Week 5

Dragons @ Admirals 13-33

By: Velcro

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

Impressions
Well finally the boys played a game we can be proud of. The Admirals defense came with a gameplan designed to overwhelm the Dragons Offense, and the Offense actually played some ball. A fine way to round out the first half of the season and leaves us poised to make a run at a World Bowl spot. In reality it is starting to look like the 2 games against the Thunder will become vital in determining the teams in World Bowl IX, and this week could see the Galaxy eliminated from World Bowl race. The biggest problem that the Admirals face at this moment is the mounting injury crisis that has seen another 3 defensive backs go down this week, but more on that later.

Offense


The offense started like a train. The first two drives everybody looked sharp and the ball was going where it needed to be: the endzone. The line was giving Wynn time to throw the ball and did a good job clearing the way the running game. One play in particular stood out was the long run from Spencer George where number #71 Chris Hursley got downfield to spring the last 25 yads of the run. Only a shame that he couldnīt hold the block long enough to let the Touchdown be scored on the play, but we scored anyway and thatīs what counts.

After the first two drives though, the offense went into its shell. The passing game dried up somewhat and what shoiuld have been TDs to bury the game ended up being Field Goals. This gave the Dragons a chance to come back late in the game, that they had absolutely no right to do. However right at the death they got a drive together to run out a bunch of time on the clock and that always makes me breathe easier.

Solid running from Spencer George earned him his first 100 yard game of the year and establish him as the top Running Back over Clarence Williams, who had 100 yards in week 2 against Scotland. The running game is also being helped by an Offensive Line that seems to finally have found a focus for all that aggressiveness they have displayed all year - that ended up in a whole bunch of personal fouls in week 2.

The passing game is still a work in progress, but with time Spergon Wynn is standing tall in the pocket and giving his receivers time to get open. When he is forced to run - and unlike QBs like Jarius Jackson and Michael Bishop he is waiting until he absolutely has to run before taking off - he is still a potent enough threat to get the first down. Our biggest trouble stll seems to be that the receivers are drifting in and out of the game. On some drives they all get open all the time, and on other drives thay are no where to be seen.

The other pleasant surprise is the performance of Nobatuka Horie the Japanese Wide Receiver who gives us a threat at the National Offensive Player Position. Now I know a lot of people want to see Dutch National Players on the field, but frankly at the moment - at least on offense they simply do not appear to be good enough.

Grading a performance like this is never easy as the first quarter was brilliant, but in the end we kicked too many Field Goals and didnīt turn the turnovers into more points. In the end its not good enough to get a five - for that I need to see the 1st quarter four times a game. So Wynn-ers will have to settle for 4.

Defense


Wow! What a performance: 9 sacks, 5 turnovers and only one touchdown allowed. Going into this game the coaching staff knew that they had injury problems in the secondary, so the solution they came up with was breathtaking. On practically every defensive snap either one or two linebackers were blitzing to try and create mismatches on the line of scrimmage. The plan worked for three reasons in the end. First of all the Offensive Line from Barcelona was not adjusting to blitzes very well and at times player would be left free to run to the Quarterback for the sack. The best example of this was the third quarter sack where Matthews ran through unblocked from the right side and forced Jarius Jackson to fumble. The second reason was the inability of the Running Backs of Barcelona to pick up the Blitzer and finally the Barcelona Dragons appeared not to have a screen pass in the playbook.

Of course last week we played a vaguely similar game plan and got burned for 200 yards rushing by Barcelona. This time the defensive line got down with the dirty job of stopping the run basically themselves. We still gave up a bunch of yards but the plan overall was more effectively executed. The intensity level of the entire defensive unit this week was tremendous, an intensity level that they will need to match for the rest of the year if they are to keep an injury plagued secondary from giving up bucketloads of points.

The secondary make a great contribution as well this week. Playing in a basic 4 db alignment due to injuries suffered during the game. They stuck to the receivers like glue everytime the Blitz was coming, thus giving Barcelona no outlet for the passing game. By the end the secondary was using 2 Nationals on every series, showing how deep the injury crisis is, but if the Nationals can contribute then that gives us extra bodies on important positions.

