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04-11-2006, 09:13 PM
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#51 | ||
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Week 2 NWK at HAR - Preview
This weekend's game is going to be a battle of undefeated teams. Newark comes into Hartford after beating a very good Lawrence Phantoms team at home last week. Even though it is only week 2, this is a big game for both teams. Newark finds themselves a game up on division favorite Vermont, who faces a tough Boston team. The Grizzlies have a chance to go two games up on Boston in the division, and need to win to keep up with Norfolk who is playing a winnable game at Orlando this week.
How do the teams stack up? QUARTERBACK - Both QBs in this game have played for Hartford, Scott Nelson was the Grizzlies starter in 2003 and 2004 prior to being shipped off to Newark for a second round draft pick in 2005. Nelson's record in Hartford was not very impressive, even when he was on the field. After two games in 2003, Nelson was injured and missed the rest of the regular season. In 2004, he played mediocre football before being injured and watching Jerome Mueller lead the Grizzlies on their magical run. Once he got to Newark, he got healthier, but has never been very successful in the passing game. Last year was the first year in which he threw for over 2000 yards! Jim Hickman does not have the measurables that Nelson has, but we feel that he plays better than Nelson does, even though he has not quite fully developed. He has thrown for more yards that Scott Nelson has in his best season in each of the last two seasons. He knows just as many formations as Nelson, and he is rated very highly in accuracy and timing, two areas where Nelson is lacking and I judge to be very important in rating a QB. ADVANTAGE: GRIZZLIES RUNNING BACK - Alan Crespo is the best running back the Imperial Football League has ever seen, enough said. Stanley Jamison has finally come into his own during the last 8 games of his career. He is now averaging over 4 YPC consistently, but he is not in Crespo's league. ADVANTAGE: BULLDOGS FULLBACK - Both FBs in Newark's offense are afterthoughts. The offense begins with Crespo's legs and ends with Nelson's arm. Jasper and Arnold basically make sure that neither of the big dogs gets hurt by protecting Nelson in the passing game, and opening holes for Crespo in the running game. William Dostie is one of the three most productive FBs in IFL history. He averages over 4 yards per carry for his career, nearly 250 yards per year on the ground. In the passing game, put him down for 53 catches and 375 yards per year. Combine his two worst seasons, and he surpasses the productivity of both Newark FBs for their entire careers COMBINED. ADVANTAGE: GRIZZLIES WIDE RECEIVERS - Newark's WRs are a highly touted, but are diversions to open up the running lanes for Crespo. Robey is good for 50 catches a year, and Walker is good for 20-25 per year. The wild card this year is Marasco. He is one of the best WRs in the league and is new to Newark. It has yet to be seen if he will have any impact on the Bulldogs offense. Hartford's WR corps saw drastic changes this offseason. Two new players were brought in and were made immediate starters. Ed Gaylor caught 94 passes for Tulsa two years ago, and Gary Ferreira caught 51 last year as the 3rd option for Albuquerque. There is definitely talent here, but it is not at the same level as what Newark has (although it is deeper). ADVANTAGE: BULLDOGS TIGHT ENDS: OJ Peltier is one of the top young tight ends in the league. However, he only caught 21 passes last year. Will this year see an increase in the youngster's production? Fletcher Sala is in his 9th season, and he has been one of the most productive TEs in the league. He has caught over 60 passes each of the last two years, and has never caught fewer than 45 passes in a season. He may not have the same talent as Peltier, but his production is far greater. ADVANTAGE: GRIZZLIES OFFENSIVE LINE: Newark has a solid, if not unspectacular interior OL, with two studs anchoring each end of the line. Irwin Kao is a beast at LT, and has earned 1st team All-Pro honors each of the last two years. Fabian Villa is at RT and has earned 2nd team All-Pro honors once. The Grizzlies feature one of the most productive offensive lines in the game. It all starts with 3 time 1st team All-Pro tackle Wesley Flemming. He has been one of the most consistent and dominant LTs since the league began. Just inside of him, Stephen Suarez has been a productive guard for the Grizzlies since the beginning. He averages 30 KRBs per year. Tracy Damian anchors the middle of the line. Although he does not get too many opportunities, he makes the most of them, and is solid in pass protection. Lowell Stubblefield is the newcomer, and he is on pace for 48 KRBs this year. While we do not expect him to maintain this pace, he should finish with more than 35 KRBs this year. Finally, Charles Overton anchors the right side of the line and has been productive in the pre-season with the team. While Newark has the stud RB, Hartford has the better line. Expect the running games to be a wash this week. ADVANTAGE: GRIZZLIES DEFENSIVE LINE: Newark has a solid defensive line with no real stars. Each player on their line had 5 sacks, and they are solid in run defense, with Pruitt, Brown, and Fowler combining for around 130 tackles last year. Last year's Grizzlies line of Williamson, Rick, and