Hello everyone! I am Jack Riley, Owner of the Williamsport Soul Reavers, currently stationed in Pac-Pro. It has been part of my routine for a very long time to do weekly write-ups for the league that I am in. This season it’s been a little less frequent due to a new addition to the family, but this week I decided to go outside of my own league and share my write-ups with other leagues. With that said, I chose a few games that I thought looked good and wrote some stuff down about them. Hope you enjoy them!
I try to make the assessment’s accurate based on previous games and tendencies, not having watched any of these teams this season, hopefully I was able to do that.
Eastern Conference
Acme Corporation @ Columbus Copperheads
Acme is coming into this game off of a rout victory but the last competitive game they played was against Adriatic Sea Wasps. In that game they displayed almost no evidence of an offense and their QB put the ball on the ground once for a turnover. In CC’s last game against Tulsa the Copperheads ran the ball very well compiling over 300 yards and 3 TDs. They did not turn the ball over and they passed for a whopping 4.5 yards on 1 attempt. They did have several missed tackles; however against a team that isn’t running the ball well I don’t necessarily see that as an issue. The keys to this game are simple; Acme can’t turn the ball over, needs to establish an offensive attack, and needs to shut down CC’s running game.
Prediction: Columbus Copperheads 35-13
Pittsburgh Apex Predators @ Adriatic Sea Wasps
This game has significant seeding implications, this could be the difference between which team(s) do or do not make the playoffs. Right now PAP is sitting on the outside looking in, the winner of this game will be sitting in the 8th seed and the loser will be sitting just outside the playoffs, for now. It’s hard to get a real read on them because they’ve lost several of their competitive games but they’ve won a few as well, the same can be said though for Adriatic. In PAP’s last game against CMM They shot themselves in the foot, with a limited passing attack and a turnover as well as a limited rushing attack, they just could not get enough going to score more than 10 points. Defensively, they’ve got to be a bit concerned about missed tackles. Amongst 9 combined players, they had 16 missed tackles last week, maybe that doesn’t seem like a lot…but would you still feel that way if I told you that 3 players combined for 10 missed tackles and on top of that one of their defensive linemen had 5 missed tackles himself? Part of me wonders if there’s too much of a focus on trying to force fumbles. In Adriatics last competitive game they played relatively well, though it took them 2 RBs to eclipse 100 total yards. They too have struggled with missed tackles; against Acme they had 29 missed tackles, and still found a way to limit Acme enough to beat them by 7. In this game, both of these teams need to do a better job at establishing and offense and making tackles; PAP needs to protect the football and not give this game away.
Prediction: Pittsburgh Apex Predators 14-13
Gaul Kaotix @ SWAT City Vigilantes
Gaul is having a good season but if there was one loss I’d call “ugly” it’d be their loss against PAP; In that game they allowed 5 Passing TDs, combined for RB’s for less than 50 yards rushing, and missed too many key tackles. Last week against Legacy’s while throwing two interceptions, they also forced 2 interceptions. They still didn’t have much of a running game but their passing game held them afloat. They did still have some issues with tackling but given that they were able to limit Legacy’s and overcome it, that could be promising in this game. To find a really close game for SCV I have to go all the way back to their game on the road in Tulsa. They won this game by forcing 3 interceptions & running the ball well. What they didn’t do well is tackle…seems like it’s a pattern for a lot of people these days. So what are the keys to the game? For Gaul, protect the football and run the ball well, take advantage of SCV’s propensity to miss tackles. For SCV, protect the football and limit the offense of Gaul, limit the missed tackles and don’t allow any splash plays because of missed tackles.
Prediction: SCV 21-14
Tulsa Storm @ Legacy’s Danbury Demons
Last week against Copperhead, Tulsa displayed an inability to stop the running game and an inability to establish much offensively themselves, even further back, against SCV they lost due to turning the ball over too often. They’ve only had a moderate number of missed tackles from week to week but if they’re turning the ball over, that’s still a problem. LDD did a good job getting the passing game going, except that twice their drives ended with game changing interceptions. They also did a fair job of establishing a running game, but timing is everything. The timing of interceptions and the existence of sacks hindered LDD’s ability to claim a victory. So in this game both of these teams need to find a way to establish their offense cleanly, in other words, keep the ball to yourself. The winner of this game is going to be the team that does not throw interceptions (or the team that throws the least).
Prediction: Tulsa Storm 20-17
Western Conference
OffTopica Miracle @ Merc’s Mercenaries (A.D.D)
For this matchup, I went all the way back to OTM’s matchup against MVZ; it was their worst game of the season, so I’m focusing on the things they can’t do in this game if they want to win. In that game they did a poor job passing the ball, less than 40 combined yards on 19 attempts, only 5 completions and an interception. Their running game however did a very good job of getting established. The problem was that so did MVZ’s and their passing game, while limited to 2 TDs and an Int, threw for 322.5 yards. The nearly 11 minutes of TOP difference in that game was huge. On top of that, OTM’s Kicker missed one of his two FG’s while MVZ successfully hit 5 FGs. So what do they need to change? Rushing the ball they don’t need to change anything, keep it going. Throwing the ball, this is a game they cannot afford to turn the ball over, they’ve got to stretch the field and keep the momentum in their favor. Defensively they’ve gotta limit both the rushing game and passing game; they don’t have to shut them down, they just can’t allow either area to explode on them. For MM honestly…they haven’t had a close game all season. So for them I went to their preseason game against Tulsa, in which they lost. In that game their passing attack was limited, they turned the ball over, their rushing attack while gaining yardage, did not score, and they had several missed tackles. Obviously being a preseason game, there probably isn’t much you can take from that. However, what it does suggest is that if OTM can limit their offensive attack and maybe come up with a lucky bounce or two, they could squeeze out a victory, as long as OTM takes care of the football as well.
