All good things must come to an end, and for Baltimore that end came this week, when their unexpected eight game win streak was foiled from a 9th victory by their arch rivals, the Washington Federals. The Federals victory was not unexpected, as the Feds always play Baltimore close, but it was the closest we came to a surprise this week as across the league favorites found ways to avoid a stumble, to secure a win when they were expected to, and to keep up the chase for a playoff spot. The only other big surprise this week came later, as the trade deadline approached on Wednesday and a flurry of moves shifted some things across the league. More on that later, for now let’s start with the games themselves.
While the Baltimore-Washington game was the week’s marquee matchup, the best game on the field was about 900 miles to the west, in Michigan, where the Panthers hoped to boost their strong start to the season with a 6th win in 9 games as they took on the Oakland Invaders. It was a homecoming of sorts for former Panther Bobby Hebert, and a game both clubs felt was pivotal for the second half of their season.
Michigan got off to a strong start in the game, despite missing starting QB Doug Flutie. Sean Salisbury had a solid, workmanlike, game, throwing for 186 yards and a score while avoiding negative plays. He was helped by a defense that kept Oakland in check for most of the day. While the Invaders outgained the Panthers 321-186, they could not capitalize against Michigan’s bend-but-don’t-break defensive stance.
The biggest play of the game was one of the first as Oakland received the opening kickoff and on 2nd and 9 Hebert faked to Stacy and tried to hit Henry Ellard on a deep ball. Ellard was well covered by Michigan’s league leading interception specialist, Chris Snyder, and Snyder made Hebert pay, snagging the ball in stride and turning it back against Oakland. Snyder would weave the 51 yards to the endzone, setting Michigan up with a 7-0 lead after less than 1 minute of play.
Oakland’s next drive would not start off any better. A muff by the return man left Oakland on the 7 yard line, and a false start on their first play from scrimmage in the drive left them with 1st and 13 on the 3 ½ yard line. After a Stacy run went nowhere, Hebert went for play action on 2nd down, only to find himself in the grasp of Michigan’s Renaldo Turnbull. 5-0 Michigan and their offense had not even seen the ball yet.
Oakland would pull back into the game, scoring on an Hebert to Ellard pass as the first half ran down. With Michigan’s offense only putting together one solid first half field goal drive, Oakland trailed 12-7 despite their early mistakes. In the 3rd quarter neither team found much success, so it was surprising to see 24 points scored in the final period.
Oakland started it off, with Ellard catching his second TD on the day. When the 2-point conversion failed, the Invaders would have to settle for a 13-12 lead. Michigan quickly wiped that short-lived lead away, scoring on the next drive as Tyrone Wheatley finished off a 12-play drive with a 2-yard scoring run. 5:45 left to play and Michigan was back on top 18-13.
Oakland came right back, finding more success through the air, with Carlester Crumpler scoring on a short pass play to give Oakland the lead once again. Again they went for 2, and again they failed. A miss that would play large when it was all said and done. With only 1:40 left, Michigan would have one more drive, down only 1. They would cash in 80 seconds later, when Brad Daluiso connected from 54 yards out, sending the Pontiac Silverdome crowd into cheers of celebration. Despite gaining only 26 yards on the ground as a team, and despite going only 4 of 14 on third down, the Panthers had found a way to win and now sat in good shape for possible playoff football at 6-3. For Oakland, which has simply not been able to put together strong offensive production with defensive muscle, the 3-6 record sent the opposite message, that the rebuild was on, and Coach Mora would likely be looking to shake things up in the offseason.
BAL 13 WSH 21
In a game that could reinvigorate their season the Feds outmuscled the Blitz at home, getting 73 yards and a score from Barry Word, while Don Majkowski hit Herman Moore for 2 scores. Washington built up a 21-6 lead until Chris Miller found Rob Moore for a late score, but Baltimore would never see the ball again as the Feds were able to convert on a risky 4th and 2 to keep possession and run out the clock.
