DE Jermaine Johnson opens the scoring on this 37 yard pick six .

The contest had opened of course before much of the angst about injury doubts, points spread and Vegas hyperbole had really kicked in. It was the Granite Div champions Jets DST who had the honor of starting the ALFF Bowl 31 off and they certainly left a footprint. In truth it was arguably one of the units more ineffective displays of the year as the usually points limiting squad  were carved apart by Joe Flacco and the Browns running game,  with any chance of a bonus point gone well before half time. However despite the ageless veteran's smarts and smooth style, he did have a pass batted, intercepted and ran back 37 yards for a TD by DE Jermaine Johnson to open the Kincorth account. Trailing after the TNF action has been something of a theme for the Drillerdome outfit in 2023, and although clearly not thrilled with starting the Bowl game in such a manner, the overall mood for the Ricker was upbeat given the huge improvement on the injury front moving from Week 16 to the season finale. The opening Sunday action just after 18:00 suggested the Drillers were possibly right to be quietly confident of a solid effort with both De'Von Achane and Brian Robinson ripping off big plays at their respective venues. Indeed on the first drive at hot spot M&T Bank the rookie runner was a big factor in working the ball to the Ravens eight yard line, although subsequently he missed out on cashing in on the ultimate Miami score. Over at Houston QB C J Stroud was also threatening on his initial possession but three short passes on first and goal ended with the Texans booting a short FG and that promise of a quick Q1 points rush rather fizzled out. Back in Baltimore the Ravens seemed to move the ball as easily as their NFL opponents and quickly responded with a TD drive of their own that resulted in the opening point of the skirmish for the Commish off the foot of kicker Justin Tucker as he booted the XP and although not as fruitful as a FG , the threat of an imminent shoot-out  between these two sides although not conducive to a bonus points scenario for the BOD combo's 2nd ranked Miami DST, certainly had the Drillerdome faithful licking their lips in anticipation. All that rather changed in late Q1 when another healthy dose of Achane set up a rare Tyreek Hill sure TD drop and allied to the loss of defensive captain Xavien Howard the Miami game-plan took a decisive turn south. While the Drillers spun their wheels without getting much actual traction,  over at the Linc  Killers RB James Conner was looking solid but (another) pick six by Kyler Murray put the Cards in a swift 11pt hole that did not look conducive to a potential big night for the veteran rock carrier. Finally, early in Q2 of the opening stanza  C J Stroud seemed to shake off some of the rust associated with his  two-game concussion absence with a 12 yard TD toss in NRG Stadium but sadly for coach Rickaby at least,  it was not to double team-mate Dalton Schultz as the No 2 seeds closed the gap to 04-06. With the 2 Minuters still seeing positive signs such as Robinson running through tackles at Fedex Field and the Cards settling for a FG after getting stuffed on a James Conner fueled drive in Philly, the game took a subtle turn in Houston. A Texans defensive score took the home sides leading margin (against the one gear Titans)  to 17pts and suddenly Stroud's need to throw the ball was lessened. Indeed he quickly became a non factor from that point on and I have to say the passer did not have his  most impressive performance of the season, with a stout  defence negating the  need for CJ to sling it around. This had the rather obvious effect of impacting Dalton Schultz who would ultimately post the dreaded nada. With early Sunday half time approaching then came perhaps the most critical 5 minute spell of the whole contest. Over at Fedex Field  Brian Robinson was in the zone and got the Commanders down to the SF 8 yard line. The big back got one shot inside the redzone ( a further 5 yard blast) but ultimately "leaked" the scoring opportunity to Scary Terry on a 3rd and goal at the SF3 yard line. Meanwhile almost simultaneously back at M&T (which was running a little behind the other games)  the Ravens were starting to pick the NFL Dolphins apart. A 33 yard pass to OBJ that was caught just outside the EZ was unsuccessfully challenged by Mike McDaniel.... and 1 play later Special K rock carrier Gus Edwards barreled in for the score. Justin Tucker did add the XP for the Drillers to lessen the sting, but what had looked a promising start for the Commish had swung very decisively Geacher the Younger's way, ahead now 12-05 and with a lot of his powder still dry. Slotting Gus the Bus in at the right time had been a bit of an issue for the Slaughterhouse coaching Krewe and although he was effectively used as an early down grinder and would not trouble the scorers again , there can be no argument Edwards justified his selection in the season finale. Remarkably the Ravens were not quite done for the first half.  Either side of the two minute warning Tucker bagged PAT No 3 on the back of a 73 yard Lamar TD toss (ironically to bench warming Killer Zay Flowers) and after a swift Tua pick the rampant AFC North combo faced 4th and 7 on the Miam 35 yard line. At this point the Commish was hoping to see Tucker trot out to boot a 52 yard FG but the slightly saner brother Harbaugh opted to go for the jugular.....resulting in a stunning 35 yard Isaiah Likely TD complete with a highlight reel one hand grab, the big TE just diving in at the pylon. With Tucker adding the XP , the 4pt addition got the Drillers to with 10-12..... but time was very much on coach McGeachy's side now as we moved into Q3 and his opponent yet to simply catch up.

