Maassluis Merchantmen, take 3 (FOF MP)

[MIJB#19]

2134 season recap
After a strong 3-0 start on the road (27-10 win at Gothenburg, 17-14 win at Hanalei, 30-6 win at Harlem), the bye week broke momentum and losses vs Tucker (13-36 at home), at Augusta (13-20) and at Paris (12-24) dropped the team back to third place in the division, with Bordeaux (4-2) leading and Paris (3-3) ahead of Maassluis (3-3) on the early head-to-head tie-breakers, while struggling Gothenburg (2-5) was coming fresh of a 40-34 beatdown of Tucker, with 6 of their home games still to come, putting them still in the mix.

Except that it turned out all to be moot points for the rest of the division as the Merchantmen became red hot and won 7 straight games from there on (26-17 vs Snapfinger, 21-16 vs Bordeaux, 30-23 at Orlando, 33-7 vs Gothenburg, 23-9 vs Oakland, 30-28 vs Fort Wayne and 45-6 at Fairbanks), balancing between close wins and dominant blowouts. A week 15 35-24 loss at Bordeaux kept the Merchantmen from clinching the division early, but in week 16 Colorado was beaten 23-17 to lock up the division title. Still pushing for a bye week, the Merchantmen rolled on in week 17, crushing Paris 37-9.

European Division 2134
1. Maassluis 12-4
2. Bordeaux 10-5-1
3. Paris 8-8
4. Gothenburg 5-11

By virtue of the week 5 loss against Tucker, the #2 and #3 seeds were divided, putting the Merchantmen on the #3 seed and hosting Bordeaux in the wild card round. Leaning heavily on their defensive play, the Merchantmen stormed to a big lead and saw Bordeaux and their QB Matthew Parrish almost pull off the amazing come back from a 21-point deficit, coming short on a screen play when a hail mary was warranted. It ended in a 34-29 Maassluis victory.

In the conference semifinals, completely against all logic, the Tucker special teams unit scored an early punt return touchdown against the best special teams unit in the league and forced just enough fumbles to come out victorious in a game that saw the Merchantmen come 9 yards short on a completed hail mary from QB Martin Marsh to WR Russell Oxford. CB Dean Prior scored his second defensive touchdown of the playoffs, but it was insufficient to overcome the 21-28 loss.


The regular season saw the Merchantmen lead the league in defensive interceptions (big role for Dean Prior with 11, but also 5 for S Brendan Barker and pass rush specialist turned part time zone defender LB Tyrus Hertz), while giving up the second least number of points and as always leaning strongly, but not as dominantly as they should be, on the special teams unit.

[MIJB#19]

2135 season recap
The retirement of TE Bryden Flylum jumped out in the off-season (Flylum got inducted in to the IHOF Hall of Fame in 2139 with a 100% score). Flylum ranks 2nd among all Merchantmen with 1178 receptions and 7th with 12,903 receiving yards. Flylum already groomed his two successors TE Quinn Bullock and TE Ray Hutchins, leaving behind a strong pair of targets for QB Martin Marsh.

The off-season saw little other turnover on the roster, making the Merchantmen jump back up to being considered the elite team in terms of cohesion. The offense saw the departure of RB Lenny White and arrival of rookie RB Tony Ashworth. TE Abel Nield was a short term gap filler for the retirement of Flylum, as TE Dean Fortin moved into an active roster spot. G Zane Tucker left and was replaced by mentor G Michael Cook.

The defense saw the arrival of green DE Kenny Hopkins and DT Marc Hastings, the drafting of talented LB Trevor Fitzgerald in the draft at slot 1.28, taking over from veterans LB Herman Sweeney (released and signed with Fort Wayne) and LB Trent Garcia (retired). The secondary saw the release of S Braxton Wilczewski, with nobody replacing him, trusting the backups from the prior season to jump in.


The regular season turned out to be an uphill battle. After a lackluster 2-5 start (with all but one loss coming by a single score), the Merchantmen bounced back with 5 straight wins, which included a 28-27 win on a 52-yard field goal, a 34-27 win over Bordeaux set up by a Dean Prior pick six and a 21-18 win over Gothenburg that included a crucial sack for a safety by LB Tyrus Hertz.
After a 4-interception game from QB Martin Marsh in a 20-22 loss at Arizona, the playoffs were still possible as the rest of the European division was also struggling and the Merchantmen were dominating divisional play. A 33-20 win vs Paris put Maassluis back on top of the division with an 8-6 record, ahead of Gothenburg (7-7) and Bordeaux (7-7). The Merchantmen choked in week 16 at home against Iowa, once again seeing QB Marsh struggle with turnovers. A week 17 win at Gothenburg would still put the Merchantmen a top the division, but the Giants were on a mission and tore the Merchantmen apart with a 30-12 score for Gothenburg.

