Two overtime games, another settled on the last second of regulation, offensive fireworks, defensive battles, this week had a lot of drama and a lot to go over. Philadelphia for a 2nd week in a row edges a division opponent in our Game of the Week, Jake Plummer’s legs help power Arizona to a win, Denver and New Orleans get defensive, while LA and St. Louis combine for 70 points. Comebacks, blowouts, wild finishes. Quite a week in the USFL.
Another thriller featuring the resurgent Philadelphia Stars, this one not decided until overtime. In a game that saw Bobby Hebert throw for 393 without throwing a single touchdown and saw Terrell Davis rush for 142 without a single rushing TD, this game was an odd one, but a really fun watch. Charlie Batch threw for 3 scores and it was Philly’s run game that kept them in this one, scoring 4 TDs on the day despite their two big backs averaging only 2.5 and 1.8 yards per carry all game.
Pittsburgh started things off with their first drive of the game, using Davis runs to set up an eventual TD on play action as Charlie Batch hit Andre Rison for 6 from the 22-yard line. Philly responded in an almost mirror version, with Hebert’s passing moving the ball down the field before Stephen Davis scored the TD on the ground, a rumbling 17-yard run on 3rd and 2.
Pittsburgh rounded out the first quarter with a Rian Lindell field goal, but on their very next drive the Stars took their first lead of the game as Davis ran in a 2nd TD, this time a plunge from 1 yard out. With both defenses struggling to deal with their opponent’s offenses, Pittsburgh stormed right back, Batch hitting Rison for his 2nd score of the day. Add a Jeff Jaeger field goal with 17 seconds left and you go to the half with a very entertaining 17-17 tie game.
Stephen Davis added his 3rd TD, a 9-yard run, on Philadelphia’s first drive of the second half, and after trading field goals, the Stars took a 27-20 lead into the 4th. It would take Pittsburgh 3 drives before they finally got in scoring position with just under 2 minutes left to play. Charlie Batch would again connect with his top receiver Andre Rison (6 catches for 93 yards) and Rison would produce his third TD of the game as Pittsburgh tied the score at 27. Philadelphia would try to kick a game winning 56-yard field goal as time expired but the ball tailed off to the right and the game went to an extra period.
Pittsburgh got the ball first in the extra period, but a good play on a 3rd and 5 throw by CB Reggie Givens forced the Maulers to punt. The Stars got the ball on their own 17 and proceeded to pick apart the Mauler defense, mostly on short passes from Hebert to Troy Brown (7 catches for 130 yards), Eric Green, and Marcus Pollard. The winning play was a quick draw to backup HB Pat Chaffey, who raced into the Mauler secondary and just edged the ball over the endline as he was tackled. It took a couple of minutes of review, but eventually the referee raised his hands to signal touchdown and the game was over, much to the delight of the Stars faithful.
With the win, Coach Mora has the Stars at 3-2 and a surprise contender in the Atlantic. The loss drops the Maulers to a very disappointing 1-4, with all eyes pointed to the Mauler defense, which was expected to be among the league elites this year, but which is currently 14th in points allowed and a woeful 24th of 24 clubs in yards allowed. Coach Thomas is going to have to make some adjustments if the Maulers have any shot at recovering from this poor start.
CHI 19 POR 13 OT
The second overtime game of the week saw Portland almost pull out their first win of the season in dreary conditions, only to allow a game-tying score with 20 seconds to play and then a huge George to Johnnie Morton TD pass in overtime to secure their 5th consecutive loss to open the season. Neither team looked good in the steady rain in Portland, with Jeff George throwing 3 picks and Portland’s Akili Smith completing only 13 passes for 157. The backs too struggled to keep their footing, but when it counted, George found one of Chicago’s new receivers and stole a win on the road to move to 4-1.
TEX 17 OAK 16
The Outlaws managed to earn their first win of the season as a last second Tim Seder field goal was enough to edge the homestanding Invaders. Ryan Leaf had found success throwing to Plaxico Burress (5 for 112) and Ed McCaffrey (7 for 92) but every time they got to the redzone things fell apart. For Texas, starter Reggie Cobb struggled (18 carries for 46 yards) but when spelled by Audrey Detson they found more success (10 carries for 62 yards). Not a pretty win, but Texas will take the W all the same.
ORL 24 JAX 29
The Bulls raced out to a 29-10 lead and then withstood a 4th quarter comeback attempt from Orlando to earn their 4th win of the season. Kenny Bynum came on in relief of a dinged-up Sedrick Irvin and rushed 19 times for 95 yards and 2 Jacksonville touchdowns. For Orlando, Keenan McCardell’s 2 scores were too little too late as the Bulls move into first place in the South.
