Finals Preview: So uh… are Roosters & Donkeys the favorites?

Variety. We all love some.

Having the option to choose between ordering a lentil, arugula, and feta-cheese laced salad topped with low-fat dressing for lunch, versus a big ass good ol’ fashioned cheeseburger from la Belle et la Boeuf (I know I’ll never go with option 1, but I like to know that I can).

Or having the freedom to browse between hundreds of channels on TV (even though you know you’re going to flip it to Sportscentre. You know it, I know it, and your dog knows it. Hell, you just turned it on while reading this, didn’t you?).

Or being able to decide whether to spend your Saturday night out with friends or staying in to write your last FPF article of the year (man, do I manage my time horribly or what).

The one common factor among all of the above choices, though, is you have to settle for just one (yes, okay, Mr. “Yeah, but technically” guy, you could in theory eat both a salad and a burger for lunch, you can watch two shows at once with picture-in-picture and I could be writing this on my phone at a bar. Now quiet down while I finish hyping up these Div A/B finals).

But this Sunday night, those who like to see two heavyweights go head to head just as much as they enjoy a good Cinderella story, or who love a QB duel as much as a rusher duel, or for whom their definition of “intense” oscillates between “Matt Ryan at the 1:05 mark of this video” and “Derrick Rose after hitting a game-winning buzzer beater,” will all get the best of both worlds when Broccasion and Predators duke it out for the Div B title right before Roosters and Donkeys take on Montreal’s Finest in the Div A championship game.

This is one Road Show you certainly won’t want to miss.

Recap

A Fine Win for a Fine Team

So obviously, the Glads didn’t score on their every offensive possession. But they did keep it close for the most part.

Well, right up until Frank Lebeau threw an ugly pick right into Kishon Thompson’s hands close to the Glads’ own endzone, essentially killing the game with plenty of time left before the final whistle. It was one of two picks for Lebeau on a night that saw very little go the Glads’ way. Pat Jérome was the go-to-guy for a good part of the game, although his first and only touchdown of the night came on a 40-bomb late in the second half.

Meanwhile Kevin Wyeth was his usual self, carving up defenses like his life depends on it while making use of his knack for calling out opponents’ plays before they happen to keep him busy when he was on the bench.

It’s obviously not the way the Glads wanted to go out, but I wouldn’t beat myself up too much about it if I were them. We all know the Finest rarely lose unless they beat themselves.

A for Effort

A sincere congratulations to the Legends for making the jump to Div A this season. Three wins for a team’s first season in spring’s most competitive division is nothing to scoff at, and who knows how many more games they could’ve won had Cory Pecker actually been there the entire season.

That being said, it’s evident Legends still have a long way to go. There were a few highlights in this game, starting with an early touchdown pass to Shawn Haney and a successful conversion on the ensuing two-point attempt. Some nice catches from Daniel Goloff and Sean Kennedy kept things entertaining in the first half, while the Alex Morreau-led defense did their part too, forcing Marco Masciotra to need 3rd and 4th downs to find the end zone.

But the moment Theo Ojeaha flew up in the air, over the entire Legends D, to come down with a hail mary catch on the last play before the half to make it 19-8, you knew it was over. Mentally, there just is no coming back from that.

Go with the Flo

When Predators last took on Darksiders, back in Week 9, a dominating first half performance by the the Preds should’ve seen them take a three-score lead up 28-12 with just three plays left to halftime. Instead they allowed Darksiders to find the endzone and regain momentum. Darksiders went on to a big second half, J-Flo’s offense scored just one more touchdown the rest of the night.

Switch the team names in the above paragraph and you basically have the story of last week’s rematch.

Up 14-12 with 4 plays left to halftime, Fred Morissette’s Darksiders were turned away by a stout Predators D. Bad went to worse when on the first play of the second half, miscommunication between snapper Peeze and Morissette resulted in a pick and an eventual Predators touchdown. Worse went to worst when a dropped pass by Marc-André Lapointe on the following drive fell into James Floreani’s hands, resulting in a two-score lead for the Preds – one that they made sure to hold on to this time.

Of course, it helped that star receiver Nicolas Gendron-Vallée was like a constant when taking the derivative of a function – non-existent. Even Hall of Famer Jon Lyristis was off his game, allowing J-Flo to break out of the pocket for nearly 40 yards and 2 TDs on the ground.

