 |
| St. Louis Rams Kirk Cousins throws for three touchdowns in 334 yards in upset of Arizona |
 |
| Woodbridge Barons CB A.J. Bouye intercepts three St. Paul passes in win |
 |
| Flagstaff Savage kicks five field goals in route of Southern |
 |
| Staten Island Gems running back Mark Ingram rushes for 165 yards and tacks on 51 yards receiving and two TDs |
 |
| Carolina Flight OLB Ryan Kerrigan sacks Phil Rivers 2 times in upset over Woodbridge |
 |
| Alta Loma Beagle PR Ryan Switzer returns a punt 75 yards for a TD |
 |
| Staten Island's Matt Ryan throws for 445 yards and 5 TDs, game winning 28 yarder as time expired. |
 |
| Air Raid's Glover Quin's two interceptions in the 4th quarter assist in the comeback of Southern |
 |
| Staten Island Gems Jaydon Mickens returns a punt 68 yards in for a TD |
 |
| St. Louis Rams Todd Gurley rushes for 168 yards and three touchdowns vs Carolina |
 |
| Sin City Demarcus Lawrence sacks St. Paul's Carson Wentz three times in 20 - 10 win. |
 |
| Utica's Bobby Rainey take a kick return 108 yards for a touchdown |
 |
| Carolina's Case Keenum throws for 461 yards and 4 TDs against Tucson in comeback victory |
 |
| Barons Marcus Peters intercepts Air Raid QB Drew Brees twice, including for a TD in win |
 |
| Oakville's Tyreek Hill returns a punt return 87 to help the Hoosiers beat Delco |
 |
| Woodbridge QB Philip Rivers throws for four TDs and 382 yards in defeat of Oakville |
 |
| Tucson safety Andrew Sendejo intercepts three passes and one for a TD in win over St Paul |
 |
| Carolina's Chris Boswell kicks three field goals and game winning kick against Alta Loma |
 |
| Savages Keenan Allen catches 12 passes for 229 yards and five TDs against the Raiders DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK |
 |
| Cubans Sean Smith intercepts rival Spartan QBs twice with a 64 yard return for TD |
 |
| Utica's Harrison Butker kicks four field goals in win over Tampa |
 |
| Utica's Stefon Diggs has six catches for 95 yards and 4 TDs |
 |
| Arizona's Von Miller sacks Southern QBs three times in win. |
 |
| Delco's Matt Prater kicks four field goals in victory. |
 |
| Goose Bay's Golden Tate catches 12 passes for 184 yards in win over Alta Loma |
 |
| Oakville's Jadeveon Clowney sacks Tucson QBs two times and collects a strip sack fumble in blowout win |
 |
| Southern's kicker Matt Bryant kicks a 51-yard field goal as time expires to give the Gray their first win. |
 |
| Tampa's QB Jacoby Brissett threw for 365 yards and 2 TDs in upset over Delco DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK |
 |
| Oakville's Paul Posluszny collects 8 tackles, a sack and fumble recovery in victory of undefeated Flagstaff |
 |
| Cleveland's punt returner Bryce Callahan returns a punt 83 yards for a TD to decide the game against Woodbridge |
 |
| Barons QB Phillip Rivers throws for four touchdowns and 354 yards in victory over Eire (45-38). |
 |
| Goose Bay Derek Barnett sacks Oakville quarterbacks three times in win. |
 |
| Cleveland Rams kicker Kai Forbath nails the game winner as time expires. |
 |
| St. Louis Lions QB Kirk Cousins throws for four TDs and 344 yards |
 |
| St. Louis Lions Tre-Davious White intercepts Russell Wilson three times in victory |
 |
| Staten Island's Justin Tucker kicks four field goals in win over St. Paul |
 |
| Storm's Kareem Hunt rushes for 160 yards and 3 TDs versus St. Louis |
 |
| Beagles Defensive End Joey Bosa sacks Jay Cutler two times in 34-7 win |
 |
| Cuban kicker Will Lutz kicks five field goals in win over St. Paul 15-11 |
 |
| Arizona Air Raid QB Drew Brees throws for five TDs versus Oakville |
 |
| Sin City Godfathers Bruce Irvin sacks Beagle QBs four times SPECIAL TEAMS |
 |
| Staten Island Gems Punter Luc Edward punts five kicks inside the 20 yard line |
 |
| Carolina Flight make Deshaun Watson the 1st pick of the 2018 TFL Draft |
 |
| "Bold choice moving to Kiefer, Cotton" |
Tiny little Kiefer, Oklahoma was the wecome recipient of the relocation news, as it was announced that the Tulsa suburb would be the new home of the franchise. The Kiefer Sutherlands will begin play in the 2018/2019 TFL Season with Jack Bauer serving as general manager and head coach in this time of transition and rebuilding for the franchise. The statement noted that Bauer has a knack for getting the best out of his teams in times of adversity, has experience in identifying and eliminating cancers in his midst, and can pilot anything from a Warthog to Air Force One if necessary. Former HUD secretary and President of the United States Tom Kirkman was named defensive coordinator. A professor of Urban Planning by trade, the statement noted that Kirkman has a master plan to employ a double zone - what he terms a "re-zone" - in attempts to slow down the high flying TFL passing attacks. In what sounds like an immediate coup, Kirkman has already assisted the Town of Kiefer in dealing with their very own Dutch Brothers related traffic problems.  | ||||||
