Billy Dicken Should be the Starter
Kevin Sheller
Wednesday February 19, 2003
Head coach Mike Hohensee came to the same conclusion last week against Indiana. And at the end of the first half, the decision looked questionable after an interception and a turnover on downs – both on the Firebirds’ goal line. Still, the Rush was only down by one point. But in the second half, the 6’6” quarterback threw only one touchdown pass before throwing a crucial interception that was returned for a score.
Under Salisbury, the Rush offense only managed three touchdowns against a Firebirds defense that had been scorched for 54 and 57 points in the two weeks prior, and one of those teams was last year’s 1-13 Detroit Fury. To make matters worse, Salisbury and the offense would have won by only scoring a total of four touchdowns. An opportunity like that doesn’t happen very often in Arena Football, and yet Salisbury and company found a way to lose, 28-23.
“I feel like I let a lot of people down with the interceptions and a couple of bad reads,” said a forlorn Salisbury after the game. “Coach asked a lot of those guys in there to believe in somebody when he made a quarterback change – to believe in me when we’re winning by two points, with the ball. I made some stupid mistakes that cost my team.”
There were still seven minutes remaining when Indiana returned Salisbury’s pick for a touchdown. The time was right for last year’s starter, Billy Dicken, to rally and give his Rush the victory. But instead, Salisbury returned to the field and proceeded to squander all of those seven minutes, an eternity in Arena Football, without a score. You can’t do that in the AFL and expect to remain the starter.
“Salisbury is a proven winner in this league,” said head coach Mike Hohensee after the loss.
Not in this case. He proved that even against a softer defense than in previous weeks, and 7:12 to play, Salisbury couldn’t find a way to score a single point.
Nonetheless, Salisbury is not a terrible quarterback. There are some things the Buffalo graduate can do, and do well. Most notably is his ability to look off his intended receiver until the decision to strike, where he can often deliver a precision pass. But if his intended receiver is covered, Salisbury, when left to his own devices, makes poor decisions. He doesn’t throw the ball away when he should. He takes too long to hit the open man. And he tries to force plays when nothing is there. Usually these flaws lead to incompletions -- sometimes, to interceptions.
“I should have chucked it into the stands,” said Salisbury of his interception in the end zone. “I tried to make a bad play better, but I ended up making it worse. I shouldn’t have tried to force the ball.”
The worst part of all this (or the only positive, depending on your point of view) is that the defense allowed only two offensive touchdowns for the entire game. They shut out the Firebirds offense in the second half. They allowed only 140 yards passing total.
Until week three, the defense had been struggling with the invasion of yet another mismatched defensive specialist in DS Anthony Derricks. But they have finally returned to the right man.
Yes, DS Marvin Taylor is back with DS Cedric Walker and WR/DB Dameon Porter. This group of three had a special bond at the end of last season, and has returned to their post-season form against an offense that scored no less than 65 points in the first two games of the season.
So, ultimately, the Chicago Rush was primed for their first win of the year. The defense got their dominance back, and gave the team more than a chance. So what happened to the offense?
They started the wrong quarterback.
Start Billy Dicken, and the team wins -- he could even lead the team to victory against Los Angeles this week. Start Salisbury, and the best defense in the world won’t matter. Salisbury is a fine backup, and he will doubtlessly perform well when he’s needed to fill in. But Dicken should be the starter.
Hohensee figured out that Marvin Taylor was the right man for the second DS spot. So it stands to reason that the coach will start Dicken again. The question remains -- How many more losses will it take?
Kevin Sheller ia founder of Arenafan Online and was the principal owner until 2004. Kevin graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in technical writing, and has been a member of the Arena Football Internet community since 1993. He has worked as a professional web programmer and is also the executive producer for a computer/video game company. The most recent Xbox title to his credit is called Hunter: The Reckoning.
