by Anthony Fernandez, September 18th, 2019
What's up, guys! The last 24 hours of SFL have been pretty disappointing for me, as the NFC East slipped away from us after we held onto it with all our might the last 6 weeks without Mike Glennon. Ironically, it wasn't even us playing "bad", necessarily, that cost us the division. Sure, we weren't playing
Cowboys Football, but we did go (4-3) with an <70 AWR QB under center and finish (11-5) for the year. We just couldn't do quite enough to compensate for another team that is is playing GREAT... the
Washington Redskins. The last 6 weeks they've been on FIRE. They look like a real threat to win it all, but I don't think that takes away from what we accomplished without Glennon the last month and a half.
For comparison, Madden Legend
Neal Wintermute was praised on the Radio show by fellow Madden Legend
Daryl Breckheimer for making it to (11-5) on the season with
QB Tyler Wilson having a "down year" and finishing with a 73.9 QBR! Yes, that's certainly tough... but at least he played 16 games. We went from
QB Mike Glennon, who had a 107.3 QBR (on pace for his best year EVER), to a guy that finished with a 57.0 QBR (
QB Paxton Lynch), not to mention a game where our other guy (
QB Cooper Rush) had a 48.8 QBR against Miami, a game we led the entire time until the Dolphins took the lead with under a minute left. The rest of our team are STILL the Dallas Cowboys. Contrary to reports of our "aging", we're still one of the 5 youngest rosters in SFL, and easily one of the most talented. We've got burned with injury luck the last two years, and it just wasn't meant to be.
That said, we're going to do what we have done for 7 seasons - continue building for the NEXT year. One way I've made the Cowboys so good, is doing all the things I have to to make sure we always have an edge over the competition. In this case? The games are basically over, so it's time to write articles and stack AP. I've got a number of players who I've been unable to invest in because their OVR needed to stay below 83 for Rookie/Sophomore progression. But many of those guys are eligible to get juiced this year, and since I always spend what I earn, I'm currently towards the bottom of the league in AP. But it just so happens to be a bonus AP period, good until Wild Card deadlines, so let's give a little taste of an article. And it helps when there is a HOOK. Just so happens, we have a HOOK that peaked my interest.
With the Cowboys NOT winning - I began thinking about who COULD win. It just so happens that a crazy sequence of events has essentially left the door to a Super Bowl Win WIDE OPEN.
QB Mike Glennon's season ender means the
Cowboys are essentially eliminated. There was a recent severe injury to
HB Zeke Elliott in Tampa. GM Wintermute has been extremely busy, causing his defending Champion
Vikings to struggle. The
Lions got destroyed by injuries and missed the playoffs as a favorite. Sure - the
Titans are still the Titans... the juggernaut that
Apolo Shapiro built... but can anyone say with full confidence they full believe in new-
GM Camden Roe yet? And that's not a knock on him, I'm sure he's an amazing guy IRL... but do you think he's gameplanning and running the X's and O's for the three games he'll need to win to become Champion the same way that Apolo was? C'mon. They can be beat now.
So WHO?!? For some of these teams... the
Cowboys, the
Jets, the
Vikings, the
Bucs... being in the playoffs is nice for the contract... but does NOT winning it this year really matter? Not really. Those guys have Super Bowl wins. They'll be back in the playoffs many times in the next decade. But what about
CLEVELAND?
ST. LOUIS?!?
CHICAGO on the last hoo-rah of Ainge?
WASHINGTON in a rare year where their annual bully Cowboys are down their best player? For
some teams, this could be a GOLDEN TICKET year. Someone is going to be crowned CHAMPION. Will it be a new face like
Brady Tinnin? Will it be someone who won so, so long ago, but has now built it back up to cement their legacy... like
Brent (10ish years ago) or
Norb (15ish years ago)? Hell, will a guy like
Gary Cohen hoist a trophy with
SAN DIEGO... the team our beloved Commish
Will Cook left behind as a bridesmaid last year?
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Wild Card Weekend
Dallas Cowboys - 20 @
St. Louis Rams - 23
TL;DR Warning! This part is long. Cliff notes is the Rams are going to win this game. But keep reading for good insight into the thoughts of a confirmed SFL Madman. Hate me? Love me? It doesn't matter. There isn't a single GM that can deny I LOVE this league, and am operating at
maximum capacity in this role, in this hobby we all love.
Hopefully you read on, but if not... Rams win, skip to the Vikes game.
