SCORES
ORL 9 BAL 11
Baltimore gets the win despite never finding the endzone as an early safety of Reggie Collier,paired with 3 Luis Zendejas field goals is enough for the Blitz. Neither team was able to run the ball on the other, with Tim Spencer gaining only 46 yards and Curtis Bledsoe only 33.
TBY 23 NJ 30
The Bandits hold Herschel Walker in check (68 yards) but forget about Keith Byars, who rushes for 43 yards on only 3 carries, including a key 4th quarter TD to help the Generals pull out a needed home win.
BIR 26 PHI 20
In a battle of unexpected 0-2 teams, Birmingham comes out on top thanks to Joe Cribbs’s huge 203 yard day. Philly drops to 0-3 as concerns on both sides of the ball come up. Without Mills, Woerner or Gardiner, the Stars D just does not look the same.
JAX 9 PIT 37
Pittsburgh forces two costly Jacksonville turnovers and the Bulls hurt themselves with 12 penalties for 106 yards in a sloppy game at Three Rivers. The Maulers hold George Adams to a measly 1.9 yards per attempt and the Bulls manage only 2 of 11 third down conversions on the way to a resounding loss.
MEM 26 WSH 24
Memphis moves to 3-0 with a nail biter of a win at RFK Stadium. Mel Gray caught 2 first quarter touchdowns and Ali Haji-Sheikh kicked 4 field goals to pace the Showboats. Don Majkowski hit Mark Bavaro for 2 scores, but his third TD toss of the day came with only a minute left and when the onside kick failed, Memphis held on for the slim victory.
OAK 29 CHI 12
Chicago could not find the endzone, but was still in the game after 3 at 12-15, but Gale Gilbert found Mark Duper and Richard Williams also found the endzone in the 4th to help Oakland pull away.
POR 20 HOU 40
Houston doubles up the Thunder in the Astro Dome, as Jim Kelly throws for 352 yards and 4 scores. Thurman Thomas also comes up big with 127 on the ground and another 56 in the air, along with 2 touchdowns. Houston wins big despite two long Robert Drummond runs (43 and 41 yards) which helped him eclipse the 100-yard mark for the first time this season.
ARZ 20 MGN 34
Michigan moves to 3-0 despite being outgained 408-280 by the Wranglers. Jack Trudeau found Anthony Carter twice and added a third TD to Dereck Holloway in the win. The combo of John Williams and rookie Vince Workman also added 123 yards on the ground.
LA 10 TEX 17
The Express offense cannot get on track as Texas’s defense limits Steve Young to 166 yards passing. Stump Mitchell gains 109 and backup Scott Stamper finds the endzone twice to help Texas get their second win of the year.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Denver Gold 21 New Orleans Breakers 17
Denver’s defense kept the Breakers in check all game long and a 4th quarter Gaglliano to Stanley touchdown toss gives Denver the win. In a game which saw 4 lead changes, the two evenly-matched squads had their moments, but in the end Denver’s defensive prowess in the second half gave them the win.
The Breakers started the game strong, scoring the first 10 points on a Nolan Franz 57-yard TD reception and a Tim Mazzetti field goal, but Denver fought back as Gagliano found his deep threat, Odessa Turner, and then took the lead in the 2nd quarter on a Timmy Smith dive from the 1. New Orleans would retake the lead 17-14 just before the half when Matt Robinson found Dan Ross for a score. Little did the Breakers’ faithful in the Super Dome know that this would be the final New Orleans score of the day.
In the second half, Denver used a combination of zone defenses and ball control offense to keep the Breakers from producing long drives. While the strategy allowed the combo of Dupree and Hilliard to rack up 124 yards rushing, it kept the Breakers out of the endzone. Meanwhile, Denver, relying heavily on the rushing of Sydney and Smith, held the ball for 19 minutes of the 30 minute half, and with only 1:49 left in the game, Denver found the lead-shifting and game-winning score. After a long, time consuming drive, brought the ball to the New Orleans 3-yard line, Bob Gagliano faked the handoff to Sydney, rolled right and found TE David Stanley in the corner for the score.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
Blame it on a suddenly questionable Philadelphia defense, or just give Joe Cribbs all the credit, but his performance this week gave Birmingham what they needed to pull out a tough road win. Yes, he rushed for 203 yards on 24 carries (a healthy 8.5 yard average), and he had a 50 yard run early in the game that was a thing of beauty, but his key contribution was not a run, but a late 4th quarter TD catch that sealed the victory for the Stallions. Cribbs was, in this game, everything fans want to see from the elusive back. He was shifty, showed bursts of speed, picked his spots, and found gaps in the line where none seemed to be. Time and again he helped Birmingham avoid 3rd down by finding 6 or 7 yards on a 2nd and 5. His efficient running allowed the play action game to flourish, which allowed Cliff Stoudt to complete 74% of his passes on the day. We are all used to Joe Cribbs having at least one of these games every year, and we always hope he will have more, but to do so against last year’s top rated defense is a shocker, and may go a long way to explaining why Philadelphia now find themselves at an unfamiliar 0-3.
