D3 Stew: Jazz Gets the Cake

D3 Stew: Jazz Gets the Cake

There was a lot of action in div 3 this week, as the playoff brackets start to take on a greater importance and teams on the bubble start clamoring for position.

With 5 teams within 1 game of each other for the final 4 spots in conference A, there’s nothing certain expect that it’ll be a thrilling race down the stretch. Ditto for conference B, where we equally have 5 teams within a game of each other for the 4 final spots. The power hierarchy at the top looks a bit more cemented in conference B right now, while conference A should have a lot of shakeup in the race to the top.

Let’s dive right into the week that was, and highlight some of the most important happenings. We’ll also take a peak at the individual award races, which are building up for a thrilling sprint down the homestretch. Don’t forget the Jamie Bowl finals taking place this week, as it’s your last chance to help your fantasy owner claim superiority over his disheartened foes. 

Have a great week 9.

 

 

Big Board

Z-score is the number of standard deviations from the mean a data point sits at. For our purposes, the Z-Score will measure how far a player ranks either above or below the divisional average at your position. The higher the Z-Score, the better you’ve ranked in comparison to your peers. These were introduced here: they aren’t perfect, but they’re fun.

For QBs, I attributed equal weight to each of the measurable statistical categories. That means Yards, TDs and INTs all have an equal impact on the final rating. The final player value (PV) is achieved by summing all the individual scores for each category.

Without further ado, here are your top 10 rankings at QB through week 8:

PLAYER	GP	YDS AV	Y-Score	TD AV	T-Score	INT AV	I-Score	PV
Alex Holowach	7	250	2,15	5,43	1,53	0,86	1,07	4,74
Mario Porreca	7	236	1,65	5,29	1,35	0,86	1,07	4,07
Phil Cutler	6	215	0,90	5,17	1,21	0,67	1,50	3,62
Dylan Taylor	8	208	0,65	5,38	1,46	1,00	0,74	2,85
Joey Taylor	7	203	0,49	5,00	1,01	0,86	1,07	2,57
Vince Nardone	8	172	-0,60	4,63	0,56	0,88	1,03	0,99
Sean Avraam	5	203	0,50	4,40	0,29	1,40	-0,17	0,61
Ryan Lelinowski	8	202	0,43	4,25	0,10	1,50	-0,40	0,14
Myles Gibbon	7	179	-0,36	4,14	-0,02	1,29	0,09	-0,30
Erminio Iadeluca	7	198	0,30	4,43	0,32	1,86	-1,22	-0,60

 

Some Observations:

There was a lot of movement in the QB ranks this week, with some temporary shuffling at the top for the first time in several weeks. The top 5 distinguished themselves and are starting to pull away from the pack…Mario Porreca momentarily cedes the top spot. Although he’s now cleared his Brotherhood toll and is free to make up ground the rest of the way…Phil Cutler had a huge week and thrust himself into serious conversation for award season on a strong per game basis…The Taylors both exploded for 7 TDs this week and now position themselves within range for the top spot…Vince Nardone had a big week, which would have been even bigger if not for a knee injury that has him questionable at best for next week’s game…Welcome back Sean Avraam, who returned in time to save the Dad Bods season and promptly repositioned himself in the top 10…The wheels fell off for Erminio Iadeluca this week. But it might be a blessing in disguise long term as it allows him to free up his mind for playoffs, where the bigger prize awaits.

 

 

Bigger Board

For WRs, I used a weighted average assigning Yards and TDs 4X as much value as REC in the final player value (PV).

Here are your week 8 rankings for the top 25 WRs:

PLAYER	GP	REC AV	R-Score	YDS AV	Y-Score	TD AV	T-Score	PV
Alex Pilon	5	5,6	2,26	97	3,89	2,6	3,65	10,81
Robbi Dejean	6	4,8	1,67	71	2,37	1,8	2,21	6,68
Marco Bertoldi	8	4,1	1,13	62	1,84	2,1	2,76	6,52
Daniel Mancini	7	4,3	1,25	69	2,25	1,9	2,26	6,43
Dave Chitayat	7	4,7	1,58	61	1,79	2,0	2,53	6,28
James Crowe	6	4,3	1,29	73	2,51	1,5	1,59	5,89
Theo Bekelis	8	5,8	2,37	63	1,95	1,6	1,82	5,82
AJ Gomes	6	5,2	1,92	66	2,11	1,3	1,28	5,16
Danny D’Amour	7	4,6	1,47	49	1,10	1,7	1,99	4,61
Matthew Rupcic	7	5,1	1,91	47	0,99	1,7	1,99	4,61
Shaq Lattimore	7	4,4	1,36	58	1,62	1,4	1,45	4,55
Joel Malkin	7	4,7	1,58	69	2,26	1,0	0,65	4,41
Jonathan Garfinkle	7	5,4	2,13	51	1,25	1,4	1,45	4,32
Adrien Kellman	7	2,6	-0,06	50	1,19	1,7	1,99	4,21
Justin Cerantola	7	4,4	1,36	55	1,47	1,1	0,92	3,64
Zach Zwirn	8	4,1	1,13	48	1,05	1,4	1,35	3,58
Jordan Allard	7	3,3	0,48	48	1,05	1,4	1,45	3,50
Justin McLean	8	3,6	0,74	52	1,27	1,3	1,12	3,44
Mathieu Gratton	7	3,6	0,70	44	0,80	1,3	1,19	2,89
Ryan Aridi	8	4,1	1,13	51	1,22	1,0	0,65	2,87
Chris Valentine	6	3,5	0,65	40	0,60	1,3	1,28	2,71
Travis Moses	8	3,9	0,94	53	1,34	0,9	0,41	2,66
Jeremy Anderson	8	3,5	0,65	42	0,71	1,3	1,12	2,65
Sebastien Simon	7	3,1	0,38	48	1,05	0,9	0,38	2,04
Steve Sanner	6	4,0	1,03	40	0,62	1,0	0,65	2,03

 

Some Observations:

Nothing new at the top, as Alex Pilon continues to lead on a per game basis by a country mile. I wonder if his overall stats will be enough of an argument for the selection committee come award season…Robbi Dejean had the greatest gains this week, moving all the way up to 2nd from 5th last week. His rise in div 3 has been meteoric…James Crowe and Theo Bekelis made subtler moves up the top 10, which is no surprise to any div 3 follower since they’ve been money all year…Jonathan Garfinkle missed out on the feeding frenzy against the Dirty Dawgs and dropped several rungs for it…With Avraam back feeding him, Jordan Allard began his climb back up the receiver rankings…Best buds and Darksiders mercenaries Travis Moses and Jeremy Anderson charmingly find themselves attached at the hip in the bigger board…Welcome to the top 25 Steve Sanner!

 

 

 

Highlights:

 

Jazz gets the cake

The heroes got DANNNED on Monday night at Hebert, taking it on the nose 57-7. The major story line of this game was the Dans stifling defense, completely suffocating what was up to that point, one of the hottest offenses in the division. After allowing 45 points last week, and being picked to lose in back-to-back weeks, the 2HD defense was fired up, and it showed early on.

There are few men in this league who have a proclivity for chocolate cake the way Jasmin Rioux does. The man can simply hammer down the stuff. Watching him consume chocolate cake is the stuff of legends. Rumor has it that he once attended a bah-mitzvah for a friend’s nephew, and on a dare he scarfed down an entire two-tiered, whipped dark chocolate ganache, with a single glass of 2% milk as chaser. The kids were devastated and the party was ruined, but Jazz cemented his legacy as a cake eating champion. Hall of Fame worthy stuff.

Back to the game at hand, Jazz certainly earned himself a double helping of the gooey chocolatey deliciousness after this effort. He started the game by jumping a pass for a pick 6, which was the original blow that threw the Heroes into a funk. For good measure, he pulled in a second INT later on. Two slices for 2 interceptions.

Besides Jazz, the Dans defense piled on a remarkable total of 6 INTs on the night. Shaq Lattimore matched Rioux with 2 INTs, one of them returned to the house for 6. Matt Rupicic also added 2 INTs, and could have realistically had 2 more with the way he was flying around the field.

Joey Taylor had another great night on offense, accounting for 7 passing TDs and eclipsing 200 yards passing. He thread the ball through some tight windows and used the Heroes frustrations against them with some crafty look offs and pump fakes. He’s now thrown 25 TDs in the past 4 games, and is rapidly rounding into all-star shape just in time for the playoffs.

The Heroes will try to shake off the tough defeat and bounce back against Purple Reign on Monday night. As for the Dans, they head into a familiar matchup with Lightweight and look to keep the hot streak going down the stretch.

 

Dad Bods School Backup Simon

This was a game with significant playoff implications, as both teams were straddling the bubble and desperately needed the win to breathe easy for another week.

