Power Goes Out in a Blaze of Non-Glory

Ouch. Where to even start? Recently, I said that the Power had little to be ashamed of in their tough loss to the Storm, but I can't say that this week. This was, perhaps, the Power's worst performance all season, and it's hard to take anything good out of it. The defense seemed to not even make the trip out to SLC, the offense's biggest names barely made an appearance, fumbles were aplenty, and our starting line's injury report is starting to look like a Pyrrhic after-battle report.

To say that we were blown out in our 81-40 loss is an understatement, and I hope the Power spend every waking moment this week watching film to figure out A.) where they went wrong and B.) how they can fix it.

To start it out, there are the injuries. On the defense, both Purvis and Stevenson were out with injuries, leaving holes in important spots. Behind center, the merry carousel of broken quarterbacks continued with Morris being out after being injured in Tampa last week.

McCabe started the game, but only made it three possessions. He hasn't played since the beginning of April, and it showed. Two out of his three drives ended in fumbles that were taken straight in for TDs, and those were sadly not the last of the game. Siegfried pulled him at that point - whether it was because getting sacked two times injured him, or because he was just a mess is unclear - and yet another new QB was put in. Since Morrelli is no longer with the team, we were left with Chris Wallace - a QB that we picked up earlier this week.

His inexperience was both obvious and understandable - but that doesn't mean that we have to like it. He only went 19 for 39 in this game, and never figured out quite who to throw to. Mathis, Washington and Fulton were all left with less than 70 yards each. All-in-all, he passed to six different people for only 4 touchdowns. If there was a bright side, it was that he didn't throw a single interception...of course, neither did the Blaze, but that's neither here nor there.

Next, the fumbles. God, those were brutal. Besides the two that McCabe coughed up early on, Wallace, Mathis and Washington each had one, two of which lead to immediate touchdowns. Now, when Keller was watching the game, it was his feeling that Washington's forward fumble was intentional - that it was done because he knew he wasn't going to make it, and hoped to recover in the end zone. That might be true, but given the shoddy play all game, I have a hard time believing that. Anything's possible, though.

On defense, there wasn't any huge mistakes, but there wasn't much of anything at all to write home about. They kept the rushing game down to almost non-existence, but they allowed over 300 yards in the air and 11 touchdowns. Tommy Grady is good, but there's still no excuse for that. The defense just didn't put any pressure at all on the Blaze offense.

In the downs game, it wasn't even a contest. The Power only managed to convert one of six third downs, and a single 4th down. The Blaze, on the other hand was five for five on 3rds, and never had to worry about converting a 4th. This goes back to both our offense and defense just not being effective.

If there is anything good that can be taken out of this game, it was our returns. In six kickoff returns, the Power managed to rack up over a hundred yards. Mathis accounted for 78 of those by himself, proving once again how good it is to have him back.

It is extremely lucky for the Power that the Football Gods were smiling on us. Somehow - who the hell knows how - Cleveland lost on Sunday. This leaves us still tied with them, holding the tie-breaker and first in the division. We have a stay of execution for another week. This is a stay that the Power had better be down on their knees screaming their thanks for - because they should have lost the lead this weekend.

The Power needs to start winning again, and start doing so now. As said in the past, Cleveland has a pretty easy schedule, and we still have at least one game left that I know we're going to lose. I'd really rather not be in a position where our next game against Cleveland decides the division again.

All other things aside, the Power needs to get healthy. Chris Siegfried was quoted as saying, "The injuries have made it a less-than-fun season and have added to the stress level." It's nice to see that Coach Siegfried has a gift for understatement. To have any shot at - and in - the playoffs, we can't just keep throwing player names in a hat and pulling out who's going to start each week.

Next week, we play the Mustangs again, marking the first time we've played a team a second time. They, literally, have nothing left to play for and will be out to take us down, just because it'll be fun for them. We handled them handily back at the beginning of the season, and hopefully will again.

But not if we play like we did this week.

Elsewhere in the league

• After a first half that was shaping up to be a blow-out, the Preds rallied to make it a game. Unfortunately for them, it wasn't enough, and they lost to their hated rivals. Hell of a game, though.
• Not surprisingly, the Mustangs got slapped by the Sharks, who have now extended their winning record to a staggering twelve.
• Arizona locked up their division with a tight win over their rivals, the Sabercats.
• Philly dropped another game when they hosted the Talons, widening the gap in the wild-card race
• Again, Cleveland lost, which is the greatest gift the Power could receive.

If the Playoffs Were Today

• As stated, Arizona locked up their division, guaranteeing them a playoff berth. At this point, they'd be playing Tulsa, which shouldn't be much of a challenge for them.
• It's still, despite a loss for Chicago this week, shaping up to be a match against Dallas in the first round. Nothing new to report.
• In our conference, the Sharks would be meeting up with Georgia in the first round. I still don't think anyone's beating Jacksonville this year
• By the grace of God, we're still in it, and still matched up with Orlando. The way both teams played this week, it'd be a battle of who wants it more, and who screws up less. Right now, that looks to be Orlando that would walk away with it. (If nothing else, it'd make the second round entertaining against the Sharks.)
  

