Week 4 Recap: Don’t Look Now, but Midseason is Just Around the Corner

As Week 5 is now just hours away from kicking off, I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that after four weeks of play, everyone is still playoff eligible, and still has a shot at the finals. For proof, one needs to look no further than the Gators, who just a season ago went from starting 1-4 to earning a trip to the 5A finals.

The bad news is I don’t know of any lower division team that did the same after starting 0-5.

For those of you still struggling to find your way, time is not on your side. Not in a 34-team division as competitive as this one, anyway. You’ve had your time to try things out, blame the refs for bad calls, and rid yourself of the early season jitters. There’s no more room for excuses. Now it’s simply time to put up or shut up.

Recaps

Bros Get Dabbed On

I’m trying to make the Dabbing references stop, but it’s like a disease man. It doesn’t help that Two and a Half Dabs continue to give me reason to talk about them week after week.

Taking on Bromigos over the weekend, THDabs had little trouble getting the W versus a Fred Côté-less Bromigos. Côté’s absence was notable, as without his leading receiver on the field QB Patrick Larose-Laurent was left to force many a pass in hopes of getting the offense moving.

The 41-18 final score is all the evidence you need to see it didn’t exactly work as planned.

James Lacroix stepped up with two big catches for two TDs, but that was about it offensively for Bromigos aside from a long TD reception by Jean-François Fortier-Poulin.

Meanwhile, the Bromigos defense had zero answer for the Dabs’ slow-yet-steady attack, with Dabs QB Eric Maiorino doing his best Joey Taylor impression while mostly throwing to… Joey Taylor, who’s absolutely flourishing in the Dabs offense (but is that really so surprising).

Bromigos made it more of a game in the second half, but it felt a bit more like the Dabs, up by so many scores, essentially eased up a bit towards the end. Either way, the Dabs walk away with yet another impressive win, while Bromigos have some soul-searching to do as they sit at 1-3 and prepare to face a tough Alpha-Ts team this week.

Less Money, Even Fewer TDs

The fall from grace is real for More Money-Less TDs QB Ian Einheiber, whose 8 TD, 10 INT start to the season has seemingly resulted in his being replaced at the position by Chris Eramian. Unfortunately, Eramian didn’t exactly provide the spark the offense needed as he ended up tossing four picks to just one TD through the air in this past week’s game versus Gamecocks. To be fair, that’s not entirely his fault – the MMLTDs receiving core shares a big part of the blame with some big drops all throughout the night.

And it’s a shame, too, because the MMLTDs defense came to play, holding QB Jordan Prizant to just 3 TDs on the night while intercepting him once. A big reason for that was rusher Alessandro Arciero, who adjusted well to Prizant’s style in the second half, when he sacked Prizant twice and provided some pressure to help slow down the Gamecocks attack.

But it was all for nothing, as the complete lack of an offense for MMLTDs meant there was zero hope of a comeback in time.

Peeze 4 Prez

Winning a game with Peeze at QB is like stealing a win on the road – you know you got away with one. And boy did Supply and Command get away with one versus Blue Devils.

In typical SnC fashion, the game started off on the wrong foot as a blown coverage led to an easy 40-bomb right off the bat. But the defense quickly recovered to hold the Blue Devils to no other TDs in the first half, while Peeze was himself able to march up and down the field for a pair of TDs (when he wasn’t getting abused in the pocket by rusher Julien Paiement).

The second half is when things got really interesting. Up late in the game, Peeze pulled a Simon Dagenais by first failing to convert on 4th down, then throwing a dumb pick on the very next drive to allow the Blue Devils to make it 24-all then have a chance to take the lead.

But the SnC defense stepped up with the game on the line thanks to a nice INT by Patrice Lindor. At that point it was up to Peeze to do the rest, and all jokes aside he delivered, driving down the field with the clock winding down – even converting a 4th down on a gutsy play— before hitting budding FPF star Juwan Edghill down in the redzone on the game’s last play to seal the deal.

Good job, boys.

Power Rankings

Gamecocks (4-0): Another week, another lesson: even when Jordan Prizant isn’t at his best (3 TDs, 1 INT), this team still finds a way to win.
Prestige Worldwide (4-0): Well that was a fun bye week.
Two and a Half Dabs (4-0): Division D’s best surprise thus far. As if one 35+ point game wasn’t enough, they went ahead and put up 40 more this week. Goes to show that a ground-and-pound offense coupled with a stingy defense is a recipe for success in any football league.
Backyard Bullies (3-1): Tough losses happen, even to teams as complete as this one.

St. Lunatics (3-1): Coming back from a 19-7 halftime deficit, there’s no giving up from this team, that much is clear.

Friends in Low Places (3-1): It helps when the other team doesn’t even know who its starting QB is, but Jesus, talk about an absolute beatdown.
On Les Empêche (2-2): If you take down Backyard Bullies then you most certainly deserve a mention. Just… where’s the consistency?
Supply and Command (3-1): Winning a game led by Peeze at QB will never not be impressive. For shame, Blue Devils. For shame.
Frosty Bronsons (2-2): I have to give it to them: they dominated, flat out. This is the team I expected to see from the start.
Junkyard Dogs (2-2): They lost their first matchup versus one of Division D’s elite. Time to see what they can do this time around.

Just Missed the Cut:

Justice League (3-1): They kept Jovan Cober from popping off, and granted, their one loss came against a solid team in St. Lunatics. But when you’re up by two scores at the half, you have to be able to put teams away if you want to be in the elite conversation.
Gators (2-2): Basically a copy paste of the above, but at least their loss is a bit more understandable having essentially come against a solid Div 4A QB-WR duo.

