Sabercats at Power: Final home game

Pretty much, it's all over but the crying at this point.  Technically, the Power is still playoff eligible, but we would need to win out and have the Predators lose out.  Not gonna happen, but we can dream.

If nothing else, this weekend will be one last chance to see the Power play at home for the season and -- win or lose -- Sabercats games are fun.  Defying all logic, we've always matched up very well against them, despite them being way out of our league.  The games are generally close, and we've been capable of winning against them.

So, we should just sit back, relax, and watch some football.  It's going to be a short and sweet post, but that's because everything's been said before.  Next week, we'll have a better idea of the playoffs and we can get back to it.

The Sabercats are led by one Russ Michna, known primarily as being the long-time QB of the Chicago Rush and looking just like Keller's brother.  I'm still not sure why Chicago decided to part ways with him, but their loss has been San Jose's gain.  Once they kicked Aaron Garcia all the way back to Florida, Michna turned their offense around.  He's accurate and mobile, with the experience that makes him hard to rattle.

Our offense really hasn't been the same since Jason Willis left, and unfortunately, his return is going to be on the wrong side of the line.  He already has 31 TDs with the Cats, and I'm sure he'll rack up a few more this weekend.

On defense are Clevan Thomas who is an interception machine and Ken Fontenette, who is a tackling machine.  Also, his last name always makes me think that it's the word for the soft spot on a baby's head.  I need help, seriously.

Last week in Cleveland, the Power should have won.  The refs even did everything they could to give us the game, and we still frittered it away.  It was pretty sad.  That kind of play will not stack up against the Sabercats, however, I really think that it's more because the Power have already packed it in for the season.  The record they've had the last two seasons would demoralize anyone, and these guys are only human.  I just hope that they can pull it together one more time for the paying home crowd - especially since the game will be nationally televised.

Elsewhere in the League

• Utah has nothing left except to play spoiler.  Philly clinches the number one seed in our conference with a win (and a Shock win) this weekend.
• Iowa is just about out of this if they lose, and the Preds have buffer space.  Given that they have more to play for, the Barnstormers might pull this off - but my money's on the Preds
• Spokane travels to Jacksonville this week and it could go either way
• Cleveland's out if they lose this week, and I'm fairly sure that the Rush can accomplish that objective.
• Tampa pretty much just needs to beat the Talons to get a postseason spot, and they've historically been pretty good when their back is against the wall.
• Finally, there's NOLA at AZ....which is a freebie for the Ratts.

Power at Sabercats preview

Three things are true about last week:  We got our asses kicked, the Sabercats got their asses kicked, and both other teams in our division lost.  So, we're all starting from a blank slate this week.

That being said, the Sabercats are going to crush the Power on Saturday.  They're just too solid of a team to begin with, and they've gotten stronger in the second half of the season with the addition of Russ Michna at  quarterback.  As mentioned in past posts, the Cats had trouble with veteran QB Aaron Garcia, but when they swapped him out for Michna, everything gelled.

We will also get to see former Power receiver Jason "Watchu Talkin' Bout" Willis in action again...which isn't so hot in this situation.  He primarily headed out to San Jose to follow Garcia, but seems to like it out there.  The short version is - he's a scary, scary individual and their current top scorer.

What concerns me is their defense, which is second in the league. Last week, the Power hung in there the first half and kept it respectable, if not hopeful.  The announcers - who were super, pro-Jacksonville - spent the first half lamenting how lack-luster the Sharks were playing.  The second half was a different story.  The trademark Power Critical Turnover happened, and the wheels fell off.  That one magic turnover that causes more to follow until the team is just trying to get the game over with.

Against a normal team, this is bad.  Against a team that plays as dirty as the Sabercats, this could, and would, be disastrous.


Elsewhere in the League

• First up is Iowa at Cleveland.  Both teams are at the bottom of their divisions and on a three-game slide, badly in need of a win.  Iowa is the slightly better bet here.
• NOLA at Soul.  Philly can take the Voodoo without much difficulty, but I'm hoping for an upset!
• The Blaze continues to struggle and I think that the Rush, who continue to heat up, have a good shot at beating them
• Arizona travels to Texas to play the Talons this weekend.  As powerful as the Ratts continue to be with only one loss on the season, I can't help but think that a stumble is coming at some point.
• Spokane and Jacksonville are too evenly matched to call.  Both whooped the crap out of their opponents last week (Sabercats and Power, respectively) and have tied records.  When in doubt, take the home team, which in this case is Spokane.

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.

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.

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.

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!!!

