Playoffs Round Two Review, Arena Bowl Preview

Due to happenings with two other professional teams in town, we decided to combine this week's posts into one. Another round is in the books, and the teams for the championship are set. Let's take a look at how we got here

Sharks at Soul
In many ways, I think that the Sharks/Soul can be summed up with this picture:

Now, if you can't tell, that's a nun. On a motorcycle. With pom-poms. Driven by a guy with a cowboy hat.

I'm sorry, but if that's how your team takes the field, you more than have home field advantage - you have all the advantages. Every one of them. You, in fact, have the right to brag, "We got this." And in that, Philly was set. The Sharks were never in this game. They had the first touchdown, but everything was downhill from there. Capz shanked the extra point waaaaay right, and something seemed wrong. The ensuing kickoff looked more like a botched squib-kick than a kickoff, and then it came out - he had a pulled MCL. That was it for the quarter. By the end of the half, they'd only have 12 points to Philly's 45.

Look, I can recap the play-by-play, but it would just make everyone - including the Soul - sad. By the end of the game, they were trying to not score 100 points. These stats speak for everything: Three picks, three forced and recovered fumbles, a turnover on downs. The Philly defense barely let the Sharks on the field. Standing out on defense was our own LaRico Stevenson, who did a little bit of everything, including seven tackles and a pick six (Have I mentioned that I miss him?)

On offense, it was the Larry Brackens show. Coming into this game, he had about twenty catches on the season. By the end, he had almost half that many touchdowns. He recorded a team record 8 - a record formerly held by Captain Morgan with six last year against us.

Also interesting was the fact that Scaccia - whom I assumed would be weak compared to Capz - was practically flawless on the night, including on a field goal, which Philly rarely does. Someone was obviously practicing in the off/on season.

I don't know if it was that the Soul is really that much better than the Sharks, if Jacksonville was out of gas, or if they were just having an off night. Whatever it was, the Soul practically had a bye week to get to the championship.

Blaze at Rattlers

This was, perhaps, the best game I watched all season. This was the tie-breaker for this season between these two teams, and the team who wanted to win needed to make a statement, and the Ratts certainly did that. First drive, they scored on the back of old, reliable Odie Armstrong, rumbling in for the score, 40 yards out. On the Blaze's first possession, the Ratts snagged a quick pick six. After the Blaze got on the board, the Ratts had to settle for a field goal - a drive that would haunt them in the second half.

They were back in it on their next drive, and then their defense came up big by sacking Grady for a safety. Undeterred, the Blaze pulled off a picture-perfect onside kick to mitigate the damage. The swing came at the end of the half when they got a pick and the offense took the field. Now, the refs say that Ed Ta'amu had possession on a short pass from Grady for the score, but I have my doubts. Regardless, this put the Blaze up by two. Remember that FG? Yeah, that gave them 3 instead of 7, putting the Ratts in this position.

Most of the remainder of the game would see the Ratts unable to get back those two points and constantly pass the Blaze and then fall back again as touchdowns were exchanged. This would go on all half, setting up the old Arena axiom of, "He who has it last, has it best."

In the waning seconds of the game, the Blaze held the ball near paydirt, with a 69-67 lead. The Ratts defense came up big by holding them to 4th down and then picking Grady in the end zone with but 35 seconds left. A steady drive brought them down to their end zone with only 16 left. Davila passed to Purify and took the lead. Those two points that haunted them all game? They decided to make a statement and get them back with a successful conversion. The nine seconds left just weren't enough for the Blaze, and the Ratts won, 75-69.


Arena Bowl XXV

So, what can we expect late Friday night? A coin flip. After that, everything is just conjecture and wishful thinking. In my opinion, there are few problems with how professional football playoffs work (don't get me started on college), but one of them is separate trees for each conference. The way this works out, only the best two teams of their conference go to the championship, not necessarily the best two teams in the league. Look at it this way - what if the Soul had a bad night, and the Sharks advanced to rematch with the Ratts? Would that be the best two teams? Hell no. You only needed to watch last week's game to know that.

However, this year, the best two teams in the league are meeting for the big game. The Soul are there by virtue of just rolling over everything in their path. They had a misstep in their first game of the season, but from there established a path of destruction through the American Conference that couldn't be stopped. A great quarterback with a corps of receivers so deep that they once put a backup in who was barely over five foot and still dominated. Tiger Jones even got picked up by the Eagles, and the Soul moved through that loss with barely a hiccup.

The Rattlers, on the other hand, rose to the top through a Darwinian battle for supremacy that saw a conference battle - not just a division one - for seeding that went down to the last week of the season. Nick Davila and crew held some gas in the tank in the unimportant games and put the pedal down when they needed to. A number of this crew went to the big game last year, and they obviously had the drive to go again. They don't have the stand-out, NFL bait that the Soul does, but they have a solid, reliable offense that works well together to get results and a defense to be reckoned with.

Friday night is going to be brutal. Can the Rattlers bring home a win like the days of old and banish last year's heartbreaking loss, or will they ever be the bride's maid? Do the Soul, in fact, "got this," or will hubris finally catch up with them? The truth is, I don't know.

My gut says that the Soul is going to pull this out, as I've been saying for months (but I'll be rooting for the Ratts.) They are a more explosive team, their offense is deadly and their defense is frightening. The Rattlers have a powerful team in their own right, and I can't underestimate the "been there, done that" factor, but I just think that the Soul has more weapons in their arsenal. The big factor is going to be nerves. Dirty Dan has been fairly unflappable this season, but Championships - especially on the road - get in people's heads their first time out. Also, I just can't shake the feeling that they've been swaggering to broadly for the last six weeks or so (See: The Patriot's "19-0.")

Plus, they don't get to bring the nuns and motorcycles to New Orleans.

Playoffs, Round Two Preview

Time for the Semi-Final round of this year's Arena League playoffs. I sucked hard at calling last week's games, but frankly, that's what happens when the 8 best teams in the league take the field in a do-or-die situation. Anything can happen.

Of course, that means this week will be even worse.

Sharks at Soul
This game will be the tale of two teams - on both sides of the ball. It's all going to depend on who shows up. The Sharks have been up and down all season, and have some glaring weakness. There's the fact that Morris screws up under pressure and they are Power-like in their inability to play four quarters. A number of times this season, they've blown huge leads in the fourth to lose. Even last week they did that, but held on long enough for a miracle kick by Capz.

On the plus side, they've put together a late season winning streak to get them to the penultimate game. Bernie Mo has only been picked twice in recent memory and has done a good job of holding on to the ball. Furthermore, the Sharks boast the second and third best rushers in a pass-happy league - one of which is none other than Mo himself. And then there's Capz. The fact is, they have the weapons if they know how to use them.

The Soul, on the other hand, have been a nearly unstoppable juggernaut this year, but they played a sloppy, sloppy game last week. Penalties, poor execution and lackluster performance kept the Voodoo in the game way longer than they should have been. They've also lost their kicker Remy Hamilton to a groin injury, which is never good.

Of course, they're still the Soul. While the Sharks have rusher #2 and #3, Philly's got #1 in Derrick Ross. They also still have Captain Morgan and Jeff Hughley. They also have one of the best turnover defenses in the league.

So how will it shake out? We'll start with kicking, because it may be big. For the Sharks, Capozzoli is money. We know that. He's clutch at PATs, FG and most importantly, kickoffs. If he can drill the latter under the cross-bar (like he did to us) he can stick the Soul with crappy field position. Taking Hughley's returns out of the equation would be a major coup. Granted, Dirty Dan can get them out of that situation - but why spot them 15-20 yards if you don't have to?

For the Soul, losing Hamilton last week was ugly. They don't have a backup and even had LaRico Stevenson kicking off, and it showed. It gave the Voodoo a lot of ground to work with. Well, that couldn't continue, so rumors this week had them looking at one Massimo Scaccia. Rumors were close, because they went with his brother Fabrizio. Now, if we can all stop sniggering at the unlikeliness of these names, let's look at his ability. He kicked for a season and change for the Rattlers, but he kinda sucked at field goals and hasn't played in a year. No, the Soul don't go for many FGs, but that's still a hole. Also, he's rusty as all get out. Giving Terrance Smith a chance to return will result in the reverse of what I said above.

Regular on-field stuff is fairly straight forward. The Soul is the better team and should run all over the Sharks. Raudabaugh is one of the elites, and his arm is accurate. He also has all the play-makers he's had all season. Their defense is brutal against most teams, and could prove awfully deadly against Bernie Mo. Furthermore, the Soul isn't a team a team to run out of gas against in the late game.

