WSH 10 POR 13
Al Del Greco was the hero as Portland upset the Federals with a 49 yard kick in overtime. Portland built a 10-0 lead at halftime thanks to a Cris Carter TD catch and solid defensive play. Washington fought back and tied the game at 10 with a Majkowski pass to Andrew Seymour in the 4th, sending the game to overtime, where Del Greco gave Portland their first win in 6 weeks.
BAL 19 OAK 38
Oakland got an offensive explosion against the Blitz as both Henry Ellard and Richard Williams scored twice for the Invaders. Williams finished the day with 105 yards on 23 carries, Ellard with 123 yards receiving. Oakland controlled the ball for nearly 39 minutes, holding the sputtering Blitz offense at bay and limiting Tim Spencer to only 50 yards rushing.
PIT 31 LA 17
Alan Risher tossed 3 touchdowns and Mike Rozier added another on the ground as Pittsburgh had their best offensive performance in weeks. Los Angeles could not keep pace as Tony Richardson and Darrell Thompson combined for only 71 yards rushing and Rodney Peete was held to 157 through the air.
PHI 17 ARZ 41
Arizona was shockingly effective against the Philadelphia defense, putting up 24 points in the first half and blowing past the Stars’ ability to catch up. Robbie Bosco went 22 for 32 for 259 and two scores, and the Wranglers got 2 touchdowns each from Lionel James and Darryl Clack as their halfback shuffle continues to prove effective.
NJ 19 DEN 6
New Jersey wins their third in a row as once again Doug Flutie shoulders the burden with Herschel Walker unable to play. Flutie passed for 202 and scrambled his way to 99 yards and a score against the Gold as he single handedly led New Jersey to another win. Denver could do nothing all day and was limited to 200 total yards of offense. Cody Carlson was picked off twice and while Barry Foster averaged 7.4 yards per carry he was limited to only 8 carries on the day as Denver simply could not convert third downs.
TBY 7 TEX 23
Texas shocked the Bandits with 3 early scores and limited opportunities for Troy Aikman all day. The Tampa run game was just awful, averaging less than 1.5 yards per carry on the day, while Kelly Stouffer threw the ball for 352 and 2 scores to lead the Outlaws. With the Texas win, both clubs now stand at 7-4.
BIR 27 NOR 34
A very entertaining game in New Orleans as the Breakers hold off Birmingham for the win. Joe Cribbs was in fine form on the day as he rushed for 138 and a score. Dalton Hilliard carried the load for New Orleans with Dupree dinged up, but the real heavyweight was Matt Robinson who completed 26 of 28 passing for 373 yards and 2 scores in a game that will almost certainly send him soaring in the QB ratings.
ORL 45 MGN 39
Two teams known for their shutdown defenses apparently forgot to pack their defensive fortitude as they combined for over 850 yards of offense and the highest scoring game of the year. Reggie Collier set a team record by throwing for 5 touchdowns on the day, including 3 to halfback Curtis Bledsoe, while Michigan got scores from Stanford Jennings, Vince Workman, Daron Carter and Danny Knight as they tried to keep pace.
JAX 13 HOU 35
With Tony Eason injured midway thorugh the game, Jacksonville’s win streak ends at 2, while Houstons reaches 4 games with a convincing win at the Astro Dome. Jim Kelly went 15 for 22 on the day, throwing for 3 TD’s as Thurman Thomas added 75 yards and a score to his rushing totals for the year.
Memphis Showboats 24 Chicago Machine 31
Chicago knocks off the Showboats thanks to a combination of power running and efficient passing as Chuck Long completes 76% of his throws and the Jaime Morris/Albert Bentley combo rushes for 132 yards and 2 scores. It was a good game for both offenses as Memphis put up 372 total yards and Chicago 396.
Memphis struck first with a Kelley TD pass to TE Keith Jackson. Chicago responded with a Reggie Langhorne catch for 6, one of 4 scores in a back and forth second quarter. Memphis went back on top as Robb Thomas caught the second of Mike Kelley’s 3 touchdowns on the day. Chicago, answered right back with a long drive capped by an Albert Bentley TD run from the 3. After a rare 3-and-out by Memphis, Chicago got their first lead of the day on a Michael Haynes TD. Chicago would lead by 7 at the half.
In the second half, Chicago built on that lead with a John Carney fieldgoal. Memphis closed the gap only minutes later as Mel Gray caught Mike Kelley’s third TD pass. They tied the game early in the 4th with a hooking FG that went from the right upright across to the left before barely grazing the inside and going through. But, with almost 7 minutes left on the clock, Chicago had time to break the tie. They failed on their first attempt, with their drive ending at the Memphis 48. But, Memphis too could not capitalize, and they were forced to punt to Chicago with 3 minutes left in the game.
Chicago would use this last drive to give themselves the win. Moving the ball efficiently, aided by two of Memphis’s 9 penalties on the day, the Machine found themselves on the goal line with almost 2 minutes left to play. Jamie Morris took the 1st and goal handoff and dove over the right guard and in for the 31-24 lead, but with 1:44 left on the clock, Memphis would have one last attempt to even up the score.