Tan came close to Newark's numbers, but now Williamson is backing up Nolan Fisk. Tan is one of the best DTs in the league. Rick is good against the run, but a liability in the pass rush. Fisk has potential, but he is raw. ADVANTAGE: BULLDOGS LINEBACKERS: Newark has a very solid lineup of starters at LB. However, if any one of these guys go down, the drop off to their backups is steep. This group could get worn out as the game progresses. Hartford has turned a once weak group of LBs to the strength of the defense. The big question here is Courtney Cleeland's health. How much will he play? The Grizzlies still have the better linebacking corps even with Cleeland out, as Boyer will step into SILB, and Martin will move to SLB. ADVANTAGE: GRIZZLIES SECONDARY: The Bulldogs are deep and talented at CB. They go four deep here, and each of these guys can play. At safety they have plenty of talent with their starters, but their backups are a little lacking. The Grizzlies have improved their secondary, but this is not up to the level of Newark's. The safeties are slightly better than Newark's, but the difference in talent level at CB is astonishing. Newark's backups would start for the Grizzlies. ADVANTAGE: BULLDOGS This is going to be a close game. Whoever has the fewest turnovers is going to win. I'll go with the hometeam to win, Hartford 23-17. |
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04-11-2006, 09:30 PM
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#52 |
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High School JV
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ontario
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Pretty good assessment of both teams here. I'm hoping to move the ball against your defense in this one. I'm hoping for a little Scott Nelson magic in this game. He gets the opportunity to step in and play his original team for the first time in his career. I think he's going to be the wildcard in this game. If he can pull off a 65% passing completion rate, we'll be really rolling. I'd like to get Marasco the ball a little bit, and see what he can do.
Sometimes I feel that my interior offensive line doesn't get their due respect. Though the talent level may not be there, the numbers they put up are pretty damn good. One reason I tried to get some talent at corner, is because I want to try and play from ahead. I know it sounds dumb, but I feel like if I can get ahead my CB's should hold my lead. My LB's are a little weak, as is my DL. No true stars at any of these positions, except DT Darryl Brown who seems to put up nice pass rush #'s on a consistent basis. I'm really excited about our game as I've said before. It should be a great test for both teams. BUT I think we'll pull this one out. |
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04-11-2006, 09:43 PM
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#53 |
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High School JV
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ontario
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Another interesting point in this game is that both Crespo and Jamison were from the great RB class of 2005. I know I've always looked back at these 2 and Bucky Beaver and tracked their progress. It's nice to look at these guys as they progress.
This is another great side story for our game. |
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04-12-2006, 05:21 PM
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#54 | |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Quote:
Your DL surprised me a bit. You have average ratings across the board, but you get good production out of each of those guys. I agree with you that the key will be which QB plays better this game. Nelson is not a bad QB, he just doesn't win games for you, he didn't for me either. Hickman has won some games for me, which is why I feel he gets the nod at QB and why I think we'll pull this one out. Also, we're playing at home, if we were playing at your place, I think you guys take this one. Regarding the RBs, I agree with you, it will be an interesting game. Crespo is easily the best back out of the class (best back in the IFL for that matter), and Beaver is second. Jamison is going to have an interesting career though, if I can continue to game plan well for him, he should have a good career, plus he is a pretty good receiver out of the backfield, I just need to make sure his number is called enough. |
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04-12-2006, 06:12 PM
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#55 | |
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High School JV
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ontario
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Quote:
Scott Nelson has a career winning % of 60%. |
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04-12-2006, 11:24 PM
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#56 | |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Quote:
What I said came out wrong, he has a high winning %, but he is not the reason you win the games. |
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04-13-2006, 08:38 AM
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#57 |
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High School JV
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ontario
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I misread what you said.
