Jacksonville Sharks (3-1) vs. Pittsburgh Power (2-2)
This game should prove to be the first major test for the Power this season. Coming off a 45-22 loss to the Tulsa Talons, and a bye week, the Power should be looking for blood in this one.
Unfortunately they draw a formidable opponent in Jacksonville. The Sharks only loss so far this year is to the undefeated Arizona Rattlers. The Sharks offense is led by AFL legend Aaron Garcia at quarterback. So far in four games this season he has posted 982 passing yards, 25 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. He has also posted a QB rating of 125.1 and his 73.6% completion rate is the best in the league by far.
Compare that to what the Power have managed so far at quarterback. Bernard Morris started the year as the starter and got hurt midway through the second game and had to go on IR, His replacement Kevin McCabe has struggled and is also on IR, meaning third stringer Anthony Morelli will be responsible for jumpstarting an anemic Power offense that ranks near the bottom of the league in terms of production. Combined, the three Power quarterbacks have managed 861 yards, 17 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.
The Sharks also feature two wide receivers putting up some really great stats so far this year. WR Jomo Wilson has 398 yards, 9 TD's receiving, plus 2 TD's on the ground. WR Jeron Harvey has 353 yards and 10 TD's, he had 364 yards and 13 TD's last year so he's already crushing his numbers from last year.
On the other side, the Power don't seem to feature anyone in their receiving corps, preferring to spread the ball around. Jason Willis leads the team in receptions (26) and yardage (220) but has only notched two touchdowns. Mike "Joystick" Washington is tied for the team lead for touchdowns with four with Lonnell DeWalt who should return from suspension this week. Add in Jerome Mathis who has 116 yards on 7 catches and the offense could finally have most of the pieces in place to move ahead once again.
The Power do feature one of the best short yardage backs in the league in Josh Rue. They'll need him to cross the goalline a few time and get the Ruebirds cheering this week.
The Power's ability to win this game will fall squarely on how well their defense can contain the Shark attack. Gary Butler is second in the league in sacks with 3, and will need to create some pressure on Garcia to give our secondary a chance. Hopefully Neil Purvis can return for this game and help create some chaos up front.
The secondary could be without Josh Lay who is facing drug charges and may not be available for this game (or beyond). Even still the Power defense ranks 5th in total points against and has managed to keep all of the games competitive so far. The Power gives up the third fewest passing yards in the league, and hopefully they can bring that level of performance for this one.
The key to game for me will be the ability of Anthony Morelli to further adapt and adjust to the AFL game. if he is able to limit his mistakes, the Power could do well here.
I'm not a big fan of this matchup but hopefully Chris Siegfried has the troops fired up and ready to go after a few weeks of playing like an expansion team.
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