The Tampa Bay Bandits showed their new coach some energy as they came back from 23-7 down to edge the Arizona Wranglers with a game-winning field goal as the clock ticked down. The vaunted Arizona defense wilted as the Bandits fought their way back from a deep hole to take the home upset win. It was an old combo that helped make it happen as Troy Aikman relied on veteran Eric Truvillion to make the big plays. Truvillion finished the day with 11 receptions for 118 yards and a key TD to help spark the Bandit comeback.
The game started out well for Tampa, as Aikman led the Bandits down the field for a score on the opening drive, hitting TE Chris Kelley from 9 yards out to put Tampa on top. Arizona would then run off 23 unanswered points. First it was Bosco to Hawkins, then a Luckhurst field goal, followed by a defensive score as David Fulcher picked Robert Brooks’s pocket and got the pick six. Bosco then hit Kendal Smith on a short TD, but when Mick Luckhurst missed the PAT, few thought it would amount to much. Little did they know that the miss would end up costing Arizona a chance to win.
Tampa got the ball back with just over 2 minutes to go, and Aikman got two huge plays from Truvillion to close the gap before the half. The first was a 22-yard reception on a 3rd and 14, and the second was a one-handed grab in the endzone for six points. Tampa was down 9 at half, 23-14. They came out in the second half and immediately cut the Arizona lead to 2 as Aikman hit on his 3rd TD of the day, a short slant to Brooks. Arizona responded as Robbie Bosco hit Tim Lester on a screen pass that ended up going 54 yards for a score. At the end of 3 it was Arizona again up by 9 points.
In the final quarter both teams struggled to move the ball, and it was only a muffed punt by Arizona that put Tampa on their side of the field. Aikman took inspiration from the good turn of fate, and within 5 plays he had the Bandits knocking on the door. A 2-yard dive play to Errict Rhett was all it took for Tampa to once again get within 2, 30-28. Tampa chose to kick the ball away, rather than go for the onside, and with 2:20 on the clock, Arizona had time to kill. After forcing Tampa to use two of their timeouts to stop the clock after Tim Lester runs, the Wranglers tried to get tricky and threw the ball to Mark Boyer. The ball was incomplete and the Wranglers gifted Tampa a clock stoppage. Arizona’s punt put Tampa at their own 34 with just over 1:30 left in the game. Aikman guided the Bandits down the field, using his last timeout to set up Dean Biasucci, and the imported kicker from the NFL Colts earned his pay, kicking the ball right down the center to give Tampa the 1-point win.
NJ 34 BAL 20
The Generals got 3 TD’s from the combo of Walker and rookie Bam Morris as they outpaced the Blitz in Baltimore. Chris Miller threw 3 interceptions and was booed throughout the game. Despite not throwing a TD, Doug Flutie had a good game, throwing for 275 yards and getting both Irving Fryar and Lam Jones over 100 yards for the day.
PHI 20 PIT 24
Pittsburgh escaped with a win in a hard-fought in-state rivalry. Trailing 20-17 in the 4th quarter, DB Pat Terrell was in the right place at the right time, snagging a tipped ball and racing down the sideline for the winning score. The defensive score crushed the hopes of the Stars, who had done well to contain Pittsburgh’s offense the entire game.
JAX 31 BIR 28
Who picked the Stallions to go 0-2 to start the year? No one, that’s who. Well, after dropping a home game to the Bulls, that is exactly where the Stallions stand. Favre threw three TDs but it will be his two interceptions that fans will remember. Add in 129 yards rushing from the combo of Jamie Morris and Vince Workman and an error-free game from Tony Eason and the Bulls pull off one of the biggest wins of the young season.
MEM 31 ORL 21
Memphis got their first win of the year as Mike Kelley did his best to retain his starting job ahead of rookie Heath Shuler. Kelley completed 29 of 42 passes for 226 yards and three scores as the Showboats pushed past the Renegades. Backup HB Tommy Agie, subbing for a dinged up Greg Boone, rushed for 72 yards and Carl Pickens led receivers with 82 yards as the Showboats escape central Florida with a division win.
MGN 24 HOU 27
The Michigan Panthers, and HB Marcus Allen, gave Houston all they could handle before eventually falling to the defending conference champs. Allen exploded for 120 yards rushing, another 39 through the air, and 2 scores as he out Thomas-ed Thurman Thomas in the game. Houston would get the win though, as a late Kelly to Perriman score knotted the game up, and a John Kasay field goal put the Gamblers on top.
TEX 30 NOR 41
New Orleans QB Timm Rosenbach silence the critics and Marcus DuPree had a career game as the Breakers showed some real offensive firepower in their win over Texas. Rosenbach threw for 3 scores, including 2 to TE Dan Ross, and DuPree rushed for 153 yards on only 13 carries as the Texas defense simply had no answers today.
