Flo’s Forecast: Week 9 Recap – Week 10 Preview

It has all come down to this. Week 10 is here and while a few teams have been officially eliminated from playoff contention (RIP Casket Closers, Blue Chips, VPC & FF), a lot is still in play in the last week of the regular season. While Grip N Rip has clinched the #1 seed in Conference B, Conference A’s #1 seed will be the winner of STL vs. Star City, which should be a great battle.

*See below for more in-depth playoff clinching scenarios

Also, if you haven’t already, go check out Division B’s GOTW, it’s a great game between Star City and Predators that really went down to the wire and had a controversial call (or non-call) on a late 2-point conversion play a major factor in the outcome. That said, hats off to Star City for a tight, fun and clean game. It was the most fun I had playing all season.

Star City vs. Predators: WATCH GOTW here

 

Week 9 Recaps:

 

Division A

Top Guns 40, Monstars 20

The sky has officially fallen for the Monstars, who just two weeks ago were on top of the world after beating Montreal’s Finest. The Monstars were flat out terrible in this game and everything was just very sloppy. On the first drive of the game, Paul Lapierre found Jacques Void on a beautiful post corner route that gave the Top Guns the lead and they never looked back. Both Void and Jamil Springer stepped up on both sides of the ball with the absence of the Perry brothers and the Top Guns showed all of Division A that they are for real. The Monstars struggled mightily to move the ball and it just seemed from the sidelines as though Rod Mashtoub was just not in the zone. He tossed two picks for his 5th multi-INT game of the season.

On the flip side, Top Guns’ QB Paul Lapierre went 6:0 TD-INT ratio for the second game in a row and seems to be more comfortable out there with his group of receivers, especially when Void is on the field.

 

Division B

Gladiateurs 45, Darksiders 33

After upsetting The Incredibles the week prior, it looked as if the Darksiders were finally ready to play up to their potential. However, that wasn’t the case as the Glads’ Alex Lever walked all over them, starting with a second play deep post touchdown to open the game up with a bang. The ensuing drive saw Fred Morissette connect with Marc-Andre Lapointe on 4th and 10 for his own post touchdown following three straight incompletions to start. The teams kept going back and forth and with the last possession of first half and first possession of second half, the Darksiders took a 26-19 lead. The Glads answered to tie it up 26-26. Then it happened. The game changing play from the Glads defense came from Marc-Andre Brochu as he jumped a short hook route and ran it back for six points to energize his squad. The momentum from the huge interception seemed to carry over to the next drive as the defense stepped up again stopping the Darksiders on downs. Lever punched it in again to take a two-score lead and that was all she wrote for the Darksiders, who now are in real danger of missing the playoffs just one season after having had the best record in division B. The Glads’ offense, which has struggled mightily all season, woke up against one of the better defenses in the division. That is a great sign for this team moving forward as they clinched a playoff spot with the victory.

 

Playoff Picture/Scenarios:

DIVISION A

Conf A	Team	GP	PTS	W(P-F)	PA
1	Montreal’s Finest	9	14	7	263
2	All Black Everything	9	11	5	248
3	Top Guns	9	10	5	302
4	Rainmakers	9	8	4	336
5	Monstars	9	7	3	349
6	Legends	9	4	2	344

 

What we know…

• The Legends are officially eliminated from playoff contention after their loss to Montreal’s Finest.
• Montreal’s Finest have clinched the #1 seed.
• Top Guns can move to #2 seed with a win and an ABE tie or loss.
• The Monstars and Rainmakers are almost guaranteed to play the play-in game between the #4 and #5 seeds. The only way the two teams wouldn’t meet would be if Top Guns allow 35+ more points against the Legends than the Rainmakers do against Montreal’s Finest AND lose while the Rainmakers would have to win (there’s a better chance of Pikachu coming out of nowhere and hitting you with a thunderbolt than this happening). (Yes, I had to make a Pokemon GO reference)
• Montreal’s Finest will play the winner of said play-in game.

 

DIVISION B

 

Conf A	Team	GP	PTS	W(P-F)	DIV	PA		Conf B	Team	GP	PTS	W(P-F)	DIV	PA
1	STL	9	18	9	[7-0-0]	235		1	Grip n’ Rip	9	16	8	[6-1-0]	265
2	Star City	9	16	8	[7-0-0]	197		2	Two and a half Dans	9	14	7	[6-2-0]	251
3	Kings	9	12	6	[5-3-0]	300		3	The Incredibles	9	12	6	[5-2-0]	250
4	Predators	9	10	5	[4-3-0]	268		4	Ambassadors of Quan	9	11	5	[5-1-1]	271
5	Gladiateurs	9	8	4	[4-3-0]	255		5	Laval’s Finest	9	8	4	[4-3-0]	310
6	#NoRegard	9	6	3	[2-5-0]	235		6	Fun Boys	9	8	4	[3-4-0]	296
7	Red Raiders	9	4	2	[1-6-0]	265		7	Lightweight	9	7	3	[1-5-1]	300
8	Darksiders	9	4	2	[1-6-0]	273		8	Blue Chips	9	4	2	[0-7-0]	312
9	Casket Closers	9	2	1	[1-6-0]	315		9	VPC and the Fat Furious	9	2	1	[1-6-0]	353

 

What we know…

• Grip N Rip will be #1 seed in Conference B.
• The winner of STL vs. Star City will claim #1 seed in Conference A.
• Lightweight will clinch a playoff berth with a win AND a Laval’s Finest win OR Fun Boys win.
• Lightweight will be officially eliminated from playoff contention with a loss OR a win AND a tie between Fun Boys and Laval’s Finest.
• Laval’s Finest and Fun Boys are both in “win and you’re in” situations as they faceoff in FPF’s GOTW.
• 2HD will be #2 seed in Conference B.
• The Incredibles would clinch #3 seed in Conference B with a win. A loss OR tie and an Ambassadors of Quan win would make AoQ #3 seed and The Incredibles #4 seed.
• Predators and Glads will finish #4 and #5 seeds in Conference A and face each other in first round of the playoffs regardless of the result of their game this week. The winner of this week’s game will win the “coin flip” at the beginning of the playoff game.
• #NoRegard would clinch #6 seed in Conference A with a win.
• Red Raiders would clinch #6 seed in Conference A with a win and a #NoRegard loss.
• Darksiders would clinch #6 seed in Conference A with a win and a Red Raiders tie or loss.

