A huge week 14 in one of the most balanced seasons in league history. So many teams in playoff contention, so many jockeying for position, and at the same time a club shooting for a perfect 14-0 season. It all came down to one last week and a lot of key games to determine who was in, who was out, and who would snag division titles and a possible bye week to rest and heal. Let's get right to it.
Win and you’re in, lose and you’re out. It does not get simpler than that. It was basically a Week 14 play-in game and the Portland Thunder used home field to punch their ticket to an improbable playoff appearance. It was not easy as they trailed at the half 9-0, but 14 points in the 4th quarter helped the Thunder win the battle of Cinderella’s and guarantee a home playoff game next week as the Pacific Division Champion. Portland did it with both offense and defense, racking up 494 yards, including 156 on the ground, while the defense held Oakland to only 232 total yards.
What made it even more impressive is that Portland’s big comeback came after their starting QB, Akili Smith, was knocked out of the game in the 3rd quarter. Rick Mirer, who has seen very little action this year, stepped up, completing 13 of 21 and throwing 2 touchdowns in the final period to even the score at 17 and send the game to overtime. In the extra period, Jon Kitna got the ball into field goal range but in a stunning development, Joe Nedney missed on a 28-yarder from the 11 yard line. Nedney slipped on the approach and never fully got his leg into the kick. The miss deflated the Invaders and they offered little resistance as Portland quickly moved the ball into position for their own kicker, Carlos Huerta. The long-time Wrangler did not miss his shot, and Portland celebrated their play-in victory. They will play one more week at least, hosting a Wild Card matchup next week.
The Knights also knew that a win would equal a return to the playoffs for the 5th straight year (but their first as Nashville and not St. Louis. But to do so they would need to knock off the #1 seed in the West, a team that had not lost a game in the first 9 weeks of the season, but who had lost 2 game since then. It would not be easy. With 5 minutes left to play Memphis had a slim lead, 14-13 as both teams had played solid defense all day. Heath Shuler had thrown 2 TD passes and avoided any forced throws. Todd Collins had been content to dink and dunk, giving the ball to Ahman Green 27 times before the final drive.
In their final drive, Green would touch the ball only twice. Collins would throw it 7 times, and the final throw was the one that sent Nashville to the playoffs, a quick slant to Ahmad Merritt that gave Nashville a 19-14 lead. The Knights tried for 2 and failed, but when Memphis got the ball back, down 5, the Knights smothered the Showboat receivers and forced a poor 4-down sequence that ended with Rodney Harrison knocking the ball from the hands of Justin McCaerins on 4th and 6. Nashville was in the playoffs.
Another play-in game, the winner of this one would be guaranteed a playoff spot, potentially a division title and a bye. The loser could be out, depending on the result of the Denver-Houston game. Neither team could afford to risk the loss. Both played like they fully understood that. Jake Plummer did what Jake Plummer does, throwing and passing for a combined 350 yards (58 rushing, 292 in the air). The bigger surprise was the contribution of HB Chester Taylor. The rookie had not done much all year, but in this game he was the X-factor, rushing the ball 9 times for 90 yards including big runs of 33 and 29 yards.
Despite the best efforts of the Wranglers, the Outlaws locked the game up at 20 as time ran out, sending the matchup to overtime. Texas would get the ball first in the extra period, but they were stymied by a 3rd down sack from a blitzing Broderick Thomas, his only sack of the game. Arizona took the ball and moved the ball well. They only needed a field goal, but when TE O.J. Santiago broke free from a tackle at the 9-yard line the big receiver shuffled into the endzone and the walk off score. The Wranglers were in the playoffs. If Denver could beat Houston they would sneak into the division title. If not, they would be a Wild Card competitor. For Texas the situation was more drastic. If Denver upset Houston the Outlaws would be a low-seed Wild Card, but if Houston got the win, the Outlaws would fall from the division lead all the way out of the playoffs.
Houston’s game started just the Arizona-Texas game headed into overtime. By halftime they led the Gold 21-10, and they got the news they wanted, that Texas had lost. This meant that a win would mean not only the division title but a bye week to boot. Houston turned it on in the 2nd half, and the defense shut down Denver to allow the 21-point win. It was a good game for Matt Hasselbeck and Antonio Freeman, who combined for 130 yards and 2 scores. Hasselbeck would connect on 22 of 27 passes against a dispirited Gold team, completing passes to 9 different receivers. The win got the Gamblers the whole enchilada, a division crown, the 2nd seed in the playoffs, and that sweet. sweet bye week. And the cherry on top of their sundae is that they also knocked their arch rival, Texas, completely out of the playoffs.
