1995 Week 5 Recap: Feds Nip Stars, Alone at 5-0.

“Not so fast, my friends.” Was the refrain from the Birmingham Stallions this week as they reminded everyone that they are not dead yet, knocking Jacksonville from the ranks of the unbeaten. Meanwhile, if you ever wanted to know just how central Herschel Walker is to the New Jersey Generals, just look at the film from this week’s Walker-less drubbing by the expansion Ohio Glory. Washington and Philadelphia had a tussle in the Vet and Tampa Bay may be in bigger trouble than imagined as they can muster almost no offense against the Showboats. Welcome to Week 5 in the USFL.

It was the undefeated Washington Federals traveling up I-95 to face the defending champion Philadelphia Stars, and it was exactly the type of slobberknocker game that we want from these two, with both defenses making life difficult for the other squad. The Federals pull out the win on the road thanks in large part to the rushing duo of Word and Kirby, who combined for 123 yards, while Chuck Long spent the day avoiding the Feds’ pass rush and completing short tosses to check-down receivers.

Philly got on the board first, as a long drive, assisted by a key roughing the passer call on Dexter Manley, helped the Stars put up 6 when Chuck Long found Joey Jones for a 1st quarter score. Washington bounced right back, putting up a Pelfrey Field goal as the opening quarter wound down. They would add to that score and move into the lead early in the 2nd as Majkowski found Mike Jones for a 9-yard scoring toss. 10-7 at the half and a game that was being fought in the trenches.

Washington built up their lead in the 3rd as the lone score of the quarter was a Terry Kirby run from 7 yards out on a drive that started with a shanked punt from Rhon Stark. Philadelphia, while keeping things close, was having difficulty moving the ball. They would finish the game with under 300 yards of offense against a ferocious Federals’ front 7 led by 11 tackles and 2 sacks from LB Winston Moss. Dexter Manley got a sack and several solid hits on Chuck Long as well, and the front 7 of the Feds helped corral Charlie Garner, holding him to only a 2.2 YPC average.

Washington extended their lead as the 4th quarte began, adding another Pelfrey FG to go up by 13 at 20-7. While Philadelphia did get another score on the board with 1:10 left, it was too little and too late as the Stars fell to 3-2, now solidly 2 games behind the 5-0 Federals, the league’s lone remaining undefeated team.

JAX 26 BIR 38

The Feds are the lone undefeated team because Birmingham finally shook off the rust and put on a show against the 4-0 Bulls. Brett Favre found holes in the Bulls’ secondary, completing 32 of 40 passes for 403 yards, including 10 completions for 119 to fill-in starter Cedrick Tillman, and 2 TD’s to unassuming rookie HB Dino Philyaw. While Chris Chandler had a good game (217 yards and 3 TDs) it was not enough to keep pace with the awakened and angry Stallions.

TBY 7 MEM 34

The other Southern showdown this week saw Memphis absolutely dismantle the Bandits in the Liberty Bowl. Mike Kelley went 20 of 29 and threw 3 TDs but the story was the Memphis D, which picked off Troy Aikman 3 times and held Errict Rhett under 100 yards.

ORL 28 SEA 23

Orlando got their second win on the year by outdueling Seattle in a constant rain in the Pacific Northwest. Scott Mitchell threw for all 4 Renegade scores, including 2 to Bert Emmanuel. Seattle was not helped by an early shoulder injury to Dave Krieg which saw David Klingler come in and struggle, completing only 10 of 35 passes for the Dragons.

CHI 31 ATL 13

The final Southern club, Atlanta, again struggled to find offense as they faced a tough Chicago D. Cliff Stoudt completed 30 of 49 but only for 233 yards, while Chicago pulled away from a 14-13 halftime lead, scoring 17 unanswered in the second half to take the road win.

HOU 34 ARZ 24

In a battle of 3-1 clubs, Houston continued to show some offensive firepower, exploding for 17 points in the 2nd quarter and holding on to win as Arizona tried to rally in the 4th. Jim Kelly threw for 3 more of his league leading 15 TDs on the year, and backup Keith Woodside broke off a 24-yard TD run to help the cause.

