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The Philadelphia Soul are one win away from the American Conference Championship game, as they prepare to host the Tampa Bay Storm in the wildcard round of the playoffs this weekend.
Philly is on four-game winning streak and are winners in six of their last seven games heading into the playoffs, with their most crucial win of the season coming last week with a down-to-the-wire victory over the Orlando Predators in Florida to secure homefield throughout the conference playoffs.
Their reward is hosting the last place Tampa Bay Storm, who finished with the league’s worst record as they struggled through just two wins this season at 2-14.
They have been no sludge against the Soul this season however, as their flashes of potential showed in both matches back in May and July. The Storm jumped out to a 10-0 lead in Philadelphia on a Monday night showdown on May 9, only to see the Soul score 47 of the next 54 points enroute Philly’s 54-17 win.
In their second match in Tampa on July 16, the Storm took advantage of costly mistakes by Dan Raudabaugh and carried a two-point lead into the fourth quarter, before quarterback troubles of their own from Adam Kennedy gave control back to the Soul.
The Storm still made it interesting in the closing minutes with onside kicks and special teams plays, but in the end the Soul were able to complete the comeback win and stay in the top seed hunt.
Now the Soul have to weather the Storm one more time Sunday night to set up a championship game one week later at PPL Center against the winner of the Orlando/Jacksonville game.
The key for the Soul to reach the second round will be to score early and often. The matches against the Storm were only as close as they were because of offensive turnovers and flat efforts on special teams, a key trend they’ve been battling for some time now.
With the game having much more meaning than any they’ve faced this season, Raudabaugh should come out sharper than he did in Tampa. The receivers will still have single battles with the Storm’s secondary, as Cortez Stubbs and James Harrell are the leaders on their defense.
Stubbs is leading Tampa in interceptions and tackles, and Harrell picked off Raudabaugh in both games this season.
Offense has been the real challenge for the Storm all season, as their inefficiency at quarterback between Jason Boltus and Adam Kennedy has produced the lowest scoring offense in the league, average just over 35 points per game.
Boltus is Tampa’s first option, and ranks sixth among the 10 qualifying AFL quarterbacks this season with a 55.2 completion percentage, the lowest in the league, with 42 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.
If Jake Metz and Teddy Jennings get their opportunities to get to Boltus early and often, we could see Adam Kennedy inserted for Boltus, who’s not much better with a 57 completion percentage, 14 touchdowns and six interceptions.
The Soul have an experienced roster in all phases of the game in terms of playoff experience, and with a home crowd behind them in Allentown they should be able to get up for the game as soon as the ball is kicked off.
They got the right matchup to open up with, and as long as they keep pushing until the horn sounds at the end of the game, they’ve proven they can beat anyone they line up against in the league. But there’s no room for error anymore, and everyone knows it’s win or go home from here on out.
If they play up to their potential on Sunday, they will be one win away from Arena Bowl XXIX.
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