ISFL NEWLETTER
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The
Internet Simulation Football League Newsletter
Volume #27 Issue #21 – January 16, 2024
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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.
Divisional Round Results
V.
Championship Round Schedule
VI.
Transactions
VII.
Other News including Players of the Week
I.
MESSAGE FROM THE COMMISSIONER
Well,
not sure I could have been much more wrong about these 4 games as I
really felt they would all be very competitive and just one of them went
that way and ended up with an upset win for the LA Chargers over the
Indianapolis Colts. Denver steam rolled the Jets, The Giants shut down
the Panthers as did the Patriots over the Falcons as their defenses were
really the story here. So, that leaves us with two very interesting
matchups. First off we have the NFC Championship game with the New
England Patriots hosting the New York Giants. Two teams with 14 wins and
coming off blow out wins in the Divisional round. The Giants
statistically have the advantage on both sides of the ball scoring 80
more points and giving up 50 less, but the Patriots got the #1 seed on
the tiebreaker and home field might be enough to make this a tight game.
It likely comes down to which quarterback can make some plays with the
Patriots having Goff and the Giants swapping back and forth between
Purdy and Daniel Jones. It maybe the running game that has to step up
for one team and the Giants in-season addition of Nick Chubb will likely
be the deciding factor in this game unless the Patriots find a way to
slow him down. Giants will take this one by a field goal and head to the
big game. In the AFC, Denver took down the Chargers twice during the
regular season and assuming Tua can stay healthy, they should repeat and
get the season sweep as the Broncos offense has not been stopped for
most of the season and the defenses are pretty similar and should match
up well. Broncos will win
this one by 10 late as the Chargers will hang around for 3 quarters
before falling in the end.
Please make sure to get started on game contacts asap and don’t forget
to CC me on all of them so I can make sure games are getting set up
smoothly. Let’s see if we
can hit the first week deadline with all games played head-to-head and
as always if you need help let us know.
If you need a sub, please contact Jeff Shelton asap so he can try
and get you hooked up with someone to get your game in.
Make sure you have the latest action update which is available on
the website. Updated game
files are up, so make sure you go download them and start making contact
for playoff games. If you have any questions, now is the time, so please
ask before we get too far into things.
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 Divisional Round
LA Chargers (37) at Indianapolis Colts (34)
The Chargers three-point underdogs march into Indy
and pull off an upset on the back of a strong Cousins and Amara St.
Brown show. Indy was up fourteen points twice in the game and saw the
Chargers tie it in no time. Chargers had a timely punt return for TD and
a forced fumble in the fourth quarter to tie the game and have a
game-winning FG drive.
Thanks to Jason Kerns for subbing. He called a
great game and was never daunted by being down 14 points twice in the
game. If not for his excellent coaching, it would have been a different
result.
Good luck to the rest of the teams in the playoffs.
NY Jets (17) at Denver Broncos (48)
JETS GROUNDED AT MILE HIGH, 48-17
Denver, CO., January 15th, 2024:
The Jets ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the Broncos offense today,
falling behind 20-3 before losing 48-17 in Denver. Trailing 20-3, the
Jets scored their first touchdown in the final two minutes of the first
half, then intercepted Tua Tagovailoa to thwart a Broncos' scoring drive
that had reached the Jets 41 to enter halftime feeling pretty good about
the way the half ended. That
good feeling didn't last long.
