Forty times, the San Jose SaberCats and the Arizona Rattlers have met in their illustrious histories. Six times they have met in the playoffs. There are 12 ArenaBowl appearances and seven championships between the clubs, and there were 28 wins between the two this year. On Sunday, one will advance to the National Conference Finals to take on the Spokane Shock.
Any questions? Tired of hearing criticism from a month's worth of lackluster play, the Arizona Rattlers were in championship form during their 72-56 dismantling of the rival San Jose SaberCats in the National Conference title game at US Airways Center.
It took QB Aaron Garcia 201 games in the Arena Football League before finally getting here to the ArenaBowl in 2011. The Jacksonville Sharks might have had to travel across the country with virtually no practice, but their Head Coach Les Moss has more experience dealing with ArenaBowls than all of the players in the game combined.
When the Arizona Rattlers take the field this Friday night at Moda Center against the Portland Steel, the five-time AFL champs will have more questions coming out of training camp than they have faced over their past half-decade of dominance.
If offense wins games and defense wins championships, the Arizona Rattlers are well on their way to a sixth ArenaBowl title. While the Arena Football League is a showcase for the offensive side of the football with teams frequently putting up 60+ points in a game, Arizona's defense is setting the bar astronomically high through the Rattlers' three wins to start the 2016 campaign.