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MIJB#19 · 02-05-2023, 06:55 AM

General Manager Notes: Flipping the coin, 2112 so far

Time has flown, we've already reached week 12 of the regular season. After a shaky start and a temporary quarterback switch, we're right in the mix of the playoffs teams in the AOC. Let's take a quick look back at our first 11 games of the 2112 regular season.

Week 1 at Paris
After a 17-game winning streak against the Musketeers, it finally came to an end. We had our chances to extend this streak, but while Paris scored 3 touchdowns from their red zone visits, we settled for field goals in our first 3 visits and also gave up a 76-yard pick six and a kickoff return touchdown. Rooke QB Bart Tanner came in late to brush up the humiliating score with his first career touchdown pass. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 217 yards and 1 interception, Tanner threw for 78 yards and 1 touchdown. WR Jessie Vertelney had 119 yards receiving, TE Ted Gordon 1 receivng touchdown.
16-35 loss

Week 2 at Outer Banks
No way around it, we were outmatched and got fleeced by the Ospreys' young QB. In return, QB Harrison Singelton got silenced, throwing for just 89 yards and 1 interception. Our only touchdown was an interception return by CB Evan Merrell.
16-27 loss

Week 3 at Orlando
We started the game well, but as soon as the Talons got their engines running, even a couple of missed field goals couldn't stop them from catching up, while a couple of late game interceptions turned it from a tie game into a 3-score loss. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 220 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for a touchdown, TE Ted Gordon had a receiving touchdown.
17-34 loss

Week 4 vs San Antonio
And then we finally got our first home game of the season and bounced back, big time. Although it was still close by half time, as we were trailing by 4 points then, the defense stood up in the second half and shutout the Tidal Force that half, while our own offense, in particular the running game, kept going well. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 147 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, but also ran for 1 touchdown. RB Cary Delgado ran for 2 touchdowns, RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 163 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown. Rookie WR Rodolfo Lane scored his first receiving touchdown.
38-21 victory

Week 5 no game

Week 6 vs Atlanta
Based on our dominance in this game (in particular holding the Vipers to 111 yards passing and just 3.0 yards per pass play), this should have been a cakewalk victory. But with our lack of ability to get into the end zone from the red zone, combined with a 92-yard pick six, this game was still tied when we drove into their red zone late in the fourth quarter. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 228 yards and 2 interceptions. RB Renaldo Billodeaux had 1 rushing touchdown.
20-13 victory

Week 7 at Fort Wayne
Our visit to the Fury resulted in one heck of a game for the neutral football fans. The lead in the game went left and right and this was clearly destined for a last to score wins scenario. And it did, as QB Harrison Singelton found WR Rodolfo Lane for 20 yards and TE Ted Gordon for 14 yards, whilst a Fury penalty stopped the clock for us with no time outs remaining K Oscar Harrington converted the 42-yarder to flip it from a 1-point loss into a victory. Singleton threw for 338 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Gordon (twice) and Lane scored the receiving touchdowns.
24-22 victory

Week 8 vs Paris
Highly motivated to avenge the week 1 loss, we struggled to keep the Musketeers in check. Despite dominating the field position battle, our sudden big play ability resulted in a lopsided time of possession figure as Paris had possession of the ball for more than 40 minutes, while we were below 20 minutes. But our efficiency was slightly better. Even though we gave Paris chances to comeback from behind late with a late interception and a missed field goal. Their Hail Mary attempt came short and we held on. QB Harrison Singleton threw for 142 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. WR Rodolfo Lane and TE Ted Gordon split the receiving touchdowns again, RB Cary Delgado and RB Sherman Ward split the rushing touchdowns.
28-27 victory

Week 9 at Houston
Then, after a 4-game winning streak, Merchantmen management did something silly an decided to bench the quarterback. Rookie Bart Tanner came on and got eaten alive by the Mustangs, completing just 14 of 34 passes for 136 yards and 5 interceptions. The reason to bench QB Harrison Singleton, the interceptions, was clearly not just on him. The Mustangs were basically gifted their second victory of the season, while the Merchantmen may have thrown away a winnable game whilst actually virtually holding the last wild card to the playoffs in the AOC.
6-19 loss

