Division 2: Bottom Half and Super Bowl Recap

Welcome to Week 6. Business is picking up in Division 2. We have seen close games, shootouts, and blowouts as we move past the quarter point of the season. We have also witnessed certain teams start to establish who they are and how they play, while a few others are still trying to find their footing.

Undefeated teams like the Dirty Birds and Fins Up, as well as one-loss squads in Silent Ticklers, Idaho Udapimps, and OneStop qualify for the former.

Looking at the latter, #NR, Vultures, Mangoose, and KGP fall into that category, as they have combined for two wins. In this week’s article, I will dive into those four squads, as they make up the bottom half of Division 2. There is lot of football left to be played, but it has started to get early late for these teams, as their chances of making the playoffs grows slimmer each passing week.

Bottom Half:

#NR (0-5)

This is one of the surprises of the Division 2, as this veteran-laden squad is without a win despite being tied for the division lead in games played with five.

Offense has not been an issue for this crew, as only three other teams in Division 2 have scored more than the 154 points that #NR has put up. Veteran Quarterback Myles Gibbon has done a good job spreading the ball around, as six Receivers have at least 10 catches and two touchdowns.

 The team’s defense however, has been another story. Through five games, they have surrendered an average of 37.4 points a game. One of the main causes of the problem is that unit has only produced four interceptions, and two sacks.

Another important stat to keep is mind is that while the defense is 3 for 4 on fourth down, the fact that they have only forced their five opponents into a combined total of four fourth down situations, means that opposing offenses are having a lot of success on the first three downs of their drives.

When you look at the roster, this team has too much talent to go winless this year, with players like Kenny Baye, Thierry Gerville, Edwouard Valmé, Ryan Perry, Sanders Armand, and others.  

Looking at their remaining schedule, they finish up with Fins Up, Silent Ticklers, The Infantry, EZW, and KGP. There should be at least two wins in there. The two questions that need to be answered, are can #NR claim them, and will their defense help them do it?

Mangoose

Unlike #NR, offense has been a major issue for Mangoose. Through five games, the team has averaged three touchdowns a game (22.4) PPG.

One of the reasons for their underwhelming numbers on offense has been turnovers. Veteran Quarterback Nicolas Schaefer has already thrown nine interceptions. In his defense, his weapons at Receiver are different than this time last year, when he threw 51 touchdown passes and just 5 INTs. Gone are players like Vincent Anctil, who led the team in yards and tied for the lead in touchdowns. Also missing is his brother Simon Anctil, who had six TDs last winter. Remaining targets in Gabriel Drapeau-Zgoralski and Marc-Antoine Chaput who combined for 68 catches and 18 trips to the endzone this time last year, have 24 receptions and zero TDs this season.

Lack of opportunities for this year’s crop of Receivers also appears to a problem, as leading Receiver and 6-time All-Star Thomas Coutu leads the team with an impressive 33 catches on 35 targets. The next closest pass-catchers are the duo of Chaput and Drapeau-Zgoralski, who have 12 receptions each. No one else on the team has double digit catches. That is a problem.

On the other side of the ball, Mangoose gives up just under 35 points a game (34.8). This is disappointing, as the team added tackling-machine Hakim Kasbi-Filiatrault, and have Coutu, who has six sacks so far, at Rusher. Despite those two on the field, the unit has only recorded four interceptions this year.

The team’s remaining schedule does them no favours, as they take on Idaho Udapimps this Sunday, followed by The Infantry, Vultures, FINS UP, and Dime & Bougie. Maybe Mangoose can pull off an upset or two out of this group, but if their offense doesn’t do its part, the chances of that happening are highly unlikely.

Vultures (1-2)

The sample size of games is small, but this is the most surprising team in the bottom half category. With a veteran and deeply talented roster led by as well as Captain and Quarterback Ben McMahon, I like many, assumed that this squad would be in the top half of the standings.

The absence of James Drysdale who many in FPF consider the best player (or at least in the top 5) but has only played one game, has impacted the Vultures, but that isn’t really an excuse, as they still have elite talent from the Fall Season team that came within one play of making the Finals, in Kevin Donnet, Felix Clairmont, and Anthony Drysdale, as well as McMahon. They also were active during the off-season, as they added playmakers in Alexandre Szalipszki, Rocco Christiano, and Tyson Peterkin.

