2022 USFL Week 11 Recap: Rollers Riled Up
- USFL LIVES
- Apr 7
- 24 min read
Week 11 brought us some nicely contested games but few true surprises. LA’s defense, as Dragon fans feared, had no issue controlling the Seattle offense with Brett Hundley unable to play. Denver gave Arizona a fight but could not get the W in the end. Birmingham and Houston had a shootout decided by a 17-point Stallion 4th quarter. And both the Gunslingers and Skyhawks continued their solid 2022 campaigns, each earning an 8-3 record. Perhaps the highest drama was in Las Vegas, and not so much on the field as on the sideline, where two New England players got into it with each other, producing suspensions on Tuesday, our Big Story for the week. We will lead off with that oddity, then run through the week, break down the first of our weekly Playoff Picture updates, reveal the 10th and 9th players on our Top 40 All Time list, and take a look at the weekend’s upcoming action. All that, plus our Game of the Week, a close one between two teams hoping to make a late playoff run.
Is Coach Fox Losing His Team?: Sideline Scuffle Leads to Suspensions
The New England Steamrollers, one of the early season’s positive stories, may well be headed in a very different narrative direction. Following their 5-2 start, New England has now lost 3 in a row, scoring less than 15 points in all three games and dropping 2 divisional games along the way. This week, with a trip to Las Vegas and a respite from divisional play, Coach Fox had hoped to reboot his team’s attitude and fortunes, but that was far from the final result.
New England went into the road game at Wynn Arena a 3-point favorite over the 3-6 Vipers, but trailed 17-10 at the half and 2-13 after 3 quarters. When Las Vegas put up another score to take a 27-13 lead at the 13:26 mark of the 4th, things got a little crazy, not in the game, but on the Steamroller sideline. After appearing to only half-heartedly trying to stop Viper HB Kareem hunt on an outside run that produced the Viper score, cornerback Benjamin St. Juste headed to the sideline, where Steamroller WR Davante Parker confronted him. The broadcast cut the audio pretty quickly, but it was clear that what Parker had to say did not go over well with St. Juste. It seems that Parker started to question not only St. Juste’s effort, but his toughness as well. Within seconds, words turned into shoves, and soon after into some wild haymakers swung between the two teammates.
Coaches stepped in, but not before each player landed at least one solid blow on the other. As the two were pulled apart, both thrashing to get free of teammates and coaches alike, the war of words continued. Both would end up sitting at opposite ends of the bench, glaring down the field at each other and talking trash to any of their teammates that would approach them. Questioned about the incident in the post-game presser, Coach Fox expressed disappointment and frustration with the encounter, as well as with the team’s efforts in the 30-13 loss.
By Tuesday, more had come down, now from the team itself, with management announcing on Tuesday morning that the Steamrollers were suspending both players for 2 games after the incident, and that they expected the league would also be imposing fines on both players for their unsportsmanlike conduct. Again Coach Fox spoke to the media, laying out his disappointment in the two players and his support for the suspension. But the unanswered question in the room still stood: Was Coach Fox losing grip on his team?
That is the discussion all over the sports blogosphere and on pretty much every ESPN and EFN talking heads show. A team that started off the year looking so promising seems to be devolving into an also-ran with serious culture issues. And while there are plenty out there who agree with Davante Parker that it appeared St. Juste gave up on the play before Kareem Hunt crossed into the endzone, there are plenty of others who believe that the frustration about St. Juste’s efforts should have stayed within the team and outside of view of the broadcast cameras. There are also several prominent USFL pundits who are pointing out that Parker’s own performance left a lot to be desired, with 2 drops and a couple of quick jumps out of bounds when contact was coming.
What Coach Fox is now facing is a team pointing fingers and laying blame, when what the 5-5 Steamrollers need is a team coming together, refocusing their attention, and devising a way to halt their 3-game losing streak and getting back into the mix in what is still a wide-open Northeast Division race. If Fox cannot get the team’s combined minds right, then the odds that the Steamroller season reaches the goals they had in the preseason or the hopes that seemed to be coming to fruition in the early season may well be getting slimmer and slimmer. New England has what should be a pair of bounce back games in the next two weeks, home against both Dallas and Jacksonville, but right now we are not sure they are ready to win either.
NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS 21 ORLANDO RENEGADES 22
There are one-point games and then there are one-point games, and the one we got this week may be the wildest kind, the kind where you are absolutely sure you are headed for overtime only to have the unthinkable occur. It was the 5-4 Breakers headed to Orlando to face the 4-5 Renegades in a game that had “bubble watch” all over it. It would end as a game that had both sets of fans with their hands on their faces, both in disbelief, but one fanbase a lot happier than the other.
The game started quite quickly, with Orlando taking the opening kickoff and using only 6 plays to move from their 29 to the endzone. Five of those plays were needed to get the ball over the 50, but only 1 play was needed to finish the drive with 48 yards coming in one fell swoop. On a 1st and 10 from the Breaker 48, Russell Wilson faked the handoff to lead back Chris Carson and found TE David Njoku all alone up the seam. He hit his interior target and Njoku brought the ball in, shrugged off a tackle attempt and happily strode into the endzone to put Orlando up 7-0.
Following a short New Orleans drive that stalled at the Orlando 44, the Renegades got the ball back on a touchback punt. This time they needed nearly 7 minutes and 14 plays to get the ball back to the promised land, but when Wilson hit Nelson Agholor on a short crosser, the homestanding Renegades were up 14-0. The Breakers would get a field goal to put themselves on the board at 14-3, but the rest of the first half absolutely did not belong to them.
On New Orleans’s first possession of the 2nd quarter, a nice coffin-corner kick had them starting the drive on their own 4. After DeMarco Murray was stuffed behind the line by DE Bruce Irvin, New Orleans tried to throw themselves out of trouble, but Montes Sweat, on his way to a 3-sack game, would not have it. He wrapped up Geno Smith in the endzone, giving Orlando another 2 points and a free kick at midfield. The homestanding Renegades would turn that free kick into 3 points, with Mason Crosby connecting from 42 yards out.
New Orleans again struggled to put together a drive, with Orlando keying on WR Justin Jefferson and keeping a spy on HB DeMarco Murray, they held Murray to only 30 yards rushing on the day and held Jefferson without a catch in the first half. Even Jordy Nelson’s 3 catches for 54 yards were not enough to help the Breakers close the gap, and when Orlando added another field goal at the end of the half, they were up 22-3 and looking very solid.
But strange things happen in the locker room at halftime. One team, totally in control, can get complacent, another, against the ropes, can find the answers to completely shift the action of the second half. And that is exactly what happened, though not immediately. New Orleans managed only 3 first downs in the 3rd quarter, but their defense held Orlando out of scoring range as well, so a second Breaker touchdown was the quarter’s only score, producing a 22-6 advantage for Orlando as the4th quarter opened.
The Breakers would finally find themselves in the endzone on their first possession of the final period. Geno Smith found Olamide Zaccheaeous from 24 yards out, but with the 2-point try failing, the Breakers pulled only within 10 at 22-12. But New Orleans would catch a break only 44 seconds later, when Russell Wilson’s attempt to hit Agholor on the sideline turned into a pick for CB Xavier Crawford. That pick gave New Orleans the ball in Orlando territory, and while the offense could only advance it another 4 yards in 3 downs, they did manage to add a 43-yard field goal and pull the game to within 7 at 22-15.
Orlando felt the game slipping away. They had been too cautious in the 2nd half and now New Orleans had momentum. They tried to stem the tide by shifting back to a more ambitious offensive scheme, but sometimes you just cannot turn that on at will. For a second time in the game, and now with only 4:24 left to play, Xavier Crawford found the ball instead of the intended Orlando receiver. New Orleans was 7 points down, had over 4 minutes and 2 timeouts to work with. They would have a chance to tie, send the game to overtime, or go for 2 and win the game in regulation.
