The Playoff Picture is Shaping Up in Coed and Women’s Division

We’re nearly halfway through the season and that means it is time to start thinking about the all important playoff picture. Across Coed 2, Coed 3 and the Women’s division the playoff picture is starting to take form. There is a similar narrative across all three divisions and that is the gap between the top echelon of teams and the rest of the pack. Let’s take a look at how the playoff race is shaping up in each of the three divisions.

The Playoff Picture

You can view a full breakdown of the playoff schedule by clicking here. Please make sure to review the dates where you might be playing because there is nothing worse than having to miss a playoff game.

Coed 2 Playoff Picture

For starters, the top 10 teams in the Coed 2 division qualify for the playoffs and the top 6 teams receive a first round bye.  In Coed 2 there are no undefeated teams but there are four  teams with only one loss and those teams seem to be separating themselves from the rest of the pack. Fitsquad, Deep Ballz, Vultures and Kiss My End Zone all look like they will duking it out for the top spot. If there is one team out of that top 4 that I expect to slide it is Vultures. They got off to a red hot 4-0 start but that was mainly because of a very easy schedule. They faced their first real rest of the season last week when they played The IG Team and they suffered a devastating 40-6 loss. The biggest issue for Vultures is their offense. James Drysdale is definitely the most athletic player in this division but he is not the best quarterback. He has all the raw tools but is lacking the experience to put it all together. The biggest question for Vultures is whether or not Drysdale will be able to get things clicking as a quarterback in time for the postseason. Rounding out the top 6 are Pig 6 and The IG Team.

Where things start to get interesting is the battle for the last two playoff spots. Street Runners and The Rookies both have a 1-4 record right now but I am definitely expecting The Rookies to improve. They had a brutal schedule to start off the season. They faced KMEZ, Vultures and The IG Team. While this team still has Fitsquad and Deep Ballz on their schedule they do also have some easier games versus teams like Beeftons and Block Party. I expect this team to finish the season with 3-4 wins. The question remains is if that will be enough to get them into the playoffs. Currently the team holding down the last playoff spot is Plenty of Fish and they have 2 wins over their first five games. If they keep up that pace it means the benchmark for getting into the playoffs will be 4 wins. While it is not impossible for The Rookies to crack that 4 win benchmark, they cannot afford to drop any games they should win and might need to pull out some magic against one of the top teams if they want to qualify for the postseason.

Coed 3 Playoff Picture

Coed 3 is looking pretty similar to Coed 2. There are 14 teams in the division and the top 10 make the playoffs. The top 6 seeds receive a first round bye. Fast Not Furious 3 are running away with this division. Their biggest asset so far has been the schedule. They got off to an easy start and the rest of their season is somehow looking even easier than the first half. Their toughest game came against Thunder Buddies, but they dispatched them in convincing style. For all extensive purposes the race for first place in Coed 3 is over. FnF 3 will finish the season with a 10-0 record, you read it here first. The other team to keep an eye on is Drink Team. They’re undefeated and are hot on the heels of Thunder Buddies for 2nd place. 

Where things start to get interesting in C3 is the race for 6th place and the final bye. Pig Six are currently clutching onto that spot but three teams, Kamikaze, Les Crevettes and Tigers are all close on their heels. Those three teams all have a 2-3 record and are chasing Pig Six with a 2-3-1 record. Out of those teams, TIGRES have the best bet of securing the final bye in my opinion. They managed to score 24 points vs FnF 3 and actually beat the 1-9ers in a week before being handed a forfeit loss due to an administrative oversight on their part. This team has an easy run coming up before ending off the season with a brutal two game stretch against Thunder Buddies and Drink Team. I  think this team has a very good chance of winning three or even 4 of their final five games. While a 5-5 or 6-4 record might not be enough to move into fifth place it definitely should be enough to secure the sixth seed and the final bye.

