[MIJB#19]

General Manager Notes: we're still pretty good at this...
... apparently!

So, Bordeaux. The score is somewhat misleading, given how we ran up the score late in the game, but the fans must have enjoyed the 35-3 score.

It was a defensive game in the first quarter, Bordeaux ended the three-and-out series with the first third down conversion, only to see our defensive end Andy Russell pick off the ball on their fourth play that drive. Then two more three-and-outs, until Moe Sheldon found Branden Sandlin for 20 yards on third and two. Sheldon then found Theodore Bondy for 13 yards and a bunch of plays later Bondy turned a caught screen pass into a 15-yard touchdown for the 7-0 lead. Bordeaux woke up, helped by an unnecessary roughness penalty.

The kicked a 38-yarder to make it 7-3 at the start of the second quarter. It got followed up with three incomplete passes from Moe Sheldon, but things flipped on Bordeaux' next play as Riddick Newsome picked off a screen pass and stumbled into the end zone for the 14-3 lead. Then the defenses took over, with both getting stopped after three plays, twice. Bordeaux thought they had it fixed after a 23-yard pass play, but they settled for punting to pin us at our 6-yard line. We then went on an impressive drive, but eventually settled for a 49-yard kick, which Emmitt Wells missed, with no Brandon Bell to blame for this time. Bordeaux tried to make the best of the last minute of the first half, but our pass rush was too dominant to let it happen.

Second half and Bordeaux' quarterback must have felt deja-vu getting sacked by Gene Kondovski and Darien Fletcher for the second time. Our fumblitis positive punt returner Clarence Blackwell called for a fair catch on our 9-yard line, but we gained just enough ground to put them right back where they should have started: their own 20-yard line. Penalties left and right, helping Bordeaux get a first down, but the biggest help was Blackwell losing the fumble on the next punt return. Another three and out and another Blackwell fumble, this time ge got his ass saved by a teammate. Moe Sheldon then inspired the running game, alternating himself with our running backs Francisco Patter and Reggie Thongchanh, while in between throwing to his tight ends, with Renaldo Crawford making the touchdown catch for a 21-3 lead. Bordeaux' Brad Nestor then threw his third pick off the game, Kirk Hitchcock yanked up his Defensive Player of the Year chances.

After smooth time wasting play, The fourth quarter started with Francisco Patter running for 5 yards and Moe Sheldon finding Theodore Bondy in the end zone for a 28-3 lead. We gave Bordeaux the room to move up field, or maybe they deserved the credit for it themselves, but the blocked 44-yard field goal attempt was all on Clarence Blackwell, finally doing something right on a special teams play. A time wasting drive came next, including a nice 27-yard run from Patter to reach their red zone. On second and goal, Sheldon connected with Branden Sandlin for running up the score to a 35-3 lead. Bordeaux pulled their quarterback and although reaching our 15-yard line in the last nearly 5 minutes, it was all game over anyway, the score remained 35-3 for us.

Moe Sheldon completed 26 of 35 passes for 188 yards and 4 touchdowns. Theodore Bondy had 8 catches for 67 yards with 2 touchdowns. Francisco Patter ran for 61 yards. It wasn't much on offense, but it was all good enough given how dominant our defense (or incapable Bordeaux' offense) was.

With the Paris Musketeers winning the turnover battle 3-0 against the Gothenburg Giants, they ended up winning 30-23 in their own place, to basically turn this into a two-team race.

1. Maassluis 8-6
2. Paris 8-6
3. Gothenburg 7-7
4. Bordeaux 6-8

Bordeaux is done as the division winner will be 8-7-1 at minimum, Gothenburg will need a Maassluis-Paris tie in week 17 to be able to jump ahead, because they have inferior tie-breakers in any possible tied situation.

Paris next hosts the 3-11 Frederick Red Menace. You know, the team that took Angel Henson at the #1 overall pick and the probable Offensive Rookie of the Year, despite that we would put our vote on our own first round quarterback. In contrast, although we play at home as well, our job is to fend off the 9-5 Williamsburg Colonials. They're still in the race for a bye week, providing they win their last two to jump ahead of the 10-4 Chesapeake Chitterlings in their very own potential winner takes all week 17 clash.

Brandon Bell is still out, which means it's Moe Sheldon for yet another game. Which in itself means Sheldon is slowly backing down from his angriness over seeing little playing time. If it wasn't for Sheldon's inferior pass rush avoiding skills, we'd probably consider keeping him in the lineup for week 17. Heck, if we win in week 16, that's still a possibility... Luxury issues, after a 6-10 season. Heck, we've even somewhat saved face by flipping the points differential into a +8 with the big win today.

But really, we're still going to need to win in week 17. Winning in week 16 would keep us in the race for the #3 seed, but given how good the wild card teams are (it's already set in stone that the Deep South and Southeast runners up will be the wild card teams, just not which teams), #3 or #4 doesn't make that much of a difference. We got to stay focused, game for game and do our best to get back into what's so familiar for us: the playoffs. We got to keep believing, so we will. Go Merchantmen!