This is my first season really diving into Arena Football. One of the things that got me excited about covering the AF1 specifically is the opportunity to chronicle a new league’s growth.
After Week Four, we’re starting to clearly see team’s identities and where they stack up amongst the rest of the league. The great teams are refining what’s working and are separating themselves from the good teams. The good teams are trying to tinker and adjust to become great teams. The bad teams are just trying to stay respectable and put on a good show.
The one consistency with every team is that every week they iron out wrinkles and deliver a more exciting game for fans.
Let’s dive into Week Four’s action.
Outlaws Tame the Wolfpack
Week Four saw the Wolfpack coming off of a bye right after their exciting win over the Oregon Lightning on March 22. This being the Wolfpack’s third game, we had an idea of what their potential ceiling is.
Billings, although the defending AFL champions, could’ve been a bit more of a wildcard. They dominated the Lightning in Week One and then had two consecutive bye weeks.
The Outlaws quickly disabused everyone of any notion that there would be some rust. They came out and executed their game plan to perfection.
It was 22-17 at the end of one quarter and it never really felt that close.
They would go on to a pretty lopsided victory with a score of 61-23 and even with that separation, it never really felt that close.
Billings Sets a High Bar
They’ve only played two games in this admittedly fresh season but the Billings Outlaws look good. The defending ArenaBowl champions have made light work of both of their opponents so far.
Sure, you could say, “look at who they’ve played.” Let’s do that.
In Week One, Billings tore the now 1-2 Lightning asunder and calmly paced themselves to a 78-36 win. This week, they beat the Wolfpack convincingly. The numbers weren’t as striking but the dominance was just as impressive.
So yes. They have not beaten a great team yet. At their best, I would describe Washington and Oregon as “plucky.” They’ll keep it interesting but you can probably count on them to self-destruct. Which is absolutely not something the Outlaws do.
Get ready for a sports cliche. It’s not just that the Outlaws win, it’s how they win.
I know this isn’t the first time I’ve said this, but Billings runs the perfect example of an effective Arena Football offense. Watching them through a series can be really educational for Arena Football noobs. They’re going to throw a lot of quick passes. They’ll run the ball for short yardage and punch it in in the blue zone. I know that sounds overly simplistic, but that’s what they do. They keep it simple.
They don’t really want QB Braden Wingle to run. If he’s running, that means the offensive line has failed to do their job or a receiver has run the wrong route. That’s what all of the Outlaws do, their jobs. And they’re really good at them.
The Outlaws scored on their first seven drives of the game. They didn’t have a turnover of any kind until late in the third when the Washington defense notched a strip sack on Wingle.
What keeps them on top is that they don’t commit a lot of self-inflicted mistakes. Don’t get me wrong, they’re not perfect. They did somehow amass 13 penalties on Thursday, but they don’t get shook.
The offense steps out on the field expecting to score. The defense expects to stop you.
Wingle threw for 249 yards and six touchdowns in the win. The Outlaw defense had two sacks, a safety, one pick six and three forced fumbles; all of which they recovered and one of which they took to the house.
These guys aren’t reinventing the wheel. They are just finding ways to make the wheel spin more efficiently than anyone else before them.
Wolfpack Fail to Defend Den
Coming off of an incredible second half comeback in their Week Two win over the Lightning, the Wolfpack entered Thursday’s game optimistic and rested.
They know Billings is good. Everyone knows. But Washington had reason to believe things were trending in the right direction.
It felt like Ed Crouch Jr. had proven he was their guy. He only played two quarters against Oregon and went 8-15 while throwing four touchdowns to lead the Wolfpack to their only win of the season.
Things started well Thursday. One minute and 22 seconds into the game, Crouch tucked the ball and ran 25 yards to put the Wolfpack up early.
That was the last time they would have the lead.
To be fair to the Wolfpack, they didn’t play a horrible game. They just made mistakes against a team that capitalizes on your mistakes and doesn’t make any mistakes of their own. Crouch threw an early pick six and on the next series got called for Intentional Grounding in the endzone.
That was an eight point swing that then gave Billings possession.