European Division 2135
1. Bordeaux 9-7
2. Maassluis 8-8
3. Gothenburg 8-8
4. Paris 4-12
Maassluis finished second on conference record, but far behind the 11-5 wild card teams. Bordeaux hosted one of them, but Augusta crushed them 45-27.


QB Martin Marsh had a career high 4,514 yards passing, but his 18 interceptions and 23 passing touchdowns proved to be a reason to think this might be the end of it for him and it might be time to throw still underdeveloped backup QB Danny Joseph out there in 2136, after riding the bench for 4 seasons...

[TheseBoots]

Yeah. You should start that Joseph kid IMO.

[MIJB#19]

2136 recap: The Danny Joseph era begins?
After a pathetic 1-3 finish to the end of the playoffs missing 2135 season, where just one more win would have netted the division title ahead of Bordeaux, it was clear that QB Martin Marsh had fallen out of favor with Merchantmen management. At such times, one would expect the Merchantmen to make a bold move to sign or trade for a veteran that had fallen out of favor elsewhere, or perhaps even draft a replacement. Instead, 24-year old QB Danny Joseph was pushed forward as the new starter, at least for the season, ahead of Marsh.

With presumably fast legs and smarts, Joseph fitted the team's desire to have a quarterback that can extend drives both through the air and with his running instincts. A gamble still as Joseph was still underdeveloped and entering his 5th season in the IHOF, there were worries about him never reaching his potential. His limited action so far was basically one crappy performance in week 17 of his rookie season vs Gothenburg when a wild card for the playoffs was already locked up. In further limited action he had tallied up to 32 of 72 passes completed for 450 yards, 2 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

Around Joseph, the offense continued to change. RB Herb Marra was released after 7 seasons, considered to be over the hill, while LT Silas Shepard was added to the team being taken at pick 1.15. In the second round, the Merchantmen selected K Dashawn Bostick, expecting him to live up to the kind of skills that K Jeffery DeGroot - snubbed by the HOF committee - provided. On the defense, seasoned veteran DT Dillon Planish was signed in free agency, but otherwise that unit basically remained unchanged from the 2135 personnel.

RT Rex Asimov went down with a season ending injury in week 5, causing a bit of a reshuffle on the line, but with the investments in recent drafts, the line remained solid enough even without their best run blocker. In his first season as a starter, Joseph delivered as he threw for 4,512 yards with 20 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, while proving his running ability with 376 yards, 5.7 yards per carry and 45 touchdowns, placing him just barely behind the struggling tandem RB Tony Ashworth (410 yards, 2.5 per carry, 4 touchdowns) and RB Devonte Kramer (391 yards, 3.2 per carry, 4 touchdowns).

The season started with a solid 46-23 win at Paris, which already showed the early glimpses of what the Merchantmen in 2136 wanted to play like: spectacular special teams play, a sneaky defense with turnovers to make up for the yardage allowed and a hard to predict offense with no less than 6 passing targets used in rotation.

The next couple of games saw the Merchantmen sit at 3-1 going into their bye week, with a daunting 42-21 loss at Augusta, who turned out to be the eventual IHOF Bowl winners that season, sandwiched with solid wins at Outer Banks (24-15) and against San Antonio (24-13).

A couple of silly losses at Fort Wayne (15-21) and against Capital City (33-37) against underwhelming opponents tempered the overall confidence in the team, despite a 10-3 record going into the final 3 games of the regular season. A crucial road game at Gothenburg in week 15 saw Joseph lose to fellow class of 2132 QB Todd Cates and another pair of nasty losses later, the Merchantmen had pissed away the division title into Gothenburg hands.

2136 European Division
1. Gothenburg 11-5
2. Maassluis 10-6
3. Bordeaux 7-9
4. Paris 6-10

The Merchantmen still made the playoffs as the #6 seeds, visiting Gothenburg in the wild card round, but even knocking aforementioned QB Todd Cates out of the game before half time proved to be far too little to stand a chance as QB Danny Joseph had his worst showing of the season with 3 interceptions (his first triplet of the season) as he completed just 22 of 50 passes.

Did QB Danny Joseph convince management enough to not keep their eyes open for other options?

[MIJB#19]

2137 recap
Perhaps not quite convinced in QB Danny Joseph just yet, the Merchantmen acquired QB Aidan Shannon, a player that they openly pursued in prior seasons. They also were open about their interest in QB Todd Fraaije, another scrambling quarterback, but Brooklyn didn't want to let him gom. it put the pressure on Joseph to not just think that a single season as the starter would be a guarantee to maintain.

