What a wild one in the AlamoDome this week as the Chicago Machine and Texas Outlaws went toe to toe. Both QB’s threw for more than 300 yards, Reggie Cobb rushed for 140 and 2 sores, Darryl Talley had a pick-six, and the fans in San Antonio got their money’s worth as Chicago edged Texas late in the 4th to steal a road win.
The game actually started pretty slowly, with both teams trading short possessions and punts for most of the first quarter. The first score, a Kosar to Walls TD did not come until the 1:33 mark in the opening quarter, but what followed was pure football chaos. The second quarte began with Stouffer hitting Shawn Collins for an equalizer only 48 seconds into the period. Chicago then took possession and drove the ball down the field before Albert Bentley did his short yardage thing and pounded the ball in from 2 yards out to give Chicago the lead again.
Texas responded with a long drive of their own, capped by a Reggie Cobb 3-yard run to once again even things up at 14. It looked like the game might go to the half knotted up, but a short pass from Stouffer to Theo Young, got tipped in the air, snagged by Chicago LB Darryl Talley, and run back 37 yards for a score with only 13 seconds on the clock. Chicago would take a 21-14 lead into the half.
In the third quarter, Texas quickly responded. Cobb rushed the ball 5 times on the opening drive of the second half, and Stouffer found Dokie Williams for the third equalizer of the day. Chicago would respond with a field goal to again take the lead 24-21, but only 9 seconds later, Stouffer found Eric Metcalf in single coverage, and Metcalf left the defenders in the dust on his weay to a 64-yard score. Texas led for the first time, 28-24.
Chicago would score the next 10, first on a second Carney field goal, and then on a perfectly thrown ball from Kosar to Reggie Langhorne for 7, and it was Chicago up 33-28 with 9:14 left in the game. After two failed drives gave Texas back the ball, they used Cobb against a tired Chicago defense, and he found paydirt from 5 yards out. A successful 2-pointer later and Texas was now on top 36-33 with 3:44 left in the game.
But, as you might guess, 3:44 is an eternity in a game like this, and Bernie Kosar had no difficulty in figuring his way through the Texas defense. With 1:38 left in the game, Kosar found Wessley Walls for his second score of the day, and Chicago had the lead. Down 4 points the Outlaws had to go for the touchdown, but they were unable to complete a 4th and 11 pass from the Chicago 33, and the game was over. Chicago moved to a surprising 5-2, and Texas once again fell below .500 at 3-4.
OAK 6 MEM 35
Mike Kelley threw for 327 and 4 scores against an Oakland squad that seemed completely unprepared for their game in the Liberty Bowl. The Showboats would outgain Oakland 386-225 as simply nothing worked for Oakland. Bobby Hebert completed only 44% of his passes for a less-than-mediocre 177 yards, while Siran Stacy was held to only 42 yards rushing. Both Reggie White and Santana Dotson scored 2 sacks each, including a safety from Dotson as Memphis rolled.
MGN 17 PHI 30
The Stars looked impressive as they turned a 13-10 halftime lead into a 13 point victory. Mike Quick had three TD receptions as the Michigan secondary simply could not cover him. Throw in good games by TE Eric Green and veteran wideout Gerard Phelan and Philadelphia simply outlasted the Panthers to earn their 4th win and send Michigan to a 2-5 record.
POR 20 DEN 24
Portland struggled early and then fought back but could not overcome a 24-10 lead by the Gold. Today it was the ground game as Timmy Smith gained 85 yards on 15 carries and scored twice while rookie Natrone Means, also with 15 carries, racked up 102 yards against the notoriously bad Portland run defense. Portland managed to make it close despite finishing the game with backup Oliver Luck at the helm, but it was too little too late.
STL 8 ARZ 14
This 6th win of the year for the Wranglers did not come easy. Yes, they held St. Louis without a touchdown, but they also could not do much on offense, relying on an early Trumaine Johnson TD and a 3rd quarter Courtney Hawkins catch to outpace the Knights. Both teams were held below 300 yards of total offense in a game dominated by each defense.
NOR 20 HOU 38
Timm Rosenbach’s first start as a Breaker did not break well for him as Houston built up a 15-0 lead on two Kelly to Ernie Jones first quarter TD’s and a safety before the Breakers got on the board. Houston would add in 4 John Kasay field goals, another Kelly TD pass (to TE Heller) and a Thomas TD run for good measure as they simply never let New Orleans draw close enough to smell a comeback. Thomas finished the day with 162 yards rushing as he was fed the ball the entire second half on the way to the Gambler win.
BIR 35 TBY 17
Many thought that with Favre injured this would be the week when we saw the Stallions notch their first loss of the year, but an MVP performance from Cliff Stoudt put that thought to bed. Stoudt, reminding fans of his glory years, threw for 347 yards and 5 TDs against an overmatched Tampa defense. Against that, backup John Fourcade had no chance to keep Tampa in the game as the Bandits fall to a surprising 1-6 on the season and Birmingham moves to 7-0 in a very impressive year.
JAX 45 ORL 24
The nightmare season for the Renegades continue as they get crushed at home behind a 442 yard, 4 TD day from Tony Eason. With Collier a gametime scratch, both Jimmy Jordan and Craig Erickson got a chance to lead the ‘Gades, but neither could do much and with the Bulls up 28-3 at the half the game was all but over. Hassan Jones had another great game, turning 5 receptions into 3 TDs and 180 yards receiving.
BAL 6 WSH 20
The Federals gained a measure of revenge for their Week 4 loss in Baltimore by shutting down the Blitz and winning by 14 at home in RFK. While Barry Word got the lion’s share of the carries (19 for 57 yards), it was rookie Terry Kirby who delighted fans, gaining 64 yards on only 8 carries to spark the Feds. The defense also had a strong day, holding Chris Miller to only 180 yards passing and blowing up the run game for Baltimore.
