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Soul With Critical Showdown In Cleveland Friday

By Matt Leon

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Soul will look for a third straight win as they visit Cleveland in a big East Division showdown on Friday night.

Philadelphia smothered Tampa Bay last week, 62-34, to improve to 5-4 this season and head coach Clint Dolezel says things are starting to roll for his team.

"I think so," Dolezel says. "I think the biggest phase for us is the defense is starting to play well. I think we've had nine turnovers in the last two weeks, which I don't think we had that many combined the first six games. So we're starting to play better there and (quarterback) Dan (Raudabaugh)'s really been on a high level for us. Special teams have been pretty solid all year long, too. We can get all three phases going, than we have wins like we did last week."

Listen To Podcast With Clint Dolezel:

Clint Dolezel

And they will need all three phases to be clicking on Friday night as Cleveland is a perfect 8-0 this season.

"They've got a strong defense, really strong defense," Dolezel says. "They've got a rookie quarterback that's playing pretty sound football. They're taking care of the football. They've had so many takeaways versus not giving it away as much. So that's put them in a good situation."

Despite winning five of six, Philadelphia still trails Cleveland by 3 1/2 games. So if they harbor any hopes of winning the division, this game is really a must-win.

"We play them twice so we feel like we have to win both of those and have some help on down the line and that means we're having to play perfect football from here on out, too," Dolezel says. "So a must-win for a division, yeah, we think so."

Philadelphia and Cleveland get underway at 7:00pm on Friday night.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.

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