Drillers TE Isaiah Likely caps a wonderful 35 yard catch and run with a dive into the Ez.

Initially at least the overall tone changed little as we move into a period that simply had to see some sort of points rush from the direction of the Commissioners Crew if this Bowl was to become a real contest as Stroud narrowly missed out on his 2nd passing toss. Then Te Isaiah Likely popped up for a 2 yard TD grab early in Q3,  and that finally gave the Drillers their first lead of the contest at 14-12 (with Legatron's fifth XP) but any thoughts of a late garbage time glut ( e.g. a Robinson eight pointer, a Tucker FG double) were dashed when James Conner's tenacious display at Philly was rewarded with a short touchdown pass to make it 15-14 to the Double K. The Drillers refused to run up the white flag in the final quarter of ES action , De'Von Achane finally securing his pay-off for a tough nights sledding as the feature back (would he actually have been more effective with Mostert fit and playing ??) when he snagged a 1 yard TD grab to get coach Rickaby's side their second lead of the night at 17-15. That quickly became 18-15 on the back of Tucker's 6th PAT as the Ravens against struck right back  in Baltimore but the Killers wanted to make sure there were no real option for some late Sunday out of left field ALFF Gods intervention.... and Andrew was helped there by the Philadelphia Eagles. Aided enormously by a big hearted display by James Conner, the Cardinals had hung around to tie the game at the Linc up at 28-28 with just over 4 minutes remaining. However a failed opportunist onside kick almost seemed to end any prospect of any further points for AZ and more pointedly Geacher rock carrier Conner. Somehow, in a jaw dropping ending in the City of Brotherly Shove the Birds contrived to only kick a FG and allow Arizona to get to a first and goal from the 5 with just 41 seconds left. Two plays later James Conner was in the endzone and the Killers could afford to let the champagne flow now an untouchable 21-18 to the good.  In a weird take 2 of the first half conclusion,  Legatron by some means  crammed in another 2 XPs to the Drillers total to close the early Sunday scoring at 21-20 but the celebrations at the Slaughterhouse were already underway......with four starters yet to break sweat.

Bowl MVP James Conner celebrates his game clinching 2 yard TD plunge.

The late Sunday session was now effectively  an exercise in piping that extra layer of icing or two on that 5th Steven Wood Winners cake for the Special K. On paper there was an outside chance last Driller standing Tyler Lockett would mark his 4th successive Bowl appearance by scoring on an  end around (or with a back-up Seattle passer in after a Smith injury) or something of that ilk....and/or Cameron Dicker would get lost on the way to the stadium in Denver but the reality was the tie was done and dusted. Strangely the play thereafter rather reflected the now flat nature of the tie. Kinkers passer Geno Smith did put up some impressive numbers thanks to five completions of at least 20 yards -- matching his season high -- showing  particular rapport with double team-mate D K Metcalf on several long completions but this was against the background of a Steeler defence largely playing bend but don't break, which bar a single Geno 12 yard toss to Jaxon Smith-Njigba ( i.e. neither of the active Bowl receivers)  they did very successfully and perhaps more tellingly the signal-caller  failed to record multiple touchdowns for the eighth time in 14 starts on the NFL campaign.  Tyler Lockett was barely targeted. Kicker Cameron Dicker was more of a  success story. The specialist connected on  field goals from 36, 50, and 52 yards out. He was responsible for all nine points that the Chargers were able to score in another putrid offensive performance for the Bolts without Justin Herbert under center. His two bonus point FG's were a new first in ALFF Bowl history and indeed it could have been more had a 4th quarter 50 yard  attempt at Mile High not been blocked. Elsewhere it was a quiet night for ALFF Bowl 29 MVP  Ja'Marr Chase in his return from a one-game absence (caused by a shoulder injury), was closely blanketed by the KC defence , and outside of a 24-yard reception on the Bengals  second offensive possession at Arrowhead the wide-out was simply a non-factor. 2023 had given way to 2024 by the time last man out Justin Jefferson took the field in the final act of our long campaign but the pass catcher was a victim of  a grim evening for Vikings starter Jaren Hall  at quarterback who was replaced by little better Nick Mullens after the rookie turned the ball over twice before halftime. JJ is the first WR in ALFF history to win three consecutive Bowl games.....but astonishingly has yet to score in any of them.

