AFL Playoffs: First Round Recap

It was a great weekend of playoff action, not that the media really wanted us to know. Being that they are on the NFL Network this year instead of ESPN, only one game was aired - the rest were online. Also, that one that was aired got bumped because of the NFL lockout ending, and it wasn't shown until midnight Saturday.

Even so, the games went on. Half the teams advanced, half the teams went home, and everyone ended up where they should have.

Dallas Vigilantes at Chicago Rush

Just a few weeks ago, these two teams met up to determine who got home field advantage in the first round. Winning this, Chicago got a double bonus: First, they got to play at home, and second, they knew that they'd just beaten this same team two games earlier. Even though Michna was still injured, they knew that they could do it with Raterink anyway.

In the beginning, Dallas was maintaining a slight lead in the give-and-take between the teams, thanks to an early field goal. Starting in the second half, Chicago started to assert their dominance on the field before coming back with 13 unanswered points in the third.

Throughout the game, both quarterbacks retained respectable numbers, getting over 250 yards, 6 touchdowns and completing about 2/3 of their passes. Also, neither QB got picked during the game. Even with a slight edge in rushing for Dallas, the teams were evenly matched.

So who won in the end? For that, I want you to think back to what I said after we played Dallas. I said it then, and I'll say it now: Clint Dolezel is a go big or go home kinda guy. I can respect that, but I don't have to agree with it. At the end of this game, they had a chance to kick a close field goal and tie the game, or they could go for a touchdown on 4th and win. Guess which he did?

Guess who gets to play next week.


Arizona Rattlers vs Spokane Shock

One of this season's dominant teams faced off against the defending Arena Bowl champs in a game that really felt like an, "Alright, let them play to feel good about themselves" game. The Shock barely got into the playoffs in the first place and struggled this season. At 9-9, they ended with the same record the Power did when they didn't get to go to the playoffs in a weak division. Also feeling our pain, they struggled often this year, whereas the Rattlers dominated the National Conference, and it showed on the field.

Having split the series this year against their division rivals, it still wasn't a sure thing for the Rattlers going into this game. At the beginning, it was looking ugly for both teams with a total of 5 turnovers. In many ways, it looked like Spokane had control, as they capitalized on their turnovers and their QB Rowley put up much better numbers than Davila - but the Rattlers came back with a slow and steady attack that has carried them through the season.

The old rule of turnovers losing games reared its head for Spokane, because in the end, Rowley threw 4 picks where Davila only threw two. In the end, it was 62-33 Arizona, completely wiping that struggling first half out of anyone's minds.

Arizona advances to play Chicago next week at home.

Jacksonville Sharks vs the Orlando Predators.

This game was meant to be ugly from the beginning. Both teams hate each other on many levels, and when they met last year - with Jacksonville top-seeded then as well - the Preds sent them packing. However, the outcome wasn't surprising given their series history this year.

The main surprise of this game was how effective the Orlando defense was at keeping Garcia contained. He was held to less than 150 yards and only got off 19 attempts. However, in those 19 attempts, he completed 15 of them and snagged 4 touchdowns. On the other side, however, Hill blasted out over 300 yards and six TDs, four of them going to the unmatchable Quiroga and TT Toliver.

Jacksonville's win came on the backs of their solid, solid defense and their running game. Their D forced a fumble as well as stopping the Preds 5 times on 3rd downs and 2 out of 3 4ths. Their rushing game accounted for 3 touchdowns, which is a rare feat between top-flight teams - and these both are.

In the end, the Sharks win their first playoff game, the Preds lose to them for the third time this season, the rivalry gets really ugly and the Preds wish a (publicly) fond farewell to their Coach O'Hara. This last part is a bit of a bummer for me, as I dug his style. It was ballsy, in your face, it got them to the playoffs and beat the crap out of us.

Regardless - The Sharks stick around for another week.

Georgia Force vs the Cleveland Gladiators.

Oh, balls - who really cares? Both these teams beat us and we didn't get to go to the playoffs because of them.  In a perfect world, they all would have gotten food poisoning before the game and drew straws to see which team got to get beat up by the Sharks next week.

After a promising first half full of scoring and turnovers, the Glads looked to be sitting pretty. However, after that, the Force shut them down. Off-again-on-again Rocco showed his colors by getting just beat all over the place in the second half, and he was kept off the board until the forth when Cleveland mounted a strong, but ultimately unsuccessful comeback. I say "Cleveland" and not "Rocco," because he got some bench time and a fresh Dutton came in.

He lit the field up with the old standbys of Bergeron and Redd, and put up over a hundred yards. Again, it wasn't enough. With the O line letting Rocco get hit so many times that he lost his cool - not to mention a goose egg for a score in the third - this game ended 50-41.

