A big week for clashes among contenders across the league, as Jacksonville stakes their claim as the best team in the Southeast with a strong performance in Ohio. Tampa Bay responds with a road win against a division leader that was equally as impressive. New Orleans puts its stamp on the South. Boston stands alone in the Northeast, and Las Vegas and Seattle go head to head for bragging rights in the Pacific Division. From coast to coast we had big games, big results, and big plays. We start with our Game of the Week, a battle between upstarts, this year’s in Las Vegas vs. last year’s Cinderella, the Seattle Dragons.
LAS VEGAS 20 SEATTLE 20 OVERTIME
A back and forth affair in Seattle that ended in a tie, which, of course, makes no one happy. The Thunder and Dragons both tried their best to one up their opponent, but like a good chess match, sometimes a stalemate is all you can get when you have two foes playing at their best.
Seattle got big games from both of their offensive stars as both Corey Dillon and David Boston went over 100 yards, but the biggest play of the day came from unheralded WR Kahlil Hill of Las Vegas. It came after the first score of the day, a David Boston 24-yard TD reception from Leftwich just about at the halfway point of the first quarter. As fans were still settling into their seats, Seattle kicker Dave Rayner sent the ball into the endzone, but rather than take a knee, Hill took the ball out. He quickly found a wedge to follow, made a quick move to the outside, and made his way 103 yards to paydirt to silence the Dragon faithful and equalize the score.
That electrifying return would spark the Thunder. After a Seattle field goal, Las Vegas would score on 3 consecutive possessions. They shifted the score from 10-7 Seattle after 1 quarter to 20-10 Las Vegas after two. The defense would sack Byron Leftwich 6 times, including 2 from Defensive POTY candidate Joey Porter, and the Thunder would have an eye on a vital road win in the very tight Pacific Division.
But, with a half of football left to play, Seattle had time to bounce back. They opened the 2nd half with a second Rayner field goal, and on their next drive, following a Julius Jones fumble, they would take advantage of the short field and score on a Darren Sproles sprint out. Still over 18 minutes of game action to come, but Seattle had tied the game and seemed to have shifted the momentum.
The Dragons often looked like they were about to break open the game in the 4th, but on two consecutive drives Las Vegas came up with a pick to end a drive. Will Allen snagged the first on a deep ball to Boston, while Antoine Winfield snagged his second of the day on a late throw over the middle to Reggie Brown. Both picks in Las Vegas territory meant that the game finished up at 20-20 and went into overtime.
The Thunder won the coin toss and asked for the ball, but they went 3-and-out on their first drive, giving Seattle a chance to score and end the game. Seattle drove the ball down to the Las Vegas 23, but when Dave Rayner lined up to kick the ball, one of his linemen rocked back too soon. The false start penalty moved the ball back to the 28, making it a 45-yard kick, and Rayner missed on the kick, the ball hooking to the left. Las Vegas would have another chance. They too drove down into Seattle territory, but on a 4th and 7 with time running out, they were forced to go for a long 55-yard attempt. Mike Vanderjagt has a strong leg, but it was just not on target and the long kick failed to find the goalposts. That left Seattle with 27 seconds to try to set up a winning kick. They moved the ball on 1st down, but failed to make any progress on 2nd down. Still outside of field goal range, Seattle instead looked for the hail mary. The play did not connect and both the Thunder and Dragons had to settle for a tie.
The tie means that Seattle remains a half game ahead of the Thunder and the LA Express, who they will play this week. For Las Vegas, the tie means that they sit ½ game behind LA and 1 full game behind Seattle in the division, still in range, and still in the Wild Card hunt, but a missed opportunity to be sure.
TAMPA BAY 37 HOUSTON 13
While Las Vegas and Seattle battled to a tie, there was no such parity in the Bandits-Gamblers game. Houston’s vaunted defense struggled all day to contain the Bandit offense. Culpepper threw for 3 scores and 342 yards as the Bandits managed to protect their QB (only 1 sack allowed) and he was able, in turn, to find open receivers. Randy Moss was his main target, and would win Offensive POTW thanks to a 187-yard, 2 TD day against the Gamblers.
