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| (photo credit: nbcsports1060.com) |
The last time the Portland Steel (0-3) and Arizona Rattlers (4-0) squared off, neither starting quarterback played in the fourth quarter. Through three quarters, Danny Southwick had four turnovers on the Portland side, while Nick Davila had five touchdowns for the Rattlers. The 80-28 Arizona win has held up as the largest margin of victory (52) so far this AFL season
Southwick is no longer with the team as a result of being released earlier this week. Davila has continued to show why he is the best quarterback in the game right now, leading the league’s top team. Portland visits Arizona at Talking Stick Resort Arena this Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Signing with the Steel this offseason to make his second
career stop in Portland, Southwick was being relied upon to give the offense a
boost. After three games of low productivity, he was released and Darron Thomas
was brought back to be the franchise’s starting quarterback for a second time.
He will make his 2016 debut against the Rattlers on Saturday.
While Portland has been toiling in quarterback mediocrity,
Arizona has had no such misfortune. Davila leads the league in completion
percentage (72%), and has thrown 25 touchdowns (second in the league)
to only two interceptions. In Arizona’s game last week, a 75-68 overtime victory
against the Jacksonville Sharks, Davila had 390 yards and eight touchdowns.
With a bye week last week, Portland has had two weeks to
game plan for Arizona. However, making a significant change at quarterback at
the start of this week instead of last week puts them at a disadvantage that
they are not in position to afford. The
superiority of Arizona should ring true again in another blowout victory.
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