The Thrilla of Flagzilla (Div 6)

Last week saw a combined margin of victory of 21 points. That is a staggering number that reached its zenith for the season in Week 6. Week 7 may not reach that mark, but there were a few one-sided games in FPF’s D6.

 

What’s disconcerting is the relative amount of inconsistency we’re seeing from teams who look like they are about to go on a big run of wins in one week, to looking less than stellar the next. I can probably pencil in the top two teams in their respective conferences, but outside of them, the rest of the standings appear to be a week-to-week quagmire. 

 

Here’s this week’s Thrilla from Week 6

 

Can’t stop the ‘Pack

 

If it wasn’t official already, it certainly is now. The Pack are the best team in D6 and it is not close at this point. Offensively, Daniel Krebs keeps putting up video game like numbers with another five-touchdown performance in a 33-19 win against n.W.o. No Andrew April? No problem. The ‘Pack’s conglomerate of receivers had a chance to shine with the absence of April, who is second in the division in receiving yards, and they certainly passed the magnifying glass test. The law firm of Geenen, Lefcort, Cohen Domanis and Laxer had no problem getting into the end zone. The latter of that quadruplet, Laxer had a multi-touchdown game with two scores. Aside from another interception from defensive stalwart, Stephen Tirelli (his sixth of the season), n.W.o couldn’t stop the ‘Pack’s offense. The key for the ‘Pack defensively was how they contained Pietro Mignacca, who’s been at the top of the food chain most of this season in catches and in the top five in receiving yards. He was relegated to a modest four catches for 32 yards. The ‘Pack improve to 6-0 and face JeanGuy next week.

 

Matthew Young and The Minge make most of limited completions

 

It was more of the same for Orange Crush, as they succumbed to the Minge’s stifling defense in a 27-6 defeat. Matthew Young of The Minge, only complex 8 of 20 passes, yet still managed 4 touchdowns, albeit, with two interceptions. Young threw touchdowns to four different receivers, and yes, Henry Chelhot was one of them. Chelhot is continuing his onslaught on the division with his 10th receiving score this season. Back to Young for a minute; when he is on his game, he’s not only playing well as a passer, contributing Steve Young like runs and, but he is also supplying great production on the defensive side of the ball and that was the case against the OC, where he recorded three tackles, a pass deflection and a pick. The six total tackles by the entire Minge defensive unit shows just how little offense Orange Crush could squeeze out. The Minge recorded three interceptions during the contest. As mentioned, Young had one of them and the Stock brothers; Joe and Daniel had the other two respectively. On the positive side for the OC, Marc Assad has recorded 4 interceptions in as many amount of games and has climbed to the fifth spot in interceptions in the division. There have been very few bright spots for the OC this season, but Assad can take solace in the fact that he’s made an admirable impact defensively. 

 

The Heismans stiff-arm Maccabi 46-7

 

Last week, Sammy Feder was the talk of D6. Coming over from D4, he had a whale of a game, scoring seven touchdowns in route to Maccabi’s best performance this season. This past week, the tides had turned and Maccabi was the victim of a performance that would’ve made Charlie Ward, Charles Woodson and many of the previous 77 Heisman winners proud. Okay, well, maybe not, but still that was an impressive showing nonetheless. Ofir Levy was back at the gun, but constant pressure by Heismans rusher Danny Trivisonno, who leads the division in sacks with 10, relegated Levy to a paltry 7 of 16 for 33 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions. Alexandre Bohbot, who had a monster eight catch, 105 yard performance last week, while still scoring this week, had his catches cut in half and could only record 37 receiving yards. For the Heismans, it is more of the same as I’ve continued to sing the praises of Gautama Swaminadhan. In the previous three weeks since he has taken over at quarterback, it is no surprise that they are 2-1, with their one loss being a one-point deficit against Run Levy Run.

 

5 games before Swaminadhan being inserted as the quarterback: The Heismans averaged 7.8 points

3 games since Swaminadhan has been quarterback: The Heismans have averaged 32.6 points

 

Not only was he absolutely clinical with his passes, going 19 of 22 for 168 yards and six touchdowns, he also added a solid 26 yards on three carries. The Kevin Boustany Party continues as he caught eight balls for 79 yards and three touchdowns. He is now second in the Division in catches with 29 and tops with 332 receiving yards and third in receiving touchdowns with nine behind Chelhot and Emmanuel Cohen. The latter was contained beautifully throughout the entire contest and was relegated to a mere two catches and five receptions yards. As for Boustany, his assault has been a revelation for The Heismans (seven touchdowns in his last three games), who are registering arguably, the top passing attack in the Division, although The ‘Pack would give them a strong run for their money in that regard.

 

Venom stay Winless, fall 26-18

 

Eddie Brock had a tough upbringing in the Spider Man comics. His family hated him as did his co-workers and he was constantly ridiculed as well. When he became Venom, he encountered strength in the symbiote, which he felt would allow him to assert himself.

