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12-31-2000, 10:19 AM
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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House Arrest Black Squirrels
I’m playing this career under a fairly lengthy series of house rules—trying to compress most of the game’s many areas fertile for abuse, and to simultaneously make the game: challenging, interesting, steerable, and realistic.
If you want the long version of the rules and history from 2002 to 2007, try this link: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000098.html The team’s history from 2008 through 2011 is in this thread: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000102.html The short version of the rules is: FOF 2001, Wall Street, empty cupboard start with the 2002 expansion team Ticket prices no higher than those of my nearest geographic competitor (Denver) Several contract restrictions -no signing non-rookie players, other than the second half of the 20-stage FA process -no unrealistic contract durations for first and second year players -no backloading of contracts – annual salary increases up to 25% only -any free agent seeking a bonus gets one at least as big as the median annual salary -URFAs may get 4yr doubling deal with modest bonus money No contract renegotiations No franchise tag Full roster of 53 each season Player from home state (Colorado) college at each position group at all times Making effort to sign and hold Colorado players whenever practical No initiating trades – may only accept CPU trade after adjusting it (reality check) In short, the team is being almost exclusively built from within. I’ve signed a fair number of youngsters in the FA period, but they’ve mostly been fill-ins of marginal payers. Here is the short history of the team—the GM performance printout:
From the above, it’s fairly clear that we’ve settled in as a perennial playoff team. Right now, that’s the rut we’ve found—we’re always good enough to get into the postseason, but some combination of bad luck or injuries seems to keep us down each year—we haven’t had great post-season success. I have a star QB who has a huge contract, which has kept me in limbo with signing other players—my roster is usually not the highest-rated in the league. Additionally, our financial picture has been a bit shaky—we lost money in 2010 (for the first time) and are not too financially secure, to be honest. I switched coaches for 2011 largely due to financial constraints, and those elements are certainly keeping me honest here. These factors taken together have made this pretty interesting so far… I’m pretty happy with the level of decisions I’m forced to make here. I particularly like the fact that I’m actually worried about my team’s bottom line, which in turn affects my decisions about coaches ands scouts. For those who have been following, there’s a pretty major plot twist ahead in the 2012 preseason, so stick around… |
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12-31-2000, 10:20 AM
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#2 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2012 preseason
My cost-saving acts for 2011 got the job done—we got back into the black last season. Part of that was getting a home playoff game, but we also cut back dramatically on coaching costs. We turned a $3.7m profit—which is okay by me. Our attendance level bumped to 94.6%, which ranked 9th in the league—nearby Denver remains the only 100% sellout city. On the ticket prices screen, we have fan loyalty of 77, and stadium support of 93—it seems our mission to build fan loyalty within Colorado has worked out okay. My front office staff is doing good work, but I decide to take a look at scouts. My guy is good, but he is the 6th highest-paid out there at $850k, and my bottom line is sagging a bit. If I could cut costs here, it would be a major help. I pursue two guys, but they each decide to stay with their current teams—both division rivals, too (KC and SD). I end up sitting tight. Denver finally enacts a ticket price hike—allowing me to do so as well. It’s less than 10% in each category, but it ought to make a huge difference. I think it’s been at least 4 or 5 seasons since we’ve had any movement. On the roster, I had feared that WR Matt McCaughey might retire after an injury last season—causing me to lose one of my two longest-standing players. He does not retire, which is the good news. However, his classmate from the 2002 draft did. QB Paul de los Santos has decided to give it up after a 10-year career. He’s been my main man all through this franchise’s history, but now leaves us. This should be interesting, as he was slated to earn about $33m this season, and his departure will certainly open up my salary cap situation. I have two young and fairly promising QBs on the roster, and they will get their chance to step in. With my run of late-round draft picks and no recent trades affecting the first round, I simply haven’t had any chances to select superstar-caliber players—but I have found good QB talent in later draft rounds. Henry Walsh will enter the season as my presumptive starter—he was a 3rd round pick of mine in 2012, and has two more years left. He’s already started about 10 games for us, so he has a decent sense of things already. Second year man Fernando Hutton was a pre-camp cut last year after being drafted in round four. I have him signed for two more seasons—and if he develops in this year’s camp, he may be part of the picture as well. Here is my roster as we head toward free agency:
As it turns out, I now have a ton of money available in a year when I really don’t have a single free agent on my “must keep” list. I may use some of this cap room to try to secure a guy like WR Bo Wayman, or even G Archie Kimbrough, but neither would be re-signed if de los Santos were here, and I only had $10m in total cap room (or thereabouts). I get a trade offer—a 5th round pick for TE Quentin Finley. I take the deal—he was my 7th rounder last year, and is a short-term fill-in until I can really fill that job. I am also offered a first rounder for LB Dominic Barlow—but he has finally stepped up and into his leadership role on my LB corps, and I am reluctant to upset that, even for pick #23 in this draft. I start off with a $27m offer over 4 yrs to G Archie Kimbrough. He’ll be right under my thumbnail of 5% of my salary cap for a top-level player. WR Bo Wayman wants a contract of at least $11m a year—pretty pricey for a guy who has never gotten past the shadow of his less-talented but harder-working teammate McCaughey. I’ll keep an eye on him, but I don’t think I’ll go for that big a deal. In week one, I’m the only bidder for G Kimbrough—I cut back to $25m. WR Bo Wayman is contemplating a $12m.yr deal from Jacksonville—I don’t think I can follow after that. In week 4, Kimbrough takes my offer. I decide to put in 4yr, $40m for WR Wayman. It’s not the highest offer, but we’ll see if his 70 loyalty brings him back to us. It doesn’t—he ends up taking a 3yr deal from Boise for about $11m per. As week 11 rolls around, RB Travis Milanovich is still mulling over a $10m/yr deal from St. Louis. Two words of advice, kid: take it! My doors open up, and I check out what’s standing. Not much, to be honest. I bid on a pretty good safety, who would probably step in as my #3 guy. However, I don’t find the usually rich fields of OL and DL sitting around. I also don’t find any Colorado players, and filling a couple of those roles is an emerging priority. ( I inadvertently failed to hold a Colorado LB last season, which I’ll rectify this year) I do re-sign WR Earl Perry for $5m a year—I want to keep around at least one familiar face to go with the venerable McCaughey and the hopefully emerging Galvez. I get another trade offer for a TE—I accept a 5th round pick for TE Bennie Shannon. I now will need to add a Colorado receiver as well, as that was his principal role. I have added a number of late round extra draft picks, which I hope will help out in this draft. With the #31 pick this year, I again harbor little hope for a superstar-level player this season. There is a very good WR from Air Force who would be nice, and also a very good OT from C State—both positions where I could use an impact player. Past them, it looks like a pretty solid draft—my need areas are broad, I’ll need capable players at RB and possibly CB from this draft.
Overall, I’m fairly pleased. I had hoped to grab a receiver of better quality than the ones I got, but that simply didn’t pan out—nothing was left in round two. RB Hutchings should be solid a my #2 and stepping into the starter role next year if need be—we’ll see what happens with my current starter Douglas. Here is the roster we bring into camp:
It’s been a while since I had a breakout in training camp—I’m hopeful that I get one this year. I have a few candidates I’ve sniffed out at TE, DT and LB. We head into camp hoping to avoid disaster, and to find some pleasant surprises. I’d also like to see some meaningful step forward from one or both young QBs.
Surveying the rookie class- DE Logan lost a bit, and will still be god, but probably doesn’t have the upside that I had sought. I did, however, get my breakout player—and it was one of the guys I had a suspicion about. DT Josh Firebaugh exploded in training camp, and he now projects to being a superstar in the middle- better than the rookie I drafted in round 5, or any of the guys on my roster now. A great find. LB Kent Crawrord, another possible breakout player, did develop some potential—while he’s not a star, he did step forward and looks to be a solid contributor as a late round draft pick. The late pickups that blossomed make this a very handsome draft—a good rookie class for us. We cut down to 53, and head into camp with a group that looks a bit different than my usual gang. I pick up a Colorado LB to fill out that area, and we get to 53 fulfilling my various house rules.
This year, our success will largely depend on our passing game—can Henry Walsh keep us on course? If we are able to pass fairly effectively, we ought to remain a playoff contender. If we struggle through the air, then we will need some other things to go right to hold our ground. [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 12-31-2000).] |
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12-31-2000, 12:40 PM
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#3 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2012 season
We head into preseason after setting up our system. On the franchise value screen, our roster rating is at 86—fifth best. New England has the #1 rating, and they figure to be players in the postseason picture this year. My cohesion ratings are 67-63-75-79, again near the bottom everywhere. As expected, Henry Walsh will be my starter, but Fernando Hutton had a good camp, and he will be plan B if we need him. I’ll use RB Rod Douglas as a feature back, with a little bit of work shared by my FB and backup RB Hutchings. Earl Perry will start as our flanker across from McCaughey, with young Aaron Galvez as our #3 wideout—though we’ll use multi receiver sets less often than in recent years. Rookie Willie Farmer will get the start as an OLB, with great depth behind him. Rookie breakout DT Josh Firebaugh will start immediately in the middle, of course. At CB, I’ll stick with Ike Turnbull as my off-corner, and will assign Kris Bush to take the top opposing wideout, with little help. I will be setting my secondary as “island coverage” – with Bush designed to take out their best weapon, and everyone else doubling up as need be. I’m a mainly man-to-man team, and this should work well. Our pre-season casualty is DE Phil Banks, who will miss half the season. Fortunately, we have enough depth to cover fairly well. Our opener is in Seattle—a nasty rivalry developing between us lately. They take this one 12-6, in a game with all FGs. It was a very even game, they just edged away in the fourth quarter. We host San Diego next, and get a 19-14 win. Matt McCaughey helps out the young QB by hauling in 8 for 191 and our team’s first TD of the year. The Chiefs come in, and we paddle them 23-3, behind Walsh’s 2 TD passes to Aaron Galvez. We’re 2-1, and looking okay for the moment. We go into Indy, the scene of our great playoff win last year. The Colts beat us 20-15, as we only get on track in the fourth quarter, but McCaughey’s two TD catches are not enough. I’m not happy with our running game, so I lower RB Douglas’s playing time—to give our rookie a few more touches. We go into Kansas City and get chopped up 27-7. We defend at home over Denver, courtesy of interception TDs by Steve Frank and Ike Turnbull. The 24-19 win gets us to 3-3 on the year. We next host Cincinnati—the defending champs. They play the part well, abusing us 27-10. Miami comes in and beats us 20-14, and it looks as though we are just not getting enough firepower on offense. Through 8 games, Walsh has 8 TDs and 8 interceptions—which is not good enough. I decide to try Fernando Hutton in the starter role—in an attempt to salvage this season. Hutton has better skills with short passes, and I’ll hope that he can handle the job. I also decide to go with the rookie Hutchings at RB—he at least has shown some ability to come in and break off a big play from time to time. Our first game with the new backfield isn’t so hot—we get pounded 24-10 by New Orleans. We then go into San Diego and eke out a 27-26 road victory. Lest you believe that our offense rolled, I’ll volunteer that of our 27 points we had an interception returned for a TD by Kris Bush, and two punt return TDs by Myron Van Pelt. That accounts for our three TDs on the day—the offense continues to struggle mightily. I decide to go back to Walsh at QB. We get back at Seattle with a 20-13 win at home. Once again, Myron Van Pelt gets a return TD—making three in a row. We have not scored an offensive TD in 8 quarters of football, which is troubling, despite the fact that we won both those games. We win in Denver, 10-6, to stretch out to an fairly respectable 6-6. There are 7 teams ahead of us in the AFC, but we’re not totally out of it yet. A pretty good Atlanta team comes in and moves us closer to that status, though—they win it 20-10. Our slim playoff chances are all but extinguished when Oakland beats us 14-13, and we drop to 6-8. I decide to put in QB Hutton for our final two games, to get a somewhat better sense of things. We lose both our last two games, to conclude the season at 6-10. This will mean a higher draft pick of course, but it also means that we’ll drop a bit of fan support—which may mean financial woes ahead. Stat leaders: QB Henry Walsh: 2,200 yds, 48.6%, 6.41 ypa, 10/11, 65.7 QB Fernando Hutton: 557 yds, 50.3%, 4.31 ypa, 2/4, 54.2 RB Rod Douglas: 168-695 yds, 0 TD RB Troy Hutchings: 134-631 yds, 1 TD WR Matt McCaughey: 54-775 yds, 3 TD (49.0%, 7 drops) KR Myron Van Pelt: 9.1 PR avg, 2 TD; 23.0 KR avg, 1 TD OL unit: ~29% KRBs, 35 sacks allowed LB Dominic Barlow: 143 tackles, 4 sacks DE Tommie Joyner: 8.5 sacks, 2 blocks, 7 hurries CB Ike Turnbull: 35 tackles, 5 interceptions, 1 TD, 36.2 PDQ S Steve Frank: 80 tackles, 3 interceptions, 1 TD, 36.2 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.8 / 3.5 / 3.7 Passing: 5.8 / 6.2 / 6.6 It’s clear what happened—our passing game dropped off, and we were woeful. Our miserable record overall of 6-10 is right alongside our measly one rushing TD on the whole season. The passing game slid back badly, and so did our team overall. A “transition” year for us, as we discover how serious our need at QB truly is. Here are the league standings at season’s end:
