Postseason Newsletter
Letter from the Commish:
The Commish keeps thinking that one of these years, things will be different. One of these years, the playoff picture will be clear before Week 15. One of these years, the top seeds will win in the playoffs. One of these years, the results will be orderly. Well, I’m here to tell you that, once again, 1998 was not that year. How else do you explain a team that went 2-3-1 in its own division winning the division? A team that was outscored for the season making it to the title game? A team that won 3 of its last 11 games qualifying for the playoffs? A team that won its first round playoff game thanks to a botched FG attempt that resulted in a TD to the starting TE?
And how about a team that scored more points than any other team in the entire history of the league scoring but 30 points in its biggest game of the year? A team with a ground game that dwarfed all other ground games scoring a mere 2 rushing points? A team that had just scored 80 points against the same opponent two weeks ago in a crushing win scoring only 30 when the chips were down and it counted the most? A team with depth at every single position on the field but one? Their Achilles’ heel was QB and, when they needed QB production the most, their starting QB was hurt and the backup went scoreless in a four point loss during the playoffs (four points—that’s one single TD pass).
How about a team that, at one time or another, was without its starting QB, top RB, two of its top three WRs, and its TE still earning a wild card berth? A team that allowed more points than any other in the history of the league but yet scoring enough points of its own to win more than it lost?
The only playoff team that had anything remotely resembling an uneventful season went 10-5, won its first ever division, secured its first ever playoff berth, played a team it had roundly defeated a month earlier then lost on the fluke play mentioned above.
How about an 8-2 team stumbling so badly down the stretch that it finished 8-6-1 and out of the running? How about a two time champion going 2-12-1 while losing its last 11 in a row, a league record? How about the 5th highest scoring team in the league being only the 4th highest scoring team in its own division and finishing in the cellar? How about a team starting off 1-8 but finishing off at 5-1?
One thing the Commish can say without pause is that there has never been a tame, lame, ordinary, uneventful season in this league and there’s no reason to believe next year will be any different.
After the Strange Highways tripped their way into the playoffs and tripped their way into the finals (sorry, Iguanas, this bud’s for you!), they were met head on by Coach Pedersen’s Palace of Swords. Let’s just say there were no survivors on that particular stretch of highway other than the Swords. After taking an early 43-0 lead, the Swords coasted to a 65-14 mauling of the Highways. It marked the largest point spread in championship history. The Swords’ 65 points was the most ever scored in a title game It’s the 2nd year in a row the wildcard team has won the title. Coach Pedersen becomes the 4th coach to grab the ring. The Commish might add, by the way, that no team who entered the league later than 1994 has yet won an FFL title. Coach Widtfeldt is one of the few remaining inaugural members of the 1993 class while coaches Erickson (retired after 1997), Pedersen and Young all are from the incoming class of 1994. It makes one stop and think about just how truly difficult it is to win one of these things. Teams like the ’96 Crawling King Snakes, ’97 PMS and Natural Mystics and the ’98 Retreads all won 11 games or more but failed in crunch time.
The time has come for the end-of-the-season awards. The 1st and 2nd team All-Pro teams as well as the top scoring leaders are listed below. As a reminder, the All-League teams are chosen objectively based solely on points scored in our league by each of the players involved. Fred Taylor edged out Randy Moss for ROY by 4 points while Randall Cunningham was 2 points behind Brett Favre for 2nd team QB. Keyshawn Johnson missed out of 2nd team Utility player by 2 points.
’98 All League First Team ’98 All League Second Team
QB Steve Young QB Brett Favre
RB Terrell Davis RB Emmitt Smith
RB Jamal Anderson RB Marshall Faulk
WR Randy Moss WR Joey Galloway
WR Terrell Owens WR Antonio Freeman
TE Shannon Sharpe TE Rickey Dudley
U Fred Taylor U Garrison Hearst
K Gary Anderson K Al Del Greco
D Seahawks D Packers
MVP: Steve Young
Rookie of the Year: Fred Taylor
Most Improved Player: Randall Cunningham
Let’s see who’s still reading. The tentative date for the 1999 draft will be the weekend of August 28-29, either that Saturday or that Sunday. So mark your calendars while you’re thinking about it. Also, if you don’t believe you’ll be back for the ’99 season, please give me a call so I can plan accordingly—P.Y (E seems to think you’re outta here. He keeps calling you the "Bear").
The top scoring leaders are listed below:
Steve Young 175 Emmitt Smith 90
Terrell Davis 153 Marc Brunell 89
Gary Anderson 140 Jake Plummer 89
Brett Favre 123 Randy Moss 88
Randall Cunningham 121 Adam Vinatieri 83
Al Del Greco 121 John Elway 81
Jason Elam 115 Marshall Faulk 80
Jason Hanson 106 Terrell Owens 78
Ryan Longwell 105 Mike Hollis 76
Jamal Anderson 100 Seahawks 76
Richie Cunningham 94 Joey Galloway 74
Fred Taylor 92 Antonio Freeman 72
Go deep, I’ll throw it!
