D3 Stew: How the Mighty Fall – FlagPlus Football League

D3 Stew: How the Mighty Fall

Superbowl weekend is here at last, but for many like me it’s a bittersweet quirk of the FPF winter season schedule. Although we get the day off to celebrate the holiest apogee of American sports culture, it also means that there’s no game for many of us this week. For anyone coming off a difficult loss, you know how tough it is to sit on it for 14 long days.

The silver lining to it all is that the true meat of the winter season schedule doesn’t begin until after Superbowl weekend. You can call the first 4 weeks a tune-up after a long 6 month hiatus from the game. With 8 out of 10 playoff eligible spots in each conference, anyone can turn their season around completely in the final 6 games and re-write their winter narratives.

As for today, enjoy the game with your friends and loved ones. Congratulations if your team made it to the big show. Live it up. Indulge in all the wings, nacho cheese and red meat that your heart can handle.

For my two cents, there’s something about these Eagles man, I just can’t shake the feeling that they have a surprise in store for us. Even the great ones need to repeatedly fall throughout their journey in order to reach new heights. Give me the Eagles with the points, I think the Patriots late game heroics finally wear off today. You can’t play with fire so often and not get burnt.

Prediction: 30 – 24 Fly-Eagles-Fly

Big Board

Z-score is the number of standard deviations from the mean a data point sits at. For our purposes, the Z-Score will measure how far a player ranks either above or below the divisional average at his position. The higher the Z-Score, the better you’ve ranked in comparison to your peers.

For QBs, I attributed equal weight to each of the measurable statistical categories. That means Yards, TDs and INTs all have an equal impact on the final rating. The final player value (PV) is achieved by summing all the individual scores for each category (Ivalue for QBs is reversed for negative value).

You’ll notice this week I’ve decided to measure averages rather than totals. This was done to consider QBs who are having an excellent season, but were forced to miss a game. To keep things competitive and maintain a fair sample size, we’ll only measure QBs who’ve played at least 60% of their team’s games.

Without further ado, here are your top 10 rankings at QB through week 4:

QB	GP	YRDS	Yvalue	TD	Tvalue	INT	Ivalue	PV
Mario Porreca	4	252,8	1,69	5,75	1,60	0,50	-1,45	4,74
Alex Holowach	4	241,0	1,42	5,00	0,94	0,75	-0,96	3,32
Phil Cutler	3	195,3	0,39	4,67	0,65	0,67	-1,13	2,16
Vince Nardone	4	179,8	0,04	5,25	1,16	0,75	-0,96	2,16
Dylan Taylor	4	211,8	0,76	5,50	1,38	1,25	0,03	2,11
Erminio Iadeluca	4	192,0	0,31	4,75	0,72	0,75	-0,96	1,99
Neil Etinson	4	225,5	1,07	4,50	0,50	1,50	0,52	1,05
Joey Taylor	4	176,0	-0,05	4,00	0,06	1,00	-0,47	0,48
Sean Avraam	4	202,0	0,54	4,25	0,28	1,50	0,52	0,30
Myles Gibbon	4	169,0	-0,21	4,25	0,28	1,25	0,03	0,05

Some observations:

This was an overall soft week for last week’s leaders, allowing some significant shakeup in the top 10…I mentioned last week that Phil Cutler would make a move into the top 5. Well, he was able to achieve that without even playing this week due to his excellent start…Vince Nardone was also vaulted into the top 5 backed by his strong 6 TD performance against JYD. He’ll be facing his true tests in the upcoming weeks…Neil Etinson has now had 3 strong games in a row, and is rocketing back up the leader board with monster yardage performances…Joey Taylor is back in the top 10 where he belongs after dicing up the Darksiders defense this week…Myles Gibbon lit up the Dirty Dawgs and catapulted himself into the QB conversation. More on his big night below.

Bigger Board

For WRs, I used a weighted average assigning Yards and TDs 4X as much value as REC in the adjusted player value (PV).

