Philadelphia Soul 2008 Season Preview

The Philadelphia Soul might have a problem if they intend to be at Arena Bowl 22 in New Orleans on July 27, 2008. There have been many changes within the Arena Football League (AFL) that will need to be taken into consideration during training camp, which begins on February 9th. The most notables are the division realignments, the possible roll-over effect of the 2nd round playoff loss to the Georgia Force, and having the two best teams in the league playing in the same conference, along with the Arena Bowl Champions.

The Soul open up the season at home March 1st, @ 7pm against the Orlando Predators. This will mark three home games in a row that the two teams will have met each other, with Philadelphia taking the first one on June 21st of 2007 by a score of 63-49, and clinching a home playoff game in the process. Then, a week later, the Soul walked away with a 41-26 1st round playoff victory. Their prize was a second round date with the #2 seed Georgia Force, which was never a game. That’s where the problems begin for Philadelphia.

First and foremost, head coach Brett Munsey and his staff need to deal with the possible lingering effect of a terrible playoff loss to Georgia, in which WR Chris Jackson caught 10 balls for 169 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Soul were never in this game, as the Force were up 14-0, less than 3 minutes in, and led 20-7 after one quarter. The Force went on to win the game 65-39, and ended the hopes of the Soul bringing back an Arena Bowl Championship to Philadelphia.

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To combat the situation, and all changes taking place in the AFL, Co-Owner Jon Bon Jovi, and his front office staff made a big splash in the free agent market. In November, Philadelphia signed the man that burned them the most in the playoffs, Chris Jackson. Jackson is not just another WR; in 2007 he caught 145 balls for 47 touchdowns, and 1,915 yards. He also added 4 rushing touchdowns for a Georgia Force team that went 14-2 in the regular season, good enough for second overall among AFL receivers. This move will allow Soul QB Tony Graziani to stretch the field and throw more balls deep.

The other major move that the Soul made may or may not have an impact on the team. The Soul signed former Chicago Rush QB Matt D’Orazio. He passed for 3,789 yards and 82 touchdowns, but Chicago released him after he suffered a back injury. The team didn't want to wait until January to make a call on whether to keep him following his 2007 back injury during the playoffs.

This move gives Tony Graziani and the Soul the backup quarterback they need, in the event that he is out for any length of time. Last Season Graziani suffered a sprained left shoulder in a 51-41 loss to the Dallas Desperados, and in the four game span that Graziani missed, the Soul used three different quarterbacks. This move should solve that problem should it arise again in 2008.

D’Orazio also brings a short field running game from the QB spot. In 2007, he rushed 61 times for 127 yards, but scored 12 touchdowns. The leading rusher last season for Philadelphia was Wes Ours, who ran only 39 times for 139 yards and 8 touchdowns.

In other free agent moves made during the off season, the Soul signed former NFL WR Darius Watts, who played for the Denver Broncos.

To sure up the defense, the Soul also signed Chris Royal, who played for the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Pioneers, of the AF2 (the minor leage for arena football), where he had 14 INT’s, 117 tackles, and broke up 43 passes while taking the AF2 Rookie of the Year honors. Philadelphia will also look for big production from Larry Kendrick, Rookie Clifton Smith, and Chris Horn who were also signed during the free agency period. In all the Soul made 21 free agent singings.

As fans will soon find out, if they have not already, there have been a lot of changes in the AFL for the coming season, and this should affect how the Soul prepare for the season.

First, they must acquaint themselves with the new rules that have been put in place for the 2008 season.

The following are two new rules that could impact the game. The first is the introduction of coach-to-player communication on defense. The second rule will allow the Jack linebacker to roam from sideline-to-sideline within five yards from the line of scrimmage once the play begins. Philadelphia will play a scrimmage on February 21 against the New York Dragons, so they can see how the rules will really affect the game.

Philadelphia, as well as their fans, should also notice the change in league structure for the coming season.

First, the Las Vegas Gladiators have migrated east to Cleveland, to become the Cleveland Gladiators. The team's major investor is former NFL QB, and Cleveland Browns star Bernie Kosar. This team will have direct impact on the National Conference, Eastern Division since it will add a fifth team to the division, which already includes Dallas, Philadelphia, New York, and not to mention the Arena Bowl 21 losing Columbus Destroyers. The Destroyers advanced all the way to the championship despite a 7-9 regular season record, but fell to San Jose 55-33.

The other change that you will see is that Austin and Nashville are no longer in the league. Austin has moved to the AF2 league, and Nashville has ceased operations.

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In 2008, the AFL will be set up as follows:

National East Division - Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, NY, Philadelphia

National South Division - Georgia, Orlando, New Orleans, Tampa Bay

American Central Division - Chicago , Colorado, Grand Rapids, KC

American West Division - Arizona, LA, San Jose, Utah

Under this format, Nashville is eliminated from the Central Division, Austin is wiped out of the Southern Division. Las Vegas becomes Cleveland, and moves from the West to the East. Everybody else stays the same.

