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Summer Bowl 2019 was a game you either loved or loathed. If you love high-scoring, big plays, and largely-ineffective defense, this was the game for you. If you love hard-nosed defense, big stops, and close contests, this year’s Summer Bowl may not have been your cup of team. The 56-33 victory by the Arizona Wranglers was the 2 nd  largest margin of victory in the league’s 37-season history, with the 23-point margin falling one point short of the 24-point demolishing of Memphis by the 2002 undefeated Ohio Glory. The combined 89 points marked the highest combined score in Summer Bowl History, blowing away the prior record of 81 points when the Maulers beat these same Houston Gamblers 44-37 in 1995. The game also marked the 9 th time that the two competitors combined for more than 70 points in the game.  Summer Bowl MVP loosening up in pre-game before his 6-TD spectacle. This was not a game of inches, it was a game of 20+ yard plays, with both teams hitting on big plays often all game long. Eleven different players recorded at least 1 play of 20 or more yards, with several recording more than one on the day. Victor Cruz led all players with 173 yards in the game, a total that came with 2 touchdowns. For Houston, their leader was WR Josh Reynolds, with 161 yards on only 6 catches. JuJu Smith-Schuster also topped 100 yards, with 116 on the day. In the run game, there was no huge number. The game became a passing affair early and both teams used the run mostly to earn short first downs or to keep the safeties thinking. Carlos Hyde topped all rushers with only 15 carries and 76 yards. Arizona split carries between Isaiah Crowell (13 for 43 yards) and Ka’Deem Carey (9 for 43 as well). And, yes, the stars of the game were certainly the quarterbacks. Colt McCoy threw for a Summer Bowl record 427 yards, most of it playing catchup. Why? Because in addition to 390 yards of his own, Summer Bowl MVP David Carr threw for 6 touchdowns on the day, including two each to Victor Cruz and Jimmie Graham, and one apiece to DeMarcus Robinson and Maxx Williams. This was not a game for the defenders, though Joe Haden did win the Defensive MVP thanks to the game’s lone interception as well as a forced fumble (though recovered by the Gamblers). And, with a score this high, you must wonder how busy the kickers were. Well, while Younghoe Kim kicked 2 of 3 field goals, Arizona’s Elliott Parson was called on exclusively for PAT’s, 8 of them to be exact.   This was a game that saw more explosives than a good 4 th  of July celebration, but it was hardly a back-and-forth affair. Arizona built up a 21-0 lead in only 14 minutes, and while Houston started to respond in the 2 nd  quarter, they never pulled the score closer than 8, with it quickly ballooning back to 15, then 19, and as much as 30 at one point in the 4 th  quarter before the final 24-point total. It was a coronation for the Wranglers as one of the great franchises in league history. Appearing in their 5 th  Summer Bowl since 2013, the Wranglers brought home a 3 rd  title in 7 years and David Carr added a 3 rd  ring, something his understudy, Ryan Nassib was unable to do last year. For a team that lost most of its 2013 stars over the past couple of years, including HB Frank Gore, WRs Larry Fitzgerald and Antonio Bryant, and defenders Troy Polamalu. Adam Carriker, and Karlos Dansby, the Wranglers have not rebuilt, they have clearly reloaded, with new stars like Victor Cruz, Ka’Deem Carey, Jimmie Graham, Scooby Wright, and this year’s Defensive MVP, Calais Campbell.  To say this game started heavily in Arizona’s favor would be a bit of an understatement. The Houston Gamblers had a combined 37 yards and 11 plays in the first quarter, while Arizona, had 21 plays, but in those 21 plays scored 3 touchdowns. Their opening drive used up more than half of those plays, as they used 12 plays to methodically march down the field, confusing Houston with misdirection runs and play action before David Carr hit his first scoring toss of the game, a short 3-yarder right over the center to TE Jimmie Graham. After Houston went 3-and-out on their first drive, Arizona went right back to business, and in only 4 plays they had upped the score to 14-0. One of those plays, a 44-yard catch and rumble by big TE Maxx Williams showed that they had a plan in place if Houston overextended themselves to cover Cruz and Graham. Williams caught what should have been a 9-10 yard play but extended it 44 yards down the field thanks to a missed tackle and some really bad angles by flustered Gambler defenders. Two plays later Carr had a 2 nd  touchdown, this one a 21-yard strike to Victor Cruz on a post-corner that turned around the league’s interception leader, Leodis McKelvin.   Now down 14 only 9 minutes into the game, Houston mounted a meager drive, but when Colt McCoy was flushed from the pocket by Calais Campbell he had no choice but to throw the ball away rather than take the sack. Arizona got the ball for a 3 rd  time, and for a 3 rd time they would make the Houston defense look foolish. Their 3 rd drive began with a Ka’Deem Carey 12-yard run on a basic sweep, then Carr found DeMarcus Robinson for 20 yards before connecting a 2 nd  time with Cruz, this one from 27 yards out to put Arizona up 21-0 as the 1 st quarter reached its final 2 minutes. Houston was shellshocked. They needed some energy and they needed it fast.  The Gamblers would get the spark they needed on their 3 rd  and final possession of the quarter. On the 3 rd play of the drive, a 3 rd  and 3, they turned to their best all-around player, HB Carlos Hyde. An outside screen turned from a short first down gainer to a 24-yard crowdpleaser that finally got the Gambler contingent at Wynn Stadium on their feet. It would take only 5 more plays for the Gamblers to finally put some points on the board as they cut the Arizona lead down to 15 with a McCoy to Moeaki TD toss. But, when Younghoe Koo missed on the PAT there was a sense that Houston might possibly be snakebit in this game.   The Gambler defense finally got a break on the ensuing Arizona possession as a false start pushed the Wranglers back on 3 rd and 3 to a much harder 3 rd  and 8. Houston blitzed and Carr for the first time misfired, throwing the ball too low for Jimmie Graham to scoop it up. Arizona punted and Houston got to work to try to bring the score back into a manageable range. They did just that thanks to a Carlos Hyde 1-yard TD run that pulled Houston back to 21-13, technically a 1-score game at 8 points of difference.  Isaiah Crowell was one of 3 Wranglers to finish with 2 TDs on the day. But, if there was any thought that the Gamblers could somehow equalize the score by halftime, Arizona’s next drive put some serious doubt into the minds of even the most adamant Gambler fans. The Wranglers controlled the ball for nearly 5 minutes, now dinking and dunking their way into the red zone. The drive featured 6 runs, the most of any on the day, and included the final play, an 8-yard run that saw Ramik Wilson bounce right off a steamrolling Isaiah Crowell as Arizona’s bigger back rumbled into the endzone for the Wrangler’s 4 th  score of the game.   Houston still showed some spark, moving the ball well in the game’s final seconds before putting up a field goal to make the Arizona advantage 12 points at 28-16 as both teams headed into the locker rooms, one certainly feeling a lot more upbeat than the other. As the fans in Las Vegas were enjoying a halftime show that included local favorites The Killers as well as an unannounced appearance by Post Malone, the Gamblers were trying to find a strategy that would hold back the Arizona offense. In the other locker room, Coach Tomsula was urging his team not to let up. Chuck Long promised the offense that they were not going to take their foot off the accelerator until all 60 minutes were up. The defense would just need to slow down Houston, not even stop them every time, because the offense was planning to continue lighting up the scoreboard.  Arizona OC Chuck Long did not get an award, but may well get a HC job after a season and a title game like this one. Would that strategy work? Well, it did not take long for Arizona to prove it could. After a bad drop of a potential 1 st down ball on 3 rd  and 7, Houston was 3-and-out again, and Arizona was ready to make them pay. After a couple of Crowell runs proved effective, the Wranglers got a connection from Carr to Maxx Williams to put them at midfield, and then went to their other, much faster, tight end. Carr found Jimmie Graham mismatched against Kenny Vaccaro and the big man used his height and body size to box out the smaller Houston safety. Once he had the ball in his hand, he spun away from the tackle and had clear running to complete the 50-yard score. It was Carr’s 4 th  on the night, well on his way to a Summer Bowl record and the MVP award.   Now down 19, Houston needed yet more from their offense. They would get it again from Carlos Hyde, who ripped off his own long play, a 31-yard TD run to help Houston at least stay relevant. The long scoring run pulled them back to within 12 at the midway point of the 3 rd , but they would need the defense to find some kind of success In the final 23 minutes of action, because they simply could not trade scores with Arizona and hope to come back. The Wranglers had no intention of letting up, as Coach Long had said at halftime, and on their next drive they marched 64 yards in 10 plays before Carr hit on TD number 5, a perfect play action dump off to Maxx Williams, who rumbled the final 2 yards into the endzone before spiking the ball. Back up by 19, Arizona new that Houston would need 3 scores to get a lead, and they still felt like scoring even more to make that a near impossibility. QB Colt McCoy (Seen here in pregame warmups) threw for 427 yards, but a 4th quarter INT gave Arizona a 26-point cushion. The next Houston drive ended up helping Arizona all but lock up the win. Now desperate not only to score, but to do so quickly, Colt McCoy took a risk he did not need to take, trying to force a pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster despite solid double coverage by the combination of CB Joe Haden and safety Corey White. Haden confidently snapped the ball away from Smith-Schuster, knowing White was there if he somehow whiffed on it. He stepped out of bounds almost immediately, but the turnover was all Arizona needed. They soon added their 7 th  total touchdown of the game, with Carr hitting his Summer Bowl record 6 th  TD toss, finding DeMarcus Robinson for the score that gave the Wranglers a nearly insurmountable 49-23 lead just 3 minutes into the 4 th  quarter.   The final 12 minutes of action saw Houston put up 10 points, but even in doing that there was a clear sense that it was cosmetic and not impactful, particularly as the Wranglers were also able to add 7 more, even after bringing Brandon Allen in a QB to finish up the game. The additional 17 points added to the scoreboard did not impact the end result, only the total points tally, already well above the Over-Under set by Las Vegas, but pushing the score into the Summer Bowl records cited earlier. The same could be said for Colt McCoy’s final 2 drives, which pushed him over 400 yards passing but never really challenged Arizona’s hold over the final result.  With SB19 concluded it is on to the offseason in preparation for 2020 & Charlotte's first Summer Bowl. When the final whistle sounded, Arizona had claimed victory, their third league title in 7 years, and had done so in about as dominating a fashion as the USFL had seen in 37 championship games. David Carr was recognized for his 6-touchdown performance with the game’s MVP award, Coach Tomsula was handed the John Bassett Trophy, which would then be shared with one player after another. The stadium filled with red, white and blue confetti, more a tribute to the league itself than to the colors of the Wranglers, and the fans found their way back to the casinos, luxury suites, and gaming floors, though many Arizona fans stayed in the stadium to share the joy that the Wrangler players and coaches were expressing on the field and the small stage built near the North endzone. Arizona and Houston had put on an offensive showcase, but in the end it was the Wranglers who could claim a dominant victory and the title of league champions.

Two title games decided by a combined 4 total points, and the end result is a first for the USFL, the first Summer Bowl rematch in the league’s 37-year history. After a pair of very close calls, the defending champion Houston Gamblers and the defending Western Conference Champion Arizona Wranglers will return to the USFL’s title game for a rematch of a thrilling 2018 final. We will review how both teams clinched their conference title and punched their ticket to Las Vegas and Summer Bowl 2019. We will also take a look at the news from around the league, including the 2019 league awards revealed at last night’s Gala and even take a look ahead to September, when the league will conduct its first expansion draft since 2008. All this, plus our pick for the 2019 USFL Champion, right here, and right now.   Summer Bowl Rematch, a USFL First Regardless of the result of Summer Bowl 2019, it will be a historic game for the USFL. For the first time in league history the two teams who battled in the prior year return for a second round. Like a matchup of two prize heavyweights, like Ali and Frazier or Tyson and Holyfield, this one will almost certainly be a historic battle between two of the league’s elite franchises. And the winner will undoubtedly have something to brag about as well.   If Houston can defeat their former rivals from the Southwest Conference, they will become only the 2 nd  team in league history to defend their championship, following the 2002-2023 Ohio Glory. The would also be the Gambler’s 6 th  title. They are already the only USFL team with 5 league championships, so a 6 th  would put them in very rarified air. For Arizona, a win would be their 3 rd title in a span of 7 years, solidifying their standing as one of the league’s all-time dynasties. Simply appearing in the Summer Bowl sets a precedent, with 5 trips to the title game in only 7 years. The Jim Kelly-led Gamblers appeared in 6 Summer Bowls between 1987 and 1996, and Arizona would have 3 more seasons to equal that feat, but, just as that Houston squad is considered an all-time dynasty, so too could Arizona claim to be the “Team of the 2010’s” with a 3 rd title this year.   Not since 2014 has the USFL had a Summer Bowl without either the Wranglers or Gamblers making an appearance, and with the shift of Houston from the same division as the Wranglers, a concession made when the Boston Cannons relocated to Dallas, we have come to expect these two to be at the top of each conference. As we see this year, that is clearly the case as the two go face-to-face for a second time. So, will it be a 6 th title as well as a back-to-back repeat for Wade Phillips and the Gamblers? Or will Arizona get a measure of revenge for last year’s ugly 48-17 defeat, claim a 3 rd  title in the decade, and join New Jersey, Tampa Bay, and Philadelphia as 3-time champions? We will know soon enough, when the two clash on Saturday in Las Vegas with a full house anticipated and a rowdy “Sin City” atmosphere guaranteed.  But, how did these two clubs get here? Let’s look back at the two Conference Title Games to see just how both booked a return trip to the promised land.   TAMPA BAY BANDITS 21   HOUSTON GAMBLERS 22 It certainly was not a given that Houston would triumph in their matchup with the Tampa Bay Bandits, and for a good part of the game it appeared that Tampa’s triumphant rise from 3-13 to a SE Division title might go all the way to the Summer Bowl. Houston was down in the game for nearly 55 of the game’s 60 minutes, but prevailed on a late TD from one of their regular heroes to take the victory and lock up a 3 rd consecutive trip to the USFL’s title game.   In what was one of the stranger starts to any playoff game, we opened the Bandits-Gamblers game with a 2-2 score after 1 quarter, a total that surely threw off countless “number square” games. No one expects that 2-2 is going to win anything, but that was what we got. It began after a perfect coffin corner punt by Tampa’s Tress Way put the Gamblers back at their own 2 to start their opening drive. After an inside run by Carlos Hyde provided no relief, Colt McCoy dropped back, was immediately pressured by Dante Fowler, barely getting the ball away before being dragged down. The refs discussed the play, then called Illegal Grounding on McCoy, whose pass did not find a nearby receiver. Though not recorded as a sack for Fowler, the play produced 2 points and would give the Bandits the ball. After a pair of failed drives, it was Houston’s turn to pin the Bandits back inside their own 2. Gambler punter Chad Lester drove the ball inside the 10, giving Tampa Bay a 1 st  and 10 on their own 7. That would lead to a Houston safety just one play later as Dak Prescott’s pitch to Dalvin Cook was poorly timed. The ball careened off fullback Roger Gregory, who apparently had take the wrong angle for the play called. The ball bounced backwards towards the endzone before a diving Cook landed on it. As he tried to get up, he was touched by a Houston defender and the safety was called. Two to two and a strange start for two teams known for their offense.   The second quarter, while not producing any scoring oddities, was still not what most expected of this matchup. The defenses dominated in the half, with both teams recording 3 sacks apiece in the opening 30 minutes. Both clubs moved the ball to a point, but struggled with third downs. Tampa Bay converted only 1 of 5 in the half while Houston went 0 for 4, something that defied the odds when we look at how good both offenses were in the regular season. While both teams managed to put some points on the board, it was only thanks to the strong legs of both kickers. Harrison Butker added 6 points to the tally while Younghoe Koo would have only one chance, and that led to the Bandits taking a very surprising 8-5 lead into the half.   Both clubs spent the better part of the halftime break trying to make offensive adjustments, to strategize how best to put the ball in the hands of their playmakers. Both found success in adjusting to the defenses and the 3 rd  quarter would prove to be the kind of play we all expected from these two high-flying offenses. The Bandits would get the opening kickoff, a result of Houston misstating their “deferred” interest and allowing Tampa Bay both the opening and 2 nd  half kickoffs. That mistake, a rarity for teams this late in the year, helped Tampa Bay bolster their lead. The Bandits would use only 8 plays to move from their own 20 into the Houston endzone. They opened the drive with a big pitch and catch between Prescott and Ryan Grant, a 29-yard play that got them to midfield in one stroke. They would add two nice runs from Cook and a key 3 rd  down conversion to Cameron before Prescott found Dez Bryant for the game’s first touchdown. With a botched holdon the kick, keeping the advantage to 14-5, Tampa Bay was still feeling very much in control.   But the Houston Gamblers are no strangers to tough matchups, and they responded as you would expect a defending champion would. The Gamblers were patient, took what Tampa’s defense was willing to give, and built up an 11-play, 5-minute drive that brought them back to within 2. On the drive, the player with the biggest impact was not one of the usuals, but 2 nd tight end Tony Moeaki, who had 3 of his 5 catches on the day in this one drive, including a 10-yard completion on 3 rd  and 9 that kept Houston rolling along. With the ball at the 10, McCoy again looked to the unsung star of the drive, and Moeaki again came up with the catch, a high throw reminiscent of the famous Montana-Clark play from the 80’s. Moeaki went up for it and brought it down to give Houston their first touchdown and drop the lead from 14-5 to 14-12.   But the third quarter was not done yet. There were still nearly 7 minutes left, and we would still see two more scores before entering the 4 th . Tampa Bay responded to Houston’s 11-play drive with one of their own, sparked by a 34-yard throw and catch to rookie Deebo Samuel. The Tampa Bay drive got bogged down at the Houston 20, but Coach Trestman chose to go for it on a 4 th  and 1 from the 20, and with former Ohio Glory back Marion Mack brought into the game, it was no surprise that the Bandits went for a straight power play right off the center. The refs called a first down, Coach Phillips challenged the play, but replay was unable to overturn the call. Tampa had a first down at the 19. Three plays later it was Prescott to his own tight end, Jordan Cameron, for his 2 nd  TD of the game.   Down 21-12 with 2:39 left in the quarter, Houston opted to pick up the pace. Helped by a defensive holding call on the second play of the drive, the Gamblers pushed the ball into Bandit territory, but a nice play by CB Jalen Ramsey forced Houston to settle for a field goal. Koo’s kick was good from 48 yards out and at the end of 3 we had a 21-15 game, a marginal 6-point lead.   That lead would hold through most of the 4 th quarter, helped by two failed 3 rd  down plays from the Bandits and an atypically poorly thrown ball by McCoy that missed Josh Reynolds and was scooped off the turf by CB Taurean Nixon for a pick. The Bandits tried to push the lead to 9 with a long Butker field goal attempt, but for the 2 nd time in 4 attempts, the Bandit kicker missed to the right, the ball hooking harmlessly outside of the goalposts and giving Houston the ball on their own 34 yard line. With 3:37 left to play, down by 6, the Gamblers knew this was likely their last chance to change their fate.   McCoy gathered the Gambler offense ahead of the drive, reminded them that they have been here before and that all they had to do was for each man to do their job and they would take the win. The Gamblers broke huddle and began what would be a 9-play, 66-yard drive to destiny. The drive opened with McCoy hitting Carlos Hyde with a swing pass, but SS Derwin James was there to disrupt it before much damage could be done, a gain of only 1. On their next play, they found a better connection, with McCoy hitting JuJu Smith-Shuster for 11 and a first down. McCoy would hit 4 different receivers on the drive, including a 27-yard catch and run by Hyde and an 11-yarder to Vernon Davis that put the ball on the Tampa Bay 9 yard line with 1:40 left to play. A Hyde run brought the ball down to the 2, and on a 2 nd and goal, McCoy called play action. His pass to Josh Reynolds was too high and sailed out of the endzone, leaving Houston with a 3 rd  and goal on the 2. Houston brought out 3 receivers along with Hyde and Davis. But it was not a pass. They trusted the ability of their back to find a hole along the line, called an inside run and Hyde plowed his way across the plane and in with 1:27 to play.   Houston now led 22-21, but with 1:27 they would need some defense to keep the Bandits out of field goal range. They would get it, with the front 7 putting pressure on Prescott, leading to a sack from LB Pat Angerer on a 2 nd  and 5 that created a 3 rd  and 12. Prescott completed his next pass, but only for 4 yards as Houston safety Budda Baker made a textbook tackle on Jordan Cameron. That left 4 th  and 8 and one shot left for the Bandits. With 4 receivers on the field and only Mack in to help block, Houston opted to bring pressure, and, as is so often the case with Wade Phillips defenses, it was the right call. Mack chipped the blitzing Pat Angerer, but that left Tim Crowder free to come around the end. Crowder got his first sack of the game, but the most important sack of the affair as it ended Tampa Bay’s drive and gave Houston the ability to take the victory formation and claim their third consecutive Eastern Conference title. DENVER GOLD 17  ARIZONA WRANGLERS 20 Much like the Eastern final, the battle between Arizona and their SW Division rival Denver Gold was a nip and tuck affair that was not decided until the final minutes. Denver would employ the same strategy that had helped them upend the 14-2 Michigan Panthers a week earlier, a slow, steady offensive possession game that combined short passes with timely runs to milk the clock and shorten the game. Denver would finish with nearly 35 minutes of possession, but Arizona found enough big plays to offset some of the slow-down tactics.   Two big turnovers also helped Arizona claim the title in the end, both picks of Denver QB Josh Allen, though, to be honest, at least one of those interceptions was far more on the receiver than the QB. In a game that saw a combined 31 points in the first half and only 6 scored in the second, the two late takeaways proved to be the difference in the contest.   The first quarter did not delay in providing some drama. Arizona received the opening kickoff after Denver won the toss and deferred to the second half. They would need only 2:40 off the clock to put up a touchdown, thanks largely to a 37-yard catch and run by former Mauler Victor Cruz. The play took advantage of play action, with Denver biting on the run by Isaiah Crowell. Carr retained the ball, saw Cruz in single coverage and hit him down the left sideline with a perfect pass. Only 3 plays later Crowell would get his turn, a dive over the pile from the 1 to put Arizona on top. But if the Wranglers thought this first drive would be indicative of the ease with which they would take this game, they were very mistaken.   Denver responded with a drive of their own, and with a play as big, if not bigger, than Cruz’s. The Gold began the game on the ground, with Murray and Lindsay both getting 2 carries in the drive’s first 4 plays. Both found good holes and produced a first down, setting up a 2 nd and 3 that Allen easily converted with a dump down pass to TE T. J. Hockenson. With the ball now in Arizona territory, it appeared the Gold were going back to the run, but instead they set up a slip screen to DeMarco Murray. Catching the Wranglers in a heavy run defense, Murray only had to clear the initial coverage from LB Travis Goethel and he would have clear space to run. With help from pulling guard Larry Warford, Murray got past Goethel and it was off to the races. Forty-two yards later Murray was diving across the goalline and equalizing the score at 7 apiece.   All this occurred before the game had even hit 5 minutes of time elapsed, but the flurry of points would not continue. For the remainder of the opening quarter both teams found the going a bit tougher, and we saw only 3 punts as the quarter wound to a close. Early in the 2 nd we did get another good drive, but it too fizzled, forcing Arizona to turn to Elliott Parson to retake the lead. Parson’s 48-yarder was good and Arizona took a 10-7 lead with 14:12 left in the 2 nd . After a pair of short drives, Denver again got the ball and this time they opted to use more passing on 1 st  down to loosen up the Arizona defense. Josh Allen connected with Jack Doyle and Kendrick Bourne on consecutive first downs to create easy run situations on 2 nd  and short. It was not the fastest attack option, but that was fine for the Gold. They took 14 plays and nearly 8 minutes off the clock, but when FB Robert Foster punched the ball in from the 1, Denver had the lead, 14-10.   Getting the ball back with 3:05 left to play in the half, Arizona did not have luxury to slow play the drive. They went into a 2-minute offense, though they did hand off to Carey and Crowell a combined 4 times in their hurry-up set. After a nice completion to Demarcus Robinson, the Wranglers were within field goal range at the 20, but they had both time and 2 time outs left, so the goal was certainly to add 7, not 3 to the scoreboard. A failed shot at the endzone on first down was followed by a false start call, making it 2 nd  and 15 from the 25. But, David Carr got sneaky and used a nice hard count to turn the tables, forcing Von Miller offsides and gaining back the 5 yards from the false start. On the next play it was a clear case of a mismatch recognized. Arizona TE Jimmie Graham was covered in man by Denver MLB Patrick Onwuasor. Now, Onwuasor is a very solid linebacker, but he just cannot keep up with Graham and David Carr saw that. Carr’s route was changed from a crossing pattern to a seam route and Carr found him over the middle. The big TE was able to muscle his way past the safety and into the endzone, putting Arizona up 17-14 as the 2 nd  quarter came to a close.   From what we saw in the first half, we might expect the game to easily enter a final score in the 30’s, but both Coach Tomsula and Coach Hufnagel know how to make adjustments at the half, and both did just that, producing a second half with only 6 total points scored. It could have been more, but the Arizona defense also managed to nab two Allen passes to shut down promising Denver drives. The first came on Denver’s opening drive of the game, a drive which had amassed 3 first downs and was closing in on field goal range for Greg Zeurlein. But, on a 2 nd  and 8, Josh Allen was flushed to his right, tried to throw back over the middle to Golden Tate and found CB Jeremy Lane instead. The play cost Denver a shot at a field goal and got the Wrangler faithful on their feet.   Arizona could not make anything of the takeaway and 5 plays later punted back to Denver. The Gold again showed that they could muster enough offense to threaten the Wranglers, and this time there was not a costly turnover. With 5:36 left in the 3 rd , Greg Zeurlein put up the equalizer. Just as they had done in Michigan, the Denver Gold were keeping Arizona close, waiting for a mistake that would help them earn the win. Unfortunately, this time the mistake would be theirs.   Following the tying field goal, both teams struggled to push the ball into the opposition’s side of the field. While the run game for both clubs was proving somewhat effective, play action was not, and several drives simply faltered on third downs as the opposing defenses stepped up. Denver was not allowing Wrangler receivers to obtain needed yards-after-catch to turn short receptions into first downs, and Arizona was pressuring Josh Allen with their front 4, allowing 7 to stay back in coverage. From the 5-minute mark of the third quarter to the 4-minute mark of the game, neither team got closer to the endzone than the opposition’s 45 yard line. Both teams seem to be waiting for the other to crack, for a routine play to turn into an opportunity. That crack came with 3:53 left to play, and it came from a simple mistake.   Denver had the ball on their own 37 on a 2 nd and 7. The play called for a fake to Lindsay and a toss over the middle to either TE T. J. Hockenson or slot receiver Kevin White, whomever had shaken off their coverage. As the play developed, it was White who had gotten inside position on the nickel back, and had a step. Josh Allen put the ball in the air, a laser in front of White, but White, feeling the presence of the safety coming in, diverted his eyes from the ball. Rather than coming cleanly into his hands, the ball deflected off his fingertips and up into the air. It was a classic tip drill, and there, coming over from his coverage on Hockenson was Arizona LB Scooby Wright. Wright came down with the ball, falling to the ground before holding it up in celebration. Arizona had the ball on the Denver 41 with time to get into position for a game-winning kick.   The Arizona offense would do the rest, using a pair of outside runs from Ka’Deem Carey, they reached the Arizona 32. A 3 rd and inches produced a first down on a QB sneak. With 1 st  and 10 on the 31, Arizona took a shot at the endzone on first down, thwarted by CB Chidobe Awuzie. On 2 nd  down it was Isaiah Crowell up the middle for 4. Then on third, a throwaway as Carr could not find a receiver before DE Justice Cole got too close for comfort. Out came Elliott Parson to attempt the 44-yard kick. It was a clean kick and with 1:21 left to play, the Wranglers had the lead, they had taken advantage of the crack in Denver’s game, a simple hesitation that produced a turnover.   The Gold would not recover. Going to a no huddle, the Denver offense got a first down immediately on an Allen to Crabtree connection, but it would be the final completion of the day for the Denver QB. Two plays later, a holding call on 2 nd  and 10 put the Gold in a brutal 2 nd and 20 position, and Allen was unable to make connections with his receivers to pull them out of the hole. On 4 th  and 20 his final pass reached Golden Tate, but Joe Haden was there to break it up and Arizona took over. The win was theirs, and with it a trip to Summer Bowl 2019 and a rematch with the Houston Gamblers for the USFL title.   Houston Finds New Options in Attack With Mike Evans on the IR, and with the Bandit defense doing all it could to neutralize HB Carlos Hyde (75 yards on 21 carries) and JuJu Smith-Schuster (2 receptions on 7 targets), the Houston Gamblers were forced to find alternatives. They proved just how dangerous their offense is by doing just that. WR Josh Reynolds stepped up with 4 receptions for 98 yards, proving that he could be a valuable weapon for McCoy on the outside, but the biggest revelation was tight end Tony Moeaki. Living in the shadow of Vernon Davis since coming to the Gamblers from St. Louis, Moeaki was viewed as primarily a run blocker or an extra defender for Colt McCoy’s blind side, but in their game against Tampa Bay, he became an option for McCoy, and one used often.   With only 20 receptions all year, Moeaki was hardly on Tampa Bay’s gameplan as a threat. But in the game this week, the 10-year veteran was targeted 8 times, coming away with 5 receptions for 41 yards and a key score in the 3 rd  quarter. With the Bandits focusing their attention on Hyde and Smith-Schuster, McCoy had to find options, and in Moeaki he found a reliable one. Sure, the Samoan former Hawkeye was not going to pull away from defenders, but he was able to get open and bring the ball in on key plays, sustaining Houston drives and helping them do just enough to get the W against the Bandits.   In all likelihood, Arizona will also try to contain Hyde and Smith-Schuster, they may even target Vernon Davis as a potential offensive threat. So the ability of the Gamblers to turn to others, whether Moeaki, Reynolds, slot man Keke Coutee or even fullback Anthoy Sherman, may prove essential as they try to repeat as champions. A diverse offense is the key to defeating a quality defense, and Houston is showing that they understand the necessity to move beyond the favored targets and use everyone on their roster.   Butker Kicking Himself Over Misses While we certainly would not single out Harrison Butker as the reason Houston, and not Tampa Bay, is going to be playing in Las Vegas this week, it is undeniable that the Bandits’ kicker did not have his best week. In addition to missing a PAT on their opening score of the 2 nd  half, a 1-point differential which would have caused the Eastern Title Game to go to overtime, he also missed on two field goals, including a 38-yarder in the first half. Either of those kicks would have won the game for the Bandits.   Was it a case of the yips? Did the pressure of the title game get to the Bandits’ kicker? It seems something was off. Missing on the early field goal could perhaps be just a case of nerves, but by the 2 nd half you would expect that a kicker of Butker’s quality would have shaken off the early game jitters and be ready to help his team take the title. The missed PAT showed no signs of a botched snap or poor hold, it simply went sideways from the moment it came off Butker’s foot, sliding outside the right upright without so much as a doink. Later in the game, with the Bandits up 21-15, Butker lined up for a 48-yarder, not an easy kick, but certainly one he has made before (5 of 7 in the regular season from 45+). Again the ball hooked to the right, another missed opportunity, as it would have given the Bandits a 9-point, 2-score lead at the time.   Is it fair to single out these misses as the reason the Bandits are sitting at home this weekend? No, that hardly seems fair. After all, they had more than a quarter left in the game to put up more points. So, it is not appropriate for fans to be calling for a new kicker in 2020, as some on sports radio have asserted. The Bandits did have other opportunities; they just did not put the ball in the endzone or keep Houston from doing so. Winning is a team effort, as is losing. While Harrison Butker certainly will not look back fondly on this week’s game, he is hardly the sole reason that the Bandits are not moving on to Summer Bowl 2020, and Coach Trestman is certainly not going to put all the weight of the loss on the right foot of his kicker. Butker will be back in 2020 and he will have other chances to show his value to the team.   Hufnagel Loves His Team’s Fight Losing to the Wranglers was a tough blow for the Denver Gold, but Coach Hufnagel is not bowing his head. Since the game, both in the post-game media time and in his own local show in Denver, he was adamant about how pleased he was with his team’s tenacity, grit, and effort. And there is no denying that in the way Denver played both in their surprising victory over Michigan and their narrow defeat in Arizona, the Gold outperformed expectations, did all they could to level the playing field with a more talented opponent, and frustrated their opposition. Both Panther Coach Sean McDermott and Arizona’s Jim Tomsula praised the Gold’s gameplan and their ability to stick to a plan with determination. Coach Hufnagel spoke of the same thing in his evaluation of the two games.   Rehashing the cliché of football as a game of inches, Hufnagel laid out just how close it was in Michigan, and that the Panthers could have easily gotten a break or two to win that game, and just how close it was in Arizona. Without the late game turnover, or if it had been Carr’s ball and not Allen’s that was tipped into the air, and the Gold could easily have taken the win and moved on. It will be a long offseason for Denver, and they do have some issues to address, not the least of which is Von Miller’s demand for a new deal, but the fans in Denver and the organization as a whole, has to be proud of the way the Gold committed themselves to the postseason, outperformed expectations and created something to build on for the future.   Wranglers Finding Balance When it is Most Needed The book on Arizona is well-known. They are a big play team, often relying on their QB and WR group to hit on the 40, 50, or longer pass plays to break open a defense. Their run game is just to keep the safeties honest. Well, that was not the case this week. Arizona showed surprising balance in their attack, using the run effectively to move the ball, not just to set up single coverage for one of their talented receivers. In a game that saw David Carr attempt 27 passes, the combination of Ka’Deem Carey and Isaiah Crowell accounted for 29 plays, 15 carries for the speedster and 14 for the grinder. Those 29 carries produced 125 yards on the ground and a touchdown. With Carr completing only 12 of his 27 attempts, for only 188 yards, it was the balance of the Arizona offense that helped get the Wranglers the win and their Summer Bowl slot.   