Tyre Glasper News Today

Two very familiar rivals meet Saturday in the desert in the first round of the Arena Football League playoffs. The Spokane Shock invade the Snake Pit to attempt to dethrone the three-time defending ArenaBowl champs, the Arizona Rattlers.

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.

By now, we all know that the mantra of the Cleveland Gladiators is the concept of going 1-0. It isn't just winning every individual game. It's about winning every individual play. It's about doing your job. It's about keeping your assignment. It's about making sure that you're not the guy who lets your brothers and teammates down on a play. Perhaps the least talked about members of the Gladiators are Kitt O'Brien, Shannon Breen, and CJ Cobb, the three big guys ...

Reggie Smith 1, Arizona Rattlers 0. In an all-time classic battle between the Arena Football League's two most bitter rivals Saturday night, officials tainted the game's ending by gifting the San Jose SaberCats a 70-67

When the Arizona Rattlers take the field this Friday night at Moda Center against the Portland Steel, the five-time AFL champs will have more questions coming out of training camp than they have faced over their past half-decade of dominance.

After a season of heart-stopping finishes and miracle comebacks, the luck ran out and the clock struck midnight for the Cleveland Gladiators on Saturday night as the Arizona Rattlers ascended to dynasty status with a dominating 72-32 victory in ArenaBowl XXVII at Quicken Loans Arena.

If offense wins games and defense wins championships, the Arizona Rattlers are well on their way to a sixth ArenaBowl title. While the Arena Football League is a showcase for the offensive side of the football with teams frequently putting up 60+ points in a game, Arizona's defense is setting the bar astronomically high through the Rattlers' three wins to start the 2016 campaign.

If the Arizona Rattlers are to continue their playoff mastery of the rival San Jose SaberCats and take down one of the greatest defenses in Arena Football League history, something has got to change. And it has to change quickly.

Week Nine featured the renewal of league's two greatest rivalries (Arizona-San Jose, Tampa Bay-Orlando). All four division leaders won against division rivals. Utah and Georgia battled in the week's highest scoring and most exciting game that was decided in the final seconds. Recaps of these games, my weekly ramblings and more Hall of Fame thoughts awaiting in Volume Three, Issue Nine of Breaking it Down.

There have been no two teams better than the Philadelphia Soul and Arizona Rattlers over the last six years. Statistically speaking, the Rattlers are 86-20 and the Soul are 70-36, the top two records of the eight teams in the AFL. The two best quarterbacks in the league? Nick Davila (Rattlers QB,) and Dan Raudabaugh (Soul QB.) This is the best of the best in the AFL, with seemingly a top five player at every position.