Drillers Maintain The Running Order
Returning RB Brian Robinson
opens the Drillers late Sunday push.
It was yet another Cheerio
Chucker for the Crimson Haybayler as the 2 Minute Drillers bounced back
from a Week 6 mess to overcome the ever star-crossed Gryphons 29-25.
Earlier the Pittodrie Division side had snatched a 25-25 tie from the
jaws of imminent defeat with a garbage time Brock Purdy QB sneak at
Levi's Stadium but the 2023 Runners-Up kept their cool to deliver yet
another Monday night decision in a Gryphons game as WR Mike Evans and
his Chargers DST colleagues delivered a combined 4pts to finally put the
match-up away. There was no Thursday (or Wembley) action in this
collision of the last two active founder coaches, so team selection was
more influenced by getting the job done ahead of the impromptu Aberdeen
based HC's get together at the Old School House on Sunday afternoon (
and very nice it was too !). Coach Garioch recalled RB Tony Pollard with
Austin Ekeler dropping out while top wideout selections CeeDee Lamb and
Travis Kelce did the old bye week shuffle , the latter coming in at the
others expense. Coming off that injury/bye week hit Week 6
disappointment against the Rising the Commish welcomed the return of his
doubler headed RB tandem Kyren Williams and Brian Robinson , while QB C
J Stroud was recalled after his tactical benching. Harrison Butker was
also back in his starting kicking slot. Given the emphasis of both sides
thus far, the tie was always going to be mostly about the Birds in the
opening Sunday period and it was a nervous slow burner for Donny
initially. A rare RB score came his way courtesy of an 8 yard TD grab by
Josh Jacobs but stablemate Tony Pollard rarely looked like adding to the
pot. Under threat K Tyler Bass was limited to just 2 XP's until deep
into the 3rd quarter, but a late surge saw two short FG's and
another pair of PAT's . With Jaxon Smith-Njigba posting a doughnut that
made for 13pts for the PDiv stragglers. The Drillers were understated at
best. C J Stroud joined newly promoted Jordan Addison in Omlette City
but wideout Drake London made it 5 scores in 6 starts to post the
defending BA champions only opening period points. Into the second
stanza and it was mostly about the visitors ground game. A 13 yard Kyren
Williams score was swiftly followed by an 8 yard counter from fit again
Brian Robinson to get the BOD combo rolling but events at Levi's Stadium
were keeping the Gryphons in it. Turnovers by Patrick Mahomes were
limiting Harrison Butker's opportunities while boosting the Baylers DST
potential... but on the other side Bird QB Brock Purdy was throwing his
own misdirected darts. Butker never did get the opportunity to kick a FG
ending with just 4 XP's and although Brock Purdy did get on the board
with a 1 yard TD run mid-way thru the 3rd quarter by that
time a bit to the south Kyren Williams had doubled his tally at Sofi
with a typical 2 yard score. With neither Kelce or Kittle getting on the
board it looked as if things were done and dusted with the Drillers in
front 25-19 and KC in total control up by 16pts with just over 3 minutes
left.....but that late garbage time sneak by Purdy suddenly breathed new
life into the Mythical Creatures. Indeed had the subsequent 2pt attempt
been successful Donny's boys would have snatched a dramatic last gasp
lead, but that did not happen and we headed into another Monday night
finale tied at 25-25. As we have seen the Commissioners Crew took care
of business accordingly....albeit after a change of underwear and a
possible long term injury issue for Mike Evans. The Drillers improve to
5-2 and following the Rising's demise are now fully back in control of
their own destiny at this point. The Commish is underwhelmed (and
rightly so) by his QB game but his sides one/two punch at RB is a
difficult thing to combat as we saw here. The Rising still look the
better side in Divisional terms but that Week 6 wipe-out did see the
Drillers absorb the largest chunk of their bye week hits and as such
should be in decent shape for the second half of the season. Tua's
pending return should see also see a re-arming of their Miami
weapons...which should worry everyone else. The Birds drop to 2-5 and
although these are still relatively early days are very much slotted
into that wild scrap for the last three invitations.... being slogged
out by 7 teams covered by 2 games in sub .500 world. Kelce's
disappearance as a scoring threat is troubling and it will be
interesting to see how long the Bayler remains invested in his old
warhorse. There are weapons on this Baylerville roster despite a
lackluster running game....but we have yet to see them all fire in
unison. On the back of his 4th straight win in the fixture
coach Rickaby extended his lead in the RSS to 23-11
Failure To Rise - Wonderful Westburn Waste Wellington
RB James Cook gets the Blades
rolling with this 11 yard TD.
