2001 USFL Week 6 Recap: Brady Pulls Out Miracle Win

Orlando remains undefeated, Michigan and Atlanta winless, and Bobby Petrino feeling the heat. A huge win for the Arizona Wranglers as they knock off LA, and a big win for Chicago as well as they try to move up in the Central. Our game of the week was a great one between two teams with very different futures in front of them. Tom Brady continues to impress as the unheralded QB from Michigan helps the Generals upend the Bandits with a last minute drive.

It’s a tale of two teams going in very different directions. It was planned as a “homecoming” game for Troy Aikman, with the Bandits coming to town to face their former All-USFL QB, but back-to-back concussions landed Aikman on IR and his future in football very much in question, so what we got was a team that dominated the league, racing to a title only 2 years ago thanks to an unstoppable offense, but now seemingly flailing to find an identity. Across the field we get a team in New Jersey in what appears to be an ascendency, sitting at 4-1 and looking very much like a contender under Bill Parcells and with the unexpected quality of an unheralded late round draft pick at QB in former Wolverine Tom Brady. Tampa seemingly on their way down the standings while New Jersey is surging.

Jersey's New QB Tom Brady

The game too was a tale of different trajectories. New Jersey started off strong, bolstered by a crowd of nearly 55,000 in the Meadowlands. New Jersey, after giving up a field goal on Tampa’s first drive, would score 7 on two consecutive drives, the first thanks to a Brady to Terry Glenn 20-yarder, and the second with Brady hitting the diminutive slot receiver Wayne Chrebet from the 3. In the second quarter Tampa Bay, led by veteran Trent Green, could only add a second field goal, while New Jersey got both a Neil Rackers kick and a third TD, this time on the ground as Curtis Enis burst to the pylon from the 5-yard line.

Down 24-6 at the half, things did not look good for Tampa Bay, but Coach Seifert was not ready to concede the game quite yet. He changed up his defense at the half, spreading the linemen to provide better angles to Brady. The strategy led to a few solid runs from Enis and backup Olandis Gary, but also kept Brady under pressure. The result, along with a shift away from a run game that only averaged 1.3 yards per carry, was some quick success. Tampa added a 3rd field goal, and then followed that up with three consecutive TD drives, all the while containing the Generals offense. Trent Green first hit backup HB Travis Prentice on a short pass that ended up going 55 yards for a score. He then turned to the best player on the Bandit offensive roster, hitting Randy Moss with a TD to bring the Bandits back to within 22-24.

Tampa again stymied Brady and the Generals, getting the ball back with just over 2:20 on the clock. Only 5 plays later, Randy Moss again found the endzone and suddenly the Generals’ faithful were silenced, sitting in stunned silence as Mike Vanderjagt kicked the PAT to put Tampa Bay up 29-24 with only 1 minute left on the clock.

The Bandits kicked the ball deep, but New Jersey got a good return from Ahmad Merrit, placing the ball at the 31 with just under 1 minute to play and 69 yards from paydirt. While some fans seemed resigned to the loss, the same was not felt on the sideline as Tom Brady took the offense out on the field. On first and 10 he found Chrebet over the middle for 11. Time Out. 1st and 10 again, 49 seconds. Brady finds Terry Glenn 17 yards downfield, but the defender whiffs on the tackle and Glenn adds another 20 yards before the safety pushes him out. 40 seconds left, and New Jersey is now on the Tampa Bay 20, time for some shots in the endzone. On first down Brady tries for Chrebet on an out pattern, but the ball is just a little too far outside. On 2nd down he is forced to scramble and throw the ball away. 29 seconds left. 3rd and 10 from just outside the 20. Brady stares down the safety, pushing him towards Glenn, then shifts his attention to Kevin Johnson, in single coverage, and lofts a perfect laser to the speedy receiver. Touchdown New Jersey!!! The Generals go for 2, and fail, but the damage is done. 23 seconds to play and the Generals have pulled out a stunning comeback.

Tampa would handle the squib kick from Rackers, but the drive never had a chance. New Jersey moved to 5-1, Tampa fell to 1-5, and Coach Parcells may have just answered his QB question as the 2nd year Brady, in only his 3rd start as a pro led New Jersey to a miracle comeback and first place in the Atlantic Division.

NOR 24 CHI 31

A really fun game at Soldier Field on Friday night kicked off the weekend of USFL action. Jeff George throws for 301 and 2 scores but Bobby Hoying of the Breakers has his best game of the season in relief of Trent Dilfer, throwing for 3 scores and nearly pulling off the road win. Chicago got a late TD from HB Adrian Murrell, and a game-ending sack of Hoying by LB Keith Brooking helps the machine move to 4-2.

TEX 14 HOU 32

The new look offense of the Houston Gamblers once again proves fatal as Houston takes the home game in their rivalry series with Texas. Matt Hasselbeck continues to show growth, throwing for 319 and 3 scores, which Houston needed as their run game managed only 25 total yards. Texas struggled largely because Jeff Lewis was knocked out of the game with what looked like a shoulder injury early in the 3rd. Tommy Maddox simply could not do much after coming in for Lewis.

