Playing For Keeps: Week 1 top dogs live up to the billing, with a few surprises

Week 1 came and went without the bells and whistles of a ceremonious ending. All those weeks of planning, training, thinking about getting back into the game you love and it passed like a flash before your eyes. Maybe your part of the lucky half of teams that had week 1 go your way, and maybe you’re like me and left with a sour taste in your mouth. Either way, it doesn’t matter because week 1 doesn’t care. Buckle up buttercup, or week 2 will follow-up with a cross to the jaw. You don’t want to go 0-2, that’s a record for chumps. 1-1 is reasonable, 2-0 is choice. So make the requisite adjustments and figure out a way to take control of your own fate. There are sharks in the div C waters my friends, and if you’re looking around for them, then sorry to break it to you, but you’re the BAIT.

Weekly Remarks

Texas BareManz are the first to fall victim to the cap violation this season. Not Cool, guys. There’s never been an easier time in the history of the cap era to verify your roster. Don’t let it happen again.
On the other hand, Smash Bros are awfully lucky. Even if they were playing a team that cheated, they were extremely outmatched in their first game of the season. They better shape up fast or they’ll be in waters too deep by the time Jonah Cohen returns in week 3.
Either the JYD defense is as good as advertised or the NoName offense is as soft as projected. Probably a bit of both. Either way, JYD look like a force to be reckoned with. As for NoName, they have some soul searching to do….fast.
It wasn’t shocking to see Bearskins defeat Red Wave, as they came in as the favorite; however, the lopsided score was a bit surprising. Red Wave was completely overwhelmed in their first game together against a formidable challenge. Looks like they had to take a step back before they take two steps forward. It won’t help their cause if Jordan Moses is limited in the upcoming weeks with a groin Injury.

Recaps:

FiLP lay the wood on MVE

In a game where both teams were missing their top receivers, one team made the best of what they had, while the other missed the boat entirely. With all-world superstar Kevin Smuda missing for Friends in Low Places, Danny D’Amour diversified his offensive game a spread the ball neatly amongst his receiving staff. He looked poised coming off a winter div 5 championship, and worked the MVE defense by continuously picking apart their soft spots. Whenever the defense would adjust, so would he, hitting Justin Santillo over the middle for 2 TDs, when the defense would adjust to Michael Timmis tearing them up underneath with slant patterns.

On the other hand, Gabriel Côté had a rough night without his top receiver Vincent Lauzon, who was unstoppable for the most part this past winter in division 4. Côté continued to take deep stabs to Laurent Foucault even when the defense played 3-deep and essentially conceded the short passes. Jovan Cober is much too talented a receiver to be relegated to 1 catch for 1 yard on a night where MVE needed to use all the weapons at their disposal. Credit FiLP for knowing Côté’s tendency to favor the deep ball, and design their game plan accordingly. I had hoped that having the presence of a successful upper divisional quarterback like Mathieu René would help Côté develop his short game, but that failed to transpire in week 1. René has got to speak to his boy in the huddle going forward, and get him to use that feathery pass more effectively on higher percentage plays.

Danny D’Amour proved to be the best player on the field in this game, adding 3 INTs on defense to 6 overall TDs at QB, as FiLP cruised to a 38-6 demolition of MVE. If this is any indication of what’s to come for this lower division team this season, the big dogs of the division better take notice.

Bullies gratuitous with their Hollandaise

Backyard Bullies showed us why they came into the season with the premier ranking, putting together a polished and savvy effort in an easy win over an experienced Home for the Hollandaise team. Rich Humes kept the opposing defense guessing by spreading the ball effectively among 6 different receivers. None of them had more than 5 catches or 40 yards to themselves, but this proved to be the best strategy for the Bullies as the HFTH roster was seen dropping their heads and in defeat by halftime. Daniel O’Connor was the most notable receiver for Bullies, tallying 5 catches and 2 TDs while consistently making key plays to move the chains for his offense. Steve Sanner made a huge catch over the middle on fourth and long on the opening drive for the Bullies, setting them up for the romp that was to come shortly thereafter.

