AFL on the NFL Network: Alabama at Orlando
By SCOTT COOLEY
There are monumental postseason implications on the line in the Arena Football League Game of the Week. Neither the Alabama Vipers (6-6 SU, 5-7 ATS) nor the Orlando Predators (5-7, 7-5 ATS) can afford a loss in order to remain in the playoff picture.
Orlando trails Alabama by one game for the fourth and final playoff berth in the American Conference. The Vipers have earned a trip to the postseason three straight years while the Predators are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1991.
"I hope everybody is pissed off and ready to play ball," Alabama defensive end Eric Scott said. "It's a must-win situation. If we go down there and lose, we won't make the playoffs. We better take care of business."
Calling all replacements
Alabama has played musical chairs at the quarterback position this season. Starter Kevin Eakin has endured a variety of injuries and the most recent came one quarter into last week’s 62-47 loss to Jacksonville when he broke his left foot.
Eakin was replaced by former Texas Tech gunslinger Tim Hicks, who hadn’t played an arena football game since 2008. Hicks finished the night completing 22 of his 37 pass attempts for 288 yards and five touchdowns but it wasn’t exactly like riding a bike.
"I haven't been hit by anything but a 4 year old, 8 year old or 10 month old," said Hicks, who’s been a stay-at-home dad for the last two years.
The Vipers have struggled mightily since the first month of the season. After getting off to a 3-1 start, Bama is just 3-5 over its last eight games and much of that downfall can be attributed to inconsistency under center.
"Our cohesiveness, or lack of it, has been the main (problem)," Vipers center Lorenzo Breland said. "We've had to play a couple of games with a couple of different quarterbacks. That's been the biggest thing for us as an offense."
Over the Hill
While the Vipers are breaking in a new quarterback, Orlando is still trying to groom its rookie signal caller – 14 starts into the season.
Nick Hill remains a work in progress for head coach Pat O’Hara and is the primary reason the Preds rank second-to-last in the AFL in scoring (53.0 ppg). Hill tossed 12 interceptions over his first eight games and hasn’t had a mistake-free outing since May 15.
“Our quarterback has got to get a lot better. Not the offense, the quarterback,” Orlando defensive back Kenny McEntyre said three weeks ago. “One [person] can't hold up the show."
Hill is baby-stepping his way to proficiency, having only thrown four picks over his last four games. He put together a decent stat line in last Saturday’s overtime loss to Cleveland with 291 yards passing and seven touchdowns, but the offense is still struggling to find consistency in the red zone.
"We've been efficient getting down (inside the 10), it's just once we do, it's really small," Hill said. "Sometimes it's almost better to have more of the field to work with."
Not-so special teams
Alabama’s kicking unit has been a revolving door in 2010. The Vipers have trotted out four different placekickers this season and that group has collectively missed 11 PATs while going 2-for-6 on field goal attempts. Three of Alabama’s losses this year have come by three points or less.
Veteran booter Steve Azar is back with the Vipers after being released earlier in the year. Azar went 5-for-7 on PATs last week and has missed eight of his 13 extra point attempts this season.
With a higher crossbar and narrower uprights than in the NFL, extra points are routinely missed in the arena football game and those miscues can make a difference from a pointspread perspective.
Prior engagement
These clubs met back in Week 7 and the Vipers were dropped, 48-31, as 10-point home favorites. Alabama was playing with a third-string quarterback in that game and only managed one second-half touchdown.
For the Predators, Hill had one of his best outings of the season after not throwing an interception, but the offense still posted a scant 5.2 yards per play. Three Alabama turnovers aided the victory for Orlando – the Preds ran 60 offensive plays compared to 39 from the Vipers.