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In 2034, times were tough. The team got a new owner after the offseason ended and at least part way through the preseason. Even with his hands tied, the team started out the season strong, after so many years of poor performances. Let's look back at 2034, before we move on the the new season.
Game 1 vs division foe Boston. A 27-0 win. This was a big, big win to start the season, and it was a win in a dominating fashion. Defense gave up 178 total yards, QB David West was 18/30, 161 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT for a 96.6 QB Rating. The defense was the star of this game.
Game 2 at Waco. A 27-10 win. Defense gave up 291 yards of offense. West was 15/24, 130 yards, 0TD and 1 INT. The running game was the star of this game, getting 152 yards on the ground and almost 5 yards per rush.
Game 3 vs San Francisco. A 26-23 loss. A FG with 27 seconds left sealed the victory for San Fran. This would become a theme... losing close games. The defense tried the bend but don't break style, and it didn't work out too well, as they gave up 422 yards of offense, but held SF to 2 TDs in 5 red zone attempts. Defense shut down the SF running game, but couldn't stop the pass. The special teams played very well. The offense also played well, with West going 20/31 for 222 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. JB Jennings was the star of the game, getting the first 100 yard rushing game this season with 102 yards on 14 carries.
Game 4 vs North Liberty. A 14-12 loss. Second straight game where we lost a close game. Our red zone offense was really the difference in this game, not scoring a TD in 3 red zone attempts. Defense played solid football, giving up 297 yards of offense. But, ultimately, West and the offense couldn't punch the ball into the NLB end zone. West ended with decent numbers, going 21/31 for 205 yards, with no TD or INT. But it wasn't enough.
Game 5 vs Chicago. Another close loss, 27-24. Although, Chicago had the game well in hand going into the 4th Quarter, up 27-7, we made a valiant comeback effort but fell short. The big play of the game was the 87 yard INT return by Chicago, on West's 2nd INT of the season. The defense gave up 333 yards of offense, but allowed only 1 TD in 3 red zone attempts. The offense gave up a TD on the INT, and the offense didn't look too bad, netting 322 yards and scoring 17 in the 4th to make it a close game. Special teams really played great, and was probably the big reason for the game to end up close, as they continued to win the field position battle in this game. West went 26/41 for 245 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.
Week 6 was a bye. Game 6 vs Camden. A 24-23 loss. 4 losses in a row of 3 points or less, all at home. With the exception of the Chicago game, all these games could have gone either way, after two dominating wins to start the season. We could just as easily been 5-1 or 6-0 at this point. With 47 seconds left, Kicker Junkin hits a 32 yarder to take the lead, 23-21. As the clock winds down, Camden wins the game with a 41 yard FG. Very emotional loss for us. Defense gave up 302 yards, while the offense got over 400 yards, even though our running game was completely shut down, averaging less than 3 yards per carry. The big play this time was against us on Special Teams, where Camden managed to get a 73 yard punt return for a TD. The 1st two games of the season showed what we could do, and the next 4 showed who we are... a team that finds a way to lose games. We don't get beat, we give the games away. West had a good game, going 20/29 for 304 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. 6 games, just 2 INT. Playing very well so far.
Game 7 at St Paul. Loss 26-20. St Paul's offense looked great at home, netting 384 yards. They ran well, passed well, and didn't make any big mistakes. Our defense did one thing right... kept them to 2 TDs in 5 red zone attempts. Of course, we have had a lot of red zone practice :) For some reason, our coaching staff got away from our usual offense, and threw the ball 56 times, while running only 16... not a very balanced attack, and we paid for it. West again had a solid day, though, going 29/56 for 287 yards, 2 TD and 0 INT. 7 games, 2 INT. Remember this at the end of the season.