Will that balance work against Houston? Yes and no. Yes, balance certainly will help. If Arizona can establish the run as a viable weapon in their arsenal, it will pressure the Houston defense to keep linebackers, and even safeties, near the line, and it could disrupt Coach Phillips’ blitz schemes. But, at the same time, Arizona is going to have to find those huge 40 yard or longer chunk plays, the big backbreakers, against a Houston team that is unlikely to be held to 17 points, as Denver was. Arizona may not want to play in a shootout, but they need to formulate ways to win one if that is what the game turns out to be. Having a viable run game is a part of the solution there. It can provide them with opportunities for big gains in the passing game, or it can be used (to take a page out of Denver’s gameplan) to shorten the game and give Houston fewer opportunities to cause damage on offense as well.   Two very healthy teams are heading into the Summer Bowl, with neither team facing a serious concern coming out of the conference title games. Keke Coutee continues to nurse a hamstring issue, but it did not seem to impact him this week, so we expect he will be fully able to engage against the Wranglers. Arizona lists no one on their injury roster and we believe that to be accurate as they did not have anyone leave the Denver game due to injury, so two very good teams at full strength is what we can expect this week.   ARZ:       NONE HOU:     WR Mike Evans (IR), CB Siran Neal (P), WR Keke Coutee (P)   USFL Gala Presents Awards & All-USFL Team The world-famous Wynn Las Vegas was the home for this year’s USFL Summer Bowl Gala, and it was a parade of big-name talent, celebrity appearances, and all the glitz you would expect from Sin City. From showgirls to Celene Dion, it was a night of surprises, and a night of celebration of excellence in the premier spring football league. At the center of it all were the awards and the award winners, along with the unveiling of the All-USFL Team for 2019. We will start there, with 44 players named to the honor roll. As always, there will be some players, and many fans, who feel that they did not get the recognition they deserve, but it is hard to deny that the 44 names on this year’s All-USFL Team don’t deserve to be honored. Here is the roster of this year’s honorees:   QB: Dak Prescott (TBY), Kirk Cousins (MGN), David Carr (ARZ) HB: LeVeon Bell (MGN), Eddie Lacy (STL), Carlos Hyde (HOU) FB: Kyle Juszczyk (MGN) TE: Coby Fleener (NOR), Jordan Cameron (TBY) WR: Odell Beckham Jr. (NJ), Dez Bryant (TBY), JuJu Smith-Schuster (HOU)      Victor Cruz (ARZ), Cody Latimer (MGN) OT: Levi Brown (TBY), Brandon Scherff (ARZ), Riley Reiff (BAL) OG: Jason Asamoah (HOU), Barrett Brooks (TBY), Chase Warmack (DAL) C: Mike Pouncey (CHA), Stefen Wisniewski   DE: Calais Campbell (ARZ), Shaquile Riddick (PIT), Cliff Avril (OAK) DT: Ndamukong Suh (POR), Aaron Donald (PIT), Dan Williams (MEM) LB: Channing Crowder (PHI), Rolando McClain (CHA), Trey Hendrickson (STL),      Bobby Wagner (OAK), A. J. Klien (ARZ), DeMeco Ryans (BIR/TBY) CB: Leodis McKelvin (HOU), Stephon Gilmore (LA), Antonio Cromartie (BIR)     Dre Kirkpatrick (MGN) SS: JaJuan Jarrett (OAK), Budda Baker (HOU) FS: Earl Thomas (ATL), Nate Allen (ARZ) ST: Elliott Parson (ARZ), Matt Bosher (BIR)   The Arizona Wranglers led all teams with 7 All-USFL players, followed closely by the resurgent Tampa Bay Bandits with 6 and both Michigan and Houston with 5 apiece. And after the All-USFL Team was announced, it was time to start handing out some individual awards, all five of the annual honors found their 2019 recipients, with few surprises across the evening.   MOST VALUABLE PLAYER It was a competitive 2-man race between Michigan QB Kirk Cousins and Tampa Bay’s Dak Prescott , but in the end, the combination of individual achievement, including 4,245 yards and 30 TDs, and team improvement, jumping from 3 wins to 10 in one season, that gave the honor to first-time recipient Dak Prescott of the Bandits.   OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Kirk Cousins may have missed out on the MVP, but there was one Michigan Panther who was not denied as HB LeVeon Bell “ran away” with the OPOTY award, if you will forgive the pun. With1,552 yards rushing, 11 total touchdowns, and a career best 453 yards receiving on the year, the 2,000+ yards from scrimmage were more than enough to win Bell his 3 rd  OPOTY in the past 4 years.   DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Who else could hold up this trophy but Calais Campbell . Moving to a new team, winning his 10 th consecutive sack title, and helping Arizona win the SW Division for a 5 th consecutive season was more than ample reason to once again recognize Campbell as the best defender in the game. The 2019 DPOTY is Campbell’s 5 th , and there are many who still say he should have at least another 2-3.   ROOKIE OF THE YEAR It came down to two players, one on either side of the ball, but in the end, as it so often does, offense wins out over defense, at least when it comes to awards. This year’s ROTY is Baltimore HB Josh Jacobs , who finished 2019 with 1,132 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns for the Blitz. A competitive 2 nd  place was held by Orlando DE Montez Sweat, who had the unenviable job of replacing a legend in Calais Campbell. Sweat more than held his own, with 17 sacks in his rookie campaign.   COACH OF THE YEAR As always, this award goes to the coach who produced the biggest upturn for his team, and no one did more than Tampa Bay’s Mark Trestman , with the Bandits improving from a miserable 3-13 in 2018 to an impressive 10-6 record with a division title to boot. Trestman’s Bandits were explosive on offense and had marked improvement on defense. They went 6-2 in division and earned the 2-seed this year after finishing as one of the worst teams in the league just 12 months ago.   Congratulations to all the nominees, all the winners, and to the entire All-USFL squad for 2019. And now, with the Gala concluded, we have 2 more days of practice, pundits, and prognostication, and then it is game time as we gear up for Summer Bowl 2019 in Wynn Arena.   5 Stories to Follow this Offseason While all eyes are in Las Vegas for Summer Bowl 2019, we here at “This Week in the USFL” are well aware that this is our last regular report until October, which means we might want to talk a bit about the offseason. So, we put our heads together, looked ahead at the upcoming Free Agency period, as well as September’s expansion draft, and decided to hit you with 5 stories you will want to track between now and October. These are the stories we think will impact the league and your favorite team, especially if you are a newly christened fan of the Steamrollers or Gunslingers.   1—Will any USFL Stars go Unprotected in the Expansion Draft? The answer here is an unqualified “yes”. With each team only able to protect 10 roster spots, there will certainly be some very well known, and very solid players left unprotected. Is your favorite team going to lose their All-USFL QB or star halfback? No. But positions like safety, defensive tackle, linebacker, or tight end quite possibly could be seen as a lower priority. We also could see some players hitting the twilight of their careers, especially those with bloated cap-hammering contracts left available with the possible effect of having either New England or San Antonio pick up that expense and that late career player.   With a cap of 3 potential players taken from any team, the damage, even if some quality players are left unprotected, will not be severe, but for a team that has already had significant retirements from their roster, or a large free agent exodus, the expansion draft could definitely complicate a club’s offseason, adding new needs that were not part of the original plan. But, for others, cap relief may actually make for a more beneficial position from which to approach the draft and free agency. We all expect that there will be some surprises, for example teams with a QB battle leaving those QBs exposed to see if one of the expansion teams will solve their dilemma for them, or perhaps a team with a player who is good on the field and a nightmare off it leaving that locker room issue available and hoping he soon becomes someone else’s problem. These could all happen, but if you are a fan of one of the 28 current teams, you really should not fear that your roster will be gutted by the expansion draft.   2—Will both Flacco and Lynch be Returning to San Antonio? Both are up in the air, though Marshawn Lynch certainly seems open to the idea of giving it one more season if that season brings him back to San Antonio and he can be the main man for a new team. We are not sure Lynch is ready to be the main man for an offense, but perhaps from a promotion and “face of the franchise” perspective, he would be a good addition. As for Joe Flacco, on the one hand he had his worst season in a long time this year. On the other, an expansion team getting a veteran QB with Flacco’s credentials is more than most can ever hope for. Flacco will almost certainly be a better, more secure, option than any other quarterback left unprotected in the expansion draft. Sure, he may not be a 35 TD, 4,000-yard QB anymore, but San Antonio will have a better shot at some early success with Flacco under center than with pretty much any other option that might be available to them this year.   3—Who Will Land the Biggest Free Agent Fish, Aaron Donald? This will be “THE” story of free agency. Very much like the Calais Campbell story last year, Donald is in the enviable position of essentially picking and choosing the situation he will accept. And like Campbell, we believe Donald is not so much chasing dollars as championship rings. That limits the pool of potential teams quite a bit. For Campbell the move to Arizona was all about chasing a title, one he now has within sight. For Donald, a very similar goal is in mind. So, who could be on his short list? Certainly, Michigan would be an enticing option. Houston also would be in the mix. We think Arizona is out, simply because the cost of having both Campbell and Donald on the D-line would hurt their ability to put together anything else within the cap. If we go beyond the 3 obviously elite teams, there is a pretty nice pool of potential contenders, teams that would have a much better shot with Aaron Donald on their roster. San Diego and Tampa Bay are obvious options in the “one missing piece” category. We think New Jersey or Orlando could also be an option. It would be interesting to see if Donald stepped into Campbell’s former club and, paired with sensational 2019 rookie Montez Sweat, did what Campbell could not do in Orlando. And, one last thought, if Von Miller is serious, and if Denver does not blink, either trading or releasing the unhappy DE, they would then have the funds to bring in Donald, and that would also be a very interesting move.   4—Will Oakland Stand Pat at QB or Go Shopping? Coach Kubiak’s Wild Card Playoff QB switch tells us that the Invaders are getting frustrated with Jimmy Garoppolo’s lack of production and are open to a new option. Rather than go into camp next January with two middling options and no clear frontrunner, they could look at jettisoning one of their 2 current “starters” (expansion draft, anyone?) and then go for the big-name rookie. Portland is unlikely to draft Justin Herbert, but also unlikely to trade within division to send him to Oakland. But we could imagine Birmingham, having just given Cam Newton a new deal, being open to sending Tua Tagovoiloa’s rights to the Invaders. Another option might be to work out a deal with Jacksonville, who brought in Ryan Tannehill from the NFL last offseason only to have Teddy Bridgewater secure the starting job with a solid 2019. A lot is up in the air in Oakland, because having 2 quarterbacks you are unsure of is not the way any team wants to go into a new season, so keep an eye on how they handle free agency and the expansion draft. That will tell us what we need to know about the plans for 2020.   5—Is This the Year Chuck Long Gets His Shot at the Big Chair? Well, there are only 2 positions left from the 5 we started out with only 3 weeks ago, but we still think the Arizona OC has to be a serious contender for a head coaching job. Chuck Long has shown that he can get results with a backup QB (Ryan Nassib in 2018), and with a whole new receiving corps (after Fitzgerald’s retirement and Bryant’s departure last offseason), by putting together a very strong campaign with free agent Victor Cruz and untested talent DeMarcus Robinson. With all the changes on Arizona’s roster over the past 3 seasons, they have maintained their status as an elite offense, and that has to be attractive to the teams out there looking for a new head coach. So, while New England (John Fox), Charlotte (Vance Joseph), and Pittsburgh (Skip Holtz) are out of the market, we think that both the expansion San Antonio Gunslingers and the Atlanta Fire could do a lot worse than to bring Chuck Long in to help build an offensive juggernaut.   Summer Bowl Preview Here we go, Summer Bowl 2019. A rematch of the 2018 title game. Does Houston go back-to-back and make history? Does Arizona get a measure of revenge and cement themselves as a decade-dynasty by winning their 3 rd  title in 7 years? We will break down the matchup statistically. Talk a bit about history between these two clubs, even bring in some of their 2019 opponents to get their analysis of each club, but in the end, we will have to pick a winner. Stop snickering. We know how mediocre our track record is with picks, but we doubt you have done much better. So, let’s break this game down and see what we see.   BY THE NUMBERS We start by taking a look at these two returning conference champions statistically, because while we know the history between the two last year, these are not the exact same teams as the two that met in New Orleans for Summer Bowl 2018. Here are 15 different statistical markers that might tell us something about the matchup.   CATEGORY                            ARIZONA                       HOUSTON Points Per Game                   27.6       (1 st )                25.2       (4 th ) Yards Per Game                  366.1    (2 nd )               353.6    (4 th ) Passing Per Game                    255.8    (4 th )                 262.8    (2 nd ) Rushing Per Game               110.2    (3 rd )                  89.8       (16 th )   Points Allowed                         16.8       (5 th )                 20.4       (16 th ) Yards Allowed                          344.1    (25 th )                328.4    (21 st ) Passing Allowed                    261.5    (26 th )               225.8    (16 th ) Rushing Allowed                    82.6       (11 th )               102.6    (21 st )   Turnover Differential              +9           (12 th )              +9           (12 th ) Sacks                                        60           (4 th )                  49           (8 th ) Interceptions                          17           (4 th )                 14           (8 th ) Field Goal %                           94.1%   (1 st )                   77.8%   (18 th ) Penalties                                63          (10 th )                 65           (13 th ) Record in 1-Score Games        4-2                                     5-5   When we look at the offenses, we see two very good squads. Perhaps surprising is that Houston is significantly more dependent on their passing game, despite having Carlos Hyde as their lead rusher. Hyde is outstanding as a receiver, which might explain why there is not as much of an emphasis on the straight run game. We also should note that while Hyde has the most rushing yards of any back in this matchup, Arizona’s use of a HB duo (Ka’Deem Carey and Isaiah Crowell) easily outpaces Houston’s one-back offense in total yardage, with Hyde accounting for 1,151 yards and the duo of Carey and Crowell accounting for 1,741. The ability for Arizona to balance their offense could be important, but as we have seen, there is no denying that Houston can lean on Hyde for a ground game when needed. Our thoughts on the offensive matchup is that both teams are very capable of putting up good games, so it is nearly impossible to say that one has a clear advantage.   The defensive stats are also largely balanced, with each club perhaps having issues with yardage, using a bend-but-don’t-break philosophy, or with both accustomed to playing with a lead, which tends to produce greater yardage for the opposition but without the real threat of a foe outlasting their club’s offense. That said, Arizona has been far more successful than Houston in keeping teams beneath 20 points per game, which means that they are putting less pressure on the offense to be on their game. Additionally, while both teams tend to give up a lot of passing yardage (something we tend to see in teams that have strong offenses because the opposition abandons the run to try to catch up) Arizona has a greater capacity to stuff the run and force teams to be one dimensional. That, of course, feeds right into Calais Campbell and the pass rush as well.  We are giving an advantage here to the Wranglers.   The two teams are pretty well balanced as far as some key intangibles go, with both equal at a +9 in turnover/takeaway balance, both strong in their pass rush and solid in forcing opposing QBs into uncomfortable throws and interceptions. It is interesting to note that Elliott Parson has been far more accurate this year than Younghoe Koo, which could be a factor to note should this game come down to a few key field goal opportunities. Somehow this does not feel like a matchup that ends with a game winning kick, but if it does, Arizona seems to have the advantage there. Finally, Houston has certainly had far more experience in tight games, but their 5-5 record seems to indicate that they have not always found the way to come out on top in that scenario. This could be tied to the issues with field goal accuracy, or just that they have not been able to retain leads or grow them to the same level that Arizona has.   The statistical matchups all seem to point to an advantage for the Wranglers, thanks in part to their ability to put pressure on offenses through the pass rush and their ability to pull away in games over time. Those two trends in the stats certainly seem to fall in Arizona’s favor, both being patterns which do not match the 2018 numbers or game outcome.   MATCHUP HISTORY The Gamblers and Wranglers did not play each other this year, a result of Houston moving from the West to the East, but the two have certainly faced off many times in the past, including, but not limited to last year’s title game. That game, of course, is the most recent matchup of the two former division foes, with Houston taking a convincing 17-point win, 48-31. Prior to that game, the two faced off 36 times over the long history of both clubs, with Arizona holding a 20-16 advantage in all games. Of course, that is a span of nearly 40 years, so not all of those games have much relevance to this matchup.   But if we look only at the last 5 years, with both Coach Tomsula and Coach Phillips going head-to-head, and both rosters having many of the same parts (again, tenuously, since player turnover certainly has been heavy among both clubs even in only 5 seasons), what do we see? Well, prior to their Summer Bowl matchup in 2018, the last time the two faced off was Week 15 of the 2017 season, which was another shootout game, with Arizona taking the W by a score of 38-31 at home. Prior to that, the two had not faced off since the 2014 season, when Houston was still a member of the SW Division along with the Wranglers. In that year the two faced off twice, with Arizona taking a 13-10 defensive win in Week 9 and then pounding the Gamblers 41-21 in Week 13.  So, do we gain anything from this history? Perhaps only that there is a general propensity for high-scoring games, with Arizona having a better track record over time, but last year that did not mean anything as the Gamblers not only won the game but did so pulling away. ASKING THOSE WHO KNOW So, with only marginal help from looking at stats and history, we turn to those who might know best, players who faced off against the Gamblers, the Wranglers, or both this year. What do they see in these two teams and who do they pick to win it all. We start with two players who matched up against both clubs this year, followed by two who played one of the two twice as divisional foes.   Atlanta LB Luke Kuechley:  Kuechley, who played against both the Wranglers and the Gamblers this year, helping Atlanta produce an upset win over Houston, while falling to the Wranglers, had nothing but praise for both teams, but clearly seemed to have a favorite in this one.  According to Kuechley, “Arizona has too many weapons. You shut down their top receiver, they run the ball, you focus on the run, they go over the top. They are a really hard team to defend.” He added about the Gamblers, that: “If Mike Evans were playing, they might also be a match up problem, but without their best receiver, they are definitely weakened.” We asked Kuechley for a final score and he was very bullish on Arizona, picking the Wranglers to win 31-21.   Tampa Bay CB Jalen Ramsey:  Another player who faced both clubs, even before this past week’s defeat at the hands of the Gamblers, Ramsey also focused on the offensive firepower of both teams,saying: “Both of these teams can turn a short completion into a touchdown on any play. They both have big time receivers, and both know how to put them into winning schemes.” Despite his praise for both passing games, Ramsey pointed out that Houston has one distinct advantage over the Wranglers, commenting that “Carlos Hyde is the key. If he gets going, especially as a receiver, then you just cannot have enough men on defense to slow down the Gamblers. If you go nickel or dime too early, he will grind you down on the ground, but if you stick with your standard defense, he becomes a very dangerous receiver.”  His pick? He is going for the Gamblers, picking them to win a shootout, Houston 41-35.   Memphis HB Todd Gurley:  We wanted to speak to someone who played the Gamblers twice this year, and Todd Gurley was there both times the Gamblers took a W from the Showboats in division play. So, what did the Showboat halfback have to say? “The thing with the Gamblers is that their defense may not look great on paper, but that is because they so often get to ease up later in a game, when their offense has already put the game away. When they want to tighten up, they can be one of the most aggressive defenses in the league, but they don’t have to hold that intensity all game because the offense is so good.” Gurley did not want to fuel the fire under the Gamblers by talking too much about Arizona, but admitted: “Do I think Houston will win? Yeah, I do. Do I want them to? Hell, no.”   Oklahoma QB Joe Flacco:  We did the same for the Wranglers, finding a player who suffered two defeats at their hands. QB Joe Flacco of the Oklahoma Outlaws came close twice, but fell to Arizona in both Week 1 and Week 14. According to Joe, “Arizona can beat you 13-10 or 50-45. They have the offensive firepower to run with anyone, but they can also play shut down defense, especially this year, with Campbell there.” We asked Flacco about Campbell’s role in Arizona, and he stated “He is what he always has been, pure disruption. You may think it is all about the sacks, and he certainly loves them, but he is willing to chase down a halfback pitch, or get in the mix in the middle too. He is simply the best defender on the field, has been for as long as I can remember”. So, who wins? Of course the QB of a Southwest rival goes with the Wranglers. Flacco thinks the defenses will do just fine in the game, picking Arizona to win a game with lower-than-expected scoring, “It’s gonna be the Wranglers, but not a shootout, something like 24-20, not the crazy scoring festival most folks want to see.”   WE MAKE OUR PICK  So, there you have it. Four expert opinions from players that lined up against the Gamblers, the Wranglers, or both. And they come in split 2-2. So who are we to get it right if they cannot even pick a winner? OK, we know we have to. And we have looked at every factor, from third down defense to punt return average. These two are so hard to lock down, so hard to define, and quite possibly we are looking at one of the best matchups in Summer Bowl history, and the fact that it is a rematch. So, who do we pick?   We are going to go for history, for Houston getting a 6 th  title, and joining the 2002-2003 Ohio Glory as only the 2 nd  team to defend their title with a repeat Championship. Would we be shocked if Arizona pulls it out? No, of course not. They are too good a team to be discounted, but when push comes to shove, we have to pick a winner, and we think Houston is both motivated and focused. So we are going to pick the Gamblers to win, and with all deference to Joe Flacco’s thoughts, we think it will be a shootout. Our pick is Houston to win 35-33. That sure sounds like a great game to us.

After a Wild Card weekend that saw all 4 games settled by 3 or fewer points, the Divisional Round hit us with more disparity among teams, though in at least one case we had a major upset. With Arizona winning by 31, Houston by 25, and Tampa Bay by 12, the 8-point margin in the Denver-Michigan game does not seem so bad, but when you highlight that it was the heavily favored Michigan Panthers who went down to defeat, becoming the first home playoff favorite to lose in this year’s postseason, the shock is still there.   We will start our report with Denver’s surprising upset of the 14-2 Panthers, break down all 4 games and prepare you for the USFL Conference Championships, featuring a 1 v. 2 matchup in the East as the Bandits head to Houston to face the Gamblers, and a surprising 4 v. 2 matchup in the West, where the upstart Denver Gold head to face their archnemesis, the Arizona Wranglers with a trip to the Summer Bowl on the line. We will also discuss Two coaching hires, one a major head-scratcher, and the latest from post-season retirements across the league. All this and a look at how a certain 10-time USFL Sack Leader is having the time of his life with a new club.  We start, however, with the story of the week, a major upset as the 1-seed Panthers stumble at home.   Denver Strikes Gold, Upsets Top-Seeded Michigan In 8 playoff games this season the home favorite has won 7. The lone exception was perhaps the biggest upset possible this weekend as the 4 th  seed Denver Gold upended the 14-2, top seeded Michigan Panthers. Denver came in with no pressure, no expectation to win, and so they played loose, they played with intensity and abandon, and they got Michigan to seize up, to choke when they could least afford it. The Gold did what an underdog has to do on the road in the playoffs, they rattled the favored Panthers, got their quarterback to make bad choices, stayed in the game, kept the pressure on, and found a way to win in the end.   What Denver did was pretty much textbook underdog strategy: keep the score close, shorten the game by milking the clock for all 60 minutes, avoidself-inflicted wounds, and keep the pressure on the opponent to see if they crack. The Gold did not play home run ball, they bunted, stole bases, took what they could get, and kept reminding the Panthers throughout that they were not the team everyone thought they were. Josh Allen, in only his second playoff game as a pro, went 15 of 20, threw no picks, and kept a cool head against pretty solid pressure from the Panther defense. Phillip Lindsay and DeMarco Murray combined for 95 yards, but also for 32 carries, each one taking 30+ seconds off the clock. The Denver defense contained Cody Latimer and Antonio Bryant, using two-level zones to keep everything in front of them, while the front 7 made sure that LeVeon Bell was accounted for on every play. Bell would average only 2.9 yards per carry, limited to 66 yards on 23 carries.   And when the time came, Denver made the most of their opportunities, particularly after both of Kirk Cousins bad decisions turned into takeaways for the Gold defense. Chidobe Awunzie’s near pick-six created a crack in Kirk Cousins that did not heal for the rest of the game. The second pick, Marqui Christian’s interception would produce the game winning drive for the Gold. Two turnovers, 10 points, and a 3 point deficit became an 8-point lead. While Coach McDermott did not blame QB Kirk Cousins for the loss, and he is right that the entire team underperformed in a game where they were heavily favored, we have to acknowledge that Denver’s gameplan maximized the pressure on Cousins, not physically (he was only sacked 2 times) but psychologically. By hanging right there with the Panthers, not allowing the big play to emerge, and not making mistakes, the Gold got Michigan to doubt themselves, so when things started going bad, they kept going bad. That is how an underdog gets a playoff win, and that is how the Denver Gold moved on to play in the USFL Western Conference Finals this week.   NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS 20   HOUSTON GAMBLERS 45 A close game through the half turned into a Houston route as the Gamblers put up a 21-0 scoring run in the second half to pull away from division rival New Orleans. We don’t know what Coach Phillips said at the half, but it clearly paid off as the Gamblers were simply dominant for the final 30 minutes of action in this one.   Early on it looked very much like we might have a tooth-and-nail battle between these two familiar foes. The Breakers opened things up on their first possession and put 7 on the board when Geno Smith found Jordy Nelson for a 9-yard TD toss. Houston responded with 10 points on two drives, adding a Keke Coutee TD from Colt McCoy along with a Koo field goal to take their first lead. That lead did not last long as New Orleans got two field goals of their own on their next two possessions to open the 2 nd quarter. But those were just the first 2 of 5 scores in the 2 nd  as both teams proved their offensive credentials.   Houston, down 13-10 after the second Sturgis FG came back quickly, putting together a 67-yard drive that lasted only 6 plays before Carlos Hyde busted free for an 11-yard TD on a screen pass from McCoy. New Orleans responded with a TD from Smith to Kenny Britt with 1:38 left in the half, but that too was not the final score as McCoy hit Josh Reynolds with a 36-yard scoring strike only 31 seconds later. So, we went into the half with Houston up 24-20, but this game had the feeling of a shootout that would not be decided until the final seconds. Something changed at the half, because that simply did not happen.   While Geno Smith found great success in the first half, throwing for 288 yards, his second half would be much tougher. In the second half, Houston adjusted their attack strategy on defense and not only sacked Smith 5 times in the final 30 minutes but also held him to only 60 yards through the air as the Gamblers shut down Jordy Nelson and contained the Breaker attack. At the same time, the Houston offense continued to put points on the board. It started with a 3 rd  quarter TD toss from McCoy to Smith-Shuster his 4 th  on the day. Only 5 minutes later he added a 5-yard toss to Josh Reynolds. With a 38-20 lead, the 3 rd  quarter proved fatal to the Breakers.   New Orleans pushed in the final 15 minutes, but that simply led to more long 3 rd  down attempts, and more failed drives. Meanwhile, Houston was comfortable giving the ball to Hyde, who finished the game with 100 yards even, and dinking their way to first downs. They would add another late score, with C. J. Prosise putting the ball in from the 11, but it was not needed. New Orleans simply did not have the firepower to come back on the Gamblers and Houston punched their ticket to yet another Eastern Title Game, their 3 rd  in a row. DENVER GOLD 20  MICHIGAN PANTHERS 12 If the weekend’s opener gave us an offensive explosion, the 2 nd  act was more of an implosion as the 14-2 Panthers simply folded under pressure from the Denver Gold. The Panthers came into the game confident, perhaps a bit cocky. The Vegas line had creeped up from 7 to 10 points, and the Gold were generally disrespected as an opponent happy just to be there. It seems Denver took offense at that categorization and wanted to prove that they deserved a shot at the Conference Title Game. They not only proved they deserved to be in the game, they deserved to win it.   The first half of the matchup was dominated by both defenses. Denver struggled to get a run game going, but the Panthers were finding it equally hard to find room for LeVeon Bell to get into open space. While both QBs were able to complete passes in early downs, both struggled to find receivers on key 3 rd  downs, with the two teams combining to go 5 of 15 on conversions over the half. The defensive struggle kept both kickers busy, with Denver’s Greg Zeurlein putting 1 through the uprights while Michigan’s Chase McLaughlin did him two better, producing a 9-3 halftime score that rightfully had the Panther faithful at Ford Field feeling a bit antsy.   That anxiety was only slightly tempered by a 4 th  McLaughlin kick to start the second half. Michigan had pushed the ball to the Denver 20 but could get no further, a frustrating lack of finishing power that kept the game close and gave Denver a shot to come back on the favorites. The Gold did just that with their first possession of the second half. Sparked by the first big play of the game, a 28-yard throw from Allen to Golden Tate that defied logic. Allen appeared to be falling out of bounds when he let the ball go. Somehow it stayed straight down the sideline and Golden Tate not only brought the ball in, but kept his toes down for a valid catch. Four plays later, Allen found Tate again, this time for 7 as he hit the veteran in the endzone with a laser that zipped right past the safety.   Denver was now down only 12-10, and had finally broken through Michigan’s defense. But, Michigan still had the lead and could punch it back up to 2 scores with a touchdown on their next drive. But that touchdown did not come. Instead, what Michigan got was a pick from Kirk Cousins that initially looked like it could go the distance. Denver CB Chidobe Awunzie tiptoed down the sideline for an apparent score, but upon review it was shown that he stepped out at the Michigan 21. Denver would not be able to punch the ball in, but their 2 nd  Zeurlein field goal gave them their first lead of the game, 13-12. The throw itself was a bad one, with Cousins just not reading the play right and throwing to Antonio Bryant’s inside, when Bryant broke outwards.   The Panthers avoided a catastrophe, but the play clearly rattled QB Kirk Cousins. He missed on his next 3 rd  down throw, forcing a punt to open the final period. On their next possession, he was sacked on a poorly designed bootleg, leading to an unmakeable 3 rd and 21. Now the Panther faithful were more than nervous, they were concerned. That concern would turn to despair on Cousin’s next throw. With 8 minutes left in the game, and the Panthers still trailing by only 1 point, Cousins again made a truly poor choice. The Panther QB, under duress from a charging Von Miller and pressure from the right coming from LB Justin Houston, Cousins forced a ball towards TE Martellus Bennett. The throw into the middle of the field sailed over Bennett’s head and directly into the hands of Denver safety Marqui Christian, a backup who had only been in the game for 3 plays after starter DaJuan Morgan had to come out after a poke to the eye. Christian made the play of the game for Denver returning the pick another 9 yards before being tackled at the Michigan 41.   Josh Allen and the Denver offense recognized the moment and rose to it. They used 10 plays to march the remaining 41 yards to paydirt, eating up nearly 6 minutes to do it. Switching between Lindsay and Murray, the Gold pushed the ball on the ground. When a pass was needed to mix things up, Allen connected with TE Jack Doyle for 10 and Lindsay for 8. At the end of the drive, with the ball sitting at the 2, Allen gave the ball to backup HB Robert Foster before rolling out to the right. Michigan defenders split between the little-used back and the dangerous QB run, and that gave Foster enough space to get across the plane. With 5:19 left to play, Denver had pushed their lead to 8 points. Michigan was on the ropes.   The Panthers would touch the ball 2 more times, the first leading to a punt with 3:23 left to play after Cody Latimer uncharacteristically dropped a catchable ball on 3 rd  and 7. The second came with only 11 seconds left to play and Michigan having used all their timeouts. It was not to happen. The 1 seed would go down, and the Denver Gold, who few had given a shot to advance, did just that. Was it a case of Denver being underrated, or was this a choke, pure and simple, from the supposedly better team. It would not matter. Michigan’s season fell short, and Denver was headed to the Conference Championship. PHILADELPHIA STARS 19   TAMPA BAY BANDITS 31 If drama was what you craved, Sunday’s games in the USFL playoffs were not for you. In the day’s opener, Tampa Bay gave up an early field goal to the Stars, responded with a Ryan Grant TD and would never lose the lead again. The Bandit offense was in good form all game, with Dak Prescott throwing for 311 and 2 scores and Dalvin Cook averaging 4.6 yards per carry to keep the Star defense honest.   When the Bandits added a 2 nd touchdown on a David Wilson 12-yard run, the Stars were down 11 and that meant that they could not grind out the game with Derrick Henry. Henry would get 21 carries, but 15 of those were in the first half and Philly still trailed by 11.   In the second half, the Stars put more on Matt Gutierrez, but It proved not to be enough. Philly started strong out of the halftime break, putting up 7 on a nice Gutierrez to Cobb touchdown throw, but when Tampa Bay responded with a 6-play “mini drive” and a Dalvin Cook TD, the Stars were still down by 11. Again Tampa Bay doubled up the scoring, with Prescott finding Grant for his 2 nd  TD of the game. Grant would finish with 97 yards and 2 scores, and TE Jordan Cameron would add 126 through the air as the Bandits took their 28-9 lead into the 4 th  quarter, playing more short passing and run game to shorten the game and keep Philadelphia from mounting a viable comeback.   The Stars managed to put 10 points on the board in the 4 th , but it was not enough as Tampa Bay added another field goal and finished the game with a 12-point margin. Despite a solid outing from Matt Gutierrez (22 of 37 for 291 and a score), Dak Prescott had gotten the better of him (16 of 32 for 321 and 2 scores) and the Bandits were headed to the Eastern Conference Championships only 1 year after a 3-13 finish. SAN DIEGO THUNDER 10   ARIZONA WRANGLERS 41 The final game of the weekend was billed as a shot at elite status for the San Diego Thunder. What we ended up getting was proof of just what elite football looks like as Arizona once again proved their status as one of the truly elite teams in the Western Conference. The Wranglers’ D dominated the first three quarters, giving up only 3 points to the Thunder and sacking Christian Ponder 5 times. Calais Campbell had 3 of those 5 sacks in truly dominant play. And when the Thunder finally started compensating for Campbell’s impressive rush skills, it left space for RE Bud DuPree and LB Scooby Wright to come at Ponder from the other side. Those three players would account for 7 sacks in the game.   