GroupThink 3 - Sizing up the Kitty Hawk Flyers

[albionmoonlight]

gt3a

[albionmoonlight]

gt3b

[Fritz]

Well, It looks like my leave of absence is being managed well, but we have crisis all around!

If we can hold the playoffs until Monday, I will install an O that is modifed for Hutchens and accounts for the loss of Rubble.

I hope this roatator cuff injury to Rubble does not start a downard spiral of health problems. He has quickly become a favorite. Perhaps because he has a great FB name.

[QuikSand]

Good to get the two wins, and a good playoff spot - but these injuries are adding up. Having a largely untested Hutchens in there will be unnerving-- go do some magic, Fritz!

[Buzzbee]

I will have a scouting report by tomorrow so that Fritz and Albion can develop an ass whoopin' game plan.

[Buzzbee]

SCOUTING REPORT: Texarkana Armadillos

Summary:
The Texarkana ArmaDILDOS run first, pass second. They are 7th, 6th, and 10th in Rush Attempts, Rush Yards, and Yards Per Carry, respectively. They will pass to their two top receivers, but if they aren't open will dump off to the RB or FB without hesitation. The RB's are average, but are made better by a very solid OL.

While the defense has given up a lot of yards, opposing teams have had trouble converting those yards to points. While ranking 21 in both rushing and passing yards allowed, they are tied for tenth in points per game. The defensive line is weak, especially with a key injury to anchor LDT Irving Gomez. But stud SLB Tyrus Reed and SS Rod Robertson are quality players who can make a difference. Another key injury to the top LCB will leave a big whole on the corners.

One reason the Dildos have managed to make it this far is that they don't really turn the ball over. They have a +17 TO margin that has probably kept a lot of teams from reaching the endzone more often.

Recommendations:
The DL is weak. Take advantage and run the ball, to the weakside preferably. SLB is a force and should be avoided. Ignore the TE on offense to minimize the SLB's impact. The corners are susceptible and can possibly be abused. However, SS Robertson is capable of helping out the corners so be aware.

The offense centers around a strong O-Line and it allows them to over-achieve. They are a run based team, but will utilize a West Coast passing attack as a complement. Watch for dumps to the FB's and RB's.

Key Injuries:
LDT Irving Gomez - OUT
LCB - Percy Greer - Doubtful
QB - Skip Jennings - Probable

Positions:
Offense
QB
Skip Jennings is a above average passer. His forte is to roll-out and hit the short and medium passes, or dump it off on a screen when needed. He can hit the long and deep passes, but prefers a West Coast style. He loves to dump it off to the RB's and FB's. After the top two WR's, the two FB's have seen the bulk of the action. Jennings is fairly accurate, but will occaisionaly throw a pick. He usually throws a few more picks than TD's, but this year has a 16 TD to 13 INT ratio. The backup QB's have rarely seen the field this year and aren't really anything to worry about.

RB
The ArmaDILDOS like to have versatile, all-purpose backs. In looking at their backs you wouldn't think they would be all that good. However, they get the job done. Charlie Meinke rushed for close to 1,000 yards (927) and caught 30 of 48 passes for 146 yards. Drew "Short Bus" Busofsky is another threat in the Dildos backfield. He rushed for 559 yards in only 135 attampts for a 4.1 YPC avg. He also managed to catch 15 of 23 balls, but for only 59 yards.

FB
The FB's don't see a lot of action pounding it up the middle, but they do get a lot of touches coming out of the backfield. They serve as an adequate safety valve for the passing game. They are average blockers with the starter, Jefferies being more geared toward blocking for the passing game.

TE
Bernie Maxwell see the bulk of PT at Tight End. He is fairly good receiving TE, but no stud. His run blocking is suspect, but is very cabaple of holding up a pass rush. On the recieving end, he is 33 of 49 for 313 yards. The other TE's are mainly young fill-ins who don't see the field often.

WR
Van Duncan (FL) and Bennie Belcher (SE) are the two top receivers on this team. Duncan leads the team with 952 yards and Belcher (he SHOULD be on the OL with that name) has 550. As with the RB's, they don't look that good on paper, but they get the job done. Ricky Bennett will see the field occasionaly and has managed 21 catches out of 37 targets for 293 yards.