The Breakers were in no hurry to score. The last thing they wanted was to leave Orlando with time to get in range for Mason Crosby and lose on a late field goal. So there was no “hurry up” offense. Instead there was a steady string of short passes, with Geno Smith hitting on 5 of 7 throws on the drive and scrambling for a first down just as the Breakers crossed into Orlando territory. With just over one minute left to play, they took a shot into the endzone and while they did not get the touchdown, they got the defensive pass interference call. CB Shaquille Richardson basically mugged Justin Jefferson in the endzone, and the call placed the ball on the 1 yard line, only 3 feet from a possible equalizer or go ahead score.
New Orleans wasted no time. Rather than try the dive on 1st and goal, they faked the obvious run call, sending Justin Jefferson across the field on a shallow crosser, with Geno Smith rolling out and throwing a low ball where only Jefferson could scoop it up. The talented wideout did just that, and with 1:02 left on the clock New Orleans was down 22-21 with a decision to make. Would Coach Lathon go for 2 and the win, or would he count on his 2nd half momentum to continue, go for the PAT kick and send the game to a likely overtime scenario.
Lathon made the conservative call, having already failed on an earlier 2-point play. He sent out Randy Bullock for the chipshot PAT and all 41,272 fans in Orlando got ready for overtime. When the Bullock kick clanged against the left upright and the refs motioned “no good”, there was a momentary pause, a moment of silence in the stands, as if everyone was trying to identify if what just happened really happened at all. That was followed by an eruption of cheers as the Renegade faithful realized that the doink meant that their team still held a 1-point lead and could kill the clock instead of trying to mount a desperate field goal drive at the end of regulation.
With New Orleans left with only 1 timeout, Orlando was able to kneel the ball down 3 times, run out the clock, and savor a very close call, but a victory that brought them back to .500. For Breaker fans, including the approximately 5,000 who made the trip to central Florida, it was an agonizing way to lose a game, a missed PAT being one of the rarest situations in the game, and certainly one at the end of a contest that gave the other team the W. The Breakers drop to 5-5 and now find themselves back in the basement of a very tough Central Division, while Orlando sits with the same record but finds itself solidly in 2nd place in the less well-balanced Southeast Division.
CHICAGO 21 OAKLAND 27
In last week’s preview of the Week 11 schedule, we said that Oakland had to leave it all on the field at home against Chicago. At 4-5 in a tough division, they could not risk falling 2 games under .500. Well, it appears they were on the same page as they put together a complete game against the unbeaten Chicago Machine. They were behind 14-7 at the half, but you could feel that they were still in this one, and they came out on fire in the 2nd half, scoring 20 unanswered points to take a 13-point lead with 4:54 left in the game. Davis Mills found Taylor Gabriel for the game-tying score, then they cashed in on a huge mistake as Jaylen Watkins returned a Bradford pick 28 yards for a score. The defense held throughout the 2nd half and the Invaders walked away with a huge home win, handing Chicago their 1st loss of the year and dropping them to 2nd in the conference behind Arizona.
POTG: Oakland CB Jaylen Watkins: 9 Tck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD
SAN ANTONIO 38 JACKSONVILLE 24
It was all working for the Gunslinger offense as new DC Pepper Johnson struggled to contain the San Antonio attack. Joe Flacco threw for 342 and 3 scores, Melvin Gordon and Raheem Mostert combine for 136 yards rushing, while fullback Rod Benjamin punched the ball in from the 1 on two separate occasions. Add in 128 yards and a TD on six catches by possible ROTY Garrett Wilson and you get a 14 point margin of victory and a very nice 7-3 record for the 3rd year franchise.
POTG: San Antonio WR Garrett Wilson: 6 Rec, 128 Yds, 1 TD
MEMPHIS 23 ATLANTA 20
Memphis found their run game against a struggling Atlanta squad, with Todd Gurley rushing for 95 yards and backup David Williams adding another 62. That attack made life easier for Blake Bortles, who went 20 for 31 on the day. Good thing, too, because Memphis’ normally solid D did not look its best, especially against the Fire run game, with Nick Chubb rushing for 90 and Rex Burkhead with 33 more. Atlanta could at one point pulled within 3 but immediately saw the lead expand to 10 again when JuJuan Jennings returned the kickoff 97 yards for a Memphis score. That moment ended any challenge from the Fire and helped Memphis improve to 6-4.
