Round 2 Playoff Preview: The Great One Before The Great One

Fine, so perhaps technically there weren’t upsets with an “s”, but rather just one this past week – the fifth-seeded Predators’ take down of the fourth-seeded Monstars. And, okay, maybe you can argue that Round 1 wasn’t all that memorable considering all but one of the five Div A/B games were decided by two scores or more.

Even still, FPF playoff football is here.

The pressure is on. The stakes are higher. The girlfriends are filling up the stands. If you were at the fields this past week, you know what I’m talking about.

And now with just one game, one win separating teams from a shot to win it all on Championship Sunday, everything is set to culminate in one epic semi-final round of action this weekend.

And if my short FPF career has taught me anything, it’s that oftentimes these semi-final games are usually the most tightly contested battles of the season. 

I really shouldn’t have to say much more – if you’re not hyped at this point, you’re playing the wrong sport.

 

(Rapid-Fire) Recap

The Goloff the Game is to Win 

It was a game that never should have been played in the first place – Legends showed up with five eligible guys plus Darnell Lovelace (who only played three games for Legends all season). Instead of forcing Legends to forfeit/play with five guys, Maniax allowed Lovelace to hit the field, and boy did they pay for it dearly. Lovelace himself didn’t have a big game (2 catches for 6 yards and a TD along with a PD on defense), but trust me when I say an extra body on the field makes a huge difference. That and the proper attitude. The Legends were dead set on coming away victorious in this one, as Cory Pecker sliced and diced the Maniax defense like it ain’t nobody’s business led by a big game from Daniel Goloff. In the end, the Legends did exactly what they set out to do while Maniax are still kicking themselves for having allowed it to happen in the first place.  

 

6+R – 2 V > BearSkins – (Papich + Peterson)

We were missing the Div B QB of the Season and All-Star centre Marc-Antoine Viens. They were missing Sacha Papich—still recovering from a brutal leg injury— and Jacob Peterson, who was probably off channeling his inner Rory Mcllroy somewhere. The result was, well, pretty lopsided. Dean Demetriou filled in admirably in place of Fred Viens as the 6+R offense didn’t seem to miss a beat, while on the other hand Neil Etinson could do little else but throw the ball up to Marco Bertoldi and hope he came down with it (which he did 4 times for 92 yards and 2 touchdowns). A tough way to end an otherwise solid effort by BearSkins this season.

 

Sean Who?

I swear, Broccasion had been planning this all week season, son, Alonzo Harris style (if you didn’t get the reference, you missed out on a sick movie): first, they throw the ball a kazillion times to Sean Brophy in the regular season. Then, come Week 1 of the playoffs, boom! They have Kyle Lebofsky come down with 5 TDs like it’s nothing. 

There was little Tony Tabet could do to respond, with the Wolverines missing leading receiver Eric Kavaldjian and chain-mover Raffi Kozanian. Still, I’m not sure Wolverines win this game even if they had shown up – Phil Cutler was simply in his zone on Sunday night. 

 

Revenge is a Dish Best Served Predatorily

I know the title doesn’t make any sense, but whatever, you get the point: Monstars beat Predators back in Week 2, Predators returned the favor when it counted most – in the postseason. This one played out just about how I expected it to if Ryan Aridi didn’t suit up – a sputtering offense for Monstars (3 picks by Rod Mashtoub, a single touchdown scored in either half), and a defense missing a game-changing rusher (kudos to Stanley Milfort for filling in on Sunday and the second half of the season, but Ryan’s simply on another level), as J-Flo did pretty much as he pleased in this one. 

 

One Play Away From Madness

This one was supposed to be a cakewalk. Darksiders’ escape on Sunday resembled more a magician’s act.

When I said last week that anything could happen, even a Raiders championship run, it wasn’t for show. I was serious – sometimes you have to realistically consider even the craziest of outcomes when the postseason rolls around. In Div B, the craziest possible case was a Raiders upset of top seeded Darksiders.

 And it was oh so close from actually happening. 

After stumbling out of the gate with some early drops on their opening offensive drive and giving up a 40-bomb to Nicolas Gendron-Vallée on their first defensive snap of the night, Raiders quickly recovered thanks to Sean Kennedy bailing out the team on 3rd and 4th and long situations drive after drive. 

Trailing 26-25 with just minutes left to play, the Raiders’ Zach Godstein gave his side a chance at the night’s biggest upset with a big red zone interception. But alas it wasn’t meant to be, as Leon Holder would end up being picked off himself a few plays later to end the game. 

The madness is just getting started. 

 

Players of the Week

Division A:

QB – Cory Pecker (Legends): 21 for 28, 189 yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs. Cory Pecker sure picked a good time to have his best game of the year.