The defensive performance over the first 3 quarters, paired with two TDs from the Wrangler HB group (one each for Crowell and Carey), helped the Wranglers build up a 17-3 lead going into the final period. With San Diego now pressing, Arizona took advantage, picking off Christian Ponder twice, and scoring 24 points, 14 off turnovers. After an Elliott Parson field goal made it 20-3, a pick put Arizona on the San Diego 30, and 2 plays later David Carr found Jimmie Graham for a score that made the gap 21 points. Another Ponder pick led to Ka’Deem Carey’s second TD, and now it was 34-3. The Thunder were just outmatched.   San Diego put 7 on the board late, but then gave up a careless TD to backup QB Brandon Allen. Allen had dumped the ball down to Chester Rogers in garbage time, but Rogers escaped the initial tackle and was off to the races, scoring from 45 yards out to give us the final score of 41-10. It was a bad loss for a San Diego team that came into the game seeking respect. It was a glorious win for a Wrangler team that came so close last year, losing to Houston in the Summer Bowl, and was clearly not only eager to return to a title game, but to cement their standing as a modern day dynasty with a 3 rd  title. Now, they were back in the Conference Championship, and, thanks to Denver’s stunning win in Michigan, that title game would be in Phoenix, well, Glendale. Arizona would host the Gold for a chance to return to the Summer Bowl and cement their place in history.   With Bryant Swarmed, Cameron Steps Up for Bandits It did not take long for the Tampa Bay Bandits to figure out the focus of Philadelphia’s defense. Between the shifted zones and the safety support it was very obvious that the goal of Jim Harbaugh’s defense was to deny Dez Bryant the ball. In the first quarter alone, Dak Prescott made 4 pass attempts to Bryant and all 4 proved dangerous as the Stars were bracketing the standout receiver for Tampa Bay. As the game progressed, the Bandits continued to look Bryant’s way, but often as a decoy, forcing the safety to shift even further and freeing up the game’s eventual receiving leader, TE Jordan Cameron. While Bryant finished the game with only 2 receptions on 8 targets, Cameron would catch 5 of 6 targets and amass 126 yards receiving against a Stars’ secondary that simply did not have the manpower to lock down Dez Bryant and Cameron on the same side of the field.   Cameron’s success also produced better opportunities for Ryan Grant, who also finished with 5 receptions in 6 targets, including touchdowns in both the 2 nd  and 3 rd  quarters. Essentially, Philadelphia was daring the Bandits to work without their top receiver, and with Dak Prescott throwing for 321 yards, the Bandits showed they could do just that. Chalk it up as a strategy that had a short lifespan. While the Bandits were held scoreless in the first quarter, allowing Philadelphia to open the game with a 3-0 lead, once deciphered, the strategy proved less than effective as Tampa Bay put touchdowns on the board in 4 of their 6 possessions between the 2 nd  and 3 rd  quarter. So, a memo to Houston, you may need to try something different.   Cousins Says Criticism is Fair After Rough Outing Michigan’s stunning defeat was a team effort, but if there is one player taking most of the heat for the unexpected departure from the playoff field it is QB Kirk Cousins. With 2 picks both of which led to 2 nd  half scores for the Denver Gold, it is easy to see why sportswriters, TV talking heads, and calls into sports radio are all critiquing the performance of the Panther QB, a player who was under consideration as an MVP candidate.   Cousins absolutely struggled in the second half of the game, flustered by the tight coverage and regular pressure put on by the Gold, but also by his own mistakes. On Monday, the Panther QB, in an interview with local television, all but admitted that he felt responsible for the loss. While acknowledging that the whole team felt responsible, Cousins took it upon himself as the leader of the offense, to accept that the defeat was very much impacted by his choices, including his attempts to force plays that simply were not there, decisions that led to the two pivotal interceptions that set Denver up for their final10 points in the contest. Cousins is not at any risk of losing his job over this week’s struggles, he is clearly among the better quarterbacks in the game today, and we should remember that he helped Michigan claim a league title only 2 seasons ago, but this game will be a tough one for him to shake off.   Hyde gunning for Playoff MVP Again With Huge Output Last season, in a 3-game playoff run that saw Houston Houston outduel the Breakers, Generals, and Wranglers for a league title, Carlos Hyde played like a man among boys. In his 3-game run through the postseason, the Houston tailback amassed 415 yards rushing, with another 215 in the air, and a total of 6 touchdowns. Yes, that is correct, over 200 yards per game and an average of 2 scores per contest. Well, after this week’s divisional game, it seems like the Gambler tailback is hoping to earn the Playoff MVP once again. Hyde not only rushed for 100 yards and a per-carry average of 7.7 yards, but he also was the 2 nd  leading receiver behind TE Vernon Davis, bringing in 3 of 4 targets for another 37 yards and his lone touchdown of the game.   Hyde is going to have competition, of course, chiefly from his own QB, as Colt McCoy’s 5-TD performance won him the POTG honor for the divisional victory over the Breakers, but we fully expect that if the Gamblers can stay hot, get past the Bandits, and find their way to the Summer Bowl, that Carlos Hyde will again be putting up numbers that deserve our attention. There is a long way to go, but we have seen it before and, certainly, the ability is there for him to have huge days regardless of the opponent.   Campbell Living Large and Loving It You only needed to look to the sideline during the Wranglers’ raucous 4 th  quarter, one in which the club scored 24 points to put their matchup with San Diego away, to see whether or not DE Calais Campbell is loving his decision to leave Orlando and join the Wranglers. Campbell was all smiles along the sideline, even as the growing Wrangler lead led to Coach Tomsula sitting Campbell for the final 8 minutes of game action. Up 34-3, the Wrangler certainly did not want to risk their new defensive star, besides, with 3 sacks in the game already, there was no need for Campbell to do any more.   The 10-time USFL Sack Leader may have slowed a bit this year, perhaps due to adaptation to a new system, perhaps due to his 33-year-old body needing more recovery time, but he still managed to lead the league with 23 sacks in the regular season, and with 3 more in the Divisional Playoff, he is not only proving to everyone that he still has the gift for creating chaos for offenses, but that he is in a good place in his new home. Campbell came to the desert in hopes of finding what had always eluded him in Orlando, a shot at a title. And he is certainly helping that hope become reality with his play.   The biggest injury news of the week came late in the Bandits victory over Philadelphia, when left tackle Levi Brown asked to be taken out of the game, his left arm dangling at his side. He was not needed in the late stages of that game, but after a diagnosis of a ruptured bicep, particularly on his outside arm, the key to getting leverage against an outside rush, Brown will be out of the Conference Title Game for the Bandits. He is one of 3 new additions to Tampa’s injury list, with both Dez Bryant and Jalen Ramsey listed as probable with minor issues. Without Brown, Tampa Bay will start rookie Chuma Edoga in his place. As you can imagine, that could be a major issue for Dak Prescott and the Bandit passing game. Without Brown locking down Prescott’s blind side, Houston is sure to send pressure with Dante Fowler and blitzes from Pat Angerer, Ramik Wilson, and Jelani Jenkins. There is no way Wade Phillips misses that opportunity. Here is the rest of the injury list for the 4 Conference Championship contenders:   TBY:         OT Levi Brown (OUT), CB Ken Webster (OUT), CB Jalen Ramsey (P), WR Dez Bryant (P) HOU:      WR Mike Evans (IR), CB Siran Neal (Q), HB C. J. Procise (P), WR Keke Coutee (P)   DEN:      CB Kris Boyd (IR), OT Ronnie Stanley (OUT), C Stefan Wisniewski (Q) ARZ:       DT Jason Hargrave (P)   Charlotte Goes for D, Lands Joseph As Club’s 2nd Head Coach The Monarchs wasted no time going after a coach they believe can bring a hard-nosed no-nonsense style to their club. Barely two weeks after letting the only head coach in franchise history go after 12 seasons, the Monarchs tabbed LA Express Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph as the club’s second head coach. Joseph, who helped guide the Express to Top 5 rankings in points allowed (16.4 per game), yards allowed (289.8 per game) and passing yards (only 198.8 per game), has been viewed as an up-and-coming coach since before he arrived in LA. The former QB/HB hybrid at Colorado entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent and played cornerback for three NFL clubs before retiring in 2000. He returned to Boulder as a Grad Assistant, but was quickly snatched up, first by the NFL 49ers, before connecting with current LA Express head coach Marvin Lewis and the Seattle Dragons. Joseph spent 4 seasons in Seattle before taking a job in the NFL once again, but when Lewis returned to the USFL as coach of the Express, he brought Joseph back.  Coach Joseph in LA The former undrafted free agent turned DB coach and DC, is now getting a shot at age 48 to lead the Monarchs as their 2 nd head coach. He inherits a team that has some solid defensive pillars to build around, including dynamic edge rusher Chandler Jones, MLB Rolando McClain, and a secondary in transition. With CB1 Derech Cox now a free agent (well, about to be one) and SS Shaun Schilinger retiring, part of Joseph’s tasks this offseason will be to shore up the secondary. But perhaps his biggest mission is not on defense at all. It is his QB. Mitch Trubisky, entering his 4th year as the starter and with a 5 th  year option on his contract, does a lot well. He is mobile, he has good arm strength, and he can make all the throws, but he sometimes does too much, forcing balls, trying to throw against his body’s momentum, and that has made him an interception-generating machine.  Trubisky has thrown for 54 interceptions in only 3 years, a truly unacceptable average of 18 per season. Joseph, and whoever he taps to be the OC for the revamping Monarchs, needs to find a way to reduce that one glaring issue, because the club could and should rebound from a disappointing 7-8-1 season if they can just stop helping the other team beat them.   Pittsburgh Locks in on an Odd Choice for Coaching Vacancy No one was surprised to see Vance Joseph get a gig as a head coach this offseason. But what Pittsburgh just did, well that has some heads scratching. With less than a month before the NCAA season kicks off, the Maulers lured a college coach away from his team and into a 5-year deal to become the leader of the squad in Pittsburgh. That alone could be seen as a bit of an unorthodox move and certainly made no fans of the alumni and boosters of the NCAA club that is out a head coach with no time to do anything but promote from within. But the even bigger surprise is just where the Maulers went to find a head coach. This is not a case of Pittsburgh stealing away Dabo Sweeney from the NCAA Champion Clemson Tigers, or even a former pro coach like Brian Kelly from 12-1 Notre Dame. Nope, Pittsburgh went to the less flashy, less impressive world of Conference USA. Their choice? Louisiana Tech’s Skip Holtz. Now, if that name is familiar to you, it is either because you live in Shreveport or are an alum of South Florida or East Caroline, Holtz’s two prior stops. Maybe you are a Notre Dame fan and remember Skip from the coaching staff of his father, Lou Holtz. But what you don’t know the 55-year-old coach from is a stellar pro football career.  Coach Holtz makes a big leape from La Tech to the USFL. Holtz, for all his success at some mid-to-lower-level NCAA programs, has never been affiliated with a pro football program. From Notre Dame it was off to UConn, then some time at South Carolina as an assistant before moving on to his head coaching positions at ECU, USF, and LA Tech. So, how did Holtz get on the Mauler’s radar? The connection is an odd one. It appears that Mauler CEO Brian Gaine ran in circles with SMU head coach Chad Morris. Morris was approached about the job, but having recently moved on to Arkansas turned it down. When Gaine asked about coaches Morris felt could make the transition to the USFL, Morris gave the endorsement to Skip Holtz, who had defeated Morris’s Mustangs 51-10 in the 2017 Frisco Bowl and Morris told Gaine to look into the La Tech coach. Gaine did that, brought Holtz up to Pittsburgh, and apparently Holtz made an impression on ownership, and vice versa.   And so, now, after a series of coaches with significant pro football bona fides to their record (Fangio, and before him Ron Rivera, Jack Bicknell and Emmitt Thomas) the Maulers are going in a totally different direction. While we feel for the folks at La Tech, who must be scrambling as they prepare for their opener against none other than the Texas Longhorns, we also wonder how Skip Holtz will transition to the pros, how Pittsburgh will greet him as a football-obsessed city, and how the USFL will welcome in one of the more “intriguing” new head coach hires in a long time.   Playoff Losses Lead to Retirement Decisions With 8 playoff teams of 12 now out of contention, the 2 nd  wave of postseason retirement announcements has hit and at least one team is going to have some issues to fix. The Oakland Invaders were a pretty senior roster this year, and that veteran advantage has now turned into significant roster turnover, with 4 starters stepping away from the game after Oakland’s tough loss in San Diego. The biggest hit will be on defense, where the Invaders lose two of their best. Defensive End Cliff Avril will retire after leading the team in sacks for 7 of the past 8 years. He tied for 2 nd in the league this year with 18 sacks, but at age 35 he feels his time has come to move on. Avril recorded 15 or more sacks every season since 2013. The good news for Oakland is that Michael Bennett, who had 14 sacks this year, should be able to immediately shift from RE to take on the vital LE position.   The other loss on defense is just as tough, with CB Chris Gamble also declaring his intent to retire this week. Gamble paired with another veteran, Eric Wright, to combine for 7 picks this year. With Wright now also entering his mid-30’s the time may be right for Oakland to invest in the CB position in the draft to try to develop some youth in the position. Add in the retirements of slot receiver Davone Bess , and All-USFL guard Logan Mankins and the Invaders will have to have some major plans in the offseason to replace these 4 positions.   In Seattle the announcement by Mike Wallace that he will retire at age 34 means that the Dragons will need to focus on the WR position in the offseason. They like their 2 nd  receiver, Marshall Newhouse, as well as slot man John Brown, but need the kind of deep ball threat that Wallace provided. With Dennis Pitta now a free agent, the 2020 Dragon receiving corps needs to be a focus point for Coach Riley and the Dragons this year.   In what was a somewhat expected change, longstanding veteran MLB Kirk Morrison has announced that 2019 was his final season in the league. Morrison played 14 seasons with the Showboats and Stars, and retires with 9 seasons of 100+ tackles, including a league best 130 in 2018. With the arrival of Channing Crowder this year, Morrison shifted to strongside linebacker in 3-4 alignments, but retained his role in the middle when Philly mixed in some 4-3 and in nickel packages. He retires with over 1,400 tackles.   Across the Delaware River in New Jersey, the Generals announced that both TE John Carlson and DE Marcus Harrison will not be back next year, choosing to file for retirement. Carlson played 8 years in New Jersey after coming over from the NFL in 2012, producing 30 catches for 337 yards and 3 scores this year. Harrison was the swing end behind the duo of Kampmann and Vic Beasley. With Kampman now a free agent, New Jersey may need to prioritize the edge rush in the offseason along with finding a new receiving TE.   Others who announced their decision to retire in the past 2 weeks include WR Emmanuel Sanders (ORL), TE Daniel Fells (DAL), G Sean Locklear (CHA) and HB Shane Vereen (OKL)   Here we go. Four teams left, two games, and the winners punch their tickets to Las Vegas and Summer Bowl 2019. Will we get a rematch of the 2018 title game (Houston v. Arizona) or can the upstart Bandits and surprising Denver Gold mix things up and give us something unexpected this week. The odds are in favor of the two home teams, which would set up the first rematch in Summer Bowl history, but we have already seen one big upset this postseason, and history tells us that we should expect some surprises as we come down to the wire. So, with an eye on how each underdog could potentially shock the favorites, here is our breakdown of each Conference Title Game.   Tampa Bay Bandits (10-6) @ Houston Gamblers (11-5) Sunday, July 28 @ 2pm ET NRG Stadium, Houston, TX Gamblers -6   How the Bandits Win: Tampa Bay is not a team that is going to try to shorten the game, run the ball to eat clock, and dink & dunk their way down the field. They are a big play, vertically minded team. So how do they make that work for them against the Gamblers? The key may well be to diversify their attack even further. Yes, we saw against Philadelphia that the Bandits were able to win without a huge game from Dez Bryant, but in this matchup they may still need more. More in the passing game from HB Dalvin Cook, more from rookie receiver Deebo Samuel. On defense they will need to contain, confuse, and cause mistakes. Houston’s offense is as diverse, if not more diverse, than the Bandits, so you cannot shut down every option. The Bandits need to hide their coverages, disguise their blitzes and confound Dak Prescott with changing zone schemes if they hope to outpace the Gamblers.   How the Gamblers Win: Let’s start on defense. The teams that have had success against Tampa Bay this year are those that have been able to bring pressure against Dak Prescott. Rush him, force him out of the pocket, make him consider running instead of a dump down pass. Those are strategies necessary to disrupt the rhythm in the Bandit offense. Key to this will be DE Dante Fowler, and the use of well-hidden blitzes from LB Ramik Wilson and the two safeties, Baker and Vaccaro. On offense, the key may well be to force Tampa Bay to cover Carlos Hyde and Vernon Davis early in the game, to pull defenders away from double teams on JuJu Smith-Shuster. The Gamblers, like Tampa, want to hit on big plays, and those plays may come, but first you have to prove you will use every receiver on the field, force the Bandits to cover the shallow options as well as the deeper ones.   OUR PICK: We are very impressed with what Tampa Bay has been able to do this year. In Mark Trestman’s first season the defense is now significantly better and the offense is one of the league’s best, but what we see in Tampa is almost an homage to the Houston Gamblers under Wade Phillips. So, can the student become the master? We are not sold on that, not quite yet. We think Houston will find more effective ways to address weaknesses in the Bandit defense than we will see when the Bandits are on offense. We are picking Houston to return once more to the Summer Bowl. Gamblers take this one, 33-29.   Denver Gold (10-6) @ Arizona Wranglers (13-3) Sunday, July 28 @ 6pm ET State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ Wranglers -8.5   How the Gold Win: The plan has to be very much what they did in Michigan, establish the run, shorten the game, play error free, and force the Wranglers to establish long drives without big plays. Unfortunately, Arizona has more options on offense, a more patient QB in David Carr, and the experience not to get flustered by a close score. They also have Calais Campbell, who could really produce issues for Josh Allen and the Gold offense. The formula is there, and it can work, but only if Denver can find ways to retain possession, stack first downs on each other, and eat up clock.   How the Wranglers Win: Don’t panic. That feels like all they need to do. If they get a lead early they could take the game by breaking Denver’s ability to slow down the game, but if they don’t then they just need to recognize that the game will be close. There will be moments when they can find gaps in the Denver defense, and they need to hit on those plays. Just a couple of big plays could shatter the Denver chokehold and force a very different type of game. On defense, the Wranglers need to contain Josh Allen, using pressure, but not allowing him to leave the pocket. Denver is not a big play offense, so just be patient, get them in third down and then apply pressure.   OUR PICK: Look, as much as we love a good Cinderella story, this looks very much like midnight to us, and we think Arizona is deserving of a Summer Bowl appearance. Besides, the idea of the USFL having its first rematch in Summer Bowl history is pretty enticing. We know that ESPN would love a Gambler-Wrangler rematch, and we think the USFL and its fans would too. Our pick is Arizona to break Denver down, get a lead early and ride it to victory. Wranglers 23-14.

Wild Card weekend lived up to the hype this year, giving us 4 great games, none finishing with a margin of victory of more than 3 points as every club in the competition came with their A game. Yes, in the end all 4 home team favorites won out, but not without a lot of drama and a few tense moments in each of the four Wild Card games. That means we are set up for a Divisional Round this week that features the 1-2-3-4 seeds in each conference. This week also, as it so often does, brought news of retirements across the league, with a few surprises that may well throw some teams’ offseason priorities a curveball.  We will cover all the on-field action, discuss some free agent news, and preview the Divisional playoffs on tap, but we start with the retirement news that impacted several of our non-playoff teams this week.   Retirements Complicate an Already Complex Offseason It is one thing for teams to recognize their depth issues and potential free agent departures as they plan for the offseason, and some retirements are well-known in advance, but when a player who most believed was a key to the plans for the next year surprises a club with an offseason retirement, it can be pure chaos, forcing teams to reassess priorities, make unplanned deals or shift direction on their plans. Not all the retirement announcements this week were unexpected, but some certainly will impact how their teams treat the offseason.   QB Ben Roethlisberger (BAL) While nothing had been said publicly, Ben Roethlisberger’s press conference on Tuesday was known by the Blitz well in advance, as was the likelihood that with his 2019 back injury, this would be the result. Big Ben spoke kindly of his club, his teammates, and the city of Baltimore as he said goodbye to the game in front of the assembled local media at the stadium he brought a title to in 2014.   For the Blitz, the question is whether or not they are happy with the season Jake Locker has had in relief of Big Ben. Locker finished the year with a QB Rating of 87.3, which is certainly better than some starters across the league. He threw for 2,435 with 11 TDs and 7 picks, also not poor numbers, but are they franchise numbers? We expect the Blitz will explore options, particularly since their 1-year deal with backup Charlie Whitehurst has expired. The question is whether they bring in a clear competitor for Locker in the starting position, or perhaps back him up with a young QB, someone along the lines of a mid-round rookie draft choice.   HB Rashad Jennings (ORL) The first of the “surprise” announcements came on Sunday, exactly one week after the season officially ended for the Orlando Renegades with their loss in New Orleans. Jennings, who had led the ‘Gades with 809 yards rushing, was a centerpiece of their offense. But, after 11 punishing seasons with the Thunder, Glory, and Renegades, the back’s body was just not recovering from games the way it had in the past, and citing his health as a priority, Jennings announced that the time had come for him to step away from the game. Orlando used Jennings in a dual backfield with speedster Knile Davis this year. It is expected that they will see to find a big-bodied back to pair with Davis for 2020. One option, for example, could be rookie D. J. Dallas out of Miami, a T-Draft territorial school of the Renegades.   HB Matt Forte (CHI) Chicago Machine personnel staff knew that Forte was considering retirement, but most fans of the Machine had not been in on that info when Forte made his decision. Forte’s role had been diminishing in recent years, and in 2019 he finished 2 nd to Jeremy Hill with 669 yards to Hill’s 837, despite having more carries over the season. The Machine could entertain making Hill their lead back, rather than splitting carries, but Hill has not had over 250 touches since 2015 with the Breakers. Another option would be to sign or draft a 2 nd  back, particularly one who has strong receiving skills, to split carries with Hill in 2020.   WR Roy Williams (ATL) This one had to be a blow to Atlanta’s player personnel team. Williams was the unquestioned top target for Aaron Murray this season, receiving 145 targets and racking up 1,016 yards and 7 touchdowns. But, at age 36, he clearly had to be considering retirement. Did Atlanta have a plan to replace him if he opted for it, as he now has? Kelvin Benjamin and Dorial Green-Beckham may now compete for the 1-slot, but it seems almost certain that Atlanta has to bring in another option as well. With no clear options in the T-Draft, Atlanta may now be in a position to deal to get another team-s territorial pick, or take their chances with the Open Draft.   WR Mark Clayton (OKL) Another long-in-the-tooth receiver, Clayton finished his 15 th  pro season this year in Oklahoma. His numbers in his lone season with the Outlaws were on par with his time in Memphis before the move, and it seems that the change of scenery, as well as the anticipated roster shuffle for the Outlaws this year, were factors in Clayton’s decision to retire. He leaves the game with over 900 career receptions, over 10,00 yards and 56 career touchdowns. So, what does Oklahoma do? Well, the answer may be right there waiting for them in the territorial draft, with OU’s CeeDee Lamb seen as one of the better receivers expected to come out for the 2020 draft.   Other noteworthy announcements this week include Orlando guard Max Jean-Gilles, Dallas TE Ben Watson, Atlanta’s injury-plagued DT Sione Pouha, Charlotte safety Shaun Schillinger, and Jacksonville’s veteran DT Kedric Gholston.   BALTIMORE BLITZ 17   NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS 20     OVERTIME Wild Card weekend kicked off with a good one, an overtime classic from the Super Dome in New Orleans. Both the Breakers and the Blitz came into this game hoping to get their ground game established and take pressure of their QB. Both had success with just that plan, with Leonard Fournette gaining 105 yards on the ground and rookie Josh Jacobs topping it with 113. What we got on Saturday were three quarters of back-and-forth touchdowns, a final period where the defenses dominated, and an overtime settled with a late field goal. In other words, a good game from start to finish.   Baltimore got the ball rolling with a 12-play, 5-minute drive to open up the action. They had scripted their first 15 plays and needed only 12 to find the endzone. Mixing runs from Jacobs, roll outs and short passes from Jake Locker and a very nice TE screen to C. J. Uzomah, Baltimore kept the Breaker defense off balance and finished off the drive with Josh Jacobs diving over the right side from the 1 to put the visiting Blitz on the scoreboard, opening the game with a solid first drive.   It would take New Orleans two possessions before they found an equalizer, but after going 3-and-out, they held Baltimore on the next drive, got the ball back, and the offense got the first big play of the game, a 21-yard completion on 3 rd  and 4 as Geno Smith found Kenny Britt after a nice double move. That helped set up the Breakers in scoring position, and 4 plays Smith found slot receiver Tyler Lockett for the equalizer. The game would head into the 2 nd  quarter knotted up at 7.   Baltimore would get the only points of the second quarter, a mid-period drive of only 6 plays that saw Josh Jacobs’ longest run of the game, a 17-yard pitch to the wide side. Jake Locker also found Heyward-Bey for a 13-yarder on a nice play action pass and then found Denarius Moore for 7 on a crossing route from the 4. Baltimore took the lead into the break despite a nice final drive from New Orleans, when Caleb Sturgis uncharacteristically shanked a mid-length, 37-yard field goal.   The Breakers would turn the tables in the third, allowing only 33 yards on 3 Baltimore drives, helped by a pick from FS Keanu Neal, who has been coming on in the past month. They also forced a punt after a successful Baltimore 3 rd  down call was cancelled out by an illegal formation call. On their lone scoring drive, It was Leonard Fournette finding success on the ground, hitting on a 20-yarder and then a 9 yarder to set up the eventual touchdown, a 1-yard plunge over center.   The Breakers took their first lead of the game after Sturgis hit on his next field goal try, but that lead was short-lived as Baltimore also got in field goal position on their next possession. Josh Lambo hit from only 23 yards out and the game was again tied. It would stay that way through regulation, with neither team able to get in range late. In overtime New Orleans got the ball first, but another missed kick, this time a bit of an ambitious 55-yarder, kept the Blitz active. They had the ball in Breaker territory, but a well-timed sack from Ezekiel Ansah, another late season hero for New Orleans, pushed them out of range for Lambo. They would go for it on 4 th  and 14 but turned the ball over to New Orleans when the pass play to Hartline failed to gain all the yardage needed. The Breakers would need only 3 plays to get into position for Sturgis. Following a short run by Fournette, Smith faked the ball to the big back and found Tyler Lockett for the longest play of the game, a 51-yard catch and run that put the Breakers well in range for their kicker. After using a run to the right to center the ball, New Orleans brought Sturgis onto the field on 2 nd down and the Breaker specialist connected to give New Orleans a hard-fought win and a trip to face their division rival, Houston next week. SEATTLE DRAGONS 18   DENVER GOLD 21 Saturday’s second game was also a back and forth affair, with the lead changing 4 times before it was settled in the game’s final minute. In a game that may well prove to be a turning point for Denver QB Josh Allen, the 2 nd  year player and first year starter connected on 26 of 40 passes for 272 yards and 3 touchdowns, including a dramatic game winner with 9 seconds on the clock.   The game started slowly, as playoff matchups often do. It was not until the 4 th  possession of the game that either team crossed midfield. Seattle did so when Jacoby Brissett found John Brown for a 17-yard gain. Denver had left a linebacker on the speedy slot receiver and Brissett saw and took advantage of the mismatch. Three plays later Jeffrey Harris would connect on the kick and Seattle took a 3-0 lead as the 1 st quarter closed.   Denver continued to struggle on offense, with Seattle containing their running attack and the talented combo of Desmond Truffant and Richard Sherman shutting down the outside receivers. But with just 2:27 left to play, Denver shifted gears, with Allen finding TE T. J. Hockenson for the first big play of the game, a 20-yard reception that put Denver inside the Seattle 40. Patrick Lindsay then hit a nice 11-yard scamper and Denver was in business. It would take them 7 plays to get from the 30 to the Seattle 3, but from there, Allen found Kevin White on a rub route and the Gold took the lead with 1:07 left to play in the period.   The Denver lead would be expanded early in the 3 rd  as Josh Allen showed off his arm strength after a nice fake to Lindsay. He uncorked a 74-yard TD pass to Golden Tate which easily traveled 60 yards in the air. Tate had gotten behind Truffant thanks to a nicely designed cluster formation which got the corner caught up in the mix of players. With good time for Allen to set and throw, he unleashed a rainbow that helped Denver go up 11, 14-3.   Seattle would respond, helped by a defensive holding call on LB Patrick Onwuasur, and then a big run from Wendell Smallwood, who busted the initial tackle and rumbled 34 yards before being caught from behind. The drive came to an end when Brissett again found slippery inside receiver John Brown, this time for a score. That play cut the lead to 3, 14-11, but only 4 plays later Seattle would once again take the lead. The advantage-turning play was brought on by the unheralded Dragon pass rush. DE Deshon Hall got around the right side, pressuring Allen almost immediately. The Denver QB tried to roll left and throw back to the right, one of the more difficult throws for a right-handed QB to complete, and it was a throw he instantly regretted. Rather than find his receiver, the throw found Seattle safety Taylor Rapp, who not only brought the ball in but returned it to the endzone for the Seattle lead. It looked like youth, inexperience, and a bad decision might doom Denver’s chances. For the rest of the third and nearly all of the 4 th , the Gold simply could not get their offense moving. Seattle, content to milk the clock and grind the ball out, was not taking any chances, but they still had to return the ball to Denver with 2:11 left on the clock. It was time for Allen to prove himself. The athletic but inexperienced Gold QB had gone 21 of 35 on the day, which was pretty solid, but that pick-six was still hanging in the air as Allen took the field with 2 minutes and 1 timeout left. What followed was a 5-for-5 passing run that helped the Gold move from their own 21 down the field efficiently. With 17 seconds left on the clock they found themselves on Seattle 13. On the next play, Allen pitched the ball to Lindsay, surprising the Dragons, who were playing a shell defense. The Dragons were able to push the Denver HB out of bounds at the 1, but with 10 seconds left, Allen would have 2 plays from the 1 to get a TD and end the game.   The Wyoming product came to the line with a goalline formation, all 3 TEs in the game along with DeMarco Murray and fullback C. J. Ham. When Allen spun to hand the ball to Murray, the Dragon defense collapsed, discovering too late that Allen still had the ball and that TE Jack Doyle was uncovered. A soft lob into the endzone found Doyle and 57,500 in the stadium erupted as Denver took the win, advancing to the next round to face the top-seeded Panthers.   NEW JERSEY GENERALS 26   PHILADELPHIA STARS 27 Sunday’s games would prove to be as exciting as the Saturday lineup. The highlight on everyone’s calendar for the weekend was a bitter rivalry game between the Generals and the Stars. Philadelphia had beaten out both New Jersey and Baltimore on a tiebreaker to get this game played at Lincoln Financial Field, and they intended to use every home field advantage they could.   The Stars trotted out legends Kelvin Bryant and Jon Fusina before the game to help rile up the Philadelphia crowd, and the rush of adrenaline and fan energy seemed to be of immediate help as Philadelphia dominated the first quarter, taking a 10-0 lead thanks to a 52-yarder from kicker Eddie Pineiro and a 9-play drive that saw Matt Gutierrez connect with Doug Baldwin on a 3 rd  and 16 play, with Derrick Henry putting the Stars up 10 with a short TD run, much to the delight of the Stars faithful in the stadium.   New Jersey finally got their offense in gear as the quarter ended, initiating a drive with their 3 rd  possession that would run 11 plays and finish with a Foles to Beckham touchdown. Both clubs slugged it out for the rest of the quarter, seeing marginal success with their ground games, but connecting on enough plays in the air for each to put a field goal up before the half. Philadelphia took a slim 13-10 lead into the break and both clubs looked for ways to outmaneuver the other in the second half. The Stars opened the 2 nd  half much as they opened the first, with a touchdown drive that made use of play action and a pair of nice third down conversions before Matt Gutierrez found Doug Baldwin to build up their 10 point lead once again. That lead held for only 4 minutes as New Jersey responded, thanks in large part to a nice 22-yard screen play to MJD. Foles found TE John Carlson from the 10 with 3:48 left in the period to again pull New Jersey to within 3.   The 4 th  quarter would see New Jersey take advantage of a tiring Star defense and a poor throw by Matt Gutierrez. On three consecutive drives, one sparked by Marquestan Huff’s pick of Gutierrez, the Generals evened the score at 13, then went up 3, and then 6 as Ka’imi Fairbairn connected from 48, 33, and 27 yards out. Philadelphia had managed to stop New Jersey from scoring a touchdown on any of the three drives, but now found themselves down 6 with only 1:47 to play.   The Stars, and much beleaguered QB Matt Gutierrez, responded with a 7-play drive that used up only 1:15 on the clock. The drive included a 17-yard strike to Quincy Enunwa, a key third down connection to Travis Kelce, and then, with 27 ticks on the clock, a 15-yard post-corner route to Randall Cobb for the equalizer. All the Stars needed was the PAT and they would hold the lead with only seconds left. Eddie Pineiro connected on the kick and the stadium erupted as Philadelphia punched their ticket to the Divisional Round and a trip to Tampa Bay to face the Bandits. OAKLAND INVADERS 17   SAN DIEGO THUNDER 20 Three very close, down to the wire games in the weekend, but few expected a 4 th  as the Oakland Invaders struggled their way to an 8-8 record and the final Wild Card berth. They were headed down the coast to face San Diego, a team that had not only finished the year at 12-4, but won their final 4 games by a combined score of 132-30, including a Week 16 obliteration of LA, 44-0 and a 20-point win over the Invaders only 2 weeks ago.   