Lowest Seed Wranglers Not to be Taken Lightly

Mick Cornett
Monday July 31, 2000

The Oklahoma Wranglers have suddenly become a team you don’t want to meet in the playoffs. Their record doesn’t scare you and their reputation doesn’t garner much respect, but if you’re looking for a team that is playing its best football of the season right now, look no further.

Tough defense? You bet. In fact, it’s outstanding. The Wranglers have developed an attack that relies on the secondary to cover the short stuff and a tough pass-rush that makes it difficult for a quarterback to hang in there and wait for someone to get open deep. How tough was the pass rush against New England in the first round of the playoffs? How’s this: the linemen had two interceptions by themselves.

Want to run? I hope you are talking about running for public office, because you surely aren’t going to run on the Wranglers. New England tried four running plays last week and gained a total of two yards.

Daron Alcorn has had an inconsistant season but played well against New England Image courtesy of Drew Kennedy

What about the offense? Well, Ron Lopez threw for six touchdowns against the Sea Wolves for his best outing since May but the loss of offensive specialist Carlos Johnson is a big blow. Wes Caswell is taking his spot on the roster; and while Caswell has great speed and the complete respect of his teammates and coaches, he simply doesn’t have Johnson’s hands or experience. Lopez will have to spread the ball around to keep the opposing teams honest.

The special teams remain a concern. Kicker Daron Alcorn was ‘on’ last week but he’s been inconsistent. The kickoff unit typically has trouble whenever they meet one of the league’s top kick-returners, and in the playoffs, that’s just about every week. Last week, New England’s Anthony Derricks returned one kick for a touchdown and had another called back by a penalty.

This week the Wranglers meet San Jose in the Arena Football League quarterfinals. San Jose is the number one seed and has won nine games in a row since losing to Oklahoma and Arizona in weeks two and three. That Wranglers game with the SaberCats, played April 21st in the Myriad, was a classic that Wrangler fans will remember for a long time. Oklahoma won the game 68-64 by stopping San Jose with a game-ending goal-line stand. The contest had 13 lead-changes.

Oklahoma is one of only two teams to beat San Jose this season. Image courtesy of Jeff Marshall

Three weeks later, the SaberCats got revenge with a 37-30 win in San Jose. While both games could have gone either way, the SaberCats won their game without star offensive specialist Steve Papin who was injured. He’s played every other game this year.

No question the Wranglers will be underdogs when they take the field against San Jose, but there is also no question the SaberCats would be better off playing someone else.

Game Facts—Kickoff is set for 8pm Oklahoma time Friday Night. Radio-Sports Animal (104.9 FM, 640 AM), Television-TNN.

 

The opinions expressed in the article above are only those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts, opinions, or official stance of ArenaFan Online or its staff, or the Arena Football League, or any AFL or af2 teams.

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Tough Run to Playoffs for Wranglers 7/11/2001
Wranglers Can`t Start Winning Streak 6/26/2001
Lopez Ties TD Record 6/19/2001
Wranglers Losing Style is Baffling 6/11/2001
Wranglers Mid Season Report Card 6/6/2001
A Perfect Game Makes for Wranglers Win 6/3/2001
Phantoms Demolish Wranglers 5/21/2001
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