Rage Report: Rage Gunning For Hitmen

After a 26-14 dismantling of the San Francisco Demons at the Florida Citrus Bowl Saturday night, the Orlando Rage head into the third week of the inaugural XFL season unbeaten and sitting alone atop the Eastern Division. A strong running game, a pension for the big play, and a bend but don't break defense were the formula for the Rage success.

Who's Hot:

• DB Omar Brown - Lead a tough Rage defense with 10 solo tackles and an interception in the end zone that ended a Demons scoring threat. Brown also recovered and returned a fumble for a first half touchdown.


• WR Mario Bailey - Made his first TD catch of the year by hauling in a 53-yd pass from QB Jeff Brohm


• RBs Michael Black , Derrick Clark, and Brain Shay combined for 136-yds and 2-TDs on 26 carries. Black also scored the team's first PAT in the short history of the franchise.

Wednesday's Practice Highlights:

Head coach Galen Hall was at it again when he jokingly challenged a DB to, "Be ready, I may be coming", as he mimicked lining up at split-end. RB Michael Black made a nice finger tip catch out of the backfield. He also made some nice cutbacks carrying the ball. DB Omar Brown picked off a pass during the defensive skeleton drills.

What they're saying:

Defensive Coordinator Charlie Bailey:

• On a possible let down against the 0-2 New York/New Jersey Hitmen, "Not in this league. You have to be prepared to play every week as the talent level is pretty even--New York is a good team and we have to be ready."
• On his defense having back-to-back player of the week honors, "Omar made some big plays in crucial situations like Banks did last week. This defensive is real explosive and these guys performed at a high level."

RB Brain Shay:

• On the team's 2-0 start, "It means nothing-At this level any team can win on any given day."
• On sharing the offensive backfield, "We can all do something different, and so far it is working well. We are playing well and the team is benefiting."
• On returning kick-offs, "I've always enjoyed returning kicks. Actually, I was thrown in at the last minute because of the injuries to our DBs. I had been telling them that I could do it-- plus Coach Hall knew me from Europe." Shay played for the Berlin Thunder in NFL Europe
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DB Omar Brown

• On a possible defensive let down, " It will be easy not to have a let down--We haven't peaked as a defense yet. As a team, we are starting to trust each other and although we have played good at times, our best game is yet to come."
• On winning the Defensive Player of the Week Award, "The recognition is nice, but the most important thing is that we keep winning. We don't go into the game with individual awards as a goal, but if we keep it in house that means good things are happening. So far the award has only gone to a winning team."
• On nicknames on jerseys, "We do not have a lot of RAH, RAH guys on this team as you can tell by the backs of our jerseys. It's cool that the XFL encourages us to express ourselves, but we want to speak with our actions. We just want to continue to play hard."

Injury Report:

DB- Hassan Shamsid-Deen is still out because of the dislocated shoulder he suffered during the "Dash for the Ball". He is presently on the practice squad.
DB - Ricky Bell will remain on the practice squad due to injury.
DL - Ken Anderson is questionable and may move to the practice squad due to a knee injury.

A Look Ahead

The Rage finally takes their show on the road to the New Jersey Meadowlands to face the 0-2 New York/New Jersey Hitmen. On Sunday night, and for first time this season, the Rage will be the main event in the XFL television lineup. The game is set for a 7 pm kick-off on UPN with no other games scheduled in that time slot.

Without question the Hitmen need to keep the potent Rage offense off the board early in order to keep it close. Although there appears to be parody in the overall talent in the XFL, the Hitmen have shown an inability to score points -- only 12 total in their first two games. The good news for New York is that the Rage has allowed teams to pile up yards against them, and if the Hitmen can avoid turnovers (three against Birmingham), they might have a shot.

Previous Stories:

• February 09, 2001: Rage Report: Coach Hall At Right Tackle?