Season 2 Wildcard Round - *Monday-Friday*

SantryRed

Titans (kaiche) @ Colts (Sundalic)

Bills (DangerDavo85) @ Bengals (BigBadRob83)

Bears (p4ddy31) @ Cowboys (LargeTacoFries)

49ers (adro76) @ Falcons (Notyalc666)

Best of luck lads

McG

here we go again. I'm free any evening from 7 (Thursday from 9.30)

Paully D

SantryRed wrote: »

Bears (p4ddy31) @ Cowboys (LargeTacoFries)

Looking forward to this.

When do you want to play, Paddy? Thursday or Friday after 6pm would be best for me. Can do after 10pm on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday but wouldn't be able to mic up.

adrian522

SantryRed wrote: »

49ers (adro76) @ Falcons (Notyalc666)

Best of luck lads

Hi, I'm free Monday from about 9, tuesday from 7.30 and wednesday from 9.

Does any of that suit?

Danger_dave1

Bills @ Bengals

We meet again in the play offs !

Monday before 5;30 pm or Wednesday night at some point ?

notyalc666

adrian522 wrote: »

Hi, I'm free Monday from about 9, tuesday from 7.30 and wednesday from 9.

Does any of that suit?

Wednesday would probably be best but could be free Monday evening, i'll let you know for certain tomorrow.

adrian522

notyalc666 wrote: »

Wednesday would probably be best but could be free Monday evening, i'll let you know for certain tomorrow.

OK Cool, let me know, I could probably play a little earlier if it suits you better.

linebacker52

Paully D wrote: »

Looking forward to this.

When do you want to play, Paddy? Thursday or Friday after 6pm would be best for me. Can do after 10pm on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday but wouldn't be able to mic up.

I can do Tuesday or Wednesday at ten but don't mind waiting till Thursday should be able to be on around seven

helimachoptor

McG wrote: »

here we go again. I'm free any evening from 7 (Thursday from 9.30)

Tomorrow at 7?

McG

helimachoptor wrote: »

Tomorrow at 7?

yeah, that should work.

Thursday is now out entirely for me if we have to reschedule.

helimachoptor

McG wrote: »

yeah, that should work.

Thursday is now out entirely for me if we have to reschedule.

No worries, Thursday would have been best for me but tomorrow is fine anyway

SantryRed

Paully D wrote: »

Looking forward to this.

When do you want to play, Paddy? Thursday or Friday after 6pm would be best for me. Can do after 10pm on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday but wouldn't be able to mic up.

I don't think Paddy has a mic Paully so you could do one of those 10pm shouts.

Lads,

If at all possible could you try get your games done as early as possible. I am aware of the fact that Adro is going away on holidays next weekend and I would hate to see a CPU team in the Divisional Rounds if he was to win through. Obviously if you can't do an early time this it is no problem.

BigBadRob83

Danger_dave1 wrote: »

Bills @ Bengals

We meet again in the play offs !

Monday before 5;30 pm or Wednesday night at some point ?

Can do Wednesday night, any time after 19:00

McG

can someone update myleaguemanage? I want to grab a copy of the team stats before playoff games are played.

helimachoptor

McG wrote: »

can someone update myleaguemanage? I want to grab a copy of the team stats before playoff games are played.

syncing it now..

McG

helimachoptor wrote: »

syncing it now..

cheers. I've got a spreadsheet with all manner of stats between this season and last. It's not a very clear read tough so I'll pull out some of the interesting stats and then stick the spreadsheet up for everyone to check out.

helimachoptor

Right who's doing the Colts/Titans preview has to be the clash of the round given the history between the 2 teams!

Raoul

SantryRed wrote: »

I don't think Paddy has a mic Paully so you could do one of those 10pm shouts.

He does have a mic. Tries to concentrate on playing though instead of running his mouth, unlike some people I know.

adrian522

notyalc666 wrote: »

Wednesday would probably be best but could be free Monday evening, i'll let you know for certain tomorrow.

So can you play tonight?

SantryRed

Raoul wrote: »

He does have a mic. Tries to concentrate on playing though instead of running his mouth, unlike some people I know.

Do people just not like to talk to me or what's the story? :pac:

McG

These two teams put forward arguably the 2 most disappointing regular seasons in the AFC this season. the Bengals have gone from an 11-5 team that made the AFC Championship match to a 9-7 team that struggled to win the worst division in the AFC. The Bills play in a tough division but after starting 0-4 had to put on a very impressive run of 10 wins from their last 12 to seal a playoff spot in week 17.

That all means nothing now. They're both in the playoffs. Anything can happen.