But, as so often happens as the regular season turns into the postseason, the Invaders upped their game, especially on defense, and gave San Diego a real run for their money. The Invader defense held San Diego to only 1 first down in the entire first quarter, and on their 3 rd possession of the game, put up the first points. They did this with a new quarterback in the game as Coach Kubiak had made the controversial decision to sit the struggling Jimmy Garoppolo for the playoff matchup, starting Ryan Lindley instead. Lindley, who would finish the game with a 15/34, 104 yard, 1 TD performance, struggled as well, but late in the 1 st  he connected first with Taylor Gabriel on a 14-yard third down connection, and then hit Davante Adams with a TD throw to open scoring.   San Diego responded in the 2 nd quarter, shutting down the Oakland attack and putting up 10 points to take the lead. They first got on the board with a short field goal after a 3 rd and goal throw from Ponder to Marques Colston was broken up by CB Chris Gamble. On their next possession, Ponder found Colston, this time from 51 yards out, as the Thunder struck quickly on a 4-play drive. The deep ball to Colston put San Diego up by 3 as the two teams went into the locker rooms for halftime.   Coming out of the half, San Diego added another 3 points to take a 6-point lead, but the Invaders again found some magic. This time it was a pick from CB Eric Wright, snatching a ball right out of the hands of Nick Toon, and setting up Oakland at the San Diego 17. On the very next play, Lindley faked the ball to Christian McCaffrey and bootlegged to the left. San Diego’s linebackers overreacted to the fake, leaving no one on the outside to contain Lindley. The Invader QB was at the 4 before the first Thunder DB reached him. Cornerback Damontae Kazee tried to shove Lindley out at the 4, but Lindley leaned into the hit and spun his way into the endzone to put Oakland up 14-13 in the final minutes of the 3 rd  quarter.   San Diego seemed stunned by the turn of momentum, and on their next defensive possession they gave up another 3 points after allowing fullback Trey Millard to run for 19 yards on what should have been a short yardage dive. Lindley found Adams for 14 on the next play, and while they could not put a TD on the board, the Invaders jumped to 17-13, forcing San Diego to get a TD to take the game. With more than 10 minutes still in the game, the Thunder offense did not panic. On their first possession after the Invader FG, their drive stalled at the Invader 36 and Jeff Reed tried to connect on a 53-yard kick. The ball sailed right, retaining the 4-point Invader lead. But, the Invaders were not able to do anything on their next possession, going 3-and-out and using up only 1:02 in game time.   San Diego took over with more than 6 minutes still left to play. Christian Ponder would complete 4 of 5 passes on the drive, bringing his game total to 16 of 30 and 297 yards, but most importantly, he connected with DeVante Parker on a 2 nd  and 2, using play action to find Parker in man coverage and getting the ball to his receiver in stride. Parker eluded the tackle by the corner and reached the endzone before safety Jaquawn Jarrett could reach him. The score put San Diego up 20-17 with 3:37 left on the clock. It would be up to the Thunder defense to hold that 3-point lead against their in-state rivals.   Oakland had time, and had timeouts to help delay the game’s conclusion, but what they lacked were opportunities to break the Thunder defense. After requiring a 3 rd  and 3 run by McCaffrey to earn their initial first down, the plays just did not come. 2 yards on a first down rush attempt. Incomplete to Davone Bess, incomplete again to Adams, leaving a 4 th  and 8 from their own 39. Lindley was pressured immediately on the 4 th  down play, with A. J. Hawk blitzing from the MLB position. He escaped to the right, tried to find McCaffrey, but the ball was low and outside and San Diego took over possession with 2:02 left and the ball in Oakland territory. The Thunder earned a first down on a Taiwan Jones run, and that allowed Ponder to take a knee twice, burning both the clock and Oakland’s last timeout. The Thunder had been in a closer contest than many expected, but the result was as predicted, with San Diego setting up a Divisional matchup in Arizona next week.   Blitz begin “Renewal” process with Wild Card Departure and Big Ben Retirement Not the best week in Blitz Nation as the fanbase of Baltimore’s USFL club deals with an early exit from the 2019 postseason and the retirement of their beloved QB all in the span of 4 days. The good news for the Blitz is that they had enough talent to stay in the playoff hunt after losing their former MVP quarterback in Week 7. They have clearly found a talent at halfback in rookie Josh Jacobs, who led all rookies (and a good part of the league) with his 1,132 yards this year. They also have some solid talent on defense, with DE Olivier Vernon, LBs Jarvis Jones and Anthony Hitchens, and CB Jabari Greer, but the team as a whole is clearly going to be entering a new phase with a new leader at QB.   In addition to a vital decision about the QB position, the club is looking at an aging front 5 on the O-line, some needs on defense as well, and some potential losses in both free agency (FS Eric Weddle, WR Denarius Moore, and OG Corey Levin among others) and in the expansion draft. Fans now have to wonder if the team will attempt to overhaul the roster or “reload” on the fly, hoping to remain a playoff contender in 2020.   Allen Shows Grit, Follows Pick-Six with Game Winning Throw It was a moment that could break a young quarterback in his first playoff action, a pick-six that gave both momentum and the lead in the game to a tough and determined opponent. But, while it took Josh Allen of the Gold some time to shake it off, his game-winning drive, with a TD toss with only 9 seconds left in the game, certainly showed that the unproven Denver QB was not broken by his earlier mistake. He rallied the club, drove the ball down the field with time running out, and put up a perfect TD pass on a nice goalline play action call to win the game for the Gold and remove the bitter taste of the earlier misstep.   Allen was forthcoming in the post-game media room, admitting that he just made a throw he knew he shouldn’t, resulting in the Taylor Rapp pick-six. He also stated that he knew it was on him to move past that moment and do what he could to get the W. A pretty mature response for a player who saw his first pro action this year, his sophomore season in the USFL. Allen’s first season at the helm of the Gold offense was better than most predicted, with the work he did with QB Guru Jason Palmer paying off. The former Wyoming product, who suffered from accuracy issues in college, finished the year with a respecable 63% completion rate, and showed off the arm strength that led Denver to select him in the 2018 draft. Allen threw for 3,472 yards and 29 touchdowns in his first season as the starter, and, with the pick-six in his first Wild Card game overcome, he is now ready to take the Gold into an even tougher matchup against a 14-2 Michigan squad which tends to disrupt, disturb, and defeat opposing quarterbacks.   Gutierrez Gets New Deal, then Gets Stars a Wild Card Win Consider the QB change rumors to be over. Not only did Matt Gutierrez get the Wild Card win this week with a final drive and a late TD pass to Randall Cobb, but yesterday the 8-year starter for the Stars got a new deal, adding 3 more seasons to his contract and all but ensuring that he will be under center in 2020. That was not always a given, even for a QB who has thrown for over 27,000 yards with the club.   Many pointed the finger for Philadelphia’s 0-5 start to the year on Gutierrez’s performance, but while his overall statistics for 2020 were well below the numbers we have seen in past seasons, he also led the club back, going 9-2 in the final 11 games to not only make the playoffs, but win the Northeastern Division. Coach Harbaugh at no point in the year benched Gutierrez, even when the club lost their first five outings. Instead, he defended his QB and the wins started coming.   Now, will the Stars need to have a plan B in 2020, very likely. Neither P. J. Walker nor Trace McSorley seem ready to step in if Gutierrez continues to see his numbers decline, so the Stars need to consider other options for the number 2 position, but for now, at least, it seems that Philadelphia is not moving away from Gutierrez, putting their faith in the QB who led them from the brink of disaster all the way to this week’s Divisional Playoff in Tampa.   Coach Kubiak Stands by Playoff QB Switch While not an unprecedented move in the annals of pro football, it is certainly not common to see a team switch from the starter who got them to the playoffs to a backup who had little track record during the season, but that is what Coach Gary Kubiak did on Sunday when he tabbed Ryan Lindley, and not Joey Garoppolo to start against the Thunder. Garoppolo had started all 16 regular season games for the Invaders, but, with only a 70.2 QB rating, 11 picks to only 13 touchdowns, and an offense that had failed to score 20 or more points in 11 of 16 games, Kubiak felt a change was needed.   Was it the right call? Well, Ryan Lindley’s 104-yard performance, and the 17 points scored by Oakland in their game at San Diego did not exactly produce a 180 shift in the club’s offensive output. Kubiak defends the decision, stating that the club needed a spark, but we are not so sure that they got what they wanted from the move. What they did get was a very uncertain offseason as they look at the QB position for 2020. Will Garoppolo be challenged by Lindley? Will Oakland try to bring in another option? The Invaders have a top tier defense, so if they can find a path towards putting up just a few more points each week, they could very well be a contender for a Summer Bowl instead of an 8-8, one-and-done Wild Card. Having the QB position uncertain going into the offseason is something most winning teams try to avoid, so we will have to see if Kubiak has an answer, or if this could be a messy situation going into camp next February.   With news out of Michigan that Kirk Cousins is expected to get the start, the biggest injury impact for this week’s Divisional Playoffs may well be the status of CB Tye Smith for the Thunder. Smith had a strong season and was seeing a lot of action as teams tried to avoid throwing at his teammate, Justin Gilbert. If he is unable to go this week, which seems likely, then San Diego will have to backfill the 2 nd  CB position, which in turn puts inexperienced players into the nickel and dime slots against a very aggressive Arizona offense. Here is the full rundown of the week’s Injury Report from the 8 remaining playoff contenders:   NOR: DT Justin Ellis (IR), DT Ricky Jean-Francois (IR), SS Will Harris (IR), FS Clyde Adams (IR) HOU: WR Mike Evans (IR), CB Siran Neal (Q), WR Keke Coutee (P)   DEN: CB Kris Boyd (IR), OT Ronnie Stanley (OUT), C Stefan Wisniewski (D), FS Jerron McMillian (Q) MGN: QB Kirk Cousins (P)   PHI: DE Anthony Hargrove (IR), WR Braxton Berrios (IR), C Corey Linsley (D), G Trevor Canfield (Q) TBY: CB Ken Webster (IR)   SD: CB Tye Smith (D), SS Duke Williams (Q), DT Dexter Lawrence (P), LB Demario Davis (P) ARZ: DT Jason Hargrave (P)   Von Miller Wants a New Deal Someone in Denver needs to fess up. Who showed Von Miller “Jerry Maguire”? Despite having 2 more years on his 2 nd contract with the Gold, Von Miller is now demanding that the Gold “Show me the money!!!”. Either he saw the Tom Cruise movie recently, or he has been talking with Calais Campbell about the deal that Arizona gave the league’s sack master, because now Miller is demanding some Campbell-sized money.  Miller was all smiles after the Gold's playoff win. Denver seems unlikely to give Miller anything close to Campbell’s deal, and we are with them on that. Miller has been an outstanding player, to be sure, but over the length of his initial, and then extended, contracts with Denver, he has produced 90 sacks, very solid number that comes to an average of 18 per year. Compare that with Campbell’s 5-year production of 141 sacks, an average of 28.2 sacks per season, an utterly ridiculous number, and you can see why Miller may not get the payday he is demanding. Should Miller be the 2 nd  or 3 rd  highest paid edge rusher? That’s something we might be able to justify, even if his numbers dropped to only 11 sacks this year, placing him 27 th  on the season leader board. Now, that is in part a result of missing 5 games to injury this year, but now we have to talk about Miller’s injuries, and the reality that at age 32 he may see more frequent injuries and lower production over the next year or two.   So, what does Denver do? We think they will make a gesture towards making Miller one of the top salary earners at his position, but the Gold are notoriously stingy at times, so maybe they won’t. Miller has few options since his contract is good through the 2021 season. He can hold out, he can threaten to retire (as Campbell did before his trade to Arizona) or he could push to be released or traded. None of those are potential paths that Denver wants to see, but at the same time, the Gold are not in a position to give Miller what he wants, nor should they do so.   Arians Joins NFL Buccaneers 1 Week After Atlanta Sacking As of 10 days ago, Bruce Arians was the head coach of the Atlanta Fire. That ended on Black Monday, and it seems the NFL was ready and waiting. NFL teams cannot negotiate with any current USFL coaches except during the two approved transfer windows, but with Arians’ firing he is free to do what he wants, and it seems at least one NFL team has concluded that the issues in Atlanta were not Arians’ doing. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, only a month from their season opener, have hired Arians on as “Assistant Head Coach and Passing Game Specialist”. It is a new position, but one clearly designed to help out Head Coach Dirk Koetter and OC Todd Monken get more out of the Bucs’ offense.   Arians becomes the first of the recently sacked USFL head coaches to find new work. Jim Mora Jr. is rumored to be speaking with ABC about a position on their USFL Gameday show, while both Brian Flores and Vic Fangio are likely to find work as a defensive coordinator either by the next USFL season or if any NFL clubs shift staffing mid-season. And while they wait, four USFL coaching positions remain vacant. New England tabbed former Boston Cannons HC John Fox to take the reins of Boston’s newest team, but San Antonio, Atlanta, Jacksonville, and Pittsburgh are still in the exploration and interview phase of the coaching search. Free Agent Rundown with 20 Teams Done for the Season With 20 teams now out of playoff contention, we are beginning to see the strengths and weaknesses of the potential USFL Free Agent Pool. Now, some of the players without contracts may still resign with their clubs over the next 20 days, before the moratorium on deals and the new free agent period begins, but we know from history that if someone is unsigned now, the odds that they get a new deal to their liking in the next 3 weeks is somewhat slim. So, just how does the Free Agent pool look? Here is our breakdown by position.   QUARTERBACK              Grade: C- If you are a team looking for a starter, there is only 1 name that even seems marginally viable in this year’s pool, San Diego’s Joe Webb. Webb started for the Thunder for 3 years before being displaced by Christian Ponder. Other than Webb, you are looking at 2 nd  string depth with names like Tim Tebow, Tyler Thigpen and Dan LeFevour.  Not what QB-hungry teams want to see.   RUNNING BACK             Grade: B+ There are some serviceable players in the tailback pool, some who may prove to be legitimate starters for a team in need. Among those we like to get a shot at a starting job include Mauler Marcus Lattimore, Star Zac Stacy, and Reggie Bush’s understudy in LA, Paul Perkins. Others in the pool who should at least get a look include Marion Mack, Jay Ajayi, and longtime Panther Mike Hart.   WIDE RECEIVER              Grade: A Maybe it is the “diva” mentality, but wideout is almost always a position where players think they deserve top dollar and are willing to go the free agency route to get it. This year’s crop of wideouts is headed up by Birmingham’s Amari Cooper, who could well get the money he is hoping for. Behind him, but not by much, are veterans Denarius Moore, Demaryius Thomas, and Dwayne Bowe. Each may only be in the mix for a 1-2 year deal, but they could certainly find a fit like Antonio Bryant did last year, moving from Arizona to Michigan. Others to take a look at include Doug Baldwin, Nick Toon, Kenny Britt, Kenny Stills, Donnie Avery, and, yes, assuming no deal is done soon, possibly Antonio Bryant again.   TIGHT END                  Grade C- Only one name comes up as legitimate starting talent, and that is Seattle’s Dennis Pitta. Other than him, you are looking at depth only.   OFFENSIVE LINE            Grade: A- Three names pop to the top of the list as we look over the pool: OG Andy Levitre (MGN), OG Vlad Ducasse (NOR), and OT Matt Kalil (LA). Those are All-USFL quality players who should be up for a big pay raise and a solid contract. Beyond those three, there is also really good depth with players like centers Peter Konz (OAK) and Pat Elflein (TBY), guards Jon Feliciano (MGN), Michael Dunn (LV), and Zach Banner (LA), as well as tackles Jaimie Thomas (PHI), LaAdrian Waddle (OAK) and Joe Haeg (SEA).   DEFENSIVE LINE            Grade: A Yes, Aaron Donald is the undisputed top free agent in the entire pool. His insistence that he is not returning to the Maulers, paired with his skill set, will make him a huge focal point of the offseason. But Donald is not alone in this very talented pool of big men. How about fellow DTs Dontari Po (MEM), Andre Nebbitt (OHI), Terrell Troupe (MGN) or Jerel Worthy (ORL). Then add in ends like San Diego’s Lamarr Houston, Birmingham’s Greg Hardy, New Jersey veteran Aaron Kampman, and 25-year-old DeMarcus Lawrence from Portland. That is a deep and very promising position group for teams looking to beef up the D-Line.   LINEBACKER          Grade: C After last year’s major haul of quality linebackers, this group feels somewhat lacking. There is some talent, solid players like Nick Perry, Carl Ihenacho, Mason Foster, and D’Qwell Jackson, but none of these solid players are game-changing, high impact, immediate improvement signings. So, adding a quality option to your rotation, sure. But if you need immediate impact, you will need to find another way.   CORNERBACK             Grade: A Behind the D-line, this perhaps the best position pool in the market. You have big names like Birmingham’s Antonio Cromartie or Charlotte’s Derech Cox, but you also have really talented, but overlooked players like Jordan Pugh (STL), Brandon Boykin(WSH), Josh Jackson (STL), and Jalil Brown (OHI). There are some real finds here who could help a team build something special in the secondary.   SAFETY                       Grade: B Some very good players, but largely on the downward side of their careers, so maybe a 1-2 year deal but not a franchise player here. Among the bigger names in the anticipated pool are Baltimore’s Eric Weddle, Philly’s Glover Quinn, Seattle’s Donte Whitner, Viper Antrel Rolle, and Invader Jaiquawn Jarrett.   SPECIAL TEAMS Grade: C As we so often see, kickers and punters price themselves out of their current deals. For so many teams it is better to have a solid kicker on a low cost deal than to spend to keep or to sign a quality veteran in a higher tax bracket. The Free Agent pool this year will have several solid options, but will teams pay for the benefit of having a reliable punter/kicker group? If they do, then look for punters Jeff Locke (OKL) and Trevor Daniel (LV) to get some interest, along with veteran kickers David Akers (JAX) and Greg Zeurlein (DEN).     Divisional Weekend is upon us. Four games, and the top 8 seeded teams in the league go into battle for a chance to play in their conference’s Title Game. Only 4 teams will be left after this weekend. How do the 4 matchups look? Well, we have our breakdown right here to help you prepare for what should be another exciting week of USFL football.   Philadelphia Stars (9-7) @ Tampa Bay Bandits (10-6) Saturday, July 20 @ 3pm ET Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL Bandits -5   We are honestly surprised that the books in Vegas have the Bandits as only a 5-point favorite at home. Maybe it is because they had some close affairs late in the season, but this is an offense that led the league in passing and total yards, finishing 2 nd  in the league in scoring. They go up against a Philadelphia defense that struggled against the pass, finishing 15 th  in the USFL. The Stars also averaged about 8 points fewer per game than the Bandits all season. Does that mean this game will be a blowout? No, but it certainly favors the homestanding Bandits. Now, if the Stars can get Derrick Henry rolling against Tampa Bay’s defensive front, that could help a lot. The Bandits do have the worst pass defense (in yards allowed) in the league, but that was a by-product of them playing with a lead so frequently. Teams had to pass. So, is it a true weakness, or a sign that they often play from ahead?   OUR PICK: We are done picking the underdogs after going 1-3 last week. The only game we got right was the one favorite we picked, San Diego. So, this week, we take the seeding seriously. We also happen to believe that Tampa Bay is simply a more dangerous team. They have the ability to run the ball with Dalvin Cook, but if you overplay the run, they will kill you with the vertical game. Dak Prescott is on fire this year, and we just don’t see the same game-breaking capacity in Matt Gutierrez, even with his new deal freshly signed.  We say Tampa Bay 28-21. Denver Gold (10-6) @ Michigan Panthers (14-2) Saturday, July 20 @ 7pm ET Ford Field, Detroit, MI Panthers -7   We love the moxie that Josh Allen showed in coming back against Seattle last week, but this game is a whole different level of challenge. The Panthers finished the year 14-2, the best record in the game, and it was not a fluke. The Panthers have the league’s best running back, leading all teams with a 125.8 YPG average on the ground, but they can also beat you through the air, with Kirk Cousins tied for the league lead (with Prescott) with 30 TD passes. The arrival of Antonio Bryant from the Wranglers has forced defenses to play more zone and avoid double covering Cody Latimer, which, in turn, has allowed Latimer to rack up 1,169 yards and 9 TDs, while Bryant had a solid year as well with 722 and 8 scores. Throw in TE Martellus Bennett, and consider that Bell had 47 receptions on top of his 355 carries, and this is a Michigan team that can find your defense’s weaknesses and exploit them. Oh, and we probably should also mention a defense that allows only 16.9 points per game.   OUR PICK: This one feels very much like a minor obstacle for the Panthers before they take on either Arizona or San Diego. Denver is a plucky team, but plucky does not feel like enough in this one. We are going to go with the Panthers: Michigan 24-16 New Orleans Breakers (10-6) @ Houston Gamblers (11-5) Sunday, July 21 @ 1pm ET NRG Stadium, Houston, TX Gamblers -5   We love a divisional matchup in the playoffs. Why? Well, because they tend to showcase teams that both know each other well and don’t like each other much at all. That is certainly the case between these two Southern Division rivals. Ever since the Gamblers shifted from the SW Division to the South, they have been battling with New Orleans for supremacy, and largely winning. But, the Breakers have had their moments, including a surprising 20-13 road win at NRG Stadium only 3 weeks ago. Can the Breakers do it again? Well, a lot will depend on QB Geno Smith and the Breaker offense. In their Week 14 victory, New Orleans got a very solid game from HB Leonard Fournette, and that helped Smith avoid pressure, throwing for 2 scores with no picks. The Breakers also held Carlos Hyde to 52 yards rushing, picked off Colt McCoy 3 times, and frustrated the entire Gambler offense with heavy pressure.   OUR PICK: Sounds like we are picking the Breakers, doesn’t it? Well, no. We think Houston is very aware of what happened in Week 14, and they will be ready to use extra linemen, their fullback, or even TE Tony Moeaki as an extra blocker, giving McCoy a better pocket and the chance to find JuJu Smith-Shuster or Josh Reynolds on deeper routes. In other words, we don’t think what worked 3 weeks ago will find the same success now that things are “playoff serious”.  We go with Houston to win a tight one, Gamblers 20-18. San Diego Thunder (12-4) @ Arizona Wranglers (13-3) Sunday, July 21 @ 5pm ET State Farm Stadium, Glendale, AZ Wranglers -4   It is put up or shut up time for the Thunder. They blew through the final weeks of the season, beating Portland 30-0, LA 44-0, and Oakland 34-14, all the while saying they deserve respect, the kind of respect the Wranglers already get from fans and pundits alike. So, here they are, facing the Wranglers, in Arizona, and with a chance to prove once and for all that their earlier bravado can be backed up. Are the Thunder elite? Are they ready to make a Summer Bowl run? They did the easy part, beating an 8-8 Invader squad in Snapdragon Stadium. Can they beat an 13-3 Wrangler team at State Farm Stadium? We are not buying it. This is a Wrangler team that has won their last 8 games, including some crushing blowouts of their own. They lead the league in scoring at 27.6 PPG, are top 5 in yards, passing, and rushing, and they have a Top 5 defense as well. Yes they do give up the occasional big play, but they also make a lot of big plays. Throw in Calais Campbell, fueled by his first legitimate shot at a championship ring, and we think Arizona is not going to be surprised by a solid, but perhaps not quite elite San Diego Thunder Team.   OUR PICK: We go 4-for-4 with picking home favorites. We are going to take the Wranglers to send a message in this game. They are the elite monsters out West, not San Diego. Arizona 31-20.

It was one of the wildest Week 16s in recent memory, with 7 playoff spots still up for grabs and nearly half the league still in the hunt. In the end it was a good weekend for the Northeast and a rough one for pretty much everyone else, including the Express, Machine, and Showboats, who all found themselves on the outside looking in. We will recap all the games and their impacts on the playoff picture, take a look ahead at this week’s Wild Card matchups, and, of course, break down the four Black Monday firings as Atlanta, Jacksonville, Charlotte, and Pittsburgh all decide to start fresh. We start off with our Big Story, the wild finish to the year and the success of the Northeast, placing 3 teams into the 2019 USFL Playoffs   Playoff Scramble Sees 3 Northeast Teams in, Memphis, LA, Chicago Out On Friday the USFL still had 7 playoff spots out of 12 unclaimed, including the NE Division champion and all 6 Wild Cards. They also had 13 teams vying for those spots, meaning that nearly half of those clubs would be very unhappy by Monday. It also meant that tiebreakers would be key as teams locked up with similar records, and that is exactly what happened in both conferences.   Going into the weekend, the Stars, Breakers, Blitz, and Orlando controlled their own destiny, with New Jersey, Memphis and Birmingham needing help. But with the Breakers and Renegades going head to head, we knew one of them would be in trouble. That game was not until Sunday night, so we would know what the stakes were by then. Earlier in the weekend we watched as Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Baltimore all won their matchups, placing all three at 9-7. The Stars locked up the division title thanks to a strong division record of 7-1, compared to the 5-3 mark of the Blitz and 3-5 mark for New Jersey. But at 9-7 all three had a shot at the playoffs, and when Memphis fell, it meant the only challenge would be Orlando, sitting at 8-7. A win by the Renegades would drop New Jersey out.   So by Sunday night it was known, the Breakers were in even with a loss, but with a Breaker win New Jersey would claim the final Wild Card. A loss to Orlando and the Renegades would take that final spot. So, with the Generals all watching nervously, the Breakers held off the Renegades, claiming the 4 seed for themselves (a home game next week) and dropping Orlando to 8-8 and out of the picture. The Generals would be in, along with the Blitz and Stars from the Northeast. The Renegades, Showboats and Stallions were out, leaving a sour aftertaste to their seasons. All three divisions were locked up in the West before Week 16 play, so what was on the table were the Wild Card berths. At 9-6 Denver was not only in with a win, but would lock up the 4 seed and a home playoff game. Seattle and LA would also be in with wins, while Chicago, Oakland, and Las Vegas would need help. One of them would get it.   Seattle did their part, beating Portland to lock up a spot. Denver did the same, shutting out Atlanta to claim the 4-seed at 10-6. That left only 1 spot left. LA needed to beat division champion San Diego to secure the spot, regardless what happened in other games. Well, as the 44-0 score shows, the Thunder were in no mood to help their in-state rivals out. The humiliating loss knocked the Express out of the playoffs at 8-8 and will certainly go down as a low point in Express history. That meant that the final spot would come down to the Machine, Vipers, and Invaders. Chicago had the advantage at 8-7, while the other two were stuck a game back at 7-8. But Chicago was facing a Baltimore team that needed a win to reach the postseason, and despite holding the Blitz without a touchdown, Baltimore pulled out the win, 12-10, sending Chicago to 8-8 and needing assistance from the foes of the Invaders and Vipers. Neither opponent came to their aid. Houston rested most of their starters, secure in the 1-seed in the East, allowing Oakland an easier path to 8-8, and the Invaders took it, defeating Houston 21-7. The Vipers likewise got the win they needed, though it was not easy, a tough 27-20 war of attrition with Dallas. With all three clubs, along with LA, all sitting at 8-8, only 1 could get the berth.   That berth went to the Oakland Invaders, who, despite losing badly to San Diego the week before, still had the strongest Conference Record of the four contenders. They stood over LA thanks to a 6-2 division record, far better than the Express’s 2-6 mark. That removed LA from contention. Within the conference the Invaders had gone 7-5, while both the Vipers and the Machine had managed only a 6-6 mark. That 1 game difference gifted the Wild Card and the 6-seed to the Invaders, leaving Chicago and Las Vegas out in the cold (or the heat, it is July after all).   And so we have our 2019 playoff teams set, from the dominant Michigan Panthers at 14-2 to the suspiciously inconsistent Oakland Invaders at 8-8, twelve teams that will play at least one more game this season. We will have more on the playoff matchups and game previews later, but we now take a look at the game that determined the fate of 3 different teams.   ORLANDO RENEGADES 20   NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS 27 By Sunday Night, the stakes were well understood. Eleven of the twelve playoff spots were claimed. The Breakers, sitting at 9-6, already knew they were in the post-season, but still needed a win to lock up the 4-seed and get their Wild Card game at the Super Dome instead of on the road. The Orlando Renegades had even more at stake. A win would set them up at 9-7 as well, and would grant them a Wild Card over the New Jersey Generals thanks to a better conference record. But, they also knew that a loss would send them to 8-8 and they would be sitting home next week without a playoff game to prepare for. For both teams, as well as for the Generals, looking on from team facilities in the Meadowlands, the Sunday night game would determine who was in, who was out, and who would play whom next week.   That was the setup when both teams took the field in the Super Dome. The Breakers had played well at home all season, boasting a 5-2 home record (compared to 4-4 on the road), while Orlando had been somewhat solid on the road, winning 3 of 7 games so far this season. Both teams were relatively healthy, well, New Orleans still had those 4 starting defenders on IR, but they had been there since the first 6 weeks of the season and they had still proven capable on defense. Both teams were somewhat familiar with each other, and now it was just about execution.   After a pair of 3-and-outs to open the game, it would be Orlando who had the first meaningful drive of the game. A 22-yard connection between Wilson and Dwayne Bowe had gotten the ball into Breaker territory, and Rashad Jennings did the rest, rushing for 27 yards on only 3 carries, including the last touch of the drive, a 2-yard TD run to the right side. The gauntlet had been laid down by the visitors.   New Orleans would accept the challenge and show Orlando that they too could be dangerous, going on to score 20 unanswered points in the half to take a commanding 13-point lead into the break. It started on their next drive when Geno Smith got the team into range with back to back 1 st  down throws for 10+. The drive eventually fizzled, but Caleb Sturgis’s 40-yard kick put the Breakers on the board for the first time. When Russell Wilson was sacked on a 3 rd  and 7 on their next possession, one of 6 sacks on the day by the Breakers, it forced a punt and New Orleans once again had the ball.   The Breakers moved the ball well on the drive, needing only 7 plays to get inside the 10. Coby Fleener had two big catches and a scramble by Geno Smith got them to the 5. With 2 rushing plays, both from Leonard Fournette, the Breakers crossed the plane and took the lead. Fournette would prove vital to the Breaker offense, even with only a 3-yard average, because it was off his rushes that Geno Smith found play action success.   Orlando tried to mount a response, but had to settle for a long fieldgoal attempt, and Caleb Sturgis missed from 51 yards out, giving the Breakers the ball in good field position. They would take advantage, moving the ball down the field efficiently before Smith found TE Coby Fleener on a perfect seam route for a 19-yard touchdown. The Breaker lead expanded to 17-3, and would end up at 20-3 by the half.   Orlando regrouped during the break, altered their defensive philosophy to better account for Fleener, and recommitted to the run game. That proved effective for them in the 3 rd  quarter, where they took the opening drive for a field goal, and then followed that up with the longest play of the game on their next possession. After having forced a punt which went into the endzone as a touchback, Orlando started with the ball on their own 20. They called a play action fake to Jennings and Russell Wilson found Brashad Perriman in single coverage down the sideline. Wilson’s pass was perfectly placed and Perriman was not going to be caught once he had beaten the corner. He raced 80 yards with the Breaker safeties in pursuit, scoring to pull Orlando to within 3, 20-17, as the 3 rd  quarter wound down.   The 4 th  quarter was high tension for both clubs, and, of course, for the Generals’ players watching from their team facilities in New Jersey. For most of the quarter the defenses seemed to dominate, forcing 3 consecutive punts from each team’s side of the field. But, with 3:32 left to play, a break in the coverage gave Orlando a shot to tie the game. Wilson found Dwayne Bowe for a 22-yard gain that helped flip the field, and 4 plays later Orlando tied the game on a Caleb Sturgis kick with 1:36 left to play. New Orleans had time to respond, but could they.   The answer was yes, and in quick fashion, as they also set up a play to get their best deep threat into single coverage. They used a rub play from a trips formation to get Jordy Nelson all alone with CB Michael Jackson. Nelson beat the corner and raced for 50 yards to put New Orleans in field goal range. When Leonard Fournette broke the next play for another 17 yards, the Breakers were in range not only to kick the field goal, but to give themselves a 7-point lead and force Orlando into a much tougher final drive. They did not relent, and 2 plays later, with only 48 seconds left, Wilson found Fleener for his 2nd score of the game, a score that would force Orlando to go the full length of the field to tie the score again.   Orlando had 1 time out and only 48 seconds to save their season and earn a playoff berth. A field goal would be no use at all, and the Breakers knew it. They played a shell coverage, allowing Wilson to complete passes inside and short of 10 yards, and then they rallied to make the tackle. Wilson completed his first 3 passes on the drive, but that only got Orlando to their own 44, and cost them 22 of the 48 seconds they had. When Wilson started looking for bigger chunks, he started missing on throws, and on a 3 rd  and 14, following Ezekiel Ansah’s 2 nd  sack of the game, he would essentially end the game with a poorly chosen pass. Trying to force the ball to Perriman, he instead found FS Keanu Neal, who brought in the forced throw and essentially ended the game with its only turnover.   New Orleans would claim the 4 th seed in the East, setting up a home game against Baltimore in the Wild Card round. New Jersey would earn the 6 th  seed at 9-7, while Orlando would go home knowing they had their own destiny in their hands, but falling short. The Renegades would finish the year 8-8 and on the outside of the playoff pool, a tough way to end any season.   