A wing and a prayer (an HC09 Falcons Dynasty)

[Skarecrow]

Week 3 vs St. Louis


Injured
C D. Datish 2 weeks


I don’t know what to expect from the Rams. They don’t suck, but I don't remember them making it to the playoffs last year either. We’ll see.


The first quarter is a bunch of McFadden running but no points for anybody.


2 and a half minutes into the 2^nd, a St. Louis penalty puts us within the redzone for the first time this game, and it takes English only 1 try to get the ball to Bellows for a TD. 7-0 Falcons. This seems to have woken up the St. Louis Offense, who make multiple first downs for the first time this game enroute to a TD for a 7-7 tie. McFadden runs the ball and the clock to get us another TD at 1:09 left in the 2^nd. 14-7 Atlanta. This is of course PLENTY of time for the computer to get to our redzone for a FG.



As an aside, is anybody else sick and tired of this blatent cheating? Any opposing team in the game gets pretty much a free score if they get the ball with at least a minute left on the clock in the 2^nd or the 4^th. Sheesh. 14-10 Falcons at the half.


We fail at scoring, but they don’t, so we’re down 14-16 because amazingly enough they miss the extra point. Wow. Interception means we give the ball back to them and that’s the end of the 3^rd.


They miss a FG at the top of the 4^th, and we take it back downfield for a FG of our own. Hah, that's two misses in a row for their boy. Score is 17-16 Atlanta, but there’s 6:09 on the clock, so anything can happen. And apparently by "anything", I mean Sleepy Bayless causing a penalty that puts them in scoring range. Bad Sleepy! No cookie! They somehow miss a 20 yard FG (their kicker must be getting fired after this game, that's miss #3, at 20yards no less!), but we can’t do anything and have to punt. They get right back to our redzone and miss ANOTHER FG (wtf!) with 17 seconds left on the clock. WOW. Just… Wow. English kneels it out. Atlanta wins 17-16.


Another bad game on our part, beating an even worse opponent.


English was 54.5, with 1 TD, 1 int, and 79 yards (ick!)


McFadden rushed for 95 yards in 22 carries
James rushed for 56 yards and 1 TD in 10 carries


As you may have guessed by Englishe’s numbers, nobody got much in the way of receiving, although Bellows did have that 1 TD.


Approval is back up to 91 after that debacle.


We’re still on target to get our goal of “Win 3 out of the first 4 games”, but next week is last year’s SB runners-up, the Buccs. Oh, it’s a rivaly game the fans want to see me win too. This is probably going to be painful.


WR C Butler has cracked his leg in practice. OW that sounds painful. That’ll be 3 weeks for him. Too bad, he needs the gametime to develop. Oh well, that’s why we retained White.


Standings in the NFC south look very competitive:
2 Saints 3-0 (where the hell did the saints come from this year?)
5 Buccaneers 3-0
8 Falcons 2-1
26 Panthers 1-2

[Skarecrow]

Week 4 vs Tampa Bay


Injured:
DT T. Lewis - 1 Day (bah)
C D. Datish – 1 week (who cares)
WR C. Butler – 2 weeks (him I’d like to see play)


A. Dotson intercepts Dane Morrow’s second pass and we’ve got it at their 43^rd yard line. Not a bad way to start the game. FG makes it 3-0 Atlanta. Of course, I think that just pissed Dane off. TD Buccs in no time flat. 3-7 Tampa.


Second quarter begins after we actually manage to hold off a Bucc first down for once. English, McFadden, and James do their jobs and we get a TD to put us up again. 10-7 Falcons. We make nail-biter 3^rd down conversions TWICE enroute to another TD, to put us up 17-7. There is 2:06 left in the quarter however, and you guys know how I feel about giving the computer time under the 2 minute warning… Sure enough, reliable as old ****in faithful, is a Buccaneer touchdown to make it 17-14.


The 3rd starts with an early Falcon punt, and then we trade the lead as we trade touchdowns to end up 24-21 Falcons.


