Breaking it Down - 2010 Week 15

Andy Lopusnak
Wednesday July 14, 2010

Week 15 was one of the biggest in determining the playoffs thus far. Four teams punched their tickets to the postseason, while another was punched out. One of these fantastic four wrapped up a division crown and another team moved into playoff position. This and some historic moments will be highlighted in this edition of Breaking it Down. 

WEEK 15 RESULTS

ORLANDO 45, Alabama 34

Tampa Bay 56, DALLAS 34

Jacksonville 67, UTAH 56

Spokane 62, CLEVELAND 56 (OT)

TULSA 74, Bossier-Shreveport 45

CHICAGO 55, Arizona 50

OKLAHOMA CITY 52, Iowa 42

BYE: Milwaukee

PLAYOFF UPDATE FROM WEEK 15

·         Tampa Bay and Jacksonville clinched playoff spots on Friday.

·         Orlando moved from out of the playoff race into the final American Conference spot but is tied with Oklahoma City and Alabama for the final place. The Week 17 game between OKC and Orlando will likely determine the final wildcard spot.

·         Chicago and Spokane clinched playoff spots, while Bossier-Shreveport was eliminated on Saturday.

·         Additionally, Spokane clinched the West Division title and will have a home game in the first round of the playoffs.

WEEK 16 PLAYOFF SCENARIOS

Alabama: eliminated with a loss AND wins by Oklahoma City and Orlando

Arizona: clinches playoff berth with a win AND an Iowa loss

Chicago: clinches Midwest Division a win AND a Milwaukee loss

Cleveland: eliminated with loss OR wins by Arizona and Milwaukee

Iowa: eliminated with loss AND wins by Arizona and Milwaukee win

Milwaukee: clinches a playoff berth with a win AND an Iowa loss

Spokane: clinches homefield advantage throughout National Conference playoffs with a win AND a Chicago loss

Spokane: clinches homefield advantage throughout all playoffs, including ArenaBowl XXIII with a win AND losses by Chicago and Tampa Bay

Tampa Bay: clinches South Division title with a win.

Tulsa: clinches playoff berth and wins Southwest Division with a win OR an Oklahoma City loss

CURRENT PLAYOFF STANDINGS/REMAINING SCHEDULES

Top four in each conference make playoffs

AMERICAN CONFERENCE
TEAM	WK 15	WK 16	WK 17	WK 18
X - 1. Tampa Bay (10-3)	WON at DAL	at JAX (9-4)	BAMA (6-7)	ORL (6-7)
2. Tulsa (8-5)	WON vs. B-S	at BAMA (6-7)	AZ (8-5)	at OKC (6-7)
X - 3. Jacksonville (9-4)	WON at UTAH	TB (10-3)	at B-S (3-11)	SPO (11-2)
4. Orlando (6-7)	WON vs BAMA	at MIL (8-5)	OKC (6-7)	at TB (10-3)
5. OKC (6-7)	WON vs. IOWA	at CLE (6-8)	at ORL (6-7)	TUL (8-5)
6. Alabama (6-7)	LOST at ORL	TUL (8-5)	at TB (10-3)	UTAH (1-12)

NATIONAL CONFERENCE
TEAM	WK 15	WK 16	WK 17	WK 18
Y - 1. Spokane (11-2)	WON at CLE	at IOWA (6-7)	CHI (10-4)	at JAX (9-4)
X - 2. Chicago (10-4)	WON vs AZ	DAL (1-12)	at SPO (11-2)	BYE
3. Arizona (8-5)	LOST at CHI	UTAH (1-12)	at TUL (8-5)	IOWA (6-7)
4. Milwaukee (8-5)	BYE	ORL (6-7)	at IOWA (6-7)	at CLE (6-8)
5. Iowa (6-7)	LOST at OKC	SPO (11-2)	MIL (8-5)	at AZ (8-5)
6. Cleveland (6-8)	LOST vs SPO	OKC (6-7)	BYE	MIL (8-5)

X - Clinched playoff berth; Y - Clinched division title

Officially Eliminated: Utah (1-12), Dallas (1-12), Bossier-Shreveport (3-10)

IF THE PLAYOFFS STARTED TODAY

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

#4 Orlando (6-7) at #1 Tampa Bay (10-3; South Division leader)