Game 8 at Boston. Loss 24-21, Boston gets their revenge for the first game of the season. Again, on the road, we find ourselves with an unbalanced offensive attack. Two big plays are basically the game... a 56 yard TD pass and an 86 yard run, and Boston gets 14 easy points. Take away those 142 yards, and Boston 231 yards of offense. So, our defense played well except for those two plays, LOL. Offense looked good, even though we threw the ball too much, getting 399 yards and going 3 for 3 in the red zone. West still going strong halfway through the season, completing 30 of 52 for 270 yards and 3 TDs with no INT. 8 games, 2 INT.
Game 9 at Dakota. Loss 24-10. Our first loss of more than 6 points all year. but our 7th straight loss. We are 2-7, and still scored more points than we've allowed. The losing seems to be wearing on the team. Our very good kicker missed a FG, West threw an INT... Road trip plus losing = not good for the team. West 22/38 for 223 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. 9 games, 3 INT.
Game 10 vs Brooklyn. 20-14 win. I guess we needed to get home and play a division rival. Even though there was a good amount of offense, this was really a defensive struggle with 2 teams doing a lot of passing. Over 700 combines yards. But, many, many short possessions. The game goes to overtime, and each team has 3 possessions. We miss a FG in our 2nd possession after getting an INT, but win it in our 3rd possession with a big 20 yard catch by Mallory. West ends up 34/52 for 305 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT. 10 games, 3 INT.
Game 11 vs Memphis. 34-3 win. Memphis recently changed ownership, so they were in a bad spot, and we had an easy day. Our defense created 5 turnovers and kept them to 167 yards of offense. West 23/33 for 176 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. 11 games, 3 INT.
Game 12 at Columbus. 7-3 loss. Defensive struggle, and the only TD of the game came off West's 4th INT of the season. 233 yards of offense for us, 184 yards of offense for Columbus. West's turnaround also begins here. He goes 24/37 for just 150 yards, 0 TD and 3 INT. Doubles his INT total for the year in 1 game.
Game 13 vs New Orleans. A 24-23 win. Our last win of the season. The last game where we play well. Lord knows what happens to the team during the week after this game, but they are never the same. 2 more INT for West, including another INT returned for a TD. But we still find a way to win. West goes 21/35 for 211 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT. In 2 games, went from 3 INT to 8.
Game 14 at Brooklyn. 51-7 loss. Wow. At this point, we were 5-8, with more points scored than allowed. This was the first time all season we were crushed. Dakota was the only team to beat us by more than 6 points up until now. Brooklyn completely dominated this game. They got up early, and ran the ball down our throat the rest of the game, still amassing almost 400 yards of offense, while our offense barely broke 200. West continued to find the other team's players, going 19/35 for 209 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT. Our only TD was a 75 yard pass play halfway through the 4th Quarter, likely against the 3rd team defense, so without that his stats are downright ugly. West now hits 10 INTs. After game 11, he had 3 total INT. In 3 games, he's more than tripled that number.
Game 15 at Port City. 34-6 loss, and destroyed team morale. Offseason changes will need to be made to turn this team around. Port City has 412 yards of offense, and we have 221. Again, complete domination against our broken team. West goes 14/27 for 147 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT.
Game 16 at Camden. 17-0 loss. Thank God for the end of the season. Lost our last 3 games of the season 102-13. We just fell apart at the end, and it's very embarrassing. I tweaked our offense a little to try to find something, but I didn't make massive changes. Same with the defense. But, we played bad and worse, and even worse! It's over. I wish I could trade the whole team and get new players and a new attitude in here. Anyway, 190 yards in offense, defense didn't play too bad only giving up 274. We should win games where we give up under 20 points, so that's something. West finishes the season going 18/34 for 172 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT. First 11 games, 3 INT. Last 5 games, 11 INT. WTF??? Mallory finishes the season on a strong note, catching 11 passes for 99 yards.
Through 13 games, we were really on the cusp between good and bad. So many close losses that could have gone either way. Then, who knows what the hell happened. I admit I was trying to get Mallory the ball a little more at the end to help his stats once we were out of it. But I didn't make BIG adjustments on offense, just threw a little more, and mostly still shorter passing. Defense didn't change much all season, as I didn't really have the talent to be able to try too much different. A one dimensional defense, basically.
