IFL 2025 Week 7: What We Learned
- offthewallfbpod
- May 6
- 10 min read
We are ROCKETING through the 2025 season and we had a great set of games this past weekend in the Indoor Football League. We had a couple of bangers & beat downs this week, and we have one undefeated team left standing!
The teams that were close to the bottom are starting to figure some things out and could see quite a run in the middle chunk of the season.
But what did we learn in IFL Week 7?
Quad City Steamwheelers @ Fishers Freight
Result: 55-48 Quad City (OT)
What We Learned: Quad City is a team that will fight until the end & Fishers somehow fixed a running game that was working
Quad City, man. What a thrill ride this team is. The only undefeated team left in the IFL (spoiler alert for later on), but this one did NOT come as easy as some of the others. The Steamwheelers defense was getting run all over in this one, and the offense had to provide some comeback dramatics late in the game to force overtime and get out of Indiana with a win.
QB Daquan Neal was able to hit on big plays in the passing game, throwing for 100 yards & 5 TDs, but really struggle completion percentage wise — only going 9/21 through the air. The running game wasn’t as dynamic as it was in weeks past, and looked to be part of the reason Fishers was able to take control of this game in the second half.
Steamwheelers are still the best team in the IFL right now, but feels like this one might’ve been a littleeeeeee too closer for comfort.
For Fishers, the biggest and most glaring issue with this offense heading into this game was the passing offense. Just not enough juice coming of this passing game to really start to stand out as one of the teams to beat in the East.
So the natural progression for fixing the passing game was to sign one of the premier RBs from the IFL last season days before the game and throw him into the starting lineup. The running offense was already number one in the league, and the addition of Shane Simpson just made it pop even more.
19 carries, 105 yards & 4 TDs! He flew into Indianapolis that morning, played the game and flew out the next day! Truly rockstar lifestyle stuff.
Fishers was able to seize control of this game thanks to their relentless ground attack and their defense able to get some stops — but ultimately fell short in overtime when they needed to be able to pass the ball. Shane Simpson rules and is going to continue to be a great addition, but they have to get something going in this passing game — whether it is short routes and screens early get some confidence up or finding a new guy entirely, I’m not sure.
Iowa Barnstormers @ Jacksonville Sharks
Result: 53-22 Jacksonville
What We Learned: Jacksonville got their groove back & Iowa sucks again
Heading into this game, the Sharks were trending in the wrong direction and needed a big win to put them back on track — and they got it here!
Jacksonville exploded through the rushing attack — going for 159 yards and 4 TDs between QB Kaleb Barker & RB Vance Bennett while the defense just manhandled the Barnstormers. WR Jaedon Stoshak hauled 3 receiving TDs in this one as well and has really emerged as the most consistent option in the passing game.
I have been critical of Kaleb Barker, and he had a great game on the ground, but still showed some of those same red flags in the passing game. He went 10/17 for 113 yards & 3 TDs, but again had multiple INTs — 3 to be exact — and now LEADS the IFL in interceptions thrown. That’s a problem and puts them in a rough spot if they are playing nearly anybody else besides the Iowa in this one.
Jacksonville is sitting at 4-2 right now, and if you are a Sharks fan you have to be relieved to be 4-2 given how things have gone this season on offense.
For Iowa, I’m at a loss. Last week they absolutely POPPED for 68 points and could seemingly do no wrong with new QB James Cahoon, but man the wheels just fell off of the Barnstormers in this one.
Iowa was held scoreless in the first half against the Sharks and didn’t score points until nearly halfway through the 3rd quarter. They just couldn’t get anything going in the first half and the turnover bug reared its ugly head yet again. Cahoon went 21/34 for 174 yards & 3 TDs, but had FOUR interceptions and they were absolutely killer for any type of momentum that it looked like they were building.
Any type of running game that Iowa was starting to piece together last week was abandoned quick, fast and in a hurry — 8 carries for 10 yards — and they were extremely one dimensional and continuously put the ball in harms way. They have to start running the ball early, because no matter who is at QB they are putting the ball in danger.
When you go through 3 different QBs in a season and EACH ONE has their own multi-interception game through the first 4 games of the season, that tell you there’s a bigger problem beyond what is happening on the field.
Green Bay Blizzard @ Tulsa Oilers
Result: 46-30 Tulsa
What We Learned: Tulsa’s defense is turning it up a notch & Green Bay stumbled out of the gate and couldn’t recover
Tulsa’s defense has been absolutely tearing it up since the last game against the Blizzard where they were torched. You take away that one game in Green Bay and they have the 2nd best scoring defense in the league so far this season.
The secondary has been swarming this year and really putting opposing offenses in a pretzel (except for the one), and this game was no different. They came up with four interceptions against a good Blizzard offense and jumped out to a massive lead. They had a three possession lead in the 3rd quarter and were able to work the clock while still adding points to the tally.
TJ Edwards only had four total touchdowns in this one and really helped control the pace. RB/Backup QB Sauce Rodgers had a great game on the ground — getting nearly 5.6 yards per carry and finding the end zone twice himself.
This game was much more of a beat down than the final score indicates, and they never really had to go pedal to the metal on offense.
For Green Bay, this was a tough outing against a really strong defense. They usually start strong in games and ride that momentum, but they had a really rough start.
This is how each of their drives in the first half ended:
Missed FG
4th down TOD
Interception
Fumble
Made FG
It’s going to be hard to win a game in the IFL with that output in the first half without your defense playing lights out and totally neutralizing the turnovers. The Blizzard are usually much more intentional with running the ball, but they were playing catch up most of the game and were just in too deep of a hole to comeback.
