Year 9 Continued: You May Perish, but We Will Survive
The Shamrocks hope to pull off a Playoff run.
Hey friends! Welcome back to the adventures of your beloved Dublin Shamrocks. I have released a flurry of newsletters the past few days in an attempt to catch up to the streams so I wanted to put a quick disclaimer that this is for the second part of Year 9. If you missed the previous newsletters I have linked them below:
Just wanted to link those just in case someone was accidentally spoiled. With that out of the way…Let’s F’in Rock!!!
*
*
*
*
*
The festive spirit among Shamrock’s fans these days is undeniable, but so is a sense of hesitation. The Shamrocks started off 8-1 but went 3-4 down the stretch. It is a great feeling to be back in the playoffs but many Dubliners can’t help but wonder if the ‘Rocks aren’t destined to be a one and done team. Allen was leading the MVP race halfway through the year but fell out of the competition altogether by the years end as it now looks like a three man race between Jalen Hurts, Kenneth “K-Dubs” Washington and Gardner Minshew II. Can a slumping QB really lead the Shamrocks on a run?
K-Dubs being an MVP candidate has only furthered lowered what should be all-time high morale among the Dublin fanbase. Owner Matt has brushed all the doubt to the side though. The enigmatic Shamrocks Owner has become absolutely bullish in his talks about the Shamrocks, stating that a Super Bowl is the expectation. He was asked to comment further during the playoff celebration on Oliver Boatman’s houseboat but he simply offered a pithy statement he insisted was passed down to him from his father, “Others may perish, but we will survive.” It didn’t make a whole lot of sense but Boatman throws a hell of a party so what did we expect?
Wildcard Round vs Carolina (10-6)
We have made it back to the promised land friends and we are not looking to go home any time soon. The Panthers are led by a young promising QB in 3rd year man Nicholas Wood but lack any true stars due to the retirement of Christian McCaffrey. Our coverage has been a problem all year though, so I make a tough switch right before the game. We move Cordaveus Campbell up to the number 2 CB spot and make Frampton the starting FS. This means McKinney will serve as a reserve DB much like he did when he first came to the Shamrocks. It is a ballsy move but it’s the kind of full measure move we need if we want to make noise in the Playoffs. It is a sold out game in Dublin and our boys are out for blood. You can watch the game here.
*
*
*
*
*
DIVISIONAL ROUND HERE WE COME!!!!!! Allen completes 88% of his passes for 278 yards 2 TDs and 0 turnovers. Bacon puts up 145 total yards and our defense holds the Panthers to 3 FGs on the day. This game was a tougher battle than the score made it look but I am damn proud of these boys. The Panthers had the top ranked defense in the league coming into this matchup but we didn’t even care.
K-Dubs and the Broncos also advance to the next round on the AFC side of the bracket. Big dreams begin to form in my mind.
Divisional Round @ San Francisco
The Shamrocks now turn their attention to an incredibly talented 49ers team. They had the #3 ranked defense in the NFL and are led by 8th year QB Daniel St. Louis. St. Louis hasn’t been mentioned much in this series but he has been a solid QB for almost a decade now. He has begun to regress but has been to 2 Pro Bowls and somehow managed to win the MVP a season ago after being narrowly beat his first few seasons in the league. He knows how much a playoff run could do for his legacy but the Shamrocks couldn’t care less. This is our year. You can watch the game here.
*
*
*
*
*
ITS A BLOWOUT!!!! We are back to the NFC Title Game my friends. We have never made it past the NFC title round but this is our third appearance in the series. Allen throws for 314 yards and 3 TDs on 69% completion. Waddell has 7 catches for 129 yards and 2 TDs while TE Nick Mann has 9 catches for 124 yards and a TD. Boatman adds 3 sacks on the day, because of course he does, and we move onto the next round.
The Fake FG that let us gain a Vice Grip on the game
On the AFC side K-Dubs advances again and takes on Buck Lamb and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC championship game. If you all remember, Buck Lamb won the Heisman over K-Dubs in college but went in the 3rd round the year we drafted K-Dubs. Both of them have had their careers not always go how they wanted them to but now sit on the precipice of glory. There are a lot of storylines in this one.
NFC Championship vs Detroit
We now face MVP favorite Jalen Hurts and the Detroit Lions for the second time this season. The Lions were a 9-7 team which makes their run a real Cinderella story. We won the first matchup by a measly 4 points but Hurts is hungry for the second Super Bowl title of his career. Helping us combat Hurts is the return of Chase Young to the lineup. Hurst played incredible in Young’s absence but Young was having a DPOTY caliber season before his injury and you have to roll with the potential HOF DE. Dublin is hosting this game and you know the Shamrock faithful are going to turn out big time for this one. You can, and should, watch the game here.