Week 10 at Bordeaux
QB Harrison Singelton returned to the starting lineup and threw for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns without interception to guide his team to a convincing victory. WR Rodolfo Lane was on the receiving end of 2 touchdowns, while RB Sherman Ward ran for a couple. LB Bobby Diaz accounted for a 86-yard interception return touchdown.
38-14 victory

Week 11 vs Gothenburg
And then came the big test, against the Giants, at home. We marched into a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but saw the Giants get close in the second quarter, us still leading 14-10 at half time. With 13 more unanswered points, including a 56-yard field goal, the Giants took a 2-score lead as we went into the fourth quarter trailing 23-14. Things went back and forth, but helped by the fumbling Giants, right after the 2-minute warning, we thought we had kicked into 27-26 a lead for the victory. Despite the defense standing strong, a Giants 56-yard field goal with 30 seconds remaining flipped it into a 29-27 deficit. QB Harrison Singelton completed a Hail Mary from our 34-yard line to WR Jessie Vertelney for 50 yards and following time, with 3 seconds to go, K Oscar Harrington converted the game winning 33-yarder. Oranje Haven figuratively exploded, a sensational victory was achieved over our Swedish division rivals. Singelton threw for 282 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. WR Rodolfo Lane caught the receiving touchdown, RB Renaldo Billodeaux and RB Sherman Ward ran for a touchdown.
30-29 victory

Week 12 vs Capital City
Our luck didn't run out in our visit to the Blues as a missed extra point in the final 2 minutes of the game put the final score on the board. Earlier this game, WR Rodolfo Lane scored an 80-yard punt return touchdown, while LB Bobby Diaz scored a 60-yard interception return touchdown. Late in the game at the end of a 13-play 98-yard drive, QB Harrison Singleton found Lane for a short touchdown, taking the lead for the first time in this game and it turned out to be just enough. Singelton threw for 179 yards.
24-23 victory

European Division
1. Gothenburg 9-2
2. Maassluis 7-4
3. Bordeaux 5-6
4. Paris 2-9

Lo and behold, we're in the first wild card spot on tie-breakers ahead of the 7-4 Tucker Tigers. 6-5 Harlem and a foursome of 5-6 teams are on our tail. Gothenburg is on pace for home field advantage.

Half of our losses have come to the teams of the virtual #1 and #2 draft picks. 4 of our victories were by just 1 or 2 points. We're currently getting outscored by our opponents by 7 points... It's a weird season. Despite the wins, I'm not feeling like we're in control when we win these games. Heck, Singelton is on a 7-game winning streak, but his td:int ratio is 10:10 in those wins. Perhaps he watches too much Alfred Hickman highlight reels from our only IHOF Bowl winning season. Remember, Hickman then was 27:28 in that figure during the regular season, had 12 games with 2+ interceptions, in particular the 9-game stretch from week 11 through the conference semi finals. Let's not forget that we never missed the playoffs with Hickman under center, despite my hate:love relationship with his interception proneness...

Anyway, that was 56 seasons ago. We're in 2112, roughly 2/3rd into a regular season where we're struggling, yet mostly winning. Our cohesion in the passing game is hurting and I suspect it's part of the reason Singleton is struggling more than he has in the past. On the O-Line, we reinstalled LT Harold Gruenwalder over off-season signing RT Clayton Bernstein. The latter is livid over playing time, but the man has to understand that he's sitting behind a left tackle that hasn't given up a sack in 8 starts so far this season.

We might not spreading around the ball enough in the passing game to truly take defenses ff guard. Singleton is clearly dangerous against any team to go out for a long run, forcing them to keep an eye on him, but he might want to us to call more throws into the direction of our solid WR3 Preston Gray and our reliable backfield receivers FB Kenneth Holse and RB Cary Delgado. Our big-play WR4 Jaylen Gearhart hasn't even been targeted.

All things considered, we're somewhat lucky to be in the mix, but I want us to stick with a one game at a time approach. Sail on, Merchantmen, winds have been strong this season, but we're still on course.

