Vengeance may be a dish best served cold, but that is because it is extremely nutritious when consumed raw.
Raw was also the best way to summarize the Jacksonville Breeze 27-12 decimation of the Baltimore Charm Saturday night as the Legend’s (formerly Lingerie) Football League’s opening course for its 5th anniversary.
"We played with a chip on our shoulder. Even though we beat them last year, they made the playoffs last year and we didn’t," said Breeze safety Lauren Ziegler. Ziegler’s bitterness toward the Charm fueled a complete team effort, and Breeze defenders appeared undeterred by unsportsmanlike penalties for bullying Charm quarterback Morgan Spencer.
The first half—to the enjoyment of Barstool Sports and this here Blog’s readers across the country—featured the 2014’s season inaugural lady fight.
For all of the novelty of a lady fight, the true brutality was in between the whistle. The Breeze laid the hammer in all three phases of the game.
The first half also doubled as the Charm’s lone offensive bright spot. Baltimore was still visibly transitioning Saturday night from coach Gary Clark’s successful dual-quarterback system last season to now allowing Spencer full reign over the offense. Baltimore found early success moving the ball on the ground and letting Spencer throw high-percentage throws, at least until the Breeze defense clamped down.
The Breeze defensive front, led by Saige Steinmetz, was charged with bottling up the run and forcing Spencer to throw.
When she wasn’t harassing the Charm backfield, Steinmetz must have been YouTubing Jim Brown clips, punishing the vaunted Charm defense into softening up by the second half.
Steinmetz romped Saturday night, barreling her way to 224 yards, four touchdowns, 100% of Jacksonville’s offensive production, and one perfectly executed ode to Scotty 2 Hotty.
Steinmetz boasts she's single-handily responsible for bringing the worm back and on Saturday night, she had plenty of opportunities to cash in on that hefty claim.
Last year’s Charm squad resembled the 2006 National Championship-winning Florida Gators that used two quarterbacks, utilizing Spencer with former-Charm-now-Seattle-Mist quarterback Angela Rypien. The Charm blossomed in that system, earning Rypien all-pro honors and advancing to the playoffs from this epic overtime win.
Saturday’s Charm better resembled the below-.500 2013 Gators quarterbacked by Jeff Driskel. Spencer looked lost among the Breeze’s pass rush and threw too many passes into the turf.