It's happened time, after time, after time.
The Soul just have trouble protecting a fourth-quarter lead.
Head coach Clint Dolezel knows it. He may not put too much emphasis on it, but he knows it.
Last week against the Arizona Rattlers was just the latest example.
The Soul had a 57-42 lead after quarterback Dan Raudabaugh found wide receiver Tiger Jones for a touchdown with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the game. The Rattlers cut the lead to seven, 57-50, with a little under four minutes to go, and then it happened. Another fourth-quarter lead stolen.
Arizona attempted an onside kick, which worked. The Rattlers got the ball back, scored and tied the game at 57.
Raudabaugh threw an interception on the next Soul possession, which led to an Arizona touchdown and a 66-57 advantage. The Soul had one last shot with 12 seconds remaining, but couldn't get a score.
A 6-4 possibility turned into a 5-5 reality, including a 1-4 home record.
Talk to Dolezel and he'll tell you that onside kick, the late two-point conversion the Rattlers converted and the comeback as a whole, was luck. He may have a point.
The Soul kept the AFL's best team on the ropes all day. They pressured Rattlers quarterback Nick Davila, sacked him once and forced him to throw a season-high three interceptions. But in the end, luck or not, the Soul lost the game.
"There's a rhythm to the game that you get into," Dolezel said. "In the fourth quarter, offensively, we couldn't get into rhythm. ... We'll figure it out. ... There's a lot we can fix, but there's a lot we did well."
In four of the five losses this season, the Soul took a lead into the fourth quarter but were outscored, 71-49. Raudabaugh said the Soul need to have more urgency if they expect to win close games.
"We just got to have a little more killer instinct in us," Raudabaugh said. "Put teams away when we've got them in the position to finish them off. ... If we just do our jobs we should be alright."
Offensive lineman Jason Jones mentioned the word "perfect" when talking about the Soul's fourth-quarter woes. He said whoever makes the most plays and least mistakes will be the victorious team.
"We're .500," he said. "So half the time we've been good at it, half the times we haven't and those are the games we've lost."
Jones was reminded of what the Soul could be if they just protected two or three of those leads in the fourth. A 7-3 or 8-2 record is much better than 5-5.
"All the time," Jones said of thinking about how the Soul could be a few wins better if not for the fourth-quarter breakdowns. "It's not college anymore, so one or two losses just doesn't put your season in jeopardy. We still got a goal to make the playoffs. We still have a chance to fix it, get it right just to have that formula, so going into the playoffs it won't be one and done. That's when you really have to be perfect.
"We got a chance to fix it. We've seen what happens when we do it right, we've seen what happens when we've done it wrong. So we've got to learn from that and keep moving forward."
Dolezel's notion was almost a replica of Jones' as he is looking at it with a just-do-enough-to-make-the-playoffs point of view.
The Soul currently have a two-game lead in the East Division, but they are 0-2 in the division, having lost to both the Pittsburgh Power and the Cleveland Gladiators.
And how did the Soul lose those games? Yup, with fourth-quarter breakdowns.
"I don't think we're sitting bad," Dolezel said. "We're still leading our division by two. It's all about the playoffs. If we win, and we're 7-11, and we're in the playoffs and won it all, would we be happy about that? I would think so. My ownership group might not be real happy with it, but it's all about winning the championship."
Tebow update
There's still no word whether Tim Tebow would accept the contract offered by Soul co-owner Ron Jaworski.
A Soul official said Jaworski and Tebow, who was released by the New York Jets, have spoken, but Tebow gave no answer as to if he'd accept the AFL invitation.
"The ball is in his court right now if he wants to do it or not," the team official said.
The Soul have eight games remaining.
Morgan makes his return
The Soul will host the 2-8 New Orleans VooDoo this Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center and a familiar face will be on the turf.
Star wide receiver Donovan Morgan will be making his first appearance against his former team. Morgan requested a trade last November to his hometown to be closer to his family.
In two seasons with the Soul, Morgan recorded 200 receptions for 2,979 yards and 63 touchdowns. This season, Morgan leads the VooDoo with 54 receptions for 775 yards and 17 touchdowns.