Three weeks in and fans across the league have very mixed feelings. Baltimore Blitz fans are ecstatic with their club's 3-0 start as Ben Roethlisberger jerseys are flying out of stores. The feeling is very different in Seattle, where most expected the Dragons to be title contenders, but an 0-3 start has folks in the Emerald City very nervous. Add Stallion and Breaker fans to the nervous bunch as both clubs have started off in an offensive funk with new quarterbacks under center. Washington, Chicago, Ohio, and Tampa Bay fans are celebrating 3-0, but know that the season will get tougher as each week passes. But for now, it feels good to come out of the gate hot.
SHOWBOATS 26 PANTHERS 30 OVERTIME
A wild one at Ford Field as the Showboats and Panthers played into overtime only to have the rarest of overtime situations, a team scoring first, and the other having one shot to tie or win the game on a single drive. That is the scenario the homestanding Panthers faced as they faced off with the Showboats in extra time. In a game that saw Michigan give the ball away 3 times, Memphis was able to take an early lead, but not hold it as Michigan evened the score to send the game into a fifth quarter.
Michigan had their best performance on the ground so far this season, with Perry and Betts combining for 110 yards, while Memphis’s Cadillac Williams struggled again, earning only 31 yards on 18 carries. The good news for the Showboats is that Heath Shuler is looking a lot more confident in the pocket, going 25 for 45 for 286 and 2 touchdowns on the day.
The game was 13-13 at the half with both teams having scored on a TD pass; Brees to TE Bennie Joppru, followed by Shuler to WR Justin McCaerins. Michigan would score first to open the 2nd half, taking a 20-13 lead on a Brees to Mar Tay Jenkins TD toss, but Memphis responded one drive later, with Heath Shuler finding Kelley Washington for the equalizer. The third quarter ended with Memphis again taking the lead, this time on a 45-yard Jeff Hall kick.
The only scoring of the 4th was a Josh Scobee field goal with 3:10 left to play to equalize the score. When Memphis could not respond in the final minutes, the game went to overtime. In the overtime period, Memphis drove the ball well, Shuler hitting Adrian Cooper, Erron Kinney, and Kelley Washington with passes to get down to the 20 of Michigan, but the drive stalled, and Coach Mora was unwilling to go for it on 4th and 4 from the 20, setting up a go-ahead, but not game winning field goal from Jeff Hall. In the USFL, a team can only win an overtime game on the first drive with a touchdown. Score a field goal and you have to give the other team 1 possession to try to equalize or win the game.
So that was the situation Drew Brees found himself in when he took the field in overtime. Down 3, with one drive to either tie or win the game. Michigan started on their own 20 after a touchback on the kick, and they went to business knowing a score was their only chance to avoid a loss at home. Ladell Betts carried on the first play, gaining 3. On 2nd down Brees completed a pass to Hines Ward for 10, and the Panthers got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty to boot. After another run, this time by FB Ray Razzano, the Panthers set up in a 3-wide setting. Drew Brees took the snap, faked to Betts, rolled right and saw a wide open Joppru. Hitting his TE in stride, Brees had another first down, but when the safety glanced off the big receiver, the race was on. Joppru headed towards the sideline, and picked up a block from hins Ward that knocked the corner off his feet. With Ward leading the way, Joppru raced down the field and into the endzone to give Michigan fans a dramatic win and something to celebrate as the team starts the year 2-1.
INVADERS 28 STARS 23
A fun game in Philly as the Invaders and Stars battled down to the wire. Oakland got 2 TDs from Trent Green, while Kurt Warner threw 3 TDs and a pick for the Stars. Philadelphia had the better run game, with Ahman Green rushing for 95 yards and backup Cedric Cobbs adding another 53 on only 6 carries, but it was not enough as Oakland got a late score from Ricky Williams, his second of the day, on a swing pass from Green to take the W on the road. Oakland moves to 2-1 while Philadelphia drops to 1-2.
EXPRESS 13 GENERALS 30
In another Pacific-Atlantic cross country game, the Generals broke open a 6-6 game in the second half thanks to the run game, with Curtis Enis and James Jackson combining for 3 second-half scores and 169 combined rushing yards to overpower the LA defense.
THUNDER 9 BLITZ 10
The Blitz moved to 3-0, but it was not easy as a missed extra point doomed Las Vegas to their third defeat to open the season. After Baltimore went up 7-3 on an Eddie Kennison TD catch from Roethlisberger, Las Vegas took the lead when Aaron Brooks connected with Reuben Droughns on a short pass that turned into a 63-yard score, but Mike Vanderjagt yipped on the PAT, meaning Las Vegas was only up 9-7 at the half. In the second half rain started to affect the game as Baltimore got hit with a cold early spring storm. The only score was a Martin Grammatica kick, but it was enough to give the Blitz their 3-0 start.
