It's finally game day here in Phoenix, AZ, as the Arizona Rattlers and the Jacksonville Sharks are all set to take to the gridiron in a 5:30 local start time at the US Airways Center. There has been a ton of pomp and circumstance leading up to this one in the Desert, and now that most of the hoopla is done with, we're all set to make our picks for ArenaBowl XXIV!

When these two teams met back in Week 1, the Rattlers came away with a 55-52 victory in one of the best games of the entire season. Both Head Coach Kevin Guy and Head Coach Les Moss noted how different these two teams are now from where they were at five months ago, and both are expecting to see a totally different type of game than we saw in Week 1.

 

What we do know is that the two quarterbacks are going to be the same. QBs Aaron Garcia and Nick Davila threw for 116 and 117 TD passes respectively this season, and they are going to be the catalysts for their teams. There has been much made out of the fact that Garcia is finally playing in the ArenaBowl after having played in over 200 AFL games in his career dating back to 1995, and we are fairly certain that this is his last showdown before he calls it a career one way or the other. Davila tied the league's all-time touchdown record, and he broke all sorts of Rattlers team records in the process this year.

 

What we also know is that both of these teams are really darn good. The Sharks won 13 straight games after losing to Arizona in Week 1, setting a league record for a single season winning streak, but over the course of the last three months, the Rattlers have won 11 straight and have outscored their foes by 17.1 points per game in the process. Jacksonville was tied for the second best road record in the league at 6-3. Arizona was tied for the best home record at 8-1.

 

If history holds true, the first half of this game will belong to Jacksonville, and the second half will be property of the Rattlers. The Sharks averaged scoring 34.1 PPG in the first half of games this year, the best mark in the AFL, while Arizona outscored its foes by 147 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

 

The two teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 in terms of scoring this year, with Jacksonville coming in at 64.3 PPG and Arizona at 61.9 PPG. The Ratts were No. 2 in scoring defense (46.4 PPG), while the Sharks were No. 6 (50.5 PPG). The margin of victories for these two teams on the season of 13.8 PPG for the hosts and 16.5 PPG for the visitors are the highest for two teams combined to play each other in the ArenaBowl in league history.

 

Arizona can become the first team in the history of the AFL to win 19 games in a season if it can win this one, and it would be just the second team in professional football history to win this many games in a single season, joining the 2008 Spokane Shock (who were quarterbacked by none other than Davila).

 

As you can see, separating these two teams is about as easy as trying to cut a single hair with a butter knife. However, there are definitely some edges here in my eyes in favor of the Rattlers that cannot be overlooked. The oddsmakers in Vegas declared the Rattlers to be 5-point favorites at the opening of the lines this morning, but that line has since jumped to 6.5 as of 12:00 ET.

 

I think that too much is being made about this short week thing for Jacksonville. I understand that it has to be incredibly hard to come out for a game on Friday when you just played on Monday and had to fly across the country on Tuesday, especially when you're preparing for a game against the best teams in the league in its building. However, this is still professional football, and we have seen other teams in the NFL and in college football do this a number of times before on short rest. Is it a disadvantage? Absolutely. Is it the end of the world? I don't think so.

 

What I do think is the end of the world though, is the fact that the first team All-Arena center, Randy Degg has been walking around in Phoenix in crutches. Replacing him along the offensive line is Mike Mabry, a man who last played in this league in ArenaBowl XXII for the Philadelphia Soul in 2008. The Rattlers only ranked sixth in the league in sacks this year with 30, but they have had an outstanding pass rush, anchored by another first team All-Arena performed, DT Anttaj Hawthorne. Yes, the Sharks only allowed 11 sacks all season long, easily the best mark in the league, but I'm definitely wary about the loss of Degg in the trenches, especially since he is the catalyst of that offensive line at the center position. This is where the lack of practice could end up being a problem.

 

In the end, I think that home field advantage, the short week, and the line problems are going to cause the Sharks to come up short in this one. Guy has done a remarkable job turning around this Arizona franchise, which was clearly at its low point when he took over in 2008 following a 4-12 season. That turnaround becomes complete on Friday night with a 62-51 win over the Sharks to capture the Foster Trophy and the ArenaBowl XXIV title.

 

 

We've sent out the call for our fans on Facebook and Twitter to make their picks for the game, and we asked the staff at ArenaFan to make their calls as well. As of 12:00 ET, the Rattlers have a 70% edge from our social media followers, while on the ArenaFan home page, our poll question regarding who is going to win ArenaBowl XXIV has the 58% of the fans picking the Sharks to come away with the 'W'. However, when you look at the picks from our ArenaFan staff, you can see that we are forecasting the Rattlers to win their third championship in team history.

 

Adam Markowitz - Arizona
Joe Kauffman - Arizona
Tim Capper - Jacksonville
Andy Lopusnak - Arizona
Jeff Sims - Jacksonville
Dave Bennett - Arizona
Jason Lucas - Arizona
Thomas Campbell - Arizona

Brian Beaudry - Arizona

 

Let us know what your thoughts are by joining us on Facebook or Twitter, or you can find us on our ArenaFan message boards. We will have live updates of the game on our front page starting around 4:30 local time (7:30 for those of you back on the East Coast... 2:30 local time if you're in Hawaii), and as always, we'll be available for questions and comments in the ArenaFan Chat Room all night long. I'll also be podcasting tonight from the US Airways Center right after the game for our final AFL Tonight of the season with host, Tim Capper. Be sure to check us out on I-Tunes for all of the editions of AFL Tonight, our AFL Roundtable last night with myself, Tim, and ArenaFan czar Joe Kauffman, and all of the interviews that we were able to conduct leading up to ArenaBowl XXIV.

Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.