I’m back! What’s the beginning of a season without some input from an old timer like me?
Last season’s final results and how badly I missed in parenthesis (another wards plusses means I disrespected you and negatives means you stink):
1.) All the Kings Men (+1)
2.) Chocolate Blaze (-1)
3.) BLACK OPS 7 (+3)
4.) NY-CA Ground Pounders (0)
5.) Oakland Suppressors (-2)
6.) Atlantic City Affliction (+1)
7.) College Station Aggies (+1)
8.) Alabama Slammers (+1)
We won’t mention my mega miss on South Otto. After last season’s mega debacle, maybe they should do what the band did. Just kidding! In all seriousness, this could be one of the best seasons this conference has seen since season 16 when you really didn’t know who could win it. This is just speaking from great teams who have been around awhile. I am sure some of the new comers will spell some trouble as well. I will enjoy watching this league from my nest top again to see who is World League bound.
1.) Chocolate Blaze (15-1)
Strengths – We all know they can build dots better than most. They will always be faster or stronger than you will be. They can light you up multiple ways offensively, but they love their air power mainly. Even though they have a new rocket launcher behind center, I wouldn’t expect them to stray from what they have done in the past. I noticed they still can run the ball with a 10+ yards per carry against multiple playoff teams last year. I would tell Defensive Coordinators to take the day off when facing the Blaze, because it probably won’t matter.
Weaknesses – Simple, management. A team stacked with this type of talent should be gloating multiple World League championships. They should be considered in a class with Honolulu, Valhalla, and some other crappy Canadia team I can’t remember. I just don’t think Dana’s pride (no pun intended) will allow them to fail again this year. As they well know last season, all it takes is one mistake. Surprisingly, the Eastern conference teams have mostly good chemistry, whereas the Blaze are slightly behind. It will be healed when the real season starts, so not a big weakness.
2.) NY-CA Ground Pounders (15-1)
Strengths – At one time they would just run right down your throat and then the next season they lit up the skies with footballs. With a new helmsmen at quarterback, who knows what we will see. I will just assume that if you can’t defend the pass that their QB will have a 600 yard passing day on you. They curb stomped most teams they faced last season and even did well in their regular season game against the Blaze. They obliterated USA Pro Eastern conference representative to the World League All the King’s Men by 55 points. What I like most of all is their schedule sets up nicely. Out of most of the playoff contenders, Oakland is their only away game.
Weaknesses – I don’t know if they really have one. The question is, will the new players perform to NY-CA expectations and can they overcome 119 point effective level to the Blaze. I think this team is World League caliber, but this will not be an easy season to sift through this talented conference.
3.) BLACK OPS (15-1)
Strengths – They seem to be a balanced offense, but move the chains with better consistency on the ground. They either had no or little turnover from the previous season meaning they will have a slight edge in their early game against Nashville Hounds. Otherwise the only other positive I see is their W16 showdown where they get to host the Blaze. I think this is that gritty team that doesn’t look impressive on paper, but if you sleep on them, you will find yourself putting a chicken scratch in the loss column. Great tacticians will usually beat great dots.
Weaknesses – Their schedule is probably the biggest thing to me. Their crossover game could be a catch game for them. Then they have the Pounders and Hounds in their next three games. They don’t even get to use their chemistry as an advantage because the Bullets and Pounders have nearly perfect chemistry. They couldn’t even catch their biggest threat (Blaze) to reach the World League in an early game when their chemistry was a little down.
4.) Nashville Hounds (6-10 World League)
Strengths – Our proverbial Chicago Hedgehogs teams for the East side. Up and down, up and down, up and down… To their credit they do actually compete in the top league and are usually in the playoff hunt late in the season unlike Wise’s team. Since I didn’t pay much attention to these guys last year, I will just assume they do what they always do. I will probably be wrong since their offense looks young (and probably new), but their history has been to screen to WR and watch WR run defense over to score. That’s pretty much it. They get the OPS at home early on which could catapult them to the number 3 spot.
Weaknesses – Their OT agents all must be on summer break because they are all inactive. Not a big deal because they are in plateau, but tough to communicate with inactives. Schedule is horrible. Open with an away game against the Hedgehogs (which we should call the Elevator Bowl), then head to South Otto, Oakland, Blaze, and NY-CA throughout the season. On top of that, they have their chemistry issues in a home game against the OPS. That defense looks a little long in the tooth, and with some high powered offenses this season, this could be a very tumultuous season the Hounds.
