Drillers Defang Dipping Dogs
Kyren Williams slides in for
another goal-line TD for the Drillers.
Week five of the regular season
saw the fixtures list put together a game between two sides who had lost
the previous week. The Drillers were coming of a shock defeat at the
hands of the CalX whilst the Coyotes were on a 3 game skid. The Commish
decided on just the one change to last weeks line up and that was
Dontayvion Wicks in for Tyreek Hill at wideout as he completed his Miami
downsizing. The Coyotes opted to drop ineffective Jerome Ford at running
back and replace him with DeAndre Swift, and also reverted to their
Ravens D. Vegas reckoned this one would hinge on the Quarterbacks and
favoured the Drillers by two. Thursday night action saw some
justification for this view as the Drillers moved into a 9 point lead.
Mike Evans caught a brace of receptions from the 2 and the 23 whilst
Drake London grabbed an 18 yarder. Sunday night saw the meat in the
sandwich. Brian Robinson raced in from the 4 and then a 1 yarder to make
it 21 points; that became 27 on Kyren Williams 1 yard score. The Coyotes
needed a reply and got it from Chubba Hubbard with a 38 yard scramble
and Swift with a 1 yard score. Then came the battle of the QB's as they
went head to head. However this did not go to script. C J Stroud
connected on a 67 yard bomb on his way to 28 of 38 for 331 yards and 1
interception. The reply from Josh Allen was....well tepid to say the
least. He connected on a 49 yard TD pass but finished the evening with 9
of 30 for 131 yards. This was his worst ever statistical performance and
that did not bode well for the Craigo side. Brandon Aubery landed FG's
from 53 and 33 yards as well a brace of PATs, but a batch of goose eggs
from the wide man put paid to any hope of a win. The Drillers put this
one to bed come Monday night as Harrison Butker found his range. He
scored on FG's from 26, 34, 28 and 38 yards as well as 2 PATs and this
one was done and dusted. The Coyotes drop to 1-4 and the skid is now 4
games. They must have expected that Allen would give them a chance in
this one and will be sorely disappointed. They will hope that he can
bounce back from this 2 week slump to something like his regular self in
week six action. The Blades continued dominance in the PDiv meaning that
coach Rooney may be looking at a wild card at best. He will tangle
with the Bayler in that one. The Commish and his team move to 4-1 and
now face a tasty match up with the Rising come the weekend. The Commish
leads the RSS between the to sides with 4 from 4. Week six to some and
we are almost at the half way point of the season. There is still
everything to play for that invite to the post season party is very
tangible.
Baker In The Mix Keeps Rising Hot
Nico Collins is gone on this 67
yard bonus score for the Rising.
Two of 2024's
recurring themes were mashed together by the Week 5 fixture list and
both held true as the Garthdee Gryphons latest Monday night drama ended
with a hold on 33-26 success for the stunningly consistent Wellington
Rising. On paper at least Travis Kelce had the opportunity to overturn
the result at Arrowhead on Monday, but the big TE again failed to
trouble the scorers, leaving coach Butter to bag his first ever win over
the founder owner franchise. Early on it looked as if this
inter-Divisional match-up was going to be another Welly procession as
they romped out to a 31-09 lead ahead of the late Sunday session but the
Baylerville combo girded their loins late on and and least got the
attention of the Kauri King in the closing acts of the match-up. The tie
opened with a stunning statement selection move by Darren as he
sensationally opted to tactically bench top ranked QB Jayden Daniels in
favor of his man crush Baker Mayfield for the Thursday night action in
Atlanta. The signal-caller did not let his coach down with a nice triple
TD effort ( 2, 23 and 4 yards) , his 9pts giving the BA leaders a solid
looking jump off platform. In early Sunday they them moved up through
the gears. Darren clearly had his money on the Commanders stalling a
little in the red-zone against the Cleveland Defence so his addition of
newly acquired kicker Austin Siebert in place of Evan McPherson ( a
second eye catching personnel move) proved to be another sound one. The
been around specialist booted 2 short FG's and 4 XP's en-route to a