#3 Jacksonville (9-4) at #2 Tulsa (8-5; Southwest Division leader)

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

#4 Milwaukee (8-5) at #1 Spokane (11-2; West Division champion)

#3 Arizona (8-5) at #2 Chicago (10-4; Midwest Division leader)

SPOKANE MAKES HISTORY

The Spokane Shock clinched a playoff berth with its overtime win at Cleveland and then won the Western Division less than an hour later when Arizona lost. By taking the division, the Shock became the first former af2 team to win a division title both the AFL and in the af2 (in back-to-back seasons no less). In its four af2 seasons (2006-09), the Shock won the Western Division all four seasons advancing to the ArenaCup three times and winning twice (in expansion season of 2006 and last year). Spokane can clinch home-field advantage through the National Conference playoffs this week with a win at Iowa and if Chicago losses against Dallas. If not, the Shock and Rush play each other in Week 17. 

NICE VIEW FROM THE TOP

The top five teams in the American Conference all won games this weekend. In the National Conference, the top two teams also won.

WINDSOR TIES AFL RECORD

Arizona WR Rod Windsor tied the league's single-season reception mark on his final catch of the Rattlers' 55-50 loss at Chicago. His 15 receptions put him at 166 - the same number the Siaha Burley had in 2007 with the Utah Blaze. Windsor has three more games and is on pace 204 catches. He also needs just 199 receiving yards to pass Burley for the most in league history. Currently, Windsor is at 1,931 and is on track for 2,377. Last year in the af2 with Rio Grande, Windsor was named af2 Offensive Player of the Year (and Rookie of the Year) after af2 records in points scored (362), receiving TDs (59), total TDs (59) and receptions (184). His 2,364 receiving yards were just 26 off the af2 record set in the same season by Quad City WR Jesse Schmidt.

SHARKS SWIM INTO POSTSEASON

Jacksonville’s win and Alabama’s loss put the Sharks into the postseason to become the first expansion team since 2004 (New Orleans VooDoo, part I) to make it to the playoffs in its first year. The Sharks also became just the fourth expansion team to win nine games in its first year, joining the VooDoo (eleven), Nashville Kats, part I (ten in 1997) and the New Jersey Red Dogs (nine in 1997 – woof frickin’ woof). Jacksonville is just the eighth expansion team ever to post a winning record in its first year. NOTE: the former af2 teams are not considered expansion teams. Spokane actually won an ArenaCup title as an expansion team in 2006.

GARCIA TOPS 1K

Sharks QB Aaron Garcia posted his 1,000th combined touchdown during the win. He now has 955 passing TDs (AFL record) along with 45 rushing TDs (2nd all-time among AFL QBs). 

BLAZE LEAD FOR FIRST TIME IN A MONTH

Utah held its first lead in almost a month when the Blaze converted on a PAT five minutes into the game (7-6); however, the Sharks scored 48 of the next 62 points scored to put the game away. The Blaze opponents have scored first in the past four games. This week, Jacksonville WR/KR Jomo Wilson returned the opening kickoff 55 yards to put the Sharks up 6-0.

VENA FIRST 20-20 CLUB MEMBER

Iowa QB Ryan Vena's two interceptions and one rushing touchdown against Oklahoma City put the Barnstormers QB into a class all by himself - the first AFL player to toss 20 interceptions and rushing for 20 touchdowns in the same season. On his rushing score, Vena broke a tie with Adrian McPherson (2004 with Indiana) for the most in league history by a quarterback. On his second pick of the night, Vena tossed his 20th of the season (one shy of the league single-season record of 21 held by John Kaleo).

DIETZ BECOMES STORM TD KING

Tampa Bay QB Brett Dietz became the franchise's single-season passing touchdown leader in the Storm's playoff clinching win at Dallas. He broke the previous record of 86 that was shared by himself in 2008 and Shane Stafford in 2006. Dietz currently leads the AFL in passing touchdowns with 90. He is on pace for 111 passing scores, which would be the second most in league history behind current Milwaukee Iron QB Chris Greisen's 117 from 2008 when he was a member of the Georgia Force. Dietz also passed the 4,000-yard mark during the game. It's his second straight 4,000-yard campaign and he's on pace to break Stafford's team mark of 4,795 by over 400 yards. Arizona Q Nick Davila also went over 4,000 yards this past weekend becoming just the fourth QB to do so (Greisen and Cleveland's John Dutton are the others).

