Chesapeake Chili Dogs - a multi-player FOF dynasty - Page 13

QuikSand · 04-16-2007, 12:09 PM

Week 8: Mercury (4-1) at Chesapeake (4-1)

A new-look offense for this week, retooled after a few odd results in my last few games (across three MP leagues). We’ll see how things go, but I’m hoping for a little more situational predictability, even if it’s at the expense of overall productivity.

One interesting note – our free agent RB Ross Rosenfels has clearly acquitted himself very nicely with his 6+ yards per carry thus far this season, but we are finding that his endurance limitations are very real. Indeed, backup Harry Small actually has more carries than Rosenfels on the season (he’s doing pretty well too with 5+ ypc) playing from the reserve slot with RR’s PT set to either 80% or 70%. So, we expect this to evolve into a pretty genuine committee system, and it might serve us well to try to get another of our young RBs involved a bit more to shake off the rust, in case we need to roll a different guy into a group role here (nobody seems to have the requisite endurance to be a workhorse back).

This week, we face mercury, who is another effective pass-first team, and I expect to see some points on the board. We will try to keep things fairly balanced with some running at them, but we will look for both Brent Sedor and Mad Hatter QB Ted McKenzie go to the air early and often. Ought to be entertaining – and obviously has some repercussions for the conference standings.

Oh yes, one more thing of note – we hope to expose Mercury for the frauds that they truly are.

Week 7, 2014

played in Chesapeake, PA

37 degrees, fair, 6 mph wind

Mercury Mad Hatters	10	3	0	8	-	21
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	14	3	14	13	-	44

Scoring Summary

1Q: 14:36 MER - Harvey Snyder 71 pass from Ted McKenzie (Ricky Garcia extra point)

1Q: 08:37 CHE - George Ellis 13 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 02:52 MER - Ricky Garcia 25 field goal

1Q: 02:46 CHE - Kent Fields 9 fumble return (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 04:34 MER - Ricky Garcia 26 field goal

2Q: 01:13 CHE - David Everhart 46 field goal

3Q: 13:54 CHE - Burt Pearson 46 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

3Q: 13:01 CHE - Kent Fields 5 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 11:56 MER - Harvey Snyder 8 pass from Ted McKenzie (Brandon Jennings run for conversion)

4Q: 09:21 CHE - Brent Sedor 5 run (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 05:20 CHE - David Everhart 44 field goal

4Q: 00:39 CHE - David Everhart 48 field goal

Team Statistics	MER	CHE
Record	4-2	5-1
First Downs	21	20
- by Rushing	3	7
- by Passing	16	12
- by Penalty	2	1
Total Net Yards	421	348
- Offensive Plays	70	52
- Yards per Play	6.01	6.69
Net Rushing Yards	80	132
- Rushing Attempts	19	34
- Yards per Rush	4.21	3.88
Net Passing Yards	341	216
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	48 - 28 - 1	16 - 12 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	361	227
- Sacks/Yards Lost	3/20	2/11
- Yards per Pass Play	6.69	12.00
Fumbles/Lost	1/0	2/0
3rd Down Conversions	5/14	4/10
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	10.1	6.9
4th Down Conversions	0/3	0/0
Penalties/Yards	10/60	6/55
Punt Returns/Yards	0/0	1/1
Kick Returns/Yards	8/124	4/213
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	1/23
2pt Conversions	1/1	0/0
Red Zone Visits	3	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/2	2/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 20	OWN 47
Time of Possession	29:58	30:03

Online Box Score Link

Well. Another one that looks pretty good on the scoreboard, and less so underneath it all. At halftime this was basically an even game – they got a 71 yard TD on their first play, we got some bizarre TD off a kickoff return, I think, and so we had both benefited from one big play (theirs counted in the total yards stats, ours did not). Anyway – things looked pretty even at that point.

Then we struck for a TD to open the 3^rd quarter, picked them off on the next play, and scored again on the next play – and instantly a 17-13 game is an 18-point advantage.

I am very surprised at the lack of passing in this game – I didn’t call for a run-heavy attack, but that’s what we got. We were in curl-up-and-don’t-gain-any-yards mode for three possessions late, though, so that’s 9 runs for probably about 15 yards right there – sure helps to depress the RB YPC stat line there, and keep the score from getting out of hand.

So, we get a solid win, but I’m puzzled at the lack of balance. Not angry, just puzzled.

QuikSand · 04-18-2007, 11:36 AM

Week 8: Chesapeake (5-1) at Davis (2-4)

We match up well here, despite playing on the road, and hope to see another very solid effort from the offense. I am going with the same gameplan as last week – hoping that the heavy-run effect was just weird dice rolls at work. Sedor will go, despite a bad ankle.

I have installed a completely new defense, and will be looking to see what comes of that. We will be sending a lot of blitzes at them, given a QB who doesn’t seem to figure that out too well, and will hope to see some real pressure this week.

Week 8, 2014

played in Davis, CA

68 degrees, fair, calm

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	17	10	7	-	41
Davis Toads	14	7	7	0	-	28

Scoring Summary

1Q: 07:38 DAV - Roderick Matthews 4 run (Clyde McGee extra point)

1Q: 06:00 DAV - Seth Easterling 4 run (Clyde McGee extra point)

1Q: 03:35 CHE - Harry Small 14 run (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 10:37 CHE - George Ellis 12 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 07:42 DAV - Lincoln Garrison 28 pass from Scott Webster (Clyde McGee extra point)

2Q: 03:14 CHE - George Ellis 2 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 00:37 CHE - David Everhart 32 field goal

3Q: 11:23 CHE - Charles Emerson 22 run (David Everhart extra point)

3Q: 06:02 DAV - Matt Parnell 11 pass from Scott Webster (Clyde McGee extra point)

3Q: 02:57 CHE - David Everhart 44 field goal

4Q: 10:25 CHE - Brent Sedor 4 run (David Everhart extra point)

Team Statistics	CHE	DAV
Record	6-1	2-5
First Downs	22	14
- by Rushing	7	5
- by Passing	13	9
- by Penalty	2	0
Total Net Yards	402	218
- Offensive Plays	62	60
- Yards per Play	6.48	3.63
Net Rushing Yards	119	65
- Rushing Attempts	33	28
- Yards per Rush	3.61	2.32
Net Passing Yards	283	153
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	25 - 15 - 2	30 - 15 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	304	168
- Sacks/Yards Lost	4/21	2/15
- Yards per Pass Play	9.76	4.78
Fumbles/Lost	2/1	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	3/10	3/12
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	9.6	9.9
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/2
Penalties/Yards	6/42	9/70
Punt Returns/Yards	5/57	2/1
Kick Returns/Yards	4/135	7/78
Interception Ret./Yards	1/13	2/35
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	6	3
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	4/1	3/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 43	OWN 32
Time of Possession	30:58	29:02

Box Score Link

So, the offense is pretty close to balanced this week (as intended), we get a pretty solid game from the air game and are effective enough on the ground (I’m not thrilled there) to get away with a solid win. Actually, the defense played pretty well after a tough start – they drove for a long TD right away, then converted a turnover into a 14-0 lead before we really got anything going. but, from that point on, we had things in control – only a long pass in the waning minutes (didn’t even lead to points ) got them above 200 total yards on the day.

We are not lighting up the skies, exactly – no 500 yard passing days and the like. But I think what we are doing does give us a pretty good chance to win most games.

Our health situation is improving, and we may have most of our best DBs back for next week, in time to help us face 5-2 Coney Island, who have edged ahead of Mercury and into the playoff picture thus far.

QuikSand · 04-20-2007, 01:58 PM

Week 9: Chesapeake (6-1) at Coney Island (5-2)

We travel to face another emerging conference rival, the surprising Whitefish (pause for snickering). Coney Island seems to run thee ball quite a lot, and they have folded veteran Albert Lombardo (a Chesapeake preseason roster casualty) into their mix for carries. Nothing really new in our approach – we will try to keep the offense playing well, and secure another important win to keep pace in the standings.

Week 9, 2014

played in Coney Island, WV

66 degrees, fair, 4 mph wind

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	7	17	7	-	38
Coney Island Whitefish	0	10	0	0	-	10

Scoring Summary

1Q: 10:54 CHE - Burt Pearson 13 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 14:55 CNI - Levon Rasmussen 4 run (Luke Schneider extra point)

2Q: 10:15 CHE - Burt Pearson 62 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 03:38 CNI - Luke Schneider 47 field goal

3Q: 11:53 CHE - Burt Pearson 20 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

3Q: 09:23 CHE - Harry Small 66 run (David Everhart extra point)

3Q: 01:52 CHE - David Everhart 41 field goal

4Q: 10:04 CHE - George Ellis 41 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

Team Statistics	CHE	CNI
Record	7-1	5-3
First Downs	21	17
- by Rushing	3	3
- by Passing	16	14
- by Penalty	2	0
Total Net Yards	469	347
- Offensive Plays	50	69
- Yards per Play	9.38	5.03
Net Rushing Yards	137	67
- Rushing Attempts	27	21
- Yards per Rush	5.07	3.19
Net Passing Yards	332	280
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	22 - 16 - 0	43 - 27 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	337	312
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/5	5/32
- Yards per Pass Play	14.43	5.83
Fumbles/Lost	1/1	2/1
3rd Down Conversions	3/9	6/17
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	7.1	8.0
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	8/36	9/63
Punt Returns/Yards	6/59	2/9
Kick Returns/Yards	2/68	5/70
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	2	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/0	1/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 36	OWN 17
Time of Possession	26:11	33:49

Online Box Score

This is starting to emerge as a pattern this year – lots of our games have followed basically this same script. In the fairly early going, we are in some pretty tight ballgames, but then sometime usually late in the second quarter or into the third, we get a big drive or a big play, and we start to bury our opposition. I don’t know if it’s just the red bars catching up with probability, or some function of gameplans at work, but I’d say six of our eight games have basically played out that way.

Anyway – a solid effort from our guys this week, once again, as the offense was very efficient, especially passing the ball. Harry Small’s one breakaway run made the rushing game look better than it was, but we’ll take the comfortable margin, of course. Eight games down, only one in the L column, and with Portland losing this week, we have reclaimed the division lead.

A few retrospective comments forthcoming, but we are generally pleased. I don’t know if Chesapeake is the heavy favorite to win it all this year like we were last season (and maybe the year before) but we certainly are once again part of that picture.

QuikSand · 04-22-2007, 08:41 PM

Halfway Point Thoughts

Well, in a season clouded over by worries about gameplanning weaknesses and the like, the Chili Dogs are still clicking pretty well, managing to keep things mostly on track despite some turnover at a few key positions. Here’s the stats summary through eight games, with some commentary:

Code:

Chesapeake Chili Dogs   Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         30.4      12 (T)      
Rushing Yards           155.8     4           
Yards Per Carry         5.13      4           
Pass Attempts           26.3      31          
Completions             15.8      29          
Completion Pct.         60.0      15          
Passing Yards           300.6     5           
Yards Per Attempt       11.45     1           
Yards Per Catch         19.09     1           
Total Yardage Gained    444.0     2           
3rd Down Conversions    34.1      25          
Points Per Game         37.5      1           
Pass Rush Pct.          10.3      5           
Pass Defense Pct.       68.2      19          
Turnovers               10        8 (T)       
Turnover Margin         +1        12 (T)

Well, in this day and age, this isn’t too bad – with a few pretty run-heavy games scattered in there, we remain among the top passing offenses in the league, that’s good. Our rushing game got off to a red-hot start, but has come to earth – still, 5 yards per carry is great, behind a nice split of carries between Roesnfels and young Harry Adams.

Code:

   
Opponents               Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         22.8      3           
Rushing Yards           82.9      2           
Yards Per Carry         3.64      2           
Pass Attempts           39.4      31          
Completions             22.0      29          
Completion Pct.         55.9      15          
Passing Yards           268.9     29          
Yards Per Attempt       6.83      15          
Yards Per Catch         12.22     20          
Total Yardage Gained    336.8     17          
3rd Down Conversions    33.9      6           
Points Per Game         18.6      7           
Pass Rush Pct.          7.4       13          
Pass Defense Pct.       70.7      21          
Turnovers               11        18 (T)

I’m not sure what to make of the strong run defense stats – I wouldn’t have expected that from our roster this year, but I’m used to that number being full of noise. Our pass D seems about average, and our pass rush is about average (better than I had expected) so that’s not all bad.

Code:

   
Week  Team  Versus        Oppnt  
1     41    at DGC        31      
2     37    TOR           10      
3     33    at HLC        9       
5     45    MBR           13      
6     21    at POR        27      
7     44    MER           21      
8     41    at DAV        28      
9     38    at CNI        10      
10          at SCA                
11          DGC                   
12          TEX                   
13          CAL                   
14          at JUP                
15          POR                   
16          at HDV                
17          SCA

Nothing to comment on here, really – just the picture ahead. That game at Hudson Valley may be a barn-burner, as they are the league’s only unbeaten team at this point, and figure to be a major title contender.

Code:

Passing                 Pos   Att   Comp  Yards Y/Att TD    Int   Rate  
16 B. Sedor             QB    210   126   2405  11.45 21    6     121.2   
**Team                  ---   210   126   2405  11.45 21    6     121.2   
$$Opp                   ---   315   176   2151  6.83  11    9     76.8

This just in, he’s good. Six picks is more than usual for him, but overall, we can’t complain. Actually, a couple other passers are having even bigger years, but I’ll try to focus on what we can control. Sedor has picked up two minor dings this year – I hope he is not acquiring a tendency there, after being an ironman thus far.

Code:

Rushing                 Pos   Att   Yards Y/Att TD    Fum  
35 R. Rosenfels         RB    103   483   4.69  5     1       
20 H. Small             RB    101   520   5.15  4     2       
16 B. Sedor             QB    36    212   5.89  4     2       
**Team                  ---   243   1246  5.13  14    10      
$$Opp                   ---   182   663   3.64  4     10

Cannot complain at all here. Tough to know just how good Harry Small is, honestly. Rosenfels clearly needs a backfield partner, so it’s good to be getting production out of our #1A back (a guy who only barely earned this spot just a few weeks ago).

Code:

Receiving               Pos   Targ  Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop  TD  
8 B. Pearson            WR    88    59    1207  20.46 13.72 6     11      
18 G. Ellis             WR    54    28    561   20.04 10.39 2     5       
13 R. Cooper            TE    19    13    213   16.38 11.21 1     2       
86 K. Fields            WR    25    11    210   19.09 8.40  1     2

We are used to being the most spread-around passing game in the league, but this year things have collapsed around Burt Pearson, who has stepped up to just monopolize the targets thus far. Pearson had never posted a 1,000-yard season before this year – now, he’s sitting on 1,200 at the halfway point?!?!? Unreal.

In the early going, I announce my plan/intent to try to get George Ellis and Kent Fields to basically split time as the #2 receiver, using Fields as the split end in some formations. Hmmm… maybe not so much, then. Regardless, I’m not planning tinker with it – Fields isn’t playing all that well.

Rookie WR Nolan Bellevue has been playing in the backup SE slot all season, and his stats are truly underwhelming: 7 catches on 13 targets for 102 yards and no scores. And no ratings advancement. I suspect this guy is not going to catch on, after all.

Code:

Defense                 Pos   Tack  Asst  Sack  Hurr  Ints  Defn  PDPct  
59 D. McKenzie          ILB   45    12    1.0   1     0     1     70.2    
51 R. Shaw              OLB   41    13    0.0   0     1     2     77.4    
29 D. Schwantz          S     29    10    0.0   0     0     5     80.5    
21 J. McCartney         S     28    8     1.0   0     4     7     84.7    
92 D. Ewart             OLB   25    9     0.0   0     0     2     77.4    
31 H. Padgett           CB    24    4     0.0   0     2     2     76.2    
96 B. Lents             DT    21    8     4.5   9     0     0     82.5    
23 B. Vesser            S     17    5     0.0   0     1     2     81.8    
70 D. Armagost          DT    17    5     2.5   2     0     0     82.5    
52 L. McDowell          ILB   13    4     0.0   0     0     0     72.3    
27 L. Kuehler           CB    12    4     1.0   0     1     3     80.9    
34 L. Tellez            CB    12    4     0.0   0     0     1     74.7    
98 D. Reynolds          DE    11    5     2.5   15    0     1     82.8    
56 T. Kuykendall        OLB   9     5     1.5   0     0     0     71.6    
90 K. Meadows           DE    9     5     1.5   14    0     0     82.5    
78 D. Kaesviharn        DT    9     4     1.0   0     0     0     81.7

This is turning out to be a pretty big rookie year for Richie Shaw, who isn’t really a full-time guy, but seems to be all over the field. We’re thirsty for a young talent at LB, and it looks like he is delivering nicely. We also have to be pretty happy with the play of rookie DE Dwight Reynolds – not a force in the run-stopping game, but the team-leading 15 hurries sure helps take the pressure off the secondary. I like our DE threesome right now a fair bit, as Kerry Meadows is also putting together a capable season on the other side, and Skip Clayton (5.9 PR%) has been solid in the rotation.

Safety Jeff McCartney is playing awfully well this year, and might be on his way to a career best. None of my DB guys are really red bar stars (maybe Kuehler) but my hope has always been they would play together well. C.J. Daniels isn’t playing a lot, but is still effective when he does play – he makes a good nickel back with his zone skills, better than most on this team.

Very solid start – I’m still tweaking with defensive philosophy, and looking for whatever I can there. This week, we face South Carolina, who are in flux or this year – perhaps already looking ahead to next year, even after some preseason predictions of big things.

QuikSand · 04-23-2007, 12:08 PM

Week 10: Chesapeake (7-1) at South Carolina (3-4-1)

So, we come into this game against a division rival with good talent, but who has announced a plan to “tank” the balance of this season (by running nearly every single play) in pursuit of a better draft pick. It has crossed my mind that this could be a ploy, but I adjust a little more toward expecting the run in neutral situations, and rotate in a couple guys to get some playing time. Nothing massive – we expect to pass on them a good deal this week.

Week 10, 2014

played in South Carolina, WA

36 degrees, rain, 9 mph wind

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	0	3	3	-	13
South Carolina Crossfire	7	7	0	10	-	24

Scoring Summary

1Q: 06:37 SCA - Chris Sanders 1 pass from Dixon Zhao (James Budde extra point)

1Q: 03:40 CHE - Burt Pearson 2 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 14:29 SCA - Chris Sanders 7 pass from Dixon Zhao (James Budde extra point)

3Q: 09:56 CHE - David Everhart 18 field goal

4Q: 12:56 SCA - James Budde 19 field goal

4Q: 07:13 CHE - David Everhart 19 field goal

4Q: 02:26 SCA - Ronald Morrison 10 pass from Dixon Zhao (James Budde extra point)

Team Statistics	CHE	SCA
Record	7-2	4-4-1
First Downs	23	25
- by Rushing	6	7
- by Passing	16	17
- by Penalty	1	1
Total Net Yards	431	373
- Offensive Plays	57	65
- Yards per Play	7.56	5.74
Net Rushing Yards	111	92
- Rushing Attempts	24	32
- Yards per Rush	4.63	2.88
Net Passing Yards	320	281
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	31 - 21 - 2	33 - 23 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	336	281
- Sacks/Yards Lost	2/16	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	9.70	8.52
Fumbles/Lost	1/1	2/1
3rd Down Conversions	3/7	6/13
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	9.0	4.5
4th Down Conversions	0/0	1/1
Penalties/Yards	9/55	4/20
Punt Returns/Yards	2/20	1/2
Kick Returns/Yards	2/65	3/57
Interception Ret./Yards	1/4	2/2
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	5	4
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/2	3/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 35	OWN 19
Time of Possession	27:49	32:11

Online Box Score

Well, well, well. One thing for certain – this was not a “tank” gameplan, despite the public bluster suggesting that was his intent. And while it’s tempting to point to that for the loss – either out of a desire to deny the strategem’s author the satisfaction or out of a candid assessment, I lay the blame elsewhere.

Here are snippets from the game log – notice the field position in the first two in particular:

Chesapeake: Weak formation with three wide receivers, strength is left. The defense is in a 43 and 2-deep man-to-man coverage, expecting the run.
1-10-SCA13 (1Q: 13:04) Brent Sedor pass was intended for WR Burt Pearson and was intercepted by CB Reuben Martins in the end zone. Touchback.

Solid opening drive, but Sedor tosses a pick in the endzone. It happens. They drive for a TD. It happens.

Chesapeake: Single-Back formation with four receivers, strength is left. The defense is in a 43 with nickel personnel and 2-deep man-to-man coverage, keying aggressively on the run.
1-2-SCA02 (2Q: 10:21) Henry Yarlagadda ran around right end for -1 yards. Tackled by OLB Keneth Newcombe, assisted by DE Rick Joslyn. The ball was fumbled and recovered by SCA CB Reuben Martins to the SCA03.

Well, a youngster getting the ball at the goal line is a shaky decision anyway, and he coughs it up. It happens.

Chesapeake: Single-Back formation with trips receivers, strength is left. The defense is in a 43 and 3-deep zone coverage, expecting the pass.
3-12-SCA46 (2Q: 02:33) Brent Sedor pass completed to WR Nolan Bellevue for 25 yards. Tackled by S Matthew Parrish. The quarterback threw away from the double coverage. PENALTY: Chesapeake was called for Offensive Holding. Chesapeake: Strong formation, strength is left. The defense is in a 43 and 3-deep zone coverage, keying aggressively on the pass. Newcombe and Hass are blitzing.
3-22-CHE44 (2Q: 02:22) Henry Yarlagadda ran around left end for 7 yards. Tackled by OLB Joey Hinderliter, assisted by CB Steven Weadock.

So, we complete a clutch pass on 3^rd and long to get deep into their territory. . .but a penalty brings it back. It happens. So, we face 3^rd and 22, and play it safe with a doomed-to-fail run play, despite my gameplan. It happens.

Chesapeake: Strong formation, strength is left. The defense is in a 43 and 2-deep man-to-man coverage, keying aggressively on the pass.
2-2-SCA02 (3Q: 11:26) Brent Sedor pass completed to WR Burt Pearson for 2 yards and a TOUCHDOWN! The quarterback threw into double coverage. PENALTY: Chesapeake was called for Offensive Holding. Chesapeake: Weak formation with three wide receivers, strength is left. The defense is in a 43 and 2-deep bump-and-run coverage, expecting the pass.
2-12-SCA12 (3Q: 11:19) Harry Small ran around the left tackle for 2 yards. Tackled by S Erik Folau. Chesapeake: Weak formation with three wide receivers, strength is right. The defense is in a 43 and 4-deep zone coverage, expecting the pass. Newcombe is blitzing.
3-10-SCA10 (3Q: 10:43) Brent Sedor pass completed to WR Kent Fields for 9 yards. Tackled by ILB Rico Dole. The receiver ran his route right over the middle of the field. The quarterback threw away from the double coverage.

Nice TD Pass! Oh, another penalty. It happens. Of course, we do complete the clutch 10 yard pass on 3^rd and 12. Guess we’ll take a FG instead. It happens.

Chesapeake: I formation, strength is left. The defense is in a 43 and 3-deep zone coverage, expecting the pass.
3-1-SCA02 (4Q: 07:49) PENALTY: Chesapeake was called for a False Start. Chesapeake: Single-Back formation with trips receivers, strength is left. The defense is in a 43 and 3-deep zone coverage, expecting the pass. Weiler and Hass are blitzing.
3-6-SCA07 (4Q: 07:43) PENALTY: Chesapeake was called for a False Start. Chesapeake: Single-Back formation with trips receivers, strength is left. The defense is in a 43 and 3-deep zone coverage, expecting the pass.
3-11-SCA12 (4Q: 07:35) Brent Sedor pass completed to TE Robert Cooper for 10 yards. The receiver went out of bounds. Tackled by OLB Mark Hass. Cooper gained 1 yard after the catch.

Okay, 3^rd and 1 deep in their territory – we’re a power running team at heart, we can go get this. Oh, penalty again. It happens. And another penalty? Uh, it happens, right? Doesn’t it? Okay, on 3^rd and 11 – we again go to the well for a clutch 10 yard pass, and settle for another FG.

There you have it – our own meltdown. None of these plays is really absurd, but if you’re interested in a recipe of how you can post 7.5 yards per play and over 420 yards of total offense (plus a pretty good return game) and only hang 13 points.

Hats off to hollywood… er, South Carolina for the win. I suppose being a bit frustrated by the football game, they elected to engage in mind games, and by succeeding in the mind games, got an edge there – maybe it made the difference in this week, who knows? We’ll try to regroup and see if we can get a more reasonable effort from this group next week – we are at home for three games coming up.

QuikSand · 04-25-2007, 11:52 AM

Week 11: Dodge City (4-5) at Chesapeake (7-2)

7-2 keeps us tied for the best record in the conference, so we’re not in trouble yet—we just need to get back on track. We’re home for three games now, and start off with the “hated rivals” from Dodge City. It appears they are under temporary stewardship of some sort, so we don’t know quite what to expect here. I decide to commit to stopping the pass if we can, following their tendency from the season so far – and we hope to put more space between us and them than we were able to in our first meeting this season.

Week 11, 2014

played in Chesapeake, PA

46 degrees, fair, calm

Dodge City Vigilantes	7	21	0	7	-	35
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	17	14	3	20	-	54

Scoring Summary

1Q: 10:28 CHE - David Everhart 20 field goal

1Q: 06:02 CHE - Burt Pearson 13 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 04:34 DGC - Isaac Mansour 85 pass from Bill Sampson (Herman Justice extra point)

1Q: 00:58 CHE - Nolan Bellevue 11 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 11:51 DGC - Stephen Baxter 1 run (Herman Justice extra point)

2Q: 08:24 CHE - George Ellis 11 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 04:36 DGC - Billy Dunlap 2 run (Herman Justice extra point)

2Q: 03:18 DGC - Isaac Mansour 87 pass from Bill Sampson (Herman Justice extra point)

2Q: 00:25 CHE - Harry Small 4 run (David Everhart extra point)

3Q: 08:37 CHE - David Everhart 30 field goal

4Q: 10:05 DGC - Albert Moss 10 pass from Bill Sampson (Herman Justice extra point)

4Q: 05:40 CHE - Ross Rosenfels 9 run (Harry Small run for conversion failed)

4Q: 05:24 CHE - Doug Schwantz 51 interception return (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 02:00 CHE - Harry Small 19 run (David Everhart extra point)

Team Statistics	DGC	CHE
Record	4-6	8-2
First Downs	24	28
- by Rushing	4	11
- by Passing	17	14
- by Penalty	3	3
Total Net Yards	518	495
- Offensive Plays	72	68
- Yards per Play	7.19	7.28
Net Rushing Yards	94	237
- Rushing Attempts	24	35
- Yards per Rush	3.92	6.77
Net Passing Yards	424	258
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	47 - 27 - 1	32 - 15 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	429	263
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/5	1/5
- Yards per Pass Play	8.83	7.82
Fumbles/Lost	1/1	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	4/12	6/13
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.0	8.3
4th Down Conversions	1/3	0/0
Penalties/Yards	14/114	12/95
Punt Returns/Yards	3/5	3/20
Kick Returns/Yards	5/86	2/59
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	1/51
2pt Conversions	0/0	1/0
Red Zone Visits	3	8
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	3/0	6/2
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 19	OWN 37
Time of Possession	30:09	29:51

Online Box Score

Well, we give up two HUGE pass playsto WR Isaac Mansour, and they stay right with us through the first half – actually, they scored to lead 35-34 early in the fourth quarter, but we rallied to score, and salted it with a defensive TD. Actually, in Solevision, I saw it was a pass to Mansour, and saw the “…51 yards and a TOUCHDOWN!” and was aghast that we’d let him burn us yet again… but this one time, it was actually good news.

In the individual stats, we did tear them up (again) with our running game – Rosenfels was a one man gang in the go-ahead drive with a 51-yard breakaway and the 9-yard TD, while Harry Small was solid all day with 14-91 and 2 TDs of his own. Sedor was decent (8 yards per attempt, but below 50% completions on the day) so it was really our running game that churned this one out for us.

One nice note – we did get our first significant day out of WR Nolan Bellevue, who had 4 passes thrown his way, and caught all four for 72 yards and a score – by far his best game thus far. He was only on the field for 11 pass plays, so he made the most of his chances, you might say. That’s what I’m looking for, quite candidly, from my #4 receiver. Nice job, rook.

