AF1 Week 4: What We Learned

Week 4 is official done and we are starting to hit the official 'midseason' stretch!

Teams should hypothetically be starting to get into form right now and starting to develop their identities on both sides of the ball. (Some identities are good, some are less than ideal).

Billings & Albany continue to look like the class of the league, while other teams are at different stages of figuring things out.

What did we learn in Week 4?

Billings Outlaws @ Washington Wolfpack

Result: 61-23 Billings

What We Learned: Billings is a well-oiled machine two games in & Washington needs an veteran playcaller on the coaching staff

Heading into this Week 4 #AF1AfterDark showdown in Everett, Washington, Billings had only played one game due to schedule adjustments leading into the season - with back-to-back bye weeks after dismantling Oregon in Week 1. If there was a thought of 'will they be rusty?', that was immediately stomped out as the Outlaws came out firing on all cylinders and just laying it on the Wolfpack.

Billings picked up where they left off against Oregon and just kept up the offensive attack and just overwhelmed the Washington defense early. QB Braden Wingle looked fantastic in this one -- going 22/31 for 249 yards & 6 TDs, connecting with Jevin Frett 10 times for 114 yards and 2 TDs. DB Brandon Brice had an impressive Pick Six and DB Keon Clary had a heads up fumble return for a TD that went the length of the ENTIRE field and nailed the coffin shut on the Wolfpack.

OC Randy Hippeard called a really great game and HC Cedric Walker had that defense locked in, but the scary part is the Outlaws left some points on the field and have some areas that can improve on to get even better.

For Washington, they started off hot in this game -- scoring on their opening drive and had a chance to make this a game, but then the Billings offense took the field.

The Wolfpack offense had some moments of inspiration and a couple play calls that were really well-designed and executed, but as the game wore on the offense got stagnant and just looked like they were drawing plays in the dirt. QB Ed Crouch was able to get mobile and make some things happen on the ground (12 carries, 63 yards, 2 TDs), but could not get a lot going through the air.

It's probably a combination of the Billings defense playing at a high level and the Wolfpack offense lacking the ability to game plan for a full four quarters -- but what makes me lean towards the latter is when you take into account that this has been the case two seasons in a row now for Washington. They need to get a veteran playcaller for the offense if they really want to be a threat in this league. They have a great WR group and have found their QB1, so they are running out of reasons why they shouldn't be competing at a high level with the best in the league.

Oregon Lightning @ Nashville Kats

Result: 40-32 Nashville

What We Learned: Nashville has their guy at QB & Oregon is slowly headed in the right direction on offense despite the loss.

Nashville was going into their 3rd game of the season with their 3rd different starting QB hoping that they had their guy in Tyler Kulka and I think it is safe to say that they found him.

Kulka looked really good in this game. He was able to connect on some impressive throws down field and be a real facilitator of the offense. He went 20/25 for 154 yards & 2 TDs, but he passed the eye test with much higher marks than what his numbers show.

Nashville was able to be impactful on the ground as well, as some classic Darren Arbet Xs & Os were executed and really provided great balance to the attack. You don't have to be 50/50 in the arena game in terms of run/pass, but you HAVE to give the defense something to think about other than just dropping into coverage every single play.

(Also, give your offensive line a chance to be the aggressors against the defensive line instead of vice versa alllll gameeee long).

Nashville looked solid in this one and (assuming they don't go with a 4th QB in 4 games) they should evolve into a really strong playoff team that can cause a ruckus after the regular season.

For Oregon, even though they lost they took some steps in the right direction offensively in this game.

One of my biggest issues with Oregon was not having a viable rushing alternative to QB Dalton Cole, and they signed FB/TE/Big ol' WR Tom Butters in the week leading up to this game and he immediately gave them a ground presence, rushing 9 times for 28 yards and a TD. While not jumping off the page at you, those are 9 carries and 28 yards that your QB didn't have to take hits on -- where in any other game this year, he's taking those hits.

