The pressure is on, the quest for a perfect season is showing some cracks as both Ohio and Memphis are feeling the heat. Every game is vital, every play essential, every mistake potentially catastrophic. Nine weeks, nine wins, but they are not all coming easy, as this week showed, with both the Showboats and the Glory pressed hard by quality opposition. Will one of them crack? Or could we see something unprecedented in pro football, two unbeaten teams headed into the playoffs with perfection as their trademark?
And just a quick reminder that voting on the Boston USFL team's identity is live and will remain open until our Week 14 recap is posted. Click on "Boston Poll" on the main menu above, review the three options and pick your favorite on the poll at the bottom of the page.
We had a slew of really close games this week, but when you have an unbeaten club trailing with less than 2 minutes to go and they find a way to win on an amazing late-game bomb, you have to go with that one as the game of the week. Add in that it was a divisional matchup and perhaps the only shot New Orleans had of getting back in the divisional race and this game was huge.
The Breakers had a brilliant gameplan, rushing only 4 and forcing the Showboats to dink and dunk their way down the field on long drives with a smothering zone defense. It clearly frustrated Memphis all day, as Heath Shuler was simply unable to get the big play for 59 minutes of action. It was just 1 minute short, and one 1 play short. Shuler would complete only 11 of 21 passing attempts and Memphis would convert only 2 of 13 third downs, as New Orleans was simply committed to not allowing Memphis any big plays. The Breakers would outgain Memphis 405 to 261, but Memphis found a way to win.
Memphis got two big plays in the game. The first came on their first drive as Garrison Heart burst through the line, juked the safety and sprinted 37 yards for the game’s opening score. He would be contained after that, rushing only for another 31 yards all day as New Orleans locked him down. The two clubs swapped some field goals after that and at the half it was Memphis up 13-6 in a frustrating game for Showboat fans, who expected fireworks and were getting a slog of a game.
In the second half, after 2 more field goals made the score 16-9, New Orleans got their only big play of the game, a 30-yard touchdown pass from Trent Dilfer to Raynard Brown. Brown would finish the day as the game’s top receiver by a mile, catching 6 balls for 138 and this score. The second highest total was 66 yards from Adrian Cooper, but through 3 quarters he had only 1 reception for 5 yards.
The Breakers and Showboats stayed tied at 16 throughout the rest of the 3rd and well into the final quarter. After a pass interference call against Memphis corner Fred Weary, who was stuck covering Brown all day, the Breakers ended the tie with a 30 yard Lin Elliott field goal. They now led 19-16 with only 1:25 on the clock. If they could keep up the pressure, they would knock Memphis from the ranks of the unbeaten and move within 1 game of the division.
The problem with that scenario is that with only 1 minute left, Memphis is not going to run a standard offense, and with a 4-wide formation and no attempt to run at all, New Orleans has to respond with a defensive strategy change as well, meaning the close zones that had worked all day would not be as effective against an all-out 2-minute drill. New Orleans switched to a 3-deep zone, which allowed room underneath, but also created a seam that could be exploited if Memphis’s outside receivers could draw the deep safeties to the sidelines. And that is exactly what happened on a 2nd and 2 after an initial catch by Tydus Wynans on 1st down. Memphis stacked their outside receivers, and when both on either side ran a combination of flat and deep out patterns, the safeties had to follow them to the sidelines. That left TE Adrian Cooper alone against a single safety in the seam. Shuler found Cooper 12 yards downfield, and when the safety got brushed off on the tackle, Cooper had a clear path 61 yards down the field for the score. It was a stunner. The crowd in the Super Dome gasped, and then howled, and then just threw up their hands in exasperation at the defensive gaff. But, was it really a gaff or just a brilliant play call to take advantage of the inherent weakness of the called zone? Do we credit the Showboats or blame the DC for New Orleans? Honestly, after a brilliant defensive game from the Breakers, we think the best thing to say is that this Memphis squad is special, and that they found a way to win, a small defensive gap that they exploited.
The final result is what it is. Memphis moves to 9-0 after yet another close call. New Orleans is still in a strong position at 6-3, but must resign themselves to likely hosting a Wild Card game as they trail Memphis by 3 games with only 5 left to play.
OHI 20 WSH 18
Ohio too got a serious scare as they faced off against the Federals in DC. Up 20-9, the Glory saw Washington claw back, thanks to an 80-yard TD from rookie wideout Deion Branch, but a missed 2-point conversion turned out to be the difference in the game as Ohio held on to win by 2. Kerry Collins survived 5 sacks and 9 hurries to throw for 363 and 2 scores. Eddie George was on pace for 100 yards, but a minor ankle injury meant that Lamont Warren had to finish up the game for the now 9-0 Glory.