2034 is now behind us. Time to look forward to 2035.
Game 1 vs division foe Boston. A 27-0 win. This was a big, big win to start the season, and it was a win in a dominating fashion. Defense gave up 178 total yards, QB David West was 18/30, 161 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT for a 96.6 QB Rating. The defense was the star of this game.
Game 2 at Waco. A 27-10 win. Defense gave up 291 yards of offense. West was 15/24, 130 yards, 0TD and 1 INT. The running game was the star of this game, getting 152 yards on the ground and almost 5 yards per rush.
Game 3 vs San Francisco. A 26-23 loss. A FG with 27 seconds left sealed the victory for San Fran. This would become a theme... losing close games. The defense tried the bend but don't break style, and it didn't work out too well, as they gave up 422 yards of offense, but held SF to 2 TDs in 5 red zone attempts. Defense shut down the SF running game, but couldn't stop the pass. The special teams played very well. The offense also played well, with West going 20/31 for 222 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. JB Jennings was the star of the game, getting the first 100 yard rushing game this season with 102 yards on 14 carries.
Game 4 vs North Liberty. A 14-12 loss. Second straight game where we lost a close game. Our red zone offense was really the difference in this game, not scoring a TD in 3 red zone attempts. Defense played solid football, giving up 297 yards of offense. But, ultimately, West and the offense couldn't punch the ball into the NLB end zone. West ended with decent numbers, going 21/31 for 205 yards, with no TD or INT. But it wasn't enough.
Game 5 vs Chicago. Another close loss, 27-24. Although, Chicago had the game well in hand going into the 4th Quarter, up 27-7, we made a valiant comeback effort but fell short. The big play of the game was the 87 yard INT return by Chicago, on West's 2nd INT of the season. The defense gave up 333 yards of offense, but allowed only 1 TD in 3 red zone attempts. The offense gave up a TD on the INT, and the offense didn't look too bad, netting 322 yards and scoring 17 in the 4th to make it a close game. Special teams really played great, and was probably the big reason for the game to end up close, as they continued to win the field position battle in this game. West went 26/41 for 245 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT.
Week 6 was a bye. Game 6 vs Camden. A 24-23 loss. 4 losses in a row of 3 points or less, all at home. With the exception of the Chicago game, all these games could have gone either way, after two dominating wins to start the season. We could just as easily been 5-1 or 6-0 at this point. With 47 seconds left, Kicker Junkin hits a 32 yarder to take the lead, 23-21. As the clock winds down, Camden wins the game with a 41 yard FG. Very emotional loss for us. Defense gave up 302 yards, while the offense got over 400 yards, even though our running game was completely shut down, averaging less than 3 yards per carry. The big play this time was against us on Special Teams, where Camden managed to get a 73 yard punt return for a TD. The 1st two games of the season showed what we could do, and the next 4 showed who we are... a team that finds a way to lose games. We don't get beat, we give the games away. West had a good game, going 20/29 for 304 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT. 6 games, just 2 INT. Playing very well so far.
Game 7 at St Paul. Loss 26-20. St Paul's offense looked great at home, netting 384 yards. They ran well, passed well, and didn't make any big mistakes. Our defense did one thing right... kept them to 2 TDs in 5 red zone attempts. Of course, we have had a lot of red zone practice :) For some reason, our coaching staff got away from our usual offense, and threw the ball 56 times, while running only 16... not a very balanced attack, and we paid for it. West again had a solid day, though, going 29/56 for 287 yards, 2 TD and 0 INT. 7 games, 2 INT. Remember this at the end of the season.
Game 8 at Boston. Loss 24-21, Boston gets their revenge for the first game of the season. Again, on the road, we find ourselves with an unbalanced offensive attack. Two big plays are basically the game... a 56 yard TD pass and an 86 yard run, and Boston gets 14 easy points. Take away those 142 yards, and Boston 231 yards of offense. So, our defense played well except for those two plays, LOL. Offense looked good, even though we threw the ball too much, getting 399 yards and going 3 for 3 in the red zone. West still going strong halfway through the season, completing 30 of 52 for 270 yards and 3 TDs with no INT. 8 games, 2 INT.
