Colorado Crush game notes
Published on March 19, 2007 under Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Colorado Crush News Release
Colorado Crush (2-1) at Philadelphia Soul (2-0)
Date: March 22, 2007
Kickoff: 5:00 p.m. MT
Site: Wachovia Center (17,597)
Television: ESPN2 (Mike Greenberg: play-by-play, Mike Golic: analyst)
Radio: AM 760 (Mark Johnson: play-by-play, Andy Lindahl: analyst)
Coaches: Mike Dailey, Colorado (101-65, 11th Yr)
Bret Munsey, Phila. (11-7, 2nd Year)
Officials: Referee: Tom McCabe
Umpire: Paul Frerking
Head Linesman: Rod Pearson
Line Judge: Bob McElwee
Back Judge: Tony Lombardo
Series Record: Colorado leads the all-time series 4-0
Colorado 40, @ Phila. 33 (3/21/04)
@ Colorado 58, Phila 40 (5/1/04)
@ Colorado 77, Phila. 56 (4/10/05)
Colorado 48, @ Phila. 38 (2/26/06)
THE GAME:
The Colorado Crush head out for their first road game of the season for a Week 4 encounter with the Philadelphia Soul on Thursday, March 22nd at 5:00 p.m. MT. The Crush-Soul Thursday night contest will be Colorado's first of five nationally televised games this season on ESPN.
Colorado holds a 4-0 edge in the Rock vs. Jock battle of Jon Bon Jovi against John Elway. This will mark the second straight season in which the Crush have traveled to the City of Brotherly Love after claiming a 48-38 victory last year on February 26, 2006. Colorado has won each of the previous contests by an average of 14 points.
The Crush will look to stay atop the Central Division and match a franchise best start at 3-1 (also in 2006 and 2004). But in order to do so, Colorado must stop a high powered Philadelphia offense that ranks first in the AFL averaging 66 points per game. The Crush currently hold the league's fourth ranked scoring defense only allowing 46 points per contest led by the AFL's leading tackler DB Rashad Floyd.
The Philadelphia Soul will be playing their first home game of the season following a Week 1 bye and road wins against Nashville and Grand Rapids. Philadelphia have never begun a season 3-0 and now must face their third straight opponent from the Central Division.
The Soul are led by QB Tony Graziani and DB Mike Brown. Graziani is an All-Arena passer having thrown for over 400 touchdowns throughout his seven-year career. Brown was named to the 2006 AFL All-Ironman Team and will find himself across the line from another AFL postseason award winner in 2005 & 2006 Offensive Player of the Year Damian Harrell. Last week against the Arizona Rattlers, Harrell had his best game of the season with 10 receptions for 154 yards and four first half touchdowns. In four games against the Soul, Harrell has recorded 31 catches for 430 yards and 10 touchdowns.
PRACTICE SCHEDULE:
Mon, Mar. 19- 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Practice at Mile High Racing
Tues, Mar. 20- 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Practice at Mile High Racing
Wed, Mar. 21- Travel to Philadelphia
Thurs, Mar. 22- Crush vs. Philadelphia Soul
5:00 p.m. MT @ Wachovia Center
ESPN2
Fri, Mar. 23- Travel back to Denver
Sat, Mar. 24- Players Off Day
Sun, Mar. 25- Players Off Day
Mon, Mar. 26- Players Off Day
THE SCHEDULE:
COLORADO CRUSH (2-1)
Date OPPONENT RESULT SCORE
Mar. 4 GRAND RAPIDS L 42-44
Mar. 10 KANSAS CITY W 44-40
Mar. 16 ARIZONA W 56-54
Mar. 22 @ Philadelphia
Apr. 1 NASHVILLE
Apr. 6 @ San Jose
Apr. 15 @ New York
Apr. 20 LAS VEGAS
Apr. 27 @ Kansas City
May 7 @ Chicago
May 11 @ Nashville
May 18 COLUMBUS
May 26 @ Grand Rapids
June 4 @ Utah
June 18 CHICAGO
June 25 DALLAS
CRUSH NEXT WEEK:
The Crush return to Pepsi Center for their fourth home contest in five weeks when they host division opponent the Nashville Kats on Sunday, April 1 at 1:00 p.m. MT.
Nashville is 1-2 on the season after capturing their first win of the year last week against the Utah Blaze. The Week 5 match-up will be the Kats first road game of the season. Colorado holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series with Nashville and won the last meeting 77-47 at Pepsi Center on April 1, 2006.
