Word from the Mouth: Leaving Las Vegas! edition

Word from the Mouth: Leaving Las Vegas! edition

Kevin Kousaie

Let me start by saying for the first time since 2014 I have missed a week of games. A 9-year streak down the drain because Air Canada sucks and kept us out on the runway for 3 hours with no AC in the plane before canceling the flight and making me a day late coming back. I want to thank everyone who took extra games refereeing and scorekeeping to cover for me not being there.

This week Jon has gone in and defined each penalty in the rulebook and this will be useful for everyone, so you should go in and take a look at them so you understand what is a penalty and what isn’t.

The NFL kicked off this week and after 1 week everyone still has a chance to make the playoffs. Wait, let me correct that, everyone but the Cowboys. I know you all think it might be too early for that, but Dak is gone for 6-8 weeks at least, so they are done.

Saquon looked good for the Giants, now all they need is for Jones to figure out how to hold on to the ball (37 fumbles in 38 games) won’t get it done.

The Dolphins won even with this throw from Tua (https://twitter.com/i/status/1569013698726879232 [twitter.com]). Don’t Worry, at least he tried, unlike the second round pick from North Dakota State Christian Watson who had a for sure TD for the Packers on their opening drive and just let the ball fall through his hands. That was the bubble gum Rodgers was talking about in practice, too many drops from the young receivers.

Just so Jon doesn’t feel bad that I didn’t mention anything about college football, I have 2 quick thinks to say. Notre Dame under coach Marcus Freeman is 0-3 and that has never happened before for a ND coach. Texas A&M who had the number 1 recruit class in the country just lost to Appalachian State 17-14. Not sure if anyone else heard this or not, but it could make Yann a happy person. Johnny Football wants to go back and save the school, not sure how he would do that or even if they want him back, but let’s not forget he did win the Heisman and from what I remember he did most of it himself (ed’s note: *cough* Mike Evans *cough*).

 

Week 4 Recap

 

Division 1

 

Outlaws vs Gros Coqs (58-64)

Man would I have loved to see this offensive game. A few things that pop out at me are 122 points scored which meant no defense whatsoever was played and Vince catching 13 balls and not getting at least 1 TD when everyone else on the team did. Both Steve and Dom threw for over 370 yards, that has to be a record. The last thing that I wish I had seen was the reaction from Steve knowing he led the offense to 58 points and the defense let them down by allowing Gros Coqs to use up the last 5 plus minutes of clock to score on the last play of the game.

 

Centurions vs A-Team (24-50)

Centurions weren’t able to field a team this week and let Jon know so he was able to throw a team together so A-Team doesn’t lose a game and waste a week of the season. From what I was hearing A-Team was looking good in this one, with no pressure they were able to go out play relaxed and carefree.

 

Outlaws vs Iron Wolves (46-33)

Outlaws looked like they do most games dominating offense and a defense that can coast by because of it. Iron Wolves were missing players this week, but were still able to put up 33 points. Kris filled in for Jon which makes the defense have to stay in their zones longer since Kris will buy time and throw back across his body if he sees something open. Smuda broke 100 yards in this game and Marvin almost scored on half his catches this week (3TDs on 7 catches). Willie couldn’t get a measly extra yard to get him into triple digits in yards.

 

Division 2

 

Red Raiders vs Nice TDs (50-44)

This game looks closer than it was as the Nice TDs scored with less than a minute left when the game was already over. Mike was nearly perfect this weekend going 29 of 33 on the day. Dilan and Andrew both scored 3 TDs and Jerome was only able to score twice but those were his only catches of the day. Marvin had a big game offensively scoring 4 times, but seemed to disappear on defense unless Red Raiders were avoiding him.

 

Thunder Buddies vs Marvels (48-47) OT

I’m sure both Willie and Terry will talk about this on the Podcast, but from what I know is Steve needed to drive down and score to tie the game with only a few minutes left in the game. He did it but with 30 seconds left, but wasn’t able to get the convert that would have won it for them. Max had a few chances to win the game in the 30 seconds that were left but couldn’t. In OT Marvels started with the ball and failed on their attempt. Steve found Jafar on Thunder Buddies attempt which if I know Steve was a hook right before the goal line where all Jaf had to do was catch it and he would be in for the win.

 

Tannantes vs Jagerbomb (24-28)

Tannantes seemed to jump out to a big lead at half or at least what seemed like a big lead (12 points). In the second half Jagerbomb woke up and decided to try something a little different from the first half and it seemed to work. The last few minutes of this game seemed to confuse me a little. Jagerbomb went up 2 points with 6:29 left in the game. They started the drive with a 6-yard gain before 3 straight incompletes, why did they not punt on fourth down with plenty of time left. Simon then took 2 plays and 40 seconds off the clock throwing a quick pass to Louis then an interception. Now with the ball and 3 minutes left on their 5-yard line Vincent threw 4 incomplete passes and turned the ball over on downs. Simon was able to capitalize this time and made the 2point convert to make it a 10-point game. Tannantes scored on a 45-yard TD to Vincent, but Jagerbombs didn’t care as the game was over at this point.

 

Divisions 3

 

Panaches vs Iron Wolves (33-13)

Not sure why Jon wasn’t under center this week, but Kris was there to fill in and he had a rough day, throwing 4 picks. For the first half Iron Wolves held their own, but when the second half began that’s when it started to go downhill. They were only 6 players, and it was hot out so they weren’t able to keep up with Panaches who were 7 players and able to sub off to get water and stay fresh. The big key to this game was Felix and the way he used his legs to run and buy time to find an easy throw. If it wasn’t for the 3 early picks from Iron Wolves and if they could’ve stopped the run, they might have won this game or at least had a lead at some point.