In the playoffs, Cincinnati tears through the AFC yet again, and then edges out Philadelphia 35-31 to win the Superbowl again. In the post-season awards, my main honoree is LB Dominic Barlow. He gets first team and defensive player of the year- the same double that my safety Steve Frank got last season. Nobody else gets any honors, fitting for a team with a downslide like ours. |
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12-31-2000, 07:58 PM
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#4 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2013 preseason
The team’s bottom line swelled to $11m last year—surprising, considering that we didn’t get a playoff game, and had a pretty poor season. The boost was due to the small ticket price increase, and a drop in player costs. Pretty good news, I think. We had 93.4% attendance, the 10th best in the league. Our franchise value remains tops in the league. I’m pretty comfortable with my scout and coach, but I decide to give the market a look. My scout is up for a new deal, and I probably cannot afford to give him the $1m or so he’ll probably cost. Lacking another high quality option, I offer him $850,000 to stay. I’m the only bidder for him, and eventually get him for $760,000 – what he originally asked for. I’m pleased—that’s a bit less than he made for me the last few years, and he is very good. We again get to boost ticket prices, as Denver has implemented an increase. On the roster, we have no retirements, and bring everyone back. Here is the layout of my team this season, sorted by salcap number:
I’ve decided to make one alteration to my rules, which is pretty consistent with what I’ve done thus far. I’m going to allow myself to waive my various “signing timing” rules for Colorado products—I’ll sign them whenever I can, including (if nobody else wants them) after training camp. I think this will allow me to keep some of these guys around year after year, which is probably more in keeping with the concept of the home-grown fan favorite. So, for a guy like RB Geoff Bernard, he’ll again ask for $4-6m per year, and nobody will give it to him. After camp, assuming he gets no deal elsewhere, I’ll bring him back for the one-year deal he seeks. I think it’s a fair balance to allow me to go after and keep these guys. As I start the FA period, I get a very intriguing offer—an early second round pick for QB Henry Walsh. The bottom line with Walsh is that he’s in the last year of his rookie contract, and he’ll get big bucks next year. Probably not from me, I’d add. So, I’d be sacrificing his final contract year to get a good young player. I decide it’s worth it—I take the deal and send Walsh to Boise City. After this move, and a perfunctory cut of QB Jake Baron, we have $49.2m in cap room. That ought to be more than enough to re-sign my critical players—CB Kris Bush, LB Dominic Barlow, and really anyone else I want. I’ll remain tempered with my money, but I definitely have room to move. I start with $47.5, over 4 yrs for CB Bush. He is a “must keep” player, and I’ll pay whatever it takes. LB Dominic Barlow had really evolved into a top-notch player, and I am committed to keeping him, too. I offer him $30m over 4 years. CB Bush signs immediately—great. LB Barlow is getting other offers, a few more lucrative per year than mine. I up my tender to a three year, $24m offer—and he takes it in week two. That was quick, and very easy. I sit back, and watch with interest as a very good LB sits without bids—Dexter Swift is an 9th year LB with very, very solid numbers—and he’s from Colorado. I’d love to swoop in and grab him later. Regrettably, Cincinnati moves to try to keep him after week 5, and puts in an offer, as do about seven other teams. I hope he is indecisive, and lasts until week 11. Swift signs in week 7, to my chagrin. I get to week 11, and there are still a fair number of solid players available—and I’ve got money to spend. I quickly size up OT Bernie Senter, who has been a Dallas backup but looks pretty god to my scout. He looks like a great fit for us, and we immediately put in a flat offer to him for $30m over 4 years. I also put in an 3yr, $18m offer to DE Max Matthews, a solid end who has played well with Atlanta. Finally, I decide to keep an eye on the QB position. There are three guys in the FA pool who look pretty intriguing, and if I can grab any one for a couple of years for less than $8-9m a season, I think I’ll do it—to at least help to bridge the gap. Right now, they all are looking for $10m or so—I’ll wait them out a few more weeks. DE Max Matthews quickly accepts my deal, and we are suddenly looking pretty deep and strong at DE. I’ll probably now be able to use Phil Banks as just a pass-rusher, which I should have been doing for years now. I won’t really miss DE Tommie Joiner either—though he is sure to go as well. I’m afraid that I won’t get the tackle Senter, and so I toss in an offer for another solid OT in the FA marketplace—Les Wentworth. In week 13, I am stunned when they both sign with me. Suddenly, we have some serious talent at the OT position—a massive improvement over a year ago. During the final round of free agency, the three QBs are still available, and I decide to bring one in. I have to make cuts to do it, and the victim is going to be DE Phil Banks, whose release clears $7.5m in cap room. I also decide to release LB Omar Starks, who clears up another $6m in room. These guys can be replaced more cheaply, and by players without their limitations. I put in a 1yr, $8m offer to a 10th year QB Bart Watkins. It’s the cheapest I could secure any of these potential QBs, and he’s the best-prepared of the threesome. I revisit my contract offer, and try for a 2yr deal—he eventually listens to a 2yr, $17m offer—still only $8m this year. I am unsure exactly how think I am in cap room, but I also put in an offer for LB Oliver Plante, for 3yrs, $6m. I also pursue WR Drew Bensen for 3yrs, $14.4m. This is the best crop of FAs that have slipped to me in this career—and I have the cap room to take advantage, fortunately. All three players sign my final offer, and we make some valuable additions to the team. As we head toward the draft, I get an offer—a 2nd round pick plus a solid young C for T Les Wentworth. I’m inclined to take the deal, and it passes the reality test. Wentworth was really an afterthought, and even though this will leave a few bonus bucks on the floor, it’s a good exchange for us. Done. I get another perfect trade offer. T Malcolm Minter, who has inspired at least one offer every year, fetches a fourth rounder from Detroit. I’ve turned down better offers in the past, but now he’s become expendable, and this deal makes sense for me. After this, I’m down to three tackles again—but I may be able to sign Colorado T Lee Flint after training camp, if he’s willing to return for a one-year deal. In this draft, I will have several needs. I still need a “QB of the future” and the search is on there. I’ll need a RB who can contribute right away, as I’ll only return my second year man Hutchings. Absent an obvious star at those two places, I’ll likely spend my early first rounder at CB, where I need a guy to step in soon. Elsewhere, I could use depth in a lot of places, and those three second rounders ought to help vastly. I have pick #8 overall, and hope to bring in a serious impact player there. Amateur Draft Report: Rnd 1 - Sammy Kerr, WR, NWestern St., La. – very solid wideout with some return skills (100/82/86/56/82/62/67/58) Rnd 2 - Leo Mitchell, G, Georgia – should be great pass blocker (65/90/73) Rnd 2 - Alex Dosoo, DT, Delaware State – too good to pass up in second round (92/70/96) Rnd 2 - Nolan Stoffel, S, Oklahoma – too good to pass up also (100/80/61/62…) Rnd 3 - Jake Swift, T, Illinois – didn’t even wait until training camp to bust (20/14/25) Rnd 4 - Alonzo Donley, QB, Liberty (Va.) – second best of weak crop, most ratings in 40-60 range Rnd 4 - Brett Winslett, C, Montana State – projects to very solid (65/68/59) Rnd 5 - Melvin Lester, LB, Air Force – local boy will stick around a while Rnd 6 - Mike Tefft, RB, Air Force – another local guy with power running skills Rnd 7 - Lorenzo Delrio, RB, Alabama – possible redliner breakout player I’m disappointed with the top pick—literally no CBs in the entire draft worth taking anywhere at all early, and my best options were at DE, DT, and OG. I selected a WR, not really a need position, and went from there. The good news is that two of my second rounders—DE Dodoo and G Mitchell, were guys I at least considered in the early first round—they’re both very good. If guys turn out to be as good as they look, this could end up being a tremendous draft for us. T Swift is an odd case—he seems to have fallen apart even before training camp. Unless I made mental error (and picked a different guy than I studied) he is much, much weaker now than he was when I picked him. I don’t recall ever seeing this before. I now face a quandary—I still have RB Rod Douglas sitting on my roster (without a contract) and he might well be affordable for a two-year deal. However, to bring him back would probably require jettisoning at least one or maybe two established players. I contemplate cutting newly-signed WR Drew Bensen, but if my rookie WR busts, I’d regret that move. Signing Douglas would also necessarily mean that I’d have no cap room for URFAs—and I relish my annual sift through the URFA pool. I decide against bringing him on. Here is the roster we take into camp:
I’m fishing at several positions, notably RB, hoping for a breakout player. This is a big training camp—lots on the line. I brace myself, and head into camp…
Okay, my top rookies WR Kerr, G Mitchell, DT Dosoo and S Stoffell all look great—a superb draft day haul then! OT Jake Swift is a sure cut. My last round draft pick, RB Lorenzo Delrio, was indeed a breakout—though in a limited way. My scout elevated him from 6/6 to 9/10—not too bad. I get a 6th round pick in trade for the center who came to me in another deal—sparing me the need to cut a guy at that position. I also get a 7th rounder for FB Nichols, who can go since my rookie URFA looks nearly as good. It takes me a while to notice another second year camp breakout—tackle Victor Upshaw! He’s a Colorado guy (which was the only reason he was kept around) but he developed hugely this camp—what a boon! He may very well start at RT this year. My roster is down to 53, and we’re set for the upcoming season:
For this season, I really don’t know what to expect. I brought in more players this season than in any one year before, and we’re a pretty seriously changed team. We’ll have a veteran signal caller who threw 24 TDs last year, and he’ll have a lot of wideouts to use. Our running game will fall to a group of unproven youngsters. Our DL is probably the best it has been, and we have a strong LB corps behind them. My secondary has one weak line—the second corner spot—but is otherwise very solid. I think we can win several games just on the overall depth and roster quality—but winning ten or more will require that our passing game jump back to life. Can Bart Watkins do that for us—with a late-career renaissance? |
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01-02-2001, 10:19 AM
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#5 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2013 season
Setting my lineup requires a few decisions. I definitely opt to go with the veteran at QB, putting in Bart Watkins as the starter. Young Fernando Hutton has upside, but he is only signed through this year, and I'm pretty unlikely to hold onto him. At RB, Troy Hutchings will start out as the top guy, but I have two rookies in Delrio and Derubies who both will get time. Rookiw WR Sammy Kerr will start in the flanker role alongside veteran McCaughey-who stays in the starter's role despite his apparent ratings deficiencies. I'm extremely deep at WR with Perry, Galvez, and Bensen in the supporting roles. On the OL, Victor Upshaw has stepped into a starting role as my RT-a nice surprise from him. My FA acquisition Senter will man the LT slot. On the DL, Max Mathews will be our starter at RDE, and Paul Murphy at LDE. LB Dominic Barlow will again man the middle, with Eric Wooden and Anthony Talley on the outsides-though I'll rotate a number of other backers into the game. CB Kris Bush will again be the island man on the best wideout, and I'll start Jared Middleton as the other corner. S Nolan Stoffel will be a supporting player this year, but will press for starting time soon. As usual, preseason is about who gets hurt. This year, we really don't lose anyone critical-CB Myron Van pelt is dinged and will miss a few games, and he's the worst off. I come into the season with the following report from my scout: Starting Positions Assessment: Fairly concerned about starting offensive right tackle Very concerned about starting kicker Fairly concerned about starting punter Not too bad-usually he finds a good deal more fault with my team than this. Our overall roster rating is at 70, which is 8th best. Atlanta has the highest, with twice-defending Cincinnati second with an 86. We have, incidentally, dropped behind Chicago in total franchise value-but we're still very strong there. Our roster cohesion heading into our opener is: 62-66-71-87. Our rating in the secondary is 4th best, even though we have a new starter at CB. Middleton has been on the team for a couple years already, so he shouldn't be a huge adjustment. Our safeties are lifers, which certainly help that measure. Predicting the division race is tough-last year Oakland won it, but it's really been a year-by-year thing. None of the other teams have even a solid rating for their rosters, but that hasn't been too good a predictor. We'll see how it unfolds-our fate is really in our own hands. We win at home over Indy to start the new season. We gave up a lot of rushing yards, and were unsuccessful with our own running game, but Watkins drove us in the fourth quarter for the tying TD, and then in OT for the winning TD pass. I'm not thrilled about the running game (either side) but we'll take the win. We visit Dalls to play an awful Cowboys team, and we crush them 51-3. While we did outgain them 336-198, it was returns that made the score so lopsided-S Steve Frank had two picks for TDs, and Juan Pierce returned a punt for a 98-yard TD (why he's taking the ball at the 2 is another question). Regardless, we are 2-0, and Watkins has a passer rating of nearly 90. In week 3, we go into San Diego, and they prove to be a bit tougher. We lose 15-13 on a last-second FG, as our passing game really sputters. We did get a couple of breakaway runs, but that covered up for the fact that we still cannot run with consistency. RB Delrio is earning increased playing time in our main set, though. We host the Jets, and take a 17-0 win. The defense was clearly great, allowing only 220 yards and getting our first shutout. Delrio (14-78) and Hutchings (11-72, TD) got the running game going pretty well, without any long runs to boost the totals. Matt McCaughey-he of the very modest ratings-hauled in 11 catches for 177 yards. A nice performance all around. After our bye week, we host Seattle, who is off to a good start as well. We beat them 22-6, as our defense steps up again. Watkins did almost all the offensive damage, as they totally stopped our running game. I decide to give Derubies a shot in the starting RB role, to see if he produces more than the others. Against lowly Denver, we get embarrassed at home 33-17. They got two TDs in the game's first 4 minutes, and we never recovered. I alter the RB depth chart, and go with Delrio as my main guy for now. We go into KC, and beat the lousy Chiefs 