Who Will Win Their First Game First? Steel or Storm?

Why the Steel Will Win First

(photo credit: kptv.com)

Seven games into the 2016 AFL season, the Portland Steel and Tampa Bay Storm have yet to celebrate a victory. They’ve been close, but to this point have been unable to put the finishing touches on a win. They each have one more opportunity this coming weekend to distance themselves from each other before they take the field together next week. Portland’s matchup is with the 3-4 Los Angeles KISS, while Tampa Bay takes on the 6-2 Arizona Rattlers.

Between those two games, the Steel have the more likely opportunity to emerge victorious based on opponent difficulty. Tampa Bay, though, has the advantage of taking on the Rattlers at home, and both of Arizona’s losses have come on the road, albeit to two 7-1 teams (Orlando and Philadelphia). With that in mind, it’s hard to envision either team coming up with a victory this week.

Thus, the Steel and Storm will meet in the Irrelevancy Bowl for the chance to not be the last team in the league with a win. The game will be on Friday, June 3, at Portland’s Moda Center.

With the emergence of Shane Austin at quarterback, the Steel finally feel like they have a legitimate presence calling signals for them. In his first game with the team, he posted a league season-high 363 yards and team season-high six touchdowns in a narrow loss to Cleveland.

Last week, throwing four interceptions derailed him a bit, but his history in the league (leading Cleveland to the Arena Bowl two years ago, finishing second in touchdown passes last year) gives Portland immeasurable confidence moving forward compared to the recent inadequacies of Danny Southwick and Darron Thomas at the position.

The June 3 matchup will be Austin’s first appearance at home, so not only will he be energized to perform in front of the home crowd, but the fans will be in an uproar to finally get behind a quarterback they can have confidence in. The combined effect of both of those realities will surge the Steel to their first win, leaving the Storm in the winless doldrums all by their lonesome.

Why the Storm Will Win First

(photo credit: ticketmaster.com)

The Storm could easily be at a 3-4 record right now. Unfortunately for them, they have had misfortunes at the end of games. In Week 2, the Storm had a chance to win in Cleveland, but DB Joe Powell intercepted a pass in the end zone and returned it for a touchdown, giving the Gladiators the victory. In their game against the Jacksonville Sharks, they had more than three minutes to score a game-winning touchdown, but failed to do so.

Starting quarterback Adam Kennedy threw as many touchdowns as he did interceptions to start the season. Jason Boltus returned to the Storm for his second season with the team. After he was given the starting job, the Storm began to play better football.

Last week, the Storm took the Gladiators to overtime, but an interception thrown by Boltus gave the Gladiators the win. Another key player for the Storm is wide receiver T.T Toliver. He has been a big part of this team, leading the team in all of the receiving categories.

With Boltus, Toliver and the rest of the team growing stronger and playing better football as the season goes on, that is why the Storm will win before the Steel.