Boy is it nice to start a review with something other than, “Well, the important part is that we made good progress.” We did, but more importantly, we won. That's a fantastic change of pace. It was a short week, we were on the road and we were up against a team that just knocked off the top team in our division – but we won.
Morelli seemed worlds more comfortable behind center. He was 23 for 35, with 232 yards, 6 passing touchdowns, one rushing and no interceptions. He may be finally finding his groove out there, right in time for Morris to get off of IR. Will they give Morris his job back, or stick with the man who now has the most on-field experience for the team? I don't know, but it warrants some careful thought as to what they should do. My feeling is to leave Morelli in, as one should not change horses midstream.
Right now, he seems to be settling in on Willis and Washington as his “go-to” receivers, except for in short-yardage situations. Twice in the short field, he chose to got to Powertool DeWalt for these and come up with a score. The first half of the game was mainly Willis, but they seemed to rest him in the second in favor of Washington. This change-up got the job done.
In the rushing game, I'm sorry to see Josh Rue become less and less of a factor each week. It's not that he has lost a step, but more that the tactic of using him is becoming less effective. Perhaps the other teams are catching on. On the other hand, to return to Morelli's comfort-level, he is stepping up to be what is fairly common in AFL teams: QB's that are also the team's top rusher. This week, he was not afraid to scramble and go for it, picking up good yardage in the process. To me, this is a sign of a quarterback that is developing into an effective player in this league. Deciding to just go for it shows that he's no longer thinking, “Gotta throw, gotta throw, please don't let this be a pick!” Now, he's thinking, “nothing doing – might as well see what I can make of it.” Again, this is common in this league and not necessarily a sign of an offense that can't make plays in the air.
The defense also stepped up big this week. The yards and plays for both teams stayed very even, which is a change over the last few weeks. They kept the Voodoo contained and on the same level, made big stops and pulled out the win, even though New Orleans drew first blood. Also, the defense forced three fumbles and recovered them all – a feat the Voodoo was not able to accomplish once.
However, it was not all rainbows and happiness this week.
Not pictured here: Penalties. Lots and lots of penalties
The way the game started, I never would have imagined that Pittsburgh would pull off a win. It started like so many others, with blown calls, penalties and ineffective plays. Thankfully, they woke up after that.
However, the Power is having continued problems on the line. They are regularly getting called for offsides, false starts and delay of game. This is a costly problem that needs to be addressed quickly. This week alone, it helped account for eleven penalties totaling a brutal 66 yards. That's bad on the full field, but in the league, it's almost a field and a half that they gave up in this game.
Although this can be chalked up to inexperience, it is still a large concern. They're largely silly mistakes that professionals should not be making this often. Overcoming this tendency is the next big step towards becoming a first-rate team - and a change that won't happen overnight.
We can't make too much about this win. The Voodoo is a fairly poor team with only one win on the season. Beating them isn't like we just whooped up on the Rattlers or the Sabercats – but it is a win, something that we badly needed. This brings the Power to 3-3 on the season and 2-0 on the road. In a strange twist, we're actually playing better in other peoples' houses than in our own. In addition to not making stupid procedural penalties, it sure would be nice if the Power can start rewarding their loyal fans at home who are still bringing in crowds bigger than most in the league by winning some games.
Next up: The Georgia Force.
Elsewhere in the league:
- Philly dropped another one this week in the expansion-team Arena Bowl rematch to the San Jose Sabercats. This time, the Soul didn't have a second-half collapse like they have been – rather, they were just outclassed at every turn. They put up a good fight, but the end was never in doubt.
- The Sharks made up for last week a little bit by knocking off Cleveland in a tight match Saturday night. From start to finish, it was a back-and-forth exchange of touchdowns for these two top-flight teams until late in the forth when Cleveland ran out of gas. Any loss for the Gladiators ultimately helps us.
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