The clearer the picture, the less we actually know.

It’s been two weeks already; somehow. I feel like most of you haven’t really kicked it up a notch yet thinking it’s still January and we’ve got time; I’d hate to disappoint, but a 0-2 start is a really tough hole to dig yourselves out of in D1-D2. Maybe it’s time to wake up.

Preseason, I reflected on D1 and D2 and realized I had no idea how these divisions would turn out. I told myself I’ll hold out on predictions and wait to see how things turn out; you know, the safe way to play it out. Two weeks in, some could say the picture is getting clearer, but I’ll raise you by saying we still have NO idea how things will play out; I’ve seen teams flip a 0-2 script into a 8-2 championship season before.

Let’s get started.

Week 2

Finest and MNX2.0 remain undefeated, DK’s slump continues, what is up with Braves? Got-Skills and Monstars finally showed up this week, Clockwork is winning but no D-Boys? Is Moe Khan’s beef with CLR Forces well placed? Should Served With Ice consider a QB change? And much more in this week’s galore.

Thoughts of the Week

I’m still curious to know where Daniel Lazzara wanted to go on Wednesday night; he must’ve said “Let’s go” about 100 times.
Considering JD Chevalier’s recent QB pedigree, should he take over as SWI’s pivot?
It’s time we start taking BYOB more seriously.
Preseason, I had high hopes for Braves2.0 and even said they’d beat Waste Yout. Couldn’t have been more wrong.
If I say Daniel Lazzara is good again, will this mean he’ll play bad? *Insert curious face here*
Monstars have a real shot at making a name for themselves in D1 in the upcoming weeks; it’s an exciting time for them.
I’m not sure what to think of Top Guns’ roster; could it possibly grow even bigger?
Rainmakers beating DK this week would be one of the biggest upsets of the season, even if both teams are currently 0-2.
Man that Saints-Vikings game was CRAZY.
Very proud to be an Eagles fan this week.
Playing for that #1 seed is huge, but playing to stay afloat in such tough divisions feels even bigger; don’t underestimate a team back against a wall.
After two weeks, Rod Mashtoub is stealing the show as the leading passer in D1. Not sure many would’ve predicted this.
A snapper with 7 Tds in the first 2 weeks? I’m still shocked.
I don’t think seeing Francois Lebeau has D2 leader in passing yards shocks anyone, yet, they can’t seem to win a game.
Jourdain Alexis already has 4 INTs in D2. Maybe people should stop throwing his way?
Vinny Gualano only has 17 rushing yards in his first two outings. Are you telling me this is a new trend? I’ll believe it when I see it.
I’m a bit confused seeing Simon Charbonneau-Campeau being released by Got-Skills after just one game. I guess it didn’t work out as planned.
I feel like I’ve bashed the Braves a lot in this week’s articles, I apologize. I just know they can do better than what they’ve displayed thus far.
Pascal Tshilambo is slowly making noise as a top DB in D1. Keep balling, I see you.
Serge Pilon Jr now has back to back weeks with a pick-six. I’m not too sure what I’ll do if he makes it three in a row, but that’d be ridiculous.

