Headlines - March 28, 2011

2011 Player Bios

Tulsa World's recap of last week's game: "The Tulsa Talons looked impressive scoring 33 second-quarter points. But what have they done for fans lately? Not much in Saturday's second half. The Talons were held to a lone touchdown after intermission and lost to the Dallas Vigilantes 64-40 in the American Airlines Center."

A good, and fun, look at AFL clock management.

Trent Shelton on why he came to Tulsa: "Coach Mitch said he wanted some playmakers and his passion for the game made me want to play for a coach like him. He really wants to be out there with us if he could and that fuels my fire playing for a coach with that much passion for the game. And of course hearing that we have the greatest fans in arena football played a big part!"

An Update on Anthony Bolden: "The Talons aren't overloaded with veteran players, but one could be reporting soon. Allner said he's trying to get three-year Talons offensive lineman Anthony Bolden back in the harness as quickly as possible. Bolden hasn't reported because he's been helping coach the girls basketball team at his old high school in Baldwin, N.Y."

Bobby Reid set a league record: "Talons QB Bobby Reid became the first player in league history with back-to-back games with at least 80 yards rushing and three rushing scores."

Bleacher Report's preview of the game tonight: "The Talons have a two game losing streak to start to their season and will be looking for their first victory. Their only problem is they may not have the team necessary to hold off the Rattlers attack on any side of the ball. The Talons have a team of inexperience that has only scored 87 points in the last two games. That would be the lowest points for a team in their division if the barnstormers didn’t have a humble 28 points to start their season. However they do lead their division in the most points allowed. Statistically speaking the Talons will have their hands full against the Rattlers. But, we know statistics only speak six days of the week during the season."

AFLInsider's look at the Talons: "The Talons are in my opinion, clearly the best of the remaining teams. Bobby Reid has a ton of talent and their rookie cast could eventually make up a top tier team. However, this team needs to get used to the arena game and gel before they are a factor. It is possible that a large crowd for Monday’s free game could propel the Talons to upset the highly favored Arizona Rattlers."

Veteran Talon is impressed by Reid: "Reid continues working to develop a quicker passing release. Veteran linebacker Jamar Ransom sees the progress. 'You can tell his throwing has changed. I always thought he had an elongated throw at OSU, but he’s come in here and tapered off to where he doesn’t have to wind up before he throws,' Ransom said."

Great article from Urban Tulsa: Reid continues to improve. "The ball was on-time and he had good footwork," Allner said after his first game of the season. "The one thing a lot of teams don't have is a quarterback that can do that in the passing game, but also beat you with his legs. That is something he is proving that he can do especially early on in his arena football career."

Mitch Allner on improvement: "Right now we are mainly concentrating on cleaning up the small mistakes that we are making, which has been the difference in winning and losing the first two games we’ve played. Once we get that taken care of we are going to be a tough team to beat."

Allner on Jamar Ransom: "He definitely is a coach for us, especially for the guys up front defensively," Allner said. "Yes, we're young, but we wanted to have enough veterans at key positions to help with the young guys."

Don't forget to get all your friends to come out tonight for the game against Arizona! Go Talons!

Week 3 Picks

Last Week: 6-3
Overall: 10-6 (.625)

Spokane Shock at Iowa Barnstormers: SPOKANE. Spokane finally catches a break here. Going up against two of the best teams in the league is a hard way to start the season for any team. It obviously is even harder on the defending champs. Expect them to finally settle into a groove against a lesser Iowa team.

San Jose SaberCats at Chicago Rush: CHICAGO. This is a toss up. Last week Chicago looked outstanding in a blowout rout of the Soul. The SaberCats were less than impressive in their matchup against the Command. In any toss up, the nod has to be given to the home team.

New Orleans VooDoo at Jacksonville Sharks: JACKSONVILLE. Jacksonville has been a little underachieving this season, but the come up against a struggling VooDoo team. The VooDoo may need a win bad, but the Sharks should be able to take care of things.

Utah Blaze at Orlando Predators: UTAH. Another marquee matchup for Week 3. The Blaze were amazing in their opener last week. Meanwhile the Predators struggled at times to put away a lesser VooDoo team. Utah, as long as Grady plays smart, should pull away with a win.

Cleveland Gladiators at Tampa Bay Storm: CLEVELAND. Losing Dutton for the season hurts, but they come up against a Storm team that has trouble scoring in the air. Cleveland gave the defending champions fits, and that should continue this week.

