From Worst to First (In Seven Weeks)

Matt Eichenblatt
Wednesday June 18, 2008

As if you couldn’t tell from the abundance of hugs and smiles on the Georgia Force sideline Saturday night after their 50-47 victory over the Chicago Rush, this win was different.

Heck, this season was different.

For the third time in four years, the Georgia Force wrapped up the Southern Division championship but what is different than the other two is the way they achieved it. Last year, the Southern Division title was almost a formality by week eight, in what looked like would be the AFL’s most dominant season. With a record-setting offense and a wide receiver trio that probably ranks as the league’s finest of all time, the 2007 team looked like a team of destiny—but as we all know, it wasn’t.

After losing two-thirds of their superstar receiving trio when Chris Jackson went to Philadelphia and Derek Lee went to Columbus, it looked as if the Force would be a markedly worse team. After a 1-3 start, it looked like the departure of all that talent was going to cripple this once dominant team. 

This was a difficult time for the Georgia Force. After a year where touchdowns seemed to come as easy as getting Gatorade on the sideline, this new team was not only having a difficult time scoring, but stopping people as well. 

At this juncture, it seemed all was lost and soon the microscope came into focus on Head Coach Doug Plank and his staff for not only the team’s poor performance, but questionable personnel moves.

“I’ve never had so many people question my ability to coach before,” said Plank. “It was a difficult time for us, but we just had to keep doing what we felt was right to put our team in a position to win.”

During the next three weeks, the team went on to split their next four games, putting them a 3-5 at the half-way point. 

After winning their next game, Georgia faced a crucial Monday Night Football matchup against a team that Coach Plank called, “at the time, the best team in the Arena Football League.” Going into the 4th quarter with just over nine minutes left, Georgia was down 21 and Philadelphia had possession—in other words all was lost. 

Or was it? 

After a remarkable turn of events that included two quick scores, 2 missed Field Goals, and an onside recovery, Georgia went on to shock Philadelphia and push their win streak to two games. This unbelievable swing of good fortune was a sign of things to come as the Force haven’t lost since, as their winning streak currently stands at seven. But was this the turn of events for the Georgia Force? It’s hard to tell, according to Coach Plank.

“It’s one of those things you can point to and say, ‘that’s the one,’ but everyone has a different opinion. In Chris’ [Greisen] opinion, it was a conversation on a bus after our 1-3 start. I don’t know if that was it, but I can tell you I’ve never once been involved in a game like that in my life.”

Whatever the conversation or game-changing play was that ignited this seven-game march to repeating as Southern Division champions, it really doesn’t matter. What does is the fact the Force are rolling into the playoffs, have faced adversity, and are not on auto-pilot like they seemed to be going into the 2007 playoffs.

Momentum is a silly thing. It can swing off of one game, one moment, or can be steadily built over a series of games. Regardless of how it is built, the Georgia Force have it. So what can be done to sustain it? According to Plank, it’s “playing the next game against San Jose like any other game. The plan is to not rest anyone unless we as a coaching staff find it necessary to do so.”

In this writer’s humble opinion, it is the smartest thing Coach Plank might do in his tenure as Georgia Force head coach to date. It was only several months ago that New York Giant’s head coach, Tom Coughlin, decided to play his starters against the New England Patriots in a meaningless week 17 matchup. While they didn’t win, the confidence they built carried them all the way to the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Coach Plank is a smart man, and more than anything, should have the trust of the Georgia Force faithful for his body of work over four years. Is this Coach of the Year material? Absolutely. 

While he may not be the commander of a juggernaut team that just looks to lay waste to anyone in their path, he is the chief orchestrator of a rebuilding process that included more roster turnover in one season, than any other team in the league. 

Whatever the Force do the rest of this season, they should be proud of themselves.  They faced more adversity than any team thus far, and have persevered to deliver another promising playoff run to the fans back home. 

While they may not be the best team the fans in Atlanta area have seen, but they might be something else that would be far more satisfying: a championship one.