QB Martin Marsh was no longer in the mix, he retired after one season in the bench in Maassluis. He went out with a 78-56 record as a starter, having played in 140 games for the Merchantmen, including the 2130 AOC Championship game (16-19 loss at Toronto). He had four 4,000-yard seasons, adding up to 32,856 passing yards in regular season games with 186 touchdowns and 140 interceptions. Marsh also ran for 2,509 yards and 16 touchdowns with a 5.8 yards per carry average.

Former 1.9 pick WR Rod Holdman was released and ended up in a backup role with Bordeaux (as of 2140 he's retired and has already taken on the job of Offensive Coordinator in Gothenburg). More important was the addition of three new backfield players with veteran RB Salvador Ursino and rookies RB Andres Fallang and RB Cris Street, joining the returning special teams aces RB Tont Ashwort and RB Devonte Kramer. The offensive line saw the arrival of promising strong G Jalen Ramsey. The defense once again was nearly unchanged, to strenghten their cohesion. DT Rod McNeil was released in pre-season and spent his last 3 seasons with Tucker. He was replaced with 1.24 draft pick DT Matthew Dawson. The defense also saw the arrival of zone defense specialists LB Shaun Samuels and LB Warren Carpenter.

The 2137 regular season turned out to be a bit of a bumpy road, but despite the Merchantmen's struggles, like getting swept by Gothenburg and losing at home against Bordeaux, they did clearly outscore their opponents and all the losses were hard fought close ones. With an underwhelming 8-7 record, they went into week 17 hosting Paris in a winner takes the division title clash (although technically Gothenburg would have won with a Paris win had Gothenburg themselves won against Bordeaux, which they didn't) and despite getting outperformed in total yardage and losing the turnover battle 2-0, the special teams play, bent but don't break defense and the unpredictable offense carried through in what ended up being a smooth 27-10 win to win the division.

2137 European Division
1. Maassluis 9-7
2. Gothenburg 7-9
3. Paris 7-9
4. Bordeaux 7-9

The Merchantmen took the #4 seed in the AOC, ahead of playoffs missing 10-6 San Antonio and having to face 12-4 Tucker in the wild card round. The Merchantmen flourished and had one of their best showings against the all pass offense of Tucker, crushing them 41-13. In the conference semifinals, the Merchantmen had two shots to pull off a comeback from behind win at the reigning IHOF champions Augusta, but both drives were stopped short and Augusta progressed with a 20-14 win into the AOC Championship game 2137.

QB Danny Joseph upped his regular season numbers to 4,674 yards passing with 30 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, with 456 yards rushing (6.3 per carry) and 1 touchdown. New tandem RB Salvador Ursino and RB Andres Fallang showed improvement to the running game with almost 4.0 yards per carry each and combining for 1,365 yards and 14 touchdowns. On the receiving end, WR Russell Oxford had his first 1,000-yard season, while WR Kenyon Stokes was close at 978 yards and veteran WR Dave Waldron scored 13 touchdowns.

QB Aidan Shannon ended up playing in just one game, a 40-48 loss against Tucker in the regular season, in which he threw for 39 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception, with 0 runs, in a late comeback from behind effort. It turned out to be Shannon's only game played in the Merchantmen uniform as the 2131 1.3 overall pick retired in the following 2137 off-season shortly after turning 30 years old.

[MIJB#19]

2138 regular season preview
Every now or then, all the pieces fall into place and you get a chance to have a retrospective on how and why things went that way. But to be able to do that, you also need the narrative of what happened up until that point. So, in 2136 and 2137 it became clear that for the foreseeable future, the Merchantmen figured they had found their franchise quarterback: QB Danny Joseph.


A look back at the 2132 draft
Let's rewind on that really quickly. QB Danny Joseph was selected in 3rd round of the 2132 draft with the 76th overall pick. It presented itself as a draft lacking talent at the particular position and none were taken in the first round. The top 3 picks were all wide receivers and 11 of them would be selected before the first QB taken.

At pick 2.12 of the 2132 draft, Peyton Desrosiers was taken by San Antonio. He spent just 2 seasons with his original team with 4 starts in his rookie season. Then he got released in the 2134 off-season, was picked up by Kansas and as their full time starter, threw for nearly 4,000 yards with 25 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and guided them to the conference semi finals. He was still the starter for the first 4 games in 2135, but then got demoted into a clipboard role for the 2136 and 2137 seasons, moving on to Tucker in a backup role in 2138, except that he failed to survive roster cuts and - spoiler alert - retired in the 2139 off-season.

