Categories: Co-EdFallGeneralTier 1Tier 2Tier 3Tier 4Women's

Tier 3 and 4 Mid-Season Report Card

Okay, so now that you’ve stuffed your bellies with Turkey and the like, it’s time to shed the weight and get back on the field! But before we do that, much to my chagrin, it is indeed that time of the year that I feel like a teacher and have these report cards to submit for all you teams. Thanks Tier 3, you alone are 16 individual reports with 100 clicks per team, while Peeze has it easy with Tier 1 + Tier 2 totaling 18 teams. The boss gets the easy way out, but shhh, don’t tell him that, let’s see if he reads my articles or not. While the report cards are long and I probably shouldn’t waste time writing about my thoughts about each tier, I’ll make it quick this week and write about things that are REALLY stood out.

Tierful Talking Points

  • Tier 1
  • Holy bleep, Dan Lazzara‘s QB rating over 3 games is 148.5! He’s averaging 17.3 yards per completion… Those are some NASTY numbers he’s put up on defenses.
  • Jo Maheu put up the perfect passer rating against #NR this week: 14/16,, 87.5% completion, 237 yards, 7 TDs, 0 INTs

  • Tier 2
  • Your 2 undefeated teams remaining are Kiss My Outlaws and Mangoose, both 4-0, both have scored exactly 158 points, and both have allowed more than 70 points, but less than 80. Surprise, surprise, it’s both teams’ next game, as they play each other on Sunday October 16th at 8pm in Lachine (Field 3) in case you wanna peak in on this clash of the titans.
  • James Drysdale had the game of his life. He had 5 TD’s… by HALFTIME, including “the best catch of his (my) career” from the wheel route, over the shoulder, back of the endzone, nasty toe drag. This guy drips swag and his Mangoose teammates now truly saw what they’ve added in Drysdale. That puts him with twice as many TD’s (12) as the next best receiver, Ryan Vanslet with 6 TDs.
  • With 4 sacks against Alex Fafard, Brandon Vickers (Centaures) now leads Tier 2 with 7 sacks on the season.
  • Tier 3:
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  • Arouch get the W over Warriors to join Bruins with a 5-0 record.
  • Bandits got a gritty win over Ravens to get back to .500, sitting now with a 2-2 record. Zach Graveson came up big with a pick 6 on Joel Houle early in the game that proved to be unsurmountable for the Ravens.
  • Bruins vs. Killer Rays was featured in GOTW, if you didn’t catch it, here it is!
  • The race for the individual awards are interesting. There’s no 1 individual making a clear-cut run as the favorite for QBOY, DPOY, or OPOY. There’s a mix of 4-5 players in each category, but no clear-cut favorite.
  • Tier 4:
  • Red Dragons were in tough this week, with a double-header against WIB 2.0 and The Penetrators. WIB 2.0 won that game handedly, but the Dragons put up a good fight against The Penetrators.
  • The Penetrators don’t look the same when Nic Fon isn’t there.
  • Deep Ballz impressed this week, stifling TuneSquad Quarterback Adam Antel.
  • Is it just me, or does Francois Rocheleau (Deep Ballz) looks like Nick Suzuki?

  • Co-Ed:
  • The list of undefeated teams is down to 2: EZFun and Fast Not Furious.
  • LPP knocked off The Villains from their undefeated 4-0 record.
  • If the Badgers want to be taken seriously, they need to stick to 1 QB, likely Cesar Garcia-Diaz and give him all the reps he can get in order to develop his scanning of the field and foot mechanics.
  • Paolo Della Rocca (Who??) finally had his breakout game. He led all QBs in Week 4 with 228 Passing yards and 6 TDs.
  • Women’s:
  • Gabrielle Vanier took 2 drives off and let Mathilde Renaud take snaps as Quarterback… except Renaud went 0/2 with 2 INTs…. so back in came Vanier to finish off the game.
  • Mathilde Renaud did much better at receiver, catching all 5 of her targets for 82 yards and 3 TDs.
  • Ngoc Quynh Pham (Louves du Nord) had a much better outing on Monday night against Red Nation, putting up 119 yards and 3 TDs. Problem is, she still threw 3 INTs, although, her defense forced 3 turnovers of their own. Jessica Garcia-Lopez, Eve-Elysia Bosila-Amba, and Mélissa-Anne Xavier were able to pick off Allyson Sobol to keep this game close. So close in fact, the game came down to converts and the safety that Red Nation was able to get defensively.
  • Not only did Mélissa-Anne Xavier get an interception, she found the endzone 3 times, leading the way offensively for Louves du Nord with 73 yards on 5 receptions.
  • Rachelle Vallieres once again made a stellar play on defense (see below), but don’t discount her on offense. She caught 8 passes thrown her way for 108 yards and 1 TD.

Mid-Season Report Cards

Tier 3

Bruins

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 8-0
  • Current Record: 5-0
  • New Predicted Record: 8-0

Grade: B

Bruins have gotten through their schedule exactly as I predicted. They have yet to face a true challenge, though the Killer Rays came the closest of all their competition, losing by 15 points. That’s still a 2 possession game to make it a TIE. The rest of their schedule isn’t easy, nor is it frightening, although, when you are the class of the division, I guess there isn’t much to be frightened about. Gab Wiseman hasn’t been lights out good, but he doesn’t have to be with such a stellar defense. His 4.25:1 TD-to-INT ratio is good, but when Wiseman is at his peak, he’s operating at a 5:1 clip. 17 TD’s to 4 INTs. At receiver, they have a 3-headed monster, with Jocelyn Calixte, Alexandre St-Arnaud and Zach Zwirn accounting for 14 TDs (82% of Wiseman‘s TD’s) and 494 yards (72% of Wiseman‘s passing yards). Good luck stopping these guys, although, Zach Zwirn did leave his Tier 1 game, playing with STL with an apparent lower-body injury. While Tier 3 wishes him a good recovery, they are certainly happy not having to line up against him. Oh, but what’s that? They can replace him with Rocco Christiano? Well that ain’t fun… I do have to commend Bruins on their defense though… 46 points allowed with 10 INTs and 6 sacks is a defense that is doing some serious damage.