MGN 33 DEN 26

Joe Montana had his best game of the year, finding plenty of open receivers in the surprisingly porous Wade Phillips defense. Bobby Joe Edmunds caught 9 balls for 124 as Michigan edged Denver thanks to a late Tyrone Wheatley TD.

NOR 50 LA 7

The Express faithful who came out to the team’s 2nd home game did not get what they were hoping for as Brent Pease struggled against the Breakers and New Orleans built a sudden and devastating 35-7 halftime lead on the beleaguered Express. For a second straight week QB Jamie Martin was on fire, completing 18 of 23 passes and adding 3 scores as New Orleans rolled to an easy W.

STL 7 OAK 34

Things were not much harder for the Invaders as they dominated the punchless Knights in Oakland. In Todd Collins’s first start for St. Louis, he looked very much the overwhelmed rookie QB, tossing 2 picks and getting sacked 3 times by the aggressive Oakland D. Bobby Hebert fared better, though he was sacked 4 times by Knights defenders. He would throw for 253 and 2 scores to help pace the Invaders to a 4-1 start and sole possession of 1st in the Pacific.

TEX 20 POR 15

Oakland takes over 1st place because Texas got a late score from Shawn Collins to upend the Thunder in Portland. Kelly Stouffer completed 30 of 43 and Reggie Cobb averaged 4.2 yards per carry to help pace the Outlaws, while the Outlaw D held Portland’s Robert Drummond to only 72 yards on the ground, and held down a late 4th quarter drive as Texas gets the road win.

PIT 33 BAL 19

Alan Risher returned for the Maulers and it made all the difference as they had their best offensive game of the year to date. In a game that saw 6 consecutive drives end in field goals (3 for each club) and 8 total field goals in the game, it was Mike Rozier’s 2 early TD runs which helped put the Maulers on top.

OHI 31 NJ 14

Without Walker for a second straight game, New Jersey struggled to make 1st downs, and too often provided Ohio with short fields to work with. Earnest Byner, edging Vince Workman with 12 carries to 8, made the most of his looks, rushing for a 5.8 YPC average, 69 yards and a score for the Glory. Jeff Hostetler looked comfortable against the New Jersey rush, despite 2 Phil Hansen sacks, completing 24 of 31 for 260 and a pair of scores as Ohio wins their 2nd consecutive game.

1. No Rush: The Atlanta Fire are apparently making offers in an attempt to find a running back. The combo of Bernie Parmalee and Fred McAfee have yet to combine for 50 yards in a game as Atlanta struggles to build an offense without a run game. They have reached out to several clubs, but to date have found no takers. With the NFL transfer window closed, there is not much hope of finding new blood from outside the USFL, so Atlanta is hoping to find a taker, but with an expansion roster, there is not a lot for them to offer except draft picks and they already traded away 2 of their 8 picks for next year’s draft as part of their initial roster-building strategy. It could be a long year for Coach Reeves as the Fire fall to 0-5 and still have not cracked 20 points in a game.

2. Too Good to Bench?: Jamie Martin’s success in New Orleans has to be making Timm Rosenbach nervous. Rosenbach, who has seen QB controversies before (he helped start one in New Jersey and in Jacksonville) has missed 2 and a half games, and in that time Martin has built up a 114.6 QBR, has thrown for over 640 yards and has a 6-2 TD-INT ratio, all better numbers than Rosenbach put up in his early season starts. The savvy backup has proven that his time on the bench has helped him understand the game, as he has completed nearly 80% of his passes in Mike Ditka’s run-first, short pass, protect the ball offensive gameplan. If Rosenbach is not looking solid when he returns to action, we could see a full blown QB battle in the Big Easy.

