Nick Pertuit News Today

For the third week in a row, the San Jose SaberCats looked relatively sharp on the field, keeping up with their opponent and showing the potential to pull it out. Yet, they still found a way to end the night in disastrous fashion. After facing three teams in a row with winning records, San Jose has now dropped from a promising 2-0 record to a losing 2-3 record. The SaberCats have not had a record below .500 since the 2011 season, when they finished with a 7-11 record.

How about that third quarter? Thanks to great defensive line play, turnover mojo, and a Jacksonville implosion, the San Jose SaberCats turned what was a competitive game into a laugher in just 15 minutes in ArenaBowl XXVIII.

The San Jose SaberCats (18-1) took care of business on Friday night and secured their spot in the National Conference Championship for a second consecutive year, silencing the Portland Thunder (5-14) at the SAP Center by a 55-28 margin.

You can't spot a great football team a 21-point lead seven minutes into any game. The Arizona Rattlers simply did not show up to play in ArenaBowl 29 on Friday afternoon at Gila River Arena about a half hour west of their usual home field -- the Snake Pit in downtown Phoenix.

The San Jose SaberCats successfully came out on top against Spokane on Saturday night with a relieving victory that dramatically skyrockets the chances of their first division crown since 2008. With a 9-4 record, San Jose now has a three-game lead in the National Conference Pacific with just five left to play, as well as the critical head-to-head tiebreaker over Spokane due to winning the season series 2-1 after initially trailing 1-0.

Despite clinching their ninth division title, locking up their #2 playoff seed, playing against a Tampa Bay Storm team with a winning record that had major playoff implications on the line, and the defense having arguably its worst game in a matter of months, the San Jose SaberCats still managed to give their fans a beauty on Fan Appreciation Night in their regular season home finale.

Streaks ended in Week 17. San Jose, Iowa and New Orleans ended multi-game losing skids. Jacksonville's 13-game winning streak ended and Chicago reached the playoffs for the tenth straight year. Three quarterbacks passed for nine touchdowns (Davila, Garcia and Grieb). This and much more awaits in the most comprehensive breakdown of AFL action anywhere in the universe.