Soul outlast Predators in nail-biter, claim conference's top seed

Arenafootball.com

Nothing has come easy for the Philadelphia Soul in their 2016 campaign, and sealing home field advantage through the American Conference playoffs in Saturday’s regular season finale in Orlando might have been their toughest obstacle yet.

Philadelphia got stellar play from their fifth-year starting quarterback Dan Raudabaugh, who’s entering his sixth straight AFL postseason appearance, and in the Soul’s 12 wins before Saturday night, an elite performance from Raudabaugh was enough to end the game with a win.

Raudabaugh looked like his 2015 AFL MVP form once again in Orlando, achieving a near perfect game completing 21 of his 29 passes for 335 yards and 10 touchdowns, earning a 150.14 quarterback rating.

The important number in Raudabaugh’s stats line was zero interceptions. In the 12 games this season in which he excelled, the team ended the game with solid wins. However, in the three games Raudabaugh struggled in the most with numerous turnovers, the Soul suffered their infrequent losses.

But for the first time this season, a successful Raudabaugh performance wasn’t quite enough to walk out of the Amway Center with a slam dunk win.

The Soul defense came together at the perfect times to bail out teammates on the other sides of the ball to keep momentum out of the hands of the Predators all throughout the game.

Tommy Frevert missed three extra point attempts in the game, which opened the door for the Predators to gain control of the match. After Frevert missed his second attempt in the first half, keeping a close back-and-forth score at 26-21, he attempted to make up for his mistakes with an onside kick. The Predators special teams read the play from the moment they stepped on the field, and defenders on both teams chased the ball all the way into the Philly end zone, which Orlando recovered to give the home team their first lead of the game, 28-26.

The special teams unit looked very troubling for a first place Soul team, as they did not appear to know when onside kicks were coming whether it was Freevert kicking off or the Orlando unit staring them down 10 yards apart.

After Orlando’s first successful onside recovery, they ran one of their very own and recovered the ball at midfield in the final minute of the first half.

Philly’s defense shut the door on any attempt to go up by two scores however, and Orlando’s kicker Mark Lewis nailed a rare field goal to put the Predators up, 31-26.

With their backs against the wall knowing Orlando would get the ball to start the second half, Raudabaugh put together an important drive in the closing seconds of the first half, which ended with a 14 yard touchdown pass to Darius Reynolds to give Philly a 33-31 lead heading into the locker room.

On the very first drive of the second half, Orlando veteran quarterback Bernard Morris tried to force a deep pass against the boards, which didn’t fool Philly’s James Romain who came up with the game’s first and only interception of the night.

Raudabaugh led his offense onto the field for their first drive of the second half, and moments later they capitalized on their gift with a 27 yard touchdown to Duvalt.

But Freevert continued to struggle at times, and special teams continued to come up short.

It all set up a thrilling fourth-and-long situation late in the fourth quarter that set the tone for the season, in a play that could propel playoff momentum.

In the final minute of the game, the Soul offense attempted to run out the clock with a 60-59 lead and take the close-knit victory. However, a Jermaine Richardson stack at the line forced a 4th-and-goal from the 13 yard line with 38 seconds left and no timeouts remaining. A turnover on downs would give Orlando plenty of time to march down the field and earn any kind of score to win the game.

But Raudabaugh’s call for a near-hail-mary with all receivers in the endzone fooled the Orlando defenders, giving Darius Reynolds room to break free on the left side and catch a launched pass from Raudabaugh in the endzone and extend their lead, 67-59.

The defense once again stood tall in the closing seconds, not letting the Predators send the game to overtime and instead head back to Philly for at least the next two weeks.

The only perfect performance in the match came from Raudabaugh, who showed us his best stuff in the game and gave his team the great chance to win. Mixed in with the clutch efforts from the defense, with the exception of a two-point conversion attempt that was completed due to a Soul penalty, the Soul went into the jungle with a mission in mind to clinch first place, and that’s exactly what they did.

But the special teams have been a sore on the 13-3 Philadelphia Soul all season, and their struggles continued Saturday. No lead is safe with this Soul team if the special teams cannot recover a healthy amount of onside kicks, and they cannot afford to let that determine an outcome from here on out.

With the win, the Soul tie Arizona from the National Conference with the best record in Arena Football at the conclusion of the regular season, with the Rattlers holding the tiebreaker if they meet in the Arena Bowl.

It takes two wins to reach the championship stage, and it will all start Sunday, August 8 against the 2-13 Tampa Bay Storm at the PPL Center in Allentown.

We will bring you more Soul playoff coverage throughout the week.