Remember "Rocky
III"? Rocky Baloba cruises through numerous fights as heavyweight
champion, dominating one contender after another. Everyone loves him,
he's successful, with his name in lights as the best,.... he starts to
really enjoy the smell of his own farts. He becomes a powerhouse with
massive expectations on his broad shoulders. Then comes his defence
against Clubber Lang, where he underestimates his opponent and is
outgunned by the sheer aggression, leading to a crushing defeat. "You
ain't been hungry since you won that belt!" bellows Lang. And that was
the end of the movie.... "But Bothwell, don't you know what happens
later in the movie?!" Nope, stopped watching after that fight as that
was all that matters. "I don't think you're going to like the res-"
DON'T CARE. So anyway, the heavyweight Wellington Rising had been
cruising through most of their match-ups over the last few weeks. Jayden
Daniels and Derrick Henry gave them great reason to really enjoy the
smell of their own farts. Then the Westburn Blades show up - a powerful
team in their own right and currently running undefeated. Vegas had the
Rising as 2 point favorites to end the streak. But it was not to be, as
a 36 to 6 surprise clobbering befell the NZ juggernaut. Now that I've
got my IMMEASURABLY smug narrative out of the way, shall we talk about
how this one-sided affair went down in the 4th And Forever Bowl? It was
a matter of waiting for the main Sunday games to kickoff to get started
in this one. The Blades got off to a blistering start! A super early
rushing score for the incoming James Cook, quickly supplemented by
birthday boy Kenneth Walker's rushing TD and looping receiving score.
Justin Jefferson got his almost customary receiving tuddy from 25 yards
out while Jared Goff overcame the vaunted Vikings D to post another 2
passing scores in another impressive performance. Ka'imi Fairbairn
(look, you can write out the full name if you want, but he is happy with
this format) converted his lone XP and 3 FGs from 23, 35 and 52 yards
for a 12 point showing. Aaaaaaaand *hands off the steering wheel*
...that would be it for the Blades. 36 points. Your move, Coach Butter.
It then seemed like no sooner had the Rising offence cracked their
collective knuckles in anticipation of a monster showing, star quartback
Jayden Daniels was in a heap on the floor, clutching at what later
became apparent was a rib injury. Now it is apparently not that serious,
but the Commanders opted to keep the rookie in street clothes the rest
of the way as a precaution, leaving the Rising faithful wondering....
"FOR F*CKS SAKE! WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?! STUART WILL BE F*CKING
LOVING THIS TOO!" And he was. The zeroes started to roll in, only to be
broken up by Evan McPherson's woeful 3PATs and a 50+ yard miss. Derrick
Henry would reel in a rare receiving score to bring the final points
tally up to 6 for the Antipodeons. If you want to combine 3 potential
starters into one sleeper of the week, then you could put together Baker
Mayfield (11), Tank ("Cartavius") Bigsby (12) and Austin Seibert (16),
and they would have comfortably taken the victory. However, that is the
only combination that would have done so. This 6 points against will
continue to add to the narrative that the Westburn side have somewhat
ridden their luck this term with their league low 151 points against,
but when you are averaging 33 points per game with a low of 26 and a
high of 38, the consistency is unquestioned so far and as a result have
clinched the first play-off berth at a very early stage. "You're a tw*t!"
was the immediate reaction of Coach Butter to this unprecedentedly
brutal loss to his soon-to-be best man (unless the smarm in this report
changes that position...?!), a quote which was quickly retracted, but
the sentiment remained. Dropping to 5-1 in the RSS. The Dazzler will be
looking to get back on track towards the division pennant against the
feast or famine Jesmond Chiefs. For the Blades, the #1 seeding is now
the goal. Next week's next entrant into the Thunderdome ("2 man enter ;
1 man leave!") is the equally prolific #1 offence of the Kincorth
Killers. Narrative machine is on standby.
