New York State of Mind
Dwayne Smith
Thursday March 8, 2007
There are few positives that can be drawn from this game for the Dragons, who are playing without their franchise quarterback Aaron Garcia. Neither free agent signing, made to bolster the QB position, made much of an impact in this game as both Leon Murray and Rohan Davey led anemic offensive attacks against a fired up Desperado defensive pass rush. The Dallas dominance was also punctuated by their offensive attack that, while led by QB Clint Dolezel, was not stopped by New York. Dolezel, the second leading all-time touchdown passer in the AFL, was at the helm for eight consecutive touchdown drives, throwing for seven of them. Mercifully, Dolezel was removed in the fourth quarter with the Desperados ahead 53-0.
Shortly after this, Davey would connect with WR Mike Horacek for a 45-yard touchdown pass, accounting for New York’s only score and avoiding a dubious place in Arena Football history. Only one team has ever been shut out in the 21 year history of the AFL.
This game was an immediate and forceful wakeup call for New York, who did not see themselves as far from recapturing their division from Dallas and contending for an ArenaBowl Championship. The game, in conjunction with an oddly placed bye week after week one of the regular season, will give Head Coach Weylon Harding and his staff plenty of opportunities to right the many wrongs displayed in front of the home fans. Harding after the game admitted, “they let us know how much work we have to do.”
Also isolated by the third year head coach, were timing issues with both quarterbacks and the outstanding receiving corps fielded by the Dragons. Countless times during this game both quarterbacks missed receivers, Murray mostly under throwing and Davey mostly overthrowing. The irony of this game and the issues involved in adjusting new quarterbacks to their receivers was the QB that threw a late touchdown pass for Dallas. When Garcia got injured last season, it was Nick Browder who would come in and lead the team to an improbable playoff run. While Browder was stopped by the Dragons for New York’s first defensive stand of the game; he would eventually throw a touchdown pass in the building in which he revived his career and became a playoff tested Arena Football signal caller.
An anemic offense and porous defense will not be the formula for a championship run, but New York remains remarkably upbeat and optimistic. This was apparent in the second half of the game as defensive back Will Holder delivered an earth shattering hit, taking his man off the field, a lot like the current EA Sports commercial. Showing the dedication of the New York fan, those in the building, few left until late in the game, were brought to their feet in appreciation of the continued hustle despite being out of the game. Harding was proud of the New York fight and pride in defeat and will use that as a building block for the remainder of the season. With the early bye and the timing after such a terrible defeat, Harding said this would allow his staff to “go over every point of (the) offense.” The head coach that has only delivered playoff football in his brief tenure also vowed, “this will never happen again.”
Dwayne Smith covers Arena Football and the NFL for different web outlets along with providing a fantasy column to FantasyGMs.com. Dwayne has also been a contributor to other online and print outlets, including the Dallas Morning News. In 2003, he covered the NFL Draft from the Headquarters of the New York Jets.
