WEEK 11 SFL NEWSLETTER
- Cameron Irvine
- Sep 12, 2014
- 6 min read
Feature of the Week
Will defense win this championship?
New York and Orlando found their offense late in the season, caught fire with big winning streaks and romped to Championship victories with points - 45 and 42 points to be exact. Can San Francisco prove that this year is the year of the defense?
Football traditionalists would love to see nothing more. Orlando and New York's defense ranks in the bottom half this year in points per game allowed. They'll face each other in the playoffs, so at least one of those sub-par defenses will make it to their second Championship Game - that much is certain. But can San Francisco finally be the one to prove that a dominant defense can win a sim title?
It's hard to believe that the Bulldogs will win a championship with the league's worst rushing offense and with a seasoned veteran at quarterback who's having his worst season to date. We suppose anything is possible, but all roads still point to the Crabs running the table here. The Knights have lost three in a row, Orlando has lost their star running back, Grand Rapids just got hammered by Baltimore and the last time the Bulldogs faced the Crabs, Baltimore's defense stuffed them so bad their offense went without a point - only the fourth team to not score an offensive point in a game in league history. Is Kailua the only team standing in the Crabs way - the red-hot Wyverns, winners of two-straight?
Baltimore is certainly the favorite, and fans can't sleep on the defending champs' quarterback Kevin Walker, who hasn't thrown an interception in three weeks (he threw 7 against Baltimore in Week 2). Upsets happen all the time in sports, and no group of football fans more than the traditionalists would like to see the Bulldogs roll into the playoffs and lock down back-to-back top-tier offenses. We soon will find out if it's possible this season.
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RUNNING FREE: Bruschi tries to regain title with OKC eliminated
Saturday September 13 — Baltimore (7-0) @ Oklahoma City (3-4), noon CT
All-time series: First meeting
Matchup tracker: Elliott Snider vs. Adam Stackhouse. If Bruschi is going to win the rushing title for the third year in a row, the Renegades linebacker will have to shutdown Baltimore running back Elliott Snider, who leads Bruschi by 144 yards. If Stackhouse can shut down the MVP candidate, not only could Bruschi take the title in the last game of the season but the Renegades could pull the upset.
OKLAHOMA CITY — The last time Oklahoma City played at Transcorp Stadium, a 37-24 victory over Dallas gave the team a 3-2 record. Heading into their road game with San Francisco, the team had a chance to force a three-way tie for second place - home field advantage in the semifinal round of the playoffs. Flash forward to tomorrow's game: The Renegades are eliminated. After a 10-6 loss to the Bulldogs and a humiliating, franchise-worst 35-3 defeat in Kailua, OKC is heading into the final week of the season with a meaningless-to-the-standings game for the first time.
The Renegades still have a lot of pride, and Transcorp is unlike any other when it comes to fan entertainment. OKC is planning a Crab Smash at halftime, with the winner winning an 8-day trip to Hawaii for the Championship and All-Star Games. Oklahoma City's team will just be focused on getting into the end zone, since the team hasn't scored a touchdown against a team with a winning record since the 4th quarter of Week 5.
Baltimore, meanwhile, is gunning for history. No team has ever finished undefeated in the Irvine sim-era (WAFL and SFL). They've already clinched the No. 1 seed and there's been no talks from the Baltimore camp that they plan on slowing down this week. Wide receiver Nick T. Quick is 80 yards away from a 1,000-yard season and quarterback Mike Dazzo needs 193 yards to overtake Wes St. Clair - the league's passing yards leader. Thomas Ranklins trails St. Clair by 33 passing yards and does play this week, however.
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THEIR BEST CHANCE: Rollers need win, help, to reach postseason
Sunday September 14 — Grand Rapids (3-4) @ Orlando (5-2), 7 pm CT
All-time series: Orlando leads 3-2
Matchup tracker: Lorenzo Allen vs. Koma Keleka. With Zach Parker injured, Orlando is going to throw, throw, throw, one would expect. Lorenzo Allen is a top five receiver in the league and he'll be going up against Koma Keleka, who is having a stellar season in Grand Rapids. He's third in the league with 9 passes defended and has 3 interceptions (1 returned for a touchdown) in Summer 2014. The Rollers could control Orlando by shutting down Allen, which will be Keleka's primary responsibility.
ORLANDO - This opportunity fell into the hands of the Rollers. Before the Rollers were met by the Baltimore machine last week, Grand Rapids was playing some pretty good football and now gets a chance to beat up on the defending champs, who will be minus their gold-star running back Zach Parker, after he fractured his arm on a big hit in the fourth quarter of last week's win over New York. The Rollers have won in Orlando before, and a win plus a San Francisco loss would propel the Rollers to the playoffs for the first time, a honor this franchise certainly needs.
These Walsh Bowl rivals have played some crazy games. Earlier this year, Isaac Perez's touchdown with under a minute to go propelled Orlando to a 20-19 win. Grand Rapids' win in The Dome came last summer, when they outscored Orlando 21-7 in the fourth quarter to triumph 48-45. In the Backbreaker days, Orlando erased a 35-0 halftime deficit to beat the Rollers. With Grand Rapids' playoff hopes on the line and Orlando's offensive questions, there has never been a more intriguing Walsh Bowl matchup.
An interesting stat: These two teams rank the worst on third-down conversions, so which ever team can get over the hump in that stat category may likely win. Grand Rapids only converts 34% of the time - a league-record low. It's a troubling matchup for Orlando - the Rollers pass defense ranks second in the league this season.
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DOWN TO THIS: Bulldogs win - they're in, Dallas tries to avoid winless season
Monday September 15 — San Francisco (3-4) @ Dallas (0-7), 6 pm CT
All-time series: Series tied 1-1
Matchup tracker: James Cooley vs. A.J. Ahanotu. Against Dallas' depleted secondary, it could be a breakout game for James Cooley, who doesn't have a 100-yard receiving game since fellow wide receiver Freeman Goodspeed was traded to Dallas. Ahanotu is the only player keeping Cooley out of the end zone and could very well be the X-Factor in this game.
DALLAS —It's been a really rough year for Dallas. After a 2-0 pre-season, the hype was at an all-time high for the Stars. Talks of the team moving have clouded the fan base over the last couple of weeks and some are thinking this might be the last game played in the Metroplex. The Stars are trying to avoid the first winless season in the Irvine sim era (WAFL and SFL). On the other side of the coin, if the Bulldogs win, they will be headed to the playoffs on a three-game winning streak - their second trip to the playoffs in three seasons.
Don't forget, revenge is on the mind of San Francisco. The Stars knocked off the Bulldogs at Miller/Gold Stadium last season 16-13 on a rollout pass to Scott King in the fourth quarter that gave Dallas the lead for good. Dallas is hoping to prove doubters wrong - that the trade they made with San Francisco earlier this season was good for the team. Since the trade Dallas is 0-3, San Francisco is 2-1 (their lone loss to undefeated Baltimore, 20-7). The Bulldogs defense is setting records, allowing 18 points per game, 334 yards per game (2 yards off the league record) and 238 passing yards per game.
Not only is the game special for being the last of the year with a lot of history on the line, but three of the best four wide receivers in league history will be on the field at the same time for the first time: Scott King (DAL - 2,879 yards), Freeman Goodspeed (DAL - 2,890 yards) and James Cooley (SF - 2,885 yards). The three are trying to catch Jake Legacy (NY - 3,153) atop the all-time leaderboards and have a good chance to do so this week, with Legacy's regular season done on bye.
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