This game was a lot closer than the score suggests. The Copperheads held the lead 14-13 going into the 4th quarter and the defenses were keeping each team in check. However, The Pride were able to break out in the 4th quarter with 18 unanswered points to grab their second CFL title. It's only been 24 seasons . . . or in real-world time, roughly 6 years. Lol.
When we queued up the game plan for this one, our goal was to keep TE Alvin Stone in check. Had just noticed that he seemed to be the go-to guy in key situations. Figured if we could keep him out of the end zone, we would have a good chance of winning. It's good to see the plan worked. We held him to 5 rec / 12 targets for 50 yards and kept him out of the end zone.
On the offensive side of the ball, we wanted to stretch the field a little more. Ended up with 4 completions of 20 or more yards to 4 different receivers and was 4/6 at long range. Gilmore looked good today, even though there was some good pressure brought on by the Copperhead defense.
But once again, this one was mostly about field position. It's hard to beat Brantley Gilmore when you give him a short field. The Pride had and average starting position of their own 41 yard line, while The Copperheads were starting at their own 22 on average.
GG, Jander, and congrats on a great season. You'll be back to this Championship, I believe, before we will (maybe another 20+ seasons for us? lol).
This was likely our last opportunity to get Gilmore a ring, so we're happy we were able to accomplish that. Now he can retire in peace . . . or will he? Another season could get him to the league record for passing yards . . .
And TurfToe - sorry about the low end value you'll be getting for WR Geoff Warren, who we traded our 2056 1st rounder for. Turns out he was a key piece to putting our championship run together. But as I'm sure you know, I'm not really sorry.
I look forward to seeing what 2056 brings! (other than plummeting player ratings)