 

For FPF’s version of Venom, it’s been a perpetual struggle all season long and it continued last week against JeanGuy. I will say though, that it was probably their best effort of the season and the first time they scored more than one touchdown in a contest. I mentioned last week that I’ve been in a situation last year and currently in one as well where you are in the midst of a long losing streak and you feel down in the dumps with your squad. Heck, at times, you don’t even want to play the game. That’s where you leaders have to propel the rest of the team and ensure that players are still buying-in. I still see that with this Venom team. Rob Tessier had a fine game, completing 50 percent of his passes and throwing three touchdown passes. Tessier has had a tough season, but he looked much better that any contest so far this season, so that is definitely a good sign for the future. All three touchdowns were to Pat Lefebvre, which were his first one’s since Week 2. Unfortunately, he threw two pick-sixes that swung the tide towards JeanGuy.

 

Christophe Chartrand had a rough game with three interceptions of his own, but he cancelled out one of them, recording his own pick-six. So far this season, he has four interceptions and nine pass deflections, joining Matthew Young as one of the better two-way quarterback-defensive back hybrids. Carl Doyon had the other two interceptions and returned one of them to the house as well. Darcy Ferreira and J.S. St-Pierre had two and one interceptions respectively on Chartrand. 

 

Playing the Heismans and Venom next, I can’t see Venom winning a game this season, although they should be commended for continuing to grind through a trying initial season.

 

Run Levy Run wins a thriller 26-25

 

What a game Sunday night in Lachine, as Jeff Rosenblatt and Jason Rossie put on two gutsy performances.  Although their passing statistics were not spectacular, both signal callers made plays when it mattered. Rosenblatt threw for four touchdowns, while Rossie threw for two and combined for one on the ground. His six rushes for 56 yards were a season high for him. Rossie continued his exploits on the defensive side as well, registering two tackles and two sacks. 

 

The game was a tight contest all throughout and it simply came down to a failed conversion by Golden Girls. Jason Kokolakis of Golden Girls continued his hot streak with his sixth straight game with at least one touchdown. He didn’t need many opportunities converting his lone catch into a 40-yard touchdown.

 

One item of note was Moe Khan filling in and scoring two touchdowns on two catches for Run Levy Run. He usually plays for Montreal’s Junior Finest team in D5. He also pitched in three tackles and an interception as well.

 

One of the best aspects of Run Levy Run is the depth they have at receiver. Evan Manis leads the team with 20 catches for 258 yards, but seven players on their roster have scored touchdowns and of the seven, five of them have at least two scores, including Rob Bohbot, Yoni Lehrer, the aforementioned Manis and Ryan Tereskewitz. It’s further credence that having a team with a lot of depth offensively is a good omen and can be beneficial when a team key’s in on your top player.

 

Week 7 picks

The Heismans vs. Orange Crush

The ‘Pack vs. JeanGuy

Golden Girls vs. The Minge

Run Levy Run vs. Venom

Maccabi vs. n.W.o (Upset Special)

 

Players of the week

Offense: Matthew Young, The Minge: Okay, I’ll admit, Young gets on here because he played a whale of a defensive game (three tackles, a pass deflection and an interception) as well as contributing to four touchdowns. For those who scoff at my selection, did you scoff at P.K. Subban winning the Norris Trophy, while being just an ‘okay’ defender? Thought so.

 

Defense: Carl Doyon, Jean Guy: Doyon recorded two tackles; two interceptions, a pass deflection and a touchdown in an important win against Venom. Pick-Sixes are huge in flag football as they swing the tide in the favor of the benefitting team. That was basically the difference in the game for JeanGuy, with their quarterback struggling most of the game.

 

Fantasy

Roger: 58.03 vs. Brent: 94.63 (I simply cannot catch a break this season)

Duke: 96.07 vs. Moe: 54.40

 

Power Rankings

1. ‘The Pack (6-0): Utter domination on the rest of the division. Their 133-point differential is nearly double of the second best mark

2. Run Levy Run (5-2): They are not as good defensively, but may have the best receiving depth in D6.

3. The Minge (5-2): Stock brothers are a great combination defensively

4. Golden Girls (4-2): Have played very well on both sides of the ball as of late. Getting much more consistent play out of Jason Rossie

5. n.W.o. (5-3): Slowly creeping up in the rankings with the help of some solid defensive performances

6. The Heismans (3-4): It’s the Swaminadhan to Boustany show (say that three times fast!)

7. Maccabi (3-5): This team has a lot of talent, but they are so disappointing defensively. Must gain consistency on that side of the ball

8. JeanGuy (3-4): Have lost three of their last four with, but big win against Venom keeps distance between 8th and 9th place

9. Orange Crush (1-6): Showing better compete level, but still way overmatched in the league

10. Venom (0-7): Very solid performance last game against a decent team in JeanGuy

 

That does it for the Thrilla this week. As always, please check out The Unclehood podcast with Moe Khan (@MoeKhan19) and David Della Rocca (@DavesRepublic), which can be found at http://www.theunclehood.com. Of course, you can ‘@’ me, talk smack or laugh at my writing on Twitter at @52isthemike and follow my NFL blog at 52isthemike.com, with all the latest offseason news and happenings around the NFL. The shameless plugs do not end there, as you can also listen to my NFL-based podcast, Pick Six Live with my buddies Rob Grosso and Rick Dieudonné.