IFL 2026 Week 8: What We Learned

Stop me if you've heard this one before: What a week of football we had last weekend. A couple of 1 vs 2 matchups in each conference, some teams starting their ascension and others continuing to spiral.

But what did we learn this past weekend?

Green Bay Blizzard @ Fishers Freight

Result: 57-52 Green Bay

What We Learned: Green Bay is the top dog in the East & Fishers has to let it fly in the passing game more to beat the Blizzard

In the second meeting between these two teams this season, we got another high scoring affair that saw the Blizz come out on top yet again and put them in sole possession of first place in the Eastern Conference. QB Liam Thompson continues to play incredible football for the Blizzard and has to be the leading candidate for IFL MVP at this point in the season.

He finished with 209 passing yards & 3 TDs with 48 rushing yards & another 3 TDs on the ground, he is always making the right play at the right time. Even when he lost his RB Demilon Brown due to an ejection halfway through the game, they continued to run the offense and kept marching down the field and getting everyone involved.

Both defenses were prettyyyy porous in this one, where both offenses were able to march up and down the field, but Green Bay's defense came up with some stops when it counted in the second half to snatch control of the game away. Green Bay is the clear alpha in the Eastern Conference and it's gonna take a greta game plan and even better execution to knock them off the top of the heap.

For Fishers, they had an amazing start to this game on offense, which was something they lacked in their first meeting with Green Bay earlier this season. They stayed true to their identity with a pure ground and pound attack that worked out pretty well until they got stymied on a fourth down and long in the 3rd quarter and gave away a fumble in the 4th. Against a team like Green Bay, you absolutely have to play four full quarters and the Freight came up a little short yet again.

Last time they were flat in the first half and alive in the second, this time they were alive in the first and stumbled just a bit in the second. I think they would really benefit from opening up the passing game a little more a bit earlier in the game to get those big WRs in the mix and to make teams respect the pass... but then again, they gotta catch the passes that they do get thrown their way. Fishers should continue to have a really great season, but they gotta go back to the drawing board for if/when they encounter Green Bay again.

Quad City Steamwheelers @ Iowa Barnstormers

Result: 35-25 Iowa

What We Learned: Iowa has a new QB and it looking night and day different & Quad City is in officially in crisis mode

For Iowa, what a moment and what a first win in the Andre Coles era in Des Moines. This team felt like they didn't have their guy at QB through the first 5 games of the season, but then QB Dante Avilas-Santos got his first start and everything shifted for the Barnstormers.

Immediately they had a threating passing attack that stretched the field and FORCED teams to not just hone in on the run. At the time of posting this, the final box score wasn't available but I believe he had 4 Passing TDs on the day, with ALL of them going to WR Donald McKinney on the day. The impact of RB/WR David Elder on this offense also can not be understated. In addition to the rushing TD in this one, he has brought a veteran presence to this team has needed it badly and has certainly helped shape this offense and get them back on track.

This was a much needed win for Iowa and we'll look to see how they can build on it.

For Quad City, oh dear oh dear oh dear.

2-5 is about as disastrous of a start to this season that is possible given the caliber of this roster, with loads of IFL experience, numerous First Team All-IFL accolades across the board and a team that was one or two plays away from making it back to the IFL National Championship game.

But more shocking than the loss is the fact that this offense only scored 25 points. Just an incredibly low number all things considered and it makes you scratch your head figuring out what the deal is and why they can't seem to get it figured out.

It all comes to little mistakes that are easily avoidable: Settling for field goals with a young rookie kicker, not executing well on first down, wide receivers not reeling in catches that they absolutely should be catching.

Watching this Quad City team is "death by a thousand papercuts" personified as a football team. They were already behind the eight-ball at 2-4, but now they have to be nearly perfect for the rest of the season.

New Mexico Chupacabras@ Jacksonville Sharks

Result: 43-32 Jacksonville

What We Learned: Jacksonville is struggling to get a ground game going & New Mexico is starting to adjust their identity

The Sharks came into this game as -18.5 point favorites and it felt like they were very well positioned to put a hurting on the Chupacabras, but this turned into a back and forth affair for most of the game before they were able to pull away late. In what is a total reversal of fortunes from last season, this Sharks team has totally flipped to being able to pass the ball really well while somehow struggling to get the running game going, despite one of the best in the game at the RB1 spot in Jimmie Robinson.

QB James Cahoon had a great passing day going for 192 yards & 5 passing TDs, finding Marquel Wade twice and Jalen May, Redd Douglas & Anthony Evelyn once a piece for his best game of the season. But despite the big day through the air, the lack of a rushing game made this Sharks team feel a little flat at times but their overall talent advantage on the roster prevailed in the end.

Sharks are now 3-1 on the year, but I'm not sure how to feel about them just yet. They have a big test coming up with a white hot Tulsa offense coming to town and will be a big time litmus test for where this team is at overall.

For the Chupacabras, they played well in this game and had several chances to steal this win in what would have been one of the bigger upsets in multiple years in the IFL, but just fell short. But that being said, I was extremely encouraged by the progress of the offense and what they showed against a pretty good Sharks team.

The thing that stood out the most to me was their commitment to the running game, with six different players getting in the mix and they were able to catch the Jacksonville defense sleeping a few times and move the ball down field.

They also spread the ball around pretty well to the receiving core, with seven different receivers getting in the mix. Ja'Rome Johnson had a good (but not great) game in this one with 177 & 3 passing TDs that gave the Chups a chance to steal this one late, but just came up a little short again.

The defensive front was encouraging with Wes Bowers making his season debut and the whole unit starting to click a little more.. we could see this team catch a team or two sleeping very soon and surprise some people.

