ISFL NEWLETTER
|
The
Internet Simulation Football League Newsletter
Volume #26 Issue #20 – January 9, 2023
************************************************************************
Current League Officers
Commissioner: Mark McNeil (blades99@rochester.rr.com)
League Statistician: Mark McNeil (blades99@rochester.rr.com)
ISFL
Review Board: Hank Sienzant,
Don Antonelli, Ed Minshull
************************************************************************
LEAGUE NOTES
I.
Message from the Commissioner
II.
News from Around the League
III.
Standings
IV.
Wild Card Round Results
V.
Divisional Round Schedule
VI.
Transactions
VII.
Other News including Players of the Week
I.
MESSAGE FROM THE COMMISSIONER
So
upsets were the order of the day in the AFC with both the Jets and
Chargers falling and the lower seeded Colts and Titans moving on for
another road game. In the
NFC, everyone held serve and we have matchups of the top 4 teams and the
games should be very tight and worth seeing if anyone could see them.
Good luck to all teams still alive and I will have more offseason
information coming this week when I get a free day.
Please, do your best to be on time when you set you games and and don’t
forget you should be CCing me each time. Also, you should be sending out
a boxscore (which you have to save after the game) and a .xbx file for
each game and a small write up would be nice as well for each game.
Don’t forget that if you need a
sub for a game you should be emailing Jeff Shelton directly to set that
up rather than going through the email list to avoid confusion on who is
subbing. Playoff files will be out shortly, please get them and get
going on game contacts as soon as possible and make sure you are CCing
me on those so I know what is going on.
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.
***********************************************************************
II.
News from Around the League
In
the AFC upsets abound as first Tennessee knocks off the #2 seeded NY
Jets and then Indianapolis does the same to the #3 seeded LA Chargers.
Only Pittsburgh is able to take advantage of home field and take
down a short handed Denver club missing their top receiver going into
the game with Taylor Heinicke’s legs doing in the visiting Broncos.
In
the NFC everything goes true to form as New Orleans downs Detroit fairly
easily, Jacksonville wins a tight one over Arizona and New England shuts
down the Kansas City offense for the easy win.
Coming up in the AFC Chicago gets the #7 seed Tennessee Titans who are
much more dangerous when not wracked by injuries.
Chicago is also almost fully healthy and should have the upper
hand with home field and will win this one though the Titans will put up
a fight and stay in it until late.
Somehow Pittsburgh has another home game with the two division
winners falling in the wild card round but they get a visit from
Indianapolis who they did beat twice, but you all know the saying about
beating a team 3 times in one season.
Both teams are pretty healthy, so this one will come down to
Steeler defense and Colts offense and who can win this matchup. Assuming
the bad Heinicke doesn’t show up, Pittsburgh should get by in this one
with a fourth quarter win.
Coming up in the NFC Houston will look to continue their roll but with a
visit from one of only two teams to beat them this season and the best
defensive squad in the league this may be a tough one. New England shut
everyone down all year, but the Houston offense has been tough and the
teams split the season series, so the rubber match is likely to be a
defensive battle and whoever can hit the big play, will get this win and
I think the Patriots may have the upset in them.
The other game is a pair of division winners that had very up and
down seasons with some struggles with New Orleans falling to
Jacksonville in week 18, giving the Jags the division win they needed.
Both teams have solid defenses but the Saints offense puts up big
numbers and it will be on the Jags to slow them down again.
New Orleans will hold serve in this one and have a shot at a home
game in the Championship game though in all 4 games I don’t see much in
the way of blowouts and scoring may be at a premium.
Game
Summaries from Wild Card Round
Tennessee – 24, NY Jets – 17
The Jets came into this one red hot having won 9 of
10 and finishing the season as the #2 seed at 13-4. Tennessee was at the
other end of the spectrum having lost 8 of 10 after a 7-0 start
including a loss to these very same Jets.
After the teams exchanged punts to start the game
the Titans capped a 66 yard drive with a 13 yard TD pass to Mecole
Hardman staking the underdog visitors an early 7-0 lead. The Jets would
strike back quickly going 94 yards in two plays as Michael Pittman broke
free for a 73 yarder and then Ja'Marr Chase hauled in a 21 yard TD.
The teams were tied at 7 heading into the 2nd
quarter but Tennessee took a 10-7 after Joe Burrow's 2nd INT of the
first half. Mac Jones however would return the favor throwing a pick to
give the Jets a short field. Burrow quickly guided the Jets 30 yards to
the end zone and a 14-10 lead. But the visiting Titans clearly came for
a fight driving 75 yards late in the first half and taking a 17-14
halftime lead courtesy of a Mac Jones to Jarvis Landry 16 yard TD pass.
Things started slowly in the 2nd half and the
Titans defense was swarming holding the Jets high flying offense just 40
yards in the 3rd quarter When Aaron Jones scored from 7 yards out to put
the visiting Titans up 24-14 late in the 3rd you could cut the nervous
tension among the New York faithful with a knife.
