Talk is Over! It's Time For VooDoo, Predators To Put Up Or Shut Up

Adam Markowitz
Saturday July 27, 2013

There has been plenty of talking. There has been plenty of observation. There has been plenty of buzz. And now, it's time to get out there and play some football. The New Orleans VooDoo and the Orlando Predators are set to duke it out on Saturday night at the Amway Center, and this is the first time since 2008 that it feels like there is a legitimate buzz about an AFL game in the City Beautiful.

It would be easy to dismiss a game between a team that is 6-11 and a team that is 5-12, and in fact, I was critical of the AFL for the way that the playoffs have been handled this year on AFL Tonight Episode 20. However, what no one, this writer included, can dispute is the fact that this is the type of game that this league needs. It's a game between two teams that are learning to hate each other, and it's a game played in one of the best venues in the league with some of the best fans in the league. A contingent is coming in from the Crescent City as well to cheer on their hometown VooDoo, many of which are driving for 10+ hours to get to the game. There is a legitimate chance of a 15,000+ crowd at the Amway Center, and the bottom line is simple for both teams: Win and you're in. Lose and your season is over with.

The personal nature of this game is as bitter as the AFL has had in quite some time. Go back in the history of the AFL and look at when the league was at its best. The rivalry between the Predators and the Tampa Bay Storm was always one of the best in the league, while on the other coast, the San Jose SaberCats and the Arizona Rattlers went back and forth with each other throughout the 2000s as well. That was when the AFL was at its strongest. Lately, the rivalry games have been lukewarm at best, and that's just not good for the league.

The bottom line: We need teams that really genuinely hate each other. This one surely has a shot to fit the bill.

Of the dozens of people that I have spoken to about this game, no one is specifically saying that it's a personal game, but there has been a lot of talk from both sides that suggests that the game is, in actuality, as personal as could be.

QB Chris Dixon obviously has a heck of a lot to prove. This is a man that was brought into the AFL from the ranks of the indoor leagues this year to play with the Predators. He was given his chance to play with the big boys, and he immediately took advantage of that when he came in to replace an ineffective QB Kyle Rowley, who was ultimately jettisoned from the team. Unfortunately for Dixon, he was injured in his best game with the Preds on a touchdown run, as he flew over a pile and landed on his shoulder, ultimately separating it.

Dixon completed 76.5% of his passes with five TDs against just one INT, and he had 75 rushing yards with a TD in the three games in which he came in off of the bench for Orlando.

The Predators, then 0-5, went on the next week to trade for QB Aaron Garcia. Dixon never stepped onto the field for the black and red again.

Part of the reason Dixon never played for Orlando again was because he felt as though he deserved his chance to win the starting job from Garcia when he was healthy. Obviously, the franchise literally went all-in with the future Hall of Famer though, and Dixon wasn't going to be happy on the bench. He was ultimately cut and eventually picked up by the VooDoo, where he was a backup for a month before taking over as the starter.

Since then, Dixon has clearly been the best quarterback by far that New Orleans has started. Dixon entered the game down 21-6 against the San Antonio Talons and nearly led the team to victory. He generated the game-winning touchdown drive against the Pittsburgh Power off the bench as well. Since then, he has taken over as the starter and has put his team into a position where it could have won two of those three games. In total in New Orleans, Dixon has thrown for 21 TDs and rushed for eight more against six interceptions, and he has posted a solid 105.19 QB rating.

In fact, if you take Dixon's stats in the roughly six full games that he has played this year and prorate them over a full 18-game season, the rookie would have 3,948 passing yards, 78 passing TDs, 21 INTs, 594 rushing yards, and 27 rushing TDs. Had either Orlando or New Orleans gotten quarterback play like that for the full season, we probably would be talking about a significantly different scenario in Week 19.

Needless to say, this is Dixon's big chance. A win in this game, and he'll not only have his team in the playoffs, but he'll also have proven to the Predators that they made a mistake by getting rid of him. There is a chance that he could end up becoming the legitimate face of the VooDoo franchise in the long term as well.

Lose this game though, and there's a good chance that Dixon is going to end up just being another free agent at the end of the year who may and may not get another shot as a starter.

Three other players are on the VooDoo roster right now that are former members of the Preds.

On AFL Tonight on Wednesday, Orlando Head Coach Doug Plank had some harsh words when asked what he thought about the possibility of Dixon being wronged by the Predators.

"If you think you've been done bad by being released from an organization or team, you better get used to it, because that the way life is around here. I just kind of laugh," said Plank.

But of course, the man that rightfully probably should have the biggest chip on his shoulder is VooDoo Head Coach Pat O'Hara. O'Hara coached the Preds in 2010 and 2011. Both years, he took the team to the playoffs, and in the first of those two years, he literally came up a few inches short of going to the ArenaBowl. O'Hara played for the Preds for six seasons, including winning the ArenaBowl as the starting quarterback in 1998 and as the backup quarterback in 2000. He and his family still live in Orlando in the offseason as well.

"It's not a personal thing. There's nothing personal about it. It's just more about getting in the playoffs, period," O'Hara said when I tried to egg a good quote out of him about the personal nature of this game against Orlando.

O'Hara was also on "The Rundown" on 740 AM in Orlando on the eve of the game, and he reiterated the same sentiment. "I've really moved on. I spent eight great years with the [Predators] and it was an honor to coach the team I used to play for."

I understand that as the coach of the team, O'Hara has to say all the right things, but I have to imagine that there is at least a little teensy bit of a grudge factor in there that he isn't letting leak out.

It has been 18 weeks since the Predators and the VooDoo did battle against one another way back in Week 1 of the season, and obviously, a ton has changed. New Orleans is only going to be using six of the same players that they had on their 20-game roster in Week 1. Orlando is only going to be using four of its 20. Two have changed sides though, and that is only going to add to the fuel that is the fire of a must-win game.

The time for talk is said and done with for the New Orleans VooDoo and the Orlando Predators. Now is the time to put up and get into the playoffs, or shut up and be sent home at the hands of your rivals once and for all.