Queen Media Sports Report: "Unfinished Business" — Anthony Becht’s Storm is Hungry for Perfection, Not Comfort, Ahead of Week 3
Cartoon based off of a Stormie Leigh photo
ORLANDO, FL — The Orlando Storm is 2-0, sitting atop the standings, and fresh off a dominant 10-point victory. But if you walk into the locker room, you won't find a group of comfortable veterans content with their early-season success.
Instead, you find edge. You find a group, in the words of Head Coach Anthony Becht, that is downright "pissed."
Queen Media sat down with Coach Becht this week as the Storm prepares for a critical Week 3 matchup. For Becht, a two-game winning streak isn't a cushion; it’s a standard. And despite the winning record, last week's performance left a lot to be desired in terms of execution and identity.
"We won the game by 10, they lost the game, they're upset, but we're kind of pissed a little bit," Becht told Queen Media. "We want to come out and kind of show off a little bit of the things that we did not do properly, and the guys are hungry because of that."
Defensive Identity: Leaving Scars
If there was a highlight to the Storm's Week 2 victory, it was the sheer brutality and creative scheme of the defense. Becht and his staff were dialed in, unleashing exotic corner blitzes and disguised coverages that left the opposing offense looking entirely bewildered.
The film review showed a relentless unit that prioritized physical dominance.
"One thing that stood out to me on the film is we had 16 hits on the quarterback," Becht said. "I mean, that leaves scars, right? That's something you're going to think about."
As the Storm gears up for their next opponent, Becht expects even more discipline from that unit, especially regarding quarterback containment and caging the pocket.
"We just have to be able to make sure that we're disciplined in that, which we will, but continue to amp up our pressure, but diligent in how we do it," Becht explained. "We have to cage the quarterback; we can't allow his legs to be a feature."
Offensive Focus: Finding the Pop
While the defense has been lights out, the offense is still searching for its explosive consistency, particularly in the running game. In Week 1, the ground attack was the feature element. In Week 2, the team leaned more on spreading the ball around to different receivers.
Tre Stewart goes for 20yds. Photo by Stormie Leigh Photo
As they hit the road for Week 3, the message in the offensive meeting rooms is clear: It’s time to re-establish the physical dominance that defined their offensive identity. Becht believes the offense is agonizingly close to exploding.
"If you're looking at it the way I was looking at it, I was like, 'Man, one of these has to pop.' That's kind of how we live in our world, man. We keep pounding, pounding, pounding," Becht said of the running attack.
The film showed a unit that was, in Becht’s words, "just a hair off."
"We were just a hair off on our block, a second late on hanging on in our finish, a tad bit off in our double teams to the linebacker, or not snapping to the second level fast enough," Becht explained. "If those things happen in that game, we got 50-plus more yards added on, and now all of a sudden we're talking about another game for us."
Establishing Dominance on the Road
The Storm will have to execute those corrections in a tough, hostile environment. The short turnaround adds another challenge, but Becht is confident that the week of practice has been sharp and the players understand what is required.
The team has emphasized that the 2-0 record means nothing if they don't fix the subtle execution flaws that were present last week. The focus from every unit—from the tight ends and linemen holding blocks to receivers blocking downfield—has been upgraded this week.
"The emphasis this week is to come out and establish ourselves early in this football game," Becht said. "The only way we can do that is execute at a better level."
The Storm is ready to correct the record and prove that they are not just winning, but dominating.
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