And with the win, we pull into first place alone in the conference:

Code:

  
  Front Office Football 2007
  2014 Regular Season Standings
     
    AC North              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Bar Harbor              9   1   0   .900  318   176   8-1     4-0       
  New Jersey              7   3   0   .700  261   195   6-3     3-1       
  Shreveport              5   5   0   .500  244   221   5-4     1-3       
  Sam's Town              0   9   1   .050  168   305   0-8-1   0-4       
     
    AC South              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Hudson Valley           10  0   0   1.000 299   160   9-0     4-0       
  Toronto                 4   6   0   .400  225   270   4-5     3-1       
  Texas                   3   7   0   .300  174   264   2-7     1-3       
  Jupiter                 2   8   0   .200  162   289   2-7     0-4       
     
    AC East               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Charleston              8   2   0   .800  336   181   7-2     3-1       
  Happy Valley            5   4   1   .550  135   127   5-3-1   2-2       
  Mars                    5   5   0   .500  200   226   4-5     2-2       
  Annawan                 1   9   0   .100  135   271   1-8     1-3       
     
    AC West               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Fall River              8   2   0   .800  283   168   8-1     4-0       
  Keene                   4   6   0   .400  166   201   4-5     2-2       
  French                  3   7   0   .300  112   182   3-6     2-2       
  Norman                  3   7   0   .300  128   183   3-6     0-4       
     
    NC North              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Ayr                     6   4   0   .600  203   180   5-4     3-1       
  Calverton               4   6   0   .400  196   277   4-5     3-1       
  Norwich                 3   6   1   .350  204   231   3-5-1   1-2-1     
  Seal Beach              3   6   1   .350  146   210   2-6-1   0-3-1     
     
    NC South              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  State College           7   3   0   .700  225   146   6-3     2-2       
  Hell Creek              6   4   0   .600  285   199   6-3     2-2       
  Madison                 5   5   0   .500  223   226   5-4     2-2       
  Washington              5   5   0   .500  280   276   4-5     2-2       
     
    NC East               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Chesapeake              8   2   0   .800  367   208   7-2     2-2       
  Portland                7   3   0   .700  264   170   6-3     3-1       
  South Carolina          4   5   1   .450  239   270   4-4-1   2-2       
  Dodge City              4   6   0   .400  253   285   4-5     1-3       
     
    NC West               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Coney Island            7   3   0   .700  233   207   6-3     4-0       
  Mercury                 5   5   0   .500  190   216   4-5     1-3       
  Myrtle Beach            3   6   1   .350  176   269   2-6-1   1-3       
  Davis                   3   7   0   .300  193   234   2-7     2-2

With four teams at 8-2 or better on the other side, we are grateful to be in what appears to be the less top-heavy conference this season – practically speaking, what matters is that we have every chance to win in the postseason, and that looks to help.

As for injuries – we are still sitting CB Lewis Kuehler for who knows how long with his turf toe, and MLB Doug McKenzie is playing hurt for now. I plan to get McKenzie some rest, but I’m not sure when to do it. Past that, we are in good shape, especially on offense.

VPI97 · 04-25-2007, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuikSand

Code:

   
Week  Team  Versus        Oppnt  
1     41    at DGC        31      
2     37    TOR           10      
3     33    at HLC        9       
5     45    MBR           13      
6     21    at POR        27      
7     44    MER           21      
8     41    at DAV        28      
9     38    at CNI        10      
10          at SCA                
11          DGC                   
12          TEX                   
13          CAL                   
14          at JUP                
15          POR                   
16          at HDV                
17          SCA

Nothing to comment on here, really – just the picture ahead. That game at Hudson Valley may be a barn-burner, as they are the league’s only unbeaten team at this point, and figure to be a major title contender.

But realistically, we should be 4-6 right now, so I fully expect to lose by at least 35 to both Portland and Chesapeake. We may not even play our starters for here on out since I don't want them to get injured too badly by vastly superior teams.

QuikSand · 04-26-2007, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VPI97

But realistically, we should be 4-6 right now, so I fully expect to lose by at least 35 to both Portland and Chesapeake. We may not even play our starters for here on out since I don't want them to get injured too badly by vastly superior teams.

So far, this twist on the old Lou Holtz "oh shucks, those guys over at Navy really can play ball, I don't know how we'll manage..." routine has been working well for VPI, so I don't blame him for continuing it here. The routine at the FOFL boards has been to respond to each drubbing or some helpless opponent with yet another "as shucks, got lucky again" reply. 10-0 so far.

QuikSand · 04-26-2007, 01:58 PM

WR George Ellis

As we prepare for our next game, I want to note the interesting season of our starting WR George Ellis. He has been overshadowed, rightfully, by a brilliant season from his cross-field colleague Burt Pearson, but Ellis has been doing his job just fine as well.

Ellis was a second round pick for us five years back, and has developed pretty much as I had hoped – he does not have much in the crucial “route running” rating, but overall he is a fine player. And his career so far has borne this out – he’s pretty productive when he gets the ball his way:

Code:

2010  16G, 4GS   80 Targets, 30 Catches, 434 Yards    4 TD, 8 Drops    5.43 Yds/Target
2011  16G, 9GS   73 Targets, 44 Catches, 668 Yards    5 TD, 2 Drops    9.15 Yds/Target
2012  16G, 15GS 107 Targets, 56 Catches, 871 Yards    7 TD, 7 Drops    8.14 Yds/Target
2013  16G, 16GS  80 Targets, 43 Catches, 679 Yards    6 TD, 8 Drops    8.49 Yds/Target

So, he has developed into a pretty effective weapon – not a huge stat guy, but 8 or 9 yards per target is pretty solid for a wideout, and I’ve been pretty pleased with him.

This year (especially in the last few weeks) he has stepped into an even greater role, and while he’s not up in the top tier of receiver numbers like Pearson is, he’s also having a career year:

Code:

2013  10G,  8GS  71 Targets, 38 Catches, 781 Yards    6 TD, 7 Drops   11.00 Yds/Target

So, I realize offense is globally up, and downfield passing in particular, but it is nice to see Ellis on his way to a first 1,000-yard season for us, at this pace.

In addition, Ellis has emerged as an elite return man in the league, too:

Code:

27 punt returns – 246 yards (9.1 yard average, ranks 6th among league qualifiers)
18 kick returns – 643 yards (35.7 yard average, ranks 1st among league qualifiers)

He hasn’t even had the benefit of a TD on either side (though he did have one very long kick return that I recall) to boost the stats – indeed, Ellis is just breaking one or two tackles all the time in the return game, adding significantly to his team value.

Just one more guy to worry about a bit when you face off against the Chili Dogs.

QuikSand · 04-27-2007, 12:44 PM

Week 12: Texas (3-7) at Chesapeake (8-2)

We play host here to a run-first team, it would seem – and one who is clipping off runs at 5.3 yards a pop, the only team in the league with a higher yards per carry than Chesapeake. And I have decided to sit down our best run stopper, MLB Doug McKenzie, who has been playing hurt for a couple of weeks. I’m still pretty hopeful we can keep things under control, and our offense ought to be able to move the ball pretty well – so we will hope to get them out of their ground game by getting a lead.

Week 12, 2014

played in Chesapeake, PA

54 degrees, fair, 9 mph wind

Texas Sandstorm	0	0	0	0	-	0
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	21	17	14	10	-	62

Scoring Summary

1Q: 12:55 CHE - Robert Cooper 19 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 07:41 CHE - Burt Pearson 11 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 03:29 CHE - Burt Pearson 2 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 12:07 CHE - Burt Pearson 10 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 05:08 CHE - Burt Pearson 4 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 00:13 CHE - David Everhart 31 field goal

3Q: 13:46 CHE - Burt Pearson 8 pass from Alex Gerhardt (David Everhart extra point)

3Q: 05:30 CHE - Burt Pearson 13 pass from Alex Gerhardt (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 08:14 CHE - Robert Cooper 29 pass from Alex Gerhardt (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 02:00 CHE - David Everhart 41 field goal

Team Statistics	TEX	CHE
Record	3-8	9-2
First Downs	13	35
- by Rushing	3	5
- by Passing	10	27
- by Penalty	0	3
Total Net Yards	238	596
- Offensive Plays	48	73
- Yards per Play	4.96	8.16
Net Rushing Yards	64	109
- Rushing Attempts	13	34
- Yards per Rush	4.92	3.21
Net Passing Yards	174	487
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	33 - 20 - 4	39 - 29 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	186	487
- Sacks/Yards Lost	2/12	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	4.97	12.49
Fumbles/Lost	2/1	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	3/9	9/11
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	7.9	5.5
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	9/82	10/60
Punt Returns/Yards	0/0	5/43
Kick Returns/Yards	9/145	1/28
Interception Ret./Yards	1/9	4/33
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	1	7
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	0/0	6/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 25	OWN 38
Time of Possession	22:14	37:46

Online Box Score

Oh, dear.

Well – it does look like the plan worked – we DID get ahead early, and we DID get them out of their running game, and they were not able to pass very effectively on us. I expected a different overall outcome, but we can hardly complain about anything here. Sedor was unbelievable in his 25 minutes of football (posted the perfect passer rating of 158.3 on the day, with 15/17 for 266 yards and 5 TD), and our WR Burt Pearson presumably got some kind of league record with 6 TD passes on the day. (Confirmed – 6 is the new record, nobody had even tallied 5 in a game before)

Oh, dear.

Portland wins a thriller against Hudson Valley, and in the process injures their star QB – that’s a really bad break. It also keeps Portland (who have us head-to-head) within striking distance for the division, so that remains priority one.

Excellent game all around for us, even without two of our best defensive players on the field. The offense obviously was unconscious all day, but we came up with big plays to go with solid defense all day, which works pretty well.

QuikSand · 04-30-2007, 02:39 PM

Week 13: Calverton (5-6) at Chesapeake (9-2)

We get Calvert at home, a team that tends to air it out more than most. We will be in a fairly basic gameplan this week, not sure what to expect, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see lots of points on the board.

Week 13, 2014

played in Chesapeake, PA

51 degrees, fair, 4 mph wind

Calverton Caldonians	0	7	0	0	-	7
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	7	14	14	-	42

Scoring Summary

1Q: 08:37 CHE - Ross Rosenfels 1 run (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 07:21 CHE - George Ellis 8 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 05:47 CAL - Gilbert Cicci 22 pass from Perry Martin (Casey Newman extra point)

3Q: 12:42 CHE - George Ellis 11 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

3Q: 03:20 CHE - George Ellis 11 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 11:30 CHE - George Ellis 24 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 08:25 CHE - Dixon Webb 54 interception return (David Everhart extra point)

Team Statistics	CAL	CHE
Record	5-7	10-2
First Downs	14	24
- by Rushing	4	5
- by Passing	9	17
- by Penalty	1	2
Total Net Yards	247	392
- Offensive Plays	54	61
- Yards per Play	4.57	6.43
Net Rushing Yards	96	86
- Rushing Attempts	25	32
- Yards per Rush	3.84	2.69
Net Passing Yards	151	306
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	25 - 10 - 3	29 - 20 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	174	306
- Sacks/Yards Lost	4/23	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	5.21	10.55
Fumbles/Lost	3/1	1/0
3rd Down Conversions	3/11	4/11
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	12.0	11.0
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	14/98	10/84
Punt Returns/Yards	2/5	5/28
Kick Returns/Yards	7/128	1/23
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	3/75
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	1	4
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/0	4/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 22	OWN 37
Time of Possession	25:20	34:40

Online Box Score

So, in the first half both teams are moving the ball fairly well, the scoreboard isn’t keeping up mostly due to penalties and weird plays, it seems. And then, we start pouring it on and put them away. Last week it was Pearson in the endzone all day – this week we got to Ellis four times. Go figure. The running game is again pointless, which is a worry, but all told, we can’t really complain.

Safety Doug Schwantz is the latest of our guys to be dinged up, and will get some time off. As the season winds down, I’m getting a bit antsy about the health of our defense –we are playing pretty well, but now have three starters sidelined, and at places where our depth is a bit suspect.

QuikSand · 05-04-2007, 02:33 PM

Week 14: Chesapeake (10-2) at Jupiter (2-10)

First game post-patch. I am hoping that some defensive tweaks work out well, and that we can have another solid effort from the offense, as usual.

Week 14, 2014

played in Jupiter, FL

88 degrees, fair, 2 mph wind

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	0	18	7	-	32
Jupiter Grendels	14	14	0	0	-	28

Scoring Summary

1Q: 11:28 JUP - Raymond Dotson 13 pass from Roy Starr (George Kolodziej extra point)

1Q: 09:12 CHE - Burt Pearson 14 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 04:15 JUP - Raymond Dotson 18 pass from Roy Starr (George Kolodziej extra point)

2Q: 02:00 JUP - Stan Gibson 4 pass from Roy Starr (George Kolodziej extra point)

2Q: 00:02 JUP - Stanley Liliedahl 45 fumble return (George Kolodziej extra point)

3Q: 11:08 CHE - David Everhart 43 field goal

3Q: 04:48 CHE - Burt Pearson 14 pass from Brent Sedor (Brent Sedor pass to Harry Small for conversion)

3Q: 01:25 CHE - Ross Rosenfels 46 run (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 00:53 CHE - Ross Rosenfels 7 run (David Everhart extra point)

Team Statistics	CHE	JUP
Record	11-2	2-11
First Downs	21	23
- by Rushing	10	7
- by Passing	11	15
- by Penalty	0	1
Total Net Yards	428	392
- Offensive Plays	50	69
- Yards per Play	8.56	5.68
Net Rushing Yards	187	121
- Rushing Attempts	25	40
- Yards per Rush	7.48	3.03
Net Passing Yards	241	271
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	24 - 14 - 1	29 - 18 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	246	271
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/5	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	9.64	9.34
Fumbles/Lost	2/1	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	3/8	9/16
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	7.6	6.8
4th Down Conversions	0/0	1/1
Penalties/Yards	5/37	5/45
Punt Returns/Yards	3/13	1/2
Kick Returns/Yards	3/98	3/57
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	1/0
2pt Conversions	1/1	0/0
Red Zone Visits	3	3
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	3/0	3/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 24	OWN 23
Time of Possession	26:12	33:48

Online Box Score

Well, in what looked on paper to be a romp, instead turns out to be a heroic second half after getting crushed through about 40 minutes of football. We were completely unable to stop their passing game early on – Starr went 11/12 in the first half, I believe. But we seemingly flipped the switch in the second half, got lucky with a couple long plays (including an immense pass-and-run play by rookie WR Nolan Bellevue, peeling off 70 yards on a 3^rd-and-5). Anyway – we get the ball with the chance to tie or win, and execute a nearly perfect finishing drive to get the W here. Whew.

Looks like MLB McKenzie will be back for next week, but we may need to rest G Gus Schmit, as he is wearing down a bit, and is very important for the postseason.

TonyR · 05-04-2007, 02:49 PM

Great run this season thus far QS. How do you compare the multi-player in 07 to 04 ?

QuikSand · 05-07-2007, 03:53 PM

Well, before the latest patch, things were getting wacky -- CHE was putting up pretty big numbers, as were a number of other teams, each of whom were pushing the gameplan in ways it wasn't responding to well. From what i can tell, post patch, that stuff really ought to calm down.

On balance, I really like 07 better than 04, and am pretty optimistic. I hopie the gameplanning fixes really let the other improvements in the game to shine.

Today's game is on hold for technical reasons... hope to post results tomorrow morning.

QuikSand · 05-08-2007, 03:00 PM

Week 15: Portland (9-4) at Chesapeake (11-2)

Well, pretty big divisional game here – with a win, we salt the division title and get to contemplate the last games of the season. With a loss, we probably have to keep battling through to the end, especially as Portland would have us head-to-head.

We start out with a pretty run-heavy gameplan, and while we establish the run pretty well in the first half, the passing game isn’t benefiting much. We lead behind a pretty good defensive effort 14-3 as the half approaches, but then give up a big play that they cash in to pull within 4 points – then a quick Chesapeake fumble gives them another chance, and Portland takes the 17-14 lead. So much for the “take control” gameplan, which came completely unraveled in the space of about two minutes.

We give up another TD drive in the 3^rd quarter, as the game is in full “flipped switch” mode, it seems – our defense seems to be calling the right formations and expectations, and then sees them just do what they wanted anyway. Similarly, our offense can’t do anything right – throws are sailing on Sedor, guys are dropping passes, backs are falling on their faces. It’s great to “watch.” We can’t possibly win this game.

We trade FG attempts, we make ours and they miss—so maybe there is hope? Nope. They break a short pass for a 78 yard TD, and we’re buried here. The better team won today – we looked like the Keystone Cops out there.

Week 15, 2014

played in Chesapeake, PA

48 degrees, fair, 10 mph wind

Portland Pisces	3	14	7	10	-	34
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	7	3	0	-	17

Scoring Summary

1Q: 09:36 CHE - Burt Pearson 33 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 01:58 POR - Tyrus Foley 36 field goal

2Q: 13:37 CHE - Brent Sedor 9 run (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 03:43 POR - Thomas Henson 2 run (Tyrus Foley extra point)

2Q: 02:15 POR - Carlos Gault 23 pass from Randall Sosa (Tyrus Foley extra point)

3Q: 12:18 POR - Carlos Gault 42 pass from Randall Sosa (Tyrus Foley extra point)

3Q: 05:17 CHE - David Everhart 37 field goal

4Q: 11:42 POR - Albert Radlick 78 pass from Randall Sosa (Tyrus Foley extra point)

4Q: 04:13 POR - Tyrus Foley 40 field goal

Team Statistics	POR	CHE
Record	10-4	11-3
First Downs	19	15
- by Rushing	6	7
- by Passing	11	8
- by Penalty	2	0
Total Net Yards	491	335
- Offensive Plays	62	67
- Yards per Play	7.92	5.00
Net Rushing Yards	137	134
- Rushing Attempts	29	29
- Yards per Rush	4.72	4.62
Net Passing Yards	354	201
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	33 - 19 - 0	38 - 13 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	354	201
- Sacks/Yards Lost	0/0	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	10.73	5.29
Fumbles/Lost	0/0	1/1
3rd Down Conversions	3/11	7/17
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	7.7	6.4
4th Down Conversions	0/0	1/2
Penalties/Yards	3/20	8/67
Punt Returns/Yards	0/0	2/6
Kick Returns/Yards	4/79	5/148
Interception Ret./Yards	1/30	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	3	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/1	1/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 31	OWN 32
Time of Possession	30:59	29:01

Online Box Score

So, we now are only one game up on Portland in the division, and while we still hold the inside track toward the #1 seed, one slip and we fall all the way to #5. I suspect we have little choice but to play all out down the stretch, maybe even getting back some of our nicked-up players for the finale, if need be. That bye week is pretty important to lock up.

We get MLB Doug McKenzie back this week from his injury, and will need him, I fear. Still no signs of improvement from CB Kuehler, but candidly we are assuming we are just going to be without him for the rest of this season, and anything we get is gravy at this point. We’ll try to look over the gameplan for this coming week, and see what we need to so – we face 12-2 Hudson Valley, who have lost some key players to injury but remain a top level team anyway.

QuikSand · 05-09-2007, 01:18 PM

Week 16: Chesapeake (11-3) at Hudson Valley (12-2)

As we mentioned earlier, HDV is without their top QB and a few other players, but must be respected here. This is a big game for us, after the loss against Portland, who now looms as a threat to take away our hoped-for division title and banish us to the tough route through the playoffs.

We have MLB Doug McKenzie back, but and have shifted the gameplan a bit more toward our base 2-deep package in hopes of keeping the running game under control here. On offense, we will try to get Sedor back on track and will be pitching it downfield a bit more – as usual, I am frustrated too often with the short passing game, even when it’s used in the situations I more or less wanted it.

We open up with our defense forcing a three-and-out, and Sedor quickly connects on three straight passes to get Burt Pearson into the end zone for yet another TD. Perfect start. The rest of the first half pretty close to ideal, as we pile up a 27- lead… but we seemingly lose both LB McKenzie and FB Emerson to injuries along the way. We need this win, but we also need our players for the playoffs, and Emerson, at least, sounds serious.

In the second half, CB Leland Tellez suffers another serious injury, and this is shaping up as a pyhhric victory for us. We have been terribly thin at DB already, with Tellez being pushed into a much greater role than I would have liked. Without him, we may resort to some really shaky young players back there.

Week 16, 2014

played in Hudson Valley, NY

45 degrees, fair, calm

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	10	17	10	0	-	37
Hudson Valley Horsemen	0	0	3	0	-	3

Scoring Summary

1Q: 12:16 CHE - Burt Pearson 26 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 01:29 CHE - David Everhart 45 field goal

2Q: 08:35 CHE - Burt Pearson 2 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 02:23 CHE - George Ellis 11 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 00:05 CHE - David Everhart 32 field goal

3Q: 13:33 CHE - George Ellis 14 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

3Q: 07:57 HDV - Richard Kozlowski 36 field goal

3Q: 03:00 CHE - David Everhart 24 field goal

Team Statistics	CHE	HDV
Record	12-3	12-3
First Downs	24	11
- by Rushing	4	3
- by Passing	20	8
- by Penalty	0	0
Total Net Yards	502	208
- Offensive Plays	58	54
- Yards per Play	8.66	3.85
Net Rushing Yards	84	73
- Rushing Attempts	27	23
- Yards per Rush	3.11	3.17
Net Passing Yards	418	135
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	30 - 26 - 0	30 - 15 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	425	140
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/7	1/5
- Yards per Pass Play	13.48	4.35
Fumbles/Lost	2/1	1/0
3rd Down Conversions	1/7	2/14
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.4	8.1
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	3/25	1/5
Punt Returns/Yards	8/57	2/14
Kick Returns/Yards	2/78	7/83
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	5	1
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	3/2	0/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 32	OWN 20
Time of Possession	33:32	26:28

Online Box Score

We put this one away behind a masterpiece from Brent Sedor – on the day he is 26 of 30 (!) for 425 yards and 4 TDs. Unreal effort. We’ll have to tally up the body count, though…

CB Leland Tellez – out 28 weeks, gone for the season for certain
FB Charles Emerson – out 10 weeks, gone for the season
LB Doug McKenzie – doubtful 4 weeks, might be back for divisional playoffs

We will probably be perusing the waiver wire selections this week, in search of someone who can step in and play. We might see TE Harvey Leff getting time at FB, and maybe rookie CB Seth Turner getting more field time than he would have expected/hoped.

Here are the conference standings now:

Code:

  
  Front Office Football 2007
  2014 Regular Season Standings
    
    NC North              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Norwich                 7   7   1   .500  309   275   5-5-1   2-2-1     
  Seal Beach              6   8   1   .433  209   287   4-6-1   1-3-1     
  Ayr                     6   9   0   .400  278   317   5-6     3-2       
  Calverton               5   10  0   .333  265   418   4-7     3-2       
     
    NC South              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Hell Creek              11  4   0   .733  408   260   8-3     3-2       
  State College           10  5   0   .667  352   250   7-4     2-3       
  Washington              9   6   0   .600  415   370   5-6     2-3       
  Madison                 8   7   0   .533  334   326   6-5     3-2       
     
    NC East               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Chesapeake              12  3   0   .800  557   280   8-3     2-3       
  Portland                11  4   0   .733  443   274   7-4     4-1       
  Dodge City              9   6   0   .600  429   380   6-5     2-3       
  South Carolina          6   8   1   .433  399   392   5-5-1   2-3       
     
    NC West               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Coney Island            9   6   0   .600  317   303   7-4     5-0       
  Mercury                 5   9   1   .367  259   339   4-6-1   1-3-1     
  Myrtle Beach            5   9   1   .367  246   371   2-8-1   1-4       
  Davis                   4   10  1   .300  255   298   2-8-1   2-2-1

So, we still need to close out the division and #1 seed with a win next week. Our only possible seedings are at #1 or #5 – Hell Creek cannot catch us by virtue of our winning head to head (but look out for them, as they have rallied from a 1-4 start to be basically unbeatable of late).

QuikSand · 05-13-2007, 08:57 PM

Week 17: South Carolina (6-8-1) at Chesapeake (12-3)

We win this game, we secure the #1 seed once again, and home field throughout the playoffs. If we lose, and Portland catches us with a win, then we fall to #5 and likely have to win three road games to get to the same place. Huge difference – big game.

We will go to the air again this week, without any particular expectations of what to expect from South Carolina. We’re again without our top LB in McKenzie, but will hope to remain stout against the run even in his absence.

On the second play from scrimmage, SC throws deep, and our backup middle linebacker (in for McKenzie) makes the pick downfield, and takes it to the HOUSE. I am at a loss to diagram how that all happened, but suffice it to say that it was a great start to things. We stop them, and then march for a TD of our own, and a 14-0 lead ought to take them out of their rhythm. Things unravel a bit from there, but we manage to get a lead that even we can’t fritter away, and post a solid double-up to get the win we needed here.

Week 17, 2014

played in Chesapeake, PA

43 degrees, fair, 7 mph wind

South Carolina Crossfire	0	7	15	0	-	22
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	21	10	7	6	-	44

Scoring Summary

1Q: 13:52 CHE - Lorenzo McDowell 67 interception return (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 07:01 CHE - Ross Rosenfels 4 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 00:10 CHE - Burt Pearson 28 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 08:50 SCA - Grady Milliken 8 run (James Budde extra point)

2Q: 08:44 CHE - George Ellis 87 kickoff return (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 03:51 CHE - David Everhart 32 field goal

3Q: 12:37 CHE - Robert Cooper 9 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

3Q: 06:24 SCA - Grady Milliken 5 run (James Budde extra point)

3Q: 03:48 SCA - Lewis O'Leary 11 pass from Dixon Zhao (Dixon Zhao pass to Michael Long for conversion)

4Q: 14:52 CHE - David Everhart 46 field goal

4Q: 07:46 CHE - David Everhart 38 field goal

Team Statistics	SCA	CHE
Record	6-9-1	13-3
First Downs	19	24
- by Rushing	6	6
- by Passing	13	14
- by Penalty	0	4
Total Net Yards	361	406
- Offensive Plays	65	61
- Yards per Play	5.55	6.66
Net Rushing Yards	79	114
- Rushing Attempts	24	34
- Yards per Rush	3.29	3.35
Net Passing Yards	282	292
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	40 - 22 - 2	26 - 17 - 2
- Gross Passing Yards	288	298
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/6	1/6
- Yards per Pass Play	6.88	10.81
Fumbles/Lost	1/0	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	6/13	6/10
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.2	7.0
4th Down Conversions	1/2	0/0
Penalties/Yards	8/80	6/35
Punt Returns/Yards	0/0	1/17
Kick Returns/Yards	6/93	3/138
Interception Ret./Yards	2/39	2/67
2pt Conversions	1/1	0/0
Red Zone Visits	3	4
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	3/0	2/2
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 26	OWN 25
Time of Possession	29:09	30:51

Online Box Score

We’ll have more season-end details to come in the days ahead, as we try to heal up and get ready for a home playoff game. For now – all you can ask for out of the regular season is to earn the top seed and give yourself a real chance to win from there. So, one down – and a lot or work left to do.

QuikSand · 05-14-2007, 09:09 AM

2014 Season Stats Roundup

Okay, the obvious caveat here is that comparing stats from year to year is folly – the weaknesses that emerged with the 6.0d version of the game (in use for the first 12 games of this season) will make this an asterisked season all around. So, seeing big gains in offensive areas isn’t a shock – we were among the teams that seemed to do a better-then-average job of cultivating big numbers by using basically the same offensive philosophy that has driven us the last few years.

With that, I do want to look at the current season:

Code:

2014 Summary for Chesapeake Chili Dogs
   
Year                2014                                      
Record              13-3                                      
Winning Pct.        .812                                      
All-Time            130-62                                    
Winning Pct.        .677                                      
Playoffs            13-4                                      
Playoff Visits      8                                         
Bowl Wins           3                                         
Head Coach          Blake Baker                               
Record              120-83                                    
Winning Pct.        .591                                      
Off. Coord.         N. Grant                                  
Def. Coord.         M. Byrne                                  
   
Chesapeake Chili Dogs   Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         30.2      10 (T)      
Rushing Yards           144.3     4           
Yards Per Carry         4.78      3           
Pass Attempts           28.7      27          
Completions             17.6      24 (T)      
Completion Pct.         61.2      11          
Passing Yards           310.4     3           
Yards Per Attempt       10.82     1           
Yards Per Catch         17.68     1           
Total Yardage Gained    446.1     2           
3rd Down Conversions    40.4      12          
Points Per Game         37.6      1           
Pass Rush Pct.          9.3       12 (T)      
Pass Defense Pct.       72.2      10          
Turnovers               21        8 (T)       
Turnover Margin         +5        7 (T)

So, our offense clicked awfully well, once again. The gross numbers – yards and points – are not easy to judge across seasons, but across this league, we were still the highest-scoring team, for the third straight season. Our rushing game got off to a blistering hot start, but cooled off later in the season (I discovered, after the fact, that I had adjusted a gameplan too much, and was using one for a few games that suffered from a running game penalty in the old chutes-and-ladders system).

Anyway – plenty to be pleased about – we have assembled excellent offensive personnel, and we now rightfully expect to see the offense carry us. More details player by player to come, but being #3 in rushing yards per carry and #1 in passing yards per attempt is what I’m looking for, more or less.

