Word From The Mouth: Deep Threats Win! Edition

Wednesday, October 24th Kevin Kousaie

Here we are 9 weeks down and at the last week of the season. All 4 teams that are making the playoffs are locked into their position. You have the Outlaws taking the number 1 spot, Trollers are at 2, Gros Coqs at 3, and last but not least Revolucion get the final spot. Even with this week nothing will change. What we should do is skip this week of play and jump right into the playoffs, it would make it easier on all teams and we can possible skip the sh*tty weather for the finals. I know Jon won’t do it since we all paid to play 10 regular season games. Most teams will show up and play, but watch out for injuries as we don’t want those going into the playoffs.

Week 9 Recap

We had 3 games on Saturday and only one was a good game and it was also the only game that I didn’t get to see firsthand, so it will be hard to talk about, but I’ll figure it out.

So in Game 1 you had the Outlaws taking on Les Gros Coqs sans (Ed’s note: “sans” is french for “saint”) QB Dom. At the start of the game each team was able to go down and score on their first possession, but only the Gros Coqs could convert and it looked like it was going to be a back and forth game. Outlaws scored on their next possession and then were able to get a turnover. This is where the game started to get out of hand. Outlaws score off the turnover and are now up 19-7. They got a quick stop and then scored again to go in at halftime with a 26-7 lead. In the second half Les Gros Coqs outplayed the Outlaws, but it wasn’t enough to get the win. The final score ended up being 32-19 for the Outlaws. My favorite play of the game was when Steve had a guy streaking down the sideline and Boris came from the other side to jump up and pick that ball off.

In the other game that I was able to see live (read play in) was between the Trollers and Deep Threats. This one wasn’t even close other than when it first started. In a game that ends 43-6 where do I start or do I just skip it and move on. Trollers were able to score on their first 4 possessions to start the game and Deep Threats were able to finally punch one in on the last play before half to make the score 24-6. The Trollers need to do a better job on converts as it was the weakest part of their game on Saturday. The second half was pretty much the same domination from the Trollers who stopped going for converts and really stopped playing hard. I know I was glad when it was over and I’m sure other people were as well. No one enjoys beating a team like this.

Last game and the only one that was a close one. This was a match up that was between the Deep Threat and Revolucion. This was a game that I called as being the last shot at victory for Deep Threats and that’s what it was in a win 20-18, a win because of 2 converts. Everyone looks at converts as no big thing but they are huge if you actually look at it, not sure how many games were won by a convert, but I’m sure a few… nope, sorry, this was the only game in division 1 that was won this way.

I want to say great job to the Deep Threats for getting your first victory of the season but it took you 9 weeks and a few good subs to make that happen. Hopefully you guys learned something this season and can carry it on into next year. This was the one and only game I wish Jon let me ref so I could have seen what really transpired. If you want to know what I know you can look at the stats for the game and the play by play.

Best of luck to everyone in week 10.

Game of the Week: Outlaws vs Gros Coqs

Here we are last week of the season and no one has anything to play for. These two teams will be meeting for the third time this season and the Outlaws have won the previous two. This is also a rematch from this past weekend. I want to see this game with both teams having full rosters.

QB - In this one we have Dom who has become a very good passer over the last few seasons, but is still the only real threat to take off and run 45 yards whenever he chooses to. He has a great cast of players around him and they seem to make almost every catch. Steve on the other hand is no threat to run, though he will if he has to, but if he runs 45 yards on you in one play just give up. He has always been a good passer who relies on accuracy and getting the ball out of his hand quickly. Both guys are solid and it is just a matter of who shows up for both teams. If Dom is there then he gives them a chance to win every game he plays, but if he isn’t then it becomes way harder for Gros Coqs to win. To be able to stop Steve get a fast rush and take his first read away and you’ll have a chance to stop them. I have to give the advantage to the Outlaws only because I’m not sure who will be there for Les Gros Coqs.

WR - Smuda is the best Receiver on the team, if not in the league, but he hasn’t been putting the ball in the end zone the way I figured he would. It might be that everyone on defense focuses on him and this allows other guys to get the score. Don’t get me wrong Outlaws have a solid bunch of guys. You have Adam, Remy, and Antoine who can all make things happen with the ball, and let’s not forget about Vince who is one of the fastest guys, but has been injured for part of the year. For Les Gros Coqs anyone can make a play for these guy. They are all young extremely shifty and very quick. These guys might not have huge numbers this season, but they have all missed a few games. If they show up all at one time, you try and figure out how to stop them. How can you stop Boris, Thomas, Bresse plus the other guys when they decide to show up and play? This is a very tough choice to make; do I go off the numbers or off of what the roster is? I want to give the advantage to Les Gros Coqs but its hard to do that when they very rarely all show up for the same game so I have to go with Outlaws.