 

RawSauce vs Bines (24-27)

In this game both teams were missing lots of players that are at the top of their rosters. For me this just shows that even when Bines aren’t a complete team, they can still compete in this division and it also shows me that RawSauce needs to figure out how to get their team playing better to start a season. A few years ago, RawSAuce was a team to be feared and now it seems like they are just there going through the motions. Both QBs struggled in this game putting up similar numbers 3 TDs and 2 picks, the difference was that David was able to convert on 3 converts, which was the difference in the score. With just under three minutes left RawSauce scored, but failed on the convert and needed to get as stop to have any chance. David took his time to get two first downs and end the game.

 

Division 4

 

Phoenix vs Airborne (22-8)

This game really could have gone either way, both teams were playing with their back up QB and both teams had a sub, so it wasn’t as if this game was really played between the two teams. I will say that I am glad I did arrange for Phoenix to have a sub to bring them up to 7 players because we did have a player with a family emergency and wasn’t able to make it out and that would have left us with 5 players. Both Greg and Khalil gave the opposing QB fits all day long as both registered 4 sacks and forced numerous bad throws leading to a combined 6 picks. Defense was the name of this game and after the rushers Benoit stepped up with 3 picks keeping his team close for most of the game.

 

Mustard Tigers vs Revenants (15-20)

I only heard a few things about this game and one of them is huge if true. Marvin is stepping down at QB, and this allows Willie to fill in, not sure if it’s true, but if it is that’s huge. Both Willie and Marvin have completely different styles of play Marvin wants the big plays and runs where Willie will take the short underneath stuff all day long and drive the field. The only other thing I know is Tyler was on Will like he owed him money for something. Both defenses played decently, Mustard Tigers had 4 sacks and Revenants had 3 picks. It was more the lack of consistency on offense that limited the score. There were big drops and missed throws that resulted in punts and turnovers on downs in this game.

 

Cyclones vs Bines Low Fat (26-54)

This game was over by half time. Bines Low Fat were missing a bunch of their better players and David who is their D3 QB filled in this week and look great even without top receivers there for him. Yann started off well by throwing 3 TDs to start the game, but only 2 of them were to his team. Bines Low Fat defense was all over the place picking off 4 passes and getting 3 sacks and this wasn’t even their top tier defense playing this week. Jayden caught 2 balls for 45 yards, and both were TDs but after that not much was happening on offense for Cyclones. David was unstoppable for Bines going 15 of 17 for 281 yards and 7 TDs.

 

Division 5

 

Sour Peeps vs TD Hunters (6-13)

The recap is pretty simple. TD Hunters' defense was able to limit Sour Peeps to only 2 first downs and 1 TD. On offense, TD Hunters got into the red zone 4 times, but they only scored twice. At the end of the game, with 2 minutes left and a 13-6 advantage, they decided to call time outs to have time to get another TD instead of letting the time run and aim for the first down. That could have cost them the game because Sour Peeps was in the red zone at the last play. Unfortunately for them, they got stopped again as Jocelyn was aiming for Paul and TD Hunters got their third victory of the season.

 

Phoenix vs Heisenberg (20-6)

Nick was making his QB debut this week for Phoenix and he played an almost perfect game. He was able to lead drives, had a few big plays, and was even able to make a few nice runs from what I was told. In only his second game with the team, Brandon stepped up on both sides of the ball to get 2 TDs and 70 yards on offense and picking 2 passes off on defense. Khalil was a beast at rusher again amassing 4 sacks. As for Heisenberg, Jorge was the only player to make an impact in the game as he caught 4 passes for 75 yards and the team’s only TD.

 

Fighting Armadillos vs The Lesniaks (39-12)

The Armadillos are a very good team and showed this week that they aren’t to be messed with. Lesniak had lots of trouble this week as he was only able to find the endzone twice while throwing 4 picks. First half they got down by two scores and the second half he was just trying to bring the game back quickly which made the game get farther away from them. PO looked good this week throwing 5 TDs to 5 different receivers and no picks. Zack had a good day getting 2 TDs for The Lesniaks, but both were on big plays and his only catches of the day. Armadillos might be the team to beat at least right now and for The Lesniaks, Mike needs to work the field and not try to show off that big arm he has on every play.

 

That is all I’m doing for recaps this week. Just to let you all know I can’t cover every game or see every game that is being played but if you send me a message on Messenger, I have no issues adding a few notes into my article about what happened in that game, but you need to get it to me by Monday morning or it might be too late. Thanks for reading and looking forward to getting back out there this week.

 

Players of the Week

 

There were a lot of players who could have made my list this week, but I was only able to choose one like always. What needs to happen is some players in D2 need to start stepping up their game and I’m not talking about the players who play in D1. Right now, D2 is hard to make my picks since most of the players are playing in D1 as well. I might have to change up my rule or the way I’m making my picks if some of you don’t step up. Without wasting any more time, here are this week’s winners.

 

Division 1

Offense- Dom Lefort was 44 of 59 for 370 yards, 9 TDs, 2 1point converts, 1 2point convert, threw 1 pick. Dom also ran 10 times for 52 yards and a TD.

Defense- Etienne Maille-Daviau made 3 tackles and had 2 picks.

 

Division 2

Offense- Michael Roy was 29 of 33 for 249 yards, 7 TDs, 2 1point converts, threw 1 pick and ran 2 times for 17 yards.

