Week 23 Game Summary: This was such a great game - one of the best of the year because every time we had a question about a play, we talked it through without raising voices - seriously, not one voice raised in anger/frustration in the entire game. I was amazed. Also great was that we decided on a number of "no calls" when it was agreed that something either wasn't a foul or didn't impact the play.

Another thing that made the game great was that when Brecht and Chris (not Sulek) showed up at 10:45 (yes, 10:45) we decided NOT to expand the game to 10 on 10 and instead played 9 on 9 which really seems to be the largest the game can get and still be enjoyable.

Lets get to the game:

It was a very, very windy day and the wind was running the length of the field so one team was always throwing into the teeth of it. It made for some rough passing but we still had some nice play.


Red: Cain, Chenault, Josh, Mike, Erik, Scipio, Rod, Jimmy, Nick (at 10:00), Chris not-Sulak (at 10:45)

Yellow: Adam, Casey, Leo, Leo's brother Michael, Paul, John, Rich, Travis, Ethan (at about 9:45), Brecht (at 10:45)

Game starts at 8 on 8.

Red 1
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Erik to Scipio - incomplete.
2-15 from the 10: Run by Rod for 4 yards - stopped by Adam.
3-11 from the 14: Pass by Erik to Scipio - incomplete.
4-4 from the 21: Punt

Yellow 1
1-4 from the 21: Run by Adam for 5 yards - stopped by Cain.
1-24 from the 26: Pass by Leo to Travis for 14 yards - stopped by Erik.
2-10 from the 35: Pass by Leo to Paul - incomplete. Thrown into the ground.
3-10 from the 35: Pass by Leo to Paul - incomplete. Thrown short.
4-10 from the 35: Pass by Leo to Adam for 13 yards - stopped by stepping out of bounds.

1-Goal from the 22: Throw by Leo to Rich intercepted by Erik who takes it in for a TD. 1-0, Red.

Ethan and Nick show up. Ethan comes in for Adam on Yellow while Nick warms up for Red.

Yellow 2
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to John for 12 yards - stopped by Scipio. Nice route and throw over the middle.
2-3 from the 22: Pass by Leo to Paul for 3 yards - stopped by Mike.

1-25 from the 25: Pass by Leo to Paul - incomplete. Ball tipped by Erik, then Cain, and then nearly caught by Paul.
2-25 from the 25: Pass by Leo to Ethan - incomplete.
3-25 from the 25: Throw to Jimmy, tipped by Jimmy, tipped by Paul, caught by Cain who runs it back 24 yards before Ethan gets the stop. Nick joins the game and its 9 on 9.

Red 3 (since Red Pick-Sixed it, the run back counts as their 2nd possession)
1-23 from the 27: Pass by Nick thrown to Mike, tipped by John, picked by Paul. Chenault on the flag.

Yellow 3
1-24 from the 26: Pass by Leo to Adam for 14 yards - stopped by Erik.
2-10 from the 35: Pass by Leo to Travis for 23 yards - stopped by stepping out of bounds.

1-Goal from the 12: Run by Leo for -3 yards - stopped by Erik. Great coverage kept Leo from having a throw.

2-Goal from the 15: Rich has to step out to fix his contact and Mike steps out. So we're 8 on 8 and then Leo doesn't change the play we'd planned which was a run to him. So he runs the ball and we re-do the play because of the confusion.
2-Goal from the 15: Pass by Leo to Michael - incomplete. Nice fade route but the ball was slightly long. Rich is back and its 9 on 9 again.
3-Goal from the 15: Pass by Leo to Adam - incomplete. Great throw into the endzone dropped by Adam.
4-Goal from the 15: Pass by Leo to Travis - incomplete. Good coverage by Scipio and neither comes down with it. Turnover on downs.

Red 4
1-10 from the 15: Run by Nick for -3 yards - stopped by Casey.
2-13 from the 12: Run by Josh for 0 yards - stopped by Travis. Pushed out of bounds.
3-13 from the 12: Pass by Nick to Mike for 10 yards - stopped by Michael.
4-3 from the 22: Run by Nick for 9 yards - stopped by Adam.

1-19 from the 31: Pass by Nick to Jimmy - incomplete.
2-19 from the 31: Run by Erik for -12 yards - stopped by Michael. Erik came from the Slot and took a pitch but was bottled up for a big loss.
3-6 from the 19: Pass by Nick to Jimmy - incomplete.
4-6 from the 19: Punt

Yellow 4
1-11 from the 14: Pass by Leo to Ethan - incomplete. Go route on the right sideline.
2-11 from the 14: Run by Leo for 6 yards - stopped by Rod.
3-5 from the 20: Pass by Leo to Ethan for 11 yards - stopped by Mike.

1-19 from the 31: Pass by Leo to Paul - incomplete. Checked out of a run to throw deep to Paul. Cain tipped it.
2-19 from the 31: Quick throw to Ethan incomplete but he was hit while the ball was in the air and we replayed the down.
2-19 from the 31: Pass by Leo to John - incomplete. Deep throw but it was with the wind which was very strong and took the ball long.
3-19 from the 31: Run by Leo for 9 yards - stopped by Erik.
4-10 from the 35: Pass by Leo to Unknown - incomplete. Leo scrambles all over and finally throws it away when he can't find a receiver or a running lane. Turnover on downs and we switch the field so Red is playing with the wind now. Water break.

Red 5
1-15 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Cain - incomplete. Overthrown slightly on a fly.
2-15 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Scipio - incomplete. Flea-flicker to Rod back to Nick and then thrown to Scipio.
3-15 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Cain for 22 yards - stopped by John. Damn nice throw and catch.