Here are your week 4 rankings for the top 25 WRs:

WR	REC	Zrec	Yards	Zyards	TD	Ztd	PV
Dave Chitayat	21	2,12	323	3,23	9	3,23	9,32
Daniel Mancini	20	1,95	295	2,84	9	3,23	8,74
Alex Pilon	16	1,27	315	3,12	8	2,76	8,26
Marco Bertoldi	17	1,44	239	2,05	9	3,23	7,51
Adrien Kellman	11	0,41	227	1,88	9	3,23	6,94
Danny D’Amour	19	1,78	214	1,69	8	2,76	6,53
Theo Bekelis	21	2,12	248	2,17	6	1,83	6,05
Joel Malkin	19	1,78	284	2,68	5	1,36	5,99
Jonathan Garfinkle	20	1,95	202	1,52	6	1,83	5,12
Justin Cerantola	19	1,78	238	2,03	5	1,36	5,12
Jordan Allard	15	1,10	211	1,65	5	1,36	4,39
Robbi Dejean	13	0,75	216	1,72	5	1,36	4,37
Zach Zwirn	18	1,61	192	1,38	5	1,36	4,20
Shaq Lattimore	17	1,44	176	1,16	5	1,36	3,84
Jeremy Anderson	12	0,58	153	0,83	6	1,83	3,75
Sebastien Simon	15	1,10	208	1,61	4	0,90	3,71
Mathieu Gratton	12	0,58	141	0,66	6	1,83	3,52
Carmine Pollice	18	1,61	218	1,75	3	0,43	3,45
AJ Gomes	15	1,10	191	1,37	4	0,90	3,39
Hinsley Adams	14	0,92	192	1,38	4	0,90	3,35
Chris Valentine	15	1,10	181	1,23	4	0,90	3,20
Justin McLean	16	1,27	177	1,17	4	0,90	3,18
Ryan Aridi	15	1,10	177	1,17	4	0,90	3,13
Vinny Gualano	11	0,41	171	1,09	4	0,90	2,78

Some Observations:

With Alex Pilon missing this week and next, Dave Chitayat moved into the 1st overall position on our receiver board. This wasn’t a surprise, as he was the projected WROY in preseason…Daniel Mancini would have likely been first place after a monster first half. He was injured and left the game mid-way. We’ll need to wait to see the extent of his injury…Marco Bertolid and Adrien Kellman are touchdown machines. They’re also the primary targets on their respective rosters…Jonathan Garfinkle had a major showcase game this week against Bearskins. Let’s hope he can keep this momentum when Cutler returns to QB…Shaq Lattimore is shaping up to be a strong #2 receiver in the 2HD offense…Mathieu Gratton is a quality receiver and emerged as a leader for his team in the absence of Robbi Dejean…If Pilon and Mancini both miss time, look out for Chris Valentine to shoot up these rankings fast.

Highlights:

Dad Bods unwelcomed in the Home of the Heroes

By all intents and purposes this was the div 3 game of the week, as the Dad Bods travelled into the heart of Hero country to take on the upstart Cougars boys.

When walking into the Hebert Dome at 8:15 the first thing I noticed was the Hometown Heroes, who also serve as coaches for the St Leonard Cougars youth teams, on the field running drills with the kids and getting loose. There was an easy-going nature to the way they warmed up, as if they had a secret that none of us were in on. Having already picked the Dad Bods to win and cover the spread, I turned to Moe Khan along the sidelines and remarked that we might be in for a surprise tonight. Something felt off even before the coin flip, the Hometown Heroes didn’t look AFRAID of the Dad Bods.

Dad Bods started with the ball and everything seemed to be business as usual. Sean Avraam worked quick passes to his snapper Anthony Da Silva, and capped off the drive with an 8 yard TD pass to Vinny Gualano on the slant.

The Heroes quickly got into their offensive set. They flowed in and out of the huddle with pace and carved up the field with crosses and slants. AJ Gomes broke off one of the slants for an extended gain to even the score. This was just the beginning of a huge night for Heroes 2WAY star.

