Playing For Keeps: The Magnificent Few

 

With week 4 of the FPF season already up and running I’ll keep this brief.

Div 1 thrilled us last week with some close scores and intense games. With 6 of 8 teams separated by 1 game and no team with a +/- greater than 20, we have some incredible parity brewing in FPF’s prized division.

Only 6 of the 8 contestants will make the playoffs in this season long slugfest. I predict that at least 1 of the teams looking out by season’s end will be a total shock for fans of the division. The competition is just too steep right now, and slip up over a few weeks could spell the end for a well-established franchise.

Div 2 was blowout city, with 5 of the 7 games finishing greater than a double digit spread. We’re starting to see an apparent separation of the tiers, as the strong begin the isolate the weak. Let’s hope this doesn’t turn into a 6 team race before the midway point.

There’s some glaring roster holes in the teams at the bottom. They’ll need to address this soon, as the 5 game qualification cut-off is quickly approaching. Otherwise, we could be in for more lopsided scores throughout the year.

 

 

Weekly Thoughts

 

• Last week we called for the Clockmakers’ offense to show us a spark, and boy did they ever. Ryan Kastner broke out with a pristine 267 yard / 7 TD performance. Marco Masciotra crushed the field with 120 yards and 5 TDs on 7 catches. Big Red looks to be picking up steam for a major push down the stretch in the conference of death.
• Through 3 weeks of play, ANP and Wyeth jumped out to an early statistical lead in the QBOY race. Both averaging an astounding 246 yards per game, with ANP edging out Wyeth slightly at 6.3 TDs/game versus 6. This shouldn’t be surprising, as Wyeth captured the title of the league’s top pivot last winter, while ANP posted a ridiculous 134.1 QB rating over 7 games played.
• Manuel Crisi-Lauzon for SYO 4 Life has caught a striking 50% of his team’s completions so far in the young season. Next up on the catch share list? Theo Bekelis (Monstars) and Pat Jerome (Finest) at 38%, followed by Serge Pilon Jr. (DK) at 35% and Marco Masciotra (Clockmakers) at 33%. Pretty impressive stuff from the league’s top receivers.
• JF Marquis of Got-Fat made a spectacular one-handed, fully-extended, while reaching backwards and climbing the ladder catch for a TD in his game this week against FML. If you haven’t seen it yet, tune in to the weekly podcast, where cameraman Chris Rivest caught it on tape.
• One of the Prospect Squad players came off the bench this week to pull the flag of an #NR defender returning an INT for a touchdown. He was immediately assessed a double OC and ejected from the game, but a scuffle pursued between the two teams nonetheless. I don’t know what the penalty will be for this player beyond the ejection, but I hope a suspension will follow. It was a bush-league move and there’s no place for accepting it in our game.
• Favorite moment of the week: down 37-7 on the final play of the game with their opponent at their 5 yard line, one of the SYO 4 Life defenders shouts: “This one’s for the game!” Glad to see that the boys are still having some fun amidst a tough start to the season.

 

Around the League

 

DK pull stunning upset at Brossard

DK defeated Finest on the final play of the game, with Matt Bond batting away a 2-point convert to secure the victory.

In the battle of heavyweight receivers, Pat Jerome and Serge Pilon Jr. didn’t disappoint, combining for 5 TDs on the night. They went at each other early on, but with both teams adapting their game plans in the second half, the QBs had to look elsewhere to move the ball.

The unsung heroes in this game were the secondary receivers. Jean-Christophe Morin-Phaneuf went off for 131 yards and a TD, while Tam Vilaydeth answered with 74 yards and a TD of his own.

DK move to 1-8 versus the Finest all time, but the victory was huge for them, as it gets them into the win column for the first time this year.

 

D-Boys seal the deal against Monstars

D-Boys jumped out to a 19-0 lead against Monstars and this time never looked back.

Marco Masciotra was sharp, spreading the ball equitably to his receivers and picking apart the intermediate level of the field. We finally saw the three headed monster of Ojeaha, Johnsons and Maclean make an impact in the same game. It will be difficult for defenses to stop all three studs if this game plan continues.