Cole didn't have a great game passing wise in this one and didn't really get into a rhythm with his receiver group. They started the game with some short passes and screens (another critique I've had over the past few weeks), but seemed to abandon it as soon as they got in a hole and started taking deep shots.

Now, they have to find a balance of keeping Butters in the ground game, committing to short routes and screens throughout the game and finding your moments to take deep shots. It's a slow development process for the offense where you can start to see the vision for what this team could be, but time is starting to run out and they have to start stringing together some wins very, very soon.

Albany Firebirds @ Salina Liberty

Result: 57-27 Albany

What We Learned: The Albany offensive train keeps on chugging along & Salina needs to address the QB position IMMEDIATELY

I had the privilege of joining The Nest: Albany Firebirds Pregame show leading into kickoff of the Sunday night VICE TV game of the week and had the opportunity to discuss a couple key elements of the game.

Albany obviously has the talent to win any game on their schedule and had a bit of a wake up call last week against Nashville, while Salina just needed to stop self sabotaging with turnovers and sloppy quarterback play to be able to compete.

For the Firebirds, they got off to a slow start in this one and were neck and neck with the Liberty at halftime -- with Albany holding a 21-20 lead at the break. But whatever adjustment or halftime speech Coach Ware gave in the locker room worked, because they went on to outscore Salina 36-7 in the second half and turned this into a route. QB Sam Castronova went 9/17 for 132 yards & 5 TDs, with 4 different WRs catching touchdowns in this one.

There was more of an effort to run the ball a bit more and they improved on it, but I think they are capable of achieving much more on the ground. The defense also stepped up with 2 Pick Sixes on the day and took full advantage of Salina's tendency to turn the ball over.

The undefeated Firebirds is looking really good heading into their first of 2 back-to-back games against the Billings Outlaws.

For Salina, I've been pleading for a change for weeks now but I think we may need to try another route here to try to break through to the Salina Liberty brass.

Imagine you are on a road trip with your buddies in a brand new, very nice 2025 Jeep Wagoneer. After some discussion, you decide that your buddy Kevin will be the driver. Road trip starts, Kevin hits a pothole that was very avoidable. Another couple miles down the road, hits another pothole, then swerves slightly between lanes, giving you some pause and making you wonder, "Should Kevin be driving?"

You go to refuel & get snacks at Buc-ee's and Kevin hops back in the drivers seat for the second leg of the trip. Alright, let's see if he learned from his mistakes.

Pothole. Another pothole. Nearly hits a deer. Accidently clips another Jeep that was trying just trying to do the Jeep salute. One more pothole.

Now, if you are in the car on this road trip, are you letting Kevin drive anymore? Or are you calling an audible and switching to a new driver?

If I lost you with that slightly convoluted metaphor, the 2025 Jeep Wagoneer represents the Liberty offense and Kevin represents the QB play for Salina so far this season.

If I am in that car, Kevin is not driving. We have to find another driver and Salina MUST find another option at QB. There were 2 more Pick Sixes thrown in this game and just a medley of poor decisions that kept them from doing anything productive in the second half. They finally went to backup QB / athlete Jamario Benson for the final drive, and he was able to march down the field and get in the end zone in the final minutes of the game.

WR Malik Honeycutt managed to haul in 8 catches for 101 yards & WR Ed Smith Jr was able to make 6 catches for 68 yards & 2 TDs, but they have not been able to get RB Tracy Brooks as involved as I'm sure they would like so far this season.

I don't know if Benson is the answer moving forward at QB or if they need to bring in a new arm, but something has to change. Salina is sitting at 0-3, but this roster is NOT an 0-3 roster. They have talent all over the place and pound for pound have one of the better rosters in the AF1 -- yet they are the only team without a win so far this season, losing every game by double digits.

What were your biggest takeaways from Week 3? Follow Off The Wall on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok & BlueSky and let me know!