Rollercoaster Of Emotions

If you are an NFL fan, you must have felt the same feeling I had over this last week; like Christmas morning as a kid running down the stairs to open up all my gifts. What a week it’s been for the NFL! Free agency frenzy is one of the most exciting few days that I’ve seen in all my years watching football. Obviously we are aware that Rodgers signed his deal, but what came as an absolute Woj-bomb, would be the breaking news of star Wideout Devante Adams being traded to the Las Vegas Raiders! As a Rodgers fan, I won’t lie, I’m completely gutted writing this article right now. How do you tell your fan base & everyone else in the league, that you are in win now mode, yet trade the best wide receiver in the game? It just doesn’t make sense to me!. In my eyes, the compensation for Adams was completely ridiculous. You wouldn’t even be able to pull off this kind of trade when you’re playing madden franchise mode. Just to put things into perspective, Jamal Adams was traded to the Seahawks for 2 first round picks… Devante Adams’ price was set at 1st and a 2nd? Really? For the best player at his position!  I get it, college teammates reuniting, lots of excitement and for good reason, as we have seen this trend have some success over the past few years,  most recently with Burrow/Chase. However, isn’t the main goal to win? You were playing alongside Aaron Rodgers, arguably the greatest thrower in the history of the NFL!  The Packers have consistently been in smooth sailing mode by about week 13 every year, with Rodgers/Adams putting up absolute video-game like numbers while doing so. All this, to leave for the 4th best QB in the AFC West? Really? I guess we’ll have to wait and see if his production level will be the same. My guess is that it wouldn’t, but after every move that’s been made this past week, what the bleep do I know? My pain goes out to all Packers fans out there, absolutely disgruntled, over the events that occurred. March 17th will always remembered as the day #17 left the Green and Yellow. 

Moving onto the world of FPF, we saw quite a few upsets yet again over this past week! The season is finally starting to heat up, and I’m all for it! The FPF GOTW was filmed by FPF’s very own Chris Rivest (IG: Para.digm.productions). Flying under the radar because he’s a super humble dude, Rivest is unquestionably THE BEST when it comes to getting behind the camera. I’m sure I can speak for many when I say that we are lucky to have him a part of our team! He takes you deep into the details of the game, always producing great angles, and his editing skills are off the chains! If you’re looking to find 7 minute and 57 seconds of football entertainment, look no further than this week’s GOTW! I promise you won’t regret it! Video can be found through the following link : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MYjN1G56Gg  Plenty of surprises came out of week 3, so let’s not waste anymore time sending Chris his flowers, let’s get started!

Division headlines

• Silent Ticklers played back to back games this past week, and didn’t let it phase them one bit! Winning both their games made a huuuuuge contribution towards their chances of making the playoffs! Jordan Pannetta cleaned up his turnovers, and as a result…2 dubs!  
• Killa Bees took care of business with newly acquired Quarterback Jeremie Mongeon-Duby, as they not only beat Les Gros Coqs, but going 23 for 26 and 7 Tds will definitely raise some questions…Questions, such as when did you take the super serum, and is there any more left? Have a day, Jeremie!
• Nicolas Schaefer took care of business for Mangoose, as he orchestrated a comeback win over the Bearskins. Neil Etinson’s squad is downward spiraling, and their lack of execution in the second half certainly brings up questions of concern.
• EZW vs Expendables proved to be one of the best games of the year this season, as Carmine Pollice was able to engineer a late comeback win. However, it’s important to note that EZW’s QB Jeremy White, did not play in this game. 
• Junkyard Dogs finally got back to their winning ways, as they were able to cool down the Feugo Thor’s Hammer. Both QBs combined for a total of 565 yards, and 13 touchdowns. Fireworks, to say the least. Dawson Pierre is quickly becoming a universal problem within this division. 
• Touch It Catch It were able to steamroll their way through Les Maloudes. Tici’s Defence really came to play, as they balled out and left a doughnut on the scoreboard! Impressive stuff considering Flag football is an extremely offensive league! Nice to see the defence stepping up and proving yet again, that defence always wins championships!
• Watch out! If you blink you just might miss it. By miss it, I mean the rise to stardom, and slowly creeping into the conversation for QB of the year. Yes, you probably guessed it, Mr Stephan Harripersaud had yet again a clean sheet as he sliced and diced his way to a win . Blessed is looking like a well oiled machine, and a large part of their success is due to their QB play. 
• With all that being said, Sheeeeeesshhh is still that team. Both offensively and defensively, this team remains relentless in their pursuit for success. Each player contributes significantly on both sides of the ball. Having weapons all over the field  will constantly cause mismatches, and you better believe Andrew Langburt will find ways to exploit them. 