DRAGONS 27 FEDERALS 31
Playing a day before Baltimore, the Feds missed the rain, and good thing too because it took all they had to hold off the Dragons in this one. Byron Leftwich survived 7 Washington sacks to throw for 291 and 3 scores and Corey Dillon had his best game of the year, rushing for 140 yards for Seattle. The Federals got 95 yards form Deuce McCallister and 110 from Deion Branch as both had strong days, but it was a late TD from little-used Antwone Womack that gave the Feds the victory.
WRANGLERS 10 CANNONS 38
The Wranglers get blown out for a second consecutive week as they commit three turnovers and find absolutely no room to run against Boston. The Cannons got 3 TDs from Drew Bledsoe and 136 yards with a score from Tiki Barber as they dominate the Wranglers in all three phases of the game.
GOLD 19 BULLS 9
The Gold defense looked mighty as they handed Jacksonville their first loss of the season. The Gold went down 3-0 before scoring the next 19 points on 4 Jeff Wilkens field goals and a lone Cedric Benson TD run. Benson would have his best day, rushing 13 times for 74 yards and the score. Jacksonville would get 8 receptions and 135 yards from Donald Hayes, who subbed for Anquan Boldin, but it was not enough for the Bulls to catch Denver.
GAMBLERS 10 RENEGADES 24
Our upset of the week as Orlando’s defense is beginning to get some respect. They held Houston to one first quarter TD and then took over the game, picking off Matt Hasselbeck twice. Jeff Blake had a modest day, with only 113 yards passing, but the combination of Sedrick Irvin and R.J. Redmond got the ground game moving with 111 combined yards and a score each as Orlando gets a home victory.
OUTLAWS 10 BANDITS 30
With Jeff Lewis dinged up, former General Todd Boumann got the start and had a rough time of it. The Texas D kept them in it by picking off Daunte Culpepper twice, but in the end the Bandits just wore them down, with Willis McGahee scoring twice to pull away.
STALLIONS 6 MACHINE 30
Birmingham is hopeful that Jason Campbell can return to action in Week 4 as their offense was simply awful against the Chicago defense. Eric Zeier completed only 45% of his throws and Shaun Alexander could not find space to run as Chicago smothered the Stallions. On offense, Chicago got a good day from Michael Turner, with 73 yards and 2 scores, while Donald Driver and Curtis Conway combined for 120 yards receiving.
KNIGHTS 17 GLORY 41
Up 7-3, things got ugly for Nashville in the 2nd quarter, when Ohio scored 24 unanswered points. They could not recover and Kerry Collins finished the day with 4 TD passes and 323 yards. Eddie George added 97 on the ground and Troy Brown had a huge game with 4 receptions for 140 yards on deep ball after deep ball as Ohio rolled to victory.
BREAKERS 10 MAULERS 31
Despite his popularity in the region, Breaker fans are beginning to wonder if benching Dilfer for Eli Manning was the right call. Manning threw 2 picks and the Breakers struggled to complete 3rd down plays, going 3 of 10 on the day. Meanwhile, Terrell Davis had his first 100-yard game and rookie Vincent Jackson looked like a seasoned pro on his way to 5 receptions, 79 yards, and a score for the Maulers.
Rookies Making an Impact
It has been a good first three weeks for the rookie class of 2005. Several rookies began the season as starters and are contributing right away. Perhaps the most noticeable have been the halfbacks, with Frank Gore, Cadillac Williams, and Cedric Benson all starting the year as the lead back for their teams. Benson has struggled to adjust to the pro game, but Gore and Williams have both already had their first 100-yard games, Williams in Week 2 against Birmingham and Gore also in Week 2 against New Orleans.
Among receivers, the standout right now appears to be Vincent Jackson in Pittsburgh. The rookie out of Northern Colorado already has 15 receptions for 209 yards and his first pro TD. Others doing well include Mark Clayton in New Jersey (9 receptions for 90 yards) and Roddy White in Philadelphia (55 receptions for 51 yards and a score). The TE market was not quite as deep this year, but Kevin Everett in Arizona has started well, with 11 reeptinos for 63 yards and 3 touchdowns as he has set himself up as a good red zone target.
