Div 6, Div 6D: Mandatory Playoff Previews

Peeze’s Playbook

By Paolo Della Rocca

Divisional Round

I’m exhausted. Last Night’s slew of podcasts was TOO DAMN LONG. A few hours later I need to turn in an article breaking down each of the matchups for div 6 and 6d. Let’s get right to it!

Playoff Preview

Division 6

(1) Dirty Landry vs. (16) Pension Plan
Avery Lalla needs to not be outsmarted by an experienced defense. Pension Plan is lousy with coaches and will look to make him uncomfortable.
After Myles and Brandon Keiller there is a drop off in FPF pedigree and production. Pension Plan needs to use the play calling of Anthony Siggia on defense to force Dirty Landry to attempt to beat them with anyone other than their top two receivers.
Pension Plan QB Vince Pisano needs to stay in control and not throw the ball of his back foot. He tends to float passes when he does that. His reads need to be quick and intelligent.

Prediction: Dirty Landry 38-Pension Plan 33

(2) Warriors vs. (15) Vultures
Vultures are a sneaky 15 seed. Owen Bujarski is a fast and tall quarterback who buys time and has a rocket allowing him to hit guys after they’ve found holes in coverage. Zak Sigler is a great rusher for Warriors but he isn’t very tall and as such may not be as disruptive against Bujarski as he would be against other qbs.
I don’t know for certain if anyone can cover Benji Zeigler in this division. Vultures defense is competent but in this game it will require someone to shut down Zeigler specifically. Perhaps Chaz Kidder-Alexander is that man.
Benjamin McMahon is the x-factor in this game. His speed and ability to do damage at various positions make him extremely valuable.

Prediction: Vultures 26- Warriors 20

(3) Vick in a Box vs (14) Scranton Stranglers
The key for VIB is that whether they have Jordan McInnis or Max Burah, they have two of the most unguardable players in the division. Both are eligible for playoffs but only one can take the field given the team’s cap constraints. I’m curious to see how they play it moving forward.
A lot of this game comes down to decision making for rookie QB Matt Pisaturo. He tends to take bizarre chances when there is absolutely no need. If he makes mistakes this game will be close.
Jordan Schwartz is learning the quarterback positon and he threw 17 interceptions this season. He’ll need to make good reads and avoid mistakes for Scranton Stranglers to stand a chance. Scranton Stranglers are 1-2 heading into this game and it’s not a great feeling as they face a behemoth this weekend.

Prediction: Vick in a Box 40-Scranton Stranglers 19

(4) Dawg Pound vs (13) Average Joe’s
Shayne Feinberg had a disappointing season. He turned the ball over way too much and while having 4 receivers with at least 6 touchdowns is impressive, I thought that Alex Finkelstein would have arisen as the team’s redzone threat but there still seems to be no one on this offense who can step up and have a magical playoff run.
Average Joe’s are inconsistent. Mark Bellini needs to avoid forcing the ball and the guy who I think will have a favorable matchup is Steven Besner. He’s a speedster and will allow Average Joe’s to take the top off the defense.
This will be an ugly game. Expect turnovers forced by ball-hawks Anthony Lepore (Average Joe’s) and Ryan Castiel (Dawg Pound) may leave the game with multiple forced turnovers.

Prediction: Dawg Pound 19- Average Joe’s 18

(5) Hot Sauce Sports vs (12) MACDO
Hot Sauce Sports is likely the deepest team on both sides of the ball. The offense has 4 receivers who are in the top 25 in receptions and William Power and George Aifantis are both threats to score at any time. Still they may be even more effective as defenders. They led a defense that recorded 18 interceptions during the regular season.
Not knowing who is playing quarterback is an advantage for MACDO. Victor Nolin and Louis-Phillipe Naud are both capable and the offense performs similarly regardless of who’s playing quarterback.
MACDO’s defense is the feature as the team moves as a unit and rarely allows a score due to a blown coverage. Their 19 regular season interceptions is also worth a noting

Prediction: Since there’s no official prediction I got picks from others:

Hot Sauce Sports 26-MACDO 12 (Stefano Berardi)
Hot Sauce Sports 26-MACDO 18 (Eagle)
Hot Sauce Sports 32- MACDO 25 (Simon Dagenais)

(6) D2: The Mighty Ducks vs. (11) Los Siete Amigos
Felix D’Aoust of Los Siete Amigos is the difference maker. His 24 sacks set the pace for his defense (and he missed 3 games!). He is insanely fast and doesn’t miss any flags. Etienne Brisson can thank him for the 6 interceptions he caught after D’Aoust applied the pressure. Matt Domon likes to take his time behind centre for D2. He won’t be able to in this game.
In his last game of the season Alexandre Fafard threw 3 interceptions. In the previous three games he threw 13 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. If he can rewind and retain the form from weeks 7-10 he will have a great playoff run.
The Size of the Mighty Ducks is tough to manage. Renaud St-Laurent, J-D Joly, and Anthony Pelletier can just box out their opponents and convert on key downs. Whether or not they can successfully use that size will be key.

