Any Given Sunday - The Journey Continues

[MMastro92]

Giants seem like they blew a tire after a strong start. Hopefully they the Cowgirls and get back on track to a playoff birth!

[LordTC]

What version of OOTP are these set up for, I'm having some import issues I need to work out with my quickstart. Thanks so much for the help.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by LordTC

What version of OOTP are these set up for, I'm having some import issues I need to work out with my quickstart. Thanks so much for the help.

I know that the schedules and things will work with previous versions. The quickstart was created in 15, I believe the second patch. I'm not too familiar about if that makes a difference with the quickstarts or not? What version are you running?

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by MMastro92

Giants seem like they blew a tire after a strong start. Hopefully they the Cowgirls and get back on track to a playoff birth!

Losing to the Falcons last week definitely hurt. They'll be closing out the season with divisional matchups - in Dallas, at home against Washington, and on the road in Philly, so the next few weeks are definitely going to be key for their playoff chances.

[NYY #23]

ABC East

Things remain tied up in the ABC East with the Bills and Patriots having identical 10-4 records. The Bills went on the road and beat the Vikings 4-3 this week behind a 6 hitter by Zach Graziano. Brian Harner drove in 3 runs on 2 hits for the Bills. They remain tied with the Patriots, who beat the Broncos in 10 innings with a 3 run tenth. Abner Dalrymple packed up 3 hits and scored 2 runs for the Patriots. The Bills and Patriots will face off in the first of the big Week 16 games next week.

ABC North

Every team in the ABC North won this week meaning the Ravens remain in first place after a complete game shutout by Jim Britt. The Ravens got their offense tonight from Dave Foutz and Lou Sylvester, who combined to go 5-9 with 5 RBI and 2 runs scored. The Ravens close out the season on the road against the Browns and at home against the 13-1 Cardinals. They'll try and hold off the 8-6 Steelers, who host the 6-8 Seahawks before ending the season on the road against the 5-9 Dolphins.

ABC West

With the Broncos losing to the Patriots this week both the Raiders and Chargers failed to capitalize. The Raiders lost 9-6 to the Steelers this week with Paul Boston picking up 4 hits for the Steelers.



Tom Belles of the Browns picked up the 6 hit shutout for the Browns as they beat the Chargers 11-0. Belles added 4 hits in 5 trips to the plate in addition to picking up his fourth win of the year.

ABC South

With the Texans doubling up the Jets 6-3 and the Jaguars beating the Dolphins 9-4 both teams remain tied at 8-6 atop the ABC South.

NBC East

The Cowboys beat the Giants 8-3 to move within one game of the first place Giants along with the Redskins, who remain one game back. Cameron Cotter held the Giants to just 3 unearned runs to pick up his 6th win of the season. Jason Firth tripled, singled, and drove in a pair of runs for the Cowboys.

NBC North



Matt Kelley and the Packers won their third straight game with a 9-2 rout over the Seahawks. The 40 year old Kelley struck out 7 hitters while allowing 2 earned runs. The Packers pulled to within 2 games of the first place Lions, who fell to the Rams 16-10. The Packers will host the Jets in Week 16 before a Week 17 showdown against the Lions. With the Lions facing off next week against the 13-1 Cardinals we could be in for an exciting finish in the NBC North.

NBC West

The Cardinals remain the only team that have clinched a playoff berth having already won the NBC West and defeated one of their potential playoff rivals this week, the Carolina Panthers, 13-8. Both Lew Brown and Keith Schunemann picked up 4 hits for the Cardinals.

It should come as little surprise but the Rams will be eliminated from playoff competition once again, and will continue their streak along with the Falcons of never reaching the playoffs.

NBC South

With the Panthers getting beat by the Cardinals the Saints beat the Bucs 6-2 to move into a first place tie with the Panthers. Both teams will be facing off next week in Charlotte to determine who has a leg up in the race for the NBC South title.

