Well Oiled Drillers Strike Again
RB Kareem Hunt battles in for a
crucial Drillers one yard TD.
The Bon Accord
Division is home to the Two Minute Drillers, one of the founding members
of the league, and it's winningest side. This year they are in something
of a dog fight for the BA title with the Rising and the Dolphins nipping
at their heels. The Commish needed to match the result of the Rising to
not lose wiggle room. Week eight saw them come up against the
Scunthorpe Steelers, who were having their fair share of problems. They
were on a 5 game skid and in danger of early elimination (and first use
of the soap on a rope). They brought Caleb Williams back after his bye
week and Mark Andrews came in for Jameson Williams due to his
suspension. The Commish went with Kareem Hunt in place of Brian Robinson
in a tactical move ; Tyreek Hill came in for injured Mike Evans. Wicks
replacing Addison was also a tactical ploy. Vegas favoured the Drillers
by a ba hair despite the fact that Adamski had a 5 game winning streak
in the series. This included that infamous 2021 PO3 game where Alvin
Kamara had 6 touchdowns. Thursday night/Friday morning saw the Drillers
move into the lead as top RB Kyren Williams hauled in a 5 yard pass.
Sunday night saw the battle move on. The Commish had stuck with C J
Stroud at QB but had thought of Kirk Cousins instead....would he regret
this choice? CJ scored on a 7 yard pass on his way to 25 of 37 for 285
yards (while Cousins went double digits) . The tally was doubled as
Kareem Hunt ran in from the one to make it a Dozen. The Steelers replied
via Gibbs with a 70 yard rumble and Mark Andrews added another three
with a 7 yard catch. Youngkoe Koo made it 18 points a 39 yard FG and 4
PAT's only to see Butker cancel this out with FG's from 42 and 24 and 3
PATS. The Chargers D added 4 bonus points and when the dust had settled
the Drillers were 25-18 ahead. Late on Caleb Williams added a single
point with a share of a 2 point conversion, leaving the Steelmen 6
points back with two men to go over SNF/Monday. Expectations were high
that Deebo Samuel or Malik Nabers could pull this one out of the fire
for Adamski but it was not to be. The Steelers drop to 1-7 and have one
foot over that trapdoor. They have lost 6 in a row and are in danger of
equaling their franchise worst, 7 game losing streak. Up next are the
Killers and whilst it is not a, must win game, it is pretty damn close.
The Drillers keep on the shoulder of the Rising, hoping to emulate their
results, week by week. They are due to clash in week thirteen , and that
could be a winner takes all situation. But there are 4 games to go
before that one happens and next up are the Dolphins, coming off a 50
burger. Their QB quandary may come back to haunt them but they have been
over this course on many occasions and know exactly what is needed.
Wellington Boot On To Victory
RB James Connor scored again for
the title chasing Rising
The 2024 version
of the Bon Accord division is shaping up to be quite a battleground as
was shown when the four sides involved went head to head. The Rising
were on top of the pack on 5-2 and were looking to keep ahead of the
Drillers. The Chiefs were one game back and within touching distance of
their opponents. The Rising had injury based selection problems at
Quarterback and after a lot of humming and hawing, elected to go with
Sam Darnold. Darren also brought in Andre Iosivas at WR to replace Josh
Palmer. Austin Siebert got the nod at kicker after Evan McPherson's woes
back in week seven, and having cut his Texans D he was left with the
Seahawks unit having just signed them up. The Chiefs also went with
changes. Out went Mahomes (maybe a wee surprise) and in came Bo Nix.