JACKSONVILLE 34 OHIO 21
A statement game for the Bulls as they went into Columbus and knocked off the #1 seed. The Bulls never trailed in the game, getting the first score of the day and building from there. Touchdowns from Antowain Smith, Travis Minor, Tim Euhus, and Madison Hedgecock proved too much for Ohio to manage, especially after Kerry Collins left the game with tightness in his elbow. He is not expected to miss any starts, but in his absence, Chris Redman was just not able to rally the Glory.
NEW ORLEANS 27 NASHVILLE 24
A huge game for the Breakers as they knock off the Knights in Nashville, building up a 3-game lead over the preseason favorites. Chris Perry rushed for 80 yards and a score, while Keenan McCardell and Cedric Tillman combine for 156 yards and a late TD that helped New Orleans put the Knights away. Frank Gore ran for 120, but with 85 of those yards in the first half, he was largely written out of the script in the final quarter as Nashville tried to play catchup. Nashville falls to 4-7, while the surprising Breakers now sit in the catbird seat in the Southern Division.
BOSTON 26 BIRMINGHAM 13
The Stallions needed a win to stay within a game of New Orleans, but Boston is no easy out, and the Cannons doubled up the Stallions thanks to an efficient offense that saw Tiki Barber carry the ball 25 times for 145 yards. Drew Bledsoe only attempted 18 passes, completing 13. Birmingham’s Jason Campbell completed 2 more, 15, but out of 34 attempts, as once again the Stallion offense seemed stuck in neutral.
ST. LOUIS 14 PHILADELPHIA 13
A great win for the Skyhawks, who apparently own Pennsylvania, with all 3 wins occurring against the two clubs from the Keystone State. A horrible loss for a Stars team that had playoff hopes. Dropping to 4-6-1, the odds are dropping for the Stars. St. Louis got TDs from WR Lance Moore and TE Patrick Estes as Josh McCown again got the start for the Skyhawks, going 10 of 17 for 202 with the two scores. Philly outgained St. Louis 326-252, but found themselves settling for field goal attempts, with Mike Nugent missing two second half kicks that could have given the win to the Stars.
NEW JERSEY 23 BALTIMORE 16
The Generals stay one game back of Boston by knocking off the Blitz in Baltimore. Enis rushed for 111, and Brock Forsey got some rare carries, including a goalline TD as the Generals took a 17-16 lead after 3 quarters and then got the only scoring in the final period to pull out the 7-point win.
OAKLAND 13 TEXAS 19 OVERTIME
Coach Green, trying to shake things up in Oakland, started Joey Harrington against the Outlaws. The former Orlando Renegade completed 22 of 43 passes but threw two picks. Texas focused on the run, and got a combined 150 yards from Duckett (99) and Marcell Shipp (51). Shipp’s TD run in the 4th was enough for the Outlaws to get the win, their 3rd on the year.
MICHIGAN 23 CHICAGO 15
Chicago’s offense continues to sputter as Michigan survives 122 yards from Michael Turner, with the Machine turning that day into only 2 scoring drives. The Panthers got 2 TD tosses from Drew Brees, and a solid 81-yard, 1 TD day from Fred Jackson as they outpace the Machine and stay relevant at 6-5 after 11 weeks.
MEMPHIS 10 LOS ANGELES 48
Jon Kitna struggled, throwing 4 picks, in a game dominated by the LA defense. Cade McNown threw only 14 passes in the game, but 3 were for scores as he hit on a 56-yard TD to Tory Holt, a 28-yarder to Keyshawn, and a 48-yarder in the final period to Arnaz Battle. LA now finds itself ½ game behind Seattle and ½ game ahead of Las Vegas in a razor thin Pacific race.
DENVER 17 ORLANDO 10
An ugly win for the Gold, but one they will take as they try to stay on pace for a possible Wild Card spot. Neither team could get a run game going, but with 2 picks by Orlando QB Jeff Blake, the Gold were able to capitalize on short fields and got just enough out of the offense to win by 7.
ARIZONA 28 PITTSBURGH 21
The Maulers played well at home, relying heavily on HB Terrell Davis’s 132 yards and 2 TDs, but in the end the Wranglers had too much for them. In another good game on the ground, Arizona got a combined 166 yards from their two-headed combo of Pritchett and Staley. Two TDs from Pritchett were the key to Arizona outpacing the game-but-unfortunate Maulers.