The next drive saw Avraam take a rare sack (his 1st on the year) from the long named Brandon St. Jacques- Turpin. On 4th and 10 from their own 10 yard line they made the bold choice to go for it. The move paid off, as Avraam hit Rich Humes on a back shoulder pass for the conversion. However, Avraam tried to go back to Humes on the very next pass with a post over the middle. The ball was underthrown and Gomes was able to reach up and take the possession back for his team.

The Heroes were electrified by the play, as they found the opening they were looking for. Erminio Iadeluca didn’t waste any time, pump faking the cross before throwing a corner route over the top to Gomes for the go-ahead score.

The Dad Bods looked a bit tense coming out for the next drive, as all the momentum in the room had suddenly shifted to their younger and more boisterous opponents. Avraam pump faked and once again tried to hit the post, as the Heroes were baiting the middle of the field. Michael Gattuso swooped in at the last second and picked off Dad Bods for the second time in as many drives.

Most of the onlookers from the sidelines were baffled and a bit amazed by what we were seeing transpire. Only Daniel Lazzara, whose brother Anthony would play a big role in this game, was unsurprised, reminding us that we were all sleeping on the Heroes

Frustration was starting to boil over for the Bods on the next defensive possession. Desperate to make a play and get his team back in the game, Gualano swooped in for a hard Pat down on a slant to Lazzara, smacking his head in the process and earning a UR penalty. The heroes quickly took advantage of the opportunity with their opponent’s best defender sidelined. Iadeluca ran a creative two halfback option play, keeping the ball and flipping it over the top to Lazzara for the score.

Two pursuing failed drives would carry the Heroes into the half with a commanding 20-7 lead.

If the Dad Bods hoped for a comeback they would need to stop the Heroes coming out of the break with the ball. Rusher Mike Zenobi would do his best to help his team, coming up with 2 sacks on the opening drive. However, on 4th and 10 the Dad Bods slipped up and left Gomes alone in the back of the endzone for a 14 yard score.

The Dad Bods kept their heads up and found some success going back to their bread and butter. Avraam marched the field with slants to Da Silva and quick hooks to Humes and Allard. It just wasn’t fated to be their night though, as a slant in the endzone was bobbled by Da Silva and picked off by Domenic Benevento. As he was attempting to return the play he was tackled by one of the Dad Bod players. A scuffle ensued and Gualano found himself in the middle of it, incurring the wrath of head official Leo Gervais and getting ejected with two OC penalties to his name.

The incident was indicative of the entire night for Dad Bods. It was a mess of a game from the beginning and one that they will surely attempt to put behind them going forward.

As for the Hometown Heroes, this was truly their coming out party. If the week 1 destruction of Brotherhood seemed fluky, this beat down on the second ranked team in the division surely affirms that they’re one of the premier contenders in the division. They deserve full praise for their play on the night, and will carry their momentum into two winnable games in the upcoming weeks. The team that I projected to go 3-7 have already achieved as many wins, and could realistically be 5-1 by the time week 6 rolls around. I was correct in one aspect of my preseason analysis however, it’s extremely difficult to beat the Hometown Heroes AT HOME.

DTM and LGM split the bill

It was a battle for the ages at Lachine on Saturday night, as the new top QB in the division took on arguably the best Div 3 gunslinger in the history of the league. The passing of the torch wouldn’t be easy, as Alex lever had some fight left in that seasoned right shoulder.

It was interesting to see how Mario Porreca would respond without his top weapon in snapper Alex Pilon, who would be missing for the next 2 weeks. He looked just fine to begin, effortlessly marching downfield before hitting the Hulky Chris Valentine on the dig route for the score.

Lever was also missing his top weapon in burgeoning star Robbi Dejean. He was unfazed, calmly carving up the field with a 3 play drive resulting in a score to Antoine Martineau.

Porreca was throwing pure heat. He was nailing his targets but perhaps with a bit too much zip, as the next drive saw drops from Valentine, Daniel Mancini and Mark Ferraro. Still, Porreca kept his composure and hit Mancini on a smash-out on 4th down from 1 yard out for the score.