 

Playoff Schedule:

Division A

• Round 1 is the play-in game between the #4 and #5 seeds and will be played on July 24.
• Round 2 is the following Sunday, July 31st.
• The Division A Final is Sunday, August 7th in Brossard at 9 pm.

 

Division B

• Round 1 is Sunday, July 24th at Stade de Montreal. The #1 and #2 seeds in each conference get a bye.
• Round 2 is Sunday, July 31st in Lachine.
• Round 3 is that Tuesday, August 2nd in Brossard.
• The Division B Final is Sunday, August 7th in Brossard at 8 pm.

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James’ lock of the week: Ambassadors of Quan vs. Blue Chips

Lock of the Week Record: 8-1

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Week 10 Game Predictions

 

Division A

All Black Everything vs. Monstars

Montreal’s Finest vs. Rainmakers

Legends vs. Top Guns – N/A

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Division B

Week 10 Matchups	James’ Picks ATS	Peeze’s Picks ATS	Simon’s Picks ATS
Predators (-4.5) vs. Gladiateurs	N/A	Preds	Preds
Star City (-1.5) vs. STL	Star City	Star City	Star City
2HD (-2.5) vs. Kings	2HD	2HD	2HD
Red Raiders (-3.5) vs. Casket Closers	Casket Closers	Casket Closers	Red Raiders
Ambassadors of Quan (-10.5) vs. Blue Chips	AoQ	AoQ	AoQ
Lightweight (-3.5) vs. VPC & FF	Lightweight	Lightweight	N/A
#NoRegard (-1.5) vs. Darksiders	#NoRegard	N/A	Darksiders
Grip N Rip (-3.5) vs. The Incredibles	The Incredibles	GnR	GnR
Laval’s Finest (-1.5) vs. Fun Boys	Laval’s Finest	Laval’s Finest	Laval’s Finest
Last Week’s Record	4-4	N/A	4-4
SEASON TOTALS	33-31	29-27	37-27

 

 

GOTW – Division B Conference B Play-In Game Preview:

(4-5) Laval’s Finest vs. (4-5) Fun Boys

Both defenses have not been great this season as a whole leading to a lot of shootouts. Laval’s Finest did step up on defense big time last week against GnR holding them to just 26 points and that was without their best defender. Against such an explosive deep ball team like Cutler and the Fun Boys, Laval’s Finest will need McLaren to be there and need to play good team defense to limit the damage Liam Mahoney makes. Although Cutler loves to air it out deep and let his receivers fight for the ball, and as good as Mahoney is at winning those contested balls, that game plan plays right into Laval’s Finest favour. With McLaren and Rod Mashtoub back there, I think LVF can take away that deep ball for the most part. That being said, LVF also knows how to win big games and to see them at 4-5 right now is mind boggling. I can’t see them finishing under .500 and missing the playoffs with the squad that they have. Give me LVF to win a one-score game and clinch a playoff berth.

Prediction: LVF 32, Fun Boys 26

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Division A Power Rankings

1. Montreal’s Finest (7-2)

They are your Division A #1 seed, and deservedly so.

2. All Black Everything (5-3-1)

They embarrassed the poor Rainmakers. When a player not doing their laundry is the only thing that went wrong, I’m sure they’d take that any day.

3. Top Guns (5-4)

Complete domination of the Monstars on both sides of the ball as they made it look easy. This is a wild card team coming together at the right time that nobody wants to play, just ask ABE.

4. Monstars (3-5-1)

Was that another off week or was it the Monstars coming back down to Earth after a remarkable run?

5. Rainmakers (4-5)

Yes they were missing guys, but man was that ugly. This team has one and done written all over them after such a great start to the season.

6. Legends (2-7)

Considering the circumstances of having to basically draft players to play from random games 20 minutes before the game, it could have been a lot worse. At least they managed to keep it competitive for a half and put up 30 points.

 

 

Divison B Top 5 Power Rankings

1. Grip N Rip (8-1)

The rematch of last season’s division 3 final was much tighter than the last time these teams met but with both teams missing their best two-way players (J-D Chevalier & Jordan McLaren), Vinny Gualano found a way to win.

2. Star City (8-1)

Most people will agree that they got away with one against the Predators. Nonetheless, they did enough to win and now look to go into the playoffs with a winning streak and ending STL’s undefeated season in the process.

3. STL (9-0)

Their toughest test to date will determine whether or not they end the season as one of two potential undefeated teams in all of FPF. It won’t be easy.

4. Two and a Half Dans (7-2)

As Marc-Antoine Viens told me after their game vs. VPC & FF, “it ain’t pretty, but it somehow works.” Yes it does Marc-Antoine, keep winning.

5. Ambassadors of Quan (5-3-1)

This is a team no team wants to face in the first round.

 

Best of luck to all teams for week 10! 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.