The AAF This Week: Week 2

With a lot of positive feedback from the inaugural weekend, The Alliance were ready to build on that with 2 teams ready to open their home schedules. Can last week's momentum carry forward?

The Birmingham Iron erased a 9 point deficit by capitalizing on Salt Lake's special teams foibles in the 2nd half to claim a 12-9 result over the Stallions. There's going to be times that it will be clearly evident that the AAF is a developmental league, a football confederation dedicated to offering the sport to a viewing audience in a non-traditional season all the while allowing its players and coaches to improve their respective skills. And on Saturday afternoon, that was what happened at Birmingham's Legion Field. The Iron are showing their strengths to be playing defense and grinding offense. The Stallions, meanwhile, have shown offensive promise... but are rough around the edges on defense & special teams. While Salt Lake did pick up a touchdown and a field goal in the first half to take an early lead, they came undone in the second. Late in the third quarter, the Iron punt team stripped the ball from the Stallion returner, where the ball bounded toward the Birmingham goal line, where it was recovered for an Iron touchdown. This would slice Salt Lake's lead to three. This would not be a concern to the Stallions... except for the fact that PK Taylor Bertolet had a case of the yips. After the first field goal attempt in the second half turned into a comedy act due to a bad centering snap, Bertolet's day went from bad to worse, shanking three kicks through the balance of the game. The Iron were able to capitalize, albeit not immediately, by scoring a second TD (a 3 yard run by Trent Richardson) to complete the first comeback victory in AAF history. We leave this game left scratching our heads about both teams. The Iron may be tied with the Orlando Apollos for the Eastern Conference lead, but they have left some feeling underwhelmed. Yes, QB Luis Perez has shown some strong passing chops, WR Quinton Patton has been a favored target with ability to make some nifty grabs, and Richardson has become a goal line lock (even though he's supposed to be an every down back). But they haven't shown a wow factor yet, something that stands out to put the rest of the league on notice. Meanwhile, the Stallions look better than their 0-2 record suggests. But turnovers, regardless of level, will still kill a team's chances to victory. And in a league where all the teams share the same handicap that they are still learning how to play with one another, ball security issues becomes an outsized factor in every game. Then again, when things are coming together, it can be overcome, as it was shown by...

The Arizona Hotshots, who recovered from a horrendous first half and became the first team in the Alliance to win on the road in a come from behind win over the Memphis Express, 20-18. After last week, Arizona looked like one of the better teams in the league after outlasting the Stallions in a competitive match. Memphis, meanwhile, looked discombobulated on both sides of the ball in a shutout loss to Birmingham. At the Liberty Bowl in Tennessee, that script was flipped early in this rainy, cold game in front of a crowd of nearly 12,000. The Express jumped out to a 12-0 halftime lead after the Hotshots coughed up the ball three times. Arizona was not gaining ground... until late in the third quarter when Rashad Ross made a short catch from QB John Wolford and turned it into a 16 yard touchdown, the season's second for the wide receiver. The Express would answer on the next drive, going 75 yards and capping it off with a 4 yard touchdown run by Memphis QB Christian Hackenberg, extending their lead back to 12. The Hotshots would respond on their next drive, with RB Justin Stockton running up the gut near midfield to score a 45 yard touchdown, then backed it up with a rushing conversion by Wolford to trim the deficit to 4. Arizona's defense would stiffen, buoyed by their offensive efforts. Shortly after forcing an Express three & out, Wolford's unit would take the field once again, and would score what would be the deciding touchdown, as Wolford hit RB Tim Cook for a 4 yard reception off play action. The Express made one last push, but the Hotshots' D played with the proverbial wind at their backs to quash any barnburning finish. It is difficult for a football to win a game on the road, especially when spotting the home squad two touchdowns. And Arizona did it, coming back to win a road game for the first time in the AAF. The Hotshots are making a strong case to be the class of the Western Conference early on, while the Express are left picking up the pieces, wondering what to do next. It will be very interesting to see how each team responds to the affects of this game in next week's matches.

The Orlando Apollos and San Antonio Commanders were playing in the consensus game of the week, and did not disappoint in a charged 37-29 Apollos victory. Apparently, overcoming deficits were a theme this week, as Orlando fell 12 points behind to the Commanders in front of a raucous Alamodome crowd of nearly 30,000 (mad props to the San Antonio fans for setting the bar for other clubs in attendance goals). But unlike the Iron and Hotshots, the Apollos have a vertical offense with Steve Spurrier as head coach, or Head Ball Coach, in this case. Orlando would work themselves back, but San Antonio would have responses, leading up to a 29-29 tie with 8 minutes left in regulation. But a Pick Six by Apollos CB Keith Reaser of the Commanders QB Logan Woodside would give Orlando the lead with 7 minutes left. But San Antonio would be unable to knot it up, and Orlando would prevail. Just like Arizona, the Apollos are becoming the standard bearer in the Eastern Conference. And unlike the Iron, the Apollos' offense with their high scoring capability (each game they've scored over 30 points) stands out and makes them the team to beat on that side of the ledger. The Commanders, meanwhile, have something other teams don't at this point: a true home field advantage thanks to their rabid fan base. The bad news is they only have three more home dates the balance of the year. But the team has talent that will keep them in games away from the friendly Lone Star State confines. If your humble scribe were permitted to select a contender in the West to challenge Arizona, it would be the Commanders. The first meeting with those two teams should be a marquee match-up.

The San Diego Fleet would turn their home opener into a win, as they would get the result over the Atlanta Legends, 24-12. Both the Fleet and Legends struggled in their respective Week 1 games. San Diego were unsettled at quarterback and it had a ripple effect on the entire offense as the San Antonio Commanders would capitalize on that unease to defeat the Fleet. Atlanta was still reeling from the sudden departures of their head coach and offensive coordinator, all the while the Legends' defense would get lit up like a pinball machine by Orlando as the Apollos cruised to an easy victory. So these teams facing one another had things to work on, so the match-up was closer competitively, even if it may have been a tough watch. What stood out in this game was the sloppiness of Atlanta, whose carelessness in triggering penalties would either kill their offensive drives or extend Fleet drives. And just to be clear, very few players are performing at a crisp level, so that should be insight on how egregious this play by the Legends really was. San Diego will be a work in progress, with head coach Mike Martz going forward with Philip Nelson as his signal caller. While Atlanta is set at QB with Matt Simms, the Legends defense needs to improve if they wish to be competitive in the future.