I love Sports, More NFL Trades, a shot of redemption, and Winless No More?

I love sports! This is my favourite time of the year. March Madness has begun. The USPORTS playoffs for hockey, volleyball, and basketball are in full swing. The NBA playoff race is heating up, the NHL trade deadline is days away, NFL free agency is rocking and rolling, and MLB Spring Training (better late than never) is finally here. As a sports fan, it doesn’t get any better than this.

In last week’s article I talked about some of the big trades that went down in the NFL, with a few of them involving Quarterbacks. Last night, another trade went down with perhaps the biggest QB name changing teams as Deshaun Watson was dealt from the Houston Texans to the Cleveland Browns, just a couple of days after telling the team he did not want play for them.

In life, $230 million dollars can do a lot of things. You can buy some buildings, property, cars, a plane, and potentially the entire CFL. For Deshaun Watson, that amount of money – fully guaranteed – was enough to convince him that playing football for the Cleveland Browns was worth it. Funny how that works.

The Las Vegas Raiders finally acquired a legit number one Wide Receiver, when they traded first and second round pick to the Green Bay Packers for the best WR in the game in Davante Adams. The Fresno State product deserves every penny of the 5-year $141.5 million extension he signed with Vegas. Reuniting him with his college QB in Derek Carr, should be fun to watch in an AFC West Division that is absolutely stacked.

Speaking of the Packers, Aaron Rodgers’ extension became official. That’s good news for the Pack that they are keeping their franchise QB, until the next time he decides he isn’t happy in Green Bay. I think most of us agreed with him last year when he said that the team’s front office should consult with him when it comes to adding players. The problem with Rodgers be the unofficial GM, is that it essentially caused the team to have to trade Adams, due to the former’s diva attitude and constant drama. Look no further than the fact that Green Bay offered the Adams the same contract that the Raiders did, but he still elected to leave despite the fact that the Packers play in the weak NFC North, and the path to the Super Bowl is much tougher in the AFC. Rodgers held the team hostage going back to last summer and proved that he only really cares about himself. Now, their QB has his bag, but they are considerably worse than the team who left the Lambeau Field scoring only 10 points in a playoff game.

Now, Green Bay is left to replace Adams in the draft, which is deep at the position, but never a sure thing, or in free agency where most of the big names are already gone, and all that that remains is an injured Odell Beckham Jr., and a bunch of number two and three Receivers like Jarvis Landry, Jamison Crowder, Cole Beasley. Sure, they can re-sign Marquez Valdes-Scantling, but that is not going to scare Defensive Coordinators. Maybe they trade for Robert Woods?  Before the Adams trade, I really thought they would try to sign Allen Robinson. Damn Rams…

In what had to be one of the shortest and pointless retirements in NFL history, Tom Brady is back. I honestly thought he would find a way to force a trade to my 49ers. I guess not. At least his return adds a bit of intrigue to the NFC.

Braves versus Allstars, the next chapter…

 These two teams met three weeks ago in a game that wasn’t lacking big plays. This time around the result was different, as on the shoulders of a spectacular six catch, 82 yards and three touchdown performance by Patrick Jérome, the Allstars pulled out a (31-30) win over the Braves. The difference in this game came down to conversions, as the Allstars were successful on one out of their five attempts, while the Braves were unable to connect on any of their five tries.

The biggest of those attempts came on the final play of the game, after Braves Sapper Mike Pierrecin scored a TD with two plays remaining on a 2-yard TD pass from Quarterback Jonathan Maheu. Rightfully looking to go for the win instead of the tie, the Braves elected to go with the QB option play. Instead of dropping back one WR to potentially throw a pass, the Braves dropped back two. After Maheu received the snap, he threw it to this left to Jean-Daniel Chevalier, who then passed it back to Maheu, who then threw to his right. The throw from that side of the field was then tossed down the right sideline was thrown into a cluster of players but went incomplete.

After losing to the Braves by 20 points in Week 2, Sunday night was a little taste of redemption for the Allstars.

After being down (25-6) at halftime, All Hooks, staged a furious second half comeback that saw them put up twenty unanswered points, on the way to a (26-25) victory last Monday at Stade Hebert.

Leading the way for All Hooks in the win was the trio of Quarterback Charles-Olivier Lavigne, and Receivers Jean-Christophe Ferland and Felix-Antoine Lavigne. The three would combine for 11 receptions and four touchdowns. The latter Lavigne would score the game-winning TD with three plays remaining in the game.

On the defensive side of the ball, All Hooks came out firing in the second stanza, as they were able to keep the Incredibles offense off the board. The key to accomplishing that were two takeaways via interception by Felix Leger and Oliver Suri.