1-Goal from the 18: Pass by Nick to Rod - incomplete. Crossing route underneath. The ball was a little out of reach.
2-Goal from the 18: Pass by Cain to Scipio - incomplete. Pitch back to Cain thrown to Scipio in the endzone and John and Paul (coming from opposite directions) knock each other out of a sure pick.
3-Goal from the 18: Pass by Nick to Cain - incomplete. John tipped it away. Adam had contact with Chenault past 5 yards but upon discussion it was decided that it didn't make a difference in the play and the play stood.
4-Goal from the 18: Run by Nick for 0 yards - stopped by Adam. Turnover on downs.

Yellow 5
1-7 from the 18: Leo throws to Casey across the middle the wind brought it behind him. Cain picked it and ran back to the 13. Stopped by Michael

Red 6
1-Goal from the 18: Nick threws to Erik for the TD but the play was supposed to be a run so Chenault was downfield engaging Paul who was trying to cover Erik. Play was deemed Offensive PI and redone.
1-Goal from the 18: Run by Nick for 4 yards - stopped by Casey.
2-Goal from the 14: Run by Nick for -2 yards - stopped by Ethan. Lot of pressure with Casy and Ethan getting Nick boxed in and Ethan getting the sack.
3-Goal from the 16: Nick to Josh in the endzone on an out for the TD. 2-0, Red.

Chris and Brecht show up and rather than expand the game to 10 on 10, we keep 9 on 9 and sub - a very good decision. Brecht comes in for Michael and Chris comes in for Nick.

Yellow 6
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to Casey for 6 yards - stopped by Rod. 10 Yard turn around throw and Casy had to fight for the ball losing 4 in the process but getting the completion.
2-9 from the 16: Pass by Leo to Rich - incomplete.
3-9 from the 16: Pass by Leo to Adam - incomplete. Ball thrown over Casey to Adam. Adam lost sight of it as it went past Casey and is credited with another drop.
4-9 from the 16: Punt. Nick and Michael come back in. Not sure who went out.

Red 7
1-21 from the 29: Pass by Cain to Chenault for 20 yards - stopped by Ethan. Backwards pass by Nick to Cain who is then chased all over losing yard after yard before finally launching it to Chenault who is immediately stopped by Ethan on a flying flag coming up with 2 in one hand.
2-1 from the 26: Pass by Nick to Unknown for yards - stopped by Erik. Nick throws to deep to unknown (probably Cain) and Leo comes from the safety spot to pick it. Erik gets the stop after a decent run back.

Adam and Chenault sub out.

Yellow 7
1-19 from the 31: Pass by Leo to Brecht - incomplete. Deep slant route.
2-19 from the 31: Pass by Leo to Michael - incomplete. Despite playing against a very stiff wind, that's two long throws in row that went a bit long.
3-19 from the 31: Pass by Leo to no one - throwing the ball away - incomplete.
4-19 from the 31: Punt. Field is switched back so Red is now playing into the wind again.

Ethan goes out. Adam's back in but Chenault stays out for Red.

Red 8
1-14 from the 11: Pass by Nick to Jimmy for 9 yards - stopped by Paul.
2-5 from the 20: Run by Scipio for 15 yards - stopped by Casey. Nick runs the ball 2 yards and then pitches back to Scipio when he's bottled up and about to be flagged. Scipio was a lineman on the play but because Nick ran past the line of scrimmage, Scipio was eligible to receive the pitch back. Casey on the stop.

1-15 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Erik for 5 yards - stopped by Adam. Nice catch by Erik who was double covered on an underneath route and had to fight through for the catch.
2-10 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Unknown - incomplete. Missed a play that was apparently an incomplete pass.
3-10 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Cain - incomplete. Defensed by Paul on a jump ball into the endzone.
4-10 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Erik - incomplete. Turnover on Downs.

Paul is out and Ethan comes back in. Chenault comes back in but I'm not sure who goes out for him.

Yellow 8
1-15 from the 35: Pass by Leo to Rich - incomplete. Deep throw that came in right over Rich's head.
2-15 from the 35: Run by Adam for -3 yards - stopped by Cain. Play was supposed to be a fake pitch right to Adam with John and lead block and then Leo running left. Unfortunately, Rod was standing in the hole on the right so Adam suggesed Leo pitch it to him for real. Sadly no one else (like John or the line) knew this was going to happen so Adam ran into Erik, Cain, and Chenault.
3-18 from the 32: Pass by Leo to John - incomplete. Overthrown deep.
4-18 from the 32: Pass by Leo to Casey - incomplete. Thrown short and outside. Turnover on downs.

Red 9
1-7 from the 32: Pass by Nick to Josh for 5 yards - stopped by Ethan. Little two yard in (thought to be a planned cuba libre) but Adam and Ethan had double-teamed Josh and there was no way to pitch (if that was the plan).
2-2 from the 27: Not sure what happened because the somehow we ended up with 1 and goal from the 22 on the next play.

1-Goal from the 22: Run by Nick for 6 yards - stopped by Casey.
2-Goal from the 16: Pass by Nick to Chris - incomplete.
3-Goal from the 16: Pass by Nick to Cain - incomplete. Ball thrown out of the back of the end zone.
4-Goal from the 16: Pass by Nick to Josh for 16 yards. Bobbled ball but caught for the TD. Very nice play. 3-0, Red.

Travis and Rod have to leave. Its still 9 on 9 but no more substitutions.

Yellow 9
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to Ethan for 8 yards - stopped by Chris.
2-7 from the 18: Pass by Leo to Paul - incomplete.
3-7 from the 18: Run by Leo for 10 yards - stopped by Cain pressuring him out of bounds. Another good discussion on a play. Adam had a hand on Chenault's shoulder from behind but pulled his hand away before apply pressure and Chenault decided it did not impact the play and declined to call it.

1-22 from the 28: Pass by Leo to Paul - incomplete.
2-22 from the 28: Pass by Leo to Michael and intercepted by Jimmy due to some miscommunication between QB and receiver. Jimmy takes it back for the TD. 4-0, Red.

