A lot of close games as more and more teams sit within 1 game of .500 in a year of USFL parity. The biggest result of the week may not be one on the scoreboard, but on the medical testing table as Marshawn Lynch could miss the rest of the regular season after suffering a shoulder injury in Las Vegas’s blowout win over the LA Express. Tampa Bay takes hold of the SE Division with their win over rival Atlanta, and Philadelphia sets itself up well as the league’s only 8-2 club with a win over Memphis. Ohio drops a game at St. Louis as fans of the Glory start to wonder if the magic is truly gone. All this, plus big news out of Dallas as that city starts getting serious about bringing USFL football to the Big D. We have it all for you, right here at This is the USFL.
NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS 21 BALTIMORE BLITZ 24 OVERTIME
A very good game between two contenders who have their doubters as Baltimore edges New Orleans in overtime to move to 6-4, tied for 2nd in the NE Division. The Breakers had to have a big 2nd half rally to send the game to overtime but in the extra period they could not get on the board and the Blitz held on to win the game in front of 47,202 in M&T Bank Stadium.
Early on this one looked very much like a Baltimore coming out party as the Blitz raced to a 21-0 lead at the half. Ben Roethlisberger was in rare form, throwing two early TD passes to Darius Heyward-Bey to put the Blitz up 14-0, then adding a long drive at the end of the 2nd quarter that gave them a 3-score lead on Antonio Pittman’s 5-yard TD run. It was all coming up Blitz in the first half.
The momentum shifted in the third quarter as New Orleans got the opening kickoff and went 82 yards for a score, a beautiful Matt Forte run for 34 yards to get on the board. They rallied after that, shutting down Big Ben and the Blitz offense, while slowly chipping away at the score. Eli Manning would finish the day 30 of 51 as the Breakers used the passing game, despite 6 Blitz sacks, to fight their way back. Manning’s TD tosses to Dwayne Bowe and Early Doucet tied the game up, with Doucet’s score coming with just under 1 minute of play. When a last second drive led to a Martin Grammatica miss from 48 yards out, the game went to overtime.
In the extra period, both clubs struggled, with Grammatica missing on a 2nd kick, this time a 52-yarder, and New Orleans failing on a 4th and 1 from the Baltimore 44. It would take nearly all of the extra 15 minutes before we got a winner, but as the game clock got within 1 minute left, a 14-yard Ron Dayne run, his longest of the day, moved the ball within range and Martin Grammatica made good with the game winner with only 26 seconds left to give the Blitz the win and send them to 6-4. New Orleans drops to 5-5, but retains a share of first place in a very muddled Southern Division.
LAS VEGAS 40 LOS ANGELES 27
A win with a cost for the Thunder as they pummel the LA Express but lose HB Marshawn Lynch to injury, possibly for the remainder of the regular season. Jake Plummer threw 3 TD passes and Earmest Graham added another as Las Vegas just kept putting points on the board, but an apparent shoulder injury to Lynch could have a greater effect on the Thunder playoff hopes than a win in LA.
ORLANDO 31 NASHVILLE 21
The Renegades return to .500 sends Nashville to the same mark as late TDs from Karl Williams and Justin McCaerins help erase a 21-17 Nashville lead and give Orlando an important road win. Nashville also had injury issues as backup Quincy Carter, in for the dinged up Jay Cutler, also went down, putting 3rd stringer Chase Daniel into the game. Carter should be fine next week, but in this game his departure made it tough for Nashville to hold off the late Orlando surge.
TAMPA BAY 34 ATLANTA 21
A huge day from Willis McGahee propels the Bandits into first place in the SE Division in this battle of 5-4 clubs. McGahee had 180 yards on 26 carries and both he and backup LaBrandon Toefield each scored twice as the Bandits used the ground attack to control the clock and the game. Darren McFadden also had a big day with 132 yards, but it was not enough for the Fire, who drop to 5-5.
PORTLAND 14 CHICAGO 41
Chicago got a big day from former Gold LB Kendrell Bell, with 2 picks from the LB position, one for a TD as A. J. Feeley continues to struggle. Michael Turner added two scores and Brady Quinn was an efficient 20 of 27 throwing the ball as Chicago took a 17-14 halftime lead and went on to score the next 24 points to blow out the visiting Stags.
HOUSTON 21 DENVER 14
Ike Hilliard was the star for the Gamblers with 126 yards and the game-winning touchdown in this one as Houston escapes Denver with a win and moves to 6-4. Denver’s top-ranked run game was limited to only 61 yards by the Gambler D, while Shaun Alexander rushed for 90 yards and got help from Kevin Faulk’s 45 yards in relief.
