Game Recaps
The Honolulu Honey Badgers showed that their first win last week was no fluke. The Honey Badgers took the motivation from their first win and took the field with force against the Chattanooga Chickadees, beating them by 20 points. The quarterback and running back duo of Phillip Rivers and Melvin Gordon paved the way, scoring 28.32 and 36 points respectively. Rivers completed 25 of his attempted 36 passes with 268 yards and one touchdown. Gordon ran the ball well with 83 yards and one score, but excelled in passing, catching nine balls for 67 yards and one touchdown. Coming back from injury is never easy, but Rob Gronkowski showed he is back to 100% pulling in 6 receptions for 83 yards and 2 touchdowns, scoring 26.30 points. It should be noted the Honey Badgers had the top three scoring players, Rivers, Gordon, and Gronkowski, in the matchup against the Chickadees, contributing greatly to the win.
Matchup Preview vs. Chattanooga Chickadees
- The Honolulu Honey Badgers are projected to beat the Virginia Beach Neptunes 119.14-105.24 on Sunday in Honolulu.
- This week has a tough running back matchup with the Honey Badgers Melvin Gordon coming off of two big weeks, projected to score 18.62 points, while the Neptunes Lesean McCoy is projected 19.09 points.
- The Neptunes quarterback, Kirk Cousins, is projected to score 18.11 points, while the Honey Badgers quarterback, Phillip Rivers, is projected 15.13. After last week’s performance we are hoping he will exceed expectations.
- The Honey Badgers will have their top receiver back this week, as AJ Green was on a bye last week. He is projected to be the second top scorer on the team with 17.63 points.
- Rob Grownkowski is coming off a big week 6 scoring 26.3 points and is projected to outscore Cameron Brate, 15.39 to 11.29 points.
- With uncertainty surrounding Stefon Diggs’ availability for the game, the Neptunes have a large hole to fill in their WR1 position, look for the Honey Badgers to take an advantage here.
Honolulu Honey Badgers Season Notes
- Melvin Gordon was limited in practice on Wednesday due to a shoulder injury, but coaches say this is only precautionary to make sure he is 100% ready for the upcoming game.
- Ezekiel Ellliot’s suspension due to domestic violence was put on hold with a temporary restraining order and was able to play in last week’s game, but it is still unclear is status for this coming weekend.
- Tight end, Rob Gronkowski did not practice this week due to a thigh injury he acquired from the matchup two weeks ago against the Fresno Fuegos. It is still unknown if Gronkowski will be able to play in this week’s game.
- This week the coaching staff has decided to make a change, and put in Christian McCaffrey for Matthew Stafford. Stafford understands why the decision was made and that for this week’s matchup McCaffrey has the potential to make a larger impact.
- Honolulu Police has decided to increase its patrol presence in Waikiki, a section of Honolulu, because citizens were beginning to feel unsafe in certain areas with high crime rate. People may be more likely to want to attend games when they feel safe. (http://www.kitv.com/story/36611785/recent-crime-sprees-push-honolulu-police-to-increase-patrol-presence-in-waikiki)
- Southwest Airlines is going to begin offering flights to Hawaii, and while this may not have an impact on this current season, it will have an impact beginning January of 2018 which will help people travel more easily to see games in upcoming years. (http://abc7.com/travel/southwest-airlines-aims-to-offer-flights-to-hawaii/2525636/)
- Great Waikiki Beer Festival is returning to Honolulu, featuring 100 craft beers from venders around the island. This will draw a lot of people from all over to the city to experience this large festival, which will also draw a large crowd that may also want to experience an NFL game while they are there. (http://www.latimes.com/travel/hawaii/la-tr-hawaii-beer-festival-20171017-htmlstory.html)