Tucker had also picked a quarterback in the 2132 draft, at pick 2.31 Lawrence Swift was taken and turned to be yet another one of their blatant busts in an early round. He didn't even make it through pre-season in Tucker and remained a free agent through the playoffs, where San Antonio picked him up. He saw action as their kick holder in 2133, before he became the surprise starter in 2135. Subsequently his agents advised him to hold out in the 2136 off-season, San Antonio cut him and no other team felt like he was worth whatever delusional demands he had. In 2137 he was already out of football.

Then at pick 3.12, QB Danny Joseph was the third quarterback taken. A young 20-year old prospect going into the draft, he ranked 76th overall on the consensus draft board, but in Maassluis, Joseph ranked 25th on their draft board. As such, it felt like landing first round talent in the third round and with the ongoing search for the successor to QB Renaldo Wilson, it was worth a shot. Joseph wasn't interviewed, but his Solesicmic Test score of 25, 40-yard dash of 4.68, strong arm (15 bench press) all felt like making up for being estimated as just 3% developed. His scouted bar profile looked like this:

QB Danny Joseph pre-draft 2132
sc ps X???______ 13-41
sh ps XXX???____ 30-58
md ps X???______ 13-41
lg ps XXXXXXX??? 72-100
dp ps XX???_____ 24-52
3d ps XXX???____ 33-61
accur XXXXXXX??? 71-99
timin XXXXXXX??? 72-100
s rsh XXXXX???__ 53-81
rd df ???_______ _0-28
2m of X???______ _7-35
scr f XXXXXXX??? 72-100
kck h XXXXXXX??? 72-100

The rest of this quarterback draft class:
- 3.13 QB Miles Andrews (in 2138 a backup in Frederick after an up and down 6-season stint with his original team Colorado
- 4.4 QB Ezra Gothe, a 1-season backup for Capital City, then bouncing around from Frederick to San Antonio (spoiler: he was unsigned in 2139 and retired in 2140)
- 4.7 Todd Cates, a pre-season roster cuts casualty as a rookie in Chicago and signed by Gothenburg late in the 2132 season, there initially a backup, but in 2136 and 2137 he started in 12 games for the Giants, including a big win in the playoffs of 2136 against the Merchantmen (spoiler: Fort Wayne signed him in the 2140 off-season)
- 4.8 Todd Fraaije, probably one of the Dutchest last names to ever get into the IHOF, picked by Brooklyn and after 2 flipflop seasons won the management over in 2134 to become the fulltime starter, a division champion in 2136 as the highlight so far (spoiler: in 2140 he's still the Brooklyn starter); Fraaije was the alternate quarterback project on the Merchantmen draft board, he runs even more than Joseph, perhaps even a bit too much?
- and then three more guys after the fourth round that were retired by 2136 after combining for 0 starts.


2138 off-season roster changes
Joseph status wasn't undisputed going into the 2137 pre-season as QB Aidan Shannon was brought in with a vibe that made it sound like Merchantmen management wanted him to become the starter if Joseph would fail or started asking for too much money. But Shannon wasn't patient and after just one season as the backup to Joseph, he retired in the 2138 off-season. In contrast to having just 2 quarterbacks on roster in 2137, the Merchantmen kept 4 for the 2138 campaign, with rookies QB Toby Nelson and QB Cary Warren and mentor/veteran K.C. Crutchfield.

Elsewhere on the offense, four other players were replaced. Special teams ace RB Devonte Kramer retired and was replaced with rookie RB Sedrick Zgonina, another special teamer. FB Mavin Williamson was no longer needed as a third down back and he was replaced with special teamer FB Matthew Hill. TE Chris Chernetsky was replaced with veteran special teamer TE Jesse Grissom. Rookie WR Amos McBirney made the team in place of the retired special teams ace WR Darrell Priester.

On the defense, DT Dillon Planish retired and was replaced with rookie DT Margin Broyles. LB Sergio McWilliams didn't make the team at all. In the secondary, S Cris Leupold was released and replaced with S Lawrence Lynn and veteran elite special teamer S Timothy Blades. Lynn was a pre-season cut in 2137, then signed in Oakland for that season and in the 2138 off-season a post draft signing.