Defense - So here you have the Outlaws with the best points against allowing 22.9 a game. They have only managed 12 sacks on the season with 7 coming from Mathieu who isn’t even their best rusher. Smuda has a team lead 8 picks for a team that has managed 25 in total, they also have batted 32 passes away. Gros Coqs defense isn’t what it was last season and they are giving up 33.8 points a game, but they are better than that. This season the rush hasn’t been anywhere close to what it was last season and this year they have 5 in total. They have only managed to pick off 19 balls and 14 have come from Boris and Bresse. They have batted 21 balls away. The advantage has to be given to Outlaws, but I still think that this is closer than you might think.

Predictions

Here we are the last week of the regular season and we have 3 games going on. Overall for the season I have gone 11 and 2 for a 84.6% which is way above my goal of 75%. Can I keep it up this week and finish off strong?

Outlaws vs Gros Coqs Outlaws

Gros Coqs vs Deep Threats Gros Coqs

Trollers vs Revolucions NA (Ed’s note: Trollers)

Power Rankings

Here we go with the final power rankings of the season

#1 Outlaws (8-1)

#2 Trollers (6-3)

#3 Gros Coqs (4-4)

So yes they have stayed the same as last week and they should have. When you lose to Deep Threats there is no way you should be able to jump up in here. Also, when it takes 9 weeks to finally win do you really think you should be here? I don’t. These are the top 3 teams and rightful so.

Studs & Duds

Where should I start this week? We had a few guys who really shined and performed really well, but I’m going to go with the full Deep Threats team, who came together this week and played their best game of the season to beat La Revolucion.

This weeks Dud was a little trickier to pick, but I managed to come up with one. For this weeks Dud award it goes to Eric from Revolucion. You have no stats on offense or on defense, what’s up with that? You’re supposed to be a top rusher and you did nothing and that is why you are the dud of the week. Figured you’d get at least one or 2 sacks in the game. (Ed’s note: Did he play?)

Now we are here in the last week and from what I’m seeing it might be snowing or raining on Saturday (Ed’s note: current weather calls for it to be fine during our games!) and that sucks for flag football, but I use to love playing in it when I played tackle. It makes it difficult to catch when the ball is slick. I hope everyone will show up and play even though it has no meaning on playoff position. Remember we are out there to have fun so watch it when you are running and try to avoid contact at all cost. Play safe have fun and see you all on Saturday.

Word From The Mouth: All About the Seedin'

Thursday, October 18th Kevin Kousaie

Here we are again, another week down and only two left to go. It looks as if the Outlaws have secured the number 1 spot unless they lose out and that is possible since they are playing Les Gros Coqs for their last 2 games. So technically there is a possibility that they could fall all the way to number 3, but no lower than that. Both the Trollers and Gros Coqs could finish number 1, but that would mean the Trollers win out. Which is also possible since they play Deep Threats and Revolucion for their last 2 games, but they still need Outlaws to lose out as well. The only way for Gros Coqs to finish number 1 is to win out and hope for a Trollers loss, since the Trollers have the tie breaker. For the fourth and final playoff spot it might come down to the wire if Deep Threats can win out and Revolucion lose out as well. Sorry correction Deep Threats are mathematically eliminated since Revolucion have the head to head tie breaker. Better luck next season deep Threats.

Week 8 Recap

We had three games over the weekend and only one was an actual close game. You had Outlaws crushing Revolucion 51-20, you also had the Trollers doubling up on the Deep Threats 42-21, and the only close game of the weekend was the Trollers losing to Gros Coqs 25-20 in what was a poorly played game for both teams. Not sure what I should do here, specifically if I should even talk about the games that were blowouts. I will say that Remi did make a beautiful play on the last play of the game while he was rushing. He managed to jump up bat the ball out of the air catch it and run it into the end zone. They really didn’t need it and I know people only care about stats, but at that point you don’t need to score, just take a knee and end it. One thing that shocked me about this game is that neither QB was sacked. You have 3 of the top 4 rushers leading the league and you couldn’t manage one between the three of you? What’s up with that? Maybe we praised you guys a little too early. That’s all I’m saying about this blowout.

This brings me to the next game that was a cake walk between the Trollers and Deep Threats. This game was long and boring and filled with subs on one side. Both teams played pretty poorly in game. Trollers were playing soft the whole day on defense. They weren’t very focused with dropped balls and missed tackles, being spaced out and missed assignments, it was one of the worst games they played all season on defense. Offense wasn’t much better and Max threw 2 picks and was sacked 3 times as well. When Kevin is your leading receiver in yards you know there must be a problem, right? Deep Threats on the other hand didn’t have their QB and a few other guys, but the subs they got were better than the guys they replaced and they still came out and lost the game. They did have two bright spots on Saturday and they both played some good defense and that was Francis who had to come from the other side of the field to tackle me a few times and Daniel their rusher, but other than that they had no hope. Now that they are out of the race for playoffs they can try new things and see how that works.

