Mid-Season Report Cards Part 1

Week 6 AKA Mid Season Report Cards 

Week 6 and that means Report Card Evaluations. Mid-season Report Cards are essentially  a small recap of how the first half of your season went in about two hundred words compared to the pre-season expectations I had for your team. Based on how you ranked in the pre-season article and wether I have picked your team to win or lose in my weekly predictions. For a large division report cards will be split into 2 articles as about 12 teams will be covered in each week and will be analyzed based on their play, record and strength of schedule. Your offence, defence and team as a whole will get a letter grade like you would on your school report card. I will also spotlight the best player/ teammate with the most production so far and crown a mid-season MVP for each team. Keep in mind these were written without taking into consideration of week 7 games. 

The letter grades correspond as so;

A – You’ve exceeded pre-season expectations.  I never would have thought the team in question would have performed this well.

B – The team is surpassing the expectations that I placed on them ahead of the season, or perhaps you meeting expectations with your record, but have won close matchups against tough opponents.

C – I was right, and the team is performing exactly as expected.

D- Your team has underperformed in comparison to pre-season expectations. You’ve probably lost matchups which your squad was favoured to win.

Team Sexy 5-2 

Team Sexy are the first team to receive an A grade due to their performance through 6 weeks. A strong start to the season saw Team Sexy reach 3-0. Their QB under center Benjamin Berbrier has quietly had a great season. With 1000 yards, 24 TD’s and 6 INT’s, Benjamin is third in yards and tied for 2nd in touchdowns in the division. His completion percentage has been above average at 60% but what really surprises me is that he has only been sacked 3 times. I haven’t had an opportunity to watch Team in action yet but either Berbier is moving well in the pocket or has been releasing the ball quick, either way he’s been making opposing rushers irrelevant. With a talented receiving group led by Sam Anastasopoulos and Andrew Steinberg their offence has putting up numbers. I did not place this team in my top 10 prior to the season so I would say this team deserves an A grade for showing me they are a top 5 team. The team did take 2 losses to teams with better records then them which their defence seemed to struggle surrendering 46 points in both those games. Still I don’t see this team losing in the rest of the regular season. 

Offensive Grade: A

Defensive Grade: B

Overall Grade: A

Mid Season MVP:  Sam Anastasopoulos

Final Record Prediction: 8-2

The Process 6-0 

The Process gets B grades all around as I did predict this squad to be winning games here in Tier 3. After observing this team a season ago in Div D I did think this roster was one of the stinger ones and I did place them #9 in my pre season power rankings. But I did not expect this team to be undefeated through 6 weeks. Not only have they not lost this season but they beat down on teams in the top 10 like Team Sexy and Team Ethnik. QB Jonathan Perez having a good first half of the season throwing 23 tds and 6 ints. Although I think he would like to reduce the number of interceptions he can still finish the season with 40+ touchdowns and about 10 ints. This squad has beaten every team they faced large part due to Ariel Liberati. Leading his team and the entire division in interceptions with 9, taking 2 of those back to the house as well. He also has caught almost 300 yards and scored 8 touchdowns as a receiver. He is their clear MVP, but it takes more then one to stay undefeated. 

Offensive Grade: B

Defensive Grade: B

Overall Grade: B

Mid Season MVP: Ariel Librati

Final Record Prediction: 9-1

Win Diesel 4-2 

A good start to the season for a team I expected to be top 3 all season. I believe I placed this team #2 in my pre season rankings and for the most part, thats where they’ve been. This team got many quality wins over good teams like Notorious C.I.G, Snowdon Deli Degens and West island Boys. Their latest loss come against Slippery Slopes where their QB William Sebag was unable to make it, so I don’t really feel as if this loss matters much. Sebag has had a good season but I am expecting a little more out of this offence. Only 21 touchdowns and 8 INT’s for a division C qb playing in tier 3 is a little mediocre but I fully expect things to change once he plays against some the lower level upcoming defences. One thing I like about this team is that they really play as one unit and don’t really have 1 star player that shows up big every week but rather a different guy that steps up every week and has a big impact. But still to name a Mid season MVP for Win Diesel, that would have to be Giancarlo Rachella. Leading the team in receiving yards and touchdowns, he even played QB when they needed one. I only see one team left on there schedule who could give them a hard time but ill predict them to win it anyway.

