Year 6: Owner Matt tries to reclaim the narrative as our Shamrocks overcome adversity
Will last year's nightmare leave a permanent stain on the franchise?
The Irish Times isn’t as friendly to Owner Matt these days, at least not as much as it once was. At the end of Year 4 it was as if the Florida native could do no wrong, everything he touched in Ireland inevitably turned to gold. Every editorial written about the Shamrocks carried with it an undertone of constant praise for the eccentric owner. After last year’s disastrous results though, the narrative was becoming something entirely different. Monikers such as “The American Clown” and “The Dunce of Dublin” had started to be floated around all too casually. How quickly the City had forgotten that Owner Matt was the very reason they had a football team in the first place. Their reverence had been forgotten, and in its place resided discontent for the product being marched onto the field.
Owner Matt remained shockingly calm through the turn in fortunes. He believed in the team he had assembled and believed that Kliff Kingsbury was still the man to turn them into a more consistent, dangerous product on the field. After having been completely overwhelmed by the pressure of coming off a NFC title game appearance a year prior, Owner Matt actually found some comfort in the lowered expectations. Sure the March of the Shamrocks was little a more awkward, the trip to the Blarney Stone met with more jeers, but Owner Matt was rarely seen without a smile on his face. There was a change in the air, and he could sense it. The whole world betting against him is right where he faired best.
The Shamrocks were about to shock the world once again, he could feel it, and nothing would convince him otherwise. His days as the Dunce of Dublin were ending but his days as the Hero of Ireland were only beginning. It was time to ‘Rock.
As a reminder, here is how our Lineup looked coming into the season:
Our team is hitting its prime which means we can no longer afford to wait until “next year”. With that mindset in mind we end up signing 77 OVR Superstar MLB Bobby Wagner to anchor the middle of our defense. This lets us use Holcomb as a depth piece and also let us shed Reuben Foster’s salary. Foster is one of our last ties to the Washington Franchise which made the move tough, but it was necessary. Wagner is a major upgrade for us, even if he’ll only hold the spot for a couple seasons, and will also be the perfect mentor for rookie starter Greg Hoskins.
This is a roster with very few holes on it, even if it’s not exceptional at every position, and I feel confident that, at least on paper, we will out rank almost every team in the NFL. What happens in practice is a whole other predicament.
Week 1 vs Raiders
We rank a full five points better in overall than the Raiders which bodes very well for us. This should be the perfect game to get ourselves back on track. Let’s go ‘Rocks
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How does this even happen? I am floored by this result and more confused than anything else. Factoring this loss in with last years, we seem to consistently lose games we should win and I just don’t understand why? Bacon picks up right where he left off last season by struggling mightily and our offense just can’t get anything going. Maybe Bacon truly is holding out entire offense back? Washington doesn’t exactly light it up but he does avoid any turnovers which is promising.
Week 2 @ Chargers
We’re once again favored but I have a sick feeling in my stomach. We HAVE to avoid going 0-2, I can’t handle another losing season.
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A win’s a win, but holy hell. Our offense reigns supreme as our defense tries to slow down perennial Pro Bowlers Justin Herbert. I’m not one to question wins, but we were rated quite a bit higher than the Chargers. The game should not have been this close and I begin toying with the idea of super simming every game in order to get a better eye on what’s happening. K-Dubs had an elite level game and Bacon played solidly, so those are two very encouraging things at least. Regardless, we’re 1-1 with a division game against the Giants on deck. Here’s hoping we break into the winning record club.
Week 3 @ Giants
This is a major game for us and the first time we’ll get see our Irish Lads in action this season. Here’s hoping we like what we see and that we can take control of the Division race early. Let’s go ‘Rocks!
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WE’RE FIRST IN THE DIVISION BABY! This game was tighter than it should’ve been as we yet again struggle in the redzone. That being said, we moved the ball pretty strongly all day and Bacon had close to 100 total yards. K-Dubs threw for just under 200 yards but added 58 yards and a TD on the ground. Our defense recovered three separate fumbles on the day and we have to be happy with the win. The Giants had the best record in the league last season which makes this win even more impressive.
The Ohio State Backs showing off their skills
K-Dubs with the signature Slide
K-Dubs with some, uh, "interesting" technique
Week 4 @ 49ers
We’re 2-1 and I’m feeling better about the direction we’re heading. Bacon has had two solid weeks in a row and the difference was felt by the rest of our offense. Let’s keep the momentum going!
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Our team continues to love odd scoring games but we win and that’s all that matter. K-Dubs has a strong day as a dual-threat QB and Bacon has 115 total yards. Bacon seems to have responded well to the rant I directed at him earlier in the season and the Shamrocks move to 3-1. We do make the decision to start super-simming non watched games moving forward in an effort to get more realistic scores. We’ll see if it makes a difference but we figure it’s worth a try!