FUCLafdsa. Tampa Bay punts to us, but English throws his first interception in awhile which is promptly run in for a TD. DAMMIT. 24-28 Buccs. We punt. They fumble. We throw an interception. They punt. God this is tense, just get in the f’n end zone already dammit! Thank god, McFadden puts us up 31-28, but there’s 3:53 left and I have this nasty feeling… We force a punt, and the ball is ours on our own 32 with 1:55 left on the game. I then do something that's going to make me look either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid. On our own 41 yard line, with 1:10 left in the game, I have James run the ball on 4^th and inches. HE MADE IT!!! English Kneels out the game. The Falcons win! 31-28! Impossible? No but highly improbable!!


English had a crappy 76.0 rating, with 2 TDs but 2 ints, and 228 yards.


McFadden and James twinned it up with 63 and 65 yards respectively, each with 1 TD.


Antonio Gates showed up to finally earn his paycheck, with 111 yards receiving.


I complete two goals in once, Fast start and Rivalry game… and manage to only gain two approval points, putting me at 93. Turns out everybody already loves me, so they expect me to win, and would be double pissed if I failed. Pressure, just what I needed. Fantastic.


I’m still high on that game though, and I can't even be brought down by the fact that we’ve got a game next week vs the division-leading New Orleans Saints headed by the 2^nd best QB in the league right now in Brees (how did he get ranked ahead of Brady?).


I have to mention that the Redskins’ quarterback, notorious draft bust Biff Below, somehow won Offensive Player of the week. Wow, seems like anybody can have a good day I guess?


Big shakeup in the standings this week:


3 Falcons 3-1 Yeah, that’s right baby!
9 Saints 3-1
10 Buccaneers 3-1
23 Panthers 1-2


We're ranked #3 in the NFL, and I'm on top of the world. I think it's time to call it a night and go into next week's game with some momentum. No matter who wins, it's going to have big implications for the NFC south standings!

[Skarecrow]

General comments from the Head Coach:

I'm pretty happy with the way the team is going this season. I feel like it may be too optimistic to hope it keeps up, but if we can pull out next week's win, and especially if the buccs lose another game, we'll have a pretty good buffer in our division.

Both the Offense and the Defense are inconsistant. I've taken a good hard look at who I've got playing for me, and I don't see a big gap at any position really. I've got someone of average quality or higher starting, and a pretty playable bench as well.

This makes me think coaching is the key here. Most of my coaches are significantly below where my Steelers were by year 3, as I had several rated in the 90s or higher. I STILL need a good coach or two in niche positions like WR and QB, but my OC and DC are both strong. My STC could do to be better, but that is what it is.

I have high hopes for this season, but if we don't make it to the playoffs this year, I'm pretty sure next year is our year. English has come into his own, as has LaRon James. McFadden has been a beast since day 1. We've got a couple good veterans we picked up in free agency like Wilson and Gates, who are teaching the rest of the guys the ropes, and even my so-so players have pro bowl moments, like Sleepy Bayless, who if you could see his profile totally earns his name. He has this stoned stare to him.

We're close to being a solid playoff team, I can taste it. If it doesn't happen this year, it's ours for the taking next year. We've had some flukes this season so far, but the talent is there, the team is solid, and we just need to tie it all together consistently.

[justincase]

The team is looking solid, i have no doubt thier head coach will lead them to the playoffs this year, with a strong chance at the Super Bowl!

[Skarecrow]

Quote: Originally Posted by justincase

The team is looking solid, i have no doubt thier head coach will lead them to the playoffs this year, with a strong chance at the Super Bowl!

Well, we're looking good at the moment, but I am tempted to go back and see what the hell the Saints did in the offseason (new HC?? fantastic draft picks? what?) because between them and us this season, and the super turnaround of the Buccs last season, the NFC south has turned into one of the most competitive divisions in the entire league.

[Skarecrow]

Week 5 vs New Orleans
(Monday Night Football!)


