IFL Playoffs Round One: What We Learned
Before we dive into any of the games, we need to talk about the elephant in the room:
This Stadium streaming deal for the playoffs has absolutely stunk so far. All 4 games throughout the weekend had major issues with their streams, specifically on YouTube, which was a major selling point for it in last week’s episode of Inside the IFL with the Commissioner Todd Tryon.
“This is an exciting announcement, this is how you can watch our playoff games. Usually you watch them on YouTube… you can still watch it on YouTube, you just have to go to the Stadium YouTube channel.
The first and second round of the playoffs are exclusively on the Stadium network. This company has come a long way since our 2021 partnership; they’ve reorganized and brought in new management and they now have an online platform that reaches 165 million people”
Sounds great! The IFL streams haven’t been perfect all year, but towards the end of the season teams were starting to hit their stride and get things figured out.
Surely they wouldn’t mess this up for the first weekend in over 3 months where they are running unopposed and are the only show in town amongst the predominant Arena & Indoor football leagues, right?
RIGHT?!
Oh dear.
The Quad City-Green Bay feed had audio issues throughout the entire game.
The Massachusetts-Frisco feed was extremely choppy and jumpy, causing you to miss entire plays at times.
The Arizona-Vegas feed didn’t start until there was 2 touchdowns already scored in the game, and we had to resort to an Instagram Live feed from the Arizona Rattlers social team early in the game to see ANYTHING. (shoutout to Rattlers IG Admin)
The San Diego-Bay Area feed was choppy for the entire first half, eventually they went to a camera angle from the end zone for the duration of the first half with no score bug, no time, no nothing.
The league came out and said on multiple feeds, “This isn’t a Stadium issue, this is an issue getting the feed from the venue”. I get it if one venue has an issue, no problem, I’ll buy that. But ALL FOUR having the same issues, when they didn’t towards the end of the regular season?
What is the one variable that is different in the first week of these Playoffs vs Week 19? Hmmmm.
Just a brutal look for the league at the absolute worst time. The league already posted a statement from Commissioner Tryon apologizing for the feed issues, but you can’t help but think they might be regretting this deal. Did they get paid for their media rights? They sure did, and good on them. But at what cost?
Enough of this nonsense, let’s dive into the games.
Quad City Steamwheelers @ Green Bay Blizzard
Result: 34-23 Green Bay
What We Learned: The Quarterback-and-Forth is dead and gone & the Blizzard defense continues to impress
“If you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none” - John Madden, football coach and video game namesake
The inevitable finally happened for Quad City and their two quarterback system. I will give them credit, this was a three point game pretty far into the second half. They had a chance to pull off the upset in this one, but just didn’t have much of a boost from either of their QBs.
Judd Erickson - 10/18 - 81 yards, 1 TD & 1 INT
Mike Irwin - 4/10 - 50 yards, 0 TD & 1 INT
They did a really nice job of balancing their offense to attack Green Bay’s vulnerability in their run defense, with 7 different players getting rushing attempts — but in my humble opinion they NEEDED MORE VANDER! Last week I mentioned how they needed to get him the ball at least 15 times on the ground, and they came close with 11 rushes and 5 receptions, but their balance didn’t enough to cover up their inability to effectively pass the ball.
They ran into the buzzsaw that is the Green Bay Blizzard defense at home couldn’t get much going.
I also have a bone to pick with Quad City here: they were down double digits in the 4th quarter on the road in the first round of the playoffs, and they were taking their SWEET time getting plays in and snapping the ball. You would have thought that they were UP by double digits the way they seemed to be content with their pace. There was no sense of urgency at all towards the end and it almost felt like the conceded when the game was very much in reach for them.
For Green Bay, they had some difficulties of their own on offense. Quad City’s defense came to play in this one and really made things difficult for the Blizzard. But Green Bay was able to control the pace of the game and avoid those backbreaking mistakes that the Steamwheelers could not.
It wasn’t the prettiest game on offense, but Max Meylor ended up going 13/20 for 161 yards & 2 TDs. EJ Burgess came up big in this one as well, scoring 2 TDs on the ground to help widen the gap in the 3rd quarter.
But the stars of the show for Green Bay were once again on the defensive side. Future IFL Defensive Player of the Year Ravarius Rivers snagged a crucial interception late in the game and racked up 7.5 total tackles & DB Shawn Steele had an identical game with 7 total tackles, an INT of his own and a pass break up that was veryyyy close to being another pick.
This defense continues to impress and will get to face an offense in the Eastern Conference championship that is turning it on at the exact right time.
Massachusetts Pirates @ Frisco Fighters
Result: 53-50 Massachusetts
What We Learned: The Pirates made it all click at the PERFECT time & yet another disappointing season ending for the Fighters
Heading into this game, I had my hesitations about the Pirates offense. They have arguably the most talented offense in the league, but for one reason or another never really put together multiple game stretches of impressive offensive performances. But in this one, the offense came alive and it couldn’t have happened at a better time.
Pirates QB Alejandro Bennifield looked great in this one, going 13/20 for 152 yards, 5 TDs & 1 INT, with his only real blemish being a pick six right before halftime. The Pirates were down double digits in the 4th quarter, but never flinched. They went out and executed and relied on their defense to get some stops and give the opportunity.
All-IFL RB Jimmie Robinson had another incredible game with 18 rushes for 94 yards & a TD, and was really able to gash Frisco’s defense in large chunks. Thomas Owens hauled in 6 catches for 56 yards & 3 TDs, with Teo Redding accounting for the other 2 TDs from AB15.
This was a really impressive game from the Pirates and a well deserved victory. They proved me and a lot of people wrong in this one and are headed back to the Eastern Conference championship.
