Kickoff: The Pirates are set to host the Bay Area Panthers (12-3) in their final game of the 2025 Indoor Football League (IFL) regular season. The Pirates are looking to get back to .500 after losing their last two games.

Here are four keys for the Pirates.

1. Taulia gets his first start: Taulia Tagovailoa will get his first career start in place of Kenji Bahar. The key for Tagovailoa is to play within the system and not force things. Bay Area is the best team in the IFL so Tagovailoa will have to play mistake free.

2. Get Pooka going early: The Pirates are going to have to take pressure off of Tagovailoa and the best way to do it is to run the football. Williams is second in the IFL in rushing so featuring him early is a good thing.

3. Defense must bounce back: The defense has really struggled the past two weeks. If they are going to bounce back, it won’t be easy. Bay Area averages 44.5 points per game and can make big plays. The Pirates defense has to find a way to limit the big plays.

4. Contain Josh Jones: Josh Jones is 174 (6th) of 301 (4th) passing for 2,033 yards (6th) with 37 touchdowns (T6th) and completes 57.8 percent of his passes. He averages 145.2 passing yards per game (10th) 

Jones is the leading rusher in the IFL as well. He has run the ball 170 times (2nd) for 763 yards (1st), has 20 touchdowns (5th) and averages 54.5 yards per game on the ground.

Extra Point: The Pirates have won both meetings against the Bay Area Panthers. Massachusetts defeated the Panthers 44-28 on the road in 2022 and 59-52 at home in 2023. The two teams did not meet last season.

Final Drive: Bay Area is the most complete team in the IFL. If the Pirates are to win this game, they are going to need to play flawless and mistake free. If they do, they will have a shot.