The Chicago Rush enjoyed a bye week at the midseason point, which provides a perfect opportunity to assess the team’s performance for the first half of the 2005 campaign. The Rush record stands at 4-4, which is good enough for second place in the Central Division, but puts them in fifth place in the American Conference. Four teams from each conference make the playoffs, which means the Rush would miss post-season play for the first time in their history if the playoffs were held today.

The good news is that over the next five weeks the Rush will play all four of the teams ahead of them in the playoff race. "We kind of control our own destiny as far as the playoffs," said head coach Mike Hohensee. A team with ambition can’t ask for more than that.

Let’s take a look at how the Rush performed in the first eight games:

Quarterbacks: C

It was no secret coming into the season that the Rush’s chances for success hinged in large part on how QB Raymond Philyaw performed under fire after spending the offseason rehabbing his surgically repaired knee. Results have been mixed at best, as Philyaw’s mobility, accuracy, and confidence have all been suspect at times, and he has missed more than a quarter of the season thus far due to injury. Veteran backup Todd Hammel has generally played well when called upon, but the Rush need Philyaw to get back to 2004 form if they are to have a legitimate shot at the ArenaBowl.

Philyaw had 11 rushing touchdowns last season, fourth best among AFL quarterbacks. That he has only two in 2005 tells a large part of the tale of the Rush’s woes with their red zone running game. "We don’t have the ability to really run at the quarterback position at this point," said Hohensee. Philyaw’s mobility has always been a large reason for his success as an arena quarterback. Its absence has reduced not only his productivity, but has also forced the coaching staff to cross off an important segment of the Rush playbook and made the offense more predictable.

With only four interceptions last season and a deserved reputation for taking care of the football, Philyaw easily satisfied the first law of quarterbacking in Chicago: don’t lose the game. This season has been a very different story, as he has thrown six interceptions in six starts. Toss in Hammel’s three picks for good measure, and the Rush are on a pace to more than quadruple last year’s interception tally. In a league where offenses are expected to "hold serve" – score on each possession – the Rush cannot afford to give away so many chances.

Receivers: B

OS Henry Douglas has been dinged up this season, but when he has played he has shown dangerous quickness and good route running that will make him a headache for opposing teams if he and Philyaw can get enough simultaneous time on the field to develop some chemistry.

Chemistry with Philyaw has not been a problem for WR/LB Etu Molden, who picked up this season right where he left off after last year’s All Rookie performance. Molden leads the team in receiving yards (650) and touchdowns (15), and has three rushing touchdowns as well. He makes tough clutch catches in traffic and takes ferocious hits in stride. Molden is my pick for team MVP for the first half of the season.

Russell Shaw, DeJuan Alfonzo, and Jeremy McDaniel have also contributed to a solid receiving corps. Though they don’t see the ball as much as Douglas and Molden, they have each made nice grabs at key moments. Molden, Shaw, and Alfonzo are also playing fairly well on defense.

Having garnered little playing time, Charles Pauley has not had an opportunity to show whether Hohensee was correct to predict that he could become the next great WR/DB in the AFL. He has made a couple of great catches, but he has also dropped a few easy ones.

Fullback/Linebackers: B-

Rush FB/LB’s Bob McMillan and Jamie McGourty are one of the better backfield combos in the AFL. McMillan has rushed for 93 yards so far in 2005, good enough to elevate him to second in the league in career rushing yards with 1,243. But after leading the league with 22 rushing touchdowns last season, McMillan has just three in the first eight games of 2005.

The Rush have been stuffed time and again at the goal line, but head coach Mike Hohensee has largely absolved the fullbacks of blame, placing it instead on missed blocks on the line and the predictability caused by the absence of a mobile quarterback. Overall, the Rush are averaging just over 25 yards of rushing per game, good enough for sixth in the league. But they cannot expect to make the playoffs without fixing their problems at the goal line. OL/DL Charlie Cook has been seeing some time in the backfield as Hohensee tries to find a solution to the Rush’s short yardage problems.

In addition to powering the rushing attack, McMillan and McGourty have also historically been emotional leaders for the team. Some of that spark seems to be missing so far this season, particularly from McMillan. After McMillan was featured as the "Toughest Man in Football" on the cover of the AFL’s preseason magazine, opposing FB/LB’s came into games against the Rush fired up, seeking to prove themselves against him. Rather than accepting the challenge and stepping up his intensity, McMillan has appeared meek and almost apologetic at times.

With McGourty just placed on injured reserve, it’s time for fan favorite and local hero McMillan to stop playing elder statesman and get back to kicking butt and taking names. His involvement in many of the skirmishes during Chicago’s most recent game against the VooDoo suggests he’s ready to make that happen.

Offensive and Defensive Line: D

The Rush offensive line has given up just four sacks so far this season, which is admirable considering the much lamented mobility problems at quarterback. The problem with the offensive line has come on the goal line, as miscommunication and missed blocks have made an already difficult situation worse.

