BIR 22 BAL 14
Joe Cribbs rushed for 108 to pace the Stallions, who relied on the leg of Scott Norwood to earn a win in Baltimore. Norwood kicked 5 FG as Birmingham struggled in the redzone, but still had enough to defeat the Blitz. Baltimore went with Kramer over newly arrived Bob Gagliano, and he struggled to move the ball. Barry Foster got the start for the Blitz, and managed only 42 yards on 19 carries.
MEM 24 PHI 27
Backup Cary Conklin got the start for Memphis and the Showboats looked pretty solid, led by HB Greg Boone. Newly-arrived Tim Spencer did see some action, gaining 22 yards on 4 carries. For Philadelphia it was the usual story, Fusina was efficient, Kelvin Bryant rushed for 115 and 2 scores, and Mike Quick was the leading receiver.
ORL 24 PIT 14
Alan Risher returned under center, completing 60% of his throws for 143 yards, but Pittsburgh simply could not keep pace with Orlando as the combo of Fowler and Bledsoe rushed for 97 yards. Curvin Richards saw his first major action, rushing for a TD in the final minutes of the game to salt away the win for Orlando.
TBY 10 WSH 16
Troy Aikman was sacked 8 times as the return of Charles Haley to the Washington D-line made the squad even more deadly. Haley had 2 sacks, as did Manley and Jerome Brown as Washington simply did not let Aikman get settled in the pocket. The Feds’ D-line also squashed the debut of rookie HB Eric Bienemy, holding the quick-footed back to only 25 yards on the day.
ARZ 24 CHI 17
A big road win for the Wranglers to get them within 1 game of .500. Robbie Bosco had a strong game, completing 73% of his passes for 232 yards and 3 scores. Lionel James and Darryl Clack returned to 1990 form, combining for 153 yards. Chicago could not keep pace, despite 274 yards from Chuck Long. Rookie HB Ricky Watters only touched the ball 16 times and was simply unable to break the big play against the Wrangler LB group.
DEN 7 HOU 23
Denver started Billy Joe Tolliver and newly-acquired back Lars Tate, but to no avail. The Houston defense kept both the run game and Tolliver’s arm in check all game. Meanwhile, Thurman Thomas had a combined 134 rushing and receiving, and Brett Perriman hauled in 8 passes for 80 yards and a score as Houston improved their record to 4-3.
LA 9 MGN 17
Michigan’s D was again in fine form as they held LA out of the endzone all day. Vince Workman rushed for 80 yards and Trudeau found Holloway for 145 yards and a score as Michigan won the defensive matchup by keeping LA from the redzone. Despite the loss, it was a good day for LA’s Raphel Cherry, who had 8 tackles, a sack, 2 passes defended and a pick of Trudeau.
OAK 6 NOR 34
Gale Gilbert struggled in his return to the starting role, throwing 2 picks and suffering 4 sacks against a well-prepared Breakers squad. Oakland’s only points came on 3 safeties (1 intentional from New Orleans late in the game) as the Breaker D was dominant all day. On offense, New Orleans got a 3-TD day from Matt Robinson as Oakland focused on the run game. Dupree and Hilliard did not do much, but Robinson’s 3 scores were more than enough against a lifeless Oakland offense.
POR 10 TEX 34
The Outlaws were dominant at home against Portland as backup Glen Carano had a career day, throwing for 328 yards and 4 TDs against the overwhelmed Portland secondary. Reggie Cobb chipped in 102 on the ground, but it was 133 yards form Carlos Carson and 3 scores to TE Theo Young that put the Thunder away.
JACKSONVILLE BULLS 31
NEW JERSEY GENERALS 23
In a game featuring two of the league’s biggest QB controversies, both Chris Miller and Tony Eason made their case to retain the starting job. Miller was solid with 211 yards and a TD, but Eason was once again unstoppable, throwing for 409 and 4 scores and winning a third straight AP Offensive Player of the Week award. It seems absolutely unthinkable that Coach Galen Hall would go back to Timm Rosenbach at this point, with Eason gaining over 1,000 yards in his last 3 games.
Despite the outstanding game from Eason, the Generals were right there all day long, thanks in large part to 149 yards and 8.4 yards per carry from Herschel Walker. But, on three key drives the Generals had to settle for field goals instead of punching it in, and that, in the end, was the difference in this close game. For Jacksonville it was Eason to Blades all day, 8 connections for 195 yards and a score. Eason also found Weegie Thompson, Hassan Jones and TE Steve Johnson for scores as the Bulls moved their record to 4-3 with a third straight win.
Jacksonville wiped out an initial 0-3 deficit with two Eason TD passes in the first quarter and then traded scores with the Generals in the 2nd to take a 21-13 halftime lead. New Jersey responded in the third with another field goal to make it a 1-score game, but 10 points by Jacksonville to start the 4th, including a beautiful tiptoe catch by Weegie Thompson to put the Bulls up 31-16 was enough to keep the Generals down. The Bulls are still 2 games behind Orlando in the South, but their 4-1 run over the last 5 weeks, largely the product of Tony Eason’s play, have them right in the mix and one of the teams no one wants to face right now.