Nelson has won some games for us, but it is usually a big second half or something. I think he has the talent to do that, I'm just not convinced that either you or I have figured out how to use him properly. That being said, he had a strong finish to last year's season despite not getting a lot of passing attempts. |
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04-16-2006, 11:05 AM
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#58 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 2 NWK vs. HAR - The Plan
Since Newark is such a good team on the ground, and I don't really fear Scott Nelson, I decided to ramp up our run defense on first and second down. In third down situations, we should be able to defend against their passing game. Since Cleeland is questionable with a knee injury, I took him off the depth chart, and moved Tony Martin to SLB. He is replaced at SILB by Boyer who could start for most teams in the league.
On offense, I moved our first down passing to 40%, and upped the second down running %. This should make for some 3rd and short situations where we excel. My prediction is a 23-16 win, but that can go either way. |
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04-16-2006, 01:04 PM
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#59 | |
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High School JV
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ontario
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Quote:
Good game. |
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04-16-2006, 01:08 PM
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#60 |
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High School JV
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ontario
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oh, and my OL really didn't play all that well. I really need to expect more from them.
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04-17-2006, 05:56 PM
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#61 | |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Quote:
Actually, I think my curveball helped/hurt more. I wasn't afraid of Nelson beating us in the passing game, so I loaded up against the run. That appeared to work. The 3-4/4-3 thing didn't phase me that much, I really feel like we should have won this game. Hickman throws the INT that is returned for the TD. We get back into the game, and then a guy who doesn't/shouldn't fumble the ball turns it over on your 39 yard line. We get the ball back, drive down to the 14, and we run out of time. I didn't want to go deep that often, but we threw it downfield 7 times, which was approximately 20% of the time. Actually more when you consider spiking the ball, etc. What I'm not sure about is I changed up our offense a bit, and ran more on 2-10, and 3rd and long than I normally do, and passed a bit more on 1-10 situations. I think that if I went with even more shorter passes we win this game. I made the decision to go with an intermediate passing game, because I was unsure whether BnR was better against long passes or short passes, now I can conclusively say it is better against the deep ball. You played a good game, I'm just bitching because we were so close to winning this. Still, I really thought in my heart we were going to lose, I just hate losing the heartbreakers... |
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04-17-2006, 08:06 PM
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#62 |
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High School JV
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Ontario
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I pretty much used exclusivley BNR coverage in normal situations as I've always thought that worked well against short passes, which you usually do. I think your 3rd down running worked well actually. I seem to recall a couple of key long 3rd down conversions in the running game.
I really thought Nelson played great. I may even try and let him throw a bit more as the season progresses. He completed 70% of his passes and he's averaging a decent, though not spectacular 6.7 ypa. I think we both deserved to win this game, and that's why it would but a little gut wrenching to be on the other end of the stick. I know I feel pretty lucky/happy about leaving Hartford with a win. I need to figure out what I changed to have Crespo's YPC go down the toilet. I'm thinking it has something to do with me running him to the outside a little too much. Good game. Hopefully we can meet again, in Imperial Bowl 4. |
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04-18-2006, 07:45 AM
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#63 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Don't forget, Hartford historically has a pretty dang good run defense.