STATISTICS:
A look at how Colorado and Philadelphia match-up based on 2007 regular season statistics:
Statistical COLORADO PHILADELPHIA
Category Rank Stat Rank Stat
Scoring Offense 15th 47.3 1st 66.0
Scoring Defense 4th 46.0 3rd 35.0
Total Offense (yds/g) 10th 289.0 17th 255.5
Total Defense (yds/g) 5th 259.7 3rd 255.0
Pass Offense 6th 284.7 17th 229.0
Pass Defense 3rd 241.0 6th 249.0
Rushing Offense 19th 4.3 6th 26.5
Rushing Defense 10th 18.7 3rd 6.0
Passer Rating 9th 105.5 4th 126.8
Def. Passer Rating 12th 112.7 2nd 78.3
Kickoff Returns (y/rtn) 19th 8.3 T-6th 19.5
MFG Returns 1st 1-30 10th 2-11
Turnover Margin T-12th -2 1st +4
Field Goals 8th 3-6 17th 0-0
PATs T-1st 19-19 T-3rd 18-19
First Downs 6th 66 18th 35
Opp. First Downs 13th 62 2nd 38
3rd Down Conversion 16th 5-13 1st 8-10
4th Down Conversion T-1st 4-4 T-1st 1-1
Penalties (yds/g) 8th 42.0 4th 48.5
Sacks By 5th 3-11 4th 5-31
Sacks Against 5th 1-0 3rd 1-3
Time of Possession 17th 27:14 18th 25:54
Red Zone Offense T-15th 12-16 6th 8-9
Red Zone Defense 7th 13-16 2nd 5-8
CONNECTIONS:
Crush Executive VP Michael Young played wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1993 ... Soul OL/DL Dwayne Missouri played with Colorado in 2003 ... Philadelphia DL played his collegiate football at the University of Colorado.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS:
Jan. 10, 2007- Signed FB/LB Lyonel Anderson, DB Jammal Lord. Waived OL/DL Seante Williams.
Jan. 22, 2007- Signed DB James Taylor.
Jan. 31, 2007- Signed DB Jason Harmon.
Feb. 7, 2007- Signed DL Joe Massey, DL George Peterson, WR Brad Pyatt, LB Kelvin Robinson. Placed on Injured Reserve OL/DL Craig Heimburger. Placed on Physically Unable to Perform OL Brett Huyser. Placed on Refused to Report K Jason Ball, OL/DL Aaron Johnson.
Feb. 9, 2007- Signed QB Brandon Kirsch.
Feb. 13, 2007- Activated from Refused to Report K Jason Ball. Waived DB Bobby Antee.
Feb. 16, 2007- Placed on Injured Reserve WR/DB Robert Redd.
Feb. 19, 2007- Signed K Greg Kuehn.
Feb. 25, 2007- Activated from Injured Reserve WR/DB Robert Redd. Re-Signed WR Willie Quinnie and OL/DL Chris Watton. Placed on Injured Reserve OL Brett Huyser. Placed on Recallable Waivers WR Chauncey Stovall. Waived Injured FB/LB Lyonel Anderson, OL/DL Craig Heimburger and WR Jim Lukowiak. Waived FB Terrell Browden, FB/LB B.J. Dean, K Greg Kuehn, DB Jammal Lord, WR Triandos Luke, DL Joe Massey, DL Justin Parrish, DL George Peterson, LB Kelvin Robinson, DB James Taylor and DL Ed Wangler. Released QB Jose Davis and WR/DB Ahmad Hawkins.
Feb 26, 2007- Placed on Recallable DB Jason Harmon. Released WR/DB Willis Marshall and WR/LB Andy McCullough.
Feb, 27, 2007- Signed to the Practice Squad WR Chauncey Stovall.
Feb. 28, 2007- Recalled from Waivers DB Jason Harmon. Re-Signed OL/DL Kyle Moore-Brown and FB/LB Saul Patu. Placed on Recallable Waivers DL Quinn Dorsey.
March 2, 2007- Signed FB/LB Robert Thomas. Recalled from Waivers DL Quinn Dorsey. Placed on Injured Reserve DL Quinn Dorsey and DB Jason Harmon.
March 15- Signed DB Chris Angel. Placed DB Tony Scott on Injured Reserve.