For the third straight week Tony Eason has won the Offensive Player of the Week award, and who can argue against it. Here are Eason’s boxscore stats over that period.
Week 5: 20/34, 406 Yds, 4 TD, 0 Int
Week 6: 14/20, 303 yds, 5 TD, 0 Int
Week 7: 14/26, 409 yds, 4 TD, 2 Int
Eason was 20 attempts short of qualifying for the QBR rankings, but he would be the league leader in QBR had he qualified. This run has been simply stunning, and while there are still critics who remember how hot and cold Eason has been in past years, particularly in New Orleans, there is no denying that he is the hottest player in the league. No way does he lose his job now to Timm Rosenbach. He is the new starter for the Bulls, and with results like this you cannot deny that he has earned it.
But let’s give some kudos as well to the outstanding receiving corps that Coach Hall has put around Eason. Brian Blades, coming off his first 1,000 yard season in 1990 (1,517 yards and 9 TD’s to be exact) is at the prime of his career and playing like an All-USFL stud. He already has 61 receptions for 750 yards and 7 TDs on the season, well on pace to break his records from last year. Hassan Jones has 44 receptions for 511 yards, with an outstanding 22.2 yards per reception average, and Weegie Thompson, who never seems to get much press, has hauled in 29 balls for 235, with an even gaudier 26.1 yards per reception average. This trio, combined with Jacksonville’s new dual-back run game (Morris and Wilder) has helped both Rosenbach and now Eason look good. Not to take away from what Tony Eason is doing, he is playing at an unbelievable level, but he is not doing it alone.
Can we talk league records for a moment? This season is proving to be one of amazing performances and potential record shattering stats. Aside from Tony Eason’s stunning run of 3 straight games with at least 4 TD’s, our eyes are on Carlos Carson, who is already over 1,000 and is the latest to apparently make a run at the seemingly impossible 2,000 yards receiving mark. Perhaps even more unexpectedly, it is a rookie, New Jersey’s Phil Hansen, who is on pace to reach Junior Ah You’s record of 22 sacks in a season. There is a long way to go and we have to expect Hansen to start seeing more double teams, but his 10 sack start over 7 games is truy eye-opening. Finally, Texas QB Kelly Stouffer’s current ranking of 125.3 is well above the record for QBR set by Bobby Hebert in his astounding 1984 season. If Stouffer can stay above 122.2 by season’s end, he will be the new standard bearer for QB excellence.
But, along with these challenges to the record book, we have to recognize that there are some records which look untouchable this year. With no back yet reaching 700 yards rushing by game 7 it is unlikely that Herschel Walker’s 1983 record of 1,767 yards is likely to fall. Even more secure is John Reaves record from 1984 of 44 TD passes, with no QB above 14 TD’s at week 7. And while the passing game this year has been dynamic, we are not holding our breath expecting anyone to touch the reception record of 143 set by Mel Gray in 1987 or the TD record of Eric Truvillion’s 25 in 1985.
A few big injuries to report this week. Pittsburgh saw Alan Risher return to action this week, only to see him fall again, this time with a broken leg suffered late in the game against Orlando. Risher will likely miss the rest of the season with the injury. Also out for the year is Portland receiver Hart Lee Dikes, after tearing his bicep muscle on the right arm. Chicago will be without Wessley Walls for the year after doctors confirmed the severity of his broken hip. Baltimore will miss FS Joe King for at least 6 weeks with a torn hamstring and Jacksonville’s secondary will be without FS Mark Carrier at least a month with a fracture in his left forearm. Expected back this week are QB’s Doug Flutie, David Archer, and Timm Rosenbach, though questions about whether any of them will get the starting nod over their impressive replacements are still very much in the air.
It’s conference play again in Week 8 with the two divisions in each conference matching up. You will not want to miss Philly at Orlando on Saturday night as both teams have been ripping through the league this year. The other biggie is a Sunday afternoon tilt between the 5-2 New Orleans Breakers and the surprising 5-2 Portland Thunder. We also have a lot of matchups between teams one game above or below the .500 line. It’s a battle of 4-3 clubs when Michigan faces Oakland out west. 4-3 Pittsburgh hopes to sneak past 3-4 Tampa Bay, and a couple of 3-4 teams are underdogs to reach .500 as Arizona hosts 5-2 Texas while Birmingham plays host to 5-2 Washington. In other action Baltimore will have a tough time getting their first win as they travel to play red hot Jacksonville in the Gator Bowl. New Jersey and Memphis battle in the Liberty Bowl, and Chicago hopes to even their record with a trip out to Mile High to face Denver.
The Generals have bigger problems than QB. Their defense is awful.