[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: Lonely at the top?
Or the lesser of four so-so teams?

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

The European Division teams have had a far from stellar start of the 2105 season. So far, the collective has posted 1 win and 1 tie in 11 games outside the division. And that win was ours.

We started the season in week 1 with a 19-17 loss at Bordeaux. It was a bizarre game, almost impossibly to summarize. We played "meh"-ish, but still overcame an early 10-0 deficit, and whilst driving for the game winning field goal, QB Evan Drake's interception thrown well within K Oscar Harrington's range ended the game.

We bounced back with a sophisticated 31-21 victory at home against the Frederick Red Menace. This time we won the turnover battle, dominated the field position battle and had the liberty to give up 131 total yards in the fourth quarter by virtue of a big enough lead after 3 quarters. QB Evan Drake bounced back with 3 touchdown passes.

In week 3 we lost a bit of a shootout at the Tucker Tigers with a 35-28 score. When we thought the have leveled it 14-14 right before half time, the Tigers hit on a miracle hail mary pass and that play came back to haunt us for the rest of the game. We gave up over 400 total yards on defense for the second straight game, which is concerning. QB Evan Drake threw for 309 yards and 4 touchdowns, the lionshare to TE Garrett Alcala. The latter is getting the Darnell McKie targets now and is making the best of it with 5 touchdowns in 3 games.

Our season continues with 3 games against the 3 winning teams in the AOC Northeast division, starting with a visit to the North Plainfield Plague. Last season we lost at them, which kickstarted a late season 4-game winning streak for the Plague to end up with a 6-10 record. It means they've lost only 2 of their last 8 regular season games. But this sounds fancier than it is. Maybe a more accurate representation is they won their last 7 home games and lost their last 8 road games.

All in all, losing 2 of the first 3 games doesn't bode well for the 12-4 record I predicted this team has in it. The stupid loss in Bordeaux might end up being the difference maker. The defense is not living up to ability, but 3 games is too small a sample size to draw conclusions. Mathematically, we can still end up anywhere between 1-15 and 14-2.