EAST                      Record (Division) Point Differential
NEW JERSEY         3-0 (0-0)  +45
ORLANDO              2-1 (0-0)  +32
ATLANTA                1-2 (0-0)  -5
WASHINGTON       1-2 (0-0)  -26

CENTRAL
CHICAGO              3-0 (2-0)  +35
ST LOUIS              2-1 (1-1)  +13
NEW ORLEANS    1-2 (1-1)  -14
BIRMINGHAM       0-3 (0-2)  -59

WEST
AUSTIN                3-0 (1-0)  +57
CALIFORNIA        1-2 (1-0)  -2
DENVER              1-2 (0-1)  -36
SAN DIEGO         0-3 (0-1)  -59


The FFL updated its QB Rating system, which now factors in the TD-INT ratio as a major component.  The new formula is ((Yardage x Completion %) x (TD-INT))/10.  Numbers will increase over the season as TD and INT increase as well, but the ratings now take into account the scoring and the turnovers produced, and this has created a significant shift in the ratings, particularly as the amazing TD production of DeShon Kizer factors into the equation. 

PASSING   Comp-Att, Comp %, Yards, TD, INT, FFL Score
D. Kizer (CHI)       52-90  68%   711yards    11-2   435
J. Ta'amu (NO)     66-91  70%   794yards     6-1    246
D. Webb (CAL)     63-97  68%   719yards     8-3    246
G. Gilbert (AUS)   50-82  55%   625yards     8-1    241
PJ Walker (NJ)     61-85  75%   769yards     5-1    229

RUSHING  Att-Yards-YPC-TDs
I. Crowell (NJ)              57-276-4.8-2
P. Barber (BRM)          37-269-7.3-0
W. Smallwood (WSH)  50-269-5.4-1
J. McKinnon (AUS)      54-241-4.5-0
W. Gallman (ATL)        53-226-4.3-2

RECEIVING    REC-Yards-YPC-TD
G. Allison (CHI)            21- 231- 11.0- 4
L. Treadwell (NO)        21- 207- 9.9- 3
K. Coutee (BRM)         20- 189- 9.5- 0
E. St. Brown (CHI)       19- 206- 10.8- 1
J. Meyers (ORL)           18- 179- 9.9- 0

SCORING   PAT-FG-TOTAL PTS
R. Blankenship (ATL)     6-5-21
N. Rose (AUS)               12-3-21
A. McGinnis (CHI)          11-3-20
S. Fiken (NJ)                  12-2-18
R. Aguayo (ORL)            12-2-18

 

APRIL 5, 2021
THINGS ARE HEATING UP IN THE FFL 

With 4 weeks in the books, the FFL season is heating up.  With 2 undefeated teams left and 2 winless squads still fighting for their first win, we are beginning to get a sense of the haves and the have-nots.  We are also getting into the meat of the season, when injuries begin to take a toll on teams, when coaches start to feel pressure, and when underperformance will not be tolerated.  Each game had intrigue and some led to immediate Monday morning decisions. More on that as we check in on each game: 


ORL 28  NO 26
One of the best games of the year took place in the Big Easy as a raucous N’awlins crowd packed Tulane’s Yulman Stadium on a beautiful 70 degree Gulf Coast night.  The homestanding Krewe took an early lead but fell late as the dynamic offense of the Orlando Explorers proved too much for the Krewe’s tiring defense.  

The Krewe scored first as QB Jordan Ta’amu hit wideout Malachi Dupree on a beauty of a bomb down the left sideline for a 63 yard TD on the team’s second possession.  On their next drive, some solid running by Brandon Oliver got the Krewe into field goal range and they took advantage for a 10-0 lead.   

Orlando countered with a drive of their own, taking the ball 73 yards and ending with a Ryan Finley pass to TE Joran Akins to bring the game back to a 1 score difference.  At the half the game was 16-7 New Orleans on the strength of another Matthew White field goal.   

Orlando got the ball to start the second half, and Ryan Finley quickly found his top wideout, Braxton Berrios, for a 27 yard score.  New Orleans scored on their first drive as well, with Oliver diving in from the 2 to give the Krewe a 23-14 lead.

The third quarter ended with the Explorers driving, and they would eventually punch it in on a Matt Jones rush to pull within 23-14. After a muffed punt gave New Orleans a short field, a big stop on 3rd and 2 forced the Krewe to go for 3, and take a 26-21 lead. 

That missed opportunity for 6 would come back to haunt the home squad, as, with 6 minutes left in the game, Finley found Berrios again, this time on a quick out route, and when the CB slipped trying to go for the tip, Berrios spun towards the endzone and gave Orlando the lead.  New Orleans would get the ball back 2 times in the last 6 minutes, but on neither occasion were they able to crack the Orlando defense and get into field goal range.   

