We’re in the home stretch of the inagural Alliance of American Football season. There’s just four games to go before the four-team AAF postseason begins, so it’s time to put the growing pains behind us and roll through the final month of the 2019 campaign. Sunday will see two games broadcast for your enjoyment, with the early contest featuring the San Diego Fleet (3-3) at the Arizona Hotshots (3-3).
The game is set for kickoff at 4 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network. Here’s the line and totals for your betting an entertainment purposes.
San Diego Fleet at Arizona Hotshots (-3.5, O/U 40)
The Fleet stumble into the desert after losing a surprising 32-29 shootout to the Birmingham Iron last week. The Iron has leaned heavily on its defense this season and got very little from the offense, so it should have surprised everybody when they rolled up 448 total yards and ran 79 offensive plays against the Fleet.
Mike Bercovici continued to impress at quarterback in his second start for San Diego. He finished 17-of-34 for 311 yards, three touchdowns and two picks. Once again the running game was a no show. Terrell Watson led the way with eight carries for 38 yards and a touchdown, averaging a respectable 4.8 yards per carry. Watson added two catches for 17 yards and a TD.
Dontez Ford set what has to be an AAF receiving record in the game, catching three passes for 182 yards but with no touchdowns scored. I’m not sure how that’s even possible. In addition to Watson, Francis Owusu and Ben Johnson caught the touchdown passes.
On defense, Damtonre Moore and Xavier Coleman each picked up a sack apiece. Meffy Kolomatangi and Shakir Solo split one. Travis Feeney had three tackles, two passes defended and an interception.
Not only did the Hotshots even up their season record with a victory last week, they knocked off the only undefeated team in the league in a come from behind 22-17 win over the Orlando Apollos.
John Wolford continues to keep his job in spite of his stat line, completing 16-of-27 passing for 162 yards and a touchdown for Arizona. Tim Cook carried the ball 11 times for 71 yards for a whopping 6.5 yards per carry. Jhurrell Pressley added 13 carries for 57 yards and scored the fourth quarter touchdown that put the Hotshots on top. Pressley added a nine-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter.
Richard Mullaney hauled in six passes for 73 yards. Rashad Ross caught five for 51. Defensively, Rykeem Yates and Kaelin Burnett each picked up a sack against Orlando. Nyles Morgan recorded five tackles and forced a fumble. Steven Johnson led the team with eight tackles, one for a loss, a pass defense and an interception.
The Pick
This late in the season and with these two teams tied, there’s no room to stumble. As impressive as the Hotshots’ victory over Orlando was, they just don’t wow me on offense and certainly I don’t see enough to justify that -3.5 spread. Both teams are 2-4 against the spread this season, but the Hotshots have lost their last two home games. I say they’ll make it three Sunday. Fleet 25, Hotshots 15