Arouch

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 7-1
  • Current Record: 5-0
  • New Predicted Record: 7-1

Grade: B+

I like the way in which Arouch have won theirs games so far. While I predicted them to only lose 1 game and they are meeting expectations so far, record-wise, they are putting teams away when they should be. Look, you can argue they’ve gotten lucky with “when” they’ve played certain teams. For example, Ravens. I would have thought this would have been a much closer game, but Joel Houle did not suit up for that game. Then they played Blue Dreamers with the first snaps Olivier Sabourin has ever taken in FPF. Their 2 true tests so far were both 1-possession victories over Sulé Fess (39-31) and this past Thursday, a 34-27 victory over Warriors. While the blowouts aren’t too impressive to me, the other games could have been 1-2 point games, and instead made it an entire possession victory. Eric Lalonde is having himself a great season so far. With an 8.5:1 TD-to-INT ratio and a 120.2 Quarterback rating, he is having, statistically, a career year so far. It helps of course when you have your favorite target back in the lineup in Simon Losier, so it’s no surprise that he leads the team in yards (151) and TD’s (5). While I mentioned in my season-opening article to “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“, I firstly, was wrong, and forgot about Thomas Legault, giving them a top trio of weapons that defenses need to account for. Second, it’s Losier and Legault who are 1-2 in receiving and currently sit in 21st and 22nd, so I wasn’t too far off, and it’s not yet the end of the season. As for the defense, the immediate thing that stands out are the six pick 6’s the team has. Now, 3 of those did come in 1 game against Why So Serious, but still, that means they’ve had 3 more in their other 4 games. That said, the Arouch defense is an INT MACHINE this year, with 16 INTs recorded this year. That’s #1 in Tier 3.

Kiss My Inlaws

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 5-3
  • Current Record: 3-0
  • New Predicted Record: 6-2

Grade: B+

With only 3 games to go off of, and one of those games against Why So Serious, it makes it a bit of a smaller sample size to evaluate this team. Now, the 2 other games were against a Trapstars squad with 2 Division 1/2 players in their roster and against an up-and-coming team in FPF. The Trapstars game was not in doubt with 4-5 mins left in the game and against the Killer Rays, it showed they are good, but have some things to improve on. Either way, a 3-0 record is good so far, but nothing to praise this team enough just yet. I don’t particularly like talking about my own quarterback play, but throwing 0 INTs is pretty key to winning FPF games. I’m aware that possessions are everything in FPF, so my play style is to take what the defenses give me, and it’s a formula that, for the most part works. I said this last year a ton, but 0 INTs is often looked at solely as a QB stat, since it happens to fall under the QB stats category. But I truly believe it’s a team stat. It means that receivers haven’t dopped/tipped balls into DB’s hands, that they are running the routes at the right depth, which make the play concepts work. Of course, I’ve surrounded myself with great receivers that allow that to happen, and everyone on the team has reliable hands and is capable of making plays on key downs. Case in point, every receiver has at least 1 touchdown, minus defensive captain Alexi Dubois, and the yardage is spread fairly evenly. I always contend that this makes the defenses not know who to cover with special attention, therefore making it harder to defend in general. The defense for this team is starting to gel and it all starts from Tier 3 sack leader Zackary Alberts-Gill. Once he get’s in a QB’s face and applied the pressure, it forces errant throws that guys like Gab Boucher and Marvin Steinberg can snag out of the air, as both lead the team with 2 INTs each. Not quite an A. For that, this team will need to see how they fare against Bandits and Bruins.

Voodoo

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 6-2
  • Current Record: 3-0
  • New Predicted Record: 6-2

Grade: B+

The 1 point victory over Bandits is a testament to what this team is capable of. Honestly, the other 2 wins aren’t as impressive, but they went out and did what they had to. Frank Kaye isn’t lighting it up statistically, but the most important thing is that he is limiting the turnovers, throwing only 2 INTs so far. At receiver, Pat St-Amand is a Top 10 receiver in the div and his stats support that suggestion. I mentioned that the depth in Kotrbaty, Bergeron and Etienne Vaillancourt would need to be key to their success and so far, it’s not great. I would say snapper Martin Bergeron is doing his part as a reliable 15/18 reception-to-target receiver, but more is expected from the other 2, in particular Vaillancourt. That said, he missed 1 game, but he will need to be a key component of their offense if they want to do damage in the knockout playoff rounds. The D will need to create more than 3 turnovers in 3 games (2 of which came against a QB who’s thrown 18 so far). Kaye is good for 4 TD’s a game out of roughly 6 possessions, so they will need to keep that 1 turnover per game average they currently have, but will have to do it against better quarterback competition coming ahead. By completing 50% of 1 point convert attempts, it means Voodoo is good for 26 points on the board. That said, the D will need to hold opposing offenses to less than that to win most of their games. I would have given the team an A- if they had 6+ turnovers on D.