The Storm was Over-Powering

The good news is that we’re still #1 in the division. The bad news is, we lost this weekend. The worse news is that we’re only #1 because we beat Cleveland in the head-to-head last week. Another loss, and we’re back to second fiddle.

The Power played hard in this game, and only came up 7 points short. As I had said in my preview, Tampa Bay is backed into a corner and fighting for their season – we should be ready for anything. It was just our bad luck that Zbydniewski had the game of his life on Saturday. Had that not been the case, we probably would have walked away with the win.

Things started out really well when Carlos Campbell made an interception on the Storm’s first drive. This set Pittsburgh up to get on the board first, and get the ball rolling. Unfortunately, from there the scores just kept getting traded back and forth.

As is my general rule, the back-and-forth is all well and good until a team doesn’t score on a drive. It might not be instantaneous, but I’ve found that this is the team that’s usually going to lose. This was true in this case, as Pittsburgh went four and out early in the second, changing it from “Pitt scores, Tampa catches up” to, “Tampa scores, Pitt catches up.”

When Tampa’s kicker missed a PAT late in the second, it looked like we might have a gift handed to us, but my boy Edinger evened that up himself later in the game. The scoring exchanges continued throughout the second half, with both teams going all out, but in the end, Tampa squeaked through with that extra 7 pts to put this one to bed.

Yes, it was a loss, and yes, it will make things a lot more interesting for our season – in the macro sense, this was a hard loss to swallow, and one that will probably come back to haunt us.

In the micro sense, there was a lot that the Power can come away from this game happy with. Campbell’s huge interception started the game off right, Joystick had over a hundred yards and three touchdowns, and Morris threw for 335 yards. Also, Mathis had a huge night this week, further proving that it’s great to have him back. He had 195 yards and three touchdowns on the night, as well as returning his first kickoff for a score this year.

It might be easy to point to the defense and say that they didn’t get the job done this week. After all, had they stepped it up, Tampa wouldn’t have scored as much, right? Not necessarily. As I said earlier, Zbydniewski had the game of his life this week. He was 24-34 with only one interception, and threw for career highs in both yardage and touchdowns (372/8.) I’m really not sure that there was much more that we could have done against someone that fired up and ready to go.

On the other side of the ball, their defense played us just as hard. We were only able to convert 4 of 7 3^rd downs and 1 of 3 4^th downs. Also, as I feared, they got to Morris with a critical sack. They kept us contained, and that was that. This is a team that’s used to winning and saw their season slipping away – they beat us, fair and square.

Next up, the Utah Blaze.

Elsewhere in the league

• Jacksonville extends their streak to 11, by squeaking a close one by Orlando – 68-67
  
  
• Cleveland won, which sucks. Our records are now tied, with only our matchup last week keeping us in the lead. We can hope they lose next week to the Command but, well, the Mustangs beat them by 20 pts this week…
  
  
• The Friday-night spotlight was a real shocker this week. I wasn’t expecting much out of Philly and Spokane, but it was actually a really exciting game. The Shock scored on their first drive, onside kicked it and recovered, which they took to the house again. After that trickery on the second drive of the game, they did it again! This time, they missed the PAT, but the fact is: they had 20pts on the board before Philly even had a chance to touch the ball! What followed was an explosive slugfest that was exciting to watch.

If the playoffs were today

• The National Conference would be mostly the same as last week, trading Spokane for Utah. I still pick Arizona in the first round, along with Chicago. Chicago is still a question-mark with their ability to choke in the post-season
  
  
• The American Conference would now see Cleveland matched with Orlando, in which I’d pick Orlando by a hair. We’d be matched with Jacksonville, to which I don’t think it even needs to be said how hard we’d be beat.

Power vs Storm, the old versus the new

Before we begin, a little bit of history for you all. Way back in the day, Pittsburgh had an arena team called the Gladiators (I know, right?) It was not to be, and the team left for greener pastures. The name went out to Vegas and then eventually to Cleveland, where a prophesy spoke of the day when they would return to Pittsburgh and fall in battle amid the blare of annoying plastic horns. The original Pittsburgh team itself, went down to Tampa and became the Storm.

So, last week, we played and beat the team that holds our old name. This week, we play the evolved team itself. I do so love symmetry.

Now, we've had a week to talk about how awesome the Power is right now, what with being #1 in the division and all. Well, I'm afraid that I'm here to say that this is bullcrap. We're anything but safe, and still have an uphill battle. We're #1 in a weak division by a single game, and have 7 games left to fight through. As things stand, out of the next three weeks, two of them are the weakest teams we're facing from here on out (three, if you count Philly, but they're picking up and already beat us once.) We cannot take a soft week here. These two are games that we have to win to get some padding, because there are at least two teams that I'd bet cash money we're going to lose to before the end. Furthermore, Cleveland's schedule is much weaker the rest of the way.

