Defence Stars In Week 3 of FPF Action

The halfway point of the Fall 2021 season is nearly upon us. For those of you who are wondering, the schedule for the second half of the season should be released next week.  Based on their records, teams will be split into cash and non-cash brackets in the second half of the season. We are still in the process of deciding exactly how many teams will be placed into each bracket, but those details should be released shortly. What that means for this week is that even though teams are only a few games into the season, they are already fighting for seeding. With that being said, let’s jump right into their recaps from the second week of action.

Week 3 Recaps

Mean Machine (18) vs Tough Lungs (19) – Tier 2

While this might have been the closest game of the week in tier 2, it is definitely  not one either of these quarterbacks will want to remember. Mean Machine’s Daniel Goloff completed just 13 passes on his way to totalling 129 yards, three scores and two interceptions. Tough Lungs’  Mathew Lerner was not much better, passing for just 25 more yards and the same number of scores and picks.

This was not a pretty game for Tough Lungs. They averaged just five yards per attempt and struggled mightily in the red zone. Mathew Lerner is clearly still adjusting to the higher level of play. With even more speed on the field, the windows are far tighter than he is used to. To compensate, he will need to adjust his throw velocity. Thankfully, Justin Lerner is still a matchup nightmare for just about any defender in the division. While Tough Lungs might have struggled offensively in this game, their defence more than made up for it. Olivier Doleyres is probably still giving Mean Machine’s quarterback Daniel Goloff nightmares. His one sack does not do justice to his performance. He also swatted down three passes and held Goloff to twelve rushing yards on two attempts.

As for Mean Machine, just a week after their defence conceded 46 points to Chocolate Thunder, they stepped up in a big way. On a day when their offence was sputtering, it was their defence that kept them in this one. What impressed me the most was that they were able to contain Justin Lerner. Yes, I do mean contain. Even though Lerner caught eight passes for 89 yards. Crucially, they kept him out of the endzone. Mean Machine’s defence conceded 163 yards of offence to their opponents. With a starting field position for Tough Lungs of their own 14 yard line, this means Mean Machine’s defence conceded enough yards to drive the entire field 4.5 times. Out of those, they only came away with three scores. What that tells me is that Mean Machine’s defence gets better the closer they get to their own endzone. This team is filled with speedy defenders so the windows must progressively get smaller and smaller as teams near Mean Machine’s endzone. Ultimately this should influence how they play defence. As long as this team does not concede the long scores, they should trust their defence to turn the ball over on downs eventually. In other words, Mean Machine should play a lot of two deep zone defence. This team has a ton of talent and with a few adjustments, they can cause some upsets in this division.

Trailer Park Boys (19) vs The West Yard (20) – Tier 3

While the quarterback play might have been mediocre in the Mean Machine vs Tough Lungs game, it was even worse in this one. The West Yard did not win this one thanks to Tyler Stern’s arm, they won despite it. He passed for 93 yards and one more interception than touchdown. He made up for that by running the ball six times for nearly 80 yards. Ultimately I think this team needs to simplify their offence.. Having played against them, I know they like throwing the ball deep and Stern will often try launching a ball while on the run. With his current arm talent, those throws are ill advised since they will get picked off more often than not. However, they have a very simple alternative. This team is filled with very fast athletes. All Stern needs to do is get the ball in the hands of the likes of Josh Naimer or David Giroux on a quick slant and, more often than not, they will break a tackle and turn a two yard pass into a ten yard gain. Thankfully The West Yard’s Defence stepped up in this one. They picked off Trailer Park Boys three times and that all started with the tremendous rushing of Jonathan Steinberg. Antoine Meunier is known for being one of the shiftiest passers in Tier 3. Despite that, Steinberg sacked him twice and held him to just 31 rushing yards. Kyle Oberfeld, Tyler Stern and David Giroux can also thank their rusher for hurrying Meunier into the three ill-advised throws that they each turned into an interception.

Alexandre Meunier did absolutely everything he could to hand his team the victory in this one. He was a nightmare in the secondary, picking off two passes and adding three defended passes to that for good measure. Unfortunately for Meunier and the Trailer Park Boys, no one else did very much defensively. For this team to start winning games, they will need to solve their woes at the rusher position. They have currently recorded just one sack through three games. Thankfully, they have a suitable rusher already on their roster. While Alexandre Blais might not be  the fastest player, he always  finds a way to produce sacks when he rushes. Turning Blais into a rusher could be the key for The Trailer Park Boy turning their season around.

Week 3 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. However, you can make the team of the week in multiple divisions. For the Coed division there will always be a minimum of two women on the offensive and defensive team of the week.

