Drillers Worn Down By Sanders
Rookie RB Bucky Irving scamper
in for a 6 yard Apaches TD.
The Penultimate week of the 2024
regular season saw the Two Minute Drillers in with the chance of another
divisional title. The match was simple. If they won and the Rising lost
then the title was theirs. Of course there was the little problem of
getting past the Apaches first. The Commish had a long look at the RB
options available. Especially the match ups. So he dropped Kyren
Williams (Doh!) and brought back Brain Robinson after injury. Fit again
Mike Evans was also recalled to one on the WR slots. The Apaches season
was already done and dusted, but there was pride to play for. Bucky
Irving was back in the back field and Quinton Johnston took one of the
wide berths. Back in week 3 the Drillers had won the corresponding
fixture 33-18 but this one appears to be a lot tighter. Thursday night
saw the Commish and his men take a 7-3 lead in the midst of a blizzard
in Cleveland. Week 11 hero Chris Boswell scored on FG's from 48 and 28
as well as a PAT. It is possible that the snow affected the Drillers
opponents as Russell Wilson went 21 of 28 for 270 yards and a 23 yard
scoring pass (Editor note - You mean it made Russell better ?? ). Sunday
night saw this game come to life as the Apaches set about getting win
number 4 under their belts. Bucky Irving's 6 yard score edged them ahead
and then Robert Kraft roped in a 11 yard score. Two points from the
Titans DST made it 16... a most poignant score given it came on
the back of safety/sack of direct opponent C J Stroud. FG's from Jason
Sanders went over from the 21 and the 51 yard mark and he also added 4
PAT's to that. The Drillers replied with a 2 yard grab from Addison, but
any hoped the Commissioner's Crew had of taking this one appeared to
vanish as Brian Robinson hobbled out injured again. They needed a big
game from CJ Stroud. He connected from the 19 and the 5 but also threw 2
interceptions on his way to 20 of 33 for 247 yards. It was nowhere near
enough and the Drillers saw this one slip away. The Commish admits he
had issues with this one, and chose wrong (repeat after me... Must not
be over influenced fantasy websites... ). Had he kept Williams in
he would have inched closer but that is the way the cookie crumbles
sometimes. It now leads to a, mouth watering last game against the
Rising in the season ender. They will be seeded 3 or 4 dependent upon
the outcome of that one, but are guaranteed a single bye week either
way. The season series is split (yet again) and the Drillers lead the
all time series 36-21. The Apaches make it 4 wins and will be looking to
add another to that total in week 13. They meet the Dolphins and a win
in that one would see them avoid being in the cellar in their division.
Not the season they would have hoped for, methinks. So as things stand 7
sides have booked a ticked for post season play and the last slot will
be decided over the coming weekend, as all 12 sides head for the finish
line (or home base, depending on your sport). Week Thirteen then.
Unlucky for some and lucky for others.
Rising Back In BA Command
QB Jayden Daniels scores on a 17
yard run for Welly.
The Wellington Rising threw off their recent lethargy
and did what they had to do to take the Bon Accord Division title race
down to wire as they pushed the Arnhall Dolphins to the edge of
elimination with a big 38-18 win in this intra-Divisional match-up. Deep
into the early Sunday action it looked as if the early season favorites
were in a little jeopardy sporting a vulnerable (to a Jalen Hurts SNF
comeback ) 26-15 lead but that wild finish in Washington that saw QB
Jayden Daniels hit double team-mate Terry McLaurin for a huge twelve
point 86 yard TD play , suddenly lifted the pressure on the NZ combo
and their now match winning position was never under threat thereafter.
