[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: We did it!
Playoffs? Playoffs? Yes, playoffs!

Despite that the team looked shaky from the nerves, having to end the longest stretch of seasons without a division title, the 2104 team has completed the turnaround from the mess we have been the last decade and a bit, especially the bunch of recent seasons. Although the Paris Musketeers were expected to sit pretty and roll over on command, they turned up to play a nasty spoiler role. In fact, their defense gave us quite the brain cramps and left the fans hunkering for moments of joy.

Our first drive set the tone, as we had numerous good plays, but eventually had to settle for a 48-yard field goal. The defense was fantastic in response, forcing three and out, shortly after followed by a banger of a play and eruption of noise by the fans as Rondell Robertson returned the punt for 62 yards and a touchdown. With the 10-0 lead in the bag, it was smooth sailing from there on to avoid choking this opportunity to win the European Division and subsequently qualify for the playoffs.

In the second quarter, the Musketeers put down a nice long drive to get into the end zone, but we then were already up 13-0 and trimming it to 13-7 proved to do little to the outcome of this game. Whilst the defense kept coming up strong on both sides, we snuck a 31-yard field goal in there shortly after the two-minute warning to give us a neat 16-7 lead at half time.

The suspense was immense as the crowd kept wanting to see an offensive touchdown to pull this game away, but they were in for more and more of the same. Paris was stopped by the Merchantmen defense, at times with excellently timed turnovers, while QB Evan Drake and his offense did just enough to add a 24-yard field goal for a 19-7 lead at the end of the third quarter.

As the fourth quarter progressed, an early 27-yard field goal made it a solid, but not undoable gap. Big plays came after all, but a pick in Paris' red zone ended the search for a touchdown. With the time ticking away, Paris felt the need to go for it on fourth downs, as they had that spoiler tole to play, but they failed on 4th and 10, setting us up for a 43-yard field goal and a 25-7 lead with 4 minutes to go. Hesitantly, the crowd started to believe in a victory today. Oranje Haven exploded with a minute to go when Wesley Cabrera intercepted a pass near our red zone and managed to return it 41 yards. One more short run for a first down was enough to burn the Paris time outs and send out the victory formation.

Final European Division standings:
1. Maassluis 11-5
2. Gothenburg 10-6
3. Paris 5-11
4. Bordeaux 4-12

The Gothenburg Giants miss out on the playoffs, sitting half a win behind the 10-5-1 Harlem Apollos. Despite our 11-5 record, it was worse than the three other division champions in the AOC (in the NAC the best record was 11-5), putting us in the 4th seed slot. It will give us a perfect opportunity for vengeance as it will bring the Snapfinger Jazz back to Maassluis, they were the only team to beat us in Oranje Haven. At it's likely to stay that way, unless we reach the AOC Championship game and face Harlem in it.

A quick look over the individual stats? QB Evan Drake ranked 3rd in the league with 4,416 passing yards and 4th with 7.20 yards per attempt. He was also 5th in completion percentage (62.0) an 6th with 25 passing touchdowns. He did get intercepted 16 times, which is a bit of a concern going into the post-season.

RB Bennett Holmes ran for 935 yards, but did it with the tied 6th best yard per carry (5.08). The main run blocker was C Elijah Cyr with 35 key run blocks. WR Vinny Buysse and WR Calvin Maxwell fell a bit in the last couple of games, meaning we didn't end up with both in the top10 in receiving yards, but both ended up between 1,100 and 1,200 receiving yards, combined for only 14 touchdowns, yet they were strong in the yards per target category, finishing 4th (Buysse) and 7th (Maxwell). With TE Garrett Alcala they were a trio of players with 70+ receptions, something only 45 players in the league achieved this season.

RB Rondell Robertson was the 6th best punt returner, WR Calvin Maxwell 3rd best kickoff returner. Oscar Harrington scored the 2nd most field goals, which is kind of bad news as well, as we should prefer touchdowns over him excelling, no?

LB Gus Coleman was 3rd in tackles, LB Abraham Desimone also had 100+. DE Robbie Dobreski was our sacks leader with only 6.0, he did rank 10th in pass rush percentage, whilst Stephen Rhodes ranked 14th, which was not bad at all for an undersized undrafted rookie linebacker playing defensive end. CB Wesley Cabrera lead with 4 interceptions, CB Logan Wallace had 15 defended passes, LB Gus Coleman had one more (16).

That wraps up the regular season, let's move on to week 18, the wild card round! Oranje Haven is sold out, the team has pretty much injury free and has something to prove. They're not here for a participation trophy, they fell like they're destined for better things to come. Well, 'men, go make it happen. One game at a time.