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1) Chicago Rush (1-0) (LW: 2): The defense dismantled the SaberCats in Week 1, and the offense took care of the rest. This team is all-around the team to beat, and their defense will be what drives them. While the offense might have looked like it still lacks some experience together, an important note is that practically the entire offense is new to Chicago. Expect huge plays from DeJuan Alfonzo on defense, similar to the ones that earned him Week 1 Ironman of the Week honors, to compliment the electrifying catches from WR Damian Harrell on offense.
2) Philadelphia Soul (1-0) (LW: 4): QB Tony Graziani and WR Chris Jackson together again proved successful in Week 1 for the Soul. The overall performance of Philadelphia should be what keeps this team in control of whether it wins or loses this season. We will learn if the nine touchdown passes by Graziani against Orlando were either a mirage or a formality after their Week 2 matchup with the No. 1 Rush. While overall the Rush might be the more complete team, the question is how will the Soul offense perform against the Rush defense.
3) Dallas Desperados (1-0) (LW: 3): The unknown status of QB Clint Dolezel should cause concern for Dallas. While they have the tools to still win in 2008, they just might not finish with only one loss. Dolezel was exceptional finishing the game against Georgia with a separated shoulder but just who will step in? In terms of their schedule, three of the next five games are against divisional opponents. Fortunately, their first game against rival Philadelphia will not be until Week 9. Up next for the Desperados is a rematch of last year's divisional round playoff loss against the Columbus Destroyers.
4) Los Angeles Avengers (1-0) (LW: 5): Sonny Cumbie guided this team to a win in Week 1, and while his play was not pretty, the team effectively defeated the VooDoo. The defense for the Avengers showed up, practically shutting down the VooDoo offense in the second half. This team rebounded from the opening kickoff, and if kickoff returns for touchdowns have shown anything in football over the past several years (Super Bowl XLI Chicago Bears vs. Indianapolis Colts, and the 2007 BCS Game: Florida vs. Ohio State) the team that allows that return ends up doing quite well.
5) San Jose SaberCats (0-1) (LW: 1): The defending ArenaBowl champions showed up for part of the game Monday evening, but the loss to the Rush exposed a number of weaknesses for the SaberCats. The turnovers by San Jose will most assuredly go down as the season continues, and while it was obvious if you looked at WR James Roe¡¯s face in the second half, he knows that he cannot make numerous mistakes if this team is going to be successful.
6) Colorado Crush (1-0) (LW: 8): QB John Dutton will not need Harrell to succeed in 2008, as he showed against the Destroyers. WR Ben Nelson and WR Willie Quinnie will be vital to the Crush's success for the 2008 season. The Crush¡¯s placement in the Power Poll will not be tested this week (bye), but will be when they against a Dolezel-less Desperados in Week 3. This game will help to provide a better analysis of the Crush defense.
7) Tampa Bay Storm (1-0) (LW: 6): The team showed that it is more then just QB Brett Dietz in Week 1, as FB Torrance Marshall rushed for four touchdowns. The concern should be that the team was evenly matched with Kansas City in Week 1, and the Brigade are nearly not as good as the Storm. The fact that they only had 36 offensive plays in the game, Dietz¡¯s only two touchdown passes came in the fourth-quarter, simply no one would expect in Arena Football, especially from the 2007 Co-Rookie of the Year.
8) Georgia Force (0-1) (LW: 7): QB Chris Greisen and the Force seem to have answered many of the problems that might have surfaced during the offseason. WR Brent Morris seems to have filled the void left by Chris Jackson who went to Philadelphia. While it was only one game, Greisen was one of the top fourth-quarter quarterbacks in Week 1, which is vital as the season plays on.
9) Cleveland Gladiators (1-0) (LW: 14): In the return of Arena Football to Cleveland, QB Raymond Philyaw and the Gladiators did not disappoint. Their performance coupled with the electric crowd will hopefully be a common event throughout the 2008 season. Their next three games against Utah, Columbus, and New Orleans, will set them up nicely for a showdown with Dallas.
10) Arizona Rattlers (1-0) (LW: 15): With or without a missed field goal by Utah to end the game, this Rattlers squad showed a lot more promise then expected. Minus their prized acquisition WR Siaha Burley, QB Lang Campbell had one of the top performances by a quarterback in Week 1. The fact that WR Kevin Nickerson, WR Jerrian James, and WR Trandon Harvey were able to spread the load without Burley, shows that the Rattlers might not need to rely on Burley as much as originally expected.
11) Columbus Destroyers (0-1) (LW: 10): QB Matt Nagy led an almost completely new Destroyers team against the Crush, and while they came close to winning, this team will be competitive in 2008. It seemed as if Nagy and WR Derek Lee rekindled the chemistry they had in Georgia. An early question mark should be at the kicker position, as 2007 Kicker of the Year Mark Lewis missed all three field goal attempts, and missed two extra point attempts.
12) Orlando Predators (0-1) (LW: 12): At least the offense for Orlando is on the same page, which is a good thing. As Utah showed in 2007, a team does not need a dominant defense as long as the offense can score points, to make the playoffs. QB Shane Stafford¡¯s eight touchdown passes in Week 1 will do just that, and this week's game against the VooDoo should be another showcase for this offensive juggernaut.
13) Grand Rapids Rampage (0-0) (LW: 13): This power poll would lose validity if Grand Rapids were to move up or down in the poll without playing a game, so they remain at number 13, but as previously stated their first two games in a five-day span will provide a nice measuring stick as to how they will perform.
14) Kansas City Brigade (0-1) (LW: 11): The Brigade performed well in the first game at the Sprint Center, but came up short of the win. QB John Fitzgerald did not appear as rusty as one might expect, the question is whether or not this will continue. This week¡¯s game against New York should be able to show whether or not this was a one week comeback or if Fitzgerald will be one of the above-average quarterbacks in 2008.
15) Utah Blaze (0-1) (LW: 9): In his analysis of the loss to Arizona, Head Coach Danny White said to Loren Jorgensen of the Deseret Morning News that: ¡°"There's a long list of things" that went wrong, White said. "We can't miss extra points. We can't miss field goals. We can't have high snaps on the field goal to end the first half. There are a lot of things to correct." As long as White feels this way, suffice it to say that not only will the Blaze be practicing extra hard this week for the game against Cleveland, but more importantly that they need to correct the simple mistakes before they are ranked higher in the Power Poll. A side-note, is that QB Joe Germaine only threw fewer then his 31 attempts once in the 2007 season.
16) New York Dragons: (0-1) (LW: 17): Last week I started my analysis of New York by stating ¡°While a healthy QB Aaron Garcia has driven the Dragons ability to win,¡± well the yin to that yang is that an unhealthy Garcia has led the Dragons to not win. While the belief still stands that playing two additional divisional games, in a difficult division, does result in an abysmal record for the last-place finisher in that di
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