WASHINGTON 10 ATLANTA 6
We called the Denver-Orlando game ugly, but this one was just a plain stinker. Both Kordell Stewart and Jeff Lewis seemed completely incapable of making plays when needed. If not for a fluke play that popped the ball up for Deion Branch to bring it down in the endzone, this game could easily have ended with no touchdowns at all.
Wild Wild West
Perhaps we have gotten so used to the East having more star-studded squads, but it seems odd to spend as much time talking about the Pacific Division as we have this year. But with the three top teams all within 1 game of each other, and the 4th team being last year’s division champions, this year the Pacific feels like the most interesting division in the USFL.
We have LA, who are leading the division, averaging just under 25 points per game, Seattle who is balancing offense and defense, and the Las Vegas Thunder, whose defense has come out of nowhere to lead the league, allowing only 15.9 points per game. Thunder LB Joey Porter is among league leaders with 83 tackles. He also has 6 sacks, which makes him one of 4 Thunder players with 3 or more sacks (the others being DE Hugh Douglas, DE Jomo Cousins, and rookie LB A.J. Hawk).
In Seattle, the big story is also the pass rush, where LB Godfrey Miles has 7 sacks to go along with 6 each from DE’s Travis LaBoy and John Abraham. Add in 4 each from LB Takeo Spikes and DT Brandon Noble, and Seattle is bringing pressure.
LA also has quality in the pass rush, with 5 players who have 4 or more sacks, led by the dynamic duo of Udeze (8 sacks) and Kearse (7). But LA is also doing it on offense, with the duo of Foster and rookie Maurice Jones-Drew already over 1,000 yards combined, and with another duo, that of Keyshawn Johnson and Tory Holt, accounting for over 1,200 yards and 9 touchdowns on the season.
Any one of these three teams could come out on top. Over the past 2 weeks we have seen the Thunder lose to Seattle, then come back to tie them. They also knocked off LA, who beat Seattle earlier this year. The Dragons and Express will play again this week. Down the stretch, it is anyone’s guess who comes out on top, though the tie between LA puts them in a unique position, unlikely to have an identical record as either of their divisional foes. Currently they are a half game behind Seattle, but a half game up on Las Vegas. A win this week at home against the Dragons and they then have the half-game lead and would control their own destiny with only Chicago and Oakland left on the schedule. This is almost certainly going to come down to the wire and it is very feasible that all three clubs could make the postseason.
Oakland Makes a Move
We mentioned earlier that Coach Green made a move at QB, starting Joey Harrington over Trent Green in Week 11’s game against Texas. With games upcoming against Las Vegas, LA, and Denver, the Invaders could play spoiler each and every week, but it appears that the bigger question is whether or not this is a permanent change. A change makes some sense. Green has struggled this year, throwing 8 picks to only 9 TDs and running up a rating of only 73.7. For some there may be more here, as Green is also currently on the last season of his contract with Oakland. If the Invaders feel ready to make the switch to Harrington as their starter, it makes sense that they would want to test out the younger QB’s capabilities now, rather than waiting until Green’s contract is up and a decision to resign or allow him to leave the team becomes more urgent.
Our expectation, with Oakland sitting at 4-7 and a solid 3.5 games behind division leading Seattle, is that the Invaders are looking at the next month as a testing ground for Harrington and a decision point for Green. If Harrington struggles, Green could be signed before the end of Week 14 and the conclusion of his current contract. But if Harrington shows the talent that won him a Heisman and made him a top pick of the Renegades a few years back, then Green’s time with Oakland could be at an end.
Nashville & Oakland Falling Fast
We talk a lot about teams getting hot at the right time, going on a streak and becoming dangerous just as the postseason begins. That was the story of Seattle last year, and appears to be the case with Arizona this season. But what about the opposite, teams that had strong starts and fade down the stretch. That used to be the regular storyline in Texas, where a June Swoon was so common as to become cliché. This year it is Nashville and Oakland who seem to be suffering from a mid-to-late season slump that threatens their season. It may already be too late for both clubs, and it seems that Oakland may be resigning themselves to this.
Nashville has now lost 4 in a row, and 5 of 6, after a solid start. They sit at 4-7 and are now 3 games out of first place in the division, with only Memphis’s injury-impacted season keeping them out of the basement. Oakland, the defending Pacific Champion, was 3-2 at one point, but have also lost their last 4 and 5 of 6 to also find themselves at 4-7 and on the brink of elimination from playoff contention. So, what happened?
