Categories: FallTier 3Tier 4

The 2022 Fall Cup: Money, Onside Kicks and Double Eliminations; Welcome Back!

Hello all and welcome back to one of the many FPF media outlets: The weekly articles. The one’s that glorify 10-0 teams, that cover the heartbeat of Tiers, recap games and give a true sense of what’s going in FPF. I’m Iggy Magnets and this time around, we’re doing things a little differently. We will still be focusing on specific Tiers (Tiers 3 and 4 – congrats, you’ve drawn me as your specialist covering your Tiers, and if you like my work, cool, and if you don’t, tell me what kind of segments you want to hear about), but new this year, I will also be touching base on Tiers 1, 2, Co-Ed and Women’s as well from week to week. This gives a greater reach to potentially read about your team from week to week and gives a chance for us writers to stretch out of bounds and snag in some highlights and mentions from outside our Tiers. It also gives FPF readers the chance to read other people’s work. Not a fan of Peeze’s long-winded story-telling roads into the psyche of the individual and ranting on politics and his dreams? Cool, come read my articles, your team might get a shout-out! This week I will concentrate on Tier 3 and 4 as I preview the season for all the teams, but there will be more league-wide content in future articles.

But the who the hell am I? I’ve been a more constant presence in the FPF media team since 2020 (quickly shudders), writing articles, on FPF’s Podcast, Calling The Audible and calling Championship games as a color analyst during the FPF Roadshow. It’s interesting when people ask if I’ve ever played football growing up, and the answer is no. I started playing touch football in, I wanna say, 2014, and only started playing flag in FPF since the Fall Cup of 2017, where there were spreads in games (Voodoo, you guys popped my FPF cherry, so thanks for being both delicate and rough) and I haven’t been able to shake it off the itch for more flag football ever since. I’ll also be at the fields more this year taking a few pics, vids, and asking players on the sidelines an “FPF question of the night”. Oh, and I’m on 3 teams this Fall Cup, so I’ll be looking forward to seeing you out there on the field. I’ll be hoping to take strides in my QB play in Tier 3 (Kiss my Inlaws), but will be going back to my more natural receiver set in both Co-Ed (Kiss My End Zone) and Tier 2 (Hot Sauce Sports),

Aight, enough talking, it’s time to dive right into the Fall Cup.

First thing, this year’s edition of the Fall Cup has some similarities to past seasons, but comes with some new wrinkles. Like past seasons, the Fall Cup comes with some $$$ on the line. Both the winners and runner-ups from the Finals will be awarded a cash prize. But new to this year, all teams will in fact make the playoffs, so you are guaranteed 9 games, but if you finish in (roughly) the top half of your Tier (as indicated in the standings as the teams in Green) you will be guaranteed to play at least 10 games since you will need to be beat twice in order to be eliminated after the 8 game regular season. If you finish in the (roughly) bottom half of your Tier (as indicated in the standings as the teams in Yellow).

The other addition this Fall season is the introduction of the “onside kick”. This one has been often proposed from players in the FPF Community when they’ve been given a voice in the Rules Committee week. It’s often been rejected, which puts it dead in the water for 2 years, but since FPF considers the Fall Cup a “trial” season for new things that can be implemented in the core Winter and Spring seasons, it was decided that 1 new rule would be taken into consideration for the Fall Cup. Because the onside kick has been a frequent ask, the Rules Committee met and considered every intricacy and football play that could result from it. It was then voted on, and passed clearance. The idea behind it was, when you are a team down 9 points with 4 minutes or so left in the game, and the opposing team has the ball, and they are chewing off every second off the clock and drain the clock all the way down to 0:00 and 5 plays remaining, the game is over. While that can still happen with the onside kick rule in play, even if you managed to stop the opposing offense, you probably only have 1-2 minutes left with the ball. Even if you score and convert for 2 points, you are still down a point and you are giving the ball back to the other team with 5 plays remaining, if not 4 plays remaining, which made your stop and score essentially useless. The game was over with 5 minutes left in the game. With the introduction of the onside kick, you can now comeback in that game down 9 points with 5 minutes left. You still of course, need to make a defensive stop and still need to score, but now you have a chance at getting the ball one last time.

