ISFL NEWLETTER |
The
Internet Simulation Football League Newsletter
Volume #18 Issue #20 – January 20, 2015
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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.
Divisional Round Results
V.
Championship Games Schedule
VI.
Transactions
VII.
Other News including Players of the Week
I.
MESSAGE FROM THE COMMISSIONER
The
Divisional Round saw a couple of upsets as the 4th seeds rose
up to knock off the tops seeds in both conferences as Philadelphia and
Dallas move on. They will
face off against Detroit and Indianapolis who both won their games
handily to move on and host the conference championshiops. Be sure if
you have trouble hooking up that you get a plan in place and contact me
for a sub if needed. There
are updated files for the playoffs on the website main page, please make
sure you get those and get started as soon as you are able to.
Round 3 games are due on Monday, January 26th at 10 pm
eastern.
I
can’t stress enough that you need to IMMEDIATELY send me your game
export when the game is complete.
Send your write up later on, that’s fine, but I MUST have the
game export as soon as the game ends or I’ll have to sim the game to
keep things moving along if it is missing at the deadline.
Don’t
forget, if you lose a player for 2 or more games, you can ask for an
injury replacement, but it must be done the same week as the injury, so
don’t wait, get those requests in right away and take advantage,
especially the teams who are already challenged for the amount of games
they have to work with.
Also, be sure you give me enough names as the more injuries the more
likely someone else already grabbed the guy you want.
Reminder that you MUST send a boxscore and writeup to the league after
each game. The home team is
responsible for this, but either team can do it, as long as it does get
done. Also, you MUST send me
the game export immediately after the game is complete.
It takes about 30 seconds, so I shouldn’t have to chase you down
for that file after a game, just get it in right away so I don’t have to
guess whether a game has happened or not.
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II.
News from Around the League
AFC
Playoff Summaries
COLTS WHACK BRONCOS, 40-24
Indianapolis,
January 19th, 2015: The Colts
never trailed but it wasn't until the fourth quarter that they got some
breathing room. Through three quarters, the Broncos kept close, and when
the fourth quarter started, Denver trailed by only six points at 23-17.
But two touchdowns by the Colts in the space of 91 seconds made it 37-17
midway through the fourth quarter, and it was evident who'd be advancing
to the AFC Championship game, and it wasn't going to be the Broncos.
Everything that
had worked for the Broncos in the regular season fell apart in this
game. The nail in the coffin was the 78-yard punt return touchdown by
Tandon Doss that made it 37-17 shortly after Aaron Rodgers connected
with Greg Jennings from 27 yards out to make it 30-17. During the
regular season, the Broncos surrendered only 130 yards in punt returns,
an average of just eight yards a game. The punt return touchdown was the
third surrendered in the post-season in the last two years by the
Broncos. Last season they allowed Jeremy Kerley to return a punt 84
yards for a score for the Jets, and T.J.Hilton to return one 91 yards
for a touchdown for the Browns.
The Colts served
notice early that this was not the same team the Broncos upset in the
regular season 33-10, moving 94 yards to their first score in only three
plays. The big play was a 73-yard catch-and-run by Greg Jennings that
moved the ball from the Colts 14 to the Broncos 13. Running back Bilal
Powell scored on the next play on a well-executed screen pass.
The Broncos came
right back with a touchdown of their own to tie it up, but it was the
last time the game would be knotted. Nick Foles hit Delanie Walker from
14 yards out to culminate the twelve play, 88-yard drive. It would prove
to be the best Broncos drive of the game, in plays, yardage and time
(7:30).
The tie lasted
only until the next Colts possession, as they moved to the Broncos 22 in
ten plays, endign it with a Matt Prater field goal of 40 yards to take a
10-7 lead early in the second quarter. Prater made it 13-7 on the Colts
next possession following a Muhammad Wilkerson interception of a Foles
screen pass intended for Ronnie Hillman.
An exchange of
field goals, with the Broncos Greg Zuerlein kicking one in from 47 yards
to end a five-play, 43-yard drive was followed by Prater booting one
through on the last play of the first half from 39 yards out, making it
16-10 at the half.
After an
exchange of punts to start the third quarter, the two teams exchanged
touchdowns to make it 23-17 going into the fourth quarter. The Colts
scored first, to make it 23-10 on a 16-play, 83-yard drive that took
8:06 off the clock, with Aaron Rodgers hitting Muhammed Sanu for the
score from eight yards out. On the possession, the Colts converted three
third downs and one fourth and two.
The Broncos came
right back, real quick, with Foles hitting Golden Tate from five yards
out for the touchdown, but it was rookie Mark Brown's 51-yard catch and
run that was the big play of the drive. The Tate touchdown came with
1:27 left in the third quarter, and put the Broncos down by only six.
