[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Making water, abandon ship!
Indeed. We hadn't hit rock bottom just yet.

Today we had basically nothing to lose anymore. The Bordeaux Vineyards were coming to town and as the clear cut underdogs, given how we and they have played so far, this was a rare moment in the history of the Merchantmen were I wasn't expecting a victory, just playing along and having a chance to win in the final two minutes would be a mental victory of sorts.

The game started slowly, but on our second drive, Oranje Haven exploded: Earnest Ashley found rookie Vinny Buysse for 55 yards and into scoring position. George Stuckey made the catch in the end zone 2 plays later and we were 7-0 up. On our next drive we got a bit lucky, forcing a fumble on their punt return and recovering it in field goal range. Buysse came through with a 21-yard catch and on the next play, Bert Ta'Amu ran it in for the 14-0 lead. Things went back and forth, but early in the second quarter, Bordeaux finally got their mojo going and a 30-yard pass on fist and 20 set up their touchdown. They got deep on their next drive as well, but we halted them just in time and with a key 25 yard run from Ta'Amu we set up Ta'Amu's touchdown catch for a 21-7 lead. As our defense came through on the next drive, our pass rushers forced a strip sack and safety Jon Brotzman made it 28-7 for the half time lead.

Oranje Haven exploded, up by three touchdowns, the Merchantmen were finally recovering from a terrible stretch, 7 losses this season, with the meltdown previous season still fresh in memory as well.

Bordeaux scored a quick 46-yard field goal in the second half, but as the ball kept getting punted back and forth, this wasn't going to change much, right? As we were losing the field position battle (seriously, this used to be our thing: winning that battle), Walt Czech got his chance to shine, throwing a 49-yarder, followed by a 2-point conversion to make it 28-18. Our kickoff returner fumbled and lost the ball right after, rookie Derek Clayton ran for 17 yards and the next play it was 28-25. It didn't last long, Earnest Ashley tried to march the team downfield, but got picked off in our territory and two plays later, Bordeaux' backup tight end turned a short pass into a 31-yard touchdown. Poof, gone the lead, Bordeaux all of a sudden was 32-28 up and the third quarter wasn't even over yet.

In the fourth quarter Devon Farrell saved us with an interception in our own red zone and ran it back for 30 yards, only to see Earnest Ashley get strip sacked on the very next play, with a Bordeaux linebacker landing on the ball. Holding them to a 49-yard field goal was a moral victory, but Oranje Haven was starting to feel like this was going to be one of those rare games where a team completely falls apart and chokes a 3-touchdown lead. Bordeaux kept winning the field position battle and as they go into victory formation, they find out there's 8 seconds remaining, they call the punt play and as the ball sails out of bounds at our 2-yard line, we have 1 second remaining to attempt a hail mary pass! Ashley dropped back, had his 5 receivers all running down field and found rookie Vinny Buysse (our player of the game) 45 yards away, but also in coverage, meaning he got tackled right there and then.

Game over and presumably season over as well. No way we're going to make the 180 degree turn, get to 8-8 and be lucky enough to see at least two teams that already beat us fall from 6-2 or better to a spot behind us.

Division:
1. Gothenburg 8-0
2. Paris 7-1
3. Borderaux 6-2
4. Maassluis 0-8

Ouch.

Some franchises and fan bases would applaud this situation, start dreaming of the #1 overall pick and then start complaining when their team team finishes the season 5-11 and with the #6 overall pick, to grab some random linebacker. Well, we'll be fighting for that scenario. Heck, I want us to claw all the way up to 8-8 and something like the #14 pick. Too much pride to even think about wanting to lose. Besides, given our upcoming cap situation, ending up with a top4 pick, let alone #1 overall, will be a disaster: we can't afford such a pick, or will need to release a truckload of veterans. Although, to be fair, the way this team has played so far this season, does anyone of them really have proven to belong on this team? Earnest Ashley in particular has fallen to a lower level of play than we've seen from him before: completes only 43% of his passes, barely gets above 200 yards per game and has a 1:1.5 td:int ration. The O-line is to blame here as well, they've not protected him well at all, in 28% of all our passing plays Ashley gets sacked, hurried or his pass blocked. Apparently that has been a problem in the previous 3 season as well, but this season is even worse. At the same time, the defense continues to be an enigma too, giving up the 3 most yards per pass attempt and 2nd most rushing yards. I really need to think twice about the game plans that we're using. They worked in the past, for a shorter or longer time, depending on the side of the ball, but right now, despite our ongoingly toughest schedule in the league, we can't think things will get better without any effort.

Merchantmen, stop thinking we're sinking, no life boats to abandon ship, that's not our mentality. Grab your buckets and paddles, we'll find a way back into good waters, we've lost enough games already this season. A new game is on our horizon, set sail to it and return home with a good result. Make it happen, team!