Code:

      
Passing                 Pos   Att   Comp  Yards Y/Att TD    Int   Rate  
16 B. Sedor             QB    436   267   4746  10.89 44    11    121.6   
**Team                  ---   459   281   4967  10.82 47    13    120.5   
$$Opp                   ---   585   330   4274  7.31  25    20    79.5

So, Sedor is still the centerpiece of this team, of course. I suspect he may well lose out in all-pro balloting this year, as Charleston’s Richie Herndon topped the yards and touchdown, and passer efficiency ratings (Sedor was 4th, 2nd, and 2nd there), but an excellent season regardless.

The biggest worry here is the interceptions. Sedor has been pretty error-free through his career – and 11 picks in 436 attempts is a higher rate that we expect from him. I recall seeing a fair number of “tipped and intercepted” in the Solevision write-ups, so perhaps there is some white noise in here. Regardless, he’s not going anywhere, so we’ll take what we get there.

Code:

   
Rushing                 Pos   Att   Yards Y/Att TD    Fum  
20 H. Small             RB    201   893   4.44  6     2       
35 R. Rosenfels         RB    176   818   4.65  9     2        
16 B. Sedor             QB    68    427   6.28  5     2       
30 H. Yarlagadda        RB    33    136   4.12  0     2       
**Team                  ---   483   2308  4.78  21    17      
$$Opp                   ---   392   1419  3.62  9     20

Well, here we ended up with a committee, as the revised implementation of RB endurance different dramatically to that in FOF 2004. We brought in Rosenfels to be a bridge for us for a year or two, and thought he’d be the workhorse – instead, with limited endurance, he was a time-splitter. Harry Small narrowly won a battle for the #2 job, and wound up the leading carrier for us this season. Both guys were effective enough, though it’s hard to feel like this is a major asset area for us long term.

Sedor’s rushing might be enough to get him an all-pro slot – it’s not quite where it had been in previous seasons, but he was still right there at the top of the list (actually, Bar Harbor’s Kent Gill outrushed him by one yard this year).

Code:

   
Receiving               Pos   Targ  Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop  TD  
8 B. Pearson            WR    167   112   1989  17.76 11.91 8     25      
18 G. Ellis             WR    112   65    1264  19.45 11.29 10    12      
13 R. Cooper            TE    52    34    561   16.50 10.79 2     5       
86 K. Fields            WR    57    26    478   18.38 8.39  3     2       
85 N. Bellevue          WR    37    22    390   17.73 10.54 2     1

So, here is where we have a serious challenge in putting old year stars behind us.

Burt Pearson has always been the top target of a pretty solid spread-it-around passing game. This year, for whatever reason, he became a superstar. The 1,989 yards was 2nd highest in the league (yes, Isaac Mansour posted a jaw-dropping 2,162 for Dodge City) but his 25 receiving touchdowns set a record that might never be matched (second highest there, even in this crazy year, was 16, and in league history was 20). So, hats off to Burt Pearson, whose star rose as much this year as anyone’s from this team.

George Ellis, as the second banana on this team, also posted a career year – the 1,264 yards placed him 12th on the league leaderboard, and his 12 TDs was 7th best among receivers. In addition, I believe he lays claim to being the single most effective kickoff return man in the league (a 35.5 yard average is nearly 5 yards better than any other qualifier) and he ranks in the top handful of punt returners as well. SO, not surprisingly, in the newly-tracked all-purpose yards stat, he was 2nd in the league, behind only the wunderkind running back from Ayr, this year’s very top draft pick Donnie Benson. So – Ellis had a hell of a year himself.

I had pledged to get Kent Fields into more of a role this year, but basically failed to do so, and with Ellis’s success, didn’t feel a need to push the issue. Young Nolan Bellevue made a few pretty good plays, but remains a mystery – our scout’s assessment needs to take a meaningful turn for the better if we’re going to feel we can count on him.

Our downfield passing game left TE Robert Cooper a little bit forgotten this season, but he still is a major contributor, and I suspect will become more so after the game updates. A strong receiving threat at TE is a great friend for a QB, and we will be going to that well, I’m sure.

Code:

Blocking Statistics
   
  Player              Pos Team  GP GS KRB  KRO  BPct  Pnck SkA  PPly SPct  
Turnbull, Winston     C   CHE   16 16 34   91   37.4  6    5    418  1.2    
Burns, Jerry          T   CHE   16 16 22   67   32.8  4    3    417  0.7    
Schmit, Gus           G   CHE   15 11 24   60   40.0  1    2    352  0.6    
Kolodzik, Horace      T   CHE   15 15 19   52   36.5  0    4    400  1.0    
Csonka, Shane         G   CHE   16 16 24   45   53.3  1    1    352  0.3    
Emerson, Charles      FB  CHE   15 7  9    25   36.0  0    0    248  0.0    
Boyd, Lenny           T   CHE   16 1  8    24   33.3  0    6    148  4.1    
Wickham, Drew         G   CHE   16 5  5    24   20.8  0    1    165  0.6    
Lambeau, Wendell      C   CHE   16 0  8    17   47.1  0    0    153  0.0    
Cooper, Robert        TE  CHE   16 14 8    16   50.0  1    0    306  0.0    
Leff, Harvey          TE  CHE   16 3  1    3    33.3  0    0    175  0.0    
   
  Player              Pos Team  RPly OPct  
Turnbull, Winston     C   CHE   404  22.5    
Burns, Jerry          T   CHE   413  16.2    
Schmit, Gus           G   CHE   324  18.5    
Kolodzik, Horace      T   CHE   396  13.1    
Csonka, Shane         G   CHE   368  12.2    
Emerson, Charles      FB  CHE   254  9.8     
Boyd, Lenny           T   CHE   169  14.2    
Wickham, Drew         G   CHE   193  12.4    
Lambeau, Wendell      C   CHE   148  11.5    
Cooper, Robert        TE  CHE   306  5.2     
Leff, Harvey          TE  CHE   224  1.3

So, by and large, the results here are pretty impressive. With my refined understanding of how the KRB stat works, this comes as no surprise – our running game was effective, and so obviously the results-oriented KRB stats should be good. I don’t have any real way to parse out credit for the effectiveness, only to suspect that the line’s play had a major role since our RBs of pretty varying talent seemed to post comparable stats.

C Winston Turnbull remains the road grader in the middle for us, a standout run blocker, and I’m thrilled with what we see from the runs behind young Shane Csonka, the one new face in this group. Lenny Boyd, journeyman reserve tackle, seemed to be the one misfit of the lot, allowing more sacks than anyone else, even as he played fewer than half of our passing plays.

So – we hang 600 points, even in a freaky season, and yeah – we’re going to have a lot of good stuff to say about the offense, by and large.

On to the other side:

Code:

   
Opponents               Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         24.5      3           
Rushing Yards           88.7      1           
Yards Per Carry         3.62      3           
Pass Attempts           36.6      32          
Completions             20.6      29          
Completion Pct.         56.4      13          
Passing Yards           267.1     31          
Yards Per Attempt       7.31      20 (T)      
Yards Per Catch         12.95     28          
Total Yardage Gained    345.1     20          
3rd Down Conversions    35.1      8 (T)       
Points Per Game         18.9      11          
Pass Rush Pct.          7.9       7           
Pass Defense Pct.       66.6      13          
Turnovers               26        11 (T)

For reasons that probably don’t connect all that well to FOF, I just like to have my team tough to run against. At times during the season, we were #1 in yards allowed per carry, we end up at #3. Very solid. I have seen this stat rise and fall – but candidly, when we traded away DE White (who had been a run-stopper DT for us) I feared we would suffer here. And losing run-stopping MLB Doug McKenzie to injuries should have made it worse. Instead, we had our best results in years.

The pass defense, on balance, was pretty average. Tough to measure in a year like this – we had good offenses to contend with from our own division, so I don’t expect shut-down numbers. Our pass rush, a major concern as the season kicked off, was a bit above average– exceeding my expectations substantially.

Code:

   
Defense                 Pos   Tack  Asst  Sack  Hurr  Ints  Defn  PDPct  
51 R. Shaw              OLB   79    22    1.0   2     2     6     78.2    
92 D. Ewart             OLB   77    22    1.0   1     2     7     79.6    
59 D. McKenzie          ILB   60    19    1.0   2     0     1     72.8    
21 J. McCartney         S     56    21    1.0   0     6     15    85.8    
29 D. Schwantz          S     55    26    0.0   0     2     16    84.6    
96 B. Lents             DT    47    23    7.0   14    0     0     82.3    
23 B. Vesser            S     42    11    0.0   0     1     3     74.7    
31 H. Padgett           CB    41    6     0.0   0     2     9     77.5    
28 C. Daniels           CB    36    13    0.0   0     1     10    79.6    
52 L. McDowell          ILB   35    10    1.0   0     2     1     78.4    
70 D. Armagost          DT    34    10    2.5   7     0     0     82.2    
90 K. Meadows           DE    24    14    3.0   20    0     0     82.0    
34 L. Tellez            CB    20    6     0.0   0     0     2     75.3    
98 D. Reynolds          DE    17    9     2.5   19    0     1     82.7    
32 D. Webb              CB    16    5     0.0   0     1     5     83.1

With anchor LB Doug McKenzie missing a few games, we have a surprise tackle leader for the team – weak-side starter and rookie Richie Shaw. Shaw is an interesting case, I think – I’m not sure that his future really lies at the weak-side slot (as I now think he mix of skills may not be terribly well suited for there) but he was consistent for us this year – even decent in coverage, too. Unlikely that anyone on a 13-3 team gets into the picture for Defensive Rookie of the Year, but he probably has had the biggest impact of any rookie defender we have had in years.

Bryan Lents is clearly the best guy we have on the defensive line, but getting 20 hurries and a few sacks from each of our starting defensive ends keeps the pass rush credible. DE Kerry Meadows posted a PR% of 5.5, and rookie Dwight Reynolds a 4.6 – I think it’s time to stop re-investing draft day capital there, and let these guys develop together. They seem to be “good enough” and Meadows is still creeping, I believe.

Incidentally, I did rotate veteran DE Christian Brignac into the lineup enough in the late season to get him off his “unhappy” stance, and hopefully set him up to return next year. He was a great chemistry signing for us, and actually not a major liability on the field.

In the secondary, here are the more details stats:

Code:

Pass Coverage Statistics
   
  Player              Pos Team  GP GS Ints IRYd TD   Defn Cght PPly PDPct  
McCartney, Jeff       S   CHE   16 16 6    56   0    15   37   512  85.8    
Schwantz, Doug        S   CHE   16 15 2    72   1    16   29   454  84.6    
Padgett, Herman       CB  CHE   16 16 2    26   0    9    39   407  77.5    
Daniels, C.J.         CB  CHE   14 9  1    0    0    10   30   380  79.6    
Tellez, Leland        CB  CHE   15 4  0    0    0    2    18   266  75.3    
Vesser, Brett         S   CHE   16 0  1    42   0    3    22   220  74.7    
Webb, Dixon           CB  CHE   13 0  1    54   1    5    12   150  83.1    
Kuehler, Lewis        CB  CHE   5  5  1    0    0    3    11   145  80.9    
Turner, Seth          CB  CHE   16 0  0    0    0    2    7    69   75.9    
Conzelman, Deion      S   CHE   7  0  0    0    0    1    0    24   92.5

So, our two starting safeties both had very solid seasons in coverage – I have a silly man crush on Jeff McCartney, and await his next “clutch play” in a huge situation, which he seems to deliver with regularity. Schwantz might be a better fit for the new-look coverage universe than the old scheme, so no shock that he had a solid year too.

With our best cover man (Kuehler) downed with injuries for a lot of this season we ended up with young C.J. Daniels playing an awful lot (again) and doing okay – no picks, but basically as effective as longtime starter Padgett. I think CB is a need area for this team looking longer term.

Code:

  Player              Pos Team  GP GS Ints IRYd TD   Defn Cght PPly PDPct  
Shaw, Richie          OLB CHE   16 15 2    4    0    6    36   551  78.2    
Ewart, Daryl          OLB CHE   14 13 2    4    0    7    30   447  79.6    
McKenzie, Doug        ILB CHE   11 10 0    0    0    1    25   320  72.8    
McDowell, Lorenzo     ILB CHE   16 8  2    96   1    1    17   249  78.4    
Kuykendall, Travis    OLB CHE   16 0  0    0    0    0    5    86   74.8    
Dennis, D.J.          ILB CHE   16 0  0    0    0    0    2    21   69.7

I wish I understood linebackers in coverage better than I did. All these guys have pretty lousy PD% numbers, but is that a function of me not paying good enough attention to their coverage skills, not slotting them properly, or just the nature of the beast playing LB (you give up lots of catches, like it or not). Were Ewart and Shaw okay for us, getting six or seven PDs while yielding three dozen catches? Or should I be looking for 10-15 PDs from a successful coverage LB? Beats me. McKenzie is just rotten, so I have no expectations there – but what of my two outside guys? I’m basically at a loss.

Great season – I’m a little miffed at a few of the meltdowns that cost us notches in the W/L column, but in the end it didn’t matter – you can’t do better than the #1 seed.

QuikSand · 05-16-2007, 11:43 AM

State College heading to Chesapeake

With a resounding road win in their playoff opener, State College will be heading to Chesapeake for our opener. That pits Hell Creek and Portland against one another in the other divisional game, and I can’t say I’m too upset about that.

Anyway – here’s the pretty solid looking STC summary:

Code:


Front Office Football 2007
2014 Summary for State College Rhinos
   
Year                2014                                      
Record              12-5                                      
Winning Pct.        .705                                      
All-Time            81-110-1                                  
Winning Pct.        .424                                      
Playoffs            1-0                                       
Playoff Visits      1                                         
Bowl Wins           0                                         
Head Coach          Bucky Marcheck                            
Record              12-5                                      
Winning Pct.        .705                                      
Off. Coord.         M. Jordan                                 
Def. Coord.         G. Hall                                   
   
State College Rhinos    Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         35.8      1           
Rushing Yards           154.6     2           
Yards Per Carry         4.32      11 (T)      
Pass Attempts           31.0      23          
Completions             19.8      10          
Completion Pct.         63.9      5           
Passing Yards           221.1     16          
Yards Per Attempt       7.13      12          
Yards Per Catch         11.16     19          
Total Yardage Gained    368.5     10          
3rd Down Conversions    42.6      9           
Points Per Game         23.5      11          
Pass Rush Pct.          9.0       17 (T)      
Pass Defense Pct.       74.1      7           
Turnovers               17        4 (T)       
Turnover Margin         +8        5 (T)       
   
Opponents               Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         22.8      2           
Rushing Yards           89.6      2           
Yards Per Carry         3.93      10          
Pass Attempts           34.0      20          
Completions             18.9      19          
Completion Pct.         55.5      10          
Passing Yards           223.3     14          
Yards Per Attempt       6.57      12          
Yards Per Catch         11.83     14          
Total Yardage Gained    301.4     6           
3rd Down Conversions    34.4      6           
Points Per Game         16.9      5           
Pass Rush Pct.          8.4       9 (T)       
Pass Defense Pct.       61.0      5           
Turnovers               25        13 (T)      
   
Week  Team  Versus        Oppnt  
1     13    HLC           10      
2     26    at SHR        7       
3     27    DGC           17      
4     22    WAS           24      
5     27    at CAL        3       
6     33    at MAD        21      
7     30    at NRW        14      
9     30    SLB           6       
10    7     AYR           10      
11    10    at HLC        34      
12    31    at BRH        34      
13    30    at CNI        10      
14    27    JER           17      
15    19    MAD           30      
16    20    SMT           13      
17    24    at WAS        21      
$$WC  33    at CNI        0       
$$CS        at CHE                
   
Passing                 Pos   Att   Comp  Yards Y/Att TD    Int   Rate  
17 B. Fuller            QB    496   317   3537  7.13  29    8     97.8    
**Team                  ---   496   317   3537  7.13  29    8     97.8    
$$Opp                   ---   544   302   3572  6.57  18    17    73.7    
   
Rushing                 Pos   Att   Yards Y/Att TD    Fum   
45 T. Sweeney           RB    269   1260  4.68  4     3       
24 B. Benson            RB    203   774   3.81  3     3       
17 B. Fuller            QB    99    439   4.43  4     8       
**Team                  ---   572   2473  4.32  11    22      
$$Opp                   ---   365   1433  3.93  12    23      
   
Receiving               Pos   Targ  Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop  TD  
87 J. Wipf              WR    110   67    950   14.18 8.64  8     10      
82 L. Ketchum           WR    107   67    934   13.94 8.73  6     6       
83 D. Kramer            WR    63    38    472   12.42 7.49  6     6       
85 J. Kendall           TE    62    37    395   10.68 6.37  5     2       
80 F. Godfrey           WR    50    26    282   10.85 5.64  1     2       
45 T. Sweeney           RB    24    23    109   4.74  4.54  0     0       
89 G. Snowe             TE    17    16    79    4.94  4.65  0     0       
   
Defense                 Pos   Tack  Asst  Sack  Hurr  Ints  Defn  PDPct  
52 H. Freeman           ILB   106   39    4.0   5     1     6     76.7    
30 D. Conquergood       S     83    27    1.5   1     6     12    84.8    
58 F. Dennis            OLB   50    17    2.0   2     0     5     74.8    
77 H. Leeuwenburg       DT    42    11    4.5   1     0     1     82.5    
23 B. Daniels           S     40    10    0.0   0     3     10    83.1    
27 D. Chachick          CB    36    7     0.0   1     2     8     80.1    
25 J. Baxter            CB    34    12    0.0   0     2     18    86.1    
78 B. Lester            DE    31    18    6.0   13    0     0     81.4    
36 L. Hooker            CB    31    7     0.0   0     0     6     77.3    
99 L. Capstick          OLB   31    20    0.5   0     0     2     68.4    
26 J. Gorman            CB    27    3     1.0   0     2     7     81.5    
75 D. Powell            DT    20    5     1.0   2     0     0     81.9    
95 L. Dasilva           DT    17    5     1.0   4     0     0     81.6

Looks like we can expect them to run and throw short against us – a pretty solid “take what they give you” style of offense. Our biggest decision will be whether to play LB Doug McKenzie – out best run-stopper, but he’s listed as questionable and a reinjury is a serious possibility. Tough call, probably a game time decision.

QuikSand · 05-16-2007, 11:44 AM

Divisional Playoff – State College (11-5) at Chesapeake (13-3)

In our biggest decision for this week’s game, I decided to leave LB Doug McKenzie inactive – it looks like he’d be fairly ineffective anyway, and we’ve done pretty well with young Lorenzo McDowell in there of late anyway – so we’ll give McKenzie one more week to hopefully heal up. I hope we are still tough on the run here.

We get a short field to open the game, after a nice KO return from George Ellis, and cash it in with a TD pass to Pearson – perfectly according to the script. Through the first half, we are mostly in control, but cannot really pull away – until a long TD pass to Pearson breaks the relative logjam and pus us ahead 16-0 (two missed kicks on account of snow). Another breakaway play to TE Robert Cooper makes it 23-0, and it looks like we are pretty well in control.

We slip a couple of times, and turnovers give State College chances to get back into the game – but we hold them to three FGs, and it’s 23-9 in the early fourth quarter. Then, Sedor connects on a couple long passes to set up another TD, and a 30-9 advantage seems pretty safe, despite our fairly sloppy play.

Conference Semifinals, 2014

played in Chesapeake, PA

21 degrees, snow, 13 mph wind

State College Rhinos	0	6	0	10	-	16
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	16	0	7	-	30

Scoring Summary

1Q: 11:12 CHE - Burt Pearson 27 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 13:07 CHE - David Everhart 37 field goal

2Q: 10:15 CHE - Burt Pearson 42 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point failed)

2Q: 07:20 CHE - Robert Cooper 76 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

2Q: 02:30 STC - Jumbo Shepherd 32 field goal

2Q: 00:28 STC - Jumbo Shepherd 49 field goal

4Q: 13:00 STC - Jumbo Shepherd 35 field goal

4Q: 09:10 CHE - George Ellis 3 pass from Brent Sedor (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 02:39 STC - Benjamin Fuller 2 run (Jumbo Shepherd extra point)

Team Statistics	STC	CHE
Record	12-6	14-3
First Downs	21	18
- by Rushing	4	6
- by Passing	14	12
- by Penalty	3	0
Total Net Yards	334	460
- Offensive Plays	77	65
- Yards per Play	4.34	7.08
Net Rushing Yards	83	129
- Rushing Attempts	18	38
- Yards per Rush	4.61	3.39
Net Passing Yards	251	331
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	56 - 29 - 3	26 - 16 - 2
- Gross Passing Yards	267	337
- Sacks/Yards Lost	3/16	1/6
- Yards per Pass Play	4.25	12.26
Fumbles/Lost	1/0	1/0
3rd Down Conversions	5/17	8/15
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	9.6	4.9
4th Down Conversions	1/2	0/0
Penalties/Yards	6/41	10/70
Punt Returns/Yards	0/0	1/10
Kick Returns/Yards	6/208	3/84
Interception Ret./Yards	2/4	3/4
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	3	3
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	1/2	1/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 34	OWN 34
Time of Possession	28:37	31:23

Online Box Score

Across the scoreboard, the other three games were all close, but the home teams (and top seeds) all prevailed, so we’ll see 14-2 Charleston hosting 13-3 Hudson Valley across in the other conference, while we will take on 11-5 Hell Creek. More on the matchup(s) later – for now, we’ll take the win and move on.

It looks like LB McKenzie ought to be a go for next week’s game against Hell Creek, and other than our IR guys, we might be fully healthy for that game. We’ll do our best to draw up a gameplan to handle them, but they are a remarkably consistent club who has been here before – including against us in recent years. They won’t be pushed around easily.

QuikSand · 05-17-2007, 11:22 AM

Conference Championships Preview

Here’s the snapshot of the Hell Creek Tyrannosaurs, practically an annual fixture in the conference championship game. After a shaky start, they have been the hottest team in FOFL of late. Always a very tough customer.

Code:

2014 Summary for Hell Creek Tyrannosaurs
   
Year                2014                                      
Record              12-5                                      
Winning Pct.        .705                                      
All-Time            140-52                                    
Winning Pct.        .729                                      
Playoffs            15-9                                      
Playoff Visits      10                                        
Bowl Wins           0                                         
Head Coach          Joe Rojas                                 
Record              95-44-1                                   
Winning Pct.        .682                                      
Off. Coord.         H. Hancock                                
Def. Coord.         M. Dawson                                 
   
Hell Creek Tyrannosaurs Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         24.1      31          
Rushing Yards           92.1      31          
Yards Per Carry         3.83      25          
Pass Attempts           38.6      2           
Completions             22.5      3           
Completion Pct.         58.3      18          
Passing Yards           309.9     4           
Yards Per Attempt       8.02      11          
Yards Per Catch         13.77     9           
Total Yardage Gained    393.3     6           
3rd Down Conversions    37.1      19          
Points Per Game         26.4      8 (T)       
Pass Rush Pct.          10.1      6 (T)       
Pass Defense Pct.       76.9      2           
Turnovers               24        13 (T)      
Turnover Margin         +3        10 (T)      
   
Opponents               Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         27.1      9 (T)       
Rushing Yards           125.6     23          
Yards Per Carry         4.63      30          
Pass Attempts           35.9      29 (T)      
Completions             19.3      22          
Completion Pct.         53.8      4 (T)       
Passing Yards           200.6     8           
Yards Per Attempt       5.59      2           
Yards Per Catch         10.39     2           
Total Yardage Gained    309.6     8           
3rd Down Conversions    33.5      4 (T)       
Points Per Game         17.8      6           
Pass Rush Pct.          11.2      27 (T)      
Pass Defense Pct.       67.1      15          
Turnovers               27        8 (T)       
   
Week  Team  Versus        Oppnt  
1     10    at STC        13      
2     24    BRH           29      
3     9     CHE           33      
4     37    AYR           21      
5     28    at WAS        34      
6     30    SLB           0       
7     52    at CAL        21      
8     30    MAD           17      
9     31    at NRW        21      
11    34    STC           10      
12    27    SHR           3       
13    34    at MER        8       
14    14    at SMT        10      
15    20    WAS           19      
16    28    at JER        21      
17    14    at MAD        24      
$$CS  35    POR           28      
$$CF        at CHE                
   
Passing                 Pos   Att   Comp  Yards Y/Att TD    Int   Rate  
19 S. Peterson          QB    618   360   4958  8.02  36    17    92.0    
**Team                  ---   618   360   4958  8.02  36    17    92.0    
$$Opp                   ---   574   309   3210  5.59  19    22    65.3    
   
Rushing                 Pos   Att   Yards Y/Att TD    Fum   
20 L. Lluellyn          RB    222   744   3.35  7     4       
28 H. Atkins            RB    132   588   4.45  4     3       
**Team                  ---   385   1474  3.83  13    16      
$$Opp                   ---   434   2010  4.63  12    19      
   
Receiving               Pos   Targ  Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop  TD  
80 T. Rausch            WR    159   89    1646  18.49 10.35 8     9       
82 C. Jaax              WR    123   68    1068  15.71 8.68  6     11      
86 P. Wolf              WR    96    43    670   15.58 6.98  8     6       
89 D. Price             TE    54    38    350   9.21  6.48  3     4       
81 S. Shepherd          WR    64    29    465   16.03 7.27  2     1       
20 L. Lluellyn          RB    26    23    144   6.26  5.54  2     1       
28 H. Atkins            RB    32    23    156   6.78  4.88  0     1       
45 A. Maestas           FB    23    19    141   7.42  6.13  1     2       
   
Defense                 Pos   Tack  Asst  Sack  Hurr  Ints  Defn  PDPct  
91 B. Randle            ILB   97    24    1.0   2     3     4     80.8    
52 D. Pritchett         OLB   80    25    1.5   2     4     8     78.4    
31 T. Downs             S     74    21    1.0   3     2     20    86.0    
44 M. Fitzgerald        S     73    22    2.5   0     3     9     79.9    
30 B. Conger            CB    56    24    1.0   0     4     16    83.9    
99 H. Devoe             DE    46    11    11.5  24    0     0     81.6    
50 R. Lyon              OLB   40    15    1.5   0     1     2     74.9    
96 D. Walker            DT    40    18    7.5   11    0     0     80.5    
98 A. Conway            DT    39    15    3.5   5     0     0     81.4    
29 B. Flynn             CB    38    9     0.0   0     1     8     78.1    
22 R. Ballard           CB    36    4     0.0   0     4     8     84.2    
40 B. Dolan             S     29    6     1.0   1     0     4     79.6    
95 S. Nichols           DE    24    9     8.5   27    0     0     81.8    
54 R. Broxon            OLB   16    6     1.0   0     0     1     74.3

A Hall-of-fame QB, and a solid defense (especially against the pass, as usual) – we will stay pretty balanced for this game, and probably need a good effort to get a win here, even at home.

QuikSand · 05-17-2007, 12:39 PM

Conference Championship: Hell Creek (11-5) at Chesapeake (13-3)

Well, I’ve already set this one up.

The play by play, with ongoing commentary, is posted here.

Without re-living the whole thing, both teams start out well on offense – we trade TDs, the FGs, and are tied at 10-10. We drive for two FGs before halftime, including one set up by a huge run from Sedor, and lead by six at the break. From there, we seem to melt down, with turnovers and a blocked punt giving them multiple chances to take the lead, and they do. We score to reclaim the lead 23-17, but they march for a score, and we just cannot get our act together down the stretch. Even after a huge stop to hold them to a FG, we have a chance, and another interception from Sedor clinches it for the Tyrannosaurs, who will head on to their 6^th title game.

Conference Finals, 2014

played in Chesapeake, PA

42 degrees, fair, 8 mph wind

Hell Creek Tyrannosaurs	10	0	7	10	-	27
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	9	0	7	-	23

Scoring Summary

1Q: 10:12 HLC - Chris Jaax 5 pass from Skip Peterson (Marlon Honaker extra point)

1Q: 04:10 CHE - Ross Rosenfels 1 run (David Everhart extra point)

1Q: 00:24 HLC - Marlon Honaker 39 field goal

2Q: 11:35 CHE - David Everhart 41 field goal

2Q: 02:36 CHE - David Everhart 40 field goal

2Q: 00:06 CHE - David Everhart 40 field goal

3Q: 03:46 HLC - Chris Jaax 8 pass from Skip Peterson (Marlon Honaker extra point)

4Q: 13:25 CHE - Brent Sedor 3 run (David Everhart extra point)

4Q: 09:04 HLC - Todd Rausch 22 pass from Skip Peterson (Marlon Honaker extra point)

4Q: 05:21 HLC - Marlon Honaker 44 field goal

Team Statistics	HLC	CHE
Record	13-5	14-4
First Downs	21	25
- by Rushing	4	11
- by Passing	17	11
- by Penalty	0	3
Total Net Yards	416	385
- Offensive Plays	58	68
- Yards per Play	7.17	5.66
Net Rushing Yards	84	163
- Rushing Attempts	22	34
- Yards per Rush	3.82	4.79
Net Passing Yards	332	222
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	36 - 24 - 0	33 - 20 - 2
- Gross Passing Yards	332	230
- Sacks/Yards Lost	0/0	1/8
- Yards per Pass Play	9.22	6.53
Fumbles/Lost	1/0	2/1
3rd Down Conversions	3/10	6/13
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.3	5.3
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	7/46	5/24
Punt Returns/Yards	1/-2	1/18
Kick Returns/Yards	3/42	3/105
Interception Ret./Yards	2/9	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	2	3
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	2/0	2/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 33	OWN 26
Time of Possession	26:14	33:46

Online Box Score

So, that’s that. We give the ball away 4 times and cannot make a big play of our own all day, Hell Creek plays a pretty mistake-free and opportunistic game, and they get the win they deserve.

