The Orlando Predators are one of Arena Football's proudest and iconic franchises. After reaching the postseason for 19 straight seasons, the Preds had fallen into the abyss and entered 2013 on a two-year playoff drought. Coming into the season Orlando issued a "winning season" guarantee to all season ticket holders, assuring a successful campaign or they would get their money back. It was no secret of the pressure to return to the playoffs, let alone being relevant once again. With the guidance of Doug Plank and a season-changing acquisition of one of the AFL's greatest signal callers....mission accomplished.
Orlando's 2013 season didn't start all that glamorous when Kyle Rowley struggled by throwing eleven interceptions in five games and the defense underperforming to AFL-worst levels that had the Preds sitting at the bottom with an 0-5 record. Doug Plank only knows how to win, so with that being said a change at quarterback was needed and he snatched the opportunity when it came calling to send Amarri Jackson to San Jose in exchange for Aaron Garcia. Kyle Rowley was released in favor of the 18th-year veteran. Aaron Garcia struggled in San Jose, but when he arrived in central Florida the greatest turned back on. He instantly improved the offense and led Orlando to their first two wins of the season in back-to-back weeks; highlighted by an incredible 21-point comeback in Deaf Valley where he threw eleven touchdown passes to beat Spokane 83-82 in week eight. The team was definitely in a better place than they were in the first month of the season, but Garcia's resurgence wasn't enough to overcome three losses by a combined 21 points that dropped the Preds to 2-8 entering week twelve. Just when it looked like any hope of returning to the postseason was dashed, the Predators made some key defensive cuts to bolster that side of the ball as best they could that late into the season.
All of a sudden, a few new faces on defense and a fully orchestrated offense with Aaron Garcia at the helm got hot and reeled off three consecutive wins in weeks twelve, thirteen, and fourteen to jump Orlando up from two games out of the playoff picture to entering July with a one-game lead for the American Conference's final wild card at 5-8. The late season magic wasn't enough for Orlando to pull off upsets of Jacksonville or Arizona, but thanks to the lack of depth in the conference still had them in playoff position despite having ten losses. The Predators won a must-win game against Iowa (55-41) in week 17, but put up a disappointing performance the following week in Cleveland that setup a play-in game with New Orleans in the regular season's final week. Aaron Garcia, T.T. Toliver, Maurice Williams, and Prechae Rodriguez were all unstoppable against New Orleans and gave their defense 71 points to defend; Cortez Stubbs, Tanner Varner and Prentice Purnell all anchored a great defensive effort that sent the Predators to the playoffs for the 20th time with a dominant 71-42 win. Orlando traveled to Philadelphia looking to pull off an upset in a conference semifinal matchup, but fell short 59-55. The Predators started strong and gained an early fourteen-point advantage, but where only able to take a three-point lead into halftime thanks in part to two scores by Philadelphia in the final 90 seconds of the first half. After trading touchdowns for the entire third quarter Orlando was held to just seven points in the final period, and failed to score in the remaining twelve minutes of the game to end their season.
The Good from 2013:
- Ending a two-year playoff drought and earning the franchise's 20th playoff appearance
- The potency of the offense with Aaron Garcia at quarterback
- Overcoming an 0-5 start to make the playoffs
- Finishing second in the South
- Dominic Jones earning Second-Team All Arena honors as a kick returner
PLAYER STATS
- Aaron Garcia 316-484, 4008 yds, 84 TD, 15 Int (13 games)
- Mykel Benson 38 rush, 89 yds, 10 TD; (7 games)
- T.T. Toliver 127 rec, 1659 yds, 29 TD (14 games)
- Prechae Rodriguez 119 rec, 1614 yds, 41 TD (17 games)
- Jason Geathers 94 rec, 1020 yds, 16 TD (17 games)
- Marcus Everett 41.5 tackles, sack, 4 Int, FF, 2 Fumb Rec, 3 Def TD (14 games)
- Tanner Varner 16 tackles, 3 Int, Fumb Rec, Def TD (3 games)
- Dominic James 91.5 tackles, 2 Int, FF, 3 Fumb Rec, Def TD; 89 kick-ret, 1795 yds, 4 TD (18 games)
- Anthony Shutt 41 tackles, Int, FF (6 games)
- Mark Lewis 116-134 PAT, 3-6 FG (23) (18 games)
- Prentice Purnell 5 sacks, FF, 2 Fumb Rec (13 games)
TEAM STATS
- Sixth scoring offense with 53.6 ppg
- Top pass offense at 299.3 ypg
- Top total offense at 311.8 ypg
- Sixth in pass efficiency with 108.4
- Allowed 3rd-fewest sacks 16
The Bad from 2013:
- A home record of 4-5
- A road record of 3-6
- An 0-5 start to the season
- Going 2-4 in the South
PLAYER STATS
- The 11 interceptions by Rowley in the first five games
- The drastic change in the secondary from Travis Coleman, Simeon Castille and Levy Brown
- The season-ending injury to Marcus Everett; would've been fun to watch him and Tanner Varner play side-by-side-----Varner was signed to fill the void left by Everett
TEAM STATS
- Third-worst 12.5 ypg
- Allowed third-most 57.3 ppg
- Tenth rush defense 23.7
- Ninth pass defense 257.9 ypg
- Ninth in total defense 281.6 ypg
- Tenth in turnover margin at (-12)
- Allowed the third-best opposing passer efficiency of 113.3
- Worst 3rd down conversion rate, 32/95
- Allowed the best 3rd down conversion rate of opponents at 51.7%
- 11th with 20 sacks
- Most penalized team in AFL, 153 penalties for 1091 yards
- 11th red zone defense, allowed 78/95 scores
Final Take:
The Predators entered the year with one goal, and that was to return to the playoffs. Mission accomplished Orlando, despite a final record of 7-12 the franchise ended a two-year drought and made it back to postseason play. If Aaron Garcia decides to return for a 19th season, let alone comeback to Orlando, and T.T. Toliver and Prechae Rodriguez also stay put then the Predators might have the AFL's most exciting offense in 2014. The major Achilles heel for Orlando this past season was their struggles on defense. Other than Dominic James, no one suited up for all 19 games because of injuries and lack underwhelming performance. The defense struggled to maintain a pass rush and also wasn't very good in coverage, it will be interesting to see who Doug Plank recruits for next year's squad. Overall 2013 was a success for the Predators because they were fun to watch and also made the franchise's 20th playoff appearance.
2013 Finish: 7-12 (2-4 in South), Lost in Conference Semifinals
For more on the Orlando Predators:
http://www.arenafootball.com/
http://www.arenafootball.com/teams/aflprd/
http://www.orlandopredators.com/
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/03/2013-arena-football-season-kickoff_23.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/04/2013-afl-season-frist-quarter-anaylsis_29.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/06/2013-afl-season-midway-report-south.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/07/afl-turning-into-home-stretch.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/08/afl-playoffs-conference-semifinals-recap.html
http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/stats/2013/CONFSTAT.HTM
No comments:
Post a Comment