Sleeping Preds Wake up Too Late
Jason Lucas
Tuesday March 13, 2007
Someone should have told the Orlando Predators (1-1) as they forgot to show up for the first half of the game.
The Predators first half performance was so atrocious it had Preds Head Coach Jay Gruden threatening to bring in an all new offense. And who could blame him? Quarterback Shane Stafford looked lost; wide receivers Javarus Dudley, Jimmy Fryzel, and DeAndrew Rubin were not beating the Los Angeles Avengers (1-1) press coverage. The Preds offense was dead; there was absolutely no life in it whatsoever in the first half of this game.
The game got off to an awful start when Orlando’s offensive lineman Jim Sodano ruptured his patella tendon and is lost for the season. The loss of Sodano clearly affected the Predators ability to protect Stafford the rest of the game. Lineman Reggie Lee came in to replace Sodano and in the second quarter blew an assignment to run a screen pass. The pass ended up in Gruden’s hands on the bench and he fired the ball in Lee’s direction. Personally, I really am not sure why the Preds were throwing the ball in the red zone there anyway. In that possession the Predators had the ball second down and two from the four, threw three incompletes and handed the ball back to the Avengers.
With no offensive support, the Preds defense was forced to stand on their heads to keep their team in the game. Again it seemed like the defense was asleep in some instances as well. Multiple offside penalties cost the Predators yards and Avengers QB Sonny Cumbie took advantage by driving his team in for two first half touchdowns. Avengers’ fullback Lonnie Ford would fumble a handoff and the Predators would muff the recovery giving the ball back to the Avengers which gave Los Angeles new life to score another touchdown.
The one turnover the Preds did manage to force was a fumble recovery by FB/LB Marlon Moye-Moore who returned it for a touchdown only to be questionably called down by the officials at the spot of the recovery. That set up the sequence with the Predators trying to pass too much in the red zone.
Even with the horrible play in the first half by the Predators, Los Angeles was only able to take a 17-10 lead into halftime when kicker Remy Hamilton’s last second field goal was blocked by Predator DL Charles Hill.
It was more of the same tired performance in the second half. It makes me wonder if the time change and current loss of sleep is affecting the Predators. Stafford still could not find any open receivers. The play calling worked right into the hands of the Avengers’ press coverage. Also, two of the best fullbacks in the league (Kevin Nagle and Moye-Moore) were largely ignored.
Entering the fourth quarter the Preds trailed 23-17. Cumbie would find WR Rob Turner and put Orlando behind 30-17.
Then, the Predators woke up.
A quick 2:30 drive by the Predators would cut the lead to 30-24 with 12:07 to go. The defense would step up their game as well forcing the Avengers to a long fourth down in which the Avengers would come up with a huge conversion. The next play would see Cumbie throw a ground ball to WR Kevin Ingram for a 27 yard touchdown. The reason I say ground ball is that the referees blew the call completely when the pass was trapped on the turf, but the touchdown stood.
Trailing again by 13, the Predators were forced to rally one more time. Another quick drive would result in a Nagle touchdown run; however, kicker Jay Taylor missed the extra point and the Preds still trailed 37-30 going into the final minutes.
Horrible clock management by the Avengers would leave over 30 seconds remaining when kicker Remy Hamilton would line up a short field goal attempt. He would push the attempt wide right, leaving the door open for the Predators to finish a comeback.
As in every other game between these two teams has over the last five seasons, this game would come down to the final offensive play of regulation. Stafford would find Dudley for a 23 yard touchdown strike. Hamilton would miss another field goal at the buzzer which sent the game into overtime.
In overtime, the Preds go back to sleep. Apparently the fourth quarter was like waking up for a midnight snack. The Avengers would walk out of Orlando with a 44-37 victory on the strength of their sophomore sensation quarterback Sonny Cumbie.
Run The Ball
If this one stat is not very telling please let me know because it just jumped off the page at me. The Predators ran the ball four times for four yards and TWO touchdowns. Two touchdowns on four rushing attempts - it is definitely time to take some pressure off of Shane Stafford and let Marlon Moye-Moore and Kevin Nagle shoulder some of the offensive weight. It is perfectly legal in the AFL to bring in two fullbacks down in the red zone, why do the Predators not do this more often? It actually works! And if you do not think it works please ask Austin when they are in town on Friday night how a similar package has worked for them over their first two games.
Better Than That
The Predators are obviously a much better team offensively than they showed a national TV audience tonight. Shane Stafford knows this offense and he knows that with Fryzel, Rubin, and Dudley he has three of the best receivers in all of the AFL.
But Fryzel is getting over a leg injury which made him miss extensive time in practice. Defensive back Ryan Bowers saw a lot of time at receiver so one can only assume Fryzel aggravated the hamstring again. Dudley dropped some passes tonight in the end zone that could have saved the Preds from going to overtime, but he is young and lacks pressure-experience. The emergence of DeAndrew Rubin this season has been nothing short of a pleasant surprise.
The Avengers just created the blueprint for beating the Predators, if they can’t figure out how to beat press coverage. The best way to beat it is by running the post, fly and crossing routes. Stafford has to get his timing down with these guys to make those play calls successful and, of course, he needs more time to throw. These were the plays the Preds ran with the most success in the fourth quarter to get back into the game. I understand that hammer routes are the Preds bread and butter, but when a team is taking that away like the Avengers did tonight you just have to go deep more often to open that back up.
No Time to Rest
The Preds are back in action Friday night against the Austin Wranglers (1-1) who are coming off a tough road loss to the Georgia Force. Wranglers QB Adrian McPherson is returning home once again to the state where he was Mr. Football and Mr. Basketball at the same time. Expect to see a lot of running plays out of Austin when they are in short or goal-to-go situations. The Preds are going to have to get tough in the trenches.
Austin also has a very tough defense led by former Predator Damon Mason. You want to talk about seeing some tough coverage? The Preds have only three full days to recover before game day.
Jason Lucas is a part-time freelance writer based in the Orlando, Florida area. A former director of media relations with the Orlando Predators, Jason is making his return to Arenafan.com after a short stint as a public relations assistant with the UFL‘s Florida Tuskers in 2010. Lucas has followed the AFL since 1992 and began covering the Predators for Arenafan during the 2004 season. He held that position until being picked up by the Preds front office after the 2007 season. Jason‘s knowledge of arena football and love of the game is what drives him to continue covering the sport.
