IT’s PLAYOFFS BABY!!!! Division D article!

After eight weeks of intense flag football, the waiting is over! FPF playoffs baby!! A new season begins, all the mistakes and the bad decisions made during the season are behind us and all that counts is getting that championship. This week’s format will be different from the others. I’ll talk about all 8 

wildcard matchups and then I’ll do my unofficial season All-Stars and I’ll finalize with my playoff picks. 

The Mighty 6 vs Lockdown

Here we see two relatively different teams face off to open up the wildcard weekend. Mighty 6 is a team that consists of young players compared to Lockdown who has a healthy mix of older and younger players. Both teams have even chances to win this game, but what I like more about Lockdown is that Aneer has two 400+ yard receivers in Newcastle and Morgan-Tracy while The Mighty 6’s offense seems more one dimensional. Let me explain, defensively, The Mighty 6 can’t put their best player on one specific player because Aneer has proven to us over the years that he has the ability to spread the ball evenly amongst his receivers and all of his receivers are able to make big plays. On the other side, Reid has thrown more that half of his completions to Curotte, who is an amazing receiver but if Lockdown finds a guy to shut him down, I don’t know if Reid would be able to produce at the level he did during the season. We have yet to see a game without Curotte so I can’t assume that Reid wouldn’t be able to keep up and I’ve yet to see a DB shut him down so the question really is, does lockdown have a player strong enough to stop Reid and Curotte’s connections.

Wide Open Bar vs Blue Dreamers 

We see two teams with similar records face off in what should be a tight game. However, the one thing that makes me question Blue Dreamers has to be their QB situation. If they decide to start Simard, they double their chances of winning this game and I am confident that he will have a good game! If we see Morelli, I am afraid that he will throw costly interceptions in a game that matters the most. For Wide Open Bar, Jean Lussier was extremely inconsistent at the beginning of the season, to say the least but had shown vaste improvement near the end of the season. If he plays like he did at the beginning of the season, it should be an easy victory for Blue Dreamers but if the plays like he did in the last 3 games, Lussier should bring his team to victory. Blue Dreamers need to watch out for Louis Lussier, the QB’s brother I presume has 19 touchdowns this season, yes you read that right, 19!! Blue Dreamers will need to be extremely careful defending him in the red zone! For Wide Open Bar, J.Lussier will need to watch out for their 2 time all star rusher Raffaele Morelli who hasn’t played rusher all season but if he plays rusher in this important playoff game, he could have a huge impact on the game’s turnout, so if he faces his as a rusher, the QB will need to release the ball quick. 

Kiss my Vulture vs Threat Level Midnight

What I love about this matchup is that both teams faced each other last week with TLM having the upper edge in the 46-26 victory. Last week, we saw two great QB’s face off but Valdes-Manzanedo had a rare off night that day while Domon had the perfect game throwing 7 TD’s and only 3 incompletions. Kiss my Vulture needs to flip the page quickly and forget what happened last week like realizing what they did wrong in that loss while TLM needs to forget what happened and not take this game lightly. For Kiss my Vulture, the key of the game has to be stopping Julien Proulx, the FPF veteran has 689 yards and 16 touchdowns, which is unreal, without forgetting about Joly who is extremely solid in the red zone catching 13 touchdowns in the regular season. For TLM, if they play the same game as last week they will win this matchup. However, last week KMV didn’t have James Drysdale and when healthy, he’s the best player on the field, in his 6 games played, he has 341 yards and 12 touchdowns adding on 8 sacks and 3 interceptions. If he’s present and healthy on Monday’s game, he could have a huge impact on the outcome of the game.

Centaures vs La Cité des Jetons

Currently 6-1in their last 7 games, Les Centaures are looking to extend their streak to the playoffs but I think that they’ve met their toughest opponent out of their last 7 games and they might be the ones to break their success streak. Just looking at their QB stats, Allamonno has been very inconsistent and has thrown way too many interceptions this season compared to a relatively low number of touchdowns. La Cité des Jetons on the other hand have one of the most underrated QB’s in the division in Jules Regimbald and he’s been extremely careful with the ball while having immense production. La Cité des Jetons will have to watch out for Will Power, the 4 time individual trophy winner who is a stud offensively and defensively and is able to change the outcome of a game. While not having the offensive season he would have wanted, he’s still one of the most if not the most talented flag players on the field. For Centaures, Regimbald has one of the best ball placements and decision making out of any other QB in the division. They need to often switch up their coverage on defense and give him different looks and try to force him to throw contested balls. 

Primetime vs Mad Dogs

While both squads had the cap space to play in a lower division, they both decided that they had what it takes to play in Div D and they proved to us that they had what it takes to play and compete in that level. While Primetime has the better record, I believe that Mad Dogs have the upper edge when it comes to QB’s. Hyllande hasn’t had the best season when it comes to competition percentage but he’s thrown many more touchdowns than his opponent while getting sacked less. Furthermore, while Spina is a great rushing QB, Hyllande has had a monstrous season on the ground while rushing for over 400 yards and 3 touchdowns. On the bright side for Primetime, they have one the best rushers in the division in Ethan Adrian who has 4 picks and 10 sacks during the season. I believe that if he’s able to contain the opposing QB, he will most likely win the game for his squad because offensively, Primetime still has a really good unit with 4 240+ yard receivers. 