Yellow 10
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to John for 3 yards - stopped by Jimmy.
2-12 from the 13: Pass by Leo to Unknown - incomplete. Wind made it impossible for me to hear the names but the receiver and defender went up for the ball and neither came down with it.
3-12 from the 13: Scipio sacks Leo for a 6 yard loss.
4-18 from the 7: Pass by Leo to Adam - incomplete. Deep slant route that was open but the ball slipped and was just out of bounds. Jimmy is leaving and Brecht sits. Down to 8 on 8.

Red 11
1-Goal from the 7: Pass by Nick to Unknown - incomplete. Missed a play that was apparently an incomplete pass.
2-Goal from the 7: Pass by Nick to Scipio - incomplete. Out of the back of the end zone
3-Goal from the 7: Ball intercepted by Paul in the endzone and touched back.

Yellow 11
1-15 from the 10: I missed yellow's last drive when the recorder turned off but trust me when I saw the blog won't suffer for out. We ended up turning over on downs to end the game. 4-0, Red.

GAME STATS

	Passing
Players	Comp	Attempts	%	Yards	Passing TD	INTs	Sacked	Yards Lost
Erik	0	2	0.00%	0	0	0	0	0
Nick	12	25	48.00%	88	2	3	3	-5
Cain	1	2	50.00%	20	0	0	0	0
Leo	14	37	37.84%	107	0	4	2	-9

	Receiving / Rushing
Players	Rcpts	Targets	Yards	Rec TDs	Rushes	Yards	Rush TDs
Erik	2	3	5	0	1	-12	0
Nick	0	0	0	0	3	19	0
Cain	1	5	22	0	0	0	0
Josh	3	3	37	2	1	0	0
Jimmy	1	3	9	0	0	0	0
Rod	0	1	0	0	1	4	0
Scipio	0	5	0	0	1	15	0
Mike	2	2	10	0	0	0	0
Chris	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Chenault	1	1	20	0	0	0	0
Leo	0	0	0	0	3	25	0
Adam	2	5	27	0	2	2	0
Casey	2	3	6	0	0	0	0
Michael	1	3	0	0	0	0	0
Rich	1	3	0	0	0	0	0
Travis	2	3	37	0	0	0	0
Ethan	2	4	19	0	0	0	0
Brecht	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
Paul	2	8	3	0	0	0	0
John	2	4	15	0	0	0	0

	Defense
Players	Flags	Pass Def	INTs	Strips	Sacks	Sack Yards	Def TDs
Erik	5	1	1	0	1	-3	1
Nick	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Cain	2	1	2	0	0	0	0
Josh	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Jimmy	1	1	1	0	0	0	1
Rod	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Scipio	1	0	0	0	1	-6	0
Mike	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chris	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Chenault	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Leo	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Adam	4	0	0	0	1	0	0
Casey	4	0	0	0	1	-3	0
Michael	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Rich	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Travis	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ethan	4	0	0	0	1	-2	0
Brecht	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Paul	1	1	2	0	0	0	0
John	1	2	0	0	0	0	0

MVP: With 3 receptions on 3 targets for 37 yards (the tied for first) and 2 TDs, Josh takes it this week.

Week 24 Preview: Sadly some more warm weather but hopefully we'll have more of the great attitudes we had this week. I may not like losing but is nice to play in games where people don't get all pissed off.

One things I want to mention: the last two weeks a league has shown up to play a game on the other field. While its only been one game, my fear is that sooner or later it could be two games. These guys show up about 11:30 to set up their field. If two games were to be scheduled, we'd have to get off our field (they pay, we don't) so its all the more important that we show up and get started on time. 9:00 is supposed to be kick off, not the time you leave your house. If 12 would get there by 9:00, I'd start the game right then.


Link of the Week: holdthebutton-tom2.swf (application/x-shockwave-flash Object)

Week 22 Summary - A really good game. 6 on 6 with good QB pressure, good defense, good offense, some nice runs, and some big plays. The only problem was that about 8 minutes into the game, the recorder got turned off accidentally (contact while on the line probably). So I don't have a play by play but it was a really good game. Very close with a couple lead changes and the game was won on the last play of the last drive 4 to 3.5.

Red was Cain, Chenault, Adam, Rich, Jimmy, and Barry
Yellow was Erik, Mark, Casey, Matt Day, Paul, and Paul's friend John (who's played a couple times with us in the past).

Picking the MVP this week was essentially impossible this week because there was no record and I'm left without good information to make a decision. I will say this, however, Casey had some huge plays with YAC and making guys miss after the catch. Paul also had a big game with quite a few picks and critcal catches. But then, a number of Paul's picks were the result of good pressure by Mark on Cain. My guess is that Matt and John were fighting for the title of most flag grabes and Erik ran some very smart plays making good decisions. Someone can correct me here but I don't think he threw more than 1 pick (if 1).

Week 23 Preview - what great weather we've been having.

Link of the week: http://www.videosift.com/video/The-Calvin-and-Hobbes-Symphony

Week 21 Game Summary: This was the best game in weeks and weeks. 8 on 8 game with both great offensive plays and great defensive plays. I really haven't enjoyed a game that much in a very long time - well I enjoyed most of it. I have been absolutely sick about the last two drives for days now as you'll see when you read below:


Red - Burleson, Barry, Chris, Brecht, Cain, Nick (for a while), Matt Day, Ethan, Dainton, Paul
Yellow - Adam, Louis, Casey, Leo, Chenault, Dave, Neubauer, Chris, and eventually Nick

Game Starts 6 on 6

Yellow
1-15 from the 10: Run by Adam for 15 yards - stopped by Matt.
1-25 from the 25: Pass by Leo to Dave - incomplete.
2-25 from the 25: Interception way down the field by Burleson - stopped by Dave

Red
1-10 from the 15: Pass by Burleson to Barry for 13 yards - stopped by Dave.