LET'S F&*KING GOOOOO!! Playoff time. The draft used to be my favorite time, but recently the playoffs have become my favorite part of the year (for obvious reasons). I'll start with my 'boys, because I've nonchalantly wrote us off multiple times in this column already. I'm not going to stand here and pretend that this game doesn't matter to me... because it does. I know the chances are SLIM we can get past any of these 11 teams in the playoffs with Paxton Lynch as our QB... but ironically this is the least pressure I've ever felt. I think the expectation is that we'll be one-and-done, and perhaps that makes the Cowboys a little frisky. We just built my son a gaming computer, and I've reclaimed my old computer and yesterday I got it all set up in the guest room. I've been working with Apolo to get it up and running so I can SIM for this game, because it matters that much. Unfortunately, the desktop doesn't have a Wi-Fi adapter, and since we moved it out of my office, it can't be plugged right into the router. So I ordered a wireless adapter that should be here HOPEFULLY today. The Wi-Fi is necessary because the copy of Madden I have isn't updated to 4.0, so it just crashes anytime we start the game. I will have it worked out soon so I can broadcast next year, I just worry it won't be setup in time to get any meaningful game planning done this week. Even if I do, I'm not sure any amount of game planning will be able to overcome the talent discrepancy at QB. The Rams are HOME, in their own building... with a veteran QB and a potent rushing attack. Their pass rush, that I've poo-poo'd multiple times over the years, will likely look great over an unaware QB that doesn't know when to get rid of the ball, and every time he does I'm holding my breath that it doesn't go to the other team. For us to win this game, we'll need a Hall of Fame performance from HB David Johnson... and after he fumbled at the 1 yard line last week to cost us the game... it appears he's content just cashing that big contract I gave him and isn't worried about hoisting another Super Bowl trophy. For the Rams, however, this might be THE best opportunity they have. It's been well documented on the Radio show and on Discord that their QBs are throwing a LOT of INTs this year. Hell, I hope they throw some more this week. But I'm not holding my breath, and I think David Booty will not be ass this week. The path to a Super Bowl for them is pretty clear... beat the Glennon-less Cowboys, beat the Zeke-less Buccaneers, and then play a Super Busy GM in Minnesota who quenched his thirst for a Championship LAST year. This door in the NFC is wide open, and Felipe might be just the guy to burst through that door. He could GM for another 10 years, and this might be his BEST chance he ever gets. I expect him to capitalize, even if I'm going to fight like hell to murder that thought-baby in the crib.
The silver lining for Dallas? Glennon will be back next year and is still only 27 years old. Latimer is only 26. This offseason we are restructuring Johnathan Baldwin to a new 5 year contract to assure he retires in Dallas and breaks all of Randy Moss' records. We've ALREADY agreed to a trade for another veteran OG to help keep Glennon upright next year. We are doing all the things to assure that our offense remains... OUR OFFENSE. Couple that with the fact that if you go position for position on our defense: we are YOUNG, we are FAST, we are TALENTED. Our DE's of Montgomery and Frank Clark have flashed this year, and should be even better in year 2 together. Our new NT DJ Jones (a 5th round pick who is also getting a new contract this offseason) won't get a sniff of the
Breakout Player of the Year nominations, but he went from barely playing the first two years to 7 sacks as our starting NT. He also had 34 tackles (6 TFL) and a fumble recovery. Madden doesn't count half sacks, but if you watch the games I can't tell you how many of LOLB Landry's sacks should be credited to Jones as he pushed the QB out of the pocket right into Landry's arms. Jones is a stud. All three will be locked up long term to team-friendly contracts, too. Speaking of Landry, the former 2nd round pick who won
Defensive Rookie of the Year last year had an even BETTER year this year. Very excited about him. MLB Jake Ryan was fantastic in his first year as THE guy in the middle, although I think he'll be even better next year when we use the AP from this article on Oren Burks. Combined with his sophomore boosts, Burks should enter next season at 6'3", 87 SPD, 89 AGI, 89 ACC, 84 STR, over 90 TAK, and almost 70 CTH. That's pretty insane for a soon-to-be 24 year old backup MLB in the 34 who should have a LOT of chances to make plays as a 4th round gem. On the other side is Leonard Floyd, who nobody is going to write songs about because he's only 81 SPD, but literally EVERYTHING else about him is elite, and he's been a rock at ROLB for almost half a decade now. Ironically, he turns 25 NEXT year. That'll be an average age for our 4 staring MLBs of something silly like 24 years old. All under long term contract control on cheap contracts. What does that leave? The secondary? C'mon, man. J.C. Jackson is about to get +5 AWR from his mentor, and probably 2-3 points from this progression period. That should put the 94 OVR 23 year old in the mid 80's next year in AWR. Can't believe he fell to 16th pick. Milliner is the guy who's getting longest in the tooth, but he's still only 29 years old next year, and has the attributes to be good for 2-3 years into regression. Hard to argue with the 20 INTs he's got for us since he arrived 5 seasons ago. Worth every penny. Both of our safeties are young (28 and 26 next year) and finally getting to the point in the AWR category where the INTs should start to increase. EVEN OUR PUNTER AND KICKER ARE ELITE!? Reports of our demise have been GREATLY exaggerated. So yes, while it's going to hurt to watch Paxton Lynch solidify his place as one of Felipe's favorite players of all time after he tosses them 3 interceptions this week, perhaps NO team in the playoffs this year needs to win it this year LESS than the Dallas Cowboys. And for that reason, overcoming what we did this year to make the playoffs is still a success, regardless. You can bicker about who will win MVP this year... but if anything has been made clear this year, it's that Mike Glennon IS the league MVP, and perhaps no player is more important to their team than him. And did I just turn a whole segment of this league article into a TEAM article just to get some bonus AP? Haha, perhaps. But that's just a testament to how good of a GM I am. I am going to do everything I can to make this the best team in SFL history. And if that means continue churning out AP to get us back to the promised land, then by God let's write.