They needed a
turnover or to force a punt. Instead, the Colts patiently marched to
another touchdown, this one a 27-yard hookup between Rodgers and
Jennings, and the score ballooned to 30-17. And the Colts took 7:32 off
the clock in the drive, leaving just 8:55 left in the contest.
The Broncos were
in dire straits, but it was still manageable. Maybe, just maybe...
It wasn't to be.
Not today. After one first down, the Broncos punted, and rookie Tandon
Doss returned it 78 yards to put the game away at 37-17 with just 7:24
left.
The Broncos came
back with touchdown pass from Foles to Rueben Randle, but that left less
than six minutes on the clock, and the Broncos down 37-24.
The Colts again
did an effective job of gaining yardage and running the clock down, not
giving it back to Denver until they had added a field goal with just
1:11 left on the clock, making it 40-24.
It was done when
Golden Tate caught a short out pass and had the ball taken away by
Patrick Peterson with 38 seconds left.
Aaron Rodgers
was the MVP of the contest, with three touchdowns and no picks,
completing 20 of 30 for 278 yards, and finishing with a 129.6 rating.
Nick Foles was equally as good, if not better, completing 20 of 26 for
269 yards and throwing three touchdown passes and one pick (131.7).
The Colts
definitely had the better of it on the ground, rushing 34 times for 174
yards (5.1), compared to the Broncos 19-83 (4.4). The Colts got
contributions from almost all their backs, with Daniel Thomas rushing 9
times for 66 yards (7.3) to lead the team, while Powell carried 15 times
for 60 yards (4.0). Fullback John Kuhn rushed twice for 22 yards, and
Jonathan Dwyer carried three times for 28 (9.3).
Delanie Walker
led the Broncos with six receptions for 76 yards, while Greg Jennings
was the star for Indianapolis with five receptions for 136 yards and one
score.
Manti Te'o had
eight tackles, two stuffs and one hurry for the Broncos, and three other
playes (Jared Odrick, Michael Johnson and Marcus Gilchrist) had six
tackles. Odrick added a sack, stuff and hurry to his stat line.
Wilkerson was the star for the Colts, with a sack and pick, and four
tackles. Louis Delmas led the Colts in tackles with six.
The game was
relatively penalty-free, with the Colts Chris Cook getting flagged for a
30-yard pass interference call on the Broncos last scoring drive, and
the Broncos getting flagged four times for 23 yards.
Big Plays: There were any number of big plays,
but many third down conversions by the Colts, who finished 9 of 14 on
third down and two of two on fourth down. It proved to be death by a
thousand bites for the Broncos, as they couldn't stop the Colts when it
counted and get their defense off the field.
Injuries: The Broncos entered the contest minus
two tackles (Ryan Clady and Luke Joeckel), starting third stringer
Austin Howard. The Colts were minus veteran linebacker Larry Foote.
Neither team suffered any injuries in the game. Foote is out for the
duration of the playoffs.
A Look Ahead: The Colts will meet Dallas in the AFC
Championship. Dallas was the winner of the Dallas @ San Diego game, The
victor in the AFC Championship will advance to the Super Bowl. The
Broncos will fly home, have a final team meeting tomorrow, and start
catching up on their draft analysis. The Broncos have a leg up there,
owning fifteen picks in the ISFL's 2015 eight round draft, including
five of the first 56, which should give them a decent chance to improve
some problematic areas or further strengthen some strong ones.
Dallas and San Diego meet for the 3rd time this season . In a
rather
wild game the Cowboys advance to the AFC Title game .
San Diego starts off hot 1st 2 drives 14-0 San Diego early 2nd
quarter .
Then the fun stuff starts .
ON the kickoff Holliday returns it 102 yards it is 14-7 Chargers
.Next
drive San Diego gets to the Cowboys 47 but has to punt .The punt
sails
over Kerns head to Cowboys take over at the Chargers 41 2 plays
later it
is 14
all .
Next drive Chargers have it 2nd and 11 at Cowboys 21.Intentional
ground
on River ( this is a theme) so Chargers settle for a FG . 17-14
San Diego .
Next Cowboys drive 1st down McCoy takes a pitch left 73 yards
later
Dallas has a lead they will never trail again .
Next Chargers drive San Diego drives it to the 50 and Chris Long
picks
off a screen pass .
Dallas takes 2nd half kickoff and 78 yards to make it 28 -17
Dallas
San Diego drives 80 yards in 5 plays to make it 28-24 Dallas
Next cowboys drive Dallas deep in Chargers turn it over so San
Diego holds .
