Utah vs Talons
In one of the later games, the announcer pointed out that the Blaze "dismantled" the Talons. At 35-34, this is a bit unfair to Garcia and the Talons. It would be much better said that the Blaze "survived" the Talons. This season, the Talons have averaged 57 pts a game, and the Blaze 63ish, and neither got close to that.
This game was supposed to be a match up between two of the greatest QBs ever to play, but it ended up being all about the defense. The fact that the total score only slightly surpassed these individual averages shows how much of a defensive battle this game was. Both QBs got sacked, both got picked (twice for Grady) and the pressure was on. Also, the Blaze only converted 4 of 10 3rd downs and 1 of 5 4ths. Garcia was comparable. So, again, the defense came up strong.
In the end, it came down to one point. One point between victory and the (likely) end to Garcia's career as a player.
On a side note, as a Power fan, there was one player that had a great night and was fun to watch. The crowd thought so, too:
Voodoo at Soul
Sure, Philly was supposed to win this one, and sure, they did - but they should be ashamed of their play in this one. Down to the end, it was anyone's game, and that should not have been the case between the #1 team in the league and a 4-seed that got into the playoffs by attrition. It was a sloppy game all around, with both teams giving up around 50 yards in penalties. One drive in particular kinda sums this up:
Pictured here: Not how the play was drawn up.
That's a little blurry, but the important part is that, due to penalties, it took seven plays and three negated turnovers to accomplish 10 yards to a touchdown. This was just the most blatant example of a problem that was systemic to the entire game. It got even uglier at the end of the game when two Voodoo players got themselves ejected (I wish I could say it was the first time this season.)
Yes, the blame and sloppy play goes both ways, but the Soul are the much better team. They're better than this, and they can't play that sloppy next week if they want to go to the big game. Another concern is that they lost their kicker to a groin pull late in the game. If they don't get that sorted out before next weekend, there's going to be trouble.
Fun fact: All season, I've been noticing these two nuns that sit in the front row of the endzone section at Wells Fargo. Besides the fact that there is something inherently awesome about a couple of nuns being die-hard Arena fans, these two have caught more balls than have ever even come into my section at Consol. So, either the Lord likes souvenirs, or Dirty Dan is trying to earn points Upstairs. (Except that he pegged one in the face this week.)
Georgia at Jacksonville
So, just like another team farther down this list, the Force learned how hard it is to beat a team three times in a season.
For most of this game, it looked like the Sharks were firmly in the driver's seat. They went into half up, then recovered a botched Force onside kick and stormed into the lead. The Force made a hell of a comeback and closed in on - and then surpassed - the Shark's lead in the fourth. Down to the end, the Sharks had the ball and not much time left and then it happened.
All season, I've found myself missing Bernard Morris here in Pittsburgh until It happens. Regular readers may know that It is a fumble. Either he holds on too long, or just doesn't cover the ball and he gets stripped/drops it. Well, this week was no exception. With seconds left, Bernie Mo got tackled and the ball got away. Luckily, Jacksonville fell on it and kept it, but at a significant loss of yards. Morris's next pass went incomplete, bringing up forth and forever with 6 seconds left.
Remember when we played the Sharks last week and I said that their kicker was frickin' killing us with his distance and accuracy? Well, with the score at 56-55 Force, Capozzoli took the field, looking at 51 yards.
51.
NFL kickers have trouble with that, and their uprights are twice as far apart. Well, I can't adequately describe what happened, so:
From the Arena Football page.
Cats at Ratts
Funny thing is, although this was a hard-fought, entertaining game, there isn't a lot to say about it. Both teams played the game they were supposed to play, and the energy level was what you would expect from from a heated rivalry like this. The Cat's defense intercepted Davila, the Ratts intercepted Greib. Explosive plays happened. Big stops were achieved. It was a great game. In the end, the Cats discovered how hard it is to beat a team three times in one season.
The score was close at 51-48, but it easily could have been a wider gap - and reversed. The Cats managed to pick Davila 4 times to the Rattlers 2. Who says turovers win games? Much like the other games in this review, it was a "survival" game, but it wasn't one were either team failed to play up to their potential. Much like the first game of the weekend, this might have been the end of the road for an aging quarterback. If it is, Greib can know that he went out on a game to be proud of.
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