For weeks, the Philadelphia Soul have played like a team that has something to prove.
It was that Week 10 game that started a seven-game wining streak. That same week was the last time the Soul set their eyes on the Arizona Rattlers.
The Soul were up 15 (57-42), with a little more than eight minutes to go, and they let it slip away.
To this day, the Soul players haven’t forgotten Week 10. In fact, they live by it, playing every opponent as if it were a rematch against Arizona.
“When people bring up their name or we talk about them in practice, I get a little cranky,” defensive lineman Bryan Robinson said. “It’s frustration there, but it’s also a drive there. That’s probably what we need for this game -- that extra umph, that extra want-to.”
The game that Robinson is referring to: ArenaBowl XXVI.
Yes, the Soul will play in the title game for the second straight year and the third time in that last five years. And their opponent, of course, the Rattlers -- a team that’s haunted the Soul since losing to them in last year’s title game.
Arizona has won both games this season against the Soul. Take it back to ArenaBowl XXV, the Rattlers are 3-0 against the Soul in the last three matchups. Take it back one more year to 2011, the Rattlers are 4-0.
You talk to players, they’ll admit the Rattlers have their number, but they also tell you how they beat themselves. They’ll tell you that out of the two games played this season, the Soul should have won at least one game, that Week 10 game.
“We go back and look at the film every time,” Robinson said. “We had them where we wanted them and we just didn’t finish.
“The game prior to that, it was mental mistakes. ... And then you turn around and look at last year’s [ArenaBowl], guys just didn’t show up the first quarter and by then it was too late. They were a good enough team to just stay in front. It’s been kind of a different thing each time.”
Asked if getting over the Rattlers was a mental thing, Robinson said no. His coach, Clint Dolezel did, too. As did his teammate, wide receiver Andrae Thurman.
“I don’t think so,” Thurman said.
Thurman explained that this Soul team is different from last season. It’s a different team from Week 10 with “some different pieces” and “different parts.”
Dolezel mentioned his team being focused for this game -- it knows what’s at stake. But he also noticed his team’s relaxed attitude, which he viewed as a positive.
“I don’t like them being tight and not having fun at practice,” he said. “They’re focused, there’s a little bit more energy than you normally see in areas as far as practice. I think they’ll be more than ready.”
Dolezel didn’t downplay his team’s mistakes against Arizona, but also pointed out how good the Rattlers are in forcing turnovers (first in the AFL with 58 takeaways).
Mix that with quarterback Nick Davila, who has a 113.4 QB rating, an offense that puts up 62 points a game and a defense that is only allowing an average of 53 points in the 2013 playoffs.
“Right now, they have a lot of good things going for them, as well as being a good football team, so it’s a tough combination to beat sometimes,” Dolezel said.
The good news: Dolezel has a confidence in the Soul. He knows that of all the teams in the AFL, the Soul can hang with the Rattlers. After all, the Soul are no slouch, either. Their scoring average this postseason: 67 points a game. Their quarterback Dan Raudabaugh’s QB rating: 115.7.
“They’re very beatable,” Dolezel said of the Rattlers. “There are some teams we beat that hammered them. It’s just a matter of getting it done.”
And for two games in these playoffs, the Soul have been getting it done. In a seesaw game against Aaron Garcia and the Orlando Predators in the first round of the postseason, the Soul overcame some adversity and advanced with a 59-55 win. Last week against Bernard Morris and the Jacksonville Sharks, the Soul held the scrambling quarterback to only five yards rushing, forced him to throw two interceptions and came away with a 75-59 win to claim their second straight American Conference title.
Raudabaugh talked of continuing to get it done. He said it will take the Soul starting off fast and not letting their guard down against the Rattlers. Take a lead and keep the lead.
“Execute all night long and play tough Soul football,” Raudabaugh said. “Respect all and fear none. They’re a good football team, we have a lot of respect for them, but were not scared of them at all. And I know they’re not scared of us and they respect us, too. We’re going to go in fighting and swinging.”
And just maybe the Soul can fight their way to avenge that 72-54 ArenaBowl loss last year and hoist their first trophy since 2008. Maybe they can fight their way to being crowned AFL champs once again.
“It’s time to get over that ladder," Robinson said. "That wall that keeps holding us back, which is ourselves.”
No better time to get over that wall than this Saturday in Orlando in ArenaBowl XXVI.