San Diego takes over at the Chargers 16 1st and 10 Chargers call
med.Fly
to Douglas Dallas call run defense .results in a sack for Dallas
.Chargers get 6 yards back on 2nd down 3rd and 14 Rivers is
again called
for IG 2nd times in game
So Chargers have to punt from end zone .
Dallas takes over on Chargers 46 . 8 plays later Brees hits
Andre
Johnson for a 6 yard TD 35-24 Dallas
San Diego moves 80 yards in 12 plays to make it 35-31 Dallas
with 11:35
to go
Dallas picks up a couple 1st down then punts to the Chargers 16
San Diego starts up 1st and 10 Chargers move it down to the
Cowboys 36
with over 4 mins to go .
1st and 10 San Diego at cowboys 36 San Diego calls a med out to
Cobb,
Dallas calls run defense and result is a Dallas sack .
2nd and 19 Rivers is looking for Colston and the 3 intentional
ground
flag on Rivers hit the ground .
Dallas punts with little under 2 minutes to go .
Rivers is sacked again to basically end the game
Thanks to Bob for a good game
Been a great season for San Diego got no whines . There is
always next
year I guess
NFC
Playoff Summaries
The #4 seeded Eagles (13-3)
upset the #1 seeded Saints (14-2) by the score of 30 to 16 last night in
New Orleans. The two divisional rivals split during the regular season
with the visiting team winning each time and the trend continued in the
Divisional Round of the NFC Playoffs.
The story of the game was
the way Philadelphia came out of the gates and New Orleans didn't. The
Eagles raced to a 24-0 lead midway through the second quarter. It
appeared as if the field was tilted at a 45 degree angle in favor of the
Eagles. The first few possessions are detailed below:
-Eagles 8 plays, 78 yards,
36 yard TD pass from Peyton Manning to Calvin Johnson
-Saints 3 plays, 10 yards,
Punt
-Eagles, 10 plays, 65
yards, 7 yard Alfred Morris TD run
-Saints 3 plays, -4 yards,
Punt
-Eagles, 12 plays, 77
yards, 1 yard Alfred Morris TD run
-Saints, 1 play, Janoris
Jenkins interception
-Eagles, 4 plays, 13 yards,
Field Goal
At this point the Eagles
led 24 to 0 and were out-gaining the Saints 233 to 6.
From that point on the
Saints righted the ship and started a comeback but the Eagles 'bend but
don't break' defense wouldn't let them complete it. The closest they
came was trailing by 14 points with 10 minutes left in the game and
holding the ball. However, thanks to a Ryan Kerrigan sack, the drive
stalled and ended with only a field goal. New Orleans got the ball back
again trailing by 11 points with 5 minutes left but couldn't make it
happen.
There weren't many
offensive stars in this game. Peyton Manning was named MVP completing
18 of 29 passes for 202 yards and a TD. A pretty mediocre day for
Manning. Calvin Johnson led the way with 5 catches for 79 yards and a
TD.
For New Orleans, Russell
Wilson was held to only 23 of 50 for 218 yards, 1TD, and 1INT. Jamaal
Charles ran 17 times for 87 yards and added 6 catches for 38 yards and a
TD. Shane Vereen had 7 catches for 89 yards.
Turnovers were even at 1
apiece although the Eagles recovered 3 of their 4 fumbles. The Eagles
defense had 4 sacks while the Saints had none.
Philadelphia will travel to
either #2 Detroit or #3 Kansas City for the NFC Championship Game.
Thanks to my friend Dave who's been traveling to
care for relatives, but still made arrangements to accommodate my
limited availability this week.
Championship Round Games
After
playing 3 of the 4 teams this season and since I am no longer playing (
Thanks again Bob ) I thought would do a preview of the 2 games .
This
is just my views from playing the teams and have played Dave several
times before .
Just
for fun also .
Jeff
SD
AFC Championship
Indy
vs
Dallas
QB
Brees
playing 16 games is the difference here. Very Close but Dallas.
RB
McCoys monster numbers gives Dallas a big advantage . Though Sri really
uses his backs well.
Dallas
WR-TE
Dallas another big advantage with Johnson and Graham. But in my playing
Dallas Nicks always comes up big.
Dallas
OL
Slight edge to Dallas 50 run points and 36 pass verus 46 run and 38
pass. Dallas
DL
Slight edge to Colts with 2 guys with 10+ sacks. Indy
LB
Dallas playing a 3-4 has Bowman making tackles and Orakapo getting
sacks.
Dallas
ST
Very slight edge to Dallas because Holliday. But Colts FG kicker has a
64 yarder to his credit so he could win a close game from a long ways.
Dallas
Coaches
Both coaches have super bowl experience. Bob has won 1 and Sri is still
looking.