better than average 10pts although Scary Terry was unable to add to that
Washington haul for the Rising. Derek Henry maintained his magnificent
start to the season with a 1 yard goal-line breenge and came within one
tackle of adding another 8 pointer to that in NFL OT in Cincy and it was
more highlight reel stuff for Butter's boys as Nico Collins (67 yard TD
grab) boosted their overall total to 31pts with late Sunday yet to
kick-off. Tyler Bass was the lone Gryphon to stand in the teeth of that
opening Wellington onslaught and while the long time Bird has had better
days, his 8pt contribution ( 2 FGs/2XPs) was a reasonably sound return
on a grim Buffalo offensive performance. Into the late Sunday stanza the
tables turned a little. We should have know it was game on when RB Josh
Jacobs scored the Mythical Creatures first rushing points of the whole
campaign on a 2 yard run early on at Sofi but the big late Sunday hot
spot (in more ways than one) was at Levis Stadium where Bayler's Purdy,
Kittle and SF DST faced off against last Rising offensive offering RB
James Conner. As it turned out QB Purdy had another low key outing but
at least found stablemate George Kittle with his lone 4 yard score but
that SF tally swelled to a more healthy 12pts when special teamer
Deommodore Lenoir returned a blocked FG 61 yards to paydirt. A
late James Connor 2pt attempt ensured the Wellington lead was still in
the two score category though, as we got down to the closing acts of
this scrap. Bayler No 1 pick CeeDee Lamb has more than the whiff of bust
about him at this stage and his TNF goose egg to change that
narrative.... so we headed to the Monday night showdown in KC ( Kansas
City DST v Travis Kelce) , with Darren ahead 33-26. As we saw above,
Kelce was unable to add to his meagre 2024 account while that Spags
defence weighed in with a final 2pts for Welly. Final score Rising 35
Gryphons 26. The Scarborough based combo improve to 4-1 and are simply
on fire. With the likes of Daniels and Bigsby in reserve its hard to
imagine their points blitz dropping off anytime soon..... which is bad
news for the bye limited 2 Minute Drillers who are next peg up in the
Darren Whack-a-Mole. That No 2 overall ranking is not fooling the Vegas
money men, who have the Rising as firm Title favorites at this point.
The Bayler drops to 2-3 , and on balance that is probably just about
right in the bigger picture. That said this game did not have the feel
of a No 1 v No 12 ranking on points clash. I don't think many of us
would have bought into a scenario on draft day where the Niners and
Bills (and WR CeeDee Lamb) would struggle to put things together thru
the opening 5 weeks..... but that's exactly where we are, and that needs
to change for the Pittodrie Div squad to become a force this term....
either that or coach Garioch needs to mix the roster pot a little more.
Donny's lead in the RSS has been reduced to 3-1.
Murray In A Hurry
Arnhall QB Kyler Murray scampers
50 yards untouched to score.
This was the
week when the Bye weeks kicked in and it was interesting to see what
would happen. The Arnhall Dolphins lost Jalen Hurts, David Montgomery
and Ladd McConkey due to this and then were forced into some other
changes. The original replacement for Hurts was Richardson, but a quirk
of fate saw him become inactive late on, and in came Kyler Murray
as a third stringer. Rookie RB Tyrone Tracy made his debut and Keenan
Allen took the third wide slot. To complete the picture the Steelers
special team got the nod in front of Buffalo in a tactical change. The
Chiefs brought in Jerry Jeudy as a receiver, and Greg Zuerlein (newly
signed) was in for Dicker out on a bye. Vegas reckoned this one would be
a slugfest and were not far off the mark. Greg Zeurlein was first up as
the action (what there was of it) opened in London. He scored on a 32
yard FG and bagged a brace of PAT's. This lead did not last long as
Stevenson went in from the 23 to give the Dolphins the edge. Then came
Kyler Murray. He scored on a 50 yard running play and then connected in
the end zone on a 2 yard pass. The big play was only the 10th Bonus
score by a QB in ALFF history. It also pretty much, stitched up the
game. Both coaches watched as their sides racked up the polo mints on
the night and by the close of play it was 18-5 for the Arnhall combo.