Coming off two straight low scoring losses Welly knew a further slump
could allow the Drillers to secure the Div pennant before their Week 13
showdown but by and large coach Butter remained true to the guys who had
taken him to the edge of a double bye week despite recent hic-cups. The
soon to be betrothed head honcho had the welcome sight of RB James
Conner back at RB after his bye week, and in an added bonus kicker
Austin Siebert made something of an unexpected return after injury. Over
at Westhill the Umpire was very much fighting for his life after sliding
to 4-7 in Week 11 but was forced to promote K Matt Gay (with Blake Grupe
resting) while rookie Tyrone Tracy returned from his idle week to
strengthen that David Montgomery led ground game. The opening action in
the snow on the shores of Lake Erie did not favor coach Sutherland. WR
George Pickens would have scored more points on a boxing card than the
doughnut he served up as receiver while the ALFF Fins usually trusty
Pittsburgh DST also failed to move the needle. Into the less weather
affected early Sunday period , for a prolonged time it looked as if
Arnhall were just edging away slowly to set up (former Rising Favorite)
Jalen Hurts for the SNF killer blow. A ubiquitous David Montgomery score
(6 yard TD run) allied to a rare Keenan Allen counter ( 2nd
scoring outing this season) had the former Granite Div outfit purring
along quite smoothly, with stand-in Kicker Matt Gay chipping in with two
short FG's. Some of Darren's recent travails have centered around the
drop off from his Commanders trifecta and for a long time here it
looked as if it might be "same again Lorraine". With just 4 minutes on
the clock at Northwest Stadium Welly had just 9pts combined from
Daniels, McLaurin and Siebert but in a ending you could not have
schemed if you had been on crack, the points poured in..... a 4 Yard
score from Daniels arm was bolstered by a full 2pt run by the rookie
passer and just one series later Seibert was adding 5 more with a 51
yard FG. Then came that mind blowing 12 point play mentioned above (
with just 26 seconds left on the clock) and just like that, those 7
Washington points had mushroomed to 31. With His Detroit D again
holding their NFL opponent without a TD (to add four bonus points) and
Nico Collins bagging a 5 yard counter the Kauri King was suddenly 38-15
ahead and out of nowhere Arnhall lurch towards the exit became
pronounced. RB James Connor could have put the issue beyond doubt as the
lone late Sunday participant from either side but the All ALFF candidate
was held scoreless by a fierce Seattle run defence, but as things panned
out the threat of that Hurts comeback never materialized. A single 6
yard passing TD was all the passing leader could muster and it was game
set and match to Welly. With news filtering in of the Drillers no show
against the Apaches, the Rising celebrated a return to the top of the BA
Div with both leaders tied at 8-4 . The two BA sides will occupy the
single bye week slots..... but that will not stop both battling hard for the
BA pennant bragging rights. Darren's 2024 colors look firmly nailed to
the Commanders mast at this stage. Arnhall drop to 4-8 and now must
beat the Apaches in their season finale AND trust the Jesmond Chiefs
lose out to a Steelers team that seem to have belatedly found some
scoring form. Looks like a lot may ride on Jalen Hurts performance in
the third last NFL game of our regular season. With a second successive
season sweep Darren has now won seven straight in this series , which he
leads 7-1.
Barkley's Bye Bye Double
Saquon Barkley on his way to the
house on this 70 yard TD scamper.
The juggernaut
that is the ongoing Kincorth Killers season gained a little more
momentum in Week 12 as the defending champions just did enough to
outlast the Jesmond Chiefs 35-28 to bag their position as confirmed No 2
seed , along with the accompanying double bye week. Coach McGeachy the
Younger's charges led from the start on Thursday night, saw the Chiefs
draw level before just pulling away a little in Late Sunday , ahead of
RB Saquon Barkley all put putting the tie away with a stellar SNF double
long run 16(4)pt effort in the SNF action at Sofi. Chiefs kicker Cameron
Dicker would have needed to reach the 20pt mark and look for some help
from ALFF team-mate Nelson Agholor to claw back the 13-35 deficit on
Monday night ( again back at Sofi) and although the specialist performed
well, his double bonus 15(4)pt haul was not quite enough to complete the
comeback. Coach Potts still sits in the final wildcard berth at 5-7 but
he needs to see off the suddenly productive Scunthorpe Steelers in his
season finale to make it in as a nailed on knock-out participant or
trust the other results concerning a small group of 4-8 sides fall in
his favor. The multitude of bye weeks impacted both HC's as they headed
into this pivotal Granite Div showdown. The Special K coming off three
straight wins had to go with recently acquired Jameis Winston at QB ,
while J K Dobbins and Zay Flowers stepped up for byeing Bijan Robinson
and Ja'Marr Chase respectively. Kicker Justin Tucker was unceremoniously
dropped after his recent issues with Chase McLaughlin named as the new
starter. Jesmond lacked Kamara & Davante Adams listing Kyle Juszczyk and
Jauan Jennings as their subs. The Thursday night opening in the snow at
Cleveland did not look a great start for the Double K until early in the
4th quarter, when Winston ran in for unlikely 2 yard score
and made it seven by completing his half of the subsequent 2pt attempt.
