Yes, today was painful to watch. Penalties, turnovers, missed tackles, and poor play calling. Head Coach Anthony Becht’s brand of football features a fundamentally sound team that plays clean and tough. In the 30-15 week four loss to the Arlington Renegades, the St. Louis Battlehawks were none of that.
The negative tone was set early. On the opening drive, Quarterback Manny Wilkins injured his Achilles tendon while fumbling the ball, causing a scoop and score by the Arlington defense. Despite the sloppy play and various miscues, St. Louis remained within striking distance until the very end. Battlehawks’ all-world Kicker Rodrigo Blankenship was perfect on three attempts, including a 55-yard kick, and a defensive touchdown after an interception kept them in the game. But it is not a good day when your special teams and defense account for all the points. The Battlehawks offense was held scoreless.
And how do you explain the multiple called quarterback runs with backup Max Duggan? If he gets hurt, the Battlehawks are down to their emergency quarterback. Not smart. The coaches must learn and improve as well. It was clear that Arlington showed up with a plan and a purpose…St. Louis did not.
So where do the Battlehawks go from here? The team hopes to get All-UFL Wide Receiver Hakeem Butler back for the April 26th home game versus the 3-1 Michigan Panthers. Duggan will have a full week of repetitions with the first team offense, allowing him to get more comfortable with the offense. After throwing two interceptions and completing only 47% of his passes, he MUST be better.
There is no lack of motivation from here on out for the Battlehawks. With losses already to DC and Arlington, two in-division rivals, they likely need to win the remainder of their games to secure a playoff spot. Fortunately, their schedule includes rematches with both DC and Arlington. And we all know it is very difficult to beat the same team twice in a season.
When your back is against the wall, what do you do? On April 26th, we will find out.