Weekday Quarterback (D5) – Week 6

                Welcome back FPF members! I hope you all had a good bye week and are ready for the stretch run because it looks like we are going to have a serious battle for playoff spots especially in Conference B of Division 5. There are 8 teams in that conference and right now 6 of them are separated by only 2 victories. This could get interesting and it seems as though the playoff spots will be decided by divisional games. In Conference A, things are a bit clearer as it seems no one will challenge either The Family or Sphinx for division superiority. That means the other 6 teams will be fighting hard for those wildcard spots. This week we will do the usual recap of week 5 games as well take a look at the mid season favorites for individual awards including Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year and Two Way Player of the year. Hopefully I can light a fire under a few more teams this week to get them even more riled up for the rest of the season.

Week 5 Recap

            We start this week with a game that might lead some to believe that The Family are not as unbeatable as we may have thought. The Golden Eagles brought their 1-3 record into this game hoping to garner a bit more respect from the FPF community and even though they did not pull out a victory, I am more convinced than ever that this team is on the upswing after playing The Family fairly close. The final score was 26-14 in favor of The Family but a 12 point victory is a lot closer than a lot of people expected. It was 14-0 at halftime for The Family but the Golden Eagles seemed to have figured it out at halftime and came back with 14 points compared to 12 for The Family in the second half. Have the Golden Eagles found something that other teams have not? Only time will tell. I hope to see the Golden Eagles right the ship in the second half of this season just as they did in the second half of Saturday’s game and make a playoff run. All that being said, it was another great performance from Maxime Forget that led the Family to a victory.

In what has to be the best performance of the week, Etienne Chauvin put on a fantastic Quarterback performance for the Patriotes. Chauvin went 15 for 23 for 205 yards and 5 TD’s. As if that was not enough, he added 2 rushing TD’s. It was a high scoring game and the Patriotes were up to the task as they came out on top against les Affreux. The final score in this game was 48-26 and it looks as though les Affreux are starting to cool off after an extremely hot start. They are still a tough team for anyone to play against in Division 5 and I think we will see them contend for a playoff spot which is a long way from where they were last season. Chauvin goes down as the Primetime Player of the Week for Week 6.

I hate to say I told you so but it seems as though what I expected all along has come true. Team USA won this week against the Dawgs like I predicted in my last article and I also happened to notice there is a change at Quarterback. I noticed his name on the roster a few weeks ago and figured he would be behind center at one point. James Crowe, has taken over at Quarterback for Team USA and if this change is permanent consider Team USA a threat to any team. (editor’s note: Crowe started at QB week 1 and got injured) His numbers may not be shockingly good when you look at the box score but as we know being a Quarterback means getting wins and I think Crowe gives this team a chance to win every game. Team USA is my dark horse for the rest of the season if he stays back there, so watch out if you play this team in the coming weeks. The final score in this game was 26-18 so I give the Dawgs all the credit in the world as they definitely hung in there and could have come away with a second straight victory this week.

The final headline of the week comes from the Wildkittens and Lockdown game. I gave Lockdown some respect last week and put them in my top 10 but will have to kick them right out of there this week with a loss to previously winless Wildkittens. Not only did they lose this game, but they were blown out 35-6. That kind of inconsistency is never a good sign, but who knows; maybe the Wildkittens used their bye week exhibition game against the Triple Sixers (D4) to form a new game plan and will shock the division for the rest of the season. I wish both teams the best of luck but it is always nice to see a new team get their first victory.

Mid-Season Awards Preview

            We will take a look at some of the favorites after 5 weeks of action for the individual awards. All of these players have put on a fantastic first half performance but these kinds of things can change quickly especially when we down to these crucial second half matchups.

Offensive Player of the Year

1.      Etienne Cloutier of Sphinx is first up in this category as he has led his team to 5-0 start and he has been an absolute monster in every game. He has over 900 yards and 22 Td’s in 5 games. He is completing close to 65% of his passes and is averaging 12 yards per completion. Anytime you boast numbers that good and you have not lost a game you will get some respect in my books.