First that we face is the Tampa Bay Storm. If you recall, I had nothing but glowing things to say about them at the beginning of the season. This is, mainly, because you'd have to go back to 1990 to find a year they finished lower than 3^rd in the league. In that time, they've gone to the Arena Bowl 7 times and won 5 of them. This year, on the other hand, most people are counting them out of the playoffs. It's not a sure thing, but they'd pretty much have to win out to get there.

Why the change? Up until last year, they were coached by Tim Marcum, the winningest coach in AFL history. However, he resigned this year amid a porn-and-racism-fueled scandal in disgrace. His assistant took over as head coach, and his inexperience seems to have shown through.

This season, the Storm has had a rough time of it. They've beaten some good teams – but also lost to teams like the Mustangs. Heading up the offense is Quarterback Brian Zbydniewski, who – although an impressive presence on the Scrabble board – is not a great quarterback. Last week against the Force, he struggled start to finish and although his numbers were pretty good, overall, he seemed to panic quite a bit – a trait we should be able to exploit.

Huey Whitaker and Hank Edwards were his main targets, but he also has two very capable second-tier receivers in Micheal Lindsey and Amarri Jackson. All four of them put up at least a touchdown during the game last week, and are a threat to consider. This means that the ball could be going everywhere and anywhere, so the defense really needs to be on its toes (I'm looking at you, Campbell.)

The other main problem is that their defense is pretty sack-happy. (Note: That didn't come out the way I would have liked...) This is a problem for most teams, but the Power in particular have not been particularly fantastic at protecting the QB. The last thing we need is a team playing for the slim chance at the playoffs coming and breaking Morris.

Conversely, the Storm offensive line has a few key injuries and new faces filling in for them. This is something else that we can, and should, exploit as much as we can. Gary Butler and “Total Chaos” Carter need to get in there and make some plays. At the same time, Campbell and DeWalt need to do what they're getting known for and snag anything that comes anywhere near them.

I think that we can expect to see Morris targeting Washington as much as he can, as this has been working out well for him. Having Willis and DeWalt backing him up as second-tier like last week should be just fine. The final piece is to see Mathis back at it again after knocking any rust off that he might have had last week, and put up some big numbers on Special Teams. (I'm not going to talk about Edinger, 'cause I don't want to jinx anything.)

Bottom line is that Tampa Bay normally great team who just happens to have a losing record right now. There are a number of weeks this season where they've looked like just another bad team – but we cannot be lulled into complacency by this. They are in “All or nothing” mode here. They're either going to be going balls-out to uphold their legacy, or are just going to be seeing who they can screw the season up for.

Again, the Power needs this win. There are no two-ways about it.

Elsewhere in the league

• This is another week where a lot of teams are on bye, and there isn't a lot going on that's exciting this weekend. Friday night's spotlight game is the Soul vs the defending champs, the Shock. The Soul are still in position to mount a come-back this season, so we're hoping for a loss there.
• While we're playing the Storm, the Gladiators are playing the other half of last-week's game, the Georgia Force. Us winning and Cleveland losing this week would be very beneficial to us.
• The must watch (non-Power) game is Jacksonville versus division-rivals, the Predators. These two teams hate each other, and should be a very entertaining game.

Gladiators vs Power review - a rivalry is born

Well, Keller has already put up his review, so you already know the good news: The Power is number one in the division. This is huge. Granted, it is only by one game, and everything can change next week – but for right now, we're #1.

The match when down Saturday night on Vuvuzela Night, and the house was packed, amped and loud. I now finally understand fully why those stupid horns are so annoying – but fortunately, they were mainly employed when Cleveland was on offense. Unfortunately, I have this sinking feeling that they will now become traditional whenever Cleveland is in town.

This game came down to a kicker who couldn't get it done, and for once, I don't have to say that it's Edinger. If you will permit me, I will digress for a second.

Some years ago, I bought a Jeff Reed jersey. Everyone asked why I would do such a thing, and understandably so. I explained that I felt kickers needed more support. PATs are automatic for the most part, so about the only time anyone cares about the kickers is for field goals. Thing is, FG's only happen when the offense can't get in the end zone. If the kicker misses and they lose the game, somehow it's suddenly his fault. Not the offense's, not the defense's – the kicker. Yet, I've seen games where the only points the winning team scored were field goals – but you never see the hero kickers interviewed on the sports shows or newspaper columns.

Now, this theory is very accurate for the NFL, but not so much for the AFL. PATs are not automatic, and field goals rarely happen. In this league, there are a lot of games that a loss can be laid squarely at the feet of the kicker, and this is one of them.

In this low-scoring affair, Cleveland matched us touchdown for touchdown, but they lost by three points – all of them PATs. Matt Denny had a terrible night, and his team paid the price for it.

