Fourth-and-Goal (Div C) – Week 8

The worst part about starting this article is that it puts me in the football mindset. Why would this be a bad thing, you say? Simply put: once I’m in the football mindset, I want to play RIGHT NOW. Unfortunately, I have to sit here and wait. At least I can talk about football… (this is how I console myself and put myself in the mood to write).

 

Without further ado:

 

 

The Final Steps to the Playoffs

 

Here’s a look at the playoff race right now. An asterisk denotes a locked in playoff spot. The race is so tight that only the front-runners from each conference have clinched.

 

In A, it’s a harder job to jump into the playoffs. There is a lot of room, however, for movement amongst the different positions of the various teams. The Eagles will have a harder time jumping in, contrasted to Mustangs du Gridiron and Mongoose.

 

In order to make playoffs:

Mustangs already have a 3-2 divisional record, and play the very team they need to overtake (Real Deal) in Week 10 to make playoffs.

The Eagles play DBFC and X-Men, neither of whom are close to making playoffs or dropping out of the running. Both are divisional games, which will help with tiebreaks, but it leaves more outside their control.

Mongoose need to win their two remaining games, and hope that Eagles lose two, Mustangs du Gridiron and Real Deal each lose one, and then tie each other.

 

In B, it’s a bit easier. While one more win in the next two games from spots 3, 4, and 5 (Formerly Teamless, KGP Champs and Rude Bwoys) will lock those team into the playoffs, spots 6, 7 and 8 can see a lot of movement. Sphinx and French Toast Mafia have decent chances to make playoffs, but the team with the best opportunity is The Incredibles.

 

In order to make playoffs:

(It goes without saying that losses from FOTC, FDF and Pap N’ Co aid the chances of those on the outside immensely)

If Sphinx win one, and seeds 7 and 8 don’t win a game, they’re in. Same if Sphinx win two, and 7 and 8 only win one. If Sphinx and seeds 7 and 8 finish with the same number of points, Sphinx will take the tiebreaker

If Incredibles win both, they’ll have also pushed down playoff contenders in KGP and Rude Bwoys, which would make for interesting shuffling.

French Toast Mafia have a small chance if they win both their games, Pap N Co lose the next two, and finish with a better record than Sphinx and The Incredibles.

 

Conference A           

Team		Points	Wins	+/-	Divisional
1	Daron Basmadjian Fan Club ‘	14	6	96	4-0-0
2	Prestige World Wide ‘	13	6	153	4-0-0
3	The Commission	10	5	82	3-1-0
4	Monstars	10	5	19	3-1-0
5	Jewish Cucumbers	10	5	31	2-2-0
6	Hall of Famers	10	5	23	2-2-0
7	Pump & Ditch	10	5	44	2-3-0
8	Real Deal	8	4	16	3-1-0
9	Mustangs du Gridiron	8	4	37	3-2-0
10	Eagles	6	3	-82	2-2-0
11	Mongoose	5	2	-95	2-2-0
12	Like Our TDs	4	2	-115	0-5-0
13	X-Men	3	1	-89	0-4-0
14	Ninja Turtles	0	0	-201	0-5-0

 

Conference B           

Team		Points	Wins	+/-	Divisional
1	Broccasion ‘	14	7	91	3-1-0
2	Predators ‘	14	6	104	3-0-1
3	Formerly Teamless	11	5	33	4-0-0
4	KGP Champs	11	5	59	3-1-0
5	Rude Bwoys	11	5	89	2-2-0
6	Flight of the Conchords	9	4	67	2-1-1
7	Favre Dollar Footlongs	8	4	-6	2-3-0
8	Pap N’ Co	8	4	1	1-4-0
9	Sphinx	7	3	-1	2-2-1
10	The Incredibles	7	3	-18	2-2-0
11	French Toast Mafia FFC	6	3	-103	1-3-0
12	Patriotes	5	2	-27	2-1-1
13	Le Zoo	2	1	-47	1-3-0
14	Silent Assassins	0	0	-161	0-5-0

 

 

Random Thoughts

 

–        I may have plagiarized that list from Alex D’Aquila. It’s no different from what Andrew D’Anna does every week.

–        The final seeding of the playoffs will be interesting indeed

 

 

Award Winners

 

It’s getting close to that time. There are definitely a few frontrunners for the positions, as we’ll see here:

 

Quarterback of the Year

 

Alex Lever looks to be the frontrunner for the award, however if Phil Cutler can pull off two weeks with more TDs than Lever, the award will be a bit more difficult to determine.

 

Receiver of the Year

 

Adam Crystal has a whopping 9 TDs more than his next three competitors. Short of him missing the next two games, it’s safe to say that it looks good for Crystal to win back to back receiving awards.

 

Defensive Player of the Year

 

Here’s where it gets a bit harder to tell, thankfully. Phil Cutler has an incredible amount of tackles, as well as a few INTs and PDs in the mix. Trevor Ruffner has the most INTs, and the highest mix of remaining stats. Jarred Paperman should also be considered with the 20 sacks that he has produced thus far.

 

Two-Way Player of the Year

 

Phil Cutler is the only player to appear on this list twice, however the other players who merit mentioning are Trevor Ruffner (of course), Marco Masciotra, whom have also produced fantastic two-way seasons.

 

The question will boil down to what happens in the next two weeks.

 

 

Semi-Quick Picks

 

Rude Bwoys vs. The Incredibles: The Incredibles have been without their starting QB for the past two weeks. Will this trend continue? Look for Rude Bwoys on this one.

 

Hall of Famers vs. Prestige World Wide: Hall of Famers run risk of dropping out of the running if they continue this trend. However, I don’t think that they’ll match up too well against Prestige World Wide

 

Sphinx vs. Pump & Ditch: If Vinny Gualano can get a rhythm going, Pump & Ditch will match up well against Sphinx.

 

Favre Dollar Footlongs vs. Mustangs du Gridiron: One of the few remaining cross-conference games.  Mustangs du Gridiron will throw everything they’ve got.

 

Jewish Cucumbers vs. Mongoose: Mongoose can mathematically make playoffs, and absolutely need this win. However, coming off of a big win, Jewish Cucumbers will probably end the playoff dream for them.

 

Formerly Teamless vs. Patriotes: N/A

 

Real Deal vs. The Commission: It all comes down to who plays quarterback for Real Deal. While I want to go with Real Deal in the case that Chénard does play QB, logic tells me to go with The Commission

 

Eagles vs. Daron Basmadjian Fan Club: I’ve got to stand by my mid-season that Daron Basmadjian Fan Club won’t lose a game this season.

 

Like Our TDs vs. Monstars: An inconsistent offense should be no trouble for the defense-heavy Monstars

 

French Toast Mafia FFC vs. Broccasion: Despite playing games with less and less of their top performers, Broccasion seem to be doing it week after week. Look for it to continue.

 

Flight of the Conchords vs. KGP Champs: In all honesty, probably one of the best games of the week to watch. Flight of the Conchords might have the upset here.

 

Pap n’ Co vs. Le Zoo: Pap n’ Co have won two important games out of the last three. Look for them to add another to the list.

 

Silent Assassins vs. Predators: Predators have too much talent for a new team to handle.

 

Ninja Turtles vs. X-Men: Showing hints of their previous selves last week, X-Men are regaining their own strength. Look for them to exploit the holes that the turtles give them.

 

 

Well, that’s that. I’m going to do my best to catch as many games as possible this week. I’d really like to have an on-the-field view of what the playoffs are set to look like. So feel free to come up and have a chat. If not, I can be reached at [email protected]