The only football game worth a darn on New Year's Day.
Tonight the undefeated Dallas Desire travel to the ShowareCenter in Seattle to face a Mist team that is fighting to earn a spot in the play-offs.
This game will answer several questions about the playoff picture that’s developing in the LFL.
The first question is “Is Dallas for real?” So far, Dallas has faced a struggling San Diego club and a struggling Denver team and walked away with convincing wins in both cases.The best test came against a quality Los Angeles team in October that featured a very capable Dallas quarterback named Linda Brenner, who is proving that she’s comfortable dropping back and working her receivers deep and in the flats.She completed a 36-yard pass to Amber Ryan and set up two scores by her runningback Candis Mosley.She’s also peppered passes to a speedy Shannon A’se and record-setting long jumper Gabrielle Marie.On the ground, Mosley is getting the job done well enough that the line can’t just peel back into coverage.They have to respect the Dallas running attack.
Linda Brenner, Candis Mosely, Amber Ryan, and Gabrielle Marie
The second question that tonight’s game will answer is “Does Seattle deserve to be in the playoffs?”So far Seattle has relied heavily on its running game offensively, giving the bulk of the workload to Lindsey Blaine, who is proving that she can move the pile on short yardage plays, and to Kerry Warren and Katie Ryckman, two former rugby players who aren’t afraid to take a hit and run right through it, to make the long yardage plays.Blaine, Ryckman, and Warren are also the heart of the Mist defense, with Blaine controlling the center of the line and Ryckman and Warren deployed out on the corners.
Lindsey Blaine, Katie Ryckman, and Kerry Warren
This brings up the third question. “Can Seattle play defense?”Right now the best defense in the league belongs to Tampa.The Breeze don’t have a premier player, but what they do have is a core group led by Tiffani Powers, Brandyce Lee, and Alexis Heyman that plays well together.Tampa is proving that defense is a team effort, particularly in a league that favors the offense. With four dangerous Dallas receivers and three capable Seattle defenders, that means that at least one Mist defender is going to have to step up her game in single coverage calls or else Brenner is going to burn her all night long, and that means points on the board for Dallas.The fact that Blaine does such a good job bottling up the middle of the line means that the Mist secondary really hasn’t been tested.Tonight, they will be.
Offensively, it’s no secret that Seattle will run. It’s also no secret that Dallas will throw.What will be a secret is how each team will try to take advantage of its’ opponent’s weaknesses while covering its own.Tonight, the deciding factor will be which relatively unknown player can step up her game the most, and become that player that forces the other team to switch its defensive coverage.I call them “secret superstars”, and the most likely candidates will be Crystal London for Dallas (who shouldn't be much of a secret anymore with the numbers she's been putting up), and Kendra Berlin for Seattle.
Crystal London of Dallas and Kendra Berlin of Seattle
Because Seattle has more on the line than Dallas, and because Seattle is at home, I'm giving the win to the Mist on this one, even though I believe Dallas is the stronger team on paper.
I also think Chicago will be paying very close attention to this game, because there is a very good chance that it will be facing one of them in the championship game in Miami.
Written by twhigham, Friday January 01 2010
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