No love for champs?
Andy Lopusnak
Saturday July 26, 2008
The San Jose SaberCats are on the precipice of the league’s third great dynasty, yet many so-called experts and prognosticators are saying that the Philadelphia Soul, a team with just one player that has won a championship ring, will take down the defending champs this Sunday in ArenaBowl XXII.
The two broadcasters calling the game (Ray Bentley and Bob Wischusen); Scouts, Inc. expert Gary Horton, a majority of the All-Star staff of ArenaFan.com, most of the AFL celebs interviewed on Radio Row by ArenaFan this week and even the Vegas insiders all have Soul fever.
Yes, Philadelphia did beat the SaberCats in Silicon Valley 58-57 in Week Seven after overcoming a 20-0 start that extended to a 26-point deficit before Matt D’Orazio led an amazing come-from-behind win. The SaberCats fell to 3-4 with that loss and the Soul went to 7-0. But that was a long time ago.
Since then, the SaberCats are 11-1 and unquestionable are the hottest team during that stretch. Quarterback Mark Grieb is on fire, completing 70.5% of his passes and tossing 82 touchdowns to just ten interceptions (three of those in the two playoff games) with a passer rating of 123.4 since the team was 3-4. The defense is the best in the league in forcing turnovers and sacking quarterbacks, and the special teams unit features the league’s best kicker.
Philadelphia, on the other hand, slipped a little since April 12 losing three times, including once to the Kansas City Brigade which finished a league worse 3-13. The Soul enters with a league-best 13-3 record, the 2008 Offensive Player of the Year (Chris Jackson) and 2008 Quarterback of the Year (Matt D’Orazio).
This matchup is one for the record books statistically and historically. ArenaBowl XXII features two of the AFL’s top offenses, defenses and special teams units. San Jose has the top-ranked team in sacks, takeaways, red-zone offense, red-zone defense, kickoff return average, field goals percentage and defensive third-down conversions. Philadelphia led the AFL in scoring, turnover differential, third-down conversions and fourth-down conversions.
When you look at the Soul’s schedule, the team had hard-fought games against Cleveland, New York, Tampa Bay, Kansas City, Georgia and San Jose. In those contests, the Soul quarterbacks were heavily pressured, which forced turnovers, bad passes and sacks. San Jose led the AFL in sacks and got to D’Orazio twice in the 58-57 loss.
That being said, I feel that the key to the game will not be on offense. It will be the play of San Jose Mack linebacker Steve Watson, who led the AFL at the position in tackles and sacks this year. The Mack linebacker position has been the lone blemish in D’Orazio’s stellar season. In the team’s shocking loss to the pathetic Brigade, linebacker Chris Avery dominated D’Orazio, sacking him twice and forcing a fumble that was recovered for a touchdown. Georgia’s Matt Huebner, another Mack linebacker, had a great game against D’Orazio in a win over Philadelphia.
When breaking down some situationals for the ArenaBowl, the team leading at halftime has won 20 of 21 previous ArenaBowls (ArenaBowl X between Tampa Bay and Iowa was tied). The team that scored first won 16 times (Orlando scored first but loss three times and Arizona did it twice).
Though this is a rehashing, here are some notes I originally put in the Breaking it Down article, but are still valid for this game.
ARENABOWL MVPs MEET
This marks the first time in ArenaBowl history that the game will feature two former ArenaBowl MVP quarterbacks facing each other. Philadelphia QB Matt D’Orazio won the award in 2005 with Chicago and San Jose QB Mark Grieb was ArenaBowl MVP in 2004 and 2007. In ArenaBowl history, there’s only been on previous ArenaBowl that featured former ArenaBowl MVPs playing against each other – ArenaBowl VII when ArenaBowl V MVP Stevie Thomas met ArenaBowl III & VI MVP George LaFrance. The following year, the two became teammates when the Storm orchestrated the biggest trade in league history to get LaFrance and five other players. Additionally, Thomas and LaFrance were the first players to be named ArenaBowl MVP in multiple title games (LaFrance three times, Thomas twice).
D’ORAZIO AND GRIEB GOING FOR MORE HISTORY
Both starting quarterbacks in this ArenaBowl are chasing AFL legend George LaFrance for two different reasons. Matt D’Orazio is trying to join LaFrance as the only other player to be named ArenaBowl MVP with two different teams (LaFrance did it with Detroit and Tampa Bay). Mark Grieb is attempting to join LaFrance as the only other player with three ArenaBowl MVP awards (LaFrance did it in 1989, 1992 and 1995).
THE HOT HAND
In two playoff games, the quarterbacks for both ArenaBowl teams are two of the hottest in the playoffs. San Jose’s Mark Grieb is completing a playoff-high 76.6% of his passes. Philadelphia’s Matt D’Orazio is ahead of all playoff quarterbacks in touchdown percentage (24.6), though Grieb is right on his heals with a 23.4%. Here’s a look at how each is doing in the postseason so far with the QB with the better numbers in bold. D’Orazio is 7-1 all-time in the postseason with his lone loss in 2007 against the San Jose SaberCats in the American Conference finals when he was with the Chicago Rush. Head-to-head in the playoffs, D’Orazio and Grieb each have a win. This marks the third straight season the two have met each other in the postseason (D’Orazio won in 2006, Grieb in 2007).
