Breaking it Down – 2008 Wild Card edition
Andy Lopusnak
Wednesday July 2, 2008
The road teams came out victories three out of the four playoff games and two 6-10 advanced to the round of eight. One quarterback tossed the second most yards in playoff history while another tied the touchdown pass mark. These and much, much more will be discussed in the Wild Card edition of Breaking it Down.
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WILD CARD RESULTS
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New York 77, DALLAS 63
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Colorado 49, UTAH 44
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CLEVELAND 69, Orlando 61
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Grand Rapids 48, ARIZONA 41
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BYE: Philadelphia, Chicago, San Jose, Georgia
THIS WEEKEND’S FOUR PLAYOFF GAMES FEATURED:
- Two touchdowns scored on returns: two kickoff returns by losing teams.
- Three players had 200 or more all-purpose yards, including one with over 300 yards.
- Four quarterbacks had 300 or more yards passing, including one that had over 400 yards.
- Nine players had 100 or more yards receiving, including one with over 200 yards.
ROAD WARRIORS
The last time that as many road teams won in the playoffs was just two seasons ago when Georgia, Philadelphia and Chicago won on the road – Arizona was the lone home team to win. That year, Chicago went on to win the ArenaBowl, while the other three winners in the Wild Card all lost in the second round. This marks the third time that this has occurred. The other time was in 1995 when the league had an eight-game playoff format with no bye weeks for the top seeds. That year, the top-seeded Storm was the lone home team to win in the quarterfinals (and would go on to win the ArenaBowl).
THE REGULAR SEASON MEANS NOTHING?
Apparently so. The Dallas Desperados had 12 regular season wins, while the Grand Rapids Rampage and Colorado Crush COMBINED for 12. Dallas is out, while Grand Rapids and Colorado are still alive for the ArenaBowl. Since 71% of the teams made it to the playoffs this season, the league might consider not playing the regular season and just having some sort of tournament to determine the winner. If the Crush or Rampage actually makes it to New Orleans, it will mean for the third consecutive year a team with a losing record has advanced to the title game. Nonetheless, I’m sure Dallas owner Jerry Jones as well as members of the 8-8 Storm and VooDoo that didn’t make the playoffs will be demanding a new playoff format next season. And they should.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Colorado became the first AFL team with a record two games below .500 to win a playoff game when the Crush defeated Utah. Two nights later, Grand Rapids, also two games under .500 in the regular season, followed with a last-second win over Arizona. These two teams have joined four others with losing records to win at least one playoff game. Prior to 2002, there had been no teams with losing records to win a playoff game in the league’s first 15 AFL seasons. The 6-8 Tampa Bay Storm beat the 8-6 Los Angeles Avengers in the wild card before losing to San Jose the following week – the SaberCats went on to win the ArenaBowl that season.
TEAMS WITH LOSING RECORD TO WIN PLAYOFF GAME
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TEAM, YEAR
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RECORD
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PLAYOFF WIN
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FINAL RESULT
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Tampa Bay, 2002
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6-8
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66-41 at LA
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Lost next game to SJ
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Carolina, 2002
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6-8
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72-64 at GR
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Lost next game to AZ
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Chicago, 2006
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7-9
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55-47 at NASH
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ArenaBowl champions
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Columbus, 2007
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7-9
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56-55 at TB
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ArenaBowl runner-up
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Colorado, 2008
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6-10
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49-45 at UTAH
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???
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Grand Rapids, 2008
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6-10
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48-41 at AZ
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???
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SIX SEEDS ADVANCE
Both six-seeded teams (New York in the National and Grand Rapids in the American) advanced to the divisional round. Since the AFL began using conferences as determining factor in the playoffs in 2005, this marks the first time that the two lowest seeds have advanced out of the wild card round.
NATIONALS LOOKING FOR NEW HERO
With the Predators losing to Cleveland, the National Conference will be looking for its first ArenaBowl champion that’s not from the state of Florida. Only Tampa Bay and Orlando have won ArenaBowls as members of the National Conference, which dates back to the 1993 season.
KICKIN’ IT OLD SCHOOL
New York kicker Steve Azar had two of his on-sides kicks recovered in the team’s stunning win over Dallas. Additionally, he also booted three touchbacks and was a perfect eleven-for-eleven on extra points. Special teams has corralled the Dallas for the second straight postseason. Last season, Columbus used two net recoveries in the second half off the net structure to beat the 15-1 Desperados.
“PHIL”ER UP
Cleveland QB Raymond Philyaw’s 436 passing yards in the Gladiators’ 69-66 win over Orlando is the second most in playoff history behind Rickey Foggie’s 446 at Albany in 1998 with the New Jersey Red Dogs. The Red Dogs franchise is now Philyaw’s Gladiators. Interestingly, Foggie was the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Brigade this season – the same team that Philyaw guided to a seven-game turnaround last season and left in the offseason.
