posted April 18, 2008 at 19:37 in Other Articles

The (5-2) Chicago Rush returns home from a split on their two-game road trip to welcome in the (2-4) Grand Rapids Rampage for a Central Division clash. The Rampage was last in action at home last week where they fell to the Orlando Predators by a 75-56 final count as 3.5-point home underdogs. The Rush handed the KC Brigade their 6th straight loss of the season last Monday night, but failed to cover the 11.5-point spread in the 49-42 victory. Chicago currently sits atop the Central Division with a two-game lead over the Colorado Crush and a three-game lead over the Rampage.

There really aren’t many positives the Rampage could take away with them in the 75-56 thrashing they absorbed last weekend. The defense was atrocious, and the offense was held in check for the second week in a row. Since combining to score 176-points against both Kansas City and Los Angeles, the Rampage have combined to score just 90-points their last two games with a bulk of last weeks tally coming in garbage time when the Predators benched a number of their starters. Looks like Head coach Steve Thonn’s attack is only able to get the job done against spotty defenses. They’ll have their hands full this week considering Chicago boasts the 2nd ranked defense in the league allowing a shade over 44 PPG.

Early on it looked as if the Rush were going to coast to a decisive road win and cover after leading 14-0 after one quarter, but the defense allowed the Brigade to make a number of big plays that kept them within the pointspread the entire second half. They were the benefactors of some questionable game strategy by KC HC Chris Porter in the final minute who chose not to call any timeouts, which prevented his club from having any shot of tying it up after the Rush took the 49-42 lead with six seconds left in the game. Head Coach Mike Hohensee has to be elated with the play of QB Russ Michna who got his second start due to an injured Sherdrick Bonner. He completed 20-of-28 passes for 211 yards with a TD/INT ratio of 4/2. He also rushed for a score on a fantastic scramble off the right end of the O-Line. They’re 1-2 punch at the QB position gives their opponents a number of looks to have to prepare for with every passing week.

Chicago is 11-5 SU and 9-7 ATS in their 16 meetings with Grand Rapids. They destroyed them earlier this season 64-35 as 6.5-point road favorites back in Week 3, extending their winning streak over the Rampage to five games. They’re 4-1 ATS throughout that stretch with their lone loss coming by a point when they knocked them off 51-40 as 12-point home favorites back in May of 2005.

Oddsmakers tagged the Rush 15.5-points better than the Rampage with the ‘total’ set at 111.5. BetUS.com offers all the AFL action your heart desires, so be sure to login and get down on whatever suits your fancy in what looks to be another one-sided affair.

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