NJ 13 OHI 17
Coach Saban’s Glory continue to impress and Joey Galloway continues to be unstoppable, adding another 114 yards and 2 scores to his remarkable season. New Jersey used 5 different ballcarriers as they tried to win with the run game, but even with this they only managed 82 total yards in the game.
PHI 33 PIT 17
A big win for the Stars and a last straw for the Maulers as Pittsburgh struggled in the passing game again, leading to a midweek trade (see below). Chuck Long threw for 330 and 3 scores, and even with 130 yards rushing from Rozier, the Maulers simply could not equalize Philadelphia’s offensive production, falling to 4-5 with 7 weeks left to find a path back to winning football.
ATL 3 BIR 34
Coach Reeves is feeling the heat in Atlanta as his team again proves that they cannot compete with the league’s better teams. Held to only 178 total yards of offense, Atlanta was never in this game despite the fact that Brett Favre had a horrible game, sacked 7 times and only able to complete 8 passes all game.
JAX 44 MEM 26
Jacksonville got a POTW performance from Chris Chandler and blew past the Showboats in Memphis. Chandler completed 71% of his passes on the way to 409 yards in the air, with 3 different receivers going over 100 yards receiving.
ORL 32 TBY 24
Tampa Bay suffered another setback as Orlando punched them in the mouth in Tampa Stadium this week. The Renegades once again unleashed a solid run game with Barber rushing for 66 yards on 12 carries and Kirby adding 37 yards on 12 of his own. Throw in a solid short passing game from Mitchell and Memphis was able to keep the ball away from Tampa’s offense long enough to get the win.
DEN 6 CHI 24
Denver was forced to start Billy Joe Tolliver this week after a midweek injury to Brunell, and with a short week to prepare, Tolliver was ineffective against a rejuvenated Chicago defense. Ricky Watters rushed 24 times, gaining 92 yards and a score along the way.
LA 9 HOU 48
Jeff Garcia struggled in the start and Jim Kelly had his usual monster game against an overwhelmed Express defense as Houston cruised to 45 unanswered points after LA scored on their first drive. Only a late safety of backup Chuck Hartlieb got LA back on the board in this one-sided affair.
POR 20 NOR 31
New Orleans got 2 scores and 85 yards from Terrell Davis and the Breaker D was able to corral the Thunder offense despite 110 yards from Robert Drummond to get the W. Lamar Lathon was a beast against the Thunder, garnering 11 tackles and disrupting the Thunder run game all day.
SEA 6 STL 27
The Knights defense is beginning to get some respect as they again keep the pressure on, sacking Timm Rosenbach 5 times. Todd Collins looked good as the Knights relied more on the passing game in the absence of Darrell Thompson, with Collins throwing for 263 and 3 scores on the day, including a nice over the shoulder catch by rookie Amani Toomer.
ARZ 14 TEX 26
Arizona made it a game early, but eventually fell behind and were unable to answer the Outlaws, as Texas used 4 Chris Boniol field goals to pull away from the Wranglers. Rodney Thomas took over when Reggie Cobb went down early in the game and the young back rushed 19 times for 133 yards to impress the Texas coaches.
TRADE DEADLINE PRODUCES A FLURRY OF ACTIVITY: Most years there is not a lot happening at the Week 10 Trade deadline, but that was certainly not the case this year. While only one of the trades could really be considered a major development, the fact that we saw 6 trades within the final 48 hours in itself is a big deal. The newsmaker of the bunch came out of Pittsburgh, where the Maulers, desperate to turn the season around before it is too late, made a deal with Arizona for former starter Robbie Bosco. Bosco will come to the Steel City, and Pittsburgh sends the Wranglers a 3rd round pick in next year’s draft and developmental QB Doug Nussmeier. For Arizona this ends the QB controversy as Trent Green now seems to be the only hope, and some pundits see this as a prelude to the Wranglers making a play for local hero, Arizona State’s Jake Plummer in the 1997 draft. For Pittsburgh, expect John Fourcade to get the start in Week 10, but we expect to see Bosco in action immediately after that.