You can see Crouch evolving into a run and gun type quarterback like Jalen Morton at SW Kansas or Dalton Cole at Oregon. He just hasn’t had time to get there yet. He’s only been QB1 for Washington for six quarters.
Thursday, he ran in two of the Wolfpack’s three scores and threw the other touchdown to receiver DeShon Williams.
Late in the fourth, with the Wolfpack already down 61-23, Coach J.R. Wells replaced Crouch with 6’5” 225lb QB Joseph Hess. Hess was actually the Wolfpack’s original starter at the beginning of the season, but fractured a bone in his hand in Week One.
If Hess has healed, we may have returned to a place of uncertainty under center for the Wolfpack.
Scratch that. Washington released Hess on Monday. So, Crouch’s job appears safe for now.
The Wolfpack will travel to Big Sky Country for a rematch with the Outlaws on Saturday, May 10.
Next week, Washington will continue a five week homestand and play host to the 2-0 Corpus Christi Tritons on Sunday, April 13.
Also on the 13, for the ViceTV Game of the Week, Billings will head to New York for a Week Five rematch of last year’s AFL title game against the 3-0 Albany Firebirds.
Kats Best Lightning for First Win
With the juggernauts that are the Outlaws and the Firebirds, Kats versus Lightning had the potential to be the one competitive game on the schedule this weekend and it absolutely fulfilled that potential.
The Kats are a team that takes steps forward week after week. They just get better.
Oregon seems to survive on the raw abilities of their skill players. Fortunately for them, their skill players are really good.
These two teams crashed into one another and delivered a tight game from beginning to end with the Kats holding onto a 40-32 win.
The Rise of the Incredible Kulk
Few teams have had as many roster issues as the Nashville Kats. Those issues are most prevalent in the Quarterback room.
In their Week Zero loss to the SW Kansas Storm, the game plan was to have quarterbacks Kory Curtis and Jake Dunniway trade off snaps in every other series. By the second half, that plan was out the window and Dunniway was taking all of the snaps.
Dunniway finished 16-26 with one touchdown and four picks.
By March 15, Curtis was no longer on the roster. Dunniway would be designated as “Refused to Report” on March 24.
On March 26 it was announced the Kats had signed Rakeem Cato at Quarterback.
Around March 28 they signed Tyler Kulka, from the Japanese football league “The X-League”, to back up Cato.
Cato would start for the Kats on March 29. He had a strong game against the Firebirds last week. He threw three touchdowns and 239 yards. He also threw two picks and the Kats lost by eight.
Cato kept it close though. There was a definite improvement. He was a playmaker against a tough opponent. Imagine what he would do with more practice time.
It was announced on April 1 that he had been released by the Kats.
On April 3, the Kats signed Dalton Oliver, a former Kats Quarterback that Hall of Fame Coach Darren Arbet was excited to bring back into the fold.
Since the Kats had a game on April 4, and Oliver had maybe been in town for 48 hours, Arbet opted to start Kulka at QB against the Lightning.
Arbet had made it clear to Commentators that his intention was to see how Kulka did, and as soon as things got sticky, go to Oliver.
He would never go to Oliver.
The Kats would take the opening kickoff. Less than four minutes later, Kulka was 2 for 2 and Wide Receiver Antwane Grant dove into the endzone to put the Kats up 6-0.
Under Kulka, the Kats offense very much resembles that classic Arena offense I’ve found myself constantly referencing. He was literally taking one step drops and firing.
Arbet reached deep into the playbook to find creative ways to incorporate his speedy receivers into the run game.
Early in the second, when the Kats took a 20-6 lead, Kulka was 6 for 6 and had thrown two touchdowns. He threw his first incompletion with about nine minutes left in the first half.
For the rest of the game, Kulka would complete 18 of 20 passes and lead the Kats to the end zone on three of their five drives. The fifth one was the last drive of the game and they were just burning clock.
The Kats grabbed their first win 40-32. We’ll see next week if Coach Darren Arbet feels that earns Tyler Kulka another shot at the starting job.
