AFL: Pittsburgh Power Cannot Overcome Mistakes, Fall to Tulsa

This statement might seem obvious, but the Pittsburgh Power are an expansion team.  

Even though he won't settle for that as an excuse, Head Coach Chris Siegfried admitted that they have played like one for the past five quarters of football. 

After going scoreless in the fourth quarter of their 49-47 win over Milwaukee on Monday night, the Power fell behind 14-0 and failed to put up any points in the first quarter of their game Saturday night against the previously winless Tulsa Talons. 

Tulsa was coming off a 69-20 shellacking at the hands of Arizona, and played with a lot of desperation. 

It was desperation that the Power just could not match.

Eddie Thompson provided one of the highlights of the game when he returned a kick to the Tulsa nine yard line to set up the first Power score of the night. Josh Rue made a nice nine yard catch, and managed to keep his balance after a hit to score the first touchdown of the night for Pittsburgh. 

The defense then fought hard on the next drive, making several key stops on fourth down that were unfortunately wiped out by penalties. 

The third time was a charm, though, when Carlos Campbell forced and recovered a fumble to get the ball back into the hands of the Power offense.

The laundry fest continued for the Power, who kept finding ways to knock themselves back, but Mike "Joystick" Washington finally broke through with the game-tying score.

The Power defense then held Tulsa off the scoreboard as the half expired.  In spite of the poor play by the Power, Coach Siegfried was thankful the score was still competitive.

The defense led off the second half for the Power by forcing a turnover on downs, and Power fans had to feel confident that the team was turning the corner. 

Unfortunately, two plays later, Kevin McCabe threw his second interception of the game to Jamar Ransom. 

Tulsa would go on to score 24 unanswered points—sucking the life out of the Consol Energy Center.

Backup quarterback Anthony Morelli did throw his first career touchdown pass to Washington, but it wasn't enough, as the Tulsa Talons got into the win column with a convincing 45-22 final score.

"There's not many teams you can turn the ball over to five times and win in this league," said Siegfried.

Pittsburgh has one week off before hosting the Jacksonville Sharks. 

Siegfried mentioned that the time would be huge to get some of their injured players back into uniform. Defensive end Neil Purvis (ankle) and wide receiver Jerome Mathis (thigh) missed the game with injuries. 

Quarterback Bernard Morris (arm/shoulder) is eligible to come off of IR following the Jacksonville game, and Siegfried was quick to point out that the quarterback position is up for grabs until someone takes control of it.