The 2005 season is presenting us with some real headscratchers. Is Michigan for real? Is Baltimore? What about Philly? And Jacksonville? Is anyone out West going to take charge and win a few games in a row? Just how bad will that last Western wild card be? What happened to Arizona? And Seattle? And LA too? So much seems to be off, or just odd this season. This week gave us a few more unusual results, or at least a few that made us wonder if we needed to readjust expectations across the entire league. It’s certainly an odd place to be, nine weeks in and very uncertain about so much we are witnessing.
STARS 36 FEDERALS 31
The Federals have to be leaving behind Week 9 scratching their heads as well. They went into the game hoping that Jon Kitna would hold up against the Stars’ pass rush, and that Deuce McCallister could find running room against the Stars defense. The answer to both was a resounding yes, with McCallister rushing for 129 and Kitna completing 21 of 32 passing despite being sacked 5 times. The Federals even limited Ahman Green to only 58 yards on the day, and yet, somehow, they found a way to let this one slip away.
The Federals had built up a 24-10 lead by the half, thanks in part to Deuce McCallister’s strong run game. An early TD from McCallister was built upon when backup Antwoine Womack also ran one in from the 2. Add in a Deion Branch TD reception, and Washington seemed to be on their way. The problem was no one told Philadelphia the game was over.
The third quarter belonged to the visitors, with the Stars scoring on an Ahman Green run and then a 51-yarder from kicker Mike Nugent. The twin scores got them within 4 at 24-20. When the 4th quarter began, Washington was feeling the heat, and they responded as one would expect a veteran team with a lot of playoff experience would, they took the second half kickoff and put together a 3-minute drive that ended with 7 points on a Kitna to Tillman toss. Back up by 11, the Feds had to feel good about their position.
That ended 2 possessions later, when, after a Stars 3-and-out, a good punt put Washington back at their own 2-yard line. Philly’s D got the push they wanted on first down, and Jon Kitna was forced to take a safety or risk a pick-6 as he was surrounded by linemen. The lead was now 9. Philadelphia took the post-safety kickoff and aimed at a possible quick score to get back in the game. What they got instead was a tipped ball and a pick from the Washington defense, with strong safety Bob Sanders making the big play.
Washington was ready to put the game to bed, sitting on a 9-point lead, but on the very next play Jon Kitna missed his receiver and found Quentin Jammer instead. The speedy corner raced downfield , putting six on the board and bringing the Stars back to within 2 points. Washington was stunned, but with only 3:58 left, all the Feds had to do was grind out a first down or two and the game would be over. They tried, but on a 3rd and 2, McCallister was stuffed by Kendrick Clancy and the Feds had no choice but to punt the ball away.
Philadelphia took over on their own 33, and in short work, Kurt Warner had the Stars in Federals’ territory. With 1:47 left to play, the Stars got back in the huddle, and Washington clearly thought that the Stars were now playing for the field goal, hoping to run down some time, pick up a few more yards on the ground, and then let Mike Nugent kick them to a 1-point win. They crowded the line when Ahman Green appeared to get the handoff from Warner. The problem was that Warner had pulled the ball back from Green. He had it and he had Tim Dwight in single coverage on a fly pattern. Warner laid up a perfect bomb into the endzone. Dwight caught the ball, dragged his feet and fell to the ground with the game winner.
The win moves Philly into a tie with Washington, both at 6-3, but the road win also gave the Stars the tiebreaker, placing them atop the Northeast Division as the first playoff chart was published. For the Federals, a frustrating day that saw their defense give up 26 points in the second half, including 16 in the final period.
BLITZ 13 GENERALS 20
The other big matchup in the East was the Blitz at the Generals. Baltimore had a chance to stay ahead of Philly and DC atop the division, but New Jersey had their eyes set on getting back into a possible playoff scenario, and that gave them the motivation to win a slugfest of a game. A Bobby Howard pick-six sparked the Generals, who would later get a Brady to Anthony Becht TD toss to extend their lead and hold off the Blitz to move to 5-4. Baltimore falls to 6-3 and joins a 3-way tie for first in the division.
