FOF: League of Ordinary Gentlemen

Autumn · 12-02-2007, 06:34 PM

The League of Ordinary Gentlemen

The setup of this league is a little unusual. It is starting in 1920, in the aftermath of World War I, and in its first year the league is filled with a collection of largely unremarkable rookies, many veterans of that same war. Hosted in the most populous cities of that time, as well as some of the up and coming new cities, America decides to divert themselves with a new national pasttime.

The league is organized regionally by division, letting the teams play against regional rivals most often, and featuring some interesting inter-divisional rivalries. Team names are usually related to the cities themselves, and current history. Here's the league structure.

American Conference

Colonial Division
New York Yankees
Philadelphia Privateers
Boston Minutemen
Providence Whalers

Midatlantic Division
Washington Generals
Baltimore Admirals
Louisville Chargers
Richmond Cavaliers

Deep South Division
Atlanta Bootleggers
Birmingham Rebels
New Orleans Jazz
Memphis Showboats

Great Lakes Division
Chicago Gale
Detroit Wheels
Cleveland Hammers
Buffalo Blizzard

National Conference

Rust Belt Division
Pittsburgh Steelers
Cincinnati Eagles
Indianapolis Racers
St. Louis Trailblazers

Midwest Division
Kansas City Cowboys
Denver Mountaineers
Omaha Tornadoes
Minneapolis Lakers

West Coast Division
Los Angeles Stars
San Francisco Quake
Seattle Destroyers
Portland Eruption

Wild West Division
San Antonio Defenders
Dallas Rangers
Houston Oilers
Oklahoma City Outlaws

Some of these teams would make for a fun game playing in character, for example taking the Memphis Showboats or the Oklahoma City Outlaws and trying to make them match their name. They have a lot of character to me for doing that. But I wanted to run a team for generic quality instead, so I chose the Omaha Tornadoes, simply because I liked their name and imagined the football fanaticism would run pretty high out there in the Midwest division in the '20s.

One of the draws I see in this is starting a league with all rookies, where each draft is going to be hugely important. Everybody is signed to a $20,000 contract for one year. Teams will have to be hand-built, and there won't be a lot of star talent to start. Individuals should really shine through in the beginning years. I also like starting the record book from scratch, as it always bothered me to start a league with history but no records or stats.

All the initial rosters were signed by the staff through free agency. There's no one on my team with a Current estimate of more than 19, so this could get ugly. Strangely it seems some teams managed to snag better prospects consistently. Half of Kansas City's team is over 19, and has a high of 44. It seems they, the San Antonio Defenders and the Denver Mountaineers caught a lot of the best. We'll see how that turns out. Everyone's got a lot of cap room, so there should be a battle for stars at the end of the year.

I let the computer run through the exhibition season. I didn't watch anyone else's games, but glancing through ours, it looks like this all rookie league is going to be full of big plays. Lots of breaking for daylight and bombs, and sacks. I suppose chump against chump will result in that. On our team all that stands out is that Artie Blackburn looks like our starter at QB, and that our receivers, Randle El and Brian Kinney (anyone else find that funny?) are doing all right out there.

Time to start the season.

Autumn · 12-09-2007, 08:55 PM

Random notes:

It's good to see our stadium is in very good shape, and outdoors and natural grass. That's just what I wanted. And I love this guy's name - Roman Augustson.

Week 1
Omaha Tornadoes at Indianapolis Racers
17-16

We squeak out with a 17-16 win in Indianapolis, despite really being outplayed. They correctly pick the player of the game, safety Daniel Caccavale who returns a INT for a touchdown, giving us some much needed points when the offense really was doing nothing. The Racers meantime were fairly productive on offense, with a league leading passing yards. We'll take the win.

Week 2
Minneapolis Lakers at Omaha Tornadoes
20-30

Glen Miller is the dashing quarterback for Minneapolis, and man this guy runs. I thought he was the running back at the beginning of the game watching it on Solevision. It's a pretty good game with Artie going for almost 250 yards, and finally generating some offense. We have it tied up in the fourth quarter but end up losing on a fumble near our own endzone that turns into the winning points for the Lakers.

Week 3
Cincinnati Eagles at Omaha Tornadoes
31-24

Cincinnati's offense comes out hot and scores two TDs right away, passing and running. The Tornadoes finally get started and score, then grab an INT and take it in for a score, tying it up. Unfortunately, after a good stop right before the half, Artie throws an interception, and with eight seconds left the Eagles take a screen pass 43 yards for a touchdown and go into the locker room leading. The Tornadoes tie it up in the third, but an interception by Artie gives the Eagles good field position. The defense holds them to a field goal and then the offense gets their own, so the game is still tied half way through the 4th quarter. With under two minutes left, the Tornadoes stop the Eagles and get the ball back to try for a tie breaker. But three and out gives the Eagles the ball with 45 seconds on their own 47. But the Eagles are sacked and fumble, and Omaha tackle Corey Prescott returns it for the winning touchdown! An exciting win at home.

Week 4
Omaha Tornadoes at Denver Mountaineers
11-30

This game is starting off as a contest of mediocrity. Both teams seem unable to do much of anything, both having more penalties than complete passes. Denver finally hits its stride though and makes a long drive, scoring in the second quarter, going up 10-0. In the second half it's 17-0 when the Tornadoes pull Artie and put in disgruntled backup QB, Kyle Matijacic. The magic man isn't able to do any more than his predecessor, and the defense actually gets worse, basically letting the Mountaineers drive the field whenever they want. Magic man does produce one good scoring drive, but that's it and the Tornadoes are thoroughly defeated.

Bye week

Week 6
Omaha Tornadoes at Richmond Cavaliers
10-3

The Cavaliers are 4-1, but the opening drive gives us confidence as Artie drives us down the field for an authoritative touchdown. Best name of the game so far? Richmond defensive player: Bubba Pigg. The offense works in fits and starts and we're up 10-0 in the second half. A blocked kick, an interception and fumble recovery all work to keep Richmond off the board despite some good plays by their offense. However, our offense doesn't keep any momentum either and it's 10-3 when we get the ball with 4 minutes left in the game. We have to punt with about two minutes left, and then give up a 30 yard pass after some good defense. They get a subsequent 33 yarder called back for the penalty, we end up intercepting them on their 4th down heave and it's time to take a knee, and a sigh of relief. Artie ends up leading the league again this week with 214 yards passing.

Week 7
Pittsburgh Steelers at Omaha Tornadoes
10-23

We start this game poorly, fumbling the opening kickoff and letting it get returned for a touchdown. We keep the excitement going through when Shawn Haggans takes a handoff and busts into the open for a 52 yard touchdown on the next possession. An interception thrown by Artie gives the Steelers good field position, but we hold them to a field goal. However we proceed to fumble it away and they kick another. We look ready to score a TD but then somehow get intercepted on 4th down I think and run back to midfield. Despite playing well, we're down 20-7 at the half, with 3 giveaways. It only continues, with the team moving the ball well but then fumbling it away, and giving up plays on defense. Five turnovers in the end do us in.

Week 8
Omaha Tornadoes at St. Louis Trailblazers
17-40

An early fumble gives us a 3-0 lead early on. Next drive is a nice one by Artie and we're up 10-0 on some long passes. St. Louis can match us though, and it's soon 10-17 at the end of the half. A fumble near our endzone lets them go up 10-24 in the third. It seems the coaches are relying on Artie too much and forgetting the running game. However, they don't seem to think that's the problem, as they pull Artie and put in the magic man again. We subsequently fumble it and it's 10-30 going into the 4th. Maybe he is magic though, as we back the Trailblazers back to their 1 and then Magic man ends up throwing a TD pass to make it 17-30. Then again, that interception run back for a TD makes it 17-37, so maybe not so magic.

Week 9
Kansas City Cowboys at Omaha Tornadoes
41-13

Our chance to claw back up to .500 against a division rival. An interception by Suto gives us our chance and we go up 7-0. We're up 13-3 right before the half when a pass interference in the endzone gives them a chance to score and make it 13-10 at the half. In the beginning of the 4th, we intercept KC in the endzone, to keep it 20-13. Artie and Chad Rice proceed to march the field and make it 27-13, and then the defense comes up with another pick and soon it's 34-13. In the end, a 78 yard fumble return runs it up to 41-13. We're 4-4! We set the league record for points in a game, and Artie breaks the league record with 4 passing touchdowns in a game. Ah, the first year.

Now, it will be interesting to look around the league and see how this is shaping up, a league full of rookies. The first thing I notice is that there's not just a bunch of 4-4 teams, and complete parity. We've got one 8-0 team in the American Conference, The Buffalo Blizzard. Then there is one 0-8 team, the Baltimore Admirals, and the 1-7 New York Yankees. There are two 7-1 teams in the National Conference, the Portland Eruption and the Minneapolis Lakers. And we've got two 1-7 teams, the Los Angeles Stars and the Indianapolis Racers. My division is the only in the league with no teams below .500.

Looking at players and stats, the clear passing leader in the league is Ike Hamilton of the Portland Eruption. The only QB with a rating in the 90s, he leads the league with 12 TDs and only 5 picks (tied for second least INTs). He's thrown for over 1500 yards in the first half. This is a monster passing attack in this league it seems.

On rushing, John Rosario of the Chicago Gale is the clear leader, with 844 yards so far on 5.48 ypc average.

Receivers is where you notice the clearest difference between this league and a normal NFL league, as the league leader has 489 yards half way through the season, and the league leading YPC is 14.69. Most receivers seem to be in the 10-12 range for YPC, and no one's stretching the field with a passing attack.

Defensively, sacks seem as easy to come by as ever, with 10.5 leading the league and quite a lot of linemen having a similar number. Interceptions are also high with Kenyon Somerfelt of the Detroit Wheels leading the league with 6, and Dave Henderson of the Richmond Cavaliers having 14 defended passes.

Most interesting to me is the lack of correlation between these achievements and player ratings. While pretty much the whole league sucks, certain teams did have a concentration of talent on them, but those are not the ones leading the league. Kansas City, Denver and San Antonio seemed to have much better rosters than most of the league, yet they are 5-3, 4-4 and 2-6 respectively. In fact, Ike Hamilton who is clearly leading the best passing attack in the league, is rated 10/22 and his only notable skill is in 3rd down passing and timing. The Blizzard's 8-0 QB is rated 7/23. These guys aren't even listed on the Recommended Player screen for QBs, far below even my back up QB. It's a funny league, my friends. Let's finish up this season and see the real action offseason.

Autumn · 12-09-2007, 11:16 PM

Week 10
Omaha Tornadoes 4-4 at Minneapolis Lakers 7-1

We play our division leaders in a fairly close game, duking it out. But they prove superior, especially on three big plays involving runners in the secondary or long bombs. When we make plays we're not able to punch into the endzone and so end up on the losing end 9-16. Getting sacked six times while getting no sacks ourselves doesn't help.

Oh and I forgot to look at power ratings at the mid-season break. Right now we're 4-5, but ranked 9th in the power rankings, due to us having the second toughest opponent record so far in the league, at 48-33.

Week 11
Baltimore Admirals 1-8 at Omaha Tornadoes 4-5

A back and forth game where Baltimore's offense seems to be able to move at will against us, but we come up with another stops to hold them to 17 points, 7 of which come off a returned interception. Our offense moves occasionally, but manages to put up 14 of its own when we get to the two minute warning. Stopping the Admirals on 3rd down we force a punt that we return for 22 yards. That puts us at midfield, and a pass interference call on a long bomb allows Tubbs to tie it up 17-17 and put us in overtime!

Our offense can't move in overtime, but we win the war of field position, pinning the Admirals at their endzone twice. That's when we come up lucky on teh bottom of the pile with a fumble recovery at their 25 yard line. We hold on to it and kick for the win, 20-17.

Week 12
Omaha Tornadoes 5-5 at Louisville Chargers 5-5

We basically get stomped on this one, the point that they pull Matijacic back into the game. The good news ius that we actually show a running game in this one, rushing for 138 yards on 22 carries before the game gets away from us completely. At that point the magic man is just lobbing it around, and we end up losing 14-31.

Week 13
Seattle Destroyers 7-4 at Omaha Tornadoes 5-6

In this game the Destroyers seem to be able to move on us offensively, racking up good numbers, but never are able to get close to the endzone. They only score once, and are picked off three times, and fumble twice. That's worse than our two fumbles lost, and we capitalize with an efficient passing game and some running. We win it 14-6.

Week 14
Denver Mountaineers 7-5 at Omaha Tornadoes 6-6

The Tornadoes show some more guts in this game, in which neither team seems able to punch it in, but the Tornadoes come up on top wiht simply more field goals, and less turnovers. It's ugly, ugly, but we win 9-3. Second best name in the game? QB J.C. Bombard.

What's the playoff picture with three games left in the season? Our division is rather unusual, with the Lakers leading it at 11-2, and the three other teams at 7-6. That's going to make for a wild wildcard races there's three other teams in the conference with 7-6 or 8-5 records that will be vying for it. Let's just play it out.

Week 15
Omaha Tornadoes 7-6 at Kansas City Cowboys 7-6

Last we saw the Cowboys we trounced them 41-13. Now we're heading into their stadium. Things start out rather wild, as in the first quarter we throw 2 INTs and drop a fumble. By the half they've turned downright ugly as we're down 0-28. The Cowboys have our number this time as everyone knows Artie's going to air it out every other play and they just bat them down or pick them off. He's 9/29 in the first half and takes the bench as Matijacic comes out in the 2nd. The Cowboys's running back, Mersky, who is the best rated in the league is finally showing some promise running over us for 73 yards in the first. We finally score with 5 minutes left in the game, and kick one at the close to make it a slightly less embarrassing 9-31, with a total of 6 turnovers by our team. That tells us something about the parity in this league I guess.

Week 16
Omaha Tornadoes 7-7 at Houston Oilers 5-9

This game is another embarrassment at th half, down 3-28, with three INTs by Artie. The league has obviously figured out his deal and it seems he gets sacked, defended or picked off every pass. Meanwhile the defense seems to give up 7-9 yards per play. Luckily this team is going to be completely overhauled come the offseason. We play good enough in the second half to keep it only 3-31.

Week 17
Washington Generals 7-8 at Omaha Tornadoes 7-8

Any hope of a playoff spot is gone, with us at the bottom of the division at 7-8. So, we play it for pride, wanting to come out 8-8 at least in our inaugural season. There's some tight races around the league, with two divisions coming into the last week with a tie for the top of the division.

We come out with a very solid looking game -- for this league -- and hold on to our advantage to win our last game 19-3. Artie leads the league this week with 241 passing yards, and we get 123 rushing yards out of our backs too. The key of course, only one turnover, while the Generals threw two picks. Artie is player of the week with that performance, but the real question is will he be back next year? With a 58.4 rating on the year, let's hope we find something else.

I'm pleased to see in the post-season the Memphis Showboaters move past the first round with an exciting 4-interception performance by their strongside linebacker. That must have been an interesting game

That leads them to Boston to meet the 13-3 Minutemen. Meanwhile the Bootleggers go to frigid Buffalo to face the 12-4 Blizzard, while the Eagles face the Eruption's league best passing attack and the SF Quake go to Minneapolis to face the league's best rushing attack. It's a week of surprises as Boston is the only home team to pull off the win and the Lakers, Blizzard and Eruption fall. So much for regular season records.

The Atlanta Bootleggers meet the Boston Minutemen in the conference championship, giving us a good old fashioned North-South rivalry. The Minutemen seem to win through a great running game and fairly solid defense. The Bootleggers meanwhile aren't apparently great at anything, though they have a defensive end with 14.5 sacks and four running backs on the year with well over 4.0 ypc. The Minutemen prove the better, winning 13-10 with their big score coming from an INT return for a TD.

In the other conference the San Francisco Quake has a good running game and the league's overall best defense. They're facing the Cincinnati Eagles, who must win by magic, because they are last in the league on passing yards and almost last on yards per carry. Their defense is decent, but not great. As you'd expect I guess, this was a slugfest, with the Quake winning 6-3 at Cincinnati. The game featured a grand total of 391 yards between the two teams.

It's a matchup of new and old when Boston meets San Francisco in the Super Bowl. It's very even according to the bookies, but they give Boston the point spread by 3. In a nice sunny game, though, the Quake surprise the Mnutemen with a 34-21 win. Their QB Frankie Young throws for 225 and two touchdowns, while their running back, Walt Lyons runs for 136 and two more scores and WR Jeffrey Mendheim pulls in 4 catches for 114 yards. It's a little sign of excitement in the league as the rest of the teams look forward to the draft, and the first sign of real talent to come.

PiemasterUK · 12-12-2007, 04:53 AM

Reading and looking forward to more

Autumn · 12-12-2007, 02:29 PM

Thanks, good to know someone's watching :-) With a home business and two little kids, things work slow here, but I'm working on off-season stuff.

finketr · 12-12-2007, 02:51 PM

no worries.. i'm reading this...

anyway to change the scor format to "we lost 23-10" rather than "lost 10-23"?

just curious.

BYU 14 · 12-12-2007, 09:41 PM

Like the concept....any chance that will make the game more run oriented during this time, or are you pretty much using modern type gameplans?

Autumn · 12-12-2007, 10:21 PM

The computer teams are definitely keeping to the modern gameplans, although the talent makes it harder to throw. I've considered going with a run-oriented team, but it definitely seems the league will be modern in that sense.

Autumn · 12-15-2007, 11:56 PM

To wrap up 1920, the first year in the AFPL, let's look at league honors. San Francisco came away with the Front Office Bowl with Front Office Bowl MVP, Frankie Young, QB. But they also took Player of the Year with Kent Dunn, their WLB who led the league in sacks with 20.5. Obviously a league of rookies didn't hurt the sack totals. This guy is rated 15/32 and came out MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year.

On offense, Ike Hamilton ran away with the award, as clearly the best quarterback of the bunch. Despite being rated 11/22, he had a QB rating of 91.5, when the next highest was 77.3. He led in yardage by 500 yards, and had 22 TD passes when the next highest was 15. Meanwhile only one QB, Minneapolis's Glen Miller threw less interceptions. Unbelievable. Also of mention when looking at the QB stats, is there was only one 300+ yard game this whole season.

As for my team, I had one fellow make the All-League team, my middle linebacker, Rodney Sage. He grabbed a first team spot, despite being rated 13/23, by throwing down 115 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 3 interceptions.

Funniest thing of the year? Legend of the game ... obviously difficult to call in a one year old league. But they choose Scott Quinn, RT, who played a grand total of 3 games before being placed on injured reserve with a serious head injury. It was a great career, lol.

My team's performance this year? 39. It's not something I'm worrying about, I did basically nothing active this season. This offseason will be the first chance to start putting my stamp on the team. Given that the draft will probably consist of 7 rounds of people better than anyone on my roster, I should be able to make some inroads.

Staff Hiring

In the staff hiring phase I get a chance to look things over. I like my head coach, who's signed for two years. He's got Very Good in young talent and motivation, which are things I like to see, as well as injury avoidance and defensive playcalling. His Offensive and Discipline are Good. Similarly my offensive coordinator goes from Good to Excellent in the categories I care about, so I'd like to keep him. My defensive coordinator basically stinks, and my scout is so-so. I make a grab on the only better scout out there, in my opinion. I grab a defensive coordinator too, although I make a snafu and hire Grady Chapman, who was the Steelers head coach last year. He is good, but after more examination I see that I should have grabbed the Buffalo ex-head coach, who had better ratings, but was snatched up by the Oilers.

Free Agency

Free agency should be a zany blast, since nobody has anyone on their rosters after last season, and so everyone has their entire 15 million cap open. Nobody's still very good, so I don't plan on spending much.

First I go through and resign 23 of last year's players. I'm sure hoping I don't have to play them all, but at the moment there's not much better out there on the free agent market. It seems a lot of players are restricted free agents and aren't going to show up until later. I figure I can always cut people, since everybody's signing for a very minimum salary. I sign those who looked all right last year, such as Rodney Sage, and some who the computer didn't play but have promising green bars. Some are just sentimental favorites, like my safety Sammy Midget (he's 5'9" by the way).

Free agency is almost embarrassing, to have to vie with other teams over such crappy players, but I slug through it. It turns out that the other teams don't do much in this stage, each only signing a handful of players while I'm trying to fill up my roster. They're apparently expecting better prospects after the draft in late free agency. I don't want to gamble that, so I go ahead and sign 22 more players. With my draft picks I'll be able to field a squad. If there's a lot better available later I'll have to release and sign, but since almost everybody signs for a $60,000 salary, it's no big deal. I spend a little bit more on my cornerbacks, who think they deserve $80,000. And I spend a whopping $90,000 on a running back who actually could turn out good I think.

The Draft

In the draft I've found a fair number of good looking underrated players I'm hoping to key on. Some should be real sleepers. I'm surprised by the variety of positions taken in the first round though, two safeties already going in the first six picks, so I'm thinking I can't count on certain positions slipping to later rounds. I hope to go for the best TE in the draft, even though that's not a position I was targeting. He's got the highest combine numbers deviation of the draft, he's rated a 7.2 unadjusted and my scout thinks he's underrated. Sounds like he'll be a star, and I figure in this league even a TE should be able to eat the opposition up.

That plan goes out the window before we get to me at #16 though. Here's the picks so far:

1. Los Angeles - Harvey, Travis, ILB, Texas
2. Indianapolis - Stanberry, Harris, QB, Arizona State
3. New York - Hastings, Hardy, OLB, Western Michigan
4. Baltimore - Rasberry, Max, S, Miami, Florida
5. Philadelphia - Mason, Monty, S, Wisconsin
6. Cleveland - Phillip, Walt, DT, Louisiana State
7. San Antonio - McDonald, Trevor, S, Southern Methodist
8. Birmingham - Strader, Al, TE, Clemson
9. Washington - Pierce, Hugh, T, Georgia Tech
10. Houston - Wynn, Clifton, DE, Memphis
11. Louisville - Blackner, Leo, RB, Virginia Tech
12. New Orleans - Hong, Josh, T, Louisiana State
13. Pittsburgh - Bryant, Rod, G, Florida
14. Providence - Blasingame, Brandon, DT, Mississippi State
15. Oklahoma City - MacCracken, Maurice, T, Alabama

The two linebackers, Harvey and Hastings look to be big stars, they're great picks. The safety Raspberry also is about as good looking as they come. Unfortunately Birmingham stole my TE at #8. It seems you can't expect safeties and tight ends to fall through the cracks like I'm used to. Four of my underrated key picks have gone already, which I expected. Of the ones left who don't look to be sleepers, I've got a running back, a defensive tackle and a cornerback.

The cornerback has very high ratings in everything that counts, low volatility and is 48% developed, and looks Very Underrated to my scout. Looks like he'll be a good bet. The defensive tackle is very high volatility and not so well rated. But he is Very Underrated by my scout who is Very Good at linemen. And he's 68% developed. The running back is very high in breakaway speed and power inside, only bad spot is at elusiveness, which I don't mind at all. He's got a high volatility and is only 38% developed. I've got another RB tagged as a sleeper I might be able to grab lower, so I'm thinking i won't go with the RB. The cornerback seems the best bet. I was hoping for something a bit more showy, like a DE or a QB or RB to tear this new league apart, but it's always good to have a shutdown corner.

I look over some of the other players just to be sure. But everyone at the top here is either considered overrated by my scouts, or As Is and just doesn't look too good. So I go with Harvey Shepherd, cornerback from Minnesota.

My other two top targets don't last the first round, so now I'm keeping my eye on my sleepers. I've got a running back and a quarterback just coming into view as we hit the second round who I'm going to have to take another look at. My running back goes at pick 6 in the 2nd, so now I'll just hope for the QB and keep an eye on things. I'm not sure of anything enough to consider trading picks around. My pick gets to me with the QB still on the board.

His ratings don't look like anything special, notable mostly for Timing and Deep Passes. His volatility is low, and his solecismic test very high, and my scout thinks he's very underrated. As is he's probably not any better than any of the free agents I've picked up, so I'm not sure whether to go for him. He's only 21% developed. My next closest sleeper is a DE who looks about the same - not outstanding but underrated.

I decide that since neither one did an outstanding combine, I'll go with the DE, knowing my scout's better there, and knowing that he's more developed.

16. Omaha - Shepherd, Harvey, CB, Minnesota
17. Chicago - Matthews, Emmanuel, QB, Vanderbilt
18. Seattle - Shepherd, Junior, RB, Alabama
19. Denver - Guzowski, Martin, RB, Indiana State
20. Kansas City - Shaw, Duane, S, Mississippi
21. Memphis - Cortez, Bernard, T, Missouri State
22. Atlanta - Siler, Dusty, RB, Duke
23. Dallas - Abrams, Clay, RB, Colorado
24. Richmond - Volk, Rodney, DT, Southern California
25. Detroit - Kaplan, Patrick, S, Boston College
26. St. Louis - Knight, Darren, WR, Arkansas
27. Cincinnati - Fulton, Isaac, OLB, Houston
28. Portland (OR) - Briceland, Darryl, DE, Oklahoma State
29. Buffalo - Summers, Jarvis, DE, Mississippi
30. Minneapolis - Goettl, Tyrus, OLB, Florida State
31. Boston - Koumentakos, Roosevelt, RB, Utah
32. San Francisco - Ballou, Mel, DE, Oklahoma

47. Omaha - Jennings, Sam, DE, Missouri

I'm at spot 14 in round three, and surprisingly my QB falls down to that spot. I figure that's too good to pass up, I don't mind taking a shot in round 3 on a QB. And my last sleeper is a WR way down in the ranks, so why not.

78. Omaha - Atkins, Timothy, QB, South Carolina

By the fourth round I'm not quite sure what to do. I've got two underrated guys waiting in the wings, a CB and a WR. I already have taken a CB, but this one looks pretty good too. The WR doesn't look as good, but is underrated. They may be able to wait, but I don't have a good idea what else to grab. I need tight ends, I know that, but otherwise it's kind of wide open. I look some people over and decide I don't have a clue about any of them except the ones I've targeted, so why not grab those. So, I grab another cornerback, Steve Wicks, who is listed as Very Underrated and has a good combine. The next round I grab the wide receiver Adrian Walsh. The rest will be guesses, so I'll just use the last two rounds on that.

113. Omaha - Wicks, Steve, CB, Wake Forest

144. Omaha - Walsh, Adrian, WR, Auburn

I realize I'm short on tackles and tight ends so I target those and pick out some possibly lucky prospects.

175. Omaha - Solwold, Grady, T, Alabama

206. Omaha - Harmon, Wendell, TE, Arizona

Once I get out of the draft and take a first look at my roster, my draft picks look like this.

1. Harvey Shepherd CB 39/69
2. Sam Jennings DE 22/30
3. Timothy Atkins QB 9/31
4. Steve Wicks CB 23/44
5. Adrian Walsh SE 10/21
6. Grady Solwold T 13/51
7. Wendell Harmon TE 20/59

My first round pick automatically becomes the best rated player on the team. The 2nd through 5th rounds look like disappointments so far, but I'm banking on some kind of boom from these underrated players. The last two look great for 6th and 7th round picks with no research.

Now it's time for late free agency. I make a gaff by having it set for the computer to manage the roster, so they go ahead and release a bunch of the guys I signed earlier. Which is a pain, but now I can comb the new free agents and see what I can improve on. It looks like the undrafted rookies will add some better prospects to the league.

Autumn · 12-19-2007, 08:23 PM

Late Free Agency

Late Free Agency looks to be where the action's really at. It seems anyone that actually performed for teams last year is available now, instead of earlier. So, I start seeing who I can pick up. Cap room shouldn't be any issue.

The first thing I see is a kicker with potential in the high 70s. I'll sign anyone who seems like they should actually be starting in a professional league, so I make him a two year offer. The best punter available is not all that fantastic but is better than mine, so I make a one year offer on him.

I like the running back I grabbed earlier, Juan Vanaqs, and I've got a back up for him, but I could use a third one. I'm going to try to grab John Rosario who was the league leader last year in rushing, with the Chicago Gale. His ratings, like anybody in the league last year, are not good. But production has got to count for something. Not a bad 3rd stringer I figure.

I throw out an offer to the best looking fullback, and to a rookie fullback as well. I figure I can afford to get them into training camp and see how he looks. I try the same technique in tight ends and wide receivers. I bid on a couple reasonable veterans and then a couple promising rookies. Most everyone is looking for one year, $80,000 contracts, just above the league minimum. However, I'm starting to see a few real contract requests. The best rated receiver in the league (in the 50s potential) wants a multi year, multimillion dollar contract, which is quite something in this league of 15 million salary cap and $60,000 dollar veterans. I'll have to decide where, if anywhere, I'm willing to start paying big money. For the most part I stick to the strategy of bidding on the best future potential out there that's not asking for a big contract. There's just not enough difference between them to pay the big bucks.

There just really aren't quarterbacks available. It's awful. Nobody's good now, and nobody's going to get good. Obviously the best bet is to draft, so I'm just going to have to hope for a boom from my rookie or slog it out 'til next year.

I need basically everything but cornerback. Between my two rookies I drafted and my earlier free agent finds, I feel like I've got that covered. I manage to nab most of the free agents I'm bidding for, and those that I don't I just pick another warm body. It will be a few years before anyone starts to really stand out, I think.

Coming out of free agency the position I'm most worried about is wide receiver, I wasn't able to find much there (although I love the name Rusty Seinfeld). Quarterback is bad, as well, of course, but I expected that. I have about 64 people on the roster, but want to see how the rookies look post training camp and then I'll cut down.

Training Camp

I'm not too excited about how training camp treated my rookies.

1. Harvey Shepherd CB 39/69 --> 42/62
2. Sam Jennings DE 22/30 --> 26/31
3. Timothy Atkins QB 9/31 --> 14/35
4. Steve Wicks CB 23/44 --> 25/42
5. Adrian Walsh SE 10/21 --> 12/24
6. Grady Solwold T 13/51 --> 17/46
7. Wendell Harmon TE 20/59 --> 21/50

Atkins, Jennings, and Walsh went up in future but not a lot, and none of them look good at this point. The others went down, as well as basically all of the free agent rookies I grabbed. I'll play them all a lot in preseason and see what happens.

I make the mistake of checking out Strader, the TE I hoped to get in the first round that went to Birmingham. He is as good as imagined, having close to 100 in every category except route running. Unreal.

On the other hand, I check out the Draft Review and find out that I'm at the very top of the chart with an A+. That's surprising to me, maybe they know something I don't about my prospects. It seems to me I chose rather poorly, as the "sleepers" I tried for are low rated, so far. Maybe this A+ bodes well for where they're headed?

It's time to cut, and I'm afraid I have to say goodbye to Rodney Sage, my all-pro MLB last year. He's now far at the bottom of the bunch and I've got too many inside linebackers. I cut a few more of the earlier free agent finds to make room for my later signings. The roster doesn't look too terrible, in future potential at least.

I've got a decision to make at quarterback though.

Blackburn, Artie 2 19/48
Jochen, Ben 2 12/42
Atkins, Timothy R 14/35
Lelie, Rusty R 13/50

Artie is my starter from last year, and makes some sense to start again (except for the fact that I know he sucks already). Atkins is my draft pick who I'm hoping to be a creeper, but is obviously not well rated yet. The other two I grabbed as free agents. I guess we'll fight it out in exhibition season.

A sad note - my highest rated player in Fan Popularity is my punter. He is named Ricky Havens, but come on. A punter?

Autumn · 12-19-2007, 09:01 PM

The Omaha Reporter
by Marcus O'Riley

THINGS ARE SIMMERING FOR FOOTBALL SEASON

The beginning of the second season in the American Professional Football League is still months away, but things have been stirring here in Omaha as the Tornadoes front office works to build a champion team here in Nebraska. Many faces are new here at training camp, brought in over the offseason by Omaha GM Ken Walden and his scouting staff. Some faces, and voices, are very familiar though.

We spoke with Artie Blackburn, Omaha's tempestuous quarterback who will be returning this season, to the team if not the field. Quarterbacks are a common sight here in the locker room, as the offseason has seen the departure of several others, and the arrival of three more: Ben Jochen, a 2nd year player, and two rookies, Timothy Atkins, the Tornadoes' 3rd round pick, and Rusty Lelie an undrafted free agent. When asked who will be leading the squad this year, the coaching staff is mum, but not Blackburn.

"I don't think there's much to talk about there," Blackburn told us after practice this week. "I hear some of these guys they brought in are pretty good at holding for kicks. If not, they can hold the clipboard, hold my water. I'm sure we'll find something for them to do." When asked if he can be that confident of a starting spot after his spotty play last season, bringing the Tornadoes to an 8-8 record, Artie seemed upbeat. "I wouldn't place any bets, Marcus, on seeing those guys on the field come September. Just get me some guys who won't drop the ball, and keep them defensive ends off of my uniform and you'll be seeing some plays, trust me."

The coaching staff had little to say on the quarterback controversy. However, head coach J. R. Jenkins offered a few words. "Artie had probably best save his breath for the field, not the press conferences. We'll be looking at everyone in training camp, and in the exhibition season. Everybody who earns a job will have one."

Beyond quarterback, much of the Omaha roster has changed, and it seems we'll be looking at a very different team this year. Jenkins and offensive coordinator Alfred Lavan return, though this time with what looks like a run-heavy roster led by RB pickup Juan Vanaqs. New defensive coordinator Grady Chapman joins the team from Pittsburgh where he was head coach last season. He will have first round draft pick Harvey Shepherd to lead the flock, and a lot of new talent all over the field.

PiemasterUK · 12-20-2007, 02:05 AM

Will be interesting to see how this year pans out. Assumedly there will be a lot of mediocre players with a few superstars from the draft. You could see some huge numbers in categories such as sacks, interceptions and rushing yards. Have you spotted any drafted players that look like they could be awesome? Can you link their profiles?

Autumn · 12-20-2007, 12:22 PM

That's my thought exactly, though I'm a little less sure now. Perhaps it will show us football is too much of a team game for that to happen. Here are the standouts in the league right now:

A lot of them are in positions they won't make a huge impact, possibly. Al Strader, that TE I almost drafted, is the best rated player in the league but I just played him in preseason and he caught one of two passes. Still, I expect like you said pass rushers to make a big impact, and perhaps Junior Shepherd, that running back who is clearly the best rated in the league.

Notable still is the complete lack of quarterbacks. We'll see if this season brings about any development there. It may not happen until we get mentors in the league, I don't know.

Autumn · 12-20-2007, 10:45 PM

Exhibition Games

I normally don't pay a lot of attention to preseason games, other than attempting to avoid injuries to my stars. In this stage, though, I'm going to have to in order to get a sense of who on the roster is for real, and especially to see who to start at quarterback.

On a meta-game I note I have to add that I played out the first preseason game last night and then my computer crashed, so it was lost. It should be ignored, I know, but it made quarterback Rusty Lelie stand out to me. Timothy Atkins, our 3rd rounder, started the game, went 1-3 and then was pulled. Lelie, an undrafted rookie, came in to replace him and promptly marched the team down the field, on 6 for 6 passing for a score. He then continued to play well the whole game, especially connecting with fellow rookie Adrian Walsh. Lelie ended up going 26-39 for 265 yards in three quarters, including a lot of heaves in the fourth to try to win the game. This is in a league that had only one 300 yard game last year, so that was good. Walsh hauled in 7 catches for 105 yards. I was very excited ... then the computer froze.

So, while history did not repeat itself in the "Real" first preseason game, I can't help but pay a bit more attention to Rusty than I had been. And it gives me hope that maybe Walsh is masked, and much better than he seems, especially given that A+ draft review.

Of other metagame note, I found it interesting that when I replayed game 1, the score came out exactly the same, though the in-game statistics were different.

Game 1

In the first game Atkins gets the start until he is injured, and then Lelie takes over. Neither looks particularly impressive, but not particularly bad. Jochen gets a couple possessions at the end of the game and goes 4 for 4. Atkins being injured lets me activate Artie, but I think I'll try to give Jochen and Lelie most of the reps in the next week and see what happens.

Elsewhere, Vanaqs and Rosario both run well, and Conway, our one decent receiver, hauls in a lot of yards. Nothing else particularly notable.

