2nd-and-Short

When I said last week that the playoffs only figure to get better, I was really saying it just to say it—I didn’t actually believe it could get any better than that crazy divisional playoff round.

And yet, somehow, it did. First came T.C.O.’s obliteration of Fun Boys, in which somehow Terrance Morsink was held to zero catches. The BrotherHood somehow eeked out a win over the undisputed best team in the division. Backyard Bullies somehow came back from a 20-0 deficit. And Rehan Sarwar somehow returned an interception to the house in Monstars’ win over Primetime.

Welcome to the FPF playoffs. Enjoy your stay.

 

Recap

Sad Boys

For a Fun Boys team that has been consistently inconsistent this season, it’s fitting their season ends with a performance as ugly as their performance the week prior was beautiful.

Seriously. Consider: last week against Lobster Dinner, Fun Boys effortlessly put up 37 points, as Terrance Morsink led the charge with four TD grabs. QB Scott Mironowicz missed only four passes in that game. This week? The Fun Boys offence looked lost at sea, putting up just 12 points as Morsink was held to zero catches (for the first time in…forever?) while Mironowicz completed only five passes on the night.

But you can’t place all the blame on Fun Boys’ inconsistencies in this one—T.C.O. came to play. On offence, from the first drive down to the last, there simply was no stopping Doug McKernan’s dink and dunk play-calling, which completely took Fun Boys’ height advantage out of the equation as few of Doug’s passes were in the air for more than 10 yards.

Meanwhile, an excellent mix of man and zone coverage coupled with some superb rushing by Ryan Best kept Mironowicz from getting into any kind of rhythm.

By game’s end, the scoreboard read 39-12 in T.C.O.’s favour—bouncing the last Cinderella team from the playoffs, and bringing T.C.O. one step closer to a championship.

 

Vinny Gual-oh no

When I first learned of Grip n Rip’s 24-21 defeat at the hands of The BrotherHood last Sunday, I was stunned. After all, Grip n Rip handedly defeated them by a score of 31-18 back in Week 5. Both teams fielded more or less the same roster in that game as they did when they faced off over the weekend. Both used more or less the same gameplan in both games.

So what was the difference this time around? The answer is simple: time.

Five weeks ago, The BrotherHood’s defence was still trying to find its identity. Today, it’s pretty clear they’ve found it, as they completely shut down the Division D Quarterback of the Season.

Offensively, The BrotherHood didn’t do anything different compared to the last time these two teams met. QB Jamal Gittens once again put his faith in receiver Omar Smith-Jackson to go get his jump balls, and indeed he did, finishing with eight catches for 70 yards and two scores.

Defensively, however, with Gittens filling in for an absent Quaysie Gordon-Maule, Gualano found himself under duress more times than not, receiving little time to air it out to his receivers.

It wasn’t complete domination by BrotherHood—Grip n Rip had the ball with five plays left and a chance to win before getting stopped on 4^th down in BrotherHood’s end of the field—but you can rest assured it was nonetheless their most satisfying win of the season so far.

 

Comeback(yard Bullies) of the Year

There are comebacks, and then there are comebacks. Backyard Bullies’ win over Los Banditos over the weekend was of the second kind.

Down 14-0 at the half, Backyard Bullies dug themselves an even bigger hole when Banditos QB Alex Guertin hit Gobi Nadesh for a short TD pass on the opening drive of the second half to make it 20-0.

Then, the magic happened.

First came the quick answer to make it 20-6 before, on the very next drive, Rich Humes stepped in front of a short Guertin pass and took it the distance to make it 20-13.

Next came the three and out and another score by the Bullies to make it 20-19, until yet another three and out gave back the Bullies the ball with just minutes left in regulation.

Humes made the most of every single one of them, throwing and running his way upfield before finally hitting receiver Brennan Burke in the back left corner of the endzone on the game’s last play to complete the comeback. 

I still don’t know what’s crazier: the fact Los Banditos led 20-0 over Backyard Bullies early in the second half, or the fact Backyard Bullies came back to score 25 points unanswered en route to sweet, sweet victory.

