The Final Curtain Is Soon Upon Us! Week 9 Recap. The Final 2 Weeks Commence!
A lot of ends are happening. Venom: The Last Dance was just released not too long ago, the last season of a fantastic show called ARCANE is coming out this weekend on NETFLIX, and we only have 2 weeks left of our FPF season! It seems like just yesterday that I was writing my introductory article for CO ED and had no idea who all these teams were. Fast forward 10 weeks and it’s been an amazing ride watching so many teams rise and fall, being able to highlight some fantastic players, and watching the community grow! For those of you who end up reading this blurbs every week: Thanks a Bunch! It’s always awesome when article writers get feedback on what they’ve been putting down, and I know although it’s time consuming, the FPF writers do it because we all love this league! Don’t forget that Registration for the Winter Season opens Monday November 10th, so don’t forget to check out the article on the main FPF page that details some basic information!
With all that thanks and love out of the way, let’s go back to being sworn opponents and check out where things have fallen for the division! There have been shake ups in the last few weeks, proving that no one is safe! Teams are currently fighting for that last spot above the elimination zone, and while KISS MY HUGS currently is holding steady, the question is: can they hold it until the end!? Next week I’ll review some of the Playoff dates and playoff spots to see who gets a BYE week and who has to fight for their chance to take on the best, but for now, let’s focus on what happened last week and what Week 10 holds…
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“WHAT’S THE 411 ‘HUN”:
- Watch out everyone, BULLS are on a 2-game win streak! It took them a bit of time to find their groove, but with the addition of Gabriel Wiseman at QB helping them sort things out and slowly being able to adjust to the FPF style of play, they have been able to sneak out some wins before the end of the season. It is a shame that they had to forfeit their game against SHOW ME YOUR TDZ though. I think that could have been a competitive game for them, and had they won, they would have been at 6pts with the chance to maybe get 8pts, climbing out of the elimination zone and into the playoffs – especially since their last game is against BALLS AND DOLLS! Gabriel Wiseman was able to show off his running game in their last game and scored 2 big TDs to help them take the lead over LE ROI DES CARTES who needed that win to keep any hope of their playoff dreams alive! Things also may have gone much differently had LE ROI DES CARTES not thrown an INT to Samantha Bernard on their last possession of the game! Overall, BULLS have put on quite a show and have given the upset to a few teams this season, so congratulations! Their last opponent will be BALLS AND DOLLS who will be looking to get their 8pts (assuming they take a loss against BACK THAT PASS UP). Will the BULLS be able to stop more playoff dreams? Let’s see if they have 1 more upset in them.
- KISS MY HUGS did not come away this week with a warm fuzzy feeling. I thought they would have won against AT LEAST WE TRIED AGAIN and was a bit shocked that they were kept to a mere 9pts! They unfortunately, were still without Frank Kaye, who I heard has sustained an injury to his throwing hand!? If this is true, this could really impact not only their playoff run, but also their ability to continue climbing the ranks! They bounced back against NO PUNT INTENDED however, and made it a closer game than I thought it would be, putting Devin Daost at the QB position. Devin is a hell of an athlete that can play pretty much any position, so having him switch to QB might be the key to winning a few more games. For now, the HUGS sit in the #12 position, holding the line of the elimination zone with 6pts! With 2 games left, they need at least 1 win to ensure that the cut off of 8pts is maintained and are able to stay ahead of the pack. Luckily, their games are against HOT WINGS – a team who has yet to win a game – and LA SECTE, a team looking for a miracle to gain the necessary points to advance! Good luck HUGS! You can afford no mistakes!