Game 2

The next game suggests that at least we've got a good kicker, as we win on the strength of Bercich's 5/5 FG kicking. Jochen takes most of the snaps at QB and goes 13 for 18 for 93 yards. Lelie goes 7 for 11 in his possessions, for 108 yards. However he's intercepted once and sacked three times. His low sense rush rating seems to make him particularly sackable, as he got sacked four times last game too.

WR Schaefer hauls in a 59 yard pass, but nothing else much going on here. Vanaqs gets mostly stuffed at the line, Rosario looking fairly good on 9 carries. My D-line makes a couple sacks and four hurries among them, and backup OLB Godspeed makes a great pass defense stat by coming in for one pass play this game and defending a pass.

So far it seems Jochen is worth keeping an eye on, so I'll give him the ball next game too, maybe bringing Artie into the mix.

Game 3

In this game Jochen gets the start, but Blackburn gets most of the reps. Both look good, Jochen going 5 for 6, and having a touchdown pass called back for holding, before being pulled. Artie goes 15 for 20, but throws a pick that gets returned for a touchdown. He also throws a score, and gets sacked three times. Artie only passes for 98 yards, his two main receivers being the backs, so it's not all that impressive.

John Rosario impresses coming off the bench and running 9 carries for 42 yards. I might end up giving him the start over Vanaqs, who went 10 for 35.

Shepherd, the 1st round CB, has a good game with a INT and no passes caught against him. Sampson, my nickel back, has an interception as well.

I'm not sure what this game tells me about quarterback, since Artie looked okay but also didn't make much happen. I think I'm going to let Jochen take the helm next week and not let him get pulled early so I can see what he can really do.

Game 4

This game sealed the deal for me on Artie. He came in to replace Jochen, who had thrown 9-11 for 60 yards, no sacks, no picks. Artie went on to throw 20-39 for 147 yards, 1 score and 3 interceptions, while getting sacked three times. The guy obviously has a horrible Avoid Int score. Granted he was the one in in the 4th trying to make something happen, but he's just not doing it for me. Looking at the details, Artie had 4 bad throws, while Jochen's two incompletions both came off of hurries. I'm definitely looking Ben's way next week.

Rosario again looked better than Vanaqs, running 12 times for 51 yards. He also caught three passes. Walsh caught 5 for 51 yards and a TD. He's not looking too bad in preseason.

Besides Artie's three picks we also fumbled it away three times (including one by Artie and one by Jochen). However, we forced four fumbles too, and our one score came when O.J. Greer forced one, recovered it and ran it back for a TD. DE Paz had a great day, with 7 tackles and two sacks. The rest of the line contributed 5 hurries and a knock down. SLB Minter also defended four passes, while Shepherd did 2 more.

All in all, the preseason has caused me to push Rosario up to the starting role at RB, and Jochens at QB. I'm not sure who will back up Jochen exactly, as Blackburn has the best stats but I'd liek to see the rookies develop. The rest of the roles seem fairly clearcut, except tight end which didn't get cleared up at all yet.

Autumn · 01-08-2008, 11:03 PM

The Omaha Reporter

Tornadoes Deliver a Knockout

The Kansas City Cowboys were taken by storm today when they arrived in Omaha for the season opener against our Tornadoes. In the first matchup of the season, the division rival Cowboys could find no answers on offense or defense as the Tornadoes rolled to a eventual 31-6 win.

John Rosario, last year's legue leading rusher for the Chicago Gale, didn't slow down at all, coming in this game and rushing for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 23 rushes. Free agent pick up Juan Vanaqs did well in relief role, coming in to spell Rosario and putting up 64 yards of his own on 12 carries.

With the running game doing the heavy lifting, quarterback Ben Jochen took care of the passing end with a 16/28 perforamcne for 154 yards, two touchdowns, but one interception. Starting for the first time, the young quarterback seemed the shoulder the pressure well, both from the defense, and his own bench where three other quarterbacks wait in the wings, hungry for a starting role.

Outspoken quarterback Artie Blackburn, last year's starter, seemed unbothered by taking 2nd string duties. After a day when he only stepped on the field in the 4th quarter to run out the clock, he told reporters, "It's a young team, everyone is going to have some mistakes, including the coaching staff. Let Ben have his day out there, I'm not going anywhere."

The defense was a big part of the story too, however, holding the Cowboys to two field goals. The defensive line produced pressure, a sack and two hurries by end Darren Paz, and another four hurries contributed by rookie Sam Jennings at the other end. First round pack Harvey Shepherd, at corner, chimed in with two defensed passes, and only one caught against him.

The coaching staff wasn't talking roses after this game, however. "This is only one game, we've got a long way to go," head coach J. R. Jenkins reminded us. "And there's a lot to work on, despite our performance. It was an abysmmal day by the wide receivers out there, and we're not going to keep winning games throwing screen passes and little dunks and drops. I'm expecting to see some more production next week out of the passing game. And while John and Juan ran well out there, we struggled in the second half, rushing to hold on to that lead. We're going to have to pick it up, all the way around."

While the pressure seemed to be on the receiving corps at this point, including free agent pick up R. J. Conway, and rookie Adrian Walsh, each of whom only managed one catch this afternoon, everyone knows that the hotseat is at quarterback. So far, though, Jochen is sitting pretty, but only has to look to the sidelines to see Blackburn and two rookies eager to take his place.

Autumn · 01-08-2008, 11:59 PM

Game 2

Chicago Gale at Omaha Tornadoes

We're playing the Chicago Gale, our running back's old team, and so of course we'd like to put a stomping on them. Taking a look at them, their talent is as unremarkable as the rest of the league. Their first choice in the draft was Emmanuel Matthews, a QB who is riding the pine. However, they drafted heavily on defense the rest of the rounds, and are starting A MLB, a LDT, a SS and RCB who were all draft picks. No one seems remarkable talent-wise. They are in fact remarkable, however, for having a defensive tackle by the name of Fernando Pancake! My desire to run a time based on personnel with catchy names is rising. Did I mention Bubba Pigg is still in the league?

Given the success of our run game in week 1, I decide to adopt a smash mouth game plan for this game and see how it works out. It hopefully will cover for the inadequacies in teh passing game, a bit.

We get the first possession and come out running. Vanaqs has a 39 yard run that we follow up with a 25 yard TD pass. Offense looks good. Their offense makes some movement on us, but stalls. With the ball back we get started with unnecessary roughness on a scramble by Jochen. Vanaqs makes another the big play, rumbling for 17 yards. Rookie tackle Grady Solwold has had three KRB already, which sounds great to me. We get another first down on a pass interference call, and the running game keeps moving us. A key third down pass puts on us on the 11, and Jochen throws one to Conway in the endzone. We're up 14-0. Then CB Dale Farr tips and intercepts a pass, running it back to the four yard line on Chicago's next possession. Next play Jochen throws one to Walsh in the endzone and it's 21-0.

The game plan is working perfectly now. After smashing them with the run, they're now keying on it and getting burned by the pass. We rush into their side of the field and then a 22 yard pass brings us to the red zone again. With 3rd and 1 at the 1 Jochen passes to Walsh again and we're up 28-0.

Their WR Gonzalez makes some big plays, and they drive into the red zone for the first time. However, he coughs it up on the 8 yard line and Godspeed recovered. We're not able to do much else and punt for the first time with under four minutes left in the half.

With our pass pressure now set on high, they're not able to do much other than bust some surprise runs, and aren't able to score before the half.

Or shouldn't be able to. Getting the ball back with a minute left and up by four scores, the coach calls in a long ball, which is intercepted, giving the Gale another chance before halftime. We defend it well, and then Steve Wicks intercepts one in the end zone, ending that threat.

In the second half, with a 28-0 score our defense is able to key on the pass and rush the passer, and it is working. However, our offense is looking predicable again when trying to grind it out with the rush. We're going to have to learn to score when ahead somehow. Each rush is met at the line and stopped for no gain. Luckily Jochen steps up and makes enough first down passes in the second to keep us moving, and the clock moving.

At one point, a fumble by Vanaqs gives the Gale the spark they're looking for, and good field position. However, all they can get out of our defense is a field goal. Minter and Sampson combine for a recovered fumble on Chicago's next possession. With a short field, we're able to get enough yards out of Rosario, and clutch passes out of Jochen to get to the 8 yard line, and then Jochen throws another TD to Conway. It's 35-3.

Minter picks off a pass on their next possession, and it's time to grind out a win. When the clock runs out Chicago is rooting around for another loose fumble and we close the win.

Chicago Gale 3 Omaha Tornadoes 35

Post-game notes:

Obviously another very convincing win. Jochen looks great, on 17-22 passing he breaks the league record with 5 passing touchdowns, benefiting from the defense's focus on the run. Only sacked once, he also threw his only interception on a very silly play call.

The running back situation got a bit more complicated. Vanaqs, coming in as the backup, stole the show with 68 yards on 11 runs, including the two long yardage ones on our first two drives that set off the avalanche. Rosario, in return, was 24 attempts and 50 yards, obviously hurt by the fact that we were trying to grind out the clock most of the game, and getting a lot of 0 to 1 yard gains.

The new game plan got a lot more passes to the receivers, which I like. Conway, our FL, was 4 of 4 for 56 yards and 3 touchdowns (tying the league record). Walsh was 3 of 4 for only 15 yards but two touchdowns. Both were red zone machines obviously. Shaefer had another 3 of 4 for 35 yards.

Grady Solwold was the real star of the running game with 4 of 5 key burn blocks and no sacks allowed. Everyone else had a lot of opportunities but no more than 1 KRB. Since he was one of my underrated rookies, I'm excited by this.

On defense, obviously we looked good given they were playing catchup the entire game. Both Samson and Shepherd had 2 defensed passes, and Wicks and Farr each had an interception, making for a happy CB corps.

Jennings and Paz, my ends, each had 1.5 sacks, Paz throwing in 2 hurries as well, and Jennings having a hurry, a block and a knockdown.

We had another interception from OLB Minter, and our defense forced 5 fumbles, though only recovering two. All in all a commanding performance, and we're 2-0 on top of the division. Yet to be seen is how tough our opponents really were.

Around the league:

Player of the week is old favorite Ike Hamilton, who continues to put up good QB numbers despite being rated 14/23. Sadly, Jochen doesn't even warrant a player of the week mention despite breaking the league passing touchdown record. His yardage was too low. Notably there's an awful lot of great run blocking mentions on the charts. All those offensive line rookies? Or just bad defenses?

Our team looks great now. Let's see how they do on the road against another winner.

Next week: The 2-0 Indianapolis Racers, in Indy.

Izulde · 01-09-2008, 12:11 AM

Fascinating read. I look forward to more.

Autumn · 01-09-2008, 08:20 PM

Thanks, it's fun doing it though I hardly get any time. Nice to know it's of interest.

Autumn · 01-09-2008, 10:05 PM

Game 3

Omaha Tornadoes at Indianapolis Racers

The Racers are 2-0, a nice start after last year's 2-14 disaster. That earned them a top draft pick though which they used on starting quarterback Harris Stanberry, the top QB prospect in the draft, who is now looking 18/50 to my scout. Oh well, not too bad in this league. Their best player appears to be their second round pick, running back Ernest Maxwell who is rated 40/51, which is a phenomenal current rating in this league, though he doesn't seem to have done much so far this year. But they kept picking offense, and their third round pick is a WR, Grady Brennan who seems to have put up some good numbers in the first two games.

I'm keeping to the same gameplan, and hoping Rosario has a better day, though I did adjust his playing time down a bit to give Vanaqs a few more chances. Other than CB Steve Wicks coming back to start, things look the same this week.

The game starts off with our possession and we start as we did the past two games, running powerfully. They seem to be expecting the pass so we drive the length of the field, requiring only two pass plays from Jochen in order to drive in for a touchdown.

However, they take the ball at their own 14 and start driving, looking as good as us, picking up 9 to 10 yards on every pass and run. Things look dire until CB Shepherd blitzes, sacking Stanberry and making him cough up the football. Fellow rookie Sam Jennings picks it up.

We start trading punts. Once they start keying on the run, Rosario doesn't get much. Jochen makes some throws, and we occasionally catch them in pass defense when we run, so we get some movement. However, my center's total lack of pass blocking ability shows up as their relatively talented DT puts the spin move on Dawkins three times in a row one series, hurrying the passer.

The defense makes the difference again with big plays. They're moving on us down the field when OLB Torres intercepts a screen pass and returns it 31 yards to the 27. MLB Martinez is also making great plays, catching screens and runs for short gains. Unfortunately Jochen follows up their pick by throwing his own pick and giving them the ball before halftime. They can't do anything though, and a good punt return gives it to us at the 48 with 45 seconds.

A fullback run against the blitz nets us 13 yards. A 15 yard pass to Walsh (who seems to be playing great today) gets us to the 19 with 15 seconds left. That gives us a field goal and a 10-0 lead at the half.

Their first possession in the second they hit a 53 yard field goal, with the fans standing in appreciation for what is probably one of the longest in this league's history. We kick a field goal to make it 13-3 at the end of the third.

They in turn make it a game, getting a good punt return (including a fumble and an advance on the fumble return). A couple big plays later, and running back Hugh O'Neal takes it 25 yards for the score. It's a 13-10 game.

We move the ball a bit, including a useful pass interference penalty. I step in and substitute Vanaqs for Rosario, who is getting flattened at the line even when they're expecting pass. We have to punt and they come alive, slinging the ball downfield. They drive to the 3 and kick it on 4th and 3, tying it up at 13-13 with 2:33 left.

I get reminded I need to sign a kick returner when Conway only returns it to the 15 on the next kick. We don't make a first down, and have to punt, which turns into good news when they fumble the return and we end up with the ball at the 36 yard line. We make a couple run plays, but get penalized for holding and we're backed up to the 44. We throw an incomplete, and then make a 13 yard play to Walsh. Not enough for a first down, but enough to try for a field goal. He makes it, a 48 yarder!!

With 14 seconds left they can't do anything, and we're 3-0 on the season.

Game Notes:

Our running game suffered again, this time never really getting off the ground other than the first drive. Obviously the game plan needs major tinkering. Also notable was that we never got any big pass rush going, not having the huge lead to pin it on.

Still, we struggled through and made some big plays. I think our defense is playing great this year, and if we can fix some offensive problems we're looking good. Jochen showed he could make some plays and so it may be worthwhile to open the passing game up some.

Rosario's numbers for the day? 25 for 66 yards and a TD. He looked awful, and while I think that's largely gameplanning, I think I may have to sit him behind Vanaqs next week, who has honestly looked better in the real season. Vanaq had 9 for 38 behind him.

Jochen was 17 of 29 for 133 yards and a pick, which makes for a crappy rating but kept us in the game. Adrian Walsh was 10 of 13 for 90 yards, a nice day for him, suggesting again his rating may be better than advertised. Conway meanwhile only caught 2 of 4, and Banks went 0 for 5. That sucked, and I'm not sure where Schaeffer was. Last game he was all over the place. Weird.

Our defense won't look good statwise, as they gave up 5.5 yards a carry, and Stanberry was 26 of 33 for 219. But they proved stout on the scoreboard again, having only given up one TD in three games. They forced four fumbles today, and got a pick. However, only two sacks, neither by a DL, and no hurries or blocks. Combine that with only four defensed passes on the team, and no wonder they were moving on us.

Nobody looked particularly good on the offensive line, but overall we got 12 KRBs today, and that seemed the key to our success with Rosario's poor running after the block.

Around the league:

A look at our player of the week shows us our old friend, Ike Hamilton of the Portland Eruption, who threw for 304 yards and 2 TDs in only the second 300 yard game in league history. What's up with this guy? I figured last year he was a fluke, but Mr. 14/32 is still lighting it up. The players of the week continue to be flooded with defensive linemen with a sack or three, including some recognizable rookies. Hardy Hastings, the #3 pick OLB shows up for the first time as well as our own Joseph Minter. Actually, Harvey Shepherd, Courtney Kitts, Adrian Walsh and the player of the game, kicker Nolan Bercich all get mentions this week, not to toot my own horns.

Next week is a bye, so I can rest my couple injured guys and see who I can get back. I will tinker with the game plan a bit and move Vanaqs up to the front seat. Then in Week 5 we'll be in Seattle to meet the Destroyers.

SFL Cat · 01-09-2008, 10:37 PM

Cool dynasty.

I created a 1950s universe featuring the NFL and a new rival league that emerged after the AAFC went out of business and its better teams jumped to the established league. One of the teams in the rival league was the Kansas City Cowboys and their first coach was Packer's legend Curly Lambeau.

Interestingly, one of the expansion franchises in the 80s was the Indianapolis Racers (I've always thought that nickname for an Indy team would be AWESOME, and it gives the football team a certain synergy with the NBA's Pacers and Indy's racing legacy). The Colts stayed in Baltimore btw.

Autumn · 01-09-2008, 10:38 PM

They Aint' Jochen!!

Omaha Tornadoes release veteran QB Artie Blackburn

Jochen 3-0 as starter, set to remain so.

The Omaha Tornadoes took advantage of their week long bye from competition to make some moves in the office, including the surprising release of Artie Blackburn, last season's starting QB and constant outspoken presence in the locker room. Despite riding the bench behind Ben Jochen this season, Blackburn had remained confident he would resume his starting role.

Pressed for details, general manager Ken Walden gave a brief answer. "This was really a matter of roster management. We felt it imperative we pick up another player to take over the kick return duties, and we had no room to do so without releasing someone. It became clear that four quarterbacks was more than we could afford to maintain on the roster, and so that's where the cut came from."

Walden refused to comment more on Blackburn's release, who led the team to a 8-8 record in their inaugural season. Local sportswriters though suggested it could probably be attributed to two factors. One is the office's belief in the two rookies behind Jochen, 3rd round pick Timothy Atkins and undrafted rookie Rusty Lelie. While Blackburn is a proven quantity, his tendency to turn the ball over undoubtedly concerned Tornadoes coaches.

Also unspoken was the likelihood that the Tornadoes were glad to relieve themselves of Blackburn's contentious voice in the locker room. While never blamed for any conflict on the team, his attitude was inflammatory enough to make the staff worried about keeping him around, especially when not starting him.

Coming in to take that roster place is undrafted rookie Donnell Danielson, a wide receiver from Florida State. Walden stated that the youngster possessed the best combination of return abilities with receiving talent of the free agent pool out there. His addition should shore up one of the glaring weak spots on the 3-0 team, which had no players with any experience whatsoever running kicks back after the cut of Lionel Butler over the offseason.

"I hope to get in there, learn the system, and get my feet wet running back kicks," Danielson commented to reporters. "Other than that, I'll just keep my head above water and see what happens."

Blackburn, surprisingly, and for the first time, was unavailable for comment. His personal effects were already gone from his locker. The only thing left, perhaps left intentionally by the cantankerous Blackburn, was a jock strap.

Autumn · 01-09-2008, 10:40 PM

Yes, I think "alternate historical" leagues are the most fun. There's so many great ideas!

Thanks for checking it out.

Autumn · 01-09-2008, 11:35 PM

During the bye week:

The Baltimore Admirals QB earned player of the week honors and a place in the record book putting up 150.8 QB rating on 21 of 23 passing for 246 yards and 3 TDs against the Washington Generals. I'm also starting to notice Rufus Chandler, the St. Louis 5th round pick in the QB spotlight a lot.

Game 4

After the bye week, we remain only one of two teams left undefeated, our parallel in the other conference being the New Orleans Jazz at 4-0. We hope to match them this week, playing the 2-2 Seattle Destroyers, who come off a 17-16 win over our division rival, the Minneapolis Lakers. They boast Junior Shepherd, the best rated running back in this last draft, and now a fully developed 56/56 by my scout. He's not exactly tearing up the league with 285 yards in four starts, but let's not give him any ideas. He did start the season with two 100 yard games.

Our game plan is opened back up, and Vanaqs is in as the starter at RB, especially given that Rosario came down with shin splints over the bye.

The game starts wonderfully! Their initial kickoff return is fumbled on a tackle by Rosario, and Chism scoops it up and returns it for the touchdown. That's how to start, Tornado style. Have we scored on our first touch each time this year?

Their next possession OLB Torre gets an interception and we take over at their 41, but don't go anywhere and miss a 49 yard field goal, just short.

A 39 yard pass play to Walsh puts us in their territory next possession, but again we don't get to the endzone, and they block the kick.

And then, just like last week, their backup running back, not their star, takes a run all the way, this time 66 yards for a touchdown, tying the game up in the first. Oh! But it gets called back for holding. Ha ha. They drive anyway, though we hold them to a field goal. It's 7-3 at the start of the second.

We get a great punt return and then drive to the 2 yard line. 4th and 1 at the 2, I try to call the play to go for it, but hit the button too late or something. We kick it and are up 10-3, and that's the score at the half.

We have a good first drive, but then Jochen throws a pick in their territory and it gets returned 32 yards. Those bastards go for it on 4th and 2 at the 25 and make a 15 yard pass. That's what I was trying to do, damn it. They are 1st and 10 at the 10 but we hold them to the field goal. Damn, we're good at that. It's 10-6.

Then they recover a fumble by Rosario on the next possession at midfield. They drive it in and are up 13-10 now with 12 minutes in the fourth. We are driving well when Jochen throws another pick on a long pass to Walsh. I'm going to have to key back on his passing, it seems.

Twice the Destroyers have run on 3rd and 8 or 9 in this game, and once made i. Argh. They're now running our time out with a long, long clock killing drive that looks likely to end in a TD or FG. Our defense is now much too porous.

Until!!! My DTs, Greer and Huie cause a fumble. Weve got it at the 24 with 1:53 left, and no time outs. However, Jochen throws four incompletes and the game is over. I'm thinking I should have taken over playcalling there too and not hefted it down field so quickly. We only needed a field goal, and he obviously can't throw long.

I'm so goddamned mad I didn't make that call to go four it on 4th and 1 at the 2 yard line. I didn't click the button fast enough, and that of course would have made the margin of error if we picked up a touchdown there. And that's exactly the way I like to play my teams. I hate those sort of metagame blunders, but I can't blame the loss on that. The offense only put up 3 points, the kicker missed his two FGs, and Jochen threw two interceptions. It was not a good game, though my defense seems to be masters of making the big play when it counts. They have kept us in these past two games that way.

Seattle Destroyers 13 Omaha Tornadoes 10

I'm so annoyed, I'll do the game notes later.

Autumn · 01-16-2008, 09:00 PM

Game 5

Let's forget about last week and look at the game coming up. After a tough two game road trip we're back home where we're undefeated this season, to meet the 1-4 Los Angeles Stars. The Stars, 2-14 last year, picked up star rookie MLB Travis Harvey who is looking good manning their middle. Also notable is 2nd round pick at SS Ron Fretty. Otherwise their team looks unremarkable. They're manned at the helm by QB Cornelius Creasy, who I just noticed is 4th in career yards, and 1st in interceptions, by a lot. Good luck guys!

We're hoping to reestablish our game here at home where we had our first two blowouts. Everybody is mostly healthy, and I've tinkered with the gameplan again. I'd like us to get that running game going again to open things up.

We start with the ball, the way I like it. Rookie Star Harvey stops our run on the first play, hopefully not a sign of things to come. But it's three and out for us. On their first play, our star rookie, Shepherd, defends a pass, so that makes us even at least. They're three and out as well. We make a couple plays our next possession, but their rookie safety defends a 2nd down pass, and then Jochen gets sacked for only the second time this year and we punt.

The first quarter ends with us stopping them, but close enough for them to kick a field goal and make it 3-0. I'm not sure why the defense is looking so bad today so far, they're really letting these guys move on us, and we know they're not that good. We bend but don't break, and keep giving the offense a chance to get going. Nothing really sparks though and we go to the locker rooms down 3-0.

We back them up early in the second, and then get their punt at the 50. Next play Rosario gets spuring for 18 yards by Broderick Morris, back for the first time from injury. Vanaqs gets 12 a few plays later. We move to the 3 bbut get called back for holding, and then miss the field goal. So much for that.

We end up getting backed up to our three, but get out of that jam, and then hit a long ball to Walsh. However Jochen gets cocky and tries it again, and Harvey intercepts it. For some reason Creasy is eating us up, he and his receiver Floyd mostly. They drive to our 17 then settle for a field goal attempt which they miss.

We continue clicking on offense, running well, and then hitting Waslh for a 25 yard pass to the 4. Jochen scrambles two plays later for the touchdown and we're up 7-3 with 12 left in the game.

Now we can put some pass pressure on, and we're able to stop their offense with a big 10 yard sack by Jennings. We go three and out (got to do something about Jochen's short passes). Jennings pressures again, but we can't stop Floyd who busts out another big gain. Then a 32 yarder to Simone, and we're getting schorched. They're down to the 9 and run it in. Now it's 10-7, with under 5 left.

Banks makes a big 3rd down catch, then Schaefer pulls in a 19 yarder. We can't quite get in good field goal range so I go for it on 4th and 1, but we don't convert. They manage to get a first down and the game is over. Another one so close I could pull my hair out.

Los Angeles Stars 10, Omaha Tornadoes 7

Game Notes:

So we gave up 261 yards to Creasy, and didn't pick him off once. Nor did we recover a fumble. Meanwhile, jochen threw a pick and got sacked three times. We weren't playing our game out there.

Vanaqs ended up going 20 for 78, while Rosario had 7 for 44. Nobody did much in the passing game, Walsh was only 2 for 5. Meanwhile we have up 9 of 10 for 136 yards to Daryl Floyd.

We can't blame the loss on Bercich's missed kick given that the Stars missed one too. And I certainly wouldn't blame it on Sam Jennings, who had a forced fumble, 1.5 sacks, 2 hurries and a knock down. Maybe we can blame it on Shepherd, who had an unusually bad day, giving up 5 catches, but his compatriots at CB gave up 4 and 3 respectively, and the safety 5 more. Just a bad day back there in coverage. Cassani was the goat at offensive line, letting up 2 sacks, and going 0 for 3 on run blocking.

Around the league:

Rookie Harris Stanberry puts up only the 3rd 300 yard game in league history for the Racers, while Richard Flowers takes player of hte week with 285 yards and 2 touchdowns on 29 for 35 passing for the Cavaliers. Hugh Kendrick runs for 3 TDs for the Steelers, and Stanley Ogden knocks out 6 of 9 KRBs for the Outlaws. We're at 3-2, now behind 5-1 Denver in our division. We're starting to collect some disgruntled players too, including rookie QB Atkins. He has some nerve being disgruntled given his ratings.

Game 6

Next up is our division rival, the Minneapolis Lakers, who won our division at 13-3 last year, but who are 1-5 at this point. Quarterback Glen Miller leads the team not so impressively, as they're last in the league in passing. But they have a pretty good two-headed running attack. Rookie OLB Goettle seems their defensive star. We're just hoping to go on the road and cream a division rival and get back in form.

It's cold in Minneapolis, and they start at the 20. They are driving easily on us, but we force two fumbles on the drive, recovering the second. Sam Jennings forces it, making him my favorite rookie pickup. Our offense moves, a few runs and some good passes by Jochen, including a 22 yarder to Walsh. A big 3rd down run gets us to the 13, and a few plays later Walsh catches a TD pass. We're up 7-0.

They go 3 and out, with a Jennings sack thrown in. We drive the length of the field, getting 1st and goal at the five, but we get stopped at the one. Once again I'm not able to call the play in time and so we kick. We're up 10-0. I wish there was a setting for that play.

We make some progress on offense, but end up trading punts the rest of the half.

In the second we continue trading punts until Minter intercepts a bad pass. I get the impression we could tear these guys apart if we just started passing all over on them, but we're still trying to pound the ball, interspersed with big pass plays. We manage another field goal before the 4th quarter.

They manage a field goal to make it 13-3. We start a clockeating drive with runs and an occasional pass. It stalls but puts them at the 12 with 3:42 left. A hurry and a couple drops later, Shepherd defends a 4th down pass.

Now we try to run out time. We burn two of their time outs and then our field goal is blocked. They've got it at their 20 with just udner two minutes left. They move the ball but run out of chances and we win it 13-3. Finally.

Omaha Tornadoes 13, Minneapolis Lakers 3

Game notes:

Our passing game really looked good, I think because I got it away from a short passing game. We got 12 first downs by passing, and Jochen was 23 of 29 for 204 yards with a TD and no INT. Ten of 17 on third downs kept it going for us and we had the ball for almost 38 minutes.

The running numbers did not look good, but we had a total of 4 10+ runs that did us well. That seem to be the type of runners these guys are. Walsh was 6 of 9 for 80 yards and the TD in what was a good looking game. He was 4 of 4 for third down catch conversions! TE Reed stepped in at 5 of 5 too, from the bench. Schaeffer was 4 of 4 behind Walsh, making a case for the starting job again.

But Sam Jennings was the star today in a breakout performance for the underrated DE. He had 7 tackles and two assists, 2.5 sacks. He was all over the line of scrimmage. Shepherd had a good game too with 0 cathces against him, and one defense.

Vince Foster was the star of the O line with 3 of 3 run blocking on only 7 run plays. He's our backup center, but days like that would move him up.

Around the league:

Not much noteworthy in players of the week, except that we had 5 Omaha mentions there. We're now 4-2, behind the 5-1 Mountaineers, and guess who we play next week, at home? That's right, Denver. A win at home will put us on top of the division.

Game 7

So, Denver is 5-1, riding rookie RB Martin Guzowski. He's got 500 yards rushing and another 167 receiving in 6 games. It looks like they keep to a short passing attack and have a pretty stout pass defense. They're number one in points scored on offense and number four in points allowed (we're number one, just so you know, only allowing 8 a game).

It's a fairly balmy day in Omaha when we start off. They've got a scrambling QB, and he starts the game going for 4. They make a first down but then punt. We get penalized on the punt return and start from the 15. We make a first down, but Jochen gets sacked and fumbles, and they recover at our 20. We stop them with 3rd and goal at the 3, but they go up 3-0.

We alternate run and pass well, driving to their 9. And then passing it into the endzone for a TD, making it 7-3.

Darren Paz is all over them today, I've seen him block a pass or two already in the first. They punt, but then Jochen gets intercepted and they have it on our 25. And now Paz is hurt. We get a bad penalty and then our defense loosens up, and they end up scoring making it 10-7.

We drive, and Jochen runs it 9 yards on a 3rd and 7 blitz, keeping us alive and into the redzone. Rosario runs it to the 1. It takes three tries but we drive it in and are up 14-10.

They make a big 37 yard pass play before the two minute warning, getting to our 15. They don't get further though, and we block their field goal attempt. We go into the locker room up 14-10.

We start off the second half with a 21 yard pass to Walsh. A 12 yard run by Vanaqs follows and we're at midfield. Soon Conway hauls in a 21 yarder and we're at the 18. A couple of plays later, Jochen throws to Rosario in the endzone and it's 21-10.

We then back them up and return their punt to midfield. TE Reed picks up a first down pass and is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. For some reason the game plans before weren't getting him the ball. We get to the 13 yard line on a big third down pass. We don't get the third down try so we kick it this time and are up 24-10.

We've got the pass pressure on now, but they still manage some big pass plays, and drive it in for a TD, and it's 24-17.

We go 3 and out, but back them up to the 10. Jennings and Greer get a sack, and then Huie gets one too. Their punt is pathetic and we have it at their 27. We kick a field goal and are up 27-17 with 8 minutes left.

I'd like to see a big play on defense here, especially since our return coverage teams seem to stink. Instead we let them drive to the 3 again, and they score again. 27-24.

We elect to try to bleed the clock, running for it three times, rather than going for the first. It's probably not what I would have done given how our defense is playing. We boom a 61 yard punt. Yes! They return it 11 yards. No! Then they fumble. Yes! They recover their own fumble and advance it 7 yards. No!

There's 2:14 left on the clock and they're down by three with three timeouts (we also have three). Jennings knocks a pass down. Then they throw an incomplete, but we get called for defense holding and they get a 1st. Minter defends a pass. Jennings hurries the passer. Their QB scrambles for 4. On 4th and 6 he throws a screen that Guzkowski actually converts. QB Coles scrambles again, this time for 7. A bad throw makes it 3rd and 3 with 40 seconds left and 1 time out, on the 50. This time Buddy Martinez intercepts it and it looks like we have our win. They burn their time out and we run out the clock.

Denver Mountaineers 24, Omaha Tornadoes 27

Game Notes:

It was a tightly played game, and the key for us I Think was converting 9 of 14 third downs, with an average YTG of 3.9. We also scored on all our red zone visits, but stopped them on one, giving us that little edge.

The running game does not look good statistically, though it seemed better than normal to me. Jochen though was great, 21 of 26 for 198 yards and 2 TDs. He did have one pick and one sack.

No one stood out receiving, with no one having more than 3 catches or more than 46 yards.

Pass rush was mediocre, Jennings having .5 sacks, 1 block and two hurries, and the rest of the line contributing a bit. Unfortunately the other DE, Paz, got injured after having two blocks on 9 plays, and he'll be out for a little bit.

Minter at the SLB spot had two defensed passes and ILB Martinez had a pick. The Mountaineers seemed to be picking on safety Stanton for 5 catches.

On the line center Dawkins was 3 of 5 for KRB, while Cassani was 2 of 4 with a pancake.

Around the league:

This win puts us on top of our division, with the second best record in the league to the 6-2 St. Louis Trailblazers. We're 3-0 in our division, and that should treat us well as the season goes on. Nothing else stands out, but after the next game I'll do a midseason look around the league.

Looking ahead we're going to Portland to play the 3-4 Eruption next week.

Game 8

For some reason the Eruption seem to have benched last year's All-League quarterback, Ike Hamilton, despite his putting up an 83.5 rating in four games. Pete Thomason has put up a 53.9 rating, yet taken them to two one point victories in the last two weeks, so I guess they're going to keep riding him. Their 2nd round pick at running back is putting up good numbers with a 5.92 average. However, their defense appears to be a sieve, giving up almost 1200 rushing yards and 1200 passing yards already, while giving up 156 points. Their first round pick, 35/60 prospect at DE, Briceland, seems to be underperforming so far.

Hopefully we can open up some offense on these guys, and get our defense making some more plays.

It's 59 degrees and a bit windy in Portland tonight. CB Steve Wicks picks off a pass on the first play of the game, bringing it back to the 31 yard line. They hold us there though, or back a few yards, and we end up punting into the endzone. Ugh. I need to adjust a setting, I wouldn't have punted there.

Now they throw a fullback screen and Lang fakes us all out and takes it 49 yards, to our 24. We push them back and they punt as well, fair's fair.

However, they seem to be stopping our run game even when they're watching for a pass. We're three and out again.

Our next possession Rosario makes a big 3rd and 2 run for six yards. Then Walsh makes a great 22 yard catch in double coverage to put us into enemy territory. My new fave, TE Reed drops a pass and gets a demerit. We're punting into the endzone again. That 'go for it in 4th' setting doesn't seem to ever happen.

DT Huie has two pressures in the first quarter, which after his play last week makes me think his pass rush game is coming on.

Johcen runs for a first down and we move to midfield. Conway grabs a 22 yard catch. Soon we're in the redzone, but a holding penalty backs us back out. We move up and get 4th and 3 at the 10. I decide to go for it against a defense that seems porous, and since I always miss this call. Nice call, 'cause Walsh catches a 10 yard TD pass, and we're up 7-0.

They make a big pass play again, and then a huge run and they're on our 9. And then it's a TD pass and we're tied up.

They've got some QB pressure on us, and combined with a dropped pass that stalls us. We pin them at their 2 yard line though, and next play Minter intercepts a pass and runs it back for a score!

Under two minutes, Portland's trying to go for something and we intercept them again, Steve Wicks at the 2 yard line for his second of the game. We go into the locker room up 14-7.

We start off the second at our 10. Our drive and a penalty on them backs them up to their 14 on their first possession. They drive it well though, and they're in our redzone. We hold them briefly but then they score on 3rd and 11 and it's 14-14.

Their pass defense is playing well, and when they don't we seem to drop the ball. But a penalty gives us another chance. We drive into their territory at the beginning of the 4th, and finally Reed makes a big 3rd down play. He makes another to get us into the red zone. Walsh drops another pass and we're forced to kick, and of course it's blocked.

We get called for pass interference on the next play to move them up. They cross midfield with 10 minutes left in the game. With nine minutes left they throw a TD and are up 21-14.