Defense- Tyler Znoj made 3 tackles and 2 were sacks.

 

Division 3

Offense- Mike Jasenovic had 11 catches for 63 yards and 2 TDs.

Defense- Jeremy Trudel made 1 tackle, 2 picks and ran 1 back for 6 points.

 

Division 4

Offense- William Tremblay-Lacombe hauled in 6 passes for 92 yards, 3 TDS and 2 2point converts.

Defense- Benoit Maynard made 3 tackles and had 3 picks.

 

Division 5

Offense- Sebastien Lucas Alzate caught 4 passes for 104 yards and 3 TDs.

Defense- Brandon Armenti made 4 tackles and had 2 picks.

 

There you have it, your next ten players who made my list. We are only 4 weeks down and that means there are 7 more weeks of games to go until I pick my ultimate winner. That leaves you plenty of time to get your name in the draw, but that means you need to ball out and show me and everyone in your division that you’re not to be overlooked.

Congratulations to everyone who made the list. If you didn’t, well, try harder and maybe next time.

Predictions and Power Rankings Week 3

Predictions and Power Rankings Week 3

Kevin Kousaie

Predictions

 

After having another bad week of picks, I have decided to make my picks quickly and without too much thought. It also helps that the rest of media team hasn’t started making picks so this is all practice for me at least for another week. Without keeping you waiting any longer here are my picks and remember my picks are in bold.

 

Division 1

 

Outlaws vs Gros Coqs

They are the stronger team.

 

Centurions vs A-Team

The defense steps up and gets Dave and the offense a few extra possessions in this route.

 

Outlaws vs Iron Wolves

Outlaws are by far the superior team.

 

Division 2

 

Red Raiders vs Nice TDs

Nice TDs have a star-studded roster and once Dave figures out how to use all those weapons, they will be even more dangerous.

 

Thunder Buddies vs Marvels

After going winless last week, this week Steve goes undefeated.

 

Tannantes vs Jagerbomb

After having the week off they will be fresh and ready to go.

 

Division 3

 

Master Chiefs vs Double Dippers

Both teams are very good, but right now I think Will is playing better than Leon.

 

Panaches vs Iron Wolves

Jon has to win a game in this division eventually and it’s this week. (ed’s note: we won last week…)

 

RawSauce vs Bines

Better athletes are on Bines.

 

Division 4

 

Phoenix vs Airborne NA

I don’t pick my teams games.

 

Mustard Tigers vs Revenants

Tyler stops Marvin from running and forces him to make a few bad throws with at least 2 getting picked off.

 

Randoms vs Udaho Idapipms

Rob takes control of this game and plays it at his speed, preventing Udaho from going fast.

 

Cyclones vs Bines Low Fat

Their defense is great and will give Yann trouble all game long.

 

Division 5

 

TD Hunters vs Sour Peeps

Just have a feeling that this will be close, but somehow Gold pulls it off.

 

Fighting Armadillos vs Lesniaks

As long as PO stays away from Zack they will win easily since they have the better roster.

 

Heisenberg vs Phoenix NA

I don’t pick my teams games.

 

Les Last Calls vs Cobra Kai

More experience plus a better QB and possibly the best player in the division with Seb.

 

There you have this week’s picks. I made them very quickly, so I hope they are right at least 65% would be nice.

 

Power Rankings

 

There were lots of big games last week that made a difference in this week’s picks. Right now, it looks like some teams are starting to pull away, but any week anything can happen. Here are this week’s rankings.

 

Division 1

#1- Trollers

#2- A-Team

#3- Outlaws (ed’s note: the Trollers beat us with seconds left in the game last week and they are #1 and Outlaws are #3, yet somehow the Outlaws are the “far superior team”)

 

Division 2

#1- Nice TDs

#2- Tannantes

#3- Jagerbomb

 

Division 3

#1- Master Chiefs

#2- Idaho Udapimps

#3- Bines

 

Division 4

#1- Pocket Rocket

#2- Bines Low Fat

#3- Randoms

 

Division 5

#1- Misfits

#2- Vultures

#3- TD Hunters

 

There you have my rankings after 3 weeks of play. I made multiple changes and will have to make a bunch more after this week. We all know they aren’t perfect, but this is how I see it at least right now.

 

Final Thoughts

 

Don’t have much to say this week. I’m still in Vegas I went to see two holes this week. The Grand Canyon was the first and the black hole was the second. Which do you think was the better place to visit? If you said black hole, you were right. Really the Grand Canyon was beautiful, but next time I take a helicopter tour and do the whole flight around for a few hours and have a picnic on the bottom. I will tell you that even with all those weeks of extreme heat we had in Montreal I felt I would be good once I got here. Nope, the coldest it has been was 42 degrees and it going down to 33 at night. I still have a bunch more to do while I’m here and have to let you go know as I have my wedding with Elvis to get ready for (ed’s note: you’re marrying Elvis?).

Finally, my weekly reminder that we are playing a game and are here to have fun, so go out, get some exercise, and have some fun, but don’t take it too seriously.

Word from the Mouth: We Hope What Goes to Vegas Stays in Vegas! edition

Word from the Mouth: We Hope What Goes to Vegas Stays in Vegas! edition

Kevin Kousaie

I have started to write my article a lot sooner than normal this week since I will be traveling. We all know someone or at least heard stories about how the airports suck and it takes forever for you to clear security. That wasn’t the case for me this Sunday morning at 3:15 am.