Essentially, the way it works is that, after scoring a TD and going for your XP convert attempt, you can ask the ref to go for an onside kick (only once per game). You then, from your own 5-yard line, need to make it to half-field to convert the onside kick (roughly a 15-yard conversion). If you convert, you keep possession of the ball. If you don’t convert, the team defending the onside kick gets the ball at midfield. Here’s what some people didn’t quite catch. If you convert and get extra yards, let’s say all the way to their 10-yard line, your possession starts there. In fact, if you get into the endzone from the onside kick, you are awarded the 6 points for the TD.

Okay, while I like the new additions to the game, I’m a little bored writing about it as I want to get to the real juicy stuff: analyzing the Tiers and writing about what went down in Week 1

League-wide News and Notes

  • Ordered new jerseys? Make sure they get in on time for picture week in Week 2. Get your hair cut, your beards trimmed, and shine your (foot)balls, as photographers will be at the fields to take your individual (if you need one or want yours updated) and team pictures!
  • For the first half of the Fall season there are games outdoors. Remember, games are not cancelled with rain. Unless there is a torrential down pour, refs will only pause the game, but won’t cancel it due to rain. Games will only be cancelled/postponed in the event of lightning.
  • Remember to submit your roster online prior to your games!
  • The news that made the most headlines in FPF this week was the incident reported on the FPF FB page. Kendal Mayers went up for a ball and came down on his arm hard after being contacted by Marc-Andre Lapointe. There’s two camps on this. Some who believe that had Mayers not broken his arm on the play, the contact wouldn’t be so heavily scrutinized. Others say that without the contact, Mayers wouldn’t have broken his arm. Either way you want to lean on this one, I believe most would agree with this: we wish KD a speedy recovery.