Oakland, recognizing that their passing game needed some help, traded away a 4th round pick and backup TE Dennis Ransom to get an upgrade at the position with Memphis’s Christian Fauria the newest Invader. Fauria was viewed as expendable behind Adrian Cooper and with a developing A. J. Ofodile gaining more snaps.
In a move that is likely to help both clubs, the LA Express parted ways with LB Bryce Paup, but brought in former All-USFL SS Carnell Lake from Michigan. The Panthers get a solid pass-rushing LB in Paup while LA gets a solid corner to help their depleted secondary.
Jacksonville acquires St. Louis CB Ron Pitts, sending guard Paul O’Connor to the Knights in exchange. The two also swapped picks with the Bulls giving up a third rounder and getting a 5th rounder in return.
Atlanta and Chicago pulled off a trade, with the Fire sending FS Myron Guyton to Chicago in return for some D-line help in the form of veteran DE Ray Agnew. The move helps Chicago deal with the passing games of Houston, New Orleans and Texas in their division, while Atlanta does what it can to shore up their run defense with Agnew’s veteran leadership.
Finally, in the most complex move of the week, Philadelphia sends a 3rd rounder, DT John Jurkovic and guard Jay Leeuwenberg to Denver in order to get two players, DT Mike Taliferro and FS Anthony Dorsett. The 33 year-old Taliferro is a solid contributor, but the real catch is the 20-year old Dorsett, in his rookie year, who has shown real potential subbing for Charles Mincy in Denver, but who now may become an immediate starter in Philly.
COACH WATCH: Add Dan Reeves and Woody Widenhofer to the list of potential hot seat coaches, along with Arizona’s Ted Tollner. While Ohio and LA are seeing definite signs of improvement over their expansion seasons, Seattle and Atlanta seem to be regressing, and a lot of pressure is being put on Reeves and Widenhofer to explain why. Of course, as with all expansion teams, there is a lot of pressure on the player personnel team, and that will certainly be the case in both Atlanta and Seattle, but the on field performances have been at times embarrassing, and that tends to be laid at the feet of the coaches. We feel pretty confident that Tollner will be out as Arizona garnered their 8th loss this week, but if Seattle and Atlanta, both 2-7 cannot outdo their modest win totals of last season, we will not be shocked if both Reeves and Widenhofer are shown the door.
And speaking of coaches who may be on their way out, there are rumors swirling that this season may be the last for Ted Marchibroda in Pittsburgh. After last year’s ascension to glory and a league title, Marchibroda is seeing it all fall apart after 1 key injury. He is clearly working to repair the damage, trading for Bosco this week, but there is a tired feeling around the Mauler team, and some internal sources have indicated that this vibe may be emanating from a head coach who may be looking to step down and try something different after the season.
INJURY REPORT: Denver got some bad news when what was thought to be a minor injury turned out to be much more for RG O’Neill Glenn. What was first expected to be an issue with cramping, turned out to be a significant hamstring injury for Glenn. The big man could miss the rest of the season after further examination revealed a partial tear.
As if Oakland needed more bad news, it appears that WR Ed McCaffrey, who was having a solid year, may miss as much as 6 weeks of the remaining 7 due to a broken wrist. The team says they will look at a flexible cast after 4 weeks, but that is no guarantee to work. In Birmingham, RT Emory Yates is likely out for 1-2 weeks after dislocating his knees. Fans watching on TV got to see the injury, which looks much worse than it is internally, on an awkward replay that showed the cap totally out of position, but the good news is that there appears to be no tearing of the tendons, so the knee should be good to go in only a couple of weeks, though Yates will wear a brace to support it.
Expected back this week, from injury or from being knocked out of this weeks game, we find WR Terrell Owens (Bulls), T Lomas Brown (SEA), T Wayne Gandy (BAL), G Jamie Dukes (MEM), DT Antonio London (HOU), WR Ricky Proehl (HOU) and TE Kyle Brady (BAL).
