Quarterfinals Preview: Low Seeds, High Potential  

Well, that was quite an exhilarating start to the playoffs, wasn’t it? Round 2 figures to bring us even crazier resul—no, no there’s simply no way that’s possible. It really can’t get any crazier from here on out. Not after an opening round that saw, in Division 5A: all four top seeds lose in Conference A, and two upsets and a top seed that barely hung on in Conference B; and in 5B, two upsets – among them an 8-seed beating a top seed – in Conference A, along with two more upsets in Conference B. Eleven of the 16 total Division 5 games were decided by a single score.

But the fact so many low seeds remain doesn’t mean the next rounds will be any less exciting. We are sure to see more unlikely heroes reveal their capes, more stars shining on the field, and more hard-fought battles coming down to the wire.

To BMS Goats, Tomahawk Nightmare, Team Rocket, Watch Me Whip, Get On Deck, X-Men, Trapstars, Top Sauce, Flying Weasels, Les Pitriotes, Rednecks, Weapon X, Blue Devils, Les Guerriers de l’espace, Takeover and I Rep That West, thanks for playing.

Time to take a look at what the quarterfinals have to offer us.

 

Predictions

5A Quarterfinals

Conference A:

Dope Boys (5) vs. Blackshirts (8)

Previous meeting: none

Dope Boys couldn’t have picked a better time to get going on offense, scoring over 26 points for the first time since Week 6 – which also came against Tomahawk Nightmare. The question now is whether they can repeat that performance for a second week in a row against a tough Blackshirts squad.

To Dope Boys’ advantage, it’ll be tough for Blackshirts to really gameplan for this one. QB Eric Lalonde is coming off a game in which he completed at least one pass to eight different receivers (that’s an entire squad for some in the league). Between Felix Menard, Xavier Comtois, Ridwan Abdur and Robbie Dejean, the Blackshirts’ D will have its hands full figuring out who to key on.

On the other hand, it’s pretty evident that victory runs through Dylan Taylor and Brendhan Birch for the Blackshirts. Given the proven consistency of those two receivers, coupled with their underrated abilities on defense, I think Blackshirts pull off the upset for a second straight week.

 

Supply and Command (6) vs. Gators (7) (N/A)

Previous meeting: none

I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting to be writing this preview. Not after both teams started the season off 0-3, and certainly not after seeing SnC drew heavy favorites Top Sauce in the divisional round while Gators had to overcome a solid Watch Me Whip team. 

Yet here we are.

Despite technically being underdogs given the seeding, Gators have reason to be confident heading into this week. Eddy Martinez and Evan Cook are two-way studs for this team, and they have been in FPF for quite some time.

We also can’t forget QB Corey Walwaski, who has experienced a complete turnaround since his five-interception performance vs. Obamacare back in Week 7. Walwaski tossed 18 TDs to just 7 INTs to close out the season before last week’s 4 TD, 208-yard showing – good enough for a single-game career-best 109.5 QBR for Walawski.

We always knew this defense was one to be feared, and now their offense is peaking at just the right time. That doesn’t bode well for me.

 

Conference B:

Les Verges Folles (2) vs. Flagrant Fouls (5)

Previous meeting: none

As much as I wouldn’t be surprised to see LVF winning this one, I just can’t trust them to do it, especially not when there is such a strong case to be made for Flagrant Fouls.  

Let’s not even consider how sluggish Les Verges Folles’ offense has been for all but about three games this season (don’t even let their 25-point showing last week fool you – two scores came via interception returns). 

Flagrant Fouls, meanwhile, have been solid on both sides of the ball in recent weeks, and Ross Olshansky in particular has found his groove throwing deep. Led by the recent emergence of receiver Matt Leblanc (16 catches in his past three appearances for over 300 yards and 8 TDs), I could easily see Olshansky putting up big points throwing to him, Zack Goldstein and trusty snapper Marty Freedman.

All Olshansky has to do is avoid throwing in Vincent Morrissette’s vicinity, he who has nine total picks on the season. That may be easier said than done, but I think Olshansky is up to the challenge.

 

Obamacare (1) vs. Sphinx (6) 

Previous meeting: Obamacare 26, Sphinx 6

The last time these two teams met, the ever explosive Jordan Mcinnis went off for four TDs on six catches as Sphinx did not have starting QB Etienne Cloutier for the entirety of the game. That was back on January 18. Over two months later, I think we’ll be seeing some Déjà vu come Saturday night. Despite this past week’s win over Team Rocket, Sphinx’s offense still awaits to hit the 30-point mark on the season. That’s not to say that doing so is a requirement to win games in FPF, but it definitely improves your chances against an offense as dangerous as Obamacare’s.

