Houston endured a rowdy AlamoDome crowd, eked out a one point win, but at a price as QB Jim Kelly appeared hobbled by injury late in the game. Kelly remained in the game, though visibly in pain, to lead the Gamblers on a last minute drive that gave Houston the win. After the game, Kelly was immediately taken away for testing, and hours later we discovered that he had suffered a hairline fracture in his hip after an awkward tackle by Texas LB Garth Jax. Kelly is listed as doubtful for the game against New Orleans next week, but is expected to make a recovery within 2 weeks.
As for the game, it was Houston’s early, as Kelly found Keith McKeller for a score on the Gamblers’ first drive, and then connected with Thurman Thomas in the 2nd for a 42 yard td off of a screen. Texas mustered only 2 field goals in the first half against the Houston D, so they went into half down 14-6. In the second half Kelly Stouffer made some adjustments and the Houston run game got a huge play on a 43 yard run from FB Undra Johnson to pull back into the game and into the lead. They scored first on a Stouffer to Metcalf pass, then in the 4th quarter it was little-used receiver (but special teams expert) Steve Tasker on the end of a Stouffer pass to pull ahead 19-14.
Texas’s lead was short-lived however as Clarence Verdin took the ensuing kickoff 108 yards to paydirt on a brilliant return that saw him wriggle past the wedge and simply outpace the remaining defenders to the endzone. Houston went for 2 and failed, giving them a 20-19 lead. Six minutes later Nick Mike-Myer put Texas back up on top with a 48 yard boomer, and with 5 minutes left to play it was Texas’s game to win. On Houston’s next drive, Jax fell on top of Kelly as the less-than-nimble QB scrambled and fell at the line of scrimmage. Kelly would limp off the field in obvious pain, and on the next play the Gamblers opted to hand off to Thomas despite it being 3rd and 7. Texas forced the punt, but their offense could do nothing and they sent the ball right back to Houston.
Most in the stadium expected to see David Klingler come out to the Houston huddle, but a visibly slower and uncomfortable Jim Kelly came out to begin what would be the final drive of the game. With a few key rushes by Thomas, Houston moved closer to Texas territory, and then Kelly found Thomas on an identical play to the earlier TD. This time Thomas bolted for 37 yards to move Houston to the edge of John Kasay’s range. A short pass to Perriman and another Thomas run set up the kicker, and with 18 seconds on the clock, John Kasay put through the 37 yard kick for the win.
It was a well-played game by both teams Kelly finished the day with 288 yards passing and 2 scores, Stouffer with 245 and 2 scores as well. Both teams were able to run effectively. Houston with 73 yards from Thomas and another 21 from Keith Woodside. Texas got 43 from Cobb, and another 49 from Johnson, although 43 of that did come on one play. Metcalf was the big play man for Texas with 9 receptions for 93 yards, while Houston got a solid day from Ernie Jones (62 yards on 4 receptions) and Thurman Thomas did that dual threat thing he does, adding 82 receiving yards to his 73 yards rushing.
POR 27 ORL 24
The cross-country flight did not seem to drain the Thunder as they dueled with Orlando for 60 minutes. Both Cris Carter and Webster Slaughter had big games as Kerwin Bell threw for 373 against the Renegade D. Reggie Collier had a nightmare game, throwing 5 interceptions, including a Dwayne Galloway pick-6, but Orlando was right there at 24-24 after 3. A late Al Del Greco field goal would be the difference.
NOR 17 PIT 41
Pittsburgh dominated the first half, scoring the first 28 points of the day and forcing Danny McManus to throw far more than expected in the second half. Mike Rozier had 2 scores to go along with his 163 yards rushing, and Alan Risher hit three different receivers for scores as this one was never close.
STL 27 DEN 38
Denver’s offense came alive against the Knights as Dave Krieg threw for 370 and 3 scores while the combo of rookie Natrone Means and veteran Timmy Smith combined for 106 yards rushing. Smith also caught 4 balls for 108 yards and 2 scores to lead the Gold. While both Rocket Ismail and Eric Martin had big days (124 and 141 yards respectively), Denver was able to maintain a comfortable lead throughout the second half to take the home win.
OAK 15 ARZ 17
Bobby Hebert struggled against the Arizona defense, and Siran Stacy was limited to only 40 yards rushing as Arizona edged the Invaders in Tempe. A late Bruce Hill TD reception put Arizona up 17-9, and when Hebert missed TE Sam Bowers on a 2-pt conversion (following a late TD to Ellard), the Wranglers dodged a bullet and took the win.
MGN 27 CHI 33 OT
In a game that saw several lead changes and a late John Carney FG to send it to overtime, Chicago got the win on a broken coverage that freed up Michael Haynes for the winning score. Both QB’s played well as Jack Trudeau threw for 314 and 2 scores while Bernie Kosar hit a whopping 406 with 2 scores of his own. TE Wesley Walls continues to be a favorite target for Kosar, catching 7 balls for 160 and a score in the game. For Michigan, the combo of Rodney Culver and Alfred Jenkins played well, garnering 128 total yards on the ground.
JAX 16 TBY 24
Tampa Bay got a much more polished game from Troy Aikman, and the Bienemy-Harmon combo produced over 100 yards rushing as Tampa Bay used home cooking to get the win. Up only 1 point at 17-16 late in the game, a game-clinching drive of 9 minutes, ending with Bienemy diving into the endzone from a yard out, gave Tampa the win over their in-state rivals.
MEM 22 BIR 34
The Favre TD Machine continues to pump out points as the 3rd year QB threw for 3 more despite the constant harassment of Reggie White and Santana Dotson. Ernest Givens scored twice and gained 132 yards on the day, and the Stallion D held Greg Boone to only 50 yards on 14 carries. Add in TDs to Derrick Walker and Lawrence Dawsey and it was a solid win for the Stallions against a regional rival and in front of a boisterous crowd of nearly 50,000 in Legion Field.