We have passed the midpoint of the year, and there are some surprises among the team leaders around the league. We don’t think anyone is shocked to see Houston at the top of team scoring, but few would have expected the Breakers, Panthers, Gold, and Showboats to be the next four clubs. Doug Flutie's arrival in Michigan and Mark Brunell’s growth in Denver have played big roles in their success, while Heath Shuler continues to impress for the Showboats. Denver also boasts the league’s best rushing attack, the only club to have over 1,000 yards rushing on the year to date. While in the air, the big revelation this year has been Joey Galloway and the Ohio Glory. Ohio ranks 3rd in passing yards, behind only Houston and Tampa Bay, and a big part of that success has been the speed and elusiveness of their 2nd year receiver.
If you are looking for the reason Baltimore was able to jump out to an 8-0 start, look no further than their top ranked scoring defense. They have allowed 150 points over 9 weeks, an average of only 16.6 points per game. Contrast that with Oakland (3rd worst) with 261 points over the same span (29 PPG). After Baltimore we find the Bulls and then the surprisingly hard-hitting St. Louis Knights. The Knights boast the league’s best rush defense, allowing only 470 yards (52.2 yards per game) over the season’s first 9 games.
Even more shocking is that the Maulers, whose defense was a huge factor in their championship last year, are currently ranked dead last in pass defense, allowing over 2,700 yards in their first 9 games. If it were not for a solid rush defense (5th best) they would be a disaster. As it is, their defense is currently the 4th worst in the league in yards allowed and the 5th worst in points per game allowed. That is not the path to a repeat.
And what to do about Atlanta? Things have not started off well, and while the club has managed to win a game here and there, staving off talk of the 1976-1977 Buccaneers, that is about the best thing you can say about the club they have put on the field. Atlanta is currently dead last in scoring (13ppg), Total Yards (2,198), Passing (1,747), and Rushing (451). Eric Zeier is struggling and the trade for Blair Thomas produced no benefit at all. And as if that is not bad enough, Atlanta is also dead last in the league in Points Per Game Allowed (32.3 per game), 2nd to last behind only LA in yards per game allowed, and second to last, again behind LA, in rush yards allowed per game. None of these indicators can make Dan Reeves feel confident, despite his past track record of success in the NFL. Atlanta clearly needs a total overhaul, and that may start at the top.
The battles within the Pacific and Central Divisions resume in Week 10 as we find Chicago and Texas, both 4-5 hoping this week’s game in San Antonio sparks them to a playoff run. Houston has a tough game on their schedule as they head into Michigan to face a surging Panther squad, and the return of Doug Flutie at the helm. In St. Louis the Breakers will try to solve the puzzle of the Knights’ defense and retain a solid grip on first place in the Central.
Denver hopes their loss this week was a blip, and with Mark Brunell returning, they hope to get a road win against Coach Jim Mora and the Oakland Invaders. Arizona is in Portland, facing a tough challenge against a solid offense led by Robert Drummond. LA and Seattle battle in the Emerald City, in a game that could determine if Seattle is going to battle to keep Coach Widenhofer at the helm. This is a winnable game for Seattle as LA has major defensive problems.
In the Eastern Conference the six Atlantic teams are all at home as the Southern Division comes calling. First off their first loss of the season, Baltimore has to get their top-rated D ready for Brett Favre, himself coming off a win but a really odd day under center that saw him complete only 8 of 32 passes. Jacksonville is in New Jersey and Coach Knox is hoping for more from his offense against a pretty tough Bulls defense. Memphis is in Ohio in a battle of clubs on the cusp of playoff relevance. Orlando looks like a tough foe for Philadelphia, but the Stars see a chance to gain more ground on Baltimore and will be ready to go. Tampa Bay is hoping that former Bandit John Fourcade does not see this as a revenge game, as the Bandits face the Maulers in what is likely Fourcade’s only start of the year. Finally, Atlanta will get no mercy from the Washington Federals, who need this win to get back to .500. Expect the Feds to go for the kill early in this one.