AFL Playoffs Wild Card Round Recap

Pro Football Fans Staff Writer Chad Fukoka brings us his latest recap of the past week in the Arena Football League.

• New York played like it had nothing to lose and put tigether a convincing second half performance in upsetting Dallas, 77-63. In a matchup of two well-rounded quarterbacks, Aaron Garcia had the upper hand as he threw for 9 touchdowns. On the opening possession, Garcia made his first mistake when a pass deflected off the goalposts for a Desperados interception. New yorkr ebounded from that and forced an interception of their own, and turned it into a score to go up 14-7 after the first quarter. Each offense found its groove in the second quarter and scored 3 touchdowns, making the halftime score 35-28 in favor of New York. Both teams recovered an onside kick but still couldn't create any seperation. New York recovered another onside kick in the third and scored to go up by 14 points. After a Dallas turnover, the Dragons converted on a touchdown pass to lead 56-35 early in the fourth. Dallas desperately tried to speed up the game, but the defense failed to make any stops and the margin was never less than 14 points. For the Desperados, it was the second consecutive loss in their opening playoff game, they lost last year to Columbus in the divisional round after being the top seed. Kevin Swayne caught 3 touchdown passes and Terry Moss added 145 yards and four touchdowns for the Dragons. Clint Dolezel passed for 7 touchdowns in the loss, while Will Pettis and Anthony Armstrong combined for 189 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns. New York will travel to Philadelphia to face the top seeded Soul in the next round.

• In a matchup of two high-scoring, offensive-minded teams, the game took a much different approach as Colorado edged out Utah, 49-44. Colorado struggled during the first half and trailed 24-14 late in the second quarter. With one minute remaining, the Crush only had 14 points. They scored on a quarterback sneak and Utah missed a field goal as time expired. Utah dropped back in coverage and defended against the deep ball and it was pretty succesful. On offense, they were patient wnd willing to convert first downs to set up easy touchdown plays. Both teams scored a touchdown in the third to make the score 31-28, the Blaze still holding a 3-point lead. A lengthy Colorado drive resulted in a missed field goal and appeared to take away their momentum. However, the Crush remained optimistic about its chances for a road victory. "We have been battling all season and to be playing well at this point is what we have been working for", said Colorado coach Mike Dailey. The Crush forced an interception after getting pressure on Blaze quarterback Joe Germaine. That lead to a quick score and Colorado had its first lead, 35-31. Utah responded with a score on their own but missed the extra point. Down by two points, Colorado found the end zone on a short touchdown reception and went up 42-37. On the kickoff, Utah could not field the ball cleanly off the netting and Colorado recovered the kick and scored with a minute remaining. The 12-point Crush lead was too much and although Utah added a final touchdown, the Crush ran out the clock after recovering an onside kick. Colorado's road victory was the second upset in the wild card round. Despite the fact that both teams were among the highest scoring during the regular season, they chose to go with a defensive apporach, knowing stops and turnovers would matter in an intense, tightly contested matchup. A few days after the loss, Utah head coach Danny White resigned from all team duties, leaving the position vacant for now. Colorado will play a road game against San Jose next week in the divisional round.

• Cleveland was the only home team to win in the wild card round and they did it in entertaining fashion, with a 69-66 victory over Orlando. In a fast paced first quarter, Orlando got off to a good start, returning a kickoff for a score and taking a 20-14 lead. The Predators put up another touchdown and with the score 26-14, they looked like they would cruise to an easy win. Raymond Philyaw regained his poise and marched the Gladiators down the field, setting up a touchdown pass to cut the margin to 5 points. Cleveland forced an interception but only got a field goal and still trailed 26-24. Both teams traded touchdowns in the last minute, but the Gladiators defense created another interception, stopping Orlando near the goal line. That allowed Philyaw to complete a couple of sideline passes, and the Gladiators made a field goal as time expired in the first half to go up 34-33. Late in the third, Orlando intercepted a pass from Philyaw thrown into double coverage and quickly scored to take the lead, 53-48. Cleveland and Orlando matched scores and with the Gladiators up 62-60 with less than three minutes remaining, the game changing play took place. T.T toliver caught a pass inside the Gladiators ten yard line, but fumbled the ball as he was trying to score and Cleveland made the recovery. The Gladiators ran some time off the clock and scored with under a minute to go. Orlando was able to convert on a touchdown reception, but couldn't recover the onside kick. They did have one last opportunity when Cleveland fumbled the ball trying to run out the clock, but the Gladiators luckily kept possession and picked up an exciting win. Shane Stafford had 8 touchdown passes and T.T toliver had 319 all-purpose yards and 5 touchdowns for Orlando in the defeat. Raymond Philyaw passed for 438 yards and 8 touchdowns, and Robert Redd caught 14 passes for 204 yards and 4 scores. Cleveland will face Georgia in a road game next week in the divisional round.

• Although Arizona delivered on its promise to make the playoffs, they were unable to produce a victory in a home game against Grand Rapids. The opportunictic Rampage offense used a patient approach combined with a lot of high percentage passes to stun the home crowd and pull off a narrow win. Grand Rapids scored on a long, six minute drive to open the game, then forced a Rattlers interception to quickly regain possession. The Rampage were held to a field goal and time ran out in the first quarter as Arizona was moving the ball down the field. In the next quarter, the offense began to open up and deeper, high risk passes were attempted. Each team got a couple of fast scores, but Grand Rapids still lead by a touchdown at halftime, 27-20. The third quarter featured four possessions and four touchdowns, both Grand Rapids and Arizona scored 14 points and the margin remained at 7 points. The teams again traded touchdowns to open the fourth and with six minutes left, Arizona had the ball hoping they could tie the game. The Rattlers converted a few first downs and had a first and goal situation with a little over a minute remaining. Three rushing plays moved the ball inside the two-yard line, setting up a final play for Arizona. On a broken play, Arizona quarterback Jeff Smoker failed to cross the goal line and it secured a Grand Rapids victory. James MacPherson threw for 5 touchdowns, and Kenny Higgins and Cole Magner both had 2 touchdown receptions. The Rampage scored on every possession, except the last in which they ran out the clock. Jeff Smoker passed for 233 yards and 4 scores in the loss, while Siaha Burley and Trandon Harvey each caught 2 touchdown passes for the Rattlers. Grand Rapids will play Chicago in a road game in the divisional round.

By Chad Fukoka
ProFootball-fans.com Staff Writer

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