2000 USFL Week 13 Recap: Knights Claim First Place

While New Orleans struggles, Ohio gets back in the game with another win. Orlando stumbles on a cross country trip to LA, a win the Express sorely needed, while Tampa’s trip out west is far more successful. Denver ekes out a win at Jacksonville’s expense, while Washington gets pushed to the limit by Michigan before edging the Panthers to get a win that helps them step closer to a playoff berth. Philly gets their ticket punched to the postseason thanks to a strong day for a rejuvenated Bobby Hebert, while Chicago loses a game they could not afford to let slip away, falling to Pittsburgh at home. A big home stretch week of interconference play as the USFL starts to prepare for the postseason.

A battle of defensive stalwarts impacted by an early injury as Bobby Hoying’s departure limited offensive options for the Breaker offense. Gus Frerotte had a strong first half, but started to struggle after the Blitz made some halftime adjustments, allowing Baltimore to climb back into the game and eventually win, thanks to 19 unanswered points.

The game started with a stunning moment as on the third play of the game Bobby Hoying took a hard hit, got to his feet, walked 2 steps and wobbled to the ground. He would be diagnosed with a concussion and would spend the rest of the game in the locker room with a towel over his head to reduce the light that bothered his eyes. Gus Frerotte, who saw very few snaps in practice, would be called upon to lead the Breakers. He would rely heavily on the run game, with Ricky Williams getting 21 carries on the day, and Eric Pegram adding another 8. Despite the setback, New Orleans would rack up 16 points in the first 22 minutes of the game, first on a short TD pass from Frerotte to Ricky Proehl, and then a short Pegram TD run. A missed PAT meant that the lead was only 13-0, then 16-0 after Lin Elliott hit on a 42-yard field goal. But, all was not well.

Baltimore had begun to make adjustments to Frerotte’s style. They would come out at halftime and shift from man to man to a 2-deep zone, forcing Frerotte to hold the ball and force throws into traffic. New Orleans, despite some solid running from Williams, would not score again. Baltimore, however, would begin to chip into the Breaker lead as Jeff Garcia would complete 63% of his passes, including going 17 or 23 in the second half, and Ron Dayne would rack up a solid 64 yards against the tough Breaker Defense.

From 16-0, it became 16-3, then 16-6, then Garcia hit Cleeland for a 1-yard TD toss, and it was 16-13. Grammatica would tie up the game with 26 seconds to play, sending the match to extra time, but New Orleans had nothing in the tank. Baltimore would win the game on Grammatica’s longest kick of the day, a 40-yarder, to give the visiting Blitz the win and keep them only 1 game back of Philadelphia.

The loss had a huge impact on the Breakers as they now fall into a tie with the Knights atop the Central Division, but lose out to St. Louis on divisional record, with a 6-2 mark to St. Louis’s 5-1 mark. Despite the loss, New Orleans clinches a playoff spot, 3 games up on several 6-7 clubs, but their bid for the league title will now depend on them running the table in their remaining division games or hoping that St. Louis loses one of its last 3 games.

OHI 31 TEX 28

When Kerry Collins had to rush home to deal with a death in his family, it meant the Glory would go into their road game at Texas with Koy Detmer under center. The Glory team rallied behind Detmer, with Eddie George rushing for 114 yards and 2 scores as Ohio barely edged the 3-win Outlaws. Joey Galloway came up big as well, catching 5 balls from Detmer for 130 yards, while Texas relied on a reinvigorated Reggie Cobb (17 carries for 127 yards and 3 TDs) in their bid to upset the Glory.

WSH 24 MGN 23

A nailbiter in Pontiac as the Federals scored 10 points in the final 5 minutes to upend the Panthers. Zolak got the start in a gametime decision, and hit Herman Moore with 4:42 to play. The defense then did their job, forcing a quick punt and getting Zolak the ball with time to move into field goal position. Doug Pelfrey connected on a 47-yarder and the Federals moved to 9-4.

ORL 24 LA 33

In a key game for both clubs, LA got a much-needed win, with Cade McNown throwing for 311 yards and 4 scores to lead the Express. Tory Holt scored twice and caught 5 balls for 124 yards to help LA get the home win over a tough Orlando squad.

MEM 38 SEA 23

Seattle stumbled at home against a very tough Memphis squad as Garrison Hearst had a rare 100-yard game (103, to be exact) and Heath Shuler hit on 3 touchdown tosses, two to Joe Horn. Brian Griese could not overcome a rough day for Corey Dillon, tossing two picks and losing a fumble as well.

TBY 48 OAK 29

The Bandits feasted on a troubled Oakland defense as Errict Rhett had a career day with 18 carries for 146 yards and 3 scores. The Invaders racked up 24 first downs, thanks largely to a solid day for Siran Stacy (90 yards) and Troy Davis (49 yards), but they could not turn yards into points, whereas Tampa Bay got scores from Rhett, Moss, Drayton and Doering to pull away.

