A big week in the South as three teams now sit within 1 game of each other for the division lead. A big week in Ohio too, as the Glory make a push towards the top of the Atlantic as Baltimore struggles without Trent Green at the helm. Chicago does it again, while St. Louis cannot contain the Michigan Panthers, and out west LA is not backing down, with a big rebound win this week. It's all part of Week 10 in the USFL.
It was the rematch the whole country was waiting for. Back in Week 2 the Stallions used home field advantage and a 4 TD day to knock off the defending champs, and the two met again in Week 10, with both teams trying to assert dominance over the very competitive Southern Division. Eight weeks ago it was Birmingham edging the Bandits 34-30, and this week we got a reversal with a nice 4th quarter comeback powering Tampa Bay to a 35-31 win at home. We can only hope that there will be one more clash between these two once the playoffs arrive.
The stars of this one were clearly the QB’s, as Tampa Bay and Birmingham combined for only 20 rushing attempts all day and a measly 93 yards between them. It was all about the passing game, with Troy Aikman throwing for 399 yards and 5 scores while Brett Favre threw for 309 and 4 TDs. It was also about pass rush as Birmingham kept the pressure on with 6 sacks of Aikman, while the Bandits struggled to get Favre under wraps, nabbing him only twice.
The score was 17-14 Birmingham at the half with first half touchdowns from Errict Rhett (22 yd reception), Marcus Robinson (56-yarder), Chris Doering (10-yarder), and Robinson again from 11 yards out. With Ernest Givens again nursing an injury, Robinson has stepped up and become a real threat in the Birmingham passing offense. He would also score the first points of the 3rd quarter to put Birmingham up 24-14, and would finish the day with 110 yards and 3 scores. For Tampa Bay the big receiver was Randy Moss, who caught 9 balls for 134 yards but was held out of the endzone by a defense designed to avoid the big play. The scoring for Tampa would come from Coates, Doering and Rhett as the Stallions bracketed both Brooks and Moss whenever the Bandits got into scoring position.
After Robinson’s third score of the day put Birmingham up by 10, Aikman orchestrated a long drive ending in a Ben Coates TD catch to bring them right back. Down only 3 at the end of the third, Tampa Bay wa sin a solid position with full throated support from the home fans, who came out in big numbers, over 55,000 on hand in Tampa. Despite the crowd noise, Brett Favre opened the 4th by connecting on a short TD pass to TE Walter Reeves, again building the lead to 10 points. But everyone in the stadium felt that with 9 minutes left the scoring for the day was not over.
They were right. Tampa Bay would again pull within 3 points after Aikman found Chris Doering for a TD with only 1:11 left to play. Down three they would have to go for the onside kick, which they did. The ball bounced off a Birmingham player and Tampa’s Orlando McKay was in position to fall on it, giving Tampa Bay the ball and only about 20 yards to go to get in range for Mike Vanderjagt. They would need neither Vanderjagt’s talents nor the full clock. On their first play from scrimmage Aikman dumped the ball down to HB Errict Rhett, but with the safeties overplaying the deep ball, he had only the LB to beat, and when he used a nice juke move to bypass Lorenzo Styles, Rhett had a path down the sideline. He raced towards the endzone, stuttered to avoid the lunging tackle attempt of SS Darryl Williams, and spun into the endzone with a flourish to put the Bandits up 35-31. Birmingham was stunned and simply could not muster a final seconds drive to overturn the stunning final minute of play from the Bandits.
Tampa Bay had evened the series with Birmingham, and with the win had pulled within a game of the Stallions while also eliminating the tie-breaker advantage Birmingham had over them. It looks very much like the South is going to be a 3-team race down the stretch, with all three frontrunners battling each week to one-up the others, just what most fans love to see.
