Breaking it Down - 2008 Week Eight
Andy Lopusnak
Tuesday April 22, 2008
Six road teams won in the AFL’s seventh week of 2008. The two home teams to win (Kansas City and Chicago) did so against fellow Central Division opponents and by a combined five points. Speaking of Kansas City, the Brigade won its first game of the season, while the Utah Blaze is still winless at the halfway mark. Also, Philadelphia stayed unbeaten to set up a battle of undefeated teams next week against Dallas, which had a bye this week. This and many other interesting tidbits await you in this week’s journey in the world of Breaking it Down.
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WEEK EIGHT RESULTS
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New York 66, TAMPA BAY 47
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San Jose 61, UTAH 40
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New Orleans 60, ARIZONA 36
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KANSAS CITY 55, Colorado 53
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Orlando 65, GEORGIA 62
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Cleveland 83, LOS ANGELES 69
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CHICAGO 55, Grand Rapids 52
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Philadelphia 76, COLUMBUS 55
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BYE: Dallas
WEEK EIGHT’S EIGHT GAMES FEATURED:
- Seven touchdowns scored on returns: fumble (2), interception (3) and kickoff (2).
- 2 safeties.
- Four players had 200 or more all-purpose yards.
- Seven quarterbacks had 300 or more yards passing.
- 19 players had 100 or more yards receiving.
BRIGADE WIN!!! STOP THE PRESSES!!! BRIGADE WIN!!!
It finally happened. The Kansas City Brigade finally won a game. After starting 0-6 and losing five extremely close games (all within eight points), the Brigade finally got its first elusive victory when Kansas City topped Colorado 55-53. Though Kansas City led the final nine minutes of the game, the Brigade came out victorious only after a failed two-point conversion and failed onsides kick by Colorado in the final 17 seconds of the game. This leaves Utah (0-8) as the last winless team.
D’ORAZIO DELIGHTS
When the seemly injury-prone Tony Graziani got his first start since Week Three Monday night, he left the field after just 13 snaps with yet another injury (this time, he tweaked his left knee)…so in came in the AFL’s closer, the indoor game’s Trevor Hoffman – Matt D’Orazio. The closer came in with the game tied at 28. Over the final 28:49, D’Orazio destroyed Columbus completing 15-of-19 for 167 yards with five touchdowns, no interceptions and even ran in another score. His Soul outscored the Destroyers 48-27 during that timeframe as he led Philadelphia to touchdowns in all eleven possessions.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Soul is sitting pretty at 8-0 with a Week Nine home game against the league’s last remaining undefeated team – division rival Dallas (7-0). It will be latest in a season that two undefeated teams have played each other in league history. The previous was Week Six of 2001 when the Tampa Bay Storm beat the home-standing Grand Rapids Rampage 66-41. Both teams were 5-0. It was the only 2001 home loss for the Rampage, which eventually won ArenaBowl XV that season. The Soul and Desperados have combined to win their last 25 regular season games. If Dallas does win, the team will set a league mark for most consecutive regular season wins with 16.
STORM RIDERS
After a 2-0 start to begin 2008, the Tampa Bay Storm has lost five straight contests. The last time the Storm lost five straight was to open the 2007 season. That year, the team finished 9-2 (after a 0-5 start) and hosted (but lost) a playoff game. The longest losing streak in Storm history is seven games which included that 0-5 start in 2007, plus losses in the final two games of 2006. In the Storm’s 66-47 loss to New York, the Dragons scored on their first ten possessions (the eleventh was to run out the clock). During this five-game stretch, the Storm has not forced a turnover and has a -11 turnover differential. Tampa Bay has allowed touchdowns on 21 of their last 22 defensive attempts.
TOLIVER’S STREAK ENDS, BUT HIS TEAM WINS SIXTH STRAIGHT
Orlando’s T.T. Toliver was the first player in league history to open the year with seven straight games with at least 100 receiving and 200 all-purpose yards. However, his attempt to become the first player with eight 200 all-purpose yardage games to begin the season ended in the Predators’ 65-63 win over Georgia. He finished with just 181 all-purpose yards (46 receiving, 135 in returns) and did not score a touchdown.