Lever would be tested with his own 4th down moment on the next drive, finding himself at 4th and 1 from the DTM 15 yard line. The defense was crowding the line of scrimmage, eager to make the first stop of the night. Lever took his drop, looked-off right and delivered a perfectly placed corner to the left endzone for Matieu Graton. Graton did an excellent job sealing off his defender and reeling in the pass for the score.

The LGM defense was galvanized by their fearless gunslinger, nearly picking off Porreca on two straight passes to start the next drive. But Porreca was just too dialed in, hitting Mancini deep over the middle on 3rd down for a 40 yard TD.

LGM got the ball with 1 minute and 5 plays to go in the half. Lever wisely picked up the pace with a no huddle offense, getting his team into DTM territory before the 5 plays were called. With 3 plays left he fired a post to Malcolm Archer, who clasped onto the ball for the score. Lever was red hot going into the half with a 20-19 lead.

LGM started with the ball out of the break. Lever picked up right where he left off, delivering a gutsy pass over the middle to Jerome Tanguay Coulombe in tight coverage. Jerome hurled his body into collapsing defenders from both sides, coming up with the catch and rumbling into the endzone for a 34 yard score.

DTM’s offense took the field with a noticeable exception, as star receiver Daniel Mancini had sustained a lower body injury at the end of the first half and was done for the night. Now with Pilon, Mancini and Jelani Maclaren all missing from his offense, we would see if Porreca truly had the mettle of a top rated QB. The man didn’t even bat an eye. Displaying a “next man up” mentality, he began peppering secondary targets like Ferraro, David Beltrami and Jaylan Greaves. He capped off the drive with a 1 yard score to his new #1 target Chris valentine.

With the score close and the pressure mounting, LGM manoeuvered their way into DTM territory with a 25 yard catch and run from Malcolm Archer. Jaylan Greaves came up with a huge pat down on defense to put LGM in yet another 4th and 1 situation. Lever glanced deep before hitting his check down option on a slant for what seemed to be a 2 yard conversion. However, some friction between the receiver and defender David Beltrami ended up pushing the receiver backwards by a yard, at which point he was de-flagged and marked short of the conversion marker. The first turnover of the game invigorated the DTM team, who were now in position to take the driver’s seat.

Malcolm Archer’s blistering speed rush was starting to affect Porreca, who was beginning to see the incompletions mount. Still, he kept digging and kept coming up with the big plays when needed most. He found Greaves on the corner from 16 yards out for the go-ahead score.

With only a few minutes left in the game it was clear DTM could not falter again. Akeem Hoyte-Charles nearly sealed it for DTM, as he jumped an out route perfectly but couldn’t corral the ball. It was the second time in the game that he made a great read on defense but couldn’t finish the play.

An offside on the next play made it 2nd and 15 from midfield for LGM. With the game on the line, Lever loaded up and launched a feathery pass in the direction of Matieu Graton. Graton tracked down the ball perfectly in the back of the endzone, securing the catch while tapping his feet in bounds before flying into the netting. LGM had tied the score and were now a convert away stealing the game.

A penalty on the convert attempt put LGM in an even more favorable position at the 1 yard line. Lever threw an out route to his left slot receiver in tight coverage, but there wasn’t enough room along the sideline to secure the catch.

With under a minute to go DTM had the final chance to take the win. Porreca used a few plays to positon his team near midfield. He went for it all with a jump ball to Valentine down the left sideline. The heroic Gratton made a spectacular play, fending off the much larger receiver and batting it down. With 1 play to go Porreca heaved a rainbow in the direction of Valentine once again. The ball was batted around by a sea of defenders before Gratton secured it for the INT, ending the game in a draw.

2HD crack the Darksiders

The storyline leading into this game was without a doubt the slow start from two distinguished Div 3 quarterbacks. Both teams were succeeding in the early part of the season despite their sluggish passers, a testament to the character of their experienced and gritty rosters.