ATL 17 MEM 20 OT
We say three frontrunners because the pesky Memphis Showboats do not appear to be going anywhere. They got a win at home to move into a tie for first place in the division, though the Fire did not make it easy, picking off Heath Shuler twice and holding the Memphis offense under 200 yards passing. Down 17-0 at the half, Atlanta proved resilient, scoring all 17 points in the 2nd half to send the game to overtime. But, once there the opportunities did not come and Memphis earned the victory with a Jeff Hall field goal.
JAX 23 ORL 27
Orlando also stayed alive, though 3 games back of first, with a win at home against the Bulls. Fueled by big games from both Tamarick Vanover and ROTY candidate Donald Driver, the Renegades did just enough to overcome the Bulls in a tight game. Scott Mitchell was back under center and threw for 291 with 3 scores to help Orlando get back in a winning way.
BAL 18 PHI 21
There may be big trouble in Baltimore with Trent Green sidelined for the season. Wally Richardson got the start for the Blitz against the 3-win Stars, but he simply could not keep anything going. Eight and Nine man fronts kept Derrick Fenner and Mike Cloud in check, and Richardson, despite going 30 for 47, simply could not get points on the board. Meanwhile, Philly, starting Pat Chaffey for the injured Charlie Garner, was able to muster enough of a run game to allow Bobby Hebert to use play action effectively. He would connect with Cris Carter twice to pace the Stars to their 4th win of the year.
NJ 16 WSH 13
The Generals took a big step towards playoff relevance, evening their record at 5-5 with a big road win in Washington. The game was honestly not as close as the score indicates, with New Jersey dominating on defense and building up a 16-3 lead before late scores from the Federals made it look closer. Barry Word was limited to only 12 yards rushing, a far cry from Curtis Enis’s 109. Add in 2 picks of Kordell Stewart and the Feds just did not have their offense on track in this one.
OHI 31 PIT 24
The Glory’s bid for a franchise first playoff bid took another good step as they knocked off the Maulers in Three Rivers thanks to 106 yards from Joey Galloway and a pretty solid 24 of 41, 347 and 2 TD day from Kerry Collins. Solid defense kept Pittsburgh from taking advantage of a solid day from Terrell Davis, as the Maulers went 4 for 14 on third down, while Ohio managed to shrug off their 7 penalties to hold on to the 7-point win and move to 6-4 on the season.
MGN 40 STL 27
Look out for the Panthers! Michigan has won three in a row and they found some significant holes in the St. Louis defense this week on their way to a big win. Doug Flutie was on point with 334 passing yards, 3 TDs and a 70.8% completion rate. He got help from the combo of Tyrone Wheatley and Winslow Oliver, who combined for 108 yards rushing. St. Louis could not keep pace, particularly when Todd Collins went down with what may prove to be a season-ending injury. Jim Miller came in and threw 3 TDs in the second half, but it was too little and too late for St. Louis.
CHI 28 TEX 20
After knocking off the Knights last week, Chicago makes it 2-for-2 against Central Division leaders as they get the win in Jeff George’s first start for the Machine. But, before you congratulate them on the George signing, we have to acknowledge that the winning score for the Machine came while George was out of the game. It was Alex Van Pelt who hit Floyd Turner with the wining score in the 4th. The success of Van Pelt once again muddles the Chicago QB situation as fans are leaning towards the unheralded QB while ownership clearly wants the investment in George to pay off.
HOU 16 NOR 26
Another loss for Houston as the Breakers get 116 yards on 21 carries from Rickey Williams to push through the Gambler defense. Houston could not match that, with only 32 yards combined from Faulk and Levins. Add in a rough day for QB Chuck Hartlieb (25 of 53 for 47.2%) and the Gamblers again fall to .500. Jamie Martin earned praise from Coach Ditka for surviving the Houston pass rush, which got to him 6 times, but which never forced a turnover as the Breakers get their 4th win.
OAK 14 DEN 36
The outcome of this one was never in question as Denver scored the first 20 points of the game behind a 153 yard explosion from Rashaan Salaam. Add 3 Brunell TD passes and it was a pretty easy win for the Gold at home. Whatever Dan Reeves is teaching in Oakland is just not working as the defense is simply not competing and the offense is not clicking.