Look out next year for the return of PTI with AF and Ian Coyle.
Minnesota Vikings - 27 @
Washington Redskins - 17
Alright, the rest won't be that long, I promise. The Redskins have been red hot. No team has performed better than them the last 5 weeks. As much as I talk about our bad luck with injuries, this team
also overcame a lengthy injury to QB Wenning, who was drafted by GM Apolo Shapiro and sent to Washington prior to his
exit from the league. Washington has some ugly losses on the books, but the wise thing for me to do would be to just pick them to win it all to reverse-jinx them. That said, I just think this will be a very tough matchup for them. The Vikings have the #3 scoring defense and the #3 rushing defense in the league, and the Redskins are at their best when James Connor is running over teams. The Redskins DO have some explosive weapons on the outside, but those matchups are usually predicated off of the run game. If Washington can get their run game going, they have a shot in this one. But I DO think teams can score on Washington. I know cause Glennon carved them up this year with a 115.1 QBR, and just last week Mark Sanchez won the passing title in their stadium. But which Tyler Wilson will we get to see? This year had all the makings of that 2013 QB Class taking over the NFC Playoffs... but Glennon and Barkley were lost for the season. That leaves it up to Tyler Wilson... who already has one Super Bowl win. Can he get #2 before Glennon does, or before Barkley gets #1? Glennon eliminated Wilson in 2016 on the way to winning
his first in 2017, so Wilson could be trying for #3 this season in an alternate timeline. Personally, I like the Redskins chances in this one, but I've got to go with the Vikes in this one.
Cleveland Browns - 28 @
New York Jets- 17
Ah, my aforementioned future (and past) PTI co-host Ian Coyle. What a year! When you talk about OPPORTUNITY, this is a team that comes right to mind. The Browns have a demon to slay in the conference (the Titans), but first they must get past one of the best GMs our community has ever known. The Jets have had some silly losses this year, and perhaps Kev has been the victim of bad luck. The Browns, on the other hand, have looked great the last 6 weeks. Of course they got BLASTED by the Bengals last week, but that was a must win for Cincy at home, and I doubt Brohm is going to throw 4 INT in a game again. They are two weeks removed from beating the Ravens, who I think are a Top 3 pick for Super Bowl winner by many in the league. I think this will be a close game, but I could see the Browns understanding this is their best chance to get that elusive Super Bowl and really surprising the Jets with how bad they want it. Obviously Kev is not "content" having won a Super Bowl (one of the most dominant ever, if I understand right... It was before my time.) But perhaps it's still too early in the development of Wentz... And they'll miss WR Little... and they're satisfied to extend the contract? I dunno, this one smells like road upset to me.
Cincinnati Bengals - 20 @
San Diego Chargers - 21
There's perhaps nobody I want to see win one of these Super Bowls MORE than I want to see new-dad Brady Tinnin win one. But I think the Chargers are going to be an absolute buzzsaw in these playoffs. Gary Cohen, who is a fantastic GM that had a bad situation in Pittsburgh, fell into an unbelievable situation with the defending AFC Champion Chargers. I think this team is READY, I think they are OVERLOOKED, and I think Big C*&k Brock comes out irate that he's not being discussed for SFL MVP. I think this one will be painfully close, but maybe will hurt less for Brady than those AFC Championship losses. Also Jared Goff DOES have Super Bowls in his future. Hopefully my boy Dion Sims has more, as well.