Lallimo’s 17 Year Olds

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 3-5
  • Current Record: 2-1
  • New Predicted Record: 3-5

Grade: B

Mathew Zeppetelli is developing quite nicely over the past seasons. He’s focusing more on passing this year, with only 7 rushing attempts so far (for 80 rushing yards, so he’s obviously still elusive and can burn you). But by focusing on the pass, defenses focus on coverage, which allows that rushing average to gain a first down (11.4 yards per run) every time he does run. While Luca Leccese was developing into a nice WR2, FPF rookie Simon Sanita is looking like the true WR2 on this year’s edition of the Big Fat Bats, with his 203 receiving yards and 5 TDs giving them two receivers in the Top 10 in yardage. Their #1 of course is AJ Zeppetelli. With Luca now in the #3 slot, this gives this team a more balanced attack where defenses are unsure of where the rock is going. That said, if Zeppetelli could expand the playbook with 1-2 more plays that get his snapper involved, this team would have it a complete offense that would be very hard to stop. While at first glance it’s a thumbs up that the defense has 4 picks in 3 games, a closer glance shows that all 4 came against Why So Serious. While this team can put up the points, so can many other teams in Tier 3, and in a game like against Lockdowns, the defense puts too much pressure on their Quarterback, where 1 or 2 mistakes offensively and games get out of reach. Defense is definitely where this team needs to improve, and while I like their 2-1 start to the season, the rest of the schedule is not favorable for them and for those reasons, that’s why I’m sticking with the same predicted record as the preseason.

Sulé Fess

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 3-5
  • Current Record: 2-2
  • New Predicted Record: 5-3

Grade: A–

The loss to the Bruins was expected, but not in the fashion in which it went down, losing 32-6. That said, I also believed the Trapstars game would be much closer, perhaps even a loss and they took it to them 32-12. So a big win and a big loss, with a close game at halftime against Arouch (down 25-26), they have been better than expected to start this Fall season. While the 54% completion percentage of QB Francis Desrochers needs to improve, the 15 TDs to 2 INTs and 630 yards in 4 games is quite nice. Not surprisingly, that averages out 14 yards per completion, which is not surprising since he has speedsters like Vincent Benjamin, Jérémie Gauthier and Jeff Carrier lined up at receiver. While Benjamin and Gauthier are a great WR1-2 pairing (Benjamin a top 2 receiver and Gauthier in the Top 15), the offense literally runs through them and Francis‘ running game. There definitely needs to be a 3rd receiver mixed into that formula if this team wants their offense to be scary good. Defensively, they have good core pieces, with Benjamin, Gauthier and Loic Savoiz-Seguin who can all drop back in the deep, and Mathieu Gascon as a solid middle defender. What needs to be more apparent from the defense though is consistency. They’ve allowed 6 and 12 points in 2 games, whereas in the other 2 games, they’ve allowed 32 and 39. I think if the D can limit teams to 20-24 points, the team can score enough to win their games. With all that said, I predicted 3 wins for them and they already have 2 and see them finishing 5-3, so they’ve exceeded pre-season expectations and get an A- grade.

Dime and Bougie

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 5-3
  • Current Record: 2-2
  • New Predicted Record: 5-3

Grade: B–

I have to be conservative with the B- grade because honestly, their schedule has been strange so far. I will also preface their B- grade with the fact that it’s not overlooking the talent at all. Jules Regimbald can launch that ball, can escape the rusher and is a threat throwing on the run and running downfield. Felix Boutet is the next guy in FPF higher and middle divisions will soon be looking to add at a cap-friendly rate of 69.9 on offense, as he leads the division with 9 TDs with Simon Losier. Nathan Desjardins is another one of those players with an offensive cap hit of 68.6. But back to the schedule.. wipe out the games against Why So Serious and Lockdown offensively. It’s great to put up 90 points in 2 games, but when all the other teams are doing it too, I don’t put too much stock into it. I will give credit though, to limiting Lockdown to 12 points. The other 2 games? Dime and Bougie / La Cité des Jetons have something about them that make them a bad matchup against Killer Rays. The Rays wiped them out the floor in the playoffs and while this Fall Cup season game was closer, they were still down 2 possessions and scored late to make the final score seem closer than what it actually was. Then against Blue Dreamers, this is a game I expected them to win, but fine, a 1 point loss means the game was close, but there were multiple breakdowns in coverage where they let snapper Nic Gomes Risso all alone 3 times downfield. You’d think after 1 missed assignment that the D would clean that up, but it just wasn’t the case. What does this all mean? They are loaded with talent, but there’s still growing pains the team is going through for the flag game. It takes time to get there. Calling the right plays at the right time, the spacing on the field to get guys open, game management, clock management, counting the final possessions, letting teams score intentionally are all things that take over 75-100 games to get used to. You need to be in those situations multiple times until you realize you are in that situation the next time it happens. They will get there if they stick around and they will be a dangerous team year in and year out. But now a bit more analysis on their team. The defense, minus the 5 picks in their first game have averaged a pick a game and Theo Gregoire‘s 6 sacks is awesome pressure and good for a tie for the 2nd most in Tier 3 (he also has a pick 6, and if that was done as a rusher, PROPS).

Bandits

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 5-3
  • Current Record: 2-2
  • New Predicted Record: 5-3

Grade: B+

I’m a big fan of the Bandits franchise. They have very little weaknesses in their personnel and while I believed Cecil Belenger would be the better start at quarterback, what he’s done at receiver, leading the team with 184 yards and is second in TDs with 3 has me second guessing myself. What it has added though, is just another great weapon at receiver to allow guys like Manu Allard-Roy, Sébastien Champagne and Zach Graveson (when he’s there to play) get secondary and tertiary coverage, which is a matchup problem for most defensive units. With those favorable matchups in Émile Skaf‘s gameplan, he loves to spread the ball around and get everyone involved in the offense. What really stands out from this team though is the strong defense. In 3 games, they’ve given up 26 points or less. The one time they allowed more than that? To the 5-0 Bruins team that is the clear #1 team in Tier 3. In addition to the decent points against, they are tied for the 2nd most INTs with 10, and have done it against VERY good quarterbacks. While Ammar Jessa only has 2 sacks on the season, I know from experience that he is VERY quick and gets a flag on the Quarterback on every play (whether the ball has been released or not) and puts pressure on QBs, allowing the DB’s and safeties to jump on balls and force errant throws from opposing quarterbacks. They get a B+

