Food For Thought (Div B) – Week 9

After arguably the best week of football this season, week 10 will most likely see the teams and players lower their intensity. All playoff berths have been earned and the first round matchups are already known. So why are we playing? As my good buddy Sun Tzu once said: “Victory lies in the preparation”. Or maybe it was my mom who said it. I don’t remember.

Nevertheless, this week will be the last test drive. After that, its do or die!

Here is a look at what teams should be aiming to fix or tune before the playoffs:

 

Snookers: Lucky for them, they get to play their quarter-final opponents in week 10. Will they be able to figure out a way to stop Pat Jérome? Probably not. However, they still have an opportunity to study the rest of the Terror Squad up close. While the Snookers have been strong all season, their defense has been exposed of late. Fortunately for them, they remain one of the best teams when it counts and perhaps the king of the intangibles. Can they win solely on their X-factors, their will, their resilience and other unquantifiable qualities? It remains to be proven.

Big TDs: Even without their starting QB, the TDs were able to put up a good fight against the Snookers even leading them at half time. Much credit needs to be given to Dave Cesari who, despite making a first appearance as a pivot in several seasons, managed to keep his team in the game till the end. Sure, having the Armenian Machine aka Nareg Yessayan play for you is a definite plus. However, he was replacing Duraney White who proved he is equally as dangerous. With Cheetosuave (as the tweetosphere knows him) back in the lineup alongside Ryan Brewster and Ryan Browne, Dave Cesari should have enough weapons to survive. Practice time it is then!

Evolution: They are contenders. They are not. They are contenders. They are not. Like a daisy getting its petals pulled to the sound of an enamored youth’s soliloquies, Evolution is in constant opposition. Not being able to string together more than two consecutive wins this season, the blue bunch will need to break this cycle if they are to aspire to a title. In order to do so, their offense will need to reduce the number of turnovers drastically. With 7 INTs in his last 5 games, Paul Lapierre has not been horrible but suffice to say he needs to improve on this. Come playoff time, stray passes might become his downfall. Less dropped passes would also be a good thing to write up on the Evolution’s To Improve List.

Terror Squad: Time to take out the notepads and start analyzing that Snookers offense because next week, the element of surprise will definitely not be an excuse. Will Alex Giroux accept his second fiddle role and rejoin the team? Nothing is less sure. Meanwhile, on the field, Tam is making lemonade with lemons aka TD with Pat Jérome. The king of the 40 yard score has amassed 47% of his team’s TDs and 43% of the team’s aerial yardage. Mr. MVP has that offense running on all cylinders. Can Weiland Prosper propel the defense to the same heights?

Trojans: After a slow start, the Trojans are now in win mode. With the addition of Mike Ciampini, they went from good team to definite contender. Still, their defensive woes are plaguing them. After a brief stint during which Vancouver-bound Andre Knights captained their defense they were able to prevent the opponent from scoring more than 30 points for the first time this season. However, last week, they reverted back to their old habits letting Alex Lever and the weak Prestige World Wide offense put up 40 points on the board. While Vinny Gualano seems to have cemented his receiver of the year award with yet another tremendous performance, the Trojans will need to figure out a way to stop the bleeding on D.

Park Street Elite: They stumbled and fell hard on their faces last week, granting the formerly winless Broccasion their first win of the season. I am still not sold on Scott Kelly’s ability to lead this team to a championship. Despite an impressive amount of TDs, his consistency poses a real problem. On defense, they need to figure out what went wrong in week 9 and correct it immediately. Prestige World Wide should prove a decent opponent to test their tune-ups against.

SWAT:  With a very short roster of 8 eligible playoff players, SWAT is not heavy on overall talent. Nevertheless, the presence of veteran Carmine Pollice alongside the explosive Adam Bailey seems to have solidified their offense. With Shawn Haney contributing on both sides of the ball they are not in such a bad position. The important thing for them will be to stay fresh into the second half of hard fought games where their shallow roster could end up hurting them.

Prestige World Wide: After two straight weeks of +35 points scored, Prestige World Wide’s offense seems to be settling. After making the key additions of François Lebeau and Matthew Bishara during the season, Alex Lever’s receiving core is now passable. As always, their defense remains their main weapon. Sadly for them, their first round matchup against RIck NIncheri and the Trojans will require a stronger offense to keep up with the quick triggered veteran.

 

Power Rankings

(All my predictions will be tweeted via @Score_keeper on game day.)

1. Trojans (7-2): After a mid-season crisis, the Trojans are back where everyone saw them at the start of the season: on top.

2. Snookers (7-2): It wasn’t easy, but they managed to pull off a win against the crippled Big TDs. They will need to tighten their defence if they are to stand a chance against the fright squad.

3. Big TDs (6-3): Great effort despite a loss. They can still do some damage without Springer.

4. Evolution (5-4): On the verge of entering the playoffs, Evolution will need to step it up if they want to make a deep run.

5. Park Street Elite (5-4): A horrible loss against the last place Broccasion has them sliding down the rankings.

6. Terror Squad (4-5): They won and now they’re in. They can do some massive damage if taken lightly.

7. SWAT (4-5): Tough times for the Empire. A win this week would surely lift their spirits in time for the playoffs.

8. Prestige World Wide (3-6): After replacing his hand with a bionic prosthesis à la Luke Skywalker, Alex Lever is now ready to dish it out on offense.

9. Patriotes (3-6): Losing without your star QB is a sad way to be evicted from the playoffs. Nevertheless, they challenged themselves by jumping up to Div B which is, in itself, highly commendable.

10. Broccasion (1-8): After a strong win against PSE, I am left wondering what would have been their record with Guillaume De Palma in the line-up every week…

 

Be sure to follow me on twitter @Score_keeper where I will be blogging live from Brossard and Lachine on game day!

If you have any comments, suggestions or rants, feel free to email me at [email protected].

See you at the field!