It was a comeback for the ages, a battle between two division rivals that came down to the final seconds, and a stunning defeat for the division-leading Washington Federals. The Feds enjoyed a 31-10 lead with 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter, but watched, seemingly unable to respond, as it was wiped away in the game’s final 25 minutes.
Washington had looked the better team from the opening kickoff, scoring 17 unanswered to open the game. After an early drive led to a Ray Wersching FG, the Feds added a Duane Gunn TD reception and then opened the 2nd with Terry Kirby running the ball in from the 1 to go up 17-0. Pittsburgh got on the scoreboard with a Septien field goal, and a well-thrown corner route pulled them back to within 7, as Raynard Brown scored with 7 minutes left in the half. But, when Washington finished the 2nd quarter out with Kirby’s second TD run, and then opened the 3rd with a long drive ending in a Barry Word TD run, Washington was up by 21, and one had to believe they had the win well in hand.
But, Pittsburgh was not ready to give up just yet. Following the Word score, Pittsburgh had a drive of their own, and Risher found TE Mike Shaw up the middle for a big 28-yard reception and score to again pull themselves back into the game. That comeback got a huge break when Don Majkowski threw a poorly timed ball that trailed behind his receiver. MLB Erik Kumerow was there to snag the errant throw, and with a lot of help from his fellow defenders, got a caravan to the endzone. Now Pittsburgh was only down by 7, 24-31.
The 4th quarter opened with a long Washington drive, but a big play on 3rd and 2 by rookie Demetrius DuBose left Washington with a 4th and 4 on the 38, and rather than go for the long kick into the swirling winds of RFK they punted. Pittsburgh responded with a 54-yard drive, culminating in a Rafael Septien kick to pull back to 31-27. After a solid defensive stand by the Maulers stymied the Federals, Pittsburgh was back in business, with the clock winding down, but plenty of time for a game-winning drive. The Maulers methodically moved the ball against a tired Washington defense, one which had only been able to reach Risher once all day. When the elusive Mauler QB found Mike Pritchard in the endzone, the score had flipped, and the comeback was complete.
Risher finished the game 20 of 26 for 257 and 3 huge touchdowns. Raynard Brown went over 100 yards, and three different receivers had scores. For Washington, Don Majkowski’s 334 yards passing were not enough, and with Kirby and Word only combining for 54 yards rushing, the Feds simply did not have the ability to run out the clock, giving Pittsburgh the possessions they needed to mount this epic comeback.
NJ 31 PHI 13
The other Atlantic showdown was not nearly as dramatic, despite the game time announcement that HB Herschel Walker would be sidelined after violating team policies the day before. Largely ignored backup Amp Lee got the start, and finished the game with an impressive 93 yards on 19 carries. Doug Flutie also had a productive day with 2 scoring tosses and 181 yards passing. The New Jersey defense also played a huge roll in the game, picking off Chuck Long 3 times to squash Philly’s hopes for a home win.
JAX 28 MEM 20
In a battle of backups, Jacksonville’s Mike Shula outgunned Memphis’s Shawn Moore, despite being sacked 6 times by the ferocious Memphis pass rush. Shula got help from HB Vince Workman, whose 82 yards rushing helped balance the Bulls attack. Shula was able to get the ball to his wideouts as well, with both Blades and Robb Thomas going over 100 yards in this key win for the Bulls.
ORL 9 TBY 13
Tampa Bay got the W in a battle of disappointing Florida teams. Surprisingly it was the often-problematic Tampa D that got the job done. Reggie Collier was sacked 5 times, including twice by LB Bobby Houston, and was held without a TD pass. Troy Aikman did not fare much better, but his one solid deep ball to Eric Truvilliion was enough to give Tampa their second win this year.
HOU 23 MGN 26
Call it pride, or call it a trap game, but Michigan got the upset at home against a lackadaisical Houston squad. The Panther D picked off Jim Kelly twice and held Thurman Thomas to only 3.4 yards per carry (57 total yards) to help Michigan get the win. Rodney Culver had exactly 100 yards and a score, and Alfred Jenkins added 40 and a score as well as the Panthers ran the ball well against the usually stout Gambler LB’s.
NOR 6 TEX 20
With McManus back at QB, New Orleans did not show much on either side of the ball, falling behind 17-0 at the half and mounting very little in the second half. While Texas was hardly explosive, Eric Metcalf did finish the game with 74 yards receiving and 2 scores as the Outlaws moved their record to 6-4 and solidly in the playoff hunt.
OAK 6 DEN 17
Oakland’s fate seems to have been sealed when Bobby Hebert was ruled out. That left the Invaders with Mike Pawlawski at QB, and he struggled to a dismal 38% pass completion rate as the Invader offense simply could not put a drive together. Denver got a decent day from Dave Krieg, with 2 scoring plays, one each to Carrier and Odessa Turner. Natrone Means added 62 yards on 14 carries, and the Gold got another home win to even their record at 5-5.
STL 21 POR 35
A 28-point explosion in the first half, one which included Pick-6 returns from both LB Cedric Figaro and S Vencie Glenn, was all the Thunder needed to return to .500 and put away the Knights. David Archer tried to recover with 2 TD’s, and Darrell Thompson gained 107 on the day, but it was not enough to pull the Knights back into a game that was lost after 15 minutes of play.
