 |
01-18-2001, 05:54 PM
|
#1 | ||
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
Black Squirrels , 2030-2033
Sorry for the repetetive header...
I’m playing this career under a fairly lengthy series of house rules—trying to manage most of the game’s many areas fertile for abuse, and to simultaneously make the game: challenging, interesting, steerable, and realistic. Since the house rules are fairly rigorous, I’ve adopted the name “house arrest” for this system. 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 Then, the team’s downward path from 2012 through 2017 is detailed here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000116.html Then, the years from 2018-2021 are on this thread: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000122.html To see from 2022 through 2025 go here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000132.html And to get up to date, seasons from 2026 through 2029 are here: http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~fof/ubb/...ML/000139.html The short version of the rules I’m using follows: 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, including: -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 get one year deals, with one exception per year -One URFA per season gets a 7yr deal: x = rookie min, 2x, 4x, 4x, 4x, 4x, 4x No contract renegotiations, and no franchise tag – everybody we re-sign comes through the free market Full roster of 53 each season (no going cheap by leaving roster holes) Player from home state (Colorado) college at each position group at all times . . .I confess I have probably slipped up once of twice here, but I’m making an earnest effort Making effort to sign and hold Colorado players whenever practical I’m allowing some slack my Colorado school guys – re-signing after camp if nobody else wanted them No initiating trades – may only accept CPU trade after adjusting it (reality check) In short, the team is being almost exclusively built from within, with a few fill-in types from the late rounds of free agency. Once my players get past their first contracts, I compete on the open market to retain their services. Here is the short history of the team—the GM performance printout:
We have obviously had our ups and downs—keeping this team together has been difficult, but we’re getting at least passing grades there. Three AFC Championship games in the past four seasons is solid, but we’ve been unable to get past that hump—losing all three games. So far, I’m finding these rules to be a pretty effective and realistic mix—every season I’m facing tough choices, and obviously the team has had very realistic ups and downs. Two titles in 25+ seasons isn’t too impressive by open play standards, but I feel like the success I’ve gleaned from this franchise had been hard-earned. That is enjoyable. Financially, we are back making money (after several years in the red) but not so much that we can be too cavalier—my scouting and coaching costs remain a constant vigil. My team has had a few outstanding leaders, who look like they are reaching the twilight of their careers—or at least their careers with me. We’ve gone a long time without a genuinely early draft pick, and our team’s lack of superstar-caliber talent shows it. However, we do have talent, and this year we’ll be able to decide where this team is headed. The story continues below... |
||
|
|
|
01-18-2001, 05:56 PM
|
#2 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2030 pre-draft
The HOF inductees this year include QB Willie Simmons, who holds most of the records at the QB position in this league—he had 63,903 yards and 418 TDs. We have one retirement—LB Raymond Coppola. We drafted him as we needed an anchor LB, and he was just that for many years—he’s among the top 15 tacklers in league history with 1,144. He’s a likely inductee into the team HOF in three seasons. On our balance sheet—bad news. Our profits sunk dramatically, from $55m all the way down to about $16m. We had a drop in ticket revenues, presumably due to having only one home playoff game this season. Things are a little bit tighter now. We again had 100% attendance, so that side of things is fine. Our scout needs a new deal. He’s slipped in his ability to evaluate secondary players—like I hadn’t noticed. He also is only meriting a “fair” in young talent. I think I’ll look elsewhere. I put in an offer for George Buckley, a 61-year old guy who looks rather good almost everywhere—though his weakness is with RBs (one of the areas I need to draft this year, regrettably). My coach Lamar Evans is also due a new contract. He’s taken us to the playoffs regularly, but we have not yet made it to the Superbowl under his watch. I put in an extension offer for him. Coach Lamar Evans, Sr. takes my 5yr offer in the first week. My scout target Buckley is pending- but I have the high bid. He accepts after week two. We adjust ticket prices to match Denver’s. That should provide a little boost in revenues, but we’ll have to keep a close eye out. I ponder a stadium renovation—we could use a few more seats for the burgeoning Squirrel faithful. I propose a modest expansion—3300 more general seats, 3000 more club seats, and 35 more luxury boxes. Even this modest enhancement will cost $300,000—the club proposes to pick up half these costs, which should factor into our finances for a while. With LB Coppola retiring, we have a slot to fill in the starting lineup, but also have some additional cap room, as he was a highly-paid player. Here is my roster situation as we start the FA period:
We have nearly half of our cap free this year—it’s doubtless a pivotal season for this team. QB Loverne and T Ignasiak have been warriors for us, both foundation players over the last decade or more. Re-signins Ignasiak would be preferable for OL continuity, and he remains a very effective player. DE Artie Burroughs is solid, and he’s the best DE we have on hand. If we let both him and Feather go, we’ll be totally empty-handed. I practically am forced to retain one or the other—and Burroughs is the superior player. T Rodney Grebene would be a very nice player to keep, but I’m unsure how much commitment I can afford on my OL, especially when it’s a position that is fairly easy for me to acquire affordable young players in the later stages of free agency. LB Bernie Coleman is a very good player for us, and I cannot afford to let him walk away—though he will certainly be expensive. All in all, a lot of difficulties. If QB Tim Loverne is looking for top dollar, I’ll write him off—but if he isn’t, then things get even more complicated. I’d like to keep him around if I could get him for, say, $20m a year or so. My “5% rule” is that I prefer not to spend more than 5% of my salary cap for any player, unless he is of a particularly high caliber or are a truly critical component of the team. This year, that 5% amount equals about $11 million- I’ll watch myself in spending much over that amount. I offer 3yrs, $31.5m for T Ignasiak—knowing full well that he will not make it through three more years. I judge that to be a worthwhile investment. I put in 4yrs, $45m for LB Coleman. Finally, I put in 4yrs, $58m for my DE Burroughs. I check out Loverne, but he’s seeking about $30m a year. I decide not to put in a bid immediately, but if he falls, I’ll consider him later on. In the first week, the good news is that we don’t lose anyone. I’m top bidder for DE Burroughs, but I need to bump a little to be ahead for T Ignasiak and LB Coleman. QB Tim Loverne has five bidders, all around $28m a year—which I just don’t think we can do. He’s given us a bowl win and ten good years, but I think this is the end. I bump up Ignasiak’s deal to 3yrs, $39m—it’s a good deal for him—better than Denver’s 3yr offer. (The Broncos! Of course, the sniveling bastards!) As for LB Coleman, I feel like he’s essential to the team, so I put in 4yrs, $54m—but cannot even keep up with Atlanta’s positively absurd bid of 4yrs, $58.5m. I’ll just hope he’d prefer to stick around here. After week two, T Joel Ignasiak re-signs with us, and ought to wrap up his career here. I’m still the high pending offer for the other two guys I’m pursuing. Philadelphia has pushed the bidding for QB Loverne to over $30m a year. In week 3, Cinti just barely edges out by bid for LB Coleman, but we are still just pending. I decide that $150,000 can’t make the difference, and I’ll depend on his loyalty. My T Rodney Grebene is also getting mad offers-- $14/tr offers—and I don’t know if I can match that kind of money. He’s a stellar run blocker, but if I’m looking for a LT, I don’t know that he’s the best pass blocker for that job (94/50/48). LB Bernie Coleman re-signs with us in week 4. DE Burroughs is still pending. Green Bay, who only offered QB Tim Loverne $52m over 2yrs, signs my firmer star, and he has officially left the team. I adjust my offer to DE Artie Burroughs to 3yrs, $46m, in an attempt to loosen the logjam of offers to him. In week 7, he takes it, and he will return to us this season—to my delight and modest surprise. In week 8, T Rodney Grebene takes a deal for about $14m a year from Chicago, and he is gone also. The clock ticks, and I get into my open-hunting time, and start looking at what’s available for me. DE Brock Feather—my own free agent—is among the best-looking players available. In the later rounds, I recognize my impending troubles at DE, and I make a desperate move to grab a young guy. DE Jay Hancock was a part-time player last year as a rookie for KC, and got 6.5 sacks. Despite that, his strength seems to be run stopping, which is fine by me. I offer him 4yrs, $18m—more than he’s probably worth, but any port in a storm. I find nothing else to like in this FA pool, other than a couple more DEs at $4-5m a year. I’ll pass there. That wraps it up—I’ll have a boatload of cash handy for future signings, it seems—I have $65m in cap room right now, and we’ve practically nowhere to spend it all. I revisit Brock Feather, who is seeking a two year deal for about $20m. I decide to give in, especially with all this cash on hand. I offer him 4yrs, $40m—which gives me a reasonably-priced starter there until I have another good option. That’s the end of my FA efforts for the year—I could have kept QB Loverne, but it would have meant another $90m tied up in contracts, and we need to move on now. We have a lot of areas of need for this draft. CB is again on the list, and DE wouldn’t be bad either. I’ll need a RB or two to start this year, unless I decide to re-sign one of my young RFAs (which isn’t out of the question). An interesting off season, indeed. |
|
|
|
|
01-18-2001, 07:07 PM
|
#3 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2030 draft and camp
I this draft, my nominees for future greatness are mostly DTs and OL. I really find no major standouts—I’m glad I am not heavily invested in the early draft. It’s also a pitiful year for Colorado school players. Just a bummer, overall. For my first pick, I am decidedly unimpressed by the players available. Dreadful. DE Skip Howe is one-dimensional, just a pass-rusher, but we figure he can at least do that part well, and he is our reluctant first pick.
