Categories: Division D

Week 7 Recap: Setting Up the Camera for the Playoff Picture

As we enter the eighth week of play, all 34 Division D teams remain eligible for the playoffs. 

Three weeks from now, when the dust settles and the 24-team postseason is set, those 10 teams who will have been eliminated from playoff contention will be consoling themselves with such phrases as “it wasn’t meant to be,” or “the cards didn’t fall our way.”

That’s BS.

All it comes down to, at the end of the day, is plays made and plays not made.

For most teams, your destiny is entirely in your hands. Win out, and you’re guaranteed to keep playing FPF beyond Week 10. For those needing some help from other teams to do the same, well, you shouldn’t have lost all those games the first seven weeks of the season. Let’s begin.

  

Recaps

Your reaction to ‘Panda’ the first time: “what the hell is this garbage”; your reaction to ‘Panda’ the second time: “BLACK X6, PHANTOM, WHITE X6 LOOKS LIKE A PANDA”     

The same reaction applies nicely to the FPF Pandas, who are coming off an impressive performance to earn their second straight win following a terrible 0-5 start to the season.  

When making my picks last week, the argument I made to myself for predicting a Pandas loss was literally: there’s no way a team goes from 0-5 to 2-5. And yet, not only did Pandas win their second in a row – they actually…dare I say…dominated.

Pandas QB Ryan Kharouf had his way with a Julien Paiement-less (read: abysmal) Blue Devils defense. Kharouf started the game off a perfect 5-for-5 for 40 yards and capped the drive off with a TD as he kept things short and simple most of the night. 

Blue Devils QB Pat Riot got off to an evenly strong start, but trouble arose once he started forcing throws downfield, resulting in an overall forgettable night for the BD offense as they turned the ball over three times. 

Pandas ultimately found themselves with such a huge cushion that they decided to switch Kharouf out for Roy Khalil at QB with five plays to go, and added insult to injury when Khalil found Kharouf for a nice TD grab to make it 38-19 at the final whistle. 

I don’t think there’s another team below .500 having as much fun as these Pandas are.

 

No Friends in this Place

Having conceded six points early on due to a lack of players, it looked like it was going to be a long night for Junkyard Dogs versus a potent Friends in Low Places squad. And indeed it was… for a half.

FLP took advantage of the first-half mess that was JYD to go up 20-zip behind two solid opening drives from QB Jordan Bellemare.

But then the comeback was on. 

In the absence of go-to receiver Hugo Allamanno, JYD got some last-second help from sub Jacob Bernett for the game – and help is really an understatement here as he lit up the field alongside receiver Jordan Rossie.

FLP themselves were without safety Danny D’Amour and it showed, as the Bernett-Rossie tandem burned past the FLP D all night long to the tune of over 250 total yards and 4 TDs. 

With their backs against the wall both entering the game and once it started, JYD did what they needed to in order to ensure their playoff hopes remain closer to alive than dead.

 

From Alpha to Omega

Entering their Tuesday night matchup with the Alpha-Ts at 3-3, Frosty Bronsons, one of my preseason favorites, desperately needed a win to keep from falling out of the playoff picture and onto the bubble.

If I tell you the night kicked off with a quick Alpha-Ts score followed by an interception of a Nowakowski pass on the first two drives, you can likely guess how the rest of the night turned out.

The Alpha-Ts jumped out to a 24-13 halftime lead behind, notably, some gutsy no-look throws by QB Jesse Dupuis that kept drives alive and ended up going for scores when he wasn’t connecting on long bombs.

Meanwhile, Nowakowski’s struggles continued pretty much from start to finish, having been limited through the air and picked off two more times on the night on throws I’m certain he’d like to have back.

Although Frosty didn’t go down without a fight, they went’ down nonetheless by a final score of 36-26, as they now face the very real possibility of needing to win out to clinch their trip to the postseason. Their remaining opponents? Justice League, On Les Empêche and Backyard Bullies. Not what I would call a cakewalk.

