Continuing the trend, we look around the league to answer a few questions and respond to some of the commentary we’ve seen over the past few weeks.
- Why The Thunder Try
A colleague of ours really took it to the Thunder last week and we think the disrespect in some aspects is warranted, but overall I feel this team is being a bit undervalued. Before I even go into what was written about them last week I would like to address some comments about the toughest schedule being brought up on last week’s podcast with Anwar and Burhan. At first I took them at their word, but as I did my research for this article something interesting caught my eye. Both players conveniently over looked the Thunder’s brutal schedule. For four consecutive weeks the Thunder will have faced the Savages, AK, Browns and Gators (coming this week). No team in this league will have gone through a month like that this year. Couple that with a pure rookie at QB and you are looking at a steep learning curve. Also, looking at their roster only two players on this team have more than two years of experience in this league, that’s less than the Bandits. We don’t anticipate much change this week as the Gators are rolling and the Thunder continue to struggle. But after this week they have a few winnable matchups and the talent improvement on this team is undeniable. They look more poised on offense albeit still struggling and they are finally playing around with their defense in the hopes that they find what works, all indications of a team getting right mentally. This organization has taken longer than any in SAFL history to get things in order; this team however, is still young and finding new things to explore. This is a talented squad that is just a scheme away from producing to their potential. With the likes of Adam, Jesse, and Curtis along with rookies and sophomores willing to learn we don’t think this team is too far off. Look for an uptick in their play, particularly after this week. Kids don’t sleep during a thunder storm and neither should the SAFL.
- Who Are The Underdogs?
What. A. Game. With their backs against the wall and the league watching, the Underdogs took a victory form the Elites in thrilling and convincing fashion. Coming back from a two touchdown deficit to put the Elites away and win the first game in the battle of the come-up. Waqas looked sharper as the game went on, Omar continued to be a producer and showed why he is one of the most underrated defensive players in the league and Rob Jones ATE. We aren’t too sure if the Elites lost this one or the Underdogs won it but either way, UD was able to fill the right column this week after struggling coming out the gate. With an easier schedule on this horizon we anticipate an uptick in their performance, the real question will be as it always is, can they perform against the next group? We aren’t sure. We haven’t seen Rob play a role on offense like he did this past week? Will it continue? It seems like a recipe for success if you ask us. We also saw a change in defensive assignments as Omar moved to corner and Rob moved up to safety and that worked as well. It seems like UD has made adjustments that have panned out and now the only question is if they can use these next few weeks to get their ducks in a row.
- Are There Players that We Don’t Give Enough Respect To?
In the beginning of the Elites and Underdogs game Aldo was nowhere to be found. In came Anas Ahmed who led the Elites on not one, but two touchdown drives. It is not easy to play QB in this league and for a player to step in last minute and perform the way he did speaks volumes to his poise and also the trust his team has in him. This got me thinking if there were any other players who we don’t give enough shine to. Someone like Burhan Gorgani who has carved out a role as great receiver on his team, or even Jayson Gregory who is playing out of position as QB for the Bandits. How about a guy like Harpal who although gets more notoriety for his mouth comes through in the clutch for the high powered AK offense. Maybe someone like an Omar Patel who I mentioned earlier. Not sure how we go about giving these guys more shine but it’s often these players who save the day for their teams. Shout out to all the players who continue to do what they do for their teams as the season moves along.
- Cobra Kai Has Some Kick and the Savages are For Real
A classic trap game that almost ended in what would have been the biggest upset in the season so far. Cobra Kai brought it to the Savages and for a while it looked like they might have pulled off the upset. Coming off of a bye and some huge wins the hardest part of the Savages schedule seemed behind them and it is easy to see why they might have been coming into the game coasting against the winless Cobra Kai. Fabio and company had something else in mind and while the game ended 33-20, the score does not indicate how close this game actually was. Cobra Kai is getting better by the snap, the league should be on notice.
The other thing to take away from this game is that the Savages are ready to take it to the next level. While they didn’t play their best game we saw a team that was able to stay poised and make plays when it mattered most. Hashim was all over the field making plays when they needed and what we saw was a team that kept their eyes on the prize. This may be the year the Savages finally piece it all together.
- Are the Gators the Actual Florida Gators?
When I think of Florida I think of Disney World, humidity, loose gun laws and old people wearing MAGA hats getting scared by salamanders at the Smokey Oaks retirement home. I also think of good college football. The Gators might have been on a bye last week but looking at that team they are certainly no joke. Incredibly unassuming and almost forgotten when you think of teams like AK and the Browns but these guys churn out wins and while we saw some great games last week we couldn’t help but wonder where the Gators fell into this picture. We know they have game and we anticipate a cake walk for them this week against the hapless Thunder. While we don’t think anyone is sleeping on them we think we should begin to think of this team in that upper echelon. Only time will tell.