What an awful draft! Maybe it’s just my new scout, but these guys look awful! I’ll shop next season for a new scout, but these guys look no good to me at all. I decide to spend some of my money, and start with RB Ian Fackleman. He ran awfully well in the playoffs last year, and he’ll be my main back this season. I go into the URFA market, and stumble across a 5th round pick at QB, who was already released. I pick him up for the 3yr deal he requests—he’s pretty decent. I grab some more fill-in caliber players, really nothing too special. My special FA is a local LB Nathan McSherry, who has great endurance and low skills. I hold out slim hopes for a breakout from him. Here is my roster heading into training camp:
I am not too thrilled with this team, nor it’s rookie class. I hope they “show me something” in camp…
Was it a good camp? The expensive rookies look okay—nobody had a major bust. LB Brent Horton developed some growth potential but not enough to classify him as a major breakout player. All in all, a boring and disappointing draft, where we were hoping for a great year. Ugh. We again sell out the entire stadium for season tickets. On a related note, my stadium proposal was passed pretty overwhelmingly, with about 63% in favor. We will start building in 3 years. After we work down to 53, here is our roster:
I do not believe that this team is even close to as talented as my team from last season, and I strongly suspect we’ll have a dropoff. I feel very little confidence in my scout—everyone looked lousy in this draft, so I don’t know how I did overall. Anyway, we’ll hope to return to the playoffs, with young QB Fernando Stephenson finally taking the helm as our full-time starter. |
|
|
|
|
01-19-2001, 07:15 AM
|
#4 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2030 season
Nothing too unusual about my game plans. We’ll use RB Fackleman as our main ball carrier, with FB Pohl getting an 80 setting for his carries. I’ll be running behind my left side a lot, particularly behind LG Marc Cintron. OLB Coleman will again be my designated pass rusher from behind the line. I again have modest talent in my secondary, and will try to cover for that by increased training time—I put more time than usual into nickel coverage, and my secondary expertise shows it. Despite my expectations, my roster rating is 100 again, and this year the next best is a 60 for Portland. I hadn’t expected that—I actually feel as though my team is dramatically weakened from last year. Regardless, we have the number that says we’re in good shape. Our cohesion is at 72-89-65-83. T Joel Ignasiak, likely in his last season, suffers a serious knee injury and will be out for half the year. We bring in a rookie FA to fill his slot. At this point, I seriously wish I had coughed up the cash to hold on to free agent T Rodney Grebene, who would be very solid at LT compared to what we have in place now. We once again have home games stacked up in weeks 14-16—it might be a facet of having won the division, perhaps? Regardless, we like having late-season games at home. We open in Seattle. They hang a double-nickel on us, winning 55-23, as they handled us pretty convincingly. We lose another starting OL, as G Jermaine Joyner goes down with a knee, and he’ll miss a couple of months as well. We come back with a 32-20 win at home over KC, as we get a good running game going and take it to them. We win in San Diego 31-21, as WR Kris Rivers steps up with a very good day. We win 27-23 in Indianapolis, as we get the last 10 points in the fourth quarter to win it. We hit our bye week with a fairly long list of minor injuries, but our 3-1 record looks good after that opening game paddling from Seattle. We lose in Atlanta 30-24, and the Falcons go to 4-1 on the season. We head home to face Denver, but we’ll be without our top CB Terrance Brody, who is felled with a knee injury also. We get a 30-17 win, and reserve CB Ethan Patton gets a 69-yard int return for a TD that makes a big impact. We win again at home, 20-7 over San Diego. Our defense had its best game—allowing only 9 yards on 20 rushes, and only 169 yards total offense. At 5-2, we’re a game behind Seattle for the division—should be tough ahead. Miami is very solid, and they beat us 29-26 with a last-second FG. We drop two games behind Seattle. We go into KC, and lose another game, 33-25. Our fairly minor injuries are mounting—we have nine players listed as questionable or worse, and they are adding up. I make a “trade” at OT—Ignasiak comes back, but Norbert Wible must leave for the year. We do a lot of reshuffling, and it’s not pretty. We come back with a 34-24 win in St. Louis, much needed. Next, we host Seattle, who has slipped to 7-3. They are tied with Oakland, one game ahead of us. We edge them 31-28 to continue the Hawks’ spiral, and we get right back into the division picture—as Oakland lost, too. Now, we head into 4-7 Denver, and need a win there. We outclass the Broncos this year, but it’s a rivalry game, and anything can happen. In the fourth quarter, we’re driving for a go-ahead score, when they pick off Fernando and take it 89 yards for the sealing TD, and they win it 27-17. We drop to 7-5, and are in trouble. Hosting the Raiders, a win here is probably our last hope to stay in the picture. We’ve now lost MLB Donovan Moffitt for the year with a broken leg. We’re having trouble just holding together through these injuries. We take a 12-3 loss at home against Oakland, and slipping to 7-6 put us on the outside looking in. We get a win over Tennessee—the defending champions lost a lot of free agents, and have now tumbled to 6-8. Our 8-6 is now within a tiebreaker—we’re ranked 8th in the AFC right now, with two games to go. QB Fernando Stephenson throws three first quarter TDs against Carolina, and we go on to win it 37-10, to get to 9-6, and we are again within striking distance. We’re third of three teams tied for the final two playoff spots. It’s an odd situation that faces us as we wrap up, though. We play in Oakland for the finale. A win over the Raiders, and we’ll sneak away with the division title. Lose to them, and we will be out of the playoffs. It’s like out playoffs start a week early. We get a fairly lackluster offensive performance, and we lose in Oakland, 23-17 in overtime. With the loss, we slip to 9-7, and we’re out of the playoffs entirely.
Stat leaders: QB Fernando Stephenson: 3,610 yds, 56.8%, 7.27 ypa, 22/18, 78.7 RB Ian Fackleman: 166-675 yds, 10 TD (4.0 ypc) RB Karl Thompson: 97-440 yds, 4 TD (4.5 ypc) WR Kris Rivers: 88-1,242 yds, 8 TD (59.8%, 13 drops) WR Kris Ferderer: 71-957 yds, 6 TD (57.2%, 6 drops) TE Andre Geary: 45-484 yds, 1 TD (62.5%, 5 drops) OL unit: ~36% KRBs, 26 sacks allowed LD Bernie Coleman: 83 tackles, 2 sacks DE Artie Burroughs: 11 sacks, 8 hurries S Gerald Hardman: 65 tackles, 5 PD, 34.6 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.7 / 3.6 / 3.8 Passing: 7.2 / 7.5 / 7.6 How on earth did this team make it right into the playoff race? We were simply no good this year—and on paper our defense was better than average, yet we yield 369 points? The whole thing doesn’t make sense to me right now. What does make sense is the dawning reality—I had a “down” period on this team, and suffered through some bad years. I acquired a lot of young talent, and several of those great players formed a core that stayed through our good times. However, I cannot even remember the last true “stud” I drafted in the first round—maybe FB Brenden Pohl about 10 years ago. Without a consistent level of talent coming in, this “built-from-within” team looks like it’s on a downhill slide. And we need a new scout—this guy doesn’t like anyone. 2030 post-season notes Miami beats Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship game, for the right to play Minnesota, who edged Philly 9-7 in the NFC title game. These two teams won the Superbowl in 2026 (Minn) and 2027 (Miami) and now are looking for another. Miami comes away the 31-6 winners, with QB Marshall McDonald the nominal game MVP. McDonald was also the league MVOP for the season, despite being edged out for first team QB honors by Oakland’s B.J. Erickson. On my team, C Jerald Braxton had his third straight award-winning season, garnering first team laurels. He had 33 KRBs (39%) and allowed only one sack in 507 pass plays. He deserves the honors, it would seem. He is our only mention on the board, though. Incidentally, QB Tim Loverne had a very solid season in Green Bay. He threw for 3,318 yards and had a rating of 90.8—among the league leaders there. They went 9-7 on the season (like last year) but missed the playoffs (just like we did). Looking back, I think letting Loverne go was the right thing to do. The one thing I really wish I could reconsider would be letting RT Rodney Grebene go through free agency. I realize than $14m or so a year is a lot of money, but his absence was tough—and once T Ignasiak goes, we’re going to suddenly be very empty there. Alas, we look ahead to a new season, and probably more chances to spend a lot of money—we should have tons of cap room in the next few seasons. We’ll see if the opportunities present themselves to make something of it. [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 01-19-2001).] |
|
|
|
|
01-19-2001, 07:01 PM
|
#5 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2031 pre-draft
DT Josh Firebaugh made the league Hall of Fame, as expected, after five his years. Curiously, so did CB Lamar Borders, who played for 16 years, mostly in New England, but went out in a little blaze of glory putting up an all-pro season starting for us in 2026. We have one retirement in this off-season. As predicted, T Joel Ignasiak hangs up his cleats, after 16 seasons of service, nearly all of them starting for us at left tackle. He was a warrior, and an anchor for the line of many very good teams. In the “what could have been” file, store away the name Brenden Dye. He had some of the greatest seasons ever playing WR in Denver and catching passes from QB Marty Alexander. However, the salary cap (and some odd decisions in Denver) tore them apart, and Dye spent the rest of his career in Chicago, where he never quire reached those heights again. In 2021 and 2022, Dye had 2,086 and 1,978 yards, respectively—the two best seasons posted in this league’s history. This year, the team’s bottom line went south in a hurry. We made our first stadium payment—nearly $50m—and it quickly moved our bottom line to a $36m loss. However, it’s an investment in the fans and our future revenues—both of which are worth the money. Attendance was at 100% again, but I expect it might slip this year after the mediocre season. Both my scout and coach are under contract, but I want a new scout badly. I look around, and the guy I like best is my old friend William Humes. He is 63, but I still trust his judgment—he got us through our best years of talent acquisition. It takes me $1.45m a year, but I bring him aboard. I stick with Lamar Evans as my coach, and we’re good to go. As I begin the free agency period, I get a trade offer from Cheyenne—their fairly late 2nd round pick plus an old DE for RB Ian Fackleman. I don’t believe that Fackleman is going to be my long-term solution at RB, and so I decide to take the deal. I cut the DE they send me, who was making over $15m and got three sacks last season. Here is my roster situation as we begin free agency:
Among my free agents, S Gerald Hardman has been a lifer, and I’d like to keep him around. DT Edwim Grant has been solid for us, and be plays well up the middle—if he’s not ridiculous, I’ll hold on to him. C Jerald Braxton has pretty modest ratings, but the guy puts up great numbers—three straight all-pro selections. I expect to go after him, also. Nobody among my younger players stands out as a player I truly need to keep, which should give me money to spend if the opportunity is there. S Hardman is only seeking a one year deal, so I offer him $8.5m DT Edwin Grant wants—gulp—about $20m a season, and I decide that the only way I’ll pay anything like that will be to wait him out. I suspect he’ll be gone. C Jerald Braxton is requesting $12m a year—which also seems positively absurd. I have to spend my money somewhere, but I just don’t see these guys as cornerstone players of a great team. And they’re asking for money that suggests that to me. In week 1, S Hardman takes my offer, and comes back for another year. This will be his 14th season with us—he and WR Kris Ferderer are the only remaining links back to our last Superbowl victory, and he’ll probably wrap up his career here. DT Grant is getting offers of up to $22m a year—I expect he’ll sign soon. He remains pending until week 5, when he is joined on that list by C Jerald Braxton, who is getting offers of over $10m a year. I decide to push there, and I put in 4yrs, $43m for Braxton. In week 7, my LB Alvin Swain takes a $10m/yr deal, and RB Chris Banks is getting a $15m/yr offer—outrageous! DT Edwin Grant continues to wait on his offers, and in week 9, the other teams bust their cap, and his offer sheet is cleared out completely. I put in 4yrs, $54m in an effort to get in a little more cheaply, and he sits on that one, too. I get to week 11, and look around at what remains. I’m definitely in luck—5th year OT Roger Myers is in the FA pool, with no bids. My scout rates him 83/45/58—he’s roughly the same guy as my recently departed OT Rodney Grebene, and he could fill in quite well as a new starter. I put in the offer he seeks—4 yrs, just over $35m. I also see DT Herman Walton, who would make a pretty good replacement for Edwin Grant at a lower cost. I decide to watch him pretty closely, and I drop my offer to Grant for now. In week 13, OT Roger Myers takes our offer—good news, indeed. Both DTs Grant and Walton are still available. I decide to put in a bid for Edwin Grant—this time, it’s 4yrs, $53m. I also pursue a young DT, Chris Rivera, who is a pass-rushing specialist in the making. Both guys take my deals in week 14. In the final weeks, I sign C Vince Willis, a decent player from last year’s 5th round. I also re-sign a pair of RFAs—C Ben Torres and FB Antoine Prior. In the final week, I ponder a pretty solid CB Jesse Mastin. In limited duty over four years with the Bengals, he has a PDQ of 33.3 – not too awful. He had 3 TDs on interceptions last season, and my scout rates him at 74/64/54/46…32. I decide he’s worth a little flyer here, and I put up the offer he wants, 3yrs for $28m. I also put in for S Kendrick McPike, though I’m not sure I’ll end up keeping him. He gets 4yrs, about $10m. That wraps up our dabbles in free agency. Acquiring T Roger Myers is a significant addition, and if CB Mastin works out, he could be good as well. Surprisingly (or perhaps not so) my free agents bring my team to within $12.8m of the salary cap—we didn’t have quite as much extra room as we might have though we would, after all. The Jags give me a 6th round pick for C Nicky Vitale. The pick isn’t much, but we were going to be overflowing at C this year, and at least I get a replacement player now. With 42 players aboard, we have holes to fill, but should be okay in doing so. After some more contemplation, I have decided to adjust the salary that I will offer my one 7yr URFA each year—it will now be somewhat more modest, at x, 2x, 3x, 3x, 3x, 3x, 3x. The player will get more than minimum salary in the later years, but not quite double. I think that strikes a better balance than my current 4x plateau. This year, I’d love to grab an impact player at nearly any position, but my quest for a shut-down CB continues. I’d like to keep building on defense, and to have this team work out well from within. We have extra pick in rounds 2 and 6—with three fairly early picks, I’d like to make meaningful improvements to our team’ short and long term future. |
|
|
|
|
01-19-2001, 09:29 PM
|
#6 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2031 draft and camp
I have pick #21, which will probably not afford me a superstar player. Looking over the draft, I predict future stardom for WR Jeremy Waas, who looks spectacular, and an outstanding safety Burt Rhoades. The guy I covet most is CB Austin Tatum, a great pass defender out of Arizona. I give myself about 1% chance of seeing him, though. There are a few great local players—a terrific run-blocking OT Tommie Monroe from Air Force, and an excellent DE Bill Chamblin from Col State. I doubt I’ll end up with either one, but they are both very impressive players, and would make great second round picks. I’m taken aback as non of my top three go in the first ten picks, but then they all get snapped up in picks 12, 13, and 15. The Colorado State DE goes with pick 17, and when I come up, I face my usual conundrum—no idea where to go. I narrow down to a few guys: a very solid DE with 84/80/83 potential; the second-best corner in the draft with potentials of 81/64/80, and a very good-looking wide receiver with several skills already at 100. In the end, I decide to go with the player who I believe can make the biggest overall impact, and I take the DE, who I am lucky to see here.
It’s like the good old days—this draft seems to be just littered with great values, and we feel good all over. Maybe my scout is just a senile old dope, but I like what I see with these guys—I feel like I got great draft-day value in almost every round. Incidentally, since I have rookie being auto-signed, I see something I never have before—I am over the cap. I’ll make cuts anyway, but I had wondered what would happen if I went over. The answer: not much. Probably just can’t sign free agents. G Jermaine Joyner, DT Levon McCormick, CB Ethan Patton, and S Kendrick McPike all get the axe. I get a trade offer for T Norbert Wible, who was (until quite recently) my best tackle. I get a third round pick plus a pretty solid CB Corwin Hickman for him. Hickman is in the last year of his deal, but he looks to be pretty solid. These moves bring me down to 47 players, but then I re-sign S Rod Caston—who is a very solid return man and decent reserve safety. I then sign my one special free agent—FB Damon Hansen. He’ll be a pretty solid FB for us, and might be able to play some TE along the way, too. I grab a few additional promising rookies to fill things out, and we head toward camp, with exactly 53 players—just what I can afford.
We head into camp, feeling better about this draft than any since. . . well, since about 8 years ago when Humes was last my scout. Anyway, I’m pleased so far—and I hope that I don’t bust anywhere in camp…
Two out of three of my top rookies made it through fine—DE Meyer looks great, even better than during the draft. T Tommie Monroe also looks to be very, very solid in time. My second round CB Nolan Sims lost a bit—he’ll end up being another of my standard “mediocre” corners without genuine star-caliber cover skills. I get a bit of a pleasant surprise from late round pick WR Jeff Eberhart—he boosts a but in camp, and now looks like he may well be a starting-caliber player quite soon. He won’t be a superstar, but he ought to contribute. I get a trade offer for CB Ross Dodge—an overpriced DE and a second round pick. I take it, as I’ve gotten deeper at CB this year. I cut the DE, of course. Jacksonville, in turn, gives me a second round pick for DE Brock Feather, who was an under-market re-signing out of desperation. I’ll eat some cap next year, but it’s a good trade for us. I also get a third rounder for my third QB Tommy Knutson. I’m not thrilled by the idea of losing some depth there, but the pick is pretty tasty—I’m loading up in next year’s draft, it would seem. I admittedly made one error—I neglected to re-sign my punter, and now I have no Colorado player to use there. While it isn’t exactly a house rule to mandate a Colorado guy at both P and K, I feel like it’s not unreasonable to have them there. I’ll go with another guy (vastly more talented) for now, and I’ll fill the job with a local boy when I get the chance. Here’s our final 53:
I feel good about the team—and I’m starting to think that we may not have to slide as deeply as I had feared. I’m not trying to put too much pressure, but DE Brian Meyer might represent the new team that we are becoming. This year, I think we are still a potential playoff contender—we’ll see how much WR Kris Ferderer has left in his tank. He’s 1,023 yards behind the league record (held by Damon George, who was just this year inducted into the Hall of Fame). Regardless, we’ll try to build around a young team, and to establish a running game behind a line that is increasingly looking like it was built for a power ground game. |
|
|
|
|
01-19-2001, 10:56 PM
|
#7 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2031 season
The team setup has a few twists. My scout says that the rookie RB Sanderson is ready to start—we’ll plug him in at the top, but he’ll share time to start. I’ll continue to use FB Pohl as a power back. I have two rookies starting on the right side of my offensive line, but by next year—this line is going to be pretty seriously talented. Defensively, we didn’t lose much by dealing away DE Brock Feather—Skip Howe is ready to play this year, and rookie DE Brian Meyer waits in the wings. For right now, out CB tandem of Mastin and Hickman is the best we’ve had in years, at least on paper. We again have the dominant roster rating—Minnesota, San Diego, and Carolina are tied with a 58, for second best. Tennessee, Miami, and Cinti are close behind. Our cohesion levels are 81-69-84-79, and I’m surprised that my secondary rates that highly considering the new faces. However, having a 14-year veteran aboard certainly helps. We once again have our pattern schedule—three home games in weeks 14-16, then one road game to wrap up—it’s again in Oakland. We have a long road swing in the middle of this season—five games from weeks 6 through 10. That will be tough. After the exhibition season, we have a few injuries: LB Moffit, TE Geary, and G Freeman will all be hobbled for a few weeks. We ought to be okay. We open in Philadelphia, and they win 13-7, despite the fact that we outgained them 248-163. A tough defensive game (no turnovers either way), we just couldn’t cash in our chances. Now we’re home for Denver, and already in the hole. This goes much better—Fernando Stephenson throws 3 TDs as we roll our cross-state rivals 31-3. The running game picks up, too—we have 185 yards on the ground, as we get things going really well. Hosting Buffalo, we continue to roll—27-0. They total 33 yards on 17 rushes, and we outplay them across the board. We finish the home stand sweep by beating Seattle 24-17. They led 17-0 at the half, but we regained control and Fernando threw two fourth quarter TDs to get us on top. We get our bye week, and then embark on our 5-game road trip. We escape KC with a 31-28 win, as Patrick Sanderson has his first 100-yard day, and he gets a few key runs in OT to help set up the winning kick. Next we visit 4-1 San Diego, who has really improved this year. We get a 22-14 win, as Sanderson again barrels for 126 yards. In Seattle, our run stops as the Seahawks best us, 13-10. They really stopped our running game, and that held us in check the whole time. We continue the road swing in Dallas, where the Cowboys get to 8-1 with a 31-14 whipping of our Squirrels. They simply outplay us, behind their veteran