SCORES
BAL 6 NJ 16
Baltimore fell short in a game they needed to win to catch New Jersey and a share of the division lead. The Generals’ D proved too tough for Eric Kramer, who was forced to throw 54 times (completing only 25 and tossing two picks), while New Jersey relied on balance between Herschel Walker’s 95 yards and Doug Flutie’s 173.
PHI 7 PIT 28
After years of one-sided Keystone State clashes, Pittsburgh got a measure of revenge against the Stars with this win. Pittsburgh scored 28 points to open the game and held Philly scoreless until the 4th quarter. Alan Risher had a stunning 30-yard TD run, but was later knocked out of the game (and possibly the rest of the season), only to watch as Jeff Hostetler went 4 for 6 with 2 TD passes as Pittsburgh rolled over a deflated and desheveled Stars squad.
CHI 45 TEX 21
Chicago came down to San Marcos and absolutely stunned the Outlaws. By the 10-minute mark in the 2nd quarter it was already 24-0 Chicago, and Texas just did not have the opportunities needed to climb back. Chicago got a 1st drive TD from Long to Michael Haynes, but it was a 58-yard Mike Fox interception return for a score that really broke the back of the Outlaws. Albert Bentley also rushed for 82 yards and 2 scores.
MGN 14 NOR 27
Another game where one team built up an insurmountable lead. This time Robinson hit 3 different receivers (Smith, Franz, Fontenot) with scores and the combo of DuPree and Hilliard kept Michigan from getting enough time on offense to come back, despite both Carter and Holloway gaining 100 yards apiece.
LA 9 OAK 10
Sometimes a 10-9 score might indicate two solid defenses putting on a show of hitting and strategy. Not this time. Both LA and Oakland simply could not do much. The only player who seemed to have a good day was Oakland HB Richard Williams, who rushed for exactly 100 yards on 14 carries, but overall this was simply an ugly game, with 16 penalties between the two teams. Someone had to win it, and Oakland did that on a late Kevin Shea field goal.
ARZ 38 POR 21
Robbie Bosco threw for 2 scores and James Wilder added 70 yards rushing as once again the Thunder defense was not up to the task. Ed Luther had a decent day, throwing for 3 scores, but he also threw 2 picks trying to be the hero for the Thunder.
WSH 24 DEN 23
This one was a much more entertaining game as Washington just would not go away and the two teams swapped leads 6 times over the course of the game. Mike Hohensee had to come in after Majkowski was shaken up in the 3rd, and he managed to find Joey Walters for a score and end the game with a final drive to put Ray Wersching in position to win the game. Wersching connected from 41 yards and the Federals knocked off the Gold.
TBY 13 HOU 28
Two big returns for Houston in this game. Thurman Thomas returned from injury and proved his value immediately, leading the team in rushing with 112 yards, and in receiving with 6 catches for 54 yards. The other big return was Houston’s aggressive defense, which harassed Troy Aikman for 60 minutes, and limited Gary Anderson in both the run and pass game. The strategy worked as Tampa managed only 1 TD on the day, an Aikman to Brett Perriman strike in the 1st quarter.
GAMES OF THE WEEK
Birmingham Stallions 20 Jacksonville Bulls 23 OVERTIME
Memphis Showboats 20 Orlando Renegades 23 OVERTIME
It is so rare to have two games go to overtime with the same score, and for both to finish with the underdog home team knocking off the favorite in the same fashion, that we had to celebrate both. And for both games to be in the same division is even wilder. So, we have the Bulls stunning the Stallions and the Renegades upending the Showboats by the same score, but not in the same way.
Jacksonville got the win by playing a patient game on defense, bending on defense but not breaking, while on offense the Bull got just enough from Chris Miller, and even more from rookie kicker Pete Stoyanovich to even the score at the end of regulation and then take the opening drive of overtime down to field goal range, where the Indiana grad kicked the game winner from 45 yards out.
Birmingham had a lot of success between the 20’s, with Joe Cribbs running for 100 and Brent Fullwood gaining another 65 on the day, but the Stallions simply could not score in the redzone, with 4 drives ending in field goals.
In Orlando the story was quite different, even if the final result was the same. The Renegades focused on pressuring Mike Kelley, and they succeeded in sacking him 3 times, and hurrying him many more. One of those hurries led to a costly drive-ending interception. On Offense, Orlando got big days from both Reggie Collier (271 yards and a TD) and Curtis Bledsoe (138 yards rushing and a score).
If there was one similarity with the Bulls victory for Orlando it was that in the end it all came down to their kicker. Fuad Reveiz tied the game at 20 with only 2 seconds left to send the game to overtime. In overtime both teams struggled to move the ball, but with only 2:46 left in the game, Reveiz was in position and his kick gave the Renegades a huge divisional win.
The combination of overtime upsets means that the Southern Division is now tighter than ever, with all three of the top teams losing and both trailing teams winning. Memphis and Birmingham now each have 9 wins, with Tampa having 8, Orlando 7, and Jacksonville hanging in with 6 wins.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
This may be the toughest decision we have made all season. In a week that did not see any 4-TD days for QB’s or monstrous production days for other skill players, the temptation is to look at the defense, but when we look there a lot of the biggest plays ended up happening for teams that ended up losing the game. We had 2 overtime games, but no big heroics, unless we want to award kickers this week.
