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ursbearhug · 1 year ago

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Since I cannot scroll in peace because I'm seeing only 12 same posts, and before anybody gets smart with me they're from the same mutuals with the same time stamples, I'll share a random memory from the past.

For those who have never played Nostale (no fault really) it had this interesting system of companions. You could tame a pet (selective, not every wild mob can be a pet) and at certian levels you'd get a companion (I'd say human companion but at 40something you get this weird human/dog hybrid thing. Also not sure if Sakura qualifies as human). I'm not a person who got really far in Nostale because past level 20, leveling up slows down to a screeching halt, so you'll not learn about 60 or 80 post game activities, simply because I've never got there. It worked like this; you run up to a monster, that is equally or lower leveled than you, check if it is catchable indicated by little icon next to it's health bar, you weaken it because it's Pokemon and then you repeatedly use capture emoticon/action until you succeed. So from what I can jog up from my memory, you could tame chicken (first pet), sheep (my fav I cherish all the sheep I've tamed in my 2008 glory days), hamsters (that's what they were called here, don't know about other translations. They were shooting ranged spikes at enemies, so go figure), differently coloured jelly monsters and many more but one of the most prevalent and recognizable pet was this turtle thing.

For you see, Nostale had this atrocious leveling system. You level up your character *and* your character's profession level. They are separate bars, that gain exp differently and one was more important than the other. Getting exp and level up was really whatever because you can get good gear regardless. But profession level allowed you to wear SP cards, which in turn turned you to jacked up, specialized version of your class, with set skills and it's own profession levels as well (yay...!). Like warriors could be basic bitches and play with 3 spells because the rest were dogshit but they could also turn into Berserker SPCard and weaken themselves to deal more damage. Or go the au contraire route and become Crusaders and deal heavy damage with crossbows. Some SP were better than others, especially in terms of how useful they are in pve and pvp content.

So why is that relevant? Well, as I said post 20 getting levels was abysmally slow. No without reason, of course, because you can get 50% more exp for the low price of real life money at a moment's notice! Oh so sexy! And how efficient! Get 50% more for an hour and spend more coin! Obviously, not everyone can throw money away at viddy games. To get SP cards you needed to be certian level (like fabled level 35 for the 1st spec) or... Buy them from other players! But to equip it, you need particular profession level. Since the way these two bars progress are slightly different at some point people realised it's actually more efficient to put your character in particular spot, to endlessly grind low level mobs with the turtles' aoe attacks, leave the computer on and fuck off to touch grass. Your profession level or SP profession level is slowly (and I mean SLOWLY) raising, while you're actually living your life. And just like SP cards, pets can be sold as well. So if you wanted to level up an alt character you just get the desired SP card (it depended on the class really. Mages usually went for Red(1)/Blue(3), Rangers had absolutely overpowered and busted 1st spec so unless you were intending to grind for the 4th one, you didn't even have to put too much effort into it, and warriors were in tough spot since none of the original 4 specs were really that good), get the turtle, spend your parents hard earned money on the funny bubble and like 50 exp boosts, leave your character at the pea spots for like 48 hours and voilà!

This also lead to easy bots, that were punishable. It became so annoying for newbies (because whales were taking away mission objectives from them), that mods started to scour the fields and kick out or ban players who didn't respond (botting makes responding impossible for most cases and you cannot respond if you're not actually in front of your PC).

In the meantime, guild wars 2 has fancy way of taming animals as ranger. You go to particular spot and look for 'juvenile' version of desired pet. Sometimes it's like "spot the difference" and it's the exact same picture and sometimes it's total opposite. Some pets are soft locked behind events (wyverns and smokescales, my beloathed). My problem with them is usually that they're not marked as tameable and you have to specifically hover over them with your mouse to see if they are. I swear looking for hyena shaved off like 5 years off of my expected life spawn.

There is small part of me that goes "what if we download and check how much NosTale changed? 😝" but I must know better and not drown in nostalgia.

My favourite part of the game was the Top the blacksmith. That's his name, not a command.

I also really liked artstyle for art. Especially thrid SPs. The frozen mage, the crusader and demolishionist were so pretty.

Anyway, warm garlic bread and gay bear sex.

#percy does things #percy does gaming #will delete later

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talking-about-bug-snacks · 3 years ago

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MEGAMAKI

Megamaki is the big bad beach biome boss Bugsnak, baby! Its bug basis is not acknowledged in game, but generally, it is referred to as a DRAGON, which I think is great, because it’s great when the classification of a monster type can be stretched to include even more. A worm made of sushi (a dragon roll, of course) with googly eyes can be a dragon! That’s great! It is also most certainly a sea serpent, so it can be considered a whole host of things, but I don’t think any of them are necessarily mutually exclusive.

The most proper classification, as with Minimaki, is a bristleworm, a marine segmented worm! And Megamaki is really the most segmented worm of all time, with each segment doubling as one of the funniest little guys of all time. Megamaki is also thought of by devs as a “sea centipede”, which may not actually exist, but it is certainly a neat concept!

When summoned, Megamaki will patrol the bay, both swimming and flying as it sees fit! The Trip Shot must be placed in its way to cause it to burst apart, into a bunch of Minimaki that can be captured in the chaos, while the head tries to put a stop to this. If this sounds familiar, it is because this is also how Sandopede and Sub Sandopede are captured, making them a sort of early tutorial for Megamaki! Sandopedes were actually not originally going to be catchable with the Trip Shot, but Megamaki’s defeat method inspired them to implement it there, too!

Like Minimaki, Megamaki can also shoot explosive eggs, and has its own quite stylish ribbon of roe across its face, as well as two shrimp “wings”. Truly, Megamaki is only the head of the collective dragon, with Minimakis forming the vast majority! But what Megamaki lacks in length, it makes up for in leadership skills, since the Minimaki follow it dutifully and panic when it is disrupted.

When every Minimaki is captured, Megamaki itself becomes capturable, and that’s kind of sweet, isn’t it? It’s such a strong leader, and its followers are lost without it, but in turn, it’s lost without them. They all need each other! Megamaki is technically the only boss Bugsnak that does NOT change form when defeated, since the Minimaki were never exactly “part” of it after all! I gushed about how great it is that Minimakis are worm segments, but I must give credit where credit is due. Megamaki is a worm’s HEAD as a creature!

I also feel obligated to point out that Megamaki and Minimaki are the only Bugsnax to involve avocado whatsoever. Now you know!

#megamaki #bugsnax #talkin bout bugsnax

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tyrantisterror · 7 years ago

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TT Blathers About Monster Hunter Stories

For thousands of years, people have come to my altar, desperately begging that I play Monster Hunter games, and for thousands of years I let my heart be hardened to their pleas. Then this year Yaweh released the 11th plague: a Monster Hunter game that was also a Mons game, which is to say a game where you collect and raise various monsters to be your friends and allies, i.e. my favorite type of game ever conceived. In that moment, I was doomed – I cannot resist a good Mons game, and god help me, this game was good. I played the free demo four different times before the game finally came out, so thirsty I was to play it. I had a fever, and the cure was Monster Hunter Stories.

From a story standpoint, it’s just kind of ok – fairly standard JRPG plot of saving the world from a vaguely supernatural ecological destruction, standard JRPG characters (Here’s your perky female childhood friend! Here’s your angsty male childhood friend turned rival! Here are the silly comedic villains! Here’s the quirky sidekick! Etc.), very formulaic across the board. To its credit, the story DID manage to sell me on the whole setting of Monster Hunter in general – it helps that the titular hunters have a lot more sympathy for the titular monsters than you usually get in a “Heroes kill monsters” game, and that the storytelling really does want you to love these creatures even when you have to fight them. Still, it ain’t no Persona 4 by a long shot.

But that’s fine, because the real appeal was raising all those lovely monsters, and oh, how fucking good that was. Great gameplay goes a long way in this game, and while the story is by the numbers, the fights and monsters were ABOVE AND BEYOND. Which is why I’ve decided to talk about EVERY SINGLE Monstie (i.e. catchable monster) in the game, even the ones I haven’t gotten to meet yet because Capcom hasn’t released their DLC yet.

So come with me as I spiral into madness and gush about some goddamn monsters.

Velocidrome (Goggle)

Redecos: Gendrome (Chopstix)

Goggle was the first monstie the game gave me, and as such has a special place in my heart even though he was quickly outclassed by everything around him. A sweet, innocent creature, Goggle shepherded me around as I first discovered the world of Monster Hunter Stories. His species is also a good introduction to the Caveman meets JRPG European Fantasy (with a dash of Sci-fi) aesthetics of the Monster Hunter games. Like, yeah, on the surface he’s a dinosaur, but he’s also a brightly colored dragony dinosaur. A dragonosaur. Goggle is a treasure.

Later in the game you can get Gendromes, which are a slight retooling of the Velocidrome model. I named mine Chopstix.

Aptonoth (Steakbone)

A big gnarly looking hadrosaur/ankylosaur hybrid, Aptonoths look far stronger than they actually are, being the rattatas of the Monster Hunter World. There’s a lot of them, they go down in one hit, and after a point you just kind of avoid them because fighting them is mostly pointless. And you know what, that’s fine. I’m fine with letting these sweet creatures just wander and graze to their hearts’ content, safe from the attacks of my darling murder lizards. Of course, sometimes the wild murder lizards eat them, but that’s just nature being a pre-programmed A.I. interacting with itself.

Steakbone was on my team for a long while because I had five open slots and not much to put them in. She never saw combat.

Arzuros (Poobah)

A great big nasty bear, Poobah illustrates what I really came to love about Monster Hunter’s approach to monster design: almost everything in this world is part lizard. Even the fuckin’ bears. You look at this guy from a distance and think “That’s a bear,” but up close? Up close to see all sorts of lizardy scales and other reptilian elements. It’s a world of monsters where Lizard is the apex of evolution – like the Kanto region in Pokemon! I love it. I absolutely love it.

Poobah was a beefy boy and I brought him into battle a couple of times, but he was quickly overshadowed by…

Yian Kut-Ku (Skittle)

Redecos: Blue Yian Kut-Ku (Sherbet)

Skittle and Sherbet are beautiful creatures of grace and goofiness, their bright colors reminding you of the radical 1990’s. They look the way Capri Sun tastes. Both were heavy hitters early in my game, quickly illustrating how poor Goggle would have a hard time later on when all their stats exceeded his while they were only half his level. Sherbet in particular stuck on my team a long time, and I regard her quite fondly for the fights she put up in the hellish snow-encrusted hills before I finally got that de-frosting perfume or whatever the fuck it is you need to keep from freezing on that map.

