Week Seven of the Alliance of American Football season wraps up Sunday night when the Birmingham Iron (4-2) travel north to face off against the Memphis Express (1-5). On paper, it’s as lopsided an AAF match up as they come. The Express have the worst record in the league. Birmingham has been one of the first-year league’s best from the opening kick-off and tied for the second best record.
Kick off is set for 8 p.m. Sunday night on the NFL Network. Here’s the line and totals for your perusal.
Birmingham Iron at Memphis Express (+3, O/U: 36.5)
Has the Iron finally found its offense? If last week’s 32-29 shootout win over the San Diego Fleet is any indication, they just might have. After waffling on quarterback Luis Perez over the last couple of games, Birmingham appears to have handed him back the keys. It paid dividends against the Fleet, with Perez finishing 27-of-49 for 359 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions.
Trent Richardson continues to start for Birmingham and unless their offensive line is the problem, just looks like a lost cause. He carried the ball 16 times last week for 46 yards and a touchdown, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry.
L’Damian Washington caught four passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Jamal Robinson had two receptions for 78 yards. Quinton Patton had eight catches for 53 yards and continues to show he’s one of the most reliable route runners in the AAF.
Defensively, Birmingham was held without a sack. Bradley Sylvie led the team with eight takcles, two passes defended, an interception and a forced fumble. Aaron Adeoye had five tackles, two for a loss and a forced fumble. Jamar Summers picked off a pass.
For the Express, an already long season got even longer last week after a 22-9 loss to the Salt Lake Stallions. It was Memphis’ worst offensive output since Week two when they were shut out by Birmingham.
Brandon Silvers finished 23-of-37 passing for 242 yards and a touchdown. Zac Stacy pulled a Trent Richardson with 11 carries for 31 yards, averaging 2.8 yards per carry. Stacy did catch four passes for 27 yards and a touchdown. Week six was a highlight for multiple AAF receivers and Reece Horn was no different, catching eight passes for 129 yards. Daniel Williams caught seven balls for 70 yards.
On defense, Memphis was held without a sack. DeMarquis Gates had 11 tackles, two for a loss and two forced fumbles. Arnold Tarpley, III recorded seven tackles, one pass defense and an interception.
The Pick
The last time these two teams met it wasn’t close and that was before Birmingham got its pass offense untracked. The Iron are 2-0 on the road against the spread this season and have hit the over in both of those games. A couple of AAF trends may be worth looking at in this game. The over/under is 10-14 this season. Last week road teams went 3-1 against the spread. Home teams are 11-13 against the spread. What does all that mean? It means that Birmingham will probably win a low scoring game. It won’t help that Memphis has given up 10 sacks in its last two games. Iron 18, Express 15