We get a good return to the 41. However, we can't do anything and have to punt again. This is a vital possession. And it doesn't look good as they bust a nine yard run, a six yard catch. We get flagged for pass interference again on a vital 3rd down and now they're threatening to increase the lead. This one is slipping away from us. For some reason we expect a pass play and let up two big runs. A big gameplan error there. It keeps happening, and by the time I realize I should take over playcalling it's 2:20 left in the game and they're on my 6 yard line. Somehow they adjusted better in the second half.

They kick the field goal to go up by 10 with a minute and a half. Of course now Jochen's just throwing bombs and that doesn't work. I think the AI should work on medium length passes instead in that situation.

We lose a stupid game, and we're 5-3 now at midseason.

Omaha Tornadoes 14, Portland Eruption 24

Game notes:

Somehow, despite throwing three interceptions these guys managed to walk on us in the end. They got three first downs by penalty, and we gave up 5 of 9 third downs. We also didn't produce from that first pick we got. I would have gone for it on that 4th down and maybe that would have made a difference. Then that blocked field goal was another wasted opportunity.

Rosario and Vanaqs have been perfectly splitting rushing lately, but they couldn't get anything done today. Jochen either, he was 16 of 35 for 126 yards. He had three bad throws, three passes dropped, 7 hurries and 4 defended passes. Walsh was 2 of 6, Conway was 1 of 6. Both had a drop.

Notably our nickel back was near the top with 5 tackles. They just were going over the top on us, and the sacks weren't really there.

Around the league:

Lucky for us Denver got shut out by the Quake and so we're still on top of the division in a three way tie with them and Kansas City going into the midseason.

Autumn · 01-16-2008, 09:54 PM

Midseason Look

Here's the Tornadoes after 8 games.

We've slipped in the last couple weeks, after starting as the highest scoring team, with the fewest point allowed, and the best turnover margin. Our pass rush is still looking good, keyed by Jennings especially (hopefully he's masked, he's certainly playing well). But our pass defense has gotten bad.

The running game has tanked after the first couple games too. I'm not sure what to do there, switching runners hasn't made much difference. The game plan hasn't seemed to key it either.

Walsh and Conway have been playing adequately, but the stats suggest I should give Shaeffer a bigger role. I might try moving him up to the starter and see what happens.

The league standings:

We've obviously got a strong division again. Last year we were at the bottom of it with an 8-8 record. This year will be another close race it seems. Luckily so far we're 3-0, so I hope to not die of tiebreakers this time.

Given the odd nature of this league, I thought people might be interested in just seeing some of the league leaders. I'd be glad to look up any other stats people might wonder about.

Autumn · 01-21-2008, 10:49 AM

Game 9

This week we draw last year's champion, the San Francisco Quake. This year they're 4-4 so far, behind their 5th round rookie QB, Darnell Boone. They're third in the league in total yardage behind a decent running game, and a four receiver attack including former Tornado Brian Kinney.

On defense, of note is their cornerback tandem of O'Neill and Aquino, who have 8 interceptions between them. That might explain why they're so tough on the long ball. They seem to give up the short pass though, so hopefully we'll have some success.

We're favored at home. Their first possession is three and out as we key on their passing game. Conway has a good punt return, but we're not able to capitalize on the drive because, guess what, Aquino makes an interception on a pass to Schaeffer. It was a seemingly safe short pass, so it seems keeping the passing game short isn't going to fix things.

Jennings forces a fumble on their next series but they recover. He seems to do that a lot. Still, we make them punt. Rosario busts a 22 yard run on our next possession. Later on the drive Vanaqs busts out a 23 yard touchdown run and we're on the board, 7-0.

Their next possession we get a hurry, a blocked pass and then Shepherd intercepts Boone, and runs the pick back 32 yards for a touchdown and his first pick of the year.

Their next possession they hit a big pass play, and then a 20 yard run to get into our territory. We seem to be looking only for the pass, and so they're able to run, run, run it in for a TD.

Obviously something is wrong with my game plan as I seem to be expecting only a pass on every single down. As you can imagine, this doesn't work well against the run. Still, we hold them to a missed field goal.

We put together a good drive that stalls at the 3, so we kick the field goal. It's 17-7 at the two minute warning, and they drive the length of the field with a 46 yard pass to the tight end. They run it in and make it 17-14 before the half.

The depth chart changes I made are working well at getting Harmon, my best receiving tight end, into the game. He makes some key catches on a drive that ends up in a 11 yard TD pass to Banks. It's now 24-17.

The Quake puts Frankie Young in the game, to replace Boone. We're running to milk the clock, and it's not getting us anywhere at this point, so we keep trading punts. Their passing game under Young can't get anywhere against our intense pressure. It's a stalemate, until we get our running game going a bit, taking advantage of the Quake coming out in pass defense, and just better running. This long 4th quarter drive eats up time, and we recover our own potentially costly fumble. We kick a field goal and they get it back near the two minute warning, down by 13.

Their desperation drive ends when Young fumbles the ball and Martinez runs it to their 5 yard line. They hold us there but we kick the FG to make it 30-14. That's the final score.

San Francisco Quake 14, Omaha Tornadoes 30

Game Notes:

Jochen had a great game, 18 of 20 for 163 yards and a TD. His interception on the first possession didn't end up hurting us, and he had a 96.5 rating. Meanwhile, the running game looked good due to those two 20 yard runs on one drive, but was in actuality as iffy as usual, though we did good on third down, going 7/14 overall.

For some reason Banks, the 2nd FL, got 4 targets (catching all) while Conway, the starter only got one. Putting Schaeffer as the #1 SE got him a 3/4 game for 30 yards, but Walsh didn't show up at all as the backup. I don't like that, and for some reason Rosario ended up with three targets, even though I thought I had eliminated him from the pass attack.

Their rushing attack worked well against us, but they had to drop it once we got ahead. We seem to play great with a lead, and so-so otherwise. In particular our pass rush benefited, with Paz having 1.5 sacks, a block and 2 hurries, and the rest of the line contributing as well. No defensed passes at all, though, and our nickel back gave up 4 catches again.

On the O line, T Cassani was a monster at 5 of 6 KRB, while C Dawkins disappointed with 1 of 10. His back up went 2 of 2, and maybe I should be looking at moving him up.

Around the league:

Denver won as well, keeping them right behind us in the division. Only three 200 yard passing games this week, and two 100 yard rushers, only one 100 yard receiving game. Offensive yards still seem hard to come by in this rookie league. Chicago kicker Don Gray sets a record of 19 points in a game with 6 of 6 field goal kicking.

Next week is a big game against division rivals the Kansas City Cowboys. They're one game behind us, and so a loss to them would muddy the waters even more. We stomped them week one, and hope to repeat it on the road.

Game 10

Kansas City just came off of a shut out at home against the Lakers, and so they're eager for a win, I'm sure. they have a three pronged running game that racks up a lot of yards, but not very efficiently. England heads up a short passing game. Their strength seems to be in defense, with one of the best rated pass defenses in the league.

Their defense shows it at the start, letting runs by, but shutting down Jochen so far. We get a fumble but aren't able to do anything with it. They drive well with the running game and come up with a field goal to make it 3-0.

They're driving again when Stanton gets a big interception. We make a few plays this time, and seem to gain confidence, our gains getting bigger and bigger. We get it in the endzone with Rosario on a RB screen, and it's 7-3.

They get it to start the second half, but we hold them to three and out. Walsh picks up a key third down pass, and then Vanaqs busts a runf or 26 yards. Conway gets seriously injured on the play, but we have it at their seven. Two plays later another screen to Rosario gets us the touchdown and a 14-3 lead.

We trade turnovers, until on their next drive Kansas City is looking likely to score when Shepherd picks up his second interception of the year, running it back 33 yards to midfield. It's into the fourth quarter, but we don't go into ball control just yet, using some key passes to keep the ball moving. The running game is still effective, until we get to the redzone. We're forced to kick, but we miss, apparently due to a bad hold by Jochen. Still, we're able to do just enough with each possession to milk the clock down. Until the two minute warning they can't manage to pass against our pass rush. We run out the time on our second win in a row.

Omaha Tornadoes 14, Kansas City Cowboys 3

Game Notes:

This followed the pattern of showing our strength with a lead. It seems we need to jump up on somebody to play our strengths. The game stats definitely do not look impressive, though if we hadn't missed two field goals the end score would look even nicer.

We obviously compensated for KC's tough pass defense by hitting the running backs. Wide receivers only saw 9 targets out of 22 today. Jochen had a good rating, going 15 of 22 for only 91 yards but two touchdowns. Vanaqs and Rosario had their typical ho-hum day, some big gains evening out lackluster performance.

The defense came up big with three interceptions, and a couple fumble recoveries. The pass rush only got two sacks, but Jennings had 5 big hurries. The switchup in the secondary might have helped a bit, with only one catch against the new nickel back. My switch at center didn't produce great results, but T Cassani was 5 of 11 for run blocking.

The biggest blow comes after the game though, when we find that top FL Conway is out for the rest of the year with damage to the knee. Luckily I think we have some decent talent behind him, guys who have already made catches. We end up switching Conway to injured reserve in order to sign a new punt returner.

Around the league:

Denver loses to Minneapolis, and that puts me alone at the top of the division, a good spot since I also have a 4-0 division record. Bryant Hentschel of Pittsburgh has a big day with three interceptions and two defensed passes. Cornelius Creasy, the career leader in interceptions who tore us apart for the Stars is player of the week with 210 yards passing. Rookie Junior Shepherd of the Destroyers moves up to second in the rushing stats with a 135 yard game.

Autumn · 01-21-2008, 11:17 AM

Game 11

The Detroit Wheels show up in Omaha 7-3 as well, coming off a big loss to the Blizzard. They have a weak run offense complemented by a very accurate passing game run by Dusty Harvey. Their defense is their strength, in the top ten in most categories, led by first round pick SS Patrick Kaplan, owner of a fantastic 92.8 PD percent, and DE Cole Mannix leading the team with 8.5 sacks.

Jochen coughs up a fumble on our first possession. We keep trading punts, our offense looking better than the Wheels, but not able to move enough to get anything. Stanton intercepts the ball at the 35 yard line, and gives us a good chance at a score. And we do it, converting on 3rd and goal at the 5 for a touch down pass to Harmon. The Wheels follow up with a drive of their own though, with the "defense not moving quickly on this cold day." They get backed up by a tripping penalty, but unnecessary roughness on our part turns 3rd and 20 into first and goal. We hold them to the field goal and it's 7-3 at the two mnute warning.

Jochen drives us past midfield, and with less than a minute we're in field goal range. On third down we get sacked and almost lose another fumble, pushing us back to the 32 yard line. Bercich makes a 49 yarder, and we're up 10-3 at the half.

Our first drive of the second half results in their rookie star, Kaplan, intercepting a deep pass to Schaefer. They kick a field goal to make it 10-6. Then on the subsequent kickoff, Danielson fumbles the ball and Detroit recovers at the 5. Our defense is stiff as a board though, forcing a field goal that they botch. We drive to midfield and then pin them at the 1 with our punt. In a reversal of fortune, Perrin tackles Harvey on a QB run, forcing a fumble that Minter returns two yards for a touchdown. It's now 17-6. Their next drive results in MLB Martinez intercepting a pass and returning it to their 26. They hold us to a field goal, making it 20-6.

Harvey makes some great passes on the next drive for the Wheels, but a holding call backs them up and he loses his steam. However, our next possession, Vanaqs coughs up the ball and they recover on our 31. We hold them to a field goal, yet again. We're not able to move, and so only milk the clock and punt. We block their punt and so get it back at their 33, with 8 minutes left. Time to ice the game, I think, if we can hold on to the ball. A 13 yard run by Vanaqs moves us into the redzone, and we add a field goal at under five minutes, to make it 23-9.

Now Harvey is forced to throw long, and our pressure gets to him. I also note we start blitzing less, which I think helps, we were blitzing far too much earlier. They go four and out, and Vanaq's 11 yard run ices the game for us. He adds more icing by breaking a run for a 22 yard touch down at the two minute warning.

Detroit Wheels 9, Omaha Tornadoes 30

Game Notes:
Most notable to me was the fumbling. We fumbled 5 times, losing three. We were lucky to come away with a win that way, these guys must be punishing hitters.

Vanaqs comes away with his best game of the season, 23 for 121 yards, and a touchdown. I did adjust his playing time this game, so maybe that helped. Of course the 22 yarder at the end helped too. Jochen was his typical self, 18 of 24 for 122. He threw one interception and was sacked three times, which is a lot for him.

With my starting FL Conway out, I moved Walsh to his spot and put Schaeffer in the SE slot. Schaeffer came up big with 4 of 5 catches. Banks was 4 of 5 while Walsh only caught 2 of 5 from the flanker spot, and one of those he fumbled. I may move those folks around for next week. Pretty decent run blocking all around.

The safeties were the stars of the defense, combining for 15 tackles, 3 assists and an interception. Only two sacks today, a block and 3 hurries from the line. CB Shepherd uncharacteristically gave up 4 catches.

Of big note to me too is my home attendance. Our first home gave drew 57,900. This last home game shot up to 61,300, 2,000 more than our last home game. It seems our winning ways are making a difference.

Around the league:

Richie Brady had a big 3 TD performance at QB for the Steelers this week. Six 200 yard passers today, and 6 100 yard rushers as well. The unfortunately named Kevin Steptoe had the biggest day at WR with 135 yards.

I notice that Artie Blackburn was picked up by the Cincinatti Eagles, and has started three games for them, posting a 37.4 rating with 1 TD and 6 interceptions.

We're now 8-4, with the rest of the division having 7, 6 and 5 wins respectively. We've got a lot of disgruntled folks though, I'm going to have to look at the line up carefully this week. I can't renegotiate anybody's contract - is it because they're all one year deals, or because they're only two to one year veterans? Anyway, big game at home next week against the Oilers to increase our lead.

Game 12

The Houston Oilers come into Omaha at 4-6-1, and on a three game losing streak. They boast a solid rush defense bolstered by two draft picks in the defensive line, Clifton Wynn and Preston Ruegamer, and one at middle linebacker, Winston Kuhlman. Their offense is not so notable looking, headed by Juan Salpala, who throws a lot of picks but looks like he does well in the red zone and on third down.

Shepherd gets an incterception in the endzone after the Oilers drive well. Our offense is playing too conservatively though and doesn't get anything out of its first two drives. Jochen coughs up a fumble on a sack our next possession and they get it at our 24 yard line. A timely sack is followed by another interception in the endzone and we dodge another bullet.

We seem stuck in a rut of getting some good runs, but then throwing screens on 3rd down. Meanwhile they're breaking our tackles left and right. We seem to be missing the presence of OLB Minter on defense, who is doubtful today. His replacement gets a key sack in the redzone though, and though we don't pick up either of the two fumbles on the drive it results in just a field goal.

Our next drive Vanaqs breaks free and runs 59 yards for a touchdown, putting us up 7-3. Their rookie Wynn gets a sack on our next possession, stopping us, and Houston tries again, driving at the two minute warning. A sack and a defensed pass stop them though, and it's 7-3 at the half.

We finally put a drive together in the third, with some key third down conversions. Holding backs us up to their 33, (why does holding alwyas happen on 1st down?). Bercich comes through though with another 49 yard field goal, putting us up 10-3.

We stop them at our 43, and take over at our own six. Our running game is looking familiar to them, and so we're a bit premature in attempting to milk the clock. Those screen passes on third and six aren't helping either. We have to punt though, but Havens knocks out a 67 yarder, putting them at their own four. We hold them there and end up with the ball on their 34. A penalty kills any movement, and we end up punting from the 35 (what????). I really would like to adjust this situation. No way I'm punting into the endzone here.

We of course immediately let them rush down the field, and they are going for it on 4th down at the 23, and get it, getting into the redzone with just over two minutes left. Jennings gets a big sack. And then Sampson picks off the next pass.

We are attempting to run out the last two minutes when Vanaqs fumbles on a 9 yard run, but we get it back. He then picks up a first down, seemingly icing the game, but fumbles it again, and this time they recover at our 42, with 1:33 and one timeout. Luckily Salpala isn't that good at long bombs, and his one key completion gets called back for a penalty. This time we're able to kneel and run the time out.

Houston Oilers 3, Omaha Tornadoes 10

Game Notes:

We got lucky, fumbling three times and losing two, but coming out on top. Our three interceptions, and Jochen's zero, helped. We went 6 of 16 on third down, while holding them to 1 of 13, and that was key.

Vanaqs comes out with his second 100 yard game in a row, 18 for 101 yards and a touchdown. Of course that was basically just that one 59 yarder, and nothing else. Our running game didn't do a lot today.

Jochen was accurate, at least, going 18 of 25 for only 96 yards. For some reason again Tyrone Banks, the backup WR, got the most catches, going 5 of 6, while Schaefer hauled in only 4 of 9. Walsh was only 1 of 1. I'm not sure why his production has dropped off so much. Perhaps he's being double teamed now that Conway is out?

All three cornerbacks had a pick, and only allowed two catches between the three of them, so that's a good day for them. The safeties again led the team in tackles, and they gave up 8 catches between the two of them, with only two defensed. Still, it was a good day pass rushing for the line, with six sacks three hurries and a knockdown between them all.

We pulled out a win, but the loss of Conway seems to have really hurt the passing game, and our running game is as off and on as always. I'm worried about our prospects going forward.

Around the League:

Denver loses, dropping to 7-5 as we move up to 9-3. Minneapolis at 6-6 is the bottom of our division, so it's a strong showing all around. But it will be a hard race for a wild card in our conference, with Pittsburgh and St. Louis both at 9-3 in the Rust Belt Division. Parity seems to be settling in, with no team in our conference worse than 4-8, and none better than 9-3. The West Coast Division has three 6-6 teams, and one 5-7. Ugh.

Junior Shepherd and Hugh Kendrick are battling it out for the rushing title, the only two backs over 1000 yards so far. Vanaqs has moved into fourth place with his last two games, and me giving him more carries. Still, my RB duo is nothing but consistent, getting most of their yards on a few 10+ runs. Combined Rosario and Vanaqs have 40, while the league leader has 29.

Rookie Harris Stanberry of the Racers is leading the league in passing yardage so far, but it's a close contest. It's Rufus Chandler of the Trailblazers though leading the league in rating and touchdowns. It looks like we'll be lucky to see a 1,000 yard receiver in the league, the leader's only at 691 right now. Receivers seem to be the biggest difference in this all rookie league.

We're ranked number two in the power ratings this week, nearly tied with the 9-3 Steelers. This is the home stretch, the last four games that can push us into the playoffs or doom us to misery.

Game 13

We're back on the road, visiting Cleveland on the lake to face the 5-7 Hammers. They lead the league in pass attempts, but that's only gotten QB Harden a 52.2 rating. Their offense seems a bit anemic, but possessing some big play receivers when they do get a catch. They've only amassed 19 points in their last three games, so I'm hopeful. They seem to be suffering from injuries, especially in their rookie defensive stars. We've never played the Hammers, as they're from the other conference, so this will be a new one for us.

They start out sacking us and then forcing a three and out, not good. Havens booms a 52 yard punt though. When we get the ball back, Rosario busts a screen pass for 19 yards. That keys a drive that takes us to their redzone on a Walsh catch (finally). Vanaqs busts open a 13 yard run to make it first and goal. Rosario takes the next handoff for a score.

We seem to be calling the wrong plays on defense, and they drive to our side of the field. We stop them at the 20 though and their kicker misses his field goal. Rosario follows up with a 16 yard run on our next play. We get to midfield but are intercepted on a pass to Rusty Seinfeld (hello! pass to Walsh!) They drive into the endzone, despite two holding calls, with a clutch 9 yard run on third and seven to keep them alive.

We're backed up to our six on the kickoff return. Walsh makes a big 3rd down catch to get us out of there, and we're back in business. We still have to punt though, but we pin them at their own six. We hold them there, and end up at midfield. A facemask penalty moves us to the 35, but Jochen's not finding any open men. Sacked on third down, we're forced to punt it into the endzone at the two minute mark.

It's 7-7 starting the second half. We stop them on 4th and 1, with injured linebacker Minter making the big tackle. Taking over at their 34 yard line, Vanaqs takes it 10 yards, and soon we're in their redzone. A big 7 yard run on 3rd and three gets us 1st and goal, and Rosario runs it in for a touchdown two plays later. We get backed up to our 5 our next series, and it looks bad until Rosario bursts into the open field for a 34 yard run. A penalty backs us up again, as well as another ill advised pass to Seinfeld. But Walsh pulls us out with a 18 yard catch on 3rd and 18 and we're at midfield. Jochen soon coughs up a fumble on a sack, which is starting to become routine, and now Cleveland has it at midfield. We hold them there and they're not able to make anything out of it.

We construct a nice 4th quarter drive with big runs by both running backs. Even Rusty Seinfeld takes a screen pass 7 yards. But we stall at their 31 and miss the kick.

Their wide receivers are eating us up, as I feared, and they drive to our six. They score, and now it's tied at 14 with 7 minutes left. Oh for all those missed opporutnities.

Rosario starts our drive out with a 12 yard run. Vanaqs keeps it going with a 7 yard run on third down. Defensive holding keeps us going with five minutes left, on their 42. Schaeffer drops a pass, and we throw a screen for some reason on 3rd down and we punt into the endzone. Now we need some defense.

But it's not there as we give up a 25 yard pass, again. Then an 11 yarder. At least they're not eating up the clock. An 8 yard pass next play. For some reason we're expecting run, which is a bit silly here. They miss a couple passes, and then blessedly miss their field goal attempt.

Now it's our turn as Banks pulls in a 22 yarder taking us to their 35 yard line. We throw an incomplete, and then get sacked, however. A pass interference call saves us, and we get first down at their 38. But a long pass gets tipped and intercepted at their 15. Now we have to keep them from driving for a score. Should have been running it, idiots.

Minter and Sampson make key pass defenses, and we get it back at our 31 with 45 seconds and three time outs. However, our first pass gets intercepted. We force them three and out and get it at the 20 with 8 seconds. Looks like we're going to overtime.

We win the toss. After one good pass we get sacked twice in a row, and even fumble it and recover it ourselves at the four. Bad playcalling, again, as our running game was working well in the 4th. Of course it's an awful punt from there, and they get it at our 34. We'd need a miracle now. We don't et it as Nixon makes a 15 yard catch on third down, and then catches a touchdown to win it.

Game Notes:

A really gutsy performance on defense, but a really poorly coached game. Our offense was actually clicking today, but the coaches got away from it. Jochen also had a very poor game, ending up 21 of 38 for 179 yards and three interceptions, but that was actually better than he played in the beginning. He also got sacked 7 times, which was more than the first half of the season. I'm surprised the coach didn't bench the guy.

The running game was great. Vanaqs had 84 yards in 16 carries, while Rosario had 96 in 12, with two touchdowns. They were 4 of 4 for third down conversions running. Walsh was in the game this time with 4 catches for 50 yards, but on 8 targets. He was 3 of 3 for third down conversions, however.

We fumbled 4 times, with only one forced, and no interceptions, a big turn around from our usual great turnover margin. Bercich missed a kick that would have won it (though admittedly so did their kicker).

We got some pass pressure, Jennings had three hurries, a knock down and a half a sack and we had 3 sacks all together. But Harvey Shepherd was the real goat of the game, giving up 7 catches, with no defensive plays. This guy usually only gives up one, but he was schooled today by Nixon, Alfred and Zellars, Nixon going for 101 yards and two TDs.

Their DE, Brian Dorn, was a monster with 7 tackles, 3 hurries, and 3.5 sacks. Meanwhile most of our passes came against their OLB Gadberry (9 catches allowed). Scottie Dawkins was the only offensive linemen to have a good game, going 3 of 4 and no sacks allowed.

Around the League:

Jerald England of the Cowboys gets offensive player of the week with near perfect 27 of 30 passing for 228 yards. It's a big running day, with 8 100 yard runners, including Martin Guzowski, the rookie, picking up 3 touchdowns.

Clifton Wynn of Houston eclipses Brian Dorn by picking up 4 sacks and 6 tackles in his game.

Denver won handily over Buffalo, so they and Kansas City are right behind us at 8-5. Minneapolis is only one game behind that, and we play them next week. A win is vital if we don't want to sink down into the morass.

Autumn · 01-27-2008, 11:53 AM

Game 14

The Minneapolis Lakers may be at the bottom of our division, at 7-6, but they have clearly one of the best ranked defenses in the game, #1 in yards gained against and points scored against, and at least number 7 in almost every category. Their one weakness, third down conversions, is our biggest strength, but I'm worried about our off and on offense today.

Offensively they're one of the top running teams, led by Jimmie McGee in his second year, and backup Eugene Myers who comes from San Fran with a championship ring. Glen Miller leads a passing attack that has the fewest attempts in the league, and is at the bottom in nearly everything else other than completion percentage. They have a solid offensive line, and the best turnover margin in the league.

Losing this game would completely muddy the waters in our division, while of course winning it would keep us afloat on top. We squeaked out a win 13-3 in their place earlier this year, we're hoping to win convincingly here at home for the last regular season game in Omaha.

They come out running, picking up a first down and 20 yards before their first pass play ends up in a sack by Greer, and a fumble recovery by Sampson (starting in place of the injured Wicks). However, Jochen gets intercepted on the one yard line and we get nothing from it.

I'm not sure why we're looking for pass plays on third and one. Or nearly all the time when they're a clearly runing team. Should have adjusted those settings better.

After trading punts for a while, they get a couple long plays and end up in our redzone. We hold them there though and they settle for the field goal, and go up 3-0 in the second quarter.

We punt then get another big break when we pick up a fumble and return it to their six yard line. Vanaqs catches a play action pass in the endzone, and it's 7-3.

Their kicker manages a 52 yard field goal to make it 7-6. Jochen gets intercepted on the next series after a big intentional grounding penalty, and they have it at our 36. Martinez and Shepherd combine on some drive ending tackles though, and hold them to a field goal again.

With three minutes left in the first half, Jochen starts driving, completing three passes in a row to get us over the midfield by the two minute warning. He then carefully drives us to the six yard line, but we fumble the ball with 21 seconds left. Our chance to go ahead is gone.

Watching the play by plays I'm constantly impressed by how good Buddy Martinez is. He gets a lot of tackles, as the middle linebacker. But it's the tackles he makes that's impressive, constantly cutting short long gains or catching people before they get first downs.

We trade punts in the third. In the fourth we finally drive into their side of the field, but get backed up by a illegal use of hands penalty. We get back to the 23 though, and convert a 3rd and 3 with an offsides penalty on the Lakers. Another third down conversion gets us to the 11, and a few plays later Rusty Seinfeld catches his first touchdown pass. We're up 14-9.

The Lakers quickly cross midfield on their next possession. We stuff them, but their miracle kicker somehow hits a 56 yarder, "a nice kick in a hostile environment." Again. It's 14-12 with three and a half minutes left.

We go three and out, but eat up a minute on the clock and make them burn two timeouts. Blitzing two cornerbacks? Maybe not a good idea. Still, they convert once on 4th down, but luckily the long ball game isn't what they're good at, and Sheldon intercepts Miller's pass. We're able to run out the clock on a very tight, and very vital 14-12 win.

Minneapolis Lakers 12, Omaha Tornadoes 14

Game Notes:

Our ability to hold the team to field goals, while scoring touchdowns, comes through for us here. Rosario had the biggest day, as the backup, going 13 for 71 yards, while Vanaqs was held to 30 yards. We did not at all slow down their running game, letting them go for 129 yards and an average of above 5 yards a carry.

Jochen had a mixed day, 24 of 35 for 182 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT. He seems to be throwing a lot of picks these days, after starting off so careful. Schaeffer was his big target, with 8 catches for 74 yards. Banks pulled in another four. Walsh was an unimpressive 2 for 11 yards on 5 targets. He's got the rookie slump I think.

Martinez had 11 tackles and 4 assists against this heavy running attack. Not much of a pass rush against anyone, and Shepherd gave up three cathces today.

Around the League:

Harris Tripplett has a big 4 touchdown passing day for the Providence Whalers. Al Chandler, OLB for the Louisville Chargers has a big 10 tackle, 2.5 sack day. J. C. Izzard of the Blizzards (hah) has a three interception performance.

I just noticed that kicker Marty Long has the most 50+ kicks this season. Appropriate.

Denver wins as well at Kansas City, meaning our division goes 10, 9, 8, 7. There won't be any early clinching in this division, but at least we have the tiebreaker on Denver, so far. Of course our last game of the season is in Denver. That will be vital.

But for now it's the Buffalo Blizzard we're worrying about.

Game 15

The Blizzard are 5-9, and not really notable in anything. Their defense is consistently bottom of the heap in everything. Offensively, they're mid to bottom in everything as well. They're led by D. J. Sciuto, a free agent from Chicago, who so far has a 62.6 rating this year. Their leading rusher has 655 yards in 14 games. The one thing they seem good at is getting turnovers on defense, probably helped by their two ballhawks, Izzard and Knechtel in the secondary.

It's a balmy 44 degrees in Buffalo in December. We start off by trading punts. They look bad, and we look ineffective, doing things like throwing to Seinfeld for 0 yards on 3rd and 5. They finally break something open with two big pass plays to get into the redzone, and end up running it in from first and goal.

We follow up with a decent drive and end up with Rosario running in a touchdown himself. Jochen is looking very sharp when he passes towards the first down markers. I see that the Blizzard are starting backup QB Fertwagner for their injured starter. He may be an improvement. They march down the field after a huge kick return and score making it 14-7. We get it back before the half, but punt it. We'll get the ball to start the second half, down 14-7.

Farr and Sampson combine to recover a fumble on a long pass play, but we can't make points out of it, since we fumble it right back to them.

Before the end of the third, we manage to drive it into the redzone. Harmon picks up a key third down catch to give us first and goal. Then Harmon picks up the touchdown on third down, and we're tied 14-14 at the beginning of the 4th.

A short punt gives us the ball at midfield. A personal foul advances us, but we foolishly don't play for four downs, and end up punting, pinning them at the 7. They convert a third and one to get out of danger. However, Minter makes one of his patented interceptions at midfield, and we get another chance. Or so I think, but a 0 yard screen pass later, Jochen scrambles with the ball and coughs it up.

This time Sheldon comes through, intercepting Fertwagner at our 24. We need to score, and eat up the clock on this drive. Vanaqs tries to give it away with another fumble, but we recover. However, even in pass D, they stuff our run game. It's Walsh who saves us with a key 3rd down catch for 13 yards. This drive is taking too long to get nowhere though, and it's 3rd and 1 at their 45 with just over two minutes left. Jochen tries to go long to Walsh, but it's defended. However, we pick up the pass interference call on the play, and get it at their 16. A masterful call, I must say. I wisely decide to take over the play calling, as the coach tries to throw it into the endzone. Tied with less than a minute left on their 16? Let's not start throwing, thanks.

Vanaqs bursts a ten yard run against their pass defense (wouldn't everyone run in this case??). The strategy works and Vanaqs runs it in for a touchdown with 44 seconds left. We're up 21-14 when Bercich boots a touchback. The Blizzard manages to get one pass out, but a blocked pass and then a sack later, time is up on them, and we pull out a win on the road that should guarantee us a division title.

Omaha Tornadoes 21, Buffalo Blizzard 14

Games Notes:

First, the bad news is that Banks, our backup flanker is out for the season, to go along with Conway, our starter at flanker. We're thin there and may even need to sign somebody, I'll have to see. I'll need Walsh to start stepping up.

Vanaqs was the big story, going for 128 yards in 20 carries today, and a TD. Rosario contributed 26 yards and another TD. It should be noted that Vanaqs pickd up 42 yards of that on one run, in a drive that ended with a punt.

Johcen was near perfect going 25 for 30, but only for 152 yards. Too many of those were on 0 yard screen passes. Ugh. Still he posted a 98.9 rating to stay near the top of the league.

Schaeffer was the main man with five catches for 32 yards, but backup SE Rusty Seinfeld showed up to pick up another 5 catches. I'd like to lower his playing time behind Walsh, but with another injury at receiver I'll need everybody in there.

Fertwagner threw for 211 yards against us, but it was his two picks that gave us the game, along with Walsh's clutch plays at the end. Vanaqs had three fumbles today, and his fumble numbers more than anything may cost him a spot here next year. Still, he went over 100 yards today, so we'll applaud him for now.

Around the League:

There's a ton of tight divisional races. I tried writing them up, but you just have to see it to believe it.

It should be noted that Dan McDaniel had a 304 yard game for the New Orleans Jazz, big numbers for this league. For some reason, Vanaq's huge running day didn't get even a mention, even though it was clearly the biggest, and there were only two other 100 yard runners. Indianapolis had a big day on defense, with 5.5 sacks between their defensive ends.

Game 16

We make the adjustments for injury, putting Banks on injured reserve so we can sign a fifth receiver. He looks pretty good at 3rd down and big play and avoiding drops, so a good fit. There's not much else to do but fine tune the game plan. Let's hope for a big win in Denver. I truly have not realized until this point that a win would clinch us the #1 seed in our conference. What a crazy league. Now I'm nervous.

We squeaked out a win against Denver in Omaha earlier, 27-24. They're now 10-5, and a strong team. They don't turnover the ball, are second in the league in scoring while third in points allowed. That comes on what seems to be just a generally effective offense and a generally stingy defense, with a good pass rush, second only to ours. Stars on their defense line are DT Snee and DEs Bernard and Pozy. Guzowski leads the team in rushing, and while the rookie is only averaging 3.72 yards per carry, he leads the league with 12 touchdowns. Sherman Coles is a decent passer, favoring the short pass to Guzowski who's killer coming out of the backfield, averaging 10 yards per catch.

It's 18 degrees in mile high Denver. They start the game with a big return, followed by a drive taking them into our redzone. Huie gets a sack to push them back out, we contain a Guzowski screen, and stop him on 3rd and 13 to hold them to a field goal.

Vanaqs starts our day with a 11 yard run. But Schaefer ends that drive with a fumble on a 9 yard catch. Now they've got it on our side of the field again. They trick us on first down with a 21 yard pass, but two penalties and solid defense by Shepherd hold them to another three.

Rusty Seinfeld gets the first real catch of the day to start off our next drive, but a loss of a yard on a 3rd and 1 screen forces us to punt. Guzowski busts one for 19 to get them back to midfield. A timely penalty forces them to throw, and Minter comes up big with a key interception. They stop us handily after one first down, however, and it's a punt again.

We trade punts in the second quater. Jochen gets intercepted at our 37 and they're threatening to score again. Our offense just isn't doing anything, and while we're holding them from scoring much, their offense is looking much much better. A penalty saves us here and they're forced to punt into the endzone. We manage to drive to midfield at the two minute warning, but aren't able to get anywhere from there, and punt it to their two. So, it's 6-0 at half time.

We start off with a good drive in the second, but double penalties back us up to 1st and 25, and we end up punting. The Mountaineers come out throwing and march across midfield. A stop on 3rd and 1 holds them to the field goal, and it's 9-0.

We sack them twice in a row on their next drive, but they convert 3rd and 20 with a long pass. We hold them on 3rd and 6, only to get the ball back on our 7 at the end of the third quarter.

Our next drive Jochen throws a couple nice balls, but then is injured and out of the game. Untested rookie Timothy Atkins comes in and takes the helm. The running game keeps him out of immediate trouble, and we end up pinning the Mountaineers at their 2, down 9-0 with 10 minutes left. We nearly recover a fumble, but instead end up letting Coles scramble for a key first down. We give up another third down conversion on the drive, and our chances are looking slim as they run down the clock. For some reason we're expecting pass at this stage, which is ridiculous. Still, we give up a 7 yard run on 3rd and 6 that basically ends our chances. They're in field goal range at the two minute warning, and soon are running out the clock.

Omaha Tornadoes 0, Denver Mountaineers 12

Game Notes:

This unfortunate outing may have been a case of poor gameplanning, I'm not sure, as the offense just couldn't do anything most of the day. Vanaqs didn't look bad going 11 for 73 yards, but Jochen was not his normal self, going 14 for 25 with an interception before getting hurt. Most of the targets were to running backs and tight ends, so I guess Denver just managed to shut down the wide receivers today.

