The General
Another Day, Another Dollar
THE HISTORY
By Ray Bentley -- The Philadelphia Soul put their undefeated season on the line against once beaten Georgia on ESPN2?s Monday Night AFL telecast at 7:30 p.m. The Soul is one of only two undefeated teams in the AFL along with the Dallas Desperados who are rolling along at 6-0. Georgia was knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten after losing a heartbreaker, 62-61, to Columbus last week.
The two have met just once before, in Week 17 of last year, with playoff positions on the line. The Soul got their ninth win of the year pounding the Force in Atlanta, 57-41. In that game Philly DB Eddie Moten had two interceptions including one he returned 31 yards for a TD. Moten has an interception in seven consecutive games going back to last year. Chris Jackson had four TD catches for the Force.
THE PLAYERS
Philadelphia has the most potent offense in the league averaging 67 points per game. They are led by QB Tony Graziani who is the fourth rated QB in the AFL. Graziani has been outstanding thus far throwing 24 TD passes and only three interceptions. His favorite target is Charles Pauley who has 11 TD grabs and averages 7.25 catches and 127.75 yards per game. Pauley is the fastball in the Soul offense using his speed and quickness to get free on the deep routes. Sean Scott (17-165-4 TDs), J.J. McKelvey (6-45-4 TDs) and Larry Brackens (19-270-5 TDs) have the size and power to make plays in the red zone.
Wes Ours has been one of the top fullbacks in the league in pass protection and has added a couple of rushing TDs and 5 receptions including a TD. The key to the offense however has been the stellar play of the offensive line. Mike Mabry, Martin Bibla and Phil Bogle have been a ?Great Wall? of protection for Graziani as the Soul have given up a league low one sack.
The Georgia offense has also been top notch, scoring 63 points per game, good for fifth in the league. First-year starter Chris Greisen has been the catalyst as he leads the AFL in TD passes with 37 and is the third rated passer. He is blessed with one of the most talented receiving corps in the league. Chris Jackson leads the AFL with 46 receptions for 667 yards and 14 TDs, while Troy Bergeron is tied for sixth with 40 catches for 471 yards and 12 scores. The red zone, big body threat is Derek Lee who is tied for 16th in the league with 34 grabs, 346 yards and 11 TDs. These are amazing numbers since there is only one ball.
Both teams have defensive minded coaches in Brett Munsey for Philly and Doug Plank for Georgia and you can tell by the way they play. Both get after the QB as Georgia leads the league with nine sacks and Philly is right on their heels with eight. Mike Sutton and Jermaine Smith are Georgia?s top sackers with three each while Dwayne Missouri has three for the Soul. The Soul has taken better advantage of the pass rush with an AFL best eight interceptions while Georgia has only managed two.
THE GAME
Some of the luster was taken off of this match-up when Georgia lost to Columbus on a 2-point conversion with just 14 seconds left in the game last week, but it still pits two of the top teams in the league at this point. This will be an excellent gauge to see just how good Philadelphia is as they play a team with a winning record for the first time. Georgia has a quality win over San Jose on its record.
The key to this one will be which defense will be able to muster a few stops. Both offenses are scoring machines so a stop or two will go a long way. It will be fun to watch Soul DB and frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year, Eddie Moten match up against the bevy of Force receivers. The Force will switch the motion around between Jackson, Bergeron and Lee to see who can gain an advantage on Moten. Fellow DBs Johnny Harris and Mike Brown will have to hold their own in their match-ups as Coach Munsey relies on man to man coverage.
This will be the best pass rush the Soul has faced yet and the key for their offense will be the protection of Graziani. If they can give him ample time, the match ups in the secondary should favor Philly. Georgia will have trouble containing the speed of Pauley out in the field and the size of Brackens and Scott in the red zone.
Special teams will be an important part of this battle and so far Philadelphia has been very good in that facet of the game. Kicker Todd France is two of four on field goals and has hit on 34 of 38 PATs. The Soul ranks 3rd in starting position and 4th in opponent?s starting position. Georgia, after losing kicker Keith Gispert to injury has turned to rookie Xavier Beitia. Beitia has been solid making his only field goal try and going 15 of 19 on PATs. But the rest of the special teams have struggled as the Force rank 10th in average starting position and last in the league in opponent?s starting position.
Turnovers always play a big role in close games and Philly has been the best in the AFL at plus 9 while Georgia is 11th at minus 1. Whichever team takes care of the ball should prevail in this potentially epic battle.
