Cleveland Gladiators at Pittsburgh Power Preview

Finally, in week ten of the season, we have a division rivalry game at home.  As some of you may remember, the last time we were scheduled to play the Gladiators, they were so intimidated that they didn't take the field, making them the only AFL team in history to forfeit a game.  (That's the way I choose to remember it, rather than think about the vast amounts of strike BS that plagued the league last year.)

As we all know, the Power is having a rough go of it this season, but frankly, so is Cleveland.  We both stand at 2-6, so this is a pretty important game.  We've both beaten Philly so far, so - believe it or not - we both still have the right to dream of taking the division.  Sure, any one of us would exit the playoffs early, but who cares - making it to the post season is all that really matters.

The Power got their collective asses handed to them again at home last week (one of the head office guys commented to me afterwards that, since I was in Philly, I'm one of the lucky few to actually see our boys win this year) and that's sad.  Thing is, there was a lot of good in the game - it's just that turnovers killed us.

Right from the word go, our defense was all over Tampa's QB.  They weren't able to close the deal often (only one recorded sack on the game) but they were back there in his space a lot.  Conversely, our O line was actually looking half-way decent.  They certainly were giving Sheffield time to think, or at least to scramble, which is something that's been lacking up until now.

Sheffield himself was looking promising during his first home start.  He has the range, he has accuracy, he seems good natured when coaches correct him on field and he can move (35 yards on the night.)  The problem was INTs.  The best that I can figure is that he has tunnel vision.  Nearly every pick was seemingly a perfect throw to a defensive player who was wide open.  I think what's happening is that he's so focused on his receiver that he just plain doesn't see anyone else on the field.  This is not good, and it's something that I sure hope he can shake.

Cleveland is, again, not the strongest team in the league, but they're not a pushover.  Brian Zbydniewski completes about 50% of his passes (most while the other team is spell-checking his name) and averages only about 1 pick a game.  Also, he is mobile enough that he has 6 rushing TDs on the year.  This is concerning only because McPhearson was able to put up some serious yardage on us last week, and the defense wasn't able to do much about it.

While the Gladiators lost some key players in the off season - most notably Robert Redd - they kept Dominick Goodman.  He, Johnathan Lewis and Thyron Lewis are going to be the main threats that we have to contain this week.  They make up the bulk of Cleveland's yards and scores and will likely be the main targets.

Cleveland has a bad habit of giving up a lot of yards on penalties, just like we do.  I know I say it a lot, but we need to capitalize on those tendencies and play the cleaner game.  Our officiating crew at home royally sucks, but if the Power can manage not to piss them off and let Cleveland rack up the penalty yards, it could make or break the night.

We haven't seen a home win since April 14, 2012 for crying out loud.  This is a streak that HAS to end.

Elsewhere in the League

• At some point while I wasn't paying attention, the Talons managed to get to the top of their division, and the Shock started getting back on track.  This game might actually be worth watching
• Jacksonville at Orlando.  The Preds stumbled last week against Philly, but in general, Garcia is trying to turn them around.  Things went completely pear-shaped for the Sharks last week (both on and off the field) and they got beat hard to continue their slide.  They need a big win this week, and facing their former star QB in the interstate War on I-4 matchup might just be  the tonic they need.  I'll take the Sharks in this one.
• Football is never an if A>B and B>C then A>C equation.  Just because we beat Philly and Tampa Bay beat us doesn't mean that Tampa is going to beat Philly....but I still think Tampa can beat Philly.  They're playing at a higher level and have all the right ingredients   Philly just seems to be a bit lost this season and haven't quite gelled. 
• Iowa is not a bad team.  They're not a great team, but they're not horrible.  Arizona, on the other hand, is 8-1 and destined to go to the Arena Bowl again.  The only way Iowa wins this one is if the Ratts overlook them or play easy this week...neither of which is something the team is known for.
• Utah at San Jose....oh dear.  Where do I start?  On one hand, it's a division match, Utah continues to be kinda crap and San Jose's winning streak is running the same as Utah's total wins - 4.  On the other hand, the Cats are showing their true colors as that team I love to hate when, after beating the Sharks handily, still felt the need to start some shit with the dance team for interfering with the game.  The end result - several arrests, a senior-citizen coach hospitalized and an appearance on Fark.com.  What does this mean for the game?  Probably very little, but I still hate the Sabercats because they're a bunch of douchebags...but I love watching them play.
• Finally, Chicago needs every win they can while they stay neck and neck with San Antonio in their division, and a cream puff team like the Voodoo is probably the best thing to happen.