A good week for the Outlaws as they open a lead on their division, a really bad one for the Bandits as they fall out of contention for the division title and potentially out of the playoffs as well. But perhaps the biggest day this week was for Texas backup QB Tommy Maddox, who got his first start in San Antonio, thanks to a nagging injury to Kelly Stouffer, and just lit the Alamodome on fire. We start this week's rundown with that amazing day and the big win for the Outlaws.
You have got to love a good divisional slobberknocker, even when it is two dome teams playing in air conditioning on turf (especially when it is almost 100 degrees outside). That is exactly what we got when the Central Division leading 8-3 Texas Outlaws hosted the 7-4 St. Louis Knights in the AlamoDome. A win and the Knights are tied for first, but a loss to the Outlaws put them 2 games back with only 4 more to play.
The line for this game shifted from Texas -7 to pick-em upon the late news that Kelly Stouffer would be unable to play and former General Tommy Maddox would be guiding the Outlaw offense. In the end, that pick-em was pretty dead on, as these two clubs needed extra time to settle the game, and nearly all 15 minutes of the extra time as well. Truth be told, it probably should not have been as close as it was. Texas got 4 TDs from Maddox in a stellar sub performance. The much-maligned UCLA product would complete 38 of 53 passes in relief, throwing for a whopping 476 yards against what was supposed to be a stellar Knight defense, and hitting 4 different receivers for scores. Yes, he did throw 2 picks, and one of those was vital as it produced a pick-six that put St. Louis up 7 in the 4th, but the Knights also needed a punt return TD (from Anthony Miller) and solid performances from their run game just to stay in this one.
Texas looked the better team all day, finding holes in the St. Louis secondary on a regular basis. While the Knights corralled both Reggie Cobb and Rodney Thomas (70 yards combined) the threat of the run left the Knights’ secondary vulnerable all game long. After St. Louis went up 10-0 in the first on a Chris Howard TD, Texas got two Maddox TDs, one each for Jeff Query and league receptions leader Shawn Collins, to pull right back into the game and go into the half up 14-13.
The only score of the third quarter was Miller’s 48-yard punt return TD, but that was enough to give the Knights a 21-14 lead with the 2-point conversion. Texas would not get the game tied until the 10-minute mark of the final period, when Maddox hit Brian Alford for the game-tying score. On their next drive, Texas would push the pass a little too much and Troy Vincent picked Maddox off, returning the ball 41 yards to rebuild a 7-point lead with little over 1 minute left. The game looked to have gone the visiting Knights’ way, but Maddox found what he needed to pull out the win, driving the ball down to the St. Louis 22-yard line, using all 3 timeouts and spiking the ball to create a 2nd and 10 at the 22. Then, rather than throw into the endzone, the Outlaws, having noted a weakness in the structure of the Knights’ zone coverage, used an inside screen to upend the Knights. Rodney Thomas caught the ball at the 17, and rumbled all the way to the endzone. It took the referees a solid 30 seconds to make the call, but replay held it up, and with only 2 seconds left on the clock the Outlaws tied up the game.
In overtime, both teams struggled to find game-winning magic. It looked to all present like this game might end in a tie, but on a fluke play, the Knights’ DB tripped over his own feet, freeing up Robb Thomas, who took the ball deep into St. Louis territory before stepping out of bounds. With just over 1 minute to play, Texas did not play around with killing clock, as any points would win the game. On 1st and 10 from the St. Louis 24 they went for the field goal and Tim Seder kicked it true, giving the Outlaws the win and a solid 2 game lead over three different Central clubs, all now sitting at 7-5. With only 4 games to play, Texas has a chance to clinch next week, relying on their better divisional record to possibly lock up the division crown, a title they last held in 1997. After a rough 8-8 campaign last year, it seems that Coach Pardee has Texas ready to dominate the Central Division once again.
MGN 11 HOU 34
The Outlaws gained ground on both St. Louis and Michigan as the Panthers fell to the Houston Gamblers in the Astrodome on Saturday. With the win the Gamblers now find themselves tied at 7-5 with both Michigan and St. Louis and in solid playoff contention. Houston had a strong day running the ball with Faulk and Levins combining for 118 yards rushing, while the defense held Tyrone Wheatley to only 29 yards on the ground. Faulk, who led the team with 63 yards rushing, also caught a 48 yard TD pass, reminding many in Houston of former All-USFL back Thurman Thomas.
NOR 12 CHI 18
The final game in the Central Division this week lacked both the excitement and the importance of the first two. Chicago outplayed New Orleans at home to earn their 4th win (now winning 3 of their last 4), thanks in large part to a defense that held Ricky Williams to 59 yards rushing and allowed only 3 of 14 conversions on 3rd down. Jeff George had his best game in Chicago with 171 yards and 2 TDs, while throwing no picks on the day.
