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2005
by Gerald Udowiczenko
Well NFL Europe started its 10th season, the weekend just gone (13/14 April) and the Scottish Claymores had a great start to the season, as they whopped FC Barcelona Dragons (who were at home) 45-17. That equalled the biggest score in an NFLE opening weekend and the biggest margin of victory. So maybe, the Claymores have a change of wining the World Bowl?
But in truth, since they kicked out the Bollocks, sorry Monarchs, I've lost any real interest and enthusiasm for NFLE. Though I will probably try and go to the final at Murryfield next season (2003).
Thanks as always to Brucey, Jon, Paul (Superbowl Champ) Richard (Superbowl Chump) and Mark for this weeks contributions. Richard would have sent in a lot more, but it seems the Yahoo! has been playing up of late. As always guys, many thanks.
PE @ BB
Gerald : A tough one to call as I doubt either
coach will really care about a pre-season game after last weeks results? But
the Eagles look the slightly strong team. Eagles by 3.
CL @ MV
Gerald : Both teams are coming off wins from the
Con Bow, but the Vikes win looked a lot more convincing. Vikes by 10.
SR @ DB
Gerald : One of the newest coaches against one
of the leagues oldest. I don't think the Rams have lost that much, but their
QB does look a little vulnerable, but only time will tell. Rams by 10.
MD @ WR
Gerald : Does Paul even know he's playing yet?
As I doubt he's come off Cloud Nine. Another good test for the Fish, as they
play another tough 'D'. But this time I think the Skins 'D' will be too strong
(unlike the Lions last week) and should force even more turnovers. Skins by
10.
TB @ PS
Gerald : It's a pre-season game so anything could
happen. Steelers by 3.
SF @ KC
Gerald : A good performance last week from the
Chiefs, but they will need to shore-up that 'D' if they're to get anywhere
this season and the 49ers should provide a good test. Chiefs by 3.
NJ @ DC
Gerald : The Jets have a good team and will be
hard to stop. The Boyz are still rebuilding. Jets by 10.
CI @ CB
Gerald : The Bengals squad is undersized and among
the smallest in the league and will struggle against the Bears, especially
after their solid performance last week. Bears by 10.
AF @ SS
Gerald : A good performance last week from both
teams should mean this will be a good test for each coach to see how their
team performs. Falcons by 3.
AC @ NE
Gerald : No comment, well it is Pre-Season after
all.
TT @ DL
Gerald : Both teams will be experimenting and especially
the Lions, as they now have a decent QB. So maybe we'll see an 'O' this year
from Detroit? Titans by 3.
OR @ NO
Gerald : A massive squad in Oakland has a lot to
live up to. I still think they're a couple of games away from showing us something.
Saints by 10.
by Graham Canwell (2004 Season Summary) |
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| I have compiled the Rammys for last season (and even if Graham does do a Rammy for week 20 it will not greatly effect the outcome. Other than to move Paul Spence into joint equal for Coach). Which makes an interesting read along with the End of Season Awards (ESA) towards the end of the Newsletter. The only real difference is that Washington didn't vote as highly in the ESA as the Rammys. |
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Offence | Minnesota (7) | Kansas City (6) Buffalo, Cincinnati, Denver & New Orleans (3). New England, N.Y. Jets, Philadelphia, St. Louis & Tennessee (2). Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay & Washington (1) |
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| Defence | Washington (7) | Detroit (5) Miami (4) Chicago, Cleveland, New England, N.Y. Jets & Philadelphia (3). Buffalo & Oakland (2). Atlanta, Denver, Pittsburgh, San Francisco & St. Louis (1). |
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| Coach | Guard (MD), Heath (PE) & Whitfield (MV) (4). |
Horne (CL), Purrington (NJ) & Spence (WR) (3). Currie (KC), Daniels (SF), Dilworth (NS), Dixon (PS), Henderson(DL), Meskill (AF) & Udowiczenko (NE) (2). Carruthers (DB), Gamble (TN), D Jones (TB), Ogg (BB) & Parratt (CH) (1). |
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| The Diddley | Denver (4) | Bills (3) Washington (2) Atlanta, Chicago, Cincinnati, Oakland, San Francisco, Seattle & St. Louis (1). |
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Gerald to Richard : Looks like one of us had better decide whom Antowain Smith is playing for?
Gerald to Richard : Hope the message to Paul Spence is something like what you wanted to say?
Gerald to Paul S : Well done. Well I guess now you'll never win another play-off game again? Now that you've used up all you luck in one season ( I at least I'm doing it slowly.
Gerald to Brucey : A bit of a slappin last week wasn't it? What happened to you 'D'?