The game was slow to start, with Joey Taylor floating a ball over the middle of the field that was picked off by a lurking Jaylan Grandison. Darksiders were quick to take advantage, splitting the field with a post to Yann Drouin and capping off the drive with a TD to Alexandre Jubinville.

2HD settled down on the following drive. Taylor found his rhythm and began slowly marching the field, hitting Shaq Lattimore with a short slant for the score.

Despite 2 quick scores, the game wouldn’t pick up just yet, as four of the next five drives resulted in either punts or turnovers on downs. The Punt Bowl was starting to look like a major flop heading into the half, with 2HD up 13-6 thanks to the first of 2 TDs on the night for Justin Cerantola. The former Broccassion star had a big night, leading the way for his team with 116 yards on 6 catches.

Both veteran teams made the appropriate adjustments at halftime, as the game began to show some signs of life coming out of the break.

Darksiders went to their bread and butter, gaining the field with a post to Grandison and scoring on the next pass with a post to Travis Moses.

Joey Taylor sensed a weakness on the left side of the darksiders defense in the first half, as he began the second half with the clear intention of picking away at it until the entire unit collapsed. He continued to march down field slowly but confidently, capping off the drive with a 7 yard TD to Brandon Aylward.

Fred Morissette was finally starting to find his groove. He led Jubinville on a beautiful fade route for the score, after narrowly missing the same route on the play before.

It was now 19-18 for the Dans. They had the ball at midfield but found themselves in a predicament at 4th and 1. Taylor felt he could beat the rusher and took off running. He had already gained the first down before colliding with the big bodied Jeremy Anderson. Anderson got a penalized for the exchange, placing 2HD at the 1 yard line with a fresh set of downs. Taylor made quick work, hitting Matthew Rupcic along the back of the endzone for the extended lead. A failed 2 point convert left the Darksiders down by 7 with a chance to tie.

Indicative of their offense so far this season, Morissette called the right play but just overthrew Travis on a wide open go route for the score. At 4th and 10 in their own territory, 2HD rusher Brandon Aylward had Morissette dead to rights before Morissette heaved a desperation pass over the middle, which was picked off by Danny Aylward.

Taylor rewarded his defender by finding him with a nice touch pass on the next drive, which Danny happily caught and carried into the endzone to ice the game.

2HD would add a meaningless score with under 5 plays left take the 37-18 win into the Super Bowl break. Darksiders don’t have the benefit of the bye, and will look to get back on track offensively against a reinvigorated R4D team on Wednesday.

Bearskins survive the KGP

The late game at Hebert on Monday night was slated to be a promising showdown between two offensive powerhouses. Without Phil Cutler, KGP turned to the grizzled veteran Jeff Rosenblatt at the helm. For their part, Bearskins were without their #2 receiver Guillaume Bourassa.

Bearskins jumped out to a quick lead, after an opening turnover on downs by KGP left them in favorable position. Neil Etinson found Marco Bertoldi for the 1st of his 4 TD catches on the night.

Rose stayed cool on the next drive, spreading the ball around and hitting his favorite target of the night, Jonathan Garfinkle, for the 1st of his 3 TD catches.

The first 10 minutes of this game quickly hinted that this would largely be the Bertoldi vs Garfinkle show, as both receivers displayed dynamic game breaking ability.

A huge sack by Gabe D’Amico-Mazza on the pursuing drive left Bearskins in a problematic 4th and 15 situation. Etinson overthrew his receiver on the corner route and turned it over.

With 2 minutes left in the half Rose marched the field and finished the drive with a short TD to Ryan Garber. Leaving the Skins with 4 plays left.

The truest test of a good QB is what he can create with his back against the wall and the time barreling down against him. Neil Etinson would have two such opportunities to prove his worth on this night. On the first, he used every play to perfection. He cut the field down 10 yards at a time and trusted Bertoldi to make a heroic play on an out route. Marco “No Gloves” put the defender on his back and came down with the score. The game went into the half tied at 12.