Bottom line is that the Soul should win this one assuming they don't play sloppy. The thing is, I can't shake the feeling after last week that their constant "We Got This" posts on their FaceBook page are going to amount to hubris.

This game airs Friday night on the NFL network.

Blaze at Rattlers

The above game is going to prove easy to call next to this one.

Had the Ratts beat them twice, I would say with confidence after last week that they'd lose the third match-up. However, they've split the series so far. Strangely enough, the Ratts win was on the road, and they picked Grady a whopping four times. At home, they got thwumped (and picked twice.)

For the second week in a row, the Blaze's victory hopes hinge on defense. Last week, they and the Talons fought each other to a standstill, and that decided the game. Two top-flight quarterbacks were shut down on their respective sides of the ball. There's no reason to believe that the Blaze can't do it again this week, and if the Ratts want to win, they've already seen that this is what they will have to do.

The Blaze has, at times, let Grady take a beating, and not a little of it came at the hands of the Rattlers. They shored up their line a bit in the second match-up, but the fact is, the Ratts know how to get to him. Arizona's offensive line on the other hand, only allowed nine sacks in the regular season. Therefore, the Blaze has their work cut out for them. Their better chance is to go for the picks, which Davila is prone to. He takes risks, and they backfire sometimes. Also, I've noticed that AZ has a thing for onside kicks. They're good at recovering them, but if the Blaze return team is ready for them, they can pick up a few extra possessions.

If the defense just pounds themselves silly, and the O line holds, these two QBs should be able cut loose. The league released their first and second All-Arena lineups this week. While the Soul have but two players on there and the Sharks none, the Blaze and Rattlers account for a total of seven players on these lists. Because of that, I predict a higher score than the Blaze put up last week in this one. I will be rooting for the Ratts, but I have a feeling that the Blaze might pull this one off. They played just too hard last week, while the Ratts played their regular explosive game. The "have to" didn't seem to be there.

That's right, I'm back

So, that being said, I really don't know on this one. I called both these teams to lose last week, and neither did. Therefore, I hesitate to bet against either one here. I am, however, restating the fact that I think the Blaze can take it and go face the Soul in Arena Bowl XXV.

So, look forward to the Sharks and Rattlers heading to NOLA next week for a rematch.

This game airs Saturday at ten with full play-by-play coverage on www.cox7.com

Playoffs Round One Recap

Well, if there's anything this weekend's games taught us, it's that A.) anything can happen in the playoffs, and B.) I can't pick playoff games worth a damn. I went 1-3 in these games, and almost went 0-4.

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.

Playoff Preview, Round One

To close out the season, we've got a few weeks of playoffs that the Power will, sadly, not be participating in. It was a rough season, but they salvaged more than I would have thought they would. Even so, the team set several new franchise records:

From arenafootball.com:

• MIKE "Joystick" WASHINGTON set single-season franchise records for receptions (115), receiving yards (2,142), receiving touchdowns (39) and points (206).
• PJ "Superman" BERRY set single-season franchise records for kickoff return yards (2,024), kickoff return touchdowns (2) and combined kick return yards (2,040).
• DOMINIE "Sack Attack" PITTMAN set the single-season franchise record for sacks (5.5).
• CHRIS "Gingabread" LeFLORE set single-season franchise records for interceptions (9) and missed field goal return yards (25).
• BRYAN "Wasn't that a Beach Boy?" WILLIAMS set the single-season franchise record for tackles (66).
• GEOFF "Our Best Kicker" BOYER set the single-season franchise record for field goals made (4). (This record is sad for so many reasons, I don't know where to start, so I'll move on.)
  

So, yeah. I mean, it might feel like polishing a turd, but records are records. Our record doesn't fairly reflect how hard these guys played their asses off this year. These might not be league records, but they're Power records and they earned them. Besides, the franchise is two seasons old, and we need to start somewhere.

Now, on to the playoffs.

Utah vs Talons
To start the ball rolling, the NFL Network is starting out with one of the best games of the first round - The Blaze trying to finally beat the Talons. They've met up twice so far, and they've been very close games both times. Over the course of two meetings, the Blaze has lost by a total of 9 points. The Talons have won 11 of their last 12 games (and one can hardly blame them for taking it easy last week) and the Blaze have had a late-season surge of their own.

Normally, a 1-4 match-up is kind of a reward to the 1st seed - almost a pass in the first round. Not so here. Arron Garcia is one of the best QBs to ever play the game, and looking to repeat. Tommy Grady is the best of the younger crowd, and the Blaze travels well.

So, how do I call this? Can't just go with the home team, because the Blaze does so well on the road. Can't go with the quarterback, because we have old, tested and experienced. I can't even go with the QB who makes gutsy plays. I'm going to have to have to go with turnovers. The Talons are +5 and the Blaze are -6 on the season, and turnovers were the deciding factor in the last two meetings between them. Based on that, I have to take the Talons - but if I'm down to the turnover battle, it's iffy.


Georgia at Jacksonville
I have not been impressed with the Force all season. They've been streaky at best, losing games they should win (Yay, Power!) and winning games they should lose (Chicago?) However, I think I need to pick them in this game based solely on how they match up with the Sharks.

Jacksonville is defending the title this year, but that means nothing. Even on the NFL level, there's not a lot of back-to-back wins. In the Arena League, every team starts 0-0 on week one, and that's that. I'm not going to deny that they've played hard and earned their place in the post season.

However, the simple fact is that they've gotten crushed in both meetings with the Force this season. If it were close, I'd say there's always the chance of them getting revenge, but they've been outscored by the Force to the tune of 45 points. Georgia might not be the better team, but they've had Jacksonville's number. The only hiccup is that Jacksonville has not yet faced Bryant Moniz at QB yet, and he hasn't seen the post season. Jitters could change things, but I'll still take Georgia.

Voodoo at Soul
New Orleans made a very loud statement this year, coming back from a season like we just lived through to go to the post season. They even beat the Soul week one by a point. However, I just don't see them winning this one. The Soul has set countless records this year and have been nigh unstoppable. They've beaten some of the best teams in the league, and they're going all the way to the big game in my opinion.

The Voodoo, on the other hand, still needs to mature. They've had big games, but also big losses. They made it to the post season in a weak division with a losing record. Finally, Rocco has too much of a habit of blowing games with silly mistakes.

Philly wins, or it's the biggest upset of the season.

Cats at Ratts
This one is just as hard to call as the Talons/Blaze game and for almost the same reasons. Nick Davila is trying to get his team back to the Arena Bowl, whereas Mark Grieb is trying to pull a Garcia and win the big one before he retires - a scene Davila is familiar with.

Both times they met this season - and these teams hate each other - the Cats won, but only by a total of 8 points. The Ratts are perfectly capable of beating them, they just haven't this year. Same thing with what I said about the Sharks - the Sabercats just have their number....barely. This is the pick that I'm most unsure of, but I'm going to go with my gut feeling a few months ago and take the Cats.

Now, I was all ready to put a bracket picture here. I'm sure about my picks in the American Conference -Georgia and Philly will advance, Philly will rout Georgia and it's on to New Orleans. The National Conference, however, is just too hard to call. I'm confident on my calls, but even then, next week would be just as hard to tell between the Talons and the Cats. Talons and Ratts (which the odds are probably on) is equally hard. Blaze and Ratts...eeeeh. The only way to be sure is the Blaze and Sabercats - I'd call the Blaze in that, but it's the least likely outcome.

So, we'll see come Monday.

Feeding Frenzy

*sigh* Don't worry, Power. The big, mean season can't hurt you anymore.

This week's loss came at the end of a long, brutal season where 5 wins was actually more than we had the right to hope for. The Power was never really in this game, so there's not a lot to talk about. Of the keys to victory that I laid out in the preview, the Power really didn't accomplish any of them.

Due to some excellent kicking on the part of the Sharks, PJ Berry didn't get many opportunities to make huge returns, and this was obvious right from the beginning. The Power didn't start farther than the 5 yard line on their first three possessions, and they never converted. The Sharks scored three touchdowns before we made our first first down. It was pretty damn obvious right from there that we weren't going to win this one.

Andrico Hines barely made it out of the first quarter before Randall got a shot. He didn't do a hell of a lot better, completing only about 50% on his passes, with 4 touchdowns and a pick. A bright part was the fact that he rushed for two, which is always fun to watch.

