YouTube Tuesday - April 19, 2011

Fred Shaw has really started to hit his stride. In honor of his great performances, we have this gem from last year:

Talons at Power: Pregame Primer

vs.

Tulsa Talons (0-3, 0-2 road) vs. Pittsburgh Power (2-1, 1-1 home)

TV: N/A
Stream: Click here
Radio: KRMG 740 (740 AM)
Time: 6:30 CT

Passing Yards: Talons – 564 (16th), Power – 644 (14th)
Rushing Yards: Talons – 226 (1st), Power – 57 (10th)
Passing Yards Allowed: Talons – 849 (12th), Power – 774 (9th)

View from the enemy: Boltsburgh Blog

Tulsa is 0-3 on the season, coming off the worst loss in franchise history. So the Talons will be ready and hungry. They’ve been learning together and on the verge of turning the corner. But beating the Power will definitely be a challenge.

Pittsburgh coming in: The Power played Monday, barely escaping Milwaukee.

THE MATCHUPS

The teams are much closer than their records reflect. However, where things went wrong for the Talons, they went right for the Power.

On Offense, Bobby Reid will be pressured constantly by former Talons Terrance Carter. The offensive line will need to be on its game tonight to give Reid the time he needs to get the ball to the Talons receivers. A bright spot for the Talons is that for Pittsburgh, the defensive backfield has been the weak point on their defense.

On Defense, Jamar Ranson and Fred Shaw will need help from the defensive line that has been struggling all season. The power have had some injuries on the offensive side of the ball, especially at quarterback. So, some pressure could possibly force some mistakes that will help the Talons pull this one out.

Kickoff at 6:30 CT.

Talons get de-winged, Lose to Arizona 69-20

The term "clipped" isn't strong enough for this game. Bobby Reid could not the offense started all game, ending with 4 INTs and only 29 yards rushing. The Talons could not get on the board until the end of the third quarter, well after the game was out of hand at 49-6. But not much more could have been expected with a Talons team that is near the bottom of the league and inexperienced faced one of the best teams in the league.

Arizona QB Nick Davila ended the game 15 for 22, 158 yards, and four touchdowns. Former Talon, Odie Armstrong had 2 touchdowns and 10 yards on the ground.

Through the muck, there were some flashes of hope. Defensive back, and veteran, Fred Shaw was physical all night; with 3 tackles and a highlight reel of hard hits. Linebacker Jamar Ransom came in on offense to score a rushing touchdown followed by another rush for a two-point conversion. Finally, QB Matt Bassuener came in to replace Reid in the fourth quarter and looked impressive, despite some failures on the offensive line.

The Talons travel to Pittsburgh Saturday to take on former Talon Terrance Carter and the Pittsburgh Power.

Offensive Miscues trip Talons, fall to Dallas 64-40

While competitive through the half, the Talons fall apart offensively in the second half to the Dallas Vigilantes. The Vigilantes had jumped up 14 on the Talons quickly as the the Talons turned the ball over on downs on their opening drive. This began the hole that the Talons nearly crawled out of.

After taking a 21-6 lead the Vigilantes attempted an onside kick to catch the Talons off guard. Fred Shaw recognized this quickly grabbing the kick and running it in to bring the Talons within 8. This started a momentum swing to Tulsa. On the ensuing drive, the Talon DB Jeremy Gray picked off Dallas QB Dan Raudabaugh. Bobby Reid then found Brian Copeland diving in the endzone for touchdown. A great run by Jamar Ransom would give the Talons the two point conversion and tie the game at 21. The teams would trade touchdowns until the half, leaving the Talons behind 35-33.

Coming out after halftime the Talons offense looked lost. On the first two drives the Talons turned the ball over on downs. The Talons only break came on a missed field goal attempt by the Vigilantes, which even then left WR Trent Shelton injured for most of the game. The Talons would bring the game within two at 42-40 after an outstanding rushing TD by Bobby Reid before the Vigilantes just pulled away to win 64-40.

