[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Battle of the unbeatens
And we won!

In what turned out to be a turnover fest, gracefully won by our defense, we posted a sound 24-10 victory at the North Plainfield Plague. Moe Sheldon had another so-so game, completing 17 of 36 passes for 246 yards, 2 scores, 1 pick and another fumble (where Howard Humphrey came to the rescue). Theo caught just 4 of 13 targets for 70 yards, while rookie Ed Schulz had 5 catches for 75 yards, his first productive game in his 3-game career so far. Our running backs combined for 106 yards on 26 carries. Francisco Patter saw his ypc drop to 8.02.

But 3 interceptions and 2 recovered fumbles by the defense made quite the difference. Jackie Richardson lead the way with 2 picks. Awkwardly, we've won four and in one of them an offensive player from our team won player of the game. Kicker Mark Giles was first, Frederick's quarterback Angel Henson got it in week 2, despite getting beaten hard, safety Devon Farrell was on the job in week 3 and today defensive end Tony Whiting made 2.0 sacks to earn the honors.

Division:
1. Maassluis 4-0
2. Paris 2-2
3. Bordeaux 1-3
4. Gothenburg 1-4

Wait, what? Yup, the Giants have dropped to 1-4. Let's be fair, they played 4 games on the road to start the season, won in Paris and then lost at 5-0 Chesapeake, 4-1 Tucker, helped Harlem to their only victory so far and last at home against 4-1 Toronto. Their schedule has been brutal, aside from that trap game in Harlem.

All of the results so far put us at the top of the conference as the only unbeaten team, but we did play one game less than the other division leaders. In the other conference, aforementioned Chitterlings are still without a loss, but a battle of last man standing sounds extremely unlikely as we face them in week 14 in Oranje Haven. We'd have to combine for 15-0 in the next 8 weeks to make it a battle of two 12-0 teams. Let's be realistic, that won't happen, right?

Let's get back to one game at a time. Our next stop will be a home game, hosting the Razorbacks from Rochester. After two close losses, they've won the last three straight, also with one score difference. So far their pass defense has been their asset, as has been a strong point of our team. Their red zone defense has been second best to ours, so brace yourself for another defensive battle. Our superior special teams unit might be key to win the field position battle in what could turn out to be a kicking fest. Mark Giles is in a contract year, free agent next off-season, that should motivate him to wow the league and prove that not locking him up was a mistake. Well, if it comes to it, do it, although I'm obviously hoping we can post a 34-10 or so victory. But in this day and age, with this quarterback, we have to take any win we can get. It might be a good idea to look over our game plan another time or two to tailor it a bit more towards Sheldon's non-weaknesses. Or just run the ball a little bit more even. We are the #1 running team still...