ATL 21 POR 13

In another battle of teams at the bottom of the standings, Portland again falls at home. Atlanta got 2 long TD passes from Aaron Brooks to Terrance Mathis (a 54-yarder and a 73-yarder) as the Portland defense gives up several big plays. Napoleon Kauffman rushes for 141 yards against the Fire’s poor rush defense, but they cannot overcome the scores from Mathis, and a late TD from Tiki Barber.

BIR 24 ARZ 38

The Stallions are eliminated from the playoff picture as they cannot contain Jake Plummer, who rushes for 3 scores and 85 yards on 12 carries. Dorsey Levins also has a strong day, rushing for 84 yards on 16 carries as Arizona keeps the ball out of Brett Favre’s hands for most of the game. Long TDs to Lawrence Dawsey and Marcus Robinson are fluke plays against a Wrangler defense that plays well on the day, moving Arizona above .500 once again.

JAX 10 DEN 18

Rashaan Salaam carries the ball 34 times in a workhorse performance, gaining 124 yards as Denver wins the possession game. Kudos as well to the Gold pass rush, who sack Chris Chandler 5 times and force 2 picks in the Denver win. Marvcus Patton scores a safety as well to help Denver build on their lead and hold on for a tough win.

PHI 38 HOU 24

Bobby Hebert has a superb game for the Stars as he throws for 3 scores and leads Philly to a convincing win against the Gamblers. Troy Brown would catch 2 of the scoring tosses, with Bobby Engram nabbing the other. Houston’s Matt Hasselbeck throws 2 picks as the Stars defense holds Houston at arm’s length the entire game.

PIT 38 CHI 21

A loss the Machine could not afford as they let one slip past them against a motivated Pittsburgh squad. Charlie Batch had his best game of the year, completing nearly 86% of his throws (18 of 21) and tossing 5 TDs, including 2 each to Terrell Davis and Andre Rison. Davis would also rush for 91 yards on 21 carries as the Maulers come alive against a Machine defense that had been improving.

NJ 7 STL 37

Another bad loss for Marty Schottenheimer in New Jersey as the Knights roll over the Generals. Ahman Green torched the New Jersey defense for 176 yards rushing and 3 scores to lead the Knights’ attack. Jeff Lewis struggles for New Jersey, with 3 picks and only 41% of his passes completed.

A rough week around the league as 3 starters are now lost for the season. Philly loses a defensive leader in LB George Koonce, after a knee injury was examined and ACL tear was the verdict. The LA Express lose a focal point of their defense as free safety Martin Bayless goes down with a broken wrist, an injury that could even impact his 2001` season. Finally, Texas, who have had their issues with injuries all season long, get another bit of bad news as wideout Eugene Baker is diagnosed with a ruptured Achilles tendon, one of the toughest injuries to return from.

Three more injuries of note impacting teams in the playoff hunt. Memphis will be without DT James Von Der Boeck for at least 1 week, perhaps 2, with a groin injury. New Orleans will be without backup HB James Bostic, who suffered a hyper-extended knee in the loss to Baltimore. And, finally, Arizona has listed starting cornerback Kevin Minnifield as “questionable” due to a pinched nerve that impacts his left leg and lower back. All three are expected to be back by the opening week of the playoffs, but will their teams still be alive at that point?

A TIMELY RETURN?

The Breakers certainly hope that QB Trent Dilfer can return soon, with 3 weeks left in the regular season and the club slipping below St. Louis in the division thanks to back-to-back losses. Dilfer, who was among the league leaders in QBR when he was hit with an MCL tear that has had him sidelined. The Breakers managed to get by thanks to their defense and a solid run game with Ricky Williams, but clubs have begun to wear down the Breakers and with a playoff spot on the line, New Orleans could certainly use their NFL signee back under center. Bobby Hoying has not played poorly, (106.3 Rating, 1188 yards and 10 TDs to 2 Ints), but the offense has simply not been able to pull away, putting more and more pressure on that defense. Of course, we saw a very similar pattern emerge last year when Texas burst out to the division lead only to have St. Louis slowly draw them back into range and take the division in the season’s final week. Looks like the Knights are trying to repeat history, but can Dilfer come in and salvage a possible division title for the upstart Breakers? Will he play this week, or are we looking at Week 15 as the earliest option for him?

Is Bobby Hebert a Dark Horse MVP Candidate?