Killer Rays

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 4-4
  • Current Record: 2-2
  • New Predicted Record: 3-5

Grade: B–

After starting 2-0, games 3 and 4 were tougher matchups as they not only played more experienced FPF teams, but 2 teams that have a combined 8-0 record in Bruins and Kiss My Inlaws. I do like the team, but Tylar Bianchi is having more trouble against quicker, taller and veteran FPF defenses. After throwing for roughly 4 TDs for every INT in the Spring, he’s now throwing at a ratio of 2:1 in Tier 3, which is roughly throwing in Divs 4A-5A. He will need to do better in protecting the football, but I like his play calls, which not only get receivers open, but match his receivers skill set. Curtis Ryan and Tyler Gurberg are the known commodities for the Rays and they lead the team 1-2 in both yards and TDs respectively, but the emergence and greater utilization of both Chris Genio and Donovan Hinds (both with 10 receptions, 90+ yards and 2 TDs) make this offense more than 2-dimensional. Bianchi has focused more on passing the ball and is relying less on his legs, and while that has come with more INTs this Fall Cup, I’m certain he’s seeing it’s more effective to pass than run in most situations. Despite throwing 6 INTs, this defense has 5 of their own and if the D can hold a quarterback to their 3rd or 4th reads, Jared Arany at the rusher position is good and can get the sack. He only has 3 so far, but could be a top 5 rusher if the D would play just a bit tighter. Also, converting 4 of 13 convert attempts isn’t good enough for a good team like this. For those reasons, they get a B- grade.

Ravens

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 4-4
  • Current Record: 1-2
  • New Predicted Record: 6-2

Grade: B-

So this one of those situations where I wish Ravens had 4 games played and not 3, as I would have much more valuable data on this team. This is especially the case since game 1 is a complete wash where Joel Houle didn’t suit up and where NO ONE on the team has played in all 3 games. It’s hard to evaluate the team because with Joel Houle having 1 good game and 1 bad game, it’s hard to tell a narrative of his season play so far. The thing I can really only comment on are the receivers for Ravens. I mentioned in my Week 1 article that Kevin Hébert-Pedulla was a nice addition to the team, and has been that as a 3rd receiver. Of course, Mathieu Houle is a top receiver on the team, but it’s Yvan Desjardins that I didn’t know would be playing full time (maybe he isn’t and just subbed in for 2 game), but if he is on the team, there’s no doubt he can keep the 11 receptions, 163 yards and 3 TD pace and numbers he’s put up in 2 games. While the season info and recap is light, I will say that I believe the Ravens have the ability to run the table the rest of the season, and will end up going into the playoffs on a 5-game winning streak.

Blue Dreamers

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 2-6
  • Current Record: 1-2
  • New Predicted Record: 3-5

Grade: B

Not sure if Raffaele Morelli got injured or what the exact reason he doesn’t seem to be the starting QB, but Blue Dreamers scoured the FPF Free Agency list and picked up Olivier Sabourin who made himself available for a team looking for a Quarterback. In his first ever FPF game, it didn’t look good for Blue Dreamers, as his 3rd ever pass attempt was intercepted, his 2nd drive was a 4-and-out, and his 3rd drive ended in a pick 6. He was eventually pulled in that game for Nic Gomes Riss who realized how tough the position can be, completing 2 passes to his own teammates and completing 2 to Arouch. That said, the rest of the season looked grim for Blue Dreamers, HOWEVER, wow, did Sabourin turn it around in just 1 week. Going up against the rising star of a team in Dime and Bougie, he was able to post veteran Quarterback numbers, going 16/23 for 251 yards, 5 TDs and 0 INTs. Look, he may have targeted Nic Risso and Anthony Siggia a tad too much, but if your a new FPF QB, I would ABSOLUTELY do the same thing. They are the 2 best receivers on the team and to develop his confidence, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with developing chemistry with them and leaning on your stars to do that. If Sabourin can replicate his game against Dime and Bougie, things are on the rise for Blue Dreamers, but if he pulls another game like he did against Arouch, they will be in trouble. The real Sabourin is probably somewhere in between and can seem them going 2-3 the rest of the way. He will though, need to get a 3rd receiver more involved in the offense as the season goes along. The defense will need to help out the offense and produce more turnovers to ease the burden on their new Quarterback, as they are in the bottom half of Tier 3 in INTs and sacks.

Warriors

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 4-4
  • Current Record: 1-2
  • New Predicted Record: 3-5

Grade: C+

The team might feel slighted with a C+ grade, and while I don’t like analyzing them with just 3 games played, especially where their big loss was in Week 1 (Week 1 is a wash for me especially since they skipped on the Spring season), but against the better teams of Tier 3, they are 0-2 and I gotta judge this team as one of the better teams in Tier 3 themselves. I’ve always liked the QB play of Mitch Fergenbaum, as he is one of the better rolling quarterbacks in Tier 3 in buying time and deciding when to take off with his legs vs. when to hit an open receiver downfield who got free from coverage. He had that in full display against Lockdown, but against bigger, more disciplined defenses like Bandits and Arouch, he’s thrown 7 TD’s to 6 INT’s, and that’s going to be a big problem in Tier 3. The good news at least, is that he is capable of creating turnovers himself on D, as he leads the team with 3 defensive INTs. He will need more out of Adam Rabinovitch, Benji Ziegler and Adam Lieblein in getting the ball back to the offense. Now, this isn’t Div 6, so defensive turnovers will be harder to come by. From the receivers POV, Rabinovitch and Ziegler have done what is expected of them, but Lieblein and snapper David Nahon need to produce more, especially Lieblein needing to up the receptions-to-target ratio he currently has of 5:13. While they will hover around .500 during the season, they aren’t an easy playoff matchup at all. They can definitely do some damage if they fall off of Tier 3’s radar.

