New York clinched the East a few weeks ago and are now fighting for a 1st round bye. New Jersey was expected to be a contender but the Generals can't seem to win close games, as they are just 2-6 when the game is within one score. The Generals will also be starting their 3rd QB of the season tonight, newly acquired free agent Ernest Simmon. Simmon was a disaster in Arizona, and that's putting it nicely but with both Ric Flair and James Wright getting older, and quite frankly, not very effective, why not take a chance with the season already in the tank. Simmon will be making that start against Boston and their #1 pass defense, so good luck. As good as the Breakers pass defense is, their run defense and entire offense have not performed well for the most part, hence their 3-9-2 record. The Breakers are still a much better team than a couple seasons ago when they were complete pushovers, as is Philadelphia. The Bell still need to find ways to score more points on offense and get off the field on defense.
New York Stars (11-3) New York had nearly 41 minutes of possession against Philadelphia Week 13 as they ran 45 times for 204 yards. William Hall ran for 101 yards and 3 TDs as the Stars led the Bell 17-0 after a quarter of play. Philadelphia could manage just 168 yards for the game. Week 14 was a home date with Tony Dean and the Houston Gamblers, and the Stars were rude hosts, shutting out the Gamblers offense for 3 and a half quarters. Houston, trailing 9-3, turned the ball over on downs to leave New York in immediate FG range and they extended the lead to 12-3. That was huge as Dean found Hugh Chance for a long TD to cut the lead to 12-9 but the 2 point try and onside kick failed, enabling New York to hold on for the win.
New Jersey Generals (5-9) I'm not going to recap my games again, already did that on my opponent's blog section. It's been a frustrating season as this team just can't win close games this year. Despite the benching of Ric Flair, he is still my QB1 going into next season as of now but I was trying to get a spark like I did with my Russia team in World League. Wright's stats look better than Flair's but it didn't translate into wins, so we'll see if a change of scenery does Simmon any good.
Boston Breakers (3-9-2) James Nash had a 72 yard TD run to start the Week 13 scoring and the Breakers won the second half over Florida to turn a 7-7 halftime tie into a 13-7 victory. Nash ended the game with 122 rushing yards on 11 carries. In Week 14's 20-20 tie with San Antonio, Nash broke the 100 yard mark again thanks to a long TD run to finish with 103 yards on 12 carries. Boston never had the lead against the Gunslingers but they never let them get more than 7 points ahead either. Boston got a 68 yard TD pass from Joseph Haight to Thomas Ballard inside the 2 minute warning to tie the game and sent it to the puntfest that was overtime.
Philadelphia Bell (3-11) Week 13 was a 31-3 loss to the New York Stars, recapped above. Week 14 against Memphis, QB Robert Hernandez completed 27/29 passes for just 209 yards. I have noticed a few high % low yardage games from Hernandez so maybe a sacrifice of some completions in an attempt for bigger plays might spark this offense into scoring more. Defensively the Bell had their struggles against these 2 teams going to the playoffs, but they finish the season against Shreveport (5-9) and Boston.