QB Edgar Sinclair (who has been around the block with a few teams already). The final stop on the road tour is in Cincinnati, where we outgun them Bengals 41-24, mostly behind a remarkable 20 points in the game’s final 6 minutes. Going 3-2 on the road tour, we are now 6-3, and in a 3-way tie for the division lead. We host a co-leader San Diego this week. They score a last-minute TD to win it 28-24 in a thriller, and they regain the upper hand. We get another good game from RB Sanderson, who is looking pretty consistent for us. We lose 21-18 to Kansas City, as we let them dominate the middle of the game. Now, we are 6-5, and are in some trouble. And now, it’s Denver week. The Broncos are 3-6, and we ought to drill them easily. However, in a rivalry game, you know what they say. . . We get the win, 20-13, but it isn’t too easy. WR Kris Ferderer has another solid day, with 88 yards and a TD. Through 12 games, he has 763 yards, which puts him almost dead-on target for the career record. We need to keep him rolling down the stretch. We lose at home to Oakland, and our concerns worsen. QB Stephenson pays poorly, and our offense is lackluster all over again. Now, we host 10-3 Cheyenne. RB Sanderson is down for a few weeks, and RB Thompson has injured his tricep muscle—it’s serious, and his ratings are already dimished badly. He’s out for the year. Cheyenne comes in, and we fire on all cylinders, beating them 37-6. Stephenson is great, and he finds Ferderer for a 29-yard TD to give him 71 on the day. With two games left, Ferderer has 890 yards this season—he needs about 135 more to break the league record of 17,432 yards. We host Cleveland, and we are both at 8-6 on the year. They are actually leading the Central, while we are fighting for a wild card. We are one game behind the three wild card teams right now, so two wins to close the season may well get us in. We beat Cleveland 24-17, as Ferderer gets 53 yards. He will need 81 in his final game this year to break the league record. We’re in Oakland to wrap it up. Once again, there are playoff implications for both teams. Seattle is 11-4, Oakland is 10-5, and we are tied with San Diego at 9-6. All four teams are still alive for the playoffs, and a win here means we will certainly get in. If we lose, we’d need a lot of help. Oakland still has a shot to win the division and get the #2 seed behind Miami—but, they need to beat us to get there. The Raiders keep things under control, it’s a defensive game all the way, and they kick a tying FG with 15 seconds left, and then add the winner with only 1:28 remaining in OT. The Raiders do indeed get the division win, as Seattle lost in Washington, and slipped to the wild card slot. At 9-7, we slipped a game behind San Diego and Boise City, who get the final two spots. Adding to the heartbreak, Kris Ferderer gets only 69 yards, and will fall 11 yards short of the league record. I don’t expect that he’s got another season in him, so this is especially saddening.
Stat leaders: QB Fernando Stephenson: 3,682 yds, 59.8%, 6.51 ypa, 22/11, 83.9 RB Patrick Sanderson: 169-835yds, 7 TD (4.9 ypc) WR Kris Ferderer: 88-1,012 yds, 5 TD (63.3%, 9 drops) OL unit: ~31% KRBs, 44 sacks allowed LB Bernie Coleman: 98 tackles, 2 sacks LB Donovan Moffitt: 96 tackles, 2 sacks DE Artie Burroughs: 10.5 sacks, 5 blocks, 11 hurries S Gerald Hardman: 70 tackles, 6 int, 1 TD, 3 PD, 33.1 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.9 / 4.0 / 3.8 Passing: 6.5 / 6.2 / 6.6 Well, our defense started to come around, and our running game showed some signs of life. I’ve seen enough good things from Patrick Sanderson that I’m very hopeful that next year—with some development from him and our offensive line—we might be able to run genuinely well. That will make a real difference. On defense, the pass pressure is kicking up again, and our secondary played better. We’ll decide what to do at CB, but for now—things are on the right track. We would have preferred a couple more wins this season, but I think we’ll get better before we get worse, which I didn’t expect to be able to say at this point. Miami beats Oakland in the AFC championship game, but Minnesota loses to Cheyenne, preventing a SB rematch from last season. Instead, we get a 20-9 win for Miami over Cheyenne, as the Dolphins become the first team to repeat since the Bengals in 2011/12/13. This year, my only honoree is the very deserving G Marc Cintron. He’s the guy we like to run behind, and he posted 30 KRBs this year, as well as only yielding 5 sacks. He’s an anchor player up front, and we build our running schemes around him. We’ll see what more changes lie ahead for this team. It’s a contract year for QB Stephenson, and I won’t be able to hold onto him for the $15m that I’ve been paying him. We’ll see how it all adds up—I’ll take some cap hits from trades this year, also. Might be tough, but I expect that we have no choice but to hold on to Stephenson. |
|
|
|
|
01-19-2001, 11:00 PM
|
#8 |
|
|
Just thought I'd let you know, the 2002 expansion team in the World League Challenge was the Colorado Springs Black Squirrels.
Just thought I'd share  |
|
|
|
01-20-2001, 09:15 AM
|
#9 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2032 pre-draft
We have two retirements from the team this season. WR Kris Ferderer just came about one or two passes from breaking the league career record for receiving yards, and in my judgment is showing a lot of class by not sneakily extending his career just to get the mark. He already has the league TD mark, and he’s been a great tem asset for 14 seasons—he made the team’s biggest single play with “the score” that helped us win the 2020 AFC Championship game and get in for our SB win. S Gerald Hardman has been a very solid safety for 14 seasons, and managed to be a veteran anchor for our defense during some tough times. He never posted gaudy stats, but consistently put up good numbers—his departure will leave us with big shoes to fill patrolling the free safety position. In 2031, our team lost money on its own, and then with the addition of the stadium payment, we were $59m in the red. Not too good. The big increase, not surprisingly, was in the increased scouting costs. I cannot regret that, though, as Wm. Humes has regained our trust and has us back on course. I hope that once our addition is built, we’ll have a boost in revenues that accommodates our financial needs. My scout and coach are under contracts already. My scout is the second highest paid, my coach is near the bottom. I look for another coach—just idly searching around. I end up sitting tight with Lamar Evans. We head into the free agency period with this roster—sorted by cap salary this year, with free agents at the bottom:
I get a couple of trade offers, each of which make me think. I’m offered an early second rounder for DE Artie Burroughs. He’s my most expensive player, and his contract is due after this year. He had 87 sacks in 8 seasons, and it’s hard to say whether he is really a star player for us. We have young talent at DE coming up, and I might be able to do without this guy. I eventually decide against taking this trade, though it’s tempting—Burroughs has several good years ahead, and 11 sacks a year is not to be trifled with. I do make another trade, though—I get a 4th round pick for my FB Damon Hanson. He’s my special free agent from last year, and I already regretted selecting him there, since FB is such a replaceable position. I’m sure that we can do okay, and a 4th round pick for him is just fine by us. As for my free agents, we clearly will make a bid to retain QB Fernando Stephenson, though he has yet to post superstar numbers, he has solid ability and we can’t dramatically backtrack at that position. FB Brenden Pohl has been a stalwart, and deserves to come back—he’ll still be a featured player here. LB Donovan Moffitt has been very good for us, and we’d like to keep him—he has a few more high quality seasons left as well. G Marc Cintron is our line’s anchor, and we’ll bring him back. WR Kris Rivers is a tough call—a former first round pick (#10 overall) his ratings have declined so that they now average about 50 or so. He has been over 1,000 yards only once in his six seasons with us, despite starting for five years. Injuries and declining ability lead me to think generally that he is not worthy of a big contract extension. However, my alternatives aren’t that appealing—can we get by without an anchor wideout? DT Calvin Belin has been solid, but it’s a position where I just sunk money into Edwin Grant, and I don’t expect that we can keep running up the tab at DT. That’s about all I see happening here. If we re-sign QB Stephenson, FB Pohl, LB Moffitt, G Cintron and a few RFAs, we’ll go a sizable way toward spending our cache of cap room. I keep re-thinking the trade offer for DE Burroughs, and I’m increasingly inclined to take it. I decide (at long last) that this deal represents a trade off of the present for the future—Burroughs has only a few years left, and I’ll get a younger quality player for him, plus I’ll unload a $19m salary in the deal. I decide, after some thought, to accept the trade after all. It’s Cincinnati who offers up the deal—they may be in the midst of a rebuilding project, but don’t look like a major threat right away. I start by bidding 3yrs, $16.8m to FB Pohl. I don’t expect a lot of competition for my old veteran, but I want him to come back to us. For LB Moffitt, I put in 4yrs, $40m. G Cintron listens to 4yrs, $50m. QB Fernando Stephenson starts out pretty reasonable—I offer 4yrs, $134m, which is a bit less than I had expected to have to pay. I may get bid up on him (or others) but I have the flexibility to stay in there. WR Rivers and DT Belin are each seeking deals for $16-18m a year—I’ll sit back and wait. If either one drops significantly without bids, I may move in, but not at that price level. I decide to take a look at CB Corwin Hickman, who played pretty well for us last year after coming over in a trade. He’s not a superstar, but he is solid, and might fit in okay. He, of course, wants $16-20m a year, but I’ll keep an eye on him as well—if he goes unbid, I might move in later. In week one, FB Pohl re-signs, and nobody has already left to go elsewhere. Good, so far. G Marc Cintron gets $15m a year offers from Tennessee and Indy, and I feel as though he’s a “building block” type of player—I need to pay. I go up to 4yrs, $60m. I bump up my offer to LB Moffitt also, to try to stay with Tampa Bay’s deal. I’m slightly ahead in bidding for QB Stephenson, but there are other suitors. In week 2, Tampa Bay successfully lures LB Donovan Moffitt away from us, leaving a gap in our roster that will be tough to fill. I then sit, pending, for QB Stephenson and OG Cintron through week 5, with no movement. In week 6, Denver signs RB Chris Banks, my local reserve back, to a 2yr deal for $13m a year. Have fun with that—good luck getting more than 2.5 yards per carry from him. In week 7, QB Fernando Stephenson signs. . . and will return to the Squirrels for four more years. I’m relieved, but a little disturbed that he sat out there for so long. DE Calvin Belin’s lucrative bidders just went broke, and he is now unwanted. In week 8, G Marc Cintron takes our offer, and will return for four very expensive years with us. Simultaneously, out of the blue, WR Kris Rivers takes his first offer from San Francisco, and he’s a done deal there. We get to week 11, and check things out. There are a few quality players available, and I decide to make an effort to bring one or two in. There are about four decent CBs available—including “my guy” Hickman, so I decide to see if the prices will come