Neither team was able to do much of anything after
that but the Jets did manage to cut the lead to 24-17 when Graham Gano
kicked a field goal with 9:56 to go in the game. But that's as close as
New York would get as the Titans repeatedly harried Joe Burrow and when
a last gasp 4th down bomb to Ja'Marr Chase was batted down the visitors
had pulled off the 7 vs 2 upset!
Game ball goes to the Titans defense that forced 2
interceptions and sacked Joe Burrow 8 times while holding the Jets to
just 339 total yards.
Indianapolis – 41, LA Chargers – 24
None
Denver – 10, Pittsburgh – 27
Steelers Stellar,
Dominate Denver 27-10
Heinicke
Stars with three scores
Pittsburgh, PA, January 8th,
2023:
The Broncos scored first and last, but in between, it was all Pittsburgh
in their wild-card matchup.
Spotting the Broncos a 3-0 lead on Denver's opening possession, the
Steelers, behind Taylor Heinicke, scored the following 27 points.
Heinicke accounted for three of the four Steeler touchdowns on the day,
throwing one touchdown pass and scoring twice on the ground. "Plain
and simple, Heinicke beat us," Bronco head coach Hank Sienzant said
after the game. "He showed us something today. We didn't have an answer
to his scrambles, and he kept drives going with his legs and arm today."
Heinicke finished with 76 yards on the ground on seven attempts and
another 135 throwing on 14 of 24. The Steeler's first of four touchdowns
came late in the first quarter when Heinicke took off from the Bronco
thirty and scrambled in for the score to make it 7-3 in favor of
Pittsburgh. Late
in the first half, Heinicke QB-sneaked it in with 23 seconds remaining
to make it 13-3, with a missed extra point by Joey Slye.
Following a Landon Collins pick of Tua Tagovailoa early in the third
quarter, Heinicke tossed a two-yard touchdown to tight end Dawson Knox
to make it 20-3, ending the short 23-yard drive. And
after taking over once again with a short field, this time at the Denver
45 following a failed fourth and eight by the Broncos, Heinicke led the
Steelers to a five-yard touchdown run by Josh Jacobs to make it 27-3
early in the fourth quarter. Denver
put together their only touchdown drive in the final half of the fourth
quarter, driving 55 yards to score on a Zeke Elliott 14-yard run to make
it 27-10 with 2:01 left in the contest. But
that score was window-dressing and for pride only. This
day belonged to the Steelers.
GAME NOTES:
Heinicke, as noted above, passed for 135 yards on 14 completions in 24
attempts, with one touchdown and one interception. That was good for a
70.7 passer rating. His legs added 76 yards on seven rushes (10.9) and
two scores. The 76 yards on the ground made Heinicke the Steelers'
leading rusher, as Denver's defensive front line held Josh Jacobs to 54
yards on 20 attempts (2.7 per carry). Jacobs scored once on the ground
and caught six passes for 16 yards (2.7). Tua
Tagovailoa completed 16 of 32 for 112 yards and two interceptions,
getting held to a paltry 32.3 passer rating. Zeke Elliott led Denver in
rushing with 15 attempts for 52 yards, a 3.5 average, and scoring once.
He added seven yards on two receptions. Tyler
Johnson was the Broncos leading receiver with four receptions for 25
yards, while Robert Woods caught three for 74 yards to shine for
Pittsburgh. A
defensive standout for the Steelers was cornerback Tavierre Thomas with
five tackles, a pass defensed, and an interception of a desperation
heave by Tagovailoa in the first half's final seconds. Myles Garrett
starred for Denver with five tackles, a sack, and an interception.
NEXT MAN UP:
The Steelers played minus a few players but should have all hands on
deck for their next game.
A LOOK AHEAD:
The Broncos staff will start on their scouting for the rookie draft. The
Steelers advance, and with the seventh-seed Titans upsetting the
second-seed Jets, the Steelers will either host the Colts or play the
Chargers in Los Angeles, depending on the outcome of that Colts @
Chargers wild-card game.
Detroit – 17, New Orleans – 30
The defending SB champion Saints host the visiting
Lions in the first-round wildcard game at the Superdome. The game
came down to Detroit's will to throw the ball against New Orleans will
to run the ball. The first half was even with the Saints taking a
10-13 lead into the half courtesy of a Wilson to Adams 40-yard TD on
their first drive.
Detroit gets a big 46-yard punt return from Berrios
to set up the go ahead 8-yard Prescot to Jefferson TD early in the 3rd.
After 2 long runs the Lions go in a tight man defense and Wilson throws
a 31-yard bomb to Bateman to take back the lead back at 17-20.
Detroit rolls the dice and try for it on 4th and 1 but NO stuffs them.
The Lions only convert 1-5 4th downs in the game. It's all the
Saints from then on with the final 13-30.
The Saints rush for 254 yards on 36 attempts and
only go 8-19 for 134 yards through the air. 71 of those yards were
on the 2 long TD passes.
Congratulations to Conner on a great year. A
few 4th down conversions and this game would have been much different.
Arizona – 24, Jacksonville – 29
The Jags jump out to a 26-3 lead as Ryan Tannehill
is off his game for the first 3 quarters. Tannehill finally comes alive
in the 4th as he leads the Cardinals to 3 straight TDs before the Jags
finally stop the bleeding with an Anthony Averett interception with 0:34
seconds left.