Brucey to Paul S : Well done on your historic victory. You realise of course that you are now rated as the strongest team in the league. No that everyone will be out to get you or anything !
Brucey to NFC Central : Good luck, division rivals. Hope you don't ALL beat me this year.
Brucey to SPLATT : Well done on predicting correctly EVERY post-season result!! I guess those that got it wrong used their hearts and not their heads :o)
Brucey to All : I think this season is going to be quite fun.
Paul Spence to All : Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes during the playoffs. I can't tell you how good it feels to finally win a playoff game. But to win the whole thing was fantastic.
Paul Spence to Brucey : Come on then. It's your turn now. Go SPLATT.
Paul Spence to Gerald : Having lost so many playoff games in the past it'll take a while to even break even in post season play so that's my next target.
Paul Spence to Mark : Dun 'im :o)
Paul Spence to All : Aint life grand?
Jon to Paul Spence : Congratulations! You've done damn well to win it this year. I'll be even more impressed if you can retain it though. At least your luck held out.
Jon to Julian : That was one hell of a messy game. Same gameplan I used in the NFC Championship, by the way. 3-3 until the last play of the game, and that opportunity from a turnover. Ugly.
Jon to All : This promises to be the most competitive season on record. We also seem to have larger squads overall than ever before as well.
Jon to Dean : Dean - if you're still there, what are you doing? Why did you take the QB in the draft instead of an LB? I don't understand!
Richard to Paul Spence : Congratulations! Well done, if you hadn't been playing me, I would have been rooting for you myself.
Mark to Paul : Well done on the SB. Now the difficult bit - Defending it :)
Mark to Gerald : I find it hard to really not care about any game! Play to win or don't play at all...
Mark to All : Steelers ROCK! (until early in the morning, which probably explains some of the dire performances we've turned out recently...)
Mark to All : anyone want a RB? Hardly used, only dropped once.
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| Game Review - View from the Capital | ||
| by Paul Spence | ||
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The first quarter was a story of defenses asserting themselves. Both sides forced fumbles but the offenses recovered and it was an interception, which gave Buffalo the first good field position to launch an attack. Up stepped the Redskins 'D' to force a couple of penalties but with the first big Offensive play of the game Buffalo converted a 2nd and 22 to set up a 44 yd FG attempt which failed. The Redskins, starting on their own 34, had a scare when Larry Bowie got nailed catching a pass over the middle and fumbled. After recovering though, they drove downfield having to go to the ground when the aerial threat seemed ineffective. The second quarter began with the Redskins finishing their drive with a 2 yard Bowie TD. Thwarting the Bills for 3 and out set up good field position again leading to another score, a 6 yard pass. Feeling in control at this point, 14-0 up against one of the best offenses in the league, the Redskins dropped their guard and paid the price as the Bills passing game kicked into high gear with an 80 yard drive culminating in a 4 yard run by Rob Johnson. Responding to this, the Redskins special teams chipped in with a 31 yard kick return, setting up a 57 yard drive for a 5 yard Bowie TD, his second of the night rounding out a great first half for the 'skins. |
The second half started somewhat similarly to the first with traded possessions leading to the Bills this time receiving the better field position and capitalising. The passing game doing the work to set up a 2 yard Johnson TD run. Working downfield following the kick, the 'skins found themselves facing 4th and 4 on the Bills 19 yard line. After kicking the 36yarder the Bills made their own special teams big play with a 31 yard return. 6 plays later Johnson found a secondary receiver wide open in the end zone for a 13 yard TD and closed to just 3 points behind. Coach Spence was looking decidedly rattled going into the final quarter as the nerves of his first Bowl game started to show and it took an interception from his 'D' giving the ball back on the Bills 22 to calm him, although the Bills held them to a FG. Another vital interception at the 'skins 9 ended another long drive from the Bills. A 33 yard FG rounded out the scoring for the 'skins 30-21. |
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Mini Camp | |
| by Mark Dixon | ||
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We've taken the decision to let Chris Fuamata (RB) go. No one could pronounce his surname so the assistants and I had to let him go. The OC has moved all our WRs around and the DC has given 2nd year NCB Chad Scott a lot of track time recently which has improved his 40 (yard dash) time (and trained him in DPL!). He's going to start at RCB with 7 year corner Dewayne Washington to spend more time on the bench. Bloody Bengals! |
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| A Wild West Shoot-Out
! (Or History of NFL Team Nicknames) |
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The nickname refers to William F. Cody, who was known as "Buffalo Bill." Buffalo had a football team called the Bisons, but the city's minor league baseball and hockey teams had the same name. The football team held a contest to select a new nickname following the 1946 season. More than 4,500 entries were submitted and Bills beat out Bullets, Nickels and Blue Devils. |
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George Marshall headed a syndicate that purchased an NFL team for Boston in 1933. The team would play at the home of baseball's Boston Braves so it adopted the same name. The following year, the Braves moved to Fenway Park and changed their name to the Redskins. The name remained when the team moved to Washington in 1937. |