 

Down Go the Daousts

I alluded to it last week: sloppy play may still lead to wins against lower-tier teams like Trapstars, Loose Cannons and FOTC. But against a team like Monstars, you need to be at your absolute best.

Primetime weren’t, and it showed.

QB Dave Daoust struggled to move the ball upfield consistently and made numerous throws he’d like to have back, including an ugly pass intercepted by Rehan Sarwar and returned about 30 yards for 6. He finished with four picks on the day.

Defensively, Primetime started off well, with Devin Daoust putting some heat on QB Rod Mashtoub play after play. But it just wasn’t enough to make up for a Primetime secondary that notably gave up a 25-yarder to Isiah Allard and a 40-yard bomb to Raoul Baroudi in the second half. By the time Primetime got the ball back with just a few minutes left to play, the game was already over, with Monstars leading 27-18.

It’s obviously not the way Primetime hoped to end their playoff run, especially after their emotional OT win last week. But this loss certainly takes nothing away from the huge strides Primetime have made as a team this year—and I expect them to make even more come next season.  

 

Playoff Picks

Conference A:

2) T.C.O. vs. 5) Backyard Bullies

Previous matchup: N/A

At first glance, this looks like an easy win for T.C.O.—after all, they’re the ones coming off two blowout wins against Les Affreux and Fun Boys, while Backyard Bullies had to come back from a 20-point deficit to defeat a Los Banditos team that didn’t beat a single 6-man team with a winning record this season.

But these teams are more similar than you’d think: Doug McKernan and Rich Humes are two peas in a pod at quarterback, both able to use their legs to extend the play and find an open man downfield or tuck the ball in and run it for an easy first down, while each side fields a fast, aggressive, and gritty defence that makes you feel like you’re playing against seven men.

So who gets the advantage?

Even while knowing T.C.O. will be without rusher Ryan Best, I have to give them the edge here. This is a group that, defensively, knows how to adapt to its opponent (see: shutting out Terrance Morsink), isn’t afraid to call the risky play (see: double-rushing Simon Bosquet-Beaudoin) and hasn’t given up over 31 points a game all season (see: all season).

On the other side, no one has been able to outright stop Doug McKernan’s safe-yet-efficient offensive gameplan, while Humes’ offence has dissapeared at times this season (see: last week). If ByB once again find themselves in a hole early on in this game, rest assured there will be no miraculous comeback this time around.

Prediction: T.C.O.

 

Conference B:

4) Monstars vs. 6) The BrotherHood

Previous matchup: Monstars 29, The BrotherHood 19

Back in Week 6, Monstars’ deep pass-heavy offence, Isiah Allard’s persistent rushing, and Rod Mashtoub’s leaping ability all caught a young BrotherHood team by surprise.

But that was back in Week 6—in other words, an eternity ago. This time around, the element of surprise is no longer there. And with that out of the equation, I can’t help but think Monstars have a tougher challenge ahead of them than BrotherHood.

For BrotherHood, the challenge will revolve around proper gameplanning—namely calling the right defensive plays to counter Rod Mashtoub’s deep passes, and offensively, leaving the double-reverse pass at home.

Monstars, meanwhile, will have to try and shut down Omar Smith-Jackson again, keep Gittens in the pocket again, and connect on the deep ball against BrotherHood’s stingy defence again. I can see them repeating one feat. But all three? That’s quite the tall task.

Oh, and that’s not including the fact that BrotherHood are at their best when they play with a chip on their shoulder. I’m now going to add to that chip: Jamal, Theo is a better quarterback than you; Omar, Rod Mashtoub did shut you down last time; Shak, you made fun of me for losing my Div D playoff game, but where were you in your own game last week? One catch for one yard? C’mon, son.

There. That should be enough to fire them up.

Prediction: The BrotherHood    

 

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That concludes this week’s edition of 2^nd-and-Short. As always, you can email me at [email protected] or follow me on Twitter @JBlanchFPF. If you haven’t yet, check out this week’s Calling the Audible podcast at www.theunclehood.com-flag-plus-football. Good luck to all this weekend!