Elliot to start as Blaze QB against Vipers
Don Eisenbarth
Saturday April 17, 2010
There’s a funny thing about first impressions, you only get one chance to make them. The Blaze squandered that chance, and they now face the consequences of a horrid first game. The AFL Guru said it best in his column this week. The Blaze are a joke. And nowhere is that more apparent than in the quarterback situation.
The owner's son, Michael Affleck was installed as the team's starting quarterback from the get go. In his first outing against the Shock, he went completed 4 of 10 passes with an interception. He looked frazzled and in over his head. Brett Elliot was put in at halftime and went 10 of 17 passes and scored two touchdowns. Elliot looked calm and patient, in fact a little too patient as he was sacked and fumbled on his first possession. Still he showed life and poise in his effort, which is much more than can be said about Affleck
After that horrendous offensive output of the first game, it was clear that something needed to be changed and coach Ernesto Purnsley had the guts to bench the boss’s boy. “Brett is going to be the starter, and Michael will be the back-up. I have confidence in Brett as our starting quarterback to lead our offense,” said Purnsely adding, “No matter which guy is in the game we believe we will be productive offensively… the biggest thing for us is to get our quarterback into a rhythm.”
Elliot would make a fine addition to any AFL squad as a game ready back-up, but is he starter material? He’s not going to have long to find out and a quick rhythm and steady scoring is the only thing that will help him retain his position and help the Blaze stay in this week’s game against the Alabama Vipers.
The Alabama Vipers feature one of the strongest receiving corps of the AFL with Michael and CJ Johnson racking up almost 700 all purpose yards in two games. This game could become a track meet with Alabama’s CJ Johnson and Utah’s Brandon Hampton returning kicks off back repeatedly on both sides. However you look at it, the Blaze are completely outmatched against a Viper team that should be 2-0.
With all the questions still surrounding this team (Can Brett Elliot be a strong effective starter? Will the defense be able to contain the Johnsons? Will Kenneth Byrd actually make a field goal or more than half of his PAT’s this week?) the second impression looks to be not much better than the first as Blaze fans should expect to see a team still going through too many growing pains to be able to win this game.
