Command Prepares For West Coast Clash With San Jose

The Kansas City Command’s three-game road trip continues Saturday night against the San Jose SaberCats at HP Pavilion in Week 7 of the Arena Football League season. Kickoff is set for 9:30pm Central Time. The Command (0-4) are coming off a bye week after falling 69-40 at Chicago on April 7. San Jose (3-2) is tied with Arizona and Utah atop the National Conference’s West Division despite losing at Philadelphia 61-55 last Saturday night.
Saturday night’s game in San Jose will mark the second start for quarterback Matt Gutierrez. After leading the team to a game-opening touchdown drive in Chicago, the rest of the first half was tough for the new Command signal-caller. KC missed two field goals and Gutierrez threw two interceptions in their next four drives. However, he showed solid improvement in the second half, leading the team on four touchdown drives in five possessions. He finished 23 of 39 for 258 yards, five touchdowns and two picks.
The extended scoring drought in the first half allowed the Rush to score 35 straight points and take a decisive 42-13 lead at halftime. The Command have given up a scoring run of at least 23 points in all four games so far this season and preventing that type of streak will be a major key to claiming a victory.
The Kansas City defense allowed a season-high 69 points to the Rush. Chicago scored touchdowns on 10 of their first 11 drives.
San Jose is 3-2 after their comeback attempt came up short in Philadelphia. Like the Command, the SaberCats were done in by an extended scoring run for the opposition. The Soul scored 28 points in a row in the second half by picking off San Jose quarterback Mark Grieb on three straight possessions. The run gave Philadelphia a 54-34 lead and though the SaberCats recovered two onside kicks, the deficit proved too much to overcome.
Kansas City and San Jose have met twice, with the SaberCats winning both games. Most recently, the teams played a thriller in March of 2011 with the SaberCats escaping with a 60-57 home win. A 50-yard field goal attempt that would have tied the game sailed wide for KC as time expired. Two current Command receivers had big nights. Bret Smith finished with 12 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns and Bradly Chavez added 123 yards three touchdowns on eight grabs.
The game will air live on Sports Radio 810 WHB and on a video webstream at www.ustream.tv/kansascitycommand and will air on tape delay at 1pm Sunday, April 22 on KSMO-TV 62.