While many looked at the divisional games this week as potential barnburners or slobberknockers, it was an interconference clash that gave us the best battle of the week. Jacksonville and Denver don’t have much of a history, but with both clubs coming in at 3-3 and hoping to reach the midway point of the season with a winning record, there was a lot on the line, and both clubs played like it.
Denver fans were hoping to see Dave Krieg back under center (funny how losing makes your backup seem less like a future star), but still nursing an injury, Krieg was not ready to go, so once again Denver turned to Mark Brunell in this key road game. For Jacksonville QB has not been the issue, with Tony Eason steadily at the helm, but with Hilliard lost for several more weeks, the issue for the Bulls has been an anemic run game, with both Vince Workman and Jamie Morris not tantalizing fans.
So, what did we get in this game? We got a decent game from Brunell, with 258 yards passing, 2 scores, 2 interceptions, and a lot of pressure, sacked 5 times. For Jacksonville we saw better than anticipated runs from the dual backs, with Workman rushing for 49 yards on 6 carries and Morris going for 31 also on 6 carries. We also got 41 pass attempts from Eason, producing a TD and an interception. But the box score stats don’t tell the whole story, and in this game it was all about timing.
Denver started strong, with Brunell finding Mark Carrier for the only score of the 1st quarter. They added that score with an Elam field goal and another Brunell to Carrier toss in the 2nd to build up an early 17-0 lead. But, this being the USFL, something was sure to change, and that change came when a Domingo Bryant interception of Brunell set up Jacksonville in Denver territory. Vince Workman would eventually dive in from 2 yards out, and a clear momentum shift was in the air. Jacksonville added a Pete Stoyanovich 40-yarder as the first half ended and Denver was seeing its lead slip away, 17-10 at the half.
The third quarter was a battle of attrition, with neither team able to get into scoring position, and when Denver got another Elam field goal at the opening of the 4th, there were some thoughts that perhaps the tide was turning back to Denver. That hope lasted about 8 minutes as Denver and Jacksonville traded punts, but then with 6 minutes left in the game Jacksonville once again found their mojo. The comeback started with a Stoyanovich kick to pull Jacksonville back to within 7. After a quick 3-and-out by Denver the Bulls were back in business, and when Eason hit Robb Thomas with 1:00 on the clock the Gator Bowl erupted. The score was tied and it looked like we might see overtime. But, Denver was earnest not to let that come to pass, perhaps too earnest.
Brunell tried to will Denver down the field for a game-ending field goal, but in doing so, he rushed one too many passes, and a 2nd and 8 pass found Vaughn Johnson instead of Keith Jackson, giving Jacksonville its own shot at pulling out a late game winner. Eason was more accurate with his throws, and quickly moved the Bulls into field goal range for Stoyanovich. The former Hoosier kicker came through, knocking in the winning kick as time expired. The Bulls had scored 13 points in the final four and a half minutes to shock Denver and steal a home win. Denver would return home at 3-4 and looking up at most of their division, while Jacksonville now finds themselves right in the thick of the tough Southern Division.
PIT 15 BAL 13
Pittsburgh and Baltimore put on an old school defensive slugfest on a rainy Saturday in the Charm City. Each club forced 3 turnovers as both offenses struggled to turn takeaways into points. In a game that saw a safety for Pittsburgh, and a fumble return TD by Baltimore’s Ben Apuna, the offenses had a rough day, but Pittsburgh did just enough to get Rafael Septien into range for the game winner with 47 seconds left.
WSH 3 PHI 19
The rain also played a big part in the Feds-Stars game in Philly, though not as big a part as the Philly defense. Walter Lewis started for Washington and completed only 13 of 33 passes, with two picks as the Stars D showed up big. Chuck Long did not find the endzone, but proved to be a solid bad-weather QB, completing 33 of 40 passes for 257. The lone TD of the day belonged to Kelvin Bryant as Philadelphia slogged their way to 4-3.
ORL 20 BIR 37
Birmingham raced to a 34-10 lead before easing up and allowing Orlando to make it look closer than it really was. Brett Favre threw for 285 and 4 TD’s including 2 to Ernest Givens, and the combo of Joseph and Fullwood rushed for 105 yards as Orlando simply had no answer for the Stallions until backups started to play.
TBY 20 MEM 6
Tampa Bay got it’s first 100 yard rushing day in several years as rookie Errict Rhett rushed for 123 and 2 scores against a sloppy Memphis D. John Fourcade struggled, but avoided costly turnovers and Tampa Bay turned in one of their best defensive games of the year, limiting Mike Kelley to 46% passing and no scores on the day.