Uncle Alex' Cleveland DST held out in the teeth of the snowstorm to find
a single bonus point but it was nul point for RB Najee Harris and it was
probably honors even/shading towards Kinkers at this point regards the
TNF outcome. Andrew's kicking change did not quite pan out the way he
hoped as Chase Mclaughlin posted a middling 6pts in the opening Sunday
stanza, allowing the Chiefs to come right back at them through QB
Patrick Mahomes ( TD triple and 9pts) and wideout Zac Ertz 4 yard
counter). At 13-13 the alarm sirens had to be sounding at the
Slaughterhouse but a tense (low participant) late Sunday section saw the
newly crowned repeat Div champions use a handy TD double from WR
Courtland Sutton at the Mile High to ease away a little. With JK Dobbins
& Zay Flowers due to face off against Jesmond duo Nelson Agholor and
Cameron Dicker in the MNF finale , Krewe runner Saquon Barkley ( a 2 TD
hero of a huge 52-13 in the corresponding Wk 3 fixture) had the
opportunity to perhaps pad his sides lead to double figures as the sole
SNF starter. He managed that in spades. An intial 70 yard TD run was
capped by an even longer but similar remarkably "simple" longer one of
72 yards and just like that the Killers were out of sight. As we have
seen Dicker was the only one of the final four combatants to trouble the
scorers, leaving Geacher the Younger to stash the last double week still
on offer. Improving to 9-3 and with a tie break over the Wellington
Rising and a huge 79pt lead over a 2 Minute Drillers outfit that they
haven't played , the current League Champions are now just two post
season wins away from a historic Title defence. The all time single
season points best by the Danestone Diablos (503pts 1995) does now seem
out of reach, but a franchise best seems inevitable. The QB position and
mounting injuries to bench players are a concern for the Kincorth
supremo, but to counter that Saquon Barkley has hit top form at just the
right time. Andrew can now more or less sit back and see what the first
two rounds throw his way and hope his starters stay focused and healthy.
Having conceded just 3pts to the Wellington Rising this week, the season
finale should also witness the Special K landing their 3rd
Martin Garioch ALFF Points title with a final points tally likely to
exceed the current 427pt franchise mark. The Chiefs cannot buy a win
right now , having lost 4 of their last 5 and Pottsy will hope the
return Alvin Kamara next week will provide the spark to get them over
the line. If they can't put away the Steelers, then they badly need the
Posse and Dolphins to also lose to hope to scrape in with a 5-8 record.
After two straight season sweeps Andrew had tied the RSS at 5-5.
Monday Night Delivery Keeps
Express In Hunt
Posse RB Aaron Jones plunges in
for crucial 2 yard score.
Week Twelve of the 2024 regular
season threw up yet another intriguing match up as the Caley Express
went head to head with the Scunthorpe Steelers. Way back in Week 3 these
two sides met and the Steelers squeaked a 30-29, overtime, decision.
That was the last time they won. Last week they came within a point of
making it 2 wins only to see the Gryphons snatch the tie. This weeks
opponents were the Posse looking to keep their season alive and
kicking... if still dependent on others. Coach Andy had no Chase Brown
available so added Javonte Williams in the back field and went with
Marvin Harrison Jnr in place of resting Kyle Pitts at wide out. The
Steelers had bye week issues of their own and went to a 4 WR set.
