A week highlighted by a surprising decision from the league owners, potentially throwing player relations into turmoil, overshadowed a pretty solid set of games this weekend. We will discuss the owners’ decision to alter both the league schedule and division structure, as well as the swift reaction of the USFLPA in our “Around the League” section, but first, let’s focus on this week’s games, which featured a shocking upset, and some real nail-biters to conclude the first quarter of the year.
Had anyone picked the New Jersey Generals, starting their 3rd string QB due to injury, coming down to Birmingham and stealing a win from the Stallions only 1 week after Brett Favre threw for 5 scores, they would have had a grand time in Vegas. This was one nobody saw coming. We fully expect that the Daily News and the NY Post both had some really choice headlines prepped for the Generals getting blown out. But, while Birmingham’s offense did have some success against the Generals’ decent defense, we were all amazed at how successful the Generals were when they had the ball, but no more surprised than the Stallions themselves.
The game started off badly for the Stallions from the onset. Expecting New Jersey to almost exclusively rely on the run, Birmingham was caught time and again by the play action pass on early downs. On their first drive, New Jersey QB Spence Fischer completed 4 of 6 passes, including a short connection with Malcom Floyd to go up 7-0 after only a few minutes of play. Birmingham seemed ready to respond, but then lightning struck on the 3rd play of the game when Brett Favre was sacked by, who else?, Phil Hansen. The star QB for the Stallions landed awkwardly and came off the field looking whoozy. He would not return, though initial tests seem to indicate only a mild concussion and a neck pinch. Untested Danny Kanell would take over the reins for the Stallions.
After receiving the punt, the biggest play of the day for New Jersey, as yet another fake to Bam Morris fooled the Stallion safeties, and when Terry Glenn got a step on the corner, Fischer cut loose on a deep ball that caught Glenn in stride for a quick and painful (for the Birmingham crowd) 2nd touchdown. The Stallions were now down 14-0 and were without their catalyst on offense. They would go down 17-0 before putting their first points on the board, a nice deep seam route by Shannon Sharpe. At the half, a couple of field goals had brought the score to a 20-10 deficit for the home club.
Birmingham fans started to feel a bit better as the Stallions battled back to a 20-20 tie in the third, thanks to a Kanell to Givens toss for 35 yards and a quarter-ending Olindo Mare field goal. Givens would finish the game with 6 receptions for 118, but this would be his only score. For New Jersey, Terry Glenn proved fatal to the man coverage of the Stallions, catching 9 balls from Fischer for 157 yards, including the big 72-yarder in the first quarter.
Birmingham had tied up the game, but they would never take the lead, as the next two scores belonged to the Generals. A long 11-play drive, this one featuring solid runs from FB Dexter McNabb and backup HB LeRoy MacElroy, led to a short TD to Jeff Spek, Fischer’s 3rd of the day to no picks. This was followed by an Adam Vinatieri field goal and with only 2:13 left to play, the Generals were back up by 10.
Birmingham mounted a comeback and got the break they needed when Lawrence Dawsey found a hole in the zone and then escaped a tackle by safety Jason Sehorn, to romp for 52 yards and a TD. Birmingham, with 1:33 still to play attempted and recovered the onside kick. They had difficulty moving the ball and barely made it into field goal range, the New Jersey 37, with a clock stoppage at 3 seconds. Olindo Mare came on to try to equalize the score, but 55 yards proved to be just a bit outside of his range as the kick failed to reach the crossbar, though it was on target. A huge sigh of relief from the Generals, but a cry of disappointment from the 45,670 in attendance who expected to take the game to overtime.
