Stacking up the South at the Quarter Pole
Adam Markowitz
Tuesday February 21, 2006
Austin Wranglers (4-0)
Is there a better early candidate for Coach of the Year than Austin’s Skip Foster? All anyone has done to Austin all year is doubt them. After an opening night win against Las Vegas, everyone wondered how they would do when they hit the road for a month. They answered the call in Arizona and in Kansas City in back to back weeks. When those games were over, their opponents were just a combined 1-8, posing the question of how good the quality of their competition was. All the Wranglers did this past week was quietly march into Dallas and beat the Desperadoes on their home turf, leaving them as the only unbeaten team in the AFL. It should come as no surprise that the key to Austin’s success lies in their defense, which averages surrendering just 40.5 ppg, second best in the league. Free agent acquisitions DS Damon Mason and DS Donvetis Franklin have added a physical presence to the Wranglers defense that was considered too soft a year ago. Mason opened up the season with five interceptions in his first two games, and is right at the top of the list for Defensive Player of the Year honors this early in the season. QB John Fitzgerald has opened his season by completing over 60% of his passes, and a six to one TD/INT ratio, as well as adding four rushing touchdowns on the season. His favorite is rookie OS Derrick Lewis, who leads the team in receptions (26), receiving yards (345), and receiving TDs (4). The questions for the Wranglers going forward will be whether or not they can finish out this dastardly five game road trip strong and keep momentum, particularly at home when they face their divisional rivals.
On deck: @ Tampa, @ Georgia, vs. New York, vs. Kansas City
Grade: A+… Without a doubt, the Wranglers have been the biggest surprise of the entire league early on this season.
Orlando Predators (3-1)
Okay Preds fans, I’ll admit it… I really thought the team was going to be 1-3 at this point, not 3-1. I said at the beginning of the season that the Predators needed to show me something before I considered them a legitimate threat in the Southern Division, and wins against Philadelphia and Tampa in back to back weeks have helped, but boy, am I still a pessimist about this team. In Orlando’s three wins this season, they were possibly 1.8 extra seconds on a clock keeping error away from blowing a two TD lead in the home opener against Kansas City, given a gift in the form of eight fumbles to beat the Soul, and completely blew a 26 point lead before coming back and defeating the Storm in Tampa. My pessimism starts with QB Joe Hamilton. It is certainly no secret that "Super Joe" has been under scrutiny of late, starting off the season throwing two interceptions in each of his first three games, but he fired back with perhaps his best game as a Predator, throwing six touchdowns vs. no interceptions on Sunday against the Storm. Six interceptions in four games are still far too many, and if he doesn’t cut back on the turnovers, Orlando will slide quickly. The line play for Orlando has been rock solid, and free agent DS Jerroid Johnson has proven that he is a worthy replacement for last year’s departed DSs Damon Mason and Johnny Harris. Johnson leads the team with 26.5 tackles and 12 pass breakups, heading a defense that is as physical as any defensive unit in the league. WR/LB Clif Dell has been lost for the year with a torn ACL, and joining him on IR will likely be DS Kenny McEntyre with a groin injury.
On Deck: @ New York, vs. Los Angeles, @ Arizona, vs. Dallas
Grade: B… The Preds have found ways to win games, but still lack killer instinct and are facing a tremendous amount of injuries that need to heal quickly.
Tampa Bay Storm (2-2)
Will the real Tampa Bay Storm please stand up? Are you as good as the team that dropped 61 on Georgia and outscored Orlando by 26 points in the final two and a half quarters, or are you as good as your first half struggle against Grand Rapids and your 18 point loss against Philadelphia? The defense has been suspect for the Storm this year, having allowed over 50 points in three of their four games. QB Shane Stafford has been outstanding once again this year, completing over 66% of his passes for over 1300 yards, to go with 22 TDs vs. three interceptions on the season. WR/LB Lawrence Samuels continues his outstanding career, leading the team in receptions (41), receiving yards (481), and TDs (8), as well as amassing 14.5 tackles and an interception on the season. WR/DB Bobby Sippio has proven to be a valuable asset to the Tampa offense as well, accounting for seven touchdowns (six receiving, one rushing) of his own. OS Freddie Solomon has missed two of Tampa’s four games this season, and will be missing again this week when the team takes on undefeated Austin. Once he returns to the Storm lineup, the offense should be clicking on all cylinders once again. DS Jonathan Ordway absolutely must step up his play from the last two weeks, as Georgia OS Chris Jackson and Orlando OS Jimmy Fryzel have both had huge games at his expense.
On Deck: vs. Austin, @ Kansas City, vs. Dallas, vs. New York
Grade: B-… Tampa had no excuses not to beat the Predators on Sunday, and it very well could cost them down the line in playoff seeding and the Southern Division race.
Georgia Force (2-2)
The poor Force are legitimately two plays from being 4-0. A horrible no-call on holding of WR/LB Derek Lee in the end zone on what would have been the tying 2-point conversion against Colorado started the Force’s problems, which were then compounded the next week by losing on another failed 2-point conversion which would have won the game in Tampa. The defense has been questionable for the Force, allowing 61 points against both Colorado and Tampa, and is now missing DS Nate Coggins to suspension for his role in a brawl in Nashville during a pre-season scrimmage. K Nelson Garner has had the worst season of his career, connecting on only 76% of his extra points, with several of the misses coming in the 2nd half of tight contests against Colorado and Tampa. QB Matt Nagy has some impressive passing numbers (95 for 143, 1096 yards, and 22 touchdowns), but looks frazzled in the pocket at times and has thrown five picks on the year. WR/LB Derek Lee has helped account for the loss of Troy Bergeron by averaging over 10 receptions and 100 yards per game, but OS Chris Jackson must be more involved in the offense for the Force to succeed. DS Rob Carey consistently is behind on coverage, but rookie DS Chris Brown, who is replacing the suspended Coggins, came up big last week against Las Vegas, returning two interceptions for touchdowns.
On deck: vs. Kansas City, vs. Austin, @ Columbus, @ San Jose
Grade: B… I give the Force credit for playing through a hard chunk of the schedule, but they need to really go at least 3-1 over these next 4 games to keep pace in the South
Kansas City Brigade (1-3)
It took four weeks to happen, but the Brigade have hit the win column for the first time in their team history, completely dominating a beat up Columbus team in a 45-24 victory on Sunday afternoon. The Brigade have hung around with everyone they’ve faced this year, and boast the third best defense in the league at 41.75 ppg. On paper, this team looks a lot like the New Orleans VooDoo did in their expansion season. All the VooDoo did that year was go 10-6 and earn themselves a home playoff game. Though Kansas City probably won’t be playoff bound this year because their division is so competitive, the Brigade will be a team that no one wants to see on their schedule as the year progresses. If they are to make noise though, it’ll have to happen in the next four games, as three of the four are against division rivals. QB Andy Kelly must get the offense to produce more than 40.75 ppg, and must find a way to find OS Steve Smith for more than his 16 catches on the season. Rookie WR/DB James Jordan has been a pleasant surprise for the Brigade this year, accounting for 31 receptions and five touchdowns on the year. But the theme is there for Kansas City. The defense keeps making stops, but the offense can’t capitalize.
On deck @ Georgia, vs. Tampa Bay, vs. Philadelphia, @ Austin
Grade: C+… The Brigade have found ways to stay close, but have to find ways to win games late. The youth of this team will improve as the year goes on and could make KC a formidable opponent much like last year’s Nashville team at year’s end.
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.