The skins started with the ball coming out of the break. Gabe made another huge sack on Etinson to begin the drive, but the wily QB was able to find some success with Kyle Britton over the middle. At 4th and 8 in KGP territory the skins once again couldn’t convert, and turned it over to an eager Rosenblatt.

The first play saw Rose feed Garfinkle with a slant route over the middle. The speedy receiver saw a sea of green ahead of him and turned on the jets for a 32 yard TD.

Not to be outdone, Etinson immediately responded with a 34 yard TD to Bertoldi on a deep corner route.

This was like two heavyweight boxers going blow for blow in the middle rounds.

Rose threw two beautiful deep passes on the next drive, but neither of them could connect with the intended receivers. On third down Joseph Mancaniello came up with a huge sack, forcing KGP to punt the ball away.

With under 5 minutes to go, the Skins got into position for the lead. Etinson dropped a dime into Libman’s basket on the wheel route.

With under 1 minute to go it seemed like KGP would close out the game with the ball for better or worse. Their offense found instant success, with Dylan Garber breaking out a 20 yards catch and run, and Garfinkle punching in the tying score. Rose completed the comeback with an extra point to Sean Brophy for the lead.

It looked like an excellent game ending drive, except they left the Bearskins with 4 plays remaining, the same as before half.

Etinson didn’t bat an eye, running on the first play and then finding Ryan Etinson over the middle for a nice gain. With 2 plays left past midfield, Etinson heaved a pass over the middle into contested territory. The ball bounced around a few times before landed in the ungloved hands of Marco Bertoldi.

Bearskins secured the 31-25 win and move to 3-1 on the season. They now move into a nice stretch of their schedule, with all winnable games in the next month.

KGP fall to 2-2 but will look to rebound with their starting gunslinger back next week against the powerhouse DTM offense.

Power Rankings

There’s a few new faces and a lot of movement on this week’s list. I think we’re entering a transitionary part of the season where we’ll see a lot of volatility in the mid-to-lower half of the list. Teams near the bottom will need to scrape to stay on board, as there’s a bunch of hungry teams waiting for them to slip.

Laval’s Finest (4-0): The battle for the top spot will take place on Monday night at Hebert.
Brotherhood (3-1) ↑1: An interesting predicament will arise if Top Sauce narrowly beat Laval’s Finest and Brotherhood demolish R4D. Brotherhood might move back into first.
Top Sauce (4-0) ↑1: The layup line is over. It’s finally time for them to go earn their stripes. I’ll be the first person to admit we were sleeping on them if they can win on Monday.
2HD (3-1) ↑2: They’re quietly creeping up under the radar. The offense is starting to match the defense and the wins keep coming.
Hometown Heroes (3-1) ↑5: The week 4 champs. There’s no longer any denying that this team is legit. Let’s see how high they can rise in the upcoming weeks.
Dad Bods (2-2) ↓4: Oh how the mighty have fallen. For now. A QB change for the next 2 weeks might actually help reignite this once proud defensive unit.
KGP (2-2) ↓2: Didn’t do much to deserve the two spot dip, considering they had their backup QB and narrowly lost to a tough opponent. But with such a tight battle going on at the top they couldn’t justify a hold.
Bearskins (3-1) ↑3: I’m not entirely sold on them as a top 10 team at this point, but they have the record to justify it for now. Also, these guys are experienced in beating our expectations of them.
Drop the Mic (1-1-2) ↓1: Will be interesting to see how they measure up against KGP without Pilon and possibly Mancini. This team always has a fighter’s chance with Porreca throwing bombs.
Darksiders (2-2) ↓1: Not thrilled about keeping them on this list tbh, but I have to leave them here for now if I believe they will beat R4D on Wednesday.

The Jamie Bowl

Week 3 saw the rich get richer, as the key players from last week once again terrorized the division. With the Super Bowl bye in play we’ll take a one week hiatus, picking up week 4 after the break.

Remember folks, there’s only 2 games left for our fearless competitors to claim a playoff spot!