Defense had a pretty big breakdown in this game. They only came away with one pick and weren't able to really pressure the slippery Bernard Morris. Our offensive line is also going to get put under this header, because the whole game, the blind side didn't even seem to be in the game.

As for kicking, the less said, the better. Gates was back - probably because it just didn't matter anymore - and his kicking was weaker and less accurate this week. It was so bad that, when a National Guardsmen put one through the uprights during an on-field intermission contest, even the arena announcer said, "Sign him!"

It wasn't all bad, however. Superman put three up on the evening, which is great for him. (Hopefully no scouts were there.) On one of them, he pulled down his socks to show a second pair of Superman ones under them, complete with mini capes. Also, the Power's last score of the season was to him, with a followup two point conversion as well.

In the end, we booted it deep instead of on-siding it, and Jacksonville had the decency to run the clock, even though they had time outs remaining. There's always next season, and we can hope for the season we deserve then.

Elsewhere in the league

• It was a close but meaningless game in Cleveland, and the Gladiators actually pulled off the win against the Rush, 60-54.
• New Orleans was in control of most of their final game of the regular season, but as often happens, they beat themselves at the end with silly turnovers. 55-48 Georgia, and NOLA falls to 4th seed - so, they're still in the playoffs.
• Iowa managed to make a statement with their last game of the season, beating the Talons with a last second field goal, ending their 11 game winning streak. I guess the Talons will just have to settle for 14-4 and a #1 seed.
• KC lost to AZ, 47-22. They end the season 3-15.
• Spokane decided TB's fate Saturday, knocking them out of the playoffs, 63-53.
• Orlando salvaged one last win for the season to tie KC's record with a win over the Mustangs, 49-39.
• Finally, Philly decided that there is no such thing as a meaningless game - they wanted to prove that they were better than Tommy Grady and the Utah Blaze...and they did. 69-34.

Tune in Thursday for a full breakdown of the playoffs as the Arena League begins to wind down for the year.

Blood in the Water

Well, here we are already: Last game of the season.

And, we get to leave the season the way we entered it: On the NFL Network, prime time and nationally televised. (Hopefully with a win as well.) It would be really hard for them to flex us out of the slot as we're the only game Friday night.

For our last outing, we're facing off against the defending Arena Bowl champion Sharks along with our former quarterback, Bernard Morris. Now, yes, they won the big game last year, and yes, they're already locked for the playoffs - but this is not the team that mopped the field with us last year. They're tough, but beatable...maybe.

The only reason they are where they are is that they've been on a tear the last several games and had a late season surge. Bernard Morris has gotten a lot more comfortable in his skin and has held off some of his main weaknesses: Mainly the fumbles and holding the ball too long. Both are things that we saw last year when he played for us, and he had it happen a fair amount earlier this season.

Now, however, he's been getting in the habit of throwing perfect games. That's what we need to change. He still hangs in the pocket a little too long (not near as much as he used to) and the Power needs to exploit that. When he gets hit when he falls back or when he's making a scramble (he has almost a hundred more rushing yards than the next closest Jacksonville rusher) he doesn't always protect the ball very well. We've had a few games second half of the season where we brought the pressure hard on the QB.

Next is his pick-free games. That's always a concern, especially when the Power are absolutely ridiculously on the wrong side of the turnover ratio. If we want to ruin Bernie Mo's record for the night, we need look no farther than Christian Wise. The last two weeks, he has snagged the ball at least three times a game (whether they got called back or not.) As long as this hasn't gone to his head, he can be the turning point.

Coverage needs to be on Jeron Harvey and Josh Philpart, as they have been Mo's preferred targets recently. Also, we're going to have to be ready to cover the hell out of Terrance Smith and LaRoche Jackson on returns. Who knows what we can expect from the kicking game this week, but I think we need to at least be ready for soft kickoffs and spotty PATs. This means being prepared to shut returns down (something we're not good at), solid 3rd and 4th down lock-downs (something we've been doing well) and think about two point conversions (something we can do at times.)

Bottom line is that we need to fly in the face of everything the AFL stands for and concentrate on our strengths at defense. If PJ Berry, Mike Washington and Andrico Hines are on their game, the offense can take care of itself. We need to just make sure to keep Bernie Mo and the Sharks from doing the same.

Let's go Power and let's bookend the season with wins.

Elsewhere in the league

• First up on Saturday is Chicago at Cleveland in a game that pretty much no one cares about. Neither team has anything to play for, so I'm going to pick my Chicago Rush because I can and because screw Cleveland. Also, Russ Michna's the better quarterback, if I need a reason.
• Big game for the Voodoo when they host the Force. They've split the series with Jacksonville, but beat them by more points than they lost by and have the better division record. If they win and the Sharks lose, they snag first place in the South. They're also at home against a hot-and-cold Force. If they lose and TB wins, they're out, so they need to bring it. I'm taking the Voodoo because, even though it didn't work against TB, they're the better team.
• Talons at Iowa is another meaningless game. Iowa's out, Talons are in charge and there's nothing on the line besides being a division matchup. Iowa's at home and want the same thing we do - close their season with a win at home. However, unless the Sharks play soft to preserve themselves, the Barnstormers won't get their wish.
• AZ gets a softie to close out the season by hosting the Command.
• Tampa Bay has their work cut out for them. They need to travel to Spokane and need the win to have a shot at the post season. Their road record has been crap and Spokane - though streaky - is really good. I'm taking the Shock to win and the Storm to reserve tee time.
• Not much to say about the next game aside from the fact that the Mustangs should be able to end their season on a high note. It's a road game and the Preds are dangerous...but just like us, they're easy to overlook this year.
• Finally, Utah travels to Philly. Utah needs the win a lot more than the Soul does, because first place in the division is on the line. Normally, I'd say that a team in Philly's position is best served by rolling over. The Blaze is strong, has one of the best offenses in the league, possibly the best quarterback and are hungry for a win. Philly has nothing to gain in regards to the post season, and everything to lose in regards to injuries. However, Philly never says die. I'm still going to take the Blaze.

The Force Was Weak in this One

That's how it's done!

As one friend of Keller's and mine made sure to point out, this game was meaningless. Well, that might have been true for us, but not so much for the Force. The South division loves three-way ties, and this loss bounced the Force down to 3rd place, tied with NOLA and Tampa Bay. One more slip down, and they don't go to the playoffs - and they have to play NOLA next week.

So, what I'm getting at is, even Debbie Downer above can't take this victory away from us by saying it was meaningless for both teams and Georgia just laid down. They needed this win, and they dropped the ball - literally and figuratively.

I'm not 100% sure if Georgia played really sloppy, or if the Power just made them look that way, because this game was pretty firmly in Pittsburgh's hands the whole game.

Hines came out and showed fully what he's capable of - finally. He was 21 for 30, threw for 266 yards, 6 touchdowns and - yes - zero interceptions. That's as close to perfect as we're likely to see. He was confident, took his time (without over doing it) and made the connections. This includes making a perfect pass after a touchdown up to the luxury boxes to none other than Hines Ward. Hines to Hines reception. Love it.

Receiving was mainly the Joystick and Superman show. Both of them counted for 4 touchdowns - Washington straight up and Berry got two in the air and two on the ground. Joystick was textbook all night, fielding them cleanly, whereas Berry pulled them off with style. On one of his touchdowns, the crowd all turned against him and started booing. Berry flashed that grin of his and lifted his jersey, showing the Superman logo beneath.

The big stars of the evening, however, were on defense. This is what won us the game, even more than the near-flawless performances on offense. Georgia only converted 5 of 9 3rd downs, and we fully stopped them on all 3 4ths. Christian Wise continued to make himself my favorite member of the defense (sorry, Gingabread. You still rock.) He hauled in two big interceptions that the offense was able to convert into points (one TD and one FG) and would have had another, had it not been called back.

The only downsides on the evening were familiar - albeit, watered down - ones: Kicking and stupid mistakes. The latter came during the longest, most annoying series of downs in the game. Coverage was blown, and Georgia returned a kickoff to the 2. What should have been a quick score after that dragged on forever. First, they completed the pass for the TD...but got called for offensive pass interference. Then they threw for the TD and...got called for offensive pass interference. They completed a pass (finally), almost got there and then blew the next three tries. So where was the mistake for us? Well, after that first pass, Williams got way too chippy, threw a punch and got ejected from the game. In most games, a defensive loss like that coulda killed us, but thankfully the team picked up the slack.