Not quite as dramatic was the battle for the Southeastern title. Both Jacksonville and their downstate rival Orlando were already guaranteed a playoff spot. The game was to decide who would win the division and who would likely host a playoff game as a Wild Card. It was a good game, well played and with some big moments, but Jacksonville built up a 20-7 lead in the 3rd and played keepaway, slow rolling the 4th quarter and holding Orlando at arm’s length. Jake Delhomme, the league’s interception leader, avoided mistakes and threw 2 touchdowns to help lead Jacksonville. Joey Harrington had the kind of night that rookies sometimes have, forcing some throws and getting picked twice. Both clubs will be in the playoffs, but it will be Jacksonville getting the division title and the bye that comes with being the Eastern Conference’s 2nd seed.
It was not a game for a playoff spot, or even a division title, but it was a game that could send Ohio into the history books as the first club in USFL history to go unbeaten through an entire season. The Glory scored 17 in the 1st quarter and never looked back, cruising to victory and into the history books. Kerry Collins threw for 388 and 3 scores, allowing 3 different Glory receivers (Galloway, Johnson, and HB Eddie George) to go over 100 yards each. A great tuneup for the playoffs, and now a week to rest and plan for what they hope will be a 3-game run to a perfect season and a league title.
With Jacksonville’s win, the Northeast division winner would not have a bye, so New Jersey could win the division but would still play next week. The difference between winning the division and coming in as a Wild Card team would essentially be the difference between a Wild Card game at home vs. on the road. A win and the Generals would be home in the Meadowlands next week. New Jersey got a solid run game from the combo of Enis and Olandis Gary, and Tom Brady threw for 267 and 2 touchdowns. Philly, playing David Garrard at QB, fell behind early and while they played with spirit, they never truly pushed New Jersey in this one. The Generals would win the Northeast and prepare to host a game next week.
Blame it on scoreboard watching, but as New Jersey built a lead on Philly, Washington faded, and the Baltimore Blitz were more than happy to take out a season’s worth of frustrations by taking the Week 14 win against their arch rivals. Ron Dayne finished his season with a 128-yard performance, while Washington struggled to run the ball, with Deuce McCallister and Reuben Droughns combining for only 34 yards. If it were not for some scrambles by QB Kordell Stewart, the Feds would not have reached 100 yards of rushing for the day. Not a good way to end the year for a club that will be playing a tough road game next week in the Wild Card round.
ATL 15 TBY 34
The Atlanta Fire finish their 7 seasons in the USFL with a whimper as the Fire pack up for Boston with another loss and another year as the worst franchise in the league. Tampa Bay backup QB Kent Graham threw for 194 and 3 touchdowns, and backup HB Travis Prentice rushed for 111 as the Bandits cruised, despite a solid 151 yards for Tiki Barber, chasing a rushing title and offered 29 carries to do so.
CHI 14 PIT 17
In a game that meant nothing for the Machine, they rested players, played some vanilla ball, and basically did not seem all that perturbed when Pittsburgh took the lead. Chicago had players like Adrian Murell, Mike Bellamy, and Tony Cline get some snaps as they finish the year as the top Wild Card team. Next week they will have to crank it up again as they host a Wild Card game in Soldier Field.
BIR 20 NOR 17
The Breakers played their starters, in hopes that they could be the top seeded Wild Card and get a home game next week, but knowing that they likely had that seed even with a loss, the Breakers did not exactly break a sweat. Birmingham surprisingly started Brett Favre, who was rumored to have spoken to ownership about not wanting to snap his streak of consecutive starts. Favre threw for 316 in the victory, but also threw 2 picks, a problem that has plagued him the past few years. New Orleans hung in there, but were never very energetic. They will need to crank up the energy next week when they will, in fact, host a Wild Card game.
LA 33 SEA 3
An ugly game in an ugly season for the Dragons as they opted to start Giovanni Carmazzi, and, well, that was not a great move. Carmazzi threw 4 picks to the Express defense, including a pick-6 to Carnell Lake. LA started Quincy Carter, who would go 12 for 20 for 216 yards, but it was the foot of Steve Christie that provided most of the offense with 4 field goals. A game only a true diehard fan could watch, which might explain why the game drew only 9,530 to Seattle Stadium.
TEXAS FOLDS, AGAIN.
