When R.J. Archer played for Milwaukee and Georgia, he said Jacksonville had a reputation throughout the Arena Football League as a team that finished strong.
Now that he’s the starting Sharks quarterback, he sees everything from a different view: Jacksonville has a bigger habit of starting slow.
“We knew if you let them hang around, they’d finish,” he said. “We do, but we’ve got to start quick.”
Jacksonville (0-1) will try to get out of the blocks quicker against San Antonio (0-2) so it doesn’t have to rely on a late rally. Kickoff at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena is at 7 p.m. Saturday.
Dating to last year, the Sharks have trailed after the first quarter in 10 of their last 15 games. They’ve also been at least two touchdowns behind early in eight of their last 15 games.
In that span, Jacksonville is 7-8.
“In this game you’ve got to score on every possession,” Archer said. “That’s the nature of [the AFL] game.”
Two weeks ago, the Sharks failed to score on their first drive of the game. Orlando wound up winning 49-47 when Archer’s two-point conversion pass missed with seven seconds to play.
“You don’t know it at the time, but you never know when the first drive is going to be the difference in the game,” Archer said.
The slow starts have been noticed by Jacksonville. After a bye last week, the team returned to practice with a greater focus on scoring quickly at the beginning of the game and after halftime.
“We’ve got to do a better job early in the game and in the third quarter,” Sharks coach Les Moss said. “R.J. did a good job against Orlando. The defense played well. We’ve just got to make plays, especially early. We know that.”
The visiting Talons have been slow getting going as well. They scored just 38 points in a season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Kiss, and they scored 45 points last week in a loss to Tampa Bay. While there’s some concern about slow starts, Moss isn’t alarmed.
“There are 18 games, and it’s not likely anyone’s going to go undefeated,” he said. “Early in the season, everyone’s still putting things in place. We all have to do a better job. I don’t just look at them [the players]; I look in the mirror.”
Archer threw for 284 yards and five touchdowns at Orlando, and Jeron Harvey continued to add to his franchise records with 11 catches for 93 yards and three touchdowns. But like so many other games, the Sharks fell behind 21-7 early in the second quarter and spent the rest of the game trying to rally.
MONITOR THE GATORS
Because the Sharks’ game will conflict with the game between Florida and Dayton in the NCAA Tournament, the Sharks will have that game on all the televisions in the concourse areas. The basketball game also will be put on the huge video board at midfield.
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