Brecht shows up at 9:30

1-22 from the 28: Pass by Burleson to Paul - incomplete. Paul comes out of the backfield up the left side and crosses right but the throw is wide.

Nick shows up at 9:40. Game is now 7 on 7.

2-22 from the 28: Pass by Burleson to Barry - incomplete. Play action fake left to Paul and then the ball is flipped forward to Barry from the Left TE spot moving right behind the line.
3-22 from the 28: Pass by Burleson to Ethan - incomplete. Ball slipped out of the QB's hand and went into the ground.
4-22 from the 28: Punt

Yellow
1-18 from the 7: Pass by Leo to Casey for 8 yards - stopped by Paul. Little slant route to Casey underneath. Paul had a great line on ball but Casey made the catch.
2-10 from the 15: Pass by Leo to Louis for 9 yards - stopped by Barry. Pushed out of bounds just short.
3-1 from the 24: Leo is under serious pressure, rolls left under pressure and throws it away.
4-1 from the 24: Pass by Leo to Casey - incomplete. Ball was thrown a little out of reach.

Red
1-Goal from the 24: Pass by Nick to Matt Day for 10 yards - stopped by Adam.
2-Goal from the 14: Pass by Nick to Paul - incomplete. Leo defenses the out route but Paul prevents him from making the pick.
3-Goal from the 14: Thrown on an out to Matt but picked by Adam who was immediately stopped by Matt.

Yellow
1-17 from the 8: Pass by Leo to Neubauer for 5 yards - stopped by Matt Day.
2-12 from the 13: Pass by Leo to Adam - incomplete. Actually thrown to Neubauer on a 10 yard turn around but Adam was coming on a cross underneath and thought it was too him. However, he dropped it.
3-12 from the 13: Pass by Leo to Unknown - incomplete.
4-12 from the 13: Punt.

Cain joins Red and Chris joins Yellow. Game is now 8 on 8

Red
1-3 from the 22: Pass by Nick to Barry for 24 yards - stopped by Louis. 20 Yard in route.

1-4 from the 29: Twins left with Barry wide against the line. Route is a deep slant out by Ethan from the slot. When Barry just stands at the line, Adam (who's covering him) looks in the backfield and sees looking for Ethan and back pedals to pick the ball. Ethan makes the stop immediately.

Yellow
1-10 from the 15: Pass by Leo to Chenault - incomplete. Flea flicker to Adam back to Leo who throws way down the field to Chenault. Burleson comes in from the safety slot and knocks it down.
2-10 from the 15: Cuba Libre thrown to Chenault but the ball was thrown wide and Nick picked it. Chenault on the stop.

Red
1-Goal from the 17: Pass by Nick to Matt Day - incomplete. Good pressure on Nick who steps up and makes a tough throw but a little wide. Matt could only get one outstretched hand on it on his crossing route.
2-Goal from the 17: TD pass to Cain. 1-0, Red.

Yellow
1-15 from the 10: Called double reverse to Chris then Neubauer. Dainton gets the stop for a 5 yard loss when he gets Chris before the pitch back to Neubauer.
2-20 from the 5: Pass by Leo to Neubauer - incomplete.
3-20 from the 5: Pass by Leo to Casey for 8 yards - stopped by Matt Day.
4-12 from the 13: Punt

Red
1-23 from the 27: Pass by Nick to Paul - incomplete.
2-23 from the 27: Pass by Nick to Dainton - incomplete. Good pressure on the QB causes Nick to have to unload it a little dump route at 2 yards past the line of scrimmage.
3-23 from the 27: Casey gets the pick from the Safety spot and makes a rumbling, stumbling, bumbling, crashing, bashing, smashing run back and Matt saves the TD.

Yellow
1-Goal from the 15: Play action pass. Louis gets it on an underneath pattern takes it for the TD.

1-1, Tie.

Red
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Nick to for -4 yards - stopped by . Ball was pitched right to Burleson but bobbled and dropped for a 4 yard loss. Play looked like it was supposed to be a throwback to Paul.
2-19 from the 6: Ball thrown long to Cain but picked by Louis who had a nice run back before Paul pushed him out of bounds.

Yellow
1-Goal from the 10: Flea flicker to Chenault and there's a bad pitch back to Leo and Brecht nearly picks the pitch but it drops.
2-Goal from the 21: Great pressure by Ethan but Leo is able to throw it as Ethan is leaping to block it. Chris comes down with the ball in the end zone for a TD.

2-1, Yellow.

Red
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Nick to Ethan for -5 yards - stopped by Chenault. Great pressure and the ball pops loose and is considered tipped. Ethan, who is on the line, gets the ball and Chenault is able to stop him. Play results in a 5 yard loss.
2-20 from the 5: Pass by Nick to Cain for 10 yards - stopped by Dave.
3-10 from the 15: Pass by Nick to Cain for 13 yards - stopped by Adam. Nice out throw.

1-22 from the 28: Pass by Nick to Barry for 7 yards - stopped by Adam.
2-15 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Matt Day - incomplete. Ball thrown long and wide out of bounds.
3-15 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Cain for 13 yards - stopped by Louis. Louis saved a much bigger gain.
4-2 from the 27: Pass by Nick to Cain - incomplete. Good pressure/coverage takes away the three underneath routes and Nick has to throw to the end zone to Cain who is covered one-on-one by Leo but the ball is long. Turnover on downs.

Yellow
1-23 from the 27: Pass by Leo to Neubauer - incomplete. Long throw up the right sideline out of reach.
2-23 from the 27: Brian comes in as a corner blitz and no one on the line sees him so he gets a 10 yard sack.
3-8 from the 17: Pass by Leo to Chris for yards - stopped by Chris. Ball thrown to Chris but picked by Burleson who is stopped by Chris. The net change in yardage is about what would have occurred with a punt.

