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

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: We are doubling up this week, recognizing two members of the same offensive squad as both HB Isaiah Pead and WR Henry Ruggs came up big in Birmingham's shootout win over Houston. Pead had only 13 carries but made the most of them, rushing for his first 100-yard game as a member of the Stallions and adding a touchdown. Henry Ruggs only touched the ball 3 times but averaged over 40 yards with those catches, including a 74-yard touchdowns strike as the Stallions improved to 8-2. PLAYOFF PICTURE: No one has clinched a spot yet, though certainly there are some teams looking very good for a playoff spot. With Chicago's first loss, it is Arizona who currently hold the top spot in the West, while Tampa Bay and Birmingham are tied at 8-2 atop the Eastern standings. As far as division races go, most are close, though Arizona does hold a 3.5 game lead over Oklahoma in the Southwest and Tampa Bay has built up a 3-game lead in the Southeast.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: A tough call between 4 very impactful players this week. Mariota's 4-TD day, Derrick Henry's massive 163 yards, Ken Webster's 2-pick, 1 TD day are all outstanding, but what A. J. Epenesa did to the Jacksonville Bulls' offensive line, and poor Trevor Lawrence, just plain painful. Epenesa recorded 5 sacks against the Bulls and in doing so lept to the top of the leaderboard. Jacksonville's pain was Epenesa's gain.

Derrick Henry runs past New England, A. J. Epenesa sacks the Bulls, Mason Rudolph stuns the Showboats, and Daniel Carlson crushes the Panthers. In a week that saw its share of upsets, last-minute scores, and dominant performances, this was also a week of individual accomplishments, including 163 yards from the Stars’ biggest star, and a 5-sack day from one of 2022’s breakout players. It was also a week that led to a purge of coordinators, as struggling teams try to make a change in time to salvage something out of the year. We will lead off with our review of the miniature Black Monday we saw this week, review all 12 of this past weekend’s games, examine the Showboat’s stadium conundrum and add 3 more very well-known names to our list of the 40 Greatest Players in the USFL’s 40 seasons. All that plus a preview of Week 11 just ahead, don’t go anywhere.   Black Monday for Coordinators as 3 Teams Make Moves While this week’s purge of ineffective coordinators does not exactly have the scope or scale of the annual “Black Monday” ritual in which teams drop their coaches following the final regular season game, for the three teams involved, it was a clear sign that they need to make changes, with the hope, of course, being that a late season surge can keep the head coaches from becoming former head coaches during the annual Black Monday bloodletting.   Three teams, each at the bottom of their divisions and each at serious risk of the dreaded 10-loss season, cut ties with one of their coordinators this week, promoting from within to fill the gap and hopefully spark some improvement for their teams. Two OCs and a DC were let go as the Panthers, Maulers, and Bulls all essentially admitted that at least half of their team was not getting the job done. No surprises about which one either, though all three teams could be headed for bigger changes this offseason if their final record follows the pattern of the season’s first 10 weeks.   MICHIGAN PANTHERS With the 29 th ranked scoring offense and having gone 9 games into the 2022 season without topping 20 points even once, it is no surprise that offensive coordinator Mike Shula takes the hit for the 1-8 Panthers. Deep into an 8-game losing streak, and having put up 13, 11, and 13 points in the three games following their Week 7 bye, the Panthers, who still boast one of the league’s premier backs in LeVeon Bell, let Shula go on Monday, announcing that they were going to promote the running game specialist and HB position coach Kelly Skipper to the OC position. Skipper’s challenge is to turn LeVeon Bell’s production into a viable offense capable of putting points on the board. That will mean working with Kirk Cousins to address the league’s 20 th -ranked passing game, and with a receiver group that is underperforming at every position.  PITTSBURGH MAULERS The Maulers are struggling on both sides of the ball, but with their defense still in the Top 10 in both total yards allowed and rushing yards allowed, the most pressing issue was their offense. The Maulers hold the unfortunate distinction of being 30 th  out of 30 teams in rushing the ball (52.2 YPG), overall yards per game (252.9) and points per game (13.1), a trifecta that speaks to the struggles of a rookie QB, one who is getting no help at all from an anemic HB group. On Monday, Pittsburgh joined their Central Division rival in sacking their offensive coordinator, letting Larry Kirksey go and promoting offensive line coach, and former short-term Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone to the OC position. Many expect Marrone’s tenure as the OC to be a short one as Pittsburgh is looking very much like a team ready for a major overhaul, not just of the roster, but of the entire coaching staff as well. Only an impressive turnaround from the Mauler offense would likely stave off Marrone’s departure along with several other coaches, including HC Skip Holtz.   JACKSONVILLE BULLS While Jacksonville’s 26 th  ranked offense over-promised and underproduced this year, there is no doubt that the 30 th  ranked defense is a more immediate concern for Coach Vrabel and the 2-7 Bulls. The defense is not only 30 th  in points allowed, giving up 29.4 points a game, but is also dead last in yardage, the only team in the league to give up over 400 per game (408.8 to be exact). With a run defense ranked 29 th  in the league and the worst-ranked passing defense, there is just nothing working for the Bulls on defense, an embarrassment for a 1 st  year head coach who was himself a defensive standout. So it is no surprise that Jacksonville has parted ways with DC Shane Bowen, letting the first year coordinator go and promoting former NFL linebacker and current Bulls LB coach Pepper Johnson to the DC position. Even with the promotion, expect to see a lot of Mike Vrabel’s influence on the defense as he tries to show some growth over the course of the 2022 season.   CHICAGO MACHINE 15   MICHIGAN PANTHERS 13 For the Chicago Machine, the chance to saunter into Ford Field as the unbeaten leaders of the Central Division, and to face a Michigan Panther squad that had lost 7 in a row and held the worst record in the league, well that had to be a partisan fan’s greatest dream. The hope, of course, would be that Chicago would dominate the Panthers as they had at Soldier Field, a 43-17 drubbing of their rivals back in Week 2. For the Panthers, the rematch was a chance to try to salvage some pride in a season that has gone from bad to worse. Holding their own against Chicago, with hopes of an upset win, would at least show that the Panthers had not given up on the season and still had pride in how they performed against their rivals.   If there are pyrrhic victories in pro football, and many would say there are not, then the Panthers may have nabbed one this week. For 59 minutes they held Chicago in check, holding Sam Bradford without a touchdown, forcing 4 punts, 4 field goal attempts, and keeping Chicago below 20 points for the only the 3 rd  time all season. When they put a touchdown on the board with 1:21 left in regulation to take a slim 1-point lead, they may have even felt that they could come out of this game with a very unexpected victory. That was not to be as Michigan’s uncharacteristically malleable defense gave up a final Chicago drive that led to Daniel Carlson’s game winning kick, but in losing 15-13, the Panthers did avoid the kind of disastrous blowout loss that had befallen them back in Chicago 8 weeks earlier. A Pyrrhic victory if ever there was one.   The Panther strategy was clear from the early moments of the game, play conservative zone defense, making life difficult for Sam Bradford by having 7 defenders in space on nearly every play, pressuring only with their front four. On offense, continue to hand the ball to Bell even when he struggled to make gains, then use play action to try to hit on an occasional deep ball. For Chicago, the plan was to take what the Panthers were willing to give, which in this case meant 119 yards rushing for the duo of Marion Mack and rookie Rachaad White, completing short passes underneath the Panther zones, and stay patient.   Those two strategies produced a game with solid yardage for both teams but few points for either offense. There were only 2 offensive touchdowns in the game, both from the Panthers, as Michigan scored on an Alexander Mattison run in the 2 nd  , helping them go to the half with a modest 7-6 lead. Chicago’s lone TD on the day would not come from Sam Bradford and the offense, but on a pick-six from Chicago corner Josh Norman. Norman’s 3 rd  quarter 66-yard pick-six was the lone score of the quarter, giving Chicago the advantage 12-7 thanks to a botched 2-point conversion attempt.   Michigan did not panic after falling behind, continuing to shorten the game and rely on Bell’s legs as the focal point of their offense. It took more than 15 minutes of game time for the Panthers to respond to Chicago’s 3 rd  quarter score, but when they did it gave them a late lead that well could have put the game to bed. The 4-yard TD from Kirk Cousins to WR Mac Hollins came at the end of a 13-play, 77-yard drive. It gave the Panthers a slim 13-12 lead, with the offense once again failing on the 2-point PAT.   Chicago would get the ball on their own 25 after the kickoff touchback. With only 1 timeout left and needing to get to the Michigan 38 to give kicker Daniel Carlson a fair chance at a 55-yard field goal, they had 1:23 to work with and a sense of purpose, one born out of 8 consecutive wins. The Machine trip down the field was not exactly smooth, interrupted by 2 injuries, a false start, and a defensive holding call, but after 8 plays and 35 yards, there was Daniel Carlson, a bit outside a comfortable range, lining up for a 56-yard attempt. The Machine’s unblemished record was on the line, as well as a lot of pride as Chicago had talked a good game ahead of their rematch with the 1-win Panthers. Now, to save face, their 5 th year kicker would have to match his career high and connect from 56 yards out.   The season has taken two very different paths for the Machine and the Panthers. Chicago seems to snag all the breaks, the fortunate bounces, and the moments of sublime fortune. The Panthers quite the opposite, a season filled with gaffs, missed opportunities and self-inflicted wounds. That disparity of fortune would continue in this game, with Daniel Carlson laying into the ball and sending it on a curved trajectory that initially looked to be too far to the right, only to hook back to the left, clearing the right upright and producing a 2-point win for the Machine, their 9 th , matched with no losses, while Michigan dropped to 1-8, losing their 8 th in a row in a desperate season that no one expected and few could explain.   LOS ANGELES 27  OAKLAND 20 Andy Dalton gets the start for the Express and produces 166 yards and a touchdown before having to sit out the 4 th quarter due to a hand injury suffered when he glanced his throwing hand off a helmet. Nick Foles finished the game, throwing a 59-yard TD to Jeremy Maclin, giving LA a 27-13 lead which would prove large enough to protect the W for the visitors. Davis Mills found Davante Adams in the 4 th  quarter to close the gap, but was unable to add a 2 nd  as the Invaders fall at home to their in-state rivals. POTG : Express WR Jeremy Maclin: 3 Rec, 130 Yds, 1 TD   PITTSBURGH 10  TAMPA BAY 44 Tampa Bay scored on their first 4 possessions, building a 24-0 lead that the Maulers would never challenge in this one-sided affair. The Bandits held Pittsburgh’s anemic offense to 8 first downs, 3 of 17 on third down and only 35 rushing yards. The only downside for the Bandits was that Dak Prescott had to be removed from the game after a blow to the head. The upside is that rookie Matt Coral played well, throwing for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Bandits simply dominated the game. POTG:  Bandit DE Brian Burns: 6 Tck, 2 Sck   WASHINGTON 16   CHARLOTTE 27 The Feds struggle again as Coach Daboll and the Monarchs pick up a 3 rd  win on the season thanks to a 13-0 scoring run in the 4 th  quarter, sparked by a 36-yard pick-six. Phillip Linday had his best game to date for Charlotte, rushing for 96 yards, while Paxton Lynch hit Austin Proehl for a score as well. Jacoby Brissett and the Federals’ offense had them in range at 16-14 after 3 quarters, but the Monarchs owned the final period and claimed the home victory. POTG:  Charlotte LB Rolando McClain: 14 Tck, 1 PDef   PORTLAND 38   HOUSTON 35 Following the same strategy as last week. Colt McCoy went 9 of 16 for 199 yards and 2 scores while Landry Jones went 5 of 7 for another 93 yards and a score. Houston needed both as their defense struggled and Marcus Mariota went 29 of 38 for 379 yards and 4 scores. When Houston scored with 1:01 left to build a 35-31 lead, the game seemed in hand, but Mariota found Brandin Cooks for a 50-yard strike and with 20 seconds left in the game, he hit Mac Knapp for the game-winner to cap off a major upset for the Stags. POTG : Stag QB Marcus Mariota: 29/38, 379 Yds, 4 TD, 1 Int   ATLANTA 3  OHIO 10 An ugly game between two teams that struggled to find offensive coherence. Ohio survived 2 turnovers thanks to their defense while Atlanta simiply could not get much going, failing on 3 different fourth down attempts and limited to a lone field goal. The difference in the game was a single drive late in the 2 nd  quarter that saw Justin Fields find Curtis Samuel for the game’s only touchdown. POTG:  Ohio DE Datone Jones: 5 Tck, 2 TFL, 1 Sck   ORLANDO 23   BIRMINGHAM 35 Josh Gordon caught 6 for 47 yards in his debut for Orlando, but it was not enough as the Birmingham run game (including 79 yards from Cam Newton) put up 3 touchdowns and Newton threw for another. Both Henry Ruggs (105) and TE Hunter Henry (101) went over 100 yards and Najee Harris scored twice as the Stallions improve to 7-2 and send Orlando back under .500 for the season. POTG:  Stallion QB Cam Newton: 8/13, 232 Yds, 1 TD, 1 Int, 12 Att, 79 Yds, 1 TD   NEW ORLEANS 20   SEATTLE 23 A good game between two evenly matched teams, this one looked like it was headed to overtime, but Seattle backup Trevor Siemian, in after Hundley suffered a hyper-extended knee, led the Dragons down the field in the final minute to set up Jeffery Harris for the game winner. Siemian went 8 of 12 in relief, including a key 3 rd  down toss to Kyle Rudolph that helped set up the winning score. POTG:  Seattle WR Devin Funchess: 6 Rec, 132 Yds, 2 TD   PHILADELPHIA 19  NEW ENGLAND 14 The Steamrollers are not rolling, losing a 2 nd consecutive division game, this time at home as Derrick Henry ran wild across Gilette Stadium, gaining 163 yards on 23 carries, two going for scores. Henry had a 21-yard wrecking ball run in the 2 nd  and added a short goalline run in the fourth as the Stars got the win despite Carson Wentz only throwing 9 passes for 73 yards. Philly was helped by a tentative Ryan Tannehill, who was sacked 5 times and threw 2 picks in a poor showing. POTG : Stars’ HB Derrick Henry: 23 Att, 163 Yds, 2 TD   NEW JERSEY 7   BALTIMORE 24 The Generals outgained the Blitz 328-178 and yet lost badly after giving the ball away 4 times. Baltimore opened up the scoring with Ken Webster’s pick-six, one of three picks from Teddy Bridgewater. With Josh Jacobs out of action, the Blitz only managed 33 yards rushing, but with 2 Jake Locker TD passes, they had more than enough to knock off a Generals team that simply did not have any offensive game on the day. POTG:  Blitz CB Ken Webster: 7 Tck, 4 PDef, 2 Int, 1 DefTD   SAN DIEGO 35  MEMPHIS 24 The Thunder improve to 4-6 with their 3 rd win in the past 4 weeks. Mason Rudolph continues to improve, throwing for 258 yards and 3 touchdowns, despite only completing passes to 4 different receivers. Memphis had 24 first downs to San Diego’s 10, but could only produce 2 touchdown drives. Robert Woods caught 13 passes for 145 yards and a TD, but it was not enough as the Thunder pulled away with a late Rudolph to Johnson TD and Memphis could not respond. POTG:  Thunder FS Jordan Fuller: 3 Tck, 1 Int, 1 DefTD   JACKSONVILLE 20  ST. LOUIS 33 Lamar Jackson looked strong, throwing for 333 yards and 3 scores and rushing the ball 12 times as the Skyhawks improved to 6-3 with a solid home win. Trevor Lawrence survived 7 sacks, 5 from A. J. Epenesa, and had some big numbers, throwing for 323 yards and 2 scores, but the run game was not good at all, with rookie James Cook gaining only 15 yards on the day. James Conner fared much better, going for 89 yards on 18 carries. POTG:  St. Louis DE A. J. Epenesa: 7 Tck, 5 Sck   Is San Diego in the Playoff Picture? Don’t look now, but in a season that has already seen a QB change, a 1-5 start, and a Week 9 trade for the future, the San Diego Thunder may actually be in the middle of a playoff chase. Since their 1-5 start and their move from Christian Hackenberg to Mason Rudolph, the Thunder have gone 3-1 and sit at 4-6 for the year as they prepare for their bye week. Now, 4-6 is still 2 games under .500, not a record that evokes playoff confidence, but in a Western Division where the 5 th  and 6 th seeds currently sit with only 5 wins, the Thunder are without a doubt in the mix. When you consider that the Thunder now sit only ½ game behind 4-5 Oakland, with only 1 less win than 2 nd  place Los Angeles, it is not impossible to see how Thunder fans might just rally behind their team and push them to get over the .500 hump and into the Wild Card picture.   The Thunder had an impressive win in Memphis this week, knocking off the 5-3 Showboats by 11 points. They will come out of their bye with 6 games left to play, including 3 division matchups ( at Seattle, LA at home and at Portland to close out the season). Their other 3 foes include the 5-4 Houston Gamblers, likely still without Carlos Hyde, and the up-and-down Denver Gold (4-5). The path won’t be easy, but that there is a path at all for a Thunder team that scored only 3 wins in both 2020 and 2021, there is finally some light between the Thunderclouds.   Mariota Spurs Portland to Road Upset The season has not gone the way the Stag Army would have wanted, with only 3 wins in 10 games, but there is an argument to be made that this season has been among Marcus Mariota’s best in the USFL. The much-maligned Stag QB has managed to stay relatively healthy, missing only 1 game to injury over the first 10 weeks of the season. He has seen his QB rating rebound from 2021, now over 90, and he is completing almost 68% of his passes. This week’s game, a surprising 38-35 shootout victory over Houston, saw Mariota throw for 379 yards, his highest total in nearly 2 years, and pass for 4 touchdowns. In a season that has disappointed fans and spurred discussion of some major roster changes, Mariota’ performance may be making him immune from the usual “blame the QB” tendencies we see so often in the pro game. Coach Harbaugh seems confident in his signal caller, and that, combined with a couple more strong outings, may remove the QB position from the “urgent need” list this offseason.   Torero!! Epenesa Tames the Bulls After nearly a decade in which the Skyhawk defense has been more punchline than punishing, the Skyhawks currently boast a Top 5 squad, allowing only 63.1 yards per game rushing and limiting teams to 18.7 points per game. Improvements across the roster are certainly a factor there, but the most obvious sign that this is a very new Skyhawk defense is the emergence of DE A. J. Epenesa. In his 3 rd  year out of Penn State, Epenesa is on fire, racking up 17 sacks in his first 9 games, a pace that should have him clear the 20-sack threshold by season’s end. Epenesa started the year strong, recording 7 sacks in his first 3 games, but as defenses adjusted, his numbers slowed, only to bounce right back this week against an overmatched Jacksonville Bulls defense. Epenesa was unstoppable in this week’s game, recording 5 of the team’s 7 sacks of Trevor Lawrence. It marks the young end’s highest single game total and could be a sign that the Skyhawks are finding new ways to scheme around Epenesa to give him more options as he seeks the quarterback. With some pretty shaky offensive lines coming up in the next few weeks (Charlotte this week, Michigan in Week13, Portland in 14, and Pittsburgh in 17), there is a lot of hope in St. Louis that they will, for the first time ever, have the league’s sack champion on their roster.   No Trade Deadline Moves as Wrangler Turn Away Carey Deal We reached the Week 10 Trade Deadline without another major deal, but not for a lack of trying apparently. In the final week of the trading period, the Arizona Wranglers were a popular team, getting more interest calls than a Facebook marketplace post for free puppies. The player at the center of all this interest? Wrangler HB Ka’Deem Carey. It seems that the emergence of rookie Tyler Allgeier, with 442 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns on the year, has folks wondering if veteran Ka’Deem Carey is available for trade. Arizona received serious offers from no fewer than 4 teams, including the Generals, Bulls, Skyhawks, and Maulers. Each wanted to talk about Carey, each making offers of draft picks or receivers, but Arizona was not hearing it. With a solid 1-2 halfback duo and an 8-1 record that has the Wranglers still chasing unbeaten Chicago for the Western Conference’s top seed, the Wranglers had no interest in letting their veteran back go. Despite more than ample offers from several teams, the Wranglers stood pat and prepared for the home stretch of the season, hoping to find their way back to the Summer Bowl.   Hundley to Miss More Games with New Injury Concern in Seattle as their starting QB, Brett Hundley, has been diagnosed with a hyper-extended knee, an injury likely to keep him off the field for the next 2-3 weeks. This is the second leg injury for Hundley this season, after suffering an ankle injury in Week 4 that cost him 2 weeks of action, it now appears that it is the knee on the same leg, Hundley’s left, which could cost him 2 to 3 more games. What is worse is that Seattle has a 4-game divisional streak on the horizon, one that could decide if the Dragons can defend their 2021 Division Title with a repeat. With a road trip to LA this week, an equally taxing trip to Oakland the following week and then games vs. Portland and San Diego at Lumen Field, the Dragons do not want to be without their starter at this crucial time of the year, but once again it seems that they are going to have to turn to Trevor Siemian once again and at a time of year when your entire goal is to stay healthy as a team and build momentum towards the postseason.   Baltimore’s hopes to claim the NE Division took not one hit this week, but two, as both DT Levi Onwuzurike and halfback Troymaine Pope were placed on IR after suffering nasty muscle and ligament tears this week. Both will be undergoing reparative surgery in the next week and will have long rehabs that could stretch into the offseason training season. Several other players also suffered injuries that could potentially cost them the remaining regular season games, including San Antonio’s veteran safety, Will Harris. On the QB front, Brett Hundley is out this week and likely Week 12 as well, while Andy Dalton will be a game-time decision for the Express after clocking his throwing hand against one of his lineman’s helmets in this week’s first start in LA.   OUT HB         Troymaine Pope       BAL        ACL Tear                IR DT          Levi Onwuzurike    BAL        Groin Tear             IR CB          Damon Arnette      OHI       Fractured Skull     IR DT          Davion Nixon         JAX         Broken Wrist          6-8 Weeks SS           Will Harris               SAN       Torn MCL               6-8 Weeks C             Phillip Blake          MEM     Groin                     2-4 Weeks DE          Dee Ford                  MGN     Foot                          2-4 Weeks QB         Brett Hundley          SEA        Knee                       1-2 Weeks CB          Isaac Yiadom          CHI        Knee                        1-2 Weeks   DOUBTFUL C             Max Tuerk             LA          Concussion LB           Jarvis Jones         BAL        Toe   QUESTIONABLE G            Parker Ehinger        PIT         Ankle WR         Muhamed Sanu       NJ           Back G            Damien Lewis         NOR      Knee QB         Andy Dalton          LA          Finger       Amid Relocation Rumors, Memphis Puts Stadium Initiative to Voters Things are getting “interesting”, as my Midwestern in-laws would say, in Memphis’s stadium situation. Despite a series of renovations over the past 2 decades, Memphis’s Liberty Bowl Stadium is still one of the oldest facilities in the league, and the one that still offers its lead tenant far less in amenities than most USFL clubs claim as standard. The venerable staple of Memphis sports broke ground in 1963, and has been the home to the showboats for 39 seasons, but it is not a modern professional stadium, even with attempts to refurbish it.   Simmons Bank Liberty Bowl Stadium, a design whose time has passed. For the better part of 20 years the Showboats have been pushing for a new facility, one with all the tech, concourse space, luxury suites, and team amenities that are found across the league, but unlike so many other USFL teams, Memphis neither shares their stadium with an NFL club or major BCS university, nor has a strong corporate base pushing for a multi-use dome or retractable roof facility. The fact is that the city of Memphis, while not the smallest in total population in the league (Birmingham and post-Katrina New Orleans are smaller) may be the poorest of the USFL cities. Yes, FedEx is a major presence, but compared with many other USFL locations, including newcomers like Oklahoma City and San Diego, Memphis is just not a metropolitan area with either corporate or municipal wealth, and that means that the ability for the city to help fund a huge project like a new stadium facility for its lone tenant is not strong. That is why we have seen the Showboats time and again have to settle for smaller renovation projects, falling further behind other franchises when it comes to revenue potential from their gameday experience.  A rendering of the proposed New Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Once again, Showboat ownership is pushing a ballot initiative to help fund a new facility, backed by a league promise to contribute up to $200M towards a new facility, but once again it looks like a long and hard road to convince local politicians and the public to help fund stadium construction. So, what other options do the Showboats have? Well, there are two cities that are not only willing to consider hosting the Showboats, but are making a push to be taken seriously as a new home for the 39-year old USFL franchise. One is the Showboats’ own state capital, Nashville. Since the departure of the Nashville Knights in 2015, when the club headed west to become the Las Vegas Vipers, Music City has been content to focus their energy on the NFL Tennessee Copperheads and their NHL Predators. But with rapid growth in the Nashville metro area and a push for a new stadium for the Copperheads already in producing dividends, the city and its corporate base are looking to find a 2 nd tenant for the proposed dome to be completed in 2027. The USFL and, considering their situation, the Showboats seem a natural target of Nashville’s attention. Fans jilted by the Knights could certainly gain a measure of revenge by capturing their former team’s arch rival and their state’s other USFL franchise. Many Nashvillians are already Memphis fans (though there are solid Stallion and Fire contingents as well) and having a 2 nd  tenant for the new Nissan Stadium (dome) with the history and monetary impact of the USFL Showboats would be a coup for the state’s burgeoning capital city.  U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis But Nashville is not alone in its interest in acquiring a USFL team. It seems every time there is expansion, as we saw only 2 years ago with the Steamrollers and Gunslingers, there are cities which go unchosen and they often put their efforts into seeking a relocation candidate. Of the markets not chosen in the 2020 expansion process (Indianapolis, Kansas City, Miami and Minnesota), the Twin Cities remains an active lobbyist for USFL recognition. The Twin Cities Football Group remains an active and well-funded endeavor and their interest in the Showboats has been steady over the past 2 years. So, what does this mean for the Showboats? It means that ownership has the one weapon that has proven most effective in getting cities to push for a new stadium, a serious threat of relocation. Memphis has leverage because there are two cities with two ultra-modern stadiums (one in place, one already approved) begging them to consider a move. That reality makes their case to the city of Memphis, the county, and perhaps the state of Tennessee quite convincing. While Nashville certainly would benefit from the Showboats relocating, it would be a huge hit for the economy and national image of Memphis, a hit that no one in Western Tennessee wants to see, and one that likely also would have a negative impact on the state as a whole, even if the Showboats were to stay in-state. Having one city thriving while another appears to be giving off death rattles is not a good look for any state government, and produces far more trouble than funding a stadium would ever create.   And so, Memphis, once again is making their perennial push for the city to step up and provide them with an equivalent to Birmingham’s Protective Stadium, San Diego’s SnapDragon Stadium, or Oklahoma City’s OG&E Energy Stadium, a modern facility that could provide the Showboats with a potential Summer Bowl venue as well as a more lucrative gameday revenue stream. This time, with two different cities, both larger and far wealthier, wooing the club hard, they may well have the leverage they need, and if they don’t we could be looking at yet another USFL relocation in the next 5 years.   40 Greatest Players in 40 USFL Seasons: 13-11 These final picks before we reach the Top 10 are almost certainly going to be among the most debated. Every one of these players is a bona fide first ballot Hall of Famer (though one had to wait a while to get his due). Every one was a dominant player, a legend of the game, and remains an icon for the fanbases of their teams. We have in picks 13-11 one of the league’s greatest edge rushers, a back who helped define his club’s personality and play for over a decade, and one of the most charismatic and prolific quarterbacks in pro football history. None made our Top 10, and you will likely have something to say about that, but all are true USFL legends.   13) DE Phil Hansen (1991-2004) A controversial figure in USFL history whose Hall of Fame induction was delayed nearly a decade after a tell-all memoire revealed significant steroid use, Hansen is still undoubtedly one of the most influential and consequential players in USFL history. Hansen came into the league in 1991 with a bang, recording 23 sacks in his first campaign with the New Jersey Generals. The 1991 Rookie of the Year would go on to top 20 sacks for 8 consecutive years, leading the league in sacks 6 times before retiring with 289 career sacks, at the time a seemingly unmatchable total. The 2001 Defensive Player of the Year was named All-USFL 13 times, but when his autobiography confessed to use of steroids, also naming several other prominent USFL and NFL players doing likewise, it derailed what would have been a fast track to Canton, Ohio. With the league now acknowledging a “steroid era” similar to Major League Baseball, we remove any asterisks from Hansen’s career and recognize him as a player who was at the top of the league’s performers for more than a decade and one of the USFL’s all time greats.   12) HB Mike Rozier (1984-1997) The second Heisman Trophy winner to join the USFL in its early years, following Herschel Walker to the spring, Mike Rozier came to the expansion Pittsburgh Maulers in the league’s second season and the team’s first. Despite Pittsburgh struggling in its early years, without a winning season or playoff appearance until 1991, Rozier became a star for the club and the league from the start. The former Nebraska Cornhusker rushed for 1,550 yards in his rookie campaign and would top 1,000 yards every season until his truncated final year in 1997, amassing a career total of 19,088 yards, a league record for career yards that would stand for over 20 years. Rozier still holds the USFL record with 134 career rushing touchdowns, winning All-USFL accolades 10 times, including a 1992 MVP award to go with his 1984 Rookie of the Year and his 1995 playoff MVP, a year in which Rozier’s 1,475 yards and 17 touchdowns helped the Maulers reach the pinnacle of USFL success, a John Bassett Trophy as league champions.   11) QB Brett Favre (1991-2005, 2007-2009) Two league titles with two different teams, over 67,000 passing yards, 558 career touchdown pases, 11 All-USFL seasons and a 4-time MVP and Brett Favre cannot crack the Top 10. Think about that for a minute. The legendary gunslinger was a perfect fit for the USFL from the get go. Favre played with the enthusiasm and joy of a kid on a sandlot, frustrating coaches with his improvisation but energizing both his teammates and his thousands of fans with his impromptu decisions and daring on-the-fly choices. Brett Favre remains one of the most talked about players in league history and his placement at 11 will likely be one of the most controversial decisions our team of “experts” made. We will let you decide that. For now, we have him solidly here at 11 as we transition to our Top 10, which likely means that every single name from now on is one you are waiting to see.     The final week of USFL byes brings us our last 12-game schedule as we head into the final 6 weeks of the season and the inevitable playoff push. That push starts now for several teams, including the Oakland Invaders, who, at 4-5, cannot afford to lay down to the unbeaten Chicago Machine. They need to get back to .500 and beyond, but this is a tough win to earn in what should be a really intense Friday night weekend kickoff game. Saturday has some other teams who need to start stringing wins together, including Memphis, who head to Atlanta for a game they are favored to win but must pull out. New England has slipped behind Baltimore by a half game, so they too are feeling some pressure as they head out to Las Vegas to face the Vipers on Saturday. In Orlando we have a matchup of two teams that are still alive but need to start making a move upwards in the standings, with 5-4 New Orleans facing off against 4-5 Orlando.   Sunday features three interesting divisional games, with 4-5 Denver needing to get back to .500 but facing a very tough 8-1 Arizona squad at Empower Field. Birmingham at 7-2 is looking very good in the Southern Division, while their foe, Houston, needs to find answers on defense after a rough loss this past weekend. Finally, EFN has a really good Sunday Night Special, with the top two teams in the Pacific going head to head at Farmers Insurance Field. Can Seattle, without Brett Hundley, produce points against that nasty LA defense, and can LA, with Andy Dalton possibly out as well, get a much-needed win to earn a share of 1 st  place? Should be a good one to wrap up Week 11. Fri. 7pm ET      Chicago (9-0 @ Oakland (4-5)                          NBC   Sat. 12pm ET   San Antonio (6-3) @ Jacksonville (2-7)              ABC Sat. 12pm ET  Memphis (5-4) @ Atlanta (3-6)                           FOX Sat. 4pm ET    New England (5-4) @ Las Vegas (3-6)              ABC Sat. 4pm ET    Oklahoma (5-3-1) @ Dallas (3-6)                     FOX Sat. 8pm ET     New Orleans (5-4) @ Orlando (4-5)                NBC Sat. 8pm ET     Ohio (5-4) @ Pittsburgh (2-7)                          ESPN/EFN   Sun 12pm ET   St. Louis (6-3) @ Charlotte (3-6)                       ABC Sun 12pm ET   Michigan (1-8) @ Tampa Bay (7-2)                  FOX Sun 4pm ET    Birmingham (7-2) @ Houston (5-4)                  ABC Sun 4pm ET    Arizona (8-1) @ Denver (4-5)                            FOX Sun 8pm ET    Seattle (6-3) @ Los Angeles (5-4)                     EFN   Byes: Baltimore, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, Washington

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Three different players from this week's Bandits-Bulls clash were recognized for our POTW consideration, including both quarterbacks, with Trevor Lawrence throwing for 431 yards and 4 TDs while Dak Prescott went for 349 and 5 TDs, so why, in a 42-35 shootout would we pick a defensive player? Well, when you record 5 sacks in one game, 3 of which ended Jacksonville drives, you deserve some kudos. So, Brian Burns, who jumped all the way to 2nd in the league with his 5-sack day gets the nod in Week 9.

