How the West Will Be Won
Andy Lopusnak
Saturday April 26, 2008
The San Jose SaberCats enter tonight’s matchup against the Los Angeles Avengers having won 13 straight games against Western Division opponents and with a win will tie the AFL’s record for most consecutive division wins (with Tampa Bay and Iowa). This feat helped the SaberCats capture last season’s ArenaBowl championship. Both Tampa Bay (1995-96) and Iowa (1996-97) made it to the ArenaBowl in both years during their respective streaks – the Storm won the title both years, while the Barnstormers lost both seasons.
Tonight’s opponent, Los Angeles, has lost five of its last six games. Four of L.A.’s five losses have come by at least 14 points each. Looking at the stats, this game could get ugly real quick. Even the Vegas insiders believe this one will be a snoozer putting the SaberCats as 12.5 point favorites.
This season, San Jose has struggled against the National Conference, going 0-3 against three division leaders (Dallas, New Orleans and Philadelphia), but is 3-1 against its own conference. The SaberCats boast the league’s best defensive front, sacking opposing passers 14 times – Los Angeles is dead last in allowing its quarterbacks to be sacked, so expect to see Tim Hicks on his back a lot tonight. The Avengers are also the league’s worst in red-zone offense (75%), while San Jose’s offense is the best scoring 92.5% of the time. L.A.’s defense is at the bottom of the AFL with the worst passing defense, second worst total defense and allows the second-most points.
Over the last two seasons, the SaberCats have posted a 15-1 record in the second half of the season after starting a combined 8-8 in during the first half of the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The remaining eight games, including tonight, have just one team with a winning record (Orlando), so San Jose could be looking at another strong second-half surge.
At the halfway mark, the SaberCats have many players having outstanding seasons.
Quarterback Mark Grieb leads the AFL in completions (217) and attempts (323), and is on pace to extend his AFL record for consecutive 4,000-yard passing seasons. His completion percentage and passer rating are among his lowest in his career, but still rank in the top ten in the league. This is partly due to the new linebacker rule this season, which has accounted for many of his AFL-leading 12 interceptions (he had a total of 13 all of last season).
Kicker A.J. Haglund is a near shoe-in for AFL Kicker of the Year. He leads the league in: points scored by a kicker (93); field goal percentage (93.3%); PAT percentage (94.4%); field goals made (14) and field goals attempted (15). Haglund has even earned Offensive Player of the Game and Ironman of the Game honors this season despite the fact he only plays special teams.
Receiver Cleannord Saintil has already set career bests in all receiving categories and is third in the AFL in receiving yards (845), fourth in receptions (66) and seventh in all-purpose yards (974).
Defensive lineman Alan Harper leads the league in forced fumbles (four), defensive back Clevan Thomas is second in the AFL in fumbles recovered (three) and WR/KR Rodney Wright is second in kickoff return average (21.3).
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.