The next race that has caught my eye in C3 is the one for the 10th and final playoff berth. Michael Scott’s Tots are currently holding down that spot with a 1-3 record but DreamKillers and Catching W’s are both tied with MST on points. The bad news for MST is that their remaining schedule is brutal. With games against FnF 3, Drink Team, We love Big TDsand 1-9ers maybe the only game this team can hope to win is the one versus Les Schtroumpfs but even then, I do not think a 2-8 record will be enough to hang on to that last spot. If I were a betting man my money would be on DreamKillers to snatch that 10th spot out from under MST. 

Women’s 1 

Things are pretty simple in the Women’s 1 division. All three teams are going to make the  playoffs. The 1 and 2 seeds will play each other first and the winner will book a spot in the finals. The loser of the 1 vs 2 game will play the 3 seed and the winner of that game will also make the finals. In case you’re wondering who is going to finish in first place in the W1 division, the answer is SubZero. This team feels more like an All-Star team than your average Women’s 1 team. They have some of the best players in the country. The better question to ask is if this Subzero team is the best Women’s team in Canada. WOS are just about a lock to finish second and The Rock, barring a miracle, will finish in 3rd. 

Women’s 2 

Things are definitely much more interesting in the W2 division. Unlike in W1, there is some actual drama around the playoff picture. The Wildcats are currently the front runners in this division and are looking like the cream of the crop in W2. Their only loss came at the hands of the uber talented Subzero. They are one of only two teams in this division with a positive +/- differential and have a well rounded team with a legitimate offense and robust defense. The only other real contender for the top seed is Supernova who are currently sitting at 3-2. They have a very easy schedule to finish off the regular season and could easily finish with a 7-3 or 8-2 record so even the smallest of slip ups from Wildcats could lead to Subzero claiming the top spot. The beauty of the playoff picture in the W2 division is that there are 6 teams all within two points of each other. It is honestly a bit of a coin flip at this point to predict where any of the teams between  2 and 6 will finish. 

With 8 of the 9 teams in this division there is not much of a battle for the playoff spots but there is currently one going on for the final playoff berth between the 0-4-1 X&X and the 0-6 Touch Down For What. These two teams are actually playing each other in week 7 and the winner of that game is most likely going to clinch the final playoff spot, so if you want a taste of playoff intensity in week 7 be sure to tune into the game between X&X and Touch Down For What. Clearly both of these teams have struggled this season but TDFW have scored more points and conceded less than X&X so they should be the favorites in this match.

Week 5 Games of the Week

Block Party (26) vs Plenty of Fish (39)

Earlier this season Maude Lacasse, the QB for Plenty of Fish set the single game FPF passing record with 394 passing yards in a game in the Women’s division. While she might not have set a record in this one she had a stellar showing. She completed nearly 70% of her passes on the way to throwing for 210 yards and six scores. PofF scored on all of their possessions but one which is exactly the kind of game you are looking for out of your QB. The defensive performance is what stood out the most for me from PofF in this one. They held Block Party to just two passing TDs and intercepted them just as many times. That defensive effort always starts with Seth Galina. The FPF vet might not look like a stud defender and he is definitely not the fastest defender around but what he lacks in speed he makes up for in football IQ. His ability to read an opposing offense lets him anticipate where the ball is going and get in position to make a play and that is exactly what he did in this one. He picked off BP once and recorded four more tackles. Shockingly, the weakness for this PofF defense was their run defense. Julian McLaren-Thompson is a fantastic rusher, one of the best in Coed and he did record three sacks in this one. On the down side he also let Yvan Salomon rush for 64 yards and two scores on his three rushing attempts.

For Block Party this game should serve as a stern reminder of the consequences of not properly involving your female players in the offense. Reka Sivasubramaniyam was targeted twice in this game and caught just one pass for five yards and frankly, that is criminal. Reka is one of the better snappers in this division and is definitely one of the top receivers on this team. This offense should be flowing through her and instead she appears to be more of an afterthought. Defensively this was a game to forget for BP. They struggled to stop PofF and the closest they got to an interception were Yvan Salomon’s two defended passes. This team needs to start varying their defensive calls a bit more instead of just relying on man coverage and the same zone defense. 