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
OT
|
Total
| |
| 2016 Arizona |
0
|
21
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
24
|
| 2016 Erie |
3
|
13
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
19
|
| Scoring Plays | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qtr | Clock | Team | Scoring Description(Extra Point) | Score | ||
| 1 | 4:30 | 2016 Erie | S.Janikowski 26 yd. field goal | 3-0 ERI | ||
| 2 | 13:30 | 2016 Erie | T.Taylor 2 yd. run (S.Janikowski kick) | 10-0 ERI | ||
| 2 | 10:12 | 2016 Arizona | L.Bell 4 yd. pass from D.Brees (C.Sturgis kick) | 10-7 ERI | ||
| 2 | 5:42 | 2016 Arizona | L.Bell 4 yd. run (C.Sturgis kick) | 14-10 AIR | ||
| 2 | 2:42 | 2016 Erie | S.Janikowski 31 yd. field goal | 14-13 AIR | ||
| 2 | 1:45 | 2016 Arizona | T.Ginn Jr. 54 yd. pass from D.Brees (C.Sturgis kick) | 21-13 AIR | ||
| 2 | 0:08 | 2016 Erie | S.Janikowski 56 yd. field goal | 21-16 AIR | ||
| 3 | 10:12 | 2016 Erie | S.Janikowski 36 yd. field goal | 21-19 AIR | ||
| 3 | 6:18 | 2016 Arizona | C.Sturgis 32 yd. field goal | 24-19 AIR | ||
| Other Highlights | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Qtr | Clock | Team | Event | Player | Yards | |
| 1 | 9:00 | 2016 Erie | Intercept | Lamarcus Joyner | 22 | |
| 2 | 11:42 | 2016 Arizona | QBSack | Erik Walden | -6 | |
| 2 | 0:30 | 2016 Erie | QBSack | Geno Atkins | -5 | |
| 2 | 0:00 | 2016 Erie | Intercept | Harrison Smith | 20 | |
| 3 | 9:36 | 2016 Arizona | Pass | Brandin Cooks | 47 | |
| 3 | 0:36 | 2016 Erie | Missed Field Goal | S. Janikowski | 43 | |
| 4 | 7:48 | 2016 Erie | Fumble | DeAndre Washington | ||
| 4 | 6:36 | 2016 Arizona | Pass | Marvin Jones | 38 | |
| 4 | 5:24 | 2016 Arizona | QBSack | Erik Walden | -6 | |
| 4 | 3:18 | 2016 Erie | QBSack | Geno Atkins | -7 | |
| 4 | 0:52 | 2016 Erie | QBSack | Dominique Rodgers-Cromart | -10 | |
Team
Statistics
| ||
| 2016 Arizona | 2016 Erie | |
| First Downs by Rush-Pass-Pen-Total | 5-11-0-16 | 6-21-0-27 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 3-11-27% | 6-16-38% |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 1-1-100% | 1-3-33% |
| Red Zone Efficiency (pts-poss-pct) | 17-21-81% | 16-28-57% |
| Total Offense-Plays-Avg Yards Per Play | 328-55-6.0 | 392-84-4.7 |
| Total Net Yards Rushing | 72 | 88 |
| Total Rushes | 20 | 25 |
| Average Per Rush | 3.6 | 3.5 |
| Passes Completed/Attempted | 20/33 (60.6%) | 40/56 (71.4%) |
| Net Yards Passing | 256 | 304 |
| Avg Yards Per Pass | 8.1 | 5.8 |
| Sacked/Yards Lost | 2/12 | 3/22 |
| Punts/Average | 5/41.0 | 2/27.5 |
| Punts Received/Return Yardage | 1/9 | 2/9 |
| Kickoffs/Returns | 1/25 | 0/0 |
| Interceptions/Returns | 0/0 | 2/42 |
| Penalties/Yards | 4/30 | 4/30 |
| Total Fumbles/Fumbles Lost | 3/0 | 2/1 |
| Time of Possession | 23 mins 8 secs | 36 mins 52 secs |
| Average Drive Start | AIR 30 | ERI 29 |
Passing Stats
| ||||||||||||
| Att | Comp | Yds | Comp % | Yds/Att | TD | TD % | INT | INT % | Long | Sack | Rating | |
|
| ||||||||||||
| Drew Brees | 33 | 20 | 268 | 60.6 | 8.1 | 2 | 6.1 | 2 | 6.1 | 54 | 2/12 | 81.4 |
|
| ||||||||||||
| Tyrod Taylor | 56 | 40 | 326 | 71.4 | 5.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 3/22 | 85.9 |
Rushing Stats
| |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | 2 Pt Conv | Fumbles/Lost | |||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Le'Veon Bell | 15 | 71 | 4.7 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Drew Brees | 5 | 1 | 0.2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2/0 | ||||
|
| |||||||||||
| LeSean McCoy | 11 | 42 | 3.8 | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| Tyrod Taylor | 9 | 43 | 4.8 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
| DeAndre Washington | 4 | 3 | 0.8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1/1 | ||||
| Theo Riddick | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | ||||
Receiving
Stats
