Flo’s Forecast: Week 2 Recap – Week 3 Preview

FPF is an awesome league in so many aspects. One of these aspects is the ability for a player to play in multiple divisions. Some players choose to play full-time on two or three teams while some players choose to offer their services to whichever team needs a player on a given week. But let’s focus on subbing. The clear advantage here is the flexibility that you have as a player to play for just about any team that asks, given you fit the cap, and of course as a team captain looking for subs, the same applies. One clear disadvantage to subbing for a team that is not your own is that there’s always a risk of injury involved. Simon Beaudoin, or as most of the league is getting to know him, SBB, was the victim of this exact scenario this week when division C’s Top Sauce asked him to sub for them. On the last play Hail Mary, SBB rushed opposing QB Mike Addona but got his face smashed in by Addona’s flailing elbow and immediately fell to the ground. The damage was pretty bad and SBB was forced to miss our Preds game immediately after. SBB being the sixth guy on our roster, was forced to look on with a bandage over his swollen eye and we were forced to scramble to find a sixth player basically 30 seconds before our game started.

Moral of the story: Be careful subbing for other teams or you might end up looking like a pirate.

On to the recaps.

Week 2 Recaps:

Div. A

Montreal’s Finest 45, Monstars 22

Montreal’s Finest came out of the gates firing and looked to be cruising to an easy W as they took an early 21-7 lead. That’s when things started to break the Monstars’ way. Rod Mashtoub rolled to his left and off his back foot, heaved a prayer down the sideline that was tipped up by a defender right into the waiting arms of Jeff Lefebvre for a huge momentum-shifting touchdown. After a successful one-point convert, the unthinkable happened. Karim Binette’s snap sailed over Kevin Wyeth’s head for a safety and just like that, the lead was cut to 21-16 and gave the Monstars a chance to take the lead. They did just that by punching it in right before the half and took a very surprising 22-21 lead into the break. Starting with the ball, the inexperienced Monstars had a chance to extend their lead but everything completely fell apart in the second half as turnovers on downs and interceptions were the norm for the Monstars offense. While Mashtoub and his offense hit a wall, Wyeth’s offense was rolling on all cylinders as they made the Monstars pay. Binette made up for his earlier blunder by catching touchdowns on back-to-back drives and Wyeth even got in to the action on defense, picking off Mashtoub’s errant pass and returning to the house, putting the exclamation mark on a comeback victory for the new-look Finest.

Div. B

Casket Closers 19, Gladiateurs 18

In an offensively-driven league, defenses owned the day in this low-scoring affair. Both quarterbacks struggled mightily in the redzone but it was two costly goal line interceptions by the Casket Closers defense that was the difference in this game. After playing through a 6-6 slugfest of a first half, both teams put up two touchdowns in the second half. With the Glads leading 18-13 late in the game, Leon Holder was able to connect with Jamil Springer for the second time in the game to take a 19-18 lead, one that they would be able to hang on to.

Although they escaped with the win, the Casket Closers’ offense looked off all game with a healthy combination of bad drops and several high errant throws by Holder to open receivers. As for the Glads, it just seems like they’re not on the same page right now. Six Glads had at least one catch but one key name that didn’t is Alex Nadeau-Piuze. The transition from Lebeau to Lever is proving to not be as smooth as the Glads would have liked.

Week 3 Previews:

Div. A Game of the Week

Montreal’s Finest (2-0) vs. All Black Everything (1-1)

The heavyweights go at it for the first time this season and it should be another great game for FPF’s greatest current rivalry. Montreal’s Finest are coming off an absolutely dominant second half against the Monstars while ABE are coming off a shocking Hail Mary loss to the heavy underdog Top Guns.

It looks like both teams should be at full strength as Theo Ojeaha and Antonio Lanni should be back for this showdown. You can’t underestimate the impact these two players have on ABE’s success. That being said, if both sides of the ball for Montreal’s Finest are clicking on all cylinders like they were in the second half of last week’s game, they will be hard to stop.

In a hard-fought very close game, I like Montreal’s Finest to take round 1…barely.

Prediction: MTL’s Finest 33, All Black Everything 32

Div. B Game of the Week

Kings (2-0) vs. STL (2-0)

STL absolutely destroyed #NoRegard last week and have looked impressive to start the season. They face another undefeated squad in Kings, a solid team that’s been able to close out close games against some good teams.

STL’s defense looks like the real deal this season and not to take anything away from Kings, but they’ve had some big breaks go their way so far, facing a Darksiders team minus their quarterback, and a Predators team missing 3 key players (including their snapper and rusher) who were forced to find a sixth player right before game-time. STL should be at full strength when they face off against the Kings and I think they will squeak out a one score victory over a resilient Kings team.