DEN 3 POR 21
The Portland Thunder proved that Denver was not the only club with a home field advantage as they used a sloppy field on a rainy Sunday afternoon to upend the Gold and move to 5-7 on the season. Neither team could do much on offense, but a pick-six from Je’Rod Cherry and two short TD passes from Akili Smith to Matthew Hatchette proved more than enough to defeat a punchless and careless (10 penalties) Denver offense.
OAK 10 ARZ 31
The Wranglers had little trouble defeating an Oakland squad that appears to be in disarray and which struggled under both Cary Conklin and Dave Brown. Jake Plummer returned to action after a one week absence and threw for 3 scores to lead the Wranglers. Carl Pickens continued his hot streak with receptions for 61 yards and 2 scores on the day as the Wranglers even their record at 6-6.
SEA 20 LA 25
It was not an easy home win for the Express, but with a late Tory Holt TD they knocked off the Seattle Dragons and expanded their lead to 2 games in the Pacific. Cade McNown threw for 301 yards and 2 scores to lead the Express. Jon Kitna threw for 264 and 2 scores despite suffering 7 sacks on the day, including 2 from LA’s defensive leader, Santana Dotson.
MEM 48 PHI 24
The Showboats were all business on Sunday, doubling up the Philadelphia Stars in front of a dejected Veterans Stadium crowd. Heath Shuler was on fire, throwing 6 TD passes in the game, including 2 to tight end O.J. Santiago as the Showboats rolled from the opening whistle. Four interceptions against Philly QB Bobby Hebert made it somewhat easier as Memphis pulled away after a 21-14 halftime lead. Joe Horn also had a big day with 150 receiving yards and a touchdown.
ATL 17 WSH 40
Atlanta looks like a team with nothing left in the gas tank after a thorough shellacking by the Federals. Washington’s D held Atlanta to only 246 total yards, including a pitiful 19 yards on the ground as Tiki Barber left the game early. Kordell Stewart played only 3 quarters but threw for 282 yards and 2 scores as the Federals rolled to an easy victory and back to .500 at 6-6.
JAX 27 BAL 6
The crisis in Baltimore deepens as Wally Richardson completed only 41.7% of his throws and a tired Blitz defense could not contain Chris Chandler and the Bulls for a full 60 minutes. Terrell Owens finished with 129 yards and a TD on 8 receptions as Jacksonville got the road win and moved their record to 5-7.
TBY 17 PIT 38
Either Pittsburgh has found some defensive magic or the Bandits offense is in bigger trouble than we thought. Tampa has just not been as explosive this year as in last season’s title run, but losing by 21 to Pittsburgh was not expected and has to worry Coach Seifert. Troy Aikman threw two picks and Randy Moss was held to only 53 yards receiving as the Maulers turned a 17-14 halftime lead into a big win. Charlie Batch looked phenomenal after returning from injury, throwing for 4 TDs and completing 27 of 40 passes.
ORL 37 OHI 23
Ohio struggled to contain Terry Kirby, who found holes all day long on his way to 130 yards rushing and 2 scores. Add in a solid 23 of 33 for Scott Mitchell and the Glory were in the hole pretty much the entire game. Kerry Collins threw 3 picks, including a bad one in the red zone early in the 4th which seemed to drain the Glory’s will to win. The game all but ended when Orlando’s Kevin Williams picked off Collins and returned it 47 yards in the final 2 minutes, cruising to the endzone and sealing the Orlando road win.
BIR 45 NJ 30
The Stallions built up an early 21-7 lead in the 1st quarter and never looked back in this one. Brett Favre went 22 of 33 for 463 yards and 5 scores as he connected on several deep balls to both Lawrence Dawsey and Marcus Robinson. Dawsey would finish with 3 TDs on the day as the Generals simply had no answer on defense despite 3 sacks from Phil Hansen.
A Big Day out of Nowhere
What a day Tommy Maddox had in this week’s GOTW!! Maddox, who was only notified he would be starting on Thursday, threw for 476 yards and 4 TDs in the overtime win against St. Louis. He had thrown a grand total of 12 passes for 28 yards all season up until this week, mopping up at the end of games vs. Portland and Michigan, and out of nowhere he gets the start, tosses 53 passes (completing 38) and beats one of the toughest defenses in football like they were a JV squad at the local high school.