There were some question marks surrounding Dad Bods coming into the game. Sean Avraam was returning to the lineup, and their offense had stalled in his two week absence. It seemed fair to wonder whether last year’s finalists had simply run out of juice, and could recapture their form before it was too late

Lightweight showed up to the field with a few key players missing. No Eddy Lee, no Marc-Andre Lapointe, and most surprisingly no Simon Dagenais, who was stuck in Florida after unseen flight problems. In his place was backup Simon Duchesne of Jaggerbomb, who brought along his top target Jean-Felix Daloze.

The game started about as bad as it could for Dad Bods, as Avraam zipped a pass into the chest of snapper Anthony Da Silva, which bounced into the air and was picked off by Antonin Desgent.

Lightweight’s offense was cooking early, with Duchesne dodging the rusher and finding holes in the opponent’s soft zone. Lightweight took a surprising 19-6 lead into halftime.

Avraam’s impact on this game went beyond quarterback, as he took the reins on defense in the second half and switched the coverage to an aggressive man. The switch paid off handsomely, as Duchesne kept running the same plays as the first half, this time forcing into contested matchups.  Steve Sanner made the first stop of the night coming out of the half, jumping a slant route in the redzone to give Dad Bods a chance to cut the lead.

Avraam took full advantage, he started spreading Lightweight out vertically and hitting the seam with Jordan Allard, who finished with 77 yards and a trio of TDs on as many catches. Avraam kept Lightweight honest by working the comeback to Steve Sanner, who also had a strong game receiving with 68 yards and a pair of scores.

With the game close late, it was Rich Hume’s turn to make an impact. Duchesne found early success with deep dig routes to Daloze and Cory Kennedy, who carried the bulk of the offense on the night. With the game on the line late and a blistering rush from Mike Zenobi, Duchesne went back to well once too often. Humes cut off the dig route and handed the ball back to Avraam to ice it.

The Dad Bod made quick work, hitting the kill shot with a deep pass to Allard down the middle. Avraam wrapped up his strong comeback game with over 200 yards passing and 5 TDs, with the sole INT as the only blemish in the night. 

With 3 plays left Lightweight reached midfield before heaving a last ditch effort into the endzone on the final play, which was batted down by the defense for the win.

Avraam’s return came just in time, as Dad Bods have 3 tough game to close of the schedule. As for Lightweight, they’re now on the outside looking in of the playoff bracket. They’ll have the real Simon back this week, but will be in tough versus 2HD.

 

 

Power Rankings:

 

1. Laval’s Finest (7-1): I don’t think they broke a sweat while rolling over JYD this week. Hopefully a Leverless LGM team will give them a bit better run for their money this week. They have a comfortable lead heading into the final leg of the season.
2. Brotherhood (5-2): The reached deep and pulled off a gutsy win on short staff against a solid opponent. They’re still lugging along a bit in recent weeks but it’s a testament to their championship attitude that they make no excuses and keep winning games.
3. 2HD (5-2): 43 points produced per game over the last month is serious business. The offense is humming and the defense is locked in right now. They may be the hottest team in the entire division.
4. Top Sauce (6-2): Everything was going along swimmingly for them against LGM until a sudden knee-on-knee collision removed Nardone from the game. Then it all quickly came crashing down. It’s a scary realization of how valuable a backup QB can be in FPF. Let’s hope for their sake that Nardone is not out long.

5. Darksiders (6-2) ↑1: They fell short of the 40 burger we were asking for but they controlled the game early on. Their offense has been steadily building momentum in recent weeks, while their defense remains sturdy. They’re being criticized because their winning record forces comparison against the league elites. If this team was .500 we’d be raving about them. Keep your eyes on the prize and continue winning.
6. Hometown Heroes (5-2)↓1: I’ve seen people take longer fleeing a burning building than jump off their bandwagon following last week’s debacle. It’s just a single loss. Flip the page and move on. This team is still young, fast and lethal on both sides of the ball. It’s always better to fly under the radar at this time of year.
7. LGM (4-2-1): Down 32-7 with 8 minutes left in the game, they somehow found a way to claw back and steal the W against Top Sauce. It speaks to the resiliency of this group. I’m sure there’s a master plan in place, but hearing Lever will NEED to make the final two games just to qualify for playoffs is a bit scary at this point.
8. KGP (4-3): The offensive eruption against Dirty Dawgs must have felt great following a tough loss to LGM last week. They’re a top 3 offense in the division and can light up the scoreboard any given week. The big dogs in conference B should be worried about drawing them in the early playoff rounds.
9. Purple Reign (3-3-1)↑1: They’ve hit their stride in recent weeks and finally look like the team they were built to be all along. The defense is humming right now. It’ll be interesting to see if they can maintain their current drive and transition this strong play down the stretch and into the playoffs. If they can carry it then lookout.
10. DTM (2-3-2)↓1: The two ties look like a blessing right now, as it keeps them a game ahead of the final playoff spot. They struggled offensively for the first time this season against a very formidable Brotherhood defense. I expect a huge bounce back performance this week against Bearskins.