Tier 1

Quarterback: Jesse Dupuis (Urgence Medic) 19 completions, 184 passing yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Thomas Coutu (Mangoose) 5 receptions, 88 yards, 1 TD

Receiver: Quaid Johnson (The Apocalypse) 7 receptions, 85 yards, 1 TD

Receiver: Justin Lerner (Blessed) 7 receptions, 77 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Mathieu Houle (Urgence Medic) 3 receptions, 77 yards

Receiver: Anthony Lapointe (Urgence Medic) 9 receptions, 56 yards, 5 TDs

Rusher: Benjamin McMahon (The Apocalypse) 2 sacks, 1 tackle

Defensive Back: Alexis Gaumont (Urgence Medic) 2 tackles, 1 INT

Defensive Back: Darnell Kevis Riley (The Apocalypse) 2 tackles, 1 sack, 1 INT, 1 def TD

Defensive Back: Charles Fontaine (Mangoose) 3 tackles, 5 PDs 

Defensive Back: Marc-Andre Lapointe (Urgence Medic) 3 tackles, 1 INT

Defensive Back: Jeremy White (EZW) 1 tackle, 2 INT

Tier 2

Quarterback: Joseph Kano (Chocolate Thunder) 11 completions, 212 passing yards, 6 TDs

Receiver: Tim Horner (Chocolate Thunder) 3 receptions, 83 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Alexis Gaumont (Unexpected Diablos) 3 receptions, 83 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Simon Losier (Arouch) 6 receptions, 73 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Jeremy Augustin (Team Ethnik) 5 receptions, 92 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Rayan Chalal (Centaures) 4 receptions, 59 yards, 3 TDs

Rusher: William Bissonnette (Team Ethnik) 1 tackle, 3 sacks

Defensive Back: David de Andrade (Team Ethnik) 2 tackles, 4 INTs

Defensive Back: Adam Rabinovitch (Mean Machine) 1 tackle, 1 sack, 2 INT, 1 PD

Defensive Back: Chris Brockwell (Centaures) 4 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Timothe Pichet (Glogan) 1 INT, 1 PD, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Alejandro Dizazzo (Pincellos) 1 tackles, 1 INT, 1 TD

Tier 3

Quarterback: Emile Skaf (Free Agent Squad) 15 completions, 187 passing yards, 6 TDs, 0 INTs

Receiver: Zach Graveson (Free Agent Squad) 5 receptions, 85 yards, 1 TD

Receiver: Justin Santillo (Tim Brandy) 5 receptions, 103 yards, 2 TDs

Receiver: Joe Morgese (Lionhearts) 6 receptions, 101 yards, 3 TDs

Receiver: Tyler Gurberg (Killer Rays) 6 receptions, 99 yards, 1 TD

Receiver: Jeremie Ledoux (Post Malone’s Nights) 5 receptions, 73 yards, 1 TD

Rusher: Alex Montanaro (Lionhearts) 1 tackles, 4 sacks

Defensive Back: Alexandre Meunier (Trailer Park Boys) 4 tackles, 2 INTs, 3 PDs

Defensive Back: Tye Middleton (Save A Horse) 2 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 PD, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Owen LaValliere (Save A Horse) 2 tackles, 3 INTs, 1 TD

Defensive Back: Alejandro Fonte (FSU) 3 tackles, 2 INTs, 1 PD

Defensive Back: Adam Rabinovitch (Warriors) 2 INTs, 1 PD

Coed

There were only two Coed games last week. That is not a large enough sample size for a team of the week in Coed 

Week 3 Predictions

Yin & Yang (1-1) vs Kiss My End Zone (1-1) – Coed

This will be the first time these two teams play each other after Kiss My End Zone missed the Spring Coed season. The last time these two teams played, Y&Y handed KMEZ two consecutive losses before the season was cut short due to Covid. Those two games are still very fresh in the minds of both teams and KMEZ will be looking for revenge

Both teams have had a major overhaul at the quarterback position. Paolo Della Rocca has taken the reins for KMEZ while it appears Quaysie Gordon-Maule is the passer for Y&Y. You could not have two more  different quarterbacks. Gordon-Maule is an athlete first and a quarterback second. While he excels at buying time in the pocket, he is not usually a quarterback and is not the quickest at going through his reads. On the other hand, Della Rocca might as well play wearing steel toed boots. Mobility is not in his vocabulary. His game relies on him sitting back and moving through his reads as quickly as possible 

With two new quarterbacks, I expect interceptions to be a plenty in this one. Ultimately the team that turns the ball over less will likely win. For the simple reason that Della Rocca got all his interceptions out of the way last week (four in two games, ouch), I think KMEZ will win the turnover battle and ultimately the game

Prediction: Kiss My End Zone

Save a Horse (3-0) vs Pardon My Swag (3-0) – Tier 3

Frankie Scalzo has still not thrown an interception this season, but I have a feeling that that is about to change. Save a Horse picked off Lockdown a staggering seven times last week. While Scalzo is a far better passer than Lockdown’s Terry Tam, Save a Horse’s defence is simply too good. They have the athletes to man-up with any team in Tier 3, and as the season progresses their zone defence has been getting better and better. I scrimmaged against this team in the pre-season, and they had defensive backs closing three of four yards to make a play on the ball. The speed with which they attack underneath routes and outs is something Tier 3 quarterbacks are not used to seeing and will definitely cause trouble for Scalzo

In case Save a Horse’s defence was not scary enough, their offence also currently leads all Tier 3 teams in points. Kyle Daniel has been near perfect on the season, throwing 14 TDs and only one interception. Ultimately, I think Pardon My Swag will slow this game down and try to keep things close, but they just do not have the athleticism to keep up with Save a Horse. I fully expect SAH to score on every single drive. That means just a single mistake from Scalzo has the potential to be game ending

Prediction: Save a Horse

There you have it, your week 3 article for the Fall Cup! Be sure to checkout Iggy’s and Peeze’s articles when they come out later this week.

As always, if you have anything to say about the articles please feel free to email me at [email protected]