2138 Merchantmen opening day roster breakdown:

Quarterbacks:
50/50 QB Danny Joseph
15/30 QB Toby Nelson, rookie
45/45 QB K.C. Crutchfield, veteran signing
05/30 QB Cary Warren, rookie
Joseph was the clear starter, with Nelson the active backup and the others inactive. We'll not go into the details of all 53 players, but it's worth sharing the 'bar profile' of the quarterback here. Joseph has some interesting aspects to his skills, being exceptionally well in long passing, but also having a good dose of mobility, accuracy and timing:

QB Danny Joseph 2138ish
sc ps XXX_______ 30
sh ps XXXXX_____ 50
md ps XX________ 20
lg ps XXXXXXXXXX100
dp ps XXXXX_____ 50
3d ps XX________ 20
accur XXXXXXXX__ 80
timin XXXXXXX___ 75
s rsh XXXXXXX___ 65
rd df X_________ _5
2m of X_________ 10
scr f XXXXXXX___ 75
kck h XXXXXXXXXX 95

Backfield
55/55 RB Andres Fallang
35/35 RB Salvador Ursino
30/40 RB Cris Street
25/30 FB Matthew Hill, rookie
20/30 RB Sedrick Zgonina, rookie
10/10 FB Sammy Fain
Fallang and Ursino were the duo splitting carries, with Ursino geared towards the first and second downs and Fallang for third downs and passing downs. Fallang was also reinstalled as the punt returner late in the regular season. Fain and Hill were both active to bolster the special teams unit, Zgonina and Street both inactive.

Tight ends
60/60 TE Quinten Bullock
60/60 TE Ray Hutchins
25/25 TE Jesse Grissom, veteran signing
20/20 TE Dean Fortin
Bullock and Hutchins were the clear starters, both would be used a lot. Fortin was active, boosting the special teams unit with cohesion. Grissom was an injury insurance policy. Bullock and Hutchins both had a route running ability between 85 and 90.

Wide receivers
50/50 WR Russell Oxford
50/50 WR Kenyon Stokes
35/50 WR Amos McBirney, rookie
30/30 WR Dave Waldron
25/25 WR Gene Embree
Although Oxford and Stokes were the clear play makers, Waldron's experience and cohesion also kept him in the mix for a quintuple (with the tight ends) that would share all the targets as evenly as possible. Embree was meant to mostly play on the special teams unit, McBirney basically just the WR5. All five could provide very good to excellent route running, with McBirney still very green and needing time to develop.

Offensive Linemen
75/75 G Hector Barger
65/65 RT Rex Asimov
60/60 C Lester Bernstein
55/55 LT Silas Shepard
50/55 G Jalen Ramsey
35/50 C Josiah Braham
40/40 G Broderick Burroughs
20/20 LT Ivan Chandler
A very solid group, with Asimov the key run blocker. Braham was a backup, but basically the only other run blocker of the group. Barger, Bernstein and Ramsey were a top3 pass protection interior in the league, with Shepard not far behind as a suitable left tackle. Burroughs still around the stop in for injuries and bringing cohesion to make up for 'talent loss' if applicable.

Defensive Linemen
60/60 DT Matthew Dawson
45/45 DE Archie George
45/45 DE Enrique Shiver
40/40 DT Marc Hastings
40/40 DE Jonah Elrod
35/35 DE Paul McDaniels
30/40 DT Margin Broyles, rookie
A non-spectacular group with Dawson and Elrod the only (excellent) run defenders of the bunch and the rest basically a whole bunch of good pass rushers with very good play diagnosis. The plan was to have 8 players splitting time on the line with some of the slots filled by linebackers. All but Broyles were supposed to be part of the active 46 to make that happen.

Linebackers
65/65 ILB Trevor Fitzgerald
50/50 OLB Damian Sweet
45/45 ILB Winfred Caldwell
40/40 OLB Warren Carpenter
40/40 OLB Tyrus Hertz
30/30 OLB Kevin Dees
25/25 OLB Shaun Samuels
The whole group was made active. Samuels and Carpenter as the zone defense specialists for passing downs. Fitzgerald and Caldwell were the running downs specialists. Sweet had all around skills and occasionally would play at defensive end for additional run stopping skills there or to boost the pass rush. Hertz and Dees both had plenty of pass rush speed still to step in on the D-line as well, but were also special teams options, together with Samuels and Fitzgerald.

Secondary
45/45 CB Dean Prior
45/45 CB Luis Ackerman
45/45 S Andre Weber
40/40 S Brendan Barker
35/35 CB Marc Beam
35/35 S Timothy Blades, veteran signing
35/35 CB DeMarco Murray
35/35 S Lawrence Lynn, veteran signing
15/15 CB Ike Joseph
Based on this, nothing special, but these players all had their particular skills as either a specific zone defender of bump and run defender. Many provide cohesion and many are very good to excellent in intercepting passes. Joseph was initially the punt returner but late in the regular season fell from the active roster, in part because of Fallang taking over. Prior was also the topnotch kickoff returner, on top of being a nickel back option.