OAKLAND 13 SEATTLE 7
Another tough defensive game for the Invaders, but another win as Oakland moves to 7-3 on the year, thanks to a run defense that held Seattle to only 23 total yards, more than 150 less than the 176 that Oakland got from Ricky Williams and Jerious Norwood. David Boston was held to only 1 catch as Byron Leftwich could complete only 10 passes on the day as Seattle drops to 3-7.
MEMPHIS 21 PHILADELPHIA 34
The Stars pick off Jake Delhomme twice and Steve Smith hauls in 8 passes for 134 yards as Philadelphia improves to 8-2, the best record in the league. A 17-0 run in the 3rd quarter helped propel the Stars to the win, as Philly got scores from Slaton, Dallas Clark, Steve Smith, and DB Jairus Byrd, who returned a Delhomme pick for a touchdown in the win.
BIRMINGHAM 3 NEW JERSEY 28
The Generals reach .500 with a big home win over a lackluster Birmingham squad. Two TDs from R. J. Redmond and 112 yards from newly-acquired HB Maurice Jones-Drew power the Generals to a 5-5 record despite a pretty bad day for Sam Bradford (only 2 of 26 with 2 picks). Birmingham simply could not provide much offense against an aggressive New Jersey defense and fall to 2-8, tied with Ohio for the worst record in the league this year.
CHARLOTTE 28 JACKSONVILLE 35
The Bulls remain alive in the playoff race, moving to 4-6 with a nice home win over division rival Charlotte. Tim Tebow had his best game of the year, throwing for 295 and 3 scores, while the combo of C. J. Spiller and Travis Minor added 122 on the ground and 2 scores as well. Tied at 21 at the half, Jacksonville got two Johnny Knox TD catches in the 3rd to take a 14-point lead which they would not relinquish.
PITTSBURGH 34 MICHIGAN 6
Shaun Hill looked very flustered against a Mauler defense that mixed up coverages very effectively, and without much offense to speak of, the Maulers just kept building up their lead, led by DeShaun Foster’s 106-yard day and two Cody Pickett TD tosses, the Maulers take over first place in the Central at 7-3.
ARIZONA 20 TEXAS 17
Texas’s great start to the season continues to wither as the Wranglers get the upset in the Alamodome to stay alive at 4-6. LaDainian Tomlinson has his best day in the USFL as he rushes for 122 and 2 scores, while Joe Flacco is picked off twice by the Wranglers in a rough outing. David Carr’s day was not much better, with 3 picks of his own, but Arizona rallied and a late LT touchdown gives the visitors the W.
OHIO 9 ST. LOUIS 19
St. Louis shows just how far the Glory have fallen with a healthy 10-point win over Ohio. It was 19-0 at one point before a late Javon Walker TD helped make the score a little closer. Eddie George rushed for only 60 yards and Dereck Anderson was picked off twice, going only 18 of 41 on the day as Ohio simply looked like a team without much gas in the tank.
WASHINGTON 17 BOSTON 28
Sunday night’s EFN/ESPN game served up an upset as the Boston Cannons rallied from a 17-7 halftime deficit with a big second half to upend the Federals. It began with a Jabar Gaffney TD to open the third, but the big momentum shift came when Adrian McPherson connected with Percy Harvin on a 73-yard scoring play that brought the house down at Alumni Stadium. Rashard Mendenhall’s 1-yard TD run capped off the night for the Cannons, who now sit at 5-5 and right in the middle of a very crowded NE Division race.
A Tale of Two Cities
When Oakland and Michigan both lost their starting quarterbacks in the opening weeks of the season there was concern in both cities that very strong teams could find themselves floundering. Both initially stuck with their backups as the answer, rather than selling the deed to the ranch in order to bring in a veteran starter, and what we have seen so far is very much a tale of two cities, one coping and moving on, the other struggling to stay afloat.
Oakland has gone 4-2 with unheralded Bob Volek at the helm. With a strong run game and one of the league’s best defenses, the Invaders have been able to stay atop the Pacific Division, winning 3 Division games along the way to look like a solid playoff contender at 7-3.
Michigan, while still in contention at 6-4, has lost 3 of 4 since Brian Griese went down in Week 6 win over Orlando. They upset Chicago in Chicago, but other than that have fallen to Denver, Atlanta, and Pittsburgh, scoring 9 or fewer points in all three losses. The Panthers made a deal with Denver to bring Dereck Anderson to town, and he did start this week, but looked very much like a player trying to learn a new system and build a connection with his receivers, not something you want if you view yourself as a Summer Bowl contender. Michigan’s defense has also struggled as the offense has put them on the field for too much of the past few games. This week’s loss to the Maulers was evidence of this, as Pittsburgh scored 34 against Michigan at Ford Field, the highest opposition point total of the year.
