High Hopes Have Turned Into Frustrating Reality
Josh Fisher
Thursday May 17, 2007
When the 2007 Arena Football League season began, the coaches and players of the Utah Blaze were all talking about the possibility of hosting a playoff game at EnergySolutions Arena. Now eleven games into the season they are just hoping to qualify.
Things started good for the second-year franchise as they were 5-2 and playing host to a 1-6 Arizona Rattlers team. A team the Blaze had already defeated in Phoenix a month earlier. Arizona routed the Blaze 83-69, sending Utah into a tailspin they have yet to recover from.
The Blaze are now riding a four-game losing streak and have fallen from the second seed in the American Conference playoff race to the sixth and final seed. The win drought has also moved them from a one-and-one-half game lead in the Western Division to a two-and-one-half game deficit.
Through all of this the team has continued to score at a record pace. In 11 games the Blaze has scored a league-leading 690 points. They are on pace to break the AFL record for points scored in a season. They have also racked up 3,775 yards and are also on pace to break that AFL record.
Defensively they have struggled. They have allowed a league high 696 points in 2007. At the rate they are going they could break the AFL record for points scored and points allowed in the same year.
Blaze opponents have scored a touchdown or field goal on 103-of-127 possessions, not including possessions at the end of a half or game. That is an 81 percent rate. If you take out the game against Grand Rapids, in which the Blaze held the Rampage to a 6-of-13 rate, they are allowing a score on 85 percent of opponent possessions.
Things don’t get any easier for the Blaze either. After hosting Las Vegas this week in a game they should win, although it will probably be a nail-bitter, they travel to Orlando to battle the Predators (6-4). That is followed by two straight home games with Colorado (7-4) and San Jose (7-3). They finish with a bye and a trip to Los Angeles to take on the Avengers (5-5).
If the Blaze wants to make the playoffs you have to assume they need to win three of the final five games. Two might be enough since Nashville has a tough schedule to finish as well. The problem is that looking at the remaining schedule for Utah, finding a second win after Las Vegas is tough.
At this point the thought of a home playoff game is out of the question. Currently they are two losses behind Kansas City for the fourth seed. Plus Kansas City holds the tiebreaker thanks to the Brigade win over the Blaze last weekend.
This season has turned into somewhat of a nightmare for the Blaze. The high hopes they had early have turned into frustration. This team is as talented as any in the AFL on offense. Now they have to hope the defense can rise to the occasion down the stretch. One thing is for certain, it will be fun to watch.