The one nugget I am taking from this game is that bump and run defense is for the long ball! Take a look at the 2 QBs you've played, both are good with the deep ball. My WRs are fairly good with the deep ball, yet we were 1 of 7 going downfield. Lawrence was 0 for 6 going downfield on you. Both of us had much better luck going for shorter passes. I also seem to recall a game in another league where the player used BnR exlusively, and I passed all over him surprisingly. My theory is that BnR is for downfield passing. |
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04-23-2006, 10:22 AM
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#64 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Code:
This game was a heartbreaker. You'll get two different views from each of the coaching staffs from this game, but this game was as close as expected. The one thing that stood out was that regardless of my mistake in the game plan, we still win this game if Hickman's INT is not returned for a TD. Still, we lost the turnover battle 3-0, yet we still lost by only 4 points. I guess I will take that. Each of the turnovers were critical as well, which made them hurt that much worse. The first turnover was returned for a TD. Hickman's second TD killed a potential FG drive late in the first half (which would have had HUGE consequences in the end game). The last turnover was a fumble on Newark's 38 that killed our first late game drive. Still, Hickman showed a lot of moxie and drove us down to the Newark 14 before time ran out. What killed us was that I forgot by upping my first down passing, we would be throwing a lot more passes. That meant more long passes which I meant to avoid. Even though I turned down the % of deep passes, the fact that we were running so many more passes meant that we were going to throw just as many deep passes. I made a last mintue decision to hold Courtney Cleeland out of this game. It did not hurt the defense that much in the running game, but I believe it really hurt us in pass defense. Without the pass rush coming from the strong side, I don't think anyone was able to get much pressure on Nelson. But, I decided that playing a questionable Cleeland was a risk I did not want to take. |
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04-23-2006, 05:59 PM
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#65 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 3 HOU v. HAR - The Plan
This week we face a deceptive Houston team. They have quite a bit of talent on both sides of the ball, but they have traditionally been an underachieving team. However, last year Houston beat us by 10 points, and they only got better during the off-season. To make this game even more interesting, our former backup QB Deron Markel is now the starting QB for Houston.
Houston features a dominant RB in Wilford Timmerman, three TEs that would start for most teams in the league, a quality OL, and an extremely good defense. This will be another stern test. To make things even more important for us, this is a conference game, and Houston is a team that I believe has a good chance at nabbing the WC. This team is very similar to Newark, our week 2 opponent. The differences are that Houston is a little weaker all around, so we should be able to pull this one out. Very little is going to change in our approach on defense. However, on offense, we are going back to our bread and butter, give the ball to Stanley Jamison on first down. I am keeping the passing game the same as last week, we're just not going to go to the air as much. My prediction is a 20-10 win to move to 2-1 on the season. |
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04-24-2006, 09:20 AM
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#66 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 3 HOU vs. HAR - The Game
Code:
This was a tougher game than I thought it would be. First, our penalties kept several drives going for Houston. Second, we got gashed a few times in run defense. Plus, our interception killed a potential scoring drive. Our offense was very consistent again. Our passing game could have been a bit more dynamic, but I decided to play it closer to the vest than last week, and it showed. Once Houston's DBs got banged up we really began to shine in the passing game as we had very few incompletions in the second half. The running game was very good once again. On defense, we were solid once again. This was surprising considering the players we had out in the secondary. There were some lapses in the run defense, but as banged up we are on this side of the ball that is to be expected. A win is a win, and I'll take this and run. |
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04-24-2006, 09:24 AM
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#67 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Week 3 Injury Situation
Here is our current injury situation:
C Tracy Damian is out for 10 weeks with a high ankle sprain. SLB Courtney Cleeland is questionable for 3 weeks with a sprained knee (he tweaked it this week). SS Steve Frausto is questionable for 6 weeks with a broken toe (?). LCB Larry Seifert is out for 2 weeks with a calf strain. WR Gary Ferreira is probable for 3 weeks with a broken hand. The injury at center is not severe as I have a highly capable backup, but the other injuries will see significant drops in talent when the backups go in (except at WR, where it is a moderate drop). |
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04-24-2006, 09:45 AM
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#68 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 3 League Standings
Code:
A few interesting happenings from around the league: Murphreesboro is leading the AC South. They have the talent, but have been unable to put it all together. Is this the year they take the next step? Fresno and Portland have both started the season 0-3. This bodes well for us as we have two games on both of these teams in the WC race. Madison is 3-0 and leading in the NC North. This was a team that most picked in the lower third of the league. After 3 games, they have yet to lose and have a 1 game lead in the division. Both favorities in the NC South, Columbia and Little Rock, are looking up at a surprising Texas team who are a very impressive 2-1. Reno leads the NC West with a 3-0 record. I am happy with where we are this week. I am disappointed that we aren't 3-0, but we could easily be 1-2 right now as well. Still, there are several encouraging trends so far this season. First, we have outgained each of our opponents. Second, our defensive effort has been solid even with several key contributors missing some time. Third, we have increased production out of the WR position. There are some concerns though. We have not been getting a lot of pressue on the QB after three games as we only have three sacks on the year. We are banged up right now and are headed on the road for three games. The next two are especially big, Cleveland and Boston. If we can split these two games, we are in great shape. If we get swept, we are in trouble. If we had to choose, I would prefer the win over Boston, but given our schedule, I'll take either. If we can hit our bye week with a 4-2 record, I'll consider it a win. |
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04-25-2006, 11:21 PM
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#69 |
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n00b
Join Date: Jun 2004
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You managed to take out 3/4 of my starting secondary in one game, one for 42 weeks
 That was a brutal game, but a good one. I like the blog you have going on. |
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04-26-2006, 05:18 PM
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#70 | |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Quote:
Thanks for the comment! Sorry about the secondary, that's why were're replacing the turf. I just can't figure out why the natural turf is such a bad surface. |
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05-01-2006, 04:06 PM
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#71 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 4 HAR at CLE Plan/Game
I am combining the game and the planning post for this week since I did not have enough time to really formulate a good game plan like I normally do.