Meawhile the Preds were on fire, as much offensively – with all five starting receivers catching at least two passes – as defensively, with unheralded beast Jeremy Anderson and my personal no. 2 pick for defensive player of the season Danny D’Amour both making key interceptions.

And just like that, J-Flo’s Preds are right back in the finals.

Three tries, two points, one win

That really encapsulates the essence of Broccasion’s win over 6+R this past week. Allow me to elaborate.

Three tries: missed tackles and blown coverages by the 6+R D played a big part, but you have to give Broccasion credit—they learned from their mistakes in games 1 and 2 and adjusted accordingly. Perhaps the biggest of them was Phil Cutler finally keeping the forced deep passes to a minimum in game 3 – just enough to take the 6+R defense by surprise the few times he actually heaved it from one end of the field to the other – while the Broccasion D made a small field feel even smaller as each defender stayed disciplined in their respective roles, trusting the other to make the play when needed. Speaking of which…

Two points: I said it way back in preseason that the addition of John Louis would be among the most underrated of the season. This is one prediction I hate to have been right about. Louis made the play of the game over the weekend when, after Broccasion scored late to go up by 7, Cutler tossed a jump ball to Louis in the corner of the end zone. Despite being double covered – by some of the tallest guys on our team no less – Louis made it clear that while maybe white men can jump, black men can jump higher. Unless you’re J.J. Watt. That boy can fly.

One win: Down by 9 with just minutes left to play, 6+R were left to no huddle our way into the redzone and hope for a score and a quick stop before one final hail mary, but those hopes were dashed when Louis sealed the Broccasion win with an interception, snatching the ball out of Omar Jackson’s hands mid-air in the end zone. Final score: Broccasion 41, 6+R 32.

Finals Preview

Div A:

Roosters & Donkeys (1) vs. Montreal’s Finest (2)

Previous matchups: Roosters & Donkeys 32, Montreal’s Finest 26 (Week 1); Montreal’s Finest 33, Roosters & Donkeys 32 (Week 6)

This to me is like comparing Brady and Manning – you could go back and forth for a while, but at the end of the day you’re just glad I’ll be able to witness two of the greatest QBs in this FPF eras. At least, I know I am. If I have to give one the advantage though, it has to be Wyeth. The reason is simple: without Wyeth there are no countless championships and records, and there is no Montreal’s Finest as we know them today.

Advantage: Montreal’s Finest

Kishon Thompson won’t like this, but give me a minute to explain before you do me like you did Peeze and Matt on the podcast. If we’re looking at the individuals in both receiving corps, it’s obvious that Kishon and Akked Moore are two of the best receivers in the FPF world today. Period. But versus a receiving corps featuring Theo Ojeaha, Jordan McLaren, Jacques Void, Jamil Springer and Jamal Gittens? That’s a group so ridiculous that I could literally throw a pass blindfolded to any point of the field and know it went for a touchdown before my fingers even let go of the ball. R&D have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to young, freakishly athletic receivers with glue for hands. And they figure to only get better with time.

Advantage: Roosters & Donkeys

Rusher

I mean this one isn’t much of a competition is it. Mr. Defensive Player of the Season has 10 sacks in 8 games, tops in Div A. Two of those, along with three Pds, came against the Finest.

Mike Harrington finished with 4. None of them came against R&D.

I’ll leave it at that.

Advantage: Roosters & Donkeys

In other years maybe this wouldn’t be the case. But this season at least, the Finest’s defense simply hasn’t been up to par. Of the games I’ve seen, missed tackles were rampant, easy touchdowns were given up, and few turnovers were forced – namely, they recorded just 14 picks total by 5 players.

R&D, meanwhile, notched 21 INTs by 10 different members in the regular season, and equally gave up by far the fewest points of any team. And that’s not by chance – R&D’s defense is ferocious, lining up almost strictly in man-to-man and daring you to try and beat one of those athletic freaks I listed above on a deep ball. They make you fight for every inch, be it swarming to the ball carrier once a catch is made or making sure to get a hand in your face when it’s in the air. There’s speed, size and perhaps most importantly pride abound on R&D’s defense. This is FPF’s best defense, and they certainly know it.