STL 34 MGN 13

The St. Louis defense feasts on the inexperienced Drew Brees, sacking the rookie 4 times and limiting Michigan to only 37 yards rushing. Ahman Green supplied all the offense the Knights needed, rushing for 124 and 3 scores as Michigan simply did not have an answer and fall to a woeful 0-6.

LA 14 ARZ 41

The Wranglers remain red hot, scoring 40 yet again as they manhandle the LA defense. Jake Plummer was all over the field, throwing for 201 and 2 scores and then rushing for 2 more TDs as the Wranglers blew past the Express. In defeat, Tory Holt continued to shine for LA, catching 4 passes for 121, but it was not near enough as the Wranglers move to 4-2.

POR 31 DEN 41

The Thunder offense looked solid, but the defense let them down as Denver got 3 TDs from Mark Brunell and another 2 from their backup HBs. Rod Smart found plenty of holes in the Thunder run defense, rushing for 123 on 22 carries, including a 34-yard touchdown run that electrified the Gold faithful.

SEA 31 OAK 21

The Dragons move to 3-3 thanks to a very solid 328 yard, 4 TD game from Brian Griese. Jon Kitna got the start for Oakland and was 6 of 8, but went down to injury, and that meant Ryan Leaf came in. Leaf again looked shaky, throwing 2 picks and completing only 46.7% of his passes. The Oakland defense just did not have a good game either, letting up not only Griese’s big yards but also 118 yards to Corey Dillon.

ATL 10 OHI 38

Eddie George came back for the Glory and while he was limited to only 36 yards, it opened up the game for Kerry Collins and the Glory offense. Chad Johnson and Qadry Ismael combined for 187 yards receiving on the day. Atlanta’s offense continued to struggle with Mark Bulger at the helm, and now Coach Petrino is 1 game away from the ultimatum. A win against Jacksonville next week is said to be the only way that Petrino finishes out a 2nd season in Atlanta, a team that simply does not look ready to compete each week.

BIR 36 PHI 29

Brett Favre hit Lawrence Dawsey for two long TD’s in the first quarter, but Philly came back on them before a late Shaun Alexander TD helped Birmingham get the big time win and move to 4-2. Philly falls to 4-2 with the home loss, but got a great game from Stephen Davis (117 yards). Three Bobby Hebert picks may just have cost the Stars the comeback win in this one. Tory James nabbed 2 of them, both on throws seeking Bobby Engram.

JAX 28 PIT 48

The Jacksonville defense continues to be a disaster, perhaps giving Atlanta and Bobby Petrino hope for next week. The Bulls gave up 408 yards to the Maulers, including 2 scoring runs by Terrell Davis and 3 TDs to Charlie Batch. TE Alge Crumpler was the big target for Batch, catching 4 balls for 108 yards and 2 TDs for the Maulers, who move to 2-4 with the home win.

MEM 21 WSH 31

This battle of top flight clubs was a Sunday Night cherry on the top of this week’s USFL sundae. The game was 24-21 Washington with Memphis driving, but a fumble by Tony Carter gave the ball to Washington with just over 1:30 to play. The Feds faked out everyone, with Stewart faking the ball to Tim Lester (playing for the injured McCallister and playing well with 72 yards rushing). Stewart kept the ball, bootlegged right and was all alone, racing down the field for a 67 yard TD run that put the game out of reach and earned Washington their 5th win on the year.

ORL 36 BAL 10

We expected a close defensive battle in this one, but the Renegades jumped on the Blitz early and made Baltimore one dimensional. Scott Mitchell connected with Ricky Dudley and Donald Driver for scores and the run game added 2 more as the Renegades put the Blitz away early, causing them to give up on the run (Ron Dayne held to 11 yards). Orlando remains unbeaten and has a big game next week against a pretty good Birmingham squad in Legion Field.

TEAM RANKINGS

Six weeks into the season and we thought it would be a good time to explore some of the team rankings and see what stands out. We looked at some of the most commonly-cited stats on a per-game basis and here is what we see:

Points per game: 1-Arizona 34 2-Ohio 32 3-Orlando 31.8 4-Memphis 31… …22-Oakland 16.3 23-Atlanta 11.3 24-Michigan 10.3

First thing to note, that is a huge disparity between Arizona and Michigan, nearly 24 points per game of difference. And, as one would expect, all 4 of the top offenses have winning records while the bottom 3 are among the worst teams in the league, including two winless teams. Now, let’s take a look at defenses.

Points Allowed: 1-Orlando 10.8 2-Memphis 16.5 3-New Jersey 17.2 4-Arizona 18.3 … … 22-Atlanta 31.5 23-Michigan 32.2 24-Jacksonville 38.

No shocker here, the one undefeated team in the league is not only a Top 3 offense but the league’s #1 scoring defense, creating a very comfortable 20 point margin of victory for the Renegades. Meanwhile, Atlanta and Michigan struggle on this side of the ball also and Jacksonville’s poor start is clearly the fault of a truly miserable defensive showing. One more Turnovers.

