Year 3: The Shamrocks search for their first winning season in Franchise history
Is this young team ready to take the next step?
Owner Matt has spent much of his first three years in Dublin trying to establish traditions for his new team. The Dublin fan base had quickly begun to warm up to the NFL team, in spite of their somewhat mediocre results on the field. Owner Matt wanted to find the best way to build on that enthusiasm and let his fans know he was an owner who truly cared about his fans. Some promotions like “all you can eat Haggis day” had failed miserably due to about a million different reasons, perhaps the most obvious being that it’s not even an Irish dish. Some promotions though had been an absolute hit. The most important of these traditions was none other than the March of the Shamrocks.
Before the regular season, and then before every home game after, the Shamrocks players march through the city of Dublin to the stadium. All the Shamrocks staff and ownership participate in the march and the city streets have quickly become line with fans as the years have progressed. Fans have almost complete access to the players and guys such as Kenneth Washington and Solomon Murphy have fallen in love with signing as many autographs as possible. Traditions like these are a sign of a city buying in. A sign that the marriage between the Shamrocks and the city of Dublin was meant to last.
As Owner Matt led the team through the march before the start of this season it was hard not to get emotional. He had truly fallen in love with this country, and it was the honor of his life to become embedded into the very fabric of Dublin. Maybe it was this rush of emotions that caused him to stop for a young fan screaming his name. Owner Matt leaned down with a smile and asked the kid if he’d like an autograph. The young child shook his head and his face turned to a frown. With all the volume he could muster he yelled, “No! I just want a winning team.” Owner Matt was taken aback by the indignant child but a look at the fans around him told him he couldn’t go without a response. So, with equal bravado, Owner Matt declared,
“If we don’t win at least 8 games this season you will have season tickets for life my boy!”
The crowd erupted into a roar of applause as Owner Matt smiled, brimming with pride at how he had salvaged the situation. The man behind him didn’t smile though. A very nervous Doug Pederson looked at his coordinators who simply shrugged at him. Owner Matt was confident in this team which meant if this team didn’t succeed heads would roll. Specifically, Doug Pederson would be out of a job. With a sigh Doug Pederson clinched his fist and nodded to the crowd. He would get the team to those wins or he would have to leave this beautiful country and his beloved yogurt shop, he simply couldn’t afford for that to happen.
——————————————————————————————————————
Coming off a 7-9 season where they were merely one game out of the Playoffs, the Shamrocks are desperate to take that next step. They’re a radically young team but are tired of waiting for the future. They have the talent installed to compete, and that is exactly what they want to do. As a reminder, here is what our line-up looks like coming into the season:
My hope is that K-Dubs will break into the 80’s this year and start to really show what he can do. I’m also hoping that Jimmy Carpenter gets to 80 as a rookie as that would go a long way towards getting our O-Line were it needs to be. Phillip Lindsay is in danger of losing his job to Dobbins based on what we saw last year but he’ll get the opening day nod at least. The only main change that has happened lineup wise since last update is we were able to trade Robert Foster. The Alabama WR has been a solid contributor for us but simply wasn’t in the long-term plans. We only net a 7th Round pick in return but we also get a somewhat inflated salary off the books. Billups and Sims are going to need to fill Foster’s production and then some.
Week 1 @ Indianapolis
Without further adieu, let’s get this season started! You can watch the game in it’s entirety at the link below or skip ahead to see the results:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/824747850?t=0h29m4s
1-0 Baby! I want to say this is how you do it but 5 FGs isn’t really what you want out of the offense. We had two different TDs dropped in the Endzone which really limited our options. We also had some questionable clock management that cost us points. A wins a win though, and I’m encouraged as a whole by what I saw. The O-Line held up well all day in my opinion, even if Lindsay didn’t find a way to take advantage. Starting the year with a win is always good, and Pederson must be breathing a sigh of relief.
Week 2 Vs Philadelphia
Damn yet another close loss. The luck of the Irish has not found it’s way to this roster. The Shamrocks must hold some sort of record for the most 3 point losses in a 2 season span. Losing a division game hurts even worse. Our team played admirably but Carson Wentz had a really good day against us posting a near perfect rating. Lindsay has another disappearing act as K-Dubs, Patterson and Dobbins carry the rushing load. It’s a long season but this one hurts. We officially move Lindsay over to FB and name Dobbins the starter. Dobbins has consistently played above his rating and I feel more comfortable with him and Patterson carrying the load. If a trade avenue opens up Lindsay may not end the season in Dublin
Week 3 Vs Dallas
The Shamrocks move to 2-1 as they refuse to drop another division game. Led by a strong defense the ‘Rocks played efficient football throughout to seal the win. Landon Collins had a sack and an interception on the day, sealing up NFC POTW honors. JK Dobbins rushed for 80 yards, a noted improvement over Phillip Lindsay. K-Dubs threw for barely over 200 yards but completed over 70% of is passes and converted TE Turner O’Connell caught the first TD of his career. As a whole, you have to be happy with the efficient brand of football the Shamrocks put out on the field.
Week 4 vs Jacksonville
3-1 friends, the ‘Rocks are 3-1. This was yet another defense led win for the Shamrocks. K-Dubs didn’t miss a whole lot, avoiding turnovers, but our offense just couldn’t get going. I have regained a lot of faith in our young signal caller but he has to get some help. I’m really beginning to wonder if Doug Pederson isn’t a bigger problem than we realized? Is his playcalling simply too conservative? We’re 3-1 but I’m still worried about how good we actually are.
