Braves defense, teams looking to rebound, and Happy Father’s Day

For the first time since they started their dynasty run, the Braves, find themselves off to their worst start in recent memory as the currently sit last in Division A with a (1-3) record. Last weekend they got swept, as they fell to both the Allstars and the Party Crashers. The Braves once stellar defense was anything but, as they gave up 111 points combined.

On the podcast this week, we talked about the departure of All-Star Rusher Julien Paiement to KGP, and the effect that it has had on the Braves defense. Despite having elite players on that side of the ball in Jonathan Maheu, JD. Chevalier, Georges Gariépy, Mike Pierrecin, and Guillaume Beland, the absence of the future FPF Hall of Famer, turned what was a strength into a weakness. In both tackle and flag football the saying goes, that your coverage is only as good as your pass rush. The loss of Paiement has been proven that true. So far this year the unit has surrendered 174 points in three games, the most out of all six teams in Div. A. To put that number in context, if you go back to the Winter Season, it took the Braves until the midway point of the season to surpass that total. Here is another expression, numbers don’t lie.

Monday night at Stade de Montreal, the Braves are set to take on Mo’ Khans, Mo’ Problems, and their high-powered offense. We have yet to reach the halfway point of the season, and every Division A team makes the playoffs, but this contest has the feel of a must-win game for a squad that many people assumed would at the very least make the Finals this August. Will the Braves be able to stop the bleeding?  

The Party Crashers have beaten the Braves, The Apocalypse, and came within a possession of doing the same to Mo’ Khans, Mo’ Problems. While that rematch will take place next Monday night at Stade de Montreal, P.C will take in the best team in the history of FlagPlus Football, in the Allstars, tomorrow night at the same venue.

So far, the Party Crashers have proven that they belong in Division A, as their high-powered offense has put up 153 points second only to the Braves who have 164. While they have bested some formidable opponents especially on defense, they have yet to play a unit that is littered with Hall of Famers like the Allstars who have Kishon Thompson, Patrick Jérome, Matt Kirouac, Kevin Wyeth, and potential future HOF players in Chris Milard, Matt Bond, and Quaid Johnson.  

Quarterback Frédéric Dupuis leads all passers with touchdowns and passing yards, with 21 and 861 respectively. His number one target in Anthony Brisebois, is first in receiving yards with 273 and touchdowns with 10. The team also has impact players at the position in Phil Angers, Louis-Philip Thibodeau, Phil Pharand, Emile Taillefer, and Francois Hogue, all of whom bring speed and precise route-running to the lineup and played crucial parts in the team’s success last season.

Going up against a defense that is first in Div. A in points allowed with 80 (minimum two games played), is a different animal. Will the Party Crashers and their offense be able to slay them?

The team with the second rated defense is KGP. They are taking on Mo’ Khans, Mo’ Problems. Can the former’s defense make enough stops against the best latter’s offense? They have only played one game so far, but MKMP, put up 51 points against the Party Crashers.

Phil Cutler versus Daniel Lazzara not just in the quarterback matchup, but the ball-hawking Cutler as a defender trying to read the gunslinging former St. Leonard Cougar will be something to watch.

This game will also feature some other big-time matchups, in Quaysie Gordon-Maule, Jonathan Garfinkle, Mathieu Lepage, and Dylan Garber, going up against AJ Gomes, Benjamin McMahon, and the Semerjian brothers.

I am expecting an entertaining high-scoring affair between both squads, where whichever team makes the last mistake will lose.

Losers of two straight, The Apocalypse, look to get back on track as they take on the Allstars. Although they were able to knock off KGP (26-21) in Week 1, Jeff Rosenblatt and his offense have struggled to find the endzone. The team has scored a total of 83 points, for an average of only 27.7 PPG. Their touchdown rate is also lacking, as they have scored a TD on a division-low 56.5% of their possessions. Even when they do reach the endzone, they have only recorded four successful conversions so far.

Although they did lose Anthony Brisebois and Paul Lapierre, the team did add a lot of talent offensively in James Ohayon, James Tyrell, Marty Freedman, and Raoul Baroudi, who appears to be on the team on a full-time basis, after only playing one game in the Winter Season.

The team’s offensive struggles are spread out over a small sample size, so there is still time to turn things around. The question of course is will they?

Division B has a lot of high-profile matchups to highlight Week 3.

BYOB going up against Thor’s Hammer is one of those matchups. These are two teams that can light up the scoreboard.

Coming into the game, BYOB is riding a two-game winning streak after pulling out a (44-20) win over Touch It Catch It, in a game that was full of turnovers and sloppy play in the first half. To their credit, the unit came out more focused in the second stanza as they lit up the Touch It Catch It defense for 32 points.