Morris had a hell of a night, fully winning his title of Offensive Player of the Game. He was 17-23 with 210 yards, and made something out of nothing several times – including that 40-yard dash that Keller mentioned.

On Cleveland's side of the ball, there was something Keller mentioned after the game that I think was a very good point: Cleveland seemed to be running the anti-DeWalt offense, as nearly every play seemed to be designed to make sure that it didn't go anywhere near him.

Further proving that they watched some film in Cleveland recently was the fact that Mike Washington was all but shut down this game. Only 45 yards and no touchdowns, but this gave a Willis a chance to step back into the spotlight this week. That's the key to having a go-to guy: Make sure you have a back-up go-to guy.

Another highlight was the return of Jerome Mathis. He might have only had about 30 yards as a receiver, but he accomplished more than a hundred yards on kick-returns, which was a sight to see. We've known that there was a hole in our special teams, but it was even more obvious in its absence. Special teams just clicked so much more with him back in the lineup.

Now, the defense.

Ugh...the defense was so frustrating this week. On one hand, yes, they held Cleveland to 32 points. They also forced three turnovers on downs, and had some insane hits. Furthermore, Carlos Campbell must read this blog, because he seemed shamed by Keller's comments about him. He brought it this game and showed us what he can do. During this game, I saw the defense that we have come to demand from our football teams in this town, both indoors and out.

Unfortunately, on the other hand, I also saw a lot of the defense we've been complaining about in this column. More than once during this game, great plays were called back – or not even given the chance to happen – because of stupid, stupid procedural penalties. Illegal defense and off-sides were called numerous times, and this is, frankly, too late in the season for this kind of stuff to happen. Now that we're in first place, we need to hold on to it. To do so, the Power needs to knuckle down, focus and show that they're a mature, well-rounded team.

Finally, I would like to take a chance to mention something else: Saturday night, with a crowd of over 9,000, was military appreciation night at Consol Energy Arena. On behalf of myself and Power fans everywhere, thank you to all military personnel – past, present and future.

Elsewhere in the league

• In the other divisional match-up this week, Philly pulled out a last-second win, returning the favor to Milwaukee from earlier this season and continuing to strive for a wild-card slot (no matter how unlikely it might be.)
• Tampa Bay was slammed by the Force, all but ending their season. This makes them a cornered animal next week with not much to lose when we face them.
• Friday night's featured game between Jacksonville and New Orleans was way more exciting than it should have been, with NOLA losing by only a touchdown. However, close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and dancing. The Sharks extend their streak to ten games.
• When the Chicago Rush went up against the KC Command, they absolutely crushed them. This was in no small part due to Vic Hall tying and then exceeding the league's single-season interception record by two.

If the playoffs were today

This is a new section that I will be adding each week with my review, now that we've hit that point of the season.

• National Conference first round would be Arizona vs Utah, and Chicago vs Dallas. My bet in these two games would be Arizona and Chicago winning, but the latter is a close call as Chicago is known for choking in the playoffs.
• American Conference first round would be Jacksonville vs Georgia and Pittsburgh vs Orlando. I'd really like to pick the Power in the first round, but the Preds are really tough. We'll know more after we play them. In the other game, Sharks. Hands down. They're going to win the championship this year.

What better way to end than seeing the Sparks appreciating the
military?

Power vs. Vigilantes Review: Keller's Take

First of all... wow.  Saturday's game is proof that arena football is exciting and unpredictable and that more people should watch it.  General admission tickets are only $15 and there are always tickets available on game day.  The Power play the Cleveland Gladiators on Saturday, June 4th for first place in the division.  Come out and see for yourself.  Now that I got the plug out of the way, on with the review.

I actually needed to read Weidman's review of the game before I wrap my brain around it enough to comment.  For starters, the following things happened on Saturday night:

1. The final score was 76-75.
2. Bernard Morris started out slow (9-for-19), but finished strong, with 25 completions in 40 attempts for 280 yards and seven touchdowns, adding in a 27-yard rushing touchdown for flavor.  He was also the worst quarterback on the field by far.  Dallas quarterback Dan Raudabaugh had 433 yards passing and more touchdown passes (ten) than incompletions (eight).  He was an unstoppable force in this game, but, fortunately, so was the Power offense.
3. A total of 69 points (insert joke here) were scored in the fourth quarter, with five touchdowns coming in the final minute.  Five touchdowns -- and a failed field goal attempt -- in one minute of football.
4. There were so many swings in momentum that, at some point in the fourth quarter, I stopped keeping track of the exact score and only focused on whether the Power were up by seven or tied.
5. The Power held the ball for over 35 minutes and the Vigilantes still managed to put up 75 points.

I was still buzzing about the game when I woke up the next morning.  It could just be that the wife makes an ungodly strong cup of coffee, but I'll go with the excitement of the game carrying over.

