Warrior General Games

Oceania AA#2 Title Game: Illesheim Krauts v. Tonga Thunderbirds

This title game has the makings of a special one. One team that most expected to be in this position against one team very few people believed could make it this far. One team riding a 19-game winning streak since being bounced from the playoffs in Season 4 against one team who literally needed a favorable Zeta draw just to get into the playoffs. The definition of David vs. Goliath. Will Tonga complete the perfect season in AA#2, etching their names beside the Melbourne Thorny Devils and the Molokai Lavastorm? Or will the Illesheim Krauts notch another surprising win, this one being the most surprising of all, in this "Year of the Upsets". Time will tell. The analysis of Illesheim v. Tonga, coming up next!
------------------------------------------------------------

Previous Meetings
Season 3, Week 16:http://goallineblitz.com/game/game.pl?game_id=60317.
Tonga won this meeting by the odd score of 38-5. Some may say that this is long ago and far away, but a surprising amount of the same cast is there from this first game, especially for Illesheim. Will Illesheim remember this game and vow payback, or will Tonga go to 2-0 lifetime against the Krauts?
------------------------------------------------------------

Analysis by Unit

Passing:
Tonga comes in with the 12th-ranked passing attack on the season: 4497 yards, 65.2% completion, 12.7 yards/completion, 46 TD, 9 INT, 4 sacks. Illesheim comes in with the 8th-ranked passing attack in the league: 5180 yards, 72.5% completion, 9.5 yards/completion, 35 TD, 9 INT, 15 sacks. Illesheim has the more prolific and accurate passing attack, while Tonga has shown a better propensity to strike gold in the passing game while protecting their quarterbacks very well. Given the strength of the Thunderbird rushing attack and the fact that they can put the pass with it this seamlessly, I'm giving a VERY slight edge to Tonga.
Edge: VERY slight edge-Tonga

Rushing:
Everyone knows about the fierce Thunderbird 2nd-ranked rushing attack: 4705 yards, 6.8 yards/carry, 88 TDs, 21 FF, 14 FL. The Illesheim 18th-ranked rushing attack isn't nearly as imposing: 2165.5 yards, 4.8 yards/carry, 44 TDs, 11 FF, 4 FL. Though Illesheim protects the football rather well, the Thunderbird offense can totally dominate a game just by pounding the football down an opponent's throats. Tonga doesn't have the league's 3rd-leading rusher and biggest TD threat for nothing. Tonga has a clear advantage here.
Edge: BIG edge-Tonga

Passing Defense:
This is the closest of any two statistics, by far. Tonga owns the 18th-ranked passing defense in the league: 243.8 yards/game, 15 TDs allowed. Illesheim coincidentally has the 19th-best passing defense in the league: 241.9 yards/game, 22 TDs allowed. On the surface, this appears to be a wash. However, teams have really focused on trying to exploit Tonga's pass defense as of late; some may call it the lesser of the two evils. Tonga's passing defense still remains solid, though, giving up 7 less defensive TDs than Illesheim. I'm going to go with Tonga's passing defense here, but it's fairly close.
Edge: Slight edge-Tonga

Rushing Defense:
Tonga has the clear advantage here with their 5th-ranked rushing defense: 58.5 yards/game, 8 TDs allowed. Illesheim's 16th-ranked rushing defense is no slouch on its own: 96.2 yards/game, 14 TDs. Tonga has the edge in TDs allowed by 6, and Tonga gives up nearly 40 yards less per game on the ground than the Krauts. However, the Krauts have faced far more of a rushing attack than the Thunderbirds have, and this weighs in their favor. In the end, I think the Thunderbirds have the edge here.
Edge: Edge-Tonga

Result:
In the end, I think Tonga just has too much firepower for the Krauts to contain. However, anything's possible when looking at Illesheim: they had to slay 2 giants to get here, and I have no doubts that they'll play without fear or abandon. However, I think the clock will strike midnight on Illesheim's Cinderella season; Tonga's undefeated season should culminate in a ticker-tape parade in Nuku'alofa.

Score Prediction:
Tonga-37
Illesheim-17
------------------------------------------------------------

As always, I don't mean any disrespect to Illesheim. I just roleplay an impartial sports reporter who just so happened to stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night! I also wanted to do something special before heading off to the pastures of AAA#1. Also, this might make up for not doing a Playoff Prediction thread before Week 15. It's truly been fun, gentlemen, and I hope you've enjoyed them as much as I've enjoyed bringing them to you.

Love these write ups man. It makes it exciting with some substance to chew on before the showdown. Good job.

Holiday Inn, lol.

I agree, love the write up, just wish my team was the focus of it during this week of the season.

Unfortunately Tonga Thunderbirds starting center won't be at the possible parade-He'll be too hungover from drinking all the alcohol from both the trophies.

I'll be happy if we can keep the gap down to your prediction of just 20 points!