In Oakland we can point the blame on a pass defense that is giving up 242 yards per game (23rd of 26 teams). For Nashville the answer is not so readily apparent. They are basically middle of the pack or better in most categories. They have a top 8 defense in yards, yet somehow are 20th in points allowed. They are also top 8 in rushing, led by Frank Gore, but are having trouble scoring points. Fans like to point the finger at Todd Collins, but he is basically the same QB who has led the Knights to the playoffs 8 times since 1995, with similar numbers across the board this year to past seasons.
Sometimes it is a matter of perception becoming reality. Mistakes at the wrong time, like the pick 6 that cost Nashville a game last week, and a lack of big plays can make it seem that a team like Nashville is getting in its own way. And that may be true. It may also be that middle-of-the-pack numbers across the board, results in a lack of strength in one area, which means every week the opponent is better at something than the Knights, and that something leads to a win.
For Collins, it is a bad time to have doubts creeping into the minds of the fans and the team’s executives. He is on the last year of his contract with Nashville, and they have young Vandy QB Jay Cutler eating up a pretty big salary on the bench. That adds pressure, and opportunity if the GM and Head Coach are not as sold on Collins as they once were. Just as with Trent Green in Oakland, we may soon see the young QB on the field in Nashville, and in a contract year for Collins, that could be a bad start to the offseason.
Boston becomes the first club to clinch a playoff spot, even as they remain in a battle with New Jersey for the Northeastern title. While not official, the gap between the top 5 clubs in the East and the 6th (Atlanta), all but guarantee that each of the five will make the postseason. In addition to 9-2 Boston, we have 8-3 Jacksonville, New Jersey, and Tampa Bay. The fifth, New Orleans is 7-4, but has a 2 game lead on Birmingham with 3 to play, so they too have a good chance of making it official next week.
In the West, the break is lower in the rankings, with 3 teams sitting at 6 wins, Las Vegas, Michigan, and Denver. Only 1 qualifies for the postseason as of right now, and Las Vegas has a half-game advantage thanks to their tie with Seattle this week. Ohio and Arizona sit at the top at 8-3, while Denver and Michigan may need help to jump over the Thunder.
Eliminated this week: Pittsburgh, St. Louis and Texas. Orlando, Memphis, and Washington are hanging on, but one more win by Atlanta or Birmingham could end their faint hopes as well.
A bad week all over the league with 4 more players added to IR and several others who could miss significant time. The 4 new IR listings are Memphis wideout Justin McCaerins (ACL), Michigan DT Kevin Vickerson (PCL), Oakland TE Joel Dreesen (ACL), and Boston LB London Fletcher (Quad). Others who could be out 1-2 weeks include Atlanta DT Jason Ferguson (1-2 weeks, arm), Houston guard Kris Dielman (1-2 weeks, knee), and Orlando CB Lito Sheppard (1-2 weeks, wrist).
The Doubtfuls for Week 12 include Oakland WR Marty Booker (elbow), Baltimore TE Antonio Gates (Collarbone), LA wideout Tory Holt (hyperextended knee), and Texas HB T.J. Duckett (deep thigh bruise).
Award Races Tighten Up
This is going to be a tough year for the writers and coaches around the league who serve as voters in the various league awards. We have tough races in many of the categories, and it all could come down to which player has a better Week 14 to leave a final impression in the minds of the voters. Let’s take a look at the major annual awards and see where things stand.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
We have gotten pretty used to Kerry Collins and Drew Bledsoe being among the frontrunners for league MVP. Yes, last year Drew Brees won the title, but Collins and Bledsoe were right there. Before that we had 4 years with one or the other winning the crown (Bledsoe in 2004, Collins 3 straight MVPs prior). But this year there is a new frontrunner, or should we say an old one. 2000 MVP Jake Plummer is having an exclamation point of a season. But, unlike in 2000, when his rushing totals helped propel him to the MVP, this year he is doing it entirely with his arm. Plummer’s 2,902 yards and 24 TDs, put him right in the field with Collins and Bledsoe, and with the Wranglers winning 7 in a row and looking like a title favorite, the former ASU Sun Devil could be on the path to his 2nd MVP title. It would be unexpected after such a rough 2005, but Plummer has made a career of doing the unexpected, so we don’t put it past him to upend the usual 2 and make his case over the season’s final weeks.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Assuming a QB takes MVP, that leaves room for another skill position to capture the Offensive Player of the Year, as so often seems to happen. And while Collins and Bledsoe may cancel each other out for MVP, their teammates are the clear frontrunners in this race. So, who do you take? HB Tiki Barber and his league-leading 1,158 yards? Eddie George of Ohio, with nearly 1,000 yards rushing and another 600+ as a receiver? Or what about Boston’s other big star, wideout Chad Ochocinco, who has over 1,200 yards receiving and 10 TDs this year.