PHILADELPHIA 30  MEMPHIS 23 We think it is safe to say that the Stars team that finished the year 9-2 over the final 11 weeks is not the same club that started the year 0-5. Philadelphia capped off an amazing recovery from their start by putting their trust in HB Derrick Henry. That plan paid off as Henry rumbled for 173 yards and 2 scores to help Philadelphia win the Northeast Division. Memphis simply had no answer for the Stars’ run game, which finished with 208 total yards to Memphis’s total of only 78. With the loss, Memphis was knocked out of Wild Card contention at 8-8. POTG:  Stars’ HB Derrick Henry: 22 Att, 173 Yds, 2 TD   BALTIMORE 12  CHICAGO 10 Philly’s win meant that Baltimore would not be reclaiming the division lead they had held for most of the year, but a win over Chicago still got them into the mix as a Wild Card. In a game that only saw 1 touchdown, a 1 st  quarter Matt Forte run, the Blitz slowly chipped into the Chicago lead, turning 7-0 into 7-9 by the half, and then responding to a 4 th  quarter Machine FG with one of their own within the final 2 minutes to claim the win and the playoff spot. Chicago, dropping to 8-8, would be eliminated from a Wild Card on a tiebreaker. POTG:  Blitz LB Anthony Hitchens: 7 Tck, 2 Sck   BIRMINGHAM 10   NEW JERSEY 37 The Generals were also denied a division title by Philly’s win, but they left no doubt that they wanted that Wild Card slot by demolishing the Stallions at home at MetLife. OBJ had a huge game with 2 scores and 150 yards receiving, Nick Foles threw for 3 scores, and the General defense held Cam Newton to only 27 yards rushing as the “Stampede” offense was corralled by the Generals’ active LB group. POTG:  New Jersey WR Odell Beckham Jr: 8 Rec, 150 Yds, 2 TD   TAMPA BAY 10   ARIZONA 39 The Bandits rested many starters, while Arizona, still hoping for the 1-seed in the West, did not. The result was predictable, a strong first half for Arizona, putting up a 22-0 lead and then slowly benching some of their stars for the rest of the game. David Carr finished 11 of 17 for 233 yards and 2 scores, with backup Brandon Allen throwing a TD for security late in the game. Tampa started QB B. J. Daniels, who got no mercy from the Wrangler D, sacked 6 times (2 from league sack champion Calais Campbell) and picked off 3 times, including a pick-six from Wrangler CB Jeremy Lane. POTG:  Wrangler WR DeMarcus Robinson: 5 Rec, 109 Yds, 2 TD   OAKLAND 21   HOUSTON 7 The Invaders get the season finale win they needed against a Houston team that did not put McCoy or Hyde on the field. Landry Jones got the start along with C. J. Prosise, while Oakland had its best game of the year from rookie Bryce Love, sharing carries with Christian McCaffrey. The two combined for 98 yards, with Love scoring twice as Oakland improved to 8-8 and, thanks to their conference record, claimed the West’s final Wild Card. POTG:  Invader HB Bryce Love: 6 Att, 66 Yds, 2 TD   OKLAHOMA 20  MICHIGAN 23 Oklahoma got what they wanted out of Mason Rudolph’s start at QB, a good sign that they can go into 2020 with the young QB at the helm, while Michigan got what they wanted, the win, and a lock as the 1-seed, providing a bye and home field throughout the playoffs. Kirk Cousins played only the 1 st  quarter, which helped Oklahoma keep it close, but LeVeon Bell played the entire game, finishing with 83 yards and the league rushing title. POTG:  Panther CB Keivarae Russell: 9 Tck, 1 FF, 1 FR, 2 PDef   DENVER 16   ATLANTA 0 Denver wanted that 10 th  win and the 4-seed (providing a home playoff game next week), while Atlanta wanted to avoid injury. The result was a pretty one-sided game that saw Denver shut out the lifeless Fire. DeShone Kizer again struggled at QB for the Fire, while for Denver the run game was working well against Atlanta’s struggling run defense, gaining a combined 124 yards between Murray (36) and Lindsay (89). POTG:  Denver CB Chidobe Awuzie: 4 Tck, 5 PDef, 1 Int   LAS VEGAS 27  DALLAS 20 The Vipers’ fate was not set when they kicked off, and they played like a team still eager to land a Wild Card spot. Dallas played them tough, but two pick-sixes from Viper CBs in the third quarter gave the Vipers an advantage that they would not surrender in the 4 th quarter. Matt McGloin went 24 of 36 for 200 yards, while the Viper D not only scored twice, but also held Dallas to only 30 yards rushing. POTG:  Viper CB Shaquille Richardson: 6 Tck, 2 Int, 1 Def TD   LOS ANGELES 0   SAN DIEGO 44 This one was ugly from the start, with Kyler Murray throwing a pick-six on his first pass of the game. San Diego just went wild, putting up multiple scores in each quarter. Christian Ponder played for a half, then Joe Webb came in and threw 2 TDs in relief with the game already a 24-0 debacle for the Express. San Diego seems primed for a deep playoff run, and they made their point that they are a contender by obliterating the top-rated LA defense from every possible angle. POTG:  Thunder WR Chris Givens: 3 Rec, 65 Yds, 2 TD   SEATTLE 19  PORTLAND 14 Portland played the Dragons tough, but in the end, thanks to a Brissett to Newhouse TD in the final minute, the Dragons pulled out the win and earned a Wild Card berth, another amazing comeback season after a 1-5 start. Brissett, who remains unsigned for 2020, threw for 223 and 2 scores, while Portland got a surprising 101 yards on 17 carries from Doug Martin. POTG:  Seattle DE Deshon Hall: 3 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 FF   PITTSBURGH 19  ST. LOUIS 14 In a game that saw little excitement on the field, and even less in the mostly empty stands of The Dome at America’s Center, Pittsburgh improved their final record to 7-9, dropping St. Louis to 6-10. It was a battle of backups, with former Pitt QB Nathan Peterman getting the win after going 22 of 35 for 196 yards, topping St. Louis’s Tyrod Taylor. Eddie Lacy added 75 yards for St. Louis to finish the year second to LeVeon Bell in rushing, while Pittsburgh started Jay Ajayi at HB. POTG:  Mauler DE Shaquile Riddick: 4 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 FF   OHIO 28  WASHINGTON 12 The Glory finish the year with back-to-back wins as they got the win despite resting Christian Hackenberg. Connor Shaw got the start, threw for 203 yards and 3 TDs along with 3 picks. Ryan Nassib finished an utterly forgettable first year in Washington by throwing 2 picks and proving unable to get the ball into the endzone. POTG:  Ohio QB Connor Shaw: 18/31, 203 Yds, 3 TD, 3 Int   CHARLOTTE 28   JACKSONVILLE 13 In what would prove to be the final game at the helm of each club for both head coaches, the Monarchs get the W thanks to a strong defensive showing against Bulls’ backup Ryan Tannehill. The NFL import completed 24 of 36, but for only 217 yards, with no touchdowns. The highlight of the game was a 55-yard punt return from Charlotte’s Isaiah McKenzie, but there were few fireworks overall in this snoozer of a season finale for both teams. POTG:  Monarch DE Anthony Zettel: 6 Tck, 2 Sck, 1 FF   Black Monday A Bad Day for Arians, Mora, Flores, and Fangio With the end of the regular season there are several things we all know to expect. There will be 12 excited fanbases, each expecting their team to overcome the odds and find their way to a league title. There are 18 disappointed fanbases, each now focusing on what went wrong, what their teams need to do in the offseason, and often upset at someone, the owner, the coach, the players, for the team’s failures. And there will be coaches who take the fall for their team’s lack of success. From the 18 non-playoff teams it is almost guaranteed that some teams will move on, relieving their head coach, and often the entire coaching staff, of their duties and starting over. The question is not if it will happen, but for how many teams will it happen.   The answer for 2019 is 4. Four teams have decided to seek a new start, to turn the reins of the team over to someone new and hope for the kind of immediate payback that fans in Tampa Bay are enjoying this year. Within 24 hours of the official end to the 2019 season, four head coaches were let go and 4 positions now open for hiring, in addition to the unfilled position with expansion San Antonio.   JACKSONVILLE (3-13) We should not be surprised, and I expect many of us are not, that Coach Flores is out after only 2 years. After suffering through a 4-12 season in his first year, the hope had been that Flores, with a full year to enhance the roster, select a QB, and install his own defensive schemes, would be able to break an 8-season run of 10-loss seasons. While Teddy Bridgewater provided some hope this season, that hope did not turn into wins. With Jacksonville slipping back a step to only 3 wins, and the worst record in the league, Flores was the obvious and easiest piece of the puzzle to replace. We doubt he will be the lone departure, though GM Chris Grier is also out, that could be coming very soon since you do not complete 9 years without improving above 6-10 without personnel being a major issue.  ATLANTA (4-11-1) The Fire had hoped to compete for the division this year. After a 10-6 finish in 2018, a lot was hoped for. And, sure, losing Aaron Murray for 5 weeks was a huge issue for the Fire, and they did rebound upon his return with 3 wins in 4 games, but the run defense was atrocious all year long, and the team’s 5-game losing streak to end the year was ugly, with what looked very much like club that had given up. That more than anything was likely the reason that ownership in Atlanta was not willing to give Coach Arians a 4th season. They simply needed to do something after a 6-game drop from 10-6 to 4-11-1. Arians is likely not the main issue in Atlanta, but when you are the head coach you get the praise when the team wins, and you pay the price when they do not.  CHARLOTTE (7-8-1) Jim Mora Jr. is the only coach the Charlotte Monarchs have ever known. The son of legendary Stars, Invaders and Showboat head coach Jim Mora Sr. got the gig before the expansion Monarchs had a single player on their roster in 2007, ahead of the 2008 expansion season. He molded the team, got them to the playoffs in their 5 th season (2011), and to a Summer Bowl the year after. The Monarchs have made the playoffs in 7 of the last 9 seasons, but with the club falling well short of expectations this year, and with Mora bringing a 1-5 playoff record since that 2012 run to the Summer Bowl, the goal was to prove he could do more with the Monarchs, not less, and this year was a lot less than what most expected. Mora’s tenure with Charlotte ends after 12 seasons, and he leaves with a pretty solid 103-85-2. Will he find another USFL gig? Seems likely, but perhaps not right away, as teams look for younger options and “innovative” offenses.   PITTSBURGH (7-9) Vic Fangio came to the Maulers in 2014 with a reputation for outstanding defensive game planning. After a rough 5-10-1 season in his first year, he shocked the USFL by bringing Pittsburgh to the lofty heights of 13-3 in his 2 nd  year. His 2015 team featured a big-play offense and a ball hawking defense. The problem was, it turned out to be a brightly burning, but short-lived flame. The next season Pittsburgh crashed back to earth, finishing 6-10. Since then, Fangio has been unable to get the team above .500 and has missed the playoffs 4 years in a row. This year’s 7-9 club was again an exercise in missed opportunities. The NE Division was as wide-open as it has been in years, and yet despite the balance across the conference, Pittsburgh could fare no better than 4 th place and a sub-500 record. That was the last chance for Fangio, and now the Maulers will move on, hoping to find the right mix of toughness, leadership, and offensive know-how to end a run of sub-par seasons and return the team to playoff contention again.   San Diego Demolishes LA, sending message to Wranglers & Panthers If you wanted to get a sense of how the Thunder view this season’s division title and playoff aspirations, you need only look at the way they finished the regular season. They could have rested their starters, content with a division title and a home playoff game next week. But, they knew that with Arizona facing Tampa Bay, there was still a shot that the Thunder could sneak into the 2-spot and get a bye. They also went into their finale with the LA Express upset that very few in the world of USFL punditry were even talking about them as a Summer Bowl contender. Despite an 11-3 record, all the talk has centered around Michigan, Arizona, Houston, and even the upstart Tampa Bay Bandits.   That feeling of disrespect fueled this week’s game against in-state rival Los Angeles. Facing the team with a league-leading defense, and a team that had its own “win & in” aspirations for a playoff spot, San Diego did not come to win the game, they came to destroy. And destroy is exactly what they did. The Thunder’s 44-0 demolition of the LA Express was not just a sign that they are prepared for the post-season, it is a clear message that they deserve to be respected, and perhaps feared, as a very real threat to the popular favorites in the conference and in the league.   Whether or not San Diego can get over the hump, outplay one of the big favorites in the conference, perhaps both of them, on the path to a Summer Bowl, well that we will have to wait and see. The Thunder will be playing next week, a home test against Wild Card Oakland, another familiar foe with some offensive shortcomings. We could be in for another show of power. If San Diego can humble the Invaders, their next game would almost certainly be in Arizona to face the powerhouse Wranglers, representatives of the West in 4 of the past 6 Summer Bowls. A win in Glendale against David Carr, Calais Campbell, and the 13-3 Wranglers will be exactly the kind of respect-earning, fear-inducing win that the Thunder need if they want to be included among the elites in the league.   Bell, Nelson, and Cousins Among Stat Leaders at Season’s End The 2019 season is done, the stats are in, and we have our league leaders for 2019. Some are expected, some a bit of a surprise, but all deserving of accolades for a very strong year. Here are the season’s best in the major offensive and defensive categories:   PASSING No “trifecta” this year as Dak Prescott led the league in yardage (4,245) and tied with Kirk Cousins with 30 TDs, while Cousins took the QB Rating title with a score of 107.4, largely influenced by his league best 71.6% completion rate. Taking 2 of 3 major categories, while also turning the 3-13 Bandits into a 10-6 playoff team may well be enough for Prescott to earn the MVP this year, though some may argue that Kirk Cousin’s somewhat quieter season, but a 14-2 season with Michigan, has him in contention.   RUSHING It has been the LeVeon Bell show all season long, with Bell more or less atop the rushing leader board for the better part of 3 months. He finishes the season with a very nice 1,552 yards and a per carry average of 4.4 YPC. That puts him 197 yards ahead of 2 nd place, St. Louis’s Eddie Lacy, with 1,355 rushing yards. When it comes to rushing TDs, Tampa Bay’s Dalvin Cook edges Houston’s Carlos Hyde, 11 to 10.   RECEIVING Mike Evans had the lead in receiving yards for a good part of the season, but an injury cost him the final 6 weeks and that allowed others to step up. Jordy Nelson again finds himself as the league leader with 1,461 yards. It is his 2 nd  league receiving title, though almost 400 yards less than the 2017 total of 1,851 yards. For receptions, it was Ohio’s Eric Weems , the only receiver to top 3 digits, with exactly 100 receptions on the year, a far cry from the record of 152 held by Michigan’s Jeff Campbell way back in 1998. For TD receptions, look to the 2 nd place finisher in yards, New Jersey’s Odell Beckham Jr. whose penchant for 1-handed grabs made him a fantastic red zone option for QB Nick Foles. OBJ finished with 14 TDs, 2 more than second place finisher Victor Cruz (ARZ)   DEFENSIVE STATS No shock who won the sack race this year. For the 11 th  season in a row it is Calais Campbell , his first title as a Wrangler, but an amazing 11 th  in a row for the greatest edge rusher in USFL (dare we say pro football) history. His 23 sacks are amazing, even if it represents his lowest sack total since winning with 22 sacks way back in 2010. Once again he was the only player to top 20 sacks, with both Oakland’s Cliff Avril and Pittsburgh’s Shaquille Riddick finishing up at 18 apiece. As for tackles, the move from Portland to Philadelphia did not diminish Channing Crowder ’s talents. He earns his 2 nd  tackle title, leading the league with 125 this season. Crowder first won the honor back in 2014 with the Stags, and his win, paired with Kirk Morrison’s win last year, gives Philadelphia the title in back-to-back years with two different MLBs. Finally, Houston’s Leodis McKelvin , who scored a stunning 4 defensive scores this year (all pick-sixes) finishes atop the interception board with 8 picks. That means that for every 2 picks he had this year, he returned 1 for a score, a truly stunning result.   By now you likely have a good sense of the playoff situation, but, just in case it is not clear, here are the matchups as we look ahead to Wild Card Weekend:   Houston is the 1 seed at 11-5, they and the 2-seeded Tampa Bay Bandits (10-6) will have byes next week before taking the field again in the Divisional Round.   Philadelphia, coming back from their 0-5 season start, claims the 3-seed as the NE Division champions thanks to the division record tiebreaker. They will face the 6-seed, which is none other than their archrival, the New Jersey Generals. That should be a fun one, and probably a chippy one as these two teams always seem to get into it when they play.   Finally, the 4-seed goes to the 10-6 New Orleans Breakers. They get to host the 3 rd  of the NE Division teams to qualify for the playoffs, the 5 th  seeded Baltimore Blitz.   With Michigan, Arizona, and San Diego all winning this weekend, the rankings and seedings do not shift at all. Michigan wins the 1-seed at 14-2, with Arizona claiming the 2 at 13-3. Both will have the bye this week and play at home in the Divisionals.   San Diego sits with the 3-seed at 12-4, which means they will face the 6-seed, a matchup not unfamiliar to the Thunder as they take on the 8-8 Oakland Invaders. San Diego swept the series with the Invaders, with both games played in the final 5 weeks of the year, and with the Thunder dominating, winning by a combined 54-20 in the two matchups.   The other Wild Card game features the 4-seed Denver Gold hosting the 5-seed Seattle Dragons. This one could be very interesting as the two played a very competitive game in Week 10 with Denver getting the W in Seattle by a 24-17 margin.   So, 4 games this weekend, featuring 8 of the 12 playoff squads, the other 4 waiting to hit the field a week later. We will look at each game below in our breakdown of Wild Card weekend on the slate in just a few days.   Four games this weekend and a range of teams dealing with new issues, others with long IR lists, and others still who seem to be quite healthy for this late in the season. Here is the breakdown of the weekend's Wild Card matchups and the injuries that could impact each game.   BAL      QB Ben Roethlisberger (IR), OG Andy Alleman (IR), DT Barry Cofield (IR) NOR      DT Ricky-Jean Francois (IR), SS Will Harris (IR), DT Justin Ellis (IR), FS Clyde Adams (IR)   SEA         OT Terron Armstead (IR) DEN         CB Kris Boyd (IR), OT Ronnie Stanley (OUT), C Stefan Wisniewski (OUT), FS Jerron McMillian (OUT)   NJ       G Danny Isidora (OUT), LB Akeem Ayers (Q), WR Muhamed Sanu (P), TE Matt Spaeth (P) PHI         DE Anthony Hargrove (IR), WR Braxton Berrios (IR), C Corey Linsley (D)   OAK     G Logan Mankins (IR), WR Donte Moncrief (Q) SD         CB Tye Smith (OUT), SS Duke Williams (Q), DT Dexter Lawrence (Q), LB Demario Davis (Q)     Draft Order set through pick 18 In an expansion year, the draft is always a bit of an odd structure. We will see a reshuffling of the Territorial Schools once again as the league adds 2 more teams to the mix, and we will see the two expansion teams added to the Open Draft as well. The decision was made that the two expansion clubs, due to their advantages in acquiring players in both free agency (endless cap space) and through the expansion draft, would be given not the first two picks of the draft, but the 5 th  and 6 th picks. So, where is the cutoff? Here is the listing through pick 18, as all the non-playoff teams have their slots.   1-Jacksonville 2-Portland 3-Ohio 4-Atlanta 5-New England 6-San Antonio 7-Washington 8-St. Louis 9-Oklahoma 10-Dallas 11-Birmingham 12-Pittsburgh 13-Charlotte 14-Chicago 15-Los Angeles, 16-Memphis 17-Las Vegas 18-Orlando   Regular Season Final Power Rankings Here we go, the final power rankings of the season, and a preview of how we see the playoff dynamics as the top 12 teams are ranked.   1—Michigan (14-2) 4-0 down the stretch helps move Michigan up to 1 st  place as the Summer Bowl favorite.   2—Arizona (13-3) Up one as well, thanks to a 4-0 final month. A Panthers-Wranglers Conference Title Game would be epic.   3—Houston (11-5) The Gamblers went 1-3 down the stretch. Is this “Senioritis” for a club that already punched their playoff ticket or a sign of trouble?   4—San Diego (12-4) The Thunder want to be considered one of the “big boys” and will likely have their shot at Arizona soon enough.   5—Tampa Bay (10-6) The Bandits have improved on defense and can outscore almost anyone. We think they could be very dangerous, especially if Houston cannot get back in top gear after a slow June.   6—New Orleans (10-6) The Breakers won their final 4 games to finish as the top Wild Card team in the league.   7—Philadelphia (9-7) We should not underestimate the Stars. Their 9-2 run is impressive, and they won 7 of 8 divisional games in a division that placed 3 teams in the playoffs.   8—Denver (10-6) It seems Denver always plays the role of the undervalued contender. They are again in the mix, and again no one is talking about them.   9—New Jersey (9-7) Nick Foles has quietly put together a very solid season. If MJD can have a good postseason, we could see the Generals surprising some folks.   10—Seattle (9-7) After falling 1 game short last year, the Dragons are again back in the playoffs despite another weak start (1-5). Last time they were here, they pulled a road upset. Can they do it again?   11—Baltimore (9-7) Going 2-2 down the stretch is not ideal, but the Blitz are still showing that they are more than just their former starting QB. They have some tricks up their sleeves.   12—Oakland (8-8) Getting in on a tiebreaker is still getting in. But, with San Diego on their playoff dance card, this could be a short stay.   13—Las Vegas (8-8) Coach Neuheisel is building something in the desert, and in Matt McGloin he seems to have found a good hub around which to place more pieces.   14—Memphis (8-8) A disappointing drop off from the team, but especially from Paxton Lynch, whose 2019 numbers are not matching what we saw last year.   15—Orlando (8-8) The Renegades had a chance, it was in their hands, but they are just not confident in themselves yet. Give Coach Rivera another year and this could be a team to watch.   16—Chicago (8-8) Another team that was better, but not quite over the hump yet. Michigan needs to keep an eye on this club, because they are better each year than the last.   17—Los Angeles (8-8) While Express fans should be happy with a 5-game improvement from 3-13 to 8-8, the fact that the Express were 6-3 at one point and won only 2 more games in their final 7, that has left an unpleasant feeling behind.   18—Charlotte (7-8-1) The Monarchs have a lot of positive elements in their roster, but they need to figure out how to either get Mitch Trubisky to protect the ball better or how to replace him. That decision will fall on a new coach as Jim Mora Jr is out after building the team from their expansion in 2008.   19—Birmingham (7-9) Todd Haley thinks he has found something in his new offensive scheme for Cam Newton, but he needs to consider the long term viability of putting his QB at risk so frequently.   20—Pittsburgh (7-9) Another non-playoff year, and a dip back under .500 was too much for ownership. They will now look for a new head coach, and, very likely, a replacement for likely free agent departure Aaron Donald.   21—Dallas (6-10) Three more wins than in 2018, but another 10-loss season just the same. Fans in Dallas are coming out of the honeymoon phase with the club and are going to want to see a playoff-caliber team pretty soon.   22—St. Louis (6-10) Another slight improvement over the prior year (3 wins in 2017, 5 in 2018), but is slow and steady enough?   23—Oklahoma (6-10) The Outlaws will have a rough offseason ahead of them, very likely losing some of their biggest names either to retirement (Lynch?) or to the new San Antonio Gunslingers.   24—Washington (5-11) After an encouraging 9-7 record in 2018, the Feds take a step backwards. Fans are hoping they can see the Ryan Nassib from the 2018 Wranglers next year, because he was not on the field this season in Washington.   25—Atlanta (4-11-1) Coach Arians knew this was a make or break year, and, well, it broke. From 10-6 to 4 wins is not what any team wants to see, especially when you cannot point to any injuries as season-impacting.   26—Ohio (4-12) Coach Coughlin wins his final 2 games and that seems to have saved him for this year. Ohio won the division last year but looked like a shadow of that team this year. Expect 2020 to begin with Coughlin firmly planted in the hot seat.   27—Portland (4-12) The Stags are a team that can certainly point to injuries as an issue. They started 4 different QBs this year, including one they traded to get midseason. Hard to win when you don’t know who will be under center week to week.   28—Jacksonville (3-13) Coach Flores does not survive what is Jacksonville’s 9 th  straight 10+ loss season. Seven wins over two seasons will do that. So now the Bulls once again start over.     Baltimore Blitz (9-7) @ New Orleans Breakers (10-6) Saturday, July 13 @ 3pm ET Caesar’s Super Dome, New Orleans,LA Breakers -7   How do we break down this game? Well, the Vegas books seem pretty confident that a mix of solid defense (4 th in PPG allowed) and home field will be enough to give New Orleans the win. We are not so sure. The Blitz have proven to be a very resilient group, particularly after the loss of Big Ben Roethlisberger for the season with a back injury. That injury, and the very real potential that their star QB will never take the field again, has been a huge motivator for the Blitz, who have shown their own defensive mettle, and who can surprise with an offense that still has some playmakers.   OUR PICK: We like the upset here. We think Baltimore is motivated, focused, and that they match up well with the Breakers. A lot will depend on if they can get a run game started to keep the pressure off Jake Locker. If they can, then some single coverage may allow Hartline and Heyward-Bey to get favorable looks and Baltimore to crack that tough Breaker D. We say Baltimore 21-17.   Seattle Dragons (9-7) @ Denver Gold (10-6) Saturday, July 13 @ 7pm ET Sports Authority Field @ Mile High, Denver, CO Gold -5   This one is a tough one to pick. We love what Coach Hufnagel is building in Denver, and in his first full year of action Josh Allen has had some impressive moments. But this will be his first playoff game, and while Seattle has struggled every season with slow starts, they are a team that comes on strong late in the year. Coach Riley has them believing they deserve to be here, and that may extend into believing that they can win in a tough atmosphere (or lack of atmosphere) in Denver.   OUR PICK: We are again going to go with the road underdog. We like Knowshon Moreno to find gaps in Denver’s front line, and that can help Jacoby Brissett avoid pressure from Von Miller. It may well be a close game decided by a field goal, but we think that the 3-year run of late season surges from the Dragons continues in Denver.  Seattle 24-21.   New Jersey Generals (9-7) Philadelphia Stars (9-7) Sunday, July 14 @ 1pm ET Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, PA Stars -3   We love that this is a playoff matchup. We have two teams that have had to scrape and survive all season long, but also two teams that know each other so well, and honestly do not like each other. The Linc should be packed, and there will be warring factions there as well as on the field. So, what is the difference between these two? We think it all comes down to which HB will be able to do have success. Will it be human bowling ball Maurice Jones Drew? Or will “King” Henry be able to repeat his outstanding Week 16 performance?   OUR PICK: The oddsmakers give Philadelphia a slight edge because of the home field advantage. We give them a slight disadvantage because we have seen how Matt Gutierrez has struggled all season long, throwing 18 picks to only 16 TDs, and while Nick Foles had some bad games, he has been more reliable all season long, throwing for 28 TDs and only 7 picks, a really nice 4:1 ratio. We continue our streak of picking the road underdog with this one too. Our pick is New Jersey 27-25.     Oakland Invaders (8-8) @ San Diego Thunder (12-4) Sunday, July 14 @ 5pm ET Snapdragon Stadium, San Diego, CA Thunder -12   Here is where we break our streak for the underdog. We agree with the Las Vegas book that this is not a close matchup. Just the fact that Coach Kubiak is considering making a QB change for a playoff game, a wild idea, tells us that he has his doubts as well. The Oakland offense has been a major liability all season long (ranked 25 th  of 28 teams in scoring). And, yes, the Invaders can play defense, but this Thunder team just dismantled the top defense in the league, Los Angeles, in a 44-0 massacre. We just don’t think this will be close.   OUR PICK: We think this one has the potential to get ugly quickly. Perhaps Oakland’s D can keep it close for a half, but over 60 minutes San Diego’s quality will show itself. We say San Diego 31-17.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Derreck Henry has been pretty quiet all season, but not in Week 16, when he rattled off 173 yards on 22 carries and produced 2 scores to help Philadlephia take the Northeastern Division Title. After an 0-5 start that was a huge push for the Stars, and in that push, Henry slowly worked his way up the rushing stats, finishing strong and finishing the year in 4th placewith 1,226 yards on the year. PLAYOFF PICTURE: All six Wild Cards and the NE Division Champion were decided this week. With all three 8-7 teams in the Northeast winning, and with both Orlando and Memphis losing, all of the NE Teams make it in, with Philadelphia taking the division title thanks to their 7-1 record in the division. Baltimore and New Jersey enter as the 5th and 6th seeds. New Orleans locked up the 4-seed with their victory over Orlando. In the West, Denver and Seattle both won, locking in their Wild Card berths. Oakland also got a season-ending win, placing them ahead of LA in the Pacific. And, thanks to a 7-5 conference record, the Invaders get in at 8-8 with both Chicago and Las Vegas out with 6-6 conference records. So, the final seeding is now set, with the 1 and 2 seeds getting byes this week. Here are the twelve 2019 playoff seedings: EAST: 1-HOU 2-TBY 3-PHI 4-NOR 5-BAL 6-NJ WEST: 1-MGN 2-ARZ 3-SD 4-DEN 5-SEA 6-OAK

We may well be witnessing the wildest Week 16 in league history this weekend. Why? Well, because we still have 7 unclaimed playoff spots, and we have 13 teams still very much in play for those spots. Surpriing results, like Pittsburgh road win over NE Division-leading Baltimore, New Jersey’s win over Chicago, Tampa’s narrow victory over Orlando (our GOTW), and Dallas’s surprising win over LA, have meant that only 1 new playoff spot has been reserved (the Bandits winning the SE Division), and leaving all 6 Wild Card spots, as well as a newly-clogged 3-team tie atop the NE Division, in play for Week 16. As you would expect, we are going to break it all down, review all the huge Week 15 results, and tell you what all 13 teams still in the hunt have to do to get to a Week 17. We will do all that and also take a look at the 5 new head coaches this year to see how they all fared. All this, plus an expansion team lands their inaugural head coach, and a wave of potential free agents come off the market as a wave of extensions and new deals come to fruition this week. No time to waste, let’s kick this week’s recap off with our big story, how the Pittsburgh Maulers threw the entire NE Division into chaos.   Maulers Create Mayhem as 3 Tied for First in NE Division The Maulers, sitting at 5-9 after 14 weeks, will not be going to the postseason this year, but that does not mean they cannot they won’t be an influential player. Their surprising 13-7 win in Baltimore ensured that. By shutting down Josh Jacobs, Jake Locker and the Baltimore offense, the Maulers threw the NE Division into chaos and knocked Baltimore out of lone possession of first place, a positoin they had held most of the season.   The Maulers’ upset win gave both Philadelphia and New Jersey the shot they needed to take a share of 1 st  place with 1 week left in the season. With Baltimore falling to 8-7, the 7-7 Stars were able to wipe away the memory of their 0-5 start and technically take over 1 st  place on a tiebreaker. With Philadelphia’s 34-20 road win in Washington, they finished their division schedule with a 6-2 record, providing the Stars with a tiebreaker advantage over both Baltimore (5-3 in division) and New Jersey (3-5 in the NE). But, with 1 week of actoin left, all three had a shot to claim a division title that had looked to be Baltimore’s for weeks.   New Jersey knocked off Chicago impressively, 24-6, in Week 15, and now looked at another home game, though a tough one against Cam Newton and the resurgent Stallions. With the worst division record of the three teams, they need a win and for both the Blitz and the Stars to lose, but they still had a shot at the title. Baltimore faces Chicago in the season finale, hoping to finish at 9-7 and hoping the Stars fall in the finale, a combination that would allow Baltimore to reclaim the division. But, the team with the clearest path is perhaps the most surprising. After starting the year 0-5, and with serious concern that their QB, Matt Gutierrez, had turned a corner he could not return from, the Stars had won 8 of 10 games to reach 8-7, and now had only to beat Memphis in Memphis in Week 16 and the division would be theirs.   What will make Week 16 so interesting across the NE Division is that all three of the teams in contention for the title could end up being underdogs in their finales. Memphis currently is a 3-point favorite over Philadelphia, an understandable advantage considering that they will be playing the game at the Liberty Bowl, and because Memphis, also 8-7, is in their own playoff hunt. Baltimore will travel to Chicago, where the oddsmakers have set up the 8-7 Machine, again another team with their own playoff push, as 2 point home favorites, a margin that shows a lack of faith in Chicago, but still has them with a slight advantage as the home team. New Jersey is the only club playing at home from the trio of contenders, and yet, despite that, the sudden success of Todd Haley’s new QB option offense and the recent struggles for New Jersey, including losses to both Philly and Washington, has created a situatoin where New Jersey is a 1 point underdog despite playing at home.   This is all to say that the entire division, as well as some Wild Card possibilities, is coming down to the final week, and in large part because of the surprising result from Pittsburgh, a team not at all involved in the race for the division. Like Washington’s upset of New Jersey in Week 11, the Mauler win in Baltimore throws the division into a 3-way race, and all three teams could potentially make the postseaon, or alternatively, we could have only 1 representative of the division, sitting at 8-8, who still earns a home playoff game. We will know just how this turns out in 4 days, when the weekend wraps up and all 12 of the playoff spots are claimed.   ORLANDO RENEGADES 23   TAMPA BAY BANDITS 24 Another good battle in the Southeast Division as the 8-6 Orlando Renegades faced off against the 9-5 Tampa Bay Bandits. A win at home and the Bandits lock up a division title only 1 year removed from a miserable 3-13 season. A win by the visiting Renegades and they earn a share of first place and get the edge on Tampa Bay with 1 week left, leapfrogging the Bandits thanks to a 6-2 division record vs. Tampa’s 5-3 mark. So, with the stakes very high, and with both teams looking to claim their first division title in several years (Orlando 2016, Tampa Bay 2014), this one was earmarked as a potential thriller all week, and it did not disappoint.   The game started tentatively, with both defenses holding their own and forcing early punts. Between both teams we saw 5 of 6 drives end in punts from each team’s side of the field. The only outlier came after a nice nice punt return by Orlando’s Tandon Doss helped put Orlando in positoin for a short drive and a Cundiff field goal. Orlando held the 3-0 lead going into the second quarter thanks to Doss’s 36-yard punt return and Cundiff’s right leg.   But that lead would disappear quickly in the 2 nd , with Tampa Bay responding with a quick-strike drive that saw them advance from their own 17 into the endzone in only 5 plays. The first big play on the drive was A shot to Dez Bryant, who lept over the corner to bring the ball down for a 46-yard gain. 3 plays later, Prescott found TE Ryan Izzo on a seam route and 30-yards later he was in for a score. The quick strike proved that Orlando’s defense could be susceptible to the big play, something Tampa’s first 3 drives had not succeeded in showing. Following a quick 3-and-out from the improving Bandit defense, the Bandits were ready to show that big play capability once again.   On the Bandits’ 2 nd  drive of the quarter, it was again a pair of big plays that got Tampa back in the endzone. The first this time was a simple pitch to Dalvin Cook, with the Bandit tailback jukin past the first tackler, and grinding his legs on the second hit, adding an other 5 yards to his run for a total of 15 and a first down for Tampa Bay. The Bandits then hit on another long pass play, this time to slot receiver Deebo Samuel, who went 30 yards on a beautiful out and up. That play put the Bandits on the 9-yardline of Orlando, and 2 plays later Prescott had his second TD toss, this time to Bryant on a crossing pattern. The Bandits had put 14 points on the board in barely 6 minutes. Was this game about to turn ugly for Orlando?   The ’Gades,feeling the pressure to respond, circled their wagons and put their trust into their run game. They put together a 10-play drive, with 8 of those plays on the ground. Knile Davis accounted for 31 yards on 4 carries and Rashard Jennings added another 22, including the scoring play, a 9-yard run to the endzone on a classic counter tre. The 14-10 score would hold through the half, and Orlando was still in the game as both clubs headed into the locker rooms.   Orlando got the ball first in the 2 nd half and it became clear that they had opted to try to shorten the game. Their drive would take 14 plays and nearly 9 minutes before Kerrith White dove in from the 2. Russell Wilson went 5 of 7 on the drive, building towards his eventual total of 328 yards. Jennings and Davis also contributed with several strong runs against the Tampa front 7. The combo would finish the game with 108 combined yards as Orlando kept a nice balance of run and pass to keep the Bandits honest. Now up 17-14, Orlando would have to withstand Tampa’s response.   The Bandits did respond, with mid-range passes to both Ryan Grant and Dez Bryant helping to put them in range for their kicker, and when Prescott missed on a throw to TE Jordan Cameron, it was Butker who came out to level up the score. The 3 rd  quarter ended with the two teams locked at 17, and 15 minutes left to possibly decide the division title.   Orlando would reclaim the lead after a pair of offsides calls against the Bandits helped them get into range for Billy Cundiff. Russell Wilson had noted the aggressiveness of Bandit linemen and used a hard count to draw the Bandits over the line, giving Orlando two first downs on the drive. Cundiff made the long 52-yarder and once again Orlando was on top.   What happened next looked to spell doom for the Bandits. On the ensuing possession, in fact the very first play of the drive, Bandit QB Dak Prescott turned to hand the ball off to Dalvin Cook, but his right guard had stepped back too far, landing his foot on Prescott’s. The QB went down, and hopped over to the sideline in obvious pain. Backup B. J. Daniels would play the rest of the game, and while it was later determined that Prescott had suffered an injury to the big toe, and not the ankle as first imagined, it was still enough to keep him out of the rest of this pivotal game.   