Red
1-24 from the 26: Pass by Burleson to Dainton for 34 yards - stopped by Adam. Adam thought saw the catch out of the corner of his eye and thought Dave had picked it so he went and to block for him before realizing that it was Brian so he turned to chase him down.

1-Goal from the 15: Pass by Burleson to Dainton for 5 yards - stopped by Adam.
2-Goal from the 10: Pass by Burleson to Paul - incomplete. Burleson makes a nice play action fake and throws high and long to Paul.
3-Goal from the 10: Beautiful dart of a thrown to Ethan in the end zone for a TD.

2-2, Tie.

Yellow
1-15 from the 10: Ball was overthrown.
2-15 from the 10: Ball tipped by Leo and caught by Casey who makes a guy miss, gets a first down, gets another 10 and then decides to pitch it back to Dainton (on the other team) who is stopped by Adam.

Red
1-1 from the 26: Burleson rolls left and throws a long ball into the end zone to Cain who started as right WR and runs a long, deep curl to the left side of the field and catches the TD.

3-2, Red.

Yellow
1-15 from the 10: Ball is thrown long to Leo in double coverage by Cain and Paul. The ball is slightly underthrown and Leo has to slow down and catch it backwards. The ball is 40 yards in the air and then Leo turns around and makes it up the field for a TD.

3-3 Tie.

Red
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Burleson to Unknown - incomplete.
2-15 from the 10: Leo gets the sack for 7 yard loss.
3-22 from the 3: Pass by Burleson to Paul for 24 yards - stopped by Louis. Paul finds himself so open he's standing there waiting for the ball. Louis saves a TD because there was no one on that side of the field or deeper than Paul to have a chance to stop him.

1-23 from the 27: Big 10 yard sack by Neubauer.
2-33 from the 17: Pass by Burleson to Unknown for 24 yards - stopped by Unknown.
3-9 from the 34: Ugly duckling of a pass way up the middle of the field. Casey and Louis go up for it and basically take each other out of the play. Paul comes down with it and goes in untouched for the TD.

4-3, Red.

Yellow
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Nick to Leo for 20 yards - stopped by Paul. Fake pitch left, roll right and throw long down the right sideline.

1-20 from the 30: Pass by Nick to Chenault - incomplete. Hook and Ladder to Chenault with Leo as the intended ladder. Paul is covering Leo and nearly intercepts the ball on the initial pass.
2-20 from the 30: Run by Neubauer for 4 yards - stopped by Louis. Neubauer starts lined up on the left and comes in motion. Ball pitched forward on hike and Neubauer turns it up field for a small gain.
3-16 from the 34: Pass by Nick to Chenault - incomplete. Chenault said he dropped it.
4-16 from the 34: Pass by Nick to Chenault - incomplete. Nick rolls right and throws to Chenault. A nice ball on Chenault's favorite crossing route but dropped. Turnover on downs.

Red
1-9 from the 34: Pass by Cain to Ethan - incomplete. 10 Yard out pattern that would have been good for a first but Dave made a terrific play coming over the top to defense the ball.
2-9 from the 34: Pass by Burleson to Barry for 8 yards - stopped by Dave.
3-1 from the 26: Run by Brecht for -2 yards - stopped by Chris. Draw play with Paul blocking but Chris makes nice stop for a loss.
4-3 from the 28: Neubauer makes big 8 yard sack. Turnover on downs.

Yellow
1-14 from the 36: Pass by Nick to Leo - incomplete. Paul had very nice position and nearly picked it.
2-14 from the 36: Pass by Nick to Leo for 13 yards - stopped by Matt Day.
3-1 from the 26: Pass by Nick to Chris for 9 yards - stopped by Matt Day. Fake pitch left - throw right.

1-Goal from the 17: Draw play to Leo. The line opens a nice hole but then Leo basically just runs straight and makes little hip moves while running straight ahead at full speed and makes 3 other guys who had clean shots miss.

4-4, Tie.

Red
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Burleson to Dainton - incomplete. Thrown long up the right sideline but out of bounds.
2-15 from the 10: Pass by Burleson to Paul - incomplete. Ugly ball that should have been picked by Leo.
3-15 from the 10: Pass by Burleson to Paul for 22 yards - stopped by Unknown. Leo blitzes off of his corner spot against Paul and Paul gets the ball for a big gain.

1-18 from the 32: Pass by Burleson to Barry - incomplete. Long ball out of bounds.
2-18 from the 32: Pass by Burleson to Paul - incomplete. Ball thrown long and wide out of bounds.
3-18 from the 32: Pass by Burleson to Cain - incomplete. Cain makes an in and then an out move but the ball is overthrown
4-18 from the 32: Punt

Yellow LAST DRIVE
1-20 from the 5: Pass by Nick to Neubauer for 7 yards - stopped by Barry.
2-13 from the 12: Pass by Nick to Adam - incomplete. Timing route on a 10 and out to Adam. Ball was a little low but nicely timed and should have been caught. Drop by Adam.
3-13 from the 12: Pass by Nick to Neubauer for 13 yards - stopped by Barry.

