CB Derrick Fitzgerald. (The only reason I'm picking Healey over Fitzgerald is that Healey is under contract and a safety, despite how well Fitzgerald played for us. Josh, you may want to use the franchise tag on Fitzgerald.)

Zip is on the way shortly to Josh.

[CubsFan915]

Just a suggestion going forward for everyone...

Before you unzip the universe file, delete all the old files in your VC Universe file. That way, you don't have all the old files in the new zip when you send it on. I was able to clean the files up from almost 1 full meg zipped to 333k zipped. I know that helps my slow dial-up modem...

Just a thought...