NOR 12 CHI 17
Another defensive gem helped Chicago move to 4-3 despite a lackluster performance by Blair Kiel. Ricky Watters and Johnnie Johnson combined for 129 yards against an overmatched Breaker run defense, while the Chicago D. held DuPree and Pegram to only 39 combined yards on the day. Qadry Ismail got his touches, 7 catches for 98 yards, but they did not translate to TDs for New Orleans and Chicago got the needed divisional win.
TEX 14 MGN 34
Michigan came to play at home, and Joe Montana had his best game in garnet and champagne, as he passed for 3 TD’s and completed 76% of his passes against the Texas secondary. The defense did their part, picking off Kelly Stouffer 3 times and forcing a Reggie Cobb fumble in the red zone. The Outlaws also committed 9 penalties on the day as they helped Michigan obtain their second win of the season.
ARZ 24 POR 10
Arizona found a way to contain Robert Drummond, and got a monster game from Tim Lester (103 yards on only 10 carries) to outpace the Thunder. Robbie Bosco also hit both Lionel James and Courtney Hawkins with 2nd half scores as the Thunder pulled away from a 10-3 halftime score to down Portland in Civic Stadium, leaving both clubs at 4-3 after 7 weeks.
STL 22 OAK 34
The Knights put a scare into Oakland early, but the quality of the Invaders won out in the end. It was another strong week for Bobby Hebert, who seems to really be finding his rhythm, throwing for 376 yards and 3 scores against the suspect Knights defense. Add in 93 yards from Siran Stacy, and the Invaders pull away in the second half to take the home win.
HOU 20 NJ 23
Houston came into the game relishing the chance to play an Oliver-Luck-led Generals team, but it was the New Jersey defense that won the day, picking off Jim Kelly twice, including a Kirby Jackson pick six that proved pivotal in a tight game between two very solid teams. Herschel Walker was largely contained, gaining only 64 yards, but got some good support from Bam Morris (5.7 average on the day) and a solid day from both Irving Fryar and Lam Jones helped Luck get the W.
For this first time this season we are going to give the POTW to a rookie, Tampa Bay halfback Errict Rhett. Rhett has been consistent but not flashy all season, but with John Fourcade needing all the support he could get, and despite numerous 8 or 9 man fronts, Rhett came through. He scored both Tampa touchdowns in the game, one on a whirling, juking, straight-arming 21 yard run that had the few Tampa supporters in attendance screaming. The 123 yard day, which included another 38-yard run that probably should have been called a TD, but led to a 1 yard dive on the next play, was electric for the Bandits.
Rhett is already a solid Rookie of the Year candidate, on pace for a 1,000 yard, 10 TD season, and with the closest competitors being kicker Chris Boniol of Texas (leading the league in points) and St. Louis safety Rodney Harrison (41 tackels and a sack), a solid second half may lock up the award for what may be the first 1,000 yard rusher Tampa has had since the departure of Gary Anderson. A solid pick to fill a clear need for the Bandits, and a player who is helping to keep Tampa very much alive in a competitive Southern Division.
OHIO—We expected news on the coaching front from the Glory this week, and that is exactly what we got. The Glory did not stray far from home, snatching up their new head coach from the nearby Cleveland Browns. Nick Saban, who has served as the Defensive Coordinator for the Browns these past 3 years, was introduced as the first head coach for the expansion Ohio Glory. Saban, who has extensive coaching experience on defense in both the NFL (Houston) and in college ball (Michigan State, Navy, Ohio State and West Virginia) will have the challenge of helping Ohio avoid the usual rough first years of an expansion club. With Saban on board, expect Ohio to go heavy on defense, and possibly look for a bruising back to center the offense around as they build their roster in both the Collegiate and Expansion drafts.