POTG: Memphis DE J. J. Watt: 5 tck 1 TFL, 2 Sck
NEW ENGLAND 13 LAS VEGAS 30
Things are getting downright ugly for the Steamrollers as they lose again, dropping to 5-5, with tensions boiling over, as we reported above. The Vipers had their way with New England’s run defense, rushing for 209 yards, with Matt Jones going for 135 and Kareem Hunt rushing for 76 and two scores as the Vipers built up a lead steadily throughout the game, with New England unable to respond.
POTG: Viper HB Matt Jones: 18 Att, 135 Yds
OKLAHOMA 24 DALLAS 26
Jalen Hurts was a one man show for the Outlaws, but it was just not enough against a motivated Roughneck team. Hurts threw for 222 yards and 2 scores while also taking off 12 times, rushing for 99 yards and a 3rd touchdown. That helped keep Oklahoma in the game, but Dallas had enough, including a 97-yard punt return from Jordan Shipley, and 4 Chandler Catanzaro field goals as they took a 26-17 lead late. Hurts hit Nick Toon with 13 seconds to play, but was still down 2, which is how the game ended.
POTG: Dallas DE Taylor Hart: 6 Tck, 2 Sck, 2 FF, 1 FR
OHIO 35 PITTSBURGH 10
A new OC in Pittsburgh, but all the same problems were still evident. The Maulers’ leading rusher was Rico Dowdele, with only 21 yards on 10 carries. Kenny Pickett was sacked 6 times and picked off twice, and Ohio cruised to a 25-point win on the road. Justin Fields threw for 2 scores and ran for 2 more as Ohio was never challenged in this one-sided divisional game.
POTG: Ohio QB Justin Fields: 21/34, 213 Yds, 2 TD, 1 Int, 7 Att, 29 Yds, 2 TD
ST. LOUIS 24 CHARLOTTE 14
St. Louis moves to 7-3 with a solid win over the Monarchs. Lamar Jackson passed for 254 and 3 TDs and ran for another 53 yards as Charlotte just did not have any answers. Deionte Johnson caught 4 of 5 targets, including a 63-yard TD as he finished with 140 yards receiving. A. J. Epenesa was held without a sack, but Charlotte’s offense could only muster 83 yards of offense in the 2nd half as the Skyhawks kept the comeback from taking shape.
POTG: Skyhawk QB Lamar Jackson: 15/27, 254 Yds, 3 TD, 1 Int, 15 Att, 53 Yds
MICHIGAN 14 TAMPA BAY 30
Dalvin Cook rushed for 98 yards, Dak Prescott threw TDs to both Bryant and Grant, and the Bandit defense sacked Kirk Cousins 6 times in this one-sided affair. The Bandits broke a 7-7 tie in the 2nd quarter, going on a 23-0 run that put the game out of reach for the Panthers. With LeVeon Bell held to only 67 yards rushing, the route was on and the Bandits never looked back.
POTG: Bandit QB Jalen Ramsey: 11 Tck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD
BIRMINGHAM 41 HOUSTON 34
A true shootout that saw Birmingham put up a 17-0 lead in the first quarter only for Houston to score 20 unanswered to take the lead early in the 3rd. From there it was a back-and-forth affair, with neither defense able to do much. In the end, Birmingham got the better of their division foes, putting up a total of 507 yards and 41 points. HB Isaiah Pead and WR Henry Ruggs shared POTW honors as each went over 100 yards and put a score on the board for the victorious Stallions.
POTG: Birmingham WR Henry Ruggs: 3 Rec, 121 Yds (40.3 YPC average) and 1 TD
ARIZONA 17 DENVER 15
The Gold came into this one with a good defensive game plan, building up a 12-0 lead on 4 Greg Zeurlein field goals, but they needed to turn at least one of those into 7 points as Arizona got two 2nd half TDs to come all the way back and take a 17-12 lead. Denver managed one more 4th quarter field goal but failed to get into range for a game winner as time expired, giving Arizona their 9th win, while Denver slipped to 4-6.