This came as a shock to the Knights, but clearly someone in the Outlaw coaching staff had faith in him to keep calling pass plays. Maddox, who averaged 161 passing yards per game with 13 starts over 5 seasons (4 with New Jersey) has never even sniffed 300 yards much less nearly 500 in his pro career. Give the kudos to Jack Pardee and the Outlaw staff for finding weaknesses in the Knights’ defense and ways in which Maddox and the Outlaw offense could exploit them. With Kelly Stouffer ready to return to action this week, we expect Maddox will be back on the bench, but clearly Texas feels that if needed they can now call on the former UCLA product to be ready to step up.
Where Did the O Go?
That is the big question in Tampa Bay, where the Bandits have been over 30 points only once (a 35-31 loss to Birmingham) since Week 2. They have been alternating wins and losses since winning 2 in a row in weeks 3 and 4, and in that time they have scored 20, 26, 16, 10, 27, 31, and 20. This is a club that was absolutely electric on offense last year, blowing through the league on their way to a title, but now sits at 6-6 and outside of a Wildcard spot. They still rank in the Top 5 in yards per game and passing yards per game, but have dropped to 10th in scoring. Have defenses figured out how to defend both the deep ball of Moss and Brooks, and the underneath routes of Ben Coates? Is the problem Troy Aikman, the offensive line, or the play calling? Bandit fans want to know and want improvement as the club is on the fringe of being out of the playoffs altogether only one year after looking like a dominant force in the league.
One of the issues may be the lack of running game, leading to a one-dimensional offense. Tampa Bay sits at 23rd in the 24 team league in rushing, averaging just over 50 yards a game. That is not a serious threat on the ground, with Errict Rhett being more active as a receiver than a runner. Just like Birmingham in recent years, when a club abandons the run altogether, they struggle to win games and score points, even with a dynamic passing game. So, maybe the answer is to find ways to make the run more of a threat and get teams to put more players in the box, freeing up the receivers. Seems obvious, but it has been 12 weeks and the Bandits have not done it yet.
Coming to Life?
After an abysmal 1-6 start, the Chicago Machine have won 3 of their last 4 games, including big wins against both St. Louis and Texas. It has not always been pretty, but the Machine seem to have started buying into the coaching style and philosophy of Marty Mornhinweg. What is odd however, other than the sudden turnabout, is that the Machine seem to be doing it with defense, keeping all 4 of their last 4 opponents at or under 20 points. Mornhinweg was thought of as an offensive coach, a specialist in the West Coast offense who was going to revive the career of Ricky Watters and provide Chicago with a short passing game. But Chicago went out and traded for Jeff George, more of a deep ball thrower, and while George has not exactly lit up the league, the Machine Defense has steadily improved and now sits in the top ten in both scoring and passing yards allowed (1st overall with only 211 per game). So ,do we give kudos to Coach Mornhinweg for bringing in some shared sense of purpose, or do we look to his defensive coordinator, Jim Mora Jr. (Yes, the son of Memphis head coach Jim Mora Sr.) as the real reason for the recent success?
An Early Exit
We had a sense that a midseason firing would happen this year, we just were not sure where. Well, that is answered, and the answer is Oakland. The Invaders this week relieved Head Coach Dan Reeves of his duties with the club, less than 2 seasons into his tenure with the Invaders. After a somewhat promising 9-7 season in 1998, Reeves’s club has tanked, now sitting at 2-10. QB Ryan Leaf, prior to his injury this year, had significantly regressed, and the defense has been an absolute nightmare, sitting at 23rd in points allowed and dead last against the run.
The highly touted Reeves came to the USFL with Atlanta after a solid career in the NFL, mostly with the Denver Broncos. He has not found success in either Atlanta or Oakland, and now suffers the indignity of a mid-year firing. He will be replaced on an interim basis by his defensive coordinator, former Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Ross. And yes, we realize that with all the woes on defense, Ross does seem an odd choice, and very likely a choice who will not be given much chance of earning the permanent position. Expect Oakland to go after an established coach in the offseason, with the early favorites being either Texas DC Ray Rhodes or former NFL head man and current Denver Gold DC Dom Capers.
Still nothing final, but when we reach Week 13 we have our first potential clinching scenario. Memphis can clinch a playoff spot with a home win this week, as long as they get a lot of help. They need at least 1 of the 6-6 clubs to lose. That combo, a Showboat win and a loss from Pittsburgh, Washington, or Tampa Bay, and the Showboats lock up the first of 12 playoff spots. No one else can officially clinch this week, though a lot of clubs can make it all but official with wins.
We do have our first official elimination with both Atlanta and Oakland now both officially out of the playoff chase. I think most of us thought they were out weeks ago, but the mathematical models say that it is now official. Meanwhile, we now have 2 clubs, Texas and LA, with 2-game leads in their divsions. Neither can lock up the division this week, but gaining 1 more game on their closest division rivals could make Week 14 the decider for each. Meanwhile, Baltimore has lost 3 in a row, but Ohio was not able to even things up in the Atlantic, and Memphis and Birmingham look to be taking it down to the wire in the South.
