Uploaded Ad
AFL E-News
Transactions
myAFL

Which Central Division team do you think has the best dancers?
AFL Insider: Divisional Round
Courtesy: Wayne Morris
           Release: 07/06/2008
Send this article to a friend Print RSS
Courtesy: Gene Lower/AFLGettyImages.com
Rampage WR Kenny Higgins

 

 

 

By Wayne Morris -- Each week, former AFL player and current broadcasting analyst Wayne Morris takes an insider’s look at every game. Check out Wayne's breakdown for Sunday's Divisional Round match up.

 

 

SUNDAY'S GAME

Grand Rapids Rampage  @ Chicago Rush

 

Why To Watch

The Rampage won their opening round game in dramatic fashion and it was not a shootout. The Rampage set an AFL record this season by scoring 80 plus points in 4 games but they needed their much-maligned defense to come through with a goal-line stand to advance. The Rampage defense played well all game and they held Arizona out of the end zone on 4 tries inside the five to end the game.  The Rampage were swept in the regular season by the Rush but in this third edition of what was dubbed “The Amtrak Classic” you can throw those two games out because the last time they met was Week 8 and things have changed dramatically for the young Rampage. The Rampage has been playing good football as they finally put things together winning 4 straight. This has been a team that was completely rebuilt by new Head Coach Steve Thonn. The Rampage are young and explosive which makes them a dangerous first playoff game for the top seeded Rush.

 

Chicago struggled down the stretch losing 3 of their last 5 games, but ended the season on a high note with a 77-65 win over Dallas.  Chicago has been the best team in the American conference all year long as they clinched their division real early. Do not expect this Rush team to come out flat as they have great experienced coaches and a lot of veterans who have won before and know what the playoffs are all about and what it takes to win. The Rush have the home field in this game and it is arguably the best atmosphere in the AFL, as the Chicago fans have truly embraced this team and they make it difficult for the road teams. Expect this game to have a lot of explosive plays and it should be an exciting game. 

 

 

Keys to the Game

Turnovers! The Rush defense feeds off the big plays and pressuring the quarterback into mistakes, and if the Rampage expects to pull the upset over their division rival then they must protect the football. Grand Rapids needs to win the turnover battle as they cannot afford to give away scoring chances, but also they cannot allow Chicago to get on one of their runs and reel off 21 straight points like they did in the first meeting. The pressure will be on MacPherson to avoid throwing costly interceptions, something that he has avoided over the past 5 games.

 

Pressure on MacPherson! MacPherson has had a good year and he has matured under center as the season has gone on. He struggled early in the season in games because of his offensive line and his inability to deal with the pressure he was seeing. The line has since been revamped and is now playing well, but what this showed is that MacPherson can be forced into mistakes. Chicago is one of the best defenses in the league at putting pressure on the entire offense. Chicago is an aggressive unit and their front four is experienced and talented. If MacPherson is allowed to stay comfortable in the pocket the Rampage will have a chance to score a lot of points.

 

Key Match Ups

Grand Rapids WR Kenny Higgins vs. Chicago DB Jeremy Unertl

Speed vs. strength! This is what this match up is all about. Don’t misunderstand: Unertl can run, but he is also good and pressing receivers at the line of scrimmage. Higgins is the Rampage’s best receiver and he has great speed and quickness. Higgins must be able to deal with Unertl and the other defensive backs that will look to disrupt his route as they cannot allow Higgins to run free in the secondary.

 

Grand Rapids secondary vs. Chicago Wide receivers

Chicago is loaded at the wide receiver position led by the great Damian Harrell (Second Team All-Arena), Travis LaTendresse and Donovan Morgan (2008 Rookie of the Year). This will cause a lot of problems, as the Rampage will struggle to match up with the Chicago receivers consistently in this game. Ahmad Hawkins has very good range in the middle, but the lack of depth in the secondary is a concern. Grand Rapids secondary will need to play a near perfect game to contain this group. The key will be to avoid giving up the quick strikes.