Soul can wrap up home field advantage in the jungle

This is it Soul fans. After 17 quick weeks and 15 games that had all kinds of ups and downs, the fate, at least in terms of playoff seeding for the Soul, all comes down to one game.

Tied at 12-3 with the Orlando Predators, the Soul will enter the Amway Center “Jungle” in Orlando tonight with the chance to clinch the top overall playoff seed in the American Conference, meaning they would host the conference championship game if they win the opening round next week.

It means that they would host the Tampa Bay Storm instead of the Jacksonville Sharks should they win, even though both teams haven’t amounted to a whole lot this season.

It means the PPL Center would more than likely welcome these Orlando Predators into their doors in two weeks, opposed to the Soul returning to Orlando for their second trip in three weeks.

The Soul can only host the Arena Bowl at this point if they reach the championship game and host any team from the National Conference that is not the Arizona Rattlers, as the snakes earned the tiebreaker over the Soul with overall points scored in their two matches.

Meanwhile, Orlando is entering this game knowing that if they come out victorious, they will be staying at the Amway Center as far as their season takes them, as they won that same tiebreaker over the Rattlers in their season series.

Philly looked dominant through most of their first match against Orlando back in May, until the Predators made a late push with some onside attempt recoveries.

The Soul will need a similar jump-from-the-start performance Saturday as they did in that match, as the Soul’s biggest weakness this season has been returning from adversity they face early on.

If Dan Raudabaugh plays like his MVP form of last season, and that of which we’ve seen most of this season, the Soul will be sitting pretty at the end of the night as they gear up for the Storm in eight days.

If he and his offense come out flat in an atmosphere that will most certainly be an electric jungle, it will be a tough battle to come back from, and we all know that when the rain has started this season, it quickly turns to downpour.

The match is as important as it gets, as both teams have lost three games each this season, and in both cases two of those three losses came on the road against teams that will be hosting the first round of the playoffs.

It’s not do-or-die, but it’s the next best thing.

Former commissioner Jerry Kurz files civil rights "breach of contract" lawsuit against AFL

Former commissioner Jerry Kurz is quietly in the league’s spotlight once again, this time treading waters with the league he helped found, pressing a Civil Rights-Employment lawsuit against the Arena Football League and current commissioner Scott Butera.

According to Dockets.Justia.com and PacerMonitor.com, Kurz filed the Diversty breach of contract employment suit against the defendents on July 21, 2016 in the Illinois Northern District Court.

Judge Manish S. Shah is slated to oversee the case, which is listed to include a jury demanded by the plaintiff.

Kurz served as the AFL’s commissioner from 2010-14, returning the league from the one-year lockout of 2008-09 before Butera took the reigns at the conclusion of the 2014 season.

Before his time as commissioner, Kurz worked with the AFL for its first 23 seasons, making his 28 years of experience the second longest tenured member of the league’s history just behind founder Jim Foster.

Members of Shah’s office were reached out to by Soul Nation, but her and her staff are "out of the office until August 8."

Soul Nation also reached out to Kurz Friday evening, but he did not comment on the situation as of press time.

We will keep you up to date on the story as it continues to develop.

So long Binford, we hardly knew you: Soul receiver signed by Green Bay

Harvey Binford has technically been on our roster all season, but not anymore thanks to the opening of NFL training camps.

The Green Bay Packers signed Binford to a camp invite, with preseason action starting for the Packers in two weeks.

Binford has sat inactive in all games for the Soul this season except for week three’s match against Portland, where he was just as quiet with 17 yards on two receptions.

Originally picked up in the 2014 open tryouts, we saw glimpses of his potential during his first season with the team in 2015, when he earned 412 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on just 24 receptions in the seven games he played.

He’s been one of the mysteries behind the politics of the league with his inactivity, but there’s been no doubt about his talent and playmaking skills.

Binford would have been a nice addition to the Soul offense had he played more this season, but his absence throughout the year means he won’t leave a hole the team needs to fill on the starting roster heading into the playoffs. It will be interesting to see if the team picks up a veteran to fill the vacancy in the meantime, but it won’t be a game changing move.

Best of luck to Binford in Green Bay.

The current state of the Soul during the bye week

Philadelphia.CBSlocal.com

As we sit in the midst of Philadelphia’s second bye week, things have changed significantly after their important weekend we just came off.

The Soul are back in first place of the American Conference at 12-3 after their win, and Orlando’s loss.

Things are great, right? Well, they could have turned out better. And they could have turned out worse.

Let’s take a look at the Soul’s game first.

