Friday, April 15, 2011

GAME PREVIEW - WEEK 5 - POWER VS SHARKS


(2-2)

vs.

(3-1)

Saturday, April 16, 2011
7:30 PM
TV: Pittsburgh's CW Channel 19
Radio: 93.7 The Fan
Consol Energy Center - Pittsburgh, PA

After two weeks of strife, arrests, injuries, and other general bad press, the Power return to action at the Consol Energy Center to take on one of the hottest teams in the AFL, the Jacksonville Sharks. Let's hope the week off was a good thing, because this is going to be Pittsburgh's stiffest test yet.

The Sharks are led by 17 (yes, seventeen) year veteran and career 46,000 (not a typo, either) yard passer Aaron Garcia. This is by far one of the, if not the head-and-shoulders, greatest players in the history of the AFL.



Jacksonville also boasts three big-time, productive receivers in Jomo Wilson (25 REC 398 Yds 9 TD), Jeron Harvey (26 REC 353 Yds 10 TD), and Sale Key (24 REC 232 Yds 5 TD) -- an absolute offensive wrecking crew. Heh. Jomo.



On top of all that, they have a fantastic former offensive coordinator in Power Head Coach Chris Siegfried. Perhaps that could be an ace in the hole for the Power defense.

The Power come into the game with two injured starting QB's -- Bernard Morris is still on the IR and Kevin McCabe was just placed on it, meaning that Penn State grad Anthony Morelli gets the nod. In limited action this season, Morelli is 11-17 for 141 yds and 1 TD. This week, he is backed up by new signing Xavier Lee, the Florida State graduate who fills the infamous Pittsburgh favorite "slash" role. Last year for the Yard Dawgz, Lee amassed a respectable 700+ receiving yards, and also is a rushing threat. He will serve as Morelli's backup in case of another disaster. It will be curious to see if he plays any WR in this game, given the Power's bad luck with injuries as of late.

As usual, it will be up to the Power's cadre of talented receivers to prop up a patchwork QB/OL -- Lonnell DeWalt, Jason Willis, and Mike "Joystick" Washington as well as Jerome Mathis and Eddie Thompson. Productive WR Irv Campbell is on the IR, as well.

As for the Power defense, will Josh Lay play? He's not on any kind of official league suspension, and rumours abound that his recent run-in with the law may have been overstated. He's been a key piece in the Pittsburgh secondary and would be sorely missed. Lay also suffered a brutal helmet to helmet hit in the last game, and may still be feeling that a little bit.

When the Power have been successful, it has been when they've been able to control the clock and slow down the pace, putting together long and methodical drives. Let's be honest -- they have absolutely no chance if they get into a shootout with Jacksonville. They are going to need to dink and dunk and keep the football out of the hands of Garcia if they have any chance to win this game.

PREDICTIONS:
For every Power game we cover here on the BOLTSBURGH POWER BLOG, our three contributing editors will pass along their expert picks for the game, along with the key to victory. We call these our BOLTSBURGH POWER BLOG KEYS TO VICTORY! There are three of them. One each.

- Perry -
Pittsburgh needs to be conservative yet productive on offense. Control the pace. They can't let Aaron Garcia get too much time with the ball - he will torch them. This is my first time picking against the Power. I hope I'm wrong.

Sharks 65
Power 42

- Pro -
(PREDICTION PENDING)

- Schwartz -
The Sharks never get good goaltending after the weather breaks.

Power 57
Sharks 45

KEYS TO VICTORY:

1) Ball control.
2) ???
3) Sharks goaltending collapse?

9 comments:

Dallas Strimple said...

Jacksonville will probably be starting Jeff Hughley at WR as well. He is a big threat, he simply has been injured until last week when he saw limited action. Last year he led the league in all-purpose yards for Tulsa. Which means Terrance Carter and LaRico Stevenson will again be facing off against a former teammate.

Dom Errico said...

Not a good matchup for the Black and Gold, but crazier things have happened before.

I'm gonna say 58-52 Sharks and HOPE I am wrong!

Perry said...

Good tidbit Dallas. It's impossible to keep up with this stuff sometimes. They are just a machine on offense.

Voice - Yeah, I haven't picked against Pittsburgh yet this year, but this looks like a nasty matchup.

Anonymous said...

Quote:
"The Sharks are lead by 17 (yes, seventeen) year veteran and career 46,000 (not a typo, either) yard passer Aaron Garcia."
However there is a typo in that it should be the Sharks are "led" by. The lead you have is a dull, malleable, dense metal which is poisonous to humans at high enough levels, or the present tense of led. Just saying. Hopefully Morelli at least gives the home crowd a game to watch.

PowerFan219A said...

While Garcia is a legend of the game, and looks poised to secure many/most of the 13 passing TDs he needs to hit the 1k mark, I think he may have some legal problems of his own.

I predict that Garcia, in an attempt to impress a girl, will inadvertently hack into a Department of Defense computer on its programmer's uber-admin account.

Instead of playing a nice game of chess, Garcia will demand to play a war simulation game. The computer, however, will trick two Global Superpowers that nuclear war is imminent, and the FBI will track down Garcia and put him in prison.

It will turn out OK, though, as Garcia will convince everyone that it really IS a simulation. However, the missed practice time and rushed travel time from Langley to Pittsburgh will keep him off his game.

None the less, offensive woes continue for the Power.

Sharks 52, Power 42

PowerFan219A said...

Can't believe I only made comment #5 on the game preview! Usually I'm earlier than that.

What happened is that I was at work, and I lead my team today in a team building event. It went over like a led balloon. Finally, my one employee got angry and yelled "I guess your right, you're managerial style MUST be the only way of doing things. If I were two take too sick days, would you fire me, to?"

Perry said...

@anonymous - Haha yeah... Typos do happen. Thanks for catching that.

@219 - You always have the most entertaining predictions.

Anonymous said...

hahahaha, PowerFan, very nicely done. I'm the anon. who wrote the other anon. comment. I saw your first "lead" and I was thinking, amazing. But what a gem you put out. So you're saying Garcia will still make the game and no outbreak of WWIII?

PowerFan219A said...

@anonymous: Yeah - I knew you weren't going all English teacher on us, so I figured I'd have some fun with it, too.

I say Garcia makes it, and WW III is averted at the last minute. Just to be safe, though, you'd best stay away from Las Vegas and Seattle.

@Perry: Thank you, I try!