Lockdown

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 2-6
  • Current Record: 1-4
  • New Predicted Record: 2-6

Grade: B+

I think some readers will be confused why Lockdown are getting a B+ when they are currently 1-4, were predicted to go 2-6 and are still predicted to finish 2-6. Well here’s why. While they are right on track with my expectations in terms of wins and losses, the games in which they have lost have actually been quite competitive (minus the game vs. Dime and Bougie). A 4 point loss to Voodoo, scoring 36 against Warriors, and allowing only 24 to the high-flying young guns of Lallimo’s 17 Year Olds are all better than what I expected. For example, while I like Eagle’s defensive game planning, the trouble Lockdown usually has is the personnel in coverage, so to hold a somewhat similar offense of Lallimo’s relative to the Warriors (where they allowed 45 the week before), to only 24 points is a testament to their understanding of what he’s trying to implement, and then of course, executing it. Then there’s the offense, where even though there’s been a few guys coming in and out of the lineup, Buck Aneer has been ripping it out there, averaging 209 yards per game and 4.5 TDs per game to 1 INT is a winning formula in FPF. The rotating cast still getting highly involved are Guillaume Caron and Tyler Keating, while the core of Max Newcastle, Antoine Caron and Louis Messier-Lavallee are all producing in terms of yards and TDs. Their numbers could be even better if not for a few drops and overthrows towards Antoine Caron and Messier-Lavallee that had Buck Aneer (and any quarterback really) looking skywards. While I’ve liked the offense so far, the defense needing to be more in sync, their lack of turnovers (only 2 INTs in 5 (but really 4) games) and no one able to truly replace Rhys Morgan Tracy at the rusher position (all 4 of Louis Messier-Lavallee sacks came in 1 game against a scrambling QB, which is a great individual performance) but these are all the true areas of concern for this team over the season so far and moving forward. There’s that and their lack of production on XP converts, as Aneer has only been able to connect on 15% of their converts. This is trouble if ever they find themselves in a close game like they did against Voodoo.

Trapstars

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 6-2
  • Current Record: 0-2
  • New Predicted Record: 4-4

Grade: C-

This is the recap/grading that I absolutely hate writing about, all because I’m judging them on a 2-game sample size. There’s not too much I can analyze, but in their 2 games, overall, they’ve disappointed. Let’s break down what that means. While if you look at Game 1 from an outsider perspective and see a 34-31 score line against a 3-0 Kiss My Inlaws, you might think, alright, they were in that game and came just short. While that was true in the 1st half of the game, where both offenses were going score-for-score, an end of half TD plus an opening 2nd half TD made it a 2 possession game for Kiss My Inlaws that Trapstars could never comeback from. A late score from David Giroux made the score look closer than it actually was. The team in that game also went 4/4 on 4th down, which is a great conversion rate, but also means that on 4 separate occasions, drives could have been stalled. Their second game was even more disappointing, as the defense couldn’t stop the Sulé Fess offense AND Ryan Garber had a tough day at the office, throwing just 2 TDs and 3 INTs as the once 8-2 KGP Ra in Div 4A of the Winter season find themselves in an early 0-2 hole. Not much to analyze so expect more game recaps for your team in the rest of my articles.

Threat Level Midnight

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 1-7
  • Current Record: 0-4
  • New Predicted Record: 0-8

Grade: C–

While the team has a record fairly close to what I predicted, they get a C- for several reasons: they way in which they’ve lost games (all 2 possession or more losses), recording 0 sacks with just 3 INTs (5th least out of 16 teams), scoring the least TDs (7) after 4 games while throwing just as many INTs, having the largest roster that is the largest in Tier 3 leading to consistency issues, and of course, for breaking the Jo Lemieux/Mat Domon seasonal rotation at QB (it looks like their going with Jo Lemieux even when Domon is there). After a good Spring season, with pretty much the same roster, and the additions of the Lindor brothers (cousins?) I thought this would be a more competitive team. The only bright spot so far this season has been the offensive play of Simon Richard, as he has been the anchor on offense with his 20 receptions, 152 receiving yards and 3 TDs. They need to utilize their weapons better as the season goes along and put players in positions to succeed. For example, I would suggest more double-quarterback plays during their offensive drives to get defenses confused and try of take advantage of missed assignments/miscommunications from opposing defenses.

Why So Serious?

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 0-8
  • Current Record: 0-5
  • New Predicted Record: 0-8

Grade: D

In the Fall Cup’s opening podcast of the season, Alexi Dubois suggested that Frank Teoli-Colatrella should have asked for his Quarterback cap to have been lowered for this Fall Cup in order to throw in Tier 4 (which would have been lowered by 0.4, FYI). While I thought it was perhaps true, perhaps untrue, after 5 games, there’s no doubt Dubois was very right. The level of Tier 3 is akin to Div 4/5 in the Winter. While Frank has thrown in 5B before, he’s been a 1TD:1INT ratio kind-of-Quarterback in Div’s 5 and D. To be good, you’re ratio should be a MINIMUM of 3:1. Even in his best seasons in Spring 19 (Div E) and W20 (Div 6D) he was throwing 2 TD’s for every 1 INT, but was at least hitting the 30 TD mark. So far, he’s trending in the 1TD: 2INT ratio, which supports Alexi‘s claim to have been throwing in Tier 4, which honestly, there are some good teams and he would have fit right in, instead of probably dreading to go to the field each week in Tier 3. The receiving crew that Why So Serious has isn’t bad at all. Kareem Anthony Chilcott is the leading receiver with 179 yards and 4 TDs and can be a matchup problem for some defenses. Robert Di Ielsi, as we’ve mentioned before, has got some wheels and great hands. Other players that are less mentioned of, like Josh Currie, Steevens Jeanty and Matthew Chadwick all need to get the ball in their hands more often as they’ve got great speed, size, or a combination of the two. Also, if Lusson Pierre is going to play on the team, make sure he gets a # on that jersey, or he won’t get enough games played to be playoff eligible. Defensively, the team is giving up way too much yardage when the shorts are playing a zone defense, making completions too easy for offenses looking to drive the field short yardage at a time. 0 INTs forced from the defensive side of the ball also merits the D grade. I also don’t believe sending Johnathan Fabien as a rusher is the best idea, just a thought.

