Year 5: Owner Matt tries to fulfill his promise
Shamrocks try to follow up on their dream season
Hey friends! Sorry for the delay, this Newsletter was a little more cumbersome than normal for reasons that will soon be obvious. We will still be streaming tomorrow and I hope you enjoy the article below :) I’ve also included some links to some content creators who have played a huge role in this all happening at the bottom as well as a link to another one of my own endeavors. You all have been incredible and I hope you continue to enjoy the series!
The higher the climb, the larger the fall. Those have been the words echoing through Owner Matt’s brain these days. He’d always thought that tasting the playoffs would only increase his vigor. He had believed that by finally having a winning season he would feel looser, more content with where things were. He had been dead wrong.
Coming so close to a Super Bowl had only heightened the sense of unrest Owner Matt felt. The bar was set impossibly high in his mind now, either they made the Super Bowl or they failed. What if his team failed his lofty goals or worse, what if the team completely fell apart?
This season in so many ways seemed like the biggest challenge he’d ever faced. Now that the Shamrocks were considered contenders he couldn’t just take pride in getting a little better. This was the job Owner Matt had signed up for though, and he wasn’t about to shirk that responsibility. He had vowed to get this team to the Super Bowl many moons ago and he intended to keep that promise
This year looks to be a big one for our Shamrocks as they try to build on a magical season. The schedule looks noticeably tougher than years prior but I’m confident our guys are ready. As noted in the wrap-up, the Shamrocks are a point worse on defense this year but have improved at almost every spot on offense. We have some tough decisions to make about veterans who are now in regression, but as a whole there’s no reason to think we can’t be just as competitive as we were a year ago. Here is the lineup heading into the season:
As noted in the preview, Landon Collins actually gets benched in favor of starting both Brackett and McKinney. With his salary counting as 15 Million against the cap we end up making the impossible decision to get rid of him. We find no lack of suitors and end up receiving some solid draft capitol in return. Collins is the only player on the team who has been a Captain every season of the series and it hurts to see him leave. He has had so many big plays for us, but it was time to move on.
The Collins trade alleviates almost our entire Cap issue but, looking at the roster, we decide we can’t completely rest on our laurels. Ever since we switched to the Air Raid the focus has shifted from our TEs to our WRs. Billups for all his hype has not developed into the Superstar we expected, where as we have three TEs who are all capable of playing. We decide to seek out a trade partner for David Njoku in the hopes of getting a WR back. It is a hard move to make, and I’m still a big fan of Njoku, but Kingsbury’s offense really focuses on using TEs as blockers making Njoku a luxury we simply can’t afford. We end up getting a straight up swap for WR Diontae Johnson who is a year younger and only 2 points lower in OVR than Njoku.
With our roster built we take a deep breath and begin what we hope is our climb to the title.
Week 1 @ Seattle
An NFC title game rematch in week 1 is a hell of a way to start. Wilson has begun to regress, having dropped 7 points, but he is still a top 5 QB in this universe. This game looks to be another toss up and I’m just hoping the moves we made to overcome the Seahawks prove fruitful. You can watch the game at the link below:
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A hard fought win for the ‘Rocks and we are 1-0! Whereas our last match against the Seahawks was a shootout this one ends up being a tight defensive battle. Bacon struggles heavily in his rookie debut but the defense holds strong and K-Dubs plays a heroic game to grasp the victory. This is the first time we’ve actually beaten Seattle and this is a hell of a way to start the year. I am so proud of our Shamrocks!
We really like running fake FGs
Johnson makes an immediate impact
Week 2 @ Dallas
Next to the Seahawks, Dallas has been our biggest road block in the series. They’d won the division every year until we finally stole the crown last season. Can we follow up our big season opening win by sending a message to Dallas early?
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No, no we cannot. Washington throws 3 interceptions and our defense can’t contain Ezekiel Elliot as the Cowboys walk all over us. This is a major disappointment losing to our biggest rivals so early in the season but it’s not insurmountable. K-Dub’s performance was disappointing enough though that reader Nick redeemed a reward to have me rant at him which you can watch below:
Here’s hoping that K-Dubs got the message.