- KAMIKAZE and NO PUNT INTENDED are still going strong! Both of them have 8 games played and 8 games won! However, thanks to KAMIKAZE’s low points allowed, they have officially taken the #1 spot from NO PUNT INTENDED! In the long run, I’m not convinced that the difference between the #1 and #2 spot matters much though, since the top 4 teams will all get a bye and won’t face each other until the Finals anyway. KAMIKAZE had a win against TIGHT ENDS, a team who have been struggling to find a win again despite having some players that have been able to put up some good stats: Jordan Carpanzano, Natan Nettel, and Eva Tzanetakos, to name a few! NO PUNT INTENDED won against the aforementioned KISS MY HUGS, pushing Sanders into the #1 QB spot due to his 5 Rushing TDs! Both of these teams are a force to be reckoned with and should both have an easier week this week before facing off against the last teams who may have a chance to end their undefeated streaks! It’s hard enough to have 1 team go undefeated in a division, but I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen 2 teams pull off that feat! Kudos to both teams so far, DONT LET UP!
- I know I haven’t talked about this team much and I truly believe they have flown under the radar to some extent, but MEAN MACHINES have come away with another win, making them 6-2 and giving them the chance to hop into the #4 spot depending on what happens next to the TOTs! They have an exciting game against LES GRANDS CHUMS this week and finish their season off against LES RANCEURS, who is a team that has been on a 4 week win streak and show little signs of slowing down! Even if they lose both of those games, MEAN MACHINES are at no threat of missing out on the postseason, but it would mean they would have a harder playoff run than necessary. With 21 TDs in 6 games, Christophe Desroches is setting a good pace and shows that he can make any game interesting, especially seeing that they only lost by 4pts against the current leaders – KAMIKAZE! MEAN MACHINES have impressed with their ability to spread the ball and have such a depth of receivers! Despite Xavier Parent leading the charge with 8 TDS, Marilou Grenon (5 TDs), Emmanuelle Desroches (5 TDs), and Élodie Martel (4 TDs), all have impressive offensive performances! Not to discount Xavier Parent – he is currently the leading defensive player in the division with 12 INTs and 4 of which he returned for a TD! All this to say, we shouldn’t underestimate this team who has been lurking right underneath the top 4 for some time.
- BALLS AND DOLLS!!! They had 2 very important games this week that they needed to win, if they wanted to put their best foot forward in getting out of the elimination zone! They were able to triumph over HOT WINGS to give them 6pts, but were unable to pull one over LES GRANDS CHUMS. They have to face BACK THAT PASS UP who are currently on a 3 game win streak, and will be one of the harder games they’ve had this season. I expect them to unfortunately lose this game, but it will really be their last game against BULLS that I’ll be paying attention to! Regardless of all this, even if they do win against BULLS, and KISS MY HUGS lose the rest of their games, it still might not be enough to get out of the elimination zone since KISS MY HUGS will win the tiebreaker with them.
- CHEFS BANDITS have been given a scare this week with their loss against TONIX. Needless to say, I may have expected them to lose, but it would have been interesting to see if another upset could have been had. However, now they find themselves in a bit of a sticky situation! If too many teams can actually get to the 8pts i’ve been talking about, and BANDITS end up losing their last 2 games, they could actually find themselves in the elimination zone! That is a crazy thought to me, especially since they have great players in: Sebastien Simon and Dimitri Melsbach, who both have had great offensive and defensive showings this season! In their next 2 games they will have to face: LES RANCEURS, a team I spoke about earlier who are definitely no pushovers! They have the ability to put up some big points and have been on a win streak. This game should be hard fought, but not impossible to win! If they do find themselves with another loss after LES RANCEURS, then they end their season against SHOW ME YOUR TDZ, which should be a much easier game to win. As long as they win 1 of the next 2 games, they would earn 9pts for the season and should comfortably be out of elimination range! GOOD LUCK! The pressure is on!
