1991 Week 5 Recap: QB or Not QB? That is the Question.

BAL 9 PIT 23

Baltimore continues to struggle to find an offense and the Pittsburgh Maulers continue to show that they have what it takes to win games, on both sides of the ball. Alan Risher returns under center and completes 84% ofh his passes (21 of 25) to lead the Maulers to victory over a punchless Blitz squad. Mike Rozier chips in 114 yards and TE Mike Shaw scores twice as Pittsburgh moves to 4-1 on the year.

NJ 18 WSH 17

After falling behind 17-2, Chris Miller leads three late scoring drive to give the Generals a much needed win against the heavily-favored Federals. TD catches by Scott Schwedes and Derrick Walker punctuate the come from behind victory, while Chris Spielman picks off Majkowski twice and rookie sensation Phil Hansen garners another sack to take over the league lead.

BIR 10 ORL 34

Orlando finds its stride at home against a division rival as Reggie Collier throws for 320 and 3 TD’s against the Stallions. John Jefferson hauls in 108 yards and a score, and the Stallion D picks off Cliff Stoudt twice to pace Orlando to a comfortable win and sole possession of first place in the division.

JAX 36 TBY 33

The Bulls show up big for their rivalry game, thanks mostly to a superior game from backup Tony Eason. With Timm Rosenbach knocked out of the game after only 3 pass attempts, Eason came in and went 20 for 34 for 406 yards and 4 TD’s against an ill-prepared Tampa D. Brian Blades caught 6 for 104 and 2 scores, including the game winer with only 26 seconds left to play, as he proves a major weapon. Troy Aikman returning to action for the first time in 3 weeks, looked a bit rusty, though he did find Truvillion for 153 yards and 2 scores as Tampa thought they had the game won.

ARZ 16 DEN 10

Coach Walton has simply been unable to get anything from the Denver offense as they drop to 0-5. The defense plays well as they hold Arizona to only 9 points, but a 60-yard punt return by Vince Buck proves fatal for Denver as they lose by 6. The questions now begin to surface as to whether Walton will stick with veteran Bob Gagliano or try to add a spark by putting in young gunslinger Billy Joe Tolliver.

OAK 19 POR 16 OT

The Invaders knock off the previously unbeaten Thunder in overtime to take a share of first place. In a very even matchup, both clubs moved the ball well, with Oakland having the better ground game behind Richard Williams. The Invaders had a 16-3 lead at one point ,but Archer to Cris Carter closed the gap and an Al Del Greco field goal sent the game to overtime, where it was Kevin Shea’s 36-yarder sealed the deal for the Invaders.

CHI 16 HOU 21

Gamblers QB Jim Kelly had a strong day (3 TD to 1 Int) and Thurman Thomas added 90 yards rushing to power the home team to victory in a slugfest with Chicago. Ricky Proehl stepped up with 110 yards and 2 of the 3 Kelly TD tosses on the day. Chicago rookie Ricky Watters had a breakout game as well, averaging 6.5 yards per carry on his way to a 97-yard day.

MGN 13 PHI 40

A surprising result as the game simply got away from the Panthers early. It was 24-3 at the half, thanks to an INT return and two Fusina TD passes to his TE’s. Eric Green would finish the day with 97 yards and 2 scores, and Alex Higdon added a score of his own as Philly ran over and around a deflated Michigan squad.

LA 16 MEM 13

Coach Tobin benches an ineffective Mike Kelley in an effort to pull out a victory, but a late TD from McGwire to Eric Martin proves to be enough to keep the Showboats down. Neither offense looked good on the day, but LA’s defense was impressive, garnering 3 interceptions and keeping the Memphis run attack in check. CB Raphel Cherry made 11 tackles, helping on the run game and blanketing former Express wideout Jo-Jo Townsell.

New Orleans Breakers 20

Texas Outlaws 24

A huge win for the Outlaws as they come back from a 13-0 deficit in the 2nd to beat back the Breakers. Reggie Cobb scored all three TDs, including the game-winner as Texas outlasts the Breakers to take over first place in the tough Central Division. Cobb would finish the day with 91 yards on 19 carries, two rushing TD’s and a receiving TD, while QB Kelly Stouffer contributed 301 yards passing to outpace the Breakers.

New Orleans looked the better team in the first quarter as the combo of Hilliard and Dupree helped the Breakers get on the board three times, the biggie being a Michael Jackson TD catch on a playfake that pulled in the Texas safeties. Texas rebounded, and while they allowed the Breaker RB duo to rush for a combined 123 yards, they did not overreact to the run and held Matt Robinson in check for most of the game.