Looking at the stats, fan shouldn't expect too much from the QBs in this game. The Bengals rank 27th in passing yards this season while the Bills are 30th. What the Bills lack in passing they've comfortably been making up in rushing where they're ranked 3rd in the league. The Bengals aren't too far behind in 11th but the edge in offence is with the Bills.
Total Offence: Bills #14, Bengals #20.
Points Scored: Bills #10, Bengals #15.

The Bengals have a good rush defence (6th in the league) and they're going to be put to the test here. Overall the defensive edge is with the Bengals
Total Yards Allowed: Bills #20, Bengals #14.
Points Conceded: Bills #17, Bengals #9.

Looking at the individuals we see that the Bills have the #1 and #2 RBs (Danny Woodhead and Arian Foster) in the league going by yard per attempt! For the Bengals, Michael Turner averages 5.4 which isn't bad but pales in comparison to his opposition.
Vincent Jackson (WR Bills) and Aaron Hernandez (TE Bengals) are the main receiving threats with comparable numbers for the season.


This game could be decided by who can come out on top between the Bills Rush Offence and Bengals Rush Defence. Few have found a way to stop the Bills on the ground since very early in the season but that's what the Benglas will have to do.

---

The Bengals beat the Bills in playoffs last season but the Bengals were playing better football back then and the Bills seem to have hit a great run of form following their 0-4 start.

I've been beaten by both teams in the last few weeks so am glad I wouldn't meet either again till the Conference Championship Match (in theory). Should be a good game but I don't think the Bengals can outrun the Bills and unless they can revert to their passing form of last season the Bills defence will hold the Bengals at arms length.

Bills -10

Paully D

linebacker52 wrote: »

I can do Tuesday or Wednesday at ten but don't mind waiting till Thursday should be able to be on around seven

No problem mate. To be honest Thursday suits me best. So shall we say Thursday at 7:15pm?

linebacker52

Paully D wrote: »

No problem mate. To be honest Thursday suits me best. So shall we say Thursday at 7:15pm?

Yes see you them

notyalc666

adrian522 wrote: »

notyalc666 wrote: »

Wednesday would probably be best but could be free Monday evening, i'll let you know for certain tomorrow.

So can you play tonight?

Sorry only getting back to you now, yea I will be able to play tonight I should be home roughly half 9 if that's ok with you, I'll post here when I'm going online

BigBadRob83

McG wrote: »

Bills -10

Nice job McG, if I get some time tomorrow will try and do a Colts-Titans preview. Bengals were being written off this time last year in the playoffs too!

McG

BigBadRob83 wrote: »

McG wrote: »

Bills -10

Nice job McG, if I get some time tomorrow will try and do a Colts-Titans preview. Bengals were being written off this time last year in the playoffs too!

cheers Rob. I wouldn't write off any of the teams left in AFC especially one that beat me so recently as the Bengals did!

BigBadRob83

This AFC South rivalry continues into the postseason, as the Colts look to asset their dominance after reclaiming the division crown. Colts went all the way to the Super Bowl last year and have the playoff experience to.

It is a fascinating matchup, after a split of season series. The Colts won the division at 12-4 after an amazing mid-season run and finished 5th in scoring offense and defense this year to mark themselves as one of the elite teams in the BFL. The Titans finished 10-6 to secure the wildcard and are looking to avoid a repeat of last seasons early playoff exit.

Passing game
COLTS
Philip Rivers has been much more efficient this season, throwing fewer passes for a slightly higher completion % and higher average yards to finish 4th in the league in passing yards, and a TD/INT ratio of 20/25 (both down slightly), as the Colts became a more run-oriented team this year (as did a lot of teams).
The star of the passing game is the beast, Vernon Davis who caught a league-leading 84 passes (49% of Rivers’ 172 completions) to lead the league in yards, and from personal experience is a matchup nightmare, even in double coverage. The Titans will need to limit his impact to stand a chance.
There is also the ever-present deep threat of Mike Wallace, an absolute burner (99 acc, 98 spd) and one of the fastest men in the league, but a rarely targeted one with only 18 catches all year.
The surprise from the WR corps is that Bryan Anthony leads the group with 20 catches.
Rivers spreads the ball around to his receivers.... if the TE is covered.
Rivers will have to be careful though, as the Titans and 2nd in the league in defensive INTs, despite what looks on paper like a below average secondary, apart from from SS Adrian Wilson (7 INTs).

TITANS
Despite the coach’s obvious dislike of McNabb, he has improved this year. Raising his TD/INT ratio, completion % static, and a much higher YPA.
It looks like McNabb favours passes to his running backs, and TE Finley has a solid 35 receptions and the WR’s getting the crumbs. 22 INTs in 273 passes is not ideal though.
The Colts have a pair of top corners in Hall and DRC, and so will likely take McNabb away from his receivers even more so. The LB corps will have to step up to cover the RB’s and TE’s.