LA 21 POR 16
The Express retain sole possession of first in the Pacific with another hard-fought win on the road. Down 16-14, the Express get the only points of the 4th quarter, a McNown to Pritchard TD toss that gives them the road win in a slight misty drizzle in Portland. McNown would finish with another 300-yard game (324 to be exact) as he outdueled fellow rookie Akili Smith (264 yards and 2 picks). McNown also connected with Pritchard twice and fellow rookie Tory Holt for 3 TDs on the day.
SEA 16 ARZ 35
The Wranglers’ midseason push to recover from a rough season start continues as they reach .500 for the first time this year with a big home win in the desert. Jake Plummer ran in the opening score and then threw for 3 more as he started connecting with FA acquisition Carl Pickens. Pickens would finish with 8 receptions for 147 on the day. Seattle got 129 yards from its top rookie, wideout David Boston, but were unable to turn yards into points as Arizona coasted to the 19 point win.
Big Losses at QB
The big story this week is the loss of 3 starting QB’s possibly for the year, and with two of those starters on strong playoff contenders, this could shake things up quite a bit. Trent Green went down last week, Todd Collins and Ryan Leaf this week. And while Oakland may simply be playing out the string at 2-8, the Blitz and Knights certainly hope they can find a way to continue winning without their pivots in place.
Baltimore started Wally Richardson this week and the result was not good, a loss to last place Philadelphia. They had made inquiries to Chicago about Alex Van Pelt mid-week, but ended up signing recently cut Machine QB Jeff Garcia instead. Whether or not Garcia will be able to sustain the Blitz offense, or if they will continue to rely on the hot-and-cold Richardson is still to be seen, but it seems certain that if Baltimore’s hot start to the season is going to survive the loss of Trent Green down the stretch, they will rely even more on defense and the run game. Green’s ruptured Achilles is not going to allow him to play even if Baltimore’s season is extended into the postseason, so Coach Infante is going to have to come up with something at QB if they Blitz hope to realize their dreams of a first-ever title for Baltimore in the USFL.
St. Louis is in an equally dire situation. Their defense has been good, as we expected, but not the dominant force it was last year. With Todd Collins now expected to miss the rest of the season with an ACL tear, they will need to rely on the defense even more. The Knights are unlikely to trade for a QB at this point, going with Jim Miller as starter, but with only untested Kris Kershaw behind Miller, we would not be surprised to see St. Louis look at signing a free agent QB such as Dan McGwire, Steve Matthews, or David Klingler. Problem is none of them are likely to turn into stellar playoff QB’s any time soon, so St. Louis’s goal of returning to the Summer Bowl may be in real jeopardy.
Oakland is well out of playoff contention, but losing Ryan Leaf adds even more rain to the downpour. Leaf will be relieved by either Cary Conklin, Dave Brown, or a combination of both, but with an offense that only worked well when Leaf was playing well, the downshift to Conklin or Brown could make wins even harder to come by, something Coach Reeves simply cannot afford. Without the defensive talent or quality scheme that St. Louis and Baltimore have in place, the rest of the season looks pretty bleak in Oakland.
Big Game for Walker
This week’s Defensive POTW is one of the more unheralded defenders in the league, Arizona Wrangler defensive end Gary Walker. Walker had a monster game against Seattle, sacking Jon Kitna 4 times, including one great play that produced the sack-fumble-recover-TD quadrifecta. The 4-sack day moves Walker up to 10 on the season, already a career best, one more than his total of 9 last season. After moving over from New Orleans after the 1997 season, Walker has worked his way into a role as a pass rush specialist, lining up opposite rookie Chike Okeafor and beside DT Russell Maryland, Walker has blossomed. His highest sack total for the Breakers was 3, but he had 9 last year in the desert and is now in double digits this season. He is not among the league leaders, but he is becoming a player that offenses have to prepare for, and that has helped Arizona’s defense move up the rankings and the team move up the standings.
