Div E Playoff Preview; Divisional Round

Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to the postseason. Scorekeeping / writing for Div E this past season has been a great time and to be honest it was much more enjoyable than I had anticipated leading into the summer. 

My insight of the week is more of a public service announcement; make sure your jerseys have numbers on them for the playoffs! This was my first season as an ‘official’ for Flag Plus and I guess that one thing which I may have overlooked is the importance of jersey numbers. Yesterday Moe informed me that I was not allowed to grant games played to players without jersey numbers, and I felt pretty bad about it seeing as I never mentioned it to any team before yesterday. Perhaps other scorekeepers or refs did, but I did not. This may have messed up a couple players’ playoff eligibility and if it did I apologize, but next time you should really just slap a piece of tape on the back of your shirt. 

This week’s article is going to be playoff matchup predictions. If I’ve predicted your team will lose, don’t take it personally and use it as motivation so that next week you can tell me to go shove it. 

The Div E playoff format is as follows: 

The top 16 teams in the division advance to the playoffs. Each round the teams will be reseeded so that the teams with the best records are rewarded for their strong play in the regular season. This system also makes teams play against opponents in other conferences which they may not have faced yet this season. 

Divisional Round Matchups:

Minchia FT vs. QB Roulette: Sunday, 6pm Lachine. 

It is no secret that I’ve been off the Minchia train in the past few weeks, however, I’m hopping back on for week 1 of the playoffs. My issue with Minchia was that they destroyed subpar teams but would struggle against the better ones, but I think they are in luck this week. Their early season success allowed them to coast into the playoffs with a favorable matchup and I think they will beat QB roulette in the divisional round. Minchia is a much more athletic team, abd Qb roulette struggles on defense, allowing a touchdown on more than 52% of their opponent’s possessions. 

The Penetrators vs. Big Fat Bats: Sunday, 6pm Laval.

First off I’d like to say that I am thoroughly impressed by the Penetrators ability to beat the Pillow Talkers in their final game of the regular season. I really did not expect that outcome. However, I am going to continue to slander the Penetrators because I’m thinking that an upset will occur in this game. The Penetrators finished the year 6-4 while Big Fat Bats finished 5-5, so this is not exactly the craziest prediction ever. The Penetrators did smack Big Fat Bats 46-25 the last time they met, but I still believe BFB can get it done. I’ve seen BFB lose multiple games by a one point margin, so I see them as a ‘wildcard’ of sorts.

Black Label vs. The Pillow Talkers: Sunday, 7pm Lachine. 

To be totally honest this is such a tough draw for Black Label. The Pillow Talkers may only be 3-7 but many of their losses came by DQ for having players over the cap. The Pillow Talkers are by far the most athletic team in Div E and if they had some more experience they could have easily been a top 3 team. Black Label had a solid regular season, beating the pillow talkers in week 1, however they have a couple suspect losses which makes it difficult for me to put stock in their squad. It’ll be a close game, but I’m taking the upset in this one. 

Magnetos vs. Tsizzle: Sunday, 8pm Lachine. 

Simply put this is the top team in the division against a team which squeaked into the playoffs as the bottom seed. I have been rather skeptical about the Magnetos’ longevity without Qb Adam Malinoff, but since losing him they won their last six games of the season to finish a perfect 10-0.  I can’t lie it has been both surprising and extremely impressive that these kids have not been affected at all by the loss of their quarterback. In the six games since his injury they’ve plugged four guys into the Qb position and all have worked well. I can not doubt this team any longer. They are officially my 1 seed. As for Tsizzle, I’d say that they are probably the best ‘veteran’ team in the Div. By veteran team I don’t just mean experienced in the league, I’m talking actual age. They are all pretty athletic, and honestly to best describe Tsizzle I’d use the term ‘sneaky fast’ which is embodied by Joe Morgese. He may not be the smallest guy on the field but he is a very smart FPF player and he can absolutely move. This is best demonstrated by his league best 19 touchdowns this season. I think the Magnetos win this by a solid margin, however I would not be surprised if Tsizzle keeps it close as they did against the Praetorian Guard in the final game of the season. 

Les Petites Carottes vs. Cavalier du Rohan: Sunday, 8pm Lachine. 

I have not seen much of either of these teams this season, but I believe what I have seen is a fair representation of both squads. Les Petites Carottes are one of the best defensive teams in the division with a combined 37 interceptions and sacks. They also have the best receiving target in the division in Xavier Brault. In 10 games this season Brault accumulated 530 yds and 17 touchdowns on 32 receptions. On the other hand, Cavalier du Rohan struggled to score points most of the season, finishing with just 19 offensive touchdowns. I think Les Petites Carottes are bound to make a solid run in these playoffs, so obviously they are my choice for this game. Unfortunately I don’t have enough experience with either of these teams to give better insight. 

Scranton Stranglers vs. Win Diesel: 9pm, Sunday. Laval. 

This matchup should be a good one as these teams have the same record although the stranglers have the advantage on point differential. For this matchup I am going to have to side with experience. The Scranton Stranglers are a team filled with FPF veterans and in my opinion they could have/should have been better than 6-4. They were the top scoring team in the division this year, so obviously their issues fall on their defense which allows about 20 points per game. For Win Diesel to take this matchup they’ll need to be stout on defense, but it will be a tall task.

The Praetorian Guard vs. Brewers: Sunday, 9pm. Lachine.

This is going to be a tough night for the Brewers. Up until just last week the Praetorian Guard were my number 1 team in the division, and I still believe they belong in the top 2. I finally had the pleasure of watching the Praetorian Guard this week, and while they probably could have beaten Tsizzle by a greater margin they were fantastic on offense. Mederic Lauzon delivers a great ball from the pocket, he’s thrown 37 touchdowns this season with just 2 interceptions in only eight games. They are the most efficient offensive team in the div, scoring a touchdown on two of every three drives they run. I’m taking The Praetorian Guard to win this game, and advance to at least the semi-final.

Vick in a Box vs. Sule Fesss: Sunday, 9pm. Lachine. 

Sule Fesss is an interesting team because every time I’ve seen them play they are in a close game but their record is not very good. On the other hand, Vick in a Box are a very good team and their only losses are to Magnetos and the Praetorian Guard, which are the two best teams in the division. Vick in a Box’ specialty is defense. They have five players who are in the top 15 in tackles, highlighted by Nicholas Sanche who led the division with 59, 23 more than the next best tackler. They also have a couple very dangerous receiving threats in Max Burah and Craig Browning who rank third and fourth in receiving touchdowns.