34-10. It's a fabulous offensive day for us-Watkins was very efficient, and we also ran for 229 yards on the day, with everyone getting in on it. Our 8th game is at home against 5-2 Philadelphia. The Eagles take us 24-17, and we fall 1 ½ games behind Seattle for our division lead-tied with San Diego at 5-3 for the second slot. We're in the hunt, but we're no powerhouse team, that much is certain. Facing San Diego, we defend our home turf with a 17-6 win to earn a season split. We next head into Seattle, for what is likely to be our last shot at getting into the division race. A win draws us even, but a loss puts us two games back and on the bad side of the tiebreaker. We get 10 points in the final 6 minutes to get the win 24-21, with young PK Phil Wallis nailing a 56-yarder at the final gun to make the difference. We pull even with the Seahawks at 7-3, and the division race is probably even between the two of us. We get a narrow win over KC in a "donut" game. Thy scored early to lead 14-0 in the first quarter, and held a 28-14 lead in the third quarter, but we rallied late to take it 34-31. Wallis again hits a long FG (54 yards) to make the difference, this time in OT. At Cleveland, we drop a gam we should have won. They ran all over us, and got a bit interception TD, and took it 27-17. The loss dropped us to 8-4, but Seattle's loss kept us even. Right now, the best records in the AFC are only 9-3 (Pitt and Cinti), so the playoff seeding picture is still very unclear. We get a 20-17 home win over Oakland, behind a late TD pass to Sammy Kerr. DT Josh Firebaugh had 3 sacks to lead a good defensive effort. Seattle lost, and so we have a game lead in the division race. Our division record is also better than theirs, so we look pretty likely to take the division crown. We go into Denver-a lousy team who beat us earlier this year-and we lose again. They score 13 points in the last 6 minutes to win it 22-21. It seems like a typical rivalry game-you basically throw out the records when we play. We are lucky that Seattle lost again also, so our division lead holds. We go into Washington-another good team-and they beat us 20-13. Their only TD was on a punt return, and ours was on a late TD after the game had been decided. They outplayed us, and we are reeling pretty badly. Seattle, however, just doesn't seem to want it either-they have also lost three straight, and we have basically locked up the division despite slipping to 9-6. Miami is also 9-6, and one of us will get a bye week, which is downright criminal as Pitt and Cinti are both 12-3 and battling for their division title. We've lost safety Steve Frank, who was battling minor injuries but has lost the fight. He could conceivably get back in the playoffs, but that's even a longshot. Fortunately, rookie Nolan Stoffel is ready for the task. We beat Oakland in our finale, to get to 10-6 on the year. This is, by quirk of chance, good enough to earn a bye week as the AFC's #2 seed. Cincinnati is the top seed, and 13-3 Pittsburgh will be relegated to the #4 seed-meaning that I'll be rooting very hard for Miami to win their opener and keep those two brutes away from me as long as possible.
Stat leaders: QB Bart Watkins: 3,780 yds, 56.6%, 6.83 ypa, 23/13, 81.7 RB Loranzo Delrio: 165-904 yds, 4 TD (5.4 ypc) WR Matt McCaughey: 78-1,106 yds, 8 TD (56.5%, 4 drops) OL unit: ~38% KRBs, 39 sacks allowed DE Paul Murphy: 11 sacks, 5 hurries S Steve Frank: 71 tackles, 3 int, 2 TD, 32.1 PDQ S Bubba Giles: 66 tackles, 5 int, 38.0 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.3 / 3.6 / 4.0 Passing: 6.8 / 6.1 / 6.7 We will miss S Franks, but getting the week off will help us heal up for our opener-hopefully against Miami, who will have to beat Seattle (and everyone has been doing that lately). |
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01-02-2001, 04:05 PM
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#6 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2013 postseason
In the opening round of the playoffs, Seattle beats Miami, which is bad news for me. However, Pittsburgh falls to Baltimore, which means that I'll play the 10-6 Ravens instead of the 13-3 Steelers. I still don't think I have the horses to make the big run this time around. Baltimore is a running team, led by a 1,100-yard rusher named Leon Marriott. They play good defense, anchored by a great MLB named Clay Miller. (Sounds a bit like the 2000 version of the Ravens) Our only injury of any consequence is S Steve Frank, who might be able to play as soon as next week. For now, we head into our home playoff game, looking to handle a physical Ravens team. We convert a first quarter fumble deep in their territory into a 7 point lead. We get a big pass play in the middle second quarter, which sets up a FG to extend to 10-0. FB Doyle tops off another drive late in the second quarter, giving us a 17-0 lead. We miss a FG at the halftime gun, but have racked up 324 yards of offense on them-including 142 on the ground. The second half is a replay-we continue to dominate, and we take advantage of their mistakes. The final is 34-0, and we look the part of a serious title contender, at least we did this week. RB Delrio gets 124 yards rushing-the first time this season that I have had a 100-yard rusher. We had into Cincinnati-the lair of the big cats. They have won the last two Superbowls, and they look pretty tough this year as well. They will mix it up on offense, with a very accurate passer in Terry Webb and a fleet of solid wideouts and backs. They seem to play "bend but don't break" defense-not a huge number of turnovers, but fundamentally sound, and they will put pressure on the QB. They're tough. After two sluggish early possessions (one apiece), we start a drive, and get in for a FG to draw first blood. WR McCaughey got the big catch to get into FG range. They respond with a 47-yard run to get into position, then four more plays to punch it in. After we cannot move, we punt them back to their 10. One pass play, 90 yards, and it's 14-3. Things got bad in a hurry. On their next possession, they do it again-first play, a 74-yard bomb, and we're cooked. They drive for another TD on their next possession, and their 28-3 margin isn't too bad for the first 20 minutes of football. They follow up with a 67-yard TD on an interception, and the rout is clearly on. I'll skip the gory detailed from here on out…. they take it 49-3 in a walkover. Ugly. The kind of loss that stays in a team's mind for a while… Anyway, the Bengals take on the Giants to try to get an unprecedented third straight title. It, uh, isn't even close. The Bengals win it 44-0… culminating possibly the most dominant playoff run in this league's history. They won their 3 games by a total of 127-13… Seattle can hold their heads high since they scored 10 points on them. Curiously, the Benglas have hardly any award-winners-they are a team enterprise, and theor only award winners were the first team C and second team FB. Our team generated second team honors for DE Paul Murphy. We also saw RB Lorenzo Delrio receive the award as the offensive rookie of the year. Must have been a slow stat year for those two to get honored. A pretty solid season, all in all. We're back into the ranks of contenders, and now we know exactly where we have to go in order to win it-we have to go into Cincinnati and beat the Bengals. |
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01-03-2001, 10:26 AM
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#7 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2014 preseason
Well, the result of last year's fairly free spending was that the team went into the red for the year, by nearly $20 million. I realize that the big jump in player bonuses was largely to blame (nearly a $50m increase over 2012) and that is not expected to be recurring. Regardless, it was a tough season financially. We did have 92.8% attendance, about 10th in the league again. I'm happy with my current scout, though he does make a lot of money. He's the 10th highest paid scout in the league-but he's probably worth it. My coach has been pretty cheap (was making under $3m, while the top five all are over $10m), and I decide to look for a possible replacement-his contract is up anyway, so it's a natural transition time. I do not think I want him to come back if he's looking for $5-6m or more. After failing in my pursuit of another coach (who inexplicably continues to turn down a $15m deal from KC) I end up with my old guy back-Raymond Manning will stay on for $2.85m per year. He has mostly G and VG ratings, with two weaknesses-kickers, and discipline (both poor). I'm not sure what the discipline rating ultimately controls, but I think I can like with his ups and downs, especially to save many millions of dollars. Denver does not move their ticket prices this year, and so neither will I. We'll have to return to black ink without an appreciable bump in ticket revenues (unless we get two home playoff games, which I doubt). Onto the roster, where we had a surprise retirement. QB Bart Watkins-an 11th year guy who was just starting to really roll in his career, and newly signed to a two year deal with us, has decided he'd rather go work the farm back in Nebraska than play QB for the Squirrels. Alas, this leaves us in a serious pinch, with Fernando Hutton my only QB with any experience and he's a restricted free agent this season. This could get difficult in a real hurry-when I played without a solid QB (including Hutton) my team went 6-10. Here is the roster, sorted by this year's salary figure, as we head toward free agency:
We appear tp have a lot of room to move, with $44m in cap room. However-looking at my considerable list of "must keep" guys, I get the quick sense that this isn't going to be easy at all. My immediate inclination is that if I keep both veteran safeties-which I would prefer to do-then I'll use a safety as my #2 CB this year, which should save money and allow me to put my best 4 DBs on the field at once. The guy who will be really tough is McCaughey-WR has become a deep position for me, and his ratings just aren't very good (like none above 50 any more). However, he keeps producing, and I'm afraid of what happens if we let him go and have to rely on someone else. We'll see-he'll probably demand a fortune, I may try to wait him out. I get a huge trade offer-the #13 overall draft pick plus my old WR Bo Wayman (whose contract is pretty friendly) in exchange for my emerging superstar DT Josh Firebaugh. Surprisingly, this offer even passes the fairness test-I alter it, and they're still willing to do the deal. Firebaugh was signed as an URFA, and he has two years left-this year at $2,190,000 and next year at $4,350,000. WR Wayman would be coming to us with three years remaining on his contract-I'd be paying about $1m/$4m/$4m. This is probably a good deal for me-save for the fact that I'm already flush at WR. If I make this deal, I'll probably release another of my current WR crop-probably Drew Bensen. After some serious contemplation, I decide to take the deal. It's probably the biggest trade this franchise has made, but it's pretty good for us, I think. I have DT Alex Dosoo who looks to step up and be even better than Firebaugh, and I think I can get by with one star in the middle-though having them play side by side is awfully tempting. Boise City sends us back our old friend WR Wayman, and they get a stud DT in the deal. We'll use that early first rounder, hopefully to pick up a QB and focus on our immediate issue. I start with a 3yr, $20m offer to S Steve Frank, who has been a very good defensive leader for us. I make the identical offer to S Bubba Giles, who is not quite as good, but has been solid and is a local product. WR Matt McCaughey is looking for $8-9m a year, and I decide that with his apparent ratings, I'll let him sit a while. If I can pick him up for $6-7m/yr, I'll do it, but I'm so deep at WR, it's tough to justify past that. In week one, WR McCaughey gets no offers- a good sign, and what I had hoped for. S Bubba Giles has signed, but I'll have to keep bidding to get S Steve Frank. I up to a flat $7m per year, just outdoing Jacksonville's offer. He waits until week 6 before finally accepting my deal. Both my safeties are back, and I'm glad about that. WR McCaughey's demands are down to almost $7m, but he still has not elicited any interest elsewhere. I decide to wait a little longer. In week 8, the Jets put in a bid for him-about $7.5m per year. I decide that I do want to keep him, and so I put in a bid intended to do so-4yrs, $30m, which just outdoes the Jets, and would allow him to finish his career here, as I would prefer. In week 9, he takes my deal-everyone is happy. My cap room is down to $24m, which is a problem. I still have to re-sign several more players, including DE Paul Murphy, who is looking for big money. QB Fernando Hutton is almost out of the question at this point, but I do need to have someone play QB for this team. Right now, that projects to be last year's 4th rounder, Alonzo Donley. Donley's total experience in the NFL is one 4-yard completion. We get to week 11, and I get to look at the free agents available. I quickly put in an offer to G Billy Lohr-wow. He projects to 86/46/84, and he listens to a 3yr cheap deal. Great stuff. I'll keep an eye on 6th year G Brock Westbrook, who looks very solid, wants only $4m, has yet to receive any offers, and is from Air Force. At QB, there are two free agents who are interesting. The highest-rated player in free agency, according to my scout, is QB Henry Walsh-who played for me through 2012. He warmed the bench for Boise City last year, and now he's available and seeking about $10m. The next best guy is Shaun Barlow-who was in the mix last year, signed a one year deal with Green Bay, and started for them last year, with a decent season (88 passer rating). He's seeking about $11m a year. I wait a week, and suddenly QB Shaun Barlow is signed by San Diego. That leaves me with really only three options-stick with my guy Fernando Hutton (who wants a five year deal for $15/yr), go with my old guy Henry Walsh (who wants 2yrs for $10m/yr), or sit tight with my youngster and a couple of rookies. This is not easy. I click to advance one more week, and QB Walsh is snapped up by the Giants. So much for that dilemma. It's probably easy now-I look and see what I have after the draft, and then decide if it's necessary to make cuts to re-sign QB Hutton. G Lohr and P Booker both sign in week 14. In the final week, I put in an offer for a decent return man/cornerback from Colorado State, CB Benjamin Nixon. He signs, but it's a pretty costly deal for me-- $14.2m over 4 years. I also put in an offer to G Brock Westbrook (from Air Force) and get him for $11m over 3 years. Both guys will b contributors, and satisfy my home-state requirements, which is helpful. I head toward the draft with $15.8m in cap room. I also have a series of cuts in mind for after the draft-to make room for one or more young player re-signings. My own picks are #30 in each round, but I also hold the #13 in the first. I have clear needs at QB, but I may also be able to make better cuts based on the quality of rookies I'm able to bring in. CB is a need area, and DE will be if I cannot re-sign RFA Paul Murphy. I'm constantly in search of help at RB, and OT is another area where I could use a quality contributor. No shortage of positions needing attention. The draft looks pretty deep with quality DEs, and I'm hopeful that one of the top three or our might slip to my pick at #13, especially since QB looks pretty poor. When my pick is up, there are still two great-looking DEs available-a great bonus for us.
