In a week that saw Michigan move to 4-0 and Denver slide to 0-4, the weather took a toll on several teams. Houston and Chicago fought a low scoring battle in the snow, while Tampa played Washington on a slick rainy field. Philadelphia once again ascerted themselves as a team to beat in the Atlantic Division, with a win over Boston, while New Jersey showed no mercy to a floundering Denver Gold squad. The news of the week was the devastating injury to Oakland’s Arthur Whittington, who tor his posterior cruciate ligament and is likely done for the year.
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SCORES
PHI 31 BOS 20 A Sam Mills INT return for a score highlights Philly’s revenge win.
TBY 28 WSH 23 Washington keeps it close thanks to 95 yards from Craig James.
HOU 14 CHI 16 The Blitz eke out a win under snowy conditions in Chicago.
LA 17 MGN 31 Hebert to Carter twice on a 4 TD day for the Panther QB.
PIT 21 OAK 14 The Maulers win their second in a row on a tough day for Oakland.
DEN 13 NJ 37 Sipe & Walker run roughshod over the Gold.
ARZ 19 BIR 38 Joe Cribbs has a big game against Wrangler D.
BYES: None
GAME OF THE WEEK: Jacksonville Bulls 31 Memphis Showboats 34
In a see-saw battle between two expansion clubs in the Southern Division, Memphis gets the final word with Efran Herrera’s last minute field goal to live the Showboats to victory. In a game that saw the lead change 6 times, both clubs showed they have some firepower. Bulls QB Doug Williams threw for 360 and 3 scores, but Memphis’s Walter Lewis was up to the task as well, throwing for 3 scores of his own. Memphis wideout and former St. Louis Cardinals star Mel Gray finished strong with 127 yards and 2 scores. On the other side, rookie Gary Clark could not find the endzone for the Bulls, but his 125 yards receiving led the team. This was a classic “last team with the ball wins” matchup, despite the defensive talent on both sides. Reggie White had two sacks of Williams, but despite some solid plays, neither defense could slow down the other side for long. These two clubs will meet again in Week 10, for what we hope will be another barnburner.
INJURIES: Several teams got hit with injuries this week, but the biggest blow has to be in Oakland, where the loss of Alfred Whittington for 12-16 weeks all but cancels out his season and puts a lot of pressure on the Invaders to find offense without their star back. Others impacted, and likely to miss at least a game or two, are Chicago wideout Jackie Flowers (concussion), Boston RB Buford Jordan (dislocated finger), Bulls RB Sidney Thornton (turf toe), and Michigan LB Ray Bentley (broken nose)
LOOKING AHEAD: Week Five has some intriguing inter-division games as Memphis travels to Boston, Philly heads down to Jacksonville, Chicago faces Denver, and Steve Young and the Express will face off against Jim Kelly and the Houston Gamblers. Only 2 teams will have byes in Week 5: Pittsburgh and Birmingham.