 

 

 

 The Jamie Bowl

The semi-finals saw the most heated battles of the season, as both games were high-scoring and came down to the final game on Wednesday night.

This week, we say ciao to our two eliminated semi-finalists: Panda Panda! and the Dropkick Terries.

Panda Panda! was a thorn in the side of the division all year. Like his div 3 team, he was low-scoring, but always found a way to win in the clutch. He saved his best for the playoffs, where he unleashed a monster week in the semi-finals. Unfortunately he came up just short, running into the one man that could have ended his season this week. 

The Dropkick Terries, otherwise known as the QB whisperer, was prophetic all season long. He pulled incredible picks out of his hat that no one else would have even thought of. He was a magician at extracting value from underrated players, especially at the QB position. His finals hopes were cut short with a critical error of mistaken identity in the semi-finals.

This is it. The final showdown. The match that we’ve been battling for tooth and nail all season. Commission has Fallen and Bullet Club square off in the inaugural Jamie Bowl finals, with the winner toasting to his defeat foes over a pre St. Patties day adult bevie. May the best man win.

 

Semi Finals

Match 1

	Commish has Fallen		Panda Panda!
QB	Sean Avraam	26,66	Fred Morissette	33,38
WR	Dave Chitayat	17,6	James Crowe	28,9
WR	Jordan Allard	28,7	Jad Aridi	17
2WAY	Justin McLean	20,3	Theo Bekelis	35,3
2WAY	Jeremy Anderson	39,7	Rob Allen	16,4
DEF	Laval’s Finest	24,5	Darksiders	20
		157,46		150,98

 

Match 2

	Dropkick Terries		Bullet Club
QB	Vince Nardone	27,76	Dylan Taylor	38,84
WR	Jeremy Anderson	34,7	Rod Mashtoub	2,4
WR	Nicolas Desjardins	5,9	Ryan Aridi	18,5
2WAY	Matt Kirouac	18,5	Travis Moses	22,1
2WAY	Danny Damour	10,7	Justin McLean	20,3
DEF	Laval’s Finest	24,5	Darksiders	20
		122,06		122,14

 

 

 

Finals

	Commish has Fallen		Bullet Club
QB	Myles Gibbon		Sean Avraam
WR	Adrien Kellmen		Dave Chitayat
WR	James Crowe		Francois Deslauriers
2WAY	Matt Rupcic		Rich Humes
2WAY	Khalil Kerr		Chris Milard
DEF	Brotherhood		KGP

 

 

Third Place Game

	Dropkick Terries		Panda Panda!
QB	Joey Taylor		Theo Ojeaha
WR	Jaylan Grandison		Dave Chitayat
WR	Anthony Lazarra		Justin McLean
2WAY	Shaq Lattimore		Jeremy Anderson
2WAY	Rich Humes		Robbi Dejean
DEF	Top Sauce		2HD

 

 

 

 

Weekly Awards

 

QB:

Phil Cutler – KGP:

19/27 – 234 yards – 7 TD/0 INT – 136.4 QBR

Was about as close to a perfect outing as possible against an outmatched Dirty Dawgs. They had no answers for his patented offense, which unleashed a stable of high flying receivers and put them in position to rip off huge gains. Business as usual for the professional KGP offense rounding into playoff form.

 

WR:

Jeremy Anderson – Darksiders:

8 catches – 87 yards – 3 TDs

The Panda was on the loose against Loony Goonz, constantly terrorizing the secondary with precision route running and uncanny chemistry with his QB. One half of the dynamic duo with Travis Moses, it was Panda’s turn in the spotlight for a burgeoning Darksiders offense.

 

DEF:

Adam Rockman – Recipe for Disaster:

3 INT – 1 PD

There’s certain games on the schedule that carry a heavier weight than others. Its times like these, with your team’s season hopes against the ropes, that great players deep a little deeper and find a way to come up with the big plays. Adam came up with three such plays against ODBs this week, helping deliver the win, and keep R4D in the hunt for the playoffs.