SEATTLE—The Dragons become the third of the league’s four expansion clubs to reveal their inaugural uniforms. The Dragons, as expected, will use a deep green as their primary color, both on the helmet (revealed earlier this year) and in the uniforms. A green jersey has white numbers trimmed in red, and black, red, and yellow stripes on each sleeve. The white jersey reverses the white and green, but adds a shoulder and sleeve yoke in green, with the same black, red and yellow sleeve stripes. There is a white and a green pant set to finish off the look. The colors, which closely parallel those of the Seattle Supersonics (who share an owner with the Dragons’ ownership group) seem a good fit for the Emerald City and certainly distinguish the Dragons from the NFL Seahawks, whose silver, royal, and Kelly green look is well known to football fans. Here is the uniform template revealed by the club this week as they displayed their new look:
USFL—And more news related to expansion as the USFL’s NY Headquarters revealed the format for both the Collegiate Draft and the Expansion Draft. As expected with the boost to 24 clubs, the USFL will be eliminating the territorial draft established when the league began with only 12 clubs. With growing disparity between the “College rich” teams such as Birmingham and Texas and the “College Poor” teams, mostly in the North East, as well as the confusion of how to handle so many southern teams (Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Birmingham, Memphis, New Orleans) the league is opting to move to an 8-round open draft, but still wishing to retain an emphasis on local player, they are adjusting how players count towards the league’s salary cap structure. Beginning with next year’s rosters, teams will be assessed only 67% of the value of contracts on any players within each team’s 4 “territorial” schools. Each school can be used by 2 different teams, allowing a club like New Jersey to share Ohio State with Columbus, or for Portland and Seattle to both get a cap discount with Washington players. Just how influential this new format will be is unknown, and hard to define as most teams will not turn over rosters just to find savings on the cap. It may hit veteran free agents the most, with teams looking to release those who count heavily on the cap while seeking to sign regional players who count only 2/3rds.
The other big news about the Collegiate Draft was the placement of the 4 expansion clubs. It has been announced that the expansion clubs will occupy places 3, 5, 7 and 9 in each round, with the 4 clubs rotating twice into each slot. The team with the #3 pick in round 1 will not have #3 again until round 8, while the team with #3 in the 2nd round gets the same pick in the 7th, 3rd round paired with 6th, and 4th round with 5th round. It is another experiment that may or may not benefit one team over another. Of course, with USFL signings still averaging about 50% of those drafted, it remains more about the ability to sign than the ability to draft early.
Finally, looking specifically at the Expansion Draft, once again we will see each existing team have a protected cohort, this time of only 12 players, and then be able to protect one player more for each player taken from their roster by the 4 expansion clubs. The order of picks will be determined by lottery later this year, but if the 1987 draft is any indication, expect the current 20 clubs to protect their young talent still on rookie contracts, their quarterbacks, and their 2-3 top linemen, with d-line and the secondary being the richest pools for the new clubs. Of course, with so many clubs potentially losing their backup QB’s we could be seeing several solid backups getting the chance to start in new cities. This may be very good news for players like Kerwin Bell, Erik Kramer, Scott Zolak, or Jeff Hostetler. Could this mean that Cliff Stoudt might again start in the USFL? What about Brunell in Denver or Mike Kelley? Surely their clubs would not protect both on the initial roster lists. Lots of intrigue all around as we consider the possibilities.
A rough week saw several more players possibly lost for the year. Pittsburgh FS Pat Terrell suffered a fracture to his hip, always a slow heal and is likely to miss at least 12 weeks, ruling out even a playoff return. A similar situation in St. Louis, where CB Ron Pitts suffered a torn quad that will put him on IR. Jacksonville was also struck with a big defensive loss as DE George Hinkle suffered a mid-back injury that is likely to require several months to rehab.
Among those looking at a week or two of inactivity we find Baltimore DE Mike Piel, Texas CB Najee Mustafaa (who always seems dinged up), Oakland CB Tory Nixon, Generals safety Eric McMillian, and, as already reported, General QB Doug Flutie expected to miss at least one more game. Possibly returning this week are Memphis HB Greg Boone, Birmingham DE Jon Carter, Tampa DE Fred Stokes, Houston LB Pat Swilling, and Chicago CB Derrick Burroughs.
Our Week 8 slate marks the end of the season’s first half, and we do so with a full slate of Atlantic v. South and Pacific v. Central games. Among these games, we have a lot of 3-4 v. 4-3 battles, including Birmingham at Washington, Jacksonville at Baltimore, and Denver at Chicago. Two 4-3 clubs face off as Arizona is in Texas, and in Pittsburgh we have 4-3 Tampa coming to face the 5-2 Maulers. Our best game of the week may be in Oakland, where the 4-3 Gamblers host the 5-2 Invaders. In New Orleans the Breakers are hoping to ruin the visit of the St. Louis Knights, while Portland is hoping to move to 5-3 with a win in Michigan. New Jersey, again without Flutie, hosts the Showboats, and Philadelphia hopes to move to 5-3 with the 1-win Renegades in town.