5.) South Otto Fragile Porcelain Mice (7-9)
Strengths – It simply comes down to mbinger and nexill. These are two great coordinators who have a great support staff. I know there team was a little young last year and they lost some very tough games. I think these guys will turn things around this season and probably challenge for the World League next season. I think these guys are sitting on quite a few boosts to reach L72 status, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them push for the three spot at some point. The early schedule sets up nicely as they get a couple of games to make sure last season was a fluke, then a couple of tests with the Slammers and the Affliction. For now, I will rank you 5th, because why would I rank you any where else?
Weaknesses – Last season. I know they had some tough losses, but that was still a playoff team that finished 7-9. I don’t know if they couldn’t adapt to the new changes as quickly as other teams could or what, so I will just assume last season was an aberration.
6.) Oakland Suppressors (11-5)
Strengths – This is your typical running team. They want to beat you up in the trenches, keep the score close, and pray they have more points than you do after 60 minutes. Two seasons ago this was a recipe that landed them the third seed in their inaugural season. Two seasons ago may also have been the worst talent that the Eastern Conference has ever seen. I would be curious to see if they opened up the reigns on "The Snake" Ken Stabler, because I see potential in his stats that he could help put some points up for that offense. Other than their tricky crossover game, their first half schedule is loaded with teams they can test new stuff out without major fear of losing. Then they will have three weeks of major game planning to prove if they are a contender or a pretender.
Weaknesses – Other than South Otto, they were probably my second biggest disappointment last season. The difference in their struggles last year versus two years ago was simply their defense. A running offense backed by a struggling defense will equate to more losses. They really need to fix what was successful for them two seasons ago. I was worried when the Hound annihilated them on their way to the World League a couple of seasons ago. With the league getting tougher, then need to stop a badly growing trend.
7.) College Station Aggies (10-6)
Strengths – They seem to effectively move better through the air then the ground. I think this will be the first time since their entry in the Pros that they have achieved level 72 on a team wide scale. We will see if they translate that into wins or being constantly ranked in between 5-10 for the next 3 seasons. Their defense will determine whether they will make noise in future seasons.
Weaknesses – They are struggling against teams I don’t think they should struggle against it could be the makeup of the team and they may have to reconsider that next season. Two HB’s, two TE’s, three DT’s and 5 LB’s are slightly on the light side for personal. I know they try to make up for this with the slog of Center drones to play special teams, but having specifically designed HB’s that you can force can make DC’s stay up late into the night. They haven’t made the monumental jump I was hoping they would have made last year. The beginning of their schedule is quite brutal, but they are always good for an upset against somebody.
8.) Atlantic City Affliction (10-6)
Strengths – Two seasons ago was no fluke season. They played well to return to the playoffs again last season. Can they take the next step? I was pleasantly surprised to see these guys revive themselves, but their next goal is to prove to the league they are more than a first round playoff doormat. Their offense looks balanced, but they are about the big play. Completion percentage for their QB’s is low, but they pile up the yardage.
Weaknesses – Their defense. 54.5 points given up to teams they lost to last season. There is very little hope of moving up if the defense doesn’t help that offense out somehow. Their pass defense was horrendous in those losses. One of the oddities was NY-CA decided this was the team to run against and piled up 1038.5 yards in two games for an average of 13 yards per carry. That’s an average Tom Osborne would be proud of.
9.) Alabama Slammers (9-7)
Strengths – Like College Station, dots who are still boosting and seemed like a team on the rise a couple of seasons ago. Last season they took some bumps on the road and barely made the playoffs. The good news is they almost did the unthinkable and took out the number one seeded team in the playoffs. That’s something to build upon. Their offense looks to favor the run, but they have the ability to change it up if necessary. I thought it was interesting that these guys took it to NY-CA last season with 44 carries for an average of 4.5 yards a pop.
Weaknesses – Like many others at the bottom, of the list, it will be their defense. I think their defense is better than Atlantics, but I also question the Slammers offense last season. At times it looks anemic and that should be enough to push Atlantic into the playoffs and keep Alabama slammed out of the playoff party.
10.) Punxsutawney Groundhogs (13-3 Promoted team)
Strengths – They look to stay quite balanced in this year’s preseason, but they really relied on the running game last year. There were quite a few games where they ran for more yards than they passed. They may need to test the passing lanes a little more if they truly want a chance at the playoffs.
Weaknesses – Unfamiliarity with the league, slightly under leveled, and a pissed off griz for leaving his team out of the top 10. This is a pretty stacked league, so I just don’t see a promoted team making the jump into the playoffs this season.
Hey joemalaka, do I get a pass to join your flex point give away? I don’t have any players in the league, but I feel like my soul is attached to this league forever. Plus I like Noodles.
