MEM 20 OAK 30
The Invaders win their second in a row with Gale Gilbert at the helm as Richard Williams rushes for 135 and helps take the pressure off of the young QB. Gilbert was sacked 4 times but did not turn the ball over as Oakland got solid contributions across the defense to keep Mike Kelley and the Showboats in check.
JAX 28 LA 23
It took two scores in the 4th quarter, but the Bulls outlasted the Express on the strength of another 400 yard day for Tony Eason. Eason completed 22 of 26 passes, and although he was sacked 6 times, threw for 3 scores, including late TD passes to Lawyer Tillman and Steve Johson as the Bulls came back against a deflated Express club.
BIR 20 DEN 17
Another late flurry for the visitors as Birmingham got a late Brent Fullwood TD run and a game winning Scott Norwood field goal in the second half of the 4th quarter to upend the Gold. In Vince Evans’s first start as a member of the Gold, he threw the ball 42 times, completed 28 for 217 yards and a score, but it was not enough to secure the win for the homestanding Denver Gold.
ORL 52 POR 13
This one was over early and got ugly late as Orlando just laid the wood to the Thunder in Portland. Reggie Collier had two early TD passes to open the game, and finished with 4 on the day (with a 5th from Jordan in mop up duty) as the Renegades just overwhelmed the Portland defense. David Archer had an erratic day, and heard chants of “Bell, Bell, Bell” as the game wound down. With 3 losses in their last 4 games, we may soon see Kerwin Bell back in action for the Thunder.
PHI 10 NOR 34
New Orleans got an early pick-6 and two Robinson TD passes to build a 21-10 halftime lead and they never looked back. Robinson would finish the day with 3 TD passes and the Hilliard-Dupree duo combined for 134 yards on 25 carries as the Breakers thrilled the home crowd with a convincing win over the Stars. And it was not all offense, as the Breakers’ much-improved D picked off a pressing Chuck Fusina 4 times in the game to help secure the win.
NJ 17 MGN 10
A big win for the Generals and an absolutely huge game for rookie DE Phil Hansen, who was credited with 5 of the Generals’ record-setting 11 sacks of Jack Trudeau on the day. The Michigan QB was shell-shocked all game long as New Jersey sent blitzers from all corners. 7 different players ended the day with a sack, but it was Hansen who just harassed Trudeau all game long.
WSH 27 CHI 17
The Federals took advantage of the Philly loss, and secured a win in Chicago to move them into first place in the division. They ran roughshod over the Machine defense, with Barry Word and Kevin Harmon both rushing for over 100 yards each. The run game was so successful that Don Majkowski got a comfortable win despite completing only 11 passes on the day.
BAL 10 HOU 27
In a game that would prove to be Marty Schottenheimer’s last as coach of the Blitz, Baltimore again failied to mount a viable offensive attack against the Houston D. Jim Kelly threw for 2 scores and Houston recovered 2 of 3 Baltimore fumbles as the Blitz again bumbled their way to a 10th straight loss. After the game the news that Schottenheimer had been dismissed and that defensive coordinator Bill Cowher would take over as the interim head coach was announced by Baltimore ownership.
PIT 13 TEX 34
The Outlaws creaky and injury-riddled secondary allowed 337 yards passing to the Maulers, but were able to play a bend-but-don’t break style which kept Pittsburgh from scoring on several long drives. That, paired with a strong performance from Reggie Cobb helped a somewhat rusty Kelly Stouffer survive a mediocre outing and still walk away with a 20-point victory. Cobb rushed for 96 yards and 2 scores to help Texas garner and early lead and build on it throughout the game.
TAMPA BAY BANDITS 27
ARIZONA WRANGLERS 31
Arizona, desperate to get back in the win column, took advantage of 4 Tampa Bay turnovers to edge the Bandits in the final minutes as a furious comeback came to fruition for the Wranglers. In a game that Tampa at one point led by 13, Arizona would not go away, and late fumbles by Speedy Neal and kick returner Richard Fain helped the Wranglers regain momentum and the eventual game winning score.
Tampa looked very solid in the first half, with Troy Aikman hitting Willie Gillespie with an early TD, but the errors started to mount up in the second half. Tampa got another Aikman TD pass, this time to Collinsworth, but then on 3 of their next 5 possessions the Bandits turned the ball over. Arizona capitalized with a Trumaine Johnson TD, a Luckhurst FG and then a Terry Orr TD reception, pulling within 27-24 with just over 4 minutes left. It was then that a muffed return by Fain cost the Bandits as Arizona was able to recover the kickoff and start their final drive on the Tampa 30. It only took 5 plays for the Wranglers to cash in with the game-winning score, a 10 yard Bosco to Johnson pass that put them up by 4 with only 1:37 left to play.
Aikman and the Tampa offense got the ball back on their 20 after a fair catch, and with 1:37 to play they needed to go 80 yards, as a field goal would not help them. Aikman was efficient on offense, and with 25 seconds left they had the ball on the Arizona 12 yard line. Aikman spiked the ball to stop the clock on first down, then missed on a pass into the endzone to Collinsworth on second down. On third down he tried to find TE Ben Coates, but the ball sailed just out of reach for the hefty TE. So, with only 3 seconds left, and a 4th and 10, Aikman had one shot left. Arizona played a 3-deep zone, compressed with everyone at or behind the endzone line, and rushed 4, but DT Mike Lodish shed his block and put pressure on Aikman almost immediately. Aikman tried to tuck the ball back down, but it scuffed on Lodish’s arm and popped free. It would be recovered by the Bandits, but as it was 4th down, the ball was turned over on downs and the clock expired, leaving the Bandits only 12 yards away, but giving Arizona a much-needed confidence boost.
