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FRANK PASTORTampa Bay must come up with just enough stops to win.
TAMPA - Storm linebacker Lawrence Samuels is confined to a box 5 yards deep behind the line of scrimmage until a quarterback passes or hands off.
Defensive lineman Al Lucas is expected to power past offensive linemen straight on.
Defensive specialist Omarr Smith is isolated in one-on-one coverage with a receiver who is sprinting toward him before the ball is snapped.
Talk about Mission: Impossible.
"It kind of puts us at a disadvantage," Smith said, "but you've got to take it as a challenge. If you can play defense in this league, that's saying something."
It can seem a losing battle, with a 50-yard field and rules favoring offenses. But teams that can play even a little bit of defense in the Arena Football League often are the ones raising the championship trophy.
"We made those rules on purpose, made them to make it an offensive game of it," Storm coach Tim Marcum said. "People that can rush the passer and can do some coverage down the field are going to be successful."
Few teams have been more successful this season than the Storm, which enters today's playoff semifinal against Orlando ranked first in rushing defense (9.9 yards per game), second in scoring defense (43.1 points per game) and fourth in passing defense (240.6 ypg) and total defense (250.5 ypg).
Fittingly, the unit made a late stand to preserve last week's 52-48 quarterfinal win over Detroit, capped by Smith's interception in the end zone with 35 seconds remaining.
"I think this team has great confidence in our defensive play," Samuels said. "The last two ballgames have come down to defensive play, and I think Coach has confidence in this defense that we can step up and make a play at any time in the ballgame."
It was built for that purpose.
After a 6-8 finish in 2002, defense was a point of emphasis - the only one, really - as Tampa Bay entered the free-agent market. The Storm signed pass rushers B.J. Cohen and Lucas, linebacker Gary Compton and cover specialist Smith. Pass rusher Kelvin Kinney was acquired in a trade with Detroit.
They were added to a unit that included linemen Nyle Wiren and Troy Wilson, linebackers Samuels, David Saunders, Basil Proctor and David White and defensive backs Corey Sawyer and Keita Crespina.
Defensive back T.T. Toliver and linebacker Andre Bowden were signed in the middle of the season.
"I don't think anybody thought we were going to come out as good as we did as far as our front and as far as our secondary," Lucas said, "but we just jelled together pretty good this year, and that's been the key."
Everything starts up front.
Since the league requires players to play offense and defense, the Storm made a point of acquiring proven pass rushers and teaching them to block. Likewise, the two-way players in the secondary are primarily defensive backs who were taught to run pass routes as wide receivers.
"We're a defensive-minded ballclub," Samuels said. "We just try to do all the little things on defense to be good on defense, because that's what wins ballgames."
It wasn't always that way.
Albany (later Indiana) used to build teams around offensive players. The Firebirds set a slew of yardage and scoring records but did not win a championship until they switched to more of a defensive mind-set.
"That's kind of what we've all done," Marcum said. "Everybody mocks the people that are winning, they try to do whatever they're doing. So, that being said, that's why we try to play a little better defense and we concentrate a lot on our goal-line defense."
Tampa Bay's defensive play has not gone unnoticed.
Smith and Samuels were finalists for defensive player of the year and ironman of the year, respectively, and Lucas was named to the all-rookie team in voting by league coaches and fans. Smith, Samuels and Cohen received second-team All-Arena recognition.
In a game in which scoring is so frequent, three defensive stops often are enough to win.
Provided, of course, that you make the last one.
"You know you're going to give up touchdowns," Smith said, "but it's all about making the play at the end.
"You're going to win some, you're going to lose some, but it's all about having a short memory and being able to persevere, and hopefully your offense is putting up as many points as their offense does. If you get two, three, four stops a game, you'll come out on top."