THE CRUSH THIS SEASON ARE:
O H R
Overall Record 2-1 1-1 0-0
Overtime Games 0-0 0-0 0-0
Score first 2-1 2-1 0-0
Opponent scores first 0-0 0-0 0-0
Score 40+ points 2-1 2-1 0-0
Score less than 40 points 0-0 0-0 0-0
Games decided by 10+ pts 0-0 0-0 0-0
Games decided by 7 pts or less 2-1 2-1 0-0
Games decided by 3 pts or less 1-1 1-1 0-0
Lead at halftime 2-1 2-1 0-0
Trail at halftime 0-0 0-0 0-0
Are tied at halftime 0-0 0-0 0-0
Lead after 3rd quarter 2-1 2-1 0-0
Trail after 3rd quarter 0-1 0-1 0-0
Are tied after 3rd quarter 1-0 1-0 0-0
Lead time of possession 0-0 0-0 0-0
Trail time of possession 2-1 2-1 0-0
Positive turnover margin 0-0 0-0 0-0
Negative turnover margin 1-1 1-1 0-0
Even turnover margin 1-0 1-0 0-0
More total yards offense 1-1 1-1 0-0
Less total yards offense 1-0 1-0 0-0
On Fridays 1-0 1-0 0-0
On Saturdays 1-0 1-0 0-0
On Sundays 0-1 0-1 0-0
vs. American Conference 2-1 2-1 0-0
vs. Central Division 1-1 1-1 0-0
vs. Western Division 1-0 1-0 0-0
vs. National Conference 0-0 0-0 0-0
vs. Eastern Division 0-0 0-0 0-0
vs. Southern Division 0-0 0-0 0-0
HEAD COACHES:
MIKE DAILIEY, Colorado (101-65, 11th Year): Mike Dailey enters his fourth season in Colorado and 11th as head coach in the AFL, after becoming the Crush's second head coach on June 26, 2003. Dailey joined the Crush following 13 seasons in the Albany/Indiana Firebirds organization, including the final seven as head coach.
One of the most successful and well-respected coaches in AFL history, Dailey's teams have compiled an overall record of 101-65 record, a winning percentage of 60.8. His teams have also made eight postseason appearances and he has won five division titles and two championships. Following the Crush's 44-40 victory over Kansas City on March 10, 2007, Dailey became only the fourth head coach in AFL history to surpass the 100 win mark. He currently stands as the league fourth all-time winningest coach.
In his first season in Colorado, Dailey helped guide the Crush to the largest turnaround in AFL history, inheriting a 2-14 team and leading them to an 11-5 record in 2004. In 1999, Dailey led the Albany Firebirds to their only ArenaBowl championship and was named AFL Coach of the Year. Before being named head coach of the Firebirds in 1997, Dailey served as an assistant in Albany for five seasons.
Dailey began his AFL coaching career with the Washington Commandos where he served as offensive/defensive line coach in 1990. He joined the Firebirds organization in the same capacity in 1991.
Prior to the AFL, Dailey worked as an assistant coach at Towson State University and was the offensive coordinator at Montgomery College-Rockville (Md.). Dailey got his start in coaching in 1981 as a 22-year-old assistant at Georgetown Prep High School in Rockville, Md. The move to coaching followed a semi-pro football career in the Washington D.C. area.
All-Time Winningest AFL Coaches
Including Postseason
Rank Name-Team Wins
1. Tim Marcum- Tampa Bay 181
2. Danny White- Utah 150
3. Mike Hohensee- Chicago 108
4. Mike Dailey- Colorado 101
5. Darren Arbet- San Jose 94
6. Perry Moss- not active 86
7. Michael Trigg- not active 80
8. Jay Gruden- Orlando 78
BRET MUNSEY, Philadelphia (11-7, 2nd Year): Bret Munsey became the third head coach for the Philadelphia Soul and helped led them to their first postseason last year. He compiled a 9-7 regular season record for the first winning season in the Soul's three year history. Following the 2006 season, he received a two-year contract extension through the 2008 season.
Munsey, 38, came to the Soul after serving on Orlando's staff for three seasons under Jay Gruden. After joining the Predators in 2003 and serving as the team's offensive coordinator and wide receivers/defensive backs coach, he was promoted to assistant head coach in August of 2003. This role also included his director of player personnel and defensive coordinator roles throughout his final two seasons there.
In his role as defensive coordinator, Munsey organized Orlando's defensive game plans and served as defensive backs coach.
The Soul look to capitalize on Munsey's defensive knowledge. Philadelphia was the worst in the League against the run last season, allowing 576 yards. They also allowed the second most touchdowns in the League and made the least amount of tackles. Cutting down on stats like these are Munsey's top priority.
In his role as assistant head coach, Munsey handled several administrative duties for the Predators - including planning and conducting training camp, tryouts and player housing. He was also in charge of recruiting and handled contract compliance with the League.
In his first season with the Predators, Munsey served as offensive coordinator and coached the wide receivers and defensive backs.
Munsey came to the Predators from the Carolina Cobras, where he served as defensive coordinator.
