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Game 8: March 24, 2001
Las Vegas Outlaws at Los Angeles Xtreme |
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Game
Stats | Game
Boxscore
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SUMMARY
 The
Outlaws blew a prime opportunity to move into first place in the
Western Division with a 35-26 loss to the Los Angeles Extreme.
The game was another penalty-filled event for the Outlaws, being
penalized 14 times for 109 total yards. Surprisingly, the
Xtreme actually generated more penalty yardage, 157 yards on 13
penalties, but most of this came from a critical pass-interference
call in the third quarter that set up an Outlaws touchdown.
The Outlaws had several chances to win this game, which would have
put them in first place and in great shape for the post-season,
but they let them slip away.
The Outlaws major mistakes in the first half came by letting the
Xtreme start on a short field, resembling an Arena League game.
Four times the Outlaws let the Xtreme start inside their 50-yard
line, and on all four of those possessions the Xtreme scored touchdowns.
The only two times that the Xtreme were forced to start in their
own territory resulted in a punt and an interception (that led to
an Outlaws touchdown). The Outlaws defense was bent, and eventually
broken, by Tommy Maddox and the Xtreme offense. The Outlaws
only came up with one sack all night, and just couldn’t get to Maddox;
in fact, he even outran LB Joseph Tuipala (#48) on one critical
third-down play that resulted in a scramble for a first-and-goal.
The Outlaws also committed two turnovers that directly resulted
in 12 Xtreme points.
In the scramble, Jamel Williams (#28) kept the Outlaws at 8-0 by
recovering it, and the Outlaws chose to receive. On the opening
kickoff, the ball was fielded by Eric Guilford, who then handed
it off to Chris Chukwuma (#22, aka “Chuckwagon”) on a reverse. Chukwuma
slipped coming around to the opposite side of the field, and then
fumbled when hit; the ball was recovered by Shawn Stuckey of the
Xtreme deep in Outlaws territory. Two plays later, Maddox connected
with Jermaine Copeland for a touchdown. All the PAT’s for the Xtreme
would fail this night, a minor consolation for the Outlaws defense.
When the Outlaws received the ball again, they started on their
own 30 and drove into Xtreme territory; it was capped off a by a
21-yard touchdown run by Rod Smart (#30, aka “He Hate Me”). The
PAT (1-yard run by Smart) was successful, and the Outlaws led 7-6.
At the end of the first quarter, the Outlaws’ next possession ended
with an interception, and the Xtreme capitalized this with a 19-yard
touchdown pass from Maddox to McCullough, and the Xtreme led 12-7;
this scoring drive opened the second quarter. The Outlaws responded
with another sustained drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown
pass from QB Ryan Clement (#16) to TE Rickey Brady (#86). Brady
even caught the PAT pass from Clement, and the Outlaws were in the
lead for the final time, 14-12. However, the Xtreme came charging
right back and scored another touchdown with a 13-yard pass from
Maddox to Frank Leatherwood, and took the lead 18-14. The Outlaws
were stopped deep in their own territory on their next possession,
and when attempting a punt, it was blocked for a safety. The Xtreme
now led 20-14, and the tide had turned against the Outlaws. The
first half ended with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Maddox to Darnell
McDonald, and the halftime score was LA 26, LV 14.
In the first half, the Outlaws defense allowed the Xtreme to score
20 points in the second quarter alone. Mistakes, two turnovers,
and poor special teams coverage allowed the Xtreme to score 24 first-half
points by starting in Outlaws territory; the two turnovers directly
resulted in 12 Xtreme points alone. These mistakes would prove fatal
for the Outlaws, whose defense just was not living up to their new
nickname “Dealers of Doom”. Although the Outlaws offense performed
fairly well, their defense was bent and eventually broken by the
Xtreme in the first half. Even though the defense stiffened in the
second half by only allowing 3 Jose Cortez field goals, it was too
little, too late.
The Outlaws opened the second half with a scoring drive, capped
with a Clement 6-yard touchdown pass to Brady, but the PAT failed.
The Outlaws narrowed the gap 26-20, but the Xtreme ended the third
quarter with a 42-yard Jose Cortez field goal to pull ahead 29-20.
The Xtreme opened the fourth quarter with another Cortez 32-yard
field goal; for the first time all season, the Outlaws allowed more
than 30 points as the Xtreme led 32-20. The Outlaws mounted a long
drive that was helped by a huge pass-interference call, and Clement
threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brady. The Xtreme lead was narrowed
to 6 points at 32-26, and just under 5 minutes remaining for a possible
Outlaws comeback.