It could have been the gravitas of the moment, or it could have been an angry D-Boys defense clamping down, but the Monstars came out flat in this one, failing to score until well past the midway point of the first half. But give them credit for not packing it in after that rough start, for clawed their way back to within a score in the second half.

A Rod Mashtoub interception brought them to the D-Boys doorstep. However, the Monstars troubles on the night continued, as Mashtoub quickly gave the ball back with an INT to Quaid Johnson in the endzone.

The D-Boys move to 1-2 and will look to continue cooking next week against FML.

 

Flag Moi L’Sac and Got Fat exchange pleasantries

This game had all the laid back attitude of a casual 18 holes on a calm Sunday morning.

ANP started it off by getting picked off by JF Marquis on the first play of the game while attempting to strike downfield.

Not to be outdone, Nic Centomo decided to one-up his esteemed counterpart, turning over his first three drives of the game.

However, once both QBs got their INTs out of their system they started balling. Spectators were treated to a barrage of 40 bombs, as each QB made it rain with rainbow strikes from all over the field. It was like watching the Warriors and Rockets get into a 3-point shootout on TNT.

In the end, ANP and his superior team prevailed, behind a mind numbing 9 touchdown performance. He’s been spectacular this season thus far, and is making a move for the top QB ranking in the division.

Got-Fat falls to 0-2 but their offense looks potent through two games. They’ll continue to be a thorn in the side of div 1 opponents all season.

 

Khantroversy toast to the SYO life

This one wasn’t supposed to be a game, as evidenced by the zillion point Avraam’s spread from last week’s article. And at the end of the night it wasn’t a game either. However, for a sort of brief period at the beginning of the night this thing was indeed a game.

In the midst of a fourth quarter Patriots comeback on Sunday night, Khantroversy sauntered into the Hebert dome for their touch up with SYO 4 Life. It was evident from the lackluster warmup that everyone was more interested in watching the Pharaoh continue to transcribe NFL history, rather than engage in the lopsided matchup ahead.

Khantrovery came out flat-footed, relying on a fourth down conversion deep in their own territory before cleaning up the drive with a TD to AJ Gomes. SYO took the field and replied with a composed, well-executed drive. They pounded the tying score to Kenny Baye on the goal line and converted +1 to tie.

With Khan up 14-7, SYO was once again knocking on their opponent’s door on their second drive. At the 5 yard line on fourth down, Akakpo rolled right and attempted to fire a bullet over the middle, but he could not fool AJ Gomes, who jumped the play and took the ball back for his offense. Khantroversy began spreading the SYO defense out thin and carving them up from that point on. On the following play, Lazzara hit his trusted snapper Aridi on a quick hook, who promptly turned his momentum up field and split several tacklers on route to a 35 yard score.

However, it’s important to note that SYO looked respectable on offense in the first half, marching to the opposition’s redzone on each drive before failing to come away with points. At this point in their development they may ultimately lose their games, but if their level of play on the field in high enough, they should be content.

SYO will get a good opportunity to play for their first win on Monday night, as they face a Nighthawks team who’s more crafty than athletic. Their tough man-to-man defense may finally provide them with enough stops to keep the game interesting past halftime.

As for Khantroversy, they have a highly anticipated matchup on Saturday night against #NR. Both boisterous teams will surely heat up the Brossard stadium on a frosty Montreal night.

 

STL discipline Bad Boys

The Bad Boys were without their baddest fellow on Wednesday night, as captain-QB Pat Chenard was away on vacation. In his place, the keys to the team were left in the worthy hands of Craig “Owie” Obrien. Had this been the only AWOL for the boys in blue, they would have had good odds in this tussle versus a powerhouse STL. Instead, they were also without the services of Alex Pilon and Nicolas Arsenault-Hum. If that wasn’t enough, STL brought in the big guns, with the incredible Theo Ojeaha moonlighting for the orange & grey. This was not going to end well.

The game started on a good note, as Dylan Taylor heaved a 50/50 ball towards the endzone on the first pass from scrimmage. Corner Maxime Verna-Gagne out-muscled Matt Rupcic and pulled down a spectacular INT on the 5 yard line.