Prior to his stint in Carolina, Munsey served as head coach and director of football operations for the Tennessee Valley Vipers of the af2, where he was named "af2 Coach of the Year" in a vote by his peers. Munsey began his coaching career with the Augusta Stallions of af2 in 2000 as defensive coordinator.
LAST TIME THESE TEAMS MET:
PHILADELPHIA (2/26/06) - The Colorado Crush (4-1) handed Philadelphia (3-2) their first home loss of the season, defeating the Soul falling 48-38 in front of 16,617 fans at the Wachovia Center.
The Soul's defense came out of the gate strong forcing the Crush to turn the ball over on downs on two of their first three possessions. Philadelphia capitalized on both stops and led 21-7 early in the second quarter. Soul Quarterback Tony Graziani was responsible for two of the scores, hitting both offensive specialist Marcus Knight and wide receiver/linebacker J.J. McKelvey for touchdowns. Fullback/linebacker Chad Dukes also rushed in from five yards out.
Colorado would tie the score at 21-21, when quarterback John Dutton found wide receiver/linebacker Willis Marshall from three yards out. The Soul took a 28-21 lead into halftime when wide receiver/defensive back Mike Brown ran it in from 13 yards out with 30 seconds left in the half. Colorado attempted to tie the score in the final seconds before defensive specialist Kevin Gaines intercepted Dutton's pass in the endzone. The pick moved him into fifth place on the all-time League interception list with 38.
The second half would prove to be the difference as Colorado outscored Philadelphia 27 to 10 including 14-3 in the final quarter. Crush offensive specialist Damian Harrell scored three of his four touchdowns in the half and Colorado's defense limited the Soul to only 98 yards of total offense. The Crush's offense was efficient on third and fourth downs going 3-of-4 while the Soul were 4-of-9 on those downs in the half.
The Crush entered Sunday's contest with the No.1 offense in the League, averaging 62 points per game. They beat the Soul by scoring most of their points through the air as Dutton was able to find Offensive Player of the Game Harrell for a game-high 11 receptions for 122 yards and four touchdowns. Dutton led the passing attack by completing 27-of-44 passes for 261 yards and six touchdowns despite one interception.
The Soul were led by Graziani who completed 20-of-35 passing for 198 yards and three touchdowns despite two interceptions. He connected with Knight nine times for 75 yards and one touchdown. McKelvey also registered four receptions for 71 yards and two touchdowns.
CRUSH LAST WEEK:
DENVER (3/16/07)- The Colorado Crush upped their record to 2-1 and dropped the Arizona Rattlers to 0-3 on the season with a 56-54 victory at Pepsi Center on Friday night. Arizona wide receiver Randy Gatewood's three-yard touchdown reception with 20 seconds remaining was not enough as the Crush held on for the win.
Offensive Player of the Game Damian Harrell hauled in four first half touchdowns for the Crush as Colorado never trailed in the contest. Harrell would also finish with a game-high 10 catches for 154 yards. The Crush defense played strong all night creating turnovers on an interception, a fumble and two Arizona four-and-out drives. Even when the Rattlers scored, the points were earned, as Colorado forced the Arizona offense into a 12-play drive in the fourth quarter.
Arizona cut the Colorado lead to one-point twice in the third quarter, 35-34 and 42-41, with scoring receptions by Rattler wide receiver Jeremiah Pope, but they would not come any closer.
THINGS TO WATCH:
YOUNG BLOOD:
The Colorado Crush took the field in Week 1 with four rookies on their active roster. Not since head coach Mike Dailey's arrival to Colorado in 2004 has he had that many first-year players on his Crush active roster to begin a season.
# OF ROOKIES ON ACTIVE ROSTER
2004- 4
2005- 0
2006- 2
2007- 4
LOCAL TIES:
This season the Crush have found a lot of good-young talent right in their back yard. Here is a list of players that have Colorado ties:
- DL QUINN DORSEY attended Manual High School in Denver.
- FB/LB ANTHONY DUNN attended Centauri High School in Manassa, CO and later played at the University of Northern Colorado.
- OL BRETT HUYSER played his collegiate football at the Air Force Academy.
- WR BRAD PYATT has played football at all three levels of his career in Colorado (Arvada West High School, Northern Colorado and the Crush).
BUILDING A WINNING TRADITION:
The Crush are the winningest team in the AFL regular season since head coach Mike Dailey's arrival, having tied for the league's best record in 2004 (11-5) and finishing with the American Conference's top seed in 2005 (10-6) and 2006 (11-5).