Week 5 vs Eagles
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HELL YEAH! LET’S GO ‘ROCKS! We’re 4-1 with two division wins under our belt. Bacon puts up 158 total yards on the day and is really stepping into his own as an all-purpose back. K-Dubs adds 55 yards on the ground and Dobbins pitches in another 33. I never anticipated cultivating such a strong rushing attack when we switched to the Air Raid but I’m not complaining. Let’s keep our momentum going!
P.S: The benefit of supersimming games is we were able to jump in to see our boys seal the win.
Week 6 vs Vikings
The Vikings are a strong team with a lethal rushing attack, can we hold our own and match our win total from a year ago?
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We sure can, and we do it with authority. K-Dubs totals over 400 yards and 3 TD’s on the day but the real star of the day is Jamal Bacon. Bacon puts together 206 total yards, 153 of them coming through the air, and 2 TD’s. Bacon has to be the most improved player in the NFL this season and the connection between him and K-Dubs is something to be feared. At 5-1 won we have already won as many games as we did a season go and have the best record in the NFL. These ‘Rocks are reclaiming their story in a truly beautiful way.
Week 7 @ Broncos
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We’re 6-1 friends, the Shamrocks are 6-1! Bacon has 139 total yards and 2 TDs on the day as he leads us to a tough fought win against the Broncos. K-Dubs has three TDs of his own and our defense keeps a motivated Drew Lock in check. Good teams find a way to win, and the Shamrocks are proving that they are still a good team. We sit atop the NFL but only a game ahead in our Division race, sound familiar? One more win and the Shamrocks will tie their first 8 games record from two years ago and all of the sudden the Irish Times editorials are starting to turn a lot more friendly. ‘Rocks nation, our time is now!
Week 8 vs Cowboys
Dallas isn’t dominating the division like they used to but they are still a very dangerous opponent. A win here would put us at 7-1 and tie our record from that magical season in Year 4. I’m cautiously optimistic about our chances here but you never know. You can watch the game at the link below:
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Tough, tough loss. We had a chance to take the lead at the end but just couldn’t do it. K-Dubs has 431 total yards on the day and yet our offense only puts up 11 points. Our Redzone woes continue to be the main downfall of this team and I have no idea how to change that. It’s tempting to blame K-Dubs’ 3 TOs for the loss but one of those came in desperation and, with the amount of drops on the day, it’s hard for me in good conscience to throw too much blame his way. I think this loss is just one we have to eat and hope doesn’t happen again. There were a lot of bizarre plays that simply can’t be explained, some of which can be seen below. We’re 6-2 and atop the division, I ain’t mad.
You make this throw though?!?!
Recap
We’re 6-2 and tied for 1st in the NFC East with the Eagles, life is good again y’all. That Dallas game should’ve been ours but that’s just how it goes sometimes. We have the best record in the NFC as well but with a whole host of teams only one game behind. It seems there is a lot more parity in the NFL these days which means we can’t afford to lose focus for even a second.
On top of our team success there are also a lot of individual storylines we should be very proud of. K-Dubs is on pace for 4000 yards passing and 760 yards rushing, which puts him at 9th in the current MVP race and 5th in the NFC POTY race. I really think K-Dubs will only get better in the second half of the season which could lead to some big honors heading his way.
The much maligned Jamal Bacon is on pace for 1743 total yards in his second season and has completely changed the narrative of his career. Something seems to have just clicked for the former Buckeye star as he is become a, if not THE, key cog for our offense. If Bacon continues this uptick in production he might find himself with some postseason honors of his own.
Rookie CB Anthony Morris is currently running way with the DROTY award and could become the third Akron Zip in history to get ROTY honors, behind K-Dubs and Vikings HB Jared Oliver. One of Morris’s main competitors is fellow Shamrocks’ rookie Gregory Hoskins. We’ve had to let go of quite a few aging defensive stars these past few seasons, so having two rookie starters preforming so well is a major boon for this team. The young core of this team looks extremely promising and the regression cliff looks a hell of a lot less threatening.
Team wise our defense is back to being a top ten unit, 9th in yards allowed and 2nd in points allowed, but our offense has continued it’s streaky reputation. Our offense has put up the 8th most yards in the league but the 28th fewest points. We have to find some sort of way to improved our redzone offense and the idea of a new playbook does linger in my head. At 6-2 though, those are problems for another day. This team is picking up where it left off two seasons ago and proving that last year was an aberration. The ‘Rocks are back baby, and I believe they are here to stay!
I hope everyone is having a very enjoyable Holiday season! The Shamrocks are looking good again which makes these newsletters much easier to write. As always, thank you all so much for the support it truly means the world to me! My schedule might be changing here in the next month or so which could affect my streaming schedule but, for now, we’re back to normal. Next stream will be this Monday at 7 PM EST followed by another one on Thursday. Happy Holidays friends and let’s go ‘Rocks!