TBY 23 BIR 21
In a tight rivalry game, the Bandits got back into winning ways as Troy Aikman hit Tai Streets for the winning score in the 4th to upend the homestanding Stallions. Errict Rhett carried the ball 24 times for 74 yards on the day and Streets stepped up with 92 yards receiving as the Stallions double covered Randy Moss all day, limiting him to 3 catches for only 27 yards. Two stallion turnovers, including a late Rodney Thomas fumble, helped Tampa Bay hold the lead and take the win.
MEM 10 ATL 13
Five sacks of Heath Shuler and a defense that held Garrison Hearst to only 30 yards rushing were huge factors in Atlanta’s second upset home win of the season. Rookie Marc Bulger came up huge, getting the start when Aaron Brooks went down in practice this week. The former Mountaineer went 20 of 33 for 191 yards and the Fire’s only touchdown, a 25-yarder to Mathis. The result leaves both Atlanta and Memphis at 2-3, part of a 4-club clump with that record in the division.
MGN 24 ARZ 31
Another huge day for Jake Plummer running the ball. The Wrangler QB threw for only 228 and 1 score but ran in 3 more touchdowns on a combination of scrambles and bootlegs. He finished the day with 12 carries, leading the club. Is this sustainable? Probably not, but it got Arizona a win over the Panthers, despite 103 yards from Natrone Means and a 316-yard passing day from Doug Flutie.
NOR 14 DEN 17
It was a clash of top defenses as the Gold edged the Breakers on a late 4th quarter Jimmie Johnson TD. Denver limited Ricky Williams to 69 yards rushing, but New Orleans did the same, holding Rashaan Salaam to only 42 yards as both clubs cued in on the run all day. The key play in the game was a 3rd and 9 late in the 4th when the Breakers thought they got off the field on a missed pass to Marco Battaglia, but a flag on the field brought the Gold a first down thanks to a questionable Roughing call against LB Robert Hinkley for a low hit on Brunell. Two plays later Brunell hit Johnson for the winning score.
HOU 17 SEA 30
Matt Hasselbeck continued to struggle as the Gamblers’ starter and was pulled for Chuck Hartlieb in the final period as Seattle, starting rookie Giovannie Carmazzi for an ill Brian Griese, played conservatively, and leaned heavily on Corey Dillon (26 carries for 108 yards) and their defense to get the job done against a pretty anemic Houston offense.
STL 40 LA 30
The offenses were both way ahead of the defenses in this one as the two clubs went back and forth all day. Cade McNown threw for 3 scores, as did Todd Collins. LA’s Mike Pritchard racked up 154 yards receiving while Collins spread the ball to 9 different receivers as the Knights did just enough on defense to earn the win.
WSH 3 BAL 14
In a game that saw only 580 combined yards between two defensive clubs, Baltimore made more of their few chances, getting touchdowns from Mike Cloud and a pick six from Tyrone Bell to knock off the Federals. Scott Zolak struggled with the Blitz’s, well, blitzes, sacked 5 times and picked off on 3 plays, including the key defensive score. Meanwhile, both Ron Dayne and Barry Word struggled to get yards against two tough front sevens.
OHI 47 NJ 23
The Glory got back to their early season scoring form against a Generals’ defense that has struggled all year. Ohio had over 500 yards of offense as Kerry Collins threw for 339 and 3 scores while Darrell Thompson, who played most of the 2nd half after Eddie George tweaked an ankle, rushed for 104 yards on only 12 carries. Add in 185 and 2 scores from Joey Galloway, 118 from Qadry Ismail and you can see how this game got away from New Jersey.
Pittsburgh not only lost a heartbreaker this week, but also lost one of their best defenders when CB Bobby Taylor ruptured his achilles tendon. He will be placed on IR and will be out indefinitely. Memphis’s star TE Adrian Cooper could miss 2 weeks or more with a hip injury that took him out of the game this week. Sedrick Irvin was pulled from the Bulls’ game and could miss 1-2 more with a groin pull (ouch!). Natrone Means is listed as doubtful for Michigan after his heavy work load led to some concerns about his hamstring. Houston may have to go with Chuck Hartlieb for a 2nd week after Matt Hasselbeck’s pull from the game turned out to not be entirely a coach’s decision. Hasselbeck had a pinched nerve in his shoulder which has still not fully resolved. Denver could be without LB Kurt Gouveia as the veteran pulled up short on a pursuit with an apparent hamstring injury. And finally, New Orleans’s veteran DE Jerry Reese is likely to miss 1-2 weeks thanks to a fractured collarbone.
