Weekday Quarterback (Div D) – Week 12

Round two of the playoffs have come and gone in the blink of an eye and we are now two weeks away from finding out who the best team in Division D is. We have narrowed it down to four teams, who, for the most part, have been the best teams all season long. Given all the surprises that we saw this year during the regular season, I am pretty surprised to see that in one conference, we have a one seed versus a two seed and in the other conference we have a one seed playing a three seed. Keep in mind the three seed (Patriotes) may very well be considered the favorite to win it all. It is normal to see one dark horse team slide under the radar and into the semi finals. Give these teams all the credit in the world, they did not allow the pressure of the playoffs get to them and they managed to stay on top of their games. Let’s take a look at the matchups heading into conference championship weekend.

Eagles versus Patriotes

– We all get to see the rematch we have wanted to see. These two teams put on a great show at the end of the regular season. I think the consensus is that the winner of this game will win the title game in two weeks. Even though the Patriotes lost the first game 40-35, they are in no way intimidated by the undefeated Eagles. The Eagles victory over the Patriotes came on a last second play. The Eagles stumbled a little bit last week, even though they won 24-6, over the Monstars. Being tied 6-6 at halftime is not what anyone would have expected from the Eagles last week. It took two quick touchdowns and an ejection of one of the Monstars’ best players to really get them into their groove. They cannot afford that kind of slow start again if they want to beat a high powered Patriotes team. Will Jonathan Goyette and Danny Bellemare split the snaps at QB this week? They have done that all season long and to change their approach would be a big mistake. Goyette actually passed for 4 touchdowns while Bellemare passed for 3 touchdowns in their first encounter. You know what they say, “if it aint broke, don’t fix it”. If you’re the Eagles you try and recall what got the job done last time they played the Patriotes and use that same game plan, which includes getting the ball to Francis Leblanc, who had four TD grabs. It also obviously helps defensively when you have a stud rusher in Gabriel Lapensee who recorded 22 sacks in the regular season.

In order for the Patriotes to get a leg up, they are going to need to have Etienne Chauvin at his best. It is not a lot to ask from a guy who has been exceptional all season long and has only lost one game. His one defeat came at the hands of these Eagles, however, and you can bet that a guy with as much competitive spirit as Chauvin will want to go for the jugular early on. Expect the Patriotes to put a bit more pressure on Bellemare and Goyette in this second game. They gave them too much freedom in the backfield and they will need a better defensive scheme in order to force the Eagles’ hand. They cannot allow the Eagles to have running lanes like they had in the first game, and that is eliminated by good pressure and being much quicker to the ball carrier. The Patriotes will need a big defensive performance from Sebastien Pereda who has been a ball hawk all year long, but got beat a few times last time these teams played. The biggest question will be, where does the extra pressure on the QB come from? That is something we won’t know until game time.

– Key Player : Sebastien Pereda

– Prediction : Patriotes 35 – Eagles 30

Mongoose versus the X-Men

– The X-Men have come a long way in the last few weeks, at least in the eyes of people watching from the outside. There were many people, myself included, who doubted their ability to win games against the upper echelon of teams in Division D. The X-Men have put those doubts to rest with two consecutive playoff victories and their third playoff win in the last two seasons. Not only have the X-Men been beating above average teams in the playoffs, they have been doing it in a way that a lot of people would not have expected. You would expect them to force the ball to their best player come playoff time but in reality the X-Men have been playing a much more methodical style of offense, that has lead them all the way to the conference finals. Gautama Swaminadahn may be the most underrated QB in the division and has not received a fair amount of credit for what he has done with this team. His 121.3 QB rating, which leads the playoffs, shows how efficient he has been in the past two games. In the playoff win over the Golden Eagles, Swaminadhan distributed the ball perfectly. All Star receiver Nicholas Abelhauser only touched the ball twice for 22 yards and a touchdown while other players really stepped up their game. Pat Logan made 5 catches for 55 yards and a touchdown and Miguel Burnier had three catches and a touchdown. There was no one player that carried the load for the X-Men, which could be a scary thought for Mongoose, heading into next week.

Mongoose will be looking to continue their impressive run this season with a trip to the championship game. They expected to be in this position since week one and would be extremely disappointed if they were to fall short at this point. With the potential loss of Jason Lachapelle this weekend, there will be added pressure added on Alexandre Gaudet. Gaudet has been fantastic all season long but has always had Lachapelle to take a few snaps each game to give defenses a different look. We will have to see a more conventional style of offense from Mongoose this weekend unless they add another wrinkle to the game plan in the next few days. Someone will need to step up and take on a bigger role, and the man who looks like he’s ready to do that had a big game last weekend against Maximum Carnage. Frederic Charlebois had 5 catches for 39 yards and 2 touchdowns for Mongoose last weekend. Gaudet will need to try and get him a few more catches to fill the void left by Lachapelle. Do not be surprised to see a bit more of a running attack from Gaudet this week as well. He will need to use his speed and athletic ability to pick up some first downs for his team in critical situations. This should be a real grind out style game where both teams are going to be at their best. Expect a close one that comes down to the wire.

– Prediction : X-Men 21 – Mongoose 18

– Key Player : Gautama Swaminadahn