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2000 Season Game 6 (5/20/00): Albany vs Arizona |
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No smoke, no fire
ALBANY -- The performance was so inexplicably bad that Albany Firebirds quarterback Mike Pawlawski, normally the most loquacious of men, struggled to find words to explain it.
The result was so miserable, Firebirds coach Mike Dailey said that he's considering not showing the game film to his players this week -- which would be a first -- because he sees nothing redeeming in it.
The Arizona Rattlers jumped to a 42-0 lead, holding the defending Arena Football champion Firebirds scoreless in a half for the first time in franchise history, en route to a 59-35 victory before a stunned crowd of 9,725 at Pepsi Arena.
"They beat our rear ends,'' Dailey said. "We helped them, but they still beat our rear ends. Down 42-0 seems pretty bleak. We've started off slow the last few weeks. We started off slow tonight, and Arizona's a good football team. I don't have an answer for the 'whys' right now. I wish I did.''
The 24-point loss was the Firebirds' second-worst ever at Pepsi Arena, surpassed only by a 29-point drubbing against the Detroit Drive in the franchise's inaugural season of 1990. It tied for Albany's fifth-worst defeat ever.
"How do you summarize that?'' Pawlawski said. "I can't. What the hell. It's the worst game I've been a part of as a Firebird. We had a lot of physical mistakes. It's not championship-caliber football. No way.''
The Firebirds dropped to 4-2 and into a tie with New England for first place in the Eastern Division. Meanwhile, Arizona (5-1) overcame a traveler's nightmare, as it was forced to fly on game day after weather-related problems left the team stranded Friday in Chicago.
The Rattlers didn't arrive until 2:30 p.m. Saturday, only five hours before kickoff. Arizona coach Danny White said it was an example of players bonding together against adversity, a reversal from last season, when the Firebirds beat Arizona 59-54 with Pawlawski sidelined by a bleeding ulcer.
"It's an amazing study in psychology to have that kind of trip and that kind of adversity and come out and play that way,'' White said. "Maybe part of it was the fact that the Firebirds knew we'd had a long weekend, and didn't come out with the kind of intensity they normally would, and then it was our guys just executing. The way to overcome the things you can't control is to execute.''
Firebirds lineman Jon Krick said the team didn't know about Arizona's travel problems until shortly before kickoff, and Dailey said he never raised the issue with his players.
Pawlawski had one of his poorest games as a Firebird. The league's top-rated passer completed only half of his attempts (16 of 32) for 212 yards and had a few passes batted down at the line of scrimmage by Arizona's linemen.
Firebirds wide receiver Greg Hopkins had his own problems with dropped passes and became a target of Firebirds' fans, who gave him a mock cheer in the second quarter when he caught an 8-yard pass with the Firebirds trailing 28-0. He ended with five catches for 50 yards and a touchdown.
The Firebirds didn't score a touchdown in the first quarter for the fourth time in five games and trailed 35-0 at halftime, the first time they'd ever gone scoreless in a half.
"It was a lack of focus,'' said a somber Hopkins. "That's about the only thing I can put it.''
Pawlawski was inaccurate from the start, throwing three straight incompletions intended for Hopkins on Albany's first drive. On the third pass, Hopkins dropped a would-be first-down conversion, summing up his miserable first half.
Pawlawski was 6 of 20 for 74 yards and an interception in the first half. When that first drive failed, Firebirds kicker Nelson Garner missed short on a 58-yard field goal attempt, setting the stage for Arizona's first touchdown.
Arizona wide receiver Hunkie Cooper grabbed four passes for 26 yards on the Rattlers' opening drive, capped by a 5-yard touchdown catch from Sherdrick Bonner that gave Arizona a 7-0 lead with 5:37 left in the first quarter.
The Firebirds' second and third drives both ended in turnovers -- a Pawlawski pass that was intercepted by Jai Hill at the Arizona 8, followed by a Leroy Thompson fumble that was recovered by Arizona defensive specialist Cedric Walker at the Arizona 5.
Those turnovers were converted into a 1-yard touchdown run by Arizona's Robert McMillen and a 39-yard touchdown pass from Bonner to Maurice Bryant for a 21-0 lead and the rout was on.
"Where the hell did this come from?'' Pawlawski said. "If there was a buildup to it, that's one thing. We haven't been real sharp getting off the ball, but that's no reason for it. I don't know how to put a finger on what happened to us tonight.''
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