Popo (Mutton)

Popos look like a sentient hairwad chewing on a wishbone. So, y’know, pretty good for the Bidoofs of Monster Hunter.

Lagombi (Harvey)

You’re basically forced to have this fucking rabbit bear for the snow map, because he’s the only species you can get that can break rocks and is also involved in a cut scene that shows you how gene hybridization works. It’s a goofy ass thing and one of the few monsters that doesn’t have much lizard in it, so points for fun and variety. Harvey wasn’t my favorite and, unlike the movie/play character for whom he was named, didn’t really endear me to him as the game went on, but he is a giant rabbit with, like, a beak or something, so there’s that for you.

Bulldrome (Hamhock)

There’s some good bacon on this critter. Mmm hmm.

Zamtrios (Belushi)

A giant shark-frog that can suddenly expand to the delight of fetishists everywhere, I felt there was no better name for this lovely creature than that of beloved 1980’s comedian John Belushi. Belushi stuck around on my team for a while, and while he didn’t accomplish a lot during that time, I could always depend on him in a pinch if my stronger monsters got too roughed up. His hopping animation was really fun despite being the opposite of helpful from a gameplay perspective.

Khezu (Akroyd)

Redecos: Red Khezu (Snausage)

These guys have to get the people who want nontraditional dragons, like, rock hard, right? Giant phallus headed lamprey wyverns? That’s what people like these days, right? I like these guys just fine. Akroyd was my stone wall for a while, having great HP and defense that allowed him to weather the nastiest of shit relatively unscathed. Snausage never quite came into his own, but to be fair, did he need to? His name is SNAUSAGE. Sometimes that’s all you need.

Apceros (Turtz)

I’m sincerely disappointed these guys weren’t viable fighters, because an ankylosaurus/turtle hybrid is a badass concept, and this design is a badass execution of it. I would have been really tempted to use Turtz for the whole game if he didn’t have the survivability of a wet paper towel.

Royal Ludroth (Spengbab)

Redecos: Purple Ludroth (Koolaid)

I love most of the Ludroth family’s design, but that spongey neck just looks infected. Every time I look at them I worry about whether or not I should take them to a clinic. There’s gotta be, like, pus and shit in there, right? Oh god. Oh my poor sick lizards. Oh no.

Gypceros (Plunger)

Redecos: Purple Gypceros (Grapekun)

Y’know, much has been made of the phallic nature of Khezu’s head/neck, but I honestly feel the horrible fleshy ovipositors on these guys is way more obscene. They’re pretty fun monsters in their own right. Not my favorite – they don’t hit my aesthetic sweet spots like some of the other monsters do – but they bring a wonderful variety to things. However they’re also cheating fucks who use poison and blindness like cowards, and for that I bear a grudge.

Nerscylla (Vriska)

Redecos: Shrouded Nerscylla (Frosti)

I love these spiders and their adorable blankets. I was sorely tempted to keep Vriska on my team, benching her only because she started getting roughed up too much about 2/3rds of the way through the game. Not only does she have a lovely and endearing design, but her ability to put fuckers to sleep was so useful. She and Frosti knit sweaters in my monster stables and regale the young monsters with stories of daring do.

Qurupeco (Honker)

Redecos: Crimson Qurupeco (Barry)

If you distilled the essence of, like, EVERY weird ass bird – not all birds, just the weird ass ones like toucans and pelicans and shit – and then mixed it with a wyvern, you’d get these guys. They’re goofy as shit and really endearing even if they make battles take way longer than necessary by calling in reinforcements. Plus Honker helped me get one of my best monsties in the end, so he’s alright. You’re alright Honker.

Rathian (Clarent)

Redecos: Pink Rathian (Hrunting), Gold Rathian (Caliburn)

So early in the game, you escape the dreaded Ice Hell Wasteland Snow Zone into a beautiful green path of serene trees and flowers. Sleeping on that path, surrounded by harmless Aptonoths, is a Sharkleberry Fin-pink ass dragon. And deep down you know this is a trap. It’s fucking sleeping. You have to choose to fight it. The game is setting you up.

“Fuck it,” you say, “I saved recently. Let’s poke the bear.”

These fuckers were Monster Hunter Stories’ first taste of power, the first monster to make you realize that you are a puny ape made of meat and bone in a land of prehistoric dragonosauruses that would love to eat your goddamn guts. God I love this heinous she-dragon, this haw-nosed viper-faced scorpion-tailed flying allosaurus. The game foreshadows pretty heavily that you’ll get one of your own at, like, the VERY beginning, so I didn’t bother putting Hrunting (my pink Rathian – I didn’t find the normal one until much later) on my team when I got her. I mean, I actually couldn’t because the game was like “Yeah you got this egg but uhhhhh you are NOT ready for this responsibility” my man, but even though I knew it’d be alright, I still felt a twinge of regret. There aren’t enough spaces on my team for TWO Raths, but Rathians, please know that Silver medals are high honors.

Also I’ll probably level you up for funsies once all my other monsties get to level 100 while I wait for the DLC.

Barroth (Caramel)

Redecos: Jade Barroth (Marzipan)

Caramel was the first monster I got who would stay all the way to the end of the story mode, and likewise became the first monster I raised to level 99. Even just focusing on aesthetics, Caramel is wonderful. Her design has the bonkers creativity and personality of an Ultra Man monster, with her giant pipe organ head and pangolin dorsal scutes. And she likes mud baths! What a lovely creature. Caramel’s full name is Salted Caramel, because her ice genes make her look a little frosted, and because she’s the experienced veteran on my core team of monsters.

Diablos (Moloch)

Redecos: Black Diablos (Asmodeus)

A triceratops/therapod/pterosaur/Satan hybrid, Diablos is pretty fucking rad, and while it took me forever to get one of their fucking eggs, I still seriously considered raising one for my endgame. I ultimately didn’t, but this is another monster that kinda neatly summarizes the basic rules of Monster Hunter’s monster design: take dinosaur parts, cobble together a dragon, and voila, you’ve got a pretty standard MH monster.

Tigrex (Nublar)

Redecos: Brute Tigrex (Sorna), Molten Tigrex (Winston)

Look, at the end of the day, I’m a pretty boring person when it comes to my personal tastes. I like hamburgers with just ketchup on them – anything more and you can’t focus on the meat. So when I say that Tigrex is my favorite monster in the game, please, please understand that I’m aware how boring that makes me. I mean, I get it – it’s JUST a dragon with a T.rex head. But… but that’s so cool! And it’s such a nice dragon with SUCH a NICE T.rex head! And it has this adorable animation when it wins where it snaps its jaws twice like “YEAH FUCK YOU YOU WANNA GO AGAIN GUESS NOT FUCKER I’M A T.REX AND A DRAGON WHAT ARE YOU YOU AIN’T SHIT IS WHAT YOU ARE CHOMP CHOMP MOTHERFUCKER CHOMP CHOMPITY CHOMP!”

Anyway I raised the three different Tigrexes all to a high level and used them all substantially throughout the game because they’re beautiful and adorable and badass and just my favorite ok? Yes I know it’s one of the least creative designs in the bunch but goooooooooddddd it just works for me ok it just works.

1000/10 would raise more would raise entire team of tigrexes try and fucking stop me I’ll do it I’ll goddamn do it just try to stop me CHOMP CHOMP motherfuckers

Iodrome (Nedry)

I did a lot of level grinding in the volcano, and discovered that some of my monsters could send these fuckers running at the sight of me just by roaring. It was delightful.

Basarios (Pebble)

Redecos: Ruby Basarios (Poprox)

These burly fellows look like they’d be a lot tougher than they are. I mean, they can endure a lot of punishment, but their fights were never hardfought – just long. They’re pretty neat for giant rock dragons.

Gravios (Nugget)

Redecos: Black Gravios (Licorice)

A bit tougher than Basarios (and apparently related to them? ), I still have trouble telling these two apart most of the time. They’re nice. Decent geodudes.

Uragaan (Roundboy)

Y’know, everyone remembers the Ghost with the Most and Lydia, but Otho brings a lot of comedy to Beetlejuice too. Like, he’s even more inexplicable and weird than all the dead people in that movie. Otho should be more fondly remembered.

Like Caramel, Roundboy has a really fun design that once again has a distinctly Ultra Man-ish feel to me. He also looks sort of like a hairbrush, but, like, a terrible one where the tines are too fat to properly help your hair. I like him.

Great Jaggi (Newman)

Redecos: Great Baggi (Elvis)

I feel like the game knew these two were basically a waste of time because there’s, like, no promotional renders for them at all. It’s kind of a shame because they’ve got lovely wicked raptor designs, but yeah they’re basically like Velocidromes in that they’re kind of useless, but unlike velocidromes you don’t get them until a point in the game where there is ABSOLUTELY NO DOUBT they will always be useless. I feel bad for them.

Kecha Wacha (Seylmer)

Redeco: Ash Kecha Wacha (Vendor)

So… I’m not the only one who thinks this is the lovechild of Elmer and Seymore, right? It wants to sell me sands and fruit.

Yian Garuga (Gothrox)

The goth cousin of the Yian Kut Kus, this creature manages to look kinda badass despite being derived from such goofy stock. I can respect that.

Congala (Garbage)

Redecos: Emerald Congala (Dumpster)

From a design point, these punk rock hippo-gorillas are really cool, mixing a lot of disparate elements into a single creature. On the other hand, every time I fought one they farted on me a lot, which did not endear me to them one bit. I did not appreciate their south park humor.

Zinogre (Balto)

Redecos: Stygian Zinogre (Baskervill)

In recent Pokemon generations I’ve just been clinging to the few reptilian designs we get, no matter how far they are from y actual preferences for reptile monster designs, because more and more they are crowded out by goddamn mammals. I imagine Zinogre here must be that for MH fans who also prefer mammal monsters to reptile ones – in a sea of lizards, here is a lizard that looks very much like a wolf! It’s still a lizard though – like, it’s got a big long tail, and scales everywhere, and even a squatter stance than most mammals have – but dammit, it’s a wolf-ish lizard.

I think wolves are kinda neat, so if there had to be a super strong mammal-ish monster, they could do a lot worse than this one.

Nargacuga (Bagheera)

Redecos: Green Nargacuga (Swampcat)

Basically a panther dragon, Nargacuga is another strong more-mammal-y-than-normal monster from the later part of the game, and it’s a pretty fucking rad one. It was hard not to have a grudge against them at first because of the, uh, opening cutscenes of the game, but since the game hammers in the idea that we can’t blame these wild animals for their actions, I grew to love my sweet panther dragons. They’re frail as fuck though, so sadly I didn’t get much use out of them, but I love them nonetheless.

