What a phenomenal weekend of football in the IFL. We had the highest scoring game of the season go down in Prescott, AZ, we have some offenses getting scorching hot at the right time, we have some teams retooling for a playoff run and somehow Tulsa’s offense might be good again?
This league always provides and is always a thrillride through the entire weekend. The playoff picture got a litttttttle more clear after this weekend but is still going to be a mad dash to the end — especially in the West.
Top 4 teams in each Conference make it to the playoffs:
Jacksonville, Tucson & Duke City are the only teams mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. The East is looking like it is going to be Green Bay, Frisco, & two out of the following four teams: Massachusetts, Quad City, Tulsa, Iowa. (Most like like Mass & QC).
The West is a damn gauntlet and we are going to have a VERY good team not make the playoffs. The fact that an 8-5 team is currently out of the playoff picture in the West but would be 3rd in the East right now is pretty wild to think about.
But there is still a LOT of football left to be played and so much can happen over these next 4 weeks.
Here’s what we learned about these teams THIS week:
Massachusetts Pirates @ Jacksonville Sharks
Result: 44-30 Massachusetts
What We Learned: Pirates snapped out of their funk & Jacksonville fans are paying for their decade of success prior to joining the IFL
This wasn’t the most exciting Massachusetts Pirates game of the year, but it was an effective one that they very desperately needed to win. RB Jimmie Robinson had a very impactful game, tallying 109 rushing yards on 17 carries — getting a cool 6.4 YPC in the process.
QB Alejandro Bennifield played a very solid game with 5 total TDs (3 pass & 2 rush) and kept things flowing well on offense. Pirates didn’t have to do much in this one and played it safe the majority of the game and got a much needed victory.
The Pirates defense has been playing really great football all year and they just need the offense to step their game up and keep showing up.
On the other side, Jacksonville fans are paying for their decade plus of success all in one miserable, no good year. For those that don’t know, prior to joining the IFL Jacksonville was the model of consistency for arena & indoor football — competitive every year while winning 3 NAL Championships since 2017.
They’ve developed a great fanbase over that time and they are being put through the wringer with how bad this team is this year. The Sharks currently rank last in the IFL in scoring offense and 2nd to last in scoring defense.
The Pirates have a great defense and the youth and inexperience of the Sharks offense was very, very exposed in this one. Fred Payton Jr finished the game going 14/32 for 158 passing yards & 2 TDs & an INT and the offense yet again seemed to be playing with a lid on top of it and barely hit 30.
They’ve built, destroyed & rebuilt midseason already and it wouldn’t surprise me to see more young guys hit the field for them in the final quarter of the season.
Tulsa Oilers @ Iowa Barnstormers
Result: 54-48 Tulsa
What We Learned: The Iowa QB carousel continues & Tulsa might be good again?
“Life is a like a box of Tulsa Oilers, you never know what you are going to get” - Forrest Gump (if he watched the IFL) they can't all be winners, folks
Don’t look now, but this Tulsa team might be turning a corner. In the last three games, this Tulsa offense, which was previous DEAD-DEAD, has score 45, 55 & 54 points.
QB Andre Sale continues to get better every week, as he accounted for 6 total TDs (4 passing, 2 rushing) and the Oilers got Jarrod Ware involved on the ground with 9 carries for 52 yards & a TD. They need to continue to keep him involved and get him at least 10-15 touches per game moving forward.
Tulsa sits at 5-8 with their final 3 games all at home against current playoff teams in the East — including the current 3 and 4 seeds. The Oilers are looking frisky at the right time and have a shot at sneaking in to the postseason! Did I seriously just type that sentence?
On the other side, Iowa was swinging for the fences and either hitting home runs or striking out. This was a big revenge game for Daniel Smith, taking on his former team from earlier this year, and it almost seemed like he was trying to do too much. He had 2 early interceptions that ended up getting him pulled, but backup QB Brandon Alt could not get much more going either.
Barnstormers ended up with 6 passing TDs, but also had 4 INTs. Darren Wilson impressed with several phenomenal catches and ended the day with 7 receptions for 91 yards & 3 TDs.
Iowa must win the rest of their games to have an outside chance at the playoffs, but I honestly just don’t see that happening.
Green Bay Blizzard @ Quad City Steamwheelers
Result: 37-27 Quad City
What We Learned: Quad City retooled on defense and looks GOOD & Green Bay is starting to fumble the number one seed
Quad City came out in this game and smacked Green Bay in the mouth from the opening whistle and just furthered the confusion around the duality of this Steamwheelers team.
At home, Quad City is 5-2 with victories over the top 3 seeded teams in the Eastern Conference, all while averaging 45.9 PPG.
On the road, Quad City is 1-4 with their lone win being a 3 point victory of 3-9 Sioux Falls while averaging 34.8 PPG.
They looked good in this one, specifically on defense, but they only have one more home game left and it is looking like their entire playoff run (assuming they make it) is gonna be on the road.
