Food For Thought (D4) – Week 8

 

When you go 2-8 in your predictions concerning the top 10 teams in the Division, there is a problem… Either your assessment of those teams is completely erroneous or their opponents were greatly underestimated. In my case, the second explanation would be the correct one…

With many underdogs standing up to offensive juggernauts, Week 8 definitely favoured defensively-minded teams. Since the pace of play is slowly morphing itself into the gruelling rhythm of playoff football, this sudden defensive supremacy may be here to stay.

For offense-oriented teams such as the Longhorns, The Family, Hard Knocks or the Sphinx, the tight defensive opposition they will face in the weeks to come will need to be schemed for. Pure talent is no longer enough to cruise to a victory.

Around the corner, teams like Lobster Dinner, Park-X Streets, the Mongoose, the Monstars and the Kludgies, among others, are quietly honing their defenses with a single goal in mind: to pull off yet another resonating upset.

The disparity that appeared so entrenched in this season’s D4 suddenly seems to dissipate as the number of contenders broadens every week.

With such an entertaining end to the regular season, one can only revel over the level of competition that the playoffs will bring…

 

In Conference A, five teams have already been eliminated: the Eagles, Chaos, the Trapstars, the Taylor Gang and Young Money. Still, no team has clinched a playoff spot.

With only two games left, the current number one seed, the Top Guns, could still finish a low as 9th and miss the playoffs!

The only team not currently sitting in the top 8 that I could foresee making a surprise leap into the playoffs would be Primetime (11). This week’s game against Mongoose (7) could become a do or die for these divisional rivals…

 

In Conference B, four teams are also assured to be playoff-less: les Eudistes, the Rams, the Marauders and Turf Toe Inc. However, unlike the scenario in Conference A, two of Conference B’s teams have clinched a playoff spot: The Family (1) and the Sphinx (2).

This means 21 teams are still unsure if their season will continue after week 10… Talk about late season suspense!

Of the 7 teams in the running currently not in possession of a playoff berth, the Sharks (11) seem to be the most likely spoiler. They are one of the rare teams who control their destiny with divisional games against The Commission (8) and Those Guys (9). If they can earn two key wins in a row and Barbarianz Squad (10) lose or tie at least one game, the Sharks would clinch one of the remaining playoff spots.

 

These are the official standings after 8 weeks (Divisional leaders get the first 4 seeds. For the full tie breaking criteria, please refer to the site.):

 

Conference A

1. Top Guns (6-2)

2. Jets (6-2)

3. Park-X Streets (6-2)

4. Gators (5-2-1)

5. Monstars (6-2)

6. Maximum Carnage (6-2)

7. Mongoose (5-3)

8. Lobster Dinner (4-2-2)

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9. Run’n’ Wild (4-4)

10. Razorbacks (4-4)

11. Primetime (4-4)

 

Conference B

1. The Family (7-1)

2. Sphinx (6-2)

3. Longhorns (6-2)

4. Patriotes (5-3)

5. X-Men (6-2)

6. Hard Knocks (5-3)

7. Kludgies (5-3)

8. The Commission (4-4)

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9. Those Guys (4-4)

10. Barbarianz Squad (3-4-1)

11. Sharks (3-5)

12. Gorilla Juiceheads (3-5)

 

And now…the nominees for the Winter 2011 D4 Awards!

The Winners will be announced on the 21st of March.

 

QB of the Year:

Maxime Forget (The Family)

Étienne Cloutier (Sphinx)

Gautama Swaminadhan (X-Men)

Mike Mendell (Maximum Carnage)

Philippe Podtetenev (Hard Knocks)

 

Receiver of the Year:

Derek Daoust (Primetime)

Mathieu Fafard (Sphinx)

Maxime Couture (The Family)

Chris Rosen (Longhorns)

Kris Bastien (Hard Knocks)

 

Defensive Player of the Year:

Samuel Bibeault (The Family)

Akeem Hoyte-Charles (Monstars)

Maurice Kaddis (Top Guns)

Olivier Ouellet (Sphinx)

Maïko Zepeda (Barbarianz Squad)

 

Best Two-Way Player :

Derek Daoust (Primetime)

Nick Guarna (Kludgies)

Akeem Hoyte-Charles (Monstars)

Sébastien Pereda (Patriotes)

Raymond Barisselle (Sphinx)

 

Power Rankings and predictions:

1. The Family (7-1): After a surprising loss, The Family will be looking to make a statement against the Gorilla Juiceheads this week…

Prediction: The Family 38 – Gorilla Juiceheads 21

2. Sphinx (6-2): Facing off against the dark horse of all dark horses, Sphinx will need to play as well as they did against the Gators if they want to have a chance to win this week.

Prediction: Sphinx 27 – Kludgies 25

3. Top Guns (6-2): Will the ‘Game of the Week’ be too much to handle for Jerry Charles and the Guns?

Prediction: Top Guns 22 – Monstars 26

4. Jets (6-2): On top of peaking at the right time, the Jets will be facing somewhat of an easy opposition this week.

Prediction: Jets 44 – Taylor Gang 19

5. Longhorns (6-2): Tough divisional matchup against a very physical team this week. Those Guys need the win more than the Longhorns.

Prediction: Longhorns 32 – Those Guys 34

6. Park-X Streets (6-2): Although Chaos is having a poor year, I would not be surprised if they kept this game close.

Prediction: Park-X Streets 21 – Chaos 18

7. Patriotes (5-3): The more experienced Patriotes will triumph over the slumping Hard Knocks.

Prediction: Pats 32 – Hard Knocks 27

8. Monstars (6-2): Upset in the making against the No. 1 seeded Top Guns.

Prediction: Monstars 26 – Top Guns 22

9. X-Men (6-2): This should be a fairly easy game for the X-Men even though the Marauders seem a bit better lately.

Prediction: X-Men 33 – Marauders 26

10. Maximum Carnage (6-2): The Carnage are in a tough spot with injuries to their two best players, Mike Mendell and Bryan Mongeau. While Mongeau is doubtful for this weekend, Mendell should be cleared to start the game.

Prediction: Maximum Carnage 25 – Eagles 20

 

 

Once again, I hope you have enjoyed this article. Good luck to all for this weekend’s games. For those who don’t like my predictions, I hope you prove me wrong (once again)!

If you have any suggestions, comments or wish to make a more direct contribution to this article, please contact me at [email protected]