Rathalos (Ratha)

Redecos: Azure Rathalos (Durendal), Silver Rathalos (Excalibur)

Ok, so, you automatically get a Rathalos about halfway through the story, and the story really rides upon you making the Rathalos your favorite. Which, in turn, kinda inspires a bit of rebelliousness on your part – especially when other monsters have been with you longer (Caramel) or endeared themselves to you more (Nublar/Sorna/Winston). Also they don’t let you nickname your Rathalos yourself – your stuck with the shitty nickname one of the NPCs gave him instead. Ratha? Ratha? I know I could do better than that.

Like Rathian, Rathalos is a badass theropod bodied, scorpion tailed, hawk/viper faced wyvern, all of which gets blended seamlessly into a really unique and expressive design. This is basically the mascot monster of the series, right? A good choice. Definitely more creative than a simple dragon with a T.rex head. A good choice. I’m sure some might argue the better choice.

…

Anyway I love the various Rathaloses I’ve raised, and like Tigrexes I raised one of each subspecies up to pretty high levels. They’re great monsters. Probably in my top ten of the ones listed here. Maybe even top five. Just… just not my favorite. I’m sorry Ratha, but you should have let me name you.

Lagiacrus (Ogopogo)

Redecos: Ivory Lagiacrus (Inverness)

It’s a crocodile… and a cobra… and a sea serpent… I love it. I love this design. Of all the monsters I planned to put on my team, I was most excited for Ogopogo here. Like, if I had to pick a favorite monster on design alone, it would be this guy. Ogopogo struggled to make her mark in combat though, being kind of middle of the road – not super hard hitting, not super durable, just kind of alright everywhere. She wasn’t as quirky as the others either. I still love her though, and I’ve been toying with her genes to see if I can help her make her mark. She’s probably just a late bloomer – it’ll be her time to shine soon, you’ll see.

Deviljho (Corncob)

I have heard tales of the Deviljho for as long as I have heard people telling me I should play Monster Hunter games – which is to say a long ass time. Feared by all, the mighty deviljho is an unstoppable murder beast that arrives when you least expect it.

At least, that’s what the legends say. In Monster Hunter Stories I had to seek out this son of a bitch. SEVERAL TIMES. Me and Honker spent an entire fucking night just farming these bastards, beating up Jho after Jho in a desperate attempt to get its precious egg. Eventually our efforts bore fruit, and sweet Corncob was born.

A plucky, chunky pickle skinned child, Corncob worried me at first – she seemed frailer than my Tigrexes and didn’t hit as hard, and I feared she might have to be benched for her own sake. After finishing story mode, though, she really came into her own. With the help of some gene re-arranging and some level grinding, Corncob has become a juggernaut – beefier than Caramel and harder hitting than all save Winston the Molten Tigrex. Corncob isn’t the average monster warrior – she has become the legend, the legend that you fear. She is the legendary super monster – the Deviljho!

Anyway, Corncob may be my second favorite monstie. She’s just the sweetest little murdersaurus.

Barioth (Varney)

Redecos: Sand Barioth (Carmilla)

The third mammal-ish reptile, Barioth looks pretty cool. I mean, it’s a sabre tooth cat’s head on a standard MH style wyvern body, you can’t fuck that up really. If MH didn’t offer so many other monsters that were far more lizard-y, I’d probably use it. It’s right there in that later-gen Pokemon category of “I guess this will do” monster design. If I were dying of thirst, Barioth, you would be my water in the desert. But there’s fresh water aplenty here, soooooo yeah.

Brachydios (Bajablast)

Originally I had no intention of using Bajablast, since the design seemed a little overdone to me – like it was trying to hard to be EVEN MORE badass than other monsters. But goddamn did Bajablast win me over! Not only does she have the best kinship attack animation in the game, but she’s a durable, hard hitting worker – not the best fighter on my team, but a consistently reliable one. After giving her water genes that complement her fire resistant nature, Bajablast is both a thirst quencher AND an explosive attacker – she truly does the Dew.

Kirin (Amalthea)

Redecos: Oroshi Kirin (Unreleased – no nickname chosen yet)

While on the outside Kirin looks like just a horse with a horn, on closer inspection you’ll find it also has a weird old man face, and that’s creepy in a fun way. A perfectly acceptable horse monster. Kirin is an “Elder Dragon,” which research tells me is MH code for “Boss Monster” or “Legendary Pokemon,” so I guess that’s why you have to wait until the postgame to get one.

Monoblos (Belphegor)

Redecos: White Monoblos (Unreleased – no nickname chosen yet)

Monoblos is like Diablos but with a less cool looking head. So there’s that for you. It feels kind of underwhelming to get this guy in the postgame, to be honest – it’s just Diablos with a less cool head. But it gives you something to do, and I’d rather wait for this than, say, sweet, dear Corncob.

Seregios (Pinecone)

Like Monoblos, this monster felt kind of underwhelming as a post-game critter – it’s another wyvern, neat – but at least it’s a cool and unique design, with its backwards scales and pissed off rooster face. Sir Reggie O’s is ok in my book.

Great Poogie (Baconbit)

If you find 100 pigs in the game you get a really big pig that you can ride and it’s kind of a joke on you for working so hard to find a bunch of useless fucking pigs, but on the other hand you can ride on a pig and it’s hilarious. Just… just imagining a person choosing to ride on a pig instead of dragons and bears and shit is hilarious.

Epona (un-nickname-able, but I would have called him Bojack)

There’s a DLC tournament you can fight in to get a fucking horse. Just… just a horse. Just a normal goddamn horse. You don’t even get to name the horse because fuckin’ Zelda beat you to it. Excuse me, princess, I wanted to name this horse off an alcoholic sitcom star with clinical depression! Fuckin’ dream killing horse.

THE UNRELEASED DLC MONSTERS

Rajang (Unreleased – thinkin’ of calling it Vegeta)

Every time I’ve fought one of these apes has been a fuckin’ nightmare. I am terrified of them. I am scared of these goddamn dirty pawed apes. I want to raise one just so I can get over my fear.

Kushala Daora (Unreleased – no nickname chosen yet)

The closest the game comes to, like, the iconic European dragon – I mean, let’s be honest, if you think “Dragon,” you think “lizard with four legs and two wings”, right? If we’re being honest here? Right?

Oddly, I’m less enthused by this guy than I felt I would be. It actually makes me understand where all the “reptilian dragons are boring!” people are coming from. It could use just a bit more weirdness.

Teostra (Unreleased – no nickname chosen yet)

So here’s a dragon that is also a lion. Neat.

Glavenus (Unreleased, but will be named Razzlberri)

Every week I hope and pray that the game gets the DLC that lets me have my sweet, dear, beautiful Razzlberri. As of this writing, my prayers remain unanswered.

TT’s Top Ten Favorite Monsties So Far (in no particular order)

Nublar/Sorna/Winston (Tigrex and its variants)

Corncob (Deviljho)

Caramel (Barroth and its variants)

Ogopogo (Lagiacrus and its variants)

Bajablast (Brachydios)

Ratha/Durendal/Excalibur (Rathalos and its variants)

Clarent/Hrunting/Caliburn (Rathian and its variants)

Razzlberri (Glavenus - yeah I know it hasn’t been released yet but look at it)

Vriska/Frosti (Nerscylla and its variants

Moloch/Asmodeus (Diablos and its variants)

#Monster Hunter Stories #Monster Hunter #Tigrex #Lagiacrus #Barroth #Glavenus #Deviljho #and the rest

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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4 bold predictions for the second half of the NFL season

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Which surprising team will make the playoffs? Which team will miss them?

The Patriots will make it to the AFC title game. A quarterback will win the regular season MVP award.

These are not bold predictions. They are the -500 lines that dot the top of betting sheets. No one looking to make a “fun” wager is betting on a tried-and-true tradition or a good team remaining good. The fun bets are the 20-to-1 Hail Marys that carry a 1-4 team to the postseason or make a sixth-round pick a rookie of the year.

You know, something like the Chargers rallying to the playoffs despite half a season of self-inflicted wounds. Or Raheem Mostert catching fire and becoming the league’s rushing leader. Or the Dolphins winning multiple games.

Previously, we broke down all the preseason predictions we were most wrong about — NFL MVP Baker Mayfield, Patriots Pro Bowler Michael Bennett, the Eagles and/or Cowboys ruling the NFC, etc. But with that cathartic exercise behind us, it’s time to make some new prognostications we’ll soon disown as 2020 looms.

The Bills will win their first playoff game since 1995

Buffalo has a clear path to the postseason after a 5-2 start, but there are plenty of questions Sean McDermott’s team has to answer before it’s taken seriously as a contender. None of the Bills’ five wins have come over teams with winning records. If you remove the 4-4 Titans from that list — who were one game shy of benching Marcus Mariota for his offensive struggles — Buffalo’s slate of vanquished foes have a combined record of 3-27.

There’s also the matter of the man behind center. Josh Allen has been better in 2019 than he was as a rookie, raising his passer rating from a putrid 67.9 to a merely bad 80.4. He’s had two games where he’s accounted for multiple touchdowns and zero turnovers ... and that came against the Giants and Dolphins, who are currently in the midst of complex AAF cosplay.

In his three games against non-losing teams, he’s thrown for four touchdowns, four interceptions, and four fumbles. While his completion rate is up from 52.8 to 60.1, his catchable pass rate has actually decreased this season, even as his average throw depth has dropped by two full yards.

That’s not ideal, but there’s reason to believe a still-growing Bills team can overcome this weakness and roll on to the Divisional Round come January. Buffalo’s defense has been a monster, even if the Eagles gashed it for a season-high 31 points (in Orchard Park, no less!). Even so, the team still ranks third in the league when it comes to yards allowed per play at 4.8, behind only undefeated San Francisco and New England. Teams that rank in the top five in that metric and make it to the postseason have gone 11-9 in the playoffs over the past four years. Blake Bortles and Brock Osweiler each won playoff games behind swarming defenses.

Allen, for all his struggles, has the wheels to make the Bills dangerous enough to topple a flawed opponent — like the Ravens, Texans, or Colts, any of which they might face in a wild card matchup. He’s also flanked by a potent running game behind ageless Frank Gore and rookie Devin Singletary. They could carry the offense to just enough points, and that’d allow the Buffalo defense to push this junked-down racecar over the finish line and into the playoffs’ second weekend. — Christian D’Andrea

The Rams will miss the playoffs

Call it a hunch if you must, but I’m not seeing the Rams winning most of their remaining games. Jared Goff has been shaky at times. They play in the hardest division in the NFL this season. They’ve already dropped decisive NFC West games to the Seahawks and 49ers, and still have to play each rival again, along with the Cardinals twice.