“AARON”ING IT OUT
New York QB Aaron Garcia tied an AFL record with nine passing scores in the win over Dallas. He joins five other gunslingers with nine TD passes, including Nick Browder who did it in 2006 as a member of the Dragons when Garcia was out with an injury.
WHITE OUT
The Utah Blaze announced that head coach and general manager Danny White resigned on Monday. White, the league’s second all-time winningest coach, became the first coach to guide a team with nine losses to start the season to the playoffs and thus allowing the Blaze to become the first team with a losing record to host a playoff game in league annuals. His career includes two ArenaBowl victories with Arizona (1993 and 1997), the 1993 AFL Coach of the Year award and an AFL Hall of Fame induction. Utah joins Columbus and Los Angeles as teams that do not have head coaches at this point. Some others may join them before the ArenaBowl though.
WILD OPENER
The combined points scored (457) in the Wild Card weekend are the second most ever for any playoff weekend. It is only eclipsed by the 481 scored in the second round of the 2003 playoffs that featured five of the eight teams scoring more than 60 points. The eventual ArenaBowl winner – Tampa Bay – scored the least points by a winning team that weekend (52).
DIVISIONAL ROUND MATCHUPS
Here’s a quick snapshot of this weekend’s games of the remaining Elite Eight.
Colorado at San Jose: the SaberCats beat the Crush 59-42 in Week 13.
Grand Rapids at Chicago: the Rush swept the Rampage in the regular season - the first game was a 29-point blowout, but the second was a three-point squeaker.
New York at Philadelphia: the Soul swept the Dragons in the regular season season, including a 59-30 win in the regular season finale.
Cleveland at Georgia: first meeting this season. The last time Philyaw played Georgia; he threw five TDs as a member of the Indiana Firebirds in 2002 but lost 77-56.
WILD CARD ROUND 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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Wendall Williams, COL
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123
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13
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3
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J.J. McKelvey, UTAH
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105
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10
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3
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Terry Moss, NYD
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145
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11
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3
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Anthony Armstrong, DAL
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100
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10
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2
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Chas Gessner, ORL
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101
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12
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3
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T.T. Toliver, ORL
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185
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11
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4
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Robert Redd, CLE
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204
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14
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4
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Kenny Higgins, GR
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177
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12
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2
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Siaha Burley, AZ
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115
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9
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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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Aaron Garcia, NYD
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330
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9
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1
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Clint Dolezel, DAL
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325
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7
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1
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Shane Stafford, ORL
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376
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8
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2
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Raymond Philyaw, CLE
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436
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8
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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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TDs
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T.T. Toliver, ORL
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319
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4
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Robert Redd, CLE
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220
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4
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Trandon Harvey, AZ
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213
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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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John Syptak, COL
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3.5
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0
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1.0
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0
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1
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0
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0
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Eddie Canonico, UTAH
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11.0
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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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0
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0
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Levy Brown, NYD
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7.5
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0
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0.0
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1
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1
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0
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0
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Colston Weatherington, DAL
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3.0
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0
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1.0
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0
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0
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1
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0
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Brandon Hefflin, CLE
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7.0
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2
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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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Roc Haith, GR
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6.5
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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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OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
New York quarterback Aaron Garcia overcame an interception on his first drive to orchestrate eleven straight touchdowns in the biggest shocker of the opening round of the playoffs knocking out the 12-4 Dallas Desperados 77-63. Garcia completed 28-of-39 for 330 yards with nine touchdowns and the one pick.
HONORABLE MENTION: Cleveland QB Raymond Philyaw tossed the second most yards in AFL playoff history (436) as the Gladiators won their first playoff game since the team was the Red Dogs back in 1998. Philyaw
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Cleveland defensive back Brandon Hefflin posted two interceptions, recovered a fumble and tallied 7.0 stops in the Gladiators’ 69-66 win over Orlando.
HONORABLE MENTION: New York defensive back Levy Brown had 7.5 tackles, forced a fumble and recovered another in the Dragons’ 77-63 win over Dallas.
IRONMAN OF THE WEEK
Despite a late fumble that potentially caused his team to lose, Orlando’s T.T. Toliver had a great game offensively and on special teams. He tallied 319 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns against Cleveland. Toliver caught eleven passes for 185 yards with four touchdowns. He also returned five kickoffs for 134 yards, including a 57-yard return for a touchdown.
HONORABLE MENTION: In a losing effort, Dallas’ Will Pettis grabbed 12 balls for 89 yards and three touchdowns. He also had a rushing score and had three solo tackles.
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.
