Coming off the bye week, the Massachusetts Pirates knew they had to make something happen and their played showed it.
Quarterback Sean Brackett put up a near perfect performance in the team’s 70-51 win against the New York Streets, throwing seven touchdown passes and rushing for one.
“We were just confident, we just wanted to have fun,” Brackett said. “Because when we’re out there having fun, momentum is on our side. Offensive is running off the defense, the defense is working off the offense and the energy is contagious. We just wanted to get back to having fun and winning and obviously winning is fun. When you’re playing well it’s fun.”
Everyone is getting healthier which includes wide receiver Thomas Owens. Owens, along with the rest of the lineup that took the field on offense, Brackett says is as close to full-strength the team has been.
“[Owens] is a hard-working guy, he works hard on the practice field, the film room, and weight room,” Brackett said. “The team that we had this weekend is really the team we wanted to have since the beginning of the season. We finally have the right pieces, finally get healthy.”
Though he took care of the ball better by not throwing an interception, Brackett commended his offensive line as the reason for his improved play.
“The protection was great on Monday,” Brackett said. “When the line gives me time and I stay comfortable out there, we got some great playmakers and it’s my job to get the ball in their hands, do what they do best.”
Brackett sees a growth in the chemistry between teammates that he claims was lacking in the beginning.
“It all came together offensively, we were playing well. I think we’re kind of clicking now. We talked about earlier in the season how we weren’t clicking,” Brackett said. “It’s kind of all coming together now so we just gotta keep on working hard.”
Brackett’s gunslinger mentality he concedes will not go away as it is a part of him. Learning to control it and avoid careless mistakes is his goal.
“That gunslinger mentality is still there and is still something I continue to work on, just protecting the football,” Brackett said. “There’s plays to be made out there, but you have to be smart with the football when you can make the play and when it’s just better to live another down.”
Brackett went over Dexter McCluster’s first touchdown with the team.
“We had Mardy [Gilyard] in the motion, Devonn [Brown] in the middle, and Dex was on the frontside on the wall,” Brackett said. “They played zone coverage, frontside cornerback ran with Mardy, safety was trailing Dexter, those guys have speed to burn so once I saw [McCluster] was even, I knew he was leavin’ so I just had to throw the ball up and give him a chance to make a play and we were celebrating after that.”
Brackett broke down his choice of celebration after the touchdown.
“I had to get my Mookie Betts on,” Brackett laughed.