Jameson Williams took the 4th slot as Breece Hall was out and Adamski
also brought in Jason Myers at Kicker (Koo in the bye barn). The action
in this one came in the Sunday fixtures, with a sting in the tail. Matty
Stafford has been solid all season and found the end zone from 2 and 27
yards on his way to 24 of 36 for 243 yards, to set the Steelers rolling.
Jahmyr Gibbs then got into the swing of things going over from the 1
and the 5 to make it 18 points. The Express replied with Aaron Jones's 2
yard scamper and doubled this by virtue of Cooper Kupp's 27 yard
reception and a 6 yard catch from A J Brown. Game on. Daniel Carlson
then stepped up to the mark and split the posts from 34 yards (twice),
53 and 27 yards as well as a PAT. A bonus point from the Denver D made
it 28. The game then swerved back to the Steelers advantage as their
Cowpokes special teams racked up a dozen points against a, flaky.
Commanders combo, both score coming in the old fashioned kick return
fashion. Myers added a 50 yard FG and a PAT, but also managed to
miss a 2nd PAT. 36-28 for the Steelers heading to Monday night. The
Express still had Lamar Jackson but the Steelers had Mark Andrews as a
possible spoiler. Lamar showed his credentials with a big night. He was
14 of 22 for 177 yards and ran in a 10 yard score, before finding his
range with a 40 yard pass and a 6 yard score. The six yarder went to
Andrews ... but by then it was too late. When the smoke had cleared the
Express had somehow managed to snatch this one right at the end. The
Posse stay alive in the season and now need to win in week 13 action,
and also need the Chiefs to lose at a minimum. They play the Killers in
the last regular season weekend. The two games between these two sides
have produced 137 points..... with only 1pt between them over the two
ties. The season split means that the Express lead the RSS 8-6. The
Steelers are now guaranteed the #1 pick for 2025 but this defeat will be
hard to take, coming on the back of week eleven's loss. There are times
when, no matter what you do, it all goes wrong. The slide continues and
they now face the Chiefs in their last match of the year. A win in that
one would be a moral booster, if nothing else.. but season end probably
cant come quick enough for coach Meek.
Lions Find That Post Season
Bite
Tua Tagovailoa in action during
his season best 4 TD outing for the Lions.
Jamesie put his
recent blips behind him and was able to breath a sigh of relief as his
Laurel Lions maintained their 100% play-off appearance record with a
comfortable 31-18 win over the Craigo Coyotes. Coach Rooney was clearly
not thrilled by the outcome, but other results outside the confines of
the Pittodrie Division ensured the Mangy Dogs (along with his 3 other
Divisional rivals) will also be playing past Week 13. Indeed at this
stage , a Rd 1 rematch of these two rivals in the knock-out competition
is not out of the question. So how did this play out ? Well the two
coaches were in a slightly different place from where they were in the
wake of a Week 3 meeting the Lions won handsomely 44-26, with the more
upbeat Danestone based combo winning two their opening three while
things have been more on the up in recent times in Angus. With Joe
Burrow on his week off , coach H had to bring in Tua Tagovailoa at QB
while he tested the limits of his RB depth chart with the addition of
Devin Singletary in place of byeing Travis Etienne. The Roonster had
Byemageddon issues of his own to contend with, Justin Herbert getting
his first outing of the campaign with Josh Allen on leave, but the
addition of Tank Dell, Cade Otton and the Tampa Bay DST was more about
tactics, despite coming off a nice 43-23 spanking of the Posse in Week
11. Indeed the effectiveness of the replacements was pretty much the
whole story here. With no Thursday action this one burst into life at
Hard Rock Stadium where Tua had possible his best game since returning
from another concussion. He simply carved the Patriots up with 4 TD
tosses (7, 9, 11 and 23 yards) , although there was nada for ALFF buddy
Raheem Mostert at the same venue. If Devin Singletary was as deep as
they come on the depth chart, he sure was effective. A 1 yard TD blast
at Met Life lifted the Lions total to 18pts and they still has that No 2
WR corps to call on later. On the Coyotes side of the ledger the story
was not so good. Recalled Dell & Otton both came up empty along with