First off, there are some games that leave me feeling like I never want to play this game again, because I am left scratching my head about why some things happen. This was one of those games. Second, most of the time I prefer to be blown out, but it is one thing to get blown out by a team that vastly outclasses you, and another when the team is closer to your own talent level. OK, I got that off my chest. On to the rest of the story! My first critical decision for this game was to move Courtney Cleeland to the inactive list. I am not going to screw around with a sprained knee and risk a CEI to our best player on the defense. I opted in favor of what I did against Newark, move Tony Martin to SLB and move OJ Boyer to starting SILB. Second, the bigger decision was to move Steve Frausto to the backup position at FS. Both of these moves were made to protect those players from additional injuries. Meanwhile, at CB Larry Seifert was out again with a strained calf muscle. Given our injuries, I decided that it was probably best to juggle the starting lineups a bit. Leroy Lister would move up to Larry Seifert's spot with 7th round pick Scott Pitman moving up to nickle back duty. I decided to mix my coverage scheme up a bit, moving from the heavy zone coverage scheme to a bump and run scheme. This would better suit our starting CBs and FS current strengths vs. their potential strengths (which are better in zone). On offense, I decided to mix things up slightly. I changed the passing zones back to where I had them before the Houston game, figuring that I could get one or two deep balls against the Cleveland secondary since their corners were considerably less able than those we had faced the previous two weeks. I altered the run/pass %s slightly in 2nd and 3+ situations. Mainly to bump up my passing numbers a bit. The result was disasterous. The game was brutal. We were down 9-0 before our offense took a snap! Cleveland started the game at their 15 yard line and took all of 8 plays to score! They completed passes of 35 and 23 yards on the drive. One was against my 2 Deep Zone and the other was against Bump and Run coverage. The only bright spot was they missed the extra point. We take the ensuing kickoff to our 41 yard line where we put the ball on the turf and they recover. We allow them a 13 yard drive before forcing them to kick a 45 yard FG. We go 3 and out, after giving the ball to our FB on 3rd and 9 for a run inside. This isn't the only play call that leaves me scratching my head... They drive down to our 39 yard line before they are forced to punt away. After a touchback, we drive down to the Cleveland 11 and face a 3rd and 4 situation. We convert, but there is a flag, offensive holding. That effectively ends the threat, and we are forced to kick a 37 yard FG to close the gap to 9-3. That was as close as we got. We had a drive stopped on a 3rd and 1 at their 47, another drive stalled at their 47 after we had a 1st down (3 pass plays were defensed, hurried, defensed), another drive ended at their 12 when Jamison fumbled for the second time this year, yet another 1st down at their 35 where we saw things go blocked pass, hurried pass, defended pass. To add insult to injury we were nicked up a bit during the game. I neglected the other 3rd and 1 play where we got stoned on our half of the field. We averaged over 6 yards per carry on the ground. Granted, things were a bit erratic there, 3 yard gain, 2 yard gain, 11 yard gain, etc. Yet, the passing game absolutely boggled my mind. Newark's and Houston's pass defenses were vastly superior to Cleveland's yet, we were 7 of 26 against Cleveland! The pass offense was set to 15% of passes were to be 19+ yards (in all situations), yet we went deep 9 times, completing none of those passes. We have WRs that can compete with Cleveland's corners, but yet we throw to the TE who is up against their good safeties. Our CBs give up 13passes to the Cleveland WRs. Granted, they were good, but they were no better than Newark's WR corps. We have a 8% run on 3rd and long situations for both offense and defense, yet on both sides of the ball we're opting for run multiple times in those situations. Not only that, but the running game is balanced against any side of the line, yet the running breakdown was 13/12/2 for left, middle, and right respectively. It was a frustrating game. What I don't understand is whether or not we need to make changes anywhere. Was this a case of us getting "diced", or was it just a matter of going up against a good game plan? Here is the game log: Code:
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05-07-2006, 10:47 AM
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#72 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 5 Hartford at Boston - The Plan
Here is the first of our key games this season. Not only is Boston a division rival, they are also a potential road block to a WC birth. This game is in Boston. Fortunately for us, Reuben Sante was recently traded to Newark. This means that Boston has no real threat at QB.
