Divisional Round recap and a look at the Conference Finals

Final 4.

Yes, ladies and gents, we’re at the point of the season where the 4 best teams are left standing. Strangely enough, Division C has to have had the biggest parity, yet, 4 of the top 5 seeds are left standing with everything on the line.

The storyline this week is definitely a look at the injuries some of the players suffered and are currently suffering and how it’ll impact their game on Sunday, because, let’s be honest, winning is everything. You NEED to make the championship game.

Losing in the championship game is one thing, but not making it there is another scenario altogether. The NFL has banners for conference champions, you know.

 

Playoffs – Conference Finals

What have I learn this week?

• I feel like I haven’t written anything for Div C in forever.
• I am surprised we still have 4 of the top 5 seeds left remaining.
• God was I happy we didn’t have games all week; it was hot as balls.
• I’m gonna miss FPF for the next few months.
• I never edit what I write, so I won’t change anything, but these analyses are quite different from one game to the other.
• I expect better games Sunday than next Sunday.
• Divisonal Round had some pretty fun matchups. I expected amazing games and I was granted that wish.
• I can’t say the same for the quarterfinals; blowouts aren’t fun for nobody!
• I really hope we’ll get one upset before the Finals. Maybe two!
• I’m running out of ideas for this segment.
• I called out a few guys on the podcast this week, I expect every single one of them to show up big and prove me wrong. Use it as fuel.

 

Recaps

• The Brotherhood took on Damps 25/8 in the Divisional Round in what I expected to be THE matchup this weekend and it was, well, flaky. The game started off really weird as it was still 0-0 by halftime with both QBs throwing 3 interceptions each. It was a really bad outing for everyone; interceptions were mostly dropped passes turned into Interceptions and ran back for yardages as both offenses struggled to drive the field, but the redzone was simply disastrous. Then the 2nd half came along and we finally saw points on the board. Jamie Harry got his team on the board and Justin Julien Jr did the same, but when the game was on the line, it came down to who doesn’t crack and, well, Justin Julien did while Jamie Harry got just enough points to sneak into the next round. A very disappointing finish of a season for Damps 25/8 that really battled for 11 weeks.
• In the Divisonal Round, the Punisher took on Laval’s Finest and, to be honest, The Punisher might have made it to the final dance if it wasn’t for this bad matchup. In fact, Laval’s Finest took The Punisher by storm and simply never gave them an inch for the entire hour. Sure, they took the foot off the gas in the final minutes, but the game was already over and they ticket was already punched in. Mashtoub played well offensively putting up points left and right, but the story of the night was really how LF’s defense controlled the game and made Bourbonnière-Morin look bad out there. A weak completion ratio and a bad TD:INT ratio; nothing we’re used to coming from him. LF’s defense adjusted well and took their opponents’ strengths and turned them into weaknesses and won that game. It wasn’t Mashtoub’s offense that won the game, it was his defense, quite simply.
• STL barely fought off Team Ethnik on Sunday night as they sneaked in a win 26-20 on the final few plays. In fact, the whole game was kinda leaning towards Team Ethink, but Dylan Taylor mustered up some confidence in the 2nd half to put up 20 points on his opponents which ended up being JUST enough. Jonathan Brown’s numbers are decent, but his offense didn’t look that great out there. Was it the scouting in the previous game that killed him or was STL’s adjustments simply the key in the matchup? Cornelius Feurle came up big for his team with the only interception of the night and Taylor managed to spread the ball around enough to make his receivers look good. STL moved past the underdogs and headed towards a whole different kind of beast.
• Killer Instinct was tested long and hard against No Fly Zone on Tuesday night, but managed to come out on top when their defense stopped the extra point to maintain the lead and the win. Spano struggled against a strong man defense and NFZ used their athletes the right way to provoke many, many bad throws or incompletes from Spano. In fact, the only receiver that really excelled was Anthony Da Ponte who simply cannot be covered on his short routes and runs up the yardages on any given plays. He was the entire offense for Killer Instinct and, in the end, it worked for them. A true defensive battle that saw adjustments be the main theme and whoever had the better ones came out on top with the W. Killer Instinct moves on to the next round as NFZ walked off with broken hearts.
• As described on the podcast, this was a game of momemtum through and through. Grip n Rip took an early lead and Vinny Gualano was looking good out there, but things went from amazing to really bitter fast for gang green. Up 2 scores, redzone, about a yard away, Vinny attemps to hit his snapper on a quick out and Quaysie Gordon-Maule, Brotherhood’s rusher, jumped the route, picked it off and ran it back for 6. Crazy, I know. With a defensive stop, Jamie Harry had a shot at catching up and even taking a lead with converts, but a horrible redzone interception that made Gualano’s nose bleed took all Brotherhood’s momemtum away and gave GnR a chance to finish the game. Let’s be honest, if you give a shot to end the game to Vinny Gualano, he’ll make sure he doesn’t miss and he didn’t. Brotherhood simply couldn’t catch up, again and the game was over with GnR on top. Great game though.