Killers K Cameron Dicker boots the second of his 3 FG's.

The Killers 5th ALFF title , their 2nd in the  last three seasons, lifts coach McGeachy Jnr to the pinnacle of ALFF play-off performance. In six  Bowl appearances the Granite Division combo have only scored less than 32pts once ( last year v the Rising) with that 5-1 record , vastly superior to the Drillers now 5-6 tally which includes a fair share of howlers. It's the 2nd straight year a Division  winner has won the ALFF title  (first time that's happened since 2017) and a new record 9th time the GDiv champ has won the whole enchilada.  The middle Divisions  13th  overall Steven Wood success extends their championship haul lead over the Bon Accord to two more. Kinkers were also the first side to win the ALFF title after Week 1 loss since the 2020 Scunthorpe Steelers.... slightly downgrading a still lopsided stat in favor of Week 1 winners to 23-09. As is so often the case for Andrew, it's difficult to categorize his win other than perhaps he's rarely too reliant on one or two players. RB Raheem Mostert was undoubtedly the club MVP but effectively injury doubts kept him from being much of  factor over the crucial Wk 9 to Wk 17 period where the 5th title was built on the back of an eight game unbeaten run. When the running game slowed down, it fell to QB Trevor Lawrence to emerge with the aid of a WR crew that got hot in the run in with Chase , Metcalf and Sutton all pitching in with timely multi TD outings. The NFL Bolts coaching change inspired transformation of kicker Cameron Dicker was timely to say the least. Andrew will likely have both Lawrence and Chase return as retained players for a final time in 2024 with WR Zay Flowers easily the best of a middling set of rookie WR options to add to that pool with his 12th spot in the 2024 draft. The  Commish was still upbeat after the result as he felt a Bowl appearance was actually probably a step higher than his expectation this term, where he had assumed he would be holding on the Hurts inspired Rising coat-tails for one more season. A record setting 12th BA pennant ( and new best 14th Div title overall) will be one of the big take-aways for the BOD outfit from 2023 , along with perhaps the start of the C J Stroud/De'Von Achane era,  both rookies on everyone's shortlist as candidates for best retained list in 2024. Coach Rickaby had to scrap to keep his side competitive this term, with a draft day decision to go with Josh Jacobs ahead of ( he will surely get injured) CMC one that the 2 Minute supremo surely regretted. The BA outfit did have talent at all the major positions bar WR (we will get to that in a bit) , but there was rarely a time all season they were firing on all cylinders, with only 3 scores over the 30pt mark all season long in very un-Driller like fashion. The BA champions WR crew was the worst in franchise history (partially down to top pick Garrett Wilson being devalued day 1 on the back of the Aaron Rodgers injury) with their overall tally less than a TD a game. This came on the back of a worst ever WR class of 2022... safe to say the Commish will be looking at a new WR strategy come 2024. The next time these two coaches will clash will be in the 2024 draft room as they select their new squads one pick apart. Jimbeaux own the RSS 12-4... but is yet to beat Andrew in 3 play-off outings. One final note just to underline the margins in our ever competitive League. In Week 12 Andrew just squeaked by the eliminated Jesmond Chiefs 16-15 in OT. Had he lost that one he would almost certainly have exited stage left by Rd 2 at the latest. I hope you all enjoyed it.... And will be back for more in September.