One quarter of the season in the books and we have some stories to follow. Jacksonville and Washington are the surprise leaders in the league at 4-0, Birmingham cannot seem to find their feet, Chris Chandler is a darkhorse MVP candidate, and the expansion teams (at least some of them) are beginning to find ways to win. Fans in St. Louis are getting antsy about their club while Michigan Panther faithful have apparently found their next hero. It is all unfolding as the league hits the meat of its schedule and the early season jitters are turning into midseason form.
Jacksonville silenced a lot of critics with a huge come-from-behind victory over the defending league champions on Sunday. The Bulls and Stars both came into the game with perfect 3-0 records, but skeptics of the Bulls loved to point out that their 3 wins were against winless expansion clubs and the 0-2 Memphis Showboats. A win against the undefeated defending champs would go a long way to silencing those naysayers, and that is exactly what the Bulls delivered.
It was Jacksonville’s defense that surprised most as they held the Stars to only 240 total yards and all but eliminated the threat of Charlie Garner, who had started the season strong for the Stars. The offense did their part, primarily due to an outstanding game from Chris Chandler, who was called on to throw the ball 49 times on the day. Natrone Means struggled against the Philadelphia front 7, rushing 16 times for only 53 yards. It was the outside receivers who found room, often on play action to Means, with Brian Blades having his best game of the year, 8 balls for 151 yards and a score.
For Philadelphia, the struggle to get Garner on track was real. He carried the ball 13 times, but with only a 1.8 YPC average, resulting in only 24 yards on the day. That put a lot of pressure on Chuck Long to deliver, and while his 202 yards and 65% completion rate were fine, that did not translate into points.
And yet, despite their difficulties, Philadelphia took a 20-17 lead with 12 minutes left to play. Earlier scores by Gerard Phelan and Cris Carter were offset by Bulls TDs from Blades and Dokie Williams. After the Trout kick gave the Stars the lead, it would be up to the defense to bring the game home. They were successful in keeping the Bulls out of the endzone, but on two consecutive drives Jacksonville was able to get close enough for Pete Stoyanovich. The former Hoosier kicker connected from 21 yards and then 32 yards to move the Bulls up 23-20, the final kick coming with 17 seconds left on the clock.
The win boosts Jacksonville to 4-0, a solid 2 games over Tampa Bay in the South, and means that they, along with Washington, remain the only undefeated teams in the league. Philadelphia is still strong at 3-1 but will need to regroup as they face those undefeated Federals next week.
BAL 16 TBY 10
Baltimore’s defense is growing in confidence each week as they contained Bandit Ball, limiting the visitors to only 10 points. Derrick Fenner was the offensive star for the Blitz as he ground out 84 yards and a score to propel the visitors to the win.
NJ 16 SEA 24
Seattle gets its first ever franchise win in front of 41,283 in Husky Stadium as the Generals clearly missed Herschel Walker in this game. Doug Flutie threw for 305 but also gave up 3 picks to the Dragon D. Seattle got a solid game from Roosevelt Potts, with 17 rushes for 75 yards and a score as Seattle notches the W.
OHIO 21 BIR 18
Ohio gets the shocking win in Birmingham as the struggles for Favre and the Stallions continue. Favre threw for 301 and James Joseph had a strong day with 110 yards rushing, but they just could not convert yards into points. Meanwhile, Ohio got 98 yards from the combo of Workman and Byner, and the former Brown put Ohio up for good with a 4th quarter TD run (and 2 pt. conversion).
PIT 21 MEM 24
The Showboats earned their first win, with 94 yards combined from Boone and Agie. Pittsburgh, playing with Pat O’Hara in for the dinged up Alan Risher, relied heavily on Mike Rozier, and while the veteran back rolled for 173 yards rushing, it was not enough to give a one-dimensional Mauler squad the road win.
WSH 31 ORL 17
The undefeated Federals were dominant on both sides of the ball against Orlando, and got a surprise showing from backup Terry Kirby, who rushed for 113 yards on 14 carries to pace Washington. Add in some long balls to grey-haired veteran Joey Walters (4 receptions for 122 yards and a score) and the Feds pull away early in this one.
