Bombsquad’s Breakdown (D2) – Week 2

 

T’was the second weekend of FlagPlus, And all through the league…..just kidding. Thanks for bearing with my lunacy in my debut article, but now we bring you the real McCoy!!

What can I say about Division 2? Diversity. Plain and simple, as my old coach used to say. Two weeks into the season, in a division with 14 teams, and we only have four who remain undefeated. Although three of those teams have been fairly dominant, with a minimum +/- of + 30. This is going to be an exciting season. So let’s break it down.

Countdown to detonation…

7. Gold Standard tells the Wolfpack, “we have much more than defence going for us”, as Jay Ulley torches the ‘Pack with 265 yards passing and 7 TD passes. Pascal Murray’s return to the Wolfpack apparently wasn’t enough to tarnish the Gold’s record. Not only did Ulley toss 7 scores, he did it to 6 different receivers, the leading receiver for the Standard being ex- Shockers QB Mike McNair! This will definitely be a team to watch. Their defence is stellar and may be the best in Div 2. As for the Wolfpack, I’m sure they will lick their wounds after playing a very strong team and return to the hunt for supremacy.

6. As Moe Khan would say, here we have the enigmatic Wildcats. After being slapped around by the Ruff Ryders in week one, the ‘Cats get wild on MOMO Nation, who many people (including myself) thought to be a possible dark horse for a strong playoff run. Pierre-Marc Chadi went from a 1 TD and 4 INT performance to a 4 TD and 0 INT bounce back game. Great adjustment, wouldn’t you say? Now we will have to wait and see if he can throw a TD to someone other than Philippe Lamarche or Kevin Regimbald. It is still early in the season and too early to lay verdict upon the Wildcats or MOMO, so we shall leave it here.

5. Triple Sixers deep six Wolverines. It was a battle. The Sixer D wasn’t able to pick Patrice Machabee, and gave up 4 TDs, they did hold him to only 16 for 30 passing. The anomaly of this game was easily the fact that the Sixers’ QB Karim Chaoual threw the same 4 TDs as his counterpart, but also threw 3 interceptions, yet they still won the game. So much for the team winning the turnover battle winning the game. All that said, with Pat Jerome catching 6 passes for 147 yards and ALL 4 touchdowns, you don’t have to look far to figure out the Triple Sixers’ game plan. Let’s see what happens when someone actually covers Jerome.

4. The All Blacks give it to O.N.S. hard. Not a pretty game at all and no wonder Kishon Thompson is not happy with their defence. QB Chris Bridgeman went 18-25 with 161 yards and 5 TDs against a baffled O.N.S. squad. Further dissecting Bridgeman’s strong performance, he seems to have good chemistry with his snapper Robert Gouldson. who leads the team for the second consecutive week, with 6 grabs for 41 yards and a TD. O.N.S. could use a little chemistry. Let’s go Brewster and Thompson, pull it together men. (SLAP!).

3. How do you pass for 81 yards on 9 completions with 2 picks and win? Ask Josh Vazquez of X’s and O’s who did just that against Air Squad. Vazquez got it done with his legs, running for 50 yards and a rushing TD. Mathieu René did not have a bad game, with 4 TD passes. The Squad started with a 6-0 lead due to the tardy arrival of the opposition. But a pick-6 really hurt Air Squad later in the gme, and was the FPF turning point in a close game, in my humble opinion. The game seemed to be a battle of mediocrity.

2. Welcome to “A Tale of Two Halves”. Starring the “I’ve never lost to the Ruff Ryders group of guys” Carmine Pollice led Kingz and the “Where the &*^% is Jamil Springer” Ruff Ryders. The Kingz looked dominant in the first half and Paul Lapierre definitely looked flustered. Springer was nowhere to be found during the end of the first half, as the Kingz were up 18-7. Queue the dramatic entrance of Springer….okay maybe not dramatic, but he finally showed up and luckily found himself unharmed by a less than happy team captain, Jamal Pierre. Jamil relieved Mario Choeri of defensive duties and the Ruff Ryders defence regained its swagger shutting out the Kingz in the second half. I won’t give away everything as this was our “Game of the Week” but there were some nice catches and big plays to look forward to, so watch the game!