NJ 21 WSH 9
After 3 quarters that saw only 9 points on the board, all by the Federals, the dam broke in the 4th as Doug Flutie hit both Lam Jones and Irving Fryar with touchdowns. A desperate Don Majkowski threw a pick-6 as time wound down to create the final score in a game dominated by the New Jersey 3-3-5 defense. Terry Kirby, subbing for an injured Barry Word, did well against the pass-squelching formation, running for 77 yards on 20 carries, but it was not enough once the Generals’ offense started producing against a tired Feds D in the 4th.
PHI 20 BAL 17
Chuck Long struggled, throwing 3 picks, but the Stars still found a way to upend the homestanding Blitz in Baltimore. TD’s from Dereck Brown and Kelvin Bryant, along with 2 timely David Trout field goals, were enough to topple the Blitz as Chris Miller also struggled against a much-improved Philadelphia defense. Newly acquired MLB Ed Brady had 7 tackles for the Stars and 3 interceptions kept the Blitz from coming back in this tight divisional game.
There was certainly no shortage of strong individual performances this week to choose from. We could again celebrate Mike Rozier as the AP did with their Offensive POTW award, or we coul revel in Bernie Kosar’s 406 yards passing. On Defense it was a big day for New Orleans CB Dwayne Galloway, with 8 tackles, a pick-six and a forced fumble, and Jacksonville’s underappreciated DE Jim Reynosa had himself a day with 9 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble. But, we decided to look at Denver QB Dave Krieg this week. Krieg has had a rough start to his USFL career after several good years as a Seattle Seahawk. The graduate of tiny Milton College started 11 games for the Gold in their rough 4-12 season, throwing for 15 TD’s but also 18 interceptions and finishing with a 66 QBR, one of the lowest in the league.
Krieg’s 1993 campaign under new head coach Wade Phillips seems to be starting off much stronger. After 2 games he has a rating of 98.2 and has 4 TD’s to only 1 pick so far this year. This week’s performance included a 3-0 TD-INT ratio, 370 yards passing, and, most importantly, a win for the Gold. Denver is counting on Krieg to be a game manager, putting a lot of the load on HB Natrone Means and hoping that Krieg can be a reliable field marshal to put the right people in position to make plays. So far this year, he has been up to the task. Even in Week 1’s loss to Memphis, Krieg played pretty well, completing over 60% of his throws and avoiding big sacks through his ability to move in and out of the pocket. Fans in Denver hope he can keep up the solid play as the Gold head out on the road for the next two weeks before a return to Mile High to face the Gamblers in Week 5.
TAMPA BAY: Sad news to report today as Tampa Bay Bandits owner John Bassett released a statement this week announcing that he has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, thought to be cancerous. Mr. Bassett, who has been one of the most influential leaders in the USFL since the league’s conception, will step away from football operations as he participates in treatment in the Tampa Bay area. Well wishes and condolences have come in from around the league, as well as from owners, executives and players within the NFL. We are all wishing Mr. Bassett a complete and speedy recovery.
WASHINGTON: Just when you thought NFL-USFL relations might be getting better, you get a story that shows that resentment still exists. Just last year we marveled at how William Tatham and NFL owner Al Davis were able to work together to get approval from the city of Carson, California to build a new football stadium which will be home to both the NFL Raiders and expansion USFL Express. But this week it was announced that the Washington Redskins are working with the state of Maryland and Prince George’s County in Maryland to build a new state-of-the-art stadium for the NFL franchise. When asked whether this is to be a join project with the USFL Federals, Washington owner Jack Kent Cooke vehemently asserted that he had no interest in sharing the stadium with, as he put it, “that second rate circus they are running in the spring”. Seems there is no love lost between the Redskins and the Federals, though the two franchises have had almost no contact and no player disputes over the first 10 years of the USFL. So, it soon may be a situation where the Redskins have their suburban stadium in place and the Federals will have to work with the District of Columbia to seek improvements to the much older RFK Stadium located within the city.
While the injury to QB Jim Kelly got a lot of the headlines, he is expected only to miss 1-2 games at most with the hairline fracture in his hip. The same is not true for Denver CB Bruce Pickens, who could be out for 4-6 weeks with a pretty rough fracture in his tibia. New Orleans tackle John Wojciechowski might miss about the same with a knee issue, and St. Louis will be without CB Troy Vincent for at least another month due to an ACL tear. Rookie DE John Copeland will likely miss the game this week with a shoulder issue, while others on the “Doubtful” list include Oakland DE Derwin Jones, Tampa LB Derrick Little, and Memphis LB Darrin Smith. Apparently a bad week for guys whose names start with D.
A second week of great divisional matchups in Week 3. We start in the East where the Maulers host the Blitz and the Federals will try to get their first win as they host Philadelphia. In the Central this could be a pivotal early game as 2-0 Birmingham is at 0-2 Orlando. If the Renegades lose, they would have dug themselves a 3-game hole to start out the year in a very tough division. The other Southern Division game pits 1-1 Memphis against 1-1 Tampa Bay. In the Central the Chicago Machine can move to 3-0 if they can beat the Texas Outlaws in Soldier Field. Houston takes their 2-0 record to New Orleans while Jim Kelly stays home recuperating. In the Pacific it is Denver at 2-0 Portland and Arizona hoping their trip to St. Louis does not produce the Knights’ first win. A couple of good matchups in the interdivisional games as well, with Michigan at New Jersey and Oakland going across the country to face the Jacksonville Bulls.