Sunday, 3 a.m.
Two games into their existence, and so far, the Vipers are struggling.
Two games, two losses. Two games, two starting quarterbacks. Two games, no offensive touchdowns.
Two games, ouch.
The Vipers blew a 9-0 lead Saturday to lose 17-9 to the Seattle Dragons. They did score a touchdown when cornerback Tarvarus McFadden
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returned an interception 68 yards, but it wasn't enough. In two games, the Vipers have been in the red zone six times without a touchdown.
With starting quarterback Aaron Murray out with a foot injury, Taylor Cornelius started. He hit 16 of 27 passes for 154 yards and two interceptions. The Vipers ran for only 117 yards.
Quinton Flowers' interception was returned a yard for a touchdown by Marcell Frazier.
"I've got a locker full of guys who can't want to get home and play at Raymond James Stadium," said Vipers' coach Marc Trestman. "We're certainly disappointed. I'm really proud of our defense. They played hard. They finished the game. They tackled. They did everything they could."
"Offensively, we haven't found ourselves. We haven't had the play at quarterback that we need. We're still working through that. We've got to find a way to score. For the last two weeks, we haven't been able to finish drives. That's apparent to anyone who's watched us play. We've got to get better. It's a process."
The Vipers threatened at the end as Cornelius hit Dan Williams in the end zone on the game's next-to-last play. Williams, however, was called for offensive pass interference on the play.
The Vipers open their home season Saturday at 2 p.m. against the Houston Roughnecks.