And so Daniels, who had a grand total of 13 pass attempts all season, would have to lead the Bandits. Fans in Raymond James Stadium were noticeably uneasy at the prospect, but Daniels’ first drive showed them that there was no need to panic. The untested backup started off slowly, with 2 consecutive handoffs to Dalvin Cook, the second a nice 9-yard run that kept the Bandits from a tough 3 rd  down. On the third play, Daniels faked the ball to Cook and found Jordan Cameron for a gain of 9. Then, 2 plays later, he located Dez Bryant for a 22-yarder. His third pass of the drive would also be to Bryant, a touchdown toss on a nice bootleg, providing the Bandits with a 24-20 lead and the fans with a bit more confidence that their untested backup was ready to play.   The Bryant TD came with 9:27 left in the game. The Bandits would now have to buckle down to avoid further Orlando scores, uncertain of their ability to win a shootout without Prescott in the game. And unlike in past years, the Bandit defense was up to the task. Orlando would have 3 short drives in the final 9 minutes of action. The first ended with a near pick as Jalen Ramsey snatched the ball away from Dwayne Bowe, but could not keep a grasp of it as he tumbled out of bounds. Orlando was forced to punt nonetheless. After Tampa Bay missed on their own 3 rd  down play, Orlando got the ball a 2 nd  time. They found quick success on a nice pass from Wilson to Hunter Renfrew, got a needed first down on a Russell Wilson scramble for 11, and then pushed the ball to the Tampa Bay 14 with a perfect throw from Wilson to a streaking Brashad Perriman. Pushed out at the 14, Orlando appeared to be ready to retake the lead, but on three consecutive plays the Bandit D stepped up. On 1 st  and 10 they forced movement on the Orlando line, creating a false start call that moved the ball back to the 19. On the next play Ramsey again forced an incompletion. 2 nd  and 15 saw Rashad Jennings gain back the 5 yards from the penalty, but on 3 rd and 10 Russell Wilson was flushed out of the pocket by DE Pernell McPhee and his pass towards Bowe was wide and high. Coach Rivera, seeing that there were well over 3 minutes left to play, opted not to go for the risky 4 th and 10, sending out Cundiff to make it a 1-point game.   Down 1 with 3:24 left, Orlando kicked the ball away. Tampa tried to use the run game to grind out a first down, but failed on a 3 rd  and 3 when LB Sean Spence blitzed into the gap and dragged HB Marion Mack down after only a 1-yard gain. The Bandits would have to punt the ball back to Orlando before the 2-minute warning. Giving Orlando 2:22, the 2-minute warning, and 1 timeout left to get into field goal range. But, even with adequate time, the Renegades hurried, perhaps a bit too much. After an initial Wilson pass went for 5 yards, the ‘Gades rushed back to the line. They did not adequately set their blocking before Wilson received the snap, and that allowed McPhee to find a gap in the pocket, slide past the RT and hit Wilson hard, sending him to the ground and recording Tampa’s only sack on the day. That play forced a 3 rd  and 9, and the Bandits tightened up their coverage to stop the drive right there. The close coverage worked, with Wilson forcing the ball to TE David Njoku well short of the first down, producing a 4 th and 4 on their own 31.   Orlando called their final timeout, trying to find the right play to call on the crucial down. That allowed Tampa’s defense to get a breather, swap out some linemen, and scope out the offensive formation. When Russell Wilson got under center, the Bandits called a time out of their own, a move which forced Orlando to change their play. We don’t know what the original call was, but the newly-called play, which had Orlando in a trips formation, proved to be ineffective, with Wilson forced out of the pocket, throwing on the run and missing Dwayne Bowe once again. Tampa Bay took the drive over, with B. J. Daniels sent out only to take a knee, and the fans celebrated as their Bandits recorded the win, clinching not only the SE Division title, but locking into the 2 nd  seed, meaning that Tampa Bay would get a bye and host a Divisional Game in 3 weeks time. For Orlando, the playoffs are still very much an option, but to secure it they would have to go back on the road in Week 16, and no easy task, they would need to head into New Orleans to face a Breakers team that also needed a win to lock up a Wild Card.   SAN DIEGO 34  OAKLAND 14 The Thunder are showing that they are in no mood to rest after clinching the Pacific Division crown. San Diego built a 21-0 halftime lead thanks to two short TD runs and a pick-six of Jimmy Garoppolo. They then kept pace with Oakland the rest of the way to take the 20-point win and stay in the hunt for a bye week, still trailing Arizona by a game, however. POTG:  Thunder CB Justin Gilbert: 6 Tck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD   PITTSBURGH 13  BALTIMORE 7 Jake Locker was sacked 6 times by an aggressive Mauler defense, and Baltimore suffered a bad loss that not only knocked them out of first place in the NE Division, but could result in them missing the playoffs entirely if they don’t get a Week 16 win. The Maulers flew around on defense, playing very much like a team with nothing to lose and a desire to spoil the fun for their opponent. POTG:  Mauler LB Brian Cushing: 8 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 FF, 1 FR   CHICAGO 6   NEW JERSEY 24 A much-needed win for New Jersey and a rough loss for Chicago as they saw Sam Bradford have to leave the game after a 5 of 5 start throwing the ball. Bradford should be back for Week 16, but this loss hurts Chicago’s chances. Meanwhile, New Jersey claims a share of 1 st place, though they will need to avoid the tiebreakers if they want the division title next week. Nick Foles connected with Odell Beckham for 131 yards and 2 scores, while also hitting Muhamed Sanu with a 3 rd  TD in the game. POTG:  Generals’ WR Odell Beckham Jr: 4 Rec, 131 Yds, 2 TD   LOS ANGELES 7   DALLAS 24 Another rough loss for a team on the cusp of a playoff berth as LA’s anemic offense again proves a major issue. Rookie Miles Gaskin got his first serious action in this game and looked good, rushing for 73 yards and a TD while splitting carries with Samaje Perine. The Dallas D found their way to Kyler Murray 5 times and produced a pick late as the Roughnecks did not play like a team eliminated from the Wild Card race, while LA, which still can win a spot with a victory next week, did not look at all ready for playoff football. POTG:  Dallas SS Dezmen Southward: 5 Tck, 2 Sck   OHIO 24  PORTLAND 10 The Glory snap their losing streak at 10 painful weeks, taking a convincing win in Portland against a Stags team that is “staggering” to the end of the year. The Glory D sacked Kyle Lauletta 4 times and held Portland to an ugly 1 of 17 on third downs. The offense got 282 yards from Christian Hackenberg, as the QB added 8 more receptions to Eric Weem’s league lead, now over 100 for the season. Rookie Terry McLaurin again looked like a keeper, catching another TD, his 6 th  since being added to the starting lineup for the Glory. POTG:  Glory DE Datone Jones: 7 Tck, 2 Sck, 1 FF   ST. LOUIS 16 MICHIGAN 21 The Panthers continue to roll on towards a possible 1-seed, led by Kirk Cousin's 3 TD tosses as they hold off the Skyhawks to claim their 13th win of the season. With the Skyhawks intent on holding down LeVeon Bell's rush total, the Panthers had to go to the air, and did so quite successfully, with Cousins going 21 of 32 for 247 and finding Cody Latimer for 2 scores, with Arizona import Antonio Bryant getting the third. St. Louis stayed in the game, largely thanks to Lamar Jackson's 2 TD tosses, but 3 picks by the Skyhawk QB also limited their ability to come back against that tough Panther D. POTG: Panther WR Cody Latimer: 5 Rec, 129 Yds, 2 TD PHILADELPHIA 34  WASHINGTON 20 The stars have now gone 8-2 since their 0-5 start, and were spurred on again by their defense, which put pressure on Ryan Nassib all game. Philadelphia now sits in 1 st  place in the NE Division after Baltimore’s loss and can control their own destiny. A win next week gives them the NE Crown, something that seemed impossible early in the season. POTG:  Much-maligned Star QB Matt Gutierrez: 21/32, 229 Yds, 2 TD, 1 Int   MEMPHIS 3   HOUSTON 20 The Gamblers seem to have found their adaptation to Mike Evans’s injury. They used an aggressive defensive package to hold Memphis to only a single field goal, while spreading the ball around on offense. JuJu Smith-Schuster stepped up with 102 yards and 2 TDs, but Houston used 6 different recievers and all 3 halfbacks to sustain offense against the Showboats. POTG:  Gambler QB Colt McCoy: 13/25, 245 Yds, 2 TD, 0 Int   CHARLOTTE 17   NEW ORLEANS 23 In the battle of the league’s two teal-clad teams, New Orleans got the W, moved to 9-6, and set themselves up for a likely Wild card berth next week. Charlotte dropped to 6-8-1 and was eliminated from the playoffs, a huge drop off from their early season success. Leonard Fournette scored 3 times and the Breaker D sacked Mitchell Trubisky 6 times, including 3 and a safety from DE Ezekiel Ansah as the Breakers get the W. POTG:  Breaker DE Ezekiel Ansah: 6 Tck, 3 Sck, 1 Sfty   ARIZONA 37  ATLANTA 20 The Fire again played tough, but Arizona wore them down and earned their 12 th  win of the season. Atlanta actually outgained the Wranglers 320-261 but lost the turnover battle 3-0, including a pick-six from Arizona CB Joe Haden, jumping a swing route from the 10 to shock Aaron Murray. Murray was picked twice, and sacked 4 times by Arizona, who also got TDs from Jimmie Graham, Victor Cruz, and KaDeem Carey. POTG:  Wrangler HB KaDeem Carey: 15 Att, 70 Yds, 1 TD   DENVER 21  JACKSONVILLE 11 The Gold avoided the trap game, moved to 9-6, and now control their own destiny, with a possible home Wild Card game on the table. Josh Allen threw for 216 and found both Philip Lindsay and Michael Crabtree for scores, while the defense held Jacksonville in check for all but 1 play, a dynamic TD run from Teddy Bridgewater that proved to be too little to give the Bulls a W. POTG:  Gold DE Justice Cole: 4 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 FF   SEATTLE 30   BIRMINGHAM 34 The Stallions snap Seattle’s win streak and stay alive, though on life support at 7-8, with a surprising win and yet another huge game from Cam Newton. The new option offense helped Newton throw for 189, rush for 140 and account for 3 touchdowns in the game. Seattle tried a bit of everything, from spies, to shell defense, but nothing seemed to work as Birmingham scored touchdowns on 4 of their first 6 drives. Despite 120 yards from Knowshon Moreno, Seattle fell short and drops to 8-7, meaning next week is essential for them. POTG:  Stallion QB Cam Newton: 19/35, 189 Yds, 1 TD, 0 Int, 12 Att, 140 Yds, 2 TD   LAS VEGAS 24   OKLAHOMA 27 The Vipers needed this one, but Oklahoma showed some pride and held them off, thanks in part to 2 TDs from WR DeDe Westbrook. The Outlaws held the Viper run game in check, and despite giving up 3 TDs to QB Matt McGloin, were within 4 in the final minutes. Joe Flacco led the Outlaws on a two-minute drill and found Westbrook with the winning score to break the Vipers’ backs in the final seconds. The loss means Las Vegas needs quite a bit of help next week if they want to play some postseason football. POTG:  Outlaw WR DeDe Westbrook: 8 Rec, 104 Yds, 2 TD   Newton Shatters Seattle Streak with Another Huge Game The Dragons new what was coming, but they just could not do anything about it. That is the takeaway from Birmingham’s 34-30 victory over Seattle, a win that kept the Stallions alive in the Wild Card hunt and hurt the Dragon’s chances to host a playoff game. The Stallion victory snapped a 6-game win streak for the Dragons and once again showed that Coach Haley’s decision to turn Cam Newton into the team’s featured ballcarrier has a huge upside.   Newton spent a good amount of time in the pocket in the game, throwing 35 passes for 189 yards and a score, but he had his moments in the option game as well, rushing the ball 12 times for 140 yards, a ridiculous 11.7 YPC average, though most of those yards came on only 2 plays, a 59-yard TD run and an even more stunning 83-yard score. And that is the key to what Birmingham is done. For all the times Newton gains 3 or 4 yards and then slides down or steps out of bounds, there is always the potential that he can bust one for a score. Seattle spied Newton for most of the game, but with either a tight end or tailback acting as a lead blocker, Newton still managed to escape his shadow on more than a few occasions, including his two huge runs. The new “Stampede” offense that Haley has implemented for his QB has proven a very tough strategy to overcome. Memphis found a way to deal with Newton last week, limiting the QB to only 16 yards, but when Seattle tried the same tactics, they just could not execute, and their failure to contain Newton on the ground directly led to Birmingham’s victory.   Ansah & Fournette Bring Breakers Back from the Brink The Breakers have won 3 in a row, improving from 6-6 to 9-6 and thrusting themselves right back into the playoff hunt. It seems that every week there are different heroes stepping up to help the team get the W. Last week, in a stunning upset of the Gamblers in Houston, it was LB Jerome Baker with 2 sacks of Colt McCoy and WR Tyler Lockett with a late TD for the W. This week it was DE Ezekiel Ansah and HB Leonard Fournette who stepped up to help New Orleans get past the Monarchs. Ansah had a huge game, recording 3 sacks, one of which was a safety that pushed the Breaker lead from 11 to 13 in the 4 th  quarter.   The other standout was HB Leonard Fournette, who scored two first half touchdowns and added a third to open the 2 nd half and put the Breakers up 18 (21-3), breaking the Monarchs’ hopes for a 2 nd half rally. Fournette’s total for the day was not huge, only 68 yards, but when the Breakers got into the red zone, the big back showed he could plow over and through defenders when the endzone was in sight.   New Orleans locks up not only a Wild Card berth with a win next week, but a home game as the 4 seed. They face a tough Orlando squad also hoping to lock in a playoff berth in what should be an intense Sunday night affair, and the question is, who will step up for the Breakers this week?   Ranking the Five First-Year Coaches after 15 Weeks With the 2019 regular season lacking only 1 week of action to be put in the books, we wanted to take a look at the season’s five new head coaches to see where each stands and how their first year at the helm has gone. Overall it has been a very good year for the new hires, ranging from rebuilding to redefining a culture. We fully expect the Coach of the Year is in this group, and more and more it seems obvious who that will be, but all 5 coaches have had their moments.   1. Mark Trestman (TBY) No doubt in this pick. It is clear that Trestman is not only the most successful of the 1 st year coaches, but that he is the frontrunner for COTY. He not only has the Bandits sitting at 10-5, a 7-game improvement over 2018, but has locked down his first division title this week. He took all the strengths of the Bandit offense and enhanced them, while also turning what was a truly horrid defense into a tolerably weak group that at least knows how to hold a lead. The Bandit D still has work to do, but they are not allowing teams to roll up and down the field, and even a few stops per game are enough when your offense is scoring the way the Bandits do.   2. Ron Rivera (ORL) Rivera’s Renegade squad has been another pleasant surprise, and while their rise from 6-10 last year to a respectable 8-7 at present is not nearly as dramatic as what happened on the Gulf Coast, many expected Rivera’s squad to suffer from the loss of Calais Campbell as both a leader and a dominant defender, and yet the Renegade defense has held up quite well, staying in the top half of the league in most defensive stats. He has helped rookie Montez Sweat step in and find his own identity on defense and his offense, led by Russell Wilson has made strides, currently sitting 6 th  in scoring and showing good balance.   3. Marvin Lewis (LA) A few weeks ago we might have had Lewis in the running for COTY. He had the Express sitting pretty at 6-3 and looking like a contender for the Pacific crown. But, since then the offensive issues have proven tough to overcome as rookie QB Kyler Murray has had some adjustment issues. That has led to a 2-4 dip that has LA in a “must win” situation in Week 16. The defense has been a revelation, and that is Lewis’s strong suit, so he clearly has made a positive impact. If he can get more help on offense next year, this Express team could be ready for a serious run.   4. Todd Haley (BIR) It took a while for Coach Haley to learn his team, and to accept the idea of an unorthodox take on offense. The delay before developing the new “Stampede” offense, as fans have started calling the Run-Pass Option that Cam Newton has run so well the past month, means that the Stallions may well be too late to snag a playoff spot, but fans have to be excited about how this new strategy could help them next year. Newton just re-signed with the club (see article below) so the new Todd Haley offensive gambit can continue into next year.   5. Bob Stoops (OKL) Coach Stoops is learning the pro game, and that can be an awkward transition. He is also dealing with a roster that could well look very different next season. His 6-9 Outlaw squad will be losing several players to the expansion San Antonio Gunslingers as part of the deal that brought the club to OK City, and even if a player like HB Marshawn Lynch does not move back to Texas, the shadow of retirement is there. The Outlaws have not been consistent on either side of the ball, but we are quite sure that Stoops, a legend at OU, will have a strong hand in redesigning the roster this year and that the team will reveal a more Stoops-like scheme in 2020.   Who Could Rest Players in Week 16? No one likes it, but teams protecting players from injury in a season’s final week has become standard procedure in pro football. Teams with nothing to play for don’t want to risk one of their star players getting hit and suffering an injury that could cost them months in recovery time. We see it with teams out of playoff contention, and with those whose playoff position is already locked in. So, who do we expect might just be sitting out this week, well, from our vantage point there are no fewer than 9 teams who could decide to rest some starters, take a look at some young players, and start thinking about what comes next. Here is our rundown of what we see happening this week.   HOUSTON (v. Oakland) The Gamblers are locked and loaded for the 1-seed in the East. That means they are already set for a bye next week, so do they really want their stars to be off the field for 2 weeks? History says yes. No one wants to risk Colt McCoy, Carlos Hyde, or JuJu Smith-Schuster, not with Mike Evans already on IR. Don’t expect to see too many of the Gamblers’ top players on the field this Sunday. Oakland gets about the easiest Houston matchup possible.   TAMPA BAY (@ Arizona) What would have been a sure-fire “Future Summer Bowl matchup” a couple of weeks ago may very well prove to be a battle of backups this week. Yes, Arizona technically could catch Michigan for the 1-seed, though that feels somewhat unlikely, but Tampa Bay is stuck in the 2-slot, and we expect we will see very little, if any action at all from Dalvin Cook, Dez Bryant, Dak Prescott. And if Arizona is resigned to a 2-seed, they could rest some starters as well.   SAN DIEGO (v. Los Angeles) By the time San Diego plays on Sunday, we will already know if they still have a shot at a 2-seed (with an Arizona loss to Tampa Bay) or if the Wranglers held off the Bandits and San Diego is locked into the 3. If they are certainly going to be hosting a playoff game as the 3-seed next week, then you can bet that a lot of their starters will see very little action against the Express. That could be huge for LA as they still need a win to get into Wild Card position.   JACKSONVILLE (v. Charlotte) Nothing for Jacksonville to play for here, but, and this could be interesting, they may well want to find a trading partner for NFL import Ryan Tannehill. With Teddy Bridgewater having a fine year with the Bulls, having Tannehill play in this game could be a way for Jacksonville to drum up some interest and possibly trade away an expensive backup QB to free up some cap space.   OHIO (@ Washington) Not that they are tanking to get the 1 st  draft pick, but why would the Glory not want to give their starters a week off (on the road) and let some of the younger players into the game to see what they have for the future. They have already fallen in love with rookie WR Terry McLaurin. Maybe there is another potential future star on the roster who just needs to get into the game. WASHINGTON (v. Ohio) Exactly what we said for Ohio is true for their opponent. It seems pretty safe to say that we will see a lot of players from deep down the depth chart suited up and on the field for the Federals. And why not? It is not like winning this game does anything at all for Washington.   ATLANTA (v. Denver) The Fire are almost certainly going to give DeShone Kizer another start. They need to decide if his mid-season issues were a sign that he just needs more development, or that he may just not have “it”, whatever “it” is. We also expect that they won’t risk Nick Chubb’s legs in this one, again, good news for their opponent, as Denver can lock up the 4-seed and guarantee themselves a home playoff game with a win in the finale.   ST. LOUIS (v. Pittsburgh) Last year it was all about testing out Lamar Jackson. This year that is not needed, and the Skyhawks would be better served to keep him, and some of their other key contributors off the field. Let the backups have a game. We expect Pittsburgh will do the same, though they might keep Jarvis Landry in the game, so he has a shot at a Top 5 finish in the receiver rankings.   OKLAHOMA (@ Michigan) A win and Michigan is the 1-seed. Will Oklahoma try to stop that, or do they just want to look at some roster depth? Our educated guess is that Lynch is out, and Flacco gives way to Mason Rudolph because the Outlaws need to know if Rudolph can take over next year if the San Antonio Gunslingers opt to pull Flacco away in their targeted draft of Oklahoma players. That seems a shrewd strategy, because if Rudolph is not ready to take over next year, that would certainly impact the Outlaws’ offseason plans.   The Bandits have punched their ticket to the dance, and they are locked in as a 2-seed, with a bye week on the schedule. That is a huge upgrade from last season’s 3-13 final record, so all kudos to Coach Trestman and the Bandits. So, with 1 week left, 5 of 12 playoff spots are claimed. How does it all shake out for Week 16?  Here is the rundown, only the facts , ma’am.   ALL LOCKED IN:  Houston & Tampa Bay Believe it or not, these two are the only clubs (aside from those already eliminated) who know exactly where they are headed in 2 weeks. Houston has the 1-seed all set in the East, and Tampa Bay secured the 2-seed this week, so both can rest easy and get ready for that sweet bye-week.   ALL ABOUT THE SEEDING:  Michigan, Arizona, San Diego. It is something of a chain reaction in the West. If Michigan wins, they have the 1-seed. If they lose, Arizona has a shot by beating Tampa Bay this week, though they would need to make sure that they have the margin of victory tiebreaker in hand, and that could be tough. But, if Arizona loses to the Bandits, well, then San Diego can jump from the 3 to the 2, and that gives them the bye. All three are locked in as division champs, but the prospect of home field advantage or a bye week could motivate all three to put in some effort this week.   CAN SECURE A HOME PLAYOFF GAME WITH A WIN:  Philadelphia, New Orleans, Denver. None of these three are locked into a playoff berth yet, and a loss could knock any one of them out (with the right combination of other results),but, on the positive side, all three can not only lock in a playoff berth, but a home playoff game as either the 3 seed (Philadelphia) or the 4 (New Orleans and Denver) with a win this weekend. That is huge for all three, so expect them to come out swinging. CONTROL THEIR DESTINY:  Baltimore, Orlando, Seattle, Los Angeles A win and they are in the postseason, with seeding a possible mess of variables. But, at the very least they can ignore the scoreboard and focus on getting the job done. With any luck, Baltimore could even be a 3-seed and get a home game. Seattle could possibly land the 4 seed if Denver falls, so there is some mobility there, but only if they win, because a loss could see them playing golf next weekend.   NEED HELP:  New Jersey, Memphis, Birmingham, Chicago, Oakland, Las Vegas None of these teams can get into the playoffs if the clubs in the two categories we just laid out all get wins. That is as basic as we can put it. New Jersey and Chicago have the best shot; they just need one of the other 8-7 teams to drop their finale and then they have a chance. The others need some pretty complicated combinations of results to move up the list and sneak into the 6 slot. They have hope, but there will be a lot of scoreboard watching for fans of these teams.   It is so rough when a player gets injured right as the season is either winding down or ramping up for the postseason, and that is exactly what we got this week with 5 more players added to the IR. For most, it means a fall focused on either surgery rehab or PT. For at least one, Philadelphia’s Anthony Hargrove, it could mean missing out on a playoff run, which no player wants to watch from home, especially after putting in over 4 months of camp, training, and grinding regular season action. OUT LB           Brian Orakpo                PIT         Broken Leg         IR OG         Keleche Osamele          STL         ACL                        IR FS           Jamal Adams                DAL       Ankle                       IR OG         Andy Alleman                  WSH     ACL                       IR DE          Anthony Hargrove          PHI        Torn Quad                IR HB         James Wilder Jr              LV           Knee                        1-2 Weeks   DOUBTFUL WR         Keenan Allen               WSH     Back CB          Brandon Boykin               WSH     Neck DE          Ifeadi Odenigbo            CHI        Hamstring WR         Keke Coutee                  HOU     Concussion   QUESTIONABLE OG         Mitch Petrus                  OHI       Ankle SS           Duke Williams                 SD          Eye OG         Michael Jordan                ATL         Toe    Newton Leads Tsunami of Deals With the end of the regular season only a few days away, teams and agents have gotten serious about extending contracts or creating new deals to keep core players in the final days of their current deals in house. The flurry of announced deals this week included several potential All-USFL candidates, and ended the question of whether or not the Birmingham Stallions would move on from QB Cam Newton, removing one of the bigger name quarterbacks from the potential free agent pool this offseason.   Cam Newton and the Stallions agreed to a new 3-year deal that would increase Newton’s current deal by roughly $2M per season while ensuring that Todd Haley’s new offensive scheme will have a chance to play out over a full season. And while Newton was perhaps the biggest name among the players inked this week, he was at the helm of a pretty large pool of talent that will no longer be available to teams when the 2019-2020 free agent market opens 4 days after the conclusion of the season at Summer Bowl 2019. And for those hoping their team might find a new option at QB this offseason, there is still a pretty sizeable pool, though perhaps not one filled with “franchise” players, as their rarely is. Still unsigned for next year we have Seattle’s Jacoby Brissett, San Diego’s Joe Webb, Philadelphia’s Matt Gutierrez, Tim Tebow in Orlando, Charlotte’s Tyler Thigpen, and Birmingham backup E. J. Manuel.   Beyond the QB group, other names of note who were extended or who signed onto a new deal with their current team include several star cornerbacks, including Chicago’s Josh Norman, Tampa’s Jalen Ramsey, and current INT leader, Houston’s Leodis McKelvin. Linebackers Bobby Wagner and Luke Kuechley both added 3 years to their current deals with Oakland and Atlanta respectively. Charlotte and St. Louis both locked in a key piece on their O-lines, with center Mike Pouncey and LT Brian Bulaga both signing new deals. And while there was not a huge wave of "skill” player signings, three of note include Arizona HB KaDeem Carey, and WRs Cody Latimer in Michigan and Alshon Jeffery in Portland.   New England Taps Former Cannon Coach John Fox A week before Black Monday and one coaching position is off the board and one candidate no longer available. The expansion New England Steamrollers have found their man in former Boston Cannon head coach John Fox. Fox is, of course, familiar to fans in the region after helming the Cannons during their relocation from Atlanta, their rise in the NE Division and their 2009 Summer Bowl title run. Fox stayed with the club stayed with the club through 2012, when he was let go following a 2 year run that saw Boston win only 4 games in total. He would then go on to lead the Orlando Renegades from 2013 through last season, hired almost immediately after Boston cut him loose. In Orlando, Fox had an overall record of 47-49, taking the Renegades to the playoffs in 2015 and 2016 as a Wild Card, but was never able to get over the hump and win the division.   Despite the rough end of his tenure with Boston, Fox is still seen as a strong team builder, and is still celebrated for the 2009 USFL title, Boston’s lone title in either the NFL or USFL in more than 60 years of professional football in the city. He comes to the Steamrollers once again to build a franchise, much as he did when he took over a flailing Atlanta Fire on the verge of relocation. This time, the veteran coach of 17 USFL seasons will have to start from scratch, without a single player already signed to the franchise he and his GM will have a wide open field from which to build a roster, primarily through September’s Expansion Draft, along with free agency, potential NFL signings, and January’s Territorial and Open Collegiate Draft. It is assumed that with the restructuring of the T-Draft pool, New England will have Boston College among its protected schools, though the other two options may well be from outside the region due to the lack of power schools in the Northeast.   San Antonio Eyeing Offensive-minded HC With the announcement that the Steamrollers have hired their inaugural head coach, all eyes now turn to San Antonio to see if the other 2020 expansion team will also quickly jump on a candidate. The Gunslingers have not made a lot of news on the coaching front, focusing first on the personnel team as well as other franchise business functions, but what is known is that team CEO Red McCombs is looking to bring in a coach with offensive expertise. That is a pretty broad qualification, so it is not known if McCombs is focusing on coaches with prior Head Coach experience or potentially one of the prominent Offensive Coordinators from across the USFL. What is expected is that the first coach of the Gunslingers will have USFL experience and may come from the active coaching ranks of the league, because at this time of the calendar year, few NFL options exist. While we often see both USFL players and coaches leave for the NFL in the September window, it is not until the second USFL-NFL Transfer Window in February where we see much movement from the fall league to the USFL.   Early feelers seem to point to a current OC position, and for that the Gunslingers will have several strong options just by looking at the top of the offensive stat categories. While Tampa Bay’s offensive explosion is impressive, most believe it is HC Mark Trestman pulling those strings, so snagging their OC (more of an offensive assistant) seems unlikely, but that is not the case with teams like Arizona, Michigan, Houston, or San Diego, all of whom have OCs who could be of interest to the Gunslingers. McCombs could also be looking at offensive-minded head coaches who recently were “relieved” of their positions, names like former Portland HC Pep Hamilton, former Atlanta HC Tom Ramsey, or even former Outlaws Head Coach Greg Landry, though we expect that Landry’s inability to get the Texas Outlaws, San Antonio’s prior club, to a league title in his 9-year tenure likely does not make him a popular choice among the current candidates.     Expect the Gunslingers to wait just a bit longer, hoping to speak with coaches currently occupied by the 2019 USFL season and postseason, but to make a decision quickly after the conclusion of the Summer Bowl if not sooner. With Free Agency starting up only days after Summer Bowl 2019, there is no time to lose as the Gunslingers start to build their franchise.   Here is your Week 16 lineup of games. As always, the USFL has flexed several games, removed the Friday night lineup, and shifted around the schedule to align as many games with competing playoff implications to the same timeslot as they can. Problem is, with so many teams in play, and so many playoff spots up for grabs, there is no way to put everyone who is competing for a slot in the same time as everyone else. So, for example, Arizona will play at the same time as Michigan, which could impact the 1-seed in the West, but San Diego plays the next day, and they will already know if they have a shot at the 2-seed (if Arizona loses) or if they can rest players and sit back with the 3 locked up. That same situation is up and down the schedule as we just have too many teams vying for Wild Cards to have them all in simultaneous action. The one game that could be a true Play-In game is the Orlando-New Orleans matchup, which is why it was saved until Sunday Night. Now, it is also possible that by the time they both play they could both be in the Wild Card round, but even if that happens, the question of the 4-seed (a home game) could still be on the table. So, that one game is a bit of a stand-alone game, while for many other teams there will be one eye on the field and one on the scoreboard.   SAT. @ NOON       Pittsburgh (6-9) @ St. Louis (6-9)                     ABC Regional                               No playoff Implications   SAT. @ NOON   Charlotte (6-8-1) @ Jacksonville (3-12)           ABC Regional                                  No playoff implications   SAT. @ NOON        Denver (9-6) @ Atlanta (4-10-1)                      FOX                                  Denver clinches 4 th  Seed in West with win.   SAT @ 4PM            Las Vegas (7-8) @ Dallas (6-9)                        NBC                        Vipers require a win + losses by LA, Chicago, and Oakland for a Wild Card.   SAT @ 4PM          Tampa Bay @ Arizona                                      ABC                                  Bandits are locked into 2-seed in East                                  Arizona could earn 1-seed in West with win + MGN Loss                                  SAT @ 4PM            Oklahoma (6-9) @ Michigan (13-2)                 FOX                          No playoff implications. Michigan is locked into 1-seed in East.               SAT @ 8PM           Baltimore (8-7) @ Chicago (8-7)                     ESPN/EFN                               Baltimore earn Wild Card with win, Win division with win + PHI Loss                                 Chicago earn Wild Card with Win + loss by LA or SEA    SUN @ NOON      Birmingham (7-8) @ New Jersey (8-7)              NBC                                 Generals earn Wild Card with win + 2 losses between BAL, ORL, MEM.                              Stallions require win + combination of losses (3% chance) for Wild Card   SUN @ NOON      Philadelphia (8-7) @ Memphis (8-7)                 ABC                                  Stars win NE Division with win.                 Memphis wins Wild Card berth with win + BAL or ORL loss.                                                                                                      SUN @ NOON        Ohio (3-12) @ Washington (5-10)                    FOX                                 No Playoff Implications   SUN @ 4PM          Los Angeles (8-7) @ San Diego (11-4)           ABC                                  Express earn Wild Card with win.                                  San Diego can earn 2-seed with win + large loss by ARZ.   SUN @ 4PM            Seattle (8-7) @ Portland (4-11)                       FOX Regional                                  Dragons earn Wild Card with win.   SUN @ 4PM            Oakland (7-8) @ Houston (11-4)                    FOX Regional                           Oakland earn Wild Card with win and 2 losses between SEA/LA/CHI.   SUN @ 8PM            Orlando (8-7) @ New Orleans (9-6)               ESPN/EFN                                  Renegades earn 4-seed with win + BAL loss                                 Breakers earn 4-seed with win

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: No doubt who earned POTW this week, with Cam Newton once again thriving in Toddy Haley's Run-Pass-Option offense. Newton completed 19 of 35 passing, throwing for 185 and a TD, but once again it was the QB Run that proved deadly as Newton amassed 140 yards and 2 scores against a Seattle defense that knew it was coming but could not stop it. PLAYOFF PICTURE: We are 15 weeks in and only 5 of 12 playoff spots are set. Tampa Bay locked up the SE Division with this week's win over Orlando, but that is the only official change. We did see Philadlephia take over the NE Division and they now control their own destiny with 1 week left to play. Similarly, Denver, Seattle, LA, New Orleans, Baltimore, and Orlando all have their playoff future in their hands, while New Jersey, Memphis, Birmingham, Chicago, Oakland, and Las Vegas need some help to make the postseason.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: The Wranglers did not expect Oklahoma to put up much fight this week, but they had Arizona on the ropes. Fortunately the Wranglers had Nate Allen playing his best game of the year. Allen picked off Joe Flacco 3 times, including an absolutely essential pick-six from 34 yards out in the 4th quarter to help the Wranglers avoid the trap game loss. PLAYOFF PICTURE: Week 14 and we were unable to add any more teams to the playoff pool. The cluster of 8 and 7 win clubs is keeping the playoff hunt going deep into the seaosn's final weeks. We did have several teams disqualified, including Oklahoma, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Atlanta. That means that we have 8 playoff spots left and we still have 16 teams in the mix. That should change after Week 15, but will we still see most spots left open until the season's final week? That is a rare occurence, but feels possible this year.