Surrendering 28 points in one quarter would remove the smile from
anyone's face. Denver
took the second-half kickoff and, in three plays, extended their lead to
27-10 when Tagovailoa checked down to fullback C.J. Ham for a 17-yard
touchdown. After
surrendering one first down to the Jets, safety Julian Love intercepted
Joe Burrow, with Denver taking over at the Jets 49. A nine-yard run by
A.J.Dillon set up a third-and-one situation at the Jets' 40, and
Tagovailoa hit wideout Curtis Samuel on a long pass for the score to
expand their lead to 34-10. An
interception by seldom-used and often-injured Caden Sterns gave the ball
back to Denver at their own 32. Four plays, another touchdown, with Alec
Pierce scoring on a 28-yarder to make it 41-10. On the
next Jets possession, facing a fourth and six, the Jets opted to go for
it. Burrow hit Ja'Marr Chase in stride, but tight coverage by the
Broncos' Tyson Campbell stopped Chase a yard short of the first down
mark, giving the ball to Denver at the Jets' 34. A run by Zeke Elliott
and a holding call against the Jets moved the ball to the Jets 23, and
Zeke Elliott took it the rest of the way on a sweep around the right
side to balloon the Broncos' lead to 48-10 with 6:48 remaining in the
third quarter. The Broncos had scored those 28 points in the first 8
minutes and 12 seconds of the third quarter, blowing the game open. The
Jets slowed the game down, going on an extended drive (17 plays, exactly
ten minutes off the clock) to gain 75 yards, with Damien Harris punching
it over from two yards out on fourth down to close out the scoring early
in the fourth quarter at 48-17. The
Jets took a 3-0 lead on their first possession on Graham Gano's 53-yard
field goal, but the Jets were driving until sacks of Burrow by
linebackers Uchenna Nwosu and Bud Dupree stopped the advance. The
Broncos came right back to tie it up at 3-3 behind the foot of Evan
McPherson's 33-yarder after a 16-yard run by Elliott and completions of
20 to Curtis Samuel and 13 yards to Devin Duvernay. A
Burrow scramble for 11 yards on third and ten turned into a disaster for
the visiting Jets as rookie safety Kyle Hamilton separated Burrow and
the ball, with Julian Love recovering at the Jets' 36. A 26-yard run by
Dillon followed a two-yard run by Dillon to move the ball to the Jets
eight, from where Wan'Dale Robinson caught a short crossing route for
the score to give the Broncos their first lead at 10-3. Early
in the second quarter, the Broncos stopped Damien Harris a yard short of
the first down, and following another Jets punt, Tua Tagovailoa
connected with Corey Davis across the middle for 21, then hit Davis deep
for the 48-yard touchdown to make it 17-3. The
Broncos Harrison Phillips sacked Burrow to force another Jets punt, and
the Broncos added a 53-yard McPherson field goal to their ledger to
expand their lead to 20-3 with 5:11 left in the first half. It was
starting to smell like a rout. But the Jets engineered a ten-play,
75-yard drive that culminated in Burrow hitting Ja'Marr Chase for a
23-yard score to make it 20-10, then Cameron Sutton picked off
Tagovailoa to end another Denver threat as the teams neared halftime. It was
looking up for the Jets as the two teams headed to their respective
locker rooms at halftime, but they didn't know what awaited them in the
third quarter.
GAME NOTES: Tua
Tagovailoa completed 18 of 29 for 377 yards and five touchdowns with one
interception for a 131.1 passer rating. Joe Burrow completed 20 of 36
for 196 yards and one touchdown but was intercepted twice and sacked
thrice. He gained 15 yards on seven runs. He finished with a 57.2 passer
rating. Zeke
Elliott gashed the Jets for 72 yards on ten carries, scoring once, and
added 11 yards on one reception. A.J. Dillon added 159 yards on nine
rushes (6.6) as the Broncos gained 134 yards on the ground in the game,
averaging 6.1 per tote. Damien Harris had 85 yards on 17 carries for the
Jets, averaging 5.0 per carry, but the Jets could manage only 120 on the
ground despite 35 attempts, for a 3.4 average.
Ja'Marr Chase caught seven for 97 yards (13.9) and one score, but he was
the only standout for the Jets receiving corps. Michael Pittman caught
five but for only 38 yards (7.6). Denver, meanwhile, had five players
exceed Pittman's yardage total, led by DeVante Parker's four receptions
for 79 yards. Corey Davis had 69 yards and one score, Alec Pierce had 63
yards and one score, Curtis Samuel had 60 yards and one touchdown, and
Devin Duvernay had 42 yards.
Antoine Winfield had seven tackles to lead the Jets in that stat, while
Julian Love stood out for the Broncos with seven tackles and two
takeaways - one on an interception and one on a fumble recovery.