| |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | 2 Pt Conv | ||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Le'Veon Bell | 9 | 45 | 5.0 | 15 | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Brandin Cooks | 4 | 82 | 20.5 | 47 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Travis Kelce | 3 | 46 | 15.3 | 27 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Aaron Ripkowski | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Larry Fitzgerald | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Marvin Jones | 1 | 38 | 38.0 | 38 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 1 | 54 | 54.0 | 54 | 1 | 0 | |||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Martellus Bennett | 13 | 78 | 6.0 | 17 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Theo Riddick | 10 | 89 | 8.9 | 20 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| LeSean McCoy | 6 | 68 | 11.3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Jordy Nelson | 4 | 33 | 8.3 | 11 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Cordarrelle Patterson | 4 | 36 | 9.0 | 19 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Kenny Stills | 1 | 6 | 6.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| DeAndre Washington | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |||||
| Kenny Britt | 1 | 14 | 14.0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | |||||
Field Goals
| |||||||||||
| 1-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50+ | Totals | % Made | |||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Caleb Sturgis | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/1 | 100 | ||||
|
| |||||||||||
| S. Janikowski | 0/0 | 1/1 | 2/2 | 0/1 | 1/1 | 4/5 | 80.0 | ||||
Punting
| |||||||||||
| No | Avg | Net | Tb | Inside 20 | Long | Blocked | |||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Kevin Huber | 5 | 41.0 | 27.2 | 3 | 0 | 47 | 0 | ||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Tress Way | 2 | 27.5 | 23.0 | 0 | 1 | 33 | 0 | ||||
Kickoff
Returns
| |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | |||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Alex Erickson | 1 | 25 | 25.0 | 25 | 0 | ||||||
|
| |||||||||||
Punt Returns
| |||||||||||
| Ret | FC | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | ||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 1 | 0 | 9 | 9.0 | 9 | 0 | |||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Dwayne Harris | 2 | 0 | 9 | 4.5 | 9 | 0 | |||||
Individual
Defense
| |||||||||||
| Tackles | Sacks | Fum Rec | |||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Shaq Thompson | 11 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Dominique Rodgers-Cromart | 10 | 1 | 0 | ||||||||
| Eric Weddle | 8 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Von Miller | 7 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| T.J. Ward | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Benardrick McKinney | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Patrick Peterson | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Shawn Williams | 5 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Geno Atkins | 4 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| Olivier Vernon | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Akiem Hicks | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Aaron Donald | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Andrew Norwell | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Lane Johnson | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Ted Ginn Jr. | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Erik Walden | 6 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| Harrison Smith | 6 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Bobby Wagner | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Perry Riley | 4 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Nigel Bradham | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Ronald Darby | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Cameron Wake | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Will Blackmon | 2 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Derek Wolfe | 2 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||
| Josh Norman | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| Lamarcus Joyner | 1 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
Interceptions
| |||||||||||
| No | Yds | Avg | Long | TD | |||||||
|
| |||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||
| Harrison Smith | 1 | 20 | 20.0 | 20 | 0 | ||||||
| Lamarcus Joyner | 1 | 22 | 22.0 | 22 | 0 | ||||||
Game Story
| |||||
In a close game the visitors from Arizona
topped Erie by the score of 24 to 19. Le'Veon Bell carried the ball 15 times for
71 yards and added a touchdown. The biggest play of the game was a touchdown
pass to Ted Ginn Jr. that went for 54 yards with 1:45 left in the 2nd quarter.