If things work out, this could be our best draft ever. DE Schumacher looks like a complete stud, T McElroy looks like he'll be my LT soon and for a long time. I'm very pleased to get a quality local product on the defensive line, and I feel I got good to great value with every single pick here. A potentially stellar rookie class. Seattle offers their backup QB and a late pick for DE Schumacher. The trade isn't awful (the QB is pretty decent) but I'm not about to walk away from Schumacher or all his bonus money. At this point, I have $5.4m in cap room. This leaves me a little bit of room to move, and I want to re-sign one or two players. I release WR Drew Bensen, who was a cheap FA pickup but is just depth chart filler on this team. That clears up $3.6m in cap room, which helps. G Archie Kimbrough also goes, which makes another big bump in cap room. C Antoine Moore is another easy cut-he was in the 4th year of his URFA contract. G Roderick Flannery also goes-he was aboard mostly because of his Colorado lineage. T Courtney Holliday also goes, just because I'm too deep on the OL already. DT Hardy Anthony is another casualty-also a hanger-on mostly since he was a Colorado player. After all this blood is shed, I'm up to $$25.5m in cap room. I decide to see what might be arranged with QB Hutton, whose asking price remains high, as he is seeking a long-term deal. He seeks 5yrs, $80m… and I have no luck getting him to even consider a one or two year deal. (Of course, that's where he'll end up this year if anywhere-a cheap one year deal somewhere) I decide that I simply cannot commit that king of money ($11m up front) to a guy who I do not believe to be "the answer." I hope this doesn't totally sacrifice this season, but I decide to let him go, and to use the youngsters I have on board already. This means I have the money to re-sign my others players, as I would like to. DE Paul Murphy comes back, and will give is a pretty fearsome DE for the present and future. FB Eddie Doyle returns for another three year extension-he's very solid. T Victor Upshaw-a local guy who boomed in last year's camp, will stick arounf for three more years as well. K Phil Wallis will return for two more seasons. LB Kent Crawford also signs for three more seasons, as he is starting to come into his own now. These signings leave us with $5.5m to bring in URFAs, which is necessary this year-I still have 3 empty roster slots. I'll focus on QB, LB, and a few other positions. Here is the extensive group that enters my training camp:
With anticipation about this year's rookie class, and some tiny hopes for a breakout at QB, I send everyone into camp. Heres' the scout's analysis on the other side.
Looking through my second year players first, everyone looks good. WR Sammy Kerr is going to be the real deal. G Leo Mitchell likewise. DT Alex Doso didn't reach his full potential yet, but he's still going to be great. S Nolan Stoffel is on his way to being very solid. QB Alonzo Donley made a nice step forward, and he's almost certain to be my starter now. Among the rookies, DE Schumacher looks great. His potential moved by a point or two, but he'll be tremendous. T Cole McElroy looks fine, as do all the rookies. I don't have any busts at all. Rookie QB Shaun Montgomery is going to be valuable-he's got very solid ratings (mostly 20-40) for a rookie, and he can play some immediately. My last draft pick LB Wilcox did not break out, but I'll definitely take the results that I have-no busts, and apparently my second straight fabulous draft. I make a few cuts, and get some trade offers. However, the one deal that I like doesn't pass the reality test, and I have to skip it. I'm also surprised that, apparently, someone signed my Western State TE Roderick Skipper. I had intended to bring him back, but he's no longer in the FA pool. Oh, well- I check and confirm that Philadelphia decided he was worth $900k this year. Go figure. Fortunately, I already have my backup plan signed. more to come... |
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01-03-2001, 10:26 AM
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#8 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2014 preseason, continued
I have 12 Colorado school grads on my team, and have all the position groups covered. A few are actually going to contribute-DT Thomas Flutie and G Brock Westbrook figure pretty heavily into my near-term plans. This year, it will once again all come down to QB play. If I get a typical "rookie" season out of my guy(s), and we throw 20+ interceptions and have less than 7 yards per attempt-it will hold this team back. However, if we get some poise out of our QB position, we could be good. This defense ought to keep us in a lot of games. |
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01-03-2001, 03:00 PM
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#9 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2014 season
I set the roster, with QB Alonzo Donley as our starter. At RB, I'll use Lorenzo Delrio as the chair of the committee, with rookie Sam Fontaine currently in the second slot, and Troy Hutchings in the third. Sammy Kerr will start as our flanker, and I'm going to continue with McCaughey as my starter at split end, though my scout ranked him as only my 5th best receiver. The defense looks fine-our DL depth is extraordinary. I do decide to use my third safety Nolan Stoffel as my #2 cornerback-he has much better skills than either of my candidates from within the position. CB Myron Van Pelt will carry return duties, with CB Benjamin Nixon also returning kicks. My worts preseason injury is rookie DE Schumacher, who will miss a month. No major loss for now. We head into the season, ready to test out the new backfield and lineups. My scout has these worries: Fairly concerned about starting quarterback Fairly concerned about starting strong-side linebacker Fairly concerned about starting kicker Fairly concerned about starting punter I can live with that-we'll see if he's right about my QB situation. I'm concerned too. My overall roster rating is at 82-which is 3rd highest. Cincinnati-who has won the last three titles- has slipped to 55. I know they had to pay to retain their starting QB in free agency, but they must have suffered some real losses. Atlanta and Chicago have the top ratings. Our opener is in Denver-the team who seems to have our number. They do it again, beating us 24-17 as we blow a second half lead again. Donley was shaky-completing only 18 of 43 passes, and having his one pick returned for a TD. Not a great start, but we can get past it. Our next game is in Oakland, and it goes from bad to worse. 38-13. Donley only throws 15 passes this game (we kept him under wraps this time) but two went to the other guys. We did get some nice production from RB Sam Fontaine (8-79, 2 TDs), but not much else to like here. Our third straight road game is another loss- as San Diego gets two FGs in the final 5 minutes to beat us 22-19. QB Donley had his best day yet, with 2 TDs, but we still are not really clicking on offense. Week four brings us up against Cincinnati. We had circled this game on our calendars as a rematch of the AFC championship game-but now that we're 0-3, it's more like a desperation game for us. The home crowd gets their money's worth, as it goes into OT at 31-31, but the Bengals get the game winning FG to take it. Donley throws for 299 yards, one TD, and no interceptions-we're making progress. We go into Chicago, and get thumped 34-7. It's now clear that this team is going nowhere. We'll get a week off, and then I'll make some changes to get the younger players some experience. This season looks to be a lost cause. I make a few changes-including putting Shaun Montgomery in as our QB starter, and Sam Fontaine in at RB. We'll find out if these guys can handle the real duties. Against Seattle, Shaun Montgomery leads a comeback to get us from down 21-0 to overtime at 24, but we lose it in the extra period. Montgomery throws for 341 yards and 3 TDs, and our offense played better than it has all year. We go into Minnesota, and we finally get a big win-39-9 over the Vikes. Montgomery is sharp again, the running game was pretty solid, and we made plays on defense. We lose another OT game in Kansas City-another comeback to tie, but falling short in the extra period. We get huge win at home, beating the 8-0 Packers 32-31. We got two return TDs, and Montgomery threw the game winner with 1:11 left. We win 24-14 over Seattle, to pull up to 3-7 on the season. Since we put in Montgomery at QB, we've gone 3-2, with both losses in overtime. His ratings aren't too hot, but his performance on the field certainly suggests that he'd got more going for him. We lose 16-9 to Denver, as Montgomery goes down injured. Donley comes in, and throws three interceptions-we gave up 16 points (including 3 FGs) but only 179 total yards. It's a game we should have won. Montgomery can probably play on his sprained ankle, and I keep him in as the starter. I bump Donley to #3, and put my other rookie Gerhardt in as the backup. Montgomery aggravates his ankle early against San Diego, and Gerhardt comes in. He is awful-11 of 34 for only 80 yards and 2 interceptions. We lose it 16-6, basically a replay of our dreadful game against Denver. Now, Montgomery is in doubt for the rest for the season. We win at home over Kansas City, as this time Donley gets hurt, and Gerhardt comes in to replace him. Delrio, back in as the starter at RB, has a good game and helps to lead us to the seesaw victory. Donley is now out, probably for the season. It's getting thin at QB for us now. I go back to Montgomery, who is back to probable-though I'm fearful that he'll get re-injured. The Jets beat us on a last-minute field goal, and we drop to 4-10 on the year. In Miami, the Dolphins beat us like a drum, and our defense has seemingly given up on the season. Oakland beats us in our finale, and we settle in at 4-12 on the year-last in the division, and a pretty awful showing overall.
Stat leaders: QB Shaun Montgomery: 1,911 yds, 56.6%, 6.08 ypa, 10/6, 77.2 QB Alonzo Donley: 1,139 yds, 52.5%, 6.50 ypa, 4/7, 63.9 RB Sam Fontaine: 158-914 yds, 7 TD (5.7 ypc) RB Lorenzo Delrio: 122-553 yds, 5 TD (4.5 ypc) WR Bo Wayman: 66-777 yds, 4 TD (55.0%, 10 drops) WR Matt McCaughey: 59-753 yds, 4 TD (50.8%, 4 drops) OL unit: ~32% KRBs, 43 sacks allowed KR Benjamin Nixon: 29.2 KR avg, 2 TD LB Dominic Barlow: 77 tackles, 4 sacks S Steve Frank: 85 tackles, 8 interceptions, 40.2 PDQ CB Kris Bush: 42 tackles, 6 int, 3 TD, 34.5 PDQ S Bubba Giles: 82 tackles, 6 int, 44.7 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 4.5 / 3.8 / 3.8 Passing: 5.9 / 6.5 / 6.7 Well, it could have been a lot worse. Our running game was fairly efficient, even though we once again did not have a single 100-yard rushing performance the entire season. We spread the wealth, kept our young guys fresh, and managed a decent overall figure there. However, our lack of a real passing game made it impossible to get rolling-Montgomery showed flashes, but overall his numbers were not too good. Defensively, we were basically average-I expected better. I think we need a major step up at LB. An undoubtedly tough year, but the silver lining is the draft pick I'll get for next year-a top-two pick, it seems (unless 2015 is an expansion year, I've forgotten). Oakland trips up Cincinati in the AFC Championship game, and then Chicago beats Oakland to win the championship. My CB Kris Bush is my only awardee-he gets first team honors for a good season. [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 01-03-2001).] |
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01-03-2001, 03:11 PM
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#10 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Incidentally, I am very glad to be having difficulties with this team, of both on-field and bottom-line varieties. I'm finding myself annually making a number of tough decisions, and I'm enjoying the fact that my team is not a year-in, year-out cinch to be one of the powerhouses. I'm a bit disappointed that my success seems to be so obviously QB-dependant, but it's at least more interesting to me than sitting back and watching the team dominate every year no matter how many mistakes I make.
