ISFL NEWLETTER
|
The
Internet Simulation Football League Newsletter
Volume #26 Issue #22 – January 29, 2023
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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
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LEAGUE NOTES
I.
Message from the Commissioner
II.
News from Around the League
III.
Standings
IV.
Championship Round Results
V.
Super Bowl XXVI Schedule
VI.
Transactions
VII.
Other News including Players of the Week
I.
MESSAGE FROM THE COMMISSIONER
Two
great championship games that both go right down to the wire before a
winner was determined and we end up with the top team in the AFC, the
Chicago Bears who just about rolled through the conference heading to
their third shot at the big game and the #3 seed in the NFC, a team who
was the #7 seed until they pulled an upset in week 18 to move up and get
a couple of important home games.
Chicago held one with a great goal line stand to keep
Indianapolis from tying the game very late while Jacksonville tied it
late and then won it on the first drive in OT (next year the rules
change and NE will get their own shot to score :O) Can the Jags stop the
Chicago freight train that has kept rolling along? Can Patrick Mahomes
pull out one more win? Will the Bears offense continue to roll with the
two headed monster of Bridgewater and Davis Mills at QB and the quartet
of Samuel, Higgins, Kittle and Kmet to throw to?
In the end, this will come down to defense and if the Bears
defense can step up their play and stop Mahomes and unfortunately I
wouldn’t beat against Patrick so look for the upset, 31-28, Jaguars.
Good
luck in the Super Bowl to Chicago and Jacksonville, feel free to play
when you guys are available and don’t forget to make sure you don’t
forget to set the stadium to SoFi Stadium in LA for the game (I already
shut off home field advantage).
Files should be good to go so go ahead and let’s hope this one is
as good as the rest of our playoffs have been.
As
you have likely seen, ballot discussions are underway on the mailing
list, please feel free to weigh in in the discussions and/or bring up
any ballot proposals you think may be a positive change/addition for the
league. Ballot proposals are due next Sunday (pushing them back for a
week to make sure we get it all).
Look
for the awards ballot to be coming soon, promise this will be up by the
end of the week, work got busy last week so time wasn’t there, but I
will get it out there.
Here
is the draft order, pre-lottery for the first 14 teams. Look for the
full draft order in the next newsletter.
Lottery Standings
Team Record
Opponent Record
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 Colts and Bears go right down the wire with Indy unable to punch
it in on 4 tries from the 3 yard line to tie the game up and the Bears
move on to the Super Bowl for first time since 2006 when they fell to
the Rams and looking for their first ever win in the big game (also lost
in our first season to Pittsburgh).
A game of inches. Obviously not the most original
line, but one that defined this game.
2:39 left in the 4th quarter. The Bears have just
managed to take a lead for the first time all game but the Aaron Rogers
led Coltse Colts do what they've been doing all afternoon and marched
the length of field. It's now 1st and Goal on the Bears 3 yard line.
1st and goal from the 3 - 2:39 left
Rodgers brings them to the line
---
2nd and goal from the 1 - 2:11 left
Hunt takes the handoff
---
3rd and inches from the 0 - 1:52 left
OLB Okwara blitzing
---
4th and inches from the 0 - 1:23 left
Indianapolis down 7
Rodgers calling an audible
he was tackled short of the line.
In
the NFC we had another super close game that went to OT as the defenses
did as expected and made things tough all day long.
Teams go to OT tied at 18 with a bunch of FGs and defensive
scores included and Jacksonville gets the big play from Mahomes in the
end as he hits Cooks for 31 yards in OT and the 24-18 win.
Jags have a pair of Super Bowl wins back in 2007 over NY Jets and
2012 over Indianapolis and this is there third trip to the big game.
This was a defensive struggle from beginning to
end. Even when there was offense, the defenses stepped up and shut (or
slammed) the door.
The Jags and Pats trade punts on their first two
drives. The Pats drive was set back by a Linder penalty, from which they
couldn't recover. On the Jags next drive, everything was clicking.