STORMING BACK INTO THE POSTSEASON

Tampa Bay was the first AFL team to clinch a playoff spot after sweeping Dallas (the team’s first playoff appearance since 2007). It marks the Storm's first ten-win regular season since 2005 and is the team's eighth double-digit win season. In four of the previous nine seasons with ten or more wins, Tampa Bay advanced to the ArenaBowl (winning three times). Including the team's time as the Pittsburgh Gladiators, this is the franchise's 21st playoff berth (17 times as the Storm). The Storm's eight-game regular season winning streak is the longest since 2003 when Tampa Bay won eight in a row in games four through eleven. That year, the Storm started 1-2 before the eight-game streak en route to winning ArenaBowl XVII. This year, the Storm started 2-3.

Next week's Sharks home game against the Storm will likely decide which team will be the South Division champion and get the number-one overall playoff seed in the American Conference. Tampa Bay can wrap up everything with a win of more than four points (the Storm lost by three to the Sharks on May 7). If not, then the regular season will need to play out potentially until the final week.

RATTLERS LOSE ANOTHER CLOSE ONE

This week, Arizona scored with 26 seconds left and recovered the ensuing onside kick but failed had passes broken up in the end zone in the final six seconds that would've won the game for Arizona (Rattlers trailed by 17 with ten minutes to go). The Rattlers have also played in five games decided by a single point, going 3-2 in those contests. This marks the second two-game losing skid for the Rattlers in 2010. After the previous streak, Arizona won its following six games. If the Rattlers win this week against the hapless Utah Blaze, it will give Arizona its first winning season since 2004, which was the last of three straight seasons that ended with a loss in the ArenaBowl.

DIRTY LAUNDRY

Against Dallas, the Storm became the most penalized team in league single-season history (in yardage). With three more games, Tampa Bay’s 1,063 penalty yards is already 25 more yards than the previous record set by the 2005 Dallas Desperados. The Storm has reached this mark after being flagged 155 times (second to Milwaukee’s 161). The league record is 166 set by the 2007 Georgia Force.

CHICAGO MAKES POSTSEASON

The Rush has now qualified for the playoffs in all nine years of existence. This marks the third straight season that Chicago has posted ten regular season wins. Chicago's only ArenaBowl appearance and victory came in a year in which the team finished 7-9. The Rush has won its first playoff game in six of its previous eight appearances.

MUST SCORE 68

In every single loss this season, Cleveland has failed to score more than 56 points. However, in all six wins the Glads have scored at least 68 points. Aside from Dallas' 55 points in its lone win, the Gladiators are the only AFL team not to have a win when scoring 56 or fewer points. Cleveland has the most games won in the league when scoring 68 or more points. The Gladiators game this week at Chicago was the team's second straight to go to overtime. Last week, they beat the Predators and this week loss when Shock DB Travis Williams picked off Gladiators QB John Dutton and returned it 43 yards for a TD.

PREDS IN THE FINAL DRIVER’S SEAT

Orlando moved into the final American Conference wildcard spot with tiebreakers over Oklahoma City and Alabama. However, since the Preds and Dawgz play in Week 17, the winner of that game will most likely be the team getting that final playoff place. The Predators cannot win the South Division because of the Storm's win on Friday night. Orlando hasn't won a division title since 2002. In the Preds win over the Vipers, DB Rayshawn Kizer posted his league-leading tenth interception. 

DAWGZ WIN THIRD STRAIGHT

Oklahoma City advenged an early season loss to Iowa as the Yard Dawgz won their third consecutive game. Over its last six games, OKC is 4-2 with its two losses being by a combined three points (at Tampa Bay and at Arizona). Against Iowa, OKC WR/KR Timon Marshall compiled 221 all-purpose yards (151 receiving, 70 in returns) and three touchdowns in the win.

ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS, BABY

After fifteen weeks, eleven players have reached 100 receptions on the season. The league single-season record is 29 set in 2008.