The Jesmond Chiefs still had Mahomes and Kamara on Monday night with
Blake Grupe to go for the Dolphins. What happened was not what was
expected. Mahomes has not been at his best recently and this one was not
pretty. He finished with 9 of 30 for 131 yards and added zip to the
coach Potts points column. League leading RB Kamara also came up empty
handed. Grupe's single PAT was the only score on Monday and this one was
toast. The Chiefs drop to 2-3 and posted a franchise record lowest
score. Alex must hope that Mahomes score was just a bad day at the
office. He has a bye week six and that will mean a change at the helm.
The Steelers are the next team up and that one could be the pivot
on which their season turns. Arnhall move to 2-3 and now face a game
against the Apaches that will allow one of them to improve to .500 for
the first time since Wk 2. They will be happy to get this one in
the win column but will be wondering where points are to come from. They
also face a QB quandary in week 6 and will have to make a choice.
Compost cut the Chiefs lead in the RSS to 3-5 and stay in touch in
the Bon Accord Division. So a good week all round, although both sides
could expect more form their wide men. Whatever, 5 down and the rest of
the season to be faced. Bring it on.
Braves Spread The Love
Wide-out Darnell Mooney opens
the scoring on this 24 yard TD grab.
The Weeks big
must win clash went down to wire deep into the late Sunday action....
and just when it seemed Lamar Jackson and his ALFF Denver DST colleagues
had done just enough to at least force OT....a garbage time TD for the
LV Raiders at the Mile High docked the Posse defence 1 bonus point and
the Apaches held on to win a stunning 29-28 decision. Two weeks ago
this match-up had the look of a Desperation Bowl about it, but although
each HC had differing fortunes in Week 4 , both had shown enough to
suggest this season is still very much alive, given the right break or
two. Coming of a confidence building upset of the 2 Minute Drillers
Mini Mac surprisingly promoted RB Javonte Williams ahead of Wk 4 hero
Chase Brown at RB... ( do I sense a bit of fan over-rating that Ravens D
?) while under the cosh kicker Braydon Narveson replaced Daniel Carlson
in another match-up related move. Down on the Reservation, Geacher the
Elder, riding his latest 3 game losing streak, opted to stick with his
season long 4WR set, Darnell Mooney subbing for the injured Rashee Rice
with a fit again Keon Coleman slotting back in at WR 4. The No 1
ranked Chicago DST returned from their shock Wk 4 benching. Mooney got
Argyll off to a great start on Thursday scoring on
24 and 12 yard grabs while Kyle Pitts posted a goose egg in opposition.
Ok....a doughnut for lone RB Bucky Irving in Atlanta did take a little
of the gloss off things for the Campeltown faithful but a late Garrett
Wilson score at Tottenham made it 9 for the Braves , while CalX RB
Aaron Jones was carted off without scoring. 09-00 ahead heading into the
two main Sunday periods was not enough to convince Vegas the Apaches
would do no better than threaten an upset but it was clear this might be
close. Big G has found that Chicago D selection to be a rich source of
points and they did not disenchant here adding 2 bonus points to the pot
as they predictably held Carolina to just 10pts in NFL land but given
the nature of the opposition, a middling 6pts from kicker Cairo Santos
(3 XPs and a 33 Yd FG) was probably a little less than the BA combo's
gameplan called for. It also looked like the Braves Bills WR duo would
come up empty but a late 49 yard catch and run from rookie Keon Coleman
in Houston boosted their early Sunday haul to a nice round 20pts. The
Posse were looking to top pick Lamar Jackson to build on his breakout
showing in Wk 4 and the elusive passer did not disappoint as he kept the
Granite Div outfit in touch with a big 4 TD effort ( 16, 1, 2 and 6
yards), all through the air. A welcome short Michael Pittman score at
Everbank kept the first phase scoreline close at 20-15 in the BA sides
favor but with Jordan Love facing down a more heavily loaded Express in
the late Sunday stanza, the clever money was still going on Andy's
charges. When DB Patrick Surtain romped 100 yards to paydirt to add to
an already dominating Defensive performance by his Denver unit coach
McConnachie must have felt a second straight win was in the bag,
particularly as Green Bay struggled in LA with Braves QB Jordan Love
scoreless at half time. Braydon Narveson (in direct opposition) had
managed a 46 yard FG ( and single XP) in that same period to establish
what looked like a game clinching position... but things changed
dramatically in the final two quarters. A 66 yard strike by Love
rekindled the Apache cause and the young signal-caller followed that
with a 2nd shorter score , to boost their total to 29pts.