Prediction: Los Siete Amigos 24- D2: The Mighty Ducks 20

(7) Unknown Talent vs. (10) Fightin’ Tigers
This game will be closer than many think. Seth Galina is a smart quarterback and if he’s disciplined he will keep the ball away from Alessandro Barazzoni. Similarly the key to victory for Alessandro Barazzoni is to stay disciplined. The only knock against him is that he sometimes forces the ball against teams when he has easier options to go to.
Emilio Pampena is easy for teams to overlook. He was a division 2 receiver for a long time for a reason. The dude is always open and when he isn’t he finds ways to haul the ball in. UT will be wise to pay attention to him.
Unknown Talent is a very good team. When Nicky Farinaccio is there, they are borderline unstoppable. If he’s present it will be tough for Fightin’ Tigers to compete.

Prediction: Unknown Talent 33-Fightin’ Tigers 27

(8) Channel 4 News Team vs. (9) BBallers
This is a tough draw for Channel 4 News Team. For all we know, BBallers is the best team in the entire tournament. BBallers are adept at taking strikes downfield and are a misery for opposing teams when on defense. Still, the focal point is Gianni Casati who’s 15.67TDs:1int ratio is one of the best first seasons in memory.
C4NT need to take chances and need to confuse BBallers. The concern is that they don’t have the personnel to do that. Their defense is steady but unless guys like Aiden Strausser and Daniel Laufer can shoot gaps and force some bad reads there is ittle they can do against this juggernaut.

Prediction: Bballers 40- Channel 4 News Team 24

Division 6D

(1) 7th Rounders vs (16) Past Our Primetime
I’ve been saying all season that 7th rounders are better than there record. Their strengths are the rush of Terry Babalis and the receiving threat of Jonathan Hared and Angelo Mourelatos. Their weakness however, is the play calling of Charles Duchesne.
7th Rounders impressively beat Scranton Stranglers late in the season and kept pace with Hot Sauce Sports and Warriors in the middle of their schedule. Yet, I believe heading into 6D is probably where they belong.
For Past our Primetime Arnaud Prince-Duthel and Joshua Vazquez have been the offense. It is too obvious and they’ll need a third player to stand up and be the reason Past our Primetime has a shot to win the game.

Prediction: 7th Rounders 20- Past Our Primetime 6

(2) Hurricane SZN vs. (15) DGC
DGC…sorry bro
Hurricane SZN are only in this side of the tournament because they had such a murderer’s row of a schedule. So not only are they the most talented team in the division. They are also battle tested. It’s going to be an issue. Bradley Parent to Brandon Parent has been unstoppable. They need to use zones that will allow for bracket coverage on Brandon Parent. Forcing a difficult throw is their only chance. Even then defense will feature Ty Smith, Ryan McGrath, Andel Thomas Gordon, Brandon Parent and more.
Sean Martin needs to realize a sack and a discard are more valuable than forcing an interception. He needs to take checkdowns early and then be patient enough to hit receivers like Andrew Di Miele, Foti Evangelista and Nick Kypriotis at the next level.

Prediction: Hurricane SZN 36- DGC 15

(3) Fourth & Twenty vs (14) The Real Bros of Simi Valley
Real Bros of Simi Valley showed some fight this season. They were consistenyl the underdog and still made the playoffs as a 14 seed (believe me I don’t mean this as an insult). I had been begging for the move to Ryan Shapiro at quarterback and it has led to consistent but not spectacular results.
Evan Leibiger has proven to be a competent receiver and a great compliment to John Francom for The Real Bros. of Simi Valley. These two will need to be featured if they have a chance against 420 Blazin’ who are perhaps less athletic but have a deeper roster.
Erik Ciaccia has been unstoppable on offense and on defense Jason Dracchia’s pass rush has be unrelenting. I think Dracchia will have the bigger impact of the two in what I expect to be an ugly but hard fought game.