Sounds wild, but with Brett Favre on a losing club, and with Philadelphia making a push for a division title, Hebert is getting more and more attention. He may not be leading the league but Hebert is getting results. The 2000 Stars are certainly not the Michigan Panthers of the late 1980’s, and Hebert is no longer the young, athletic gunslinger he was back then, but at least this year we are seeing a lot of what fans loved about Hebert as a Panther. He is playing smarter, keeping himself out of harm’s way, and finding ways to win, despite not throwing for huge numbers each week. If the Stars can capture a division title in a year they were picked to finish last, and if the top defenders do not set league records, we could very well be looking at Hebert as a prime candidate for MVP.

FOUR MAN RACE FOR RUSHING TITLE

The 2000 season has certainly seen a resurgence for the running back position, with more backs getting more carries, and more backs finding success in the pass-happy USFL. We easily could have 10, maybe 12 backs reach the coveted 1,000 yard mark, and at the head of the class we have 4 potential contenders for the rushing title. In the hunt this year we have 1999 leader, Terrell Davis, Seattle’s long awaited breakout star Corey Dillon, St. Louis workhorse Ahman Green, and Denver’s perennial 1,000-yard man, Rashaan Salaam.

Any one of these four could take the title, and honestly Natrone Means in Michigan and Tampa’s Errict Rhett could even find themselves in the conversation before the year is out. What is interesting is that all 4 of the frontrunners are solid inside runners, not just guys who swing out wide to rack up yards on screens and sweeps. Green is the lightest of the 4 heavy hitters, but all 4 are capable of trucking over a defender when called upon. Davis and Dillon in particular are “lower the pads” rushers, with Green and Salaam being a bit more juke, spin, and slash runners. With 3 games left to play, the title really could belong to any of the 4 (maybe 6) contenders, and with Seattle and Denver likely vying for a division title all the way through Week 16, there is little chance that Dillon or Salaam will be rested in Week 17, so this could truly be a nail biter for the title.

WHO IS FRED WEARY?

When you look atop the defensive league leader stats you see a lot of well-known names, and one oddball. In tackles you have mainstay linebackers like DuBose, Thomas, and Mitchell. Among Sack Leaders we see Phil Hansen, Chris Doleman, and Kavika Pittman, none of whom are a surprise. But when we look at the league’s interception leaders, we have to do some quick research to learn about Fred Weary, the league leader with 7 picks. Sure, Charles Woodson of Washington is right there as well, but Weary, who plays for the Memphis Showboats if you were wondering, is atop the leaderboard well into the season. So who is the ball hawking corner?

Fred Weary is a Florida-born, Florida-bred cornerback. He was a late round pick of the Showboats in 1998, and has largely been sitting on the bench for 2 seasons before getting called up to be a starter for the Boats this year. He had won a title with the Gators at UF, and he did earn All-American honors as a senior, so we should not be totally surprised that he has some talent, and maybe it just took time to develop, or for Coach Mora to trust him with a starting gig, but regardless of the reason, Weary has certainly arrived this year, and that is making believers out of the Memphis faithful. The thing is, as an unknown quantity, teams have been throwing at Weary, something they try to avoid when facing someone like Washington’s Charles Woodson or Birmingham’s NFL import, Deion Sanders. So Weary is getting opportunities to show what he can do in coverage, especially Memphis’s man coverage scheme, and he is proving that a throw to his side of the field is a risky proposition.

Philadelphia, St. Louis and New Orleans punch their tickets to the postseason, joining Denver and Seattle in the dance. Five spaces taken, five yet to be decided, but we also saw some position shifting this week as the Knights are doing it again. They have won 4 in a row, and with New Orleans dropping their second in a row, it is now St. Louis that is atop the Central Division with 3 weeks left to play. Denver also took advantage of the Seattle loss to take a 1 game lead in the Pacific. Philadelphia got their third straight win to take a 1 game lead in the Atlantic, with Baltimore rising quickly thanks to 4 consecutive wins.

We have 4 clubs at 9-4 in the East, with Orlando and Memphis vying for a bye and a division title, while Washington and Baltimore are hoping to catch up with the Stars. Ohio has the 6th slot at 8-5, with Jacksonville 1 game back and Tampa 2 back. Out West, Arizona and Michigan have the final two spots, with the Wranglers 1 game up, while Michigan, at 6-7 holds tiebreakers over LA and Chicago, all three a game under .500.

Those are basically all the teams that are still alive, with Houston, Texas, and Birmingham now eliminated from playoff contention. Oakland, at 4-9 is still mathematically alive, but the odds are heavily stacked against them to overtake all 3 clubs at 6-7.

A lot of stadium news to discuss, with good news as the USFL continues to work with local partners and the NFL on stadium projects, and some bad news as well. Starting off, a reminder that in either 2001 or 2002 three USFL clubs are expected to relocated to new shared NFL-USFL stadiums. Pittsburgh’s newly named Heinz Field will be home to both the Maulers and the Steelers, with the Maulers making the jump to the new facility for Spring 2002. In Houston, the Gamblers get first crack at the new stadium, opening in March for the USFL season, while the Denver Gold will spend 2001 playing up the road in Boulder at the University of Colorado before moving into a new Mile High Stadium, still seeking a corporate sponsor for naming rights, to be completed in time for the 2001 Broncos fall season.

