Monday’s weather forecast for South Philadelphia: a mild storm, not expected to be too severe or cause much damage to the surrounding area.
Overconfident? Maybe a little, as we’ve seen that anything can happen in this game.
But on paper, the Tampa Bay Storm have proven to be the worst team in the American conference, and are only behind the Portland Thunder as the statistically weakest team in the AFL.
For Philadelphia, they couldn’t have asked for an easier opponent after taking a trip to the West coast last week and prepare for their toughest stretch of the season next week, with matches against the Arizona Rattlers, Orlando Predators and rival Cleveland Gladiators.
With so much riding on what happens as soon as the buzzer sounds at the end of Monday night's game, the only way a match against a winless road opponent at this point in the season could turn horrific is if the Soul play into the potential of it becoming a trap game.
First, let’s take a look at the numbers.
Tampa sits last in the four-team American conference with an 0-4 record, playing 0-2 at home and 0-2 on the road. They’re last in the entire league in total offense and time of possession.
Quarterback Jonathan Bane’s 52.4 completion percentage is only behind Portland’s Kasey Peters as the lowest in the league. The most points their offense has put together for a single game was 29 points against Cleveland in week two.
The Storm’s defense is the only one not to have a recorded a sack yet this season.
There are virtually no standout players on the Storm roster, and it’s a true shame to see one of the league's oldest franchises reach this point.
The reason why this can’t become a trap game for Philadelphia, upfront, is simply that they’re still competing with a Jacksonville Shark team that’s falling apart with a possible Arena Bowl hangover, dropping another match this past weekend this time to the Cleveland Gladiators, 41-40 in Cleveland to fall to 2-4 heading into their bye. A Soul win will put Philadelphia up three games on their foes from the south.
Philadelphia is also trying to keep pace with the Orlando Predators, a team playing the complete opposite of the other two teams in Florida. Orlando’s 77-53 stunner over the Arizona Rattlers Saturday night has them sitting pretty atop of the American conference at a perfect 6-0, one game ahead of the Soul.
If you want the reality answer as to why Philadelphia will not fall into a trap in this game, look no further than the performance by Dan Raudabaugh and his duo of wide receivers that no team has had an answer for this season.
Raudabaugh’s already thrown for 1,325 passing yards, 32 touchdowns with six interceptions, posting a 120.2 QBR through the Soul’s first five games.
Darius Reynolds has brought in 456 of those yards and 12 of the touchdowns, with Shaun Kalueinamoku right behind him with 432 yards and 11 touchdowns.
It will be interesting to see which part of the secondary Bane wants to test, as Philly has another duo threat in their backfield as well in Dwayne Hollis and Tracy Belton.
Hollis has earned four interceptions for one touchdown on the season, while Belton has been an equal threat with four interceptions and three touchdowns.
When you mix all the teams accomplishments on the season together, you get the perfect storm pointing toward a good night for the Soul on Monday.
Things will be getting mighty interesting next weekend, and their next matches will show what the team is made out of and truly capable at this point in the season.
But before we move to that, take time to enjoy some Monday Night Football this week. I’m sure the Soul will.
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