Team '04 '05 '06 '07 Total
Colorado 11 10 11 2 34
Orlando 10 10 10 2 32
San Jose 11 9 10 1 31
New York 9 10 10 0 29
Chicago 11 9 7 2 29
Tampa Bay 9 10 7 0 26
Los Angeles 9 10 5 1 25
HIGH FIVE:
For his career, WR Damian Harrell has racked up 11 games in which he has hauled in five touchdown receptions. Below is the AFL's all-time career 5-TD game list and the active players with 5-TD career games.
AFL's all-time career 5-TD games
21 Eddie Brown (not active)
20 Barry Wagner (not active)
12 Chris Jackson (GA)
11 Damian Harrell (Col)
AFL's active players career 5-TD games
12 Chris Jackson (GA)
11 Damian Harrell (Col)
8 Siaha Burley (Utah)
7 Marcus Nash (Dal)
6 Mike Horacek (NY) & Kevin Swayne (NY)
ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH:
After finishing their inaugural season 0-8 at home, the Crush are now 23-6 under Mike Dailey (2-1 in the postseason) at Pepsi Center. Two of the six losses consist of a field goal in overtime (42-45) vs. Indiana in 2004 and a 51-48 Chicago win in 2005 on a field goal with three seconds remaining.
LET'S MAKE IT THREE:
Last season, Colorado was the only team to repeat as a division champion. This year, they'll look to become the first team since the New York Dragons (2003-2005) to repeat as divisional champions in three consecutive seasons.
2005 2006
Central Division Colorado Colorado
Western Division Los Angeles San Jose
Southern Division Georgia Orlando
Eastern Division New York Dallas
HE KEEPS GOING & GOING & GOING....:
A true AFL Ironman, Kyle Moore-Brown is in his 13th season in the league and has never missed a game. ArenaBowl XIX marked his AFL record 176th consecutive start. The first 139 all came with the Firebirds organization before he signed with the Crush prior to the 2004 season.
AFL Record for Consecutive Games
Player (current team) Reg. Season Playoffs Total
Kyle Moore-Brown (Col) 177 19 196
AMONG THE BEST:
Here is a break-down on where some of the Crush players rank in the AFL in various categories this season:
PLAYER CATEGORY AFL RANK
K- Jason Ball
PAT % T-1st
PATs made 3rd
PATs attempts 7th
Scoring (Kickers) 4th
FB/LB- Anthony Dunn
Sacks 11th
QB- John Dutton
Completions 4th
Attempts 3rd
Passing TDs 5th
Passing Yards 6th
Interceptions T-1st
Total Offense 6th
DB- Rashad Floyd
Tackles 1st
WR- Damian Harrell
Scoring 6th
Receiving TDs T-3rd
A BROKEN RECORD:
WR Damian Harrell has caught a touchdown pass in an AFL record 68 straight regular season games, including all 65 games as a member of the Crush. That streak is also the longest active streak of consecutive games scoring a TD. He broke the record for consecutive games with a receiving touchdown on 4/3/05 in the win over Las Vegas and set the mark consecutive games with a TD on 3/4/07 vs. Grand Rapids. Harrell's streak began with the Toronto Phantoms vs. Carolina on 7/4/02.
AFL Consecutive Games with a TD Reception
Year (Week)
Player (team) Stk began Stk ended # Games
Damian Harrell (Tor/Col) 2002 (Wk 12) --- 68
Eddie Brown (Albany) 1997 (Wk 3) 2000 (Wk 1) 41
Eddie Brown (Albany) 1994 (Wk 1) 1996 (Wk 14) 33
AFL Consecutive Games Scoring a Touchdown
Year (Week)
Player (team) Stk began Stk ended # Games
Damian Harrell (Tor/Col) 2002 (Wk 12) --- 68
Eddie Brown (Alb/Ind) 1997 (Wk 3) 2002 (Wk 3) 65
Chris Jackson (LA) 2000 (Wk 1) 2003 (Wk 14) 47
Barry Wagner (Orlando) 1992 (Wk 10) 1996 (Wk 11) 43
Eddie Brown (Albany) 1994 (Wk 1) 1996 (Wk 14) 33
AFL Consecutive Games Scoring a Touchdown (Active)
Year (Week)
Player (team) Stk began Stk ended # Games
Damian Harrell (Tor/Col) 2002 (Wk 12) --- 68
Chris Jackson (LA/GR/Geo) 2005 (Wk 2) --- 29
STEEL CURTAIN:
After allowing 14 sacks in 2003 (12 on Dutton), the Crush pass protection has been stellar under head coach Mike Dailey.
The team allowed just four sacks in 2004, and none after Week 6. In 2005, Colorado allowed just six sacks, while holding 10 opponents sackless on the year.
Since 2004, the Crush have allowed just 17 sacks in their last 43 regular season games (total of 2,008 plays).
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