By: Andrew Kramer (LFL360.com)
Photo: Joe Petro/LFL PHOTOS
Devastation pretty much sums up how last year ended for the Philadelphia Passion. After an undefeated regular season and a hard-fought playoff win, the Passion fell just one-point shy of winning the Lingerie Bowl.
Up to this point, the way things have played out, is looking fairly similar for Philadelphia. They wrapped up another 4-0 campaign to begin their quest to avenge last year’s Lingerie Bowl loss. If they return to the big game this season, they would either get another shot against the same Los Angeles Temptation team that broke their hearts, or will face the expansion Las Vegas Sin, who have yet to lose a game in their brief history.
But before their focus can shift to championship glory, they must first deal with the Tampa Breeze this Sunday, who Philadelphia defeated in last year’s Eastern Conference Playoff.
“The only thing that stands in the way between us and another shot at the Lingerie Bowl is Tampa,” Marirose Roach says. Roach is one of many returning veterans on this Passion squad and admits that the memory of last season’s narrow defeat in the title game is still on their minds. “We’ve put that in front of us like a carrot to a rabbit this whole season. It’s not only an incentive but it’s our motivation. We should have had it last year and we don’t want anything to come in between us and our championship this year.”
“I think about that every day,” Lauren La Bella adds, referring to last year’s Lingerie Bowl. “Every practice that I came to this year from day one to now, I think about that one-point loss. That’s been my motivation for this year and I think for every vet on our team that’s our job this year because when you get out there and lose by one point, you never forget that. Right now Tampa’s just in our way.”
The players are obviously still feeling the effects of how last season ended. It’s hard not to. But Head Coach Chandler Brown’s job is to make sure their mindset is on what’s ahead of them. The only guaranteed cure for any pain they are still experiencing is to win it all. That journey would begin with a victory this weekend.
“It’s a whole new team, whole new game,” Brown says. “We don’t have time to focus on last year’s loss. We just have to move everything forward. This is going to be a really good game. We really respect the talent that Tampa has and we’re just going to be ready to play our best.”
There’s no doubt in anybody’s mind that the Passion will come to play on Sunday. They’ve been performing at a high level all season. There’s no reason to believe they will slow down now. As well as they have played, however, there are always ways they can improve. With the exception of their last game, when they beat the Toronto Triumph by 74 points, one major inconsistency of theirs throughout the season has been the passing game.
The fact that the offense as a whole has gotten the job done seems to overshadow the fact that the running game has been the team’s dominant source of points. And while Roach will get her touches, Christy Bell and passing game appear ready to take on a greater role.
“The passing game is actually going to be real big probably,” Bell says. “We’re going to go out there and show them what we’re made of. Our team’s not just made of one person. We have a whole team playing the game together and working together so the passing games going be a little bit bigger then it has been now that we’ve been working on it and now that everybody’s had rest between games. Everybody is ready for this one and that includes me.”
“It’s crucial,” Brown adds. “We definitely have to go out there and establish our passing game against Tampa because they defend the run so well. If Christy is able to move the ball a little bit in the air, it’ll just help us out in doing what we need to do. All the teams that are still playing are great against the run, so we really have to focus on getting our passing game in order so we can move the ball all kinds of ways.”
This task will of course be made more difficult without WR Tyrah Lusby. The former All-Fantasy star injured herself in the Toronto game and will miss all of the playoffs. This is a major blow to a team looking to increase their aerial assault, but the Passion still feel they will be fine in this area. They still have Whitney Paronish, and rookie Stephanie Orgi has done a nice job hauling in passes as well. Losing Lusby hurts, but it’s not going to be an excuse to not throw the ball.
“Even though we haven’t showed it much, I think people are going to be surprised. We have a good passing game and we’re going to bring it. We’re going to shock some people,” La Bella says.
A memorable season ended poorly for Philly last year. If nothing else, their run was a learning experience that they hope can translate into more success this time around.
“Last year we learned that if we don’t play well, we’re capable of losing to anybody,” Brown says. “LA played well and showed why they were champions, but at the same time we played horrible. We have to eliminate that this time.”
“Losing is not an option this year,” Bell adds.
If the Passion continues to do what they’ve been doing all season, and have as much success in their passing game as they’ve had on the ground, losing may not be as much of a possibility either.
Tags: andrew kramer, Chandler Brown, Marirose Roach, Philadelphia Passion
