It was a rough week for the league's field marshals as several teams ended their games with backups trying to guide their squads to victory. Oklahoma lost two QB's in one game, New Orleans just opted to hand off the ball, and Washington fell just short with rookie Don Majkowski playing for an injured Neil Lomax.
SCORES
PHI 31 NJ 3
Without Herschel Walker, and with Philadelphia having a week to prepare for Flutie, the Generals did not have a shot in this one. The Stars defense smothered the Generals’ run game and contained Flutie. By the 4th quarter the game was out of hand and Jeff Hostetler got some rare snaps at QB for Philly.
TBY 26 BIR 24
The Stallions were game and mounted a 4th quarter comeback to pull within 2, but with the return of John Reaves the Tampa offense was just too efficient. Eric Truvillion had a big day, catching 7 for 142 and two scores.
MEM 31 JAX 21
The surprise of the week as the Showboats went down to the Gator Bowl and got a decisive win. The star of the day was Walter Lewis, who many were calling to bench prior to the game. Lewis threw for 306 and two scores. He also dove in for a score as the Showboats outperformed the Bulls in all three phases of the game.
MGN 28 CHI 25
Chicago’s defense was the surprise of the game as they picked off Jack Trudeau twice, got a fumble return for a score and a safety. Michigan, in the end, was too much for Chicago’s offense, which was held without a touchdown until the 4th quarter. The Panthers pulled it out with a 4th quarter drive which ended with rookie Bobbie Morse plunging into the end zone from 2 yards out.
SAN 6 HOU 30
In their first game against a non-expansion team, the Gunslingers fell hard to a motivated Houston Gambler team. After a 3 interception debacle last week, Jim Kelly rebounded with a 3 score, 0 interception game against the Gunslingers. Todd Fowler also had his best game in 2 years, rushing for 88 yards in the Houston win.
LA 27 ARZ 20
The Express snagged their first win of the season, putting up 14 in the final quarter to overcome the Wranglers. Steve Young overcame 3 interceptions in the game, also throwing for 3 scores, including 2 to Jo-Jo Townsell. For Arizona, Robbie Bosco struggled with 3 picks of his own and former Buccaneer James Wilder came tantalizingly close to his first 100-yard USFL game, rushing for 99 on 17 carries.
OKL 6 DEN 16
In a game that saw both starter Doug Williams and backup Brent Pease knocked out of the game, Denver’s defense finally lived up to its billing, holding Oklahoma to only 2 field goals and providing space for Denver’s offense to muddle through yet again. Despite a strong game from WR Bill Brooks, the run & shoot was not particularly effective as Gagliano hit on only 52% of his passes. Williams is expected to be back in a week or two, but Pease may be out for the year with his injury (more below).
NOR 45 PIT 10
After two frustrating losses to Oakland and Michigan, the Breakers took out their frustration on the struggling Maulers. An injury to Tony Eason in the 2nd quarter may have actually given the Breakers a new path to victory, as they turned to the run game with both Marcus Dupree and Dalton Hilliard. Dupree rushed for 137 and 2 scores and Hilliard added 96 and 2 more scores in the Breakers rout of Pittsburgh.
OAK 17 ORL 19
It may now be time to take Orlando seriously. After beating two perennial cupcakes (Memphis and Pittsburgh) many expected Orlando to struggle against the 2-0 Invaders, but the Renegades were well-prepared as Coach Schnellenberger focused on limiting Brian Sipe in the pass game. On offense, Reggie Collier did just enough to edge Oakland, throwing for two scores.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Washington Federals 25 Baltimore Blitz 28
Washington’s divisional game woes continued with yet another divisional loss as Baltimore got the edge in this overtime thriller. With Neil Lomax out after the half due to injury, rookie Don Majkowski helped keep Washington in the game, leading a game-tying drive in the final seconds to send the game to overtime, but in the the added period, Baltimore never let the Feds have the ball, scoring the winning fieldgoal on their first possession.
