Playoff Push Begins; Power Rankings and more

Welcome back everybody, the second half of the season is here, and the playoff races are starting to heat up.

Last week’s article was all about the Mid-Season All-Stars. Based on some of the feedback that I got, you guys seemed to like not only the article itself, but my picks for each respective category. For those of you that did not, once again, remember that those were only my choices for the halfway point of the campaign. You guys still have another 5 weeks to stand out and force me to take notice of your skills, and potentially find yourself on my End of the Season All-Star list.

Speaking of all-stars, Joseph Kano of PB n’ Jelly showed confirmed this past week why he was my mid-season pick for QB of the Year. He sliced and diced the Fourth and Twenty defense to the tune 185 yards and 6 touchdowns.

Kano wasn’t the only QB who stepped up this past week, as David De Andrade (Tip Top Shape), Marc-Antoine Douillard (Trojans), and Matthew Bondoux (Goon Squad) each threw for at least 5 TD passes in their teams’ victories.

The Wide Receiver position was no different, as Kyle Tanzer (Gamecocks), Vincent Alessandrini (Nighthawks), and Georges Elie-Voyer (Diablos) had their usual solid receiving nights, while some under the radar players like Jean Sebastien Rochon (Diablos), Daniel Bornstein (Gronky Kong), and especially Thomas Mascarenhas of TDs and Beer, and the N.W.O’s Domenic Benevento really opened some eyes with their play.

My pick for mid-way Defensive Player of the Year, Victorious Secret’s Giovanni Bavota had another strong game as he recorded 8 tackles, 2 INTs- one of which he ran back to the house vs Gronky Kong. Giving him a run for his money for best defender with his spectacular play once again, was Spartans’ Defensive Back Daniel Hernandez, who did a phenomenal job of shutting down stud Ravens’ Wide Receiver Marc-Antoine Vallée. He held the second year WR to a paltry 1 catch performance. Yes the grab was a 33-yard TD, but at the end of the day, Vallée’s squad still got beat by 2 TDs, so it didn’t really matter.

As I said at the top, play time is over, the chemistry-building portion of the season is now done, and teams should now have their focus set on the big picture, the playoffs races begin to take shape. Besides the playoffs, this is arguably the most exciting time of the football season. Big players and under the radar ones start to make even more players, while contending teams start to separate themselves from the pretenders.

 

Top 3

Marc Belhomme Jr. (Tip Top Shape) – The FPF veteran, and my old teammate, Marc Belhomme Jr., still getting it done, as he led his team in both catches (4) and TD grabs (3) in his team’s blowout win over Team Laval. His experience, knowledge, and production have been an asset not only on the field, but off it as well to his new team.

Johnny Montanaro (Victorious Secret) – The Victorious Secret pivot had as many touchdown passes as incompletions (4) in his team’s big 32-12 win over Gronky Kong. Not all of Montanaro’s passes were pretty, but he did more than enough to get the job done, especially in the accuracy department, where he had as many TD passes as incompletions (4).

Matthew Bondoux and Simone Marzella (Goon Squad) – The dynamic duo helped their team pull off the 31-9 blowout upset over the heavily-favoured Smokin’ Axolotls Sunday night. When Bondoux needed a big play, he found Marzella who was able to find openings in the opponent’s zone defense. The QB and WR combo only connected 4 times, but the damage was more than enough as they put up 71 yards and a game-high 3 TDs. More importantly, it helped the team earn a much needed victory, and propelled them into a playoff spot in Conference A.

 

Step It Up

Jean Guy – This is a veteran-laden team that really dropped the ball on three fronts Monday night in their loss to a rookie Gamecocks team. Firstly, the loss, now puts the freshmen team one game back of Jean Guy for 2nd place in Conference B. With the Gamecocks now holding the all-important head-to-head tiebreaker, the L could definitely come back to haunt J.G at the end of the regular season.

