All on the Line

Brian Beaudry
Sunday March 29, 2015

It was the best of lines, it was the worst of lines, it was a pocket with plenty of room, it was a pocket on a pair of jeans three sizes too small, it was an opportunity for a quarterback to find receivers through multiple defenders, it was an opportunity to find one’s quarterback under multiple defenders – in short, it was a game of superlative play on both sides of the line*.

Sure, Jamar Howard, the offensive player of the game, posted three touchdowns and 119 total yards. Sure, Kyle Rowley, looking healthier than he has in years, converted six of his final seven drives into touchdowns with the lone KISS stop coming on a tipped-at-the-line interception. The real stars of the Portland Thunder’s season-opening 42-37 win over the Los Angeles KISS were the Thunder’s offensive and defensive lines, who dominated their KISS counterparts throughout the game.

A few highlights:

•Frank “Mutombo**” Trotter was credited for four passes batted down, and that seemed like a conservative estimate.

•When the KISS came up with the game’s lone turnover, Donovan Morgan, who seemed to bat down even more passes than Trotter, knocked down the first two passes. Then Marquis Jackson went to work, sacking McPherson on third and fourth down.

•On the final drive after K Kenny Spencer managed to recover his own onside kick, McPherson avoided a sack by reaching forward for a yard after heavy pressure.

•The defensive line forced an intentional grounding call, several passes to be thrown away, and McPherson had to use every ounce of his scrambling ability to make anything happen against the Thunder, who were starting three AFL rookies in the secondary.

“It was a beautiful day,” Jackson said.

On the other side of the ball, after a couple of early pressures and a solitary sack (when Rowley’s foot got caught underneath the foot of an offensive lineman at the snap), the KISS pass rush completely disappeared, allowing Rowley to throw at will against a defense not capable of covering receivers for long.

“The offensive line was doing a great job,” said Rowley. “A lot of times, when you’re outworking them and they’re getting tired, they’ll stop their rush, and the only thing they can do is try to get some batted balls.”

In the end, although the KISS did get the one batted ball resulting in the interception and even earned a free possession with the onside kick, the Thunder’s faith in their offensive and defensive lines was rewarded.

*I’m sorry, Charles Dickens.
**I’d go with a more current name like Anthony Davis but Davis isn’t a great nickname-name nor is it a great verb-name.