So, what separates the two, well, the Invaders do have a more impressive defensive resume, but perhaps more importantly, their offense has always been heavily reliant on play action and the running of Ricky Williams. Bob Volek, while not an MVP-quality QB, is still able to take advantage of the run game to set up play action passes. Michigan’s offense ran through Brian Griese, with the run game still in flux after the departure of Justin Fargas to the NFL. Bringing in Thomas Jones has helped, but this is still a pass-first club, and that option has largely proven problematic with Griese sidelined.
In order to find the kind of success Oakland has without its starter, Michigan will need to improve the run game, allow Anderson to use play action, and avoid falling behind, because even with Hines Ward and Laverneus Coles out wide, the big play passing game of the Panthers is not going to be the answer with Griese out of commission.
Beasts of the East
We came into the 2010 season saying that the Northeast Division would be a dogfight. What we did not expect would be that they would take that fight to everyone else. At the conclusion of 10 weeks all five NE clubs are at or over .500, with Philadelphia at the top with the league’s best record at 8-2. Furthermore, when you look at the out-of-division records of the division’s five teams, you see that the NE is truly the beasts of the East. Philadelphia is 3-0 in non-NE Division conference play, are both Washington and New Jersey. Baltimore is 2-0, while Boston is 2-1. Meaning that in play with other Eastern Conference teams the NE Division is a whopping 13-1 overall. That is nasty by any measure.
Will the South Rise Again?
On the opposite end of the spectrum we find the Southern Division, where no club is over .500 and the Knights and Breakers lead the division at 5-5. All 4 Southern teams lost this week, the third loss in a row for Nashville, and the 7th straight for the Birmingham Stallions. Only New Orleans has a winning record within the Conference at 4-3, but when you take out the 2-1 record in division, they fall to 2-2, so really, when playing other conferences, no Southern Division has a winning record.
We know that one team will emerge from the division, since the division winner is guaranteed a playoff spot, but beyond that it is certainly possible that no other Southern team will qualify, that is, unless a couple of teams start to find a way to win games outside of the division. Right now Nashville sits at 1-4 in conference play outside of the division. New Orleans is a bit better at 2-2, Memphis is 2-3, and Birmingham is 1-4. The Southern clubs are going to need to find wins in their non-divisional games, because they are beating each other up within the division. We give the edge right now to New Orleans simply because they have shown an ability to get some interdivisional wins, but honestly we think the top 3 teams in the division are all more or less equal when it comes to their chances to snag the division title.
Texas, Michigan, and Portland Need a Turn Around
A two game losing streak is not a major hurdle for most teams, and certainly not as devastating as something like Birmingham’s 7-game streak, but for the Panthers, Outlaws, and Stags, their current 2-game losing streaks have had a major impact, knocking all three out of the current playoff scenarios. The Panthers, at 6-4, are at least tied with Houston and Chicago for a possible Wild Card, but their two losses have been major setbacks in that they show just how troubled the team is without Brian Griese.
For the Outlaws, now 5-5, and the Stags, now 4-6, the losses have taken them from serious contenders to outsiders looking in. It is not too late for any of the three to turn things around and find themselves back in the playoff mix, but they cannot wait too long. Already Texas is 2 games behind Denver and has Houston ahead of them.
Portland is now in 3rd place as well, with both Oakland and Las Vegas 3 games up at 7-3, while Michigan is in the best spot on the wins and losses column, tied with Chicago and only 1 game behind Pittsburgh, but with the offensive struggles they have been facing, they also seem like the team least likely to find a way to rattle off a string of wins. Desperate times in all three camps. Will one or more of these teams find the formula to get back to winning ways?
Birmingham to Shake Things Up at QB
We mentioned Birmingham’s 7-game losing streak as the longest in the league, and, sitting at 2-8, they are already 3 games out of a Wild Card chance, with only 6 games left to play. And that situation has all but forced the hand of Coach Mike Shanahan. This week the 2nd year coach announced that the club would be making a change at QB, benching Kyle Boller and elevating Anthony Wright to starter. This likely feels like Déjà vu for the Stallion faithful as this was exactly what Shanahan’s predecessor did with Jason Campbell, benching him midway through the season and experimenting with his backups, including Wright.
