Back to normal?

After quite a handful of weeks filled with upsets, stories and headlines, I feel the FPF Cup is finally trending back towards what we’ve grown to expect out of our 40 teams or is this the opposite of normal? Every season we get upsets and mind boggling results, so is predicting the games properly abnormal?

One thing’s for sure, I’ve fell in love with the atmosphere the FPF Cup provides for players and the league itself; there’s no doubt it remains the FPF Standard and competition is running wild, but there’s somewhat of a laid-back atmosphere somewhere in there that makes everything feel lighter; it’s a nice refreshing feel.

Let’s get started.

Week 6

Braves are, finally, back at the top of their game after doubting them for multiple weeks, Freshii Superfoods crash down HARD, TWO ties, Fine Wine looked way too dominant for their opponent, will #NR lose a game this round, many teams put up big numbers including Farmers and Voodoo lose their first game of the Cup; I can’t wait for next week’s outcomes.

Thoughts of the Week

• I’ve mentioned it in this week’s Top 3 plays on the podcast, but shout out to Karl De Nie on that tackle on the convert; you can still ball.
• Benoit Chabot deserves more attention than he’s getting
• Seeing Nicolas Saro get HIT by a ball on the back of his shoulder and the trailing DB manage to interception said pass was brutal; I feel for Zacharie Quiviger.
• Hey JD Joly, your team needs you out there. Set your calendar straight.
• Greendale Human Beings need Danny Aylward back.
• A GOTW finishing in a tie; Hmmm. To be fair, that pass on the convert from AJ Gomes was spot-on.
• Have Farmers finally figured out their offensive woes?
• Buffalo Sauce Latte; am I the only one intrigued by this but wouldn’t really want to purchase one?
• Every week, I seem to catch the Top Guns’ game and I can’t hate on Paul Lapierre, he’s playing in the right tier, but his team simply can’t compete.
• I see you Eagle.
• Adam Rockman is leading Tier 1 in interceptions; now that’s impressive.
• Brandon Aylward is still Tier 2’s receiving yards leader although he’s missed the last two games (playing QB). Hmmm.
• Thomas Coutu of All Hooks has 15 sacks in 5 games. WHAT?
• Daniel Goloff is averaging 1.25 rushing TD per game. Can he be contained?
• Praises to Steve Magganas for his rushes this week; most of them turned the game in his team’s favors.

Recaps

• Lightweight vs Dans & Tams: In a battle that saw both rosters missing key stars (Dans & Tams were without Joey Taylor and Matthew Rupcic whereas Lightweight were without Cory Kennedy and Francois Raymond), the game saw way more scoring than most anticipated and turned out to be quite the barn burner. After a turnover on downs on the first offensive possession, Lightweight were back against the wall facing an Alex Holowach led offence that was only stopped twice the whole game (one interception by Justin Blanchard and not being able to score with only 3 plays before the half). Down by 2 late in the second half after the interception, Lightweight needed to score to finally take the lead and put the pressure back on their opponents, but, with four downs in the redzone, I was unable to connect with any of my receivers and suffered a brutal turnover on downs at the one down 27-25. Dans & Tams lost no time in setting themselves back up for success with a quick score to Foti Evangelista who broke one too many tackle and turned a slant into HUGE gains and Dans & Tams were back ontop 33-25. The convert deficit was the end of us as we brought it back to 33-31, but couldn’t tie things up and D&T put the game away with a last minute TD 40-31. Our last 5 plays were futile, but it’s always fun to play anyways.
• No Name vs Warriors: This week’s official Game of the Week saw two high-seed in Tier 2 battle each other and, as much as people tend to say it was “a great game”, I must agree with Peeze Della Reeze’s comment in saying it was quite the opposite. In fact, both defences played well as we’ve come to expect out of them, but the two Qbs involved (Sean Collins and Michael Solimene) did NOT perform well at all. Michael Solimene tossed 4 interceptions on the night which is very uncharacteristic of him and Sean Collins couldn’t muster any sort of offensive prowess before being replaced by Jonathan Grizzley late in the second half. Grizzley did much better under center for the little time he had and almost pulled off the game winner, but, as you can see on film, didn’t quite get it in there. Both Qbs had subpar games and will need to re-work some of the kinks to fix their offence as these kind of performances won’t be enough to get by in a tightly contested Cup this season.
• Top Guns vs Fine Wine: This week’s unofficial Game of the Week saw Fine Wine get their way with Top Guns all night as they had 0 answers for Daniel Lazzara’s offence and were quite frankly outmatched. Looking over the game, when Top Guns were in possession of the ball, I couldn’t see a single beneficial matchup for them; Fine Wine could’ve played man coverage all game long and wouldn’t lose a single matchup; it was tough to watch. Paul Lapierre did his best and kudos to his play calling and ball placement for scoring a handful of times, but this game was over rather quickly. As Daniel Lazzara continues to get reps with his new receivers, Fine Wine’s offence continues to develop and turn into an absolute powerhouse; I can’t wait for their game vs FPF All-Stars in a few weeks!
• Los Banditos vs Sons of Mitches: After multiple disappointing offensive outing, Sons of Mitches decided to make a change at QB and added Jordan Williams to the mix to try and shake things up; his first game under center didn’t go as well as planned and they quickly figured out that FPF is a whole different beast. With only 5 completions, SoM’s offence didn’t get much going most of the night although their defence did way more than anyone could ask for forcing 2 turnover on downs on back to back drives in the opening minutes of the game. Their defence was criticized early this season for allowing big numbers, but what I’ve noticed this week was a stout defence that got off the field very often but ended up back on it quite too often due to a lack lusting offence. Los Banditos’ defence continues to impress as they didn’t allow much to fly by them and gave QB Francis Desrochers a handful of opportunities to really put this game away and walk away with the W.

Players of the Week

• Cory Pecker (#NR): After putting the game away, he essentially benched himself with “only” 6 passing Tds. He was virtually unstoppable this week.
• Daniel Lazzara (Fine Wine): Perfect QBR for the second week this season, he makes it look way too easy.
• Adam Rockman (Keyport Lock): In a losing effort, he did manage to finish with two receiving Tds and two interceptions. One thing’s for sure, he did all he could out there.
• Kishon Thompson (FPF All-Stars): 4, yes, FOUR interceptions (two of those were for six) and a receiving TD. He had himself a DAY.
• Phil Cutler (KGP Ra): After being doubted over and over in previous seasons, he comes out and tosses 8 Tds to four different receivers. Now that’s impressive.

• Myles Keiller (Hold My Beer): 3 receiving Tds and 3 Pds defensively. Quite the feat!
• Alex Joltopuf (Greendale Human Beings): Outright fed this week, he tallied up 11 receptions for 84 yards and 2 Tds. The 11 part is ridiculous.
• Mark Bellini (North Shore Finners): 4 passing Tds + 2 rushing; he got it done any way he could’ve on Tuesday. Well done.
• Charles-Olivier Lavigne (All Hooks): After an off week, he comes back dropping dimes as he finished with 6 passing Tds (on only 9 completions) and one rushing. Damn.
• Simon Viens (Farmers): Leads his team in tackles, receptions, yards and somehow managed to finish the game with 4 Tds. Can he be stopped?

That’s it for me this week. Hopefully this is what you’ve all grown to love and expect out of me for your weekly readings. If it isn’t, you can send any sort of formal complaint to Paolo Della Rocca via twitter (@PeezeFPF) so I can keep tab and act like I didn’t know about it. Otherwise, if you have any comments, feel free to hit me up either via emails ([email protected]) or twitter (@DagenaisFPF). Until next time.