Storm need quick fix... and fast
Adam J Locascio
Wednesday March 7, 2007
A revamped offensive line couldn’t block. A new defensive line couldn’t rush the passer. Running backs couldn’t run. Receivers couldn’t hang on to the ball. Defensive backs couldn’t knock down a pass, the quarterback couldn’t stay on his feet, and the kicker couldn’t put the ball between the irons.
They fired the kicker.
It is true that “one game a season does not make” but how much hope and expectations could be derived from that mess that was on the field Friday night? If you look at every facet of the game, the only area that looks sound is the kick return game anchored by TT Toliver – and I am pretty sure I just jinxed that one.
If the Storm can’t solve their pass rush issues, they are going to be returning a lot of kicks.
The news gets worse as the Storm travel to Dallas to take on a Desperado team that only gave up 7 points last week to the New York Dragons. They also rang up 60 points on the overmatched Dragons.
There’s no room for error. The Storm better score and they better figure out how to stop people or they are going to be staring 0-2 in the face with Georgia coming to town.
Game 2 of any season shouldn’t be labeled a “must-win” but the Storm need this one, if anything, just to get their confidence back and to come back to the Forum in Week 3 with a win in the sports page.
The upside is that according to head coach Tim Marcum, the problem isn’t personnel; it’s execution - something that Coach Marcum was in favor of after the game, he said, quoting the late Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach John McKay.
"We didn't play very well and it's not the offensive line, it's not the defensive line," Marcum said. "There were flashes when we did have a little pass rush, flashes where we played decent in the secondary, we had some stops. We just got out-hustled, out-hit, out-pitched, out-coached, everything."
Maybe Marcum has a point. The Predators really didn’t do anything fancy to beat the Storm. They didn’t turn the ball over (zero interceptions for quarterback Shane Stafford. Their one fumble was recovered by the Predators). Jay Taylor made all his extra points and 1-of-2 field goals.
Stafford didn’t throw a lot of bombs, but he didn’t have to. Predator receivers who caught short passes routinely turned them into longer gains, even touchdowns, when Storm DBs failed to “touch” the receiver when they were lying on the turf. Couple that with a handful of delay of game penalties by the Storm and it was pretty evident that the crosshairs were pointed directly at the Storm’s foot.
So where does a coach start? What could be done that could yield the greatest return. It’s going to start in the trenches.
The Storm have one of the deepest receiving corps in the AFL right now. Lawrence Samuels, Terrill Shaw, Demetris Bendross, and Toliver are all legitimate weapons. But quarterback John Kaleo can’t find them when he’s looking at the ceiling of the St. Pete Times Forum.
If the Storm can protect Kaleo, it will open up the offense. At least then they can keep pace with other teams. The defense didn’t do that bad of a job against Orlando. If they played a more disciplined defense where they finish their tackles they could have shaved at least 14 points of Orlando’s score. The Storm did log a sack and a quarterback hurry, but they need a lot more hurries against Clint Dolezel. Last season, Dallas beat Tampa Bay 64-35. The Storm lost three fumbles, threw an interception (-3 turnover ratio for the game), and gave up three sacks.
Sound familiar?
Let’s hope the problems can be fixed… fast.
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.