The win was the first of the season for the snakebit Generals, whose defense has come close to winning them games all year, but who have struggled at QB with both Tommy Maddox and Rob Johnson having major interception issues. Fischer, who was seen only as a warm body on the bench, had the best performance from a General QB all year, 34 of 46 for 359 (largely on deep balls thrown off play action) and 3 scores. So, with Maddox expected back next week, does Coach Knox go back to his original starter, or give Fischer a 2nd game to show his stuff? As for the Stallions, they should have Favre back next week and can perhaps write this one off as a fluke loss on a day when their offense did well, but nowhere near what they expect in a typical game. The bigger issue in Birmingham is defensive consistency, as the Stallions’ D seems to have all the issues they suffered through last year despite having several new starters and a new coordinator.
CHI 29 HOU 24
A good game in Houston, where the Machine shut down Houston’s run game and forced Chuck Hartlieb to try to beat them in the air. Chicago too played with a backup QB as Dan McGwire was a gametime scratch after injuring his elbow in practice. Alex Van pelt was not asked to do much, as the Machine combined carries for Ricky Watters and their rookie back, Duce Staley, to control the clock. Van Pelt did connect on 2 TD’s but the true heroes of the day for Chicago were on defense, where Houston’s Thurman Thomas was held to only 36 yards rushing.
MGN 31 NOR 24
Michigan helped to secure their spot among the early Central Division frontrunners by edging New Orleans with two 4th quarter scores, a 12-yard Wheatley run that included a picture perfect stiff-arm, and an 18-yard toss from Flutie to Weegie Thompson. New Orleans got 2 TDs from wideout Herman Fontenot but could not muster one last score to tie the game late.
STL 3 TEX 30
The Outlaws remained one of 4 unbeaten teams in the league and kept St. Louis winless with a thoroughly dominant win at the Alamo Dome. Kelly Stouffer completed 24 of 31 passes and threw 2 scores before going out in the 4th with a hip stinger, while Todd Collins threw two picks to help the Outlaws run away with this one. Add in 101 yards from big HB Reggie Cobb and the Outlaws had this one in the bag early.
ARZ 3 DEN 33
After a surprise loss to Arizona at home last year, Denver was ready for the Wranglers this time around. Mark Brunell threw 2 TDs and kicker Jeff Wilkens connected 4 times as the Gold dominated. Leslie O’Neill dominated, with 2 sacks, 2 fumbles forced and 2 recovered, including a 6-yard TD off of a sack-strip-recovery of Jake Plummer.
LA 14 OAK 44
The battle of two winless California teams went all Oakland’s way as Siran Stacy and Troy Davis ran all over the LA defense. Stacy finished as this week’s offensive POTW, with 133 yards and 3 scores while the diminutive Davis added 79 yards rushing and score of his own. Jeff Garcia threw for 391 in an attempt to come back, but 2 picks and too many drops by his receivers kept this game from ever being competitive.
POR 27 SEA 24
The Northwest Border War was tight all the way as both clubs played through a light mist in the Emerald City. Robert Drummond rushed for 115 and while Seattle’s rookie back, Corey Dillon was contained, the speedier Derick Loville found success on the edges, rushing for 83 yards only 11 carries for the Dragons. In the end it was the right foot of Al Del Greco that put Portland on top, and while Seattle had a shot for a Hail Mary on the final play of the game, the ball from Kitna did not find a target and Portland came away with a big divisional road win to move to 3-1.
BAL 31 ATL 14
Atlanta has been playing well of late, but Baltimore came in motivated to show that they were not a shadow of last year. The defense produced 3 takeaways and Barry Foster rushed for 92 yards and a score to pace Baltimore to the road win. Bill Brooks continued to be his reliable self, catching 8 balls for 102 yards, while TE Kyle Brady also had a big day with 7 receptions for the Blitz.
OHI 13 JAX 27
The Bulls move to 3-1 with a home win over the Glory. Jeff Hostetler looked a bit flustered as he was sacked 3 time and also threw 3 picks in a game where he just was not connecting with his best receiver. Galloway finished the day with only 3 receptions, far below his average. Meanwhile, the combo of Owens, Blades and TE Steve Johnson combined for 238 yards from Chris Chandler as Jacksonville tried to keep pace with Tampa Bay.
