Breaking it down – 2008 Week Three
Andy Lopusnak
Tuesday March 18, 2008
With Week Three of the 2008 Arena Football League season in the books, here are some breakdowns of this past week’s AFL action based on interesting statistical and historical notes, weekly leaders and other things from each game.
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WEEK THREE RESULTS
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Chicago 64, GRAND RAPIDS 35
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ORLANDO 69, Utah 61
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GEORGIA 58, Los Angeles 34
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Cleveland 59, COLUMBUS 57
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SAN JOSE 63, Arizona 43
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PHILADELPHIA 63, New York 42
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NEW ORLEANS 76, Tampa Bay 55
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DALLAS 51, Colorado 40
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WEEK THREE’S EIGHT GAMES FEATURED:
- Ten touchdowns scored on returns: fumble (1), interception (3), kickoff (1), missed field goal (1) and net recovery (4).
- Three safeties.
- The home team won six of the eight contests – the two home losses were by winless teams: Grand Rapids and Columbus.
- Two players with at least 30 rushing yards.
- Three players had 200 or more all-purpose yards.
- Five quarterbacks had 300 or more yards passing.
- 15 players had 100 or more yards receiving.
TEAMS GETTING FIRST WIN
Orlando and Georgia won their first games of the season. These Southern Division rivals got their first 2008 victories against American Conference teams from the Western Division.
TEAMS STILL WINLESS
Four teams remain winless after the league’s first three weeks: Columbus (0-3), Grand Rapids (0-2), Kansas City (0-2) and Utah (0-3). Three weeks into last season there were three winless teams: Arizona (0-3), New York (0-2) and Tampa Bay (0-3). Hope is not lost for these teams this season. The Storm made the playoffs after starting 0-5 and ending the season 9-2. Back in 2000, the Buffalo (now Columbus) Destroyers began 0-8 before slipping into the playoffs.
EVEN MORE NATIONAL PRIDE
The National Conference continues to dominate its brothers in the American Conference and has won seven of nine games so far this year. This week, it was a complete sweep of three inter-conference matchups: Orlando beat Utah; Georgia defeated Los Angles and Dallas was victorious against Colorado. This might bode well for the National Conference that has never won an ArenaBowl that either Tampa Bay or Orlando has come out with the Foster ArenaBowl Trophy.
EASTERN PROMISES
The only three teams left unblemished are from the Eastern Division: Cleveland (3-0), Dallas (3-0) and Philadelphia (3-0). Last year at this time, there were three undefeated teams: Dallas, Georgia and Philadelphia – all three made the playoffs, but none appeared in the ArenaBowl. The last time a team that started 3-0 or better and won the ArenaBowl was the 2004 San Jose SaberCats – the last three ArenaBowl champions have started 1-2. This is the second straight 3-0 start for Philadelphia and Dallas; and the first 3-0 start for the Gladiators. The Gladiators franchise dates back to 1997 when it was originally the New Jersey Red Dogs before becoming the Gladiators in 2001, then moving to Las Vegas prior to 2003 and settling in Cleveland this past offseason.
RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE
In a classic old-school AFL battle, Utah and Orlando forgot to play defense and racked up 130 total points with seven ties and two lead changes. The game featured 54 total first downs, 20 penalties, 13 passing touchdowns and four 100-yard receivers. Combined both teams were 10-of-12 on third downs, a perfect 2-for-2 on fourth down and scored touchdowns on all 12 red-zone possessions. Touchdowns were scored on 19 of 22 possessions (Orlando fumbled the ball away once, Utah missed a 50-yard field goal as time expired in the first half and Utah’s final drive ended when Joe Germaine’s pass into the end zone fell incomplete). Orlando won the game on a five-yard TD pass from Shane Stafford to T.T. Toliver with 27 seconds left in the game.