Arizona was on top at the half 21 to 16. They led after three quarters 24 to 19.
Tyrod Taylor threw 56 times for 326 yards for Erie, in a losing cause.
The Arizona Air Raid won their 2nd TFL championship in team history Wednesday night, hanging on to beat the Erie Silence 24-19. The scoreboard doesn't even come close to telling the whole story. Bryan called as good a game as he could, especially given the obstacles the Strat Gods threw at him tonight. The Strat Gods, it seems, may have felt bad about last year's Tradition Bowl...
Erie started off well, holding Arizona to 3 and outs on their 1st and 3rd possessions, and intercepting Drew Brees on the 2nd. The Silence turned those defensive stands into a quick 10-0 lead. Brees rebounded after that, leading the Air Raid on three consecutive touchdown drives for a 21-13 lead with 1:45 left, despite losing the ageless Larry Fitzgerald to game-ending injury midway through the 2nd quarter. That would, however, be the last time the injury bug went against Arizona.
Responding to the Air Raid's third touchdown drive, Erie mounted a drive of their own that would change the entire game. The key sequence was with 1:07 remaining in the half, Erie facing 3rd and 14 at their own 21, Tyrod Taylor hit a 20 yard must-run for a big first down to the 41. On the very next play, Taylor hit LeSean McCoy for an 11 yard gain into Arizona territory... but play ended McCoy's day, with the star HB getting injured for the rest of the game. Ironically, if Taylor hadn't picked up that first down the play before, McCoy wouldn't have been on the field to get injured the next play.
After the Silence lost their star and best player, they were able to get to the Arizona 39, where the ageless Sebastian Janikowski nailed a 56 yard field goal to cut the lead to 5.
The second half looked like it would belong to the Air Raid, giving them 30 minutes to breeze to the title. But Erie kept the Air Raid out of the end zone time and again. Each team scored 3rd quarter field goals, and that was the end of the game's scoring. Erie put together some good drives, but a missed field goal and a fumble on the Air Raid 26 kept them just out of reach. Arizona had plenty of chance to put the game away, getting to the Erie 47, 37, and 35 before stalling out and punting it into the end zone and giving Erie a couple of late chances. But without McCoy (as well as 3rd WR Kenny Stills, injured midway through the 3rd, and All-Pro Center Alex Mack, injured with 10:48 to go in the game), the Silence just couldn't get down the field to the end zone, and the Air Raid sweated it out for the win.
Another key difference in the game was that Arizona had 3 fumbles and didn't lose any of them, while Erie backed HB DeAndre Washington lost one of the Silence's two fumbles at the Arizona 20, ending a promising drive.
Another key play was a 4th and 1 from the Erie 8 early in the 2nd quarter. Down 10-0, Arizona passed on a field goal attempt and got a 4 yard QB sneak to pick up the 1st down, and scored the TD on the next play. You could say we were inspired by the Eagles boldness at the goal line Sunday night in that other game. Fortune favors the bold, as they say.
Congratulations to Bryan for a great season, a fantastic playoff run, and a great Tradition Bowl performance. Without the injuries this would have been a very different game. As I told him, sometimes there's just nothing you could have done differently.
I also mentioned to him that in the 2010 draft, I could have taken McCoy in the fourth round at 63. Somewhere I got it in my head that he was going to be injury-prone. So I passed on McCoy and took Knowshon Moreno at 63, and McCoy went to Minnesota (now Erie), 11 picks later. McCoy would go on to lead (or co-lead) Minnesota to back-to-back titles, as well as leading Erie to this title game, while Moreno is, I don't know, washing cars somewhere. But in the end, McCoy was injury-prone at just the right time for me to grab my second Tradition Bowl.
As great as Drew Brees is, the LeVeon Bell trade last summer is really what brought this all together. And, deservedly, Bell takes home the Tradition Bowl MVP, rushing 15 times for 71 yards and a touchdown, and catching 9 balls for 45 yards and another touchdown. If you want a Defensive Player of the Game, we'll give it to Arizona's first ever draft pick, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, who had 10 tackles and the game-ending sack of Tyrod Taylor.
| |||||