The euphoria from the play quickly wore off, as Owie failed to move the ball forward on the first three attempts. Big Blue opted to go for in on fourth down and their own goal line, rather than net 15 yards with a punt to midfield. Another incompletion handed the ball back to STL, and they easily stamped the game’s first score with a slant to Jamie Ojeaha, his first of three TDs on the night.

Blue got their act together on the next drive, as Owie began expertly spreading the ball around to his quick receivers. An exchange of two TDs each pursued, and STL found themselves with the ball back on their starting line with 1 play remaining until halftime.

Taylor received the snap and signalled for the Brotherhood QB to drop back with him. He drew the rusher in before pitching it over to his backfield mate. Theo loaded up and fired an absolute beauty 50+ yards downfield to the back of the endzone. Jamie Ojeaha seemed to be in position to make the spectacular play, but the ball bounced out of his arms when the defender crashed into him. Nonetheless, fate proved to be in STL’s favor, as the ball seemingly remained suspended in mid-air for a brief moment, before corralled by Zach Zwirn for the score.

STL took a commanding 26-12 lead into the half, and would not look back from there. The defense revved up the intensity, limiting Bad Boys to only 6 second half points. Taylor solved the opposition’s defense, and carved them up with a arraying of post, corners and dig routes; torching them deep.

Bad Boys continue the Chenard-less tour of duty next week, against the suddenly potent Killa Beez offense. STL should chalk up another one in the win column, as they draw a winless King’s Landing missing their two top dogs in Vendrame and Jeauneux.

 

 

#NR outlast Prospect Squad

NR took on an overmatched Prospect Squad, who were without their top talent Dynell Pierre due to an upper leg injury.

Without letting the key injury dishearten them, PS was swarming on defense early on. An incompletion and two quick drops put NR against the wall on their first drive. Faced with a 4th and 10 from their starting line, Cory Pecker was intercepted while trying to thread a hook route to his snapper. Alex Roberge, who had a tremendous impact on this game, made a house call with the pass, getting his boys fired up on the sidelines.

Pecker, one of the coolest QBs in the business, stepped right back up on the next drive and fired a 40 yard dart down the sidelines to a streaking Kendal Mayers, to tie the game.

The onus was now on the PS offense, who were coming off a strong showing the week prior versus SYO. Vincent Lauzon quickly bungled his first drive, throwing a tipped interception at midfield to Mike Zimmie. However, NR was feeling gracious and gave them a mulligan by throwing it right back on the next pass. It’s never a pretty sight when the first 4 drives of the game yield 3 interceptions.

Lauzon survived two fourth down situations on the pursuing drive, using a combination of his running ability and some risky throws. He completed the drive with a touchdown to Roberge in the back of the endzone on a nifty toe-drag.

NR started to find their groove on the last drive before half, marching the field before capitalizing to Mayers once again, on a post from 15 yards out. They would surprisingly only take a 14-13 lead into halftime.

The second half saw PS consistently run a read-option package, and at one point they even threw a wild cat alignment into the mix. I can’t remember the last time that I’ve seen such gimmicky style offenses succeed at this level, and they certainly did not break through on this night. NR’s defense put the clamps down in the second half, limiting PS to a single score.

As for their offense, Pecker started finding success on the outside to Travis Moses, and over the middle to Jeremy Anderson. They scored began scoring at will down the stretch, with PS’s frustrations rising each time.

The final straw came with about 5 minutes to go, as Mike Zimmie picked off his second pass of the game. This time he caught it with some momentum and a clear path to the endzone. While gliding in for the score with no one near him on the field, one of the PS players jumped in from the sidelines to foolishly rip his flag off.

A scuffle pursued, the player in question was quickly ejected, #NR cleaned up the win 41-19.