Jennings replaced Chris Godwin at WR after the latter was classed as,
done for the season, and Ertz was in for Romeo Doubs. Vegas reckoned
that the Rising just might edge this one. Thursday night saw the
Wellington combo post the first points of the fixture with Sam Darnold
passing for a brace of scores. He connected from the 5 and the 10 on his
way to 18 of 25 for 240 yards. Early Sunday action saw the Rising pick
up a 2 yard running score from Derrick Henry and a similar score from
James Connor. For some reason or another the game failed to catch fire
as the goose eggs mounted. No scores from any of the wide men made this
look like it could be a battle between the kickers. The Chiefs also saw
a dearth of points in the backfield. Cameron Dicker tried to kick start
the game and connected on FG's from 46 and 29 yards as well as 2 PAT's....yet
also missed a 3rd. Bo Nix then entered the proceedings. He connected on
scoring passes from 3, 19 and 9 yards as well as a 1 yard run on his way
to 28 of 37 for 284 yards, and coach Potts was back at the races. This
was not to last long as Austin Siebert almost closed the game out. He
scored on FG's from 27,30,28 and 47 yards to send the Rising close to
getting over the line and chalking another one in the win
column....possibly. Najee Harris had the last chance to rescue this one
for the Wickers come Monday, but it was not to be. The Jesmond Chiefs
had made a decision to drop Mahomes and that worked, but nothing else
did. They drop to 4-4 and a week nine meeting with the Express, coming
off something of a mugging. A win in that one and coach Potts and his
charges will be back in the mix. The Rising move to 6-2 and will be
happy to have put their loss to the Blades behind them. They lead the
RSS 3-2 and have now won two in a row. They stay just ahead of the
Drillers and face the Apaches next. As things stand the Bon Accord
Division winners (be it the Rising or Drillers) should be in pole
position for a double bye week. The two sides are due to meet in week
thirteen and who is to say that game might not become something of a
throwdown. Five more weeks to go and it is all there to play for. You
just have to hope !!
Dolphin Burger Hard For Dogs To
Digest
Arnhall rookie Ladd McConkey
races 60 yards to paydirt
Hi there you lucky people, it's me,
Peter King, lighting up your sadsack existence with my sightful
observations and jolly wit... as you say in Scotlandshire, ""spiffing,
what, hoh." I have come out of retirement to write this, so I better be
well rewarded, Rickaby James has been wise enough to have me back for
another offering, despite my extortionate fee, but I'm worth every
nickel. Look, my game this year is the Three Four Bowl between Craigo
Cayotes and the Arnhall Dolphins. We'll start with the former: Coach
Rooney is ranked in the top five in all categories except wideout, so it
is a surprise to find them at 3-4, and perhaps struggling to make the
post season. That is until you look at their points against..... no
team has given up more points, an average of over 34 per game.
Relevance? Well in an average game, Craigo will need to score at least
36 points to win, and when you consider that the top scoring Kincorth
Killers are only averaging 42 points per game, you can see the problem.
The Cayotes are actual scoring an average just shy of 30 per game, one
point above the league mean, so the offence available to Alan is
functional, if not outstanding....It's the points their opponents are
scoring that is the problem. Or put it another way, the 8-0 Blades
would be 4-4 (at best) if their opponents had scored at the same rate as
Craigo's. Look, the Cayotes have conceded 111 points MORE than the
Blades over eight games, there's an average of 14 points per game right
there. Food for thought, Gerry. No team has had less points scored
against them than the Blades, with an average of 21 points per game,
compared, to the league average of 29. Anyway, how about The Umpire?
