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01-12-2001, 07:59 PM
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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The Arrest Trent Dilfer Challenge
No, we won't be following Trent's Ford Bronco down I-95 in this challenge. Instead, I'll be combining QuikSand's "house arrest" concept with Martin's undrafted QB challenge, with some modifications.
I'll attempt to carry on the grand, interception-prone legacy of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I'll start with an allocation draft, minimizing the importance of QBs and maximizing that of kickers. These will be the only real-life players ever to grace my roster. Also, I won't be re-signing any of these guys after their contracts expire, so by 2005 I imagine I'll have a team entirely of game-created players. The goal of this challenge is to see how far I get in the FOF2001 world without a stud QB, in addition to other constraints to prevent me from abusing the AI. With that in mind, here are the house rules applicable to this challenge: General: Wall Street difficulty, may be fired for incompetence. May not attempt to shut down the web site of any disgruntled fan ridiculing my performance. Quarterbacks: I will not draft a QB in the first two rounds of the draft. If a QB of mine ever reaches the Pro Bowl, I can have him around until his contract expires, but then he'll have to take his inflated ego to another team, as I won't be re-signing him. Free Agents: With the QB exception above, I intend to pursue any free agents from my roster I deem worthy in any stage. However, I may only pursue one free agent from another team at one time. This free agent must not have had a Pro Bowl season, or, if a QB, must not have had a full season (at least 12 starts) with a rating over 90.0. This may only occur during the 20-stage process. Incidentally, I will not avail myself of the franchise tag. Contracts: There'll be no contract renegotiations, nor will I haggle with my restricted free agents, though I'm perfectly free to watch their demands decrease before signing them. WRT free agents, the length of the contract must be within one year of the length requested, annual salary increases must be limited to 25% for the length of the contract, and any bonus offered must be at least as much as the median (for contracts with an odd number of years) or average (for contracts with an even number of years) base salary for the contract. Trades: I may accept a trade offer from another team if I can alter it, change it back, and is still accepted. If not, I'll still be free to arrive at more reasonable terms with that particular team for the particular player in question. I may only initiate a trade for a player on my roster who is demanding a trade; otherwise, no outgoing calls from my office. Rookies: I may sign undrafted rookies to either the one-year deal they seek, or for a four-year contract with doubling salaries. However, if this player is on my opening day roster, I cannot cut him until the end of his third season with me. This should prevent me from abusing this type of contract. Also, a player going on injured reserve may only be replaced by an undrafted rookie. Local talent: I'll make an effort to have local players well-represented on my roster. My initial guideline will be to have 11 local players on the roster effective the first year I have a totally ficticious roster. I may have to make some distinction between northern and southern Florida (I don't need any Gator/Hurricane scrums in the locker room), but this will be fleshed out after I play a few seasons. Training Camp: I must have at least 53 players in camp, but no more than 60 -- I can go run a college team if I wanted a herd. Well, after TCY comes out, anyway. The Front Office: My scout will manage the depth chart, game plan, and training camp. My coach will call all plays, though both must read Morgado's posts in the strategy section. I'll determine the active and inactive roster, and stay out of the way. Also, I must fully honor any contract I sign a scout or coach to, no matter how much of a dog he is by the end of the contract. In this instance, I'll force myself to live with any mistakes I make. Ticket Prices: I'll only be allowed to raise ticket prices after a playoff appearance. Ticket prices for regular seats may be increased by X% for a playoff appearance, 2X% for a Super Bowl appearance, and 3X% for a Super Bowl victory, where X% is the rate of growth of the local economy, subject to a minimum of 1%. Ticket increases for luxury boxes, club seats, and seat licenses will be double those of the peons. Stadium: I must renovate a stadium before asking for a new one. I must have referendums rejected in two consecutive years before trying to move the team. The amount that the team will contribute to the total cost of the project will be (100 - fan support for construction rating)%. In addition, my stadium rating must be below 60 when I ask for a renovation, and below 40 when asking for a new stadium. I think that's enough rules for now. If I forget any, I'll be sure to add on. Oh, one more thing -- my roster will be devoid of Notre Dame grads at all times. [This message has been edited by Vaj (edited 01-12-2001).]
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-12-2001, 08:34 PM
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#2 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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FWIW, here's the roster that went 6-10 in 2000 despite allowing only 253 points:
Since I inherited my scout and coach, I'll take the liberty of scouring the market this off-season. Even Daniel Snyder didn't sign Bruce Smith for 6 years! Carolina wound up beating Indianapolis 25-22 in the Super Bowl. Guess who drafted Kurt Warner?
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-12-2001, 09:23 PM
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#3 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Fabulous. Good luck.
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01-13-2001, 12:44 PM
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#4 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2001 Draft
Predictably, Bruce Smith took his big bonus and retired. Warren Moon packed it in as well, leaving me with stellar Pat Barnes as the only QB on the roster. I decide to keep my scout and coach -- they seem all too willing to abide by the nature of this challenge. My scout is 45 year old Bo Bradley. He's fair with QB, K, and LB, very good with DB, and good otherwise. My coach is Johnny Strickland, 38, the offensive mastermind behind the Bucs' scoring 222 points last season. He's poor with QB and OL , Fair with LB, K, and Discipline, Good with WR, Motivation, and Calling Defenses, and Very Good with RB, DL, DB, Young Talent, Offensive Play Calling(!?),and Avoiding Injury. Best of all, they're both cheap, and, given that we really lost money last year*, I decide to stand pat. (*only the 2000 portion of the bonuses made it into the balance sheet, giving us the illusion of a $16m profit). After free agency begins, the salary cap hammer comes down. We're $3.6m over the cap, with only 43 players under contract. I fear this doesn't reflect the full force of Bruce Smith's bonus, which should hit next year. The Steelers only me a second round pick for G Tom Nutten, which I accept. The Chargers offer a fifth round pick and a scrub for CB Darien Gordon, but this trade flunks the reality test, so I settle for a 7th round pick in the 2002 draft (I still have major salary cap issues this year, and San Diego has the #28 pick in the draft). I engage in a massive salary cap purge before the draft, cutting 9 more players to barely get enough room to sign my draft picks. It looks like Pol Pot will have to continue the bloodletting after the draft, as Stalin's too tired, and I'll need to make room for 13 more bodies before training camp. We have the #7 pick, and it looks like we'll be able to choose pretty much who we want -- there are a lot of highly rated QBs in this draft. We have openings just about everywher except for RB, but our most pressing need areas are G (2 players on roster, both gone after this year), LB (only have 3 at the moment), and QB, where I'll be looking for the crumbs left behind from the QB feast. In fact, four of the top 6 picks were QBs, as were 4 of the next 6 picks that followed mine. I've never seen anything like it in this incarnation of FOF. I select an apparent monster at LB with my first pick, and I have my eye on 2 G and 2 S that I hope to snag in round 2.
If there are no busts in this group, I would consider this draft to be a success. After the draft, Da Bears offer me a second round rick and Jackie Harris for Terrell Owens. I tell them they can keep Harris, yet they're still willing to complete the trade. I'd rather they go for Marcus Robinson, as he's under contract for only this year, but I'll take what I can get. I sign some local talent, gamble on a couple of FA breakouts, and finally get to 53 players, with only 26 holdovers from last year's team. Here's the group we take into training camp:
I now anxiously await training camp ...
__________________
"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-13-2001, 01:12 PM
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#5 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2001 Training Camp
I follow my scout's recommendations for training camp. This is his view of the squad heading into the exhibition season:
Whew! No busts, and Jimmy Fitzgerald appears to have some run-stopping potential (49) after all. He seems more balanced, except for his INT rating of 100. My scout seems delusional about the future of Ki-Jana Page, though. He only has 3 potential ratings above 55. Nicky Reilly pulled through fine, and he'll be our default starting QB. I have no illusions of him being a long-term solution, though. This would appear to be another season of offensive ineptitude. We hope to have the pieces in place to recover from Bruce Smith's retirement and the absence of salary cap casualties, though we'll probably not be as good as we were last year.