1-25 from the 25: Pass by Nick to Adam for yards - stopped by . Fly route to Adam but ball was on outside and Adam looked inside.
2-25 from the 25: Failed Cuba Libre. Adam comes from left TE to right and gets the catch at 5 but Adam took too long and was past the Right Tackle spot where Leo had lined up. Leo had started moving in the opposite direction and Adam made a bad pitch which dropped between he and Leo. Net of 2 yards. Had the pitch been successful, it would have been possible that Leo would have taken it the whole way. Then entire defense was moving right with me and Leo was moving left and had that whole side of the field empty.
3-23 from the 27: Pass by Nick to Casey - incomplete. Nick's arm was hit as he threw.
4-23 from the 27: Punt

Red LAST DRIVE
1-12 from the 13: Pass by Burleson to Dainton - incomplete. Basically a 10 yard turn around. The ball was a bit low and Louis went over the top to defense it. Dainton went down with what he described as a pop in his calf. I'm very concerned.
2-12 from the 13: Dead play of some kind that got settled as a loss of down.
3-12 from the 13: Pass by Burleson to Paul for 25 yards - stopped by Adam. Paul in the Left Slot - Cain wide Left - Adam on Paul and Leo on Cain. Paul and Cain cross at about 15 yards. Adam thought he and Leo were playing zone and when they crossed, he went with Cain until he realized that Leo was still with Cain. So Paul makes an easy catch from his knees and gets up running. When Adam goes in for the stop, Paul pitches to Cain. Adam finally makes a good play having anticipated the pitch and playing it rather than Paul and gets the stop on Cain 2 yards past the pitch point.
1-12 from the 37: Burleson makes his second perfect throw of the day with an amazing long throw to Cain who was very well covered by Louis. The ball landed literally 6 inches past Louis' outreached arm. Louis really had amazing position but Burleson made the perfect throw. TD.

Final score: 5-4, Red.

MVP - This was a little tough - fortunately, I had Matt's stat compilation to help. Had Yellow won or tied, I would have been looking at Leo pretty hard for the MVP for throwing two, catching one, running for another and probably having another on the failed Cuba Libre (which was Adam's fault) and getting a nice sack. Nick also had a nice game with a TD passes for both teams and a interception while play defense but then he had 4 picks too. Cain made a claim with 3 TD catches but didn't have the picks that he normally does.

The winner this week is Kris Burleson. Although he had a number of overthrows/wide passes, he passed for 262 yards, 4 TDs, 52% completion and no picks. Further, his bad passes were generally good decisions (throwing to a receiver that he had a chance to hit if the throw was better). He also had 2 picks playing defense. That's very nice game.

Goat of the Week (with a nod to Peter King) - this is the first time I've done this and its pretty easy. While Casey killed a drive with his ill-advised pitch to the other team. And while this gave Red great field position and then an easy touchdown on the next play, the dishonor goes to Adam.

On the final two drives Adam made a number of key mistakes that cost Yellow the game. First, the drop on the out pattern that could have been turned up the field for at least a first down and perhaps more. Then the bad Cuba Libre which could have resulted in a TD by Leo (seriously, there was a monster hole for him going left on his route and the entire defense was moving fast to the right).

On Red's final drive, Adam made the cardinal sin of not communicating with his other corner man in Twins set and left his man uncovered at a key moment in the game. Had he not done this, the next play would not likely have been a TD because it would have been too long a throw considering Louis' coverage. What makes this sin worse is that listening to the recording I found that after the previous play (where Red had Trips to that same side) Adam and Leo had been talking about coverage in general and Adam was opining that after some distance (10-15 yards), you should almost always stick with man even if you start with zone. So although he and Leo did not specify that this would be the plan, Adam had already shown the wisdom of understanding this coverage rule and then second guessed it and stuck with the zone coverage that he thought was in play thus giving up the big play.

*Out of third person to express my personal feelings now* - What makes matters worse is that up until this point, I had been having a really great game. It started on the very first play with a very nice 15 yard run where I got one block and made two people miss before being stopped. I then had two nice picks - one where I had to fight through for the ball against Matt and another where I just read the play and dropped off my own man to find the perfect spot for the pick. It was also the first time in weeks that I lined up against anyone and everyone and had the speed and endurance to play really good coverage - Hell, Cain is practically half my age and other than the play where I bumped him from 8 yards off the line, I had nice coverage. So the meltdown at the end was really disappointing. I'm going to need a good game this week to get that bad taste of those last two drives out of my mouth.

Week 22: Not costing my team the game would be nice : )

Link of the week: http://home.hawaii.rr.com/snlcn/franken/stuart.html

Week 20 Summary: Superbowl weekend results in a large turnout again - not a particularly timely turnout however. We started the game in a nice 8 on 8 mode (with 17 guys) and then another 4 showed up late so we had to go to 10 on 10 again.

Yellow: Ray, Donnie, Mike, Rich, Adam, Louis, Casey, Leo, Chenault, Jimmy, Earl
Red: Dave, Barry, Chris, Brecht, Travis, Kyler, Josh, Cain, Nick, Joe

Yellow
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to Chenault for 8 yards - stopped by Travis.
2-7 from the 18: Pass by Leo to Donnie - incomplete. Donnie comes out of the backfield and floats right but the ball is thrown short.
3-7 from the 18: Pass by Leo to Ray - incomplete. Ball thrown short.
4-7 from the 18: Pass by Leo to Donnie - incomplete. Ball thrown short on a cross.

Red
1-Goal from the 18: Pass by Cain to Barry for 13 yards - stopped by Ray. Barry underneath from the left side basically uncovered.
2-Goal from the 5: Pass by Cain to Barry - incomplete. Ball thrown to the back left corner of the end zone but Barry couldn't get to it.
3-Goal from the 5: Pass by Cain to Dave - incomplete. Louis had nice coverage on Dave and knocked it down.
4-Goal from the 5: Pass by Cain to Dave - incomplete. Ton of scambling. Cain ends up about 20 yards behind the line of scrimmage and running hard towards the right sideline. He throws a bullet to Dave at the front of the end zone but Ray slaps it down.

Game now rises to 9 on 9.