Tier 3 Season Previews

  • Bruins – Look for the Bruins to be a top the standings all season. I wouldn’t be surprised if they finished the season as the #1 seed. Put Gab Wiseman at QB on any team in Tier 3 and he instantly makes them a contender to win the division. Then give him the weapons of Zach Zwirn, Tahnyus Steer, Jocelyn Calixte and Alexandre St-Arnaud, along with solid depth and big receivers in Nelson Pereira, Jerry Waskiw and Jarik Hurtubise, and there are no weaknesses on offense. The Defense too is a solid, with long-reaching, big bodies, they will be hard to move the ball against and will create a ton of turnovers.
    • Prediction Record: 8-0
  • Sulé Fess – Let’s hope they stopped their Division E shenanigans from the spring where they wasted everyone’s time forfeiting games 90% of their games. Otherwise, this is a good team, but have their weaknesses that teams can exploit. Francis Desrochers throws a good ball, but lacks the touch pass in his arsenal. Sometimes, the quick out doesn’t need to be a 100 mph fastball. Those that can catch those heaters though are Jérémie Gauthier and Vincent Benjamin, the clear WR1 and WR2 on the team. While they only allowed 6 points to Threat Level Midnight, they will have their struggles keeping the points off the board against many teams.
    • Prediction Record: 3-5
  • Arouch – Heyyyy the Arouch boys are back! I hope that means some Arouch on the podcast. My late-night hunger cravings aside, Arouch came out STRONG, beating up on Ravens 32-8 in their season opener last Thursday. That said, it was Justin Sarlabous and not Joel Houle at QB for Ravens, but it’s not so much the defense that impressed me as Arouch putting up 32 against a strong Ravens D. While Eric Lalonde is good, he and the Arouch squad are not known for easily putting up 30 points. That said, it appears they are bringing back multiple 300-yard receiver Simon Losier into the mix after only playing 1 game for Arouch this past Winter season. Watch for him and Bastien Phaneuf-Thibault to be a VERY strong 1-2 punch at receiver. I can see both in the top 15 receivers by season’s end.
    • Prediction Record: 7-1
  • Dime and Bougie – While they showed so much talent and promise in Division D last year, the way they ended their season left a sour taste in many people’s mouths. Getting UR’s and playing Quarterback roulette once their playoff game was out of reach. They started 5 different receivers at Quarterback on 5 consecutive drives and seemed like kids in a playground, upset that they lost and instead of taking the L. They are loaded with talent and are fun to watch when they are concentrated on playing football, so I hope we see more of that and less of the effin’ around. While it seems Gaspar Cernacek is not on this edition of the team, they have replaced him with free agent speedster Felix Boutet of the Dirty Dawgs from last Spring season. He made an immediate impact with 70 yards receiving and 3 TDs in his debut with the team. They are the type of team that will beat teams with little/no/same experience as them, due to their sheer athleticism, but will lose to more experienced teams, despite being more athletic than them.
    • Prediction Record: 5-3
  • Voodoo – What version of Voodoo will we see this season? They ended their Winter season with a heartbreaking overtime loss to Beer Belly Brigade in the playoff Quarter Finals. They started on a high-note so far, with a 1-point victory over a strong Bandits squad. Expect Patrick St-Amand to lead the way offensively, with Philippe Kotrbaty, Kevin Marcil and the returning Etienne Vaillancourt as very nice depth pieces to compliment St-Amand. Defensively is where Voodoo can get caught, so hopefully the return of Vaillancourt can shore up the D, as he already snagged an INT against Emile Skaf. I like the team and I like the schedule for them. Their true test will be the playoff run.
    • Prediction Record: 6-2
  • Lallimo’s 17 Year Olds – The Zeppetelli bro’s and company are back! Luca Leccese has made his name as a rusher and will look to cement himself as the WR2 after a strong campaign in Division E last season. The Big Fat Bat franchise were busy in the offseason, posting training camp receiver drills by the pool looking to add another receiver to the mix. It looks like they added Massimo Bourassa and Simon Sanita to the mix, both receivers with 3 receptions in their FPF debut. The question for this team will be whether they play better defense now that they aren’t playing against Division E offenses and can QB of the Year winner, Mathew Zeppetelli take the next stride in his QB progression and spread the ball as teams put their shut down corners on AJ Zeppetelli.
    • Prediction Record: 3-5