Jackson Five Energizes Express
Daniel Carlson boots his 5th FG
of the night from 27 yards.
The halfway point of the regular
season saw the Arnhall Dolphins duke it out with the Caledonia Express.
Coach Compost and his charges had put together a 2 game winning run and
were looking to make it three in a row, for the first time since last
season. He opted to go back to a 2 backfield set with Tracy getting the
2nd slot and Keenan Allen dropping out due to a bye. This years Caley
Express have been a bit of a train crash. The have managed to lose 4 of
their five games by a point and needed to snap a 2 game slide. Coach
Andie went with a 4 WR set; In came Cooper Kupp with Pittman dropping
out. The loss of Kicker Brandon Narveson meant that Carlson was handed
the specialist duty. There was not much in this one on paper. The
Dolphins had the edge at RB whilst the Express had a better WR Corps.
Thursday action saw the game kick off. Blake Grupe connected on a 35
yard FG and a PAT for Madfish and this was replied to as the Posse
collected 8 points from their Broncos special teams. Sunday night saw
the game catch fire....well sort of. Jaylen Hurts twice ran in from the
1 yard line and also connected on a 41 yard pass but his figures showed
10 of 14 for 114 yards. David Montgomery and Tyrone Tracy posted goose
eggs and it was left to George Pickens to add another 3 with an 11 yard
score. A bonus point for the Pitt D made it 23. The Express had to
switch up through the gears . A J Brown scored on a 41 yard pass before
kicker Carlson took over. He connected on 5 FG's from 38, 47, 28, and 27
(twice) to steer the Posse into a 3 point lead. Lamar Jackson then go
into the act and made damn sure that the Posse would not lose this week.
He connected on passes of 9, 18, 45, 4 and 13 yards and finished with 17
of 22 for 281 yards. The Dolphins are now 2-2 out with their division
and drop top 3-4. They have been over this course on numerous occasions
and will be hoping that their running game will be relit sooner than
later. They lead the RSS 19 -12. Next up are the Coyotes. The Express
with be happy with this win but will be a wee bit worried that most of
their points came from two players. However a win is a win and this may
kick start the season. They will also be happy to avenge the 2023 play
off loss to the same side. Their wide man were not a factor this week
and they will be hoping this was a wee aberration. They are up to third
in their Division and take on the Gryphons in week eight. The Garthdee
side do not like Mondays and will be trying to get out of a rut. So onto
the back straight and the winning post is just around the next corner.
Just remember the words of the great Yogi Berra (smarter than
the average Bear Boo Boo ) ....It ain't over till it's over!
Out Chased Out Coached !
League topping wide-out Ja'Marr
Chase grabs his 18 yard score for Kinkers.
I was lurking about the Main
Street in the town on Sunday when I got a message from my driver to say
she was running 10 minutes late, and as it was blowing a hoolie and
raining. I took refuge in a nearby bookies, normally of course I don't
go in....the Bookie's Motto is "anyone and his money are soon parted". I
noticed they had had a bank of machines, and being nosey (and to make
it look that I was actually in FOR something), I had a look at them.