On the other side, the playoff woes continue for Frisco. Before the season I compared Frisco to the Baltimore Ravens: athletic league MVP at QB and great regular season team, but just can’t get over the hump in the playoffs. The same thing happened this year.
Frisco was cruising early in this one, getting a double digit lead right before halftime and then again at the beginning of the 4th quarter behind 3 Passing TDs from TJ Edwards & 2 Rushing TDs from Martez Carter — but then something changed.
They got the ball in the 4th quarter and couldn’t get a first down. They went four and out and gave the ball right back to the Pirates. Final drive of the game, Edwards was unable to connect on a couple of intermediate throws that would have made life a little easier on the next play.
On 4th and long, Frisco went for it all and lobbed it deep but just couldn’t connect on the deep ball with less than 30 seconds remaining in the game. Phazione McClurge had a great game in this one, catching all 3 of TJ Edwards TD passes but they just came up short yet again.
The Fighters have had the best regular record in the IFL over the past 4 seasons but haven’t been able to make it to the IFL Championship. We’ll have to see how they re-tool for next season, but it was a gut wrenching end to a season where I know a lot of folks in Frisco had high hopes.
Arizona Rattlers @ Vegas Knight Hawks
Result: 39-38 Arizona
What We Learned: Vegas got ice cold in the 2nd half & Arizona won with checks notes great defense?!
Once this stream actually got started (looking at you Stadium), this was an action packed first half of football that played out like a lot of Vegas Knight Hawks games so far this season:
Ja’Rome Johnson TD Pass, Ja’Rome Johnson TD run,
ANOTHER Ja’Rome Johnson TD run, ANOTHER Ja’Rome TD Pass
Four total TDs in the first half had Vegas looking like they were on the verge of a posting another 60 burger — but then something happened to this offense it came to a screeching halt. This Vegas offense looked like they were gonna be in the black all night, but quickly got in the red in the 2nd half.
As good Johnson was in the first half, he had a rough second half with multiple bad interceptions thrown and some play calls that were questionable down the stretch. This offense only scored 10 points in the second half and couldn’t get things going consistently on offense. Towards the end of the game, Ja’Rome Johnson was taken out due to an apparent injury, but then put back in one or two plays later.
But then later in the game with less than a minute left in the game, they took him out when they had the lead and needed to get a first down to potentially seal the victory?
Just a weird sequence that saw Johnson on the sideline seemingly mouthing “I’m fine” while watching the Knight Hawks final drive. Vegas needed more out of their offense and they were upset at home because they didn’t get it.
On the other side, this game showed why the Arizona Rattlers one of the premier franchises in all of Arena & Indoor football. It showed why Arizona has had 14 straight seasons of 10 or more wins. They are a franchise that finds ways to win games and they won this game in thrilling fashion.
Rattlers QB Dalton Sneed didn’t have a crazy game stat wise, but he made EVERY play that he needed to down the stretch — including a touchdown on 4th and goal from the 2 yard line with 7 minutes to go and ANOTHER touchdown on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line with no time left…. Running the SAME EXACT PLAY each time!
It was a crazy sequence to end the game, but one that isn’t possible without the stellar performance of the Rattlers defense in the second half. They tightened up big time and really put the clamps on the Vegas passing attack, causing much needed turnovers and flipping the moment of the game multiple times. DB Jermaine Doubs & DB Davontae Merriweather each had a pick in this one, and nearly added a third if not for an illegal defense call in the second half.
Arizona didn’t play their best game on offense, but found a way to win. This win for the Rattlers also marked coach Kevin Guy’s 262nd career win in Arena & Indoor football — setting the record for most all time. What a way to get it, and I’m sure they are looking ahead to get number 263 next week.
San Diego Strike Force @ Bay Area Panthers
Result: 49-40 San Diego
What We Learned: San Diego is playing their best football right now & Bay Area gambled with a new offensive identity and lost
In a game absolutely marred by technical difficulties, the first half was a tough watch — but not because the teams were playing poorly. Both teams came out hot in the first quarter and we able to drive down the field and get some quick points on the board and it looked like we were on track for another instant classic Cali Clash.
Bay Area came out with a very, very interesting approach on offense. They ran a bunch of heavy formations (bringing in an extra OL in place of a skill position player) and were really focusing on running the ball. It was a little unorthodox, but it was WORKING. They were methodically driving down the field, averaging 6 yards per carry and getting first downs seemingly at will.
But where Bay Area got into a little trouble was passing the ball, which was surprising considering they have former IFL MVP Daquan Neal at the helm. The Panthers ended up going 2/8 for 29 yards, a TD & 2 INTs. Just bad-bad through the air. They couldn’t get the ball to their best big play receiver in JT Stokes and could not get into any type of rhythm, in part due to how well San Diego’s secondary was playing in this one.
It was a gamble focusing on being so run heavy, but it was working for a while in this game. They just could not execute passing the ball at all to achieve that needed balance and be the Bay Area team we thought they would be in this one.
San Diego, on the other hand, stay trued to their identity and had arguably their most complete game of the year on all sides. QB Nate Davis only went 15/32 passing, but tallied 216 yards & 6 TDs — but the most important stat of all — 0 INTs.
Nate Davis can sometimes trust his arm a litttttttle too much at times and it has gotten him into some trouble this season, but keeping a clean slate and protecting the football was enough to give the Strike Force their first playoff win in franchise history.
Arthur Jackson III caught 4 of those TDs from Davis and 5 different San Diego players had multiple receptions in this one. Kishawn Walker & Elijah Belle snagged the 2 intereceptions for the defense and pushed their tally on the year to 28(!!) — a 300% improvement on the 2023 total.
Defense wins championships (and is what won Bay Area theirs last season), but this year San Diego has that championship caliber defense locked in and will look to continue their high level of play against the best of the West.
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