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: C

Overall Grade: C

Mid Season MVP: Giancarlo Rachella

Final Record Prediction: 8-2

Parlay Tilters 1-5 

Now I’m not actually sure if this division is too strong for Parlay Tilters or if they just got handed the most difficult schedule of all time. While I did leave this team off my top 10 and predicted to have more losses then wins, their strength of schedule has caught my eye. Since week 2 their opponents have a combined 20 wins and 12 losses and their next 2 opponents have a combined win loss record of 9-1. Meaning as of today after week 8 their opponents will have a record of 29-13. Unfortunately for Parlay Tilters even after a momentum game vs The Penetrators, they can’t take 2 more losses and in week 7 and 8 they will most likely face what will be the #1 and #2 seed.  Micheal Hiotis hasn’t been turing the ball over much under centre but over 6 games he is only averaging 3 tds a game. Their MVP so far has been Peter Ntoulis. Ntoulis has gotten 2 pick 6’s so far and is leading the team in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. His 378 receiving yards are good enough to put his at #3 in the division.  

Offensive Grade: D

Defensive Grade: C

Overall Grade: C

Mid Season MVP: Peter Ntoulis

Final Prediction Record: 3-7

Snowdon Deli Degens 4-4

To say the least, after watching this team go undefeated last spring season in division D, I did not imagine after 8 games, this teams record would be 4-4. The Snowdon Deli Degens have been one of the most inconsistent teams in tier 3 as they could go on and beat a top team like Jagerbombers and then the next week lose to a winless team like MOFOS. My observation has been this squad hasn’t been performing defensively and that is why they can’t seem to get any win streak going. Giving up an average of 30 point per game and not creating nearly as many turnovers as other teams in tier 3. Only 3 sacs and 11 Ints in 8 games is not enough when you are competing to be at the top of the division. Their bright spot and probably the reason why they have been competitive in every game is their MVP and once again QBOY candidate Adam Malinoff. Throwing for over 1000 yards, 30 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions Adam knows how to move the sticks and find the endzone. Adam has led this offence to 6 30 point games and still has 2 more games to build his case for QBOY. 

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: D

Overall Grade: D

Mid Season MVP: Adam Malinoff 

Final Record Prediction: 6-4

Ball Hawks 4-4

A Team that is playing at the level of expectations I had for them this season. Middle of the pack below .500 but still making playoffs. Ball Hawks sit at #5 in the division right now but after already playing 8 games, this team could be on the verge of missing playoffs. Their offence has been playing better then I expected as Richie Mondesir has played much better then he did last season. Already scoring 23 touchdowns Richie has already tied the number of touchdowns he scored last season with Ball Hawks. Richie effectively uses his legs picking up an extra 100 yards this season, able to break rushers and pick up first downs. With only 2 games left they need 2 big wins in order to find themselves in the playoffs. 

Offensive Grade: B

Defensive Grade: C

Overall Grade: C

Mid Season MVP: Richie Mondesir

Final Record Prediction: 6-4

Tune Squad 3-3

This team hadn’t played particularly well but they find themselves at 3-3 and are trying to build upon he success they have had. I put this team on the pre season power rankings so at 3-3 sitting at #10 in the standings I guess I can say they are performing as I thought they would but I did imagine their defence would be better at keeping their opponents out of the endzone. Allowing about 28 points per game isn’t terrible but with an offence that has only scored 30 in 2 games it can be problematic. Garner Ross has thrown for 850 21 tds and 6 ints which has been the league average over 5 games. TuneSquad has one of the toughest remaining schedules in the division as they face The Process, The Penetrators, Jagerbombers and Snowdon Deli Degens…Unfortunately I would be surprised if this team came away with 2 wins out of their last stretch and that still might not be enough to sneak into the playoffs. Their Mid Season MVP was a tough one to shock from as Adam Antel has had great offensive output so far but the true MVP here is Jeremy Steinberg.  Call me bias as a rusher but I don’t care. 18 sacks in 6 games is absolutely wild. He will certainly pass 20 this season and if he keeps having that much success he will find his name in the FPF record books for sacks in a single season. 

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: D

Overall Grade: C

Mid Season MVP: Jeremy Steinberg

Final Prediction Record: 4-6

Dirty Slugs 1-5 

Unfortunately I did not expect big things from Dirty Slugs. It pains me to say it as I have played with this team before and know a few guys on the team. After not making the playoffs last spring in division D, I wasn’t confident that this team would end our 10 week season with a winning record, leaving them off the top 10 and choosing against them in most of my weekly picks. Here we are in week 6 with a 1-5 record and QB Josh Currie almost throwing as many Ints as TD’s. Their sole win coming in week 3 against Voodoo in a tight 24-19 contest. Their Mid Season MVP is my man, Anthony Siggia. Siggia is a dawg and clearly their best Wr and you can tell by the trust Josh puts in Siggia with the number of targets he gets all season. Siggia leads the team in all categories, has found the endzone 8 times so far and is currently sitting at 2nd in receiving yards across the division. Keep feeding him Josh. 

