AF1 Week 7: What We Learned

Week 7 is in the books and featured a full slate yet again in the AF1. We had games ranging from 'last second game-changing play changed the course of this team's season' to 'oh this game is over and there's 5 min left in the 1st quarter' -- and a couple in between!

But what did we learn around the AF1 in Week 7?

Salina Liberty @ Billings Outlaws

Result: 43-37 Salina

What We Learned: Salina's offense is back on track & Billings has to find an answer at QB ASAP

Salina finally got into the win column last week against Oregon in fairly dominant fashion, but taking the show on the road against the Billings Outlaws was going to be a taller task -- and Salina rose to the occasion and really took it to Billings in this one! The Liberty put a damper on the Outlaws' 'championship celebration' ceremony night (and seemed to be a point of motivation for the team in postgame comments) and really controlled this game from the beginning. It was looking like Rakeem Cato was going to get the start at QB -- even the announcers were under the impression that that would be the case -- but Javin Kilgo got the start instead... and immediately you heard the screams of arena fans in their living rooms across the country.

But Kilgo played well in this one and played the 'facilitator' role extremely well -- and this offense continued it's emphasis on flowing through RB Tracy Brooks. It's always a good idea to have the offense flow through your best player and it worked well for the Liberty! Brooks ended up scoring four touchdowns and was THE difference maker for the Liberty. They didn't have to live and die with the QB and instead rode their RB to the promised land. This is what Salina's offense needs to focus on going forward and continue to get the ball into playmaker's hands as soon as possible.

For Billings, there is a lot to unpack for this offense. They made a switch at QB and moved Danny Southwick to QB1 in this one -- and he was okay at best for most of the game but had a couple of crucial mistakes that were gamechangers for the Outlaws.

Right before halftime, the Outlaws were driving and looking to score with no time left on the clock -- but Southwick threw a bad-bad pick in the end zone that ruined a chance to score before the half AND get the ball right after halftime.

Fast forward to the end of the game on the final drive, similar situation with a similar result -- backbreaking interception with seconds left in the game. Braden Wingle really struggled in two games against Albany and they were hopeful that Southwick would bring some level of consistency to the offense, but that just wasn't the case here.

The Outlaws are sitting at 2-3 and are simply in a rut on offense. They either need to go back to Wingle and let him develop or try to find a free agent option on the market that they feel can come in and make an impact right away.

Albany Firebirds @ "Corpus Christi Tritons"

Result: 100-12 Albany

What We Learned: Albany ran up the score on a pieced together team & Corpus Christi has off the field issues to deal with

"Trey I can't help but notice you used quotation marks around Corpus Christi, what gives?!"

**sighes**

Leading up to this game, rumors were swirling for weeks that Corpus Christi was having cash flow issues and they were behind multiple weeks for some players' pay -- so some of the players decided "you know what, we're not gonna play until we get what we are owed", which is 100% fair by the way! Good for the players for standing up for themselves.

So that leads us to this game. One that was anticipated to be a clash of arguably the two best teams in the league and stories aplenty with Darius Prince & Dwayne Hollis revenge games and a legitimate litmus test for the Tritons. But many starters for Corpus Christi ended up sitting this one out, including Prince, Hollis, OL Terrance Ames, QB Fred Payton Jr and others -- and were replaced with replacement players last second. Just as last year's game with replacement players went, this one got out of hand very quickly. Corpus Christi found themselves down 79-0 at halftime (yes, that was the actual, real, authentic score to this game) and never had a chance in this one. They eventually go on the board late to cut the deficit to 80+, but man this was a rough one.

The Corpus Christi brass need to get their act together IMMEDIATELY and figure out how to right the ship here. I seriously doubt the league is going to be willing to bail out a team that paid for high priced free agents and whose ownership directly contributed to the league's uniform issues early in the seaosn. If I had to guess, this is going to be the last season that we see Corpus Christi in the AF1 -- whether that means they go play in another league or cease operations entirely, who knows.

For Albany, they absolutely dominated this game. They showed up and played the team in front of them. It wasn't their fault that Corpus Christi was having issues and had to sit many of their key contributors. They absolutely crushed in this game, even with some backups of their own getting major playing time. Sam Castronova played the first series, then the QB spot was quickly taken over by backup Robert McCoy -- who was able to engineer scoring drive after scoring drive after scoring drive after scoring drive, to the tune of SEVEN touchdown passes.

Kicker Henry Nell had one of the best kicking games in arena football history, racking up 26 points (!) on the day:

• 5 Deuces

• 6 Dropkick XPs

• 2 XPs

• And an AMAZING back corner fade in the end zone on a busted 2-pt conversion

All in all, a great day for the Firebirds offense but I do have a minor gripe: Their social media team.

I understand wanting to highlight your successes, but to take THIS BIG of a victory lap and post this many graphics for a lopsided win over a team that you KNOW was having roster issues and replacement players is very cringeworthy.

