Lost In A Fire: Utah Blaze 81, Pittsburgh Power 40

If you were a Pittsburgh Power fan, you had to feel confident about your team's chances to score points going up against the worst scoring defense in the AFL. Unfortunately the odds of success took a dramatic turn downwards when starting quarterback Bernard Morris was sidelined before the game with a sore shoulder.

The first offensive play of the game saw Khreem Smith break through the line and hit Kevin McCabe, causing the ball to jar loose. Utah was in business and scored quickly to take a 7-0 lead. Power fans may have remembered Lonnell DeWalt intercepting the first pass of the game last week, only to see Tampa Bay rally to win. I'll admit I was thinking along those lines, but how wrong was I?

Two drives later, McCabe fumbled deep in Power territory and Utah recovered to go up 21-6. The short leash was yanked and Pittsburgh was on to their 4th quarterback of the season, newly signed Chris Wallace.

Tommy Grady had his way with a Power secondary that has been beyond atrocious in three out of the last four weeks. He was the second quarterback to throw for 10 touchdowns on Pittsburgh in the last month, and almost assuredly will be named National Guard MVP of the Week for his efforts.

On the night the Pittsburgh offense lost five fumbles, and were stopped on downs several times as well. There wasn't much good to write about in this game except for how efficient Utah was in tearing the hearts out of the Power. At least the death was quick and painless. Pittsburgh did also do a good job containing a strong kickoff return unit that was one of the AFL's best coming into the game.

Over the past month, the Power defense has given up 250 points (75, 32, 62, 81) in their last four games. Take a look at how the last four opposing quarterbacks have done against Pittsburgh.

Dan Raudabaugh - 433 yards and 10 TD's.
Kurt Rocco - 261 yards and 4 TD's/1 Int.
Brian Zbydniewski - 372 yards and 8 TD's/1 Int.
Tommy Grady - 313 yards and 10 TD's.

On average, they've given up 8 TD's and almost 345 yards a game during this stretch, and that's with one dominating performance against Cleveland factored in. The results have been ugly.

I think above all else, too many players are hiding injuries and hurting the team, and the Power really need to look at bringing in some players that can bolster this weak area, because it's pretty clear what isn't working right now.

Pittsburgh did get a little bit of good news today when the Kansas City Command stunned the Cleveland Gladiators, so Pittsburgh does remain tied for first place in the Eastern Division. Pittsburgh heads home to host the Milwaukee Mustangs and really need to get things going in the right direction.  

I'm hesitant to call this game against Milwaukee a "must-win" game, but Pittsburgh desperately needs to get momentum going in the right direction.  They also need Bernard Morris back at quarterback.  They are 5-2 with Morris as a starter, 2-4 without him.