1. The “C-Men” came out on top of the Mercenaries. I was asked by a certain player to make sure to get his name right, so I decided the best way to do that is to not use the name at all. Both QB’s seem to have had lacklustre performances. Whether due to excellent defence or just a bad game, it seems too early to tell. The Mercs missed out on a lot of opportunities and I even heard a G-Men (aka C-Men) player say as leaving “I can’t believe we won that game.” That speaks volumes. Not to take away from the boys in white and blue. They took advantage of every opportunity they had and won. I will say the C-Men left the Mercenaries with a bad taste in their mouths and a rematch would be very high on a Mercs wish list.

0. Boom.hOhhHHJOJOKJMKMM

 

SHOWSTOPPA!!!! This is the section of my article where each week I will single out the defensive performance of the week, in my humble opinion. This week, I have to go with the second half defence of the Ruff Ryders. They gave up no points against one of the top quarterbacks in all of FlagPlus, which is no easy feat. Boys, you are the “Shawn Michaels SHOWSTOPPA” of the week.

 

The “Golden Boy”. This is our offensive performer of the week, and if you read the article straight through you know there is no other choice than the explosive performance of Jay Ulley of the Gold Standard. 265 passing yards and 7, yes 7 TD passes. You are the Golden Boy this week, so enjoy the title – or, you can tell me off next time you see me for the moniker.

 

Now here my picks for this week’s matchups.

I am going with Jay Ulley and the Gold Standard to trounce the Air Squad. Look for another big week from the GS in their pursuit of excellence. Matt René and the Squad have their hands more than full in this game, as they continue to learn the nuances of FPF.

Look for the Kingz to Tic-Tac-Toe their way to a victory over the X’s and O’s. I don’t think you’ll see many hugs and kisses in this one, as Carmine Pollice will be looking to take out his frustrations from a loss to the Ruff Ryders on someone. Sorry X’s and O’s, bad week to draw the Kingz.

I think after being laminated by the Gold Standard, the Wolfpack are going to come out this week and take it to the All Blacks. The ‘Pack will get it together now they have their QB back. All Blacks will have to try and deal with their first really tough opponent. In the end look for the Wolfpack to howl with victory. Upset of the week in a hard fought and close battle.

The G-Men (aka C-Men) are going to put a beating on the Wildcats. I’m calling a 2 touchdown victory. All I will say is Wildcats, prove me wrong. Show some consistency and win some big games and you will get nothing but love from my end. You can start by stopping Kamel, Taylor(s), Yessayan and company. Good luck.

MOMO Nation will be crying “No MO” at the end of this one as they will have to deal with a very physical Ruff Ryder’s D. MOMO just needs to pray that the Ruff Ryders do not field their whole squad this week, which only consists of 8 players. Unfortunately, even with 6 this squad is stacked. So Look for Paul Lapierre to drive their offense and Rochdi “HAIR” Benabdelkader to lead the defence to another victory.

Until the One Night Stands can turn things around, they are going to have a rough season. (They won’t even be given cab fare if this keeps up). So I will recommend covering Pat Jerome and make Craig O’Brien take a cold shower to wake him up from this funk he’s in. But I’m still going to say the Triple Sixers come out on top in this one. Sorry fellas.

Last but not least, look for the Mercs to bounce back from a severely disappointing loss and bring it to the Wolverines. This team is stacked and the Wolverines are definitely going to have to find a way to shut down a crazy offense and score on a defence run by Adi Sharma as he returns to action this week. Add the talent of Anthony Thompson and Teddy Frenette, to the defence, and will say Mercenaries win this game.

So there you have it,

A review of last week.

And picks for this one,

You now have a sneak peek.

You all have the chance,

To prove what I wrote is wrong.

You’re a daisy if you do,

I’ll sing your victory song.

 

Thanks for stopping by. If you have any questions, compliments, hate mail, death threats you can please email me at [email protected] but until then, another week has been defused.