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01-04-2001, 01:04 PM
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#11 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2015 preseason
The franchise suffered another $19m loss this year, as revenues were off nearly 10%, and I didn’t cut back in bonus signings as much as I had expected to. Two straight years solidly in the black, coupled with a very poor on-field performance, and we could be in for some grumbling. Our attendance was again about 10th, at 91.4%. The franchise value, however, continues to be very strong—tops in the league. I decide to pursue a new coach. Kelvin Newton ‘s contract with the Redskins is up, and he is tremendous. Only two areas as low as G, and almost everything else VG. I bid $8m, but I have no idea if that will even be close. It would be very costly, but I think it would be money well spent. I think I’d then go cheaper at scout if I got this guy. Well, it’s academic—he re-signs with Washington for 3 more years at nearly $12m per. I don’t find anyone else who makes me jump out of my seat, and so I’ll stick with my incumbent. I’ll keep my eyes peeled in 2018, though. We check Denver, who did not budge their ticket prices this year at all. We won’t either, though we could really use a revenue boost. Alas. We have one retirement, WR Matt McCaughey. I allowed him to start to the bitter end, but he clearly is no longer the player he once was. He hangs them up after a career which consistently saw his on-field production exceed his apparent ability—a good trait to have, of course. Here is my roster, as we head into free agency:
A much different situation for us this year—we have relatively few players heading to the open seas, and rather little money to spend to replace or re-sign them. Should be interesting. Actually, there isn’t anyone on the departing list who I will even make an early FA bid to retain, and among my RFAs, I could imagine keeping DT Perry Cook but probably nobody else (except possibly the Colorado guys). As I start the FA period, I get a trade offer straight from heaven. A 2nd round pick for QB Alonzo Donley. After last season, I’m pretty well ready to write off the apparently talented Donley as not being “a good fit” for this team. I get a fairly early second rounder from the Browns, and Donley is history. Easy call. I decline to make any bids on my free agents, and move pretty quickly to the second half of the FA period, when I can open my checkbook. I see a few intriguing QBs, and I again choose to play the waiting game. With my cap situation ($14.8 in room) I have to be cautious, and if I’m going to pursue anyone expensive, I’ll have to make cuts first. At the end of the line, I decide against a $10m investment in a mediocre QB, and decide to only pursue one FA—a cheap, young guard. After the FA period, I receive trade offers for QBs Gerhardt (4th rounder) and Montgomery (5th rounder). I pass on both—no need to push my luck. I hold pick #2 in this draft, through my team’s remarkable ineptitude last season. The Lions need DL help and a RB, and I’m hoping they go in one of those areas. I really wanted a stud QB here, but this draft comes up empty for me. My team’s biggest needs are at CB and LB, and I have a very high quality guy at each to choose from. I decide to go with the corner, and hope that I’ll still get a quality LB or two in this draft.
I’m very pleased with this draft, though had I known a quality CB like Hopper would fall so far, I probably would have take a stud LB with my top pick. Regardless, I did well here in position where I needed it, and if T Ignasiak (a pure redliner) breaks out, it might be even better than good. Regrettably, signing my draft picks puts me within $470,000 or my salary cap. Not so good for filling out the remaining 6 roster slots—I’ll need to make a cut or two. FG O.J. hammond goes, as does a more expensive player—DE Max Mathews. They clear up another $8m in cap space, which will certainly help us fill up the roster. Here is the group we take into camp:
I once again have a lot at stake, as I head into camp. If everyone comes through all right, I think I will have had another very strong draft. We head into camp…and come out with:
CB Carlton Taylor looks just fine, though he did lose a bit in zone defense. My other CB, Andre Hopper, dropped off a bit, but he’ll still be a very solid #3. LB Finley will be fine, as will my other high picks. Then, I look down the list a bit. Whoa. Tackle Joel Ignasiak, my sixth round pick as a redline hopeful, broke out in a very, very big way. His ratings (cur/pot) are now: 34/87, 34/91, 59—this guy is a monster. What a pickup—I had a very good feeling when I found him, but this is tremendous. Finally, I get a fabulous trade offer—a second round pick for my URFA RB Leland Lake. However, it doesn’t pass the reality check—because Cinti is too close to the salary cap. Ugh. We fill in as needed with a few local boys, and make the several necessary cuts, and head into the season with a set of 53 below:
For this year, I’m hoping that we take a step forward with QB play. Shaun Montgomery showed some signs of being decent last year, and I’ll be hoping that he continues that trend. My defense should be on its way toward being very good, and my OL as well. If the skill positions hold up their end of the deal, we should put last year’s debacle behind us. |
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01-04-2001, 03:27 PM
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#12 |
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Head Coach
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Colorado
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The reason your revenues were down is that folks here in Colorado Springs finally figured out that there are no black squirrels here, only brown ones.
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01-04-2001, 03:43 PM
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#13 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Well, it certainly possible that it would take them 15 years to figure that out.
Regardless, my team is named for the nearby Black Squirrel River-- the actual presence of any appropriate fauna is just gravy. - - - /Homerdrooling/ mmmm... squirrel gravy... |
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01-04-2001, 08:04 PM
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#14 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2015 season
I decide to leave all the run/pass splits as my scout has recommended (which I have done for the last several years). It’s a pretty run-heavy mix, probably fairly reflecting my offensive talents (or lack thereof). I even out the run percentages, splitting thing up pretty evenly, and I boost my screen passing—trying to reduce the errors of my QB. I don’t make any changes to my defensive setup, other than to reset it to using 100% 4-3 formation, which I prefer and have slanted my camp for. In my offensive formations, I decide to increase my use of the split formation more than usual—for no particular reason. At QB, my scout thinks Dole (a rookie) is ready to go, but I decide to start with Montgomery. I give Sam Fontaine the starting job at RB, and I’ll try to make a feature back out of him- giving him a 6 in PT. My starting wideouts will be Wayman and Kerr—I’m going to experiment with Kerr as a split end, though I may revert him back to the inside. My OL looks, candidly, the best it has ever been. Oddly, it’s my left tackle Senter who might be the weakest link—but he’s probably out next year anyway. DE Schumacher is probably the critical component in my defensive front—we’ll be counting on him to step up and deliver quality pass pressure. I decide to throw rookie LB Finley right into the mix, starting him in the weak side OLB slot. He’ll learn on the job, and it’s not a major sacrifice from the other placeholders I have available. In the secondary, I’m just too rich with talent. My scout says that Buba Giles ought to be my third safety, behind Nolan Stoffel. For now, I agree. Rookie Carlton Taylor will be the “second” corner for now, but in time, he’ll be a shut-down guy himself. The preseason is fairly cruel to us this year—we lose LB Dominic Barlow, out true anchor at probably our weakest position. He’ll miss 2-3 months—at least half the season. There’s nothing available through free agency, either—I’m just stuck with what I’ve got. Kent Crawford will move over and start in the middle this year—a major dropoff. Our roster rating is a 74—which puts us 4th overall. Chicago again is tops along with Atlanta, and New Orleans has sneaked in ahead of us. Our franchise value, incidentally, has plunged by about 20% since the beginning of the season to drop to third overall—but the trend seems to have hit everyone to some degree. My cohesion stands at 63-62-64-88, which certainly lays out the strength of this team in those terms. For our opener, we host Pittsburgh—a good team in 2013 who fell apart in 2014 (like us). We beat them 23-8 behind Sam Fontaine—who opens things up with a 72 yard rush early, adds another 27 yards TD later, and gets 136 and 2 TD on the day—our first 100-yard rushing day in over two seasons. It is a bit deceiving—he got 99 on two carries, and only 37 on his other 21 carries—but for now, we’re pleased. We go into Kansas City and get a dose of reality. Harsh reality. The 34-0 variety. They held us to… are you ready for this… 70 total yards. Four first downs. Ungodly. We only committee two turnovers—they just put the wood to us, and added 4 TD passes to go with the defensive strangulation. We come home to face Oakland, and our offense is again anemic—we lose 12-10. I consider making changes, but hold off… and they respond with a 36-14 pasting of Baltimore. I was delighted by the offensive explosion, until I checked and found that we scored 3 defensive TDs and 5 FGs. Our offense, despite the 2-2 record, simply isn’t getting it done. I decide to give my rookie QB Curtis Dole a shot to run this team. Regrettably, two more injuries have leveled our LB corps, and I don’t think we can continue to cover up for their weaknesses—it’s going to get bad. Dole gets to go into Oakland for his first start—the Raiders nipped us at our place before. This one isn’t that close—30-6 Oakland. Dole throws three interceptions and looks pretty poor. I’m stuck on what to do—the season isn’t lost quite yet, but I clearly don’t have a real answer here. I decide to give Dole another game. Sam Fontaine get a pair of TD runs, as we give the Colts a good scare, but they win in OT 20-17. Dole played passably, and Fontaine got a second decent game, going over 100 yards again. We host Denver in a grudge patch between two 2-4 rivals. The pummel us 24-6, and at 2-5, our season looks like it’s probably over. QB Curtis Dole is out with an injury, probably for the season—we’ll go with Montgomery from here on out. We make a few shuffles, putting the injured S Steve Frank into our third spot and starting Bubba Giles again. I also get Dominic Barlow back from his injury, and his addition will definitely help out a lot. I’m not sure we’re totally done—but at 2-5, we need to get rolling in a hurry, and we’re not really showing signs of doing that. We lose 33-6 in Atlanta, and QB Montgomery goes down with his own injury—bringing in Gerhardt, my third stringer. He is only bad (not awful) but we play poorly and lose soundly. WR Pete Atkins suffers a thumb injury that sidelines him for the season, and has already visibly crippled his ratings—not so good. A 34-24 loss to Carolina is followed by a merciful bye week. Portland comes in and beats us 15-13. Fontaine runs for 111 yards against Portland, but he’s really the only highlight. Seattle crushes us 28-7, though they really didn’t outgain us badly. Gerhardt, in again for an injured Montgomery, was poor. Next is 8-3 Kansas City, who so ably humiliated us last out. On our field, it’s closer—a 17-14 win for the Chiefs. We actually outgain them 358-329. Much better—and Gerhardt had possibly out best QB day of the season. San Diego is next, a 23-7 loss. Denver has gotten things into gear since we were both 2-5, as they are now 6-7. We extract a little revenge, beating them 26-24 in their home field. Fontaine led a solid running attack, and we played well to get two late FGs to win it. Our injury toll is adding up quickly, it’s time to put some guys down. We get a 27-24 win over Seattle, and push the Seahawks into the division basement at 3-12, a game back of our mighty 4-11 record. We wrap up by hosting San Diego, and we beat them, too. We end this awful season on a surprising little three-game winning streak—something to hang our hats on, I suppose. It’s the eight-game streak in the middle that hurt, though.