And why not honor the kickers? With defenses more evenly matched with offenses all season, it has often come down to the skilled leg of USFL kickers to determine games, as we saw this week with clutch kicks by both veteran Fuad Reveiz and rookie Pete Stoyanovich. Among kickers, we should highlight Oakland’s Kevin Shea, who has not missed a kick all season (27 for 27 on field goals and 26 of 26 on PATs). In Denver, Brian Speelman is hitting kicks at a 91% rate, including several 50-yarders. In Portland Al Del Greco is clearly the biggest offensive threat on the team, as he has hit 27 of 30 attempts. The league leader in points is veteran Scott Norwood, who has attempted 40 field goals (hitting on 36) to lead all in the category. In New Orleans, Tim Mazzetti is getting used to kicking for 1. He has a league-leading 40 PAT attempts and has hit every one.
Sure, they are often funny looking, often quirky, often overlooked, but perhaps we should pay a little more respect to the kickers of the USFL. We are sure that folks in both Orlando and Jacksonville are sure glad they have good ones this week.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
With only 3 weeks left normally we would expect things to be much clearer, but this year every race seems tight. New Jersey seems in the best position with a 2-game lead over Baltimore for the division title and 2.5 games over Washington. In every other division it is even tighter. Michigan’s lead has slipped to 1 game over both Texas and a surging New Orleans. Memphis and Birmingham are tied 1 game up on Tampa, and Denver has slipped back to the pack in the Pacific and is back to only 1 game ahead of Oakland. We feel safe saying that Portland is out, and that it is unrealistic for Philly or Pittsburgh to get back in this. It is iffy as well for LA and Arizona, but we cannot guarantee that they don’t have a shot at least for a Wild Card. All 5 teams in the Central and Southern Divisions are very much alive, with no team in either division having either a win streak or lose streak of more than 2 games. It is tight and may stay that way until the end of the year.
NEWS & NOTES
Just as the standings show a tight playoff race, the chase for League MVP is equally tough to call. Earlier this year it looked like Jack Trudeau had the inside track, but his season-ending injury all but eliminates him from contention. So, who is impressing us? When you look at the top passers, you have Majkowski, who is on a losing team, a major hurdle. Votes could go to Doug Williams, but Matt Robinson is coming on fast and does lead the league with 26 TD passes. Among the rushers you have Mike Rozier leading the pack, but his team is even worse than Majkowski’s Feds. Herschel Walker could overtake Rozier, as he only trails by 18 yards, but if New Jersey cannot solidify the division title in the Atlantic, that hurts Walker as well. Among receivers we have to recognize both the longevity and the numbers being put up by Memphis’s Mel Gray, leading the league with 105 receptions and 2nd in yardage with 1195, but he has only found the endzone 5 times, well below the leaders.
Maybe this is the year when a defender could win the title. But again, we run into issues here. Eric Kumerow is having a stellar season for the Maulers, with 125 tackles, but the Maulers as a whole are not looking good. Jerry Reese, the Breakers’ DE is leading the league with 14 sacks, but with so many others within 2 sacks of him, we could end the season with a cluster of players at the top, which does not make any one player stand out.
In a year with so much parity across the standings it should not be a surprise that we see so much parity as well on the individual level. Troy Aikman is running away with Rookie of the Year honors, at least on offense, but among the veterans there is just not one player who has been clearly better than his peers. What may have to happen is for the voters to look at the final playoff push and see if anyone can jump out as the reason why their team surged at the right time. Otherwise, it will be a very divided and contentious vote at season’s end.
INJURY REPORT
A big hit for Pittsburgh as Alan Risher’s season is over. The disappointment in Pittsburgh had hit long before this, and it may actually be a blessing in disguise as the Maulers will get a better look at what Jeff Hostetler can provide. Jacksonville is not looking at the loss of DE Jim Reynosa as anything but bad, since they need the pressure he provides to stay alive. Baltimore feels the same way about losing LB Ben Apuna for at least 1-2 weeks with a fractured bone in his left arm. Washington may miss their starting QB for a week as Don Majkowski was really shaken by a blow to the head this week. For the top playoff contenders, the good news is that no major contributors went down this week, and a few who have been dinged up area coming back, including WR Chris Collinsworth for Tampa, WR Mark Carrier for Denver, HB Paul Palmer for Oakland and LB Kiki DeAyala for Houston.
LOOKING AHEAD
Another key week of divisional games in Week 14. Ranking them in order of playoff importance we would go:
1-Memphis @ Michigan, an interdivisional game between two division winners),
2-Texas @ New Orleans, a key clash in the Central as both are 1 game behind Michigan.
3-Houston @ Chicago, the loser probably falling too far back to contend for the division.
4-Orlando @ Birmingham, a win by the 'Gades and they have a real shot at the division.
5-Tampa @ Jacksonville, the Bandits need this win to contend with the Stallions and Showboats. Jacksonville needs it to stay in the hunt.
6-Denver @ Arizona, the Gold can stay ahead of Oakland and essentially remove Arizona from consideration with a win.
7-Washington @ New Jersey, The Generals can all but clinch the division with a win, while Washington still has feint hopes for a Wild Card.
8-Pittsburgh @ Baltimore, the Blitz need to win out and hope New Jersey stumbles down the stretch.
9-Philadelphia @ Los Angeles, a tough game to play for two teams who expected so much better this year.
10-Portland @ Oakland, Oakland needs to avoid a trap game, but we do not see this one going Portland’s way, so it should be a W for the Invaders.