Welcome to Week 9 and the midway point of the 2022 USFL season. The first half of the season has certainly provided us with a lot of excitement and quite a few surprises. Week 9 continued the trend of close games, big performances, and potential season-impacting trades. We will break it all down, including our Game of the Week which saw Philadelphia and Houston go into overtime before a winner was decided. We start with our Big Story, and in typical midyear fashion, we are focused on the coaches who are beginning to feel some heat, a need to get results quickly or risk finding that pink slip on their desk come Black Monday. We will start there, then recap all the week’s action, break down the news of the week, and preview Week 10 as we start to await the first playoff locks and the mad dash towards the postseason.   Midseason Hotseat for USFL Coaches As we have said, midseason is when coaches really start to feel the pressure of unmet expectations. Whether it is a trend over several years of diminishing returns or a sudden collapse, there is no shortage of reasons why a head coach may start to feel the temperature rising and the pressure building. We have selected 6 such coaches, coaches whose positions may well be determined in the coming weeks, with a change of fortune or a slow march towards the inevitable. Some are looking to prove they can get more out of their teams, others are trying to show that they have a plan and that the plan can start to produce results. We already know that they won’t all be successful, but there may still be time to make a case for another year and another opportunity to prove the job can get done. Here, with no further introduction, are the six coaches we believe are feeling the need to produce change now or risk losing the chance to do so later.  Kliff Kingsbury (DAL) What started as a nice upward climb, from 3-13 in 2018 to 6 wins in 2019, and a possible culture shift with a 10-6 record and a playoff appearance in 2020, has stagnated. With Dallas viewed as an up-and-comer after their 2020 playoff appearance, the Roughnecks slid back to 8-8 last season and now sit at 3-6 at the 2022 season’s midpoint. That is not what most expected from this Dallas club and their young QB Justin Herbert, not after a very solid 2020 campaign.   The issue in Dallas is twofold. The offense has not proven to be as potent as many had predicted, with Herbert seemingly plateauing after an impressive rookie campaign. His 2021 QB Rating was a solid 20 points lower than his rookie year (76.7 vs. 98.6) and 2022 is producing another year in the mid-70’s. The second factor, and perhaps the bigger issue, is that Dallas has simply not improved their defense year to year. The 2022 Roughneck D is ranked 29 th  in points allowed, giving up 27.7 per game. They are dead last against the run, allowing opposing backs an average of 126.3 yards per game, and the pass defense is not much better, sitting 23 rd  in the league. Without rapid improvement in either the offense’s ability to put points on the board or the defense’s ability to stop foes from doing the same, the Roughnecks could finish last in the SW Division, and that kind of backslide is almost certain to end Kingsbury’s run with the club.   Gary Kubiak (OAK) The Invaders sit at 4-4 right now, and are in range of Seattle, so why the negativity about Coach Kubiak? Well, when you consider that Oakland has finished 8-8 each of the past 3 years, you can see how another break-even season is going to be viewed very harshly. Davis Mills is playing well, the run game is among the league’s best, and the defense is the league’s best against the run. So why is this club sitting at .500 instead of leading the division?   That is the question Kubiak is struggling to answer. Losses in Portland and St. Louis are not sitting well with fans and there is a sense that if the Invaders cannot find their way above .500 and into the postseason, Kubiak could take the blame. Oakland could still be a factor in the Pacific Division race, and the game against 4-4 LA this week may be key to that, but if they falter, even at 8-8 once again, we think that will push ownership to make a change.  Dan Quinn (PHI) Do we really think the Stars would fire last year’s Coach of the Year because of one bad season? Ordinarily, no, we wouldn’t, but there is a lot of grumbling coming out of the Stars’ locker room, the kind of grumbling that might indicate that the coach has lost his team. That, more than a poor season, could be trouble for Dan Quinn.   The thing is, when we look at Philadelphia statistically, you could guess that they are atop the division, or at worst in the middle of the pack. They are 10 th  in total yards, including a Top 10 passing game, and they are 9 th  in yards allowed, with a Top 10 pass defense, so why are they 2-7? Well, the obvious answer is that their yards are not turning into points. They rank 19 th in points per game and 28 th  in points allowed. Too many mistakes, too many turnovers, and too many missed opportunities, all of which tend to get laid at the feet of the head coach. Our current thinking is that if the Stars can go 3-4 or better in their final 7 games, then Coach Quinn should weather the storm, but it they continue to fritter away games, the team will not stay together and will not support their coach when the rubber hits the road.  Skip Holtz (PIT) The son of famed Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz was something of an unexpected “left field” selection three years ago, but after going 10-6 in his first year with the Maulers, there was a feeling that Pittsburgh might have caught lightning in a bottle. Two years later and we have an 8-8 sophomore season and a 2-6 mark midway through Holtz’s third season. Add to that the chaos of selecting a high cost rookie QB and then trading away the starter who has led the club for over a decade and there is a lot riding on how the Maulers finish this season. A 10-loss season could be viewed as a sign that Holtz inherited a better team than he has built since. Avoiding that inglorious record means winning 5 of their final 8 games, and we are not sure that is within the realm of the possible for the Mauler squad we have seen this year.  Kevin Gilbride (WSH) If there is anything holding Kevin Gilbride back it is the question of perception vs. reality. After a 6-10 campaign in his first year, one that saw the team switch quarterbacks mid-season, there was a sense this offseason that two things were on the verge of happening in 2022. The first was that the Federals would compete for the NE Division. So far that remains very much in doubt, especially after Washington suffered key losses against New Jersey and New England in their first two games. A win in Baltimore helped, but losing to the Stars in Week 5 was no confidence builder, and a 16-0 embarrassment in New England was just plain deflating.   The second expectation may be the harder one for Gilbride to overcome. He was brought to the Federals with a reputation as an offensive schemer, a coach who could match his gameplan to the talent he had and make their skills effective in putting points on the board. The problem is that the 2022 Federals are not exactly lighting up the scoreboard. After 9 weeks they rank 22 nd  in the league in points at 19.2 per game, and 19 th  in yards. Their run game has not been much to celebrate, ranked 23 rd  of 30 teams, and they just have not proven to be very explosive despite having some very talented receivers. If Gilbride can get more out of his offense, even if the Feds finish out of the playoffs, we think he is back in 2023. If they flounder to a sub-500 record and the offense looks as it has so far this season, we don’t think he escapes Black Monday.  Sean McDermott (MGN) Look, we get it. Under McDermott, the Panthers have made the playoffs for 8 consecutive years, including a Summer Bowl appearance as recently as 2020 and a League Title in 2017. So, how can we have McDermott on the hot seat? Well, have you seen the 2022 Panthers? They are 1-7, are averaging 13.4 points per game and give up almost double that, giving them the worst margin of defeat in the league. They just lost to Pittsburgh in a battle of 1-6 clubs, and in the entire season they have not scored more than 20 points in any game. In other words, they are currently the runaway winner for Worst Team in the League. That is something no one expected to hear about the Panthers, Not with the run they have had over the past decade. So, does management put the blame on their head coach? Maybe, maybe not. They could opt to cut loose QB Kirk Cousins, who has struggled all season. They could point the finger at the GM for some pretty weak draft classes, or they could decide to clean house, make some big deals to trade away aging stars and start fresh. If it is the latter, which is drastic, but sometimes the best way to quickly rebound, then we think McDermott gets caught up in the housecleaning. If not, then he could well be back to guide a very different Panther team in 2023.   PHILADELPHIA STARS 34   HOUSTON GAMBLERS 37  OVERTIME We had a couple of unexpected shootouts this week, and while both were exciting affairs, the added drama of a last-minute field goal to send the Stars-Gamblers clash into overtime, and the drama of that extra period put this game over the top as our Game of the Week. With over 870 yards of combined offense, 31 first downs between the two teams, and 71 combined points, this one was a rip-roaring game that proved to be more than 60 minutes could contain.   Despite being an very high-scoring game, however, this was not truly a back and forth affair. Houston led or was tied for nearly 54 of the original 60 minutes, with Philadelphia only gaining the lead for a short 6-minute stretch crossing from the 3 rd  to the 4 th quarter. And yet, despite seemingly always playing from behind, there was no quit in this Stars team as they came back from being down 14-0, 21-14, 24-17, and 34-27 before finally bowing out with less than 20 seconds left to play in overtime.   The game began with Houston driving 77 yards in only 2 minutes and 4 seconds, with Colt McCoy going 3 of 4 on the opening drive, finding Mike Evans on a 39-yard connection on the game’s first play and then pushing the ball deep into Stars’ territory before recent practice-squad call up, Trayveon Williams scooted into the endzone from the 4. Williams and Clyde Edwards-Helaire would combine for 108 yards on the day, with Edwards-Helaire getting the lion’s share of the touches 26 to Williams’s 4, but on the opening drive Williams would snag his first career USFL touchdown.   After an ineffective first possession for the Stars, Houston was back in action, but in an interesting twist, it was Landry Jones coming out for the 2 nd  drive. Coach Cotrell, working with a new strategy to keep Colt McCoy fresh longer into the game, would have Jones take 1 drive per quarter all game long, a strategy that certainly paid dividends when the game went to overtime. On this 2 nd  drive, it was Landry Jones, not the 2021 MVP McCoy who would connect with JuJu Smith-Schuster to put the Gamblers up 14-0.   Philadelphia’s inauspicious start would turn around quickly on their 2 nd  possession as Carson Wentz started to heat up against a Houston defense that has struggled all year long. Wentz would finish the day going 36 of 52 for 382 yards, and after a miss on his opening drive, he was perfect on the second drive, connecting on all 4 passes, including the 20-yard strike to Randall Cobb which cut Houston’s lead in half. In a game that saw Derrick Henry facing 8- and 9-man fronts, rushing for only 33 yards, it would be Wentz taking advantage of Houston’s run-focused defense for a big game.   That big game continued after a 3-and-out on Houston’s 3 rd  possession (with McCoy back under center) gave Philadelphia a short field, starting at their own 37. Again Wentz found his mark, connecting with Elijah Moore for a 28-yarder before finding K. J. Hamler in the endzone from 15 yards out to even up the score at 15. Twenty-eight points and the first quarter still had 13 seconds left. Houston would use those 13 seconds and only 60 more before they took the lead back, this time McCoy hitting on a deep strike to Smith-Schuster to produce a 64-yard crowd-pleasing bomb. After only 73 seonds, Philadelphia was back in a hole.   The Stars climbed partially out with an Eddie Pineiro field goal on their next drive, but as the half wound down, Landry Jones, in once again, led Houston into range for Younghoe Koo to put up a kick of his own, returning the homestanding Gamblers’ lead to 7 points at the half, a fun half that saw Houston head to the locker room with a 24-17 advantage.   In the third quarter that advantage was wiped away. The Houston Gamblers had 2 punts and a fumble in the quarter while Philadelphia added 10 points to their score to take a 27-24 lead just as the third turned into the 4 th . With 4 seconds left in the 3 rd , Carson Wentz again found Randall Cobb, this time on a goalline crossing route for a 2-yard touchdown, Wentz’s 3 rd  of the day and one that gave Philadelphia their first lead, 27-24.   We entered the 4 th  with the game very much up in the air. Landry Jones again led the Gambler offense and again they were stopped short of the endzone, but the Koo kick brought them back to a tie with the Stars at 8:55 left in the game. Philadelphia would falter on their next drive, a holding penalty negating a key 3 rd  down conversion and producing a 3 rd  and 18 that led to a punt. It was one of 13 penalties for 137 yards that the Stars suffered, penalties that may well have cost them this game.   Houston responded to the defensive stop, McCoy back under center for the rest of the game, and it was Mccoy scoring his 2 nd  TD pass of the game, a 25-yard strike to Josh Reynolds, which put Houston up 7 with 5:46 to play. But, this game was all about Houston’s defense and Carson Wentz finding receivers against it, and he did once again, first connecting with Randall Cobb for 21 yarder, then TE Travis Kelce for 14, and finally back to Elijah Moore for the game tying touchdown with 12 ticks left on the clock. This game was going to overtime.   Houston won the toss and took the ball first, but after marching into Philadelphia territory, a sack of McCoy pushed them back to their own 49 and they were forced to punt. The big play was recorded by Philly DE Danielle Hunter, his 2 nd  sack of the game, but the first against McCoy. On Philadelphia’s possession, the offense got the ball as far as their own 44, but Wentz missed on a 3 rd  and 7 throw to Kelce, with safety Jessie Bates helping to break up a throw that was just behind Philadelphia’s talented tight end.   Houston got the ball back with 5:02 left to play, and they opted to move slowly, with Edwards-Helaire seeing the ball 4 times and McCoy throwing only 3 passes. As the Gamblers moved into Philadelphia territory and into range for Younghoe Koo, they ate up clock, ensuring that if their kicker were to miss, there would not be time for Philadelphia to turn a tie into a Houston loss with a last second field goal. Coach Quinn did not use timeouts to preserve time, so when Koo lined up for a 49-yarder, the result would either be a Houston overtime win or a tie between the two teams. Koo’s kick was true, splitting the uprights with distance to spare and the Gamblers escaped a major upset, Philadelphia had shown the issues in Houston’s defense, but the Gambler offense, with Colt McCoy rested throughout, but able to play the final 25 minutes of action, had prevailed.   DENVER 24   ARIZONA 26 A fun one to be sure at State Farm Stadium, but despite a furious 4 th  quarter comeback, Denver could not get the edge and upend the Wranglers. Two early TDs from Nassib to Brandon Aiyuk set up Arizona with the lead, one they never relinquished despite scores from C. J. Prosise, Jonathan Ward, and Golden Tate. Denver gets close, but close is not enough as they drop to 4-5. POTG:  Wrangler DE Bud DuPree: 4 Tck, 2 Sck, 1 Sfty   TAMPA BAY 42  JACKSONVILLE 35 Talk about fun, this was a shootout from the opening drive, with Dak Prescott hitting Dez Bryant on a 73-yard TD 3 plays into the game. Jacksonville responded, with Trevor Lawrence throwing for 431 yards and 4 TDs, but the Jacksonville QB was also sacked 10 times. TEN TIMES! That included a downright nasty 5 sacks from Bandit DE Brian Burns. Meanwhile Prescott finished with fewer yards (349) but with 5 touchdowns and the W, which is all the Bandits really wanted anyway. POTG:  Bandit DE Brian Burns: 6 Tck, 1 TFL, 5 Sck   NEW ENGLAND 13   NEW JERSEY 31 The Generals tighten up the NE Division race by taking care of the Steamrollers at MetLife Stadium. The New Jersey D picked off Ryan Tannehill twice, including an Aldon Smith rumbling pick-six touchdown, and limited Breece Hall to only 29 yards rushing. Meanwhile, Tony Pollard and rookie Kyren Williams combined for 114 yards and 2 scores as the Generals controlled the game, building up a 31-6 lead until late in the 4 th . POTG:  New Jersey CB Aqib Talib: 7 Tck, 4 PDef, 1 Int   SAN ANTONIO 22  BALTIMORE 21 A nice road win for the Gunslingers as they bounced back from a 21-7 deficit with a 4 th  quarter pick-six from Jaquan Johnson followed by a 2-minute drill that produced a Flacco to Rhamondre Stevenson TD with 37 seconds to play, breaking the hearts of over 45,000 Blitz fans on hand for this one. Jake Locker threw 3 early touchdowns, but the D could not hold as this one slipped away late for the Blitz. POTG:  San Antonio CB Jaquan Johnson: 4 Tck, 2 PDef, 1 Int, 1 Def TD   NEW ORLEANS 13  PORTLAND 3 A muddy field and a wet day meant a low scoring slugfest in Portland as the Breakers sack Marcus Mariota 7 times and pick him off 3 times in a defensive gem. The Breakers also struggled on offense, with only 193 total yards, but hey did get the one big play that gave them the win, a 33-yard strike from Geno Smith to Jordy Nelson. That proved enough as Portland sank into the muck. POTG:  New Orleans CB Tra’Davious White: 8 Tck, 2 PDef, 1 Int   LAS VEGAS 14  DALLAS 27 Two defensive touchdowns saved Dallas from embarrassment as their offense produced only 14 yards rushing. Samson Ebukam returned a poor Gardner Minshew throw 20 yards for the pick six, and Ja’Sir Taylor picked up a Kareem Hunt fumble and ran it back for a score as well. Throw in a Herbert to Pharaoh Brown TD throw and that was enough to upend a sloppy Las Vegas club. POTG:  Dallas CB Ja’Sir Taylor: 7 Tck, 2 FF, 1 FR, 1 TD   CHARLOTTE 14   ORLANDO 17 Orlando put the first 14 points on the board and then withstood as Charlotte tried to claw back into the game. It was hardly an offensive showcase for either team, though Chris Carson’s 98 yards helped Orlando shorten the game and kill clock late. Phillip Lindsay had 99 yards for Charlotte, but with Paxton Lynch only able to put up 187, the Monarchs fall short and drop to 2-6 halfway through their schedule. POTG:  Orlando HB Chris Carson: 22 Att, 98 Yds, 1 TD   OKLAHOMA 26  WASHINGTON 26  OVERTIME We got our first tie of the season as the Outlaws and Federals both put field goals on the board in extra time. After tying the game on a 53-yard field goal with 20 seconds to play, Oklahoma watched as Washington put 3 on the board in the opening drive of overtime. They responded with a drive and another Kai Forbath kick to even the game at 26, and that would be the way it ends as neither team could find a game winner. Travis Etienne had a strong day for the Feds, rushing for 97 yards and a score, but the combo of Lacy and QB Jalen Hurts put 114 yards on the board, along with two Eddie Lacy touchdowns. But, all said, a tie is a tie. POTG:  Outlaw QB Jalen Hurts: 35/50, 326 Yds, 0 TD, 1 Int, 10 Att, 48 Yds   MICHIGAN 11   PITTSBURGH 14 A game between two 1-win teams was bound to be ugly, and this one was. After a scoreless first quarter, Kenny Pickett found Brian Quick for a short TD, with Sony Michel adding a 2 nd  late in the 3 rd  to give Pittsburgh a 14-3 lead. Michigan got a late Ryan Izzo TD and went for 2 to draw within 3, but the Maulers managed to run out the clock without giving Michigan a chance to hit a game-tying kick. POTG:  Pittsburgh MLB Brian Cushing: 9 Tck, 1 FF, 1 FR   OHIO 27   SAN DIEGO 31 Despite 297 yards passing and 91 more on the ground from Justin Fields, the Glory get upended in San Diego by a surprising Thunder offense. Charles Sims was front and center, rushing for 120 yards and 2 TDs, but QB Mason Rudolph played well also, going 15 of 21 for 234 yards and 2 TDs. Ohio had the lead 27-24 with 5:14 to play, but the Thunder rolled down the field, with Rudolph hitting Luke Willson for the game winner just after the 2-minute warning. Needing 4, Ohio had to go for a touchdown and it proved just too far to go in the time remaining as San Diego earns their 3 rd win. POTG:  San Diego HB Charles Sims: 24 Att, 120 Yds, 2 TD   CHICAGO 31  ATLANTA 20 Sam Bradford threw for 3 scores, Rachaad White added another, and the defense held Nick Chubb to 61 yards as Chicago built up a 24-6 lead and held off Kyler Murray in his first action with Atlanta to earn their 8 th  win in 8 tries. Murray came in for an ineffective Rosen, and while his legs helped him against Chicago’s defense, including a nice play where he escaped the pocket and found A. J. Green for a 44-yard TD, it was not enough as Chicago kept the Fire at bay all game. POTG:  Machine QB Sam Bradford: 21/30, 239 Yds, 3 TD, 0 Int   Lawrence & Prescott Put on a Show While the overtime battle between the Stars and the Gamblers was our eventual GOTW, we gave a lot of thought to the 77-point shootout between in-state rivals Tampa Bay and Jacksonville. The Bandits entered the game as 12 point favorites, with the Vegas books showing very little confidence in the Bulls’ ability to keep pace with Coach Trestman and the Bandit Ball offense. But on this day, with the heat index closing in near 100 degrees, the Bulls did not wither. They had their best offensive game of the year, with Trevor Lawrence throwing for 431 yards and 4 touchdowns. Both NFL import Christian Kirk and TE Eric Ebron went well over100 yards on the day, with the big man racking up 145 and a TD on 4 catches, while Kirk brough in 3 for 130 and a TD. And, yes, from those numbers you can tell it was all about the big play. Lawrence’s 4 TD passes were from 3, 7, 59, and 74 yards. Jacksonville also had a 59-yard pick six from Isaiah Oliver, but it still proved to be one score too few.   For their part, the Bandits put up 501 yards of offense, including 118 yards on the ground from Dalvin Cook and 349 through the air for Dak Prescott. Prescott also one-upped Trevor Lawrence, throwing 5 touchdowns to the Bull QB’s 4. Prescott found his tight end, James Cameron, for 2 scores, but also connected with Dez Bryant on a 73-yard scoring throw, and short touchdown throws to Deebo Samuel and Ryan Grant. Prescott may not have put up the yards that Lawrence had, but his 5 TDs, along with a Bobby Rainey scoring run gave the Bandits a 42-21 advantage in the 4 th  quarter, a lead that even two late Lawrence TD throws could not overcome.  Houston Tries New Strategy in Shootout Win When Colt McCoy announced his battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, fans worried that there would come a day when an exhausted McCoy would not be able to lead the team in the final minutes of a close game. Apparently Coach Ted Cotrell had also thought of this. This week’s game turned out to be the perfect scenario, a nip and tuck game that went nearly a full additional 15 minutes beyond standard time. Call Coach Cotrell savvy or perhaps clairvoyant, but he picked the right week to try a new strategy, pulling McCoy from the game in each quarter, allowing him extended rest after a long drive and having Landry Jones take over for short stints so that McCoy would be available late in the game.   It was a strategy with a lot of possible flaws, including the loss of momentum with each QB change, and the possibility that either QB could lose focus, come in cold, and produce a turnover at the worst possible time. But that did not happen. Jones proved a capable stand-in, going 4 of 10 for 65 yards and a touchdown, while a rested McCoy went 10 of 17 for 264, two touchdowns, and was able to play the entire overtime period, helping Houston get in position for the game winning field goal. It is a plan we should expect to see moving forward, and while it certainly is not guaranteed to work every time, there is a confidence factor that comes in to play when McCoy is able to finish out games.  Flacco’s Big Day Nets Win & Stat Boost Joe Flacco’s 312-yard, 28 of 39, 2 TD passing day against Baltimore not only helped the Gunslingers earn the road win and improve to 6-3 on the year, but also boosted his yardage total to the top of the list of all USFL quarterbacks. Flacco’s 2,421 yards at midseason is more than 150 yards ahead of 2 nd  place, Birmingham’s Cam Newton (2,286). Flacco still ranks 9 th  among USFL quarterbacks with a 99.2 QB Rating, hurt by 9 picks and only 14 touchdowns on the year, but when your former expansion team is now 6-3 and you are leading the league in yardage, maybe you don’t care as much that you are not pulling in a 120 point QB rating. After all, the league’s best QB rating is Josh Allen’s 122.9 and the Gold are below .500. We think Flacco is happier where he is.  Sims the Difference in Thunder Strike One of the bigger upsets of the week was San Diego’s 31-27 victory over Ohio. The key to that victory was a 24-carry, 120-yard, 2-TD performance from 2021 breakout star Charles Sims. With uncertainty at QB for the Thunder, Sims has been the focus of pretty much every defense the Thunder have played this year, a fact evident in his dip from 4.0 YPC in 2021 to 3.2 midway through this season. But despite the reduced production, Sims has been able break out a couple of times, including a 102-yard game against Seattle that also saw him add 50 more through the air. This week’s performance, was Sims’s 3 rd  100-yard game of the year, and it helps keep alive hopes that the Thunder are improving as a team. After scoring only 3 wins in all of 2021, the Thunder have already matched that total. They have an improved defense, allowing only 18.7 PPG, and with Sims leading the way, the offense is improving.   First Tie of the Season Helps No One Houston avoided a tie with a late Younghoe Kim field goal in overtime, but neither the Federals nor the Outlaws could manage a game winner as the two battled to the season’s first tie. Both teams scored in overtime, but with the two kicking field goals on back-to-back drives, neither got an advantage and the game ended with both stuck at 26 points. The tie keeps Oklahoma in 2 nd  place in the Southwest, but still pushes them another half-game behind Arizona, who now stand 2.5 games up at 8-1. For Washington, sitting at 3-5-1, the tie means they remain in 4 th place, 1.5 games behind division-leading New England, but also behind both 5-4 clubs, Baltimore and New Jersey.   Trades Continue before Friday’s Deadline We are in the final days before Friday’s Trade Deadline, and we are still seeing deals getting done. We had two over the past 5 days which are both signs that teams on the fringe of playoff contention are still working the wires to try to get the pieces in place that can help them make a late season push. Both Orlando and Denver made moves this week to address needs, both securing talent from teams in sell-mode at the midpoint of the season.   