If the playoffs started today, the Seahawks and Rams would be in, and the Rams would be out. The Rams made some big trades this season, including acquiring cornerback Jalen Ramsey — a sign that, at the very least, they’re concerned and trying to fight off third place in the division.

It’s certainly possible that the 49ers, Seahawks, and Rams all make it, but it’ll be a tough road to the postseason for Los Angeles. The Cowboys, Ravens, and Bears also remain on the schedule.

Provided Seattle and Los Angeles are battling for one spot, it comes down to strength vs. strength, at least in my mind. At that point, the conversation isn’t Russell Wilson vs. Goff, but rather Wilson vs. the Los Angeles defense.

And I’m just not ready to bet against Wilson, while Goff has shown enough uneven play for me to believe it’s certainly possible they lose games against the Bears, Ravens, Cowboys, and rematches against San Francisco and Seattle. They’re 5-3, but I could easily see a 3-5 finish to their season. And 8-8 won’t get them into the playoffs. — James Brady

The Browns will make the playoffs

We all had so much hope heading into the season that this Browns team was different. This Browns team had a real quarterback. This Browns team had a scary defense. This Browns team had Odell freakin’ Beckham. This Browns team was an actual contender.

Halfway through the season, this Browns team is 2-5 — and they look like the same old Browns. Baker Mayfield is throwing picks at a rate matched only by Jameis Winston, except Winston has more than twice as many touchdowns as Mayfield. Mayfield’s QB rating ranks 31st in the league, only higher than Cavity Sam himself, Sam Darnold.

The defense is surrendering more points than it did last year and it’s not forcing many turnovers, ranking in the bottom third of the NFL in both categories. Beckham currently has a career-low 69.7 receiving yards per game and just one measly touchdown.

The Browns are averaging more penalties per game than any other team, and their first-time head coach has absolutely no idea what he’s doing:

So false start in 4th & 11, with punt unit, Freddie pulls them puts offense out for 4th & 16. Baker sacked. Nathan Zegura just reported, #Browns deliberately false started so the offense could return to the field because Kitchens didn't want to burn final timeout. Clown show.

— Daryl Ruiter (@RuiterWrongFAN) October 27, 2019

And I don’t care. I don’t care about Mayfield getting pissy with a reporter who constantly trolls him. I don’t care that Beckham has been a disappointment so far in Cleveland. I don’t care that the Browns can’t get out of their own way and lack any discipline whatsoever.

Other than maybe the blowout loss to the 49ers, this Cleveland team still looks competitive each game. Nick Chubb has been terrific (minus the occasional fumble), leading all rushers with 105.4 running yards per game. Myles Garrett has lived up to his high expectations this season, totaling 10 sacks through seven games. The defensive line as a whole has been getting pressure on the quarterback without having to blitz much, and the secondary is starting to getting healthy again with the return of Denzel Ward and Greedy Williams.

They’ve also played one of the toughest first-half schedules, including games against the last two unbeaten teams. The second half of the season is another story: They have the NFL’s second-easiest schedule.

All the Browns need right now is that confidence boost that comes after a victory. Then it becomes easier to string togethers wins. Mayfield in particular thrives off of that energy, and I think if he and Beckham can just get a rhythm going, they’ll both find that extra gear in the last nine weeks.

Luckily, every game remaining is winnable for the Browns — their two biggest hurdles are against the Bills (who have a lower DVOA than the Browns) and the Ravens (who already lost to the Browns, in Baltimore). They have three matchups against the two teams with zero wins between them.

The Browns don’t even have to win every game to get to the playoffs. If they can go 7-2 the rest of the way, that just might be good enough in the AFC. — Sarah Hardy

The Bengals will steal the No. 1 pick from the Dolphins

Miami is trying its hardest to be the worst team in the NFL — or at least, the front office is. The roster has been gutted with key players like Laremy Tunsil, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Kenny Stills all traded away for draft picks. The only player who represented the Dolphins in the Pro Bowl last year was cornerback Xavien Howard, and now he’s injured reserve.

And yet, in spite of the effort to tank, the Dolphins have been close to winning games. They led at halftime in each of the last two weeks, but couldn’t hold those leads to beat the Bills or Steelers. Prior to that, Miami was a two-point conversion away from beating Washington.

The Dolphins are 0-7, but a win still looks conceivable for them. It looks more likely than the 0-8 Bengals finding a victory in the back half of their schedule.

Cincinnati is going the wrong direction and just became the second team in the Super Bowl era to allow at least 460 yards in four consecutive games. The only other team do that? The 2018 Bengals.

Now the Bengals are apparently embracing their downward spiral and benching nine-year starter Andy Dalton. Fourth-round rookie Ryan Finley is taking the reins in Cincinnati where he’ll be blessed with the NFL’s worst rushing attack that averages 3.2 yards per carry and a defense that can’t stop anyone. Good luck!

If neither the Dolphins nor the Bengals can win beforehand, the owner of the No. 1 pick in the 2020 NFL Draft will almost certainly be decided on Dec. 22. The Bengals will travel to Miami in the pillow fight of the season. My guess, though, is that the Dolphins will win before that Week 16 tank collision and then hammer the nail in the coffin by pushing the Bengals one step closer to an 0-16 season — and having dibs on the first quarterback in the draft. — Adam Stites

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thatguysamaniac-blog · 5 years ago

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The community is up in arms, pitchforks have been raised, picket boards have been lovingly crafted with catchy slogans for social media. The mob is revolting. What's This Noise Then? There is no National Dex (terms in bold appear in the glossary at the end) in the upcoming Pokémon game, Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, it's not #brexit, its #dexit. There is a grumbling controversy fluttering in the forums and the social medias as people are furious that a thing has been 'taken' away from them because not all of the currently available Pokémon will be catchable or transferable in the upcoming games for the first time in the mainline series of the games since last year's Pokémon Let's Go Pikachu and Pokémon Let's Go Eevee 2002's Pokémon Sapphire and Pokémon Ruby. And as semi-professional contrarians, we straddle that high horse and RP a bit of devils advocate. Is taking the��National Dex away a bad thing? As of the end of Generation 7 there are 809 pokémon, including the Meltan and Melmetal caught in a seventh and eighth generation limbo. Given past additions to the dex we have seen that number increase by roughly 100 each generation following this trend we could assume that this number would be 900+ for Generation 8. And yes it would be nice to have the option of all against all, but if Gamefreak say they are dropping that number down, ultimately it just means for a different meta. Yeah some of your buddies wont be allowed into the new region, and since Galar is based on the UK, and given the time we live in... we could call it an immigration policy? That being said, we don't know how or what or how many pokémon are not making the cut, maybe its 700, maybe its 200 maybe they are changing it up by cutting out a whole type (or two)! Technically it wasn’t in Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon either… Sun and moon did not have a national dex, Yes you could have all your pokémon, however your "living dex". in fact your "numbering" of the national dex is only from Pokémon Bank and references outside of the games themselves. Has it actually been taken away? (Pokémon Home) My living dex does not live on my game, it lives on Pokémon Bank, occasionally a Pokemon will be checked out an brought to the real game as part of a breeding program whereby it is forced to fuck a Japanese ditto (Masuda method) or it's offspring, several hundred times until I have favourable set of stats and/or pretty alternative colours. Think of it as a grotesque library of genetics where by the mons are caged in limbo and some of the luckier ones are allowed out to a breeding centre whilst I ride about on my bike beside the breeding centre endlessly hatching and destroying its young, until the egg I want hatches. At which point the mon is returned to it's electronic limbo. What is "Home"? Pokémon Home is the new Pokémon Bank, we know very little beyond it being a new storage system, but how much interactivity will it offer, what functionality will it have? It could be like ranch offering you the ability to play with them all, it much offer even just EV training or Pelago style interactions. Until we get more info I reckon surfacing and getting on the dexit hypetrain is silly. Is this generation only going to have one game? Obviously it is impossible to say at this point in time but realistically, probably not and Game Freak have suggested that this is the plan. So far every generation of 'mainline' games has had multiple entries per generation in addition to a healthy stack of spin-offs. However, significantly for the first time we may have a scenario in which RPGs in the same generation aren't strictly compatible with each other. We'd love to have more data on the spread of players across different games within a generation i.e. how many people were trading, battling etc. across Pokémon X and Pokémon Y with players of Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and Pokémon Omega Ruby our suspicion is it's a lot of players who just had the older game. This new change implies that this won't be the case from here on out (because if players of Pokémon Kettle and Pokémon Pot can battle with players in Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, they can see the animations so why aren't the pokémon just in the game?). Next year, there will be an 'Ultra Sword' or a 'Gen 4' remake, which will either bolster or offer a different set of Pokemon for a different "season" of competitive play, making Home even more relevant. Other things that have been taken away? Oh man, and out of the woodwork it comes, gripes moans grumbles about aching old mechanics from past generations. Last/This gen we had it sweet with the pelagic islands, reducing EV training and berry growing to a minimal task, no longer needing a notepad and pen or excel sheets. In general I will not hear any moans about super training, or chaining, they are awful mechanics that deserve to have died and been replaced with the quality of life improvements we got this time. The only Contentious point I can see is the removal of Z Moves and Mega Evolution, however, seeing we are getting a new megasizing mechanic (dynamax) I am up for this, again in all actuality all this does is shake up the end game, and will change which pokemon may end up being the most powerful for this generation. What does it ultimately mean? There will be missing Pokémon there is a chance that your favourite niche Pokemon wont make it to the game and you cant add it to your team, and that is sad times. This means you will have to choose from the other X amount available to you and at end game there will be a tidy collection of pokemon that were only available at in Galar, while you wait for the next entry in this generation (SwordShield 2: Ireland). In the online competitions for a year we might not have any Ultra Beasts, or Incineroar, or rapid spinners etc etc. I still guarantee that the competition will be slow as shit and twice as boring. Enjoy the game with the new 'mon's that's actually the best part, getting to know the new guys, playing with their new abilities and moves, that is a big part of the heart of the game! these new strange different creatures add them too your party, even though their stats are awful, Battle through the gyms (or events). At the end of it all find the 'mons that you want to create some niche hook doubles team with fight against the AI and get trounced by a fucking Bibarel/Zebstrika combo! Glossary of Terms Generation (Gen): /dʒɛnəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/ A generation is an arbitrary fan decided word that breaks up and describes the chronology of the video games when a new set of Pokemon are 'released'. It used to be an important shortcut word to talk about the games as Pokemon from across generations were always compatible in the latest games. Sword and Shield potentially end the usefulness of talking about generations, starring Patrick Stewart and William Shatner. Dex: /ˈdɛks/ Short for Pokedex which is a portmanteau of Pokemon Index. A catalogue of virtual monsters which offers flavour text, but most importantly a number, which upon relieving a specific monster of it's freedom is presented to you. Depending on the game the catalogue provides habitat data, sexual dimorphism and other appearance differences, average heights and weight as well as multilingual descriptions (see also National Dex). Digimon: /nɒk,nɒk, ɒf/ Fuck off Dynamax: /ɪˈrɛkʃ(ə)n/ The reason there will be an upsurge in the use of the Penis names for your pokémon : Richie used Dynamax. Penis became massive. Penis used Harden. Living Dex: /ˈlɪvɪŋ ˈdɛks/ A living dex is an achievement that some players choose to undertake and it is catching and owning one of every kind of pokémon, including having each evolution stage rather than just evolving a Pokémon and keeping the last stage. This is done partly as a fan constructed extra achievement but also comes in useful for breeding Pokémon. A standard living dex is just one of each species and stage of all 809 Pokemon, some players try to collect as many forms as possible, so all the different male, female and appearance variants taking the maximum total up to over three billion (the vast majority of these are Spinda forms which only the insane try to catch). There are then much rarer shiny versions of each Pokémon doubling this to more than six billion different individual animations. National Dex: /ˈnaʃ(ə)n(ə)l ˈdɛks/ This is the catalogue of virtual monsters that traditionally opens up after the main story is completed and allows the player to see information about pokémon not collectable within the game itself and only available by transferring from other games. In some games, finishing the main story then makes pokémon previously unavailable start appearing. Pokémon Sun and Moon did not have a National Dex although pokémon from other games could be caught (from Ultra Wormholes and other methods) and transferred over. Although this uproar is called 'Bring Back the National Dex' it's not actually about the national dex itself, more the availability of pokémon from other games. (see also Dex) Pokémon: /ˈpoʊkɪˌmɒn, -ki-, -keɪ-/ Pocket monster, also a euphemism for a penis. Love and make Galar great again, TGAM X