The Texas Outlaws have made the concept of the late season collapse an art form. No other team has such a rich history of leaping out to the front of the pack in their divsion and then slowly losing ground as the season progresses. We have seen it now with 3 different head coaches. Texas is in first place until a midsummer swoon causes them to drop all the way out of the playoffs. This year's version of the Texas Fold was one of the most painful yet as the loss of QB Ryan Leaf led to the 6-3-1 first place team to drop two in a row. But, a Week 13 win over in-state rival Houston put them back on top with one week to go. All they had to do was knock off the Wranglers at home in San Antonio and the Outlaws would claim the Southwest Division Title. But, this is Texas, so, of course, they blew the last game of the year, a home game against an erratic Arizona team. Not only did Houston leapfrog over them for the division title, but Arizona and Nashville both lept above Texas to claim the 5th and 6th playoff spots, once again leaving fans in San Antonio shell shocked and wondering just when the pain will end. Not this year, apparently, as the legend of Texas Fold'em just keeps growing.
BLACK FRIDAY
It would not be the final week of the year without the traditional purging of coaches on Black Friday. This year three USFL head coaches got the notice that they were no longer USFL head coaches after seasons that failed to produce growth.
No surprise that Joe Tiller was out in Seattle. After a 12-4 season in 2000, back to back underwhelming years (5 wins last year, only 4 this season) it was time for Tiller to give up the mantle. Seattle will enter the coaching market hoping to find someone who can tighten up the worst scoring defense in the league while also developing a more explosive offense.
A bit more controversial was the firing of Kevin Gilbride in Birmingham. The hand-picked successor to Ron Erhardt had gone 8-8 in his first season with the Stallions and 7-7 this year. So, not a losing record either year, but when you have a superstar like Brett Favre at QB, more is expected of you than to finish .500 and out of the playoffs. The Stallions were Top 10 in yards and in yards allowed, so there is some talent to work with here for whomever gets the chance to lead this underachieving but talented squad.
Finally, the big mystery was whether Oakland’s flirtation with .500 and a possible division title in the clearly weak Pacific Division would be enough to save Coach Dom Capers. Well, after the loss this week ensured both a losing season for Oakland and a 2-game collapse at the season’s conclusion, the answer was no. Capers was let go after 3 years in Oakland, after 2 years of 4-wins, a 6-8 improvement was simply not enough to keep Capers in the big chair. A 21st ranked offense could not support a much-improved defense (6th in scoring defense) as Oakland floundered when QB Marques Tuiasosopo was knocked out of action with an injury.
Surviving this week, despite pretty poor leagues we have 1st year coaches Jack Bicknell (Pittsburgh) and John Fox (Atlanta/Boston), as first year coaches often do since they need time to build a team in their image. Also on the hot seat but apparently safe, Mike Martz in Michigan, who improved from 3-13 to 5-9, a solid improvement, but one that better go further next year. Jim Mora Jr. had real issues after going 13-3 in his first year, 9-7 in his second, to finish 3-11 this year means that the bottom has fallen out. Losing Bobby Hebert is the clear primary issue, but it seems that the Mora name carries some clout in Philly and it looks like the son of legendary coach Jim Mora Sr. will get more time to rebuild this Stars team and find a QB who can compete at a high level.
LEAGUE LEADERS
The conclusion of the regular season also means that we know who the statistical champs are. There was no doubt coming down the stretch who would throw for the most yards. Kerry Collins, commanding that explosive Glory offense, threw for 4,361, the only QB over 4,000 yards this season. Collins also won the passing TD title by one of the widest margins we have ever seen, throwing 39 touchdowns, 13 more than the closest competitor, New Jersey’s Tom Brady.
The rushing title was not a lot closer, honestly, with Ahman Green of Nashville taking the title by over 100 yards. Green rushed for 1,315, nearly 100 yards a game, while 2nd place went to Tikie barber at 1,164 and Eddie George finishing third, only 9 yards behind the Atlanta back.
We all expected the receiving leader to be Joey Galloway, and he took the title by 8 yards over Jacksonville’s Terrell Owens, 1,393 to 1,385. Bert Emmanuel finished 3rd and Terry Glenn of New Jersey came out of nowhere to finish fourth after a very strong final month. Now, if I asked you who led the league with 107 receptions, my guess is you would never have picked Denver’s Peerless Price, but that is exactly what happened. In second was Baltimore’s Rob Moore, followed by Glenn.
On defense some familiar names rise to the top. The inimitable Phil Hansen came on late for New Jersey, overtaking Chris Doleman and Kavika Pittman to become the only player in this 14-game season to reach 20 sacks. Pittman and Doleman tied at 17 for second. Our two tackle leaders have traded the lead all season but the title goes to Breaker LB Lamar Lathon with 124 sacks to Mo Lewis’s 118. Finally, the only player to record 7 picks, Texas’s Jimmy Hitchcock takes the title as the pick artist of the season.