__________________
"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-13-2001, 02:57 PM
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#6 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2001 Season
We survive the pre-season with only one significant injury: third CB Lewis tore a calf muscle and will miss about half the season. The 76 pre-season points we score is encouraging, but the 105 against don't bode well. We lose our first game 38-27 in Arizona. Included in our 27 points were TDs scored on a fumble return and a kickoff return. Cardinal QB Doug Flutie was Offensive Player of the Week. Cincinnati drills us 33-7 in week 2, with Bengal QB Troy Aikman garnering OPOW honors. Not a good trend at all. At this point, T Willie Anderson is being held out because of a bruised ribcage, and my starting DTs are out with serious injuries (knee surgery and a broken arm). We appear to be the Bad News Bucs. Week 3 brings another blowout, except this time we're on the good side of a 27-6 pasting of the Lions in our home opener. We then have a bye to get Anderson completely healthy for a home game against Jacksonville. The Jags roll to a 31-0 lead in the third before they go into their prevent defense and let us march up and down the field to make the 31-21 final score look respectable. We then fall behind 21-0 in Chicago before the first quarter ends on our way to a 40-7 shellacking. We don't fare much better against Green Bay, losing a 20-6 home game and, by now, a decent part of our fan base as well. The following week sees us in Pittsburgh, holding a 17-14 lead with 1:49 left, with Neil O'Donnell on his own 11. One completion to Terry Glenn and several missed tackles later, and we're 20-17 losers, and 1-6 on the year. We limp along, and are 3-10 when we play the Lions in Detroit. Here, we allowed Charie Batch to complete a tying TD drive with :20 left. After a touchback, we try to make something happen, and Reilly gets picked, leading to a last-second FG and a 20-17 defeat. On the strength of a fumble return for a TD, we win 10-6 in Minnesota before giving our fans a 30-0 drubbing of the Bears for Christmas. Oddly, Cleveland won their last two games to finish 5-11 as well, dragging the Titans down to our level in the process. The Super Bowl featured Carolina and Indianapolis once again, with the Panthers, behind 440 yards and 4 TDs from Kurt Warner, successfully defending their title 44-26. Corey Dillon denied Warner the FOF quadfecta. Season stats: QB Mike Reilly: 63.4 rating (13 TDs, 22 INTs, 40 sacks, 54.8% completion %) WR Gene Van Pelt: 34-554 (68% CPct), 4 TDs in 12 games G Johnnie Moore: 12-26 KRBs, 3 sacks allowed in 5 starts DT Freddie Bell: 35 tackles, 15 assists in 11 games (9 starts); 10.4% TPct CB Kendall Abraham: 4 INTs, 39.4 PDQ S Jimmy Fitzgerald: 3 INTs, 24.9 PDQ, 73 tackles Team stats (Off/Def/NFL): Yards/rush: 3.4/3.3/3.7 Yards/pass: 6.1/6.5/6.5 We were only -5 in turnovers, so that wasn't why we scored 253 and allowed 327 despite the above team stats. However, we did average a pitiful 3.8 points per red zone visit. That clearly must improve if we want to escape the early part of the draft.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-14-2001, 07:08 PM
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#7 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2002 Off-Season
A cause for concern is our franchise value, which has now plummeted to fourth from the bottom. To make matters worse, we can't submit a stadium proposal for another 11 years. Despite our feeble fan loyalty of 11, we made a modest $8 million profit. We lost Darryll Lewis in the expansion draft. Good riddance -- he can tear a calf muscle for the Bakersfield Robins. Free agency consists of us picking up a second year K, DE, WR, and CB. Nothing major. We have the #6 pick in the draft (I overlooked the Chiefs and Bills going 5-11). We have immediate needs at G, TE, WR, DE, and CB, and I also need to consider finding a T, as both my starters won't be around next year. With my first pick, I'm torn between a G from Illinois or a T from Miami. The G projects to be slightly better, but Ts are harder to come by, so I opt for the local player.
In retrospect, I drafted the TE too soon. I thought a nice looking WR and CB would be around in later rounds, but both went later in round 3. Here's the gang we take into training camp:
We go through training camp, and see if the drafting faux pas I committed in round 3 was my first.
Ouch; I've used the #6 pick on a backup T in Vanderkellen, and a second round pick on a scrub G. Double ouch; I'll have major salary cap issues when I have to cut these bums. It looks like I'll have a chance to waste a top ten pick in 2003 as well.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-14-2001, 09:05 PM
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#8 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2002 Season
Surprisingly, we were 3-1 in the pre-season, with our key contributors remaining healthy. Even more surprisingly, we take Green Bay 20-10 in our opener, then maul Denver 52-28 at Mile High despite being outgained 425-238. We had 2 return TDs and 4 turnovers. Nothing like a bye week to kill the momentum after a 2-0 start. Sigh. After the bye we get whooped in Dallas 44-14, as Jimmy Fitzgerald dislocates his shoulder and Nicky Reilly stubs his toe. We rebound with a hard-earned 16-13 victory in Chicago, and are in second place. We then hit a tough patch, blowing a 27-7 halftime lead to lose to the Cardinals 28-27, and then we lose an OT heartbreaker 13-7 to Minnesota, to fall two games behind the first place Vikings. We then hit the road, losing in Detroit and Minnesota to go 3-5 and disabuse ourselves of any notion of making the playoffs. A class of 2001 QB update: Ernie Samuels, picked by the Vikes with the #4 overall choice last year, is clearly the prize of the draft at this point. He beat us in OT with a TD pass to Qadry Ismael, and has a QB rating of 91.1 after week 9. We finally win a game, 24-17 over the Rams, but all 4 of our DEs are injured, with 2 out with broken wrists. The expansion Robins come into our house and tear it apart, 30-6, to go 6-4. How embarassing. We lost two more games to go 4-8, and lose Nicky Reilly for the last 4 games to a dislocated knee. Surprisingly, we win three of our last four behind probable one-year fill-in O.J. Brewer (77.4 QB rating) to finish 7-9, destroying our draft position in the process. OTOH, that's less bonus $$$ I'll be pissing away. In the playoffs, the Eagles behibd Billy Joe Tolliver(?) shocked Kurt Warner and the Panthers in the divisional round, setting up the Vikings and Ernie Samuels to outscore their playoff opposition by 112-24, including a 48-17 pasting of the Jets in the Super Bowl. QB Nicky Reilly: 60.1 rating (7 TDs, 11 INTs, 21 sacks, 52.3% complete) WR Luther Falls: 12 games, 32-370, 3 TDs playing on and off with a brusied ribcage WR Robert Norton: 46-506, 3 TDs, plus one KO return for the distance LB Jamal Zhang: went from second-string to starting MLB; 113 tackles S Jimmy Fitzgerald: 74 tackles, 4 INTs, 33.4 PDQ, 14 G Team Stats (Off/Def/NFL): Yards/rush: 3.3/3.4/3.7 Yards/pass: 5.5/7.3/6.6 Can't figure out how we wound up 7-9 with these stats. Our offense problems won't be helped by the departure of a starting WR and our starting Ts. The over/under on our 2003 win total is 5.5.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-14-2001, 09:30 PM
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#9 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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Class of 2001 QB Update
Eight of the first 13 selections in the 2001 draft were QBs. Of those, overall picks 3, 6, and 13 appear to be busts. Of the other 5, Jeffrey Twyner (#2, Denver) threw 24 passes last year, Ernie Samuels (#4, Minnesota) was 2nd team All-Pro and has Super Bowl hardware, Frankie Sawyer (#8, New England) attempted 121 passes in 2001, Roy Dietrich (#11, Baltimore) had a 66.5 rating while starting all 16 games, and Jack Hutchins (#12, Dallas) threw 89 passes last year. Although Samuels has been the most successful by far to date, my scout feels the four other non-busts still have bright FOF futures. I'll try to remember to post periodic updates on the progress of this group.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-15-2001, 01:17 PM
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#10 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2003 Off-Season
Our franchise value climbed all the way up to #26, and we managed a $17m profit. Unfortunately, the profit was probably the highlight of the year. We're offered a late second round pick for Nicky Reilly, and, while I'm tempted to pull the trigger, I decide he's my only viable QB option at this point. A third rounder for CB Abraham doesn't pass my "yeah, right" test. Once again, free agency is comprised of hunting for second-year bargains. The most significant signing is that of T Shawn Arnold, cut by the Ravens, who agrees to a cheap 4-year no-bonus contract, and could very well start for a majority of the contract. We also sign former Panther DT Clifon Bauer to a slightly more expensive 4-year no-bonus deal. Bauer might very well be a starter for us next season. Our late-season run dropped us down to the #14 draft pick. Aside from DT, I need help just about everywhere, so I'll basically go for the best player available. This also seems to be a weak QB class, meaning that more players that I'm interested in will probably be snatched up before my first pick.