I’m not in a chipper mood at the moment, so I’ll leave it there for now. Good luck Allosaurus and Hell Creek in the championship game!

QuikSand · 05-19-2007, 08:22 PM

Season Wrap-Up

In a thrilling title game, Hell Creek nips Charleston 17-16, to take their first league championship. That’s a great and well-deserved honor for Allosaurus, who has piloted them to being arguably the top franchise in FOFL history. (That subject actually might make a good debate)

In the season awards, we get three offensive players recognized – WR Burt Pearson is right alongside WR Isaac Mansour of Dodge City on the first team (those two just tore up the record book in this unusual year), and QB Brent Sedor and TE Robert Cooper both manage second team honors. No complaints there – Sedor had a good year overall, but his unexpected spike in interceptions may have been the difference between getting first team honors, and possibly a third title for us.

With that, we end our run of titles, but hopefully not our status as main contender. We advance to the start of the 2015 season… and I am predictably thinking about retirements, with our increasing “veteran” team. I think the guys I worry most about are MLB Doug McKenzie and maybe LT Horace Kolodzik, both of whom would be very tough to replace.

So, a few stages ahead of reflection on where we are… but as the curtain is lifted on the year’s retirements, we see…

WR Robert Torpey – solid veteran, no real surprise, but we’ve got WR covered

LB D.J. Dennis – long time reserve and special teamer for us, good role player

LB Daryl Ewart – Wha?!?!? Big surprise there – only 9 years in the league, with big money left on his deal, I’m shocked to see this – and it will be very tough

So… as we start preparations for another busy offseason, it looks like we will be thinking about the LB position, as two retirements there leave us down to only four signed players. We’ll have other things to consider, but LB looks like a major target slot.

QuikSand · 05-20-2007, 03:17 AM

Chesapeake Chili Dogs, 2015 Season

We have a new season underway, and we’re game for looking to see what we’re in line for here. One key retirement in LB Daryl Ewart will be a major blow, and has me suddenly worried that we don’t really have enough quality young players on this team. Here’s a global look at our roster in terms of salary situation – and I’ll focus a bit on who we have brought aboard in the last few years who is a major contributor:

Code:

Chesapeake Chili Dogs Roster, Contract View
   
  Player                #   Pos   Start OnTm   EndCnt Exp  Cap Cost        Save if Rls
Sedor, Brent            16  QB    QB    2009   2016   7    $8,500,000      $7,000,000 
Ross, Harry             2   QB          2013   2015   12   $5,900,000      $5,900,000 
Gerhardt, Alex          7   QB          2011   2016   5    $500,000*       $490,000   
$$Kemp, Preston         6   QB          2014   ----   1    $0              $0         
Rosenfels, Ross         35  RB    RB    2014   2015   9    $4,700,000      $4,000,000 
Small, Harry            20  RB          2013   2015   3    $500,000        $490,000   
Cook, Sam               38  RB          2012   ----   4    $0              $0         
Yarlagadda, Henry       30  RB          2014   ----   2    $0              $0         
Emerson, Charles        42  FB          2005   2015   11   $490,000*       $490,000   
Cooper, Robert          13  TE    TE    2009   2017   7    $2,800,000      $1,200,000 
Leff, Harvey            83  TE    FB    2012   2016   4    $500,000*       $490,000   
Odle, Leland            81  TE          2014   ----   2    $0              $0         
Pearson, Burt           8   FL    FL    2011   2018   5    $5,180,000      $1,000,000 
Fields, Kent            86  FL          2012   2016   4    $1,200,000      $900,000   
Abdul-Malik, Oscar      82  FL          2012   2015   11   $1,120,000      $1,120,000 
George, Irving          25  FL          2014   ----   2    $0              $0         
Ellis, George           18  SE    SE    2010   2016   6    $2,480,000      $2,000,000 
Bellevue, Nolan         85  SE          2014   2016   2    $1,110,000      $650,000   
Turnbull, Winston       54  C     C     2008   2018   8    $2,660,000      $1,500,000 
Lambeau, Wendell        55  C           2009   UFA    8    $0              $0         
Schmit, Gus             66  LG    LG    2008   2017   8    $3,000,000      $2,000,000 
Wickham, Drew           63  LG          2013   2015   3    $500,000        $490,000   
Csonka, Shane           74  RG    RG    2012   2018   4    $1,560,000      $1,200,000 
Brandon, Marvin         60  RG          2008   UFA    8    $0              $0         
Kolodzik, Horace        73  LT    LT    2009   2017   11   $1,900,000      $1,500,000 
Conley, Marco           68  LT          2014   UFA    11   $0              $0         
Boyd, Lenny             61  LT          2010   UFA    10   $0              $0         
Burns, Jerry            75  RT    RT    2009   2016   7    $3,880,000      $3,060,000 
Holmes, Scottie         17  P           2014   ----   2    $0              $0         
Everhart, David         19  K           2008   2015   8    $990,000        $850,000   
Meadows, Kerry          90  LDE   LDE   2012   2017   4    $3,000,000      $2,000,000 
Clayton, Skip           94  LDE         2012   2016   4    $950,000        $750,000   
Brignac, Christian      95  LDE         2014   UFA    12   $0              $0         
Reynolds, Dwight        98  RDE   RDE   2014   2017   2    $1,890,000      $1,100,000 
Armagost, Dwight        70  LDT   LDT   2010   2015   6    $950,000        $850,000   
Lents, Bryan            96  RDT   RDT   2010   2017   6    $2,500,000      $1,500,000 
Kaesviharn, Devin       78  RDT         2014   2016   2    $730,000        $510,000   
Winters, Tyrone         76  RDT         2014   2016   11   $510,000*       $490,000   
McKenzie, Doug          59  MLB   MLB   2009   2015   11   $7,970,000      $5,580,000 
McDowell, Lorenzo       52  MLB         2013   2015   3    $630,000        $600,000   
Kuykendall, Travis      56  SLB         2006   2015   10   $1,230,000      $1,230,000 
Shaw, Richie            51  WLB   WLB   2014   2016   2    $730,000        $510,000   
Padgett, Herman         31  LCB   LCB   2008   2019   8    $3,800,000      $1,200,000 
Daniels, C.J.           28  LCB         2012   2016   4    $770,000        $590,000   
Webb, Dixon             32  LCB         2009   UFA    7    $0              $0         
Kuehler, Lewis          27  RCB   RCB   2011   2018   10   $4,410,000      $1,500,000 
Tellez, Leland          34  RCB         2010   2015   7    $970,000        $970,000   
Turner, Seth            26  RCB         2014   2016   2    $520,000        $470,000   
Schwantz, Doug          29  SS    SS    2009   2017   7    $2,300,000      $1,300,000 
Vesser, Brett           23  SS          2009   2016   7    $770,000        $690,000   
Upshaw, Jon             41  SS          2010   2015   13   $490,000*       $490,000   
Thornton, Roman         39  SS          2014   ----   2    $0              $0         
McCartney, Jeff         21  FS    FS    2008   2016   8    $2,050,000      $1,500,000 
Conzelman, Deion        24  FS          2014   2016   2    $470,000        $470,000   
   
$$ - player is suspended, ## - player is inactive,  
** = player is injured, %% - player is on IR.  
   
Players Under Contract: 41
Inactive: 0
On Active Roster: 41
   
Salary Cap: $104,200,000
Cap Room: $12,680,000
Maximum for New Player: $6,260,000
Cap Room Lost (to old contracts): $4,410,000
   
Cap Room Lost Next Year (to old contracts): $0
Cap Room Required Next Year: $80,850,00

So, first of all – we do have some cap space this year to work with. With two first round picks in hand, we have a fairly expensive draft, but we can offer a $6m contract, and that’s before we resolve things with $5.9m backup QB Harry Ross, who will likely be released or traded shortly. So, we have a shot to bring in one or two meaningful veterans this offseason, depending on the marketplace. Looking at the open market, I’ll be betting against us landing any major impact players, though – just doesn’t look like a deep FA class overall.

Plus, with this overall picture of salary caps…

Code:

Team Cap Room and Needs List
   
  Team            Cap Room Cntr    Draft Picks    Big Need  2nd Need  3rd Need  
Myrtle Beach      $66,470,000    24   $4,770,000  Start DE  Start OLB Start RB    
Sam's Town        $44,740,000    27   $10,010,000 Start ILB Start S   Start DE    
Seal Beach        $42,040,000    29   $5,410,000  Start RB  Start S   Start QB    
Ayr               $32,650,000    29   $5,320,000  Start G   Start ILB Start T     
Texas             $32,590,000    24   $6,630,000  Start ILB Start CB  Start S     
French            $28,490,000    28   $5,830,000  Start S   Start T   Start QB    
Annawan           $27,180,000    40   $8,020,000  Start QB  Start ILB Start CB    
Norwich           $25,960,000    29   $4,830,000  Start ILB Start CB  Start QB    
Norman            $25,950,000    35   $5,750,000  Start DE  Start DT  Start QB    
Keene             $25,230,000    34   $5,200,000  Start T   Start WR  Start DE    
Washington        $24,550,000    34   $3,050,000  Start DT  Start S   Start T     
Coney Island      $23,120,000    37   $4,420,000  Start QB  Start RB  Start ILB   
Fall River        $19,310,000    42   $3,920,000  Start DT  Start S   Resrv FB    
Davis             $17,870,000    41   $5,920,000  Start QB  Start WR  Start TE    
Dodge City        $17,030,000    35   $4,360,000  Start OLB Start RB  Start ILB   
Mars              $16,920,000    44   $4,780,000  Start T   Start S   Start DT    
Calverton         $14,780,000    32   $6,550,000  Start WR  Start DT  Start S     
Madison           $14,510,000    35   $4,810,000  Start ILB Start G   Start RB    
Shreveport        $14,100,000    34   $3,820,000  Start QB  Start ILB Start S     
Happy Valley      $14,090,000    36   $2,680,000  Start DE  Start DT  Start RB    
Hudson Valley     $13,340,000    41   $6,450,000  Start G   Start T   Start CB    
Chesapeake        $12,680,000    41   $6,420,000  Start RB  Resrv OLB Start ILB   
Bar Harbor        $11,860,000    37   $4,490,000  Start S   Start RB  Resrv RB    
South Carolina    $11,730,000    36   $6,760,000  Start ILB Start S   Start CB    
Jupiter           $11,540,000    41   $7,760,000  Start RB  Start S   Start ILB   
State College     $10,180,000    39   $4,520,000  Start ILB Start DE  Start RB    
Hell Creek        $9,790,000     37   $5,380,000  Start RB  Start TE  Resrv ILB   
Charleston        $8,170,000     28   $2,790,000  Start ILB Start FB  Start DT    
Portland          $8,100,000     45   $6,250,000  Start DT  Start DE  Start QB    
New Jersey        $7,870,000     42   $4,760,000  Start S   Start ILB Start DE    
Toronto           $6,770,000     30   $7,080,000  Start ILB Start TE  Start RB    
Mercury           $5,410,000     34   $5,620,000  Start RB  Start C   Resrv WR

…with numerous teams (again) lying out there with massive amounts of cap space, we are vulnerable to getting pushed around on any major FA talent that exists.

Toddzilla · 05-20-2007, 07:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by QuikSand

That’s a great and well-deserved honor for Allosaurus, who has piloted them to being arguably the to franchise in FOFL history.

QuikSand · 05-21-2007, 08:19 PM

Tough typo... the word "top" doesn't make as much sense as it does when it has the letter p at the end. Top franchise. Top. That's what I meant.

QuikSand · 05-21-2007, 08:20 PM

Young Key Players

The loss of Daryl Ewart has me thinking about our team’s downside – we’re not in crisis mode yet, but when I look at the best players on our team, I see nearly everyone at least in his 5th year in the league. That was the year we held an early draft pick due to some trading, landed WR Burt Pearson in the draft, and got the superstar we really needed. Since then, we have burned through three drafts acquiring a fair number of solid complementary players, but nobody who looks like a star-caliber performer. Even our FA additions these last few seasons have mostly been short-term types, nobody in the prime of his career who might actually be a guy we’re looking to plug in for several years.

Who, among our 2nd-4th year players, is really a major piece of our planning?

WR Kent Fields – 48/48 (2012 pick 2.19) – Fields still has some development ahead, we think, but it seems that he is at his overall maximum, that is as a solid #3 receiver. He’s good enough to play as much as we need, but if he were a starter, we’d consider it a need area to target.

RG Shane Csonka – 42/56 (2012 pick 5.22) – Csonka started for us last year and put up brilliant season-long stats (53% KRBs and only one sack) so we’re fine with him as our starter, but thee red bars suggest he’s really a decent player probably benefiting from a good overall team.

TE Harvey Leff – 46/46 (2012 URFA) – Leff has been creeping up toward a pretty respectable set of ratings for us, and lasts year filled in nicely as a starting FB when Emerson went down. Backup TE isn’t a key position, but he looks solid enough to count on.

DE Kerry Meadows – 52/52 (2012 pick 4.1) – Meadows has gradually developed into a pretty decent-looking end, and on our team that makes him a starter. But 8 sacks in three seasons isn’t really impact-level performance, is it? A 5.5 PR% last year gives us hope that he is still building toward being a major factor for us.

RB Harry Small – 29/38 (2013 URFA) – Small edged out the competition for the backup RB job last year, and then went on to post 893 rushing yards on over 4.4 yards per carry. Was he a serious contributor as a starter for us long term, or just the beneficiary of defenses worried about the pass? I don’t know.

MLB Lorenzo McDowell – 29/33 (2013 pick 6.2) – McDowell right now is slotted behind McKenzie at MLB, and probably will stay there. Looks like he may continue to inch forward, but I don’t think there are any leaps and bounds in his ratings waiting to happen.

G Drew Wickham – 41/45 (2013 URFA) – Wickham is a pretty decent third guard for us, but sitting behind a star and another creeper, I don’t see him breaking into the starting lineup barring misfortune elsewhere.

WR Nolan Bellevue – 18/18 (2012 pick 2.32) – Enigmatic receiver – put up reasonable stats last year (390 yards on 10.5 yds/target) but dreadful scout ratings suggest he’s simply not that exciting a player, even if he creeps and creeps.

DE Dwight Reynolds – 46/59 (2012 pick 1.32) – Standard pass-rushing DE, ratings dipping a bit but holding reasonably well overall. Posted a 4.6 PR%, we’ll need improvement on that.

DT Devin Kaesviharn – 30/45 (2012 pick 3.32) – Slight creeper, but tucked behind DT Bryan Lents, he doesn’t figure to be a major impact player for us, I suspect.

LB Richie Shaw – 41/42 (2012 pick 3.30) – Decent player right away for us, led team with 79 tackles, but utility as full-time starter may be shaky. Starts this year again, mostly out of need – not sure if he’s a long term answer anywhere for us.

That’s basically the list – I included as “major contributors” pretty much everyone who is sure to have a roster spot this year. But while we did land a few creepers here or there, not a one of these players is rated 60 or better, and not one is looking like a major anchor player (without major development). I frittered away some early picks pursuing pass rushers, and had the usual array of relative draft busts, but we haven’t really landed a “wow” player in years through the draft. As some teams, especially those picking in the top handful each year, are fielding star-caliber young players at major positions, I feel as though we are setting up for a shaky time down the road. Sedor is a 7th year guy, so we ought to have several more years under him, which will cover over some weakness on the roster – but we need to put something around him to be a top-tier roster. There are guys on this list above that I “like” – but nobody who really changes the team past being a solid complementary player. At some point, we need to being aboard a true star.

QuikSand · 05-24-2007, 04:11 PM

Free Agency About to Get Underway

The free agency period this offseason ought to be weird – we have multiple teams with at least a third of their salary cap unencumbered, and only a few legitimate impact players out there to be had. I don’t expect that Chesapeake is likely to really land anyone of very much import, all told –we may put in an offer or two on the “top” players, but we are sitting on $12m in cap space – maybe $20m or so in workable space after we work through renegotiations, I guess. There are plenty of teams with $30m to work with – there’s no reason why Chesapeake should be able to land anyone who is really wanted elsewhere.

Not a major worry – on my first draft, I think CHE has 44 roster slots already basically secured by returning players, and probably a couple more that will come pretty easily. Past that, we have 7 draft picks this year, which would basically put us right to a full roster – so, it’s not like we have several starting jobs open and only 29 guys sitting here. We already have pretty much everyone we need for this year already, and will mostly be looking to bring aboard some long term additions in this draft. Every veteran free agent we sign is essentially one fewer young guy we can take into the season, so there’s a cost for every free agent beyond his cap space.

With the stage to start free agency, we see a refinement in player ratings – and there’s some good news here in Chesapeake, as a few younger players made nice gains. Linebackers Richie Shaw (+5/+4) and Lorenzo McDowell (+3/+3), almost as if realizing they are about to get the call as major contributors for our defense this season, both had very good adjustments. My young enigmatic receiver Nolan Bellevue also boosted (+2/+2), probably keeping him in my good graces for a while longer. CB Seth Turner, a late pick last year, posted a fairly surprising bump (+1/+4) and he’s going to be a bit like Bellevue – he might just have enough weird promise to keep me on his side for now. Turner is still only rated 18/38 by our scouts, so it’s not like he broke through and is challenging for serious playing time.

We did have a few players suffer drops here – probably the most concerning is DE Dwight Reynolds (-3/-4), last year’s top pick for us. No shock, he isn’t a “creeper” type, but it’s looking like we basically have a replacement-value player there – something like 50/50 overall when it’s all said and done-- and at the cost of a 1st round pick (again). Reynolds played okay last year, but we need to temper our expectations there a bit, I suspect.

Nothing here really changes our offseason priorities, I don’t think – we need to fill in with a couple of LBs, but they can be decent veterans, late round picks, or URFA pickups – not necessarily a top draft pick. Same thing with our DB group, I would like to add one more guy who can play some CB for us (we got really depleted there by injuries, and I suspect things will get worse before getting better) so I’d like to invest there – historically, I’ve had some luck with middle-round picks (or later) at DB but that’s an area where I’m very open to investing our top pick, if the value looks reasonable. I think a LB would have to be a very good system fit for me to go there, but it’s an option as well.

The first look at the draft suggests depth at DL and LB, and also at QB. Assuming we lose Harry Ross this offseason one way or another, I’d be pretty interested in bringing aboard another QB. I don’t think it would make sense for us to draft at QB early (though it did work out pretty well taking Walt Johnstone in round three two drafts back – that’s why we hold pick 1.19 this year, after all) but I could see us picking up a project QB somewhere in this draft, or else via free agency, even.

QuikSand · 05-29-2007, 01:55 PM

Free Agency Begins

As I noted earlier, the league is full of very deep pockets, and I don’t really expect to accomplish much via free agency this year. So, we put in some perfunctory offers, and I am pretty shocked to land two players in the initial stage:

LB Harvey Humphries – Of all the players out there in free agency, the guy who has the biggest chance to be a genuine impact player for us right away is right here. Humphries naturally lines up on the strong side, and is a solid run stopper (76 by my scout) and ought to be okay in both coverage and the occasional pass rushing assignment. He’s a 10th year player, so this guy isn’t the long term future for us, but with only four LBs on the roster at all, adding Humphries takes the pressure off us, and we no longer **need** to get a starter OLB in this draft. I might still go after a young player or two, but this guy gives us some welcome breathing room.

RB Russell Becker – He is a 5th year back, coming off a 1,000-yard season in Norwich – so naturally, he’ll jump at the chance to make just a shade over minimum salary to be our third RB option. Anyway, setting aside the mystery of the signing, Becker gives us a guy who seems to be custom-made for passing downs – he’s pretty solid in blitz pickup (51) and has strong ratings in route running and 3rd down catching. Solid rotation guy for us, and a strong affinity with FB Emerson, our position leader.

So, two nice signings for us, and we have exhausted a good portion of our usable cap space already. With all the players lingering out there, I’m expecting things to get bleak fast – so I’m glad to have two pretty useful players in hand from this FA stage, to my surprise.

QuikSand · 05-31-2007, 07:20 AM

Team Makes Meaningful Quiet Signing

As free agency continues, I am not surprised to be shut out on nearly all the players we are still pursuing, and I’m basically resigned to believing that we’re essentially done. However, one bit of good quiet news – we re-signed DE Christian Brignac to a new contract.

WARNING: Team chemistry discussion follows. I’ve convinced myself this stuff if worthwhile, and it at the very least entertains me. If you don’t like it, skip this post.

Brignac was a guy who fell out of the sky last season, and we signed him to become our defensive front leader – he’s a 99 personality player (making any chemistry effects strong) and while he precludes us from going after some other stronger leaders, he has had a good effect on the chemistry situation for our team, as long as he stays the pivot.

Here’s the entire roster, using the “Attitude Advisory” screen:

Code:

  Player                #   Pos   Start Noted Playing Time    Chemistry  
Ross, Harry             2   QB          MN    Content           
Sedor, Brent            16  QB    QB          Content         1 Affinity with leader  
Gerhardt, Alex          7   QB                Content           
Rosenfels, Ross         35  RB    RB          Content           
Becker, Russell         43  RB                Content         Strong Affinity         
Cook, Sam               38  RB                Content           
Small, Harry            20  RB                Content           
Yarlagadda, Henry       30  RB                Content           
Emerson, Charles        42  FB                Content         Backfield Leader        
Cooper, Robert          13  TE    TE    MN    Content         Mild Affinity           
Leff, Harvey            83  TE    FB          Content           
Odle, Leland            81  TE                Content           
Abdul-Malik, Oscar      82  FL          MN    Content         Receivers Leader        
Pearson, Burt           8   FL    FL          Content           
Fields, Kent            86  FL                Content           
George, Irving          25  FL                Content           
Ellis, George           18  SE    SE    MN    Content           
Bellevue, Nolan         85  SE                Content           
Turnbull, Winston       54  C     C           Content           
Lambeau, Wendell        55  C                 Content         Mild Affinity           
Schmit, Gus             66  LG    LG    MN    Content           
Wickham, Drew           63  LG                Content           
Brandon, Marvin         60  RG                Content           
Csonka, Shane           74  RG    RG          Content           
Conley, Marco           68  LT          MN    Content         Offensive Line Leader   
Kolodzik, Horace        73  LT    LT          Content         Affinity                
Boyd, Lenny             61  LT          MN    Content           
Burns, Jerry            75  RT    RT          Content         Mild Affinity           
Holmes, Scottie         17  P                 Content           
Everhart, David         19  K           MN    Content           
Brignac, Christian      95  LDE         MN    Disgruntled     Defensive Front Leader  
Meadows, Kerry          90  LDE   LDE         Content           
Clayton, Skip           94  LDE               Content         Exceptional Affinity    
Reynolds, Dwight        98  RDE   RDE         Content         Exceptional Affinity    
Armagost, Dwight        70  LDT   LDT         Content           
Winters, Tyrone         76  RDT               Content         Exceptional Affinity    
Lents, Bryan            96  RDT   RDT         Content           
Kaesviharn, Devin       78  RDT               Content         Mild Affinity           
McKenzie, Doug          59  MLB   MLB         Content         Exceptional Affinity    
McDowell, Lorenzo       52  MLB               Disgruntled       
Kuykendall, Travis      56  SLB               Content           
Humphries, Harvey       57  SLB               Content         Affinity                
Shaw, Richie            51  WLB   WLB         Content           
Padgett, Herman         31  LCB   LCB         Content           
Daniels, C.J.           28  LCB               Content         Affinity                
Kuehler, Lewis          27  RCB   RCB         Content           
Tellez, Leland          34  RCB               Content         Mild Affinity           
Turner, Seth            26  RCB               Content           
Upshaw, Jon             41  SS          MN    Content         Secondary Leader        
Schwantz, Doug          29  SS    SS          Content           
Vesser, Brett           23  SS                Disgruntled     Strong Affinity         
Thornton, Roman         39  SS                Content           
McCartney, Jeff         21  FS    FS          Content         Strong Affinity         
Conzelman, Deion        24  FS                Content         Strong Affinity

My guess is that for the coming season, we’ll end up with all but one of those visible affinity guys along the defensive front remaining on the roster, so probably at least five affinities there, three of them “exceptional” in strength. That’s pretty good.

Brignac got a little upset about playing time last year, so we rotated him in to play some DT down the stretch, and got him to the “disgruntled” stage. From there, he was willing to take my new contract offer, which will essentially tie him up here for two more years, which is about all we can ask.

While certainly trying to field as high quality a team as we can, I continue to make team chemistry a major focus of many of my lesser personnel decisions, and I don’t mind at all having a few roster spots essentially consumed by that effort. Brignac is a pretty marginal guy to actually put onto the field (we’ll probably slot him as a reserve DT at best), but he’s a DE mentor (for young Dwight Reynolds) and a great group leader, and that makes him certainly worth the veteran minimum for a couple of years.

QuikSand · 06-04-2007, 08:35 AM

Big Splash in Early Draft

Well, following my lament a bit earlier this offseason about our inability to land “impact” players in the draft (especially with my late first and second round picks in recent years) I have decided to swing a deal in the hopes of landing two such impact players in this draft. We were holding picks at 1.17 and 1.30, and expecting to target defensive players with both slots. With a slate of high quality linebackers starting to fade, I decided to make a move to leap from 1.30 up to 1.14 – sending away two second rounders to do so – and managed to ink two of our target players at those two slots. I wasn’t sure that Matt Sheldon, the #2 ranked ILB in this draft and a pretty good skills match for what I want, was going to last to #17, and I didn’t like my chances of seeing a quality DB make it all the way to pick #30. So, by moving up, we secure two picks that lock down the players we really wanted here.

Here are the rookie profiles:

LB Sheldon is a guy that I see as the likely heir at MLB for McKenzie, who is very solid but in his 11th season already. I don’t know if he will start this year or play a major reserve role – might depend on how ready to go he is. At 55% developed, I’m hopeful that he is a major role player immediately, at least.

DB Gailey is 208 lbs, a bit stout for a cornerback, but that’s where I want him to play. Assuming he translates pretty well to CB, he ought to be very solid in run support, good in bump coverage, and strong in all the support skills like play diagnosis and punishing hitters. My hope is that he can be a starter for our secondary for years to come – maybe another Herman Padgett, but possibly with even better overall skills.

So… two no-combine guys (a little cause for worry, but I did like the results from the limited drills they did run, which is encouraging I think) at defensive positions, and hopefully two young players we can be pretty excited to be building around down the road. I’m pleased.

And, I’ll need to be… since that’s it for us until “day two” of this draft, where we will be picking next at 4.27 and 4.31. We will try to find our usual complement of role-players from the middle rounds there, but hopefully we have already landed our two impact players right here.

QuikSand · 06-06-2007, 04:27 PM

Unkindest Cuts

Well, we’re into that part of the offseason – I’m pushing on a few of the remaining attractive free agent players, and need to make some cuts that I knew were coming.

LB Travis Kuykendall was a top pick for us, got off to a great start, and had a great future ahead leading our defense for years to come. Then the injury. Then he was suddenly a shell of his former self. So, in his 9 years with Chesapeake, he will go down in the books as a relative bust – picked at #17 overall, he only managed 34 starts. Really belongs in the “what could have been” pile. Ironic thing is that in that draft, I had a tough time deciding between Kuykendall and Daryl Ewart, who ended up going a couple of picks later. Ewart made his way to Chesapeake and won two titles with us as well, of course, but now both are gone.

QB Harry Ross once looked like “the future” for us at QB, as we were scrambling for what to do after the departure of Hilton Boner. But Ross suffered a serious injury, missed out on the season that could have been his, and instead watched undrafted rookie Ernest Biddle run for his life that year. (Biddle just landed a $6m signing bonus this week, incidentally – I was right that he had a future in this league after all) And the following year, we traded up in the draft to resolve our QB situation – and the rest is history, we haven’t had a starter other than Brent Sedor since. Ross got cut last week, as his base salary of over $5m was too much, and was quickly signed to a new deal in Shreveport, likely to serve as either trade bait or a backup.

WR Oscar Abdul-Malik was a chemistry leader for us for a few years, and a WR mentor, but shifts in the personnel at the WR/TE group left him without the connections he once had. And with George “That Guy” Ellis now has mentorship for anyone who might merit it – so Oscar had not role here, and was released.

We did re-sign LT Lenny Boyd, a move I didn’t expect to make. But our OL got thinned out a shade when we lost C Wendell Lambeau, so returning Boyd isn’t a silly move. He’s a hidden affinity, has played with us for a few years, is rated a playable 43/43 by our scouts, and accepted a minsal deal.

