IFL 2026 Week 5: What We Learned

The first full seven-game slate is in the books! A jam packed weekend great games was a proper way to celebrate the Chapter 5 of #TheIndoorWar. We've got some teams back on track, some teams that are doomed and we have a #CertifiedBanger to touch on!

But what did we learn this week?

Northern Arizona Wranglers@ New Mexico Chupacabras

Result: 47-40 New Mexico

What We Learned: The Chups found a way to break through & it's going to be a long, long season for the Wranglers

The movable object vs the stoppable force! Somebody was going to emerge victorious in this matchup of the 0-2s, damnit!

Despite the 0-2 start, New Mexico has been very competitive in their opening game this season -- losing both by a combined 8 points and turning some skeptics into believers in the process. Ja'Rome Johnson had another great game, tossing four total touchdowns to Damon Street (2), La'James White & CJ Jefferson, while La'James brought some good balance to the offense on the ground with another score and to take some of the burden off of #TheChemist.

The defense has a strong start, putting a hurt on this struggling NAZ offense, but quickly got lit up in the second half in what became much more of a shootout than most (me especially) expected. Good news for New Mexico: Got the first win in franchise history! (technically? grey area)

Bad news for New Mexico: You've only got 3 more home games through the next 15 weeks of the season after starting the year with a three game home stand. Welp!

For Northern Arizona, this was one of the ones. This was one of the games on the calendar that you had to walk away with if you wanted a shot to build some momentum and get this team back on track.

QB Ramone Atkins-Frazier looked lost again in the first half of this one, before a hail mary right before halftime seemed to wake up and re-energize the offense. After putting up 3 points in the first 29 minutes of game action, they went on to score 37 in the last 31 minutes to make this a ball game and give them a fighting chance until a devastating interception to end the game.

Marlon Cook Jr hauled in two receiving touchdowns and they were able to dish it out pretty evenly amongst the group, while also getting Nolan Susel in the mix, but the slow start just tanked their chances to get the first win of the year.

NAZ has got a tough challenge with the Rattlers coming to town next weekend, but have a slew of winnable games that can salvage their season after if they can get things on the right and narrow. But QB Ramon Atkins-Frazier MUST do better and put in a quality four quarters of football in order for that to become a reality.

Iowa Barnstormers @ Fishers Freight

Result: 63-33 Fishers

What We Learned: Fishers is a bonafide WAGON & Iowa just can't seem to keep themselves in ball games

How would I describe the Fishers Freight? Three words:

Hardworking, alpha male, jackhammer, merciless, insatiable

All Schruteisms aside, this team is unbelievable. Just a physically dominant team on both sides of the ball that can tilt the field in their favorite and make it seem like the opponents are just stuck in mud. For the second straight week, the Fishers offense averaged nearly SEVEN yards per carry and just pummeled the Iowa defense with multiple weapons. Dominic Roberto & Josiah King each had two rushing TDs on the day, with QBs Felix Harper & Jordan Davis each tacking on another.

But what shouldn't get lost in this domination is how well all three phases of the team played for the Freight:

Calum Sutherland caught fire with three deuces, which is a hell of an achievement considering the placement of the Fishers Events Center jumbotron and the defense was able to come up with multiple stops (including a Pick Six!) to truly bury the Barnstormers.

Another dominant win for Fishers as they looking to keep the train rolling into next week.

For Iowa, it felt like they were starting to piece it together on offense towards the end of the Blizzard game a few weeks back, but they just couldn't really get things going against a white-hot Fishers team. They had a chance to grab some momentum after a Harry Roubidoux rushing TD to end the half, but couldn't maintain or build on that at all. Not a lot going for them on the ground with backup QB Ivan Corbin getting the bulk of carries on the day and WR Kurtis Ravenel continues to cement himself as the WR1 of this offense with 6 catches for 65 yards & a TD.

Balance is going to be the key for this offense to be able to get into the win column, but they have a tough stretch ahead where they play the same three teams that they started the season with in each of the next three games ahead. They are going to need some type of spark on special teams and a big play or two on defense to give themselves a fighting chance.

Green Bay Blizzard @ Quad City Steamwheelers

Result: 51-36 Quad City

What We Learned: Quad City finally looked like the team we thought they were & Green Bay was stymied by a super slow start

Green Bay had a consistent recipe for their first three games of the season that led to them being 3-0:

• Strong start in the first half behind a balanced offensive attack

• Let the opponent into the game in the 3rd quarter

• Liam Thompson big plays to close it and seal the win

When that first bullet point fails, Green Bay gets into some trouble pretty quickly. The Blizzard only got points off of the right leg of Andrew Mevis in the first half -- two FGs & a Deuce -- as the offense ran into the brick wall that is the Quad City d-line. Green Bay overcame their 3rd quarter woes and really turned this into a game in the second half, but the strong start from Quad City combined with the slow start proved too much for the Blizz for their first loss of the season.