Let’s take a look at how week 3 shook out below:

Week 3

Match 1

I’m officially reeling after my second loss in as many weeks. Mario Porreca had a serviceable week for me, but still below the blistering standard he had set over the first few games. For the second straight week I completely whiffed at 2WAY, once again finishing last in the league at the key positon. My receivers were the top this week, but having Mancini leaving at the half hurt me. He could have carried me if he continued that huge start. Purple Reign defense was better on the field than in fantasy. A flat overall week that had me barely crack the century mark. This cold spell has to change quickly.

The complete opposite of me, Jeremy whiffed at receiver, was below average at QB, but nailed the 2WAY position and defense. He demonstrated that you can’t win this game without a strong base. Adrien Kellman was a money pick once again, going off for yet another trio of receiving TDs. The Brotherhood D completely suffocated Simon’s offense, paying handsome dividends to its fantasy owners. Jeremy has now scored 114 points in each week so far. Slow and steady can sometimes win the race. Despite his 3rd place position he dangerously sits in last in points scored. He’ll need to put up more than 114 in the upcoming weeks.

Position	Dr. Mantis		Panda Panda!
QB	Mario Porreca	27,2	Dylan Taylor	24,72
WR	Daniel Mancini	20,8	Sean Brophy	9,2
WR	Joel Malkin	19,8	Ryan Garber	9
2WAY	Jordan Allard	5,9	Adrien Kellman	31,4
2WAY	Rob Allen	11,5	Danny D’Amour	12,6
DEF	Purple Reign	20,5	Brotherhood	28
		105,7		114,92

Match 2

Bullet Club is sizzling right now, toping 130 points for the second consecutive week. Not even an average game from his QB could slow him down, as he completely nailed his 2WAY and DEF picks. The Kellman and Lattimore duo was the top in the league this week, and when you win 2WAY you more often than not win the matchup. R4D had a monstrous week defensively, backed by Ryan Aridi and his 5 sacks. A matchup versus the powerhouse Dropkick Terries next week will be the top showdown of the tournament thus far, with the winner likely claiming 1st place.

Historian’s Hawks are staying at the Heartbreak Hotel this week, as they put up a good enough score to beat 3 of the 5 competitors this week. Unfortunately, he walked into a buzz saw, facing the second highest scorer of the week. With solid picks all around, putting Ryan Aridi at 2WAY rather than receiver would have likely won him the matchup. Theo Bekelis was once again a monster. You can’t go wrong picking him as he’s been absolute money each week so far.

At least I’ll have some good company in the loser’s bracket, as GM and I are now on the outside looking in at the coveted playoff spots.

Position	Bullet Club		Historian’s Hawks
QB	Alex Holowach	23,96	Mario Porreca	27,2
WR	Daniel Mancini	20,8	Ryan Aridi	11
WR	Jordan Allard	4,9	Chris Milard	21
2WAY	Shaq Lattimore	20,9	Theo Bekelis	32,7
2WAY	Adrien Kellman	31,4	Danny D’Amour	12,6
DEF	R4D	30,5	Purple Reign	20,5
		132,46		125

Match 3

The Dropkick Terries are thrashing through the division over the last 2 weeks, scoring over 130 points and leading the league in scoring for the second time in a row. Terry Tam the QB whisperer once again pulled an incredible value pick at QB out of his hat, leading the league at the position with Myles Gibbon’s field day. He also was happy to reap the big game from R4D’s defense, and he was the only one to finally nail Justin McLean’s breakout performance. There seems to nothing that can humanly slow him down right now, so hopefully the week off will throw off his momentum a bit.

The Commish has Fallen, like me, suffered the brutal double loss this week, falling in both his own game and in fantasy. Leading the league in defense with Top Sauce’s destruction of JYD was not enough, as he missed on 2WAY, finishing second last at the position and failing to accumulate 20 points combined. He’ll look for a bounce back game next week against Panda. He better hope to score at least 114 points.