Last season’s final results and how badly I missed in parenthesis (another wards plusses means I disrespected you and negatives means you stink):
1.) All the Kings Men (+1)
2.) Chocolate Blaze (-1)
3.) BLACK OPS 7 (+3)
4.) NY-CA Ground Pounders (0)
5.) Oakland Suppressors (-2)
6.) Atlantic City Affliction (+1)
7.) College Station Aggies (+1)
8.) Alabama Slammers (+1)
We won’t mention my mega miss on South Otto. After last season’s mega debacle, maybe they should do what the band did. Just kidding! In all seriousness, this could be one of the best seasons this conference has seen since season 16 when you really didn’t know who could win it. This is just speaking from great teams who have been around awhile. I am sure some of the new comers will spell some trouble as well. I will enjoy watching this league from my nest top again to see who is World League bound.
1.) Chocolate Blaze (15-1)
Strengths – We all know they can build dots better than most. They will always be faster or stronger than you will be. They can light you up multiple ways offensively, but they love their air power mainly. Even though they have a new rocket launcher behind center, I wouldn’t expect them to stray from what they have done in the past. I noticed they still can run the ball with a 10+ yards per carry against multiple playoff teams last year. I would tell Defensive Coordinators to take the day off when facing the Blaze, because it probably won’t matter.
Weaknesses – Simple, management. A team stacked with this type of talent should be gloating multiple World League championships. They should be considered in a class with Honolulu, Valhalla, and some other crappy Canadia team I can’t remember. I just don’t think Dana’s pride (no pun intended) will allow them to fail again this year. As they well know last season, all it takes is one mistake. Surprisingly, the Eastern conference teams have mostly good chemistry, whereas the Blaze are slightly behind. It will be healed when the real season starts, so not a big weakness.
2.) NY-CA Ground Pounders (15-1)
Strengths – At one time they would just run right down your throat and then the next season they lit up the skies with footballs. With a new helmsmen at quarterback, who knows what we will see. I will just assume that if you can’t defend the pass that their QB will have a 600 yard passing day on you. They curb stomped most teams they faced last season and even did well in their regular season game against the Blaze. They obliterated USA Pro Eastern conference representative to the World League All the King’s Men by 55 points. What I like most of all is their schedule sets up nicely. Out of most of the playoff contenders, Oakland is their only away game.
Weaknesses – I don’t know if they really have one. The question is, will the new players perform to NY-CA expectations and can they overcome 119 point effective level to the Blaze. I think this team is World League caliber, but this will not be an easy season to sift through this talented conference.
3.) BLACK OPS (15-1)
Strengths – They seem to be a balanced offense, but move the chains with better consistency on the ground. They either had no or little turnover from the previous season meaning they will have a slight edge in their early game against Nashville Hounds. Otherwise the only other positive I see is their W16 showdown where they get to host the Blaze. I think this is that gritty team that doesn’t look impressive on paper, but if you sleep on them, you will find yourself putting a chicken scratch in the loss column. Great tacticians will usually beat great dots.
Weaknesses – Their schedule is probably the biggest thing to me. Their crossover game could be a catch game for them. Then they have the Pounders and Hounds in their next three games. They don’t even get to use their chemistry as an advantage because the Bullets and Pounders have nearly perfect chemistry. They couldn’t even catch their biggest threat (Blaze) to reach the World League in an early game when their chemistry was a little down.
4.) Nashville Hounds (6-10 World League)
Strengths – Our proverbial Chicago Hedgehogs teams for the East side. Up and down, up and down, up and down… To their credit they do actually compete in the top league and are usually in the playoff hunt late in the season unlike Wise’s team. Since I didn’t pay much attention to these guys last year, I will just assume they do what they always do. I will probably be wrong since their offense looks young (and probably new), but their history has been to screen to WR and watch WR run defense over to score. That’s pretty much it. They get the OPS at home early on which could catapult them to the number 3 spot.
Weaknesses – Their OT agents all must be on summer break because they are all inactive. Not a big deal because they are in plateau, but tough to communicate with inactives. Schedule is horrible. Open with an away game against the Hedgehogs (which we should call the Elevator Bowl), then head to South Otto, Oakland, Blaze, and NY-CA throughout the season. On top of that, they have their chemistry issues in a home game against the OPS. That defense looks a little long in the tooth, and with some high powered offenses this season, this could be a very tumultuous season the Hounds.