 

Edge:  Chicago

 

 

SATURDAY'S GAMES

 

Colorado Crush @ San Jose SaberCats

 

Why to Watch

San Jose takes it first steps towards defending their title this week and they understand they cannot take the Crush lightly as Colorado have won three straight games including last week’s gutsy win over Utah in the Wild Card round. The SaberCats are looking to become the first team to win back-to-back ArenaBowl titles since Tampa Bay in 1995-96. The SaberCats finished the season red-hot wining 6 straight and they are well rested after enjoying a first-round bye. If this sounds familiar, you are right as the SaberCats finished 2007 winning 8 of 9, including their final 6 games.  The SaberCats are the same veteran-laden team that won the title but have mixed in some young talent and are poised to make another run.

 

Colorado had lost all their previous meetings with the Utah Blaze including getting pounded by 35 points during the regular season. Yet they were able to play a great defensive game and Mike Dailey’s team came away with a big road win against a Blaze team that had won 6 of 7.  The Crush now moves on to face the defending champions and a familiar foe in San Jose.  They will need another tremendous defensive effort as they face an explosive team. The Crush has not faired much better vs. the SaberCats as they are 1-8 all-time vs. San Jose and have never won in the Pavilion. Not many teams have had success in San Jose over the past five years, but keep in mind Colorado’s only win came in the 2005 playoffs -- the year the Crush won the ArenaBowl. So while this seems like a daunting task for the Crush you cannot count them out especially with leaders like QB John Dutton, DB Rashad Floyd and OL Kyle Moore-Brown.

 

Keys to the Game

Crush Receivers must play big! The pressure will be on the Crush receivers to make big plays in this game. Last time out Dutton had 19 incomplete passes and the San Jose defense made 6 total stops including 4 turnovers on downs. Wide receivers Ben Nelson and Willie Quinnie’s games are based on speed and in this match up they must raise their level of play to handle the physical part of the game against a tough SaberCats secondary. The SaberCats are deep in the secondary and all three starters will look to challenge the Crush receivers and disrupt their routes and neutralize their speed.

 

Pressure on Dutton! The San Jose offense is rolling once again as they finished red hot down the stretch.  The key once again has been QB Mark Grieb who has been maximizing all 3 of his talented receivers. The Crush defense came up big last week vs. the Blaze and if they expect to make it back-to-back great defensive efforts they will need to get pressure on Grieb and force him out of his rhythm and hopefully cause him to make a few mistakes or turn the ball over. First Team All-Arena DL Aaron McConnell had two sacks in the win over Utah and the Crush needs him to have another big game.

 

Key Match Ups

Colorado NT Charrod Taylor vs. San Jose SaberCats C Dan Loney

Pressure on Grieb will be crucial to slowing down the San Jose offense. And while all eyes will be on DL Aaron McConnell, pressure from Taylor will be equally important. Grieb is an experienced quarterback and like most great quarterbacks they can deal with pressure off the edge by stepping up or getting rid of the football quickly. But inside pressure causes a lot of problems for event the great ones. Taylor had a sack in the regular season meeting vs. San Jose. The rookie will take on a veteran in Loney. Loney’s job is just to create a stalemate when facing Taylor and get away from Taylor and avoid getting held up when in slide protection.

 

Colorado WR Ben Nelson vs. San Jose DB Clevan Thomas 

Thomas epitomizes what San Jose likes to do defensively in the secondary and that’s challenge opposing receivers on any part of the field whether stationery or in motion. Thomas finished the season on fire with 6 picks in the last five games earning him ADT Defensive Player of the Month and a Second Team All-Arena selection. Nelson faced his former team for the first time back in Week 13 and had 7 catches for 79 yards. But Nelson needs to raise his game this week and help the Crush offense try to keep up with the League’s 3rd-highest scoring offense. Nelson must have a dominating game and in order to do this he must deal with the physical challenge he will face from his former teammates.