Gamblers paradise. You want a bet on anything sport related? The
Columbia Categoria Primera B match between Bogota F.C. and Deportes
Quindio? Fancy a flutter on Harry Hacker in the Acme Pro-Am in Butthole,
Idaho? It's all there. "NFL" I thought, and it was all there....halt
time, quarter, handicap, rushing yards, yards thrown.... so cutting a
long story short (I wish you would: Ed), I put on a fiver roll up on six
games which included Detroit and the Steelers, and I went to bed 63
pounds 29 pence
richer than what I was when I left it on Sunday morning. Why am I
telling you this? Well because following the Bengals against the Browns
game or the Rams versus the Raiders was better than watching the
shellacking from Junior's Killers that my Apaches were getting. Time was
that although Andrew could appear to win Bowls at a canter, he struggled
against his old man, the McGeachy bragging rights were mine.....but
these days are gone now, and it would appear in the past they must
remain..... this victory for Geach The Younger was his fifth out of the
last six, and now leads the series 9-8. Drat and double drat. Anyway, my
Apaches haven't had to look far for injury worries this season, and
indeed at the conclusion of this season's second week games, Geach The
Elder had six players unavailable due to injury or on IR, including #1
pick Christian McCaffrey and #2 Jordan Love, and the season ending torn
LCL & hamstring for Rashee Rice? Well that just took the MvVitie's
Abernethy. With Rashon Johnson and Cairo Santos in bye week, the Apaches
recalled Dalton Kincaid and Jason Sanders whilst Junior inserted Trevor
Lawrence for Dak and recalled the Minnesota D. In truth it was never
really close. Trevor Lawrence, who REALLY needs to get his hair cut, to
stop him looking like a member of Jefferson Airplane, (and that ain't a
compliment!) gave the Killers an early lead with a six yard TD toss, and
when he took a half share of a converted two point conversion, the
Killers opened up a 4-0 lead, a lead they never relinquished, or even
looked like doing so. For a while, even after Barkley was ripping up his
former Big Apple teammates for 176 yards rushing a touchdown, the
Apaches flattered to deceive with #2 ranked QB Jordan Love's 14 yard
throw to Tucker Kraft kept the gap at four points. DK Metcalf catches a
31 yarder, the Apaches responded with a 33 yard field goal from Jason
Sanders. Ja'Mar Chase's 18 yards TD was countered by a Jordan Love 31
yard toss to paydirt.... Argyll Apaches 12-16. It was then that the
hope that was springing eternal sprung a leak. Bijan, on a rare
something and goal situation, ran in from the five, Tee Higgins had a 25
yard TD reception, then there was the coup de grace, the coup de main,
the dagger in the heart, the final nail in the coffin, the kick in the
balls, call it what you will, THAT fumble recovery by the Vikes D, a
score that looked like it was going to end the game as a contest (it
did!) and also as a wee bonus, burst my coupon also. All my Apaches
could muster was a third Love throw. There was a scutter of other
scores, but when Sunday's dust had settled, the score was Argyll Apaches
17-33 Kincorth Killers. I am writing this at 1pm on Monday.... for me to
win, I need Bucky Irving to outscore Jason Tucker by 13 points tonight.
Not even the muggest of mug punters would stick a penny on that. It's
now 10.50 am on Tuesday, and the prayers to Saint Ladbrokes didn't work.
Justin Tucker did what Justin Tucker does, 2/2 field goals, including
one from the 52, and a multitude of extra points. Twenty bleedin' eight
points behind. To beat this, the Apaches would have needed Irving to run
for a dozen TDs, with at least one coming from over the 50, two from the
car park and a fourth from somewhere in Arkansas. As it was, he managed
one from the 5. Final Score: Argyll Apaches 23-45 Kincorth Killers. What
now for the Family Geach? The Elder is facing down the barrel of a gun,
but with the 3-4 Laurel Lions up next, all is not quite lost. Yet. But
really, you don't have to be Septic Peg to prophesy that the week that
the Apaches are knocked out of playoff contention will be the week Chris
McCaffrey comes back firing on all cylinders. For the Killers, who are
now 5-2 , they have the 7-0 Wellington Rising next week, but Coach B Jnr
needs to be aware that these Killers are now the top scoring outfit in
the league. That's all folks!
Dogs Find A Little Bite To
See Off Steelers
RB Chuba Hubbard's late TD run
sealed the deal for the Coyotes.
