When the Philadelphia Soul host the Orlando Predators this weekend, the match up could have more implications riding on its outcome than first place of the American conference with nine weeks remaining.
As the regular season progresses and the league’s top-tier teams such as the Soul, Predators and Arizona Rattlers begin to distance themselves from the lesser teams, it’s clear the Arena Bowl will probably come down to one of these three teams barring injuries or promotions of players to higher leagues.
But one thing that is not as cut-and-dry but will probably get chosen from the same selection pool is the leagues MVP award.
And as Saturday’s game will inch the winner closer to home field advantage in the playoffs over the team they defeat, it could also help decide whether the MVP will go to it’s reigning winner, Dan Raudbaugh, or the newcomer to the debate in Randy Hippeard, who’s quarterbacked the Orlando Predators to an impressive and so far undefeated season.
For the sake of MVP debate in mid-May, let’s examine the play of the league’s two best quarterbacks to date on the season in Raudabaugh in Hippeard.
Hippeard has thrown for more yards than any other quarterback in the league so far with 1,920. Raudabaugh is fourth in thrown yards 1,734 behind Hippeard, Nick Davila and Tommy Grady.
The Soul’s rushing game has also benefited to Raudabaugh’s advantage but has dropped his passing stats, as fullback Jermaine Richardson has lead the league in rushing most of the season with 140 yards before Derrick Ross passed him this past week by eight yards.
However, Raudabaugh has the nod over Hippeard in passing completion, completing 144 of his 211 attempts for a 68.2 completion percentage, second in the league only behind Davila. Hippeard comes in fourth with 142 completions on 217 attempts for a 65.4 completion percentage. Both guys have 42 touchdowns, while Raudabaugh has seven interceptions and Hippeard has thrown four.
These are just minor differences, bringing Raudabaugh to a 119 quarterback rating and Hippeard a 125.4 rating.
Raudabaugh has put together yet another potential Arena Bowl run for the Philadelphia franchise that has made the playoffs all four years Raudabaugh has been in Philly, back before every team qualified for the postseason. No one can truly be surprised by the Soul’s opportunity to take the league’s best record at this point in the season.
Hippeard is no stranger to playoff fever either, on the verge of leading his team to their second straight home field postseason bid in all reality. Some have pointed to Hippeard and Orlando’s accomplishments compared to the past and argue that it gives him an extra vote of confidence for the MVP award. But if we’re going to factor the past into the equation (if they can really do that?), shouldn’t Raudabaugh’s two Arena Bowl appearances and four-straight playoff appearances and reigning MVP status give him an impressive argument as well?
The Predators and Hippeard have not lost a game yet this season as they head to the city of brotherly love this weekend, compared to the one loss Raudabaugh and his Soul crew suffered to the Jacksonville Sharks at home in week two.
Both teams took down the all-mighty Arizona Rattlers within the past two weeks, and both squads seemed to take the Tampa Bay Storm for granted at times in that same time frame.
And of course, the debate in every league when comparing two viable candidates for the MVP award is deciding whether the award is for the best player in the league, or the one who is most valuable to their respected team. Would the Soul have seen equal success if Luke Collins was under center every week? Could the Predators be undefeated if Bernard Morris was still the starter in Orlando?
Philly and Orlando are the only teams to have one or less losses at this point in the season, and Raudabaugh could help hand Hippeard his first loss of the season.
So it’s obvious to see that this weekends game could have a lot of impact in determining who gets dubbed the 2016 MVP of the AFL. Of course, there is still an entire second half of football to be played, let alone a second meeting between these two teams down in Orlando later in the summer. Both players would probably gladly and honestly tell you they’d rather have their team finish atop the conference and reach the Arena Bowl then take home the MVP hardware, and both could more than likely be decided by these next nine games.
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