Stat leaders: QB Ron Gerhardt : 1,333 yds, 54.7%, 6.03 ypa, 5/5, 70.9 QB Shaun Montgomery: 858 yds, 54.2%, 5.60 ypa, 3/2, 71.7 QB Curtis Dole: 747 yds, 51.2%, 6.07 ypa, 3/5, 61.2 RB Sam Fontaine: 252-1,120 yds, 9 TD (4.4 ypc), 21 rec-122 yds, 1 TD WR Sammy Kerr: 58-789 yds, 3 TD (47.5%, 11 drops) OL unit: ~32% KRBs, 31 sacks allowed LB Kent Crawford: 80 tackles DE Lionel Schumacher: 14.5 sacks, 3 blocks, 5 hurries DE Paul Murphy: 10.5 sacks, 1 block, 3 hurries S Nolan Stoffel: 81 tackles, 1 sack, 4 int, 35.0 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.6 / 3.1 / 3.7 Passing: 5.9 / 6.6 / 6.8 Kansas City beats feared Cincinnati in the playoffs, but Oakland beats them to get to the Superbowl. It’s Oakland 31, Washington 10 in the big one—the Raiders again ride their mighty RB Stan Soto, though he did miss a large chunk of the year injured. We are totally shut out of the postseason awards. I had thought that DE Schumacher had a shot, but instead I see DT Josh Firebaugh for Boise State on the first team. Tough luck, but I knew I was giving up a stud in the deal—and it brought me my great DE Schumacher, so I have no real complaints. Not our best effort—we’ll have four or five teams ahead of us in the draft queue, it would appear. Our running game was slightly improved—though simply consolidating the former performances of two backs into one guy isn’t necessarily better. The passing game was clearly the problem—it’s all about the QB. Next year, we have genuine room for optimism, though. This defense is coming together in a big way, and we simply need to get adequate on offense to become a very good team. QB is the lynchpin, of course. My biggest concern is that my team is basically capped out already, and I’m not paying any money for a QB or RB… what am I going to do when I do have those guys? I think right now, I have a costly offensive line, but I won’t be able to pay for that privilege too long. We’ll see how it goes from here. |
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01-05-2001, 12:11 AM
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#15 |
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n00b
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Anthem, Arizona
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We seem to be in similar straights. My defense is also showing some talent and I have lots of pieces to work with but we continue to lose games. Is it just the QB or is there something else? My cohesion rates Very Good to the low end of Excellent but that may be skewed by expansion teams. Injuries are a big factor to be sure. At what point will futility cease to be fun? Thinking out loud and hoping your opponents don't continue to use Squirrel meat to make Road Kill Chili!
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01-05-2001, 07:20 AM
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#16 | |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Quote:
Beats me - I'm really enjoying having a team that can't shoot straight. At the asme time that we're losing money and losing lots of games, I also feel like we're rebuilding a potentially very good team-- I just need a new backfield, and I think we'll be better than ever (if I can hold them together). I'm really enjoying this career- lots of moving parts, and so far a lot of challenge. I've never had a team that under the same set of rules dropped from SB winner to 10-game loser... it seems much more realistic to me. |
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01-05-2001, 07:20 AM
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#17 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2016 pre-draft
Well our financial deficit lessened this year, from $19m the last two seasons to only $8m this year. I guess that’s progress. Ticket/suite revenue was down about 5%, probably reflecting our continued poor performance on the field. Sure enough, our attendance dipped to 86.2%-- to about 20th in the league. I fear my fans are getting a little bit fickle. In the front office, I again seek a new coach. I’m convinced that my current coach is in some part responsible for my current doldrums—even though he can’t play QB himself. My scout’s contract is also up for renewal—I’ll look for another, but I’ll probably stick with my familiar guy. I look around at both positions, but come up with nothing—and stick with my incumbents. My scout returns for the same $850,000 he made last season. I make some very small increases in ticket prices to match Denver’s – only a few clicks in each area. I think we’ll stay even in revenues this year, and hopefully we’ll improve on-field and boost attendance. We have no retirements this season, and our roster situation is detailed below, sorted by current salary, with FAs sorted by experience:
With $30+ million to spend, I’d like to focus on LB Barlow, DT Dosoo, and G Mitchell as my main guys to return. If I can swing it financially, I’ll try to retain DE Logan and perhaps TE Lake. Some of my local boys ought to remain available in the post-camp free agent market. If there is anything of quality in the FA market at QB, I will not be shy. I have the #5 draft pick, but don’t yet have any sense of what looks good in this year’s draft. I think I will be checking out the draft “preview” this season to help me plan my FA strategy. I get trade offers, including a second rounder for my QB Shaun Montgomery. It’s a tough call, as I feel he’s the best of my current bunch—but that really isn’t saying much. I decide that the draft pick is more valuable, and after verifying its “fairness” make the trade. Checking out the upcoming draft, it looks like the standout players are going to be at DE, RB, OT, and LB—but not QB. I figure I can get by, and I might take one of several good-current QBs in the fairly early rounds, but not in the first. I start with an $18.5m offer to LB Barlow—he has very high loyalty, and this is an offer around what he asked for, so I’m hopeful he’ll take it. I decide to put in a two year minsal bid of $1.2m/yr for my kicker Wallis. I loo around—there are a few good-looking QBs in this FA pool, but I target Ryan Thurgood as the most likely to slip through to me—he’s a 5th year player who has been a backup in Green Bay, throwing only 176 passes in his three years of action. K Phil Walls signs with me immediately. LB Barlow will be slightly tougher—he has one other offer, which is shorter and cheaper. In week two Barlow takes my offer, and he’s locked up. My other priorites—DT Dosoo and G Mitchell, are both restricted, and I can wait them out a while. In week three, QB Ryan Thurgood takes a new contract with Green Bay for nearly $16m a season, and I’m pretty well cooked. By the time week 11 rolls around, TE Lake and WR Perry have signed, and my DE Logan is still considering a hefty deal from Tampa Bay. At QB, the best guy left is Clarence Sheldon, who has played just enough with Chicago to demonstrate that he isn’t any good. I’ll keep an eye on an older guy Darrin Hoover, who has almost no playing experience, but might be affordable and okay. It certainly looks like I’ll be thinking QB in this draft again. I do re-sign my punter Booker to a one year deal for $1.25m. I decide to sit out a few interesting cheap FAs, but there aren’t any big-money guys who trickle into the late weeks for me this go-round. Late, I put in bids for DE Alvin Emmons and T Daryl Agrawall, both of whom will be relatively cheap and oughto to be solid backups. DE Emmons is likely to be very nearly as good as my departing former first round pick Logan, but he’ll play for about $3m, and Logan demand about $7-8m. Finally, I decide to knuckle under, and bring in my experiment—Darrin Hoover is a 9th year QB who has thrown 45 NFL passes. He does, however, have ratings in the 25-40 range across the board, and might be worth a shot. For under $3m a year, he seems to be worth the risk. I get another trade offer—another second rounder, this tie for QB Curtis Dole. This is also tempting, I could be building a huge foundation of young players here. I look at Dole, and decide that he probably isn’t likely to be my starter for this season, and decide to make the deal—giving me three second rounders in this draft—one of which HAS to be a QB at this point. |
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01-05-2001, 09:31 AM
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#18 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2016 draft and camp
In the draft, I hold the #5 pick, and I survey the top prospects. LB Raymond Coppola is the real deal-nearly maxed out everywhere, and ought to go very early. T Lenny Grenier also looks like a very early pick, as does T Walter Wong-I rank Wong slightly higher, but my scout disagrees. DE Wayne Grier is the bext at his position, and DEs tend to go early. CB Rodney Scarborough is a very strong CB, and QB Marty Alexander looks to be the best of that lot. I'd also add RB Preston Sarmiento to the short list for top draft picks. It's a decent group, and I'm assured of getting one of that list, of course. Personally, I'm not too thrilled about any of them. I'd love an anchor QB, but I'm not too high on Alexander, who ought to be the first taken. LB Coppola is probably the best player in the lot, and since I really am already rather strong at OT, he might be my preferred pick. In the opening picks, I am quite surprised-two QBs are drafted, but not Alexander. Both are "good current ratings, not so much potential" guys-the type that I was hoping to grab in a later round. This leaves me with my choice of most of my list-T Grenier and DE Grier are the other two early picks.
I exit the draft with 50 players and $12.8m to spend. I do have a few free agents who I'd like to re-sign, and I reach deals with G Leo Mitchell and DT Alex Dosoo-two of my better bullies for the trenches. That quickly brings us to only $1.3m left, but I want to sign some rookies, so I need to make cuts. I release T Bernie Senter, who was making $7.5m this year-that alone will clear the cap room I'll need. LB Jim Bates was on a URFA contract, and in year three those tend to get pretty tight-he's released. I fill in with quite a number of URFAs, and head toward training camp. Pre-camp, here's the squad:
I don't think that my top pick LB will bust, but there's always that chance-he doesn't seem to fit the "profile" but that only assures you of so much. I cross my fingers…
Rookie review looks okay. LB Coppola looks tremendous-a bullseye. My other early picks are unchanged. Actually, it looks like pretty much everyone is unchanged-which I'll take. I had breakout hopes for T C.J. Glover, and he did boost a bit, but probably not enough to make my roster. I get a trade offer-a 3rd rounder for T Victor Upshaw. He's a solid player, and a Colorado product, but it's a solid deal for us, and we can afford to lose him. After working the roster down to 53, we will take these players into the season:
I think that my entire defense and offensive line are really coming into a peak period-I hope that my skill players can pick up their end of this thing soon, and this team will be very solid. By next year, the additions to my LB corps will probably make that the strongest position on the team, where it was arguably the weakest only about two seasons ago. I'm better prepared for injuries to my defensive front this year than last, but it's partly at the expense of my OL, which is good, but pretty thin. This year, we'll hope that the veteran QB Hoover or the rookie QB Shannon can lead the offense productively, and that we can get out of this rut-having early draft picks is nice, but I'd rather win 12 games and pick 35th than lose 12 games and pick 5th. It seems the local fans would agree-- they're starting to stay away in droves. |
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01-05-2001, 10:14 AM
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#19 |
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I don't know if you noticed since you didn't mention it, but LB Tim Barnes blossomed from a 2/7 to a 3/11, sounds like a decent bloom there and I'm also encouraged by Shannon, he boosted from 5/10 to 6/11 and should probably see some playing timie, at least in this fans eyes
. I think he is the type of player that will probably see some modest growth in each season with playing time beyond the scope of his visible potentials. I'm intrigued by him. That and he's not the "super stud" QB that will make success feel cheap if the Squirrels do succeed.Good luck. |
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01-05-2001, 10:22 AM
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#20 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Thanks for the insights, TRO.