POTG: Arizona DT Jason Hargrave: 8 Tck, 2 Sck
SEATTLE 3 LOS ANGELES 26
This one was a wild QB shuffle as neither Brett Hundley nor Andy Dalton could go and their backups, Trevor Siemian and Nick Foles failed to finish the game. Foles was knocked out early for LA, suffering a concussion in the early 2nd quarter. Trevor Siemien went most of the way for Seattle but was pulled in the 4th after his 2nd pick. So, it was Kyle Lauletta vs. Stephen Tyler by game’s end. Lauletta got the better of that deal, throwing for 249 yards and a TD while neither Siemien nor Tyler could do much against the LA defense. The Express victory pulls them into a tie with Seattle and gives them the head-to-head tiebreaker as well.
POTG: Express DE Nick Bosa: 2 Tck, 2 Sck, 1 FF
Montez Sweat in the Mix after 3-Sacks vs. Breakers
Orlando got a much-needed win over New Orleans this week, thanks in large part to their defense, and the star of that defense, DE Montez Sweat, also got a win, securing 3 sacks in the game to pull into a 3-way tie with J. J. Watt and A. J. Epenesa, each with 17 sacks on the season. After a somewhat slow start, by Sweat’s standards, the big man has racked up 10 sacks in the past 4 games, with this week’s 3-sack performance his 4th multi-sack game this year. For Orlando to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot, and even to consider chasing down the Bandits, they need exactly this kind of game from Sweat each and every week. The Renegades now have 3 straight games against teams with 3 wins or fewer, a possible chance to string together some wins and for Sweat to string together more big outings as he hopes to repeat as the league’s Sack Champion.
Hurts Excels but Outlaws Fall in Tough Divisional Loss
A tough loss for Jalen Hurts and the Outlaws, as they drop a game to division and state-line rival Dallas. For Hurts it has to feel like he had the whole team on his back, throwing for 222 yards and 2 scores while also rushing for 99 more, with the highlight a 40-yard TD run that had Oakland up 14-10 in the 2nd quarter. But football is a team sport and the Roughnecks as a team had enough to outlast Hurts and the Outlaws. Hurts is having a solid season, with 2,162 yards passing, an 85.7 QB rating, and an 11:8 TD-Int ratio. He also leads the club with 418 yards rushing, 12 more than former Skyhawk HB Eddie Lacy. That may seem like a kudo for Hurts, but it more likely is a concern for Coach Stoops, who brought in Lacy to try to relieve pressure on his young QB. Having one man so central to everything the Outlaws do on offense is as much a concern as it is a luxury for Oklahoma.
QB Chaos in Dragons-Express Game
Don’t ever let them tell you that roster depth is not a great advantage in the USFL. In the Seattle-LA game, a game that would decide who would finish Week 11 atop the division standings, we saw both teams turn to their 3rd stringer, one by choice and one by necessity. First off, we had Brett Hundley, the Seattle starter out with a hyper-extended knee, so we knew it would be former Chicago Machine QB Trevor Siemian getting his 3rd start of the season in relief. On the other side, LA had made Andy Dalton, their recently acquired signal caller, a game-time decision as he was dealing with swelling in his throwing hand after cracking it against a helmet in last week’s game. Well, the swelling was still an issue at gametime, so it was former General Nick Foles into the game as the starter.
Had that been it, we would not be making a case for roster depth. Yes, having a good 2nd in command at the QB position is essential, but in this game, it turned out that the key figure would be a 3rd stringer. Early in the encounter, Nick Foles was hit by a stray elbow and was wobbly as he left the field, with concussion being the obvious diagnosis. That meant that for nearly 3 full quarters it would be LA’s third string QB, Kyle Lauletta, who would lead the offense. Lauletta did himself proud, throwing for 249 yards and a TD as LA built up a 23-3 lead, thanks in large part to a smothering defense. That defense sacked Siemian 5 times, and after producing their 2nd interception of the game (the first being a pick-six), they drove Siemian from the field, with Coach Riley opting to go with his 3rd stringer for the Dragon’s 2 remaining drives. That did not exactly work out, with Stephen Tyler unable to convert on two third down throws or on a desperation 4th and 12. Lauletta got the win and LA breathed a sigh of relief, moving into first place and feeling good that both Foles and Andy Dalton will be ready to go next week.
