Indiana Defense Gets Needed Boost
Matthew Pickut
Friday June 29, 2001
Walker rejoins a team that desperately needs a spark on defense after a heartbreaking loss to Grand Rapids. One stat stands out when looking at the importance of defense: the ‘Birds are 7-0 when intercepting the opposing QB; they are 0-3 when they do not.
"It will be good to have Cedric back. We`ve really missed him the past few weeks,” coach Mike Dailey said. “He`s a solid player and hopefully he`ll give us a boost." Walker’s groin injury kept him down after the Toronto game two weeks ago.
The defense needs to contain a Mustangs’ team that they held to six points earlier this year. Milwaukee rebounded from a 0-8 start to beat Grand Rapids and Orlando in the last two weeks.
In last week’s loss to the Rampage, special teams snafu’s only intensified the pressure on the defense. “Those two plays (misplayed kickoff and failed onside kick attempt),” said Dailey. “They gained two possessions on us and that was the difference in the game.”
Giving up two extra possessions put the defense in the position of having to overcome a short field. In spite of a 404-yard, 10 TD performances from QB Raymond Philyaw and a 255-yard, five TD week from OS Eddie Brown, the Firebirds came up six points short.
The Firebird’s defense plays great in spurts. They rank as the greediest defense with a +17 giveaway/takeaway margin. DS Cornelius Coe needs only 14 tackles to break the AFL mark for most tackles in a season. In the Firebirds favor is that this week the ‘Birds thankfully will not face Grand Rapids QB Clint Dolezel.
“I can`t imagine (Dolezel) playing any better,” said Indiana Defensive Coordinator Mike Wilpolt. “We gave him many different looks. If we played man, he put the ball only where his man could get it. If we played zone, he looked off our man and hit the open man. When you play a hot quarterback, you have to take chances.”
Milwaukee’s defense sparked the comeback last week. Gary Compton, who returned two fourth-quarter interceptions by Craig Whelihan for touchdowns to give the Mustangs (2-8) a 45-28 lead said, "There`s a lot of heart and determination left in this team. The backs are against the wall, but now it`s our turn to make a run."
For his part, coach Dailey does not take the Mustangs lightly. “They are a much better team than the record shows. They are playing with confidence now, and we’ll have to be smart and not turn the ball over if we expect to win.”
The key to this week’s match-up rests in the Firebirds being able to bounce back from a heart-breaking loss and play with the defensive intensity that they showed against the Mustangs in their first game. The offense needs both the special teams and defense to play well, so that they do not need to play a perfect game. Last week the offense played as close to a perfect game as they have all done all year, and came up short. It is imperative that all of the Firebirds play to their potential if this team is going to go into the post season with any momentum.
Play-off Picture
The Firebirds still have a chance to host at least one play-off game and get an extra bye week even if they do not win the division. In the AFL play-off scheme, winning the division only guarantees that you get one home game. The league office seeds teams by records, with tiebreakers, before the play-offs begin with no special bonus to the division winners unless they don’t rank in the top 8 teams. That won’t be an issue this year, and as it stand the ‘Birds are the third seed for the post-season tournament. There is a good chance that they can run the table and finish with an 11-3 record because they face the lowest winning percentage of opponents (.306) of any team in the top 16. This week’s game could make the difference between rating a bye week as a top 4 team and having to play an extra game in route to a possible ArenaBowl XV appearance.
Matthew Pickut is a pastor in northern Indiana and a long time AFL fan. He also writes for his own website: The Brown Paper Blog. He graduated from Taylor University in Upland Indiana (class of `96) with degrees in Biblical Literature and Sociology as well as a healthy respect for the medicinal properties of coffee.