Guzowski put up 99 yards on us, and another 30 receiving yards. Cole was 19 of 26 for 233 yards. Not a good defensive outing either. Shepherd got pawned, giving up 5 catches. Still, our defense did their job, holding them to 4 field goals and no touchdowns. They're definitely a bend but don't break unit.

Of course the biggest news is Jochen, who pulled his calf muscle and won't be full strength until next year. That means we head into the playoffs with a couple of rusty rookies on the shelf. Well, QB Atkins has been very angry about his playing time, so maybe he'll get a chance to show his stuff.

Around the League:

Luckily our 5-1 divisional record gave us the tiebreaker, and we end up winning the Midwest Division and go 11-5. Indianapolis wins the number one seed though with an 11-4-1 record. Still, a bye is a bye, and we'll get one home game out of it.

I'll look at the situation around the league in the next post.

Autumn · 01-27-2008, 12:15 PM

We'll take a look at the statistical leaders and results after the playoffs. For now I'm pumped to have won my division and gotten a first round bye. Things don't look too hopeful though, with Jochen injured. Atkins was an underrated 3rd round pick, who I have a feeling might be better than he looks. But he hasn't played in the regular season, and doesn't show any visible development. There's nothing we can do but give him the wheel though and hope for a miracle.

Looking around the league in week 16, Indianapolis had to win to keep their division title and a shot at the #1 seed. Pittsburgh and St. Louis were playing each other, with the winner very likely to get a wild card slot and the loser not. In their division San Antonio and Oklahoma City were also playing each other head to head, the winner to clinch the division, the loser to miss the playoffs. San Francisco needs a win at Seattle to stay on top, or else slip into a possible three way tie.

In the American Conference, Atlanta and New Orleans both are tied, and need to win their respective games, though the loser will pick up a wild cards pot. The Midatlantic division is tied up at 7-8, with Washington and Richmond playing each other, while Louisville gets Baltimore. There again, the losers are likely to miss the playoffs, only the division winner having a chance. New York and Providence are playing each other, New York needing the win to be in contention for the spot.

And here are the final standings.

Indianapolis wins and ends up clinching the number one seed after our loss. Pittsburgh pulls out a win in St. Louis to get a wild card spot, while the 10-6 Trailblazers go home. San Antonio wins to take their division, while Seattle beats San Francisco at home, to turn their division into an 8-8 tie which Seattle wins by tiebreaker. San Fran goes from world champions last year, to losing their division by a tiebreaker this year and missing the playoffs.

In the AFC, Atlanta manages to tie the Memphis Showboats, while New Orleans loses to the Rebels, so Atlanta takes the division. New Orleans still nabs a wildcard spot in the weak conference though. Richmond beats Washington to take the division and make the playoffs. The New York Yankees beat rivals Providence, but lose the tiebreaker. That's still good enough for a wildcard spot though.

The NFC looks strong this year, and wildcard teams the 11-5 Steelers and the 11-5 Mountaineers will probably prove difficult for their first round opponents, The 9-7 Defenders, and the 8-8 Destroyers respectively.

Autumn · 01-30-2008, 09:05 AM

Wild Card Round

The 8-8 Seattle Destroyers are favored by two to beat the 11-5 Denver Mountaineers, in Seattle. I know first hand the Mountaineers are tough, but we lost to Seattle in Seattle by three points this season as well. Seattle rookie running back Junior Shepherd was second in the league in rushing yards, ahead of Denver's Guzowski. But QB Omar Carper for the Destroyers threw a nearly league-leading 27 interceptions and only 9 touchdowns.

The 9-6-1 Memphis Showboats have one of the first defenses in the league, and worst passing offense, but are good at turnovers and have a decent running game. They'll be in Detroit to play the 9-7 Wheels, who have a good rated defense, and a mediocre offense.

10-6 New Orleans is favored to win in Richmond against the 8-8 Cavaliers. The Jazz have a very stingy defense, especially against the pass, and a high octane passing game, while the Cavaliers look about the same, only not quite as good. New Orleans receiver Kirk Lodde was tops in the league in targets and nearly in catches, with 82 of 149.

Lastly wild card entrant Pittsburgh, at 11-5, is favored to win in San Antonio against the 9-7 Defenders. The Steelers have the highest scoring offense in the league with league leading rusher Hugh Kendrick, and #2 QB in the league, Richie Brady. The Defenders don't stand out statistically at all, but have some decent talent, and seem to alternate between big point days and shutouts.

Results

As it turns out, Denver beats Seattle and Pittsburgh beats San Antonio, as I expected those strong wild card entrants to do. Guzowski doesn't do a lot on the ground, but picks up 71 yards in the passing game as well, to key Denver's win. Pittsburgh comes from behind to win it in overtime, having to amass 292 yards passing to overcome San Antonio's 17 for 22 passing game. Wide receiver Lincoln Covington has a big 109 yard, 2 TD game to win player of the game, while backup QB Arnold Auyeung has the winning touchdown pass after Richie Brady's injury boots him out of the playoffs.

In the other conference, Detroit rolls over Memphis, keyed by their 219 yards rushing, including a 60 yard TD run by Corey Frye. The Jazz beat Richmond in a rather unremarkable game.

This matches us up with Denver in the next round of the playoffs, only two weeks after playing them for the division title. We're 1-1 against them this season, fresh off a dispiriting loss. Can we reverse things with our QB on the bench? The odds makers think so, making us two point favorites.

Autumn · 01-30-2008, 09:22 AM

Tornadoes Storm the League!

Omaha Tornadoes win the Midwest Division

Star QB Ben Jochen is injured and will miss the playoffs

Omaha, Nebraska -- The season ended on a bittersweet note for the Omaha Tornadoes players and staff, coming home from a discouraging 12-0 shutout in the hands of division rivals, the Denver Mountaineers. Not only did the team suffer a loss on the scoreboard, but in the final minutes they lost the services of quarterback Ben Jochen, who has started all 16 games for the Tornadoes this season, coming out fourth in the league in quarterback rating. Injuring his calf in the fourth quarter, Jochen was forced to retire to the training room.

There was sweetness too, though, as even the Tornadoes season-ending loss couldn't knock them from atop the Midwest division, which they won with their 11-5 record, and tie-breaking 5-1 division record. The Mountaineers, also 11-5 after the win, have to settle for a wild card entry in the playoffs, while the Tornadoes, with the second best record in the league, will be resting for their bye week, ready to play the conference semifinals at home.

They'll be playing it without the heart of their offense though, as training staff reports that Jochen's injury will keep him out for the rest of the season. How far into the playoffs this team can go without their leader is a serious question, but it's unlikely they'll see the service of Jochen no matter how long they last. The coaching staff is keeping him off of injured reserve, just in case. But they will be signing a third string quarterback to fill that roster spot and take over kick holding duties just the same.

Jochen's injury is third in a series that has attacked the Tornadoes passing game. Wide Receivers Conway and Banks already have suffered season-ending injuries, and it will be a back up quarterback and backup receivers who face the winners of the wild card round in two weeks. Third round pick, Timothy Atkins, will be getting the start, according to sources. The rookie was a surprising pick by the Tornadoes, who believe him to be much better than many league scouts. He has yet to prove it though, his only playing time this season coming at the end of game 16 when he threw three incomplete passes to end the shutout. With an untested rookie behind the helm, it's expected that Omaha will be leaning on their running game of John and Juan, the running back tandem that took them through the regular season. Whether that's enough to get them to the conference championship, only time will tell.

Autumn · 01-30-2008, 10:28 AM

Tornadoes Tumble Mountaineers!

Omaha wins their first playoff game

Rookie Timothy Atkins shatters records, wins game MVP

Omaha, Nebraska -- Perhaps only Timothy Atkins ever imagined this outcome, as the rookie led the Tornadoes to a shocking 26-3 victory over division rivals, the Mountaineers, here in Omaha this afternoon. The rookie, who had never started this season and only thrown three passes in garbage time, not only managed not to lose the game, as the faithful were hoping for, but won it, as well as game MVP, breaking league playoff records as he passed for a startling 274 yards, throwing a touchdown and running for one more.

With Omaha's starting quarterback on the bench for the playoffs with an injury, fans and coaching staffs alike had to expect the Tornadoes to come out with a smash mouth running game, and a careful short passing game, to ease the burden on the untested rookie at the helm. With two injuries to the wide receiving corps as well, the Tornadoes adequate passing game was deemed dead, and fans only hoped that their bigtime defense, and explosive running backs, would win the game for them.

And that was the story even after the Tornadoes first possession, which quickly ended on Atkins's second pass, a drive-ending interception. The defense held the Mountaineers to a subsequent field goal, and the 64,000 fans in Tornado Alley must have all been thinking the same thing. "Run the Ball!"

Only one guy wasn't thinking that way, according to offensive tackle Grady Solwod, a fellow rookie. "The next series Atkins came into the huddle, and we could see this kid wasn't rattled at all. 'Let's take this all the way,' he said to us. And we all started to realize what we had here." So did the fans, who watched Atkins march down the field with a balanced mix of big runs by Vanaqs and Rosario, and long passing by the rookie. His favorite target was another backup pushed into the starting lineup by injury, wide receiver Marshall Schaffer. Catching two long passes to help carry the team into the redzone, fans were shaking their head at their good luck, but expecting the coaching staff to lean on the running game to push it into the endzone. They couldn't have been more wrong though, as Atkins dropped back and looked for Schaeffer one more time, finding him in the endzone for a 15 yard scoring pass, and a 7-3 lead.

The Tornadoes never looked back, holding the Mountaineers scoreless the rest of the game, and continuing their audacious offensive attack. Atkins threw no more interceptions after that first series, and rarely made a mistake at all, leading a passing attack that bravely threw into the teeth of the Denver defense. Schaefer continued to be the leading target, ending the game with a record breaking 11 catches on 11 throws, as well as a record breaking 145 yards in receptions. These two backups not only kept the Tornadoes in the game, they made league and team history in doing so, Atkins passing for more yards than any Omaha quarterback ever.

Atkins showed his pluck and versatility on the Tornadoes next scoring drive, converting two third downs with short passes, and hitting another long pass play to Schaefer to bring Omaha to the nine yard line. That's when he showed defenses something else to fear, as he tucked the ball and scrambled into the endzone from nine yards out for the second touchdown of the game.

Though Atkins won the deserved game MVP, and drew most of the attention post-game, it was a team effort that brought the win. The defense played the sort of physical game they love, knocking people around like it was week one all over again. They forced a phenomenal five fumbles in the game, although they only recovered two of them. And once Atkins had given the team the lead, they were able to pin their ears back and apply the sort of pressure they love, holding the Mountaineers on third down, and getting turnovers. Cornerbacks Wicks and Shepherd each had an interception in the game.

The backs had one of their best running days of the season as well, John and Juan each carrying 17 times in the game, for a nearly identical 73 and 76 yards. "We thought we'd be going out there and trying to get the pressure of of Tim by making some big runs," said back John Rosario. "But it turned out the other way. Once the defense saw his arm, he started making some big throws, all of a sudden there was a lot more space for us to move." Not relying on big yardage runs as they often have through the season, the running backs were able to consistently pick up 4-8 yards per carry, rushing past wary defenders who were unsure what to expect.

Atkins was just as confident in his post game press conferences, responding to questions about his surprise performance. "I'm not surprised at all, and no one should be, really," the quarterback quipped. "I've been telling the coaches, the players, you guys, anyone who will listen all season that this is what I could do. The coaches drafted me for a reason, they knew I could play. They signed me to a contract for a reason, and they're sending me this fat paycheck for a reason. I keep telling them, I don't want a fat paycheck to sit around and hold a clipboard and watch other guys win. Harvey, Steve, Adrian, Grady, Sam, Wendell -- I'm the only guy we drafted that hasn't been out there playing. The only one. No offense to Ben, but it should have been my job from the beginning, i'ts what I'm getting paid big bucks to do, to go out and win games. So no, I'm not excited, and I'm certainly not surprised. I'm just glad to finally be doing what I do."

And thanks to his performance, and Pittsburgh's victory at Indianapolis, he'll be doing it again for Omaha fans next week, as the conference finals are hosted here at Tornado Alley. The league leading offense in the Pittsburgh Steelers will be coming to town, hoping to end the Tornadoes fairy tale season. Atkins has somesthing to say about that, as well. "We had some empty seats out there today, and that's too bad. You guys come and fill this place up next week, we're going to come back and put on a show for y'all."

Autumn · 01-31-2008, 08:56 PM

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the league's highest scoring offense, behind league leading rusher Hugh Kendrick, and quarterback Richie Brady. Unfortunately for them, like us, their quarterback was injured and is out for the rest of the playoffs. That hasn't slowed them down though, as they won their first playoff game in overtime, with quarterback Arnold Auyeung throwing the winning pass. Rather than go with him the rest of the way though, they went out and signed Wayne Collins, who last year was Providence's starting QB, and this year was not signed by anyone. He came in and did a decent game managing job in their game against Indianapolis. It was Kendrick though that keyed that victory, rushing for over 100 yards.

They got a great pass rush out of their entire D line in that game, one that includes Colin Josephson, the undrafted DE who led the league with 15 sacks. Their secondary is built around 3rd round pick Bryant Hentschel, the cornerback who had 8 interceptions this year.

Our plan is to simply play the same game as we did against Denver, as they're similar teams - strong running games and good defense. We'll let Atkins and John and Juan play and see what they can do.

Elsewhere, Detroit beat Providence, and Atlanta beat the Jazz, to make for their conference matchup.

The game is a fairly tight one. Our offense is not nearly as effective as last game, but we're able to move the ball some. Pittsburgh plays good defense on us though, and has an effective pass rush, and they manage to get some key sacks and pressure to keep us even out of field goal range most of the game.

They go up 7-0 first, after we fumble it away on a sack by Josephson. They only need to go 12 yards to score, and do. Their next possession, Wayne Collins hits a couple good passes, and a long bomb to get them in field goal range, where we hold them, but they go up 10-0. We continue to make some progress on our drives, but not enough. We end up scoring though on a 72 yard punt return, to make it 10-7. We fumble on our next possession though, and it is half time before we are able to do anything else.

Our first drive of the second half is a good one, keyed by a long run by Vanaqs into their redzone. We end up scoring on a pass to the fullback Shepherd, and now are up 14-10. We then manage to hold on to that lead for a series of 10 punts between the two teams. Our defense is stiff, but our offense is anemic, relying perhaps too much on the pass and getting rushed. Quick possessions means we're not eating up the clock as much as we should, and they eventually construct a long drive in the fourth quarter. The key play of the drive is a 3rd and 12 where they manage to run for 15 yards. The wind goes out of our sails there, and we give up a 25 yard run soon, as well as a killer unnecessary roughness penalty. We not only let them drive into the redzone, but don't hold them to a field goal, and they go up 17-14 with five minutes left.

Plenty of time to do something, but instead we go three and out, getting tackled short of the first down on third down. We subsequently give up a key first down that enables them to run the clock down, and the Omaha fans sit stunned and quiet as we lose the conference championship.

Pittsburgh Steelers 17, Omaha Tornadoes 14

Oh, and Pittsburgh goes ahead to win the Superbowl against the Detroit Wheels, behind off-the-street QB Wayne Collins.

aran · 01-31-2008, 09:23 PM

This is really cool. I'd love to play a league like this. Do you have the universe files for this league for when you started it?

Uncle Chop Chop · 02-01-2008, 06:02 AM

Great read, keep it up. Really looking forward to the off season.

Autumn · 02-01-2008, 09:04 AM

Thanks for the comments. I don't think I did save the universe files, which is too bad. Basically all I did for the players though is create a player file with one low rated rookie, and then the game auto generates the rest of the league.

Autumn · 02-01-2008, 10:00 AM

I haven't ended the season and seen my performance review yet, but I am very pleased with how things went. I was not really setting my sights on a division win or conference championship just yet, as I didn't think I necessarily had the star material. I think this season showed the result of having a pretty good team all around, without any stars.

The defense played very well all year, I thought. They weren't gaudy, but if you look at the bottom of the chart they had things that matter most to me: points allowed, 3rd down conversions, pass rush and pass defense and turnovers. When we had a lead we played great, and I think our weak pass defense numbers partly had to do with teams airing it out against us.

Our whole defensive line was impressive, and I will try to bring them all back, generating a very decent pass rush by themselves. Our linebacking corps also played great. I mentioned several times during the season how pleased I was with MLB Martinez who is just a playmaker. SLB Minter was a big surprise too, making great tackles, and near the top of hte league in pass defense and interceptions! He not only was in the top 10 in pass defense percent, he was the only linebacker on the screen! Very odd, but I'll take it. His partner at WLB, Torres, had a small role but was seen making some clutch plays during the year. I'll have to look at him more closely.

The secondary was the weakest segment of the defense, I'd say, but still did a decent job. I've always had a hard time teasing apart who's performing well in the secondary, but I don't see any glaring weaknesses here.

On offense, the center of this team was going to be the running attack behind Vanaqs and Rosario. That experiment didn't really work as well as expected, though it looks decent on paper (in electrons?). The running game occasionally won us game, or gave us leads, so I can't complaint too much. But neither one of them could establish themselves as a clear starter, and so I ended up starting Vanaqs, whose poor endurance would result in them splitting carries. Both had good games, but they both have the same style of running, which normally resulted in lots of 1-3 yard gains, and an occasional 12-25 yard run. Not the kind of 4 yard average I want. We'll have to wait and see what happens here next year. If I can nab someone else, I would in a heartbeat.

It seems we had good production on the offensive line, though as spotty as you would expect a bunch of guys with these ratings to be. The first half of the season we were excellent at protecting the quarterback, but that seemed to fade. We'll bring a lot of these guys back though, as most have a good deal of future potential still to them.

Wide receiver was a bit of a carousel. Walsh showed flashes of brilliance, but then would disappear for games at a time. Conway was a dependable starter, and Schaefer filled in great for him after the injury. Banks was a decent 3rd or 4th man, but the rest of the crew was not deep enough. We got some great pass catching out of the tight ends, all three of them, and both Rosario and Shepherd made big plays coming out of the backfield to catch.

Quarterback will be an interesting one. Jochen gave the best performance at preseason, and I gave him the nod, deciding I would let him have the job 'til he lost it. He never did, playing decent if not brilliant all year, until his week 17 injury. Atkins of course had the biggest game of the year in the playoffs, and then played like a mortal, but decently, in his second game. Is that enough to make him the starter next year? Perhaps. I still suspect he's much better than he's rated.

Autumn · 02-13-2008, 10:51 PM

Season Wrapup

Since this league is a bit unusual, I think it's interesting to see how the stat leaders fare. Things so far haven't gone as I expected. With top rookies coming in this season for the first time, I expected some really blowout years by a few individuals. But it seemed we had even more parity than the year before. Besides that, some of the fellows performing at league leading levels are nothing rating wise.

Matt Case, he who kicked 22/24 field goals for the Boston Minutemen this year, going 8/10 from 40+ has an accuracy rating of 24. Ironically, the kicker who attempted the league leading 13 field goals from beyond 50 yards this year? Marty Long. Hah.

So, without further ado, here are the stat leaders for the year. Often just the top ten, except when I stretched a bit to include a Omaha player, and for quarterbacks.

Passing

Rushing

Receivers

Blocking

Tackles

Sacks

Interceptions

Pass Rush

Pass Defense

The league just frankly wasn't dominated by the most talented players, as I would have expected. This is probably due to a few factors, one being that they were all rookies, and therefore developing and prone to hot and cold games. The other is that there are no mentors yet and so development is slower. Third is that the game is clearly much more of a team game than I anticipated, and even these few greats can't do anything without a good crew around them.

Autumn · 02-13-2008, 11:22 PM

And lastly a look at the standings, power ratings and my performance. Obviously on the field we did much better, going from 8-8 and no playoffs to 11-5 and division champs. We turned a tidy profit too, from our increasing attendance and near invisible player salaries. We were second in the league in attendance to the Boston Minutemen, up 5,000 seats from last year. That enabled us to double our ticket revenue, while almost tripling our suite revenue. So, while costs went up 152%, revenue went up 97% and we made a tidy profit.

And season awards?

Player of the Year: Ron Fretty, strong safety for the Los Angeles Stars, a second round pick who had 5 interceptions and 115 tackles this year. No, I don't understand this one bit either.

Offensive Player of the Year: Denver running back Martin Guzowski who we met three times this season, and can attest he is good. Guzowski also nabbed offensive rookie of the year.

Defensive Player of the Year: Walter Antel, MLB for the Washington Generals. He racked up 117 tackles, six sacks, and four interceptions.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Monty Mason, strong safety for the PHiladlephia Privateers, who had a great PassD rating of 85.5 and 111 tackles. Why he wasn't defensive player of the year is beyond me as well.

And finally, Coach of the Year is our own J. R. Jenkins, the Tornadoes coach who came in here and took Omaha to the top of their division and nearly the Superbowl. Well recognized. Especially since Omaha had no players named to the All Star squad at all this year. I thought we had a couple contendesr, but we're busy looking at next year.

I'll try not to mention the 'legend of the game', cornerback Arnie Lipsky who started in two games in his entire career. And played poorly.

Autumn · 02-20-2008, 10:16 AM

The League Report
Your New Professional Football Periodical

Season Preview: Omaha Tornadoes

Offseason News

The watchword for the Tornadoes this offseason was: consistency. General Manager Ken Walden's team was at the top of their division last year and played for the conference championship, and all involved are looking for that ingredient that will put them over the top this year. But rather than shake things up or go out spending money on free agents, Walden has decided to stress two things, cohesion and development.

"I'm very happy with the starting roster we put out there on the field last season, and I was eager to bring that whole crew back," Walden told us in a private interview. "There is of course room for lots of improvement, but the players in this league are all young, and have a lot of potential still. I'd like to see that improvement come by developing the players we've already gone out and found."

That went for the coaching staff as well, who remained unchanged from last season. Of course a Coach of the Year trophy on the desk helps with job security, for J. R. Jenkins at least. Walden expressed confidence in his coordinators as well, though, saying that whatever glitches they had last season hopefully would disappear with experience.

Bringing back that same roster was not a simple act though. Like other teams around the league, the Tornadoes had signed their players last year to one year contracts, and that meant having to resign the whole team this year. This was a chance for a few formidable players to up their asking price. In the end Walden brought back his entire starting lineup, having to pay out big contracts though for linebackers Martinez and Minter, the core of the defense, and offensive linemen Dawkins and Morris. That meant big paydays and long contracts for these young stars, and hard decisions for GM Walden. "I did hesitate to offer those big contracts. This is a young league, and I wasn't sure it was time to tie ourselves down four five years like that. But in the end I knew that those guys were the core of our team, and I couldn't have them playing anywhere else but on our field."

So, for the Tornadoes key acquisitions this season have been from within their own ranks. Walden is hoping that this playoff-caliber roster will develop more this season, and play even better together with another year together under their belt.

Omaha used the late free agent market mostly to pick up backups for their starters, with the hopes that they may unearth some talent in the process. For the most part, backups is what they got. Two positions though look up for some challenge. Harry Fleming, a third year defensive end brought in to back up Darren Paz looks like he could give some real competition to Paz at that spot. We'll have to watch in the preseason to see who comes out of camp looking best.

Back there in the secondary, the most surprising battle of the preseason is at cornerback. 1921 first round draft pick Harvey Shepherd should have been a lock at left cornerback. However, sources are saying that Harvey has come into camp having lost a step, or more than one. Free agent pickup Roderick Bliss goes from being a possible nickel back to looking as if he might beat out the heralded Shepherd and take his job. Quite an opportunity for Bliss, but quite a blow for the Tornadoes franchise, who thought they had anchored down one defensive position long-term, with Shepherd a cornerback considered one of the best in the league.

QB Controversy

Of course there's one position we haven't talked about, but it's the one on the lips of all Tornadoes fans. Back this year are all three quarterbacks from last season, but that doesn't mean there isn't any shuffling going on. Ben Jochen would be considered by many a shoe-in, after last year's 11-5 run as starter, coming in with a quarterback rating in the top five in the league. However, everything changed in Week 17 when Jochen limped off the field with a pulled calf. Two weeks later Timothy Atkins, the 1921 3rd round pick, came on the field for his first start and led the Tornadoes to their first playoff win, breaking league passing records in the act. Though the team lost in the next round, fans have not forgotten Timothy, the man who ignited that offense and showed the league why the Tornadoes had grabbed the underrated rookie.

So, who starts this season? While the front office is quiet on the subject, it was Atkins who went to play in the summer league in Europe, and all experts agree that the Tornadoes are likely to put Atkins to the test this preseason, and probably favor him for the start. Atkins was unhappy last season riding the pine, and it seems likely the coaching staff will give him a chance to show them his stuff. If the experiment fails, they know they have a reliable backup in Ben Jochen. How content Jochen will be will be the next question for them to answer.

Draft Day

While the Tornadoes were lauded for their draft day selections last year, the results have remained unclear to this day. Rookies Atkins, Adrian Walsh, Grady Solwold and others have not yet proven their worth, while some like DE Sam Jennings seem to be outplaying their abilities.

This season, the Tornadoes were at it again, making a few unexpected picks, and crossing their fingers that these players can outperform their rankings. So far, it looks good for them.

Their first round pick was prized offensive guard Kim Covington. Picking at #28, the Tornadoes were happy to find the top-ranked guard in their lap, and all reports suggest he will be as good as advertised, which means he should be an all-pro in no time.

In the second round the Tornadoes surprised people by taking WLB Tyrell Ingram, a not highly ranked player who had good combines and had impressed the Tornadoes staff. Ingram will put some pressure on starting WLB Torres, who had a solid but unspectacular season. Ingram will have to show more than he has so far though to challenge the starter.

The Tornadoes went into the draft looking to improve at wide receiver, and while they didn't nab any of the top prospects, they did make two promising finds. Here in the third round they went for Willie Whipple, who showed some flashes in college but really performed at the combines. They were later thrilled to find their second prospect, Alonzo Sampson, still around all the way at the bottom of the 7th round. Sampson looks to be possibly the better of the two, and last year's rookie Adrian Walsh will have some stiff competition for 3rd receiver.

Another great find by Omaha was offensive tackle Norm McGregor. McGregor had skipped the combines, and so fell like a rock, but so far in training camp he looks like a very solid player who will fight out in a three way battle for the right tackle spot.

Fifth and sixth round picks Artie Hiscock and Arnie Ferrer seem to be the lone miscues of the scouting staff. Ferrer, a safety, has not shown a lot of promise in camp and is likely to ride the bench this season. Hiscock, a running back, has not shown any flash, but still has a good chance at playing. The back showed great receiving skills out of the backfield in college, and could find a role here doing the same. It remains yet to be seen if he can run here in the pros, but he'll get his chance in the preseason to unseat Rosario and Vanaqs, the running back tandem which has delighted and tormented fans with their up and down play.

Summary

Overall, the Tornadoes have not changed their roster much, focusing on a few key additions and developments. This method seems to have worked for them this season, a solid defense improving slightly, an offensive line that looks much stronger than last year, and some new prospects in the backfield. Most players were signed to at least a two year deal, so the Tornadoes should have a solid core to work from on into next season.

There are worrisome signs ahead, though. While players are improving all over the field, most of the roster is not looking so promising as they did at first blush, one or two years ago. The Tornadoes may find themselves hitting a development wall, possibly next season. With the slow development of young rookies in this league though, that may be a pain felt by all.

Moreover, it will be hard for the Tornadoes to rebound if CB Shepherd performs as badly as he has in camp, as they had made little effort to bolster that position. Most important of all though will be the performance they get from the QB position. Jochen was a solid, efficient but unremarkable presence behind center last season, and that got them 11 wins. We have yet to see if Atkins can perform on a regular basis. If so, and if he performs as sensationally as he did in the postseason, the Tornadoes could be a much improved team. If not, the team may drop back a step, particularly if they don't get any improved play out of the running game.

Autumn · 02-20-2008, 10:26 AM

To step out of character, this seemed to be a very talent heavy draft class. And people seemed to choose well. I'm thinking this may be the breakout season for this league, as I look through the first round of picks and see some very well developed, very scary looking players, particularly at DL and OL. These guys look like they'll easily be in the 70s or 80s, this year.

The first round went QB heavy, with at least five QBs going. Most seem pretty good already, particularly #1 pick Albert Humphrey who went to Birmingham.

After the draft I'm getting a lot of trade offers for Timothy Atkins, everybody offering a 6th round pick next year. I'm not sure what that means.

1922 Draft

1st pick - Albert Humphrey, QB, Birmingham

Mr. Irrelevant - Mike Batteson, DT, Pittsburgh

Omaha's Picks:

Kim Covington : 36/77 - 41/77 +0
Tyrell Ingram : 24/40 - 28/44 +4
Willie Whipple : 12/29 - 15/32 +3
Norm McGregor : 25/52 - 29/52 +0
Arnie Ferrer : 20/45 - 23/42 -3
Artie Hiscock : 32/46 - 35/44 -2
Alonzo Sampson : 14/34 - 20/41 +7

I'm quite pleased with this class, really. Post-training camp I had some mild increases in Timothy Atkins, Adrian Walsh and Sam Jennings. I had hoped for bigger jumps this year, but I think without any mentors in the league it may be hard to get those. Jennings has hit 32/32 and gone up to 34/34, so I think he will keep creeping for a while.

Of course the biggest story of camp was Harvey Shepherd. He went from 47/57 (already down from the 60s where he was originally drafted at) all the way to 28/37. Has anyone seen a bust like that? He dropped 19 points of Current! Totally unexpected, if I had known I of course would have shopped heavily for a corner. I may still look at some trades, but I don't know that I have any talent to ship off.

Izulde · 02-20-2008, 05:58 PM

Roger Taylor fell off a cliff in his 3rd season in my Dolphins dynasty, which shocked me and ruined my plans to have him be a fixture at RT for the next several years.

BTW, Covington looks like a terrific find for you there and Sampson looks like he could be a real steal, with that +6/+7 jump.

Autumn · 02-20-2008, 06:54 PM

Glad I'm not the only one. I thought I was prepared for some busts, but didn't expect so much to drop off the current rating on such a bust. Now I'm paranoid, who knows who's next!

Yeah, the more I look at it, that Sampson seems a super steal. He's already better than the 3rd rounder, plus the 3rd rounder I took last year. And if he keeps going up like that, who knows! I don't know how he fell to the 7th, but I'm glad I didn't bother taking him in the 3rd.

I hope Covington keeps on his current ratings. He was marked As Scouted, so I have some hope, and if so his ratings will be amazing. I think he's got a potential of 99 or something in pass blocking. I wasn't high enough to get a tackle with that sort of potential, but I'll take a guard

Izulde · 03-23-2008, 11:38 PM

Bumpity bump bump.

This means, update, sir!

Autumn · 03-24-2008, 11:43 AM

Thanks for the bump. I'm 9 games into the season, just need to get my writeup done. I was thinking of doing it today.

Autumn · 04-13-2008, 09:19 PM

Week 1

We start off on the road at division rivals Minneapolis, and we come out sharp, just as we did last year. With big runs and good passes, we're catching them offguard every play, and score on our first three possessions to make it 21-0. In the first three drives Atkins goes 10/11 and we rack up 126 yards rushing.

Minter also resumes last year's form, picking them off before the half, and we go into the locker room up 28-3 and in very good spirits. With that kind of lead our pass defense can go to work, and even though they cram our running game, and run well against us, they can't make any headway.

Game Notes:

Vanaqs had 114 yards rushing, with Rosario throwing in 52 more. Atkins was a very efficient 16/20 for 174 yards. Broderick Morris went 6 of 10 on run blocking, with first round rookie throwing in a 4 of 10 performance himself. Jennings and Fleming dominated at defensive ends, with cornerback Harvey Shepherd being the big worry. Even at nickel back he gave up 6 catches, and may have to disappear even further.

Omaha Tornadoes 34, Minneapolis Lakers 20.

Week 2

Birmingham has the draft's top pick, Albert Humphrey, but in his first game he looked awful, throwing four picks. We hope to see more of the same. We also hope to produce more of the same on our side of the field.

Sampson shows why he was the possible steal of the draft, picking up a big third down pass on the first drive, and then later a 44 yard bomb on the same drive. We score. On Humphrey's first pass of the game he actually manages to get an illegal forward pass penalty. Bad for them. but good for us, as on our next drive it's Vanaq who busts out a 38 yard run. He scores to make it 14-0 but our jubilation is short lived as Birmingham returns the kick off 92 yards for seven points. The big plays continue though as Sampson makes a third down catch, and Rosario makes the most of it taking the ball 47 yards for a touchdown, sprung by Covington.

We score again on the next drive, and it's 28-7 going into the second quarter. Atkins is 15/16 so far, and we have 132 yards rushing, much like the first game although our game plan is quite different. Things start going south though as we give up a touchdown on their next possession, and then get stuffed in turn, fumbling the ball away in the redzone. We manage to drive for a field goal before the half on some more clutch plays by Sampson, who is looking like a real star so far.

our first drive of the 2nd, it's Rosario with the big play, rushing for 33 yards. Atkins marches us right in for the score, and he's now 24/27 passing. We give them a touchdown drive with three big penalties, and they make it 38-24 at the end of the third. We punt and then they make it a game, with their star TE, Al Strader, breaking a tackle to make a 54 yard touchdown scramble.

This time we benefit from three penalties to make it down the field, but only come away with a field goal and a 10 point lead. Atkins passing game is looking very familiar to Birmingham now, and it's not looking so hot. That's enough though, as we manage to run some our next possession and they're not able to hurl it down the field good enough. We win our first home game, and look good yet again.

Game Notes:

Atkins has another great game, this time going 29/42 for 285 yards and a TD. The running game was hot, with both Vanaqs and Rosario having 100 yard games, with 2 TDs each. Sampson was the star receiver, with 8 catches for 111 yards on 12 targets, and 5 for 5 on third down catches. Dawkins had another good day at center, going 4 for 8 on blocking. We set a league record for total yards in this game, with 482!

Not much of a pass rush this game, which was the difference in giving up those points. And this time new nickel back Farr gave up 6 catches, so maybe it's just a result of being so far ahead, not the players. Still, I'm disappointed in my defense.

Birmingham Rebels 31, Omaha Tornadoes 41

Week 3

Though the Seattle Destroyers still have Junior Shepherd, one of the best backs in the game, they're starting a 6th round draft pick at quarterback, and he is not performing well this season. Their defense is held up by two first round picks, Josh Nixon at end, and Blaine Ward at MLB.

Timothy Atkins shows why we love him and hate him, in this game. He makes great plays, scrambling twice on the first possession, the second one for a big touchdown. However, our next possession he throws a pick on a screen pass that gets run back for a score. Two possessions later he gets sacked and fumbles the ball away. In the fourth quarter Atkins throws another pick that ends up putting us down 21-10. The rest of the game just sees them scoring again, and us going down on the wrong end of a blowout.

Game Notes:

Atkins didn't shine, but my rookie receiver Sampson continued to make big third down catches, showing me he's the real deal (unlike Conway who always makes 3rd down catches nowhere near the markers). Rookie RB Hiscock makes a couple nice runs too. However our passing game stinks, and no pass rush on defense. Looks like a bad game plan.

Omaha Tornadoes 10, Seattle Destroyers 28

Week 4

The San Antonio Defenders notably have a very good all around defense. Their offense is good enough to score first on some big plays, going up 7-0. Our offense looks good, with Atkins hitting Walsh and Banks for big plays, and getting a big run as well. But Atkins plays bad cop, fumbling on a sack and giving the ball away. This could be his doom despite his promise.

Their quarterback makes a huge play, escaping the clasp of DL Huie, and running for 16 yards. They go up 14-0, and it ends up 17-3 at the half. Atkins comes out firing in the second, but not in a good way, throwing a pick on a long heave downfield. Later on he ruins our best chance of scoring by fumbling on a sack. To add to the misery they return the fumble all the way, making it 24-3. That ends up being the final score.

Omaha Tornadoes 3, San Antonio Defenders 24

Week 5

I've done what fixes I can to the gameplan, but this may be Atkins's swan song. If he can't produce--and not fumble--today I'm going to throw Jochen back in his spot.

