After a quick sprint of a 10-week UFL season, the Orlando Storm have risen above the rest of the teams in the league, posting an 8-2 record and clinching the top seed heading into the postseason. However, despite being the best regular-season team this season, regular-season success does not matter unless it translates into a UFL championship. As a head coach in the XFL and the UFL, Anthony Becht has made winning regular-season games look easy, but regardless of the regular-season success of his team, Becht has never won a postseason game. During Becht's first season with the Saint Louis Battlehawks, Becht led Saint Louis to a 7-3 record, but the Battlehawks were edged out of the XFL playoffs due to losing a tiebreaker to the Seattle Sea Dragons. In 2024, Becht once again posted a winning record, and this time Saint Louis became the XFL Conference regular-season champions, but in the XFL Conference championship game, the Battlehawks were upset at home by the San Antonio Battlehawks. In 2025, Becht led the Battlehawks to an impressive 8-2 record, but they lost the XFL Conference championship game to the DC Defenders. There is no doubt that during his three-year tenure in the XFL and UFL, Becht has been the best coach in the league during the regular season. That was proven true once again this season, as the Orlando Storm posted an 8-2 record and separated themselves from the rest of the UFL teams as the unquestioned #1 seed. On the other hand, the Storm are now facing the challenge of overcoming their head coach's poor post-season track record, and to do so, they have to raise their performance to finally give Becht his much-needed first post-season win.
Location, Location, Location
Despite the clarity of the Orlando Storm's place in the 2026 UFL standings, the conditions under which their first playoff game will be played have been much less clear. After the Orlando Storm officially clinched home-field advantage for the first round of the playoffs, there has been an ongoing controversy about where the game will be played. Late last week, the UFL announced that the Storm would not be able to host their first playoff game at Inter&Co Stadium due to a previously scheduled international soccer game. Due to other potential game sites in Orlando being unavailable, the UFL announced that the game would be played at Historic Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio. However, after the Storm defeated the DC Defenders for a second consecutive time, the UFL announced another location change for the Storm's playoff game, which will now be held at a stadium in Daytona Beach, Florida, a decision that once again drew a wealth of criticism toward the UFL's management.
Can Anthony Becht Overcome Past Post-Season Failures?
The similarities between Anthony Becht's run in the XFL and the UFL are comparable to those of the last several years of Mike Tomlin's run with the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL. Neither coach ever posted a losing record, but despite their consistent regular-season success, neither could translate that success into playoff success. On the other hand, Tomlin did lead the Steelers to a Super Bowl victory in 2008, but since then, Tomlin's failure to win in the postseason has been a common topic of discussion. This year, the Steelers decided to fire Tomlin, and that naturally leads to the belief that, like Tomlin, Becht just does not have the ability to prepare his team for a championship run in the playoffs.
The Storm Must Win the Turnover Battle
Ultimately, the key to the Orlando Storm's post-season success or lack thereof will be their ability to win the turnover battle against the other top tier teams in the UFL. In Becht's past post-season failures, the common thread has been Becht's team losing the turnover battle after winning turnover battles on a weekly basis during the regular season. This year the only two games that the Orlando Storm lost during the regular season are also the only games in which they did not win the turnover battle by two or more takeaways. That means in the Storm want to find their way back to DC to play in the UFL championship, the Storm needed to win the turnover battle by two takeaways.
Orlando Must Match the Physicality of DC
This week, in addition to winning the turnover battle, the Orlando Storm also needs to match the physicality of the DC Defenders on both sides of the ball. During the last two weeks of the UFL season, the Storm picked up two wins over the Defenders because of their ability to force turnovers. On the other hand, the Defenders were able to stay in both games thanks to the strength of their running game. If the Storm allow the Defenders to set the physical tone in this game, Orlando could see an early playoff exit despite having the top record in the UFL.
The Storm Must Become More Efficient in the Red Zone
Another area where the Orlando Storm must improve to make a run at a UFL championship is its efficiency after getting the ball into the red zone. Too many times this season, the Storm have had offensive drives stall out in the red zone, forcing the Storm to settle for field goals. For a team to win a championship in the UFL, it is critical for teams to score touchdowns when they get the ball in the red zone; otherwise, the Storm may find themselves slowly falling behind against teams that also have the ability and commitment to score touchdowns when they can, rather than settle for field goals, especially when they are close to the end zone.
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