Yellow
1-20 from the 5: Run by Ray for 14 yards - stopped by Kyler. Option play with Ray and Leo. Ray keeps it.
2-6 from the 19: Pass by Ray to Rich - incomplete. Rich was on a 10 yard drag but the ball was overthrown.
3-6 from the 19: Pass by Ray to Leo - incomplete. Ball was overthrown.
4-6 from the 19: Punt

Red
1-21 from the 29: Pass by Cain to Joe - incomplete. Cain rolls right and then comes back left he tucks the ball and then flips it at the last second up the field to Joe but it was slightly long.
2-21 from the 29: Pass by Cain to Dave for 23 yards - stopped by Louis. Nice YAC by Dave - pushed out of bounds by Louis

1-Goal from the 23: Run by Cain for -14 yards - stopped by Donnie. Cain rolls right and tries to roll back but Donnie gets a big sack.
2-Goal from the 37: Pass by Cain to Kyler for 37 yards - stopped by . Kyler is covered nicely by Louis but makes beautiful, falling backwards into the endzone for a TD. 1-0, Red

Yellow
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to Mike for 12 yards - stopped by Barry.
2-3 from the 22: Run by Leo for 21 yards - stopped by Unknown. Pushed out of bounds.
1-7 from the 32: Long throw to Ray intercepted by Travis. He runs it back and then tries to lateral the ball backwards but this throw is short and lands on the 24 yard line.

Red
1-1 from the 24: Run by Cain for 5 yards - stopped by Leo.
1-21 from the 29: Run by Cain for 3 yards - stopped by Leo.
2-18 from the 32: Run by Cain for -12 yards - stopped by Chenault. Big sack by Chenault
3-5 from the 20: Pass by Cain to away - incomplete. Cain throws the ball away after dropping back.
4-5 from the 20: Punt

Yellow
1-5 from the 20: Run by Leo for 6 yards - stopped by Kyler. Kyler pushed Leo out just after the first down marker.
1-24 from the 26: Pass by Leo to Rich for 17 yards - stopped by Cain. Rich runs an up and out route and then slants and makes 2 guys miss with quick spin moves before Cain gets him.
2-7 from the 32: Pass by Leo to Chenault for 23 yards - stopped by Cain. In route to Chenault with lot of YAC after a block by Adam.

1-Goal from the 9: Leo makes a couple nice moves to take advantage of a block by Ray to go in untouched. 1-1 Tie. Jimmy now joins Yellow.

We're up to 10 on 10.

Red
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Nick to Josh - incomplete. Ball thrown up the right side line such that it looked like Ray was the receiver - unfortunately he missed the pick.
2-15 from the 10: Run by Nick for 9 yards - stopped by Adam. Nice little run where Nick gets through 2 defenders.
3-6 from the 19: Pass by Nick to Josh for 15 yards - stopped by Leo.

1-16 from the 34: Pass by Nick to Travis for yards - stopped by . Again, it looked like Ray was the receiver and Travis had to knock the ball down to prevent a pick.
2-16 from the 34: Pass by Nick to Josh - incomplete. Josh runs a flag route with Louis in good coverage. Nick throws a beautiful ball out where on Josh can get it and as it hits Josh's hands, Adam knocks his arm down.
3-16 from the 34: Mike gets the interception and is stopped immediately by Kyler.

Yellow
1-24 from the 26: Ball intercepted by Travis stopped by Ray.

Red
1-5 from the 20: Pass by Nick to Brecht - incomplete. Brecht ran a 15 yard cross and Leo was playing LB underneath at about 10 and nearly picked it.
2-5 from the 20: Run by Nick for -4 yards - stopped by Donnie. Nick pulled it down to run and Donnie gets the sack.
3-9 from the 16: Pass by Nick to Cain for 21 yards - stopped by Ray.

1-13 from the 37: Pass by Nick to Barry - incomplete. Nice throw to Barry on a 10-12 yard out route.
2-13 from the 37: Pass by Nick to Cain for 22 yards - stopped by Mike. Jump ball.

1-Goal from the 16: Pass by Nick to Barry for 8 yards - stopped by Louis. Barry came out of the backfield.
2-Goal from the 8: Pass by Nick to Cain for 8 yards - stopped by . Cain pays big time for a very nice diving catch in the end zone when he comes down on the ball. TD. 2-1, Red.

Yellow
1-10 from the 15: Run by Leo for 1 yards - stopped by Chris. Pitch right to Leo who cuts back left and is stopped for a yard gain.
2-9 from the 16: Pass by Ray to Louis - incomplete. Ball thrown low and Travis takes Louis out diving over Louis to deflect the ball (Louis had kneeled down to try to make the catch).
3-9 from the 16: Pass by Ray to Louis for 22 yards - stopped by Barry.

1-12 from the 37: Run by Ray for 7 yards - stopped by Dave. QB run right.
2-5 from the 30: Intercepted by Cain with Jimmy on the stop.

Red
1-8 from the 33: Pass by Nick to Joe - incomplete. Broken play. Nick rolls right and throws long into the endzone. Joe is making a beautiful catch when Jimmy comes in and slaps it away.
2-8 from the 33: Run by Nick for 9 yards - stopped by None. Nick runs left and steps out just past the first.

1-Goal from the 24: Pass by Nick to Joe - incomplete. Leo defenses the pass from the safety spot.
2-Goal from the 24: Pass by Nick to Travis - incomplete. Tipped by Jimmy.
3-Goal from the 24: Pass by Nick to Kyler for 6 yards - stopped by Ray. Little dump off screen pass.
4-Goal from the 18: Pass by Nick to Josh for 18 yards - stopped by . Nice flag route by Josh and a better throw by Nick putting it in the back corner of the endzone where only Josh could get to it. TD 3-1, Red.

Yellow
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to Casey for 23 yards - stopped by Cain. Flag guard by Casey brought the play to an end.
1-17 from the 33: Run by Leo for 17 yards - stopped by Brecht. QB run right.

