For the second week in a row the Birmingham Stallions have held a one point lead over their opponents in the final seconds of the game. This time, they lost that lead as time expired when Houston Gamblers’ kicker John Hoyland kicked his fifth field goal of the night to take a 22-20 lead.
In a tight game, the Stallions fell victim to their own inconsistency. For every defensive turnover there was an interception thrown. For every tackle for a loss there was a drive extending penalty. The Stallions looked like the best team in the league at certain points, and the worst at others.
Defense has been the identity of the Stallions as a franchise, but it certainly wasn’t at its strongest tonight. The Houston Gamblers drove up and down the field all game with 233 passing yards and 174 rushing yards. This largely came from backup quarterback Nolan Henderson after starter Hunter Dekkers left with injury towards the beginning of the second quarter.
During the first drive of the game, Houston was able to drive all the way down to the goal line before Kyahva Tezino punched the ball out and the Stallions recovered the fumble. This first drive was indicative of almost every defensive series in this game, as the Stallions would allow the Gamblers to march into the endzone before making stops and forcing field goals.
The Gamblers only failed to reach the red zone on two of their nine drives, one of which was just seconds before the end of the first half. While it took until the fourth quarter for a touchdown to be scored, the offense wasn’t able to be stopped anywhere in the middle of the field.
“I think the biggest thing is attention to detail…when we’re down there we understand ‘bend don’t break’ mentality. We have to be in the right spots and line up for success…it’s not just in the red zone when things get tough,” Coach McCarron remarked in the postgame presser.
Despite the defense letting up consistent field goals, an offensive front could have handled it. The issue is that the Stallions offense was far too hot and cold to be relied on. The Stallions didn’t get points on the board until nearly the end of the first half when quarterback Matt Corral to receiver Jaydon Mickens on a 6-yard touchdown pass off the back of an expertly played two minute drill.
Coming out of the half, a 21-yard run by running back Anthony McFarland started an excellent drive that resulted in a touchdown pass to Deon Cain. This put the Stallions up 14–6. Their next touchdown (and a failed two point conversion) would come with just under two minutes remaining in the game as McFarland would punch it in to reclaim the lead with a score of 20-19.
The gaps in scoring were what doomed the Stallions, as individual performances were strong. The vaunted wide receiver core continued to live up to expectations: Justyn Ross, Jaydon Mickens, and Deon Cain each had five receptions and 73, 63, and 40 yards respectively. Mickens and Cain also had the aforementioned touchdowns.
The issues in the offense lay more so in the run game and in Corral’s decision making. McFarland and Conner were only able to amass 54 combined rushing yards on 17 combined carries. The strength of the receiver room helped soften the blow of this weaker showing, but it’s an area the Stallions will need to improve on.
As for Matt Corral, it’s far from time to call for a quarterback battle, but his seat is certainly getting a bit warmer. He threw for 227 yards and two touchdowns while going 21-for-27, but he also threw two picks. His two interceptions were bad reads and went straight to defenders, both of which led to points for the Gamblers. He had another few that were lucky to be incomplete. Yet in those two drives bordering halftime Corral and the offense looked unstoppable. The talent is there for the Stallions to be a major offensive threat, but the chemistry hasn’t arrived yet.
Kicker Jonathan Garibay wasn’t seen much on the field tonight but went 2 for 2 in extra points on the night, an improvement over last week. There was a questionable fourth down decision early in the first quarter where the Stallions attempted (and failed) a conversion on the Houston 17-yard line. Whether it was aggressive playcalling or nerves about Garibay’s previous performance, it’s certainly an unfortunate miss with the close final score.
As for AJ McCarron’s second game as head coach, he continues to look like a natural. During the final drive of the Gamblers there were a lot of back and forth penalties, fouls, and big plays that would eventually lead to the game winning field goal. Not to be lost in the midst of that was McCarron’s coach challenge on a blown 4th and 6 in which Gamblers quarterback Nolan Henderson scrambled for the first down. However, there was offensive holding on defensive end Amani Bledsoe that McCarron was quickly able to spot and get recognized and the foul called.
Yet the undeniable worst trait of the Stallions tonight was discipline. There were countless fouls that led directly to points for the Gamblers, including two during the last drive of the game. One horsecollar tackle that offset a holding penalty and a failed fourth down conversion. The other a pass interference that got the Gamblers into field goal range. There were multiple pass interferences on uncatchable passes, offsides, too many men on the field, and an illegal formation on a field goal that got called during the commercial break and would lead to the Gamblers only touchdown for the night.
Penalties are hard to find blame for. Is it McCarron’s fault as the head coach? Are the coordinators not staying on top of things? Are the individual players at fault? There’s no easy answer. But it is easy to note that this team is already far more penalized than the Stallions teams led by Skip Holtz. If the Birmingham Stallions are going to continue to be in dogfights each week, the penalties are the bare minimum of what they have to clean up.
The Birmingham Stallions are 1-1 on the season and now look ahead to next Sunday, April 12th when they take on the St. Louis Battlehawks at 2:00PM. It will be the last leg of their three game season opening road trip. Fans will be able to see them at home for the first time this season in two weeks when they take on the Orlando Storm on April 18th.
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