stablemate Josh Downs and when the usually more robust RB combo of Joe
Mixon and De'Andre Swift also tanked coach Rooney's side were in real
trouble. Kicker Brandon Aubrey did manage an unexpected 10pts in
Washington (given his QB situation) but that left just a 2pt bonus point
offering from Al's Tampa Bay DST to round out a fairly low key Sunday
opening. Back to that Lions wideout corps , it's just as well Mufasa was
not badly needing them as Amon-Ra St Browen his impressive run of 8
straight games scoring come to a shuddering halt , with neither Reed Or
Pearsall able to step up in his "absence". With the game poised nicely
at 18-12 in the Pride's favor the outcome boiled down to Jake Elliott v
Justin Herbert over the SNF & MNF fixtures (both at Sofi) and in truth
it was over by the end of the first of the two. Replacement kicker
Elliott tacked on a big 13pts for Laurel courtesy of 3 short FGs and 4
XPs to extend the outgoing PDiv champions lead to 31-12, with the
chances of Justin Herbert running up 19pts or more on the Ravens just a
shade on the wrong side of fanciful. In the end the Craigo back-up did
score on an early 5 yard TD run but the opportunities dried up after
that, leaving both sides to at least celebrate making the post
season party, albeit in slightly differing circumstances. Week 13 will
now be all about pride and jostling for Rd 1 position for both head
honcho's but I'm sure both will be keen to improve to 7-6 and avoid the
cellar dweller label. A Gryphons win in Wk 13 makes a swift re-match in
the play-offs a strong possibility. This win allowed Jameisie to
complete the first season sweep in a short series history with the Pride
side leading the RSS 4-2.
Birds
Soar As Blades Crash Back To Earth
Josh Jacobs twists his way in
for a 1 yard score to complete his hat-trick.
Ah, what a game
I've been given this week.... the all Pittodrie Division clash between
the 10-1 Westburn Blades who have already clinched the Division, the
double bye week, the Grand National, The Boat Race and the all paid
expenses two week holiday in Lochgilphead (serves him bloody right) and
the on-a-roll Garthdee Gryphons, who are on the leagues hottest four
game winning streak right now, but still need some more victories before
they can uncork the prosseco. Let's start with Coach Bothwell Jnr, the
artist formerly known as Milkboy. Not to in any way dish the
achievements of Blades because after all they do have the leagues sixth
highest scoring outfit, but on the other side, they have had a league
low 267 points scored against them, so they've been kinda fortunate in
that. Consider this: If you reckon that aside from the Blades, the
winner of the Bowl should in all probability come from the Drilling
Crew, the Killers or the Rising, then here's a statistical anomaly for
you. In games against the last three, the Blades have a 100% winning
record, and have scored a total of 84 points at an average of 28 over
game over these encounters , which is only two points per game below
their average. Certainly scoring 28 points will usually get you a 3-0
record, or at worst, 2-1; there's only been a total of 11 games this
year when a team scoring more than 28 points and lose. But here's the
*but*... but the opponents mentioned only totalled 38 points, or a mean
13 points per game. Let's look at the individual score each of these
teams had against the Blades THEN their median score against all other
in brackets. Wellington : 6 (33), Killers : 18 (36) & the Rising : 30
(14). So we can see that in games versus the Blades, these teams are
scoring half or less of their usual points. Or put it yet ANOTHER way,
most teams are conceding at the rate of 28 points per game against the
Blades, but the Blades are averaging 22 points against.... that's a BIG
six point swing there. All of that is in no way a criticism of the
Blades, it's just an observation about how Lady Luck can cast her
charms. Anyway, to the game. Things got off to a good start for Coach
Bothwell Jnr in the early Sunday games, coasting into an early eleven
point lead with Ka'imi Fairbairn getting all the points, which included
a 54yard field goal.... but that was it. Stat Attack : Ka'imi's 11pts
saw him reach 135(24) points for the season and therefore break the
single season scoring record for kickers, edging out the 134(12)pts
which was set in 2012 by David Akers when he was with Caledonia Express.
