Jaworski wants to talk about Soul hosting 2014 ArenaBowl

ORLANDO - Ron Jaworski has a novel idea on how the Soul can win the 2014 ArenaBowl. Make it a home game.

Actually, that's not quite accurate. But Jaworski, the face of the Soul ownership, said prior to Saturday's loss to Arizona in the ArenaBowl, that he was going to make a push for Philadelphia to host next year's AFL championship.

"I'm definitely going to talk about it," Jaworski said.

Jaws was effusive in his praise for Orlando, site of this year's championship game and quite critical of last year's host, New Orleans. There is a debate among AFL leaders on whether the championship game should be held at a neutral site or awarded to the team with the best record.

"I'm kind of leaning toward a neutral site, but if you would have asked me that last year, I would have had a different answer," Jaworski said. "I didn't think New Orleans did a very good job of presenting the ArenaBowl last year. But the Orlando Predators organization and the city of Orlando did a magnificent job of presenting this game."

The Soul lost both championship games.

AFL commissioner Jerry Kurz pointed out that having the game at a neutral site is better for planning and other logistics. The problem in Philadelphia's case would be whether the game could be enough of a draw if the Soul wasn't playing. The Soul is one of the top teams in the league, yet it was seventh in the 14-team league this year with an average attendance of 9,075.

Orlando has much deeper arena football roots than Philadelphia and Saturday's crowd was announced at 12,039. Could the Wells Fargo Center draw anything remotely close if the 2014 game featured Spokane and Jacksonville?

Jaworski said he will kick it around and bring it up at the league's board of directors meeting in October.

"You know me, I'm a whack-job believer in Philadelphia sports fans," said Jaworski, who was an Eagles quarterback for 10 seasons. "I think when you've got guys like Larry Needle and the Philadelphia Sports Congress - and all of the people that do a great job promoting Philadelphia - I think if we can get everyone on board, we can make it a special event. It's realistic. We'll certainly have that discussion."

The Soul made just enough mistakes and lost to Arizona, 48-39, in Saturday's ArenaBowl 26 in Central Florida.

The Soul now has lost four times to Arizona in a little more than a calendar year; twice in a row in the championship game. This one was much more difficult than last year, when the Soul was drilled by 18.

Trailing for most of the second half, the Soul gave itself an improbable chance at the end when - down by six - defenders Brandon Perkins and Ko Quaye forced a fumble by Rod Windsor as the Rattlers were going in for a clinching score. Think of Earnest Byner's fumble in the 1987 AFC Championship Game. But the Soul failed to get a first down.

"As an offense," wide receiver Tiger Jones said glumly afterward, "if we get the football back with 53 seconds left, we're supposed to score. That's all there is to it. It's arena football. We're supposed to score there. That's on us . . . on me."

Instead, Soul quarterback Dan Raudabaugh couldn't connect with rookie Ryan McDaniel on a deep pass on third-and-2 and Arizona defensive back Arkeith Brown dislodged a pass meant for Jones on fourth down that would have kept the chains moving.

Compounding the Soul's difficulty was Larry Brackins' inability to play because of a hamstring injury he sustained last week. That left the Soul shorthanded all day inside the 10-yard line against Arizona's aggressive coverage led by all-arena defensive back Virgil Gray.

"Larry's a threat in the red zone," Raudabaugh said. "He's tough to press. He's 6-5, 230 pounds. It's tough for a 5-10, 200-pound safety to come up and put his hands on him. It would have been nice to have him in there to work some of those back corners with high [throws], but I thought Emery [Sammons] played a good game."

Making matters worse, second-leading receiver Andre Thurmond went out in the second quarter with a injured left foot.

"I don't think we had a problem moving the ball," Raudabaugh said. "It's down there inside the 10-yard line, where you've got to cash your checks, and Arizona answered the bell down there."

The Soul outgained Arizona 329 yards to 319 and held the ball nearly 9 minutes longer.

"We just had to win [individual battles] at certain times and we failed to do that," said a tearful McDaniel, who posted career highs in catches (13) and yards (137). "You can't miss an assignment against these guys. You have to come out here and be perfect, to be honest. You have to be perfect."

Arizona's Windsor, who had 10 catches for 145 yards, was named the game's most valuable player despite the nearly disastrous fumble . . . Soul kicker Carlos Martinez missed three extra points while his counterpart, Arizona's Garrett Lindholm, made all six of his PATs and both field goal attempts . . . All-arena fullback Derrick Ross was unhappy afterward. Ross got just four carries, but scored a pair of touchdowns. Soul coach Clint Dolezel said Ross was needed more for pass protection . . . Rattlers QB Nick Davila (20-for-29) had nine incompletions compared to 20 for Raudabaugh (31-for-51).