down some. At LB (now a priority for a signing) I find a good run stopper from Miami, Barry Wynn. I offer him 3yrs, $24.5m. I also put in an offer for a solid young DE Shaun Morris. He gets 4yrs, $25.5m, and I’m glad to pay it—he looks like he’ll be pretty solid. My K Kerry Tatum gets bids from two other teams, and I outbid them for just a little over veteran minimum, and he comes back. In the final weeks, I consider G Freddie Thomas, who is in his sixth season, and has been pretty solid for Denver. He’s substantially better than young Kim Freeman, who I brought in last season, and he’ll cost me only about $6m a year. I give him the deal he seeks—3yrs, $17.1m. Then, I decide to put in for WR Irv Nafis, a 5th year wideout from St. Louis, who seems to be pretty talented, and played pretty well last season. I’ve been cleared out at WR, and adding a veteran body will probably be a help. I check out CB Tyrone Corbett (name sounds familiar – NBA?) and decide that his demands are not totally unreasonable. He’s got pretty good cover skills (60+, though low interceptions) and can also return both punts and kicks (65 each). He asks for an escalating contract—I may hold him for the first year or two and then let him go before it rides to $14m. I put in last-round bids for forgotten second year cheapies: T Rodney Griffith and T Herman Strand, both of whom are rather solid. Tackle is a deep position for us, but these guys are potentially very good fill-in players. Heading toward the draft, I anticipate that we’ll need help in several areas. WR is obvious—I do not have a single “star caliber” player there, probably for the first time in franchise history. I’m intrigued by second year man Jeff Eberhart, who will almost certainly start this year, but I see him as more of a complementary player than the playmaker himself. LB is another sudden need position—with the defection of Moffitt and the anticipated loss of Jeffrey Deal, we’ll need to get at least one rookie LB who can step in and contribute right away. As always, we remain vigilant for real help at CB or DE. |
|
|
|
|
01-20-2001, 11:00 AM
|
#10 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2032 draft and camp
If DT Martin Barrett doesn’t bust (which looks scarily possible) he will be an all-time great. He’s an absolute standout in this draft—a monster player. I don’t see any early-rounders from the Colorado schools, regrettably, except one good safety who might be good with a second round pick. Cincinnati trades up to get DT Martin Barrett at #1 overall—he might define that team for a while. After 20 picks, I have my eye on Hawaii WR Jeffrey Witt, who looks very solid. I just need him to slip to #25. My backup plan is CB Burt Halela (who sounds Hawaiian to me). Actually, I’d like to get both of them, but I don’t see it happening. My decision is made for me as SF selects Jeffrey Witt at #24—he’ll go and join my former wideout Kris Rivers in Ninerland. I’ll go with the decent-looking CB with a 100 potential in man-to-man coverage skills. If that holds up, he’ll be a great addition.
I am very, very glad to have Humes back as my scout. Maybe he is just in love with his players, but I enjoy the feeling that we are getting bargains throughout the draft. I started my “rebuilding” mindset last season, and accumulated a ton of picks here—and I’m happy with most of them. Having the extra picks also brings license to be a little experimental—to take a potential breakout star in round 2 (knowing that if he doesn’t break out, I threw away the pick), and to finally spend a fairly early pick at TE, a long-standing team weakness. Just adding my draft picks already bring me to 54 players, so I’ll have cutting to do, in large part just to make room. Kansas City offers me a TE and a 2nd rounder for my current LT Roger Myers, and while I think Myers is pretty good, I picked up two pretty decent tackles in this off-season, and feel like I can handle the loss. I’ll move my young guy Tommie Monroe over to LT this year, and we’ll rotate youngsters at RT, I suspect. This trade in particular clears up some cap room with which to sign some rookie prospects. After such a deep draft, I am not very aggressive in picking up URFAs for this year. I grab a couple rookies from local schools, and I think I’ll have my local contingent covered this year.
With this many rookies, this camp is obviously critical. I clearly am interested in the outcomes from my top picks, and I have a special interest in LB Ty Dillon, who was selected on speculation that he would have a great training camp for us. This is a moment of truth for him, and the others as well…
My top pick, CB Bart Halela, looks like he will be outstanding. The scout overview of 13 doesn’t do him justice, in my view—with 94 potential for man-to-man pass defense, he ought to do very well. My other top picks all look fine. LB Ty Dillon did not have the breakout we hoped for—instead, he developed very slightly, and will now be an overpaid second round pick who’s capable of playing as my #4 or #5 linebacker at most. Oh, well. DE Todd Marshall, a reach even when I picked him, now looks nearly worthless. However, my seventh round pick, LB Jumbo Everett, did break out in this camp. He’s now showing potentials around 60-75, and will be a contributor, it would seem. I accept a 4th round pick for CB Terrance Brody, a former first rounder who was one of a series of CB selections later exposed as being without any real talent. Getting a 4th round pick for him is just fine at this point. I get a big offer for RB Patrick Sanderson, but I decide against it—I feel he may be part of our “core” moving forward. We add one or two more Colorado guys, then get down to 53 for our final “cut.”
This year, we clearly bring in a huge infusion of young players. With veteran losses, we probably are not strictly moving forward. However, in one respect we do expect to improve. I feel that our running game may be better than in recent years, as our line is developing and our young RB Patrick Sanderson seems ready to spearhead the offense. Our LB corps is somewhat depleted, and we dealt away our best DE, but I believe that the defense will still be solid. This year, we expect to challenge for a playoff spot, and to continue to earn valuable experience for young players who will improve in time. |
|
|
|
|
01-20-2001, 01:58 PM
|
#11 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2032 season
Our team setup again is down the middle. We’ll use RB Sanderson as more of a feature back, giving him more playing time than anyone in a while. FB Pohl will still get some carries, but fewer than in recent years, as he declines in ability. We’ll us primarily 2 and 3 WR sets, but we’ll get our rookies into the mix fairly often. On defense, rookie LBs Jumbo Everett and Ty Dillon will each get playing time at the starting “sam” slot. Veterans Corbett and Mastin will start at CB, but our emerging young hopeful star Halela is waiting in the wings, and these older guys are really just placeholders. Our roster this year is still at 100, but our margin is all but gone. Tennesse is up to 94, and Cleveland is at 91. Oakland, my top rival for the division, has an 85. We’ve taken a beating with cohesion due to retirements and new faces, and our ratings are now 61-71-72-53. We managed, once again, to sell out the whole stadium in season ticket sales, so folks have not given up on us quite yet. In the preseason, RB Karl Thompson aggravates existing injuries, and he is lost for the year. I’ve also lost S Matthew Richard for the year. Two modest losses—we fill in, and move onward. We have a different schedule this year. We have a 40game road swing in the middle, and will end the season with two home games—a pleasant landing, hopefully. We open with Tennessee—one of the teams favored to compete with Miami this year for the AFC and league titles. Since the AFC has won 12 out of the last 15 Superbowls, the two are nearly the same competition. We win our opener 34-21, with a good game from Stephenson at QB. Our running game is poor, but we do get one breakaway run from backup RB Warren Lester. We win 24-17 in Seattle, as Warren Lester again leads the way with 90 yards and a TD, outshining his cousin Jorge Lester who is a RB for the Seahawks. We come home, and defeat Fargo 17-13. Rookie TE Burmester has 117 yards and a TD in the effort, leading the team. A 24-14 win at home over New England takes us to 4-0 on the season, as RB Patrick Sanderson finally breaks out with a good game—110 yards rushing and a TD each way. We win 24-14 in KC to stretch out to 5-0, getting our fastest start in many years. A 37-12 win in San Diego keeps things going, as QB Stephenson hits three oddball targets for TDs—FB Pohl, backup RB Lester, and backup TE Rondell Mayes. At 6-0 we square off against Oakland, with a shot to put them in real trouble. Oakland QB B.J. Erickson’s third TD pass in the early fourth quarter makes it a 28-12 lead, but we rally hard—Stephenson tosses two TD passes, and we tack on a FG with 37 seconds left to edge the Raiders 29-28 and stay undefeated. We go into Detroit, and survive a shootout, 45-33. Fernando Stephenson was ablaze, completing 28 of 37 for 339 yards, 4 TD and no interceptions. He’s among the very top league leaders at the halfway point—having by far his best season. We host Denver, who is 4-3 and in the larger running. They have their sights set on getting back into a division race, and beating us is the first step. Beating their in-state rivals would be bonus. We instead double them up, 34-17, as Fernando Stephenson is again very sharp, completing 80% with no interceptions. We go into Tampa next, and the Bucs give us a good game, but we win it 38-20. We get a great game from our offense, which is humming along better than we can remember. Standing at 10-0, we get our week off. We survive a real scare at home against San Diego. They trailed 7-3 as the third quarter ended, but they added two TDs to go ahead 17-7. It wasn’t a brilliant overall game, but our rally late to get two TD of our own and win it 17-14 kept the troops fired up, and gave the home crowd a lot to cheer about. The following week, home for Oakland, it comes to an end. The Raiders beat us 42-28. They got a punt return TD and an interception TD to keep pave, and then pulled away in the fourth quarter. We exit the game with an increased list of injuries, and are more concerned there than before. T Rodney Griffith has a badly broken leg—he may never play again. Our spin continues in Buffalo, as we lose 19-10. Their pass defense frustrated Stephenson all day, and we suffered through a difficult game. We now must go into Denver, who have largely folded up and are 6-7, but still will prove to be a tough out. Denver scores 25 points in the fourth quarter to tie us, and their momentum carries into the OT as they beat us 34-31. We’ve lost three in a row, and just about all our momentum. We’re still in position for the top seed in the AFC (with Miami curiously folding like a tent this year), but we’ll need to right the ship immediately. Hosting Seattle, we now have all bad luck. They beat us with a TD with 2 seconds remaining, and take the win 27-24. It was an even game, but they took advantage of us down the stretch, and we folded up. In our finale, we host Kansas City, and finally get a win, 44-13. We force 5 turnovers, and had good field position all day long. The 12-4 final record earns us the top seed in the AFC, but it would look a lot better if we had just lost a few game along the way, rather than having the embarassing period where we couldn’t beat anyone. Nonetheless, we get home field advantage, and will rest up for our first showdown.