After a poor kick return gave Memphis the ball on their own 13, Mike Kelley tried to rally the troops. A Chicago facemask penalty gave them the ball on the 37. Kelley hit Gray for 9, then Thomas for 8. They were at the Chicago 44 but Kelley’s next 3 passes only gained 7 yards, leaving a 4th and 3. Kelly tried to hit Gray on 4th down, but he was double covered and the ball never reached his hands. Memphis turned the ball over on downs and Chicago happily finished out the clock in the victory formation. The win moves Chicago to 5-6 and very much in the Wild Card chase in the Western Conference. For Memphis, the loss, paired with the Tampa loss and Orlando win means that the Southern Division now has three co-leaders, each at 7-4.
Last week we gave the POTW award to Orlando free safety Tim McDonald, and it appears that QB Reggie Collier got jealous because he put up a performance against Michigan this week that we could not ignore. Collier completed 20 of his 31 passes for 359 yards, but he also threw five touchdowns, a first for an Orlando QB (which has pretty much been him since 1987). With the performance he cracks the 3,000 yard mark after only 11 games. He also leads the league with 28 touchdowns on the season. Collier is now solidly the frontrunner for the MVP award with Texas’s Kelly Stouffer being his main competition as the two are 1-2 in nearly every passing category and both have led their clubs to 7-4 records and very good positioning for the playoffs.
This is certainly not Collier’s first flirtation with top ratings, as he has thrown for over 3,000 yards every season since 1984 (as a Federal), but with 5 games still on the schedule, Collier could hit the elusive 4,000 yard mark and has already broken his personal best for touchdown passes, which had stood at 26 (1986). The Southern Mississippi product has been consistent throughout his career, but this year everything appears to be clicking and it appears that Collier is on a path to both major end of year awards and potentially a deep playoff run.
Last week we gave the POTW award to Orlando free safety Tim McDonald, and it appears that QB Reggie Collier got jealous because he put up a performance against Michigan this week that we could not ignore. Collier completed 20 of his 31 passes for 359 yards, but he also threw five touchdowns, a first for an Orlando QB (which has pretty much been him since 1987). With the performance he cracks the 3,000 yard mark after only 11 games. He also leads the league with 28 touchdowns on the season. Collier is now solidly the frontrunner for the MVP award with Texas’s Kelly Stouffer being his main competition as the two are 1-2 in nearly every passing category and both have led their clubs to 7-4 records and very good positioning for the playoffs.
This is certainly not Collier’s first flirtation with top ratings, as he has thrown for over 3,000 yards every season since 1984 (as a Federal), but with 5 games still on the schedule, Collier could hit the elusive 4,000 yard mark and has already broken his personal best for touchdown passes, which had stood at 26 (1986). The Southern Mississippi product has been consistent throughout his career, but this year everything appears to be clicking and it appears that Collier is on a path to both major end of year awards and potentially a deep playoff run.
Wins by Orlando and Texas this week put them right in the thick of playoff and possibly division title hunts. Orlando now shares the top spot in the Southern Division with Memphis and Tampa Bay, but their 2-2 record in division keeps them as 3rd in that group. Texas is now even with Michigan for 2nd in the Central but trails New Orleans by 2 games with 5 to play. Arizona also looks to have established themselves in the Pacific, now with a 2 game lead over Oakland, while Washington is now a game up on Philadelphia and 2 ahead of both Pittsburgh and the hard-charging New Jersey Generals.
Right now we would say that Jacksonville, LA, and Denver are out of any realistic hunt, that Portland and Baltimore need to get on a win streak to have any hope of sneaking into contention, and that the mass of 5-6 teams, including New Jersey (3 game streak) and Houston (4 game streak) need to keep stringing together wins if they want to jump above .500 and into the hunt.
Jacksonville cannot catch a break. With Chris Miller still at least a week or two away from being able to play, the Bulls got word this week that the injury to Tony Eason is a bad one, a torn quad, and that he is lost for the remainder of the season. That leaves only journeyman Sam Garcia at QB for the Bulls. They rushed out and signed veterans Craig Penrose and Tim Koegel, but we don’t expect the already bad Bulls season to start looking any better with either of these recent signees under center.
The other big injury this week was to Memphis HB Buford Jordan. Jordan is considered day to day with a nerve issue in his back that could prove problematic. He is listed as doubtful only because team doctors are simply unsure if this is a form of “stinger” that will dissipate in a few days with careful treatment or if this could indicate an issue that will require considerably more time to treat and heal.
Week 12 includes several key divisional matchups as well as one really interesting inter-divisional game. We start with Arizona traveling to New Jersey for inter-divisional play. The Wranglers have a 2 game lead in the West, but the Generals have won 3 straight and can reach the once unimaginable .500 plateau with a 4th. Herschel Walker is expected to be back, so this could be a tight one. The other divisional game is 5-6 Chicago at 2-9 Jacksonville, who may start Craig Penrose at QB with only a few days to learn the playbook.
In the Pacific both Portland and Oakland are hoping that they can stay in the playoff hunt as they travel to Denver and LA respectively. Two of the best matchups of the week are in the Central Division, where we have a battle for 2nd place between the 7-4 Panthers and 7-4 Outlaws, while New Orleans may get more than they can handle from a Houston Gambler squad that has won 4 straight.
In the Southern Division it is the Battle of Florida with Tampa Bay at Orlando facing off in the Citrus Bowl. Memphis and Birmingham are also clashing in Legion Field with a lot on the line. In the east it is Washington at Pittsburgh and Philly at Baltimore in two games that could go a long way in determining if this is the Federals’ division to lose, or if Philadelphia will catch up to the Feds and make it a two horse race.
Yes me as well, really well done and a great addition!
Liking the new presentations to the site