Arizona Rattlers @ Tucson Sugar Skulls
Result: 42-35 Tucson
What We Learned: Arizona looked very un-Arizona & Tucson is a TOUGH team at home
There’s just something about Tucson at home. Earlier this year, the Jacksonville Sharks came to town and the Sugar Skulls pushed them to the limit with a freshly signed QB while still figuring things out on offense.
Flashback to last season, the 7-0 Vegas Knight Hawks come to town and the underperforming Tucson Sugar Skulls pull off the upset and give Vegas their first loss of the season.
What is in the water in Tucson that gives the Sugar Skulls this ability to drag other teams into the mud with them?!
The two most recent additions to this Sugar Skulls team proved to be the biggest difference makers — with Jorge Reyna throwing for 142 yards & 4 TDs (and no INTs) and WR Larry Harrington (who was just recently traded FROM the Rattlers to the Sugar Skulls) hauling in 8 catches for 61 yards & 3 second half TDs.
The Rattlers were able to jump out to a very quick double digit lead in the first quarter, but the Tucson defense tightened up and was able to give them team a chance to comeback and win — and they DID!
For Arizona, this was a very un-Arizona game from them. Is there some type of Tucson mysticism? Probably, but with how the Rattlers offense has performed so far this season, this was by the far the biggest outlier.
QB Dalton Sneed finished the game 9/22 for 148 yards, 4 TDs & a late INT that gave Tucson the window to win it. The Rattlers defense did a pretty good job containing Tucson for most of the night, but the offense just didn’t execute anywhere close to how they usually do and it came back to bite them.
Arizona is still one of the very best teams in the West and I expect this will be just a bump in the road for them. But the Rattlers have their biggest test of the season ahead of them when the Bay Area Panthers come to town next week.
Northern Arizona Wranglers @ Vegas Knight Hawks
Result: 43-37 Vegas
What We Learned: Vegas might be turning the corner (maybe) & Northern Arizona has hope with a new QB1
Vegas got a much needed win in this one, but we’re still left with a little bit of uncertainty. QB Jayden De Laura started this one and was off to a pretty good start before leaving the game with an injury after he came up a limping after a scramble. He went 7/13 for 85 yards & 2 TDs, with another TD on the ground before QB Ja’Rome Johnson came into the game in relief.
Johnson played pretty well in this one as well and looked much more like his 2024 self than he has all season. WR Tamorrion Terry had 3 receiving TDs on the day and DB Darius Williams had TWO blocked field goals that proved to be big time momentum shifters in the game — one recovered for a TD in the end zone that proved to be the difference in the final score.
With the win, Vegas is back above .500 for the first time since Week 2 — but we’ll have to keep an eye on the QB situation and see how that unfolds going forward.
For Northern Arizona, this was by far their best game of the season. They got their first start from newly signed QB Kaleb Lowe (who comes over from the Idaho Horsemen of the NAL) and the offense looked it’s absolute best so far this season — breaking 30+ points for the very first time!
Lowe finished the game 15/26 for 146 yards & 2 TDs and didn’t have any of those painful turnovers that have plagued the Wranglers so far this season. He was able to distribute the ball pretty well and was able to get the ball into WR Deshon Stoudemire’s hands 7 times for 70 yards, and there’s some optimism with this Wranglers offense. The downside to what Lowe brings to the table is that he isn’t nearly the same mobile threat that CJ Fowler is, but I think that is on the coaching staff to be able to figure out how to navigate that. RB Nolan Susel had 3 TDs in this one, all from short range in the red zone — but now the key is to figure how to get that going throughout the entire game and all throughout the field.
San Diego Strike Force @ Bay Area Panthers
Result: 57-34 Bay Area
What We Learned: Bay Area is officially a wagon & San Diego is back to looking disjointed on offense
The California Clash has delivered some really great games over the past 2 seasons and it looked like we were on track for another classic in this one — but then 3rd quarter happened and Bay Area played arguably the best half of football we’ve seen in the IFL this year.
Bay Area was down 16-15 at the half and went on a 42-18 run in the second half — including 4 unanswered touchdowns that just busted the game wide open (and murdered the Under, but I digress). This Bay Area offense looked outstanding in the second half and had really good balance and distribution of the ball in the run game — with 5 different players getting carries in this one.
WR/RB Josh Tomas had 3 rushing touchdowns on the day, with QB Josh Jones going 11/18 for 175 yards & 3 TDs through the air. Before the season, I talked about how scary this team could be if they combined the 2024 Bay Area defense with the 2024 Northern Arizona offense — and this was a perfect example of that coming to life. This team is so good on both sides of the ball and are going to have a very fun matchup with the Arizona Rattlers next week.
For San Diego, they just continue to look rough on offense and unable to make the necessary adjustments in the second half. In their opener against Vegas, they had a lead early in the third quarter and just fell apart — and they did the same thing here but even more so.
QB Nate Davis didn’t look great in this game, with 3 INTs on 18/29 passing for 177 & a TD. The team had recently acquired RB Ed Vander in a trade from Jacksonville and started to get him involved, but would expect to see him even more in the mix with a couple more weeks of practice. We're just not seeing the big explosive plays in the passing game nearly as often in this offense as we did in 2024.
They have been utilizing a lot of ‘Wildcat’ looks with WR/QB Rudy Johnson, but to me that makes them incredibly one dimensional — especially when they almost always run the ball in those formations down in the red zone. We’ve seen Johnson be able to step in and make throws when they needed him last year, and I’d even want to see him get some intermittent looks outside of the red zone with more open field to work with.
They’ve their most favorable run of their schedule coming up to get things back on track, but they to limit these turnovers and get Vander more involved to get back to .500.
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