PHI 15 BAL 27
Chris Miller got the start and the Blitz got their first win in 2 months as they held off the Philadelphia Stars and a rusty Bob Gagliano to earn the W. Miller threw for 289 and a score and the combo of Derrick Fenner and Barry Foster combined for 86 yards rushing and a score as Baltimore outlasted the Stars for a home win despite a Vi Sikahema 108 yard kickoff return touchdown for Philly.
NJ 27 WSH 25
A big blow to Washington’s playoff hopes as the Generals upset them in RFK. Despite holding a clearly gimpy Herschel Walker to only 29 yards rushing, the Federals could not do enough to earn the win. Roger Ruzek kicked 6 field goals for the Generals as they built up a 27-18 lead and held on to win. Don Majkowski started, but was clearly still not 100% so Mike Hohensee finished the game for Washington but could not rally the Feds to a win.
MEM 28 BIR 34
A huge homestanding win for the Stallions to move to 8-6 as they knock off the division leading Showboats despite a record-breaking day for Greg Boone. Boone rushed for 167 yards and 3 scores, but Mike Kelley was picked off twice. Meanwhile, Brett Favre found Ernest Givens for 167 yards and 3 scores of his own, on his way to a 4-TD day and the win.
JAX 20 TBY 42
Tampa’s hot streak continued as they pulled away from Jacksonville, taking a 35-6 lead into the 4th quarter. Troy Aikman threw 5 TD’s on the day, despite being sacked 6 times by the Bulls defense. Eric Truvillion caught 2 of them along with 159 yards receiving. Timm Rosenbach got the start over a recovering Tony Eason but was unable to keep pace with Aikman and the Bandits.
CHI 28 HOU 35
A three TD day from Thurman Thomas (2 receiving, 1 rushing) and 4 TDs from Jim Kelly were too much for the Machine, who drop to 5-8-1 and out of playoff contention yet again. Chuck Long threw for 4 scores, mostly in desperation as Houston took the lead early and held it throughout. Thomas finished with 64 yards rushing on 15 carries and another 58 in the air on 4 receptions. Ricky Proehl also returned to action at 100% and caught 5 balls for 92 yards.
MGN 0 NOR 22
Michigan is shut out for the second time this season as the Breakers’ defense got to Jack Trudeau 6 times and limited the run game to only 51 total yards. That was enough for Danny McManus to get the win, with 2 TD passes and only 164 yards passing. Ericc Pegram had a good day subbing for a dinged up Marcus Dupree, as he rushed for 93 yards on 26 carries, and former NFL vet Reuben Mayes added another 42 in his best game of the year.
DEN 13 ARZ 23
Vince Evans left the game late in the 2nd, bringing Dave Krieg back to action, but neither QB was able to muster enough offense to keep up with the Wranglers. Arizona got 123 yards and a score from Trumaine Johnson, and added another TD from Bosco to TE Terry Orr as they knocked off the Gold and stayed atop the Pacific Division at 8-6.
OAK 20 POR 21
Portland needed every trick in the book to beat the Oakland Invaders, and nearly every second of regulation as well. Down 20-6 at the half, Portland got three field goals and a Robert Drummond TD in the second half to edge past the Invaders. They scored the final, game-winning points with only 29 seconds on the clock as Del Greco kicked his 5th field goal of the day to help the Thunder come back and get a needed win to move into a 3-way tie with Oakland and Arizona.
ORL 21 STL 3
Orlando’s defense came through again, keeping them alive in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt and all but eliminating St. Louis from postseason play. Dan McGwire had a rough day against Orlando’s front 4, getting sacked 7 times and tossing 2 interceptions under pressure. On the other side of the ball, Reggie Collier threw for 3 scores, including 2 to his favorite target, John Jefferson. That was enough to secure the win as the defense kept St. Louis from the endzone all day.
PITTSBURGH MAULERS 44 TEXAS OUTLAWS 38 OT
For the third straight week the Maulers are in our Game of the Week, this time an overtime thriller in San Marcos against the Outlaws. Mike Rozier had another MVP game, rushing for 140 and 2 scores, and Alan Risher threw for 3, including the game winner in overtime, as the Maulers win a shootout against the Outlaws.