3. Back in Business: It took 5 weeks, but we finally saw from Birmingham and QB Brett Favre what we all expected. Sure, the loss of Ernest Givens in Week 1 is a major blow to this offense, and in hindsight, trading away Danny Knight from the receiving corps may not have been a good idea after all, but with Shannon Sharpe, Lawrence Dawsey and the emergence of Cedric Tillman, the Stallions have receivers for Favre to find. The bigger issue may be that teams are simply disregarding the threat of the run from James Joseph. Joseph is averaging a mediocre 3.7 YPC for the Stallions, who have really not been able to emphasize the run since the retirement of Joe Cribbs. Without that threat, defenses can tee off on pass rush, drop receivers into zones or double the top receiver, and in that way limit Brett Favre’s effectiveness. Of course, there will also be days, like this week against Jacksonville, where no strategy can keep Favre from having a banner day. For Birmingham, they have to hope those kind of days are more common as Favre’s arm may be their only significant weapon for a while.

4. MVP Battle: A very premature look at the MVP odds has several QB’s at the top of the rankings, with Bobby Hebert, Jim Kelly, and newcomer Chris Chandler topping the list. After that there is a bit of a gap before you find defenders like Houston’s Reggie Sutton, Philadelphia’s Lorenzo Lynch or Oakland’s Ron Rivera. The highest rated HB, Portland’s Robert Drummond, is 9th in the current Vegas odds for the title, though rookie Tyrone Wheatley is still the #1 ranked player for potential Rookie of the Year honors. Coach of the Year right now would have to go to Sam Rutigliano, who has spent most of the season for the unbeated Feds coaching from the booth after a sideline collision led to a broken leg. That he has been able to prep his team each week and guide them through the games from a seated position and with limited mobility is amazing.

5. Division Outlook: Looking at the divisions, we have strong competition in each, but we have to say that the Central looks like the most interesting. Other than sad sack St. Louis, the rest of the Central looks stacked. With all 5 other teams above .500 and with some surprises coming out of New Orleans and Texas, this division could be very close. We still like the look of Chicago’s defense, and Houston is looking solid on both sides of the ball, but we would not be surprised if Michigan, New Orleans or Texas took a shot at the title as well. On the other end of the spectrum we have the South, where Jacksonville is the only club above .500. Memphis and Birmingham had big wins this week, so perhaps a win streak is in the mix for one of the two, but right now, the South is not looking like a division that will place multiple teams in the playoffs, not with the Atlantic looking solid.

6. Injury Update: Finally, looking at injuries that will impact the next few weeks, this past slate of game has mixed things up a bit for a few teams. Chicago could be looking at some serious time without QB Scott Zolak, as issues with his throwing arm are still unsettled. He has gotten x-rays, and there is no sign of a fracture in his upper arm, but there is something impeding his throwing motion after a hard sack took him out of the game this week. Hopefully the physicians in Chicago will get a better sense of it this week. In Seattle it is more cut & dry. Dave Krieg will miss 4-6 weeks with a groin injury after an awkward scramble ended with an even more awkward slide/slump on the field. Krieg will be replaced by former Gambler David Klingler for the next month or more as Krieg rehabs the always tricky groin area. Other injuries of note include CB Leonard Bell of Arizona, expected to miss the rest of the year, Pittsburgh CB Sonny Gordon (6-8 weeks), St. Louis wideout Gary Clark (2-4 weeks) and Birmingham wideout Lawrence Dawsey (Questionable after a sprained wrist in the Stallions’ victory.)

What is on tap in Week 6? Well, the entire Atlantic is in divisional games, with Baltimore in Ohio, New Jersey in Washington, and Philly headed across the state to face the Maulers in Pittsburgh. In the Pacific it is Arizona at LA and Oakland up in Portland, while Denver travels to Atlanta and the Seattle Dragons are in Houston, where David Klingler gets to play against his old team. Tampa Bay will try to get on track against a Chicago squad led by Dan McGwire at QB. Birmingham tries to make it 2 in a row but face a tenacious Michigan club in Pontiac. Jacksonville will face off against the Breakers in New Orleans, Memphis will be up the river a ways in St. Louis, and the Orlando Renegades visit Texas.