The arrival of Boller from the NFL had been hoped to settle the QB position, and while a 2,800 yard, 12 TD season last year was not exactly All-USFL performance, there was hope that, given an offseason to rest and learn, Boller could come back in 2010 with a strong 2nd season. But, midway through that second season, what we see is an average of only 159 yards per game, and 10 picks to only 5 TD passes. When you add in the fact that Birmingham went out and signed Terrell Owens to bolster the receiving corps, it does seem like Shanahan has to at least attempt something new. Is Wright the answer? Seems unlikely, but perhaps his athleticism can be enough of a shift to jumpstart something within the organization. If not, then we expect Birmingham to once again be in the QB market, either for a veteran starter through trade or the NFL/USFL transfer window, or a serious contender to recruit a rookie from the strong 2011 draft class.
Our first playoff picture report of the season, and the story is parity, as it has been all year. Yes, you have Philadelphia well ahead of the pack in the East at 8-2, but when you look around the league as a whole you have a lot of teams in this. Looking at the East, after the Stars you have three teams at 6-4, five more only a game back at 5-5, and another 3 just one more game behind that at 4-6. Nashville and New Orleans are tied at the top of the Southern Division at only 5-5, which means Memphis, only 1 game back, is also very much in the hunt.
In the West there is a cluster at 7-3, with 4 teams sitting at that mark, while Chicago, Houston, and Michigan are 1 game back at 6-4. Texas,losers oftheir last 2, are now a game back of that pack at 5-5, while Portland and Arizona are also in the hunt at 4-6.
No teams clinched this week, and we expect none will clinch in the next week either, but the clustering of teams will mean that we are in for several weeks of teams rising and falling in the standings, and close battles for the divisions. Even Philadelphia, with a 2-game lead on the rest of the East, is likely to need a good run to lock this thing up before week 15 at the earliest. So, hold onto your hats everyone, this is going to be a wild ride.
With the amount of parity we see in the league this year, and with so many teams still looking for a spark to power a playoff push, injuries late in the season can have a huge impact, and we are seeing each week more teams impacted. Here is this week’s rundown. Chicago will be without CB Reggie Smith the rest of the season after he was placed on IR with a hip injury. Seattle TE Tyler Eckler was also placed on IR after MRI’s confirmed his bicep injury was a near complete tear. Charlotte guard Seymour Guerra was the third IR placement this week with a back injury. Another guard, Tampa Bay’s All-USFL LG, Steve Hutchinson, could be back in a month if rehab on his shoulder Is successful, just in time for a possible playoff run.
As you saw above, Marshawn Lynch was the headline injury. We are looking at anywhere from 2 weeks until a month before his shoulder is ready to allow him back on the field. For Oakland TE Joel Dreesen, whose broken finger was a nasty sight in this week’s game, the damage is actually quite minimal, and Dreesen could be back by Week 13. Others who are likely out this week (doubtful) include Portland guard Mitch Petrus, Pittsburgh HB Brandon Jacobs, Washington DE Chris Long, Houston WR Mike Sims-Walker and Tampa WR Devery Henderson.
Dallas Finds its Whale
Destination Dallas, the local effort to bring a USFL team to the DFW area, and particularly to the Cotton Bowl Stadium, has found its whale, the investor who adds deep pockets and significant sway to their efforts. Tech and media mogul Mark Cuban, owner of the NBA Mavericks, has signed on as a lead investor for the group, and the effort to land USFL football in his adopted home. Cuban, whose estimated net worth ranges from $2-$4 billion, will serve as lead investor, while Destination Dallas founder Kenny Trout, will remain the organizations’ president and COO.
Cuban appeared with Trout at a press conference announcing the Mavericks owner’s investment in the group. He spoke briefly about his interest in the league, before pivoting to talk about the organization and its efforts. He reiterated Ken Trout’s key point about beginning with efforts to modernize the venerable home to the Cotton Bowl as a first step, a proposal that has gained significant steam within the local political circles just in the past two months, then stated that he, like Trout is hoping the USFL will consider expansion within a 5-year timeframe. When questioned by local press about other options for bringing the USFL back to Dallas after the very successful 1-year transplant of the Texas Outlaws, Cuban restated the official position of DD, which is that the organization’s goal is to bring an expansion franchise to the city, but would not rule out the possibility of purchasing a current USFL franchise and relocating them to Dallas if expansion efforts do not bear fruit.
It is well known that within USFL ownership circles there is both a clear consensus that expansion should be limited to rare instances, with preference for a 10-year reconsideration from one expansion period to another, as well as a clear split of opinions about the premise of Destination Dallas. There are some owners, including a couple of vocal ones, who are open to eventual expansion but who believe that any relocation damages the overall image of the league. There is also some opposition to the Destination Dallas proposal of a team in Texas’s largest city, most notably the ownership of both the Houston Gamblers and Texas Outlaws, who both, for obvious reasons, see a third Texas franchise as a major draw from their fan base. Outside of Texas, the prospect of landing the nation’s 4th largest television market as well as bringing into the fold two tech and media savvy owners is appealing, but again, the question of how this would be done is controversial.