Tier 4

The Penetrators

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 7-1
  • Current Record: 5-0
  • New Predicted Record: 8-0

Grade: C+

I had The Penetrators with perhaps an A- or B+ to start their season, especially with how they beat Save The Turftles. This team had “Class of the division” written all over them and the 1 challenge on their schedule, they handled with relative ease, or at least no concerns. Had they continued beating teams within their caliber by 2 or more possessions, I would have given them the higher grade. But look, yes 5-0 is a great record, but I predicted this team would win at least 7 games, so it’s more about the way they would win games that would determine their grade. It may be a recency bias, but their 2 last wins against Deep Ballz and Red Dragons have been MUCH closer than they should be. This either tells me they are way too reliant on Nic Fon or that perhaps I’ve underestimated their competition. Either way, I am used to The Penetrators putting up 40, if not easily 25 points against opponents, something they failed to do in their last 2 matches. They should be averaging more in the 33-35 points per game than the 27.2 they currently are. All that said, Justin Goodman is having a good year so far. A 5:1 TD-to-INT ratio is GREAT and his average of 173 yards per game is very good, but expected of him. He is noticeably making an effort to pass the ball more and rely less on his legs, yet still has over 100 rushing yards on just 8 carries. He and the offense is also converting on 57% of their converts (1st in Tier 4), which is very good news if and when they come down to a tight matchup in the playoffs. Another reason why the grade is C+ is because the lack of turnovers and sacks created; they are tied for last in INTs (4) and have the 4th least sacks (6). While that is true, they are averaging the 2nd least points against (18.6) which means they are forcing turnovers on downs. Now, when push comes to shove in the playoffs, the offenses they will face will be good and if they don’t force interceptions and allow teams to stick around, they will (more often than not) convert on 3rd and 4th down and The Penetrators will find themselves in a very close game that could go either way.

Save The Turftles

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 8-0
  • Current Record: 4-1
  • New Predicted Record: 7-1

Grade: B

The Penetrator players are probably reading this and going huh? How did Save The Turtles get a B and we got a C-? We beat them! Yes, Save The Turftles took the L to a team with a Quarterback entering his 4th season with the team and who have a combined record of 20-8 in their last 3 seasons, versus a rookie quarterback, who, yes, granted, as a team have also had much success, much like The Penetrators. The glaring difference are the seasons of experience under center, which are tremendous. As a rookie QB, I mentioned I was certain Cheung would excel, but he has established himself as the leading candidate for Quarterback of the Year. In 5 games, he already has 6 receivers with 130+ receiving yards, which is a testament to the receiving core and Cheung‘s ability to spread the ball. These receivers have different skill sets and Cheung know’s how to get the ball and have them run routes to make use of those skill sets. For example, he loves feeding his snapper, Simon Imbach, who has great hands, as he leads Tier 4 with 23 receptions and is 4th overall with his 214 yards. He also loves Guilaume Dubois‘ ability to track the deep ball on Go’s and posts, while guys like Tony Vo run slants and outs to get them the ball in their hands quick to best make use of his speed. What also impresses is that even without their star receiver Thomas Chaussé, all the receivers help make that offense roll. Even defensively, they have 8 interceptions while Tony Vo has racked up 10 sacks, tied for 1st in Tier 4. If there is somewhere this team needs to improve on, it’s their XP converts, where they are converting just 20% of their XP1 attempts and 30% (not bad) of their XP2 attempts.

WIB 2.0

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 5-3
  • Current Record: 3-2
  • New Predicted Record: 6-2

Grade: A-

I love when individuals and a team make the right switch at Quarterback to salvage and turnaround their season. Granted, Skylar Bayliff went up against the toughest 2 defenses to start the season and have faced worse competition than their first 2 opponents, although Primetime was a good test for Zack Stacey. That said, Stacey has posted great numbers since starting at QB and while he is a great receiver, from sources (because I haven’t seen him play yet), Skylar Bayliff is the better of the 2 at receiver, which if true, damn, he must be good because I love Stacey at receiver. The stat’s do suggest it, as he leads not only the team in receiving yards but Tier 4 in yards, as he is 10 yards shy of 300. While this is their clear #1 receiver, it’s also clear that the offense goes through him and only him. Kris Schicchi, Mike Badibabungi, Nic Di Maulo, Michael Raffoul, and Julian McLaren-Thompson are, when they are playing, all capable of being the #2 receiver, as all have 88 or more yards in either 2-5 games played. If Bayliff is the WR1, he’s also the DB1, again, not just on his team, but in Tier 4. He’s on his way to win the 2-way player of the year which makes him a menace for opposing QBs AND defenses, which make WIB 2.0 a DANGEROUS team come playoff time. For all these reasons, WIB 2.0 get an A- grade.

