Back on the sideline after missing two games, Utah Blaze coach Ron James finds his team in a sad state of affairs.

The team is on a downward slide during a three-game losing streak, including huge losses to Arizona and Tulsa in the past two weeks. With each dropped game, the Blaze loosen their tenuous grip on a playoff spot.

"It think the most disappointing thing is the way we've lost," says James, who reviewed film from the games he missed while recovering from a medical procedure. "We've lost by these wide margins, and it's not difficult to understand: We haven't executed."

In particular, the once-seemingly unstoppable offense that put Utah on the map has stagnated recently. A unit that has averaged 60 points per game for the season has averaged only 45 in the past three weeks and given up more than its fair share of turnovers.

Quarterback Tommy Grady has said he hasn't quite felt comfortable with his receivers recently, as his training camp mates Aaron Boone and Aaron Lesue sit on the sideline with injuries. Lesue will be back this week, and with the team returning home, Grady knows the expectations are rising as performance is sinking.

"Coach James told us we need to get back some of the swag that we had earlier in the season," Grady said.

The Blaze also took action in an attempt to improve their special teams — which has been a bit topsy-turvy all season — by taking on ex-Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman, the team's fourth kicker this year.

Time is running out. Utah has only six games left and is in a three-way deadlock with Spokane and San Jose. If the Blaze want any chance of being the team left standing at the end of the season, they can't just show progress in Saturday's game against the Pittsburgh Power (7-5) — they must win.

"We're in a scrum for the last playoff position, and it's a position we don't want to be in," James says. "We can use a number of excuses, but we've been setting our sights too far forward and not on what is near or imminent. We have to take care of our business this week in order to get where we want to be."

kgoon@sltrib.com Twitter: @kylegoon —

Utah Blaze (5-7) v. Pittsburgh Power (7-5)

P EnergySolutions Arena, 7 p.m.

Radio • 1280 AM/104.7 FM The Zone

Utah faces East Division leader Pittsburgh in an effort to break out of the pack in its own division.