Stat leaders: QB Fernando Stephenson: 4,421yds*, 62.3%, 7.67 ypa, 32/6, 100.1 RB Patrick Sanderson: 238-906 yds, 11 TD (3.8 ypc) WR Irv Nafis: 81-1,059 yds, 11 TD (65.8%, 10 drops) WR Jeff Eberhardt: 76-997 yds, 7 TD (58.0%, 9 drops) OL unit: ~33% KRBs, 34 sacks allowed LB Bernie Coleman: 115 tackles, 2 sacks DE Skip Howe: 12 sacks, 2 blocks, 5 hurries DE Brian Meyer: 11.5 sacks, 4 blocks, 1 hurry S Walt Moore: 65 tackles, 6 int, 1 TD, 32.1 PDQ S Corwin Negrete: 59 tackles, 5 int, 1 TD, 7 PD, 36.8 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.7 / 4.3 / 3.8 Passing: 7.6 / 7.5 / 6.7 This was a weird season. Our running game did not step forward as we had hoped, and our run and pass defenses were both substantially weaker than average. So, from this we would expect a down season. However, we put up pretty big numbers with our passing game, even with all new faces receiving the ball. We end up 12-4 and holding home field advantage for the playoffs. Our +11 turnover margin helped, but we were just more opportunistic than our opponents on average, and we won out. Regardless, we’re happy for the chance to play at home in the postseason, and we’ll see what this seemingly charmed team can accomplish in crunch time |
|
|
|
|
01-20-2001, 11:22 PM
|
#12 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2032 postseason
Tennessee, whom we best in our regular season opener, defeats Oakland and will be our opening opponent. They are not quite as explosive as in recent years under their old QB Flannery, but they will be solid again. WR Cornell Coles is a veteran carryover from their best seasons. DE Randall Phillips with 16 sacks this year, is their defensive leader, and safety Rico Anderson is their ace ball hawk. On their first possession, we have them bottled up well, forcing a punt after one first down. Stephenson gets two completions to get into their territory, but is then picked off by Florez at the Tennessee 22. At the outset of our next posession, Stephenson is nailed, and comes off on a stretcher. I have to send in Reado, who did not take a single snap all year. We make it to midfield, and punt them deep as the quarter expires. On our next possession, Sanderson fumbles and the Titans defender grabs it and takes it 35 yards for the TD, and it’s suddenly 7-0. We get the ball back, and w move it on the ground to midfield again. Our playcalling has shifted, and we seem committed to trying to run the ball almost exclusively. We pin them deep, our defense holds, and we take over at the Tenn 37. We have to punt them deep again, but we agin hold and take over at their 45. We cannot capitalize again, but they get a two-minute drill for a FG, and it’s 10-0 at the half. On our opening possession in the third quarter, we finally get going. Reado completes a few passes, and the running game kicks in, and we get Brenden Pohl into the end zone for a TD. We stuff them, get it back, and then punt them deep again. Our next possesion starts at the Tenn 40, as the third quarter winds down. We get to their 21, but Reado is intercepted to shut down the drive. However, as they face third down, we return the favor with an interception by rookie Negrete, and we take over at the Tenn 27, with 12:17 left. We get down to the 17, and instead of kicking on fourth and one, we go for it—Reado hits Nafis for 8 yards, and we’re alive. Two plays later, he hits Eberhardt, and we take our first lead, 14-10. On our next possession, Sanderson gets a47-yard carry to get us into position, and Pohl takes is 11 yards to put up the score. Our defense has the game sealed, and we get away with a 21-10 victory. The running game was intermittent, but the offense got it done well enough. We will face Boise City in the AFC Championship game. They had a late-season tumble like we did, but then came back to defeat Pittsburgh in their divisions game. The Timber Dogs use WR Rodney logan as their top weapon, and are dangerous in the air game. They are not a dominating team, but they are well disciplined, and do not make many mistakes. For us, the real good news is that QB Fernando Stephenson is ready to return, giving a needed boost to the offense. G Marc Cintron will try to play hurt, but he is seriously limited. On their opening possession, they make one of those rare mistakes, as we recover a fumble at their 42. Stephenson quickly moves us into place, and he hits Andrew for the TD to grab an early lead. Boise City gives up an interception next, and set us up—but we miss a FG attempt and fail to cash it in. The first quarter ends after a series of punts. With 2:05 left in the half, we add a FG after a short drive. We’ve done much more on offense, but have little to show for it. In the third quarter, we kick things off with an 80-yard TD drive, with Eberhart catching the score. We now look like we can run away with this game, and head into the Superbowl. Our defense is playing brilliantly. Just as I’m convinced they have no hope, they drive for a FG. Early in the fourth, we respond with another FG, and return this to a three-possession game for them. S Negrete gets an interception in our endzone to foil a drive, and we look to be in the clear. We get another interception, and tack on another TD when Sanderson rumbles 30 yards for the score. Boise gets a couple TDs in the closing minutes, and actually makes things interesting, but the final margin is 27-19. We’re going to the Superbowl—who’d have thunk it? Minnesota is the 12-4 team from the NFC, and they won their two home games to get here as well. Their QB Ellis Jordan is probably going to be the league MVP—he and Fernando Stephenson were 1-2 in most stat categories. WR Tracy Lucas is their go-to guy, and will probably be a first teamer as well. They play good defense, but are dinged up at LB—which may be our edge. We might be able to run on them. We don’t have a soul on our team who has been here—FB Brenden Pohl was our draft pick the year right after our last SB visit. It’s a new experience for these youngsters. . . We take over first, go three and out after an incomplete pass, and a short punt is returned to our 41. Our defense steps up, stuff them, and they punt. The back and forth of the first quarter—all on our side of the field—eventually sets them up for a 53-yardTD drive, and a 7-0 lead. Their next possession is another short TD drive, and they are up 14-0. With 5 minutes to go in the second quarter, we finally get some good field position, taking over at my own 45. Sanderson and Pohl lead the way, getting in deep and then Sanderson plunges in from 3 yards out—we’re on the board, and back in the game. It’s 14-7 at the half. Minnesota takes our opening kickoff of the second half 96 yards for a TD, and they re-establish their 14 point margin. After one failed possession, we get into scoring position, but take only a 20-yard FG. They respond with a deep drive, but get only a short FG of their own. It’s 24-10 in the early fourth quarter, and I feel that we need to score soon to make it a one big-play game. We can’t get moving and have to punt it away. Ellis Jordan takes the reins, and the Vikes march for another TD, sealing the deal, it would seem. There is some piffle at the end, but the final tally is Minnesota 34, Colorado Springs 16. Minnesota QB Ellis Jordan gets the superfecta of awards—MVP, SB MVP, OPOY, and first team. Fernando Stephenson gets second team QB—his first post season award. We have several first teamers—FB Brenden Pohl, G Marc Cintron, G Freddie Thomas, and T Tommie Monroe. LB Bernie Coleman, who held together our run defense, gets second team honors. I hadn’t anticipated a lot from this season, but we exceeded every expectation. Is this a team who can contend every year for a title? I don’t know, but we have a core of young players who should benefit from this season and the SB experience. |
|
|
|
|
01-21-2001, 09:16 AM
|
#13 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2033 pre-draft
Good news for Squirrel fans young and old. . . Renovations on your team's stadium have just been completed. The capacity of the stadium is now 70,000 and it has 175 luxury boxes. The league’s Hall of Fame adds two new names who played with the Squirrels. DE Lionel Schumacher was a longtime Black Squirrel, and gave us many of his best years as our defensive leader. He finished out his career in New Orleans, but remains one of our all-time greats—maybe the best pass rusher this team has ever had, ending up with 170.5 QB sacks. WR Preston Adderly spent a few seasons with us in the heart of his career. He got his start with the Minnesota Vikings, but played for a few different clubs en route to a very solid career with 13,460 yards receiving and 79 TDs. Our financial woes lightened a bit last season—we lost $43m, meaning that we would have made money had it not been for the remodeling costs. We were again among the five teams with perfect attendance—hopefully, we won’t have any trouble filling up our modest capacity increase. Again, we have our coach and scout under contract. I had intended to stick with old man William Humes until he hangs it up, but at 65 his judgment with defensive players is slipping. I decide to bring in a slightly younger guy—57 year old Dave Pietrzyk, who had been with Washington. His sole weakness is with defensive linemen, but I feel like my young contingent there is already blossoming. Coach Lamar Evans, of course, stays in place. We have one retirement in this off-season. FB Brenden Pohl has been an outstanding asset to this team, more than justifying the first round pick he costs us back in 2021. He was brought in as an outstanding lead blocker, but he soon outgrew that role and became a critical component of our running and receiving game. His career offensive numbers will certainly rival those of any FB in league history, and if there is an all-time team in this league’s Hall of Fame, Brenden Pohl should be its starting fullback. As we start out the free agency period, here is our roster situation:
Bringing back 41 players from the prior season means we have a shot to be more “intact” that most years. Among my free agent players, there really isn’t anyone who would be an imperative re-signing—and since none of my players are unrestricted, I will start the FA process without a single bid for anyone. Anyone who is reasonable might return, but I’d hazard a guess they will all be out of here. In this year’s FA market, there is a good deal of talent. I see one guy who really excites me—a second-year OG named Jeffrey Powell who looks genuinely outstanding (potentials of 84/56/66). I’m hoping he goes unbid until the second half of the process, when I can swoop in and go after him. I zip through the first ten weeks, and get into week 11 bidding. I start with an offer to G Jeffrey Powell, who is the best player (on paper) I’ve seen here in a while. There are two very nice tight ends who would be good additions as well, but I wait until the period is about to end. TE Norbert Drake is a very good receiver, and will probably allow us to re-open the 2TE formation in our offense, which has largely been discarded lately. I offer him 3yrs, $13.8m—a healthy deal, but a bit under market. I put in a bid for CB Johnny Sweeney, as I realize that my young CB players are not going to be quite what I had hoped from them, and I am again muddled in my secondary. That’s all for us—a fairly quiet free agent season for this team, which is fine. Curiously, I immediately get trade offers for the two free agent that I just procured in the open market. The trades won’t pass the “smell test” as far as I’m concerned anyway, but I thought it was odd to see. Fargo does offer me their early third round pick for RB Warren Lester, and I decide to accept it—he’s in the last year of his contract, and would be our backup this year regardless. Including that deal, we now have extra picks in rounds 2, 3, and 4 in this coming draft—another opportunity to grab a bunch of fairly productive young players toward our ongoing rebuilding project. I’ll be looking at CB, RB, LB, and FB—more or less in that order of importance. We’re always looking for a star player, though. . . [This message has been edited by QuikSand (edited 01-21-2001).] |
|
|
|
|
01-21-2001, 12:42 PM
|
#14 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2033 draft and camp
Curiously, the very top-rated player in this draft’s “consensus board” is a Colorado LB. However, as is often the case, my scout says that the consensus board of full of crap, and that this guy is a pretty mediocre talent—might be a nice second or third round pick, but not a first rounder. We’ll see if anyone grabs LB Allen Burk early—I’ve never seen an NFL draft where the “consensus #1 pick” dropped anywhere below, say, #5 or 6. My scout says that the real future star of this draft is LB Kirk Strader, from Cal-Davis, though he looks very symmetrical. QB Heath Testaverde (hmmm… lessee here, born in 2012, yeah, it could be Vinny’s kid) also looks like he’ll be a can’t miss prospect. His dad is already in this league’s HOF. In addition to LB Burk, there is a very, very good DT from Air Force who would be a great home-state addition, though he may go too early for my preferences (that’s already a solid position for us). Colorado WR Jason Battle ought to be an early pick as well. The Jets start the draft by taking Vinny’s kid with pick #1. Perfect. The Air Force DT and Colorado LB go 6-7 in the draft—so much for getting nice local sleepers there. As we get through 30 picks, LB Strader is still out there—he looks like a likely bust to me, but man, those 100s are tempting. LB Kelly Kennedy also looks great, and a little less symmetrical. Colorado WR Jason Battle is still on the board, too. All three players (the top two LBs and WR Battle) are available for my pick, and though I need a LB badly, I can’t pass up the local guy at wideout. I grab WR Battle, and hope that one of the LBs slips to my early second round pick. I’m rewarded for the riak—both LBs slip, and I grab Kennedy—the slightly less talented, but also less symmetrical of the two.
My draft acquisitions bring my roster to exactly 53, so any extra pickups will need to be offset with cuts. I get a trade offer for LB Bernie Coleman (my most senior player) but I still need him to anchor our defense. I also get an offer for WR Irv Nafis—and I decide to accept Philadelphia’s third round pick for the veteran receiver. He was fine for me last season, but I have a number of young receivers who are deserving of the top roles this season and beyond. I make LB Luke LeFavor (out of Air Force) my keeper URFA. He gets a 7yr deal worth $900k, $1.8m, and $2.7m in each successive year—with a $70k bonus (he insisted). He’ll probably be a washout (like his predecessors) but he looks like he’ll at least be a fair bottom-of-the-lineup guy to keep my local school requirement intact there. He shows very little growth potential—meaning that there is at least a slight chance he’ll break out in training camp, which would be outstanding. Here is the group that hits camp with us:
You can see how my new scout (who is better with DBs than Humes was) has significantly downgraded my younger guys there (Halela and Nagrete in particular). Regardless, this year’s draft class looks pretty good, and I think we can get some talent out of them. This camp will hopefully reveal that we’ve made some wise picks…
WR Jason Battle looks very good—an all-around talent. LB Kelly Kennedy held up fine, and still has three 100 potential ratings. Great. S Brian Hastings looks just as good now as before, another success. Everybody looks just fine—I am very pleased with this draft. RB Luke Lefavor didn’t show us anything, but he may become a local favorite. Among my URFAs, to my great surprise, I had a major breakout. WR Perry Thagcher exploded, and now looks like a first or second round draft pick. Of course, I only have him signed through this year, but he ought to be a guy we invest in—our young WR corps might just be this team’s strength in a very short time. Regrettably, the two young WRs I drafted last season don’t seem to have quite the upside that Humes thought for them, but they’ll still be pretty good. In the post-camp FA pool, I pick up another OT who can fill in at this suddenly weak position. We also add a local DT, Jamie Humes—no relation to our old scout. Fourth year QB K.C. Sawyer (from Col State) is available, but I decide not to go after him—he isn’t much better than my current backups, and he wasn’t about $4m for this year only. I finally get punter Doug Cunningham—the guy Cincinnati drafted out from under my nose, and I never lived it down. He’s in his 17th year now, but he still looks very good. He might be this league’s first HOF punter, and I’ll bring him aboard to finish his career here. Last year, I drafted LB Ty Dillon as a potential breakout player. He didn’t. This year, I accept a trade from NE, and cut my losses with the former hopeful—getting a third rounder in exchange. It’s not a terrible deal—but I’ll have to eat the bonus money next year. Here is our final roster of 53. I’m printing this in the “scout overview” version rather than the “traditional view” version, but am willing to change back if there is any interest…
Last year, we lowered our expectations, after we had a good deal of internal tumult—replacing departed veteran anchor players, etc. However, we emerged to go 11-0 and end up in the Superbowl. The conventional wisdom about the team is this: young QB Fernando Stephenson had been playing “in the shadow” of the team’s older, veteran stars—holdovers from the “Tim Loverne era.” Once guys like Kris Ferderer and Gerald Hardman left the team, Fernando was the undisputed team leader at last. Even through he had some unfamiliar faces to work with, he ended up posting a career year, and leading the team to previously unexpected heights. He is now seen as a potential pro bowler, rather than just the decent QB heading up a decent team. We’ll see if that’s true—with FB Pohl’s retirement, Fernando is now our most senior offensive player on the team, and he is clearly our field general. The switch in scout has left us reeling again, but our current guy seems to know what he is doing. Coming off a Superbowl appearance, the expectations are high—I’m not sure our team is that great on fundamentals, but we’ll try to live up to the hype. |
|
|
|
|
01-21-2001, 01:40 PM
|
#15 |
|
College Starter
Join Date: Oct 2000
|
How did Strader turn out? Just curious...
|
|
|
|
|
01-21-2001, 02:44 PM
|
#16 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
Thanks for the reminder, GB-- I had intended to go and check, but forgot.