For Orlando the goal was to add an outside weapon after the season-ending injury to Brashad Perriman. The found what they were looking for in Portland receiver Josh Gordon . The Stags offered Gordon to Orlando, but at a pretty steep price, acquiring DE Chase Winovich as well as a 3 rd  round pick in this January’s draft. Winovich had 8 sacks for the Memphis Showboats last year, came to Orlando in free agency, but has struggled with the Renegades. He now gets a new start out West as he joins the Stags, who are still hoping to get rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux back from injury before the season concludes. For Orlando, they get themselves a deep threat receiver who already has 49 receptions and 636 yards on the season. Gordon is likely going to take on Perriman’s role as the deep ball threat for Russell Wilson, allowing Braxton Berrios to focus on his slot work and Nelson Agholor to work the mid-level routes.   The other big move was made by the Denver Gold, who gave up two draft picks to get some help in the secondary. San Diego was willing to let their “swing” safety, Landon Collins go to the Mile High City in return for a 4 th  rounder both this January and in 2024. Collins, who has been cycling in behind both SS Marquise Blair and FS Jordan Fuller, will now get a full time starting gig in Denver, taking over for Camryn Bynum, who has struggled for the Gold in the season’s first half. That means that Collins will now be a full-time free safety, leaving the SS position to Nick Cross.   We still have just over 2 full days before the trade window closes, and while we are not hearing any huge news or major rumors, there is no guarantee that the trading block has seen its last deal. Week 10 is a tough deadline with 7 more weeks of action, but there are certainly teams that could use a late infusion of talent in a key position, especially teams like both Orlando and Denver, who are sitting on the outside of the early playoff picture, looking in with envy.   A better week than most, but still several players who will miss action, including a key member of the Orlando defense in LB Darryl Shaprton, and both of Denver’s rookie linemen, with Jergens out up to a month with an ACL sprain, while LT Evan Neal could miss this week after suffering a concussion. Jacksonville has said that their young WR Tee Higgins could be a gameday decision, as could both Josh Jacobs for the Blitz and Samaje Perine for Dallas.   OUT C        Cam Jergens         DEN            ACL               2-4 Weeks DT          Akim McNeill          CHA                Knee               2-4 Weeks G            Logan Bruss           PHI                  Knee                1-2 Weeks G            Daniel Kilgore        OHI                 ACL                  1-2 Weeks LB           Darryl Sharpton      ORL                 Shoulder         1-2 Weeks LB           Jelani Jenkins          HOU                Hand                1-2 Weeks   DOUBTFUL CB          Jason Verritt           CHI              Groin WR         Tee Higgins             JAX                 Ankle   QUESTIONABLE OT          Evan Neal                DEN              Concussion CB          Amani Oruwarije    PHI                  Toe OT          Ross Burton              TBY                 Hand SS           Delarin Turner-Yell   MEM                Collarbone CB          Keenan  Lewis          JAX                  Groin HB         Josh Jacobs             BAL                  Thigh HB         Samaje Perine         DAL              Pinched Nerve   Divisional Prediction Update We have been doing this long enough, and you have likely been reading our posts long enough to know that we are horrible at predictions. We tend to lean too heavily on the past year’s results, underestimate season-to-season momentum and offseason roster shifts, as well as the impact of aging on players. So, we often get both our season record picks way out of whack with what happens on the field, and our award winners misaligned with how the votes eventually go. This year is no different, though there were some picks that came through, while others now look ridiculous. We offer now our usual mid-season reassessment, complete with a statistical breakdown where we look at each division, the wins and losses, but also the rankings in the 4 major team statistical categories: points per game, yards per game, points allowed, and yards allowed. Those four stats can tell the story as to why some teams are looking like surefire playoff contenders, others are up and down, and some are just down all the time. After our assessment, we will recalibrate our picks for the end of the year, maybe with 9 weeks of results we can be a bit more accurate.                 RECORD   DIV           PPG YPG  PPGA  YPGA NE            5-3                  3-2           14            16            10             18 NJ            5-4                   3-0          16            26          23            29 BAL          5-4                  2-2           9               12          19             5 WSH       3-5-1               1-4           22             19          16            27 PHI          2-7                  1-2           19            10          28              9   What stands out in the NE Division is that we don’t have a lot of superlatives. We have odd combinations, like a Philadelphia defense which does not give up yards but is among the league’s worst in giving up points. That is almost certainly a byproduct of their turnover issues. On the positive side, watch out for Baltimore. Their stats should have them atop the division, with a very solid defense and a good offense. They are only ½ game back, so we think they make a run. But we should note that NJ has the division record advantage, not having lost at all in division this season. If they can finish 5-1 or 4-2 in the division, they will likely get the tiebreaker. Something to watch.   As for our picks, we said in the preseason that this division would be a cluster, and it has proven us right. We did not see Philadelphia collapsing entirely but did tip our hats at the job John Fox is doing in New England. So, after looking at 8 or 9 games for each team, and after breaking down the stats, what do we see now? Honestly there is still a cluster, but we think the good money may be on Baltimore to rise up the list. They have a Top 10 scoring offense and their defense is solid. We will change our pick to have them on top by season’s end, but don’t be surprised if at least 1 other team finds a path to the playoffs from the top 4 in the division right now.                     RECORD     DIV         PPG      YPG       PPGA    YPGA TBY        6-2                 5-0           2           2               9             6            ORL          4-4                  2-3           23            24          12             23 ATL       3-5               2-1          24             7            22              3 CHA         2-6                   2-3           27            25          13             24 JAX         2-6                    0-4          17            28          30            30   No shock that the Bandits are light years beyond the 4 other clubs in the SE Division. They are Top 10 in all 4 categories. If you are looking for a late challenger, it would seem Atlanta is in a better position, but they need to figure out how they can be so good in yards allowed and still give up so many points. With only 1 division loss, we think Atlanta could make a run, but we will need to see how the QB battle develops now that Kyler Murray is in town to challenge Josh Rosen. And, as if there was any doubt why Jacksonville is disappointing at 2-6, well, having the worst defense in the league is a pretty good indicator that you won’t win a lot of games.   It was not really hard to pick Tampa Bay to repeat as Division Champs back in February, and after 9 weeks, the Bandits look to be well in control of the division. We were more hopeful about Atlanta, but the loss of Aaron Murray was certainly a huge factor in why they have struggled to reach and stay above .500. We think they still have possibilities, as does Orlando, but there is a good chance that Tampa Bay will just expand their division lead, and every possibility that the Southeast could be swept out of any Wild Card spots by the other two divisions.                  RECORD      DIV          PPG      YPG       PPGA    YPGA BIR         6-2                  2-2            3               1           20             7 SAN       6-3                    2-1          11             3            14            12 MEM     5-3                   3-1        15            23             2           10 HOU     5-3                    2-3          5             4            26             25 NOR      5-3                  1-3           6            11            4            19   A division where every team is over .500 is what you see here, with every team having at least one Top 5 statistical category. Birmingham can take the division if they can figure out how to force teams to kick more field goals and give up fewer TDs. San Antonio needs to get more out of their drives, though their numbers across the board should be playoff-worthy. Memphis is living on their defense, Houston on their offense, and New Orleans. Well, they score a lot, they keep teams from scoring, so that is a nice combo heading into the 2 nd  half of the season. We could see 4 teams from this division qualify if they don’t knock each other off within the division.   Hard to pick against the Stallions the way they are playing, and while San Antonio has surprised us with their offensive production, we think they could fade down the stretch as Memphis, Houston and the Stallions take some shots at them. We see 3 teams coming out of this cluster and into the playoffs, but it could well be 4. The hardest thing to predict at this point is which club will falter and end up in the basement, though very possibly an 8-8 or even 9-7 basement. With Carlos Hyde out for a while to come, it may be Houston, who also seem to have some issues on defense as the numbers above indicate.                                 RECORD     DIV          PPG      YPG       PPGA    YPGA CHI           8-0                 5-0       4              6              1             1 STL       5-3                 2-2       10             13            5            16 OHI          4-4                 2-2          20             20           15            12 PIT            2-6                  2-3         29            30           11            2 MGN        1-7                 0-4           30             18          27             17   Like Tampa Bay, the Chicago Machine don’t exactly mystify us as to why they are winning. You cannot have the top defense in both key stats and have the 4 th  highest scoring team without winning a lot of games. Looking at the others in the division, St. Louis is the clear 2 nd  option. Pittsburgh would be a lot tougher if they had any semblance of an offense, while Michigan is dead last in scoring and near the bottom in points allowed, a combo that does not bode well for the rest of the year in Detroit.   Chicago is much better than we expected, Michigan incredibly worse than anticipated, and Ohio just too inconsistent to trust. We are believers in what St. Louis is doing and overwhelmed to see they have a Top 5 scoring defense. We have not seen that in nearly a decade. It still seems like Chicago is just on a different level, and they should lock up the division in short order, but St. Louis, and perhaps Ohio as well, could be in the Wild Card mix. As for Pittsburgh and Michigan, start working towards 2023.                                    RECORD    DIV          PPG      YPG       PPGA    YPGA ARZ          8-1               5-0         2              5              8             22 OKL     5-3-1               2-1        18            27          17             26 DEN         4-5                  2-2          7              9             25              14 DAL     3-6                  2-3           8              15           29             28 LV          3-6                 0-5            21              8            21            4   Arizona can score, no doubt. And, apparently, they can keep teams from scoring, but why so many yards given up? We think that is the result of playing with a lead so often and letting up on defense late in games. Only way to explain it. If I had to guess who finished 2 nd , these numbers point to Denver over Oklahoma. The Gold offense has options, and they keep making deals to improve the D, so we may see those numbers improve as well. Now, will someone tell Las Vegas that gaining yards and preventing teams from doing the same is great, but the key is to score points and prevent foes from doing so. They seem to have forgotten that.   It appears that we overestimated Arizona’s decline. They do not look like a team whose championship window has closed. Ryan Nassib’s return has worked better than anyone hoped, producing the league’s 2 nd  best offense (we think rookie Tyler Allgeier has also been a huge factor there), and while being 22 nd  in yards allowed is not great, being 8 th  in scoring is certainly a good indicator that Arizona is not going to go down without a fight when the division crown is on the line. We have seen enough from both Oklahoma and Denver to picture them in the postseason, especially if they can string together some wins to build momentum. Dallas and Las Vegas are just not there, not yet at least.                             RECORD       DIV           PPG      YPG       PPGA    YPGA SEA          5-3                   2-2           13            21           17            15 OAK      4-4                  3-1          12            14          18            11 LA          4-4                  2-1          28            29             7             8 SD          3-6                  1-4       26            22            6            21 POR     2-7                 2-2           25             17          24             20   Another relatively balanced division, with Seattle having the best aggregate ratings, LA living on defense, and the Invaders looking like a possible contender, especially if they can improve in their scoring defense. That means more 3 rd  down stops and more field goals vs. TDs. San Diego is an intriguing case as they give up quite a few yards but have learned how to tighten up in the red zone, giving up points like a playoff contender.   Seattle looks solid, if not quite as strong as last year. Oakland is balanced, with no ranking below 18 th , while LA is all about the defense. If Andy Dalton can change that in short order, we could see the Express make a run. Even if they could be mediocre on offense, that could be enough. Portland is a huge disappointment this year, and San Diego still has a lot of questions to answer. Our best bet here is that Seattle hangs on, but LA and Oakland will be in the mix all the way to Week 17.   Award Prediction Update While our preseason divisional picks may have been way off base, or hit and miss to be more accurate, we fared a bit better with our award winner picks. We still think some adjustments might be needed, as a few of the USFL stars we expected to be at the top of their games are not quite there and, as always happens, a few new names have popped up to the top of everyone’s list. Here is our revised look at the five big USFL awards, with our new frontrunners for each.   MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Preseason Favorites:  Dak Prescott, Josh Allen, Colt McCoy, LeVeon Bell Updated Favorites:  While all four of our preseason picks are looking pretty good, with Bell perhaps slipping a bit as his Michigan team has fallen on hard times, we would now have to add a few more names to the mix, starting with Birmingham QB Cam Newton, who has a combined 25 touchdowns (19 passing, 6 rushing) and whose passing yards (2,286) are complemented by his 318 yards rushing. With the Stallions at 6-2 and looking very much like a contender for the 1 seed, Newton will certainly be a popular choice for the MVP title.   OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Preseason Favorites: LeVeon Bell, Josh Jacobs, Knowshon Moreno, Dez Bryant Updated Favorites:  At this point in the year, with LeVeon Bell 2 nd  on the rushing leaderboard, behind only Derrick Henry, he is certainly not out of the running (no pun intended), but both his Panthers and Henry’s Stars are at the bottom of the standings, which does not usually produce award winners. Josh Jacobs and Knowshon Moreno are both in the Top 5 among rushers and their teams are in better shape, but the new frontrunner has to be a Dez Bryant repeat as OPOTY. Bryant leads the league with 974 yards receiving and has 7 touchdowns. A new name in the pool could be Birmingham’s Henry Ruggs. Ruggs is currently 7 th  in the league in yards, but could easily find himself in the top 5 by season’s end. He leads the league with 9 touchdowns in 9 games and, to state it again, Birmingham is looking like a Summer Bowl contender this year.   DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR Preseason favorites: Bud DuPree, Jordan Poyer Updated favorites: DuPree sits at 10 sacks, 4 behind Memphis’s J. J. Watt, so unless he has a huge surge (which is possible) we think Watt may be favored, especially if Memphis can keep the pressure on Birmingham in the South. Tampa Bay’s Brian Burns is a darkhorse, coming out of nowhere to rack up 13 sacks (5 in one game) to take 2 nd  in the sack leaderboard. Seattle’s Richard Sherman (5 picks) and Khalil Mack could also be in the running. As for Jordan Poyer, our preseason dark horse, the Machine are still unbeaten, but the defender getting more attention is CB Josh Norman, with 3 picks and 42 tackles to lead the team in both categories. Let’s add him to the list of DPOTY candidates as well.   ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Preseason Favorites: Breece Hall, Christian Watson, Aiden Hutchinson, Kayvon Thibodeaux, Sauce Gardner Updated Favorites: We clearly missed one in our preseason picks, San Antonio WR Garrett Wilson, and now, 9 games in, we have to have Wilson at the top of the list. The Gunslinger wideout has 58 catches, 783 yards and 3 scores and has helped Joe Flacco hang with the best QBs in the league. If Wilson falters as the season wears on, there may be room for Hall (494 Yards, 2 TD), Watson (50 Rec, 625 Yds, 4 TD), or Hutchinson (10 Sacks) to get in the mix, but right now we think Wilson has to be the frontrunner.   COACH OF THE YEAR Preseason Favorites: Kevin Gilbride, Marvin Lewis, any other 1 st year coach Updated Favorites: Picking COTY candidates is always tough because so much depends on the team’s success compared with everyone’s perception of their talent and likelihood for success. Right now, with the standings where they are, we think the two frontrunners are likely the head coaches of the two 2020 expansion teams. John Fox has New England atop the NE Division at 5-3 while Chuck Long has the Gunslingers in the mix in a very tough Southern Division at 6-3. Both could well have their clubs in the postseason in their 3 rd  year in the league, which is certainly an impressive feat. If there is a dark horse in this race it is St. Louis’s Brian Schottenheimer, who has the Skyhawks at 5-3 and looking like a solid Wild Card contender in his second season.   Summer Bowl Prediction Update Looking back to our Season Preview, we went pretty conservatively, picking Tampa Bay and having Seattle as our backup, basically the 2 teams from 2021’s Summer Bowl tilt. Both of those teams are looking solid, with both atop their divisions, but at the midway point of the season we have to add the unbeaten Chicago Machine to the list of favorites, as well as the 8-1 Arizona Wranglers, and the 6-2 Birmingham Stallions. Right now, if we had to make a pick, we would have to go with Chicago out of the West and Birmingham out of the East. We just cannot go against a team that has yet to lose, so we are going for Chicago as the 2022 champion, though all the others we have mentioned, including the Wranglers, could be there as well. In other words, the 2022 postseason should be a good one.   40 Greatest Players in 40 USFL Seasons: 16-14 Let’s face it, every player on our list is amazing, and the names will just keep getting more and more familiar. We kick off our list today with our top-rated safety in league history, a pick that is sure to have detractors as the Polamalu-Blades debate rages on. We then move on to another beloved QB, but one whose resume has one glaring hole in it that keeps him out of the Top 10 on our list. Finally, it is another of the great receivers who have come to be the faces of the USFL and its love of the deep ball.   16) S Troy Polamalu (2003-2018) We know we will get some pushback on this selection, because we know there are tons of Bennie Blades fans out there who cannot believe we are putting Polamalu this far above their guy, with the former Wrangler 10 spots above the former Showboat and Blitz safety. If we look at the numbers, that seems patently unfair. Polamalu’s numbers are impressive: 1,157 tackles, 52 Sacks, and 16 picks. But, Blades simply had more on paper: 1,256 tackles, 54 sacks, 20 picks.   So, why are these two so far apart, and why did we give Polamalu a much higher stop on our list? Well, you could call it recency bias, with Blades out of the USFL since 2003, while Polamalu retired 4 years ago in 2018. But we like to think it is about more than numbers, it is about impact on the game, and when you talk about impact, that has Troy Polamalu written all over it. Blades was an outstanding safety in the traditional mold of what safeties were, deep defenders with occasional run-stuffing or blitz responsibilities. Polamalu was different. He was like a linebacker with cornerback speed. He was as dangerous at the line of scrimmage as he was in centerfield, and the hits, you cannot understate the psychological impact that Troy Polamalu had on slot receivers, backs, tight ends, and wideouts when they dared to come into the middle of the field. Both are outstanding football players, but for our money, the intimidation factor that Polamalu brought for the Wranglers was huge, and worth a big jump up the board.   15) QB Jake Plummer (1997-2014) For every USFL fan who is miffed that Troy Aikman was in our first 10 players announced (33 rd spot), there will be more who are incensed that Jake Plummer is not in our Top 10. Yes, he was practically the prototype for a USFL dual-threat QB (though we would argue that Doug Flutie, Reggie Collier, and even Walter Lewis were there first). Yes, he ranks 1 st  in league history in passing yards with 59,759, is 4 th  in touchdowns, and was a 2-time MVP and 8-time All-USFL selection. All outstanding numbers, good enough to place him above Troy Aikman, but not into our Top 10.   Two things hold Jake the Snake back. First off, the picks. We all loved Jake Plummer, but the man threw 169 picks, including seasons with 8 seasons with 10 or more. He ranks 3 rd all time, behind only Doug Flutie (253, ouch!) and Matt Hasselbeck (172), neither of whom made the 40 Greatest list despite being huge stars in the league. The other reason we have Plummer outside the top 10, and several QBs above him is pretty basic. He never won a title. It’s just that simple. We know it is not entirely fair to say that a QB without a title cannot be superior to one with a title, but when we look at the QB’s ahead of him, they have all the accolades, but they also have a championship ring (or several) as well. We want to celebrate Plummer, just as the NFL celebrates Dan Marino, but like Marino, the absolute elite QBs are judged on titles, and that is just an area where Plummer cannot be in the same conversation as some of the QBs to come.   14) WR Joey Galloway (1995-2012) First all time in yards (24,313), Second in receptions (1,300), and second in touchdowns (167), Joey Galloway is among the absolute elite of USFL receivers. He is, in fact the 2 nd receiver in our ranking, but with so many superstars at other positions, that very enviable position was not enough to put him in our Top 10. We know that seems unbelievable in a league known for passing, but our Top 10 includes 4 defenders, 2 backs, and 2 QBs, along with our top-rated WR in league history, so there just was not a way to move Galloway up. We wish the Top 10 had 20 spots, but that is just not how lists work.   Galloway was about as consistent a receiver as you could hope for, with 14 thousand-yard seasons and a streak of 8 years in which he scored double digit touchdowns. Galloway topped 100 catches in 1996, ’98, ’99, and then again in 2012, his final year in the league. He helped Ohio complete their amazing 2-year run with 2 titles and an unbeaten season, then, in the twilight of his career, helped Tampa Bay win a title in 2011. With 12 All-USFL awards and the 1996 OPOTY award, Galloway is one of the very best at what he did, and one of the names most frequently included in the “Who did it best” conversations about his position. But, we had to put one receiver ahead of him and when you see who it is, you likely will agree.   Week 10 is the fourth of our five 12-game bye week schedules, with Week 11 wrapping up the bye season. This week we have the entire Soutwest Division and the San Antonio Gunslingers all taking their week of rest and recovery. That means some late afternoon games coming out of the Eastern Conference for a rare summer treat (for those who love humidity). But, even with some oddly timed games, we have a good week of action kicking off on Friday night when NBC will broadcast a California Derby between the Express and the Invaders. This one should be a big one for both teams, with each sitting at 5-4 and hoping to get back into the race with 5-3 Seattle.   Seattle is in action on Saturday, hosting the New Orleans Breakers in a battle of 5-win clubs on ESPN’s Saturday night special. The other night game should also be a good one, with 4-4 Orlando headed to Protective Stadium to face the 6-2 Birmingham Stallions. Also, on Saturday it is Atlanta @ Ohio, Portland @ Houston, Pittsburgh @ Charlotte, and the Federals traveling to Charlotte to face the Monarchs.   Sunday opens with two good divisional games out of the Northeast. On ABC it will be Philadelphia headed up to Foxboro to take on the New England Steamrollers. With both the Generals and the Blitz only a half-game back, the Steamrollers cannot afford a slip up against the Stars. Those Generals and Blitz face off in Baltimore, with the winner hoping to snag a share of first place and the loser dropping to .500 after 10 games. Later in the day San Diego travels to Memphis with an upset on their minds, as do the Jacksonville Bulls who will face the 5-3 Skyhawks in St. Louis. The night game looked amazing on paper this winter, when the schedule came out, but now could be an ugly one, with 1-7 Michigan limping into Chicago to face the unbeaten Machine. If ever Chicago was going to get some payback for all their bad losses to Michigan over the years, this is the game where it could happen.   Fri. 7pm ET       Los Angeles (4-4) @ Oakland (4-4)                   NBC   Sat. 12pm ET     Pittsburgh (2-6) @ Tampa Bay 6-2)                   ABC Sat. 12pm ET     Washington (3-5-1) @ Charlotte (2-6)             FOX Sat. 4pm ET       Portland (2-7) @ Houston (5-3)                          ABC Sat. 4pm ET       Atlanta (3-5) @ Ohio (4-4)                                 FOX Sat. 8pm ET       Orlando (4-4) @ Birmingham (6-2)                   NBC Sat. 8pm ET       New Orleans (5-3) @ Seattle (5-3)                 ESPN/EFN   Sun 12pm ET    Philadelphia (2-7) @ New England (5-3)         ABC Sun 12pm ET   New Jersey (5-4) @ Baltimore (5-4)                FOX Sun 4pm ET       San Diego (3-6) @ Memphis (5-3)                    ABC Sun 4pm ET       Jacksonville (2-6) @ St. Louis (5-3)                  FOX Sun 8pm ET      Chicago (8-0) @ Michigan (1-7)                      EFN   Byes: Arizona, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Oklahoma, San Antonio