Lightning Crashes
I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not sure that Chuck Jones is the right coach for this type of team. He’s obviously significantly more qualified than I am to hold that position. I’m not like throwing my resume into the mix. He just seems to consistently fail to read a game and make adjustments as necessary. Maybe Head Coach, General Manager and Part-Owner is one hat too many.
To me, the Lightning’s biggest issue, not just tonight but for the entire season, is their offensive line. From there, you can draw a line to their 1-3 record.
For the first three weeks of the season Center Mike Hines, who according to commentators has asked to be called “Big Mike”, could NOT snap the ball directly to Quarterback Dalton Cole.
In their loss to the Wolfpack two weeks ago, I calculated the miscues in the following paragraph:
“Saturday night Cole had three bobbled snaps. He had two fumbles that were turned over. He wasn’t ready for one snap and it bounced off of his face mask before being caught by Marquis Sampson. He had to jump for at least three snaps, which is really something when you consider he’s 6’3.”
This week it was clear that “Big Mike” had put in the time to correct the issue. Bravo for him. There were still a few less than perfect snaps. Cole had to dip for a couple of snaps and had to jump for a couple more, but nothing compared to their previous three games. Good for Mike.
We won’t address the fact that the Lightning offense runs almost constantly out of the shotgun and if Coach Jones had just put Cole under center they would have solved their snapping issues.
“Big Mike” has improved the snapping problem.
Now they need to solve their blocking issue.
This team has fantastic receivers who can freaking fly. Coming into Friday’s game, Kris Lewis, Marquis Sampson and Richy Anderson II were three of the top five in receiving yards in the league.
They have to get the ball though. Cole has no time to get it to them. The consistent lack of time has forced him to become a running quarterback. And I don’t mean a running quarterback who gracefully slides for a first down. Cole lowers his shoulder and TRUCKS forward.
He’s taking a lot of hits. This week, you could see the Lightning were running a few more designed runs for Cole. So now he’s taking more hits.
With 57 seconds left in the first half, Cole kept it on a designed run and was smashed by two Kats defenders. He came up holding his ribs.
He continued to hold his ribs for the rest of the game. Jones kept calling QB keepers.
Of course it can’t all be on Coach Jones. A young QB probably wants to prove he’s tough, but Jones has to protect Cole from himself. He has to find a way to keep that kid from barrelling forward with his shoulder down.
The Lightning did show off a new weapon this week in 6’5” Tight End Tom Butters. They ran him as a Full Back mostly and he was effective. It gave the Lightning two running threats.
The issue then became that Jones never established Butters as a receiving threat. So the Kats defense can basically assume if Butters is the High Motion Man or in the backfield he’s taking the ball up the gut.
They knew that if Butters isn’t in the backfield, he’s not a threat.
I’ll be excited to see how the Lightning offense continues to evolve. There’s a ton of potential. Let’s see if they can figure out how to make all of the parts work together.
This is the only scheduled meeting between the Kats and Lightning this year. Both teams are going into a bye week for Week Five.
In Week Six, Nashville will travel to Everett, Washington to take on the 1-2 Wolfpack on Thursday, April 17.
On Saturday, April 19, the Lightning will make their way to the midwest to face the 0-3 Salina Liberty at the Tony’s Pizza Event Center in Salina, Kansas.
Albany Remains Undefeated
The biggest advantage Salina had coming into Sunday night’s showdown with the Albany Firebirds was a matter of chance and geography. In a post-game interview, Firebirds QB Sam Castranova said the team had traveled for 23 hours to get to Salina, and had only arrived at their hotel around 1:00 am, the morning of the game.
Surely the Firebirds would be exhausted after almost a full day of travel. Surely Salina would be able to take advantage of that exhaustion, and prevent the powerhouse Firebirds from exerting their will.
Right? Wrong.
15 hours after the Firebirds got to Salina, the clock on their ViceTV Game of the Week had run out and Albany had defeated the Liberty by 30. They’d also reminded Salina and the rest of the league that it’s going to take significantly more than bad travel arrangements to stop their dominance.
Firebirds Continue to Fly High
Early in Sunday’s game, the Firebirds looked road-weary. QB Sam Castranova came into the game with 11 touchdowns and zero picks, but he started the contest with the Liberty 0-3 which led to a rare turnover on downs for Albany.
