Week 5 is in the books! We're starting to see teams separate themselves from the pack on both ends of the standings, and we have some really, really good teams and we have some really, really bad teams in the IFL through the first quarter of the season.
Here’s what we learned in Week 5:
Iowa Barnstormers @ Massachusetts Pirates
Result: 54-29 Massachusetts
What We Learned: Massachusetts has depth for days and Iowa has to have a new plan at QB going forward.
Massachusetts RB Jimmie Robinson was a little ding’d up, so they decided to rest him in favor of the newly signed Tavion Thomas. So naturally, what does Massachusetts do? They feed him the rock early and often and he goes for over 100 yards on the ground with 3 TDs on the day.
As a result, they didn’t need QB Alejandro Bennifield to do much. AB took a big hit when Massachusetts was up multiple scores in the second half, and they took him out shortly after — so it will be worth monitoring moving forward to see what his status is.
On the other side, I need the city of Des Moines and the entire state of Iowa to gather round and listen:
You cannot let Darius-James Peterson start another game at QB for the Barnstormers. You simply cannot allow it to happen.
The Iowa offense scored 3 points in the first half of the past two games COMBINED. That is astonishingly low for one game, let alone two. The offense instantly had a boost when QB Kyle King came in the game. He wasn't tucking the ball and running every other play, and he was distributing the ball to his skill position players and letting them go to work.
King had his green moments, but the offense was infinitely better with him in the game. He needs to be the starter moving forward if Iowa wants a chance to do anything of substance this season - otherwise we might see a new regime in power for the Barnstormers in 2025.
San Antonio Gunslingers @ Vegas Knight Hawks
Result: 66-44 Vegas
What We Learned: San Antonio’s defense is historically bad & Ja’Rome Johnson is still a bad, bad man.
If you were to you look at San Antonio’s offense, you would be baffled at how they could possible be 0-3. But then you would take a look at the defense, and it all makes sense.
The Gunslingers have scored 61, 50 & 44, while giving up 69, 57 & 66 in their first three games. Just shocking numbers to see. These types of numbers on defense are what you would expect from a decent college basketball team — not an Indoor football team! On offense, they have zero room for error given how their defense is playing every single game. Sam Castronova continues to impress (265 passing yards) and find ways into the end zone (5 total TDs), but it’s all going to be for nothing if their defense doesn’t improve quickly. They cannot afford to fall further behind in the stacked Western Conference if they wish to be in the hunt for the playoffs.
On the other side, Ja’Rome Johnson. That’s it, that’s the analysis.
Johnson was lethal with the read option in the first half — scoring 3 rushing TDs before halftime — and tallied 4 TDs and 160 yards through the air while going 11/13 . Mix in the motion WR sweeps that also scored twice, and Ja’Rome & the Knight Hawks offense could do no wrong.
The young Vegas defense stepped up and made stops when they needed them to (notably right before halftime and within about 3 minutes left in the 4th) to seal the victory. If this Vegas defense can continue to improve and Ja’Rome continues to cook on offense, LOOK OUT EVERYONE ELSE.
Quad City Steamwheelers @ Frisco Fighters
Result: 54-37 Frisco
What We Learned: Quad City needs to figure out their QB situation ASAP & Frisco is looking better every week
Quad City is in a predicament at the quarterback position. Their QB play has been a question mark for them this year and it got a little messier during this game. They were alternating between Erickson & Irwin all throughout the game against Frisco and couldn’t really get into a rhythm with things until they were already down multiple scores. They each had their moments of good in the game, but equally looked rough.
It’s not a fun situation in Quad City right now and I don’t envy their coaching staff at all for the decisions they are going to have to make.
On the other side, Frisco has looked better and better every single week of the season. The Eastern Conference is shaping up to be a 3 (maybe 4) horse race this year with Massachusetts & Green Bay (and maybe Tulsa?) and, while they still have some things to get cleaned up, they are looking poised for another run to the playoffs.
RB Martez “Meatball” Carter looked good in his season debut, gettin 43 rushing yards and a TD — and WR Devon McCoy is getting better each game, hauling in 83 receiving yards and a TD of his own.
Frisco has too much talent with big play ability and a defense that will capitalize on any mistakes opposing offenses make. A rematch against Tulsa next week, however, just got a lottttt more interesting.