News of another 2002 move as the Michigan Panthers have announced a deal with the Detroit Lions and the City of Detroit to relocate from the Pontiac Silverdome to the new Ford Field in downtown Detroit. Seattle may be close to a similar deal with the new CenturyLink Stadium, set to open in Fall of 2002, so the 2002 season may be the last for the Dragons at Husky Stadium. Details and final approval on that deal are still pending, but look promising.

In Philadelphia, the buzz is about a new stadium downtown that will be home to the Eagles and Stars and should be completed in Fall of 2003, with the Stars calling it home for the 2004 season. The construction timeline may require the Stars to relocate to Franklin Field in 2003, although that has not yet been confirmed.

The City of Chicago hopes to have renovations completed on Soldier Field in time for the 2003 USFL season, with both the Machine and the Bears contributing to the expenditure. Initial designs call for a somewhat futuristic structure to be built within the skeleton of the venerable stonework frame of the current stadium.

The news is not so good in Memphis, where voters rejected a $150 million bond initiative to renovate the Liberty Bowl. One of the older stadiums in the league, the Liberty Bowl plan called for expanded endzone seating as well as addition of 20 luxury suites. The measure fell by a 52-47 vote, leaving the future of the Showboat’s stadium situation in some doubt and prompting concerns that Memphis could be a team targeted by investment groups from other cities, particularly Nashville, for relocation.

In Jacksonville, a bond vote similar to the Memphis vote, is on the ballot for the fall, and could lead to a complete demolition and redesign of the Gator Bowl. The USFL has promised the city a Summer Bowl between 2005-2009 if a new stadium is approved, and the University of Florida has even agreed to host 1 showcase game per year in the stadium if constructed. Early polling has the measure likely to pass as the city and county embrace their USFL franchise like few markets do.

Orlando has recently renewed their stadium deal with the Citrus Bowl, and will share the venue with the University of Central Florida for at least the next 10 years according to sources within the team. The new deal will list the Renegades as the primary tenant from January through August, with UCF taking on primary position from September through December, an early sticking point in negotiations that seems to have been worked out.

Finally, a grass roots initiative in Portland to build a new stadium seems to be struggling to get support. Local organizers are using the threat of Phil Knight’s anticipated sale of his minority shares, and potential majority sale of the Thunder to an external buyer as a tactic to drum up local support for a new stadium, but the movement seems to be struggling to gain ground with local politicians and residents, many of whom see the expense of a new stadium as unwelcome, particularly for a club whose ownership includes some of the wealthiest residents of the state. Should Thunder fans be nervous that their 34,000 seat stadium and lack of local support for a new facility could cost them their club altogether? It seems reasonable for these fears to develop as Portland joins Memphis and perhaps St. Louis as teams with considerable stadium hurdles and ownership groups likely to be open to conversations about sale and relocation.

Week 14 could be decisive for some clubs on the fringe of the playoff. We have divisional games in the Eastern Conference and inter-divisional play in the West. In the Atlantic, the big game is Washington at Ohio, with both clubs hoping to clinch a spot with a win and some losses in the South. Philadelphia is in New Jersey with the Generals hoping to play spoilers against their rivals. Pittsburgh is in Baltimore, where the Blitz are hoping they can still make a run at the division crown.

In the South, Jacksonville and Orlando clash in the Citrus Bowl, with the Bulls very much needing a win to stave off the Bandits and hoping Ohio stumbles, as right now both the Bulls and Bandits are out of the playoff picture. Tampa Bay hosts Birmingham, who were eliminated this week. Can they avoid an upset and get back to .500? Memphis hosts Atlanta, which won the “Draft Bowl” against Portland this week, and by doing so, assured that they are not getting the #1 pick for a second straight year.

A great game in Denver this week, though likely a low-scoring one as the Knights and Gold clash at Mile High. Both clubs sport top 5 defenses and both want this win to help secure their divisional leads. Meanwhile, New Orleans, losers of 2 straight, are in Arizona, where the inconsistent Wranglers need to show they are gearing up for playoff football. LA hopes they stumble as the Express sit a game back at 6-7 and are at home against 3-win Texas. Also at 6-7 we find the Chicago Machine, facing off against Oakland this week by the bay, and Michigan, who have a very tough game at Seattle on Saturday. Finally, in what looks like another “Draft Bowl” the 3-10 Houston Gamblers visit Portland to face the 1-win Thunder as rumors of Coach Roy Willsey’s possible resignation in the air.