ISFL NEWLETTER 

The Internet Simulation Football League Newsletter
Volume #12 Issue #17 – December 28, 2008


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Current League Officers
Commissioner: Mark McNeil (blades99@rochester.rr.com)
League Statistician: Mark McNeil (blades99@rochester.rr.com)
ISFL WWW site: http://www.blades99.com/ISFL/ISFL.htm
ISFL Review Board:  Jeff Barricelli, Dave Stewart, Don Antonelli

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LEAGUE NOTES

I.   Message from the Commissioner
II.  News from Around the League
III. Standings
IV.  Week 16 Results
V.   Week 17 Schedule
VI.  Transactions
VII. Other News including Players of the Week

I. MESSAGE FROM THE COMMISSIONER

The 12th regular season of the ISFL has come to an end and the playoff matchups are set.  I want to thank everyone for another great season, 
this was one of our smoothest ever and you all really did a great job of making things pretty easy for me.  The playoffs will be starting 
shortly though I’m still tied up through to the new year, so we’ll be moving slowly, but since I’m not going away, it’s definitely time to 
start talking about some end of season issues before everyone who is out of the playoffs moves on to their next pursuit.

League award nominations will start to be taken pretty shortly, look for an email from me and take a look at the final stats to see who you 
think might be worthy in each category (remembering that you can’t nominate your own players :O)

Constitutional props will start to be discussed soon.  Not necessary that we change anything, but if you have an idea of how we can make 
things better or see something you don’t think works quite right, that’s what we’ll talk about, look for an email on that shortly as well.

Playoffs can start now, games are due on Sunday, January 11th at 9 pm eastern, if we finish earlier, we’ll move on to round 2 as soon as we 
get there, though we’ll be waiting on Sri to return from his wedding before he and I can play our game.  I have set all the files up properly, 
but double check before you play that I have the set up the rules properly, especially for usage (season usage is off, game usage is on still 
and injuries carry over).

Week in Review  

The final week saw jockeying for playoff positions as well as draft lottery slots and we saw some upsets and changes that had some affect.  
In the AFC, the Jets held serve to finish atop the conference and get the bye and home field through the final game.  Dallas drops a tough 
one to Chicago, but just squeaks by the Steelers on the common opponents tie breaker to get the other bye and a week to recover before finding 
their next opponent.  The Steelers win their final game and a 13 win season was a surprise and definitely has management happy about things, 
but a round 1 game the Colts, who are looking to avoid a 3 game sweep on the season and will come in ready to play.  Houston wins, but didn’t 
get any help for a division shot, so they get to host a game with the tough Chargers in round 1 who also come in off a win and this will be 
one of the best games in the first round.  Minnesota and Cleveland both drop their final games and will sit #1 and #2 in the draft lottery, 
looking for the top spot and a shot at Matt Ryan to help them right their ships.

In the NFC, St. Louis does what it always does, and keeps winning and earns themselves the top spot in the conference, a bye and home field 
through the championship game.  Philadelphia ran into the Lions and dropped their second game of the season, still getting a bye but falling 
into second place.  Detroit wins their division outright and prepare for a big round one game against the upset minded New Orleans Saints.  
Atlanta and Jacksonville will go for the rubber game as they split regular season meetings this year and both look to move on in the playoffs 
as the Jags try and defend their title from last year.  The Giants and Cardinals sit in the 3rd and 4th draft lottery slots, hoping for another 
shot to move up and really add a player that will push them towards the playoffs again.

The Offensive Player of the Week is JP Losman from the Tennessee Titans as he throws for 378 yards on 31 of 38 passing and hit for 5 TD passes 
to help the Titans to a .500 record as they just fall short of the playoffs.

Roderick Hood picks off 2 passes and makes 9 tackles to lead the Patriots defense as they just fall short in a bid to upset the Indianapolis 
Colts in week 17, making him the Defensive Player of the Week.

II. News from Around the League

Playoff Matchups – Wildcard Round

AFC (thank you to Jeff Shelton for the AFC Preview)
Indianapolis Colts at Pittsburgh Steelers

QB - David Garrard 's numbers are a lot better than Jacksons - PIT
RB - With the stats reset Ryan Grant is a major weapon again - IND
WR-TE - Neither team has a real edge here as neither team has a true go to guy - EVEN
OL - Again neither team has a true advantage on the O-Line - EVEN
DL - Jared Allen and his pass rush the Colts a slight edge - IND
LB - Kawika Mitchell had 19 sacks during the season he provides the edge here - PIT
DB - Steelers have the edge here with better corners - PIT
ST – McGee and Parrish will give the home team the big play potential - PIT

This game as most do will come down to turnovers and injuries and both team have key guys that could get hurt at anytime and one of those would 
really change the game . But as it stands I will pick…

Pittsburgh 27-23


San Diego Chargers at Houston Texans
QB - I would figure Eli Manning won’t see the field in the playoff's unless it is a blow out or Todd Collins is out of usage - HOU
RB - Few teams can match the Westbrook -Fargas combo SD has - SD
WR-TE - San Diego has Wayne but no real game changer after that Texans
have White –McDonald - HOU
OL - Slight edge to the Chargers - SD
DL - Few teams can match the Haynesworth , Wilford , Tuck combo - HOU
LB - Again Texans loaded at LB - HOU
DB - Samuel give the Chargers the edge – SD
ST – Texans return men have the bigger average and big play potential - HOU

The Texans defense will in the end force Kitna in to a few mistakes
and Texans offense will take advantage of the short field

Houston 30-17

NFC
New Orleans Saints at Detroit Lions

QB – Big Ben avoids turnovers, Romo doesn’t – DET
RB – Saints hold a slight edge here with Graham/Jones/Young over Johnson/Taylor – NO
WR-TE – WR’s go to Lions, no contecst and Clark would win most every time, except against Gates – DET
OL – Nothing special for either team here – EVEN
DL – Numbers are about even except Lions get the nod due to pass rush – DET
LB – Again, close, but the pass rush from the OLB is the difference – DET
DB – Talent-wise, about even, but Lions will have to stay healthy – NO
ST – Kicking game is even, but Lions return men will get the job done – DET

Lions passing game will be the difference in this one as long as their defense stays healthy and on the field and while it will be close for 
a while, Lions will pull away late.