LB Tim Barnes is a pretty one-dimensional LB, with potential ratings of (85/23/34/36/36). I like run stoppers, and he certainly looks to fill the bill there as an after-draft pickup. I believe he had the sort of "mild breakout" that can go unnoticed (and did by me) where his lower ratings all jumped by 5-10 points or so. If he develops close to his potentials by next year, he could be a useful #5 LB. Since his salary escalates rapidly, I may not hold on to him for long. QB Darrell Shannon is probably worthy of a new extra notes-- he's probably the most talented QB we've had since de los Santos. Here are his ratings (by my scout): Screen: 30/56 Short: 16/41 Medium: 24/43 Long: 29/70 Deep: 33/60 Third Down: 89 Accuracy: 17/41 Power: 21/37 Scr Freq: 65 Carrying: 58 He is clealy not the "super-stud" type of QB that so many FOF dynasties are built around. However, I just seem to have been either too stubborn or unlucky to get such a guy in recent years, and so he's my strongest play right now. My intent is to play my veteran Hoover to start the season, but I'll use Shannon if things go badly, or we just sense that a shake up is appropriate. I fully expect him to play this year, at least a good portion. [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 01-05-2001).] |
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01-05-2001, 12:07 PM
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#21 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2016 season
I check around the rookie class after camp (which I do not often do) and I see that the QB I passed on in round one, Marty Alexander, took a step forward in training camp with the Broncos, after being picked #9 overall. I may well regret that move, especially if he ends up leading our nearest and most bitter rival to great things. It turns out that DE Wayne Grier, who went #3 in the draft, was a huge bust for Atlanta-tough luck. Wong (picked 7th) looks like one of the best OTs I have seen in FOF 2001-but I'm still pleased with my great LB. I put together my game plan, with most of my usual preferences. I'll use a lot of short to medium passes-those are a couple of QB Hoover's relative strengths (52 and 61, respectively). I'm very pleased with my LB group-I'll start Barlow at MLB, with my two young guns Finley and Coppola on the outside. Kent Crawford will be my main reserve-I'm very comfortable with that foursome. In my secondary, S Nolan Stoffel is now clearly my best safety, and I'll start him with Steve Frank, using Bubba Giles liberally as well. Both Frank and Giles are at the end of their contracts after this year-this might be challenging. At CB, Bush and Taylor both look great-I like what we're putting out on the field this season a lot-I set my double coverage tendencies to 30-my CBs can handle the pressure. In pre-season, Hoover and Shannon battle to a virtual standstill. Shannon seems more willing to take chances, and he had 4 TDs but 3 ints in the preseason. Hoover threw nearly as many passes, but only had 1 TD-but no interceptions. I decide to go with Hoover for now-he's safer, more composed, and might give us the best chance to let our defense games for us. Rookie WR McKeffrey is out for a couple months with an elbow ligament-we have a number of other dings, but nothing monumental. This year, my roster rating is 100, tied with Tennessee for the league tops. Interestingly, Denver has moved way up to 78, and is the next highest AFC team. Cincinnati is down to 40, and Chicago is at 47-those two have been brutes in recent years, we'll se if they can continue. My cohesion stands at 60-69-79-80-both defensive numbers place me about 10th in the league, and both offensive numbers are near the bottom, of course. Week one is Kansas City. Last year, in week 2, they humiliated us very badly. This time around, we actually beat the Chiefs 28-24. The score belies the fact that we didn't really play too well-they outgained us 399 to 193. A TD by safety Steve Frank made a huge difference, and we managed a win with a late goal-line stand. We go into San Diego next. Again, week 2 is our wake up call. 35-14 Chargers. Our running gam comes up empty again, and our defense just cannot stop these quality offenses-we give up 347 yards this time. We lose in Denver on an overtime FG, but give up nearly 500 yards to Denver. I'm not pleased with the offense thus far, and the defense has been a major disappointment in the early going. We're giving up 4.6 yards per rush, and 6.9 yards per pass-both way too high. Now unbeaten Seattle comes into town. I make a defensive adjustment-we are going completely man-to-man, and zeroing out the 2-deep zone which had been about 25% of our package. I also boost my blitz percentage to 65%, hoping to create a few more big plays. We need a spark of some kind, that much is for sure. A 27-3 loss at home to a good Seattle team is not very helpful, but we show some signs. We only allowed 240 yards of offense, and only 4.2 yards per offensive play. My running game, on the other hand, looks terrible-Fontaine has 12 carries for 1 yard. I decide it's time for the all-rookie backfield. QB Shannon will take over, and he'll hand it to Downs, who at least has some breakaway potential. Hosting Baltimore, we get a 16-13 victory. The running game gets a spark not from Downs, but from FB Eddie Doyle, who has 67 yards and a TD on 5 carries. Shannon throws two interceptions, but he also stands in and throws a late TD which made the difference. We head into Oakland, where the defending champs are only 2-3. They lost RB Stan Soto to free agency, and now have several highly-paid RBs who all have lousy ratings-a recipe for a quick turnaround. We lose 20-17, but not until Shannon guides a 2-TD fourth quarter rally. Admittedly our offense was very flat until that point, but he certainly gives it a go down the stretch-this guy has some Jake Plummer in him, it would seem. I decide to give my FB Doyle a great role carrying the ball, and boost his load to 70. He ought to be a more or less equal partner with Downs and Fontaine at this point. We host a 1-5 Dallas team and look for a nice win, but instead get a 20-3 loss. Dallas's rookie QB Edgar Sinclair (picked #4 overall) outshines my guy with 2 TD passes-Shannon only completes 7 of 27 attempts and has a Leaf-like 5 interceptions in the defeat. At 2-5, we are once again in peril of a lost season. I don't know what would be best for our present-QB Hoover or Shannon. I decide that Hoover is the better bet for right now, and put him back in. I also restore Fontaine to the top RB job, though it will be a RBBC deal. We go into Seattle, who is 7-1, and we hand then their second loss, 27-24. They led 21-0 with 2 minutes until halftime, but we rallied for a late second quarter TD, and turned it on in the second half. Hoover threw two third quarter TDs to Sammy Kerr, and we pushed the game into OT with a final minute FG. With only 3 seconds left in OT, we kicked the game winner-maybe the biggest win in our last two or three years. We next host Denver, and would really like to stick it to them on our field. It's not an embarrassment as we sought, but we win it 17-10. Their TD comes on an early fumble, but we hold them to 174 yards of total offense and take it pretty easily. Our RBBC system seems to be doing fairly well-Downs is the best guy this week, but they are taking turns. We're at 4-5, and not totally out of it yet. We visit the 4-5 Giants, and they punish us 28-7. They ran wild on us, with my old RB Lorenzo Delrio and my old QB Henry Walsh both playing pretty well. We next go to a very good Philadelphia team, and get paddled 47-22. They really didn't outplay us too badly, but they took advantage of our three turnovers and handled the game. Kansas City-a tough team last year- has totally fallen apart. As we go there, they are 0-11. Regrettably, they get their first win of the season against us, 19-11. Our offense is quite ineffective, and I'm frustrated enough to make some changes. I decide to go back to Shannon at QB, and see what he can do. This year is clearly gone, as we are 4-8. We win in Indy as DE Schumacher has 4 sacks, and everybody plays pretty well. We then lose at home to Oakland 31-13, as the Raiders seem to have us figured out. Sam Fontaine goes down with a season-ending (and possibly career-ending) injury, but Leland lake comes off the bench and gives us only our second 100-yard game of the year. He'll be my starter, probably for the rest of the way. New England comes in and gives us a nasty beating, 40-10. Shannon had 3 interceptions, but they just played on a higher level than we did. We go out with a whimper as San Diego comes in and kicks out butts 28-0 to wrap up another disappointing season. No real highlights from us, other than the fact that we only gave up 210 yards of total offense. Here's the league picture as the season wraps up:
Stat leaders: QB Darrin Hoover: 1,855 yds, 54.7%, 7.05 ypa, 9/10, 72.6 QB Darrell Shannon: 1,049 yds, 42.0%, 4.16 ypa, 5/18, 31.3 RB Sam Fontaine: 154-599 yds, 5 TD (3.8 ypc) WR Sammy Kerr: 60-958 yds, 5 TD (46.1%, 10 drops) OL unit: ~29% KRBs, 31 sacks allowed LB Dominic Barlow: 129 tackles, 6 sacks LB Raymond Coppola: 85 tacklses, ½ sack S Steve Frank: 88 tackles, 8 int, 1 TD, 44.3 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.4 / 3.9 / 3.8 Passing: 5.6 / 6.1 / 6.7 I must say that QB Shannon's performance transcended the usual rookie effort-he was downright horrible. Once again, our lack of a running threat hurt this team-I simply have to make a big move forward with one or both of those positions in next year's draft. I also believe that heads are going to roll in our front office-we have to bring in a new coach, damn the bottom line. I'm saving $20m by having a cheap coach, and $50m by having my fans sit at home since the team stinks. Something's gotta give. In the playoffs, it's the Jets and Rams who meet in the Superbowl. Cincinnati remains one of the top teams, but now instead of looking immortal in the playoffs, they are becoming a postseason pushover. The Rams win it 31-28 behind their QB Don Gerhart, the much-older (and better) brother to my third stringer Ron Gerhardt who is also the NFL first team QB. LB Dominic Barlow makes the all-pro first team squad for his lofty tackle totals, not surprisingly. Seattle's venerable RB Joey Dunn, in his 14th year, had one of his best seasons, earning first team and OPOY with 1,440 yards and pushing his career rushing total to 14,193-he's in striking distance of the record holder Riddick Wentworth, who retired in 2013. Incidentally, the record holder for receiving yardage is none other than my own Matt McCaughey, but he may be eclipsed next year by one of two guys who are creeping up on him. Regardless, he ought to be among our first team HOF inductees. |
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01-05-2001, 12:36 PM
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#22 |
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Grizzled Veteran
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Manchester, CT
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Dear Quiksand, GM
I have been a loyal season ticket holder for many season, but the recent front office decisions and on field performance has left a sour taste in my mouth. Enclosed you will find my remaining tickets for the home games left on this year's schedule. I have had enough of these "Black Squirrels" and my allegence will now be focused on your much more respectable neighbors, the Denver Broncos. I was very optimistic when your franchise decided to come to our fine town. Knowing your past success with teams (notibly, the Cleveland Browns, and later the Ohio Players) we here in Colorado Springs were "giddy" about having a championship caliber team to support. Obviously, this will not be the case. The years of De los Santos are long gone, and it seems you are determined to make sure he was the best QB to ever play in a Squirrels uniform, because you continually squander your first round picks on nameless defensive players, when it is clear this town needs a QB. I sincerely hope that you can turn your sorry excuse for a team around. When the most exciting thing about the Squirrels late season games is draft positioning, then I might come back and support the team. This past seasons QB debacle was clearly the last straw. Thank you and good luck to your predecessor, since you surely will not be rehired by the owner, Daniel Snyder IV, when your contract runs out. Sincerely, A former Black Squirrels fan
__________________
81-78 Cincinnati basketball writer P. Daugherty, "Connor Barwin playing several minutes against Syracuse is like kids with slingshots taking down Caesar's legions." |
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01-05-2001, 01:15 PM
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#23 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2017 pre-draft
Fortunately, there are no threatening messages in my inbox. After my last five seasons (combined record of 31-51) I wouldn't have been too surprised if the ownership had started its campaign of grumbling. It can't be too far off, in any case. It's an expansion year, which will depress the value of my draft picks but we'll suffer through it. The balance sheet slipped again-we lost $21m last year. Our scouting costs bumped up a bit (I though it was the same contract amount, but it appears not) and we laid out $49m in player bonus money-quite a lot for a team who doesn't do any real FA signings. I'm once again hopeful that we can get this turned around, but it needs to happen fairly soon. Our attendance was 82.6%, again about 25th in the league. We need to get that back up, and the obvious way is by winning some games. This is our first year of eligibility for a stadium improvement, but I don't think it makes any sense when we aren't even filling up the current seats. My coach, Raymond Manning, has been with us for six years. His main virtue is that he's been inexpensive, and doesn't have any huge weaknesses except in "discipline." I decide that he simply must go. and we need to bring in someone with a better set of game day skills. There are several candidate our there, but I decide to pursue Denver's coach, Lamar Mansell. He is only 49, but has coached nearly 100 games already in his career. I offer him $8.5m per year-about three times what I'm paying now to Manning. Denver moves quickly to lock up Mansell for about $10.5m, and I move to plan B. I put in a $4.5m offer to Emmanuel Neely, who is 56 but very solid. He takes the deal. Here is his summary: Good with most positions, except: Rec - EXC, DL - FAIR, P/K - EXC Young talent - VG Motivation - EXC Discipline: VG Off Play call: GOOD Def Play call: VG Avoid Injury: VG I think he should be fine for us-emphasis on defense, and no major liabilities with areas where we'll need to develop young players. Actually, $4.5m is a bargain for him-I was willing to spend as much as twice than to get the "right" guy, and this guy is pretty close. As it turns out, Raymond Manning gets hired by one of the expansion teams, the Fargo Hill Cats. (another example where the pre-programmed name works fine) Denver holds their ticket prices even, and therefore so do I. I really could use a boost, but it doesn't seem to be in the cards. I reaffirm my decision not to propose a stadium expansion. In the expansion draft, I'm fully prepared to lose two or three players. My only loss is DT Cahill, a former free agent who was getting up in price anyway. A solid free pass for us there. I get a staggering offer for T McElroy, but it doesn't pass the reality test. Same for RB Kyle Downs. No uch luck-each were first round picks, and would have been a total free ride. In the offseason, we had S Bubba Giles retire. He was a very capable safety, and from Colorado to boot. Fortunately, I'm well prepared for the loss, though it probably forces my hand to re-sign Steve Frank (which I likely would have done anyway). As I head toward free agency, the roster looks like this (sorted by salary):
This is a major decision year for us, as is obvious. I have a lot of older free agents, and deciding whether to keep them will be front and center. S Steve Frank will hopefully not demand too much in his twilight years, but he's a guy I need to bring back. WR Wayman will probably not be back, unless he is unwanted elsewhere. G Brock Westbrook is a Colorado guy, but I probably won't lay out the dough for his return either. CB Kris Bush is a tough call-he's been very good for us, but I now have some depth at CB, and he will likely demand very big money. That will be a tough call, but I suspect I'll at least put in an offer on him. DE Paul Murphy will probably price himself out of town. There are several of the RFAs who, if their prices come down enough, would be good re-signings as well. The demands just seem steep to me. With this cap, my thumbnail of 5% of the cap for a star player works out to a little bit over $8m. To spend much past that, I ought to be certain that the player is a foundation player-a cornerstone to what I want to do. I start with an offer of 3yrs, $37.6m to CB Kris Bush. It's a boatload of money, but he's a good place to spend it, I decide. I then offer 2yrs, $16.4m to S Steve Frank-another centerpiece player. I don't know if either one of these guys will be bid up higher than these offers, but I'm not sure my tolerance is a lot greater. WR Bo Wayman has caught one TD in the last two seasons-32 starts. I cannot give him $10m a year. I also decide to wait out DE Paul Murphy, who I may sign later if he comes down to earth. I may end up way under the cap this year, but that's better than overcommitting all my present and future money to guys who aren't worth the commitments. In week 1, Steve Frank re-signs immediately-just like his last deal. Jacksonville has barely outdone my offer to CB Bush, but I'm confident that his 91 loyalty will keep him with us. FB Eddie Doyle and WR Bo Wayman are receiving lucrative deals, neither of which is matchable from my end. In week 2, CB Kris Bush signs… with Indianapolis. They sneak in with a huge offer for about $14m a season, and sweep him off his feet. That hurts-I really did expect to get him back. I put in a token effort to get FB Eddie Doyle. I just submit the request he's making, though it's well below the other offers he is receiving. The next week he signs with Portland. LB Kent Crawford gets an $8m deal from New England, and G Billy Lohr signs with New Orleans for about $8m a year. In week 11, I check the free agents remaining, hoping for a QB to have fallen through the cracks. No such luck. William Hamilton, a 4th year player, is the best of the lot, but he's much the same guy as my old coot Hoover. With $54m in cap room, it looks like this is going to be a spendthrift season-which probably suits the ownership well. In week 18, Fargo signs my punter-further adding to my headaches in finding a Colorado guy for that job. I pursue cheap, young FAs-T Perry Reich, FB Wesley Hyde, and LB Don Willis. I'm also pleased to see WR Gus Irwin in the FA pool-he made little impact with Dallas as a rookie, but I'm hoping to give him a real shot on our squad-he looks like he has some potential to contribute. We bring him in for less than $5m a year, which might be a real value. This wraps up our free agent period-I still have over a fourth of my cap room available, and I expect that I'll have plenty of room left when we start the season. It will be tough having $25m in room and watching CB Kris Bush go and play for someone else over a measly million or two. I have the #9 pick in the draft, and I hold out no hope for forecasting what the dopes ahead of me might do. My hope was that I could grab an anchor QB here, but this draft is pretty empty. The guy I like best would be a reach in the early first round, but it's certainly possible that he goes ahead of my pick anyway--or that he drops to round three, who knows? |
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01-05-2001, 01:20 PM
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#24 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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Dear Mountaintop Mischief Maker,
The loyal Squirrel followers understand that we may need to break a few eggs to make an omelette here. This has meant a few difficult seasons of growing pains. They are behind us now. We, the management, guarantee a 10-win season, a playoff berth, and a title-caliber team within three seasons, or we will no longer plague this fine community with our wretched presence. Yours, QuikSand, GM p.s. enjoy the Broncos games... |
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01-05-2001, 01:33 PM
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#25 |
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Dear QuikSand, GM
I heard on the local radio sports talk show today that you were considering raising ticket prices. May I ask why? It seems that you're not trying to put a competitive team on the field. The few quality players you've had, you are not willing to pay them enough to keep them to stay. I don't think it is because you don't have the money. Daniel Snyder IV has loads of money, and from looking at the projected salaries for the upcoming year, it strikes me as odd that the 3rd string QB who wasn't even given an oppurtunity during last years cess pool called a season is the highest paid QB on the team. In closing, until you can learn how to spend your money better, don't ask the good folks of Colorado Springs for any more, definately don't expect mine. Sincerely, A converted Bronco Fan. PS My wife still likes your team because she likes your colors and thinks that Sammy Kerr is cute. (Sorry Marmel, don't mean to steal your idea, but I just thought it was great )[This message has been edited by TheRoyalOne (edited 01-05-2001).] |
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01-05-2001, 04:24 PM
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#26 |
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High School Varsity
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Richmond VA
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Marmel,
Great idea! I may have to use this in some of the other dynasties! ------------------ Just a few short weeks until spring training!
