Innovative Partlow Faces Uphill Battle
Adam Markowitz
Thursday March 15, 2007
Sunday’s effort at Georgia was incredibly valiant, as the Wranglers found themselves ahead 34-33 at the 5:31 mark of the 3rd quarter with the thought of upsetting the Force for back to back years on their home turf. The Force were just too much though, as they outscored the Wranglers 27-17 from that point on giving them a hard-earned 60-51 victory.
It’s not from a lack of offensive talent, or a lack of creativity on the part of the Wranglers, both sticking points in the dismissal of Skip Foster last year. Austin spent the offseason largely becoming a faster, more athletic team.
Most notably was the trade for QB Adrian McPherson. McPherson brings a second dimension to the game, that of mobility at the quarterback position, something the Wranglers have never had. Add the return of WRs Derrick Lewis, Kevin Nickerson, and Sedrick Robinson, then throw in speedster Otis Amey. The addition of former Ironman of the Year, FB Chad Dukes to the mix, and the level of athleticism on the Wranglers offense is off the charts.
However, it is likely their least athletic signing of the offensive bunch, kicker Mark Lewis, which provided flair to the Wrangler offense against the Force. In the middle of the 2nd quarter, the Wranglers were faced with a 3rd and goal from inside the 5 yard line. Partlow trotted Lewis onto the field and had him line up in a kicking position. They direct snapped the ball to Robinson, who pushed forward for a few yards. They ran the same play on 4th and goal from the 1, this time for the score. In the 3rd quarter, they actually snapped the ball to Lewis, who attempted to throw a pass out to Dukes, but the play was negated by a penalty.
I was puzzled. Why bother putting the kicker on the field? Was this setting up a drop-kick or something? The formation was used five times in the game by the Wranglers, causing the Force to use two timeouts on defense, which I guess in itself proved to be positive enough. However, it wasn’t like this play was working that well. It never gained more than 3 yards. I was afraid that I was going to have to award Coach Partlow with a Sparky!
It may not have been effective, but it may have been genius. By putting the kicker in a kicking position, this forces the defense to line up with 4 down linemen and only 1 linebacker. A run now leaves the linebacker box with one fewer body in it, in theory making it easier to run, especially near the goal line when things are most crowded.
The trickeration didn’t stop there, though.
Partlow has pulled out all sorts of goodies from the back of the playbook that have been incredibly fun to watch. In Week 1 against Las Vegas, Partlow onside kicked after his first score, used a wide receiver option pass, and threw the ball off the nets for a touchdown.
Yesterday, we also saw Robinson have a throwback option where McPherson would have been the intended receiver. Instead, he walked into the end zone untouched for the score that opened up the 3rd quarter for the Wranglers.
I must say that it’s been exciting. It hasn’t all worked, but it’s sure been fun to watch Coach Partlow at work with the offensive weapons around him. And to think, it’s only week 2! Imagine what type of interesting plays Partlow will devise between now and the end of the season.
The problem for the Wranglers is that they play in the devastatingly difficult Southern Division. The loss to Georgia left them a game behind the Force, and a trip into Orlando next week very well could leave the Wranglers at 1-2 and behind both Georgia and Orlando by 2 games. In a conference that saw Orlando, Dallas, Georgia, and Philadelphia all look incredibly impressive early on, simply a return trip to the postseason may be a triumph for Austin.
Despite the fact that the Wranglers were beaten by two scores on Sunday, they proved that they belong by sticking around for the mass majority of the game against a team that I think is the best the league has to offer. The offense just isn’t quite there yet. McPherson has been solid (43 for 69, 549 yards, 10 total TDs and no turnovers), but his timing with receivers has not been spectacular. Derrick Lewis (9 catches, 135 yards, and 3 scores) hasn’t been the Lewis of last season yet. Robinson (12 kick returns for 209 yards) just hasn’t quite gotten that one big return yet. The offensive line (5 sacks allowed) needs to give McPherson just a split second more.
Austin just ran into a buzz saw on Sunday. As other teams will find out this season, it is almost impossible to stop the AFL’s top receiving trio of Chris Jackson, Troy Bergeron, and Derek Lee, especially since the Force offensive line has yet to surrender a sack yet. To put this in perspective, the Force have played 11 games with the trio of receivers together dating back to 2005 when the Force traded for Jackson. They have 67 touchdowns between the 3 of them in those 11 games and have never scored less than 4 times during that stretch… that’d be 97 TDs between the three of them alone over a 16 game season.
However, the Wranglers are close to that. They’re so close it’s scary. Austin is just that one or two steps away from being able to drop 65 on anyone and everyone they face. It may not happen this week and may not happen the next, but at some point this year, the Wranglers are going to have a game where they drop 70+ points and never look back. They may not win the South, but if they find their way into the playoffs, the combination of raw athleticism and the creativity of Coach Partlow will surely be a combination that no one wants to see in their way on their trip to ArenaBowl XXI.
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