ARZ 13 BAL 11
Arizona flew across the country and found themselves in a slugfest with the 4-5 Blitz. It was not pretty, but the Wranglers pulled out the win, thanks to a late Trumaine Johnson TD (with failed PAT) and Arizona moved to 8-2 on the year. Scott Mitchell got mixed reviews in his first week as the starter for Arizona, throwing for 212 yards and 2 scores, but also giving up the ball twice with interceptions.
CHI 23 BIR 48
Another 4-TD day for Brett Favre was enough to put away the Machine. Favre also threw 3 picks in a spotty game, but was bailed out by his defense and by HB James Joseph, who outgained starter Brent Fullwood and also scored a TD as part of his 78 yard rushing day. Once again Birmingham had multiple players over 100 yards receiving, this time TE Shannon Sharpe, and both Lawrence Dawsey and Ernest Givens.
We are going to give this week’s award to the hogs in the trenches for the Pittsburgh Maulers. This offseason Pittsburgh lost two key starters on their offensive line, but they don’t seem to be missing them as the Maulers were able to keep QB Alan Risher’s shirt clean all day. The starting line of LT Lance Smith, LG Rod Milstead, C David Houle, RG Steve Kenney, and RT Peter Johnson worked well all day, and got help from subs Leo Goeas at guard and Scott Jones at tackle. While Washington was effective at slowing down Mike Rozier, the lack of an effective pass rush by one of the league’s best front four meant that Risher had time to find receivers open and make chunk plays on key 3rd downs in the Pittsburgh comeback win.
Our first peek at the playoff picture reveals a bit of distance at the top and a lot of teams looking at Wild Cards. Birmingham has a 2 game lead in their division and 3 games on the best of the Atlantic for the #1 seed. Arizona’s divisional lead is now 3 games, and they have a 1 game lead over Houston for the #1 seed as well. Pittsburgh and Washington are tied atop the Atlantic, but have to worry about three potential late risers in Philly, Baltimore and New Jersey in the division. Houston is now only 1 game up on both Texas and Chicago, so they too need to be wary and avoid more trap games such as the one in Michigan this week. In the Pacific it is unlikely that Denver, Portland, and Oakland can all make the playoffs, so the divisional games will be key as we may see only one of these teams qualify for the postseason.
Break out the sweet tea, shrimp & grits, and get the pecan pie ready, Atlanta is getting spring football. The capital of the “New South” was announced as the USFL’s 22nd team this week. The franchise will play its games at Bobby Dodd Stadium in the heart of the city for the 1995 season, promising some hot and humid summer days for football fans in the Peach State. Lead owner William Shivers Morris and his group of local investors say they are ready to get down to business, and will begin looking to hire a head coach during the 1993-1994 offseason, a full year prior to having a team to coach.
Shivers Morris emphasized that having a coaching staff in place for the expansion draft and roster-building phase will be crucial. While he would not reveal what it was, Shivers Morris suggested that a team name had already been selected and that it, along with the team’s logo, would be revealed in the next few weeks, as soon as the USFL Properties Division had time to review their proposal and finalize the designs. With the Olympics coming to Atlanta in the summer of 1994, and then the USFL in 1995, things are sure getting very sporty in the south, and the USFL clearly has Georgia on their mind.
The league also confirmed what most had come to expect, that the remaining 5 bidding cities (Boston, Columbus, Dallas, Miami, and Seattle) were not out of the picture. The league announced that the 1995 expansion class would be 4 teams strong, stating that more time was needed to complete the due diligence needed to select the remaining 2 expansion cities and ownership groups. With Los Angeles already selected and surely playing in the Western Conference, and now Atlanta entering the Eastern Conference, the final two cities may also split the two conferences, pitting Seattle against Dallas for one spot, and Miami, Columbus, and Boston competing for the other.
Another week, another shuffle of rosters due to injury. This week we saw some defensive hits as DT Jim Wahler is out for the season with a broken leg. Likewise, Texas will be without LB Garth Jax after he suffered a ruptured Achilles in play this week. Portland G Dean Steinkuhler could miss a month or more with a hand injury, and Arizona is now down two starters in their secondary as FS Martin Bayless is out with a pulled hamstring and CB Issaic Holt will miss this week as he is still suffering some after effects from a hit to the head this past week. On the positive side both Chicago QB Bernie Kosar and Orlando backup Craig Erickson should be suiting up this week.
We remain in division with some good matchups this week. New Jersey and Baltimore, both sitting at 4-6, will be trying to get back in the hunt this week. Philadelphia, likewise, will try to catch up to division-leading Pittsburgh when the two face off in the City of Brotherly Love this week. Birmingham can all but put away the division if they can steal a win from the Bulls in the Gator Bowl. Orlando will be in Memphis, hoping that Reggie Collier can outduel backup Shawn Moore. Chicago and Houston have a big clash in the Space City and Michigan will be in New Orleans in Central Division action. Out in the West we have Denver in Arizona, and Oakland in Portland, with playoff implications all over the place in those two games. In our inter-divisional games we have Texas and Washington, both at 6-4 clashing, and one you might want to miss, the 3-7 St. Louis Knights are in Tampa to face the 2-8 Bandits.