NJ 42 BIR 31
Herschel Walker had three first half touchdowns as the Generals built a 21-0 halftime lead over the slumping Stallions, but a fierce 2nd half revival for Birmingham forced New Jersey to keep up the pressure. An incredible 4th quarter saw 6 Td’s scored in 15 minutes as both teams furiously fought to get the win. It ended when Kirby Jackson picked off a Brett Favre pass and ran it back 79 yards for a score, turning a 35-31 lead into the final 42-31 victory.
PHI 17 JAX 23
Timm Rosenbach’s 370 yards passing were barely enough to hold off the Philadelphia Stars as Jacksonville moved to 9-3 on the season. Browning Nagle found plenty of holes in the Bulls defense, completing 31 of 51 passes for 448 yards and 2 scores. He also got caught forcing the ball a few times, leading to three picks.
WSH 14 ORL 24
It was the Orlando defense that came up big against Mike Hohensee and the Federals. Bend but do not break was the motto as Orlando gave up 435 yards and lost the time of possession battle, but also allowed Washington only 14 points on the day. Craig Erickson struggled a bit, and the run game only produced 55 yards on the ground, but Orlando had enough for a 10-point win at home.
BAL 17 TBY 37
Don’t look now but the Bandits may be the hottest team in the league. Troy Aikman exploited the Blitz defense for 409 yards and three scores as both Eric Truvillion and TE Chris Kelley topped the 100 yard mark. The win moves Tampa to .500 and into the thick of the playoff hunt.
HOU 17 ARZ 20
The Wrangler defense continues to impress as they hold Houston to only 17 points despite a huge day from Thurman Thomas (95 yds rushing and another 82 in the air). Robbie Bosco threw for 327 against Houston’s D, and found rookie Courtney Hawkins for a decisive late TD to pull out a home win and stay atop the Pacific Division.
MGN 40 DEN 17
Jack Trudeau threw for 4 scores as Michigan simply demolished the unspirited Gold. Butch Rolle, who seems to only score TD’s, had two on the day and Derek Holloway added 122 yards receiving as the Panthers outgained Denver 409 to 282 despite making no attempt at all to balance out the pass with a rushing attack. Vince Workman had only 9 carries on the day as it was a full on aerial assault.
NOR 22 OAK 24
The Breakers fall again as Oakland got 106 yards rushing and a TD from rookie Siran Stacy. Gale Gilbert added two TD passes to boost the Invaders. New Orleans scored 13 points in the 4th quarter to pull back into contention, but it was not enough as Oakland burned down the clock and took the W.
TEX 37 POR 26
A big 4th quarter boosted Texas over Portland as Eric Metcalf caught a late TD to help Texas pull ahead of Portland with only 28 seconds left. The victory was ensured (much like in Birmingham) when a desperation pass from Kerwin Bell was picked off and run back for a score with no time left on the clock.
CHI 14 STL 24
The first game of the Chicago-St. Louis “rivalry” goes to the Knights as their defense stifles Chuck Long, earning 5 sacks and a pick six in the game. Dan McGwire found Rocket Ismael for a score as well as the Knights move to .500 and knock Chicago into the basement of the Central Division once again.
PITTSBURGH MAULERS 20 MEMPHIS SHOWBOATS 21
It may not have had the last second drama of some of the week’s other games, but when two of the best teams in the league battle, the game takes on an intensity all its own. In a game that saw Mike Rozier hobbled by an ankle injury and Greg Boone contained to only 47 yards on 23 carries (a 2 yards per carry average) it all came down to the quarterbacks.
Alan Risher completed a lot of passes, 20 of 25, but was also forced to scramble by the Memphis D-line. He was able to find both Raynard Brown and Mike Shaw for scores, but it was one fewer than he needed in this one. Meanwhile, Mike Kelley managed to avoid the Pittsburgh pass rush, completed 29 of 37 passes and threw for three scores, including a 4th quarter beauty to Robb Thomas to take the lead. It was Thomas’s second of the day as the defense was forced to attempt to double cover both Bobby Joe Edmunds (9 receptions) and TE Keith Jackson (5 receptions). Pittsburgh Free Safety Pat Terrell ended up leading the team with 11 tackles, which means that there were a lot of completed balls over the middle for him to contend with.