Ian recalled Keenan Allen back from injury, in an effort to bolster the
leagues second worst receivering corps, but when you have Jalen Hurts in
that mood, who needs wideouts? The Eagle QB ran for three TDs and threw
for one.... a quite astonishing performance, a solo 21 points. Hurts was
ably backed up by David Montgomery - what an inspired trade that was by
the Lions - who threw for one TD (yes, you read that right, threw) and
ran for one, Tyrone Tracy, of whom it's often been said "who?" had a
rushing score in a 150 all purpose yard performance, Ladd McConkey
snared two TDs including one from the 60 and Blake Grupe kicked two
field goals. Oh, the Steelers D had a seven point score. That made it 58
points for the Umpire, an amount that ties for the highest score of the
season with the Killers on week three. How about dem 'Phins? For Coach
Rooney, he really really shouldn't have walked under that ladder all
those years ago. Craigo hit 29 points, a total that will normally see a
team be in with a chance of winning. Not today tho'. Josh Allen, who
came into this game as the #2 rated QB, had two TD tosses and Joe Mixon
ran in from the 14. Factoid that may only interest me: in every game
that Mixon has started AND finished a game for Houston, he has ran for
over 100 yards. D'Andre Swift, revitalised in a Bears jersey, had a long
'un from 56 yards out, but again, the wideouts were the Mangy Curs
Achilles Heel, with only Jakobi Meyers troubling the scorers. Brandon
Aubrey went for 1/1 FGs and 3/3 EPs to make the final score: Arnhall
Dolphins 58-29 Craigo Cayotes. What does it all mean? Arnhall inprove to
4-4 but have the Drillers up next. A playoff place is just a wee bit
over the horizon still. Craigo have the undefeated Westburn Blades next,
a pivotal clash for both teams. Could this be the week their luck
changes?
Five Things I Think I Think:
1) The team that beats the Blades in the playoffs
will win the Bowl, but somebody will..
2) The Drillers are the only team to post a perfect
13-0 season, in 1996.....
3) ....but exited the playoffs in their first post
season game.
4) The Apaches have already earmarked Dr Kildare as
next years #1 pick.
5) The Danestone Diablos also went 8-0 in 1994.....
they didn't win the Bowl either.
The Fine Five :
1) Westburn Blades. At 8-0, they have to be there.
2) Kincorth Killers. (5-3). No team has won more
Bowls this millenium
2=) Two Minute Drillers. (6-2). No team has
appeared in more Bowls this millenium.
4) Wellington Rising. (6-2) Sitting above the
Drillers in the BA Division. That's enough
5) Laurel Lions. (4-4) They ain't gonna win the
Todders Division, but they'll be a danger in the playoffs.
Coffeerdness :
Why did the hipster burn his tongue
on his coffee ? Because he drank it before it was cool.
See ya'll next year !!!
Lions Roar Back As Argyll
Pattern Remains
Lion Amon Ra St Brown is all
alone as he snags this 1 yard TD.
A nightmare
three game slide for coach Hamilton ended as the Laurel Lions re-ignited
their play-off push with a tense 32-27 win over the suffering Argyll
Apaches. This tie was a short punchy affair played entirely over the 2
main Sunday stanza's and although we did see a late push by the
despairing Bon Accord strugglers the Pride were almost always just about
in charge. With both HC's coming into this clash on the back of 3 and
two game losing streaks respectively there was more than a hint of must
win about it. Jamesie has already made public his concerns about his
lowly ranked ground game but with little room to maneuver the two
changes he made came at WR3 , where Amari Cooper (surprisingly) came in
for Brian Thomas with his newly acquired Kansas City DST preferred ahead
of incumbents the Philly Eagles. Geacher the Elder continued to plow his
4WR set furrow with Roschon Johnson restored as the single back (after a
bye week) with his highly ranked Chicago DST also back after a week off.