OL
The Dildos have a solid and deep OL. This team has over-achieved and it is mostly due to a good OL. The LG and C are the studs, but the LT and RT, and to a lesser extent the RG are all solid members of the line. The depth on the right side is non-existant, but the depth on the left more than makes up for it. The OL could lead to a very frustrating day for our pass rush.

Defense
DL
The DL is, with the injury to anchor LDT Irving Gomez, weak. They are also thin with 2 of 4 DT's out. THe RDE has some pass rushing strength, but that is about it. If it weren't for their studly linebackers, I wouldn't throw a pass all day.

LB
As alluded to above, the linebackers are a strength. When I look at SLB Tyrus Reed I see red, and lots of it. His weaknesses are man-2-man coverage and that he isn't the hardest of hitters. However, he is still capable in these areas and should be avoided if possible. He is a 2nd year man with these stats: 16 games - 115 tackles - 29 assists - 17 sacks. There is a dropoff for the rest of the LB corp but MLB Buckner, despite a perceived lack of talent, has put up 104 tackes and 17 assists. The weak side LB's haven't been tested. Combined the three who have played have a combined 53 tackles. This may be good since we have strength on the left side of the line.

CB
Mr. Bullet, meet Mr. Dodge. Percy Greer is a solid LCB with 6 INT's, 52 tackles, and 18 assists. Lucky for us he is doubtful for this game. The remaining CB's have done ok, but are probably best suited to be nickel backs on most teams. This may be an area that we can exploit, or at least give our inexperienced QB a little cusion.

S
SS Rod Robertson is a player who is good in most categories. He is strong in man-2 man, but can drop back in zone easily. He is excellent at following the play, and can really hit the ball carrier. He is third on the team in tackles with 102. The FS drops off a little talent wise, but still has put up some pretty nice numbers. 63 tackles and 2 interceptions means he can hold his own.

[Fritz]

In terms of a real life to FOF conversion, the game falls down at QB. Our QB had a season which compares favorably to almost any that Jim Kelly had. Kelly was top 10 QB with those stats, our guys is a bottom halfer.

[albionmoonlight]

In terms of simming:

I sent the saved file with the D depth chart set, so that does not need to be changed. I decided to go with Shon, who has shown me a lot with his playing time, instead of Gillispie (sp?). Also, Gillispie has not done much of anything as the pass rushing DE, so I am keeping our two somewhat healthy DEs in for all downs.

I also sent back the gameplan set for run stuffing, so that does not need to be changed.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to focus on stopping their short passing game? Should we increase the bump and run coverage? Does our man-to-man heavy coverage do that for us (we play a lot less zone than most teams)? Any ideas?

[QuikSand]

I am away from my FOF computer for the day, so my support will have to be more generic than I had anticipated.

So... Go, team! Rah, team!

[Buzzbee]

Originally posted by albionmoonlight
In terms of simming:

I sent the saved file with the D depth chart set, so that does not need to be changed. I decided to go with Shon, who has shown me a lot with his playing time, instead of Gillispie (sp?). Also, Gillispie has not done much of anything as the pass rushing DE, so I am keeping our two somewhat healthy DEs in for all downs.

I also sent back the gameplan set for run stuffing, so that does not need to be changed.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to focus on stopping their short passing game? Should we increase the bump and run coverage? Does our man-to-man heavy coverage do that for us (we play a lot less zone than most teams)? Any ideas?

Generally I believe the LB's cover the backs when in man to man coverage. So, if our LB's are good at pass coverage, the man to man may be the way to go. Especially since the wideouts aren't dominating types. I'm not enough of a football guru to tell you which type of D is best to slow down screens and dumps to the backs, though. Also, probalby reduce the nickel and dime coverage to a slight degree for better matchups? Maybe? Anyone?

[Fritz]

I can sim the WC round whenever we are ready.

I jostled the skill positons and depth charting a little. We are starting Hutchens (no pressure) and I activated Clayton and slotted him #2.

Strong was slotted as #2 FB and demoted to #3 RB.

I deactivated Reams and have slotted Matthews as SE2. The bulk of Reams work will be directed at Sanderson.