TBY 29 CHI 27
Chicago, like New Orleans, also falls 3 games behind their undefeated division leader, as they too are the victims of a late score. In a back and forth game with Tampa Bay, Chicago took a 27-26 lead with 1:49 left to play as Jeff George hit WR Johnnie Morton from 47 yards out, but again a failed 2-pointer meant that their lead was only 1. Tampa stormed down the field, close enough for Mike Vanderjagt to kick the game winner with only 8 seconds left on the clock.
ARZ 25 HOU 31 OVERTIME
The Houston Gamblers stop their slide at 3 games, getting a huge divisional win against Arizona in overtime. Matt Hasselbeck threw for 378 and 3 scores, the most important being a short TD pass to Antonio Freeman on the opening possession of overtime, avoiding any chance for Jake Plummer to lead the Wranglers to victory in the extra period. Plummer had thrown for 2 scores and run for a third in regulation, but never saw the ball in the extra period as Houston took the W.
DEN 21 TEX 24
Texas kept pace with Houston and handed Denver their 6th loss of the season thanks to 108 yards from backup HB Erric Pegram. Pegram had his biggest day in years, rushing for 2 scores as he subbed for the injured Kenny Bynum. The Texas defense also played its part, picking off Mark Brunell in the final seconds to preserve the win and send Denver to a third straight defeat.
OAK 20 SEA 13
Believe it or not, the Oakland Invaders are in first place. They take the division lead at 4-5 with a win on the road against a rudderless Dragons squad. Craig Erickson again got the start and again had issues moving the ball. Oakland’s defense, which has come alive since a midseason trade brought SS Pearson Prioleau to town, limited Seattle to 1 field goal in the second half, and when Marques Tuiasosopo hit Donte Stallworth with a 19-yard TD in the 4th, the Invaders had a lead they would not relinquish. Oakland and Seattle are now tied atop the Pacific at 4-5, with Portland and LA a game back at 3-6.
LA 20 POR 45
That’s right, the Thunder are also alive in the playoff hunt after they stun LA with 45 points at home. Napoleon Kaufmann rushed for 93 yards and 2 scores, with backup Blair Thomas also contributing another 45 yards and a score as Akili Smith only attempted 15 passes the entire game. For LA, the problem was drops, as LA receivers dropped 5 passes in the game, including 2 on third down that cost them possession.
BIR 17 NSH 33
The Nashville Knights moved within range of a playoff spot at 4-5 thanks to a solid effort in their new home against divisional foe Birmingham. The Knights sacked Brett Favre 6 times, and limited Shaun Alexander to only 23 yards rushing on 11 attempts. It also was a big game for Ahman Green, after missing 2 weeks due to injury. Green rushed 31 times for 54 yards and 2 scores as Nashville did not ease him back in, but threw him in the deep end.
ATL 10 NJ 20
New Jersey took over sole possession of first in the Northeast, improving their record to 5-4 with a 10 point win over Atlanta. A sack of Drew Bledsoe caused him to leave the game after only 5 pass attempts, and after that Atlanta got a dreadful performance from Mark Bulger, completing only 4 of 24 pass attempts. Tom Brady fared better for the Generals, completing 27 of 34 for 252 yards and 2 touchdowns.
JAX 20 BAL 10
The Bulls got just the bump they wanted after two rough home losses, doubling up Baltimore at Aetna Stadium. Rookie Javon Walker had a breakout game, catching 8 balls for 111 yards, but it was a pick-six by Terrell Buckley that sealed the win for the Bulls.
ORL 38 MGN 10
Orlando got 108 yards and 2 TDs from Sedrick Irvin as they manhandled the Michigan Panthers. Drew Brees was sacked 5 times and Michigan went only 3 of 10 on third down as the Renegades coasted to an easy win to move to 5-4 and into a playoff eligible position.
PIT 20 PHI 17 OVERTIME
As hard as it is to believe, the Pittsburgh Maulers currently occupy the 6th playoff spot as they snag their 4th win of the year in a close overtime win against Philadelphia. Alge Crumpler’s late TD catch helped Pittsburgh get to overtime and Bill Grammatica kicked home the game winner to take the Keystone Clash this year. The win actually puts the Maulers ahead of several other 4-5 clubs in the playoff race, as bizarre as that sounds.