Some close calls this week, with Oklahoma giving Arizona a scare (both on the scoreboard and with Calais Campbell taken out of the game). Jacksonville nearly got a major upset in Las Vegas, Portland caused some issues for Oakland, and Atlanta came close to a major upset at home vs. Tampa Bay. But, by week’s end we saw only 2 significant upsets, with Seattle adding another win to their streak by taking care of San Diego and New Orleans getting the win they needed on the road against a Houston team that seems to be struggling to compensate for Mike Evans’s injury. We will recap these games and more as we review the 14 th  week of USFL action. We will also take a look at some possible names atop the wish lists of teams looking for a change at Head Coach, bring you news of a big name player who is declaring now that he wants to test the free agent waters, and some odd news from another big defensive star as a rare request to cancel a retirement has been sent to the league. All this, plus big news from St. Louis and a preview of all the Week 15 action ahead of us.   Five USFL Coordinators Who Could Get a Shot in 2020 With two expansion teams already looking to fill their front offices and with Black Monday only 2 weeks away, the time is now for several top tier USFL coordinators to get their shot at the big chair. We spoke with 15 GMs from across the league and asked them who they thought the hottest USFL coordinators would be, coaches who are finding great success and who are ready to take the next step and take the reins of a club. Of course, both the expansion clubs in New England and San Antonio are free to interview any range of coaches, from college coaches to former head coaches from both the USFL and NFL. We have also seen some teams wait until January to lock in a coach from the fall league, but the most common path is the Coordinator to Head Coach route. So, who did GM’s across the league cite? Well, 5 names came up time and again as coaches ready to take the leap this offseason.   Orlando Renegades DC Winston Moss When Ron Rivera agreed to take on the Renegades job last offseason, one of his requirements for the position was that not only would Orlando retain the services of their LB coach, former USFL star Winston Moss, but that he would be promoted to the OC position. Moss, a 15-year veteran of the Renegades, Feds, and Bandits, came on as a position assistant, working with the Renegades LBs back in 2012, when John Fox took over as Head Coach. He took over as the LB Coach in 2014, and under Rivera this year, he took over the defensive play calling. In a year when most expected a major letdown after the trade of Calais Campbell, not only did Moss produce a Top 10 defense, allowing only 17.9 points per game, but he helped rookie Montez Sweat step in and find instant success, racking up 14 sacks in his first 14 games. Moss plays an aggressive style of defense that is sure to attract some interest. The only question is what a team can expect on offense if they go with the former linebacker as their main man.   Arizona Wranglers OC Chuck Long Understanding offensive schemes is what Chuck Long does best. Many thought he would move on when both Frank Gore and Larry Fitzgerald retired last year, but he stuck with Coach Tomsula, and what the Wranglers are doing this year is proof that Long has had a huge role in their success, not just the talent on offense, but the talent in the Coach’s box as well. Long’s offense has barely missed a step with KaDeem Carey and Isaiah Crowell in the backfield and Victor Cruz and DeMarcus Robinson stepping in for Fitzgerald and Antonio Bryant. The Wranglers currently sit in 2 nd  position in both yards per game and scoring, a testament to Coach Long’s system, a system pretty much every team in the league would love to have in place.   LA Express DC Vance Joseph Yes, it has not even been one full year for Joseph in LA, but when you put together the top-rated defense in the league, with a roster that most view as not one of the league’s strongest, you are going to get a lot of attention. And it is not as if Joseph has not had enough time to build up a reputation. He began as a grad assistant at Colorado, his alma mater, after a brief NFL career (3 years). From there he moved on to be a DB position coach for the Buffs, at Bowling Green, and then for the NFL 49ers. He held that same position with the Bengals as well, which parlayed into a position with Coach Lewis during his final 2 years in Seattle. When Coach Lewis built a staff for the new gig in LA, Vance Joseph (at the time working in the NFL again) jumped at the chance to be the DC for the rebuilding Express. His work in that role this year has not gone unnoticed and both his players (in the NFL and USFL) say he is born to be a head coach some day. Is that day coming this year?   Tampa Bay Bandits OC Jaime Elizondo Mark Trestman drew most of his coaching staff for the Bandits from the USFL and NFL ranks, but one coach he brought with him from the CFL was his OC. Coach Elizondo had never coached in either of the major U.S. leagues before, making a name for himself as a position coach and OC for various CFL clubs. Trestman brought his style of multiple-motion, pass-first offense from the Canadian league and, well, the proof is in the pudding, the Bandits are perhaps the most explosive, hard to scheme offense in the league. You know that other teams are watching as Tampa Bay rockets up the standings in Trestman’s first year, and that they will give serious attention to Elizondo’s role in that immediate success.   Denver Gold DC Orlondo Steinauer Another former CFL coach, Orlondo Steinauer came with Coach Hufnagel when Denver plucked him away from the Stampeders. What was interesting about the move was that Steinauer had not been with Calgary, he was the DC at Hamilton at the time, but Coach Hufnagel had been dealing with Steinauer’s defense as a CFL coach and he respected and liked the Tiger-Cat DC, so he asked him if he wanted to return to the US, and Steinauer jumped at the chance. Since coming to Denver with Hufnagel, Steinauer’s defenses have been highlighted by an aggressive pash rush, led by the duo of Von Miller and Justice Cole, and use of the DB’s in run coverage as well as bump & run man-up pass coverage. Just take a look at the current Gold stats and you will find starting cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie and Artie Burns right there with the LBs atop the list of the team’s top tacklers. With Denver the 2 nd  best team in the league in points allowed, and giving up only 80.8 YPG in the ground game, Coach Steinauer is getting a lot of attention for his player-friendly, simple but effective schemes.   Those five coordinators will be on several teams’ short lists. They likely won’t be alone, as there are sure to be some established Head Coaches looking for work, but we would not be surprised at all if 2, 3, maybe even 4 of the men from this list are sitting in the big office for a USFL team by January.   TAMPA BAY BANDITS 30  ATLANTA FIRE 27 We had a good one in the Southeast this weekend, and a bit of a surprise challenge for the Tampa Bay Bandits as 4-8-1 Atlanta put up a major fight before going down to their 9 th  defeat. The Bandits have been one of the revelations of the 2019 season, led by an offense that lives on the big play and the quick strike. Atlanta has shown a tendency to give up the run more than the big pass play, so perhaps we should have expected them to give Tampa Bay a game, but we did not think it would be quite as daunting as it turned out to be.   The Bandits, recognizing Atlanta’s major issues in run defense, did adjust their gameplan to take advantage of the issue, with Dak Prescott only throwing 20 passes in the game while Dalvin Cook carried the ball 16 times and David Wilson 6 more. The strategy was effective, with Cook gaining 131 yards with his 16 touches, an average of 8.2 YPC, which will win you most games. Cook got cooking right away, busting off a 14-yarder on the opening drive, a drive which led to Prescott finding his favorite receiver, Dez Bryant, for an 8-yard TD strike to open scoring in the game.   Atlanta responded only 1 minute later when the Fire, taking advantage of Tampa Bay’s biggest defensive weakness, deep ball coverage, got a quick strike score on the board. Aaron Murray found Roy Williams for a 38-yard post-pattern that left the Bandit safety out of position and equalized the score at 7. This battle, with both teams playing to the weakness of the opposing defense, would be the theme of the day.   The Bandits, wanting to make a statement early and hopefully discourage Atlanta from putting up a major fight, decided to take their chances on a big play and on their next drive Dak Prescott unleashed a deep out, trying to hit Prescott again, but the Fire were ready for it. With CB Darius Slay taking the underneath position, Prescott tried to loft the ball over the top, but FS Earl Thomas was zoned in, snatched the ball out of the air right in front of Bryant, and proceeded to run, and high step, his way into the endzone to put Atlanta up and stun the Bandit faithful who made the drive to Atlanta.   The pick-six was the second TD in the first 2 minutes of the quarter, but it would hardly be the last. We would see another 17 points scored in the period as Tampa Bay responded well with a long drive and a Dalvin Cook TD. Atlanta would reply again, this time with Murray finding Kelvin Benjamin on a nicely executed rub route, freed up by a “rub” (or was it a pick?) from Williams. With time running out, Tampa Bay worked their way into field goal range and put up 3 as the clock ticked down to zero, leaving Atlanta with a surprising, but narrow, 21-17 advantage at the half.   The game calmed down a bit in the 2 nd half, with both quarters producing 10 points apiece, but it remained a back-and-forth affair throughout. On their first possession of the 2 nd  half, Tampa stuck with the run and Dalvin Cook added a 2 nd  TD to give the Bandits the lead at 24-21. But by the end of the quarter, Atlanta had equalized the score on a 30-yard John Bounds TD. They could have taken the lead, but a holding call brought back what appeared to be a 3 rd  Murray TD toss, a nice fade route to Benjamin. As the 4 th  quarter started, the game was knotted at 24 and it seemed clear that either team could come away with the W.   Both teams failed to put up points on their first drives of the fourth, Atlanta’s Nick Chubb getting caught in the backfield by Bandit LB DeMeco Ryans on a 3 rd  and 2 and Prescott failing to connect with Ryan Grant on a 3 rd  and 7, forcing a punt back to the Fire once again. On their 2 nd  drive, Atlanta got some help, with a 3 rd  and 14 turned into an automatic first down when Bandit CB Jalen Ramsey was called for defensive holding on Williams. That call helped Atlanta get in range for John Bounds, who once again gave the underdog Fire the lead at 27-24. But, with over 6 minutes left to play, it was clear this game was far from over.   The Bandits took over on their 20 after a touchback and right away they found a money ball, with Ryan Grant snagging a slant route on 1 st  and 10, eluding the first tackler and going 52 yards into Fire territory. But, the success of the drive was to be short-lived. Another killer penalty forced Tampa Bay into a 3 rd  and 18 and pushed them out of field goal range. Hesitantly they punted the ball back to Atlanta, pinning them at their own 5. The Fire tried to run out of the shadow of their endzone, but DeMeco Ryans and Dont’a Hightower were all over the run on both first and second down, leaving the Fire with a tough 3 rd  and 8 form their own 7. Atlanta tried a screen to get the yards they needed, but HB Boston Scott was stopped a yard short and the Fire had no choice but to punt the ball away with 2:02 left on the clock.   Two minutes left, with 2 timeouts is not what the Fire wanted to give Tampa Bay. They also had to decide if they were going to go into a shell, hoping to slow down the Bandits but allow them enough room to get into field goal range for a tying score, or to play a more pressure defense, hoping to force mistakes or push the Bandits into a tough third and long before getting in range for Harrison Butker. Coach Arians and the Fire chose the latter, blitzing either LB Luke Kuechley or safety Baccari Rambo on every play of the Bandit drive. The strategy proved to be a flawed one. Prescott dealt with the pressure well, completing 4 of 7 on the drive, including a key 3 rd and 3 play that went for 14 when Prescott found TE Larry Izzo over the middle while racing away from pressure.   Atlanta not only did not get the 3 rd and impossible they were hoping for, but their use of man coverage and pressure gave space to the Bandit receivers. When Ryan Grant turned a 10-yard out into a 26-yard play, it placed the Bandits not only inside Butker’s range, but gave Prescott 19 seconds to try some shots into the endzone before bringing out the kicker. The Bandit offense would not need all 19 seconds, connecting on the first play from inside the redzone. Prescott rolled to his right, all but eliminating the pressure from the blitzing Luke Kuechley. He paused, pumped, and then found Dez Bryant for an endline catch that had the receiver touch his knee to the turf before rolling out of bounds. With 11 seconds left, Tampa Bay had finally overcome the Fire, and with that final drive had earned their 10 th win of the year, 7 more than in all of 2018. While they were not officially ensured a playoff spot yet, the odds were certainly in their favor with only 2 weeks to go. Bandit Ball was in full effect and a happy crew of Bandits headed back to Tampa Bay to prepare for what they hoped would be a division-clinching Florida Derby game against Orlando.   BIRMINGHAM 3  MEMPHIS 20 The Memphis Showboats were prepared for the new Cam-centric offense of the archrival Stallions. Todd Haley stuck with the plan, hoping to get a break out play, but in the end Newton rushed 16 times for exactly 16 yards, a pale shadow of the success they had against Houston last week. Memphis, on the other hand, balanced their run game (Gurley & Hester) with a short passing game from Paxton Lynch. That proved more successful as Lynch hit Devin Funchess for a big 3 rd  quarter TD, and HB David Williams put the game away with a 1-yard plunge in the 4 th . POTG:  Showboat WR Devin Funchess: 3 Rec, 85 Yds, 1 TD   SAN DIEGO 16   SEATTLE 24 It looks like the time has come to say that Seattle is for real. They were outgained 417-232 by the Thunder, but forced 2 turnovers and held San Diego to only 3 points in the second half. Trailing 16-7 early in the 3 rd , Seattle turned up the heat and scored the game’s final 17 points, with Wendell Smallwood putting them up for good with a 12-yard TD run with 2:24 left to play. POTG:  Seattle CB Desmond Truffant, 5 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 Int   NEW JERSEY 28  PITTSBURGH 17 Nick Foles survived 7 sacks to go 10 of 17 for 264 yards with 3 TDs as the Generals pulled away in the 2 nd  half thanks to scores from TE John Carlson and WR Odell Beckham Jr. Maurice Jones-Drew added 93 yards rushing and 2 scores, one each from the ground and the air. The loss officially eliminates Pittsburgh from playoff contention and puts Vic Fangio’s tenure in question. POTG:  Generals’ LB Matt Milano: 5 Tck, 2 PDef, 1 Int   DENVER 24  ST. LOUIS 7 Josh Allen goes 15 for 21 and throws 3 TDs while the Denver defense holds St. Louis to 257 total yards and only 39 on the ground. Eddie Lacy only gained 40 against a stacked front 7, while Phillip Lindsay and DeMarco Murray combined for 170 on the day. The highlight for St. Louis was LB Roquon Smith, who had 11 tackles, and a sack in the game. POTG:  Gold QB Josh Allen: 15/21, 197 Yds, 3 TD, 0 Int   NEW ORLEANS 20   HOUSTON 13 Don’t blame the absence of Mike Evans for this Gambler loss, because Colt McCoy still threw for 313 yards and JuJu Smith-Schuster stepped up with 140 yards, but Houston could not turn those yards into points as the Breaker D tightened every time they got into the red zone. McCoy did throw 3 picks, so perhaps there was a bit of an Evans factor, but, more importantly, Geno Smith avoided the turnover, throwing for 193 yards and 2 scores. POTG:  Breaker LB Tim Williams: 10 Tck, 1 PDef, 1 Int   OAKLAND 23  PORTLAND 17 Oakland struggled to get past the Stags, as Portland HB Doug Martin kept them in the game with his 144 yards rushing, but in the end the Invaders pulled to a 23-10 lead before letting up a late score. Jimmy Garoppolo was picked off twice, but led Oakland to 4 scoring drives in the 2 nd  half. Christian McCaffrey got the eventual game-winner, a 13-yard run with 12:38 left to play. POTG:  Invader DE Cliff Avril: 8 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 FF   OHIO 10   CHICAGO 34 This one got ugly quickly, with 4 first half TDs giving the Machine a 28-3 lead at the break. They got contributions from everyone, but it was Sam Bradford’s 3 TDs and 17 of 20 passing that lead the way for the Machine. Christian Hackenberg had himself a rough game, picked twice and sacked 5 times as he just could not generate offense for the Glory. They finished the day with a paltry 27 yards rushing, more than 100 yards fewer than the Machine. POTG:  Machine QB Sam Bradford: 17/20, 254 Yds, 3 TD, 0 Int   OKLAHOMA 21   ARIZONA 24 The Outlaws put some pressure on their SW Division rivals, with a 14-14 tie extending into the 4 th  quarter before Arizona got the narrow win, thanks primarily to our Player of the Week, FS Nate Allen’s 3 interceptions, including the game winning score, a 36-yard pick six early in the 4 th . Oklahoma had a shot late, but a sack on 3 rd and 11 put them outside of range for Kai Forbath to kick a game-tying field goal. They ended up going for it on 4 th  and 19 and did not connect. POTG:  Arizona FS Nate Allen: 2 Tck, 3 PDef, 3 Int, 1 Def TD   BALTIMORE 17   MICHIGAN 29 It was an unsung hero for the Panthers that helped them put away the Blitz. Tight end Martellus Bennett had himself a day, turning 4 catches into 134 yards, including a 68-yard catch and run in the 4 th quarter that put the game away for the Panthers. The Michigan D was huge all game, sacking Jake Locker 5 times, picking him off twice, and keeping Baltimore to only 3 points in the first half. POTG:  Michigan TE Martellus Bennett: 4 Rec, 134 Yds, 1 TD   WASHINGTON 21  ORLANDO 15 With 16 unanswered points (a safety and 4 field goals) in the 2 nd  half, Washington turne da 15-7 deficit into a surprising 21-15 win in Orlando. The Renegades led in most stats, including a 35-25 advantage in time of possession, and a 324-210 yardage advantage, but Washington just would not go away. They got field goals on 4 consecutive possessions between the 3 rd  and 4 th  quarters to turn defeat into victory. POTG:  Washington kicker Adam Vinatieri: 4 of 4 on field goals in the 2 nd  half, including two 46-yarders and a 48-yarder.   DALLAS 13   PHILADELPHIA 27 Derrick Henry had himself only his 2 nd 100-yard game of the season as Philadelphia used old-fashioned smashmouth football to roll past the visiting Roughnecks. Philly outgained Dallas 158-80 on the ground and got 3 rushing TDs, including 2 from Henry. The win improves Philadelphia to 7-7 and keeps them alive in a crowded Wild Card race. POTG:  Stars’ HB Derrick Henry: 20 Att, 101 Yds, 2 TD   JACKSONVILLE 19   LAS VEGAS 24 The Vipers got a big game from HB Montario Hardesty (127 Yds, 1 TD) and two McGloin TDs in the 3 rd  quarter to take the win at home and remain alive at 7-7. Jacksonville got 305 yards from Teddy Bridgewater, who completed 34 of 44, but could not get the late score they needed in the final minutes. POTG:  Viper HB Montario Hardesty: 13 Att, 127 Yds, 1 TD   LOS ANGELES 19  CHARLOTTE 3 In a game that saw only 1 TD, it seems fitting that it came from LA cornerback Stephon Gilmore, returning a Trubisky pick for 44 yards and a score in the 4 th quarter. The rest of the game was an exercise in offensive futility as both teams struggled to put together drives. Reggie Bush, with 115 yards on 24 carries, did enough to get Dan Bailey in range for 4 field goals, while Charlotte only crossed the 50 twice in the entire game, with one of those ending with a blown 4 th  down call. POTG:  Express CB Stephon Gilmore: 3 Tck, 2 PDef, 1 Int, 1 Def TD   Reception Leaders All on Struggling Squads Some may have noticed that our stats page always lists the Receiving stats based on yardage, not receptions. That differs from the way the NFL reports their receiving leaders, but it is conscious decision as history has shown us that USFL receivers tend to cluster in one of two categories, possession guys who rack up catches but often lag in big impact plays or in receiving touchdowns. The second group are the home-run hitters, the 1,400-1,700 yard receivers, some averaging well over 20 yards per catch. In the USFL’s rich history as a pass-first, vertical stretch league, it is the deep ball receivers who get the accolades, make the game-changing plays, and tend to rack up the awards.   If you believe that is unfair, this season shows you very clearly the dichotomy between high-reception guys and high-yardage guys. When you look at the Top 5 among USFL receivers for yardage, you see players on winning teams: Dez Bryant in Tampa Bay, Jordy Nelson in New Orleans, Brashad Perriman in Orlando, and both Mike Evans and JuJu Smith-Schuster for Houston. But when you take a look at the league leaders in receptions, well, the team results are not quite as impressive.   Currently leading the league in both targets and receptions is Ohio’s Eric Weems, with 92 receptions for 1,061 yards but only 1 touchdown. I think we can all agree that while Weems is certainly a talented receiver, his 92 catches have not helped Ohio win many games this year. In 2 nd  position is Mike Williams of Jacksonville with 85 receptions, again for a team at the bottom of the standings, though we should acknowledge that Williams has managed to snag 5 TDs this season, significantly better than Weems. Third is held by Oklahoma’s DeDe Westbrook, with 84 receptions. Westbrook also surpasses 1,000 yards, currently at 1,014, and his 7 TDs are more than solid, and yet, Oklahoma also finds themselves out of contention for the playoffs this year. So, what is the takeaway? Well, the immediate response to the stats, and this year is not at all an anomaly, is that while the reliability of a solid possession receiver can be helpful, it is the big play, the deep ball, and the quick strike that often produces wins and helps teams break down USFL defenses.                   Aaron Donald to Test Free Agency Waters After Disappointing Mauler Season While it is still unknown whether Head Coach Vic Fangio will be back with the Maulers for 2020, one big name in Purple & Orange who we now know will not be returning is defensive tackle Aaron Donald. The big man, without a doubt one of the best defenders on the team, is looking to move on, get himself not only a payday but a shot at a title, something that seems unlikely for the Maulers right now. Donald, through his agent, has confirmed for the Maulers that he will not be reviewing any contract offers before the end of the season and will be entering the free agent market. While the Maulers certainly don’t want to lose their best D-lineman, perhaps their best defender over all, they will likely have to come to free agency with both money and a plan to lure Donald back to the squad. For every other team, the impetus will be figuring out exactly what would attract the big DT and how they can put together a package that will bring the All-USFL tackle to their club.   Ohio ownership gives Coughlin Vote of Confidence Take it for what you will, but the Glory ownership made it very public this week that they believe in Coach Coughlin, despite this season’s collapse. It is true that up until this year, Coughlin’s tenure in Ohio has been a productive one, with the disciplinarian coach taking Ohio from a 5-win 2015 season to back-to-back 8-win, .500 seasons before improving to 10-6 and claiming the Central Division title in 2018. That the Glory have won only 2 games this year puts his position at risk, and we have all seen that a vote of confidence holds almost no value whatsoever. They are just as often followed by a Black Monday pink slip as not, so when the Glory tell us that Coughlin’s position is secure, we don’t exactly take that to the bank. It is very possible that the Glory will view this season as a glitch, though it has not had an obvious weak-point like a key injury or two, it is very much a mystery why the breaks have not gone Ohio’s way this year. But, if the team truly believes that Coughlin can get a quick rebound out of the Glory, they may well keep him on for the 2020 season. If the recovery does not happen, that will be a move many will question, but if they do bounce back, well then they will be proven right.   Could the Gunslingers Opt to Pass on Flacco? That is a question a lot of fans in San Antonio are bringing to the conversation about how to build a new team for the Alamo City. Before the season, had you asked the new Gunslinger fanbase which Outlaw players they most wanted to see on their roster in 2020, certainly QB Joe Flacco would have been right at the top of the list. But, what we have seen of Flacco this year seems to have fans nervous that the version of the Outlaw QB they are going to get in 2020 is not what they remember from his heyday with the Texas Outlaws.   A quick look at two key stats tell the story. If we compare his 2019 QB Rating and TD:INT Ratio in Oklahoma with his 2016 output, his last year in Texas, you can see why some fans are hesitant to hand the offense over to the veteran QB.                    QB Rating:           98.3 in 2016                    78.7 in 2019                  TD:INT Ratio:     10:3 (20:6) in 2016            6:7 (18:21) in 2019   Flacco has a higher completion percentage this year, and is attempting significantly more passes, but that all speaks to a shift away from the vertical game to more of a dink & dunk style of play. For a QB who made his name with the deep ball, that shift has some worried that the fast ball is no longer there and that Flacco is not throwing short by choice, but by necessity. That, combined with the sudden increase in interceptions (he had only 11 in both 2017 and 2018), has fans worried that they may not be in as advantageous position at QB as they had believed earlier this spring. But, is a solid veteran presence, even one who may be fading, better than many of the other options available to an expansion club? Many would say yes. The question is whether leadership of the Gunslingers is of that mindset, or do they see Flacco as a callback to the past, a figurehead as much as an on-field leader? We will know in September when the special Outlaw-Gunslinger draft precedes the main Expansion Draft. Until then, fans will speculate, but it is ownership and leadership in the Gunslinger organization that has the biggest say, and the biggest risk to address, with their choice for a first year QB for their new franchise.                                 Campbell Dislocates shoulder, but Expects to Play With Arizona still in the hunt for a 1-seed in the West, you can imagine that the thought of going into the final weeks of the season without the league’s sack leader could be a scary one. Well, Calais Campbell wants his coaches to know they can count on him. The veteran DE came out of this week’s win over the Outlaws late in the 3 rd  with a dislocated shoulder, the result of a tough fall to the ground during a run play. Campbell went straight to the locker room, but by game’s end could be seen on the sideline with a large icepack on the shoulder. Apparently it was a simple dislocation and the training staff was able to reset the arm, one can only imagine with some sort of Mel Gibson “Lethal Weapon” snap action, though that is pure speculation. Campbell has been held out of practice this week, but told the press (and his teammates) that he fully expects to be on the field when the Wranglers travel to Atlanta this week. This is not unheard of after a dislocation, though we expect that we could see Campbell in a compression sleeve to help minimize the risk of a recurrence. Bad news for Atlanta, but potentially a huge plus for the Wranglers as they try to surge past Michigan to earn homefield in the season’s final 2 weeks.   Week 14 did not lock in any new playoff teams, meaning that with only 2 weeks of action left we are still looking at 8 of the 12 playoff spots up for grabs. We did get some clarity in the division races as Michigan, Arizona, and San Diego are all locked in as division champions. We also got some more eliminations as Oklahoma, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Washington, and Atlanta joined Portland, Jacksonville, and Ohio as non-playoff teams for 2019. So, 8 spots left, 16 teams in play, and 2 weeks left to decide it all.   Looking ahead to Week 15, what do we think can be settled? Well, in the West, a Michigan win and a Wrangler loss would guarantee the top spot in the conference to the Panthers, while a reverse result would let Arizona leapfrog Michigan into 1 st . We also could see the 2-seed settled, depending on the Arizona and San Diego Results. St. Louis is eliminated with a loss, but could remain alive with a win and some help.   In the East, a Houston win over the Showboats would not only give them the division title, but would also lock up the top seed and home field advantage for the defending champs. The Bandits can also lock up a Division Crown this week if they can hold off the Orlando Renegades. Baltimore needs some help but would win the East with a victory this week and losses by both the Generals and Stars. Both Charlotte and Birmingham face elimination with a loss this week, as could New Jersey if the 4 teams at 8-6 all win and the Generals lose. A big weekend, to be sure. A bad week for guards as 3 are added to IR and all 3 are on teams still fighting for a playoff spot. We also see Orlando FS Deion Bush placed on IR after suffering a back injury this week. That could be a big loss for the Renegades as they prep for the Bandits this week and for a possible playoff run.   OUT OG         Keleche Osamele     STL         ACL                       IR OG         Andy Alleman                  BAL        Neck                     IR FS           Deion Bush                   ORL       Back                     IR OG         Logan Mankins                OAK      Wrist                     IR CB          Siran Neal                     HOU     Collarbone        1-2 Weeks   DOUBTFUL LB           Demario Davis              SD          Arm       WR         Donte Moncrief               OAK      Neck   QUESTIONABLE LB           Akeem Ayers                  NJ           Toe FB          Mike Boone                  OHI       Concussion CB          Joejuan Williams            MEM     Knee DE          Calais Campbell             ORL       Shoulder Skyhawks Get Support from State & City It seems the city of St. Louis and the state of Missouri are feeling the heat from their constituents as meetings with both seem to have brought the Skyhawks some assurances that a deal can be made for a new stadium. Maybe it was the impending departure of the Rams back to LA (an official vote in the NFL to come later this summer, but expected to pass), or the interest shown by the Twin Cities Football Group, or maybe it was the protests in St. Louis or the petitions sent to Springfield, but it looks like a deal is largely in place for a new open-air dual-use stadium to be placed on the ballot this fall.   The Skyhawks, and owner David Steward, have been quite vocal that while they are willing to contribute up to 40% of the costs for a stadium, with Major League Soccer and their St. Louis expansion group committing to a 20% investment, but that the remaining 40% would need to come from public funding. The goal? A new dual-use stadium in central St. Louis, not far from the MLB Cardinals’ Busch Stadium. The new facility would be home to the USFL Skyhawks and the tentatively-approved Major League Soccer club expected to begin play in either 2022 or 2023. The design proposed would include a lower bowl capable of holding 27,000 for the MLS, while the upper decks on both sides would allow the USFL squad to have a maximum capacity of 51,500.  That is smallish for a pro football stadium, but very much within the sweet spot for the USFL, which typically sees attendance in the mid-to-high 40,000-50,000 range.   The expected cost of the facility ranges from $450M to $800M, with a design similar to that of Hard Rock Stadium in Miami (though to a slightly smaller scale. The proposed deal would have the state raise nearly $200M through bond sales, while St. Louis county would propose a temporary hotel, conference, and restaurant tax increase to add an additional $90M-$180M (depending on the cost of the approved stadium contract.) The twin deals would require approval from the city council in St. Louis as well as a statewide referendum vote this November to be approved, but simply getting a plan in place for the Skyhawks is a huge positive. They will have to wait and see if the residents of the state and their city will support the effort, but with the grass roots campaign already in place, and with the Skyhawks soon to be the only pro football in the city, one has to believe that getting the votes will not be as challenging as getting the vote to be set in place in the first place.   Albert Hayensworth Files Petition to “Unretire” at 36 It is one of the rarest of situations, where a player has filed all the paperwork to retire from the league, has taken time away from the game, and now wishes to return. It is rare, but apparently it is what we are going to see from former Renegade and Gambler DT Albert Haynesworth. The 36-year old defensive tackle was one of the league’s best during his 10-year tenure before retiring at the end of the 2018 season. Apparently, retirement has not suited the big man, who now seems eager to return to the game. Former Gambler to roll the dice again? Haynesworth is apparently filing with the league to rescind his retirement. If approved, the defensive tackle could become a free agent this August. Now, at 36, and after a year away from the game, we expect that teams will be somewhat skeptical of Haynesworth, but if the talent he showed in his NFL and USFL career are still there, certainly there will be a team who can use the big man, even if only in a rotational role. As to why Haynesworth wants back into the league, well, that is up for debate. There are rumors that the 9-time All-USFL performer has significant financial concerns, and that there may be a financial motivation behind the move. That would not be unheard of, though we rarely see a case where a player has burned through their accumulated contract funds this quickly. We hear plenty of cases of players 10, even 5 years out who have little left from their playing days, but to run through his funds in 1 year, that would be a feat.   Whether the return to the USFL is driven by finances, a sense of unfinished business, or simply difficulty adapting to life post-football, what is known is that the 36-year-old Haynesworth believes he can still contribute, still play at a high level, and still be attractive to a USFL team this offseason. We expect the league to make a decision within the next 1-2 weeks, after meeting with Haynesworth and his agent, but it may well be that this 9-time All-USFL DT could be a player of real interest as free agency kicks off this August.   With Portland and San Diego Deal Nixed, UA Can Get Started on 2021 Looks Under Armour was placed in an odd position this offseason. Just as they were gearing up for their next 6-team run of new designs, two of the teams hit them with a curveball, the possibility of a name and identity change. With voters in San Diego asked to weigh in and grassroots groups in Portland making a push to bring the Thunder name and look back to the Rose City, suddenly 2 of the 6 clubs on the docket for 2021 looks were now in doubt. The vote in San Diego went strongly towards keeping the Thunder identity, and with the club looking like a solid Summer Bowl contender, you can understand why fans would want to keep the team in their current look. The vote assured ownership that the Thunder brand was strong among the fanbase and that there was no need to try to reinvent themselves to satisfy their fans. That means that the Thunder remain San Diego’s team, and with that vote putting an end to speculation, it means that Portland will remain the Stags, much to the chagrin of fans who feel that the 2008 expansion team has not lived up to the tradition of their former club.  To be fair, Portland football fans have not exactly gotten the best results from their new team. The Stags have now played 12 seasons, and have only qualified for the playoffs 4 times, and have an overall playoff record of 1-4. While the Thunder’s time in Portland was hardly legendary, with no league titles, at least they produced several playoff seasons, including a trip to the Summer Bowl in 1997, before moving to Las Vegas, and now, San Diego. But, fans in San Diego are loving their new team, with 3 consecutive playoff seasons, and a 2 nd  Division Title this year, the Thunder are popular, playing well, and building a name for themselves in a city jilted by the NFL Chargers after more than 50 years in the city.   So, with the idea of a brand sale from one team to another now off the table, Under Armour can move ahead with their 6-team uniform and design updates. The 2021 class of new looks will include both San Diego and Portland, as well as fellow Pacific Division squad, Seattle, the Chicago Machine, and the Denver Gold, and the Charlotte Monarchs. And while rumors have both Charlotte and Seattle looking for some pretty radical changes, we expect Denver, Portland, and San Diego to retain much of what has been their brand for some time. The interesting case may be in Chicago, where the Pritzkers, owners of the club, have expressed interest in expanding on the connection between the team and the city, primarily linking to the ubiquitous flag of the city of Chicago, with its sky blue stripes and red stars.   Recently, team president and CEO Thomas Pritzker, who took over most of the shares when his cousin J.B. became governor of Illinois and was required to divest from the team, was quoted saying he never understood why the Machine took on maroon or claret as a primary color back in 1987 when the Michigan Panthers, a potential regional rival, already used a very similar plum color as its primary. Does this mean a change is coming? Chicago has worn maroon helmets and jerseys since they came to Chicago in 1987, only 1 year after the league founding Blitz (who wore red, blue and silver) left for Baltimore. From the sound of it the Pritzkers would be open to a change, but will they give Chicagoans a vote, because they have more than 30 years of tradition in Chicago already, so that could be a tough call to make without fan input. All this to say that even with the Portland-San Diego drama behind them, Under Armour may still have some issues to address as they look ahead to 2021.   Only 2 weeks left, and for more than half of the league their playoff future is still very much in play. We kick off on Friday with a huge game on each coast. The 7pm NBC game is very likely going to determine the SE Division champions as 8-6 Orlando heads just a short way down the road to 9-5 Tampa Bay. If the Bandits get the win, they take the crown. If Orlando wins, they set themselves up for a 1-week win & in situation where they could take the title. We follow that with San Diego visiting Oakland. The Invaders have been struggling, but at 7-7 they still have a shot at a Wild Card, while San Diego is hoping to grab a top 2 seed and get that bye.   Saturday is just a mad dash of games that can have real impact on the upcoming playoff season. We have teams hoping to lock in their spots or division titles, like Baltimore hosting Pittsburgh or LA heading to Dallas. We have battles of teams on the fringe of Wild Card consideration, like the huge game in New Jersey was the Chicago Machine take on the Generals. And then we have what may be a true classic in Houston as the Gamblers, playing without Mike Evans, hope to lock up the South against a very game Memphis Showboat team, hoping to still get a shot at the title.   Sunday features more playoff cusp matchups, with Charlotte at New Orleans, Las Vegas at Oklahoma, and Seattle heading to Birmingham. We also have two clubs battling for the 1-seed in the West, with 11-3 Arizona visiting Atlanta while 12-2 Michigan faces a tough divisional matchup on Sunday Night as they host the 7-7 St. l.ouis Skyhawks. A win by the Hawks could help Arizona leapfrog the Panthers for that 1-spot, but if Michigan holds on, they could lock up that coveted home field advantage.   Friday @ 7pm ET               Orlando (8-6) @ Tampa Bay (9-5)                     NBC Friday @ 9:30pm ET          San Diego (10-4) @ Oakland (7-7)                    FOX   Saturday @ 12pm ET              Pittsburgh (5-9) @ Baltimore (8-6)                  ABC Saturday @ 12pm ET                Chicago (8-6) @ New Jersey (7-7)                   FOX Saturday @ 4pm ET              Los Angeles (8-6) @ Dallas (5-9)                     ABC Saturday @ 4pm ET              Ohio (2-12) @ Portland (4-10)                         FOX Saturday @ 7pm ET                 Philadelphia (7-7) @ Washington (5-9)             NBC Saturday @ 9pm ET             Memphis (8-6) @ Houston (10-4)              ESPN/EFN   Sunday @ 12pm ET              Charlotte (6-7-1) @ New Orleans (8-6)             ABC Sunday @ 12pm ET             Arizona (11-3) @ Atlanta (4-9-1)    FOX Regional Sunday @ 12pm ET        Denver (8-6) @ Jacksonville (3-11)   FOX Regional Sunday @ 4pm ET                 Las Vegas (7-7) @ Oklahoma (5-9)                   ABC Sunday @ 4pm ET                 Seattle (8-6) @ Birmingham (6-8)                      FOX Sunday @ 8pm ET               St. Louis (6-8) @ Michigan (12-2)                      ESPN/EFN