Narveson cashed in with XP's on both to limit the damage a bit for Andy
so now it was all eyes on Denver with scores level at 29-29. RB Javonte
Williams had not scored in 2024, but that looked like it had changed
into the 4th quarter when the Broncos faced a 1st
and goal from the five yard line. The rock carrier was held inches short
on 1st down ( and I mean inches)....and looked set for a sure
score when an encroachment penalty (on the Raiders) moved the ball even
closer to the goal-line. Crucially the Broncos scored on the next play (
the old Drew Brees style breaking the plane lunge) but not through the
Posse RB. Remarkably at the same venue, with time counting down and ALFF
OT looming in our tie, the Raiders grabbed a late garbage time TD to
"strip" Andy's DST of one bonus point ( dropping from 2 to 1) and
suddenly the Apaches were in a game winning position that seemed most
unlikely just 30 minutes before. And that was that. The injury jinxed
Campbeltown crowd improve to 2-3, which given the other results in the
Division proved to be a huge plus for the Geacher and at least keeps him
in the hunt for a wildcard berth at this juncture. A second straight
29pt output is encouraging , withe the hope those Wk 2 & 3 lowpoints
were teething problems but in context of this season too date,
29pts in actually short of current MWS of 30pts. Mini Mac has to wonder
where this one went wrong. The swap out of Chase Brown proved costly
indeed and dropping to 1-4 while the other half of the McGeachy equation
also got a big W, leaves him two games back of GDiv top spot with a Week
6 clash against the Special K now front and center of his 2024 GDiv
title ambitions. Big G now leads the RSS 12-6 . Andy has not beaten
Mike as Posse HC
Killers Bengals Cage In The
Lions
Tee Higgins scores on this 11
yard TD reception for the Special K.
At the beginning
of proceedings, at 2-2 the Kincorth Killers found themselves the current
kings atop the Granite Division mountain (which you could be forgiven
for mistaking for a trash heap given the lack of a winning record) while
the Laurel Lions found themselves at 3-1 and 1 of the pace of the
ultra-sharp Blades in the Pittodrie Division. Despite the odd set of
divisional standing fortunes, these teams lined up remarkably close with
the Lions having scored only a single point more over the season to this
point and both had equally hat 108 points put up against them. Jamesie
will have been looking for vengeance after the 33-27 3rd round playoff
loss from last season. The Vegas bookies (which, I understand have
relocated their main office from "The Sphere" to a small and dusty
shoebox motel on M.L.K. Boulevard in West Las Vegas with pasted up
bullet holes in the doors and blood stains on the net curtains) had the
Killers taking this one by 2 scores. They got off to a slow start on
Thursday with Bijan playing second fiddle to "The Kirk-eisance" in
Atlanta. The Lions Falcons D was unable to contribute. In contrasting
defensive fortunes, Junior Geacher's Vikings D snaffled 7 points,
courtesy of a pick-6 from Mr Anti-Virus himself (Andrew Van Ginkel - "AVG"
is an anti-virus software for those who need to have it spelled out for
them) and allowing less than 20 points. Into the early window and while
this rep writer was stuffing his face with Kadai Chicken and a peshwari
naan down at Rishi's, Joe Burrow was being incredibly productive with
FIVE TD passes. Unfortunately for Coach Hamilton, two of those -
including a 50 plus play - went to Ja'Marr Chase and ANOTHER two went to
Tee Higgins, both of whom were wearing Kincorth uniforms for ALFF
purposes. So, an 18 point showing is effectively reduced to 3 points
net. In the same game, Killers kicker Justin Tucker booted 5 PATs and 2
field goals, including a 50+ yarder which would send him past Peyton
Manning into second place in the ALFF All-Time points scoring standings.
