[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: When winning a lot isn't enough...

The European Division is doing well. Last season all four teams finished the season with an 8-8 or better record. This season things are shaping up to be even even more cutthroat. Let's do something unusual and start with the division standings.

European Division
1. Paris 10-1
2. Bordeaux 8-3
3. Maassluis 7-4
4. Gothenburg 7-4

Week 1 vs Paris
We stormed to a 21-0 lead and never looked back. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 301 yards, threw touchdown passes to FB Rich Hartman and WR Roman Randle, who did that on a 124-yard performance. RB Jackson Powell ran for a touchdown.
24-15 win

Week 2 at Frederick
Throwing 5 interceptions is rarely a recipe to success, lead by CB Andre McAninch our secondary ran havoc. In return, QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 256 yards with touchdown passes to RB Jackson Powell (he also ran for one) and TE Francisco Andersen (on a 108-yard day), while Wilson also ran for a score. S Kim Fox accounted for an interception return touchdown.
38-24 win

Week 3 at Toronto
We played along in the first half, trailing 21-28 at the break, but in the second half the offense fell flat and it accumulated into a big loss. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 244 yards with touchdown passes to TE Kyle Baker (a pair) and WR Rodolfo Lane. In return, some Toronto wide receiver gained 222 yards receiving against us, a humiliating performance for our defense.
21-48 loss

Week 4 vs San Antonio
We rebounded with a much deserved victory in a very close game. A fumble return touchdown seemed to give our opponents the edge, but an all-time IHOF career record tying punt return touchdown by WR Rodolfo Lane was the momentum flipper. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 255 yards, threw for a touchdown pass to TE Kyle Baker and also ran for a score. WR Roman Randle had 107 yards receiving.
33-31 win

Week 5
bye

Week 6 vs Atlanta
This game was frustrating to watch as the offense somehow accumulated a grand total of 19 incomplete passes, our wide receiver trio and star tight end combined for just 10 catches on 26 targets. Penalties seriously held us back as well, yet somehow we remained in the game throughout, only to lose on a last second field goal. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 280 yards with a 78-yard dart to WR Rufus Montgomery. RB Jackson Powell ran for the other touchdown.
20-23 loss

Week 7 at Fort Wayne
We rebounded against the worst team in the league, actually letting penalties get us again and miss out on a true steamroller of a result. The defense deserved credit for keeping them low, as their only touchdown came on a punt return, while most of their yardage game in their last two drives in garbage time. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 332 yards with touchdown passes to WR Rodolfo Lane and WR Rufus Montgomery. Rookie RB Preston Tanner scored his first touchdown.
27-10 win

Week 8 at Paris
In a game that felt like that both teams tried hard to lose, the Musketeers committed more penalties, but also had a crucial 4-2 advantage in turnovers in what deserved to be more of a shootout than a blunderfest. Nevertheless, scoring was all over the place, in particular Paris did well in the red zone, while we settled for short field goals 3 times. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 280 yards and a touchdown pass to TE Francisco Andersen. RB Jackson Powell ran for a score.
22-30 loss

Week 9 at Houston
Despite an early 14-0 deficit, we managed to take full advantage of the silliness from the opponents. A 74-yard interception return by S Kim Fox shortly before half time turned out to be the difference maker. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 245 yards, with a touchdown pass to TE Francisco Andersen.
20-14 win

Week 10 at Bordeaux
And then we pissed away a home game that may end up costing us second place in the division when all is said and done. It was bad enough that we allowed an 85-yard fumble return, but they shortly after followed it up with a rare offensive fumble return touchdown to flip our solid lead into a small deficit. Another display of lack of discipline may have helped them as well. End result being: the better team lost in a very crucial game. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 337 yards and ran for a touchdown. RB Jackson Powell ran for 116 yards and 2 touchdowns.
27-35 loss

Week 11 vs Gothenburg
We bounced back again with a solid, yet too close to feel comfortable win against the Giants. Today, we made the difference with touchdowns where Gothenburg settled for field goals. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 273 yards with touchdowns to TE Francisco Andersen (twice), TE Kyle Baker and WR Roman Randle, while WR Rufus Montgomery had a 118-yard performance. RB Jackson Powell ran for 105 yards.
31-25 win

Week 12 vs Brooklyn
We tried hard to piss away another home game, as a pair of Wilson interceptions set the Bums - "Fightin' Bums!" - up for a quick 17-3 lead. We played a pretty good game from there on and a missed extra point from K Jeffery DeGroot that felt like it would end up costing us the game, it ended up being the difference maker late in the game where we ended up trailing by 4 points, forced to go for it and making it happen to take the lead with 27 seconds remaining. Brooklyn actually got their shot at forcing overtime, but the 49-yard field goal attempt was unsuccesful. QB Renaldo Wilson threw for 257 yards with touchdown passes to TE Francisco Andersen, TE Kyle Baker and WR Rufus Montgomery. RB Jackson Powell ran for a score.
33-30 win


So, that's where we stand at the moment: 3rd in an ultra tight division and also stuck in a conference with another division with 3 teams at 7-4 or better. The four European Division teams have floated inside the top10 of the various power ratings and rankings throughout. Truth be told, three of the four European teams also have a quarterback considered to be top7 talent in the league, with Bordeaux' quarterback the one that's just above average for a starting quarterback. Paris and Bordeaux have gone into the dark side, playing pass only game plans: their quarterbacks already have 50+ pass attempts per game. To be fair, Paris' quarterback Zachery McDonald is on fire, the 10-win streak they're on can't be lucky, he's been playing extremely well.

For us, Renaldo Wilson has been a blessing, despite his tantrums at times resulting in 15-yard penalties. Wilson has ran for a league best 7.0 yards per carry and has ran for more yards than half the league's leading rushers. The latter could also be a side-effect of having 7 teams with under 20 rushing attempts per game.

We've been a solid team in most games, with just the extreme silliness against Atlanta in terms of incomplete passes. Yet turnovers and penalties have held us back quite a bit and the random bad luck against Bordeaux has so far pushed us back from virtual 5th seeds to virtual 7th seeds. Our remaining schedule won't be easy. For starters, we'll be visiting the 10-1 Tucker Tigers, a team on a mission, still lacking an IHOF Bowl despite having 6 straight 14-2 regular season campaigns. Their quarterback Renaldo Brady is flirting with being the all-time greatest, but without any rings, it's going to feel like it's all for nothing. We're going to require an upset win here or there in the last 5 games to remain in the playoffs race, so we'll be going into Tucker trying once again. Let's do it, Merchantmen!