By the midpoint of the season most observers feel they have a good sense of which teams are strong, which are weak, which are lucky and which are dangerous, but every once in a while the "any given Sunday" nature of football shows up to remind us that nothing is settled until it is settled on the field. With the Bulls earning their first win of they year, and in convincing fashion, while teams like New Jersey, LA, Pittsburgh and Houston show us that no game is a lock and no team is a sure winner or loser in the USFL.
SCORES
BAL 3 NJ 17
New Jersey’s defense had its best game of the year, holding the Blitz in check as backup Eric Kramer subbed for an ailing Vince Evans. Doug Flutie tossed two scores, one to Walker and one to TE Pat Kelly, as the Generals won their 3rd game of the year. Baltimore got a big day from DT Joe Klecko (4 TFL) but the offense simply was not able to get traction.
PHI 14 PIT 22
Philly was forced to play without their top 2 quarterbacks as Chuck Fusina had an eye infection and Anthony Dilweg tweaked his throwing shoulder in practice just 3 days before the game. 3rd stringer Mike Perez did what he could (tossing 2 TD’s and throwing for 208 yards) but it was not enough against Alan Risher and the Maulers, who scored 10 in the final period to take the home win in the Keystone State Clash.
BIR 18 JAX 31
Jacksonville did in week 9 what they could not in the first 8 weeks, win a game. It all went their way on the day as the defense held Birmingham to 290 total yards while the offense racked up 407, their best performance by far this season. Tony Eason had one of those rare games where he is hitting on all cylinders, throwing for 376 yards and 4 touchdowns on the day. With Joe Cribbs back but clearly not yet in full form, the Stallions’ offense sputtered as they tried to play catchup against the inspired Bulls.
MEM 21 ORL 24
A big divisional win for the Renegades as Reggie Collier led Orlando to a home win over the division-leading Showboats. Collier tossed 3 touchdowns, including a 75 yarder to Nathan Bruce in the 4th to give them the winning score. Memphis kept it close, thanks to Mike Kelley’s 315 yards passing, but could not overcome a 24-13 deficit with only minutes to play in the 4th.
CHI 22 TEX 28
In a battle of 4-4 teams the advantage went to the homestanding Outlaws. Both QB’s had strong days, combining for over 550 yards on the day, but Texas got big plays from wideouts Carlos Carson and Eric Metcalf to take the win.
MGN 16 NOR 11
In the Sunday night headline game, the Panthers edged the Breakers on the strength of their defense, a squad which held the Breakers’ potent offense to only 261 total yards. The Panther secondary got 3 picks of Matt Robinson, including 2 from CB John Bostic, the new interception leader in the league. John Williams contributed 103 yards and backup Stanford Jennings scored the key TD in the 3rd quarter to give Michigan the win.
LA 19 OAK 10
The Express got their third win thanks to the right foot of kicker Scott Olivera, whose 4 field goals helped LA edge the Invaders. As usual it was the LA defense which had to take on the lion’s share of the work as QB Rodney Peete again struggled to find the endzone. The D came through, holding Richard Williams to only 71 yards rushing and picking off Gale Gilbert twice.
ARZ 35 POR 19
Arizona QB Robbie Bosco had a career day, throwing for 339 yards and 5 TD’s to upend the Thunder in Civic Stadium. Bosco found #1 wideout Trumaine Johnson for 3 scores and the Wrangler D added two interceptions of Kerwin Bell to keep the game well in hand for Arizona. The running combo of Clack and James also added 139 yards rushing to help Arizona hold their lead.
TBY 24 DEN 9
Tampa took advantage of Denver’s offensive woes and built a 21-6 lead that they would hold for the win. Neither team had strong offensive numbers, but Cody Carlson’s 33% completion rate meant a lot of failed 3rd downs for the Gold, and that tired the defense as well. Aikman was picked off 3 times but also threw 2 touchdowns to secure the win for the Bandits.
GAME OF THE WEEK
Washington Federals 27
Houston Gamblers 31
Houston’s offense finally found some continuity and the defense did just enough to help the Gamblers to their 3rd win of the year. The Gamblers shifted their receiving corps around, moving Ricky Proehl outside and putting Clarence Verdin in the slot, and this simple shift caught the Federals off-guard, mixing up their coverages. The result was Ricky Proehl having a season best 6 receptions for 117 yards. Jim Kelly also benefitted from the shift, completing nearly 80% of his throws for 350 yards and 4 scores.
Washington had some offensive success as well, with Don Majkowski throwing for 302 and 3 scores. The game was back and forth throughout with Houston getting on the board first on a Kelly to Verdin toss. Washington then scored 13 points over 3 drives, but just before the halftime whistle Kelly hit Ernie Jones and Houston took a 14-13 lead into the half.