The main issue with this team has been defense. They have simply given up too many points, 44 a game. Even in their lone win versus #NR in Week 1, they allowed their opponents to score the most points (38) they have put up this season.

There is obviously no magic cure to stop teams from scoring, besides effort, execution, and chemistry. While getting James back will surely help in those areas, it won’t solve all their problems. The team has two legit Rushers in Szalipszki and Donnet, yet neither has produced a sack. Despite being littered with aggressive players and ballhawks, the unit has zero interceptions. Perhaps most troublesome, is the fact that they are currently 2 for 5 in keeping opponents from converting on fourth down. Faltering in any of those stats is not conducive to wining football. If the Vultures want to have any chance of hanging onto the last playoff spot in Division 2, or advancing once they get there, they will need start by reversing their trend on that side of the ball.

KGP (1-3)

They had the latest start to the season than any other team in Division 2, as they didn’t play their first game until February 1^st. I scorekept that game (versus OneStop) and their second contest which took place immediately after when they took on Idhao Udapimps. After looking rusty on both sides of the ball, which was highlighted by drops, blown coverages, errant throws, and several missed tackles that helped contribute to a (42-24) blowout loss, KGP looked at lot better one hour later, as they cleaned up some of those issues, and made several key plays late in their (56-51) upset win over Idaho Udapimps.  

Two nights later, KGP then suffered a tight (46-39) loss to EZW, and a lopsided defeat (41-24) at the hands of the first place Dirty Birds.

Their next game is more than a month away, as they take on The Infantry March 19^th. From there, they take on Dime & Bougie, Party Ballers, Kush & Korinthians 13, Vultures, and #NR.

The unbalanced schedule aside, this team will need to tighten up on defense, as the have allowed more than 41 points in every game so far. Father time is undefeated, and that seems to be the case with this squad, as they appear to be a step slow when defending at times.

On the positive side, the addition of former All-Star Bakari Barrett in the Fall Season, has given this team a jolt of speed that they were lacking with the departure of Quaysie Gordon-Maule. Despite everyone being a year older, they still have the same chemistry and foundation led by Phil Cutler, James Acker, Gabe D’Amico-Mazza, Jonathan Garfinkle, and Brendan Parm, along with 6-time All-Star Mathieu LePage, and FPF hall-of-Famer Julien Paiement.

This team has struggled in recent seasons when playing in Division 1/A. In Div. 2, they should feel more at home, and be playing confidence. It doesn’t look like either is happening right now. Luckily, KGP has six games left to turn their season around and get into the playoffs where anything can happen. The question of course is can they?

Super Bowl

The Super Bowl has come and gone. For all those that watched it, it was anti-climatic, but it was also a master class in how to generate pressure with your front four and make life uncomfortable for the opposing Quarterback. Patrick Mahomes looked like anything but the greatest QB of his generation, as he was sacked six times, and pressured on another 16 dropbacks. Credit to Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio for not dialing up even one blitz, as he was able penetrate the backfield repeatedly relying on just his Defensive Line. Defense wins championships, and the Eagles proved exactly why Sunday night.

Eagles QB Jalen Hurts shut up more than a few critics, as he led the offense that saw its best player in Saquon Barkley bottled up to 57 rushing yards. Hurts, tossed a dime on a touchdown pass to Devonta Adams, threw players open, protected the ball except for an early interception that had no impact on the game, and won Super Bowl MVP. Hurts, once again outplayed Mahomes in the biggest game of the year.

I personally find a lot of Eagles fans annoying, and nearly just as many bandwagon jumpers since 2017, but they have the right to run their mouths for the next seven months.

It is always sad when the NFL season comes to an end, but it was fun as always, and even when your team has a horrible year like my 9ers did, you can at least look forward to the draft, and thoughts of next season.

Picks

Silent Ticklers vs Vultures – Silent Ticklers

Kush & Korinthians 13 vs EZW – EZW (Upset Special)

Idaho Udapimps vs Mangoose – Idaho Udapimps

Record: (1-4)

Upset Special: (0-1)

That is it for this week. I will be back next week with another article. Good luck to everyone in their upcoming games.

If you liked the article, hated it, or simply felt like I left something out, please feel free to contact me at [email protected], or on the FPF Facebook page.