http://www.thatguys.co.uk/2019/07/yeah-national-dex.html

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martinikew157-blog · 7 years ago

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Addicted to coolrom pokemon? Us Too. 6 Reasons We Just Can't Stop

Help keep up with the balanceLike prior Pokémon games, Emerald issues you to get, trade, and fight Pokémon. Summary: Like earlier Pokémon games, Emerald problems you to collect, trade, and fight Pokémon.

A city example: Mauville has changed so very much since the original games it's barely recognisable, becoming Hoenn's version of Castelia or Lumiose. Lugia is also fairly prominent in merchandise and marketing related to the games and their linked film Pokémon: Hoopa and the Clash of Ages thanks to its popularity in Pokémon Silver and gold In ORAS, it's an "extra" Legendary Pokémon special to Alpha Sapphire and does not have any bearing on the main plot (Ho-Oh, which acts as its counterpart in Omega Ruby, didn't have the same kind of advertising and didn't come in the movie). Sequel Hook : As well as the Battle Frontier still being built by the time these games happen, it's revealed at the end of the Delta Event that Steven will be asking Wallace to dominate his role of champion after he goes to travel all over the world, which can be interpreted as a hint towards a feasible future sequel with a few changes from Emerald being put into the games.

Unlike the initial games this is averted for the Master Ball with the Team Hideout, akin to Emerald. If you show among the members of Video game Freak a Pokémon originating from the original Ruby and Sapphire, he'll give you a special certificate to display in your Secret Foundation. In the original video games, Wattson mentioned having programs to convert the entirety of Mauville City but was struggling to do so. Arrive the remakes, it appears he was able to finally achieve his objective as Mauville City has gotten the largest overhaul of any city in Hoenn.

While this pertains to every Mythical (i.e. event just) Pokémon after obtaining/completing the National Pokédex, it's more obvious here thanks to Deoxys arriving after Jirachi and becoming a catchable Pokémon (instead of the original video games where the 'Dex would end at Rayquaza for most players, with the two beng hidden without means of seeing them). To unlock them, you have to talk to a Hex Maniac in the northern part of Route 111's desert using the Mach Bicycle, a Bird Keeper near the Climate Institute at Route 119 using the Acro Bicycle and the moves Browse and Waterfall, and a Biker in the post-game only Fight Resort. While difficult to select them, the original Player Search Program avatars of the Kalos video games remain programmed into game to permit for backwards compatibility with Pokémon X and Y.

If you raised the affection levels of a Pokémon in Pokémon-amie, then traded it from X and Y to Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire or vice-versa, the Pokémon will still have the same affection for its original trainer if it's traded back. In the Aqua hideout, Archie had a photograph of him, Shelly and Jirachi used around twelve years agonote that would be when the initial Ruby and Sapphire were released, and claims when Kyogre awakens that he wished to take the globe back to its beginnings to make "that Pokémon" happy. Adaptational Villainy : Used in both games; In Omega Ruby, Maxie is normally a little more ruthless than he is in the initial games, seemingly not caring about Pokémon and wanting humanity to basically expand at any cost, and accusing Tabitha of attempting to replace him as leader when the Admin attempts to warn him against awakening Primal Groudon.

Schrödinger's Question : Upon beginning the post-game in Emerald, the Player Character 's mom is watching a news report about the sighting of a strange Pokémon roaming Hoenn, but doesn't catch its color and asks the participant what it was (between crimson and blue). Dual Boss : Emerald includes yet another Double Battle where in fact the player and Steven Stone team up against Magma Admin Tabitha and Magma Leader Maxie at the Mossdeep Space Middle. Deoxys' forme is dependent on what video game it is encountered in (Regular in Ruby and Sapphire, Acceleration in Emerald), while whether Latias or Latios are fought via this technique is dependent on how the Schrödinger's Issue the player's Mom asks in Emerald was answered.

In Ruby and Sapphire it's strictly post-game, while in Emerald you can go grab it as soon as the battle between Kyogre and Groudon has been resolved. Notice The Game Boy Advance had backwards-compatibility for the overall game Boy Color , but its link cables were unable to connect both systems; coupled with these data framework redesign, there was no way for importing or trading Pokémon from Gold, Silver or Crystal to Ruby, Sapphire or Emerald. These games could be the biggest case of 1 Game for the cost of Two in the franchise, as there is literally no chance to legitimately collect all 386 Pokémon without aid from FireRed , LeafGreen , Colosseum , and XD (Oddly, just Ruby or Sapphire).

In addition to introducing a fresh tale and region to explore and over 100 new Pokémon to catch, Ruby and Sapphire brought with it many new gameplay features such as for example individual natures and Abilities for every Pokémon, dual battles, and Pokémon contests. If you still need even more, spend time on Route 110 building it up. After that, cruise back to Mauville City juiced up, and mind for the Gym. Games are leaf green, sapphire, fire reddish, ruby and emerald.

Pokemon ruby, emerald and sapphire re-printing boxes with game boy advance cartridge good shape be flat packed for great postage. You might ask, if Pokemon Crimson, Blue, and Yellow are on eShop currently, and Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire exist, why bring these video games to the eShop? As Ruby and Sapphire curently have remakes, they may be forgone in favor of Pokemon Emerald, which has features not present in R/S or their remakes, such as the Battle Frontier.

In Ruby, the participant could only capture Groudon , while in Sapphire, the player could just catch Kyogre In Emerald, both Legendary Pokémon can be caught in separate caverns after defeating the Elite 4. The main antagonists that the participant faces are Team Magma and Group Aqua , which differs from Ruby and Sapphire where one team was the antagonist and the other was the protagonist, trying to stop the other group. The overall game is an improved remake of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire , increasing the third generation of Pokémon games.

Having exhausted my duplicate of Emerald 1st, then Sapphire, I've experienced a fair bit of time with this particular generation (The best Pokemon game overall continues to be among Crystal and the more recent HeartGold). But the remakes will possess a lot more in keeping with Ruby and Sapphire than Emerald in the manner they will split Team Aqua and Team Magma between your two versions. It depends. There have been broad hints that the Battle Frontier will become returning in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire; not to mention, there will be substantially more Pokémon to fully capture in the late game.

The combination of Pokémon's diminishing popularity, the lame rival (Brendan and May don't even get around to evolving their starters in the initial), pokemon emulator the fact that the region was unusually water heavy, and various missing features conspired to create Ruby and Sapphire something of a black sheep in the series for a long period. Like the GBA itself, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire embodied the awkward middle point between the original Game Boy and the revival of interest in handheld gaming as a result of the Nintendo DS. Certainly the tale in Emerald has about as very much driving force behind it as a bike without pedals - you actually move because you are asked to. On the way you get caught up in the filthy doings of the eco-conscious yet somewhat sinister Groups Aqua and Magma who are trying to awaken warring legendary Pokémon Groudon and Kyogre because of their own mischievous ends.

Extra geek points go to players who manage to ‘Capture ‘Em All', although with nearly 400 of the little buggers to get it isn't as easy as it used to be. Therefore Pokémon was in '96, so that it is usually in Emerald and so it has gone to be in later games. That's not to state that the formula is not a great one, it's just looking for sprucing up. For anybody that have been living under a Geodude since 1996 this is one way a Pokémon game falls: starting in a small town your character is provided a Pokémon and promptly units from an epic adventure to fight and catch monsters in Pokéballs, then teach them and battle to the Pokémon league by defeating the region's 8 Fitness center Leaders. Unfortunately Emerald had not been the game to carefully turn everything around; instead simply because an amalgamated companion to Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire it had been more of a stopgap between two generations of RPG's.

(there have been multiple printings of these games, earlier printings did not have as many security features.) the plastic material should not be as transparent as ruby sapphire emerald. Two-versus-two battles, which seemed a throwaway addition in Ruby and Sapphire, are actually a regular occurrence - individual Trainers gang through to you, and you could even get together with the odd GBA-controlled character for appropriate cooperative fights. We like having the vast majority of the Ruby and Sapphire Pokemon imprisoned in a single cart, we like the wireless capability and we just like the new Battle Frontier, but couldn't we've had all this to begin with, instead of for another 30 notes two years later?