This was a huge road win against a very talented Dallas team.  With Cleveland losing to Arizona, that puts the Power at 6-4 and tied for first place in the division.  Heading into the season, I really didn't think I'd be able to type those words at any point.  After the first few games, I felt pretty confident that I wouldn't be able to type them during the 2011 season.

When Morris re-gained the starting job, I described him as being "capable."  Now that he's more comfortable with the offense and has gained the confidence to take off and run with the ball instead of holding onto it too long, I'd say he's moved into the realm of "solid."  He has Mike Washington on his side and Washington is an electric playmaker.  Washington gives the offense that "one guy" that the defense is focused on stopping, which makes everyone around him better.  Once Eddie Thompson and Jerome Mathis come back from injured reserve, we could be looking at a great offense and Morris might have a cast around him that is talented enough to raise him to the level of "very good."  But, having seen Mark Grieb play a couple of weeks ago and having witnessed the clinic that Raudabaugh put on Saturday night, I think that Morris will ultimately fall short of greatness.

With a great offense and an excellent defense -- one of the big reasons the Power let up 75 points was that Carlos Campbell had an absolutely atrocious game, but I have a feeling that he'll bounce back against the Gladiators and so will the rest of the defense -- this team has the potential to do well.  Do I think they'll go on a run and finish the season at 14-4?  No.  Do I see a trip to the Arena Bowl in their future?  I do not.  I think they're a great team and they'll most likely get to the playoffs, but they don't have the talent to go all the way.  But, I also thought this about the 2008 and 2010 versions of the Steelers, so what do I know?  There are two elite teams in the league: Arizona and Chicago.  There is one dominant force: Jacksonville.  Aside from that, you have a bunch of talented, hard-working clubs that will try their best but ultimately fall short.

Now, before I say something bad about the guy, let me say this: I think that Coach Siegfried has done a tremendous job thus far.  He has taken an expansion team that isn't incredibly talented and has struggled staying healthy at quarterback and willed them to a 6-4 record.  He has a ton of mental fortitude and determination and that has rubbed off on his players.  Now for the bad part: I think his mental fortitude makes him downright stubborn and too conservative.

I agree with Weidman's assessment of Dallas coach Clint Doelzel's decision to go for two (seriously, read his post, that's right on the money).  That was a dumb move and it will probably come back to haunt Doelzel.

I'm not saying I want Siegfried to be wildly aggressive, but he does need to go in for the fatality more often.  For example, he continued to kick away in the final minute of Saturday's game.  Conventional NFL wisdom says that's the smart move.  Make your opponent fight their way down the field and earn whatever points they get.  Conventional AFL wisdom says to onside kick, especially if your defense is gassed and couldn't stop their grandmother from catching a 30-yard touchdown pass.  If the kick succeeds, then you retain possession and get to play keep-away for a bit.  If the kick fails, then you get the ball back faster.  This turned into a shootout and Siegfried kept his gun holstered.  They continue to play conservative on offense and defense.  The past two games, the offensive game plan has been plodding and possession oriented for the most part and they have played some very lax prevent defense in the final seconds holding a lead.

I still believe in Coach Siegfried and I still think he's the man for the job.  I also see a little too much Cowher and Shottenheimer in him and that makes me uneasy now that I have an eye towards the playoffs.  But, the playoffs are still a long ways away and are certainly not assured at this point, so we might as well enjoy the ride.  

So... 151 points in one game.  Five touchdowns in the final minute.  If nothing else, it will be entertaining.

Shocking Upset:: Keller's Take

As Weidman pointed out in his review, we were both a little worried on Saturday night when we heard the announcement that Bernard Morris was going to be starting.  Actually, it was less "a little worried" and more "ah, crap, now we're sure to lose."  As it turns out, Morris played an excellent game.

You could tell that his timing was off in the first half.  He was a split-second behind his receivers, which led to a number of early incompletions.  He was at least half a second behind DJ Hall on one errant first half pass, which led to Morris' only interception.  After got settled in, he played lights out in the second half, finishing with seven total touchdowns -- five passing and two rushing.  He was the team's leading rusher with 66 yards on eight carries, including a seriously sweet 31-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

The good news is that I think he's redeemed himself for his early season struggles and I believe that he's a capable quarterback.  He's not holding the ball too long, he's learned to tuck the ball and run when he needs to, he's a more dangerous scrambler than Anthony Morelli, though Morelli has more of a blood thirsty take-no-prisoners approach when he runs with the ball, and he even showed off some arm strength on a 40-yard bomb to Jason Willis on a critical fourth quarter completion.

The bad news is that he's just capable.  He runs a bit better than Morelli and a lot better than McCabe, but there's nothing that really separates him from the pack.  He's a decent quarterback and you can win games with him, but I don't get the sense that he's a great quarterback.  It could be that I'm way off base and that he'll get way better with another week of practice under his belt.  As always when I say something negative about the home team, I hope I'm off base, but I don't think that I am.