Injuries:
C D. Datish – 1 day
WR C. Butler – 1 week


I can’t help looking at this as the game where we either start a real season, or where we slide back into old habits. I’m optimistic, but worried.
Drew Brees throws an early interception to CB L. J. Clark. Our O apparently wasn’t ready to get out on the field, because we make negative yardage before the punt, but Brees is good enough to throw to us AGAIN. Immediately! This time, McFadden, English, and Bellows get us into the endzone in two plays. 7-0 Falcons. We completely fail to stop Brees once he’s throwing to his own guys, and it takes the Saints about 5 minutes to tie it up 7-7. We punt, they score, not looking good here. If we don’t catch an interception, they are just about guaranteed a TD. Come on D! 7-14.


McFadden stars the show getting us back downfield, including an 11 yard run on 4^th and 4 (I was annoyed enough to make a risky decision). Tied up 14-14, but their ball with only 7 min in the half. They steamroll our totally ineffective D once again, to push ahead 14-21. English ties it up 21-21 with 1:21 on the clock. I knew I should have wasted more time. I’m betting that Brees scores in 4 plays in 1:18… no, it’s 6 plays and they were 6 yards from scoring, but I *******’d the clock out. God that was close. Tied at the half.


Right out of the locker room, Juran F’in Riley intercepts an English pass, and they have good field position which of course means a TD. Dammit, 28-21. We punt, they punt (woah!) and it’s a LaRon James TD! 28-28!


Saints start the 4^th by punting, again, and we have to pull all the way from our own 3 yard line. Gross. LaRon has the game on his shoulders as McFadden is exhausted. We get to the 8 yard line and James can’t do any more. McFadden jumps back in, and takes us to the 2 yard line, but he’s still spent. With no other option, we put Plumlee on the field, hide our eyes… Touchdown! Woot! We’re up again, 35-28. 1^st down, 2^nd down, 3^rd down interception! Drew throws to us again, he must be having a really depressing game. This is our chance. This is where the game is won or lost… We’ve exhausted both our starting and backup HB, only Plumlee is somewhat fresh. All three backs take turns running down the field and the clock. Both McFadden and James get good yardage inside the redzone, but once again it’s Plumlee who gets the TD! 42-28 Falcons! I’m obviously excited, but the game isn’t over yet, not by a long shot. 3:54 left to go and anything can happen… like Eugene Wilson intercepting another Brees pass!!!! WOO HOO. God Brees must be demoralized. We’ve got nobody left to run the ball, I see our FB get some yardage… then… our backup FB?! No way! Unable to make it to the endzone, I run down the clock on 4^th and 7 on the 25 to hit the 2 minute warning. Tucker hits the FG to put us up 45-28. I do my best to run down the clock again, but with 15 seconds left in the game, the Saints score again… but it’s too little, too late. One onside kick later (Recovered by bellows anyway), the game ends 45-35, with a Falcons VICTORY!


We’ve beaten every team in the division, and proven that we’ve got what it takes to make our mark on the post-season, now just to guarantee that we get there.


English had a so-so game, with an 85.4 rating, only 2 TD, 1 int, and a paltry 140 yards…


But that’s because McFadden and James did their twin stats deal again with 95 and 100 yards apiece, and 1 TD each. Even Plumlee had a stellar game for 3^rd string, with 39 yards and TWO touchdowns. How many 3^rd string HBs can claim that in a game where both players ahead of him played the entire game?


Nobody had a particularly high amount of receiving, obviously, although Jackson and Bellows each add 1 TD to their yearly total, slowly building up those totals.


4 interceptions mean that for all their inability to stop the Brees drives, they were still paying attention to his passing patterns. Something to keep in mind for the future. I can’t wait to see what they do when I get interception training on the DB and LB (or DC) coaches.


We rack up 237 total rushing yards that game, but that’s pretty puny compared to the Saints 382 passing (out of 413 total) yards. More work is obviously needed. While we can win, we can’t dominate while allowing yardage like that!


Approval… doesn’t move? Stays at 93. wtf, that was a HUGE game for us. It was even a season goal… but my rating with the fans is already maxed so it means nothing. I forgot how hard it was to get to the upper 90s I guess?


