No Blame For Shane This Time
Adam J Locascio
Thursday June 2, 2005
He did everything he could on Sunday against the Georgia Force. It’s unfortunate that it just wasn’t enough.
Short of taking the field on kick-offs, Stafford can take solace in the fact that he did everything he could and performed admirably in his first-round playoff game against the Force, one where the Tampa Bay Storm came out on the wrong side of a 62-46 score.
Stafford took some shots regarding his past playoff performances in the week leading up to the Sunday’s game. Maybe some of it was deserved, but that wasn’t the case this week.
Stafford threw for 304 yards and accounted for five touchdowns – three passing and two rushing. Although he had two interceptions and a dropped snap, Stafford’s performance was much improved from his earlier playoff performances.
His first interception was on a miscommunication with OS Freddie Solomon. The second was on the final play of the game and was inconsequential toward the outcome. Stafford’s dropped snap was on an exchange with center Jimond Pugh, a center which Stafford had little time to work with this season.
The Storm defense showed the whole game that they could put the clamps on the Force and keep them off the scoreboard. Unfortunately, the Storm special teams gave up 14 points on kick returns and that turned out to be the difference in the game.
Stafford is the consummate team player, almost to a fault. Time and time again he’s proven that when he is surrounded with an adequate supporting cast, he will deliver. He uses his weapons and spreads the ball around. In the Storm’s biggest wins of the season, Stafford completed touchdown passes to five or six different receivers.
Stafford’s role on the Storm could very well be compared to the role of his cross-town counterpart, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer quarterback Brad Johnson. Johnson, like Stafford, was not flashy or fast, but was tough as nails and knew how to distribute the ball around to his receivers.
But like Johnson, Stafford can’t complete passes when his offensive linemen are stepping on his feet right off the snap. Stafford can’t dance into the end zone when his linemen block down and leave him to take on a linebacker on his own.
He’s tough, but he’s not that tough.
Stafford has all the physical tools to be successful in this league. He won three AFL Player of the Week awards this season. He completed 64% of his passes for 4,826 yards and 86 touchdowns. All were team records and that says a lot considering the Storm had an AFL Hall of Famer at quarterback for a good part of its existence (Jay Gruden).
Stafford has shown that given time with a receiver, he can develop rapport with him. Ronney Daniels, Lynaris Elphaege, and Demetrius Bendross can attest for that. All showed great potential given three or four games on the opposite side of Stafford’s passes.
He needs his engine firing on all cylinders for him to drive the car. That means offense, defense, and special teams.
But even with all his talent, coach Tim Marcum won’t let him out on the field to tackle a kick returner to help him protect his own lead.
Shane wants to be playing in Las Vegas, although it won’t happen this year. Criticizing him for his performance is just foolish. Stafford made great strides this year and more could be expected in 2006.
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.
