Storm Snoozing through South
Adam Markowitz
Monday April 21, 2008
-The New York Dragons are undefeated since releasing Rohan Davey.
-The Cleveland Gladiators are winless since signing Rohan Davey.
-The Tampa Bay Storm are 0-2 against the New York Dragons in games which I am in attendance and wearing my grey shirt with black pants combination. (For what it’s worth, they’re 1-0 against the Dragons when I’m in attendance and wearing my white shirt with black pants combination)
If you thought those stats were important, wait til you here this one.
The Tampa Bay Storm were 2-0 when I wrote my last article on them entitled “Storm Should Make South a Snoozer.” They’re 0-5 since I wrote that article.
I can already hear Tampa Bay fans now in unison. “Thanks ya shmuck!”
Don’t worry Storm fans, I’m here to set the record straight and put out the reverse jinx which will inevitably result in Tampa Bay marching into the Jungle next week and beating the Orlando Predators. This will take all of the pressure off of me in Tampa Bay, but may result in a horse’s head from an outraged Preds fan ending up in my bed that night.
Storm PR Director Jim Robinson, ArenaFan boss man Joe Kauffman, and I all sat there and watched the 66-47 beat down at the hands of the Dragons and had the same thought. The Storm are supposed to be better than this.
All common thought would suggest that Brett Dietz would only continue to show signs of improve in his first full year as an AFL quarterback. His numbers are comparable from last year, yet the team is averaging almost three points a game less in his starts now over last season’s numbers. Perhaps this could be attributed to the loss of lineman Lincoln Kennedy. The offensive line gave Dietz absolutely nothing to work with on Friday, a trend that has really been ongoing since the beginning of the season.
The more surprising stats come from the defensive side of the ball. The 54.9 ppg that the Storm are averaging this year really should be enough for a team that played well last season, giving up only 51.6 ppg.
Yet with the return of all of the meaningful parts of the defense a year ago, and the additions of 2007 All-Rookie team member Reyshun Reed and veteran defensive linemen Nyle Wiren and Kelvin Kinney, the team is giving up 7.3 ppg more than they did last season.
Last year the Storm ‘D’ forced 32 turnovers. This year, they’ve forced six, all of which were in the first two games of the season. Tampa Bay has played exactly 300 consecutive minutes without forcing a turnover. It should come as no surprise that no forced turnovers means no victories in that five game span.
The special teams unit has really begun to hurt the Storm as well. Against New York, the Storm averaged starting drives at their own 9 yard line. The Dragons averaged starting at their own 19. In fact, since Sedrick Robinson got hurt in Week 3 against the New Orleans VooDoo, the Storm haven’t started a single drive in the opposition’s territory. Ouch. During that stretch of four games, Tampa Bay’s averaging starting field position was at their own 8 yard line. The opposition’s starting field position averaged their own 17 yard line.
The good news is that Robinson should be coming off of IR this week. While he was returning kicks, the Storm’s average starting field position was their own 19 yard line. The difference of 11 yards truly is astounding. In this five game losing streak, Tampa Bay has given up four net recoveries and two fake PATs for two-point conversions.
So the offense is down, the defense is down, the special teams is down, and this losing streak would’ve ended at three games last week against the Arizona Rattlers had they not inexplicably scored a touchdown with 0:29 remaining in the game instead of trying to run out the clock. I guess the coaching is down, too.
If there’s one thing that Coach Tim Marcum can rest easy about, it’s that this script looks a lot like last year. The Storm were 1-5 going into Orlando, got crushed in the Jungle, 61-37, then went on to win eight of their last nine games to make the plays and host a first round matchup. This year, they’re 2-5 going into Orlando (hopefully will get crushed in the Jungle again), and could be set to go on a run to end the season.
The bad news is that the schedule this year doesn’t consist of five games against non-playoff teams down the stretch like it did last year. In fact, there could legitimately be no games left for the Storm against non-playoff teams this year. One might say that with home games left against Chicago, New Orleans, Cleveland, Orlando, and Los Angeles and road tests at Grand Rapids, Georgia, and San Jose, that these past two home games against relatively easy competition (Arizona and New York) were must-wins.
Really, look at that schedule. Is there a game in the bunch that you can honestly say that Tampa Bay is absolutely going to win? Maybe hosting Cleveland? Hosting Los Angeles? At Grand Rapids? Even getting all three of those games probably won’t be enough to crack the postseason in the National Conference.
Last year, the Storm got a truly amazing effort just to make the playoffs, and then put up the best effort against Columbus that the conference had to offer. This year’s team just seems to be going through the motions of the season and doesn’t seem ready to make any sort of run anywhere, except to the couch to watch the playoffs.
The playoff warning is on for the Tampa Bay Storm. Next week in the Jungle is Code Red night, and how appropriate it is for the Storm, who could fall two games behind the last playoff spot should they lose to the Predators.
Adam Markowitz is an accountant living in Orlando. Adam is an old school AFLer, having followed the AFL since 1991. He attended or covered well over 200 games, including 17 ArenaBowls. Adam worked for the Arena Football League for two years as a columnist and historian before retiring in 2017 when the 50-yard indoor war left the Sunshine State. Adam still muses about the AFL on ArenaFan from time to time, and you can follow him on Twitter @adammarkowitzea.