Running Game
COLTS
McFadden has been much improved this season as the Colts focused their offense more on him, as he increased his carries (275 to 292), yards (1449 to 1733), YPC (5.3 to 5.9) and a massive jump in TDs (11 to 21). Can go between the tackles or outside them and can catch a pass, very dangerous multi-purpose back.
Taiwan Jones is a great change-of-pace back when McFadden needs a rest. Another burner (99 acc, 95 spd) he got 81 carries during the year but had a surprisingly low YPC with that speed at 5.3.
DT Shaun Rodgers will need to step up for Titans to disrupt the Colts, as the D-Line seems to be much more suited for pass rush with some excellent DE’s. However the D-Line does, it will be hard to get past the LB group with three elite defenders in Willis, Timmons and Hali.

TITANS
The run game became much more of a focus this year for the Titans, and it has yielded very good results, all the more impressive behind a patchwork offensive line. The three-headed ground attack is lead by Jahvid Best (324 att, 1764 yards, 5.4 YPC, 22 TD) who was acquired from the Browns in a very busy offseason for the Titans’ GM. Reggie Bush contributed with 303 yards on 48 carries (6.3 YPC) and is prominent in the passing game. Mikel Leshoure completes the group with a more blunt approach, while still having a burst that the Titans’ coach likes.
The ground game is the focus, to try and minimise McNabb’s pass attempts, and from experience I can say it is hard to hold down.
The Colts have a good rotation at DT, a couple of solid DE’s and an very good LB corps lead by the great Brian Urlacher. Their skills will be tested.


The matchup
The two teams split the regular season, as the Titans beat the Colts in the early slump 35-28. This victory came in large part thanks to an opportunistic defense that intercepted Rivers three times that day and a FF. Titans also had a massive contribution from RB Jahvid Best with 204 yards, and nearly 300 yards overall from three RB’s. However they could not stop Davis, who had 199 yards on 13 catches with 4 TDs, ominous.
McNabb had limited (efficient) involvement going 8/13 with no TDs or INTs.
The rematch told a very different story, Rivers was much more careful going 10/20 with 2 TD’s and no picks, with 247 yards. Davis was held to 3 catches, but they accounted for 80 yards and a TD. Anthony chipped in with 3 catches for 111 yards and a TD. McNabb was the less fortunate throwing 1 TD and 2 picks going 10/22, with Jermichael Finley contributing 4 catches for 84 yards.
Both teams made adjustments on defense , and as a result the running games were shut down (comparatively). McFadden was solid with 109 yards on 22 carries, however the Titans struggled and gained only 92 yards on 23 carries.

The prediction
As with all football games, turnovers will be absolutely crucial in this one, as shown by the two different regular season results. Both teams have shown they can beat each other, but it’s hard not to favour the Colts. They are (slightly) more careful with the ball (25 INTs to 28) on offense, which for me outweighs the Titans edge on defensive INTs (33 to 26). For me, the Colts have a slight edge at RB, it’s no contest at QB/TE. The Titans need a massive defensive effort to win this one.

Colts -7

McG

BigBadRob83 wrote: »

This AFC South rivalry continues...

Wonderful write up and analysis Rob... makes the one I did for your game seem a bit rubbish by comparison.

linebacker52

SantryRed wrote: »

Do people just not like to talk to me or what's the story? :pac:

i only got it a few weeks ago will talk to you next time we play

helimachoptor

BigBadRob83 wrote: »

The prediction
As with all football games, turnovers will be absolutely crucial in this one, as shown by the two different regular season results. Both teams have shown they can beat each other, but it’s hard not to favour the Colts. They are (slightly) more careful with the ball (25 INTs to 28) on offense, which for me outweighs the Titans edge on defensive INTs (33 to 26). For me, the Colts have a slight edge at RB, it’s no contest at QB/TE. The Titans need a massive defensive effort to win this one.

Colts -7

Great write up Rob, cant argue with it at all to be honest. If i had been able to stop Davis in the early season it would have been a whitewash but he demolished me and got the Colts very close to winning the game.

You're also right in that i'll need to win the turn over battle to win this game.

Willis, Timmons, Hali will need to step up and man handle Davis while also trying to stop McFadden making key yards.
Wilson will hopefully get an int or 2 :pac:

Even though my CBs are rookies they're decent at swatting it away but putting them up against Davis isnt fair!

If Best has a good game it'll keep things close but if he doesn't then i'll either air it out and get picked off or punt and give up possession.

The Colts are rightly favourites but it'll be a good game with McG no matter what the result.

helimachoptor

Off home to practice