 

 

Power Rankings

1. Montréal finest 2-1 (-): Was this one of those early season losses the Finest take for being too good and not feeling challenged enough in the division? If so we should see them fired up and take care of Braves this week. But what if not?
2. FML 1-1-1 (-): That game against Got-Fat was like both QBs made a pack before the game to score only 40 bombs and run up the stats on each other.
3. D-Boys 1-2 (+1): Dropped the hammer this week on Monstars, putting an end to all their early season hype. Good to see them finally arrive in 2019. We all want to see them keep this mean streak alive.
4. Braves 1-1-1 (-1): Finally lost to Dan Lazzara.
5. Waste Yout 2-0 (+1): Finally beat Les Braves.
6. Monstars 2-1 (-1): They were either intimidated by the D-Boys or drank too much of their own cool-aid, because they came out FLAT last week. One loss away from fading back to mediocrity.
7. DK 1-2 (-): Impressed. I hope this was the spark they needed to finally get going.
8. Got-Fat 0-2 (-): Starting out a game with 3 straight turnovers is maybe not such a great idea. But Centomo dropped some dimes once he finally started playing.

 

 

 

 

1. Braves 2.0 3-0 (+1): The offense is velvety smooth, but a part of me thinks their fancy record may be attributed to a soft opening schedule. We really won’t know much else about them until two tough cross-conference games in weeks 7 & 8. Until then, they should continue to cruise through conference A.
2. YCSWU 3-0 (+1): The opposite of Braves 2.0: tested each week against strong, hungry teams. Next up, a red hot Clockmakers looking to pound them. They’ve done a good job tap dancing around challengers so far.
3. #NR 2-1 (-2): Concerning soft start against an outmatched Prospects Squad. They play with a chaotic fire on defense, which is to their advantage at times. But they’ll need to learn to control that fire a bit more throughout the season.
4. STL 2-1 (-): Imagine if this team had Theo Ojeaha on a regular basis.
5. Khantroversy 2-1 (-): Rod Mashtoub is the best defensive player in the division. AJ Gomes might be the best offensive player. Dan Lazzara should be a happy man with the team he’s built.
6. Clockmakers 2-1 (-): That’s what we were looking for. Let’s go now.
7. Bad Boys 1-2 (-): Bad Boys left an “out of office” sign on their doors this week. Check back in when Pat Chenard returns from vacation.
8. Alkaholiks 1-1 (-): Unorthodox style of play. Hard to read this team.
9. Nighthawks 1-1 (-): One of those western conference, pure sugar-crack attack offenses. What’s defense got to do with it?
10. Killa Bees 1-2 (+2): Mommy… Daddy…It’s the Killa Beez….They on a swarm!
11. Terror Squad 1-2 (+1): What are we gonna do with these guys? Please give us another big win to make us believers again.
12. Kings Landing 0-3 (-1): Put themselves in a tough spot now. For some reason I still believe they have a final trick up their sleeves.
13. Prospect Squad 1-2 (-): Please gentlemen, keep your shirts on for the entire duration of the game.
14. SYO 4 Life 0-3 (-): Yelling “This one’s for the win!” when you’re down 32-7 on the last play of the game was charming. Keep playing with heart. I like that they stuck by their boy at QB, even if it meant delaying their success.

 

Avraam’s Spreads:

I decided to splice things up for the projections this season. Welcome to Avraam’s Spreads, where the old head of FPF will play bookie on a weekly basis, handicapping the games for us with just the right amount of juice. Featuring Simon Dagenais and bonus picks from the odds maker himself.

 

Braves vs Montreal Finest (EVEN SPREAD)

This becomes a much more interesting game after the Finest loss to DK last week. Can the Braves stay disciplined enough to go blow for blow with this savvy veteran team? A moment of distraction could be the difference. Will the Finest accept a slip from 1st place?

Alex’s pick: Finest

Simon’s pick: Braves

Sean’s pick: Finest

 

D-Boys (-3) vs FML

D-Boys delivered the goods, putting a hurt down on Monstars. FML is no Monstars. But did that easy-breezy game against Got-Fat leave them with some loose habits heading into the grindhouse this week? ANP vs Masciotra will be a treat for FPF fans. D-Boys will look to prove that last week was a trend and not an anomaly. 

Alex’s pick: D-Boys

Simon’s pick: FMS

Sean’s pick: FML

 

DK (-8) vs Got-Fat

Got-Fat has shown glimpses of being a great div 1 team through two games. It’s only a matter of time before they put together a complete game performance. DK is riding high after a thrilling upset of the division’s top dog. I like DK to ride the wave, but this spread is a bit too high for me.