MACHINE 17 PANTHERS 34
Chicago was so focused on the Ohio Glory ahead of them in the standings that they failed to prepare for the club that was gaining on them from behind. Michigan stunned the Machine and doubled up their score in a convincing home win. Drew Brees would continue to be white hot, throwing for 395 yards, while newly-acquired HB Fred Jackson contributed 50 yards on 14 carries. Jeff George looked a bit shell-shocked, throwing 3 picks as the Panthers were all over the Machine offense all game long.
GLORY 44 MAULERS 27
Ohio did not make the same mistake as the Machine, taking the Maulers seriously, despite the setbacks Pittsburgh had suffered of late. Kerry Collins went off against the Mauler defense, throwing for 354 yards and 5 TDs to be named Offensive POTW. Pittsburgh managed to limit Eddie George to only 58 yards rushing, but they just could not keep the Glory receivers out of the endzone, with 5 different targets catching Collins’s 5 scoring throws.
RENEGADES 21 BANDITS 37
Orlando kept it close for 30 minutes, trailing only 17-14 at the half, but the second half belonged to the Bandits, who got a 66-yard punt return TD from Karl Williams and 119 yards from Travis Prentice to earn the home win. Both Kevin Johnson and Chris Doering went over 100 yards as Orlando tried to swarm Randy Moss as a strategy. It did not work, Moss still had 98 yards.
CANNONS 24 BULLS 40
Jacksonville and halfback Antowain Smith made a statement at home against Boston, with the big back rushing for a season-best 157 and 2 scores as the Bulls ran away with this one. Three sacks, 1 pick, and a safety were Drew Bledsoe’s rewards for challenging the Bulls early. The defense shut down the Cannons as the game moved from the 1st into the 3rd quarter. Rashaun Woods added 123 yards and a TD catch as the Bulls celebrated the win and moved to 6-3 in the Southeast.
EXPRESS 14 KNIGHTS 21
Despite a solid game from Quincy Carter, the Express simply could not find the endzone, going only 2 of 11 on third down and failing on their only 4th down play. Frank Gore was again pivotal for the Knights, rushing for 114 yards and opening the scoring in the game. Derrick Mason and Ahmad Merritt scored on two tosses from Todd Collins, and the Knights moved up to 4-5, good enough for first in the Southern Division this year.
OUTLAWS 31 INVADERS 38
Coach Mackovic kept new QB Trent Dilfer on the bench with only 3 days of practice under his belt. Jeff Lewis used the opportunity to have his best game of the year, throwing for 344 and 4 TDs against the Invaders. He had to keep the pressure on because Texas’s defense was not helping. Not only did they give up 4 scores to Trent Green through the air (three to Marty Booker) but also gave up over 90 yards to both Ricky Williams and Justin Fargas. It was Williams’s late score that would provide the game winner to the Invaders in one of the better back-and-forth games of the season.
GOLD 24 THUNDER 3
After stating that Henry Burris would get the start, a Friday shoulder injury in practice forced Coach Glanville to put Aaron Brooks back under center. That did not go well as Las Vegas could only convert on 1 of 12 third downs, failed on both their 4th down attempts, and finished the day with only 154 yards of offense against the Gold.
SHOWBOATS 6 GAMBLERS 34
Houston’s defense had its best game of the year against the visiting Showboats, limiting Memphis to only 226 total yards. Of course, Memphis also hurt themselves, with 13 penalties for 119 yards as they simply got behind and got chippy in a way that did not help at all. Matt Hasselbeck connected with Roy Williams for 2 scores, building on the young receiver’s very solid 2005 season.
BREAKERS 10 WRANGLERS 6
Andrew Walter’s first start in the pros was an ugly affair as neither Arizona nor New Orleans could get much going on offense. Despite trying to emphasize the run to take pressure off Walter, Arizona could only muster 42 yards on the ground the whole day. Walter also suffered 6 sacks as New Orleans just kept the pressure on. The game could have been even uglier, but New Orleans could not do much either as Arizona’s defense stepped up to try to help the offense out. What we got was a game decided by a single drive as New Orleans got the game’s first TD in the 4th quarter on a Troy Davis run.