Red Nation (18) vs Touchdown For What (6)

Allyson Sobol, Red Nation’s QB is a gunslinger. If you have seen her play you know that she either throws for a ton of INTs or a ton of scores and very rarely something in-between. This game she was on and all of her guns were blazing as she threw for nearly 200 yards and three scores. Her weapon of choice on the night was definitely Rachelle Vallieres Despite being known as more of a defensive stud, Vallieres went off for 130 yards and two scores in this one after being targeted 16 times by her QB. Emma Townsend-Asselin also had an impressive night with five catches for 45 yards and a score. Defensively, it was once again the Vallieres show. She recorded three tackles, two defended passes and two picks to go along with her two touchdown catches. This Red Nation team is at its best when Vallieres is heavily involved but they will also want to make sure that they are not over using their star player and leaving other receivers without targets. What made this win even more impressive was the fact that they were just 5 players.

For Touchdown For What, this was a step in the right direction. For starters they did a good job at avoiding too many turnovers. Yes, Rei Mason did throw two picks but that is not an awful number considering the fact that she passed for nearly 175 yards and scored a TD. Yards and scores have been hard to come by this season so to see TDFW be able to move the ball and score versus a talented Red Nation defense is a step in the right direction.

Week 5 Team of the Week

Every week, I will name 12 players to the team of the week. If you make the offensive team of the week, you cannot be on the defensive one and vice versa. The team of the week will be made up of players from Coed 2, Coed 3, Women’s 1 and Women’s 2 divisions. Only stats will be considered when choosing players for the team of the week. That means 100 receiving yards in Women’s 1 is equivalent to 100 receiving yards in Coed 2. In the spirit of the Coed and Women’s divisions, every team of the week will have a minimum of two female players on the offensive and defensive team.

Offence

Quarterback: Jeanslee Alexis (The IG Team) 236 passing yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Francois Rocheleau (Deep Ballz) 6 receptions, 106 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Laurence Pontbriand (Subzero) 9 receptions, 137 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Rachelle Vallieres (Red Nation) 12 receptions, 130 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Marielle Paradis (Wolfpack) 11 receptions, 143 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Shaquille D’Aguiar (Tigres) 3 receptions, 107 yards, 3 TDs

Defence

Rusher: Zackary Alberts-Gill (Michael Scott’s Tots) 5 sacks, 1 PD

Defensive Back: Maryse Paquette (Wolfpack) 2 INTs, 3 PDs

Defensive Back: Sydney Roche (WOS) 4 tackles, 3 INTs, PD

Defensive Back: Jonathan Shea (Pig 6) 9 tackle, 2 INTs, 1 TD   

Defensive Back: Jordanson Alexis (The IG Team) 2 tackles, 2 INTs, 4 PDs

Defensive Back: Néstor Nacip Chávez Fayad (Tigres) 1 tackle, 2 INTs, 2 TDs

Week 6 Predictions:

Please note that the highlighted team is the one I am predicting to win

Coed 2:

Plenty of Fish vs Vultures

Deep Ballz vs The Rookies

Street Runners vs The IG Team

Never too late team vs Fitsquad

Pig 6 vs Beeftons

Block Party vs Kiss My End Zone

Coed 3:

Thunder Buddies (31) vs 1-9ers (45)

Michael Scott’s Tots vs TIGRES

Drink Team vs DreamKillers

TIGRES vs Free Agents

Les Schtroumpfs vs Catching W’s

PIG SIX vs Fast not Furious 3

Women’s 1/2

Touch Down For What? (6) vs WOS (35)

Subzero vs Les P’tites Miettes

Wolfpack vs Blue Thunder

X&X vs B.I.T

Red Nation vs Supernova

Les P’tites Miettes vs B.I.T

The Rock vs WOS

Good luck in week 6 everyone!