Cue the Jaws music.
The Philadelphia Soul are taking their final trip to Florida for the 2015 season this weekend with the opportunity to dash the playoff hopes of the preseason Arena Bowl favorite Jacksonville Sharks.
The game is seemingly meaningless for the Soul in terms of the American Conference playoff picture, as the Soul have locked up the top seed in the conference with a 13-2 record, an impressive spot many once picked the Sharks to be in at this point in the season. However, the Sharks have struggled to stay .500 all season, currently sitting 7-7 and in danger of missing the playoffs all together.
Jacksonville holds the top wild card seed, two games behind the division leading Orlando Predators (9-6), a half game ahead of the second wild card seed Cleveland Gladiators and one game ahead of the Tampa Bay Storm (6-8), who are on the outside of the playoff picture looking in.
The season series is split between Philadelphia and Jacksonville, as the Soul took the first game of the series with a 63-52 win over Jacksonville on April 12 in Philadelphia, while the Sharks got revenge one month later, handing the Soul their first loss of the season with a 55-47 win of their own on May 15 in Jacksonville.
Since their last meeting, the Soul have went 6-1 the last two months while the Sharks have 4-2 in that stretch. Jacksonville is coming off a deflating 72-48 loss to the Portland Thunder (4-10) last weekend.
By now we all know that the Sharks have a number of faces we recognize, starting with Derrick Ross, who is once again the league’s leading rusher with 473 yards and 27 touchdowns. Philadelphia is dead last in the AFL in rushing defense, allowing 32.3 yards per game, which gives Ross an opportunity to finally breakout in the season series between the two clubs. Ross only rushed for 32 yards in his first meeting with his former team, and dropped those stats to 13 yards with one touchdown in the second match.
Former Soul and franchise leader in receiving Tiger Jones is his league’s leader in receiving yards with 1,636 and 30 touchdowns. Joe Hills has earned 31 touchdowns with 1,183 yards for Jacksonville as well.
Tommy Grady is riding a 65.4 passing percentage, throwing for 3,680 yards with 74 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Jacksonville’s offense is the third highest in scoring across the league averaging 294.7 yards per game.
It’s surprising in some instances to see not only the Sharks struggling with the roster, but struggling with the offensive numbers they have put up throughout their 14 games this season.
However, the Soul have been the second best offensive squad in the league this season, only behind the San Jose SaberCats, averaging 307.6 yards per game.
Philadelphia’s passing offense is the top of the league averaging 288.1 yards per game. Dan Raudabaugh has led the AFL in passing all season, currently sitting with a 66.5 completion percentage, 4,291 passing yards and 101 touchdowns, undoubtedly the league’s MVP this season.
Marco Thomas and Ryan McDaniel show up every week and put up their stats, but the status on Lonnie Outlaw is uncertain after suffering a shoulder injury in last week’s 72-56 win over the Cleveland Gladiators. Harvey Binford stepped up and filled Outlaw’s shoes, hauling in 145 yards and four touchdowns.
The Soul have suffered their two losses of the season in the sunshine state, the first in Jacksonville and the second in Orlando to make their record 1-2 in Florida through their first three games. Philadelphia owns the all time series 4-3.
The Sharks definitely the need this game more than the Soul, as Jacksonville is trying to keep their playoff hopes alive while Philadelphia is trying to make their record look as good as they can with the hopes of hosting the Arena Bowl. Jacksonville is still a talented team despite their record, and as we’ve seen are capable of beating the Soul.
It’s time for the Soul to shoot down the Sharks Chief Brody style and put the Sharks down for good, as a win Saturday night would get the Soul a good chance of not seeing them again this season.
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