Not a lot more can be said about this game except that the better team won. When we played the Force, they were a solid team that sent us home. When we played Cleveland, it was split 50/50. They only made it into the playoffs because we fell apart at the end of the season. This isn't really a comment on either team - I think we would have lost in this round had we gone. However, it still points up the fact that, when Cleveland is good, they're great. When they're bad, they fall apart. With rare exceptions like the Philly game, it's not the defense that falls apart, though - it's the offense. They slack and let Rocco get hit, and once that pressure comes, he can't function any more.

Good luck in Jacksonville next week, Force.


Next Week:

Arizona vs Chicago: As much as I've always liked Chicago – after all, they're my non-Power team – I don't think they have a chance. They'll have a slight one if Michna makes it back, but it's still slim. I called it a while back that I saw Arizona and Jacksonville playing for the title, and I don't see any reason to change that opinion.

Arizona is a solid, reliable team with a proven track record. Whereas Jacksonville dominated most of the season, then slacked, then came back, Arizona has been sure and steady. This is their time. Chicago handed them one of their few loses this season, but it was only by a point and Arizona is the better team on many fronts. Adding to this, Chicago has a reputation of choking that would make Peyton Manning blush. The fact that they got past week one is a big accomplishment.

Jacksonville vs Georgia: A few weeks ago, I would have given this one to the Sharks, no questions asked. But after losing to the Sabercats, and going one for four in their last games, anything is possible. All through the season, the American South was a tough division, and the Force only finished 3 games behind their rivals.

However, I'm going to go with my old standby of history. Jacksonville swept the series between these two teams, and probably will again. 

To beat the drum some more: Jacksonville will square off against Arizona in two weeks.

Pittsburgh Power with a Shocking upset

"...and back after 5 weeks on IR, your quarterback, Bernaaaaaaaaaard Mooor-ris!”

Okay, yeah – I'll be honest here. When I heard words to that effect over the PA in the arena, the bottom of my stomach fell out. Really? The guy who had thrown for a game and a half, leading us against the defending Arena Bowl champs the week after they beat the Arizona Rattlers? Oh, God...

Turns out, this wasn't really a bad thing. Aside from some noticeable jitters on the field after a long absence, the team really seemed to gel with their original QB back behind center. Those jitters manifested in a fairly lack-luster first half where the Shock out-scored us almost 2-1. By half time, things weren't looking too good for the home team.

The second half? Wow. Not only did the tables turn, but the Power outscored the Shock almost three to one.

Now, this isn't to say that the Power were perfect Saturday night, because they were not. Penalties are still a problem, but for once the other team gave up more yards than us – but there are still issues with procedural stuff. Off-sides, false starts, etc. Also, in the first half, their coverage was pretty bad. For example, Greg Orton of the Shock is a good player, but we were helping him to look like a god. I can't count how many plays in the first half he ran out, cut up the field, texted a friend, caught the ball, sat down and ate a sandwich and then realized that there were some defenders actually moving towards him.

A bit of an exaggeration, to be sure, but it was a major problem. Enough of one that I expect Siegfried had a chat about it at the half, because they really locked him down in the second half. Which brings us to a real shining point of the game: The defense. Besides eventually roping in Orton, they pressured Rowley in the pocket to a surprising extent.

The Power D forced three turnovers and the offense only lost two. Also, they made some great stands. The Shock were only able to convert on two of eight 3^rd downs, and only three of six fourth downs.

Additionally, DeWalt was all over the place, breaking up plays. He might not have hauled 'em in, but he got a piece of a number of passes that came near him, denying them to the Shock offense.

As for Morris, he was far more impressive than I was expecting. Remember after week one when I said that Mike “The Joystick” Washington was the man to watch, but it never really materialized because Morelli preferred Willis? Well, he came back strong this week. However, they played it smart and didn't ignore their go-to guy, either. Washington and Willis almost perfectly split receiving duty with 85/87 yards respectively with each scoring a pair of touchdowns. Coming in third was a new face, DJ Hall with a respectable 35 yards and a touchdown. The only head-scratcher was that Xavier Lee barely made an appearance on offense.

Rounding out the offensive detail were Josh Rue and – seriously – offensive lineman, Nick Zeck. Rue only picked up 11 yards, but they were critical yards, accomplishing three first downs. Zeck had a pass thrown to him that he just didn't have the vertical to haul in, but he made up for it a few plays later when he rumbled down the field for 16 yards. He was brought down right in front of me, so I got an accurate count. This beast of a man took 5 players to bring him down – and he carried them for at least two yards before they did so.

The cherry on top of this game's sundae? Okay, I need everyone to sit down for this. Well, I guess, those people that read blogs on their computer standing up need to sit down. The point is...and I can't believe I'm saying this...Paul Edinger nailed a 45 yard field goal with 17 seconds left to put the game out of Spokane's reach.

