Turn out the lights, the party’s over.
While not mathematically eliminated from the playoff chase, the Pittsburgh Power (3-10) have eliminated all margin for error after losing 50-35 to the Orlando Predators (5-8) Saturday night. The loss also clinched a third straight non-winning season for the Power.
The story of the game was more offensive struggles for the Power. Pittsburgh turned the ball over on downs three times in the first half and when you add in Steven Sheffield’s two interceptions to Marcus Everett you see the final score differential.
The Power defense did a solid job in coverage, limiting Aaron Garcia to just 231 yards and five touchdowns and Sergio Gilliam’s interception return for a touchdown helped keep the Power in it despite their offensive woes.
In the end though, as has been the case all season, it just wasn’t enough and now the Power have to hope for a miracle.
What do they do now? I think it’s time to start asking the tough questions at Power headquarters. You fired Mike Tomczak earlier in the season for offensive ineptitude and while things have improved somewhat, there is still a gross deficiency in overall production. At some point you have to start pointing the finger at other people for this one.
Who is responsible for recruiting talent here to Pittsburgh? While there are some great players scattered throughout this lineup, it’s also clear when looking across the league that the Power just don’t stand up to the other contending teams, both on paper and the scoreboard.
Coach Stingley is a great guy, always pleasant to speak with and very honest when you ask him questions. Is it time to address his future with the organization? A 7-26 record across three years as a head coach doesn’t inspire confidence in me, especially when he keeps talking about how strongly he believes in his game plans.
The dilemma with letting him go is that you will likely lose some of his most loyal players in the offseason with him. Alvin Ray Jackson, P.J. Berry and even perhaps Chris LeFlore will likely want to play for Stingley wherever he lands as a defensive coordinator because he does coach up defenses well. If you make a move you better be sure the new coach can bring in enough talent to make up for the current holes and those ones as well.
You just can’t keep standing pat though, not with a frustrated fan base thirsty for a winner. I firmly believe that AFL football can succeed here in the Steel City but you have to put a winning team on the field the fans can rally around. You have to give them something to cheer for and simply hanging around the playoff hunt by default isn’t exactly firing up the passion.
It’s never easy to ask for people to be fired but how much longer can you keep falling down in a death spiral before you try to save the ship? Who bears responsibility for this? Those are questions the Power need to start asking themselves now. It might be too late to save this season, but it’s never too late to start preparing for next year.
The party’s over. Now it’s time to clean up the mess.
Photo Courtesy of Pittsburgh Power Facebook Page