Boston is a strong defensive team, with a stout front seven, and a highly rated secondary. However, that secondary has been underperformed this year. The question is whether or not I want to exploit that weakness. On defense, I am going to stack the box and force them to beat us through the air. We are a bit beat up everywhere, but I am going to start Larry Seifert at CB even though he is still one week away from being full strength. This is a game I need to win, I don't want to be tied with Boston at 2-3 with them having won a game against us. Cleeland will remain on the sideline. He has two weeks left before being back to full strength. I don't want to jeopardize his health for the rest of the season. The other injuries on defense are minor nicks and bruises. Offensively, I am going to go back to what got us to 2-0. We're going to pound the ball and then look to throw on third down. However, any 3rd and short situation means we're giving the rock to Jamison. We're averaging over 5 YPC as a team no sense in trying to get fancy when we don't need to. The key for us is to get to our bye week at 3-3. If we can do that, we will have a good year, if we limp in at 2-4, we're going to be in trouble. This is a very winnable game as the strength of Boston's offense is banged up. Their stud LT is out of this game, and we will attempt to exploit that. Plus, since they are one dimensional, they are playing to our strength on defense, run defense where we are one of the leaders in YPC. My prediction: HAR 24 - BOS 10 |
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05-08-2006, 07:17 PM
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#73 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Morgan Hill, CA
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I went into the game with the same exact gameplan as far as percentages go in order for me to get a read on how Burdette would perform. The loss of LT Laird was obviously going to hurt, but I was finally able to get T Jewel Hershey some playing time. On defense I loaded up against the run, but my secondary let me down again. I'm not sure what I need to do to get them to play better, but until I do I am doomed to lose.
Here is my recap of the game. Week 5 vs. Hartford (2-2) Record: 1-3, 3rd AC East As the crowd entered the stadium for Sunday's AC East division battle their was a buzz that hasn't been in Boston for awhile. Many fans were still wearing their Sante jerseys, but they seemed to be non-committal on their feelings of the move that was made during the week. Reuben Sante had been traded to the Newark Bulldogs in return for a 2nd Rd. pick and QB J.B. Fogarty. Coach Sammy Harvey had been quiet all week on who would take over the reigns of the Boston offense. Eventually, Jerald Burdette was given the starting nod, his first of his career, and he played well. The game started off with Hartford winning the toss and electing to receive and 2 plays later they were inside the Boston 10 yd. line. Jim Hickman was able to connect on a 48 yd. pass and the Boston secondary looked shaky again. It only took two plays for Hartford to get the ball in the endzone afterwards and it was 7-0. Burdette came out firing. He completed 5 passes on the opening drive and led the Dragons to the Hartford 28, but Carter Garland continued to struggle as he missed the 45 yd. FG. Hickman led the Grizzlies down the field again and he capped the drive off with a 3 yd. TD pass to rookie Tito Hernandez. It was Tito's first career TD reception. Normally this would have been when Sante gets the ball and tries to force passes and INT's happen. However, the newly appointed starting QB Jerald Burdette responded to adversity much better than Sante ever had. Down 14-0, Burdette led another drive into Hartford territory and this time Garland was able to connect on the FG attempt. The teams traded 3 and outs and Hartford was able to add a FG late in the 2nd quarter to take a 17-3 lead into the half. On our first possession of the 3rd quarter, our favorite coach Sammy Harvey made another bone head mistake. We had the ball 3rd and 1 at our 44 yd. line and we ran Wigfall into the line for no gain. Instead of punting and trying to gain some field position advantage, Harvey decided to run the exact same play and we were stuffed. Lucky for us, Dallas Perrone forced a fumble and we got the ball right back. We went 3 and out again and Booher added another FG for the Grizzlies. 20-3. We regained possession late in the 3rd and Burdette led a 48 yd. drive for a score as Brian Christie hauled in the 21 yd. pass. 20-10. With 2:25 left in the game, Booher finally missed a FG and it set us up with pretty good field position. We took full advantage and we marched 62 yds. in only 4 plays. Moriarty had a big 25 yd. run and Burdette connected with Josh Sullivan on a 28 yd. TD pass. 20-17. With 1:41 to go and 3 timeouts left we had two choices. Kick it deep and hope for a three and out. Or we could onside kick. We elected to onside kick, but we were unsuccessful. The defense came up huge and did not allow a first down. However, Booher calmly stepped up and nailed a 51 yd. FG to stick a dagger in the hearts of the Dragon fans in attendence. 