We trade punts for a while, with Sampson grabbing good passes, but Atkins getting sacked. He fumbles on another sack, but they don't capitalize. He then tries to make good in my eyes, throwing a long pass to Schaeffer, who grabs it and breaks free for a 70 yard touchdown. Soon after nickel back Farr intercepts a pass and runs it back all the way, and we're up 14-3.

Atkins goes bad cop again, fumbling away another possession. We end up holding them, and even going up 17-3 on another interception, but it's playing with fire having a guy back there with such slippery fingers. Rookie WLB Ingram, recently worked into the lineup, shows his stuff by picking up two interceptions before the half, keeping us well ahead. Atkins shows his stuff by fumbling again.

Atkins keeps fumbling in the second half, although I must admit he makes some big plays too like a third down scramble for the first. Vanaqs breaks open a 61 yard screen pass, and Hiscock runs in a touchdown on 3rd and 8. Our D is so stiff today they don't have a chance. Two more interceptions ice the game for us.

Game Notes:

We got sacked 7 times, with Atkins fumbling it 4 times(though only losing two). We made up for it though with 7 sacks of our own, and most importantly 6 interceptions. I think if Jochen can play better than Atkins we're in good shape going forward, as this win came without even a passing game really.

Sam Jennings was player of the game, with 3 sacks and 2 hurries. Huie continued his dominant play this year at tackle, with 1.5 sacks, a block, a hurry and a knockdown, as well as three tackles and an assist.

Houston Oilers 9, Omaha Tornadoes 30

Week 6

The game starts out ominously with Dallas breaking 25 yard run. They march right down the field for a score, 7-0. Jochen comes out trying to look like Atkins with the long bomb, and we're 3 and out. Our defense is not looking sharp, but we hold them at the 2 yard line with a key sack by Huie and it's 10-0. However, we're 3 and out again, with Jochen trying to have it yet again. We get the ball back, but it's more of the same, heave ho, heave ho. It's awful, and Jochen ends up throwing a pick. The D stiffens up and holds them to a field goal and i'ts 13-0.

We get a little action finally on a Rosario screen pass for 14. Conway makes a 24 yard catch and then an 8, but Jochen's already been sacked three times. The O Line is going to be the next overhaul it seems.
Things are looking bad as Dallas marches down the field, ready to make it 20-0. but Bliss gets an interception to get us out of it.

It's 13-0 to start the second half, and it's not getting better. Van Rankinen, the rookie wide receiver for the Rangers is eating us up. We hold them to a field goal, and make some movement on offense, with three big passes. Jochen scrambles for a first at the 9 yard line, and then a screen to Hiscock gets us the touchdown. Now we've got a game at 16-7.

It's three and out for Dallas, and then we march into their side of the field two two long passes to Banks. They hold ust to a field goal, but then it's three and out for them, and Vanaqs rumbles for 11 yards to start us off. I must admit that Jochen fumbles on a sack, but he recovers it himself to keep us alive. We end up punting though, in a series of traded punts. Their pass D comes alive and Jochen starts heaving again, and we're three and out. They're running out the clock on us, even with these three and outs. They miss a long field goal to give it to us at our own 40, with 2:14 left and down by 6. Here's Jochen's test.

He immediately throws an interception. We give up a 14 yard pass on 3rd and 10 and it's all over for us.

Game Notes:

Our problem today seemed to be gameplanning, as we only ran 11 times versus 41 pass plays. Not at all what I want with Jochen in the lineup. He passed fairly well, but did throw two picks, so he wasn't the improvement I had hoped for. Huie had another big day at tackle with 6 tackles, 3 assists, a sack and a hurry. Otherwise, not much to talk about.

Omaha Tornadoes 10, Dallas Rangers 16

Week 7

Somehow I lost my notes for these next three games, so here's the scores and a very brief summary from the box score.

They say it doesn't matter how you win them, right? That's good because in this case we won despite Jochen passing for 88 yards, while scoring 14 of our points off of fumble returns. I'd feel bad, except Oklahoma scored 7 of theirs the same way, getting an 83 yard return in the fourth quarter to make it look close.

Omaha Tornadoes 24, Oklahoma City Outlaws 22

Week 8

These guys just embarrass us at home, going up early and tacking it on late with an interception return AND a fumble return for touchdowns. Guzowski ran all over us for 176 yards, including a 66 yarder. Hiscock took the main running job for us today, and did adequately with 65 yards on 4.33 running. Not much of a passing game, and Jochen fumbled it twice.

Denver Mountaineers 45, Omaha Tornadoes 20

Week 9

We get a needed win at home over a division rival, to get us to 5-4 and on top of the division, just barely. Not much in the running game, though rookie Hiscock does score twice. Atkins takes over the starting nod again after the embarrassment against Denver. He goes 21/32 for 171 yards and one interception, but most importantly no fumbles. Samson hauls in 6 of 8 passes for 80 yards as well. It's Jennings who gets player of the game though with 2 sacks and a hurry, and 5 tackles. Fleming helps out with 4 hurries. The game isn't nearly as close as it seems, with the Lakers scoring on a long interception return towards the end.

Minneapolis Lakers 10, Omaha Tornadoes 20

Autumn · 05-22-2008, 11:51 PM

Week 10

Kansas City comes to town, looking to take top spot in the division if they win. We're banged up in the secondary, and looking forward to our bye week next week. Atkins is banged up and so I'm going to start Jochen, keep Hiscock as starting back, and see how it goes.

Things start poorly with a fumble by Jochen nearly lost, and then a screen pass intercepted. They end up scoring, with defensive end Darren Paz injured to rub salt in the wound. Or so I thought. The real salt was when we are forced to punt our next possession and the punt is blocked in the endzone for a touchdown, putting them up 14-0 only six minutes into the game.

Ingram makes a couple of clutch plays, making me glad he's in there. Jochen makes some plays toward the end of the second half, but ruins it by going into two minute heave-ho land and we punt. They somehow miraculously pull out a two minute drill that gives them a field goal, and a score of 20-3.

In the second half Jochen puts together two good drives to make it 20-13 in the fourth quarter. We stall on one good drive, but get it back with 6 minutes left. Vanaqs opens us up with a 15 yard run. Conway follows up with a 16 yard catch. Sampson follows up two plays later with a 16 yard catch of his own. However, we get stuffed on a run, make a short catch, a penalty, and then drop a screen pass on third down. The coach goes for the field goal, making it 20-16 with two and a half left. Then we kick deep. Obviously that is not a good idea, I have to check those settings. They run the clock out.

Kansas City Cowboys 20, Omaha Tornadoes 16

Bye Week

Last week I lost tackle Norm McGregor to knee surgery, for this year and most of next year. I really hate when that happens. Otherwise people are getting better.

Week 12

Atkins is back to full strength and starting against the Jazz in New Orleans. Hiscock gets bumped down to third back to put Rosario and Vanaqs back in the start.

They score first on a 58 yard bomb. On our turn, Schaefer makes a big plays getting 20 yards after the catch to spark our first threat. We move on offense, but stall and settle for a field goal. Meanwhile we continue giving up big plays on defense.

We finally score, after Sampson gets 15 yards after the catch to get us to the 8 yard line. Two plays later Shaeffer hauls in the touchdown catch. A couple of big sacks gets us the ball back with three minutes in the first half. We play it safe running, and manage to get some big gains, except that Vanaqs fumbles it. They instantly throw a 32 yard pass and have it at the 7 with two minutes left. Two stuffed runs and a hurry later and they kick it, making it 13-10 with a minute left. Atkins tries to save the day by throwing a couple bombs and gets intercepted, giving them another chance, this time from the 19. They "surprise" us with a bomb and get the touchdown, going in up 20-10 at the half. That's pretty much the game as we fail at playing catch up the rest of the game.

They march down the field in the second, going up 27-10. When we get the ball, their defense is all over us now, and manage to knock the ball loose from Atkins on a sack. We make what should have been a good stop, but get called for pass interference in the endzone. We show some chutzpah by holding them at the 1 though, and they screw up the kick.

Next possession Vanaqs fumbles it again, effectively giving the damn game away even though we've got a quarter left. Atkins tries to fumble it away next time but we recover. Rosario makes a play, rushing for 14 yards. That sparks a drive that gets us rushing all the way to the endzone, making it a 34-16 game. Our offense stalls after this though. We aren't getting the big plays on offense or defense that we need.

I swear, Atkins fumbles every single time he gets sacked. Is that even possible? He gives it away again, ruining any chance of catching up. Schaefer catches a nice 44 yard pass on our last ditch effort, but soon Atkins throws a pick and it's over.

Game Notes:

It was a good running day, Vanaqs going 20 for 92 yards with a long gain of 12, lots of consistent good runs. Rosario throws in another 29 yards. Atkins did not play well though, trying too much longballs. At least we were throwing down the field. Schaefer made the big plays, hauling in 4 catches for 92 yards.

Martinez was the man on defense, making 8 tackles, most of them stopping drives. DT Caillouet had a huge day, getting three sacks and a hurry from the interior.

Unfortunately another loss drops us to 5-6, and third in our division. This season is rapidly slipping away from us. I'm unsure what to do. QB has still not settled out. I'm tempted to bring in the third stringer just to see if something happens. Atkins makes plays, where Jochen doesn't. But he also fumbles every time someone pokes him. At this point we're still in the race for our division but down by two games. I decide to put in Jochen, hoping that with my other game plan adjustments he'll open the game up a bit now.

Omaha Tornadoes 16, New Orleans Jazz 37

Week 13

We finally see a big play, as Bliss comes out with a fumble as Indy was driving on us. We get a couple good runs, but amazingly Sampson falls 1 yard short on third down. On their 39 yard though, we go for it on 4th and 1, Hiscock getting stuffed.

The Racers receiver, Stortz, is torching us so far, saving their bacon with big catches on third down. This time the Racers go for it on 4th and 1, and they make it. They capitalize with a quick touchdown.

Jochen continues his tradition of passing to the backs. I got the RB out of that but now he just passes to the fullback. It's a real bad habit, that leads to punts. We get a break though with an interception of Stanberry. Rosario runs for 9 yards, Hergett pulls in a 12 yard pass, and then Hiscock punches it in from the two to make it 7-7.

Another big play as Fleming sacks Stanberry and knocks the ball loose for Minter to recover. We're at their 11 now. We push it to 4th and 1 at the two. We play it safe and kick it for a 10-7 lead.

Stortz shows us how foolish we are by taking the very next play 62 yards for a touchdown. However we start a drive of our own, mixing runs and good passes, Sampson pulling in three big passes before Conway hauls in the touchdown pass.

The pressure is on as Stanton intercepts Stanberry, and gives us another short field. Schaefer breaks a screen pass for a 24 yard gain to get us to the 10 yard line. Reed catches a 7 yarder, and Conway catches another touchdown pass, making it 24-14.

The Racers come out running, and move, getting far enough to kick a 54 yarder before the half runs out. 24-17.

We come out running to great success, but Vanaqs goes down on the drive. That stalls us and we end up punting. A big sack by Huie ends their drive, but our offense is flat and punts again. They enjoy the short field and drive for a touchdown, tying up the game.

We stall on our drive, but manage to drop the punt at the 4 yard line. Our pass defense stiffens up, and they punt. Burton, my punt return specialist, earns his paycheck for the year by returning the punt 69 yards for a touchdown and the go-ahead score. We trade punts, but we foolishly don't take the chance to run down the clock, instead passing, getting sacked and giving them a short field. We manage to stop them at our 41, and they go for it on 4th down with three minutes left. it's incomplete and we get it back, with Hiscock making a big set of runs giving us a first down, and then repeats it with Rosario. That gives us the win.

Game Notes:

Vanaqs injury is going to keep him out until next season they tell me. Which is bad news in that my other two running backs didn't play well this week. Jochen did excellent, 17/24 for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Dale Farr had a great game, with three defensed passes. Covington did as well, with 5/7 blocking. Rookie WLB Ingram had an interception.

Indianapolis Racers 24, Omaha Tornadoes 31

Week 14

This is a must win against the Memphis Showboats. Vanaqs is out for the season but early in the game Rosario looks good, and Jochen makes the key throws. Shepherd makes a big third down catch to get to the 9 yard line, and we get to the one, but end up kicking it to go up 3-0.

We trade punts for a bit, Jochen making good use of the tight ends as safety valves, but having some problems hitting the receivers down the field. Our defense is laying fairly tightly though. Hiscock makes some good runs, and catches, and Sampson comes up with a longer grab to get us back into the red zone. We end up kicking again, to go up 6-0.

We stop them again, and our next possession Rosario and Hiscock both come up with long runs, and then some passing, including a 37 yarder to Sampson, gets us in the red zone again. With 35 seconds in the half we run it a few times to milk the clock, but Rosario gets two key blocks and runs it 10 yards for the TD. We're up 13-0 at the half.

We trade punts in the third, but Schaefer breaks free for 29 yards after the catch and puts us in good position. We are alternating well between the run game and pass, catching them off guard. We're in scoring position when Jochen throws an interception at the 11 yard line.

We return the favor though, intercepting Memphis and running it back to the 9 yard line. Luke Welch is the man, a late season signing. They stuff two run plays but then Sampson hauls in a 7 yard pass to make it 20-0 at the end of the third.

The game starts to get away from the Showboats completely when they fumble on special teams, and Chism returns it 74 yards for the score, and a 27-0 lead.

Now that they're passing like crazy they make some plays, and get to our five yard line, and eventually the one. They kick it though, settling for a 27-3 non shutout.

We run some time out with runs, punt it 66 yards, and then make them lose six yards on the return. That's good stay-head defense I'd say. They go four and out, and we get it there at the 13 yard line. We end up kicking for a 30-3 lead at the two minute warning, and coast to a comfortable win at home.

Game Notes:

Jochen has a very nice looking 20-27 for 219 yards game line, 1 TD and 1 interception. Our win puts us at 7-6, right in the wild card hunt at least. Schaefer stunk the joint up going 1 for 5 on receiving, I think I'll bump him down for next week.

Memphis Showboats 3, Omaha Tornadoes 30

Week 15

In Denver for our next game, our once rivals are now 4-9 while we're hoping to claw back up to division leader. We stick with the same game plan and just hope to come and out play them.

They come out throwing, working us over good, especially CB Dale Farr. We force them to punt but they pick off Jochen and have a good chance again. They catch us in pass defense and Guzkowski runs it in from 12 yards out to go up 7-0. We drive but get held up at 3rd and 1, making the kick to reach 7-3.

They continue to work the passing game, and drive right to our 1 yard line, where Coles scrambles and runs it in to go up 14-3.

We trade punts for the rest of the half, with Jochen attempting to rally us for a two minute drive. We manage to get to midfield, but that's it.

We come out working it hard in the second half, even going for it on fourth at midfield, but come up short. Luckily we hold them, and then they miss the field goal, giving us a new chance. We drive effectively, getting to first down on the six. Rosario catches the pass in the endzone, and we're now down only 14-10.

We trade punts again for a while. A big play comes when Bliss intercepts Coles and brings it to their 39, with 10 minutes in the fourth. We are forced to punt but pin them at the two. Three and out and another good punt return by Burton and we have a chance again. The defense is seeming very familiar with all our antics, and we have given up on the running game. Not good. We punt again but it gets blocked and now they have it at mid field. They end up hitting a field goal to make it 17-10 with two minutes left. They quickly shut us down as Jochen comes out hurling, intercepting it on fourth down to rub it in.

Game Notes:

That's a tough loss, dropping us to 7-7, while Kansas City climbs to 10-4 on top of our division. As usual we don't play well from behind, Jochen isn't a good enough quarterback for that. Just not a good game day, or stat day for anyone.

Omaha Tornadoes 10, Denver Mountaineers 17

Week 16

We're off to Atlanta, an interconference game, with the 6-8 Bootleggers. We're actually still in the wild card race if we can get some wins.

We come out rushing, getting to the 12 yard line on big runs by Rosario, Hiscock and Jochen. Hiscock drops a pass on 2nd and 9, and then Jochen gets pressured and we settle for the field goal. 3-0.

We stop them and come back running again, Hiscock busting one for 23 yards. Atlanta seems sure we're going to come out throwing every down. We even get a first down on a reverse on third and three. That's followed by Rosario for 12 yards. Sampson catches one in double coverage and it looks like we've got something going today. Unfortunately we get two yards on 3rd and 3 and then miss the field goal.

Burton makes another nice punt return, cementing his position on the team for next year. We resume our running ways, Rosario going for two 14 yard runs in a row. When they finally start defending it we hit a pass. Rosario has 73 yards rushing only three minutes into the second quarter. We drive to the one yard line, where Hiscock loses a yard, gains it back, loses a yard on a screen pass, and we kick it on 4th down. Ugh. 6-0.

In the third, Hiscock fumbles at midfield, and they take advantage, driving into the redzone. Flowers catches the TD pass and we're now down 7-6.

We trade punts for a while until Jochen throws one too many passes to Sampson, and gets picked off. There's a definite problem with the passing game there. With a short field, we hold the Bootleggers to a field goal and a 10-6 lead at the end of the third.

To show you our problem, down by 4 with a quarter to play, Jochen comes out and throws three consecutive LONG passes to Sampson. All three are incomplete, and in fact the last one is intercepted and run back to our five yard line. Flowers follows up with another short touchdown catch.

Jochen follows up again with a series of long bombs. This is not good coaching. Atlanta is now trying to milk the clock with a 17-6 lead. For some reason we're expecting passes.

They pick up a first down on a penalty on the punt at one point and end up kicking a field goal to make it 20-6 and put it away.

Atkins comes in for the two minute warning and makes some things happen, actually, but runs out of time.

Game Notes: We obviously have some gameplanning issues, since we don't want Jochen airing it out quite so much. Our start was good, maybe time to go back to a smash mouth offensive game plan. Mostly, frankly, I'm looking forward already to next year and upgrading talent. With this loss we're out of the wild card race, and looking to be sitting at home this year. The Rust Belt division is at a 3 way tie for division lead, so it should be an interesting last week, for them at least. Kansas City has our division sewn up. In the AFC the Deep South division has a three way tie at 7-8 for division lead. Ugh.

Omaha Tornadoes 6, Atlanta Bootleggers 23

Week 17

We're playing for honor now, our third game on the road in a row, we're here to take out the division champs. These guys look to have a solid defense, but I'm throwing Atkins at them. Let's see what happens.

They come out racing on offense, but we intercept them on a third down screen pass and stop them cold. We can't get anywhere, but are plenty close to kick the field goal for a 3-0 lead. We drive into their territory, but get driven back by a penalty and end up punting. Next Vernon Mersky busts through the line for a 51 yard run against us. We hold them but they go for it on 4th and 1 and make it. Next thing we know they're in the red zone and score on a 14 yard pass, to make it 7-3.

Somehow we fumble the kickoff return and they get it right back and run it in, to make it 14-3 quickly.

We get going on offense, including a nice 22 yard catch by Sampson. Atkins is looking accurate and we drive into the red zone. They hold us there though, and we make it 14-6.

Hiscock gets seriously hurt during the two minute drill and we end up punting. KC gets on our side of the field, into field goal range and makes it to go up 17-6 into the locker room.

We come out in the third quarter with a nice drive, Atkins still looking acurrate, and Rosario punishing them on the ground. We get 1st and goal at the nine, and Simpson catches the TD pass. Now it's 17-13.

A big third down stop gets us the ball back, and Schaefer immediately makes them pay with a 20 yard catch. Chism chimes in with 18 yards on the ground on consecutive carries. Atkins gets them to the five yard line, and Rosario runs it in, putting us up 20-17.

Ingram stops them on third down, and we get it back. Penalties back us up to our own seven though, and then even further to the four. We end up punting it. Cowboy receiver Hanks makes some key catches to get them in a threatening position, but we stop them on third. They kick the field goal to tie it at 20.

We come out running but turn the ball over, giving them prime scoring position. We stuff them at the 1 yard line, but they kick the field goal to go ahead 23-20.

We go 3 and out when we really need it, forcing us to start using time outs. Atkins makes an attempt at a two minute drill but there's no chance, they run out time and end the game on a sack.

Omaha Tornadoes 20, Kansas City Cowboys 23

Game Notes: This was a real ball breaker, a game we had in our hands but gave away. The only saving grace, it wasn't Atkins who had the fatal fumble, but Rosario. If Atkins had been the one I would have traded the boy away. As it is he had a great game, going 19 of 27 for 180 yards, almost all those incompletions coming at the very end. Fullback Chism filled in well when Hiscock was injured at running back, going 5 carries for 26 yards.

Playoff notes:

Kansas City obviously won our division, 11-5, with us at 7-9 coming in second. San Antonio were clear bests in our conference, at 14-2. Indianapolis meanwhile ended up clinching the Rust Belt at 10-6, their entire division going 9-7 behind them. Lastly, the Portland Eruption won the West Coast. There were five teams tied at 9-7 to vie for the wild cards, the lucky spots going to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Eagles, both from the Rust Belt division.

In the AFC, the Detroit Wheels claim the best record at 12-4, and the Great Lakes Division. Right behind them and in the wild card slot though are the Buffalo Blizzard. In the Midatlantic the Washington Generals are at 11-5, followed by the Richmond Cavaliers. Limping into the playoffs are the 8-8 Atlanta Bootleggers, while the 9-7 New York Yankees won the Colonial division.

Tornadoes end of the year wrap up:

This was a disappointing season, falling back to 7-9 after a division winning season last year. I think my strategy of holding onto a lot of players didn't pay off, as it seemed our talent slipped behind the rest of the league. Our biggest problem, lack of talent at quarterback, I think. Atkins shows it, but has been dodgy with all his fumbles. This year we didn't excel in anything statistically, coming off as completely average, except that we gave up 22 points a game, close to highest in the league.

In terms of player development I see two good signs. OLB Joseph Minter has "maxed out" and yet gone up three points in potential during the season. The same with S Perrin, who had a great year also. Those look like definite keepers, who I already have signed long-term. Others seem to be developing their current rating as hoped.

To come later: league wrapup and the playoff reports.

Autumn · 05-24-2008, 08:06 PM

1922 Team Summary

1922 League Standings

Stat leaders for 1922

Passing

Rushing

Receiving

Blocking

Tackles

Sacks

Interceptions

Pass Defense

Autumn · 05-24-2008, 08:24 PM

League Highlights

Bryant Bentsen set a league record for both touchdown passes and quarterback rating, having a great year leading San Antonio to the best record in the league. Meanwhile, Richard Flowers set the record for yardage playing for Richmond.

Leo Blackner wins the rushing title this season, setting a record for all purpose yards in the process. Also of note is Rex Money, undrafted running back for the Washington Generals who broke 1000 yards, and had the best average in the top 20, while never starting a game all year.

The league has its first 1,000 yard receiver, three of them in fact, as the passing game slowly inches forward. The rushing game seemed to stay about the same this season.

Otis Davison, a rookie for Pittsburgh, has the most tackles in the league, beating out the #1 pick in 1921, Travis Harvey, by one tackle. Meanwhile Darryl Briceland improves upon his rookie season, tearing off 19.5 sacks this year, 23 hurries and 16 knockdowns. Rookie Ronnie Newhart, pick #4, is right behind him with 17.5. There's still room for the guys out of nowhere though, as third in the list is Kris Dawkins, an undrafted 3 year veteran.

Journeyman Vince Terrell and 2nd year man Tito Monroe tie the tops with 10 interceptions apiece. The tops of the league in pass defense are mostly undrafted journeyman in fact, Terrell for instance only rated 30/35.

Second year, first round pick, Bernard Cortez takes the run blocking cake for the Showboats. This is the only category my guys make a good showing in, with Cassani and Morris having great block percentages in particular.

Izulde · 05-24-2008, 09:16 PM

Your defense looks in semi-respectable shape, what with Perrin, Bliss, Huie and Jennings posting decent #s just from a real quick scan of those stats.

I'd work on beefing up your offense, myself. But that's just me.

12-15-2007, 11:56 PM	#9
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Offseason 1921 To wrap up 1920, the first year in the AFPL, let's look at league honors. San Francisco came away with the Front Office Bowl with Front Office Bowl MVP, Frankie Young, QB. But they also took Player of the Year with Kent Dunn, their WLB who led the league in sacks with 20.5. Obviously a league of rookies didn't hurt the sack totals. This guy is rated 15/32 and came out MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year. On offense, Ike Hamilton ran away with the award, as clearly the best quarterback of the bunch. Despite being rated 11/22, he had a QB rating of 91.5, when the next highest was 77.3. He led in yardage by 500 yards, and had 22 TD passes when the next highest was 15. Meanwhile only one QB, Minneapolis's Glen Miller threw less interceptions. Unbelievable. Also of mention when looking at the QB stats, is there was only one 300+ yard game this whole season. As for my team, I had one fellow make the All-League team, my middle linebacker, Rodney Sage. He grabbed a first team spot, despite being rated 13/23, by throwing down 115 tackles, 4.5 sacks and 3 interceptions. Funniest thing of the year? Legend of the game ... obviously difficult to call in a one year old league. But they choose Scott Quinn, RT, who played a grand total of 3 games before being placed on injured reserve with a serious head injury. It was a great career, lol. My team's performance this year? 39. It's not something I'm worrying about, I did basically nothing active this season. This offseason will be the first chance to start putting my stamp on the team. Given that the draft will probably consist of 7 rounds of people better than anyone on my roster, I should be able to make some inroads. Staff Hiring In the staff hiring phase I get a chance to look things over. I like my head coach, who's signed for two years. He's got Very Good in young talent and motivation, which are things I like to see, as well as injury avoidance and defensive playcalling. His Offensive and Discipline are Good. Similarly my offensive coordinator goes from Good to Excellent in the categories I care about, so I'd like to keep him. My defensive coordinator basically stinks, and my scout is so-so. I make a grab on the only better scout out there, in my opinion. I grab a defensive coordinator too, although I make a snafu and hire Grady Chapman, who was the Steelers head coach last year. He is good, but after more examination I see that I should have grabbed the Buffalo ex-head coach, who had better ratings, but was snatched up by the Oilers. Free Agency Free agency should be a zany blast, since nobody has anyone on their rosters after last season, and so everyone has their entire 15 million cap open. Nobody's still very good, so I don't plan on spending much. First I go through and resign 23 of last year's players. I'm sure hoping I don't have to play them all, but at the moment there's not much better out there on the free agent market. It seems a lot of players are restricted free agents and aren't going to show up until later. I figure I can always cut people, since everybody's signing for a very minimum salary. I sign those who looked all right last year, such as Rodney Sage, and some who the computer didn't play but have promising green bars. Some are just sentimental favorites, like my safety Sammy Midget (he's 5'9" by the way). Free agency is almost embarrassing, to have to vie with other teams over such crappy players, but I slug through it. It turns out that the other teams don't do much in this stage, each only signing a handful of players while I'm trying to fill up my roster. They're apparently expecting better prospects after the draft in late free agency. I don't want to gamble that, so I go ahead and sign 22 more players. With my draft picks I'll be able to field a squad. If there's a lot better available later I'll have to release and sign, but since almost everybody signs for a $60,000 salary, it's no big deal. I spend a little bit more on my cornerbacks, who think they deserve $80,000. And I spend a whopping $90,000 on a running back who actually could turn out good I think. The Draft In the draft I've found a fair number of good looking underrated players I'm hoping to key on. Some should be real sleepers. I'm surprised by the variety of positions taken in the first round though, two safeties already going in the first six picks, so I'm thinking I can't count on certain positions slipping to later rounds. I hope to go for the best TE in the draft, even though that's not a position I was targeting. He's got the highest combine numbers deviation of the draft, he's rated a 7.2 unadjusted and my scout thinks he's underrated. Sounds like he'll be a star, and I figure in this league even a TE should be able to eat the opposition up. That plan goes out the window before we get to me at #16 though. Here's the picks so far: 1. Los Angeles - Harvey, Travis, ILB, Texas 2. Indianapolis - Stanberry, Harris, QB, Arizona State 3. New York - Hastings, Hardy, OLB, Western Michigan 4. Baltimore - Rasberry, Max, S, Miami, Florida 5. Philadelphia - Mason, Monty, S, Wisconsin 6. Cleveland - Phillip, Walt, DT, Louisiana State 7. San Antonio - McDonald, Trevor, S, Southern Methodist 8. Birmingham - Strader, Al, TE, Clemson 9. Washington - Pierce, Hugh, T, Georgia Tech 10. Houston - Wynn, Clifton, DE, Memphis 11. Louisville - Blackner, Leo, RB, Virginia Tech 12. New Orleans - Hong, Josh, T, Louisiana State 13. Pittsburgh - Bryant, Rod, G, Florida 14. Providence - Blasingame, Brandon, DT, Mississippi State 15. Oklahoma City - MacCracken, Maurice, T, Alabama The two linebackers, Harvey and Hastings look to be big stars, they're great picks. The safety Raspberry also is about as good looking as they come. Unfortunately Birmingham stole my TE at #8. It seems you can't expect safeties and tight ends to fall through the cracks like I'm used to. Four of my underrated key picks have gone already, which I expected. Of the ones left who don't look to be sleepers, I've got a running back, a defensive tackle and a cornerback. The cornerback has very high ratings in everything that counts, low volatility and is 48% developed, and looks Very Underrated to my scout. Looks like he'll be a good bet. The defensive tackle is very high volatility and not so well rated. But he is Very Underrated by my scout who is Very Good at linemen. And he's 68% developed. The running back is very high in breakaway speed and power inside, only bad spot is at elusiveness, which I don't mind at all. He's got a high volatility and is only 38% developed. I've got another RB tagged as a sleeper I might be able to grab lower, so I'm thinking i won't go with the RB. The cornerback seems the best bet. I was hoping for something a bit more showy, like a DE or a QB or RB to tear this new league apart, but it's always good to have a shutdown corner. I look over some of the other players just to be sure. But everyone at the top here is either considered overrated by my scouts, or As Is and just doesn't look too good. So I go with Harvey Shepherd, cornerback from Minnesota. My other two top targets don't last the first round, so now I'm keeping my eye on my sleepers. I've got a running back and a quarterback just coming into view as we hit the second round who I'm going to have to take another look at. My running back goes at pick 6 in the 2nd, so now I'll just hope for the QB and keep an eye on things. I'm not sure of anything enough to consider trading picks around. My pick gets to me with the QB still on the board. His ratings don't look like anything special, notable mostly for Timing and Deep Passes. His volatility is low, and his solecismic test very high, and my scout thinks he's very underrated. As is he's probably not any better than any of the free agents I've picked up, so I'm not sure whether to go for him. He's only 21% developed. My next closest sleeper is a DE who looks about the same - not outstanding but underrated. I decide that since neither one did an outstanding combine, I'll go with the DE, knowing my scout's better there, and knowing that he's more developed. 16. Omaha - Shepherd, Harvey, CB, Minnesota 17. Chicago - Matthews, Emmanuel, QB, Vanderbilt 18. Seattle - Shepherd, Junior, RB, Alabama 19. Denver - Guzowski, Martin, RB, Indiana State 20. Kansas City - Shaw, Duane, S, Mississippi 21. Memphis - Cortez, Bernard, T, Missouri State 22. Atlanta - Siler, Dusty, RB, Duke 23. Dallas - Abrams, Clay, RB, Colorado 24. Richmond - Volk, Rodney, DT, Southern California 25. Detroit - Kaplan, Patrick, S, Boston College 26. St. Louis - Knight, Darren, WR, Arkansas 27. Cincinnati - Fulton, Isaac, OLB, Houston 28. Portland (OR) - Briceland, Darryl, DE, Oklahoma State 29. Buffalo - Summers, Jarvis, DE, Mississippi 30. Minneapolis - Goettl, Tyrus, OLB, Florida State 31. Boston - Koumentakos, Roosevelt, RB, Utah 32. San Francisco - Ballou, Mel, DE, Oklahoma 47. Omaha - Jennings, Sam, DE, Missouri I'm at spot 14 in round three, and surprisingly my QB falls down to that spot. I figure that's too good to pass up, I don't mind taking a shot in round 3 on a QB. And my last sleeper is a WR way down in the ranks, so why not. 78. Omaha - Atkins, Timothy, QB, South Carolina By the fourth round I'm not quite sure what to do. I've got two underrated guys waiting in the wings, a CB and a WR. I already have taken a CB, but this one looks pretty good too. The WR doesn't look as good, but is underrated. They may be able to wait, but I don't have a good idea what else to grab. I need tight ends, I know that, but otherwise it's kind of wide open. I look some people over and decide I don't have a clue about any of them except the ones I've targeted, so why not grab those. So, I grab another cornerback, Steve Wicks, who is listed as Very Underrated and has a good combine. The next round I grab the wide receiver Adrian Walsh. The rest will be guesses, so I'll just use the last two rounds on that. 113. Omaha - Wicks, Steve, CB, Wake Forest 144. Omaha - Walsh, Adrian, WR, Auburn I realize I'm short on tackles and tight ends so I target those and pick out some possibly lucky prospects. 175. Omaha - Solwold, Grady, T, Alabama 206. Omaha - Harmon, Wendell, TE, Arizona Once I get out of the draft and take a first look at my roster, my draft picks look like this. 1. Harvey Shepherd CB 39/69 2. Sam Jennings DE 22/30 3. Timothy Atkins QB 9/31 4. Steve Wicks CB 23/44 5. Adrian Walsh SE 10/21 6. Grady Solwold T 13/51 7. Wendell Harmon TE 20/59 My first round pick automatically becomes the best rated player on the team. The 2nd through 5th rounds look like disappointments so far, but I'm banking on some kind of boom from these underrated players. The last two look great for 6th and 7th round picks with no research. Now it's time for late free agency. I make a gaff by having it set for the computer to manage the roster, so they go ahead and release a bunch of the guys I signed earlier. Which is a pain, but now I can comb the new free agents and see what I can improve on. It looks like the undrafted rookies will add some better prospects to the league.

12-19-2007, 08:23 PM	#10
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Training Camp Late Free Agency Late Free Agency looks to be where the action's really at. It seems anyone that actually performed for teams last year is available now, instead of earlier. So, I start seeing who I can pick up. Cap room shouldn't be any issue. The first thing I see is a kicker with potential in the high 70s. I'll sign anyone who seems like they should actually be starting in a professional league, so I make him a two year offer. The best punter available is not all that fantastic but is better than mine, so I make a one year offer on him. I like the running back I grabbed earlier, Juan Vanaqs, and I've got a back up for him, but I could use a third one. I'm going to try to grab John Rosario who was the league leader last year in rushing, with the Chicago Gale. His ratings, like anybody in the league last year, are not good. But production has got to count for something. Not a bad 3rd stringer I figure. I throw out an offer to the best looking fullback, and to a rookie fullback as well. I figure I can afford to get them into training camp and see how he looks. I try the same technique in tight ends and wide receivers. I bid on a couple reasonable veterans and then a couple promising rookies. Most everyone is looking for one year, $80,000 contracts, just above the league minimum. However, I'm starting to see a few real contract requests. The best rated receiver in the league (in the 50s potential) wants a multi year, multimillion dollar contract, which is quite something in this league of 15 million salary cap and $60,000 dollar veterans. I'll have to decide where, if anywhere, I'm willing to start paying big money. For the most part I stick to the strategy of bidding on the best future potential out there that's not asking for a big contract. There's just not enough difference between them to pay the big bucks. There just really aren't quarterbacks available. It's awful. Nobody's good now, and nobody's going to get good. Obviously the best bet is to draft, so I'm just going to have to hope for a boom from my rookie or slog it out 'til next year. I need basically everything but cornerback. Between my two rookies I drafted and my earlier free agent finds, I feel like I've got that covered. I manage to nab most of the free agents I'm bidding for, and those that I don't I just pick another warm body. It will be a few years before anyone starts to really stand out, I think. Coming out of free agency the position I'm most worried about is wide receiver, I wasn't able to find much there (although I love the name Rusty Seinfeld). Quarterback is bad, as well, of course, but I expected that. I have about 64 people on the roster, but want to see how the rookies look post training camp and then I'll cut down. Training Camp I'm not too excited about how training camp treated my rookies. 1. Harvey Shepherd CB 39/69 --> 42/62 2. Sam Jennings DE 22/30 --> 26/31 3. Timothy Atkins QB 9/31 --> 14/35 4. Steve Wicks CB 23/44 --> 25/42 5. Adrian Walsh SE 10/21 --> 12/24 6. Grady Solwold T 13/51 --> 17/46 7. Wendell Harmon TE 20/59 --> 21/50 Atkins, Jennings, and Walsh went up in future but not a lot, and none of them look good at this point. The others went down, as well as basically all of the free agent rookies I grabbed. I'll play them all a lot in preseason and see what happens. I make the mistake of checking out Strader, the TE I hoped to get in the first round that went to Birmingham. He is as good as imagined, having close to 100 in every category except route running. Unreal. On the other hand, I check out the Draft Review and find out that I'm at the very top of the chart with an A+. That's surprising to me, maybe they know something I don't about my prospects. It seems to me I chose rather poorly, as the "sleepers" I tried for are low rated, so far. Maybe this A+ bodes well for where they're headed? It's time to cut, and I'm afraid I have to say goodbye to Rodney Sage, my all-pro MLB last year. He's now far at the bottom of the bunch and I've got too many inside linebackers. I cut a few more of the earlier free agent finds to make room for my later signings. The roster doesn't look too terrible, in future potential at least. I've got a decision to make at quarterback though. Blackburn, Artie 2 19/48 Jochen, Ben 2 12/42 Atkins, Timothy R 14/35 Lelie, Rusty R 13/50 Artie is my starter from last year, and makes some sense to start again (except for the fact that I know he sucks already). Atkins is my draft pick who I'm hoping to be a creeper, but is obviously not well rated yet. The other two I grabbed as free agents. I guess we'll fight it out in exhibition season. A sad note - my highest rated player in Fan Popularity is my punter. He is named Ricky Havens, but come on. A punter?

