Inside the Redzone (Div C) – Week 9

J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS… With a win over the Darkhorses, they are in now great position to make the playoffs. But looking at the big picture, who will be in the sweet sixteen next Sunday? The majority of the teams have qualified for the post-season, yet a few spots still remain. Which teams from Darkhorses, Titans, Kludgies, Vicious Canucks, Jets and Primetime will make it to week eleven? Only three out of these six teams can make the playoffs and I will give my predictions later on as to who they will be. Lucky for most of these teams that FPF allows eight teams per conference in the playoffs because otherwise, they would be where they be long gone and on the golf course! As for the rest, who are already in the post-season, rest up, don’t get injured but stay warm, as in two weeks time, you’ll start your quest towards the top of Division C. However, I would like to dedicate this week’s column to those teams who are trying to the make playoffs, so, let’s begin!

 

I will start with Vicious Canucks who are 2-7. Their two wins have come against Vikings and Kludgies, so they have clearly had a below average season. Whether they make the playoffs or not, I do not expect any type of “Cinderella” run from them. I am not getting into the whole “Oh they’re a great team, I just don’t know why they’re not doing well” or “They’re such a good bunch, I hope they pick up”. I have already done so on many occasions on WEPL and in my column and now it is getting sickening Also, they know how good they are and they know they need to step it up.

 

Kludgies had a slightly worse season than VC, partially because they lost to them. Their two wins came against Vikings and Briscoe High Hawks (back in week one but if they played now, I doubt it would be the same story). Although they probably don’t have the same talent as VC do on paper, they aren’t properly utilizing their players. It starts with the QB position and they are somewhat decent there, but Dylan Taylor hasn’t had the full season at the position. Furthermore, if you look at their receiving category, there are WAY too many players with receptions and means there is no consistency with their roster on a weekly basis. So that can kill any team and they’ll just have to try to win and hope for the best.

 

Darkhorses are in the playoffs in the seventh position. John Roveto has had a decent season, especially if you look at his stats, 31 TDs to 8 INTs. They are currently 3-6 so they are in prime position to clinch a spot in the post-season however they play a decent team in Cobras. I have to say that I am little disappointed in Kenton Lowe’s offensive numbers. He has only 214 yards and 4 TDs in six games whereas a player of his caliber should be at 350+ yards easily after six games. However if he was saving his best for last, now is the time my friend, unleash the beast and show ‘dem DBs how you roll!

 

Jets, like the Darkhorses, are in the playoffs and hold the eight spot. They defeated Primetime and last week they beat the Darkhorses. These two wins were HUGE because they were against teams who are also in the hunt; plus, they’ve put themselves in comfortable position and get to play the Vikings. Patrice Blouin has done a decent job but they need to really get a big win this Sunday to boost their confidence and go to the playoffs on a high, especially since they might be playing either FOTC or Trojans in round one. Like the Kludgies, they have had too many receivers on offense that caught balls, so I would worry about their eligibility/chemistry situation.

 

Primetime has the hardest schedule towards the end. Their last two games they have allowed 94 points and scored only 12. Furthermore, it doesn’t get any easier this week as they take on Mystical & Magical Men Of Terror so it is highly probable that they will end the season on a seven game winless streak (0-6-1) after they started the season 2-0. They’re currently ninth in the conference, so they will definitely need to win and get some help. The biggest problem is who will show up to play and who will step up big against MMMT?

 

Last but not least, the Titans made a bit of noise at the end, but are currently tenth in the conference. Their loss against Darkhorses a couple of weeks ago hurt their playoff chances. They are 2-7 and their two wins have come against Terror Squad and Jets. It took Rick Cummins quite a few weeks to get into the flow of things but if given the chance at post-season, he might have some magic in him a la 2006. He has guided the offense and defense well however, they will need one more solid effort out of him this Sunday. After that, he can only hope for the best.