OHIO GLORY
When the Cleveland Gladiators and Columbus Destroyers played Saturday night in the state’s capital, it was the first Ohio-only AFL game since the summer of 1993 when the Cincinnati Rockers beat the Cleveland Thunderbolts 42-34 in the Queen City. How times have changed. In that 1993 game, the quarterbacks for both teams were a combined 25-of-62 (40.3%) for 327 yards with five TDs and an interceptions. Columbus QB Matt Nagy ALONE completed 24-of-35 for 351 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions. Back in 1993, the running game was a lot more prevalent, but 15 years later Columbus and Cleveland combined for 97 rushing yards and four ground scores. In that last Buckeye Battle, those teams combined for 59 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
PHILLY LOSES ITS HEART AND SOUL
Philadelphia quarterback Tony Graziani was injured in the Soul’s win over New York. He is expected to miss three to four games: this Thursday at Los Angeles, March 29th vs. Tampa Bay, April 5th vs. Utah and April 12 at San Jose. Last season, Graziani was hurt at the beginning of the Soul’s sixth game of the season. At the time, Philadelphia was 4-1, but dropped its next five without him. Graziani has been sidelined with injuries in eight games from 2006-07 – the Soul is just 1-7 in those games. He will be replaced by Matt D’Orazio, who was the MVP of ArenaBowl XX with Chicago, but was released in the offseason because of back injury.
RETURN OF INVESTMENT
New Orleans’ Wendall Williams had the first kickoff return for a score this season on the first kickoff of the season. This weekend, he became the first player this year to return a missed field goal for a touchdown in the VooDoo’s 76-55 win over the Storm. Additionally, he had two touchdowns within eight seconds. First he grabbed a 15-yard TD with eight seconds left in the first half. Then he added the MFG return as the half ended after Tampa Bay kicker Seth Marler missed a 58-yard field goal attempt.
“T” IT UP
Orlando receiver T.T. Toliver has began the 2008 season with three straight games with at least 200 all-purpose yards or more. It is just the second time in league history that this has occurred. The previous was when Lamont Cooper opened the season with seven games with 200 or more all-purpose yards with the Oklahoma Wranglers. Cooper’s 3,459 all-purpose yards that year rank as the second-most in league history. Back then, the AFL played 14 games. Cooper’s average would have given him 3,953 projected out to 16 games, which is almost 300 yards more than the current league record (3,669 by Antonio Chatman in 2003 with Chicago). The 3,000-yard threshold has only been passed eight times in league history. Though the season is just three weeks old, Toliver is on pace for 3,787.
“WE GONNA PARTY LIKE IT’S YOUR BIRTHDAY”
Orlando quarterback Shane Stafford turned 32 Saturday night, but gave the best present to the Jungle faithful after completing 75% of his passes for 285 yards with six touchdowns. He was not sacked, did not lose a fumble or throw an interception. His passer rating was 141.3 – the highest you can get is 158.3.He ended the game 17-21 for 206 yards and five scores with a passer rating of 147.1.
BEST OF TIMES, WORST OF TIMES
The Utah Blaze is the only team in the AFL to score 60 or more points in all three games this season. Sadly, the Blaze is also the only team to allow 60 or more points in each contest. If both averages were projected over the rest of the season, the Blaze would set new AFL records for points scored and points allowed. Utah has lost all three games this season by a combined 12 points. The only team in league history to lead the league in scoring and give up the most points was the 2001 New York Dragons that featured Aaron Garcia who became the first QB in professional sports history to toss 100 or more TDs in a single season that year. New York outscored the next best scoring team by 67 points (San Jose) and gave up 25 more than the worst team in points allowed (Houston).
UTAH 2008 RESULTS
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WK
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FINAL SCORE
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1
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LOSS – 63-62 vs. ARZ
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2
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LOSS – 66-63 at CLE
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3
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LOSS – 69-61 at
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ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS
Over the last two weeks, the Utah Blaze became just the second team in league history to have a trio of receivers post back-to-back games with at least 100-yards receiving. The other was Georgia’s Troy Bergeron, Derek Lee and Chris Jackson who did it last year.