Arizona, now 4-6 in a somewhat weak Pacific Division still has dreams of a return to the playoffs, while Tampa, now at 5-5 is falling behind not only Orlando (8-2) but also Birmingham (6-4) and Jacksonville (6-4), putting their playoff hopes into critical condition.
As much as we love praising the year that Tony Eason has had this season, we have to look at what Phil Hansen did this week, and what he has been doing all year.
The rookie out of North Dakota has been a revelation for the Generals, and now, after a stunning 5-sack game against Michigan, leads the entire league with 17 sacks in only 10 games. With 6 games left he has a legitimate shot at surpassing Junior Ah-You’s league record of 22 sacks in a season.
Hansen has been a bright light in a pretty rough year for the Generals, and his performance has shifted the Generals’ entire defensive strategy. Coach Perkins is now calling blitzes at almost double the pace of the past few years, assuring that attempts to block Hansen with two men now lead to free blitzers. It is working as New Jersey, in large part due to their defense and the stunning first season of Hansen, have won their last 2 and may just be making another late season run for a Wild Card.
Week 10 always feels like a week or two too early to really say anything about the playoffs, but here we go anyway. Barring a disaster we think it is safe to say that Orlando (8-2), with a 2 game lead in their division is in prime position to take their first Southern Division Title. In the Atlantic it will almost certainly come down to Washington or Philadelphia, while in the Central there are 4 teams all vying for the title, though Texas has the upper hand with a 1 game lead over New Orleans and 2 games up on Houston and Michigan. The Pacific is again looking like the weakest division, with Oakland, thanks to 2 straight wins, now even with Portland at 6-4. In both conferences the battle for the three Wild Card berths will be vicious. We have at least 6 teams looking at those 3 spots in the East, and 5 teams realistically in the hunt in the West. With the remaining schedule overwhelmingly held within the divisions, a lot will shift week to week, but any team that can string together 3-4 wins in a row is sure to be looking pretty as we head towards the postseason.
As mentioned above, this week’s loss, the 10th in a row this season for Baltimore, was all that the ownership could take.
Despite all the fanfare and anticipation that came with the Blitz signing former Cleveland Browns head coach Marty Schottenheimer in the 1988 offseason, the tenure for Marty-Ball in Baltimore has been anything but successful. Schottenheimer’s teams won 6 games in 1989, 6 again in 1990, and have yet to win a game this year, ensuring the third straight 10-loss season for the Blitz. While admittedly Schottenheimer walked into a mediocre situation at best (7-9 and 8-8 in the two years prior to his arrival), Baltimore fans have been unimpressed with his moves, including the major role the Blitz played in the league’s historic 4-team trade just a few weeks ago.
While Vince Evans and Tim Spencer had been underperforming, most in the know felt that the talent received in return has also not panned out. There have been flashes from HB Barry Foster, but unfortunately for Schottenheimer, QB Bob Gagliano not only has been open with the media about his displeasure with being traded midseason, but succumbed to a season-ending injury after only a couple of weeks in the Charm City. Speculation is high that Gagliano may opt to retire rather than return to Baltimore.
The man now in charge of putting the pieces together and salvaging whatever can be salvaged of this season is Bill Cowher. A former player for the Eagles, Browns, and Eagles, Cowher was brought into Schottenheimer’s Cleveland staff as a special teams coach, before quickly rising to become the DB coach in 1987. When Schottenheimer took the job with the Blitz, Cowher came with him, and this year was named the Defensive Coordinator at the age of only 44. He now becomes one of the youngest head coaches in the league, although the title is only interim. How Baltimore plays over the next 6 weeks may determine if the steel-jawed Cowher can even receive an interview when the search for a permanent head coach replacement for Schottenheimer begins in the offseason.
The season appears to be over for promising rookie LB Godfrey Miles of the Pittsburgh Maulers. Miles suffered a partial ACL tear and is expected to need at least 2 months to fully recover. Another big hit is in Orlando, where DT Ike Readon will likely be out 2-3 weeks with a torn meniscus in his left knee. Oakland is likely to miss the “impronouncable” Muhammad Elowinibi for at least 2 weeks as the right tackle injured his hamstring trying to chase down a defender after a fumble. Finally, Tampa Bay will be without TE Chris Kelley for at least a week or two with turf toe. Kelley, who has seen his playing time diminish as Tampa has given more snaps to rookie Ben Coates, should be back for the final push in weeks 13-16.
Week 11 marks the last week in which all 20 USFL teams are playing out of division games. In it we see the Pacific teams traveling across the country to face the Atlantic Division’s five squads. The Southern Division also hosts the Central Division. This is a dangerous week for many teams as the temptation to look forward to weeks 12-16 when most teams have 3-4 division games could lead to a trap game, in which a weaker team spoils the game for the playoff-bound squad. Looking at the games, we do have some strong matchups as Portland is in Washington, Texas is in Tampa Bay to face a desperate Bandits squad, New Orleans travels (with perhaps 20,000 fans) to Birmingham, and Michigan faces Orlando. Other games include Oakland at winless Baltimore, LA at Pittsburgh, Arizona at Philadelphia, Denver at New Jersey, Chicago at Memphis, and Houston in Jacksonville.
Bill Cowher in Baltimore? Awesome!