Random Thoughts

-Predict Frosty Bronsons to win and they lose, Terry Tam says nothing. Predict Frosty Bronsons to lose and they lose, Terry Tam says nothing. Predict the underdog Frosty Bronsons to win and they do, Terry Tam still says nothing. Predict the underdog Frosty Bronsons to lose and they in fact win – get called out for it on Twitter by Terry Tam. Typical Cowboys fan logic.

-Can we all just take a second here to appreciate the season Dan Lazzara is having in Division B. Does he have a sick supporting cast? Absolutely. But when a QB throws a TD to each of his six receivers in a single game, you have to give that QB the recognition he deserves. QB goals right there.

-Shoutout to Dean Demetriou for the seasonal reminder of what a difference a high division player brings to the lower division field: 2 INTs, one taken back for 6, along with 6 catches for 72 yards and 2 TDs. Gators just weren’t ready.

-Another three-sack performance from Surya Chandel. I think he’s more than deserved having the first letter of his first and last name capitalized on the website, no?

-Speaking of sacks, I’d like to thank Peeze for stepping in for me at QB and taking those three sacks from Julien Paiement in my place over the weekend to keep my own sack total nice and low.

-Whatever the record is for receptions in a season, I think Jad Aridi, with 35 catches in just four games for an average of nearly 9 a game, has a pretty solid shot at breaking it.

-Shoutout to my THDabs vs. Friends in Low Places-voting comrades. We put up a valiant fight. To everyone else, you will soon face the consequences of your actions: having to watch Simon Dagenais get burned on a 40-bomb, me throw boneheaded picks, and Peeze attempt to play football. Nevermind, I now see the entertainment value.

-15 of 17 teams in Conference B currently are at .500 or better. I just cannot wrap my head around that. I vote for crossover playoff eligibility!

Matchups of the Week

Junkyard Dogs vs. Prestige Worldwide

I’m with Jonah Cohen here: this is the real Game of the Week in my opinion. The 4-0 PWW enter as the favorites in my book, and I mean how could they not: the last time JYD took on a potent offense, they welcomed Jordan Prizant cosily to FPF, giving up 44 points to his Gamecocks. That being said, that loss took place back in Week 1.

Indeed Junkyard Dogs, though not yet back in the same dominant form they were in winter, have recovered nicely since then and are back on track with two straight wins over two potent opponents.

Meanwhile, PWW have absolutely torched every team in their path so far, but it’s clear that they have yet to face a defense quite as fast, aggressive, and physical as JYD’s.

Knowing defensive mastermind Yavar Ashrafi, I have a feeling the JYD defense has a plan to contain the four-headed monster that is Dylan Catellier, Joseph Kano, Paul Santache and Kyle Pedvis. It’s just going to be a matter of if it works, and if so, whether QB Jason Rossie can capitalize. That’s a pretty tall task — one I think that may ultimately prove too tall for JYD.

Justice League vs. Backyard Bullies

This is one of those games that I feel could either go one of two ways for Justice League: either they’ve got Backyard Bullies at the perfect time or at the absolute worst time.

The Bullies, coming off their first loss of the season, revealed some kinks in the armor last week as their defense got gave up over 230 yards in the air and on the ground combined. This is either the beginning of a midseason skid for the Bullies, or it was a much-needed reminder for them not to play down to their competition.

As impressive as Justice League have been thus far, I think we’ll be seeing the latter of the above options take place: I’m fully expecting Brennan Burke and company to come out with guns blazing this week.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t see a good game, especially if the JL offense that put up 38 points just two weeks ago comes out to play. In the end, the deciding factor may be who gets the better of whom in the two-way battle between Mendy Cardichon and Rich Humes. My money’s on Humes – but I’ve been proven wrong plenty of times before.

Gamecocks vs. Supply and Command

I’m not one of those “I predict my team to win by 50 every game” types like Peeze or GM. The analyst in me is able to keep it real, and he’s seeing that despite this game being pegged as Game of the Week, the risk that Gamecocks run away with this one remains very possible.

After all, we’re going to see the top-scoring team in the division (46.5 PPG scored) going up against the third-worst defense (33.25 PPG allowed). There has been no stopping Gamecocks QB Jordan Prizant all season. And even when he gets slowed down, his defense is there to pick up the slack, led by top DB Andrew Langburt and his 3 INTs returned to the house already.

It’s going to be a shootout, there’s no doubt about it. Any hope of an SnC win lies in the hope that I play pretty much a flawless game at QB. No pressure.

Picks of the Week

An 11-5 week puts me at 42-22 (65.63%) on the season, while Nic Belleau’s 10-7 week means he’s now at 41-27 (60.29%) through four weeks. Time to lock up the midseason predictions award:

The Alpha-Ts vs. Bromigos

Sabrfc vs. Get on Deck

Weapon X vs. Longhorns

Fuzzy-Kittens vs. Les Indécis

Les Affreux vs. Get Off My D

Pandas vs. Gators

Blue Devils vs. 5-Star

Gamecocks vs. Supply and Command (N/A)

Ghosts vs. Taimesaheiiin

Junkyard Dogs vs. Prestige Worldwide

More Money-Less TDs vs. Hotboys Hotline

Friends in Low Places vs. Two and a Half Dabs

Frosty Bronsons vs. St. Lunatics

Sticky Hands vs. Magic City

Zoo vs. All Blacks

Justice League vs. Backyard Bullies

The Goats vs. On Les Empêche

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Be sure to check out this week’s Division D podcast with Simon Dagenais and Terry Tam at www.youtube.com/flagplus, recorded live on Thursday at 9 p.m. Until next week, Blanchard out.