There are plenty of woes on the defensive side of the ball, as the Rush are averaging less than a sack a game this season after punishing opposing quarterbacks with 23 sacks in 2004. When future AFL Hall of Fame lineman James Baron departed for Nashville to help resurrect the Kats, some dropoff on the line was to be expected. The problem was compounded when veteran OL/DL Riley Kleinhesselink announced his retirement a week before training camp. This development came as a major surprise to the Rush, who had just signed Kleinhesselink to a two-year deal. "All of a sudden, our number two and number three pass rushers are gone," said Hohensee.

The Rush touted former Dallas Desperados OL/DL Chad Pegues as an important offseason free agency acquisition, but released him after he appeared in just two games. Those who remain are a cobbled-together group that simply does not occupy enough of an opposing offensive line’s attention to allow 2004 AFL Lineman of the Year John Moyer to get to the quarterback on a consistent basis. "Our pass rush isn’t even close to where it was last year," said Hohensee. Indeed, this may be the weakest defensive line in the team’s history.

Defensive Secondary: C+

The defensive secondary is doomed to fail much of the time in the Arena Football League. With linebackers confined to an imaginary box and a receiver in forward motion at the snap, the secondary is totally exposed and cannot be expected to keep tabs on everyone for any length of time. With the Rush defensive line giving opposing quarterbacks plenty of time for much of the first half of the season, opposing receivers have made the Rush secondary look foolish more than a few times.

DS Corey Sawyer quickly became a fan favorite in his one season with Chicago last year, largely because of his ferocious hits. Sawyer is not playing anywhere this season, and the Rush signed free agent DS Jeroid Johnson with great fanfare and raised expectations.

Johnson’s performance in the first few games of the season left a lot to be desired, as he spent a lot of time watching receivers blow past him or escape the weak arm tackles he was trying on them. But Johnson seems to be settling into the Rush’s system as the season goes on, and his tackling has improved significantly. While some Rush fans have been very vocal in their criticism of Johnson, his head coach has come to his defense, putting the blame on the defensive scheme and the weak pass rush. "You can’t put a guy on an island that many times and expect him to succeed," Hohensee said.

The preseason expectation was that Tony Lukins would settle into the other DS slot after spending the last couple of years on the Rush’s other league exempt list while bouncing around NFL training camps and playing in NFL-Europe. But Lukins has spent most of the season nursing injuries, and veteran DS Greg Williams has been injured or in street clothes for unspecified reasons for four games. Rookie DS Todd Howard was signed off the practice squad and has played well considering the situation, but he has made some bad decisions on coverage and has been burned going for the ball instead of the man a few times. With a little more experience and discipline, he has the potential to keep his starting role as Lukins comes off the IR.

Special Teams: B

Kicker Keith Gispert is having another solid year for the Rush. He’s just about at that magic 90 percent conversion rate on PAT’s that allows an AFL kicker to keep his job, and he’s converted seven of ten field goal attempts, including a 62 yarder. He came to the rescue in the Colorado game, delivering an excellent onside kick that was grabbed by Molden, and then kicking the game winning 21 yard field goal with seconds to play.

Kickoffs have been adequate. Although Gispert has not had much success finding the net irons, which would make handling the ball difficult for the return man, he has hit the slack net frequently, which usually slows down the return and often drops the ball over the end line for a touchback. The Rush are holding opposing teams to an average of 16.5 yards on kickoff returns – a decent number – and have allowed only one return touchdown, also a good result.

Kick returns have been quite an adventure for the Rush, for better and for worse. OS Henry Douglas is among the league leaders in kick return yardage (672) and touchdowns (2). But when Douglas was out for a couple of weeks with an injury, and even when he retook the field, balls have been hitting the turf off the net at an unacceptable rate, giving the kicking team a chance at recovering. Without nets at the Rush practice facility, the team needs to find a way to give Douglas more time collecting balls off the nets at Allstate Arena or this adventure could end badly.

Coaching: B-

Having seen some bad coaching around the league this season, I am reminded how fortunate Rush fans are to have a head coach that can be relied upon to manage the clock well and execute the basics of effective leadership that seem to be forgotten in certain unnamed cities (cough-Columbus) (cough, cough-Arizona). That said, head coach Mike Hohensee has admitted that the Rush have been outcoached and outplayed in a few games this year. The Rush suffered from poor motivation, lousy execution, and weak tackling early in the year.

The Rush have yet to play a complete game well. They have outscored their opponent in both halves of only one game, and that was against 1-7 Nashville. There are flashes of brilliance and reminders of successful seasons gone by, but the team is clearly not championship caliber at this point. That’s disappointing to fans, who saw their team fall just a game short of the ArenaBowl last season. And it has to be terribly frustrating for Hohensee and his staff, who have been dealt a number of bum hands personnel-wise. The lack of Rush roster moves during the past couple of weeks means Hohensee is ready to go with the team he has at this point. Some fans are questioning whether that is a sign of confidence or complacency. With the success he has brought to the Rush since their birth in 2001, Hohensee has earned the right to the benefit of the doubt.

Looking ahead:

The Rush travel to New York to face the 6-2 Dragons at 6 PM on Saturday. After that, it’s four straight games against the American Conference rivals standing between the Rush and the playoffs. If the Rush can win three of the next five and clean up against league doormats Arizona, Grand Rapids, and Nashville to close out the season, they will make the playoffs. And all of the problems of the first eight weeks will be forgiven and forgotten.