Detroit 27-17


Atlanta Falcons at Jacksonville Jaguars

QB – Favre has the better comp pct and if he keeps them to his team, holds a slight edge – JAX
RB – Gore is good, but LT is the man – JAX
WR-TE – Very close here, Galloway’s big play potential is difference – JAX
OL – A pair of studs on the line for the Jaguars make Favre better – JAX
DL – Again, Falcons are good, but Jags are just a bit better here – JAX
LB – Ware is a stud and gives the Jags a big edge here – JAX
DB – Falcons hold a slight edge here if their S can stay on the field – ATL
ST – Kickers are close, but Hester is a game breaker – ATL

Jags are pretty much the better team all over the place despite splitting the season series, unless Hester brings a couple back, the rubber 
match probably won’t be that close.

Jacksonville 34-17


III. STANDINGS

http://www.blades99.com/ISFL/Standings08.htm


IV. RESULTS – Week 17

San Francisco 17 Pittsburgh 20
Philadelphia 6 Detroit 31
Chicago 31 Dallas 28
Atlanta 27 Seattle 34
New England 24 Indianapolis 27
Minnesota 24 Tennessee 45
Miami 6 New York(N) 20
Kansas City 3 New Orleans 10
Jacksonville 21 Buffalo 17
Houston 23 Cleveland 10
Green Bay 10 Tampa Bay 27
Denver 6 New York(A) 30
Carolina 3 San Diego 27
Arizona 3 St. Louis 41

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V. WEEK 17 SCHEDULE

Indianapolis at Pittsburgh
San Diego at Houston
New Orleans at Detroit
Atlanta at Jacksonville


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VI. TRANSACTIONS


AFC
BUF – 
CHI – 
CLE – 
DAL – Sign Joe Kowalewski to replace Richie Incognito through Super Bowl.
DEN – 
HOU – 
IND – 
MIN -
NE  - 
NYJ – 
PIT – 
SD  - 
SF  -
TEN – 


NFC
ARZ –
ATL -
CAR – 
DET – 
GB  - 
JAX – 
KC  - 
MIA -
NO  - 
NYG – 
PHI – 
SEA – 
STL – 
TB  - 

DRAFT PICKS FORFEITED:

None

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VII. OTHER NEWS:

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:

WEEK ONE
OFFENSE: Adrian Peterson, NE – 162 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Patrick Willis, TB – 19 tackles

WEEK TWO
OFFENSE: David Garrard, PIT – 278 yards, 5 Tds, 151.3 QB rating
DEFENSE: LeRon Glover, SF – 3 sacks, 4 tackles

WEEK THREE:
OFFENSE: Ladainian Tomlinson, JAX – 137 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Adewale Ogunleye, DET – 4 sacks, 7 tackles 

WEEK FOUR:
OFFENSE: Tarvares Jackson, IND – 216 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Dexter Jackson, SEA – 2 INTs, 6 Tackles

WEEK FIVE:
OFFENSE: Matt Schaub, ARZ – 24/27 for 254 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Jonathan Joseph, KC – 3 INTs, 6 tackles

WEEK SIX:
OFFENSE: Ron Dayne, CAR – 157 yards, 1 TD
DEFENSE: Kawicka Mitchell, PIT – 4 sacks, 4 tackles

WEEK SEVEN:
OFFENSE: Marion Barber, GB – 146 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Roderick Hood, NE – 3 INTs, 2 TDs, 7 tackles

WEEK EIGHT:
OFFENSE: Roddy White, HOU – 9 catches, 165 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Mario Williams, TEN – 4 sacks, 10 tackles

WEEK NINE:
OFFENSE: Kurt Warner, NE – 15 of 24 for 224 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Travis Laboy, DAL – 3 sacks, 3 tackles

WEEK TEN:
OFFENSE: Fred Taylor, NYJ – 14 carries, 173 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Shaun Phillips, CAR – 4 sacks, 4 tackles

WEEK ELEVEN:
OFFENSE: Carson Palmer, SEA – 22-31, 342 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila – 3 sacks, 3 tackles

WEEK TWELVE:
OFFENSE: Plaxico Burres, SEA – 15 catches, 227 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Tommie Harris, STL – 3 sacks, 4 tackles

WEEK THIRTEEN:
OFFENSE: Donta Stallworth, SEA – 6 catches, 162 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Shawn Merriman, HOU – 3 sacks, 12 tackles

WEEK FIFTEEN
OFFENSE: Matt Schaub, ARZ – 21 of 29 for 340 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Elvis Dumervil, NE – 3 sacks, 9 tackles

WEEK SIXTEEN
OFFENSE: Derek Anderson, ATL – 20 of 26 for 267 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Joey Porter, STL – 3 sacks, 6 tackles

WEEK SEVENTEEN
OFFENSE: JP Losman, TEN – 31 of 38 for 378 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Roderick Hood, NE – 2 Ints, 9 Tackles