Salt Lake City did all they could to give the Fleet a win on Saturday night, but Mike Bercovici and the offense could not find the end zone and fall to the Stallions 8-3.
Now at (3-5) after losing their third game in a row, the Fleet could fall two games behind the Hotshots for the second and final playoff spot in the conference with two games to play, should Arizona win at San Antonio on Sunday. Even if the Hotshots lose to the Commanders to fall to 4-4, the Fleet would still trail by a game and would need to beat 7-1 Orlando on the road next Saturday or get another Arizona loss against Birmingham next weekend to assure that the regular season finale against the Hotshots at SDCCU Stadium has meaning.
The Fleet’s playoff are slowly fading especially after failing to put the ball in the end zone against Salt Lake despite numerous short fields provided the offense by an opportunistic defense that forced three turnovers and allowed the Stallions just one scoring drive the entire game. Safety Ryan Moeller intercepted two passes and recovered a fumble, part of an overall solid defensive effort that kept the Fleet afloat all game, despite the anemic performance of the offense.
.@MoeFish5 = Ballhawk! --@aaffleet | #SDvsSL pic.twitter.com/FwyFvVq8oX
— The Alliance (@TheAAF) March 31, 2019“Defensively, I thought we battled pretty good,” Martz said. “Obviously keeping them to eight points means you should win that game.”
The only touchdown of the game was almost the Stallions fourth turnover of the night when quarterback Josh Woodrum fumbles the handoff on the goal line but was able to recover enough to hand the ball off to Joel Bouagnon who was able to score.
.@JoelBouagnon gets it done.8-0, home team❕ pic.twitter.com/ptpp6BXFPr
— Salt Lake Stallions (@aafstallions) March 31, 2019But despite having possession of the ball in Salt Lake territory on six separate occasions, including a pair of drives into the red zone, the Fleet, who fell to 0-4 on the road, could manage just one field goal.
San Diego makes it a 5 point game❗️@aaffleet | #SDvsSL pic.twitter.com/0L08dJL0HX
— The Alliance (@TheAAF) March 31, 2019And many of their stalls were the result of their own miscues, from turnovers to just bad penalties to a missed chip-shot field goal that proved critical with the Fleet down five points instead of two when taking over with just over two minutes left for a final drive to steal a victory. That final attempt for a go-ahead score ended at the Stallions’ 30-yard line when quarterback Mike Bercovici threw his second interception at the Salt Lake 12 with 32 seconds left.
Big time stop by the Stallions with 30 seconds left! #SDvsSL pic.twitter.com/9OGatr0TPb
— The Alliance (@TheAAF) March 31, 2019“I’m upset,” Martz said. “Obviously you’re upset when you’re losing. I’m upset at the opportunities that we had and we failed to make. I’m upset when we’re missing a field goal from the 5-yard line. I’m upset for guys going the wrong way, a dropped ball, this and that. These things shouldn’t be now. We’re too far along in the season for good players to be doing this.”
With Ja’Quan Gardner, Dontez Ford and Gavin Escobar all inactive, and facing the league’s best-run defense, the Fleet managed just 264 total yards and 12 first downs, going 3-for-15 on third-down conversions. After three straight 300-yard performances, Bercovici was held to 210 yards Saturday completing just 22 of 47 attempts. The Fleet ran for only 54 yards.
The Fleet go back on the road in Week 9 to face the Apollos in Orlando on Saturday at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET) on NFL Network.