On the opposite side of the field, Simon Dagenais’ offense didn’t have the opening act that they had hoped for, as they put up a goose egg in the first half. To be fair, this was an extremely difficult matchup for an offense with a lot of moving parts to develop chemistry against. The Bullies defense was swarming, led by Vinny Gualano with 5 tackles and an INT. Dagenais opted to roll the dice on two fourth down attempts in the first half, both of which fell short and put their already overwhelmed defense in a precarious position on the field. Dagenais’ INT came on one such play, as he underthrew a deep corner to Justin Blanchard late in the first half that was picked off by a creeping Gualano.

The positive for HFTH was their ability to show some fight in the second half. I’m not worried about this team finding their footing going forward. They sport one of the richest receiving groups in the division and it’s just a matter of them optimizing their roles and building some rapport. As for the Bullies, it was business as usual for this team as they enter a moderately difficult two game stretch against Jagerbomb and Blue Chips. I expect them to continue to run the table on the division until their week 7 matchup vs The Commission.

Royals O tops Impeccable D

A tightly contested early season matchup between two of the projected top contenders in conference B lived up to the billing, as it was a back-and-forth exchange that went down to the wire. Questions about Jeff Rosenblatt’s health returning from injury were quickly answered, as he looked nimble in the pocket, often dipping the Royals rusher to pick apart their defense. Daniel Farag was the main beneficiary of Rose’s return, turning 4 catches into 97 yards and 2 TDs, including a 40-bomb over a discombobulated Royals secondary.

Although the Royals couldn’t outright stop their opponents, they did the next best thing, outgun them. Cory Pecker was on point in this game, completely 22 passes for 231 yards and 6 TDs. He comfortably resumed the role of championship QB that he left off in div 5 this past winter. His new favorite weapon, Justin McLean, began his latest assault on the WROY award by piling up 126 yards and 2 TDs on 6 catches. Lonnie Johnson and GM Kolethras chipped it with timely catches, combing for another 63 yards and 3 TDs. The switch to Justin Maclean at rushing gave them the change of tempo needed, as he raked up 2 sacks and pressured Rosenblatt into several rushed throws. A second half comeback attempt from Impeccable D fell just short on this night. However, Rose & Co. matched up well and should feel confident about a potential playoff rematch against the conference B juggernaut.

Weekly Fantasy Football:

Danny and I will pit our fantasy skills against each other in this section. The guidelines of the game are simple, each week we’ll select 1 QB, 3 WR, 1 2WAY and 1 DEF. The sole rule is that we can only pick a player once throughout the season. If someone’s player misses a game unexpectedly we’ll bar out that position for the week. The standard scoring will apply as follows:

QB: 25 pass yards = 1 pt, 1 pass TD = 4 pts, 1 INT = -2 pts

Receiving/Rush: 10 yards = 1 pt, 1 TD = 6 pts, 1 REC = 1 pt

DEF: 1 TKL = 0.5 pt, 1 SK = 2 pts, 1 PD = 1 pt, 1 INT = 3 pts, 1 TD = 4 pts

Points Allowed (0): 15 points

Points Allowed (1-6): 11 points

Points Allowed (7-13): 9 points

Points Allowed (14-20): 7 points

Points Allowed (21-27): 5 points

Points Allowed (28-34): 3 points

Points Allowed (35-41): 0 points

Points Allowed (42+): -3 points

Alex Danny

QB: Fred Mallette QB: Jordan Mitchell

WR: Kenneth Mitchell WR: Jeremy Anderson

WR: Lonnie Johnson WR: Jacob Bernett

WR: Samuel Phaneuf WR : Jordan Allard

2WAY : Justin Blanchard 2WAY: Laurent Ladouceur

DEF: Nuggets DEF: Blue Chips

Game of the week:

Royals (1-0) vs Bearskins (1-0)

QB: Cory Johnson vs Neil Etinson

This is the toughest of the matchups to predict. I believe that Etinson is the more battle tested of the two, and all things equal, I would favor him in this matchup. However, FPF isn’t played out in a vacuum and some guys get all the cool toys. With his outstanding receiving corps in line I give the advantage to Cory Johnson. He has the perfect pieces in place to execute his offensive style, and let’s be honest, it’s a beautiful style to watch unfold. While Etinson will be using his usual shake and bake shiftiness to evade the rusher and pick up chucks with crossing patterns, Johnson will sit back in the pocket, survey the field and deliver a feathery pass to an open spot of the field. I think he’ll have another field day similar to week 1, while Etinson will eventually be forced into the single critical error that will separate these two premier passers.