The trip started with me getting here 15 minutes later than the 3 hours required, but it was early and you figure it shouldn’t take long. I figured I’d modernize and do self-check instead of waiting in that huge line to have someone do it for you (ed’s note: does anyone still do that?), and with my luck there was an issue, so I had to wait for help from the person at the kiosk which took less than 5 minutes.

Then passing through security was a breeze after I randomly got picked for extra screening. Who would have thought that a person with a beard and covered in tattoos would get searched? I breezed through without any issues (ed’s note: is Kevin trying to brag that he’s not a terrorist?). I told the wife that this was going to happen, and she didn’t believe me, but she was good and just walked right through.

It’s now 3:45 and I must sit and wait until 6 for my flight.

Just so everyone knows this article will be much shorter than most and I will only talk about 1 game per division. I’ll let Terry and Will cover more since Terry has been away for weeks and Will has been carrying the Podcast with guest hosts. First was Jon and then Jafar who will be next. I’d say they should have Andrew on since he is a different breed and always has something to say, at least off camera.

 

Weekly Recap

 

Division 1

Outlaws vs A-Team (14-26)

By the time this game started everyone that was at the field all day was dead. Marvin and Steve from Outlaws and Dave from A-Team, but Dave was smart enough to bring something to drink (beer). Seeing Dave there drinking in the heat I figured it was going to be an easy game for Outlaws, but that definitely wasn’t the case. Dave was on fire and looked to show Outlaws that they are no longer the top dog in D1. It took both teams until the last 3 minutes of the first half to score, but then in those 3 minutes there were plenty of fireworks. Dave drove the field to score, Steve answered with a 4 yard drag to Smuda who made 3 defenders miss on his way for a 45 yard TD. Dave once again drove the field with a big play coming on his pass to Charles before Ashton gets the 1 yard TD to end the drive and the half. Second half A-Team started with the ball and started the half the way they finished the first with a score. With the score being 20-8 it was looking bleak for Outlaws, Steve needed to score on this drive or the have the game get out of reach. A-Team stepped up got a stop and went down and scored and at this point it was 26-8 and the game was over. Is this a sign of things to come with A-Team being the team to beat in the division or was this just a bad game from Outlaws?

 

Division 2

Marvels vs Nice TDs (33-34)

This one came down to converts in the end. The game started great for Marvels and they were having their way with Nice TDs, but at half it was 19-12 for Marvels. Second half rolls around, and Dave wakes up starts putting up points, but was able to get his converts to make it harder for Marvels. I remember one play in particular where I called Max for an illegal forward pass, he passed the line with both feet before throwing, but stepped back and was behind the line. To me it was clear cut penalty. Both teams were given warnings from the refs about yelling at the refs for whatever reason and that next time would be a penalty. Late in the game Marvin started making a big stink about a player catching the ball, but having gone out of bounds prior to making the catch. After the game I explained to Marvin that he knows as a ref with me being on the line I first have to watch the QB before turning to see if the receiver caught the ball, when I looked the receiver was in and I called it a TD. The game was close at this point. The TD gave Marvels the lead with under 6 minutes left, but Dave stayed calm and cool and drove the field and left little time in the game and scored what turned out to be the game winning TD. Max had a few plays left, but on the last play of the game from 19 yards out the pass to the endzone was batted away by Thomas to preserve the win for Nice TDs who are no longer the laughing stock of D2.

 

Division 3

Invictus G vs Idaho Udapimps (27-36)

This week Dagher was playing QB for Invictus G and he wasn’t horrible at it. The issue was it took him a while to get going and once he did figure out what plays were working his team was down and he was forced to take shots. Towards the end of the game there was a little arguing between the teams, though nothing major, but at this point the game was already over and it was just a matter of the clock running down. The score was 30 to 19 when this happened and it made Brady a little mad so he threw another TD to Jerome and let them know the game was over already. Dagher got Invictus into the endzone and Idaho concede the 2point convert to end the game. Just a heads up, I let Invictus know if Louis and Anthony don’t have their ponytails grown by next week then they need to wear a wig to fit in with the rest of the team or I’ll be forced to throw them out and not allow them to play, but Jon of course won’t allow me to do this.

 

Division 4

Mustard Tigers vs Phoenix (13-32)

Let me start by saying Brian wasn’t there this week so Tom tried to fill in at QB which meant that he wasn’t out there catching balls and more importantly snapping the ball. They were so desperate for a snapper that for a while Tyler was trying to impersonate his dad. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. Mustard Tigers also started the game with only 5 players to make matters worse. Phoenix came out this week and played great defense and was smarter with the ball on offense than in week 1. Stu had himself a game this week hauling in 6 balls while being my safety valve as well as picking off 2 passing and running 1 in for 6. Both teams have plenty of room to grow and improve and I won’t be surprised to see this game being played again in the playoffs.

 

Division 5

TD Hunters vs The Lesniaks (6-13)

For this game I had a man on the inside give me the recap and figured that since I was only doing 1 game per division I’d skip mine and give this one some coverage.

The score could have been higher, but the result is what it is because it is a team game. On one side, Lesniak did an amazing job against one of the best rushers in the league, but only got 5 complete passes in the first half and his only completed deep ball was the winning one late in the second half. The ball was there, but the receivers were dropping them. I also must mention the five muffed snaps. On the other side, The Lesniaks seemed to be prepared against Goldrick's running abilities, so Goldrick was looking all game for a way to beat their defense. Every time he found a way, mistakes were made. The ones that hurts the most were the two rusher interference penalties. One was on a 20+ yard run and the other one was on a 30+ yard touchdown. It may have been a game for the first spot in the league, but both teams will need to improve quickly if they want to stay on top, because some other teams are actually improving and showed better results this weekend.

