It’s time to stop the bleeding.
The Pittsburgh Power (3-3) return home this week to take on the Philadelphia Soul (3-3) in a key divisional matchup. The Power are in the middle of a two-game losing streak that saw them lose on the road to both of the league’s undefeated teams. Philadelphia is riding a three-game winning streak after an 0-3 start. Pittsburgh will be looking for their first win over Philadelphia at home in franchise history.
Power quarterback Tommy Grady has to shake off his worst performance of the season and get ready to attack the Soul while possibly missing his top two receiving options. Wide receiver Aaron LeSue was placed on injured reserve this week and likely will miss the remainder of the season. Another star receiver Prechae Rodriguez continues to recover slowly from a high ankle sprain he suffered against San Jose.
Expect to see Shaun Kauleinamoku see a majority of the receptions this week. The Power will also rely more on two receivers who have recently joined the team. Rodney Wright, signed two weeks ago, has done a good job getting open downfield in his last two games and will need to build a rapport with Tommy Grady. Hank Edwards, signed this week, could also see a lot of action. James Shaw and Tyrone Goard are the other receiving options.
Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh has won two straight offensive player of the week awards and has been rolling. He’ll be focused on avoiding Virgil Gray, who always seems to make a big interception against Raudabaugh. Anthony “Tiger” Jones once again leads the Soul attack as their deep threat with 42 catches for 494 yards and 16 touchdowns. Ryan McDaniel is another strong playmaker and leads the team in receptions with 48 for 632 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The aforementioned Virgil Gray is looking for his first interception in three weeks and could provide a huge boost to the Power by forcing some turnovers. The Power pass rush needs to take advantage of the season ending injury to all-arena center Brennen Carvalho and put Raudabaugh under pressure. Getting James Bryant back for this matchup would be a big boost if he is able to go.
Philly’s defensive backs are led by all-arena defensive back Rayshaun Kizer who leads the team in tackles and has 10 pass breakups so far this season. He’s still looking for his first interception of 2014. The Soul’s starting jack linebacker Joe Goosby, who leads the team with two interceptions, is currently on inactive reserve so his status for this week’s game remains up in the air. Watch out for James Romain and former Power defensive back LaRico Stevenson in the Soul secondary. Nose guard Ted Jennings leads the Soul with 4.5 sacks and defensive end T.J. Langley has added 3.5 sacks this year. Both will look to put the pressure on Tommy Grady.
Both teams are trying to gain the inside track for one of the two wild card slots with Cleveland three games ahead of them in the standings. A win this week would really boost the playoff chances of the victor. Kickoff is at 7 PM Saturday night at the Consol Energy Center. For ticket information visit www.pittsburghpowerfootball.com.
Photo Courtesy of Pittsburgh Power Facebook/Jeffrey Gamza