Prediction: MM 45-17
I try to make the assessment’s accurate based on previous games and tendencies, not having watched any of these teams this season, hopefully I was able to do that.
Eastern Conference
Acme Corporation @ Columbus Copperheads
Acme is coming into this game off of a rout victory but the last competitive game they played was against Adriatic Sea Wasps. In that game they displayed almost no evidence of an offense and their QB put the ball on the ground once for a turnover. In CC’s last game against Tulsa the Copperheads ran the ball very well compiling over 300 yards and 3 TDs. They did not turn the ball over and they passed for a whopping 4.5 yards on 1 attempt. They did have several missed tackles; however against a team that isn’t running the ball well I don’t necessarily see that as an issue. The keys to this game are simple; Acme can’t turn the ball over, needs to establish an offensive attack, and needs to shut down CC’s running game.
Prediction: Columbus Copperheads 35-13
Pittsburgh Apex Predators @ Adriatic Sea Wasps
This game has significant seeding implications, this could be the difference between which team(s) do or do not make the playoffs. Right now PAP is sitting on the outside looking in, the winner of this game will be sitting in the 8th seed and the loser will be sitting just outside the playoffs, for now. It’s hard to get a real read on them because they’ve lost several of their competitive games but they’ve won a few as well, the same can be said though for Adriatic. In PAP’s last game against CMM They shot themselves in the foot, with a limited passing attack and a turnover as well as a limited rushing attack, they just could not get enough going to score more than 10 points. Defensively, they’ve got to be a bit concerned about missed tackles. Amongst 9 combined players, they had 16 missed tackles last week, maybe that doesn’t seem like a lot…but would you still feel that way if I told you that 3 players combined for 10 missed tackles and on top of that one of their defensive linemen had 5 missed tackles himself? Part of me wonders if there’s too much of a focus on trying to force fumbles. In Adriatics last competitive game they played relatively well, though it took them 2 RBs to eclipse 100 total yards. They too have struggled with missed tackles; against Acme they had 29 missed tackles, and still found a way to limit Acme enough to beat them by 7. In this game, both of these teams need to do a better job at establishing and offense and making tackles; PAP needs to protect the football and not give this game away.
Prediction: Pittsburgh Apex Predators 14-13
Gaul Kaotix @ SWAT City Vigilantes
Gaul is having a good season but if there was one loss I’d call “ugly” it’d be their loss against PAP; In that game they allowed 5 Passing TDs, combined for RB’s for less than 50 yards rushing, and missed too many key tackles. Last week against Legacy’s while throwing two interceptions, they also forced 2 interceptions. They still didn’t have much of a running game but their passing game held them afloat. They did still have some issues with tackling but given that they were able to limit Legacy’s and overcome it, that could be promising in this game. To find a really close game for SCV I have to go all the way back to their game on the road in Tulsa. They won this game by forcing 3 interceptions & running the ball well. What they didn’t do well is tackle…seems like it’s a pattern for a lot of people these days. So what are the keys to the game? For Gaul, protect the football and run the ball well, take advantage of SCV’s propensity to miss tackles. For SCV, protect the football and limit the offense of Gaul, limit the missed tackles and don’t allow any splash plays because of missed tackles.
Prediction: SCV 21-14
Tulsa Storm @ Legacy’s Danbury Demons
Last week against Copperhead, Tulsa displayed an inability to stop the running game and an inability to establish much offensively themselves, even further back, against SCV they lost due to turning the ball over too often. They’ve only had a moderate number of missed tackles from week to week but if they’re turning the ball over, that’s still a problem. LDD did a good job getting the passing game going, except that twice their drives ended with game changing interceptions. They also did a fair job of establishing a running game, but timing is everything. The timing of interceptions and the existence of sacks hindered LDD’s ability to claim a victory. So in this game both of these teams need to find a way to establish their offense cleanly, in other words, keep the ball to yourself. The winner of this game is going to be the team that does not throw interceptions (or the team that throws the least).
Prediction: Tulsa Storm 20-17
Western Conference
OffTopica Miracle @ Merc’s Mercenaries (A.D.D)
For this matchup, I went all the way back to OTM’s matchup against MVZ; it was their worst game of the season, so I’m focusing on the things they can’t do in this game if they want to win. In that game they did a poor job passing the ball, less than 40 combined yards on 19 attempts, only 5 completions and an interception. Their running game however did a very good job of getting established. The problem was that so did MVZ’s and their passing game, while limited to 2 TDs and an Int, threw for 322.5 yards. The nearly 11 minutes of TOP difference in that game was huge. On top of that, OTM’s Kicker missed one of his two FG’s while MVZ successfully hit 5 FGs. So what do they need to change? Rushing the ball they don’t need to change anything, keep it going. Throwing the ball, this is a game they cannot afford to turn the ball over, they’ve got to stretch the field and keep the momentum in their favor. Defensively they’ve gotta limit both the rushing game and passing game; they don’t have to shut them down, they just can’t allow either area to explode on them. For MM honestly…they haven’t had a close game all season. So for them I went to their preseason game against Tulsa, in which they lost. In that game their passing attack was limited, they turned the ball over, their rushing attack while gaining yardage, did not score, and they had several missed tackles. Obviously being a preseason game, there probably isn’t much you can take from that. However, what it does suggest is that if OTM can limit their offensive attack and maybe come up with a lucky bounce or two, they could squeeze out a victory, as long as OTM takes care of the football as well.
Prediction: MM 45-17
Edited by Captain Jack Riley on Jan 16, 2015 05:04:07