Divisional Round
Cleveland Browns - 30 @
Tennessee Titans - 28
Round 2! Since these matches aren't set in stone, I'll try to avoid going too deep into the weeds here. Obviously this would be a massive upset, as the Titans are the clear favorite to win it all, especially with my Cowboys playing without the best player in the league. That said, I think the Titans are beatable. Camden is in year 1 as GM, and he doesn't NEED to win now. Could he? Of course. The Titans are stupid talented, and expertly built. For that reason alone, I'd probably score the Titans as a little more need for urgency than the other teams like Dallas and Minnesota. Because the architect of the Titans is gone. The man who had the key to the city, who had excel sheets outlining tough cap decisions 5 years in advance. He's gone. So eventually... Camden will have some tough issues in Tennessee. He's probably got a pretty comfortable 2-3 year window to do it, however. Brohm? He's got to win NOW. He might have one more year after this, realistically, but eventually this is Kaaya's team.
San Diego Chargers - 19 @
Baltimore Ravens - 18
Gary Cohen goes rolling into Baltimore and take off the head of the team that tortured him for almost half a decade in Pittsburgh? Sounds like fun. Obviously Norb is one of the BEST GMs our community has. I find his insights into player evaluation truly fascinating and admire much of what he's done. While some GMs were surprised to see their quiet, transcendent rise... I was not. It was similar to what we did in Dallas... Just quieter. I'm loud, Norb is quiet. But it's the same blueprint. Get your young QB. Develop him. Surround him with weapons. Draft well in ALL rounds, not just the 1st. Make savvy trades to put your team in a chance to succeed. And of course, bully your division. This part is critical, because like me in the NFC East... Norb plays in one of the toughest in SFL. It's important to routinely and regularly stomp on them and remind them you're on top. Norb did just that going (5-1) this year. For all of those reasons I could see Norb winning the Super Bowl this year... And ending a drought that goes alllll the way back to Super Bowl 2. I just have this gut feeling, however, that Gary Cohen will not be deterred.
Minnesota Vikings - 24 @
Chicago Bears - 21
This is no shade to the Bears or their GM, even though I'm notorious for leaving them out of my articles. I just think it's tough to beat a good team three times in one year. And Neal is the GM of a GREAT team. Also, the Bears should have beat Washington two weeks ago. I'm convinced he told his players to let them win to F*$& me. Give me the Vikings with a walk off game winning FG by one of the Fuchs at the buzzer in Soldier Field.
(ha)
St. Louis Rams - 31 @
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 30
The storybook postseason continues for the "barely over .500" Rams. I laid out the route they'd need to crown Mike Evans as a Super Bowl Champion (since they'll never trade him, and this might be their last-best chance). They beat up on the injured Cowboys, now the injured Buccaneers. Or was it AC that the Rams beat the week before? Who knows?!? Certainly not my good buddy Mr. Mellon, who always calls me AC. It's clearly because we're both so sexy, and not anything on the field related. The Bucs are a Powerhouse team. If I'm being honest - this is who I WANT to win it all. If the Cowboys can't be Champions, I want my RL favorite Bucs to win. I just worry about that Zeke injury. As of this writing, still no word. So I think the Rams play spoiler.
Conference Championship
Minnesota Vikings - 27 @
St. Louis Rams - 28
What a break for the defending CHAMPS!?! They get a "year-too-soon?" Redskins team, then the familiar Ainge-less Bears, and now all that stands between them and a repeat as NFC Champions is the lowly NFC West Champion Rams?!? MONEY! Right? Wrong. Felipe continues to play spoiler, avenging his good buddy
Apolo Vinny, who was bounced by the Redskins in the Wild Card round. The Vikings are leading this one 27-21 with time expiring, but BIG M1K3 EVANS will get the last second Hail Mary to give the Rams the one point upset win and punch their ticket to Super Bowl XVIII.
Cleveland Browns - 22 @
San Diego Chargers - 28
I love Ian and the story of the Browns. This might be the most "they need to win this one NOW" team left, but I just think the Chargers hosting the AFC Championship for a chance to repeat will be too much to overcome. Gary makes the Chargers the best team in the AFC for the 2nd year in a row!
(somewhere in the world, probably DC, Apolo sheds a silent tear) I think this one will be close, and I could see either of these teams winning it all this year... but I think Cohen punches his ticket to the big game, accomplishing something for the Chargers that the Vikes will come seconds away from doing as well... back-to-back Super Bowls.
Super Bowl XVIII
St. Louis Rams - 13 VS
San Diego Chargers - 31
The big game!! The Rams have played spoiler all the way here... could it be DESTINY?!? Hell naw, St. Louis already has TWO Super Bowl wins. Sure, Felipe wasn't the GM, that was
Apolo Tyler Richardson... but we don't need any more Rams titles. It would be amazing for Felipe to pull it off, and a great story. But for my money, this is the CHARGERS year. Gary Cohen gets the Chargers over the finish line and finally makes them truly the San Diego
SUPER Chargers.
(somewhere in the world, certainly Duval County, Commish Will Cook sheds a silent tear) #TheScript