Kicking. Well, what can I say? It's not a Power review if I don't bitch about kicking. Boyer got the boot, and a new booter was called in. His name is...screw it, who cares? As the announcers said, he probably won't be here next week (and then they gave out the coach's email address.) Sure, he made all but one PAT and converted a FG...but his kickoffs were weak as hell. To put it in perspective, Berry was averaging about 15 yards a return. CJ Johnson, on the other hand, averaged over 30. This was because Nobody-Ass McKickypants never even made the net in this game and dropped all his kicks right in Johnson's hands.

Oh well - we beat the tar out of them (58-41.) At one point, we hit exactly a 31 point lead, and it was nice to know that only one team had ever come back from that.

Us.

Elsewhere in the league

• For some reason, still unknown, the league decided to show Cleveland/Utah as the featured game this week, and as I suspected, it wasn't really exciting at all. Utah completely stomped the Gladiators, and ended their hopes of the playoffs. 83-63 Blaze
• The game they didn't show - and the Ustream feed cut out on - was the Rattlers at the Talons, both looking for first place. These teams are super well matched, and now stand at a win a piece - and as mentioned, will likely meet in the playoffs at some point. The final, that I would have loved to have watched, was 62-61 Talons.
• The game of Orlando at Jacksonville was never in question, despite the possibility of the Preds pulling an upset against one of their hated rivals. In the end, the Sharks pulled off the win 48-30 and secured a place in the post season again.
• The Voodoo should have won in Tampa Bay, and they didn't give up without a fight. This battle went to OT, where the excitement didn't stop. NOLA won the toss and quickly went 0-3 on their attempts. Rocco made one last all-or-nothing Hail Mary to Bush for the TD. Tampa Bay responded by quickly moving back down the field themselves. The gutsy call was to go for 2. Complete it, they win. Miss, they lose. They made it, and the game ended 78-77 TB.
• The less said about the Shock at Command, the better. The Shock were a team hoping for the playoffs, and would have made it in nearly any other division and in any other year with their record. This week, they won by one point (49-48) to the worst team in the league because of a missed FG. Pathetic.
• Chicago pulled off a win for their morale against the Mustangs, 57-54.
• Finally, the Sabercats hosted the Barnstormers. There is a lot of speculation that aging great Mark Greib might retire after this season (though, he's kinda the Favre of the AFL), and if so, this might have been his last home game with the Cats. Well, good for him, they pulled it off 57-48.

Power Hopes to Play Spoiler

Well, we're deep into garbage time at this point, and the main thing we have left going for us is to play spoiler for the Georgia Force. There are a number of different scenarios for them in various playoff spots - but they mainly hinge on them winning this week. So, let's beat them, why not?

Last time we played, it was really close. The downsides of the last match-up were as follows:

They contained Berry really well: A lot of teams have done that this year, but his yards-per-return have improved since that game. He's a lot more comfortable in his role and is a cornerstone of our offense and special teams. Hopefully, it won't be as much of an issue.

Fumbles and interceptions: Randall threw a few picks in the game and that hurt us a lot. Unfortunately, he hasn't gotten a lot better at that, and Hines has the same problem. There's not a lot we can do about that - it's going to be what it's going to be. On the other hand, Joystick was having a lot of trouble hanging onto the ball at that point - thankfully that has gotten better.

Kicking: We lost by a field goal and had some lousy kicking. I mean, Boyer had a bad week last week, but he still kicks better than the Vampire did - and he tackles pretty well, too. As I stated in my review, we statistically outplayed the hell out of them. Kicking and turnovers killed us. Also, the QB they had last time - RJ Archer - is a much better QB than their current one (probably why Archer got signed by the Detroit Lions.) Their current guy was delivering pizzas until recently. (Glad it wasn't bagging groceries.)

Even though we're on the road, I think we have a shot - or at least as much of a shot as we've had in a few of our recent match-ups.

Elsewhere in the league

• For some unknown reason, the NFL Network thinks that the Utah/Cleveland matchup is the more stimulating game this week and are airing that instead of the INSANE matchup of the Rats and Talons. Utah has no excuse to not win this one given the way Cleveland has been playing.
• Not airing on the NFL Network is the powerhouse combo of Arizona and the Talons. Last time they played each other on the Rattlers home turf, the Talons got decisively beat. Now, they clinch the #1 spot with a win over the Rattlers and they're at home. The Ratts need the win to have any shot at that spot. So, aside from all that, these two teams are more than likely going to meet up again in the playoffs, so this is not only a preview, but it's probably going to determine who gets home field in that. This is a coin flip. I want to say the Rattlers, but logic tells me to take the Talons at home.
• On Saturday, Orlando has another shot at the upset and spoiler role as they travel to Jacksonville. A chance, but not a likelihood. I'm taking the Sharks.
• Next up is the Voodoo traveling to Tampa Bay in a big division game. Oh, I really don't know what to say on this one, besides the fact that I hate picks this time of year. I'm saying to pick NOLA - and I really believe that - but it's tough. They're the better team, the more consistent team and they've beaten TB already. However, TB is fighting for their lives and rarely loses at home.
• Spokane beats KC.
• The Chicago/Milwaukee game means nothing to anyone. So...I'd like to pick Chicago, but they struggle on the road, and the Mustangs are stronger than their record. Mustangs.
• Big game for the Sabercats in the late slot. They thwumped the Barnstormers on the road last time and should be able to handle them at home - and they need the win.

For a more in depth view of the seeding possibilities, go to the source. I'm not going to recap it all here - basically it boils down to a mess in the South and seeding in the National. Things will hopefully clear up a bit after this week.

Storm Knocks Out Power

The Power suffered another heart-breaking loss at home in their second-to-last game in Consol for this season. Once again, it was a loss made harder by the fact that we should have won it - on several levels - but missed it by that much in the end. Personally, I think the big responsibility for it was some very bad coaching calls at the end of the game, but more on that later.

The team played very well Saturday night, and continued to look like a team that was on the rise and continuing to gel. As Keller and I were discussing after the game, we scored just as many touchdowns as TB, we just got beat in a few key areas.

The Good:

Aside from two picks - which we've kind of come to expect with this team - Andrico Hines had a great night, throwing for over 300 yards and 7 TDs. Protection on him was adequate, and he had time to think things through and make precision throws. The two picks in question both came in the second half after the battle of attrition had started to take its toll on both teams. Also, those two plays, I feel, were more great defensive plays by TB than they were screw-ups by Hines.

With good QBing comes good receiving. Joystick was the man of the night for the Power with 126 yards and three clutch touchdowns. Superman put up almost a hundred yards himself, along with three touchdowns of his own - two in the air and one on the ground. Finally, there was Oderick Turner, continuing to carve out a place for himself on our team with 81 yards and a touchdown.

Defense was coming up very strong in this game, especially with Christian Wise's contributions. Fairly early in the game, QB Nick Hill was taken out after a defensive collision (though, he did lower his head into the hit all by himself) but not before throwing a pick to Wise. He was also there on pass coverage and a number of good hits throughout the game. LeFlore and DeGrate also made key contributions.

Finally, there was the fact that we played 4 solid quarters again this week, the importance of which cannot be understated.

The Bad:

Kicking, kicking, kicking. I just don't know what it is, but we cannot seem to get this kicking thing down for more than a week or two at a time. Missed PATs are a fact of life in the AFL, but they shouldn't be the norm. Also, our snap timing always seems to be off, which leads to stuffed PAT attempts - one of which was recovered by TB and run back for two.

Penalties - granted, TB had almost twice as many yards as we did on penalties, but ours came in key areas that lost us more than yards. Two separate times, picks were called back because of procedural penalties - one of which Wise had run all the way back to the house. Had either one of those stood, we would have at least tied the turnover battle, and in one case, been ahead another TD.

I'm slotting this in the bad, 'cause it just really sucked, but Steve Wasil of Tampa Bay came up big. The Storm had not won yet on the road this year, and that's due in large part to him. For some reason, the road just seems to get in his head and he falls apart. When Hill got helped off the field, I was glad to see Wasil come in. Unfortunately, he played like he does at home.

Last, there was a failure to capitalize on opportunities. In the second half, the defense came up strong and forced a big 4th down stop on Tampa Bay, but it was squandered a few plays later when Hines was picked off. It's things like that that win and lose games, especially a game where the score just goes back and forth like this one did. A big stop has to lead to a score, or else you've done nothing.

The Ugly:

The Ugly can really be summed up by the last minute of the game. TB had scored, on-side kicked it, recovered and ran it back almost to paydirt. Okay, this is bad, but it's not the end of the world when there's still a full minute left. If you'll excuse me for a moment, I'm going to Monday morning quarterback this. (Normal disclaimer - I'm not a coach, never will be a coach and don't know as much as the coach.)

