Free Arena Football Picks: March 7th – Dallas vs. Columbus
Free Arena Football Pick: Dallas Desperados -9.0 (-110)
Fri March 7 ’08 8:30p
This is a game Dallas has had circled on its ’08 schedule ever since last year’s shocking Divisional Round post-season loss to the division rival Destroyers. In case you forgot, Dallas held a 14-point lead at the half and looked all but sure of cruising to the home win and cover in the second half. It didn’t exactly happen that way as Columbus recovered back-to-back kick-offs that rattled off the uprights, and had the game tied up with less than a minute expired in the 3rd quarter. The enormous swing of momentum deflated Dallas’ balloon in a blink of an eye, and they were never able to recover from it the rest of the way. Columbus’ win was one of the biggest upsets in AFL history.
Even though the Destroyers captured the National Conference crown last season, the front office decided to make wholesale changes up and down the roster. The defense has been completely revamped, and none of QB Matt Nagy’s receivers remain on the roster. Instead, they brought in WR Derek Lee from Georgia who once played with Nagy when he was a member of the Force. They picked up right where they left off last week at Colorado as Nagy found him 11 times for 95 yards, and threw 3 of his 4 TD passes his way. They held a 40-37 lead against the Crush heading into the 4th quarter, but couldn’t hold on and eventually lost by a 50-47 final count. They did however cover the 5-point spread and the combined score fell a half point Under the closing ‘total’ of 97.5.
Dallas picked up a big road win and cover at Georgia to avenge their only regular season loss from last year, but in the process, lost stud QB Clint Dolezel to a separated shoulder that will keep him on the shelf for 4-6 weeks. This is a big blow to the Despo’s plans of going undefeated this season, but QB Chris Sanders is a proven commodity in this league that will be working with one of the best offensive units the league has to offer.
These clubs played in some very memorable games last season. The Playoff battle has already been mentioned up above, but Dallas also stormed back from a 23 point deficit at home to upend the Destroyers by a 53-51 final count in their first meeting last season. Columbus covered as 15-point road dawgs then, and the combined 104 points fell Under the closing ‘total’ of 114. The rematch in Columbus saw Dallas win again, but this time, they pulled off a wire-to-wire job and managed to cover the 6-point spread in the 56-47 road victory.
Bottom line here is that Dallas will dominate this game defensively, and not allow the Destroyers new look offense much breathing room. Look for now OC Dolezel to call a fantastic game and for the Despo’s to turn the page on that excruciating loss they suffered in the playoffs once and for all….
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