One saving grace for the Braves this term has been the form of QB Jordan
Love but when he went down injured in Jax without troubling the scorers
Geronimo must have sensed the stars were not going to align for his
charges (again) this week. To be fair Lions passer Joe Burrow didn't
exactly set the heather on fire with his single 2 yard counter but in
the final analysis I'm sure the Pride faithful would have settled for a
3pt positional win in that department pre kick-off. The Danestone sides
2024 fortunes have tracked closely to the availability of kicker Jake
Moody so it was significant for the Lions when Jake Elliott came thru
with a big 13pts at Paycor Stadium. RB Raheem Mostert (with Tua back in
the Miami fold) suddenly rediscovered his red-zone mojo with a pair of
shorts scores at Hard Rock leaving wide-out Amon-Ra St Brown to chip in
with his ubiquitous TD reception (a 1 yarder) to pad the Laurel early
Sunday total to 31pts. The Braves have only scaled that height once all
season (in Week 1) so without QB points to bank their position looked
close to untenable. That 4WR set did aid the cause however with Dalton
Kincaid, Darnell Mooney and Tucker Kraft (with help of back up QB) all
posting a TD apiece with kicker Jason Sanders taking a little off the
Mostert edge at Hard Rock with 11pts of his own ( 53 and 25 yard FG's
plus 3 PAT's). Garrett Wilson was the only Argyll WR not to get on the
board. The Lions were effectively done an dusted bar their KC DST come
8:00pm (GMT) with the Apaches hopes of clawing back a 17-31 deficit
resting on their Bears pairing of DST and Roschon Johnson. The defences
looked like they would be the only contributors while trading 1pt each
but the rock carrier did manage to contribute with a late goal-line TD
run (like really late... i.e. a whole 25 seconds from the end) as
Chicago were held in check in Washington leaving coach Hamilton to close
the tab with that final 32-27 look. The Pride get back to .500 after a
week on the dark side and with both the Jesmond Chiefs and Craigo
Coyotes losing, suddenly look to be in a far better place. Next weeks
clash against the suddenly energized Garthdee Gryphons will go a long
way in deciding if the Den Dwellers home stretch run will be more about
getting maybe one or two wins out of 4...or be more of a existential
battle. Jamesie could not have timed Mostert and Elliott's return to
form any better....the two now need to maintain that to keep their coach
off the Prozac. Geronimo's 2024 purgatory took another turn with Jordan
Love's status unclear at this point. With no concrete signs of CMC
returning to action its difficult to imagine the Apaches putting
together a 4 or 5 game winning streak that they now absolutely need to
avoid a 3rd straight exclusion from the post season party. At 2-6 they
are simply running out of wriggle room....and with the Rising up next
is a big ask. This match-up was the first meeting between the two
combatants since 2022, with James now leading the RSS 4-2....having won
4 straight (including a PO game). Geacher's last win in the series was
back in 2018.
Killers Fall Short As
Westburn Park The Bus
Blades QB Jared Goff scored a TD
triple for the unbeaten Pittodrie Div club.
The expectation
outstripped the reality but that didn't register much on coach
Youngblood's Care-o-Meter as his charmed Blades just outlasted the
disappointing Kincorth Killers to maintain their 100% record with a low
energy 20-18 win in this huge clash of the League top ranked sides.
Stuie's latest success ended Geacher the Younger's upbeat 3 game winning
streak and went some way to avenge a shock Rd 3 upset in last season's
post season competition. In most reports I like to dwell on the
potential ebbs and flows of any given contest....but the real important
details here are more predicated on the impact of the results rather
than the details of the game itself. So with that in mind.... the
scoring for the runaway League leaders was split over just two players.