For Memphis, both Reggie White and Santana Dotson scored sacks of Risher, making them the best duo in the league with a combined 26 sacks on the year. Memphis also limited the Maulers to only 34 yards rushing, mostly due to the sporadic exits and re-entries of Rozier, who simply could not get his ankle set up right to minimize pain. Team doctors feel he will be ok to play next week, but simply could not get the ankle to cooperate this week. Backup Lydell Carr fared little better, rushing for only a 2.4 yard average.
The win lifts Memphis to 9-3 and puts them, along with Jacksonville, atop the conference and fighting for the #1 seed. Despite a second consecutive loss, Pittsburgh still holds a 1 game lead in the Atlantic and is still the favorite to win the division and get the much-coveted playoff bye.
This week’s outstanding performance was put in by Michigan QB Jack Trudeau. Trudeau has had little fanfare this season, and with Michigan hovering around the .500 mark all year, that is understandable. Still, after all these years, having trouble getting out of the shadow of 2-time USFL Champion Bobby Hebert, Trudeau has not been among the league leaders in any passing category. He has also been hindered by a less-than-stellar run game from the combination of Vince Workman and rookie Rodney Culver. But, this week, the Panthers tried something different against the Denver Gold. They all but forgot that rushing the ball was an option and let Trudeau throw early and often.
The result of the pass-first strategy was one of Truedeau’s best games, completing 22 of 35 passes, but averaging 11.3 yards per completion for a total of 397 yards on the day. He found 3 different receivers for 4 scores, including one to little-used wideout Jeff Campbell, one to Daron Carter and two to tight end Butch Rolle. Derek Holloway, Trudeau’s favorite target, caught 6 balls for a team-leading 122 yards, but did not find the endzone. His TD-scoring skills were not needed as the 4 Trudeau scores were more than enough to put away the Gold and help Michigan move back to .500 with 4 weeks left in the season. A final push by Trudeau and the Panthers could see them leapfrog others such as Houston or New Orleans as they seek a playoff berth.
Only 4 weeks left and nothing looks secure. Birmingham’s 2 game losing streak has dropped them from 5th to 7th in the playoff picture, while Tampa and Orlando have been steadily climbing. It looks like the Bulls and Showboats will be battling down to the final week to see who takes the Southern Division crown, and Pittsburgh, despite losing 2 in a row still has an advantage over Washington in the Atlantic.
In the Western Conference, it seems like no one really wants to pull away. We have 4 teams in the Pacific all within 1 game of each other, with Arizona currently the #1 seed at 7-5. In the Central it is much the same. Houston, at 7-5 is only ½ game ahead of Texas, with Michigan and a slumping New Orleans just 1 game back at 6-6. Any team (except Denver) in the conference can make noise if they can string together a 4-0 finish. Right now this conference, actually, the whole league, seems ripe for a logjam and some potential 8-8 teams making the playoffs.
Expect some QB changes this week. Baltimore coach Lindy Infante has already said that he is planning to give Eric Kramer a start to see what he can do. Denver too may switch things up and put veteran Vince Evans under center to see if he can spark a pretty moribund Gold offense. Chicago seems to have fared better under Scott Zolak than they are with Chuck Long back under center, but we are not sure they are ready to pull the plug on Long just yet. In New Orleans, desperation may force Coach Arnsparger to bench Matt Dunigan in favor of an untested Danny McManus just to try to get back on track after 3 straight losses. While we have very few teams that are completely out of playoff contention (Denver and Baltimore being two of them), we do have some desperation from teams that are seeing their position trend downward and their prospects slim, and that is when you tend to see these kind of changes happen.
Back to divisional play for Week 13, with a huge game in the Atlantic between Pittsburgh and Washington at RFK. A win by the Federals and they are back on top with Pittsburgh, looking at a possible division title. In the Southern Division the huge game is between the two 9-3 teams as Jacksonville heads to Memphis to face the Showboats. Don’t sleep on the other Southern showdown, though, as the Orlando @ Tampa game could also have huge playoff implications. In the Central, Chicago is home and sees New Orleans as ripe for defeat. A win would bring Chicago back up to .500 while another loss might be the end of the Breakers’ playoff hopes. Texas is facing Michigan in another game with a lot of playoff potential, with both teams trying to finish strong. In Portland, the Wranglers will try to solidify their hold on 1st place by knocking off the 6-6 Thunder, but Portland has a chance to get right into the division mix with a win. The same is true in Oakland, where the 7-5 Invaders host the 6-6 St. Louis Knights. In other games we have Philadelphia @ New Jersey in a rivalry game, Baltimore visits Houston, and Birmingham will try to get back in the win column against the Denver Gold at Mile High.
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