AF1 Week 11: What We Learned
- offthewallfbpod
- 2 days ago
- 8 min read
Week 11 is a wrap! We coming up on the final month of the season and this past weekend the playoff picture solidified a litttttttle bit but the door is wide open for fireworks to end the season.
The Southwest Kansas Storm secured a spot in the playoffs and will be fighting for a home playoff game over the next couple of weeks.
The final two spots will be claimed by a combination of two of the following teams: Nashville Kats (4-3)
Corpus Christi Tritons (3-4)
Oregon Lightning (4-6)
Saline Liberty (3-5)
Billings Outlaws (3-6)
These teams will be duking it out with each other over the next couple of weeks and the final two spots are pretty wide open right now and up for grabs. But what did we learn in Week 11?
Oregon Lightning @ Nashville Kats
Result: 50-36 Nashville
What We Learned: Nashville is in the driver's seat to securing a playoff birth & Oregon's offense has a ceiling against teams not named the Wolfpack or the Tritons
This matchup was one of the more intriguing matchups of the weekend in the AF1, as it featured an Oregon team riding a 3-game winning streak and a talentedNashville team coming off of a bye that was coming off a tough matchup against Albany a few weeks back.
For Nashville, this game was a lot closer in the first half than I had expected. The offense was getting into a rhythm in the first half, but the defense was giving up big plays in the 2nd quarter that made this a tight game. But the Kats were able to lock things down in the second half and really control the game on both sides of the ball to secure the win.
QB Tyler Kulka had a strong showing in this one, throwing for 187 yards & 5 TDs, while getting newly acquired WR Nih-jer Jackson involved 3 times for 87 yards & 2 TDs. The Kats secondary came up big in this, hauling 3 total interceptions on the day and really shut things down in the second half, and newly signed DL Jaquan Artis made his impact known in his debut with a 2 sacks, 2 TFL & a Safety. If only there was somebody who pointed out these key additions before they debuted.
The biggest weakness right now for this Kats team is their special teams, specifically on the kick return game. Multiple times over the past few games they have had miscues in the return game that gave free points to the opposition and flipped the momentum of the game. They gotta find a way to neutralize that if they want to keep pace in the playoff race and avoid any missteps.
For Oregon, they were coming in hot with an offense that had score 50+ in two consecutive games, but in this one they faced a much tougher defense and team than they had in their past three games. This offensive output seems to be the ceiling for the Oregon team against any non-Washington or Corpus Christi based team.
QB Dalton Cole was able to throw for 200 yards & 4 TDs, but also had 3 INTs and completed less than 50% of his passes. This Lightning O-line had it's moments in the first half (including an amazing playcall of having an OL go in high motion), but overall they were allowing a lot of pressure and the passing game suffered because of it. They still have not been able to get much of a rushing attack going beyond what they are able to achieve in the red zone -- which I think would REALLY help them out through the course of the game. If you are able to be a real threat to run the ball not just in the red zone but also at the opponent's 15, midfield, your own 15 -- that opens things up and can help the offensive line out.
Oregon is still alive in the playoff race, but has to win out and get some help in order to make the dance.
Corpus Christi Tritons @ Albany Firebirds
Result: 64-27 Albany
What We Learned: Albany continues to be the class of the AF1 & it isn't all bad in Corpus Christi
The last time these two teams met, we had the infamous 100-12 game in which there was some off the field issues that caused roster adjustments at the last moment and created one of the more lopsided games in recent memory.
Fast forward to this week, there were still some off the field issues but this time with the uniforms instead of personnel. Tritons started the game in old Albany Empire uniforms but finished the second half in their usual baby blues. But despite the score line, this wasn't a terrible outing for Corpus Christi. They recently got back WR Quintavius Workman who stepped in as the clear WR1 for this team, hauling in 12 catches for 85 yards & 3 TDs and really helped get things going for this offense in the first half. WR Richy Anderson II had 8 catches for 118 yards & a TD as well, and really gave some moments of inspiration for this Tritons team that has been through a lot this year.
Before this game, it looked like they were dead in the water and were going to get passed up in the playoff hunt. But they gave enough hope on offense in this one that I could see a world where they start to click these final few games and do just enough to sneak into the playoffs.
For Albany, this was business as usual for them this season:
An offensive barrage with a defensive performance that takes advantage of the opponents desperation to get back in the game.