TRADE BAIT
With the trade window closing this week, we did have some moves worth noting, though none that will dramatically adjust the expectations for most clubs. As we mentioned before, Chicago did put Alex Van Pelt out there as an option for QB-needy teams, but with Baltimore signing Jeff Garcia, and with Van Pelt getting Chicago another surprise win this week, it does not seem that he is going anywhere.
The most impactful move might just be the HB swap between Arizona and Philadelphia. With the Stars trying to compensate for the loss of Charlie Garner and the Wranglers seeking a more effective target out to the backfield for third downs, the swap of Darrell Thompson for Kantroy Barber makes a lot of sense for both clubs. Arizona gets a fleet-footed and somewhat sure-handed 3rd down back in Barber, while Philadelphia gets a big bruising back to use for clock control in Thompson. Seems like a win-win for two clubs on the fringes of the playoff race right now.
A second swap of players that could impact the Wild Card race was between Portland and Pittburgh. Both clubs are currently outside looking in, but both still have a shot if they can improve over the final 6 weeks. That seems to be the feeling in both front offices as each club tried to address an issue. For Pittsburgh, the injury to guard Rod Milstead has been a tough blow to both the run game and pass protection, while Portland has been struggling to get production out of the slot, a key position with a rookie QB at the helm. Lonzell Hill has simply not been productive, with only 31 recetions on over 80 targets, so he is now off to Pittsburgh, where he will likely ride the pine behind Thabiti Davis and Yo Murphy. Pittsburgh also gets what they really need in guard James Rodriguez, who had been serving as the swing guard for the Thunder. In return, Portland gets a solid slot receiver in Freddie Scott and a project at guard in Joseph Isaac. The swap of 2 for 2 means neither team needs to look at free agency to sign a player to fill in a missing roster spot, while both teams get upgrades at positions of need.
Finally, Texas, viewing defense as the key to their playoff success, has opted to upgrade its weakest position on that side of the ball, defensive tackle. In a deal with Atlanta, the Outlaws acquire space-eater Reggie Rogers to help shore up the run defense and provide more opportunities for pass rush outside. They send LB Steve Foley and a 4th round pick to Atlanta to make it happen, a good deal for a Fire team that has already acquired a 3rd rounder in their trade of Jeff George to Chicago. Bench players Bruce Walker (DT) and John Rutlege (LB) were also part of the deal, again balancing out the rosters of each club.
Week 10 means it is time to look at our official Playoff Standings, and what do we see? Mass hysteria, cats and dogs living together, and a lot of hope even for teams at 4-6 right now. Starting at the top of the standings, we see that the biggest lead is down to 2 games, with Baltimore ahead of Ohio and a pack behind that. The leads for LA and Texas are only 1 game and in the South we have 3 teams all clearly in the hunt for the division title. Even more intense is the battle at the bottom of the 6-team playoff pool in each division. Currently both #6 seeds (Washington and Arizona) are 5-5, and ahead of others like New Jersey, Houston and Seattle only due to tiebreakers.
With the final spot sitting at .500, even teams many figured were out of range could be in the hunt. That is good news for clubs like Philly, Pittsburgh, Orlando, New Orleans and Portland. Only Arizona and Oakland have to feel completely out of range, though it would take a miracle for 3-win clubs Jacksonville and Chicago to truly get into the conversation. What this means is that we are likely going to have 20 clubs vying for 12 playoff spots as the season moves into the hot months of June and July.
