[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: we're not giving up yet
No, far from, but the road is bumpy.

Yeah, I'm in a bit of a writer block situation, uninspired to tell about my team situation. It's not really a lack of interest in the team, game and league, but RL can get in the way at times. Or maybe it's the overall out of the daily/weekly motions routine that's keeping me away for the moment. This dynasty has gone with ups and downs before, the loyal reader knows too well that the current team is way too good to not pick this up again. Now, if they got to the point of actually winning games, that would be much more motivating. Today we wasted a grand opportunity to take a 2-win distance on the Gothenburg Giants, but a late game 52-yard field goal saw them come back from 9 points down in the fourth quarter to beat us 27-26. We got outplayed in our part of the game (special teams) and despite outgaining them by about 60 yards, it all wasn't enough. Such a pity, because we all know that these are the kind of games that make the difference between winning a heavily contested division and missing the playoffs entirely.

European Division:
1. Paris 6-4
2. Maassluis 5-5
3. Bordeaux 5-5
4. Gothenburg 5-5

Yeah, it's as closely contested as we expected it to be, albeit all four teams have won about 2 games less than we expected them to. At this pace only the division winner will go into the post-season and won't even get a bye week. At least it will make for a much feared #4 seed...

At 5-5, we're below the curve, we've played 6 home games already, which is usually a sign that you're not going to get above .500. Paris actually has only 1 home game remaining, their schedule is even more imbalanced, as has been Gothenburg's with 5 home games in the last 6. Bordeaux plays 4 more at home. So yeah, we seriously missed our chance to get into a solid situation where we'd actually be in a decent spot to hold on to the division lead that we've had for the majority of this season so far. But it doesn't matter if you're not at the top after week 17.

We'll find out in another week or 6. For now, it on to our next games, facing the Chicago Norsemen, fellow 5-5 team and the only team that has seen even less total points scored by the both teams combined in the first 10 games. In our games the average has been 35.4, in theirs 34.3. It'll be the #1 scoring defense (Maassluis) vs tied #2 (Chicago), facing the #31 offense (Chicago) and #29 offense (Maassluis). And it's not all up to a slugfest approach, we're the #18 and #23 running offenses, with the tied #24 and the #26 running defenses.

The most depressing part has been the Merchantmen running game, with the 32nd ranked yards per carry offense. This is despite a veteran cohesive offensive line, with a topnotch offensive rookie of the year prospect running from behind it, with a smashmouth philosophy offensive coordinator. Imagine how incredibly abysmal the situation would be without all those positives. It's almost like the perceived 'intelligence' of my coordinators, combined with my lack of understanding of game planning have combined for a recipe for disaster.

The latter may be the bigger reason behind my overall desire to go out there and tell about my team, because it's overly underwhelming to report on a team that just doesn't deliver. The incompetence of my staff to generate a game plan is undeniable, but I'm clearly incapable of improving their utter crap into something even half decent. Somehow, I'm making things even worse, it turns out.

Unless we've ran into some incredible unlucky dry spell. It's possible, but improbable at the same time.

At the same time, at 5-5 and with a 3-1 divisional record, we're in the midst of things. We'll face Paris and Gothenburg later on, the division is by no means locked up (hence, we're #2 right now), but all isn't lost quite yet either. Does it feel like we're just hoping for lucky dice rolls right now? Yes, it does. But after all the snake eyes we've seen over the course of the last season and a half, we're surely due a stretch that evens things out no? Right? Right!?

At least, I haven't completely lost the courage to flip around our game plan, I've made some tweaks here and there, I haven't quite given up at all yet. Yes, the offense has been "bleh", but, we've got the talent acquired to play with anybody. Sooner or later, these kids have to start delivering by scoring more than half a touchdown per game. We've already improved to 1.2 per game, progress is here.

A little bit more would be great though. So, don't just keep it up. Keep on improving, Merchantmen. Less chatter, more playing football. Good football. north of 4.0 yards per carry. Closer to 7.0 yards per pass attempt. Hang on to our defensive efforts that have kept us in all 10 games so far. And please, oh please, special teams unit, play up to your ability and don't get outplayed anymore like you did today. Then, maybe then, we actually use all the collected ingredients to have a great mix of football, winning football. This team has everything required to get into the playoffs and make things happen there. We're below the required curve for now, but progress is visible, keep it up and we might surprise, or possibly even simply confirm what we're capable of.

Merchantmen, do it.