The defensive line is another area where we have seen some early results. Both Erasmus James in Washington and Chauncey Davis in Orlando have 3 sacks in 3 games, while Luis Castillo has been a mainstay for Texas at DT. Among the linebackers who have worked their way into starting lineups across the league, Lofa Tatupu in LA leads all rookies with 25 tackles in only 3 games. Cameron Wake has made an impression in Washington with 11 tackles and his first sack, while in Michigan DeMarcus Ware has been making big plays every week. Both Shawne Merriman and Odell Thurmann have also seen action for the Panthers.
Comeback Players
The USFL, unlike the NFL, does not have an official award for Comeback Player of the Year, but that does not mean we cannot highlight a few players deserving of kudos for their return, either from injury or just a poor season in 2004. Among those who have caught our eye are Matt Hasselbeck (2nd in passing yards after missing most of 2004), Heath Shuler (Back in form with a QBR of 97.8 after 3 games), Ricky Williams (heading up the run game for a new team after his suspension last year), wideout Joey Galloway (4th in yards after missing a big chunk of 2004), and DE Jevon Kearse (having his best start to a year in his career).
In addition to comeback players we have several who are making a big splash this year in ways they have not in the past. We could have put Jevon Kearse here, but he is not alone. Others include DE Dameaion Jeffries, tied for the league lead with 5 sacks for Memphis; Takeo Spikes, currently tied for 2nd with 27 tackles; Rashaun Woods, who broke into the top 10 in receiving yards this week; HB Justin Fargas, who is outpacing Williams in the Oakland backfied, and Aaron Brooks, who may not yet have a W for Las Vegas, but who has thrown 6 TD passes in his first 3 games this year, as many as Daunte Culpepper, mark Brunell, or Kurt Warner.
Early Hot Seats
Week 3 is certainly too early for any head coach to be panicked about his prospects for the season. No one’s seat is on fire, but there is some visible smoke in a few USFL clubhouses. Looking at the early results, we would say that right now there are three coaches who have to hope things turn their way over the season, or they could be in some trouble.
Jim Mora Sr.: Many expected the former Philadelphia Stars and Oakland Invader head man to be in danger last year, but for whatever reason the Showboats opted to let Mora stick around for 2005. But, that invitation is not likely to be repeated unless Mora can show marked improvement in the Showboats. They are off to a 1-2 start, but that win at Birmingham, and good showings against Pittsburgh and Michigan, are giving Showboat fans some hope. The next two games are essential for Memphis and Mora, as they face two 0-3 clubs in Las Vegas and New Orleans. Both games are on the road, but if Memphis can win both and come out the other side at 3-2, this could be very good for Mora’s chances.
In New Orleans, fans are already calling for Mike Nolan’s head. An 0-3 start has not helped Nolan gain trust among the Breaker faithful, and the decision to start Eli Manning at QB over Trent Dilfer, while understandable on one level, has simply not produced the kind of results Breaker fans would like to see. The Breakers currently rank 22nd in scoring (12.7 ppg) and Eli Manning has 6 picks to only 4 TDs in his first 3 games. A 2-3 TD-Int ratio is not going to win a lot of games and losing games in New Orleans is a quick ticket to unemployment.
Finally, we should talk about Galen Hall in LA. It has been a rollercoaster ride for LA fans over the Hall years, with very good years almost always followed by big disappointments. After a 10-4 2003 campaign, the Express plummeted to a 6-8 record last year. They have started 1-2 this year, with their only win at Las Vegas. They now enter a very tough stretch of games against divisional and Southwest Division foes with a 4 game run at Arizona, at Seattle, home to Houston, and home to Oakland. They need at least 2, maybe 3 wins in that series to calm the unsettled LA fanbase.
A big loss for the Memphis Showboats as their new free agent wideout, Robert Ferguson, could be out for up to a month with a wrist injury sustained in their overtime loss this week. Ferguson fell to the turf awkwardly with his wrist bent beneath him and immediately came off the field. X-rays showed no break but there appears to be significant ligament damage which could cost the wideout a month or more. The rest of the injuries reported this week tend to be in the 2-week or less category, including Seattle FS Chris Hayes (hamstring), Orlando LB Al Wilson (shoulder), Denver’s new TE Lonnie Johnson (hamstring), Nashville wideout Bert Emmanuel (concussion), Pittsburgh QB Charlie Batch (neck), Las Vegas TE Christian Fauria (arm), Houston DE Kavika Pittman (thigh bruise) and New Jersey FS Brian Dawkins (hip)
Looking at QB’s across the league, expect Batch to be out for Pittsburgh, which means Alex Van Pelt may get his first start since 1999. Texas is expecting to be without the services of Jeff Lewis again, which means a second start for Todd Boumann, but Birmingham is expecting rookie Jason Campbell to return to action.