NEWS & NOTES
Many around the USFL are becoming growingly concerned that the league picked the wrong year to anger the NFL with the signing of Marty Schottenheimer by Baltimore during NFL camps. There is widespread anxiety that the NFL will retaliate by outbidding the spring league on free agent signings, and recent activity in which key USFL players and their agents have been open to NFL contacts even during the season might be an indication that this could be a very rough year for the resigning of veterans. If the NFL is able to negotiate futures contracts for players whose current USFL contracts expire in July, there could be a massive wave of movement towards the senior league. The USFL has seen this before, but this year’s crop of potential defections is both deep and heavy in top-name talent. Looking over the players who could be potentially lost, some USFL owners are already calling for an adjustment of the league’s salary cap and the capacity for cap-exempt roster spots, fearful that they will lose their biggest name players to the NFL. A quick look at the potential free agent list is enough to cause significant concern. The names listed here could sign with the NFL at any time.
ARZ: LB Brian Noble, C Kevin Carter
BAL: QB Vince Evans, QB Eric Kramer, WR Jackie Flowers, LB Sam Norris
BIR: DE Art Still, DE Bob Barber, QB Bob Lane
CHI: LB Clay Matthews, QB Steve Beurlein
DEN: HB Harry Sydney, LB Kurt Gouveia, DE Larry White, DT Laval Short, WR Mark Carrier
HOU: QB Jim Kelly, WR Ricky Sanders, DE Simon Fletcher, FS Donald Dykes
JAX: G Duval Love, HB George Adams, QB Chris Miller, WR Gary Clark, WR Hassan Jones
LA: QB Steve Young, HB Christian Okoye, SS Chuck Cecil, G Gary Zimmerman
MEM: DE Reggie White, TE Keith Jackson, QB Walter Lewis, T Bruce Wilkerson, HB Greg Boone
MGN: WR Anthony Carter, HN John Williams, C Dermotti Dawson, LB John Corker
NOR: HB Marcus Dupree, LB Marcus Marek, TE Dan Ross, SS Joe Restic, CB Terry Daniels
NJ: HB Herschel Walker, FB Keith Byars, TE Brent Jones, QB Doug Flutie, C Mike Baab
OAK: QB Jeff Kemp, HB Richard Williams, WR Henry Ellard, DE Kim Bokamper, LB Ken Harvey
ORL: QB Reggie Collier, HB Curtis Bledsoe, WR John Jefferson, FB Craig Hayward, SS Bill Bates
PHI: QB Chuck Fusina, HB Kelvin Bryant, T Will Wolford, C Blair Bush, DE William Fuller, WR Mike Quick, DT Jumpy Gaethers, CB Lorenzo Lynch, P Sean Landeta
PIT: HB Mike Rozier, QB Alan Risher, WR Danny Buggs, C Thomas Ponder
POR: WR Flipper Anderson, TE Clint Didier, LB Billy Ray Smith, DT Mike Golic
TBY: HB Gary Anderson, WR Eric Truvillion, WR Chris Collinsworth, DT William Perry, FS Roy Gee
TEX: QB Doug Williams, WR Carlos Carson, HB Stump Mitchell, DT Dave Butz, LB Brian Bosworth
WSH: QB Don Majkowski, HB Craig James, FB Barry Word, WR Joey Walters, WR Webster Slaughter, TE Mark Bavaro, DT Jerome Brown, DE Charles Haley
USFL General managers had better start putting ink to paper to get these stars signed or we could be in for a player exodus the likes of which the USFL has never experienced before.
INJURY REPORT
Even at this early stage of the season, key injuries within the same position can truly hurt a team’s chances for victory. Arizona, for example, is already down 2 cornerbacks as both Nate Odomes and Leonard Bell will be out. Chicago is in an even worse situation as both Doug Gamboa and Frank Winters are down, forcing them to play a tackle at center this week. Baltimore’s line will also be impacted as two guards, Newberry and David Richards, are out. New Orleans will not be able to utilize their usual rotation on the defensive line as both Daryl Wilkerson and Mike Wise are sidelined from the DE position. Philadelphia, who was already wondering about their new-look LB corps, has to be concerned that both Danny Lockett and Frank Stams are out this week. While losing an individual star hurts a team, losing depth at any position forces others to play out of position and can be a clear target for opposing teams.
LOOKING AHEAD
Week Four features Atlantic-Southern and Central-Pacific matchups once again, with some teams desperately in need of a win hoping to avoid a very bad first quarter of the season. 0-3 Orlando hosts the New Jersey Generals while 0-3 Philadelphia travels to Tampa to face the Bandits. 0-3 Portland has a real uphill climb as they host the 3-0 Michigan Panthers. The other 3-0 teams, Baltimore and Memphis, will do battle in the Liberty Bowl. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is at Birmingham, Washington travels to Jacksonville, Chicago is in LA, Oakland hosts the Houston Gamblers, New Orleans is in Tempe to face the Wranglers, and Texas heads to Denver to face the Gold.