QuikSand · 06-12-2007, 07:54 PM

Draft Wrap-Up

After dealing away our second rounder to move up in round one, we had a long wait until picking again. With three round four selections, we’re looking primarily to land intriguing depth chart fillers, and hopefully guys who will either contribute with some specific ability (special teams, returning, etc) or else have some potential to develop beyond their apparent skills.

Through rounds two and three I saw a number of target players drop, but by our fourth rounders, I ended up with a few guys who still seemed worth a slot. So, I ended up moving up into round five, and I ended up grabbing the four guys I had atop my wish list a round earlier. Here are the summaries, along with the best-guy-left tight end we grabbed at the tail end of the draft:

Incidentally, I didn’t do a particularly good job with interviews this year once again – RT Jake Tate is my first pick driven largely by my scout’s “very underrated” tag, but by the end of the draft, I hadn’t even interviewed a number of the players that I ended up liking a lot at that point. Some people have delved into the re-designed interview process and claim it’s more important than ever. I just haven’t invested the time, and am doing my best without much to go on there.

Anyway… now that these guys are all on the roster and signed, we have some idea what we expect from them. And my best guess is that T Jake Tate is going to work out very well (maybe this “trust your scout” school of thought has some merit after all), that Alex Wilcox is probably going to turn out to be the better of the two linebackers (and probably a worthwhile long term project), that WR Jamie Leverette has a lot of creeping to do before his “bars” make him look like a guy we’d actually want to place onto the field (making him perhaps a less talented, more frustrating version of Nolan Bellevue… great).

In the after-draft, we have picked up a rookie kicker who is going to give veteran David Everhart a serious run for his money for the starting job, and a few more prospects who have some shot to land on the team. A few stages remain, and I’m still trying to land another player or two, even though I think the number of truly available roster slots is pretty small.

QuikSand · 06-13-2007, 05:24 PM

Position Battles Remain

With 64 guys on the roster as we are basically ready for training camp, I think I have isolated only a few remaining slots that are really up for grabs. Based on training camp and, I guess in theory, preseason results, we will be looking at these slots for out final cutdowns:

Kicker – David Everhart has been a solid player for us, hitting on over 78% of his kicks, but we brought in rookie Cornell Rose, who looks to be better on kickoffs and potentially as good for FGs. Very open competition, but Rose would presumably be the cheaper option for us starting next year – if he holds even a decent share if his apparent ratings through camp, I think the job is his.

Backup Running Back – As last year, we have a smattering of guys with a smattering of skills, and will try to figure out who is the best fit. I think we likely have three guys locked into spots already – Rosenfels (best all purpose guy), Small (solid last year as a #2 option) and FA signee Russell Becker, who we really like for 3rd down duty. So, Sam Cook and URFA pickup Antonio Anthony may be battling for a job as the 4th RB option… which may not even exist, candidly. I don’t see us carrying 5 running backs, so I think at most one of these guys gets a jersey.

Offensive Line Depth – Our starters are all set for this year, and even with the loss of journeyman reserve center Wendell Lambeau, we come into this year basically six deep at OL, seven if we include LT Lenny Boyd, who inked a minsal re-up deal with us in free agency. We drafted T Jake Tate, who looks promising and will get a switch to LT to hopefully be a future starter there, so he’s on the team. That gives us veteran C Earl Baker (rated 48/48 by my scout, and probably good enough to start if we needed him to) and URAF rookie Cole Glover to battle for what are essentially slots 9 and 10. I don’t believe we will be willing to carry 10 guys, so my guess is that T Boyd, T Glover, and C Baker are basically battling for 1 or 2 roster slots. If we’re going to look to rookie T Tate as a primary backup at LT, then Boyd probably becomes expendable to us.

Defensive Back – We have 11 guys currently signed to a contract, plus first round pick Gailey pending – and I don’t think we’ll carry more than 10 players here. S Jon Upshaw is a benchwarmer, but is so key to chemistry that he probably has to stay anyway. Last year we grabbed CB Seth Turner and S Deion Conzelman, and I like both guys enough to want them to stay – but neither is looking like much of a player in “bar” terms. URFA CB R.J. Whitfield looks like a “phantom bars” guy, but if he develops anything like the scout profile, he’ll be a pretty useful CB, projecting to at least 70 in bump coverage, play diagnosis, interceptions, and special teams. My best accounting is that Turner, Conzelman, Whitfield, and veteran reserve CB Leland Tellez (never very productive on the field for us) are battling for no more than three roster slots, and more likely just two. The possible showdown between reserve corners Turner and Whitfield could be a “fork in the road” decision for us – deciding between a guy who might be better (way better?) than his bars, versus a guy who has nice future bars but might never reach any of that intriguing potential.

Quarterback – I’m pretty confident that we’ll have Sedor (shock, I know), Gerhardt, and FA signee Jim Baker slotted in that order come opening day. Baker seems like a great fit for our offense – best at the medium passing range, solid in sensing the rush and the other modest intangibles, and dirt cheap. He’s not fleet of foot like our other two guys, but for a #3, we couldn’t ask for much more. The wrinkle here is URFA Chris Gonzalez (rated 17/54 by my scout pre-camp), and if he has a good camp, we might have to keep both him and mentor Roderick Tyler around, making a squeeze – that would likely cost Baker his reserve job, and one other player as well (as we’d be carrying 4 QBs on thee active roster presumably all year). Odds are against this happening, but we’ll give Gonzalez a look in minicamps, and see if there’s anything there.

I am currently figuring that all our draftees will make the team, including TE Eddie Del Greco (though I didn’t really need a third TE, he was a solid combines guy and looks to have some creeping ahead). I toyed with sifting Del Greco to play fullback, but he doesn’t have the blocking skills for that job – our current #2 TE Harvey Leff filled in nicely there last year when Emerson got hurt, and will probably end up as our backup FB this season as well. Right now, the one guy from the draft who might not make it looks like 4th round pick LB Winfred Wilkins – he has fairly decent looking bars (and skipped the combine) but if he lacks some upside in ratings, I don’t think he’s a guy who will be worth much for long.

QuikSand · 06-22-2007, 10:06 AM

Preseason Wrap Up

I really don’t invest much stake in the preseason games, and fortunately neither does the FOFL. So we turn off injuries, run them in three stages rather than ten, and get the show on the road.

If you are morbidly curious about what happened, here are the links to the box scores:

http://www.thefofl.com/fofl/box2015011307.html

http://www.thefofl.com/fofl/box2015020716.html

http://www.thefofl.com/fofl/box2015030708.html

http://www.thefofl.com/fofl/box2015041407.html

Bottom line, we looked pretty good, and the stats from these games did absolutely nothing to resolve any decisions for our final roster slots.

Our final round of cuts will include just a couple notables – K David Everhart had been with us for a few years, but I think undrafted rookie Cornell Rose is probably going to be better, and he’s definitely cheaper. All our draft picks made the team, along with K Rose and RT Cole Glover from the undrafted ranks. We’re keeping on LT Lenny Boyd as a reserve and mentor for our two promising youngsters at tackle.

At RB, it looks like we are going to use a three-man committee more or less, with Ross Rosenfels as the nominal starter, but being relieved (like last year) by Harry Small, and with new acquisition Russell Becker coming in pretty liberally on passing downs, which for this team will be plenty. My best guess is that in the early going, we’ll see Rosenfels getting 12-16 carries a game, and both Small and Becker with around 4-8 each.

My top two rookies are each going to be in heavy reserve slots for this year – MLB Matt Sheldon is ready to start at MLB, but I like using Doug McKenzie for first and ten. Sheldon will see reserve use at both the mike and sam slots, plus he’ll get the call a good deal on passing downs. I don’t think McKenzie will remain our leading tackler for this year, even if he remains healthy. At CB, Quentin Gailey is likely to be our top reserve player behind Padgett and Kuehler, if they are both healthy. My guess is that both he and CJ Daniels will end up seeing some starts, and will see plenty of time on the field – Gailey still has the skills to play safety if needed, as well.

The other area of change is along the defensive line, where we had some nice bumps in training camp. Last year’s top pick DE Dwight Reynolds showed a good deal in camp, and while he was already a starter, we’re thinking he may be a full-time guy this year rather than rotating out a lot. DE Kerry Meadows also continued his nice development, and looks solid too. And, we got a surprisingly big camp from DT Devin Kaesviharn, who earned his way into the starting lineup alongside DT Bryan Lents, with Dwight Armagost still getting rotation time at both DT slots. While this unit may not be a strength, it’s probably no longer the weakness it was for a few years there.

So, we are basically ready to go. I’m pretty pleased with the roster overall, I’m happy with this rookie class that seems to be crackling with potential, and I think we have a shot to be better than last year, despite the departure of one star caliber player in LB Daryl Ewart.

A nice team preview was posted here and it’s hard to disagree with much there. This team has some flaws and weaknesses, but we also have a lot of talent in the places where we need it most. The offense should again be at or near the top of the league, and the defense ought to be average or better. Looks like another season of watching the bye week situation, and hoping for a strong postseason effort.

QuikSand · 06-26-2007, 06:54 PM

Opening Day: Chesapeake at Portland

Every year, these games make a big difference in the division, and usually the conference – while Portland is going with the “aw shucks” approach and projecting an 0-5 start, we still consider them a major threat for the division, and would love to get out to a fast start here.

Week 1, 2015

played in Portland, OR

60 degrees, fair, 1 mph wind

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	0	7	10	0	-	24
Portland Pisces	0	7	3	14	6	-	30

Scoring Summary

1Q: 09:02 CHE - Brent Sedor 4 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 07:17 POR - Kelvin Matthews 8 pass from Randall Sosa (Tyrus Foley extra point)

3Q: 05:37 POR - Tyrus Foley 40 field goal

3Q: 02:11 CHE - Kent Fields 2 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 13:04 POR - Cedric Avery 4 pass from Randall Sosa (Tyrus Foley extra point)

4Q: 08:53 POR - Robert Fox 42 pass from Randall Sosa (Tyrus Foley extra point)

4Q: 08:39 CHE - George Ellis 86 kickoff return (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 00:08 CHE - Cornell Rose 36 field goal

OT: 06:03 POR - Carlos Gault 38 pass from Randall Sosa

Team Statistics	CHE	POR
Record	0-1	1-0
First Downs	17	28
- by Rushing	4	6
- by Passing	12	22
- by Penalty	1	0
Total Net Yards	304	519
- Offensive Plays	66	84
- Yards per Play	4.61	6.18
Net Rushing Yards	110	158
- Rushing Attempts	25	29
- Yards per Rush	4.40	5.45
Net Passing Yards	194	361
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	38 - 22 - 0	52 - 34 - 2
- Gross Passing Yards	213	385
- Sacks/Yards Lost	3/19	3/24
- Yards per Pass Play	4.73	6.56
Fumbles/Lost	0/0	1/1
3rd Down Conversions	6/16	12/21
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.8	5.7
4th Down Conversions	0/0	1/1
Penalties/Yards	7/34	7/65
Punt Returns/Yards	1/11	7/18
Kick Returns/Yards	3/143	4/94
Interception Ret./Yards	2/9	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	3	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	2/1	2/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 24	OWN 29
Time of Possession	30:07	39:06

Online Box Score

So, where to start? The offense was very odd this game – but for the kickoff return by Ellis, we wouldn’t even have been close enough to get the tie-up score late to force overtime. We looked like a team with no killer instinct, very disheartening. And our choice of WR targets was mind-boggling… we had no fewer than 12 passes thrown to Nolan Bellevue, probably the least talented player on our entire active roster. Awful to watch. (And despite all that, if the rookie kicker hits on his earlier 4^th quarter FG attempt, maybe we’re driving for the win rather than curling into the fetal position and **clearly** being perfectly happy to settle for a tying FG late in the 4^th)

Anyway… so now we have to climb uphill to get back into things. That worked out okay for the defending champions from Hell Creek (who started last year 0-3) but I don’t like it one bit.

4.73 yards per pass play? Who the hell are these guys?

QuikSand · 06-27-2007, 06:00 PM

Week 2: Happy Valley (0-1) at Chesapeake (0-1)

Last year, Happy Valley was pretty inept on offense, regardless of who was playing at QB, but their defense was brilliant, keeping them around .500 for the year. I don’t expect we can tear them up, but assuming they go with young Walt Johnstone (acquired from CHE a couple seasons ago) at QB, I think our defense ought to be able to keep them in check. A “should-win” game here, at home.

Week 2, 2015

played in Chesapeake, PA

71 degrees, fair, 7 mph wind

Happy Valley Hippies	0	0	0	15	-	15
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	10	14	14	0	-	38

Scoring Summary

1Q: 08:10 CHE - Burt Pearson 25 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

1Q: 06:50 CHE - Cornell Rose 45 field goal

2Q: 09:53 CHE - George Ellis 36 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 05:30 CHE - Jamie Leverette 12 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 11:40 CHE - Burt Pearson 5 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 06:28 CHE - Robert Cooper 3 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 12:35 HPY - Tony Mickney 2 run (Marty Poston extra point)

4Q: 06:18 HPY - Alonzo Doyle 6 pass from Walt Johnstone (Walt Johnstone pass to Tony Mickney for conversion)

Team Statistics	HPY	CHE
Record	0-2	1-1
First Downs	18	21
- by Rushing	7	7
- by Passing	10	14
- by Penalty	1	0
Total Net Yards	294	440
- Offensive Plays	70	65
- Yards per Play	4.20	6.77
Net Rushing Yards	151	115
- Rushing Attempts	19	34
- Yards per Rush	7.95	3.38
Net Passing Yards	143	325
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	50 - 18 - 1	30 - 20 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	151	330
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/8	1/5
- Yards per Pass Play	2.80	10.48
Fumbles/Lost	1/1	2/0
3rd Down Conversions	6/17	8/16
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	9.4	5.1
4th Down Conversions	0/1	0/0
Penalties/Yards	5/35	3/15
Punt Returns/Yards	1/4	2/40
Kick Returns/Yards	5/100	3/80
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	1/9
2pt Conversions	1/1	0/0
Red Zone Visits	2	5
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	2/0	3/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 23	OWN 37
Time of Possession	26:54	33:06

Online Box Score

Well, we manage to get very much back on track here – Sedor goes for 5 scores, and our defense pitched a shutout through three quarters before melting down a bit late. The big ugly news here was that Walt Johnstone suffered a “very serious” knee injury on the very last play of this stupid game… I really hate to see that, as I was rooting for him to develop into a serious player. Even if he comes completely back, the lost development time will be costly. Sucks, hard.

Anyway – hats off to the team for getting things back together.

QuikSand · 07-02-2007, 10:54 PM

Week 4: Chesapeake (2-1) at Hell Creek (3-0)

Well, off to face the defending champions at their place. Not an easy task, but I really, really don’t want to fall two games back in the hunt this early. Would be a big win. We’re not pulling any particular stunts here, just hoping to assemble a good, mistake-free game, and pull out a win.

Week 4, 2015

played in Hell Creek, MT

59 degrees, rain, 14 mph wind

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	3	14	7	-	31
Hell Creek Tyrannosaurs	7	0	14	7	-	28

Scoring Summary

1Q: 08:39 CHE - Ross Rosenfels 8 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

1Q: 01:12 HLC - Todd Rausch 18 pass from Skip Peterson (Marlon Honaker extra point)

2Q: 03:46 CHE - Cornell Rose 29 field goal

3Q: 14:23 CHE - Burt Pearson 80 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 10:13 HLC - Chris Jaax 11 pass from Skip Peterson (Marlon Honaker extra point)

3Q: 06:56 HLC - Paul Wolf 10 pass from Skip Peterson (Marlon Honaker extra point)

3Q: 02:33 CHE - Burt Pearson 3 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 14:23 CHE - Harry Small 80 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 04:46 HLC - Steven Shepherd 9 pass from Skip Peterson (Marlon Honaker extra point)

Team Statistics	CHE	HLC
Record	3-1	3-1
First Downs	19	29
- by Rushing	7	2
- by Passing	10	26
- by Penalty	2	1
Total Net Yards	431	511
- Offensive Plays	54	75
- Yards per Play	7.98	6.81
Net Rushing Yards	159	59
- Rushing Attempts	23	21
- Yards per Rush	6.91	2.81
Net Passing Yards	272	452
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	30 - 17 - 0	50 - 32 - 2
- Gross Passing Yards	278	476
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/6	4/24
- Yards per Pass Play	8.77	8.37
Fumbles/Lost	0/0	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	1/9	6/13
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	7.7	9.5
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	7/60	6/37
Punt Returns/Yards	1/7	4/-2
Kick Returns/Yards	3/70	6/90
Interception Ret./Yards	2/4	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	3	4
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	2/1	4/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 24	OWN 23
Time of Possession	26:34	33:26

Online Box Score

Well, we managed to get two one-play, 80-yard TD drives, which certainly helps makes thing looks pretty good on the stat sheet. But Skip Peterson and especially WR Todd Rausch just filleted our defense all day, and it was only two late interceptions (including yet another game-saver by S Jeff McCartney, who is just **too** clutch for words) that kept this from being a massively heartbreaking loss for us.

Instead, we get a huge win, and stay right in the hunt for the playoff picture. Not that 3-2 would be hopeless, but it would make things awfully tough down the road – Portland remains unbeaten, but we get them at home in week 7, so we at least control our own destiny there. RB Harry Small once again is pretty solid – surprisingly getting the call for more carries that starter Ross Rosenfels, but breaking off the 80-yarder along the way, so no complaints here.

CB Lewis Kuehler, who played out the game while injured and even registered the game-sealing pickoff, is tagged as questionable with a broken hand. We may once again be looking at some shuffling of the CB situation, but this likely will put rookie Quentin Gailey into the starting lineup for us, a bit sooner than we had hoped/expected.

QuikSand · 07-05-2007, 06:40 AM

Week 5: Chesapeake (3-1) at State College (3-1)

A solid opponent, and we’re on the road – not an easy week on the schedule. They are led by QB Benjamin Fuller, who gave us fits for years with Portland, and remains a major part of the STC emergence as a playoff factor of late.

We will have Harry Small in as the starter at RB, but we still expect a sharing of duties among the three backs, with Ross Rosenfels seeing plenty of duty, as Small is a low-endurance guy himself.

In the early going, Sedor is 3/12 (and we can’t seem to complete a pass to George Ellis no matter what), and we commit penalties that convert a STC turnover into a nice drive. Not a good start, really…

Week 5, 2015

played in State College, PA

54 degrees, rain, 8 mph wind

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	3	10	0	8	-	21
State College Rhinos	0	0	0	14	-	14

Scoring Summary

1Q: 05:09 CHE - Cornell Rose 50 field goal

2Q: 11:56 CHE - Burt Pearson 28 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 07:22 CHE - Cornell Rose 32 field goal

4Q: 09:03 STC - Lance Ketchum 11 pass from Benjamin Fuller (Harold Brady extra point)

4Q: 08:28 CHE - Robert Cooper 58 pass from Brent Sedor (Brent Sedor pass to Charles Emerson for conversion)

4Q: 02:51 STC - Byron Joppru 8 pass from Benjamin Fuller (Harold Brady extra point)

Team Statistics	CHE	STC
Record	4-1	3-2
First Downs	22	13
- by Rushing	8	5
- by Passing	11	7
- by Penalty	3	1
Total Net Yards	463	189
- Offensive Plays	73	64
- Yards per Play	6.34	2.95
Net Rushing Yards	209	94
- Rushing Attempts	36	21
- Yards per Rush	5.81	4.48
Net Passing Yards	254	95
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	35 - 16 - 1	38 - 18 - 3
- Gross Passing Yards	264	124
- Sacks/Yards Lost	2/10	5/29
- Yards per Pass Play	6.86	2.21
Fumbles/Lost	4/3	1/0
3rd Down Conversions	6/16	5/17
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.5	8.4
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	9/65	4/25
Punt Returns/Yards	1/8	1/2
Kick Returns/Yards	3/79	5/118
Interception Ret./Yards	3/35	1/27
2pt Conversions	1/1	0/0
Red Zone Visits	2	2
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	0/1	2/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 30	OWN 32
Time of Possession	32:05	27:55

Online Box Score

Not a glamorous win, at all. We did rack up 200 yards rushing on the day, which is good, but four turnovers (including Sedor’s first pick of the year) kept this from being a dominant effort. The defense played pretty well, yielding two late scores after holding firm most of the game.

I have to be a little worried about WR George Ellis. I know, the plays that are hurries and knockdowns aren’t his fault (at least I wouldn’t think so) but it’s getting silly – in the last two games, we have seen him go just ice cold. 10 targets this week, for 2 catches, 39 yards. Awful.

We did lose S Jeff McCartney for a few weeks, adding to our already banged-up secondary woes. But it looks like CB Lewis Keuhler ought to be good to go, and we’ll need him.

In the standings wars, Portland lost to Hell Creek this week, which is relatively good news for us, as it puts us back into a tie for the division and conference lead.

QuikSand · 07-07-2007, 12:37 PM

Week 6: Chesapeake (4-1) at South Carolina (3-2)

South Carolina has major offensive talent, but just staved off the “rebuilding” bug after a sluggish start. We expect a high scoring affair here, but I’d hate to lose our newly-gained good slot in the overall standings, especially right before the showdown with Portland next week. For South Carolina, this game is a chance to get right back into the division race with a win at home.

Week 6, 2015

played in South Carolina, WA

49 degrees, fair, 1 mph wind

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	3	10	7	3	-	23
South Carolina Crossfire	0	7	7	14	-	28

Scoring Summary

1Q: 08:53 CHE - Cornell Rose 18 field goal

2Q: 08:21 CHE - Brent Sedor 11 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 03:28 CHE - Cornell Rose 33 field goal

2Q: 01:06 SCA - Lee Engel 1 pass from Dixon Zhao (James Budde extra point)

3Q: 07:14 CHE - Ross Rosenfels 10 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 05:09 SCA - Chris Sanders 28 pass from Dixon Zhao (James Budde extra point)

4Q: 12:44 SCA - Chris Sanders 6 pass from Dixon Zhao (James Budde extra point)

4Q: 03:33 CHE - Cornell Rose 25 field goal

4Q: 01:16 SCA - Stephen Sherman 3 run (James Budde extra point)

Team Statistics	CHE	SCA
Record	4-2	4-2
First Downs	23	23
- by Rushing	11	8
- by Passing	12	15
- by Penalty	0	0
Total Net Yards	403	457
- Offensive Plays	66	70
- Yards per Play	6.11	6.53
Net Rushing Yards	182	125
- Rushing Attempts	33	34
- Yards per Rush	5.52	3.68
Net Passing Yards	221	332
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	31 - 15 - 1	36 - 21 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	234	332
- Sacks/Yards Lost	2/13	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	6.70	9.22
Fumbles/Lost	1/0	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	6/13	10/16
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.7	7.1
4th Down Conversions	0/1	0/0
Penalties/Yards	2/21	4/31
Punt Returns/Yards	1/12	1/-8
Kick Returns/Yards	3/90	5/102
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	1/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	6	3
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	2/3	3/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 30	OWN 29
Time of Possession	31:32	28:28

Online Box Score

A rather frustrating game – we were in the lead most of the way, including 13-0 in the first half, but never really put it out of reach. Once again, our rushing game outshined the passing game, and once again it was a frustrating day for WR George Ellis, who was only 2-31 on nine targets. Probably Brent Sedor’s worst day in a while, completing fewer than 50%, 0-for-6 in the red zone, and netting one pick to no TD strikes. Alas.

So, once again we lose one to South Carolina and muck up our chances to establish a dominant position in the division. So it goes. Now we have to play well at home to beat Portland, or suddenly we are looking like a wild card team – and in this conference, I don’t like anyone’s chances of winning three road games in the playoffs.

QuikSand · 07-08-2007, 08:27 AM

An Interesting Passing Stat

So, I got to wondering what’s up with Sedor and the Chesapeake passing game. We’re doing okay, but not quite at the top of the heap with regards to passing effectiveness, measured by things such as yards per pass attempt. A closer look shows something pretty interesting:

Code:

Front Office Football 2007
Team Statistics - Passing Offense
   
  Team   Att  Cmp  Pct   Yards  Yds/C Yds/A Avg/G Rate  PPly  Defn OpPDPCt GP  
Charlest153   97   63.4  1398   14.41 9.14  279.6 100.5 156   19   56.4    5      
Hell Cre232   150  64.7  2093   13.95 9.02  348.8 102.2 244   28   52.4    6      
South Ca198   122  61.6  1648   13.51 8.32  274.7 101.2 205   25   52.7    6      
New Jers177   120  67.8  1463   12.19 8.27  243.8 109.0 186   15   29.2    6      
Madison 185   130  70.3  1490   11.46 8.05  298.0 109.9 193   16   23.4    5      
**Chesap195   108  55.4  1557   14.42 7.98  259.5 96.0  205   44   75.6    6      
Portland195   112  57.4  1510   13.48 7.74  302.0 86.5  202   27   63.2    5      
Hudson V223   130  58.3  1696   13.05 7.61  282.7 84.2  236   32   63.6    6      
Dodge Ci243   139  57.2  1806   12.99 7.43  301.0 96.5  252   33   59.5    6      
Annawan 129   77   59.7  948    12.31 7.35  158.0 96.0  139   17   56.2    6      
Washingt219   135  61.6  1558   11.54 7.11  259.7 93.7  229   26   47.7    6      
Shrevepo187   98   52.4  1321   13.48 7.06  220.2 83.6  205   29   71.3    6      
Ayr Brav174   108  62.1  1201   11.12 6.90  200.2 81.1  194   18   45.4    6      
Bar Harb190   102  53.7  1309   12.83 6.89  218.2 87.3  201   33   73.9    6      
Mars Mar171   95   55.6  1147   12.07 6.71  229.4 82.1  180   18   54.4    5      
Coney Is186   118  63.4  1237   10.48 6.65  247.4 82.2  192   22   49.1    5      
Texas Sa206   111  53.9  1362   12.27 6.61  227.0 82.6  220   35   69.6    6      
Norman B157   100  63.7  1032   10.32 6.57  206.4 91.5  166   16   41.9    5      
Fall Riv137   93   67.9  897    9.65  6.55  179.4 99.9  140   13   28.7    5      
White Ro178   108  60.7  1155   10.69 6.49  231.0 81.1  192   26   60.5    5      
Sam's To181   109  60.2  1155   10.60 6.38  231.0 76.1  188   22   56.8    5      
Toronto 200   124  62.0  1246   10.05 6.23  207.7 79.3  211   22   48.9    6      
State Co207   119  57.5  1272   10.69 6.14  212.0 80.8  220   28   64.0    6      
Jupiter 208   84   40.4  1272   15.14 6.12  212.0 58.4  218   42   99.0    6      
Norwich 147   89   60.5  858    9.64  5.84  171.6 86.5  158   19   53.1    5      
Myrtle B198   103  52.0  1081   10.50 5.46  180.2 76.5  209   31   59.1    6      
Happy Va207   107  51.7  1092   10.21 5.28  182.0 64.7  227   29   69.9    6      
French T189   89   47.1  991    11.13 5.24  198.2 45.9  199   35   99.0    5      
Keene Ko233   126  54.1  1203   9.55  5.16  200.5 64.3  247   29   65.8    6      
Davis To231   135  58.4  1181   8.75  5.11  196.8 63.1  248   25   59.6    6      
Seal Bea197   97   49.2  843    8.69  4.28  140.5 47.0  210   24   76.2    6      
Calverto218   55   25.2  717    13.04 3.29  143.4 43.1  237   43   100.0   5      
$$League6151  3490 56.7  40739  11.67 6.62  226.3 81.4  6509  841  61.1    180

Our 7.98 yards per attempt is near the top, but the stat that leaps out at me is that in 6 games, Sedor has had 44 passes “defensed.” I presume this stat is a function exclusively of the defense (that the QB has no bearing on it) – and if that’s true, this ought to even out over time. The 44 PDs is highest in the league, and **way** higher than any of the other teams who are up near the top of these ratings.

So… I’m looking at this as a sort of “underlying stat” that tells me that defenses have been playing well against us so far – in real world terms we might say they are getting up for the CHE game or for playing Sedor. More reasonably we’ve just been playing against pretty good defenses overall, and they have had good days against us. It ought to work itself out.

But if those 44 PDs were something more normal like 25, then we might have 20 more completions, maybe 250 more yards, and Sedor would be clicking for a very solid 9.25 yards per attempt. So it goes.

QuikSand · 07-09-2007, 12:21 PM

Week 7: Portland (5-1) at Chesapeake (4-2)

Well, well – have we already reached a “must win” game? Perhaps, if we want to angle for a bye week. We are technically in last place in our division right now – so a win here would keep us from dropping a full two games behind Portland (with them holding the HTH edge as well) and make it very, very tough for us to win the division. So – probably a case of win or start re-adjusting our goals for the regular season.

So… we promptly come right out, fumble the ball away on our second play, and spot them a quick 7-0 edge. Fabulous. However, we manage a good scoring drive, benefit from a turnover from them, and wrap up the first quarter tied at 7 apiece.