Week 13 was a contrast of energy across the league. In some cases “Mighty Mo”, momentum was king, with Birmingham shocking Houston thanks to their new offensive philosophy, Seattle winning their 5 th in a row, and San Digo getting a 3 rd  in a row to clinch the Pacific. Other teams seem to be saying “No más”, the famous Roberto Durán line when he just had nothing left in a fight against Sugar Ray Leonard. There were some bad outings this week from teams that just do not seem to have any gas left in the tank. The Thunder shut out Portland 30-0, St. Louis absolutely destroyed a lifeless Ohio squad 48-7, Jacksonville put up only 2 field goals in a 17-6 loss in Charlotte, and Dallas did not put up much of a fight in a 20-7 loss to Arizona that did not see them score until the final minutes. In other words, we are seeing three kinds of teams right now, some dominant ones, some scrappers in the middle of the standings trying their hardest to move up the ladder, and some that seem very ready to be done for the year and regroup in the offseason. As we review the week’s action, we will look at these three categories, trying to figure out where each team lands. We will also bring you the news of the 2013 Hall of Fame class, announced this week, and the latest look at playoff odds as we head towards Week 14 and some must-win situations across the league.   League Reveals 2020 Expansion Draft Structure Fans of the expansion Gunslingers and Steamrollers got the update they had been waiting for, one that fans of all 28 current USFL clubs should also be paying attention to because this year’s expansion draft will impact all clubs. The league this week revealed the timeline and the process for the 2-team expansion draft. Complicated by the agreement made between the San Antonio group, the league, and the relocated Oklahoma Outlaws, the draft will take place in two parts, both occurring in late-September, immediately after the first of the league’s two transfer windows with the NFL.  Here is how it will operate:   Stage One: Sept. 24: The San Antonio Private Draft of Oklahoma Outlaw players. This was agreed upon as a condition of the sale and relocation of the Outlaws by Red McCombs, current owner of the expansion Gunslingers. San Antonio will have the right to draft 8 players from the roster of the Outlaws, but only from players who served at least one season playing for the Texas Outlaws before relocation. Back in Week 5 we outlined some of the big name talent who could be headed back to ole’ San Antone. Now we know what parameters the Gunslingers will have to abide by.   They will be able to choose any 3 players from the Outlaw roster who played with the Texas Outlaws. Once three names are off the board, Oklahoma will be able to pull 2 more names out of the pool to protect them. That will be followed by 3 more selections from the new San Antonio team, another 2 pulled off the board by Oklahoma, and then up to 2 more players can be chosen by the Gunslingers. So, they will get up to eight veteran players from Oklahoma, but not any 8 they choose.   Stage 2: Sept. 30: Complete Expansion Draft of all 28 current teams. The second phase will require all 28 clubs to prepare a roster of 10 players who they are going to protect from selection. Actually, we should say 27 teams will do this, Oklahoma is allowed to protect 16 players since they will have already lost 8 to the Gunslingers. That is one concession granted the Outlaw franchise. As each of the two expansion teams selects a player, the team who loses that player may add 1 more name to their protected list. This will go on for 22 rounds, however there are further limits which will restrict both teams in the 44 players they can select. The first of these is that no team may select more than 3 players from any one current USFL club, meaning that no club can lose more than 6 total players. Secondly, no more than 2 players from the same position may be selected from any one team. This means that no team can lose all 5 cornerbacks on their roster, or all 3 quarterbacks. A third restriction is that no player who was signed in free agency between August and September of this year can be selected, allowing all 30 teams to participate in early Free Agency without fear of losing a recently signed player. And, the final restriction is that neither San Antonio nor New England can exceed 40% of the salary cap with these 22 selections. The goal here is to require that the two teams also use the draft, the free agency pool, and the NFL-USFL transfer window to complete their camp rosters as well as their final 53-man squad for Week 1 of the regular season.   The restrictions will make the draft a bit more complicated, but it also protects a strong team, Houston, for example, from losing half their roster or all of their running backs. The cap limit also means that some picks may be coming from a team’s practice squad, or some 3 rd string depth positions, so that each expansion club can afford to sign a high-priced star that a team leaves unprotected. Will it produce instant competitiveness for the two expansion clubs? We are not sure. History says no, but history also shows that some expansion clubs have had success in a pretty short timeframe (3 years has been common for an expansion club to reach the playoffs), so it is possible. Certainly the Gunslingers have an added advantage thanks to their ability to raid the Outlaws for talent, but both clubs will still have a pretty tough hill to climb to put together their 2020 rosters.   BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS 24  HOUSTON GAMBLERS 17 Houston makes our GOTW for a second straight week, but this time as the victim of an upset, an upset which may be a direct by-product of a coach’s unusual strategy decision. Last week, in what seemed a bit of a move of desperation, Todd Haley switched up the playcalling, adding significantly more QB designed runs into the playbook for the Stallions’ trip to Oakland. The strategy worked, with Cam Newton rushing the ball 20 times (compared to only 23 pass attempts). The result was 105 yards rushing, including 2 rushing TDs along with 208 yards passing, and, more importantly, a surprising 27-16 victory over the Invaders. Well, it seems that with a trip to 10-2 Houston on the docket for this week, Haley decided to see if Cam Newton’s success could be replicated. The answer this time was another resounding yes. Newton ran 12 times this week, but again put up over 100 yards on the ground, and again contributed a key TD, a 35-yard run that put Birmingham on top in the 3 rd  quarter. The balance was not the same as in Oakland, with Newton also putting the ball up 42 times in the game, but the threat of the designed run was very real and it was used very effectively by the Stallion offense.   On their very first play from scrimmage Haley and the Stallions alerted Houston that they would need to focus on Newton as a rusher, sending their QB off the left side with HB Ben Tate acting more as a fullback than a tailback. That opening play forced Houston to sacrifice a player in coverage, in most cases LB Ramik Wilson, one of their best coverage backers, to spy on Newton. On a few occasions it was safety Kenny Vaccaro who took on that role, but on nearly every play, there was a Houston defender shadowing Newton, which did impact his efforts as a rusher, but allowed him more options in the passing game.   That first play turned into an opening drive that saw Newton find slot receiver Julian Edelman from 7-yards out on a play clearly impacted by the Houston decision to spy Newton’s bootleg. A similar “catch 22” situation would play out at the conclusion of the game as Birmingham threatened the Newton run in the red zone and that threat created a hole in the zone that allowed Amari Cooper to score the game winner.   Between those two drives, Birmingham did two things very well, the offense kept Houston guessing, mixing passes and runs, including Newton runs, and the defense played the short and intermediate pass, forcing Colt McCoy to dink and dunk, a strategy that resulted in 7 failed third down conversions in 12 attempts. While Birmingham gave up 269 passing to the Gamblers, their shallow shell zones kept Houston from hitting on chunk plays and kept Carlos Hyde largely contained (56 yards on 21 carries, only a 2.7 YPC average). Ben Tate proved to be an effective lead blocker, helping Cam Newton break out for his 35-yard TD, but also a 12 and a 14 yarder over the course of the game. Newton also spread the ball around, mixing in all 3 starting receivers and both tight ends.   The result of the two strategies, the shallow shell defense and the threat of the QB keeper, was that Birmingham, for the second week in a row, defeated a significantly-favored home team in their own stadium. Is this sustainable? That largely depends on Cam Newton’s ability to avoid injury. We have seen running QBs take a lot of hits and miss a lot of games when they are asked to also serve as tailbacks, and Cam Newton is no exception. But, with 3 games left and Birmingham sitting at 6-7 after their two upset victories, the time seems to be now for all the tricks to be tried out and all the options put on the table. That is what Haley has done with his QB, and it seems to be working.   Birmingham heads into their huge rivalry game with Memphis, in Memphis, this week, a third straight road game in which they will be the underdog. If they can knock off the 7-6 Showboats, they would equal Memphis at 7-7 and would have two more games, neither easy (hosting Seattle and visiting New Jersey) to try to move into Wild Card position. If they do that, it will be one of the stories of the year, and all from the decision to do with their QB what he seems to choose to do on his own more often than not.   As for Houston, the loss did not really impact their playoff situation. They still have a 2-game advantage over both Baltimore and Orlando for the possible 1-seed, and still look like a lock for the Southern Division title, but, we have to wonder, is there a team in the possible playoff field that could replicate what Birmingham just did, use the threat of designed QB runs to force Houston into dedicating a player to a spy position? That could be a tactic another team could exploit, but who among the playoff contenders could pull that off? Orlando with Wilson seems plausible, not so much Locker in Baltimore, Prescott with Tampa Bay or Lynch in Memphis.   ORLANDO 38  ATLANTA 19 This one got ugly early as Orlando put up 34 points in the first half to Atlanta’s 6. Russell Wilson not only started the game, which was in doubt until gametime, but started it off with a bang, scrambling for a 47-yard TD on Orlando’s first possession. He then added TD passes to Brashad Perriman and David Njoku, another unexpected starter in the game, as Orlando rolled. It was only when they let up on the gas in the 2 nd half that Atlanta got their only TD of the game. POTG:  Orlando QB Russell Wilson: 18/24, 255 Yds, 3 TD, 1 Int, 4 Att, 68 Yds, 1 TD   PORTLAND 0   SAN DIEGO 30 Oof, this was an ugly one as San Diego shut down and shut out the McCarron-led Stags, picking off the Portland QB twice, sacking him 4 times and limiting Portland’s rushing attack to only 42 yards on the day. Portland got TDs from Colston, Williams and Taiwan Jones, but they did not need them all as the Stags were stag-nant all game long. The win gives San Diego the Pacific Crown for the 2 nd  time in 3 years and now they look ahead to a possible 2-seed and a bye if they can pick up a game on Arizona. POTG:  Thunder CB Justin Gilbert: 6 Tck, 2 FF, 1 FR   MICHIGAN 45  PITTSBURGH 17 Another blowout, this one in Pittsburgh, where the Panthers outgained the Maulers 502-279 and put up 21 points in the final period to turn a 24-10 lead into a 28 point victory. LeVeon Bell had his 100 yards, 106 to be exact, but it was not allabout him in this one as Cody Latimer caught 8 for 113 and a score, and backups Alexander Mattison and Mike Hart both scored for the dominant Panthers. POTG:  Panther CB Dre Kirkpatrick: 6 Tck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD   WASHINGTON 17   CHICAGO 21 Let’s at least acknowledge that Washington is still fighting. They go down in Chicago, but they made it tough on the Machine, Holding a 14-7 lead into the 4 th quarter before Two Sam Bradford TD tosses gave Chicago the win. Bradford found Keny Golloday to even up the scoreboard and then connected with TE Tyler Eifert for the game winner, moving the Machine to 7-6 and keeping them very much alive in the Wild Card hunt. POTG:  Chicago QB Sam Bradford: 16/27, 236 Yds, 3 TD, 0 Int   DENVER 17  LAS VEGAS 10 One of the better, more intense games of the week as the two 6-6 clubs battled to the end, with the visiting Gold getting the W thanks to a nasty pick-six from DaJuan Morgan, returning the ball 47 yards and offering QB Matt McGloin a stiff arm to the turf for his efforts to stop the play. McGloin recovered, throwing a late TD to Aaron Dobson, but it was not enough as Denver gets the key win in the division and moves to 7-6, putting them in playoff position for the moment. POTG:  Denver CB DaJuan Morgan: 2 Tck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD   MEMPHIS 6   NEW ORLEANS 21 Unlike some of the other teams that were held under 10 points, in Memphis’s case it was not for a lack of effort, just a superior performance by the Breaker D. Memphis and New Orleans each struggled to overcome the other’s defense, but it was the Breakers, holding Memphis to only 1 of 13 on third down and pressuring Paxton Lynch, who get the W. As with the Denver-Las Vegas game, it was a pick-six that propelled the Breakers into the lead and they simply would not give it up in the 2 nd  half. POTG:  New Orleans CB Tra’Davious White: 4 Tck, 1 Int, 1 Def TD   ARIZONA 20  DALLAS 7 Dallas actually outgained the Wranglers in the game, with Josh Freeman throwing for 342 yards, but that was largely because they spent the entire game behind, not scoring until the 4 th  quarter as Arizona slowly built up a 20-0 lead over the first three. Isaiah Crowell had his first 100-yard game in the USFL and got another 46 from KaDeem Carey as the Wranglers were content to shorten the game, limit David Carr’s exposure, and just rumble past the Roughnecks. POTG:  Wrangler DE Calais Campbell: 5 Tck, 1 TFL, 2 Sck   BALTIMORE 24  TAMPA BAY 13 A huge win for the underappreciated Blitz as they go into Tampa Bay, a 7-point favorite, and get the road underdog upset. Jake Locker outperformed Dak Prescott, throwing for 346 yards to Prescott’s 181, and adding 3 touchdowns to Prescott’s 1. Both Darius Heyward-Bey and Brian Hartline found space against a Bandit secondary that had been playing better of late. A late TD to Denarius Moore helped Baltimore hold off the Bandits, turning a 4-point lead to a nice 11-point cushion in the 4 th . POTG:  Blitz QB Jake Locker: 23/32, 346 Yds, 3 TD, 1 Int   OHIO 7   ST. LOUIS 48 I think we can now officially say that the Glory have given up on Coach Coughlin and on the season. After hanging tough over a long losing streak, Ohio all but phoned this one in, falling behind 17-7 at the half, and then watching helplessly as pick-six returns from Sean O’Connor and Vontae Davis helped pump the lead up to 38-7. By the time Bobby Rainey put up an 18-yard run to boost the advantage to 38 points, the Glory had left the building, in spirit if not in body. A bad showing for a team that has little to play for but pride. POTG:  St. Louis HB Eddie Lacy: 20 Att, 135 Yds, 1 TD   JACKSONVILLE 6   CHARLOTTE 17 It is not so much that the Bulls looked listless in Charlotte, so much as the fact that their O-line looked hapless. Charlotte got 4 sacks on Teddy Bridgewater, a pretty elusive QB, and forced 2 picks, oh, and also limited the Bull run game to only 34 yards rushing. It was pretty ugly. Meanwhile, Mitch Trubisky, despite 2 more picks (earning groans from jaded Monarch fans), threw for 2 scores, both in the 2 nd  half as the Monarchs broke a 3-3 halftime score that had many fans wondering what else there was to do in the stadium. Charlotte returns to .500 with the win, but confidence that they can not only qualify for the postseason but win some playoff games is not exactly high among the Monarch fans. POTG:  Monarch LB Rolando McClain: 6 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 FF, 1 FR   OKLAHOMA 13  OAKLAND 19 The Invaders somehow won this game despite only putting up 152 yards of offense, a solid 105 less than Oklahoma. I guess we should praise an Invader defense that forced 3 takeaways, including 2 picks of Joe Flacco, but in a game that did not see Marshawn Lynch on the field, it still feels like the Invaders should have been able to do more. Taylor Gabriel led all Oakland receives with only 37 yards receiving, not a good sign for the future. POTG:  Invader LB Bobby Wagner: 6 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 Int   NEW JERSEY 13   PHILADELPHIA 21 The Generals had a shot to get over .500 and give Baltimore a run, but the Stars did their best Lee Corso impression at home and said “Not so fast, my friend” to their archrivals. It was unheralded DE Danielle Hunter who led the Stars to a surprising defensively dominant performance. Hunter finished the game with 3 sacks, a safety and a defensive TD off a strip-sack-recovery combo. Even with their offense struggling, the Stars still managed to get the win, leaving both teams now sitting at 6-7 and hoping they can somehow sneak up the board to earn a Wild Card. POTG:  Stars’ DE Danielle Hunter: 7 Tck, 3 Sck, 1 Sfty, 1 Def TD, 1 FF, 1 FR   LOS ANGELES 10   SEATTLE 16 Coach Lewis has a love-hate relationship with his new club. He loves that defense, one of the league’s best, but the offense, well, not so much love. The Express kept themselves in range despite 108 yards from Knowshon Moreno, but Kyler Murray could not get the ball into the endzone. Reggie Bush was his only consistent weapon, putting 134 yards on the board, but for one of the league’s top rushers, Bush still has only 1 TD on the season. Meanwhile, Seattle did just enough, thanks in part to a nice 22-yard TD run from Wendell Smallwood, and earned their 5 th  win in a row to move to 7-6, currently sitting in 4 th  place in the Western Conference, much to everyone’s surprise, or is that just Déjà vu? POTG : Seattle FS Donte Whitner: 5 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 FF   Is LA Fading Right Out of Playoff Picture? Coach Marvin Lewis and his revamped LA Express were one of the stories of the season’s first half, jumping out to a 5-game win streak that put them atop the Pacific Division. But, after being upset at home by the Seattle Dragons, the Express have managed only meager 17-8 and 17-3 wins over two clubs now out of playoff contention, Ohio and Portland. In their 5 losses over the past 7 weeks, they have not surpassed 14 points and have struggled to find any offensive continuity at all.   Yes, the defense is still looking solid, evident in this week’s rematch with Seattle, where the Express held the Dragons to 271 total yards, but even gaining 407 (thanks in large part to 134 rushing from Reggie Bush) they still only put 10 points on the board. That is not playoff football, and right now, LA is not looking like a playoff team.  It may seem a strange thing to say about a club that is giving up only 14.8 points per game, a league best, but when your offense puts up on average 14.2, you are going to lose more than you win. Right now the Express are sitting at 7-6, which has them in 6 th  position, tied with Seattle, Denver, and Chicago, but even one loss could see the Machine leapfrog them for that 6 th  position.   So, what is to be done? Well, maybe Coach Lewis should take a hint from what Todd Haley is doing in Birmingham. Kyler Murray, the team’s rookie QB, is a very agile, very athletic runner. He does not have the heft and size of Newton, so there is a risk to asking him to run too often, but something has to be done to add more threat from the Express offense. Murray has been solid, not spectacular, throwing the ball (13:8 TD:INT ratio, 2,164 yards, 58.5% completion rate), but maybe Coach Lewis needs to at least threaten the QB run to make defenses have to account for it. So far, in 13 games, Murray has only run the ball 7 times, and 4 of those were sneak plays. Seems that LA is not taking advantage of their QB’s full skill set, and right now they need to use every player they have to their maximum ability.   Gutierrez May opt to Retire if New Deal Not Done The word out of Philadelphia is that Matt Gutierrez wants to resign with the Stars, wants to finish his career with the team that gave him a shot 13 years ago, and made him the full-time starter in 2012. But this has been a rough season, one in which Gutierrez went upside down on his TD:INT ratio for the first time since becoming the starter. His per game average has dropped from 256 yards passing in 2018 to only 190. That is a major concern. His QB Rating has likewise taken a huge hit, dropping from 84.0 down to 66.8, certainly a major drop from his standout season in 2012 when he was at 121.7 and threw for over 3,500 yards. Even 2 years ago, when he hit 4,000 (4,063) the expectation was that the Stars were set at QB, but that does not feel like the situation right now.   So, what does Gutierrez do? Well, he notifies the team that he wants to remain, and that he will likely retire if not signed to a new deal. That is not much of a threat to the Stars, since there is every chance they would let their QB go in free agency, so who is he speaking to when he lets this get out? Maybe to other teams, maybe to his own agent. It is hard to say. There are still many in Philadelphia who believe that Gutierrez has fallen off the QB cliff at age 35, so whether he retires or finds another team, it does feel unlikely that he lines up under center for the 2020 season opener.   Forte & Lynch Also on Retirement Watch While we are on the topic of retirement, there are several other big name players who have at least floated the idea, or who many around the USFL have highlighted as likely departures after the 2019 campaign ends. Chief among them are halfbacks Matt Forte of Chicago and Marshawn Lynch of Oklahoma. Both backs will turn 35 by the time camps open in January, which is the football equivalent of turning 80 for the rest of us. Both have seen their share of physical issues, and both have interests beyond football. It would not shock us to see both announce as soon as their seasons end.   Others entering the “maybe this is the end” phase of their careers include wideouts Roy Williams of Atlanta (37), Antonio Bryant of Michigan (36), and Darrius Heyward-Bey of Baltimore (34). Bryant could well be looking at another league title with Michigan this year, after having earned some hardware with Arizona. Could that be a good time for him to step away? His 2019 stats show he can still play the game (56 Rec, 635 Yds, 7 TDs) though it is noteworthy that in his first year in Michigan he is not being asked to be a deep threat, averaging only 11.3 yards per catch, compared to 20.8 in 2018 and 25.8 in 2017, both with Arizona.   Others we should cite include TE Jason Whitten of LA (37), guard Sean Locklear of Charlotte (36), another Monarch in DT Amobi Okoye (36), Jacksonville’s Kedric Gholston (also 36), LBs Daniel Ellerbe and Kirk Morrison of Ohio and Philadlephia (both 35), and DBs Antrell Rolle of Las Vegas (35) and Eric Weddle of Baltimore (34).   Lauletta Expected Back Under Center for Stags The rotating QB situation in Portland comes around for another spin as Kyle Lauletta returns from injury just as Week 13 starter A. J. McCarron gets placed on the injury list. McCarron suffered a shoulder separation this week and is likely to be shuttered for the season, but, just in the nick of time, Lauletta returns from injury to get the Week 14 start. Should anything happen to him, Portland has Tony Pike and Kellen Clemons on their 53-man roster. Heck, maybe let Clemons get a shot. He is the only one of the 5 QBs in Portland not to get a chance this year, and with Portland now officially eliminated from contention, what is the harm. The Stags will need to evaluate just what they want to do this offseason. Sure, they want Marcus Mariota to come back and be the starter when 2020 begins. Well, at least that is what we assume. After all, Mariota will have missed 18 games in the past two seasons by the end of 2019. That has to be a concern for the Stags. They have seen very short stints from both McCarron and Lauletta. Do they like one of them to be a potential competitor for Mariota next year? Or is it less competitor than understudy? With both Pike and Clemons in contract years, we think Portland will go shopping rather than resign either. But, will they also cut free McCarron, Lauletta, or even Mariota?   Why would they do that? Well, the main reason it has been floated is that there is a certain QB down the road in Eugene who is viewed as a “first round talent” and a potential franchise QB, Oregon’s Justin Herbert. Portland would have exclusive USFL rights to Herbert if they use a T-Draft selection to lock down the Ducks’ QB. But does Coach LaFleur want to start over with a rookie? Does management want to eat the remaining 2 years of Mariota’s contract? They could trade their 2019 starter, that would remove the cap issue and make room for Herbert, but do they dare do that prior to the USFL and NFL drafts, because the risk is very much there that Herbert heads to the NFL and that would leave Portland up a river without a paddle, or without a QB. A lot to think about, but for now, they will put Lauletta back under center and see what they have in the 2 nd  year player.   The dance tickets are going out to more and more teams as two more teams punch their ticket to the big postseason soiree. The Wranglers and Thunder now join Michigan and Houston as post-season participants. We also saw both San Diego and Michigan wrap up their division races this week, securing no worse than a 3 seed and a home playoff game with this week’s results, though both are very likely pushing for a Top 2 finish and a guaranteed bye week to rest and recover from a long season. There is quite a gap between these teams and those fighting for Wild Cards. After Arizona and San Diego, with 10 wins apiece, the next Western club up is Seattle with 7 wins, thanks to their league best 5-game winning streak. In the East, Houston’s 10-3 record is 2 games better than any other contender, with a trio of team sitting at 8-5. On the other end of the table, we added Portland to the mix, bringing us to 3 teams with the sad lower case “e” next to their names. Portland loses too many tiebreakers to have a shot even if they finish 7-9. They join the 3-10 Bulls and the 2-11 Ohio Glory in the category of “playing for pride” for the next 3 weeks.    Several significant injuries, but none with more potential playoff impact than Mike Evans’s groin injury, a severe strain that is likely to keep him out of the lineup for the final 3 weeks of the season and quite possibly for the Divisional Round, or even the Conference Championship.  That could be a big blow to Houston’s chances to repeat as Evans is a focal point of their offense.   OUT FS      Jamal Adams               DAL       Broken Leg         IR G            Zach Martin                    OKL       Achilles                 IR DT          A’Shawn Robinson         WSH     ACL                        IR HB         Justice Hill                      OKL       Broken Arm             IR HB         James Wilder Jr            LV           Knee                        4-6 Weeks QB         A. J. McCarron              POR      Shoulder                  2-4 Weeks WR         Mike Evans                 HOU     Groin                       2-4 Weeks   DOUBTFUL HB         Kenyan Drake                   ATL         Toe LB           Patrick Willis                    ATL         Neck   QUESTIONABLE WR         Will Fuller                   CHI        Toe TE           Anthony Hill                PIT         Concussion Hall of Fame Class of 2019 Includes Controversial Legacy Pick The votes are in, the class is selected, and 2019 Pro Football Hall of Fame USFL Class is now official, but not without some controversy. Of course, there is the usual controversy as players who many fans feel deserve the honor were not selected, with this year’s snubs including Federals’ safety Ed Reed, 12-year veteran CB Quentin Jammer, and 2 nd year candidate, WR Peerless Price, a 14-season standout for the Denver Gold. The usual debates will exist around those snubs and the players who made the cut. We are talking about the controversial choice of the Legacy Committee, former New Jersey DE Phil Hansen. If we look only at Hansen’s on-field production, there is no doubt that he is worthy of induction, and likely would have been inducted upon initial eligibility several years ago. But, Hansen’s autobiography lit a firestorm around the former North Dakota Fighting Sioux. In his memoire, Hanson elaborated on a career impacted by steroid use, expanding to talk about widespread use across the USFL in the 1990’s, and naming several prominent players and coaches who either participated in, contributed to, or pushed for steroid use among players. The scandal this revelation produced led to Hansen’s disqualification for the Hall, and to this day, even with significant corroboration from players and personnel from the period, Hansen’s name is still viewed with a lot of skepticism, ranging from criticizing his motivations to challenging his career numbers as “tainted” by the scandal.   But, after receiving reinstatement for eligibility by the USFL and the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past year, it did not take the select Legacy Committee long to recognize that despite all the controversy and the reality that steroid use was quite rampant in professional football through the early 2000’s, the accomplishments of Phil Hansen as a member of the Generals were certainly worthy of consideration. And while the votes of the Legacy Committee are not revealed publicly, there are rumors that his selection was unanimous, turning aside a second candidate, whose muddled retirement process impacted his initial qualification, Ohio HB Eddie George, as well as several other nominees who played between 1983 and 2007.   And so it is very likely that the shadow of the Hansen nomination will loom over the Class of 2019 for some time, we should not let it dampen the praise and admiration for all 6 newly named 2019 enshrinees.                  QB Jake Plummer (ARZ 97-08, LV 09-14) One of the greatest dual-threat QBs in USFL history, which is quite a rich pool stretching from Alan Richter and Doug Flutie all the way to Cam Newton today. Plummer played 18 seasons in the USFL, split between the Wranglers and Vipers. He threw for nearly 60,000 yards (59,759) and had 405 passing touchdowns. Add in his 68 rushing touchdowns and a lifetime QBR of 92.6 and it is clear why Plummer was a first-ballot nominee.   LB Mike Vrabel (POR 97-99, JAX 00-14) The venerable MLB who now serves as a coach for the San Diego Thunder, Vrabel retired in 2014 with 1,882 tackles, 49 sacks, 11 All-USFL nominations and the 2004 Defensive Player of the Year trophy. Vrabel was a tackling machine in Jacksonville, regularly leading the league and setting the tone for the Bulls defense for a decade. He too enters the Hall in his first year of eligibility.   LB James Farrior (BAL 02-09, HOU 10-14) Farrior split his USFL career between two franchises, with Baltimore apparently making a huge mistake in 2009 by allowing Farrior to depart in free agency. The veteran LB joined the Gamblers that year and immediately helped the Gamblers capture the 2010 league title. He would play 5 seasons in Houston, retiring in 2014 with over 1,300 tackles and 7 All-USFL nominations added to his title ring.   DE Anthony Weaver (CHI 02-14) A sack master who excelled even when his Machine teams were not particularly successful, Anthony Weaver locked down the left side of the Chicago D-line for 13 seasons, amassing 199 sacks, 84 tackles for loss, and 8 All-USFL nominations. He is the 4 th of 4 first-year candidates to make the hall this year.   HB Antowain Smith (LA 97-02, JAX 03-09, STL 10-12) A member of the retirement group of 2012, Smith enters the hall in his 3 rd  year of eligibility. Fans most likely remember him for an outstanding swan song campaign in 2012, a year in which his contributions helped St. Louis win the league title. Defensive players who went up against Smith remember more. They remember his subtle jukes, his ramrod left shoulder, used to run through or over defenders, and his constantly grinding feet. Smith played 16 punishing seasons in the USFL, an incredible total for a back of his size and style of play. He retired with 15,925 yards rushing.   DE Phil Hanson (NJ 91-04) The stats from Phil Hansen’s 14 season career in New Jersey speak for themselves. 289 sacks, 105 Tackles for Loss, 703 Tackles at the DE position, oh, and we should add 13 All-USFL nominations and bookend awards as the 1991 Rookie of the Year, the 2001 Defensive Player of the Year, and a league champion with the 2004 Generals.   Picking the Playoffs: Our Bullpen Lays Odds Sure, we could just look up the Las Vegas oddsmakers and get some numbers on who will and will not make the playoffs, but we decided instead to stay in house, focus on our roster of former USFL players, announcers, sportswriters, and pundits and come up with our own odds. We tried to simplify it, giving everyone the chance to put each team at 100%, 90%, 80% and so on, all the way down to 1% and 0%, and we got pretty consistent answers. Yes, there was some variation between 60% and 40% but even with that, the 28 clubs shook out pretty consistently. So, without further ado, here is how our bullpen of USFL experts handiaps the race for the league’s 12 playoff spots, from those already in, through the full roster of teams, to the 3 officially eliminated clubs.   100%    Houston, Michigan, Arizona, San Diego Not much to say here, since all 4 have locked up playoff spots. It now is all about byes and home field advantage for these four frontrunners in the league standings.   90%       Orlando, Baltimore, Tampa Bay Sitting at 8-5 apiece, these clubs have a 2-game lead on any challengers, and that gives them very good odds with only 3 weeks left to play. Baltimore could come away with the division crown this week, Orlando and Tampa Bay are only separated by a tiebreaker, but that Week 15 matchup in Raymond James Stadium is very likely to be the final deciding factor. Should be a good one.   70%       Seattle We cannot believe it either, but the Dragons are the hottest team in the league, seemingly putting their QB confusion behind them and are now in a position to control their own destiny. They have a tough one this week with San Diego coming to town, but their final two games (@ Birmingham and @ Portland) could boost them to 9 wins even if they cannot get past the Thunder.   60%       Memphis, Denver Both 7-6 clubs control their own fate, which is why we have them at better than 50/50. Denver was considered for 70% only because their three final games are St. Louis, Jacksonville, and Atlanta, but all 3 are on the road, far from the nice altitude advantage they love in Denver. Memphis needs to beat both Birmingham and Philadelphia, but they would love to throw in a win at Houston just to boost their confidence.   50%       New Orleans, Los Angeles Inconsistency on offense has been a real bugaboo for both of these clubs. The Breakers have three tough games ahead of them (@ Houston, vs. Charlotte, and vs. Orlando), but at least 2 of 3 are in the Dome. As for LA, they are stuck with 3 more road games, visiting the Monarchs, Roughnecks, and Thunder. That Week 16 game could be a must win for the Express, but will San Diego be resting players?   40%       Charlotte, Chicago Both the Monarchs and Machine need some help. Chicago has 7 wins, but likely needs 2 more. Their schedule is not brutal, with Ohio and Baltimore at home and a road trip to inconsistent New Jersey. We could see them go 3-0 if they can stay focused. As for Charlotte, facing LA and New Orleans the next 2 weeks will be tough assignments, both those teams will be as desperate as Charlotte is for a W.   30%       St. Louis, Oakland, Las Vegas, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Birmingham The odds are longer for these 6-7 teams, but they are not “Miracle on Ice” long. If any one of these clubs can win 3 in a row, they have a good shot. They will need help, but they need to focus on their own games, not watch the scoreboard.   10%       Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Dallas Seriously? 10%? Yup, a one in ten shot of surprising us all, winning all 3 down the stretch and getting enough help that an 8-8 record could get the job done. Would we put money on any of these teams? Nope. Not at those odds.     1%        Washington So you’re saying theirs a chance!! Yes, Lloyd, there is a mathematical chance, but only if you ace this calculus class while drinking a glass of water upside down, riding a unicycle, and reciting the presidents in reverse order. If you can do that, you can see these Federals qualify for the playoffs.     0%        Portland, Jacksonville, Ohio Yup. We knew this already. Time to figure out what has gone horribly wrong, from starting 4 different QBs this season, to having absolutely no explosiveness on offense, to simply playing with no imagination, no passion, and no punch, these three have gotten here after a long ugly run of games.   After reviewing the status of all 28 teams, as well as their playoff odds as defined by the Vegas books, it seems pretty clear that we have some really important and likely some really intense games on our schedule for next week. Friday has two of them, with the 6-7 Stallions headed to Memphis to face the 7-6 Showboats. Neither of these teams can afford a loss right now, not if they want to improve their odds of a Wild Card berth. The late game has another team striving to make the cut, as Seattle, with a 5-game winning streak, hosts San Diego. Will the Thunder, officially division champs of the Pacific, lose a bit of their edge with little on the line this week?   Saturday has some key playoff implications in place as well. New Jersey hopes to improve their odds by returning to .500 as they head to Pittsburgh, Denver and St. Louis are both still in the mix, but cannot take a loss in this inter-divisional matchup. New Orleans has a tough matchup against a 10-3 Houston squad that still has its eyes on that 1-seed, and Ohio will limp into Chicago where the Machine need to get on a roll to get into the mix in the West.   Sunday has an intriguing game between a Baltimore squad that just won’t give up hold on the NE Division and the 11-2 Panthers who want the home field advantage that being the 1-seed would give them. Then we have Dallas and Philadelphia, a classic NFL rivalry that for both USFL squads means life or death in the Wild Card race. The same is true when the LA Express head to Charlotte. Both teams are right on the cusp of Wild Card position, so a win is essential for each. A lot of games with a lot of playoff implications up and down the Week 14 schedule, that is for sure. Friday @ 7pm ET            Birmingham (6-7) @ Memphis (7-6)                     NBC Friday @ 9:30pm ET    San Diego (10-3) @ Seattle (7-6)                       ABC   Saturday @ 12pm ET      New Jersey (6-7) @ Pittsburgh (5-8)                         ABC Saturday @ 12pm ET      Denver (7-6) @ St. Louis(6-7)                                   FOX Saturday @ 4pm ET       New Orleans (7-6) @ Houston (10-3)            ABC Saturday @ 4pm ET      Oakland (6-7) @ Portland (4-9)                                 FOX Saturday @ 7pm ET       Ohio (2-11) @ Chicago (7-6)                                     NBC Saturday @ 9pm ET       Oklahoma (5-8) @ Arizona (10-3)                         ESPN/EFN   Sunday @ 12pm ET      Baltimore (8-5) @ Michigan (11-2)                     ABC Regional Sunday @ 12pm ET        Washington (4-9) @ Orlando (8-5)              ABC Regional Sunday @ 12pm ET         Dallas (5-8) @ Philadelphia (6-7)                      FOX Sunday @ 4pm ET        Jacksonville (3-10) @ Las Vegas (6-7)              ABC Sunday @ 4pm ET           Los Angeles (7-6) @ Charlotte (6-6-1)         FOX Sunday @ 8pm ET          Tampa Bay (8-5) @ Atlanta (4-8-1)             ESPN/EFN

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: As good as Cam Newton's performance was this week, and it was another beauty, we have to give the award to perhaps the best defensive performance of the year, and one we did not see coming. Philadelphia DE Danielle Hunter, hardley a well-known player nationwide, put in a breakout performance for the ages against the Generals. Hunter not only had a 3-sack game, reason enough to celebrate, but one of those was a safety, while another, a sack on the 2-yardline, also produced a fumble, with Hunter recovering in the endzone, giving him another 6 points on the day. And when Philadelphia wins by 8 points and one defensive player accounts for those 8 points, you have to give it to the young man. Hunter, finally getting some starts at RE, has seen his sack total rise to 7, well above his previous season best of 2. He is someone to watch out for, and this game proves it. PLAYOFF PICTURE: Two more additions to the postseason dance as the Wranglers and Thunder join Michigan in the Western Conference playoffs. The Thunder, along with the 11-2 Panthers, also wrap up a division title, with some help from tiebreakers. Houston's surprising loss to the Stallions keeps them from doing the same, with Memphis still mathematically alive in the division chase. We also saw two teams join Ohio in playoff elimination as both the 3-10 Jacksonville Bulls, and, due to tiebreaker issues, the 4-9 Portland Stags also find themselves out of the hunt this year.