SCORES
ARZ 31 DEN 13 Landry & Koegel split time as Arizona rolls over punchless Denver.
OAK 16 LA 27 Young throws for 2 TD and runs for another in battle of California.
NJ 24 CHI 31 Generals are game, but cannot contain dual threat Vince Evans.
PHI 23 HOU 10 Besana besieged by Philly D as Bryant again tops 100 yards.
WSH 10 MGN 38 Holloway catches 5 for 200 yards and 2 scores in Panther romp.
BYES: BIR, JAX, MEM, TBY
GAME OF THE WEEK
Boston Breakers 10 Pittsburgh Maulers 15
Not the most dynamic game of the week, but a beauty of a defensive battle as both teams play old school field position football in this one. On a blustery day at Three Rivers, neither team could count on their passing game for much. Both QB’s completed below 45% of their passes, and both defenses keyed in on the feature backs, with Boston limiting Rozier and Funderburk to 102 total yards and Pittsburgh holding Crump and Jordan to 103. In a game that was won in the trenches, and on the foot of their kickers, Pittsburgh managed just enough to outduel the Breakers.
Boston started the game strong, driving in the 1st quarter for an eventual Crump dive over the pile for a 7-0 lead. Pittsburgh answered in the 2nd quarter with a Rozier TD, and both teams swapped field goals, with each team making use of the right to left wind and kicking long scores when they had the wind to their backs.
In the second half it was more war of attrition. Boston was never able to cross the 50, and Pittsburgh was limited to 2 more Vitello field goals. The final score of the day seemed a fitting one, as a longsnap on a Boston punt sailed over the punter’s head and through the endzone for a safety. 15-10 was the final in a game that reminded many of old school 1950’s football.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
If the Boston-Pittsburgh game was old school football, the New Jersey-Chicago game may have given us a glmpse of the future of football, the mobile quarterback. Following in the footsteps of Walter Lewis’s amazing performance earlier this year, veteran Vince Evans destroyed the Generals in the air and with his feet. In addition to completing 69% of his passes for 265 yards and scoring strike to Jackie Flowers, Evans used effective scrambling and a few well-timed QB draws and bootlegs to run for an additional 97 yards and 2 scores, including a 52 yard scamper that wowed the Soldier Field faithful and gave Chicago its first score of the day. Evans was both efficient in the pocket and dangerous outside of it, giving New Jersey fits all day. While the cagey vet does not have the speed of Lewis, or the dynamism of Flutie, he showed this week that he is plenty spry and plenty dangerous with the ball in his hands.
NEWS AND NOTES
Less than a week after the stunning $675M verdict out of New York, the USFL is flush with optimism about the future. This even seemed to translate to more enthusiasm in the stands, as the league had its best week of attendance all season, even without the 4 southern teams in the mix. Chicago fans came out in droves to watch the Blitz win their 6th of the year, with over 45,000 in attendance. In Michigan attendance topped 40,000 for only the 2nd time this year despite a lackluster matchup against the Federals. Denver drew 41,000 despite poor play by the Gold this year, and even the LA Express topped 35,000 fo the first time in 2 years. Overall, attendance for the week averaged a very healthy 37,920, well above the 30,000 desired. With the Southern Division (and top attendance teams Memphis and Jacksonville) playing next week, the news could improve again for the league.
INJURIES
For those teams that have not had their bye yet, the grind of the season is clearly leading to some issues. We saw several quarterbacks just break down this week. Hebert, Fusina, Landry, and even Flutie came out of the game at one point or another, though none seemed to have sustained injuries. We also saw the running backs suffer. Mike Rozier missed part of the game with a hyper-extended knee. Walker came out for a quarter with a stiff neck, and Harry Sydney suffered a deep thigh bruise. There were few significant injuries, most notably a possible season ender for Pittsburgh SS Dave Duerson (Hip), but a lot of dings, cramps, exhaustion and muscle injuries all around the league. It looks like the bye weeks are coming at just the right time for most USFL teams.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Central Division gets their bye this week, and the Southern Division returns with interdivisional play as Birmingham and Memphis each try to get only their 2nd win of the year while Tampa, amazingly stuck at 3-3, tries to avoid a letdown at Jacksonville. The Pacific also flies east to play the 4 Atlantic teams, with Denver @ Boston, Arizona in New Jersey, Oakland v. Philly, and LA in the nation’s capital to take on the Federals. Best game of the week may be Oakland at the Stars as Brian Sipe has looked sharp and the Oakland defense has been leaps and bounds ahead of the 1984 version.