Turnover on Preds Roster Not Helping Turnovers on the Field
Adam Markowitz
Wednesday June 4, 2008
Question: What do the 2007 Las Vegas Gladiators, 2006 Kansas City Brigade, 2005 Columbus Destroyers, 2004 Grand Rapids Rampage, 2003 Carolina Cobras, 2002 Detroit Fury, 2001 New Jersey Gladiators, 1999 Buffalo Destroyers, 1997 Portland Forest Dragons, 1997 Anaheim Piranhas, 1997 New York CityHawks, 1996 Connecticut Coyotes, 1996 Texas Terror, 1993 and 1994 Cleveland Thunderbolts, and 1988 New York Knights all have in common?
The answer? Well, none of these teams were very good. In fact, these 16 teams are amongst the 26 in AFL history to finish with winning percentages of .200 or worse. However, that’s not the answer that I’m looking for.
These 16 teams all committed fewer turnovers per game than the 2008 Orlando Predators have to date. The four turnovers the Preds committed in their 60-53 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Rattlers brought their season total to 38, or 2.71 turnovers per game.
Just in case you were interested in where the ’08 Preds stack up turnover-wise against the worst teams in AFL history…
|
Team |
Record |
Turnovers Per Game |
|
1992 New Orleans Night |
0-10 |
4.20 |
|
1992 San Antonio Force |
2-8 |
4.20 |
|
1994 Milwaukee Mustangs |
0-12 |
3.58 |
|
0-10 |
3.20 |
|
|
1995 Miami Hooters |
1-11 |
3.00 |
|
1995 Connecticut Coyotes |
1-11 |
2.91 |
|
2003 Colorado Crush |
2-14 |
2.88 |
|
1996 Memphis Pharaohs |
0-14 |
2.86 |
|
1989 Maryland Commandos |
0-4 |
2.75 |
|
2008 Orlando Predators |
8-6 |
2.71 |
|
1994 Cleveland Thunderbolts |
2-10 |
2.67 |
|
1996 Texas Terror |
1-13 |
2.64 |
|
2003 Carolina Cobras |
0-16 |
2.63 |
|
2007 Las Vegas Gladiators |
2-14 |
2.56 |
|
2002 Detroit Fury |
1-13 |
2.50 |
|
2005 Columbus Destroyers |
2-14 |
2.25 |
|
1997 Anaheim Piranhas |
2-12 |
2.21 |
|
2004 Grand Rapids Rampage |
1-15 |
2.19 |
|
1993 Cleveland Thunderbolts |
2-10 |
2.17 |
|
1997 New York CityHawks |
2-12 |
2.07 |
|
2006 Kansas City Brigade |
3-13 |
1.94 |
|
1997 Portland Forest Dragons |
2-12 |
1.86 |
|
1993 Cincinnati Rockers |
2-10 |
1.83 |
|
1996 Connecticut Coyotes |
2-12 |
1.79 |
|
1999 Buffalo Destroyers |
1-13 |
1.64 |
|
2001 New Jersey Gladiators |
2-12 |
1.57 |
|
1988 New York Knights |
2-10 |
1.25 |
It is worth noting that the Los Angeles Avengers, who dropped to 4-9 following Saturday’s 66-56 loss to the San Jose SaberCats average 2.85 turnovers per game.
But back to the Predators. After starting 8-5, Preds Head Coach Jay Gruden decided to pull the plug on starting quarterback Shane Stafford in favor of third-year backup quarterback Jake Eaton. Heading his first career start, Eaton’s numbers were respectable. He had completed 71 of 108 passes for 866 yards and 15 touchdowns against six interceptions.
Things looked iffy from the get-go for the new starter. On two of his warm-up snaps, Eaton fumbled the quarterback/center exchange with Jasper Harvey. It was an ongoing problem for the night. Not only did Eaton fumble the snap on the second play of the game, he threw an interception two plays later.
The quarterback position wasn’t the only change that Coach Gruden made to his roster in recent weeks. Just a few weeks ago, both Stafford and Gruden were praising the fact that they had kept the same receiving corps together for an entire season. Then the 6’5” Chas Gessner was signed by the Seattle Seahawks, and 6’3” Ron Johnson was released in large part due to four fumbles on the season, including two against the Kansas City Brigade in Week 12.
Kevin Nickerson joined the Predators two weeks ago, while DeAndrew Rubin, a Predator is 2007, rejoined the team following his release from New Orleans this week. Suddenly Orlando went from having two huge targets in the red zone to Rubin being the biggest receiver the team has at 5’11”.
Even though Rubin and Nickerson don’t resemble Johnson in terms of height, they still have the same problems that Johnson had holding onto the football. Both receivers lost fumbles after completed passes from Eaton as a part of a run that saw Arizona outscore Orlando 36-7. On Nickerson’s fumble, Eaton suffered an MCL injury and could be lost for the season.
That set the stage for Shane Stafford to make his triumphant return. He was greeted by the Orlando faithful to a chorus of boos, and promptly lost a snap from backup center Greg Krause, then got hit for the team’s third safety in two weeks to compound their problems. The newly-acquired Krause ruptured his patella tendon on the last drive of the first half, ending his 2008 season.
Coach Gruden was none too pleased with his quarterbacks and centers. “This is professional football and to have that type of fumbled exchange in Week 15 of a season is unheard of and uncalled for. It needs to be fixed.”
Yes, I know that Orlando clawed all the way back from their 36-13 deficit to tie the game at 53-53 with inside one minute remaining in the game, but this game never, ever should have been this close.
Not only were the Rattlers in a horrible scheduling spot coming off of their tough fought win against Grand Rapids a week ago, Matt Sauk was a surprise starter at quarterback in place of Jeff Smoker. The last time Sauk played in the Jungle, he was a member of the Philadelphia Soul. It was the first game I ever covered for ArenaFan back in 2006, and the question I was asking that day was, “What in the name of Craig Whelihan…?”
On that day, Sauk started in place of the injured Tony Graziani, and fumbled five times in the Soul’s 47-33 loss.
Speaking of Craig Whelihan… In Gruden’s first stint as Head Coach of the Preds, Whelihan was the starting quarterback. He fumbled 12 times in 2001, a number that Stafford has already passed on the season (13). Gruden decided to come back as the team’s quarterback, and though he didn’t nearly fumble as many snaps as Whelihan did, he did set the team record for total turnovers in a season with 23 in 2002. Stafford currently sits at 21.
“I’ve never had this many turnovers,” said Coach Gruden after the defeat. “If we don’t protect the ball, we’re pretty miserable and horrific to watch… We’ve gotta do a better job not turning the ball over.”
All of this, and the Preds were in the driver’s seat to earn the #2 seed and the Southern Division title before being embarrassed for the third time in four games in the Jungle. Now the best Orlando can do is finish 10-6 and hope that the Georgia Force slip up in one of their final three games to put themselves back into contention in the South. But with the way Orlando has played over the course of the last month, they had better be looking at what’s below them in the standings instead of what’s above them.
The run at a 17th consecutive playoff appearance continues next week when they take on the Tampa Bay Storm. Sitting at 6-7, Gruden acknowledged the difficulty level for the Preds going into Tampa Bay, since the game is essentially a do-or-die for Tim Marcum and the Storm. “It’ll be another classic matchup between the two teams… They’re at home and they’re very good at home.”
Orlando will conclude their regular season at home in two weeks in a rematch against the New Orleans VooDoo.
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.