It turns out to be just a dreadful showing for us – all day long, Portland managed to convert third downs, and just kept grinding out long possessions one after another. They didn’t crush us in the obvious ways, but they were really in command the whole way, and end up with a pretty comfortable win. And now, at 4-3, we’re in a position to shift gears and start thinking about what it will take for us to make the playoffs as a wild card, rather than whether we can get a bye week. Ouch.

Week 7, 2015

played in Chesapeake, PA

45 degrees, fair, 6 mph wind

Portland Pisces	7	7	7	7	-	28
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	0	7	3	-	17

Scoring Summary

1Q: 09:40 POR - Thomas Henson 3 pass from Randall Sosa (Tyrus Foley extra point)

1Q: 06:13 CHE - Robert Cooper 3 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 00:40 POR - Nick Austin 1 run (Tyrus Foley extra point)

3Q: 07:51 CHE - George Ellis 27 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 01:47 POR - Thomas Henson 1 run (Tyrus Foley extra point)

4Q: 14:35 POR - Thomas Henson 56 fumble return (Tyrus Foley extra point)

4Q: 12:34 CHE - Cornell Rose 45 field goal

Team Statistics	POR	CHE
Record	5-1	4-3
First Downs	33	15
- by Rushing	15	4
- by Passing	16	11
- by Penalty	2	0
Total Net Yards	483	304
- Offensive Plays	74	44
- Yards per Play	6.53	6.91
Net Rushing Yards	196	95
- Rushing Attempts	44	17
- Yards per Rush	4.45	5.59
Net Passing Yards	287	209
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	30 - 24 - 0	25 - 16 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	287	220
- Sacks/Yards Lost	0/0	2/11
- Yards per Pass Play	9.57	7.74
Fumbles/Lost	2/1	1/1
3rd Down Conversions	9/12	4/9
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	5.8	7.1
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	6/52	4/56
Punt Returns/Yards	3/-4	1/10
Kick Returns/Yards	2/29	4/134
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	4	1
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	3/0	1/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 20	OWN 30
Time of Possession	39:00	21:00

Online Box Score

Time of possession – a 39-21 advantage there is hard to fathom in a game that isn’t a complete blowout. We couldn’t stop them, plain and simple. We gave them 33 first downs… and while our offense didn’t exactly click this week, we have to get **something** from the other side to have much of a chance.

Oh, if only there were some way to make sense of defensive gameplanning. **sigh**

**kicks the ground**

QuikSand · 07-11-2007, 12:37 PM

Week 8: Madison (2-4) at Chesapeake (4-3)

Well, I wasn’t really thinking in terms of “must win” games this early in the season – but we really need a good showing here at home to get things back on track. We can’t afford to lose games that we should win and have any hope to make up ground on the division leaders – so start here, and take care of business, guys.

Week 8, 2015

played in Chesapeake, PA

60 degrees, fair, 1 mph wind

Madison Mastiffs	0	0	7	7	-	14
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	10	10	7	14	-	41

Scoring Summary

1Q: 13:21 CHE - Cornell Rose 42 field goal

1Q: 03:40 CHE - Harry Small 6 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 10:31 CHE - Robert Cooper 7 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 00:51 CHE - Cornell Rose 42 field goal

3Q: 08:13 MAD - Dale McNeil 8 pass from Terry Sergeant (James Hotaling extra point)

3Q: 02:54 CHE - Russell Becker 7 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 12:30 MAD - Dale McNeil 8 pass from Terry Sergeant (James Hotaling extra point)

4Q: 09:44 CHE - George Ellis 9 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 03:25 CHE - Russell Becker 7 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

Team Statistics	MAD	CHE
Record	2-5	5-3
First Downs	20	29
- by Rushing	2	9
- by Passing	18	20
- by Penalty	0	0
Total Net Yards	306	439
- Offensive Plays	63	63
- Yards per Play	4.86	6.97
Net Rushing Yards	54	141
- Rushing Attempts	14	28
- Yards per Rush	3.86	5.04
Net Passing Yards	252	298
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	47 - 29 - 1	35 - 24 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	266	298
- Sacks/Yards Lost	2/14	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	5.14	8.51
Fumbles/Lost	0/0	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	7/13	8/11
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.0	5.5
4th Down Conversions	0/1	0/0
Penalties/Yards	2/10	0/0
Punt Returns/Yards	0/0	1/12
Kick Returns/Yards	7/117	2/80
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	1/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	2	5
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	2/0	5/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 22	OWN 32
Time of Possession	26:30	33:30

Online Box Score

Well, that was pretty much what we were looking for – a mistake-free, solid effort. We didn’t dominate by the stats all that much, but we converted in the red zone very effectively, and didn’t turn the ball over all day. Good game for most of the usual suspects.

We did lose LB Richie Shaw and RB Ross Rosenfels to injuries – neither will be gone for the year, but both will miss at least a month, it appears. We have depth to handle both, but they are both solid contributors.

Anyway – big win, much needed. Dodge City seemed to have Portland in their sights, but managed to let them get away with the win. But Hell Creek beat up on South Carolina, so the division race is tightening up. Actually, if we’re prepared to simply concede the division to Portland, then both results are good news for us in the wild card race. I hate to already be thinking that way, but we don’t control our fate anymore with respect to Portland.

Code:

    NC North              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Norwich                 4   3   0   .571  148   138   3-3     2-0       
  Seal Beach              3   4   0   .429  112   122   3-3     1-1       
  Ayr                     3   4   0   .429  128   155   2-4     1-1       
  Calverton               1   6   0   .143  93    206   1-5     0-2       
     
    NC South              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Hell Creek              7   1   0   .875  275   162   6-1     2-0       
  State College           4   3   0   .571  139   153   3-3     2-0       
  Washington              2   5   0   .286  167   184   1-5     0-3       
  Madison                 2   5   0   .286  185   221   1-5     0-1       
     
    NC East               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Portland                6   1   0   .857  204   149   5-1     3-0       
  Dodge City              5   3   0   .625  255   229   5-2     1-1       
  South Carolina          5   3   0   .625  255   208   5-2     1-1       
  Chesapeake              5   3   0   .625  222   157   4-3     0-3       
     
    NC West               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Coney Island            5   2   0   .714  154   132   5-1     3-0       
  Davis                   3   5   0   .375  100   163   3-4     2-0       
  White Rock              2   5   0   .286  147   150   2-4     0-2       
  Myrtle Beach            2   6   0   .250  115   190   2-5     0-3

We still have our division record working against us, but it’s looking pretty likely that our main competition will be for the wild card this year – so hopefully division record won’t be quite an overarching concern.

QuikSand · 07-12-2007, 03:29 PM

Halfway Point – Season Stats

Code:

Front Office Football 2007
2015 Summary for Chesapeake Chili Dogs
   
Year                2015                                      
Record              5-3                                       
Winning Pct.        .625                                      
All-Time            135-65                                    
Winning Pct.        .675                                      
Playoffs            14-5                                      
Playoff Visits      8                                         
Bowl Wins           3                                         
Head Coach          Blake Baker                               
Record              126-87                                    
Winning Pct.        .591                                      
Off. Coord.         N. Grant                                  
Def. Coord.         J. Richard                                
   
Chesapeake Chili Dogs   Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         27.8      18          
Rushing Yards           140.8     8           
Yards Per Carry         5.07      3           
Pass Attempts           31.9      24          
Completions             18.5      22 (T)      
Completion Pct.         58.0      20          
Passing Yards           259.4     8           
Yards Per Attempt       8.14      3           
Yards Per Catch         14.02     3           
Total Yardage Gained    391.4     6           
3rd Down Conversions    41.6      15          
Points Per Game         27.8      8           
Pass Rush Pct.          15.8      14          
Pass Defense Pct.       59.2      15          
Turnovers               6         3 (T)       
Turnover Margin         +7        3 (T)       
   
Opponents               Team      Rank  
Rushes per Game         25.4      12          
Rushing Yards           116.3     14          
Yards Per Carry         4.58      21          
Pass Attempts           43.5      32          
Completions             25.1      32          
Completion Pct.         57.8      16          
Passing Yards           277.6     31          
Yards Per Attempt       6.38      11          
Yards Per Catch         11.05     10          
Total Yardage Gained    380.0     28          
3rd Down Conversions    48.8      31          
Points Per Game         19.6      7 (T)       
Pass Rush Pct.          15.1      17 (T)      
Pass Defense Pct.       65.4      25          
Turnovers               13        5 (T)       
   
Week  Team  Versus        Oppnt  
1     24    at POR        30      
2     38    HPY           15      
3     27    CNI           0       
4     31    at HLC        28      
5     21    at STC        14      
6     23    at SCA        28      
7     17    POR           28      
8     41    MAD           14      
9           WAS                   
10          at DGC                
12          AWN                   
13          at NRW                
14          at CHA                
15          SCA                   
16          at MAR                
17          DGC                   
   
Passing                 Pos   Att   Comp  Yards Y/Att TD    Int   Rate  
16 B. Sedor             QB    255   148   2075  8.14  15    2     100.7   
**Team                  ---   255   148   2075  8.14  15    2     100.7   
$$Opp                   ---   348   201   2221  6.38  17    10    81.1    
   
Rushing                 Pos   Att   Yards Y/Att TD    Fum  
20 H. Small             RB    95    455   4.79  2     1       
35 R. Rosenfels         RB    79    361   4.57  3     1      
16 B. Sedor             QB    38    206   5.42  2     2       
**Team                  ---   222   1126  5.07  9     9       
$$Opp                   ---   203   930   4.58  4     5       
   
Receiving               Pos   Targ  Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop  TD  
8  B. Pearson           WR    75    44    769   17.48 10.25 2     5       
86 K. Fields            WR    43    23    317   13.78 7.37  3     2       
13 R. Cooper            TE    24    17    223   13.12 9.29  1     4       
18 G. Ellis             WR    48    17    320   18.82 6.67  4     3       
88 J. Leverette         WR    17    11    116   10.55 6.82  1     1       
20 H. Small             RB    11    9     74    8.22  6.73  0     0       
   
Defense                 Pos   Tack  Asst  Sack  Hurr  Ints  Defn  PDPct  
5  M. Sheldon           ILB   47    19    1.0   2     0     3     74.9    
51 R. Shaw              OLB   40    11    2.0   5     0     2     73.7    
29 D. Schwantz          S     36    13    0.0   0     1     8     83.3    
96 B. Lents             DT    36    16    4.0   10    0     0     81.0    
31 H. Padgett           CB    33    7     0.5   0     1     12    82.3    
27 L. Kuehler           CB    30    6     0.0   0     1     3     76.3    
28 C. Daniels           CB    24    9     0.0   0     2     6     80.9    
21 J. McCartney         S     22    2     0.0   0     5     5     91.0    
57 H. Humphries         OLB   21    9     2.0   1     0     0     71.4    
70 D. Armagost          DT    17    4     1.0   3     0     0     80.5    
32 Q. Gailey            CB    17    6     0.0   0     0     2     72.6    
90 K. Meadows           DE    15    10    3.5   10    0     1     81.7    
23 B. Vesser            S     13    10    0.0   0     0     2     79.9    
59 D. McKenzie          ILB   11    6     0.0   0     0     0     75.4    
98 D. Reynolds          DE    10    8     2.0   10    0     0     82.2    
78 D. Kaesviharn        DT    10    6     1.0   4     0     0     80.7

So… overall, other than the 3 in the loss column, this isn’t an all-bad season. Sedor is clicking okay – he is getting burnt a bit by better-than-average defensive performance, but still a 15:2 TD:Int ratio is nothing to worry too much about for any QB, even this guy. We are again one of the more effective rushing teams in the league – especially in yards per carry (as usual buoyed a bit by having Sedor chip in with a few per game).

The defense continues to be… well, pretty average. We have played some pretty good teams, so I’m not all that upset about it, but it really would be nice to feel like we were good enough to really stop the other team reliably. That 6.38 yards per attempt figure is better than usual, but I still feel like I cannot count on the defense to win a game for us if we need them to. Getting Jaff McCartney back onto the field ought to help – he’s clearly our best defensive playmaker – 5 picks in only 204 pass plays is sterling. And rookie LB Matt Sheldon is quickly taking a leadership spot for us – he’s been getting more playing time than Doug McKenzie, despite my general intent to rotate them in their complementary roles.

QuikSand · 07-13-2007, 02:34 PM

Week 9: Washington (2-5) at Chesapeake (5-3)

Washington seems to have stumbled a bit on the way to the top of the league standings… a couple of seasons ago, they had the appearance of being just a step behind us (rebuilding in similar fashion and on a similar cycle, but a season later). But rather than major contender, even with some serious offensive talent, they seem to still be struggling for whatever reason. Anyway – we’ll hope to win another game at home here and stay in the conference playoff hunt.

Curiously, on our very first play, Sedor is brutally sacked by none other than DE Rex Pint, our one time top draft pick who we refused to even sign after he faded out of the gate for us. Heh.

Week 9, 2015

played in Chesapeake, PA

36 degrees, fair, 5 mph wind

Washington Piledrivers	14	6	3	3	-	26
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	0	3	7	14	-	24

Scoring Summary

1Q: 07:47 WAS - Thomas Barber 3 pass from Terrell Crittenden (Blake Lilja extra point)

1Q: 02:55 WAS - Thomas Barber 14 pass from Terrell Crittenden (Blake Lilja extra point)

2Q: 07:23 WAS - Blake Lilja 48 field goal

2Q: 03:05 CHE - Cornell Rose 28 field goal

2Q: 00:06 WAS - Blake Lilja 44 field goal

3Q: 07:10 WAS - Blake Lilja 37 field goal

3Q: 05:16 CHE - Charles Emerson 1 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 14:54 CHE - Nolan Bellevue 13 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 08:47 WAS - Blake Lilja 29 field goal

4Q: 00:53 CHE - George Ellis 18 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

Team Statistics	WAS	CHE
Record	3-5	5-4
First Downs	26	19
- by Rushing	8	5
- by Passing	17	13
- by Penalty	1	1
Total Net Yards	413	314
- Offensive Plays	74	53
- Yards per Play	5.58	5.92
Net Rushing Yards	147	78
- Rushing Attempts	35	14
- Yards per Rush	4.20	5.57
Net Passing Yards	266	236
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	38 - 22 - 2	37 - 18 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	272	251
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/6	2/15
- Yards per Pass Play	6.82	6.05
Fumbles/Lost	0/0	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	10/17	2/9
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.0	9.1
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	4/25	3/23
Punt Returns/Yards	3/10	0/0
Kick Returns/Yards	2/46	4/114
Interception Ret./Yards	1/14	2/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	3	4
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	2/1	3/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 31	OWN 32
Time of Possession	37:52	22:08

Candidly, this was a terrible game for us – whatever had been sick with Washington got healthy in a hurry, as they completely dominated us through two and a half quarters. But we cashed in two opportunitites in the late third quarter to get within six points, and had a shot to actually win the game. They have a long drive, but have to settle for a kick, but it’s a 9 point lead. And shortly thereafter, with 6 minutes left, at their 42, we inexplicably opt to punt rather than go for it, and all hope is lost. not that we deserved to win the game – we clearly did not – but it would have been nice to at least try. A pointless TD late makes the game seem closer than it was, but they recover the onside kick and it’s sealed.

And hats off to the Washington defense, who once again rise to the challenge of facing Brent Sedor, and post a magnificent NINE passes defensed on the day. Sedor’s stat line for a pretty lousy day overall reads like it just wasn’t his fault, really – 9 PD, 5 hurries, 1 knockdown, and 2 sacks. Take away all the stuff caused by good defense, and he was a pretty respectable 18 of 22 with a pick and a drop. Oh, well.

With 4 losses in the bank, we are clearly now just a fringe contender, trying to battle for a wild card. Wonderful.

Might as well look at the conference standings – since we’re now focusing on what we might be able to do just to squeak into the postseason.

Code:

    NC North              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Norwich                 5   3   0   .625  182   156   4-3     3-0       
  Seal Beach              3   5   0   .375  119   136   3-4     1-1       
  Ayr                     3   5   0   .375  146   189   2-5     1-2       
  Calverton               2   6   0   .250  110   219   2-5     0-2       
     
    NC South              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Hell Creek              8   1   0   .889  310   183   7-1     3-0       
  State College           4   4   0   .500  152   187   3-4     2-0       
  Washington              3   5   0   .375  193   208   2-5     0-3       
  Madison                 2   6   0   .250  206   256   1-6     0-2       
     
    NC East               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Portland                7   1   0   .875  238   162   6-1     3-0       
  South Carolina          6   3   0   .667  286   237   6-2     2-1       
  Dodge City              5   4   0   .556  284   260   5-3     1-2       
  Chesapeake              5   4   0   .556  246   183   4-4     0-3       
     
    NC West               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Coney Island            6   2   0   .750  168   139   6-1     3-0       
  Davis                   3   5   0   .375  100   163   3-4     2-0       
  Myrtle Beach            2   6   0   .250  115   190   2-5     0-3       
  White Rock              2   6   0   .250  160   167   2-5     0-2

So, right now, 5-4 actually puts us into a tie for the final wild card slot – so we’re in the race. Looks fairly likely that our division will yet again post both wild card teams, so the rivals down the stretch might be the fold familiar names – looking at the PF/PA ratios alone, I don’t see anyone from among the losing records who seem like an obvious candidate to make a big run down the stretch…maybe Washington, I suppose (hooray, another team with the head-to-head edge now).

Fuck.

QuikSand · 07-16-2007, 12:44 PM

Week 10: Chesapeake (5-4) at Dodge City (5-4)

Well, we now have a pretty important game for the wild card race, as Dodge City (obviously) is right there in the mix with lowlifes like us. A loss here would be a very serious blow to our hopes, as our head-to-head situation is already bleak as hell with nearly any team we might face that situation with. Hate to be talking about must-win games, but this is getting pretty damned close.

Last year, DGS’s WR Isaac Mansour put up just ungodly numbers against us in our two games – as in two of the six or eight biggest days every by any receiver in league history. We might want to…uh, you know… do something about that, eh?

Well, in their opening possession, Dodge City shreds right through our “defense” and posts a 7-0 lead. This has a terrible feel to it already (as I write in real time). They close out the first quarter with a second TD (after Sedor’s second pick), and we sit down 14 with 25 yards or offense on the books. Ugh.

A freaky second quarter sees us score twice on oddball plays – a long Ellis KO Return, and a defensive fumble recovery – and we’re within 24-21 at the half, with only 73 yards of offense to show for it. Unless we can actually stop their offense, we won’t be able to keep pace.

We open the third with an interception and give up another TD, and all feels lost, until we manage to overcome our own tied-together shoestrings long enough to score ourselves, and get back within three. I can’t believe this game feels hopelessly out of hand while we’re trailing by only a field goal. We achieve a great victory, holding them to a chipshot FG on their next possession – I guess that counts. And we once again manage to score on a freak play, as a fumble rolls loose and WR Burt Pearson hauls it 60-some yards for the go-ahead score (This shit happens way too often. This is probably the most undeserved lead I have ever held in any FOF game, ever.

By virtue of a dropped pass, we actually hold on defense and get the ball back in the early fourth quarter. But we quickly manage to find a fourth interception opportunity for the usually-reatrained Brent Sedor, and they go HOUSE to reclaim the lead. But, not to be outdone, after our anemic attempt at a possession sputters, we are again in the endzone as Lewis Kuehler goes HOUSE with a pick of his own. This is the most fucked up game ever, it’s become a mockery of organized sport. We have 42 points on the board, with 156 yards of total offense. Insane. Poor Mali.

Now our defense seems to suddenly be playing well, but order is restored by inopportune penalties of course, to keep their possession alive. Then when they connect, they get the flag. The fans are past booing and rioting – they have advanced to ritual seppuku.

We actually assemble a legitimate drive and take a 49-41 lead. I’m not going to say it’s right, as it’s not. They drive back, as Isaac Mansour is once again approaching the 200 yard mark for the day (didn’t we go over this?) We force a dramatic 4^th and goal from our 1 yard line after they go for the clutch 8 yard pass on 3^rd and 9… and it looks like our chance to lock up the ugliest win ever. They, of course, make it 4^th and 6 with a penalty, but a dumpoff to the FB manages to get it anyway, and the 2-point conversion is now paramount – naturally.

We somehow manage to stop the running play – kudos to DE Kerry Meadows on the big tackle – and force them to go for an onside kick. WR George Ellis comes up with the ball, capping off a great day for him. Final score is 49-47, and I have never been more ashamed to get a victory. We deserved to get our asses plastered.

Week 10, 2015

played in Dodge City, NM

63 degrees, fair, 11 mph wind

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	14	14	14	-	49
Dodge City Vigilantes	14	10	10	13	-	47

Scoring Summary

1Q: 10:49 DGC - Matt Atkins 5 pass from Bill Sampson (Herman Justice extra point)

1Q: 00:16 DGC - Blaine Meyer 12 pass from Bill Sampson (Herman Justice extra point)

1Q: 00:10 CHE - George Ellis 92 kickoff return (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 12:16 DGC - Desmond Reeves 1 run (Herman Justice extra point)

2Q: 08:06 DGC - Herman Justice 41 field goal

2Q: 03:51 CHE - Harry Small 2 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 00:35 CHE - C.J. Daniels 59 fumble return (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 12:36 DGC - Isaac Mansour 21 pass from Bill Sampson (Herman Justice extra point)

3Q: 10:17 CHE - Burt Pearson 23 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 03:18 DGC - Herman Justice 19 field goal

3Q: 02:14 CHE - Burt Pearson 54 fumble return (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 14:34 DGC - Lawrence Putman 26 interception return (Herman Justice extra point)

4Q: 12:15 CHE - Lewis Kuehler 64 interception return (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 03:19 CHE - Kent Fields 6 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 01:11 DGC - Billy Dunlap 6 pass from Bill Sampson (Stephen Baxter run for conversion failed)

Team Statistics	CHE	DGC
Record	6-4	5-5
First Downs	15	34
- by Rushing	1	5
- by Passing	13	26
- by Penalty	1	3
Total Net Yards	221	510
- Offensive Plays	46	80
- Yards per Play	4.80	6.38
Net Rushing Yards	47	95
- Rushing Attempts	18	25
- Yards per Rush	2.61	3.80
Net Passing Yards	174	415
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	28 - 17 - 4	53 - 31 - 1
- Gross Passing Yards	174	426
- Sacks/Yards Lost	0/0	2/11
- Yards per Pass Play	6.21	7.55
Fumbles/Lost	1/0	1/1
3rd Down Conversions	2/7	6/14
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.4	6.9
4th Down Conversions	0/0	1/1
Penalties/Yards	7/35	7/43
Punt Returns/Yards	1/2	0/0
Kick Returns/Yards	8/286	5/109
Interception Ret./Yards	1/64	4/99
2pt Conversions	0/0	1/0
Red Zone Visits	3	5
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	3/0	4/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 35	OWN 35
Time of Possession	24:15	35:45

Online Box Score

Holy god. I can’t believe that game. I don’t have anything to say. We needed the win, but I can’t feel good about the team, exactly. Outgained by almost 300 yards. Ouch.

QuikSand · 07-20-2007, 06:17 PM

Week 12: Annawan (6-4) at Chesapeake (6-4)

We’re in a multiway fight for a playoff spot, with many of our rivals holding a head-to-head edge on us – we don’t have the luxury of any weeks off. We need to regroup, put together a good showing here at home, and notch a win over another team with postseason aspirations of its own.

In the season when we drafted Brent Sedor #1, Annawan selected RB Erik Maxwell #2, and each team has built around their respective offensive cornerstone since. On their first possession, they run 10 times for 51 yards to set up for a field goal – we respond with Sedor going 4 of 5 for 69 yards to set up a short plunge for the TD. So it goes.

From there, our air game gives us the lead, and our surprisingly effective running game (Russell Becker posts 98 yards rushing – nice day for him) keeps us pretty much in charge – just the script that I wanted to see us follow.

Week 12, 2015

played in Chesapeake, PA

47 degrees, fair, 9 mph wind

Annawan Corn Shuckers	3	7	0	0	-	10
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	14	14	7	-	42

Scoring Summary

1Q: 08:33 AWN - Willie Nixon 49 field goal

1Q: 05:23 CHE - Russell Becker 4 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 15:00 CHE - Burt Pearson 44 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 10:25 CHE - Burt Pearson 22 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 08:29 AWN - Erik Maxwell 21 run (Willie Nixon extra point)

3Q: 10:17 CHE - Harry Small 2 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 04:47 CHE - Russell Becker 7 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 11:56 CHE - Robert Cooper 5 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

Team Statistics	AWN	CHE
Record	6-5	7-4
First Downs	14	28
- by Rushing	8	13
- by Passing	6	15
- by Penalty	0	0
Total Net Yards	250	468
- Offensive Plays	57	59
- Yards per Play	4.39	7.93
Net Rushing Yards	163	190
- Rushing Attempts	33	33
- Yards per Rush	4.94	5.76
Net Passing Yards	87	278
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	20 - 10 - 1	26 - 18 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	112	278
- Sacks/Yards Lost	4/25	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	3.63	10.69
Fumbles/Lost	3/0	1/0
3rd Down Conversions	5/14	6/9
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	6.7	7.1
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	4/33	3/15
Punt Returns/Yards	1/0	3/12
Kick Returns/Yards	4/91	3/75
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	1/9
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	0	4
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	0/0	4/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 20	OWN 32
Time of Possession	30:09	29:51

Online Box Score

Pretty much a bullseye – we were basically mistake-free, executed well on both sides of the ball, and had this one pretty well in hand. THIS is the team that I thought/hoped we would be this year.

Special mention for DE Kerry Meadows – 7 tackles plus 2 assists, one and a half sacks, three hurries and three knockdowns – that’s a really good day for him. Hats off.

The rest of our division all won, too, so we didn’t actually make up any ground – alas, we’ll just try to take care of business, and if we win enough, the rest will work itself out. The difference between the #5 seed and the #6 seed, the only slots practically on the table for us anyway, is pretty trivial.

QuikSand · 07-23-2007, 12:28 PM

Week 13: Chesapeake (7-4) at Norwich (6-5)

Another road game, at a playoff team – things are not going to be easy. I think if we execute like last week, we match up pretty well and ought to get the win here (in game we are 10 point favorites!?!) but if we misfire like we’ve been prone to doing, this one could get away easily.

The game’s first four possessions yield a 14-14 tie – so much for the defenses doing the heavy lifting, I guess. We come up with a couple of actual stops finally, and get ahead 24-14 at the half, as our offense continues to click.

The wheels are falling off in the third quarter for us – they score a TD on a long pass, and our offense suddenly can’t do anything right, as the Norwich defense is “familiar” with seemingly everything we do. Doesn’t bode well – this is our usual recipe for a painful loss. They nail a 52 yard FG to tie things up in the middle of the fourth quarter – and I don’t see how we can score, now that the switch has been flipped.

Sure, enough, we are three-and-out – and back on defense. Norwich is now unstoppable, and we are helpless. Quick, efficient drive, and they take the lead. Oddly, now that we trail, our offense re-awakens, and we manage to score and tie it up. Very strange – maybe we located the first half guys and suited them back up? Doesn’t matter – it’s all scenery for the audience. They drive quickly for a long FG, which of course goes through at the buzzer to send us home with the L.

