Week 4

Admirals @ Dragons 14-31

By: Velcro

For an explanation of the shovel rating system, head here.
The important game (Admirals @ Dragons)
by RossM

Impressions
Week 4 in NFL Europe led the Admirals to the longest away trip of the year, to the majestic Olympic Stadium in the heart of Barcelona. A win would have the Admirals in 1st place over the Dragons, but a loss would drop them back into the chasing pack 2 games behind the Dragons.

Now the reality behind this statement was that we got our butts well and truly kicked. Missing key players on defense led to the Admirals giving up a massive amount of yardage to the powerful Dragons offense and the Admirals Offense, behind an ever improving Offensive Line struggled to stay in contention.

Offense


I'll list the bright points first. Spergon Wynn managed to stay upright through most of the game, although one terrible call by the officials when Wynn was hit late was unforgivable. The other late hit call baled the Admirals out of an interception so in the end the rub of the salt went both ways. The Offensive Line seemed to do a pretty good job of keeping the Dragons Pass Rush away, but then again if we are going to suffer badly thrown passes and an embarrassing run of drops by open receivers then the opposition doesn't need to bring the heavy pass rush. We scored twice in the first half and that was it. The two touchdown drives were impressive with the offense clicking and making first downs and other bursts of yardage. The offensive line that has been much maligned all season has to take some credit for keeping the pass rush away.

However after being gifted 5 turnovers by the defense they simply have to score more points than this. Frankly 14 points is poor against a Dragons team that seemed content to let the Admirals beat themselves. Nothing wrong with the playcalling we used, we simply did not execute the plays that were called. I do question the use of the Timeouts early in the 2nd half when we may have needed them at the end.

In the end we just couldn't put it together. We need to score more than 14 points a game. Especially when the Defense need help. One Shovel for the guys this week. Very Disappointed.

Defense


Well, there is good news and bad news for the Defense this week. 596 yards total offense for the Dragon's is not good. In fact it is shocking. But they kept plugging away and produced a bunch of turnovers to keep us in the ball game. The Defensive line did a good job of pressuring the Quarterback, but they didn't stop the run. Lets face it , they were holding the doors open for the Dragons ground game. I'm not 100% sure, but from my point of view it looked like the Admirals were playing a pass first defense and hoping to get ahead of the Dragons. However 250 yards rushing later that didn't seem like such a good idea. Our Defensive Backs have developed this tendency to stop playing the pass when the QB is flushed from the pocket. This led to a TD for Frankfurt last week, and another 2 for Barcelona this week. Until the ball is dead you have to stay with the receivers. We missed LB Masafumi Kawaguchi in the middle of the defense to make adjustments and generally show leadership.

I really want to rant at the unit, but I just can't bring myself to do it as I still think the basis is solid. The simple things need to be finished off - stay with the receiver, and nail the running back. It was difficult to believe that this was the same unit that did such a good job against Frankfurt. One Shovel, purely so they don't feel superior to the Offense.

Special Teams


Nothing special to report, the pressure on the Dragon's Punter was extreme, leading to him averaging 28 yards a punt which was well done. Still too many costly penalties - this time an offsides call costing us a missed extra point. Clarance Williams did a great job on one punt return as it touched a blocker and he got down to cover up the ball and keep possession of the football. All this was topped off with a fumble forced on a Dragon's kick off return. A steady day for Jeff Reinbold's boys, and we seem to have cured the fumbleitis too. A nice steady 3 shovels for the best group on the field.

Coaching


The team looked flat. I know that professionals are supposed to be self motivating, but I can't help but feel that the team just wasn't ready for a game against the league leading Dragons. Nothing wrong with the gameplan as we looked at it, simply put: the players didn't do their job in this game. Overall I can't give them any more than the players they control, one shovel for the coaching staff.

Brief impression on the not so important games
by TonV

Fire @ Thunder
The Fire lose again to a Thunder team that is quietly slipping into WB race. Dusseldorf has always been a running team and it has been their strength this year as well. So why did they only call 9 running plays? I think this team is getting demoralized by now. I figure that a fourth loss in a row next week will kill off their WB chances. Thunder will probably go the whole season.

Claymores @ Galaxy
As I vaguely predicted last week, the Claymores' resurgent offense could very well have been a one-off thing as this week they looked flat all over. A pathetic 41 yards rushing was coupled with a decent, if unspectacular passing game. Frankfurt looked strong with going a lot more to the running backs and only 23 passing plays. The Galaxy finally snap their losing streak, but are still a long way away from a WB spot.