They should be just fine as long as QB Liam Thompson is able to get this offense back on track and out of the gates quickly & efficiently, but there is a piece of me that wonders if the first three games are the exception or the example for the remaining 75% of the schedule.

For Quad City, this was a big time bounce back game that answered the bell on what me and a few others in the indoor football space had been asking: Who else is going to step up on this offense besides Quian Williams?

Quian Williams (friend of the program) has been on a tear to begin the season, but this Steamwheelers offense NEEDED more from their other receivers in order to take the next step and get back in the drivers seat. WRs Keyvan Rudd & Jordan Vesey had good games with two and one receiving touchdowns (respectively), but Quad City really, REALLY leaned in to the ground game in this on.

THIRTY total rushing attempts for 170 total yards, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Neal & Ware getting 13 carries a piece, combining for 150 of those yards and really tearing this Green Bay defense up that had been pretty damn good up to this point.

DB Kevin Ransom (friend of the program) had a big revenge game against his former team, with a game sealing interception and multiple pass break ups, as this defense dominated the Blizzard in the first half. Quad City hits the road on a cross country trip to southern California on a short week with a chance to get above .500 for the first time this season.

San Antonio Gunslingers @ Arizona Rattlers

Result: 44-31 Arizona

What We Learned: The ground and pound Rattlers are here (back?) & San Antonio is going through their growing pains with a young roster & coaching staff

Coming off an all-time beatdown at the hands of Fishers last week, you got the sense that we were going to see a very different Arizona performance this past weekend against the Gunslingers and boy oh boy did we.

Typically we see a pretty healthy aerial attack in a Kevin Guy offense, but they flipped the script and played one of the more physical ground and pound games that we have seen out of the Rattlers in a long time. Almost as if Coach Guy was trying to prove to his team that they can be assertive, physical & dominant at the point of attack after coming up short.

Max Meylor ran the ball 10 times for 78 yards & 3 TDs, with another 77 & 2 TDs through the air to accompany it. He found Corey Reed Jr for both of those airborne touchdowns, with really not much else going well against a pretty stout Gunslingers defense. Big win for Arizona to get their mind right and get back on track.

For San Antonio, QB Joaquin Collazo got the start after entering their first game in relief of Fred Payton Jr, but this offense still has yet to find its "big moment". We're talking about the moment during the game that makes you think, "okay I SEE the vision here". We haven't had that moment yet through two games. 22 points against Tulsa & 24 points on offense in this one. That is not enough.

Collazo was able to get some things going through the air, primarily through WR Austin Upshaw, but really struggled with passing efficency -- completing less than 50% of his passes.

On the ground, KJ Smith was able to get a touchdown but not a lot else. This Arizona defense tightened up after a historically bad game vs Fishers, but it still felt like there was enough on tape to take advantage of if San Antonio had the right horses in the stable. Unfortunately, it just doesn't feel like they do.

San Diego Sugar Skulls @ Tucson Sugar Skulls

Result: 48-42 San Diego

What We Learned: San Diego looked great but NEARLY blew it & Tucson showed a ton of heart and fight

As discussed in the IFL Week 5 Picks blog, this was a great opportunity for a get right game for San Diego and they took advantage of it... but nearly blew at the same time. Strong first half from the Strike Force that saw QB Nate Davis take it to the air and dish it to multiple WRs for touchdowns, with 4 different receivers finding the end zone on the day. But there were some costly turnovers in this one that nearly turned this game sideways and allowed the Sugar Skulls to erase a 20 point halftime deficit in one 15-minute quarter. Snapping woes plagued this offense and singlehandly pulled Tucson back into the game.

Defensively, they were able to take advantage of a young QB and should have been able to put them away early in the 3rd quarter, but ultimately found a way to hold.

Oh yeah, #FEEDVANDER #FEEDVANDER.

For Tucson, this was a game that showed they have a lot of grit, heart & determination to be able to keep fighting and keep battling back -- NEARLY pulling off the improbable comeback.

On the ground, Tucson is starting to find more and more success. RB Brandon Mackey (friend of the program) cashed in another 50+ yard & 2 TD game, and Tavion Thomas made his presence know with 2 TDs of his own. Thomas is a big bruising back that can compliment Mackey well, so I would love to see more of that combination moving forward.