Week 15
Saints 6, Buccaneers 2
Browns 11, Chargers 0
Bengals 4, 49ers 0
Cowboys 8, Giants 3
Falcons 6, Bears 4
Ravens 7, Chiefs 0
Steelers 9, Raiders 6
Colts 7, Titans 2
Packers 9, Seahawks 2
Patriots 7, Broncos 4
Bills 4, Vikings 3
Texans 6, Jets 3
Jaguars 9, Dolphins 4
Cardinals 13, Panthers 8
Rams 16, Lions 10
Eagles 10, Redskins 6

Week 16

Dolphins(5-9) @ Bears(4-10)
Vikings(6-8) @ 49ers(6-8)
Ravens(9-5) @ Browns(7-7)
Colts(7-7) @ Texans(8-6)
Lions(10-4) @ Cardinals(13-1)
Chargers(7-7) @ Eagles(4-10)
Jets(6-8) @ Packers(8-6)
Seahawks(6-8) @ Steelers(8-6)
Cowboys(6-8) @ Chiefs(4-10)
Bills(10-4) @ Patriots(10-4)
Redskins(6-8) @ Giants(7-7)
Bengals(7-7) @ Rams(5-9)
Jaguars(8-6) @ Titans(4-10)
Falcons(5-9) @ Buccaneers(2-12)
Saints(10-4) @ Panthers(10-4)
Broncos(9-5) @ Raiders(7-7)

[StLee]

Who Dat!

[LordTC]

Originally Posted by NYY #23

I know that the schedules and things will work with previous versions. The quickstart was created in 15, I believe the second patch. I'm not too familiar about if that makes a difference with the quickstarts or not? What version are you running?

Upgraded to OOTP15 and have this working. Really enjoying it, thanks so much.

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by StLee

Who Dat!

Never count the Saints out!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by LordTC

Upgraded to OOTP15 and have this working. Really enjoying it, thanks so much.

Excellent, I'm glad that you got everything working. Let me know if you have any questions, and I'm glad you are enjoying it!

[NYY #23]

Up first is the NBC East where Cap Anson went 4-5 with an RBI and run scored as the Giants beat up on the Redskins 9-1 to clinch the division. Al Atkinson allowed just 6 hits and 1 unearned run to improve to 8-6 on the season while adding a triple that drove in 2 runs. Charles Russ was 3-5 at the plate for the Giants and added 2 runs scored.

The Giants win wasn't the only game to bring clarity to the NBC, where all 6 playoff teams were determined. In addition to the Giants, the Lions, Packers, Panthers, Saints, and Cardinals will be heading to the playoffs.

The Panthers took a one game lead in the NBC South with a remarkable come from behind win against the Saints. The Panthers were trailing 4-0 heading into the bottom of the ninth with Aaron Jackson cruising along working on a shutout. Jackson's fourth error of the season on an easy ground ball back to the pitcher opened up the flood gates though, and the Saints would commit 3 errors in the ninth to allow the Panthers to score four runs, and another 4 errors in the bottom of the tenth after retaking a 5-4 lead in the top of the tenth. The game ended on a bases loaded infield single by Jerry Moore as the Panthers walked off winners.

The Packers won their fourth straight game on a seven hit shutout by Matt Kelley as the Packers clinched the final Wild Card spot with a 3-0 win over the Jets. The Panthers can clinch the NBC South with either a win or Saints loss in Week 17, even though both teams will make the playoffs.

The ABC Playoff picture remains more wide open. The Bills had a 4-1 victory over the Patriots to improve to 11-4 and take a one game lead over the Patriots. Brad Johnson picked up 3 hits for the Bills while driving in a run. The Bills hope to clinch the ABC East with a home game against the 4-11 Bears. The Patriots will close out their season at home against the 6-9 Jets.

The Ravens came from behind with a 3 run eighth to defeat the Browns 3-2 and maintain a one game lead over the Steelers in the ABC North. The Ravens will host the 13-2 Cardinals with the Steelers on the road against the 6-9 Dolphins.

In the ABC West the 9-6 Broncos will close out the season on the road against the 8-7 Chargers and the 8-7 Raiders on the road against the 5-10 Chiefs.