The ever excellent Ka'imi Fairbairn set the foundation with an 11pt
offering that for once lacked a bonus range FG his latest double digit
effort coming from three short FG's and a PAT brace. QB Jared Goff
continued his hot spell with a TD treble (all three of the shorter
variety) with coach Bothwell's only concern there, the leaking of
passer points on another "trick play". Other than that it was Goose Eggs
Are Us, with that third ranked Blades running game suffering a rare
double blank. On the other side of the equation, Geacher the Younger had
more players in the mood, but their impact was just short of being
enough. Receiving scores from RB Bijan Robinson and top ranked WR
Ja'Marr Chase cobbled to a less than average 6pts from Justin Tucker (49
FG and 3 XP's) accounted for the Kinkers Krewe's only 12pts over the
opening two Sunday phases with a missed 50 yard effort from the kicker
getting lots of attention as a potential season changing moment. Seeing
Saquon Barkley lose three red-zone opportunities to Jalen Hurts will not
have sat well at the Slaughterhouse either. In closing there was a
finale more fitting of the Game of the Week than the prior low key
offering as Dak Prescott went mano a mano against Jordan Mason in the
SNF match-up with the Pittodrie Division leaders 20-12 in front... but
it was very late in proceedings (inside 8 minutes to go) before Dak go
on the board with first a 7 yard counter and then another from 20 yards
out, to see the tie close out in underwhelming style. As things panned
out Stuie would only have beaten one other side on the card this time
round but as the Bard once said.... " A win's a win for a' that". The
former NZ outfit are the first side since the 94 Diablos and 96 Drillers
to get to the 8-0 mark and with this tie break snagging success in their
possession are now in effect half a game from both winning the Pittoders
and banking a minimum single bye week berth. Coach Bothwell Jnr would do
well to take note both the aforementioned Diablos and Drillers went one
and done in the play-offs. There will still be mutterings about strength
of schedule ( currently average against per week is just under 22pts )
but only one side has scored more than the PDiv champions elect
(ironically the Kincorth Killers). Andrew will be frustrated he let this
opportunity go and with both BA leaders winning he has definitely
surrendered his double week edge to the eventual BA Div
winner....although the Chiefs stumble against the Rising at least
preserved his position as outright GDiv leader. If only Justin Tucker
had connected on that 50 yard FG ! This second straight win in RS
competition for ex coach Kiwi pegs Andrews lead in the RSS back to 11-5
Jacobs
Takes The Cheese In Gryphons OT Thriller
RB Josh Jacobs breaks away to
score for the Gryphons
Outside of coach
Youngblood slapping on his latest winning cap the 2024 regular season
has two recurring themes. One has been coach McConnachie Jnr losing
several games by just one single point (or in OT), and the other has
been the Bayler well publicized Monday night finale run which has
panned out on similar if slightly higher game count. A quick scan over
this weeks team-lines quickly saw the MNF option swiftly go out the
window ( as neither coach had a Giant or Steeler starter)....but Donny
did have his last two starters strutting their stuff in the next best
previous option.... the NBC SNF offering at Levi's Stadium. Surely we
couldn't get BOTH trends (of sorts) to come together ??? You know
we did !! Trailing 23-32 Donny had QB Brock Purdy and his DST double
team-mates to find the 9pts he needed to force OT or better. The
sub-plot to the previous MNF finale story has been the team in the lead,
be it Garthdee or their opponents has held on to win....would the shift
to the Sunday Night Football finale bring a change in fortunes.... ??
Well... yes....but it took a while to mature. At half time in Ninerland,
Purdy was still scoreless and the Defence were on track for 2pts at
best. Midway through Q3 the signal-caller finally opened his account
with a 2 yard toss to benched George Kittle (after a Dak INT had given
him a short field) and then the DST immediately forced a three and
out. A 75 yard drive and 9 plays later Brock went up the middle to back
into the endzone to tie the scores at 32-32. To Donny's chagrin the
Niners were pretty much in clock management mode from that point on
(which saw the end of any match winning DST point output) and we headed
into our second OT period of the season. Andy had more than a few
meaningful contributors (Lamar had 289 passing yards, Kyle Pitts 91
yards receiving) but none that came with an all important OT point,
while Josh Jacobs 25-127 yards was the tie splitting offering from the
Gryphons. Let's check out how we got to that point. The Posse had got
off to a heartening start as Andy saw Cooper Kupp bag his first TD of
the maturing campaign with a typical 7 yard score on Thursday night and
then it was on to main Sunday theatre. The Boot Hill combo reverted to a
2RB set with Mini Mac salivating at the prospect of newly installed
Javonte Williams at home to the Carolina Panthers. Over at Baylerville
the formation swung the other way as the Crimson One went to a rare (for
him) 4WR set. Interestingly there was no place for high value bust
CeeDee Lamb or the more productive George Kittle, Taysom Hill and Cole
Kmet getting the start at WR's 3 and 4. Early on it looked as if the
Express were on track as Lamar Jackson ( 11 and 7 yard TD tosses), RB
Chase Brown (4 yard run) and Kyle Pitts ( 36 and 49yd scoring grabs)
combined to push the visitors total to 21pts, with only A J Brown on the
naughty list , but the late loaded Mythical creatures hung in there
almost exclusively on the back of Josh Jacobs who posted his first TD
double of the campaign (one from 3 yards , the second a more eye
catching 38 yarder). Neither Taysom Hill or JSN were able to bulk out
that dozen. Andy's hoped for Javonte Williams highlight show v the
Panthers proved to be a false dawn although his Denver DST did chip in
with 1pt in the Mile High City. That left kicker Daniel Carlson to push
the Caley total to 32pts thanks to his 10pts in Allegiant Stadium that
was half constructed from the first of his two FG's, a 54 yarder.
