Chicago Cages Champs
By Andy Lopusnak, ArenaFan.com
March 5, 2008

Four of the San Jose SaberCats’ five turnovers came in the second half that turned a one-possession game into a 70-47 blowout by the Chicago Rush Monday night. The loss ended the third longest overall winning streak in league history (13) which included capturing ArenaBowl XXI last July.

"The defense did what we thought they would do and needed them to do," Rush head coach Mike Hohensee told the Chicago Tribune.

Chicago jumped out to a 14-0 lead on the heels of the first of many Sherdrick Bonner-to-Damian Harrell touchdowns this season and a San Jose fumble by Mark Grieb that AFL Ironman of the Week DeJuan Alfonzo returned for a score.

"Anytime you turn the ball over like that you're going to lose the game," Grieb told the Chicago Daily Herald.

Grieb overcame the fumble and guided his team to the end zone with three touchdowns to three different receivers and a 21-14 lead. James Roe, Rodney Wright and Cleannord Saintil all caught at least ten passes and gained at least 100 receiving yards, which is the first time in league history a trio of receivers have done so.

The Rush’s defense put the clamps on the champs the rest of the way. Chicago held San Jose to a just single touchdown on the SaberCats’ next seven possessions. Last season, San Jose posted the second-most points in league history, but was held to the fewest points since losing 48-45 in Week Two of last season in the same building. The 23-point differential was more than the combined points of the three SaberCats losses last season (18).

"I take the blame," SaberCats head coach Darren Arbet told the San Jose Mercury News. "We didn't pass well, we didn't run well, we didn't block well. We didn't execute."

The last time San Jose turned over the ball five times was in 1999 when Arbet was in his first season as a head coach in a 75-37 loss at Arizona. A week later, Grieb made his start with the SaberCats because of the team’s poor performance against the Rattlers. That game was a wake up call for San Jose and started the team on its trek from so-so AFL team into this decade’s AFL dynasty.

"We did some good things - we ran some good routes - but I made some mistakes," said Grieb, who had four of the team’s five turnovers.

Though the SaberCats failed to reach the end zone eight times on the night, they managed to tally league highs in total offensive yardage (355), passing yards (347), total first downs (26) and passing first downs (21). The question of who fills the void left by the departure of Ben Nelson may have been answered with the 100-yard games by Roe, Wright and Saintil. It was just the second time that three different receivers topped 100 yards each in team history and fifth time in league annals.

On defense, San Jose stopped three Chicago drives (fumble, interception, missed field goal) that normally would have been more than enough to help the offense win the game. However, the five giveaways made the defending champs look little more than an expansion team in their biggest loss since a 30-point set back at Tampa Bay in the 2005 season opener. San Jose opened that year 1-3 and finished 9-7 before losing to the eventual ArenaBowl champion Colorado Crush in the playoffs.

The SaberCats seek for their first win this Monday when they travel back to the Midwest to take on the Grand Rapids Rampage. San Jose is looking to avoid its first 0-2 start since 2006. That year, the SaberCats overcame the early losses to come within four points of the ArenaBowl. The Rampage will be playing its first game of the season because the team had a bye in Week One. San Jose leads the all-time series 8-1 with the home team winning the last five.

*** ArenaFan.com ***