Game Recap 

EZW vs Expendables 

Coming into this game, I would be lying if I said I saw Expendables pulling off the upset. EZW’s roster is loaded with talent. Most notably would be their standout QB/DB Jeremy White, who was not in attendance for this game. You can only imagine the difference that made for this squad. On the flip side, you got one of FPF’s longest tenured QBs to play the game in Carmine Pollice, an extremely cerebral Quarterback who is no stranger to making the impossible, possible! 

The game began with the defence of EZW coming to play, as the game began with an INT thrown by Pollice into the arms for Samuel O’Connor Cassar of EZW. Relief QB Nicolas Blais led his team down the field, capping off an 8 play drive with a TD pass over the middle to Jean-Christophe Ferland. This was followed by a successful as Blais found Charles-Olivier Lavigne for the 1 Point convert, 7-0. 

Shortly afterwards, Carmine wasted little to no time getting his team back on track, as he was able to deliver a DIME, right over the outstretched arms of the DB, to his Stud receiver and former STL QB Dylan Taylor (Who went UP for it!!). The once upon a time gunslinger was able to outrun the final defender and get in for the score. Unfortunately for EZW, this wasn’t the last time they would see Taylor in the endzone. This TD was followed up by a smooth out route by Andrew Carruthers for the 1 point convert, 7-7. 

Blais seemingly remained cool, calm, and collective as the game progressed. Driving EZW down the field for another long drive, this one going for 8 plays. Blais was able to use his legs to buy some time, as he jabbed left, rolled right and found his boy Maxime Boucher-Cyr open for the Score on a drag route. Felix Leger was able to run a back of the endzone-in from the wide right position to add another extra point to the scoreboard. 14-7, EZW. 

Giving Pollice all that he can handle, EZW’s defence brought the Expendables to a fourth down and goal situation. Most of the time, if you can stop a team 3 times at the goaline, the defence’s confidence/momentum is through the roof!  Defences are usually capable to hold it down for one more play to complete the goalline stand. Little did EZW know, they were going up against a Hall Of Fame QB. It’s fourth down, so you obviously understand that there is going to be some heavy communication involved amongst teammates on whether or not they want to switch off or stay with their man. Being the HOF QB he is, as soon as the ball was snapped, Pollice gave a quick peek to the Middle defender,  understanding that he has a relatively fast snapper in Ryan Dobbs and if the middle defender Etienne Laurence-Gervais wasn’t going to follow him, he’s gunning the ball in there for the touchdown. The ball was snapped, middle defender stayed out, and Pollice was able to take advantage of the defensive miscues. Those are the results of well executed reads. The following extra point was no good. 14-13,EZW

The following drive for EZW went smooth, real smooth. Kind of like the smooth criminal himself, Mr Charles-Olivier Lavigne. Ladies and Gentleman, if you are reading this, stop what you are doing, and just go watch the damn play (2:50). This man caught a drag and did some houdini-like work to reach paydirt. Now, this my friends is where Chris Rivest, the producer of this film, comes in to really flex his muscles all over the place. The editing on this play is absolutely SICK! He creates these Doctor-Strange-esk portals, removing Lavigne from the field while the video is progressing. Lavigne appears shortly back into the game, where he just does some nasty footwork right in front of the camera (again, the angles fellas! The detailllsss (*Insert Marc Ingram voice*)). Lavigne manages to dip & dodge his way through the Expendables defence, for what might be a candidate for play of the year! XP no good, 20-13, EZW.  

With only four plays left before the half,  Carmine unfortunately wasn’t on the same page with his Wide receiver, and threw a pass he wished he hadn’t. He expected Dylan Taylor to run the comeback, but as mentioned earlier, Taylor was feeling it this game. Forsure thinking of all the Randy Moss highlights he watched growing up, Taylor saw the glory, & kept running the go instead of pumping the brakes and sitting in the zone. 

This resulted in Jean-Christophe Ferland making a huge play for EZW, as he stepped in front of the throw, Picking off Pollice. As he’s running down the sideline, he gives the last defender standing in his way a little In-and-Out burger that not even some of the best flag defenders could have stopped. Enormous turn of events as EZW was able to head into halftime up by a score of 26-13. 

As the second half began, EZW looked like it was as though they picked up right where they left off, driving down the field. As they got to the redzone, the TSN Turning point occurred. Ryan Perry, delivered what seemed to be a goal line bone crushing INT. I mean, I’d probably wake up next tuesday if I got hit over the middle like that, which is why I play QB! This served as an instant motivation boost for this Expendables team who were desperately needing their first turnover of the game, and they finally got it. 