MORE EXTRA TIME

The Gladiators became just the fourth team in league history to play in back-to-back overtime games, the first since the 2003 when the Arizona Rattlers scored 82 in back-to-back road games (at LA and at Grand Rapids) in OT. The other two times invloved the Toronto Phantoms (2002 – lost both and were the final two games in team history) and the LA Avengers (2001 – split games). If the Glads enter overtime this week against OKC, they will become the first AFL team to play in three straight OT games. In the league history, only two teams have played three OT games in a single season: the 1998 Iowa Barnstormers (2-1 record) and the 2006 Chicago Rush, (2-1 record).

WEEK 14’S STATS LEADERS 

100-YARD RECEIVERS
PLAYER, TEAM	RECEIVING YARDS	RECEPTIONS	TOUCHDOWNS
CJ Johnson, BAMA	205	18	1
Donovan Morgan, TUL	180	9	5
Rod Windsor, AZ	179	15	2
Huey Whittaker, SPO	153	11	5
Timon Marshall, OKC	151	13	3
Wendall Williams, UTAH	148	9	4
Marco Thomas, CHI	147	13	1
Hank Edwards, TB	133	7	2
Syvelle Newton, CHI	125	7	4
Dallas Baker, JAX	123	9	2
Larry Kendrick, IOWA	121	9	3
Jesse Schmidt, IOWA	116	12	2
Trandon Harvey, AZ	114	8	2
Sedrick Robinson, TB	105	5	2

300-YARD PASSERS
PLAYER, TEAM	PASSING YARDS	PASS TDs	INTERCEPTIONS
Nick Davila, AZ	343	5	3
Brett Dietz, TB	329	6	2
Russ Michna, CHI	321	5	1
Brett Elliott, UTAH	318	7	2
Ryan Vena, IOWA	310	5	2

BREAKING IT DOWN MVP OF THE WEEK: Donovan Morgan, Tulsa WR

The 2008 Arena Football League Rookie of the Year has been a shining start in Tulsa this season. This week, Morgan caught nine passes for 180 yards and five touchdowns. With the game so out of hand, he didn’t even play in the game’s final 23 minutes of the game. Four of his five touchdowns came from at least 16 yards out. On the year, he’s third in the league in receiving yards (1,587) and total touchdowns (44). This is Morgan’s second stint with the Talons; his first was in 2005 when he was the af2 Rookie of the Year.

2010 BREAKING IT DOWN MVP OF THE WEEK
WEEK	PLAYER, TEAM	STAT NOTE
1	Chris Greisen, Milwaukee QB	83 comp. pct, 327 pass yds, 9 TD, 0 INT
2	PJ Berry, Bossier-Shreveport WR/KR	357 all-purpose yards, 201 rec yds, 7 total TD
3	Kyle Rowley, Spokane QB	75.7 comp. pct, 316 pass yards, 8 TD, 1 INT, 1 rush TD
4	Rod Windsor, Arizona WR	16 receptions, 230 rec. yards 6 rec TD, 2 rush TD
5	Tanner Varner, Iowa DB	15.0 tackles, 2 INT, 2 PBU, 1 TD
6	Tommy Grady, Oklahoma City QB	81 comp. pct, 430 pass yards, 10 TD, 1 INT
7	Ben Nelson, Cleveland WR	13 receptions, 202 yards, 6 TD
8	Nick Hill, Orlando QB	314 yards, 5 pass TD, 1 INT, 21 rushing yards, 3 rush TD
9	Caesar Rayford, Utah lineman	3 defensive TD (2 INT, 1 fumble), 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 FF
10	Rod Windsor, Arizona WR	16 rec, 162 yards, 3 rec TD, 2 rush TD, GW 2pt conv.
11	Tiger Jones, Milwaukee WR	11 rec. 138 yards, 5 TD
12	Nick Davila, Arizona QB	77 comp pct, 319 yards, 9 TD, 0 INT
13	Ryan Vena, Iowa QB	90.9% (20/22), 245 yards, 7 TD, 0 INT, 38 rush yds (1 TD)
14	Chris Greisen, Milwaukee QB	91.3% (21/23), 330 yards, 8 TD, 0 INT, 158.33 rating
15	Donovan Morgan, Tulsa WR	9 receptions, 180 receiving yards, 5 TD, 1 tackle