A very rough week for the USFL, with the QB injuries already highlighted above (Collins and Leaf), but with several others that will certainly impact the playoff hunt. Baltimore is now not only without their starter at QB, but will also be missing TE Cam Cleeland for the rest of the year with an upper back disc issue. Washington, right on the fringe of playoff contention, will be without star linebacker Winston Moss due to a partial ACL tear. In LA the issue is CB Ray Crockett’s groin, which could cost him up to 4 weeks. In Orlando an ankle injury to WR Keenan McCardell will hamper the Renegade passing game. Others expected to miss at least 1-2 weeks include Philadelphia SS Larry Wigham (foot), Pittsburgh guard Rod Milstead (hip), Jacksonville rookie DE Jevon Kearse (concussion), Memphis LB Rahim Abdullah (arm), and Denver LB Kurt Gouveia (hand).
We had the first of the new designs from leaguewide uniform partner Reebok revealed this week. Reebok takes over after nearly a decade with Nike providing all league uniforms. This year we expect to see three significant redesigns along with the other 21 teams getting refreshed, but largely unchanged uniforms. As we have seen almost every year, there is often at least one team that opts to go the full rebrand with new logos to go along with their new uniform designs. We actually expect two of those this year, with Birmingham and Los Angeles already making noise about a new look, but the first revealed uniform has only a modest reimagining.
The Oakland Invaders, suffering through a rough 2-8 season so far, may be hoping for something of a rebirth next year. They will get an updated logo, with the familiar fist & lightning logo getting a little less cartoony and a bit more realistic. It still remains the same basic logo, but with a more linear fist and the angle of the lightning bolt is adjusted slightly. A new secondary logo pairs the familiar circular primary with aviator wings, doubling down on the links between the Invaders team and air force iconography, particularly that of fighter squadron logos.
The uniform retains many of its familiar elements, gold helmet, sky blue jersey, white and gold pant options, with only some adjustments to the striping on each. The jersey is somewhat simplified, with only sleeve cuffs using offset colors from the jersey and oversized logos on each sleeve. There is a new number font, but this is not a uniform that will surprise longstanding fans nor require recalibration of expectations from the casual USFL observer, an evolution far more than a revolution.
We now wait for what we expect will be more significant changes in store for the Stallions and Express, though with both clubs in the heat of playoff seasons, thoughts of 2020 are not really on the minds of their fanbases quite like they may be for the suffering Invader fans this year.
Looking ahead to Week 11 we see some important divisional battles in the Eastern Conference, but none bigger than the Baltimore-Ohio game in Columbus this week. Hard to believe, but the Glory are in the thick of this and a home win against the Blitz could propel them right into a divisional title matchup. A win by the Blitz would boost their lead back up to 3 games, and with only 5 weeks left, that would be huge for them. Behind these two we have a mash of 5-5 and 4-6 clubs going head to head, with a lot of clubs hoping to string together some wins and get back on top of their record. Philly is at New Jersey in a game neither rival can afford to lose. Washington is in Pittsburgh where the same could be said. If either 4-6 teams fall to 4-7, it could be over for them in a very competitive playoff race.
In the South the big guns are all facing teams from the bottom of the division. Birmingham is in Atlanta against the 1-9 Fire in what may be the biggest road favorite of the year, 13 points. Orlando is in Memphis, in the tightest of the three games, with the Renegades hoping the return of Scott Mitchell helps propel them back towards the .500 mark. Tampa Bay is in Jacksonville, hoping to make up a game on at least one if not both of the 7-3 clubs ahead of them in the standings.
With the East in divisional play we have the Western clubs battling between divisions. LA has a 1 game lead in the Pacific, but take their game to New Orleans, where the Breakers are hoping that at 4-6 they can pull themselves into the playoff hunt. Denver, sitting a game behind, is in Chicago, where they hope the streak of Machine upset wins ends at 2. St. Louis, coming off back to back losses is home again, this time with Portland in town, while Texas, also losers this week, host the 2-8 Oakland Invaders in what they hope will be a rebound game. Michigan hot on a 3-game win streak, will be tested by the visiting Arizona Wranglers, while Seattle is hoping to snag a road win in Houston as they face the up and down Gamblers.
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