The one thing that can be said about this game is that the offensive line needs work. The line committed several false start penalties and gave up several sacks, including a safety. Without time to throw, Reid looked panicked and shaken. However, in addition to line problems, the offense seemed to lack diversity. Everything was underneath throws or runs by Bobby Reid. Mitch Allner rarely let the team air it out and stretch the field.

The defense looked, at times, improved from last week. The DBs closed quickly on receivers and the front men put decent pressure on Raudabaugh. However, the defense still allowed Dallas to air the ball out by being slightly behind the receiver and out of position.

The Talons have a real test next week as the Arizona Rattlers come to town. The game kicks off on Monday, March 28th at 6:00 PM CST at the BOK Center.

Talons sign Fred Shaw! And get first Marketing Player.

Just got to check out transactions from the past three days and found some Talons signings:

DB Travis Williams 5’10 190 4/19/86 East Carolina (MARKETING PLAYER)
OL Jaquez McKissic 6’7 320 7/14/86 Clemson
DB Fred Shaw 6’2 215 11/30/83 Northeastern Oklahoma
OL/DL Jasper Price 6’2 260 2/19/88 Oklahoma State

The biggest surprise, at least for me, is the signing of Fred Shaw (even if the school is wrong). Shaw was a standout at UCO and has since gone on to be a dominating force on the OKC Yard Dawgz secondary. He will bring a lot of physicality to a Talons defense that was lacking it in the second level. This is probably the first time this offseason I am excited and glad I am getting season tickets!

In other news, former Talons DB Andre Burns has signed with the Arizona Rattlers.

What is wrong with the Talons Defense?

So with the loss Friday due mainly to the lack of defensive stops the question around the league has become, what is wrong with the Talons defense?

Well here is my take. We aren't being physical enough in the secondary. But lets start with the hard stats and I will get to that.

The Good.

Sacks: 6 (3rd in the league)

Forced Fumbles: 4

The Bad.

Points given up per game: 64.7

Passing Yards per game: 377.7

As you can see, the Talons defense is solid up front. 6 sacks and 4 forced fumbles are impressive stats. A lot of teams are wishing to have just half that. The problem is definitely in the pass defense, which means we need to look at the secondary.

First up: Andre Burns (the showster)

While Burns's stats look good (20 Tackles, 1 Forced Fumble, 6 Pass Breakups). He is considered by a lot of people as our weak link. In fact, the stats may actually support this premise. Andre has more tackles because he is being thrown at more. This would also lead to more pass breakups as well.

Next: James Sadler (the injured)

Sadler has 19 tackles with only 2 pass breakups. A bigger problem was that a lot of Arizona's 4th down conversions and TDs were thrown in Sadler's direction.

Last: B.J. Barre (the suspended)

B.J. Barre leads the team with 2 INTs. Which if you consider he was ejected early in Friday's game, means he's averaging almost 1 INT a game. Barre, however, has no pass breakups. This could just mean he's being thrown at less because he's our best back.

What does all this mean? It means we are on receivers. In fact, watching the games we get hands on passes. Opponents don't get many yards after the catch. We are in their face, but they are making catches.

How do we change things? We have to be more physical. This means more jamming at the line. It means taking a page from OKC DB Fred Shaw's book and knocking a receiver out when he makes a catch. It means attacking the ball instead of waiting back for the INT. The defensive front is doing their job. They are getting pressure, forcing mistakes. But the secondary needs to start forcing dropped passes for the defense to take shape.

Now on to current developments. B.J. Barre has been suspended for the game against Jacksonville this week after his ejection Friday. In addition, James Sadler has to undergo for an injury to his thumb. This means Burns will be the only starter in our secondary. He will be joined by LaRico Stevenson who filled in for Barre after he was ejected friday. In addition, we will get our first look at Chris Royal who was the 2007 af2 rookie of the year.