Albany is still the class of the league until proven otherwise and this was an absolutely dominant performance in every aspect of the game -- just hoping they can make their victory lap over depleted opponents a little less cringe in the future.

Washington Wolfpack @ Oregon Lightning

Result: 41-30 Washington

What We Learned: Washington FINALLY made adjustments to their offense & Oregon is the new basement dweller of the AF1

Late last week, Washington made a roster move that was confusing to say the least -- and I was very critical of through the medium I know best: Memes.

The story through the grapevine is that there was an "incident" that went south very quickly behind closed doors between the former QB and the coaching staff, ultimately leading to the quick dismissal. No bueno. I've been very vocal about Washington's offensive struggles -- primarily harping on the play calling that has been abysmal through the first 6 weeks of the season. But this QB switch might be the thing that saves the Wolfpack's season.

Adam Kruse took the reigns at QB and this Washington offense was soaring through the first 3 quarters of this game -- to the tune of 41-0 heading into the 4th quarter. Kruse was slinging the ball around the yard and the play calling was vastly improved -- including INTENTIONAL attempts at running the ball! THE WASHINGTON WOLFPACK WERE RUNNING THE BALL...

ON PURPOSE AND EFFICIENTLY!

What a change of pace for this Wolfpack team and came at just the right time. They are at sitting at 2-4 with games at home vs Oregon, @ Billings & @ Oregon again to make up some potential ground and put themselves back in the playoff hunt.

For Oregon, the offense has officially bottomed out. The offense is broken. It's garbage, they need to throw it out and start over again. Insert another way of saying its bad here

The offensive line play was among the worst we've seen across the entire AF1 this season, with Dalton Cole taking hit after hit after hit and just not getting any time to do anything. At the end of the game, the scoreboard showed 30 points... but that number stupidly makes it seem like the offense scored 30 points.

I can assure you that was not the case.

• Kick return TD for the first points of the game with 3:40 left in the 3rd quarter

• Jordan Ambrose 35-yard TD run

• Fumble recovery TD by Jeremiah Spicer in the end zone

• Pick Six by KeAris Ardley

One offensive touchdown in this game, and it came on a scramble play that probably does not score points 9 times out of 10.

The offense is so bad that I am seriously questioning the Lightning's practices when it comes to offense. They just seem so disjointed out there that it seems like there is something missing. The defense was doing their part with two defensive touchdowns of their own, but this offense is bad bad BAD and needs a hard reset.. specifically with this o-line.

Nashville Kats @ Southwest Kansas Storm

Result: 41-37 Nashville

What We Learned: Nashville nearly drowned itself in Dodge City & Southwest Kansas is good but not great

Heading into this game, Nashville's stock was skyrocketing and they were looking like a serious contender to make a run to the playoffs and challenge Albany in the playoffs. They came into this game with payback on their mind from that Week 0 seven turnover nightmare, and they got their vengeance...barely.

The Kats offense looked good in this game, but caught the turnover bug throughout the game and allowed the Storm to stay in this one. Opening drive, they coughed up the ball and the Storm recovered in the end zone. End of the game, they had the ball at the 1-yard line and had multiple attempts to punch it into the end zone and just came up short.

If they are able to convert in those spots like they have the past few games, this game isn't even a sweat. But that is usually the sign of a strong team -- when they can find ways to win even when they don't play their best game. QB Tyler Kulka was able to really throw the ball efficiently and put the offense in the red zone, and they were able to punch it in on the ground 4 times (Jones Jr, Kulka x2, Brown). This was a strong performance, despite their hiccups, on both sides of the ball and a gutsy win on the road against a really good team in Dodge City.

For Southwest Kansas, they had a rough outing on offense -- especially in the 2nd half. After scoring 23 in the first half, they were held scoreless in the 3rd and had to put together a comeback attempt that fell short in the 4th.

Passing the ball, QB Jalen Morton was only 12/34 for 115 yards, 3 TDs & 2 INTs. WR Charles Hall IV had a strong game with 6 catches for 58 yards, getting some of those catches in clutch moments to continue drives and keep them in it.

While there wasn't much going with the ground game from Morton either, the Storm were able to run the ball pretty well with RB Logan Wright in this one, and I feel like they should have gone to the well more with him. Even if you are down late in the game, the clock is running regardless outside of the final minute of each half.

If you are getting ~6 yards per carry with the guy, feed him more!

This was a big game for the Storm to be able to potentially take out one of the hotter teams in the league, but just weren't able to make it happen. They had the ball in with less than a minute left, down by 2 and just got bullied out on the line of scrimmage and gave up a safety.

Right now, Southwest Kansas is a good, but not great team. Their defense can create turnovers and their offense can be streaky, but need it on a more consistent basis in order to take the next step.

What were your biggest takeaways from Week 7? Follow Off The Wall on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok & BlueSky and let me know!