TRANSACTIONS
PIT: Placed CB Bobby Taylor on IR, Signed CB Chris Watson
QB SHUFFLE
Well, it has begun, the annual shuffling of the quarterbacks among the league’s struggling teams. The first move came where we expected it to, the 0-5 Thunder, when Portland promoted veteran Rick Mirer to start over struggling 2nd year player Akili Smith on Tuesday. We also saw a shift in Houston, where former Todd Collins understudy Jim Miller will get the Week 6 start for the 1-5 Gamblers. Miller will replace Matt Hasselbeck who started the first 5 games, but who was knocked out of this week’s game. Chuck Hartlieb took over for Hasselbeck, but appears to be on the outs with Coach Willsey, and may soon be trade material. Speaking of potential trade bait, Jon Kitna is none too happy about being benched for Brian Griese in Seattle, and is pushing for a trade to have a shot at starting again. Other players who should be worried about getting the hook include Aaron Brooks in Atlanta (58.1 QBR and only 46.6% completion rate), Scott Zolak in Washington (79 QBR and a 4-5 TD-INT ratio), and possibly even Kelly Stouffer in Texas, who is suffering through an uncharacteristic spell in which he has thrown 6 picks to 5 TDs this year and completed only 56.8% of his throws. A veteran like Jon Kitna, or even displaced former starters like Eric Zeier, Spence Fischer, or Chuck Hartlieb could be seen as a midseason replacement for any of these struggling starters if the terms are right.
RUNNING TO GLORY
Nope, not another article about the surge in carries and success among USFL running backs, this is a story about QB Jake Plummer of the Arizona Wranglers, who, for the 3rd time this year was the leading rusher for his Wrangler squad. It is certainly not entirely desired by Plummer or his head coach Art Shell, but with Tim Lester and Leeland MacElroy not producing a consistent run game, and with Plummer often opting to scramble, it has become a reality for the Wranglers.
Plummer is the leading rusher for the Wranglers with 266 yards over 5 games, which also includes 5 TDs. Compare that with a 5-game total of only 190 for Lester and 89 yards for MacElroy, and you can see why the Wranglers are not ready to give up on the plays Plummer is making with his feet. The good news for the Wranglers is that the tendency to run to daylight has not made Plummer a less effective passer, actually quite the opposite. Plummer’s current 107.2 rating is his highest of any season to date and includes a 9-1 TD-INT ratio, far better than what we are accustomed to seeing from the former ASU Sun Devil. So, for Coach Shell, and for Jake the Snake himself, perhaps the constant bootlegs, waggles, and scrambles are actually working to his favor. The question, of course, is whether this puts him at higher risk for injury, and the jury is still out on that.
WHITHER THE PASS RUSH?
Not as an overall trend but as the forte of the Houston Gamblers, the pass rush is not what we saw last year. Yes, Kavika Pittman is back from injury, and yes, the combo with Michael Sinclair is still something that offensive coordinators have to game plan for, but so far this year the combo has a reasonable 10 combined sacks, not bad overall, but not the numbers they put up last year. The problem seems to be twofold. First, the offense is not performing well at all (21st in both the run and the pass) and that means that the Houston defense is being asked to spend a lot of time on the field, and deal with a lot of plays, something that always leads to a wearing down of the pass rush. Secondly, the Gambler defense has not been as effective against the run, 18th in the league with a 122 yards per game average. What that means is that neither Sinclair nor Pittman can pin back their ears and go 100% for the QB. They have to deal with the run game because they are seeing a lot more of it. This combination of more plays on the field and more run calls against them means that the pure pass rush strength of this defense is not manifesting. That could be a real issue for Houston all year, especially if they allow teams to build up leads on them and use the run even more in later stages of games.
BAD ATTITUDE
Following this week’s loss to the winless Outlaws, a clearly upset Ryan Leaf went a bit far in a post-game tirade, to the tune of $30,000. The USFL fined Leaf for a profanity-laced tirade that sounded like a festival of bleeps when it aired on ESPN. Leaf is apparently upset at everything from the play calling of Coach Capers, to the protection (or lack thereof) from his line, and even to the ability of his receivers to get open. This last one seems particularly odd as both veteran Ed McCaffrey and rookie Plaxico Burress have had back to back strong games, the two combining for 204 yards this week against Texas.