I run up against the 70-player limit before training camp, so I pull the plug on the overpaid bum G Wendell Lively. Since T is still a weak area, Deion Vanderkellen still has a job for now. Based on his late-season performance, I assent to QB O.J. Brewer's reasonable (by FOF standards) demands, and he's back for another two years. Here's our motley collection of Buccaneers going into training camp:
And this is my alleged scout's assessment of the roster going into the season:
Unlike last year, training camp doesn't expose my draftees as a collection of stiffs. In fact, G Jamison now has potentials of 96/43/61. Since DT Graham's potential remains undiminished by camp, I cut starting DT Gary Walker to make room for some new blood. LB Mike A. Jones was also vastly overpaid as a backup, and he got the post-training camp ax as well. I'm still floundering at QB, and have questions at several other positions. Yet, I'm optimistically looking for another 7 win season. Famous last words...
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-15-2001, 03:15 PM
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#11 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2003 Season
We lose 3 games and 2 starters to injury in thge pre-season. LB Jamal Zhang looks to miss about half the year with broken ribs, and T Shawn Arnold had elbow ligament surgery, meaning he'll miss most (if not all) of the season. Fittingly, these are 2 positions where I have no depth to speak of. To my surprise, we take the Falcolns 28-25 on Opening Day, as Nicky Reilly engineers a last-minute 88 yard TD drive to get OPOW. Reality intervenes, as we lose in Detroit and Chicago, before we beat up on the bumbling Bills 23-3. The bad news is G Johnnie Moore dislocated his elbow, and will miss most of the remainder of the year. The Giants then win in the last minutes 24-23, as, to the horror of the locals, a Reilly INT gives them great field position to set up their winning drive. We then fall apart in the fourth quarter in Minnesota, losing that quarter 21-0 and the game 38-10. S Carnell Lake had a field day for them, garnering the DPOW designation. With us at 2-4, Jamal Zhang is given a clean bill of health, and he helps up beat the Lions 21-14, our first win over a team with a winning record. Jimmy Fitzgerald had 2 INTs and a TD in the victory. So we reach the bye week 3-4, with the Pack at 5-2, and Detroit and Minnesota at 4-3. Infuriated that the Bears beat us for their own win of the year, we shut them out 10-0 to get to .500. We then lose to Miami 24-12, as former Buc Eddie Tanner ran for 107 yards and a TD -- I declined his 3 yr $10m demand in training camp, and I suppose he was pissed to be playing for a mere $390,000. Despite Sedrick Kemp's 3 picks, we lose at 2-7 San Fran 27-21 to drop us to 4-6. A very bad loss. The 0-10 Jets nearly get their first win against us, but we hold on for an unimpressive 13-7 win, but lose Zhang for a week or two to an aggravated broken nose. We then travel to the frozen tundra, where we surprisingly hold the 8-3 Packers to a 10-10 standstill. I would have claimed a moral victory, except we missed a 28 yard FG in OT. Our faint playoff hopes are shattered in the last 2:23 in Washington, as first we lose a fumble on our own 3, setting up the Skins for a gift TD and a 17-13 lead. We then get down to their 16, before Reilly gets picked off in the end zone, sealing our fate. We then go on our annual meaningless late-season spurt, winning two of our last three to end the year at 7-8-1.
Motivated by their upset loss to the Eagles in the 2002 playoffs, the Panthers dominated in the regular season, got the bye week, and pulled a Shanahan, losing to the Cardinals 24-21. Arizona then beat the Packers to get to the Super Bowl, where the Ravens picked out their brains, 48-14. We had our first post-season accolades for our class of 2001, as FB Reuben Bryant was named first-team FB (260 yards rushing, 166 receiving in 14 games), and S Jimmy Fitzgerald made the second team (9 INTs, 49.8 PDQ, 87 tackles). Other significant stats: QB Nicky Reilly: 69.3 rating (14/19, 40 sacks, 55.8% completion rate). WR Luther Falls: 47-683, 5 TDs in 13 starts. WR Keith Addison: 42-633, 2 TDs in 15 games. LB Winston Rogers: 91 tackles to lead team, FA pickup who I neglected to mention previously. S Sedrick Kemp: 7 INTs, 37.4 PDQ. My scout thought Kim Newhart deserved the starting job, but I was rewarded for keeping Newhart inactive. Team Stats (Off/Def/NFL): Yards/rush: 3.4/3.8/3.7 Yards/pass: 6.7/5.7/6.5 Our passing stats were much improved on both sides of the ball, though our run defense suffered a bit with my cut of DT Walker. Last year I thought we were lucky to win 7 games, this year I think we deserved to win 7. I think we're slowly starting to come together. Now the organization has to decide whether to meet Nicky Reilly's sure to be outlandish demands in the off season.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-16-2001, 02:56 PM
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#12 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2004 Off-Season
First, a class of 2001 QB update. Roy Dietrich, a 3-year starter for the Ravens, put up an 84.5 rating for the new champs. Ernie Samuels had an off-year for the Vikes (18 picks, 73.5 rating), and Frankie Sawyer became the starter for the Patriots, posting an 82.6 rating. Jeffrey Twyner is still stuck behind Steve Beureleain in Denver, and Jack Hutchins managed to throw 102 passes (89.7 rating) while filling in for Peyton Manning. Our franchise value is back to 28/32, although the only factor I can directly control, the roster rating, is a reasonable 63. Despite being $26m under the $86m salary cap, we only made $14.7m. Considering that the team is maturing, there won't be any future profits unless we can start winning and putting more bodies in the seats. To make matters worse, Johnny Strickland's contract is up, and he's requesting $1.53m per year, about double his previous salary. He'd still be one of the cheapest coaches around, and at 41 he may still have some room for improvement, so I offer $1.6m for 4 years (I'll use the offer length within one year requested rule for coaches and scouts as well as players). I have a couple of fallback coaches, but no other team is interested, so Strickland re-signs with us. In free agency, I spot a nice looking second-year T with potentials in the 50/50/30 range. He appears to be a suitable starter, but, as I wait for his demands to decrease, the Titans sign him in stage 8! They also sign a second-year and third-year fullback in stages 16 and 17. I can't ever recall an AI team signing a second-year FA that early, nor one signing 3 non-kickers. Bastards. Anyway, I do sign a P, C, DE, CB, and WR during the 20 stages, while cutting unhappy TE Horton and overpaid WR Westbrook. I resign RFAs Bryant and Kemp to surprisingly cheap contracts, and, after some thought, assent to Nicky Reilly's demand of $23.3m over 3 years. CB Phil Madison's $16.5m/3yrs demand is unmet going into the draft, and, when no trade offers are forthcoming, I release QBs Page and Brower. We have the #15 pick in the draft, and I'm going to have to stop documenting QB classes: the first four selections were used on QBs, as well as the ninth and twelfth picks for good measure. When my #15 pick comes, there's no player that screams out "Pick Me!". I really need help at T, DE, LB, and CB, as well as depth at RB and TE, and narrow my choice down to three CBs and a RB. Since 15 teams have starting CB as a need, I take a CB, and hope that the RB falls to me in round 2. Amateur Draft Report: I was looking to take a T in round 3, but none seems to justify the pick, so I settled for Prewitt. I sign a decent looking RB from Florida St. to a 4 year deal, as well as many others to hit my max of 60 players in training camp:
After training camp, we cut down to these 53:
The good news is that Phillips, Delgado, Kozhin, and Papadopolous proved their worth in camp. Perhaps spurred on by the new face, starter Nicky Reilly seems to have taken a step forward this year as well. Either that, or my scout is trying to justify the $23m investment we made in him. The bad news is Kendall Madison, the apparent fifth round bargain, was, in fact, a fifth round bust and was sent back to Clemson. My goal this year is 9 wins, and hopefully a playoff berth. I know the OL is still suspect, but WR Keith Addison looks to be the real deal, giving Reilly a legit second wideout to throw to. If we're more fortunate with injuries this year, 9 wins seems quite attainable.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-16-2001, 10:38 PM
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#13 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2004 Season
Keith Addison is this pre-season's injury, stretching a knee ligament in the second PS game. It looks like he'll miss the first month of the season. We start with a home game against in-state rival Jacksonville, which we dominate 44-10. We then go to Green Bay, and win 20-17 on a FG with :03 left. J-Fitz had two picks to lead the D. We then host perennial power Minnesota, who take us 21-14. We then go to perennial doormat Chicago, and lose 17-10 on a last-minute 56 yard TD drive. Pffft. The Saints then administer a 35-7 spanking to us. We then play a gutty game in Atlanta. Lewis goes down on the first drive with a bruised ribcage, yet we have a 10-6 lead with 5 minutes left. The Falcolns then embark on a 93 yard drive to take a 13-10 lead with :30 left. From our 34, we gain 43 yards on 2 plays, setting up a tying FG and OT. In OT, we keep falling behind in a battle of field position, and finally give up the winning TD with 4 minutes left. We now have a pile of questionable and doubtful bodies to rest over the bye week. Still somewhat battered after the bye, we lose three more in a row, absolutely destroying a 2-0 start. A WInfred Phillips 87 yard INT return to the house stops a late Green Bay drive to preserve our 28-10 (we got a meaningless TD with :22 left), odd considering that the Pack is 6-2 in games not involving us. A Reilly to Falls 39 yard TD completion with :13 left to beat the Bears 17-14 thrill the few fans who bother to show up. Those fans then get to sleep through a 6-3 victory over the 2-10 Steelers to get us to 5-7. We then go to Baltimore and have to play a real team, the defending champs. Ravens 43, Bucs 14. Surprisingly, we win only one of our final three meaningless games, as we end the year a disappointing 6-10.