Ochocinco’s biggest competition appears to be yet another Glory player in this 2-team see-saw. Joey Galloway’s 1,118 yards and 15 TDs are equally as impressive. So we have 2 Glory teammates and 2 Cannon teammates battling for the same award and seemingly well ahead of any contenders from the league’s other 24 clubs.
If Barber wins the rushing title, a goal that has eluded him each year, often falling short in the final week of the year, the sentiment will be to give OPOTY to the longsuffering former Atlanta Fire draft pick. If not, then it could be wide open.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
The race for Defensive Player of the Year depends on what you value. Are you a pass rush voter? In that case KGB is leading the pack, with Kyle Vanden Bosch 1 sack behind him. Problem is, both KGB and Vanden Bosch are both on losing teams right now, and winning games often plays a factor in the voting.
That same issue has to be impacting tackle leaders Antonio Pierce (WSH) and Brian Urlacher (CHI), as both their teams are mired in pretty miserable seasons. Does that give Las Vegas’s upstart defense, and its leader, Joey Porter a shot? We think it does. Porter is about tackles behind Urlacher, but has more sacks than both Urlacher and Pierce combined. He is on a team that lives and dies by defense, so if the Thunder can clinch a playoff spot, while the Feds and Machine are out, he has a real shot to become a surprise DPOTY.
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
The easy thing would be to give Rookie of the Year to Matt Leinart. After all, the rookie QB has his Denver Gold over .500 and competing for a playoff spot, but Leinart is not getting the numbers that former QB winners like Byron Leftwich (2003) or Ben Roethlisberger (2004) have racked up. His 2,212 yards are solid, but he lacks the dynamic playmaking that is a key to garnering votes. Part of that is Denver’s conservative system, but part is also Leinart’s game as one based on timely throws, not big throws.
So, who else could be there this year? How about Oakland WR Greg Jennings, who has 42 receptions, is on pace for 1,000 yards and could end the year with 5-7 TDs? Problem is, again, he is on a losing team. The better option on offense may be LA halfback Maurice Jones-Drew. He currently sits at 442 yards rushing and 5 total touchdowns. Problem there is that he is still sharing time with DeShaun Foster, so he will never get the carries or yards that a back like Frank Gore got when he won the award last year.
Our pick may well just be on defense, and it may just be a 2nd Las Vegas linebacker. Joey Porter is a good candidate for Defensive POTY, and we think A.J. Hawk is a strong candidate to win Rookie of the Year in Las Vegas. Everyone loves players who help turn a team around, and that appears to be the narrative out of Las Vegas this year. Hawk also has the numbers, with 81 tackles, 4 sacks, a safety and a forced fumble on his resume. The combo of Hawk and Porter has been dynamic, and it would be fitting to recognize both this July.
COACH OF THE YEAR
Who is doing the most with the least? That tends to be the focus in the Coach of the Year race every season. This year that question may be a tough one to answer. There are three candidates, each of whom is doing something no one saw coming. So who do you pick?
Mike Nolan has the Breakers winning games and leading the division despite playing 14 road games (basically) as the Breakers moved from Memphis to Birmingham to Houston, and now Portland as they deal with the tragedy and chaos of Hurricane Katrina. No one expected the Breakers to be competitive this year, and they are now in great position to not only have a winning record, but to take the Southern Division and possibly win a playoff bye week. That will absolutely make Nolan a contender.
