2nd-and-Short (Div D) – Week 10
23-07-2014 12:00 AM
It took 10 long, grueling weeks, but finally, the race to the playoffs is over. Of the 30 teams that qualified to start the season only 16 have crossed the finish line over to the final chapter of the 2014 Division D season.
But the most exciting part is yet to come.
This week marks the first round of this year’s playoffs, and interestingly enough 6 of the 8 games this week are previous matchups from this season.
Considering how tough it is to beat the same team twice in a season, added to the typically unpredictable mess that is the 1st round of the playoffs, and this year’s Division D postseason figures to be one of FPF’s wildest.
Recap
Angry Horns
All Longhorns needed to do to guarantee their spot in the playoffs was beat Angry Birds on Sunday night. Back in Week 2, you would’ve read that and thought Longhorns would run away with it.
But they didn’t play the Week 2 Angry Birds—they played the Week 10 ones. Suffice to say, the late-season Angry Birds are a marked improvement over their early-season version.
As has been the case for Angry Birds in recent weeks, Sunday night was the Mendy Cardichon show, as he finished with six catches for over 60 yards and three scores on the night.
On the other side, Longhorns QB Jon Moodie made few mistakes, throwing for four scores and zero interceptions. But it simply wasn’t enough, as Angry Birds took this one 33-26 with Moodie’s last-play pass from just outside the endzone falling incomplete.
It leaves one wondering just what Angry Birds’ chances were of making a deep playoff run had they played like this from the start.
Show Me Your INTs
Mike Addona picked the worst time to play his poorest game of the season, as his five-interception performance in SMYTDs’ 38-6 loss to Grip n’ Rip this past week brings any momentum his squad had going into the playoffs to a screeching halt.
SMYTDs looked overmatched from the start, seeing Vinny Gualano pile on the points en route to a 32-0 Grip n’ Rip halftime lead.
SMYTDs can console themselves with the fact that this result came without top receiver Danio and Anthony Addona present, but the fact remains that for yet another week in a row their offence continues to struggle, which isn’t a good sign with the playoffs starting…oh… right about now.
Loose Cannons Lose
Loose Cannons didn’t just lose their last game of the season—they lost a playoff spot that would’ve been theirs had they come out on top against the struggling Tune Squad.
But the latter, despite already being eliminated from playoff contention, had different plans, coming back from a 19-13 halftime deficit to win 32-25.
The star of the game was Alex Morain who, in just his second game with Tune Squad this season, went off for 7 catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns in the game.
It wasn’t a particularly bad game from Loose Cannons, who won the turnover battle 2 interceptions to 1. They simply didn’t make enough plays, and that’ll cost you when a playoff spot is on the line.
Playoff Picks
I’d like to begin by giving Matt Domon his due, and congratulating him on beating me in our regular season prediction competition. He won it fair and square, finishing ahead of my 88-51 record with his 97-42 record as my Week 10 picks littered with upset predictions wound up giving me just an 8-6 record on the week, far behind his 11-3 finish.
As revenge, I’ve picked his team to win this week, guaranteeing him a loss. That’ll teach him.
Conference A:
1) Lobster Dinner vs. 8) Fun Boys
Previous matchup: N/A
Usually the FPF gods are nice enough to reward no. 1 seeds with an easy first-round matchup. Not so in this case. Fun Boys are one of the most dangerous teams in Conference A—when QB Scott Mironowicz is on his game and his receivers aren’t having trouble making routine catches, this squad can hang with the best of them.
For Fun Boys, that will really be the main key: staying focused.
On the other side, I usually like to keep my own team’s gameplan a secret, but it’s pretty obvious the main objective will be trying to keep Terrence Morsink out of the endzone. That, and praying that Fun Boys come out playing like the team that lost to Tomahawk Nightmare 25-6 rather than the one that beat up Los Banditos 26-6.
Prediction: N/A
2) T.C.O. vs. 7) Les Affreux
Previous matchup: T.C.O. 36, Les Affreux 27
The website may show that T.C.O. beat Les Affreux handedly when these two teams faced off just two weeks ago, but don’t be surprised to see this one come down to the final drive. For one thing, Affreux’s switch from my arch-nemesis Matt Domon to Simon Bosquet Beaudoin will make things quite interesting. SBB was very impressive passing in his first start at the position last week, and we already know the damage he can do on the ground. That last part is especially cause for concern for T.C.O.—mobile QBs pose a big challenge to their rusher(s). On the other side rusher Daniel Bellefuille has already proven he can contain Doug McKernan.
The key here will be which Affreux defence shows up: the one that hasn’t allowed fewer than 30 points in five weeks and is coming off a game in which it gave up a 50-burger, or the one that shut-out Les Rois Lions earlier in the season? My gut tells me that with everything on the line, the latter will step onto the field this week.
Prediction: Les Affreux
3) Tomahawk Nightmare vs. 6) Los Banditos
Previous matchup: Tomahawk Nightmare 46, Los Banditos 24
There will be jaw-dropping upsets in this year’s playoffs. I don’t think this will be one of them. After all, the last time Tomahawk played Los Banditos, the former beat the latter to a pulp— just this past week, I might add.