Recaps

#NR vs CLR Forces: A late “dropped” ball by Anthony Vendrame (not something we say very often) ended up being the dagger as CLR Forces couldn’t surmount the deficit and we forced to walk away defeated for the second time this season on Saturday night. In a very back and forth game, #NR’s converts gave them a comfortable lead and Frederic Dupuis didn’t look all that comfortable under center in the redzone for most of the night. I don’t know if it’s because he’s got all these new weapons and he’s learning how to use them or it’s a little bit of rust from not playing for so long, but there’s something about the CLR Forces’ offence that wasn’t clicking again this week and that needs to be fixed. They’ve got speed, they’ve got studs; they basically have everything they need to succeed, yet they come up short. Nonetheless, I take nothing away from what #NR has done on Saturday and have been doing recently; they’ve been balling out this season and the connection that Cory Pecker developed with these guys over the last few seasons (including Fall Cup) is really paying off this Winter in D2. Serge Pilon Jr is a huge addition for this core and Daniel Goloff had a monster game for them with 2 interceptions on the night. Considering Troy Trench hasn’t played yet for these guys, future is very bright for #NR.
Clockwork vs STL: It’s always good to see these two teams face each other as you can’t help but feel the friendly competition emerge and see teammates cover teammates for the span of a game. Marco Masciotra hasn’t looked like himself lately, but that didn’t stop Antonio Lanni from balling out and helping his team push past STL to remain undefeated. Both teams struggled early in this game, but Clockwork found ways to score late and ended up closing out the game by a single point. I’m a bit more worried by Marco Masciotra’s stat line than Dylan Taylor’s as we know he can have a few bad outings, but will bounce back whereas Clockwork is a bit more dependent on their star player to have an impact on both sides of the ball week-in and week-out. With Kyle Lebofsky out for quite some time, I’m curious to see who Clockwork will rely on to carry the load with such a key piece missing.
Braves vs Got-Skills: Jonathan Maheu has not looked good in his D1 debut this weekend as he only scored 3 touchdowns and got blown out by Got-Skills in the second half. Braves had literally no answer for Jean-Christophe Mercille who tore them apart for 121 yards and 5 Tds (WHAT!?). It’s one of those performances we’ll remember for quite some time to come as we rarely see snappers post such stat lines in higher divisions, but if anyone can do it, it’s JC Mercille (let’s not forget he’s now at 7 Tds this season and leading the way by a huge margin). Braves were missing a few pieces, but that seems to be their new trend (I remember vividly seeing them win the FPF Fall Cup with only 5 guys) as they’re constantly missing guys week-in and week-out. Unless they can fix their roster and have guys show up more consistently, they will struggle in a tough D1 this Winter season.
DK vs Flag Moi L’Sac: DK falls to 0-2 after losing a close one to Flag Moi L’Sac. I’ve been impressed with FMS so far and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. Alex Nadeau Piuze came up big for his team with 2 key interceptions and 6 touchdowns (one rushing, 5 passing) as he was able to use other players than just his brother and Mikhael Davidson (Guillaume Robert had a big game this week scoring twice) against a very good DK defence nonetheless. DK has the roster to be a dominant D1 team and they’ve done it before, so I’m not too worried about a 0-2 start, but it’ll be an uphill battle from here on out if they want to avoid facing Finest in the early rounds of the playoffs this season. With the recent addition of Simon Charbonneau-Campeau to their roster, DK just got a little bit more dangerous; they had A LOT of speed, but now Nicolas Arsenault-Hum isn’t the only size on the team anymore. Could this be the key addition they truly needed?
Rainmakers vs Monstars: After last week’s outing, Monstars were poised to bounce back and they did exactly that this week against Rainmakers in a big way. Not only was Rod Mashtoub unstoppable offensively as he picked apart the Rainmakers’ defence, but the Monstars’ defence made some plays to really seal the deal early and build up confidence going into the next few weeks of the season. With one of the greatest plays of the season, Theo Bekelis intercepted Ryan Kastner with a one-hander that reminded us of ODB and, somehow, managed to bring that ball back for 6. Rainmakers looked outmatched for most of the game as Monstars had the right personnel and the right defence for what Ryan Kastner tried to do and limiting such a strong offence to only 25 points is a pretty impressive feat. Both teams will have HUGE games in week 3 in very different ways; Rainmakers need to stop the bleeding and get a W before it’s too late and Monstars need to start piling up the W as they enter a very tough stretch of games. Exciting times for both teams.
Braves2.0 vs Waste Yout: Acting as Daniel Lazzara’s kryptonite over the last year, I had Braves as the favorites to win this game preseason. Looking back on what actually happened on Wednesday, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Although Georges Gariepy went ALL OUT on that Waste Yout defence (he did finish with 156 receiving yards), Jonathan Maheu has not looked good this season (Neither in D1 nor in D2) and this Braves 2.0 team is a mess. Waste Yout have, probably, the best roster in D2 and when they’re all present, they’re bound to achieve great things this season. Vincent Alessandrini got hurt early in the game after getting Moss’d by Georges Gariepy on a 40-yard bomb and didn’t return; a huge hit to WY’s defensive side of the ball, yet it barely showed. Daniel Lazzara put on a show for yours truly and finished with only 2 incompletes (one of which was a drop). Maybe I should stop mocking him.

Players of the Week

Pascal Tshilambo (MNX2.0): 100 receiving yards, 3 Tds and a pick on defence. Quite the performance yet again.
Alex Nadeau Piuze (Flag Moi L’Sac): 5 passing Tds, 1 rushing and 2 interceptions on defence. He probably didn’t give himself the game ball, but he definitely earned it.
Jean Christophe Mercille (Got-Skills): What. A. Night. 9 receptions, 121 yards and 5 (!!!) touchdowns. Hot damn.