*
*
*
*
*
MY HEART. WHAT. A. GAME. One of the best games I have ever seen on this stream and the unshakeable 2nd year man Chester Allen takes us to the Super Bowl. I HIGHLY encourage watching this game. Allen goes for 289 yards 3 TDs and 1 INT on an unreal 89% click. Bacon runs for 124 yards on the day and our defense does just enough to contain Jalen Hurts who throws for 171 and adds 101 yards on the ground.
Best play in our series history PERIOD
Kenneth Murray and Anthony Morris make the last play to seal the win for us and I can barely breathe. The Lions drove all the way down to field goal range with almost no time left but Murray lays the big hit on Hurts and Morris immediately picks it up. We tragically lose Beck for the Super Bowl but back up receiver Glenn Richardson came in and caught a big time TD for us. I can barely believe what is happening friends. WE ARE GOING TO THE BIG GAME!! THE DUBLIN SHAMROCKS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!
No one can doubt Dublin any longer as we head on to face Buck Lamb and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the biggest game of them all. K-Dubs does what he can but the Broncos struggled down the stretch which denied us the chance to play the old face of our Franchise. I’ll take the Jags though. Playing against the man I created to be K-Dubs rival and my real life favorite team seems almost poetic. It is time for us to achieve our destiny.
Super Bowl vs Jacksonville
The time has come and I don’t even know what to do with myself. This has been a 9 year journey but here we are. I’ve appreciated all of your support and guidance through this series and now it’s time for us to be rewarded. I find myself thinking of the greats who helped get us here, even if they aren’t on the team anymore. Monte Sweat, Matthew Ioannidis, Steven Sims, K-Dubs, Bobby Wagner, Da’Ron Payne, Tiny and so many others this one is for you. Terry McLaurin, Chase Young, Solomon Murray, Thaddeus Craft, Jimmy Carpenter and the rest of the veterans on this team this one is for you. Dublin nation, let’s go get this title. Come watch the game here.
*
*
*’
*
*
I am speechless. We just won the whole damn thing. I thought we would make some noise this season but I never could have predicted this. We threw a pick early and held a measly one point lead at the half but proceeded to shut down Matt Patricia and the Jaguars for almost the entire second half. Buck Lamb has a hell of a day but Allen’s 3 TDs, Bacons 92 yards and an inspired effort by our defense were simply too much for the Jaguars to overcome. Glenn Richardson, who came in for an an injured Beck last week and had a crucial TD catch, absolutely exploded. Richardson had 5 catches for 86 yards and a TD which is a massive day for a a veteran 4th string WR. Allen takes home Super Bowl MVP honors but, honestly, they could’ve gone to any one of our guys. Enjoy some of the highlights from the win and our ensuing celebration below.
Reserve WR Richardson is a SB hero
Perfect ball placement to Richardson
Dixon had a hell of a Playoff run
Wrap-up and Recap
There are so many things we could reflect on here and it is tempting to go through all of them. Before I share the season stats I did want to reflect on two particularly impressive stat lines throughout the playoffs, something the game doesn’t track. Chester Allen threw for 1,101 11 TDs and 2 INTs throughout the playoffs. That give him a rating of roughly 133 which is a full 13 points higher than the next closest player in NFL postseason history. Legends save their best football for the playoffs and Allen, in only his second season, did just that.
In a similar hero turn Waddell racked up 358 yards and 5 TDs in the playoffs. When we traded Billups for Waddell it was largely seen as a low level roster management move but Waddell has turned into a bona fide superstar. Waddell’s run clocks in as the 8th most yards in a single postseason and is tied for the 3rd most TDs behind only Larry Fitzgerald and Jerry Rice.
Here are the Year End Stats for the Regular Season:
There are so many players to highlight, as one would expect for a Super Bowl season, but we’ll start with the awards. Allen fell out of the race for MVP hard in the second half of the season but at least finished 7th in the POTY race. K-Dubs finishes second in the MVP and wins the AFC OPOTY so good for him, we’ll keep Allen though. Boatman finishes 2nd in the DPOY race and Murray finishes 3rd. I personally feel we were robbed there but what are you gonna do? Boatman does win DL of the year and Stamer wins his 2nd KOTY award in three seasons. We don’t win any other awards but we have a whole lot of guys who come close. We also have three different receivers who ended up in the top 10 for Best WR, exemplifying just how well we spread the ball.
