Tampa Bay believes the key to winning lies in pressuring Sherdrick Bonner, the Arena Football League's top passer.
By FRANK PASTOR
Published June 22, 2003
[Times photo: Stefanie Boyar]
Storm players check out the championship trophy during Friday's media day.
TAMPA - Arizona quarterback Sherdrick Bonner takes three-step drops. He throws short passes. He has one of the quickest releases in Arena football, and he seldom is sacked.
But the way Storm linebacker Basil Proctor sees it, teams can nickel and dime down the field for only so long in the high-scoring AFL before they must take deeper drops and make longer throws.
When that happens, the Storm will have Bonner right where it wants him.
"Once you go five steps against us, that'll kill you," Proctor said.
Bonner is the catalyst for Arizona, the league's hottest team with nine victories in 10 games entering ArenaBowl XVII today at the St. Pete Times Forum. The 10-year veteran threw eight touchdowns in a semifinal victory against defending champion San Jose and has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 18-1 in the playoffs.
More than anything, the Storm's hope of hoisting a fifth title trophy hinges on whether the league's top pass rush can get to Bonner while battling a line that has not allowed a sack in three postseason games.
"That dude is an awesome quarterback," Storm defensive specialist Omarr Smith said. "If he gets his feet set and he gets a look downfield, he's going to pick you apart regardless how good your defense is."
Bonner was the league's top passer in the regular season with a rating of 126.47. He was named to the All-Arena first team after throwing for a career-high 3,692 yards and 88 touchdowns with seven interceptions.
He also is a proven leader. He has piloted Arizona to three previous ArenaBowls, winning two, and was the MVP of ArenaBowl VIII in 1994.
Like Orlando's Jay Gruden, Bonner is a smart decisionmaker who gets rid of the ball quickly and is tough enough to absorb hits in the pocket.
But the Storm got to Gruden, sacking him twice and forcing two interceptions (ending a streak of 211 passes without one) in a 60-50 semifinal victory.
"Jay Gruden didn't take sacks, and we got two against him," Storm defensive lineman Kelvin Kinney said. "We pressured him all night, and he had two interceptions.
"It's the same philosophy (with Bonner). We'd rather go into the game and hit the guy 100 times, legal shots, than go in and have one or two sacks and the guys rushing every now and then."
Arizona's line has kept Bonner upright during the postseason, allowing him to pass for 786 yards and 18 touchdowns in three games.
But the Rattlers have not faced a rush the caliber of the Storm's, which had a league-best 29 sacks and took down Bonner three times in a 68-39 victory March 28.
"They and San Jose probably have the best (pass rush) in the league," Bonner said. "Not only are they good pass rushers, they're smart pass rushers. You can't think you're going to run screens on them because they recognize those things very well.
"We just have to execute and not be worried or concerned with what they're doing."
Arena football is a game of quick decisions. Because the field is shorter and only three linemen and a fullback stand in the way of four pass rushers (including a blitzing linebacker), quarterbacks must know where they want the ball to go and get it there quickly.
Even then, they are likely to end up on their backs.
Bonner has adapted well. He knows where he wants to throw the ball before he gets to the line of scrimmage. If his primary receiver is double covered or held up at the line, he quickly checks to his second receiver. If his second receiver is covered, he gets rid of the ball.
The Storm believes if its defensive backs can take away Bonner's first option, its line will get to him before he can locate his second.
"We've got one of the best pass rushes this year in this league, if not one of the better pass rushes of all time," Kinney said. "The big thing is going to be just getting to that guy.
"If we can just hit him every time, every other time he throws the ball, Sherdrick will get back there and get erratic and start throwing the ball away. He'll start looking at his first read and throw it away if it's not there."
Proctor said the pass rush works because the linemen and linebackers continually challenge each other to play better. Twelve players had sacks this season, led by B.J. Cohen's seven and Kinney's five.
"Everybody feeds off each other," Proctor said. "And you can see in the game once we start cranking up that pass rush, I don't care who's the quarterback.
"That doesn't take anything away from Arizona. I don't care who they have back there. They could have Dan Marino. If Dan Marino gets hit in the face enough times, it's going to bother anybody."
