Rush Attacked by Kats; Sippio not the Answer
Jeff Sims
Thursday May 24, 2007
There was a mauling last Saturday night at the Allstate Arena and the Chicago Rush were the victims.
The Nashville Kats came into town and handed the Rush their second straight loss with a 44 – 27 pounding of the defending champions.
The Rush lacked the intensity that they had during their eight game winning streak earlier this season. The Kats were methodical in their ball control and were able to control the game from start to finish.
Kats FB Dan Alexander was the guy doing most of the damage as he carried the ball an un-AFL like 17 times for 71 yards and two touchdowns. At times, he appeared to be unstoppable.
His first attack came on Nashville’s second possession as he took the ball and ran 25-yards for his first touchdown of the game that gave the Kats an early lead.
“Coach told us that we just needed to go out there and physically dominate them,” said Alexander. “(Chicago) is a tough team and we have allowed teams to beat us with a finesse game. We are a strong, physical team and we need to go out there and beat other teams with our strength.”
Nashville just simply wanted this game more than the Rush and it showed. They are sitting on the fence for playoff positioning and needed this win to remain in the hunt for a postseason spot.
After a tough game against Dallas in which their offense looked effective, the Chicago offense struggled in the second half and mainly in the fourth quarter. Rush QB Matt D’Orazio completed 17 of 19 passes through the first three quarters and was able to keep the Rush in the game as they only trailed by three points to start the fourth quarter. They would not score again for an entire quarter for only the second time this season as D’Orazio would only go 4-11 to finish the game.
“I was disappointed,” said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “It didn’t seem like we executed very well at anything. The executed well and we didn’t make plays.”
Many other media outlets since the game have noted the absence of Rush wide receiver Bobby Sippio due to an ankle injury and how if the Rush had Sippio for this game, the outcome may have been different.
Also note that the Rush were without DB Jonathan Ordway, who is out for the remainder of the regular season with a torn bicep and OL John Sikora, who was out with a hamstring injury.
While Sippio is a tremendous athlete and one of, if not the best, wide receivers in the game, he would not have won the game for the Rush. There is only so much one player can do for his team. It still takes a team effort to win games in this league.
Bobby Sippio would not have stopped Dan Alexander.
Bobby Sippio would not have defended passes.
Bobby Sippio would not have made tackles.
Bobby Sippio would not have protected QB Matt D’Orazio. The rush offensive line gave up two sacks, one safety, and a blocked kick.
“They ran the ball hard, we had guys in the hole to make the play, but they still got the yardage,” stated Hohensee. “Our defensive staff did a good job game planning for this game. We just didn’t make the plays.”
Don’t be surprised if Sippio does everything within his power to make sure that he plays this Saturday as the Rush travel to Arizona to play the Rattlers. The Rush are 0 -6 in their history against Arizona.
His presence won’t matter unless D’Orazio has time to get him the ball and the Rush defense plays up to their overall number three ranking.