Overall, the 11,000 or so fans that didn't show up for the game missed a great show, even if the Sparks didn't come out at halftime to dance.  The offense put up 51 points, Edinger converted a 45-yard field goal, and the defense overcame some early struggles, holding the Shock to 14 points in the second half.  More importantly, they made the big plays when they needed to.  There's the aforementioned bomb to Willis, which came on third and ten from the Power three yard line.  LaRi Stevenson intercepted a pass when Spokane was driving for the game-tying touchdown with under a minute remaining.  Edinger made the aforementioned field goal, which would have changed the complexion of the game had he missed and salted the game away given that he made it.  They avoided critical mistakes and came through with clutch plays when they needed them.  With a capable quarterback and a decent defense, they can win more than they lose if they keep that up.

Other thoughts:

1. As Weidman also mentioned, Shock receiver Greg Orton was destroying the Power secondary in the first half.  This was a direct result of the defense they were playing, which basically involved placing two members of the secondary 20 yards off the line of scrimmage and having them stand there until Orton caught the ball.  In the second half, Coach Siegfried made the adjustment of realizing that Lonnell Dewalt is very tall.  Siegfried placed Dewalt at Jack linebacker and told him to follow the quarterback's eyes.  Wherever the quarterback's eyes ended up when he started to throw, Dewalt headed quickly in that direction and jumped.  He broke up a pass early in the second half and came down with a great pass break-up that was called back for Illegal Defense.  With the secondary covering things deep and Dewalt jumping around like a mad man in the intermediate area, Spokane had to dink and dunk their way down the field until they reached the red zone, which is where the Power defense tends to step up.  This is not a fool-proof defensive strategy, but they may want to roll it out every now and again.
2. The good news is that Josh Lay should be back against the Sabercats.  He's been suspended for the past two games, according to the AFL's transactions page.  He's their best cover guy and they'll need all the help they can get against San Jose.
3. The bad news about the Lay suspension being lifted is that the Power cut Xavier Lee to make room for Lay on the roster.  Now, I'm not sure that they cut him.  The transactions page says that he was placed on something called "recallable reassignment"... which sounds downright Orwellian.  I'm not sure if that term means that he's basically been placed on waivers and will be back, or if it means that he'll be gone for two weeks and come back saying that fumbles are "double un-plus good".  My hope is that it means he'll be back without any kind of re-education.  Lee is an explosive, versatile player and the Power need him on the roster.  In fact, he should replace DJ Hall as the third receiver until Jerome Mathis gets off injured reserve.  Which brings me to my other observations...
4. First of all, this team misses Mathis and Eddie Thompson.  I found out from the transactions page that Thompson was placed on IR on 4/15 and Mathis on 4/27.  They miss Thompson and Mathis on offense and on special teams.  Willis did his best returning kicks on Saturday, but he's a filler player at best.  Mathis is the team's best deep threat and Thompson is a critical player in the red zone.  Hopefully, both players will be good to go soon, but they won't be there to help out against San Jose.
5. I don't like DJ Hall.  He dropped one pass, short-armed another when he heard footsteps, and made just enough of an effort to get to the ball that was behind him (and intercepted) so that he could say that he tried.  If he had made a serious effort to get back to the ball, he may have knocked it down and could have at least tipped it.  Both of those efforts would have avoided the interception.  Basically, put in Lee as the third receiver until Mathis is healthy, then figure out what to do with Lee.  But, cut ties with Hall.  

The Power finally won another game at home, they're at .500, and they may be starting to come together.  Hopefully they keep it together and use what they learned against the Shock when they play the Sabercats this Saturday.

Power vs. Talons Review: Keller's Take

This was a tough loss that actually wasn't as close as the score indicated.  The Power kept the score close in the first half, but they simply committed too many mistakes to stay in the game.  The Talons pulled away in the fourth quarter and the game was basically out of reach when they went up by two scores.

With the offense struggling, the defense tried to hold the line as well as they could, but it was too much to overcome.  Bottom line, you can't turn the ball over and only score 22 points and expect to win in this league.

Without Jamar Foulks to anchor the offensive line, the running game struggled.  Without Neil Purvis, the Power weren't able to get pressure on the quarterback, which hurts the secondary.  Josh Lay also went down with an injury.  His replacement left a lot to be desired, so hopefully the injury to Lay is not severe.  Terrell Herbert was playing out of position at linebacker and it showed.  He's a tremendous athlete, but he needs to keep his head in the game.  He had a couple of illegal defense penalties and that's inexcusable. 

Then there's the small matter of the Lonnell Dewalt suspension and the fact that Jerome Mathis was not available for this game.  Without his two favorite targets, Kevin McCabe struggled, started to stare down receivers, tried to force the ball to Mike Washington, and his mechanics unraveled.  Local boy Anthony Morelli chased McCabe off the field, but I'm not sure he did much better.

