At the end of last season Mitch Allner had one thing on mind. Improved size and talent. While last season's team was definitely talented, they lacked the size defensively to truly compete against improved opponents. Allner went on to sign a team with only three individuals with previous arena football experience. However, the team had loads of size and talented individuals. It was known the Talons would experience troubles in their first few games as players began to adjust. That is what we saw today.
From the opening kickoff, QB Brett Elliot had all kinds of time to work with. Elliot was able to be patient and wait for his receivers to get open, then pick apart the Talons secondary. After a seven minute drive to start the game, and a valiant goal line stand by the Talons, Georgia went ahead 7-0.
The Talons offense came out rather strong to start the game. Rookie QB Bobby Reid was sharp most of the day. On the Talons first drive Reid went 2-3 before Reid scrambled for one of his multiple rushing touchdowns of the day. Kicker Juan Bongarra failed his first arena football extra point to leave the Talons behind 7-6.
After a quick score by Georgia, Tulsa began to drive again with some great underneath passes. However, before the Talons could complete the drive, Reid broke a long scramble down to the 14 before being stripped with Georgia recovering. Georgia was then able to capitalize on busted coverage to extend their lead to 20-6, which they never lost.
The nail in the coffin was the start of the second half. After back-to-back sacks by the Talons defense to keep Georgia scoring for the half, the Talons offense makes mental mistakes to back the team up and then Bongarra's field goal attempt was blocked. Georgia took a shot and caught the Talons secondary off guard, increasing their lead to 33-17.
All day the Talons secondary was unable to maintain coverage and Elliot made them pay every time. This was compounded by the Defensive line's inability to get to the quarterback. For the Talons to be competitive, they will need to improve in both areas as the season continues.
Simply put, Reid was fantastic for the most part. His ability to pull the ball down and run is something that no team in the league could do last year (at least to the ability Reid brings). Combined with his feet, Reid's arm was sharp. He was making the right decisions and throwing the ball away when he needed too. The only problem was that it seemed that Reid had a receiver picked out when he left the huddle. Better defenses will be able to read that and make him pay.
However, if the team can grow and adjust to the indoor game, their talent should make them a strong team. At this point though, things may be rough for awhile. Next week the Talons travel to Dallas to take on the Vigilantes at noon CST on Saturday March 19.
No comments:
Post a Comment