Advantage: Roosters & Donkeys

Prediction: Having said all of that, this is one of those games where scheme, rosters, stats, whatever – none of it matters. It’ll come down to the final drive, if not the final play. And in that critical moment, whichever side is willing to run just a little harder, jump just a little higher, dive just a little farther – that’s the side that will be left holding the championship trophy.

And despite everything R&D have to offer on paper, the Finest have proven time and time again that when everything is on the line, they will find a way to win. It’s not always pretty. Sometimes it’s lucky. But it is a win, and I think that’s exactly what they’ll do on Sunday night.

Prediction: Montreal’s Finest

Div B:

Broccasion (2) vs. Predators (5)

Previous matchup: Broccasion 34, Predators 18 (Week 5)

Yes, Phil Cutler takes an outrageous amount of sacks. He took five alone from SBB the last time these teams shared the field back in Week 5. But at the same time, while Cutler is taking a two-yard sack on second down, J-Flo might be throwing an ugly pick into traffic as we speak. Don’t get me wrong – I love me some J-Flo. But Cutler remains the more polished QB.

Advantage: Broccasion

No, I haven’t forgotten that Broccasion boast the receiver of the season in Sean Brophy, and a receiver equally deserving of such recognition in Kyle Lebofsky. But if we’re comparing entire corps here, Predators get the edge, simply for how much versatility they’ve got. There’s Jacob Bernett and Kendal Mayers to stretch the field; Vinny Gualano who, when healthy, makes his money in the intermediate zones; SBB to move the chains underneath and is always on the verge of busting a short hook for 40 yards; and you can depend on Jeremy Anderson to do a mix of all of the above.

Advantage: Predators

Rusher

I’m going to go against the grain here a bit, but let me explain. SBB is undoubtedly one of the quickest guys in this league and certainly an exceptional rusher. But Alec Cerantola gets the edge here, and it’s simply because while SBB may sack Phil more than a few times on Sunday, I think his diminutive stature means he won’t disrupt Phil’s vision as much as Alec can disrupt J-Flo’s. That, alongside the fact Cerantola has absolutely no quit in him (I’ve seen the guy recover more than a few times to go back and make the tackle for a short gain if at all), leads me to believe his rushing will have a much bigger impact on the game’s outcome than SBB.

Advantage: Broccasion

Simply put, the Preds have the skill to match up with you 1-on-1, and they won’t shy away from doing it. They communicate very well on defense, to the point that sometimes it feels like they’re reading each other’s mind. Meanwhile, though Kyle Lebofsky is obviously a sick cornerback and Sean Brophy can cover a ton of ground at safety, I think the Broccasion D has a few holes to be exploited. I won’t get specific, but I will say that it’ll be interesting to see whether J-Flo can take advantage.

Advantage: Predators

Prediction: On one side you have the Preds, aiming for (likely) FPF history as the only team to lose three games to three separate teams in the regular season, and defeat each of them en route to a championship.

On the other side are Broccasion and Phil Cutler, who is still looking for the first championship of his FPF career.

Paper says this one should go to the Preds. But at the same time, a 34-18 shellacking usually doesn’t happen purely by chance. And what’s scary is Broccasion are a much more cohesive, poised and overall better team now than they were when they orchestrated that beat down. Will we see another three-score game? Unlikely. A tight Broccasion win? Very possible.

Prediction: Broccasion

***

I’m sure few of you actually make it all the way down to this part of my articles, but I’m going to go ahead anyway and just say: thank you. Thank you for all the effort you’ve put in this season, giving me more than enough to write about week in and week out. Thank you for your patience; I know my articles were rarely published as early as both you and I would’ve liked. And most importantly, thank you for reading me this season. I’m sure you had your doubts about a new writer coming in to cover you guys this spring, but I’ll take the lack of hate mail as a sign that I did a decent job at least (or maybe not good enough?).

Anyway, be sure to catch Thursday’s Div A/B podcast “The Sack Exchange” with Moe Khan and Matt Kirouac on the FPF YouTube channel on demand at https://www.youtube.com/flagplus. If you only watch one all year, I highly suggest you give this one a listen, even if it’s just to watch Kishon Thompson lay into Peeze, Matt and Marco!

For the last time this season, see you at the fields!