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Soul takes on Jacksonville in AFL playoff

An analysis of Sunday’s American Conference Championshp game

    Daily News
    Published 

SOUL AGENDA

Who: Jacksonville (11-8) at Soul (16-3)

What: American Conference

Championship game

When: Sunday, 5 p.m.

Where: Wells Fargo Center (19,500).

TV: CBS SportsNet

Radio: 97.5-FM The Fanatic

On the web: soul.arenafootball.com/allaccess

Daily News' line: Soul -3.

About the Soul: Attempting to get to the ArenaBowl championship game for the third time in four years. Beat Jacksonville in the conference finals in 2012 and 2013 and lost to Arizona both of those years . . . Only championship was 2008 . . . Starting defensive back Kent Richardson injured his right MCL and is finished for the season. Brandon Freeman, who had a back injury and hasn't played since midseason, will take Richardson's place . . . The Soul are 10-0 at home this season.

About the Sharks: Led offensively by veteran quarterback Tommy Grady, who was fourth in the league with 95 touchdown passes. The Soul's Dan Raudabaugh was the leader with 119 . . . The Sharks have the most explosive tandem of receivers in the league. Tiger Jones, who played for the Soul from 2012-14, led the AFL with 2,087 receiving yards. Teammate Joe Hills (1,597) was tied for fifth . . . Bulldozing fullback Derrick Ross, another former popular Soul player, had an AFL-best 33 rushing touchdowns . . . Defensive lineman Joe Sykes set the AFL record with 18 1/2 sacks. He had two sacks and two forced fumbles in three games against the Soul . . . Two of the Soul's three losses were to the Sharks, though both were in Jacksonville.

In the other conference: San Jose (18-1) plays Arizona (15-4) in the National Conference title game tomorrow (8 p.m., ESPNews). The Daily News has installed San Jose as a very unofficial 12-point favorite.

If the Soul win: They will play either at San Jose next Monday (Aug. 31) or host Arizona in a game tentatively scheduled for 8 p.m. next Saturday (Aug. 29). If Arizona is the opponent, the Soul may seek to move the game so as not to conflict with an Eagles at Packers preseason game. It is the important third test for each team and also is starting at 8 p.m.

The pick: The Soul'' s offense is in a little funk and missing Richardson is problematic. Jacksonville, 67-58.

- Ed Barkowitz

    Daily News