Power Defangs the Sabercats

First off, let me state that this post won't be edited as well as it usually is, as Keller is in Sacramento, in what I can only assume is a poorly planned victory tour celebrating our win over the San Jose Sabercats.

Wow. What a game. I gotta be honest: I put on a brave face in my preview, but never actually thought that we'd win. I certainly didn't expect to see how the rankings turned out after this weekend's games. However, to pat my own back, most of my predictions on what needed to happen in order for the Power to win actually did.

First off, I had stated that the first team to jump out to a good lead was going to win this one – however, this didn't play out exactly how I expected. Early on, the Power jumped out to a 14 point lead, which is good, but not exactly decisive, lead-wise. Before we knew it, the Cats were able to catch up, then pull ahead, making it 21-14. Not to be deterred, the Power got back in the end-zone and the PAT was...no good. Ugh. Edingered.

This one-point deficit would haunt the team the rest of the first half. Not only that, but San Jose was nice enough to miss one themselves, giving the Power a chance to even it up on the next score – before Edinger missed another one. Honestly, missed PATs aren't uncommon in the AFL and going into the half only down by one to the Cats was better than I'd expected, but our kicker's consistency (or lack of it) is disturbing and frustrating. Also, in the forefront of my mind, I knew that missed extra points nearly always come back to the team that have them.

The half ended with another key to victory that I mentioned that we needed: Goal line stops. San Jose had the ball last and were going to come out of the half with it first, so they had a very good chance to get more than one point ahead of us. It was not to be, however, as the Cats went 4 and out on the goal line when our defense refused to budge, mainly because of Dewalt and Royce Adams.

Coming out of the half, Adams returns to the field to force a fumble, which Pittsburgh recovered. Unbelievably, the Power had denied the all-offense Sabercats two scoring drives in a row. This was very important as San Jose went on to score 14 points to our 7 in the 3^rd. This kept the deficit to something manageable going into the final fifteen minutes of the game.

The only way to describe the 4^th quarter is “brutal.” Our first drive ended in Morris's second interception of the game. San Jose's first drive ends with a 4^th down stop, giving us a mid-field turnover on downs. Next, they returned the favor. Then – we did it again. Three 4th-down stops in a row. The crowd was screaming for blood.

This crowd fervor was rewarded when the Power scored on their next drive. Trying to make up for Edinger's earlier mistakes, Morris went for two instead of kicking an extra point. Unfortunately, it did not pan out, and the Power was down by two with 46 seconds left on the clock. Obviously, an on-side kick was in order, and Edinger drilled it right into the head of a Sabercat player, bouncing it right to our special teams players – who were not able to recover it.

Remarkably, the Power was able to make yet another 4^th down stop when the Cats started on the four-yard line. Getting the ball back with 41 seconds on the clock, they were able to drive it down the field, score and come up with the two-point conversion. All that stood between them and an upset victory was 27 seconds. Edinger booted it deep, and four plays later, it was over.

Power 54, Sabercats 48.

The Good, Bad and Ugly

I'll start with the Bad, just to get it out of the way. The Power actually had a lot of trouble holding onto the ball, which made me very nervous during the game. The final tally was two interceptions and three fumbles. By comparison, San Jose only threw one INT and only dropped the ball once. Normally, stats like this would tell you who lost the game, but the rest of the Power game up big in a lot of plays.

Very surprisingly to me, Chad Cook was the star for San Jose, and they ran it a lot during this game. All told, they rushed twice as much as we did, and scored 3 rushing TD's, where we had none. I didn't see that coming. Obviously, the Power had anticipated an aerial attack and didn't really have an answer for Chad Cook.

Semi-bad was that the return of Josh Lay meant that Xavier Lee has been put on “Recallable Reassignment.” Don't get me wrong: Lay is a hell of a player and had some seriously clutch plays in this outing – but I wish he didn't cost us the Swiss-Army knife that is Lee.

The Good is a lot more fun to talk about. “Joystick” Washington continued to be Morris's favorite target in this meeting and had a huge game this week, totaling 120 yards and 4 touchdowns. (Seriously – I didn't have a yardstick with me, but I'm fairly sure Joystick is shorter than the waterboy, yet Morris loves to throw to him.) He was followed closely by Jason Willis with an additional 3 touchdowns.

The defense did exactly what I said that they needed to do. As I pointed out in my preview, the Sabercats rely on scoring on nearly every drive, and we needed to hand them a few big stops to keep them off the board – and the Power accomplished this handily. The Cats only converted 3 of 7 3^rd downs, and none of their forth-down attempts. “Powertool” DeWalt continued to be a huge force on defense, and I wouldn't be surprised to see this be his permanent home.