Brian Thomas Jnr would turn on the jets for an 85 yard TD for the
Danestone outfit to bring them back into this one. Jamesie will have
been left it a right MOOD upon seeing his kicker, Jake Moody, go down
with an ankle sprain in the 2nd quarter of this one. The Niners boot was
on his way to a really nice game in this one by racking up 8 points, but
having his day curtailed was likely crucial to the outcome of this
match-up. With the score out of reach for the Den Dwellers, Dak Prescott
would ice the cake with 2 scores in the late night stanza, to finalise
the score at 41-32 in favour of the South River Boys. Both sides now sit
on 3-2 and Coach Andrew extends his lead in the RSS to 6-4.
Blades
Are A Handful In Win No 5
TE Isaiah Likely scores his
second TD of the night for Westburn.
Before I
start my weekly rant, I'm going to have a different rant, but a rant
nevertheless. By common concensus, the three most prized and highly
rated running backs prior to the ALFF draft were Christian McCaffrey,
Bijan Robinson and Breece Hall. Five weeks in, and the sum stats for the
gruesome threesome are a combined 781 yards and 4 TDs. Derrick Henry is
621/7. These experts make the Diesel look like King Solomon. (Steady
now...Ed). My game this week is the unbeaten Westburn Blades against the
struggling 1-3 Scunthorpe Steelers. The latter had bye week issues and
some injuries to contend with, so in came Rico Dowdle and Evan Engram
for Jahmyr Gibbs and Jameson Williams, Mark Andrews for the injured
Malik Nabers and Younghoe Koo made his first start since Week 1 for
Jason Myers. For Acacia Estate Romeo, with Jared Goff on a bye week,
Aaron Rodgers made his first ALFF start since week eight of the 2022
season when he suited up for the Jesmond Chiefs. Isaiah Likely was the
likely sub for the unavailable Sam LaPorta and Kenneth Walker went from
injured to fit again, whilst Jonathon Taylor went in the opposite
direction. Traditionally this fixture has been a high scoring affair,
with an average of just under 85 points scored per game over the past
few clashes. The Steelers got off to a good start on Thursday night and
despite Younghoe Koo missing two field goals, the Falcons kicker hit
three (including two from over the 50) and three EPs. 16-0 to Adamski
after Thursday. And so on to Tottingham on Sunday we go, and the one and
only Aaron Rodgers. I've got to say, that pass to Garrett Wilson
notwithstanding, Old Grey Beard looks like he's lost a yard, doesn't
he? However, the aged quarterback still recorded two TDs and with the
Jets D keeping the team in the game, Coach Meek saw his lead cut to 9
points. Caleb Williams, after a sticky start seems to be growing into
the NFL in general, and his role in Chicago in particular, and he posted
an impressive 304/2TD performance for a career high QBR of 126.2. More
on these two TDs later. Over in Dallas in the later Sunday games, the
recalled Rico Dowdle had the best game of his (so far) average career,
putting up 112 total yards which included a 22 yard TD reception.... and
that, my friends was that for Coach Meek. Both Deebo Samuel and Breece
Hall disappointed again, and I think that for the London based Head
Honcho, unless they improve, and quick, this season may end up being a
disappointing one. As for the still unbeaten Blades, it wasn't the most
impressive outing of Junior Bothwell's season, but with Coach B Jnr
being heavily reliant on on kicker John Christian
Ka'iminoeauloameka'ikeokekumupa'a Fairbairn to get him over the
finishing line, it was enough. That's the Houston kicker's given name,
and it's (allegedly)Hawaiian for "Seeker Of Wisdom". My Hawaiian
name is "Ka'iminomerlotslurpshirazglugpinotage'hic', which means "Seeker
