Flo’s Forecast: Week 1 Recap – Week 2 Preview

The beauty about week 1 is that at the end of the day…. It doesn’t matter! If your team won in week 1, good on you, but if your team lost, then guess what, you still got 9 weeks to figure it out. Week 1 is when a lot of new players are playing their first game with teams and when certain teams still haven’t figured out the best way to use these new guys. Chemistry takes time to build and a lot of these dominant teams in week 1 (at least in division B), won’t be contenders come week 7-8. So, keep grinding and let your play on the field do the talking!

Week 1 Recaps:

Div. A

All Black Everything 45, Legends 25

If you had scripted this game “What you can’t do if you’re the Legends..”, well you would have been on point. This new mashup look Legends team had the game start as badly as possible as after a Masciotra touchdown pass on the opening drive, Cory Pecker’s second pass was tipped and intercepted. After another ABE touchdown and an ensuing 4th down stop, ABE took it in again for a 19-0 lead before the Legends even caught their breath. The rest of the game was more respectable as Pecker found a little bit of a groove but was clearly still lacking chemistry with his new receivers. A last play Hail Mary touchdown to Aleksander Papich made the score look better than it was as ABE dominated this one for the most part but valuable experience nonetheless for the new-look Legends.

Div. B

Laval’s Finest 48, Blue Chips 20

This was ugly. Laval’s Finest took it to the Blue Chips from the opening snap and there was never a doubt of who was taking this game. It looked like a pass shell against the practice squad for Mashtoub as the Blue Chips defense, featuring a lot of new guys to FPF, were nowhere near LVF receivers. A play that pretty much summed up the game was the last play of the first half from just inside of midfield. Mashtoub took the snap, bought some time, and then scrambled to his left. The whole Blue Chips defense followed him to the left side and Mashtoub threw back across the field to a wide open, and I mean wide open Zach Zwirn in the endzone. Things won’t get any easier for the Blue Chips as they face an explosive Incredibles team in week 2 while Laval’s Finest take on the Ambassadors of Quan.

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Week 2 Previews:

Div. A Game of the Week

Montreal’s Finest (1-0) vs. Monstars (0-1)

I would consider the Monstars’ first game in division A a success. They managed to keep it close against the Rainmakers and even managed to take the lead into halftime. Now comes test #2 as they take on the most prolific franchise in FPF history in Montreal’s Finest.

Montreal’s Finest comes off a game where they dominated in both sides of the ball in their opening game against Top Guns.

Although I don’t see the Monstars being able to slow down Wyeth much, I can see the Monstars putting up more points than Top Guns did a week ago. It really all depends on what Jad Aridi can do; he’s really the key to that Monstars offense and opens things up for the other receivers as well.

Prediction: MTL’s Finest 53, Monstars 32

 

Div. B Game of the Week

Red Raiders (1-0) vs. Star City (1-0)

The Red Raiders got off to a hot start and looked impressive in doing so. The switch to Mike Roy at quarterback paid dividends in week 1 as they put up 37 points, but face a much stiffer test this week in Star City. This game will tell us a lot about where the Red Raiders stand and if they are a real threat in division B.

Star City dominated their first game over Casket Closers without breaking a sweat, giving up just 7 points in the process. Lazzara didn’t have a great game but he didn’t need to, and that will be the biggest difference for him this year as he can count on his defense to make stops this season for him.

If Star City gets off to a hot start, it’ll spell trouble for the Red Raiders as they don’t want to get into a shootout; that favours Star City. The Red Raiders need to stick around and slow the game down. I see the Raiders keeping it close for a bit but Star City just has too much star power.

Prediction: Star City 33, Red Raiders 25

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James’ lock of the week: The Incredibles vs. Blue Chips

Lock of the Week Record: 0-0

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Week 2 Game Predictions

Div. A

Rainmakers vs. Legends – N/A

Montreal’s Finest vs. Monstars

Top Guns vs. All Black Everything

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Div. B

Week 2 Matchups	James’ Picks ATS	Peeze’s Picks ATS	Simon’s Picks ATS
Star City (-5.5) vs. Red Raiders	Star City	Star City	Star City
Predators (-1.5) vs. Kings	N/A	Predators	Predators
Grip N Rip (-5.5) vs. 2HD	Grip N Rip	Grip N Rip	Grip N Rip
STL (-6.5) vs. #NoRegard	#NoRegard	STL	STL
Gladiateurs (-3.5) vs. Casket Closers	Gladiateurs	Gladiateurs	Gladiateurs
Laval’s Finest (-7.5) vs. Ambassadors of Quan	Laval’s Finest	Ambassadors of Quan	Ambassadors of Quan
Darksiders (-3.5) vs. Lightweight	Darksiders	N/A	N/A
The Incredibles (-11.5) vs. Blue Chips	The Incredibles	The Incredibles	The Incredibles
Fun Boys (-6.5) vs. VPC and F & F	Fun Boys	VPC and F & F	Fun Boys
Last Week’s Record	N/A	N/A	N/A
SEASON TOTALS	0-0	0-0	0-0

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FPF Fantasy: Week 2 (Div. A)

Marco Masciotra (All Black Everything) vs. Paul Lapierre (Top Guns) – We all know who needs to have the better game here for their team to pull off a massive upset. But the obvious pick here is Masciotra.