Save the Turftles vs Trapstars 

While STT are fresh off à no show game at Loyola last week, they look to bring over that energy and momentum that they kept inside them that wasn’t unleashed last week. For Trapstars, they’ve had a disappointing end of season while only winning 1 out of their 5 last games of the regular season. They will need to really step up in the wild card week because they are facing a really tough opponent! Cooper Young has had an Ok season passing the ball but a solid rushing season however, losing Ryan Garber for the season has really been a hard loss for the squad trying to repeat their last year’s championship win. For Save the Turftles, Sébastien Noel has been playing well but has thrown way too many interceptions. However, he throws a lot of touchdowns to counter his picks but he needs to aim for a 4:1 ratio compared to a 2:1 TD/Int ratio. Both teams have good QB’s that have had their struggles this season but both are able to win this game. The upper edge has to go to the Trapstars since they are fresh off a championship and have the experience to go further. Defensively, Save the Turftles need to watch out for Young also because the young QB is leading the team in defensive picks so ideally, Noël should avoid throwing his way.

Glory Boyz vs Bandits

Tuesday at Loyola had 3 division D forfeits and Bandits were one of the teams to benefit from the free 60-0 win. Under center, they have one of the best QB’s in the division in Cecil Belenger and if he plays the same way he did in the regular season, they will go far in the postseason. The only problem I see with this squad is that they are rarely full squad and needed subs many times during the season and while I don’t know if all of their original players will be there on the wildcard weekend, to win this game it will give them a huge advantage if they are able to have everyone at the game. For Glory Boyz, Micheal Hiotis has had an even better season than his opponent as a QB he’s thrown the 3rd most TD’s in the division but has gotten sacked way too often. On the bright side, they have 2 amazing receivers in Venturino and Moniz who have both surpassed 12 touchdowns in the regular season. Bandits will need to be extra careful defending those two in the red zone. To give his team a bigger chance of winning this game, he needs to get rid of the ball faster and avoid getting sacked because this will likely be a high scoring game and every possession counts and getting sacked messes up a drive.

Big Dracos vs Former All-Stars

While I haven’t had the chance to watch any of these teams play over the years, I will have to make my analysis with the stats and their record. Statistically, Alex Papineau is the better QB and seems like a smart player with the ball in his hands because he doesn’t throw many interceptions, furthermore they have a stud receiver in De Seta who leads by far his team in touchdowns. The problem I see with Former All-Stars is that they don’t have an established rusher and don’t get to the QB fast enough. Having a good rusher in FPF is a gem and usually a must if you want to win a championship. For Big Dracos, Bellas is a good QB but has thrown too many picks this season and he needs to be more careful with the ball in the playoffs! Just like their opponents, they are struggling to get a rhythm; they don’t have many picks nor many sacks. The team who plays better defensively will win this game! 

My unofficial All-Star selection 

Sadly, I am not apart of the All-Star selection committee so don’t come to me and complain because I can’t do much:/ Regardless it’s for the better because I would’ve put myself in the 2 of the 3 divisions I play. Anyways here are my pics for the all stars! 

QB1 Michael Caparelli 4th and Shlong…2007 yards 53 TD’s 5 Int’s

QB2 Jared Buck Peerless Scared… 1635 Yards 44 TD’s 8 Int’s

W1 Julien Proulx Threat Level Midnight… 52 Rec 689 Yards 16 TD’s

W2 Nicolas Curotte The Mighty 6… 58 Rec 560 Yards 12 TD’s

W3 Nicholas Henry 4th and Shlong… 32 Rec 542 Yards 17 TD’s

Rush Tristan Koutsoumbas  Glory Boyz… 17 Sacks

D1 Alex Papineau Former All-Stars…24 Tkls 6 Int’s 3 PD’s

D2 Tim Horner Team Limbo… 22 Tkls 6 Int’s 1 Sack 10 PD’s

D3 Ethan Adrian Primetime… 4 Int’s 10 Sacks 4 PD’s

Flex Danny D’Amour Peerless Scared… 46 Rec 656 Yards 22 TD’s/ 7 Ints 11PD’s

Flex Benjamin Bourque Peerless Scared…32 Rec 367 Yards 8 TD’s/ 17 Sacks 1 PD

Flex Charles Verreault Dirty Dawgs…527 Passing Yards 19 Pass TD’s 4 Int’s/ 31 Receptions 439 Yards 8 TD’s/ 3 Ints

GAME PICKS!!!

The Mighty 6 vs Lockdown 18-19

Wide Open Bar vs Blue Dreamers 41-29

Former All- Stars vs Big Dracos 28-26

Trapstars vs Save The Turftles 45-32

Primetime vs Mad Dogs 32-26

Centaures vs La Cité des Jetons 20-40

Glory Boyz vs Bandits 26-13

Kiss my Vulture vs Threat Level Midnight 32-30

Good luck to all playoff teams and thanks to the ones who were eliminated, it was a great season!!