Players who've already soaked up everything Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire have to give you will most likely appreciate the largely subtle changes Emerald makes, thanks to the "gotta capture 'em all" mentality bred by the series, though it's unlikely to do a satisfactory work of scratching the itch for an all-new Pokémon adventure. Ruby and Sapphire were great-looking GBA games when they first came out, though Emerald places in small effort to improve the quality of the images, giving the overall game a slightly aged look. However, Emerald's biggest weakness can be that a lot of hardcore Pokémon players currently played through this adventure when it was released as Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.

39 She also included Emerald (alongside Ruby and Sapphire) in a list of Game Boy Advance games that she wished to see on the Nintendo 3DS ' eShop. A man whom players encounter many times throughout the game will eventually allow them to access the Fight Frontier after defeating the Pokémon Little league Champion. Pokemon Emerald is defined in the land of Hoenn and may be the remix of Ruby/Sapphire.

The native Hoenn Pokédex in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire & Emerald features 202 Pokémon, 135 of which are new.

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cover32-yahoopartner-blog · 7 years ago

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Game Recap: Bears vs. Steelers

The first 29 minutes of Sunday’s game appeared to be a football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Bears, but for everyone who witnessed the game, they can vouch that it was everything but that.

The first two drives of the game resulted in three-and-outs for both teams. Both defenses were flying around and refused to give any ground to the opposing offense. The Bears drew first blood after a three-yard touchdown run from Jordan Howard in the first quarter. The touchdown was set up by a muffed punt recovery by Sherrick McManis at Pittsburgh’s 29-yard line. Later in the quarter, the Bears had a chance to increase the lead to 10, but Connor Barth fails to hit the 47-yard field goal as the ball travels wide right. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger takes advantage of the missed field goal by producing a score of his own as he threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown to tie the game at seven in the second quarter. But on the following drive, the Bears quarterback Mike Glennon produced a two-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Adam Shaheen and regain the lead 14-7. That touchdown was Shaheen’s first in the NFL with plenty more to come, hopefully.

Roethlisberger and company attempted to bridge the gap before halftime but a blocked field goal by McManis ruins that opportunity. McManis blocked the field goal and Marcus Cooper Sr. recovered the ball, taking it 70-yards to what seemed like a for sure touchdown. Cooper Sr. failed to run the ball in as his attempted celebration before getting into the end zone was cut short when the tight end Vance McDonald stripped the ball from the back at the one-yard line and was punched out of bounds by the field goal team. That play resulted in a 24-yard made field goal by Barth to send the Bears into the locker room with the lead. Good thing this is a recap article and not an opinionated piece because you better believe I would have a lot to say about that play!

From that play on, the game became a battle of confusion. The second half was anything but pretty for both teams and their offenses. There were countless dropped passes by the Bears wide receivers and a plethora of batted and deflected passes thrown by the Steelers that made this game sore to watch. Constant flags were being thrown at pivotal times of the game and a couple of “QUESTIONABLE” calls made by the referees. But everything wasn’t all bad as the dynamic duo of Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen made the Steelers defense look slightly disoriented through the entire game. With consistent pressure from ground and pound offense and relentless attack by the Bears defense, the Bears get the overtime win over the Steelers.

THIS WIN IS DEFINITELY A CONFIDENCE BOOSTER HEADING INTO A SHORT WEEK VERSUS THE PACKERS ON THURSDAY!

OVERTIME

The Bears win the toss and elected to receive the ball in overtime. Within the first three plays, Jordan Howard exploded with a nice gain to move the chains. A few couple of plays later Rookie RB Tarik Cohen takes runs the ball 60+ yards for the touchdown off of a redirection play to the right. Cohen’s celebration is quickly silenced after he is marked down at the 36-yard line after his foot barely touches out-of-bounds on a nice cut in on the defender. But two plays later, Jordan Howard punched it in from 19-yards out and the Bears win 23-17. This win gave the Bears their first win of the season and the Steelers their first lost in 10 regular season games. Da Bears!

MVP

For the first time this season this award will be shared!

The Bears Defense was as solid as can be Sunday. They didn’t allow any big plays, they collected a turnover (fumble recovery), limited RB Le’Veon Bell to 61 yards and sacked QB Roethlisberger three times. The Bears defense also held the Steelers high-powered offense to a total of 282 yards.

On the offensive side, it was all on the two-headed monster, the Bears running backs, Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen. Howard finally got his breakout game of the season, finishing the game with 23 carries for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Cohen continues to be a “LITTLE” force to be reckoned with as he adds 12 carries for 78 rushing yards. Both backs averaged over six yards a carry totaling 220-yards on the ground. They also contributed in the passing game by totaling 60 yards on 9 targets.

Not a bad day on both sides of the ball!

LVP

This award is easy to give out this week. The Bears receivers couldn’t catch a cold out there on Sunday. There were six balls dropped out there, all of which were very catchable and for the most part in hand completely. There were a lot of complaints during the game about Glennon not taking shots downfield, but the shots that were taken and were supposed to be clear catches resulted into dropped balls. This in return only allowed Glennon to complete ONLY one of his 15 completions to a WR; the other 14 were to the running backs and tight ends. The Bears entered Sunday’s game leading the league in dropped passes. They added five more this week. Get it together fellas!

Play of The Game

Although it was ruled a no score, the speedy and re-directed run by Tarik Cohen in overtime gave the Bears the yards and the spark they needed to finish the game with six points and the win! 23-17 Bears WIN!

What’s Next?

Chicago Bears (1-2) @ Green Bay Packers (2-1)

Thursday, Sep 28

7:25PM

Green Bay, Wisconsin

TV: CBS, NFLN

#_uuid:3682342d-6d8c-3b59-af42-c897b36564b9 #_lmsid:a0Vd000000DIJnLEAX #_revsp:cover32_362 #_author:Lawrence Jones

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agentdalecooper12 · 8 years ago

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Re-celebrate "Draft and Develop"!

Remember when we Packers fans used to celebrate the draft and develop process as an amazing system that would continuously keep our team young and full of back-ups capable of filling in for injured starters? Of course, we had the 2010 season in mind when the large handful of injured players happened to be replaceable and the season ended with a championship. Since then, the draft and develop strategy has not produced a fifth Lombardi trophy and many fans have fallen out of love with what they thought was a fail-proof scheme. This skepticism is mostly based on result without thorough consideration of the various circumstances of subsequent seasons and the ever changing face of the NFL. I think fans put too much stock in the draft itself. On Packers teams in the past few years, there are several reflections we should make that give more credence to the value of development. These reflections include current players who have clearly developed and players set to take the next jump in 2017.

Current players that have shown a clearly developed status include (among others) Micah Hyde, Lane Taylor, David Bakhtiari, Jordy Nelson, Mike Daniels, Davante Adams, and even Aaron Rodgers.

Ted Thompson did a strange thing on draft day in 2005. He used a first round pick on a quarterback, despite Brett Favre still performing well. But Ted knew the pick was about development as much as draft. In 2007 against the Cowboys, my friend Jim and I watched the Packers insert a developing Rodgers after a Favre injury. We lost the game, but after seeing Rodgers’ performance both Jim and I agreed that we weren’t worried about the future at quarterback. You know how that turned out.

Jordy Nelson was a second round pick in 2008. As a rookie, he played behind Donald Driver and Greg Jennings. By his third year (2010), he had only 45 catches for less than 600 yards and two touchdowns. Despite those pedestrian numbers, we saw him take leaps in the playoffs culminating in a major performance in Super Bowl XLV. Jordy developed into the great receiver that he is just as Driver was entering his decline. In contrast to fan criticism, Davante Adams has developed much faster than Jordy. Last season was Adams’ third campaign, and we were treated to 997 yards and 12 touchdowns. Complainers will point out that he could have had 14 touchdowns and over 1000 yards had he been better in the Bears game at Soldier Field, but that’s too harsh. With Davante, we have a strong #2 or #3 receiver who has become a trusted target for Rodgers.

Along the offensive line, David Bakhtiari and Lane Taylor have solidified Green Bay’s blindside for the league’s best quarterback. Bakhtiari was a 4th rounder out of Colorado, which perennially won only a game or two per season. Taylor was undrafted and inserted into the Packers’ line-up in place of a Pro Bowl left guard. Do we hear enough praise for our O-line that only touts one 1st round draft pick in Bryan Bulaga? I don’t think so. Dallas has invested high draft picks and has reaped the benefits. Seattle and Minnesota are roundly criticized for doing a poor job in investing enough protection for their quarterbacks. Green Bay hasn’t had to spend high picks in creating a top-3 line. I believe this comes from their development system. Green Bay has been able to create what 75% of the league can’t even draft using top draft picks.

Our defense has been a sore spot for several years now. There’s no getting around their failures in the 2014 and 2016 NFC championship games. If TT is relying on top round picks and the improvement of existing young players to get us to the Super Bowl, I don’t think anyone sees how he can be confident in that hope. Nevertheless, there are examples of rather astounding development in recent seasons. Although he has recently departed for the Buffalo Bills and never made a Pro Bowl, Micah Hyde matured from a fifth round pick into a clutch player in several contests last year. Recall the 2013 playoff game against the 49ers during Hyde’s rookie season. On San Francisco’s last drive, Hyde had a very catchable Kaepernick throw in his hands but couldn’t hang on. With that interception, we would have almost certainly avenged the previous season’s embarrassment. It’s a different story now. A few months ago, our 10 year-old son asked me whether Hyde’s one-handed, back-handed pick against the Vikings or his jumping of Dak Prescott’s bubble screen in January was a more impressive interception. The fact that Hyde could make both of those plays is pretty great. I told him that I found it interesting that the catch against the Vikings was made with his body while the Dallas pick was basically made with his mind. A player that can finish an interception as well as read a quick pattern has proven his development. There will be times these next few seasons that the Packers will miss Micah Hyde.

Thankfully, another mid-round defender is firmly in Green Bay for the next several seasons. Mike Daniels, a compensatory fourth rounder in 2012, is a feared specimen and a rare gem as a frontline monster on a 3-4 defense. Opposing teams have long since stopped overlooking the undersized defensive end and have had to game plan away from him. Daniels has taken modest early years and added a fiery passion that he backs up on a weekly basis. As much as we fans found the D-line’s early dominance against the run last year, we should not doubt that Daniels can lead the front line to greater feats in 2017.