Arizona Rattlers at Tulsa Talons: ARIZONA. Odie Armstrong returns to the BOK Center in an unfamiliar color. He comes backed with one of the best offensive teams in the league. The Talons have the hardest home opener matchups of any team in the league. The Talons should struggle and fall short, but prove me wrong.

Pittsburgh Power at Milwaukee Mustangs: PITTSBURGH. The Mustangs have struggled with QB play this season. Pittsburgh shouldn't make that any easier either. The Power should control the game and allow their offense to pull away with the win.

Week 3 Power Rankings

This is not the league we knew from last year. The two af2 teams that won their divisions last season are now 0-2. Some teams that were dismal last year are undefeated. But that just adds to a fun debate as to power rankings! Here we go for this weeks polls:

AFL Fanpoll Rankings

1. San Jose SaberCats
2. Arizona Rattlers
3. Chicago Rush
4. Orlando Predators
5. Cleveland Gladiators
6. Dallas Vigilantes
7. Utah Blaze
8. Jacksonville Sharks
9. Philadelphia Soul
10. Pittsburgh Power

Coaches Poll

1. San Jose SaberCats
2. Arizona Rattlers
3. Chicago Rush
4. Orlando Predators
5. Dallas Vigilantes
6. Cleveland Gladiators
7. Utah Blaze
8. Jacksonville Sharks
9. Philadelphia Soul
10. Pittsburgh Power

As for my own rankings, I shook up the barrel. After finally getting to see every team play I wanted to do a true ranking of where each team is. So here we go:

	Rk (LW)	Team	Rec.	Note
	1 (4)	Arizona Rattlers	2-0	With the return of Rod Winsor the Rattlers may be unstoppable to win the Western Division.
	2 (5)	Chicago Rush	2-0	Maybe we slept on the Rush. Friday was one of the most dominating defensive performances of any team.
	3 (2)	Orlando Predators	1-0	The Preds were not impressive against the VooDoo, but the good news is star WR Bobby Sippio returns next week.
	4 (1)	San Jose SaberCats	2-0	After a dominating performance against the defending champs. SJ needed every second to take down KC.
	5 (13)	Utah Blaze	1-0	Wow. Just wow. This Utah team just obliterated an undermatched Tampa team. Don’t write them off.
	6 (9)	Cleveland Gladiators	1-0	The NFL lockout has helped raise the Gladiators to one of the better teams in the league.
	7 (6)	Jacksonville Sharks	1-1	This is definitely not the same team as last year. Garcia’s age has to be getting to him.
	8 (15)	Dallas Vigilantes	2-0	The Vigilantes defense has given up zero first quarter points. Not surprising they are 2-0.
	9 (3)	Philadelphia Soul	1-1	Where was the team from last week? Allgood looked like he never played arena football before.
	10 (7)	Spokane Shock	0-2	A terrible start for the defending champions. The plus side is they have face two of the best teams in the league.
	11 (12)	Pittsburgh Power	1-1	After a slow start Pittsburgh defense utterly shut down Iowa. That kind of defense will lead to more wins.
	12 (8)	Georgia Force	1-1	Georgia looked better than expected against JAX. However, they are still not playoff level.
	13 (17)	Kansas City Command	0-2	KC responded big against the top ranked team in the league. There may be more to this team than first thought.
	14 (11)	Tampa Bay Storm	1-1	Flu-ridden and under talented isn’t a good combo in any league.
	15 (16)	Milwaukee Mustangs	0-2	The lack of a quality QB has really hampered the Mustangs. However, with Damian Harrell on the roster anything can happen.
	16 (18)	New Orleans VooDoo	0-2	The VooDoo put up a strong performance against the Predators. Defense seemed to do rather well against one to the top teams in the league.
	17 (14)	Iowa Barnstormers	0-1	Other that the obviously great play of Todd Blythe, this Iowa team is lacking talent.
	18 (10)	Tulsa Talons	0-2	With a team full of rookies it’s understandable this team has taken a rocky start.

YouTube Tuesday - March 22, 2011

For this week's video we have Football Gameplan's preview of this week's matchup against the Arizona Rattlers:

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.