Houston D Gives up 500 Yards in Stallion Shootout
Another nightmare showing for a rattled and ramshackle Houston defense as the Birmingham Stallions laid 500+ on the Gamblers in their 41-34 shootout win. If not for some offensive fireworks from the Gamblers, this could have been a disastrous game. As it is, it is Houston’s 3rd loss in 4 games since the injury to Carlos Hyde, but what is more troubling is that they have now given up 31, 34, 38, and 41 points in those recent 4 games. Even their win was a 37-34 shootout against a Philadelphia team that has not exactly been lighting up the scoreboard in their other games.
So, what exactly is the issue for Coach Ted Cotrell and the Gambler D? After all, Cotrell was the DC for the Gamblers for a long successful run under Wade Phillips, so why is the D falling apart now that he has been promoted to the head coaching position? Well, when we look at the stats, what we see is giving up nearly 290 passing yards per game, only slightly behind Jacksonville for the worst pass defense in the league. The Gamblers are not getting pressure with their D-line, evident in that they are tied for 3rd worst in the league with only 21 team sacks, and the fact that only 8 have come from the DT and DE positions. That means they have to blitz to get any pressure, and those blitzes are leaving their secondary vulnerable. With only 5 team picks, the secondary is not succeeding in making teams pay for any mistakes their QB makes. In other words, you have opposing QBs safely protected in the pocket, able to read the defense and convert those key passing plays. With this week’s loss, Houston now drops to 5-5 and would be out of the postseason if this week’s playoff standings were final. They have time, but they need to find an identity and some success on defense or the Gamblers could miss the postseason for the first time since 2013, not a good look for Cotrell’s first year at the helm.
We kicked off our dedicated playoff coverage a year later than in past years and it is still too early to say anything definitive. Certainly, we can say that Arizona, Chicago, Tampa Bay and Birmingham are looking solid, but they may need at least 2 more weeks before anything is locked in. We can also say that Michigan, Jacksonville, and Pittsburgh are not looking like they have any realistic shot, but if by some miracle one were to go 6-0 down the stretch, they are still in range, even if that feels like pure fantasy. As we head into the final 6 games of the year, here are the storylines to follow when it comes to the playoffs:
1. Who gets the 1 seed in the West?
Arizona has the tiebreaker at present after Chicago’s first loss, but these two will likely battle it out until the final week.
2. Who gets the 1 seed in the East?
The Bandits and Stallions both sit at 8-2, with Tampa Bay currently holding the tiebreaker with 1 fewer conference loss than Birmingham.
3. Who wins the Pacific Division?
LA just overtook Seattle and holds the tiebreaker thanks to their win over the Dragons this week. Their 4-1 division record could be the difference unless Seattle can get a game up on them, and we are not ready to count out Oakland either, who are only 1 game back.
Who wins the Northeast Division?
Baltimore has a game up on both New Jersey and New England. The Steamrollers have now lost 3 in a row and need to do something to get back to their early season form, while New Jersey has been up and down all season long.
5. Where will the Wild Cards come from?
If the playoffs started today, 2 of the 3 Eastern Wild Cards would go to the Southern Division, with Houston and New Orleans also in the mix with 5-5 New Jersey for the last spot. Could the South see 4 of its 5 teams make the postseason? In the West, St. Louis looks good, and behind them we have Ohio and Seattle with 6 wins, but 5-4-1 Oklahoma could leapfrog them thanks to their tie, and Oakland could also get in the mix if either the Glory or Dragons slip again. With Seattle facing Oakland this week, we could see that shift happening right now.