Week 3 @ New Orleans
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The Saints get their revenge and win a tight game against us, dropping us to below .500 for the first time in a long time. K-Dubs responds well to the criticism but our running game just absolutely disappears. Our defense doesn’t look remotely like the dominant unit we saw last season and I am beginning to get concerned. Our schedule is almost all playoffs teams this season so we can’t just write off these games as being against tough opponents. Here’s hoping that we get things going quickly.
Week 4 vs Cleveland
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The bye week doesn’t help us as we drop to 1-3. We play a clean game, yet only score 14 points. I don’t even recognize the team in front of us right now. I am beyond disappointed and disheartened at the product we are putting out on the field. We also don’t have a clear problem we can even point to. We rate better than almost every team we play and yet still drop games. If things don’t turn around quickly we will be forced to completely re-evaluate our strategy this season.
Week 6 vs Minnesota
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We’re 1-4 and approaching tank territory at an aggressive speed. As a Jaguars fan I am quite familiar with tank strategy but I never in my wildest dreams thought we would have to employ it this season. K-Dubs plays a hell of a game and yet rookie RB Jamal Bacon averages less than 2 yards a carry. Our defense continues to play like a shell of the unit they once were and I can’t help but wonder if losing Collins was a bigger issue than I thought? We’re better at almost every position ratings wise and yet our defense has never looked worse. The chat agrees that unless we see major improvement we move to Tank protocol.
Week 7 vs Dallas
The Cowboys have only won 2 games on the year but that doesn’t diminish the importance of this week. The Giants are 5-1 so catching them seems dubious at best, but a Wildcard birth is still in play. This is largely the same Shamrock’s team that busted off a 7 game win streak last year so hope springs eternal. You can watch the game at the link below:
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WHAT A GAME! That was perhaps the most painful game I’ve ever watched, but it also had my favorite ending I’ve ever seen in a Shamrocks’ game. Our defense bailed us out as K-Dubs couldn’t find any help on offense. He passed for 200 yards and ran for 150 but an atrocious day by Bacon could not be overcome for the majority of the game. Then, at the last minute, K-Dubs reminded us of why we drafted him so high in the first place:
Johnson has been an incredible addition as a deep threat for K-Dubs and damn did the kid show something special. This is only our second win of the year but if this turns into a winning streak the Shamrocks can still salvage this thing. Let’s go ‘Rocks!
Week 8 @ Baltimore
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Well, it was fun while it lasted. This game was close but at 2-5 we look at the standings and make a tough decision, it’s tank time. It’s hard to know just what went wrong with this team but this is certainly not the season we imagined. Bacon has been abysmal at RB and our defense has been far too streaky. K-Dubs is actually in the thick of the MVP race and I’m just truly at a loss. Is run blocking the problem? Is the lack of a true possession TE an issue? It’s hard to pinpoint but the result is the same. I give Kliff the look and he knows.
We decide in the chat to go ahead and go through the whole season barring a major change in results. It just feels silly to try and build suspense for a 2 win season at the moment. With that in mind, I’m going to go through the results in bunches and not stop for individual box scores unless things turn around quickly. If you do want to see stats for a particular game don’t hesitate to ask! Also of note is that we moved young guys like Francis Capers and Azaveus Frampton up the depth chart to help their development. Dublin is tank town now.
Weeks 9-12
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Vs Steelers L 17-21
Vs Giants W 31-14
Vs Eagles T 17-17
Vs Panthers L 14-28
We had hope for the briefest of moments, only to see it crushed just as swiftly. We blow out the NFL’s number one team in the Giants but go winless the rest of the way. We’re technically still in the playoff hunt, but barely. We resist the urge to tamper and instead keep the tank momentum going.
Weeks 10-15
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@ Bengals W 23-20
Vs Buccaneers T 14-14
@ Eagles W 28-10
We’re at 5-7-2 and wonder for a moment if the playoffs could happen, but a quick look shows that we are officially eliminated. If that tie with Tampa had been a win we’d have a shot but, alas, here we are. This season was one hell of a disappointment but all we can do is keep moving forward. This is still the same core of a team that was five points away from the Super Bowl, can we prove that this year was just an aberration?
Weeks 16-17
@ Giants L 17-34
@ Falcons L 23-35
The Browns narrowly beat the Lions in the Super Bowl and the world is upside down. We are slated for the 10th Overall pick and all we can do is attribute this as our gas leak year. It makes absolutely zero sense why we were this bad but we were. All we can do is try to get better and younger as we keep pushing forward. I am beyond distressed about this year but I’m gonna try and let it fall off my shoulder.
