******UPDATE******
According to the Power's press release, Morris is out of action and has been moved to IR. McCabe would be my bet for the start, with the newly re-signed Morrelli backing him up. So, it looks like I'll get my wish to see how McCabe handles starting responsibility.
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Hey, Power fans – Weidman here to put some more “N'At” in “Steelers N'At.” Today, we're going to look at our upcoming first road game against the Milwaukee Iro- Mustangs.
Seriously, AFL – If you want people to follow the sport, make it easier on them by keeping the same names for a couple of seasons. I'm going to hop up on my cyber soap box for a second and get this off my chest. It's hard enough to build team identity when rosters change every season, but when you also keep changing names...well, it can make even a die-hard throw up their hands. Now, in this particular case, the Mustangs are just reviving their original franchise, so maybe we can give them a pass.
We won't need to worry about that happening. Cleveland has our old name. They can keep it. It's tainted now.
Back to the matter at hand. As stated, this is our first road game. Only time will tell if the Pittsburgh road warrior mentality is in the water, or simply indoctrinated in people with “Rooney” on their paychecks. It's not going to be easy for a new team traveling across the country, a time zone over for the first time. They're also going to be facing their first game without an enthusiastic home crowd. Even the top-of-the-line pros in the NFL have trouble with this – it's no small consideration.
What can we expect out of the Mustangs? I've watched both games they've played this season – first against the Rush, and second against the Arizona Rattlers – and I can't say that I'm impressed.
Their opener was a 49-41 loss to the Rush, which didn't reflect the plays on the field. The 'Stangs looked sloppy and the Rush seemed in charge the whole game. The Mustang's Ward was only 26 for 45 in the air (but did pull off 249 yards) and their rushing game was uninspiring. However, I could look past it. Much like our first week and the Barnstormers last week, it was a revamped team's first game. Also, the Rush are a top-tier team and not to be dismissed. Plus, they only lost by 8.
This week, they went up against another strong team in the Arizona Rattlers and fared even worse. Ward still only pulled off about 50% of his attempts and the team picked up an additional 15 yards rushing. The ground attack did yield 3 of their 4 touchdowns, but that's about it. Final was 62-31 Rattlers.
Where did it all fall apart? In short, everywhere. Ward threw two beautiful passes to the opposing team. The defense missed a lot of their assignments. Ward was totally unprotected. Penalties were constant for them. It was just mess. If this game was the true Mustangs, it's not going to be pretty on Monday night for them against the Power.
That being said – every season is new. We only have a sample-size of two right now and the Mustangs have played two good teams. What we will need to do is exploit their weaknesses.
Cover Holmes and Burns. They haven't been necessarily the top receivers, but Ward likes them both. He's thrown three picks already this year, and since we know where the ball is likely going, the Power has a chance to take them away. Plus, I just can't cope with hearing “Ward completes to Holmes.” It screws with my head.
Be prepared for it to go long. Ward has low completions but a lot of yards. That's because he likes to air it out. Combine with #1, and we really know where to be.
Keep. The. Pressure. On. Especially this past week, the Mustangs proved that they cannot protect their QB. He got sacked a lot, let up a safety (yeah, kinda like Morris...) and he panics in the pocket.
Ward is the key. He doesn't seem to take the bench and plays whole games. Even if we pressure him enough to get pulled, we're going to see him replaced by a QB who hasn't had much field time – it'll be the same situation, but amped up. If the Power can own the defense, the offense we've showed so far this season will take care of itself.
Is there anything to be concerned about? Yes. The 'Stangs are playing at home, are angry at 0-2, and the new upstarts on the block are coming into their house. Before things totally fell apart this week, they had one last burst where they started hammering the Rattlers and pulled off two sacks in a row. Also, they kept the score competitive against a tough team in week one. We can win this one, but we can't write it off.
Off-topic thoughts:
This being an away game, it will not be aired on TV here. You can either catch it on 93.7 The Fan, or watch it streaming on NiFTy TV (details at www.arenafootball.com). I know it's a pain, but we should not downplay it. (Sorry, let me pull out that there soap box again.) Thankfully, Milwaukee tends to air their games locally, so the feed should be decent.
Watching the Rattlers game this week was painful. There doesn't seem to be enough of a fan base there to air them, so they were left with just the booth feed. What I mean by that is there was no on-screen score, lots of arena music cues, kiss-cams and no running commentary aside from the end of plays. Honestly, you never realize how important those idiot bobble-heads in the booth are until they're not there.
We have a loyal sports fan base here and it is our duty to make use of it. Phoenix is a sports town. They have football, baseball, college and pro football, hockey, Fiesta Bowls...it's a sports town. Yet, the arena had a lot of empty seats and no TV coverage (I assume.) In the first half – hand to God, I am not making this up – a dude on a Harley rode on the field with a delightful Sidewinders dance team member on the back to hand-deliver a full rib dinner to one lucky fan.
Hand to God.
Motorcycle delivered dancing girl with a plate of ribs. During the game. And there were empty seats. If that wasn't a sign that this league needs the support of every single fan, I don't know what is. So, Monday night, turn on the radio, hook up your laptop to your TV – do what you need to catch this game and show your support.
Go Power, and I'll be back next week with a recap
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