Dallas
Dallas 27- Indy 20
In
the end McCoy controls the clock and Brees makes enough plays to get
Cowboys to big game.
NFC
Championship - Philly
vs
Detroit
QB
With Mr. Manning the Eagles have the
advantage here. Philly
RB
Alfred Morris gives the Eagles the
check here.
Philly
WR-TE
Very tough to go against Megatron but
Gonzo gives the Lions the check. Detroit
OL
Detroit advantage 48 run 41 pass line
points verus 43-38.
Detroit
DL
Eagles have the edge here with Tuck and
McCoy. Philly
LB
Big advantage here with Keuchly and
Mathis 2 all-pros.
Detroit
DB
Eagles get the X here starting a
9-6-8-8.
Philly
ST
Jeremy Ross has a TD via KR and PR so the
Lions get this one. Detroit
Coaches
Give Dave the slight Edge because he has
won it all before Super Bowl 12. Detroit
Detroit 34 -Philly 28
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III. STANDINGS
http://www.blades99.com/ISFL/Standings14.htm
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IV.
RESULTS – Wildcard Results
Denver
24 Indianapolis 40
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V.
SCHEDULE
Championship Games
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VI.
TRANSACTIONS
AFC
BUF –
CLE –
DEN –
HOU –
IND –
MIN –
NE
-
NYJ –
PIT –
SF
-
TEN –
Returned Bryan Braman to FA pool.
NFC
ARZ –
ATL -
CAR –
DET –
GB
-
KC
-
MIA –
PHI –
SEA –
STL –
DRAFT
PICKS FORFEITED:
JAX
#4 ’14 – No Long Snapper
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VII.
OTHER NEWS:
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
WEEK
ONE
OFFENSE: Peyton Manning, PHI – 21 of 33 for 267 yards, 4 TDs
WEEK
TWO
OFFENSE: Matt Forte, NYG – 22 carries, 197 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Shaun Phillips, CAR – 3 sacks, 6 tackles
WEEK
THREE:
OFFENSE: Dez Bryant, CAR – 8 catches, 177 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Jared Allen, IND – 3 sacks, 6 tackles
WEEK
FOUR:
OFFENSE: LeSean McCoy, DAL – 28 carries, 186 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Corey Peters, TEN – 4 sacks, 5 tackles
WEEK
FIVE:
OFFENSE: Tony Romo, ATL – 17 of 24 for 254 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Richard Sherman, SD – 2 INTs, 3 Tackles
WEEK
SIX:
OFFENSE: Chris Johnson, MIA – 36 carries, 192 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Luke Kuechly, DET – 24 tackles
WEEK
SEVEN:
OFFENSE: Thad Lewis, CAR – 22 of 33 for 335 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Robert Quinn, HOU – 4 sacks, 8 tackles
WEEK
EIGHT:
OFFENSE: AJ Green, SEA – 6 catches, 186 yards, 31 ypc, 2 TDs
WEEK
NINE:
OFFENSE: Christian Ponder, CHI – 23 of 34 for 432 yards, 6 TDs
DEFENSE: Will Blackmon, CLE – 2 INTs, 7 tackles
WEEK
TEN:
OFFENSE: LeSean McCoy, DAL – 28 carries, 191 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Charles Johnson, DET – 4 sacks, 5 tackles
WEEK
ELEVEN:
OFFENSE: Matthew Stafford, STL – 28 of 41 for 426 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Brian Orakpo, DAL – 3 sacks, 7 tackles
WEEK
TWELVE:
OFFENSE: LeSean McCoy, DAL – 35 carries, 204 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Karlos Dansby, CLE – 1 INT, 3 sacks, 10 tackles
WEEK
THIRTEEN:
OFFENSE: Eddie Lacy, PIT – 27 carries, 151 yards
DEFENSE: Brandon Boykin, MIN – 2 INTs, 4 tackles
WEEK
FIFTEEN
OFFENSE: Carson Palmer, SEA – 26 of 39 for 374 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Alex Ogletree, CHI – 15 tackles
WEEK
SIXTEEN
OFFENSE: Ryan Tannehill, NYJ – 26 of 36 for 352 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Carlos Rogers, BUF – 2 INTs, 3 Tackles
WEEK
SEVENTEEN
OFFENSE: Justin Blackmon, SEA – 8 catches, 178 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Jason Babin, CLE – 3 sacks, 8 tackles
WILDCARD ROUND
OFFENSE: Peyton Manning, PHI – 22 of 30 for 306 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Navarro Bowman, DAL – 11 tackles, 1 Forced Fumble
DIVSIONAL ROUND
OFFENSE: LeSean McCoy, DAL – 21 carries, 129 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Chris Long, Dal – 5 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 INT
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