This is when you point out Obamacare’s only loss of the season was by a score of 20-18 to Les Verges Folles. But as strong as Sphinx have been defensively, I can’t see them holding Obamacare to the same score. Les Verges Folles had the athleticism to match-up with the likes of Mcinnis and Andrew Hopkins, along with a pesky rusher able to disrupt Jake Applebaum in Samuel Chenier. Sphinx rusher Olivier Ouellet has had an amazing FPF career thus far, but he also hasn’t faced many QBs with higher division experience like Applebaum.

I’m expecting the jump ball kings to continue their dominant run this weekend.  

 

5B Quarterfinals

Conference A:

St. Lunatics (4) vs. Ghosts (6)   

Previous meeting: Ghosts 12, St. Lunatics 6

This is one of the most interesting matchups of all of Division 5, if only because these teams haven’t only faced each other already – they did so just two weeks ago. It was a defensive battle from start to finish, and considering defense has been a strong suit for both these squads all season long, I wouldn’t be surprised to see another low-scoring affair the second time around. The key will be who can adjust better now that they know each other’s tendencies, it’s as simple as that.

Considering how close the first matchup was, and given that this is the playoffs after all, this one is a toss-up in my book. However, having been the more consistent team overall on the year, I’m giving St. Lunatics the edge, especially when considering Michael Sanchez’s one-touchdown performance the first time around was quite the anomaly for a QB who tossed 34 overall this season.

 

Junkyard Dogs (2) vs. Creamsicles (8) 

Previous meeting: Junkyard Dogs 40, Creamsicles 18 

I tip my hat to Creamsicles for pulling off the upset and taking down Takeover by three scores in the opening round of the playoffs. That being said, Junkyard Dogs are no Takeover.

Jason Rossie and company tore a hole through the Creamsicles defense the first time these two teams faced off back in Week 2, and though Creamsicles have greatly improved since then, I don’t think they’ve improved enough to really keep pace with Rossie’s high-octane attack.

Any hopes of an upset rests in the hands of rusher Andrew Farrell. Farrell sacked Rossie twice the first time around, but equally let him go off for 67 yards and a score on four rushing attempts, while he had little trouble finding the end zone through the air thanks to great field position following strong defensive stands. I have trouble seeing Farell suddenly shutting Rossie down completely. And that means a big game is sure to come from any combination of Hugo Allamanno, Joseph Sifakis, Jordan Rossie, Alexis Stropiano and Bruno Lajoie.

Simply put, I think this is the end of Creamsicles’ Cinderella run.

  

Conference B:

Small Giants (2) vs. Green Lantern Corps (5)  

Previous meeting: Green Lantern Corps 25, Small Giants 18

Their first meeting back in Week 4 was the first sign that the Small Giants’ offense was human so to speak, having averaged over 40 points a game over the first three weeks.  

Led by rusher Emile Piche, Small Giants QB Justin Lerner found himself struggling to get into much of a rhythm be it throwing deep or short, having completed just over half of his 33 pass attempts.

Lerner will be facing that same stingy defense this time around. But to make matters worse for the Giants, they’ll be taking on a rejuvenated offense behind QB Jerson Previlon. 

If there’s one thing the GLC offense has going for itself with Jerson at the helm, it’s his connection with long-time teammate Mendy Cardichon. Indeed, that connection saw Cardichon show out for 8 receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown versus a stunned Rednecks defense this past week.    

Put it all together, and there’s a good chance GLC move on to the next round.

 

Sunshine Island (1) vs. Fuzzy-Kittens (6)

Previous meeting: Sunshine Island 36, Fuzzy-Kittens 20

Much like St. Lunatics’ matchup with Ghosts, Sunshine Island vs. Fuzzy-Kittens part II takes place just two weeks since the teams went head-to-head in the regular season finale.

That game saw Sunshine QB Matthew Cinquino leave the Fuzzy defense speechless to the tune of 200 yards for 6 TDs.

Unless Fuzzy make the bold move to put the shifty Simon Bosquet Beaudoin at rusher to match Cinquino’s mobility in the pocket, I don’t see Fuzzy getting revenge here.

Sunshine have the weapons in place to score and to score often – something that’s not quite Fuzzy’s style given their usual ground-and-pound approach with underneath throws to SBB and Gabriel Poisson.  

Unless Fuzzy are able to record some key turnovers and capitalize on them early, I think this game’s result will be more or less what it was the first time around.

 

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That’s all from me this week. As always, be sure to tune in to this week’s podcast at www.youtube.com/flagplus. Best of luck to all remaining teams!