AF1 Week 6: What We Learned

We had a busy Week 6 in the AF1!

We had a four game slate this past weekend with most teams in action with some pretty blowouts across the board & a game that had not 1 but 2 walkoff touchdowns.

It seems like this is Albany's world and we're just living, but what did we learn in Week 6?

Nashville Kats @ Washington Wolfpack

Result: 68-20 Nashville

What We Learned: Nashville continues to get better with QB Tyler Kulka & Washington continues to get worse?

Another week, another dose of #AF1AfterDark!

Nashville came into this game looking to build on their first win of the season and continue to grow their offense with QB Tyler Kulka at the helm..

..and KULKAMANIA WAS RUNNING WILD IN EVERETT, WA BROTHER!

Kulka is the guy for Nashville and really is the straw that stirs the drink for this offense, going 15/25 through the air for 181 passing yards & 5 TDs. WR Antwane Grant had multiple highlight reel catches in this one while hauling in 7 catches for 73 yards & 3 TDs, and the offense was able to lay it on the Washington defense in the second half. (The score was 19-14 at halftime -- Nashville outscored Washington 49 to 6 in the second half).

The Kats offense was also able to be intentional with running the ball, rushing it 11 times for 63 yards with 6 different ball carriers and was able to keep the Wolfpack defense on their toes and utilize the play action throughout.

This Kats offense looked fantastic and looked like a classic arena football offense and honestly gave me the feeling that Billings gave me last year... so take that how you will.

For Washington, they just seem to be getting worse on offense every week. I've made a big deal in these blogs about their playcalling and how they are wayyyyy too trigger happy with the long pass -- and they once again did that in this one.

In the first half, they ran a very balanced offensive attack and they were able to get some positive things going. But as soon as that second half came about, they abandoned all of that and immediately started calling long pass plays throughout the entire second half.

Over their past 3 games:

• vs Billings - 17 points in the first half, 6 points in the second half

• vs Corpus Christi - 15 points in the first half, 6 points in the second half

• vs Nashville - 14 points in the first half, 6 points in the second half

They are starting these games on a decent foot, but continuously fall apart in the second when they abandon what is working on offense. I made a thread on X going through more specifics of this below:

The short pass and screen game was working for the Wolfpack in the first half and was the only thing giving their offense life -- and they just.... abandoned it. The offensive line was/is very bad and only got worse when they started calling long passes every single play.

Offensive playcalling malpractice continues to plague this Wolfpack team and will continue to hold them back unless they learn to stick with what works and get the ball out of the QB's hands and away from the minefield that is that offensive line quickly.

Oregon Lightning @ Salina Liberty

Result: 47-32 Salina

What We Learned: Old habits die hard in Oregon & Salina FINALLY showed life on offense

The Oregon Lightning offense looked like they were showing signs of improvement over their recent games and starting to become more balanced -- so naturally they released the player that was helping them achieve balance (WR Tom Butters) and regressed back to being way too pass heavy.

sighs heavily and stares into the abyss

Oregon is another team that really struggles on the offensive line, and they were getting eaten up against this fierce Salina Liberty pass rush. QB Dalton Cole spent a lot of time picking himself up off the turf, but when he wasn't getting knocked down and getting up again -- he went 18/39 for 170 passing yards, 4 TDs & 1 INT.

I am begging Oregon to try to get RB Parker Lapsley involved in the running game and to achieve some type of balance on offense. Hell, even they would benefit from a Washington approach of mixing in a lot more screens and short passes to give Cole a fighting chance against the pass rush.

Oregon gets Washington next week in what will surely be the #AF1AfterDark arena football sicko special of the week.

For Salina, they finally broke the shackles of their offensive mediocrity and got their first win of the season! All it took was a new QB getting in the mix like SOMEBODY HAS BEEN YELLING FOR WEEKS AND WEEKS AND WEEKS.

Salina signed QB Rakeem Cato, who most recently played with Nashville earlier this year, and he was able to be a facilitator for this offense and get it to the playmakers.

RB Tracy Brooks exploded for his absolute best performance of the season so far, running the ball 15 times for 52 yards & 2 TDs, and WR Malik Honeycutt quickly developed a rapport with Cato to the tune of 4 catches for 59 yards & 3 TDs.

The offense was finally clicking and the defense was disruptive on that Oregon offensive line all game long. LB Kerry Starks & DL Henry Kellogg seemed to be getting into the backfield at will in this game.