A few little changes to the game plan. Mostly I just pulled the sreen as a tool and moved those passes to the longer of the short range.

I hope that works.

[QuikSand]

I don't have any more thoughts on defensive cover schemes -- I think having LB Shon in at WLB instead of Gillespie is probably wise, as he has much stronger overall skills (and we'll need him against their short passing game). Past that, I don't have any sense whether MtM or BnR makes more sense.

I say let's stick with our man-heavy coverage scheme, and let 'er rip.

[albionmoonlight]

We are already nickel and dime low because of the lack of depth in our secondary. It sounds like we may already have a good gameplan set against them.

Sim when ready.

[Fritz]

ripped she is

Kitty Hawk (37) at Texarkana (6)

Good
RB Finley 28 Rushes for 187 yards (6.6 avg) and 3 TDs
QB Hutchins 20 of 22 for 198 or 9.0 per attempt. 0 TD, but 0 int
KR Duran 2 returns for 68 yards
Peters 8 tackles and 2.0 sacks
Shon 3 tackles, 4 assists, 2.5 sacks
McNair 2 Ints

Overall, our D intercepted 3 balls and sacked the QB 5 times.
Our running game got a 134 yars (6.0 avg) through the gut.
Our starting OL did not allow a sack. A reserve T did allowed one.

We came through as healthy as we went in.

Bad

Finley coughed the ball up twice.

Ugly

Nothing. It was a very one sided game and we played well.

[Fritz]

Divisional Round of Play

Ft Knox at Louisville (-6) (imagine the excitement in Kentucky)
Kitty Haw at Ypsilanti (-4)
Napa Valley at Key West (-2)
Puget Sound (-3) at Bermuda

[albionmoonlight]

Go Hutchins!

Go Finley (where would we be without him?)!

Go Shon (making me look worse and worse for not playing him from day 1)!

Good job all!

[Fritz]

Your 2020 Kitty Hawk Flyers: (regular season)

Most Rushing Attempts
Most Rushing Yards
Most Rushing Yards Per Game
Second most yards per carry. (a great one to have combined with attempts)

3 least rushed on team
Gave up fewest yards on the ground (75.5 per game)
Lowest yards per carry allowed.

Fourth Fewest pass attempts
Fewest pass completions
Middle of the road completion % and yards
top 10 yd/avg
Second least sacked
3rd most sacks registered
Scored 4th most points per game
Tied for 3rd fewest fumbles
+9 turnovers
4th best at preventing 3rd down conversions
second least penalized team

[Fritz]

albionmoonlight - let me know your adjustments and we will be good to go unless Buzzbee has some remarkable scouting to report.

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Fritz
Your 2020 Kitty Hawk Flyers: (regular season)

Lowest yards per carry allowed.

I love getting that stat. Often the first thing I look for in the team summary.

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Fritz
QB Hutchins 20 of 22 for 198 or 9.0 per attempt. 0 TD, but 0 int

Now, that is a quality "don't-lose-the-game" quarterback effort. Take few chances, keep the ball moving when you can, and let the rest of the team take care oif itself.

Actually, it's just what you'd expect from a team built on chemistry. One guy goes down, and the machine still ought to run just fine.

[Buzzbee]

Originally posted by Fritz
albionmoonlight - let me know your adjustments and we will be good to go unless Buzzbee has some remarkable scouting to report.

I'm at work, so I won't be able to post my insightful, thorough, and dead-on-balls-accurate scouting report. However, we did play Ypsilanti in the regular season, so we have some info to go on. Also, we lost that game so let's try something different this time.

A report on Key Injuries would probably be the biggest thing to cause my report to change.

[Fritz]

We did run the ball 35 times for 208 yards (5.9 avg), so hutchens was the perfect complement today.

With that and no interceptions you might think the time of possesion was heavily skewed, but we "only" held the ball for 32 min.

8 penalties were a problem.

Here is a line I like:
Avg YTG 3rd down US = 6.5 yds them = 8.6
that goes a ways in explining our 7/12 conversion ratio versus their 5/12.

[albionmoonlight]

I say don't mess with a good thing. With no injuries, I'll keep the same line-up and game plan.

We are good to go on D unless the scouting report would indicate that changes are needed.