  • Killer Rays – I’m excited to see how Killer Rays progress in their FPF careers. After winning the Division 6D championship, they moved up into Division D, made the playoffs as a 9-1 team, but lost to the eventual champs in Peerless Scarred, a much more experienced team than them. KR have made the biggest strides from the lower divisions into the middle divisions in the past 2 years, so it’s time to see how they come back after facing some adversity. They started their Fall Cup campaign with the W against a tough Threat Level Midnight opponent. I’m especially excited because a lot of the teams they face this year are teams with much FPF experience, so it will be a good litmus test to see where they are in their FPF progression.
    • Prediction Record: 4-4
  • Voodoo – What version of Voodoo will we see this season? They ended their Winter season with a heartbreaking overtime loss to Beer Belly Brigade in the playoff Quarter Finals. They started on a high-note so far, with a 1-point victory over a strong Bandits squad. Expect Patrick St-Amand to lead the way offensively, with Philippe Kotrbaty, Kevin Marcil and the returning Etienne Vaillancourt as very nice depth pieces to compliment St-Amand. Defensively is where Voodoo can get caught, so hopefully the return of Vaillancourt can shore up the D, as he already snagged an INT against Emile Skaf. I like the team and I like the schedule for them. Their true test will be the playoff run.
    • Prediction Record: 6-2
  • Kiss My Inlaws – This should be an interesting season for Kiss My Inlaws. It’s a bit of a mesh of the Spring Div D and Div E team I played on, with returning players like Alexi Dubois, David De Andrade and Lucas Quenneville. Added from the free agent market is the veteran and solid 2-way player, Kenny Boutilier, rusher extraordinaire Zackary Alberts-Gill, and Mr. Bye Bye himself Marvin Steinberg. The team has high aspirations as the roster is solid both offensively and defensively. Can the team gel quickly in an 8-game season and make a run for the Tier 3 title. It was a good start against a strong Trapstars team, but the defense will need to avoid games where they give up 30 points.
    • Prediction Record: 5-3
  • Bandits – Ever since playing against this Bandits team last Spring, they might be my favorite team right now. Like the aforementioned KMI, they seem to have all the pieces on both sides of the ball to be a contender for a shot at the Tier 3 title. They have both a mobile QB with a very good arm who can score quickly when needed, or drive the field and chew up clock. They have one of the best snappers, and arguably the best snapper in the division in Manu Allard-Roy, with perhaps the 2 most underrated offensive cap-hit receivers in Sébastien Champagne and Zach Graveson. Both have 68.6 offensive ratings, which is just insane, as both are EASILY 73-rated players, if not more. Defensively, they have Mat LeBlanc who is all over the field and one of the speedier rushers in Ammar Jessa. They really do check off all the boxes, so it will be interesting to see if they can put it all together.
    • Prediction Record: 5-3
  • Blue Dreamers – It looks like Raffaele Morelli is gonna give another crack at the QB position. While he wasn’t great in the Spring season, I commend him for going at it again. It’s the only way to get better. I know my 2nd season was pretty and was going to give it up. I gave it one more chance last spring and with a few modified play calls, the game changed entirely. Peeze says this a lot, but if he can quarterback, trust me, a lot of people can, so good on Morelli for sticking with it. Having Anthony Siggia on the team will surely be his security blanket, and that was evident in Week 1 with his 8 receptions on 12 targets. That said, it looks like the roster will also have AJ Gomes, Bekim Borova and Alessandro Barazzoni who were all absent for the first game. If they fit the cap with those 3 on the roster and Morelli shows signs of improvement, this could be a dangerous team come playoff time.
    • Prediction Record: 2-6
  • Ravens – So I’m guessing Joel Houle’s rating got adjusted down to 77 to fit the Tier 3 QB cap. It’s not the most egregious thing I’ve seen, and while I think he could play and compete in Tier 2, I don’t think Ravens will completely blow out teams in Tier 3. They will be a strong team, especially with the return of Justin Sarlabous, who is a much better receiver than Quarterback as he proved in Week 1. They have added a few new names to the roster like Christanis Meril Banzouzi, Kevin Hébert-Pedulla (of the Cavalier du Rohan franchise) and Marc-Hubert Déry-Jutras, so let’s see how these pieces fit in as the season goes along. Ravens will be looking to get back to the Finals as last Spring was the first time they didn’t make it in 3 FPF seasons (they made it in Spring 21, Fall 21, Winter 22** — They technically were not in the Winter Finals, but were leading Ballz Deep with 1 minute to go when they gave them the win, since they could not be physically present for the Finals).