It may well be that those who are less opposed to a rapid turnaround of expansion will be swayed to consider that option by the premise of Trout and Cuban owning a team. The other, obvious concern is that if expansion is off the table for the next 8-10 years, then the Dallas group will seek out struggling franchises, those with bad stadium deals or crumbling older facilities, or those with attendance and financial concerns, and push a sale that would displace a current franchise. Destination Dallas has been very careful to steer clear of such discussion, but this investment group, and particularly its two lead investors, is unlikely to just pack things up if the USFL squelches talk of early expansion, and with several teams around the league struggling either with undersized or outdated facilities, or with declining ticket sales, the market may well be there for a lucrative sale and relocation deal. If more news from the Dallas group comes forward, you can count on us to bring it to you, but for now, the arrival of a media and sports figure like Mark Cuban is certainly raising eyebrows.
Adidas Reveals New Look for Philadelphia Stars
Much like the reveal of the new Birmingham Stallion Reebok uniforms a few weeks ago, this week’s announcement and presentation of the new Stars’ gear was met with sighs of relief. Fans were pleased to see that the Stars’ logos and color scheme was untouched, that the iconic gold helmet with white facemask remained, and that the main adjustments to the team’s look were little more than new striping pattens on the jersey and pants.
Adidas retained the scarlet, orange, and metallic gold look of the Stars, despite rumors that they may perform a complete overhaul. The primary “Shooting Star” logo and secondary Liberty Bell design are unchanged, but there are some new features. The most prominent new addition is a reimagining of the pant stripe from a solid stripe to one that evokes the main logo of the team, transitioning from scarlet to orange and then to gold through a series of angled stripes of various lengths, sort of a Doppler effect stripe.
In addition to this, the sleeve stripes on both the scarlet and white jerseys now also transition vertically from one color to the next, evoking for some, an image of the classic Houston Astros rainbow jerseys, though far less intrusive as they are only sleeve stripes and not a full torso look.
All in all, the Philadelphia design, much like the Birmingham one before it, has retained the iconography and visual feel of the 1983 founding teams. With Nashville and Baltimore also expected to be revealed soon, there is speculation that one, if not both, teams will showcase a more dramatic update, as Adidas places its stamp on the league. For now, at least, the European-based sports apparel and shoe company has been very deferential to the history and aesthetic of the USFL. But will that persists as they work their way through all 28 clubs over the next 7 years?
Week 11 feels like a bit of a palette cleanser before the rich 2nd course of the final weeks of the USFL season. We have a few divisional games, including a couple of tasty ones in Boston v. Philadelphia and Pittsburgh visiting Chicago, but overall there are not as many marquee matchups this week. Of course, in a league where so many teams are sitting between 4-6 and 6-4 there is a lot of battling in the middle of the pack across the league.
FRIDAY @ 8pm ET CHARLOTTE (4-6) @ TAMPA BAY (6-4) NBC
SATURDAY @ 12pm ET WASHINGTON (6-4) @ JACKSONVILLE (4-6) ABC
SATURDAY @ 12pm ET HOUSTON (6-4) @ NEW JERSEY (4-6) ABC
SATURDAY @ 12pm ET BOSTON (5-5) @ PHILADELPHIA (8-2) FOX
SATURDAY @ 4pm ET NASHVILLE (5-5) @ OAKLAND (7-3) ABC
SATURDAY @ 4pm ET PITTSBURGH (7-3) @ CHICAGO (6-4) FOX
SATURDAY @ 8pm ET DENVER (7-3) @ LAS VEGAS (7-3) ESPN
SUNDAY @ 12pm ET BALTIMORE (6-4) @ ATLANTA (5-5) ABC
SUNDAY @ 12pm ET ORLANDO (5-5) @ ST. LOUIS (3-7) FOX
SUNDAY @ 12pm ET BIRMINGHAM (2-8) @ NEW ORLEANS (5-5) FOX
SUNDAY @ 4pm ET ARIZONA (4-6) @ LOS ANGELES (3-7) ABC
SUNDAY @ 4pm ET TEXAS (5-5) @ PORTLAND (4-6) ABC
SUNDAY @ 4pm ET MEMPHIS (4-6) @ SEATTLE (3-7) FOX
SUNDAY @ 8pm ET OHIO (2-8) @ MICHIGAN (6-4) ESPN & EFN