Perhaps the
biggest surprise of the 2024 season has been the form or lack of it from
Adamski and his Scunthorpe Steelers and it was more of the same here as
Craigo Coyotes handed the Granite Division cellar dwellers another slice
of humble pie with a comfortable 28-21 success. With both clubs
languishing the wrong side of the .500 line this tie was rightfully seen
as a potential launchpad for the second half of the campaign. Bye's were
still an issue for the Sowf London squad with veteran Matt Stafford
stepping up for resting Caleb Williams bye but at least Adamski had his
Detroit Lions duo back after their week off. Buoyed by his Wk 6 success
over the Garthdee Gryphons the Roonster was able to slot in Joe
Mixon in for byeing (and in form) De-Andre Swift at RB while newly
acquired Josh Downs was pitches straight in at WR3 Nick Folk took over
from League leading kicker Brandon Aubrey at K ( another bye
replacement). The die was cast as early as the first Sunday stanza ,
with the kicking contest in particular proving critical at least from
the Lincoln Lads point of view. Returning RB Jahmyr Gibbs had one of his
finest outings of the season with a long 45 yard TD run followed by a
more sedate 8 yard counter but specialist Younghoe Koo was unable to
build on that opening platform. An early missed 54 yd FG attempt (wide
left) kinda set the tone for Atlanta and the kicker, who then could only
find a pair of PAT's the rest of the way. With WR duo Jameson Williams
and Malik Nabers not able to contribute the Steelmen were held to just
14pts despite Gibbs outstanding effort. The Coyotes response was more
emphatic. True, kicker Nick Folk was barely better than his positional
opponent with just 4pts to show for his 25Yd FG and single XP but a
Jahmyr answering TD brace from Joe Mixon ( 2 and 4 yards) added to a
steady 6pts from QB Josh Allen (12 and 4 yard tosses) edged the Mangy
Dogs into a useful looking 22-14 lead even if it was polo mints for
wideout duo Diggs and Downs. Into the late Sunday period signal-caller
Matt Stafford simply had to put the Angus side under pressure, but the
veteran was held scoreless leaving his Raiders DST to claim their sides
only point of the period. When a totally outmatched (in NFL terms)
Chuba Hubbard scooted home from 4 yards out for the Panthers only score
of the evening Craigo looked to be in clover. Ahead 28-15 coach Rooney
had to sit back and see if his charges had done enough, but I would
have to say there was not a lot of money going on last man out Breece
Hall bagging the two scores and a point (of any description) he needed
to force OT or better against a stout Steelers defence in the SNF action
at Heinz Field. In the event the third year player got on the board
early with a 13 yard TD run and generally had an outstanding night
particularly in the passing game. With 7 minutes left in the 2nd
quarter Hall broke into open space and scampered 57 yards only to be
bumped out at the 3 yard line. Two players later he almost scored on a
goal-line carry.... but that was as close as he got as the Steelers took
control and held the Jets scoreless in a dominating second half. Final
score Steelers 21 Coyotes 28. The Angus based side improve to 3-4 and
join the dipping Laurel Lions four games back of the champions elect in
the Pittodrie Division. This win marked coach Rooney's first back to
back wins since Wk4 2023 and pitches him in to an active play-off
berth. This game showed the Mangy Dogs can win without leaning on that
No 1 kicking game, with a fit again Joe Mixon perhaps the player who can
take the pressure off Allen & Aubrey on a weekly basis. A Wk 8 clash
against the similarly 3-4 Arnhall Dolphins represents a great
opportunity for Alan to shimmy further up the play-off totem pole. The
Steelers, now a League low 0-4 in non Div match-ups slide to 1-6 and are
nearing that must win every game point. You have to go back to start of
2022 campaign to find the last time coach Meek's boys lost four on the
bounce. That said , his Young Bucks running game looked just what the
doctor ordered and if he can sort out that inconsistent kicking game,
all things are possible. Two sides have made the post season with
a 1-6 start, with one of those (98 Danestone Diablos) actually making
the Bowl game itself. The RSS is now tied at 2-2.
Dicker
The Kicker Make Chiefs Slicker
Cameron Dicker gets the comeback
rolling with this 59 yard FG.