 

Players of the Week

Kevin Marcil (ZOO): In his matchup against No Fly Zone, he stepped in BIG when his team needed him; almost 100 yards and 4 TDs. Might not have been enough, but you did your part, Kev.

Joey Taylor (Two and a half Dans): When he faced Hitmen Retro, Joey Taylor got a 129.8 Passer rating with a 89.7% completion ratio. Ridiculous.

Jamie Ojeaha (STL): Against PRIMETIME, he was tested and answered back with all the correct answers finishing the night with a grand total of 4, yes, 4 interceptions. DAMN.

 

Playoff Standings

1	Two and a Half Dans	10	18	9	[4-1-0]	208		1	Grip n Rip	10	18	9	[5-0-0]	193
2	Killer Instinct	10	15	7	[5-1-0]	187		2		10	12	6	[5-0-0]	245
3		10	18	8	[4-1-0]	247		3	STL	10	14	7	[3-3-0]	257
4		10	13	6	[3-2-0]	226		4		10	12	6	[3-2-0]	225
5		10	12	6	[3-2-0]	267		5		10	12	6	[3-2-0]	225
6		10	11	5	[2-3-0]	251		6		10	12	6	[2-3-0]	236
7		10	10	5	[4-1-0]	266		7		10	11	5	[4-1-0]	235
8		10	10	5	[2-3-0]	335		8		10	8	4	[3-2-0]	279

 

Playoff previews

• Two and a half Dans (1st) vs Killer Instinct (2nd)

Previous Matchup: N/A

Analysis: I’d love to say things like “ This is going to be a FANTASTIC game where everything will happen”, but I’m a realistic guy, plus, well, I do tend to hate on people, so here’s the truth; Two and a half Dans can push their ticket in if they don’t fuck this up. No offense meant to my boys of Killer Instinct, they’ve played well and I’ve been saying all season how good they are and that Spano is the answer, but Two and a half Dans have a style that is simply frustrating and tough to compete against. Now, that being said, Osman leads a defense like no other that can adjust to their opponents better than any I’ve faced in a long time and Joey Taylor isn’t 100% healthy (at least, that’s what I’ve heard). I’ll give love to my boys Killer Instinct once more and say that with proper adjustments on defense, this game could end up being all on Spano’s shoulder to score that winning TD, but I know he’ll put up another 25-30 points; can their defense restrain Taylor to less than 25 points? That HAS to be the key component on Sunday; because Spano will not score more than 30 on the Dans’ defense (they are MUCH better than we give them credit for). I’m excited.

Key Matchup: Zach Brisebois vs Joey Taylor

Prediction: 34 – 31 Two and a half Dans

• Grip n Rip (1st) vs STL (3rd)

Previous Matchup: 38 – 20 Grip n Rip

Analysis: I won’t sugar coat this, I ain’t Willy Wonka. If Vinny has his ways with STL defense like Week 9, this game is already over. Now, if Vinny wasn’t faking last Tuesday, he could have a tough time against a very physical Terrence Adams and this could turn the tides. Do I foresee STL winning this? I’m sorry boys, but no. Is it possible though? I’d love to see it happen. If Dylan Taylor can come in the first drive and knock down completions rather than interceptions, he could turn up the heat in Lachine to make everybody wearing green sweat by half time. He’s a streaky player and needs to get off to a good start to have a good game. I expect GnR to adjust and be the better team in the second half, so STL, grab that lead and punch it in HARD. If you can knock a 2 score lead by halftime, you might just hang on long enough. Play the clock, trust in your guys. You’ll need to be much better than you have been at any given point this season. Wow, this sounded a lot like a pep talk, but I really want a good game and I know Vinny doesn’t need one whatsoever.

Key Matchup: Terrence Adams vs Vinny Gualano

Prediction: 34 – 26 Grip n Rip

 

That is it for me for this week. If you have any comments regarding the article, don’t hesitate to hit me up on twitter @DagenaisFPF or at the fields. I’ll be scorekeeping games on Sunday and Tuesday nights, so I’ll get to see most of you guys. My official FPF email [email protected] also works, but get with the times, Twitter is where it’s at. Feel free to yell at me if you see me walking around, always glad to talk some football.