Aw crap, it’s only 5 days until we’re up against the Buccs again. They came back from a 1^st meeting defeat with a vengeance last season, I wouldn’t be surprised if they are hungry again this year.


Standings after this week are:
2 Falcons 4-1 (ranked #2!!!)
7 Buccaneers 4-1 (wow they’re looking strong)
11 Saints 3-2
25 Panthers 1-3


Those Buccs are trying to repeat as NFC champs, and it’s going to be hard to repeat our victory two weeks ago, but hard doesn’t equal impossible. I’m resting my guys up this week to make sure we’re at full strength against probably the strongest team in the NFC outside of possibly ourselves (I think I’ve earned the right to be a little immodest at this point?)


Approval rating is up to 94 after another rest day for my boys, since they’re the ones who hated me in the first place.

[Skarecrow]

Week 6 at Tampa Bay


Injuries:
WR Chauncey Butler – 4 days


Only one practice this past week means Adam Schefter calls us *******, but everybody is back to full 100% or 99% fatigue, and health ratings are as good as I can expect their health to be mid-season.


We lose the coin toss and receive. I hate starting off the game wit the ball, I like knowing I'll get it back at halftime. Its a decent enough drive, but we fumble at the TB 28. Their main HB gets injured, but that wont’ slow them down much. They punt after a few more 1^st downs, and we take it from our 5 yard line. A few more punts and the 1^st quarter ends scoreless.


Tampa Bay eats up almost the entire 2^nd quarter trying to get downfield. My D is really showing a better game than they did two weeks ago, including finally getting good penetration of the O line for repeated sacks on Dane Morrow. They punt, and we start our steady downfield drive, but an English interception pass is run back for a TD. DAMN. 0-7 Tampa. Two punts and we’ve got 47 seconds to make a TD. English does some amazing clock management and we score with 10 seconds left on the clock. Tie Game 7-7 at the half.


Tampa opens up the 2^nd half with two clutch 3^rd-and-long conversions. Our D is doing a good job of hitting those tackles for losses, but Dane is a legitimate superstar, as good as English, and he gets them downfield nonetheless. We stop them on the 4 yard line and they kick a FG to make it 7-10 Tampa. McFadden is a BEAST, getting several 10+ yard runs from the backfield, assisted by English, Gates, and Bellows to keep the O mixed up. TD Falcons on the back of McFadden to make it 14-10 Atlanta. We sack Dane again for an 8 yard loss, and his panicked response gives away an interception to L. Clark to end the 3^rd quarter.


We use a fresh LaRon James to start running down the clock, and right as the Tampa D gets the hang of our O, English completes a beautiful 18 yard pass to Jackson for another Atlanta TD! 21-10 with 11:04 on the clock. Tampa is in total panic mode, and they go for it on 4^th but a fumble is recovered by ROLB Ben Daniels, who runs it in for another TD! 28-10 Falcons! The Buccs seem to finally compose their O and are focusing. They get a few first downs and injure my SS P. Craig on their way to a TD. They make the 2pt conversion and it’s 28-18 Atlanta. There’s 3:46 left, and Tampa kicks the onside kick, but we recover it anyway. We’re fully in run-down-the-clock mode, but McFadden and James overachieve and get us downfield for a FG to make it 31-18 Atlanta with fully 2:36 left in the game. Tampa takes almost no time to get their next TD, and it’s a real game now, 31-24 Atlanta. We recover the onside kick (thank god!) and Tampa D is playing with an amazing second (third? Fourth?) wind, holding us to only 3 total positive yards by 3^rd down with 34 seconds left, but they F’ up big time, and a facemask penalty gets us the 1^st down. English kneels it out. It’s another Falcons division win, 31-25, over possibly the strongest team in the conference!!


English had a strong game. His QB rating of 106.2, with 2 TD and 1 int, and 155 yards does not fully tell the story. He is fully in the role of field commander, directing the falcons downfield like he’s playing high-speed chess.


