The War Room (DB) – Finals Preview

 

 

Championship Preview:

 

The Cream of the FlagPlus crop has risen to the top after countless weeks of competition. With one game left to decide the champions, the Kings and Mercenaries have all the cameras on them as they prepare to square off on Sunday night. This final was not the most farfetched from the midpoint in the season, and many of us labeled one (or in some cases both) as potential finalists. The Kings come into this game with slightly less pressure on their shoulders as they have been labeled the underdogs given the names on their roster. Although Alex Lever will be sure to post a lengthy resume of his teammates’ accomplishments (which is warranted), I don’t believe the quality of talent is as deep as those of the Mercenaries. As I’ve stated before, the Mercenaries do not belong in Div B. However I will not harp on about that injustice until they actually win the championship. Their receivers are some of the finest players in terms of hands, speed and awareness that Division B has to offer. They outsize most of their opponents and provide coverage problems for most defenses. The many matchups these two teams have to offer one another is interesting and should translate to some great football. In order to accurately analyze both teams, we will need to draw strict comparisons.

 

Quarterback:

 

Lebeau (Kings): 9 games, 59% completion rate, 34 TD’s , 8 Int’s and 1355 yards .

Di Fazio(Mercenaries): 10 games, 55% completion rate, 40 TD’s , 16 Int’s and 1733 yards.

 

The styles of both Quarterbacks are polar opposites:

– Gino is a pocket passer with limited mobility, good field awareness and a tendency to gamble downfield. His main knock is the velocity he places on his deep passes as they tend to hang up there and allow the safeties to recover.

– Lebeau is nimble, concentrates on working the field with short passes and gambles less. He lacks the strong arm that a deep threat QB exudes in the upper divisions and lacks a “certain” presence on the field.

 

Advantage: Lebeau, this game will be determined by the number of mistakes each quarterback makes. And if I was to gamble on which QB is less prone to turnovers and is more meticulous in his approach to matriculating the football, I would have to go with Lebeau.

 

Top Receivers:

 

Kings (Andre John, M-A Lebeau, Alex Lever): 1302 Yards, 35 TD’s

Mercenaries ( V. Gualano, T. Testa, D. Shephard): 1076 Yards, 24 TD’s

 

Other Receivers:

 

Kings: 390 Yards, 6 Tds

Mercenaries: 690 Yards, 16 Tds

 

This is an interesting match up, for many reasons; for one, the Kings top flight receivers seem to outplay the Big Three on the Mercenaries. However the Mercenaries second tier receivers have more success than the Kings Depth chart. Now what conclusions can we draw from this? Considering you only need 5 players to catch balls at any given time on the field, the Kings look to be in a good position. However, given the substitutions when the Mercenaries are up and Gino’s will to keep every ego in check, the stats may be skewed. The Mercenaries do outweigh the Kings on intangibles, however the top three of John (speed/hands), Lebeau (awareness, hands) and Lever (Elusiveness) can run with anybody.

 

Advantage: Mercenaries, as much as I could make a statistical case for the Kings, I doubt that they can match the size, depth and aggressiveness of the Mercenaries. And given the nature of this game, it will be the receivers who want it the most that will walk away victorious. YAC will be a key thing for the Kings but I do think the slight edge goes to the Mercenaries, especially in Goal line situations.

 

Defense:

 

Kings: 16 Int’s, 17 Sacks and 20.3 points allowed a game, 1 Td Scored.

Mercenaries: 22 Int’s, 19 Sacks and 17.8 points allowed a game, 6 Td’s scored.

 

This is where the big advantage for the Mercenaries exists. The Mercenaries defense has the ability to generate sacks, INTs and TDs. This will help out any offense and will win you many games. Championships may be built on defenses, and this is how the Mercenaries might have to do it. While I think both rushers are of equal caliber, the main difference is the ability of the safeties and corners to stay with coverage and pick off any errant passes. Granted a lot of the defenses picks are made when their opponents are down and pressing for points, but nonetheless smart defenders find themselves in the right place at the right time. Also after seeing Redemption walk all over the Kings with their big receivers, the match ups for Rehan’s defense aren’t looking good when they get pinned in their own zone against Testa and Haney.

