Breaking it Down - 2008 Week Eleven
Andy Lopusnak
Wednesday May 14, 2008
Welcome to Bizarro World AFL – the once mighty undefeated Philadelphia Soul has lost two straight, while the once pitiful winless Utah Blaze has won two straight. An eight-win team is in the playoffs, while two nine-win teams are not. These and many other weird and wonderful things about Week Eleven will be showcased in this week’s edition of Breaking it Down.
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WEEK ELEVEN RESULTS
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CLEVELAND 62, Orlando 43
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TAMPA BAY 41, New Orleans 37
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San Jose 63, ARIZONA 42
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KANSAS CITY 59, Columbus 43
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DALLAS 65, Grand Rapids 54
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UTAH 71, Colorado 36
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New York 52, LOS ANGELES 48
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GEORGIA 63, Philadelphia 62
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BYE: Chicago
WEEK ELEVEN’S EIGHT GAMES FEATURED:
- Seven touchdowns scored on returns: fumble (3), interception (1), kickoff (1), missed field goal return (1) and net recovery (1).
- One safety.
- Two players had 200 or more all-purpose yards.
- Four quarterbacks had 300 or more yards passing.
- 16 players had 100 or more yards receiving.
WHAT A PEACH!
The Force was down by 21 with less than three minutes left in the game to Philadelphia, but won thanks to three Georgia touchdowns and a two-point conversion; plus the Soul’s two missed field goals, including a chip-shot 20-yarder by kicker Connor Hughes.
DOLEZEL REACHES NEW HEIGHTS
Dallas QB Clint Dolezel became the first player in pro football history to eclipse the 900 passing TD plateau in the Desperados’ 65-54 win over one of his former teams (Grand Rapids). His 901 career passing scores are more than the totals for the all-time leaders for the other two major pro football leagues COMBINED. Brett Favre had 442 in his NFL career, while Damon Allen has 394 in the CFL. They have a combined for just 836 passing TDs.
PLAY IT AGAIN SAM
Tampa Bay WR/LB Lawrence Samuels has earned ArenaFan.com Two-Way Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks and had another strong effort in the Storm’s shocking 41-37 win over New Orleans. In addition to his eleven catches for 111 yards with two touchdowns and 3.0 defensive stops (two solo, two assists), Samuels set the league record for most consecutive games with a catch (129), a record that dates back to the 2000 season opener.
FIRE-BREATHING FOOTBALL IS BACK
After a 1-4 start, the New York Dragons have won five straight and are the hottest team in the league thanks to the re-emergence of Aaron Garcia. Since 2006, Garcia has been hampered with injuries that limited his playing time and as a result, the Dragons dropped from the radar as an offensive power and dominating force in the National Conference’s Eastern Division. In these five wins, Garcia has completed 67% of his passes for 1,478 yards with 35 touchdowns to just four interceptions for a passer rating of 122.21. The Dragons have averaged 59.8 points per game during this stretch and allowed just 42.4 per game. If the team’s 33-31 loss to Dallas the week before this streak began is included, they are allowing 40.8 per game compared to 58.3 per game for the first four weeks of the season.
THAT VOODOO JUST DOESN’T WORK AWAY FROM NEW ORLEANS
New Orleans is a perfect 5-0 at home, but just 2-4 on the road including losing the last two while scoring less than 40 points in both. Aside from wins over American Conference foes Arizona and Colorado, the VooDoo has been held to 44 points or less in each of its four losses this season. Additionally, the club has lost its last eleven games against teams from its own division (Southern). New Orleans has two extremely tough road games on its schedule the remainder of the season (at New York on June 7 and at Orlando on June 13) with three home games after a bye this upcoming weekend.
GERMAINE BLAZING
Though Utah QB Joe Germaine is on a 2-9 team, he is lighting up the stats sheets this season. Not only are his 70 passing TDs eleven more than his next closest competitor (Georgia’s Chris Greisen has 59), Germaine’s 3,439 passing yards are 306 more than San Jose’s Mark Grieb for the second most in the league, while taking four less snaps than Grieb. On the year, Germaine leads the AFL in passing yards, passing touchdowns, total offensive yards, total offensive touchdowns, passing yards per game, completion percentage for passers with at least 2,200 yards, pass attempts and completions. He is second in passer rating and fourth overall in yards per catch. If Germaine continues his pace, he will end with 5,002 passing yards and 102 passing TDs. In doing so, he will become the first player in AFL history with two 5,000-yard passing seasons (had AFL record 5,005 last year).