The 3rd quarter saw little scoring as the only points put up were from Houston kicker Dave Jacobs, adding 3 to give Houston a 17-13 lead. That lead was wiped out early in the 4th when Majkowski hit rookie Kerry Simien on a short pass for 6. Up 20-17, Washington watched as Kelly found Keith McKeller for another score, and Houston was back on top 24-20. The Feds responded in the back and forth 4th quarter, with Majkowski finding little used TE Anthony Seymour for a two yard score on 2nd and goal.
Not to be outdone, the Gamblers mounted a 3-minute final drive to retake the lead. When Kelly found backup wide receiver Reggie Thornton for the game’s final score, a sense of relief, rather than elation, took hold over the Houston crowd. At 3-6 Houston is not entirely out of a late playoff run, but they will need to string together more wins to have a shot at catching up to the competition in the tough Central Division. Washington, thanks to the Philly loss, retains a share of first place despite the loss.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
There were a lot of very strong QB performances this week, including a 5-TD day from Robbie Bosco and a 4-TD day for Jim Kelly, but we are going to highlight the first win of the year for the Jacksonville Bulls and give the award to QB Tony Eason. We know the script on this one. Eason, in several years starting for the Breakers, became famous for wild fluctuations between unstoppable play and unwatchable play. In Jacksonville he had accepted a backup role to Chris Miller, but when Miller went down earlier this season, it was a chance for Eason to show that he could be more consistent. In 5 starts this year he did not show much, tossing only 1 TD in his first 4 games before exploding this week vs. Birmingham. He had managed to avoid costly turnovers (Eason has only thrown 1 INT in the 5 games he started) but he had also not been able to move the Bulls into a position to win. That changed this week when Eason had his best game in several years. It may not be enough to hold onto the starting job once Chris Miller comes back (which could be as soon as next week) but it at least demonstrated that when he is on, Tony Eason can still play this game.
NEWS & NOTES
Both Russell Athletic and Champion Sports revealed this week which teams would be getting identity and uniform changes this offseason. RA will be updating the look of the Oakland Invaders, and while they are not expected to alter the very popular Air Force inspired logo, expect them to make some adjustments across the entire uniform. Champion will update two teams, the New Orleans Breakers and the Arizona Wranglers. We certainly hope that neither remodel includes changes to the helmets, which are both iconic for their uniqueness, whether it is the rolling waves across New Orleans’s helmets or the metallic copper sheen of the Wranglers.
As each uniform provider tries to add interest by updating team looks the bigger picture still remains the potential for a league-wide uniform provider. Portland owner Phil Knight and his Nike brand have been making a push for such a deal, and of course with Nike expected to make a strong bid to be that provider. Until now the league has been happy to allow each franchise sign on with the uniform provider of their choice, there is some momentum for these kinds of decisions to be made at the league level, particularly due to the inclusion of non-stadium apparel and merchandise sales to the collective revenue sharing deal (in-stadium sales remain with each team). It would make sense for the USFL to seek a single supplier, thus making it possible to coordinate wholesale contracts with national chains such as Sears, Macy’s or K-Mart. Currently it is nearly impossible to acquire team gear outside of a team’s market. For fans of the Panthers who live in Texas or Stars faithful in Seattle, a national merchandise market combined with a single uniform and replica jersey provider may be just the ticket.
INJURY REPORT
A couple of tough season-ending injuries this week as Houston will miss FS Lawrence Brazil with a torn biceps and Arizona’s D-line will have to finish out the season a man short as DE Al Noga tore his posterior cruciate ligament. Some good news this week, however, as several key players are expected to return to action, including Portland’s David Archer, Philadelphia’s Jumpy Geathers, Houston LB Johnny Holland, LA wideout Emile Harry, and Texas CB Najee Mustafaa.
LOOKING AHEAD
A rare fully inter-conference week as the South hosts the Pacific and the East hosts the Central in Week 10. Of the matchups, our favorites pit the Wranglers and Bandits, both 6-3, and the Breakers against the Stars. The Chicago-Washington and Texas-Pittsburgh games should also be entertaining as all 4 teams want to string together some wins. Michigan has a good matchup in New Jersey, while Oakland hopes to rebound from a tough loss as they head to Memphis. Portland is at Orlando in the longest roadtrip of the week, while Denver and Birmingham face off in Legion Field, both desperate for a win if they want to return to relevance this season. Finally LA is in Jacksonville as the Bulls eye a possible 2nd win against the offensively challenged Express.
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