McFadden picked up 77 yards and a TD. Jones had 49 yards.


Bellows had 97 yards receiving, Jackson was the one with the 2 TDs though with only 26 yards.


The D line was the real stars of this game though, with 5 sacks on Dane Morrow and 9 overall tackles for loss. I’m not saying Dane didn’t still throw a fantastic game to make up for it, but we held him back and that was the key to winning.


Approval is up to 95 after another tremendously important win.


Doesn’t look like the P. Craig head injury was a big deal. I guess he doesn’t need an intact head to play football?


We’ve got a Bye week coming up. 13 days until Baltimore, so baring any practice injuries, we should have the full roster available as WR Cutler should be back in 3 days.


ROLB Ben Daniels wins Defensive player of the week with 2 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 defensive TD.


For some reason my GM wants me to bench LE D Bronson in favor of Matt Cleveland. Not sure why, I declined. Next he wants me to bench Sleepy Bayless… NO WAY. SLEEPY PLAYS. Same deal for CB R. Montgomery and SS P. Craig. Wtf, this guy is a GM, not a HC. I send him back to the office while I make decisions on the field.


I resigned LG J. Blallock to a 4 year, 13.84M contract with a $2m signing bonus and a worthless incentive.
Resigned FS D.Beck to a 5 year, 10.5M contract with a $2m bonus, no incentives.
Resigned SS B.Wilson to a 3 year 1.93M contract with 0 bonus or incentives.
Purposly passed on signing DT T. Lewis. With his record of injuries, he can be replaced.


Woah… Standings after week 6:
1 Falcons 5-1 (1. number 1!!)
9 Buccaneers 4-2
17 Saints 3-3
28 Panthers 1-4


Don’t let those standings for the rest of the NFC south fool you, the Buccs and Saints are STRONG teams. The Panthers are still the Panthers though.


Purposely passed on CB C. Houston as well. I’m planning on drafting a new CB next year anyway.
Resigned ROLB S.Nicholas for 4.1m over 3 years, a 500k bonus, and worthless incentives.
I was going to let LT Q. Ojinnaka go, as I was planning on picking up a new LT anyway in the draft, but he signed for peanuts, so I kept him on to fill out the team. Same for C Doug Datish. For 300k a season, Ill keep him on to get beat up in practice so Carlton can play on game day.


As we pass our bye week, it looks like the Buccs learned from their game with us. They pick up both Offensive and Defensive player of the week with QB Dane Morrow and CB Phillip Buchanon. I told you they were strong. I can’t believe we beat them both games this season.


After sitting out week 7, the standings in the NFC south havn’t changed much.


1 Falcons 5-1 (woot!)
9 Buccaneers 5-2
17 Saints 3-4 (looks like they may not be as strong as they looked in the early going)
30 Panthers 1-5


I stopped listing deals on players you probably don’t care about.

[Skarecrow]

Week 8 at Baltimore


Injuries:
NONE!


Baltimore starts things off with a TD. This isn’t looking good. We didn’t stop a single play until they were in the redzone, but we still allowed the TD. 0-7 Ravens. McFadden and English get us downfield in their respective fashions, to tie it up with 1:07 left in the quarter. 7-7.


Our D shows a bit more life this time around, but is still unable to stop their QB Collins from getting them another TD to put Baltimore up 7-14. Frustratingly enough, BOTH sides of my team do essentially nothing for the next 8 minutes, resulting in a punt and a TD. DAMMIT. 7-21. A bunch of punts and a last minute FG by Atlanta means the quarter ends 10-21. This is bad. Real bad. This is not the same team I've seen the last few weeks. This especially is not the same defense who I thought was finally coming on strong.


Baltimore is not a particularly strong team, most of their starters are in the 80s. They have a SINGLE player above 90 ovl. I don’t understand how they’re doing this to us.