Joey Bosa is named game MVP as he recovers a Trey
Hendrickson forced fumble and takes it back for the TD. He also added a
sack and 2 forced fumbles.
Derrick Henry had a big game for the Cardinals with
25 carries for 141 yards and a score.
With the win, the Jags advance to the division
finals to face the winner of KC / New England.
Kansas City – 3, New England – 20
Another big game by the Home defense, that keep
KC to just 3 points and Murray to a rating of 34.
**********************************************************************
III. STANDINGS
http://www.blades99.com/ISFL/Standings22.htm
***********************************************************************
IV. RESULTS – Wild Card Round Results
Arizona 24 Jacksonville 29
V.
SCHEDULE
Wild Card Round Playoffs
Indianapolis at Pittsburgh
New England at Houston
VI.
TRANSACTIONS
AFC
BUF –
CLE –
DEN –
Returned Juwann Winfree, Trevon Wesco, Trey Hill and Malik Turner to FA
pool.
GB
-
LAC –
LAR –
NYJ –
PIT –
Returned Olasunkan Adeniyi, Eddie Piniero and Elijah Riley to FA pool. TEN –
Returned Coleman Shelton to FA pool.
NFC
ARZ –
Returned Trenton Irwin to FA pool.
ATL –
DET –
HOU –
JAX –
Returned Mike Boone to FA pool.
KC
- MIA –
NO
- Returned Patrick Taylor and Desmond Trufant to FA pool.
PHI –
SEA –
TB
-
DRAFT
PICKS FORFEITED:
***********************************************************************
VII.
OTHER NEWS:
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
WEEK
ONE
OFFENSE: Keenan Allen, MIN – 12 catches, 202 yards, 2 TDs
WEEK
TWO
OFFENSE: Justin Jefferson, DET – 12 catches, 252 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: CJ Mosley, NE – 19 tackles, 5 stuffs, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble
recovery
WEEK
THREE:
OFFENSE: Kirk Cousins, LAC – 23 of 31 for 329 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Jordan Hicks, PHI – 16 tackles, 2 stuffs, 1 pass defense
WEEK
FOUR:
OFFENSE: Jalen Hurts, PHI – 28 of 44 for 302 yds, 3 TDs, 134 rush yds, 2
TDs
DEFENSE: Marcus Davenport, BUF – 2 sacks, 10 tackles, 1 Stuff, 1 Hurry,
2 Forced Fumbles
WEEK
FIVE:
OFFENSE: Dak Prescott, DET – 44 of 57 for 422 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Shaq Thompson, NYJ – 2 INTs, 7 tackles, 2 Pass Defenses, 1 TD
WEEK
SIX:
OFFENSE: Tua Tagovailoa, DEN – 27 of 33 for 465 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Robert Quinn, NO – 3 sacks, 7 tackles
WEEK
SEVEN:
OFFENSE: Teddy Bridgewater, CHI – 27 of 46 for 357 yards, 5 TDs
DEFENSE: Nick Bosa, SEA – 3 sacks, 3 tackles
WEEK
EIGHT:
OFFENSE: Carson Wentz, TB – 25 of 48 for 297 yards, 4 TDs
WEEK
NINE:
OFFENSE: Joe Burrow, NYJ – 26 of 30 for 275 yards, 3 TDs
WEEK
TEN:
OFFENSE: Stefon Diggs, CAR – 12 catches, 209 yards, 1 TD
DEFENSE: Kevin Byard, PHI – 2 INTs, 6 tackles, 1 Pass Defense
WEEK
ELEVEN:
OFFENSE: Joe Burrow, NYJ – 24 of 34 for 306 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Eric Kendricks, SEA – 2 INTs, 12 tackles, 1 pass defense
WEEK
TWELVE:
OFFENSE: CeeDee Lamb, LAR – 10 catches, 269 yards, 1 TD
DEFENSE: Mathew Judon, TB – 3 sacks, 9 tackles
WEEK
THIRTEEN:
OFFENSE: Cooper Kupp, TB – 14 catches, 248 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: JC Jackson, KC – 2 INTs, 12 tackles, 4 pass defenses
WEEK
FOURTEEN
OFFENSE: Davis Mills, CHI – 33 of 48 for 434 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Rashan Gary, NYJ – 2 sackes, 8 tackles, 1 stuff
WEEK
SIXTEEN
OFFENSE: Russell Wilson, NO – 22 of 34 for 409 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Kevin Byard, PHI – 2 INTs, 5 tackles, 1 pass defense, 1 forced
fumble
WEEK
SEVENTEEN
OFFENSE: Antonio Brown, CAR – 18 catches, 195 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Trayvon Mullen, NYJ – 2 INTs, 4 tackles
WEEK
EIGHTEEN
OFFENSE: Josh Jacobs, PIT – 29 carries, 163 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Darius Leonard, KC – 1 INT, 16 tackles, 1 stuff
WILDCARD ROUND
OFFENSE: Aaron Rodgers, IND – 35 of 46 for 386 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Shelby Harris, TEN – 3 sacks, 6 tackles |