Primetime

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 5-2-1
  • Current Record: 2-1-1
  • New Predicted Record: 4-3-1

Grade: B

If we look through their schedule, I’m a little disappointed they couldn’t come away with the win over TuneSquad, then 2 games where I expected them to win big against Red Dragons and The Step Bros, they did, so good on them for doing what they had to do. Then, against their closest competition in WIB 2.0, they played well but were undisciplined, getting flagged on 4 separate occasions. Spina had a good game throwing the deep ball in that one, but didn’t have his best/safest game, as he threw 2 of his 4 INTs on the season. From the receivers POV, I like the balance that Spina has been able to deliver, with essentially 4 receivers already hitting the 100-yard mark, including Willie Habimana who had his coming out party against WIB 2.0, particularly when he went up to go get the onside kick pass over the middle, over a defender to give his team a chance to get back into the game. Overall, they are the #2 offense, averaging 34.3 points per game and are the #1 defense, averaging 18.3 points against. Defensively, As much as I mention Tony Vo as the sack leader in Tier 4, Ethan Adrian has something to say about that, as he had a couple of 4-sack performances to get his season total up to 10 and is tied with Vo at #1. The D is also explosive, as they have returned half of their 6 INTs to the endzone.

The Step Bros

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 3-5
  • Current Record: 2-2
  • New Predicted Record: 2-6

Grade: C+

With only 58 points scored in 4 games (lowest PPG of 14.5), they are lucky to be 2-2. Pranav Sharma needs to start hitting the shorter, easier routes underneath and let his receivers do the work. What I’m seeing too much in the receiver stat line is the following receptions-to-target ratio: 9/17, 11/17, 5/11, 2/7, 2/7. Either the receivers are dropping a lot of balls or Sharma‘s passes are off the mark. While he can run effectively, with 131 yards on the ground and 1 Rushing TD, it just can’t and never will replace the passing game. So that part of his game, both in terms of the play calling and in terms of arm mechanics need to improve. If you need help, ask one of on the media peeps, myself included to share some plays and how to read them. We can help you out. We want teams to score dem points!

In their 2 wins, their defense were their calling card to victory, as they allowed a combined 18 points in those 2 games. Tyler Laroche has been the catalyst for turnovers, as he leads with 3 of the team’s 7 INTs on the year. In addition to the 7 INTs, the team has 13 PDs, so their tall DBs are able to block out a lot of the field and make opposing QBs make precise passes, which not all QBs can do in Tier 4 with ease. Offensively, Anthony McCall is the lead receiver with 165 yards, while Michael De Gregorio and Jordan Carpanzano round out the trio of receivers, though both of them have less than 100 yards (81 and 85 yards respectively).

I would have given them a B-, but the game of flag is so reliant on the offensive game, that even though the defense has gotten them 2 wins, the offense has been stuck in tar, that it can’t merit a B grade.

TuneSquad

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 4-3-1
  • Current Record: 1-3-1
  • New Predicted Record: 3-4-1

Grade: C+

Damn, TuneSquad has been inconsistent this year. They’ve produced some A/B+ performances against Primetime and WIB 2.0, but then some C/C- performances against QB Roulette, The Penetrators (losing by 3 possessions) and against Deep Ballz. While Adam Antel doesn’t have his favorite target in Matthew Neiss, he has replaced him with Ben Arnovitz as his lead receiver, but the chemistry is clearly not the same, as he has almost as many completions (19) as he does targets that were not completed (15). That said, Arnovitz has been a top 3 receiver in Tier 4, but imagine how much more ahead he could be if they connected on more of those targets. As for the rest of the offense, the ball is getting distributed well, as the team has four 100-yard receivers. Antel though is a better Quarterback than 11 TDs to 8 INTs with a 70.6 QB rating, so that is a disappointment as I believed he could be a top 3 QB in Tier 4. Even though his last outing against Deep Ballz skewed his stats very negatively, the stats he was putting up, even without that game, was not great, putting up just 10 TDs to 5 INTs in 3 games. A 2:1 ratio isn’t great. The minimum to be competitive is 3:1, so to have been close against Primetime and WIB 2.0 is a sign that the defense, which TuneSquad is not known for, is playing better than past seasons. They are playing better defensively in terms of creating turnovers, as they are tied for 2nd most with 8 INTs. In fact, While Antel has thrown 8 INTs, he’s intercepted opposing QBs 3 times himself, leading the team in that category. Avi Korman has done his part as a rusher as well, with the 5th most sacks (6) in Tier 4 whic his applying decent pressure on Quarterbacks leading to those INTs. When they aren’t causing turnovers though, they are giving up the first down on 3rd down more than any other team, which is keeping drives alive and leading to the 2nd most average points allowed per game. So they need to clean that up, but more importantly, the offense needs to do better, as they are averaging just 19.6 points a game. I see them going 2-1 down the stretch. I like the team, and they are a great group of guys and want them to do better. Anything worse than 2-1 and I’ll be disappointed.

Red Dragons

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 3-5
  • Current Record: 1-4
  • New Predicted Record: 3-5

Grade: B–

While they’ve been handed some beatdown losses, their first and last games have impressed me. They were able to put up 35 points in Week 1, and (and this is more impressive out of the 2) is that they kept their game against The Penetrators within 6 points, especially after they had just lost big to WIB 2.0. First, Guillaume Boulanger needs to obviously improve all the stats, but the 1 that will probably help all the rest is the completion percentage. Complete easy passes and let your receivers do the work. I also recommend watching Games of the Week and past FPF Finals to look at what great teams are running as plays. You guys can also reach out to the FPF media and we love helping out new teams, because we love offense and we love putting up points! If you scroll down in these articles, you’ll find some great plays to try out (and Peeze explains how to read the play):

https://www.flagplusfootball.com/en/article/an-uncomfortable-conversation-wizards-v-crocs-and-stacegod/

https://www.flagplusfootball.com/en/article/coach-k-a-rising-sun-and-startropics/

https://www.flagplusfootball.com/en/article/addressing-kevin-bacon-the-masters-and-break-x/

While the team has been able to rack up the yards, they haven’t been able to put up the points, averaging a mere 17.2 points per game, which suggests they are struggling in the redzone. It is tough once you get inside a confined area, but my suggestions are to create plays that attack the front and back of the endzone in the same lane, as teams either (usually) play lanes or man in the redzone. Émile Bolullo and Tommy Caetano are the 2 go-to receivers on the team to eat the yards, but Lucian Leontiev is a reliable pass-catcher that is probably a missed tackle away from breaking for more than his 7.1 yards per catch. Where they need to improve offensively as a team is on 3rd and 4th down to keep drives alive. They are currently converting 32% of their 3rd downs, and 20% on 4th down, both of which are 3rd lowest in the Tier. Again, hit the easy check down options and let the receivers gain the yards. While the team is struggling on D, allowing the most points per game against (29.4) and are tied for the least INTs (4), Vincent Bolullo is doing what he can for the defense to create 2nd, 3rd and 4th and long situations. He’s got the 3rd most sacks in Tier 4, but they are allowing offenses to convert on 44% of their 3rd down situations (3rd highest).