Jerry Glanville already built a winner in Tampa Bay, and he seems to be doing it again in Las Vegas. The Thunder were a moribund team for so long that it is hard to picture them as a playoff team at all, but this year Glanville and that pressure defense of his are making a lot of noise in the Pacific Division. He is within 1 game of first, and has a real shot to take the division title with LA and Seattle battling this week. Win that division in his 2nd year with the club and you have to consider Glanville in this discussion.
The third candidate has to be Jay Gruden, head coach of the expansion Atlanta Fire. With an expansion team coaches are simply supposed to be building rosters and creating a culture, not winning games. And yet, Atlanta has overreached. They sit at 5-6 right now. If they finish below .500, even if it is 6-8, then Gruden perhaps does not get many votes, though he certainly deserves credit for a very good first season. But, if Gruden can get this club to finish strong, finishing 7-7 or even 8-6, then the Fire and Gruden have to be considered one of the greatest expansion clubs in football history, and that puts him right there in the conversation.
ORLANDO REVEALS NEW LOOK FOR 2007
It has been another long year in Orlando, but one that has had some bright spots. The defense is one of the league’s stingiest, and there is a feeling that Coach Thomas and this team are ready for an upward swing after a 3-win 2005 season. So, no surprise that with a new(ish) coach and a theme of rebuilding, the Renegades also update their look for a new era.
Reebok this week showed off the new look, bringing out Orlando stars Sedrick Irvin, Al Wilson, and Kyle Turley to show off the new look for the club. While the main logo remains the same, and the basic look is unmistakably Orlando, there are some new wrinkles. The team introduced a new secondary logo, which now shows two tomahawks crossed behind the signature “O” of the team’s primary. They also updated their wordmark. For the first time in team history the Renegades give up the script nickname in favor of a rough-edged block font. The new arched wordmark includes larger lettering for the initial “R”, final “S”, and the central “G”, a quirk which makes a lot of sense when we see that in addition to a full “Renegades” wordmark, we also have variations with “Gades” as the name, a moniker often used in the sports world for the club.
In addition to new logos, the team debuted an updated uniform. It is still very much black, blue and silver, but with some new twists. The black is now more of a deep graphite grey, allowing for some play of light, particularly on the helmet. The blue is also slightly brighter, almost venturing into Honolulu Blue. The helmet also replaces its black facemask with a new highly-metallic chrome silver facemask. The use of silver on all uniform components shows a metallic sheen that is more dynamic than in past iterations.
The jerseys feature a new block lettering and a new stripe pattern, with two thick stripes over a third stripe that actually extends into the cuffs on both jerseys. The pants also feature two thick stripes separated by a thinner gap in the color of the pants themselves. It is a look that is very much in line with the traditions of the Renegades franchise, as well as the color scheme shared with the NBA Orlando Magic, the two pro clubs in the city. The look is modern, but very much a part of the Renegades history, much as the team itself is hoping to retain the pride of the past but set a course for a new future.
Week 12, the antepenultimate week of the season (had to look that word up, but it is a word alright, next to next to last). A lot of clinching scenarios in this week’s games, and quite a few divisional games to highlight the schedule. We start with an inter-conference game as our Must Watch this week, Houston visits New Jersey in a game that both need. The Gamblers are a game back of Arizona while New Jersey trails Boston by 1 as well, so neither can afford to lose this one. Speaking of the Southwest, we have Denver traveling to Arizona and desperately needing a road win in this rivalry game to stay alive out West. In the south, a huge game for both Birmingham and Nashville as the two clash at Adelphia. Neither can afford to lose or the playoffs may become out of reach. A fascinating matchup in Portland, where the Ohio Glory come calling on the surprising Breakers. Seattle is in LA, where the Dragons have only a half-game on the Express thanks to this week’s tie game. Atlanta has a tough matchup as they travel to Jacksonville to play the first place Bulls.
In other action, Memphis is in Texas in a battle of 3-8 squads. Baltimore and Washington play in a somewhat underwhelming I-95 Clash, and Orlando travels to Tampa Bay to face the Bandits. Chicago heads to St. Louis, hoping to earn another division win. Philly is in Boston, but at 4-6-1 their playoff chances look very slim. Michigan visits 1-10 Pittsburgh, where Brad Gradkowski continues to start for the Maulers. Finally, Oakland is in Las Vegas, but coming in with a 4-game losing streak, the Invaders are all but mathematically dead only one year after winning the division title.