There are two schools of thought here in Arena Football in this situation, the first of which is to trust your defense to hold the line on the one and either stop them completely or at least hold them to a FG. That one yard is often the hardest, and with certain teams - the Georgia Force does this well - this is the right call, and is what Coach Stingley (a defense man by trade, so it's not surprising) did.

The other school of thought is to just let them score, and then give yourself most of a minute and any remaining timeouts to burn as much clock (or save it if you need it) as possible before scoring and hopefully leave the opponent with nothing left. Even with as well as our defense has been playing recently, I still think this would have been the better call.

The Power just is not a goal-line stand kind of team. We don't have that kind of defense, and it's a pretty forgone conclusion that the other team is going to score eventually. Well...they did. But not until almost 30 seconds and both of our remaining timeouts were burned. The Power did all it could to score in those last 30 seconds - including one mad dash to spike the ball after Hines scrambled on a play and left the clock running - but it just didn't happen. They were rushed, they were flustered and they were staring defeat in the eye again. Three shots at the end zone - the last as time expired - failed to connect, and the Power lost, 65-61.

Elsewhere in the league

• The Mustangs had a good shot at an upset, but as I suspected, they couldn't pull it off. The Sharks really had no problem defeating them, and Bernard Morris was looking perfect at QB. Almost 200 yards in the air (for 6 TDs), 26 on the ground (including a TD) and no picks made him the man of the night. More importantly, he didn't fumble - which some of you might remember was his problem here last year. He's going to be tough when we close our home season against the Sharks in a few weeks.
  
• WHAT? The Predators beat Cleveland? Well, that's that Spoiler stuff I was talking about. the Preds came up big and really put a hurting on the Gladiator's playoff hopes. Preds 55, Glads 34.
  
• All week, the late game between Utah and Arizona was being touted as an Old West showdown between gunslingers Davila and Grady. Strange, then, that the first half was a defensive exhibition that set the tone for the whole game. The Rattlers were pounding on Grady, whereas the Blaze was picking Davila and recovering on-side kicks. The unfortunate part for the Ratts was that their defensive plays cost Grady yards and downs, whereas it cost Utah possessions. It was a battle that Arizona beat themselves in. The team is good at on-side kicks, but it just wasn't working for them Friday - but they kept trying it. In the end, those lost plays and Davila's picks cost them the game, 62-49
  
• Not surprisingly, the Barnstormers were able to decisively defeat the Command.
  
• As expected, the Voodoo lost on the road to San Jose, 55-31. However, as I had also pointed out, the loss didn't really cost them anything more than breathing room. They still hold the top spot in their division with a couple of key tie-breakers, so they just need to hang in there and end strong.
  
• Chicago needed the win, and they didn't get it. Garcia and his Talons are just too strong, and they were able to hand the Rush a close defeat, 61-54
  
• Okay, I get it - my crazy picks don't pan out...and picks didn't pan out for Rowley, either. Dirty Dan only threw for 179 yards this week, but that's more than enough when your defense picks up 4 interceptions for you. With that, the Soul set a franchise record of 14 wins in a season, and they still have a game to go.

Playoff Picture
In the National Conference, it's all over but the crying. The playoff berths are all reserved, it's just a matter of which cabin each team is getting. The Talons have clinched their division with two games remaining. They have a head-to-head with the Rattlers that might decide the 1 seed, but that's about the only concern they still have. The Ratts, Cats and Blaze have all locked up spots, and just need to figure out who's going where.

Right now, round one would be the Cats at Talons, and Blaze at Ratts. I know I picked a Cats/Soul Arena Bowl a few months ago, but if these are the match-ups, I don't see it. I see the Talons coming out of the first round with the Rattlers - but as this weekend proved, the latter isn't a done deal. In the second round, if the Ratts play the Talons, it'll be almost a rematch of the Arena Bowl last year, and that makes it too close to call. If the Talons play the Blaze, I see see San Antonio advancing to the big show.

In the American conference, it's still a mess. Philly's still in the top spot and - barring a major upset - the favorite to go to the final. Below them is a three-way tie between NOLA, Jacksonville and Georgia, with a few other teams on the outside looking in. There's no real point in rehashing the "what-ifs' for the other teams and the "who-knows" of the teams that are currently in. There's still a few weeks left in the season and about 5 teams within a game of each other.

If the brackets today stand, then Jax will get stomped by Philly for the third time this year in the first round, while the Voodoo will probably beat the Georgia Force for the third time this year (they end the season against each other, and I will reassess then.) In the second round, the Voodoo will put up a good fight, but ultimately be eliminated by the Soul.

Whether it's a Talons/Soul Arena Bowl or a Ratts/Soul one, there's no way to call it from here. Philly is the favorite over everyone in the league, but both of those other teams can pull off strong wins. If I had to pick, I'd say the Soul over the Rattlers, but possibly losing to the Talons. However, neither team has matched up against Philly this year, so there's not much to go on. It'll come down to how they play through the first two rounds, and what kinds of injuries happen. We'll just have to wait and see.

A Powerful Storm Brews

I'm cautiously optimistic about our second-to-last home game. It's not a slam dunk - after all, we lost to the KC Command - but I think we have a good shot.

The Storm has been hot and cold this season, but they've gotten pretty banged up. Their reciever Amarri Jackson has now been put on IR, and that's a great thing for us. He's been out a few times this season for injuries, but even with a shorter season, he's still set records. Him not being there is great for us. There is also the fact that the Storm hasn't won a game on the road yet this year (and started dropping them at home.) Again, we lost to the winless Command, but it's still a factor in our favor that they're a weak road team.

Last week showed that the Power is capable of gelling as a team. We finally got some protection on our QB, and that allowed him to keep the picks to a minimum. The question is going to be who's behind center. I'm not sure who I'd prefer - and we know it doesn't matter who they say they're starting - but Hines looked good last week. It might have been a fluke, but it's tough to say. Randall has the field time and knows his players... but he's a known quantity. Known both to opposing teams, and to us as a guy who gets happy feet.

Therefore, the most important part will be protecting whoever is there, and holding on to balls when they are passed. Again, we did well with that last week. So, not to belabor the point, but basically we need to do what we did last week, and we should be able to give the home fans a win for once.

The most important part this week is the opposing coach. Long ago, I wrote one of our most popular posts, the famous Tomlin or Epps quiz. Now, I could do something similar with Dave Ewart and Chris Farley, but that's just a cheap shot.

Seriously, I just want to watch him contest a call.

Elsewhere in the league

• For the game of the week, the Mustangs have a good chance to play spoiler against the Sharks on national television. The Mustangs aren't technically eliminated, but the stars would have to align to Shakespearean levels for them to make the post season. The Sharks, however, are in the position of being 4th in the conference, and can only pull ahead with better records than the two non-Philly teams ahead of them (stupid tie-breakers.) It's going to be close, but I take the Sharks.
• Cleveland is getting a bit of a gift this week. In order to make the playoffs, they still need to pretty much win out, and Friday they match up against the Preds. Orlando has blown a few chances to spoil recently, so I don't see them upsetting the Cleveland applecart.
  
• The late game is gonna be a good one. #1 in the West faces off against #2 on the road. The Rattlers already beat Utah at home this season, and they most likely can do it on the road, but the Blaze needs this win. Take the Ratts, cautiously.
• First game on Saturday should be a win for Iowa over the Command.
• It's a good thing for New Orleans that Geogia has a bye week this week. They have to play San Jose on the road, and I just don't see them winning. A loss this week would tie their record with Georgia, and NOLA has the tie-breaker right now, which would leave them in first. This will remain true, even if the Sharks win, as they have the head-to-head there as well.
• Chicago really needs the win this week to keep their playoff hopes alive, and they're strong at home. However, I think that the Talons will win for the Chicago sweep.
• Finally, Sunday at 6:05 is the explosive match. The Shock handed Philly their first road loss earlier this season, and now it's time for the rematch. However, they got blown out last week. Philly is strong, but again, they're in WTF time of the season, and the Shock had their number last time. Another big problem developing is that Philly offensive weapon Tiger Jones has been signed by and invited to camp with the Eagles. The Soul have got one of the most packed rosters in the league, but Jones is one of their biggest play-makers. The development is great for him, but bad for the Soul. Crazy pick again: Shock win.
  

