[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: The division ship has sailed
But we're still clinging onto a wild card life boat.

Our struggles in the early part of the season are turning into a false start. We bounced back with a silly 27-22 victory at the Orlando Talons. The silliness wasn't the victory itself, but rather the non-sensical comeback they almost pulled off after they switched to their backup quarterback. Well, almost, they went from 27-6 down to 27-22 down with 43 seconds to go, it was over after we recovered the onside kick. QB Evan Drake struggled to 186 passing yards, throwing a touchdown to FB Randy Julian. RB Bennett Holmes ran for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a phenomenal 91-yarder that resulted in the Talons' raise of the white flag.

The game of the season, at home against the Gothenburg Giants, ended up in a close battle. Once again we failed to make their quarterback look like the mediocre quarterback he's supposed to be, allowing him to throw for 351 yards. Our run defense was surprisingly fine, forcing their hand in a way. On our side, a late game interception destroyed our chance to tie it up. Our field goal to make it 24-17 (in Gothenburg advantage) came way too late to make it happen. QB Evan Drake threw for 284 yards, with a touchdown pass to WR Calvin Maxwell, who lead the receiving with 125 yards on just 5 catches. RB Van Goodwin added another rushing touchdown.

We bounced back again with a smooth 20-17 road victory at the Chicago Norsemen. Oscar Harrington kicked the game winner in the dying seconds shortly after we forced a crucial fumble, but we should have never let it come to that after a 17-6 lead at half time. QB Evan Drake threw for 272 yards with 2 touchdowns to our star WR Calvin Maxwell, who gained 176 yards on 5 catches, with the lion share coming on a 66-yard touchdown.

European Division:
1. Gothenburg 8-3
2. Maassluis 6-5
3. Bordeaux 6-5
4, Paris 3-8

The Giants swept us, the division title is no longer a realistic goal. The wild card race is incredibly tight, so, let's take a rare quick look at the situation at the moment in the AOC:

1. Tucker 11-0
2. Fort Wayne 8-3
3. Gothenburg 8-3
4. Toronto 6-4-1
5. San Antonio 7-4
6. Houston 6-5
7. Maassluis 6-5
8. Bordeaux 6-5
9. Atlanta 5-5-1
10. Rochester 5-5-1
11. Harlem 4-6-1
12. North Plainfield 4-7
13. Augusta 4-7
14. Orlando 4-7
15. Paris 3-8
16. Snapfinger 2-9

Yeah, tight and way too early to think about it. We just need to keep winning our games and we should be good to go. The annoying part is that we probably have the easiest schedule of all the teams in that race and, well, I have bad memories about "should be" situations.

So? One game at a time. Starting with a challenging home game against the North Plainfield Plague, a franchise that we loath to play as they've been stellar in playing spoiler in the rare seasons where they don't play well while we do. S Daniel Shapiro is still out with a broken fibula. Yes, he ended his holdout and as soon as he returned, we won 3 games straight. The rest of the team is good to go, with a couple with minor pains, but too little to be worrisome. We should go out there and win this game. To make it happen, we need to play up to our ability, which is something we've really struggled with. Maybe getting rookie LB Avery Distel more involved in our defense and pass rush in particular will help?