Week 5 Recap

After an eventful week of FPF action, the playoff scenarios for the vast majority of teams remains cloudy. Hard to predict the forecast for so many good teams on their quest into the post-season. But it could clear very quickly. As is always the case, winning takes care of everything. We shall soon see which ones emerge from the mist. Conversely, for a handful of squads, there seems to be bright sunshine in the horizons with little turbulence as we near the end regular season.

In a room filled with silhouettes and images, Path is limitless, skipping a beat that’s ridiculous. See the world is simple, but complex in the design, Pain a funny thing when you can’t figure out the source, Bear witness while I’m checking destinations off my hit list, Understand the message I encrypted, Never hold my tongue, this is pandemonium.

This week’s agenda is as followed:

4 Takeaways Playoff push Not too late… Power Rankings-Top 5

4 Takeaways

Unlike Drake’s 0 to 100, we may have two teams stuck on 0 in the same division. I did anticipate perhaps one winless club in division 5. It happens, but two? We may also see one undefeated team this season. The Gryphons are undefeated through seven games, just three wins away from scoring a perfect run. Talk about polar opposites. Actually, we may have another undefeated club as the Cougars have yet to taste defeat.

While we are on the subject on zeros, there have been five, count them, five shutouts this season. Killuminati, Sphinx, V Nation, Les Loups and most recently Venom, have all been blanked at least once this season. Who’s the next team to be featured on this list?

They always say in the CFL, no lead is safe. How about adding: no game is guaranteed in FPF. Killuminati stuns the Old Guns, while Jagerbomb poor it on over Fans of the Cougars. Congrats to Killuminati for earning their first win of the season…especially over a top notch opponents. You get extra style points for that and should instantly be qualified to make the playoffs. Now whether that happens is a totally different story.

Losing 3 consecutive games—all by one point—is a good way to completely get omitted from the Power Rankings. Just ask Tomahawk Nightmare. They also allowed Dope Boys to surpass them in the Conference B East sub-division.

Playoff push

These teams are certainly taking the second half of the season seriously and it shows. Talk about elevating your style of play and taking it to the next level. That is generally synonymous with the post-season. Here are a two teams that are currently enjoying a string of wins en route to the playoffs.

We Dem Boys (4-2-1)

The refurbished Smoking Aces could be making noise well into the playoffs. Before I start talking about this team, they get my vote for the best jerseys in our division. Hands down. The Air Jordon silhouette with a football replacing a basketball. Slick. Well, that was my interpretation of it. Having been through it all in the past 3 weeks of FPF action with a 1-1-1 record, this team continues to be battle tested as they look to punch their ticket into the playoffs, which I think they will.

Matthew Petrone is coming off his best performance of the season and entering week 9 on a high note, after leading his boys to a 37-19 victory over the Road Warriors. With almost a full season under his belt, time will tell if he has a bright future as a QB. He is learning how to play with better body control at his new position. He is arguably the team’s best defender as well. Well, actually it would be a toss-up. You could also make a strong case for Alex Apostolakis.

The duo, who also play together with Clockwork, has accounted for 9 of the team’s 10 interceptions. Paul Salvaggio, Alexander Khamis and Giancarlo Brullo have collectively chipped in on offence and aided the club when needed to keep them afloat as we enter week 9. Since we are playing each other next week, I won’t wish you good luck for your next contest, but I will for the rest of the way.

Blackshirts (4-3)

Here is a team that has improved by leaps and bounds. Despite a recent loss, the Blackshirts have been on an impressive roll. They have enough talent on the roster to compete for a championship. The obvious strength of the Blackshirts is its defensive unit. Jason Armenti, has at times, been expediting the clock in opposing quarterbacks’ heads, while allowing his teammates to force turnovers on the part of the opposing offenses. He needs to continue doing that on a regular basis to allow the secondary to cause turnovers. Emilio Pampena aka the tackling machine, Camilo Teixeira and Dylan Taylor have done just that. This group has also accounted for three defensive touchdowns, better known as house calls.

