Weekday Quarterback (D5) – Week 8

            After a week of surprising results in division 5, week 8 brought some teams back to reality. With only three games left in the regular season, teams realize that they need to solidify their playoff spots while others are just fighting to get invited to the party. There was more than one team who felt that they disappointed last week and a couple of those teams used this week to let the rest of league know that last week was nothing more than a fluke and that they were not going to slip up again. This week we will look at both conferences and analyze who is in and who is out, at this point. Nothing is settled yet, however, there are still no teams mathematically eliminated from contention. Let’s start with a look at some of the marquee matchups from the past weekend.

Week 6 Recap

            We can begin with the matchup between The Family and Monstars because both of these teams made headlines last week with their performances. The Monstars made news for a good reason, while the Family had a disappointing loss without starting QB Maxime Forget. Like I mentioned previously, this week brought teams back to the real world and the Monstars were handed the loss while the Family got back on top by putting up 50 points on the Monstars. Forget made up for his absence last week by going 14 for 20 for 219 yards and ridiculously threw for 7 touchdowns. When you look at the numbers that this team puts up it is hard to question whether anyone can even touch these guys when they are at 100%. I give the Monstars some credit for hanging in there throughout the game without their leader Moh Azab. The Family must keep winning to try and get that number 1 seed in their conference but have to get some help from another team as they need Sphinx to lose a game for that to happen. The Monstars, meanwhile. are in a fight to get into that last playoff spot their conference.

            Last week the Recruits knocked off Goliath as they shocked the division with a victory over the Family. This weekend they had a chance to knock off a second undefeated team, Park X Streets, but it was just not meant to be. Most people probably did not give the Recruits a chance against either of these teams so to come away with a split is nothing to be upset over. The issue for the Recruits was their slow start to the game. They trailed 20-0 at halftime and it proved to be too much to overcome in the second half. Drew Saitanis led Park-X Streets with an excellent performance. Saitanis threw for 2 touchdowns and ran for 2 others. While the Recruits need to try and find their winning ways again next week, the Park X Streets seems to have found that jump that they lacked last week in a draw with the Monstars.

In Other News…

–          Sphinx continued their domination of D5 with a 28-7 win over Pendant Publishing. Shout out to Daniel Aronovitch of Pendant Publishing who played great in a losing effort with 2 interceptions and 1 receiving touchdown.

–          The Patriotes beat up on the Love Cows with a 40-6 victory. Etienne Chauvin continues to play extremely well for the Patriotes and added 5 touchdowns to his total on the season.

–          Finally, I have to give the Golden Eagles some respect. This team finally got a huge victory over the Wonderslugs and they absolutely deserved this win. They have had a tough schedule but have fought hard every week and it paid off this week with 58-6 victory. Congratulations on your second win of the season.

Playoff Preview

Here we will look at the standings so far and who would be placed where if the season were to end today. Conference A is a little bit clearer then Conference B but not by very much.

Conference A

1.      Sphinx: These guys are 7-0 but they have The Family breathing down their neck. They have to keep winning in order to maintain that top seed in the conference. Week 10 has these two teams facing off (on camera in the FPF Game of the Week) and should be a great matchup.

2.      The Family: That tough loss two weeks ago could be the deciding factor for these guys as they now need to win every game for the rest of the season including that week 10 matchup vs Sphinx to finish first.

3.      The Patriotes: It is hard to believe that a team that is 6-1 does not have much of a chance to be one of the top 2 teams in their conference but being in such a strong conference can lead to these types of problems. Even though they probably will not win one of those 2 top seeds this team is going to be very dangerous down the road.

4.      The Recruits: That win against the Family puts them in this spot right now but they need to continue to win to make sure they don’t fall back. Teams below them are only 3 points out of a playoff spot and they cannot give an inch right now

5.      Affreux: This team has really struggled the past couple of weeks and they need to get back on track fast or they could be on the outside looking in, very soon. A victory this weekend would go a long way.

6.      Team USA: Team USA suffered a devastating injury last week but are still hanging on to this final playoff spot right now. They are 2 points up on the teams trying to get in to the playoff picture. If they can hang on to this final playoff spot I would consider it a successful season.

Conference B

1.      Park X Streets: Park-X Streets leads this conference by a single point over Run’N’Wild. These two teams will also settle who gets the top seed in the conference in a week 10 matchup.

2.      Pendant Publishing: This team leads their division, and because of that will get the number 2 seed in their conference. Whether others feel they earned this spot is not important nor relevant. You win your division and you deserve the spot in the playoffs. This team is getting better each week as well.

3.      Run’N’Wild: A very good team that has found its groove over the past few weeks. Not much to be said besides the fact that they need to keep winning until week 10 and then take a shot at the number one team in their conference. Should be great to watch.

4.      Lockdown: It is an absolute shock that a team with six points is the third seed in the conference. Six points would be just enough to sneak into the playoffs in the other conference, so this team has to consider itself very fortunate to be in this position. There are a few teams that can overtake them in the next couple of weeks so they need to get some wins under their belt.

5.      Monstars: Another team that has to consider itself very fortunate to be in a playoff spot especially with the number 4 seed. They are by no means a lock to make it but have placed themselves in a fairly good spot. A tough schedule has led to some losses for this team but they need to win at least two of their next three games to go into the playoffs with some confidence.

6.      Wildkittens: Two points up on the Love Cows and could be out of the playoffs in a week while at the same time are tied with the number one team in the division and could be the number 2 seed in the conference. It is a crazy scenario that could lead to a team being a number 2 seed one week and out of the playoffs the next week. Good luck to all the teams fighting in the North Division.

Tip Drill

Offensive Tip of the Week: Using the Chair Route

This route is often not used by teams who lack confidence because it takes time for this route to develop and it requires a large amount of faith in the Wide Receiver and QB. Have a slot or receiver run a quick out and then run straight up the field. Often times it will open up the receiver against a cover 2 defense because the man playing the short zone releases after he goes up field. If the safety is not playing close attention he may slide over to help somewhere else because he saw the receiver run a quick out. Like I said this play can either be a home run or can lead to a sack if it does not develop fast enough. It is definitely worth a shot at some point if you feel you have a receiver who has the speed to get to his spot on time.

Defensive Tip of the Week: Make the Smart Play

This tip may seem like common sense but unfortunately I have seen people forget to make the smart play more often than once this season. When a team tries to convert on fourth down, you need to realize that whether you intercept the ball or get an incompletion the ball is going to be turned over. There has been a few times where the defensive team tries to pick a pass off all the way in the end zone and run it out rather than just knock the ball down and take over on downs inside the opposition’s territory. I know we all want to get our stats, but a mental error like this can be the difference between a victory and a loss.

 

            We are three weeks away from the playoffs and the standings are tighter than ever; especially in Conference B of Division 5. A few teams are battling hard for this final playoff spot while the battle at the top is fierce for the number one seeds. Does it get any better than that? I wish you all the best of luck in the next couple of weeks and I will see you this weekend.