During this coming season the Packers will look for all players to take the next jump, and I believe there are a few guys we should give our attention to. Safety Kentrell Brice was a pleasant surprise during the second half of last season (26 tackles). He has two great mentors in Morgan Burnett and Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix, and his willingness to lay the wood on opposing receivers and backs should provide enough support to allow Burnett to continue his own development as a safety-linebacker hybrid. Brice will have to improve his coverage skills. Linebacker Kyler Fackrell’s sophomore season includes finding ways to fill the giant shoes of the departed Julius Peppers. Obviously he will not rise to the future hall-of-famer’s production by next fall. But if the Packers don’t re-sign Datone Jones and look to the draft for outside linebacker help, Fackrell (18 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble) must develop either a more consistent pass rush or a knack for setting the edge. If both Kenny Clark (21 tackles, 4 hurries) and Dean Lowry (8 tackles, 2 sacks) can multiple their early successes up front, then the Mike Daniels-led infantry should be a feared set of run stoppers and pass rushers. If you get a chance, find footage of Kenny Clark sniffing out a Zeke Elliot screen pass in the playoffs. He releases off the line beautifully with great anticipation and drops him for a two-yard loss. On the offense, it was a rare treat to see undrafted rookie Geronimo Allison have a trusted relationship with Aaron Rodgers that showed itself with key catches and a couple of touchdowns on only a dozen receptions. Allison is lanky and fairly sure-handed. I’d like to see him develop a sideline presence akin to Jordy.

So during this offseason, we’ve seen Ted Thompson use free agency in ways that Packers fans never seem to understand and once again treat draft information as though it’s the Manhattan Project. Despite all of that, let’s remember that 8 consecutive playoff appearances is a very uncommon occurrence. Many NFL fans call us spoiled, and they are right. Just remember that our spoiled status comes from unexpected developments in players that most unspoiled teams never foresaw.

#Green Bay Packers #Packers draft 2017 #Packers defense 2017 #Packers free agency 2017 #Packers offense 2017 #Packers draft and develop

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yahoo-shutdown-corner-blog · 8 years ago

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Big Ten's leading receiver puts NFL combine snub behind him, turns in good pro day

yahoo

EVANSTON, Ill. — Austin Carr’s path to the NFL never was going to be a straight one, not after walking on at Northwestern as a zero-star recruit, not even seeing the field for two years for the Wildcats, and having to cut his teeth on special teams when he finally did.

But after pacing the Big Ten with a 90-catch, 1,247-yard, 12-touchdown season in 2016 — hitting for the conference’s receiving Triple Crown and being named a finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, given to the best receiver in college football — the 6-foot, 202-pound Carr figured the NFL had to take notice by that point. Oh, the league knew him by that point. It just didn’t think Carr was worthy of attending the NFL’s scouting combine. Even after a solid week at the East-West Shrine Game in January, Carr’s invitation never came.

[Fill out your NCAA tournament bracket here | Printable version]

Fifty-eight NFL-hopeful wide receivers — including two from Eastern Washington and one from Marian University (Ind.), an NAIA school — got to work out in Indianapolis in front of every meaningful decision maker in the league. Heck, the NFL even looked past its own rules about past conduct to invite Oklahoma’s Dede Westbrook, who had past domestic violence complaints against him.

Northwestern WR Austin Carr came out of nowhere to have a monster season and attract NFL eyes. (AP)

Carr stayed home and watched the event on TV.

“I didn’t pout,” Carr said. “Honestly, by then I had put it past me.”

But that combine snub made Tuesday’s pro day all the more important for his pro football dreams, and 30 of the 32 NFL teams watched him work out, even though none of them were head coaches or general managers. (Only the Washington Redskins and Pittsburgh Steelers didn’t attend.)

“Even if there was pressure, I like pressure,” Carr said. “Third-and-long, throw me the ball.”

Yes, the Wildcats have two draftable defensive players in linebacker Anthony Walker and defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo — both combine invitees — and Indiana State tight end Robert Tonyan, a converted quarterback who was invited to work out at the event, opened eyes with a strong performance.

But the day belonged to Carr, who was an unknown with barely 400 receiving yards to his name prior to 2016. He put his best foot forward last season and had a strong workout in drills. He caught every catchable pass from the smattering of quarterbacks cobbled together for the event, even though many were not on target.

Carr also turned in acceptable testing numbers, which one team in attendance shared with Shutdown Corner: 40-yard dash times of 4.60 and 4.61 (slower than some published reports had him running), a 4.04-second short shuttle, a 33.5-inch vertical and 16 reps on the bench press.

The 40 times and the vertical were average by combine WR standards. But the shuttle time would have placed him in the top five among combine receivers, and the bench total was the third-most by combine receivers smaller than Carr.

He profiles as a slot receiver in the NFL if he gets a chance, and Carr told Shutdown Corner he likes watching the New England Patriots and how they use their smaller, quicker, savvier receivers to create mismatches underneath.

“That’s me,” he said. “That’s my game.”

After Tuesday’s position work, it appeared Carr’s big day was done. But the scouts wanted to see a little more: Could he run a 60-yard shuttle too?

Never easy.

Even with a slip on the first turn, Carr kept his balance and finished the test in style. (Shutdown Corner did not get the official time for it.) A scout for the Los Angeles Rams sought out Carr after the drill and threw an arm around him, telling him not to take it as a slight that he was asked to perform what only 21 combine receivers chose to run.

“Hey, don’t worry about them throwing that [expletive] at you at the end there,” he said. “That drill means nothing, trust me. In 20 years I’ve been doing this, we never once talked about the [60-yard shuttle] numbers for a guy, OK?

“You did it the right way all season long, and it showed … it showed up on the tape.”

The tape it showed up most on was Carr’s eight-catch, 158-yard destruction of Ohio State, roasting a Buckeyes secondary that featured three possible top-20 picks in this draft class, one that is as chock full of secondary talent as we’ve seen in years. Although Carr mostly was matched up in single coverage in that game against Buckeyes corners Damon Webb Jr. and Denzel Ward, who are still in school, it didn’t take away from how he performed on such as big stage at the Horseshoe against such a talented opponent.

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“I was surprised more teams didn’t double him until later in the year,” Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We kept waiting for it.”

Still, Carr knows that NFL teams watching OSU defensive tape will take notice of his exploits from that game.

“The better they do, the better I look,” Carr said.

Factor in his extensive experience on special teams, his solid measurable and his impossible-to-overlook production, and Carr certainly has a good formula that will appeal to many NFL teams.

“He’s not a diva in a league full of diva receivers,” Fitzgerald said. “This guy’s going to be a grinder, a blue-collar guy.”

The blue collar still has a little glitz, mind you. The son of a drummer father and a piano-playing mother, he has a showman’s name — Austin Durant Mozée Carr — and a deft game to match. Carr chose football over the arts when he decided he wanted to will his way onto the Wildcats roster but also found time to dabble in the stage and screen when he could.

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That artfulness is evident on the field, where Carr plays with excellent balance and touch. But what his coach likes best about Carr is that he never lost his drive or work ethic, even when the reps weren’t coming early on. Few thought it could happen like this, but it paid off in a big way.

“He’s a self-made guy,” Fitzgerald said. “This wasn’t a five-star recruit. He was a guy that walked on, really dedicated himself in the weight room, running routes. He had great trust and chemistry and he was willing to do the dirty work.”

And now Carr is willing to do whatever it takes to realize his NFL dreams, even if it means a few more roadblocks along the way. Why change the path now?

“I’m just grateful for the chance,” he said.

– – – – – – –

Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @Eric_Edholm

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junker-town · 5 years ago

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What the heck is wrong with the Cowboys?

Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Dallas can’t keep up with good — or even mediocre — teams. That’s a problem.

The Cowboys’ 3-0 start was an illusion.

Over the course of three weeks, Dallas has shrunk from potential contender to .500 also-ran. Wins over the Giants, Dolphins, and Washington turned out to be hollow confidence builders for a team whose fatal flaws couldn’t be fixed in a single offseason. Where defeats to the Saints and Packers could be brushed off as solid efforts against the conference’s best, a 24-22 loss to the then-winless Jets wrote the team’s shortcomings in skywriting over the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

The Cowboys’ passing defense, when pressed by anyone who hasn’t been a veteran backup at some point in their NFL careers, can’t get the stops they need. Dak Prescott, for all his early-season greatness, hasn’t been the kind of top-level quarterback who can navigate his team out of the first-half deficits his team’s faced during this losing streak. The Cowboys came into Week 6 with the league’s most efficient offense — their 7.2 yards-per-play was tops in the league — and now ranks 11th when it comes to turning those gains into points.

As a result, Dallas is 3-3 despite playing only two teams with more than two wins through six weeks of the season. A club once primed to run away with its division has been sucked back into its own nonsense like a horse crossing the Swamp of Sadness. And just like that child-scarring scene from The Neverending Story, it’s baffling and a little bit upsetting how we got here.

So how did the Cowboys plummet back to earth?

This offense has been toothless in the first half

Here’s how many points the Cowboys have taken into the locker room at halftime of each of their last three games:

three

zero

six

The last number would have been a three if not for a 62-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter. Dallas has trailed in every game it’s played this season, and while that hasn’t been a problem against the dregs it faced in Weeks 1-3, better teams have used that advantage to keep the Cowboys at arm’s length in eventual wins.

Offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s once exciting offense has been woefully ineffective early, providing the backhoe that’s dug the holes Prescott and company have failed to climb from with second-half rallies. This was on full display Sunday, as the Cowboys ventured into the Jets’ red zone on their fourth drive of the game, then became the first team in 55 tries to get that far and come up empty against New York:

this was the first time in the last 55 attempts that an opponent has gone into the Jets' red zone and failed to score any points (the Jets threw a 92-yard touchdown pass on THE VERY NEXT PLAY) pic.twitter.com/DZgCMFDuH9

— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) October 13, 2019

As if to illustrate this grand point, New York scored turned this opportunity into a touchdown and an 11-point lead seconds later.

Sunday’s game also showcased another glaring weakness for this team — one we knew about through the start of the 2018 season. Without Amari Cooper chipping away at an opponent’s secondary, the rest of the Dallas receiving corps is easy to tame. The No. 1 wideout missed the bulk of that Jets showdown with a deep thigh bruise, playing only three snaps and making one catch for three yards.

While Prescott was able to spread the ball out — five different players had at least four catches — his impact was significantly lessened. The Cowboys averaged just 7.2 yards per target Sunday afternoon for a platoon led by Tavon Austin, whose five catches were his most in a game since 2016 (Randall Cobb, it deserves mentioning, also sat out with an injury). That number had been a league-high 9.1 in the five previous games.