Secondly, the loss prevented Jean Guy from moving into a tie for 1st place with PB n’ Jelly who are still the class of Conference B at 6-0, but also now remain a game up on J.G. These two teams square off in Week 8 in what will an important showdown between the Conference’s best offense and defense. Due to the loss against the Gamecocks however, it would be safe to assume that a loss to PB n’ Jelly in the aforementioned matchup would all but giftwrap 1st place for the friends of sandwiches everywhere.

Finally, the Jean Guy offense once again wasted another great effort by their defense. The struggles on the offensive side of the ball have gone on all season long. To put it into perspective, only 4 teams in Div. 6 have scored less points than J.G this season (117).

Charles Hébert (CMS Laval) – You can’t blame the team’s defense for their 18-8 loss to the Bricksquad, as they scored 2 of the team’s points via a safety. The main culprit was QB Charles Hébert who struggled badly, going 9 of 28 for 97 yards, 1TD, and 4 INTs He finished the game with a Ryan Leaf-like 15.6 QB Rating. Ouch.

Smokin’ Axolotls – Here’s another veteran team that seemingly wet the bed this past week as they lost to a heavy underdog as well. What makes the aforementioned 31-9 loss to the Goon Squad so puzzling, is the fact that the Smokin’ Axolotls were only down 12-9 at the half. S.A just looked like they gave up in the second half as they looked flat and uninspired on both sides of the ball.

Although there were a few drops by his WRs, QB Jordan Rossie had by far his worse game of the year, as he missed throws and didn’t see wide open targets. He did record an interception on defense, but that seemed to be the only thing that went right for the FPF veteran on an otherwise horrible night.

To make matters worse, the loss knocked them out of the 8th seed in Conference A, where they are now 1 point behind the Goon Squad. As is the case with Jean Guy, their opponents now hold the valuable head-to-head tiebreaker should these teams finish with identical records at the end of the regular season. A win would have given them the tiebreaker, and would’ve put them 3 points up on G.S. I expected a lot more out of a veteran team like the Smokin’ Axolotls. Step it up boys.

 

Matchups

Simon Laporte (Jean Guy) versus Michael Sanchez (N.W.O) – It appears that not being named the mid-season rusher of the year got under the skin of sack master Simon Laporte. He went out and tried to prove me wrong this past Monday night and had a Jared Allen type performance against the Gamecocks by picking up 2 sacks. (Congrats to the Rhinestone Cowboy on a great career!)

This week Laporte and his team (Jean Guy) take on one of the top rushing QBs in Div. 6, in Michael Sanchez and his N.W.O squad. In their sole meeting last year, Laporte had 2 sacks, but Sanchez shined even brighter, as he went an impressive 14 of 18 for, 136 yards, 4 TDs, and 1 INT, in an N.W.O 24-13 Week 2 victory.

This should be an intriguing matchup because not only can Sanchez beat teams with his legs, but in the past, he has incorporated a rushing attack in his offense to slow down speedy rushers, by handing off the ball to teammates who line up beside him in the backfield. Much to the surprise of virtually everybody including yours truly, the team hasn’t run those plays this year. Will we see its return this weekend, especially if Laporte sacks the N.W.O QB early and often?

Charles-David Martel (Spartans) versus the Tip Top Shape Defense – I could easily put this as Martel vs David De Andrade, but firstly, the Spartans plays both sides of the ball, and more importantly, I don’t want to disrespect the T.T.P who are having an incredible season so far (more on them in a bit)

Since Martel plays two positions, Tip Top Shape needs to watch out for him on both sides of the ball. On defense he leads the league in sacks, and will without a doubt use to pass rush skills to will harass the aforementioned De Andrade and try to get him to get rid of the ball early. Martel’s long reach, might also make straight-line deliveries over the middle a little bit more difficult for the T.T.P Quarterback.

On offense, Martel leads the team in touchdowns, and is third in receiving yards. You have to imagine, that he will draw coverage either from De Andrade who leads his team with an impressive 5 interceptions, or the combo of Defensive Backs Salem El-Jam or Ricard Martelly. Whoever covers the Spartans WR will not have an easy task, not to mention the presence of other Spartan WRs, namely Andrew Grant and Alexis Bessette.