Reebok to Add Chicago to their 2006 Schedule
With two new expansion clubs working with Reebok for 2006, there was an expectation that the uniform and apparel company would reduce their standard workload of producing 3 identity reworkings each season, and that has proven to be the case. Reebok has already produced the design schematics for the return of the Atlanta Fire, is currently engaged in a “Choose the Logo” competition with the St. Louis Skyhawks, and this week announced that there will only be one more team who will undergo a facelift in 2006, the Chicago Machine.
The Machine last received a significant uniform and logo retooling in 1996 when they moved from their original 1987 primary logo (the Cog “M”) to the now-ubiquitous “C-Gears” logo based in part on the sign of the Chicago Theatre. While Reebok cannot comment at this phase of the project on any specifics, the Machine did indicate that they are hoping to update their primary look, introduce a secondary logo, make changes to the uniform without altering the basic color palette, and, in their words “strengthen our ties to the city of Chicago in our brand.” There has always been a concern that with Chicago and Michigan both sharing dark burgundy red and sky blue as core colors, that a separation of the brand was essential. The Machine have achieved this primarily by sticking with grey as their secondary color and downplaying the use of the sky blue from the Chicago flag, and also by holding with a burgundy or Chicago Maroon, named for the color used by the U. of Chicago, as their primary color and, more importantly the helmet color. There is no word on if this will change with the redesign.
We expect to see the design for the new St. Louis Skyhawks before the end of the 2005 season, and, as is typical for Reebok, the debut of the new look for Chicago usually arrives in time for the team to outfit in the new look if they make the playoffs this year, which is somewhat expected for the Machine.
Stadium Updates
The negotiation, financing, and construction of new stadia is a seemingly constant process for the USFL as teams work with local governments, and often with NFL franchises as well, to either refurbish existing structures or develop new properties. We saw a rush of construction in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, with new stadia built or major renovations in place in Tampa (1998), Baltimore (1998), Pittsburgh (2001), Denver (2001), Houston (2002), Seattle (2002), Detroit (2002), Chicago (2003), Memphis (2004), and Philadelphia (2003). The desire to have an updated, state of the art facility for NFL and/or USFL teams is not abating. The city of Portland is currently in development of a new stadium for a team they no longer have, hoping that the new facility, set to be open in November of 2006, will be part of a successful expansion bid for the city after losing the Thunder 2 seasons ago. But what other projects are in development or on their way. Here are the six stadium situations currently either under development, under construction, or under pressure to find a solution over the next half-decade:
ARIZONA: Construction on a new retractable roof stadium in the city of Glendale, Arizona is well underway, with hopes that by the Fall of 2006, in time for the NFL Cardinals season, the new, as yet unnamed, stadium will be open for use. The Cardinals and Wranglers have an agreement with the city that will provide both with ample stadium revenue for their respective seasons. What is perhaps most fascinating about the new stadium is that it will be the first to use a mobile turf system that allows the field to be located outdoors for most of the year and moved indoors only on gamedays. This will maximize the ability for the two clubs to use natural grass in what is essentially a climate-controlled venue. That ability to play in a climate controlled environment will be vital for the Wranglers, who often have to schedule late season home games at night to avoid the blistering Arizona heat. Imagine playing the Wranglers in June or even July and sitting in 72 degree bliss instead of on a bleacher on the edge of a fiery inferno.
NEW JERSEY: The Generals, partnering with the NY Giants and NY Jets of the NFL, have plans underway to erect a new stadium just outside of the current location of Giants Stadium in East Rutherford as part of the Meadowlands complex. The new stadium would have a capacity similar to that of the current stadium but would feature significantly more amenities and suite seating. The plans call for an open air stadium, which is certainly more cost effective than a dome for the region. With the clubs seeking investment from both the States of New Jersey and New York, as well as the City of New York, the red tape will be considerable before a shovel ever hits the ground, but with the Meadowlands Authority fully on board at least there will not be disputes over land use. Initial plans have the new stadium scheduled to open by Spring 2009, but we will see if that holds up. Construction projects in and around NYC tend to get delayed.
BIRMINGHAM: With a mixed ownership between private and community shares, the Stallions are committed to the city of Birmingham, and recent talks with the University of Alabama system, particularly the Alabama-Birmingham campus, proving quite fruitful, the hope is that the Stallions will soon have a new stadium in the heart of the city to call their own, shared, of course, with the growing football program of UAB. No word on a design right now, and there is still plenty of negotiation to be done with both the city and the state to ensure some public funding. That will be the trickiest part as neither the city or state are particularly flush with cash, and the Republican leadership in the region tends to look down on large publicly-funded projects. But, when football is involved, and particularly the state’s only pro sports franchise, you can never count out the good will of state legislators and bureaucrats.