ESPN Game Preview: Force vs. Soul - ArenaFootball.com?The Official Web site of the Arena Football League
By Ray Bentley -- The Philadelphia Soul put their undefeated season on the line against once beaten Georgia on ESPN2?s Monday Night AFL telecast at 7:30 p.m. The Soul is one of only two undefeated teams in the AFL along with the Dallas Desperados who are rolling along at 6-0. Georgia was knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten after losing a heartbreaker, 62-61, to Columbus last week.
The two have met just once before, in Week 17 of last year, with playoff positions on the line. The Soul got their ninth win of the year pounding the Force in Atlanta, 57-41. In that game Philly DB Eddie Moten had two interceptions including one he returned 31 yards for a TD. Moten has an interception in seven consecutive games going back to last year. Chris Jackson had four TD catches for the Force.
THE PLAYERS
Philadelphia has the most potent offense in the league averaging 67 points per game. They are led by QB Tony Graziani who is the fourth rated QB in the AFL. Graziani has been outstanding thus far throwing 24 TD passes and only three interceptions. His favorite target is Charles Pauley who has 11 TD grabs and averages 7.25 catches and 127.75 yards per game. Pauley is the fastball in the Soul offense using his speed and quickness to get free on the deep routes. Sean Scott (17-165-4 TDs), J.J. McKelvey (6-45-4 TDs) and Larry Brackens (19-270-5 TDs) have the size and power to make plays in the red zone.
Wes Ours has been one of the top fullbacks in the league in pass protection and has added a couple of rushing TDs and 5 receptions including a TD. The key to the offense however has been the stellar play of the offensive line. Mike Mabry, Martin Bibla and Phil Bogle have been a ?Great Wall? of protection for Graziani as the Soul have given up a league low one sack.
The Georgia offense has also been top notch, scoring 63 points per game, good for fifth in the league. First-year starter Chris Greisen has been the catalyst as he leads the AFL in TD passes with 37 and is the third rated passer. He is blessed with one of the most talented receiving corps in the league. Chris Jackson leads the AFL with 46 receptions for 667 yards and 14 TDs, while Troy Bergeron is tied for sixth with 40 catches for 471 yards and 12 scores. The red zone, big body threat is Derek Lee who is tied for 16th in the league with 34 grabs, 346 yards and 11 TDs. These are amazing numbers since there is only one ball.
Both teams have defensive minded coaches in Brett Munsey for Philly and Doug Plank for Georgia and you can tell by the way they play. Both get after the QB as Georgia leads the league with nine sacks and Philly is right on their heels with eight. Mike Sutton and Jermaine Smith are Georgia?s top sackers with three each while Dwayne Missouri has three for the Soul. The Soul has taken better advantage of the pass rush with an AFL best eight interceptions while Georgia has only managed two.
THE GAME
Some of the luster was taken off of this match-up when Georgia lost to Columbus on a 2-point conversion with just 14 seconds left in the game last week, but it still pits two of the top teams in the league at this point. This will be an excellent gauge to see just how good Philadelphia is as they play a team with a winning record for the first time. Georgia has a quality win over San Jose on its record.
The key to this one will be which defense will be able to muster a few stops. Both offenses are scoring machines so a stop or two will go a long way. It will be fun to watch Soul DB and frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year, Eddie Moten match up against the bevy of Force receivers. The Force will switch the motion around between Jackson, Bergeron and Lee to see who can gain an advantage on Moten. Fellow DBs Johnny Harris and Mike Brown will have to hold their own in their match-ups as Coach Munsey relies on man to man coverage.
This will be the best pass rush the Soul has faced yet and the key for their offense will be the protection of Graziani. If they can give him ample time, the match ups in the secondary should favor Philly. Georgia will have trouble containing the speed of Pauley out in the field and the size of Brackens and Scott in the red zone.
Special teams will be an important part of this battle and so far Philadelphia has been very good in that facet of the game. Kicker Todd France is two of four on field goals and has hit on 34 of 38 PATs. The Soul ranks 3rd in starting position and 4th in opponent?s starting position. Georgia, after losing kicker Keith Gispert to injury has turned to rookie Xavier Beitia. Beitia has been solid making his only field goal try and going 15 of 19 on PATs. But the rest of the special teams have struggled as the Force rank 10th in average starting position and last in the league in opponent?s starting position.
Turnovers always play a big role in close games and Philly has been the best in the AFL at plus 9 while Georgia is 11th at minus 1. Whichever team takes care of the ball should prevail in this potentially epic battle.
ESPN Game Preview: Force vs. Soul - ArenaFootball.com?The Official Web site of the Arena Football League