In the Super Bowl, Carolina played Indianapolis for the third time in five years. Once again, the Panthers prevailed 40-21, behind a 21-32, 299 yards passing and 2 TDs from Super Bowl MVP Tee Martin (!?!). Kurt Warner missed the entire post-season with a stretched triceps muscle, which could hamper him next year as well. We have a surprising number of post-season honors. Reuben Bryant is a repeat first team All Pro FB with 112-367 rushing, and 26-193 receiving. He was a nice complement to Offensive Rookie of the Year Roderick Delgado, who made up for a meager 3.5 ypc with 38 catches for 496 yards as part of a platoon with Eddie George. Second team accolades went to Jimmy Fitzgerald (6 INTs, 42.1 PDQ, 97 tackles) and to LB Jamal Zhang, who made 96 tackles in 14 games. Nicky Reilly had his highest QB rating, 73.2, with 13 TDs and 15 INTs and a career-best 57.7% dumping the ball to the backfield. Luther Falls was the lone solid injury-free wideout, with 64 catches for 920 yards. Team stats (Off/Def/NFL) Yards/rush: 3.3/3.9/3.7 Yards/pass: 6.5/7.8/6.6 Looking at these stats, and considering out K was a feeble 17-30 in FGs, it's a wonder we were only outscored 310-254. A truly bad year, with our defense taking a big step back to more than offset the little step forward our offense made. We now get to look forward to our first free agency period where we can go after legitimate starters. But first, we have to see if we can afford to pursue any.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-17-2001, 11:08 PM
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#14 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2005 Pre-Draft
The financial aspects of the Bucs are starting to look grim. We lost $5.8m last year, and our franchise value is not the worst in the league. Our scout's contract is up, and, like coach Strickland, he's asking for about double his current salaty. There are some cheaper scouts available, but they are truly pitiful. I decide to offer Bo Bradley 4 yrs @$270k per to remain with us, which he accepts. He's still the third lowest paid scout in the league. Here's our roster going into free agency, sorted by salary:
Among our unrestricted free agents, I must re-sign J-Fitz, no matter what. I would like to keep G Johnnie Moore as well, though I'll see how much interest he draws before making a bid (he has 93 loyalty). DT Bell and CB Abraham will probably ask for more than they're worth. I could see signing them in the very late stages, but I'd probably try to upgrade first. C is also a dire need -- there's a very weak rookie crop this year. As far as my restricteds, DT Graham will be a must-sign, and TE Trantham would also be nice to keep, though less essential. I'll review my other RFAs after the draft. First things first: I cut T Vanderkellen. Local product or no, I can't carry a first round bust who's angry about his playing time. In stage 1 I offer Fitzgerald a flat $22m over 4 years. I doubt Bell and Abraham will be back after reviewing their demands. Not surprisingly, J-Fitz has drawn plenty of offers, so I go up to $24m, eclipsing Denver's previously high offer by about $1.5m. G Moore has an offer from the Steelers for $24.8m/4 yrs, I offer him the same deal as Fitzgerald in stage 2. While those two ponder, I also offer Denver CB Joel Antel the same $24m/4 yrs in stage 3. The Broncs spring into action, signing Antel for $27.8/4 years, but Fitzgerald and Morris both return to the fold. I now set my sights on LB Dustin Gooden, and try to entice him with $12m over three years. Mine is the high offer for two stages, then the Bears go to $12.4m. I bump my offer to $12.6, which is enough as Gooden signs in stage 7. I now try to make a quick play on Cardinal K Jessie Steed, and offer $2m over 2 yrs (Rasmussen is asking for almost $3m for 2 yrs, pass). Being a quirky K, he thinks about it for 4 stages, and then re-signs with the Cards for $1.6m. In the meantime, DT Bell took the first offer that came his way. Fortunately for me, Bear C Vernon Howard is having an even more difficult time deciding where to play next year. He's started one year out of his four in the league, and has followed through on over 41% of key run blocks. I take the risk and offer $14.5m/4 yrs, his onl y proposal of that length, and the highest paying per year. He takes it immediately. In the latter stages I pick up second-year role players at T, DE, DT, and CB for reasonable contracts. Before entering the draft, I sign DT Graham for $9.4m/2 yrs, and TE Trantham for $5.6m/2 yrs. To my surprise, QB Ben Hanks is only asking for $7.3m over 3 years. It's tempting, but, like my other RFAs, I'll get back to him after the draft. I've spent enough as it is: after the draft I'll have $22m of cap room and 43 players under contract. With the increased payroll and scouting costs, I'm guessing I'll be losing at least $30m next year. Ooof!
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-18-2001, 09:29 PM
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#15 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2005 Draft & Training Camp
Despite our horrid 6-10 season, we only have the #14 pick in this draft. Once again, a sleew of QBs figure to go early, though I have hopes that a decent looking Florida St. prospect will drop to the later rounds. Fortunately for me, T is loaded -- I'm bound to draft someone there with a bright future (at least until training camp). There's also a monster DT that might be worth taking. I need help just about everywhere but QB, FB, and TE, though T, DL, and CB are the three biggest need areas. By the time pick #14 comes up, the top 4 tackles are gone, as is the DT. I am torn between a speedy WR with great hands, or the best remaining T. The WR would seem to have a brighter future, but T is a bigger need right now, and there's a decent drop between the top T and the others, and a probable gulf between my eventual choice and who I could take in round 2.
The Fla. St. QB got taken sixth in round 3. Other than a TE that went late in round 1, my scout turned his nose up at the local products this year. This rookie class doesn't figure to contribute much this year, but should in the next. Perhaps foolishly, I sign Ben Hanks for the $7m/3 yr deal he seeks before training camp. I'll be hoping for a decent trade offer for one of my backup QBs. We enter training camp with this group:
And leave training camp with this group:
It's a always a relief to review the post-training camp inbox and see an offer for your first round pick. The biggest disappointment is the apparent step back that LB Jerald Lyon took. I had anticipated him starting this year; now he won't unless someone gets hurt. I just *knew* QB Hanks would fall to #3 on the depth chart after he got his contract. Another bonehead signing on my part. I'm expecting one more down year here, before hopefully being able to make some noise in 2006.