 

There you go, this week’s recaps. I would have loved to have included more games, but being away makes it hard with so much going on.

 

Players of the Week

 

We are moving quickly through the weeks of the season and have already played 3 games. There were so many good performances this week that I had to take a hard look to see who should get my vote. Now here are this week’s winners joining the other 20 players who already made my list.

 

Division 1

Offense- Simon Drolet caught what might be a record 20 passes in 1 game for 100 yards and 1 TD.

Defense- Louis-Phillipe Bardier made 7 tackles and had 1 pick.

 

Division 2

Offense- Ryan McSweeney grabbed 6 balls for 83 yards and 3 TDs.

Defense- Tyler Znoj made 4 tackles and were all sacks.

 

Division 3

Offense- Karl Lavallee-Rodrigue grabbed 2 balls for 74 yards and 2 TDs.

Defense- Jason Edwards made 2 tackles had 4 picks and ran 2 back for TDs.

 

Division 4

Offense- Mathieu Gratton caught 8 passes for 101 yards and 2 TDs.

Defense- Stu Lambon made 2 tackles had 2 picks and ran 1 in for a TD.

 

Division 5

Offense- Phillip Roberts was 21 of 28 for 217 yards and 7 TDs, he also ran 4 times for 12 yards.

Defense- Eric Buzaglo made 3 tackles all 3 were sacks.

 

There you have it for week 3, my top players who have made the list that everyone is trying to get on. Congratulations to all that made it and for the players who didn’t it just means you have to try a little harder if you want to see your name up here. Best of luck to everyone next week.

Predictions and Power Rankings Week 2

Predictions and Power Rankings Week 2

Kevin Kousaie

Predictions

 

As of right now it’s still only me making my picks since Terry is away and is the one who makes the spreadsheet for all of us to fill out. I am glad that everyone isn’t making their picks since I have been horrible at them so far. Presently I am sitting at 17 out of 38, guess the batteries are running low in my crystal ball. I will change them this week to help me make the correct picks and getting me back on track before next week when Terry, Willie, and Jon make their picks as well.

 

Division 1

 

Gros Coqs vs Centurions

I feel the size difference will be a big factor here and you never know who or what Gros Coq team will show up, last week I saw a bit of arguing going on so who knows.

 

Iron Wolves vs Trollers

I wanted to go Iron Wolves, but Max has started the season on fire this year and will continue this week.

 

Outlaws vs A-Team

After kicking Outlaws from the playoffs last season and winning their title, Steve and the rest of the team are out for revenge and get it in this game.

 

Division 2

 

Marvels vs Nice TDs

I might not be making the right pick here, but I have to go with Nice TDs as most of their team will tower over Marvels and all Dave will need to do is throw it high where only his team can get it.

 

Tannantes vs Thunder Buddies

Once again Tannantes are missing players and need a sub, but even if they had their team, I still would have picked Thunder Buddies since they have the stronger roster.

 

Division 3

 

Iron Wolves vs Panaches

I have heard rumors that losing Willie from Iron Wolves has decimated the team and knowing that Panaches will win (ed’s note: Willie on the D3 team?).

 

Double Dippers vs Idaho Udapimps

After seeing both teams play this season, right now Idaho looks to be in better shape and has everything working for them. Even in last week’s win, Double Dippers at times struggled.

 

RawSauce vs Master Chiefs

If Willie can avoid Antoine then he should have no problem lighting RawSauce up.

 

Invictus G vs Idaho Udapimps

Both teams are similar in the way the team is built and the way they play, but the large roster that Invictus G has will hurt them in this one if they all show up.

 

Division 4

 

Drama Club vs Udaho Idapimps

It’s not that I think Drama Club are the better team, but from what I was seeing it looks like Justin isn’t going to be there for his earlier games and I’d assume he won’t be there for this one, so who plays QB for them?

 

Mustard Tigers vs Phoenix NA

I don’t pick my own team’s games.

 

Randoms vs Cyclones

Cyclones have a roster that have played together for a season and because of that have a huge advantage.

 

Revenants vs Pocket Rockets

Pocket Rockets have the stronger roster and the better passer, if they can prevent Marvin running all over them should win this game convincingly.

 

TD Hunters vs Misfits

I think they have the better team, but Lesniak will have to stop trying to show off his arm by going deep so much.

 

Sour Peeps vs Phoenix NA

I don’t pick my own team’s games.

 

Fighting Armadillos vs Les Last Calls

Only because I’m not sure if Sebastien will be back and healthy.

 

Vultures vs Heisenberg

They have a few more studs on their roster.

 

Cobra Kai vs Mimosa Crew

Curren should be able to take care of business in this one as long as he protects the ball.

 

I hope the new batteries will help with this week’s picks, but I also hope that some of you reading will take a dive just to help me get back on track. Good luck to everyone this week, especially the teams I picked.

 

Power Rankings

 

Going into week 3 every team has played at least 1 game which can help a little with my picks, but really at this point it’s pretty much a guessing game at least in the lower divisions. I will have to take many things into consideration when picking this week’s rankings and I know I can’t make everyone happy, but here I go letting you know if you have made my top 3.