This is the time
of the season, sometimes, referred to as the HUMP. You either get over
it or you catch it bad. The Halfway point of the regular season has been
reached and we are now on the back stretch. The Jesmond Chiefs went head
to head with the Laurel Lions with both sides having 3 and 3 records, so
something had to give. The Chiefs welcomed back Mahomes after his bye
week and hoped that recent poor performances were a blip. Davante Adams
was added at WR as was Romeo Doubs for the injured Jennings. Cameron
Dicker was back at kicker after his week off. The Lions had the mumber
one receiving corps but were also on a 2 game losing skid. The had not
lost three in a row since 2020. The Chiefs were coming off a massive
week six win over the Steelers and were looking to keep the engine
running. Thursday night saw the Chefs Kamara in action but he posted a
goose egg and the balance of power swayed towards the Lions. Early Doors
in London they grabbed a chance courtesy of Brian Thomas JR as he
collected a 6 yard pass and then a share of a 2 point conversion. Burrow
added another 6 with an 18 yard score with 15 of 25 for 181yards, but
the back line of Moss and Mostert posted a brace of polo mints. Amon St
Brown scored on a 35 yard catch to make it 13 points. Jake Elliot was
confined to PATs and converted 4 of them whilst the Philly D added
another 4. The reply from the Chiefs looked to be....well....
underwhelming. Najee Harris scored on a 10 yard run, to claw six back
and Mahomes doubled that with a 1 yard run of his own. He had another
quiet night and finished with 16 of 27 for 164 yards and 2
interceptions. The Chiefs also saw Chris Goodwin go down in a heap and
finished the night 9 points down with one man to go on Monday night.
That man was Cameron Dicker who proceeded to score all his teams points
on the way to 5 FG's and a 19 point haul. He connected from 59, 50, 28,
47 and 40 yards to put this one out of sight. The Laurel Lions are in
free fall and have lost 3 in a row. They are also 2-2 in their division
now. They join the Coyotes on 3-4 in that grouping and will be looking
to fix things. Next up are the Apaches. As for the Chiefs, well they
continue on a hot cycle and will be happy to put this one to bed. Coach
Potts and his team are now one of 5 sides with a better than .500
record. They lead the RSS 3-2 and are on track for a play off place.
They will be looking to Mahomes to generate a bit more for them and the
long term injury to Goodwin will be a worry. Next up are the Rising
coming off a bad week, and they will be looking to remedy that. Six
weeks to go then and nothing is cut and dried. The next few weeks will
make the picture a little clearer....or maybe just muddy the waters.
Time will tell.
Sleeper of the Week
2024 has not been a dream season
for the Scunthorpe Steelers... and Week 7 saw little to change that
narrative. Adamski had his choice of kickers at Mercedes Benz Stadium
and not surprisingly went with incumbent Younghoe Koo ( a big Wk 6
contributor), who promptly posted just 2pts. Had he gone instead for
back-up Jason Myers who accumulated a full 12(2)pts... then coach Meek
would have netted an additional 10pts that would have transformed a
21-28 loss into a much needed 31-28 win over the Coyotes. Instead it's
just the Week 7 SOW !
Play of the Week
Big plays were pretty much an
endangered species this week, with the only bonus points coming from
three of our 12 active kickers. Partially with that in mind this Week
Play of the Week is more an ALFF history moment. Jason Tucker's first FG
of the night ( a 28 yarder) not only effectively closed the door an any
unlikely Apaches comeback...but also saw the League AT highest scoring
kicker move past Peyton Manning (1446pts) into 2nd spot on
the All Time scoring list.
Player of the Week
A 12-21 deficit looked more challenging than
impossible for the Jesmond Chiefs to overcome on Monday night but in the
event kicker Cameron Dicker pulled off the comeback with room to spare.
Dicker the Kicker booted no fewer than 5 FG's en-route to 19(4)pts. For
the record the scores came from 59,50, 28, 47 and 40 yards.
Stats All Folks
Justin Tucker moved past Peyton
Manning (1446pts) into 2nd place in the All Time all position ALFF
Scoring list with his first FG of the night (a 28 yarder)
Daniel Carlson (CalX) reached the
400 All Time Points mark with his first FG of the night (a 38 yarder).
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