STL 7 CHI 17
That Chicago D is legit, and that St. Louis offense is putrid. The Knights garnered only 16 yards rushing against a stacked front as Chicago dared David Archer to pass the ball, and Archer struggled to do so. Expect this game to trigger a switch to 1st overall pick Todd Collins as St. Louis needs to do something to spark some offense.
MGN 13 HOU 45
The matchup of Montana and Kelly went decisively to the 2-time USFL champion. Kelly threw for 4 TDs, including 2 to rookie revelation Antonio Freeman as they used a 24-point 4th quarter to blow past the Panthers. Reggie Sutton took home Defensive POTW honors as well, with his 3 interceptions of Montana.
TEX 14 NOR 30
The Texas Run & Shoot struggled against the solid secondary of the Breakers and New Orleans got a surprisingly poised performance from backup QB Jamie Martin to take the win. The star of the day was Qadry Ismail, who caught 8 balls for 94 yards, 2 TDs and even ran back a kickoff 56 yards when regular returner Ryan Yarborough got dinged up.
POR 24 ARZ 28
The Pacific Division showdown was a GOTW contender as it had plenty of drama. Trailing 24-13 at half, Arizona’s D shut down Trudeau in the 2nd half, and when Robbie Bosco found Curtis Duncan from 36 yards out, the Wranglers secured their first lead of the day with only 6 minutes left to play. Portland drove for a winning TD, but a late Amp Lee fumble ended their hopes of stealing a road win in Tempe.
LA 37 DEN 44
The upstart Express, hot off their first win as a “reborn” franchise, put a scare into the homestanding Denver Gold. Denver needed Mark Brunell heroics to pull it out after Brent Pease had 2 TD’s to Mike Pritchard in the 4th to even the score at 37. Brunell delivered, with a 15 yard TD to Odessa Turner with less than a minute to play to give Denver the W.
ATL 13 OAK 26
Atlanta is still struggling to find a run game as the combo of McAfee and Parmalee combine for a 1.5 YPC average against Oakland. Add to that an inability to cover Henry Ellard (8 receptions for 166 and 2 scores) and Atlanta just did not have what it took to take down Oakland on the road.
1. Bullish on Jax & DC: The undefeated first quarter of the season by both Washington and Jacksonville is the talk of the league. Neither team was expected to finish above third in their divisions and yet here they are atop the standings. In Washington it has been the defense taking the lead, as the Feds have allowed only 50 points in 4 games, and have given up only 50 yards per game on the ground. In Jacksonville the decision to snag NFL free agent Chris Chandler has paid immediate dividends as he leads the league with nearly 1,300 yards in 4 games. He is also 3rd in TDs with 9 on the season. Adding Chandler and HB Natrone Means has helped Jacksonville reinvent their offense, much to the delight of Coach Jim Fassel, who starts his USFL career with straight wins.
The road ahead is tough for both teams, with Jacksonville headed to Birmingham (who cannot be as bad as we have seen so far) and Washington facing the Philly Stars this week, and we don’t imagine either will make a serious run at 16-0, but for both fan bases the start of the season has been all they could have hoped for and both clubs look poised for continued success as the season continues.
2. Gambling on Freeman Paying Off: Houston is on a roll thanks to both their high energy defense (5 picks in this week’s game against Michigan) and the strong run of QB Jim Kelly. The 12 year veteran has thrown for 11 TDs and only 1 pick in the last 3 wins for the Gamblers. He has started to build a rapport with his new weapon, WR Antonio Freeman, who seems to be the perfect counterbalance to Brett Perriman, allowing Ricky Proehl to return to the slot, where he is best. Thurman Thomas is averaging only around 65 yards a game on the ground, but the balance he brings as a receiver is still fully in effect. This is the Houston offense we have expected to see and which failed Coach Willsey last year. They face tough challenges in the Chicago Machine defense and the re-energized New Orleans Breakers, but Houston is looking up to the task, at least so far this year.
3. Rookie Watch List: It has not taken long to spot some real contenders for Rookie of the Year. 4 players have really shown in the early stages of the season. In Houston it is wideout Antonio Freeman with 20 receptions for 273 yards and 4 scores. Michigan’s Tyrone Wheatley is among the league leaders in rushing with 358 yards in 4 games. Atlanta’s Tyrone Poole has been the star of their defense, and already has 2 picks and a defensive TD. And in Oakland CB Bobby Taylor is also looking solid, locking down the #2 CB position and already snagging a pick and a forced fumble. Yet to take the stage are the QB’s, with Todd Collins still waiting his chance in St. Louis (likely to come next week), Eric Zeier still learning from starter Cliff Stoudt in Atlanta, and Kordell Stewart more than happy to watch Don Majkowski lead the Federals to a 4-0 start.
