The Philadelphia Phoenix (1-6) lost to the New York Empire (5-3) by just one point this Saturday, falling 21-20. Philly had the lead for much of the game, led by as many as 4 in the second quarter, and took an 11-8 lead into the half. However the Empire’s efficient offense was too much to overcome in the second half, and a third quarter Callahan from New York’s Jack Williams turned the tide in their favor. This is the fourth time in four years that the Phoenix have played New York neck and neck until the very end, and only the DC Breeze have been as effective against the Empire over that time frame.
Unfortunately for the Hotbirds, the loss knocks them from playoff contention. Philadelphia would need to win its remaining games, and New York would have to lose its remaining games, in order for the Phoenix to still make the postseason. While not impossible, Philly would be better served finding new goals for the remaining 5 games this season, as the remaining schedules for both franchises means Philly will likely be headed home for the second straight year once the regular season ends.
Some good news for the Birds: this game against New York gave them plenty of positive pieces to build off. Despite running out a sixth O-line iteration in seven games, this was Philadelphia’s best performance from the offense in years. Philadelphia held on 16/23 opportunities, a 70% mark blows previous performances out of the water. Scott Heyman’s second game of the season was electric, with 3 assists, 4 goals, no turnovers, and nearly 600 total yards of offense. Brandon “The Answer” Pastor, and Eric “The Rebuttal” Nardelli were also huge additions to the offense. Pastor continued his impressive run of a 100% completion percentage, and franchise leader in blocks Nardelli scored three goals in his offensive debut.
Despite Pollard and Martin on defense, and Calvin Trisolini absent, Philadelphia’s deep game was running on all cylinders. Rather than throwing jump balls to Philly’s elite receivers, the Hotbird huckers chucked frisbees into space to speedsters in Mott, Suvorov, Pastor and Heyman, relying on timing and motion to create the opportunities. 13 for 18 on hucks is an excellent rate for games where the statistics were accurately recorded.
Philly sorely needed the clean holds, because Saturday’s contest marked another game in which the offense failed to prevent the opposing defense from scoring a single time. Even with defensive players in Nardelli and Pastor on the offense, New York went 5 for 6 on break opportunities; their only miss coming on a Phoenix turnover at the end of the quarter. Philly is now allowing opponents to score on 66% of all break opportunities, the worst opponent DLC% in history.
The defense performed well in the first half, building the four point lead through capitalizing on Empire mistakes. However, they forced just one turnover in the second half, and failed to score a single break. As the offense started to falter, the D-line was unable to maintain pressure. Brutally, against a team missing many of its stars to Team USA responsibilities in Amsterdam, it was the two remaining all UFA talents—Jack Williams and Elliot Chartock—who ruthlessly picked apart the Philly D in the second half. The two were +16 combined, with just 3 throwaways and 876 yards of offense.
This was a successful game for Philadelphia, but it came during a point in the season where moral victories could no longer supplement actual victories. Moving forward, the goal should be less about winning and more about concrete and individual goals for each player in each game. An immediate action item is to shut down the other team's best player. Philly has struggled to contain opposing stars, as evidenced by Williams’ and Chartock’s big day last weekend. Montreal has two elite receivers in Quentin Bonnaud and Toby Decraene, as well as one of the most prolific throwers in the league: Kevin Quinlan. Regardless of the outcome of Friday’s game, limiting those three players would be a win for a defense that has faced adversity all season.
