Sunday's game against lowly PPR was supposed to be one for Swag to pad their stats and iron out some of the flaws on both sides of the ball. Basically, an extended practice. Apparently nobody told PPR. Swag found themselves trailing at half for the first time all season and down by as many as 13 points in the second half. The defense that has been so solid all season long looked vulnerable without Wes Parsel and Brian Ziebelman, and the offense required superhuman performances from Neil Payne and center Andy Nikolenko to eventually hold off their lively opponents. Dylan Tasher completed 15 passes for 305 yards and 6 touchdowns (both season highs) and has now attempted 113 passes and only recorded one interception (on a conversion). Payne caught 9 passes for 150 yards, 2 touchdowns and one 2 point conversion. Nikolenko "only" caught 4 passes, but 3 were touchdowns and he gained 105 yards. Oobie Peterson added a 40 yard touchdown and captain Albert Lu supplemented his impressive defensive play with a clutch 2 point reception that gave Swag a two score lead with time winding down. Jason Holte failed to record a catch after tearing a tendon in his left ring finger on the opening drive of the game. Eli Rodriguez, Matt Huffman, Peterson, Holte, and Tasher joined Lu on the defense and were able to come up with a couple stops as the second half dragged on that allowed the offense to mount their comeback, but giving up 31 points to a team that had scored only 6 total in their opening 4 games was quite a surprise. In the end Swag were able to come out on top 40-31, improving their record to 3-1 with a tantalizing matchup with Team Pedigree looming on the horizon.
Player of the Game: Andy Nikolenko. Swag's comeback was largely predicated on Nikolenko's 3 touchdown performance. Refusing to be stopped by the first defender, it's safe to say PPR were not equipped to deal with his combination of size and speed. Honorable mention goes to Neil Payne for his colossal offensive numbers.
Game stats can be found here
Season Stats
League Leaders Through Week 3
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