Soul shocked by Power, lose season finale and control of destiny

         In a game where the Soul controlled their own destiny, Philadelphia was embarrassed by their cross-state rival Pittsburgh Power 64-34 in the regular season finale Saturday, July 26 in Pittsburgh.

The Soul will now look on to the Tampa Bay Storm-Cleveland Gladiators game, where a Storm loss will clinch the final playoff spot for Philly. A Tampa Bay win will give the Storm the playoff seed and eliminate the Soul from the postseason.

The story line for Philadelphia’s loss in Pittsburgh was Dan Raudabaugh, who was 11 for 35 in the game, throwing for 102 yards for one touchdown and three interceptions. Raudabaugh was pulled after his third interception early in the third quarter when the score was 41-7, and quarterback Bryan Randall was 9 for 15, throwing 127 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in his replacement.

For Pittsburgh, quarterback Tommy Grady was 15 for 23, throwing for 136 yards and seven touchdowns. Receiver Prechae Rodriguez had 54 yards with four touchdowns, while Shaun Kauleinamoku brought in 49 yards and two touchdowns for the Power. 

Philadelphia was off of their game throughout the entire match Saturday evening, committing penalties on the first two plays of the game which would set the tone for the rest of the night. Raudabaugh had one of the worst performances in his time in a Soul uniform, and when he found his receivers they could not catch the ball to save their playoff lives.

Pittsburgh didn’t play a whole lot better than Philadelphia in the first half, and they certainly benefited from some non-calls on their defense in the end zone. They did however capitalize on their chances, and make no mistake about it; Pittsburgh looked like the team that hasn’t lost in three months, and Philadelphia looked like the team on the outside of the playoffs looking in.

The Power did everything they could to win, from defensive plays, to miraculous offensive touchdowns to converting two point conversions on ridiculous Soul special team breakdowns. Pittsburgh punched Philly in the mouth, literally kicking backup players when they were down after the play, hitting Soul receivers well-after going over the boards and trash-talking Ross before the game even started.

Philadelphia still has a realistic shot at making the postseason, if the (16-1) Gladiators can get a win at the (8-9) Tampa Bay Storm which is going on as this article is being published.

The good news is that the Soul aren’t as bad as this game would lead one to believe. The loss dropped the Soul to 9-9 to end the regular season, but the potential on this team is much greater than .500. The Power are not 30 points better than the Soul, but the sobering truth for the Soul is that if they are to make the playoffs and make any kind of run, they will probably have to return to Pittsburgh in two weeks to play the Power once again, a team that Philadelphia hasn’t been able to beat yet this season. Now, it's up to Cleveland to help us make the postseason, or none of this will matter tomorrow.