I'm not sure if it is because it was the day before Mother's Day, or if the home crowds are just getting sick of seeing the Power lose, but the crowd was substantially smaller Saturday. We're talking the difference between 9000+ to just over 6000. That's big shame, because all of these people missed perhaps the most exciting game of the season. The Power reached .500 before the Buccos did, and were looking exceedingly strong this week.

Keller commented that if we play next week like we did this week, we have a chance against the Sabercats. That's a bit pie-in-the-sky, in my opinion, but it's certainly a better chance than I would have given us before this week. But, really, just like everyone else in the house, Keller was blinded by ZOMG-we-won euphoria at the time.

Not pictured here: the guy sleeping next to him. Seriously

It happens. I hope it happens a lot more this season.

Elsewhere in the league

• Mustangs and Soul both lost this week, keeping us in second place without a care
• Sabercats completely fell apart in the second half against the Rattlers in the late game Saturday.
• Jacksonville continues to be a force of nature, and it's just too bad that they aren't playing the Rattlers in the regular season.

Power hosts the Spokane Shock. Sparks will fly.

Week 9 is upon us, and the Power returns home for their matchup against the defending Arena Bowl champs, the Spokane Shock.

On paper, this game looks like a perfect – yet uninspired – matchup. Both teams are 3-4 on the season. We’re 1-3 at home, they’re 1-3 on the road. The “Power” and the “Shock.” It all goes together so well.

As is often the case, reality isn’t as chipper. Again, they’re the defending champs, which is always something to take in to account. Also, whereas our 3-4 record puts us in second place in our division, it puts them dead last in theirs. That’s a tough, tough division that they’re playing in.

Their season started out pretty rough, dropping three in a row. However, their last four games have included three wins. On one hand, they lost to the Sabercats and the Gladiators, which isn’t surprising for any team this season. On the other, they beat the Predators and took away the “undefeated” title from the rampaging Rattlers.

Branching from this and our season records, we see that the Power has had a fairly soft opening half before achieving this record, but the Shock is at the same point with a much harder season. (It should also be noted that their first half bears much in common with what our second half will be.)

Last week in Arizona, they came up huge on defense against the Rattlers, twice nullifying the Ratts taking onside kicks away from Spokane. The week before that, they had

four sacks, two turnovers and four big stops. We haven’t fared well against any team that can make a wall, and Spokane seems to be able to do it.

They don’t tend to run the ball nearly as much as we do, but they haven’t had to to get the job done. For us, their wall will nullify any run that we’re likely to try. So, in general, I think the running game will be put back in the closet this week and we’ll just pretend it doesn’t exist.

In order to have any chance against the Shock, we’re going to have to go to our strengths. This might seem obvious in any situation, but somehow, it seems the Power needs reminding of this every now and again.

Last week, we were able to surprise the Force with some trick plays and long returns by newcomer Fulton. He probably won’t be a bad bet to utilize again this week. Not over-utilize, but mix him in now and then and see what we can make of it. Willis is there as Morelli’s favorite target for the meat and potatoes, so long as the Shock doesn’t get in their heads – more Morelli’s than Willis’s. And of course, there’s Xavier Lee. He is shaping up to be an explosive player everywhere on the field.

When the Voodoo took down the Gladiators a few weeks ago, that was the type of big win that makes you sit back and slack off afterwards. They were losers who finally won, and took down an undefeated team to do it. In that case, you let out a collective sigh, smile and relax – that’s a big reason why we beat them.

The Shock are coming off a huge win – their biggest since the Arena Bowl – and are building a lot of momentum. Not only did they take down the last undefeated team this season, the #1 team in the league, in a division game on the road – but it was a win that brought them to 4-0 all-time against their rivals. That’s not the kind of win that leads to a self-reflective sit on the front porch with a glass of lemonade – it’s the type that makes a team hungry for blood and ready to tear into the poor bastards they meet next.

Fundamentals and concentration are the only things that are going to get us a much-needed home W. The Shock are going to come into our house spoiling for a fight and that might make them sloppy. If we’re not sloppy ourselves, we can exploit that. If Morelli can stay focused, the team can keep the penalties to a minimum and everyone else just does their job, we have a chance – not a great one, but a chance none the less.

And if we win here, maybe we’ll get a little of that blood-lust ourselves.

Elsewhere in the league

• Unless Garcia gets lazy after his career-highlight game last week, expect the Sharks to roll over Philly. (You’re welcome, Soul – I probably just gave you a win by saying that.)
• Mustangs vs Gladiators is my game to watch Friday. We can afford to wish a win for the last-place Mustangs here to bring Cleveland down another peg. Come on, underdogs!
• NFL game of the week is another Florida grudge match, but not a huge draw for the rest of us.
• The late game Saturday at 10:30 is the 1^st place Rattlers vs the 1-game-behind Sabercats. You bet your ass I’ll be hurrying home from the Consol to catch some of that action.

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.