The newest additions to the defense LB Bubba Arslanian & DB Drake Statham played great games in this one, with Arslanian accounting for 15 tackles & a FR recovery and Stratham playing tight, physical coverage all game — nearly getting a FR for a TD as well. WR Ka’ron Ashley had a great day as well, hauling in 3 TD catches.
I would have really liked to see more PJ Vander rushes (I’m a broken record I know) but Quad City needed this one badly and they got it.
On the other side, Green Bay sort of had a repeat performance of their game against Massachusetts a few weeks back -- but this time couldn’t pull off the full comeback at the end.
They started off very slow with a turnover on downs and a FG while their opponent cashed in TDs on their opening drive — putting the Blizz behind the eight ball a bit and throwing off their schedule. Green Bay didn’t make any terrible mistakes like interceptions or fumbles, but had multiple turnovers on downs that just killed their momentum multiple times.
WR Harry Ballard had himself quite a day with 7 catches for 111 yards and DB Ravarius Rivers continued his DPOY campaign with 6 tackles and another interception, but Green Bay just ran out of gas in this one.
They drop to 10-3 and are now tied with Frisco record wise for the top seed. There is a very real chance that Frisco leapfrogs Green Bay for the one seed and Green Bay would have to travel to Frisco for a rematch against a pissed off Fighters team WITH a healthy TJ Edwards & a lethal rushing attack. Woof.
Bay Area Panthers @ Duke City Gladiators
Result: 34-32 Bay Area
What We Learned: Daquan Neal reminded us he’s pretty damn good & Duke City is fiesty!
Bay Area got off to a VERY rough start to this one, with Turnovers on Downs & a missed FG in the first half and were actually TRAILING Duke City at halftime 24-14. But then Bay Area seemingly remembered that they are Bay Area and bossed up for the second half.
Daquan Neal finished the game with 19 carries for 85 rushing yards & 5 TDs, but also didn’t have any interceptions or fumbles in the game. He distributed the ball pretty evenly to his receivers (5 for Stokes, 5 for Tomas, 2 for Peterson) and this would have been much closer to the spread of Bay Area -14 if they got off to even a slightly better start.
DB Antwon Kincade had another stellar game on defense, totaling 6.5 tackles, 2 TFLs & 2 Sacks on the day. He’s in the running for an All-IFL team appearance at the end of the season after making the All-Rookie team in 2023.
On the other side, Duke City looked good again in a tight game with a really, really good Bay Area team. QB Hasan Rogers got the start from the beginning in this one and was very effective with the ball and didn’t make any critical mistakes with the ball, with 3 Passing TDs & 10 rushes for 47 rushing yards.
They scored on every possession of the first half and were in a good spot to potentially upset the Panthers, but Bay Area ended up making some adjustments on defense that Duke City just had no answer for in the second half.
Duke City just ran out of time here. With the new head coach and some of the new blood they have in the mix, this team is still out there competing despite their record and continue to be a much tougher draw for teams that you would think.
Next week vs Tucson is going to be their best chance to get another win before the season is up and I would not be shocked at all to see them get it.
Sioux Falls Storm @ Frisco Fighters
Result: 55-40 Frisco
What We Learned: Sioux Falls is dead & Frisco is going to run the ball and there is nothing you can do about it
Heading into this game, Sioux Falls had the best running defense in the league — only giving up 55 yards per game on the ground. But then they met the buzzsaw that is the Frisco Fighters offense and things escalated QUICKLY.
37 rushes (!!) for 176 yards (!!!) & 7 TDs (!!!!) between QB TJ Edwards, RB Martez Carter & RB Justin Rankin. HOLY MOLY.
37 rushing attempts is insane. 176 rushing yards (4.8 YPC) is equally insane.
When the SEVEN rushing TDs is the most sane part of your stat line, that’s how you know the offense had themselves quite a day. The Frisco rushing attack is so dangerous with the addition of Justin Rankin (friend of the show and first ever guest on Off The Wall) and they are going to be a TOUGH outing for anybody in the playoffs.
Major shoutout to DB Tyrell Pearson as well in this one, coming up with 3 INTs on the day and really shutting down Sioux Falls in the second half. Mix in a Green Bay loss this week and Frisco is back in the mix for the number one seed in the East.
On the other side, Sioux Falls really needed to win out to give themselves a fighting chance to make the playoffs and they just shot themselves in the foot one too many times. They got hot right before and right after halftime and scored 17 unanswered points, but just collapsed in the second half.
On defense, Sioux Falls had a couple stand out performances from LB Amin Black, DB Kendricks Gladney Jr & DB Elijah Reed, who had busy days trying to stop Frisco’s rushing attack.
The worst season in Sioux Falls history continues to get worse and I would expect to see some changes in roster personnel over these last few weeks to give some more young guys some tape and potentially be an extended tryout for next season.
Arizona Rattlers @ Vegas Knight Hawks
Result: 55-51 Vegas
What We Learned: Ja’Rome Johnson is BACK & Arizona is not a team you want to face in the playoffs… if they make it.
