Gladiators vs Power review - a rivalry is born

Well, Keller has already put up his review, so you already know the good news: The Power is number one in the division. This is huge. Granted, it is only by one game, and everything can change next week – but for right now, we're #1.

The match when down Saturday night on Vuvuzela Night, and the house was packed, amped and loud. I now finally understand fully why those stupid horns are so annoying – but fortunately, they were mainly employed when Cleveland was on offense. Unfortunately, I have this sinking feeling that they will now become traditional whenever Cleveland is in town.

This game came down to a kicker who couldn't get it done, and for once, I don't have to say that it's Edinger. If you will permit me, I will digress for a second.

Some years ago, I bought a Jeff Reed jersey. Everyone asked why I would do such a thing, and understandably so. I explained that I felt kickers needed more support. PATs are automatic for the most part, so about the only time anyone cares about the kickers is for field goals. Thing is, FG's only happen when the offense can't get in the end zone. If the kicker misses and they lose the game, somehow it's suddenly his fault. Not the offense's, not the defense's – the kicker. Yet, I've seen games where the only points the winning team scored were field goals – but you never see the hero kickers interviewed on the sports shows or newspaper columns.

Now, this theory is very accurate for the NFL, but not so much for the AFL. PATs are not automatic, and field goals rarely happen. In this league, there are a lot of games that a loss can be laid squarely at the feet of the kicker, and this is one of them.

In this low-scoring affair, Cleveland matched us touchdown for touchdown, but they lost by three points – all of them PATs. Matt Denny had a terrible night, and his team paid the price for it.

Morris had a hell of a night, fully winning his title of Offensive Player of the Game. He was 17-23 with 210 yards, and made something out of nothing several times – including that 40-yard dash that Keller mentioned.

On Cleveland's side of the ball, there was something Keller mentioned after the game that I think was a very good point: Cleveland seemed to be running the anti-DeWalt offense, as nearly every play seemed to be designed to make sure that it didn't go anywhere near him.

Further proving that they watched some film in Cleveland recently was the fact that Mike Washington was all but shut down this game. Only 45 yards and no touchdowns, but this gave a Willis a chance to step back into the spotlight this week. That's the key to having a go-to guy: Make sure you have a back-up go-to guy.

Another highlight was the return of Jerome Mathis. He might have only had about 30 yards as a receiver, but he accomplished more than a hundred yards on kick-returns, which was a sight to see. We've known that there was a hole in our special teams, but it was even more obvious in its absence. Special teams just clicked so much more with him back in the lineup.

Now, the defense.

Ugh...the defense was so frustrating this week. On one hand, yes, they held Cleveland to 32 points. They also forced three turnovers on downs, and had some insane hits. Furthermore, Carlos Campbell must read this blog, because he seemed shamed by Keller's comments about him. He brought it this game and showed us what he can do. During this game, I saw the defense that we have come to demand from our football teams in this town, both indoors and out.

Unfortunately, on the other hand, I also saw a lot of the defense we've been complaining about in this column. More than once during this game, great plays were called back – or not even given the chance to happen – because of stupid, stupid procedural penalties. Illegal defense and off-sides were called numerous times, and this is, frankly, too late in the season for this kind of stuff to happen. Now that we're in first place, we need to hold on to it. To do so, the Power needs to knuckle down, focus and show that they're a mature, well-rounded team.

Finally, I would like to take a chance to mention something else: Saturday night, with a crowd of over 9,000, was military appreciation night at Consol Energy Arena. On behalf of myself and Power fans everywhere, thank you to all military personnel – past, present and future.

Elsewhere in the league

• In the other divisional match-up this week, Philly pulled out a last-second win, returning the favor to Milwaukee from earlier this season and continuing to strive for a wild-card slot (no matter how unlikely it might be.)
• Tampa Bay was slammed by the Force, all but ending their season. This makes them a cornered animal next week with not much to lose when we face them.
• Friday night's featured game between Jacksonville and New Orleans was way more exciting than it should have been, with NOLA losing by only a touchdown. However, close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and dancing. The Sharks extend their streak to ten games.
• When the Chicago Rush went up against the KC Command, they absolutely crushed them. This was in no small part due to Vic Hall tying and then exceeding the league's single-season interception record by two.

If the playoffs were today

This is a new section that I will be adding each week with my review, now that we've hit that point of the season.

• National Conference first round would be Arizona vs Utah, and Chicago vs Dallas. My bet in these two games would be Arizona and Chicago winning, but the latter is a close call as Chicago is known for choking in the playoffs.
• American Conference first round would be Jacksonville vs Georgia and Pittsburgh vs Orlando. I'd really like to pick the Power in the first round, but the Preds are really tough. We'll know more after we play them. In the other game, Sharks. Hands down. They're going to win the championship this year.

What better way to end than seeing the Sparks appreciating the
military?