__________________
"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-19-2001, 07:52 PM
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#16 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2005
The pre-season was going along smoothly, until the finale, in which we lost G Clifton Jamison to a bruised sternum, and LB Jamal Zhang to a severe hamstring pull. Jamison looks to miss about 2 months, one less than Zhang. Philly outclasses us 28-6 in week 1, and, to add injury to insult, G Johnnie Moore is out with a sprained back. Under pressure from management, Clifton Jamison is upgraded to doubtful, and will try to play through his injury. Our home opener is more successful, as we beat Green Bay 34-18, while gaining 445 yards. That would be more points than we would score in our next four games, losing to Seattle, Oakland, Chicago (the 4-0 Bears?) and Minnesota. During that span, Nicky Reilly developed shoulder tendonitis, and Luther Falls sustained a sprained neck. The only good news is Jamison din't aggravate his bruised sternum, and he's fully healthy after our bye week. AFter losing to the Vikings again, 27-20, we embarass the Pack in Green Bay, 13-10. Both of our wins were courtesy of the 6-4 Packers. With our heads swollen, we lose four more in a row, allowing Jamal Lewis to run for 252 yards as the Bears climbed to 10-2. After that debacle Jamal Zhang is cleared for duty, with his talents slightly diminished in my scout's eyes. In week 14 we win our third game, 22-8 in Denver against the lowly Broncos. We then go into Kansas City, give up 17 fourth quarter points to stagger into OT, and are fortunate to win the coin toss, drive 52 yards, and kick a 45 yard FG to win 23-20. We then defeat the playoff-bounds Saints 30-20, before finally losing another meaningless game, 24-19, in San Fran. Unfortunately, Jimmy Fitzgerald undergoes elbow ligament surgery the following week, and his status for next season is unknown.
The surprising Bears make it all the way to the Super Bowl, before being dismantled 28-13 by the Cleveland Browns. Surprisingly, our 5-11 team had two first team All-Pro selections: FB Reuben Bryant (his third in a row), and rookie FA K Vinny Hammond, who connected on 33 out of 39 FG attempts, and also filled in for about a month for my injured punter. Other stats of import: QB Nicky Reilly: Rating of 66.3 (6 TDs, 19 INTs, career highs of 60.4% complete and 7.19 yds/pass). RB Roderick Delgado: 840 yds rushing (3.0 ypc) and 451 yds receiving (12.9 ypc). RB Lawrence Davis: 62-416, still averaged over 5 ypc after throwing out his 94 yard run. WR Keith Addison: 75 catches for 996 yards. WR Luther Falls: 40-535 in 14 G, including 3 when hampered by injury. DE Corey Adame: 10.5 sacks, 6 hurries, 2 blocks CB Winfred Phillips: 38.4 PDQ, 3 INTs, 11 passes defended S Jimmy Fitzgerald: 46.1 PDQ, 7 INTs, 10 passes defended. I foolishly forgot to write down team stats, but I remember our offense was near average in yds/play, but our defense was substandard. Once we got healthy late in the season, we managed to get on a little roll, giving me a glimmer of hope (the same glimmer at the end of 2003, 2004, ...). We'll need some impact players for next year -- hopefully we'll find some in FA, and one with the #3 overall pick in the draft. If nothing else, this challenge should provide me with some idea how tolerant ownership is before pulling the plug on my stewardship of the Bucs.
__________________
"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-19-2001, 11:02 PM
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#17 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2006 Pre-Draft
First, the good news. The surgery on Jimmy Fitzgerald's elbow was declared a complete success, and, barring a setback in rehab, he's anticipated to return with his skills undiminished. Now, the rest. As expected, we lost a bunch of money last season --$31m of it, in fact. At least our franchise value is back up to 28th, surging to over 30% of the least valuable Falcolns. The salary cap will now be increasing at only about $4.5m per year for the next 8 years. Under the previous TV contract, the cap went up about $8m per. At least my salary costs won't be increasing as rapidly, and those flat contracts I gave my free agents last year will help in case I bump up against the cap. Here's our situation going into free agency:
I have two significant unrestricted free agents: Reuben Bryant and Luther Falls. Bryant has become an integral part of what little offense I have, and I must re-sign him, period. Falls would be nice to keep, though I suspect he'll be pricey. The only RFA I'll definitely re-sign is K Hammond. G Papadapolous would be a handy backup, but I fear he'll be demanding starter's money after filling in for my injured guards last year. I receive four trade offers -- two that fail the reality test, and two that I don't even consider. Too bad in a way; the Cards offered the #5 pick in the draft for backup QB Bob Kozhin. An offer for Tavian Banks and a fourth round pick from the Giants couldn't be completed for the same reason. I do manage to peddle Clifton Bauer, who was demanding a trade, to Tennessee for a 7th round pick. He'll join my former DT Freddie Bell. In stage 1 I offer Bryant $10.2m for 3 years. I take my chances on waiting out Luther Falls. Yikes! The Bengals have offered Bryant $14.8m over 4 years -- I feel compelled to go up to a flat $15m for 4 years. Evidently still sore at losing to us twice last year, the Packers have offer Falls just under $15m for two years, exceeding his already inflated demands. I wade in with a flat $23.4m over 3 years. I now have the high bids in both cases, but I'm still hanging. In the meantime, I decide to pursue Minnesota's punter, offering $3.6m for 3 years of action (more action than he's seen with the Vikes, anyway). The Eagles jump into the Luther Falls sweepstakes, offering $27.2m over 3 years. I've gone as high as I can, I'll just have to hope his low loyalty, ah, low desire to play for a winner will keep him around. No movement in Stage 4 or Stage 5, though P Darren Keefer spurns higher offers to remain the Viking punter in Stage 6. Bryant re-signs with us in Stage 7 -- a relief. I'm tempted to go after a couple of other players, but I'm waiting on Luther Falls. Stage 8, Stage 9, Stage 10. Finally Falls makes a decision: he'll stay with us. I fear I may have overpaid for his services. At this point I only have $11m under the cap, and I have to budget $8.5m to sign my rookies. I decide to cut my two angry players, C Flynn and DT Rivera. I sign a cheap second-year T, and, come stage 19, cut WR Joe Barker to make way for WR Freddie Wickham. He's caught 255 balls in his 4 years with the Falcolns, and, at half the salary of Falls will make a very handy third WR. I resign Hammond, and after FA I have 39 players under contract and am $10.7m under the cap -- it will be a tight squeeze to get 53 signed for training camp. Just before the draft, Arizona offers their #1 pick *and* Aaron Beasley for QB Bob Kozhin. Once again, the reality test intervenes. Too bad.
__________________
"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-20-2001, 08:28 AM
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#18 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2006 Draft and Training Camp
Having concentrated on offense during free agency, I intend to focus on defense during the draft. There are some monsters available on the DL (including 3 from LSU), but this draft seems deep there, so I opt for the top-rated player in a shallow position: CB.
I intended to take defensive players with my first two picks, but after a promising G and T were taken in round 2, the BPAs left were pretty much exclusively defenders. I still need a T, but the secondary appears to be solidified, with DL remaining the weakness this year, but with some promising talent coming aboard. After ignoring the local talent during the draft, we make a concerted effort to bring some into training camp, as we enter with this squad:
We hold training camp, and I hold my breath ...
Man, I hate to be running an experimental lab on draft busts, but Tom Hook is an interesting case. His potentials are now 29/22/75/36/69/60/38. His pre-camp current ratings were in the neighborhood of 25/20/35, etc, more variable than the other two safeties I had in mind at that spot. His return ratings weren't identical and yet, a bust who lost most of his run coverage and man-to-man luster, about 10 points of interception, return, and endurance ratings, and little of anything from his zone coverage ratings. Very odd. More importantly, CB Van Benson still appears to be a future star. The other rooks appear OK, although LB Gus Blair doesn't seem to be quite the prospect he was when we drafted him. This is a big year for us. It's the last year of Nicky Reilly's contract, and also that of Bob Kozhin. I definitely won't be able to afford both next season, and I suspect Reilly, the more expensive to keep, will be the one to go. We really need to make progress on the field now, before we permanently turn people off to us. Our only saving grace to this point may have been that Miami and Jacksonville have been just as bad as us. [This message has been edited by Vaj (edited 01-20-2001).]