-The Commish
Highways’ Luck Continues 31-28 As Smith Scores Game Winning TD On Botched FG Attempt
As if Coach Widtfeldt hasn’t already done well enough in his six years of FFL league competition. But in the first round of the 1998 playoffs, the Highways were also lucky. The San Francisco 49ers botched a field goal attempt and found themselves with Ty Detmer running around the backfield looking for someone to unload the pigskin to. The Gods smiled as Detmer threw a perfect pass to a wide open Irv Smith in the endzone for a TD, a TD that gave the Highways a fluke 31-28 win over the stunned Greenback Iguanas. This fortuitous piece of luck came on the heels of the luck they received in Week 15 as the Natural Mystics allowed them to qualify for the playoffs to begin with by defeating Montezuma’s Revenge which gave the division title to the Highways. The Highways were then forced to start Smith at TE as the result of TE Tyrone Davis’ questionable playing status for the playoff game. Coincidentally, Smith was acquired by the Highways from the Mystics near the trading deadline. Brett Favre led the Highways with 12 points before leaving the game with a hip bruise. Jerry Rice scored 8 points and Jason Hanson had the other five points for the Highways. The Iguanas got 8 points from QB Vinny Testaverde but their backup QB Steve McNair was worth 12 for the day. Darnay Scott had 8 also while K Ryan Longwell scored 12 for the Iguanas who lost in their first ever playoff game.
Strange Highways 31 28 Greenback Iguanas
Favre 12 QB 08 Testaverde
Dunn 00 RB 00 Sanders
Jabbar 00 RB 00 Faulk
Rice 08 WR 00 J Smith
Irvin 00 WR 08 D Scott
I Smith 06 TE 00 Brady
Alexander 00 U 00 A Smith
Hanson 05 K 12 Longwell
Raiders 00 D 00 Falcons
Swords Puncture Top Seed Retreads By 34-30 Count To Advance To First Ever Title Appearance
For the 2nd year in a row, the dominant team of the regular season walked into a playoff ambush and came away on the short end of the stick. The wild card Palace of Swords scored a close 34-30 upset over the Retreads after surviving MNF and Terrell Davis. Davis needed only to score a single TD against the Dolphins but, instead, was held to 29 yards and zero points. The Seahawks’ D scored yet ANOTHER touchdown but the Retreads’ ground game was held to 2 points, a season low. TE Cameron Cleeland kept the Retreads close with an unexpected TD but Randall Cunningham (12) and Antonio Freeman (20) single handedly outscored the Retreads for the victory. The victory was the first ever in the playoffs for the Swords after going 0-2 previously.
The Retreads 30 34 Palace of Swords
Aikman 00 QB 12 Cunningham
T Davis 00 RB 00 Holmes
F Taylor 02 RB 00 Morris
Galloway 06 WR 20 Freeman
Mathis 06 WR 00 Martin
Cleeland 06 TE 00 Coates
Staley 00 U 00 Simmons
Christie 04 K 02 Del Greco
Seahawks 06 D 00 Packers
Swords Detour Highways To Capture First Title By 65-14 Count; Widtfeldt Panhandles For Starters
The Highways rode Lady Luck all the way to the promised land but, like Martin Luther King, could see it but could not get there. Starting a rag tag lineup more befitting their 1995 brethren El Mariachi Boyz, they lost 65-14 in a one sided game that wasn’t even as close as the score would indicate (?). With starting running backs Karim Abdul-Jabbar and Natrone Means on the bench, with Tyrone Davis in the starting lineup but scratched at game time, Coach Widtfeldt knew his team’s only chance was to win ugly. While the Highways did their part with a mere 14 points, the Swords were able to regroup one last time to take the title home in their first ever championship appearance. There was some speculation leading up to the game whether Randall Cunningham would play much. However, he played the entire game and, along with Al Del Greco, had the Swords leading 19-0 by 3:00pm Saturday. Bam Morris added 2 TDs and 96 yards later in the afternoon. By the time Brett Favre got the Highways on the board, the Packers D had added a TD, Tony Martin had accounted for 8 points, and Priest Holmes was en route to 8 points of his own. The Swords even picked up points on the Favre throw as it was none other than Antonio Freeman on the receiving end. The Swords caught another break for the week in the matchups. Holmes and Morris faced the Lions and Raiders respectively. Aside from Favre, only Jerry Rice (6) and Jason Hanson (4) scored for the Highways.
Palace of Swords 65 14 Strange Highways
Cunningham 09 QB 04 Favre
Holmes 08 RB 00 Dunn
Morris 12 RB 00 Henderson
Freeman 06 WR 06 Rice
Martin 08 WR 00 Irvin
Coates 00 TE 00 T Davis
Simmons 06 U 00 Alexander
Del Greco 10 K 04 Hanson
Packers 06 D 00 Raiders
Shotgun tournament results:
Jim Rady 47 56 103 Alex Wassem 79 67 146
Manning 6 0 12 Cunningham 12 9 21
T Davis 0 8 8 T Davis 0 8 8
F Taylor 2 12 14 Jamal A 14 8 22
Owens 6 6 12 Freeman 20 6 26
Moss 6 8 14 Moss 6 8 14
Sharpe 0 12 12 Sharpe 0 12 12
Galloway 6 0 6 Owens 6 6 12
G Anderson 15 10 25 G Anderson 15 10 25
Seahawks 6 0 6 Saints 6 0 6
Joe Detwiler 50 66 116 Mark Will 51 61 112
Randall 12 9 21 Young 8 15 23
T Davis 0 8 8 T Davis 0 8 8
Taylor 2 12 14 Jamal 14 8 22
Moss 6 8 14 Moss 6 8 14
Mathis 6 0 6 Owens 6 6 12
Sharpe 0 12 12 Chmura 0 0 0
Jamal 14 8 22 Moulds 2 6 8
Christie 4 9 13 G Anderson 15 10 25
Seahawks 6 0 6 Jets 0 0 0
Swami Sez:
The Swami missed both 1st round games but redeemed himself in the title game to finish 1-2 in the playoffs and 51-40-2 for the season.