This is how the game basically went chronologically, if one wants to make sense of the highlights....
Basically Blacky and myself both bottled each other up on D. I was trying to run the ball but Mixon had like 10 carries for 12 yards. Fournette also struggled with like 7 carries for 10 yards. Bridgewater was getting sacked a lot and missing wide open targets. But Kellen was killing him. But Eiffert fumbled in the redzone. Lost opportunity. He went three and out multiple times. Bridgewater was like 0/7 early on. I kept converting 3rd and long with Kellen strikes downfield, but then threw a pick. He again went three and out, and this time a 50 yard bomb to Green for the TD. Me up 6-0 near the end of the half. Then he had a great long drive, Bridgewater finally started to connect and Fournette getting 4 yard runs. He drove it up to the goalline, I stonewalled him 3 or 4 times, but eventually he barged over to lead 7-6. It stayed that way thru the entire second half. I never punted, turning the ball over in his half of the field. He punted often. I had the ball with about 1-2 mins left, driving effortlessly into his redzone. Then I threw that back-breaking pick where his CB peels off Mixon in the flat and jumps the corner route Eifert was taking.
So it was 7-6 for like all but the last 1 minute of the game. Points explosion in the dying minute and first play of OT.
That's the take-away from this game.....when you play Blacky, you might be able to stop Fournette, but Blacky persists and eventually he'll break some huge TD runs and/or get a good drive going where he mixes up the short passes with Fournette barging thru traffic for 4 yard gains, and Bridgewater scrambling for 10 yards. You can't contain Blacky ALL game. But I feel I lost that game, considering I pretty much dominated, on both O and D for most of the game, but for the costly turnovers.
I make no secret of my gameplan...I try to run and open up the play-action for always deep shots to my outside receivers. Mixing in a screen here and there or a pass to the TE down the seam. And if my run gets bottled, I'll just drop back and go vertical all the time. Don't care if I get picked off, I feel I can "bend not break" on D, giving up FGs rather than TDs.
Credit to Blacky tho, don't want what I wrote to disparage him at all, just feel I let myself down.