**SHURG**

Week 13, 2015

played in Norwich, CT

68 degrees, fair, calm

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	17	0	7	-	31
Norwich Quagmire	7	7	7	13	-	34

Scoring Summary

1Q: 09:44 NRW - Donnie Benton 10 run (Grady Winslett extra point)

1Q: 04:26 CHE - Burt Pearson 7 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 15:00 NRW - Deion Hueffed 3 pass from Andy Hancock (Grady Winslett extra point)

2Q: 09:25 CHE - Harry Small 3 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 05:26 CHE - Robert Cooper 12 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 00:13 CHE - Cornell Rose 39 field goal

3Q: 05:58 NRW - Horace Cockfield 41 pass from Andy Hancock (Grady Winslett extra point)

4Q: 07:03 NRW - Grady Winslett 52 field goal

4Q: 03:02 NRW - Donnie Benton 5 run (Grady Winslett extra point)

4Q: 01:00 CHE - Harry Small 8 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

4Q: 00:12 NRW - Grady Winslett 54 field goal

Team Statistics	CHE	NRW
Record	7-5	7-5
First Downs	26	23
- by Rushing	7	4
- by Passing	18	18
- by Penalty	1	1
Total Net Yards	383	403
- Offensive Plays	67	64
- Yards per Play	5.72	6.30
Net Rushing Yards	111	81
- Rushing Attempts	26	24
- Yards per Rush	4.27	3.38
Net Passing Yards	272	322
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	38 - 26 - 1	39 - 28 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	296	327
- Sacks/Yards Lost	3/24	1/5
- Yards per Pass Play	6.63	8.05
Fumbles/Lost	0/0	0/0
3rd Down Conversions	6/12	7/13
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	9.4	5.2
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/0
Penalties/Yards	6/55	9/76
Punt Returns/Yards	2/40	2/4
Kick Returns/Yards	2/51	3/71
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	1/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	4	3
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	4/0	3/0
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 29	OWN 25
Time of Possession	30:30	29:30

Drive Charts

Chesapeake Chili Dogs
Quar	Began	Poss	From	Plays	Yards	Result
1	9:38	5:20	OWN 20	11	80	Touchdown
2	14:52	5:37	OWN 20	10	80	Touchdown
2	7:20	1:59	OPP 38	4	38	Touchdown
2	2:44	2:36	OWN 31	8	47	Field Goal
3	15:00	2:25	OWN 28	5	40	Interception
3	9:10	1:54	OWN 20	3	5	Punt
3	5:43	4:50	OWN 20	9	23	Punt
4	14:20	1:09	OWN 42	4	13	Punt
4	11:45	0:50	OWN 37	3	-16	Punt
4	6:56	0:51	OWN 20	3	8	Punt
4	2:56	2:06	OWN 20	8	80	Touchdown

Norwich Quagmire
Quar	Began	Poss	From	Plays	Yards	Result
1	15:00	5:22	OWN 34	10	66	Touchdown
1	4:18	4:26	OWN 20	10	80	Touchdown
2	9:15	1:55	OWN 20	3	3	Punt
2	5:21	2:37	OWN 19	3	8	Punt
2	0:08	0:08	OWN 36	1	12	Half
3	12:35	3:25	OWN 20	10	37	Punt
3	7:16	1:33	OWN 34	4	66	Touchdown
3	0:53	1:33	OWN 7	3	4	Punt
4	13:11	1:26	OWN 15	3	5	Punt
4	10:55	3:59	OWN 33	8	32	Field Goal
4	6:05	3:09	OWN 38	7	62	Touchdown
4	0:50	0:46	OWN 35	3	28	Field Goal

I gratuitously included the drive charts for this week… to demonstrate the **absolute** flipped switch impact at work. I guess it’s a faulty gameplan here… though oddly the same game plan, essentially, is completely tearing things up in another league (with less offensive talent). Oh, well…. if this team misses the postseason (and that’s looming as a very serious possibility, we’re now on the outside to a surging Washington) it will reflect awfully poorly on me as a game-day manager… this team is surely among the handful of the most talented in the league.

Wow, I can’t believe this is where we really are.

QuikSand · 07-25-2007, 12:33 PM

Week 14: Chesapeake (7-5) at Charleston (8-4)

Well, here we are. This is getting really close to “must win” territory – great timing for a road game against a probably superior foe. Wonderful. We can’t beat the teams that we are nominally superior to… we’ll need good luck in spades to take this one, I fear. And that seems to have been in short supply.

I have tweaked the gameplan a bit – not to change the nature of the team, but mostly to try to avoid any sort of “landmines” that I might have stepped into inadvertently. That last game was just so stark a turnaround, I’m thinking it had to be the result of **something** -- and maybe a violation of some unwritten code of gameplan construction might be at work. I have no idea how to test for such a thing, nor any desire to try to do so – so I will instead just vent about and see what happens.

On to the game…

We manage to start with a three-and-out… not bad. We drive for a TD right away – also not bad. Regrettably, the game doesn’t progress along these lines the rest of a way to a comfortable 63-0 victory. Rather, we end up in a rather conservative back and forth through the first half, and our edge comes by seeing our defense firm up as Charleston is starting to get into scoring territory. Regardless, it’s a comfortable 21-3 lead at the halfway point. Barring a familiar reversal of fortune, we look like we have this game pretty well in hand (even though Charleston is moving the bell fairly well on us).

We get a field goal, but then yield a TD on yet another fluky fumble return (though CHA was probably driving for the score anyway), and then we squander an opportunity with a missed FG after we collect the game’s first turnover in CHE territory. This has a too-familiar feel to it – like the wagon wheels are starting to creak.

Our defense, however, comes up with a stop – great timing for that. This yields a couple more punts, and time runs off the clock – an exchange that clearly works to our benefit, sitting on a 14-point lead. We make another BIG stop on 3^rd and 2 from their 39 yard line, stuffing the running play a yard short, and with 10 minutes left, they are punting yet again. And, saints be praised, it all comes together – we run and set up the pass, and strike for a TD to pretty much put the game away. Hard to believe this is the same team we saw in the second half of last week’s game.
Week 14, 2015

played in Charleston, MN

20 degrees, fair, 9 mph wind

Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	14	3	7	-	31
Charleston Chew	3	0	7	0	-	10

Scoring Summary

1Q: 10:26 CHE - Russell Becker 3 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

1Q: 06:04 CHA - Morris Robertson 37 field goal

2Q: 11:22 CHE - Harry Small 17 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 00:54 CHE - Russell Becker 2 run (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 12:45 CHE - Cornell Rose 42 field goal

3Q: 09:08 CHA - Bennie Perkins 5 fumble return (Morris Robertson extra point)

4Q: 05:54 CHE - George Ellis 18 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

Team Statistics	CHE	CHA
Record	8-5	8-5
First Downs	24	19
- by Rushing	4	7
- by Passing	17	12
- by Penalty	3	0
Total Net Yards	379	353
- Offensive Plays	65	72
- Yards per Play	5.83	4.90
Net Rushing Yards	95	149
- Rushing Attempts	31	28
- Yards per Rush	3.06	5.32
Net Passing Yards	284	204
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	33 - 23 - 0	44 - 14 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	289	204
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/5	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	8.35	4.64
Fumbles/Lost	1/1	2/1
3rd Down Conversions	5/12	6/16
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	7.5	7.4
4th Down Conversions	0/0	0/3
Penalties/Yards	2/15	6/39
Punt Returns/Yards	3/32	1/2
Kick Returns/Yards	3/89	4/71
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	0/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	5	1
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	4/0	0/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 39	OWN 23
Time of Possession	32:33	27:27

Online Box Score

Not a statistical domination, but we managed to bend without breaking on defense, and we were very efficient at cashing in most of our opportunities on offense. I don’t know what to make of this team or this season – but this is the sort of effort that we would expect from a teal with this much talent. **shurg**

Of course, everyone else in the conference playoff race won his game as well, so all we did here was avoid dropping out of it. But we play South Carolina at home next week, and a win in that game would pull us even with them – though they would remain ahead on conference record. We still need a little luck along the way, I suspect.

QuikSand · 07-27-2007, 11:52 AM

Week 15: South Carolina (9-4) at Chesapeake (8-5)

It doesn’t get much bigger that this – we hold serve and win here and we stay very much alive in the playoff race. We lose here, and we add South Carolina to the list of teams we simply cannot catch, and probably lose group to at least one other team in the race. Both Dodge City (vs. Portland) and Washington (vs. State College) have games that will pose a challenge – so there’s room for real upside here too. Big week.
Week 15, 2015

played in Chesapeake, PA

30 degrees, snow, 12 mph wind

South Carolina Crossfire	0	0	3	0	-	3
Chesapeake Chili Dogs	7	10	0	6	-	23

Scoring Summary

1Q: 03:27 CHE - Nolan Bellevue 25 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

2Q: 11:02 CHE - Cornell Rose 40 field goal

2Q: 01:53 CHE - Burt Pearson 23 pass from Brent Sedor (Cornell Rose extra point)

3Q: 02:23 SCA - James Budde 41 field goal

4Q: 12:55 CHE - Cornell Rose 50 field goal

4Q: 01:42 CHE - Cornell Rose 27 field goal

Team Statistics	SCA	CHE
Record	9-5	9-5
First Downs	11	17
- by Rushing	5	9
- by Passing	4	8
- by Penalty	2	0
Total Net Yards	251	350
- Offensive Plays	56	68
- Yards per Play	4.48	5.15
Net Rushing Yards	130	174
- Rushing Attempts	23	40
- Yards per Rush	5.65	4.35
Net Passing Yards	121	176
- Att./Comp./Intrcpt	32 - 14 - 1	28 - 17 - 0
- Gross Passing Yards	126	176
- Sacks/Yards Lost	1/5	0/0
- Yards per Pass Play	3.67	6.29
Fumbles/Lost	2/0	2/0
3rd Down Conversions	5/15	12/19
- Avg. YtG on 3rd Down	8.4	6.8
4th Down Conversions	1/2	0/0
Penalties/Yards	7/55	5/40
Punt Returns/Yards	1/2	3/31
Kick Returns/Yards	5/85	2/50
Interception Ret./Yards	0/0	1/0
2pt Conversions	0/0	0/0
Red Zone Visits	0	1
- Red Zone TDs/FGs	0/0	0/1
Avg. Drive Start	OWN 22	OWN 29
Time of Possession	25:04	34:56

Online Box Score

In this game, our offense is held in check fairly well, but it’s our defense who rises to the challenge – especially in stopping the pass. We didn’t shut them down with turnovers and big plays, just solid defense that kept us out of trouble all day. Great effort by that side.

So, here are the updated conference standings… the plot has really thickened overall with Dodge City beating Portland:

Code:

  2015 Regular Season Standings
    
    NC North              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Norwich                 8   6   0   .571  299   299   7-4     4-1       
  Seal Beach              6   8   0   .429  216   217   5-6     3-2       
  Calverton               5   9   0   .357  207   316   4-7     2-3       
  Ayr                     4   10  0   .286  240   319   3-8     1-4       
     
    NC South              W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Hell Creek              13  1   0   .929  474   262   10-1    5-0       
  Washington              9   5   0   .643  369   340   6-5     2-3       
  State College           7   7   0   .500  279   290   5-6     3-2       
  Madison                 3   11  0   .214  318   387   2-9     0-5       
     
    NC East               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
   Portland                10  4   0   .714  377   322   8-3     4-1       
  Chesapeake              9   5   0   .643  422   287   6-5     2-3       
  South Carolina          9   5   0   .643  388   324   7-4     2-3       
  Dodge City              9   5   0   .643  450   356   7-4     2-3       
     
    NC West               W   L   T   Pct   PF    PA    Conf    Div  
  Coney Island            9   5   0   .643  263   252   8-3     5-0       
  Davis                   4   10  0   .286  152   272   4-7     3-2       
  White Rock              4   10  0   .286  267   272   3-8     1-4       
  Myrtle Beach            3   11  0   .214  175   312   3-8     1-4

Okay – so ell Creek is clearly in
Hell Creek is clearly in as the #1 seed, and they look like the defending champs ought to – like the class of the conference. (Fall River just suffered their first loss, and are dominating the other side)

But now things are mixed up a bit for the rest of the picture. With Portland staggering a bit, their lock on the division is weakened – though they still have a division edge on anyone else, so they are still in a very strong position to take it, and likely the #2 seed.

The four-way tie at 9-5 for the wild cards is where I have to still focus. We’re even with SCA now head to head, but our finale against Dodge City looms like a huge game at this point – that may well be a “playoff” game for both teams, with the winner getting in and the loser getting left at home. Here are the remaining schedules for the four 9-5 teams still hunting for wild cards:

WASHINGTON
at Toronto (5-9)
at Madison (3-11)

CHESAPEAKE
at Mars (4-10)
DODGE CITY (9-5)

DODGE CITY
CHARLESTON (9-5)
at Chesapeake (9-5)

SOUTH CAROLINA
at Happy Valley (6-8)
PORTLAND (10-4)

The teams are listed in their current seed order, according to the game. If that’s true, that means we now control our own destiny (at least in terms of making the playoffs) – I don’t think that has been true for a few weeks. So, lots to watch down the stretch.

04-22-2007, 08:41 PM	#604
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Halfway Point Thoughts Well, in a season clouded over by worries about gameplanning weaknesses and the like, the Chili Dogs are still clicking pretty well, managing to keep things mostly on track despite some turnover at a few key positions. Here’s the stats summary through eight games, with some commentary: Code: Chesapeake Chili Dogs Team Rank Rushes per Game 30.4 12 (T) Rushing Yards 155.8 4 Yards Per Carry 5.13 4 Pass Attempts 26.3 31 Completions 15.8 29 Completion Pct. 60.0 15 Passing Yards 300.6 5 Yards Per Attempt 11.45 1 Yards Per Catch 19.09 1 Total Yardage Gained 444.0 2 3rd Down Conversions 34.1 25 Points Per Game 37.5 1 Pass Rush Pct. 10.3 5 Pass Defense Pct. 68.2 19 Turnovers 10 8 (T) Turnover Margin +1 12 (T) Well, in this day and age, this isn’t too bad – with a few pretty run-heavy games scattered in there, we remain among the top passing offenses in the league, that’s good. Our rushing game got off to a red-hot start, but has come to earth – still, 5 yards per carry is great, behind a nice split of carries between Roesnfels and young Harry Adams. Code: Opponents Team Rank Rushes per Game 22.8 3 Rushing Yards 82.9 2 Yards Per Carry 3.64 2 Pass Attempts 39.4 31 Completions 22.0 29 Completion Pct. 55.9 15 Passing Yards 268.9 29 Yards Per Attempt 6.83 15 Yards Per Catch 12.22 20 Total Yardage Gained 336.8 17 3rd Down Conversions 33.9 6 Points Per Game 18.6 7 Pass Rush Pct. 7.4 13 Pass Defense Pct. 70.7 21 Turnovers 11 18 (T) I’m not sure what to make of the strong run defense stats – I wouldn’t have expected that from our roster this year, but I’m used to that number being full of noise. Our pass D seems about average, and our pass rush is about average (better than I had expected) so that’s not all bad. Code: Week Team Versus Oppnt 1 41 at DGC 31 2 37 TOR 10 3 33 at HLC 9 5 45 MBR 13 6 21 at POR 27 7 44 MER 21 8 41 at DAV 28 9 38 at CNI 10 10 at SCA 11 DGC 12 TEX 13 CAL 14 at JUP 15 POR 16 at HDV 17 SCA Nothing to comment on here, really – just the picture ahead. That game at Hudson Valley may be a barn-burner, as they are the league’s only unbeaten team at this point, and figure to be a major title contender. Code: Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int Rate 16 B. Sedor QB 210 126 2405 11.45 21 6 121.2 Team --- 210 126 2405 11.45 21 6 121.2 $$Opp --- 315 176 2151 6.83 11 9 76.8 This just in, he’s good. Six picks is more than usual for him, but overall, we can’t complain. Actually, a couple other passers are having even bigger years, but I’ll try to focus on what we can control. Sedor has picked up two minor dings this year – I hope he is not acquiring a tendency there, after being an ironman thus far. Code: Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Fum 35 R. Rosenfels RB 103 483 4.69 5 1 20 H. Small RB 101 520 5.15 4 2 16 B. Sedor QB 36 212 5.89 4 2 Team --- 243 1246 5.13 14 10 $$Opp --- 182 663 3.64 4 10 Cannot complain at all here. Tough to know just how good Harry Small is, honestly. Rosenfels clearly needs a backfield partner, so it’s good to be getting production out of our #1A back (a guy who only barely earned this spot just a few weeks ago). Code: Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop TD 8 B. Pearson WR 88 59 1207 20.46 13.72 6 11 18 G. Ellis WR 54 28 561 20.04 10.39 2 5 13 R. Cooper TE 19 13 213 16.38 11.21 1 2 86 K. Fields WR 25 11 210 19.09 8.40 1 2 We are used to being the most spread-around passing game in the league, but this year things have collapsed around Burt Pearson, who has stepped up to just monopolize the targets thus far. Pearson had never posted a 1,000-yard season before this year – now, he’s sitting on 1,200 at the halfway point?!?!? Unreal. In the early going, I announce my plan/intent to try to get George Ellis and Kent Fields to basically split time as the #2 receiver, using Fields as the split end in some formations. Hmmm… maybe not so much, then. Regardless, I’m not planning tinker with it – Fields isn’t playing all that well. Rookie WR Nolan Bellevue has been playing in the backup SE slot all season, and his stats are truly underwhelming: 7 catches on 13 targets for 102 yards and no scores. And no ratings advancement. I suspect this guy is not going to catch on, after all. Code: Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn PDPct 59 D. McKenzie ILB 45 12 1.0 1 0 1 70.2 51 R. Shaw OLB 41 13 0.0 0 1 2 77.4 29 D. Schwantz S 29 10 0.0 0 0 5 80.5 21 J. McCartney S 28 8 1.0 0 4 7 84.7 92 D. Ewart OLB 25 9 0.0 0 0 2 77.4 31 H. Padgett CB 24 4 0.0 0 2 2 76.2 96 B. Lents DT 21 8 4.5 9 0 0 82.5 23 B. Vesser S 17 5 0.0 0 1 2 81.8 70 D. Armagost DT 17 5 2.5 2 0 0 82.5 52 L. McDowell ILB 13 4 0.0 0 0 0 72.3 27 L. Kuehler CB 12 4 1.0 0 1 3 80.9 34 L. Tellez CB 12 4 0.0 0 0 1 74.7 98 D. Reynolds DE 11 5 2.5 15 0 1 82.8 56 T. Kuykendall OLB 9 5 1.5 0 0 0 71.6 90 K. Meadows DE 9 5 1.5 14 0 0 82.5 78 D. Kaesviharn DT 9 4 1.0 0 0 0 81.7 This is turning out to be a pretty big rookie year for Richie Shaw, who isn’t really a full-time guy, but seems to be all over the field. We’re thirsty for a young talent at LB, and it looks like he is delivering nicely. We also have to be pretty happy with the play of rookie DE Dwight Reynolds – not a force in the run-stopping game, but the team-leading 15 hurries sure helps take the pressure off the secondary. I like our DE threesome right now a fair bit, as Kerry Meadows is also putting together a capable season on the other side, and Skip Clayton (5.9 PR%) has been solid in the rotation. Safety Jeff McCartney is playing awfully well this year, and might be on his way to a career best. None of my DB guys are really red bar stars (maybe Kuehler) but my hope has always been they would play together well. C.J. Daniels isn’t playing a lot, but is still effective when he does play – he makes a good nickel back with his zone skills, better than most on this team. Very solid start – I’m still tweaking with defensive philosophy, and looking for whatever I can there. This week, we face South Carolina, who are in flux or this year – perhaps already looking ahead to next year, even after some preseason predictions of big things.

04-26-2007, 01:58 PM	#609
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	WR George Ellis As we prepare for our next game, I want to note the interesting season of our starting WR George Ellis. He has been overshadowed, rightfully, by a brilliant season from his cross-field colleague Burt Pearson, but Ellis has been doing his job just fine as well. Ellis was a second round pick for us five years back, and has developed pretty much as I had hoped – he does not have much in the crucial “route running” rating, but overall he is a fine player. And his career so far has borne this out – he’s pretty productive when he gets the ball his way: Code: 2010 16G, 4GS 80 Targets, 30 Catches, 434 Yards 4 TD, 8 Drops 5.43 Yds/Target 2011 16G, 9GS 73 Targets, 44 Catches, 668 Yards 5 TD, 2 Drops 9.15 Yds/Target 2012 16G, 15GS 107 Targets, 56 Catches, 871 Yards 7 TD, 7 Drops 8.14 Yds/Target 2013 16G, 16GS 80 Targets, 43 Catches, 679 Yards 6 TD, 8 Drops 8.49 Yds/Target So, he has developed into a pretty effective weapon – not a huge stat guy, but 8 or 9 yards per target is pretty solid for a wideout, and I’ve been pretty pleased with him. This year (especially in the last few weeks) he has stepped into an even greater role, and while he’s not up in the top tier of receiver numbers like Pearson is, he’s also having a career year: Code: 2013 10G, 8GS 71 Targets, 38 Catches, 781 Yards 6 TD, 7 Drops 11.00 Yds/Target So, I realize offense is globally up, and downfield passing in particular, but it is nice to see Ellis on his way to a first 1,000-yard season for us, at this pace. In addition, Ellis has emerged as an elite return man in the league, too: Code: 27 punt returns – 246 yards (9.1 yard average, ranks 6th among league qualifiers) 18 kick returns – 643 yards (35.7 yard average, ranks 1st among league qualifiers) He hasn’t even had the benefit of a TD on either side (though he did have one very long kick return that I recall) to boost the stats – indeed, Ellis is just breaking one or two tackles all the time in the return game, adding significantly to his team value. Just one more guy to worry about a bit when you face off against the Chili Dogs.

05-04-2007, 02:49 PM	#613
TonyR High School Varsity Join Date: May 2003 Location: Texas	Great run this season thus far QS. How do you compare the multi-player in 07 to 04 ? __________________ XBox360 GamerTag - Tonyr76 Former HTer

05-14-2007, 09:09 AM	#618
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	2014 Season Stats Roundup Okay, the obvious caveat here is that comparing stats from year to year is folly – the weaknesses that emerged with the 6.0d version of the game (in use for the first 12 games of this season) will make this an asterisked season all around. So, seeing big gains in offensive areas isn’t a shock – we were among the teams that seemed to do a better-then-average job of cultivating big numbers by using basically the same offensive philosophy that has driven us the last few years. With that, I do want to look at the current season: Code: 2014 Summary for Chesapeake Chili Dogs Year 2014 Record 13-3 Winning Pct. .812 All-Time 130-62 Winning Pct. .677 Playoffs 13-4 Playoff Visits 8 Bowl Wins 3 Head Coach Blake Baker Record 120-83 Winning Pct. .591 Off. Coord. N. Grant Def. Coord. M. Byrne Chesapeake Chili Dogs Team Rank Rushes per Game 30.2 10 (T) Rushing Yards 144.3 4 Yards Per Carry 4.78 3 Pass Attempts 28.7 27 Completions 17.6 24 (T) Completion Pct. 61.2 11 Passing Yards 310.4 3 Yards Per Attempt 10.82 1 Yards Per Catch 17.68 1 Total Yardage Gained 446.1 2 3rd Down Conversions 40.4 12 Points Per Game 37.6 1 Pass Rush Pct. 9.3 12 (T) Pass Defense Pct. 72.2 10 Turnovers 21 8 (T) Turnover Margin +5 7 (T) So, our offense clicked awfully well, once again. The gross numbers – yards and points – are not easy to judge across seasons, but across this league, we were still the highest-scoring team, for the third straight season. Our rushing game got off to a blistering hot start, but cooled off later in the season (I discovered, after the fact, that I had adjusted a gameplan too much, and was using one for a few games that suffered from a running game penalty in the old chutes-and-ladders system). Anyway – plenty to be pleased about – we have assembled excellent offensive personnel, and we now rightfully expect to see the offense carry us. More details player by player to come, but being #3 in rushing yards per carry and #1 in passing yards per attempt is what I’m looking for, more or less. Code: Passing Pos Att Comp Yards Y/Att TD Int Rate 16 B. Sedor QB 436 267 4746 10.89 44 11 121.6 Team --- 459 281 4967 10.82 47 13 120.5 $$Opp --- 585 330 4274 7.31 25 20 79.5 So, Sedor is still the centerpiece of this team, of course. I suspect he may well lose out in all-pro balloting this year, as Charleston’s Richie Herndon topped the yards and touchdown, and passer efficiency ratings (Sedor was 4th, 2nd, and 2nd there), but an excellent season regardless. The biggest worry here is the interceptions. Sedor has been pretty error-free through his career – and 11 picks in 436 attempts is a higher rate that we expect from him. I recall seeing a fair number of “tipped and intercepted” in the Solevision write-ups, so perhaps there is some white noise in here. Regardless, he’s not going anywhere, so we’ll take what we get there. Code: Rushing Pos Att Yards Y/Att TD Fum 20 H. Small RB 201 893 4.44 6 2 35 R. Rosenfels RB 176 818 4.65 9 2 16 B. Sedor QB 68 427 6.28 5 2 30 H. Yarlagadda RB 33 136 4.12 0 2 Team --- 483 2308 4.78 21 17 $$Opp --- 392 1419 3.62 9 20 Well, here we ended up with a committee, as the revised implementation of RB endurance different dramatically to that in FOF 2004. We brought in Rosenfels to be a bridge for us for a year or two, and thought he’d be the workhorse – instead, with limited endurance, he was a time-splitter. Harry Small narrowly won a battle for the #2 job, and wound up the leading carrier for us this season. Both guys were effective enough, though it’s hard to feel like this is a major asset area for us long term. Sedor’s rushing might be enough to get him an all-pro slot – it’s not quite where it had been in previous seasons, but he was still right there at the top of the list (actually, Bar Harbor’s Kent Gill outrushed him by one yard this year). Code: Receiving Pos Targ Catch Yards Y/Ctc Y/Tar Drop TD 8 B. Pearson WR 167 112 1989 17.76 11.91 8 25 18 G. Ellis WR 112 65 1264 19.45 11.29 10 12 13 R. Cooper TE 52 34 561 16.50 10.79 2 5 86 K. Fields WR 57 26 478 18.38 8.39 3 2 85 N. Bellevue WR 37 22 390 17.73 10.54 2 1 So, here is where we have a serious challenge in putting old year stars behind us. Burt Pearson has always been the top target of a pretty solid spread-it-around passing game. This year, for whatever reason, he became a superstar. The 1,989 yards was 2nd highest in the league (yes, Isaac Mansour posted a jaw-dropping 2,162 for Dodge City) but his 25 receiving touchdowns set a record that might never be matched (second highest there, even in this crazy year, was 16, and in league history was 20). So, hats off to Burt Pearson, whose star rose as much this year as anyone’s from this team. George Ellis, as the second banana on this team, also posted a career year – the 1,264 yards placed him 12th on the league leaderboard, and his 12 TDs was 7th best among receivers. In addition, I believe he lays claim to being the single most effective kickoff return man in the league (a 35.5 yard average is nearly 5 yards better than any other qualifier) and he ranks in the top handful of punt returners as well. SO, not surprisingly, in the newly-tracked all-purpose yards stat, he was 2nd in the league, behind only the wunderkind running back from Ayr, this year’s very top draft pick Donnie Benson. So – Ellis had a hell of a year himself. I had pledged to get Kent Fields into more of a role this year, but basically failed to do so, and with Ellis’s success, didn’t feel a need to push the issue. Young Nolan Bellevue made a few pretty good plays, but remains a mystery – our scout’s assessment needs to take a meaningful turn for the better if we’re going to feel we can count on him. Our downfield passing game left TE Robert Cooper a little bit forgotten this season, but he still is a major contributor, and I suspect will become more so after the game updates. A strong receiving threat at TE is a great friend for a QB, and we will be going to that well, I’m sure. Code: Blocking Statistics Player Pos Team GP GS KRB KRO BPct Pnck SkA PPly SPct Turnbull, Winston C CHE 16 16 34 91 37.4 6 5 418 1.2 Burns, Jerry T CHE 16 16 22 67 32.8 4 3 417 0.7 Schmit, Gus G CHE 15 11 24 60 40.0 1 2 352 0.6 Kolodzik, Horace T CHE 15 15 19 52 36.5 0 4 400 1.0 Csonka, Shane G CHE 16 16 24 45 53.3 1 1 352 0.3 Emerson, Charles FB CHE 15 7 9 25 36.0 0 0 248 0.0 Boyd, Lenny T CHE 16 1 8 24 33.3 0 6 148 4.1 Wickham, Drew G CHE 16 5 5 24 20.8 0 1 165 0.6 Lambeau, Wendell C CHE 16 0 8 17 47.1 0 0 153 0.0 Cooper, Robert TE CHE 16 14 8 16 50.0 1 0 306 0.0 Leff, Harvey TE CHE 16 3 1 3 33.3 0 0 175 0.0 Player Pos Team RPly OPct Turnbull, Winston C CHE 404 22.5 Burns, Jerry T CHE 413 16.2 Schmit, Gus G CHE 324 18.5 Kolodzik, Horace T CHE 396 13.1 Csonka, Shane G CHE 368 12.2 Emerson, Charles FB CHE 254 9.8 Boyd, Lenny T CHE 169 14.2 Wickham, Drew G CHE 193 12.4 Lambeau, Wendell C CHE 148 11.5 Cooper, Robert TE CHE 306 5.2 Leff, Harvey TE CHE 224 1.3 So, by and large, the results here are pretty impressive. With my refined understanding of how the KRB stat works, this comes as no surprise – our running game was effective, and so obviously the results-oriented KRB stats should be good. I don’t have any real way to parse out credit for the effectiveness, only to suspect that the line’s play had a major role since our RBs of pretty varying talent seemed to post comparable stats. C Winston Turnbull remains the road grader in the middle for us, a standout run blocker, and I’m thrilled with what we see from the runs behind young Shane Csonka, the one new face in this group. Lenny Boyd, journeyman reserve tackle, seemed to be the one misfit of the lot, allowing more sacks than anyone else, even as he played fewer than half of our passing plays. So – we hang 600 points, even in a freaky season, and yeah – we’re going to have a lot of good stuff to say about the offense, by and large. On to the other side: Code: Opponents Team Rank Rushes per Game 24.5 3 Rushing Yards 88.7 1 Yards Per Carry 3.62 3 Pass Attempts 36.6 32 Completions 20.6 29 Completion Pct. 56.4 13 Passing Yards 267.1 31 Yards Per Attempt 7.31 20 (T) Yards Per Catch 12.95 28 Total Yardage Gained 345.1 20 3rd Down Conversions 35.1 8 (T) Points Per Game 18.9 11 Pass Rush Pct. 7.9 7 Pass Defense Pct. 66.6 13 Turnovers 26 11 (T) For reasons that probably don’t connect all that well to FOF, I just like to have my team tough to run against. At times during the season, we were #1 in yards allowed per carry, we end up at #3. Very solid. I have seen this stat rise and fall – but candidly, when we traded away DE White (who had been a run-stopper DT for us) I feared we would suffer here. And losing run-stopping MLB Doug McKenzie to injuries should have made it worse. Instead, we had our best results in years. The pass defense, on balance, was pretty average. Tough to measure in a year like this – we had good offenses to contend with from our own division, so I don’t expect shut-down numbers. Our pass rush, a major concern as the season kicked off, was a bit above average– exceeding my expectations substantially. Code: Defense Pos Tack Asst Sack Hurr Ints Defn PDPct 51 R. Shaw OLB 79 22 1.0 2 2 6 78.2 92 D. Ewart OLB 77 22 1.0 1 2 7 79.6 59 D. McKenzie ILB 60 19 1.0 2 0 1 72.8 21 J. McCartney S 56 21 1.0 0 6 15 85.8 29 D. Schwantz S 55 26 0.0 0 2 16 84.6 96 B. Lents DT 47 23 7.0 14 0 0 82.3 23 B. Vesser S 42 11 0.0 0 1 3 74.7 31 H. Padgett CB 41 6 0.0 0 2 9 77.5 28 C. Daniels CB 36 13 0.0 0 1 10 79.6 52 L. McDowell ILB 35 10 1.0 0 2 1 78.4 70 D. Armagost DT 34 10 2.5 7 0 0 82.2 90 K. Meadows DE 24 14 3.0 20 0 0 82.0 34 L. Tellez CB 20 6 0.0 0 0 2 75.3 98 D. Reynolds DE 17 9 2.5 19 0 1 82.7 32 D. Webb CB 16 5 0.0 0 1 5 83.1 With anchor LB Doug McKenzie missing a few games, we have a surprise tackle leader for the team – weak-side starter and rookie Richie Shaw. Shaw is an interesting case, I think – I’m not sure that his future really lies at the weak-side slot (as I now think he mix of skills may not be terribly well suited for there) but he was consistent for us this year – even decent in coverage, too. Unlikely that anyone on a 13-3 team gets into the picture for Defensive Rookie of the Year, but he probably has had the biggest impact of any rookie defender we have had in years. Bryan Lents is clearly the best guy we have on the defensive line, but getting 20 hurries and a few sacks from each of our starting defensive ends keeps the pass rush credible. DE Kerry Meadows posted a PR% of 5.5, and rookie Dwight Reynolds a 4.6 – I think it’s time to stop re-investing draft day capital there, and let these guys develop together. They seem to be “good enough” and Meadows is still creeping, I believe. Incidentally, I did rotate veteran DE Christian Brignac into the lineup enough in the late season to get him off his “unhappy” stance, and hopefully set him up to return next year. He was a great chemistry signing for us, and actually not a major liability on the field. In the secondary, here are the more details stats: Code: Pass Coverage Statistics Player Pos Team GP GS Ints IRYd TD Defn Cght PPly PDPct McCartney, Jeff S CHE 16 16 6 56 0 15 37 512 85.8 Schwantz, Doug S CHE 16 15 2 72 1 16 29 454 84.6 Padgett, Herman CB CHE 16 16 2 26 0 9 39 407 77.5 Daniels, C.J. CB CHE 14 9 1 0 0 10 30 380 79.6 Tellez, Leland CB CHE 15 4 0 0 0 2 18 266 75.3 Vesser, Brett S CHE 16 0 1 42 0 3 22 220 74.7 Webb, Dixon CB CHE 13 0 1 54 1 5 12 150 83.1 Kuehler, Lewis CB CHE 5 5 1 0 0 3 11 145 80.9 Turner, Seth CB CHE 16 0 0 0 0 2 7 69 75.9 Conzelman, Deion S CHE 7 0 0 0 0 1 0 24 92.5 So, our two starting safeties both had very solid seasons in coverage – I have a silly man crush on Jeff McCartney, and await his next “clutch play” in a huge situation, which he seems to deliver with regularity. Schwantz might be a better fit for the new-look coverage universe than the old scheme, so no shock that he had a solid year too. With our best cover man (Kuehler) downed with injuries for a lot of this season we ended up with young C.J. Daniels playing an awful lot (again) and doing okay – no picks, but basically as effective as longtime starter Padgett. I think CB is a need area for this team looking longer term. Code: Player Pos Team GP GS Ints IRYd TD Defn Cght PPly PDPct Shaw, Richie OLB CHE 16 15 2 4 0 6 36 551 78.2 Ewart, Daryl OLB CHE 14 13 2 4 0 7 30 447 79.6 McKenzie, Doug ILB CHE 11 10 0 0 0 1 25 320 72.8 McDowell, Lorenzo ILB CHE 16 8 2 96 1 1 17 249 78.4 Kuykendall, Travis OLB CHE 16 0 0 0 0 0 5 86 74.8 Dennis, D.J. ILB CHE 16 0 0 0 0 0 2 21 69.7 I wish I understood linebackers in coverage better than I did. All these guys have pretty lousy PD% numbers, but is that a function of me not paying good enough attention to their coverage skills, not slotting them properly, or just the nature of the beast playing LB (you give up lots of catches, like it or not). Were Ewart and Shaw okay for us, getting six or seven PDs while yielding three dozen catches? Or should I be looking for 10-15 PDs from a successful coverage LB? Beats me. McKenzie is just rotten, so I have no expectations there – but what of my two outside guys? I’m basically at a loss. Great season – I’m a little miffed at a few of the meltdowns that cost us notches in the W/L column, but in the end it didn’t matter – you can’t do better than the #1 seed.