5.) South Otto Fragile Porcelain Mice (7-9)
Strengths – It simply comes down to mbinger and nexill. These are two great coordinators who have a great support staff. I know there team was a little young last year and they lost some very tough games. I think these guys will turn things around this season and probably challenge for the World League next season. I think these guys are sitting on quite a few boosts to reach L72 status, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them push for the three spot at some point. The early schedule sets up nicely as they get a couple of games to make sure last season was a fluke, then a couple of tests with the Slammers and the Affliction. For now, I will rank you 5th, because why would I rank you any where else?
Weaknesses – Last season. I know they had some tough losses, but that was still a playoff team that finished 7-9. I don’t know if they couldn’t adapt to the new changes as quickly as other teams could or what, so I will just assume last season was an aberration.
6.) Oakland Suppressors (11-5)
Strengths – This is your typical running team. They want to beat you up in the trenches, keep the score close, and pray they have more points than you do after 60 minutes. Two seasons ago this was a recipe that landed them the third seed in their inaugural season. Two seasons ago may also have been the worst talent that the Eastern Conference has ever seen. I would be curious to see if they opened up the reigns on "The Snake" Ken Stabler, because I see potential in his stats that he could help put some points up for that offense. Other than their tricky crossover game, their first half schedule is loaded with teams they can test new stuff out without major fear of losing. Then they will have three weeks of major game planning to prove if they are a contender or a pretender.
Weaknesses – Other than South Otto, they were probably my second biggest disappointment last season. The difference in their struggles last year versus two years ago was simply their defense. A running offense backed by a struggling defense will equate to more losses. They really need to fix what was successful for them two seasons ago. I was worried when the Hound annihilated them on their way to the World League a couple of seasons ago. With the league getting tougher, then need to stop a badly growing trend.
7.) College Station Aggies (10-6)
Strengths – They seem to effectively move better through the air then the ground. I think this will be the first time since their entry in the Pros that they have achieved level 72 on a team wide scale. We will see if they translate that into wins or being constantly ranked in between 5-10 for the next 3 seasons. Their defense will determine whether they will make noise in future seasons.
Weaknesses – They are struggling against teams I don’t think they should struggle against it could be the makeup of the team and they may have to reconsider that next season. Two HB’s, two TE’s, three DT’s and 5 LB’s are slightly on the light side for personal. I know they try to make up for this with the slog of Center drones to play special teams, but having specifically designed HB’s that you can force can make DC’s stay up late into the night. They haven’t made the monumental jump I was hoping they would have made last year. The beginning of their schedule is quite brutal, but they are always good for an upset against somebody.
8.) Atlantic City Affliction (10-6)
Strengths – Two seasons ago was no fluke season. They played well to return to the playoffs again last season. Can they take the next step? I was pleasantly surprised to see these guys revive themselves, but their next goal is to prove to the league they are more than a first round playoff doormat. Their offense looks balanced, but they are about the big play. Completion percentage for their QB’s is low, but they pile up the yardage.
Weaknesses – Their defense. 54.5 points given up to teams they lost to last season. There is very little hope of moving up if the defense doesn’t help that offense out somehow. Their pass defense was horrendous in those losses. One of the oddities was NY-CA decided this was the team to run against and piled up 1038.5 yards in two games for an average of 13 yards per carry. That’s an average Tom Osborne would be proud of.
9.) Alabama Slammers (9-7)
Strengths – Like College Station, dots who are still boosting and seemed like a team on the rise a couple of seasons ago. Last season they took some bumps on the road and barely made the playoffs. The good news is they almost did the unthinkable and took out the number one seeded team in the playoffs. That’s something to build upon. Their offense looks to favor the run, but they have the ability to change it up if necessary. I thought it was interesting that these guys took it to NY-CA last season with 44 carries for an average of 4.5 yards a pop.
Weaknesses – Like many others at the bottom, of the list, it will be their defense. I think their defense is better than Atlantics, but I also question the Slammers offense last season. At times it looks anemic and that should be enough to push Atlantic into the playoffs and keep Alabama slammed out of the playoff party.
10.) Punxsutawney Groundhogs (13-3 Promoted team)
Strengths – They look to stay quite balanced in this year’s preseason, but they really relied on the running game last year. There were quite a few games where they ran for more yards than they passed. They may need to test the passing lanes a little more if they truly want a chance at the playoffs.
Weaknesses – Unfamiliarity with the league, slightly under leveled, and a pissed off griz for leaving his team out of the top 10. This is a pretty stacked league, so I just don’t see a promoted team making the jump into the playoffs this season.
Hey joemalaka, do I get a pass to join your flex point give away? I don’t have any players in the league, but I feel like my soul is attached to this league forever. Plus I like Noodles.
