Surprises abound as several favorites fall in Week 2 action.
CHI 27 NJ 24— The Blitz and the Generals played the kind of game where you hate that one team needed to be the loser. Greg Landry threw for 335 yards and 3 TD’s for Chicago, while Herschel Walker’s 92 yards allowed the Generals to catch Chicago with some play action passing, to the tune of 3 TD’s for Bobby Scott. In a game that saw 7 lead changes, it was Chicago that pulled it out in the 4th quarter, scoring one field goal to tie the game at 24 and a second to take the win. New Jersey had a chance at the end but needed a stop of 3rd and 3 to get the ball back with 1:53 left. Landry faked to Spencer and hit his TE to get the first down and the ability to run out the clock, taking their first victory of the season.
TBY 31 PHI 26—TE Lewis Gilbert was the star of the show, catching 3 of John Reaves’s 4 TD tosses to take the 5 point win out of Philly. In a good game for both QB’s, Reaves just had enough firepower to edge the tenacious Stars. He ended the day with 437 yards passing, while Chuck Fusina, who completed over 70% of his passes, could only muster 259 and 2 TD’s. Kelvin Bryant scored twice for the losing side, but the day belonged to Reaves and Gilbert, the latter finishing with 157 yards receiving and 3 TDs.
LA 7 BIR 27—On a beautiful spring day in Birmingham, the hometown Stallions thrilled a crowd of over 41,000 at Legion Field with a defense that smothered the LA offense all afternoon. The Express finished with only 166 in total yards as Birmingham shut them down series after series. The Expressed scored on their first possession and then never sniffed the endzone again. Mike Rae was harassed all day, leading to 2 interceptions, including one returned for six by Stallions safety William Cesare. The win brings the surprising Stallions to 2-0, while Hugh Campbell returns to LA 0-2 and with some significant changes needed to a team that just has not found any offensive rhythm in its first 2 games.
ARZ 14 MGN 33—The Panthers are another early season surprise, beating the Arizona Wranglers handily as they opened the Silverdome for their first home game. Good performances by rookie QB Bobby Hebert (23-37 for 347 yards and 3 TD’s) and RB John Williams (25 attempts for 70 yards) kept the ball away from Arizona’s offense for much of the game. Michigan finished with over 41 minutes of possession in a game that was not as close as the score indicated. Arizona committed 11 penalties for 82 yards, shooting themselves in the foot on several occasions. For the Wranglers, an 0-2 start will lead to some changew, while Michigan is turning some heads with their 2-0 start to the season.
WSH 26 DEN 21—The altitude at Mile High Stadium was not a factor for the Washington Federals, and neither was a raucous crowd of close to 50,000 for the Denver Gold’s home opener. The Federals, led by the rushing of Craig James (28 carries for 85 yards) were able to keep Denver’s offense in check for most of the game, but neither team could really take over the game, which went back and forth into the 4th quarter. Even after Sandro Vitello hit on a 44 yard field goal to extend a 23-21 lead up to 5 points, Denver still had a chance to take the victory, but a dropped swing pass on 3rd and 9 late in the game cost Denver their chance to regain the lead and the Federals held on to take their first win of the season.
BOS 24 OAK 17—Boston flew out to the West Coast to take on the Oakland Invaders, and flew home with a win. In a very evenly matched game, it was veteran QB Johnny Walton who showed the moxie to take home the win. With the game tied at 17 in the 4th quarter, Walton led a game-ending drive, hitting wideout Frank Lockett with the winning score from the 3 yard line with just over a minute left to play. Oakland’s Fred Besana, who had relied on the running of Alfred Whittington (124 yards) all day to move the ball had to try to win the game in the air, and simply was unable to find open receivers against a stingy Breakers D. The game ended when Oakland receiver Gordon Banks earned a first down on the Boston 30 but was unable to get out of bounds to stop the clock. Besana was unable to get the Invaders to the line in time, and the Breakers walked away with a 7 point win, their first of the year.
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