Prediction: 420 Blazin’ 25-The Real Bros of Simi Valley 19

(4) Green Monster vs. (13) Brewers
Chris Morin’s injury will hurt Brewers. The snapper touches the ball every play and often has an impact on the game in ways many will never know. Jefferey Lefebvre is healthy and so is Eric Pawlusiak and I think that there is a chance they see the Green Monster defense as predictable.
Patrick Jazon needs to be the x factor on defense. Use him to rush, use him in coverage, and use him to man up on key downs. He’s the team’s leader and he needs to be the reason they win the game.
Jesse Dumeignil has the “moves like daggers” (yes that is an inside joke you don’t understand). He needs to get the ball in space and collect ankles. Alexandre Nadeau likes to throw the ball down field but the best course of action is to get the ball quickly to his playmaker.

Prediction: Brewers 30- Green Monster 13

(5) Sharknado vs (12) Bud Knights
Sylvain Blanchette of Sharknado needs to learn to call plays. He has a decent arm and is not horribly inaccurate. His plays are too difficult for him to read and he rarely has short outlets he can turn to when the plays break down. Bud Knights are too good to expect this to work.
On defense, Sharknado rotates rushers. However, they need to put their best foot forward. David DiPaola is their best foot and he will perturb Mathieu Kieljian if he’s rushing all game.
All jokes about having the greatest defense aside, Bud Knights are a good defensive unit. Brad Evans will have his pieces in the right place to make plays and at that point it’s all execution. Mathieu Pietrobon and Shawn Babin had decent regular seasons. They need to be a pair of defenders that will truly make teams freightened if they expect to advance.

Prediction: Bud Knights 20- Sharknado 18

(6) The Pack vs. (11) Potatoes
The Pack have had a bizarre season. It was interesting to see them put up such a good game against Fat Diablos to climb into the playoff ranks. Daniel Krebs has relied too heavily on Ryan Lefcourt and he will need to turn to Andrew April and Corey Laxer if they expect to beat a gritty Potatoes team.
Potatoes started as the JJ Cosentini show but since then Jeremy Pelletier has emerged as a threat. Cosentini is about as good a second receiver as you could dream up and Billy Kourtoglou and Chris Guerra aren’t slouches either.
Samuel Lamothe needs to keep the pace of the game quick. His counterpart, The Pack’s Daniel Krebs wants to play a game with few possessions that he can control. I’d like to see Potatoes start with and maintain a lead.

Prediction: Potatoes 32-The Pack 21

(7) Trailer Park Boys vs. (10) Gold Rush
Gold rush were in a bizarre situation all season long. By week 5 they had only played three games. For this reason we overlooked them in the early part of the season. Jake Starr however ended the season by throwing 14 touchdowns and 1 interception in his last 4 games. They are a fast team who can be dangerous when they play well.
In TPB 30-27 win over Gold Rush Antoine Meunier played about as well as you could hope for throwing for three touchdowns and running another one in.
Defender Phil Ramsey fielded punts essentially that counted as interceptions for much of the season for Trailer Park Boys. However this won’t be the case in this game. All of the Trailer Park Boys Defense need to be well positioned to deal with Gold Rush’s ability to strike from everywhere on the field.

Prediction: Trailer Park Boys 24- Gold Rush 20

(8) Les Casses vs. Llamas Pyjamas
Last time they played Les Casses’ height and speed proved very difficult for Llamas Pyjamas. Samuel Caron and Louis Breton can be a menace of a matchup for most teams in this tournament.
The names you need to hear us screaming at the next podcast is Christophe and Thomas Laniel. These two are a heck of a pair and Christophe Laniel needs to pick up any errant passes offered by Les Casses quarterback Olivier Laforest in order for Llamas Pyjamas to stand a chance

Prediction: Les Casses 31- Llamas Pyjamas 26

Friday’s Flimsy Fortress

It’s finally playoff time. I will try to be at the fields more often and tweet about action as it’s happening. Either was, as always please feel free to talke to me about your game by reaching me at [email protected] @ Peeze Della Reeze on Facebook.

For further analysis, tune in to the official FPF podcast Calling the Audible, where Moe Khan Simon Dagenais and I work to annoy each other as we discuss why all opinions on Dak Prescott are too extreme, which sperm donors have done so by accident and why stand-up comedy is actually harder than it looks/

Tune in to Facebook live on the FPF Facebook page on Thursday nights at 7:00pm, watch it later on www.youtube.com/flagplus or download the podcast on iTunes or Podomatic!

Thank you all, falettinme be mice elf agin.