The Orlando Storm, one of the UFL’s newest franchises, got off to a red hot start this season. At 4-0, they were atop the entire league – rolling into what appeared to be a dominant campaign.
A couple of weeks later, and the Storm have lost two games in a row. Both were at home. At 4-2, they’ve dropped to #3 in league standings, with Dallas and a myriad of 2-4 teams knocking on the door.
As we ask in the title of this article: is it time for the Orlando Storm to sound the alarms? How many times should the panic button be hit?
The simple answer: no, none, nada. The Orlando Storm are still in control of their own destiny – and have plenty left in the tank. Both of these losses were results of self-inflicted wounds and foolish mistakes, rather than a lack of competitive play.
Let’s take a closer look at what we mean.
Week Five: vs. St. Louis
Sometimes, really good football teams just come out flat. That’s exactly what happened to Orlando in week five, as they were down 25-0 early in the third quarter to the Battlehawks.
Looking back on that outing, a couple of early failed fourth down attempts put Orlando in a bad state of mind. Then, Jashaun Corbin lost a fumble (forced by the ground), which ended up as a turnover since he wasn’t actually touched by a Battlehawk. A play like that rarely happens.
Towards the end of the first half, right when the team had a bit of momentum, Chris Rowland was called for a facemask penalty. It was a collection of unfortunate errors, mental mistakes, and fixable issues for Orlando in the first half.
They made a push late, mounting a 17 point scoring spree – but could not close it out at home, falling to 4-1.
Week Six: vs. Birmingham
I want to preface this section by making it clear that there is absolutely zero discredit to Birmingham’s win over Orlando this past weekend. They played a great game, fueled by DTR who had it out for his former team.
With that being said: the Storm easily could have, and should have, won this outing. They certainly believe that too, leaving a ton of points on the board in a game that they only lost by three.
“We’re 4-2, we really feel good about what we’re doing offensively on the field. We had three turnovers that, quite frankly, wrecked our opportunity. Our defense, early in that football game, didn’t help us in the standpoint of letting them score twice after our turnover and fourth and out sequence. After that, they were fantastic…they gave up six points the rest of the game.” – Storm HC Anthony Becht
Let’s start at the beginning. Orlando was rolling on their opening drive, with a few completions that put them inside Birmingham’s red zone. However, Cole Schneider and Jack Plummer let a snap fall to the ground – and the Stallions pounced on it.
On their next possession, the Storm just barely crossed the 50, and were forced to go for it on 4th and 1. A missed assignment allowed Kyahva Tezino to blow up the rushing attempt, and Birmingham took over. The Stallions scored two touchdowns on their opening possessions. Fueled by a roughing the passer penalty, and breakdowns on the back end that we’re not used to seeing out of Orlando – the Storm were down 14-0 early once again.
What’s crazy about all of this is that Orlando was right back in the game at halftime. They scored a couple of touchdowns to tie things up at 14 apiece. They could have put more points on the board, too; but a drive that started at their own 10 yard line, paired with an avoidable penalty which cost them a timeout, put an end to that effort.
Right when it appeared as if Orlando was ready to take full control of momentum, disaster struck again. Cole Schneider – one of the top centers in this league – rolled a snap to Plummer inside Birmingham’s 15 yard line, and the Stallions pounced again. The odds of that happening once, let alone twice, is extremely low.
“We understand why we didn’t score in the red zone, twice. Because of those fumbles. I really think they’re random acts of God. Two of my best players fumble the snaps. There’s nothing really to coach there. I believe we get six points, worst case, if those two things don’t happen. But, it causes you to lose.” – Anthony Becht
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Once the defense finally locked Birmingham down, the Storm just couldn’t find ways to get out of their own way. Another promising drive ended when Jashaun Corbin put the ball on the turf. On Orlando’s final drive, they could not exploit Elijah Dotson who was matched up 1v1 against a edge rusher in Isaac Ukwu – and they punted it away.
As we now know, that punt came back to haunt them, as the Stallions put the game on ice with two first downs. One of those conversions for Birmingham was assisted by star DE Keshawn Banks, who turned a 3rd and 8 into 3rd and 3, jumping offsides.
Point is: these are all controllable, correctible mistakes. The Storm, statistically, played well enough to score 25+ points, and probably could have hit 30.
Statistics
Don’t believe me? Let’s take a quick look at the stats. The Storm had 396 yards of offense, picked up 20 first downs, and were an outstanding 8-13 on third down. They averaged 6.7 yards per play. Jack Plummer completed 70% of his pass attempts, throwing for 327 yards (a season high).
Those numbers usually result in plenty more than 17 points. Two turnovers in the red zone, a failed fourth down attempt, plus another fumble, handi-capped what this offense was able to put on the board on Sunday.
Heading into week seven, Orlando is still dominating in the UFL. Defensively, they’ve allowed the fewest points of any team in the UFL (97). They need to capitalize on some of those takeaway opportunities, though, as they have just four on the season.
From a passing standpoint, Jack Plummer has been excellent. He’s averaging 208 yards per game (3rd in UFL), and he’s only thrown one interception while tossing 10 touchdowns. The offense is not the issue, it’s simply a matter of ensuring they don’t get in their own way.
Moving Forward
Are the Orlando Storm still the real deal? Yes, they are. A couple of midseason losses, both of which are easily correctible as previously mentioned, will simply prepare Orlando for the playoffs. Hitting this adversity now is ideal timing, to be quite honest. By the time the postseason comes around, they’ll be sharper.
Having Anthony Becht and this coaching staff at the helm produces confidence. The Storm have one of the best staffs in the UFL, with loads of knowledge and experience. Becht, Art Valero, and Marc Colombo are outstanding veteran leaders on the offensive side of the football. On the defensive side of the football, Donnie Abraham, La’Roi Glover, Mike Phair, etc. will get this group back in order. There is no doubt about that.
“I think that we’re the best, if not one of the best teams in the league. But, we have to go out there and show it every week. We don’t have room for those errors. There is parity in this league. I just believe that, top to bottom, what I see every single day from a work standpoint, from a practice standpoint, from a leadership standpoint, and from a buy-in standpoint – there’s no reason why this team is not a potential championship team. I expect this team to bounce back.” – Anthony Becht
The focus right now should be on cleaning up their play in all three phases. Shannon Harris and the DC Defenders are currently the team to beat. Orlando has more than enough talent to compete with that group, and they’ve got an experienced coaching staff to boot. It’s simply a matter of if the Storm will be ready.
Execution over these next few weeks is critical. It begins with the Houston Gamblers, a 2-4 organization that Orlando cannot overlook. If they play their brand of football, the Storm should absolutely be able to walk into Houston and come out with a convincing victory.
What are your thoughts on the Orlando Storm and where they stand right now? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!
