Avoiding the Dog Days of Summer
Patrick Daly
Saturday June 15, 2002
In Arizona, temperatures now top 100 degrees on a consistent basis, making some Rattler practices a grueling affair. But the key to the stretch run is focus.
“We’re at that point of the season, kind of the dog days of the season,” Rattlers head coach Danny White said. “This is the time where, as coaches, this is the toughest time for us to keep the players going, to keep them working. It’s hot. The newness of season has kind of worn off. The playoffs are still kind of too far away to really start focusing on those and get excited about the playoffs. This two or three or four-week stretch right now, for players, is the toughest time—and for coaches, because coaches have to find a way to motivate the players. We have to fight through this and we have to keep getting better because all of the other teams in the league are going to be getting better.”
The Rattlers were fortunate in many ways to leave Carolina with a win last week. The 14 penalties recorded in that game are atypical for a team the prides itself on maintaining control. As such, the Rattlers already know that a similar performance against Dallas this weekend won’t fly.
“We have to be able to go in and not have any penalties and not put ourselves in bad situations,” Rattlers receiver/linebacker Hunkie Cooper said. “Last week, I think we had three or four holding penalties on third and fourth down that caused them to extend drives and get points. We can’t do that against a team like Dallas, especially with Andy Kelly—they’re playing a lot better right now.”
Arizona has benefited from a fortunate schedule with last week’s Friday game in Carolina followed by this week’s Sunday contest at home. The extra time between games allowed the Rattlers coaching staff to give the team four days off, which is much needed rest.
“That was our decision,” White said. “You always struggle with, ‘do you use those days to get work in?’ and run the risk of wearing them out. Or do you let them just rest? We decided after eight games maybe it’s time for a break, so just gave them the time off. I’ve seen that go both ways. We really won’t know until Sunday and see how we play.”
 Chris Horn has been on fire so far in 2002 Image courtesy of Michael Wright |
“I’m taking more from their last two games than I’m taking from that game,” White said. “A big change for them defensively, and a big unknown for us, is how they’ll play without Hassan Shamsid-Deen in the middle. We’ll have to wait until game time to know who they’ll play in the middle and how they’ll play him. They’ve had a definite pattern in the past of playing particular in very particular situations. You’ve got to throw all that out the window—not necessarily throw it out, but be prepared for drastic changes because they’re going to be different personnel-wise defensively.”
Shannon Culver is expected to take Burks’ spot in the lineup, while former Indiana Firebird Lamar Grant is expected to fill Shamsid-Deen’s role.
The Rattlers will once again be concerned with the play up front, where Arizona has not been as effective over the last few weeks. During the first meeting, the Rattlers were able to get quarterback Andy Kelly off balance early, which led to early stops and a 21-0 lead midway through the first half.
“We just haven’t been clicking together up front,” Cooper said. “That’s where we win football games. Even when we had Shakes, now that we have Chris [Horn] and Maurice [Bryant] and myself still the skill people, you can’t win if you don’t win up front. We’ve got to control the line of scrimmage, both offensively and defensively. We haven’t been doing that.”
“I don’t feel like we’re winning the battle up front on either side of the ball,” White said. “We’ve got to find ways to get more pressure on the opposing quarterback and protect ours a little bit better.
“We need some leadership up front. We need guys to get healthy—we need Wendall [Gaines] back. We need Stacy [Evans] playing well. Sebastian Barrie has got to give us some pressure. Some of our veteran guys have got to step up and our young guys mature very quickly. We need them to come to play.”
With a veteran quarterback of Andy Kelly’s ability running the show for Dallas, defensive pressure becomes even more crucial.
“Andy Kelly knows the game,” White said. “He throws a lot of balls just blind. He just knows the spots on the field and knows where to throw them. It’s a huge advantage for him and he gets rid of the ball very, very quickly. It’s going to be very difficult for us to get sacks, but we have to put some pressure on him and make him make those decisions quicker than he’s used to making them.”
For the Rattlers, each upcoming game will hold increased importance, especially in the race to catch San Jose. The Rattlers know they missed an early opportunity when they lost a game in San Jose that they should have won. Going into the weekend, only San Jose and Arizona had less than three losses, while the remainder of the league has done a good job of beating itself up.
“The league is starting to level out,” Cooper said. “San Jose is 8-0 and they could very well be 7-1 because we should have won that game. Who knows? They’re due for a let down and they’re probably going to have that before they get to us. We need to prepare them—not looking past any opponent—but that’s the game that controls our destiny because they’re in the front seat right now. We just have to keep winning until that point and then let it all explode when San Jose comes in.”
Any way you look at it, the Rattlers know that this is an important part of the season.
“This is where you win or lose,” Cooper said. “This is where you start locking up home field advantage and you’ve got to be aggressive right now. I think 6-2 is a good place to be, but we need to reel off the next five or six games and lock up that home field advantage.”
Players to watch
OS Chris Horn, Arizona—Last week, Horn added eight catches, 159 yards and two touchdowns to his season total and he remains at or near the top in all three categories.
QB Andy Kelly, Dallas—Kelly’s ability is well known, at least around the league. Dallas certainly made a good choice when they signed him and he’s been nothing short of excellent for this ‘expansion’ team.
DS Lamar Grant, Dallas—With Shamsid-Deen out, responsibility for manning the main defensive specialist spot falls to Grant this Sunday. In his second season, Grant came to Dallas after a good rookie season in Indiana.
Rattlers Defensive Line—Good pressure up front will be critical this weekend as the Rattlers will need to keep Andy Kelly guessing. A little early pressure in the first meeting made the difference and could do so again this weekend.
Patrick Daly has been an Arena Football League enthusiast since he first stumbled across the late-night ESPN broadcasts and has followed the Arizona Rattlers since their inaugural season in 1992. He graduated from Arizona State University with an engineering degree and is currently a member of a web development team for Direct Alliance in Tempe. Patrick currently resides in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife, son and a very large football helmet collection.
