Storm Need Sum of Parts to be Whole
Adam J Locascio
Thursday April 8, 2004
During the halftime break at this weekend’s Tampa Bay Storm game versus the San Jose SaberCats, someone came up to me in the concession line and said to me, “wow, what a half.”
To be honest, that was one of the best halves of football I’d ever seen in my life.
Even with the lack of any sacks, the Storm jumped out to a 38-21 lead with some nifty scoring plays, a special teams touchdown on a kickoff, and a some pretty impressive kicking from new arrival Matt George. It looked like the Storm teams of old had returned to the Thunderdome—I mean the St. Pete Times Forum—and were getting ready to show what they were truly capable of.
Then reality set in.
‘Cats quarterback Mark Grieb, who probably did not need more than a Kleenex to clean himself up with after the game due to the lack of contact he received, lit the Storm up for nine touchdown passes, several due to busted coverages where ‘Cats receivers wandered aimlessly through the secondary as if looking for a Chik Fil-A in the Food Court.
And it was there for the taking. The Storm forced four fumbles, recovering three, and they got a break on a late field goal attempt by San Jose at the end of the first half where the snap sailed over the holder. The red zone offense, once thought to be the weak link on the team, went an astounding five-for-five.
You can’t hang this one on the quarterback either. No way. Quarterback Shane Stafford, after being benched for two games has come back stronger and maybe even a little smarter. On two separate occasions, Stafford picked up on coverage errors by the ‘Cats and took advantage of a hot read.
The sad part is Stafford is the only one who read the error.
On one play, for some inexplicable reason, the entire SaberCats secondary rolled their coverage to the left leaving wide receiver TT Tolliver uncovered. Yes, uncovered. Stafford immediately saw this and came right off the snap to fire a bullet to Tolliver, which bounced off his hip.
Obviously, the ‘Cats felt bad that their gift reception went unclaimed and made the same mistake a second time in the fourth quarter. Again, Stafford read the error and this time fired the same exact pass to Clif Dell, who deflected the ball into the stands when he wasn’t ready for the pass.
So what’s the answer? How can Coach Tim Marcum fix this train wreck? Short of going out there and running routes on his own, there isn’t much more he can tweak. So where’s the problem?
The truth is there’s nothing wrong with this team. They have the talent. They have the ability. They have the depth. But like that little blanket that always leaves something uncovered, the Storm can’t get every facet of the game clicking at one time.
In their history, the Storm have never been the “bad boys” of the league, but it’s time to start playing with more bite and less bark. It’s time to start stepping on some necks and not let up until the death spasms reside, and that’s then the clock reads straight zeroes. This team can get to playoffs and can do some real damage once they get there.
But it takes two halves to make the whole.
Adam J. Locascio is a financial advisor in the Tampa Bay area and a Board Member of the Tampa Bay Storm Surge Fan Club. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Phoenix and is a six-year season ticket holder for the Tampa Bay Storm.