But, it was not to be. On the final deciding drive of the game,
the Outlaws defense allowed the Xtreme receivers to get wide-open
for 20-yard gains and Saladin McCullough to run outside the tackles
for big gains several times. This found the Xtreme deep in Outlaws
territory and resulted in another 44-yard Cortez field goal. This
put the game out of reach at 35-26, and less than 45 seconds remaining.
The Outlaws drive fizzled, and they came up short once more.
OUTLAWS GRADES:
OFFENSE: B+
The Outlaws offense performed very well in this game, but there
was still room for improvement. Rod Smart only gained 57 yards on
13 tries, but did score a touchdown. The Outlaws found that they
could rush against the Xtreme defense, but never had a chance to
exploit this as they consistently found themselves falling behind
on the scoreboard. The offensive line performed very well with the
addition of several new linemen, and this allowed Rickey Brady to
have a huge game with 6 catches for 71 yards and 3 touchdowns. Rod
Smart had 2 catches for 25 yards. However, even though the short
passing game worked well for the Outlaws, there were several opportunities
for Clement to air the ball out deep, but he only did it once. Murphy
and Guliford managed to get open deep along the sidelines several
times, but Clement didn’t even see them. This may have changed the
complexion of the game, but we will never know. The offensive line
also generated too many of their trademarked holding penalties that
killed a couple of critical drives.
OUTLAWS GRADES
DEFENSE: F
The defense uncharacteristically bent and broke under the Xtreme’s
passing attack. They allowed a season-high 35 points to be scored
against them, and a season-high total passing yardage of 279 yards.
They did hold McCullough to 54 total rushing yards, but sadly enough
most of these came at the worst possible time, on the final Xtreme
drive of the game that resulted in a field goal and ended the hopes
of an Outlaws comeback. They only managed one sack and one turnover
(an interception by LB Joseph Tuipala, #48). The secondary just
couldn’t cover the Xtreme receivers over the middle, and although
the coverage was never broken deep, it was broken on 12-15 yard
passes over the middle. The defense allowed four touchdown drives
in the first half, and gave up 20 points in the second quarter;
this broke the Outlaws’ backs.
SPECIAL TEAMS: D-
The only thing that saves this grade from being an “F” is the fact
that no Xtreme kick/punt return resulted in a touchdown. On the
opening kickoff, a fumble resulted in an Xtreme touchdown. Poor
coverage helped the Xtreme start in Outlaws territory too many times,
shortening the field into Arena League drives for touchdowns. A
blocked punt resulted in a safety, and they failed to generate any
kind of spectacular return.
COACHING: C
The coaching wasn’t entirely to blame, as many players (especially
on the defense) appeared to be either confused or outmatched. The
adjustments made at halftime held the Xtreme offense to 9 second-half
points. However, many offensive plays called defied logic, such
as a Smart run off-tackle on a first-and-20, deep in their own territory.
Also, several times Murphy and Guilford were open deep while streaking
down the sidelines, and either Clement didn’t see them or the coaches
failed to take advantage of this. Guliford and Murphy were definitely
under-utilized in this game. There should have been more deep-pass
plays called.
ANALYSIS
The Outlaws held their destiny in their hands, but allowed it to
slip away. The Xtreme have now clinched a playoff berth, and will
host the first-round playoff game. The Outlaws will now be forced
on to the road if they even make the playoffs. They are tied for
second-place with San Francisco, but hold the tie-breaking advantage
due to an earlier win over the Demons. The next two games are must-wins
in order to remain in second place and still make the playoffs.
Interestingly, last week the league announced the playoff scheme
would be as follows: the #1 East team hosts the #2 West team, and
the #1 West team would host the #2 East team. However, this defeats
the purpose of the April 21 Championship game (“The Big Game At
The End”) being the Best of the West vs. the Best of the East. For
example, if that playoff scheme results in the Rage hosting the
Outlaws, the Outlaws happen to win, as well as the Xtreme beating
the #2 East team, then that would mean the Xtreme hosting the Outlaws
for the Championship! It would seem more likely that the #1 West
team hosts the #2 West team, and the #1 East team hosts the #2 East
team for the first round of the playoffs; this way the spirit &
intent of the Championship game is preserved. If the Outlaws win
their last two games, they will face the Xtreme one more time, and
they have already lost them three straight times this year. The
postseason hopes for the Outlaws have been immensely dimmed with
this loss. |
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