Philadelphia edged out a close match in Tampa over the 1-14 Storm with a 56-51 win that got dicey in the fourth quarter. The Soul found themselves trailing by one score heading into the final frame, but a quick score from Dan Raudabaugh to Darius Reynolds put the Soul up by five. On the very next drive, Dwayne Hollis brought in his eighth interception of the season, bringing it to the house to put the Soul up by two scores with 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The teams traded scores in the final minutes, and a crucial onside kick recovery for Philadelphia with 50 seconds left in the game sealed the win.

It wasn’t the prettiest win, as the worst team in the AFL had an opportunities late in the game to steal a victory over the Soul who are in the hunt for the best record in the league. Tampa’s lone win this season did come over the first place Arizona Rattlers, so they have proven to get up and play well against great competition at times this season.

Philadelphia fought through the adversity and got the win, which hasn’t been as common in the past and is a very encouraging sign as playoffs approach.

The Soul community’s attention than shifted to Arizona on Monday night, as the two teams ahead of the Soul clashed with one another to see if Orlando could extend their lead over the teams trailing them, or if the Rattlers would inch closer to the first place title.

The Predators fought hard through much of the game, but Orlando quarterback Bernard Morris and his team did not play the flawless game you need to put forth to earn a rare win in Arizona. Morris’ mistake of bouncing a pass of the net in the end zone resulted in the game's first turnover in the second quarter, putting the Predators behind the eight ball heading into the second half.

Orlando earned an opportunity to take a one-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, forcing a Maurice Purify fumble and earning their first turnover of the game. They could not take advantage of their fortune however, turning the ball over on downs on the same drive and giving Arizona control of the game and win.

Orlando did earn a moral victory in the loss, as they covered the 17-point spread to keep the tiebreaker over the Rattlers, after their massive win over Arizona earlier in the season. The loss pushed the Predators into second place in the American conference behind Philadelphia, who currently holds the season tiebreaker in the match. If Orlando wins their final game in two weeks, they will not only earn the top seed in the American conference but also hold the top league seed to host the Arena Bowl if they reach the championship game.

That puts all the pressure on Philadelphia from here on out. The likelihood of them hosting the Arena Bowl is on life support, as they would need to win in their final week and pray that the Cleveland Gladiators can pull off an amazing upset over the Rattlers, who hold the tiebreaker over the Soul.

It's not impossible, but they certainly need help from their other rival.

But Philadelphia has a very good chance of capturing the top seed in the American Conference, as their final opponent after the bye week is who? The Orlando Predators.

It will be an American Conference regular season championship at the Amway Center in Orlando on Saturday, July 30. The Soul handled the Predators easily back in May, as they looked to be the better of the two teams. Philadelphia will have to play better during this trip to Florida than they did last visit last week, but Orlando will give them opportunities to take over the game.

Most importantly, they to focus in on the only game in front of them and they cannot be looking at Arizona, like the rest of us are.

League changes playoff format three weeks before postseason begins

The ever-changing AFL announced today that they’re throwing out the playoff format we’ve been told for seven months will provide “exciting” and “interesting” postseason matchups, and are returning to the traditional conference format.

In the structure announced last December, all eight teams in the playoffs would be reseeded 1-8, with the top seed playing the bottom seed, and so on. Now, with just a little over two weeks remaining before playoff fever heats up, the league announced in a press release today that we are going back to the conference playoff format.

Here is the press release:

Arena Football League Board of Directors announced today that the postseason for the 2016 Season will return to the traditional conference format. The American and National Conference Championship games will be played the weekend of August 13-14.

"In light of the season's results, teams will be seeded by conference for first two rounds. This will enhance strong regional rivalries and make it convenient for our loyal fans deciding to follow their team on the road," AFL Commissioner Scott C. Butera said.

The Arizona Rattlers (12-3) have already clinched the National Conference regular-season title and will face the Portland Steel (2-12) on Saturday, August 6 at 10 p.m. ET (CBS Sports Network) in the First Round. The Los Angeles KISS (7-7) and Cleveland Gladiators (7-8) will face in the other National Conference postseason game with the site and date still to be determined.

In the American Conference, the Philadelphia Soul (12-3) and Orlando Predators (12-3) will face in the final week of the regular season on Saturday, July 30 at 7:30 p.m. ET (WatchESPN) for the regular-season conference title. The winner will host the Tampa Bay Storm (1-13), while the other will host the Jacksonville Sharks (5-9) in the postseason.

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

W          L          

1.          * Philadelphia        12         3          

2.          * Orlando              12         3          

3.          Jacksonville           5           9

4.          Tampa Bay            1           13        

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

W          L

1.          x Arizona               12         3          

2.          Los Angeles           7           7          

3.          Cleveland              7           8          

4.          Portland                2           12        

x Clinched the Conference Regular Season Title

* Clinched a First Round Home Postseason Game

This came just one day after the Rattlers defeated the Orlando Predators to take the top seed in the league, and the change guarantees that Orlando will host either Jacksonville or Tampa Bay in the first round.