 

Division 1

#1- Outlaws

#2- Trollers

#3- Iron Wolves

 

Division 2

#1- Thunder Buddies

#2- Nice TDs

#3- Tannantes

 

Division 3

#1- Master Chiefs

#2- Idaho Udapimps

#3- Bines

 

Division 4

#1- Cyclones

#2- Pocket Rocket

#3- Bines Low Fat

 

Division 5

#1- Misfits

#2- TD Hunters

#3- Phoenix

 

As you may have noticed I did make a few changes, but who knows how long it’s going to stay like this? This week there are few big games that can easily flip my rankings around. There are a few teams that are on my rankings that I can see staying in for the rest of the season and then there are those teams that might not even last this week. If you want to see your team up on my list then win some games and don’t worry, eventually your team will be up here.

 

Final Thoughts

 

This week my article may have been a bit longer than what you are used to, I figured since next week will be a short one that this should be a bit longer. Jon just a heads-up next week expect a lot more editing than normal (ed’s note: literally not possible) as I will be writing my article while in the airport and on the plain (ed’s note: I’m leaving that in to prove my point, couldn’t even make it to the end of the sentence without a typo) at 6 am Sunday morning. It was either write it then or when I wasted all week in Vegas.

With that out there, if anyone has any gambling tips on how to break the bank let me know and I’ll give you a cut of my winnings (ed’s note: not sure you’re using that phrase correctly…) and I don’t want to hear count cards, because if any of you have had me score keep your games, you know I’m not good with numbers and I just randomly put numbers in for your yards, that’s how Jon gets all his rushing yards.

I have nothing else to say so just remember that we are playing a game, so go out, have fun, and don’t kill anyone. Thanks and see you Saturday.

Word from the Mouth: Corrupt Scorekeepers! edition

Word from the Mouth: Corrupt Scorekeepers! edition

Kevin Kousaie

This past weekend was a great one for football, unless you played the early game at 9:30 when it was raining. It wasn’t hard, but it was enough to make the ball a little slick.

With the new caps in place, it seems to have made most of the games closer and that means better games across the board. I was talking with a few players who play in D1 and D2 and they feel that the top divisions have gotten so much better and that is good for the league. To me there still is a big gap of talent in D2 from the top players to the next level of players. Right now, most if not all the top players in D2 are from D1 teams and unless players and teams get dramatically better, I can’t see either of those divisions get much larger than they already are. I would love to see a 10-12 division 1 it would make it way more interesting for everyone.

For years now we keep seeing Outlaws, Trollers and Gros Coqs with a few teams coming and going. It looks like A-Team will be here for a while and you never know about Jon and Iron Wolves what will happen, oh and how could I forget about Centurions who made the jump up and struggled their first season, but have been to two finals since.

One thing I really do wonder about is if the league will start to cap the number of teams players are able to play on. Right now we don’t have anything like this in place, but as we continue to grow it makes it harder and harder to make a schedule that makes everyone happy. I know this week we had 1 player how plays on 4 teams have 3 games at the same time, we also had another player miss one of his games because he was added to the roster after the schedule was made or his conflicts weren’t sent in by the captain. With the above situation I wonder if Jon will give the credit for those games played (ed’s note: he will not). I can tell you that if the player was added late then its too bad for the player, he needed to choose which team to play for that week. If it was on the league for the way the schedule was made then they should be given an exemption.

(ed’s note: The schedule is made on a priority basis with teams that are more flexible having higher priority. So, if a team has a time request to not play any games after 12 pm and they have no team conflicts then they would have priority over a team with 3 team conflicts, for example. So, that team may very well get their 11 am time slot even if it means that a player may have to miss a game. I strongly suggest that if your team has time requests that you minimize the conflicts between teams as you likely will not get both!)

 

Week 2 Recap

 

Division 1

 

Trollers vs A-Team (43-20)

I can only tell you what I heard from this game and the little bit that I caught a glimpse of. Max came out and was on fire this week showing why he is one of the top QBs in the league. Jeremy had a field day torching his old team for 3 TDs. I didn’t ask, but really want to know if they were against his brother Ashton or not. And who can forget about Andrew not shutting up all game long trying to provoke the guys he just won a championship with a few weeks ago. Then you have the one thing that everyone always complains about and that is the way Dilan makes tackles and how he dives and rips at the players. I have seen Dilan play enough times to know what they are talking about, but the guy dives with his hands open and swats at the flags and to me as long as he isn’t pulling the player down then it should be fine. There were players on the Trollers complaining about this, until they did it themselves in another game and said that it was fine what they were doing.

 

Iron Wolves vs Gros Coqs (31-21)

I was there for this game after driving over from the other field. I wont talk much about this game since Willie will be covering it in this weeks Podcast with Jafar and might want to go into more details about how Dom took the ball away from him for an interception and all Willie could do is stand there with this look like how did that happen. Will almost looked like sad puppy dog when he doesn’t get his way. (ed’s note: it was 100% a catch for Will (in my biased mind, of course), but I prefer it as a pick as we can allows hold that over his head, just like Dom did with the ball).