NJ 10 PIT 12
In one of the weirder developments in recent years, the Pittsburgh Maulers manage to win for a second straight week without scoring a TD. Four Rafael Septien field goals were enough as the 4-3 Maulers again used defense and ball control to keep New Jersey under wraps. Mike Rozier had a great game, rushing 21 times for 140 yards and the Maulers controlled the clock (35+ minutes to 24 for New Jersey) as they again proved that as long as you have more points when the whistle sounds, it does not matter how you got them.
Look, we see 4-TD games from QB’s every week, and 150 yard rushing games are not all that rare, so we are not going to do the usual thing and give the award to Tony Eason, Thurman Thomas or Bernie Kosar. What you do not see, almost ever, is a game won entirely on the foot of a team’s kicker, and to see that two weeks in a row is simply unheard of. So, this week we honor Pittsburgh kicker Rafael Septien for the 9 field goals in 2 weeks that helped Pittsburgh to 2 straight wins despite never putting the ball over the plane and into the endzone. The former Cowboy has moved up the leaderboard for kickers with 15 connected field goals on 19 attempts, but in the last 2 weeks he has gone 9 of 11, and all of those kicks have been clutch for Pittsburgh to stay in playoff contention. Can he do it again in Week 8? Will he have to or will the Maulers find a way into the endzone against a pretty shaky Tampa defense?
Last week we focused on the halfback position, this week we look at the Quarterback. It is no surprise that some of the league’s most successful teams are those with top rated QBs: Favre in Birmingham, Kelly in Houston, Eason in Jacksonville, and the newly-imported Bernie Kosar in Chicago. But what about those teams struggling at QB? This week we look at the 5 teams with the shakiest QB situations and what we may see over the season’s final half.
TAMPA BAY: The good news for the Bandits is that we all know that Troy Aikman is a top level QB, the problem is that when he goes down, the combo of Mike Rae and John Fourcade is simply not adequate to help Tampa weather the storm. With a mediocre defense and a growingly fragile starter, Tampa has to take seriously the backup QB position.
ORLANDO: Reggie Collier has been a starter in this league since 1984, but this season he simply is not showing he has the stuff. Slower and less able to escape pass rushers, and seemingly less accurate as well, this year Collier has thrown only 11 TDs to 10 interceptions, and despite playing in 6 of Orlando’s 7 games, the veteran has only been able to muster 1 win all season long. Is it time, after he is healed, to see what the younger Craig Erickson can do? Is this how a legendary USFL QB fades at the end of his career?
PORTLAND: Since he first arrived in Portland Kerwin Bell has had his share of detractors. The Thunder brought in David Archer, who seemed to motivate Bell towards his best play, but now, with Archer in St. Louis, Bell seems to have regressed. His 10 TD – 11 INT season to date is not exactly inspiring confidence in the former Gator as the QB of the present or future in Portland.
OAKLAND: Bobby Hebert was supposed to be the triumphant hero returning to the USFL in his full glory, but the season being put together in Oakland is looking pretty shaky and certainly well below the (unrealistic?) expectations we all had before the games started. His 73.9 QBR among starter is among the worst in the league, and an 8-8 TD-INT ratio is hardly what fans expected. We don’t expect Coach Vermeil to turn to Cary Conklin any time soon, but more and more Oakland fans are beginning to wonder if going after Hebert instead of NFL free agent Vinny Testaverde was the right call.
ST. LOUIS: The Knights started the season believing that this was the make or break year for QB Dan McGwire. He started the year well, leading St. Louis to 2 season-opening wins, but has since not only fallen to a mediocre 77.4 QBR, but also been benched for David Archer. The problem is that Archer’s current QBR is an even worse 55.6. So, what does St. Louis do? Do they stick with Archer? Go back to McGwire? Trade for a QB for the future? If they cannot solve this problem quickly, the season is lost, and quite possibly next season is a question as well.
A few bad turns this week around the league. St. Louis will be without starting SS Al Burleson for the rest of the year as he suffered a neck injury that could be career-impacting. In Texas, LB Garth Jax ended his season with a ruptured Achilles tendon in another ugly injury to see unfold. Oakland lost TE Sam Bowers for at least 2-3 weeks with a shoulder injury and New Orleans’s veteran FS Frederick Wilder could miss 2-3 weeks as well with a lower back injury.
Orlando got more QB news as backup Craig Erickson is now listed as doubtful with turf toe, though on the bright side, Reggie Collier should be cleared to go this week. Also expected back in action, and none too soon, is Tampa signal caller Troy Aikman. He leads a long list of players who have moved up to “Probable” after 1 or more weeks out of action, a list that includes DEN corner Bruce Pickens, St. Louis WR Emile Harry, Baltimore CB Torin Dorn, Orlando CB Rickey Reynolds, and Baltimore tackle Mark Shively.
We end the first half of the season with inter-divisional play within each conference, with the Atlantic and Central Division playing host. Intriguing games include 7-0 Birmingham at RFK to face the Federals, Arizona at Texas, and 4-3 Denver at 5-2 Chicago. We will also see if some teams can play spoiler as they try to rewrite the season at the midway point. Baltimore hosts the red-hot Jacksonville Bulls, New Jersey takes on Memphis, and Philadelphia, a surprise story this year, hosts the shockingly 1-6 Orlando Renegades. In other matches we have Tampa at 4-3 Pittsburgh, Oakland at 6-1 Houston, Portland at Michigan, and the St. Louis Knights in New Orleans to face the Breakers.
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