Turnover Difference: 1-Los Angeles +12 2-New Orleans +11 3-Orlando +9 4-Pittsburgh +9 … … 22-Memphis -5 23-Jacksonville -6 24-Baltimore -6.

Orlando again at the top of the rankings, and we also see how LA has managed to have a successful start to their season. We see Jacksonville again struggling, and we get a hint as to why Memphis and Baltimore have fallen a bit behind the leaders in their respective divisions. An interesting portrait of where things stand, and we will leave you with just a few more items to mull over.

Top Rushing Clubs: 1-WSH 2-LA 3-DEN 4-SEA 5-NJ

Top Passing Clubs: 1-OHIO 2-BIR 3-JAX 4-MEM 5-DEN

Top Rush Defense: 1-ORL 2-NJ 3-BAL 4-PIT 5-ARZ

Top Pass Defense: 1-ORL 2-LA 3-HOU 4-MEM 5-OAK

Based on all the statistics, it seems Orlando is very much going to make a serious run at a title this year. Hard to argue with their success on both sides of the ball.

Baltimore loses one of their best pass rushers, potentially for the year as Andre Wadsworth suffered a pretty gruesome wrist injury. His hand was bent underneath him and it was visually apparent that he was unable to move his hand afterwards as it hung limply. There is certain tendon and ligament damage and we expect Wadsworth to be placed on IR as soon as the imaging results and diagnosis are complete.

Outside of the Wadsworth injury, the week was relatively good one from an injury perspective. Several players are expected to miss a game or two, but no other season-ending injuries. Among those with short term issues we see Atlanta wideout Terrance Mathis (1-2 weeks, jaw), Michigan LB Andy Katzenmoyer (1-2 weeks, finger), Chicago LB Tommy Polly (1-2 weeks, knee), and Oakland QB Ryan Leaf (1-2 weeks, deep thigh bruise). Santana Dotson, Tampa’s best pass rusher is likely out this week only with a nerve pinch in his lower back, while Portland will be without Napoleon Kaufmann due to a displaced thumb.

It’s an all divisional week in Week 7 and you know we love that. Let’s look at each game in turn.

Friday Night

Denver (3-3) @ Seattle (3-3): Two teams expected to compete for the title but both trailing LA and Arizona. Neither can afford to lose this one.

Saturday Afternoon

New Jersey (5-1) @ Washington (5-1): A game no one expected to be a division title clash, but that is what we have. Two very aggressive pass rushes and two teams hoping to put their mark on the Atlantic right now.

Jacksonville (1-5) @ Atlanta (0-6): The Petrino Bowl. Win and he gets 9 more weeks. Lose and he is out. How is that for pressure? Jacksonville has a horrible defense, Atlanta an incompetent offense. Which will prove to be worse?

Michigan (0-6) @ Texas (2-4): A game the Outlaws should win, but Michigan is a cornered animal and that could be a problem. Of course, they are more of a cornered bunny than a wolverine, so perhaps not a problem after all.

Houston (3-3) @ New Orleans (3-3): A big match for both clubs. Will Dilfer be back? We expected him this week but he was a game time scratch. Will Houston find offensive success against a Breaker D that has not been as tough as last year after several free agency losses.

Saturday Night

Orlando (6-0) @ Birmingham (4-2): If anyone is going to slow down the Renegades it might be these Stallions and QB Brett Favre, backed by potentially 60,000 rowdy Alabamians (Alabamers? Alabama-ites?)

Sunday Afternoon

Baltimore (3-3) @ Philadelphia (4-2): A game worthy of a prime time slot, but stuck at 12pm on Sunday, it is the afternoon game to watch as the Stars and Blitz will certainly slug it out in this battle of divisional rivals.

Ohio (3-3) @ Pittsburgh (2-4): If the Glory are going to get into the fight in the Atlantic, they have to win this one. Eddie George says he is now close to 100%, and that could be exactly what the Glory need.

Tampa Bay (1-5) @ Memphis (4-2): The Showboats are hoping that home cooking will help them get the W, and that Orlando finally slips. Tampa Bay is just hoping to find a defensive strategy that works after another tough loss this week.

Arizona (4-2) @ Oakland (1-5): We are not sure yet if Jon Kitna will get the start again or if rookie Marques Tuiasosopo gets his first start with Leaf out due to a deep thigh bruise. Does it really matter? Jake Plummer and the Wranglers have got their offense humming along even without Dorsey Levins.

Los Angeles (4-2) @ Portland (2-4): Life does not get easier for the Thunder as they get crushed by Denver and now face an angry Express club trying to keep pace atop the Pacific Division.

Sunday Night

Chicago (4-2) @ St. Louis (5-1): This one is bitter even when the two clubs are not playing well, now, with both of them looking very solid, this could be epic. Brian Urlacher and Keith Brooking vs. Kevin Hardy and Na’il Diggs in a battle of dynamic linebackers.