Not a horrible week, though certainly not injury free, as we add 1 more player to the IR list, Breaker fullback Curtis Nelson, and several more to the injury report as absent for at least the next week if not longer. Still, considering the rash of season-ending injuries we saw over the past month, most teams felt pretty good about how they came out of Week 11.
OUT
FB Curtis Nelson NOR MCL Tear IR
LB Ulysses Gilbert SAN Groin 4-6 Weeks
C Bradley Bozeman MEM Hernia 2-4 Weeks
WR Allen Robinson STL Abdomen 2-4 Weeks
FS C. J. Gardner-Johnson JAX Hamstring 1-2 Weeks
QB Tom Savage ARZ Concussion 1-2 Weeks
DOUBTFUL
OT Trevor Penning OAK Back
CB Tre Herndon PIT Concussion
QUESTIONABLE
WR Kelvin Benjamin ATL Hand
WR Tee Higgins JAX Ankle
LB Darryl Sharpton ORL Concussion
LB Reuben Foster BIR Concussion
LB Samson Ebukam DAL Hand
G Nick Easton NE Ankle
Old is New Again as Blitz Reveal 2023 Helmet Update
The Baltimore Blitz are going retro, at least in part, revealing a new helmet design for the 2023 season. Baltimore’s USFL franchise was the product of relocation, moving from Chicago in 1986, just 4 years into the USFL’s existence and 3 years after the NFL Colts escaped in the night in that famous image of Mayflower moving trucks leaving Memorial Stadium. The Blitz quickly became the city’s new obsession, a way to retain their football passion and stick it to the NFL at the same time. When the Blitz relocated to Baltimore, they swapped their red emphasis look for a dominant blue look, cashing in on a rabid Colts following that was changing allegiance. They retained their basic Chicago look through 2001, including the “blitz” wordmark logo. In 2002, with help from Reebok, they unveiled a new helmet logo, the now-iconic “lightning B” logo that adorns the helmet. They broke away even further from their Chicago history when they dropped red from their color palette 10 years later, with Adidas’s redesign presenting the “lightning B” in blue and silver alone. 2011 also saw the birth of the blue helmet, after nearly 30 years of wearing a silver lid.
For those with a nostalgic feeling for the Blitz, the new design, created in conjunction with both Nike, the new uniform partner for the USFL, and Riddell, will certainly bring you back. In a look that combines features of multiple eras, the 2023 Baltimore Blitz helmet will be silver once again, and will feature a return to the “blitz” wordmark, though one that has been tweaked. The new wordmark, shown below, includes the “lightning B” while also bringing back the club’s original logo feature, the block-font “blitz” with the z forming a lightning bolt. The new design will retain the team’s current colors of Chesapeake Bay Blue and Lightning Silver, with a blue facemask and blue and white center stripes. For helmet buffs, you will notice that another common feature of the Blitz helmet is also back with the 2023 look, the “shockwave stripe”, where the striping shifts just above the numbers on the rear of the helmet, producing a shockwave effect (as Riddell likes to call it). So, what we have here is a helmet designed to speak to fans from the 80’s, 90’s, 2000’s, all the way through today, evoking the history of the club, while also creating something new. Baltimore did not reveal if more changes were coming, though we expect that Nike will want their shot at adding some new features to the 2023 uniforms, but as of this week, Baltimore is moving forward with a new look that is also a very familiar one for Blitz fans.
40 Greatest in 40 Seasons of USFL Football: 10-9
As we enter our Top 10 this week, we switch from 3 highlighted players per week to 2, allowing us more room to laud the truly best of the best in USFL history. This week our two players represent two sides of the biggest head-to-head battle in the league, the left tackle and the dedicated edge rusher. These two greats actually never played against each other, the DE retiring in the rookie season of our LT, which feels wrong, because watching these two battle would have been one of the greatest games within the game that we could imagine. Two legendary lineman, one a QB’s nightmare and the other his very best friend in the world.
