Friday Five: Week 10 Edition
Friday Five Week 10 Edition
Happy Friday SFL! Took last week off due to only one game for Week 9 so back and full of things that I am looking forward to in Week 10. One thing I want to point out is a special shoutout to Mike Daggs and Gerald Smith on bringing up the Friday Five on the Matt Wilson Mid-Season Review Show. Appreciate the love and hopefully it will generate people to read the article. Can I say one thing about Mike though?? His contenders segment where he picked HIS OWN TEAM!!! C'mon buddy. Although I will say, MXC is back for sure! And also, for Gerald Smith, love the V8 to 2 stroke weed wacker comparison. Great work man. Now let's get into Week 10
REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COLD
Is this Season 22 again? I feel like this is the same story from last season. We had one game this past weekend and it was a rematch of the Season 22 Championship game. Canton came out and got their revenge as they gave Florida their first shutout victory in franchise history. Canton just dominated in every aspect of the game. Canton's defense only gave up 133 total yards to a Florida offense that came into the game was 4th in the SFL in total yards (333/game). Canton stuck to the ground game in this as they totaled 228 on the ground against the #1 ranked run defense this season. Fun nugget for you SFL stat freaks. Florida had 133 total yards in this game while last season Art Vandelay had 141 RUSHING yards against Canton to seal their championship victory! Looks like a win for Xs and Os in this matchup.
NEW LEAD JOCKEY??
One of the games that I had pegged as an interesting matchup was the Louisiana Revolution traveling to Pittsburgh to take on the Riverhogs on Sunday Night Football. I had this whole thing about can LOU turn things around and then I got a text from a source that told me that HC Brian Craven is no longer “the lead jockey” in the coaches room anymore. Ownership had stepped in and taken back the reigns of this team. If that is the case, then this becomes a really intriguing matchup since my assumption would be that Co-Owner Gerald Smith would be getting back into the coaching ranks. To be honest, I think it's a great move as Gerald Smith was a very talented coach in his prime and I think that Louisiana can be a very interesting team to watch in the back half of this season. With matchups against Pittsburgh, Nashville QCC and the team that Gerald said on his show “traded in their V8 for a 2-stroke weed wacker engine”, they could have a legit shot of getting back into the playoff picture.
PAY THAT OFFENSE
The league put out a mid-season update on a few things last week and one of those is about incentives for the offense. With the news that offensive incentives have only been paid out 5 times this season, the league decided to add more for them to get a chance. Below is what they added. I like what the league has done here. Yes, the defensive players will say “Well they took a lot away from us” and “of course they care about offense” but you all have been paid 53 TIMES this season compared to 5 for the offense. I think you all just need to be like Russell Wilson and just “Let it Ride”. Hopefully maybe we will see something down the road where UDFAs and Dev Players get maybe a bit more if they are able to pull in a stat line like these below
for QBs who throw at least 2 TDs with 0 INTs
for QBs who have at least 2 passing and 1 rushing TD in a game
for HBs who rush for 125 yards in a game
for WRs/TEs who record a 100-yard receiving game
for HB/FB/WR/TEs who score at least 2 TDs in a game
ALL ABOARD THE CAROLINA HYPE TRAIN
I talked about MXC last week being a serious contender and now I want to talk about another team that I feel is picking up steam. And that is the Carolina Skyhawks. This train was kind of started up before but after beating Florida a couple of weeks ago, this train is ready to leave the station and trust me I have a first-class cabin with all the amenities that the Prasad brothers let me have. Let's talk about the strength of this team and that's the defense. This defense is Top 10 in Total Yards (8th), Passing Yards and Rushing Yards Allowed at 10th in the SFL. Newcomer FS Mike Ryan is tied for 5th in SFL in tackles and has 4INTs which is tied for 2nd in SFL. He has helped this defense improve and its showing on the field. Now I hear you all, “But what about that offense!” And look you are right; this offense is not too special. They are in the bottom of the league in 1st Downs (24), Total Yards (23rd), and Passing Yards (24th). The bright side here is that they are 10th in Rushing Yards averaging 117 per game. If this train is going to go full steam ahead and make it to the playoffs, its going to have to get better production from QB Matt South. He has the worst completion % among all SFL starters at 45%. Now is that due to Matt South himself or is his WR/TEs not helping by dropping passes and not getting open? We dont know that for sure, but if they are going to succeed then the coaching staff needs to find ways to get that completion % up. But I have faith that the Skyhawks can change their ways. When they make the playoffs, none of you all will be able to come into my cabin and drink any of my Wicked Weed beers that are on ice for myself and the Prasad brothers!
CAN ORCAS HEAR MUSIC??
The final thing I want to talk about is the game that kicks off Week 10 which is my pick of the week as Nashville travels to Charleston to take on the Predators. This is a East Division matchup with Nashville sitting one game above Charleston at 5-2. My key to this game is going to be John Lakeman. Did you all know he only has 2 passing TDs this season? I did not know this until I saw the stats for myself. So, to see Charleston with 4 wins already is nothing short of impressive. But to win this game you need to get that passing game going. Nashville is 3rd against the run this season and I don't know if Hoagland and Francis are enough of a combo to get past that front 7. I could totally be wrong and I am sure that coach JW Hartshorn can figure it out. But I would think he would agree with my assessment of if you can pass against this defense that is 21st against the pass, then you will find success at home Friday night
So there ya go. Week 10 should be an exciting week of SFL football. Until next time SFL..