I'll come right out and say that I've never thought Morelli was much of a quarterback.  I never had a high opinion of him when he was at Penn State and I wasn't surprised when he didn't make much of a mark in the NFL.  This version of Morelli is different.  On the hoof, he certainly looks the part.  He's tall enough, he's bulked up and is no longer the scrawny kid that played at Happy Valley, and, at least at first, he carried himself with confidence and determination.  Then he had a couple of procedural penalties -- the receiver in motion crossed the line of scrimmage before he said "hut" -- and his confidence seemed to be eroded.  He started slouching his shoulders and pointing fingers.  It boils down to the fact that he wasn't more productive than McCabe when given his shot under center.

I'm not attached to McCabe by any means.  He showed himself to be just as capable of wilting in pressure situations as Morelli or Bernard Morris.  It's just that I at least have some evidence that McCabe can be productive in this offense when he has all his weapons at his disposal. 

With a bye this week, Mathis, Foulks, and Purvis have time to heal and Dewalt will be back from suspension.  As Weidman pointed out, Coach Siegfried has made it clear that he'll start the guy that gives this team the best chance to win.  Morris might be healthy next week.  Morelli has had some time under center and the procedural issues will work themselves out in practice.

Who gives this team the best chance to win?  With a full complement of receivers, I think it's McCabe.  Am I sure about that?  Not in the least.  I don't think that Siegfried is sure, either.  All the quarterbacks on the roster have upside, but they all have holes in their game as well.  From what I've seen, McCabe has the fewest holes and the most upside in this offense.

Looks like they have a week to figure it out.  Let's hope they make the right decision.  The current quarterback carousel is trying my patience.

Introducing Your Pittsburgh Power

First of all, there are some key differences between the Arena game and the NFL. Wikipedia did a nice job of breaking down the rules for Arena football, so I'm not going to list them all.

The big differences are the field and the clock. The field is half as long and half as wide. This means two things: It doesn't make much sense to run and there's a lot more scoring. It's harder to run in the AFL because the players aren't significantly smaller and there are still eight defenders on the field, so there just isn't as much room in which to operate. That makes it harder to create seams in the running game and to get some space between the offensive line.

Passing makes a lot more sense because there are only five guys in coverage -- the two linebackers and three defensive backs -- so the three receivers in the pattern have more room. Only one of the linebackers (the Mac linebacker) is allowed to blitz and the other linebacker (the Jack linebacker) is only allowed to operate in a five yard box until the ball leaves the quarterback's hand, so the Jack linebacker is usually not a factor in deep coverage. Throwing the ball deep is also easier in the AFL because there isn't safety help. The cornerbacks on either side of the field are really left on an island.

The sweetest rule in all of Arena football has to do with the clock and that Wiki entry kind of glosses over it. At the one minute warning, the offense needs to advance the ball in order to keep the clock moving. This eliminates teams taking a knee at the end of the first half and basically makes it so that you need at least a two touchdown lead inside of a minute to play, since the clock is not your best friend, it's your worst enemy.

The clock also tends to run a lot faster during the course of the game to speed up the action and keep the scoring to manageable numbers. That means that how teams do in the last minute of each half -- and how they manage the clock in those situations -- is critically important. It's not uncommon to see four or five touchdowns scored in the last minute of a half, especially the first half. Teams will often onside kick in an attempt to maintain possession. If the opponent recovers and scores, they get the ball back.

So, basically, regardless of down and distance and who has the ball, the last minute of a half is the absolute worst time to grab a beer or hit the bathroom.

The bad news for the Power is that they are an expansion team, which is rough in any sport. The good news is that the Spokane Shock were an expansion team last season and they won the Arena Bowl, so it is possible to climb through the ranks that quickly and win it all. The Shock were a longtime powerhouse in the af2 league before they got "called up" to the AFL, but they were still an expansion team.

The other good news is that the Philadelphia Soul are basically an expansion team, since they took the 2010 season off, and fellow division rival the Milwaukee Mustangs are only in their second year in the AFL. Kansas City, San Jose, and Denver are all expansion teams, so there is fairly equal footing in that regard.

Compared to the NFL, the AFL is a much purer brand of football. That's one of the reasons I like Arena football so much. In the NFL, the scope is larger, the paychecks are bigger, and the players and coaches are different. In the AFL, players are playing for the love of the game and leaving everything out on the field in the hopes of catching the eye of an NFL scout. They're all looking for a bigger payday, since the highest paid Arena league player still makes less than an NFL rookie making the league minimum. But, there's an extremely short list of guys that have made the move from the AFL to the NFL, so they're mostly there to play competitive football in front of cheering fans for as long as they can before they have to grow up.