Mitchell and Mahomes had a couple of big runs and Mahomes hit a few
passes to Mitchell, Sutton and Gesicki to drive it down to the 5. On
3rd, Mahomes looks short to Cooks. He cleanly beats Xavier Rhodes off
the line and he's wide open one the end line for a sure TD. Mahomes
finally sees him but Dugger comes out of nowhere, picks the ball and has
nothing but green grass and open field ahead of him. He takes it for a
98 yard return on the interception and the Patriots jump out to a 7-0
lead.
Mahomes comes out firing on the ensuing drive,
hitting Cooks on back to back passes for 25 yards to the Jags 44. The
Pats D steps up and shuts down the drive there and forces a Jags punt.
It's a good one and Huber and the Jags special teams pin them on the 1.
On first down, Jared Goff looks for the short quick
pass to Gronk but Jake Matthews misses a block and Trey Hendrickson
buries Goff for the safety. With the second defensive score of the game,
the Pats led 7-2 early in the second quarter.
After the free kick, following the safety, Mahomes
came out firing again. Rhodes had tight coverage on Cooks on the first
play and knocked it away. Not deterred, Mahomes tried again. Cooks was
blanketed by Rhodes but Cooks managed to catch this one for a 14 yard
gain to the Jags 46. Then it happened again...Mahomes missed his read.
Cooks beat Rhodes off the line and was running deep and wide open down
to the goal line. Mahomes read it late, underthrew it and that gave
Xavier McKinney time to break on the ball and pick it.
Unfortunately for the Pats, Goff was having as bad
a game as Mahomes was and the Pats go 3 and out on their drive,
following the McKinney pick. The Pats are forced to punt from their 3
yard line.
Cooper catches it at the 40, dekes out the first
tackler and breaks it for a 10 yard return and the Jags are in business
with good field position at midfield. On first down, it looked like
Mitchell would break a big gain but Aaron Donald beat his man, closed
the gap and stopped Mitchell for a 2 yard gain. On the next play, the
Jags ran the same play with Tevin Coleman but, away from Donald this
time, and he broke it for a 20 yard gain down to the Pats 28 yard line.
Jags then pick up another first on an 11 yard pass to Courtland Sutton.
Then the Pats D stepped up again. Mahomes drops back to pass but no one
is open. He dances around the pocket but Aaron Donald chases him right
into Jadaveon Clowney and he picks up the 8 yard sack. On 3rd and 18,
Elijah Mitchell breaks free for a 10 yard gain to the Pat 8 yard line
but on the 4th they decide to take the short 26 yard field goal attempt.
Joseph strikes it and it's good to allow the Jags to close the gap to
7-5 with 8:07 left in the first half.
On the Pat's next drive, Goff couldn't hit Gonk on
a 3rd and 5 and the Pats go 3 and out again. You can see coach Miozzi
starting to wonder if Goff can lead them to this win.
Despite the 2 picks, coach Golden has Mahomes
firing again after they take over on their own 34 yard line. Mahomes
hits Cooks, dumps it off to Tevin Coleman and then hits Cooks again to
get it down to the Pats 40. On the next pass play Mahomes makes a big
play. Mahomes sees Sutton wide open on the button hook and hits him with
a bullet. Sutton breaks a tackle and goes for 27 yards before Jessie
Bates makes a TD saving tackle, catching Sutton from behind, at the 12
yard line. This time the Jags would not be denied as Mitchell ran it for
5 down to the 7. Then Mahomes drew Solomon Thomas offsides with a hard
count. On 3rd and 1 from the 3 yard line, the Jags had 3 blocking
Donald, ran to the other side and Mitchell managed to just sneak it in
for the 3 yard TD. With 2:09 left in the 2nd, the Jags took their first
lead of the game at 12-7.
The Pats offense continued to struggle as they went
3 and out again. Goff missed a wide open Callaway and then had to throw
the ball away as Jalen Ramswey was blanketing Mike Evans. On 3rd and 10,
Swift tried to get the edge but Bosa made an ankle tackle to stop him
after a 3 yard gain.
The next drive, the Pats defense bent a bit but
ultimately didn't break. The Jags got it to Pat 38 but Aaron Donald
sacked Mahomes for a big 12 yard loss with 0:02 left back to the 50.
