Blaze, Avengers very familiar with each other
Scouts Inc.'s Gary Horton takes an in-depth look at the Wild Card playoff games.
A quick look at Monday night's Wild Card playoff:
Utah (8-8) at Los Angeles (9-7)
(ESPN2, 10 p.m. ET)
After meeting last week, there are not going to be a lot of surprises as these teams now know each other very well. What is shocking is that the Blaze defense, which underachieved for most of the season, recorded six interceptions last week versus Los Angeles and its confidence should be high. We all know that Utah can move the ball on offense and if QB Joe Germaine has time to throw, he will pick this Avengers' defense apart. Los Angeles must get a big game out of DB Damen Wheeler covering WR Siaha Burley and the Avengers must also generate a pass rush that bothers Germaine. From the Los Angeles perspective, it must regroup and eliminate the mistakes and bad decisions we saw a week ago. Also, QB Sonny Cumbie must manage the game better. With Utah's explosiveness, the Avengers cannot afford to give the Blaze extra offensive possessions and get into a high-scoring shootout.
Three keys to the game
1. Who comes out early and sets the tempo? Utah would love to score quickly and force Los Angeles into a wide-open, high-scoring game. Setting an early pace would also damage the psyche and confidence of the Avengers and their crowd. They must survive the early Blaze onslaught.
2. Which defense can make key stops? Los Angeles has a more complete defense and to beat Utah, it must make two to three quality stops. Utah's defense is usually not dependable, but they don't need a lot of big plays versus the less explosive Avengers' offense. They just need consistency.
3. WR Siaha Burley or DB Damen Wheeler? This could be a critical one-on-one matchup. Wheeler is feisty and a good cover guy. If he can disrupt Burley with some press techniques, it could hinder the timing of the explosive Utah passing game.
Prediction
Neither one of these teams have played with great consistency, but both are capable of putting a big game together. Los Angeles is probably a little more complete team because they have a defense that can play at a fairly high level, but Utah's offense can move the ball versus any defense. Even though the Avengers are at home and even though the Blaze don't play particularly good defense, look for Utah to have a big day led by QB Joe Germaine and win an exciting game on the road to advance to the second round.
Scouts Inc. watches games, breaks down film and studies football from all angles for ESPN.com.