WR – Daniel Goloff (Legends): 8 catches for 82 yards, 2 TDs. I love seeing guys lay low all season long (Goloff had just 8 catches for 68 yards and 3 TDs on the season heading into this game) and then absolutely go off in the playoffs. Just because you don’t get many targets in a season doesn’t mean you can’t ball.

D – Sean Kennedy (Legends): 2 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PD. When you record the only turnover in the only game of the week, you get the nod.

 

Division B: 

QB – Dean Demetriou (6+R): 16 for 23, 205 yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs. Few in FPF can step in as the starting QB for the first time in over a year and have that kind of performance, and in a playoff game no less. 

WR – Kyle Lebofsky (Broccasion): 6 catches for 81 yards, 5 TDs. Please don’t ball out on Sunday, please don’t ball out on Sunday, please don’t ball out on Sunday.

D – Nicolas Gendron-Vallée (Darksiders): 4 tackles, 1 INT, 1 PD. He may not have finished with the best overall defensive stats, but come playoff time a single play is often the difference between moving on to the next round and going home – and NGV made the biggest defensive play of all this past week when he picked off Leon Holder on the game’s last play to seal Darksiders’ narrow victory. 

 

Picks of the Week 

Division A semi-finals:

1) Roosters & Donkeys vs. 4) Legends

Previous matchups: Roosters & Donkeys 43, Legends 25 (Week 5); Roosters & Donkeys 49, Legends 12 (Week 10)

Now, what gives me hope that this game will actually be close is the fact that the R&D defense did not see Pecker take the field in either of their two matchups in the regular season, and Legends as a team may be coming off their best performance of the season.

But let’s keep it real here. R&D are still 9-1, still the best overall team in Division A, still boast the two-way player and defensive player of the season, and still remember that they allowed Legends a halftime lead back in Week 5.

And let’s not forget that it remains to be seen whether Legends will even have six eligible guys show up.

 

2) Montreal’s Finest vs. 3) Gladiateurs 

Previous matchups: Montreal’s Finest 54, Gladiateurs 47 (Week 5); Montreal’s Finest 67, Gladiateurs 34 (Week 10)

 If there’s one team in Division A not named Roosters & Donkeys who actually have a shot at taking down the Finest, it’s the Glads. That doesn’t mean I think they’ll actually succeed, however. Picking up Paul Lapierre a few weeks into the season has provided a great boost to an offense that already featured decorated FPF veterans Alex Lever and Pat Jérome.

What worries me though is the defense. In this season’s biggest games—that is in their games against R&D and the Finest—the Glads have given up a whopping 211 points for an average of nearly 53 points a game. The most recent of those was a Week 10 loss to the Finest in which they allowed a ridiculous 67 points. 

Unless Frank Lebeau’s offense scores on literally every single drive, I have a tough time seing the Glads finishing ahead in this one.

 

Division B:

Darksiders vs. Predators

Previous matchup: Darksiders 41, Predators 34 (Week 9)

Oh baby, what a matchup. Peeze’s Darksiders vs. J-Flo’s Predators, Round 2. Darksiders got away with one last time these two teams played, with Predators essentially blowing a three-score lead and giving Peeze every reason to keep his hate parade of J-Flo’s QBing abilities marching on.  

But that was in the regular season. In the playoffs, it’s a whole new ballgame. 

The key for the Preds will be simply to keep unforced errors to a minimum. Miscues on 3rd and 4th downs are what held them to a lone touchdown of the second half of their first game versus Darksiders. 

Otherwise, the talent is obviously there. I’ve been raving all year about how their roster is one of the most athletic from top to bottom. It’s to the point that Vinny Gualano’s ankle injury may not even make that much of a difference for the Preds offensively considering how well Floreani has spread the ball around to his receivers — all of whom have made big plays all season long. 

But I can’t say the same about losing a healthy Vinny on defense. I know first-hand of Gualano’s shut-down corner abilities, and if he’s not 100% that opens the door to some big plays from top Darksiders receivers Nicolas Gendron-Vallée, Jon Lyristis and Marc-André Lapointe.

And that, ultimately, is what may prove to bring about Predators’ downfall this Sunday night.   

  

Broccasion vs. 6+R (N/A)

Previous matchups: 6+R 38, Broccasion 24 (Week 2); 6+R 39, Broccasion 38 (Week 6) 

*** 

As always, be sure to catch the Div A/B podcast “The Sack Exchange” with Moe Khan and Matt Kirouac on the FPF YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/flagplus every Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. or on demand at the same link afterwards. Don’t forget that you can always reach me on Twitter @JBlanchFPF or by email at [email protected]. See you at the fields!