Tim Spencer was key for the Blitz, as his 100 yards on only 11 carries powered the Blitz offense. Vince Evans, who has been struggling this year, had an efficient if unspectacular day (72% completions, but only 163 yards). For Washington, Craig James’ 128 yards helped keep the offense churning once Lomax was knocked out. Majkowski appointed himself well, going 17 for 23 for 159 and a score. Down 22-25 after a Tim Spencer TD and with 3:07 on the clock, Majkowski led the Federals on a desperation drive to tie the game. He found Webster Slaughter for 2 big completions to start the drive, and then dinked and dunked with several drop down passes to Spencer to get the Feds into field goal range. Ray Wersching hit an impressive 51 yarder to send the game into overtime, but the Feds would never see the ball again as Baltimore got the win with a 39 yarder to win this classic Atlantic Division clash.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
We are going to have two teammates share this week’s POTW glory. With Tony Eason knocked out of the game vs. Pittsburgh and all eyes on the run game, Marcus Dupree and Dalton Hilliard still combined for 233 on the ground to crush the Maulers. Hilliard averaged 6.4 yards and left defenders in tatters on a bruising 14-yard TD score. Dupree did even better, rushing for an 8.1-yard average, despite never having a run over 17 yards. Matt Robinson, who subbed for Eason, only threw 10 passes in nearly 3 quarters of play because the combo of Dupree and Hilliard was so effective in creating short 3rd downs and converting them. It was a clinic on how to run the ball against a stacked defense as New Orleans used pulling linemen and misdirection runs to confuse the Mauler D, but it was also a story of two strong runners breaking tackles and refusing to go down at the end of plays.
NEWS & NOTES
Three weeks in and there are already some teams looking at their offensive production and wondering if a change is needed. The problem is many of the struggling teams don’t have a solid option to fall back on. Chicago must be frustrated by their lack of offensive production, and Chuck Long is clearly struggling, but this may be a teamwide issue, and it may not help at all to replace Long with either Blackledge or Beurlein, so we expect the Machine to stand pat and work on better scheming.
In Pittsburgh, Alan Risher has not lived up to his performances from last year. He is currently the 2nd lowest ranked starting QB in the league, with only Vince Evans (8 Ints) below him. He is completing only 45% of his passes for the Maulers. Could Pittsburgh take a look at Glen Carano if Risher continues to struggle?
In Denver, Bob Gagliano is still struggling in Mouse Davis’ Run & Shoot, though we suspect that his starting position is solid for now.
Out in LA, it is the run game which has coach Hadl worried. Rotating Tony Boddie with Christian Okoye has not produced solid numbers yet, as defenses have regularly stacked the box on downs where Okoye is in the backfield and moved to a nickel to defend against the quicker Boddie. LA may just have to settle on one back and then use play action to open up the defense.
Finally, the winless Stallions must be frustrated, having only scored 57 points in three games. Joe Cribbs cannot do it all alone, and Ernest Givens is putting up good numbers, but there is a huge drop off after Givens as Jim Smith seems to have lost a step and former NJ General Clarence Collins has been a no show. Part of the blame certainly falls on Cliff Stoudt’s shoulders, but the offense also lacks imagination as Coach Dotsch seems content to use the predictable run-run-pass three down strategy. Dotsch came into the year feeling a bit of heat, and if the Stallions cannot turn things around, this may be the end of his run in Birmingham.
INJURIES
This was a bad week for QB’s around the league. Washington lost Neil Lomax to an ankle sprain and may miss the week 4 game. New Orleans QB Tony Eason went down with a concussion but is likely to return next week. Birmingham’s Cliff Stoudt came out late in the game with a leg injury, questionable for next week. But the worst situation is clearly in Oklahoma, where starter Doug Williams suffered a stress fracture in his plant foot and may miss up to 3 weeks. His backup, Brent Pease, was also knocked out of the game, and perhaps the season, with a fractured fibula. It was an ugly injury as Pease was carted off the field, unable to put any weight on the leg. He is certainly out at least 8-10 weeks, but likely is out for the year. Oklahoma will start former Blitz backup Blair Kiel, who saw a lot of action in 1984 when Vince Evans was lost for a good part of the year but has played very sparingly over the past 2 years.
In other injuries, expect Herschel Walker to miss a second week with his hand injury. Jacksonville will be without WR Hassan Jones for at least a month with a shoulder injury. Orlando loses one of its best receivers as Vic James will miss at least 2 weeks with a knee injury, and Tampa’s brand-new TE, Sam Bowers is out for two months with a fracture to the tibia on his left leg. Arizona will also be without a key weapon for at least 2 weeks as TE Terry Orr went down with ligament damage in his right knee.
LOOKING AHEAD
Week Four will be one of those rare weeks where no teams are in divisional play. That does not mean that we don’t have some intriguing matchups. The highlight game of the week may well be Philly at New Orleans, but we also want to tune in as Jacksonville heads out to LA and when New Jersey faces the Panthers in the Silverdome. Houston hosts Baltimore in another top match, and San Antonio will have a chance to get a 3rd win as they host Pittsburgh. In other action, Washington will head to Chicago to face the winless Machine, Orlando goes for 4-0 against a depleted Oklahoma squad, Denver hosts Birmingham, Oakland welcomes Memphis out West, and the Bandits head out to the desert to face the Wranglers.