__________________
GO HOKIES!!! Running the Richmond Confederates of the FOBL into the ground since 2001. |
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01-05-2001, 05:01 PM
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#27 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2017 draft and camp
I'm none too thrilled by the prospects in this draft-I don't see anyone I really need with that very high pick I possess. The best looking players are at OT, and they go very quickly anyway. At #9, I suspect I'll have to make a reach pick. When my pick comes up, I really like DE Rick lock, but I am very leery of a bust-he seems to fit the profile a little too well. Thee are two QBs I consider, both of whom would probably step in and start right away. From the tone of the "mail" that's been coming in, I suspect that might be the best way to go. however, I decide that the QBs are really too much of a reach, and I move forward with my instinct-damn the bust worries, take the DE.
I take a gamble with Lock, but the first part of the gamble worked out already-I had seriously considered drafting QB Brenner with that selection, and instead got him in round 3. Getting Flowers (a similar QB) even later was gravy. I feel good about LB Gunn shooting off in training camp, which could top off a very good draft. If Lock holds and one of the QBs develops into my "answer," then it will have been a great draft. Here is the group I take into camp this year:
We have hope for our young players, including the QBs. I'm very nervous about DE Lock, who is anything but, in my eyes. I head into camp, quite nervous about the outcome:
Whew. DE Lock is okay, as is everyone else in the rookie class. Again, no surprises-no breakout from LB Gunn, as I had hoped for. But on the whole, a good rookie class again. My scout's assessment of both rookie QBs boosted a bit during camp, as they each had an incremental gain in their future ratings. I'm very pleased-I think we're on our way. URFA DT Corey Johnston did get a decent boost, and is now a respectable player-regrettably, I only have him signed for one year. Second year WR Marl McKeefry lost most of his growth potential, but he did admittedly sit out all of last season with injuries. He still should be solid, just not the star I had hoped for. Through a combination of many cuts, a few fill-in signings, and one trade, I get down to 53. The Bengals are interested in my young QB Shannon, who was such a mess last year. I'm sold on my two young guys, so I take the deal-knowing that they do know what they are doing. I only get a 6th round pick out of the exchange, but it does help clear space I head into the season with these 53 players:
I think this will be the typical "learning curve" year for a new star QB-typically about an even split of TDs to interceptions, but at least a few glimmers into a bright future. Brennan is clearly the guy most ready to start, and I expect he'll get the cal for opening day. However, between these two, I suspect that I'll find things work out just fine. We may not make a major leap forward this year, but the defense is a year better (save for the absence of CB Bush) and we ought to be very solid there. The OL is again strong, and our RB corps should be our usual. It again comes down to the QB, and I have my expectations set appropriately. |
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01-05-2001, 09:35 PM
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#28 |
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lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
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2017 season
I get everything set – no real surprises. I plan to go with Brennan at QB, and with Downs as my top RB for now. The RB situation could change over time—right now it’s Downs getting a 3 in PT. We’ll see how that evolves. I’m back to one corner on an island on defense—but Carlton Taylor looks great. In the D-line, Lock and Conaty will split time at LDE. We go through the exhibition season, and things look okay. The star of preseason was RB Kyle Downs, who had 330 yards in limited action through the four games—I could use that kind of production in the regular season now. We have a roster rating of 88, behind Tennessee’s 100. Cincinnati is back in place with an 81, and they continue to be a big threat in the AFC. Our franchise value is up to fourth overall. Our cohesion stands at 58-66-72-74, about the same as usual, but losing a couple of vets in the secondary dented us there. We open at home against Boise City—a game we ought to win. It’s an inauspicious start for us, as we lose 12-10, with our only TD coming on an interception by CB Benjamin Nixon. Week 2 is a loss at home to Denver, 20-14. Brennan looks pretty bad again—growing pains, I’m certainly hoping. In Seattle, we lose again 20-17, and I’m ready to hit the panic button. Brennan finally tosses a TD, but he’s in the hole 7-1, and I’m not thrilled by our offense’s “production.” After a bye week, we have a “players only” meeting. Safety Steve Frank, the team’s grand old man, is one of the talkers, and he is joined by DE Lionel Schumacher (our best player) and LB Dominic Barlow. The team commits to sticking together, and to “bring it home.” We head out into our fourth game against 3-1 Chicago, one of the league’s consistently good teams. We lose 27-17, but have a few things to take away—they only barely outgained us, and we only had one turnover. We go into New England and the Pats get to 4-1 by edging us 17-14. We’ve given two good teams tough games—now we have to step up and deliver. Brennan holds onto the job for now, and we head home to face San Diego. They are 1-4 coming in, and we finally get a win. We need a last minute tying FG, and then another FG in OT to win it 23-20, but we get the win. The elder team leaders say “mark it down.” We go into Fargo, and beat them 29-24. They rallied from way behind, but we held on to win it. Now, we take our two game streak up against Oakland, a good team at 5-2. They have converted to a passing team, and now have one of the more prolific air attacks. We beat the Raiders 12-11, as Brennan throws the winning pass with 4 minutes remaining. Next is our big game in Denver. I can see Marmel up in the stands, with his face painted blue and wearing an awful orange wig. Very classy, of course. We hand Denver a 28-21 loss, as my youngster Brennan outduels their guy Alexander, and rookie WR Ferderer has a breakout game with 155 yards and 2 TDs. We savor the win in Denver very deeply, and the fact that we’re up to 4-5 isn’t too bad either. On the road in San Diego, we lose our streak as we fall, 31-24. It’s not so bad, we just lost out in a fairly even game. We play KC next, and we crush them 34-0. Brennan again loves Ferderer, who catches all three TD passes. At 5-6, we’re still in the hunt for the big picture—only 2 games behind Oakland for the division title. We’re pretty healthy, with only a couple dings on the D-line. We head into our next home game, against 6-5 Seattle. We double them up, 38-19. Brennan got dinged in the second quarter, but old man Hoover came off the bench to throw 4 TD passes and lead our great second half. What a show from him! We hadn’t guessed that we’d be at .500 at any point this season when we stood at 0-5, but we’ve won six out of seven since that point. The old guys were right—“mark it down.” That win over a crappy San Diego team was our turning point, it would seem. Brennan is okay to go this week, and I leave him in as the starter. Hoover had a great game, but we’ve been on our roll with Brennan. We go into Pittsburgh, to face the 7-5 Steelers. As I had feared, they beat us 17-6, behind the running of their main man Stan Soto, the former Raider stalwart. Next we go into Oakland, with whatever thin hopes we have of winning the division in the balance. We lose a heartbreaker 34-30, but certainly put up a better fight. My QB Brennan throws for 4 TDs in an aerial shootout, but they edge us out and basically put us out of the playoff picture. We go into Kansas City, and come out with a 17-13 win. Steve frank has two interceptions, and CB/PR Benjamin Nixon brings it home with a 96-yard punt return TD in the late fourth quarter to make the difference. Our finale is a visit from 12-3 Minnesota—one of the league’s elite teams. They handle us 31-11, and close out a difficult season, but one that at least left us with a glimmer of hope. After a dreadful 0-3 start, we played two good teams close, then managed to finish 7-4. We think there’s hope for the future if we can keep that going.
Stat leaders: QB David Brennan: 2,979 yds, 54.5%, 6.29 ypa, 17/18, 69.8 RB Kyle Downs: 205-813 yds, 7 TD (3.9 ypc) WR Kris Ferderer: 76-1,115 yds, 12 TD (57.1%, 9 drops) OL unit: ~33% KRBs, 20 sacks allowed LB Dominic Barlow: 94 tackles, 3 sacks LB Raymond Coppola: 47 tackles, 7 sacks DE Lionel Schumacher: 7 sacks, 3 blocks, 5 hurries S Steve Frank: 89 tackles, 7 int, 41.2 PDQ S Lionel Stoffel: 93 tackles, 6 int, 45.2 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.3 / 3.6 / 3.8 Passing: 6.5 / 6.1 / 6.6 The team is on course for success, it would seem. Our passing game took a noticeable leap forward. Brennan started out 1/7 in TD to picks… by the end of the season he had very nearly evened the scales. That’s a good sign. The offensive line allowing only 20 sacks all year—unheard of, even with an offense that doesn’t keep the ball all day long. 20 sacks in 525 drop-backs is a ratio that you just can’t beat. On defense, we continue to be average—slightly better—but not as dominating a I had hoped for. I think I’m going to back off the blitzing next season, and try to just out-talent my opponents more effectively. In the playoffs, Cincinnati returns to the Superbowl for their first time in a while—they’ve missed three since they won three in a row. They face Minnesota, a very solid team this year. Cincinnati gets it this time, 17-13, to earn their 6th championship. Seattle RB Joey Dunn is again first team, and he’s now within 500 yards of the career record. Matt McCaughey still holds the receiving crown, but about 130 yards over one guy and about 250 over another—I’m hoping that they both retire this season. My two starting safeties are named side-by-side to the all-pro second team. They are my only honorees for this year’s team. I see that Boise’s DT Josh Firebaugh garners another first team award, and my former Colorado lineman T Victor Upshaw gets second team honors. Another season in the books, and we are hopeful that things are on their way. |
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