Like any team in division 5, the Blackshirts have areas where they are strong and other facets which could become concerns moving forward. While Dylan Taylor’s stats continue to be off the charts, he is the only one really doing any significant damage. Emilio Pampena has come on strong in the past few weeks and that will be needed as we near the end of the season. That is a good sign for this team. One receiver can and will only get you so far. I look for them to distribute the ball a little more evenly and utilize all five receivers. Much harder to cover five players. It’s a good way to lower turnovers (an area which this team has struggled) and keep your offence on the field. The QB has to make better decisions and the receivers must be able to bail him out from time to time. Their O still has time to sort things out which is bad news for the rest of the division.

Not too late…

TOPSZN (3-4)

Let me start by saying that there are amazing athletes on this team. So great is the belief in natural talent that I based last week’s prediction on that and that alone. Having seen them play, they can truly be a great football team. As it stands right now, there is room for improvement. However, I am not ready to throw in the towel just yet. TOPSZN certainly have weapons at their disposal. My advice is to keep it simple and allow your athletes to run circles around your opponents. We saw glimpses of that last week.

Jordan Maxwell’s stats from last week do not tell the story. I like his style of play as well as his mechanics as a QB. I would like to see him tuck the ball more and run with it or use a HB to get the ball in the hands of those speedy receivers as quickly as possible. They were a tad more effective in the short passing game, most notably when calling crossing routes, as seen on one of their touchdowns.

Truth be told, this game could have been a lot closer. Unfortunately for TOPSZN, it wasn’t their night. Their opponents were able to capitalize on a few miscues, including a pick-six. For some reason, they were not connecting on the deep ball. Down by the red zone, catches were made out of bounds or dropped which ultimately failed to make their last outing a more competitive one. Andel Thomas-Gordon was all over the field defensively, but this team needs to be more aggressive, contest those deep passes and get after the QB, especially those who do not run. It is not too late for a playoff push, but all games moving forward are must-wins.

Power rankings-Top 5

Here is the funny thing about power rankings and the main reason why I opt not to them on a regular basis. For those who do crack the list, that is not enough. Not even close. They should have been ranked higher. Others should have been mentioned. Never fails. Just because a team is ranked number one on your heart, doesn’t mean that sentiment is shared by me or throughout the division. Here are the best teams in division 5. Until now, that is. No need to be overly sensitive on the issue.

The Gryphons (7-0)

Advanced understanding defensively speaking. Make subtle, pre-snap adjustments and diagnoses opponent’s plays. Kevin Paul at rush is huge for them. Makes life easier for Connor O’Brien, Aleksander Papich, Dylan Catellier and Filip Papich to intercept passes—something they have done all season.

Golden Flashes (6-1)

Fitting that a team with the word Golden in it, has Golden standards. Not sure if the second word Flashes has anything to do with their receivers flashing their sure hands. Either way, the name and the results on the field are working for this team. Patrice Lindor is legit and appears to be a very instinctive football player. This team also has receivers that can win jump balls or simply burn defenders. Jean-Christophe Ferland, Jonathan Chevalier and once again, Patrice Lindor all have the ability to do so.

Les Verges Folles (6-1)

Although Kyle Greenbaum has been quiet as of late, he can blow by overconfident corners and kick it into second gear when he chooses. When you have 30 catches and are averaging almost 15 yards per reception, safe to say that you maximize each catch. Yes, Les Verges Folles or Les Aigles du Collège Jean-Eudes are having no issues making the switch from tackle to flag.

GG’WP (6-1-1)

Having lost to Les Verges Folles, they are ranked at no. 4. Simon Bosquet Beaudoin displayed good short-area burst in the running game from the QB position. Has been durable, especially given his size and playing style. William Moquin showed up in big games and made clutch plays (see Green Lantern Corps). Yavar Ashrafi has great recovery speed when he gets caught peeking and disrupts plays.

Sphinx (6-1)

Mathieu Fafard known for being a red-zone brute has traded his title to short-yardage specialist and for the Sphinx. While his trademark continues to be his soft hands, not certain, why he and QB Etienne Cloutier are not connecting in the end zone as seen in years past. Doesn’t really matter as others are filling in the gap as shown by Philippe Cloutier and Julien Laporte. They had a scare last week, but avoided the upset.

Don’t forget to catch the Division 5 podcast which airs on Thursday nights at www.theunclemikeshow.com. The show is hosted by Moe Khan and Terry Tam. Good luck this week.