12-19-2007, 09:01 PM	#11
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	The Omaha Reporter article The Omaha Reporter by Marcus O'Riley THINGS ARE SIMMERING FOR FOOTBALL SEASON The beginning of the second season in the American Professional Football League is still months away, but things have been stirring here in Omaha as the Tornadoes front office works to build a champion team here in Nebraska. Many faces are new here at training camp, brought in over the offseason by Omaha GM Ken Walden and his scouting staff. Some faces, and voices, are very familiar though. We spoke with Artie Blackburn, Omaha's tempestuous quarterback who will be returning this season, to the team if not the field. Quarterbacks are a common sight here in the locker room, as the offseason has seen the departure of several others, and the arrival of three more: Ben Jochen, a 2nd year player, and two rookies, Timothy Atkins, the Tornadoes' 3rd round pick, and Rusty Lelie an undrafted free agent. When asked who will be leading the squad this year, the coaching staff is mum, but not Blackburn. "I don't think there's much to talk about there," Blackburn told us after practice this week. "I hear some of these guys they brought in are pretty good at holding for kicks. If not, they can hold the clipboard, hold my water. I'm sure we'll find something for them to do." When asked if he can be that confident of a starting spot after his spotty play last season, bringing the Tornadoes to an 8-8 record, Artie seemed upbeat. "I wouldn't place any bets, Marcus, on seeing those guys on the field come September. Just get me some guys who won't drop the ball, and keep them defensive ends off of my uniform and you'll be seeing some plays, trust me." The coaching staff had little to say on the quarterback controversy. However, head coach J. R. Jenkins offered a few words. "Artie had probably best save his breath for the field, not the press conferences. We'll be looking at everyone in training camp, and in the exhibition season. Everybody who earns a job will have one." Beyond quarterback, much of the Omaha roster has changed, and it seems we'll be looking at a very different team this year. Jenkins and offensive coordinator Alfred Lavan return, though this time with what looks like a run-heavy roster led by RB pickup Juan Vanaqs. New defensive coordinator Grady Chapman joins the team from Pittsburgh where he was head coach last season. He will have first round draft pick Harvey Shepherd to lead the flock, and a lot of new talent all over the field.

12-20-2007, 10:45 PM	#14
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Exhibition Games I normally don't pay a lot of attention to preseason games, other than attempting to avoid injuries to my stars. In this stage, though, I'm going to have to in order to get a sense of who on the roster is for real, and especially to see who to start at quarterback. On a meta-game I note I have to add that I played out the first preseason game last night and then my computer crashed, so it was lost. It should be ignored, I know, but it made quarterback Rusty Lelie stand out to me. Timothy Atkins, our 3rd rounder, started the game, went 1-3 and then was pulled. Lelie, an undrafted rookie, came in to replace him and promptly marched the team down the field, on 6 for 6 passing for a score. He then continued to play well the whole game, especially connecting with fellow rookie Adrian Walsh. Lelie ended up going 26-39 for 265 yards in three quarters, including a lot of heaves in the fourth to try to win the game. This is in a league that had only one 300 yard game last year, so that was good. Walsh hauled in 7 catches for 105 yards. I was very excited ... then the computer froze. So, while history did not repeat itself in the "Real" first preseason game, I can't help but pay a bit more attention to Rusty than I had been. And it gives me hope that maybe Walsh is masked, and much better than he seems, especially given that A+ draft review. Of other metagame note, I found it interesting that when I replayed game 1, the score came out exactly the same, though the in-game statistics were different. Game 1 In the first game Atkins gets the start until he is injured, and then Lelie takes over. Neither looks particularly impressive, but not particularly bad. Jochen gets a couple possessions at the end of the game and goes 4 for 4. Atkins being injured lets me activate Artie, but I think I'll try to give Jochen and Lelie most of the reps in the next week and see what happens. Elsewhere, Vanaqs and Rosario both run well, and Conway, our one decent receiver, hauls in a lot of yards. Nothing else particularly notable. Game 2 The next game suggests that at least we've got a good kicker, as we win on the strength of Bercich's 5/5 FG kicking. Jochen takes most of the snaps at QB and goes 13 for 18 for 93 yards. Lelie goes 7 for 11 in his possessions, for 108 yards. However he's intercepted once and sacked three times. His low sense rush rating seems to make him particularly sackable, as he got sacked four times last game too. WR Schaefer hauls in a 59 yard pass, but nothing else much going on here. Vanaqs gets mostly stuffed at the line, Rosario looking fairly good on 9 carries. My D-line makes a couple sacks and four hurries among them, and backup OLB Godspeed makes a great pass defense stat by coming in for one pass play this game and defending a pass. So far it seems Jochen is worth keeping an eye on, so I'll give him the ball next game too, maybe bringing Artie into the mix. Game 3 In this game Jochen gets the start, but Blackburn gets most of the reps. Both look good, Jochen going 5 for 6, and having a touchdown pass called back for holding, before being pulled. Artie goes 15 for 20, but throws a pick that gets returned for a touchdown. He also throws a score, and gets sacked three times. Artie only passes for 98 yards, his two main receivers being the backs, so it's not all that impressive. John Rosario impresses coming off the bench and running 9 carries for 42 yards. I might end up giving him the start over Vanaqs, who went 10 for 35. Shepherd, the 1st round CB, has a good game with a INT and no passes caught against him. Sampson, my nickel back, has an interception as well. I'm not sure what this game tells me about quarterback, since Artie looked okay but also didn't make much happen. I think I'm going to let Jochen take the helm next week and not let him get pulled early so I can see what he can really do. Game 4 This game sealed the deal for me on Artie. He came in to replace Jochen, who had thrown 9-11 for 60 yards, no sacks, no picks. Artie went on to throw 20-39 for 147 yards, 1 score and 3 interceptions, while getting sacked three times. The guy obviously has a horrible Avoid Int score. Granted he was the one in in the 4th trying to make something happen, but he's just not doing it for me. Looking at the details, Artie had 4 bad throws, while Jochen's two incompletions both came off of hurries. I'm definitely looking Ben's way next week. Rosario again looked better than Vanaqs, running 12 times for 51 yards. He also caught three passes. Walsh caught 5 for 51 yards and a TD. He's not looking too bad in preseason. Besides Artie's three picks we also fumbled it away three times (including one by Artie and one by Jochen). However, we forced four fumbles too, and our one score came when O.J. Greer forced one, recovered it and ran it back for a TD. DE Paz had a great day, with 7 tackles and two sacks. The rest of the line contributed 5 hurries and a knock down. SLB Minter also defended four passes, while Shepherd did 2 more. All in all, the preseason has caused me to push Rosario up to the starting role at RB, and Jochens at QB. I'm not sure who will back up Jochen exactly, as Blackburn has the best stats but I'd liek to see the rookies develop. The rest of the roles seem fairly clearcut, except tight end which didn't get cleared up at all yet. Last edited by Autumn : 01-05-2008 at 02:03 PM.

01-08-2008, 11:03 PM	#15
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	The Omaha Reporter Tornadoes Deliver a Knockout The Kansas City Cowboys were taken by storm today when they arrived in Omaha for the season opener against our Tornadoes. In the first matchup of the season, the division rival Cowboys could find no answers on offense or defense as the Tornadoes rolled to a eventual 31-6 win. John Rosario, last year's legue leading rusher for the Chicago Gale, didn't slow down at all, coming in this game and rushing for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 23 rushes. Free agent pick up Juan Vanaqs did well in relief role, coming in to spell Rosario and putting up 64 yards of his own on 12 carries. With the running game doing the heavy lifting, quarterback Ben Jochen took care of the passing end with a 16/28 perforamcne for 154 yards, two touchdowns, but one interception. Starting for the first time, the young quarterback seemed the shoulder the pressure well, both from the defense, and his own bench where three other quarterbacks wait in the wings, hungry for a starting role. Outspoken quarterback Artie Blackburn, last year's starter, seemed unbothered by taking 2nd string duties. After a day when he only stepped on the field in the 4th quarter to run out the clock, he told reporters, "It's a young team, everyone is going to have some mistakes, including the coaching staff. Let Ben have his day out there, I'm not going anywhere." The defense was a big part of the story too, however, holding the Cowboys to two field goals. The defensive line produced pressure, a sack and two hurries by end Darren Paz, and another four hurries contributed by rookie Sam Jennings at the other end. First round pack Harvey Shepherd, at corner, chimed in with two defensed passes, and only one caught against him. The coaching staff wasn't talking roses after this game, however. "This is only one game, we've got a long way to go," head coach J. R. Jenkins reminded us. "And there's a lot to work on, despite our performance. It was an abysmmal day by the wide receivers out there, and we're not going to keep winning games throwing screen passes and little dunks and drops. I'm expecting to see some more production next week out of the passing game. And while John and Juan ran well out there, we struggled in the second half, rushing to hold on to that lead. We're going to have to pick it up, all the way around." While the pressure seemed to be on the receiving corps at this point, including free agent pick up R. J. Conway, and rookie Adrian Walsh, each of whom only managed one catch this afternoon, everyone knows that the hotseat is at quarterback. So far, though, Jochen is sitting pretty, but only has to look to the sidelines to see Blackburn and two rookies eager to take his place.

12-09-2007, 08:55 PM	#2
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Random notes: It's good to see our stadium is in very good shape, and outdoors and natural grass. That's just what I wanted. And I love this guy's name - Roman Augustson. Week 1 Omaha Tornadoes at Indianapolis Racers 17-16 We squeak out with a 17-16 win in Indianapolis, despite really being outplayed. They correctly pick the player of the game, safety Daniel Caccavale who returns a INT for a touchdown, giving us some much needed points when the offense really was doing nothing. The Racers meantime were fairly productive on offense, with a league leading passing yards. We'll take the win. Week 2 Minneapolis Lakers at Omaha Tornadoes 20-30 Glen Miller is the dashing quarterback for Minneapolis, and man this guy runs. I thought he was the running back at the beginning of the game watching it on Solevision. It's a pretty good game with Artie going for almost 250 yards, and finally generating some offense. We have it tied up in the fourth quarter but end up losing on a fumble near our own endzone that turns into the winning points for the Lakers. Week 3 Cincinnati Eagles at Omaha Tornadoes 31-24 Cincinnati's offense comes out hot and scores two TDs right away, passing and running. The Tornadoes finally get started and score, then grab an INT and take it in for a score, tying it up. Unfortunately, after a good stop right before the half, Artie throws an interception, and with eight seconds left the Eagles take a screen pass 43 yards for a touchdown and go into the locker room leading. The Tornadoes tie it up in the third, but an interception by Artie gives the Eagles good field position. The defense holds them to a field goal and then the offense gets their own, so the game is still tied half way through the 4th quarter. With under two minutes left, the Tornadoes stop the Eagles and get the ball back to try for a tie breaker. But three and out gives the Eagles the ball with 45 seconds on their own 47. But the Eagles are sacked and fumble, and Omaha tackle Corey Prescott returns it for the winning touchdown! An exciting win at home. Week 4 Omaha Tornadoes at Denver Mountaineers 11-30 This game is starting off as a contest of mediocrity. Both teams seem unable to do much of anything, both having more penalties than complete passes. Denver finally hits its stride though and makes a long drive, scoring in the second quarter, going up 10-0. In the second half it's 17-0 when the Tornadoes pull Artie and put in disgruntled backup QB, Kyle Matijacic. The magic man isn't able to do any more than his predecessor, and the defense actually gets worse, basically letting the Mountaineers drive the field whenever they want. Magic man does produce one good scoring drive, but that's it and the Tornadoes are thoroughly defeated. Bye week Week 6 Omaha Tornadoes at Richmond Cavaliers 10-3 The Cavaliers are 4-1, but the opening drive gives us confidence as Artie drives us down the field for an authoritative touchdown. Best name of the game so far? Richmond defensive player: Bubba Pigg. The offense works in fits and starts and we're up 10-0 in the second half. A blocked kick, an interception and fumble recovery all work to keep Richmond off the board despite some good plays by their offense. However, our offense doesn't keep any momentum either and it's 10-3 when we get the ball with 4 minutes left in the game. We have to punt with about two minutes left, and then give up a 30 yard pass after some good defense. They get a subsequent 33 yarder called back for the penalty, we end up intercepting them on their 4th down heave and it's time to take a knee, and a sigh of relief. Artie ends up leading the league again this week with 214 yards passing. Week 7 Pittsburgh Steelers at Omaha Tornadoes 10-23 We start this game poorly, fumbling the opening kickoff and letting it get returned for a touchdown. We keep the excitement going through when Shawn Haggans takes a handoff and busts into the open for a 52 yard touchdown on the next possession. An interception thrown by Artie gives the Steelers good field position, but we hold them to a field goal. However we proceed to fumble it away and they kick another. We look ready to score a TD but then somehow get intercepted on 4th down I think and run back to midfield. Despite playing well, we're down 20-7 at the half, with 3 giveaways. It only continues, with the team moving the ball well but then fumbling it away, and giving up plays on defense. Five turnovers in the end do us in. Week 8 Omaha Tornadoes at St. Louis Trailblazers 17-40 An early fumble gives us a 3-0 lead early on. Next drive is a nice one by Artie and we're up 10-0 on some long passes. St. Louis can match us though, and it's soon 10-17 at the end of the half. A fumble near our endzone lets them go up 10-24 in the third. It seems the coaches are relying on Artie too much and forgetting the running game. However, they don't seem to think that's the problem, as they pull Artie and put in the magic man again. We subsequently fumble it and it's 10-30 going into the 4th. Maybe he is magic though, as we back the Trailblazers back to their 1 and then Magic man ends up throwing a TD pass to make it 17-30. Then again, that interception run back for a TD makes it 17-37, so maybe not so magic. Week 9 Kansas City Cowboys at Omaha Tornadoes 41-13 Our chance to claw back up to .500 against a division rival. An interception by Suto gives us our chance and we go up 7-0. We're up 13-3 right before the half when a pass interference in the endzone gives them a chance to score and make it 13-10 at the half. In the beginning of the 4th, we intercept KC in the endzone, to keep it 20-13. Artie and Chad Rice proceed to march the field and make it 27-13, and then the defense comes up with another pick and soon it's 34-13. In the end, a 78 yard fumble return runs it up to 41-13. We're 4-4! We set the league record for points in a game, and Artie breaks the league record with 4 passing touchdowns in a game. Ah, the first year. Now, it will be interesting to look around the league and see how this is shaping up, a league full of rookies. The first thing I notice is that there's not just a bunch of 4-4 teams, and complete parity. We've got one 8-0 team in the American Conference, The Buffalo Blizzard. Then there is one 0-8 team, the Baltimore Admirals, and the 1-7 New York Yankees. There are two 7-1 teams in the National Conference, the Portland Eruption and the Minneapolis Lakers. And we've got two 1-7 teams, the Los Angeles Stars and the Indianapolis Racers. My division is the only in the league with no teams below .500. Looking at players and stats, the clear passing leader in the league is Ike Hamilton of the Portland Eruption. The only QB with a rating in the 90s, he leads the league with 12 TDs and only 5 picks (tied for second least INTs). He's thrown for over 1500 yards in the first half. This is a monster passing attack in this league it seems. On rushing, John Rosario of the Chicago Gale is the clear leader, with 844 yards so far on 5.48 ypc average. Receivers is where you notice the clearest difference between this league and a normal NFL league, as the league leader has 489 yards half way through the season, and the league leading YPC is 14.69. Most receivers seem to be in the 10-12 range for YPC, and no one's stretching the field with a passing attack. Defensively, sacks seem as easy to come by as ever, with 10.5 leading the league and quite a lot of linemen having a similar number. Interceptions are also high with Kenyon Somerfelt of the Detroit Wheels leading the league with 6, and Dave Henderson of the Richmond Cavaliers having 14 defended passes. Most interesting to me is the lack of correlation between these achievements and player ratings. While pretty much the whole league sucks, certain teams did have a concentration of talent on them, but those are not the ones leading the league. Kansas City, Denver and San Antonio seemed to have much better rosters than most of the league, yet they are 5-3, 4-4 and 2-6 respectively. In fact, Ike Hamilton who is clearly leading the best passing attack in the league, is rated 10/22 and his only notable skill is in 3rd down passing and timing. The Blizzard's 8-0 QB is rated 7/23. These guys aren't even listed on the Recommended Player screen for QBs, far below even my back up QB. It's a funny league, my friends. Let's finish up this season and see the real action offseason.

12-09-2007, 11:16 PM	#3
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Week 10 Omaha Tornadoes 4-4 at Minneapolis Lakers 7-1 We play our division leaders in a fairly close game, duking it out. But they prove superior, especially on three big plays involving runners in the secondary or long bombs. When we make plays we're not able to punch into the endzone and so end up on the losing end 9-16. Getting sacked six times while getting no sacks ourselves doesn't help. Oh and I forgot to look at power ratings at the mid-season break. Right now we're 4-5, but ranked 9th in the power rankings, due to us having the second toughest opponent record so far in the league, at 48-33. Week 11 Baltimore Admirals 1-8 at Omaha Tornadoes 4-5 A back and forth game where Baltimore's offense seems to be able to move at will against us, but we come up with another stops to hold them to 17 points, 7 of which come off a returned interception. Our offense moves occasionally, but manages to put up 14 of its own when we get to the two minute warning. Stopping the Admirals on 3rd down we force a punt that we return for 22 yards. That puts us at midfield, and a pass interference call on a long bomb allows Tubbs to tie it up 17-17 and put us in overtime! Our offense can't move in overtime, but we win the war of field position, pinning the Admirals at their endzone twice. That's when we come up lucky on teh bottom of the pile with a fumble recovery at their 25 yard line. We hold on to it and kick for the win, 20-17. Week 12 Omaha Tornadoes 5-5 at Louisville Chargers 5-5 We basically get stomped on this one, the point that they pull Matijacic back into the game. The good news ius that we actually show a running game in this one, rushing for 138 yards on 22 carries before the game gets away from us completely. At that point the magic man is just lobbing it around, and we end up losing 14-31. Week 13 Seattle Destroyers 7-4 at Omaha Tornadoes 5-6 In this game the Destroyers seem to be able to move on us offensively, racking up good numbers, but never are able to get close to the endzone. They only score once, and are picked off three times, and fumble twice. That's worse than our two fumbles lost, and we capitalize with an efficient passing game and some running. We win it 14-6. Week 14 Denver Mountaineers 7-5 at Omaha Tornadoes 6-6 The Tornadoes show some more guts in this game, in which neither team seems able to punch it in, but the Tornadoes come up on top wiht simply more field goals, and less turnovers. It's ugly, ugly, but we win 9-3. Second best name in the game? QB J.C. Bombard. What's the playoff picture with three games left in the season? Our division is rather unusual, with the Lakers leading it at 11-2, and the three other teams at 7-6. That's going to make for a wild wildcard races there's three other teams in the conference with 7-6 or 8-5 records that will be vying for it. Let's just play it out. Week 15 Omaha Tornadoes 7-6 at Kansas City Cowboys 7-6 Last we saw the Cowboys we trounced them 41-13. Now we're heading into their stadium. Things start out rather wild, as in the first quarter we throw 2 INTs and drop a fumble. By the half they've turned downright ugly as we're down 0-28. The Cowboys have our number this time as everyone knows Artie's going to air it out every other play and they just bat them down or pick them off. He's 9/29 in the first half and takes the bench as Matijacic comes out in the 2nd. The Cowboys's running back, Mersky, who is the best rated in the league is finally showing some promise running over us for 73 yards in the first. We finally score with 5 minutes left in the game, and kick one at the close to make it a slightly less embarrassing 9-31, with a total of 6 turnovers by our team. That tells us something about the parity in this league I guess. Week 16 Omaha Tornadoes 7-7 at Houston Oilers 5-9 This game is another embarrassment at th half, down 3-28, with three INTs by Artie. The league has obviously figured out his deal and it seems he gets sacked, defended or picked off every pass. Meanwhile the defense seems to give up 7-9 yards per play. Luckily this team is going to be completely overhauled come the offseason. We play good enough in the second half to keep it only 3-31. Week 17 Washington Generals 7-8 at Omaha Tornadoes 7-8 Any hope of a playoff spot is gone, with us at the bottom of the division at 7-8. So, we play it for pride, wanting to come out 8-8 at least in our inaugural season. There's some tight races around the league, with two divisions coming into the last week with a tie for the top of the division. We come out with a very solid looking game -- for this league -- and hold on to our advantage to win our last game 19-3. Artie leads the league this week with 241 passing yards, and we get 123 rushing yards out of our backs too. The key of course, only one turnover, while the Generals threw two picks. Artie is player of the week with that performance, but the real question is will he be back next year? With a 58.4 rating on the year, let's hope we find something else. I'm pleased to see in the post-season the Memphis Showboaters move past the first round with an exciting 4-interception performance by their strongside linebacker. That must have been an interesting game That leads them to Boston to meet the 13-3 Minutemen. Meanwhile the Bootleggers go to frigid Buffalo to face the 12-4 Blizzard, while the Eagles face the Eruption's league best passing attack and the SF Quake go to Minneapolis to face the league's best rushing attack. It's a week of surprises as Boston is the only home team to pull off the win and the Lakers, Blizzard and Eruption fall. So much for regular season records. The Atlanta Bootleggers meet the Boston Minutemen in the conference championship, giving us a good old fashioned North-South rivalry. The Minutemen seem to win through a great running game and fairly solid defense. The Bootleggers meanwhile aren't apparently great at anything, though they have a defensive end with 14.5 sacks and four running backs on the year with well over 4.0 ypc. The Minutemen prove the better, winning 13-10 with their big score coming from an INT return for a TD. In the other conference the San Francisco Quake has a good running game and the league's overall best defense. They're facing the Cincinnati Eagles, who must win by magic, because they are last in the league on passing yards and almost last on yards per carry. Their defense is decent, but not great. As you'd expect I guess, this was a slugfest, with the Quake winning 6-3 at Cincinnati. The game featured a grand total of 391 yards between the two teams. It's a matchup of new and old when Boston meets San Francisco in the Super Bowl. It's very even according to the bookies, but they give Boston the point spread by 3. In a nice sunny game, though, the Quake surprise the Mnutemen with a 34-21 win. Their QB Frankie Young throws for 225 and two touchdowns, while their running back, Walt Lyons runs for 136 and two more scores and WR Jeffrey Mendheim pulls in 4 catches for 114 yards. It's a little sign of excitement in the league as the rest of the teams look forward to the draft, and the first sign of real talent to come.

12-12-2007, 04:53 AM	#4
PiemasterUK Mascot Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: London	Reading and looking forward to more

12-12-2007, 02:29 PM	#5
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Thanks, good to know someone's watching :-) With a home business and two little kids, things work slow here, but I'm working on off-season stuff.

12-12-2007, 02:51 PM	#6
finketr College Prospect Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Inland Empire, PRC	no worries.. i'm reading this... anyway to change the scor format to "we lost 23-10" rather than "lost 10-23"? just curious.

12-12-2007, 09:41 PM	#7
BYU 14 Coordinator Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The scorched Desert	Like the concept....any chance that will make the game more run oriented during this time, or are you pretty much using modern type gameplans?

12-12-2007, 10:21 PM	#8
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	The computer teams are definitely keeping to the modern gameplans, although the talent makes it harder to throw. I've considered going with a run-oriented team, but it definitely seems the league will be modern in that sense.

12-20-2007, 02:05 AM	#12
PiemasterUK Mascot Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: London	Will be interesting to see how this year pans out. Assumedly there will be a lot of mediocre players with a few superstars from the draft. You could see some huge numbers in categories such as sacks, interceptions and rushing yards. Have you spotted any drafted players that look like they could be awesome? Can you link their profiles?

12-20-2007, 12:22 PM	#13
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	That's my thought exactly, though I'm a little less sure now. Perhaps it will show us football is too much of a team game for that to happen. Here are the standouts in the league right now: A lot of them are in positions they won't make a huge impact, possibly. Al Strader, that TE I almost drafted, is the best rated player in the league but I just played him in preseason and he caught one of two passes. Still, I expect like you said pass rushers to make a big impact, and perhaps Junior Shepherd, that running back who is clearly the best rated in the league. Notable still is the complete lack of quarterbacks. We'll see if this season brings about any development there. It may not happen until we get mentors in the league, I don't know.

01-08-2008, 11:59 PM	#16
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Game 2 Chicago Gale at Omaha Tornadoes We're playing the Chicago Gale, our running back's old team, and so of course we'd like to put a stomping on them. Taking a look at them, their talent is as unremarkable as the rest of the league. Their first choice in the draft was Emmanuel Matthews, a QB who is riding the pine. However, they drafted heavily on defense the rest of the rounds, and are starting A MLB, a LDT, a SS and RCB who were all draft picks. No one seems remarkable talent-wise. They are in fact remarkable, however, for having a defensive tackle by the name of Fernando Pancake! My desire to run a time based on personnel with catchy names is rising. Did I mention Bubba Pigg is still in the league? Given the success of our run game in week 1, I decide to adopt a smash mouth game plan for this game and see how it works out. It hopefully will cover for the inadequacies in teh passing game, a bit. We get the first possession and come out running. Vanaqs has a 39 yard run that we follow up with a 25 yard TD pass. Offense looks good. Their offense makes some movement on us, but stalls. With the ball back we get started with unnecessary roughness on a scramble by Jochen. Vanaqs makes another the big play, rumbling for 17 yards. Rookie tackle Grady Solwold has had three KRB already, which sounds great to me. We get another first down on a pass interference call, and the running game keeps moving us. A key third down pass puts on us on the 11, and Jochen throws one to Conway in the endzone. We're up 14-0. Then CB Dale Farr tips and intercepts a pass, running it back to the four yard line on Chicago's next possession. Next play Jochen throws one to Walsh in the endzone and it's 21-0. The game plan is working perfectly now. After smashing them with the run, they're now keying on it and getting burned by the pass. We rush into their side of the field and then a 22 yard pass brings us to the red zone again. With 3rd and 1 at the 1 Jochen passes to Walsh again and we're up 28-0. Their WR Gonzalez makes some big plays, and they drive into the red zone for the first time. However, he coughs it up on the 8 yard line and Godspeed recovered. We're not able to do much else and punt for the first time with under four minutes left in the half. With our pass pressure now set on high, they're not able to do much other than bust some surprise runs, and aren't able to score before the half. Or shouldn't be able to. Getting the ball back with a minute left and up by four scores, the coach calls in a long ball, which is intercepted, giving the Gale another chance before halftime. We defend it well, and then Steve Wicks intercepts one in the end zone, ending that threat. In the second half, with a 28-0 score our defense is able to key on the pass and rush the passer, and it is working. However, our offense is looking predicable again when trying to grind it out with the rush. We're going to have to learn to score when ahead somehow. Each rush is met at the line and stopped for no gain. Luckily Jochen steps up and makes enough first down passes in the second to keep us moving, and the clock moving. At one point, a fumble by Vanaqs gives the Gale the spark they're looking for, and good field position. However, all they can get out of our defense is a field goal. Minter and Sampson combine for a recovered fumble on Chicago's next possession. With a short field, we're able to get enough yards out of Rosario, and clutch passes out of Jochen to get to the 8 yard line, and then Jochen throws another TD to Conway. It's 35-3. Minter picks off a pass on their next possession, and it's time to grind out a win. When the clock runs out Chicago is rooting around for another loose fumble and we close the win. Chicago Gale 3 Omaha Tornadoes 35 Post-game notes: Obviously another very convincing win. Jochen looks great, on 17-22 passing he breaks the league record with 5 passing touchdowns, benefiting from the defense's focus on the run. Only sacked once, he also threw his only interception on a very silly play call. The running back situation got a bit more complicated. Vanaqs, coming in as the backup, stole the show with 68 yards on 11 runs, including the two long yardage ones on our first two drives that set off the avalanche. Rosario, in return, was 24 attempts and 50 yards, obviously hurt by the fact that we were trying to grind out the clock most of the game, and getting a lot of 0 to 1 yard gains. The new game plan got a lot more passes to the receivers, which I like. Conway, our FL, was 4 of 4 for 56 yards and 3 touchdowns (tying the league record). Walsh was 3 of 4 for only 15 yards but two touchdowns. Both were red zone machines obviously. Shaefer had another 3 of 4 for 35 yards. Grady Solwold was the real star of the running game with 4 of 5 key burn blocks and no sacks allowed. Everyone else had a lot of opportunities but no more than 1 KRB. Since he was one of my underrated rookies, I'm excited by this. On defense, obviously we looked good given they were playing catchup the entire game. Both Samson and Shepherd had 2 defensed passes, and Wicks and Farr each had an interception, making for a happy CB corps. Jennings and Paz, my ends, each had 1.5 sacks, Paz throwing in 2 hurries as well, and Jennings having a hurry, a block and a knockdown. We had another interception from OLB Minter, and our defense forced 5 fumbles, though only recovering two. All in all a commanding performance, and we're 2-0 on top of the division. Yet to be seen is how tough our opponents really were. Around the league: Player of the week is old favorite Ike Hamilton, who continues to put up good QB numbers despite being rated 14/23. Sadly, Jochen doesn't even warrant a player of the week mention despite breaking the league passing touchdown record. His yardage was too low. Notably there's an awful lot of great run blocking mentions on the charts. All those offensive line rookies? Or just bad defenses? Our team looks great now. Let's see how they do on the road against another winner. Next week: The 2-0 Indianapolis Racers, in Indy.

01-09-2008, 12:11 AM	#17
Izulde Head Coach Join Date: Sep 2004	Fascinating read. I look forward to more. __________________ 2006 Golden Scribe Nominee 2006 Golden Scribe Winner Best Non-Sport Dynasty: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty) Rookie Writer of the Year Dynasty of the Year: May Our Reign Be Green and Golden (CK Dynasty)

01-09-2008, 08:20 PM	#18
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Thanks, it's fun doing it though I hardly get any time. Nice to know it's of interest.

01-09-2008, 10:05 PM	#19
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Game 3 Omaha Tornadoes at Indianapolis Racers The Racers are 2-0, a nice start after last year's 2-14 disaster. That earned them a top draft pick though which they used on starting quarterback Harris Stanberry, the top QB prospect in the draft, who is now looking 18/50 to my scout. Oh well, not too bad in this league. Their best player appears to be their second round pick, running back Ernest Maxwell who is rated 40/51, which is a phenomenal current rating in this league, though he doesn't seem to have done much so far this year. But they kept picking offense, and their third round pick is a WR, Grady Brennan who seems to have put up some good numbers in the first two games. I'm keeping to the same gameplan, and hoping Rosario has a better day, though I did adjust his playing time down a bit to give Vanaqs a few more chances. Other than CB Steve Wicks coming back to start, things look the same this week. The game starts off with our possession and we start as we did the past two games, running powerfully. They seem to be expecting the pass so we drive the length of the field, requiring only two pass plays from Jochen in order to drive in for a touchdown. However, they take the ball at their own 14 and start driving, looking as good as us, picking up 9 to 10 yards on every pass and run. Things look dire until CB Shepherd blitzes, sacking Stanberry and making him cough up the football. Fellow rookie Sam Jennings picks it up. We start trading punts. Once they start keying on the run, Rosario doesn't get much. Jochen makes some throws, and we occasionally catch them in pass defense when we run, so we get some movement. However, my center's total lack of pass blocking ability shows up as their relatively talented DT puts the spin move on Dawkins three times in a row one series, hurrying the passer. The defense makes the difference again with big plays. They're moving on us down the field when OLB Torres intercepts a screen pass and returns it 31 yards to the 27. MLB Martinez is also making great plays, catching screens and runs for short gains. Unfortunately Jochen follows up their pick by throwing his own pick and giving them the ball before halftime. They can't do anything though, and a good punt return gives it to us at the 48 with 45 seconds. A fullback run against the blitz nets us 13 yards. A 15 yard pass to Walsh (who seems to be playing great today) gets us to the 19 with 15 seconds left. That gives us a field goal and a 10-0 lead at the half. Their first possession in the second they hit a 53 yard field goal, with the fans standing in appreciation for what is probably one of the longest in this league's history. We kick a field goal to make it 13-3 at the end of the third. They in turn make it a game, getting a good punt return (including a fumble and an advance on the fumble return). A couple big plays later, and running back Hugh O'Neal takes it 25 yards for the score. It's a 13-10 game. We move the ball a bit, including a useful pass interference penalty. I step in and substitute Vanaqs for Rosario, who is getting flattened at the line even when they're expecting pass. We have to punt and they come alive, slinging the ball downfield. They drive to the 3 and kick it on 4th and 3, tying it up at 13-13 with 2:33 left. I get reminded I need to sign a kick returner when Conway only returns it to the 15 on the next kick. We don't make a first down, and have to punt, which turns into good news when they fumble the return and we end up with the ball at the 36 yard line. We make a couple run plays, but get penalized for holding and we're backed up to the 44. We throw an incomplete, and then make a 13 yard play to Walsh. Not enough for a first down, but enough to try for a field goal. He makes it, a 48 yarder!! With 14 seconds left they can't do anything, and we're 3-0 on the season. Game Notes: Our running game suffered again, this time never really getting off the ground other than the first drive. Obviously the game plan needs major tinkering. Also notable was that we never got any big pass rush going, not having the huge lead to pin it on. Still, we struggled through and made some big plays. I think our defense is playing great this year, and if we can fix some offensive problems we're looking good. Jochen showed he could make some plays and so it may be worthwhile to open the passing game up some. Rosario's numbers for the day? 25 for 66 yards and a TD. He looked awful, and while I think that's largely gameplanning, I think I may have to sit him behind Vanaqs next week, who has honestly looked better in the real season. Vanaq had 9 for 38 behind him. Jochen was 17 of 29 for 133 yards and a pick, which makes for a crappy rating but kept us in the game. Adrian Walsh was 10 of 13 for 90 yards, a nice day for him, suggesting again his rating may be better than advertised. Conway meanwhile only caught 2 of 4, and Banks went 0 for 5. That sucked, and I'm not sure where Schaeffer was. Last game he was all over the place. Weird. Our defense won't look good statwise, as they gave up 5.5 yards a carry, and Stanberry was 26 of 33 for 219. But they proved stout on the scoreboard again, having only given up one TD in three games. They forced four fumbles today, and got a pick. However, only two sacks, neither by a DL, and no hurries or blocks. Combine that with only four defensed passes on the team, and no wonder they were moving on us. Nobody looked particularly good on the offensive line, but overall we got 12 KRBs today, and that seemed the key to our success with Rosario's poor running after the block. Around the league: A look at our player of the week shows us our old friend, Ike Hamilton of the Portland Eruption, who threw for 304 yards and 2 TDs in only the second 300 yard game in league history. What's up with this guy? I figured last year he was a fluke, but Mr. 14/32 is still lighting it up. The players of the week continue to be flooded with defensive linemen with a sack or three, including some recognizable rookies. Hardy Hastings, the #3 pick OLB shows up for the first time as well as our own Joseph Minter. Actually, Harvey Shepherd, Courtney Kitts, Adrian Walsh and the player of the game, kicker Nolan Bercich all get mentions this week, not to toot my own horns. Next week is a bye, so I can rest my couple injured guys and see who I can get back. I will tinker with the game plan a bit and move Vanaqs up to the front seat. Then in Week 5 we'll be in Seattle to meet the Destroyers.