Special Teams
85/85 P Allen Kellogg
70/70 K Dashawn Bostick
20/20 LS Tyrus Parrish
Parrish and Kellogg were elite players at their positions. Bostick was pretty close in terms of kickoff skills and field goals/extra points kicking. Combined with a top five kick holder in QB Danny Joseph and more than a dozen other excellent special teamers, this whole unit was the best or at minimum top two in the league.

[MIJB#19]

2138 Regular Season Recap
After a 9-7 campaign in a a division with three 7-9 teams, we were in theory the favorites to repeat as division champions. The schedule would also make our division face the Northeast (3 winning teams in 2137), the West (all four were between 6-10 and 8-8 last season), the Deep South champions Fort Wayne and a game against Augusta (16-0 in the regular season, but 2137 IHOF Bowl losers, following their 2136 IHOF Championship).

Week 1 vs Bordeaux
Bordeaux lead 14-7 at the start of the second quarter as they had two touchdown scoring drives, while we missed a field goal and also scored an offensive touchdown (QB Danny Joseph to TE Dean Fortin) in between. We had to settle for field goal three times and allowed another Bordeaux touchdown to go into half time trailing 20-16. In the third quarter we flipped things around, seeing QB Joseph connect with TE Quinn Bullock and WR Dave Waldron for touchdowns, while Bordeaux also scored another touchdown. Then and there it was all over for them as we kept them in check. Our offense tallied up to 529 total yards, with Joseph throwing for 328 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Result: 36-27 win

Week 2 at Hanalei
Our winning ways continued with a solid trip to Hanalei. While our defense kept the Dragons to 208 total yards, their only touchdown of the day came on a 66-yard interception return. Off season arrival RB Salvador Ursino capped off a couple of drives with running scores (he tallied up to 117 yards rushing for the day), while QB Danny Joseph added a run and a pass to WR Gene Embree to it, eventually tallying up.
Result: 44-13 win

Week 3 vs Augusta
After a sour start to the season (40-27 loss at Tucker), Augusta bounced back with a convicing 47-26 beatdown of Kansas and looked ready to folow up on their win in the 2137 playoffs in the conference semifinals against us. Initially they indeed did and dominated us into a half time with a 17-3 lead, but at that point they were already down their quarterback as he left early with a leg injury. We took full advantage of the situation and while they struggled, we steadily trimmed the deficit. Albeit settling for an 18-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to keep us 17-16 down still, a strong drive later was finished by QB Danny Joseph's second touchdown pass of the day, after earlier finding WR Kenyon Stokes, it was WR Russell Oxford this time on the game winning score.
Result: 22-17 win

Week 4
Result: a boring bye week

Week 5 at North Plainfield
After the strong win against Augusta, facing the fellow 3-0 North Plainfield Plague proved to be another big test. Game preparations were haunted by illness in Maassluis, but those were feeble excuses for the strong performance that North Plainfield put down. A couple fumble infested drives kept things close as wen clearly struggled to get much more point on the board after first and only touchdown (QB Danny Joseph to TE Quinn Bullock).
Result: 17-13 loss

Week 6 vs Rochester
After the previous close game, it was key to bounce back right away. A struggling Rochester helped, or did they really? We managed to have the field position upperhand despite losing the turnover battle 2-0. QB Danny Joseph got picked off twice, but we've come to learn a thing or two about him that he's strong in bouncing back in such games and he ended the day with a whole bunch of crucial runs and 4 passing touchdowns (WR Dave Waldron twice, WR Kenyon Stokes and TE Ray Hutchins once each).
Result: 28-14 win

Week 7 vs Toronto
In a game between two 1-loss teams, the football fans were getting ready for a treat and it delivered. With the two teams combining for 917 total yards and both turning over the ball twice, there was plenty of thrill and drama. Field goal settlements put Toronto up 6-0 after the first quarter, but it also helped us lead 14-13 at half time as we did manage to get into the end zone (QB Danny Joseph found WR Russell Oxford and TE Ray Hutchins on long throws). The red zone defense continued to make a difference as Toronto settled for 3-pointers twice in the third quarter, before our offense really took off with a couple more touchdowns (QB Danny Joseph to WR Dave Waldron and TE Quinn Bullock) to pull away in the fourth quarter. A last minute touchdown for Toronto came way too late. Joseph threw for 345 yards, with 108 yards to Oxford.
Result: 31-24 win