23-17. Instead of having 55 seconds to try and go 30 yds. to attempt a tying FG, Burdette would now have to go 73 yds. in 37 seconds to win it with a TD. A miracle didn't happen and we lost a close one against a division rival. Burdtte might have changed some of those Sante loving holdouts minds about whether or not the team made a good move. Notes: On offense we finally had a proficient passing attack that lasted an entire game. Our running gmae was held in check however. On defense we slowed down the Hartford running game, but our secondary continues to get abused. Also we committed 10 more penaties and we need to get that under control. Key Dragons: QB Burdette - 20/31, 245 yds, 2 TD's, 0 INT RB Wigfall - 16 carries for 54 yds. WR Christie - 7 REC for 91 yds, 1 TD LB Valley - 9 TCK, 1 sack Rookie Dragons: DE Webb - 3 TKL, 1 AST RB Moriarty - 6 carries for 32 yds. Injury Report: No new injuries
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Fan of SF Giants, 49ers, Sharks, Arsenal |
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05-10-2006, 04:19 PM
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#74 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Thanks for the post kingfc22, now I don't need to do one!
 The one thing that I need to post here is that our offensive line is now in shambles. Three of our starters on the OL are now out a minimum of 8 weeks. This takes what was once a strength and turns it into a bit of a push. LT Wesley Flemming is out 8 weeks with a high ankle sprain, and RG Lowell Stubblefield is out for 8 weeks with a serious injury a pulled quad muscle. Hopefully, that will not impact his rating at all. C Damian is still out from last week's injury.This means we are going to have some problems with running the ball, so I am going to have to reevaluate the game plan. |
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05-29-2006, 08:34 AM
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#75 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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I will be posting additional information on this later today/tomorrow, so those reading this, don't dispair!
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06-05-2006, 09:02 AM
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#76 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 6 Hartford at Iowa City
Week 6, we travelled to Iowa City to take on one of the most talented teams in the league. Given out patchwork offensive line, I sought to get through this game with as few injuries as possible, and try not to make it too ugly.
The result wasn't pretty for either team, except IWC must have been happy with the score. Code:
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06-05-2006, 09:12 AM
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#77 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 7 Montreal at Hartford
After the debacle in Iowa City, I changed this up a bit, especially since I felt that I could exploit Montreal's corners a bit. I also needed a win badly as we were slipping out of the Wild Card race, and we are down a tie-breaker to Cleveland, so we needed a big win at home.
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Hickman posted possibly his best game to date in his career. He throws 3 TDs and no INTs. We are respectable on the ground, averaging 4 yards per carry. The one problem was our defense, but much of that had to do with not knowing what to do to stop the Montreal offense, as there were a number of players on that side of the ball that scared me a bit, and I was unsure of who would get the nod at QB. Still, a win is a win, and I will take this one to the house. Next week is our bye week, time to heal up and prepare for the last half of the season. |
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06-05-2006, 09:24 AM
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#78 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 9 Hartford at West Virginia
It's week 9, and we travel to our hated rivals, the West Virginia Beasts. The game plan this week is simple, kick them in the teeth. Seriously, we plan to shut down Nicky Kersey, their only player on offense who really scares me, and I decide to take to the air and try to air it out on them, however, this plays to the strength of their defense right now. Still, they don't have enough firepower on offense to hang with us, so we should be in good shape.
