Avengers lose their third in a row, 66-56
The good news for the Avengers is that they are still in the playoff hunt.
The bad news is that the Avengers own a three-game losing streak after the San Jose SaberCats handed them a 66-56 defeat Saturday night at Staples Center.
Veteran quarterback Mark Grieb passed for 298 yards and seven touchdowns for the SaberCats, who clinched their third consecutive division title with the victory.
The Avengers, who dropped to 4-9 with three games remaining, need to win at least one more game to reach the postseason.
Over the next two weeks, the Avengers will play Utah (3-10) and Kansas City (3-10), two teams they are competing against for the final playoff spots in the American Conference.
San Jose (9-5), the defending Arena Football League champions and winner of the Western Division, jumped out to a 14-0 lead behind two touchdown passes from Grieb before the Avengers did anything positive.
The Avengers, who started Sonny Cumbie at quarterback for the seventh time this season, struggled early and failed to score a point in the first quarter (a rare accomplishment in the AFL).
In the second quarter, the Avengers bounced back with a touchdown run by Michael Cobbins and a scoring pass from Cumbie to LaShaun Ward, but they still trailed at halftime, 24-14, thanks to Grieb’s third touchdown pass and a field goal by the SaberCats’ A.J. Haglund.
The Avengers’ final hopes for a win died midway in the final quarter when Cumbie was stopped short on a fourth-and-goal run from the one-yard line.
Cumbie, who began the game with eight consecutive incompletions, finished 21 of 35 for 223 yards with five touchdown passes and an interception.
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