Banditos QB Alex Guertin has had some moments of brilliance this season, but they have been too far and few between to expect him to shine this week. The Tomahawk offence, meanwhile, has been on fire game after game since Week 6.
The Banditos’ best chance is to do everything different than what they did last week, on both sides of the ball. Even if they do, however, I’m not sure it’ll be enough.
Prediction: Tomahawk Nightmare
4) Recipe 4 Disaster vs. 5) Backyard Bullies
Previous matchup: Recipe 4 Disaster 45, Backyard Bullies 26
I see what the result of the previous matchup is, but I’m gonna go ahead and throw that out the window considering Backyard Bullies beat my team to a pulp when we played a few weeks ago, while we did the same to Recipe just last week.
Recipe rusher Ryan Aridi may be able to keep the speedy Rich Humes from running as much as he’d like, but even then, Humes doesn’t need to run to win—he can get Ws just fine with his arm alone, especially against a defence that proved it’s not as strong as we thought it was after giving up 36 points last week.
Prediction: Backyard Bullies
Conference B:
1) Grip n’ Rip vs. 8) The Dirty South
Previous matchup: N/A
Only the second game this week featuring a matchup between two teams playing each other for the first time this season, The Dirty South could give Grip n’ Rip a big scare to start the playoffs. But I don’t think it’ll be anything more than that.
The main reason is that while Dirty South have some solid weapons in Maxime Giroux and Junior Luke, I think Grip n’ Rip have some exceptional ones in James Donald and Matthew and Anthony Da Silva.
Dirty South may have one of the best cornerbacks in Division D in David Polynice, but he alone won’t be able to stop Grip n’ Rip’s three-headed monster.
Prediction: Grip n’ Rip
2) Primetime vs. 7) Fools of the Country
Previous matchup: Primetime 40, Fools of the Country 12
I mentioned earlier that it’s generally harder to beat the same team twice in one season. But
Primetime are bigger, more athletic, and more aggressive than FOTC, and that hasn’t changed since the last time these two teams met, in Week 2.
Primetime will be without key two-way player Dilan Daoust due to suspension, which is a big blow to the team, but I think they have enough playmakers to make up for his absence.
On the other side, FOTC have seen a marked improvement from Etienne Guilmain at the QB position, who’s taking fewer chances deep and putting his receivers in better position to make yards after the catch.
That and the fact Primetime’s 28 point win over FOTC came all the way back in Week 2 gives hope that these two will play to a closer finish the second time around. But it’s hard to see how the final result itself will be different.
Prediction: Primetime
3) Ball Busters vs. 6) The BrotherHood
Previous matchup: The BrotherHood 26, Ball Busters 26
The last time these two teams met, Ball Busters thought they had a sure win when they drove downfield with time winding down to go ahead 26-19. But BrotherHood answered with a scoring drive of their own, tying it up at 26-all with just two or so plays left.
It was a game I thought BrotherHood should’ve won, considering the amount of interceptions Omar Jackson dropped, dumb penalties the team committed, and Tim Tebow-like off-the-mark passes Jamal Gittens threw. I think they’ve grown as a team since then, and would be surprised to see them make the same mistakes again.
But the biggest reason I think BrotherHood come out on top in this one is the fact Ball Busters will be without Terrence Adams, who’s one of the better rushers in FPF. He had done an excellent job containing Jamal Gittens the last time these two teams met, but with Adams ineligible for playoffs, it’ll be up to Jeff Brown, Dylan Taylor or someone else to try and keep Gittens in the pocket.
Whoever it is, I have a tough time seeing them succeed in doing so.
Prediction: The BrotherHood
4) Monstars vs. 5) Show Me Your TDs
Previous matchup: Monstars 33, Show Me Your TDs 25
On paper Monstars look to be the stronger team—Rod Mashtoub is more mobile and has a stronger arm than Mike Addona, his receivers are bigger and more aggressive, and they have more defensive playmakers than SMYTDs in rusher Kevin Gauthier and Mashtoub at safety.
You add to that the fact Monstars are coming off a huge win, while SMYTDs are coming off a huge loss, and it just seems like there’s no way Monstars could lose this game—which is exactly why I wouldn’t be surprised if they do, given that this is the playoffs and weirder things have happened.
That being said Monstars have shown more consistency on both sides of the ball than SMYTDs this season, and I simply can’t bring myself to pick against them in this game.
Prediction: Monstars
***
And that brings today’s edition of 2nd-and-Short to an end. Check back again later this week for a recap of the 1st round games and a preview of the quarter-finals. Until then, you can reach me by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @JBlanchFPF. Don’t forget to check out this week’s Calling the Audible podcast if you haven’t done so already to watch Peeze and Brent give their own thoughts on the upcoming playoff games. You can check it out at www.theunclehood.com/flag-plus-football. Let the playoff madness begin!