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Primer AFC Midseason Recap

by jhward19 | 3 years ago | 0 Comments

We are officially halfway through the inaugural SML Primer Madden 22 season and there has been plenty of shakeups and surprises across the league. With the new game from last year and brand new teams for everyone, some of the powerhouses from last year have struggled to adapt while others have continued their dominance. I am contractually obligated to include that this blog is brought to you by DuckKings. If you aren’t playing Primer DFS you are DuckKing crazy. Onto the team breakdowns:

 

 

Strawblacks has very quietly continued his run of regular season dominance en route to a 7-1 record thus far including 7 straight wins for the ‘phins. His strength of schedule has been somewhat lacking however 7 straight is impressive no matter how you spin it. Watch out for a real test week 12 when he takes on former conference rival Jonesy and the Panthers. Tua has proved the haters wrong and has been excellent with a 23:5 TD:INT ratio and a 145.5 passer rating. I see no reason to expect anything other than another division title for the league’s biggest One Piece fan. 

 

Chrisnkells and the Patriots are right in the thick of the WC hunt at 4-4 after 8 weeks with impressive wins over Strawblacks’ dolphins and the Blades led Cowboys. He has struggled a bit of late with losses to the Jets and Texans. Mac Jones has been serviceable so far with 16 TDs, however he will need to cut back on the 16 INTs through 8 games if the Pats hope to make the playoffs. Paul Richardson has been a nice surprise with a team leading 564 yards as well as 4 TDs. Watchout for the Pats on the playoff bubble come week 18 when they take on the Dolphins in what may be a must win game. 

 

Latin has been a solid addition to Primer as well with a 3-4 record including a surprising win over Jonesy’s Pumas as well as defeating STD and his division rival the Pats. Same as the Pats watch out for the Jets to try to sneak into the playoffs as the AFC East teams possess a remarkably easy schedule. Zach Wilson has been out right bad and needs to stop throwing INTs (1:2 TD/INT ratio) in order for the J E T S Jets to turn it around. Also Latin if you are reading this stop usering your CBs and pulling them away from deep coverage...

 

Rounding out the division we have the big boss man, MikeFML and the struggle that has been the Buffalo Bills. Starting 0-7 Mike is long past ready to jump through a flaming table just to end his misery. That said Josh Allen is the type of talent that can lead a miraculous comeback and the Bills are loaded with talent. Combine that with Mike being a more solid player than he gives himself credit for and this is not a team to write off when it comes up on the schedule. When asked about his performance our fearless leader said “(The Bills) are just not a great fit for me stock. Hopefully a draft or two gets me more cohesive with the roster”  0-7 unfortunately is pretty difficult to come back from, however I agree with MikeFuckMyLife and expect a more competitive squad next season after reinforcements are added via the draft. 

 

 

The AFC North has been full of surprises with DOC emerging as a possible contender, Stavo taking a bit of a step back from whatever the hell his league leading rushing attack was last year, Tiny coming out guns blazing with Lamar, and Sherm showing some life of late with close games against the Bolts and the Broncos.

 

The Bengals sit at 8-0 led by a dynamic rushing attack including league leader in yards Joe Mixon and a surprising amount of work for Burrow on designed QB runs. Burrow only has 8TDs throwing the ball but 4 on the ground to contribute to a team total of 20 rushing TDs has been more than enough. The defense has been surprisingly solid led by Jessie Bates and his whopping 7INTs at this stage of the season. At 8-0 he has a comfortable enough lead that I expect him to hold on for the division crown. DOC has proved his worth as a regular season player but it remains to be seen if he will crumble on the big stage or seize glory. 

 

Coming in at 5-2 we have Stavo’s Steelers who are certainly still a threat albeit not the voodoo threat he was last year with the speedy Falcons. Devin Bush and Minkah are still problems on defense with multiple INTs each and he possesses one of the better users in the league. Offensively he has seemed to have struggled a bit without the game breaking speed had last year across the board although he has done a better job of distributing the ball passing. If Stavo can get moved into his new place soon and get back on the sticks he will be a tough out come playoff time and a likely WC contender.

 

Tiny is also sitting pretty at 5-2 and with all the Pepsi he can drink. Lamar has been dynamic as ever with 5 rushing TDs and 15 through the air despite a high INT total of 18. The Ravens keep winning behind a playmaking defense with a good handful of INTs and timely stops. The question of can Tiny keep it going will be answered soon enough with tests vs the Vikings, @strawblacks  and @bears up next as well as two meetings with Stavo and one with Doc later in the year.

 

Sherm and his beloved Browns are back to being well, the browns :( Their cursed history continues with a tough run of games for Autoshermatic and co. Chubb is still a monster and Sherm has shown signs of life in recent weeks and that roster is deep enough to threaten any team any week. This has been a surprisingly tough division so far and we will see if that persists.

