Second Half Proves To Be Downfall As Storm Lose Fifth Straight
Connor Akeman
Thursday May 22, 2014
With the Tampa Bay Storm last winning in Week 4 against the Philadelphia Soul, Saturday night was all about a possible repeat performance for Tampa Bay. Losers of four straight and coming off their first bye week of the season, the Storm looked to snap the skid and pick up a much needed road victory over the now streaking Soul.
Unfortunately for the Storm, 34 points wouldn’t, and most of the time won’t get the job done. With the Soul nearly doubling up the Storm by a final score of 62-34, Tampa Bay falls to a dismal 3-6 on the season and can now add Philadelphia on to the list of cities where the team has never won.
For the Storm, quarterback B.J Hall made his season debut and finished the night with 13 completions for 182 yards and three touchdowns. Hall, however would match his three touchdown passes by throwing three interceptions in the third quarter. A third quarter where the Storm were shutout and outscored 21-0.
While the Storm trailed by just one point, 28-27 at halftime, they would score a total of seven points the entire second half. That’s one touchdown in two quarters. A miserable trend for a dreadful offense.
Newly acquired QB Brendan Crawford would also make an appearance for the Storm late in the fourth quarter. He would complete just three passes for 20 yards and also threw an interception.
While the Storm defense played well enough early in the game, the effort from both sides of the ball was not there in the second half of this game. DB Rod Issac returned an interception for a touchdown and will be an important part of the Storm defense moving forward with Chris Smith leaving the team last week.
If not already obvious, the Tampa Bay Storm are in dire need of a quarterback. With starting QB Randy Hippeard injured and most likely out for an extended period of time, a move may be necessary. Although Hippeard may not have been the most exciting, accurate, or dynamic playmaker quarterback the Storm have ever put out there, he gave this team a chance to win. And right now, both Hall and Crawford are clearly struggling to give this team anything.
A 63-49 win over this same Philadelphia team many weeks ago seems unfathomable and frankly sparked both teams. Only difference? The Storm have lost every game they have played since then, while the Soul have gone on to win five of their last six.
With the quarterback questions looming and more important than ever, the Storm will now prepare to face Jacksonville this Saturday at home. The Storm are 0-1 against the Sharks this year, 1-9 all-time. The Sharks, like the Storm, will also come into the game at 3-6 on the year. If history and the past five weeks tells us anything about this game though, I’m thinking Jacksonville gets the slight edge.