2016 Week 11 Preview: Rattlers vs Steel

(photo credit: azrattlers.com)

On Saturday, the Portland Steel (1-8) travel to Phoenix to take on the Arizona Rattlers (7-3) in the third and final matchup between the two teams during the 2016 AFL season.

The Steel enter the game coming off of their first win of the season, a 68-35 dispatching of the Tampa Bay Storm. Arizona also has momentum from victory in their last outing, a 77-62 triumph over the Cleveland Gladiators.

In the first meeting between these two teams, Arizona notched an 80-28 win in the season opener for both teams, in Portland. The 80 points Arizona scored still remains the highest point total achieved by a single team in the league this season. (The 77 they scored last week is tied for second-most.)

Quarterback Nick Davila had five touchdowns through three quarters and was able to sit out the entire fourth quarter with the game out of reach. In their second meeting, Arizona defended their home turf with an equally-dominant 68-21 win.

This time, Davila put up seven touchdowns while completing 14 of just 18 total passes. Rattlers receiver Rod Windsor has been unstoppable as well, compiling 12 receptions, 177 yards, and seven touchdowns in those two games, almost outscoring the Steel all by himself.

The Steel are a different-looking team since then, though. New quarterback Shane Austin has been lighting opponents up in a way previous Steel quarterbacks could only dream of. In his four games with the team, Austin has 958 yards and 19 touchdowns, only one less than the other three Portland signal-callers had combined for in the teams first five games. In last week’s game against Tampa Bay, Austin threw for five touchdowns and no interceptions.

Arizona is not Tampa Bay, however. Austin will have his work cut out for him, while Davila and Windsor will be riding high on the confidence they’ve accumulated against Portland. Expect another rout at Talking Stick Resort Arena this week, beginning at 9 p.m. ET and available for viewing on ESPN3.