[Buzzbee]

Originally posted by Buzzbee
I didn't have much of a chance to Scout this morning, but I did cycle through the Ypsilanti roster. What I can remember is they had some pretty stout Safeties, but not a lot at Corner. Also Fritz, you might want to check the D-Line. I think I remember them having a monster in the middle. On their offense I can't remember much except that their QB's were average and the O-Line wasn't much to write home about.

I didn't have a chance to scout our other oponents, but one of the next four is Bermuda who we played the first game of the season. You can review my scouting report for them if you wish.

Here is what I had from the first game. Looks like my report wasn't too insightful or in-depth.

[Buzzbee]

Originally posted by Fritz
Kitty Hawk 17 at Ypsilanti 27


Good:
We held them to 68 yards rushing (2.1 per carry)
We sacked them 5 times.

Bad:
Sparks had a poor completion % and threw 5 bad passes. Buzzbee may have been right.
Dole returned 3 punts for 7 yards.

Ugly:

59 rushing yards. ooof

our medium passing went 26 attempts for 7 completions.

And the results.

Remember, Sparks was Probable in this game, so that MIGHT have affected his performance.

[Buzzbee]

Fritz - They have a true stopper at DT. Shifting the running game to the outside might help some.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Buzzbee
Fritz - They have a true stopper at DT. Shifting the running game to the outside might help some.

thank you. THAT is what I needed!

[Fritz]

Ok, I have made some adjustments that I will need to undo after this game. It is a bit chancy as it pushes a lot of our game wide and passes more in the redzone.

[Buzzbee]

They are also strong at safety, but weak at the corner. Multiple reciever sets might help spread the secondary thin and avoid double coverage. Leaves us open for a strong pass rush though.

[Fritz]

uuuuuuhhhhhhg

Kitty Hawk (3) at Ypsilanti (30)

Good
Daniels 11 tackes, 2 assists, and an INT
Reynolds, 1 Forced Fumble

nobody was crippled

Bad

skipping bad

Ugly

Finley 9 rushes for 26 yards
Hutchins 16 of 49 passes completed for 154 yards and 2 int

-----
clearly we need a better plan for a team like Ypsilanti.

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Fritz
uuuuuuhhhhhhg

Kitty Hawk (3) at Ypsilanti (30)

. . .

clearly we need a better plan for a team like Ypsilanti.

Well, perhaps we needed a better team for a team like Ypsilanti. That's another solid explanation.

We are not yet the best team in the league. No harm in that. Kitty Hawk hasn't had a winning season in four years - the fans shoudl be dancing in the streets over an 11-5 campaign topped off with a playoff win.

Let's just get them out of the streets before Isabel hits.

[Fritz]

how far should I sim it before passing a file out? If we don't have any business this season I could go all the way through the super bowl without advancing season. this would give people a chance to look at the in season information.

[Buzzbee]

DRAT! Why do I see Ypsilanti becoming the thorn in our side? And of all places, Ypsilanti. Why couldn't it have been Key West or Bermuda?

[QuikSand]

Originally posted by Fritz
how far should I sim it before passing a file out? If we don't have any business this season I could go all the way through the super bowl without advancing season. this would give people a chance to look at the in season information.

We don't have any "business" this season, since we don't re-do contracts under our rules. So, I think you're right - sim through the SB, and then share the file so everyone can have the year-end file if they want it.

I will be able to catch up this evening, and tomorrow morning we can start fresh with the 2022 season.

[albionmoonlight]

I'm happy with our results.

I'd like to look at the file tonight, too.

[Buzzbee]

Fritz - I suggest posting the file in a new thread and put a link to it in this one.

[Fritz]

Originally posted by Buzzbee
Fritz - I suggest posting the file in a new thread and put a link to it in this one.

I am going to put the final 2020 files here. we can start anew with 2021.

----------

Season Awards:

First Team Center: Winters
First Team Tackle: Andrews
Second Team FB: Rubble


Offensive Rookie was SAC's QB Lance Fulcher. Fulcher had a pedestrian campaign by FOF standards. RUBBLE WAS ROBBED!

[Fritz]

end of 2020 file 1

[Fritz]

end of 2020 file 2