10) DE Reggie White (1984-1996)
The Minister of Defense, a legendary nickname for a legendary man. The Reverend Reggie White played 16 seasons for the Memphis Showboats, racking up 259 career sacks and becoming both loved and feared by fans across the entire USFL fanbase. You could not help but love the big man, who had a gentle spirit and a loving heart, but who was simply a nightmare to block and a constant presence around the QB. White sadly passed away in December of 2004, at the age of only 43, only 5 years after retirement and barely 2 months after being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He remains to this day a saintly presence in the Memphis area, his charities continuing his philanthropic work and the Showboat fanbase revering him like no other former Showboat player. For fans of other teams, the respect offered to Reggie White is equally impressive, with even the heated rivalry with Birmingham not enough to keep Stallion fans from recognizing White as one of the greatest of all time.
9) OT Jonathan Ogden (1996-2009)
For the casual fan, placing an offensive lineman here, ahead of a player like Reggie White, or our 11th selection, QB Brett Favre, may seem inappropriate or simply wrong. But ask anyone who has ever played the QB position and they will tell you that it is the Left Tackle who holds the most important position on the field. With a good bodyguard allowing any QB time in the pocket, even a mediocre QB can do a lot in this game. Then ask anyone who ever had to rush the passer against Ogden what he meant to the LA Express and they will absolutely tell you he needed to be in our Top 10.
Simply the best left tackle to ever wear the USFL patch on his uniform, Ogden played 14 seasons with the LA Express and in that time, he gave up a grand total of 15 sacks. His first sack given up did not come until his 4th season in the league, his 54th game. That is just incredible. Equally shocking is a career total in “pancake” blocks, driving a defender to the ground, of 1,522. Yes, that is right, averaging more than 100 per season. That means that Ogden was not just protecting his QB, he was often dominating and humiliating some of the best edge rushers in USFL history. Yup, that merits the 9 spot in our book, and not just because we don’t want Big Jonathan to pancake us too.
Two huge Friday Night games. How do we choose which to watch? With Memphis facing Birmingham in a key Southern Division battle and Seattle heading to Oakland, where the Invaders want to get back in the mix for the division, we may just need to hit a sports bar to see multiple screens at once. Either that or set up dual screens at home.
Saturday has a nice early game with Arizona headed to Baltimore. The Blitz are limping along after suffering some nasty injuries, but need a win to stay ahead of the pack in their division. At 4pm New Orleans heads to San Antonio. A loss here could make any shot at a Wild Card a lot tougher, while the Gunslingers are itching to gain a game and catch Birmingham atop the division.
Sunday offers a lot of “put up or shut up” games, including 5-4-1 Oklahoma headed to 5-5 New Jersey, 5-5 Houston at 4-6 San Diego, and 4-6 Dallas at 5-5 New England. The loser of these three matchups could find themselves having to string together 4 or 5 wins to have any shot, while the winner could be setting themselves up for a late run.
Fri. 7pm ET Memphis (6-4) @ Birmingham (8-2) NBC
Fri. 7pm ET Seattle (6-4) @ Oakland (5-5) ESPN/EFN
Sat. 12pm ET Arizona (9-1) @ Baltimore (6-4) ABC
Sat. 12pm ET Orlando (5-5) @ Atlanta (3-7) FOX
Sat. 4pm ET Michigan (1-9) @ Los Angeles (6-4) ABC
Sat. 4pm ET New Orleans (5-5) @ San Antonio (7-3) FOX
Sat. 8pm ET Ohio (6-4) @ St. Louis (7-3) NBC
Sat. 8pm ET Tampa Bay (8-2) @ Philadelphia (3-7) ESPN/EFN
Sun 12pm ET Portland (3-7) @ Pittsburgh (2-8) ABC Regional
Sun 12pm ET Jacksonville (2-8) @ Charlotte (3-7) ABC Regional
Sun 12pm ET Oklahoma (5-4-1) @ New Jersey (5-5) FOX
Sun 4pm ET Dallas (4-6) @ New England (5-5) ABC
Sun 4pm ET Houston (5-5) @ San Diego (4-6) FOX Regional
Sun 4pm ET Washington (3-6-1) @ Las Vegas (4-6) FOX Regional
Sun 8pm ET Chicago (9-1) @ Denver (4-6) EFN
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