WSH 6 TBY 12
The Bandits remained undefeated despite having a rough day offensively as their defense held the Federals out of the endzone. It was all up to the kickers in this one as Dean Biasucci’s 4 field goals outpaced Doug Pelfey’s 2 to give Tampa Bay the win. For Washington it was all about the pass rush, as the D-line got to Aikman 6 times, while for Tampa Bay it was about run-stopping, with Barry Word held to only 69 yards on the ground.
PIT 35 ORL 42
A Citrus Bowl Shootout as the Renegades evened their record by knocking off the unbeaten Maulers. Scott Mitchell found holes in the Mauler secondary all day, throwing for 297 and 4 scores, but Robbie Bosco seemed to be able to equal him, with 324 yards passing and 4 scoring tosses of his own. At one point in the 3rd, Orlando trailed 35-25, but came on strong in the final period, with scores from Terry Kirby and Danta Whittaker to overtake the visiting Maulers.
PHI 30 MEM 20
The Stars proved to be rotten guests as they outperformed the Showboats in front of 41,200 Memphis faithful in the Liberty Bowl. Charlie Garner rushed for 98 yards and Chuck Long found TE Marcus Pollard for 2 scores as the Stars built up leads of 27-10 and 30-13 before finishing with a 10-point victory. Memphis’s 4 turnovers (2 fumbles and 2 picks from Shuler) were the downfall of an offense that otherwise moved the ball well. The ‘Boats now find themselves at 1-3, while Philadelphia is all alone atop the Atlantic at 4-0.
Who now?: Of all the surprises this year, perhaps the biggest so far is the Texas Outlaw defense. In 4 games the Outlaws have given up a total of 35 points. This is the same squad that gave up an average of 22 points a game last year, decent but hardly earth-shaking. Now, with few signings to speak of, the Outlaws start out the year holding teams to an average of 8.5 points per game. But, before you rush off and anoint these Outlaws the new ’85 Bears, take a close look at who they have played. The began the season holding Seattle to 9 points, then got the Generals and held them to 6, after squeaking by the Breakers 24-17, they got St. Louis at home and held them to 3. Now, that is 3 of 4 games without giving up a touchdown, but Seattle, New Jersey and St. Louis are a combined 2-10 after 4 weeks and are all bottom 10 offenses. Texas takes on Houston this week. If they can hold the Gamblers under 10 maybe we start taking them a bit more seriously.
Who now #2? The next “when did that happen” is in Denver, where the Gold lead the league with 132 points in 4 games, that is an average of 33 points a game. How is that happening? Well, balance may be the answer. The Gold are averaging 108.8 yards per game on the ground and 259.5 in the air, good enough to get them the 6th best yardage rating in the league. The other factor is the short fields they are getting from their #1 ranked defense. Denver is giving up a paltry 37.8 yards per game against the rush, and that produces a lot of long 3rd downs and a lot of short fields. But again, we have to look at who they have played. After solid but relatively close wins against Houston (35-20) and Birmingham (20-17), the Gold have feasted on the bottom of their division, beating LA and Arizona by a combined 73-3. Now, that may be a testament to a team that is clicking on all cylinders, or it could be that the gap between Denver and the two 0-4 clubs in the Pacific is just that big. Denver faces 3-1 Portland this week, and that game should give us a lot more insight into whether this Gold team is truly golden or fool’s gold.
What the what?: There are a lot of fingers being pointed around the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. An 0-4 start will do that, but if you want to look at reasons why one of the favorites to win the division is floundering, just take a look at penalties. St. Louis stands head and shoulders above everyone else with 41 penalties for 316 yards in 4 games, that is an average of over 10 per game. Ohio is next at 33, but for sheer self-sabotage, the Knights are clearly on top. St. Louis has other issues, of couse, as they are 20th in the league in yards per game, 20th in points per game, and 22nd in points allowed, but if there is one thing they need to fix right away it is team discipline. You will not win a lot of games giving up 80 yards a game in penalties.