THIS is the type of performance that this Salina team has been capable of all year if they had a QB that wouldn't sabotage their efforts every single week. Salina might have gotten the QB situation figured out just in time and will look to make a run to make up for lost ground

Southwest Kansas Storm @ Corpus Christi Tritons

Result: 47-40 Southwest Kansas

What We Learned: Southwest Kansas are the cardiac kings & Corpus Christi is still trending up despite the loss

I was chatting with an arena ball internet friend who wasn't terribly familiar with AF1, and he asked me "Have any of these games actually been close?" I paused, because there truthfully have not been very many close ones, and that made me realize that the majority of close games have some how involved the Southwest Kansas Storm:

• Walk off Hail Mary loss to Oregon

• The "somebody has to win this damn game" win against Salina

• Walk off Hook & Ladder win this week at Corpus Christi

What a thrilling / heartburn inducing season for Storm fans!

QB Jalen Morton had a massive bounce back game in this one, throwing 23/42 for 264 yards, 6 TDs, & 2 INTs -- and WR Shiloh Flanagan had quite a day with 9 catches for 120 yards & 2 TDs, including the walk off winner with no time left in regulation.

This was a refreshing performance from the Storm after that ugo game last week, and they are sitting pretty at 4-2 right now with a couple of big games against Nashville & Billings on the horizon.

For Corpus Christi, this loss should probably have an asterisk -- because as as Zach Keilman pointed out, that last play shouldn't have been allowed to even happen. But the Tritons looked good and this one and traded blows with the Storm all day long and even got the ground game going! RB Josiah King had 11 carries for 48 yards & 2 TDs, while QB Fred Payton Jr tacked on an additional 2 TDs as well. Payton Jr also had 212 yards passing and 2 TDs through the air, and was once again distributing the ball pretty well -- with 6 different receivers getting involved in the action.

They had a couple key turnovers that they will want back, but overall I really like how Corpus Christi is playing and how they have refined things and gotten better on offense each week. They look like a complete team with an opportunistic defense that will face it's biggest challenge of the season next week when Albany comes to town.

Billings Outlaws @ Albany Firebirds

Result: 39-7 Albany

What We Learned: This league is Albany Football One & Billings might be broken

Heading into these two games against Billings, everyone was licking their chops at how good these games could be. If they could even come close to replicating the intensity and drama of last season's two matchups, what a treat that would be for everyone.

Well, Albany came in and decided, "Nah, we're not gonna do all that. We're just gonna steamroll Billings, thank you."

Defense was a big point of emphasis this offseason when Coach Ware promoted Brandon Sesay to DC and brought in DB Derrick Jones, DL Ezekiel Rose, DL Harold Love & more to shore up this defensive unit -- and they have been extremely good this year, and especially good against Billings.

DB Derrick Jones had a Pick Six EARLY in the game to put Albany up 2 scores and it was 16-0 before some people even got to their seats at the arena. This defense disrupted QB Braden Wingle and threw off his game for a second consecutive week and this Outlaws offense just had no answer for anything. The pass rush was getting to Wingle, the secondary was making him hold on to the ball longer than he wanted -- it was just a defensive masterpiece from the Firebirds.

Oh yeah -- the Firebirds offense is pretty good too. WR Duane Brown had a hell of a game in his old stomping grounds with ______ and we had an Albany #BigManTD!

What a game from the Albany Firebirds.

For Billings, this offense just looks broken. Albany has a great defense, but the Billings should have been able to do much more in this game with what they have.

QB Braden Wingle held on to the ball for way too long all throughout the first half and they just couldn't seem to be able to do the basic fundamental things the right way. They were without RB Shawn McFarlane in this one, who plays a pivotal role in the offense, but it jsut doesn't excuse how poor the execution was. After halftime, Coach Cedric Walker was being interviewed before the second half kicked off and said "Our QB has gotta read what’s going on” in response to a question about what the offense has to do better -- which in coachspeak translates to "he's gotta figure his shit out ASAP".

For the second consecutive week the Outlaws turned to backup QB Danny Southwick in the second half, and you can't help but think that he is getting consideration for the starting nod for the next game. I would not be surprised if they bring another QB body in this week to see what they've got because this offense has bottomed out and needs to get back to what has worked for them with quick routes, establishing the run and the occasional deep ball to open things up.

What were your biggest takeaways from Week 6? Follow Off The Wall on Twitter/X, Instagram, TikTok & BlueSky and let me know!