Slowly but surely though, they shook off the rust and returned to form. They scored six out of their eight remaining drives. They sprinkled in two pick sixes for good measure.
Castranova finished 9-17 with 132 yards, five touchdown passes and zero picks. Duane Brown had three scores.
The defense notched three sacks, three picks, two forced fumbles and Kicker Henry Nell set a new AF1 record for longest field goal at 50 yards.
This was a tired team coming together to do what they were supposed to do. Win.
Liberty at a Loss
Oh boy, the Liberty have got trouble. Coming into this week, there was some optimism in Salina. There were possibilities. We, as a viewing public, hadn’t really had enough of a sample size to really judge the Salina Liberty.
Sure, they were 0-2, but they’d only played one team, the Corpus Christi Tritons. Maybe Corpus Christi was just really good. A lot of Salina’s issues in their first two games revolved around offensive execution, and Corpus Christi’s defense is fantastic.
Maybe Corpus Christi was just a bad matchup for the Liberty.
Early in the first half of Salina’s Sunday game against Albany, there were signs of hope. The Liberty defense had managed to get a stop against the Firebirds usually invincible offense. Then, Liberty QB Javin Kilgo quickly went 2 for 3 and hit Ed Smith Jr. in the endzone to give Salina the lead.
It would be their only lead of the evening.
Salina had a solid first half, easily their best of the season. The Firebirds were only up one point at halftime.
Kilgo, who’s performance has been less than consistently good, put up solid numbers. He went 12-21 with 121 yards and two touchdowns. He did throw one pick six while in the Blue Zone, but Salina was still very much alive.
By the time the two teams came out for the second half, Albany’s defense had awakened and Salina was about to get brought back down to Earth. Hard.
The Liberty took the opening kickoff of the Third Quarter and had the ball for six full minutes. They did not score.
Kilgo was sacked on the first two plays. The Liberty had luckily recovered two fumbles they committed. Kilgo had multiple bad snaps that caused fumbles, and the second one was recovered by Firebirds linebacker Dejon Walden, who would also tally two sacks Sunday.
The Firebirds scored one minute and 38 seconds later and removed what was left of Salina’s hope.
The rest of the game was kind of a showcase of how incompetent the Liberty offense can be.
On the very next series, Kilgo completed a pass to receiver Anthony Duffy, who then turned and coughed it up to the Firebirds. In the series after that, Kilgo threw six incomplete passes in a row. He would then throw interceptions on two consecutive series. One of which would lead to his second pick six of the game.
The loan bright spot for the Liberty offense in the second half came with two minutes and 46 seconds left in the game. The Liberty were down 51-20 and had been shutout in the second half. Coach Heron O’Neal finally decided to give Kilgo the rest of the night off and subbed in Jamario Benson, who up to that point in the game had been playing receiver. The Liberty don’t officially have a backup QB on the roster.
In just under two minutes at Quarterback, Benson would go 3-4 and throw one touchdown. I don’t know if that’s enough to start a QB controversy but it at least ruined the Firebirds defense’s second half shutout.
It’s a moral victory I guess.
The Firebirds and Liberty will meet again in Albany in Week Eight.
For Week Five, Salina will stay home and host the SW Kansas Storm on Saturday, April 12.
Albany will return to upstate New York to host the Billings Outlaws for game one of a home and home on Sunday, April 13.
Unfortunately, the game schedule this week is getting shifted slightly. There’s still three games but there’s no Thursday or Friday game. There will instead be one Saturday game and two Sunday games.
As stated above, Nashville and Oregon are on a bye.
The big story going into Week Five is going to be the first of two back to back Billings vs Albany games. This is a rematch of last year’s Arena Football League ArenaBowl XXXIII; a game the Outlaws won 46-41. This is ViceTV’s Sunday Night Game of the Week.
1 Comment
by Greyson Alman
I follow the IFL because there is a team in my city (Vegas NightHawks). I haven’t had a chance to check out the AF1 yet. In your opinion, is it currently on the same level, lower level, or higher level than the IFL?