02-05-2023, 06:55 AM	#757
MIJB#19 Coordinator Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Maassluis, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands	General Manager Notes: Flipping the coin, 2112 so far Time has flown, we've already reached week 12 of the regular season. After a shaky start and a temporary quarterback switch, we're right in the mix of the playoffs teams in the AOC. Let's take a quick look back at our first 11 games of the 2112 regular season. Week 1 at Paris After a 17-game winning streak against the Musketeers, it finally came to an end. We had our chances to extend this streak, but while Paris scored 3 touchdowns from their red zone visits, we settled for field goals in our first 3 visits and also gave up a 76-yard pick six and a kickoff return touchdown. Rooke QB Bart Tanner came in late to brush up the humiliating score with his first career touchdown pass. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 217 yards and 1 interception, Tanner threw for 78 yards and 1 touchdown. WR Jessie Vertelney had 119 yards receiving, TE Ted Gordon 1 receivng touchdown. 16-35 loss Week 2 at Outer Banks No way around it, we were outmatched and got fleeced by the Ospreys' young QB. In return, QB Harrison Singelton got silenced, throwing for just 89 yards and 1 interception. Our only touchdown was an interception return by CB Evan Merrell. 16-27 loss Week 3 at Orlando We started the game well, but as soon as the Talons got their engines running, even a couple of missed field goals couldn't stop them from catching up, while a couple of late game interceptions turned it from a tie game into a 3-score loss. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 220 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for a touchdown, TE Ted Gordon had a receiving touchdown. 17-34 loss Week 4 vs San Antonio And then we finally got our first home game of the season and bounced back, big time. Although it was still close by half time, as we were trailing by 4 points then, the defense stood up in the second half and shutout the Tidal Force that half, while our own offense, in particular the running game, kept going well. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 147 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 interceptions, but also ran for 1 touchdown. RB Cary Delgado ran for 2 touchdowns, RB Renaldo Billodeaux ran for 163 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown. Rookie WR Rodolfo Lane scored his first receiving touchdown. 38-21 victory Week 5 no game Week 6 vs Atlanta Based on our dominance in this game (in particular holding the Vipers to 111 yards passing and just 3.0 yards per pass play), this should have been a cakewalk victory. But with our lack of ability to get into the end zone from the red zone, combined with a 92-yard pick six, this game was still tied when we drove into their red zone late in the fourth quarter. QB Harrison Singelton threw for 228 yards and 2 interceptions. RB Renaldo Billodeaux had 1 rushing touchdown. 20-13 victory Week 7 at Fort Wayne Our visit to the Fury resulted in one heck of a game for the neutral football fans. The lead in the game went left and right and this was clearly destined for a last to score wins scenario. And it did, as QB Harrison Singelton found WR Rodolfo Lane for 20 yards and TE Ted Gordon for 14 yards, whilst a Fury penalty stopped the clock for us with no time outs remaining K Oscar Harrington converted the 42-yarder to flip it from a 1-point loss into a victory. Singleton threw for 338 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Gordon (twice) and Lane scored the receiving touchdowns. 24-22 victory Week 8 vs Paris Highly motivated to avenge the week 1 loss, we struggled to keep the Musketeers in check. Despite dominating the field position battle, our sudden big play ability resulted in a lopsided time of possession figure as Paris had possession of the ball for more than 40 minutes, while we were below 20 minutes. But our efficiency was slightly better. Even though we gave Paris chances to comeback from behind late with a late interception and a missed field goal. Their Hail Mary attempt came short and we held on. QB Harrison Singleton threw for 142 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. WR Rodolfo Lane and TE Ted Gordon split the receiving touchdowns again, RB Cary Delgado and RB Sherman Ward split the rushing touchdowns. 