 

Division 2

 

Marvels vs Red Raiders (46-36)

Both QBs played extremely well with Max throwing 7 TDs and Mike getting 5 of his own. The difference in this game were the 2 picks Mike threw and how quickly Marvels capitalized on them. The first half was all offense with points being scored at will. What had to be the most disrespectful play in MFL history was when Andrew picked off the convert and was running it back, de-flagged himself, ran a little bit more, decided to turn around and go back to pick his flag up, put the flag back on the belt, and continued to run it back and he did all this while laughing about it. Second half of the game both teams defense stepped up and made the other team put drives together for points. Tyler was quiet for the Trollers as he only managed to get 1 sack on Mike. What would have helped Red Raiders was Carlos their rusher being there as Max had all day in the pocket to distribute the ball to all of his receivers. When Francis get 6 balls and over 40 yards (ed’s note: unacceptable), you know Max had time to go through his progressions before settling. Tameem had a monster day which isn’t surprising, but you would have thought that Red Raiders would have been able to figure a way to slow him down instead of giving up 4 TDs to him.

 

Nice TDs vs Tannantes (42-36)

Nice TDs has improved dramatically this off season and it showed. They now have a stable QB and added 2 tall giants, plus they brought Kris back to the team. In this game Dave spread the ball all over and on defense they got a few stops and picked a ball off as well. The big thing this week was Tannantes were missing players and ended up being only 3 roster players and got subs from the same division, it could become a forfeit for 2 reasons, but Nice TDs still won the game so I think it will be left how it is. With 2 minutes left Nice TDs went up by 12 points and the game was over.

 

Division 3

 

Double Dippers vs RawSauce (32-20)

Boy were the receivers ever happy to have Leon back this week. They knew the ball was going to be on time and in the right spot, all they had to do was catch it and some had a hard time of that at first. I think that Sean had 2 or 3 drops which all might have gone for TDs if not at least a first down. After Double Dippers scored their first TD, Marc-Antoine picked off the convert and ran it back for 1 and it looked like Leon might have had the angle on him until he turned on the jets and Leon just stopped. With under ten minutes left RawSauce was up 20-13 and looked to be in control of the game, or at least until Double Dippers woke up. Leon drove them down to score on a 13 yard TD pass to Manuel followed by a 1point convert to Sean to tie it at 20. RawSauce has the ball and just over 4 minutes looking to go down and win the game, except Ludovic threw a pick on his first pass. Double Dippers scored with ease to take the lead. Still RawSauce had plenty of time to go down and tie it up to force OT. They turned the ball over again, but this time on downs. I know the score looks like it wasn’t close but if it wasn’t for the last 5 minutes of the game it was back and forth all game.

 

Division 4

 

Bines Low Fat vs Phoenix (26-24)

This game could have gone either way and with a few extra catches from Phoenix might have turned out the other way. The first half was plagued by big drops from Phoenix in key situations and me throwing 5 picks by hanging the ball up and allowing Simon and Dave to get over and make plays on the balls. It was the first game that Mathieu was playing QB and he did an OK job of it and should get better with more practice. What really helped out Bines was the big plays that they were able to get. They scored on 30, 35, 45, and 26 yard TDs. The big thing about Bines is their defense is top notch and will give any QB fits. In the second half of this game Phoenix switched up the offense and things started to roll as we were able to put up 24 point, had the lead for all of 1 play and had a chance to tie it on the last play of the game, but the convert was no good as the pass was dropped and the receiver was out of bounds. (ed’s note: double no good!)

 

Randoms vs Mustard Tigers (15-37)

This game was never close and was never going to be close, at least not with Randoms missing their QB. Old man John Morris was a stud in this game and Randoms weren’t able to slow him down any slower than he already goes as he scored 4 TDs. I would love to see this rematch with both teams having their rosters, that would mean Mustard Tigers would have Tyler rushing and Randoms would have Rob at QB. On paper you think it would be a fair trade off, but I would think that Randoms would have the advantage there. Rob gets rid of the ball fast so Tyler wouldn’t make a huge impact and Randoms would also get one of their top targets back in Mr. Gratton.

 

Udaho Idapipms vs Revenants (18-19)

This was a game between 2 QBs who are learning the game and will take time to do that and make the proper reads. To me Justin outperformed Marvin as a passer, but Marvin dominated as a runner. Marvin did win the game, but needs to become more of a passer and less of a runner. You can’t have more rushing attempts than completions if you expect to improve. It was a huge win for Revenants and great way to start the season. For Udaho it was also a good starting block for a new QB.

 

Airborne vs Cyclones (25-45)

Yann started the season off on fire like the way he finished last season. Airborne on the other hand, I’m not sure what they are doing. A two QB system isn’t going to work. Ryan might turn out to be the better QB, but then you lose a very good target. Guillaume should stay at QB since that’s what the team is used to, but I do know that last season he was dealing with injuries and that might be the reason why he pulled himself from the game. When the switch was made the game was already over with the score being 32-13.

 

Drama Club vs Revenants (31-25)

I’m not sure how Revenants could allow this to happen but they got beat by 2 players as Nico and Ben both had over 85 yards and scored all 5 of Drama Clubs TDs with Nico getting 4 of them. Marvin did a much better job as a passer in this game, but couldn’t run as Roxanne was all over him from the very first whistle. Before the game Simon had mentioned that Drama Club was going to use Nico as a rusher on Marvin and I was like why would you do that when you have Roxanne who is a better rusher and look what happened, she owned him.

 

Bines Low Fat vs Pocket Rockets (36-45)

Pocket Rockets pulled off a huge upset, or was it? Bines tried a different QB this game with Albert taking snaps and it was his first time. At half time Bines were up 36-27 and just wanted the game to be over as they were all dead from playing 3 games in a row. When I spoke to them afterwards, they said they no longer were able to run and make cuts as all their legs were jello. PO was able to take advantage of this and used lots of crosses and hard cuts. On defense Pocket Rockets were just a step a head of the receivers and were able to make plays on the ball.