Super Bowl players don’t compete in the Pro Bowl so it’s a little more difficult to figure what players technically made it from our team. We know at the very least though that Chester Allen, Kenneth Murray, Jimmy Carpenter, Oliver Boatman and Zach Stamer made it. I believe Anthony Morris made it as well.
You can pretty much name a player at this point and I could go on about how well they played. You can see the stats for yourself and just how eye popping they are across the board. For that reason I am gonna highlight two players who didn’t have incredible numbers. With Bonner’s injury in the preseason 3rd Year man Derek Devoe and 3rd Year man Josiah Lawson were forced to split time manning the 2nd DT spot all season. Drafted in the 4th and 2nd rounds respectively, both men had been absolutely buried on the depth chart their entire careers. While it is unlikely either man starts again, barring injury, their consistent play was just enough to let other defenders shine and keep us together as we climbed to the title. Lawson and Devoe were the unsung heroes of this season.
I want to once again thank all of Shamrock nation for your unwavering support. This win was for all of us. I truly thought we would’ve achieved glory sooner but it feels more special because of how hard we had to work for it. We pulled off a soft rebuild over the past two years and the fruit really paid off quick. We won it for Dublin and wewon it for each other. We are Super Bowl champions and no one can take that away from us.
——————————————————————————————————————
The streets of Dublin are flooded in chaos, but in a good way. The security force tasked with keeping the peace has long since become intoxicated on Guinness and Harp as the roars of celebration can be heard across the globe. The Super Bowl parade has caused absolute pandemonium and people are loving it. The more wealthy supporters of the Shamrocks stand posted on Shipping containers they paid big bucks to rent out in the middle of the water. The Blarney Stone has been inexplicably placed in the middle of Dublin and local pub owners are giving away free booze. The Shamrocks have won the Super Bowl and no one can take it away. Any who doubted Dublin’s ability to become a football city can doubt no longer.
All of the sudden silence breaks out across the town, seemingly all at once. Attention turns to a large houseboat on the water as an unassuming 5’11 man decked in a Boatman jersey walks to a mic situated on the top deck. That man is of course none other than Owner Matt, the quirky man who brought football to this beautiful county. The team had chosen Boatman’s house as their base of operations in the parade and fans had been waiting all day for Owner Matt to speak. The entire team comes out behind Owner Matt except for Greg Hoskins, who at some point swum back to shore to get more beer and hadn’t been heard from since.
Owner Matt grabbed the mic, took a deep breath, and with a sly smile uttered, “Let’s F’in Rock.”
The crowd went absolutely berserk and it was a good ten minutes before the owner was able to speak again. Grabbing the mic once more, Owner Matt launched into one of his famous talks,
“We did it my friends. We really did it. People said I was crazy when I pitched relocating to Dublin, told me it would never work. One local paper in particular, not to name names but screw you Steven, wrote how I was in way over my head and would soon be called the “Dunce of Dublin”. Well this Dunce just won the damn title and Dublin is the center of the football universe,” more applause rang out as Owner Matt continued to speak,
“It took so many little moments to get us to this big one. I think of the time I publicly reamed out the team for not making the Playoffs only to find out we made it. That moment gave our guys mental toughness. I remember when Kliff Kingsbury first started finding furniture burned on his lawn, that helped keep the prick on his toes. I think of little Ricky’s perfect flip to Stamer against the 49ers that set the tone for entire playoff run. This massive moment for us was not a fluke, but the by product of everything we’ve worked for to get here. To the guys like Ionnaidis, Sims and K-Dubs who helped us get here we thank you. To the guys like Boatman, Waddell and Allen who ended up being much better versions of those players we thank you even more.”
Owner Matt felt emotion begin to overcome him and stopped his speech. A comforting pat from his Strength and Conditioning coach Liam Neeson was all he needed though to regain his resolve. Tears in his eyes, Owner Matt spoke once more,
“May the term “aggressively average” never fit us again. This win was for all of us, this win was BECAUSE of all of us. We’re the best damn team in the world and no one can take that from us, not even Kliff. Some one get me a beer and let’s do this again next year! Let’s fuckin’ Rock!”
No one quite knows what happened after that point as all evidence of what transpired in Dublin that evening was deleted. Suffice to say, much beer was poured and much rocking was had. The Dublin Shamrocks are you Super Bowl Champions.
——————————————————————————————————————
Thank you all so much for reading! Feel free to comment below with your favorite memories/players and have a very happy Super Bowl Sunday. We finish up the regular season Year 10 on Monday and then I will do one big write up including recruiting. I want us to savor this moment though. We did it y’all, the Shamrocks have won!
Any new posts arriving soon?