Trouble in Tampa
Things have begun to unravel in Tampa Bay, where Coach George Seifert is hearing it from fans and from players as the Bandits sit at 3-6 and in the basement of the Southern Division. The fans have been antsy about the former Summer Bowl winner as the Bandits have missed the playoffs both seasons since winning their 2nd title in 1999. A 9-7 finish last year, even without a playoff appearance, seemed to indicated that Seifert had solved the issues of 2000 and was back on the right course, but this year’s struggles have again sparked concern that Seifert rode his predecessor’s success in 1999 and has been unable to forge his own team as a winner.
If this were just coming from fans, that would be one thing, but there is also grumbling in the lockerroom about everything from playing time to personnel decision and play calling. Two of the loudest voices, voices which have started to find outlets in the local press, have been two of the team’s bigger stars, wideout Randy Moss and DE Santana Dotson. Both Moss and Dotson have made some not-so-subtle suggestions to the press that Seifert is losing the lockerroom.
We know that Moss is not happy with the offensive production of the club, particularly his lack of targets compared to other #1 receivers around the league. Moss is still a yardage leader, but has only 69 targets to date, well off the pace of past years. He had 19 touchdowns in 2001, but has only 5 this year. Very similar issues are the concern for Dotson, who has 8 sacks to lead the club but is also well off the pace that saw him snag 18 last season. Concern about depth and what they view as overly conservative playcalling seem to be the issues Tampa Bay players have with Seifert. Wins and losses seem to be the bigger issue, but if it is true that Seifert is beginning to lose his lockerroom, then ownership may need to look elsewhere to try to spark greater success for Tampa Bay, and all this only 3 years after they won it all in Troy Aikman’s last season.
Yellow Flags
We speak a lot of turnovers, yards gained, scoring average, and the like when discussing why teams are winning or losing, but we rarely talk about penalties. We all understand that penalties are a huge factor in the ability to sustain drives. One holding penalty can upend an very promising drive. Likewise, a poorly timed defensive penalty can turn a 3-and-out into a scoring drive for the opposition. So, why don’t we talk about this more?
The main reason is this: it is not so much the number of penalties that matter but the type and timing of them. That makes penalties a hard number to align with success or failure. An aggressive defense may draw more offsides or defensive holding penalties, but may still shut down an offense. Likewise a strong offense can survive false starts or even holding calls to convert a 3rd down, especially if the penalty is in an early down.
Just look at the numbers. The top 3 most penalized teams in the league are all in playoff position. Seattle leads the league with 73 penalties but is tied for 1st in the Pacific. They are followed by Houston and Orlando, two dominant defenses that occasionally draw penalties due to pure violence and aggression they exhibit, but those traits also impact the game, often preventing an offense from taking risks.
Down at the bottom of the penalty list we have 5 clubs with losing records, though several are still in playoff contention. Washington is the most disciplined team, with only 31 penalties on the year, fewer than 4 per game. They are followed by Birmingham (34), Michigan (35), LA (36) and Baltimore (41). The fact that these teams are not called for many infractions does not seem to be translating to wins on Sunday. The fact may be that they are simply not as aggressive, or that they lack the ability to sustain drives even when penalties are not in play. Baltimore has one of the worst defenses in the league. Maybe they need a bit more aggression to be successful. Michigan’s offense certainly has trouble getting out of their own way, so the lack of offensive penalties has not translated into scoring for the Panthers.
Simply put, we talk about yardage (gained or limited) and turnovers (taken away or given up) because we can make direct correlations between those numbers and the likelihood of a win, while penalties are more nuanced, depending on the situation, the timing, the type of penalty, and the ability of the opposition to take advantage. So, long story short, they just are not a good indicator of whether a team will be successful or not. No coach wants to see his players look sloppy, out of position, desperate, or undisciplined, but at the same time if they don’t push the boundaries a bit, are they really doing their all to win?
With the USFL season shortened to 14 games, we thought it appropriate to move our usual Playoff Position Report from a Week 10 start to a Week 9 start. We immediately regretted that decision as we had to work with USFL officials in NY to figure out an insane number of tiebreakers and as we realized that this year, with only 9 teams in the league currently holding winning records, we would need to include teams with as few as 3 wins in our standings.
Yes, we have 2 unbeaten teams, but after that everything is just a mishmash of mediocrity. No team in the Pacific Division has a winning record, which means Oakland at 4-5 is now the #3 seed in the playoffs. Seattle also makes the list of Wild Card teams at 4-5. Nashville, Birmingham, and Arizona are all right there as well at 4-5. The East is not much better, with Pittsburgh nabbing the 6th spot thanks to their tiebreaker advantages over Washington, and we have a group of 3-6 teams only 1 game out of that spot. It’s nuts!!
