SCORES
BOS 17 WSH 27 Craig James (25-146, 3 TDs) has his best game of the year vs. the Breakers
TBY 44 MEM 7 Reaves to Truvillion for 3 scores is more than enough to down Memphis.
DEN 14 CHI 33 Penrose struggles as Chicago’s C. Murphy pounds out a win.
OAK 7 ARZ 22 Wranglers hold Oakland under 200 total yards as Greg Landry returns.
PIT 16 LA 34 Young, Boddie & Townsell lay waste to the Mauler defense.
NJ 48 HOU 23 Sipe returns with 4 TD day, as Garcia cannot lead the Gamblers.
Byes: Michigan & Jacksonville
GAME OF THE WEEK Philadelphia Stars 17 Birmingham Stallions 14
If you never believed in momentum before, this game would prove it. Birmingham builds up a 14-0 lead by 10:29 in the 3rd, only to have a costly fumble turn the tide as Philadelphia takes over and scores 17 unanswered to stun the crowd of 58,500 in Legion Field. What made this turnaround all the more surprising was that early in the game, Philadelphia’s unquestioned leader, Chuck Fusina, was knocked out of the game with what appears to be a significant knee injury. Rarely used backup Wyatt Walker was pushed into action, and while he relied heavily on the running of Kelvin Bryant, he made enough plays to provide Philly with three scoring drives in the final quarter and a half, enough to knock off the Stallions.
After a Byrant TD run opened the scoring for Philly, Walker led a 78 yard, 9 minute drive to open the 4th quarter, and found TE Steve Folsom for the tying score with 5:33 to go. When Birmingham went 3 and out on their next drive, Walker again led the Stars into scoring range, providing reliable kicker David Trout the chance to give the Stars their first lead of the day. He connected on a 29 yard field goal and the Stars held off a late Birmingham charge to take the victory. The win gave Philadelphia sole possession of first place in the contentious Atlantic Division, while another loss pushed Birmingham 2 games below Tampa. The late season fade for the Stallions parallels what happened last year, and cannot make Stallion fans feel comfortable, even with a significant lead in the Wild Card chase.
NEWS & NOTES
If the 1984 season is proving anything it is that teams need to invest in backup quarterbacks. We have seen most of the top names in the league miss action, including Vince Evans (CHI), Bob Gagliano (DEN), Greg Landry (ARZ), Brian Sipe (NJ), and in recent weeks Bobby Hebert (MGN), Jim Kelly (HOU) and now Chuck Fusina (PHI), who is expected to miss at least 1 more week with a knee injury. In nearly every case, teams have struggled to produce without their star signal caller.
Arizona was perhaps in the best position, already in the process of grooming former UCLA star Rick Neuheisel for the starting role, while teams like Houston and Denver seem to have no answer at QB without their starter. As we near the playoffs, healthy starting QB play seems to be a key factor in who will be able to make a push and a playoff run and who may fall to the wayside. We saw this last season when the loss of Bobby Hebert led to an early exit from the playoffs for the Panthers. It appears that the same fate could befall several teams if they are unable to get their starters back sooner rather than later.
INJURIES
In addition to the loss of Philadelphia’s field general, Chuck Fusina for at least the next week or two, this week we saw several other players felled by injuries. This includes Houston LB Kiki DeAyala, expected to be out 1-2 weeks with a shoulder injury, Oakland wideout Gordon Banks, and LA center Gerald Bradley. Those potentially returning to play next week include Philadelphia ALL-USFL safety Scott Woerner, Houston FS Donald Dykes, Birmingham DE Ronnie Paggett, and, the Gamblers hope, QB Jim Kelly.
PLAYOFF SCENARIOS
With 4 weeks of play left, there is little that is certain. We can report that with a 5 game lead, the Michigan Panthers have clinched the Central Division despite a loss last week and a bye this week. And while Tampa Bay has not yet clinched the division, they are guaranteed a playoff spot with their 10 wins in place. On the other side of the spectrum, Oakland is officially eliminated from contention, which shocks no one as they have only 2 wins on the season and have lost their last 7. LA holds a tenuous ½ game lead over Arizona, and 1 game over Denver in what looks like a nip & tuck battle for the division. Philadelphia now is 1 game up on Washington and 1.5 games up over Boston.
LOOKING AHEAD
No byes in Week 14 as all 16 teams will battle this week. The big matchup this week will be a rematch of the Philadelphia-Birmingham game (This year’s schedule really is poorly designed), but there are several games which have the potential of putting some distance between some of the Wild Card contenders, including Denver @ Pittsburgh, Boston @ Arizona, and LA @ Chicago. Houston hopes to have Jim Kelly back as they face the division winners, Michigan. Tampa will try to lock up the division with a win at home vs. Memphis and a Stallions loss to Philly.