Orlando’s win sends them to 3-0, only 1 game back of the undefeated G-Men and setting up an epic battle between the two next week at Red Bull Arena.  New Orleans falls to 1-3 and will try to get back on track next week against the California Condors.  


BRM 24  ATL 42
The early game on Saturday saw the winless Bulldozers try to snag a win in Atlanta, but the Dozers achilles heel, a leaky defense, was again their downfall.  Birmingham’s offense struggled to keep up with Atlanta, and despite scoring 24, the Dozers did not seem up to the task throughout the game.  

Atlanta, which snagged its first win last week, made it two in a row by exploiting a shaky Dozer defense, and getting the ball to their top wideout, Ray-Ray McCloud, who caught 7 for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns.  And even though RB Wayne Gallman was only able to muster 63 yards on 20 carries, the run game kept the defense guessing and provided some clear play-action opportunities for Kyle Lauletta, who ended up tossing 4 TD’s in his best game of the year.  

Head Coach Leslie Frazier cannot be happy with his last-rated defense.  Stingy D was his calling card in the NFL, but this Dozer defense has just not put a good game together this year.  They allow an average of 33 points a game, which is not going to win you too many games in any league.

And while the offense has appeared solid at times, the inconsistency of QB Devlin “Duck” Hodges has been a major concern.  The gunslinger threw two more picks in this game, to give him the league lead with 5 in only 4 games. Don’t be surprised if we see former UNC signal-caller Marquise Williams get more snaps in practice this week.  

Atlanta will head to DC this week, hot off their second win in a row, while Birmingham will have the tough task of finding their first win against a very solid Austin Drillers squad in Texas in week 6.  


NJ 21  AUS 14
This was the game everyone wanted to see as the 3-0 G-Men headed to Austin to play the 3-0 Drillers.  The game in FC Austin stadium was sold out and there was talk of $20 tickets going for as much as $125 on the secondary market leading up to this one. 

The game itself did not disappoint, as both teams demonstrated solid defense and just enough offense to keep fans on the edge of their seats.  The task for the Austin defense was to contain G-Man RB Isaiah Crowell, and, well, it was a nice idea.  They were able to bottle him up for most of the first quarter, but after getting burnt with some well-timed play-action, the Drillers were forced to downplay the run, and that gave Crowell all he needed.   He would end the day with 114 yards on 25 carries, and while the Drillers were able to keep the prolific back out of the end zone, his drive-sustaining runs got New Jersey into range for P.J. Walker and the rest of the NJ offense.   

The game was tied at 7 at the half, thanks to a Walker to Custis TD and an equalizer from Gilbert to Ward.  In the second half, Crowell helped New Jersey escape from a 1st and 10 at their own 2 yard line (thanks to a beautiful Austin punt coverage play) and drive 98 yards for an eventual TD from his understudy, Akeem Hunt, who only seems to get the ball near the endzone and who scored for a league-leading 5th time.  

It took 2 drives for Austin to get back to a tie score, as their own leading rusher, Jerrick McKinnon took a pitch on a 2nd and Goal from the 6 and evaded the LLB to reach the corner of the endzone as the 3rd quarter ended.   

The play of the game came midway through the 4th quarter as G-Man LB Aaron Lynch punched the ball out of McKinnon’s hand, giving New Jersey the ball at the Atlanta 35.  5 plays later, Walker found KJ Kamler on a fade route and the rookie pulled the ball in over the outstretched arms of Austin CB Brandon Williams for the winning score.   

New Jersey has another huge game next week when they host the Orlando Explorers, while Austin hopes to rebound at home against the winless Birmingham Bulldozers.  


CHI 14  DEN 9
The night game on Saturday was a sloppy affair as Denver’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was the sight of an early April snowstorm that dropped about 2 inches of the white stuff on the field during the game.  Fans seemed undeterred as they packed the house to watch the Peaks take on the undefeated Machine, but the weather and field conditions clearly affected play on the field.  

Despite the weather, Denver clearly came into the game with a plan to test the Chicago pass defense, only rushing the ball 18 times while QB CJ Beathard put it up 40 times in the loss.  Meanwhile, Chicago used a more balanced attack, with rushing 15 times for 51 yards and QB DeShone Kizer throwing for 241 yards and both Chicago scores.  

The game was a slow affair in the first half, with Denver eking out a 3-0 lead, but picked up in the second half when the snow slowed and the ground crew was able to clear more of the field.  Kizer and the Machine scored first on a 7 yard pass to Troy Fumagalli. Denver responded with a short pass of their own as Beathard hit backup TE David Morgan on a play action pass on 1st and goal from the 2. 