Perhaps sensing another early exit trapdoor was looming the Gryphons
held in there. Travis Kelce's long awaited first Bird TD of 2024 was
part of that deep dig as was a solid if not spectacular single FG 7pt
effort from Tyler Bass , but it was a late share of a last gasp 2pt
attempt by Cole Kmet in Maryland that would prove a huge moment as we
headed to that SNF showdown with the "completed" Express 32-23 to the
good. That takes us back full circle to the dramatic final act outlined
above. The Birds improve to 3-5 and are right on the cusp of that last
wildcard berth in that melting pot that is the "other" (non Blades) half
of a spirited Pittodrie Division. The Bayler's two remaining non
Division fixtures are both against direct wildcard rivals so as long as
he can perhaps nick a win in the PDiv (Lions are up next) coach Garioch
is very much back in the thick of the post season possibilities. The
Express drop to 2-6 and Andy must be wondering what he did to upset the
ALFF Gods so badly. He is still one OT match-up short of (Jamesie's)
three OT outings in one season (he lost two of those).... but there are
5 games to go ! A Week 9 Divisional clash against the Jesmond Chiefs is
now a must win fixture for the former Cove based franchise. Donny's
fifth straight win the series (two of those against Andy) extends his
lead in the franchise RSS to 29-24.
Sleeper of the Week
By Monday
morning this weeks SOW award hinged on the outcome of the Drillers @
Steelers contest. Both HC's missed out on significant production from
their back-up QB's with both starters struggling. In the event the
Commissioner's Crew held on to win....meaning Adamski's miss on Matt
Stafford's 12pts (net -11pts) gets all the attention ahead of Kirk
Cousins (net -9ts). Matt Stafford & coach Meek net the Week 8 Sleeper of
the Week.
Play of the Week
Wow.... I wish we
could be talking about Jayden Daniels ridiculous Hail Mary or Jameis
Winston's thrilling Raven killer in Cleveland.... but none of the
players involved were starting. There was a good case for the successful
Chicago 2pt attempt at Washington (that preceded the Hail Mary)....and
it would have won had the Steelers forced OT against the Drillers ( as
it would have forced OT is two separate ties). Instead I've had to
settle for a "boring" old eight point run (there were two this week).
It was painful for me to watch at the time....but Jahmyr Gibbs 70 yard
scamper down the Ford Field sideline (for the Scunthorpe Steelers) is
the Week 8 Play of the Week.
Player of the Week
Chicago
DB Tyrique Stevenson's game winning pass break-up. There
was plenty scope for players to snatch the Player of the Week award
across several matches hinging on the SNF & MNF fixtures.... but no one
stepped up. Garthdee Gryphons RB Josh Jacobs not only scored twice to
more than double the Birds units SEASON output.... he also racked up the
100 yard rushing performance that gained the Baylerville side a stunning
33-32 OT victory over the CalX. Jacobs is the Week 8 Player of the Week.
Stats All Folks
Derek Henry (Wellington Rising) moved past Curtis Martin
(415pts) into 6th place on the RB RS scoring list with his single TD this week.
Daniel Carlson (CalX) reached the 400 RS point mark with his 2nd FG of the night
( a 32 yarder).
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