Texas, for their part, had a great outing from Reggie Cobb, who gained 134 and added 3 touchdowns in the game. Eric Metcalf caught 5 balls for 92 yards and 2 scores as well as the Outlaws and Maulers fought to a draw at 38 points after 60 minutes. The two teams combined for 848 yards of offense, but committed a combined 7 turnovers in a game that was simply big play after big play.
In overtime, it was a long pass from Risher to Louis Lipps that set up the winning score, a short pass to TE Charles Arbuckle for the game’s final 6 points. Risher would finish the day with 373 yards, going 29 of 53, while his counterpart, Kelly Stouffer threw for only 172 and suffered 3 interceptions on the day. With the win, Pittsburgh regains sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division, while Texas slips to 3rd in the Central, behind Houston and New Orleans.
In a week dominated by huge rushing games, from Rozier, Boone, Cobb and others, we are still going to give the POTW to a QB, because when it comes to close games, and there were several this week, it was the QB’s who were called on to secure a W. Countering Greg Boone’s 167 yard, 3 TD day, was Brett Favre’s 371 yard, 4 TD day. Chuck Long threw for 387 and 4 TD’s, but lost to Jim Kelly’s 364 and 4 TD performance. And Portland’s Kerwin Bell through for 346, but relied on the foot of Al Del Greco to secure the win. But, we are going to give our POTW to another QB, Pittsburgh’s Alan Risher, who often does not get a lot of praise, seen as complimentary to HB Mike Rozier’s incredible season. Risher, in his own right, is having a great year. For the first time in his career he is very likely to end up among the Top 5 quarterbacks in the QB Rating (he currently sits at 4th. His 70.3% completion rate is among the league’s best. He has tossed 25 TD’s to only 10 interceptions, and while his 3,248 yards passing is well short of Favre’s 4,461, it is still among the league leaders.
In this week’s game, Risher was the perfect complement to Mike Rozier’s 140-yard day. He was efficient, completing over 73% of his throws, and he found the endzone when it mattered, with key 3rd downs completed and a final drive in overtime to win the game for the visiting Maulers. Risher may not get the accolades of a Kelly, Aikman, or Favre, but he is a huge piece of the puzzle as to why Pittsburgh has risen up the standings the past two years and become a potential #1 seed this year.
Aside from St. Louis, Michigan, and Chicago fading from playoff relevance, there was little to show for the 14th week of play. Pittsburgh regained sole possession of 1st place in the Atlantic. Houston and New Orleans improved their situation, and we now have a 3-way race for the Pacific title with only 2 games left to play. In the South, Memphis holds a 1 game lead over Jacksonville, but the team no one wants to face are the 8-6 Tampa Bay Bandits. Birmingham has gotten over their mid-season slump and has won two in a row, but Tampa’s 4 game win streak has made them a real player down the stretch.
With 2 weeks left on the schedule, it is still far too close to call pretty much in every division, and certainly for the final Wild Card spots as we have clusters of teams all within a game of each other and all very much with their destinies in their own hands. Go 2-0 and almost any of these teams would be guaranteed a playoff spot. Go 0-2 and you can kiss it goodbye.
Michigan will be finishing out the year without their rookie HB Rodney Culver, who tore his MCL this past week. Texas is in a similar boat with a knee injury to CB Najee Mustafaa. Orlando will be without CB Melvin Jenkins for at least the rest of the regular season and Houston will finish the regular season without it’s big free agency signing, LB Pat Swilling. For Pittsburgh the concern is for guard Leo Goeas, who has a wrist injury that will keep him out at least 1 week, but likely 2. Arizona tackle Kirk Lowdermilk may also miss the home stretch with a hamstring injury.
It seems weird to see this so late in the season, but Week 15 is a fully inter-conference week. All 5 Central teams are visiting the Atlantic Division while all 5 Pacific squads are in the South to face the Southern Division. Of the top-level matchups we have New Orleans at Pittsburgh, Texas at Washington, Arizona at Birmingham, Oakland at Memphis, and Portland at Orlando. In other playoff-impacting games, teams are hoping to avoid an upset as Tampa hosts St. Louis, Jacksonville hosts Denver, and Houston is in New Jersey. Rounding out the schedule we have Chicago at Baltimore and Michigan in Philadelphia.
Let's go BANDITS