The only time in the entire game that the Dragons put together a TD drive - which at that time got them back in the game - was when the defensive coordinator called for a softer zone defense and stopped the blitzing. At that point a good QB was allowed make some throws and get some points on the board. At least that was only an isolated series, and the end when we added more points on fumble return just demonstrated how dominant this unit was.

Only one summary needed: 5 Shovels. Same again this week in Scotland guys!!!

Special Teams


Did their jobs, scored the field goals, punted, returned punts and kicks. To be honest I donīt really remember too much about Special Teams. That means two things, no cock ups and no turnovers. A solid if unspectacular performance. 3 Shovels.

Coaching
The defensive coaches got the gameplan exactly spot on. They knew what our weaknesses were and they knew where they could attack the Dragons. Every player on the defense was ready to play and it showed. They were quicker off the snap and dominated in all phases of the game. On offense the team started out brilliantly, but the play calling retreated into the shell somewhat from the second quarter on.

Now my coahing staff beef. Two weeks ago everybody was complaining about how hard the ArenA field was, and then we go to Barcelona and lose yet more players. The same thing happened this week. If you have three consecutive weeks of hamstring injuries then I think its time to start looking at the warming up regime of certain positions, especially the defensive backs. It could be that we are simply unlucky with this sort of thing this year, but it should be checked as we really cannot afford to face the Thunder and Jonathan Quinn without a fairly settled secondary.

Fans
I honestly didnīt think the ArenA was as loud against the Dragons as it was against Scotland. Iīve said it before and Iīll say it again - to all fans: when the Defense is on the Field noise is good. And you can still watch the game whilst you are making noise - I know I make plenty of noise, and I see most things.

Secondly, to the wanker sat behind me somewhere on Saturday night. If the Quarterback has got his hand on the Centerīs butt, then it cannot be a shotgun formation. At that particular point the formation was actually what is called spread formation with 4 wide receivers and a single running back, with the QB under center.

Finally
In order to give me some extra fun and to help some people along, he is my tip of the week. On defense, instead of watching the ball continually watch where the secondary lines up. You can pick up what the coverage is going to be by watching the coverage when one of the offense goes in motion. If the Defender follows the player then its probably man to man coverage, but if several players move a little bit then it is most likely a zone defense.

Brief impression on the not so important games
by TonV

Claymores @ Fire
Aaah! The first double header opportunity of the year and of course the Trench Crew was there. So were rather a large number of Admirals fans in fact. A very pleasant surprise! The game itself was less pleasant. It was fun enough to watch, but of low quality. The Claymores continue to struggle mightily on offense. Even though the Fire secondary did a good job of staying with the receivers, I still blame the Claymores offense for losing. The Claymores defense looks tough, but thats only because they can blitz effectively. They have to, because their secondary looked incredibly inept, especially in the first half. They have got a fantastic punter though. I guess he just gets a lot of practise in... The Fire didn't do much better. When you get so many turnovers and a secondary that really should be classed as a thirdary, you should have put more points on the board. Still, they won and are still in the WB race.

Looking ahead at the coming game in Glasgow (you are going, aren't you?), I am not too confident. If the Scots can keep pass-rushing like they did, their secondary won't matter as Wynn won't get the time to throw. If our o-line can keep improving their form and are able to pick up the blitzes, then the Claymores should be in for a big ol' can of whoop-ass. But with home-field advantage... I don't know. Our defense is vastly depleted due to injuries and it will be hard to keep the fire going they displayed against the Dragons. Oh well, if we lose, it won't be for lack of effort on the Trench Crew's part. We even booked into the Claymores players hotel and might try to keep some of them awake the night before the game...

Thunder @ Galaxy
The Galaxy not only lose the game, but also #1 qb Michael Bishop as well his backup. This should pretty much mean the end of any WB hopes they might have had left. The Thunder will almost certainly become our main rival for the second WB spot as I can't see the Dragons collapsing and giving away their ArenA ticket. We play Berlin back to back at the end of the season which should make for a highly exciting finish. Close that roof in week 10 and bring hooters for everyone!