Consider them 'Barns stormed

Wow. I stared at a blank screen for a while here trying to game-plan actually writing a post about the Power winning. Not only winning, but winning with authority over a team with more than one win under their belt. Sure, we're in garbage time of a losing season, but seeing a win was fantastic, and it was a very entertaining game to watch.

Coach Ho of Iowa is known for really changing things up and keeping opposing teams on their toes. Well, it looks like Coach Stingley learned a few things from him, because he caught everyone off guard by putting Hines in at QB. When I say everyone, I mean that Hines was on screen for a full minute before the announcers realized they were talking about the wrong guy.

He had us nervous for his first few drives, despite scoring, because he was all over the place. He looked about like a QB who hadn't played in a long time against a team that picked him 5 times before. But, eventually, he got into a rhythm and started getting things done. About his only real black mark (once he got in the groove) was the single pick of the game thrown (both sides.) It was a really bad read, and he threw it straight to Jason Simpson a few yards out and he ran it in for six.

It has to be said that Simpson is really, really good. If someone's going to get a pick, or a runback or any combination thereof, it's him. What is surprising is that this pick six didn't deep six the Power. I've commented before, generally the Power commit that one turnover that takes all the wind from their sails, but this time, it didn't happen. It seemed to rally the team and focus them on the task at hand.

Stand-out performances were had by Joystick, Superman and Oderick Turner. Hines was able to get back in the swing of things targeting Washington and Turner in the end zone for 4 TDs, which is impressive given the vast difference in height with those two receivers. Overall, he might have thrown some real wildcat passes in the red zone that probably shouldn't have been done, but when it counted, he was able to rely on those two to have sure hands. This is especially nice since they've both had some trouble with dropped balls this season.

The Iowa defense might have been able to keep Berry out of the end zone all night (with the exception short-yard rush), but he was still explosive on the field. Yardage-wise, he was the top Power receiver, and only 4 yards shy on top receiver of the night. He averaged 23 yards a return, with a top one of 50. Amongst all of these things, he was entertaining and athletic on clutch plays that he made seem easy. The one scary part of the evening came in the second half when he took an awkward tackle that looked to screw his leg up, leaving him to be assisted from the field. A few plays later, he was back in and we could breathe again.

For me, the best part of this game was to see another team suffer from something that's been heaped on us all season - namely, a quarterback who is constantly under pressure. Although the Power did not pick JJ Raterink at all during this game, they sure did get in his face. He spent a lot of time on the ground and got hit hard. Over the course of 60 minutes, you could see that it was taking its toll. He only completed 19 of 32, and the Power stopped him on two 4th down situations.

Finally, where the Power was weak in some areas, they came up big on others. For example, Boyer was having a lousy night kicking. His kickoffs seemed lackluster, and his PAT ability was a no-show. Everyone has a bad night, but with Power kickers this season, we might see a new face next week. But, what he lost us on PATs, the defense made up for on safeties. Raterink got steamrolled in the end zone for one, and was forced into a poorly timed shuffle-pass that Neil Purvis was able to strip for the other.

Again, this game meant nothing in the grand scheme of things, but the Power came up big. They've been saying right along that they are still out for wins every week, and this week they proved it. Now that the CBA is supposedly going to allow for multi-year contracts, it's time for the Power to start thinking about a core team that they want to lock up long term. If this is the team we have every week, and this is how they can play, there are a number of people that proved the Power can be a team to be reckoned with in the future.

Elsewhere in the league

Well, my picks did not go as disastrously as I'd thought they would. I still missed a few, but did better than the 50% I was thinking. Also - screw you, Preds! I had wild-man faith in you, and you let me down!

• Philly might not know how to lay down, but the Storm still made them work for it. There was no blowout in Tampa Bay this week as the game came down to the final minute. No quarter was offered or given in this 83-79 slugfest. Tampa's loss came as the result of two critical non-catches. At around the one-minute mark, TB was holding Raudabaugh in the red zone, and on 3rd down, a defender leaped for a pass, got hands on it and dropped it, allowing Dirty Dan to connect with Captain Morgan on 4th for the TD. On TB's final drive, with one second left, Nick Hill passed to Joe Hills, who caught it, only to be freight-trained by two defenders and coughing it up before he hit the ground. Philly wins.
  
• Oh God...There's not a lot to be said about the Game of the Week, except "Damn..." A Cleveland player remarked before the game that the Gladiators are already in the playoff mode - one loss and their season is over. Milwaukee was in the same situation, as they also needed to win out to make the post season. They didn't. Cleveland simply leveled them in this run-away ass-whoopin'. Final score, 69-32 Cleveland, and Milwaukee gets to join Pittsburgh on the division "It's Over" bench.
  
• Arizona knew they needed a win and a San Jose loss to secure the division, and they sure did their part, proving me wrong in the process. I figure that even if they beat Spokane, it'd be close. However, a lot of people on the Internet like to talk about Rowley choking when it comes down to it, and he sure did Friday, getting picked a staggering 5 times. Final score in this blow-out was 61-35
  
• KC did far better in this matchup than I'd thought they would. A few times, I looked down and the score was way closer than it should have been. Wish I could have seen it, but the Arena streams were not being nice and I could get it in. In the end, Garcia and the Talons won by ten points to put this one to bed, 58-48.
  
• Speaking of bad feeds, this one really infuriated me, but probably kept my heart in better shape. On while the Power was playing, I had this one up on my laptop to switch over to during commercials. I swear, every time I looked over, there was another turnover. The feed cut before the end of the game, but the Voodoo was able to get the win and take back first place in the division, 65-55.
  
• The Cats also wanted to prove me wrong this week, as well as keep AZ from securing the division. Given how the Rush perform in their home arena, I thought they were going to have this one, but the Sabercats just wanted it a lot more. The final from Allstate Arena was 75-61.
  
• I really thought that the Preds could win against the Force and salvage some pride for their season. They obviously thought so too, as the game came down to the wire. At 56-53, Orlando had the chance to tie it up and go to OT with a long field goal, but it just was not meant to be. Georgia wins and slips only to second place in their division.
  

Power at Barnstormers Preview

Ah, rematches. They're a chance to see if you've learned from mistakes, or in the case of a win, a chance to see if you've gotten too cocky. Either way, it's an opportunity to exorcise demons and give it another go.

The last few weeks have been a solid line of rematches, and unfortunately, they have not gone well for us. (I mean, except for the Gladiators, but that doesn't really count.) The good news is that the Barnstormers have a losing record and are pretty much out of the running for the playoffs. (Maybe not mathematically, but things would have to go very badly for several teams for it to happen.) Neither of us really have anything on the line but pride. Since they already beat us once, I'm going to stretch the definition of it a bit and say that pride's on our side.

In many ways, we're a different team than we were the last time we played, so things might turn out differently. Hines was our QB and Wagner was our kicker. Hymes was just starting out with the team, replacing a fan favorite in DeWalt. PJ Berry had been struggling in the first two games and was starting to break out. Most importantly, we had a different coach.

Stingley is still a question mark for me. He doesn't make the boneheaded calls that Siegfried did and he actually seems to have confidence in a quarterback (Randall will be starting again.) However, as can be seen in this extremely creepy conference, he still doesn't seem comfortable in the role of head coach. Another entry in the plus column is that he knows Coach Ho well. He's an unpredictable coach, but knowing him has got to dial that in a bit.

Last time we played, we lost by two touchdowns, which is A.) fairly close and B.) pretty damn good considering there were 5 turnovers. We've been averaging less than that since then (although it's still an issue) so if we can keep a lid on that, we have a better chance.

The other big problem is that the Barnstomers' defense ran all over us. The good news is that Sione Ohuafi is supposed to be back at center, which is a position our offense has been very weak at. Bad center means worse protection for Randall. Worse protection for Randall means that he gets pressured. When Randall gets pressured, he gets sacked and/or turns the ball over. I know this sounds like a DirectTV commercial, but it's the progression of events.

If we can keep the ball, force a few turnovers of our own and protect Randall, we might have a chance to get another win on our season.

Elsewhere in the league

Full disclosure - I have a feeling my picks might go about 50% this week. Just some ugly choices to make.

• Starting out is Philly at Tampa Bay. Tampa's only lost at home once, and the Soul don't need to play a single game the rest of the season if they don't want to...but I don't think they know how to lay down. Look for Philly to win and Tampa to start planning picnics in late July.
  