PREDS WIN ANOTHER CLOSE ONE
The Orlando Predators have been in last-second games in six of the last seven weeks (aside from the blow-out victory in Grand Rapids in Week Seven) and have won five of those six contests. This week, the Predators scored the game’s final 13 points, including the game-winning touchdown with five seconds left to seal Orlando’s 65-62 win at Georgia. Here’s a look at the last points and final play from each of these six games.
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FINAL SCORE
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LAST POINTS/LAST PLAY
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WEEK TWO
NO 54, ORL 53
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00:00 – 2pt conversion broken up (after Toliver 26-yard TD from Stafford)
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WEEK THREE
ORL 69, UTAH 61
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00:27 – Toliver 5-yard TD from Stafford – PAT failed
00:00 – Utah pass broken up in end zone
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WEEK FOUR
ORL 50, GEO 45
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00:22 – Gessner 23-yard TD from Stafford – 2-point pass failed
00:00 – Allison tackles Pauley at goal line
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WEEK FIVE
ORL 47, CMB 44
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00:00 – Vaughn 32-yard field goal
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WEEK SIX
ORL 57, CHI 56
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00:00 in regulation – Gessner 2-yard TD from Stafford – PAT good
10:38 in OT – Moye-Moore rushing 2-point conversion (after Toliver 14-yard TD from Stafford)
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WEEK EIGHT
ORL 65, GEO 62
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00:05 – Gessner 5-yard TD from Stafford – PAT failed
00:00 – Schroeder blocks 53-yard FG by Georgia’s Martinez
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ARBET REACHES 100 ON THE ROAD
San Jose head coach Darren Arbet won his 100th regular season game in the SaberCats’ 61-40 win over Utah. He became the fifth coach to reach this mark, but just the first to do so on the road. The previous four coaches to reach 100 regular season wins all did in at home.
GOWINS HAS GOT IT GOIN’ ON
Grand Rapids kicker Brian Gowins has made hitting the ball off the net structure an art form that has kept the 2-5 Rampage in many games this season. For the third time this season one of Gowin’s kickoffs have bounced off the iron part of the structure and into the hands of a waiting Rampage player that immediately changed the context of the game. This week, it occurred after Grand Rapids scored a TD to close the gap to 40-38 early in the fourth quarter at Chicago. After the net recovery, the Rampage quickly scored to go up 45-40, but lost when the team turned the ball over on downs at the Rush 19-yard line with 39 seconds left. Gowins could have come out for a 35-yard field goal to force overtime, but the Rampage opted to go for the win instead.
MOVIN’ ON UP
There were some major individual milestones reached in Week Eight, so here’s a brief list of each with their respective significance:
- Tampa Bay WR Lawrence Samuels surpassed 11,000 receiving yards (6th in AFL history).
- New York QB Aaron Garcia passes 39,000 passing yards (4th in AFL history).
- Kansas City WR Mike Horacek caught his 250th receiving TD (5th in AFL history).
WEEKLY NATIONAL DOMINANCE UPDATE
There were two inter-conference games this past weekend and as usual, the National Conference won both. For the season, the Nationals are 21-5 against their brothers from the American side. That’s an 80.8 winning percentage! This week there are two inter-conference contests: Utah at New Orleans and Georgia at Arizona.
WEEKLY PLAYOFF UPDATE
With the league essentially reaching its halfway mark (ten of the 17 teams have played eight games), there will be a weekly look at what the playoffs would look like if they started today. The National Conference boasts six teams all six teams with at least a .500 record, while the American Conference limps in with just two teams with non-losing records. If the last seed in the National Conference, New York, was in the Western Division; then the Dragons would be in the driver’s seat for a division championship, a playoff bye and playoff home game. Instead, New York is barely in the playoffs at this stage and could not host a playoff game in any way.