 

New addition JJ and the Colts have taken a 2 game lead over the rest of the division behind a 3-0 division record and 2 wins over NYT and the Titans. Parris Cambell has had a great post hype breakout with 23/569/6 on pace for a 1000 yard season and JT has emerged as an elite RB with 550/7TDs. This division is still up for grabs but the Colts control their own destiny. 

 

The NY Titans are sitting at 3-5 however they are only 2 games back of the division lead (really more like 2.01 games back as Colts have the tiebreaker advantage in h2h). Since starting 0-3, the Titans have bounced back winning 3 of 5 and reentering the division/WC race. Henry as always is a monster that requires stacked boxes to stop and he has 127/685/7 at this point in the season. Brown and Jones both are producing as well with 6 TDs apiece. Watch out for NYT to play spoiler come later this season or even to make a playoff push himself and possibly steal the division.

 

Arachnosapien and the Texans also check in at 3-5 behind the play of totally not a sex offender Deshaun Watson who in the maddenverse can play without affecting fan support. The Texans may be the only team in the league that doesn’t have Kyle Pitts that has a TE leading the team in receiving as Jordan Akins has 37/502/3 scores. This roster is quite depleted as the Lions of the AFC so 3 wins already is impressive and Watson is good enough to continue to drag this roster to mediocrity. In a wide open division race anything is possible but this roster will be tough to overcome.

 

Goku and the Jags finish out the Division at 2-5, however i think he will be able to turn it around and compete for a WC spot or even the division title with the talent the Jags have on the offensive side of the ball. When asked about his team’s performance Goku said “I’m disappointed on my defensive performance and having an underperforming defence is really upsetting. Few sacks, little to no interceptions overall poor display. Moving forward defence is going to be a huge priority, via either Free agency, draft or trades.” Look for the Jags to be active this offseason making the moves they need to address the D.

 

 

And to wrap up the AFC we have the AFC West featuring a powerhouse Broncos team, a dynamic Chiefs offense, an underwhelming Chargers roster and a guy playing true sim football just in his head since he doesn’t have a PS5...

 

Montazuu started the season on a tear winning his first 7 before a slight detour in a 35-20 loss to Spades and the WFT. The ponies have been dominant on each side of the ball this year ranking 5th in total offensive yardage and 8th in scoring, while also coming in at 1st in scoring defense and top 5 in turnovers forced. This team has been solid top to bottom with Javonte Williams powering the rushing attack and the Drew Lock to Noah Fant connection propelling Lock to a potential MVP season. When asked about his hot start, Monty had nothing but kind words to say about Drew Locks efficiency and accuracy and also praised Bradley Chubb calling him a “difference maker and being top 3 in sacks is huge”. Monty is an early super bowl pick and the favorite to come out of the AFC. 

 

In 2nd place in the west we have Gramz and the offensive juggernaut that is the KC Chiefs. Gramz has had a bit of an up and down season with wins over the Eagles/Chargers/Giants but also losses to Tiny and the ravens as well as the Titans and WFT. That said he sits at 5-3 ready to strike in either the division race if he can take down Monty or more likely in the WC race as a team nobody wants to see come playoff time. Mahomes has been his usual self slinging it to Tyreek and Hardman down field, however his INT numbers are higher than usual at 18 already and may have to be cut down if the Gramz wants to make a deep playoff push. Also keep an eye on Juan Thornhill for DPOY with 5 INTs and 2 scores already.

 

My Bolts sit in 3rd place at now 4-3 after a rock fight 13-10 win over Gudda’s Eagles and hope to push for a WC berth. The offense has been downright anemic coming in at 25th in the league in both total offense and in scoring which is unacceptable given the weapons this team has and the ability of Justin Herbert to make any throw. Herbert has a measly 10 TDS and 14 INTs while Ekeler only has 372 yards on the ground. Changes need to be made with the scheme or else look for a coordinator to be fired come offseason. The defense has been the one bright spot keeping this squad in contention as Murray and Derwin both are playing at an All Pro level and new addition Lorenzo Carter sits in the DPOY conversation with 6 sacks, a pick 6 and a FF. Joey Bosa is playing like he’s former teammate Manti Teo’s girlfriend right now with only 1 sack and is nowhere to be found. Look for the Chargers to either make a deep playoff push if they figure out offense or fade into the abyss that is La Brea.

 

The Raiders in Primer may be more of a mess than the current Raiders as Tom has yet to secure an elusive PS5 replacement but hey at least he isn’t a racist! Hopefully he finds some hardware soon and can make some noise in a competitive division next season

 

That wraps up the AFC half of this blog, NFC wrap up to come in the next day or so as will a comprehensive midseason surprises/awards and league opinions piece as well as the EBDBBNB’s playoff predictions brought to you by DuckKings.