Week Eight was exciting even before the first kickoff, as a three-way trade shook up the league by sending two starting quarterbacks off to new homes. We will cover the deal that shook up three divisions and may well prove pivotal in at least two division races, our Big Story for the week. We will also review the press conference that gave us an answer to Colt McCoy’s mysterious late-game benchings, cover all the game action from a busy weekend, and offer you our second Power Ranking for the season. All that, plus three more USFL Greats are named This Week in the USFL.   Dalton & Murray Part of 3-Way Deal We told you something was in the works last week, and not 2 days later, on Friday the deal was done. It ended up a 3-team deal between the Maulers, Express, and Fire that included 5 players and a draft pick changing hands. We’ll break it down first and then take a look at who we think may have come out on top in the deal.   The two biggest names in the deal are clearly the quarterbacks, with Andy Dalton moving from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles and Kyler Murray heading from the Express to the Fire. The deal also saw LA sending LB Anfernee Jennings to the Fire as well. Atlanta demanded on a LB as part of the deal since they were giving up two defenders to the Maulers. Atlanta sends LB Zavier Gooden as well as cornerback Desmond King to Pittsburgh, the only club not gaining a new option at QB. Finally, the Maulers provided LA with a 3 rd rounder to sweeten the deal. In the end Pittsburgh gains two defenders while Atlanta gets a QB and a linebacker and LA picks up a QB and a draft pick. But, in the big picture, who actually comes out on top? That is the question, that and how soon we will see either Dalton or Murray on the field with their new teams.   The answer to that 2 nd  question will depend a lot on how each QB adapts to a new system with new nomenclature and new emphases. LA went with Nick Foles this week, which makes sense when you consider Dalton had barely just landed when the Express headed up to Portland. Dalton made the trip, but was not in uniform. With a bye in Week 9, even money says we will see Andy Dalton under center when the Express head to Oakland for a huge Week 10 showdown in the California Derby. As for Kyler Murray, we don’t think he will jump right in. Josh Rosen has had some decent outings, and certainly gives the Fire a better chance to win than to throw Murray to the wolves before he has had a chance to learn the system. Our best guess is that if Rosen struggles this week against Chicago and in Week 10 against Ohio, we may see Murray in Atlanta’ s next home game, a Week 11 matchup with the Memphis Showboats. If Atlanta is going to go with Murray, they will want to get him some action before they have their final divisional swing. The Fire play 5 divisional games in their final 6 for the year (v. ORL, @ CHA, v. TBY, v. JAX and @ TBY). That vital 6-game stretch could well be a mini-season for Kyler Murray.   As for the Maulers, we expect both Gooden and King to be suited up this week when Pittsburgh hosts Michigan in a battle of 1-6 clubs. Gooden could spend time both in the middle and on the strong side, while King is penciled in as a nickel option right now. Overall it may be a few weeks before we see the full impact of the deal, but already there is speculation on who won and who was grasping at straws. Looking at the 3 clubs involved, there are certainly enough question marks to go around.  Los Angeles: The Express get Coach Marvin Lewis a pure drop back passer, one who has been up and down over his career, but one who certainly has the capacity to make plays from the pocket. Will that shift in offensive focus help the Express? Certainly Dalton’s reputation as a team leader and his experience will help the Express feel a bit more in control of their own destiny. But, we should remember that Dalton has already missed several weeks this season due to injury and at age 33, those injuries will likely be more frequent as Dalton’s body has succumbed to the trevails of a pocket QB.   Atlanta: This is an intriguing situation for the Fire. Josh Rosen has played relatively well over the past month, with an 89.9 QB Rating and a 4:2 TD to Int ratio. He is not making a lot of big plays, but he is not producing a lot of gaffs either. Kyler Murray was clearly struggling this year in LA. He comes to the Fire with a 67.3 QBR, 7 picks to 7 touchdowns, and has completed barely 50% of his passes (50.3%). Now, that said, the theory in Atlanta is that the Express simply did not build their offense around Murray’s skills. It seems clear that Coach Elizondo is interested in using more of Murray’s legs, perhaps not as a pure runner, but as a mobile QB who can throw from outside of the pocket. Pairing him with Nick Chubb should create more RPO options than we saw with Aaron Murray or are seeing now with Rosen.  Pittsburgh: The big concern among Mauler Nation is that the trade leaves Pittsburgh almost entirely reliant on their rookie QB, Kenny Pickett. Pickett has been more good than bad over his first 7 games, but the Maulers now don’t really have a fallback plan if things start to go south. Pickett is backed up by Kevin Hogan and undrafted rookie Larry McMillen, moved up from the practice squad. We honestly would not be surprised if Pittsburgh brought in a more veteran backup for Pickett. Two names to consider would be Bryan Kohler and Tyler Thigpen, both awaiting a call after not making final cuts this preseason. On the positive side, the Maulers have just added 2 very solid players to a defense that had already proven to be the backbone of the team. The Maulers may have trouble putting points on the board (they still have the league’s worst rushing attack), but their defense could prove to be even more effective than their current 2 nd  ranking in yardage and 11 th  position ranking in points allowed. Both Desmond King and Zavier King should help the Maulers with depth and athleticism in pass coverage. Gooden is also a solid tackler who could help the Maulers improve their 9 th  rated rush defense. It may not be enough for this year, but if Pittsburgh can find the pieces they need to mount a solid run game in 2023, this could be a very good deal for them long term.   MICHIGAN PANTHERS 13  OHIO GLORY 17 We have had more than ample examples of the Michigan-Ohio Border War providing us with great games, and we are not just talking about “The Game” between the Buckeyes and the Wolverines. The Panthers and Glory have also played their part in the rivalry between the two midwestern states. This week’s clash in Columbus may not have been the highest-scoring affair between the two, but it was another beauty of a game, with both teams slugging it out in the trenches and only 1 able to come out on top.   For Ohio, this game was about staying relevant in a Central Division that seems to be well in Chicago’s control. Trailing both the unbeaten Machine and the upstart St. Louis Skyhawks, Ohio, at 3-3, needed a win to get back over .500 and stay in the hunt for a Wild Card, if not a shot at Chicago and the division title. For Michigan, the stakes were very different. Coming into the game at 1-5, the Panthers needed to prove to themselves that the season was not lost, and that the issues raised in their first 6 games could be addressed without a top to bottom overhaul. Both clubs had 2 weeks to prepare for each other, with both coming off their bye week for this big showdown. The added time, and the two teams’ familiarity with each other made for a close game, a war of attrition between two clubs that simply did not want to risk and that were ready for the expected from their foe.   The lack of risk taking was more than evident in the first quarter of this divisional matchup as both defenses dominated against somewhat vanilla playcalling from both offensive playcallers. Justin Fields attempted only 1 run in the opening quarter and was easily contained. Michigan basically dove Bell or Mattison at the line multiple times. It was uninspired, though each team did manage a field goal out of the quarter, it hardly seemed like two teams going all out to earn a win, more like two teams doing everything they could not to lose the game.   The 2 nd  quarter was much of the same, both teams still sticking to an almost comical run-run-pass three down sequence of plays. Were it not for a pair of missed tackles by Ohio we might have gone into the half tied at 3-3 and with fans in the stands opting to take a nap or stay on the concourse getting some food. The first break came for the Panthers on a short hitch route to Mac Hollins. The corner whiffed on the tackle and Hollins was able to add another 15 yards for a 28-yard gain that put Michigan at the Ohio 22. That was followed 4 plays later by a Justin Blackmon bubble screen. Safety Mark Barron, normally a surehanded tackler, had a bead on Blackmon, but the receiver managed to turn a solid tackle into an arm tackle with a slight juke, and that was enough for the lanky receiver to stretch across the plane and give Memphis a 9-0 lead, 10-0 after the PAT.   That would be the score at the half, with both teams hunkered into a very cautious and very unimaginative gameplan. Fans might have hoped for a change of strategy in the second half, but it would not come. Both teams punted on their first drives of the 2 nd  half, and Ohio punted again after gaining only 1 first down on their second drive. Michigan was shadowing Fields and without the threat of his scrambles the Ohio offense seemed lifeless. Michigan’s was not much better. LeVeon Bell would finish with only 47 yards against a stacked Ohio defense. No receiver in the game would clock more than 75 yards in the game, and both defenses would continue to make the plays needed to shut down offensive threats.   Ohio’s defense, late in the quarter did one better, they not only stuffed a Michigan drive, they put points on the board in perhaps the first truly exciting play of the game. It was a 3 rd  and 11 following a false start and Kirk Cousins wanted to find Blackmon again. Cody Latimer was double covered, but it seemed like Blackmon would be in single coverage with CB Donte Jackson. Cousins reared back to throw, but just as he released the ball Ohio DE Andy Studebaker clipped his hand. The ball fluttered as it flew out to the sideline. What had been intended as a fastball turned into a change up, and that extra time allowed Jackson to adjust to the throw, turn back towards Blackmon and undercut the pass. Jackson snatched the ball away and raced down the sideline for a 38-yard pick six. It was the first time the Ohio crowd had a real reason to cheer, and it lifted their spirits and energy for the remainder of the game.   With the game now tied, we returned to a slow, plodding pace, with both teams again unable to create any excitement. When Michigan went up 3 on a Chase McLaughlin field goal at 3:37 left to play, everyone from the FOX game announcers to the peanut vender in section 202 felt confident that Ohio would find a way to kick a field goal and we would get added time with little added action. But, much like Rocky II where the Italian Stallion took punches and led with his right hand until the final round, when he switched back to his natural southpaw to catch Apollo Creed off balance, the Ohio Glory shifted their pace, their style of attack, and their sleepy style for a hurry up no huddle that similarly caught Michigan unprepared.   Ohio came to the line at their own 22 after the kickoff, with what looked like a standard 21 formation (2 backs, 1 TE, 2 receivers), but the twist was that the second back was not fullback Mike Boone but TE Jace Sternberger. What followed was a no huddle that kept Michigan’s standard 3-4 lineup on the field, with no time to bring in a nickel. In consecutive plays, first Sternberger and then rookie Kenneth Walker, left the backfield to become a third receiver split wide. That spread the Michigan linebackers and forced adjustments in the secondary. The first down play produced an 8-yard completion to Sternberger, the second a 10-yarder to Inman. With a new first down, the Glory used the set up to run Walker on a delay for 6, then on 2 nd down again it was inman for another first down. The strategy was working. In 6 plays, Ohio was on the Michigan 42, nearly in range for Robbie Gould, but with 2:27 still on the clock, there was no need to settle for 3.   Michigan would call a time out to rotate in a nickel package, but that too proved to be a problem as Ohio moved Sternberger into a lead blocker position in a traditional I formation and ran the ball 3 times to gain another first down on the Michigan 30. Those three plays took a full minute off the clock and used up the 2-minute warning. With the clock ticking, and Michigan stuck in a nickel, they kept pounding the ball with Walker, even giving TE Richard Rodgers a handoff as he went in motion, a quick hitting play that produced 5 yards and a first down at the Michigan 11. The Panthers were in trouble and they knew it. They called their final timeout with 55 seconds to play and Ohio with a 1 st  and 10 at the 11.   Michigan waited until Ohio had their offense on the field before sending out the final 2 defenders. They would not get caught in the wrong defense again. Ohio had switched to 1 back, 1 TE and 3 receivers, so it was a strong nickel for the Panthers. But with their backs to their own endzone, the Panthers were still in a rough spot. Ohio would switch to RPO to force defenders to make calls on the fly. On 1 st  and 10 Fields sprinted out left before flipping the ball to Walker for a gain of 4. On 2 nd and 6 from the 7, Fields rolled right and found Curtis Samuel on a crossing pattern for 6 more. Stopped just short of the goalline, Ohio had picked up the 1 st  and was now looking at 4 downs and 27 seconds to get the ball 1 yard to paydirt. With 2 timeouts left, they certainly could call anything they wanted for at least the first two plays.   For the first time all game you could feel the Ohio crowd in the game. The drive had animated the Glory faithful and now, with what felt like eminent victory in front of them they were in full voice, quieting only when Fields stepped under center. Still in a 3-wide formation. Rodgers shifted from right to left, Fields took the snap, faked the handoff to Walker, who dove towards the right side of the line, drawing in MLB Devin Bush. Fields rolled to the left, finding Dontrelle Inman crossing the line of scrimmage. As Sean Porter crashed down on Fields, he floated the ball to Inman, who caught it and rolled to the ground for the game winner.   It had taken 57 minutes of slow, deliberate, and, quite frankly, boring football to get 3 minutes of pure genius. Coach Gruden had lulled Michigan to sleep, and in the final minutes had turned up the pace and the heat. Justin Fields played the drive perfectly, Michigan’s defense played it about as badly as a team could, always finding themselves in the wrong defense, with the wrong personnel, or forced into split-second decisions that were manipulated by Ohio’s 2 nd  year QB. It was a brilliant end to a pretty quiet game. The kind of ending that proves that strategy is alive and well in the USFL.   NEW JERSEY 13  BIRMINGHAM 27 Sometimes it takes only one play. Cam Newton rushed the ball 6 times (4 scrambles, 2 scripted) and 5 of those carries yielded -1 yards, so nicely done by the Generals’ D. But, oof, that 6 th one: 57 yards and a score. That is the risk. Newton was also solid in the pocket, going 19 of 26 for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns. With Teddy B. dinged up and unable to go, Connor Shaw was charged with keeping up with the Stallions, and that was just too much to ask. By the half it was 24-3 Birmingham, and while they took their foot off the gas a bit in the 2 nd  half, they were never challenged, improving to 6-2 in front of nearly 48,000 very happy Alabamans in Protective Stadium. POTG : Stallion QB Cam Newton: 19/26, 293 Yds, 2 TD, 0 Int, 6 Att, 56 Yds, 1 TD   WASHINGTON 10   NEW ORLEANS 22 The Feds dropped their 2 nd  in a row, falling to 3-5 as they struggled to overcome 2 Jacoby Brissett picks and a safety from the improving Breaker D. They also struggled to contain Jordy Nelson, who brought in 6 of 7 targets for 144 yards, an average of 24 yards per catch. It was 10-7 Washington midway through the 2 nd , but the Breakers rattled off 15 unanswered to close out the game and improve to 4-3. POTG:  Breaker WR Jordy Nelson: 6 Rec, 144 Yds   ST. LOUIS 10   OKLAHOMA 14 Lamar Jackson returned to action but was clearly not back to 100%, evident in his rushing total of -3 yards on 12 attempts. The lack of run game was contagious as Oklahoma kept 8, sometimes 9 players in the box, limiting both Jackson and James Conner. The strategy worked, holding St. Louis to 63 total yards rushing. The Outlaws had better luck, with Jalen Hurts busting loose on a 28-yard TD run from the shotgun and finding DeDe Westbrook for a 16-yard TD in a 14-point third quarter that proved enough to earn the W and improve to 5-3, dropping St. Louis to the same 5-3 mark. POTG:  Oklahoma LB Dont’a Hightower: 5 Tck, 2 Sck, 1 FF   PITTSBURGH 12   LAS VEGAS 13 Even before this week’s huge trade, Pittsburgh’s defense has been the key to their game, ranked 3 rd  in the league in yards allowed. They kept Las Vegas guessing with a range of coverages and line stunts, but the offense still struggled, with Kenny Pickett completing only 18 of 38 pasisng and the run game producing only 57 yards on the ground. Despite their offensive issues, the Maulers pulled ahead with 51 seconds to play, only to watch Gardner Minshew 922 of 30 on the day) work the Vipers into position for Matt Gay to hit a walk-off 57-yard field goal inside the climate controlled Wynn Arena to give Viper fans reason to celebrate, a 3 rd win for the Minshew-led Viper squad. POTG:  Viper QB Gardner Minshew: 22/30, 231 Yds, 0 TD, 1 Int   BALTIMORE 31  PHILADELPHIA 17 The Stars continue to struggle with scoring, earning as many yards and more first downs as Baltimore ,but coming up 14 points short in the final tally. Derrick Henry looked solid with 20 carries for 84 yards and a score, but the defense had no answer for Jake Locker and the Blitz passing game. Locker went 20 for 28, with 4 TDs, including 2 to his new favorite target (with Michael Pittman Jr. hurt), slot man Quez Watkins. Rookie Christian Watson also hauled in a TD, his 4 th  in what is proving to be a very solid rookie campaign. POTG:  Blitz QB Jake Locker: 20/28, 275 Yds, 4 TD, 0 Int   ARIZONA 14   SEATTLE 27 The Dragons return to 2021 form, using a stiff red zone defense to hold Arizona scoreless over 3 quarters despite the Wranglers racking up 416 yards. Four turnovers, including 3 picks of Ryan Nassib, all 3 on the Seattle side of the field, doomed the Wranglers despite their ability to pick up yards and first downs. On offense it was Brett Hundley going 19 of 25 and throwing TDs to Cooper, Rudolph and rookie Khalil Shakir to build up a 20-0 halftime lead and hold off the Wranglers to issue Arizona their first defeat of the 2022 campaign. POTG:  Seattle CB Richard Sherman: 11 Tck, 4 PDef, 2 Int MEMPHIS 31  HOUSTON 10 For once, Gambler fans cannot complain about Colt McCoy taking a seat at the end of a game. Down 31-10 there was no reason to keep the Houston QB in the game. Memphis’s defense, led by FS Calvin Pryor’s huge day, was a thing of beauty, holding Houston to only 3 of 11 on third down and forcing 4 turnovers. Carlos Hyde was sorely missed, with stand-in Clyde Edwards-Helaire gaining only 30 yards on 17 touches, a brutal average of only 1.7 yards per carry. Meanwhile, with Todd Gurly hampered by a tweaked hamstring, David Williams stepped in and stepped up, rushing for 77 yards and 3 touchdowns (3, 5, and 1 yard) as the Showboats win their 5 th  game in 6 attempts and improve to 5-3. POTG:  Memphis FS Calvin Pryor: 3 Tck, 1 Sck, 2 PDef, 1 Int, 2 FF, 1 FR   SAN DIEGO 10   CHICAGO 13 Chicago almost fell into a trap game, clearly underestimating the visiting San Diego Thunder. After building a 10-0 first quarter lead thanks to a nice Bradford-Beckham 31-yard fly pattern, Chicago seemed to take the foot off the pedal way too soon, leading to San diego equalizing the score in the 4 th  when Mason Rudolph found Chris Givens for an 11-yard TD. Chicago managed to do just enough to put Daniel Carlson in range in the final minutes and escape with a win, but the 7-0 Machine need to use this as a lesson, showing up each and every week. POTG:  Machine rookie HB Rachaad White: 15 Att, 88 Yds   SAN ANTONIO 23  OAKLAND 26 The Invaders defended home turf, pulling out to a 26-10 lead and holding off a late run from Joe Flacco and the Gunslingers to return to .500 at 4-4. With Christian McCaffrey out, Bryce Love proved that the Invaders have a deep bench in the HB group, gauging the Gunslinger D for 131 yards on 29 carries. Davis Mills was effective as well, completing 18 of 27 for 218 yards and 2 TDs as Oakland held off the Gunslingers despite 2 Raheem Mostert TDs. POTG : Oakland HB Bryce Love: 29 Att, 131 Yds.   LOS ANGELES 17  PORTLAND 10 Nick Foles got the start, but the Express relied on the run game to upend the Stags. Paul Perkins rushed for 102 yards and caught a 4 th  quarter TD from Foles as LA and Portland scored a combined 21 points after slogging through a 3-3 game for 3 quarters. It was Foles to Hollywood Brown that gave the Express the lead, followed by Perkins’s TD, providing a 14-point lead that would hold in the final minutes. Suffering 7 sacks and with his run game totally snuffed out by LA’s pressure defense, Mariota just could not rally the troops, sending Portland to their 6 th defeat in 8 games. POTG:  LA edge rusher Nick Bosa: 5 Tck, 1 TFL, 2 Sck   DENVER 49  DALLAS 31 Josh Allen took over the QB Ratings lead in the USFL with a dynamic 20 of 29, 315-yard, 5-TD day against a beleaguered Dallas defense. What may be more troubling for Denver’s division foes is that the Gold put up 129 yards rushing, with recently acquired HB C. J. Prosise going for 113 and a TD on 20 touches. Three turnovers, all Justin Herbert picks, did not help the Roughnecks keep pace, with Denver pulling ahead in the 2 nd  quarter and continuously adding to their point total despite 11 penalties against Gold players. A solid win for a team hoping to get back in the playoff hunt at 4-4. POTG:  Gold QB Josh Allen: 20/29, 315 Yds, 5 TD, 0 Int   McCoy Reveals Medical Concern In a Friday press conference ahead of Sunday’s game against Memphis, Colt McCoy, surrounded by his wife, his coach, and close friend and favorite target Mike Evans, revealed the story behind his mysterious lack of stamina in the 2022 season. McCoy, who has been pulled out of every single Houston game in the 4 th  quarter, finishing each game on the bench with a towel over his head, despite often leading Houston to victory, revealed that he was dealing with a medical condition which impacts his ability to finish out games.   McCoy revealed that for the past 5 months he has been working with doctors in Houston to address a developing medical condition known by experts as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, or more commonly as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). McCoy confessed that he has been regularly working with a team at Houston’s Texas Medical Center. At present there is no known cure for CFS and that the only effective treatments are to alter lifestyle to support the sufferer’s need for physical regeneration. McCoy stated that in addition to dietary adjustments, ongoing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with a psychologist, and use of league-approved pain medications and sleep aids, he has worked out an altered schedule for team practices to assist with the most impactful symptom, PEM (post-exertional malaise), a physical weakness that comes after sustained physical exertion.   Coach Cotrell then addressed the press, stating that he hopes that McCoy’s public announcement will quiet the rumors and whispers about everything from drugs to psychological concerns. He added that he fully backs his QB, and is more than happy to work with Colt to create a training, game prep, and in-game plan that allows Colt to get the physical and mental support needed for him to continue to play at a high level and be the leader he has been for his entire career with the Gamblers. ‘   In a statement sent to Houston press after the meeting, team founder and co-owner Jerry Argovitz praised McCoy’s tenacity, dedication and poise. He highlighted that despite dealing with this new diagnosis, the 2021 MVP has continued to play at the highest level, leading Houston to a 4-3 record while remaining a Top 10 QB in the league rankings (currently 6 th ). The concern, of course, is that if McCoy must be pulled from games there could come a time when the Gamblers have a game in jeopardy and it must be Landon Jones to either protect a lead or mount a comeback. That was the concern raised by fans this weekend on message boards and sports radio. The overwhelming sentiment was support for their QB but hope that the Gamblers were doing all they could to also provide Jones with the support he needed should he be called in for something more intense than mop-up duty. In this week’s game, with Houston down 21 points to Memphis at the time McCoy took a seat on the bench, there was no controversy, but there is concern that McCoy’s diagnosis and need for physical respite late in games could be a factor for the club. For now, with the mystery solved, and McCoy working with some of the finest physicians in the country, Houston will focus on the playing field and a plan for success moving forward.   Denver Finds Balance at Last While the front page story for the Gold this week was Josh Allen’s 5-TD performance in a big divisional win at Dallas, a deeper read into the box score, and a rewatching of the film shows something perhaps even more promising for the Gold, the presence of a legitimate ground game. In his first 3 seasons as the starter in Denver, Josh Allen has had only sporadic support from the rushing attack. His biggest games, and there have been plenty of MVP-style performances, have often come when the run game was simply not effective and Allen had to carry the offense on his back.   