We had a couple week stretch there where we weren’t entirely sure what was going on in Vegas with the QB situation. Was Johnson hurt? Did they just prefer to give Reyna a spin for a couple games? Not a lot of insight was provided, but this game was a big time WELCOME BACK moment for QB Ja’Rome Johnson.
Johnson tallied 8 total TDs on the day (4 passing, 4 rushing) and really kept Vegas’ foot on the gas towards the end to pull away from Arizona off of some late turnovers. Vegas’ DB James Ceasar had an Interception of the Year nominee late in the 4th (his 6th INT of the year) and Johnson immediately ripped a 45 yard TD run to capitalize.
THIS looked like the Vegas Knight Hawks team that we saw in the first 7 weeks of the season looks like they are getting back into form at the perfect time with a couple weeks left in the season.
On the other side, Arizona played really well in this game on offense — they just had a costly turnover late in the game and couldn’t get a stop on defense to counter it.
Rattlers QB Dalton Sneed ended with 258 passing yards and 3 TDs, but did have 2 INTs. Shannon Brooks had FOUR rushing TDs on the day and the offense was clicking aside from those 2 INTs. They were stretching the field with deep and intermediate passes and look to get WR Glen Gibbons back off of IR just in time for the playoffs.
Assuming Arizona can make it in, I would not want to play this team in playoffs. Dalton Sneed has been throwing the ball really well and RB Shannon Brooks is a touchdown magnet in the red zone. Defense is still the concern for them, but they can get in a shootout with any team in the league.
San Diego Strike Force @ Tucson Sugar Skulls
Result: 41-40 San Diego
What We Learned: San Diego refuses to play a normal game & Tucson continues to shuffle the deck
Good news: San Diego won a close game!
Bad news: This should not have been a close game.
San Diego came into this game far and away the better team in the matchup and much higher stakes. Strike Force are in a competitive playoff chase and needed this one badly, Tucson is eliminated from the playoffs and just going through the motions.
Nate Davis ended up with 5 TD passes, where he found WR Isiah Cox for 3 of those. But the offense had 2 Turnover on Downs in the first half & 2 bad INTs in the second half, and were fortunate to be in a position to come back late in the game.
A special shoutout to the San Diego defense — they have 22(!!) INTs on the year and has had a MASSIVE turnaround from 2023. They only had EIGHT all of last season and have nearly tripled that with a few games to go. Can’t say enough about the job that Coach Jason Simpson & Coach Kendall Mooney have done in San Diego this season.
On the other side, Tucson switch things up again this week with a handful of releases and signings, including the starting QB for this week: Kenyatta Allen. Allen has international playing experience (most recently in the LFA in Mexico) and they immediately took advantage of his athleticism in Coach Billy Back’s system and got him going early.
Tucson was up 34-19 at one point in the 2nd half, but just had too many turnovers late that allowed SD to get back in the game and steal the victory. Allen looked great on some designed QB runs, but he seemed off with his teammates throwing the ball — which isn’t surprising considered he was signed days before the start — and borderline reckless with it.
Next week Tucson gets Duke City — who they beat earlier in the season — but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Duke City be favored heading into Week 16.
San Antonio Gunslingers @ Northern Arizona Wranglers
Result: 74-68 Northern Arizona
What We Learned: NAZ QB Joshua Jones is a lock for IFL Offensive Rookie of the Year & San Antonio needs to play defense just once…please.
This game was straight up fun as hell to watch. The O/U for this game was 102 and they absolutely shattered that in the highest scoring game in the IFL this season!
Starting with Northern Arizona, this game was an absolute masterpiece by QB Joshua Jones racking up 19/25 for 222 passing yards & 6 TDs, 10 rushes for yards & 2 TDs. Just crazy numbers that should have the IFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award locked up for him.
He was able to find WR John Maldonado all day when he needed a big play, connecting 8 times for 112 yards and 4 TDs. Granted, it was the Gunslingers, who have the worst defense in the league by far, but Wranglers looked great in this one.
Northern Arizona leapfrogged back into 3rd place in the playoff picture with the win and need to keep winning to stay there.
On the other side, San Antonio very nearly pulled this one off. Sam Castronova is typically the star on offense for the Gunslingers, but in this one RB Keyshawn Harper really shined bright with 9 carries for 98 yards (!!) & 4 TDs. He was so efficient it is shocking that he didn’t get more touches in the game.
In a quiet game by his standards, Castronova still accounted for 5 total TDs (2 passing, 3 rushing) and over 180 passing yards — but failed to connect on the final 3 plays of the game. All San Antonio needed was three yards for a first down to keep things moving but they kept taking shots to the end zone and overthrew their receivers every time. They had time to get the first, kill the clock and regroup, but they opted not to.
They have a tough road ahead with 3 of their final 4 games going against teams currently in the playoff hunt. They will need a TON of help to get back into the playoff picture at this point, but they have the firepower on offense to keep them in every game that lies ahead.