The Krauts have been damn impressive tearing through the playoffs like they have so far but man, this one is going to be over before it begins. Congrats to both of you guys, though.

Good write up Chase, as always. Owner of the Year for sure!

As the OC for Tonga and having watched a lot of Illesheim film already, these guys are no slouches. I caution everyone from overlooking these guys. Trust me, I will not make that mistake!

Good luck in the finals

COME ON KRAUTS! Do it for Alpha.

Lets go Krauts!!!

Lov'n it.

Thanks collins.

ME

C'mon boys, let's dance . . .

T O N G A N.......S T Y L E !!!!


http://community.parisicommunity.com/kickapps/_Football-Haka-Dance/video/55048/5786.html?b=

Originally posted by Brian the Stunt Bum
The Krauts have been damn impressive tearing through the playoffs like they have so far but man, this one is going to be over before it begins. Congrats to both of you guys, though.

You are probably right. I believe the real league championship was won yesterday when Tonga defeated Christchurch.

This is going to be like Ali vs. a welterweight...a true mismatch. We have gotten by on brilliant game planning and some luck, but we'll need much more than that against Tonga. We are outmatched at every position on the field; it almost isn't even fair! I think collins was using humility and generosity when he predicted 37 - 17. It will be more of a blowout than the Christchurch game.

Originally posted by gatorfan
Originally posted by Brian the Stunt Bum

The Krauts have been damn impressive tearing through the playoffs like they have so far but man, this one is going to be over before it begins. Congrats to both of you guys, though.

You are probably right. I believe the real league championship was won yesterday when Tonga defeated Christchurch.

This is going to be like Ali vs. a welterweight...a true mismatch. We have gotten by on brilliant game planning and some luck, but we'll need much more than that against Tonga. We are outmatched at every position on the field; it almost isn't even fair! I think collins was using humility and generosity when he predicted 37 - 17. It will be more of a blowout than the Christchurch game.

I beg to differ......You guys do some things defensively that nobody else in Zeta does. It will be a good test.

Originally posted by IU Hoosier
Originally posted by gatorfan

Originally posted by Brian the Stunt Bum


The Krauts have been damn impressive tearing through the playoffs like they have so far but man, this one is going to be over before it begins. Congrats to both of you guys, though.

You are probably right. I believe the real league championship was won yesterday when Tonga defeated Christchurch.

This is going to be like Ali vs. a welterweight...a true mismatch. We have gotten by on brilliant game planning and some luck, but we'll need much more than that against Tonga. We are outmatched at every position on the field; it almost isn't even fair! I think collins was using humility and generosity when he predicted 37 - 17. It will be more of a blowout than the Christchurch game.

I beg to differ......You guys do some things defensively that nobody else in Zeta does. It will be a good test.

I appreciate the respect from the Krauts and others, and it means a lot to me that I own such a squad. But I agree with my OC here. To get to this point, you have to win 3 on your side of the conference when the chips are down, and Illesheim and Tonga were the only teams to do so. They've got our full respect coming tomorrow.

I think it'll be closer than the experts think, and probably closer than Tonga-Christchurch. I say that, because we forced a season-high (against non-gutted teams) 4 turnovers in each game against them, and without those turnovers, it would've been much closer. And the Krauts certainly know how to gameplan well: they've hit a #2-seed and #3-seed in the mouth to get here.

But I do appreciate the positive feedback from this thread, and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it as much as I did putting it out there.

Originally posted by cdcollins
Originally posted by IU Hoosier

Originally posted by gatorfan


Originally posted by Brian the Stunt Bum



The Krauts have been damn impressive tearing through the playoffs like they have so far but man, this one is going to be over before it begins. Congrats to both of you guys, though.

You are probably right. I believe the real league championship was won yesterday when Tonga defeated Christchurch.

This is going to be like Ali vs. a welterweight...a true mismatch. We have gotten by on brilliant game planning and some luck, but we'll need much more than that against Tonga. We are outmatched at every position on the field; it almost isn't even fair! I think collins was using humility and generosity when he predicted 37 - 17. It will be more of a blowout than the Christchurch game.

I beg to differ......You guys do some things defensively that nobody else in Zeta does. It will be a good test.

I appreciate the respect from the Krauts and others, and it means a lot to me that I own such a squad. But I agree with my OC here. To get to this point, you have to win 3 on your side of the conference when the chips are down, and Illesheim and Tonga were the only teams to do so. They've got our full respect coming tomorrow.

I think it'll be closer than the experts think, and probably closer than Tonga-Christchurch. I say that, because we forced a season-high (against non-gutted teams) 4 turnovers in each game against them, and without those turnovers, it would've been much closer. And the Krauts certainly know how to gameplan well: they've hit a #2-seed and #3-seed in the mouth to get here.

But I do appreciate the positive feedback from this thread, and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it as much as I did putting it out there.

Don't forget the Horsemen played you within 9 points in our playoff matchup and were leading in the first half. If the Krauts can play a game free of turnovers it is possible to get the upset.