NEXT MAN UP:
The Broncos are healthy entering the Championship Game next week against
the Los Angeles Chargers.
A LOOK AHEAD:
The Broncos and Chargers met twice this season already, with the Broncos
winning both. Denver beat the Chargers in week ten in Los Angeles 34-24,
then won 44-16 in Denver in week 18, the final week of the regular
season.
NFC Divisional Round
Carolina Panthers (13) at New York Giants (30)
If all you looked at were
the stats and final score, you would immediately assume this wasn’t much
of a game. You would be very, very wrong.
Carolina wins the toss and
takes the ball. On their 2nd play from scrimmage, Justin
Fields hits Stefon Diggs down the sideline for a 45 yard gain. The
Giants defensive motto of
“Don’t-bend-but-if-you-have-to-bend-then-just-don’t-break” holds here,
as the Panthers have to settle for a field goal and an early 3-0 lead.
Giants start Daniel Jones
at QB on this day, and after they receive the kickoff they go in the
wrong direction, with two big penalties resulting in a 3rd
and long, the only positive play for the Giants being a 10-yard scramble
by Jones, which was only enough to give the punter a bit of breathing
room. It was a sign of things to come, however.
Panthers take the next
drive right down the field again, with Justin Fields scrambling for 17
yards on 3rd down and then hitting Marquise Brown for a 25
yard gain, before another drive stalls and ends in another Mason Crosby
FG. 6-0 visitors.
Giants next drive goes
nowhere, and they punt it right back to Carolina, as the first quarter
ends 6-0 and the Giants having close to 0 yards in offense.
Carolina uses Breece Hall’s
legs to march down the field and get into field goal range again, but
this time Crosby pushes it wide right and it’s still a one-score game.
Again the Giants can’t do
anything on the next drive, until coach Engemoen decides to get
ultra-aggressive on 4th and 1 on their own 41 yard line, as
Jones sprints out and hits a wide open Mo Ali-Cox who rumbles for 40
yards and down to the Panthers 19 and we’re in business. Jones runs for
12 on the next play, then a short run from Bradley Chubb (who Carolina
keyed A LOT during this game), and on 3rd down and against
another Chubb-key, Jones hit DeVonta Smith for a 4-yard score and
suddenly, following the XP from Dicker the Kicker, the Giants had the
lead in a game that felt like it was really close to getting away from
us early.
Carolina’s next drive would
end following back-to-back sacks from the Giants, as Von Miller and
Grover Stewart get home (albeit for a combined loss of 5 yards), but a
good punt leaves the Giants starting on their own 4-yard line. Chubb
runs into a wall on the next play, but Jones would finally complete a
pass down the field, to Smith for 26 yards. On the next play Jones
scrambles from the pressure and finds Nick Chubb getting clear for 26
yards and the Giants are driving as the 2-minute warning hits. Chubb
runs for 17 on a draw play but the Giants are not able to convert
another first down, and they settle for another Dicker kicker to make it
10-6 and that’s how the half ends.
Giants get the ball to
start the 2nd half with a chance to take control, but they go
3-and-out and the Panthers have it back. Derek Carr comes into the game
in an effort to spark the road team’s offense and it works. After
another big penalty on the Giants (Chris Jones facemask), Carr finds
Diggs in the end zone for a 32-yard score and with the XP, the Panthers
have a 13-10 lead. The Giants next drive sees Chubb get loose for 11,
and then Jones using his legs again, scrambling for 33 yards to get into
field goal range for Dicker, and the kick sails through to tie the game,
or so we thought. Holding, another huge penalty on the Giants, and since
Dicker can’t hit from long range and I can’t figure out how to get
Butker inserted for the long FG during the play, we settle for a pooch
punt that ends up in a touchback. It was 4th and 24 so it’s
not like we could have gambled or anything….but still, a waste of field
position.
Giants next drive sees them
convert on a couple third-and-longs, before it stalls out as it’s the
Panthers’ turn for sacks on consecutive plays, with James Houston IV and
Drue Tranquill both getting to Jones.