DRAGONS 13 STALLIONS 16
Byron Leftwich returned to action, and threw for 351 yards, but the Dragons still struggled to score points, and Birmingham got just enough from Jason Campbell to pull out their first win of the season. Seattle had a 13-6 lead after Leftwich’s lone TD of the day, a 43-yarder to David Boston with 3:56 left. But the Dragons got sloppy and Jason Campbell’s TD toss to Lawrence Dawsey was followed by a successful onside kick and a last second Mike Hollis FG to help the Stallions snag the comeback win.
New Faces in New Places
Not a great start for the three players who were on the trading block last week. Trent Dilfer did not get on the field for the Outlaws, standing on the sideline watching as Jeff Lewis had one of his better games. Chris Perry did get the start for the Breakers, but struggled to make anything happen, rushing for only 53 yards on 18 carries, a 2.9 average. And the last of the three, former Bull Fred Jackson, was also able to get into the game against Chicago, rushing 14 times for 50 yards. Not a lights-out performance from either back, but it will take time for each to get to know the team, the offense, and the blocking schemes.
Dilfer is expected to start next week for the Outlaws as they face arch-rival Houston in the AlamoDome. After Lewis’s performance, Coach Mackovic was asked, and he was gracious towards Lewis but made an unequivocal statement that they brought Dilfer in to be the starter and that if he was ready to go next week, he would get his chance to show Texas fans what he could do.
Ohio Leaps Up to #1 with Oddsmakers
It took Las Vegas bookmakers a while to come to their senses, but after 9 weeks Ohio has leapt over Boston and Tampa Bay to become the favorite to win the Summer Bowl. More evidence that the betting line has caught up with reality is the fact that there are 6 teams from the east favored to win before we get to our first Western Conference team. Ohio leads the pack, followed by Tampa Bay, Boston, Washington, Jacksonville, and Chicago. Then we get the first Western team, Denver, followed by New Jersey and then Houston.
The season started with Tampa Bay a clear #1 in the ranking, followed by Arizona, then Boston and New Jersey. The biggest riser since the season started is Baltimore, which started at 750-1 and is now only 18-1. The biggest drop is the Wranglers, who started at 8-1 and are now 1500-1.
Drew Brees Sets the Tone in Michigan
It may have taken 5 seasons, and a lot of struggles, but Drew Brees is turning into the QB that the Panthers imagined him to be when they selected him out of Purdue. After 4 seasons in which he never topped 20 TDs for the year, and averaged just under a 90 QBR, this year he already has 23 scoring tosses, more than 3,000 yards through the air, and a rating well over 100.
Brees has made the leap this year even without a strong run game. He is locked in with his receivers, particularly his top target, Hines Ward, who has 102 targets and 1,123 yards after only 9 weeks. Brees is spreading the ball around as well, with both TE Bennie Joppru and WR Laverneus Coles topping 60 targets and 40 receptions each. Even fullback Rick Razzano is proving valuable, catching 26 passes as a safety valve for Brees. While Brees is quick to point out the consistency of his O-line, which did not have major turnover this offseason, or to highlight Ward as a receiver, it seems clear that the QB is coming into his own as a decision-maker and a leader. Michigan is 6-3 and their offense is second in the league at 29.5 points per game thanks largely to the 3rd rated passing attack in the USFL.
A Light in the Darkness
To say it has been a rough season in Birmingham seems an understatement. Not since a 4-12 season in 1986 have the Stallions had such a poor start to a campaign. Rookie QB Jason Campbell is struggling to stay healthy or to move the ball, and Shaun Alexander is getting buried under 8 and 9 man fronts. The defense is near the bottom of the league, allowing 27 points per game, and yet there is a beacon of light in this season of darkness in Alabama.
Mike Rucker is staking his claim as the best DE in the game, taking advantage of Phil Hansen’s retirement to try to inherit the mantle of the USFL Sack Master. Nine games into the season, Rucker sits at 14 sacks, on pace for a 20-sack season, which would be his first since a stellar rookie campaign in 1999. Rucker has reached 19 sacks twice, but this may be the year that he gets over 20 and sets a personal best. His lead in the league rankings currently sits at 2 sacks more than Chicago’s Anthony Weaver, and 4 ahead of the cluster of players at 10 sacks (Kearse and Udeze of LA, Upshaw of Philadelphia, and Wistrom also of the Stallions).