of Red Wine". The Houston kicker had a 3/3 field goals, including a game
winner from the 59yard line and another from the 50 for an impressive 15
points. Like, WOW! DJ Moore completed the scoring for the Blades
by snaring two TD throws from.... yep, Scunnies QB Williams, totally
negating his points. And that, my friends, was that. Final score :
Scunthorpe Steelers 25-Westburn Blades 34. What does it all mean? Well,
1-4 is not a happy place to be, and Adamski is up against it next week
with a match up against the 2-3 Jesmond Chiefs, and it really is a game
that has to be won by Coach Meek, as 1-5 is approaching the stairs to
Last Chance saloon. Over in New Zealand/Aberdeen/Timbuk2/(delete as
applicable), The Oldest Milk Boy In Town faces off against the 3-2
Laurel Lions. Should Stuie win that, it would open up a three game
advantage over their divisional rivals, and the champagne should be
iced. Difficult to see the Blades now not winning the Pittodrie
Division. Thats it!
Sleeper of the Week
Over the years
we've had many instances of a Player Of The Week following hard on the
heels of a Sleeper.... but rarely have we seen the reverse. In Week 4
coach McConnachie Jnr earned the plaudits for the selection of RB Chase
Brown who went on to scoop the POW honors for that period. This time
round Andy maybe thought the ball carrier would struggle against the
Baltimore run D. In the event, Brown snagged a 4 yard receiving TD and
tacked on a successful 2pt attempt to another earlier Bengals score.
With replacement Javonte Williams failing to score , that net -5pts
proved huge in a 28-29 loss to the Apaches. Chase Brown is Week 5 SOW.
Play of the Week
I would really
liked to have made an award here to Saints DT Khalen Saunders for
his 35 yard (speedy !) rumble that he was sure was going to be a pick
six (check it out if you haven't seen it yet) BUT... in the entire
history of the League (prior to this week) we have had only 9 pure bonus
rushing scores from the QB position. This time round we got No 10 when
Kyler Murray (Arnhall Dolphins) scooted 50 yards to paydirt for 8 big
points for coach Compost. Murray's run is the Week 5 Play of the Week.
Not bad for the third stringer....
Player of the Week
I'm not sure I've ever done this before.... but the
Week 5 Player of the Week award is a shared award between Kincorth
Killers wide-out pairing Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The pair doubled
up to evenly share 4 TD's , with the latter edging the points share
courtesy of a 70 yard scoring grab. The Bengal duo's joint 15pt effort
totally blunted a huge 18pt outing for direct opponent QB Joe Burrow on
behalf of the Laurel Lions and was without doubt the winning effort in
an outcome that had big implications in the Granite & Pittodrie
Divisions. Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins the joint Week 5 Player(s) of
the Week.
Stats All Folks
Kicker Justin Tucker (Kincorth
Killers) 2nd FG of the night 24 yards saw him pass Peyton Manning
(1338pts) on the league RS Scoring list.
QB Josh Allen (Craigo Coyotes)
passed Steve Young (538pts) to go 12th on the ALFF QB RS score list with
his only score of the week.
QB Lamar Jackson ( CalX) reached
400 RS points with his second TD of the week ( 1 yarder).
Kicker Harrison Butker (2 Minute
Drillers) reached 600 RS points with his second FG of the week (34
yarder).
WR Mike Evans (2 Minute Drillers)
passed Calvin Johnson (212pts) to go 8th on the WR RS scoring list with
his 1st TD of the week ( 2 yards).
QB Kyler Murray expanded the group
of QB's to score on a bonus TD run to eight (Steve Bono, Kordell
Stewart, Steve McNair, Robert Griffin III, Marcus Mariota, Lamar Jackson
(twice), Justin Fields (twice).
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