The Ugly. Oh, man...I'm still laughing about this. People always say that Arena Football is a fan participation sport, and Keller proved it. We sit in the forth row near the end-zone, and he likes to mess with the opposing offense by yelling, “Huthuthuthike!!!” to see if he can draw them off-sides. The most it has ever done was really torque off Kyle Rowley last week (he glared at us the whole game.) This week, it actually worked...on the Power defense. Carlo Campbell flinched and the yellow flag went out.

I bet Keller's not gonna do that again. (Regardless, I'll never let him forget it.)

Final thoughts

This was a great way to end the first half of the season, with two solid wins in a row at home. Also, we are now only a game behind Cleveland in our division, and actually have a tied record with Sabercats. Now, we're in a weak division, and the people out front in the league look at us and say, “Aww...aren't they cute...” but – we're still second in our division, and that's all that matters.

Over at the NFL Network, Big Ant released his mid-season awards, and he has Coach Siegfried as the runner-up for coach of the year. This is pretty big, and I can't say I fault his logic. He's been making ballsy decisions the last few weeks, and has managed a hell of a record as an expansion-team coach with 3 starting QB's at the half-way point of the season.

My only concern at this point, is that we've built up some great momentum in these last few games, and now we've got a bye-week. On one hand, a dead-center bye is a good way to recharge the batteries. On the other, we might lose that momentum that we've built up. I will have more on these issues in my mid-season Bye-Week Spotlight later this week.

Elsewhere in the League

• Both Philly and Milwaukee won their games this week, improving to 3-6 on the season. Good for them, but they're still not a concern.
  
  
• Cleveland was destroyed by Orlando, losing by 30 points. Ouch.
  
  
• The Rush beat the Rattlers in a last-second field-goal that was nothing short of a miracle, as their kicker has a worse record than ours. This bumps Chicago back up to top of their division, a gnat's wing ahead of Dallas.
  
  
• The Sharks hold their 8-game winning streak, with only one loss on their record for the season. Garcia is having a fairytale season that could very well end up at the Arena Bowl. If the Power isn't there, I'll be rooting for them.

San Jose Sabercats come to town

Okay, did everyone enjoy that feeling of a win at home last week? Good – cause it’s
time for the next game, and it’s going to be a tough opponent. For the second week in a
row, we get a team right after the Rattlers are through with them. The big difference is,
unlike the Shock, the San Jose Sabercats got shellacked out in Arizona, and I’m betting
that they’re not going to take that lying down.

This is the game that ends the first half of our season, and really sets the tone for the
second. From the moment I saw this game on the schedule, I was worried about it.
Technically, the Sabercats are an expansion team, just like we are. However, they
are a recreated team like the Soul, who came back with new faces and old traditions.
Currently, they’re number 5 in the league power-rankings and always looking to move
up. (By comparison, our win against Spokane got us the #10 spot this week, but only
just.)

Last week, I talked about the difference between our division and National West, in
particular that 3-4 was second place in ours and last place in theirs. This week, it’s
slightly more heartening that the ‘Cats are also in second place and only have one more
win than us. This means that they can bleed, etc.

Make no mistake: They are a tough team and strong competitors. Around the league,
you will hear a lot of talk about their defense, and how it’s possibly the worst in the
league – and that might very well be true. They are letting up almost 60 points a game
this season. On the other hand, they average around 60 points a game on offense as well.

Quarterback Mark Grieb is not afraid to air it out, and has three solid, solid receivers in
Goodson, Flowers and Toler. Flowers is one of those guys that I’ve loved to hate this
season – the type that will flip over the wall in the end-zone multiple times in a game,
just to thrust the ball up in the air to show he had it the whole time. Goodson is generally
in-your-face and not afraid to take a hit. Think of an evil Hines Ward. Toler rounds it
out for yardage over touchdowns.

Rushing (comparatively) is not much of a focus. Chad Cook has only 110 yards on the
season, but is mainly used in goal line and 3rd/4th down situations. That having been said,
he also has 17 touchdowns on the season – our team doesn’t have that many rushing TDs.
What we do have, however, is twice as many yards on the ground.

What does all of this mean when taken together? I’ll tell you what: It means that we
have a chance.

The style of play that the new Sabercats employ – and to generally good effect – is
very similar to what I do in war-simulation games: Don’t puss around with figuring
out defensive tactics and fancy cover mechanics – just fill the air with as much lead as
possible until everything stops moving.