With one pick for a TD already, the Jags decided to play it safe and
knelt down to run down the clock on the first half.
The Pats had won the toss to start the game. They
elected to defer so they started with the ball in the second half. Greg
Joseph kicks it through the end zone and the Pats, down 12-7, start the
drive on the 25 yard line. With some running and short passes by Goff,
they managed to get it down to the 3 yard line. David Montgomery rushed
3 times for 14 yards. Goff hit 3 different receivers for 27 yards. The
biggest play was Goff tucking the ball and scrambling for 18 yards when
his receivers were covered. At 3rd and goal from the 3, Jordan Howard
rushed for two yards but was stopped short of the goal line by a swarm
of Jags tacklers led by Carlos Dunlap. On 4th, the Pats decided to go
for the short FG attempt. Badgley hits the 19 yarder and the Pats were
down 12-10 after a long 14 play 74 yard drive.
On the ensuing drive, the Jags came out running but
the Pats stuffed them. Mitchell tried to get the edge but Solomon Thomas
came up with a big play, stuffing it for a 4 yard loss. The Jags drive
stalled after that and they were forced to punt.
After a 5 yard return by Grant, the Pats were set
up on their own 27 yard line. This time, it was the Jags D that came up
with the big play. The Pats had the right call but Bosa ran down David
Montgomery from behind and stripped out the ball. A scramble for the
ball ensued but once the refs dug through the pile of players, Al Woods
came away with the fumble recovery for the Jags at the Pats 34 yard
line.
The Pats D came up big again with blanket coverage
on two pass plays, held an Elijah Mitchell run to no gain and forced a
long 54 yard FG attempt. Good snap and hold and Joseph booms it through
to extend the Jags lead to 15-10, late in the 3rd quarter.
Both teams traded punts twice before the Pat
started moving the ball. On the drive, leading up to the first of two
punts, Goff was looking for Ertz but the Jags double covered him.
Instead of going to the next read or throwing the ball away, Gofff kept
waiting until Bosa finally sacked him for an 11 yard loss. That was the
last straw for Coach Miozzi as he finally made the switch to Jacoby
Brissett.
Unfortunately, he didn't fare much better as hit a
couple of short passes and scrambled for a first down but he couldn't
drive the Pats beyond their own 34 yard line before the Jags D forced
them to punt.
The Jags were 3 and out on their next drive,
leading to the Pats best drive of the day. Jacoby Brissett started out
at QB for the Pats. He missed on passes to Evans and Gronk. After seeing
that, Coach Miozzi went back to Goff and it paid off right away. He read
double coverage on Marvin Jones and hit Callaway for an 11 yard first
down. De'Andre Swift followed with Pats best run of the game as he broke
a 26 yard run over the right side to the Jags 46 yard line. From then,
Goff hit some short passes until the Pats were faced with a 4th and 5
from the 30 yard line. They were against the wind and down in the game
with the clock running down so the Pats decided to go for it. Goff took
a quick drop and hit Ertz on a short button hook. He broke Tayshaun
Gipson's tackle and broke it for 11 yards and a first down to the Jags
19. After Swift got stuffed on a dive play, Goff hit Marvin Jones in
stride on a short slant and he broke it 19 yards for the TD to make it
16-15, pending the extra point. Up 1, Coach Miozzi decided to forgo the
extra point for a two point attempt to extend the lead to a FG. The Jags
were in their goal line D but the Pats got enough of a push that David
Montgomery was able to rush it up the middle for the 2 point conversion
to extend the lead to 18-15 with 4:29 left.
With the clock running down, the Jags started their
next drive at their own 25 as Michael Badgley's kick off soared through
the end zone. Coach Golden was clearly going for the win as he called
multiple long passes. On the first play, Cooks was covered deep so
Mahomes hit Courtland Sutton in stride on the slant pattern and he broke
it for 29 yards to the Jags 46 with 3:40 left. On the next play, Cooks
was covered again so Mahomes dumped it to Gesicki. After a couple more
short passes and a short Mitchell run, Mahomes took a deep shot to
Sutton but he was blanketed. In fact, the coverage was too tight and
Charvarious Ward was called for interference at the Pats 14 yard line.
