Breaking it Down - 2010 Week Four
Andy Lopusnak
Wednesday April 28, 2010
Week Four of the AFL season was the shortest in two decades and all four home teams won. Chicago and Milwaukee remain as the final unbeaten teams while Iowa won its first AFL game in almost a decade. This and much more are await in your weekly addiction known to the kids on the street as Breaking it Down. Don’t worry; I’ve got your fix.
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WEEK FOUR RESULTS
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CHICAGO 64, Utah 40
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ARIZONA 77, Tulsa 76
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IOWA 68, Oklahoma City 60
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MILWAUKEE 72, Tampa Bay 61
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Home team in ALL CAPS
BYE: Alabama, Bossier-Shreveport, Cleveland, Dallas, Jacksonville, Orlando and Spokane.
WEEK FOUR FEATURED….
· The home team won all four games.
· An AFL-record seven teams had bye weeks.
· Six of the eight starting QBs passed for over 300 yards, including an AFL season-high 413 by Arizona’s Nick Davila
· Thirteen 100-yard receivers, including five sets of teammates.
· The Barnstormers won their first game of the season.
AFL HIGHLIGHTS THROUGH FOUR WEEKS
· Chicago is the only team to play all four weeks and get its first bye in Week Five.
· The Rush and Iron are the only unbeaten teams – they play each other in Week Six.
· Four teams are winless (Cleveland and Utah are 0-3. Orlando and Dallas remain 0-2 thanks to two byes).
IS JERRY KURZ OR NFL NETWORK RIGHT?
During the NFL Network broadcast of the Oklahoma City-Iowa game this weekend, the announcers said that Barnstormers WR Jesse Schmidt was an Arena Football rookie, but since he played the previous two seasons with the Barnstormers (also mentioned by NFL Network) he would be a third-year player according to AFL commissioner Jerry Kurz. The commish told the Storm’s Jason Dixon in a radio interview that the two leagues would merge their stats, records and history. I'd like to call Schmidt a rookie, but don't even know his status because the league has failed to put out a record book. It’s almost Week Five and this is beyond bush league for a league with 32 combined years of history (22 AFL, 10 af2). I wish this was the af2; at least they cared about their history and had a record book. Dear AFL, I’m calling you out every single week until you actually print a record & fact book. My email address is andy.lopusnak@arenafan.com if you prefer to email me a PDF to save on the cost of printing a copy.
FIX THE GAME BOX SCORES NOW!!!
While I’m hot about not having a definitive record book, I might as well keep on asking why Daktronics can’t fix the online game box scores (as well as the slew of problems this thing has). Daktronics makes great in-arena video boards, but when it comes to AFL statistics, they appear clueless. Three of the four games this week had incomplete scoring summaries a day after the games – only the Tampa Bay-Milwaukee game was correct as soon as the game ended. Who in the AFL thought this program would be a good fit for this league? All the stats crews continually have problems with this waste of code. How hard is it to fix this thing? Yet again, I will continue to address this until it’s fixed (again unlikely). Since the Indoor Football League also uses this horrible program (guess they were conned that this was a good program too), I decided to look at their eleven-game schedule for this week and six of 11 box scores were incomplete – that’s a better percentage than the AFL, but still beyond minor league for a major league company like Daktronics.
SPECIAL NOTE SINCE THIS WAS FIRST PUBLISHED (added 4/29)
In the above paragraph, I originally mentioned how the OKC-Iowa online box score had just one scoring play listed (an Anthony Hines 15-yard TD from Tommy Grady) and that if someone were only to look at that box score, then they'd assume the Yard Dawgz won 7-0 when they actually lost 68-60. Magically, the box score of the game was fixed after this article was published). Since the league apparently needs help with this, here's a list of the online box scores that are still wrong as of April 29. 2010 at 10 AM Eastern. Also while you're at it, please add the defender who intercepted the ball on the box score. Every other football box score traditionally has this and it would be very helpful.