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PLAYER
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WEEK 2 AT CLEVELAND
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WEEK 3 AT ORLANDO
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Aaron Boone
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10 recept. 127 yds 2 TDs
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12 recept. 117 yds 2 TDs
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J.J. McKelvey
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11 recept. 131 yds 3 TDs
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11 recept. 111 yds 5 TDs
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Huey Whittaker
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8 recept. 116 yds 3 TDs
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11 recept. 130 yds 0 TDs
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DERAILED
Friday night, the Rush beat the Rampage 64-35 in what may very well be the first corporate partnered rivalry – the Amtrak Classic. Chicago won the most lopsided game of the week without the services of Sherdrick Bonner, who missed the game due to the birth of his first child. The game was sold out. Grand Rapids has now lost its last five games when there’s at least 10,000 people packed in Van Andel Arena, the league’s smallest venue. The Rampage’s last win in front of the packed house was almost five-years ago when the Rampage topped Chicago 48-34 on March 29, 2003. Overall, the Rampage has 17 home contests in from of 10,000 or more but has won just six of those games. Chicago has played in three of these sellouts and has a 2-1 advantage.
DAILY DOUBLE
The Force has had two 100-yard receivers in each of its first three games. Overall, Georgia as had four different players post at least one 100-yard game. Troy Bergeron has three of those 100-yard games.
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GEORGIA’S 100-YARD RECEIVERS
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PLAYER, TEAM
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YARDS
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RECEPTIONS
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TOUCHDOWNS
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Brent Holmes, Week 1
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156
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8
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3
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Troy Bergeron, Week 1
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130
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9
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1
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Troy Bergeron, Week 2
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138
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12
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2
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Carl Morris, Week 2
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133
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13
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3
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Troy Bergeron, Week 3
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151
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7
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3
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Charles Pauley, Week 3
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134
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10
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2
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HEY “YAW”
With the Gladiators posting a win over Columbus, the team has surpassed its win total for the entire 2007 season. The difference? Two words: Raymond Philyaw. Cleveland snagged Philyaw from Kansas City in free agency and after looking at his track record, it’s no wonder the Gladiators wanted him. Philyaw has led his three previous teams to the playoffs in every season as a starting QB and increased win totals for his previous two teams in his first year with each. In his first season at Indiana and Chicago, he led both to the semifinals before losing to the eventual ArenaBowl champions both years.
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TEAM
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PREVIOUS YEAR
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1st YEAR WITH PHILYAW
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DIFFERENCE
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Cleveland
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2-14
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3-0
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+1 (so far)
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Kansas City
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3-13
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10-6
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+7 Wins, Playoffs
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Chicago
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8-8
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11-5
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+3 Wins, Playoffs
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Indiana
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9-5
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9-5
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No difference, Playoffs
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THE LONG BALL
Arizona QB Jeff Smoker’s 49-yard touchdown pass to Atnaf Harris at San Jose tied the league record for the longest offensive play from scrimmage. It was the 31st time in league history that a QB has tossed the longest possible offensive play. The last was by Georgia’s Chris Greisen to Troy Bergeron at Austin last June.
KICKIN’ IT OLD SCHOOL
San Jose kicker A.J. Haglund has made all 28 scoring kicks this season (seven field goals and 21 extra points). His 42 points scored lead the league among all kickers. In fact in this weekend’s win over Arizona, Haglund was named Offensive Player of the Game despite the fact he does not play a snap of offense. He set a team record with four field goals made and 19 kicking points.
ARENABOWL XXII CHAMPS – ARIZONA???
Well, if recent history repeats itself, then the Arizona Rattlers could be ArenaBowl XXII champions because the winner of the past two ArenaBowls has lost in the first home game of the defending ArenaBowl champion. Last season, the SaberCats lost to Chicago when the Rush unveiled its 2006 championship banner. The year before, the Rush lost to the Crush when they did the same after the 2005 ArenaBowl. Also, through three games each championship season, Chicago, San Jose and now Arizona started 1-2 on their way to the ArenaBowl.
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DEFENDING YEAR
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1st HOME GAME
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THAT SEASON’S CHAMPION
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2008 – San Jose
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WON – 63-43 vs. Arizona
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Arizona???
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2007 – Chicago
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WON – 48-45 vs. San Jose
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San Jose
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2006 – Colorado
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WON – 65-55 vs. Chicago
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Chicago
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IT’S GOOD TO BE THE CHAMPS
With San Jose winning its home opener against Arizona, the defending ArenaBowl champion has won its first home game of a title-defense season 20 of the league’s 22 seasons. The only two losses were by the Tampa Bay Storm (1994 – a 44-39 loss to the Charlotte Rage) and the Orlando Predators (2001 – a 38-25 loss against the Florida Bobcats). The first ArenaBowl champion, the Denver Dynamite, did not play in 1988 but won its first game when the team came back into the league in 1989.
