Quick Thoughts on the Soul's win over the Power

The Soul were able to produce the most points ever in a game despite turning the ball over 6 times. Luckily for the Soul, the Power also gave the ball away 6 times. It's not how the Soul drew it up, but in a league where chaos usually remains supreme, the away team was lucky to leave town with the victory. Here's some other quick notes on the game:

• Dan Raudabaugh was unusually characteristic as he turned the ball over 4 times throughout the game. He threw 3 INT's and fumbled the ball away once, but luckily for him the Power were only able to get 6 points out of those turnovers. Besides the 40-yard fumble return for a TD, the Soul's defense was able to produce turnovers to stop the Power from capitalizing off of Raudabaugh's mistakes. The Power really only created a net point total of 4 since that PAT after the fumble return TD was returned by DB Kent Richardson for two points. It probably was just "one of those games" that things went wrong, but the Soul can't count on the other team to make the same amount of mistakes to negate their mishaps. Raudabaugh didn't commit a turnover in the 4th quarter which was the Soul's best quarter of play, but the Soul's offense only ran 5 plays from scrimmage during that time. 
• The defense as a whole played much better. Forcing 6 turnovers (3 INT's and 3 FF's) and actively pursuing every play really benefited the defense as they were able to get pressure on QB Bill Stull along with negating passing plays and returns by knocking the ball out of the opposition's grasps. It seemed as if an increased awareness in effort was drilled through the player's heads all week as the defense looked completely reformed. DL's Dustin Barno and Bryan Robinson were able to register 1 sack a piece and the DB's got their fair share of picks and big plays. 
• The DB's still had their fair share of problems despite all the positives. Too many times I noticed DB's losing positioning to the Power's WR's causing them to have little to no play on the ball. A couple times receivers were left wide-open again in what seemed to result from miss-communication within the secondary. The secondary still needs to be tightened up a bit, but they have improved since last week.
• The Offensive Line did a much better job giving high profile FB Derrick Ross more running room. Ross rushed for 35 yards on 9 carries and scored 3 TD's in the process while also adding a 16-yard TD reception to his stat line. Ross also forced the fumble on DB John Green who picked off Raudabaugh and was inches away from scoring a TD late in the 1st quarter. A great all-around performance for Ross who displayed his worth at the FB position giving the offense another dimension.
• WR Tiger Jones had a down game after leading the Soul's receiving corps in Week 2. He recorded 3 catches for 56 yards and a TD, but had opportunities to accomplish more. Jones dropped a sure TD pass as he ran into the side-endzone wall and allowed DB Chris LeFlore to take another TD away from him in a jump ball situation as LeFlore came down with the INT. Both weren't routine plays, but the reigning Cutters WR of the Year should have came up with at least one of those if not both. 
• WR Donovan Morgan had his best game of the early 2012 season as he caught 12 passes for 112 yards and 4 TD's and again got the Soul going early in the game. He had the team's first 5 receptions of the game and continued to produce throughout the game. 
• It was good to see the Soul's All-Time leading receiver Larry Brackins get his first catch and TD of the season on the same play. It was a great slant route that Brackins used his stature to propel himself into the endzone from 12 yards out. You won't see much of Brackins unless an injury occurs, but he can still produce when called upon.
• WR/KR Jeff Hughley didn't break any records this week, but his 5 kickoff return for 127 yards (25.4 Avg.) allowed the Soul to work with short fields all night. 
• I did noticed some redzone troubles for the Soul when on back-to-back drives they were forced into a 4th down situation. The first drive resulted in a Morgan 3-yard TD reception, but Raudabaugh threw a pick in the second drive. This is where developing and using Ross more in the offense would probably benefit the Soul in the future. He's too much of a weapon in the run game along with being able to execute the screen pass very well to not use him in short field situations.
• I'm not really seeing much from DL Darrell Campbell and LB Dusty Bear in the Soul's first 2 games. Campbell can't get any pressure as the nose tackle and Bear hasn't produced the sort of havoc that I expected he would early on. I'll have to keep my eyes on these two to see if their play improves as the weeks pass.