GRIEB
|
CATEGORY
|
D’ORAZIO
|
76.6
|
Completion Pct.
|
64.9
|
538
|
Passing Yards
|
442
|
8.4
|
Yards Per Attempt
|
7.8
|
15
|
Touchdown Passes
|
14
|
23.4
|
TD Percent
|
24.6
|
3
|
Interceptions
|
1
|
4.7
|
INT %
|
1.8
|
121.0
|
Passer Rating
|
120.8
|
REMATCH IN THE ARENABOWL
On April 12, the Soul beat the SaberCats 58-57 in San Jose after overcoming a 20-0 first-quarter deficit (which was 26 at one point and even at 12 points with 7:44 left in fourth quarter). This marks the 17th ArenaBowl that features teams that faced off in the regular season. There have been five times that the teams did not play each other in the regular season and five others were regular season series splits with each team winning one game. In the twelve other times, the winner of the season series or lone matchup has gone on to win the ArenaBowl just five times. All seven previous teams that lost in the regular season, and then won the ArenaBowl occurred in an even-numbered year (1988, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2004, 2006) – good news for the SaberCats. Strangely, the other even numbered years featured three times the teams spilt the regular season (1990, 2000 and 2002) and one time that neither team played (1996).
YEAR
|
IN REG. SEASON
|
ARENABOWL CHAMP
|
2008
|
Philadelphia won
|
????
|
2007
|
Teams did not play
|
San Jose
|
2006
|
Orlando won
|
Chicago
|
2005
|
Teams did not play
|
Colorado
|
2004
|
Arizona won both
|
San Jose
|
2003
|
Tampa Bay won
|
Tampa Bay
|
2002
|
Teams spilt series
|
San Jose
|
2001
|
Grand Rapids won
|
Grand Rapids
|
2000
|
Teams spilt series
|
Orlando
|
1999
|
Teams spilt series
|
Albany
|
1998
|
Tampa Bay won both
|
Orlando
|
1997
|
Teams did not play
|
Arizona
|
1996
|
Teams did not play
|
Tampa Bay
|
1995
|
Tampa Bay won both
|
Tampa Bay
|
1994
|
Orlando won both
|
Arizona
|
1993
|
Teams did not play
|
Tampa Bay
|
1992
|
Orlando won
|
Detroit
|
1991
|
Tampa Bay won
|
Tampa Bay
|
1990
|
Teams split series
|
Detroit
|
1989
|
Detroit won
|
Detroit
|
1988
|
Chicago won both
|
Detroit
|
1987
|
Teams split series
|
Denver
|
WE’RE GOING STREAKIN’
Of the previous 21 ArenaBowls, the team with the longer winning streak has won the title nine times. This year, San Jose has won eight straight since losing at Orlando on May 3, while Philadelphia has won five straight after losing to the worst team in the AFL (Kansas City). The team with the bigger win streak has won the ArenaBowl the last three seasons, but lost it the previous four years. There have been two seasons when the ArenaBowl teams have entered with the same win streak (1989 and 1998). Last season’s SaberCats’ 12-game streak entering the ArenaBowl was the longest in league history.
SOUL BECOMES 18TH ARENABOWL TEAM
The Philadelphia Soul became the 18th team in league history. There have been eight teams to play in at least two ArenaBowls (seven if you include Pittsburgh as Tampa Bay) and eleven teams to play in just one title game. Of those previous ten teams with just one ArenaBowl appearance, five of them have won the championship (Denver, 1987; Albany, 1999; Grand Rapids, 2001; Colorado, 2005; and Chicago, 2006).
TEAMS IN CONSECUTIVE ARENABOWLS
San Jose became the eight team in league history to go to multiple ArenaBowls in consecutive years in league history and first since Arizona lost three straight from 2002-04. The SaberCats are attempting to be the third team in league history to win back-to-back ArenaBowls joining the 1995-96 Tampa Bay Storm and the 1988-90 Detroit Drive (winners of three straight) as the only teams to do so.
TEAM
|
CONSEC. ABs
|
YEARS
|
RECORD
|
Detroit Drive
|
6
|
1988-93
|
4-2
|
3
|
1998-2000
|
2-1
|
|
3
|
2002-04
|
0-3
|
|
Tampa Bay Storm
|
2
|
1995-96
|
2-0
|
San Jose SaberCats
|
2
|
2007-08
|
1-0
|
2
|
2000-01
|
0-2
|
|
2
|
1996-97
|
0-2
|
|
Orlando Predators
|
2
|
1994-95
|
0-2
|
MOST ARENABOWL WINS
The SaberCats are attempting to be the third team in league history to win four ArenaBowl championships joining the five-time champion Tampa Bay Storm and four-time champion Detroit Drive. Tampa Bay is the only team to win its first four ArenaBowl appearances. San Jose is the only team with more than one ArenaBowl win that has no losses in the title game.
TEAM
|
ARENABOWL WINS
|
Tampa Bay Storm
|
5
|
Detroit Drive
|
4
|
San Jose SaberCats
|
3
|
Arizona Rattlers
|
2
|
Orlando Predators
|
2
|
Five other teams
|
1
|
AMERICAN PRIDE
The American Conference has won the six of the last seven ArenaBowl titles, including the last four. Since the AFL began conference play in 1993, the National Conference has seven of 15 wins (Tampa Bay, 4; Orlando, 2; and Albany 1).
Andy Lopusnak is an 11-year AFL front office veteran, spending time with the Tampa Bay Storm, San Diego Riptide and Grand Rapids Rampage. He works as a statistician for NFL and college sports for CBS Sports and is a freelance photographer. Lopusnak received two Bachelor of Arts degrees from the University of South Florida and has been a fan of ArenaBall since its inception.