01-09-2008, 10:37 PM	#20
SFL Cat College Starter Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: South Florida	Cool dynasty. I created a 1950s universe featuring the NFL and a new rival league that emerged after the AAFC went out of business and its better teams jumped to the established league. One of the teams in the rival league was the Kansas City Cowboys and their first coach was Packer's legend Curly Lambeau. Interestingly, one of the expansion franchises in the 80s was the Indianapolis Racers (I've always thought that nickname for an Indy team would be AWESOME, and it gives the football team a certain synergy with the NBA's Pacers and Indy's racing legacy). The Colts stayed in Baltimore btw. Last edited by SFL Cat : 01-09-2008 at 11:12 PM.

01-09-2008, 10:38 PM	#21
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	EXTRA EXTRA They Aint' Jochen!! Omaha Tornadoes release veteran QB Artie Blackburn Jochen 3-0 as starter, set to remain so. The Omaha Tornadoes took advantage of their week long bye from competition to make some moves in the office, including the surprising release of Artie Blackburn, last season's starting QB and constant outspoken presence in the locker room. Despite riding the bench behind Ben Jochen this season, Blackburn had remained confident he would resume his starting role. Pressed for details, general manager Ken Walden gave a brief answer. "This was really a matter of roster management. We felt it imperative we pick up another player to take over the kick return duties, and we had no room to do so without releasing someone. It became clear that four quarterbacks was more than we could afford to maintain on the roster, and so that's where the cut came from." Walden refused to comment more on Blackburn's release, who led the team to a 8-8 record in their inaugural season. Local sportswriters though suggested it could probably be attributed to two factors. One is the office's belief in the two rookies behind Jochen, 3rd round pick Timothy Atkins and undrafted rookie Rusty Lelie. While Blackburn is a proven quantity, his tendency to turn the ball over undoubtedly concerned Tornadoes coaches. Also unspoken was the likelihood that the Tornadoes were glad to relieve themselves of Blackburn's contentious voice in the locker room. While never blamed for any conflict on the team, his attitude was inflammatory enough to make the staff worried about keeping him around, especially when not starting him. Coming in to take that roster place is undrafted rookie Donnell Danielson, a wide receiver from Florida State. Walden stated that the youngster possessed the best combination of return abilities with receiving talent of the free agent pool out there. His addition should shore up one of the glaring weak spots on the 3-0 team, which had no players with any experience whatsoever running kicks back after the cut of Lionel Butler over the offseason. "I hope to get in there, learn the system, and get my feet wet running back kicks," Danielson commented to reporters. "Other than that, I'll just keep my head above water and see what happens." Blackburn, surprisingly, and for the first time, was unavailable for comment. His personal effects were already gone from his locker. The only thing left, perhaps left intentionally by the cantankerous Blackburn, was a jock strap.

01-09-2008, 10:40 PM	#22
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Yes, I think "alternate historical" leagues are the most fun. There's so many great ideas! Thanks for checking it out.

01-09-2008, 11:35 PM	#23
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	During the bye week: The Baltimore Admirals QB earned player of the week honors and a place in the record book putting up 150.8 QB rating on 21 of 23 passing for 246 yards and 3 TDs against the Washington Generals. I'm also starting to notice Rufus Chandler, the St. Louis 5th round pick in the QB spotlight a lot. Game 4 After the bye week, we remain only one of two teams left undefeated, our parallel in the other conference being the New Orleans Jazz at 4-0. We hope to match them this week, playing the 2-2 Seattle Destroyers, who come off a 17-16 win over our division rival, the Minneapolis Lakers. They boast Junior Shepherd, the best rated running back in this last draft, and now a fully developed 56/56 by my scout. He's not exactly tearing up the league with 285 yards in four starts, but let's not give him any ideas. He did start the season with two 100 yard games. Our game plan is opened back up, and Vanaqs is in as the starter at RB, especially given that Rosario came down with shin splints over the bye. The game starts wonderfully! Their initial kickoff return is fumbled on a tackle by Rosario, and Chism scoops it up and returns it for the touchdown. That's how to start, Tornado style. Have we scored on our first touch each time this year? Their next possession OLB Torre gets an interception and we take over at their 41, but don't go anywhere and miss a 49 yard field goal, just short. A 39 yard pass play to Walsh puts us in their territory next possession, but again we don't get to the endzone, and they block the kick. And then, just like last week, their backup running back, not their star, takes a run all the way, this time 66 yards for a touchdown, tying the game up in the first. Oh! But it gets called back for holding. Ha ha. They drive anyway, though we hold them to a field goal. It's 7-3 at the start of the second. We get a great punt return and then drive to the 2 yard line. 4th and 1 at the 2, I try to call the play to go for it, but hit the button too late or something. We kick it and are up 10-3, and that's the score at the half. We have a good first drive, but then Jochen throws a pick in their territory and it gets returned 32 yards. Those bastards go for it on 4th and 2 at the 25 and make a 15 yard pass. That's what I was trying to do, damn it. They are 1st and 10 at the 10 but we hold them to the field goal. Damn, we're good at that. It's 10-6. Then they recover a fumble by Rosario on the next possession at midfield. They drive it in and are up 13-10 now with 12 minutes in the fourth. We are driving well when Jochen throws another pick on a long pass to Walsh. I'm going to have to key back on his passing, it seems. Twice the Destroyers have run on 3rd and 8 or 9 in this game, and once made i. Argh. They're now running our time out with a long, long clock killing drive that looks likely to end in a TD or FG. Our defense is now much too porous. Until!!! My DTs, Greer and Huie cause a fumble. Weve got it at the 24 with 1:53 left, and no time outs. However, Jochen throws four incompletes and the game is over. I'm thinking I should have taken over playcalling there too and not hefted it down field so quickly. We only needed a field goal, and he obviously can't throw long. I'm so goddamned mad I didn't make that call to go four it on 4th and 1 at the 2 yard line. I didn't click the button fast enough, and that of course would have made the margin of error if we picked up a touchdown there. And that's exactly the way I like to play my teams. I hate those sort of metagame blunders, but I can't blame the loss on that. The offense only put up 3 points, the kicker missed his two FGs, and Jochen threw two interceptions. It was not a good game, though my defense seems to be masters of making the big play when it counts. They have kept us in these past two games that way. Seattle Destroyers 13 Omaha Tornadoes 10 I'm so annoyed, I'll do the game notes later.

01-16-2008, 09:00 PM	#24
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Games 5 through 8 Game 5 Let's forget about last week and look at the game coming up. After a tough two game road trip we're back home where we're undefeated this season, to meet the 1-4 Los Angeles Stars. The Stars, 2-14 last year, picked up star rookie MLB Travis Harvey who is looking good manning their middle. Also notable is 2nd round pick at SS Ron Fretty. Otherwise their team looks unremarkable. They're manned at the helm by QB Cornelius Creasy, who I just noticed is 4th in career yards, and 1st in interceptions, by a lot. Good luck guys! We're hoping to reestablish our game here at home where we had our first two blowouts. Everybody is mostly healthy, and I've tinkered with the gameplan again. I'd like us to get that running game going again to open things up. We start with the ball, the way I like it. Rookie Star Harvey stops our run on the first play, hopefully not a sign of things to come. But it's three and out for us. On their first play, our star rookie, Shepherd, defends a pass, so that makes us even at least. They're three and out as well. We make a couple plays our next possession, but their rookie safety defends a 2nd down pass, and then Jochen gets sacked for only the second time this year and we punt. The first quarter ends with us stopping them, but close enough for them to kick a field goal and make it 3-0. I'm not sure why the defense is looking so bad today so far, they're really letting these guys move on us, and we know they're not that good. We bend but don't break, and keep giving the offense a chance to get going. Nothing really sparks though and we go to the locker rooms down 3-0. We back them up early in the second, and then get their punt at the 50. Next play Rosario gets spuring for 18 yards by Broderick Morris, back for the first time from injury. Vanaqs gets 12 a few plays later. We move to the 3 bbut get called back for holding, and then miss the field goal. So much for that. We end up getting backed up to our three, but get out of that jam, and then hit a long ball to Walsh. However Jochen gets cocky and tries it again, and Harvey intercepts it. For some reason Creasy is eating us up, he and his receiver Floyd mostly. They drive to our 17 then settle for a field goal attempt which they miss. We continue clicking on offense, running well, and then hitting Waslh for a 25 yard pass to the 4. Jochen scrambles two plays later for the touchdown and we're up 7-3 with 12 left in the game. Now we can put some pass pressure on, and we're able to stop their offense with a big 10 yard sack by Jennings. We go three and out (got to do something about Jochen's short passes). Jennings pressures again, but we can't stop Floyd who busts out another big gain. Then a 32 yarder to Simone, and we're getting schorched. They're down to the 9 and run it in. Now it's 10-7, with under 5 left. Banks makes a big 3rd down catch, then Schaefer pulls in a 19 yarder. We can't quite get in good field goal range so I go for it on 4th and 1, but we don't convert. They manage to get a first down and the game is over. Another one so close I could pull my hair out. Los Angeles Stars 10, Omaha Tornadoes 7 Game Notes: So we gave up 261 yards to Creasy, and didn't pick him off once. Nor did we recover a fumble. Meanwhile, jochen threw a pick and got sacked three times. We weren't playing our game out there. Vanaqs ended up going 20 for 78, while Rosario had 7 for 44. Nobody did much in the passing game, Walsh was only 2 for 5. Meanwhile we have up 9 of 10 for 136 yards to Daryl Floyd. We can't blame the loss on Bercich's missed kick given that the Stars missed one too. And I certainly wouldn't blame it on Sam Jennings, who had a forced fumble, 1.5 sacks, 2 hurries and a knock down. Maybe we can blame it on Shepherd, who had an unusually bad day, giving up 5 catches, but his compatriots at CB gave up 4 and 3 respectively, and the safety 5 more. Just a bad day back there in coverage. Cassani was the goat at offensive line, letting up 2 sacks, and going 0 for 3 on run blocking. Around the league: Rookie Harris Stanberry puts up only the 3rd 300 yard game in league history for the Racers, while Richard Flowers takes player of hte week with 285 yards and 2 touchdowns on 29 for 35 passing for the Cavaliers. Hugh Kendrick runs for 3 TDs for the Steelers, and Stanley Ogden knocks out 6 of 9 KRBs for the Outlaws. We're at 3-2, now behind 5-1 Denver in our division. We're starting to collect some disgruntled players too, including rookie QB Atkins. He has some nerve being disgruntled given his ratings. Game 6 Next up is our division rival, the Minneapolis Lakers, who won our division at 13-3 last year, but who are 1-5 at this point. Quarterback Glen Miller leads the team not so impressively, as they're last in the league in passing. But they have a pretty good two-headed running attack. Rookie OLB Goettle seems their defensive star. We're just hoping to go on the road and cream a division rival and get back in form. It's cold in Minneapolis, and they start at the 20. They are driving easily on us, but we force two fumbles on the drive, recovering the second. Sam Jennings forces it, making him my favorite rookie pickup. Our offense moves, a few runs and some good passes by Jochen, including a 22 yarder to Walsh. A big 3rd down run gets us to the 13, and a few plays later Walsh catches a TD pass. We're up 7-0. They go 3 and out, with a Jennings sack thrown in. We drive the length of the field, getting 1st and goal at the five, but we get stopped at the one. Once again I'm not able to call the play in time and so we kick. We're up 10-0. I wish there was a setting for that play. We make some progress on offense, but end up trading punts the rest of the half. In the second we continue trading punts until Minter intercepts a bad pass. I get the impression we could tear these guys apart if we just started passing all over on them, but we're still trying to pound the ball, interspersed with big pass plays. We manage another field goal before the 4th quarter. They manage a field goal to make it 13-3. We start a clockeating drive with runs and an occasional pass. It stalls but puts them at the 12 with 3:42 left. A hurry and a couple drops later, Shepherd defends a 4th down pass. Now we try to run out time. We burn two of their time outs and then our field goal is blocked. They've got it at their 20 with just udner two minutes left. They move the ball but run out of chances and we win it 13-3. Finally. Omaha Tornadoes 13, Minneapolis Lakers 3 Game notes: Our passing game really looked good, I think because I got it away from a short passing game. We got 12 first downs by passing, and Jochen was 23 of 29 for 204 yards with a TD and no INT. Ten of 17 on third downs kept it going for us and we had the ball for almost 38 minutes. The running numbers did not look good, but we had a total of 4 10+ runs that did us well. That seem to be the type of runners these guys are. Walsh was 6 of 9 for 80 yards and the TD in what was a good looking game. He was 4 of 4 for third down catch conversions! TE Reed stepped in at 5 of 5 too, from the bench. Schaeffer was 4 of 4 behind Walsh, making a case for the starting job again. But Sam Jennings was the star today in a breakout performance for the underrated DE. He had 7 tackles and two assists, 2.5 sacks. He was all over the line of scrimmage. Shepherd had a good game too with 0 cathces against him, and one defense. Vince Foster was the star of the O line with 3 of 3 run blocking on only 7 run plays. He's our backup center, but days like that would move him up. Around the league: Not much noteworthy in players of the week, except that we had 5 Omaha mentions there. We're now 4-2, behind the 5-1 Mountaineers, and guess who we play next week, at home? That's right, Denver. A win at home will put us on top of the division. Game 7 So, Denver is 5-1, riding rookie RB Martin Guzowski. He's got 500 yards rushing and another 167 receiving in 6 games. It looks like they keep to a short passing attack and have a pretty stout pass defense. They're number one in points scored on offense and number four in points allowed (we're number one, just so you know, only allowing 8 a game). It's a fairly balmy day in Omaha when we start off. They've got a scrambling QB, and he starts the game going for 4. They make a first down but then punt. We get penalized on the punt return and start from the 15. We make a first down, but Jochen gets sacked and fumbles, and they recover at our 20. We stop them with 3rd and goal at the 3, but they go up 3-0. We alternate run and pass well, driving to their 9. And then passing it into the endzone for a TD, making it 7-3. Darren Paz is all over them today, I've seen him block a pass or two already in the first. They punt, but then Jochen gets intercepted and they have it on our 25. And now Paz is hurt. We get a bad penalty and then our defense loosens up, and they end up scoring making it 10-7. We drive, and Jochen runs it 9 yards on a 3rd and 7 blitz, keeping us alive and into the redzone. Rosario runs it to the 1. It takes three tries but we drive it in and are up 14-10. They make a big 37 yard pass play before the two minute warning, getting to our 15. They don't get further though, and we block their field goal attempt. We go into the locker room up 14-10. We start off the second half with a 21 yard pass to Walsh. A 12 yard run by Vanaqs follows and we're at midfield. Soon Conway hauls in a 21 yarder and we're at the 18. A couple of plays later, Jochen throws to Rosario in the endzone and it's 21-10. We then back them up and return their punt to midfield. TE Reed picks up a first down pass and is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. For some reason the game plans before weren't getting him the ball. We get to the 13 yard line on a big third down pass. We don't get the third down try so we kick it this time and are up 24-10. We've got the pass pressure on now, but they still manage some big pass plays, and drive it in for a TD, and it's 24-17. We go 3 and out, but back them up to the 10. Jennings and Greer get a sack, and then Huie gets one too. Their punt is pathetic and we have it at their 27. We kick a field goal and are up 27-17 with 8 minutes left. I'd like to see a big play on defense here, especially since our return coverage teams seem to stink. Instead we let them drive to the 3 again, and they score again. 27-24. We elect to try to bleed the clock, running for it three times, rather than going for the first. It's probably not what I would have done given how our defense is playing. We boom a 61 yard punt. Yes! They return it 11 yards. No! Then they fumble. Yes! They recover their own fumble and advance it 7 yards. No! There's 2:14 left on the clock and they're down by three with three timeouts (we also have three). Jennings knocks a pass down. Then they throw an incomplete, but we get called for defense holding and they get a 1st. Minter defends a pass. Jennings hurries the passer. Their QB scrambles for 4. On 4th and 6 he throws a screen that Guzkowski actually converts. QB Coles scrambles again, this time for 7. A bad throw makes it 3rd and 3 with 40 seconds left and 1 time out, on the 50. This time Buddy Martinez intercepts it and it looks like we have our win. They burn their time out and we run out the clock. Denver Mountaineers 24, Omaha Tornadoes 27 Game Notes: It was a tightly played game, and the key for us I Think was converting 9 of 14 third downs, with an average YTG of 3.9. We also scored on all our red zone visits, but stopped them on one, giving us that little edge. The running game does not look good statistically, though it seemed better than normal to me. Jochen though was great, 21 of 26 for 198 yards and 2 TDs. He did have one pick and one sack. No one stood out receiving, with no one having more than 3 catches or more than 46 yards. Pass rush was mediocre, Jennings having .5 sacks, 1 block and two hurries, and the rest of the line contributing a bit. Unfortunately the other DE, Paz, got injured after having two blocks on 9 plays, and he'll be out for a little bit. Minter at the SLB spot had two defensed passes and ILB Martinez had a pick. The Mountaineers seemed to be picking on safety Stanton for 5 catches. On the line center Dawkins was 3 of 5 for KRB, while Cassani was 2 of 4 with a pancake. Around the league: This win puts us on top of our division, with the second best record in the league to the 6-2 St. Louis Trailblazers. We're 3-0 in our division, and that should treat us well as the season goes on. Nothing else stands out, but after the next game I'll do a midseason look around the league. Looking ahead we're going to Portland to play the 3-4 Eruption next week. Game 8 For some reason the Eruption seem to have benched last year's All-League quarterback, Ike Hamilton, despite his putting up an 83.5 rating in four games. Pete Thomason has put up a 53.9 rating, yet taken them to two one point victories in the last two weeks, so I guess they're going to keep riding him. Their 2nd round pick at running back is putting up good numbers with a 5.92 average. However, their defense appears to be a sieve, giving up almost 1200 rushing yards and 1200 passing yards already, while giving up 156 points. Their first round pick, 35/60 prospect at DE, Briceland, seems to be underperforming so far. Hopefully we can open up some offense on these guys, and get our defense making some more plays. It's 59 degrees and a bit windy in Portland tonight. CB Steve Wicks picks off a pass on the first play of the game, bringing it back to the 31 yard line. They hold us there though, or back a few yards, and we end up punting into the endzone. Ugh. I need to adjust a setting, I wouldn't have punted there. Now they throw a fullback screen and Lang fakes us all out and takes it 49 yards, to our 24. We push them back and they punt as well, fair's fair. However, they seem to be stopping our run game even when they're watching for a pass. We're three and out again. Our next possession Rosario makes a big 3rd and 2 run for six yards. Then Walsh makes a great 22 yard catch in double coverage to put us into enemy territory. My new fave, TE Reed drops a pass and gets a demerit. We're punting into the endzone again. That 'go for it in 4th' setting doesn't seem to ever happen. DT Huie has two pressures in the first quarter, which after his play last week makes me think his pass rush game is coming on. Johcen runs for a first down and we move to midfield. Conway grabs a 22 yard catch. Soon we're in the redzone, but a holding penalty backs us back out. We move up and get 4th and 3 at the 10. I decide to go for it against a defense that seems porous, and since I always miss this call. Nice call, 'cause Walsh catches a 10 yard TD pass, and we're up 7-0. They make a big pass play again, and then a huge run and they're on our 9. And then it's a TD pass and we're tied up. They've got some QB pressure on us, and combined with a dropped pass that stalls us. We pin them at their 2 yard line though, and next play Minter intercepts a pass and runs it back for a score! Under two minutes, Portland's trying to go for something and we intercept them again, Steve Wicks at the 2 yard line for his second of the game. We go into the locker room up 14-7. We start off the second at our 10. Our drive and a penalty on them backs them up to their 14 on their first possession. They drive it well though, and they're in our redzone. We hold them briefly but then they score on 3rd and 11 and it's 14-14. Their pass defense is playing well, and when they don't we seem to drop the ball. But a penalty gives us another chance. We drive into their territory at the beginning of the 4th, and finally Reed makes a big 3rd down play. He makes another to get us into the red zone. Walsh drops another pass and we're forced to kick, and of course it's blocked. We get called for pass interference on the next play to move them up. They cross midfield with 10 minutes left in the game. With nine minutes left they throw a TD and are up 21-14. We get a good return to the 41. However, we can't do anything and have to punt again. This is a vital possession. And it doesn't look good as they bust a nine yard run, a six yard catch. We get flagged for pass interference again on a vital 3rd down and now they're threatening to increase the lead. This one is slipping away from us. For some reason we expect a pass play and let up two big runs. A big gameplan error there. It keeps happening, and by the time I realize I should take over playcalling it's 2:20 left in the game and they're on my 6 yard line. Somehow they adjusted better in the second half. They kick the field goal to go up by 10 with a minute and a half. Of course now Jochen's just throwing bombs and that doesn't work. I think the AI should work on medium length passes instead in that situation. We lose a stupid game, and we're 5-3 now at midseason. Omaha Tornadoes 14, Portland Eruption 24 Game notes: Somehow, despite throwing three interceptions these guys managed to walk on us in the end. They got three first downs by penalty, and we gave up 5 of 9 third downs. We also didn't produce from that first pick we got. I would have gone for it on that 4th down and maybe that would have made a difference. Then that blocked field goal was another wasted opportunity. Rosario and Vanaqs have been perfectly splitting rushing lately, but they couldn't get anything done today. Jochen either, he was 16 of 35 for 126 yards. He had three bad throws, three passes dropped, 7 hurries and 4 defended passes. Walsh was 2 of 6, Conway was 1 of 6. Both had a drop. Notably our nickel back was near the top with 5 tackles. They just were going over the top on us, and the sacks weren't really there. Around the league: Lucky for us Denver got shut out by the Quake and so we're still on top of the division in a three way tie with them and Kansas City going into the midseason. Last edited by Autumn : 01-16-2008 at 09:12 PM.

01-16-2008, 09:54 PM	#25
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Midseason Look Here's the Tornadoes after 8 games. We've slipped in the last couple weeks, after starting as the highest scoring team, with the fewest point allowed, and the best turnover margin. Our pass rush is still looking good, keyed by Jennings especially (hopefully he's masked, he's certainly playing well). But our pass defense has gotten bad. The running game has tanked after the first couple games too. I'm not sure what to do there, switching runners hasn't made much difference. The game plan hasn't seemed to key it either. Walsh and Conway have been playing adequately, but the stats suggest I should give Shaeffer a bigger role. I might try moving him up to the starter and see what happens. The league standings: We've obviously got a strong division again. Last year we were at the bottom of it with an 8-8 record. This year will be another close race it seems. Luckily so far we're 3-0, so I hope to not die of tiebreakers this time. Given the odd nature of this league, I thought people might be interested in just seeing some of the league leaders. I'd be glad to look up any other stats people might wonder about.

01-21-2008, 10:49 AM	#26
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	1921, Games 9 and 10 Game 9 This week we draw last year's champion, the San Francisco Quake. This year they're 4-4 so far, behind their 5th round rookie QB, Darnell Boone. They're third in the league in total yardage behind a decent running game, and a four receiver attack including former Tornado Brian Kinney. On defense, of note is their cornerback tandem of O'Neill and Aquino, who have 8 interceptions between them. That might explain why they're so tough on the long ball. They seem to give up the short pass though, so hopefully we'll have some success. We're favored at home. Their first possession is three and out as we key on their passing game. Conway has a good punt return, but we're not able to capitalize on the drive because, guess what, Aquino makes an interception on a pass to Schaeffer. It was a seemingly safe short pass, so it seems keeping the passing game short isn't going to fix things. Jennings forces a fumble on their next series but they recover. He seems to do that a lot. Still, we make them punt. Rosario busts a 22 yard run on our next possession. Later on the drive Vanaqs busts out a 23 yard touchdown run and we're on the board, 7-0. Their next possession we get a hurry, a blocked pass and then Shepherd intercepts Boone, and runs the pick back 32 yards for a touchdown and his first pick of the year. Their next possession they hit a big pass play, and then a 20 yard run to get into our territory. We seem to be looking only for the pass, and so they're able to run, run, run it in for a TD. Obviously something is wrong with my game plan as I seem to be expecting only a pass on every single down. As you can imagine, this doesn't work well against the run. Still, we hold them to a missed field goal. We put together a good drive that stalls at the 3, so we kick the field goal. It's 17-7 at the two minute warning, and they drive the length of the field with a 46 yard pass to the tight end. They run it in and make it 17-14 before the half. The depth chart changes I made are working well at getting Harmon, my best receiving tight end, into the game. He makes some key catches on a drive that ends up in a 11 yard TD pass to Banks. It's now 24-17. The Quake puts Frankie Young in the game, to replace Boone. We're running to milk the clock, and it's not getting us anywhere at this point, so we keep trading punts. Their passing game under Young can't get anywhere against our intense pressure. It's a stalemate, until we get our running game going a bit, taking advantage of the Quake coming out in pass defense, and just better running. This long 4th quarter drive eats up time, and we recover our own potentially costly fumble. We kick a field goal and they get it back near the two minute warning, down by 13. Their desperation drive ends when Young fumbles the ball and Martinez runs it to their 5 yard line. They hold us there but we kick the FG to make it 30-14. That's the final score. San Francisco Quake 14, Omaha Tornadoes 30 Game Notes: Jochen had a great game, 18 of 20 for 163 yards and a TD. His interception on the first possession didn't end up hurting us, and he had a 96.5 rating. Meanwhile, the running game looked good due to those two 20 yard runs on one drive, but was in actuality as iffy as usual, though we did good on third down, going 7/14 overall. For some reason Banks, the 2nd FL, got 4 targets (catching all) while Conway, the starter only got one. Putting Schaeffer as the #1 SE got him a 3/4 game for 30 yards, but Walsh didn't show up at all as the backup. I don't like that, and for some reason Rosario ended up with three targets, even though I thought I had eliminated him from the pass attack. Their rushing attack worked well against us, but they had to drop it once we got ahead. We seem to play great with a lead, and so-so otherwise. In particular our pass rush benefited, with Paz having 1.5 sacks, a block and 2 hurries, and the rest of the line contributing as well. No defensed passes at all, though, and our nickel back gave up 4 catches again. On the O line, T Cassani was a monster at 5 of 6 KRB, while C Dawkins disappointed with 1 of 10. His back up went 2 of 2, and maybe I should be looking at moving him up. Around the league: Denver won as well, keeping them right behind us in the division. Only three 200 yard passing games this week, and two 100 yard rushers, only one 100 yard receiving game. Offensive yards still seem hard to come by in this rookie league. Chicago kicker Don Gray sets a record of 19 points in a game with 6 of 6 field goal kicking. Next week is a big game against division rivals the Kansas City Cowboys. They're one game behind us, and so a loss to them would muddy the waters even more. We stomped them week one, and hope to repeat it on the road. Game 10 Kansas City just came off of a shut out at home against the Lakers, and so they're eager for a win, I'm sure. they have a three pronged running game that racks up a lot of yards, but not very efficiently. England heads up a short passing game. Their strength seems to be in defense, with one of the best rated pass defenses in the league. Their defense shows it at the start, letting runs by, but shutting down Jochen so far. We get a fumble but aren't able to do anything with it. They drive well with the running game and come up with a field goal to make it 3-0. They're driving again when Stanton gets a big interception. We make a few plays this time, and seem to gain confidence, our gains getting bigger and bigger. We get it in the endzone with Rosario on a RB screen, and it's 7-3. They get it to start the second half, but we hold them to three and out. Walsh picks up a key third down pass, and then Vanaqs busts a runf or 26 yards. Conway gets seriously injured on the play, but we have it at their seven. Two plays later another screen to Rosario gets us the touchdown and a 14-3 lead. We trade turnovers, until on their next drive Kansas City is looking likely to score when Shepherd picks up his second interception of the year, running it back 33 yards to midfield. It's into the fourth quarter, but we don't go into ball control just yet, using some key passes to keep the ball moving. The running game is still effective, until we get to the redzone. We're forced to kick, but we miss, apparently due to a bad hold by Jochen. Still, we're able to do just enough with each possession to milk the clock down. Until the two minute warning they can't manage to pass against our pass rush. We run out the time on our second win in a row. Omaha Tornadoes 14, Kansas City Cowboys 3 Game Notes: This followed the pattern of showing our strength with a lead. It seems we need to jump up on somebody to play our strengths. The game stats definitely do not look impressive, though if we hadn't missed two field goals the end score would look even nicer. We obviously compensated for KC's tough pass defense by hitting the running backs. Wide receivers only saw 9 targets out of 22 today. Jochen had a good rating, going 15 of 22 for only 91 yards but two touchdowns. Vanaqs and Rosario had their typical ho-hum day, some big gains evening out lackluster performance. The defense came up big with three interceptions, and a couple fumble recoveries. The pass rush only got two sacks, but Jennings had 5 big hurries. The switchup in the secondary might have helped a bit, with only one catch against the new nickel back. My switch at center didn't produce great results, but T Cassani was 5 of 11 for run blocking. The biggest blow comes after the game though, when we find that top FL Conway is out for the rest of the year with damage to the knee. Luckily I think we have some decent talent behind him, guys who have already made catches. We end up switching Conway to injured reserve in order to sign a new punt returner. Around the league: Denver loses to Minneapolis, and that puts me alone at the top of the division, a good spot since I also have a 4-0 division record. Bryant Hentschel of Pittsburgh has a big day with three interceptions and two defensed passes. Cornelius Creasy, the career leader in interceptions who tore us apart for the Stars is player of the week with 210 yards passing. Rookie Junior Shepherd of the Destroyers moves up to second in the rushing stats with a 135 yard game.

