The Philadelphia Soul entered this past season with one thing burned into their memories, an Arena Bowl XXV performance that saw them be blown out on national television. Philadelphia wanted to replace that heartbreak with the exact opposite image in 2013. With a roster comprised of mostly familiar faces the odds looked to be in Philadelphia's favor to at least return to Arena Football's biggest stage, but all did not start that way this year.
The Soul struggled to find a consistent level of play through the first half of the season. They began the year with a tough 66-52 loss at Arizona. The Soul responded with back-to-back road wins that had them coming home with a 2-1 record. Philadelphia's home opener looked to be an awesome homecoming with a struggling Cleveland team coming in, but things didn't go as planned as the Soul saw a three-score lead vanish and turn into a 64-57 overtime loss. Philadelphia couldn't afford to let the disappoint home start loom with, at the time, red-hot Jacksonville Sharks came to town the following week. The Soul once again suffered a tight defeat in their own building when Jacksonville escaped with a 55-53 victory. Philadelphia all of a sudden found themselves in a 2-3 hole on their way to Chicago, but the reigning American Conference champs made a statement to the entire league with a 72-41 thrashing of the Rush. The level of inconsistency hit the following week when the Soul failed to close out Pittsburgh in another tough home loss, 53-48, that put them back under .500 and 0-3 in Wells Fargo Center. The Soul would go on to earn their first home victory of the year in week nine when they defeated Orlando, and entered June with a 5-4 record after an impressive 73-55 win at Tampa Bay. In week eleven the Soul had a second crack at Arizona and found themselves with a fifteen-point lead midway through the fourth quarter. A run that saw the defending champions score 22 unanswered points in the final seven minutes stunned everyone in "Soul" blue and sent them back to .500 with a heartbreaking 64-57 loss. A game like that can make or break a team's season, and it looked that way when Philadelphia couldn't catch a break for three and a half quarters against New Orleans the following week. A Joe Goosby fumble recovery and an eleven-play scoring drive that Derrick Ross finished with a one-yard run highlighted a stretch of 17 unanswered points that squeaked out a 65-56 win for the Soul, and also turned their season in the right direction.
The inspiring comeback of week twelve started a string of seven straight wins that clinched Philadelphia its second straight east division championship and had them primed for another postseason run. The Soul only needed a win in week nineteen to lock up home field advantage, but a surprise 42-28 defeat at San Antonio ended those hopes, while snapping the win streak and raising questions of "if the team peaked to early" in all Soul supporters minds. How would Philadelphia respond in the conference semifinals against Orlando!? The Soul fell behind early, but a James Romain interception late in the first half setup a Carlos Martinez field goal that cut the margin to three by halftime. A back-and-forth battle ensued in the third quarter, but the Soul defense put on their best performance of the year when they held Orlando scoreless for the final twelve minutes of the game by making a pivotal goal-line stand and forcing a turnover to seal a 59-55 win. The dominance of the Philadelphia defense carried into the Shark Tank when the Soul forced three turnovers and built a 19-point halftime lead to set the tone early. Jacksonville never got closer than within thirteen points in the second half and Philadelphia earned a second consecutive trip to the Arena Bowl with a dominant 75-59 win. The Soul got their championship rematch with Arizona, but the third time wasn't the charm. The game was evenly played through the first half and Philadelphia took their first lead on Ryan McDaniel's touchdown reception on the opening drive of the third quarter. The game changed into Arizona's favor when Nick Davila led consecutive touchdown drives that sandwiched Dan Raudabaugh's second interception. Despite being on their heels for most of the fourth quarter the Soul's defense gave them a chance to win it at the end, but the offense was unable to gain a first down and as a result suffered a tough 48-39 loss. For the second year in a row Philadelphia has ended their season in heart break on Arena Football's biggest stage to Arizona.
