Season Not Over, But Looking Grim For Preds After Loss to Sharks
Adam Markowitz
Saturday May 25, 2013
It was only a few weeks ago that Aaron Garcia pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in Orlando Predators history. He wasn't able to pull another rabbit out of his hat in this one. The Jacksonville Sharks (7-3) escaped with their second crucial road win in the Sunshine State this season, beating the Predators (2-7) 44-41 at the Amway Center.
The fact that the Preds only lost this game by three points is remarkable in itself. The team has had all sorts of problems this season scoring points at home this year, and it went on a stretch of 31:22 that it would rather forget. In that time, the Orlando offense was shut out, and it turned the ball over four times.
In their last 13 plays of the first half, the Predators managed just 19 total yards of offense. At the intermission, Orlando had more penalty yards (93) than offensive yards (92).
After the first drive of the second half, which ended in TT Toliver's second fumble in as many plays, the Predators had just one offensive touchdown against four turnovers (and a field goal miss).
Jacksonville possessed the ball up 30-14 in the third quarter, and it looked as though the romp would be on. Alas, the Sharks nearly learned the same lesson that the Spokane Shock learned three weeks ago.
In the words of the great ArenaFan alum Dan Ryan, "You don't give Aaron Garcia a chance."
The comeback started on what amounted to be a flat out bonehead play by Bernard Morris. Rather than taking a sack or throwing the ball into the stands while he was under duress, Morris tossed a pick to Defensive Player of the Game Dominic Jones.
Orlando scored on the next drive to cut the lead to nine, and another stop gave the team the ball back with a chance to virtually erase the lead. The Predators did just that, cutting the edge to two right at the start of the fourth quarter.
Garcia made the throws that he needed to make in the fourth quarter, but he had a heck of a lot of help from his wide receivers. Both Toliver and Offensive Player of the Game Prechae Rodriguez had circus catches in the end zone that helped cut into Jacksonville leads. However, every time Orlando scored, Jacksonville found a way to answer. The Sharks scored a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter, recovered two onside kicks, and most importantly, was able to run out the last 1:41 of the game to capture the victory.
The win was huge for the Sharks, as they were able to get their lead back in the Southern Division by a game over the Tampa Bay Storm, who were beaten by the Philadelphia Soul. Jacksonville now owns road wins against both the Storm and the Predators.
Orlando still isn't nearly out of the playoff race at this point, but 2-7 is starting to look almost as grim as 0-5 felt like it was prior to Garcia's arrival. The Predators are only a game back of the Pittsburgh Power for the last playoff spot, and they do hold the tiebreaker over the men from the Steel City. However, with losses to both Tampa Bay and Jacksonville at home and Philadelphia twice already at the halfway point of the campaign, there is a serious doubt as to whether or not this team has any chance to compete even if it does get into the playoffs.
There remains a bit of hope for the Predators, though. Orlando has played one of the toughest schedules in the league to date. With outcomes in the last two games of Week 10 pending, the opponents on its schedule to date have combined to go 49-35 (.583). The rest of the schedule pans out much nicer for the Preds. The combined records of the teams left on the docket are only 38-47 (.447). Orlando also plays six of its last nine games at the Amway Center, beginning next week with a visit from the Chicago Rush.