Week 8 vs Paris
Despite struggling so far (Paris came into the game with a 1-5 record), we knew that we can't take anything for granted against the Musketeers. Our concerns were unecessary as we steamrolled to a 27-7 lead at half time, QB Danny Joseph put the point on the board again with passes to TE Ray Hutchins (once) and WR Russell Oxford twice. Paris responded with an 80-yard touchdown run at the start of the second half, but after a failed extra point, a long Merchantmen field goal and Paris settling for 3 to start the fourth quarter, this game was over, or was it? Paris clawed back into the game and after an impressive drive, the score was 33-33 with just over a minute to go. We were held back and after a deep punt preparing for overtime. But CB Dean Prior decided differntly as Paris decied to go for it and Prior not only picked the ball off as time expired, he used that time efficiently enough to get into the end zone and complete a bizar victory, adding to the already long list of crazy Maassluis-Paris games.
Result: 40-33 win

Week 9 at Harlem
Visiting the 3-4 Apollos, it became clear that we were facing a last chance team. In a defense dominated showdown, our special teams play was good, but not enough to give us the field position edge. The latter was only in part due to the turnover fest as both team lost possession three times. Despite all that, we had a chance to bring it home, leading 16-10 in the fourth quarter, but then Harlem got a very short field on a punt return fumble and needed just one play to make the full 6 yards to take an unexpected lead we couldn't overcome.
Result: 17-16 loss

Week 10 at Bordeaux
Our second encounter with the Vineyards was sort of similar to week one, except that scoring was even higher this time around. Around the time that K Dashawn Bostick scored on a last second field goal at the end of the first half, we were leading 27-20, suggesting this could escalate into a sensational shoutout. it didn't happen as both teams added just 6 more points to their end of the score board. QB Danny Joseph threw for 330 yards with a touchdown pass to TE Quinn Bullock and TE Ray Hutchins one each. Bullock also added up to 111 yards receiving.
Result: 33-26 win

Week 11 at Gothenburg
Traditionally the game I least look forward every season as "at Gothenburg" is often a wake up call game for us. This time around, it was a different kind of wake up. In a hard fought contest, although we got outgained in total yardage, it became clear that we're a team on a mission, capable of incredible things. Here, blocked punts ended up being a crucial thing, including one getting recovered in the end zone for a touchdown by off-season acquisition S Teddy Blades, delivering on his best special teamer in IHOF reputation. Around that, both offense scored 4 touchdowns, with ours all passes from QB Danny Joseph, this time spreading them around to WR Russell Oxford (twice), and TE Dean Fortin and TE Ray Hutchins.
Result: 35-30 win

Week 12 vs Oakland
The Merchantmen kept on cruissing and made another statement in the home game against the Black Panthers. The game started with a 40-yard fumble return touchdown from our DT Matthew Dawson on the very first play from scrimmage. Albeit Oakland responded with a 49-yard touchdown pass right after, so did we with QB Dannyh Joseph to WR Russell Oxford on a long pass. In the second quarter things escalated into Merchantmen advantage with three unanswered touchdowns (a Joseph pass to WR Dave Waldron, a RB Salvador Ursino run and a Joseph pass to TE Ray Hutchins). In the second half, we extended the lead and Joseph finished it off with another touchdown pass to Waldron and Hutchins each. RB Andres Fallang ran for 117 yards in the middle of it.
Result: 52-20 win

Week 13 at Fort Wayne
In a visit to the last chance to save their season of sort, the 5-6 Fury understood that it was now or never for this season. They raced to a 14-0 lead, but as the game continued to progress, it became a testament of how resiliant the Merchantmen 2138 were. before the first half was over, we were leading 20-14, with QB Danny Joseph finding TE Quinn Bullock and WR Kenyon Stokes for a touchdown each. Fort Wayne didn't give up just yet, but a late touchdown pass from Joseph to RB Andres Falling (curiously his first of the season) made it an 11-point lead with 6 minutes to go. Joseph had another 300-yard game while his main target Bullock had another 100-yard game.
Result: 32-24 win

Week 14 vs Fairbanks
With the Northstars' reviving their old school Snowbombs days with their one-man receiving team named Braden Dightman, we were in for another interesting test. Kudos had to go to our defense as they managed to contain Dightman as he gained just 22 yards on 10 targets and overall kept their passing game to 125 netto yards. Nevertheless, it turned into a crazy combeack game as our own offense struggled to get points on the board. Sure, QB Danny Joseph connected with WR Kenyon Stokes and TE Quinn Bullock on a couple of long tochdown passes, but we still needed a 54-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter to tie it up and make it an overtime game. In that fifth quarter, the offense played like that team on a mission again, first down after first down, eventually Joseph found WR Russell Oxford in the end zone to cap the first possession off with a game winning score.
Result: 23-17 win in overtime