We have reached that portion of the season where the injuries for some clubs are really beginning to mount up, and while this week was not a particularly bad one on the injury front, it does appear that several clubs may have to hit the free agency wire just to field a full roster. Among those looking at multiple weeks out of action we have WR Brian Stablein in Jacksonville (wrist, IR), HB Leeland MacElroy in New Jersey (collarbone, 2-4), SS Torrian Gray in Oakland (foot, 2-4), HB Stephen Davis in Birmingham (ankle, 1-2), WR Ricky Proehl in Chicago (quad, 1-2), TE Jim Kleinsasser, also Chicago (Jaw, doubtful), and LB Trev Alberts in St. Louis (knee, questionable). Likely to return to action are DE Jevon Kearse (JAX), HB Mike Cloud (BAL), G Larry Allen (TEX), QB Kelly Stouffer (TEX), WR Hart Lee Dykes (HOU), and WR Kevin Dyson (PHI).
Fans in Birmingham got a pre-playoffs surprise this week when the club revealed a very different look for the 2000 season. The Stallions did not just go for a uniform tweak here and there, they pulled out all the stops, with a new logo, new font, and new uniforms. Basically the horse theme and the colors of crimson and metallic gold remain, but there is a lot of new in this look.
Let’s start with the logo, a Stallion, from the midsection up, raised up in a vertical position as if bucking a rider or preparing to deliver some hoof blows to a foe. This is not the placid trotting horse of the original logo, but a wild, powerful beast of a horse, ready to take on all comers. There are clear parallels with the revised Denver Bronco logo from a few years ago, and with more detailed logos in general being the trend in pro sports. The logo features white and gold in addition to the trademark crimson, which means that when displayed on the helmet it will not be a silhouette figure any more but a full three-color logo.
The logo will be displayed on the helmet, which will also feature three stripes, all tapered from back to front, a central crimson stripe and two tapered white stripes which only reach about the midpoint of the helmet. The jerseys remain crimson and white with gold piping, and traditional block numbers. They now feature a simplified sleeve striping pattern, with a wide crimson stripe with a thinner gold stripe separated by white on the road jersey, and a thick gold stripe with separated white stripe on the home crimson jerseys. The final new feature is collar piping on the jerseys, with a front “V” at the base of the collar, outlined with two thin stripes (gold on white jerseys and white on the crimson) and the addition of the new block letter font “Stallions” on the chest. The pants follow a similar striping pattern with a thick crimson stripe and a thinner, separated, white or gold stripe. The club will have both white and gold pant options, interchangeable with either jersey to create 4 different looks.
The look is a dramatic shift from the longstanding “running horse” logo which has adorned the Birmingham uniform since 1983, but still retains much of the dynamic animal power of the original. The new logo and uniforms will first take the field when Birmingham takes the field for preseason in February 2020, but before then there will be a wide range of new merchandise, from hats to tees and sweatshirts, available for sale both at the stadium, at sporting goods stores and major department store chains like Belk, JC Penney, and Walmart throughout the south, and, available for order on the USFL website as well.
Three weeks left, and so much up in the air, you have to love parity. This week brings us the rare interconference slate, but with so many teams desperate to make ground or secure positions in the playoffs, there are few games that don’t have huge meaning for both clubs. We start with the slate of Atlantic clubs hosting Central Division foes.
St. Louis, now 2 games back of Texas, is in Philadelphia, where the 5-7 Stars cannot afford a loss this week. Texas will be in Washington, who have crawled back into the playoff picture at 6-6. Michigan is hoping Baltimore has not solved their QB situation as they would love to get a road win at Aetna Stadium. Two late risers meet in Pittsburgh when the Gamblers come to town to face the Maulers. Ohio hopes to rebound as they host the Breakers, and Chicago will be in New Jersey, where the Generals’ playoff hopes are on life support at 5-7.
The other games this week have the Pacific Division visiting the South. Of those games the most intriguing is the 7-5 Denver Gold facing off against the struggling Tampa Bay Bandits, whose chance of a repeat title hinge on staying above .500 to make the playoffs. Portland and Orlando are both hoping a win keeps them in the Wild Card mix as the two 5-7 clubs meet in the Citrus Bowl. Arizona has the toughest draw as Memphis at home has a chance to clinch a spot with a win. LA is in Jacksonville, which has proven a tough place to play over the past month. Birmingham can take over first place with a home win against the Oakland Invaders and a Memphis loss to Arizona, and finally, Seattle, whose playoff hopes have been dimmed by a losing streak, is in Atlanta, in what may be the Fire’s best chance in the remaining weeks to eke out a 2nd win this season.