Tulsa Oilers @ Sioux Falls Storm
Result: 56-40 - Tulsa
What We Learned: Tulsa just kicked in the door on a new era & Sioux Falls is in free fall
Before the season, I compared the teams in the IFL to current NFL teams given their standing in the current landscape of the league — and I gotta say I nailed these two tbh:
Tulsa Oilers - Houston Texans
Sioux Falls Storm - New England Patriots
Tulsa was missing a consistent contributor at the QB position and had enough young talent on both sides of the ball to be competitive if things fell the right way. In this game, the Tulsa offense erupted for 56 points, with Daniel Smith accounting for 169 Passing yards and 6 total TDs. Jarrod Ware Jr signed with the team in the middle of last week before the game and was making an impact immediately.
This was the type of game that Tulsa has hinted at being capable of and we could easily see more games like this out of Tulsa this season. And don't worry -- the Tulsa Tush Push made another appearance this week!
On the other side, Sioux Falls is indeed looking like the New England Patriots of recent — with inconsistency at the quarterback position & no clear identity on offense. They only managed to get things going on offense in the second half when the game was very much in hand for Tulsa, and getting off to a good start has been a problem so far this season for the Storm.
In fact, they have given up a score to the opposing team in the final minute of each first half this year, and those scores have proven to be pendulum swinging moments in each game. If it’s any consolation to Storm fans, at least they aren’t the worst 0-3 team in their conference?
Tulsa went into Sioux Falls, kicked the door down, snatched their chain and left. Just a total ass kicking.
Bay Area Panthers @ Tucson Sugar Skulls
Result: 44-31 Bay Area
What We Learned: Bay Area simply can not be stopped & I may have drank a little too much of the Tucson kool aid
Hand up, I might have been a litttttttle quick to drinking the Tucson kool aid. They started the season off looking good on offense, their rookie QB looking poised & collected, and their rushing attack looked unstoppable in the red zone — but then in this game regression to the mean happened quickly.
Now Bay Area’s defense is one of the very best in the league, but this was a chance for Tucson to show they can compete for a full 4 quarters with the top dogs of the Western conference and unfortunately they just aren’t there yet. They have a quick turnaround with a game this Thursday night against San Antonio, so they’ll have to have the memory of goldfish and leave this game behind to get back on track.
On the other side, Bay Area has quickly emerged as the model franchise in the IFL in just their 3rd season, and it primarily has to do with their coaching staff that has been described as a “cheat code” by other head coaches in the league. Rob Keefe’s defense came to play against Tucson and kept the Sugar Skulls offense — which came into the game averaging 50+ per game — to only 17 total points through 3 quarters of play.
Their defense was swarming to the football and they were able to sack Mylik Mitchell 4 times in the game and were able to hold Mitchell to under a 50% completion percentage. QB Felix Harper came in for the Panthers in 2nd half and immediately brought some life to Bay Area’s offense — rushing for 3 TDs and tossing another in a 2nd half where the Panthers were able to pull away. It’s uncertain if starting QB Daquan Neal was hurt or if the coaching staff just needed some new blood in the lineup to get things going, but this could be an interesting situation to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.. ESPECIALLY with a couple of big games against San Diego over the next 2 weeks.
San Diego Strike Force @ Arizona Rattlers
Result: 55-45 San Diego
What We Learned: San Diego didn’t flinch in the face of adversity & Arizona is in free fall
San Diego QB Nate Davis left the game in the first half after taking a big shot (later revealed to be potentially broken ribs), which thrust back up QB Rudy Johnson into the game — and immediately started cheffing up the Arizona defense on the ground. This was surprising to see because this is the total opposite of San Diego’s typical air raid identity, but they pivoted their approach and it worked incredibly well.
RB Chance Bell got the majority of the reps at RB vs the Rattlers, and he took full advantage and himself a DAY. Bell looked explosive the moment his hands touched the ball on multiple runs, with an impressive 32 yard TD run in the first half while finishing with 72 rushing yards and 3 TDs in the game!
And I would be remiss if I did not give the San Diego secondary a big shoutout. They were very disruptive all game and made life very difficult for the Rattlers offense all throughout the game — coming to an apex towards the end of the game with a field length Pick 6 to seal the game for the Strike Force.
On the other side, Arizona’s defense is their Achilles heel and has to do a better job stopping the run. They are giving up a STAGGERING 122.7 rushing yards per game, nearly 30 more than the next closest team. They got gashed on the ground by San Diego’s backup QB & RB and were caught with their pants down multiple times throughout the game for big gains and long TDs — both through the air and on the ground.
In their defense, the injury bug has hit Arizona hard this season but they will have to find a way to snag some wins between now and the time QB Dalton Sneed can get back on the field. The Western conference is simply too stacked to potentially fall even further behind.
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