Rush Offense Gets It
Jeff Sims
Tuesday May 24, 2011
Thank goodness the AFL extended to an 18 game schedule this season!
Playing in what could be considered one of the weaker divisions in the league and having one of the league’s better “bend but don’t break” defenses to help it out, it took the offense of the Chicago Rush 10 weeks to “get it”.
The Rush took over sole possession of first place in the central division after a 69 – 57 victory over the Dallas Vigilantes on Sunday afternoon at Allstate Arena.
In the game, the offense scored on nine out of 11 possessions in the game. On the last possession, the team ran out the clock to secure the victory.
Quarterback Russ Michna completed 20 of 24 passes for 264 yards and seven touchdowns. He completed 83.3%of his passes and 35% of his passes resulted in touchdowns. What makes this a little more impressive was that three of his incompletions came on three consecutive plays on one drive midway through the second quarter. That drive still resulted in a Rush touchdown.
In previous weeks, the Rush coaching staff complained of its wide receivers, other than Reggie Gray, not getting open.
On Sunday, Michna completed seven passes to Marco Thomas (who was placed on recallable reassignment on Monday), six passes to Gray, and six passes to Charles Dillon. This spreading out of the offense has now made the offense more effective.
“I think we’re getting there. I really do,” said Michna. “It’s been a little bit of a process, but I think we are finally getting on the same page, and more than anything else, we are getting a bigger understanding from everyone. Our linemen are understanding what we are trying to do on each play and our receivers are really starting to understand conceptually where we need to be and what route to run to get there as opposed to just running routes, which makes everyone’s life a lot easier. I think that we are finally starting to really get the big picture.”
Also helping Michna to regain his confidence is the return of center Beau Elliott, who missed most of the first half of the season with a knee injury. Since the return of Elliott to the offensive line, there has not been a fumbled snap between the two of them, an issue that had plagued the Rush after Elliott was placed on injured reserve.
“It means a lot,” said Michna. “It’s a different game playing behind (back-up center TJ Watkins). It’s not where he is comfortable. It hampered a lot of things. He was playing out of position and the exchange becomes an issue. Beau has been here for four years now and there is a reason for that. (As a quarterback), you don’t have to spend any time thinking about the snap. Any quarterback will tell you that the first half of a second is your livelihood. There are a lot of things to decipher after the snap and if you have to think about getting the ball first, it makes things more difficult for sure.”
For the first time this season, the Rush coaching staff was happy with the performance of its offense.
Head coach Bob McMillen said that he “thought this was the first game all season that our offense played well with the exception of the one turnover.”
That turnover came from a fumble by Gray, who leads the team in every receiving category. He caught a pass from Michna and made a great move to evade his defender to continue down the field. He was caught from behind by Dallas defensive end Justin Warren and coughed up the football.
While Gray lost the ball, it is that type of winning and “can do” attitude by Gray that his coaches and teammates respect. Sometimes though, it can be a concern as well.
“Sometimes I think Reggie forgets that he is 145 pounds,” said Michna jokingly. “He starts running around and those boys that are chasing him are a little bit bigger than him. I keep telling him to get down because we need him for the rest of the year.
Now while the Rush offense has taken a turn for the better, hopefully the Rush defense has not taken a turn for the worse.
The defense has given up 106 points in its last two games. That 53 point average over those two games is more than the 52 points per game that the offense is averaging. While the past two games were wins for the Rush against two of the better teams in the league, hopefully this is not a sign of things to come.
“We don’t pride ourselves in giving up 57 points,” said McMillen after the win.”We were in a position to make some plays and we didn’t do it. We will have to get better.”
Get it. Got It. Good. Good for the fans of the Chicago Rush.
Game Notes
Offensive lineman TJ Watkins moves from center to guard and what does he do? He catches a touchdown pass! Watkins took a pass from Michna in the third quarter and rumbled for his first touchdown of the season.
While not a great performance by the Rush defense, DB Vic Hall continues to make a name for himself. After Vigilantes wide receiver Tiger Jones could not control a pass that was in his hands in the endzone, Hall maintained his focus and intercepted the ball off the back wall.
Another Rush defender making his presence felt is jack linebacker Kelvin Morris. Morris intercepted a pass by QB Dan Raudabaugh late in the fourth quarter and returned it 55 yards for a touchdown. The pick-six was the longest interception return in the league this season. The Rush coaching staff have been high on Morris and consider him “the best jack linebacker in the league.”
Rush DB Jason Simpson left the game with sore ribs and should be available for the team’s next game against the Tulsa Talons next weekend.
Vigilantes WR Matt Fields made the best catch that I have ever seen in my eight years of covering this league. In the final Dallas drive, Fields jumped up to about one foot from the top of the side wall and then went head first into the Rush bench when he was pushed out of bounds by DB Greg James. Field went into the seats on the Rush bench and did not land too far from the glass behind the bench area. Great Catch Matt!