Alex’s pick: Got-Fat

Simon’s pick: DK

Sean’s pick: DK

 

Waste Yout (-4) vs Monstars

More astutely labelled the Sophomore Bowl, this match will feature the next wave of elite div 1 teams. Both of these teams will be vying for the more “win ready now” title, but they’ll need to kill the hype of their counterpart in order to get it. Noodles up for order gents, who wants to come get it?

Alex’s pick: Waste Yout

Simon’s pick: Monstars

Sean’s pick: Monstars

 

Braves 2.0 (- 9) vs Terror Squad

2.0 had trouble with Alkaholiks in the first half last week, and TS profile’s very similar to them: established franchise, led by well-respected veterans who’ve won in this league, spliced in with some unproven faces feeling their way around. Expect 2.0 to remain undefeated, I just don’t like the spread.

Alex’s pick: Terror Squad

Simon’s pick: Braves 2.0

Sean’s pick: Braves 2.0

 

Khantroversy (-1) vs NoRegard

If you like fireworks, this is the game to watch. Both teams are extremely talented, but reach the next level by riding their emotional waves. We’ve also seen both teams succumb to their emotions in the past. Expect some gamesmanship as both sides try to get into the other’s head. Khan’s sneaky good defense might be the difference maker in this one.  

Alex’s Pick: NoRegard

Simon’s Pick: Khantroversy

Sean’s pick: Khantorversy,

 

STL (-10.5) vs King’s Landing

I don’t believe that King’s Landing are worried about a playoff spot, as they only need to beat out SYO to make the top 6, but it’s definitely getting to that point of the season where each loss is more concerning than the last. Expect them to battle tooth and nail to get the win against an incredibly tough STL team, but it will be a tall task without their top 2 offensive threats. 

Alex’s pick: King’s Landing

Simon’s Pick: STL

Sean’s pick: King’s Landing

 

Bad Boys (-3) vs Killa Bees

Word is that Pat Chenard will miss a second consecutive start this week for Bad Boys, meaning Craig “Owie” Obrien might get another shot in the saddle. This is a much fairer opponent for these shorthanded Bad Boys. Killa Bees were throwing haymakers last week against TS, and a similar strategy should succeed in this game as well.

Alex’s pick: Killa Bees

Simon’s pick: Killa Bees

Sean’s pick: Bad Boys

 

Alkaholics (-11) vs Prospect Squad

If you merged the top prospects from PS with Alkaholics, Paul Lapierre would probably have a competitive div 1 team again. That’s how good PS could be with proper management. Still, for this week, expect ALK to steamroll over them as they continue to figure out how to play in the higher divisions.

Alex’s pick: ALK

Simon’s Pick: ALK

Sean’s pick: ALK

 

YCSWU (-6.5) vs Clockmakers

This is an interesting game, as it feels like part 1 of an inevitable 2 part series to be played out in the conference B playoffs. There’s some history between these two, as Clockwork knocked out YCSWU last winter. Still, with so many new faces in this chapter of the rivalry were bound to see some surprises and new drama unfold.

Alex’s pick: NA

Simon’s pick: Clockmakers

Sean’s pick: YCSWU

 

Nighthawks (-8) vs SYO

This is a good defense for SYO to build some momentum against. We saw spurts of life last week against Khan, but they were far too undisciplined to be taken seriously. Can they put it together this week and turn this ship around before it’s too late?

Alex’s pick: SYO

Simon’s Pick: Nighthawks

Sean’s pick: Nighthawks

 

 

That’s it for this week. Week 3 of FPF is officially in the books, and week 4 is already in our midst. If you have any feedback, concerns, comments or just want a shoulder to lean on you can reach out to me @alexholowach1 on Twitter, or hit me up on Facebook. If you’re craving more content please check out the Calling the Audible podcast featuring Moe Khan, Peeze and Simon, it’s a healthy dose of absurdity to get you through the week. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and make sure to check back next week to find out how week 4 shook out!