So the playoffs are set. Portland, Arizona, Nashville, and Houston are in. Texas is out after a brutal drop from division leader to 7th best club in the conference. The playoff matchups are set. We have known for a while that Ohio and Memphis were the respective #1 seeds in the East and West. We now know that the other two teams that will have byes as the 2nd best club in each conference are Jacksonville and Houston. That means that New Jersey and Portland will be the #3 seed as the weakest of the three divisional winners. They will host the #6 seeds, Orlando and Nashville respectively. The 4-seeds, Chicago and New Orleans will also be at home as they take on Washington and Arizona. Four games next week, four teams that will move on and 4 that will go home.
As we look ahead to the Wild Card round of playoffs, there are some injury concerns that will impact the eight teams involved in next week’s action. Here is our Wild Card injury report.
ORL: LB A. Jordan (Out), CB R. McNeil (Out), HB S. Irvin (Quest)
NJ: G W. Shields (Out), LB K. Bell (Doubt), LB J. Harrison (Prob)
For Orlando the loss of their best CB is a big concern, especially with Terry Glenn as the opposing #1 WR. A bigger issue could be Sedrick Irvin’s status. Without Irvin the run game for the Renegades is significantly hampered and more pressure is place on their rookie QB. For NJ Kendrell Bell’s absence is a problem, but they could very well get back this week their very good looking rookie James Harrison, which would certainly help them deal with Bell’s absence.
ARZ: DT J. Johnson (OUT), WR S. Moss (Out)
NOR: QB B. Hoying (Out), WR R. Brown (Out)
The biggest issue for both clubs is the loss of a top receiver. Santana Moss has been out of the Wrangler lineup for a good part of their late season surge, so Arizona has clearly found a way to compensate, while New Orleans has depended on Raynard Brown all the way until this week’s injury. It is a 1-2 week situation, so Brown could return for the Divisionals if New Orleans can find a way to win without him this week.
WSH: DE D. Footman (Out), DT J. Brown (Out), LB M. Barrow (Doubt)
CHI: WR J. Morton (Out), CB R. McQuarters (Out), C G. Huntington (Out), DT G. Little (Out)
For Washington the obvious pain point is the absence of All-Everything DT Jerome Brown. They are just not the same defense without him. Chicago will certainly try to exploit his absence with their run game. For Chicago, the biggest issue might be the losss of CB R.W. McQuarters, but can Washington exploit that with either Deion Branch or J.J. Stokes lining up against the 3rd best corner Chicago has?
NSH: DT S. Evans (Probable)
POR: HB C. Buckhalter (Out), QB A. Smith (Out), T T. Steussie (Out)
Nashville looks to be the healthiest team of the 8 playoff teams this week, while Portland had to rule out Akili Smith and LT Todd Steussie this week. That is a bad combination as it means that they will have to rely on Rick Mirer at QB without strong protection for his blindside. That may be the biggest injury disadvantage of any team playing this weekend.
Boston Welcomes the...
Never let it be said that Boston is a baseball town. This summer, while the Red Sox were in midseason the city of Boston fell in love with a football team. More than 550,000 votes were cast in the Boston Globe's Name the Team contest, and according to team officials, more than 61,000 fans have put their names (and a sizable nonrefundable deposit) into the team lottery to win some of the 25,000 season tickets the as-yet unnamed team had to offer.
This is not Boston's first tilt with spring football, as the Breakers called the city home for the first 3 years of their existence before stadium issues and a sweetheart deal in the SuperDome led to the sale and relocation of Boston's USFL club to New Orleans. Well, spring football is back in Beantown, and after a near 3-month wait the team was able to reveal the winner of their naming contest and the new identity of the club that will represent Boston proper (The club is trying hard to emphasize Boston connections to differentiate from the NFL Patriots, whose stadium is essentially closer to Providence than much of Boston.
The Boston Globe on Monday ran an article detailing how the vote went, and what was amazing was how close all three name options were, down to the final week. Each ofthe three contenders spent at least 1 week as the leader, and at one point, only 3 weeks ago, all three were in a virtual dead heat. In the end, one name lept up and took control, winning with a total of over 210,000 votes, while 2nd place had 180,000 and third had 171,000. And so, on Tuesday, at a press conference held at Alumni Stadium the new identity was revealed, complete with a full uniform reveal by QB Drew Bledsoe, HB Tiki Barber and defenisve team captain LB London Fletcher.
Welcome to the USFL, in a much-anticipated return to the city of Larry Bird, Bobby Orr, and Carl Yastremski, the next big name in Boston sports, the Boston Cannons!!
