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QuikSand · 12-16-2000, 09:10 PM

2003 season

I get the lineup set and ready to go. On the franchise screen, we are rated as having a 14 at “roster strength” – only Green Bay at 9 and New Orleans at 1 are weaker.

We start off the season with a few dings and dents, but no major injuries. De los santos and McCaughey hook up three times in beating the Jets 27-24. We then lose to Carolina, behind the surprisingly effective John Friesz. Our defense shuts down Atlanta and we beat them 15-7, to move to 2-1 on the year.

Kansas City, who shapes up as the class of the division, nips us in our home game 26-23, behind a big day from Jeff George. We slide to 2-3 as we lose in hated Denver. We barely nip Seattle to get back to 3-3 on the year. Our offense is not clicking very well.

We get a win over San Diego, and then tear up New England to get back in the hunt at 5-3. Max Dahl is starting to eat into the playing time of my starting RB Lister, and he’s doing a pretty good job with it. We go into KC, and are disabused of any notion that we can run with the big dogs—they crush us 38-10. The other big dog Oakland, though falls when they visit our field, as we roll 33-24. Lister has yielded to Dahl at starting RB, after suffering a bad turf toe injury.

A loss to Cleveland put us down to 6-5 on the season, and practically out of the division race. We are still fringe players in the playoff race, though. San Francisco’s hammering of us makes that a longshot. We do seem to have Oakland’s number, though, as we go in and beat them—once again, WR McCaughey seals it with a late KR for TD.

A win in Seattle brings us to 8-6, and we again survey the playoff landscape. Our major competitor now is Oakland—who we own head to head. Right now, we’d have the #6 slot over them. Our last two games are against 5-9 teams: home for Denver, and at San Diego. We have a real shot to make the playoffs this season.

In the “pride of Colorado” game, we maul Denver 52-21. De los Santos is brilliant with 24 of 30 passing for 294 and three TDs, and our running game explodes all around. Quite a performance—hope we left enough in the tank for San Diego.

Turns out we probably didn’t. The Chargers edge us 35-24 behind Chad Pennington and two TDs in the final two minutes to win it 35-24. Oakland wins out, and they take the wild card spot that would have been ours. At 9-7, we accomplished the record I had set as our goal, but late-season injuries really sagged us down the stretch, and again we limp to the finish line.

Stat leaders:
QB Paul de los Santos: 3,711 yds, 58.8%, 7.16 ypa, 26/14, 86.4
RB Byron Dahl: 161-752 yds, 4 TD (4.6 ypc)
RB Max Lister: 124-499 yds, 5 TD (4.0 ypc)
WR Matt McCaughey: 72-1,010 yds, 8 TD (59.0%, 8 drops), 1 KR TD
OL unit: ~35% KRB%, 59 sacks allowed
LB Reggie Peters: 82 tackles, 2 sacks
DE T.J. Neely: 9.5 sacks, 1 block, 5 hurries
S Sammie Murphy: 71 tackles, 6 int, 1 TD, 33.5 PDQ
CB Travis Rogers: 5 int (on 184 pass plays), 61.3 PDQ

Overall stats (off/def/avg):
Rushing: 4.0 / 4.1 / 3.7
Passing: 7.1 / 7.1 / 6.5

I’m still not satisfied with our statistical performance—by next season, we should get the defensive numbers below the league average. As for this year, we were a pretty average team, and probably were (once again) lucky to be in the playoff hunt. Giving up 59 sacks had to make it tough on the offense, though—egad.

The Jets get their revenge, and beat Kurt’s Bears in the Superbowl rematch. We get nobody on the awards board at all… probably deserving, especially with WR McCaughey playing hurt for about five games.

12-16-2000, 09:10 PM	#7
QuikSand lolzcat Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Annapolis, Md	2003 season I get the lineup set and ready to go. On the franchise screen, we are rated as having a 14 at “roster strength” – only Green Bay at 9 and New Orleans at 1 are weaker. We start off the season with a few dings and dents, but no major injuries. De los santos and McCaughey hook up three times in beating the Jets 27-24. We then lose to Carolina, behind the surprisingly effective John Friesz. Our defense shuts down Atlanta and we beat them 15-7, to move to 2-1 on the year. Kansas City, who shapes up as the class of the division, nips us in our home game 26-23, behind a big day from Jeff George. We slide to 2-3 as we lose in hated Denver. We barely nip Seattle to get back to 3-3 on the year. Our offense is not clicking very well. We get a win over San Diego, and then tear up New England to get back in the hunt at 5-3. Max Dahl is starting to eat into the playing time of my starting RB Lister, and he’s doing a pretty good job with it. We go into KC, and are disabused of any notion that we can run with the big dogs—they crush us 38-10. The other big dog Oakland, though falls when they visit our field, as we roll 33-24. Lister has yielded to Dahl at starting RB, after suffering a bad turf toe injury. A loss to Cleveland put us down to 6-5 on the season, and practically out of the division race. We are still fringe players in the playoff race, though. San Francisco’s hammering of us makes that a longshot. We do seem to have Oakland’s number, though, as we go in and beat them—once again, WR McCaughey seals it with a late KR for TD. A win in Seattle brings us to 8-6, and we again survey the playoff landscape. Our major competitor now is Oakland—who we own head to head. Right now, we’d have the #6 slot over them. Our last two games are against 5-9 teams: home for Denver, and at San Diego. We have a real shot to make the playoffs this season. In the “pride of Colorado” game, we maul Denver 52-21. De los Santos is brilliant with 24 of 30 passing for 294 and three TDs, and our running game explodes all around. Quite a performance—hope we left enough in the tank for San Diego. Turns out we probably didn’t. The Chargers edge us 35-24 behind Chad Pennington and two TDs in the final two minutes to win it 35-24. Oakland wins out, and they take the wild card spot that would have been ours. At 9-7, we accomplished the record I had set as our goal, but late-season injuries really sagged us down the stretch, and again we limp to the finish line. Stat leaders: QB Paul de los Santos: 3,711 yds, 58.8%, 7.16 ypa, 26/14, 86.4 RB Byron Dahl: 161-752 yds, 4 TD (4.6 ypc) RB Max Lister: 124-499 yds, 5 TD (4.0 ypc) WR Matt McCaughey: 72-1,010 yds, 8 TD (59.0%, 8 drops), 1 KR TD OL unit: ~35% KRB%, 59 sacks allowed LB Reggie Peters: 82 tackles, 2 sacks DE T.J. Neely: 9.5 sacks, 1 block, 5 hurries S Sammie Murphy: 71 tackles, 6 int, 1 TD, 33.5 PDQ CB Travis Rogers: 5 int (on 184 pass plays), 61.3 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.0 / 4.1 / 3.7 Passing: 7.1 / 7.1 / 6.5 I’m still not satisfied with our statistical performance—by next season, we should get the defensive numbers below the league average. As for this year, we were a pretty average team, and probably were (once again) lucky to be in the playoff hunt. Giving up 59 sacks had to make it tough on the offense, though—egad. The Jets get their revenge, and beat Kurt’s Bears in the Superbowl rematch. We get nobody on the awards board at all… probably deserving, especially with WR McCaughey playing hurt for about five games.