SaberCats travel to Tampa Bay for season finale 2011/07/31 at 4:13 am
No longer in the running for an Arena Football League playoff berth, the SaberCats still have something to play for Saturday night in their season finale at Tampa Bay.
With a victory in Tampa, Fla., over the Storm, the SaberCats (7-10) will avoid another undesirable first in a season full of them.
Never in their 16-year history have the SaberCats finished a regular season more than two games below .500. San Jose must beat Tampa Bay (6-11) to keep that streak alive.
More importantly, the SaberCats are eager to show their character after suffering their latest last-minute defeat. Last weeks 63-61 loss at Spokane, which eliminated San Jose from postseason contention, marked the sixth time in nine games that the SaberCats surrendered the decisive touchdown in the final 30 seconds after being in a position to win.
It would be big to go all the way across the country and win on the road, especially after a loss like that, defensive lineman Adam Huebner said. (We want) to bounce back, even though were not in the playoffs.
Last weeks loss assured the SaberCats of only the third losing season in franchise history and first since 1999 — the last time, incidentally, that they failed to reach the playoffs. The SaberCats went 6-8 in 1996 and 1999, the only other seasons in which they lost more games than they won.
To continue their streak of never finishing more than two games below .500, the SaberCats will have to win on