They’re all offense. They just keep hammering down the field and managing the clock,
banking on themselves having the ball last. It’s gutsy, and a fine tactic when it works

(which, statistics say, better than 50% of the time, it does for them) but risky at the same
time

Last week, we saw two equally as ballsy choices from Coach Siegfried. One, he put
Bernard Morris back in the game his first week off of IR, and two, he put Powertool in as
a linebacker instead of a receiver. This gamble paid off. Once Morris regained his sea-
legs, he started giving the Shock what-for. “Powertool” DeWalt grew about 4 feet, cloned
himself and placed himself everywhere on the field, breaking up plays. Honorable
mention goes to the decision to let Zeck have the ball and go murder a few defenders.

If DeWalt stays on defense to just generally befuddle the opposition, I think we can rely
on the likes of Stevenson, Butler and “Total Chaos” Carter to put up a wall. The Power
made some outstanding stops last week in 3rd and 4th down situations, as well as on the
goal line. Dewalt will be key as the Sabercats do little on the ground…until 3rd and 4th
situations and the goal line.

On our side, if Morris comes in to the game the way he ended the last one, then hopefully
he’ll come out shooting down the field and putting points up. If that doesn’t work, get
Rue out there and maybe put some fear into them by unleashing Zeck.

The main concern is going to be the battle of wills. More so than most games, this one
is going to be decided by whoever gets up to the first major lead – possibly the first
lead, period. Last week against Arizona, once the Rattlers got in Greib’s head, it was
over. When Arizona started pulling in front, and the scoring war of attrition started to
backfire on the ‘Cats, Grieb started panicking and ended the game with four interceptions
. It wasn’t just him – the rest of the team freaked out and started missing routes and
coverages as well.

Problem is – that all sounds really, really familiar.

Interesting note: I fully realize that correlation does not equal causation – but I love
symmetry. The only game this season at home that the Power can say that they out-in-
out destroyed another team and salted the earth was against the Barnstormers. So far this
season, the Barnstormers have only won two games, and they were back-to-back:

The Spokane Shock, and then the San Jose Sabercats.

I’m just gonna put that out there and let it sink in for a moment. The more I think about
it, the more I think last week was a dress rehearsal for this game, and maybe – just maybe
– we’ve underestimated Siegfried.

Game airs on the CW at 7:30, but there should be plenty of seats down at the Arena to see
it in person.

Elsewhere in the league:

• Not a lot to write home about this week on Friday. The Game of the Week is another snorefest, but it’s the only AFL a lot of people are going to get. For those willing to watch online instead, the Force @Philly looks like the best bet
• The Gladiators at the Orlando Predators looks like it should be a brutal game. After the Power finishes up, tune in to NiFTy TV online, and the rebroadcast should be beginning.
• Late game is a tossup between Rush @Arizona, which would be my preferred game to watch, but seeing how the Vigilantes stack up against the Shock isn’t a bad call either, since we’ve got them in a few weeks.

Week 3 Power @Mustangs Review

Any regular readers of this blog will know that one of our mottoes is, “An ugly win is still a win,” and tonight was an ugly win. 49 points turned out to be just barely enough to best the still winless Mustangs, but that's all it was. As with many games, the last minute is where everything was decided, almost to the last second. The game started very strong, but time took its toll on the Pittsburgh Power.

They came out of the gates hard and put the pressure on. Most of the first quarter, they kept the 'Stangs off the board didn't have a drive without a score. From this start, it looked that we'd run the table all night and hand it too them definitively. However, it was not to last. McCabe played the whole game, and I think we started to get tired as the clock ran. By the end of the second half, the ball got away from him more, and the Mustangs were able to exploit that.

That being said, he continued with what I mentioned last week is his strength: Spreading the ball around. “Whatchu Talkin' 'Bout” Willis might not have put up any points or gotten the most yardage, but he was a key receiver, pulling down 8 receptions. When it came to the end zone, Mathis, Thompson, Dewalt and Zeck all put six on the board. This will continue to keep the opposing teams guessing and is something the Power should stick with.

One area that might be overlooked but needs to be addressed is the field shape. About half the league has a rounded end zone rather than the normal rectangle. Mustangs' home turf is one of them. At least two times during the game, McCabe ran into trouble passing to the “corner” of the endzone and having it bounce back into play. If there was a corner there, the receiver probably would have had a few more steps to reach the ball. This is an area that some fans gripe about and say should be a standard shape. Personally, I look at it as Arena's version of “Dome” vs “Open” fields. It's just one of those environmental issues that you learn to deal with after gaining experience.