Game 9 at Dakota. Loss 24-10. Our first loss of more than 6 points all year. but our 7th straight loss. We are 2-7, and still scored more points than we've allowed. The losing seems to be wearing on the team. Our very good kicker missed a FG, West threw an INT... Road trip plus losing = not good for the team. West 22/38 for 223 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. 9 games, 3 INT.
Game 10 vs Brooklyn. 20-14 win. I guess we needed to get home and play a division rival. Even though there was a good amount of offense, this was really a defensive struggle with 2 teams doing a lot of passing. Over 700 combines yards. But, many, many short possessions. The game goes to overtime, and each team has 3 possessions. We miss a FG in our 2nd possession after getting an INT, but win it in our 3rd possession with a big 20 yard catch by Mallory. West ends up 34/52 for 305 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT. 10 games, 3 INT.
Game 11 vs Memphis. 34-3 win. Memphis recently changed ownership, so they were in a bad spot, and we had an easy day. Our defense created 5 turnovers and kept them to 167 yards of offense. West 23/33 for 176 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT. 11 games, 3 INT.
Game 12 at Columbus. 7-3 loss. Defensive struggle, and the only TD of the game came off West's 4th INT of the season. 233 yards of offense for us, 184 yards of offense for Columbus. West's turnaround also begins here. He goes 24/37 for just 150 yards, 0 TD and 3 INT. Doubles his INT total for the year in 1 game.
Game 13 vs New Orleans. A 24-23 win. Our last win of the season. The last game where we play well. Lord knows what happens to the team during the week after this game, but they are never the same. 2 more INT for West, including another INT returned for a TD. But we still find a way to win. West goes 21/35 for 211 yards, 2 TD and 2 INT. In 2 games, went from 3 INT to 8.
Game 14 at Brooklyn. 51-7 loss. Wow. At this point, we were 5-8, with more points scored than allowed. This was the first time all season we were crushed. Dakota was the only team to beat us by more than 6 points up until now. Brooklyn completely dominated this game. They got up early, and ran the ball down our throat the rest of the game, still amassing almost 400 yards of offense, while our offense barely broke 200. West continued to find the other team's players, going 19/35 for 209 yards, 1 TD and 2 INT. Our only TD was a 75 yard pass play halfway through the 4th Quarter, likely against the 3rd team defense, so without that his stats are downright ugly. West now hits 10 INTs. After game 11, he had 3 total INT. In 3 games, he's more than tripled that number.
Game 15 at Port City. 34-6 loss, and destroyed team morale. Offseason changes will need to be made to turn this team around. Port City has 412 yards of offense, and we have 221. Again, complete domination against our broken team. West goes 14/27 for 147 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT.
Game 16 at Camden. 17-0 loss. Thank God for the end of the season. Lost our last 3 games of the season 102-13. We just fell apart at the end, and it's very embarrassing. I tweaked our offense a little to try to find something, but I didn't make massive changes. Same with the defense. But, we played bad and worse, and even worse! It's over. I wish I could trade the whole team and get new players and a new attitude in here. Anyway, 190 yards in offense, defense didn't play too bad only giving up 274. We should win games where we give up under 20 points, so that's something. West finishes the season going 18/34 for 172 yards, 0 TD, 2 INT. First 11 games, 3 INT. Last 5 games, 11 INT. WTF??? Mallory finishes the season on a strong note, catching 11 passes for 99 yards.
Through 13 games, we were really on the cusp between good and bad. So many close losses that could have gone either way. Then, who knows what the hell happened. I admit I was trying to get Mallory the ball a little more at the end to help his stats once we were out of it. But I didn't make BIG adjustments on offense, just threw a little more, and mostly still shorter passing. Defense didn't change much all season, as I didn't really have the talent to be able to try too much different. A one dimensional defense, basically.
2034 is now behind us. Time to look forward to 2035.
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