WEEKLY PLAYOFF UPDATE
The Chicago Rush became the first team to clinch a playoff berth thanks to San Jose’s 63-42 win over Arizona. Yet, Philadelphia and Dallas, both which have nine wins still have yet to qualify for the postseason. The National Conference features eight teams with winning records, while the American Conference has just two. If there were no conference distinctions or guaranteed playoff spots for division winners, only Chicago would be in the playoffs at this point. However, both Colorado and Arizona at 4-6 are, at this point, going to host playoff games, while Georgia (5-5) is not in the playoffs at all.
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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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Dallas
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9-1
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1
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Chicago – X
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8-2
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2
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New Orleans
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7-4
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2
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San Jose
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6-5
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3
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Philadelphia
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9-2
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3
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Colorado
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4-6
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4
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Orlando
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7-4
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4
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Arizona
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4-6
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5
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New York
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6-4
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5
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Los Angeles
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4-7
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6
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Cleveland
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6-4
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6
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Grand Rapids
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3-7
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X = clinched playoff berth
WEEK ELEVEN’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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Kenny Higgins, GR
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195
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13
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3
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Marcus Nash, DAL
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145
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9
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6
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Rodney Wright, SJ
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143
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14
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4
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C.J. Johnson, CMB
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127
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9
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2
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Jason Willis, NY
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127
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9
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4
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Siaha Burley, AZ
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127
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14
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2
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Robert Redd, CLE
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126
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9
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3
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Troy Bergeron, GEO
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126
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12
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3
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Ron Johnson, ORL
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118
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10
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3
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T.T. Toliver, ORL
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117
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8
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1
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Kevin Ingram, LA
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115
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11
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2
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Chad Owens, COL
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114
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11
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1
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James Roe, SJ
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112
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11
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3
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Lawrence Samuels, TB
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111
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11
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2
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Huey Whittaker, UTAH
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107
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7
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1
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Javarus Dudley, NO
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103
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7
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1
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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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James McPherson, GR
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335
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7
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0
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Clint Dolezel, DAL
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321
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8
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0
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Matt D’Orazio, PHI
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315
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5
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1
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Shane Stafford, ORL
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312
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6
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0
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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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Timon Marshall, LAA
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225
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0
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Kenny Higgins, GR
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201
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3
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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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Traco Rachal, TB
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11.5
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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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1
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0
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Calvin Spears, NO
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11.5
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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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Marquis Floyd, SJ
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9.5
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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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1
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0
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Aaron McConnell, COL
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3.0
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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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Eddie Canonico, UTAH
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10.5
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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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1
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0
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Gillis Wilson, KC
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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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Denario Smalls, KC
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2.0
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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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0
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0
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Billy Parker, NY
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6.5
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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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2
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0
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OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Dallas receiver Marcus Nash scored six touchdowns on just nine catches for 145 yards in the Desperados’ 65-54 win over Grand Rapids.
HONORABLE MENTION: Philadelphia QB Matt D’Orazio completed all but two of his 30 pass attempts in the Soul’s 63-62 loss at Georgia. He completed his last 19 passes to end the game. One of the attempts was intercepted early in the game. D’Orazio ended 28-of-30 for 315 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. He also ran the ball seven times for 51 yards.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tampa Bay defensive back Traco Rachal posted 11.5 tackles, a pass breakup and intercepted New Orleans QB Danny Wimprine in at end zone as time expired to give the Storm a 41-37 win over the Southern Division leading VooDoo.
HONORABLE MENTION: San Jose lineman Ron Jones’ statistics won’t stand out, but his performance in the SaberCats’ 63-42 win did. On back-to-back fourth quarter possessions, Jones ended Rattlers drives which took a 42-42 game into a 63-42 blowout. His pressure on Arizona QB Jeff Smoker forced the former Michigan State standout into an interception, then on the next possession he sacked Smoker on fourth down deep in San Jose territory. Overall, Jones finished with 1.5 stops and the sack.
IRONMAN OF THE WEEK
Georgia FB/LB Matt Huebner scored three touchdowns in the Force’s come-from-behind win over Philadelphia. He also had 2.5 tackles and a sack on defense. He scored the game’s first points on a one-yard rushing TD, then added a six-yard receiving score at the close of the first half and had another one-yard rushing TD at the end of the third quarter. Huebener recorded a sack early in the fourth quarter.
HONORABLE MENTION: Tampa Bay WR/LB Lawrence Samuels set the league mark for most consecutive games with a catch (129) during the Storm’s 41-37 win over New Orleans. He caught eleven passes for 111 yards with two touchdowns and recorded 3.0 stops (two solo, two 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.