The Cannons will begin play in March of next year, with anticipated sellout crowds to watch former Patriot QB Drew Bledsoe and what may be a very different roster. Expect Boston to keep Tiki Barber and much of a young defense that improved during the 2002 season, but we expect the new ownership and Head Coach John Fox to bring a lot of new faces in from the team that finished 3-11 in Atlanta this fall. Regardless of the roster they are inheriting, it seems clear that Boston fans are ready to embrace the Cannons, the city's newest pro sports franchise and hopefully one that can prove worthy of the love already shown by Bostonians.
And, we would not miss out on a chance to review the newly revealed team uniforms. We have seen the helmets before, navy with a navy facemask, the insignia style crossed cannon logo on each side, and a gunmetal grey stripe interrupted by a cannon blast at the back bumper, but now we can see the full look, which returns to the cannonfire blast image as a motif. The jerseys feature an angled shoulder yoke utilizing all 3 colors, and featuring a cannonball and 6-pointed "blast" in yellow as focal points. The home jerseys are, as expected, navy blue, with a gunmetal yoke with navy and white outlines, coming to a point at the sleeve cuff, where the secondary "cannonfire" logo is found. The white jersey does the same with a navy, white and gunmetal yoke. both jerseys feature a rounded number font, also containing a small angular cannonfire motif. There are two pant sets, navy and gunmetal (nonmetallic) grey. Both feature full length stripes the grey a three stripe pattern of navy-athletic gold-navy, while the navy pants have a five stripe pattern of grey-navy-gold-navy-grey. Both sets have the team's primary logo on the hip. The BC monogram does not appear on the logo but was featured heavily in print materials and signage at the reveal.
And so it is goodbye to Atlanta and hello Boston. One city left feeling the sting of loss the other the anticipation of something new. The Cannons will have the top pick in the USFL Draft, so the excitement will start long before the season does, and appears to have already begun with huge fan interest shown in both the Name the Team contest and in season ticket deposits.
Here we go, playoff football. So what is in store next weekend, let’s take a look at our 4 Wild Card round games.
Saturday, June 30 @ 4pm ET
Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
On paper the Generals should be a lot better than 8-6. They have a top 5 offense and are 3rd in the league in yardage allowed. So how are they only 1 game over .500? That is a bit of a mystery. For Orlando the question is how the pressure impacts rookie QB Joey Harrington. He has fared well in his first year as a pro starter, but playoff football is something that is hard to prepare for.
OUR PICK: Orlando’s defense is the key to this game. That and Harrington’s nerves. But, when we look at this game, New Jersey is stronger on both offense and defense and their QB has a couple more seasons under his belt than Orlando’s so we go with the home team. New Jersey 21-17.
Saturday, June 30 @ 8pm ET
SuperDome, New Orleans, LA
After knocking off Memphis and Nashville in consecutive weeks, the final week’s loss to Birmingham is a bit of a head scratcher for the Breakers. But, Arizona is the ultimate headscratcher. They go from unstoppable to unwatchable faster than any other club in the league. Contain Jake Plummer and you have a good chance of knocking off the Wranglers, but that is much easier to say than to do. The Wranglers won their last 4 games to get here, and that says something. We have seen this before, a late run and a deep playoff trip for the often erratic Wranglers.
OUR PICK: We see another run coming. Arizona 27-24.
Sunday, July 1 @ 1pm ET
Soldier Field, Chicago, IL
Chicago opens this one as a 5-point favorite, despite looking quite pedestrian in their Week 17 loss. In fact, Chicago has gone 2-5 the second half of the year after a strong 6-1 start to the year. So why all the confidence? Maybe because Washington has hardly been dominant either. Late season losses to both Baltimore and New Jersey do not build a lot of confidence in the Federals. And yet, they have the #2 scoring defense and the top defense in the league in yardage allowed. Since Chicago is also building their reputation for defense first, this could be a true slugfest.
OUR PICK: We think Washington is stronger overall, but this will not be a high scoring game, so a kicker could be the difference. Washington 13-10.
Sunday @ 5pm ET
Civic Stadium, Portland, OR
A rare event when the #6 seed is actually favored over the #3, but that is what we have as Las Vegas has the Knights as a 4-point favorite against the Thunder. Portland has been a stronger team at home, 5-2 in their comfy confines, but only 2-5 on the road, so maybe Las Vegas has this one wrong. But, with the Knights returning to the playoffs for a 6th straight year, experience is certainly on their side. That and the uncertain nature of Akili Smith’s health for Portland lean towards Nashville.
OUR PICK: We think it will be close, but we think experience matters, so we pick Nashville 18-17.