__________________
"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-20-2001, 11:30 AM
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#19 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2006 Season
We start this crucial season with a roster rating of 70. Yeah, surrrrre. Especially after our firszt exhibition game, in which LB Dustin Gooden tears his achilles. We lose him for the year, and he loses some from his ratings. I now regret not signing one of my FA LBs that lingered after the draft. In week 1 the Rams outgain us 504-297, but we get 3 picks from J-Fitz (the elbow's just fine, thank you) and take a 21-18 road win. We then march into Green Bay and dominate the Pack, 21-7. We don't get too excited, since we also beat Green Bay to go 2-0 last season. We go home to face the 2-0 Lions. The game is tied 13 late, until the Lions put together a 72 yard TD drive, taking a 20-13 lead with 50 seconds left. Oddly, they chose to kick deep, and Tyrus Hodges makes them pay with a 95 yard return for the tying TD! In 6 seconds, no less. Our kickoff goes out of bounds, and Charlie Batch starts on his 40 with :44 left. Our D holds them to 3 yards, however, and we go to OT. We have the only scoring chance in the extra period, but miss a FG, and we settle for a 20-20 tie. Next we host the 2-0 49ers. Make that the 2-1 49ers, as we spank them 41-8. We go visit the Bears, and lose 19-7. We now begin to have a rash of injuries on the DL, particularly at DT, and we're now a game behind Detroit. We defeat Buffalo 30-21, as K Nicky Hammond is named game MVP., Green Bay exacts some revenge the following week, winning 13-6, as our last gasp drive runs out of downs at the Packer 11. Harris Trantham is out for the year with a broken leg -- I should have taken that sixth rounder for him, after all. With a bye week coming up, we rest a dinged Delgado and J.J. Hampton, and the Redskins hand our heads to us, 30-3. After the bye Detroit is 5-2-1, Minnesota is 5-3, we're 4-3-1, and Chicago and Green Bay are 4-4. We host the Bears, needing a divisional win to get back on track. We take an early lead, the Bears pull to within 27-24 with 9:42 left, but we were just toying with them, as we run in it late to win 50-24. Corey Adame is now doubtful with a bruised shoulder, but he'll have to go, as Thurman Hartman and J.J. Nation are out with injuries. We next host the Cowboys, who are without Peyton Manning, though we'll be facing the capable Jack Hutchins (class of 2001). A scoreless fourth quarter leads to another overtime game. Dallas wins the toss, goes nowhere, and we take over on our 41. Seven plays later, Reuben Bryant punches it in from 10 yards, and our fans (all 58,000 of them) exult in our 23-17 victory. Rookie CB Van Benson suffered a dislocated elbow, and it's unclear when he'll be able to return. Next we travel to Minnesota, get off to a qucik 14-0 lead, and hold on for a huge 24-14 win. At 7-3-1, we're once again tied with the Lions for the division lead. Nicky Reilly gets knocked out of the following game against the Jets, and Bob Kozhin fumbles the wet ball on the exchange from center with 1:20 left, setting up the Jets on our 35. They set up for a last-second 39 yard FG, which splits the uprights, and we lose the game 13-10, and our share of first place. We now have to travel to Detroit, and, although Nicky Reilly is healthy, our defense gets shredded in a 33-14 loss, as RB Tim Washington rushed for over 200 yards and was the OPOW. We now host the 9-4 Patriots, and manage to dominate time of possession in the second half and take a 17-10 win. At 8-5-1, we need one more win to clinch a wild card spot, although oue final games are hosting 8-6 Minnesota, and travelling to 10-4 Miami. In our rematch with Minnesota, we jumped out to a 17-0 lead on our way to a 34-24 shootout victory. There were 749 combined passing yards, but our 182 rushing yards made the difference. We made the playoffs, and have clinched the #4 seed! That will sure help our bottom line. With our playoff spot locked, we rest a couple of banged up starters, and lose in Miami 23-16, and lose T Shawn Arnold to a broken arm.
QB Nicky Reilly: 86.4 rating (2nd in NFL), 21 TDs, 16 INTs, 28 sacks, 63.4% complete, 7.38 yds/pass -- a monster contract year. RB Roderick Delgado: 225-1047 (4.6 ypc), 8TDs; 36-433, 4 receiving TDs. FB Reuben Bryant: 112-387 (3.4 ypc), 2 TDs WR Luther Falls: 76-993, 2TDs, an unexpected 11 drops WR Keith Addison: 60 rec, 844 yds, 7 TDs WR Freddie Wickham: 64-698, 5 TDs; Angry about not starting LB Jamal Zhang: 126 tackles, 46 assists -- league leading tackler came up huge to carry our front seven. CB Van Benson: 34.4 PDQ, 2 INTs, 3 passes defended in 10 G S Jimmy Fitzgerald: 48.2 PDQ, 9 INTs, 6 defended passes Team Stats (Off/Def/NFL): Yards/rush: 4.1/4.0/3.7 Yards/pass: 7.3/6.8/6.4 Our offense(!?) carried us this year. A truly unexpected result. Maybe our roster rating was justified after all. We'll try to run our seasonal record against Minnesota to 3-0 in a wild card game.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-20-2001, 12:17 PM
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#20 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2006 Playoffs
Most of Tampa Bay will be listening to this game on the radio, as the telecast will be blacked out as we only sold 62,000 tickets out of 80,000. We win the coin toss, and fumble the opening kickoff, but we recover on our 18. Playoff jitters.. After an exchange of punts, our offense gets something going, mixing the run and pass well to get down to the Viking 11. On a third and one, Reuben Bryant runs up the middle ... and gets stuffed for a loss of 3. We settle for the FG and a 3-0 lead. AFter an exchange of punts, the Vikes put together a couple of first downs, but three consecutive running plays only net 9 yards, and they punt it into our end zone. We get one first down before having to punt, and what an awful punt it was. Minnesota takes over on their own 48, and convert on 3 consecutive third downs (including 2 of at least 10 yards), before Ernie Samuels runs a QB draw for a 3 yard TD, giving Minnesota a 7-3 lead with 5:28 left in the half. Reilly hits a couple of nice passes to get us into field goal range, but the 50 yarder sails wide to the right just after the two minute warning. Neither offense can move the ball after that, and we trail 7-3 at halftime. Minnesota takes the second half kickoff and marches into the red zone without the benefit of a third down. Our defense stiffens, and they settle for a 30 yard FG to extend their lead to 7. On our first play from scrimmage, Reilly drops back to pass, gets sandwiched between 567 pounds of Viking linemen, and fumbles the ball away on our 30. The Vikings wound up with a first and goal from our 10, but could only get down to the 6, and kicked another FG to lead by 10. Hodges returned the kickoff, and committed his second fumble of the game. This time we're not as fortunate, as Minnesota recovers on our 27. The defense heroically holds them to three plays, and we're very fortunate to be down only 13 with 3 minutes left in the third. We get two first downs before an unnecessary roughness penalty kills the drive, and we punt at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Terrence Wilkins returns the punt 84 yards, and we're down big-time, 23-3. A penalty on the kickoff return leaves us on our 10, but we get passes of 44, 34, and 18 yards, the latter to Addison gives us our first TD and we trail 23-10. We need a defensive stop, but our defense is tired from the strain of the third quarter, and Minnesota goes 80 yards in 5 minutes to seal the game. They add a meaningless field goal, and we watch the rest of the playoffs on TV after our 33-10 defeat. Sadly, we actually outgained the Vikings, but special teams play killed us. Minnesota made it to the NFC Title Game, where they lost in Detroit 16-13. The Lions then demolished the surprising Dolphins 26-6, behind 325 yards and 2 TDs from Charlie Batch. We had four first team All-Pros: FB Reuben Bryant (4th year in a row), C Vernon Howard (38.5 KRB%), T J.J. Hampton (33.3 KRB%, 0 sacks allowed), and LB Jamal Zhang. QB Nicky Reilly made second-team All Pro, and is already making noises about having his own tent at home games to sell his Pro Bowl memorabilia. We have to decide if we want to put up with his distractions, but with a backup with perhaps a brighter future, we tend to doubt it.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-20-2001, 02:44 PM