Marc-Antoine Vallée (Ravens) versus the TDs and Beer Defense – Yes, I am going with another WR vs DBs matchup, but you can’t ignore the talent or the stats on this one.

Vallée, the Ravens’ leading Wide Receiver, comes in tied for 2nd place in the receiving TD race with 10. As I mentioned earlier, he was also shut down by the Spartans’ defense Saturday night. Tomorrow, he will have a chance to redeem himself, as he will take on a secondary that has 13 takeaways, including 5 DBs who have at least two INTs. Yeah, things aren’t exactly getting any easier for him, but he’s an elite WR, let’s see how he responds.

 

Power Rankings (As promised last week, this is the first edition of the Power Rankings. Because this is Div 6, I will give my choice for the division’s top 6 teams.)

Tip Top Shape

The best team in the league continues to show exactly why they are just that. As I said last week, their 5 remaining games are all against tough competition. They handled their first test with ease, with a 36-7 beat down of Team Laval. The tough test (perhaps their toughest of the entire season, takes place this Sunday in Lachine at 11, when they take on the Spartans, the result of that game will have a huge impact on the standings.

PB n’ Jelly

The offense juggernauts continue to steamroll defenses, as they nearly dropped another 50 burger in consecutive weeks, with a 42-14 win over Fourth and Twenty. Next up is the Nighthawks before taking on two really good defensive teams in Jean Guy, and the aforementioned Tip Top Shape. Expect the carnage to continue this week.

Spartans

Yes, Jean Guy has a better record than the Spartans, but strength of schedule plays a huge role in the power rankings as well. This team flat out makes plays on both sides of the ball. After struggling to start the season with back to back losses to lesser teams, since Week 3, the Spartans have seemed to find their groove, and haven’t looked back. They have won 4 straight by at least 10 points. If they are able to knock off the number 1 ranked team this Sunday, you have to like the Spartans’ chances of taking over the top spot.

Jean Guy

A tough loss to fast-rising Gamecocks team puts Jean Guy at number 4 on the list. The next stretch of games for J.G will be crucial as they take on the N.W.O this Monday in St. Leo, followed by even tougher contests with PB n’ Jelly and TDs and Beer, before wrapping up the regular season against the Nighthawks. J.G will need to at least win 2 of those games to stay on the list.

Team Laval

Yes, they did just get annihilated by Tip Top Shape (who hasn’t this season?) but they do have impressive wins over TDs and Beer, and the Diablos. Team Laval has a pretty favourable schedule remaining with their toughest game coming against Sabrfc this Monday at 10, followed by the streaky Trojans the following Saturday. A move up the rankings is definitely possible for the team from Laval.

Gamecocks

The Gamecocks scored the upset victory over Jean Guy, and come into their game this Monday night winners of 4 straight, and have a really good chance of making it 5 wins in a row as they take on a lowly Gronky Kong squad. Defense is definitely the name of the game for these guys, as they have allowed as league-low 18 points combined over their last 3 games.

 

Picks

Ravens vs TDs and Beer – TDs and Beer                 

Trojans vs Goon Squad – Trojans                              

Diablos vs Smokin’ Axolotls – Diablos                                      

Tip top Shape vs Spartans – Tip Top Shape (*My pick for Game of the Week, and maybe Game of the Year)                                       

Bricksquad vs Fourth and Twenty – Bricksquad                                  

Gamecocks vs Gronky Kong – Gamecocks                                            

Sabrfc vs Team Laval – Sabrfc                                     

PB n’ Jelly vs Nighthawks – PB n’ Jelly                                   

CMS Laval vs Victorious Secret – CMS Laval                                         

n.W.o. vs Jean Guy – N.W.O

 

That’s it for this week! Be sure to tune into Division 6’s weekly podcast ‘Super Flag Bros’ featuring Peeze, David and Antonio. You can stream it live between 7:00 pm and 7:30 pm every Thursday, or watch it at your convenience afterwards. https://www.youtube.com/flagplus

 

If you loved the article, hated it, or simply felt I left something out, don’t be shy. You can shoot me a tweet at @BADNEWS51, or hit