This week, despite his gaudy numbers, that was not the case. In the past 3 weeks, Denver has traded away two of its three Week 1 halfbacks, sending veteran David Wilson to New Jersey in a deal that brought C. J. Prosise to the Mile High City. A week later, disgruntled, and largely ineffective starter Phillip Lindsay was sent to Charlotte, with scatback, 3 rd  down specialist, and return man Nyheim Hines coming to Denver as part of the deal. The Gold run game is now a very different creature than what we saw only 3 weeks ago, when Denver dropped 2 games to Oklahoma and Baltimore.   The new run game, evident in this week’s win over Dallas, is less a “ground and pound” and much more a “slash & burn”, with the offensive line creating cutback lanes for the nimbler Prosise. The result of the shift was obvious this week, with Prosise averaging 5.6 yards per carry, almost 4 yards per touch better than Lindsay had provided. While Hines did not see snaps in his first week with the team, his style is expected to parallel that of Prosise, focusing on one-cut, slashing, redirection runs. When short yardage calls for a more direct strategy, Jonathan Ward steps in to pound out the short gainers, as he did this week, helping Denver convert on a key 3 rd and 2 and also running in a 3-yard TD.   The effect of the new Denver run game is that Josh Allen is not facing immediate pressure on 1 st  or 2 nd down dropbacks. Teams have to respect the delayed run and draw game as well as the early down handoff. That protection could be the difference as Allen works to find receivers downfield and minimize his need to step up in the pocket seeking running lanes himself. Allen can run, and that is still a possible weapon, but with the pass rush having to at least respect the option to run, Allen has that extra second to survey the field, and this week that surveying led to 5 TDs with no picks. If that is the trend moving forward, Denver may have just made the moves necessary to make a run in the division.   5 Very Good Players Flying Under the Radar We are 8 weeks into the USFL season and while the stars of the season are pretty clear, there are plenty of players who are doing great work and just not getting the accolades for it. These are the grinders, the key contributors, the players who are not household names, but should be seen as important pieces in their team’s success stories. We chose 5 players from 5 teams that are at or above .500, players we think are helping their teams win without getting the spotlight. These are our 5 unsung heroes through 8 weeks of the season:   Baltimore WR Quez Watkins:   Slot receivers are often somewhat undervalued in a league where the outside guys are often the ones going 40, 50, or 60 yards for a score, but with the injury to Michael Pittman Jr. Baltimore has had to make some adjustments on offense, and one of the biggest bumps has been for their slot specialist, Quez Watkins. Watkins is now 3 rd  on the team, behind only Watson and TE Ozumah, with 31 receptions. More importantly, he has become a trusted red zone target, grabbing 6 touchdowns, 5 of which have come in the past month when Pittman was not available. With Pittman expected to return this week, Watkins may see a dip in targets, but he will almost certainly remain a real threat for Jake Locker and the Blitz attack.   San Antonio HB Raheem Mostert:  Behind NFL import Melvin Gordon on the depth chart, and splitting carries with Rhamondre Stevenson, Raheem Mostert is never going to get 20 carries in a game, but those touches he does get have been explosive. This week was prime evidence of that. Mostert had 11 rushes and 3 receptions for a combined 62 yards, but in that mix were two receiving touchdowns, with the speedy back eluding defenders to turn short dump-off passes into a pair of scores. Mostert is proving to be an effective change-of-pace for Gordon and a very good receiver, something that makes him invaluable on 3 rd  down for the Gunslingers.   Bimingham LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah: On defense we know that big hits and quarterback sacks tend to draw the most attention. Maybe that is why very few USFL fans can name Birmingham’s Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, ok, that plus the long name, we get it. But even if we start calling him JOK, we should be watching this 2 nd year player. Why? For an undervalued contribution, the Tackle For Loss. As a rookie, JOK had 67 tackles, but 14 were behind the line, that’s over 20% or one in five. This year he is at 40 total tackles with 13 TFL already recorded, a game-altering 32.5%, one in three. It may not have the star-making power of the big sack, but those tackles behind the line throw teams off schedule, create long third downs, and help get defenses off the field. For that, Owusu-Koramoah is a valuable member of the Stallion D and a player we should be more familiar with.   New Orleans CB Tra’Davious White: In his 6 th  season with the Breakers, it is not that Tra’Davious White is not a known commodity among Breaker fans. He has been the number one corner for the Breakers for 4 years now, and yet, despite being widely recognized by other players as a very strong cover corner, he just does not have much name recognition. Why is that? Probably because he is much better at the pass defense, swatting the ball away, than the pick. With only 11 picks in 6 seasons to date, he is not exactly getting a lot of highlight films on SportsCenter, but with 123 PDef in that same time, he is clearly doing what New Orleans needs to keep offenses from converting first downs and moving the ball. It may not be flashy, but with White again among the league leaders in passes defended, he is doing what the Breakers need him to do to keep opposing offenses in check.   Denver KR Kevin White: We decided we needed to throw some love at the special teamers, and none deserves it more than Denver return man Kevin White. White may only have 3 receptions this year, buried deep in Denver’s WR group, but as a returner, he is making an impact for the Gold. White leads the league with his 30.8-yard average for returns. Think about that. It means that if he takes the ball at the goalline, he is getting you more than the 25 yards a touchback would produce, and if he takes the kick at the 10, you are likely to be starting the drive at the 40. Throw in his 100-yard TD return he had against Baltimore and you have one of the biggest playmakers on the team on special teams. There are certainly other return men who are not getting enough love, players like Memphis punt returner Kenneth Gainwell, Seattle’s dual use returner Jaire Alexander, and LA speedster Marquise Lee, but White, perhaps aided by the thin air in Denver, is our pick right now for the unsung special teams hero.   2022 Continues to be Shaped by Trades We opened our report this week with one of the biggest midseason deals we have seen in years, but it is hardly the only deal worth mentioning. In what has been a hotter than usual trading block, the past 3 weeks have seen several season-impacting deals, including the two trades that seem to have provided Denver with a newfound run game. This week we had 3 major deals, the QB swap already outlined, but also a pair of deals which involve major defensive additions for two surprising playoff contenders.   Mingo to the Outlaws Sitting at 2-5 and frustrated by an offense which has simply not produced, the Bulls have apparently already shifted into a restructuring mode, and this week they showed that to be the case by trading away one of their biggest names on defense. Barkevious Mingo came to the Bulls in the 2013 T-Draft, viewed as an edge-rushing talent who could help Jacksonville compete with the Orlando Renegades as Florida pass rush monsters. Despite 4 seasons with double digit sacks, Mingo’s full potential never materialized. He dropped to only 3 sacks in 2017 and has not crossed the 10-sack threshold since. This week the Bulls sent Mingo, and his sizable salary cap hit to Oklahoma in a 3 player, 2 pick deal.   Oklahoma sends CB Isaiah Oliver , a 2 nd  rounder in next year’s draft and a 3 rd in 2024 to the Bulls to acquire both Mingo and CB A. J. Terrell . The goal for Oklahoma seems clear, to put someone across from their sack leader, Jordan Willis (6), who will force offenses to defend both edges. Mingo will take over the left end position, sliding Willis to right end and forcing offenses to scheme for both. In return, Jacksonville, which will now offer Adrian Clayborn and Duke Ejiofor as their edge combo, improves on the back end, hoping to address their 30 th  ranked defense (yardage) and a pass defense giving up over 272 yards per game.   Isaiah Oliver will line up opposite Keenan Lewis, allowing rookie Kaiir Elam to drop into the nickel role, having shown some issues with man coverage as an outside corner. Up front, it will be Clayborn on the left side, with Ejiofor moving into the starting lineup at right end. And, of course, the Bulls now look at having 2 second round picks in the 2023 USFL Draft, a draft that no longer includes a separate Territorial Draft, as a way to draw in more high-end talent.   Blitz & Skyhawks Swap Big Men Another move, one designed to help two rising playoff contenders, was announced this week, with the Baltimore Blitz addressing a need at center while St. Louis added bulk to their D-line. The move was a straight 1-for-1 swap, with St. Louis sending 2 nd  year center Jordan Meredith to the Blitz in return for DT Angelo Blackson . Meredith who saw only limited action behind All-USFL center Rudy Niswanger, has a chance to start for the Blitz, who have been unhappy with the production of their interior run game with 35-year-old Matt Tenant struggling to shake off defenders.   For St. Louis, this is about improving their interior line on defense, with Blackson expected to form a 3-man rotation with Geno Atkins and D. J. Humphries. The Skyhawk D has been far more solid against the run this year than in past campaigns, but signs of wear are hitting the D-line, evident in this week’s loss in Oklahoma. Coach Schottenheimer is hoping that moving to a 3-man rotation at the DT position will allow him to keep all 3 fresh and produce better late-game impact as teams try to run the ball. The move should also help St. Louis’s A. J. Epenesa as more teams have tried to combination block the speedy edge rusher.   Two more deals designed to improve teams in the hunt, and with 2 more weeks left before the trade deadline, we may not yet be done with the deals and the movement of quality players across the USFL.                 Another bad week with 4 players, including former All-USFL left tackle Matt Khalil added to the season-ending IR list. Birmingham in particular was hard hit, with 3 players expected to be out for at least for a week or two, though RT Greg Robinson’s neck injury could require surgery that might cost him the season. Washington also lost multiple players, including LB Anthony Walker Jr. who is now on IR with a torn ACL. Doubtful for this week are two of the league’s best rushers, with both Josh Jacobs and Todd Gurley only 25% to play.   OUT CB          Damon Arnette     OHI       Neck               IR DT          Davion Nixon                JAX         Wrist               IR OT          Matt Khalil                      PHI        Achilles          IR LB           Anthony Walker Jr.          WSH     Torn ACL         IR OT          Greg Robinson             BIR         Neck               6-8 Weeks DT          Quinnen Williams        WSH     Back                      6-8 Weeks G            Alex Cappa                 BIR         Abdominal            6-8 Weeks WR         Muhamed Sanu            NJ           Back                        1-2 Weeks LB           Reuben Foster             BIR         Neck                      1-2 Weeks LB           Jarvis Jones                 BAL        Foot                        1-2 Weeks   DOUBTFUL HB         Josh Jacobs               BAL        Knee HB         Todd Gurley                MEM     Toe   QUESTIONABLE SS           Darrian Thompson        POR      Hand WR         Jameson Williams          CHI        Foot WR         Michael Floyd                  OAK      Personal LB           Jonathan Bostic             PHI        Ribs     Midseason Power Rankings We hit Week 8 and that means it is time for our 2 nd  assessment of where all 30 USFL clubs stand, our quarterly power rankings. While some teams have completed 8 games, others sit at 7, having completed an early bye. So, who is hot, who is ice cold, and what does the middle of the pack look like. Get ready to debate our choices, especially for those clubs clustered at 5, 4, 3, and even 2 wins. It’s a ranking, so it is all about the arguments of where we went wrong. Let’s get right to it.   1—Chicago (7-0) The last remaining unbeaten team has a major road trip ahead of them, including games in Denver and Ohio to deal with.   2—Arizona (7-1) After suffering their first loss in Seattle this week, Arizona drops to 2 nd  and now face back-to-back games against Denver, with a bye between them.   3—Birmingham (6-2) Winners of 5 in a row, the Stallions look ready to come out of a Week 9 bye with a lot of momentum.   4—Baltimore (5-3) The Blitz have won 4 in a row but face two tough games vs. San Antonio and New Jersey before their Week 11 bye.   5—Tampa Bay (5-2) The Bandits should be 9-2 by the time they face New Orleans in Week 13, with their next 4 games against teams with either 1 or 2 wins each.   6—Memphis (5-3) Memphis goes into the bye off a nice win in Houston, and are likely looking ahead to Week 12, when they face the Stallions for a possible shot at first place.   7—Seattle (5-3) After losing to Portland, the Dragons rebounded with a huge home win over Arizona. They now get their bye before facing a 4-game division run between weeks 11-14.   8—New England (5-2) Baltimore is hot on their heels, but New England can help themselves with back-to-back division games at New Jersey and home to Philadelphia.   9— Oklahoma (5-3) After back-to-back losses, the win against St. Louis has them back in the game. After their Week 10 bye, they have 2 games in 3 weeks against Dallas, then finish the year with the Wranglers and Gold. They need to be ready to win all 4.   10— St. Louis (5-3) A tough loss in OKC before their bye, they need to come out swinging against 2-5 Jacksonville and 2-5 Charlotte in weeks 10-11.   11—San Antonio (5-3) Back-to-back losses have them limping into a tough game against Baltimore before their bye week. They do not want to have 2 weeks to contemplate a 3-game losing streak.   12—New Orleans (4-3) The Breakers cannot afford too many more losses, not if they want any hope of catching the Stallions, who they don’t face again.   13—Ohio (4-3) A 3-0 start was followed by 3 losses, but their rebound win over Michigan should help them get back in groove. Their next game against a team with a winning record is not until a Week 12 trip to St. Louis.   14—Denver (4-4) The Gold have won 2 in a row since reshuffling their RB room. With 2 games against Arizona in the next 3 weeks (split by a bye) they need no worse than 1-1 to stay in the race for a playoff spot.   15—New Jersey (4-4) With two games against Philly as well as matchups against the Blitz, Federals, and Steamrollers still to come, New Jersey is not out of it yet in the NE Division.   16—Oakland (4-4) This week’s win against San Antonio is a huge lift before their bye. They have two more games against rival LA, who are also 4-4, and they likely need to sweep them to stay in the playoff hunt.   17—Los Angeles (4-4) Expect to see Andy Dalton debut in Express Blue when LA comes out of this week’s bye. Will that be enough to jumpstart their offense and give them a run at the end of the year?   18—Houston (4-3) The injury to Hyde and Colt McCoy’s medical situation put the entire season in question for the Gamblers, who need to win their next 2 against 2-win Philly and Portland.   19—Orlando (3-4) The Renegades come off their bye with a winnable game at home against Charlotte, but after that, they will have a pair of tough ones at Birmingham and home to the Breakers.   20—Las Vegas (3-4) Winning 3 in a row has helped make Gardner Minshew a popular guy on the strip, and in Wynn Arena. They have a chance to make it 4-in-a-row with Dallas on the schedule this week.   21—Atlanta (3-4) Will Atlanta start Josh Rosen or Kyler Murray this week? Was the bye long enough to get Murray up to speed? That is the big mystery.   22—Washington (3-5) Two straight losses, including a bad shutout at home against the Steamrollers, do not have Washington feeling very confident right now. They need a win this week against the Outlaws to turn this thing around.   23—San Diego (2-6) The Thunder upset San Antonio and held close to Chicago, and that has them atop our list of 2-win teams.   24—Jacksonville (2-5) A nice win over Memphis this week, but after their bye they face 3 consecutive 5-win teams (Tampa Bay, St. Louis, and San Antonio). That is a tough run.   25—Portland (2-6) They got the win over rival Seattle but struggled with LA’s defense. They still have to get past New Orleans and Houston before they get their late week 11, bye. Could be a tough 2 weeks.   26—Charlotte (2-5) Charlotte has a chance to make a statement coming off their bye. They have 3-4 Orlando this week and then 3-5 Washington. Two more wins are not out of the question here.   27—Dallas (2-6) There was so much hope this offseason, but Dallas is riding a 3-game losing streak and now they face a pretty hot Las Vegas club, winners of 3 in a row.   28—Philadelphia (2-6) Another 3-game losing streak and things are getting ugly in Philadelphia. If they are 2-8 at the bye in 2 weeks, expect some major changes in the front office.   29—Pittsburgh (1-6) This week’s game against fellow 1-6 basement dweller Michigan is a chance for one of the two to salvage some pride. The two will face off again in Week 15.   30—Michigan (1-6) After winning their opener, the Panthers have dropped 6 in a row, and the offense has yet to score over 20 points in any game this year. It looks like it is time to shake things up in Detroit.   Top 40 Greatest USFL Players: 19-17 We are into the final 20 names, so we don’t expect any surprise names, just debates over positioning the rest of the way. Before we get to our final 19 players, we thought a brief recap of the positions already seen and which are done would be helpful. So, here is the count so far, with positions in bold representing those roster spots that will not be seeing more names between now and number one.   Punter              1                     Safety                  2 Guard              2                      Halfback            2 Cornerback    3                     Wide Receiver  1 Linebacker      3                     Tackle                  1 Kicker             1                     Def. Tackle         1 Tight End       2                      Def. End              0 Center            1                    Quarterback     1   Halfway through our list and five positions completed. No doubt we will have more tailbacks, receivers and quarterbacks in the Top 20, with D-line, linebacker and corner still to come as well. But how many of each? And who will be the best at each position? Some you certainly can guess, some maybe not, and we will certainly have some debate about the greatest USFL player of the league’s first 40 seasons. So, get ready for things to get a bit heady when we hit that Top 10. But for now, let’s get to our next 3 picks, and two new positions join our ranks as we add DE and WR to the list of the 40 Greatest Players in 40 USFL Seasons.   19) CB Donnell Woolford (1989-2003) We start off with our 4 th  and final cornerback, and one that certainly will cause some debate, as Charles Woodson fans are going to have something to say. We had Woodson at 30 th , and now, 11 slots higher, we are putting former Baltimore stalwart Donnell Woolford at 19. Why so high? Well, Woolford is tied with Antonio Cromartie atop the career interception list with 54, and while his defensive TD totals don’t compare with Woodson, where Woolford excelled was in his ability to play the run. Woolford retired with over 1,274 tackles, the kind of number we usually see from linebackers, not corners. And before you start claiming that this was because teams completed passes to his man, the numbers do not indicate that at all. Woolford is Top 3 all-time in Catch-to-Attempt ratio. Those tackles are largely from the run game, not from receivers getting open. Throw in his 318 career pass defenses and his perfect record of 225 starts in 225 games and what you have in Woolford is a corner who shuts down receivers, makes plays on the ball, and comes up against the run. What more could you want?   18) DE Chris Doleman (1989-2002) You knew we could not get much further without recognizing some edge rushers, right? Doleman, the first in what has become a nearly continuous line of outstanding pass rushers in Orlando, becomes our first defensive end named. Doleman may be a surprise to many at number 18. After all, he currently ranks only 9 th  in league history with 198 sacks, but we are looking not just at totals, but at annual production and impact on the game, and in both Doleman far exceeds several of the names ahead of him on the career total list. With 11 consecutive seasons in double-digit sacks, including a career best 29 in 1999, Doleman was consistently one of the league’s best at his position, and one of the most feared ends in the game as well. Doleman’s rush was not just about the sack, it was about intimidation, violence, and pure unhinged fury. Ask any USFL QB played between 1989 and 2002 and they will tell you of the impact Doleman had on their game. He is here not just for impressive numbers, but for the way he played the game and the way that affected his opponents. We have him at number 18, and while he won’t be the last DE on our list, he is certainly among the 40 best of the USFL’s first 40 years.   17) WR Randy Moss (1998-2013) With 19,841 career yards, 144 career touchdowns, twelve 1,000-yard seasons, and 9 All-USFL seasons, was there any way you thought Randy Moss would be excluded from our list. Throw in what feels like 3,000 “poster” catches, where Moss made highlight reel plays that made defenders look cemented to the ground or just plain bad, and add in more than a dash of bravado, high EQ celebrations, and self-confidence and you have the model of the WR as Diva, but a Diva with boatloads of talent. Moss spent 10 years with Tampa Bay, making defenders look bad, before short stints in Ohio, LA, and Birmingham to finish out his career. Moss makes our list, ahead of several receivers with more catches (Hines Ward, Peerless Price), and even more touchdowns (Lawrence Dawsey, Tory Holt) because Moss was more than just a receiver, he was a phenomenon, a game changing superstar who could shred defensive gameplans with a single play and deflate defensive egos in a single bound. His combination of speed, height, moves, and timing were a thing to behold, and he remains one of the most flamboyant fan favorite USFL stars a full decade after he hung up his helmet.   Week Nine, the new midpoint of the USFL season and that means time for teams to make that push, to turn it up to 11 and leave everything on the field. We have 12 games on tap, with bye weeks for three Pacific Division teams, two from the South, and St. Louis from the Central. So, who is in action, and which games are Must Watch TV? Here is our breakdown.   If Denver is going to make a move in the Southwest, it will have to start with their annual trek to Glendale and a tough matchup against the 7-1 Arizona Wranglers. Denver is sitting at 4-4, and a win in this one would not only be their way to top .500 but a huge shot across the bow of the division.     Saturday’s best games include a showdown in the Northeast, a traditional New York-Boston rivalry game as the Steamrollers roll into the Meadowlands with a 2-game lead on the Generals. New Jersey needs this one to have a shot at catching New England, but also because a drop to 4-5 could break their spirit. The other can’t miss game on Saturday is a battle of 5-3 teams as San Antonio and rejuvenated QB Joe Flacco head into Baltimore to face Jake Locker, Josh Jacobs, and a surging Blitz offense.   Sunday brings us a put up or shut up game for the Orlando Renegades. They sit at 3-4 and cannot fall to 2-5 Charlotte if they want to be taken seriously as a playoff contender. A win and they are back at .500, a loss and things look pretty dire for Russell Wilson and the Renegades. Later that day we have a game that may not be “must watch”, but could be intense, as the league’s two 1-6 teams, the Panthers and the Maulers battle at Heinz Field in a game that could determine if we have a coach on the hotseat this summer. Neither club is giving up yet, but losing this one could be a major blow, one neither wants to feel the sting of. Finally, we head to Atlanta where the Fire have slipped to 3-4 and may well be ready to make a change. Could we see newly acquired QB Kyler Murray only a few days into his tenure with the Fire, or will it be Josh Rosen trying to upend the unbeaten Chicago Machine. That is a tough test for either QB as Chicago’s defense ranks 1 st in the league in both points and yards, allowing only 182 passing yards per game.   Fri. 7pm ET       Denver (4-4) @ Arizona (7-1)*                          NBC   Sat. 12pm ET   Tampa Bay (5-2) @ Jacksonville (2-5)*               ABC Sat. 12pm ET   New England (5-2) @ New Jersey (4-4)          FOX Sat. 4pm ET       San Antonio (5-3) @ Baltimore (5-3)                ABC Sat. 4pm ET       New Orleans (4-3) @ Portland (2-6)                FOX Sat. 8pm ET      Las Vegas (3-5) @ Dallas (2-6)*                          NBC Sat. 8pm ET       Philadelphia (2-6) @ Houston (4-3)                  ESPN/EFN   Sun 12pm ET    Charlotte (2-5) @ Orlando (3-4)                      ABC Sun 12pm ET     Oklahoma (5-3) @ Washington (3-5)                FOX Sun 4pm ET      Michigan (1-6) @ Pittsburgh (1-6)*                   ABC Sun 4pm ET       Ohio (4-3) @ San Diego (2-6)                          FOX Sun 8pm ET       Chicago (7-0) @ Atlanta (3-4)                          EFN   Byes: Birmingham, Los Angeles, Memphis, Oakland, Seattle, St. Louis (*) = Throwback Uniforms (Alt Uniforms for LV-DAL)

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: With 5 TD passes in a key divisional matchup, Josh Allen left no doubt who should be the POTW for this week's action. Allen was masterful, going 20 of 29 for 315 yards and connecting with both of his big play receivers, Golden Tate and Darnell Mooney for 2 scores each, along with a swing pass to HB Jonathan Ward for a 5th score. The Gold are back at .500, having won 2 in a row, and Allen now has a run game to balance his passing attack, a balance that could help Allen do even more moving forward.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: A familiar face returns to our POTW once again as Cam Newton put on a show this week. Contained to the pocket by the Invaders, Newton proved he could be a devastating pocket passer, throwing for 424 yards and 5 touchdowns against a pretty solid Oakland defense. Once again, Newton took the team on his shoulders and made the plays necessary for the Stallions to once again prevail, and once again in overtime for a league record 3rd consecutive overtime win (3 overtime games in 3 weeks).

