If that sounds familiar it's because it's the same story line for the first two home games. After the humiliating loss to the Rattlers last week, Head Coach Ron James had this to say about his team in close game situations:

 

“I really believe that in these types of games it's the team that implodes and hurts themselves, is the team that loses, and we did that. If you look at the third quarter, we blew ourselves up. It wasn't really as much as what they were doing, but what we were not doing. We have to rectify the situation quickly.”

 

And honestly, the same could be said about the Blaze in this week’s loss against a resurgent Tampa Bay Storm team. The Blaze led 21-7 after the first quarter, but a fumble by Chase Deadder (his second of the day at that point) allowed Tampa to get back into the game.

 

“We played good enough to clinch the lead in the first half. Being careless with the football is not something you can do no matter who you play,” said Coach James after this week's game. “We can't afford to do that.”

 

With 1 minute left in the half, the Blaze scored to go up 28-21. With Tampa Bay getting the ball first in the second half, the Blaze were going to have to go to the break with the lead or the Storm would have the opportunity to take the lead in the second half. Common thought would be to onside kick in this situation to give you more time to score after the Storm either score or go out on downs. However, the Storm running game had been so successful to that point that Coach James decided to go against common thought and kickoff to the Storm.

 

“We had stopped them on downs earlier in the half and we had gotten them into 3rd down situations,” said Coach James. “I wanted them to chase the length of the field and give ourselves an opportunity to score last. We could have onside kick and played defense, but then we would have shortened the field to where they'd been effective. They'd been effective in the red zone running the ball, but they hadn't been effective moving the ball down the field.”

 

In the end, Coach James strategy almost worked, the Storm scored with 13 seconds left in the half, and the Blaze last second drive was intercepted off the wall in the end zone by the Storm. The Blaze went to half with the Storm in possession of the ball and in a tie game.

 

It’s easy to say what could have or should have been done in hindsight, but it appears that an onside kick in that situation would have still been the appropriate choice. With three plays (or less) for Tampa Bay to score, the Blaze could have had 40-30 seconds for their drive instead of the 13 seconds they had. Would the Storm have scored within the 10 yard line? Yes. Between McPherson and Crosby, the Storm running game is one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen in the AFL. Would the Blaze have been able to score with 20 more seconds on the clock? Probably. The INT came off a long pass that wouldn’t have had to been attempted with more time.

 

Ultimately clock management didn’t do the Blaze in, bad execution and poor discipline was what beat the Blaze “We threw (the lead) away at the end of the half, and we weren't able to get a stop after that,” said Coach James. “We didn't play well tonight. I can't tell you have many penalties there were, but there were too many. (Note: The Blaze had 12 penalties for 102 yards) The field was littered with flags and that's symptomatic for a team that's not disciplined at this time of the season. We have to fix that. Once we shore that up we've got a good football team.”

 

The offensive line again looked suspect; however instead of being beaten by a powerful Rattlers defensive line, they were struggling against a poor Storm front that hadn’t had a sack to that point in the season. When the Storm were finally able to get a sack, it was within the Blaze own end zone; an intentional grounding call that was “most certainly” a safety and the nail in the coffin for the Blaze. Down 44-35 with Tampa getting the ball, the Blaze and the Storm would trade scores until the Storm ultimately prevailed 77-65.

 

The Blaze have fundamental issues in discipline and execution that are inexcusable in a team that’s supposed to be contending for a championship. This is not a team that can contend for anything right now, and if they don’t find a way to turn it around they will find themselves quickly out of contention for a playoff spot in the tough west division. The Blaze are making simple mistakes that are costing them game after game, week after week. The few fans who have come to the games have witnessed two humiliating losses with a combined score of 154 - 114, and there’s little time to find out how much more they are willing to handle. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

 

The Blaze will somehow have to work on their discipline issues over the dreaded bye week. Some coaches say that there’s never a good week for a bye, and that probably goes double for the AFL where players are given free reign during the week off.  “We can't practice, they have the week off,” said Coach James. “We have to evaluate the film and get the right people on the field and eliminate the turnovers. We still have a week to practice leading up to Chicago, so we're going to attack the game week a lot more aggressively then we have in the past.”

 

The players will be in charge of their own weeks during the bye and while some are heading to their home and spending time with family, others will try to remain focused while waiting for the next game. “I'll be staying here working out and playing catch with the receivers, anything we can do to improve,” said Quarterback Tommy Grady. “I feel like the chemistry and timing is good. I felt the execution and timing on offense was good. It was the best I felt all year. We got to find a way to win. These last two home games we haven't gotten any breaks.”

 

The Blaze next home game will be in Salt Lake City (in spite of what CBS Sports Network may say) against the Chicago Rush on April 20th

Don Eisenbarth has been following the Utah Blaze since 2006, but this is his first year covering for ArenaFan. Born in Provo to a family of BYU fans and having graduated from the University of Utah, Don has enjoyed all sides of the Utah college football landscape for decades and is excited for the return of professional football to the Beehive State. You can follow him on twitter at http://twitter.com/bigdondoo