July 24,2017
(Photo Credit: Washington Valor)
Christmas in July in the DMV
– The Washington Valor celebrated "Christmas in
July" at the Verizon Center in Week 16. The gift to their fans was their
second win of the season and the end of their 10-game losing streak.
With that win, the Valor kept their postseason hopes alive. The
Baltimore Brigade might not have spoiled the party, but they weren't
exactly left with a lump of coal in their stocking either.
The chances for the Valor to get into the playoffs are still slim; they need two wins to finish the season.
No expansion team has won a playoff game since the 2010 Spokane Shock, one of the three teams to win the ArenaBowl in their first season in the AFL. The most recent expansion team to qualify for the postseason was the Portland Thunder in 2014.
Stormy Season For Visitors in Tampa – The Storm finished off a 6-1 home schedule in Week 16 by beating the Gladiators. In doing so, they locked up their second best home record by winning percentage in franchise history, falling just one game short of matching the perfect home campaign of 2005 when they won all eight of their home games.
Tampa Bay Storm Best Home Record in Franchise History (By Winning Percentage)
2005: 8-0
2017: 6-1
1998: 6-1
1996: 6-1
1995: 5-1
1994: 5-1
1993: 5-1
Captain Comeback – Sean Brackett's AFL career hasn't had a ton of high notes. Yet in Week 16's 34-30 victory over Baltimore, he had his greatest moment. With 0:04 left in the game, he found T.T. Toliver on a 13-yard pass in the back of the end zone to cap off his second career victory in his 12th career start. It was also Brackett's first ever game-winning drive in his career.
Call Him Mr. Clutch – Toliver has seen a few things in his 14-year AFL career. His game-winning touchdown with 0:04 left might have been a first for Brackett, but it was hardly a first for him. Toliver now has eight game-winning touchdowns in the last minute of play (and overtime) in his storied career.
All in the Cards for Carden – Throwing for 3,000 yards doesn't happen often for rookies in the AFL. There had been a total of 18 who had done so before this year, none of which have reached the mark since Brad Banks and Kurt Rocco did so in 2011. Shane Carden surpassed the 3,000-yard mark in the Brigade win over Washington, and he's quickly moving up the list of the most passing yards by a rookie in AFL history. With Carden now at 3,124 yards for the season, he's already got the 16th most passing yards by a rookie in AFL, and he still has two more games to continue moving up the charts.
Most Passing Yards By a Rookie in AFL History
Nick Davila (2010): 4,858
Kyle Rowley (2010): 4,428
Justin Allgood (2010): 4,359
Tommy Grady (2010): 4,307
Nick Hill (2010): 4,289
Brad Banks (2011): 3,973
Clint Stoerner (2005): 3,918
Kurt Rocco (2011): 3,834
Jim Kubiak (2001): 3,787
Jay McDonagh (2002): 3,599
Tony Graziani (2002): 3,568
Jeff Smoker (2007): 3,466
Tommy Maddox (2000): 3,378
Adrian McPherson (2004): 3,297
Sonny Cumbie (2006): 3,241
Shane Carden (2017): 3,124
Ryan Vena (2004): 3,076
Glen Gauntt (2004): 3,009
Craig Whelihan (2001): 3,004
Hills Making It Happen – Not only did Joe Hills score a touchdown in an AFL record 80th consecutive game in Week 16, but he also further etched his name both in Storm history and in league history to boot. Hills became the fifth man in the storied history of the Storm franchise to have 5,000 receiving yards for the team. Lawrence Samuels, Stevie Thomas and George LaFrance are all Hall of Famers, and T.T. Toliver surely will take his spot in the Hall as well one day. Not bad company to be in. Hills also passed Jason Willis on the all-time receptions list and edged closer to Calvin Schexnayder on the all-time receiving yards list.
Most Receptions in Tampa Bay Storm History
Lawrence Samuels: 967
Stevie Thomas: 519
T.T. Toliver: 483
Joe Hills: 394
George LaFrance: 391
Most Receiving Yards in Tampa Bay Storm History
Lawrence Samuels: 11,078
Stevie Thomas: 7,784
T.T. Toliver: 6,136
George LaFrance: 5,392
Joe Hills: 5,016
Most Receiving Touchdowns in Tampa Bay Storm History
Lawrence Samuels: 160
Stevie Thomas: 150
Joe Hills: 128
George LaFrance: 127
Hank Edwards: 95
Most Receptions in AFL History
18: Dominick Goodman: 751
19: Gary Compton: 750
20: Joe Hills: 719
21: Jason Willis: 717
Most Receiving Yards in AFL History
16: Reggie Gray: 9,590
17: Randy Gatewood: 9,029
18: George LaFrance: 8,888
19: Calvin Schexnayder: 8,796
20: Joe Hills: 8,785
Hippeard Into 23rd All-Time – Randy Hippeard became the 25th quarterback in AFL history to throw for at least 15,000 yards in his career. In doing so, Hippeard (15,143) moved past John Fitzgerald (14,997) and Chris Greisen (15,108) on the all-time passing list. Hippeard also came up one TD shy of Chris Greisen's mark for the 23rd most touchdown passes in AFL history.