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Were there you have it, the History of why the Bills & Skins are called what they are. I'll be doing two histories every week (one from the AFC & NFC) for the coming season (2005). However if you can't wait for it and need to know now, why your beloved team is called what they are? Have a look at the following link : http://www.houstontexans.com/history/general.cfm?cont_id=26735 |
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| End of Season Awards - 2004 ( as voted for by the coaches of NFLAB ) |
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| Previous Seasons results in brackets. | ||||
| Best Offence (Rams) | Vikings : 4 Browns : 2 |
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| Best Defence (Redskins) | Lions : 3 Eagles : 2 Redskins : 1 |
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| Best Team (Redskins) | Vikings : 4 Eagles : 1 |
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| Best Coach (Canwell - SR) | Whitfield (MV) : 3 Canwell (SR), Purrington (NJ) & Dilworth (NO) : 1 |
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| Best Rookie Coach (Horne - CL) | Dixon (PS) : 4 Dilworth (NO) : 2 |
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| Most Improved Team (Browns) | Vikings & Saints : 2 Steelers & Jets : 1 |
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| Most disappointing team (Jets) | Patriots : 2 Bears, Lions, Seahawks & Titans : 1 |
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Most Hated Coach (Graham Canwell) |
Graham Canwell : 3 Dean Garrod & Mark Dixon : 1 |
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| Worst Team (New) | Cardinals : 3 Titans : 1 |
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| Pre-Season Predictions | ||
| by Jon Heath | ||
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East |
Yet again the AFC East is extremely tough. The Jets did well last year with a relatively weak squad and this season they've got the strongest playing squad in the division. The reigning AFC champs, the Bills, are at the opposite end of the scale. All the coaches deserve respect and I feel this division could possibly produce both W/C teams again. 1st - Jets. |
| Central |
Coach Dixon proved to be an inspiration to the Steelers when he took over last season and has the benefit of the best squad in the division. We all know that coach Horne's Browns deserve respect and despite a relatively weak defensive line, they'll challenge for the post season. Of the other two coaches I don't know enough, so it's 1st - Steelers. |
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| West |
It's been a big transition in coaching staff for this division, though the Raiders have one of the biggest squads I can ever recall, to their credit. Coach Stevens has a hard act to follow as his predecessor (despite poor results last season) had one of the best records in the league. I continually predict the Chiefs to return to past glories and though they produce the yards they don't get the results, so I'm not going to this season. 1st - Raiders. |
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East |
What can I say? We've got the reigning Champs, Cunningham in his final season, an all pro coach with an excellent squad and a Cards team lacking 2 LBs and an OL. The fight for the first 3 places is going to be tough, but I fancy the 'Skins to have gained that extra bit of confidence from their Superbowl win. 1st - Redskins. |
| Central |
The Central has gained an excellent coach in Paul Macguire, who will certainly throw down the gauntlet to last year's 16-0 Vikings. The Vikes still look very strong and the Lions have the skills on offence to do some damage if Bruce can work out a decent strategy. I'm sure their D will still be scary. This leaves the Buccs with a mountain to climb. 1st - Bears. |
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| West |
The Rams are, as ever, very strong. This year their squad looks good as well. The Saints will be a serious threat to anybody, the Falcons nearly rediscovered their old form last year and the 49ers are no pushover. This is probably the toughest division in the NFC and possibly the toughest in the league. A very hard one to call, but... 1st - Rams. |
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| You may have noticed that I haven't predicted the W/Cs for the NFC. That's because I really don't have a clue, though you may say that about my predictions as a whole! | ||
| Last Season Predictions |
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At the start of last season three of us tried to predict the Divisional Winners and Wild Cards, Championship Finalist and Superbowl Champion. Below are those wild guesses and in some cases they’ll weren’t too far out, other than for the Patriots :o) |
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Richard Ogg East |
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Graham Canwell East |
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Gerald Udowiczenko East |
Web Sites
Don't forget to visit the following sites :
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/gameplan
(Though please note that you now need a Yahoo! ID to assess this, as it
is now in Groups and not Clubs)
www.endzone1.co.uk
brucey.net/nflab/
Well that it for this week. Here's to a great new season and that we all live up to our potential.
The Editor can be contacted at magestones@yahoo.co.uk, or for mails with attachments, magestones@aol.com
The NFLAB website takes no responsibility for any errors in the newsletter, spelling or otherwise. Any problems, feel free to get in touch with the editor, who will be happy to help. Right Gerald ?