Any regular readers of this blog will know that one of our mottoes is, “An ugly win is still a win,” and tonight was an ugly win. 49 points turned out to be just barely enough to best the still winless Mustangs, but that's all it was. As with many games, the last minute is where everything was decided, almost to the last second. The game started very strong, but time took its toll on the Pittsburgh Power.
They came out of the gates hard and put the pressure on. Most of the first quarter, they kept the 'Stangs off the board didn't have a drive without a score. From this start, it looked that we'd run the table all night and hand it too them definitively. However, it was not to last. McCabe played the whole game, and I think we started to get tired as the clock ran. By the end of the second half, the ball got away from him more, and the Mustangs were able to exploit that.
That being said, he continued with what I mentioned last week is his strength: Spreading the ball around. “Whatchu Talkin' 'Bout” Willis might not have put up any points or gotten the most yardage, but he was a key receiver, pulling down 8 receptions. When it came to the end zone, Mathis, Thompson, Dewalt and Zeck all put six on the board. This will continue to keep the opposing teams guessing and is something the Power should stick with.
One area that might be overlooked but needs to be addressed is the field shape. About half the league has a rounded end zone rather than the normal rectangle. Mustangs' home turf is one of them. At least two times during the game, McCabe ran into trouble passing to the “corner” of the endzone and having it bounce back into play. If there was a corner there, the receiver probably would have had a few more steps to reach the ball. This is an area that some fans gripe about and say should be a standard shape. Personally, I look at it as Arena's version of “Dome” vs “Open” fields. It's just one of those environmental issues that you learn to deal with after gaining experience.
On the ground, our prime weapon continues to be the powerful Joshua Rue, who was the only player to see the end zone more than once tonight. In a game that emphasizes throwing, his 28 yards are no mean feat – especially when since they yielded touchdowns. In the mid-field, he also gains the yards that we need and plows through defenders with a fair amount of ease.
On the other side of the ball, we still have a lot of work to do. On one hand, we kept the pressure on Ward when we could – and in fact, he took the bench and Archer came in eventually – but only while he was in the pocket. Ward – and later, Archer – are both highly mobile once they get out, and then there was no stopping them. By himself, Ward scrambled for as many yards as both of our rushers together and found the end zone for a score. The top two rushers for Milwaukee were their quarterbacks.
In the air, the Power was not able to shut down Burns, who we knew it was going to. Harrell and Elay also picked up very respectable yardage. In a yards-only game, this was all Mustangs, all the way. It's hard to cover everybody with this few people on the field, but their offense is geared towards long bombs to a few targets. Both Ward and Archer had way too much time to think and get the ball to an open target.
Both teams had some amazing goal-line stands that were more reminiscent of the NFL than Arena. While laudable, these showed a failure to keep the opposing team out of the red zone. For the Power, their stands were slightly less effective than the Mustangs, and I'd like to see that shored up a bit before moving on.
Ultimately, the game was decided by Milwaukee's mistakes, not Power triumphs. Two missed PATs kept them away from tying us. Their final kickoff was an obvious onside kick that very well could have worked – had they not gotten greedy. Milwaukee's Lindholm rushed for the ball after it had touched Power players, and intentionally kicked it forward, where the Mustangs recovered. Had it stood there, they would have been in prime scoring position – however, this is an illegal move, which gave us back the ball on the 15, followed by their coach lipping off, giving us 8 more yards. From here, it was “taking a forward knee” to run the clock out and go home.
That was too close.
What did we do right?
Early, hard pressure, passing change-ups, not being afraid to rush – these are all strengths and are shaping up to be our identity. As McCabe settles more into what looks to be his job for the foreseeable future and gets his endurance up, he needs to focus on continuing what works. Rue, barring injury, is only going to keep grinding out the short yardage and score touchdowns. Our receiving corps is varied and strong, with no signs of jealousy or showmanship at this early point.
What did we do wrong?
Did not contain the quarterbacks enough. Although the Power got the pressure on, they were not able make Milwaukee panic like they did in their first two games. Also, once Archer and Ward went mobile, the Power had no answer for it. Open field situations still need a lot of work on D. Finally, they might need to realize that iron men are nice, but if the QB is tired/rattled it might be time to sit him. The Mustangs split the duties this week and both men picked up over 100 yards.
What do we take away?
A win is a win and a loss is a loss. This was a division game, so anything that puts up a W is good. Right now, the Mustangs are winless at the bottom of the division and Cleveland is up top without a loss. Cleveland has only played twice, and neither were division games, and I honestly expect to see them pick up a loss next week. Philly is also down a game, but we're currently tied with them 1-1 in the division. It's still very early in the season, but we are off to a good start.
We also showed that we can play on the road and continue to win. I'm glad that we got that out of the way. Now, we have a short week to gear up for the Tulsa Talons, who are currently 0-3.
Elsewhere in the league
Friday night was an interesting night. The NFL Game of the Week (and the only one nationally televised) was between the winless Barnstormers and the winless defending Arena Bowl champs, the Spokane Shock. This game should have been boring as all get-out, but turned out surprisingly interesting. As we saw last week, the Barnstormers weren't much to worry about, but they pulled off a 43-42 win that they should not have. The Shock pressed hard early and took advantage of constant mistakes made by Iowa – chief among them was kicker Pitor Czech (formerly of the Steelers practice squad) going 1 – 7 on PATs. One. For. Seven. If that man is not a bounced Czech shortly, I will be surprised*. Lucky for him, a timely turnover in the end zone at the end of the 4th kept the Shock from making up that one point they needed after falling apart in the second half.
*I wanted to make that joke last week. I'm glad I waited.
Also on Friday night was the undefeated Sabercats at the undefeated Rush. This is the game that I wanted on national television, but was denied. Possibly the two consistently best teams in the league, this was a match-up worth seeing. The Sabercats are looking really good and we need to play them this season. This scares me. On the other hand, the Rush continue to look even better. Although they were hit many times with both encroachment and offsides penalties throughout the game, they were able to bring it home 54-41. Quarterback Russ Michna managed to make something out of nothing twice and gain 38 yards for two touchdowns. Remember: He actually has a day job as well, and this was a Friday night game.
So that's that for Week 3. Again, it's a short week before our next home game – which means it's a short week for me to get a preview together for you.
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