4. Slow Starts: Looking at the other side of the coin, there has to be disappointment with the way several league stars have opened the season. Brett Favre has yet to find his mojo, throwing 8 interceptions to only 5 TDs in his first month. David Archer, well the less said the better in this case. And Joe Montana has not had an easy go of it with Michigan either, though neither he nor the Panthers are panicking at this point. Among the halfbacks, the clear concern is with Marcus Allen, who has struggled behind the makeshift LA line. Allen has only 28 carries after 4 weeks, and is averaging a mediocre 3.5 yards per carry. The issue in LA seems less Allen’s skills as it is the playcalling and the lack of dynamic blocking schemes. Coach Neuheisel is going to have to find a way to get Allen involved more if LA wants to win some games.
5. Injury Update: Finally, looking at injuries from this week’s games, we start with TE Tony McGee in LA. The big TE will likely be out about 4-6 weeks with a torn bicep muscle. Seattle will miss LB Scott Stephen for at least the same timeframe after he broke a bone in his lower arm. Arizona guard Todd Kalis could miss 2-3 weeks with a leg injury, and Arizona will be without rookie wideout J.J. Stokes for a game or two after he sprained a knee against Portland. Tim Rosenbach may miss another game for New Orleans, but with the strong outing from Jamie Martin this week, that may not be a major issue for the Breakers. Expected back this week are HB Barry Foster (BAL), HB Derrick Loville (SEA) and QB Alan Risher (PIT). The Maulers need Risher back as backup Pat O’Hara did not impress this week.
One month in and some good news to report from our 4 expansion clubs. While wins have been hard to find, fans have not. Each club had strong opening day attendance, with Ohio leading the pack at over 44,000 in Columbus, and while, as usual, it seems that LA is lagging a bit behind other cities, the Express had a respectable 36,000 at their home opener. Playing in Angel Stadium is not ideal, and the Express ownership is still pushing sales of 1996 ticket reservations for the new Carson stadium that is in final stages of construction.
Weather has helped, as Ohio has largely avoided bad winter weather this March, but now as we head into the warmer months it will be interesting to see how Atlanta’s decision to play outdoors in Bobby Dodd Stadium will impact things when the heat and humidity start. In Seattle, rain does not seem to discourage football fans, and the Dragons have sold more than 27,000 season tickets for their first year at Husky Stadium. It seems fans have also embraced the green & gold as the Dragon jerseys have outpaced sales of the other 3 expansion clubs. Ohio is second, then Atlanta, and once again. LA is proving a tough market.
Finally, we can report that the league is looking at one of the 4 expansion cities as a potential host for the 1998 Summer Bowl. The Bowl is scheduled for Denver this year, New Jersey and San Antonio in ’96 and ’97, but LA, Columbus, and Seattle are all serious bidders for the 1998 championship game. Atlanta is not under contract with Bobby Dodd beyond 1998, but could make a bid if they can come to an agreement for the Georgia Dome, as it is unlikely the league would place the game outdoors in Atlanta in August. That is just too muggy for football.
The week’s big matchup is in the Atlantic where Philadelphia hosts 4-0 Washington with first place on the line. In the South, Birmingham is going to have a tough chore to get their game righted, as they also face an undefeated foe, the Bulls. Tampa and Memphis face off in another key Southern Division game. The entire Atlantic is in division games with Pittsburgh visiting Baltimore and Ohio coming to the Meadowlands to face the Generals. In other games we have Orlando making the longest trip in the league as they fly to Seattle to face the Dragons. LA hosts the New Orleans Breakers, Oakland has St. Louis in town, Texas is in Portland, and Michigan is in Denver. Another big game to watch is the 3-1 Gamblers headed to the desert to face the 3-1 Arizona Wranglers. And finally, on Sunday night, the Atlanta Fire get a prime time game as they host the Chicago Machine.
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