We do have good news though! Our careful salary cap management has paid off and it seems we’ll have the money to resign all the guys we want. Browsing through the League it seems we are one of only a few teams that has appropriately managed our cap. It also helps us that guys like Montez Sweat took some pretty team friendly deals. I was really worried about losing key guys but it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. I’m beginning to feel much more confident in our long-term arc.
Week 5 @ NYG
If we win this game we move to 4-1 and 2-1 in the division. This game has pretty major playoff implications for us so we have to pray our stars show up. You can watch the game at the link below or skip ahead for the results:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/824747850?t=2h10m46s
Hell yeah. The game was tight score wise for large swaths of the game but it really felt like we controlled the pace throughout. We put up 31 points and it feels like we still left points on the field. The offense isn’t there yet but this game showed us flashes of what this offense could be if all the pieces are in place. We’re sitting at 4-1 and first place in the division. Patterson ended up with just under 100 yards Rushing and K-Dubs had a very complete game. Kendall Fuller takes NFC POTW
K-Dubs wanted to send a message
Week 6 vs Detroit
This one stings. 5-1 and 4-2 just seem so different to me, and in this case they were only separated by one point. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, we lost this game because of K-Dubs. Every other unit was successful except for Dobbins who threw 1 TD to 3 interceptions. He also only added 14 yards on the ground. Everyone has a bad day but this one hurts. My main worry is that this is the beginning of another losing streak. I know that sounds very doomsday but this team is just so streaky. We have to hope this game was an aberration in what has been a promising season for our Shamrocks.
Week 7 vs Tennessee
Damn it. Now our defense falls apart. The team is now sitting at 4-3. Derrick Henry ran all over our defense and a valiant effort from our offense goes completely for naught. K-Dubs gets POTW in a loss so that’s a win, I guess. K-Dubs also officially joins the 80 OVR rating club which is actually a win for us. This stings though y’all, I now begin to wonder if we will ever break the .500 barrier. Our next game is against the undefeated Seahawks and a win there really seems like a stretch.
Week 8 vs Seattle
Monday Night football in Dublin against the top team in the NFL, does it get bigger than this? Owner Matt and the players have one of the more emotional March of the Shamrocks of the year as they get ready for the biggest football event in Dublin’s history. If we win this thing we break the losing streak and put the NFL on notice. We watch the first part of this game which you can see at the link below:
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/824747850?t=3h38m10s
The Seahawks were simply too much to overcome. Down 14-0 at the half, the ‘Rocks do put up a valiant effort to tie the game but Russell Wilson was too much for us in the end. I’m proud of the grit our guys showed but 4-4 hurts. The .500 curse is my personal biggest nightmare in sports and it looks like we are right there. The logical part of my brain knows we’re young and getting better each season but I’m getting antsy. I want wins now, I want to taste Playoff glory. K-Dubs ends the day completing 74% of his passes for 3 TDs and it’s getting hard to figure out where our main weaknesses really are. We’re just inconsistent as a whole and that is what needs to change. K-Dubs gets his second POTW Award in a loss so there’s that at least.
Mid-Season Recap
We’re 4-4 and tied for the last wildcard spot. We are firmly in the Playoff race but it really feels like we should be better than this. I suppose we should be happy as a whole though, as much as it seems like we’re floating around the same record each season our team is remarkedly better. Our team is also young and our QB has taken a pretty big uptick this season. Hope springs eternal but I’m getting real tired of missing the Playoffs.
Looking at the Award races though, there is some more uplifting news. K-Dubs is in the running for OPOTY and both Kendall Fuller and Reuben Foster are in the running for DPOTY. Fuller is running away with Best DB while Washington, Foster and Sims are all squarely in the race for their position of the year award races. I’ve posted pictures of some of the individual stats below but wanted to highlight some of the numbers that stick out to me. Washington has only thrown 4 interceptions on the year, 3 of which came in one game. At 6 TDs, Sims is Top ten in Receiving TDs which is super encouraging. It feels weird to highlight a kicker but Lutz is 12/13 with his lone miss coming at 61 yards. It seems like some of our guys are really taking Star turns which is exciting. In terms of the Akron players drafted across the league, none of them have gotten much playing time. Mike Jacobs and Joe Greene have seen time on ST and Patterson has thrown one pass for a TD but that’s it. Hopefully those guys start pushing for playing time in the coming seasons.
This season is a mixed bag so far, as one would except for a 4-4 team. Still, there are plenty of reasons for hope. As long as our young stars continue improving not only are we set for the long-haul but I also truly believe we can grab a Wildcard spot this season. Let’s F’in Rock
——————————————————————————————————————
Thank you all so much for reading and for the continued support! If you have any thoughts or ideas about the series please feel free to drop them in the comments or in the Discord. I also officially hit Affiliate status so thank you all so so much for that! This will let me do some fun rewards and such to make things more exciting. I’m particularly excited about Channel Points as that will help watchers have a chance at making their own prospects.
Related to that point, we ran a contest in the Discord to see who could pick the result of each game the closest. Reader Jake is currently in the lead but the race is tight, the winner gets to create a 1st Round Draft prospect. If there’s interest I might expand contests like that to these articles to give Non-Discord Readers a chance as well, let me know if that’s something y’all would be interested in.
Next stream is 7 PM EST on Monday and I hope to see you all there, much love ‘Rocks nation!
https://www.twitch.tv/memorrowiv
https://discord.gg/feG3gm3Aqc