CRUSHED
Colorado QB John Dutton had one of his finest first half performances and followed it up with perhaps his worst. In the first half, he completed 11-of-11 of his passes and began the third quarter with four more completions before ending the game six-of-15 with three interceptions. When he was 15-of-15, the Crush was leading 26-24 but ended up losing 51-40.
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STARTED
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CATEGORY
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ENDED
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15
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Completions
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6
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15
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Attempts
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15
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153
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Yards
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54
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3
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Touchdowns
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1
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0
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Interceptions
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3
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148.8
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Passer Rating
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27.2
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0
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Times Sacked
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1
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“PET” ROCKS
It was a tale of two halves for Will Pettis and his Desperados Monday night. At halftime against Colorado, Dallas trailed 20-17 and Pettis was used primarily as a possession receiver with six grabs for 58 yards. In the final 30 minutes, the Desperados outscored the Crush by 14 with Pettis catching six passes for 80 yards and four touchdowns. He also posted an interception and a tackle in the second half.
REST NOT WORTH IT?
The two teams to play games after a bye week this season (Grand Rapids and Colorado) are a combined 0-3 since having their respective off week. Kansas City had a bye in week three and plays Grand Rapids this week. Tampa Bay has a bye this week. The combined record of the three teams that have had their bye so far this season is 1-5 – Colorado (1-1), Grand Rapids (0-2) and Kansas City (0-2).
NEW BRIGADIER GENERAL IN KC
Even though the Kansas City Brigade didn’t play this week, the team makes this week’s news because it has benched starting quarterback John Fitzgerald in favor of backup Matt Kohn. He will make his first start this Monday when the Brigade the Grand Rapids Rampage in a battle of two winless teams. Kohn attended an open tryout for the Rampage prior to the 2007 season. In fact, if you visit the tryout page on RampageFootball.com, you will see a photo of Kohn throwing the ball. After a training camp with the Rush in 2007, Kohn ended up with the Nashville Kats and backed up Jeff Smoker. The Adrian, Michigan native was the 2006 Offensive Player of the Year in the United Indoor Football League with the Ohio Valley Greyhounds.
WEEK THREE’S TOP STATISTICAL PREFORMANCES
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100-YARD RECEIVERS
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PLAYER, TEAM
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RECEIVING YARDS
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RECEPTIONS
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TOUCHDOWNS
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Hank Edwards, TB
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189
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12
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5
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Timon Marshall, LA
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172
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9
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3
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Derek Lee, CMB
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171
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11
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3
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Troy Bergeron, GEO
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151
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7
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3
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Will Pettis, DAL
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138
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12
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4
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Charles Pauley, GEO
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134
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10
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2
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Huey Whittaker, UTAH
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130
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11
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0
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Larry Brackins, PHI
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118
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8
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2
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Aaron Boone, UTAH
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117
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12
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2
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Damian Harrell, CHI
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114
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8
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2
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Anthony Hines, GR
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114
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8
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1
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T.T. Toliver, ORL
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113
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9
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3
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James Jordan, NO
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112
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7
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4
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J.J. McKelvey, UTAH
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111
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11
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5
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Cleannord Saintil, SJ
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110
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6
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2
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300-YARD PASSERS
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PLAYER, TEAM
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PASSING YARDS
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PASS TDs
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INTERCEPTIONS
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Chris Greisen, GEO
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366
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7
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0
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Joe Germaine, UTAH
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363
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7
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0
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Sonny Cumbie, LA
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317
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5
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1
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Matt Nagy, CMB
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351
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7
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0
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Brett Dietz, TB
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328
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5
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2
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30 YARDS OR MORE RUSHING YARDS
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PLAYER, TEAM
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RUSHING YARDS
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RUSH TDs
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Harold Wells, CMB
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48
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1
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Marlion Jackson, CLE
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42
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2