On the ground, our prime weapon continues to be the powerful Joshua Rue, who was the only player to see the end zone more than once tonight. In a game that emphasizes throwing, his 28 yards are no mean feat – especially when since they yielded touchdowns. In the mid-field, he also gains the yards that we need and plows through defenders with a fair amount of ease.

On the other side of the ball, we still have a lot of work to do. On one hand, we kept the pressure on Ward when we could – and in fact, he took the bench and Archer came in eventually – but only while he was in the pocket. Ward – and later, Archer – are both highly mobile once they get out, and then there was no stopping them. By himself, Ward scrambled for as many yards as both of our rushers together and found the end zone for a score. The top two rushers for Milwaukee were their quarterbacks.

In the air, the Power was not able to shut down Burns, who we knew it was going to. Harrell and Elay also picked up very respectable yardage. In a yards-only game, this was all Mustangs, all the way. It's hard to cover everybody with this few people on the field, but their offense is geared towards long bombs to a few targets. Both Ward and Archer had way too much time to think and get the ball to an open target.

Both teams had some amazing goal-line stands that were more reminiscent of the NFL than Arena. While laudable, these showed a failure to keep the opposing team out of the red zone. For the Power, their stands were slightly less effective than the Mustangs, and I'd like to see that shored up a bit before moving on.

Ultimately, the game was decided by Milwaukee's mistakes, not Power triumphs. Two missed PATs kept them away from tying us. Their final kickoff was an obvious onside kick that very well could have worked – had they not gotten greedy. Milwaukee's Lindholm rushed for the ball after it had touched Power players, and intentionally kicked it forward, where the Mustangs recovered. Had it stood there, they would have been in prime scoring position – however, this is an illegal move, which gave us back the ball on the 15, followed by their coach lipping off, giving us 8 more yards. From here, it was “taking a forward knee” to run the clock out and go home.

That was too close.

What did we do right?

Early, hard pressure, passing change-ups, not being afraid to rush – these are all strengths and are shaping up to be our identity. As McCabe settles more into what looks to be his job for the foreseeable future and gets his endurance up, he needs to focus on continuing what works. Rue, barring injury, is only going to keep grinding out the short yardage and score touchdowns. Our receiving corps is varied and strong, with no signs of jealousy or showmanship at this early point.

What did we do wrong?

Did not contain the quarterbacks enough. Although the Power got the pressure on, they were not able make Milwaukee panic like they did in their first two games. Also, once Archer and Ward went mobile, the Power had no answer for it. Open field situations still need a lot of work on D. Finally, they might need to realize that iron men are nice, but if the QB is tired/rattled it might be time to sit him. The Mustangs split the duties this week and both men picked up over 100 yards.

What do we take away?

A win is a win and a loss is a loss. This was a division game, so anything that puts up a W is good. Right now, the Mustangs are winless at the bottom of the division and Cleveland is up top without a loss. Cleveland has only played twice, and neither were division games, and I honestly expect to see them pick up a loss next week. Philly is also down a game, but we're currently tied with them 1-1 in the division. It's still very early in the season, but we are off to a good start.

We also showed that we can play on the road and continue to win. I'm glad that we got that out of the way. Now, we have a short week to gear up for the Tulsa Talons, who are currently 0-3.

Elsewhere in the league

Friday night was an interesting night. The NFL Game of the Week (and the only one nationally televised) was between the winless Barnstormers and the winless defending Arena Bowl champs, the Spokane Shock. This game should have been boring as all get-out, but turned out surprisingly interesting. As we saw last week, the Barnstormers weren't much to worry about, but they pulled off a 43-42 win that they should not have. The Shock pressed hard early and took advantage of constant mistakes made by Iowa – chief among them was kicker Pitor Czech (formerly of the Steelers practice squad) going 1 – 7 on PATs. One. For. Seven. If that man is not a bounced Czech shortly, I will be surprised*. Lucky for him, a timely turnover in the end zone at the end of the 4^th kept the Shock from making up that one point they needed after falling apart in the second half.

*I wanted to make that joke last week. I'm glad I waited.

Also on Friday night was the undefeated Sabercats at the undefeated Rush. This is the game that I wanted on national television, but was denied. Possibly the two consistently best teams in the league, this was a match-up worth seeing. The Sabercats are looking really good and we need to play them this season. This scares me. On the other hand, the Rush continue to look even better. Although they were hit many times with both encroachment and offsides penalties throughout the game, they were able to bring it home 54-41. Quarterback Russ Michna managed to make something out of nothing twice and gain 38 yards for two touchdowns. Remember: He actually has a day job as well, and this was a Friday night game.

So that's that for Week 3. Again, it's a short week before our next home game – which means it's a short week for me to get a preview together for you.