• Assuming it doesn't get flexed, the Game of the Week this week is Milwaukee at Cleveland in an important division game. Cleveland needs this win big time. Losing this one puts the Mustangs at the same record as them and splits the series. Both teams are still in the hunt, and this could decide their post season hopes. The Gladiators have now dropped 5 in a row, so it'd be easy to pick the Mustangs...but they're on the road, they've already lost to the Gladiators and Cleveland needs to repair their image at home and on the national stage. I'm pulling for the Mustangs because screw the Gladiators, but my gut tells me Cleveland has this.
• Arizona will secure the division with a win in Spokane and a Sabercats loss. Easy to write, hard to pull off. Rowley still has gas in the tank this season and the Rattlers can't just smile and walk away with the win. When they last played in Arizona, the Ratts barely came away with the win. I hate to pick against them, but I think Arizona will have the loss.
• Finally, an easy choice - KC loses to the Talons.
  
• The game to watch this week if you can is Jacksonville at New Orleans. Tied records separated by one head-to-head. Winner jumps ahead to the top of the division (for this week, at least.) Normally, home team would be the tie-breaker here, but there's still a stigma attached to the Voodoo at home. So, instead, I'm going with the quarterback. So long as Rocco doesn't beat himself with the stupid mistakes he makes when he gets cocky, he's better than Bernie Mo. Take the Voodoo, cautiously.
• In the crowded 8PM slot, the Chicago Rush host the San Jose Sabercats. Both teams need this win pretty badly, and both teams are known for dropping stupid games that they shouldn't. This is a case where the close call most certainly goes with the home team - the Rush haven't lost at Allstate Arena yet this season.
• Final game of the week is Sunday at 3 and should be fun spoiler-bait. The Predators came damn close to beating the Voodoo last week, and they have a shot at making things sticky for Georgia. It was a close, low-scoring game last time they played. I think I'm going to be wild and crazy and pick Orlando. Yep - gonna throw caution to the wind. I'm a wild man.
  

Road Battle Against the Soul, and heading to enemy territory

There's not a lot to be said about this week's matchup. The Power has improved in the last few weeks, but not enough to make it likely that we'll beat the juggernauts from Philly. Frankly, the only chance we have is if the Soul collectively say, "Eh...we'll wait until next week to lock up the one seed in the conference. Let's put Denis the Donut Boy in to cover kick returns."

But, I'm still looking forward to this game. The Brothers Keller and I (and Brother-in-Law Tim) are heading to the Wells Fargo Center to catch the Power on the road. Now, to be honest, we planned this outing at the beginning of the season when we still had stars in our eyes and Rowley in the locker room. However, there's still some excitement for me. I've never actually gotten to see a team I root for on the road.

Now, consciously, I know that teams regularly play on the road. Half the time, to be exact. But having never experienced this, it almost feels like this is a special occasion. An exhibition game. It's not, but that's how it feels. Also, I'm not used to being in a hostile sports environment (even if Philly's probably looking at us the way we look at the Browns.) I'm also not used to rooting for a pathetic underdog without much of a traveling fanbase.

All around, this is going to be interesting. Win or (likely) lose, I'll probably also have a bit of a different outlook in my review. Go Power, and I'll be back on Monday.

Elsewhere in the league

Now that the Soul have locked up the division and a playoff spot, the post season officially begins. From here out, it gets really hard to call games, and it's still a long time until the end of the season. Some teams are going to be playing their ass off to right the ship that is their season, other teams are going to slack because it doesn't matter anymore, others will play soft to guard against injuries because they know they're most likely in and yet other teams are going to say "screw it" and just try to play spoiler against a hated rival. So, what I'm saying is...take these picks with a grain of salt.

• First up is Arizona at Milwaukee. This right here is what I'm talking about. AZ is 99.9% in the playoffs, it's just down to seeding. Without doing the math, I think they'd need to lose out and get some "help" in order to miss out. However, at 10-3 , they're tied with the Talons (and a game behind Philly in the whole league) they're in a footrace for the top spot in the National Conference. On the other hand, Milwaukee is in the hunt with basically everyone in our conference and can't afford a loss. Skill-wise, the Rattlers should win this one, but Milwaukee might want it more. I'll take AZ, but....salt.
• "Friday" game of the week is NOLA visiting ORL. This is another example of what I'm talking about. Everyone in that division except the Preds is within a game of the top spot, and Orlando has some momentum after beating a rival last week. Also, they've already been shamed on a Friday night game - they might as well take the field as the Orlando Spoilers. The Voodoo is the better team, but they still currently have a losing record. I pick them, but I have a bad, bad feeling about this. If you want to take a risk on an upset this week, this is it.
• Cleveland at Jax on Saturday night is almost impossible to call. Same record, both teams in second place in their respective divisions, playoffs still possible. However, I'm taking Jacksonville because Cleveland is on a slide, Jacksonville has a shot at their division and they're at home.
• Next we have the Talons heading down to Tampa Bay for the third Florida game. Talons are the wise choice, but there's still that pesky little road/home curse that the Storm have. I still think the Talons are going to win, because they want home field in the playoffs, and TB is just looking to get in.
• Chicago has a tougher division match on their hands than they really should. KC has been sad this season, but Chicago has struggled on the road. I'm picking the Rush because they have the better team, plain and simple - but I'm not going bet my mortgage on it.
• Georgia has a match on the road against Utah, and they need the win to keep the lead in their division. However, I've been saying all year, they're a mediocre team and their road record isn't great. They're in the lead in a weak division and Utah is seriously in the hunt in a tough one. And they're at home. Take the Blaze.
• Finally, the late game is Spokane visiting the Cats. This one's going to be brutal. Spokane's record in any other division would put them solidly in third place, and likely in second. The Cats need the win to have any chance to scoop the lead from the Talons and Rattlers. The Shock has struggled (even with a solid record) this season...but San Jose also lost to KC. However, given that they slaughtered Spokane (without Rowley) on the road earlier this season, I'll take them.
  

Power fall to Mustangs...but only just.

This season has presented me with a varied pallet of ways to watch the Power lose - enough so that I can actually sit back and debate which way of watching them lose I prefer the most. I don't think that it's a surprise that I - if I have to watch them lose - most prefer them to lose when on the road, so that I'm already at home in my easy chair and comfy. If it's a home game and I have to schlep downtown, spend money at the bar beforehand (the extremely AFL-friendly Cafe Fifth Avenue) spend more at the game and then watch the slaughter up-close and personal, I actually prefer it when we get blown out. Why? Because I'm not sure how many 1-point-in-the-final-seconds losses my heart will take before exploding in dramatic fashion.


This week was a true heart breaker. Not just because we lost, and not just because we lost to a division rival. It was a heart breaker because the Power played so damn well and should have brought home the W on this one.


I'll admit, the game didn't look so promising after the Power's stalled opening drive that went 4-and-out and an almost immediate score by Milwaukee on the following possession. However, from there on out, it was competitive, exciting football all the way. This began with the Power returning the favor to the Mustangs by Berry running 34 yards to paydirt with a flip and a flourish over the goal line. As my wife pointed out at the time, Superman would have trouble in the NFL due to his joy of showboating (I mean this in a good way - it's always fun to see what he does when he scores.)

The next possession, the Power stopped Milwaukee dead on the far one-yard line, forcing them to "kick a field goal." (That's in quotes, because we can't say "punt" in the AFL.) Martinez wisely kicked it out of bounds, denying Superman a chance for a return and started us on the 20. Our next drive brought us our first lead (and first of two TDs to Turner) of the game, but also Boyer's first unsuccessful PAT attempt. Unfortunately, as his one legitimate miss of the night, this attempt sealed our fate.

I say "legitimate," because this was Boyer's one real miss that he can't blame on anyone else. Through the course of the rest of the game, he'd have two PATs blocked, but that's more of a credit to the Milwaukee defense than it is a failing on his part. However, long-time readers of this column (Hi mom!) know that one missed PAT can change everything in the AFL, and it certainly did in this game.

For the rest of the first and most of the second, things were exciting, but not overly noteworthy. Both teams did their thing and played good football. It was as the half wound down that things really got exciting. With around 5 minutes left, Berry made a TD reception that no one - including him - knows how the eff it happened.

Photo from the Power FB page.

What you can't see in this frozen moment of time is that before making this, Berry turned to look over his shoulder, tripped, fell, and the ball landed right in his hands as he slid into the end zone. The fact that Boyer's PAT on this one got blocked detracted nothing from this amazing moment.