Week 1
Chicago at Iowa
Milwaukee at Spokane
Arizona at Cleveland
Jacksonville at Oklahoma City
Week 2
Orlando at Bossier-Shreveport (nice try, but a MFG return for a TD is not an actual play from scrimmage)
Dallas at Tulsa (no extra point listed on the final play, but it happened)
Week 3
Iowa at Milwaukee
Dallas at Tampa Bay
Chicago at Arizona
Orlando at Jacksonville
Week 4
Tulsa at Arizona
Oklahoma City at Iowa (need to fix the final scoring play - 2pt pass wording is wrong)
MORE ON THE IFL
Still say the Omaha Beef is the best name ever – they lost to the Green Bay Blizzard a former af2 team) on a last-second touchdown 50-49 if you cared. Did you know that Hall of Fame running back Walter Payton’s son, Jarrett, plays for the Chicago Slaughter in that league? He has 172 rushing yards (16th in IFL) and seven scores in six games. That league has 25 teams and two of them have the nickname “Wild.” Talk about bush league.
WHAT THE DEUCE?
Someone asked me what “what the deuce” meant. It’s an old saying from Europe that essentially means “what the devil” or “what the hell.” Thought it was a catchy title and I’ll be using it the rest of the year for the running tally of games featuring teams from the 2009 af2 vs. 2008 AFL. Anyway, the old AFL spilt the two games against former af2 squads. This week, the Rattlers took down the previously unbeaten Talons, but the Storm lost to former af2 Milwaukee. On the year, teams from the former af2 are 7-2 against old AFL teams – only Chicago and now Arizona have wins against former af2 teams. Tampa Bay is 0-2.
HOME COOKING
All four home teams won this week marking the first time since Week Six of 2008 that all the home squads won every game in the same week. This is only the eleventh time in AFL history (af2 still not included – where’s a record book already?) that the home team won every game in a single week. The last time all the home teams won when there was just four games played was in Week Ten of the 1991 season (that year only eight teams played and the undefeated home team happened twice that season). Since 1991, this is the fifth time that the home team won all the games of a single week.
2010 HOME-FIELD ADVANTAGE
On the year, the home team is 15-7. After going 2-4 in Week One, the home team has posted a 13-3 record in the past three weeks. In that timeframe, the winless Utah Blaze has two of those three home losses while Arizona has the other (to the undefeated Chicago Rush). The home team has a 68.2 winning percentage this is a bit high compared to both the last year of the AFL (59.6% - four of 17 teams did not finish above .500 at home in 2008 – two actually made the playoffs) and af2 (59.5% - just eight of 25 teams didn’t have a winning record at home in 2009 – one made the postseason).
HOMETOWN OFFICIATING?
With the extremely-high winning percentage of home teams along with the regionalizing of game officials, one might think that the refs could be giving the home teams an extra edge.The only way to truly do this would be to throw more flag agains the road team.
Looking game-by-game, the road team has out penalized the home teams in 13 contests posting a 6-7 record. And in the nine games the home team has been flagged more, the home team is 8-1 (Utah’s blowout loss to Spokane being the only blemish). Seems fair, right? Not so fast slick.
A closer look shows that the road team as a whole has been flagged more in each week than the home team. And the numbers are pretty staggering. In just four weeks, road teams have been flagged 49 more times for 458 more yards than home teams – that’s an average of 12.3 more penalties and for 114.5 more yards each week for the road team as a whole. This number is extremely high. Even the league’s most penalized team (Oklahoma City) has been called for fewer penalties and yards in its two home games than its opponents (OPP: 35-252, OKC: 29-166). Here’s the numbers. You make the call.
