The Thrilla of Flagzilla
10-04-2014 12:00 AM
So the playoffs have begun, which means the games will intensify and refs may let the extra shove or allow contact to be called much more loosely. For the four teams in D6, it means a heightened sense of every snap, every catch and even defensive play. There is more scrutiny and mistakes get put through the ringer, more so than in the regular season. The first week of the playoffs saw some pretty good games. You’ll notice a common thread, which is teams playing much closer to the vest than they would in the regular season. Offenses were not their high-powered selves like they were during the regular season and that was entirely evident during the Quarter-Finals.
The Minge 20 – JeanGuy 6
Matthew Young didn’t have a good playoff game, but it didn’t matter, as The Minge’s defense was virtually dominant. They held Christophe Chartrand to 31 yards and four touchdowns. JeanGuy fared well in from a defensive standpoint, intercepting Young three times. Ultimately, The Minge were able to make more plays on offense, with Henri Chelhot catching the lone Matthew Young touchdown pass. From a defensive standpoint, Chelhot recorded three sacks, causing havoc in the JeanGuy backfield. The true measure of a great team is the ability to perform when you do not have a great hand.
Golden Girls 24 – n.W.o. 6
Another game in which, the underdog won, where Jason Rossie and the Golden Girls didn’t look like world-beaters offensively, but did enough on that front and combined for a great defense to advance. Rossie only threw for 63 yards and completed 9 of 12 passes, but he also rushed for two touchdowns, as n.W.o. could not enforce containment. Michael Sanchez, who had been on a nice streak of games over the previous five contests, could only pass for 58 yards and completed 10 of 22 passes. The kicker for n.W.o., was that, unlike previous games, where they would pilfer the football, they were not able to create extra possessions with interceptions. Aside from a rushing touchdown from Sanchez, the offense continued to stall and the trio of Stephen Tirelli, Pietro Mignacca and Anthony Di Staulo, could only muster a combined 77 yards. Full credit goes to the Golden Girls secondary, which confused n.W.o. with multiple defensive looks throughout the game.
The ‘Pack 34 – Maccabi 14
Maccabi came into the playoffs having played much better offensively than in previous weeks. Alexandre Bohbot had taken over for Ofir Levy and provided a much-needed spark for a struggling Maccabi offense. Well, for the first game of the playoffs, they get the pleasure of playing against the undefeated ‘Pack. And although, Daniel Krebs had his worst game of the season, with three touchdowns and two interceptions, Maccabi faired worse on offense. Levy got the call as the pivot and could only complete 8 of 25 passes for 54 yards and four touchdowns. Krebs was able to find Andrew April, David Barth and Graeme Jones for touchdowns. Jones, had his best game of the season providing terrific defensive prowess with four tackles, two interceptions and a pick-six. Jared Goodman also had two pilfers for ‘The Pack. It is no surprise that they were able to come away with the victory, although how it was done, relying on their defense instead of their high-powered offense, was not expected. That does not bode well for opposing teams, when Krebs can play below average, still throw three interceptions and ‘The Pack can win by 20.
The Heismans 26 – Run Levy Run 19
The game of the week, featured two of the best quarterbacks in the Division in Gautama Swaminadhan and Jeff Rosenblatt. They didn’t fail to disappoint as they each threw for three touchdowns. The difference, Rosenblatt could not deter the turnover bug, as he threw for three interceptions. His three touchdowns were all to Yoni Lehrer, who had a fine game with six catches for 76 yards. But it was Swaminadhan, who continues to show that he is one of the more efficient quarterbacks in the entire league. His yardage wasn’t jaw dropping but it didn’t matter as the Heismans quarterback ensured that each of his 102 passing yards counted. Like Rosenblatt, Swaminadhan only looked at one receiver for his scores as Kevin Boustany continued to be the number one threat offensively. His three receiving touchdowns were too much for Run Levy Run. Boustany also pitched in a key interception in the second half to beat Run Levy Run. A great run this season, it is a devastating blow for the ‘Flying Rosenblatt’s’, who had a tremendous season. Despite two evenly matched teams, The Heismans were able to make more plays in the second half and the turnovers killed RLR.
Players of the week
Offensive: Kevin Boustany: The ‘Pack: 6 catches, 87 yards, 3 TD
Defensive: Graeme Jones: The ‘Pack:: 4 tackles, 2 INT, 1 defensive TD
Semi Finals Prediction
The Minge vs. Golden Girls
Prediction: I have to go with the Minge here. Their defense is stifling and if I had to choose a quarterback, as good as Jason Rossie has looked over the past four weeks, Matthew Young’s body of work is more impressive. There’s also been no stopping Henri Chelhot, whether it is on offense or on defense.
Score: Minge 30 – Golden Girls 10
‘The Pack vs. The Heismans
Prediction: Just my gut feeling, but I will be calling an upset. Gautama Swaminadhan is playing better than anyone and the Heismans defense has been very underrated. They allowed 7, 12, 6 and 19 points in their last four games; Which is an average of 11 points per game and just below two touchdowns. I love Krebs and April as a tandem, but Swaminadhan and Boustany have been so hard to stop. I predict a high-scoring affair.
Score: The Heismans 38 – The ‘Pack 33
That does it for the Thrilla this week. As always, please check out The Unclehood podcast with Moe Khan (@MoeKhan19) and David Della Rocca (@DavesRepublic) which can be found at http://www.theunclehood.com