One high point at the top of the 3^rd quarter is watching Glenn Dorsey hurt himself. Finally, it’s someone else’s turn to curse as Dorsey takes himself out of game after game. You’ll have to indulge me my amusement here, I wasted a draft pick in 2008 on my Steelers franchise on picking Dorsey, and I regretted it for years. Anyway, McFadden, English, and Bellows get us to another TD, to pull us within 4, making it 17-21, but it doesn't stay 17-21 for long. We finally stop a Baltimore drive, and English throws a couple quick long bombs, pushing us ahead for the first time this game. 24-21 Falcons.


Collins takes only 4 minutes in to the 4^th quarter to take the lead back, with a TD of their own, to make it 24-28 Ravens. A penalty at midfield should have forced a punt, but English whips out a 30-yard pass out of nowhere to get us a 1^st down, and on the next play throws another bomb and it finds… our fullback? That’s right, FB Ovie Mughelli finds his first TD since I took over the team. Good for him! 31-28 Falcons, and there’s 4:20 left in the game. Baltimore returns with a vengeance, taking a whopping minute and a half to jump back ahead with another TD. It’s 31-35 and I’m worried. We’re so close here, but with 2:50 left in the game, if we lose the ball to an interception, fumble, or even a punt, we’re screwed. So, after saying that, flawless play from English, Bellows, McFadden, and James means we find another TD even quicker than Baltimore did. We’re up again, 38-35, but that means we left 1:40 on the clock and that’s BAD news. I’m sure if you’ve been following along with me this far, you know how I feel about giving the CPU the ball in crunch “hurry-up” mode inside the 2 minute warning in the 2^nd and 4^th. It’s nearly a guaranteed TD. And oh.. my god… it should have been. It would have been. But Baltimore ran out of time outs and decided to go for the TD when they should have taken the FG that would tie up the game. I don’t know what the hell their HC was thinking, but they allow me to run out the clock with them sitting on my SIX YARD LINE. Spectacularly bad play on their part after a phenomenal game.


Final score is 38-35, and we should have lost that, we really should have.


English pulls his best rating in recent memory, at 137.8, with 4 TDs, 0 interceptions, and 269 yards.


McFadden rushes for 79 yards and 1 TD. James gets 61 yards.


English hit Jackson Bellows, and Butler, for 84, 72, and 74 yards apiece. Good to see Butler get some playing time after being out for so long. Jackson had 1 TD and Bellows had 2.


Approval is up to 96.


We’ve got the Saints again next week, but that’s the last division game we have until the panthers in week 16. Odd that my schedule this year was so front-stacked like that. After the Saints, we only have two teams left on our schedule that currently have a winning record, The Vikings (currently rated 13^th) and the Browns (Currently rated 7^th. Ouch). If we can beat the Saints, and only lose against good teams (i.e., not lose games against bad teams), I'm confidant we should make the playoffs.



For some reason, I checked the free agents, and saw that Rookie LT Kevin Holloway is available. I don't know who drafted him, or why he's available, but I know he’s got better potential than my current ovl 85 Sam Baker (Even though Sam is a pro bowler), so I released my 3^rd string LT Hicks, and hired Holloway. I gotta check the Free Agents more often I guess. Hired him for a 1year 1mil deal. He’ll be backup for now, but will probably eventually become my starter.


Standings after this week’s near-miss are:
2 Falcons 6-1
5 Buccaneers 6-2
21 Saints 3-5
31 Panthers 1-6


I’m not sure I understand how we were ranked #1 last week, beat our opponents, and are now ranked #2? Is it because we were so close to losing? Did the #1 team beat a harder team than the Ravens? Bah, who cares. We’re still at the top of the NFC South, and in line for a playoff spot assuming we don’t screw up bigtime between now and January.


Plumlee is demanding 3+ mil per year plus incentives and bonuses, and I’m simply not giving it to him. He’s a 3^rd stringer with only slightly above average potential who currently is barely more than a bench warmer at his current skill. There are too many HBs of his skill level in next year’s draft, so he can walk. Just like I told his predecessor, on a team with Darren McFadden and LaRon James in front of you, you simply can’t demand that much money.