The only person Leaf does not seem to blame is himself, despite the fact that even in his best season (his rookie year) he completed only 55.6% of his passes. Of course, in that first season he threw 43 TDs to only 17 picks, while last year, in an injury-shortened 10-game season, Leaf threw 11 picks to 11 TDs. This year his ratio stands at 5-2, but overall the Invader offense has been less than stellar, ranked 18th in passing. Coach Capers has stressed the run game (currently 2nd in the league at 127 yards per game) and we have seen much better numbers for the combo of Siran Stacy and Troy Davis, who have combined for 596 yards in 5 games, but this does not seem to be of interest to Leaf, who seems far more concerned that he is facing criticism not only for his on-field decision making, but for some of his extracurricular activities in the Bay Area. It seems that the limited media focus which playing for the Invaders requires may be getting to the young QB. Tirades in the locker room are not winning him much loyalty among his teammates, and not making him any friends either in the media or among an already unsatisfied Invader fan base.
It took a little longer than expected, but the TV arrangements for the next 5 years are finally set. As anticipated there will be a 4th broadcast partner for the league as NBC joins the existing arrangements with FOX, ABC, and ESPN as broadcasting partners. The league carved out a 1-game per week option for the new network by reducing the ABC/ESPN deal and restructuring to allow for greater exposure across all platforms. They did this by moving a game from the Saturday afternoon slot to create a unique Friday Night game for NBC. In the new arrangement NBC will broadcast a weekly “Friday Night Lights” game each week at 8pm Eastern time, ESPN will retain its “Saturday Night Football” broadcast, ABC will have the rights to a 5 game slate on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and FOX will have both a 4-game slate on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and the weekly finale, their “Fox Football Night in America” game at 7pm Eastern Time each Sunday. That gives NBC and ESPN one game each week and ABC and FOX 5 games each week.
The rights to the Summer Bowl will remain with ABC for the next 3 seasons, before an alternating format between ABC and FOX is put into place beginning with FOX carrying their first Summer Bowl in 2004. NBC will have rights to air 1 game in both the Wild Card and Divisional rounds, while ABC/ESPN and Fox will split the remaining Wild Card, Divisional, and Conference Championship games.
The combined 3 deals are expected to bring the USFL nearly $3 Billion in revenue over the 5 year contract, roughly $600 million per year, not quite in the same category as the NFL but second only to the fall league among sports broadcasting revenue, surpassing Major League Baseball and the NBA for the first time.
An intriguing aspect of the contracts is that in the event that the USFL would reduce its regular season from 16 to 14 games, as has been proposed in the past and as is being considered by a subcommittee of ownership, the contract would not show a 1/8th contraction in value as one might expect, but only a 1/15th contraction in value, meaning that the revenue per game broadcast would actually go up in the 14 game format while the overall revenue would shrink. Competition for night games and for the highly-watched playoff games seems to have driven this advantageous aspect of the deal for the league.
The deal goes into effect for the 2001 season, meaning the opening game of the regular season will be the first NBC broadcast in league history. No news on broadcast teams from NBC yet, but most fans expect the broadcasters to come out of the network’s NFL pool, though do not rule out the league bringing in members of their Notre Dame and other college football broadcast teams. From our perspective, we would love to see the team of Greg Gumbell and Phil Simms, or perhaps Dick Enberg and Verne Lundquist call games, but with NBC also having former USFL head coach Sam Wyche, former QB Todd Blackledge, and former USFL Special Teams ace Steve Tasker available, we may see a new combo on the broadcasts. They could also bring in former Bandit Chris Collinsworth from their Notre Dame and college broadcasts, or former LA Express TE Todd Christensen.
Week 6 brings us back out West for divisional games as Chicago and New Orleans will face off in the Super Dome in one of the most unanticipated battles of 4-1 clubs we may have ever seen. It’s a clash to see who is the bigger Cinderella story between these two clubs. In other Central Division action, desperation is the name of the game when 1-4 Houston visits their in-state rival, the 1-4 Texas Outlaws. Michigan will be in St. Louis in a pivotal game for both clubs trying to keep pace with the surprising Machine and Breakers squads.
A good Pacific clash as Arizona heads to the coast to play LA. A bit less drama when Denver heads to Portland and Seattle hosts Oakland as both the Gold and Dragons are 7-point favorites to take those games.
In the Eastern Conference it is the Atlantic visiting the South, with some intriguing matchups on the docket. Baltimore clashes with 3-2 Orlando in a big game in the Citrus Bow, while Memphis hopes that home cooking can help them even their record at 3-3 when they face the Federals. Birmingham is in a similar boat, facing the surprising Philadelphia Stars at Legion Field. Ohio hopes they can move to 4-2 with a win in Atlanta when these two 1995 expansion clubs meet. Tampa Bay hopes their home game against the Generals leads to a win and a 3-3 record, while Pittsburgh is reeling and now has to head to 4-1 Jacksonville to face a red hot Bulls team.
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