    • Prediction Record: 4-4
  • Trapstars – Trapstars have a tough schedule, but look for them to run the table after starting the season 0-1. Perhaps they lose to the Bruins in Week 7, but I can see this team finishing with a 6-2 record. They have Division 1 talent playing on the team and have a nice 1-2 punch at QB with Ryan Garber and Cooper Young for any double-QB plays they want to execute. When Jonathan Steinberg isn’t there rushing, James Wiseman is a serviceable replacement and can make plays on the offensive side as well. The team has both blinding speed and great hands, but when matched up against a big-bodied teams like Ravens, Arouch or the Bruins, that might pose them some troubles.
    • Prediction Record: 6-2
  • Warriors – Warriors have been in and out of FPF and have always been a team that relies on their athletics to best their opponents, so the question is whether teams that have accumulated consecutive seasons of experience, a team exactly like their Week 1 opponents in Bandits, have an upper hand. Well, we got our answer, a loss to them in which they were doubled-upped doesn’t have me very surprised. Bandits can match them athletically and have come to understand the spacing in FPF a lot quicker than what Warriors have shown. Don’t get me wrong, watching the backyard football style of the Warriors is fun. Adam Rabinovitch can stretch the field, Mitch Fergenbaum can juke you silly, and Benji Ziegler‘s smash out on the goal-line is as undefendable as they come, but teams with more experience will have an upper-hand on them.
    • Prediction Record: 4-4
  • Why So Serious? – Why So Serious have 2-3 games on their schedule in which they will be competitive. Unfortunately they had to open the season against Dime and Bougie, who are just a nightmare matchup for them. Frank Teoli-Colatrella needs to stop deciding where the ball is going when he is calling a play in the huddle. He needs to design, or reach out to the community, for plays where by literally looking at the defensive players, dictates where you throw the football. As was discussed on Episode 1 of CTA, Frank can throw a football. The improvement needs to come from the play calling and the decision-making. Now, it’s not all on Franky‘s shoulders here… if the defense is allowing 52 points, you’re making it incredible difficult for any QB to win you a game. Look, everyone makes the playoffs, so the “pressure” of “must win” isn’t exactly there like it is in the Spring and Winter. So everyone needs to commit to improving: the communication, reading plays developing as DBs and safeties, the reading of the defenses, etc. Build the season towards getting better and making a splash in the playoffs.
    • Prediction Record: 0-8
  • Threat Level Midnight – Alright, it’s Mat Domon time! TLM like to alternate seasons at QB between Mat Domon and Jo Lemieux and having played with and against Domon, this is the best version of Threat Level Midnight. We discussed on Episode II of CTA that given their difficult schedule, the 0-2 hole they jumped out too would be hard to climb out of to become a double-elimination team come playoff time. That hill looks even steeper now that they dropped their Week 2 matchup against the Bruins. Both Domon and Julien Proulx were not there for TLM this past Thursday and when that will happen during the course of the season, they will not be winning many games. I am arguing that they are their 2 most important players since they represent the speed needed to compliment the bigger bodies of Simon Richard and Alex Guertin. It seems they will replace them with the Lindor brothers, Patrice and Jackie which are nice pieces, but one’s that have not played much with the TLM franchise. The chemistry will need to gel over the season to see if they find a successful gameplan that can win them playoff games.
    • Prediction Record: 1-7
  • Lockdown – Lockdown will be an interesting team to follow. The GM that is Eagle had to revamp the roster after losing John Michael Anfossi and Rhys Morgan-Tracy. Want to replace a stud rusher who is also a tall and fast receiver in Rhys? Normally I would say goodluck, but damnit, Eagle did it again. While Julien Paiement may not have the height of Rhys, he definitely has the speed and has the pedigree as one the ELITE rushers. Paiement also brings more offensive awareness that comes with playing in over 200 FPF games, most of which have been in Division 1/2. We will need to see how the Caron “Twins” and Jan-Michael Sobczynski can contribute to this team, but Eagle has brought back the reliable pillars in Max “Gronk” Newcastle, Steven Alberico, Buck Aneer, along with the steadily improving Louis Messier-Lavallee who looks to make the jump as an impact player for Lockdown.
    • Prediction Record: 2-6

