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Brigade offense comes alive in thrilling 69-59 loss to Tampa Bay

March 5, 2006 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Kansas City Brigade News Release


KANSAS CITY-The Kansas City Brigade offense, in need of points against the league's top offense in the Tampa Bay Storm, rose to the occasion on Sunday afternoon at Kemper Arena. Unfortunately, strategy and the clock worked against the Brigade in a hard-to-swallow 69-59 loss in front of 15,227 screaming fans.

The final quarter started with Andy Kelly showing he still has a cannon for an arm, fitting a pass in between two Storm defenders to Jerel Myers along the wall to put the Brigade in scoring position. Kelly then lofted one in the corner of the end zone that Steve Smith ran under for his third touchdown catch of the game. Smith set franchise records with 124 yards and four touchdowns. Tim Seder could not find the mark on the extra point-his third miss of the game-that left Kansas City down by two at 55-53.

The Storm drove into the red zone on its ensuing drive but was briefly stymied by the Brigade defense. A holding penalty on an incomplete pass in the end zone set-up Tampa Bay inside the five yard line and it was easy after that. RB/LB Umar Muhammad scored from the one yard line and Bill Gramatica made a critical extra point to give the Storm a nine-point lead at 62-53 with the clock ticking under six minutes.

Kansas City immediately put itself in a difficult position on offense, facing a fourth-and-five at midfield. Kelly could not complete a home run ball to Smith in the end zone, but Tampa Bay was called for pass interference. After an unsuccessful running play Kelly found Smith again for an acrobatic six-yard touchdown. Seder did not get a chance at the extra point as the Brigade faked the kick, but backup quarterback and holder Chris Sanders was tackled before he could not find an open receiver in the end zone.

Kansas City had a tough decision to make at that point. Instead of kicking it deep and hoping for a defensive stop, the Brigade attempted an onside kick that the Storm's WR/LB Bobby Sippio recovered. The defense stood strong on first and second down, but on third down Sippio found a hole in the secondary and walked into the end zone to give Tampa Bay a 10-point edge at 69-59 with less than a minute to play.

Kansas City would not allow an uneventful ending, though. Smith took the kickoff to midfield and two passes later the Brigade were in the red zone. Kelly's third attempt into the end zone was batted around and intercepted to end any chance of a comeback.

The Brigade offense was unstoppable most of the day, employing an Arena Football original known as the one-hitter quitter. Twice Kansas City scored on its first play from scrimmage after a kickoff. Late in the first half Kelly found James Jordan streaking down the right sideline and hit him in stride for a 40-yard touchdown and a 21-20 lead. On the first play after the second half kickoff, Kelly found Smith again, and the speedster avoided tacklers along the wall for a 29-yard touchdown and a 40-34 lead. That score came on the back of a wild end to the first half. Kelly hit Steve Smith over the middle to setup a Seder field goal with one second left. His kick hit the upright, but linemen Abdul-Salam Noah hustled downfield to prevent a clean Tampa Bay recovery and fellow lineman Lucas Yarnell jumped on the ball for a touchdown.

The game had been swinging back-and-forth until early in the third quarter. A Brigade roughing the passer penalty gave Tampa Bay the ball at the Kansas City five yard line and Stafford showed off his running ability for the third time in the game, scoring from two yards out. Gramatica's extra point gave the Storm a 41-40 lead that it never relinquished. Tampa Bay took the momentum for good on the ensuing series. Kelly's first pass was tipped at the line and intercepted by Sippio at the Kansas City 10 yard line. After a sack by B.J. Cohen, Stafford hit Sippio for a 13-yard touchdown.

QUOTES

Head coach Kevin Porter

"I did not think we played poorly on defense and we played the number one ranked offense in the league. We had a lot of opportunities on 3rd and 4th downs to get them stopped, but a penalty or breakdown cost us. A great credit goes to our offense who made a commitment to get it corrected in practice and to better ourselves. If we can continue to get that productivity on offense we will be in great shape. We've got a good football team; we've played nose to nose with every team but one. We don't count moral victories though."

Quarterback Andy Kelly

"We are disappointed but I am trying my best not to be frustrated. We work hard and have a good attitude. We are making progress, but it's still unsatisfactory. We gave ourselves a chance to win today and if we keep our attitude we'll start winning these games."

OS Steve Smith

"Everyone always has a good outlook and we work hard for the entire game. We need to keep pushing forward and realize that the playoffs are still reachable."



Arena Football League (1987-2008) Stories from March 5, 2006


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