 

Power rankings

  1. Two and a Half Dabs (6-1): When you knock off the top team, you get your day in the sun. Congrats, guys.

 

  1. 5-Star (6-1): Gators were missing some key guys, but that doesn’t take away from the monster performance of 5-Star’s three stars.

 

  1. Backyard Bullies (6-1): The Brennan Burke slowdown continues little by little, but his defense continues to back him up.

 

  1. Prestige Worldwide (6-1): An elite team falling short versus another elite team is nothing to worry about. If anything it’s to their advantage: they can now focus solely on getting the championship.

 

  1. The Alpha-Ts (5-1-1): They took on a squad essentially fighting for their playoff lives and buried them.

 

  1. Zoo (6-1): Pat St-Amand, take a bow my friend.

 

  1. St. Lunatics (5-2): My well of superlatives for this defense is starting to dry up.

 

  1. The Goats (5-2): Three picks, two taken back to the house, gives me hope there really is a complete team hidden behind its elite offense.

 

  1. Get Off My D (4-2-1): Won without their staring QB: good. Almost lost to a Longhorns team without its starting QB: bad. Down 19-7 at the half: bad. Completed second-half comeback: good. The fact Jad Aridi was present and they didn’t need him to lead in yards and TDs to win? Verrry good.

 

  1. SABRFC (4-3): 9 catches for over 110 yards and 5 TDs from Hamilton to Mcinnis in back-to-back weeks. This duo is heating up at just the right time.

 

Just missed the cut:

  1. Gamecocks (5-2): I get that they were once again without Jordan Prizant but… eeeeh.

 

 

Race to the Playoffs 

Recall that the top 12 teams from each conference will be going to the playoffs. Bold means you’ve clinched your ticket to the playoffs; strikethrough means you’re out; everyone else is simply still in contention. You can thank Simon Dagenais for the work. 

A

Team

GP

PTS

W(P-F)

DIV

PA

 1

Prestige WorldWide

7

12

6

[2-0-0]

118

2

ZOO

7

12

6

[2-0-0]

144

3

The Alpha T’s

7

11

5

[2-0-0]

132

4

Magic City

7

10

5

[2-0-0]

108

5

Gators

7

8

4

[1-1-0]

174

6

Les Affreux

7

6

3

[1-0-0]

159

7

Fuzzy-Kittens

7

6

3

[1-1-0]

174

8

Junkyard Dogs

7

6

3

[1-1-0]

188

9

All Blacks

7

6

3

[1-1-0]

191

10

Ghosts

7

6

3

[1-1-0]

192

11

Pandas

7

4

2

[0-2-0]

165

12

Bromigos

7

4

2

[0-1-0]

210

13

Les Indécis

7

2

1

[1-1-0]

214

14

Longhorns

7

2

1

[1-1-0]

215

15

Weapon X

7

2

1

[0-2-0]

211

16

Sticky Hands

7

2

1

[0-2-0]

214

17

TAIMESAHEINN

7

0

0

[0-2-0]

200

 

B

Team

GP

PTS

W(P-F)

DIV

PA

1

5-Star

7

12

6

[2-0-0]

154

2

Backyard Bullies

7

12

6

[1-1-0]

158

3

Two and a half Dabs

7

12

6

[0-1-0]

141

4

St-Lunatics

7

10

5

[2-0-0]

150

5

Gamecocks

7

10

5

[2-0-0]

193

6

The Goats

7

10

5

[1-1-0]

209

7

Justice League

7

10

5

[0-2-0]

107

8

Get Off My D

7

9

4

[1-0-0]

197

9

Friends in Low Places

7

8

4

[2-0-0]

126

10

SABRFC

7

8

4

[1-1-0]

149

11

On Les Empêche

7

8

4

[1-1-0]

175

12

More Money-Less TDs

7

6

3

[1-1-0]

178

13

Frosty Bronsons

7

6

3

[1-1-0]

195

 

Matchups of the Week 

Hot Boys Hotline vs. Supply and Command

In what will be the only matchup of the week to feature two teams on the outside looking in, you can bet this will be a hotly contested game. It’s essentially winner’s playoff hopes stay alive and, well, loser’s are on life support. 