01-21-2008, 11:17 AM	#27
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	1921, Games 11 to 13 Game 11 The Detroit Wheels show up in Omaha 7-3 as well, coming off a big loss to the Blizzard. They have a weak run offense complemented by a very accurate passing game run by Dusty Harvey. Their defense is their strength, in the top ten in most categories, led by first round pick SS Patrick Kaplan, owner of a fantastic 92.8 PD percent, and DE Cole Mannix leading the team with 8.5 sacks. Jochen coughs up a fumble on our first possession. We keep trading punts, our offense looking better than the Wheels, but not able to move enough to get anything. Stanton intercepts the ball at the 35 yard line, and gives us a good chance at a score. And we do it, converting on 3rd and goal at the 5 for a touch down pass to Harmon. The Wheels follow up with a drive of their own though, with the "defense not moving quickly on this cold day." They get backed up by a tripping penalty, but unnecessary roughness on our part turns 3rd and 20 into first and goal. We hold them to the field goal and it's 7-3 at the two mnute warning. Jochen drives us past midfield, and with less than a minute we're in field goal range. On third down we get sacked and almost lose another fumble, pushing us back to the 32 yard line. Bercich makes a 49 yarder, and we're up 10-3 at the half. Our first drive of the second half results in their rookie star, Kaplan, intercepting a deep pass to Schaefer. They kick a field goal to make it 10-6. Then on the subsequent kickoff, Danielson fumbles the ball and Detroit recovers at the 5. Our defense is stiff as a board though, forcing a field goal that they botch. We drive to midfield and then pin them at the 1 with our punt. In a reversal of fortune, Perrin tackles Harvey on a QB run, forcing a fumble that Minter returns two yards for a touchdown. It's now 17-6. Their next drive results in MLB Martinez intercepting a pass and returning it to their 26. They hold us to a field goal, making it 20-6. Harvey makes some great passes on the next drive for the Wheels, but a holding call backs them up and he loses his steam. However, our next possession, Vanaqs coughs up the ball and they recover on our 31. We hold them to a field goal, yet again. We're not able to move, and so only milk the clock and punt. We block their punt and so get it back at their 33, with 8 minutes left. Time to ice the game, I think, if we can hold on to the ball. A 13 yard run by Vanaqs moves us into the redzone, and we add a field goal at under five minutes, to make it 23-9. Now Harvey is forced to throw long, and our pressure gets to him. I also note we start blitzing less, which I think helps, we were blitzing far too much earlier. They go four and out, and Vanaq's 11 yard run ices the game for us. He adds more icing by breaking a run for a 22 yard touch down at the two minute warning. Detroit Wheels 9, Omaha Tornadoes 30 Game Notes: Most notable to me was the fumbling. We fumbled 5 times, losing three. We were lucky to come away with a win that way, these guys must be punishing hitters. Vanaqs comes away with his best game of the season, 23 for 121 yards, and a touchdown. I did adjust his playing time this game, so maybe that helped. Of course the 22 yarder at the end helped too. Jochen was his typical self, 18 of 24 for 122. He threw one interception and was sacked three times, which is a lot for him. With my starting FL Conway out, I moved Walsh to his spot and put Schaeffer in the SE slot. Schaeffer came up big with 4 of 5 catches. Banks was 4 of 5 while Walsh only caught 2 of 5 from the flanker spot, and one of those he fumbled. I may move those folks around for next week. Pretty decent run blocking all around. The safeties were the stars of the defense, combining for 15 tackles, 3 assists and an interception. Only two sacks today, a block and 3 hurries from the line. CB Shepherd uncharacteristically gave up 4 catches. Of big note to me too is my home attendance. Our first home gave drew 57,900. This last home game shot up to 61,300, 2,000 more than our last home game. It seems our winning ways are making a difference. Around the league: Richie Brady had a big 3 TD performance at QB for the Steelers this week. Six 200 yard passers today, and 6 100 yard rushers as well. The unfortunately named Kevin Steptoe had the biggest day at WR with 135 yards. I notice that Artie Blackburn was picked up by the Cincinatti Eagles, and has started three games for them, posting a 37.4 rating with 1 TD and 6 interceptions. We're now 8-4, with the rest of the division having 7, 6 and 5 wins respectively. We've got a lot of disgruntled folks though, I'm going to have to look at the line up carefully this week. I can't renegotiate anybody's contract - is it because they're all one year deals, or because they're only two to one year veterans? Anyway, big game at home next week against the Oilers to increase our lead. Game 12 The Houston Oilers come into Omaha at 4-6-1, and on a three game losing streak. They boast a solid rush defense bolstered by two draft picks in the defensive line, Clifton Wynn and Preston Ruegamer, and one at middle linebacker, Winston Kuhlman. Their offense is not so notable looking, headed by Juan Salpala, who throws a lot of picks but looks like he does well in the red zone and on third down. Shepherd gets an incterception in the endzone after the Oilers drive well. Our offense is playing too conservatively though and doesn't get anything out of its first two drives. Jochen coughs up a fumble on a sack our next possession and they get it at our 24 yard line. A timely sack is followed by another interception in the endzone and we dodge another bullet. We seem stuck in a rut of getting some good runs, but then throwing screens on 3rd down. Meanwhile they're breaking our tackles left and right. We seem to be missing the presence of OLB Minter on defense, who is doubtful today. His replacement gets a key sack in the redzone though, and though we don't pick up either of the two fumbles on the drive it results in just a field goal. Our next drive Vanaqs breaks free and runs 59 yards for a touchdown, putting us up 7-3. Their rookie Wynn gets a sack on our next possession, stopping us, and Houston tries again, driving at the two minute warning. A sack and a defensed pass stop them though, and it's 7-3 at the half. We finally put a drive together in the third, with some key third down conversions. Holding backs us up to their 33, (why does holding alwyas happen on 1st down?). Bercich comes through though with another 49 yard field goal, putting us up 10-3. We stop them at our 43, and take over at our own six. Our running game is looking familiar to them, and so we're a bit premature in attempting to milk the clock. Those screen passes on third and six aren't helping either. We have to punt though, but Havens knocks out a 67 yarder, putting them at their own four. We hold them there and end up with the ball on their 34. A penalty kills any movement, and we end up punting from the 35 (what????). I really would like to adjust this situation. No way I'm punting into the endzone here. We of course immediately let them rush down the field, and they are going for it on 4th down at the 23, and get it, getting into the redzone with just over two minutes left. Jennings gets a big sack. And then Sampson picks off the next pass. We are attempting to run out the last two minutes when Vanaqs fumbles on a 9 yard run, but we get it back. He then picks up a first down, seemingly icing the game, but fumbles it again, and this time they recover at our 42, with 1:33 and one timeout. Luckily Salpala isn't that good at long bombs, and his one key completion gets called back for a penalty. This time we're able to kneel and run the time out. Houston Oilers 3, Omaha Tornadoes 10 Game Notes: We got lucky, fumbling three times and losing two, but coming out on top. Our three interceptions, and Jochen's zero, helped. We went 6 of 16 on third down, while holding them to 1 of 13, and that was key. Vanaqs comes out with his second 100 yard game in a row, 18 for 101 yards and a touchdown. Of course that was basically just that one 59 yarder, and nothing else. Our running game didn't do a lot today. Jochen was accurate, at least, going 18 of 25 for only 96 yards. For some reason again Tyrone Banks, the backup WR, got the most catches, going 5 of 6, while Schaefer hauled in only 4 of 9. Walsh was only 1 of 1. I'm not sure why his production has dropped off so much. Perhaps he's being double teamed now that Conway is out? All three cornerbacks had a pick, and only allowed two catches between the three of them, so that's a good day for them. The safeties again led the team in tackles, and they gave up 8 catches between the two of them, with only two defensed. Still, it was a good day pass rushing for the line, with six sacks three hurries and a knockdown between them all. We pulled out a win, but the loss of Conway seems to have really hurt the passing game, and our running game is as off and on as always. I'm worried about our prospects going forward. Around the League: Denver loses, dropping to 7-5 as we move up to 9-3. Minneapolis at 6-6 is the bottom of our division, so it's a strong showing all around. But it will be a hard race for a wild card in our conference, with Pittsburgh and St. Louis both at 9-3 in the Rust Belt Division. Parity seems to be settling in, with no team in our conference worse than 4-8, and none better than 9-3. The West Coast Division has three 6-6 teams, and one 5-7. Ugh. Junior Shepherd and Hugh Kendrick are battling it out for the rushing title, the only two backs over 1000 yards so far. Vanaqs has moved into fourth place with his last two games, and me giving him more carries. Still, my RB duo is nothing but consistent, getting most of their yards on a few 10+ runs. Combined Rosario and Vanaqs have 40, while the league leader has 29. Rookie Harris Stanberry of the Racers is leading the league in passing yardage so far, but it's a close contest. It's Rufus Chandler of the Trailblazers though leading the league in rating and touchdowns. It looks like we'll be lucky to see a 1,000 yard receiver in the league, the leader's only at 691 right now. Receivers seem to be the biggest difference in this all rookie league. We're ranked number two in the power ratings this week, nearly tied with the 9-3 Steelers. This is the home stretch, the last four games that can push us into the playoffs or doom us to misery. Game 13 We're back on the road, visiting Cleveland on the lake to face the 5-7 Hammers. They lead the league in pass attempts, but that's only gotten QB Harden a 52.2 rating. Their offense seems a bit anemic, but possessing some big play receivers when they do get a catch. They've only amassed 19 points in their last three games, so I'm hopeful. They seem to be suffering from injuries, especially in their rookie defensive stars. We've never played the Hammers, as they're from the other conference, so this will be a new one for us. They start out sacking us and then forcing a three and out, not good. Havens booms a 52 yard punt though. When we get the ball back, Rosario busts a screen pass for 19 yards. That keys a drive that takes us to their redzone on a Walsh catch (finally). Vanaqs busts open a 13 yard run to make it first and goal. Rosario takes the next handoff for a score. We seem to be calling the wrong plays on defense, and they drive to our side of the field. We stop them at the 20 though and their kicker misses his field goal. Rosario follows up with a 16 yard run on our next play. We get to midfield but are intercepted on a pass to Rusty Seinfeld (hello! pass to Walsh!) They drive into the endzone, despite two holding calls, with a clutch 9 yard run on third and seven to keep them alive. We're backed up to our six on the kickoff return. Walsh makes a big 3rd down catch to get us out of there, and we're back in business. We still have to punt though, but we pin them at their own six. We hold them there, and end up at midfield. A facemask penalty moves us to the 35, but Jochen's not finding any open men. Sacked on third down, we're forced to punt it into the endzone at the two minute mark. It's 7-7 starting the second half. We stop them on 4th and 1, with injured linebacker Minter making the big tackle. Taking over at their 34 yard line, Vanaqs takes it 10 yards, and soon we're in their redzone. A big 7 yard run on 3rd and three gets us 1st and goal, and Rosario runs it in for a touchdown two plays later. We get backed up to our 5 our next series, and it looks bad until Rosario bursts into the open field for a 34 yard run. A penalty backs us up again, as well as another ill advised pass to Seinfeld. But Walsh pulls us out with a 18 yard catch on 3rd and 18 and we're at midfield. Jochen soon coughs up a fumble on a sack, which is starting to become routine, and now Cleveland has it at midfield. We hold them there and they're not able to make anything out of it. We construct a nice 4th quarter drive with big runs by both running backs. Even Rusty Seinfeld takes a screen pass 7 yards. But we stall at their 31 and miss the kick. Their wide receivers are eating us up, as I feared, and they drive to our six. They score, and now it's tied at 14 with 7 minutes left. Oh for all those missed opporutnities. Rosario starts our drive out with a 12 yard run. Vanaqs keeps it going with a 7 yard run on third down. Defensive holding keeps us going with five minutes left, on their 42. Schaeffer drops a pass, and we throw a screen for some reason on 3rd down and we punt into the endzone. Now we need some defense. But it's not there as we give up a 25 yard pass, again. Then an 11 yarder. At least they're not eating up the clock. An 8 yard pass next play. For some reason we're expecting run, which is a bit silly here. They miss a couple passes, and then blessedly miss their field goal attempt. Now it's our turn as Banks pulls in a 22 yarder taking us to their 35 yard line. We throw an incomplete, and then get sacked, however. A pass interference call saves us, and we get first down at their 38. But a long pass gets tipped and intercepted at their 15. Now we have to keep them from driving for a score. Should have been running it, idiots. Minter and Sampson make key pass defenses, and we get it back at our 31 with 45 seconds and three time outs. However, our first pass gets intercepted. We force them three and out and get it at the 20 with 8 seconds. Looks like we're going to overtime. We win the toss. After one good pass we get sacked twice in a row, and even fumble it and recover it ourselves at the four. Bad playcalling, again, as our running game was working well in the 4th. Of course it's an awful punt from there, and they get it at our 34. We'd need a miracle now. We don't et it as Nixon makes a 15 yard catch on third down, and then catches a touchdown to win it. Game Notes: A really gutsy performance on defense, but a really poorly coached game. Our offense was actually clicking today, but the coaches got away from it. Jochen also had a very poor game, ending up 21 of 38 for 179 yards and three interceptions, but that was actually better than he played in the beginning. He also got sacked 7 times, which was more than the first half of the season. I'm surprised the coach didn't bench the guy. The running game was great. Vanaqs had 84 yards in 16 carries, while Rosario had 96 in 12, with two touchdowns. They were 4 of 4 for third down conversions running. Walsh was in the game this time with 4 catches for 50 yards, but on 8 targets. He was 3 of 3 for third down conversions, however. We fumbled 4 times, with only one forced, and no interceptions, a big turn around from our usual great turnover margin. Bercich missed a kick that would have won it (though admittedly so did their kicker). We got some pass pressure, Jennings had three hurries, a knock down and a half a sack and we had 3 sacks all together. But Harvey Shepherd was the real goat of the game, giving up 7 catches, with no defensive plays. This guy usually only gives up one, but he was schooled today by Nixon, Alfred and Zellars, Nixon going for 101 yards and two TDs. Their DE, Brian Dorn, was a monster with 7 tackles, 3 hurries, and 3.5 sacks. Meanwhile most of our passes came against their OLB Gadberry (9 catches allowed). Scottie Dawkins was the only offensive linemen to have a good game, going 3 of 4 and no sacks allowed. Around the League: Jerald England of the Cowboys gets offensive player of the week with near perfect 27 of 30 passing for 228 yards. It's a big running day, with 8 100 yard runners, including Martin Guzowski, the rookie, picking up 3 touchdowns. Clifton Wynn of Houston eclipses Brian Dorn by picking up 4 sacks and 6 tackles in his game. Denver won handily over Buffalo, so they and Kansas City are right behind us at 8-5. Minneapolis is only one game behind that, and we play them next week. A win is vital if we don't want to sink down into the morass.

01-27-2008, 11:53 AM	#28
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	1921 Games 14-16 Game 14 The Minneapolis Lakers may be at the bottom of our division, at 7-6, but they have clearly one of the best ranked defenses in the game, #1 in yards gained against and points scored against, and at least number 7 in almost every category. Their one weakness, third down conversions, is our biggest strength, but I'm worried about our off and on offense today. Offensively they're one of the top running teams, led by Jimmie McGee in his second year, and backup Eugene Myers who comes from San Fran with a championship ring. Glen Miller leads a passing attack that has the fewest attempts in the league, and is at the bottom in nearly everything else other than completion percentage. They have a solid offensive line, and the best turnover margin in the league. Losing this game would completely muddy the waters in our division, while of course winning it would keep us afloat on top. We squeaked out a win 13-3 in their place earlier this year, we're hoping to win convincingly here at home for the last regular season game in Omaha. They come out running, picking up a first down and 20 yards before their first pass play ends up in a sack by Greer, and a fumble recovery by Sampson (starting in place of the injured Wicks). However, Jochen gets intercepted on the one yard line and we get nothing from it. I'm not sure why we're looking for pass plays on third and one. Or nearly all the time when they're a clearly runing team. Should have adjusted those settings better. After trading punts for a while, they get a couple long plays and end up in our redzone. We hold them there though and they settle for the field goal, and go up 3-0 in the second quarter. We punt then get another big break when we pick up a fumble and return it to their six yard line. Vanaqs catches a play action pass in the endzone, and it's 7-3. Their kicker manages a 52 yard field goal to make it 7-6. Jochen gets intercepted on the next series after a big intentional grounding penalty, and they have it at our 36. Martinez and Shepherd combine on some drive ending tackles though, and hold them to a field goal again. With three minutes left in the first half, Jochen starts driving, completing three passes in a row to get us over the midfield by the two minute warning. He then carefully drives us to the six yard line, but we fumble the ball with 21 seconds left. Our chance to go ahead is gone. Watching the play by plays I'm constantly impressed by how good Buddy Martinez is. He gets a lot of tackles, as the middle linebacker. But it's the tackles he makes that's impressive, constantly cutting short long gains or catching people before they get first downs. We trade punts in the third. In the fourth we finally drive into their side of the field, but get backed up by a illegal use of hands penalty. We get back to the 23 though, and convert a 3rd and 3 with an offsides penalty on the Lakers. Another third down conversion gets us to the 11, and a few plays later Rusty Seinfeld catches his first touchdown pass. We're up 14-9. The Lakers quickly cross midfield on their next possession. We stuff them, but their miracle kicker somehow hits a 56 yarder, "a nice kick in a hostile environment." Again. It's 14-12 with three and a half minutes left. We go three and out, but eat up a minute on the clock and make them burn two timeouts. Blitzing two cornerbacks? Maybe not a good idea. Still, they convert once on 4th down, but luckily the long ball game isn't what they're good at, and Sheldon intercepts Miller's pass. We're able to run out the clock on a very tight, and very vital 14-12 win. Minneapolis Lakers 12, Omaha Tornadoes 14 Game Notes: Our ability to hold the team to field goals, while scoring touchdowns, comes through for us here. Rosario had the biggest day, as the backup, going 13 for 71 yards, while Vanaqs was held to 30 yards. We did not at all slow down their running game, letting them go for 129 yards and an average of above 5 yards a carry. Jochen had a mixed day, 24 of 35 for 182 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT. He seems to be throwing a lot of picks these days, after starting off so careful. Schaeffer was his big target, with 8 catches for 74 yards. Banks pulled in another four. Walsh was an unimpressive 2 for 11 yards on 5 targets. He's got the rookie slump I think. Martinez had 11 tackles and 4 assists against this heavy running attack. Not much of a pass rush against anyone, and Shepherd gave up three cathces today. Around the League: Harris Tripplett has a big 4 touchdown passing day for the Providence Whalers. Al Chandler, OLB for the Louisville Chargers has a big 10 tackle, 2.5 sack day. J. C. Izzard of the Blizzards (hah) has a three interception performance. I just noticed that kicker Marty Long has the most 50+ kicks this season. Appropriate. Denver wins as well at Kansas City, meaning our division goes 10, 9, 8, 7. There won't be any early clinching in this division, but at least we have the tiebreaker on Denver, so far. Of course our last game of the season is in Denver. That will be vital. But for now it's the Buffalo Blizzard we're worrying about. Game 15 The Blizzard are 5-9, and not really notable in anything. Their defense is consistently bottom of the heap in everything. Offensively, they're mid to bottom in everything as well. They're led by D. J. Sciuto, a free agent from Chicago, who so far has a 62.6 rating this year. Their leading rusher has 655 yards in 14 games. The one thing they seem good at is getting turnovers on defense, probably helped by their two ballhawks, Izzard and Knechtel in the secondary. It's a balmy 44 degrees in Buffalo in December. We start off by trading punts. They look bad, and we look ineffective, doing things like throwing to Seinfeld for 0 yards on 3rd and 5. They finally break something open with two big pass plays to get into the redzone, and end up running it in from first and goal. We follow up with a decent drive and end up with Rosario running in a touchdown himself. Jochen is looking very sharp when he passes towards the first down markers. I see that the Blizzard are starting backup QB Fertwagner for their injured starter. He may be an improvement. They march down the field after a huge kick return and score making it 14-7. We get it back before the half, but punt it. We'll get the ball to start the second half, down 14-7. Farr and Sampson combine to recover a fumble on a long pass play, but we can't make points out of it, since we fumble it right back to them. Before the end of the third, we manage to drive it into the redzone. Harmon picks up a key third down catch to give us first and goal. Then Harmon picks up the touchdown on third down, and we're tied 14-14 at the beginning of the 4th. A short punt gives us the ball at midfield. A personal foul advances us, but we foolishly don't play for four downs, and end up punting, pinning them at the 7. They convert a third and one to get out of danger. However, Minter makes one of his patented interceptions at midfield, and we get another chance. Or so I think, but a 0 yard screen pass later, Jochen scrambles with the ball and coughs it up. This time Sheldon comes through, intercepting Fertwagner at our 24. We need to score, and eat up the clock on this drive. Vanaqs tries to give it away with another fumble, but we recover. However, even in pass D, they stuff our run game. It's Walsh who saves us with a key 3rd down catch for 13 yards. This drive is taking too long to get nowhere though, and it's 3rd and 1 at their 45 with just over two minutes left. Jochen tries to go long to Walsh, but it's defended. However, we pick up the pass interference call on the play, and get it at their 16. A masterful call, I must say. I wisely decide to take over the play calling, as the coach tries to throw it into the endzone. Tied with less than a minute left on their 16? Let's not start throwing, thanks. Vanaqs bursts a ten yard run against their pass defense (wouldn't everyone run in this case??). The strategy works and Vanaqs runs it in for a touchdown with 44 seconds left. We're up 21-14 when Bercich boots a touchback. The Blizzard manages to get one pass out, but a blocked pass and then a sack later, time is up on them, and we pull out a win on the road that should guarantee us a division title. Omaha Tornadoes 21, Buffalo Blizzard 14 Games Notes: First, the bad news is that Banks, our backup flanker is out for the season, to go along with Conway, our starter at flanker. We're thin there and may even need to sign somebody, I'll have to see. I'll need Walsh to start stepping up. Vanaqs was the big story, going for 128 yards in 20 carries today, and a TD. Rosario contributed 26 yards and another TD. It should be noted that Vanaqs pickd up 42 yards of that on one run, in a drive that ended with a punt. Johcen was near perfect going 25 for 30, but only for 152 yards. Too many of those were on 0 yard screen passes. Ugh. Still he posted a 98.9 rating to stay near the top of the league. Schaeffer was the main man with five catches for 32 yards, but backup SE Rusty Seinfeld showed up to pick up another 5 catches. I'd like to lower his playing time behind Walsh, but with another injury at receiver I'll need everybody in there. Fertwagner threw for 211 yards against us, but it was his two picks that gave us the game, along with Walsh's clutch plays at the end. Vanaqs had three fumbles today, and his fumble numbers more than anything may cost him a spot here next year. Still, he went over 100 yards today, so we'll applaud him for now. Around the League: There's a ton of tight divisional races. I tried writing them up, but you just have to see it to believe it. It should be noted that Dan McDaniel had a 304 yard game for the New Orleans Jazz, big numbers for this league. For some reason, Vanaq's huge running day didn't get even a mention, even though it was clearly the biggest, and there were only two other 100 yard runners. Indianapolis had a big day on defense, with 5.5 sacks between their defensive ends. Game 16 We make the adjustments for injury, putting Banks on injured reserve so we can sign a fifth receiver. He looks pretty good at 3rd down and big play and avoiding drops, so a good fit. There's not much else to do but fine tune the game plan. Let's hope for a big win in Denver. I truly have not realized until this point that a win would clinch us the #1 seed in our conference. What a crazy league. Now I'm nervous. We squeaked out a win against Denver in Omaha earlier, 27-24. They're now 10-5, and a strong team. They don't turnover the ball, are second in the league in scoring while third in points allowed. That comes on what seems to be just a generally effective offense and a generally stingy defense, with a good pass rush, second only to ours. Stars on their defense line are DT Snee and DEs Bernard and Pozy. Guzowski leads the team in rushing, and while the rookie is only averaging 3.72 yards per carry, he leads the league with 12 touchdowns. Sherman Coles is a decent passer, favoring the short pass to Guzowski who's killer coming out of the backfield, averaging 10 yards per catch. It's 18 degrees in mile high Denver. They start the game with a big return, followed by a drive taking them into our redzone. Huie gets a sack to push them back out, we contain a Guzowski screen, and stop him on 3rd and 13 to hold them to a field goal. Vanaqs starts our day with a 11 yard run. But Schaefer ends that drive with a fumble on a 9 yard catch. Now they've got it on our side of the field again. They trick us on first down with a 21 yard pass, but two penalties and solid defense by Shepherd hold them to another three. Rusty Seinfeld gets the first real catch of the day to start off our next drive, but a loss of a yard on a 3rd and 1 screen forces us to punt. Guzowski busts one for 19 to get them back to midfield. A timely penalty forces them to throw, and Minter comes up big with a key interception. They stop us handily after one first down, however, and it's a punt again. We trade punts in the second quater. Jochen gets intercepted at our 37 and they're threatening to score again. Our offense just isn't doing anything, and while we're holding them from scoring much, their offense is looking much much better. A penalty saves us here and they're forced to punt into the endzone. We manage to drive to midfield at the two minute warning, but aren't able to get anywhere from there, and punt it to their two. So, it's 6-0 at half time. We start off with a good drive in the second, but double penalties back us up to 1st and 25, and we end up punting. The Mountaineers come out throwing and march across midfield. A stop on 3rd and 1 holds them to the field goal, and it's 9-0. We sack them twice in a row on their next drive, but they convert 3rd and 20 with a long pass. We hold them on 3rd and 6, only to get the ball back on our 7 at the end of the third quarter. Our next drive Jochen throws a couple nice balls, but then is injured and out of the game. Untested rookie Timothy Atkins comes in and takes the helm. The running game keeps him out of immediate trouble, and we end up pinning the Mountaineers at their 2, down 9-0 with 10 minutes left. We nearly recover a fumble, but instead end up letting Coles scramble for a key first down. We give up another third down conversion on the drive, and our chances are looking slim as they run down the clock. For some reason we're expecting pass at this stage, which is ridiculous. Still, we give up a 7 yard run on 3rd and 6 that basically ends our chances. They're in field goal range at the two minute warning, and soon are running out the clock. Omaha Tornadoes 0, Denver Mountaineers 12 Game Notes: This unfortunate outing may have been a case of poor gameplanning, I'm not sure, as the offense just couldn't do anything most of the day. Vanaqs didn't look bad going 11 for 73 yards, but Jochen was not his normal self, going 14 for 25 with an interception before getting hurt. Most of the targets were to running backs and tight ends, so I guess Denver just managed to shut down the wide receivers today. Guzowski put up 99 yards on us, and another 30 receiving yards. Cole was 19 of 26 for 233 yards. Not a good defensive outing either. Shepherd got pawned, giving up 5 catches. Still, our defense did their job, holding them to 4 field goals and no touchdowns. They're definitely a bend but don't break unit. Of course the biggest news is Jochen, who pulled his calf muscle and won't be full strength until next year. That means we head into the playoffs with a couple of rusty rookies on the shelf. Well, QB Atkins has been very angry about his playing time, so maybe he'll get a chance to show his stuff. Around the League: Luckily our 5-1 divisional record gave us the tiebreaker, and we end up winning the Midwest Division and go 11-5. Indianapolis wins the number one seed though with an 11-4-1 record. Still, a bye is a bye, and we'll get one home game out of it. I'll look at the situation around the league in the next post. Last edited by Autumn : 01-27-2008 at 11:55 AM.

01-27-2008, 12:15 PM	#29
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	We'll take a look at the statistical leaders and results after the playoffs. For now I'm pumped to have won my division and gotten a first round bye. Things don't look too hopeful though, with Jochen injured. Atkins was an underrated 3rd round pick, who I have a feeling might be better than he looks. But he hasn't played in the regular season, and doesn't show any visible development. There's nothing we can do but give him the wheel though and hope for a miracle. Looking around the league in week 16, Indianapolis had to win to keep their division title and a shot at the #1 seed. Pittsburgh and St. Louis were playing each other, with the winner very likely to get a wild card slot and the loser not. In their division San Antonio and Oklahoma City were also playing each other head to head, the winner to clinch the division, the loser to miss the playoffs. San Francisco needs a win at Seattle to stay on top, or else slip into a possible three way tie. In the American Conference, Atlanta and New Orleans both are tied, and need to win their respective games, though the loser will pick up a wild cards pot. The Midatlantic division is tied up at 7-8, with Washington and Richmond playing each other, while Louisville gets Baltimore. There again, the losers are likely to miss the playoffs, only the division winner having a chance. New York and Providence are playing each other, New York needing the win to be in contention for the spot. And here are the final standings. Indianapolis wins and ends up clinching the number one seed after our loss. Pittsburgh pulls out a win in St. Louis to get a wild card spot, while the 10-6 Trailblazers go home. San Antonio wins to take their division, while Seattle beats San Francisco at home, to turn their division into an 8-8 tie which Seattle wins by tiebreaker. San Fran goes from world champions last year, to losing their division by a tiebreaker this year and missing the playoffs. In the AFC, Atlanta manages to tie the Memphis Showboats, while New Orleans loses to the Rebels, so Atlanta takes the division. New Orleans still nabs a wildcard spot in the weak conference though. Richmond beats Washington to take the division and make the playoffs. The New York Yankees beat rivals Providence, but lose the tiebreaker. That's still good enough for a wildcard spot though. The NFC looks strong this year, and wildcard teams the 11-5 Steelers and the 11-5 Mountaineers will probably prove difficult for their first round opponents, The 9-7 Defenders, and the 8-8 Destroyers respectively.

01-30-2008, 09:05 AM	#30
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Playoffs: Wild Card Round Wild Card Round The 8-8 Seattle Destroyers are favored by two to beat the 11-5 Denver Mountaineers, in Seattle. I know first hand the Mountaineers are tough, but we lost to Seattle in Seattle by three points this season as well. Seattle rookie running back Junior Shepherd was second in the league in rushing yards, ahead of Denver's Guzowski. But QB Omar Carper for the Destroyers threw a nearly league-leading 27 interceptions and only 9 touchdowns. The 9-6-1 Memphis Showboats have one of the first defenses in the league, and worst passing offense, but are good at turnovers and have a decent running game. They'll be in Detroit to play the 9-7 Wheels, who have a good rated defense, and a mediocre offense. 10-6 New Orleans is favored to win in Richmond against the 8-8 Cavaliers. The Jazz have a very stingy defense, especially against the pass, and a high octane passing game, while the Cavaliers look about the same, only not quite as good. New Orleans receiver Kirk Lodde was tops in the league in targets and nearly in catches, with 82 of 149. Lastly wild card entrant Pittsburgh, at 11-5, is favored to win in San Antonio against the 9-7 Defenders. The Steelers have the highest scoring offense in the league with league leading rusher Hugh Kendrick, and #2 QB in the league, Richie Brady. The Defenders don't stand out statistically at all, but have some decent talent, and seem to alternate between big point days and shutouts. Results As it turns out, Denver beats Seattle and Pittsburgh beats San Antonio, as I expected those strong wild card entrants to do. Guzowski doesn't do a lot on the ground, but picks up 71 yards in the passing game as well, to key Denver's win. Pittsburgh comes from behind to win it in overtime, having to amass 292 yards passing to overcome San Antonio's 17 for 22 passing game. Wide receiver Lincoln Covington has a big 109 yard, 2 TD game to win player of the game, while backup QB Arnold Auyeung has the winning touchdown pass after Richie Brady's injury boots him out of the playoffs. In the other conference, Detroit rolls over Memphis, keyed by their 219 yards rushing, including a 60 yard TD run by Corey Frye. The Jazz beat Richmond in a rather unremarkable game. This matches us up with Denver in the next round of the playoffs, only two weeks after playing them for the division title. We're 1-1 against them this season, fresh off a dispiriting loss. Can we reverse things with our QB on the bench? The odds makers think so, making us two point favorites.

01-30-2008, 09:22 AM	#31
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Tornadoes Storm the League! Omaha Tornadoes win the Midwest Division Star QB Ben Jochen is injured and will miss the playoffs Omaha, Nebraska -- The season ended on a bittersweet note for the Omaha Tornadoes players and staff, coming home from a discouraging 12-0 shutout in the hands of division rivals, the Denver Mountaineers. Not only did the team suffer a loss on the scoreboard, but in the final minutes they lost the services of quarterback Ben Jochen, who has started all 16 games for the Tornadoes this season, coming out fourth in the league in quarterback rating. Injuring his calf in the fourth quarter, Jochen was forced to retire to the training room. There was sweetness too, though, as even the Tornadoes season-ending loss couldn't knock them from atop the Midwest division, which they won with their 11-5 record, and tie-breaking 5-1 division record. The Mountaineers, also 11-5 after the win, have to settle for a wild card entry in the playoffs, while the Tornadoes, with the second best record in the league, will be resting for their bye week, ready to play the conference semifinals at home. They'll be playing it without the heart of their offense though, as training staff reports that Jochen's injury will keep him out for the rest of the season. How far into the playoffs this team can go without their leader is a serious question, but it's unlikely they'll see the service of Jochen no matter how long they last. The coaching staff is keeping him off of injured reserve, just in case. But they will be signing a third string quarterback to fill that roster spot and take over kick holding duties just the same. Jochen's injury is third in a series that has attacked the Tornadoes passing game. Wide Receivers Conway and Banks already have suffered season-ending injuries, and it will be a back up quarterback and backup receivers who face the winners of the wild card round in two weeks. Third round pick, Timothy Atkins, will be getting the start, according to sources. The rookie was a surprising pick by the Tornadoes, who believe him to be much better than many league scouts. He has yet to prove it though, his only playing time this season coming at the end of game 16 when he threw three incomplete passes to end the shutout. With an untested rookie behind the helm, it's expected that Omaha will be leaning on their running game of John and Juan, the running back tandem that took them through the regular season. Whether that's enough to get them to the conference championship, only time will tell.

01-30-2008, 10:28 AM	#32
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Tornadoes Tumble Mountaineers! Omaha wins their first playoff game Rookie Timothy Atkins shatters records, wins game MVP Omaha, Nebraska -- Perhaps only Timothy Atkins ever imagined this outcome, as the rookie led the Tornadoes to a shocking 26-3 victory over division rivals, the Mountaineers, here in Omaha this afternoon. The rookie, who had never started this season and only thrown three passes in garbage time, not only managed not to lose the game, as the faithful were hoping for, but won it, as well as game MVP, breaking league playoff records as he passed for a startling 274 yards, throwing a touchdown and running for one more. With Omaha's starting quarterback on the bench for the playoffs with an injury, fans and coaching staffs alike had to expect the Tornadoes to come out with a smash mouth running game, and a careful short passing game, to ease the burden on the untested rookie at the helm. With two injuries to the wide receiving corps as well, the Tornadoes adequate passing game was deemed dead, and fans only hoped that their bigtime defense, and explosive running backs, would win the game for them. And that was the story even after the Tornadoes first possession, which quickly ended on Atkins's second pass, a drive-ending interception. The defense held the Mountaineers to a subsequent field goal, and the 64,000 fans in Tornado Alley must have all been thinking the same thing. "Run the Ball!" Only one guy wasn't thinking that way, according to offensive tackle Grady Solwod, a fellow rookie. "The next series Atkins came into the huddle, and we could see this kid wasn't rattled at all. 'Let's take this all the way,' he said to us. And we all started to realize what we had here." So did the fans, who watched Atkins march down the field with a balanced mix of big runs by Vanaqs and Rosario, and long passing by the rookie. His favorite target was another backup pushed into the starting lineup by injury, wide receiver Marshall Schaffer. Catching two long passes to help carry the team into the redzone, fans were shaking their head at their good luck, but expecting the coaching staff to lean on the running game to push it into the endzone. They couldn't have been more wrong though, as Atkins dropped back and looked for Schaeffer one more time, finding him in the endzone for a 15 yard scoring pass, and a 7-3 lead. The Tornadoes never looked back, holding the Mountaineers scoreless the rest of the game, and continuing their audacious offensive attack. Atkins threw no more interceptions after that first series, and rarely made a mistake at all, leading a passing attack that bravely threw into the teeth of the Denver defense. Schaefer continued to be the leading target, ending the game with a record breaking 11 catches on 11 throws, as well as a record breaking 145 yards in receptions. These two backups not only kept the Tornadoes in the game, they made league and team history in doing so, Atkins passing for more yards than any Omaha quarterback ever. Atkins showed his pluck and versatility on the Tornadoes next scoring drive, converting two third downs with short passes, and hitting another long pass play to Schaefer to bring Omaha to the nine yard line. That's when he showed defenses something else to fear, as he tucked the ball and scrambled into the endzone from nine yards out for the second touchdown of the game. Though Atkins won the deserved game MVP, and drew most of the attention post-game, it was a team effort that brought the win. The defense played the sort of physical game they love, knocking people around like it was week one all over again. They forced a phenomenal five fumbles in the game, although they only recovered two of them. And once Atkins had given the team the lead, they were able to pin their ears back and apply the sort of pressure they love, holding the Mountaineers on third down, and getting turnovers. Cornerbacks Wicks and Shepherd each had an interception in the game. The backs had one of their best running days of the season as well, John and Juan each carrying 17 times in the game, for a nearly identical 73 and 76 yards. "We thought we'd be going out there and trying to get the pressure of of Tim by making some big runs," said back John Rosario. "But it turned out the other way. Once the defense saw his arm, he started making some big throws, all of a sudden there was a lot more space for us to move." Not relying on big yardage runs as they often have through the season, the running backs were able to consistently pick up 4-8 yards per carry, rushing past wary defenders who were unsure what to expect. Atkins was just as confident in his post game press conferences, responding to questions about his surprise performance. "I'm not surprised at all, and no one should be, really," the quarterback quipped. "I've been telling the coaches, the players, you guys, anyone who will listen all season that this is what I could do. The coaches drafted me for a reason, they knew I could play. They signed me to a contract for a reason, and they're sending me this fat paycheck for a reason. I keep telling them, I don't want a fat paycheck to sit around and hold a clipboard and watch other guys win. Harvey, Steve, Adrian, Grady, Sam, Wendell -- I'm the only guy we drafted that hasn't been out there playing. The only one. No offense to Ben, but it should have been my job from the beginning, i'ts what I'm getting paid big bucks to do, to go out and win games. So no, I'm not excited, and I'm certainly not surprised. I'm just glad to finally be doing what I do." And thanks to his performance, and Pittsburgh's victory at Indianapolis, he'll be doing it again for Omaha fans next week, as the conference finals are hosted here at Tornado Alley. The league leading offense in the Pittsburgh Steelers will be coming to town, hoping to end the Tornadoes fairy tale season. Atkins has somesthing to say about that, as well. "We had some empty seats out there today, and that's too bad. You guys come and fill this place up next week, we're going to come back and put on a show for y'all."

01-31-2008, 08:56 PM	#33
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Conference Championship The Pittsburgh Steelers are the league's highest scoring offense, behind league leading rusher Hugh Kendrick, and quarterback Richie Brady. Unfortunately for them, like us, their quarterback was injured and is out for the rest of the playoffs. That hasn't slowed them down though, as they won their first playoff game in overtime, with quarterback Arnold Auyeung throwing the winning pass. Rather than go with him the rest of the way though, they went out and signed Wayne Collins, who last year was Providence's starting QB, and this year was not signed by anyone. He came in and did a decent game managing job in their game against Indianapolis. It was Kendrick though that keyed that victory, rushing for over 100 yards. They got a great pass rush out of their entire D line in that game, one that includes Colin Josephson, the undrafted DE who led the league with 15 sacks. Their secondary is built around 3rd round pick Bryant Hentschel, the cornerback who had 8 interceptions this year. Our plan is to simply play the same game as we did against Denver, as they're similar teams - strong running games and good defense. We'll let Atkins and John and Juan play and see what they can do. Elsewhere, Detroit beat Providence, and Atlanta beat the Jazz, to make for their conference matchup. The game is a fairly tight one. Our offense is not nearly as effective as last game, but we're able to move the ball some. Pittsburgh plays good defense on us though, and has an effective pass rush, and they manage to get some key sacks and pressure to keep us even out of field goal range most of the game. They go up 7-0 first, after we fumble it away on a sack by Josephson. They only need to go 12 yards to score, and do. Their next possession, Wayne Collins hits a couple good passes, and a long bomb to get them in field goal range, where we hold them, but they go up 10-0. We continue to make some progress on our drives, but not enough. We end up scoring though on a 72 yard punt return, to make it 10-7. We fumble on our next possession though, and it is half time before we are able to do anything else. Our first drive of the second half is a good one, keyed by a long run by Vanaqs into their redzone. We end up scoring on a pass to the fullback Shepherd, and now are up 14-10. We then manage to hold on to that lead for a series of 10 punts between the two teams. Our defense is stiff, but our offense is anemic, relying perhaps too much on the pass and getting rushed. Quick possessions means we're not eating up the clock as much as we should, and they eventually construct a long drive in the fourth quarter. The key play of the drive is a 3rd and 12 where they manage to run for 15 yards. The wind goes out of our sails there, and we give up a 25 yard run soon, as well as a killer unnecessary roughness penalty. We not only let them drive into the redzone, but don't hold them to a field goal, and they go up 17-14 with five minutes left. Plenty of time to do something, but instead we go three and out, getting tackled short of the first down on third down. We subsequently give up a key first down that enables them to run the clock down, and the Omaha fans sit stunned and quiet as we lose the conference championship. Pittsburgh Steelers 17, Omaha Tornadoes 14 Oh, and Pittsburgh goes ahead to win the Superbowl against the Detroit Wheels, behind off-the-street QB Wayne Collins.

01-31-2008, 09:23 PM	#34
aran High School Varsity Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: New Jersey, USA	This is really cool. I'd love to play a league like this. Do you have the universe files for this league for when you started it?

02-01-2008, 06:02 AM	#35
Uncle Chop Chop n00b Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Adelaide	Great read, keep it up. Really looking forward to the off season.

02-01-2008, 09:04 AM	#36
Autumn Head Coach Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Bath, ME	Thanks for the comments. I don't think I did save the universe files, which is too bad. Basically all I did for the players though is create a player file with one low rated rookie, and then the game auto generates the rest of the league.