With 6 teams from the Central and Southern Divisions on byes we had a 12-game schedule in Week 7, but that certainly did not diminish the level of excitement or the quality of games this week. In fact, of the 12 games on the slate, we saw 5 finish within 1 score, including a 1-point final advantage for Jacksonville over Memphis, a 4-point nail biter between Baltimore and Oklahoma, a 4-point upset win for the Portland Stags over rival Seattle, and our Game of the Week, a 6-point overtime victory for Cam Newton and the Stallions over Oakland. We will highlight Newton in our Big Story for the week, then focus on that great game between the homestanding Stallions and the Invaders. Then we will walk you through all the week’s action, look at a key injury for the Gamblers, and a trade rumor that may soon be reality. All that is right here, so let’s get started. Newton's Case for MVP Grows Stronger We are 7 weeks into a 17-week season, but it already seems that we have a frontrunner for the league’s MVP award, and it is hardly an unfamiliar name for USFL fans. Cam Newton, who has been in the running for MVP in the past, but has won neither the MVP or the OPOTY in his 12-year career, is making his clearest run for the title ever, currently leading the league with 1,993 yards passing and tied with Geno Smith with 17 passing touchdowns. Those two numbers, along with Newton’s 101.4 QB rating might well give him a leg up on the competition, but it is his legs which add another dimension to his MVP bid.   In addition to his league lead in passing yards and passing touchdowns, we have to consider that with 262 rushing yards and a league best (for a QB) 5 rushing TDs, Newton is well ahead of the field. Newton may be second in rushing among league quarterbacks, with 2 nd  year QB Justin Fields sitting at 341 yards, but the combination of rushing and passing stats, as well as Birmingham’s 5-2 record, have to make Newton the frontrunner at this point in the season. Many feel that Newton should have snagged the award last season, when his 3,041 yards and 22 touchdown passes, paired with 413 rushing yards and another 6 rushing touchdowns helped guide the Stallions to a division title and their first playoff berth since 2013. For those fans, recognition for Newton is long overdue.   Standard theories about how Newton has been looked over for either the Offensive Player of the Year or MVP awards tend to focus on the overall struggles of the Stallions as a club, with the team finishing at or under .500 every year from Newton’s rookie year in 2011 to 2020, save 1, a 9-7 campaign in 2017 that still saw them miss out on the playoffs. Without team success it is hard for a QB, even one as talented as Newton, to capture leaguewide awards. But last year, with the Stallions surprising many with an 11-5 record and a Southern Division title, there was an expectation that Newton would finally see a trophy headed his way. But, with Colt McCoy also long overdue for recognition, and with his stronger passing totals (5,236 yards and 38 touchdowns), the MVP was his to claim. As for the OPOTY award, voters wanted to recognize the outstanding play of the Tampa Bay Bandits on their way to back-to-back titles, and they did so by giving the OPOTY to WR Dez Bryant. His 1,547 yards and 15 TDs were certainly award-worthy, but for many it was a clear snub of Newton and the Stallions. The question now is whether Newton can overcome his history and finally get the recognition he deserves as one of the USFL’s biggest stars and most dangerous offensive weapons. OAKLAND INVADERS 28   BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS 34  OVERTIME The case for Cam Newton as league MVP certainly did not take any hits this week as the Stallion QB, despite being contained to the pocket by a strategic adjustment to Oakland’s pass rush and the use of LB Ukeme Eligwe as a spy, put up MVP numbers against the invaders as a pure passer. Newton would account for all 5 Birmingham touchdowns, including the game winner in overtime, as the Stallions outlasted the Invaders in a 75 minute thriller.   Newton accomplished the victory entirely with his arm, throwing for 424 yards on a 24 of 44 passing day, rushing the ball only 10 times (6 being scrambles on passing plays). Oakland prioritized containment over pressure, and the strategy worked, limiting Newton to a total of -3 yards on the ground, but at the cost of allowing the QB time in the pocket, time that Newton used to throw 5 touchdowns and accumulate over 400 yards passing. In a game that saw both teams rack up big yardage, it was Newton’s ability to stand in the pocket, contained but not threatened, that proved to be the difference for the homestanding Stallions.   Before we even got to see how Oakland would defend Newton, the Invaders put Birmingham in a hole. After receiving the opening kick, Oakland marched the ball 75 yards in 13 plays, with both Bryce Love and Christian McCaffrey toting the ball, while Davis Mills used play action to find DaVante Adams and Austin Hooper on key connections. The drive concluded with a 3 rd  and goal from the 2, with Mills faking the ball to Love and finding FB Adam Prentice in the flat for the walk-in touchdown.   With Oakland up 7-0 when Newton first took the field, we quickly saw what Oakland had devised to slow down the dual threat QB. Both Vinny Curry and Michael Bennett took visibly wider routes towards Newton on the Stallions’ first few passing downs. The two hung outside, avoiding the instinct to undercut their blockers and shift inside. That created a pocket, and with LB Ukeme Eligwe hovering near the line of scrimmage but never charging, the plan was made evident. Contain Newton within the pocket, hopefully pressuring from all directions to avoid creating a clear running lane. On the opening drive we saw this 3 times, and it was largely effective, with Newton missing on a 3 rd  and 5 pass to force a punt.   But, when Birmingham got the ball back, the Stallions and Head Coach Todd Haley had figured out the Oakland strategy and adjusted appropriately. With pressure almost a non-factor, Newton simply had to play the part of a true pocket passer. On Birmingham’s second drive he did just that, completing 4 of 5 throws, including a 26 yard strike to Zach Ertz, and the drive’s final play, a 10-yard fade route to Henry Ruggs to even the score at 7.   Oakland would retake the lead late in the opening period, taking advantage of a pass interference call when the Stallion defender impeded Davante Adam’s ability to track to the ball on a deep comeback route. Three plays later, Christian McCaffrey sprinted off the right tackle, made a timely cutback, and raced 11 yards to paydirt to give the Invaders a 14-7 lead at the end of the quarter.   Birmingham would respond in the 2 nd , the only scoring drive of the period being a 9-play Stallion drive that saw Henry Ruggs catch his 2 nd  touchdown on the day. The former Alabama product was getting the better of cornerback Jaylen Watkins, a trend that would continue the entire game, with Ruggs finishing with three scores, while his teammate Devonta Smith would finish as the leading receiver with 111 yards. The Newton to Ruggs TD evened the score at 14, and with both teams making some mistakes on offense, a holding call on one drive, a key 3 rd  down sack on another, the Ruggs TD would be the only successful drive for either team.   When the 3 rd  quarter started, it was clear that the containment strategy would continue, though Oakland also switched to more zone coverage to try to protect Watkins. The strategy slowed down Birmingham, but never stopped them. Their opening drive would take nearly 5 minutes, and 12 plays, but a well-conceived zone-buster play helped them retake the lead, with Newton finding TE Hunter Henry over the middle against the 2-deep zone. Henry was able to avoid a solid tackle form the safety and spin his way towards the endzone for the score, giving Birmingham a 21-14 advantage.   That advantage held into the 4 th quarter, when Birmingham extended their lead on Henry Ruggs’ third TD catch. By this point Newton was well over 300 yards, and it seemed clear that the containment strategy, while helping Oakland avoid the big defensive gaff, had provided the Stallion QB with a clean pocket and plenty of time to slowly pick apart the Invader coverages. He did so on the opening drive of the 4 th quarter, eventually finding Ruggs for a 3 rd  score, a 9-yard touchdown from a rub route that was well executed by the Stallion receiver group.   Down 14, Oakland needed some spark, and they found it in the form of a 48-yard Christian McCaffrey run. Unfortunately, that huge play came at a cost. McCaffrey was not so much tackled as he fell to the ground. Attempting a late cut to avoid the safety, McCaffrey misplanted his left foot, causing his leg to bulge outward and the player to fall to the ground. After being touched down, the training crew came out and helped the star tailback to the sideline. While it would not be until Monday morning that a full diagnosis would come in, a partial ACL tear that would cost McCaffrey no less than a month to address, what was known at the time was that Bryce Love would have to take over the HB duties for the remainder of the game. Love did just that on the ensuing set of downs, carrying the ball twice, including the 1-yard goalline plunge that would bring Oakland back to within 1 score.   With Oakland now down only 7, the Stallions needed to eat some time. They attempted to do this with runs by Najee Harris, but as Oakland had done all game, they again swarmed to the ball and limited Harris to only 2 total yards. He would finish the game with only 10 yards rushing on the day, Birmingham limited to only 21 as a team in a sad display of ineffective rushing. With the ball back in Invader hands and nearly 4 and a half minutes left, Davis Mills went about the business of tying the score. The Invader QB, who finished 21 of 29 for 209 yards, hit on 4 of 6 passes on the drive, including a very nice 3 rd  down toss to Michael Floyd to convert and keep the drive alive. With 3:41 left in the game, Mills found Davante Adams on an over-the-shoulder throw for a score and Oakland had pulled the game level once again.   Oakland would have over 3 and a half minutes to find a game winner. But while Oakland’s strategy of containment had allowed Newton time in the pocket, it had also largely removed the deep ball or the big “chunk” play from Birmingham’s arsenal. The Stallions slowly moved the ball down the field, but stalled out at the Oakland 22, forcing Birmingham to send out Chris Boswell for a 39-yard game winner. As a general rule, everything under 40 yards (maybe 45 in today’s game) is viewed as something of a gimme. But not on this day as Boswell’s kick sliced to the left, no good. With 47 seconds left, the game remained tied. Oakland tried a deep shot on 1 st  and 10 from their own 29, but after that failed, they ate the rest of the clock and set up overtime.   The added period would see both teams struggle to get into field goal range. Birmingham had the first shot but could not get beyond their own 38. Oakland took the punt, moved up to their 47, but then failed on a 3 rd  and 5 and were forced to punt the ball back to the Stallions. Birmingham had far better success on this, their second overtime possession, with Newton finding both Hunter Henry and HB Isaiah Pead on dump down throws that turned into key 3 rd  down conversions. With 2:38 on the clock, they had made it to the Oakland 29, centered the ball on a short run from Pead, and faced a 3 rd  and 6. With Coach Haley still stinging from Chris Boswell’s earlier miss, he sent in a dagger play, a play fake designed to lull Oakland into run support, followed by an outbreaking route from slot receiver D. J. Chark.   The play worked to perfection, with the corners getting in each other’s way as Chark crossed paths with Ruggs. The receiver had a clear 2-3 steps on his coverage man. Newton, still with a solid pocket, easily looped the ball to his receiver, and Chark high-stepped into the endzone for the game-winner, Newton’s 5 th  scoring toss of the game and perhaps the sweetest. With that throw, Newton had improved Birmingham’s record to 5-2, tied atop the South with the Gunslingers, but in a very good position to repeat as Division Champs. For Oakland, the strategy of containment had worked in its design, challenging Newton to win from the pocket, but the Stallion QB was up to the challenge, and the Invaders now sank to an uncomfortable 3-4 mark on the season.   LOS ANGELES 10   DENVER 35 If the Kyler Murray trade rumors are legit (see below) the trigger may be this week’s 10 of 23 performance from the LA quarterback. While Josh Allen was 19 of 24 despite facing 8 sacks on the day, Murray, who saw an equal number of QB takedowns, simply did not get the job done. LA mounted only 8 first downs on the day, only229 total yards, and with 2 picks, including a pick-six from J. C. Jackson, and a safety, Murray was not putting himself in Coach Lewis’s good graces. POTG:  Denver DE Odafe Oweh: 4 Tck, 3 Sck, 1 Sfty   CHARLOTTE 14   NEW JERSEY 26 Teddy Bridgewater went down with a foot injury only 5 plays into the game, but Connor Shaw came in and availed himself admirably, going 18 of 25 for 191 yards and a TD as the Generals pulled away from 2-5 Charlotte to earn their 4 th  win and rise above .500 once again. While newly-acquired HB Phillip Lindsay played well (20 carries for 73 yards), Charlotte fell behind early and Paxton Lynch was forced to put the ball up 43 times. He completed 30 but managed only 1 TD, and that was not enough as New Jersey got TDs from FB Chandler Cox, rookie HB Kyren Williams, and a Shaw to Sanu TD toss to earn the 12-point victory. POTG:  Generals’ WR Muhamed Sanu: 7 Rec, 103 Yds, 1 TD   NEW ENGLAND 16  WASHINGTON 0 A game Coach Gilbride and the Feds would love to forget. Washington only crossed the 50 twice all game long, but never even got in range to give Adam Vinatieri a shot at a field goal, getting shut out in embarrassing fashion by the upstart Steamrollers. New England forced two Brissett picks, held Travis Etienne to 2.2 YPC and 37 total yards, and slowly built up a 3-0, 6-0, 9-0 lead over the opening 3 quarters before a Tannehill to Pitta toss gave them the 2-score advantage and eventual 16-0 margin of victory. POTG : Roller LB Cameron Smith: 7 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 FF   LAS VEGAS 34  PHILADELPHIA 24 Philadelphia fans showed up (41,012 strong) but were vocal in their displeasure with the team as they fell behind 10-0, rallied, then gave up 17 unanswered points to the Vipers. Even a late rally to make the game closer could not silence the boobirds in the crowd as the Stars fall to 2-5. Las Vegas, which had only 1 win coming into the game, saw Gardner Minshew go 24 of 33 for 270 yards and a pair of TDs (as well as 2 picks). Jones and Hunt combined for122 yards and a TD each, and Aaron Dobson caught 7 of 10 targets for 100 yards and a TD of his own as the Vipers win on the road for the 2 nd  time this season. POTG:  Viper WR Aaron Dobson: 7 Rec, 100 Yds, 1 TD   DALLAS 20  ARIZONA 28 The Wranglers become the league’s first 7-win team (Chicago was on a bye) as they knock off the Roughnecks, thanks in large part to 345 yards from QB Ryan Nassib and a defense that forced Justin Herbert out of the game early in the 3 rd  with a neck stinger. Underappreciated WR DeMarcus Robinson climbed into the receiving leaderboard with 7 receptions for 113 yards, though it was Brandon Aiyuk who scored Nassib’s lone TD pass. Josh Freeman tried to rally Dallas in the 4 th , but a last second Hail Mary fell to the ground, preserving Arizona’s perfect record through 7 weeks. POTG:  Wrangler QB Ryan Nassib: 21/28, 345 Yds, 1 TD, 0 Int   ORLANDO 14  TAMPA BAY 24 In an otherwise pretty even game, Dalvin Cook’s 103 yards helped Tampa Bay outlast their in-state rival. Cook and TE Jordan Cameron (2 TDs from Prescott) were the stars for the Bandits, with Orlando smothering Dez Bryant and Ryan Grant outside. Renegade fans are likely still steaming after an apparent 94-yard pick-six by safety D. J. Swearinger was brought back when the safety was ruled to have interfered with Dez Bryant. That call produced a 14-point swing, taking Swearinger’s score off the board and leading 2 plays later to a Prescott to Cameron TD pass that made the score 21-7 in the 3 rd . From there, Tampa Bay held off Russell Wilson to improve to 5-2. POTG:  Tampa Bay HB Dalvin Cook: 21 Att, 103 Yds   JACKSONVILLE 21  MEMPHIS 20 A Memphis defense which has looked very solid in recent weeks gave way in the 4 th , as Jacksonville got two late TD tosses to overcome a 20-7 deficit and stun the 44,729 at the Liberty Bowl. Trevor Lawrence, who was 7 of 20 the rest of the game, went 4 of 6 in the final 10 minutes, including a sack-defying scramble that led to an 81-yard catch and run for Tee Higgins. Seven minutes later, just at the 2-minute warning, Lawrence found Eric Ebron for a 29-yard strike, giving the Bulls the narrow lead they would retain to earn their 2 nd  win of the year and snap Memphis’s 4-game win streak. POTG:  Bulls’ WR Tee Higgins: 4 Rec, 182 Yds, 1 TD   ATLANTA 6   ST. LOUIS 21 In the battle of backups, Tyrod Taylor came out on top despite going 10 of 29 for the game. He got help from his defense, which held Atlanta to only 85 yards rushing and limited them to 2 long field goals on the day. Both kickers were active as Zane Gonzalez kicked 4 field goals for the Skyhawks, who also got a safety early in the game and a lone Taylor to Kyle Pitts TD in the 4 th  to help them seal the win and move to 5-2 on the year. POTG:  Skyhawk CB Vontae Davis: 5 Tck, 2 PDef, 1 Int   SAN DIEGO 31   SAN ANTONIO 13 A stunning home loss for a Gunslinger squad that had been building momentum and belief among USFL fans. San Diego gets only their 2 nd win on the season as Mason Rudolph goes 20 for 26 for 318 yards and a game-defining 75-yard TD toss to HB Charles Sims. Sims, who rushed for only 21 yards in the game, accounted for 3 San Diego TDs, two short runs and his sideline sprint on a swing route that assured the W for the Thunder. This game saw some “Bad Flacco”, with the Gunslinger QB throwing 2 picks, and missing on a pair of key 3 rd  down throws. POTG:  San Diego HB Charles Sims: 15 Att, 21 Yds, 2 TD, 1 Rec, 75 Yds, 1 TD   BALTIMORE 27  OKLAHOMA 23 In a battle of teams trying to build some momentum, the Blitz escape Oklahoma City with the win. It did not look like it would go that way as Oklahoma got an Eddie Lacy TD run early in the 4 th to take a 23-6 lead, but Jake Locker led a furious comeback which also included a horrible pick-six for Jalen Hurts, as he gave up an easy 7 points to Baltimore CB Ken Webster. Jake Locker to Christian Watson with 1:22 left proved to be the game winner, but that pick-six was the turning point for Baltimore. POTG:  Blitz CB Ken Webster: 5 Tck, 2 PDef, 1 Int, 1 DefTD   SEATTLE 20  PORTLAND 24 Brett Hundley was asked to throw the ball 48 times in his return from injury, and that was at least 3 too many as his 3 picks helped Portland gain short fields, with the Stags earning 14 of their 24 points off the takeaways. Knowshon Moreno was on fire, rushing for 141 yards on 23 carries, but Seattle kept shooting themselves in the foot, with the picks and with 9 offensive penalties as Seattle looked sloppy against their Cascade Clash rivals. POTG:  Portland FS Tre Flowers: 10 Tck, 1 TFL, 2 PDef, 1 Int, 1 Def TD   Is Southwest Race Over Already? We get it. It is only Week 7, and there are 10 or more games left for each USFL team to play. All good reasons for teams in the Southwest Division to have hope. But, let’s be real. In only 7 games, the Arizona Wranglers have built up a 3-game lead in the division, and none of their potential rivals, not 4-3 Oklahoma, nor 3-4 Denver or 2-5 Dallas look like they have the consistency or the formula to outpace the Wranglers and gain some ground over the next 10 weeks. We don’t want to call it, but the odds are very much in Arizona’s favor. They are now likely looking at Chicago (6-0) and focusing their attention on the 1 seed, with its bye and home field advantage, as their next goal.   The Wranglers have struck gold with the return of Ryan Nassib, who is turning into the poster child for “System Quarterbacks” after struggling mightily in Washington only to return to outstanding form upon his reunion with Coach Tomsula and the Wrangler offensive scheme. The Wranglers also seem to have found a gem in rookie HB Tyler Allgeier, who has helped them establish themselves as one of the league’s best rushing team (currently 3 rd  in YPG at 121.9), and, of course, Coach Tomsula’s defense is getting the job done as well, allowing teams only 17.3 points per game. In other words, sitting at 7-0, and 3 games up on 4-3 Oklahoma, it is looking very good for Arizona to lock up the division in record time.   Thunderstruck in San Antonio It was the end of a 4-game winning streak, a punch to the gut for a team that was really beginning to believe in itself, and a dangerous loss in a division that could be tight until the end. San Antonio’s shocking home loss to the San Diego Thunder was bad on the field, but could be even worse for the psyche of the club. They now find themselves tied with Birmingham atop the division, with the Stallions on their own 4-game winning streak. They are only a half-game game up on another dangerous team, the 4-2 Houston Gamblers, and just 1 game up on a Memphis team that has also shown a lot of fight this year. If San Antonio wants to finally claim a spot as a true competitor in the division, and possibly their first playoff spot since being re-introduced to the league in 2020, they need to put this one behind them and get back to the form that helped them pull off 4 consecutive wins.   Stars Not Silent After Home Loss It was a rowdy crowd at The Linc this week, but not rowdy in the positive sense, rowdy in that Stars fans were booing there own team as Philadelphia dropped their 5 th  game of the year, this one to the previously 1-5 Las Vegas Vipers. It was a crowd that was already calling for Dan Quinn, the 2021 USFL Coach of the Year to be fired, calling for Carson Wentz to be sent back to the NFL, pretty much calling for everyone and anyone, from punt returner Quincy Enumwa to Governor Tom Wolf to be removed.   That is bad enough, though not particularly out of character for the famously aggressive, cynical, and irrascable Philadelphia fanbase. But it seems the negativity has seeped into the locker room as well. Among the “one game at a time” and “we need to stop hurting ourselves” cliches common to the postgame press interviews, there were more than a few biting comments and expressions of frustration. Whether it was Derrick Henry bemoaning the lack of commitment to the run game, K. J. Hamler hinting that he is not getting targets, or pretty much every defender who spoke to the media wondering why the club is ranked 25 th  in points allowed, always an expression that does not take their own role into account. Only QB Carson Wentz and defensive captain Jonathan Bostic gave us the more expected “mea culpa”, demanding of themselves that they play better.   If Coach Quinn, only 1 year removed from a pretty impressive 8-win uptick (from 2 in 2020 to 10 wins in 2021), seems to be losing control. Everything that went right in 2021 seems to be reversing course in 2022. Derrick Henry’s yards per game are down from 85.9 to 74.6 and his YPC is below 4 for the first time in his career. Only Randall Cobb has more than 30 receptions and 2 touchdowns over 7 weeks. The defense has only 17 sacks in 7 games, and has forced only 8 turnovers. But, more than a statistical dip, what seems to be lacking most of all is a sense of united purpose. The team is fractured, their confidence cracked, and their sense of purpose is just not fueled by the same fire we saw last year. And that, even more than wins and losses, could mark a very serious issue for this Stars team.   Sweat Gets into Sack Race with 4 Against Bandits Back in Week 3 we commented on a Sack leaderboard that was fronted by Memphis’s J. J. Watt and the surprising rise of St. Louis edge rusher A. J. Epenesa. At the time we wondered aloud where Montez Sweat and Calais Campbell had hid themselves away. Well, while Calais Campbell has been dealing with an infection after lacerating the palm of his hand, one that has limited his playing time, Montez Sweat has been grinding out more games and closing in on the leaders atop the Sack rankings. This week, with a monstruous 4-sack day against Dak Prescott and the Bandits, Sweat reappeared where he expects to be, right in the hunt for the sack title. Sweat’s 4 sacks this week bring his 2022 total to 11 at the 7-game mark, good enough to be tied for 2 nd  with Epenesa, only 1 behind Watt. Anyone who knows Sweat, knows that he will not rest until he is atop the list, as he finished 2021, for the first time beating out Calais Campbell for the title. This year it seems Sweat will be racing with the young Epenesa and the NFL veteran Watt for the title, with a cluster behind them at 9 sacks and Campbell already 5 back of the lead with 7 sacks in limited action. Of course, we won’t count Campbell out. He has shown us in the past an ability to close ground quickly, but this year it seems Sweat is the dog in pursuit of the fox in a chase that should be fun to watch all season long.   Hyde Sidelined by Hamstring, McCaffrey by ACL Tear Apparently a bye week does not guarantee that a team will avoid injury. Houston came to that realization this week after star tailback Carlos Hyde suffered a hamstring injury in off-week workouts. The injury apparently occurred during a CrossFit-inspired workout on Thursday. Initially thought to be a sprain, by Sunday Hyde was being evaluated and the end result is that he has been diagnosed with a partial tear, an injury that will keep the back out of action at least a month, possibly longer. Hyde, who currently occupies the 4 th  position among USFL backs with 551 yards, will be sorely missed. Houston will split carries between Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Trayveon Williams, but are expected to seek a 3 rd  back to help address the load for at least the next 4 weeks. Rumors have them in discussions with current free agent Leonard Fournette, who was with Denver last year, signed with the NFL Buffalo Bills in the offseason but was released 3 games into the 2021 season, which means he has now passed the 6-month threshold to become a true free agent not bound to the NFL-USFL transfer window limitations.   Whether Houston brings in Fournette, or another back from the free agent pool like a Myles Gaskin or Kiero Small, the reality is that their run game is going to suffer without Hyde, and with Houston already trailing both San Antonio and Birmingham in the division and with questions about Colt McCoy’s health, Gambler fans are likely to be spending a good amount of time googling WebMD instead of Fantasy Football sites for updates. In Oakland a similar timeframe for Christian McCaffrey, expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a partial ACL tear. Unlike Houston, the Invaders feel they have their answer already on the roster, in the form of 2021 draft pick Bryce Love. Love finished the game against Birmingham and is expected to take on the lead back role for the Invaders as they prepare for the upcoming month of action. He will be backed up by Justin Jackson and promoted practice-squadder Kevin Harris as the Invaders try to stay in the race in the Pacific, awaiting McCaffrey's return at some point in the league's final 6 weeks.   Are Rumors of a 3-Way Trade Legit? It cannot be true, can it? Reports have been circling for the past 48 hours of a potential 3-team trade involving two starting QBs and a pair of defenders. If it comes to fruition, it would be the biggest midseason deal in perhaps a decade. So, what are we hearing and what might be the sticking point. The oft-repeated version of the deal would have Pittsburgh fully committing to rookie Kenny Picket by sending 11-year veteran and 2015 OPOTY Andy Dalton to the LA Express . The Express, for their part would be shipping off starting QB Kyler Murray to Atlanta , an option to step in for Josh Rosen if his up and down performance heads further south. Atlanta would complete the triangle trade by sending two defenders to Pittsburgh, with LB Zavier Gooden almost a certainty to be included. It is an intriguing deal, one that gives Coach Lewis in LA a more traditional drop back passer to work with, one more aligned with current backup Nick Foles’s skill set. It would give Atlanta another QB option, one that may be particularly valuable if veteran Aaron Murray’s severely broken leg is the career-ender that many fear it may be. For the Maulers, it means leaning into Kenny Pickett as the starter, but also adding some much-needed aggressiveness to a defense that currently ranks in the Top 5 in every yardage category but is somehow 19 th  in scoring defense, giving up too many big plays.   So, what could be holding up this blockbuster trade? Well, several things are certainly potential dealbreakers. First of all, we have to assume that LA wants to get a much better sense of Andy Dalton’s injury status. He left the season opener with a stress fracture in his plant foot, a tricky injury and one that can take longer than more traditional fractures to heal. He was expected to miss 1-2 weeks, but we are 6 weeks later and Pittsburgh’s last injury report still listed him as doubtful. LA will absolutely want a healthy Dalton if they are to pull the trigger on this.   For Pittsburgh’s part, getting LB Zavier Gooden is nice, but won’t be enough for them to step away from Dalton. They are asking Atlanta to part with more, with names like FS Earl Thomas, or one of the Fire’s top corners, Darius Slay or Shaquile Griffin. Los Angeles has also floated the idea of draft pick compensation as a part of the deal, but from who? With any 3-way trade, the balance of who gives up what and to whom is significantly more complicated than we see in simpler bilateral deals. No team wants to be seen as giving up the farm and getting little in return. All three have needs, all three have a good reason to part with a player they have soured on to get something they covet, but the key is in striking a balance that works for all three. Will it happen? Rumors have the three parties close, but we all know that a deal can either come together quickly, or fall apart just as fast. We will keep our ears to the wall on this one, and when we know, you will know.             