The Good from 2013:
- Won second straight east division and American Conference titles, appeared in second straight Arena Bowl
- A road record of 7-2
- A seven-game win streak from week 12 to week 18
- Being named Arena Football's Support Staff of the Year and the Sports Medicine Program of the Year
- Brandon Mango winning Equipment Manager of the Year
- Seven All Arena selections
PLAYER STATS
- Dan Raudabaugh 390-573, 4699 yds, 96 TD, 14 Int (18 games)
- Derrick Ross 153 rush, 506 yds, 35 TD; 13 rec, 69 yds, 4 TD (18 games)
- Tiger Jones 150 rec, 2121 yds, 37 TD (18 games)
- Andrae Thurman 117 rec, 1197 yds, 17 Total TD (18 games)
- Ryan McDaniel 65 rec, 819 yds, 21 TD (12 games)
- Larry Brackins 27 rec, 243 yds, 15 TD; 2 Int; Kick-ret TD (14 games)
- Carlos Martinez 126-140 PAT, 6-7 FG (47) (18 games)
- Rayshaun Kizer 82 tackles, FF, 3 Fumb Rec, 9 Int, Def TD (18 games)
- LaRico Stevenson 74 tackles, 2 FF, 3 Fumb Rec, 7 Int, 2 Def TD (15 games)
- Joe Goosby 68.5 tackles, 2 sacks, FF, 3 Fumb Rec, 4 Int, 2 Def TD (18 games)
- James Romain 3 FF, 3 Int, Def TD (15 games)
- Brandon Perkins 4.5 sacks, Fumb Rec, Def TD (18 games)
- Bryan Robinson 41.5 tackles (17.5 TFL), 11 sacks, 2 FF (17 games)
TEAM STATS
- Third scoring offense 58.4 ppg
- Third rushing offense 30.9 ypg
- Best scoring defense, allowed 46.8 ppg
- Third rush defense, allowed 17.9 ypg
- Sixth pass offense 264.3 ypg
- Third total offense 295.2 ypg
- Eighth pass defense allowed 257.3 ypg
- Sixth total defense 275.3 ypg
- Third pass efficiency 119.8
- Sixth turnover margin +4
- Fourth opponent pass efficiency 96.5
- Third in 3rd down conversions 55/104
- Allowed fewest first downs 310
- Eighth in opponent 3rd down conversions 56/127
- Fifth with 31 sacks
- Allowed fewest sacks with 7
- Third 4th down conversions 20/35
- Best opponent 4th down conversions 16/53
- Fifth red zone offense 98/119
- Second red zone defense 75/102
The Bad from 2013:
- A 5-4 home record that started 0-3
- Home losses to Cleveland and Pittsburgh
- A 2-2 division record, Cleveland and Pittsburgh both finished 4-14
- An inconsistent first half of the season
- Losing in the Arena Bowl for the second straight year
PLAYER STATS
- Alvance Robinson's struggles to stay healthy this season
- Ryan McDaniel's struggles to stay healthy, but at a smaller scale than Robinson
TEAM STATS
- Ninth in first downs with 352
Final Take:
The Soul came in to 2013 with plans to return to the Arena Bowl, and despite an inconsistent start they were able to do so by winning nine out of ten games to reach Orlando. Philadelphia proved to still be one of the AFL's best teams in 2013 and even though they fell short again, still put together a season to remember.
2013 Finish: 14-7 (2-2 in East), East Division Champs, American Conference Champs, Lost Arena Bowl XXVI
For more on the Philadelphia Soul:
http://www.arenafootball.com/
http://www.arenafootball.com/teams/aflsoul/
http://www.philadelphiasoul.com/
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/03/2013-arena-football-season-kickoff-east.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/04/2013-afl-season-frist-quarter-anaylsis_29.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/05/2013-afl-season-midway-report.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/07/afl-turning-into-home-stretch-east.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/08/afl-playoffs-conference-semifinals-recap.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/08/afl-playoffs-conference-championship.html
http://nicksblogofsports.blogspot.com/2013/08/arena-bowl-xxvi-recap.html
http://www.arenafootball.com/sports/a-footbl/stats/2013/CONFSTAT.HTM
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