At this point in the game,
with the Panthers leading 13-10, they have committed zero turnovers (two
fumbles that they recovered) and ZERO penalties. Boy, would that change
soon.
After Carolina gets their
first penalty of the game, a false start, Nick Bolton would make the
play of the game to this point, picking off a screen pass from Carr to
Hall and the Giants would start with excellent field position. They
couldn’t advance the ball much, however, but Dicker’s field goal was
good and no penalty this time, so we are tied at 13 with 12 minutes to
play.
Panthers go 3-and-out on
the next drive and the Giants take over with the ground game getting
going. After another penalty on the Giants makes it 1st-and-15,
Chubb gets loose for 10 yards (against a RUN KEY CHUBB blitzing
defense), then Jones runs for 32 on the next 2 plays. A couple more
Chubb runs, and a MONSTER penalty on the visitors (Montez Sweatt for
unnecessary roughness) and the Giants are in the red zone. Jones rolls
out and gets sacked by Okoronkwo and Jones fumbles…but gets back on top
of it. That proved a huge play, as Jones runs into the end zone on the
very next snap to put the Giants up 20-13 with about 6 minutes to play.
On the next play from
scrimmage, Carr finds Hall in the flat who promptly fumbles it away to
Levi Wallace, and it’s all downhill from here for the Panthers. Dicker
is true again to make it 23-13 and with just 3 minutes to play Carr
would throw another pass, this time to Diggs, that would be fumbled away
by the receiver. Julian Blackmon would take a lateral to the house and
the Giants had it put away, 30-13. Carr would throw two more
interceptions to make the stats look really one sided as the Giants just
kneel down for the victory and move on to New England next week where
the top 2 seeds will battle it out.
Great game and nothing but
class from Shan as always.
As I mentioned previously,
about midway through the third quarter the Panthers had 0 turnovers and
0 penalties. The final stats? 5 turnovers, and 3 HUGE penalties for 27
yards. They completely unraveled.
The Giants committed NINE
penalties in the game; something we better fix before next week.
Daniel Jones had a
pedestrian day throwing the football, going just 13/24 for 147 yards and
a TD, but his legs more than made up for it, rushing 17 times for 100
yards and a TD. Zaire Franklin was all over the field for the Giants,
making 13 tackles and 4 Stuffs. Drue Tranquill was the leading defender
for the Panthers, with 15 tackles, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed, 3 stuffs, 1
hurry and a forced fumble.
Question of the day: Who
will the Giants start at QB next week in the NFC Championship Game? The
experienced but sometimes erratic Daniel Jones? Or the seemingly
unflappable rookie, Brock Purdy? Tune in to find out!
After a great season, Atlanta come to Foxboro for
the divisional payoff game, but the day became a nightmare for the
visiting team.
New England dominated the game on both side of the
ball. Goff finished the game with a rating of 134.1, with 20/28 and 3
TDs., while the running game gained 166 yards with Williams runnign with
a stellar rate of 7.9 yards per carry.
On the other side, Blissett completed only 17/37
for 147 yards (most in the 4th quarter) for a rating of 23.1.
Now NE wait for the winner between NYG and CAR, and
i know that will be a battle, doesn't metter which team will be.
Let me say that Atlanta played a great season. Not
so many people, before the season, would bet on them, but Dave built a
great team. Just today he didn't have any luck.
Don't forget that they're one of the 3 teams that
were able to defeat the strongest team of the league, the NYG.
That's all folks.
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III. STANDINGS
http://www.blades99.com/ISFL/Standings23.htm
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IV. RESULTS – Wild Card Round Results
New York
(A) 17 Denver 48
V.
SCHEDULE
Championship Round
VI.
TRANSACTIONS
AFC
BUF –
CLE –
DEN –
Returned Isaac Palo-Mao to FA pool.
GB
-
LAR –
NYJ –
PIT –
SF
- TEN –
NFC
ARZ –
ATL – CAR – DET –
HOU –
JAX –
KC
- MIA –
NO
-
PHI –
SEA –
TB
-
DRAFT
PICKS FORFEITED:
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VII.