Part of the problem there has been a lack of steady hands. Per ESPN’s Bill Barnwell, that group, including Cooper, has dropped six percent of their catchable passes the last three weeks — fourth-most in the league in that span.

Any mistakes past the line of scrimmage Sunday were extra grievous given missing pieces on it. Both starting tackles, La’el Collins and Tyron Smith, missed the Jets game due to injury. While that only led to one New York sack, Prescott dealt with pressure all afternoon. He was hit eight times by Jets defenders in Week 6, matching a season high set by a much more explosive Packers pass rush the week before. For reference, the Dallas QB had been hit only eight times total in his season-opening three-game win streak.

That lack of blocking helped dampen Ezekiel Elliott’s effect on the ground. The fourth-year tailback has looked much more mortal in 2019 than he has in years past, most notably gaining only 35 yards on 18 carries in a loss to the Saints. While he ran for 105 yards in North Jersey, he needed 28 touches to get there. Through six weeks he seems to be missing the extra gear that made him such a monster in 2016 and 2018.

Is he battling a nagging injury? Slowed by a depleted offensive line? Still ramping up to game shape after sitting out most of the preseason due to a contract dispute? There’s no real evidence either way, but he’s snapped back into form in the past — he regained his league rushing crown last fall after a relatively disappointing 2017. Doing so again before November would be a boon for a Dallas team that desperately needs more hands to carry its offensive load.

All those factors swirled together to create a crap hurricane for the Cowboys, costing them a win in a game where they’d been seven-point betting favorites. But placing this latest loss at the feet of the offense isn’t entirely fair.

The defense falls apart under pressure

These are the quarterbacks Dallas has beaten in 2019:

Eli Manning

Case Keenum

Ryan Fitzpatrick

All three have been benched at some point, though injury concerns played a role in Keenum giving way to Dwayne Haskins in Week 4. Teddy Bridgewater couldn’t do much in his shot against the Cowboys, but Aaron Rodgers (understandable) and a returning-from-mono Sam Darnold (oh) each found holes en route to hanging 58 combined points against a team that had only allowed 56 through the first four weeks of the season.

There are several culprits to blame here. Chidobe Awuzie was one of the league’s least efficient cornerbacks in 2018 and has yet to show lasting improvement in 2019. He was the man responsible for Robby Anderson’s 92-yard score Sunday. He was a full five yards behind Anderson when that ball was caught after getting beat by an extremely lowkey stop-and-go near the line of scrimmage:

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Leighton Vander Esch, one of 2018’s most promising defensive rookies, is suffering through a major sophomore slump. Opposing ball carriers had broken through 18 percent of his tackle attempts through the first five games of the season, a rate that was twice as bad as last year’s.

The pass rush has regressed as well. Jets QBs had been sacked on 24 of their 144 dropbacks coming into Week 6 — an absurd 16.7 percent of their pass attempts (though 16 of those came with Luke Falk’s behind center). Darnold was sacked just twice over the course of 34 designed pass plays when the Cowboys came to town. That’s not what Dallas had been hoping for when it signed DeMarcus Lawrence to a five-year, $105 million extension last spring.

Can the Cowboys be fixed, or is Jason Garrett finally doomed?

Make no mistake, this was a demoralizing loss for the Cowboys. That distaste bled onto the television broadcast with more than three minutes remaining in a one-possession game:

Not a good look for Jason Garrett. pic.twitter.com/g005ZJVwRl

— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) October 14, 2019

Garrett, of course, bears the brunt of the criticism for this sudden downturn. Falling into a 18-point hole against an 0-4 Jets team is the kind of mistake that gets a coach fired — even if team owner and GM Jerry Jones isn’t willing to admit it right now.

Dallas and Garrett, for all their flaws, aren’t cooked yet. The rest of the NFC East is a wreck, and the 3-3 Cowboys are currently tied with the 3-3 Eagles atop a division whose winner may top out at nine wins or fewer. Beating Philadelphia in Week 7 could be the edge they need to claim the East’s first repeat winner since 2004.

The Cowboys still have one of the league’s most talented teams, especially once everyone gets healthy again. Even though asking Prescott to keep up the MVP-caliber pace he set against underwhelming opponents to start the season is a tall task, he’s still a good-to-great quarterback whose presence unlocks several chapters of offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s prospective playbook.

The defense has too much raw talent to remain this bad as well. But cohesion remains the Cowboys’ biggest enemy, and while other teams find a way to create something larger than the sum of their parts, Dallas has trended in the opposite direction.

This isn’t new! The Cowboys have been 3-3 under Garrett before and rallied to a winning record. Hell, they’ve done so in each of the past two seasons.

That’s a reason for optimism. It’s also a reason for concern. Garrett’s Dallas teams appear to fall into the same trap of underachievement each year, rebounding just enough to save his job but not enough to pose any real threat come January. If he wants to lead this team into 2020, he doesn’t just have to fix the problems that have led to a three-game losing streak — he needs to change the chemistry that has limited the Cowboys to “good” but never “great” in his 10 years at the helm.

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junker-town · 6 years ago

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3 key Super Bowl matchups to watch

When the Rams and Patriots show down, these are the positional battles that’ll dictate the course of the game.

Super Bowl 53 is giving football fans the chance to watch the new kids on the block try and take down the old guard. Sean McVay versus Bill Belichick. Jared Goff versus Tom Brady. New school versus old school is the overarching theme of the showdown, but it’s the captivating matchups between position groups that will dictate the course of the game.

From the big boys up front to the skill players flanking the line of scrimmage, here are three matchups to keep an eye on:

1. Patriots offensive line versus Rams defensive line

Super Bowl 53 is giving us a classic matchup between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. The unstoppable force is Rams tackle Aaron Donald, the likely Defensive Player of the Year, taking on the Patriots’ immovable offensive line.

The Patriots don’t really have star power on their offensive line, but they’ve been one of the best units across the entire league this season. Football Outsiders has their offensive line ranked third in its Adjusted Line Yards metric. New England’s offensive line dominated in pass protection as well, ranking third and giving up a sack on just 3.5 percent of dropbacks.

The Patriots offensive line has kicked into another gear this postseason. Despite facing Melvin Ingram, Joey Bosa, Chris Jones, Dee Ford, and Justin Houston, New England has yet to allow a sack on ninety dropbacks, and the OL has only allowed Tom Brady to get hit three times over the course of those 90 plays.

Rookie running back Sony Michel has been a big beneficiary of the offensive line. Michel ran for 931 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie in 13 games. He’s scored five touchdowns so far in the playoffs, setting a new rookie record.

Now they’re facing arguably their toughest test of the season in Aaron Donald and the rest of the Rams defensive line. Donald had a monster season, leading the NFL with 20.5 sacks as a defensive tackle. While that number is among the best single season totals in NFL history, it doesn’t fully show how dominant Donald has been this year.

According to Sports Info Solutions, Donald led the league with 87 total pressures, which is defined as any play where the quarterback was hurried, hit, or knocked down. Ford was in second place — with 19 fewer pressures than Donald.

The Rams defensive line starts with Donald, but they still have big-name talents in Ndamukong Suh, Michael Brockers, and Dante Fowler. None of those three were nearly as productive as Donald, but Suh and Fowler have come to life in the playoffs. Suh had a crucial fourth-down stop against the Cowboys while Fowler caused the hit that allowed John Johnson to intercept Drew Brees in overtime.

Dante Fowler Jr.’s favorite move has always been the spin pic.twitter.com/ZdZFWR3pFH

— Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) January 20, 2019

Expect to see the Patriots line up with Rob Gronkowski at tight end and James Develin at fullback as they try to steamroll the Rams defensive line. It was a strategy that worked perfectly against the Chargers to the tune of 155 yards and four touchdowns on the ground, including this immaculately blocked stretch play that went for a big gain.

2. Rams receivers versus Patriots secondary

Another intriguing aspect of the Super Bowl is the chess match between the Rams receivers and the Patriots secondary. Rams receivers Robert Woods, Brandin Cooks, and Josh Reynolds will be going toe-to-toe against the Patriots’ talented quartet of cornerbacks featuring Stephon Gilmore, Jason McCourty, Jonathan Jones and rookie J.C. Jackson.

The Rams once again had an electric passing attack led by their heavy use of three-wide receiver sets. Los Angeles led the league with 543 passing attempts out of three receiver sets and gained 8.4 yards per attempt in that scenario, good for eighth in the league.

New England tends to excel against formations with three receivers. The Patriots have given up just 6.9 yards per attempt against three-receiver sets despite facing the ninth-most catchable targets in the NFL.

When the Patriots do get into situations where they’re facing three receivers, they tend to call a lot of Cover 1 looks, which is man coverage with one safety playing deep and another player patrolling the middle of the field. The Patriots have seen 117 catchable targets in this scenario (third), but are just giving up 6.9 yards per attempt when running Cover 1 against three receivers — good for fifth in the league.

While the Patriots excel in Cover 1 against those three-receiver sets, the Rams absolutely shred Cover 1. They’re first in the league averaging 9.4 yards per attempt against Cover 1. When LA brings three receivers onto the field, that number drops to 9.1 yards per attempt, but it’s still tied for first with the New Orleans Saints.

That’s the big matchup in the pass game for the Rams offense and the Patriots defense. Who will win the battle of man coverage?

3. Rams running backs versus Patriots run defense

While the Rams have a dynamic passing attack, they were also one of the top rushing teams in the league this year. The Rams had the top-ranked rushing offense according to Football Outsiders’ DVOA metric. On the flip side, the Patriots had the 19th-ranked rushing defense according to Football Outsiders.

On the surface, this matchup feels like a clear advantage for the Rams — and that’s because it is. Todd Gurley rushed for 1,251 yards and 17 touchdowns this season and was a legitimate candidate for the MVP at one point. C.J. Anderson joined the team with two games left in the regular season and has been spectacular. In the four games he’s played with the Rams, Anderson has rushed for 100 yards three times — including 123 yards and two touchdowns against the Cowboys in the Divisional Round.

Meanwhile, the Patriots ranked 18th in opposing yards per carry against runs out of 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end), allowing 5.04 yards per carry. The Rams ranked seventh in the league with 5.3 yards per carry in 11 personnel.

They had a league-leading 380 rushing attempts out of 11 personnel — those runs went for 2,003 yards and 21 touchdowns. If 380 attempts from a single personnel grouping seems like a lot, you’re not crazy. Runs from 11 personnel made up 82.8 percent of all the Rams’ rushing attempts this season — it’s safe to say this is their bread and butter on offense.

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