Week 15 at Paris
Our visit to Paris was our chance to complete the division road games sweep, something that's always hard to come by. But with our conference leading team, we had to think it was possible to complete it. And we managed it. QB Danny Joseph had another 300-yard game, finding WR Dave Waldron and TE Quinn Bullock for touchdowns, while RB Salvador Ursino ran for a score and WR Russell Oxford had another 100-yard receiving game.
Result: 27-20 win

Week 16 at Colorado
For some an early peak at what could be the IHOF Bowl matchup, Maassluis (12-2) at Colorado (10-3-1) was a clash between the two virtual top seeds in the respective conferences. Maassluis scored first (QB Danny Joseph to TE Ray Hutchins), but Colorado responded with a trilpet of long touchdown passes, two of them after Joseph getting picked off right before. We bounced back and by half time the deficit was trimmed to 21-19 (Joseph touchdown to WR Dave Waldron - he had a 100-yard receiving game). We managed to take control of the game, dominating the field position battle and keeping them out of our end zone while getting in their ourselves (Joseph to TE Quinn Bullock) again, a short fumble return touchdown still put us 34-29 behind going into the last 4 minutes. On a strong drive, we managed to pull ahead as Joseph himself jumped into the end zone on a short run and a completed 2-point conversion to RB Andres Fallang meant that we were 37-34 up with under 2 minutes to go. Colorado responded with a cutting edge drive to set up the overtime reaching field goal. In that overtime, Colorado had first possession and orchestrated an impressive 5-minute drive to win it right there and then.
Result: 43-37 loss in overtime

Week 17 vs Gothenburg
With the division title already locked up, there still was a bye to play for as all the other division leading teams were also 12-3 (North Plainfield and Tucker) or 13-2 (Atlanta). Gothenburg (10-5) had a wild card to play for, needing a win to leap ahead of San Antonio (10-5) and/or Toronto (10-5). it turned into another a-typical football game, in which Gothenburg gained a lot of ground, but as they settled for field goals, while we kept scoring touchdowns (QB Danny Joseph threw to TE Quinn Bullock twice and a RB Andres Falling run), the score tilted into our advantage. A crazy 73-yard touchdown pass finally got the Giants back within a touchdown, we responded with a field goal and with an 8-point lead we eventually stopped them short of our end zone to pull off the win.
Result: 26-18 win

European Division 2140
1. Maassluis 13-3
2. Gothenburg 10-6
3. Paris 6-10
4. Bordeaux 5-11
Despite scoring 495 points (3rd highest in the league), we were curiously 32nd in least yards allowed and more impoartantly the loss at North Plainfield was crucial in the tie-breakers for a bye week. We were the #3 seed going into the playoffs behind Atlanta (14-2), North Plainfield (13-3), but ahead of Tucker (13-3), Toronto (11-5) and San Antonio (10-6), they had a crucial head-to-head win against Gothenburg in week 3 as well. Over on the NAC side of things, Colorado (12-3-1) were the #1 seeds, ahead of Chesapeake (11-5), defending IHOF champions Moontown (11-5), Kansas (8-8), Texas (11-5) and Iowa (8-8).

QB Danny Joseph threw for 4,442 yards and 43 touchdowns with 13 interceptions, marking on of the best seasons a Merchantmen QB ever had. He also ran for 563 yards and 2 touchdowns (5.80 yards per carry). RB Salvador Ursino (897 yards, 4 touchdowns) and RB Andres Fallang (687 yads, 1 touchdown) both ran for 4.58 yards per carry. We managed to spread the ball around a lot of receivers once again, with TE Quinn Bullock (1,017 yards, 11 touchdowns), WR Russell Oxford (918 yards, 8 touchdowns), WR Dave Waldron (880 yards, 8 touchdowns), TE Ray Hutchins (683 yards, 8 touchdowns) and WR Kenyon Stokes (613 yards, 4 touchdowns) all having their fair share of production.

Our special teams unit didn't produce any return touchdowns, but the unit clearly did make a difference one way or another in continuously give us a favourable field position. Defensively, we consistently used 19 different players, making it unfair to single any of them out statistically. Yes, curiously, we allowed the most total yards of all teams in the league, but we also force them to need to make that ground to come near our end zone. We did allow 48 red zone visits and 4.7 points per visit, both are better than average. Our offense ranked 3rd in the league with 64 visits and 5.6 points per visit.

So, on to the playoffs it was for us, starting with a home game against San Antonio...