End of Season Recap:
This year was a nightmare and there is no way around it. I really thought this was going to be our year but it apparently wasn’t meant to be. We had a super tough schedule this year, which doesn’t help, but to only win 5 games was embarrassing. We had some encouraging season stats for some players, but also some very discouraging ones I’ll highlight here in a second. While we get blanked for awards this season, K-Dubs was actually right in the thick of it for the MVP so we got that going for us at least. He was strangely snubbed for the Pro Bowl but the following players did make the trip: Chase Young, Matthew Ioannidis and Kendall Fuller.
Our defense was ranked 25th in yards allowed and 17th in points allowed. Our offense was ranked slightly better but in a similar realm. The only unit that dropped in rating at all on defense was LB so my thought is that maybe the game rates that position particularly highly? With the offense it was little easier to find the problems, as I suspect you’ll see below:
Our running game just went to crap. Bacon had a horrible year but even in relief Dobbins didn’t do all that much better. I’m gonna focus on improving our Linemen’s run blocking in the hope that will at least help that problem. The worry that Bacon might be another Phillip Lindsay is ringing in my head though. Our TE production dropped, as expected, but Diontae Johnson more than made up for the drop off in my mind.
Our defense actually had a lot of good individual stats, so I’m still very confused at why we struggled so much. It’s encouraging to see how well Henderson and Capers played as we decided to let Ronald Darby walk. Darby was regressing way too fast and was no longer an asset to this team. Heading into the offseason getting defensive help is our main target. We’re in for at least another year of Bacon before we can cut bait so improving at LB and getting a CB of the future are our main priorities. We have a little bit of money we could spend in FA but decide against it. We’re gonna use our draft capital and get young studs. If we have major holes left on the team after, we will do what it takes to fill them in. Another losing season will simply not be tolerated.
The Draft
The prize of the draft this year is Akron great, CB Anthony Morris. Morris was a big part of leading Akron to it’s first National Title and is projected to go somewhere in the Top 5 picks. Looking at Fuller’s salary and regressing rating we make the tough decision of trading the Superstar and some of our significant Draft capital to garner the No. 3 Overall pick. Our hope is that we will be able to maneuver to grab Morris as well as another Day 1 starter at No. 10. You can watch the draft at the link below or skip ahead:
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WE DID IT!!! WE GOT THE GOAT!! Here’s a look at our two top ten picks:
Two day one starters at two positions of need, this was a hell of a haul for us y’all. The rest of the draft goes as follows:
2nd Round: Josiah Lawson - Utah - LE 70 OVR
3rd Round: Isaac Lamontagne - Washington State - RT 72 OVR
4th Round: Derek Devoe - North Dakota State - DT 71 OVR
5th Round: Tyson Rhodes - West Virginia - MLB 67 OVR
7th Round: Leon Brackenridge - Pittsburgh - RG 67 OVR (Hidden Dev rating)
Well, it didn’t take long for last years draft to be overshadowed. Even without including the two stud first round picks, this was the deepest draft we have ever seen. We got two instant starters and depth all across the board. With how rough of year we just had, this was a very sweet note to end it on.
Recap
This is what our lineup looks like heading into the season:
We’re a point better across the board with two rookie starters, something that is a very good sign for the franchise. We shifted Holcomb over to the middle and will likely try to ditch Reuben Foster. LB is certainly our biggest weakness on the team and guys like FA 77 OVR veteran MLB Bobby Wagner are very tempting signings. There’s no reason to think this team won’t be better this season but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in Year 4 it’s that you can never rest on your laurels. It’s Super Bowl or bust as far as I’m concerned, and we’ll do whatever it takes to get there.
Thank you all so so much for the support! This obviously wasn’t the season we wanted but I truly believe we are set up well for the future. Doing a one stream season wasn’t the plan, but I do think it was the right decision in terms of helping rush through the pain. Our next stream will be Monday at 7pm EST, tomorrow, and then we will take this Thursday off for the Holidays. You all have been an incredible community and I want to take this time to thank you all so so much for your support and to wish you all a very happy holiday season. In the spirit of the season I also want to share some links where you can help support some very dear friends of mine and even myself if you feel so inclined:
The Tipsy Bookworm - Online Bookstore
Happy Holidays Fam!