A quick look at the Week 3 schedule
Scouts Inc.'s Gary Horton takes an in-depth look at the Week 3 matchups.
A quick breakdown of the Week 3 schedule in the Arena Football League:
Philadelphia (1-0) at Grand Rapids (1-1)
(Thursday, 7 p.m. ET)
The Soul have shown a lot of improvement on defense. In Week 2 versus Nashville, they dominated the Kats in the trenches. The Soul registered four tackles for loss, two sacks, one interception, two forced fumbles, and held Nashville to a combined 3-for-10 on third- and fourth-down conversions. Offensively, they are a quick-strike team that will get more explosive, but they need to be a little better at ball control. Grand Rapids was competitive in a home loss to Las Vegas, but it is vulnerable on pass defense, especially if DB Chuck Wesley is sidelined by a concussion. The Rampage's best offensive threat is WR/KR Timon Marshall, who compiled 331 all-purpose yards last week. It will be interesting if Philadelphia matches up its best playmaker, DB Eddie Moten, on Marshall. The Soul will dominate this game in the trenches and QB Tony Graziani will exploit the thin Rampage secondary. Philadelphia must play solid on special teams and neutralize Marshall to avoid giving Grand Rapids a short field to work with, but the key to this game will be its pass rush, which will dominate Grand Rapids.
Austin (1-1) at Orlando (1-1)
(Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET)
Austin is coming off a tough road loss to a good Georgia team, while Orlando is trying to regroup after an embarrassing and lethargic home loss to Los Angeles. The Avengers played mostly zone schemes in Week 1 versus San Jose, but against Orlando we saw a lot of aggressive man-to-man coverages, which seemed to totally frustrate the receivers and disrupt the passing game. There is no question that Austin can move the ball on offense with a very creative game plan and talented skill players, but will it have time to get the ball off? The Georgia defense produced four sacks and four tackles for loss last week and totally dominated the Austin offensive line. Orlando is capable of applying the same type of defensive pressure. This may be a game of adjustments, with Austin playing man-to-man schemes and Orlando turning up the pass-rush heat.
Dallas (2-0) at Kansas City (1-1)
(Friday, 8 p.m. ET)
Dallas is arguably the most complete team in the AFL. Even though the Desperados did not play their best game in a win over Tampa Bay, they know how to turn it on down the stretch, especially on defense. However, Tampa Bay negated the powerful Dallas pass rush with a short passing game that lacked explosiveness, but really frustrated the Dallas defense. Kansas City will likely try to control the clock with a strong running game (11 rushes in Week 2 and seven rushing TDs for the season), along with the short passing game. The Brigade know they cannot win a shootout versus Dallas, so they will try to slow the game down and not get behind early. They need a big game from playmaker DB Kenny McEntyre, and someone else to step up versus the dynamic Dallas WR duo of Will Pettis and Marcus Nash, but Dallas should cruise in this one.
Arizona (0-2) at Colorado (1-1)
(Saturday, 9 p.m. ET)
Colorado got back on track in Week 2 with a win over Kansas City, but it is still underachieving on offense. Arizona is a
one-dimensional offensive team that can almost score at will, but struggles on defense. The Rattlers are last in the AFL with 21 TDs allowed and opposing QBs have a whopping 135.1 rating versus their pass defense. Colorado is not yet in sync offensively, but the Crush can spread the field and exploit the Rattlers' secondary. They must get the ball to their best playmaker, WR Damian Harrell, who had only three catches for 18 yards last week. Arizona has scored a league-leading 20 TDs in two games and it looks like its game plan will be to outscore Colorado.
Georgia (2-0) at Tampa Bay (0-2)
(Saturday, 7:30 p.m. ET)
Georgia is a good team that nobody is really talking about. The Force are winning with a balanced, mistake-free offense, but the real key is their defense, which is overpowering their opponents with big plays and pass-rush pressure. Tampa Bay, on the other hand, is really struggling on both sides of the ball. Although they play hard, the Storm seem to lack explosiveness and just don't make many big plays. Tampa Bay cannot handle the defensive pressure of Georgia, so it will likely counter with a short passing game to negate the pass rush. The Force will try to spread the field with their WR trio of Troy Bergeron, Chris Jackson and Derek Lee. The Storm just cannot match the explosiveness of the Force.
New York (0-1) at Chicago (1-1)
(Sunday, 3 p.m. ET)
This is a terrible matchup for New York, which has huge QB problems (no Aaron Garcia), and the Rush are totally capable of controlling the trenches and shutting down more explosive pass offenses. However, the Rush defense is still not hitting on all cylinders, and the offense produced only 111 yards through the air last week versus a good San Jose defense. That said, the Rush are opportunistic and make key defensive stops when they have to, and that will continue this week versus the Dragons.
Utah (2-0) at Nashville (0-2)
(Sunday, 4 p.m. ET)
Utah may be the hottest offensive team in the AFL right now, while Nashville is struggling on defense as well as special teams. What is scary about Utah is that it finds new weapons every week. The Blaze are getting great play from QB Joe Germaine and their newest hero, WR Ryan Dennard, who had 16 receptions for 181 yards and seven TDs in a win over Arizona. Although Utah is not playing good enough on defense right now to shut down the elite offenses, it should not be a factor this week versus a Kats team that has QB questions.
New Orleans (1-1) at Las Vegas (1-1)
(Sunday, 6 p.m. ET)
The first thing that New Orleans must do is figure out a way to slow down WR Kevin Prentiss, who had a career game last week with 13 catches for 235 yards and nine TDs in a win over Grand Rapids. Las Vegas QB Shaun King looks like he may have finally found a home in the AFL. He picked apart Grand Rapids with 10 TD passes and had good protection. New Orleans really needs to improve its line play -- the VooDoo allowed four tackles for loss and two sacks last week. Las Vegas has an excellent playmaker on defense in DB Earthwind Moreland, and if the pass rush up front is solid, he could have a big day. Which Las Vegas team will show up this week?
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