Hotshots breakdowns cost in Legends loss

The Arizona Hotshots made mistakes on special teams and a very poor decision on offense and at the end of the night, found themselves defeated by the only team in the AAF that had yet to win when Younghoe Koo's 33 yard field goal with 1;03 remaining gave the Atlanta Legends a 14-11 win in Tempe.

Jhurell Pressley ran for 110 yards for the Hotshots on the ground with Rashan Ross catching four passes including the only Arizona touchdown.
With the defeat, Arizona fell to 2-2 on the season and is now tied for first in the AAF West with San Antonio.
It is the Commanders from San Antonio that Arizona will host Sunday in Tempe in a battle that will decide who will lead the division at the halfway point of the league's first season.

Hot off the Grill

1) John Wolford clearly wasn't healthy and it showed with the way he threw the football.
A lot of Wolford's passes fluttered a bit and until the fourth quarter, didn't feel comfortable in the pocket.
Still, considering Trevor Knight's struggles in week three relieving Wolford against Salt Lake, I can understand why Rick Neuheisel played Wolford.

2) Still, in the fourth quarter, Wolford stepped up with two drives that should have, in hindsight, been enough to at least force overtime.
Wolford took the Hotshots down the field and even though the drive leveled out, Arizona was still in field goal range for a field goal that would have cut the lead to 11-6.
Nick Folk missed from 40 yards and the score remained 11-3.

3) Wolford wasn't finished and threw his best ball of the night with a lofting pass to Rashad Ross for a twenty-yard touchdown pass.
Wolford then threw a bullet for the game-tying two-point conversion to Marquis Bundy to tie the game at eleven.

4) The game wasn't all good for Rashad Ross, who basically gave Atlanta their first two points for the first safety in AAF history when he took a swing pass at the four and then tried to make something out of nothing as he reversed field and gave ground, but was tackled in the end zone by former Browns safety Ed Reynolds.
Reynolds was a player that I always thought would have been an excellent special teamer in the NFL and maybe even a good tackling safety if surrounded by talent that had more athletic talent than Reynolds (I.E,-He needs to have faster players around him).

5) The Hotshots miss Steven Johnson, who was such a factor on defense in their first two games, but they have gotten nice games from Nyles Morgan (seven tackles) and Carl Bradford (six tackles and the only Arizona sack) and the linebackers will be the best unit in the league when Johnson returns/

6) Arizona's defense also allowed them to stay in this game with first half holds that saw Atlanta miss a field goal, a goal-line stop, and stopping a fake field goal.
All of those points on the board and this game isn't even close/

7) Arizona has apparently broken up the backfield by committee and has committed to Jhurell Pressley.
Pressley carried 14 times for 110 yards, while the other two backs (Justin Stockton and Tim Cook) carried for just six times between them.

8) Former Oregon Duck and Saskatchewan Roughrider Erick Dargan finished with eleven tackles on the game from his safety position and watching Dargan play does make me wonder the impact on the CFL that the AAF and maybe the XFL will have on the Canadian game?
Dargan didn't play in Canada in 2018, but he played very well in this game, will players of his type stick around?

9) Nick Folk is one of the few players in this league with a few years of NFL experience and you expect him to be a solid kicker.
Folk's 40-yard miss did not cost the Hotshots the game, only a chance for overtime, but in a league that is struggling with the quarterback play, the kickers are going to become a large factor in wins and losses- Folk needs to come through.

10) Finally, the Hotshots are 2-2, 1-1 at home and on the road.
San Antonio is the other 2-2 team and they have struggled to score points other than a loss at Orlando.
The Commanders have scored 11 and 12 points in their two road games, so if the Hotshots can get a lead, they are likely to hold it.
This is a big one as the Hotshots will rematch the Commanders in San Antonio just two weeks following this encounter with a road game at undefeated Orlando in between, so this game is almost a must win.
Let's see who comes out to play in Tempe on Sunday.