A bad week for halfbacks, with Christian McCaffrey likely out for up to 6 weeks after a partial ACL tear and two other star backs, Carlos Hyde and Josh Jacobs expected to miss at least 1-2 weeks, Jacobs with a knee issue and Hyde with a troubling hamstring strain. The other big story is in Orlando, where star receiver Brashad Perrriman has been placed on IR and will be lost for the season after a complete Achilles rupture, a nasty injury that will require up to 12 months to completely heal. Orlando plans to promote Hunter Renfrew from the swing spot to a starting spot opposite Nelson Agholor, almost certainly removing any trade rumors for the receiver, but we would not be surprised to see the Renegades try to acquire another receiver as well.   OUT WR         Brashad Perriman       ORL       Achilles          IR OT          Greg Robinson               BIR         Back                IR OG         Daniel Kilgore              OHI       ACL                  4-6 Weeks HB         Christian McCaffery         OAK      ACL                  4-6 Weeks HB         Carlos Hyde                      HOU     Arm                  4-6 Weeks SS           Delarin Turner-Yell          MEM     Collarbone      1-2 Weeks HB         Josh Jacobs                     BAL        Miniscus           1-2 Weeks OT          Ross Burton                     TBY        Hand                1-2 Weeks CB          Amani Oruwarije             PHI        Turf Toe            1-2 Weeks OG         Nick Easten                     NE          Ankle               1-2 Weeks DOUBTFUL DE          Datone Jones               OHI       MCL                                      OT          Lachavious Simmons    STL         Pinched Nerve OT          Darrian Kennard         ATL         Abdominal                         DT          Devon Godchaux           BIR         Concussion OT          Michael Oher                 POR      Foot   QUESTIONABLE DE          Anthony Zettel                CHA      Collarbone C             Scott Quessenberry      OKL       Concussion OT          Riley Reiff                        BAL        Wrist LB           Shaq Thompson             DEN     Hand CB          Robert Anderson            CHI        Groin FS           Jamal Adams                   DAL       Concussion QB         Justin Herbert                 DAL       Neck WR         Jamison Crowder           MEM     Hamstring   USFL Reports on Jersey Sales, With No Surprises If I asked you to name the best players in the USFL, or those you think are most popular, you likely would throw out some pretty well-known stars: Colt McCoy (the 2021 MVP), Dak Prescott (the 2021 OPOTY), Montez Sweat (2021 Sack Leader), HB LeVeon Bell or Knowshon Moreno, or perhaps extroverted WRs Dez Bryant and Odell Beckham Jr.. And, as it appears, you would be correct. The USFL this week released a report on the top selling player jerseys from the league’s online stores as well as each team’s team shops (online and physical), and the list is not exactly filled with shocking revelations.   Dak Prescott, for a second year in a row, remains the top selling jersey. Not surprising considering he is the 2020 MVP and 2021 OPOTY for the league’s current “glamour” team and 2-time defending champs. He joins his favorite target, WR Dez Bryant as Tampa Bay’s 2 representatives in the Top 10.   In second is Houston QB Colt McCoy, the 2021 MVP, followed by Orlando DE Montez Sweat and another superstar QB, Denver’s Josh Allen. The only player who sports a new jersey among the Top 10 is Odell Beckham Jr, whose move from the Generals to the Machine for 2022 sparked a huge run on sky blue jerseys with number 13, enough new Machine jerseys sold with Beckham’s name on them to place him 5 th  in the league.   Rounding out the Top 10 we have LeVeon Bell (MGN), Knowshon Moreno (SEA), 2021 NFL import J. J. Watt (MEM), 2021 Rookie of the Year ,Justin Fields (OHI), and a second member of Seattle’s Summer Bowl squad, LB Khalil Mack.   Who from the rookie class of 2022 is looking to be a popular choice, well, within the top 40 jersey sales we find HB Tyler Allgeier (ARZ), WR Garrett Wilson (SAN), and New England lead back Breece Hall, but the current sales leader among rookies is on defense, and really not a surprise when you realize he went from Ann Arbor to the Michigan Panthers, DE Aiden Hutchinson ranks 23 rd  in the league and the 2 nd  best selling Panther jersey behind LeVeon Bell.     USFL 40 Greatest Players: 22-20 We breach the Top 20 with this week’s list, moving into the upper half of our Top 40, but not before we celebrate two of the league’s biggest defensive stars, heavy hitters with a reputation for fury, and a mouth to match their game. As we crack the Top 20 we find a fan favorite there as well, a player with a reputation for an easygoing frivolity on the sideline but an intensity of purpose on the field. Three great players, three great personalities, that is what we have on tap with players 24, 23, and 22 this week.   22) DT John Randall (1990-2003) If ever there was a player who evoked pure fear on a USFL field, it was John Randall. Drafted by the Baltimore Blitz on a late round flyer in 1990, Randall was a wrecking ball of destruction for his entire 14-year career with the Blitz. He was so focused as a rookie that he not only earned a starting spot on the Blitz defensive line, but two separate fines for disobeying his coaches when asked to tone it down in practice. Randall was recognized immediately as a difference maker, selected to be All-USFL in his rookie campaign after racking up 66 tackles and 5 sacks in his first season. He would go on to earn All-USFL honors another 12 times in 13 years, retiring with 102 sacks at the DT position and a reputation as a pure force of nature on the field.   21) LB Brian Bosworth (1987-1997) Brian Bosworth came to the USFL already a national celebrity as an All-American at Oklahoma. That it was 1987 and the Oklahoma Outlaws were able to not only sign “The Boz” but keep him in Oklahoma was a coup at the time for the young USFL, almost as big as the Herschel Walker signing in 1983. But fate would soon change Bosworth’s trajectory. Financial issues and team mergers meant that he would have only 1 season in Oklahoma before the team merged with the original San Antonio Gunslingers and he found himself a Texas Outlaw, not an Oklahoma Outlaw.   That early USFL instability certainly did not impact Bosworth on the field. After racking up a ridiculous 143 sacks in his rookie season in Tulsa, he followed it up with 8 more 100-tackle seasons at Middle Linebacker for the Outlaws, including a 155-tackle season in 1990 that still remains the league record. Bosworth sits first and third in the record book for his rookie year and that amazing 1990 campaign. And while his total of 1,255 career tackles no longer place him in the Top 10 all-time, overtaken by some players who eked a few more years out of their bodies, his average of 114 per season is still among the league’s all-time elites.   20) TE Keith Jackson (1988-1999) No, not the announcer whose booming voice became synonymous with the USFL over its first 2 decades. You know that. We mean the 4-time All-USFL tight end who brought in over 1,000 receptions for 8,500 yards in his 11-year career with Memphis and Denver. A charismatic presence in the locker room, on the sideline, and in the press room, Jackson was also a nearly unstoppable force on the field. Jackson produced the first 100-catch season ever for a tight end in 1998, and then repeated the feat the following year, his final one with the Gold. Jackson was able to outrace most linebackers, block out most safeties, and run over pretty much any cornerback on the field.   Foiled from getting a ring by some shaky teams and unfortunate playoff losses with both the Showboats and Gold, Jackson still remains among the names that all USFL tight ends mention when talking about how they model their game. Those accolades, along with his larger-than-life career both on and off the field have him as the first player in our Top 20 and the highest ranked tight end on our list.   With the entire Southern Division, and the New England Steamrollers earning a well-deserved week of rest, we are again at 12 games and 24 teams in action in Week 8. Those 12 games kick off on Friday with a classic battle that goes back to 1983, when New Jersey head down to Birmingham to face the Stallions. It won’t be Walker vs. Stoudt, but this battle of playoff hopefuls should be a good kickoff to the weekend.   On Saturday we get our first divisional battles of the week, with a Border War between struggling Michigan and up-and-down Ohio. A win by either could be pivotal in regaining their lost form, either from 2021 for Michigan or from their fast start to 2022 for Ohio. The other divisional game on Saturday is at 8pm when Baltimore heads into Philadelphia to face the Stars. Expect another thunderstorm of boos to reign down on Dan Quinn and the Stars if he cannot get a result in this key NE Division showdown. The other 8pm game on Sunday is worth checking in on as well, as the 7-0 Arizona Wranglers head up to rainy Seattle to face the 2021 Western Conference Champions. We expect Brett Hundley to be back in form after a rough Week 7, which gives Seattle a chance against a very impressive Wrangler squad. Sunday kicks off with a big one for the Houston Gamblers, going into their first game without Carlos Hyde in the backfield. They face a Memphis squad that sits a half-game behind them and a game behind the division leaders. Both teams in this Southern Division clash are hoping they can gain ground on the leaders with a win. Chicago returns to action after their bye, hosting the 2-5 San Diego Thunder. Will they be overconfident, looking ahead, or will Chicago join Arizona at 7-0 with a home win? Later in the day we head out West for two more divisional games. At 4pm it is LA visiting Portland. Both clubs are looking up at Seattle and wondering if they have a chance to make a run with 10 games left to play. Then at 8pm it is 3-4 Denver visiting 2-5 Dallas. Both desperately need a win, not because they can hope to catch Arizona, but because Wild Card football may be their best chance to play a 17 th  game this year.   Fri. 7pm ET         New Jersey (4-3) @ Birmingham (5-2)*      NBC   Sat. 12pm ET     Washington (3-4) @ New Orleans (3-3)*         ABC Sat. 12pm ET   Michigan (1-5) @ Ohio (3-3)*                            FOX Sat. 4pm ET       St. Louis (5-2) @ Oklahoma (4-3)                     ABC Sat. 4pm ET       Pittsburgh (1-5) @ Las Vegas (2-5)                   FOX Sat. 8pm ET      Baltimore (4-3) @ Philadelphia (2-5)                NBC Sat. 8pm ET       Arizona (7-0) @ Seattle (4-3)                           ESPN/EFN   Sun 12pm ET    Memphis (4-3) @ Houston (4-2)*                  ABC Sun 12pm ET     San Diego (2-5) @ Chicago (6-0)                     FOX Sun 4pm ET       San Antonio (5-2) @ Oakland (3-4)                ABC Sun 4pm ET      Los Angeles (3-4) @ Portland (2-5)                   FOX Sun 8pm ET      Denver (3-4) @ Dallas (2-5)                               EFN   Byes: Atlanta, Charlotte, Jacksonville, New England, Orlando, Tampa Bay (*) = Throwback Uniforms

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: With both Atlanta and New England earning big wins this week, our decision came down to halfbacks Nick Chubb and T. J. Yeldon, but considering that Yeldon is not even the primary back, had 6 fewer touches than Chubb and gained 29 more yards, we think we will have to go with the former Stallion, Yeldon, who racked up 142 yards and 2 TDs on only 16 carries as the Steamrollers flattened Oklahoma.

What did we see in Week 6? We saw a surprisingly defensive matchup between two of the league’s best offenses. We saw the Panther faithful openly turning on their team. We saw a frustrated Marvin Lewis questioning his QB. And we saw two teams not worried at all about their chemistry as Arizona and Chicago improve to 6-0 on the season. We also saw the trading block pick up some action, with 3 significant deals made this week and rumors of some potentially huge moves on the way. That is our big story this week, and we will kick off with that before running through all the week’s game action and its fallout. And with many teams in a bit of QB Limbo, we will take a peek at the 2023 draft to see if help may be on the way. All that is coming up, plus a look at our first week of byes coming this weekend. Stick with us, there is a lot to say This Week in the USFL.   The Trading Block Heats Up With Deals & Rumors We had our first “major” trade last week, with Denver acquiring C. J. Prosise from the Generals, and the crack in the dam has started to split wider. Denver was again on the move this week, while Charlotte made two moves and Orlando sought to improve their secondary play. It is all a sign that teams have figured out where they need help and are not going to wait another season to get it. We will break down this week’s deals and give you the rumors we are hearing that could turn into moves in the next 3 weeks. It is “wheeling & dealing” in the USFL, and just how big the crop of moves will be this year is anyone’s guess.   Denver Ditches Linday in 2 nd  HB Move in 2 Weeks Coach Hufnagel’s dissatisfaction with his run game produced not one, but two trades to bring in fresh legs over the past week, leaving only Jonathan Ward left from the team’s Week 1 HB room. Last week it was a deal with New Jersey that sent David Wilson and a 3 rd  rounder to New Jersey for HB C. J. Prosise. This week it was 2021 starter Phillip Lindsay, who is averaging just under 2 yards per carry, who was dealt. Denver made a 2-for-1 deal with Charlotte to bring scatback and return man Nyheim Hines to the Mile High City. Charlotte, in return, landed Lindsay as well as WR Calvin Ridley, giving up only Hines and a 3 rd rounder of their own.   Expect Prosise to take on the bulk of the running duty in Denver, as he did this week in his debut. Hines will almost certainly take on a 3 rd  down role and is expected to take over punt return duties, with Kevin White, who scored on a 100-yard return this week, retaining his primary kickoff return position. For Charlotte, a rotation of Linday and Latavius Murray is the likely product of the deal, though they too will likely mix up their return teams with Ridley taking some returns formerly held by Hines as well as mixing into the WR group led by rookie Drake London.   Charlotte Also Shakes Up Defense with Deal for Hassan Reddick The Monarchs, sitting at 2-4 and impressing folks with their grit, added some more grit to the defense with a second deal this week. The Monarchs, unsatisfied with DT Poona Ford’s production sent him out to Oakland, who need more size in their D-line, in return for LB Hassan Reddick, a thumper who is known for his run-stuffing prowess. The Monarchs also threw in a 5 th  rounder to sweeten the pot in the deal, one which could help both defenses be a bit more stout against the run.   Ford will line up in the Nose Tackle position for the Invades, splitting time with Christian Wilkins. It is a move that aims to take advantage of the big man’s size, while still retaining the 3-4 alignment that Coach Kubiak prefers. Replacing Reddick on the strong side will be Ukeme Eligwe, who has been seeing more and more snaps in his 6 th  year. For the Monarchs, expect Coach Daboll and his DC Shane Bowen, to move Germaine Pratt to the weak side, slotting Hassan Reddick in as the strong side backer to take on tight ends, fullbacks, and slow down runs. Leki Fotu will take over as the center-smashing DT, while 2 nd year player Alim McNeill pressures the guard and tackle to free up Chandler Jones for even more disruption. That is the plan, at least on paper for Bowen.   Orlando Adds Richardson in Preparation for SE Division Passers After an embarrassing showing by the Renegade secondary against Dak Prescott and the Bandits in Week 5, Orlando has made a secondary-for-secondary swap with Las Vegas to try to add more coverage capability to their defensive backfield, hoping to counteract not only Prescott (who they face again this week) but also Trevor Lawrence, Paxton Lynch, and Josh Rosen in a tough Southern Division for pass defenders. Orlando sent backup safety Justin Simmons and a 4 th  rounder to the Vipers to acquire corner Shaquille Richardson.   Richardson will now pair with Michael Jackson, allowing Kevin Johnson to return to his more comfortable nickel position. Richardson is a very solid bump & run corner, one likely to be set up in man coverage with a team’s taller or bigger receiver while Jackson takes on the speedier target. Simmons, the newest Viper defender, started all 16 games at Stong Safety for Orlando in 2020, but was demoted to the backup for rookie Richie Grant last year. Now, in a new situation in Las Vegas, Simmons is expected to compete with Zayne Anderson for snaps at Strong Safety while Rodney Thomas may make the move to Free Safety to back up Julian Blackmon.   Three big moves, each with a very specific targeted improvement in mind, whether it is finding some balance for Josh Allen in Denver, some aggressiveness in the Charlotte front 7, size in Oakland’s 3-4, or more pass-prevention capability for the Renegades. But there are still plenty of teams with plenty of needs, so what are we hearing around the league, the whispers, the talk, the water-cooler hubbub that could lead to deals over the next few weeks. Here are 5 rumors we are hearing from inside organizations, rumors that could lead to something if a deal can be cut.   Bell or Mattison Could be Available It seems impossible to believe that Michigan would ever trade away their 4-time rushing champion, but LeVeon is clearly not happy with the 2022 offensive plan. The 7-time All-USFL back, who also has 4 OPOTY awards to his name, is disgruntled that despite a stellar 4.9 YPC average this year, he has only seen 104 touches, 13 th in the league and a solid 28 carries, essentially more than a full game’s workload, behind current league rushing leader Josh Jacobs. At 30, it is expected that Bell would not be a 25-30 carry back any longer, but the Panther’s biggest offensive weapon feels like the club may be putting him out to pasture too soon. If Michigan is unwilling to deal Bell, which you would imagine they would be, then perhaps backup Alexander Mattison is the player to target. The 4 th -year back had over 100 attempts last year but only 18 in 6 games in 2022. If Michigan thinks that Bell is too valuable, but wants to find help in other areas, there are teams that would be interested in Mattison.   Portland Seeking Edge Help No surprise here. With rookie Kayvon Thibodeaux still upwards of 2 months away from any possible return to the field, the Stags are beating the bushes trying to find a trade partner who can bring them some DE help. But, as you might expect, not many teams are willing to part with an effective edge rusher. Rumors have Portland in talks with the Stallions about RE Boogie Basham; with Dallas about either Taylor Hart or Boye Mafe, who have been sharing snaps opposite Connor Barwin; and with Denver about veteran Justice Cole, but the problem is what teams want from the Stags, with reports that counter offers tend to focus on wideout Brandin Cooks or FS Tre Flowers, two players the Stags are not eager to give up. Keep an eye on this one as it seems possible that someone will blink, quite possibly Portland, and a deal could be made to bring some edge help to the Rose City.   Is Ryan Grant Up for Consideration? It may seem unthinkable for the Bandits to break up their receiver group, but with expanded roles for Deebo Samuel and Sammie Coates in the Bandit passing game and with Grant in the final year of his deal and likely looking for a payday as he turns 29, now may be the time for Tampa Bay to make a deal and get value for their explosive wideout before he tests the free agent waters. No doubt there would be no shortage of teams who would like to get a shot at Grant, a player who has averaged over 800 yards per season as a number two target for the Bandits. Of course, teams want to avoid the “Alvin Harper Effect”, wherein a clear number two thinks himself a number one and demands to be treated as such, despite no evidence he can live up to the role. The other risk, of course, is that Grant could be gone by August, so you are looking at what could be a very short term advantage to bringing in the wideout.   Aldon Smith Seems Ready to Move On A deal that could well happen in the next few weeks involved New Jersey LB Aldon Smith, another player in the last year of his current deal. Smith has made some noise that at age 32 and with the Generals strapped for cap room, he is open to a trade & sign deal that would allow him to finish his career elsewhere. The Generals seem open, and have taken some calls, with the most likely trade partner being Western Conference contender Oklahoma, who have not been impressed yet with rookie Nik Bonitto and have concerns about Vontez Burfict filling the strongside role at age 34. Burfict, always outspoken, but not the player he was a few years ago, has moments, but also has shown signs that he simply cannot cover the range he once did. Smith, only 2 years younger, still seems agile and quick enough to be very effective. We hear the two clubs may be close on this one, so we could see Smith in black, crimson, and burnt orange well before Week 10’s trade deadline.   A Starting QB Swap, Really? This one still feels like the kind of thing that only happens in fantasy leagues, not the pros, but the rumor just won’t die and neither organization will shut down the whispers on it. What are we talking about? How about Marvin Lewis, who has been visibly frustrated with QB play from Kyler Murray, sending the diminutive scrambling QB to Pittsburgh in a straight up swap for veteran pocket passer Andy Dalton. It seems insane, we know, and yet, there is a logic to it. With Nick Foles already in LA, having a more traditional pocket passer could make a lot of sense for Lewis and the Express. And with Kenny Pickett playing well in Pittsburgh, even if wins have been hard to come by, there would be no immediate pressure to put Murray into action. But, does Coach Holtz want a scrambling QB who has had vision issues and whose style is a far cry from what the Maulers have been about.   It is the kind of deal that could dramatically alter the perception of both clubs, but does it make sense for both clubs? In a way that could keep fans from bailing on the season? That seems harder to answer as fans are unlikely to jump on the bandwagon just because one struggling QB has been replaced by another. Dalton has a better overall history, but it is just that, a history, not a present proof of quality. Murray does not even have that, with everyone focusing on missed potential. And while we think Dalton could potentially help LA put a few more points on the board, we are just not sure what the win would be for Pittsburgh, so we are curious, but not convinced that this deal ever happens, or that it should.                 DALLAS ROUGHNECKS 28   WASHINGTON FEDERALS 33 While it is pretty obvious that Dallas-Washington games in the USFL bring on none of the passion or high-energy vitriol of a Cowboys-Redskins/Commanders game in the NFL, they can still produce some sparks, as this week’s matchup at Audi Field gave us. In this rare matchup between the Northeast Division Federals and the Southwest Division Roughnecks, there were more than a few burgundy and gold jerseys smattered among the green and white Federals fans, a sign that team loyalty still plays a part even in a different league with different teams. But what made this game our GOTW was a 4 th quarter that saw 3 lead changes and 4 scores, including a pick-six and a late-game bomb that produced the game winner.   The Roughnecks and Federals don’t know each other well, a pretty typical reality when teams are in opposite conferences and only play each other ever 2-3 years. That lack of familiarity tends to breed timidity in the opening drives of the game, with both teams trying to test out if what they have gleaned from film study turns out to be accurate. That is what we got in the 1 st  25 minutes and first 7 drives of the game, with both teams doing the standard dance of “establishing the run” and taking few chances. Both Washington and Dallas earned some first downs, tried out some basic plays, and, in Washington’s case, got in range to put a couple of field goals up. Neither team showed much in their opening drives, but, once they fell down by 6 in the middle of the 2 nd  quarter, Dallas started to open things up and that triggered a much more enjoyable style of play from both teams and a much more exciting game in the 2 nd  half. Dallas got their offense in gear on their 4 th  drive, down 6 after a 2 nd  Adam Vinatieri field goal for the Federals. On that 4 th drive, the Roughnecks started mixing in the pass on 1 st  down, lengthened some of their routes, and finally drove deep into Federals territory. After a nice 17-yard completion to Chad Williams, Dallas was inside the 20, and 4 plays later, Justin Herbert found Williams again, this time for a 9-yard TD strike. It would be a lead change that would hold until the 4 th  quarter.   After a quick 3-and-out from the Feds, Dallas again moved the ball well, now in 2-minute mode, calling plays from the line. On a 3 rd  and 7, Herbert escaped the pocket and found Sammy Watkins for a key first down. A combination of short passes and runs from Perine and Johnson moved the Roughnecks into the red zone, and a bad read by Washington’s LB group helped Perine break off a 19-yard TD scamper to the left pylon that increased Dallas’s advantage to 14-6, a score that would hold until the break.   Coming out of the half, Washington finally started to make a few more plays, with Jacoby Brissett connecting on two big pass plays, a 29-yarder to Rob Housler, and a key 3 rd  down throw to Tyreek Hill that got them deep into Dallas territory. But with 1 st and goal on the 7, Washington failed on 3 attempts to punch the ball in, with Travis Etienne denied twice and a Brissett to Housler pass failing to connect on 3 rd  and goal from the 6. Coach Gilbride opted to pull within 1 score by sending Vinatieri out to make the tally 14-9.   Dallas responded with a 14-play drive that occupied over 5 minutes of the 3 rd  quarter, covered 77 yards, and concluded with Herbert’s 2 nd  TD toss to Chad Williams as the Roughnecks extended to a 12-point lead. Washington would not be able to get back in this game with more field goals, and they knew it. On their next drive, the Federals were determined to reach the endzone, and, thanks to some solid runs from Etienne, including a 24-yard gainer on a nicely-blocked sweep left, they would meet their goal. After Etienne’s big run, the Feds had another 1 st  and goal, this time from the 9. They lined up in the shotgun, executed a delayed draw to Darrynton Evans, and with some help from G Simon Stepaniak, who just leveled LB Melvin Ingram, Evans darted into the endzone for the first TD of the game for the Feds. Dallas’s lead was again reduced to 5 as the Feds’ score made it 21-16 after three.   Dallas had been in control, though somewhat tenuously, for the better part of the past two quarters, but that, and momentum in general, was about to change. After gaining an initial first down on their next drive, Dallas dialed up a deep ball, but did not get the result they had hoped for. Justin Herbert took a shot across the middle, trying to hit Courtland Sutton, but FS Rafael Bush timed his approach perfectly, colliding with Sutton just as the ball arrived, popping it up in the air. The ball dropped to Bush and he took off running. With the crowd on its feet, Bush juked past an initial tackle attempt from Dallas TE Pharaoh Brown, outpaced the Dallas linemen, and easily shook off a half-hearted shove from QB Justin Herbert on his way to a 51-yard pick-six return.   That play got the crowd to full voice, gave Washington the lead, something they had not held since midway through the 2 nd quarter and clearly turned up the intensity of the game. Dallas needed to respond, but could not as on a 3 rd  and 5 a completed pass to Sutton was called back for holding, creating a 3 rd  and 15. The ensuing draw to Perine gained only 7 and the Roughnecks were forced to punt. Washington, feeling the momentum shift, drove deep into Dallas territory again, but after a 3 rd  down endzone throw to Keenan Allen proved to be too high for the Federals’ receiver, it was Adam Vinatieri once again, with his 4 th field goal giving Washington a 27-21 lead with 7:10 on the clock.   Dallas calmed themselves down, fighting through the crowd noise in Audi Field as 39,404 fans tried to make life difficult for the Roughneck offense. They moved the ball crisply, not exactly in a hurry up but certainly playing with tempo. A screen to Perine went for 28, giving Dallas a sense of confidence. Herbert hit Tim Wright for another first down, and soon Dallas was inside the 10. It took all 3 downs to get the score, but a short run from Duke Johnson was ruled a TD, withstood Washington’s red flag challenge, and gave Dallas a 1-point lead with 4:35 left on the clock.   The Dallas score seemed to suck the air out of the stadium, a situation made even worse by a failed 3 rd  down attempt from Brissett to Rob Housler. Washington reluctantly punted the ball back to Dallas with 3:14 left to play. Dallas would have to kill the clock and the Federals’ defense would need to get a 3-and-out to give their offense one more chance. In the battle of goals, the Federals won out, stuffing Samaje Perine on two consecutive plays, setting up a 3 rd  and 7. Using two of their timeouts, Washington was able to save time on the clock. Dallas failed on the 3 rd  down attempt, and with 2:12 on the clock, they had to punt the ball.   