With the pendulum of momentum swinging in their favour, BYOB, came out firing in their second game of the night, as they used a suffocating defense to shut down the Mangoose offense on the way to a (31-6) victory. In addition to keeping their opponents off the scoreboard in the second half, the BYOB defensive unit held their opponents to 0 for 4 on 4^th down attempts, allowed only 3.1 yards per play, and limited them to three first downs the entire contest.

Thor’s Hammer comes into the game off a big win (42-41) win against the Moretti Crime Family, curtesy of a game-winning TD by Anthony Brisebois with six plays remaining, one of five he had on the evening.

Both teams are stacked with talent and looking to keep their respective winning streaks alive. The storylines in this game look enticing. Will the BYOB defense led by Sebastien Simon, Vincent Benjamin, Mattey Ossom, Mathieu Lepage, and Ryan Perry, be able to slow down Anthony Brisebois and Quaid Johnson?

Will lesser highlighted players like Noah Groper and James Drysdale be able to come up with big plays for their team?

Will the sloppy start that Quarterback Mathieu René and his offense experienced in the first half versus Touch It Catch It, plague them again in this contest, and what will happen if the Thor’s Hammer defense limits the vertical attack that BYOB favours?

Defense be damned, I think we are looking at a shootout. Whichever passer makes the least mistakes will win.

Sitting at (0-2), the Moretti Crime Family were literally a play away in both losses from being (2-0). In speaking to the self-proclaimed “World’s Greatest Snapper” Dom Benevento earlier this week, he told me that the two defeats were simply because his team beat themselves with mistakes. When looking at the numbers, they lost by a combined eight points, so there definitely might be some truth to what he is saying.

Regardless of whether they beat themselves or not, they sit winless, and to get out of the cellar in the standings, they will have to cut down on the mistakes to get their first win of the season, as they take on the first place Brand New Thursday night in Brossard.

To emerge victorious, the Moretti Crime Family, will need to slow down their opponent’s offense led by FPF HOF QB Robby Robinson. With top level talent at Receiver in Chris Milard, Vince Nardone, and Dan Dick, that is easier said than done. This unit has averaged 41 points a game. Through two games, MCF, have given up 37 points. Something will have to give.

Despite the struggles of the Braves in Division A, the B-Raves, look more like their namesake in Division B, as they are off to a (3-0) start. The team is coming off a blowout (42-6) win over Mangoose. The victory was highlighted by the performance of Quarterback Jonathan Maheu, who was 13 of 16 for 228 yards and six touchdown passes. The pivot was able to throw at least one TD to all five of his Receivers.

The team was also spearheaded by a dominant defensive performance, as they smothered their opponent’s offense. No Mangoose pass-catcher had more than 41 yards, and except for an 8-yard TD rub with three plays left in the game by QB Thomas Coutu, the team had no points either.

The B-Raves will look to stay perfect on the season as they take on a Junkyard Dogs squad looking to stay perfect, as they started the season (1-0), with a (37-31) win over Mangoose.

In that win, the JYD defense intercepted Mangoose Quarterback Nicolas Schaefer twice, including one that was returned for a touchdown by Yvan Desjardins, late in the game that ended up cementing the victory for JYD. The team will need that type of performance on that side of the ball if they want to beat the B-Raves.

With names like Mike Pierrecin, Sean Semerjian, Georges Gariépy, Hinsley Adams, William Trottier, Rory Semerjian, and Lauriane Beauchamp, there are a lot of big names and exciting matchups in this game.

The biggest matchup of course will be between Maheu, and JYD QB Jordan Rossie. Both are vets, and multiple time All-Stars, who have championship experience. Maheu is the better player though, so the question that mist be asked, is whether Rossie can keep pace with his counterpart? He has the weapons to do so, (especially with Jesse Dupuis) but will he?

Picks (favorite in bold)

The Apocalypse vs Allstars – Allstars

Party Crashers vs Allstars – Allstars (My pick for Game of the Week Div. A)

Mo’ Khans, Mo’ Problems vs KGP – Mo’ Khans, Mo’ Problems

Mo’ Khans, Mo’ Problems vs Braves – Braves (Upset Special #1)

Thor’s Hammer vs BYOB – Thor’s Hammer

Touch it Catch It vs Junkyard Dogs – Junkyard Dogs

Junkyard Dogs vs B-Raves – B-Raves (My pick for Game of the Week Div. B)

Touch it Catch It vs Mangoose – Touch It Catch It

Moretti Crime Family vs Brand New – Moretti Crime Family (Upset Special #2)

Silent Ticklers vs Mangoose – Silent Ticklers

Last Week: (7-2)

Regular Season: (7-2)

That’s it for this week. Thanks to everyone who reached out after tuning into the this week’s podcast. I appreciate the kind words.

More importantly, Happy Father’s Day to my dad, and all the fathers out there both inside and outside of FPF. Enjoy your day gentlemen, you deserve it!

Good luck to everyone in their games tonight and this week!

If you liked, loved, or hated the article, or simply feel that I left something out, do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected], or reach me on Instagram @brent_b51