Rattlers Lack Execution in Home Opener
Patrick Daly
Monday February 7, 2005
The first quarter of Thursday night’s matchup between the Arizona Rattlers and Orlando Predators in the Snake Pit couldn’t end quickly enough for the home team, particularly for Rattlers QB Joe Germaine, who was making his first Arena Football League start. The Predators opened strong, building a 20-7 first quarter lead and never relinquished the lead after scoring on the opening drive. The Predator win improved Orlando’s record to 2-0 and dropped Arizona to 1-1.
Germaine completed his first pass of the game, a sharp 11-yard toss to OS Siaha Burley that seemed to be a sign of good things to come, but his only other completion in the first quarter ended up in the hands of Orlando WR/LB Cory Fleming, which led to a Predators touchdown and a 13-0 Orlando lead.
Despite falling behind by a 32-7 at one point, the Rattlers battled back and got within one score at the beginning of the fourth quarter. However, the night was marked by a number of missed opportunities for the Rattlers, whether it was dropped passes, missing open receivers or giving up a costly touchdown on third and 20. While Germaine was not solely responsible for the loss, he played the veteran roll and took responsibility.
"We had opportunities throughout the game," said Germaine. "I missed some and I’ll take all the responsibility for that. I need to come out and play better."
It’s always difficult to know what to expect from a quarterback in his first start. Even with some experience in relief, this was Germaine’s first start, which is a different world even after starting in a major college program like Ohio State University. A quarterback’s mindset is generally different when he knows in the days leading up to the game that he’s starting.
"It’s been a long time since I’ve done that, but there’s no excuses," said Germaine. "We had plays throughout the whole game that I didn’t hit."
After the Thursday night game, the Rattlers have a long week to prepare for their trip to Georgia next weekend, and Germaine remains the starter at quarterback. With that extra time to prepare, the Rattlers should be in better shape when they face the Force, but it’ll require a better effort by more than just Germaine.
"We’re in the same situation that we were for this week," said Rattlers head coach Todd Shell about preparing for the upcoming week. "We’re playing with a young quarterback. We kind of let him down early. We dropped a bunch of balls. Protection missed blocks. [Germaine] made a bad throw early in the game, but he came back and did some good things. There are eight guys on the field and those eight guys have got to do their jobs, especially in a situation like this where you’ve got a young player. We just didn’t get it done."
After digging themselves into a big hole, the Rattlers we’re left at a significant disadvantage. Not only did Arizona need to score, they needed defensive stops and couldn’t wait for good things to happen. That meant pressing a little harder, which can also open your defense up for a big play or put your offense in predictable situations.
"When you’re down 26-7 it puts you in a situation where you’ve got to do things differently defensively than what you would normally do," said Shell. "We had to take chances. We gambled a little bit. They dictated the game. You can’t be successful if the other team dictates to you what you’re doing."
If there is any positive to take away from this game it’s that the Rattlers battled back, right down to the end, which is a good sign this early in the season, especially for a team that includes a lot of new faces and may take a little time to truly gel.
"You can’t coach that," said Shell. "We kept coming; we kept fighting. We’ll deal with these other things. That’s what we’re going to do this week in practice."
Starting right
After battling for a tough win over the Colorado Crush, the Orlando Predators had to work through a short week and long road trip to one league’s more intimidating venues. With all that working against them, the Predators persevered and earned a 2-0 start.
"It doesn’t get any tougher," said Orlando QB Joe Hamilton. "It feels really, really good. Against two game teams from the final four – for the Arizona Rattlers three times to the championship game. We’ve got Tampa next week, another really tough one. I’m just glad we came out here and handled our business."
After jumping out to the early lead, Orlando had to fend off a strong Rattlers comeback, but it was more due to Arizona’s resolve than the Predators getting too comfortable, especially since there enough veterans on the Orlando roster that know this game is rarely over until the final gun sounds.
"I don’t think we ever really relaxed," said Hamilton. "You’ve got to give Arizona a lot of credit for hanging in there. They’ve been in a lot of big games."
The loneliest kicker
Orlando kicker Steve McLaughlin has gotten off to a rough start in his first two games with the Predators and it may have cost him his job. Head coach Jay Gruden was quoted as saying that McLaughlin currently lacks confidence, which is a huge problem for any player, especially a kicker.
"Steve has had a great career, but right now he doesn't have any confidence," said Gruden in a team release. "We have to do something and I think Steve understands that."
McLaughlin hit only three of six extra point attempts and missed both field goal tries against Colorado in Week 1 and he fared no better against Arizona, missing two more field goals (one from over 50 yards) and hitting on only three of seven extra point attempts.
Patrick Daly has been an Arena Football League enthusiast since he first stumbled across the late-night ESPN broadcasts and has followed the Arizona Rattlers since their inaugural season in 1992. He graduated from Arizona State University with an engineering degree and is currently a member of a web development team for Direct Alliance in Tempe. Patrick currently resides in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife, son and a very large football helmet collection.