Nicolas Arsenault-Hum (Terror Squad): 7 receptions, 61 yards and 4 touchdowns. I get that he’s that good, but 4 touchdowns? Can someone cover him?
Kyle Smith (You Can’t Sit With Us): 7 receptions, 122 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns; a very impressive outing.
Mathieu René (BYOB): Another solid performance from Mathieu René really puts him back on the map as a top QB in D2. 255 passing yards and 6 Tds (and a win over a top tier team). Keep balling out!
Georges Gariepy (Braves 2.0): Stealing the spotlight with 152 receiving yards and 2 Tds. One man can only do so much and he did more than most could’ve hoped for.
Daniel Lazzara (Waste Yout): Everything seemed to click perfectly for him and his offence on Wednesday as he tore up Braves 2.0 for 7 Tds and fell just short of a perfect game (26 / 28).

Power Rankings

Montreal’s Finest (2-0): Will history repeat itself? So far so good for MTL’s Finest.
MNX2.0 (2-0): The only other undefeated teams deserve credit for what they’ve accomplished so far.
Flag Moi L’Sac (1-1): I’m happy with what I’ve seen from these guys so far. Hopefully they can keep it up.
Got-Skills (1-1): Convincing win over a previously top-3 team, GS climbs.
Monstars (1-1): Their real test is in the upcoming weeks. I’m excited.
D-Boys (1-1): I’m worried by their current performance; it’s not just a lack of chemistry and timing. They’ve got a few things to work on before considering themselves the #2 team, but they’ve done it before so I don’t see why they couldn’t do it this Winter too.
DK (0-2): I won’t freak out about their current winless record just yet. They can’t afford to drop next week’s game though.
Top Guns (1-1): The roster doesn’t feel like a D1 roster. It’s also freakishly long. Who’s truly on Top Guns?
Braves (1-1): Losing when the starting QB is back in the lineup isn’t a good sign. Jonathan Maheu hasn’t played well this season.
Rainmakers (0-2): Tough start and it won’t get any easier. Can they turn things around?

We P.O. (2-0): Another week, another dominant performance by We P.O. Can they be stopped?
Clockwork (2-0): Winning by a point or by 20; a win’s a win. Huge game next week.
BYOB (2-0): Gotta give these guys love, they’ve been playing lights out so far this Winter.
#NR (2-0): Only have good things to say about #NR in back to back weeks.
STL (1-1): Last week’s loss doesn’t worry me too much; watch these guys bounce back.
You Can’t Sit With Us (1-1): Bad nights happen even to the best of us; it’s how you bounce back that defines you.
Waste Yout (1-1): Dominant performance on both sides of the ball, Waste Yout climbs the Rankings this week.
Wolverines (1-1): Still trying to figure a few things out, Wolverines might need a few weeks to really work out the kinks, but I’m confident they’ve got a good thing going.
Terror Squad (0-1-1): Are they really 9^th in my Power Rankings? Damn. They’re better than their record.
S Club Legion (1-1): Their roster is SOLID, but I’m not sold on their current QB situation just yet; prove me wrong.
Served With Ice (0-2): I guess JD Chevalier isn’t as easy to replace as people would come to think. Jordan Panetta has looked nothing like himself this season.
Gladiateurs (0-2): Their offence is good, but they can’t keep allowing that many points every week.
CLR Forces (0-2): There’s doubts about CLR Forces around the league. The next few weeks should be considered do-or-die for them.
Braves 2.0 (0-2): As high as I’ve been on Braves in the past, something is truly wrong with this Braves 2.0 roster and I can’t seem to put my finger on it.

Predictions

MNX2.0 vs Monstars: Monstars
D-Boys vs Got-Skills: Got-Skills
Montreal’s Finest vs Braves: Montreal’s Finest
Flag Moi L’Sac vs Top Guns: Flag Moi L’Sac
Rainmakers vs DK: DK

#NR vs Wolverines: #NR
STL vs CLR Forces: STL
Braves2.0 vs Terror Squad: Terror Squad
BYOB vs Gladiateurs: BYOB
We P.O. vs Clockwork: We P.O.
S Club Legion vs Waste Yout: Waste Yout
You Can’t Sit With Us vs Served With Ice: You Can’t Sit With Us

That’s it for me this week. Hopefully this will trigger you just enough to drop me a message either via email ([email protected]), twitter (@DagenaisFPF) or in person. Remember, I didn’t do this to you, YOU did this to you. Until next time…!

Week 2: Sloppy predictions and decisive week 3 matchups