DEN 21 OAK 27
Oakland held home court, and got a late Henry Ellard TD to leapfrog the Denver Gold in a hard-hitting game. Cary Conklin, in for the dinged-up Hebert, went 20 for 38 and added 2 scores to only 1 pick. 2nd Year QB Mark Brunell threw for 192 and balanced 2 picks with 2 TDs in a game where the Gold simply could not get Smith and Means on track, combining for only 45 yards on the day.
POR 27 STL 13
Fans may be cheering for Jack Trudeau in Portland, but this win goes to the defense. St. Louis was held to only 290 total yards on the day as Portland rolled up their second win. Robert Drummond again topped 100 and added another TD to his league lead. Bruce Hill also made a big impression on his new team, catching 7 balls for 112 for the Thunder.
CHI 17 WSH 35
Washington exploded for 28 points to close out the first half and wipe out a 10-0 deficit. Terry Kirby led the way with 90 yards and a TD on the ground, while Barry Word added another 65 and even Curvin Richards got into the action, scoring on one of his 3 carries. Washington’s D was also a huge factor as they got to Kosar 4 times, and forced 2 picks as well.
A week after being harshly criticized for a poor Week 1 performance, Marcus Allen showed the Michigan faithful why Coach Holtz brought him over from the NFL Raiders. Allen was dangerous every time he touched the ball, averaging 5.5 yards a carry on his way to a 120 yard day. He also caught5 balls for 39 yards, including a 12-yard scoring catch. The Panthers ended up giving away the game, but Allen was dynamic and dangerous throughout the entire game.
MEMPHIS—The Showboats have been impressed with the start that Mike Kelley has had and Coach Ryan has already confirmed that he will get another start in Week 3 against the Bandits. Kelley currently ranks 2nd to only Houston QB Jim Kelly in QBR, has thrown for 445 yards and has yet to throw a pick. Heath Shuler waits in the wings, but fans are still supporting Kelley, and if Memphis can string together some wins, Shuler may find himself resigned to a clipboard for quite a while.
DENVER—The situation is not as clearcut in Denver, where a mediocre performance from Mark Brunell has everyone in the Mile High City wondering if Krieg will be able to recover his starting gig when he returns from his ankle injury. Fans had hoped that Brunell would continue to shine as he did in Week 1, and that there would be a clear #1, but it looks like Denver might be playing a guessing game between the veteran Krieg and the young southpaw Brunell.
BIRMINGHAM—It is far too early to panic, but fans in Birmingham are concerned that the Stallion offense simply does not look like it is in synch. Brett Favre has thrown for 661 yards, tops in the league, but has 3 interceptions to only 5 TDs. Ernest Givens has reeled in only 16 of 27 targets, and TE Shannon Sharpe has far too often been the dump-off option for Favre. Sitting at 0-2 is not where Birmingham saw themselves at this point, but with an offense which is not producing the outlandish points of the past two years and a defense which currently ranks 8th of 10 teams in the conference, the Stallions have some work to do if they hope to get back to another Summer Bowl.
PORTLAND—On the opposite side of the spectrum we find 2-0 Portland. They lead the league in scoring after 2 games, Robert Drummond is leading the league in rushing, and Jack Trudeau is playing solid ball, avoiding the turnovers that so often plagued Kerwin Bell as the Thunder QB. Naysayers will say that a season that started off with Tampa Bay at home and St. Louis is hardly a murderer’s row, but with a game against Denver this week, we may learn a lot about the legitimacy of the Thunder as a contender right now.
TAMPA BAY—There may still be major issues in Tampa Bay, but Eric Truvillion is clearly not one of them. The 12-year veteran is the only league player to be a top 5 player of the week vote getter both weeks. He leads the league with 260 yards receiving, is second behind only Cris Carter with 18 catches, and is averaging 14.4 yards per catch. Not so bad for an old man, is he?
Week 2 brought us some more issues for teams around the league. Memphis will need to continue to rely on Tommy Agie as a fracture in Greg Boone’s lower right leg is likely to cost him at least a month. Birmingham will be without DE Jon Carter for just as long with a knee issue. New Orleans lost 2 starters on the O-line this week as both C Tim Rother and G Jeff Zimmerman went down, though both could be back in as soon as 2 weeks. Denver QB Dave Krieg is still looking at 1-2 weeks before he can return, while Oakland will be without SS John Lynch for at least that long with a bulging disk in his back.
Expected back this week are Michigan WR Bobby Joe Edmunds, Baltimore CB Leslie Frazier, Houston CB Reggie Sutton, and Washington TE Travis McNeal.
Week 3 remains in division, as Baltimore heads to Pittsburgh, Philly is in Washington, Birmingham travels to Orlando, Memphis visits Tampa Bay, and Texas is in Chicago. Houston has big game this week as they travel to New Orleans, and Portland hosts Denver in a key western matchup. Arizona is in St. Louis while our inter-divisional games have Michigan in New Jersey and Oakland making the cross-continental flight to Jacksonville.
Comentarios