Week 12 of the AFL season kicks off with a huge Southern Division battle, as the Tampa Bay Storm hope to keep their division title hopes alive against the Jacksonville Sharks.
RECENT FORM
Jacksonville has won five straight games after a 1-4 start to the year, and it has staked a claim to the Southern Division lead for the first time. The Sharks are still level with Orlando for the top spot, but the Predators have a very tough road ahead, one which the men in red can certainly take advantage of.
Tampa Bay has played abysmal football of late, dropping to both Arizona and Philadelphia by tremendous margins just in the last three weeks. The 44-point loss to the Soul was the worst in franchise history, while the 69-46 loss to the three-time defending champion Rattlers was worse than the final score indicated.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"Everyone's attitude has really changed. It's not fun to lose. Everybody's attitude is a lot better since we started winning. They've got a really good team. We've got our work cut out for us. They're going to come ready to play." – Sharks quarterback Tommy Grady on what has changed from Jacksonville's drab start to the season
KEY STATS
43.9 percent: The touchdown percentage for the Storm in their last 41 drives dating back three and a half games. The scoring rate in this league should be around 75 percent for even the iffy teams, and the best teams are up in the 80-85 percent touchdown range. Not surprisingly, the Storm have averaged 36.0 points per game in their last three overall, and that isn't going to cut it against a very stout Jacksonville offense.
46: The number of consecutive games in which Joe Hills has caught at least one touchdown pass. He did most of that damage while he was playing with Tampa Bay, but now that he is with Jacksonville, he and Tiger Jones make up arguably the best one-two punch at wide receiver in the AFL.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
The Sharks played last week's game against Orlando with their hair on fire, and if they play with that same sort of intensity in this one, they are going to post yet another blowout victory.
That said, we know that Jacksonville can be had by Tampa as well. The Storm played their best game of the season against the Sharks in Week 6, a 63-28 victory in a game which they were once behind by two stops.
Still, Jacksonville has a defensive line led by Joe Sykes which should dominate the miserable Tampa Bay offensive line, and that is going to make for yet another long day for Jason Boltus, who has looked like a human piñata back in the pocket for the Storm all season long.
The difference between Boltus now and the Boltus who lit up Jacksonville a month ago is the fact that this pressure is now telling in the form of turnovers. Boltus turned the ball over four times against Arizona last weekend, once against New Orleans the week prior, and four times against Philadelphia the week before that.
If Tampa Bay's quarterback is going to be responsible for more than one turnover in this game, look out. The avalanche could be coming, and you're going to want to be on the right side of that when it all starts to fall apart. Go with the Sharks and lay the points even though you're probably going to end up having to lay close to double digits.
Jacksonville 61, Tampa Bay 42
BookMaker will be the first to open the AFL for this matchup the day of the game. Minute-by-minute AFL spreads, totals and props are available for this game using the live betting platform at BookMaker.
Load your betting bankroll from your smartphone or tablet with BookMaker’s new cashier feature! Depositing and withdrawing funds from your account has never been easier. BookMaker's live betting platform means you always have access to odds and lines to every sporting event. Click here and start wagering today! The game between the Tampa Bay Storm and Jacksonville Sharks is slated for Friday, June 12, 2015 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Amalie Arena in Tampa, FL. The matchup will be televised live on ESPN2.
