Alright people, in the first week of PLL action I went 4/5 on my picks and the one wrong one I fully warned you it was not a smart choice. We also learned a lot about the eight teams in the five games, and a lot has happened as far as injuries, suspensions, pick ups, and more. Here are my picks for week 2.
Friday Night Lights
Chaos vs Waterdogs
The Chaos and the Waterdogs face off on Friday night at 7pm and both teams will be looking for their first win. The Chaos are coming off a 13-7 loss where the Whips went up early and held on to a big lead. The Waterdogs lost by the same margin to the Cannons who were playing their second game of the weekend. Both offenses looked stale last week, but the Chaos started developing some nice chemistry in the second half where the Waterdogs did not. Waterdogs will be without rookie attackmen Michael Sowers due to a head injury, and Chaos will be without attackmen Austin Staats due to a suspension dealing with an off field altercation #fingergate. The Chaos should be fine with Staats, but the loss of Sowers is crucial to the Waterdogs. The Waterdogs have listed 3 attackmen on this weeks roster with Ben Reeves, Michael Kraus, and Ryan Brown and Kieran McArdle listed as restricted (since the team is playing 2 games in 1 weekend they can have two restricted players.) This shocks me because I do not see the attack working well with two lefty dodger/scorers in Reeves and Kraus and a sharp shooter in Brown. You need a facilitator and the Waterdogs lost a good one with Michael Sowers. I expect to see a lot of initiation from the midlfield without a proven feeder at attack. I am hoping that we get a glimpse of the crafty Canadian offense that people were hyping up from the Chaos. They were starting to get into a groove at the end of last weeks game and I expect that to continue into this week. One thing that concerns me for the Chaos is that Chris Cloutier is not eating enough poutine and he is noticeably smaller. He is used to playing at 210 plus and I wouldn't be surprised if he is weighing in around the 180's. Cloutier adjusting to the weight difference will be something that I keep my eye on.
Official Pick: Chaos ML
Saturday Games
Cannons vs Whipsnakes
Folks this is the game of the week and it has nothing to do with this.
I was looking forward to this game before the big announcement of Chris Hogan making his debut on NBC, mainly because I would love to see the Cannons beat the Whipsnakes. The Cannons showed that they could play with a top tier team last week holding their own against the Redwoods. Their offense is looking lethal. Lyle Thompson is respectfully drawing the most attention and even with the early slides he has 6 goals. With all eyes on Lyle, the rest of the offense has been able to shoot their shot, and yes I am talking about certified beef cake Paul Rabil.
Rabil is leading the way for the midfield with 6 points and is clearly showing the leadership that coach Quick talked about when he acquired Rabil in the offseason. Rookie Stephen Rehfuss was heating up Sunday against the Waterdogs earning himself a game ball with 2 assists and a goal. Now we get to see if Hogan can ball with the best lacrosse players in the world. The Cannons have him listed as a Midfielder and not a SSDM, so maybe we will see him on the offensive end. I personally am rooting for him and think we could see him score a goal, probably a lefty rip assisted from Rehfuss. The Whipsnakes didn't show any flaws in their game on Saturday and I bet that they are tired of hearing about Chris Hogan. They know that there will be more eyes on this game and want to show people not as familiar with lacrosse how talented they are. It's going to be a good one and I think it will be a close high scoring game that will be settled in the fourth quarter.
Official Pick: Cannons ML
Redwoods vs Atlas
The Redwoods are a Rollin! Rob Pannel and Ryan Lee are forming great chemistry at attack and Jules Henningburg is getting used to coming out of the box at Midfield. The defense is physical and is communicating well and Timmy Troutner is standing on his head. The Atlas did not show me any signs of life last week, but they do have Trevor Baptise. TD Irelan had a stellar performance on Friday night and went 65% on FO over the weekend. This will be the best matchup of the day and is really the Atlas's only chance of staying in the game. I still see the Woods coming out of this week undefeated.
Official Pick: Redwoods ML
I want to go on record that I actually Parlayed the first three games and that is why I chose ML on all of them.
Sunday Games
Chrome vs Waterdogs
The Waterdogs have their second game of the weekend against the Chrome on Sunday. This weeks games are being played in Atlanta, and it is supposed to be a hot one. I think this week we will see that playing two games will have a bigger impact on teams. The Chrome are without attackmen Jordan Wolf due to a hamstring injury, and it looks like they plan on putting Collin Heacock down at attack to replace him. Jordan MacIntosh played well at attack last week and the Chrome mounted a decent comeback attempt including some 2 point attempts. I would expect to see them come out and pounce on the weaker Waterdogs team. I want the Waterdogs team to do well, but they have not shown me any reason to bet on them. Unless they come out and play well on Friday Night, this is the Chrome's game to lose.
Official Pick: Chrome ML
Chaos vs Archers
The Archers offense may be the best in the league. They had ten different players score a goal in their first game. All the Archers are eating and I don't think the Chrome will be able to stop them. Like I said, this weekend is going to be hot and the Chrome will be tired from their first game on Friday. I see the Archers getting into the same situation they did last week. They will go up by 8 early and hold on to that lead for a majority of the game. The Chrome will make another comeback attempt bringing it within 3, but the Archers will go on a run at the end at win by 5.