Prediction: STL 32, Kings 26

————————————————-

James’ lock of the week: Star City vs. Laval’s Finest

Lock of the Week Record: 1-0

Week 3 Game Predictions

Div. A

Rainmakers vs. Top Guns

Montreal’s Finest vs. All Black Everything

Legends vs. Monstars – N/A

————————————————-

Div. B

Week 3 Matchups	James’ Picks ATS	Peeze’s Picks ATS	Simon’s Picks ATS
Star City (-4.5) vs. Laval’s Finest	Star City	Star City	Star City
Predators (-0.5) vs. Darksiders	N/A	N/A	Predators
VPC & FF (-3.5) vs. Blue Chips	VPC & FF	Blue Chips	VPC & FF
Casket Closers (-2.5) vs. #NoRegard	Casket Closers	Casket Closers	Casket Closers
Red Raiders (-2.5) vs. Gladiateurs	Red Raiders	Gladiateurs	Red Raiders
The Incredibles (-3.5) vs. Ambassadors of Quan	The Incredibles	The Incredibles	The Incredibles
Grip N Rip (-4.5) vs. Lightweight	GnR	GnR	N/A
STL (-1.5) vs. Kings	STL	STL	STL
2HD (-3.5) vs. Fun Boys	2HD	2HD	2HD
Last Week’s Record	3-5	6-2	5-3
SEASON TOTALS	3-5	6-2	5-3

—————————————–

FPF Fantasy:

Week 3 (Div. B)

Joey Taylor (2HD) vs. Phil Cutler (Fun Boys) – 2HD’s butt-kicking of Fun Boys last season in D3 is well-documented. I see Fun Boys having more than their share of problems defending in this game and I see Taylor having a huge day.

Jamil Springer (Casket Closers) vs. Travis Moses (#NoRegard) – Springer has an advantage in seemingly being Leon Holder’s favourite target this season, while Moses hasn’t had the chance to build any rapport with Mario Porreca yet. If Jordan Moses is under center again, Travis might have a chance to put bigger numbers up.

The Incredibles D vs. Ambassadors of Quan D– More playmakers and ball-hawks on The Incredibles’ side and they also have more cohesiveness as a unit. Give me the men in red to force a few interceptions and help the team to their third victory.

——————————————————–

Division A Power Rankings

Montreal’s Finest (2-0)

What happened in the second half Monday night showed exactly why experience is so important. Absolute dominance.

All Black Everything (1-1)

Losing on a fluke play Hail Mary is an awful way to lose. Still, Top Guns went toe to toe with them. Yes, they were without their top player in Theo Ojeaha and minus the services of Antonio Lanni as well, but no one expected them to lose… just ask the five guys who took them in the survivor pool!

Rainmakers (2-0)

Ryan Kastner must be smiling from ear to ear having the Pilon twins on his side. It must be nice to just throw it as far as you can and let one of them run underneath it.

Top Guns (1-1)

What an impressive showing from Paul Lapierre and his heavily underdog team. Even more impressive? The fact that they played the first 15 mins of this game with 2 subs from division C just to field a full roster! Can they build on it?

Legends (0-2)

The score is not indicative of how close this game actually was. Tied at the half, this game went score for score but a huge pick six from Alex Pilon and a 4th down redzone stop by the Rainmakers D were the difference.

Monstars (0-2)

If the game ended at halftime, the Monstars could have said that they beat Montreal’s Finest. Unfotunately, they had to play the second half and things got ugly real quick. Big game vs. the winless Legends this week.

Divison B Top 5 Power Rankings

Grip N Rip (2-0)

Until someone beats them, the defending D3 champs aren’t moving.

Star City (2-0)

That defense…what can you say about them giving up 19 points combined in the first two weeks. Dan Lazzara had a much better outing and the result was a blowout. This team is straight scary.

Laval’s Finest (2-0)

Close call last week…but this week, they face the top defense in the division in Star City, and they do it without their quarterback…it will be an extremely tough task.

The Incredibles (2-0)

When you pick off the opposing QB four times, and return two of those for scores, chances are you’re going to win.

STL (2-0)

They took advantage of an inexperienced Jordan Moses at quarterback and made #NoRegard look foolish. The defense has looked like a top unit and the offense has been clicking well the first two weeks. Can they sustain it?

Survivor Pool Week 3 Picks:

James Floreani – Star City

Rehan Sarwar – VPC & FF

Kendal Mayers – Legends

Sean Avraam – VPC & FF

Danny D’Amour – Grip N Rip

Terry Tam – STL

JC Mercille – VPC & FF

Doug Mckernan – OUT

Vince Nardone – OUT

Mat Domon – OUT

Simon Dagenais – OUT

Quaysie Gordon-Maule – OUT

Best of luck to all teams for week 3! 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.