In the ABC South the Texans and Jaguars are tied for the division lead with a 9-6 record. The Texans will be hosting the 4-11 Titans, while the Jaguars will be hosting the 11-4 Panthers. It should be an interesting Week1 7.

Week 16
Dolphins 9, Bears 6
Vikings 5, 49ers 1
Ravens 3, Browns 2
Texans 10, Colts 4
Lions 10, Cardinals 3
Chargers 13, Eagles 3
Packers 3, Jets 0
Steelers 3, Seahawks 2
Chiefs 6, Cowboys 4
Bills 4, Patriots 1
Giants 9, Redskins 1
Rams 7, Bengals 3
Jaguars 6, Titans 3
Falcons 7, Buccaneers 5
Panthers 6, Saints 5
Raiders 10, Broncos 4

Week 17

Buccaneers(2-13) @ Colts(7-8)
Cardinals(13-2) @ Ravens(10-5)
Browns(7-8) @ Bengals(7-8)
49ers(6-9) @ Seahawks(6-9)
Steelers(9-6) @ Dolphins(6-9)
Giants(8-7) @ Eagles(4-11)
Bears(4-11) @ Bills(11-4)
Raiders(8-7) @ Chiefs(5-10)
Titans(4-11) @ Texans(9-6)
Jets(6-9) @ Patriots(10-5)
Packers(9-6) @ Lions(11-4)
Redskins(6-9) @ Cowboys(6-9)
Panthers(11-4) @ Jaguars(9-6)
Falcons(6-9) @ Saints(10-5)
Rams(6-9) @ Vikings(7-8)
Broncos(9-6) @ Chargers(8-7)

[NYY #23]

I missed some big news last week with Aaron Jackson picking up career win number 96, making him the winning pitcher in league history. Jackson passed Dan Anderson (95) on the career wins list and Jackson is now 96-49 for his career with a 2.22 ERA is his ninth year with the Saints.

[NYY #23]

I also passed over the monthly awards for July.



Up first is the ABC Batter of the Month, which was awarded to Emil Gross of the Patriots. Gross hit .429 for the month with 6 RBI and 9 runs scored.



The NBC Batter of the Month Award was given to Ross Barnes of the Detroit Lions, who hit .583 with 5 RBI and 10 runs scored.



The Pitcher of the Month in the ABC Conference was awarded to Zach Graziano of the Buffalo Bills. Graziano was 4-1 for the month with an 0.59 ERA with 28 strikeouts in 46 innings.



The NBC Pitcher of the Month was awarded to Aaron Jackson of the Saints who went 4-0 with a 1.76 ERA in 5 starts. Jackson struck out 22 batters in 46 innings.

[NYY #23]

The final week of the year is now in the books and the playoff matchups are all set…sort of. Now I remember why I disable the playoffs, but I've come this far before and the tie-breakers are scheduled. For my purposes I'm going to play out the tiebreakers, but ignore them and go back to disabling the playoffs and manually scheduling the games.

So for our purposes the tiebreakers are already settled, and the playoffs are ready to begin. In the ABC East the Bills win the tiebreaker with the head to head advantage. The Jaguars edge the Broncos for the #3 seed in the ABC, and the Raiders win the tiebreaker over both the Steelers and Texans based on margin of victory.

Only one tiebreaker was needed in the NBC, as the Panthers won the tiebreaker against the Saints after winning both games against the Saints.

A look ahead at the playoff matchups -

[NYY #23]

Raiders @ Jaguars





Josh Karic took matters into his own hands with a complete game six hitter as the Raiders defeated the Jaguars 5-1 to advance to the Divisional Round. Karic struck out 3 and didn't walk a batter.

Len Stockwell, John Morrill, and Jayden Smith each picked up two hits in the Raiders victory with Smith hitting a two run fifth inning double.


Patriots @ Broncos



The Patriots entered today's Wild Card Game against the Broncos as the technical underdog, but did win one more game this season than the Broncos. So it isn't too big of a surprise that the Patriots won their matchup with a 12-8 victory despite some shoddy defense.