NEW ORLEANS: Tulane University recently reached out to the ownership of the New Orleans Breakers to see if there was interest in moving the team to a proposed open air stadium on the university campus. With the club firmly ensconced as a fixture tenant in the Super Dome, which gives them a downtown presence, there was little interest on the part of the Breakers in the prospect. Tulane, of course, would be seeking a significantly smaller footprint than the Super Dome, with a stadium of between 30,000-40,000 being best suited to the private university. That is certainly too small for either the Saints or the Breakers, who routinely have crowds in excess of 50,000. Add to this the unpleasant prospect of playing outdoor football in the heat and humidity of a New Orleans summer and it seems clear that the Breakers would be best suited to working with their NFL rivals to invest in the upkeep of the dome and not seek an alternative that would require fans to suffer through muggy mid-summer games.
OAKLAND: We wish we had good news on the future of the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum, or of an alternative site for the Invaders in Oakland, but no such luck on that front. Oakland remains the only team in the league to share a stadium with a major league baseball club, which means they are also the only team in the league to play nearly all games with a baseball diamond cut into the field of play. It is a situation which certainly does not please Oakland ownership, but with no NFL team to share costs, and a record over the past decade that is hardly ingratiating the region to investing in Invader Football, the odds of Oakland obtaining a major investment in the Coliseum are dubious at best. This is a major concern for the Invaders, who look across the bay and see another older stadium at Candlestick Park (We refuse to call it 3Com Park or Monster Park), the best option may be to work a deal with the NFL team in the region to form a joint proposal, but would that require the Invaders to leave Oakland?
WASHINGTON: We wanted to end with a bit of good news, and we think we have it for the Federals. With new ownership coming to the NFL Redskins with Daniel Snyder, the hope had been that the newer FedEx Field in Landover might now be an option for the Federals. That turned out to be a red herring, as Snyder also proved quite intransigent about the USFL just as Jack Kent Cooke had been. But a new option became available for the Federals thanks to an unexpected agreement with Major League Baseball. The relocation of the Montreal Expos MLB club to Washington has produced a major stadium initiative. The new Washington Nationals will be sharing RFK with the Federals beginning this April, and construction is slated on a new multi-use stadium in the District itself. Thanks to new technology in artificial turf which makes transformation from one turf surface to another in short order (something Oakland should explore) the new stadium will be able to act as the home to both the Federals and the Nationals beginning in 2008. Essentially the stadium will have two separate fields, which can be swapped out in less than 24 hours, allowing the USFL and MLB clubs to both enjoy the qualities of a full-time stadium while actually sharing the facility for most of the summer.
The field for the Federals will fit nicely into the current design for the new stadium, with expandable seating allowing the stadium to have significantly different sight lines and capacities for baseball and football. While the Nationals will expand the area to the NE of the football field to house a MLB baseball field with deep outfields, reducing seating to just under 42,000 seats, the expandable seats in what would be right and center field, will allow the USFL to bring fans closer to that side of the field, and expand the seating to just under 50,000 seats. The new stadium will provide the Federals with a city-based facility that is not crumbling down and which can seat a very respectable 48,790, which is just about 3,000 more than the Federals typically average even in their strongest seasons.
So, a full stadium and one that has a wide range of modern amenities should be on the horizon for the Federals, despite the hand wringing and misplaced league loyalty of the local NFL team ownership. The stadium may lean a bit towards MLB at least in its initial naming, dubbed National Stadium in deference to the return of baseball to the nation’s capital. But, we expect that name will not last long as a major sponsor is almost sure to want to contribute to the facility in return for naming rights.
It’s Divisional play in the East, and interdivision rivalries in the West as Week 4 brings us into the meat of the schedule. Baltimore takes their 3-0 record to Philly while New Jersey tries to gain a game on 3-0 Washington when they face off at RFK. The Boston Cannons will test the new Orlando defense in the Citrus Bowl, while 3-0 Tampa Bay hosts the 2-1 Bulls. Chicago is at Ohio in a key early season clash, while Pittsburgh plays host to the Michigan Panthers.
In the West, the most intriguing game could be LA at Arizona, as neither of these 1-2 teams can afford a third loss in the first month. Oakland has a chance to move to 3-1 if they can win at home against a winless Breaker squad. Seattle hopes to get its first win, but travels to Houston to face that defense. The Outlaws are also winless and now head to Nashville to face the Knights. Memphis is at Las Vegas and Denver is in Birmingham to wrap up the week’s action.
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