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: C

Overall Grade: C

Mid Season MVP: Anthony Siggia

Final Record Prediction: 3-7

Voodoo 2-4

Another season where Voodoo finds themselves below .500 at mid season. Even with the infusion of youth with Cyrill Jamal Belfort, Jonathan Caron and Samuel Tavernier they are still struggling to get multiple wins. I did not predict this team to be in the top 10 or really in playoff contention as only the top 12 teams make playoffs. But this team is surprising me with how well they are playing defence. They might be 2-4 but they have been competitive in almost every game. With a +/- of only -4 and giving up less then 20 points in half their games I would say their defence is playing great. With 7 sacks, 6 INTS and a plethora of total passes defended. If Frank Kaye is able to keep the turnovers to a minimum, this team should win some more games. Their mid season MVP is close but ill give this honour to Jonathan Caron. With 4 interceptions and scoring on 3 of them, he is clearly their best piece on defence. And on offence Caron can still fit he endzone which he has done 3 times, with 120 receiving yards as well. Frank does like to spread the ball but my advice would be to include him and Samuel Tavernier as much as possible on offence. 

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: B

Overall Grade: C

Mid Season MVP: Jonathan Caron

West Island Boys 3-3

This is a team that I completely whiffed on. I out this team in the top 5 of my top 10 pre season rankings and they have not been playing like a top 5 team. With studs like Jerome Hovington, Skyalr bailiff and Julian McLaren-Thompson this squad should be blowing out teams. They get a D grade across the board as they have not been playing good on either side of the ball. Only averaging 20 points per game on offence and have only a combined 8 sacks and interceptions on defence. Jerome Hovington has been struggling at qb which is very surprising because he knows the game and he throws a nice ball.  The team did start 1-3 and have clawed their way back to .500 after 6 weeks. With 4 games left to play and playoff on the line, West Island Boys need to step up starting in week 9 where they play 2 big games. MVP here at mid season has been Skylar Bayliff as he has played 2 games less then the other team stat leader Mike Badibabungi but still has similar stats. 2 interceptions on defence and has racked in over 130 yards and 3 touchdowns 

Offensive Grade: D

Defensive Grade: D

Overall Grade: D

Mid Season MVP: Skylar Bayliff

FInal Record Prediction: 6-4

Notorious C.I.G 2-2-1

Another top Division D team from last spring coming over to Tier 3 and so far this season has not been what I expected from them. Its been a rough start for Notorious C.I.G as I expected them to firmly be in the top 10 of tier 3 all season long. Losing big out of the gate against Win Diesel back in week 1 and not finding much success as they lost to ball hawks and tied the winless Brewers. Most of the roster is back with George Spano at QB, Joey Notaro as their 2 way star and Zachary Mastromonaco a great red zone threat. George Spano in 4 games has played been below average in my opinion. Ive seen him play and he is much better then 19 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. His completion percentage is one of the best in the division but I’m afraid that is what might be holding them back a little as he might be afraid to push the ball down field and create big plays. Their Defence has been solid only allowing 27 points per game and creating 6 interceptions, 8 sacks and stopping opposing offences 8/12 times on 4th down this season. Their Mid Season MVP is clear as Joey Notaro leads the team in very receiving stat and also leads the defence with 2 interceptions. With only 4 games as a wide receiver Joey already has double digit touchdowns which places him 3rd in the division and well in the race for WROY. 

Offensive Grade: D

Defensive Grade: C

Overall Grade: D

Mid Season MVP: Joey Notaro

Final Record Prediction: 4-5-1

Brewers 0-4-1

The only Tier 3 team without a win and to be fair I wasn’t expecting that but I was expecting brewers to find themselves in playoff elimination seeding week after week. After a trying season last spring in division D, Brewers only managed to get 2 wins, so here in tier 3 I expected the team to struggle. Without a big play WR1 I imagine this team will keep having issues. The team has recently changed Qb Jeffrey Lefebvre to Paolo Della Rocca. I am happy seeing Peexe throwing in the mens division this season after all but I don’t think it will change the outcome of their games. But to be fair their offence played their best game of the season with peeze under center so there is something positive that came out of that change. Speaking of being positive, I am positive that Darren Glover is a certified baller because it seems like every time I do a mid season MVP for this team he is that dude. Leading the team in receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns as well as 6 sacks on the season. Brewers face two top teams in the division in their next few games but I do believe this squad will get a win before the season is over 

Offensive Grade: C

Defensive Grade: C

Overall Grade: C

Mid Season MVP: Deven Glover

Final Record Prediction: 1-9