Storm Streak into Playoffs
(June 1, 2004)

A couple of months ago, when the Tampa Bay Storm fell 51-36 at Chicago, it looked as if they would miss the playoffs for the first time in team history. A 3-7 record, and with only eight of the Arena Football League's nineteen teams making the postseason, it looked like the Storm would suffer the same fate as the Bucs. Remember, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl and then failed to make the playoffs. It took six straight victories to close out the regular season and extend the league record for consecutive playoff appearances to fourteen.

To describe the first ten weeks of the season, head coach Tim Marcum said "Everything that could go wrong went wrong." After the Chicago loss dropped the team to 3-7, Marcum admitted, "We're got to win the next six. We're in sudden death right now."

The first win, 58-52 over Austin, according to quarterback Shane Stafford, was "One of those victories that can turn momentum around." Wins over Columbus, Orlando, Los Angeles, New Orleans and Dallas proved the momentum had turned. The Storm finished 9-7 and are the number seven seed in the playoff.

This Saturday, at San Jose, the Storm open the playoffs and still are in the hunt to defend its championship. San Jose defeated Tampa Bay 62-55 back in April. That was against a struggling Storm team that is now surging. The last time the teams met in the postseason was in 2002. San Jose was the number one seed and the Storm were the twelve seed after a 6-8 regular season. After upsetting Los Angeles, the Storm nearly did it again in a 55-48 loss to the eventual league champion SaberCats.

The winners of the last two Arena Bowls open the AFL playoffs this Saturday at the Compaq Center. It took six straight winners for the Storm to make it. It will take three more to become repeat champions.