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This game feels really good. We hit them in the mouth, and sweep the season series, I don't think either team has done this before, but I need to go back and check on that, as I think they might have swept us in 2005. Still, none of the season series have been as lopsided as this year's affairs. The total score for this season's matchups is 56-6! The downside is that neither Hickman, nor the running game looked that good. Hickman did account for three scores, but he was not very efficient, and the running game didn't help him out at all. Still, our defense held up their end of the deal, and this was a division road win, so no complaints. The bad news, Courtney Cleeland, our second year defensive wonder, is out for 55 weeks with a torn patellar tendon. This is a major blow, and could impact us the rest of the year. Still, we have some depth in the LB corps still, so it looks like Martin will shift to SLB, Boyer will start at SILB, and Liebowitz will start at WILB next week. |
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06-05-2006, 09:38 AM
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#79 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Week 10 Wichita at Hartford
I have to admit it, this 2-6 Wichita squad scares me. They feature Winston Scott at QB, a second year player who is turning into a solid QB. Their running back is another solid performer. Each of these players were players that I would have selected had they fallen to me in their draft.
On defense, they are solid, but they seem to have a weakness on the left side of their DL. I decide that I will focus on that weakness and shove the ball down their throat. Let's see if Overton was worth the price we paid for him. We will not throw the ball as much since Wichita has a pretty good secondary. Code:
It wasn't pretty, but we'll take the win. 10 of their points came off of turnovers, but 14 of our points came on turnovers. Hickman didn't have a great game, but that is what I expected. The running game was incredible, as we had two rushers with over 100 yards. Oddly enough, we had more success going deep in the passing game than we did on the short stuff. The game plan worked to perfection as we gashed the left side of the WIC DL for 7.9 YPC! OJ Boyer had a monster game for us, posting 16 tackles, 3 assists, and 2 forced fumbles. He was the man for us today. This wraps up the easy part of the schedule, next week Norfolk is up. If we lose that game, we can forget about the division. If we can eek out a win, we can seriously think about stealing it from them. |
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06-05-2006, 09:51 AM
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#80 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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2007 Post-Week 9 Schedule
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Our upcoming games are going to be huge. We are currently sitting at 6-3, and are tied with the fifth best record in the conference. Unfortunately, we are tied with Cleveland who owns the WC tiebreaker against us. We have two probably losses in Norfolk (as much as I hate to admit it). Fresno and Boston should be wins. That leaves Lawrence, Orlando, and Vermont as games that are going to be up in the air. Out of these games, the only game we have a good chance of winning is Orlando. That will put us at 9-7 on the season, but on the outside of the playoff picture. I would love to have the Newark game back, but that is ancient history. We need to focus on stealing one of the games against Norfolk, if we can manage that, I think we sneak into the playoffs. One thing we have working for us, our OL will be at full strength heading into our game with Orlando. |
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06-05-2006, 08:08 PM
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#81 |
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College Starter
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: PA
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Hey, I didn't even know you had this going!
You've had a fairly easy schedule so far, let's see if you can keep up the winning in the second half here! |
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06-06-2006, 09:44 AM
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#82 |
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Pro Starter
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Dayton, OH
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Coming into the season, it didn't look like an easy schedule, Boston, Houston, IWC, Newark, and Cleveland all had better talent than us. Plus, Montreal has equal talent. It looked to be a tough road. I think we have played well, especially considering our injuries, we have been banged up in the secondary, and our offensive line is 3/5 backups right now, but we have managed. We also lost our best defensive player for the season last game, but he had been out early in the season as well.
I think we have a good team, but we are not the class of the AC, that honor belongs to IWC, Norfolk, Albuquerque, and Anchorage. You need to remember, we are still rebuilding here, and will be for the next two years probably. However, we should make a major push next year, we have plenty of cap space, and very few essential players we need to resign. Bottom line: Anything 8-8 or better is a success for this team. Our goal is to reach the playoffs. |
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