AFL Picks: Chicago Rush vs. Cleveland Gladiators: April 9th 2010
NFL Network continues its coverage of the 2010 Arena Football League betting season on Friday night with a showdown between the Cleveland Gladiators (0-1, 0-1 ATS) and the Chicago Rush (1-0, 1-0 ATS) from Allstate Arena.
The boys from the Windy City got the job done at Iowa last week, forcing the Barnstormers into six turnovers and capitalizing for the biggest win of the weekend, a 61-43 decision. QB Russ Michna had an adequate game, but HC Mike Hohensee will tell you that he expects better out of his veteran leader. He went 18/28 passing for 261 yards and six scores, but he also threw an interception and fumbled the ball three times, losing all three.
The story was the defense for Chicago, which stood tall, forcing those six turnovers and stopping the Barnstormers on downs once as well. The Rush also only allowed 21 of their 46 passes faced to be complete. DB DeJuan Alfonso had an interception returned for a touchdown, while DBs Nygel Rogers and Josh Ferguson hauled in two picks apiece.
The Gladiators looked as though they were ready to roll to a huge win at halftime against the Arizona Rattlers last week, as they took a 35-14 lead into the locker room. However, it wasn’t meant to be. The second half started with WR Trandon Harvey returning a kickoff for a touchdown, which started a 21-0 run for Arizona to make the lead disappear in a span of about 12 minutes. Kick coverage was a problem once again in the fourth quarter, when DB Terrance Sanders literally went untouched into the end zone after fielding the ball off of the slack net. Special teams and QB John Dutton both had major problems for the hosts. Dutton may have thrown for 287 yards and seven touchdowns, but his four picks were just too much to overcome. WR Ben Nelson looked great in his first game as a Gladiator, picking up 154 yards and four TDs through the air. DL Anthony Hoke recorded an interception and picked up a sack in his first ever AFL game.
As of the time of this publication, the Rush have dropped from 10.5 point favorites on the opening AFL lines down to eight point choices. Courtesy of Mike Rose at Handicapperspicks.com
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