- Although I don’t like to talk down on my team, my TOTS took a beating against BACK THAT PASS UP this week… I knew they were definitely a good team, and have played against Jason Rossie before, but what an offensive juggernaut they turned out to be! The first half of the game was a TD fest, with both teams going back and forth and ending the first half with BACK THAT PASS UP leading 24-18. Unfortunately for the TOTS, they could not find their rhythm on defence and could not come up with the necessary stops. That, paired with a few mistakes and turnovers, ultimately lead to our demise! Jason Rossie could not be stopped and put up an incredible 8 TDs – 0 of them rushing Tds! Although, his go to long range target was Justin Gauthier, he was successful at spreading the ball to the ever capable hands of Jasmine Rossie and Justin Anania as well! On the TOTs side, it was our ladies who were able to keep us in the game as much as we were. Chloe Brazeau-Gelinas was able to bring in 2 wonderful TDs, Gabrielle Perucic got some key 1st downs and long passes, while Cristina Ionescu caught pretty much everything thrown her way and moved us down the field for chances to score! Despite the score, I had fun playing the game! I’ve known some players of BACK THAT PASS UP for a while now, and it’s always fun to have some healthy competition! Needless to say, we will be looking for some revenge in the playoffs, but it should be a warning sign for the teams left to go against BACK THAT PASS UP – it is hard to stop them once they get on a roll! You’ll need to find a way to disrupt Jason Rossie, who has YEARS of experience at the QB position!
This was a bit of a shorter article and I didn’t have enough time to really break down the POWER RANKINGS or AWARD WINNERS, but I’ll play catch up next article! Good luck to all the teams out there that are still fighting!
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ZACK’S FANTASY TEAM OF THE WEEK (WEEK 9):
QB (1): Jason Rossie (BACK THAT PASS UP) – 25 Attempts / 18 Completions (72%), 220 Yards, 8 TDs // 2 Rushing Attempts, 20 Rushing Yards
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WR (1): Eric Namts (LES RANCEURS) – 11 Targets / 8 Receptions (72.73%), 92 Yards, 4 TDs
WR (2): Justin Gauthier (BACK THAT PASS UP) – 6 Targets / 6 Receptions (100%), 97 Yards, 4 TDs
WR (3): Louis Moisan (LA SECTE) – 9 Targets / 7 Receptions (77.78%), 78 Yards, 3 TDs
WR (4): Chloe Brazeau-Gelinas (MICHAEL SCOTT’S TOTS) – 7 Targets / 4 Receptions (57.14%), 60 Yards, 2 TD
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DB (1): Michael Major (WHO’S GONNA CARRY THE BOATS) – 2 Tackles, 3 INTs, 2 PDs, 1 TD
DB (2): Louis Brassard (LES GRANDS CHUMS) – 7 Tackles, 1 INT, 1 PD, 1 TD
DB (3): Donavan Martel (MEAN MACHINES) – 4 Tackles, 2 INTs, 1 TD
DB (4): Ève Charbonneau (KAMIKAZE) – 2 Tackles, 2 INTs
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RUSHER (1): Alexie Galarneau (TONIX) – 7 Sacks
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GAMES OF THE WEEK:
LES RANCEURS vs CHEFS BANDITS
HOT WINGS vs KAMIKAZE
THE BLACK WOLF vs BALLHARD UNIVERSITY
LA SECTE vs NO PUNT INTENDED
LES RANCEURS vs WHO’S GONNA CARRY THE BOATS
BACK THAT PASS UP vs AT LEAST WE TRIED AGAIN
KAMIKAZE vs LE ROI DES CARTES
MEAN MACHINES vs LES GRANDS CHUMS
TONIX vs BULLS
HOT WINGS vs KISS MY HUGS
LA SECTE vs LES GRANDS CHUMS
BALLS AND DOLLS vs BACK THAT PASS UP
Prediction Record: 48-17-2
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Only 2 more articles remain for the regular season, and only 2 more weeks to push yourself for an award spot! If there are upcoming milestones you want me to cover, don’t be a stranger, let me know! If you want to see more accurate info about your teams, your players, your rivalries/history – send them to me (It helps when I know about you)! Also, check out the new episode of Calling the Audible – the official FPF podcast – available on Youtube and …. Probably somewhere else too. And always keep a look out at FPF’s Official Instagram page for updates and exclusive content!