Jaivian Lofton had a good game to bring some type of balance to the offense, but they are going to need a better performance out of QB Draylen Ellis in situations like this if they are hoping to make a playoff run.

Tucson sits at 1-2 on the year, but they gotta start getting those "Tier 1" wins against the San Diego, Vegas & Arizona teams in the Western Conference to prove they belong.

Tulsa Oilers @ Orlando Pirates

Result: 61-55 (OT) Orlando

What We Learned: TJ Edwards is officially back for Tulsa & Orlando can beat you in some many ways with all of their offensive weapons

First off, what a freaking BALL GAME this was. I haven't dusted one of these off in a minute, but this is getting the #CertifiedBanger badge of excellence. The back and forth, the drama of sending the game to OT, TJ vs PDL QB duel -- absolute cinema.

For Orlando, this was another fantastic all-around performance on offense, defense & special teams. Offensively, Paxton DeLaurent has a really solid game with five passing TDs (four to Thomas Owens) with another on the ground, while keeping the offense flowing and finding creative ways to get the ball into his playmakers hands.

Defensively, while they were getting scorched through the air all day, they were able to get opportunistic stops in the perfect moments and had a big drive in overtime to force a tough field goal that Tulsa ended up missing.

Mix in ANOTHER Dante Wright return TD (3rd in 3 games) and this was a really great TEAM win for the Pirates. But, it was also another close win that was propelled by a return TD. What happens if they don't get that return TD in a close game like this again? They're 3/3 so far, but not sure how long they can keep up that pace.

For Tulsa, TJ Edwards looked phenomenal in this game and showed how he has grown tremendously as a passer over the past few seasons. What made Edwards so dangerous in Frisco was his ability to torch you on the ground in a moments' notice, but his game has grown and evolved to the point where he is a killer throwing the ball through the air.

TJ cashed in seven passing TDs & 312 passing yards, finding Jerminic Smith 10 times for 130 yards & 4 TDs, and Spencer Tears 4 times for 118 yards & 3 TDs. While they were getting it done through the air, they still struggled to get things going on the ground. RB Jamaal Bell is still finding his way in this offense, and they are going to need him more and more as the season progresses to help bring some balance to the team.

There were also some puzzling game management decisions for Tulsa. End of the first half, one second left on the clock the kicking through the endz one for a touchback and Orlando was able to trot out Axel Perez for a field goal from midfield for a free 3 points. Those 3 points would have come in clutch in a game that went to overtime, wouldn't you say?

Jacksonville Sharks@ Vegas Knight Hawks

Result: 54-43 Vegas

What We Learned: Jacksonville got stuffed critical moments in their first real test of the season & Vegas flexed their offensive versatility

In the finale of the seven-game slate, we saw the Vegas Knight Hawks put on another offensive clinic, but in a way that was much different than what we saw in their offensive explosion against Tucson.

Against Tucson a few weeks back, Vegas was able to throw it around the yard and get push the ball into the end zone at will. But against Jacksonville, they were able to assert their dominance on the line of scrimmage and really be impactful running the football -- to the tune of 105 total rushing yards & 6.2 yards per carry!

This offensive line pushed this Sharks defensive line around and wore them out as the game went on. During the first half, coach Hurtis Chinn was being interviewed while calling plays and he said after a read option run play, that they were doing this "for the second half, to wear them down". It clearly showed that it was working, as Vegas was able to pour it on late and keep their foot on the gas for their second straight 50+ point game.

Big games from RB Josh Tomas and an incredible celly from WR1 Quentin Randolph capped off a stellar home opener for the defending champs.

For the Sharks, this was their first real test of the season and they didn't fail it, but I wouldn't give them a passing grade either. Through 3 quarters, they only posted 21 points on offense and that is just not going to be good enough against the top teams in the league -- especially in their gauntlet of an Eastern Conference schedule coming up.

James Cahoon was able to move the ball around, but at times seemed like he was forcing throws and the offense came up short in key situations. For me, this game was a wrap the moment the Sharks didn't score from a 1st & Goal inside of the one-minute warning before halftime. Vegas had a defensive stand and it just drained any shot the Sharks had.

RB Jimmie Robinson did his thing yet again with two rushing TDs & a team high seven catches, but it feels like they are going to need someone else to step up in the run game and out of the backfield to give him some relief as the season wears on.

He was taking a lot of big hits and I feel like getting QB Sammy Edwards in the mix at RB for some plays wouldn't be a bad thing. He's shifty and has a knack for picking up a few extra yards at the end of runs. Sharks should be fine, but this was a wake up call for them.

What did YOU think of IFL Week 5? What were your takeaways?

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