Future AF1 MVP Sam Castronova went 22/26 for 276 yards & 7 TDs on the day, finding his fave WR Duane Brown 8 times for 113 yards & 3 TDs and WR Darian Townsend 6 times for 104 yards & 2 TDs. The offense got going early and was in a bit of a shootout in the first 20 minutes of this game before pulling away for good and really running it up in the second half.
Five different WRs caught TDs in this game -- including a BigManTD by OL Brandon Nicholson! The defense stepped up with great play at every level and K Henry Nell had his usual incredible game -- with 3 straight deuces to open the game and was as efficient as it gets.
This league is Albany's to lose at this point and it's going to take a near perfect game from any other team in the AF1 to knock them from the top spot.
Billings Outlaws @ Salina Liberty
Result: 60-41 Salina
What We Learned: Salina continues their hot streak on offense & it's not a good sight in Billings right now
Salina's offense has been absolutely incredible over the last month of the season, averaging 52 points per game over their last four games and getting better every single week with a season high in points scored this past weekend. Rakeem Cato was incredibly efficient in this one, throwing for 292 yards & 5 TDs on only 15 completions, and Malik Honeycutt continued to light it up at WR with 8 catches for 159 yards & 3 TDs. The Liberty offense did a good job of getting RB Tracy Brooks involved in the passing game in this one, but would love to see him even more involved in the running game than the six carries that he got in this one.
This Liberty offense is starting to peak at just the right time and the defense stepped and made plays to really put this game out of reach in the 4th quarter. The Liberty are a team that I don't think anybody wants to face in the playoffs, and if they continue their current run on offense they are going to be a headache for somebody on the road (most likely either Albany or Southwest Kansas).
For Billings, after a really tough stretch of games over the past month and a half, they had little to know margin for error if they wanted to make a run at the playoffs... but the road just got tougher with this result and how this played out.
Malik Henry really struggled in this one, throwing four interceptions and just looking off for a lot of this game. While he did have 234 yards & 4 TDs, so much of that came when they were already down in a massive hole thanks in part to those turnovers.
WR Arthur Anderson IV had a big game with 9 catches for 127 yards & 2 TDs, and it was great to see friend of the program TE Hunter Swoboda get back in the action with a TD, but overall this team just can't seem to get it all going.
When you look at the Billings season as a whole, their only wins are against a bad Washington team and a bipolar Oregon team in one of the weirdest AF1AfterDark games you will ever see. The Outlaws have been outplayed and beat down in every other game this year, and it's one of the more disappointing seasons imaginable for this team that was coming off of a championshi just last year.
Southwest Kansas Storm @ Washington Wolfpack
Result: 63-7 Southwest Kansas
What We Learned: Southwest Kansas has punched their ticket to the playoffs & Washington continues to find ways to bottom out even more on offense
Southwest Kansas deserves a TON of credit for how well they have played this season. Yes, they have a had a few hiccups and close calls along the way, but they have put together an impressive body of work and have one of the best rosters in the all of arena & indoor football -- with most of it being players that are playing arena football for the first time in Dodge City.
Their shotgun-based offense is a modern take on arena football but they find ways to absolutely make it work for them. I do wish they had at least some type of offensive package under center at least for short yardage situations, but we can discuss that later.
Jalen Morton has a great game in this one, going 10/12 for 135 yards passing & 5 TDs, with 73 yards on the ground as well. He was able to do just about anything he wanted at the helm of the offense in this one and really laid it on the Wolfpack defense early and often.
WR Demarius Washington had 6 catches for 117 yards & 4 TDs, with WR Charles Hall IV adding 2 TDs on the day as well. The defense stepped up an absolutely dominated the Wolfpack offense -- coming away with 9 sacks on the day, 3 INTs & 2 force fumbles.
Outstanding game by the Storm & Coach Gary Thomas should absolutely be the front runner for AF1 Coach of the Year.
Oh Washington.
They have 2 passing touchdowns in the month of May, and they've played four games.
Every touchdown they have scored in the past 2 games has been a QB scramble on a broken play. I just don't get why the offense has gotten SIGNIFICANTLY worse as the season progressed.
They somehow found a way to beat their previous season low of 9 points scored and it's just puzzling to see them trot out the same thing every week and wonder why things aren't getting better. I could go on but for my own mental health I'll stop here.
They get a red-hot Salina Liberty team next week as they go back to Kansas for a second consecutive game and I would not be surprised to see them in the single digits yet again.
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