With the new alignment, playoff structure did not change, however, instead of 19 teams in the league, there are now 17. What works against the Soul here, is that they have the only division with five teams. That gives them and their division foes 8 games in the AFL's Eastern Division. The rest of the league will have 6 division games. At this point, it is unclear how this will affect playoff seeding. It may cause havoc at season's end. Topping off things for Philadelphia is the fact that Georgia and Dallas were the top two teams in the league in 2007. Their combined record in 2007 was 29-3 during the regular season, with Dallas going 15-1.

Outside of the Georgia playoff debacle, Philadelphia will try to avenge three losses to these teams. The Soul lost 57-49 to Georgia and lost to Dallas twice, by scores of 51-41, and 59-56.

If anything, the two extra division games may make the Dallas schedule a little tougher, depending on how Cleveland performs. Last year in Las Vegas, the franchise compiled a dismal 2-14 record, and played in a virtually empty arena. Their total attendance for the entire season was 43,064 (average attendance of 5,383 per game). In contrast, Philadelphia put 126,735 fans in the seats, playing in front of a packed arena every home game.

Philadelphia Soul 2008 Regular Season Schedule

SAT 3-01 ORLANDO PREDATORS 7 pm
SUN 3-09 at Chicago Rush 1 pm
SUN 3-16 NEW YORK DRAGONS 2 pm
THU 3-20 at Las Angeles Avengers 10:30 pm
SAT 3-29 TAMPA BAY 2 pm
SAT 4-5 UTAH BLAZE 7 pm
SAT 4-12 at San Jose Saber Cats 10:30 pm
MON 4/-21 at Columbus Destroyers 8 pm
MON 4-28 DALLAS DESPERADOS 8 pm
FRI 5-2 at Cleveland Gladiators TBA
MON 5-12 at Georgia Force 8 pm
SAT 5-17 COLUMBUS DESTROYERS 7 pm
THU 5-22 KANSAS CITY BRIGADE 7:30 pm
Bye week
SAT 6-7 At Dallas Desperados 8 pm
SAT 6-14 CLEVELAND GLADIATORS 7 pm
SUN 6-22 at New York Dragons 3 pm

A look at the 2008 Philadelphia Solu by positions:

Quarterback - We start at the key position for any arena football offense. As Philadelphia found out last year, a key injury to your starter could ruin your whole season. It almost did. Hopefully they found the answer in D’Orazio. Even though Graziani, who seems to be the heart throb of the Soul finished 10th in passing last year, but still finished with 64 TD, and 8 int’s. in just 11 games.

Wide Receivers - How can the Receivers not be better this season? Mike Brown is still in the house, and with Chris Jackson added to the roster, the Soul promises to have a great 1-2 punch. Added to the fact Larry Brackens and his 20 TD ’s from 2007 are back, Graziani might have a career year, barring injury.

Running Back – Wes Ours returns as the leading rusher for Philadelphia, but given the receivers, the Soul do not depend on the rush as much as other teams, it can get tight at the 1 yard line, and his experience will come in handy on 1st and goal situations.

Offensive Line - Philadelphia returns two offensive lineman that made the All-Rookie Team; Phil Bogle and Martin Bibla. Bogle also made the all-arena first team. Add Center Mike Mabry to the mix, and the Soul have a good returning nucleolus to protect Graziani.

Defense - With fan favorites Mike Brown and Eddie Moten still around on defense, Philadelphia promises to have leaders out on the field directing traffic during the game. The big question is how they will handle the new rule about the Jack Linebacker...

Kicking - As of right now, last year’s kicker is not on the roster, which was Todd France. France was a free agent at the end of last season. Currently the only kicker on the roster is Connor Hughes. Hughes was on the roster for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but was cut before the end of preseason. He is a product of the University of Virginia.

Coaching - Head coach Brett Munsey has all the tools to win, and win now. As the Soul start their 5th season, President Ron Jawroski, and Bon Jovi may be getting a little itchy. They brought in Mickey Mays as defensive coordinator, and Head of Player Personnel. They also added Jerry Odom as assistant head coach. Odom was formerly the defensive coordinator at East Carolina University, and the line coach for the University of Florida. He also played and coached for the Orlando Predators.

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As the season goes on, these question will be answered. If any of the key players go down, it may be a long season. At least defenders are a dime a dozen, in a league is ruled by offense.

Bottom Line, if the Soul want to bring home a Championship to Philadelphia, then they need to beat the upper echelon of teams in the league, like Dallas and Georgia, something they were not able to do last year. They must stay injury free, as in any sport. Most of all they must be consistent week in and week out. Only time will tell if Philadelphia will finally get that bowl victory they have been hoping for.

by Brian Heusser
ProFootball-fans.com Guest writer

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