WEEK 2 - GAME OF THE WEEK
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| Zach Miller scores winning TD for Los Angeles |
In a chess match full of zigs and zags by both coaches, Los Angeles pulled out a close game with a clutch drive in the final minutes to put the game away.
It was a low-scoring affair in the first half with Arizona moving the ball consistently but settling for two field goals, while L.A.'s quick-strike offense scored a touchdown on its second possession with a four-play drive completed by a 31-yard Kurt Warner to Zach Miller touchdown pass.
A key moment came near the end of the first half with Los Angeles facing a 4th and 2 at the Arizona 9 with about 1:30 left. Instead of taking the safe field goal, L.A. went for it and tried a fade route into the corner of the end zone for Donnie Avery, but Darren Rogers-Cromartie sniffed it out and shut down the play.
L.A. went into the locker room with a 7 to 6 lead.
The second half got off to a good start for L.A. with a long touchdown drive on its second possession of the half to go up 14 to 6.
From there, it was all Arizona. Matt Schaub kept dinking and dunking to his receiving trio of Johnson, Fitzgerald and Witten, while Ryan Grant broke away enough solid runs to keep the L.A. defense on its heels.
A late 3rd quarter field goal brought Arizona closer to 14 to 9, then on the very next possession, Quintin-Mikell stepped up with an interception deep in L.A. territory to set up another quick field goal and cut the L.A. lead to 14 to 12.
A late 3rd quarter field goal brought Arizona closer to 14 to 9, then on the very next possession, Quintin-Mikell stepped up with an interception deep in L.A. territory to set up another quick field goal and cut the L.A. lead to 14 to 12.
The momentum stayed with Arizona into the early fourth quarter. Backed up on his own 3-yard line with about 10 minutes left in the game, Arizona coach Scott Wilken engineered a masterful drive that took the Air Raid all the way to the L.A. 15-yard line, but the L.A. defense continued to bend without breaking, and Arizona settled for its fifth field goal of the night. Robbie Gould's 42-yard field goal gave Arizona the 15 to 14 lead with 6:36 left in the game.
After being shut down on three straight possessions since early in the 3rd quarter, L.A. had to generate a scoring drive to win the game. Justin Forsett and Steve Slaton made a couple of key grind-it-out runs and Warner made just enough completions to keep the drive going.
L.A. ate up more than 5 minutes of the 6:36 left on the clock and drove deep into Arizona territory. Knowing that at least a field goal was certain, Arizona started calling timeouts to buy themselves a chance to get another drive.
Instead of running to eat the clock and force more timeouts, L.A. went for the kill. Warner found Zach Miller in the end zone, and L.A. converted the two-point conversion to give the Assassins a 22 to 14 lead with 1:15 left in the game.
Arizona still had two timeouts and moved the ball into L.A. territory with a 4th and 10 conversion, but Schaub couldn't hit on any of his big bombs to Johnson and Fitzgerald, and the Air Raid ran out of time.
Really clean game with not too many turnovers and penalties deciding the outcome.
Both teams are 1-1 going into Week 3.