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#21 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2007 Pre-Draft
Our franchise value is still mired in 28th, and, despite an extra home game, we lost even more money, $37m to be precise. Since we made the playoffs, we'll increase our ticket prices. However, since the local economy is contracting at an annual rate of 1.9%, we only raise the price of luxury boxes by $2,000. Here's our roster going into free agency, sorted by salary:
As far as our unrestricted free agents go, we'll do whatever it takes to sign Jamal Zhang. Mercury Graham would be nice to retain, but I suspect he'll be out of my price range. I'll would bother with my other UFAs, including that sudden egomaniac Nicky Reilly. I'll probably have to sign QB Bob Kozhin to a small fortune, and I'll decide what to do with the other RFAs after the draft. I get an offer of a 5th round pick for backup QB Ben Hanks. As he's in the last year of his contract, I explore the offer, but it's not quite realistic -- I settle for a 6th round pick. In stage 1 I offer Jamal Zhang $18m for 3 yrs, which he accepts immediately. Mercury Graham is asking for about $38m for 4 yrs -- forget it. After signing a Kent Lea, a mediocre DT, to a 6 yr, $54.5m contract, they offer DT Mercury Graham $52.33m over 5 years. The humanity! In stage 4 I offer Giant LB Deron Hutchins $7m for 2 years, as Dustin Gooden is still rehabbing his torn Achilles. However, Hutchins decided to re-sign a less lucrative contract to stay with the Giants. Graham signs a $49m, 5 yr contract with St. Louis. More power to him. With the salary cap increasing by less than 4% a year, I decide to sit tight, hoping that CPU teams have as much difficulty finding room for free agents as they did last year. I find two DEs, one a better defender with lower endurance, the other more balanced, remaining in stage 6 who would represent a solid replacement for my FA DEs. I'm gambling that both players won't be signed in the same stage -- I have to pinch pennies now. The low endurance DE signs with Dallas in Stage 10, along with my former TE Harris Trantham. I then make an offer to Ram DE Allen Chambliss for $12.6m over 3 years, which he takes immediately. Nicky Reilly still hasn't received any offers; his attitude problem must be scaring off other teams as well. My remaining moves are signing a second-year G, T, LB, and S. Going into the draft I have 40 players under contract, and $20m of cap room. I have yet to lock up Kohzin. I'll gamble that, given our poor fan support, that he won't become a fan favorite, so that I can sign him (and any other RFAs) for a little less after the draft. BTW, Nicky Reilly didn't get one offer; even Juan Gonzalez did better in that regard.
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"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-20-2001, 04:38 PM
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#22 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2007 Draft and Training Camp
At #24, we have our lowest draft position since this challenge began. We have needs to fill on the DL, T, and LB in particular. We could also use a RB, as Roderick Delgado and company won't be under contract at the end of this year. This draft class had about the worst QB crop in this career. When I'm on the clock, there is no real standout pick. I'm tempted by a S and a WR, but I decide to go with a LB, an area where I need depth, especially with Gooden's injury.
I re-sign a couple of my RFAs, with Kozhin being the most prominent. Sadly, his $27.19m deal for 3 years was essentially identical to Nicky Reilly's request of $27.41m. I think $9m for 3 years is too much for TE O'Donnell, for whom I have adequate replacements. The pre-camp roster:
We're looking for a breakout from Sam Norton, and hope nobody crashes and burns in camp ...
First-rounder Kaplan came through unscathed, but most of my other draftees took moderate hits on their potential ... including Norton, who lost his meager green bars entirely. We've also cut local product Lawrence Davis, who, despite modest ratings, ran very well for us. However, he was in the last year of a doubling contract, and couldn't justify paying that much for a #3 running back. That move gets us $7.6m under the cap. Obviously I'm not expecting too much from this year's team with a new, untested QB running the offense. Hopefully an improved defense can offset this shortcoming to some degree. [This message has been edited by Vaj (edited 01-21-2001).]
__________________
"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-21-2001, 02:19 PM
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#23 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2007 Season
Laughably, we have a 100 roster rating. Minnesota (47) and Chicago (41) are the only other NFC Central teams to get a "good" rating. We'll see. We survive the exhibition season relatively unscathed. Gooden has been upgraded to probable -- at worst, he'll be back our week 3 bye. Rookie LB Kaplan is dinged with a bruised shoulder, which we hope he doesn't reinjure. We start the season in Chicago, where Kozhin throws 3 picks in a 28-16 loss. In our home opener, we squander an 8-3 halftime lead, and, trailing 12-11 late, Kozhin gets intercepted from the Ram 36, and we lose 15-11. Coach Strickland gives the team no practice time off during the bye, and we go into Detroit and jump out to a 17-0 halftime lead on our way to a 24-14 win. The reeling Lions are now 0-3-1, and would seem to dearly miss RB Tim Washington, who Buffalo picked up as a free agent. Sadly, the 2-2 Bears are alone in first. We next travel to New Orleans, and lose 19-7, as another last-minute interception is returned for a TD to seal our fate (24 yards on 23 carries didn't help our cause either). Nicky Reilly would be laughing at our struggles if he weren't unemployed. We now host Minnesota, and, with both of us at 1-3, the loser becomes a long shot to get to the playoffs. The Vikings lost Ernie Samuels to Bakersfield, when, oddly, he's behind Harold Reddy on their depth chart. It's probably more odd that Samuels would sign there, as Reddy is off to a monster start. Behind 2 TD runs and a 74 yard TD punt return by Tom Hook, we lead 24-6 early in the fourth, but need two interceptions deep in our territory to hold on to a 24-16 victory. Not pretty, but we'll take it just the same. Next up is the 4-2 Steelers, who, we maul 42-16 in their house, as 247 rushing yards overcomes Kozhin's 3 picks. We let down at home the following week, losing 19-16 to Green Bay, their second win of the year. Roderick Delgado runs for 155 yards in our 28-18 home win over Detroit, but we lose Winfred Phillips to knee surgery (possibly back for the playoffs) and Jimmy Fitzgerald to a broken hand. Remarkably, these were our first serious injuries of the year. We call on Chris Berman to help us circle the wagons, and it works: Bucs 37, Packers 14. Alonzo Barton, Phillips' replacement, brought a pick to the house to earn the game ball. We ride Roderick Delgado (176 all-purpose yards, 2 TDs) to a 20-14 home win over the slumping Redskins. Our 3 game winning streak gets us to 6-4, 2 games ahead of our suddenly woeful division. We travel to 6-4 Cincinnati, where Florida St. alum Steve Green is the starting QB. We eyed him in the thirs round a couple of years back, but the Bengals took him 7 picks before we would have. WIth our K hampered by a broken foot, we nevertheless win a FG battle, 12-9, as P Albert Horst booted two through the uprights in the last 2:34 to give us the win. We get a fluke 14-7 win over the defending champion Browns, as we returned a fumble on the opening kickoff for a score, and Tom Hook returned the opening kickoff of the second half 103 yards for a TD. Hook's not much of a S, but his 2 return TDs have sure helped. We run our winning strak to 7 with home wins over Jacksonville (35-3) and Chicago (25-0), although WR Keith Addison is done for the year after breaking his wrist. At 10-4 we've clinched our division, and have the top record in the NFC, with three teams at 9-5. Jimmy Fitzgerald returns to the lineup in a big, getting 2 INTs and DPOW as we win in Philly 26-17, to clinch a bye. We'll need it, as CB Van Benson appears to be done for the year with a broken foot. Our offense is stifled in the second half in Minnesota, as we lose the game 13-10 on a late FG, and the #1 as Arizona won their last two games to catch us.
We get a week off to heal, to prepare for our opponent, and to sell playoff tickets. Hopefully we can learn from our playoff experience last year, and make some post-season noise.