 

So there you have it, six teams are about to fight for their playoff lives this weekend, but three will go home. Who has the inside edge and who will make it?

 

Playoff Scenarios

 

Conference A

 

Vicious Canucks (2-7) vs. Chaos: They need a win, a tie or a loss from Kludgies to clinch.

Kludgies (2-7) vs. Titans: They need a win or a tie and a loss from Vicious Canucks to clinch playoffs.

 

Prediction: Vicious Canucks will lose but so will Kludgies, hence VC will grab the last spot.

 

 

Conference B

 

Darkhorses (3-6) play Cobras: They need a win or a tie or a loss from Primetime, Jets and Titans to clinch.

 

Jets (2-6-1) vs. Vikings: They need a win, a tie combined with a tie/loss from Primetime and tie/loss from Titans to clinch.

 

Primetime (2-6-1) vs. MMMT: They need a win and losses from Darkhorses and Jets or a tie combined with a loss from Jets to clinch.

 

Titans (2-7) vs. Kludgies: They need a win and losses from Jets and Primetime to clinch.

 

Prediction: Jets are going to win and make the playoffs. For the Darkhorses, even if they lose, which might happen because Cobras are NOT garbage, Primetime will not beat MMMT and Titans don’t have the head to head advantage.

 

** So there you have it folks, I predict Vicious Canucks to grab the last playoff spot in conference A and Jets and Darkhorses to grab the seventh and eight spots (respectively) in conference B.**

 

Weekly Poll

 

Before I can get to it, here are last week’s poll results:

 

Question: If you had to pick one player in Division C, who doesn’t play in a higher division, to build a team around (sort of like a franchise player), who would it be? You cannot pick your teammate?

 

Answer: I got a few responses but if you take the majority, all signs point to Eugene McLaren because he is dominant on both sides of the ball.

 

 

The Amazing Race

 

Known to be an entertaining TV show, this segment will monitor leading candidates for FlagPlus Football’s seasonal awards alongside a new award (entirely fictional but holds high value), Heisman Trophy given to league MVP for the Spring 2010 season. This list of candidates will be updated till the end of the season.

 

Quarterback

 

Sean Avraam (Trojans): 119-212, 1350 yards, 29 TDs, 10 INTs, 11 sacks and a 95.3 QB rating.

 

Edward Shoshan (BOOM! Goes The Dynamite): 1119-211, 1464 yards, 33 TDs, 13 INTs, 7 sacks and a 91.9 QB rating.

 

Wide Receiver

 

Olivier Saleh (KGP Champs): 27 receptions, 575 yards, 15 TDs.

 

Garrett Taylor: 35 receptions, 474 yards, 13 TDs.

 

Treldon James (Chaos): 26 receptions, 518 yards, 12 TDs.

 

Defensive Player

 

Pablo Savard (Lobster Dinner): 17 tackles, 4 INTs, 2 PD, 3 TDs.

 

Alexandre Girard (FOTC): 5 tackles, 11 INTs, 5 PDs.

 

Matthew Rankin (Those Guys): 13 tackles, 7 INTs, 2 pick sixes.

 

Two-Way Player

 

Eugene McLaren (Chaos): 118-208, 1449 yards, 35 TDs, 14 INTs, 8 sacks and 89.9 QB rating; 21 rushes, 259 yards, 5 TDs; 17 tackles, 8 INTs, 6 PDs and 1 pick six.

 

Kyle Lebofsky (Broccasion): 21 receptions, 379 yards and 11 TDs; 33 tackles, 9 INTs, 1 Sack, 2 PD, 2 pick sixes.

 

The Heisman (in that order)

 

Sean Avraam (Trojans)

 

Eugene McLaren (Chaos)      

 

Kyle Lebofsky (Broccasion)

 

 

That’s it for this week’s column. As usual if you have any comments/suggestions, email me at [email protected]. For the six teams who are fighting for a spot in the post-season, good luck to all of you!