After a long-fought battle against the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks on June 23, the Columbus Lions are headed to the National Arena League (NAL) Championship game on Monday, July 10, 2017.
Here is five reasons Columbus will win the inagural event.
Top five reasons the Columbus Lions will win the National Arena League Championship Game
Despite having the tough beginning to the season, the Lions have a good shot at winning this game. Here are the reasons why the Lions can win it all.
No. 5: The Best Comeback Team
The Lions have faced the Jacksonville Sharks and Lehigh Valley Steelhawks a combined four times, all of which have been playing from behind most of the game.
Don’t count them out because they can do exactly what they did against Lehigh Valley in the playoffs.
The amount of time playing from behind doesn’t matter in this situation. It’s the final score. If the Lions are behind in this upcoming game, Jacksonville better watch out.
No. 4: Michael Reeve
Both times the Lions have played the Sharks, Michael Reeve has shown that it is tough to cover him.
In his two games against Jacksonville, Reeve has averaged eight catches for 84 yards, and 1.5 touchdowns (rounding up would be two touchdowns).
No. 3: Defense/Cornerbacks
The Lions are number one in the league when it comes to defense against the pass.
They have only allowed a 49.6% completion rate and impressively allowing an average of a Quarterback Rating (QBR) of 95.5, also topping the Sharks defense and any other defense in the league. The Lions have allowed only 34.3 points per game this season.
No. 2: Quarterback Balance
It may seem crazy to think about balancing your quarterbacks to get similar stats, but it can throw defenses off because they will get used to one quarterback and then the quarterbacks switch and it throws the defense off guard.
Mason Espinosa and Darren Daniel have shared roles at QB most of the games this season, each playing eight games. Espinosa threw 106 of 159 for 1,073 yards, 27 touchdowns, and four interceptions.
Daniel, on the other hand, has thrown 147 of 245 for 1,611 yards, 38 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Each quarterback has their strengths and weaknesses against each other, so it would be almost perfect for Columbus to go with this plan to win the game.
No. 1: The Best Quarter is Second Quarter
While reading this, it is easy to think, “Why is this on the list?” That is, especially at number one. The best quarter offensively for the Lions this season has been the second quarter.
This is a huge advantage Columbus has over Jacksonville because the Lions can take control of the game going into halftime.
If the Lions receive first after halftime, it would be perfect because the Lions could kill the clock going into halftime and scoring, going up by one possession or two.
The game kicks off on July 10th at 6:30 p.m. ET. Use #ChampionshipWeekend to discuss the game with other indoor football fans on twitter, as part of LWOS’ special events leading up to the game.