An onside kick was attempted by the Power, and it didn't go so well as the Mustangs got the ball and scored. They answered with their own onside kick that they recovered - only to have Guidugli get stripped in the end zone for a safety (take that blocked PAT!) So, the only logical call for the Mustangs now was to try another onside kick (this was sarcasm, BTW) which "Hands" Hymes snagged and ran in, bringing the score to 34-27. Undeterred, Guidugli led his Mustangs down the field on his next possession, only to be picked by John Green.

Here is another point where I feel the Power might have lost an opportunity, but I can see why they did it. There were 14 seconds left in the half, and Milwaukee was going to start the second half with the ball - so they wanted to end with it. So, the plays were obviously designed to run time off the clock rather than just get in for the score. I get that. Unfortunately, the Mustangs had our number and didn't let us get much done, and we settled for a FG instead of a TD. At the time, it didn't seem like a big deal.

The Mustangs had calmed down a little bit after halftime and wasn't going for the crazy stuff any more - they seemed to just knuckle down for the rest of the fight. Their first drive ended efficiently in a touchdown scramble by Guidugli to get them back on the board. Our responding drive looked in jeopardy when an unsportsmanlike call against Berry (someone got lippy, so he chucked the ball in his face) left us at 3rd and 12 at midfield. No worries, as Randall completed to Joystick for the TD.

Although LeFlore intercepted Guidugli on the next drive, the Power were once again unable to get the TD, and in fact, this time they were just shut down on the drive and weren't able to capitalize. This was a running theme. Our first possession in the fourth, we also had to settle for a field goal. Now, don't get me wrong - I'm super glad that we have a kicker that can make FGs. That's worlds above some other kickers we've had this year.

Things went right down to the wire in this one. When it was down to it late in the game, Randall ran one in to bring it to 60-55. Then -and I don't know why more people aren't talking about this (including the AFL itself) - fans in the arena were treated to something special. For the PAT, the ball was snapped straight to Boyer. It looked for a moment that he was trying to find someone open to go for two. After all, that's the only thing he can do, right?

Wrong.

See, there's a very, very rarely used rule in professional football where you can dropkick an extra point. Doug Flutie pulled one off in 2006, 'cause the Pats were going to lose, the game meant nothing and he wanted to end his career on something special (They say Belichick's heart grew three sizes that day.) In the AFL, you're allowed to drop kick a PAT for 2, or a field goal for 4. Boyer was known in other leagues for pulling this off, and it was part of the reason Siegfried picked him up. Now, some sources say that it hasn't been done successfully since 1997, but that's untrue as Taylor Rowan pulled it off last season, but the fact is, it is very, very rare, and this brought us to 62-55.

This is where the heart breaks. In the final seconds of the game, Milwaukee scored and then followed with a successful two point conversion the traditional way. So many times this season, that's how they were beaten, and I'm sure it felt good to be on the other side of it. There was some anger on the following kickoff with 0:03 on the clock, because the refs said Berry touched the ball. From what I saw on the field and on the video, he in no way did, but that probably didn't change anything. They'd have had time for one play, and the odds were against them. Doesn't change the fact that it hurt a lot to lose by so little.

What do we take out of this game? Well, this is the Power team that I wish we'd had all season. They played hard for a full 4 quarters, tried some unconventional plays, played solid defense. Hell, Randall even went pick-free this week. Our defense held the Mustangs to 3rd down 8 times, and kept them from converting four of them. Of the 4th downs, we officially stopped one and forced them to kick on another. They also picked Guidugli twice and put him on his back several times. Our offense was on target and back to focusing on a few choice receivers, none of whom turned the ball over. Boyer only missed one kick and was clutch everywhere else (except the two blocks.)

There were only two main areas of concern, really (and when we're out of playoff contention, is it really a concern anymore?) One was the O-line. Randall got sacked, hurried and pressured way too much in this game. We have never been able to protect the QB, and I'd kinda hoped having a defensive guy as coach, this might get worked on more. The other main problem was capitalizing on turnovers. Twice in this game, we settled for a FG or less after a pick. Had either of those been a TD, we would have won this one.

All-in-all, it was a great effort for the Power, it was finally fun to watch again, and in the end, they just fell slightly short.

Next week, a special report from inside enemy territory as we take on the Soul.

Elsewhere in the league

• The NFL game of the week aired on delay this week. Hopefully now that the powers that be and the union reached terms, the NFL Network will give us another chance. With them having rights to playoff games, I don't want to see them delayed. The main thing to take away from this game is that Tampa Bay officially can't win on the road as they fell to the Predators in the War on I-4. I also need to point out that the Preds will be missing the playoffs for the first time after 19 years straight. To put that in perspective, their fans have been used to the Preds being awesome as long as we've been used to the Pirates sucking.
  
• Philly decisively (62-27) won over the Sharks, clinching the division and a playoff berth. From here on out, they're in "eh, whatever" mode as they try to stay healthy and just play for home field advantage. With 11 wins at this point, it would take some really bad luck for them to not get it.
• Looks like Cleveland got bit by the strike curse, as the Voodoo beat them at home Saturday, 54-42.
• My confidence in Garcia and crew was well-placed as they got the W over Iowa and tied themselves up with the Rattlers. The race is on for home field in that conference also.
• As expected, the Rush beat Georgia, and they were able to exorcise some demons while they did it. Final score was almost as lopsided as their loss to the Blaze, 62-27.
• Utah almost dropped a should-win against Spokane, but pulled it off in the last minutes of the game Saturday. 58-55, final.
• The one shocker this week - and Keller was all, "Oh, I was going to pick that as an upset special this week" - was that the KC Command actually beat the Sabercats, and by a good margin, too. Final score was 57-41.

If the Playoffs Were Today

That time again, already, where we look ahead to playoff season. The picture is pretty clear right now, with only a few questions of who will make it and where they'll rank.

Right now, in the American Conference, as stated earlier, Philly is in the driver's seat with New Orleans as their first match-up, while the Force and Sharks face off in the other half. Philly's going to stay right where they are, and probably take top seed, if hubris doesn't get them. The rest is going to be a run-off. Georgia sits at 7-7, but NOLA, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Cleveland all sit at 6-7, with Milwaukee only one game behind that. I'm not feeling confident in Cleveland but Milwaukee has a slightly harder schedule in their last five games. If either of them makes a stand for the playoffs, then their head-to-head in a few weeks will be key, and Cleveland already has one win.

I'm all but calling TB out of this, as they have two road games down the stretch, and have to play Philly and San Antonio at home, plus a division match-up with the Voodoo. NOLA has two division games here at the end, which are going to be huge, and the hardest other game will be the Sabercats. I think that the Voodoo has a good chance to take at least 2nd place in the division. The Sharks have a very easy end of the season, as they play all three teams that struck this year, and only have games against the Voodoo and Milwaukee to worry about. It's between them and Jax for second place, and they have the easier road. Finally, Georgia only has four games left with a critical late-season bye, plus games against the Preds and Power at home. The division is (surprisingly, given the early season) theirs if they don't screw up.

In the National Conference, things are still very exciting. The Rattlers hold the top spot, but are tied with the Talons at 10-3. They have a tough road for the end of the season, and will really have to work to keep it. They might close their season against the Command, but before that, they have the Talons, the Blaze, the Shock and the Mustangs - all teams trying for the playoffs (and the Mustangs are up first, so they'll play when they still have hope) and three of them are in direct competition with the Ratts. It's going to be ugly, ugly, ugly down the stretch for them, and they're going to be looking to win out.

The Talons, for their part, really are just going to be worrying about the Rush and the Rattlers. Iowa, KC and TB aren't going to really be scary for them, and this might actually get them the 1 seed if they run the board. I honestly didn't see that coming. The Cats are somewhat in the middle with 4 games left against the Shock, Rush, Voodoo and Barnstormers. I still think that they can go all the way to the Arena Bowl if they make it to the playoffs, but competition is steep, and they've dropped some games recently that they really shouldn't have. It's crazy that a 9-5 record isn't guaranteeing them a post-season spot yet.

The Blaze only have one division game left, and that's against the Ratts. I think their schedule isn't easy, but it's not hard either with games against the Force, Soul and Gladiators to round it out. The Rush is right behind them at 8-5, but they have three out of five games on the road to close out (where they've struggled this season) and have to play the Cats and Talons at home. I hate to say it, but I don't think that my Rush are going to see the post season this year.

So, that's the picture as it stands right now. Obviously, this is going to change week-to-week the rest of the way. Just because the Power don't have a chance doesn't mean that there's not a lot of other exciting things going on. PLAYOFFS!!!