Rucker and Wistrom have been a strong tandem since the 2nd year player came over from Baltimore this year, helping Birmingham reaching the #2 spot in team sacks behind only the Stars. It is the one aspect of the team that seems to be working well, while all around them there is chaos and confusion. So, while the Stallions are not anywhere near where they hoped to be by this point, there is at least one Stallion who is going above and beyond when it comes to his job performance.
We have our first peek at the playoff standings this week, and while we all know that there is a lot of football between Week 9 and Week 14, it is also clear that the two conferences are going to have very different playoff races. In the East, we have 10 teams over .500, all battling over 6 slots, and even 4-4-1 Orlando is not out of it at all. Meanwhile in the West, we have only 3 teams over .500 and we have 2 clubs with 3-5-1 records currently in playoff position. We could easily see at least one of the three divisions, and perhaps two, with a division champion at or below .500, which means we will almost certainly see Wild Card teams with losing records. It is so bad that even 1-8 clubs like Las Vegas and Birmingham still have viable paths to a playoff spot.
Looking at division races, the ones to watch out for are in the Southwest, where Denver and Houston both sit at 6-3); the Northeast, where all 4 teams are within 1 game of each other and 3 are tied at 6-3; the Southeast, where Jacksonville and Tampa Bay are tied only 1 game ahead of Boston and 1.5 games up on Orlando. With Michigan’s upset of Chicago, the Panthers are now a tiebreaker up on the Machine, with both clubs now 2 games behind Ohio. In the Pacific, Oakland leads at 5-4, with Seattle and LA already 2 games back. And we are not sure if anyone really wants to win the South, where Nashville leads at 4-5, but has New Orleans and Memphis only a half game behind, both at 3-5-1.
Two teams that cannot afford any loses got hit with the injury bug this week. Boston had to place tackle John Stinchcomb on IR after the big man ruptured his Achilles tendon early in this week's game. They also lost CB Brian Williams to a hernia, though Williams could be back in as few as 2-3 weeks. New Orleans was the other club that got dealt a bad blow as DE Corey Sears tore a biceps in his left arm and will also be placed on IR.
Chicago lost 2 players, at least for the short term as TE Jim Kliensasser is expected to be out at least 2-4 weeks after breaking 2 fingers on a bad helmet facemask catch, while HB Brian Westbrook could miss a week or two of action due to issues with the miniscus of his right knee.
Others who are out for Week 11, and possibly longer, include Dragon LB Piso Tinoisamoa (elbow), Blitz FS Marquez Pope (nerve pinch), Mauler CB Dre Bly (hamstring), Knights' sack specialist Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (ankle), Generals' DE Shaun Ellis (finger), and Denver TE Lonnie Johnson (wrist)
Expected back in action for Week 11: Feds' QB Kordell Stewart, Breaker TE Bubba Franks, Dragon CB Al Harris, the other Stinchcomb (Feds' Matt), SS Lawyer Molloy of Birmingham, Texas DE Chris Hovan, and Express CB Aeneas Williams.
Skyhawks Take Another Step
The St. Louis Skyhawks took another step towards finding their way onto the field as the club, partnering with Reebok, revealed their inaugural uniforms for the 2006 season. The unveiling event, Monday Night at the city’s World’s Fair Pavilion atop Government Hill, the ownership and Head Coach Art Shell revealed the uniforms to the world.
The uniform begins with the already-released royal blue helmets. Adorned with the winning logo, the “Angry Bird”, the royal helmets come with navy blue facemasks. The mix of the two blues, along with silver and white, will be dominant features of the uniforms. The most noteworthy aspect of the uniform, a unique element introduced with the Skyhawks, is a swooping set of thin stripes across the chest, from the lower right up to the upper left of the chest. The stripes, in 3 colors on both the home blue and road white jerseys, divide the body of the jersey from the shoulder yoke. Similar stripes are found mid-sleeve, separating the yoke again from the lower portion of the sleeves.