__________________
"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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01-21-2001, 05:19 PM
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#24 |
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H.S. Freshman Team
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Lawn Gisland, NY
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2007 Playoffs
We get to play Carolina in the divisional round. They demolished San Fran 34-3 behind Lenny Ishii, their third-string QB. Mercifully for me, Kurt Warner has a broken leg, which happened when he slipped on some Chunky's soup that spilled on his kitchen floor. Bad karma, Kurt. Former Super Bowl Tee Martin is also incapacitated by a stretched knee ligament. Unfortunately, Randy Moss and Marvin Harrison are ready, willing, and able to run rings around by hobbled CBs. We must pressure the young QB into making mistakes. Winfred Phillips will give it a go, although Van Benson's broken foot hasn't healed sufficiently to allow him to play. We win the coin toss, but go three and out. Priest Holmes gets a nice run, and Marvin Harrison catches a pass good for 26 yards. From our 28, Ishii drops back to pass, and gets blindsided by DE Allen Chambliss. The ball pops out, and rookie DE Alfred Nichols picks it us and runs it to their 49. We manage one first down, and Vinny Hammond comes on for the 44 yarder. Wide right. Our defense stuffs them, and after a good punt we take over on our 20. Kozhin drops back to pass, looks for Luther Falls on a deep crossing pattern, but he doesn't see Ray Lewis, who picks off the pass and brings it back 37 yards for the first score of the game. Our rookie CB Gino Brandon, brought aboard because of our injuries at CB, brings the deep kickoff out of the end zone, coughs it up at the 14, and Carolina recovers and returns it for another TD. Another fumbled playoff kickoff! Arrggh! Whatever hope the crowd had fizzled after our next possession, another quick Kozhin interception, which Carolina needed four plays to cash in and take a 21-0 lead 12 minutes into the game. Our offense still can't get anything done, and, after two first downs, Carolina is forced to punt, pinning us at our one. On the last play of the first quarter, Kozhin drops back, and hits Falls along the sideline for a big 50 yard play. On the very next play, Kozhin hits Brock Carr on a stop and go for a 49 yard TD! After our 2 play, 99 yard drive, the crowd starts to get back into it, and we feel like we still have a chance. Our fired up defense gives them nothing, and our offense churns out a sustained drive. On a 3rd and 3 from their 6, Delgado gets the ball on a draw, but gets tackled in the backfield. We settle for the FG, and trail 21-10. Carolina has more success on their next possession, moving the ball primarily by passing. Moss is killing us. After the two minute warning, they try a running play, and Priest Holmes is blasted by DT Wes MacLeod just after he gets the handoff. Alfred Nichols recovers his second fumble of the game on our 16, and we only trail by 11 at the half. It could have been much worse. Carolina's offense is still moving the ball well to start the second half, but ALonzo Barton intercepts a third down pass at midfield, and returns it to the Panther 31. On a second and 12, Kozhin looks for Falls runnuing a deep post pattern, and finds him for the 33 yard TD. It's now 21-17, and not only does it feel like we have a chance, we really do! Neither offense can move the ball much the rest of the quarter. We start at the 4th quarter at midfield, after runs of 7 (Delgado) and 9 (Bryant) yards. Bryant gets a run of 8, and a completion for 10. He needs a breather, so Kozhin hits backup FB Tom Velez for 8. Bryant comes back, runs off left guard for 16. Delgado then runs wide right for the final 6 yards and a 24-21 lead. Our defense isn't going to let their offense do anything, and, after Kozhin's thrid INT of the game, our D became more determined, forcing another three and out. Carolina's last drive was a 4 and out, and we took three knees and then kicked a last-second FG to lock up a 27-21 lead, remarkable cosidering we spotted them 21 points in the first quarter. Arizona is our next opponent after convincingly sending the Giants home. Our old friend Ki-Jana is their starting QB, and has had a solid year (21 TDs, 12 INTs, 3150 yards), and Corey Dillon is still productive for them. Phillip's knee is cranky, and Hunter Boone pulled his groin, so we have to activate Van Benson and go with three doubtful CBs. We won the toss, didn't fumble the kickoff, but a holding penalty sets us back. Delgado got a first-down run and a first-down reception, but that's it for us. A poor punt gives them good field position, and they take advantage of 19 and 18 yard completions to their top wideout to take a 3-0 lead. Once again, we get a couple of first downs, but a third down sack forces a punt from their 48, which goes into the end zone. Van Benson then came up with a huge INT, limping it back to the Cardinal 32. We only manage 8 yards, and Hammond pushed the 41 yarder wide right, and we squander a great chance. Page quickly completed passes good for 18 and 9 yards, but the Cards couldn't get the second first down, and the punt resulted in a touchback. We went three and out again, and a Corey Dillon run on third and 4 that went for 33 yards was the key play in their TD drive that put us down 10-0. We got a couple of first downs, but gave up another key third down sack to kill the drive. Our punt at the two minute warning pinned them at their 6, but they managed to get a first down and kill the clock. Corey Dillon led the Cards on the opening possession of the second half, fittingly capping the drive with a 4 yard TD run to give the Cards a 17-0 lead. We responded with a time consuming drive, but it stalled on the Cardinal 24. Hammond attempts another 41 yard FG, and sneaks it just inside the right upright, and we enter the fourth quarter training 17-3. The Cardinal offense got two first downs, but no more, and a booming punt resulted in a touchback. From the 20, Kozhin hit Clifton Prewitt streaking down the middle for a 45 yard gain. We follow with a 9 yard completion to Velez, but the second down pass was incomplete, and Kozhin was sacked on third down. We go for the FG on 4th and 7, and Hammond connected from 49 yards out. We need a defensive stop, but Arizona is getting chunks of yardage and is taking time off of the clock. A second down pass from our 10 is complete, but DE Nichols comes from behind and drops the receiver on our 1. We know the next play is going to be a Dillon run, and we manage to tackle him in the backfield, so it's still a two possession game, 20-6. With less than five minutes remaining, we need a quick score, and after four consecutive Kozhin completions, we're only down 20-13, as Carr caught a 4 yarder for the score. We expect Arizona to run, but Page comes out throwing, completing passes of 21 and 15 yards. We burn our time outs, and, just after the two minute warning, their 52 yard FG attempt is short. Taking over on our 42, Delgado took a swing pass and galloped for 17 yards. But then Kozhin threw two bad passes, Carr dropped a third down pass, and, having to force a throw into double coverage on fourth down, was intercepted. Ballgame. Arizona then took on the Jets in the Super Bowl, and were destroyed 25-0. The Super Bowl champion Jets started the season with a roster rating of 13. --------- Team stats: QB Bob Kozhin: 78.4 rating (15 TDs, 18 INTs, 32 sacks, 60.7%, 7.42 ypa) RB Roberick Delgado: 257 rushes, 1195 yards, 11 TDs; 54 catches, 777 yards, 1 TD FB Reuben Bryant: 96-377, 2 TDs; 18-220, 1 receiving TD WR Keith Addison: 59-839-4 (14 G) C Bruce Darnell: 31-82 KRB, 3 sacks; surprise starter played well DE Allen Chambliss: 12.5 sacks, 13 hurries, 3 blocks S Sam Norton: 35.1 PDQ, 6 INTs, 3 passes defended P Albert Horst: 33-89 inside 20, 13-19 FG, 17-17 PAT. Team stats (Off/Def/NFL) Yards/rush: 3.8/3.7/3.7 Yards/pass: 7.4/6.0/6.6 Our defense did step up, particularly against the pass. Our 222 points against was the best in the league. Adding Chambliss was a huge boon, giving us an effective pass rusher for a change. Delgado, Bryant, and Horst were named first-team All Pro, and Darnell made the second team. These four stayed at Reuben Bryant's condo a mile from the Hula Bowl; he's been to so many Pro Bowls (5 first team designations in a row) that he decided to get some local real estate.
__________________
"To all of those here who work in marketing or advertising: kill yourselves." -- Bill Hicks "Christianity's such an odd religion. The whole image is that eternal suffering awaits anyone who questions God's infinite love" -- Bill Hicks |
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