Receivers: Maclean’s Royals vs Papich and Bertoldi

I call it Maclean’s Royals because he’s the chief at the front of the pack leading the charge. However, closely behind him are a pack of ravenous, unhinged warriors about to ravage and plunder your village. It’s open season on opposing DBs whenever these guys take the field together. Don’t forget, Vince Nardone wasn’t even needed to make an impact in week 1. Papich and Bertoldi are two fantastic players, superstars in divisions higher than this one, but even these two can’t account for the depth of talent that they’ll be facing on Sunday.

Defense: Royals vs Bearskins

Despite all of their offensive frills, the same talent doesn’t translate to defense for the Royals. They are a capable bunch, led by a defensive guru, but they exposed their shortcomings in week 1 vs Impeccable D. Bearskins, on the other hand, a well-equipped and fine-tuned unit. Papich, Bertoldi and Libman form the triangle of death for opposing offenses, as the first two patrol the deep secondary while the latter swarms the shallow waters underneath. They’ll be in tough vs a receiving corps that goes 5 deep, but if there’s any team in this division furnished to slow down the Royals train, it’s these guys.

Prediction: 33-26 Royals

Power Ranking

Div C largely played out according to script in week 1, with only minor exceptions. Week 2 brings us some more interesting matchups. There’s bound to be some shuffling once the dust settles.

Backyard Bullies (1-0): Comfortably steamrolled a solid HFTH team this week. Brush your shoulders off.
The Commission (1-0): Didn’t expect them to demolish a strong Jagerbomb team THAT badly tbh.
Royals (1-0): Offense looked unstoppable as expected in week 1. Defense still has some questions.
Bearskins (1-0): Handled Red Wave with ease. Gonna need to bring more than that to challenge this powerhouse.
Junkyard Dogs (1-0): Gave NoName a stark reality check about the strength of div C defenses while letting the big boys know they mean business.
Blue Chips (1-0): That offense is looking SMOOTH! “Smothering” is the best way to describe their week 1 performance against a solid veteran team.
Friends in Low Places (1-0): Danny D’Amour channeled is best Russel Westbrook impression and dominated MVE. FiLP look poised and focused.
Nuggets (1-0): Showed us what they can look like at their best. Interested to see if they can do it again against a tougher opponent. Not this week though.

Weekly Awards

QB:

Jordan Mitchell – Blue Chips:

14/19 – 189 yards – 6 TD/0 INT – 144.5 QBR

6 rush for 77 yards – 2 TD

*Honourable mention to Sean Avraam – The Commission:

21/33 – 260 yards – 7 TD/0 INT – 127.5 QBR

WR:

Jordan Allard – The Commission:

8 catches – 106 yards – 4 TDs

DEF:

Marcus Mitchell – Blue Chips:

1 TKL – 2 INT – 2 SK

2WAY:

Danny D’Amour – Friends in Low Places:

14/22 – 178 yards – 5 TD/0 INT – 128.4 QBR

5 rush for 69 yards – 1 TD

4 TKL – 3 INT

Predictions

I don’t usually like to boast (except on days that end in “Y”) but I did pretty well this week, putting up a perfect score. Danny did alright also, only missing 1 game out of the bunch, not bad kid. We’ll call the forfeit a push and look to repeat our performance in week 2. For now, I pulled out ahead of the race on the opening leg.

Alex (8-0)
Danny (7-1)

Alex Danny

Texas Baremanz Red Wave

Royals Bearskins

Nuggets Nuggets

Commission Commission

Backyard Bullies Backyard Bullies

Home for the Hollandaise Home for the Hollandaise

Blue Chips Blue Chips

MVE NoName

Friends in Low Places Friends in Low Places

That’s it for this week! Week 1 of FPF is officially in the books, and week 2 is set to start up in only a few hours. See how fast it goes! Enjoy your time on the field because Spring season passes by in a blur. 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 div C content please check out the Calling the Audible podcast featuring GM and Justin, it’s a healthy dose of sophisticated silliness 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 2 shook out!