Most Passing Yards in AFL History
22: Rickey Foggie: 17,921
23: Mike Pawlawski: 16,673
24: Randy Hippeard: 15,143
25: Chris Greisen: 15,108
26: John Fitzgerald: 14,997
Action Jackson – Jackson led the Storm with two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, setting the all-time record for forced turnovers by a Storm player along the way. Not only did Jackson have two picks, but one was at the Jack linebacker position (which he returned for a touchdown), while the second came playing as a defensive back after Cortez Stubbs left the game injured. Not only does Jackson hold the record for the most career interceptions by a Jack linebacker, but he also is now up to 15th on the all-time INT list.
Most Interceptions in AFL History
T-13: Jeroid Johnson: 42
T-13: Rashad Floyd: 42
T-15: Alvin Ray Jackson: 41
T-15: Kevin Gaines: 41
16: Corey Johnson: 40
Jackson Stealing the Show – Arvell Nelson and Tanner Marsh combined to go just 12-of-23 for 142 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for the Gladiators in Week 16. Nine of those 12 completions went to Michael Preston, who quietly has at least seven catches in six straight games. Collin Taylor was the only other wide receiver with a catch with his two receptions for 36 yards, while Jeramie Richardson caught one ball for 12 yards. Jackson? He had two "catches" from Nelson totaling 22 return yards, marks that would effectively have been good enough to be third on the Gladiators. That's a surefire sign that your passing game had a bad day at the office.
AFL Week 16 Odds and Ends
-Ron James' victory in Week 16 was the 71st of his career. He's now tied with Doug Plank for the 14th most victories by a head coach in AFL history.
-Mark Lewis kicked a 39-yard field goal for the Storm in Week 16. It was the longest made field goal in an AFL game since Craig Peterson nailed a 47-yarder in Week 18 in 2015. Dating back to 2015, Lewis has now made nine consecutive field goal attempts, something that is unheard of in the AFL nowadays.
-Lewis also moved into a tie with Mike Horacek for the 13th most points scored in the history of the AFL. Both men are currently sitting on 1,558 career points.
-The Storm held Cleveland to just 27 points, a season-low in the AFL. The defense surrendered just two touchdowns, the fewest in a game by any team since Tampa Bay held the New Orleans VooDoo to one touchdown in a 42-13 victory on April 17, 2015.
-Tampa Bay's 57-27 win was the franchise's first win by more than 12 points since dismantling Jacksonville 63-28 on May 2, 2015.
-Robert Hayes had three sacks in Week 16, giving him six in his last three games combined. Hayes became the second player this year to log three sacks in a game, joining teammate Dexter Davis, who had three sacks against Cleveland in Week 2.
-Hayes had a total of four tackles for loss in Week 16, the most by any player in a game this season. The last time a player had at least four TFLs was Mike Lewis, who had 4.5 on June 1, 2013 while playing for the Iowa Barnstormers.
-Kendrick Ings logged 103 all-purpose yards in Week 16. That gives him eight consecutive games with at least 100 all-purpose yards, the longest streak in the AFL this year and the longest since Brandon Thompkins started the 2016 season with 12 consecutive 100+ all-purpose yards games for the Orlando Predators.
-The Storm forced five turnovers in Week 16, the most they forced in a game since taking the ball away five times against the Portland Thunder on May 3, 2014.
-Michael Knight, who intercepted his first career pass in Week 15 against Philadelphia, followed up that showing with two INTs of Shane Carden in Week 16.
AFL Week 16 Accolades
Top Passing Performances
Randy Hippeard (Tampa Bay) – 22/36, 234 Yards, 5 TDs, 1 INT
Shane Carden (Baltimore) – 23/37, 193 Yards, 3 TDs, 2 INTs
Sean Brackett (Washington) – 16/31, 175 Yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs
Arvell Nelson (Cleveland) – 11/19, 142 Yards, 1 TD, 2 INTs
Top Receiving Performances
Joe Hills (Tampa Bay) – 10 Receptions, 121 Yards, 2 TDs
T.T. Toliver (Washington) – 6 Receptions, 113 Yards, 3 TDs
Michael Preston (Cleveland) – 9 Receptions, 98 Yards, 1 TD
Kendrick Ings (Tampa Bay) – 7 Receptions, 82 Yards, 2 TDs
Brandon Thompkins (Baltimore) – 7 Receptions, 65 Yards, 1 TD
Top Rushing Performances
Will Corbin (Washington) – 7 Carries, 35 Yards
Shane Carden (Baltimore) – 5 Carries, 25 Yards
Arvell Nelson (Cleveland) – 3 Carries, 14 Yards, 1 TD
Jeramie Richardson (Cleveland) – 3 Carries, 13 Yards
Sean Brackett (Washington) – 3 Carries, 5 Yards, 1 TD
Top Defensive Performances
Alvin Ray Jackson (Tampa Bay) – 3.5 Tackles, 2 Fumble Recoveries, 2 INTs, 1 TD
Michael Knight (Washington) – 8 Tackles, 2 INTs
Robert Hayes (Baltimore) – 6.5 Tackles, 3 Sacks
Nick Seither (Cleveland) – 1.5 Tackles, 1 Fumble Recovery, 1 TD
Marrio Norman (Cleveland) – 7.5 Tackles, 1 TD
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