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200 YARDS OR MORE ALL-PURPOSE
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PLAYER, TEAM
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ALL-PURPOSE
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TOTAL TDs
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Otis Amey, CLE
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238
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3
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Timon Marshall, LA
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219
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2
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T.T. Toliver, ORL
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217
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2
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DEFENSIVE LEADERS
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PLAYER, TEAM
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TACKLES
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INT
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SACKS
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FF
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FR
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PBU
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DEF TD
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DeJuan Alfonzo, CHI
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8.0
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0
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0.0
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0
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1
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0
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0
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Eddie Canonico, LA
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13.0
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0
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0.0
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0
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0
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1
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0
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Marquis Floyd, SJS
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6.0
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1
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0.0
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1
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0
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1
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0
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Damon Mason, ORL
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8.5
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0
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0.0
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1
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0
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0
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0
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Eddie Moten, PHI
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6.0
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0
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0.0
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0
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0
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3
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0
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Cam Newton, GEO
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3.5
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1
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0.0
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0
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1
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1
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0
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Gabe Nyenhuis, PHI
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3.5
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0
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2.0
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1
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0
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0
|
0
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Bobby Perry, DAL
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2.0
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2
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0.0
|
0
|
0
|
0
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0
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Dennison Robinson, CHI
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6.5
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1
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0.0
|
0
|
0
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0
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1
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Michale Spicer, NO
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3.0
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0
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3.0
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0
|
0
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3
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0
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Clevan Thomas, SJS
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4.5
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1
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0.0
|
0
|
1
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3
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0
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Steve Watson, SJS
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7.0
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0
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2.0
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0
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0
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1
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0
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C. Weatherington, DAL
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2.0
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0
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2.0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Seventeen seconds into the Utah-Orlando, receiver T.T. Toliver scored the game’s first points on a 54-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, then ended the game’s scoring in a five-yard touchdown catch with 27 seconds left to give the Predators their first game of the season 69-61 over the Blaze. Toliver posted his third straight game with at least 200 all-purpose yards. He ended with 217 all-purpose yards and four total touchdowns (nine receptions for 113 yards with three receiving touchdowns and five kickoff returns for 104 yards and a TD).
HONORABLE MENTION: Tampa Bay receiver Hank Edwards led all receivers this week with 12 catches for 189 yards and five touchdowns in the Storm’s 76-55.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
San Jose defensive back Clevan Thomas posted 4.5 tackles, broke up three passes, intercepted a pass and returned a fumble 16 yards for a touchdown in the SaberCats’ 63-43 win over Arizona. Thomas recorded the first three tackles of the game and broke up a pass in the end zone on third down all on the first Rattlers’ drive, which resulted in no points. Then on the first drive of the second quarter, Thomas returned a fumble 16 yards for a score. The score was San Jose 10, Arizona 7 before the Thomas’ fumble return. Two possessions later, Thomas intercepted pass in the end zone on fourth down. Arizona was scoreless in the second quarter.
HONORABLE MENTION: San Jose linebacker Steve Watson led the SaberCats with 7.0 tackles and two sacks. Additionally, he blocked a field goal attempt in the third-quarter that squirted out of the back of the end zone for a safety. Watson also broke up a pass.
IRONMAN OF THE WEEK
Dallas WR/DB Will Pettis was a force in the second half of the Desperados’ 51-40 win over Colorado. In the first half, last season’s Ironman of the Year posted six grabs for 58 yards. In the second half, he tallied six additional grabs, but four of them went for touchdowns. He also got an interception and tackle in the final 30 minutes. Overall, Pettis finished the game with 12 receptions for 138 yards with four touchdowns; two kickoff returns for 21 yards; one tackle and a 29-yard interception return.
HONORABLE MENTION: Chicago WR/LB DeJuan Alfonzo had a two-yard rushing touchdown and had a five-yard net recovery for another in the Rush’s 64-35 win over Grand Rapids. Alfonzo also led all defenders with 8.0 tackles (six solo, four assists).
Andy Lopusnak is an 11-year AFL front office veteran, spending time with the Tampa Bay Storm, San Diego Riptide and Grand Rapids Rampage. He works as a statistician for NFL and college sports for CBS Sports and is a freelance photographer. Lopusnak received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of South Florida and has been a fan of ArenaBall since its inception.