 

Division 5

 

TD Hunters vs Phoenix (12-6)

This game wasn’t pretty at all. I wont complain to much about us losing as it wasn’t my best game and TD hunters earned the win. It did seem as if the refs and scorekeepers were against us (ed’s note: the scorekeeper was against you?), giving them great spots, getting them a different ball to use (ed’s note: giving them a non-synthetic ball to throw in wet conditions was favouring them?), allowing the rusher to run into my leg and not allow me to follow through on the last play of the game, which was still hurting and sore on Monday. I blame Willie for turning his head to see if it was a catch right as the ball was leaving my hands. TD Hunters played good defense and Goldrick was able to find the open player all game. It would have been different if the full Phoenix team was there as we were without our rusher and a solid receiver in Brandon. Congratulations on the win TD Hunters, but next time will be a different story.

 

Sour Peeps vs Fighting Armadillos (13-32)

These two rosters aren’t even close to being on the same level. PO has a bunch of good receivers to throw to while Jocelyn does not and his team is still learning the game. For as good a QB as PO is, he needs to complete more of his passes if he wants to go to the next level. Yes, he threw 5 TDs to 0 picks, but only had a 50% completion percent. Jocelyn completed more passes, but didn’t get the same production out of his team. It was the second half when Armadillos pulled away because at half it was only a 14-7 game for them.

 

Misfits vs Les Last Calls (12-7)

This game had all the scoring done in the first minute of the game and the last two minutes of the game. Lesniak started the game with a pick to Sebastien, which only took Last Calls 1 play to score on them. Then Lesniak hit a 45 TD to Zack. Then a whole bunch of back and forth, but nothing exciting happening. Then on their last possession Misfits were able to go down the field and score to take the lead, but failed on the convert. Guillaume had time to try for the win, but without Sebastien playing was able to get it close, but wasn’t able to punch it is. In this game Sebastien got hurt on the second play of the game and would have made this a different game, since on his first play he picked off the ball and his second play was a TD, two plays played and both huge plays.

 

Misfits vs Cobra Kai (39-12)

This was not a pretty game, at least not for Cobra Kai. They threw 7 picks, 2 of which were returned for scores and 5 were to one player. Lesniak had 8 completions and 4 were for TDs. I tried to help Cobra Kai last week by sending them a defensive playbook so they wont have to play man the whole time and I’m not sure it they even looked at it.

 

Mimosa Crew vs Vultures (6-12)

Curren didn’t have a good day this past weekend as he was only able to complete 5 passes and only ran twice for 5 yards. Even with numbers like that he still had a chance at the end of the game to win it. Vultures have a good roster, but have not been performing the way you would think they would and, yes, they won, but not as you would have expected them to. When vultures scored with 2:38 left in the game you figure that Mimosa Crew only has one possession left with the ball, that wasn’t the case. Curren threw a pick on the second play, but then his defense bailed him out by getting a stop and giving them 40 seconds to try and win the game. Curren threw 3 incomplete passes before finding Vinojan for a 25-yard play. On the last play of the game Curren throws it to the endzone hoping for his team to come down with it, but instead Anthony picked it off to seal the game for Vultures.

 

Heisenberg vs Les Last Calls (40-6)

This was a big game for Heisenberg to start the season, but I wouldn’t look to deep into this game. It was Les Last Calls second game of the day, and they were without their best player who was hurt in the previous game. I did like the fact that Ian did a nice job of spreading the ball and finding the open receiver, huge difference from last season. I think if and when these two teams meet again it might not end the same way.

 

There you have it this weeks recaps and as some of you might have noticed I did cover every game in D4 and D5 because Terry isn’t here to ref and we all know Willie gets confused and doesn’t know anyone in those division and the one teams he does he thinks they still wear dolphins jerseys. Hope you enjoyed and stay tune for more next week.

 

Players of the Week

 

Now that we have moved in to week 2 I expect big things from players. I want to see multiple TDs from players, people breaking at least 100 yards, maybe Steve or Jon running for 50 yards on less than 20 attempts. As for defense, tackles are good, but no one really cares about them. I need to see picks, sacks, and a pick 6 or safety would be nice. Now keep it up and balling and you can make my list which is the only one that really matters since Jon just picks out of a hat who gets to go up on the website. (ed’s note: I use an internet randomizer!)

 

Division 1

Offense- Jeremy Rooney made 7 catches for 92 yards and 3 TDs.

Defense- Stanley Louis made 3 tackles and had 1 sack. I know it doesn’t seem like great numbers, but it was the amount of pressure he put on Dom all game that won it for him this week.

 

Division 2

Offense- Tameem Riman grabbed 8 balls for 93 yards, 4 TDs and 2 1point converts.

Defense- Vincent Dion made 5 tackles and had 2 picks.

 

Division 3

Offense- Sean Kennedy snagged 4 balls for 77 yards 1 TD and 2 1point converts.

Defense- Simon Beaudoin made 6 tackles and had 1 pick.

 

Division 4

Offense- John Morris grabbed 8 passes for 72 yards and 4 TDs.

Defense- Clement Chaussee made 8 tackles and 2 picks with both being brought back for 6 points in 2 games.

 

Division 5

Offense- Ian Carlo Herrera was 23 of 3

Leagues
Montreal Flag Football League
Division 1
Division 2
Division 3
Division 4
Division 5
Women's Division
Brossard Div 1
Brossard Div 2
Laval
Winter Div 1
Winter Div 2
Winter Div 3
Winter Women
Aces Flag Football