Arizona looked to be hosting the Tampa Bay Storm in the first round, who handed the Rattlers one of their three losses early this season, but now they will host Portland instead.

This is a much different narrative than Commissioner Butera had back in December, when he was
quoted in a press release discussing the playoff format as saying:

"We felt this was a perfect opportunity to try a different approach to the postseason,” AFL Commissioner Scott Butera said. “Other leagues have discussed re-seeding options. We felt that a reduced number of teams and regular season games provided us the chance to try a different structure that has been discussed on the Rules and Competition Committee for a while. It will provide exciting and interesting postseason matchups that we haven’t historically seen.”

So how will this affect the Soul?
It’s all still dependent on what happens in two weeks, of course. The Soul will travel to Orlando in the final week of the regular season, where the winner will get the top seed in the American Conference playoffs.

It’s pretty simple for Philadelphia: Win, and host Tampa Bay. Lose, and host the Jacksonville Sharks.

The change does make sense from an economical stand point, as the only changes to the picture will be who gets to host the Portland Thunder.

The Soul were originally in place to host Portland in the first round, if Philadelphia had defeated Orlando. Now Arizona will get that fortune.

How much does Monday's Orlando-Arizona game mean to the Soul?

Oursportscentral.com

So there is a Soul game going on this weekend where a team four games over .500 (Soul) will be facing a team that’s 5.5 games under .500 (Tampa Bay).

We’re not going to undercut any game in the Arena Football League, as every game has great meaning to the Soul this season and not showing up for a game could hurt you (see week nine).

After all, it was looking over the Gladiators in that said matchup that has the Soul looking for some help now.

But as long as the heavy probable happens, there is a game Monday night that very well could end up being the biggest game of the season for Philadelphia, and they aren’t even playing in it.

The Orlando Predators will be traveling to desert’s snake pit to face the Arizona Rattlers, who are the hottest team in the AFL at the right time.

First, take a look at the AFL standings. Keep in mind that the league is throwing out the conference playoff format of the past, and is just reseeding the league by all eight teams, with the top seed playing the eighth seed and so on.

1.       PREDATORS 12-2

2.       RATTLERS 11-3

3.       SOUL 11-3

4.       GLADIATORS 7-7

5.       KISS 6-7

6.       SHARKS 5-8

7.       STORM 1-12

8.       PORTLAND 1-12

It’s pretty tight atop the first three seeds. Philadelphia has the current tiebreaker over the Orlando Predators, and have a chance in week 18, the final week of the regular season, to put the nail in the coffin and straight up pass the Predators in the standings, as long as Philadelphia wins this week.

And despite winning the first match of the season against the Arizona Rattlers, the snakes handed a beating to the Soul last month and clinched the tiebreaker over the Soul in overall points scored.

So we know the Soul will need to finish with a better regular season record than Arizona to avoid taking another trip to the desert where their season was wounded.

All three teams have their bye weeks next week and will be idle.

As we stated earlier, the Soul and Predators will face off in the final week of the regular season.

The Rattlers close the regular season at home against the 7-7 Cleveland Gladiators.

A Philadelphia win plus an Orlando win would make week 18 a winner-take-first-place match up. An Arizona win win of any kind would need an overall points tiebreaker to decide if Arizona or Orlando would get first place, but any Rattlers win would pretty much secure Philly unable to pass them this regular season.

Here’s what we’re getting at: THE SOUL DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK TO ARIZONA. THE ONLY WAY TO AVOID THAT IS BY ORLANDO WINNING IN ARIZONA THIS WEEKEND.

Could the Gladiators win next weekend in Arizona? Sure, it’s very possible.

But consider this: The Rattlers are undefeated in their arena this season, and have lost just two games at home the last four seasons. One of those losses came last year against the 20-1 San Jose Sabercats, and the other was against the Chicago Rush, who folded in 2013.

Teams don’t play well in Arizona.

And the Soul found that out this year, when Raudabaugh threw two picks and his team suffered a few more turnovers to get their doors blown off for the majority of the game.

At the same time, the Soul handled the Rattlers at home pretty easily for the majority of the first matchup two weeks ago in Philly. That goes to show you how different this matchup could be based on venue.

It’s very possible that the Soul could go to the Talking Stick Resort Arena in August and capture an Arena Bowl championship of the Rattlers’ home turf.

But the confidence would be much greater if the game was held in a building the Soul could call home, whether it be the PPL Center or the Wells Fargo Center.

So we need a little bit of a miracle to be pulled off Monday night.