The Pats D stiffened and the Jags were forced to go for the FG attempt
to tie it up. Scales snapped the ball to Huber, he put it down, turned
the laces away a second before Greg Joseph drove right through the ball.
With the wind at his back, Joseph knocked through the 36 yard FG to tie
up the game at 18 with 1:11 left.
On the Pats next drive, Brandon Linder was the
hero, as Jordan Howard fumbled the ball, but Linder pounced on it at
their own 26 yard line to save a short field for the Jags and a likely
game winning FG. The Jags got the ball back but couldn't move it on the
Patriot's prevent defense and the game would go to overtime, tied at
18-18.
The Jags started with the ball and Mahomes took
over. He hit Cook and Gesicki on short passes to get it to the Jags 35
yard line. Then he hit two quick, long strikes. First he hit Sutton a 26
yard slant to the Pats 31 yard line then he called the same play but
this time Cooks broke open deep and Mahomes hit him for the 31 yard game
winning TD pass. Before you could blink, Mahomes drove the ball down the
field on 4 passes to win the NFC Championship 24-18 and lead the Jags
back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2011.
After struggling most the game, Mahomes was named
game MVP after he led the Jags to the game winning TD in overtime. He
finished with 295 yards and the 1 TD pass. Sutton had 8 catches for 116
yards and Cooks added 106 yards on 8 catches including the game winning
TD catch.
The offense struggled for the Pats but Kyle Dugger
was all over the field for the defense. Eventually, the Jags started
avoiding him as they were worried that he'd pick another ball and
potentially take a second interception to the house. The Jags also had
to game plan around Aaron Donald, as he seemed to always be in the
backfield and blew up plays, even if he "only" got 1 sack. The Jags also
needed to put a TE on his side of the field to limit the damage and
couldn't run his way at all.
The unsung heroes of the game were the Jags special
teams as they held Jakeem Grant to a 4.5 ave on his punt returns. Greg
Joseph also hit 3 big FGs, including a 54 yarder and the game tying FG
late in the 4th. Finally, the Jags dominated the field position game
with Huber and the Jags gunners consistently pinning the Pats in their
20 and 1 at their one yard line (leading to the safety). Pharoh Cooper
also averaged 10.2 yards per return on 6 punts.
Congrats to Daniele on a well coached game and a
very good season. The Jags now look forward to seeing who they will be
facing in the Super Bowl.
As a final note, Mark called the game exactly right
in the Championship newsletter. Mahomes struggled but he did carry the
Jags offense. The Jags D mostly shut down Goff. The Jags were down late
so they didn't hold on to win at the end but they did score just enough
with a tie going into a OT and the game winning TD pass by Mahomes.
"Coming up in the NFC Mahomes will have to continue
to carry the Jags offense, but it’s their defense who should be the
difference as they are able to shut down Goff. NE’s defense will
have to keep their team in the game and hope that Goff can again outplay
what is on paper a better QB if they want a chance at the big game.
In the end, the Jags will score enough to squeak out a win and hold on
at the end."
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III. STANDINGS
http://www.blades99.com/ISFL/Standings22.htm
***********************************************************************
IV. RESULTS – Divisional Round Results
New England 18 Jacksonville 24
V.
SCHEDULE
Super Bowl XXVI
Jacksonville vs Chicago
VI.
TRANSACTIONS
AFC
BUF –
CLE –
DEN –
GB
-
LAC –
LAR –
NYJ –
PIT – TEN –
NFC
ARZ –
ATL –
DET –
HOU –
JAX –
KC
- MIA –
NO
-
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
DIVSIONAL ROUND
OFFENSE: Jared Goff, NE – 23 of 32 for 302 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Kamu Grugier-Hill, PIT – 12 tackles, 3 stuffs, 1 forced fumble
CONFERENCE FINALS
OFFENSE: Teddy Bridgewater, CHI – 26 of 39 for 289 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Kyle Dugger, NE – 9 tackles, 1 pass defense, 3 stuffs, 1 INT,
98 yd TD return |