Deep Ballz

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 0-8
  • Current Record: 1-3
  • New Predicted Record: 2-6

Grade: B–

Ok, the 0-8 prediction wasn’t on point, but all I had as info was a 35-0 loss to the Red Dragons one game into the season. That, and Francois Rocheleau wasn’t on the roster to start the season. Since that first big loss, the defense has come out and stopped offenses in their tracks. Holding The Penetrators to 20 points. While the defense has 6 INTs on the season, which is decent, they haven’t needed more than that because the defense is stopping offenses from sustaining their drives. They are the #1 defense in preventing a 1st down on 3rd down, allowing offenses to only convert 23.5% and are 3rd best, only allowing 21.4% of 4th downs to be converted. They are also only allowing 21.8 points per game, which in flag, is really really good. Where they could be doing better defensively is in the sacks department. They have a Tier 4-low of 3 sacks. While the defense has kept them in games, they are struggling big time on offense, only scoring a touchdown on 35% of their possessions, and while they are great at stopping offenses on 3rd and 4th down, their own offense are having the same issues. They are the 3rd worst team converting on 3rd down (30.8%) and 2nd worst converting on 4th down (17.7%). With all the said, their offensive troubles seemed to disappear against TuneSquad. While it’s hard to establish how many yards Bruno Provencher has thrown for, he threw of his 7 TD’s on the season in their last game. While Provencher has only thrown for 7 TDs in 4 games, he has rushed for 4 TDs on the ground. While he can certainly move the chains with his legs, it should always be a complimentary piece to the passing game, which it was last Monday. When you can keep the defenses guessing and committing to one or the other, that’s when you can take advantage of defenses. While it will be hard to assess the team without stats since they did not have jerseys/shirts with numbers until last week, it seems that Victor Rifiorati and Francois Rocheleau will be the key offensive weapons, but don’t discount Ève Charbonneau, who picked up 32 yards on 2 receptions against TuneSquad.

They do have a tough schedule ahead, but if the defense can continue giving opposing offenses fits, and the offense can piece it together like they did against TuneSquad, this could be a team that many Tier 4 teams overlook and might just be able to come away with the upset victories.

QB Roulette

  • Iggy’s Pre-Season Predicted record: 3-5
  • Current Record: 0-3
  • New Predicted Record: 0-8

Grade: C-

After watching them for a few drives last Thursday night in Brossard, it was obvious that Kenny Boutilier looks to run before reading the field. While he’s got wheels and can make guys miss, he needs to scan the defenses to see what’s open and should be using his legs as a weapon to gain a 1st down and keep drives alive, as well as to get defenses to bite up and hit easy 10-12 yard hooks over the top. On the 3rd drive of the game against Save The Turftles, he did exactly that, running down field for 24 yards, and then completing consecutive passes where he found Daniel Borelli on an easy sideline hook that Borelli was able to punch in for the score. They need to get him more involved in the offense, Borelli that is, as he went 4/4 with 66 yards and 3 TDs in that game. In his previous 2 games this season, the man had 0 targets and in 1 game became the leading receiver on the team. While the offense has been lackluster, the defense has kept them in games. Their first 2 games were lost by a combined score of 7 points, and then allowed 32 points to Save The Turftles. But honestly, erase the 2 pick-6’s and say for fun that they turn those half of those points their way, the score is much closer (STT 32 – QB Roulette 27). I was impressed with how Jonothan Joseph tacked the deep ball for one of his 2 INT’s on Thursday night in Brossard. With him and Kenny Boutillier patrolling the secondary and Zackary Alberts-Gill applying the pressure as one of the Tier’s premier rushers, the defense has been doing its job. In fact, they are the #1 at stopping teams from converting on 4th down, where offenses are converting just 16.7% of their 4th down attempts, and are allowing a Tier-best 132 yards against per game. The trouble of course, is that they are only scoring on 32% of their possessions and are averaging a Tier-low 15.3 points per game. The rest of the schedule is real tough for them, and while the defense will keep them in games, they need to prove they can move the ball consistently on offense before I predict a win or give them a higher grade. I highly suggest to look at the 3 links under the Red Dragons report card for some of Peeze’s plays that I’ve integrated, and most important, read how the play is meant to be read from the QB position.

Week 5 Game Picks – Tier 3

My Picks are in Bold Green

Lallimo’s 17 Year Olds vs. Ravens

Ravens vs. Voodoo

Lallimo’s 17 Year Olds vs. Dime and Bougie

Blue Dreamers vs. Warriors

Trapstars vs. Killer Rays

Sulé Fess vs. Voodoo

Bruins vs. Warriors

Ravens vs. Why So Serious?

Bandits vs. Kiss My Inlaws – N/A

Week 5 Game Picks – Tier 4

The Step Bros vs. Primetime

Primetime vs. Save The Turftles

The Step Bros vs. WIB 2.0

QB Roulette vs. Red Dragons

Epilogue

Ok, well damn, that was LONNNGGGGG to write. So I got nothing left in the tank but CTA:

Cheers!