Fred Viens (Monstars) vs. Pat Jerome (Montreal’s Finest) – Fred Viens hit it off nicely with Mashtoub in their first game together. Viens will become Mashtoub’s main man downfield and will play second fiddle to Jad Aridi this season I believe. Although it should be close, I think he outperforms Jerome in this game.

Legends D vs. Rainmakers D – Not many people will take the Legends seriously this season and although they did struggle against All Black Everything, there were some good things to take away from that game. I think the Legends D makes a few plays this game to keep the game close.

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Division A Power Rankings

1. All Black Everything (1-0)

Solid all around as expected.

2. Montreal’s Finest (1-0)

Talk about a statement first game from Wyeth and his gang. The additions of the two Pats (Jerome & Chenard) paid immediate dividends.

3. Rainmakers (1-0)

Ryan Kastner looked really comfortable in his first action of the season throwing to Serge Pilon Jr. Missing his brother Alex for the game, you can only imagine how strong this offense can and will be.

4. Top Guns (0-1)

Paul Lapierre struggle to move the ball and the whole team just did not gel in week 1. That being said, they were facing an angry Finest squad. Can they get it together in time for a showdown with the #1 seed this week?

5. Legends (0-1)

At times, they looked like they belonged on the same field as the opposition, but at times they didn’t. Not being able to hold the fort on 4th down multiple times and key turnovers were their downfall in this one. The chemistry will improve as the season goes on.

6. Monstars (0-1)

They made it interesting against the Rainmakers but still fell by nine. There were some encouraging signs in the loss however and the additions of Fred Viens and Quaysie Gordon-Maule adds some much needed talent and depth to the team.

 

Divison B Top 5 Power Rankings

1. Grip N Rip (1-0)

The division 3 champs got off on the right foot by dismantling VPC 47-26, this without J-D Chevalier even playing.

2. Star City (1-0)

The defense stole the day and was mighty impressive in giving up just 7 points. Daniel Lazzara is smiling somewhere.

3. Laval’s Finest (1-0)

They did what they were expected to do by beating up on a team that in all honesty, shouldn’t be in division B. Call it a tune-up game for Rod Mashtoub and his squad.

4. Darksiders (0-1)

They get a pass this week as they lost by just a point even with a backup QB. Still, this is the only bone I’ll throw them and they need to step up, with or without their QB.

5. The Incredibles (1-0)

They gutted out an impressive rivalry game over the Fun Boys in Greg Stern’s return to FPF and they will be as dangerous as advertised.

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Survivor Pool Week 2 Picks:

James Floreani – The Incredibles

Simon Dagenais – All Black Everything

Terry Tam – Star City

JC Mercille – Rainmakers

Doug Mckernan – All Black Everything

Sean Avraam – The Incredibles

Vince Nardone – All Black Everything

Mat Domon – All Black Everything

Rehan Sarwar – Grip N Rip

Kendal Mayers – Rainmakers

Danny D’Amour – Star City

Quaysie Gordon-Maule – All Black Everything

 

Things We Learned

• C’mon Man! of the week: I’m calling out my own teammate Jacob Bernett and my ex-teammate Dariusz Golebiowski for letting their emotions get the best of them in a rivalry game between the Predators and #NoRegard. The two players were at one another’s throat all game and a heated exchange ensued and both players were lucky they weren’t given a UR.
• Alex Lever is RUSTY. We’ll see if the hall of famer can shake off that rust before the Glads week 2 game against Casket Closers.
• Props to Blue Chips for challenging themselves, but they are not a division B team and this will be a long season for them.
• Watching the 2HD vs. Lightweight game, Simon Dagenais started off the game with 8-9 straight incompletions and three 4 and outs. Not gonna win many games that way in division B.
• The rivalry game between the Preds and #NoRegard was heated as expected and a lot of fun. The Hail Mary woes and bad luck continued for the Predators as the game ended with a meaningless Hail Mary touchdown from Mario Porreca to Kendal Mayers.
• The Kings look like a solid team that can definitely be a darkhorse in division B.
• The Finest look like they’re on a mission this season. Watch out.

 

Best of luck to all teams for week 2! If you want to reach me for any inquiries or to disagree with me, feel free to hit me up at [email protected] or DM me @JFloMusicMTL on Twitter.