1-Goal from the 25: Run by Leo for -4 yards - stopped by Kyler. Leo scrambles all over but Kyler finally gets a sack.
2-Goal from the 29: Pass by Leo to Casey for 9 yards - stopped by Dave.
3-Goal from the 20: Ball intercepted by Nick. Donnie on the stop.

Red
1-11 from the 36: Pass by Nick to Dave - incomplete. Ball overthrown to Dave and Louis knocked it down which prevented Brecht from making a nice play behind Dave.
2-11 from the 36: Pass by Nick to Cain - incomplete. Thrown behind Cain on the crossing route.
3-11 from the 36: Pass by Nick to Cain - incomplete. Safety blitz by Leo. Nick rolls right and throws into the endzone for Cain. Jimmy made a beautiful play to defense the pass.
4-11 from the 36: Pass by Nick to Cain - incomplete. Thrown wide and Cain can't get his feet in.

Yellow
1-14 from the 36: Pass by Leo to Rich for 6 yards - stopped by Barry.
2-8 from the 33: Pass by Leo to Louis - incomplete. Louis lays out for a ball and injures his knee.
3-8 from the 33: Run by Leo for 1 yards - stopped by Brecht.
4-7 from the 32: Pass by Leo to Jimmy - incomplete. Ball thrown high.

Red
1-17 from the 33: Pass by Nick to Chris - incomplete. Jimmy nearly picks the ball and then after not picking it, nearly drops it into Chris' hands on the ground.
2-17 from the 33: Pass by Nick to Kyler - incomplete.
3-17 from the 33: Run by Nick for -13 yards - stopped by Chenault. Big sack by Chenault
4-5 from the 20: Punt

Yellow
1-5 from the 20: Hand off to Ray who rolls left for a half-back option but has to throw the ball away.
2-5 from the 20: Pass by Leo to Casey for 9 yards - stopped by Dave.

1-21 from the 29: Pass by Leo to Casey for 6 yards - stopped by Nick.
2-15 from the 35: Pass by Leo to Ray - incomplete. Long throw down the right side - nearly caught.
3-15 from the 35: Pass by Leo to Donnie for 17 yards - stopped by Dave.

1-Goal from the 23: Run by Leo for 1 yards - stopped by Josh. Crazy broken play with lots of lateral running.
2-Goal from the 22: Pass by Leo to Donnie - incomplete. Leo evades a ton of pressure and gets a catchable ball off.
3-Goal from the 22: Pass by Leo to Ray - incomplete. Travis makes move to get underneath the ball and Ray turns defensive back to prevent the pick.
4-Goal from the 22: Pass by Leo to Ray for 14 yards - stopped by Unknown. Good pressure and good coverage to Leo has to throw underneath to Ray who was the only one open.

Red
1-17 from the 8: Pass by Nick to Kyler for 9 yards - stopped by Unknown.
2-8 from the 17: Pass by Nick to Cain for 13 yards - stopped by None. Cain steps out after the catch.

1-20 from the 30: Run by Nick for -2 yards - stopped by Earl. Earl forced Nick out for a sack.
2-22 from the 28: Run by Nick for 7 yards - stopped by Mike.
3-15 from the 35: Pass by Nick to Cain - incomplete. Jimmy takes out Donnie (his own teammate) flying going for the ball. He misses the ball but its incomplete anyway.
4-15 from the 35: Run by Nick for -2 yards - stopped by Ray. That's the end of the game because people have to leave.

MVP for the Game is Nick who despite throwing 2 picks, had 3 TDs a couple runs for first downs, and a pick of his own.

BONUS GAME: 5 on 6 with an extra defender.

Yellow
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to Adam - incomplete. Nice throw but a nicer play by Barry to defense the pass.
2-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to Jimmy - incomplete. Ball was thrown short to Jimmy but nearly catchable by Rich.
3-15 from the 10: Pass by Leo to Jimmy for 11 yards - stopped by Barry.
4-4 from the 21: Pass by Leo to Unknown - incomplete. Josh blitzes and tips the ball back. Leo nearly catches his own pass.

Red
1-Goal from the 21: Pass by Nick to Josh - incomplete.
2-Goal from the 21: Hook-n-ladder to Brecht who pitches back to Mike who trips and is touched down by Leo.
3-Goal from the 15: Pass by Nick to Mike for 10 yards - stopped by Adam. Mike was uncovered.
4-Goal from the 5: Pass by Nick to Josh - incomplete. This was a rare miss for Josh who was running across the back of the endzone and has a ball slip right through his hands.

Yellow
1-20 from the 5: Pass by Mike to Unknown - incomplete.
2-20 from the 5: Pass by Mike to Casey for 70 yards - stopped by . 5 yard in route. Casey stiff-arms Louis into Brecht and runs the length of the field for a TD with 3 Red defenders in pursuit. Clearly Louis' injury was an important contributor to the play. 1-0, Red.

Red
1-15 from the 10: Pass by Nick to Mike for 10 yards - stopped by Leo.
2-5 from the 20: Pass by Nick to Louis - incomplete. Long throw but Jimmy got into position and kept Louis from getting it.
3-5 from the 20: Pass by Nick to Mike - incomplete.
4-5 from the 20: Pass by Nick to Louis for 55 yards - stopped by . 35 Yards in the air and Louis takes it the rest of the way eliciting a honk of approval by a passing truck. 1-1 Tie

That's all. No MVP in the Bonus Game.

There is one thing worth talking about. At one point early Cain is forced back a good 15+ yards and throws the ball away while clearly in the pocket. Our rules don't have a "intentional grounding" provision that turns this into a sack but it probably should. The defense clearly put the QB in a position where if he didn't throw it away, it would be a sack. If the QB can throw it away at will without fault, then the defense isn't really rewarded for what is otherwise an outstanding play. I ask for your thoughts on this.

Week 21 Preview: Resolution on the above issue.

Link of the week: A mathematical formula for procrastination - Lifehacker