 

Edge: San Jose

 

 

New York Dragons @ Philadelphia Soul

 

Why to Watch

The Soul begins their postseason with a very familiar opponent in the New York Dragons. These two are bitter division rivals and the Soul would like nothing better than to send New York home. While the Dragons who have already taken care of one division rival look to win back-to-back road games against the teams with the two best record during the AFL regular season.  The Dragons finally broke through against the Desperados in the Wild Card game after they were swept in the regular season by a total of 4 points. QB Aaron Garcia threw 9 touchdown passes and was named the Offensive Player of the Week for the Wild Card round. But New York has a tougher challenge in this game as the Soul dominated both regular season match ups winning by an average of 25 points.  The last meeting was just two weeks ago when the Dragons were handled easily by the Soul, however New York showed a lot of character as they bounced back with a 77-63 victory over Dallas just 6 days later. New York will look to ride the momentum of that game to break through vs. the Soul. 

 

Philadelphia will look to reach their first conference finals in franchise history. They made news this week when they announced that QB Matt D’Orazio will remain the starter over a healthy Tony Graziani. Graziani has not played in 5 weeks but has now been cleared to play. D‘Orazio has been a huge story all season long as he was brought in during the offseason as insurance for Graziani and he has been terrific. D’Orazio was named First Team All-Arena for the regular season and now he’s looking to give to Philadelphia what he gave to Chicago in 2006; an ArenaBowl Championship.  The Soul are loaded top to bottom and have dominated the Dragons in the regular season, but as the old saying goes it is tough to beat the same team three times in football. The Desperados found this out last week. These are the playoffs and when you have two arch rivals squaring off the one thing that is for certain is that it will be a physical and intense game and the fans will enjoy watching.

 

Keys to the Game

Turnovers! The Dragons lost the turnover battle in Week 17 and the game was over before the half. But New York bounced back a week later vs. Dallas by playing a near perfect offensive game.  New York must win the turnover battle this time around with the Soul.  They cannot afford to turn the football over vs. the league’s top scoring offense. Soul QB Matt D’Orazio has only thrown 4 interceptions all year long so every possession will be important for the Dragons as they cannot expect to get extra possessions and the certainly need to avoid giving anything away.

 

Pressure Garcia. Aaron Garcia showed why he is one of the great quarterbacks in this league. He was nearly perfect in the win over the Desperados. It was not just his 9 touchdowns passes but it was the way those 9 touchdown passes happened. It was big play after big play by the Dragons offense and he also had great protection. Philly knows they cannot allow Garcia to sit comfortably in the pocket and pick apart their secondary. In the two regular season games vs. the Dragons the Soul’s front four was able to disrupt Garcia with consistent pressure. In fact he did not finish either game vs. the Soul. In Week 17 he left the game in the second quarter after suffering a mild concussion.

 

Key Match Ups

New York OL Elliot Seifert & Mike Erickson vs. Philadelphia DE Gabe Nyenhuis

Nyenhuis finished the season with 9.0 sacks and earned Second Team All-Arena honors.  He has brought pressure off the edge all year long using his speed and athleticism to disrupt opposing quarterbacks. He has played very well vs. New York as he has had 3.0 sacks in the two meetings along with numerous pressures.  Rookie TE Mike Erickson and OG Elliot Seifert will be under the gun in this game to protect Garcia. But they did not play like rookies in their first playoff game last week as the Dragons allowed one sack vs. the Desperados pass rush, which included AFL sack leader and 2008 Lineman of the Year DE Colston Weatherington.

 

New York DE Henry Taylor vs. Philadelphia OL Martin Bibla

The Dragons defense must get pressure on D’Orazio and disrupt the Soul’s high scoring offense. Taylor has been their spark defensively all season long. He finished second in the AFL in sacks and he gave the Dragons exactly what they were looking for when they traded for him in the offseason.  Taylor had 3.5 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble in his first playoff game for New York. He will be in a great battle with Bibla who along with Taylor are both First Team All-Arena selections at their position. Bibla along with teammates Phil Bogle and Mike Mabry are considered one of the best offensive lines in the AFL, so Taylor will have to work hard regardless of where he lines up.

Back
afl_101_sponsor
Click here to view your 2008 Aaron's AFL Dream Team Candidates