Position	Dropkick Terries		Commish has Fallen
QB	Myles Gibbon	34,62	Mario Porreca	27,2
WR	Domenic Benevento	8,4	Daniel Mancini	20,8
WR	Joel Malkin	19,8	Rich Humes	15,2
2WAY	Rod Mashtoub	19,4	Rob Allen	11,5
2WAY	Justin McLean	26,2	Quasai Gordon-Maule	8,8
DEF	R4D	30,5	Top Sauce	35,5
		138,92		119

Standings

Standings	Wins	Loss	PF
The Dropkick Terries	2	1	406,86
Bullet Club	2	1	382,52
Panada Panda!	2	1	343,52
Commission Has Fallen	1	2	370,8
Dr. Mantis Tobbogan	1	2	360,58
Historian’s Hawks	1	2	345

Weekly Awards

QB:

Myles Gibbon – QB Movement:

13/19 – 258 yards – 6 TD/0 INT – 150.8 QBR

There were a few 6TD/0 INT games to choose from this week, but Gibbon deserves the nod for dropping a whopping 258 passing yards on the Dirty Dawgs defense. This is the second straight week that the top weekly QB comes off a matchup vs the Dawgs. A fantastic performance by the deep ball specialist, who was nearly perfect in QBR. He should keep the hot streak going vs a reeling Maloudes team next week.

WR:

AJ Gomes – Hometown Heroes:

9 catches – 109 yards – 3 TDs

Gomes was the main attraction in a thorough beat down of one of the top teams in the division. He didn’t do it single handedly, but suffice to say that without him I don’t think the Heroes win that game. His chemistry with Iadeluca is on full display right now, as he continues the rapidly emerge as one of the hottest receivers in all of FPF.

DEF:

Ryan Aridi – R4D:

5 Sacks

If Ryan’s second appearance on this list in the first 4 weeks seems like a nod of affirmation for a DPOY nomination, it should. A 5 sack game in my mind is equivalent to at least 3 INTs. It doesn’t happen every week. This man is terrorizing opposing QBs right now and is the backbone of a tough R4D defense. Get him in the Hall of Fame already.

2WAY:

Theo Bekelis – Laval’s Finest:

6 catches – 72 yards – 2 TDs

3 TK – 2 INT

Bekelis had himself quite a week. He had started the week by pick-sixing the Kevin Wyeth and being the determining factor in the Monstars upset of MTL’s Finest. Then to add the icing on the cake he came down and dominated D3, raking up YAC and picking off 2 more passes on defense for good measure. The man’s too hot right now, and will look to carry his momentum into a big show down with Top Sauce on Monday night.

Predictions

Favoring the road teams last week proved to be somewhat rewarding, as I went 5-3 on my picks, brining my season record to 17-9 (65.4%).

This may be a mini week, but it has some tough games with big implications. I’m trying to go for a 3-0 here to get me to a quick 20 wins.

Bearskins Dirty Dawgs

The Dawgs have 1 of the bottom 3 defenses in the division so far. Bearskins O have had a cakewalk schedule the past few weeks. Look for the Dawgs O to run and gun but once again fall just short.

Laval’s Finest Top Sauce

The biggest showdown of the year so far highlights the 2 remaining undefeated teams. I’m going to be bold and pick the upset. There’s something about Top Sauce’s defense that’s pulling me in right now. This should definitely be a hard fought matchup that goes down to the wire.

R4D Darksiders

Another super close matchup, this time between .500 teams. They seem to be going in different directions, with R4Ds offense coming to life last week, while Darksiders faltered. I think Travis and Jeremy pull their team up by the bootstraps and design a defensive gameplan to limit their opponents. Just enough to squeak out the win.

That’s it for this week! Week 4 of FPF is officially in the books, and our mini week 5 is set to start up soon. Enjoy the Super Bowl, and keep in mind that there’s only a half week of action coming up. If you have any feedback, concerns, comments or just want a shoulder to lean on you can reach out to me @alexholowach1 on Twitter, or hit me up on Facebook. If you’re craving more div 3 content please check out the Calling the Audible podcast featuring Moe Khan, Peeze and Simom, it’s a healthy dose of absurdity to get you through the week. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and make sure to check back next week to find out how week 5 shook out!