 

Advantage: Mercenaries, the turnovers generated by their defense is a game changing X-factor. I’m not sure how Lebeau will handle the athletic prowess of the front three and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have the arm to outsmart the Safeties. The Kings defense will have problems adjusting to the height differential.

 

Path to Finals:

 

Kings: 7-3 Regular Season, Beat Redemption in OT and Crushed Alkoholics in Semi’s.

Mercenaries: 8 – 2 Regular Season, Stomped all over Dirty Birds and Skidded by G-Men.

 

Advantage: NONE, both teams played a fairly similar regular season and have proven they have many ways to beat a team. The Kings sent a message to the Mercs when they shut out the powerful Alkoholics and what a message it was. However the Mercenaries can look back at how the Kings played against the Redemption and find solace. The Mercenaries showed their firepower against Dirty Birds and their coverage skills against the G-Men. Granted the G-Men shot themselves in the foot with penalties, but the game could have gone either way. Kings can look to that as inspiration on beating the Mercenaries.

 

Key Injuries/Absences:

 

Rochdi Benabdelkader: his injury is a huge loss for a Kings squad which could use his sure hands and possession receiver skills. He will be bringing his gameplan to the sideline where he will be sitting along Rehan (most probably) and given his expert advice.

 

Adrien Kellman: he has departed for whatever he does, and to be honest, Catalogna is a much quieter place without him roaming the sideline asking “Who is Andre Knights”. He has generated much hype from his teammates but I have yet to see a substantial contribution to his team, thus I’m not sure his absence is that threatening.

 

Prediction: This game is one of the hardest ones to predict because I have no clue what gameplan the Kings will come out with. If they play to their strength and make the Mercenaries beat themselves, they can pull this off. However the Mercenaries will be merciless when it comes to contesting any jump balls and this may prove to be a glaring weak spot for the Kings. I think the Kings will stay stride for stride with the Merc’s until the second half, and then the Merc’s will generate a turnover or two to win it.

Mercenaries 27 Kings 19

 

 

Castleton’s Random Thoughts of the week:

 

1. Choas vs KGP: What a game! It is unfortunate that the KGP made a coin flip mistake which cost them. However they did get 5 shots from the opponents endzone to put it away and failed all 5 times. Championship teams are more clutch than that!
2. Phil Clark: What a grab, all three of them! You made the defenders look stupid and it amazes me that you haven’t been talked about more this season. You could make a case for MVP with those skills.
3. Shockers: Gary and I designed this team 3 years ago and after 6 seasons we have finally arrived in the Finals, I think this can demonstrate to a lot of teams out there that if you stick with it and make necessary adjustements you can continue to progress in this league.
4. Ruff Ryders of Happiness: It will be a hard-earned battle this weekend, and to be honest I wouldn’t want to go against any other team in Division A. I wish we could mic up some of the players, as the verbal exchanges are funny, good-natured and would teach players in this league a thing or two about trash-talking.
5. Kings: Good Luck Gentleman, may the force be with you…
6. Offseason: For most teams, it is now the offseason and I expect you all to be back in Winter 2010 with reloaded rosters and great ambitions. Don’t leave the recruiting to the last minute as most players get snatched up before October.
7. Free Agent/Signing Thread: On Monday, I’ll create a signing thread on the Facebook wall to allow those of us in the league to see what rosters are being built for Winter. It would be great to see if this works out as it would assist the WEPL staff in preparing decent Pre Season rankings, preview show etc.

 

Quote of the Week:

 

“Has anyone noticed, even though it is not a jean shirt, that Daron’s FB profile pic would be perfect for a Wrangler commercial?!? ”

– Moe Khan, to the rest of the WEPL staff