The Gryphons didn't fare any better in the early games, coming up with
the square root of zilch, and a that stage, with four big fat zeros on
the score card and with only the bare bones left to play, Donnie was
looking at a final score of not a lot But the Gods Of Chance smiled on
Donnie, because even with the return of Sam LaPorta for DJ Moore, that
was the scoring totally done for Stuie. In the late games, Josh Jacobs,
who has been pretty average so far this season, ran for three TDS, all
from one yard out, George Kittle caught one, Geno Smith, in for the
injured Brock Purdy passed three yards short right to fellow Bird
Smith-Njigba for 3 yards, and that was that. I know Donnie didn't find
it funny, but the kicker situation for Coach Garioch was the stuff that
belongs in a Brian Rix farce. To wit : Tyler Bass was on a bye week, so
Donny signed Zane Gonzalez off waivers as Gonzalez was all set to play
in place of the injured Redskins kicker Austin Seibert. In the end,
Seibert made a recovery and played, so no kicker for Donnie.... I
suspect that if Seibert wasn't injured prior to the game, he almost
certainly was after it. A wee story, and this is 100% true. When I was a
younger Geach, I worked for the MOD, and there was an incident in the
Army camp I was working in, an attempted break in by soldiers into MOD
property I was responsible for. The attempt was foiled, however, one of
the troopers escaped in a car, and during the stramash, drove his car at
the Provo Sergeant, forcing him to dive into a ditch. Not. A. Wise.
Thing. To. Do. The soldier was apprehended by the civie polis and apart
from speeding, he had no insurance, MOT, road tax whatever. So, he was
in double trouble, and as he was a serving soldier, the military polis
had first dibs so he was returned to the barracks. The civie polis went
to the camp the following day to collect the miscreant as to appear in
Court, only to find him in a state of blood and snotters, obviously he
had been given a sound hiding. The polisman asked the Provo Sergeant
what happened to the guy, and the Sergeant replied "He fell doon some
stairs". The polisman said that given the extent of the guy's cuts,
bruises and lumps that perhaps the PS was being somewhat less that
truthful, remarked that he "never got injured like that falling down
some stairs", the Sgt replied "He fell doon them twice, he's a careless
laddie". I suspect Austin Seibert may also have fallen down stairs last
night. So what does it all mean? Last game of the season sees the Blades
take on the Laurel Lions... they don't have to win, and neither do
the Lions. The Birds take on the Mangy Curs, but as Arnhall lost to the
Rising, they are now safely in the post season party. And that
game doesn't matter to the Coyotes either !
Sleeper of the Week
This weeks benches had more than
a few byeing players....and really nothing that would have been earth
shattering. So.....this week's sleeper is a pure points trip. Coach
Butter recalled "fit at the last gasp" Austin Siebert instead of
going with newly acquired Wil Lutz..... and ended up missing out on a
huge 21pt effort (net -13pts) from the specialist. That bakers dozen
would have given Dazzer a 50 burger .... and maybe.... just maybe,
given the Rising some hope of catching the Killers in the Martin Garioch
ALFF Points Title race. Instead it's the penultimate RS SOW for coach
Butter and Lutz.
Play of the Week
Eight point play
normally trump 12 pointers.... but not when the 12 point play in
question is a "pure" one with all 12pts going to one side. Jayden
Daniels astonishing 86 yards strike to Rising buddy wide-out Terry
McLaurin really made sure the NZ side were going to get a vital
win....and takes the Week 12 Play of the Week honors. Only Austin
Siebert's jaw dropping add on PAT miss prevented this one form being in
effect a 13 pointer !!
Player of the Week
Some real competition from the
Gryphons Josh Jacobs and the Rising's Jayden Daniels, but the Week 12
Player of the Week has to go to Kincorth Killers RB Saquon Barkley. Not
only did the former Giant prove to be the match-winner in a double bye
week clinching triumph for the Special K....but he became only the 8th
player in League history to score two bonus rushing TD's in the same
game (first since Doug Martin (Ashgrove Astro's Wk 9/12)
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