The loss was a heartbreaker for the Incredibles, as they were so close to getting their first win of the season. Looking at the glass half full, this team is improving, as is their Quarterback Greg Stern. After getting blown out and only scoring a combined 12 points the first two weeks of the year, in back-to-back weeks, they have lost one score games by a total of six points. For a squad like this that is loaded at Receiver, and has some playmakers on defense, it will only be a matter of time before they start putting everything together.

Next up for the Incredibles is a contest against an equally winless Team Swoosh team hungry for their first victory as well. Let’s see what happens.

For All Hooks, despite their impressive second half comeback, they must consider themselves a little bit lucky to escape with the win. They will have to have a better start tomorrow night in Lachine when they take on KGP.

Speaking of Lachine, Flag Moi L’Sac went a perfect two for two there last Sunday night, first with a (41-33) victory over Terror Squad, then they followed it up immediately with a (44-30) win over Gryffindor. Staring in both wins, was Quarterback Alex Nadeau-Piuze, who threw for a combined 12 touchdowns.

Against Terror Squad, the Flag Moi L’Sac defense was just as impressive as they were able to hold their opponents to only 13 first half points. One reason they were so successful, was an interception by Nadeau-Piuze off opposing QB Tam Vilaydeth, on the latter’s first pass of the evening.

The other reason was that as an offense, they were able to sustain long scoring drives which helped them dominate the time of possession, and keep the Terror Squad offense on the bench. At halftime they found themselves up (27-13).

The Terror Squad offense came alive in the second half as they outscored their opponents (20-14) with two touchdowns by Patrick Jérome, and another by Tommy Roadley-Trohatos, but it wouldn’t be enough to overcome the early deficit.  

Against Gryffindor, who had a reigning Division A Quarterback of the Year Dan Lazzara filling in at QB, the Flag Moi L’Sac defense was able to force a turnover on downs, while also holding their opponents to a lower than 50% success rate on third down to help get the win.

On the other side of the ball, FMS, was able to score on all six of their trips to the redzone, while also going 3 for 3 on 2-point conversions. Stepping up big for their offense was Samuel Nadeau-Piuze, JP St-Pierre, and Jean-Christophe Morin-Phaneuf, who caught at least one touchdown.

A couple of performances that stood out from last week’s games, was Will Power of the Outlaws, who had 10 catches for 77 yards and four touchdowns in a (46-28) defeat to the Party Crashers. In that contest for the winning side, Receiver Emile Taillefer, had four grabs for 88 yards and three TDs.

Raoul Baroudi of The Apocalypse had a game-high seven receptions for 106 yards and three scores, in his team’s (47-29) loss to All Hooks. Oliver Suri, and Etienne Laurence-Gervais contributed to the win, as the duo combined for seven catches and five TDs.

Matchups

Jarryd Taylor (#NR) vs Emile Beaudoin (Urgence Médic)

There were a ton of matchups I could have picked from this game, but I feel like this will be the most important. Both players make an impact whenever the ball is in their hands, and for Beaudoin, his specialty is taking it away from the other team and then running it back for six. Will he make it two weeks in a row and four in fives games overall?

Phil Pharand (Party Crashers) vs The Apocalypse Paul Lapierre (The Apocalypse)

Speaking of pick sixes, Phil Pharand of the Party Crashers had two of them, and came close to a third last Sunday night at Loyola, in his team’s (46-28) blowout win over the Outlaws. He also had a catch for 18 yards in the win. Tomorrow night, Pharand and his defense take on The Apocalypse. When they need a first down or are in the redzone, you and everybody watching knows the ball is most likely going to Paul Lapierre. Can Pharand and his crew stop? It is easier said than done.

Incredibles vs Team Swoosh

This is about two teams instead of individuals. Through three games so far, Team Swoosh has scored 30 points, while surrendering a jaw-dropping 132 points, including 105 in the last two weeks alone. No one will ever accuse me of being a mathematician, but that is a 102-point swing.

For the Incredibles, who have what appears to be at least a few winnable games the second half of the season, tomorrow night serves as a potential turning point in their season.

For Team Swoosh, they appear to be overmatched in Division B. Regardless, they have some talent, and now a little experience on their side. If they are going to get their first win of the season, their best chance might be tomorrow night.

Who will remain winless after this one is said and done? Hopefully, we don’t get a tie.

Picks (favorites in bold)  

#NRvs Urgence Médic – #NR (Upset Special #1)

Gryffindor vs Got-Skills – Got-Skills

KGP vs All Hooks – KGP

The Apocalypse vs Party Crashers – Party Crashers

Braves vs Flag Moi L’Sac – Flag Moi L’Sac (Upset Special #2 and My pick for Game of the Week)

Incredibles vs Team Swoosh – Incredibles

Last Week: (3-5)

Season: (16-8)

Upset Special: (1-3)

That’s it for this week. Happy St. Patty’s Day weekend! Stay safe, and good luck to everybody in their games. If you liked, loved, or hated the article, or simply feel that I left something out, do not hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected], or reach me on Instagram @brent_b51