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2010 AFL PENALTY BREAKDOWN
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WEEK
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ROAD (PEN/YDS)
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HOME (PEN/YDS)
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DIFFERENCE
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1
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68-441
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46-235
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22-206
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2
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46-332
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41-236
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5-96
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3
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70-405
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54-308
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16-97
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4
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42-258
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36-199
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6-59
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TOTAL
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226-1,436
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177-978
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49-458
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BAD DAWG
Speaking of way too many penalties, the Oklahoma City Yard Dawgz are by far the league’s most penalized team and that showed in the team’s 68-60 loss at Iowa. In the game, the Yard Dawgz were flagged 17 times for 113 yards, including seven penalties that resulted in Barnstormers first downs. On the year, OKC has been penalized a league-high 46 times for a league-high 279 yards. That’s 93.0 yards per game. At this clip, the Dawgz will shatter the previous AFL record of 1,038 (64.9 yards/game) set by the 2005 Dallas Desperados by almost 400 yards. Oklahoma City would also have an AFL record 245 total penalties which would be 79 more than the 2007 Georgia Force – the current record holder. On the flipside, OKC opponents are the most flagged in the league as well and likely would be on pace for league marks in both times penalized and yards, but the league never kept reliable stats historically on this category even back when they cared about stats.
IRON-CLAD WINNER
Milwaukee QB Chris Greisen remained the lone starting QB with at least two starts to not be intercepted. He completed 26-of-41 for 270 yards with seven passing scores and one rushing TD in the Iron’s 72-61 win over Tampa Bay. In part to his AFL-leading 137.5 passer rating, Greisen has helped the Iron be the league’s highest scoring team (70.3 points/game) and best offensive unit (353.7 total yards/game).
DAMIAN’S DA MAN
Milwaukee WR Damian Harrell became the second AFL player with 1,000 career receptions this past weekend against Tampa Bay. Ironic since the first player to do so, Lawrence Samuels, plays for the Storm, who did so in 2008 at San Jose. Samuels broke his right ring finger in pregame and has been placed on injured reserve for at least four weeks. With Samuels out, Harrell could be the league’s all-time leader when Samuels returns to the field in a month. Harrell’s just 22 catches behind Samuels. The next closest player to Samuels and Harrell is Bossier-Shreveport’s Willis Marshall who has 598 receptions, which is good for 21st all-time.
RUSHING AHEAD
The Chicago Rush became the first 4-0 team in the league this week matching the best start in franchise history. Chicago’s defense again came up big for the Rush. AFL interceptions leader Nygel Rogers added another pick along with ten total tackles and two pass breakups, while FB/LB Clifton Smith had a sack, forced a fumble, blocked a field goal and had a rushing touchdown. Also QB Russ Michna had another solid game posting seven touchdowns (six passing, one rushing) along with 326 yards completing 70% of his passes.
NOT RUSTY AT ALL
Rush QB Russ Michna has thrown a touchdown pass on the Rush’s first offensive play in each of the past three games (42 yards to Samie Parker vs. Cleveland, 45 yards to Nichiren Flowers at Arizona and 34 yards to Parker vs. Utah).
BURNT BLAZE?
Utah dropped to 0-3 on the year. This isn’t anything new to the Blaze, which started 0-9 in its last AFL season (2008) before winning six of its last seven contests to slip into the playoffs at 6-10. The Blaze began its first two AFL seasons (2006 and 2007) with Week One wins.
BARN ROCKS AGAIN
With Iowa winning its first game of the season, it’s time for a stroll down memory lane. If the af2 Barnstormers are not included (come on AFL, is there a merger or not?), then this was the first official AFL victory for a team named the Iowa Barnstormers since July 15, 2000 (the team was sold and became the New York Dragons in 2001). In that game almost ten years ago, Albany QB Mike Pawlaski tossed an eleven-yard TD to offensive specialist Quincy Jackson as time expired to pull the Firebirds within a point at 77-76, but his pass on a two-point conversion attempt was incomplete to give the Barnstormers the win. Iowa QB Aaron Garcia, now with Jacksonville, was named the Game MVP after passing for 431 yards and nine touchdowns. Oh the days when there was only two game-award winners (the league now has at least six game-award winners).
ALMOST “ALLGOOD” IN TULSA
Talons QB Justin Allgood posted the league’s second ten touchdown pass performance in Tulsa’s 77-76 loss at Arizona. Both ten TD games have come in losses. The first such performance was by Bossier-Shreveport’s Raymond Philyaw in the Battle Wings’ loss to Spokane last week.