The timing was ideal for the Federals. They got the ball with 2:08 left to play, meaning that they could do whatever they wanted on first down, knowing the 2-minute warning would stop the clock. They again faked a shotgun pass, handed the ball to Darrynton Evans and were rewarded with a 19-yard gain on 1 st  and 10. The ball now on their own 38, they would stay in the shotgun, with 4 wideouts on the field after the 2-minute warning break. On 1 st  and 10 from the 38, Brissett connected with Jarvis Landry to take the ball to the 48, but Landry was unable to get out of bounds. Brissett and the offense raced the 10 yards to the line and spiked the ball, creating 2 nd and 10 with 1:54 left to play.   The next play is one the Federals fans in attendance will not soon forget. Again from the shotgun, with Keenan Allen alone on the short side of the field, while Landry, Tyreek Hill, and Kavontae Turpin formed a 3-man cluster on the wide side, the Federals started to shift Turpin inwards, towards the hashmark, when the ball was snapped. Brissett dropped back, got pressure from Dallas DE Connor Barwin, forcing him to roll to his left. Barwin fell to the turf, lunging at Brissett, a dive that would give the QB time to set his feet before throwing a deep ball down the sideline. There, with a clear 2-yard advantage over the corner, was perhaps the fastest player in the USFL, wideout Tyreek Hill. Brissett’s pass drifted inward, forcing Hill to adjust his route towards the hashmark. He stretched out for the ball, brought it in but rolled to the ground at the 21. But, in a move he will not soon live down, Dallas’s rookie corner Ja’Sir Taylor, apparently forgetting that the ground does not “tackle” the player in the pros, strided past Hill without downing him with a touch. The speedy receiver rolled back to his feet, and sprinted the remaining 21 yards to the endzone, a stunned Taylor looking on before realizing his mistake and holding his head into his hands. Washington would go for 2 to create a 7-point lead, but failed on the attempt, leaving them with only a 5-point lead and asking the defense to hold Dallas for the final 1:51 left on the clock. The offense had made a huge play, a 52-yard TD toss aided by a rookie mistake on defense. Now it was time for the Federals’ D to avoid a similar fate. At first it did not look good. Justin Herbert operated the no huddle with precision, hitting on 4 consecutive passes to move the ball from their own 25 to the Washington 44, with just over 41 seconds left to play. But, after an incomplete throw to Watkins, Dallas faced a 2 nd and 10 from the 44 and Justin Herbert tried to push a ball to his slot receiver, Tim Wright. Had Wright sat in the zone, he may well have given Herbert a good target, but he continued across the field and right into the path of two other Dallas receivers. When Herbert threw the ball ahead of Wright, he gave Washington CB Dee Milliner a chance to drop his man and undercut Wright’s route. Milliner is a savvy veteran with an uncanny sense of angles, and the Federals’ corner made the play that clinched the game, all but scooping the ball out of Wrights hands before falling to the ground to be celebrated by his teammates. Washington had made the big offensive play and the big defensive stop within 60 seconds of each other, and with those two plays had improved their standing to 3-3 on the year, only 1 game behind the division-leading Steamrollers. They had provided their fans with a reason to believe, and maybe to invite a few more to the stadium for their next game. Dallas dropped to 2-4 and has to feel that they let one slip away. A classic Dallas-Washington game even if it was in the USFL and not the NFC East.   MEMPHIS 20  NEW ORLEANS 17 Don’t look now, but the Memphis Showboats have won 4 in a row and now sit atop the Southern Division. They pull off the win this week by doing what no one has been able to do before, shutting down Geno Smith and the Breaker passing game. Smith completed only 12 of 26 passes, assuming you don’t count the 2 he completed to Memphis defenders. Yes, the Showboats gave up 121 yards and a TD to DeMarco Murray, but by focusing on Smith they were able to keep the Breakers from racking up points, and with 13 unanswered points to close out the game, including a Bortles to Goedert TD, the Showboats came back from a 17-6 deficit to snatch away a win. POTG:  Showboat DE Sam Acho: 3 Tck, 1 TFL, 1 Sck, 1 FF   PITTSBURGH 15  OHIO 10 Kenny Pickett has his first USFL win as the Maulers upset Ohio in Columbus to notch their first W of the season. The Mauler D spied Justin Fields all game, forcing him to stay in the pocket. The offense finally found some semblance of a run game, with Sony Michel hitting on a 40-yard TD run, but carries split between him, Cam Akers, and Rico Dowdle for 103 yards. The Mauler D held Ohio to only 10 first downs and only 230 total yards in a game that defied the oddsmakers and left 41,207 Glory fans with a sour feeling about their suddenly 3-3 club. POTG:  Mauler DE Vic Beasley: 5 Tck, 3 TFL, 1 Sck   DENVER 27  BALTIMORE 29 The Gold continue to overhaul their RB room (see below) and could have used it today as they could not close out the game in the final minutes, giving Baltimore the final drive they needed for Andrew Franks to hit his 5 th  field goal and give the Blitz the win. Despite a 100-yard kickoff return from WR Kevin White and a late Allen to Tate TD, the Gold could not hold off the Blitz. Jake Locker (26 of 42 for the game) hit rookie Christian Watson and TE C. J. Uzomah in the final seconds to get Franks into position for the game winner. POTG:  Baltimore kicker Andrew Franks: 5 for 5 on field goals.   LAS VEGAS 27  NEW JERSEY 31 Coach Landry had his QB decision taken away from him as Matt McGloin suffered a fracture in his eye socket and a concussion midway through their game in New Jersey, making Gardner Minshew the starter for at least the next few weeks. Minshew hit on a 3 rd  quarter TD to give Las Vegas a 24-21 lead, but New Jersey rallied, with rookie HB Kyren Williams scoring early in the 4 th  to give them the lead for good. The combo of Williams and Tony Pollard combined for 130 yards rushing, while Teddy Bridgewater went 16 of 23 for 217 and 2 scores as the Generals return to .500. POTG:  New Jersey CB Aqib Talib: 5 Tck, 2 PDef, 1 Int   ST. LOUIS 14   CHICAGO 20 Chicago remains unblemished, but the Skyhawks acquitted themselves well in this slugfest. James Conner caught a TD pass from backup QB Tyrod Taylor and ran one in as well, but it was not enough as Chicago came back from a 14-3 deficit with 3 field goals and a 25-yard run from their rookie HB, Rachaad White to pull ahead and secure their 6 th  win in 6 games. Both defenses were solid throughout, but Chicago was able to keep the Skyhawks from converting a single 3 rd  down (0 for 8) on the day, and that proved enough. POTG:  Chicago CB Josh Norman: 7 Tck, 4 PDef, 1 Int   SAN ANTONIO 17  PORTLAND 16 A missed 48-yarder in the final seconds is the difference as San Antonio hangs on and avoids the upset in Portland. The Stags led 16-10 until Flacco hit Jalen Reager for a score with 1:38 left on the clock. Marcus Mariota moved the Stags into range in the final seconds, but rookie kicker Cameron Dicker, who had hit from 56 earlier in the day, hooked the final second kick just a bit too far to the right, preserving the win and an impressive 5-1 record for the Gunslingers. POTG:  Gunslinger CB Jordan Pugh: 10 Tck, 1 PDef ,1 Int   LOS ANGELES 13   SEATTLE 17 Trevor Siemian stepped in once again, this time going 22 of 33 for 220 and a TD against a pretty nasty LA defense. That, paired with a Taylor Rapp 44-yard pick-six proved to be enough for the homestanding Dragons to escape the divisional matchup with a win. Murray threw two picks in the game and had head coach Marvin Lewis noticeably frustrated on the sideline as LA went 1 for 9 on third down, with the team losing despite Paul Perkins’ success on the ground (17 carries for 132 yards). POTG:  Seattle SS Taylor Rapp: 8 Tck, 1 Pdef, 1 Int, 1 Def TD   ARIZONA 27  PHILADELPHIA 17 The Wranglers join Chicago at 6-0 by building up a 27-3 lead over the first 3 quarters and gliding in for a comfortable 10-point victory in Philly. Allgeier and Carey combine for 110 yards rushing, Ryan Nassib goes 13 of 20 with a TD to Brandon Aiyuk, and the the defense holds Philadelphia on 2 fourth-down attempts to get the win. POTG:  Wrangler LB A. J. Klien: 4 Tck, 1 TFL, 1 Sck, 2 PDef   ATLANTA 29   JACKSONVILLE 17 Josh Rosen has another solid outing (24 of 32 for 285 and 2 TDs) as he uses Nick Chubb’s 113 yards to set up play action against a Bulls’ defense that just kept biting at the fakes. Trevor Lawrence was sackd 4 times, picked once, and finished only 10 of 20 on the day as the Bulls still cannot find an offensive groove. For Atlanta, A. J. Green had 8 catches for 97 yards and a TD with Kelvin Benjamin not far behind with 5 for 92 yards. POTG:  Atlanta HB Nick Chubb: 22 Att, 113 Yds, 2 TD, 3 Rec, 36 Yds   BIRMINGHAM 24  CHARLOTTE 21  OVERTIME Charlotte continues to prove to be a tough out as they take the Stallions to overtime. The Monarchs put up 10 points in the final 7 minutes to send the game to overtime, the key play being a Lynch to Tandon Doss TD throw on 3 rd  and goal with 13 seconds to play. But, in overtime, the Monarch offense faltered, giving Birmingham a short field, and Chris Boswell connected on a 49-yarder for the win to bring the Stallions to 4-2 on the year. POTG:  Stallion WR Henry Ruggs: 4 Rec, 116 Yds, 1 TD   NEW ENGLAND 27  OKLAHOMA 20 This battle of surprising squads in 2022 goes to the visiting Steamrollers, with T. J. Yeldon shocking the Outlaws and their fans with 142 yards rushing and 2 TDs despite getting 1 fewer carries than rookie Breece Hall (17 for 73 and TD) as New England exploited the Outlaw front 7 for 219 combined yards rushing. Oklahoma also had success on the ground, with Eddie Lacy rushing for 100 and QB Jalen Hurts scrambling for another 64, including a 16-yard TD run in the 4 th , but it was not enough as the Steamroller defense held Oklahoma to 4 of 10 on third down. POTG:  New England HB T. J. Yeldon: 16 Att, 142 Yds, 2 TD   OAKLAND 17   SAN DIEGO 10 San Diego never led as Oakland kept new starter Mason Rudolph in check. Rudolph finished 23 of 37, but for only 213 yards as the Invaders kept all Thunder receivers in front of them. Scoring 2 touchdowns in the final 1:30, thanks to a Rudolph pick, the Invaders took a 17-3 lead into the half and held San Diego in check in the second half to reclaim .500 after 6 weeks. POTG:  Oakland CB Brandon Boykin: 6 Tck, 3 PDef, 1 Int   ORLANDO 26  MICHIGAN 3 Things are getting ugly in Michigan as the offense was booed off the field several times by angry Panther fans and LeVeon Bell picked up a penalty after throwing his helmet to the turf after one of the club’s missed 3 rd  down attempts. It was 16-0 Orlando at the half, 23-0 after 3, and the Panthers just seemed to have nothing in the tank as questions arise about the team, QB Kirk Cousins, and Head Coach Sean McDermott, something absolutely unexpected before the season began. POTG:  Orlando QB Russell Wilson: 20/27, 186 Yds, 3 TD, 0 Int   HOUSTON 19  TAMPA BAY 13 We expected a shootout, we got a slugfest as both defenses came to play. The Gamblers sacked Dak Prescott 5 times, forcing a pick and a fumble, and held him to 9 of 23 passing. Tampa Bay held Colt McCoy to only 185 yards passing, but Carlos Hyde came through with a 16-yard TD run and enough tough yards to get kicker Younghoe Koo in range for 4 field goals as Houston ekes out a hard fought win over the defending champs. POTG:  Houston DE Payton Turner: 3 Tck, 1 Sck, 1 FF, 1 FR   Panthers With More Questions than Answers They were picked by many, including us, to retake the Central Division title, but the Michigan Panthers are sitting at 1-5 and looking like a team that has completely lost their way. How and why is this happening? Well, the short answer is that nothing is working right. The longer answer is that the Panthers’ formula of a run-heavy play action offense and a stingy zone-based defense is simply not getting the results they or anyone expected. The Panthers currently rank dead last in points allowed, giving up nearly 29 points per game, along with 380 yards per game (28 th  out of 30 teams). The offense is ranked 29 th in scoring, averaging 13.8 PPG, which means that there is a 15 point margin of defeat on average, a truly horrible stat. So, where do we start.   On offense, the Panther need to give LeVeon Bell more carries, it is just that simple. Their star back is averaging an impressive 4.9 yards per carry, but with only 104 carries, he is averaging only 17 touches per game. We get that he is now over 30 and maybe you want to meter out his workload, but for this offense to work, they need Bell to be closer to 25 carries, not 15. Secondly, the passing game needs to find a way to stretch the field. Neither Cody Latimor nor Justin Blackmon is getting deep enough to stretch the defense vertically, both averaging 13 yards per catch. Without more vertical threat it is too easy for teams to keep Michigan to short gains, produce more 3 rd  downs and then blitz Kirk Cousins in obvious passing downs, and for all of Cousins’s good qualities, dealing with quick pressure is not one of them.   On defense, Michigan needs to refocus their secondary schemes. They are dead last in the league in passes defended, in large part because their zones are too loose and their defenders too far from the receivers to get to them before a catch is made. Combine that with poor tackling, which has apparently hit Michigan like a flu virus, and you have a very bad combination. The Panthers are getting decent pressure on obvious passing downs (15 total sacks has them just below the league average), but on 1 st and 2 nd  down, they are not pressing enough to keep teams from gaining enough to create very makable 3 rd  downs.   The fact that the Panthers are also dead last in turnover margin (-6) is an indictment on both sides, as the Panther D is not creating enough takeaways (only 7) and the offense is giving the ball up far too often (13 times in 6 games), including 9 picks between Cousins (3) and Heinecke (6). In other words, Michigan is basically doing everything possible to get blown out, and teams are more than happy to oblige, as Orlando did this week (26-3). Michigan’s 5 losses have been by 26 (Chicago), 16 (Seattle), 15 (St. Louis), 10 (Atlanta) and 23 (Orlando). There may be no quick fixes to this season’s woes, but Coach McDermott had better start trying something, perhaps more man-to-man from his secondary, more run blitzes on early downs, more LeVeon Bell on 2 nd  and even 3 rd  down, and more ball security and tip drills to get back in the turnover game. If not, well, Chicago already has a 5-game lead over Michigan in the division, and the Panthers are looking like the clear basement dweller, a position their fans are not prepared to accept. Colt McCoy’s Health a Concern in Houston What the heck is wrong with Colt McCoy? Nothing statistically, where he has a league best 121.7 QB rating. He has yet to throw a pick, an dis completing 65.9% of his passes, all outstanding. But you know what we mean. We are 6 games into the season and Colt McCoy has left every single one early, forcing Landry Jones into 4 th  quarter action in each game. This is not the result of a known injury, or McCoy getting hit and forced out. He is coming out apparently due to exhaustion. And that is strange to say about a professional athlete, but even moreso for a pocket passer like McCoy, who is not scrambling all over the field.   So far Coach Cottrell has been mum on the issue, and more and more reporters are asking the question. His pat answer of “we felt it was best for Colt to pull him out” is falling flat of providing answers and there is concern around league circles that the Gamblers are failing to report a significant health issue. It is just a matter of time before the league office, as well as reporters, demand an answer as to why Colt McCoy is spending the end of every game on the sideline with a towel over his head. How soon we get answers may not be known, but it seems pretty clear that something will have to be explained before too long.   Lewis Visibly Frustrated with Kyler Murray Earlier in our report, we highlighted Kyler Murray as a potential trade candidate, well ,if wild speculation can be trusted. The reason why that may well be possible is clear, he has lost the faith of his coach. Throughout the game this week, a game in which Murray failed to connect with open receivers on key 3 rd  downs and threw two pretty bad picks, you could see Coach Lewis fuming on the sideline, hurling his clipboard to the turf at one point, and visibly chewing out his QB Coach, who then would try to speak with Murray. It was clear that Lewis was displeased, but the fact that all interaction was filtered through the QB Coach, Ashton Grant, may indicate a deeper rift and a greater lack of confidence between coach and quarterback.   Kyler Murray has been with LA since being drafted out of Oklahoma in 2019, Lewis’s first year with the club. But, while Lewis was hired prior to the USFL Draft that January, it was clear that it was the GM and front office, not Lewis who made the selection. Now, that in and of itself would not usually be an issue, but when that key draft pick fails to deliver over 3, now 4 seasons, then the issue can get heightened. In his 4 years with LA, Murray has topped 3,000 yards only once (2021), has yet to throw for more than 20 touchdowns in a season, and has yet to surpass an 85 QBR. That last number is one that pretty much every other 4-year starter has been able to surpass at least once. With his 2022 numbers perhaps the worst of his USFL career (49.2% completion rate, 66.4 QBR, and a 4:4 TD:INT rating), Lewis seems to be losing patience.   It was Lewis who pushed for the Express to sign Nick Foles as a backup who could push Murray. It may also be Lewis, a defensive-minded coach who has built a very stout defense, who demands that a change be made, and not just a change in starter, but a deal to find another alternative at the QB position. Murray managed to get an extension on his deal after his 2020 season, so his contract runs through 2024, but that is no guarantee that he will be suiting up for the Express for that long, and the way Coach Lewis looked and acted on the sideline every time Murray came off the field, we are not sure he makes it through 2022 with the club.   Dragons Playing “Clean” in Title Pursuit If you want to know how Seattle has won 4 of their last 5 and has taken a 1-game lead in the Pacific Division, there is one stat that speaks volumes. The Dragons are the “cleanest” team in the league. What does that mean? How about a +12 turnover margin, fueled by the club only suffering 2 turnovers in 6 games while racking up 14 takeaways. Those are about as solid as these numbers ever get. Seattle is also one of the 3 least penalized teams in the league, along with Orlando and Arizona. That combination of low turnovers and low penalties means that Seattle does not beat themselves. Their opponents have to find a way to beat them without counting on the Dragons making mistakes. Seattle may not be the highest-scoring team in the league (actually they are 14 th ), but those two factors, paired with a very stingy scoring defense, is more than enough to help a team win a lot more games than they lose.   Vegas Loses a Primary Weapon with Bateman Injury Las Vegas is having some issues. Not only were they mired in a potential QB controversy, one temporarily solved by an injury to Matt McGloin, but this week they lose one of their primary weapons to a season-ending injury. Speed receiver Rashod Bateman will miss the rest of the 2022 campaign after a diagnosis of a full PCL tear, requiring several months to heal and rehab. Bateman is the “deep” receiver, whose speed complements Aaron Dobson’s underneath game. His absence will require Las Vegas to restructure their offensive scheme. We expect 5 th  year receiver Darius Slayton to take over Bateman’s spot outside, allowing John Ross to remain in the slot, but Slayton is just not going to have the same impact on secondaries as Bateman demanded. That means safeties staying shallow and teams keying on early moves and short routes. That will make life tougher for whoever is at QB, but also for the HB duo of Kareem Hunt and Matt Jones, who will see safeties join into run coverage a lot sooner. Expect Las Vegas to try to find an answer either in free agency or via the trade, because without speed, an offense is significantly easier to defend, which is not good for a team struggling already at 1-5.   Michigan’s struggling offense loses a weapon as a hamstring partial tear for Donovan Peoples-Jones means the backup receiver will be out for the remainder of the year. Better news for Ohio as guard Daniel Kilgore is expected to return before season’s end. Houston halfback Carlos Hyde did not show signs of injury in the game this weekend, but by Tuesday was listed as OUT with a hairline fracture in his upper arm (humerus), an injury he apparently suffered on a rough tackle midway through the 4 th  quarter against Tampa Bay. Matt McGloin could be out 2 weeks or longer with a fracture in the lacrimal bone along his nose as well as a concussion. The injury causes McGloin’s eye to tear excessively, which will slow his return and require that he wear a visor for the remainder of the season.   OUT WR    Rashod Bateman              LV           PCL Tear         IR WR         Donovan Peoples-Jones MGN     Hamstring    IR OG         Daniel Kilgore          OHI       ACL Tear       4-6 Weeks LB           Blake Martinez       LV           Back                2-4 Weeks HB         Carlos Hyde          HOU     Arm            1-2 Weeks OG         Nick Easton        NE          Ankle             1-2 Weeks WR         Michael Pittman Jr.  BAL        Shoulder         1-2 Weeks K             Randy Bullock     NOR      Shoulder        1-2 Weeks SS           Lano Hill       NJ           Jaw                  1-2 Weeks QB         Matt McGloin    LV           Eye Socket       1-2 Weeks   DOUBTFUL LB           Shaq Thompson           DEN      Finger CB          Robert Anderson          CHI        Groin   QUESTIONABLE G            Vlad Ducasse                CHI        Knee       USFL and NFL in Talks Around Transfer Rules With the USFL having already made a major adjustment to their draft format for 2023, removing the Territorial Draft, expanding the Open Draft to 9 rounds and requiring that teams include 2 territorial picks among their 9 selections, the attention of the USFL turned to the flawed transfer window system with the NFL. This week, members of the USFL and NFL competition committees met in New York to begin talks on how to reform the twice-annual interleague transfer process. Both leagues had a common interest in adjusting the dates for both the fall and spring windows, however, both had the same issues. The NFL wants the fall window to open in August, not September, so that USFL transfers can be on their new NFL squads in time for the final preseason games. The USFL wants the exact same option, moving the spring window from February to mid-January, allowing NFL imports the same ability to join USFL clubs prior to Week 1 of the regular season. But, as you might expect, neither league wants the transfer window to open prior to their league’s championship game. With the Super Bowl now occurring in early February and the Summer Bowl in early August, there is not a lot of wiggle room to be had.   The solution, one being discussed at the meetings this week, is a two-tier system, one in which free agents from non-playoff teams might become available sooner, while free agents from each league’s playoff contenders would retain the later transfer window dates. That would mean 14 teams of the NFL’s 32 and 12 teams from the USFL’s 30 would see their players made available on the standard September or February windows, while the remaining 18 teams in both the USFL and NFL would see their players with a 3-week window which starts during their respective league’s playoffs.   It is a more complex, and certainly flawed compromise, but one that may well pass muster with both leagues. Both are also expected to agree on a 3-week limit for both groups of free agents, as well as a defined timeframe for coaching hires across leagues, with active coaches impacted. Coaches released by their teams become true free agents and can sign with either league at any time, but when it comes to one league “poaching” a coordinator or position coach from the other, a transfer window similar to the one for players would remain in effect.   While we do not expect a final resolution and agreement between the two leagues this week, we anticipate that within the next month or two we will see a new deal and a modification that could begin as soon as August of this year. More to come as this important topic to USFL teams, players, and agents, is worked out.   40 Greatest Players in USFL’s First 40 Years: 25-23 Back again with 3 players whose careers overlapped between 1997-2004, each a multiple-time All-USFL selection and among the best of their generation. All three remain connected with the league, with one a current Head Coach, one a broadcaster, and one a key figure in the league’s youth mentorship program. Here are your Top 40 players numbers twenty-five to twenty-three as the countdown continues.   25) OT Richmond Webb (1990-2004) What can we say about the 9-time All-USFL tackle for the Stallions that is not already common knowledge? Webb was a 17-year stalwart, a brick wall against edge rushers, a mild-mannered monster of a man who was the personal bodyguard to every Stallion QB of the 90’s and into the 2000’s. This is a man who played 225 games at Left Tackle and gave up only 82 sacks, less than 1 every 2.7 games. And while 82 is not the smallest number you will see, you need to remember that tackles, not guards or centers, get the blame every time they do the right thing against the blitz and the back or tight end doesn’t pick up the extra man. They get the sack credited when the loop or stunt sends a player outside, when they are already occupied. In other words, they get the blame when someone else is not doing their part. So while we may point out a guard with fewer than 10 career sacks, it does not make Webb’s 82 any less impressive. And besides, are you going to tell this man-mountain that 82 seems like a lot? No, you are not.   24) LB Mike Vrabell (1997-2014) The 3-time league tackle leader from Jacksonville was about as consistent a force on defense as any player in the league over his career. We are talking about 18 seasons in game, 15 with the same team, and in that time, how about 12 seasons with 100 or more tackles? His 1,882 averages out to a career average of 105 tackles a year, an average over 100? That is insane. Remove his early years as a backup with the Thunder and you are talking about an average of 114 tackles per year. That is monstrous.   Vrabel, who returned to the Bulls this year after quickly moving up the coaching ranks from LB coach to DC and now Head Coach, retired only 7 years ago, and did so with 11 All-USFL honors, ranging from 2000 through 2014, as well as the 2004 USFL DPOTY award. In other words, as USFL defenders go, Mike Vrabel was one of the best ever to don a helmet and pads.   23) HB Eddie George (1996-2010) When the Ohio Glory joined the USFL in 1995, claiming Ohio State as one of its Territorial Draft protected schools, you just had a sense that they would be built with a backbone of Buckeyes. No one was a stronger example of the Glory’s strong “Buckeye Backbone” than George. Over 15 USFL seasons, all played in the same stadium where he had risen to national prominence as a Buckeye, Eddie George was a centerpiece of Ohio’s offense. With 16,265 career yards, 11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, 9 All-USFL nods, two USFL titles, and a key role in the league’s only undefeated season, the 2-time USFL OPOTY was always a lock to make this list.   George ranks 4 th All-Time in yardage, 6 th  in rushing touchdowns, and 4 th in carries, but don’t try telling folks in Ohio that he is not the best back ever to lace up cleats for the USFL. We placed him above Kelvin Bryant, which is sure to get some Philly fans upset, but the numbers hold up, and while George won’t be our highest ranked HB on the list, or the highest ranked member of those Glorious Ohio Glory seasons of the early 2000’s, he is certainly a player whose rank will be debated because his impact was palpable, his talent readily visible, and his legacy impeccable.   Week 7 will see 6 teams on bye weeks, split between the Central and Southern Divisions. That means a 12-game schedule, which removes the regional games on Sunday as well as the ESPN Friday night game. Even so, 12 games can still provide us with some great matchups and some good viewing. Among the games we think will highlight Week 7 are a repeat of the Orlando-Tampa Bay showdown from 2 weeks ago, a game easily won by the Bandits, a result Orlando cannot afford to repeat. We also have a Cascade Clash in Portland as the Dragons face the Stags on Sunday night. Dallas takes their shot at the unbeaten Arizona Wranglers with a Saturday afternoon tilt on FOX, and New England tries to retain their spot atop the NE Division as they face an improving Washington Federals squad. Not a bad lineup for a reduced slate of games. Fri. 7pm ET         Los Angeles (3-3) @ Denver (2-4)*                 NBC   Sat. 12pm ET     Charlotte (2-4) @ New Jersey (3-3)                 ABC Sat. 12pm ET   New England (4-2) @ Washington (3-3)         FOX Sat. 4pm ET       Las Vegas (1-5) @ Philadelphia (2-4)               ABC Sat. 4pm ET      Dallas (2-4) @ Arizona (6-0)                              FOX Sat. 8pm ET       Oakland (3-3) @ Birmingham (4-2)*                  NBC Sat. 8pm ET      Orlando (3-3) @ Tampa Bay (4-2)                    ESPN/EFN   Sun 12pm ET     Jacksonville (1-5) @ Memphis (4-2)*                 ABC Sun 12pm ET     Atlanta (3-3) @ St. Louis (4-2)*                         FOX Sun 4pm ET       San Diego (1-5) @ San Antonio (5-1)               ABC Sun 4pm ET       Baltimore (3-3) @ Oklahoma (4-2)                    FOX Sun 8pm ET      Seattle (4-2) @ Portland (1-5)*                          EFN   BYE: Chicago, Michigan, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Houston, New Orleans (*) = Throwback Uniforms