Here is the guy I took, Kelly Kennedy (by my scout) at the end of the 2033 season: 65/100 64/100 62/100 46/75 60 (59 tackles, 4.5 sacks) And here is Kirk Strader, who went a few picks later to (of course) Cincinnati: 51/96 54/100 54/100 54/100 96 (58 tackles, 3 sacks in 14 games) - - - Of course, in retrospect, I would have taken Strader, who looks like a complete monster. Regardless, both guys look like they were tremendous bargains in the draft's second round. Cincinnati has been a remarkably consistent team in this career-- they have an overall winning percentage of .595 (a bit better than mine, incidentally) and are 6-2 in Superbowls. This guy Strader ought to help them regain that circumstance-- he ought to be very, very good. Incidentally, my scout is rated EXC with LBs, and VG with young talent-- I think he knows of what he speaks here. |
|
|
|
|
01-21-2001, 02:47 PM
|
#17 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2033 season
My game plan shifts a bit this year, as FB Pohl’s retirement means we will dramatically reduce the ball-carrying role of that position. Our starter, rookie Calvin Barba, will be used in a variety of ways, but more as a utility back than typical lead blocker. We’ll use a lot of one-back sets this season. WR Jason battle has won a starting job, and the two second year men will stay as our reserves for now. On defense, rookie LB Kally Nevvedy steps in immediately as a starter at the “willie” slot, and should get ample opportunity to rush the passer. At CB, Sweeney and Corbett will start, but we’ll work Mastin and Halela into the rotation as well—none are really any better than the rest. At safety, we will stick with Walt Moore and Corwin Negrete, though neither is as good on paper as Humes thought they were. We’re pretty solid—but a key guy this year may well be RB Patrick Sanderson. He’ll get more work than any back on this team in years, and we need more than 4 yards a carry from him to make the engines hum. We have a ton of early home games, and will be road warriors down the stretch this year. Our finale is our home stand against Denver—which could be an awful time to have a grudge rivalry game. We again dominate the roster ratings—Tennessee, Carolina and Detroit are next in the high 50s. Cohesion is again low, rated at 64-69-81-55. Out of pre-season, out most serious injury is to backup QB Weems, who will miss half the year. C Jerald Braxton is dinged, but we replace him for now without much ado. We host Oakland for our opener. The Raiders run for over 200 yards, and put a quick end to any thoughts of an early season undefeated run like last year—they beat us 38-24. We win 34-24 in Seattle to get back on our feet, with good efforts from our new TE Norbert Drake and backup RB Erik Walsh. We get things really rolling at home over KC, getting a 42-6 win behind 5 TD passes from Fernando Stephenson, who was positively brilliant. We continue our home winning with a thumping of Boise City, 44-18. Another 400+ yard day from our offense, which is humming right along now. Next we host 4-0 Atlanta. They get and a KO return TD and an interception TD in the first quarter, and go on to beat us 27-20. Our 3-2 record is okay, but we’re going to have to fight to win our division, which looks tough early. We take a big step in that direction, winning in San Diego 23-20 to pull a half game ahead of the Chargers. We then step back again, losing in KC 27-21, as the Chiefs get a punt return TD in overtime to win it. We lose another close game 17-14 in Buffalo, and drop to 4-4 on the year. Seattle visits, and we throttle them 40-19. Our offense again clicks overall, but it’s all about Fernando—whose 18-for-22 day made it all work. He’s using all his receivers this season, which depletes any one guy’s numbers, but makes us awfully difficult to defend. We then lose a tough home game 32-31 to Carolina. We got a lead with weird plays- a fumble recovery in the end zone, and a Rod Caston KO return TD, and led 17-9 with 15 minutes left. The late game flurry saw a ton of fourth quarter points and we allowed the final ten against us to lose it 32-31. At 5-5, we’re only one game behind the trio who lead the division, and Oakland hosts us next—this is our shot to get back into the race. Fernando throws 3 TDs to build up a lead that even our defense cannot give away—though they tried to. We hold on to win 37-31, after Oakland scores 14 in the fourth quarter. RB Patrick Sanderson has to sit for a few weeks with a foot injury, and rookie Walsh will take over. Now we host 7-4 San Diego, with a shot to nab another division foe. Despite 4 TD passes from Fernando, the Charges outscore us 21-3 in the second half to force overtime, and then carry their momentum over as they score on their opening OT drive. At 6-6, the division is rapidly falling out of reach. However, there are only 3 AFC teams who have better records than 7-5. If we cede the divisions to those three, then there are 3 wild cards up for the 10 teams who stand with either 7 or 6 wins—we’re right in the middle of that. And, we have two games ahead against lowly Denver, who stand at 1-11 so far. In Denver, the luster has worn off the rivalry a bit. We still hate them, but they haven’t been a factor for a number of seasons, and there isn’t any obvious cause for optimism—other than the certain high draft choice they will have next season. We pound them 43-16, leaving little to the imagination. We move to 7-6, and are alive on two fronts—we’re only a game behind Seattle and SD for our division, and we’re only a game behind the projected wild card teams also. My guess—if we win out, we’re in for sure, and if we can win 2 of 3, we’re about 50/50 to make it. We head into 10-3 Pittsburgh, our toughest remaining test. A huge game for us. With a 21-point second quarter, the Steelers lead to a 35-25 win, and dim our playoff hopes seriously. We still have a wil card prayer, but we absolutely must win our final two games. Visiting a similarly situated Rams team, we get our needed win, 31-3. RBs Walsh and Foley add up for 208 yards as we rumble past the Rams to claim an easy win. At 8-7, we will finish with Denver—and any chance of making the playoffs start with a win there. With one game left to play, we currently project as the #6 seed, with Indy, Tennessee, and San Diego losing out on the tiebreakers. If we beat Denver, we’ll move to 8-5 in the conference, which is tied with others for the top such record. I think it’s that simple—we win, we’re in. I hate having this kind of pressure in a Denver game. Marmel and his like are completely worked up over this game—if the Broncos can win this, the season will somehow be redeemed. They’ll have the #3 or 4 pick in the draft, but they will have brought down the hated Squirrels, which is worth a lot. It is, however, not to be. The Squirrels triumph 41-10, just outclassing the hapless Broncos. They pull within 16-10 in the early third quarter, but we hit another gear and bury them from that point onward. We finish the season at 9-7, and claim the AFC’s bottom playoff seed. We’ll travel to division champion Oakland to play our opener, and we’ll be road warriors for as far as we can go. San Diego and Miami are the losers of the tiebreaker for the last slot.
Stat leaders: QB Fernando Stephenson: 4,369 yds*, 60.4%, 7.67 ypa, 37*/10, 98.7 RB Patrick Sanderson: 169-582 yds, 9 TD (3.4 ypc) RB Erik Walsh: 156-546 yds, 6 TD (3.5 ypc) FB Calvin Barba: 65-240 yds, 2 TD (3.6 ypc) WR Jeff Eberhart: 73-936 yds, 6 TD (53.2%, 8 drops) WR Donnell Andrew: 45-853 yds, 11 TD (67.1%, 7 drops) PK Kerry Tatum: 29/36 FG, 56/57 PAT OL unit: ~31% KRBs, 37 sacks allowed LB Bernie Coleman: 108 tackles, 5 sacks LB Kelly Kennedy: 59 tackles, 4.5 sacks DE Skip Howe: 11 sacks, 3 blocks, 2 hurries DE Brian Meyer: 8 sacks, 4 blocks, 5 hurries DT Edwin Grant: 7.5 sacks, 2 blocks, 4 hurries S Walt Moore: 55 tackles, 7 int, 4 PD, 41.1 PDQ Overall stats (off/def/avg): Rushing: 3.6 / 4.1 / 3.8 Passing: 7.6 / 7.0 / 6.6 I had believed that our running game needed to “come along” this year for us to have any success. However, it seems as though Stephenson and his arm are really all we need—his 37 TDs is a franchise record (breaking his own record of 32 from last season), and the third-highest in league history. He has emerged into more than just a quality QB—he’s the heart and soul of what is possibly the best passing game in the league, and we’ve been able to cover for our other inadequacies. We’re not a great team, but we have pieces in place. |
|
|
|
|
01-21-2001, 06:53 PM
|
#18 |
|
lolzcat
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Annapolis, Md
|
2033 postseason
Oakland is led by their 12th year QB B.J. Erickson—a true star in this league. He has four straight 30+ TD seasons, and four straight 4,000+ yard seasons—each unprecedented in league history. He beat out Stephenson (my guy) for top honors last season (though I rather doubt he will this year). He benefits from an emerging superstar WR in Nate Dotson, who grabbed 112 catches for 1,748 yards this year. I don’t think we have the guns to stop either of these two guys. The over/under line is placed at 57, and we may well go past that. We get the ball first, and Caston takes the return to their 32, where we get a great start. A penalty kills the drive and pushes out of easy range, and we try a long FG, but miss it—squandered the chance. On the Raiders’ first play, their RB Stargell fumbled, and we take over at their 36. Stephenson hits Drake twice to move in, and then Andrew for the TD, and it’s 7-0. Oakland tries three running plays, and punts it back—odd choices on that side. Their next possession, Oakland discards the “run to set up pass” idea, and plays to their strength. Erickson goes 5 of 6 on the drive, and they march 88 yards on 8 plays for the score. After we can’t go, they get it back. . . and we intercept Erickson to set up great position again. We cannot advance, but we do add a FG to take a 3-point lead. They respond by going through the air again for a TD drive. Just before halftime, we add another FG, and it’s 14-13 at the break. We threaten them, but Stephenson is picked off at the Oakland 22, and our effort is thwarted. The third quarter is largely back and forth, with each defense bending but not breaking. They get into position for a long FG, and add 3 to take a 17-13 lead. After Oakland kicks off, they intercept Stephenson again, and get great position to extend their lead. Erickson gets his third TD pass, and they go ahead 24-13. The momentum has carried them on, and we’re washed out now. In the fourth they add another TD pass from Erickson, and the final margin is 34-20. The Raiders high-octane offense caught us cold, and they move on. Pittsburgh beats Oakland in the next round, and they go on to host surprising Seattle, who beat New England. The Steelers easily whip the Seahawks 41-16, and go into the Superbowl as favorites to beat the Falcons. Pittsburgh takes the win, 31-14, to get a title to match theirs from 2028. This team, however, is built on defense—particularly their two stellar CBs who allow the rest of the defense to bear down on the opposition without concern about pass coverage. My two veterans make the first team—QB Fernando Stephenson, and LB Bernie Coleman. Oakland’s two starting wideouts, young Nate Dotson and veteran Byron Torres, are the two first teamers at that position—you don’t see that too often. (sort of a Moss/Carter deal?) OT Rodney Grebene, with Chicago after we let him go a few years ago, makes the first team list. A bit of a disappointment overall, but we must be pleased with the offensive output from Stephenson and the passing game. Next year, we’ll see some more development from breakout WR Thagcher, and we’ll hope to look even better in that department. On defense, we still need help in the secondary, but we’ll probably unload a CB or two for next year for cap reasons—perhaps our younger guys are ready to step up and play well. |
|
|
|
 |
| Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | |
| Thread Tools | |
|
|