Arena football is also purer in the sense that it's all about the match-ups. Since contracts in the AFL only last one year, the system needs to be designed for anyone to assimilate and execute. Since the field is considerably smaller, there are only eight players on the field, and the rules are set up to strongly favor the offense, there's only so much a defensive coordinator can do in terms of scheme to limit scoring. He needs to coach his players, help them win those individual match-ups, and put them in a position to succeed. Most of the conventional schemes in the NFL don't translate to the AFL. The Cover 2 doesn't work because the Jack linebacker isn't mobile and there's only one safety. The zone blitz isn't practical because the Mac is the only player that is allowed to blitz. Tight press coverage is impractical because there's only one safety to help over the top and he's usually responsible for covering the third receiver in motion.

Purity lies in the match-ups. The players line up across from each other and determine which side succeeds after the snap by who wins the match-up. There is no scheming or triple coverage to take away another team's best weapon. There simply aren't enough players on the field. There are no zones, no fire dogs, no isolation routes, just a bunch of guys lining up and the best man wins.

Inversely, offensive systems can't be as complicated because there isn't an opportunity to bring a group of young players slowly through a complex system until they've mastered it. Offenses need to be simple enough so that any receiver can run the patterns and any quarterback can interpret the route progressions.

With simplified systems, the players are the stars and their ability to win the one-on-one battles determine the outcome of the game. The challenge in building a team is in deciding what kind of team you want to have. The Power had the luxury of building a team from scratch and I think they made some very interesting decisions along the way.

When choosing a quarterback for an Arena team, you have two options: Immobile players with sufficient arms and nerves of steel and mobile players that can escape pressure and move around until something opens up. Pittsburgh went with mobility. Bear in mind that velocity is more important than range when you're talking about a quarterback's arm strength. The field is so short that most quarterbacks at this level can throw the ball the length of the field. The important attribute is the velocity on their throws, since the windows they throw into are smaller and the pace of the passing game is faster.

Bernard Morris, formerly of Marshall, was the first player the Power signed and should be the quarterback of the present and future. He has some experience in the AFL, but he was also used as a kick returner and wide receiver, so he has not been "the guy" since his college days. Morris could make some plays with his feet, but quarterback scrambling yardage is usually limited in the AFL because the Jack linebacker doesn't have much freedom to roam and acts as a natural spy on the quarterback. It could be that the Power intend to run an option offense on occasion, but the most important contributions from Morris will come from his right arm. As an athlete, he presents a number of challenges for a defense. As a quarterback, he will need to refine his game in order to take advantage of the challenges that the opposing defense prepares for.

On the offensive line, you basically need to go as big as possible without losing range of motion, and the Power have done that. On the defensive line, you need one massive dude in the middle and two quicker guys on the outside, and the Power have signed those kinds of players.

At receiver, you can either go big and lumbering or small and fast. The Power have chosen the latter, with smaller, quicker receivers on the roster. There's only one player on the roster -- Terry Grosetti at 6'3" that stands taller than six feet -- and the Power targeted mostly return specialists and slot receivers, including Jerome Mathis, formerly of the Houston Texans. With more of a lean, fast offense, the Power should be able to put points on the board. The challenge is always in keeping points off the board.

At linebacker, they have two guys in Chris Graham and Caleb Bostic that have a great deal of range and were tackling machines in big college programs -- Graham went to Michigan and Bostic went to Miami (Fla.).

In the secondary, they have mostly guys in their mid-20s that have some speed and awareness, and they appear to have focused on youth and local talent. Being a defensive back in a pass-happy, offense-favoring league like the AFL is a thankless job, so the Power have signed a number of players that are young, but are not too green. They have signed players that have NFL experience but have not been overly influenced by the NFL game. I think they have identified a number of gems, including former Pitt safety Josh Lay, who should be able to use his closing speed and tackling ability to make a name for himself.

Overall, the Power have taken full advantage of their biggest edge -- their proximity to quality college football teams and the player bases of those teams. In addition to Lay and Morris, they have also signed two former Penn State players in quarterback Anthony Moretti and defensive lineman Josh Gaines. They signed Gannon University product Richi Anderson and quarterback Kevin McCabe, who attended California University of Pennsylvania.

Local recruiting could turn into a tremendous advantage for the Power if the owners and players don't come to a new labor agreement in the NFL before the draft at the end of April. If they have not reached an accord at that point, NFL teams will not be able to sign undrafted free agents from this year's class. Each NFL team signs, on average, seven to eight undrafted free agents, which is a talent pool of 220-250 players between the ages of 21 and 23.

Given the close proximity of Pittsburgh to Cal U, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Pitt, Penn State, WVU, Ohio State, Marshall, Bowling Green, Kent State, Miami (OH), Mount Union, and Gannon, the opportunity to play football in front of fans while still staying close to home will be extremely attractive to young prospects from those schools. If the two sides in the NFL do not sign a Collective Bargaining Agreement by the time the draft rolls around, the Power will have a tremendous recruiting advantage over every other AFL team. If the season is going poorly for them at that point, that advantage could turn their season around.

Regardless, it should be an interesting and entertaining season of Arena football in Pittsburgh this season. I can't wait for the season opener against Philadelphia on March 11th!

Feel the Power!