San Diego Strike Force @ Tulsa Oilers

Result: 51-42 Tulsa

What We Learned: Tulsa seems poised to go on a run & San Diego has gotta start playing with more urgency and intent

This Tulsa Oilers team came into this game 1-3 with those three losses by a combined 9 points and were simply so much better than the record indicated. TJ Edwards has been playing fantastic football, but the defense had just given up a bit too much to get the wins and were hungry to get back in the win column.

Against the Strike Force, they were able to take control of this game in the second half and go drive for drive until the defense was able to get the big stop. QB TJ Edwards had a combine 5 TDs in this one, including an opening game bomb to Jerminic Smith, but the offense wasn't as explosive as we've seen them in recent weeks.

They were able to get a little something going in the ground game but really only happened due to three medium to big runs, with the rest getting little to no traction. RB Jimmy Smith III made his season debut in this one and I would expect to see him more in the mix, but this was a good win against a very good San Diego team that I expect to be the beginning of a good run for the Oilers.

For the Strike Force, this was a game of long methodical drives that left little room for error and unfortunately San Diego was the team to blink first in the second half. But for the second game in a row, they also struggled to get the ground game going, only gaining 15 yards on 12 carries.

Coming out of halftime, head coach Taylor Genuser gave a great quote that really captured how the offense was performing: "We need to get first pitch strikes. We need to make 2nd down manageable and not put ourselves in a bad position"

Mixed sports metaphors aside, this was pretty spot on. San Diego was playing well on offense despite note really putting themselves in the best positions. We didn't see a lot of the big play trigger pulls that we're accustomed to with this offense and primarily saw the team dink and dunk their way down the field. We saw a lot of long drives in this game, which doesn't really fit the San Diego MO in my opinion. When this San Diego team is at its best, they are playing uptempo and loose and keeping the defense reeling. In this one, they just didn't seem to have a ton of urgency.

That is something that I hope can get stressed as they look to bounce back as they travel to San Antonio in a couple of weeks.

San Antonio Gunslingers @ Tucson Sugar Skulls

Result: 35-17 San Antonio

What We Learned: San Antonio is poised to play in low scoring slugfests forever & morale is low in Tucson when it comes to this offense

We've been asking the question, "What is the San Antonio Gunslingers identity?" at OTA HQ for a couple of weeks now, and it looks like we may have our answer: Hard-nosed, tough defense with an offense that can score about 30+ per game. Not the sexiest combination when it comes to indoor football, but one that has worked for them the past couple of weeks after notching wins against 2/3 of the state of Arizona. Granted, NAZ is a wreck and Tucson is in freefall at the QB position, but holding a team to 17 points a week after holding a different team to 14 is really impressive stuff. This San Antonio defense was flying around the field, hitting hard and making some really great plays in the passing game. QB Fred Payton had arguably his best game of the season throwing for 194 passing yards & 3 TDs, while tacking on 61 rushing yards and another score on the ground.

This San Antonio team is rounding the corner a bit, but we'll need to see them pull off this gritty style of win against one of the "Big Three" in the West in order to be taken seriously.

For Tucson, they signed QB Taz Wilson leading up to this game hoping that maybe he would be the answer to ignite a spark on this offense...

But that didn't happen. The running game was stagnant, with potential star RB Tavion Thomas limited to only five carries for 7 yards and Taz himself only averaging 2.4 yards per carry. The offense had a littttle more success through the air with Taz at the helm, but overall just struggled to get going.

I'd expect to see Wilson to get another start soon in hopes of building off of the gradual improvement on offense, but they gotta start to kick it into gear sooner rather than later. They've got the skill position players to be successful, but it's on QB1 & OC James Fuller to make it happen and get the most out of them.

Arizona Rattlers @ Vegas Knight Hawks

Result: 56-42 Vegas

What We Learned: Vegas has the best offense in the league & Arizona showed they have a lot of fight in them

We started the weekend with a banger in Fishers and ended with an electric duel between two of the top teams in the West and two coaches that... well... might not be exchanging Christmas cards this year after this one.

For Vegas, they came into this game with a lot of momentum and a big chance to make a splash against one of their Western Conference rivals and they came out guns ablazin' on offense. Jayden De Laura was able to stretch the field a bit through the air but they were outstanding running ball, with 4 different players punching it into the end zone on the ground.

And don't get me started on Josh Tomas. He was ELECTRIC in this game not just on offense, but on the kick return unit as well, where he house called one in the second to really put the Knight Hawks in a comfortable spot.

Tensions did flare in the 4th quarter of this one, with Vegas Coach Mike Davis & Arizona Coach Kevin Guy getting into it a bit, which left us with some INCREDIBLE sound bytes that I will 100% be pocketing for future use. These teams could potentially clash in the finals of the IFL Cup in a couple of weeks, and let me just say it will be pure cinema if that happens.

For Arizona, this was a game that was well within their reach but just couldn't hit on a couple of plays to make it happen. QB Max Meylor played well in this one, where he was able to score through the air and on the ground, as we have been accustomed to seeing from him over the years. But there were some big time throws that Meylor missed on that could have changed the trajectory of this game.

But there were also some key catches that were dropped by some of the Arizona WRs at the same time.

It was a bunch of little mistakes on offense that prevented them from having the A- to A+ game that would be needed to beat this Vegas team.

Now, there was a late pass interference penalty on Vegas that was NOT called that could have changed how this game played out, but it is a tired excuse to rest on that one playing as the reason Arizona lost this game. There were numerous opportunites that the Rattlers squandered in this one that could have given them control of this game and, while it certainly would have helped, that one missed penalty was not the reason Arizona did not come out victorious.

What did YOU think of IFL Week 8? What were your takeaways?

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