Arizona, who cannot afford any losses to injury, got a big one this week as free safety Martin Bayless was lost for the season with a neck injury that had folks scared for his ability to ever play again. Fortunately it looks like Bayless will be able to recover full use of his limbs, but he is certainly done for the season, and only he can determine if he will attempt to come back in 1998.
New Jersey also lost a player for the year as guard Jesse James fractured his hand in 3 places on a play that still, after several replays, does not seem to indicate how it happened. Yes, James landed awkwardly on the hand, but it is hard to see how this led to the type of multiple compound fractures in the small bones of his hand that have been reported.
Pittsburgh lost 3 offensive linemen in their loss this week, a big reason why they fell to Orlando, but it looks like at least one, big Center John Burch will be able to go next week. Backup center Bryan Stoltenberg and tackle Bernard Williams may not be so lucky and both could miss up to 4 weeks.
In other injuries, LA will be without rookie HB Antowain Smith for at least 2 weeks with a fracture in his left wrist. Seattle TE Keith McKeller will be out for 2 weeks with a hamstring injury, while Ohio may miss Joey Galloway for at least that long after limping off the field with a non-contact knee injury. Jacksonville lost two key defenders at least for next week as both LB Vaughan Johnson and FS Mark Carrier will not be able to suit up. Texas could play their big game this week without Kelly Stouffer, who was listed as doubtful after injuring his hamstring late in the game last week. St. Louis will be without Amani Toomer due to some swelling on the knee, and Ohio is listing tackle Joe Valerio as doubtful with a broken collarbone.
The biggest USFL news did not come from the playing field but from the board room as the USFL owners met and voted on sweeping changes to the structure and scheduling of the league. On the agenda was a recommendation from a special task force charged with addressing the uncomfortable overlap of NFL and USFL season, the current transfer window policy, and the potential to both restructure the 24 clubs and the 16-week season. The proposal called for a reduction of the season from 16 to 14 regular season weeks, a further delay to the beginning of the season, pushing it from late March into early April, and a reforming of the divisions into 6 divisions of 4 clubs each, with three division winners in each conference and three wild card clubs, a playoff expansion of 2 teams from the current format.
The benefits of this proposal lie mostly with the ability for USFL teams to use the preseason to sign NFL talent. With the transfer window running through February, teams could sign players and have them participate fully in preseason camps. The shortened season means the USFL playoffs would end at the same time in early August, which then allows the NFL their primary transfer window, a concession the USFL fully knew they would need to make in order to keep the senior league committed to the twice annual transfer window concept instead of opening a Pandora’s box of potential poaching of rosters and front offices 12 months per year.
The downside, and it was potentially huge, was twofold, first the potential loss of revenue from ABC, ESPN and FOX with two fewer weeks of play. The second, and perhaps trickier issue, is that of USFL player contracts, designed for a 16-week season. Would the league agree to maintain all current salaries and simply redistribute them to fewer payments, or would the owners insist on prorating the value of each contract, essentially removing 1/8th of their value due to the 1/8th reduction in games played. Several within the task force and among league owners felt the first issue was negotiable. With the 1995 expansion and with growth in audience, the networks had done very well with USFL ratings well above the guidelines set forth in the most recent contract negotiations with the three networks. And with both NBC and CBS interested in the USFL as a spring sports option, the competition, it was argued, would force the existing providers to agree to maintaining the current revenue levels for the league despite the reduced number of regular season games. By adding 1 additional playoff team per conference, essentially shifting from a Wild Card weekend of only 2 games to one with 4 games, while maintaining a divisional weekend also of 4 games (with the 2 Wild Card game winners facing the 2 best division wines who had byes), the networks would gain more playoff games, the most watched USFL games of the year.