OTHER NEWS:
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
WEEK
ONE
OFFENSE: Tua Tagovailoa, DEN – 33 of 42 for 533 yards, 6 TDs
WEEK
TWO
OFFENSE: Cortland Sutton, JAX – 12 catches, 240 yards, TD
DEFENSE: TJ Edwards, ARZ – 1 INT, 1 Sack, 18 tackles
WEEK
THREE:
OFFENSE: Jamar Chase, NYJ – 11 catches, 196 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Minkah Fitzpatrick, LAR – 2 INTs, 1 pass defense, 9 tackles, TD
WEEK
FOUR:
OFFENSE: Dalvin Cook, CAR – 19 carries, 164 yards, 3 TDs, 2 catches, 37
yards
DEFENSE: Julian Love, DEN – 1 INT, 15 tackles
WEEK
FIVE:
OFFENSE: Derek Henry, ARZ – 35 carries, 203 yards, 4 catches, 44 yards,
2 TDs
DEFENSE: Justin Simmons, DET – 2 INTs, 1 Pass Defense, 3 tackles
WEEK
SIX:
OFFENSE: Mike Williams, SEA – 7 catches, 131 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Patrick Peterson, IND - 2 INTs, 7 tackles, 3 pass defensed
WEEK
SEVEN:
OFFENSE: Mac Jones, TEN – 27 of 40 for 280 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Josh Uche, CAR – 3 sacks, 6 tackles, 2 hurries
WEEK
EIGHT:
OFFENSE: Daniel Jones, NYG – 24 of 37 for 349 yards, 4 TDs
WEEK
NINE:
OFFENSE: Tua Tagovailoa, DEN – 26 of 30 for 480 yards, 5 TDs
WEEK
TEN:
OFFENSE: Brandon Aiyuk, GB – 5 catches, 206 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Greg Rousseau, PIT – 3 sacks, 4 tackles, 1 forced fumble
WEEK
ELEVEN:
OFFENSE: Justin Jefferson, DET – 11 catches, 148 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Darrell Taylor, DET – 4 sacks, 5 tackles, 1 hurry
WEEK
TWELVE:
OFFENSE: Jalen Hurts, PHI – 22 of 35 for 300 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Cameron Jordan, NO – 4 sacks, 6 tackles, 1 forced fumble
WEEK
THIRTEEN:
OFFENSE: DJ Moore, KC – 8 catches, 154 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Darius Slay, NYG – 3 INTs, 6 tackles, 2 pass defensed, TD
WEEK
FOURTEEN
OFFENSE: Stefon Diggs, CAR – 11 catches, 212 yards, 3 TDs
DEFENSE: Tre’Davious White, LAC – 2 INTs, 3 tackles, 4 passes defensed
WEEK
SIXTEEN
OFFENSE: Joe Flacco, KC – 17 of 25 for 288 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Talanoa Hufanga, CAR – 2 INTs, 3 tackles, TD
WEEK
SEVENTEEN
OFFENSE: Matt Ryan, SF – 22 of 28 for 281 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Jeff Okudah, CAR – 2 INTs, 8 tackles, 1 pass defense, TD
WEEK
EIGHTEEN
OFFENSE: CeeDee Lamb, LAR – 7 catches, 149 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: James Houston IV, CAR – 4 sacks, 5 tackles, 4 hurries
WILDCARD ROUND
OFFENSE: Stefon Diggs, CAR – 11 catches, 206 yards, 2 TDs
DEFENSE: Hassan Reddick, LAC – 4 tackles, 1 pass deflection, 1 forced
fumble, 1 fumble recovery for game winning TD
DIVSIONAL ROUND
OFFENSE: Aaron Rodgers, IND – 22 of 37 for 259 yards, 4 TDs
DEFENSE: Dru Tranquill, CAR – 1 sack, 15 tackles
CONFERENCE FINALS
OFFENSE:
DEFENSE:
SUPERBOWL XXVI
OFFENSE:
DEFENSE:
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