QFL Football Fever

 

Recap

Safety first at The Summit

Not a single touchdown was scored at the eagerly awaited clash of last season's title winners. Still, noone can say that both teams never found the end zone...

duffeldoffel's Reds (4-0) scored no fewer than three safeties and the Prussian Warriors (2-2) added another one as the reigning Fever Bowl champions beat the Gothic Division champions by a score of 21-5 at the Olympic Battlefield.

Offensive-minded fans might label this game "overpromised and underdelivered" as the two teams combined for a QFL all-time low 378 yds on total offense. The defenses, however, excelled against two highly rated offenses and so did the Reds' special teams which in the end proved decisive.

The Reds no. 1 defense came out victoriously against the Warriors no. 1 offense. They did not force a turnover but registered a QFL-record-tying eight sacks against the Warriors QB who never really had a chance to establish a comfort zone in the pocket. He finished the game with 8-of-14 for 110 yds. He was not picked off but was thrown more than a third of the times he dropped back to pass.

The Reds defense registered a total of 17 tackles-for-loss and held the Warriors to negative yardage on five successive possessions late in the second and during the entire third quarter.

The Reds came with the third-best offense overall and the top passing attack but registered only a franchise-low 210 yds on total offense against the Warriors defense which ranked only no. 8 before the game. The Reds QB threw multiple interceptions for the first time since last season's opener and remained without a TD pass for the first time in his career. He completed 14-of-24 for a career-low 110 yds. He had two picks and a lowly rating of 35.1.

The Warriors defense kept the Reds out of their end zone even though they had to defend short fields throughout the game. The Reds' average starting field position was at their own 44-yd line but they never made it past the opponents' 6 and only got three FGs out of four trips into the red zone.

Both teams had only two drives of 30 or more yards net until late in the fourth quarter before the Warriors had two more 30-yd drives resulting in zero points.

The decisive factor, however, were the Reds special teams which provided long fields to defend and scored 17 of the Reds' 21 points and also set up the remaining four. Their punter placed three of his five punts inside the opponents' 5-yd line, two of which leading to safeties. The return teams blocked two punts, one of which for a safety, and recovered an onside safety kick leading to one of their place kicker's QFL-record-tying five FGs.

The Warriors opened the score on the Reds' first possession. Two penalties had thrown the Reds back to their own 6-yd line before their RB was tackled inside the end zone for a safety. The Warriors' hopes to immediately add to their lead were squashed when they lost a fumble on the ensuing safety-kick return.

The Reds then reached the 15 but their QB was picked off near the goal line. The Warriors had to start from their own 2 and reached their own 26 but then fell back to their own 1 due to the first two sacks, a penalty and a negative run. The Reds finally capitalized by scoring their first FG to take a 3-2 lead late in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, the Warriors again found themselves pinned near their own goal line after a beautifully placed punt. Their RB was tackled in the end zone right on their first play.

Like the Warriors before, the Reds failed to add to their lead as a short pass was intercepted and returned 27 yds into Reds' territory setting up a 50-yd FG to tie the game at 5-5.

The Reds responded with the longest drive of the game. Their kicker finished a 9-play, 51-yd drive with a 35-yd field goal to take an 8-5 halftime lead.

The Warriors had a punt blocked for a safety at the end of their first second-half possession but their defense stood tall in the red zone allowing only a 27-yd field goal on the Reds' ensuing possession.

The Reds defense allowed only three plays for positive yardage and no first down in the third quarter and scored another safety late in that period with their eighth and final sack of the game to make it a two-possession game at 15-5.

The final points of the game were again set up and scored by the Reds special teams who recovered the Warriors' onside safety kick and then blocked another punt early in the fourth quarter, both leading to FGs.

The Reds are the first team in QFL history to win a game without scoring a TD. In fact, this game was the first in QFL history to end with zero TDs combined.

While the Reds can be 99 percent certain to return to the playoffs after starting 4-0, the Warriors have lost consecutive games for the first time in their history and may have to win out their two remaining regular-season games in order to follow.