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NATIONAL CONFERENCE
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AMERICAN CONFERENCE
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SEED
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TEAM
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RECORD
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SEED
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TEAM
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RECORD
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1
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Philadelphia
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8-0
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1
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Chicago
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6-2
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2
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New Orleans
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6-2
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2
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San Jose
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4-4
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3
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Dallas
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7-0
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3
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Colorado
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3-4
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4
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Orlando
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6-2
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4
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Arizona
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3-4
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5
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Cleveland
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4-3
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5
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Los Angeles
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3-5
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6
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New York
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4-4
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6
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Grand Rapids
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2-5
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WEEK EIGHT’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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Jason Willis, NYD
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105
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8
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2
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Hank Williams, TB
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149
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10
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2
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Rodney Wright, SJS
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104
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9
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0
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Cleannord Saintil, SJS
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128
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8
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1
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James Jordan, NO
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124
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8
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4
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Trandon Harvey, AZ
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196
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13
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3
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Mike Horacek, KC
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115
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6
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2
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Ron Johnson, ORL
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122
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11
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1
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Troy Bergeron, GEO
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118
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6
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2
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Otis Amey, CLE
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208
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15
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6
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J.R. Tolver, LA
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120
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11
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4
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Timon Marshall, LA
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115
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9
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1
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LaShaun Ward, LA
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112
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8
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2
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Kenny Higgins, GR
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137
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9
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3
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Donovan Morgan, CHI
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149
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10
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4
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Larry Brackins, PHI
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134
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9
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3
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C.J. Johnson, CMB
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122
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7
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2
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Derek Lee, CMB
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138
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6
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2
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Calvin Russell, CMB
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128
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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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Brett Dietz, TB
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334
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6
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2
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Mark Grieb, SJS
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311
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5
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1
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Lang Campbell, AZ
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342
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4
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5
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Raymond Philyaw, CLE
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411
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9
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2
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Tim Hicks, LA
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378
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8
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1
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Russ Michna, CHI
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300
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5
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1
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Matt Nagy, CMB
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389
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7
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1
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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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Rodney Wright, SJS
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267
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0
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Trandon Harvey, AZ
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240
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4
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Otis Amey, CLE
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213
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6
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Timon Marshall, LA
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284
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1
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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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Billy Parker, NYD
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8.0
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1
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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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Steve Watson, SJS
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5.0
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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
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0
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Kelvin Morris, UTAH
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5.0
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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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3
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1
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Keon Raymond, NO
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8.5
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2
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0.0
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0
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0
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0
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0
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Norman LeJeune, NO
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4.6
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2
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0.0
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0
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0
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0
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1
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Alphonso Hodge, CLE
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12.0
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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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5
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0
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Bryant Shaw, CLE
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3.0
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0
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2.0
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1
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1
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0
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0
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Ahmad Hawkins, GRR
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12.5
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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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0
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0
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Dennison Robinson, CHI
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7.5
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1
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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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OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
New York quarterback Aaron Garcia completed 22-of-26 passes for 254 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions in the Dragons’ 66-47 win at Tampa Bay. Two of his four incompletions were broken up during the game. Since returning from a Week One injury, Garcia has led the Dragons to a 3-1 record.
HONORABLE MENTION: Cleveland WR Otis Amey caught 15 passes for 208 yards with six touchdowns in the Gladiators’ 83-69 win at Los Angeles. Amey has caught six TDs in each of his last two games.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Chicago defensive back Dennison Robinson was a force in the final two defensive stops in the Rush’s 55-52 win over Grand Rapids. With little more than three minutes to go, Robinson nabbed an interception off the net structure and then broke up a fourth-down pass on the next series to seal the victory for Chicago. Overall, Robinson had 7.5 tackles, an interception and three pass breakups. Prior to joining the Rush in 2006, Robinson was a member of the Rampage during the 2005 season.
HONORABLE MENTION: New Orleans jack linebacker Norman LeJeune tied an AFL single-season record for interceptions returned for touchdowns during the VooDoo’s 60-36 win at Arizona when he returned a pick 18 yards for a score early in the third quarter; it was his third interception return for a TD on the season. All of which have occurred in consecutive weeks. LeJeune finished the game with 4.5 tackles (three solo, three assists) with two interceptions returned 32 yards with on score.
IRONMAN OF THE WEEK
Cleveland FB/LB Marlion Jackson scored five touchdowns (three rushing, two receiving) and added half a tackle in the Gladiators’ 83-69 win at Los Angeles. He finished the game with seven rushes for seven yards with three scores and caught two passes for 65 yards with two additional TDs. Through seven games, Jackson leads the AFL in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns.
HONORABLE MENTION: San Jose WR/LB Jason Geathers recovered two fumbles (and returned one for a touchdown), recorded 3.0 tackles (two solo, two assists) and caught a 34-yard touchdown reception in the SaberCats’ 61-40 win in Utah. His fumble recoveries came on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter that broke open a two possession game (San Jose was leading 44-33) into a blowout.
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.