We are now down to the final game of the weekend between the Trollers and Gros Coqs. This was a first time in a while that the Gros Coqs had their full roster for a game. You could tell that they wanted this game more than the Trollers; they were attacking the ball in the air where the Trollers were just waiting for it to come to them. There were a few plays that I’m not sure what was going on. It was second down and 3 or 4 and Josh runs an out at the sidelines and if I remember correctly he started to lean backwards which allowed Boris to come in and grab the ball. On Max’s second pick the ball just hung up in the middle of the field and our guys just watched and waited for it to come down into their hands. I don’t remember the third one he threw, but I think it was off a deflection.

It wasn’t only the Trollers that were making dumb plays. On fourth and a bunch we were sure they were punting and just wasting the time, but Vince snaps the ball and they weren’t able to get the yards needed for the first. Even though both teams got 3 picks, they both played poorly. Defense was not the strength on Saturday. Trollers couldn’t make the proper adjustments to take care of two guys going out on the same side and Gros Coqs gave up a few big plays. Yes, the Gros Coqs won the game and it could have easily been by a lot more. The Trollers were down 5 with 1:30 left in the game with 3 timeouts and needed a stop and couldn’t do it. It would have been a miracle if the Trollers pulled that one off. Last playoffs they did it with 12 seconds left but not this week. These two teams should meet again in the playoffs and we’ll see what happens then.

Upcoming Game of the Week: Deep Threats vs La Revolucion

I wanted to go with the Outlaws vs Gros Coqs, but I have insider information that I won’t talk about and keep hush hush. I didn’t want to do the Trollers vs Deep Threats game either, so I ended up going with Deep Threats vs Revolucion. This is possibly the last chance for Deep Threats to get their first win of the season.

QB - In this one you have Ben from La Revolucion and JC from the Deep Threats. Ben might not be mobile but takes the snap at least 8 yards away and he makes very quick decisions. JC has struggled for most of the season, but when he uses the whole field instead of just going deep he does well. He is still learning the position and with time he will get better. This is such an easy choice for me to make that I’d be a fool not to give the advantage to Revolucion.

WR - In this category you have one of the best guys at attacking the ball at the high point in Svetna, but after that, they don’t have anyone who scares you. Deep Threat need to just change the name or start adding a few guys who will help keep the name alive and strike fear in their opponents. For Revolucion you have 5 guys with over 270 yards and Raph just under 200 with 194. Gabe and JC each have over 400, Ted is close to that mark and David is 1 yard short of 300 on the season. This is one very dangerous group that Revolucion has and they get the advantage by a landslide.

Defense - This is an area where both teams struggle. The Deep Treats can’t seem to stop anyone and you can tell by their points against at 45.1, you don’t win many unless you’re scoring. They have only managed 6 sacks all season and 3 came this past Saturday, so they aren’t doing too well there. In the pick department they have managed to pull down 5. There are guys that have more than that individually. Revolucion isn’t much better as they are giving up 41 points a game. They have 11 sacks and 11 picks which is the big difference between the two teams. Revolucion has better numbers, but I’m not sold on the play calling. This game is going to be a shootout, but I wonder if any team will get a stop. I have to give the advantage to Revolucion because of the rusher.

Predictions

Now I get to pick the winners again since we have 3 games I only need to pick 2 winners as I don’t pick my teams game since more often than not I’d pick my own team to win. So here we go and the winners are everyone just for coming out and playing.

Outlaws vs Gros Coqs Outlaws

Deep Treat vs Revolucion Revolucion

Trollers vs Deep Threats NA (Ed’s note: Surprise Deep Threats victory!)

Power Rankings

#1 Outlaws (7-1)

#2 Trollers (5-3)

#3 Gros Coqs (4-3)

It has stayed the same even though Gros Coqs beat the Trollers over the weekend. That game was poorly played by both teams and when they play again in the playoffs is when we will see who the better team is. I can’t knock Outlaws out of top spot, but I can’t add Revolucion in either. Only 2 weeks left to see some sort of change up here.

Studs & Duds

This week was an easy one to pick the studs and duds. I had to go and give the Stud award to a QB again, though I almost went with Adam from Outlaws, but he only scored once and only made tackles on defense (Ed’s note: I feel like you meant to put a number in there, unless you wanted Adam to make tackles on offense as well). So I ended up giving it to his QB Steve. He had a great day going 25 out of 36 for 247 yards with 6 scores and no picks. He also ran twice for 8 yards. He even let Antoine throw a pass that went for 20 yards and a score. So he could have had those stats also.

I was going to give this week the Dud award to the Trollers defense as a whole, but I have had a change of heart and decided to give it to Max from the Trollers. He went 1 and 1 over the weekend, but in those 2 games he threw 5 picks and was sacked 4 times. These are not typical numbers that you would see from one of the league’s better QBs. Hopefully he plays better in the upcoming weeks. I mean he can’t play much worse I hope.

So this brings us to the end of another article. Like I said in the beginning all the spots are locked in for the playoffs it just comes down to seeding. With that being said I hope that everyone still comes out to play and doesn’t just f*ck off since it doesn’t matter. We come out to play and have fun. Lastly remember keep classy and safe out there MFL.

Thursday, October 18th