With four games left, they’re all fired up

Saturday, April 22, 2006 | 7:28 a.m.

The Las Vegas Gladiators have lost two in a row, are two games under .500 and in third place in their division with four games remaining in the season.

And if the season were to end today, they would qualify for the Arena Football League playoffs.

"It's a weird situation being that we're under .500 ... but we know we're still in the thick of this," Gladiators quarterback Jason Fife said of the playoff picture. "We're all pretty fired up."

That is exactly what head coach Ron James wants to hear as his team heads into its final games. Las Vegas has four games left, three on the road, starting with Sunday's game in Chicago. Las Vegas has played its final three opponents - Utah, Arizona and Los Angeles - already this season and has wins against Utah and L.A.

Although James is pleased his team still is in the playoff picture, he said he isn't happy with the way it has played the past two weeks.

"I'm not pleased at all," James said. "I would prefer us to be above .500 and making a run at (the division title), which I thought we were capable of doing. I'm dissatisfied with the momentum of the team.

"You always want to be in a situation at the end of the season where you're playing your best football, and we've got to be able to achieve that."

Consistently inconsistent

In losing three of their last five games, the Gladiators have managed to have breakdowns in virtually every facet of the game, which makes addressing the problem a challenge, James said.

"What has happened every week is you're seeing a different area kind of unravel," James said. "If you could put your finger on one position or one player, then you could say we need to make an immediate change. When it's everybody taking turns on it, you wind up in a situation where you just have to simplify the script and make sure that everybody is so on task that you're keeping yourself out of that."

But that can present its own set of problems, James said.

"It's hard to be conservative in the AFL game," he said. "In the outdoor game, you would look at it and focus on the run and be more conservative and not give yourself the opportunity to turn the ball over. But this is an offensive game and you're going to have to take your shot."

Off the net

The Gladiators' turnover margin, which ranks last in the 18-team Arena Football League

Average number of yards rushing per game for the Gladiators, which leads the league