Using the momentum to their advantage, Carmine wasted no time getting his boys back into this one, as he found Taylor once again down the sideline for one of his 7 receptions he had on the night. Dylan managed to tiptoe his way into the endzone, putting this game back within arms reach.

The next couple of drives were quite sloppy for both teams. We saw each team exchange a couple of turnovers, some dropped passes  that were placed perfectly into the bucket, some mishandled snaps, etc. Kendall Myers even showed up on the statsheet, recording a late game sack to force a punt. We all knew this game was most definitely going to the wire, it was just a matter of who was going to end up with the ball last with a chance to win the game.  

With only a few plays left before the end of the game, Pollice rallied his troops down the field, eventually finding his number 1 target once again in Taylor for a beautiful throw! Right over the defender’s arms for a much needed score. Game is now 26-25, EZW.

PLAY. OF. THE. GAME. 

Pollice, proved why he’s got ice in his veins, and that he’s been doing this s*** for years now! Filming this scene was so powerful because Rivest takes you into the huddle and we get to chime in on the call. “We’re Going for 2.” says Pollice. Talking to his teammates in the huddle, he specifically tells his wide right to run to the back pylon of the endzone, urging him to not be lazy and sit at the first cone. This puts the Corner in a bind, as he has no choice but to respect this. Justine Edwards stands tall at 6’5 probably, I am willing to put money down indicating that this man forsure has a couple of windmill dunks left in him. What does Pollice do next? You guessed it! Go back to what’s been working best. For him, that would be the connection he had with Taylor, which is exactly where he went. He tells Taylor to run an out route and “Don’t sit on it, just go” to the first cone. This creates an easy over/under read for the quarterback and allows him to manipulate the coverage with his eyes.Ball was snapped, using his eyes to move the defenders, Pollice was able to connect with Taylor for the easy pitch and catch XP. (Little bobble, but hey!)

The Expendable defence held off EZW’s final straw, as Ryan Dobbs picked off Blais. Running down the field, raising the ball in the air, for what seemed to be a walkoff pick 6.  Blais had other plans however, as he made a diving attempt to deflag him and actually got to him. Dobbs must have forgotten this wasn’t Co-ed!

All in all, this was an epic game to watch! Major props to Chris Rivest on the film! Significant win for this Expendables team, & big shout out to the performances from the QB/WR duo of Carmine Pollice to Dylan Taylor. I bet you’ve never seen these 2 in the same room as  Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, have you!

Players of the week! 

QBs

• Jeremie Mongeon-Duby

Going 23/26, 268 yards, 7 touchdowns, 1 INT, 88.5% Rate, 133.2 QBR.

Woah! This is NOT the kind of number you should be putting up in the first game being inserted as QB1 for the Killa Bees! Let’s see if he can maintain this level of play moving forward. Nonetheless, impressive stuff my man! 

• Jason Rossie

21/24, 295, 7 Tds, 1 INT, 87.5% Completion rate, 140.1 QBR. 

That’s one way to bounce back! Great to see Rossie get Junkyard Dogs back into the thick of things, as he produced a great stat line. BIG win over one of the juggernauts of this division. 

• Stephen Harripersaud 

23/26 197 yards, 6 TDs, 0 INT, 84.6% Completion rate, 127.7 QBR. 

Don’t look now, but putting himself right back into the conversation for QB of the year is the stone cold killer himself! Harripersaud handed Lightweight a light L, and did so in commanding fashion. Whenever I see such a clean stat sheet like this one, it tells me one thing; LOCKED. IN. 

WRs

• Adam Rosen

The Chosen Rosen had one hell of a night! Catching 9 of the 10 targets he received, for 115 yards and 3 scores. HAVE. A. DAY! Silent Ticklers were waiting for this kind of breakout performance from their stud athlete. and they finally got it during the first game of their double header. Way to go, Adam!

• Dylan Taylor 

As mentioned during the game of the week, my guy BALLED out! Dylan Caught 7 of his 10 Targets, for 112 yards, and 3 scores. Here’s the thing, if you get two QBs playing on offense together, it’s either going to be fireworks or a blood bath.In this case, if Taylor can keep taking advantage of the zone coverages certain teams throw at him, there’s no telling how many TDs he can finish with this season! Way to go, Dylan! 

• Alexandre Masseau 

All Masseau Fantasy owners were forsure smiling from ear to ear over this one. Not only did he rip it playing QB for the Killa Bees in recent weeks,, but switching over to WR, and having the day he had? Are you serious? Alexandre caught all 13 balls thrown at him, for 193 yards and 5 Touchdowns! FIVEEEE!! That my friends is unheard of at the wideout position!! I’m sure it’s been done, but haven’t seen or heard of it being done in a while. I tip my hat to you, Alexandre! 