On offense, Texas used the short passing game and Reggie Cobb’s legs to score 17 unanswered points and steal the lead from the Breakers. They got good games from both Carlos Carson and Eric Metcalf, but it was Reggie Cobb and his 3-TD day that were the story. The only negative for the Outlaws was an injury to kicker Nick Mike-Myer in the 3rd quarter as he was caught in a pileup on a kickoff and left the field hobbling. Punter Kelly Salisbury had to come in for the final PAT to put Texas up by 4 instead of 3.

The win puts Texas atop the Central Division as they prepare for another big divisional game against Michigan next week. New Orleans falls a game behind at 3-2 and now gets ready for the second of their two straight Texas matchups as they face the 3-2 Houston Gamblers next week in the Astro Dome.

I feel like we have done this before, but we have to praise QB Tony Eason for his ability to come into a game cold and just take it over. In his long USFL career we have seen how Eason can come alive and simply overpower a defense, particularly if that defense has prepped to face a different QB, but we have also seen that Eason tends to be very erratic and can equally produce some horrible games. The fact that you never know which Tony Eason will show up on a given week is a challenge, but with Timm Rosenbach also showing signs of erratic play, and now listed as questionable for next week’s game against Arizona, there may be a shot for Eason to make a case that he should be the starter. He certainly proved that he can be effective this week against Tampa Bay. His stat line (20 of 34, 406 yards, 4 TD, 0 Int) is one any QB would be touting. He connected well with both Hassan Jones and Brian Blades, and demonstrated that he could shoulder the burden of a Bulls offense which still struggles to mount an effective run game. Tampa’s defense, though unprepared to face Eason, is not one of the league’s cupcakes, so the 400-yard day makes a strong argument for Eason. He will likely start this week against the Wranglers, and beyond that, who knows?

A troubling report out of LA for Express fans as unconfirmed accounts seem to indicate that Express owners Alan Harmon and Ted Fields are in serious negotiations with an ownership group out of St. Louis to sell the Express franchise and potentially relocate the team to the Gateway City. The St. Louis group, led by James Orthwein (a member of the Anheiser Busch family) seems to have set their sites on the Express as their best option to return pro football to their city. The Express ownership, while aggressive in the offseason to sign some big-name rookies in wideout Rocket Ismael and QB Dan McGwire, seem open to a sale that will likely net them a healthy profit, something that has been hard to come by in the tough LA market.

If the Express are sold, the question of relocation will have to come before the owners at the next league meetings, as loss of the LA market will have a significant impact on the league’s TV deals with ABC and ESPN. A similar situation occurred in 1985 with the relocation of the Chicago Blitz to Baltimore. In that instance the league made an arrangement to bring a team back to Chicago within 2 years to help stave off the loss of TV revenue. Questions over whether ABC/ESPN would be open to such an arrangement again are in the air, and, of course, for fans of the Express, the thought that they would be losing their franchise is not sitting well. Expect there to be a pretty vocal reaction to these rumors when the Express return home to Angel Stadium next week to face the Thunder.

As mentioned above, Texas will be in the market for a kicker as Nick Mike-Myer is expected to be out at least 4-6 weeks with a partial tear of his hamstring after getting caught up in a dogpile in the game against the Breakers. Texas also lost SS Kevin Porter in that game, likely for the season as a hard helmet to helmet hit produced much more than a concussion, with x-rays revealing a skull fracture. Porter is doing well, and is expected to make a full recovery, but the healing process for an injury like this is lengthy. New Jersey’s top TE Jeff Spek will likely miss a month of action after fracturing the radius in his right forearm, and Houston will have to be without All-USFL guard John Rienstra (out 1-2 weeks) after he dislocated his right elbow.

On the mend, but not ready to return are NJ quarterback Doug Flutie (doubtful), Philly CB Lorenzo Lynch (doubtful), Texas LB Garth Jax (questionable), and Jacksonville QB Timm Rosenbach (questionable). Expected back are PIT LB Erik Kumerow, Jacksonville guard Duval Love, and Denver HB Barry Foster.

Some good matchups in divisional play in Week 6. Washington gets a shot at 1st place again as they head to Pittsburgh. Tampa has the same shot as they travel to Orlando. It’s New Orleans and Houston, both at 3-2 and hoping to jump into the division lead, while Texas has a tough road matchup at Michigan. In interdivisional play we have Chicago at New Jersey and Arizona in Jacksonville. Other games include Oakland @ Denver, Portland @ LA, Memphis @ Birmingham, and the Stars at the winless Blitz.