Colorado Crush quarterback John Dutton can identify with anyone who feels overloaded at work. He’s feeling the brunt of the team’s three-game losing streak and is unsure where to turn for answers.
A starting point would be to end the losing streak today at New Orleans. It might quiet questions about what happened to a team that a month ago had the best record in the Arena League at 8-2.
A win would put the Crush into sole possession of the Central Division lead after Chicago’s 61-43 loss Friday to Arizona.
“It has been a weird three weeks,” Dutton said. “San Jose went through a period when it wasn’t playing very well. Chicago had its turn. Now we’re going through ours, and unfortunately it’s at the end of the season when all the other teams are playing well.”
In the past three weeks, the Crush lost to two of the best teams in the league – Chicago, 75-51, and San Jose, 89-41 – but also lost 58-52 to a then-1-11 Grand Rapids team.
Colorado’s once-productive offense hasn’t put the team ahead since a 77-56 win against Philadelphia four games ago. The opposition gets no easier, because the last three Crush opponents have a combined winning percentage of .575.
Dutton attributes the losing streak to several factors, including facing two of the top teams in the league, as well as coping with injuries to linemen Hugh Hunter and Donny Klein, fullback/linebacker Rich Young and receivers Willis Marshall and Kevin McKenzie and defensive specialist Rashad Floyd.
And Dutton has thrown more interceptions than he did earlier this season.
Coach Mike Dailey doesn’t buy any excuses.
“We have to play at a high level with the players we have available and fight and scrap and see if we can win a game,” Dailey said. “I tell the troops that it can turn back north as quickly as it turned south.”
Dailey indicated Hunter will return from injured reserve today to face the VooDoo, and Floyd also will be back.
Much of the focus on the Crush’s slump centers on Dutton’s interceptions. Dutton threw eight interceptions through the first 10 games but has been picked five times in the past three games.
“I feel comfortable when I can set my feet and throw,” Dutton said. “I think it comes down to my holding onto the ball and trying to wait for the big play. We don’t need spectacular plays to win.”
Dailey doesn’t want his quarterback to do anything out of character to try to win the game by himself, or fire up his team.
Getting off to a good start each game is key in a league in which there is so much scoring.
“I don’t know what is going on with our first drive,” Dutton said. “That’s my focus right now. We have to focus on that first drive even if we have to get into the right frame of mind in the warm-ups.”
Dailey said the team has to do a better job protecting Dutton.
“I don’t think the protection was very good in the Grand Rapids game,” Dailey said. “It’s tough for the quarterback to do his job if the pass protection is just average or poor. We have to improve on that.”
In Rampage coach Sparky McEwen’s estimation, Dailey will get a protection scheme figured out.
“Every quarterback in the league would like to play behind a Mike Dailey-coached line,” McEwen said. “I know they have lost a couple of lineman. Any team will suffer if you lose some of your top linemen.”
Today’s game
What: Arena Football League
Who: Colorado Crush (8-5) vs. New Orleans VooDoo (8-5)
When: 11 a.m.
Where: New Orleans Arena
TV/Radio: KUSA-9/KHOW 630 AM
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
