Rush Hold Cards After Vegas Gamble
Jeff Sims
Friday May 6, 2005
But on Sunday, the Chicago Rush won more than just their eighth game of the season. The 63 –62 win gave them the lead in the Central Division as they hold the tiebreaker over Colorado by defeating them twice this season. The Rush now only trails Los Angeles for the division lead by a tiebreaker having lost to the Avengers two weeks ago.
Many would argue that the Rush holds the cards through the remainder of the season. They play three games against teams with sub .500 records and have been playing some of the best football in the league over the second half of the season. And with Los Angeles having a difficult schedule over the last three weeks (at San Jose, home against Las Vegas, and at Grand Rapids), the Rush are in a position to come out with the Conference title and home field advantage through most of the playoffs.
But don’t give Chicago the title just yet. Yes, they do seem to have an easy schedule, but their upcoming opposition has been playing well also.
First, they have to travel out west for the second time in three weeks to face Arizona on Friday night. Also note that Chicago has never won a game in Arizona in their five-year history.
"It has kind of been a year of firsts for us," said Rush head coach Mike Hoensee. "We plan on going in there, giving it our best shot, and coming out with a win."
Keep in mind that two weeks ago, the Rush had a rough time out west when they went into Los Angeles and had three turnovers in the first half. They had to play catch-up the rest of the game and ended up losing by three points.
The Rush offense will need to avoid a similar scenario if they plan to defeat the Rattlers on their home turf.
"Hopefully mentally we will be there," stated Hohensee. "We have to make sure that we understand what they are doing and what they will probably do to us and what we have to do there to be successful."
"They are going to try to be a spoiler team now," said QB Raymond Philyaw. "They are going to try to make sure that we don’t come into their house and beat them. But we still have to go out and play."
The Final Two
But then the schedule doesn’t get any easier. The Rush gets a home game against division rival Grand Rapids. The Rampage defeated Colorado this past week on a stellar performance by rookie QB Michael Bishop. Bishop is quick, elusive, and should break the AFL season rushing record by the end of the season.
"We have games that we should win just because of the records, the papers, and the stats," mentioned Philyaw. "But we still have to go out and play and we have dedicated ourselves as a team to do just that."
Finally, the Rush has to travel to Nashville to close the season out against the Kats. Nashville has won four of its past five games and currently is one of the hotter teams in the league.
"Nashville played three games before the game against San Jose and had eight scoreless quarters by their defense," said Hohensee. "That just doesn’t happen in arena football."
So what seems to be a piece of cake on paper may not necessarily have the sweet frosting on it that most think it does. Chicago will need to win all three of these games if they have plans to win the conference and stay home for a couple of weeks during the playoffs.
"On the schedule a few weeks back, you would have thought that this is the way that you want to end it," stated Hohensee. "But we are not the only team with those guys on our schedule. It is going to come right down to the end as it usually does. If we continue to win, we can control our own destiny"
So hold on tight the last three weeks of the season. If the Rush play their cards right, the American Conference title could be theirs as long as they have a good poker face.
Jeff has been writing for ArenaFan.com since 2004. Originally from New York, Jeff has been living in the Chicago area for the past ten years and is an avid football fanatic. He holds a BA in communications from Hofstra University in New York and a sports management certificate from Loyola University in Chicago.