The TD was followed by a missed PAT, which, while not a factor in the final score, put pressure on the Peaks nonetheless.  The final score of the game was a bit of a fluke for Chicago, but one they will gladly accept.  On what started out as a basic crossing pattern, Kizer hit Stanley Morgan Jr. for 6 on 3rd and 4, but when the safety charged the play, Morgan was able to bounce off the tackle, keep his footing and from there he had clear sailing to the endzone and Chicago’s 14-9 win. 

Denver has been a bit snakebit this year, but a lot of the blame has fallen on NFL veteran QB CJ Beathard, the league’s lowest rated QB.  Completing only 56% of his passes, and only 4 TD’s in 4 games, Beathard is an easy target. After the game, Coach Vance Joseph seemed to indicate that the time might be right to take a look at the rookie, former Colorado Buffalo Steve Montez. 

Whether that was said to spark Beathard to flash the talent he showed in San Francisco, or to give the native son of Colorado a shot is still to be seen. Denver will head to St. Louis to face the league’s #1 defense next week, while the undefeated Machine will likely hit 5-0 with a home game against the hapless San Diego Surf next week.  


SD 0  STL 21
We don’t use the term “hapless” lightly, but after the performance of the Surf this week it seems very appropriate.  The Surf offense was simply not playing professional football this week, as they managed a paltry 172 total yards, including only 5 rushes in the entire game for a measly 19 yards.  They were 0-8 on third down attempts and never threatened St. Louis in this lopsided game.  

You have to feel for the Coach Bienemy, but a change is clearly going to be needed.  The problems all seem to stem from a sub-par offensive line. Supposed stud RB Devontae Booker has found nothing open on the ground, and QB Cody Kessler is left on the turf after most plays.  The question is, how do you fix an O-line midseason? 

But let’s also give some kudos to the St. Louis defense. The Skippers have been playing solid team defense all season, allowing an average of only 14.5 points a game.  Led by former Argonaut MLB Curtis Akins, one of the league leaders in tackles, the Skipper D swarm to the ball and play hard-nosed run defense each week. In this game they spent more time in the Surf backfield than most of the Surf players.  

On offense, the Skippers were unspectacular but effective, with the heaviest load carried by RB Samaje Perine, whose 87 yards on 19 carries kept the ball out of San Diego hands.  And despite two Paxton Lynch interceptions, the Skippers were able to keep the Surf from scoring, and eventually Lynch was able to find his groove, hitting on a14 of 29 passes, and finding his tight ends for 2 tds in the game.  

St. Louis will return home to what will almost certainly be a big crowd in “The Dome”, while the sadsack Surf will try to regroup and find some semblance of an offense against the undefeated Chicago Machine.  


WSH 24    CAL 17
The week ended with the late game on Sunday from Sacramento, where the Condors slugged it out with the visiting Washington Sentinels before falling by seven.  Both teams came into the game hoping to even their records at 2-2, but it was the solid running of Washington’s Wendell Smallwood that gave the edge to the Sentinels. Swallwood would have another 100 yard game in this one, going for 116 and a TD in the game. 

Meanwhile, California’s Bishop Sankey was held largely in check, rushing 15 times for 60 yards, a decent game but not enough to snag a Condor win. Washington QB Will Grier has been struggling of late, and in this game an early interception seemed a bad omen for the former Mountaineer.  But, Grier was able to shake off the early mistake and finished the game 19 of 34 for 243 yards and 2 scores, including a perfectly thrown touch pass to former Blue Bomber Charles Nelson for a 31 yard score in the 3rd quarter.   

Cal had a chance to tie the game late, but with 1:02 left in the game, and needing to convert a 4th and 2 from the DC 42 yard line, Coach Roman tried to outthink Cal’s Coach Jackson by calling a bootleg pass for signal caller Davis Webb, but when Webb tried to hit rookie RB Zack Moss with the playaction pass, his arm was clipped by LE Nate Harvey (who already had 2 sacks in the game) and the ball fluttered harmlessly out of bounds. 

The loss puts the Condors in a rough spot at 1-3, but with Austin losing this week, and more losses from both San Diego and Denver, the Condors still find themselves in decent condition.  For Washington, the win is not enough to move them out of last place in the tough Eastern Division, but at 2-2 they are still very much in the mix.   



Week Four is in the books, and there are certainly some coaches looking for answers this week, but for teams like Chicago and New Jersey it is all sunshine and accolades as they took the reins of the early season and are now in their stride heading into week 5.   

Last edited by Wideright90 (4/17/2020 7:00 pm)

CubsOrSoxs wrote:

Chicago is on fire! Go Machine!

 
Chicago has not been on fire since over a year ago, my friend. Let’s try not to bump inactive topics so that the members who do have current threads get their work seen, rather than lost in clutter.