On the Blue jerseys, the streaks are navy, silver, and white. The same colors are used on the white jersey due to the use of a royal blue shoulder yoke. The numbers on both jerseys are a traditional block font, outlined in white (blue jersey) or silver (white jersey) and navy. On the home jersey the numbers are metallic silver, while on the white jersey they are royal blue.
The pants feature another “swooping” effect, with the pant stripes not extending straight from waist to knee, but curving as might a bird in flight. A thick stripe is paired with a thinner stripe, with the two splitting about the mid-thigh, revealing a third color triangular swatch, which is finished at the joint with a small triangular piece, similar to the “jets” included in the main and secondary logo. The socks are navy with a wide royal blue stripe at the base.
Coaching Hotseat
Week 9 and time to seriously consider which coaches are feeling the heat. With their first win coming this week in something of a snoozer of a game, Birmingham cannot be too impressed with Dennis Franchione’s three year run. Not only did he fail to find success in Brett Favre’s final two seasons, perhaps leading to the multiple All-USFL quarterback opting out with a short-lived retirement, but Franchione has not shown that he has what it takes to prepare Jason Campbell for a career as a starter in the USFL. Campbell’s rough start as a pro is going to be put on Franchione, to be sure. And, unless he finds a way to turn things around, or at least demonstrate growth for Campbell, this third season in Birmingham could easily be his last. A 13-24 record so fa does not look like a good sign the former Alabama Head Coach will be able to wrangle a 4th season out of Stallion ownership.
Another Southern Division coach could also be feeling the heat. Mike Nolan was a huge success in his first year with the Breakers, getting them to a 12-4 record in his first season, but that was 5 years ago, and since then things have not all been great. The Breakers did make a Summer Bowl appearance in 2003, so that may be recent enough to still buy Nolan some time, but the current campaign has not done him any favors, and neither has benching, and then trading, Trent Dilfer, the QB who got New Orleans to that Summer Bowl.
Pittsburgh’s Jack Bicknell also has to be feeling a bit of heat. We are not sure if he is in any immediate danger, after all he did get to the playoffs with the Maulers in both 2003 and 2004, but the club seems to have stagnated, and with Terrell Davis’s production on the decline, Bicknell is going to have to demonstrate that he has a plan B for the Mauler offense, otherwise he could soon be on the way out.
Both Galen Hall in LA and Jim Mora in Memphis began the year with targets on their backs. Mora has had some unexpected success this year, but unless he can pull the 3-5-1 Showboats back up to .500 and get them involved in the Southern Division race, this could be the end of the line for the veteran coach. In LA the hope was that Hall’s tendency to put together strong seasons every other year would benefit Galen Hall once again. Sitting at 3-6, after a 6-8 campaign in 2004, does not seem like a winning formula. Unless the Express make major strides over the next 5 weeks, this could be the end of the line for the longstanding Express coach.
Looking ahead to Week 10, we find the West in divisional play once again, with a lot of teams hoping to get on a roll and maybe even reach .500. The best game in these divisional matchups has to be Nashville at New Orleans, because it is the only game where the division lead could change. Memphis hosts Birmingham in the other Southern game and hopes that a New Orleans win also helps them leap over rival Nashville.
Houston is in Texas where we expect to see Trent Dilfer on the field for the Outlaws for the first time. The Gamblers are tied with Denver atop the division, with the Gold at home against Arizona in a rivalry match that may be a bit one-sided this year. In the Pacific, we have Oakland at Seattle in what may be a last stand for the Dragons if they have any hope of being relevant this year. In LA the Express will host the 1-7 Thunder, also hoping that a home win, paired with an Invader loss, will bring them back into the picture.
The East has more winning teams, so on paper more good games to be had. We are looking forward to seeing the Bandits play the Glory. The over under is 58 points, which seems high overall, but may be low for this matchup. Washington is in Boston for a battle of Revolutionary importance. New Jersey will travel to Orlando, hoping to get back in the mix atop the Northeast. In Philly, the Stars have a tough matchup against the Michigan Panthers, while the Chicago Machine try to rebound at home as they host the very tough Jacksonville Bulls. Pittsburgh gets no break in the schedule as they head to Baltimore to face the 6-3 Blitz.