In a year where we may all be sorely disappointed if we don’t get an Ohio-Memphis Summer Bowl, there are only 3 more teams with at least 6 wins (Jacksonville, Chicago, and New Orleans) and it seems no one is ready to step up and claim either the Northeastern or Pacific divisions. Or maybe we should have just waited another week before we tried to figure this out.
A scary moment on Saturday as Baltimore wideout Lamar Thomas crashed to the ground after making contact with the safety and lay on the ground for several minutes. Team staff assisted medical staff to place Thomas on a backboard and to place him on the cart. He was rushed to a local hospital where it was reported that he was awake, able to respond to questions, and able to both sense and move his fingers and toes. The concern initially was a neck injury, but x-rays showed that Thomas had actually developed a fracture at the base of his skull. The injury is not expected to have significant longlasting impact on the wideout, but he will need time for the swelling to diminish and for the fracture to heal, so his season is done. We all feared much worse, so this news was met with relief around the league.
Another season ending injury, but one with far less dramatic impact, was seen in Denver, where tackle Chris Terry suffered a torn quad, which will require a laproscopic surgery and will cost Terry the remainder of the season. In Texas, the concern was for center John Burch, who tore his MCL, again, another potential season ender. While in New Orleans, CB Ryan McNeill has been placed on IR after suffering a broken jaw not on the field, but in a motorcycle accident on Monday.
Philadelphia’s young speedster Steve Smith will likely miss the rest of the year after suffering a high ankle sprain in this week’s game. In Seattle there is concern for Corey Dillon after he went down with what looks like a hip injury. Doctors ruled out a fracture and now believe it is a pinched nerve, but expect Dillon to be absent at least 1 week. In Atlanta it looks like Drew Bledsoe will miss Week 10, meaning that Mark Bulger will get the start.
Blitz Get New Logo After 20 Seasons
The Baltimore Blitz through 20 seasons have been the only 1 of the 12 founding franchises to use the same logo for every season. Even a move from Chicago to Baltimore in 1987 did not alter the familiar print “Blitz” logo with its lightning bolt double “z”. Well, that all changes for season 21 of the Blitz as Reebok this week unveiled the new look of the Baltimore Blitz. In place of the double-z design, the new logo features a lowercase “b” complete with a lightning bolt made of empty space. The Red initial b is surrounded by white and royal blue outlines that help give the lightning bolt its shape. This single letter logo will replace the “blitz” wordmark on the helmets and the sleeves of the uniform.
The full name logo retains the thick lowercase font of the original but the trademark lightning symbols associated with the letter z are gone in favor of the emphasis on the B. Reebok also announced that while Billy Blitz, the logo/mascot of the Blitz, will be unchanged, his image will no longer appear on the uniforms.
The uniforms are quite a bit simpler than past iterations of the Blitz design. While the royal, red, white, and silver color scheme is unchanged, the biggest difference between these uniforms and past versions is the reduction in the number of stripes which form the uniform. The helmet loses all striping, with only the new “B” logo on each side and a blue facemask. The pants also lack all striping, with only the new logo on each hip. There will be both metallic silver and royal blue pant options for the Blitz with this look. The jerseys in both white and royal blue feature a new angular number system, with 2 outlines: white letters with red and silver piping on the blue jersey, blue letters with silver then red outlines on the white jersey. The silver/grey sleeves are capped at each shoulder with a thick single-color stripe, red on the blue jersey and blue on the white jersey. The logo again appears on the sleeves. So, fewer stripes, but 6 appearances of the logo between helmet, jersey, and pants.
Week 10 brings us another interconference clash, with all 24 clubs lining up foes from the opposite conference, a bit of a pause in the middle of what will be a bevvy of divisional matchups down the stretch. The best games include Washington, having just barely lost to Ohio, going to Memphis to face another unbeaten team. Ohio will face off against LA in LA, a game that could get us 80 points if both teams are on their offensive games. A good matchup in San Antonio, where the 5-3-1 Outlaws host the 6-3 Bulls. In Houston, the Gamblers play host to Atlanta, while in New Orleans we have another tough matchup for the Breakers as they host New Jersey.
In other games we have Philly @ Birmingham, Baltimore visiting Nashville, Orlando in Arizona, Tampa Bay and Denver clashing at “New” Mile High, and Pittsburgh at Oakland with actual playoff position on the line. Chicago is in Portland to face the Thunder while Michigan travels to Seattle, where Brian Griese is expected back under center for the Dragons.
Comments