Tier 4 Season Outlook

  • TuneSquad – Between Garner Ross and Adam Antel, TuneSquad has decided to go the Demons/Michia route and Ross has benefited so far as the leading touchdown receiver, tied with Ben Arnovitz with 2 TD’s each. Expect these too, along with Dylan Merovitz and Max Arnovitz to lead the way offensively. What has always plagued TuneSquad has been their defensive play. They are off to a good start by forcing 3 turnovers in 2 games and Avi Korman‘s 3 sacks are a definite assistance to the defense in forcing teams to convert on 3rd/4th and long. They will need Korman to keep up that pressure. If the defense can give Adam Antel a stop or 2 (4 and outs/punts), along with 1-2 turnovers, Antel has shown that he is capable of putting up 3-4+ scores in this league to post the W.
    • Prediction Record: 4-3-1
  • Red Dragons – A lot of this season will fall on the shoulders of Guillaume Boulanger. Last Winter, he was able to put up 29 TDs and 1345 passing yards, which are very nice numbers in a debut season to FPF, however the 16 INTs are a stat line that needs to drop if he wants to see more success. Especially if he will be without their start receiver from the Winter in Samuel Cantin. That said, Lucian Leontiev and Charles Beauchemin are back and will need to be the leading receivers to help the entire offense gain confidence. Newcomers Théo Leblanc and Tommy Caetano will look to make an impact offensively with their combined 98 yards and 2 TDs in their opening 2 games. While the team reminds me of a EZW team in the making, they are still very raw and like those early EZW teams, the defense is a gaping hole. In their debut season in the Winter, while they averaged 25 points a game, they were allowing 30 points per game. Tier 4 seems perfect for this team, who will face a mix of new and experienced teams, which is perfect for young teams developing in FPF. They display that raw talent against athleticism against newer teams (35-0 W over Deep Ballz) but will leave humbly when losing to more experienced teams (52-14 L to Primetime). This allows you to recognize that while you aren’t bad, you need to work on your flag game.
    • Prediction Record: 3-5
  • The Penetrators – How did Justin Goodman, after a season with 45 TDs, a 76% completion and 1500+ passing yards, not boost his QB rating over 69? While I love the rating system for all its glory, it’s not perfect, and there will often be some exceptions that fall through the cracks. This is a cheatcode team in Tier 4 and a Title-or-bust season for The Penetrators. Nicholas Fon and Jared Boidman have emerged as the team’s top receivers, but don’t underestimate Goodman in how he spreads the ball. He has definitive trust in all 5 receivers that are on the field and has that elusive scrambling ability when team’s decide to play a man defense. Defensively, the team isn’t known as a brick wall, but will now need to show that after 4 seasons of playing together, that they can shut Tier 4 teams down. Holding a strong WIB 2.0 team to 19 points is a good start, and will need to show that over the course of the season.
    • Prediction Record: 7-1
  • Save The Turftles – The classic “staying with your core team, but with a different QB” option. It’s cool that Vincent Cheung wants to give the QB position a shot, but there’s no doubt in my mind that after accumulating experience in now his 5th FPF season as a receiver, he will excel. He’s the type of player that draws in information extremely well and efficiently, and he’s shown that to be true in his first 2 games, posting 11 TD’s over 420 passing yards, in addition to 50 yards on the ground. I recall his first game with the Save The Turftles gang because it was against me. While the remainder of that Spring 2019 season he played receiver, he played Quarterback in the first game of the season and I remember being impressed, despite putting up only 12 points. You could tell there was potential for this team to be good, and they’ve put up many successful seasons so far, but are looking for that elusive championship. The rest of the team is the same: Great hands, fast, quick, elusive and play the ball well defensively. This is a Tier 3 team with a (rating-wise) a Tier4 QB, but one that has experience and the wits to do very well.
    • Prediction Record: 8-0
  • Primetime – Primetime have a lot of weapons to be successful in FPF, I think they just need that 1 veteran piece that can glue it all together. The core of Alessio Muro, Daniel Spina and George Zergiotis first started out in Spring 2019 with the Bozy Boys and showed they can be a menacing trio at receiver, combing for 31 receiving TDs and 949 receiving yards. They saw most success under that QB, Pierre-Luc Dussault, who has never come back to play FPF. They then moved on with Bozy Boy teammate Nick Richard, to build Primetime in the Winter of 2020 with him as Quarterback. They took Division E by storm and finished with an 8-2 season before Covid shut the world down. While Zack Stacey was the clear #1, the trio of receivers once again put up good numbers, 15 TDs and 740 receiving yards between the three of them. My point here is that the core of the team are very competent offensively and can carry a team on their backs. Though, since losing Nick Richard as their pivot, as well as Jacob Soles from the Winter season, they’ve turned to Daniel Spina and there’s been some mixed results. They can clearly beat teams with lesser experience, and even teams with a bit more experience where they have the athletic edge, but their 4 losses (including playoffs) from the Spring season tell me exactly who they will struggle against. Luckily for them, there aren’t too many teams like that in Tier 4, especially with Ethan Adrian and his blazing speed, which he uses both on offense and defense as a rusher (already 4 sacks on the season).