Headlines - March 19, 2011

Bobby Reid set a new franchise record last week: "Reid set a franchise record by racing 39 yards for a score in the second quarter and had a 34-yard scoring run in the third quarter. The previous long run from scrimmage by a Talon was a 37-yarder by Odie Armstrong last year. Unofficially, Reid totaled 91 rushing yards on six carries and 209 passing yards. But he also had a costly turnover, fumbling after a 12-yard run to snuff out a scoring threat."

AFL Insider's Week 1 Losers: "Talon fans hoping to get a glimpse of the new look offense: Tulsa had the ball on offense for just 19 minutes at Georgia, in other words: they scored 47 points in 19 minutes! That’s like scoring 47 points with 11 minutes to go in the second quarter, to be fair, with 7:00 minutes to go in the third quarter (averaging in another team’s 19 minutes). It’s too bad Cokinos is a child that likes to play keep away and maybe Tulsa fans will get to see more of Bobby Reid on the field next week."

Talons lead the league in Rushing

Someone is impressed with Bobby Reid: "The most notable performance of the night came from Talon QB Bobby Reid. Not only did he lead a furious comeback that eventually came up short, but the speedster also racked up a crazy amount of damage on the ground with 93 yards rushing and four TDs. If you’re looking for a sleeper fantasy QB in 2011, look no further. His WRs are a little shaky and unproven, but could post some downright silly numbers on the ground this year."

Mitch Allner on the team's progression: "as the game went on I saw a lot of guys starting to understand the speed and angles of the game. That is just something that you cannot simulate in practice no matter how hard you try. For young players in Arena Football, they need to be on the field and getting a lot of that experience during the game. We learned a lot from watching and studying our game film from this past week and I was able to really point out some of the small mistakes we made at certain times this past weekend. We will correct those mistakes this week and be a much better team for it heading down to Dallas this weekend."

Some love for the Tulsa market: "With Bossier City, Alabama and Milwaukee all re-branded as former AFL franchises; and if you consider Iowa an old AFL team because of its roots back in the mid-to-late 90s, then only two af2 teams remain in the AFL (Spokane and Tulsa). I consider these two franchises as the legacy of the af2 and both should have been considered as AFL markets long ago.'

Week 2 Picks

Last Week: 4-3
Overall: 4-3 (.571)

Tampa Bay Storm at Utah Blaze: UTAH. The Storm surprised people last week, but that was mainly because of how surprisingly bad the New Orleans VooDoo's line was. Utah has built a much stronger team than last year and should be able to stave off the defending conference champions.

Orlando Predators at New Orleans VooDoo: ORLANDO. Orlando has brought back a large portion of their talent from last year that took them into the second round of the playoffs. They will be missing WR Bobby Sippio though and that could hurt. However, QB Nick Hill was sharp at the end of the season and if he continues that then the VooDoo should be well overmatched.

Philadelphia Soul at Chicago Rush: PHILADELPHIA. Well Philadelphia has picked up where last season's Talons left off. Allgood-Morgan should be better covered this week forcing Allgood to other receivers. The problem, Phily's other receivers are pretty good too.

Georgia Force at Jacksonville Sharks: JACKSONVILLE. Wow, what happened to Jacksonville's defense last week? Expect a strong turnaround on that side of the ball to give the Force more than they can handle.

Kansas City Command at San Jose SaberCats: SAN JOSE. The SaberCats look like they never took two years off. They utterly dominated the defending champs. I really don't see KC even competing in this one.

Tulsa Talons at Dallas Vigilantes: TULSA. I have to say Dallas looked impressive in their game last week. However, that game was against the Command. On the other side, Tulsa was pretty shaky, at least on defense and special teams. However, Bobby Reid is proving that he's a force to watch out for. Expect long routes to open up for the Talons as the defense stays home to cover Reid.

Iowa Barnstormers at Pittsburgh Power: PITTSBURGH. Pittsburgh was impressive in their opener against the Soul. They appear to be a very complete team that is just a step or two away from championship caliber. They should easily handle an overmatched Iowa team.

Milwaukee Mustangs at Arizona Rattlers: ARIZONA. The Mustangs, while keeping it close all game, was never a threat to the Rush this past week. On the other side, Arizona was very sharp in their opener against a very talented Jacksonville game. This should be a solid win for the Rattlers.

Cleveland Gladiators at Spokane Shock: SPOKANE. Cleveland has a talented roster, boasted even more with the return of Troy Bergeron. However, they walk into an opening game against a Spokane team coming off a rough loss and ready to avenge. Expect a strong showing from Spokane to barely knock off Cleveland.