2.      Maxime Forget of the Family might just be the favorite in this category as he has also led his team to a 5-0 record. Forget has 838 yards and 22 TD’s. Forget has only thrown 1 interception so far this year and is completing close to 70% of his passes with a rating of 126.4. He is getting the job done every week and could run away with this thing if he continues to perform at this rate.

3.      My third and final candidate for this award is wide receiver Mark Guerriero Run’N’Wild. It is always tough for a wide receiver to get the respect they deserve in this category but Guerriero has 14 touchdowns in 5 games. If you are averaging 3 TD’s per game you’re obviously doing something right. He may be a long shot but don’t count him out just yet.

 

 

 

Defensive Player of the Year

1.      This category is much more wide open and we could definitely see people sneak up and win this award in the second half of the season but the first guy that came to mind for this award was Francois Goulet. Goulet has done a bit of everything for Sphinx so far this season and has 4 interceptions, 23 tackles, 2 sacks and 4 passes defended. The anchoer of the Sphinx defense is definitely someone to watch out far.

2.      Daniel Aranovitch of Pendant Publishing is another candidate for this award as he is tied for league lead in interceptions with 6 to go along with his 11 tackles, 1 sack and 2 passes defended. Aranovitch is a newcomer to this league but has definitely found a way to impact the games through 5 weeks.

3.      Luigi Passeru of Lockdown is the final candidate through 5 weeks as he leads the division with 7 sacks. He is a long shot as this is definitely not enough to hand him the award right now, but if he continues to add to that sack number he can definitely get himself in the running. Everyone knows nothing disrupts an offense like pressure.

Two Way Player of the Year

1.      Niko Zarmalias of Park X Streets is the guy that seems to have a firm grasp on this award as he leads the league in receiving yards so far with 334 yards to go along with his 9 touchdowns. Zarmalias is also tied for the league lead in interceptions with 6 and has one returned for a touchdown. He is a dominant force on both sides of the ball and this is most likely his award to lose.

2.      Andrew Jones of the Dawgs is someone who could step up his game and get in the running for this award and after 5 games he has close to 300 yards receiving with 3 TD’s. Jones also has 3 interceptions with one for a touchdown. Jones has also chipped in with 7 tackles and 4 passes defended.

Good luck to all the candidates in each category but remember these are mid season predictions and could change at any moment. If you are not mentioned right now, don’t fret because a hot second half could get you in contention. If are you in there, don’t slow down now because people are going to be watching you very closely.       

Power Rankings

1.      The Family (5-0) – Nothing to say about this team besides they keep winning

2.      Sphinx (5-0) – Same goes for these guys…keep on winning

3.      Patriotes (4-1) – These guys have showed me something. Continue to win and never say a word. Silent Assassins?

4.      Run’n’Wild (4-1) – Continue to be dangerous offensively and have 4 victories. Good enough for me.

5.      Affreux (3-2) – Have slipped up a little bit but are still very much in the thick of things.

6.      Team USA (2-2-1) – Talked about these guys before…beware the Crowe!

7.      Recruits (2-2-1)- These guys started the season with 2 wins, then tied and then lost 2. If anyone can figure this team out let me know. Still very dangerous when they are on.

8.      Golden Eagles (1-4) – I know they have 1 win…but they only lose to teams above 500 and kept it close with the best team in the division. Plus I write the article so too bad if you don’t like it.

9.      Lockdown (2-3) – Inconsistent but have 2 wins and that will get you in the top 10 with a couple of struggling teams. I expect much more from these guys next week.

10.  Monstars (2-3)- Beat up on the Wonderslugs this week and have a tough game this week. Hoping that they will show me something special.

 

That’s all there is to know for this weeks but we are now into the toughest part of the season. Teams are really rounding into shape and some are becoming more and more desperate to pile up the wins. Keep in mind that the division has plenty of parity and you can very rarely count on anything in this league. Keep up the good work and I wish you all another great week of football. Looking forward to seeing you this weekend.