I’m sure HBH had much higher hopes than to be 2-4-1 at this point in the season, especially after their strong start back in May. But the offense has fallen flat on its face in recent weeks as the pool of talent on the roster hasn’t been able to form a particularly potent attack behind the struggles of QB Tom Gatehouse. Fortunately for Gatehouse, he’ll be going up against a defense that has given up more points per game than all other teams excepet one thus far.

Equally fortunately for HBH is the fact they’ll be going up against a QB in myself that has thrown some pretty costly INTs in back-to-back weeks (to go along with such wonderful decision-making as to attempt a run in the red zone…on 4th down. Thanks, brain).

Our game this past winter went down to the wire. I’m fully expecting the same to happen once again this weekend.    

 

Longhorns vs. Fuzzy-Kittens

It’s not all that complicated for Longhorns: if they have any hope of keeping their slim playoff hopes alive, they absolutely need to win this game. While I don’t think they will, that doesn’t necessarily mean I think they’ll go out without a fight. 

Despite their 1-6 record, the Longhorns crew has kept things close in all but a single blowout loss this season, and they’re coming off a three week stretch which saw them demolish Weapon X, come back from a big halftime deficit versus Backyard Bullies, and take a two-score lead into the second half versus Get Off My D this past week. 

Longhorns look fortunate to be catching Fuzzy-Kittens in a bit of a midseason slump, coming off two straight losses in which they’ve averaged barely 19 points per game.

That being said, it also would appear that Fuzzy-Kittens have the services of Simon Bosquet Beaudoin to finish out the season. If SBB is the one to rush Moodie and takes away his mobility, the Longhorns offense is sure to struggle when it comes to moving the ball downfield. And that alone may be the difference.  

  

Backyard Bullies vs. The Goats

I was going to make the third preview another one between two teams on the bubble, but this one was too good to pass up. The 6-1 Backyard Bullies feature one of the best defenses in all of Division D, and that’s not only in terms of points against. They get picks, they get sacks, they get PDs, and most importantly they get TDs. 

On the other side is the imposing Goats offense that I’ve been hyping up since preseason (and which they’ve certainly lived up to), which has lit up just about every defense they’ve faced. 

I don’t have to tell you that I think this one comes down to converts. The difference here may be the Joey Fiorillo-Mark Donohue matchup. Fiorillo has already been sacked a division-leading 16 times this season, and he’s going up against one of the division’s top pass rushers in Mark Donohue, who already has a whopping 10 sacks to his name in just six games played. I see a lot of 2nd and longs and 3rd and longs coming for The Goats.

The Goats have been able to overcome those situations thanks to big plays from the likes of Anthony Lazzara and Joseph Buffone, but I have a hard time seeing them make to many of those against Rich Humes and company. Give me ByB in a shootout.

  

Predictions

A 10-6 week from me, a 9-8 week from Belleau. I escape by the skin of my teeth yet again to extend my record to 71-41 (63.39%) while Belleau extends his to 70-49 (58.82%). Just a few more weeks to victory.

 

Weapon X vs. Junkyard Dogs

 

Les Indécis vs. Prestige Worldwide

 

Longhorns vs. Fuzzy-Kittens

 

 Ghosts vs. Les Affreux

 

5-Star vs. More Money-Less TDs

 

Hot Boys Hotline vs. Supply and Command (N/A)

 

Get on Deck vs. Two and a Half Dabs

 

Blue Devils vs. Gamecocks

 

Taimesaheiiin vs. Bromigos

 

SABRFC vs. Get Off My D

 

Magic City vs. All Blacks

 

The Alpha-Ts vs. Friends in Low Places

 

Justice League vs. Frosty Bronsons

 

Gators vs. Sticky Hands

 

On Les Empêche vs. St. Lunatics

 

Backyard Bullies vs. The Goats

 

Pandas vs. Zoo

 

***

Be sure to check out this week’s Division D podcast with Simon Dagenais Moe Khan and Terry Tam at www.youtube.com/flagplus, recorded live on Thursday at 9 p.m. Until next week, Blanchard out.