28-27 victory Week 9 at Houston Then, after a 4-game winning streak, Merchantmen management did something silly an decided to bench the quarterback. Rookie Bart Tanner came on and got eaten alive by the Mustangs, completing just 14 of 34 passes for 136 yards and 5 interceptions. The reason to bench QB Harrison Singleton, the interceptions, was clearly not just on him. The Mustangs were basically gifted their second victory of the season, while the Merchantmen may have thrown away a winnable game whilst actually virtually holding the last wild card to the playoffs in the AOC. 6-19 loss Week 10 at Bordeaux QB Harrison Singelton returned to the starting lineup and threw for 219 yards and 2 touchdowns without interception to guide his team to a convincing victory. WR Rodolfo Lane was on the receiving end of 2 touchdowns, while RB Sherman Ward ran for a couple. LB Bobby Diaz accounted for a 86-yard interception return touchdown. 38-14 victory Week 11 vs Gothenburg And then came the big test, against the Giants, at home. We marched into a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, but saw the Giants get close in the second quarter, us still leading 14-10 at half time. With 13 more unanswered points, including a 56-yard field goal, the Giants took a 2-score lead as we went into the fourth quarter trailing 23-14. Things went back and forth, but helped by the fumbling Giants, right after the 2-minute warning, we thought we had kicked into 27-26 a lead for the victory. Despite the defense standing strong, a Giants 56-yard field goal with 30 seconds remaining flipped it into a 29-27 deficit. QB Harrison Singelton completed a Hail Mary from our 34-yard line to WR Jessie Vertelney for 50 yards and following time, with 3 seconds to go, K Oscar Harrington converted the game winning 33-yarder. Oranje Haven figuratively exploded, a sensational victory was achieved over our Swedish division rivals. Singelton threw for 282 yards, 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions. WR Rodolfo Lane caught the receiving touchdown, RB Renaldo Billodeaux and RB Sherman Ward ran for a touchdown. 30-29 victory Week 12 vs Capital City Our luck didn't run out in our visit to the Blues as a missed extra point in the final 2 minutes of the game put the final score on the board. Earlier this game, WR Rodolfo Lane scored an 80-yard punt return touchdown, while LB Bobby Diaz scored a 60-yard interception return touchdown. Late in the game at the end of a 13-play 98-yard drive, QB Harrison Singleton found Lane for a short touchdown, taking the lead for the first time in this game and it turned out to be just enough. Singelton threw for 179 yards. 24-23 victory European Division 1. Gothenburg 9-2 2. Maassluis 7-4 3. Bordeaux 5-6 4. Paris 2-9 Lo and behold, we're in the first wild card spot on tie-breakers ahead of the 7-4 Tucker Tigers. 6-5 Harlem and a foursome of 5-6 teams are on our tail. Gothenburg is on pace for home field advantage. Half of our losses have come to the teams of the virtual #1 and #2 draft picks. 4 of our victories were by just 1 or 2 points. We're currently getting outscored by our opponents by 7 points... It's a weird season. Despite the wins, I'm not feeling like we're in control when we win these games. Heck, Singelton is on a 7-game winning streak, but his td:int ratio is 10:10 in those wins. Perhaps he watches too much Alfred Hickman highlight reels from our only IHOF Bowl winning season. Remember, Hickman then was 27:28 in that figure during the regular season, had 12 games with 2+ interceptions, in particular the 9-game stretch from week 11 through the conference semi finals. Let's not forget that we never missed the playoffs with Hickman under center, despite my hate:love relationship with his interception proneness... Anyway, that was 56 seasons ago. We're in 2112, roughly 2/3rd into a regular season where we're struggling, yet mostly winning. Our cohesion in the passing game is hurting and I suspect it's part of the reason Singleton is struggling more than he has in the past. On the O-Line, we reinstalled LT Harold Gruenwalder over off-season signing RT Clayton Bernstein. The latter is livid over playing time, but the man has to understand that he's sitting behind a left tackle that hasn't given up a sack in 8 starts so far this season. We might not spreading around the ball enough in the passing game to truly take defenses ff guard. Singleton is clearly dangerous against any team to go out for a long run, forcing them to keep an eye on him, but he might want to us to call more throws into the direction of our solid WR3 Preston Gray and our reliable backfield receivers FB Kenneth Holse and RB Cary Delgado. Our big-play WR4 Jaylen Gearhart hasn't even been targeted. All things considered, we're somewhat lucky to be in the mix, but I want us to stick with a one game at a time approach. Sail on, Merchantmen, winds have been strong this season, but we're still on course. __________________ * 2005 Golden Scribe winner for best FOF Dynasty about IHOF's Maassluis Merchantmen * Former GM of GEFL's Houston Oilers and WOOF's Curacao Cocktail Last edited by MIJB#19 : 02-05-2023 at 06:56 AM.