DBs

• Jean-Christophe Ferland

Appearing all over the statsheet, Ferland finished the game with 2 tackles, 1 PD, and a momentum shifting Pick 6! This man is an absolute ballhawk, and QBs should consider looking the other way from here on out. If Ferland can keep posting these kinds of results, Imagine what their defence will look like when they get their franchise player back? Regardless, hell of a game, Jean-Christophe! 

• Jared Boidman

Boidman was all over the field for Sheessh in their blowout win. He was able to get 4 tackles, 2 Pds, and an INT! It’s nice to see a newcomer on this list! It goes to show that Langburt doesn’t mess around with his recruiting, only wants the best! Gotta respect it. Great game, Jared! 

• Daniel Mancini 

Strictly making this list because he has the coolest name in this league! Daniel played back to back games on Saturday night, and was able to get an interception in each of the games he played in. What’s even more impressive? The fact that one of those INTs were taken to the house! Atta boy! Take notes, Dobbs!!! Nonetheless, way to Mancini! I expect to see your name more often in this list, as teammate Tanner Burrell wouldn’t stop raving about how boosted their defence is. With performances like these, it definitely paints a picture!

Power Rankings 

1. Sheeeeeesh: Defeating their opponent in a blowout fashion, you love to see it. 
2. Blessed: Harripersaud is single handedly carrying this team to the promised land. Another 0 INT performance, so impressive.
3. Junkyard Dogs: Moving up 3 spots, JD took down a top 5 team, and earned their spot on this list!
4. EZW: Giving up 2 point convert to lose the game certainly stings. I expect Jeremy White to be back in action and EZW getting right back on track 
5. Touch It Catch It: Starting to get on a hot streak! A lowkey 26-0 win, and another clean Statline by Fred Mallette. 
6. Thor’s Hammer: A loss to JD is something Jeff Rosenblatt would certainly want back. Rematch in the playoffs? Count me in! 
7. Expendables: Moving up 5 spots on the list, Carmine Pollice orchestrated a come-from-behind win that just might be the game they remember when they look back on the season as the biggest turning point. Huge momentum for this team moving forward. 
8. Silent Ticklers: Moving up 8 spots on this list, ST balled out this past week! Back to back wins are tough to achieve, y’all deserve to pad yourselves on the back. 
9. Killa Bees: Everybody noticing the trend? This division is starting to swing around and it’s completely for the taking! Moving up 5 spots, newly acquired QB Jeremie Mongeon-Duby proves to be the right man for the job moving forward! 
10. Past Our Prime: Losing a tight one to Silent Ticklers. Always comes down to turnovers!
11. Mangoose: Big win over the Bearskins. Clean game by Schaefer. Shoutout to the Performance of Marc Antoine Chaput! 7/9 100 yards and 2 scores! Sheesh! 
12. Bearskins: The bad news? 2 game losing streak. The good news? Weak division means it ain’t over till the lady in the red dress sings. Get it together, fellas!
13. Les Gros Coqs: Dom Lefort is realizing that teams are adjusting to his offense, let’s see if he has any other tricks up his sleeve. 
14. Speed Academy: Emile Plante throwing 3 INTs will never win you any games. Ever. Clean that stuff up! 
15. Les Maloudes: Losing a couple of games in a row, this team needs to come together and play more as a team, or else their season might be slipping away from them. 
16. Lightweight: Whenever Simon decides he wants to clean up the turnovers, this team would start winning games, mark my words. 
17.  Oompa Loompas: Young teams tend to usually struggle vs the best in the league, it’s normal. They should try and ask Langburt to get the film of the game, as embarrassing as it was. Film won’t lie to ya!

Week 5 schedule 

 Oompa Loompas Killa Bees

Blessed Past Our Prime

Mangoose Thor’s Hammer

Expendables Silent Ticklers

Les Maloudes Blessed

Junkyard Dogs BearSkins

Touch It Catch It EZW

Thor’s Hammer Expendables

Les Gros Coqs Touch It Catch It

Sheeeesh Blessed GOTW!!!!

Well, that’s all that you’re going to get from me this week, Folks. I would highly suggest  you all go to watch Monday night’s game of Sheeesh vs Blessed @ Hebert 10pm. As of now,  we’re looking at an absolute dogfight for that first place seed. This game should answer many questions I have for this division, and I’m excited to see what happens. I would like to wish everyone a healthy and enjoyable weekend, best of luck to all your games! 

As always, I can be reached at [email protected] or any social media platform should you choose to roast me about any of the topics I covered. 

Thanks for tuning in!