    • Prediction Record: 5-2-1
  • QB Roulette – The wheel is back baby! Or is it? Kenny Boutilier took all the snaps in Game 1 of their season. Have they moved away from a first half/second half model and gone to games where they start and stick with 1 QB for the entire game? Has the team given the reigns to Kenny “Baws” Boutilier as full time QB? We’ll have to tune in each week to find out, but he already improved his 2:1 TD-to-INT ratio to 3:1 and completed 60% of his passes, all while remaining a force on the ground with his 54 rushing yards. Like most quarterbacks will tell you, you are only as good as your receivers, and with returning receivers Zackary Alberts-Gill, Vincent Barsalou, and Sébastien Lamy, the receptions-to-targets were a lot tighter than what we saw last Spring. While the offense will still be in a learning curve, the teams defense is their calling card. Zack Alberts-Gill will eat Quarterbacks up in Tier 4 and even if he doesn’t get the sack on a play, he will cause errant throws from opposing Quarterbacks, which will be ripe for the picking (off).
    • Prediction Record: 3-5
  • WIB 2.0 – I’ve only ever heard the name Skylar Bayliff, which, is a pretty bad ass football name, but still haven’t seen him play. I believe he’s more built as a receiver, but he’s giving QB a go with the West Island Boys, version 2.0. We see this team with mostly returning players from the Winter version of the West Island Boys, minus Nick Richard at Quarterback, but with the addition of Nic Di Maulo at receiver. Him, Julian McLaren-Thompson and Zack Stacey will look to be the trio leading the way at receiver, while Miguel Espinosa will need to be ready for the running Quarterbacks in Tier 4 and be ready put pressure and force balls to be thrown off opposing Quarterbacks’ back feet for his DB’s to pick off. While they have started 0-2, they’ve played the toughest competition in Tier 4 so far, and have been competitive in both games. I’m not worried about this team, they will go, in my predictions, 5-1 in their next 6 games.
    • Prediction Record: 5-3
  • Deep Ballz – There’s not too much pre-info I have about this team, other than I have played against Bruno Provencher as a Quarterback when he subbed in for Glogang. He is a competent Quarterback throwing the ball and can escape the rusher for runs downfield. When he’s given a great set of receivers like Glogang have, he can win football games. Losing 35-0 against Red Dragons in Week 1? Doesn’t seem too promising, as he went 4/18, 0 TDs, 3 INTs, and 0 passing yards… That’s not easy to do in FPF, but a lot of those negative passing yards are not his fault, as there were multiple bad snaps that went over his head. The snapping issue will need to be addressed for the Week 2 matchup against QB Roulette, and the rest of the team will need to realize they have the whole season to understand the game and improve. Everyone makes the playoffs, so let’s see how they go from Week 1 to Week 8.
    • Prediction Record: 0-8
  • The Step Bros – Pranav Sharma is coming off his debut season as the full time quarterback of the Pillow Talkers. While he had a decent season, he also wanted to stack his roster and have 3 or 4 other quarterbacks throw passes, which ultimately led to multiple forfeited games. Now that I believe he and the team have a much better understanding of the cap, he can go ahead and concentrate on improving his QB play. First, the guy can run, which is a great option when defenses cover your plays entirely, but my word of advice is that he shouldn’t design plays around the run or quickly bail his reads and rely on his legs. The ball can move much faster from arm to receiver than by running with it. He needs to trust the play calls and ensure that when his primary receiver is covered, that it means his secondary receiver is open (which also depends on whether the plays are designed that way). Now that this is his 3rd season in FPF, and the Step Bros’ 2nd, as a team, this is an important step for him to take in his FPF career. Losing to a veteran team now in their 5th FPF season in Save The Turftles is not a shame; that team is good. They should beat newer FPF teams, be competitive with semi-experienced teams like TuneSquad and QB Roulette, but will be hard-pressed against teams like WIB 2.0, Save The Turftles and The Penetrators. With The Penetrators on their last game of the season, it will be interesting to see how they fare after another season under their (flag) belts.
    • Prediction Record: 3-5

If you’re like me, and you like coffee, this short, 4-second video is for you.

Week 2 Game Picks – Tier 3

My Picks are in Bold Green

Threat Level Midnight vs. Bruins

Sulé Fess vs. Arouch

Lallimo’s 17 Year Olds vs. Ravens

Trapstars vs. Warriors

Killer Rays vs. Dime and Bougie

Bruins vs. Bandits

Lockdown vs. Voodoo

Kiss My Inlaws vs. Why So Serious? N/A

Week 2 Game Picks – Tier 4

Red Dragons vs. Primetime

QB Roulette vs. Deep Ballz

WIB 2.0 vs. Save The Turftles

TuneSquad vs. The Penetrators

The Penetrators vs. Save The Turftles

The Step Bros vs. Deep Ballz

Epilogue

Well, that does it for the first article of the season! I know a lot of you were wondering where the first article was, but the next one’s will be on time 😉 Feel free to reach out to me on socials @iggymanz or Ignacio Valdes-Manzanedo on FB messenger. Good luck to all in the FPF Cup!

Want more FPF? Here’s Week 2 of CTA with Peeze hosting and myself as part of the rotating cast this season!