05-19-2007, 08:22 PM	#623
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Season Wrap-Up In a thrilling title game, Hell Creek nips Charleston 17-16, to take their first league championship. That’s a great and well-deserved honor for Allosaurus, who has piloted them to being arguably the top franchise in FOFL history. (That subject actually might make a good debate) In the season awards, we get three offensive players recognized – WR Burt Pearson is right alongside WR Isaac Mansour of Dodge City on the first team (those two just tore up the record book in this unusual year), and QB Brent Sedor and TE Robert Cooper both manage second team honors. No complaints there – Sedor had a good year overall, but his unexpected spike in interceptions may have been the difference between getting first team honors, and possibly a third title for us. With that, we end our run of titles, but hopefully not our status as main contender. We advance to the start of the 2015 season… and I am predictably thinking about retirements, with our increasing “veteran” team. I think the guys I worry most about are MLB Doug McKenzie and maybe LT Horace Kolodzik, both of whom would be very tough to replace. So, a few stages ahead of reflection on where we are… but as the curtain is lifted on the year’s retirements, we see… WR Robert Torpey – solid veteran, no real surprise, but we’ve got WR covered LB D.J. Dennis – long time reserve and special teamer for us, good role player LB Daryl Ewart – Wha?!?!? Big surprise there – only 9 years in the league, with big money left on his deal, I’m shocked to see this – and it will be very tough So… as we start preparations for another busy offseason, it looks like we will be thinking about the LB position, as two retirements there leave us down to only four signed players. We’ll have other things to consider, but LB looks like a major target slot. Last edited by QuikSand : 05-21-2007 at 08:19 PM.

05-07-2007, 03:53 PM	#614
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Well, before the latest patch, things were getting wacky -- CHE was putting up pretty big numbers, as were a number of other teams, each of whom were pushing the gameplan in ways it wasn't responding to well. From what i can tell, post patch, that stuff really ought to calm down. On balance, I really like 07 better than 04, and am pretty optimistic. I hopie the gameplanning fixes really let the other improvements in the game to shine. Today's game is on hold for technical reasons... hope to post results tomorrow morning.

05-21-2007, 08:19 PM	#626
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Tough typo... the word "top" doesn't make as much sense as it does when it has the letter p at the end. Top franchise. Top. That's what I meant.

05-21-2007, 08:20 PM	#627
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Young Key Players The loss of Daryl Ewart has me thinking about our team’s downside – we’re not in crisis mode yet, but when I look at the best players on our team, I see nearly everyone at least in his 5th year in the league. That was the year we held an early draft pick due to some trading, landed WR Burt Pearson in the draft, and got the superstar we really needed. Since then, we have burned through three drafts acquiring a fair number of solid complementary players, but nobody who looks like a star-caliber performer. Even our FA additions these last few seasons have mostly been short-term types, nobody in the prime of his career who might actually be a guy we’re looking to plug in for several years. Who, among our 2nd-4th year players, is really a major piece of our planning? WR Kent Fields – 48/48 (2012 pick 2.19) – Fields still has some development ahead, we think, but it seems that he is at his overall maximum, that is as a solid #3 receiver. He’s good enough to play as much as we need, but if he were a starter, we’d consider it a need area to target. RG Shane Csonka – 42/56 (2012 pick 5.22) – Csonka started for us last year and put up brilliant season-long stats (53% KRBs and only one sack) so we’re fine with him as our starter, but thee red bars suggest he’s really a decent player probably benefiting from a good overall team. TE Harvey Leff – 46/46 (2012 URFA) – Leff has been creeping up toward a pretty respectable set of ratings for us, and lasts year filled in nicely as a starting FB when Emerson went down. Backup TE isn’t a key position, but he looks solid enough to count on. DE Kerry Meadows – 52/52 (2012 pick 4.1) – Meadows has gradually developed into a pretty decent-looking end, and on our team that makes him a starter. But 8 sacks in three seasons isn’t really impact-level performance, is it? A 5.5 PR% last year gives us hope that he is still building toward being a major factor for us. RB Harry Small – 29/38 (2013 URFA) – Small edged out the competition for the backup RB job last year, and then went on to post 893 rushing yards on over 4.4 yards per carry. Was he a serious contributor as a starter for us long term, or just the beneficiary of defenses worried about the pass? I don’t know. MLB Lorenzo McDowell – 29/33 (2013 pick 6.2) – McDowell right now is slotted behind McKenzie at MLB, and probably will stay there. Looks like he may continue to inch forward, but I don’t think there are any leaps and bounds in his ratings waiting to happen. G Drew Wickham – 41/45 (2013 URFA) – Wickham is a pretty decent third guard for us, but sitting behind a star and another creeper, I don’t see him breaking into the starting lineup barring misfortune elsewhere. WR Nolan Bellevue – 18/18 (2012 pick 2.32) – Enigmatic receiver – put up reasonable stats last year (390 yards on 10.5 yds/target) but dreadful scout ratings suggest he’s simply not that exciting a player, even if he creeps and creeps. DE Dwight Reynolds – 46/59 (2012 pick 1.32) – Standard pass-rushing DE, ratings dipping a bit but holding reasonably well overall. Posted a 4.6 PR%, we’ll need improvement on that. DT Devin Kaesviharn – 30/45 (2012 pick 3.32) – Slight creeper, but tucked behind DT Bryan Lents, he doesn’t figure to be a major impact player for us, I suspect. LB Richie Shaw – 41/42 (2012 pick 3.30) – Decent player right away for us, led team with 79 tackles, but utility as full-time starter may be shaky. Starts this year again, mostly out of need – not sure if he’s a long term answer anywhere for us. That’s basically the list – I included as “major contributors” pretty much everyone who is sure to have a roster spot this year. But while we did land a few creepers here or there, not a one of these players is rated 60 or better, and not one is looking like a major anchor player (without major development). I frittered away some early picks pursuing pass rushers, and had the usual array of relative draft busts, but we haven’t really landed a “wow” player in years through the draft. As some teams, especially those picking in the top handful each year, are fielding star-caliber young players at major positions, I feel as though we are setting up for a shaky time down the road. Sedor is a 7th year guy, so we ought to have several more years under him, which will cover over some weakness on the roster – but we need to put something around him to be a top-tier roster. There are guys on this list above that I “like” – but nobody who really changes the team past being a solid complementary player. At some point, we need to being aboard a true star.

05-24-2007, 04:11 PM	#628
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Free Agency About to Get Underway The free agency period this offseason ought to be weird – we have multiple teams with at least a third of their salary cap unencumbered, and only a few legitimate impact players out there to be had. I don’t expect that Chesapeake is likely to really land anyone of very much import, all told –we may put in an offer or two on the “top” players, but we are sitting on $12m in cap space – maybe $20m or so in workable space after we work through renegotiations, I guess. There are plenty of teams with $30m to work with – there’s no reason why Chesapeake should be able to land anyone who is really wanted elsewhere. Not a major worry – on my first draft, I think CHE has 44 roster slots already basically secured by returning players, and probably a couple more that will come pretty easily. Past that, we have 7 draft picks this year, which would basically put us right to a full roster – so, it’s not like we have several starting jobs open and only 29 guys sitting here. We already have pretty much everyone we need for this year already, and will mostly be looking to bring aboard some long term additions in this draft. Every veteran free agent we sign is essentially one fewer young guy we can take into the season, so there’s a cost for every free agent beyond his cap space. With the stage to start free agency, we see a refinement in player ratings – and there’s some good news here in Chesapeake, as a few younger players made nice gains. Linebackers Richie Shaw (+5/+4) and Lorenzo McDowell (+3/+3), almost as if realizing they are about to get the call as major contributors for our defense this season, both had very good adjustments. My young enigmatic receiver Nolan Bellevue also boosted (+2/+2), probably keeping him in my good graces for a while longer. CB Seth Turner, a late pick last year, posted a fairly surprising bump (+1/+4) and he’s going to be a bit like Bellevue – he might just have enough weird promise to keep me on his side for now. Turner is still only rated 18/38 by our scouts, so it’s not like he broke through and is challenging for serious playing time. We did have a few players suffer drops here – probably the most concerning is DE Dwight Reynolds (-3/-4), last year’s top pick for us. No shock, he isn’t a “creeper” type, but it’s looking like we basically have a replacement-value player there – something like 50/50 overall when it’s all said and done-- and at the cost of a 1st round pick (again). Reynolds played okay last year, but we need to temper our expectations there a bit, I suspect. Nothing here really changes our offseason priorities, I don’t think – we need to fill in with a couple of LBs, but they can be decent veterans, late round picks, or URFA pickups – not necessarily a top draft pick. Same thing with our DB group, I would like to add one more guy who can play some CB for us (we got really depleted there by injuries, and I suspect things will get worse before getting better) so I’d like to invest there – historically, I’ve had some luck with middle-round picks (or later) at DB but that’s an area where I’m very open to investing our top pick, if the value looks reasonable. I think a LB would have to be a very good system fit for me to go there, but it’s an option as well. The first look at the draft suggests depth at DL and LB, and also at QB. Assuming we lose Harry Ross this offseason one way or another, I’d be pretty interested in bringing aboard another QB. I don’t think it would make sense for us to draft at QB early (though it did work out pretty well taking Walt Johnstone in round three two drafts back – that’s why we hold pick 1.19 this year, after all) but I could see us picking up a project QB somewhere in this draft, or else via free agency, even.

05-29-2007, 01:55 PM	#629
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Free Agency Begins As I noted earlier, the league is full of very deep pockets, and I don’t really expect to accomplish much via free agency this year. So, we put in some perfunctory offers, and I am pretty shocked to land two players in the initial stage: LB Harvey Humphries – Of all the players out there in free agency, the guy who has the biggest chance to be a genuine impact player for us right away is right here. Humphries naturally lines up on the strong side, and is a solid run stopper (76 by my scout) and ought to be okay in both coverage and the occasional pass rushing assignment. He’s a 10th year player, so this guy isn’t the long term future for us, but with only four LBs on the roster at all, adding Humphries takes the pressure off us, and we no longer need to get a starter OLB in this draft. I might still go after a young player or two, but this guy gives us some welcome breathing room. RB Russell Becker – He is a 5th year back, coming off a 1,000-yard season in Norwich – so naturally, he’ll jump at the chance to make just a shade over minimum salary to be our third RB option. Anyway, setting aside the mystery of the signing, Becker gives us a guy who seems to be custom-made for passing downs – he’s pretty solid in blitz pickup (51) and has strong ratings in route running and 3rd down catching. Solid rotation guy for us, and a strong affinity with FB Emerson, our position leader. So, two nice signings for us, and we have exhausted a good portion of our usable cap space already. With all the players lingering out there, I’m expecting things to get bleak fast – so I’m glad to have two pretty useful players in hand from this FA stage, to my surprise.

06-04-2007, 08:35 AM	#631
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Big Splash in Early Draft Well, following my lament a bit earlier this offseason about our inability to land “impact” players in the draft (especially with my late first and second round picks in recent years) I have decided to swing a deal in the hopes of landing two such impact players in this draft. We were holding picks at 1.17 and 1.30, and expecting to target defensive players with both slots. With a slate of high quality linebackers starting to fade, I decided to make a move to leap from 1.30 up to 1.14 – sending away two second rounders to do so – and managed to ink two of our target players at those two slots. I wasn’t sure that Matt Sheldon, the #2 ranked ILB in this draft and a pretty good skills match for what I want, was going to last to #17, and I didn’t like my chances of seeing a quality DB make it all the way to pick #30. So, by moving up, we secure two picks that lock down the players we really wanted here. Here are the rookie profiles: LB Sheldon is a guy that I see as the likely heir at MLB for McKenzie, who is very solid but in his 11th season already. I don’t know if he will start this year or play a major reserve role – might depend on how ready to go he is. At 55% developed, I’m hopeful that he is a major role player immediately, at least. DB Gailey is 208 lbs, a bit stout for a cornerback, but that’s where I want him to play. Assuming he translates pretty well to CB, he ought to be very solid in run support, good in bump coverage, and strong in all the support skills like play diagnosis and punishing hitters. My hope is that he can be a starter for our secondary for years to come – maybe another Herman Padgett, but possibly with even better overall skills. So… two no-combine guys (a little cause for worry, but I did like the results from the limited drills they did run, which is encouraging I think) at defensive positions, and hopefully two young players we can be pretty excited to be building around down the road. I’m pleased. And, I’ll need to be… since that’s it for us until “day two” of this draft, where we will be picking next at 4.27 and 4.31. We will try to find our usual complement of role-players from the middle rounds there, but hopefully we have already landed our two impact players right here.

06-06-2007, 04:27 PM	#632
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Unkindest Cuts Well, we’re into that part of the offseason – I’m pushing on a few of the remaining attractive free agent players, and need to make some cuts that I knew were coming. LB Travis Kuykendall was a top pick for us, got off to a great start, and had a great future ahead leading our defense for years to come. Then the injury. Then he was suddenly a shell of his former self. So, in his 9 years with Chesapeake, he will go down in the books as a relative bust – picked at #17 overall, he only managed 34 starts. Really belongs in the “what could have been” pile. Ironic thing is that in that draft, I had a tough time deciding between Kuykendall and Daryl Ewart, who ended up going a couple of picks later. Ewart made his way to Chesapeake and won two titles with us as well, of course, but now both are gone. QB Harry Ross once looked like “the future” for us at QB, as we were scrambling for what to do after the departure of Hilton Boner. But Ross suffered a serious injury, missed out on the season that could have been his, and instead watched undrafted rookie Ernest Biddle run for his life that year. (Biddle just landed a $6m signing bonus this week, incidentally – I was right that he had a future in this league after all) And the following year, we traded up in the draft to resolve our QB situation – and the rest is history, we haven’t had a starter other than Brent Sedor since. Ross got cut last week, as his base salary of over $5m was too much, and was quickly signed to a new deal in Shreveport, likely to serve as either trade bait or a backup. WR Oscar Abdul-Malik was a chemistry leader for us for a few years, and a WR mentor, but shifts in the personnel at the WR/TE group left him without the connections he once had. And with George “That Guy” Ellis now has mentorship for anyone who might merit it – so Oscar had not role here, and was released. We did re-sign LT Lenny Boyd, a move I didn’t expect to make. But our OL got thinned out a shade when we lost C Wendell Lambeau, so returning Boyd isn’t a silly move. He’s a hidden affinity, has played with us for a few years, is rated a playable 43/43 by our scouts, and accepted a minsal deal.

06-12-2007, 07:54 PM	#633
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Draft Wrap-Up After dealing away our second rounder to move up in round one, we had a long wait until picking again. With three round four selections, we’re looking primarily to land intriguing depth chart fillers, and hopefully guys who will either contribute with some specific ability (special teams, returning, etc) or else have some potential to develop beyond their apparent skills. Through rounds two and three I saw a number of target players drop, but by our fourth rounders, I ended up with a few guys who still seemed worth a slot. So, I ended up moving up into round five, and I ended up grabbing the four guys I had atop my wish list a round earlier. Here are the summaries, along with the best-guy-left tight end we grabbed at the tail end of the draft: Incidentally, I didn’t do a particularly good job with interviews this year once again – RT Jake Tate is my first pick driven largely by my scout’s “very underrated” tag, but by the end of the draft, I hadn’t even interviewed a number of the players that I ended up liking a lot at that point. Some people have delved into the re-designed interview process and claim it’s more important than ever. I just haven’t invested the time, and am doing my best without much to go on there. Anyway… now that these guys are all on the roster and signed, we have some idea what we expect from them. And my best guess is that T Jake Tate is going to work out very well (maybe this “trust your scout” school of thought has some merit after all), that Alex Wilcox is probably going to turn out to be the better of the two linebackers (and probably a worthwhile long term project), that WR Jamie Leverette has a lot of creeping to do before his “bars” make him look like a guy we’d actually want to place onto the field (making him perhaps a less talented, more frustrating version of Nolan Bellevue… great). In the after-draft, we have picked up a rookie kicker who is going to give veteran David Everhart a serious run for his money for the starting job, and a few more prospects who have some shot to land on the team. A few stages remain, and I’m still trying to land another player or two, even though I think the number of truly available roster slots is pretty small.

06-13-2007, 05:24 PM	#634
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Position Battles Remain With 64 guys on the roster as we are basically ready for training camp, I think I have isolated only a few remaining slots that are really up for grabs. Based on training camp and, I guess in theory, preseason results, we will be looking at these slots for out final cutdowns: Kicker – David Everhart has been a solid player for us, hitting on over 78% of his kicks, but we brought in rookie Cornell Rose, who looks to be better on kickoffs and potentially as good for FGs. Very open competition, but Rose would presumably be the cheaper option for us starting next year – if he holds even a decent share if his apparent ratings through camp, I think the job is his. Backup Running Back – As last year, we have a smattering of guys with a smattering of skills, and will try to figure out who is the best fit. I think we likely have three guys locked into spots already – Rosenfels (best all purpose guy), Small (solid last year as a #2 option) and FA signee Russell Becker, who we really like for 3rd down duty. So, Sam Cook and URFA pickup Antonio Anthony may be battling for a job as the 4th RB option… which may not even exist, candidly. I don’t see us carrying 5 running backs, so I think at most one of these guys gets a jersey. Offensive Line Depth – Our starters are all set for this year, and even with the loss of journeyman reserve center Wendell Lambeau, we come into this year basically six deep at OL, seven if we include LT Lenny Boyd, who inked a minsal re-up deal with us in free agency. We drafted T Jake Tate, who looks promising and will get a switch to LT to hopefully be a future starter there, so he’s on the team. That gives us veteran C Earl Baker (rated 48/48 by my scout, and probably good enough to start if we needed him to) and URAF rookie Cole Glover to battle for what are essentially slots 9 and 10. I don’t believe we will be willing to carry 10 guys, so my guess is that T Boyd, T Glover, and C Baker are basically battling for 1 or 2 roster slots. If we’re going to look to rookie T Tate as a primary backup at LT, then Boyd probably becomes expendable to us. Defensive Back – We have 11 guys currently signed to a contract, plus first round pick Gailey pending – and I don’t think we’ll carry more than 10 players here. S Jon Upshaw is a benchwarmer, but is so key to chemistry that he probably has to stay anyway. Last year we grabbed CB Seth Turner and S Deion Conzelman, and I like both guys enough to want them to stay – but neither is looking like much of a player in “bar” terms. URFA CB R.J. Whitfield looks like a “phantom bars” guy, but if he develops anything like the scout profile, he’ll be a pretty useful CB, projecting to at least 70 in bump coverage, play diagnosis, interceptions, and special teams. My best accounting is that Turner, Conzelman, Whitfield, and veteran reserve CB Leland Tellez (never very productive on the field for us) are battling for no more than three roster slots, and more likely just two. The possible showdown between reserve corners Turner and Whitfield could be a “fork in the road” decision for us – deciding between a guy who might be better (way better?) than his bars, versus a guy who has nice future bars but might never reach any of that intriguing potential. Quarterback – I’m pretty confident that we’ll have Sedor (shock, I know), Gerhardt, and FA signee Jim Baker slotted in that order come opening day. Baker seems like a great fit for our offense – best at the medium passing range, solid in sensing the rush and the other modest intangibles, and dirt cheap. He’s not fleet of foot like our other two guys, but for a #3, we couldn’t ask for much more. The wrinkle here is URFA Chris Gonzalez (rated 17/54 by my scout pre-camp), and if he has a good camp, we might have to keep both him and mentor Roderick Tyler around, making a squeeze – that would likely cost Baker his reserve job, and one other player as well (as we’d be carrying 4 QBs on thee active roster presumably all year). Odds are against this happening, but we’ll give Gonzalez a look in minicamps, and see if there’s anything there. I am currently figuring that all our draftees will make the team, including TE Eddie Del Greco (though I didn’t really need a third TE, he was a solid combines guy and looks to have some creeping ahead). I toyed with sifting Del Greco to play fullback, but he doesn’t have the blocking skills for that job – our current #2 TE Harvey Leff filled in nicely there last year when Emerson got hurt, and will probably end up as our backup FB this season as well. Right now, the one guy from the draft who might not make it looks like 4th round pick LB Winfred Wilkins – he has fairly decent looking bars (and skipped the combine) but if he lacks some upside in ratings, I don’t think he’s a guy who will be worth much for long.

06-22-2007, 10:06 AM	#635
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	Preseason Wrap Up I really don’t invest much stake in the preseason games, and fortunately neither does the FOFL. So we turn off injuries, run them in three stages rather than ten, and get the show on the road. If you are morbidly curious about what happened, here are the links to the box scores: http://www.thefofl.com/fofl/box2015011307.html http://www.thefofl.com/fofl/box2015020716.html http://www.thefofl.com/fofl/box2015030708.html http://www.thefofl.com/fofl/box2015041407.html Bottom line, we looked pretty good, and the stats from these games did absolutely nothing to resolve any decisions for our final roster slots. Our final round of cuts will include just a couple notables – K David Everhart had been with us for a few years, but I think undrafted rookie Cornell Rose is probably going to be better, and he’s definitely cheaper. All our draft picks made the team, along with K Rose and RT Cole Glover from the undrafted ranks. We’re keeping on LT Lenny Boyd as a reserve and mentor for our two promising youngsters at tackle. At RB, it looks like we are going to use a three-man committee more or less, with Ross Rosenfels as the nominal starter, but being relieved (like last year) by Harry Small, and with new acquisition Russell Becker coming in pretty liberally on passing downs, which for this team will be plenty. My best guess is that in the early going, we’ll see Rosenfels getting 12-16 carries a game, and both Small and Becker with around 4-8 each. My top two rookies are each going to be in heavy reserve slots for this year – MLB Matt Sheldon is ready to start at MLB, but I like using Doug McKenzie for first and ten. Sheldon will see reserve use at both the mike and sam slots, plus he’ll get the call a good deal on passing downs. I don’t think McKenzie will remain our leading tackler for this year, even if he remains healthy. At CB, Quentin Gailey is likely to be our top reserve player behind Padgett and Kuehler, if they are both healthy. My guess is that both he and CJ Daniels will end up seeing some starts, and will see plenty of time on the field – Gailey still has the skills to play safety if needed, as well. The other area of change is along the defensive line, where we had some nice bumps in training camp. Last year’s top pick DE Dwight Reynolds showed a good deal in camp, and while he was already a starter, we’re thinking he may be a full-time guy this year rather than rotating out a lot. DE Kerry Meadows also continued his nice development, and looks solid too. And, we got a surprisingly big camp from DT Devin Kaesviharn, who earned his way into the starting lineup alongside DT Bryan Lents, with Dwight Armagost still getting rotation time at both DT slots. While this unit may not be a strength, it’s probably no longer the weakness it was for a few years there. So, we are basically ready to go. I’m pretty pleased with the roster overall, I’m happy with this rookie class that seems to be crackling with potential, and I think we have a shot to be better than last year, despite the departure of one star caliber player in LB Daryl Ewart. A nice team preview was posted here and it’s hard to disagree with much there. This team has some flaws and weaknesses, but we also have a lot of talent in the places where we need it most. The offense should again be at or near the top of the league, and the defense ought to be average or better. Looks like another season of watching the bye week situation, and hoping for a strong postseason effort.

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