The issue of the USFLPA and player contracts would be a much tougher issue. Few among ownership would feel comfortable maintaining the current salary scales with 2 fewer games for each club. The consensus was that the players would have to give on this issue, with the expectation that greater competition between USFL and NFL clubs for talent would in the end cause the market to rise, benefiting the players in the long run. Of course, the USFLPA denounced this position, railing against the idea that their current contracts would essentially lose an eighth of their value, while NFL players would face no such penalty while also benefitting from the same competition.
What was expected to be a close vote ended up skewing considerably to the position of the task force when indications from both ABC and FOX seemed to point to a good probability of restructured network agreements leading to a much less significant cut in revenue than initially anticipated. It seems the gambit of increasing playoff football in August (a time of little pro sports competition) at the expense of regular season football in March (a time of heavy competition with NCAA basketball, MLB season opening, and late season NHL and NBA action) was paying off. While no official tally of the votes was released, with the owners presenting a unified front, reports from those in the room when it happened seem to indicate that rather than a 13-11 or 14-10 vote, the decision was closer to 19-5 or 16-6 in favor of realignment and a shortened schedule.
The league would shift its format in 1998, reallocating clubs into six divisions. New Jersey, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore would form the Northeast Division. Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, and Atlanta the Southeast. Pittsburgh, Ohio, Michigan and Chicago would now be the third and final division in the East, the Midwestern. In the Western Conference Birmingham, Memphis, New Orleans, and St. Louis would form the Mid-South Division. Houston, Texas, Arizona and Denver the Southwestern, and LA, Oakland, Portland and Seattle the Pacific Division. From these 6 divisions, 12 playoff teams would be chosen, 3 division champions and 3 wild cards in each conference, with the top two division champions getting playoff byes. The season would be reduced to 14 games, with each division opponent facing off twice (6 games), each club playing 4 games against other foes from the same conference, and each division in one conference playing the 4 clubs from a matched division in the other conference, with the matches rotating among the three divisions each year.
The reaction to the vote from the USFLPA was swift and stern. The USFLPA would demand a new CBA be drawn up ahead of the 1998 season, unilateraly setting November 1st as the deadline for such an agreement to be put into place or the league could face a potential walkout of its players. Could this decision actually lead to the first player strike in the 15 year history of the USFL? Unlike the senior fall league, the USFL had managed to avoid major labor strife over its history, but this decision seems to have sparked a furious response among the players. Just how this might impact the current season, much less the potential for a stoppage of play or delay to the season in 1998 is as of yet unknown, but it does appear the battle lines have been drawn.
As USFLPA officials respond to the league owners,and tensions reach an all-time high between management and labor in the league, the season goes on with Week 5. The West once again is in division, while the tables turn in the East as now we see Southern teams head north to face their Atlantic Division opponents. Among the more interesting inter-divisional Eastern games we find 3-1 Jacksonville headed to Pittsburgh after the Maulers’ first loss of the season. 2-2 Birmingham should have Favre back as they head to Philly to play the Stars, while in Washington, the 2-2 Federals hope to stay in the hunt as they face the 1-3 Showboats. Orlando, hot off their big win over Pittsburgh must now face the Blitz in Baltimore, while Tampa Bay takes their 4-0 record to New Jersey to face the Generals. Finally, the Atlanta Fire are in Ohio to face the Glory.
In the Central we see more battles on the horizon as New Orleans heads to Chicago to face the 3-1 Machine. Texas and Houston face off in a very different dynamic than we have seen in recent years, with the Outlaws 3 games better than the Gamblers after 4 weeks. St. Louis tries to get their first win of the year but are on the road against a solid 3-1 Michigan Panthers club.
In the Pacific the big game is Portland (3-1) at Denver (4-0), with first place on the line. Seattle and Oakland meet in a battle of 1-3 clubs, while the division’s two winless clubs, LA and Arizona meet in the desert. Someone has to get a W out of this one, right?
Hope the players hold out. Screw that decision ha