HOT ROD
Arizona WR Rod Windsor had eight touchdowns (six receiving, two rushing) in the Rattlers’ 77-76 win over Tulsa. His final TD was the most important as it came as time expired to give Arizona the win. Windsor caught 16 passes for 230 yards. The 2009 af2 Offensive Player of the Year now leads the AFL in receptions (40) and receiving yards (513). A day after this game, Windsor celebrated his 25th birthday.
DAVILA IN GOOD COMPANY
Of the top six leaders in passing yards only Arizona’s Nick Davila didn’t play previously in the old AFL. Davila leads the AFL in passing yards per game (344.0) and his 413 yards this weekend are the most in the AFL this season. He spent the previous two seasons with Spokane and guided the Shock to an ArenaCup championship last year. In those two years, Davila was 38-3 as a starter for the Shock. His Rattlers are 2-1 so far this year.
WEEK FOUR’S TOP STATISTICAL PREFORMANCES
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100-YARD RECEIVERS
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PLAYER, TEAM
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RECEIVING YARDS
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RECEPTIONS
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TOUCHDOWNS
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Rod Windsor, AZ
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230
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16
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6
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Chris Francies, UTAH
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155
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12
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2
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Jesse Schmidt, IOWA
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131
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7
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3
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Nichiren Flowers, CHI
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129
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9
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3
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Donovan Morgan. TUL
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128
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9
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5
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Anthony Mix, AZ
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126
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9
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1
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Cleannord Saintil, TB
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126
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9
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4
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Samie Parker, CHI
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124
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6
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1
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Carlese Franklin, TUL
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121
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10
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2
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Nate Forse, MIL
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120
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8
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1
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Tyrone Timmons, TB
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118
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7
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2
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Xavier Lee, OKC
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117
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9
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1
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Anthony Hines, OKC
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100
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5
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2
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300-YARD PASSERS
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PLAYER, TEAM
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PASSING YARDS
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PASS TDs
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INTERCEPTIONS
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Nick Davila, AZ
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413
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8
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1
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Tommy Grady, OKC
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383
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6
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1
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Justin Allgood, TUL
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350
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10
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1
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Russ Michna, CHI
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330
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7
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0
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Brett Dietz, TB
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316
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7
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2
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Brett Elliott, UTAH
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316
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5
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1
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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Arizona WR Rod Windsor
The Rattlers’ receiver caught 16 passes for 230 yards with six touchdowns. He caught the game-winning 27-yard touchdown as time expired to lead Arizona to a 77-76 win over previously unbeaten Tulsa Talons. Windsor also added two rushing touchdowns and a tackle on kickoff coverage. On the year, Windsor has had at least ten catches, 100 receiving yards and a TD in each of the Rattlers’ first three games of the season.
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2010 BREAKING IT DOWN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
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WEEK
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PLAYER, TEAM
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STAT NOTE
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1
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Chris Greisen, Milwaukee QB
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83 comp. pct, 327 pass yds, 9 TD, 0 INT
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2
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PJ Berry, Bossier-Shreveport WR/KR
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357 all-purpose yards, 201 rec yds, 7 total TD
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3
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Kyle Rowley, Spokane QB
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75.7 comp. pct, 316 pass yards, 8 TD, 1 INT, 1 rush TD
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4
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Rod Windsor, Arizona WR
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16 receptions, 230 rec. yards 6 rec TD, 2 rush TD
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WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN WEEK FIVE
· Orlando and Dallas get their first home game while Chicago becomes the last team to have its first bye of the season.
· Tampa Bay plays its first opponent that’s not either a holdover from the af2 or an expansion team (Arizona this Saturday). The Storm is 0-2 vs. the af2 and 1-0 vs. expansion teams.
· There are three games pitting former af2 teams vs. 2008 AFL squads.
· Orlando plays Iowa at home for the first time since May 15, 1998 when the Preds won 28-6.
· For just the second time this season, there was just one bye – Chicago. The previous time, Tulsa was unbeaten before the bye and lost its first game after the bye.
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.