 

2WAY:

Robbi Dejean – LGM:

8 catches – 110 yards – 2 TDs

2 TK – 1 INT – 1 PD – 1 TD

The man is a smooth criminal. Whether it be the starter or backup QB feeding him the ball, he doesn’t skip a beat, making big plays look routine. Most impressive is how despite the QB carousel for LGM he’s still positioned himself as the number 2 overall WR after 8 weeks. His stock is rising rapidly this year and last week’s performance is just another indication that he’ll likely be a hot commodity this offseason for higher division teams.

 

Predictions

 

LGM                                                    Laval’s Finest

With Alex Lever missing for the second consecutive week this otherwise interesting conference B showdown fizzled out of control early. Rod Mashtoub came up with a pick 6 on the first drive of the game, and things didn’t get any better for LGM after that. Laval’s Finest has been cruising the past two weeks against non-competitive opponents. Still, they look good heading into their final game before playoffs, and appear poised for a deep run into the second season.   

JYD                                                      QB Movement

You’ve got to give JYD a strong grade for effort this season. They could have gone down to div 4 and contended with the best teams, instead they chose to challenge themselves at a higher level despite lacking some top end talent required to compete. The result hasn’t been pretty, but long term this should help this core continue to develop. This week they were overpowered by a talented QB Movement squad. Myles Gibbon spread them out and picked them apart, feeding the ball to his top two targets Adrien Kellman and Thierry Gerville. QB Movement is a solid middle-tier team in div 3 and should find more success this summer if they stick together and continue to build.            

Les Maloudes                                  Dirty Dawgs

Maloudes are starting to heat up at the right time, winning 2 of their last 3 and clawing their way back to .500 with a win this week. Dirty Dawgs should not be slept on, these are the games were they thrive against evenly matched opponents. I think there’s just too much on the line for Maloudes to come out and fizzle this week. Expect the hot streak to continue.

Dad Bods                                          R4D

This is definitely the most interesting game this week. Dad Bods looked good but not great last week in the win over Lightweight. R4D brought out the big guns in a key win over ODBs. Expect a slugfest that goes 12 rounds this week. I think the Dad Bods experience helps them pull off the critical play late in the game to take a narrow victory. Should be fun.

ODBs                                                  Darksiders

The struggles (and turnovers) continue to mount for the ODB offense in recent weeks. Darksiders are on a bit of a roll and should have a few chances to close this one out. I can’t see their offense failing to take advantage of the extra possessions granted by their defense. They continue to pile on the victories this week.  

DTM                                                   Bearskins

What can we say about Bearskins besides that it’s been a challenging past few weeks for them, losers of 4 straight. DTM’s offense has too many weapons for the Skins to account for. Add the fact that DTM will be angry after a sub-par performance against Brotherhood last week and you get the feeling that they will put up some big numbers. The Skins offense should be able to follow them for a while early on, but they’ll be hard pressed to keep up the pace all game.   

Loony Goonz                                    Brotherhood

This actually has the makings of an offhand trap game for Brotherhood. Loony Goonz plays an aggressive style of in-your-face defense and has a mobile, fluid offense, both similar in a way to Brotherhood. Still, the odds of an upset are very low. Brotherhood are a mature, developed team with championship contender status.

Hometown Heroes                          Purple Reign

2HD                                                    Lightweight

Simon Dagenais will be returning a week too late for Lightweight, as they’ll be in tough vs a red hot 2HD team. I doubt the lightweight defense will be able to throw a fork into Joey Taylor’s finely tuned offense. As for Simon, let’s hope the 2HD defense are feeling a bit more generous than last week.

Top sauce                                          KGP      

Major question marks now surround the Top Sauce pivot position, with Vince Narodne likely looking doubtful for at least this week. We can’t predict who they’ll turn the ball over too. Will they give Justin Blanchard a chance to develop, in expectation of Vince potentially missing the early playoff rounds? Or will they call in a ringer and attempt to secure the second overall position in conference B? KGP is as steady as they come, expect them to be ready no matter who throws the ball on the other side.

 

 

That’s it for this week! Week 8 of FPF is officially in the books, and week 9 is set to start up soon. If you have any feedback, concerns, comments or just want a shoulder to lean on you can reach out to me @alexholowach1 on Twitter, or hit me up on Facebook. If you’re craving more div 3 content please check out the Calling the Audible podcast featuring Moe Khan, Peeze and Simom, it’s a healthy dose of absurdity to get you through the week. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and make sure to check back next week to find out how week 9 shook out!