Catcher Emil Gross has already won one Batter of the Month Award this year and finished the season with a .348 batting average with 16 RBI and 14 runs scored. The 25 year old continued his hot play in the playoffs with a 2-5 night and 3 RBI.

The Patriots also got 3 hits from Abner Dalrymple, and two hits from JD Ready, Johnny Glick, Bill Phillips, Brian Hoppe, and Pat Luhmann. Jaime Biernat won his playoff debut despite allowing 10 hits and 8 runs, although just 2 runs were earned.

-----
Just one note, the games were scheduled on Thursday because of the tiebreakers scheduled to allow pitchers to be 100%.

[NYY #23]

Packers @ Panthers



The Packers headed into the bottom of the ninth with a 3-1 lead over the Panthers with victory in their grasp. Matt Kelley had allowed just 4 hits and one run through eight innings and was rolling along, but the Panthers would not go down without a fight.

The Panthers rallied in the bottom of the ninth when Pete Browning led off the inning with a double and came home to score on a single by CJ Sease. With two outs in the inning the Panthers sent up pinch hitter Sam Blumenberg, who reached on an error.



That brought up another pinch hitter, Pat Osborne. The 32 year old has had just 2 hits in his career and 2 RBI, but with one swing of the bat Pat Osborne saved the Panthers' season with a bases clearing walk off single that gave the Panthers the 4-3 win.

Saints @ Giants



The Giants were making just their third playoff appearance in their history and first since 1873. They were taking on a team very familiar with the playoffs, the Saints, who were making their record 12th playoff appearance. While the Giants were the home team and top seed, they also had the misfortune of facing a Saints team that won three more games this season.



Saints starter Aaron Jackson was making his 8th postseason start of his career and despite some poor defense by the Saints his experience paid off tonight as he held the Giants to just one earned run in the complete game win.



Dave Orr hit a playoff record 3 doubles tonight while driving in 3 runs for the Saints. Joe Kappel added a three run homer for the Saints.

[NYY #23]

Looking ahead at next week's Divisional Round matchups:

[NYY #23]

Patriots @ Bills



The Bills had already beaten the Patriots twice this season, but the third time was the charm for the Patriots as they beat the Bills 9-6.



Pat Luhmann hit just .190 during the regular season, but was 3-5 tonight with 3 runs batted in and is now hitting .556 in the playoffs (5-9). Bill Phillips added three hits for the Patriots and scored three runs. Jaime Biernat struck out 6 while picking up his second playoff win.

Raiders @ Ravens





Jim Britt allowed 7 hits and just 1 earned run tonight as he improved to 9-3 in the postseason during his career with a 2.65 ERA. Britt also did damage with the bat with a pair of hits, RBI, and run scored.

[NYY #23]

Panthers @ Lions





Larry Corcoran allowed 1 run and 7 hits to pick up his second win of the 1883 postseason with a complete game, despite a 49 minute rain delay. The Panthers relied on Ned Williamson and Pete Browning for offense as each picked up 3 hits in the Panthers win.

Saints @ Cardinals



Today's playoff game between the Saints and Cardinals featured 38 year old Aaron Jackson making the start for the Saints and 39 year old Scott Young making the start for the Cardinals. They combined for 25 2/3 innings today in a 13 inning battle.



Aaron Jackson picked up his second win of the postseason with 12 2/3 innings pitched while striking out 5 and allowing just 1 earned run. Jackson also had two hits during the game, including 13th inning RBI single that put the Saints ahead for good.

The Saints will be out for revenge next week when they take on the Panthers for the third time this season. The ABC Championship Game will feature the Patriots taking on the Ravens.

[StLee]

Nice win for the Saints. Hope they finally get revenge on the Panthers!

[NYY #23]

Originally Posted by StLee

Nice win for the Saints. Hope they finally get revenge on the Panthers!

The Panthers have had their number this year. Two regular season wins, and also a win in the meaningless tiebreaker game that I ignored. Still seems like it should be a close game though.