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A week that largely defined the playoff picture, that is the outcome of Week 13’s games. We are down to only 1 remaining playoff spot in play, the Southern Division title. New Orleans comes out of this weekend still in a precarious situation. Birmingham comes out still with hope of not only making the postseason, but as a division winner. The other 11 spots are locked in, though we could see a lot of shifting of seeds next week. What we also saw this week was a sign that any thought that Ohio was a team whose window of opportunity was closing were overblown, as they take Las Vegas’s defense apart in a blow out win. We start, however, with one of the more entertaining games of the season as Joey Harrington makes his case to be considered the starter for Oakland in 2007, and in the process hurts Los Angeles’s title hopes in the Pacific. LOS ANGELES 34 OAKLAND 40 OVERTIME There is something about rivalry games, isn’t there? This is a game that looked like it should be pretty predictable, one team fighting for a division title, the other outside of the playoffs and finishing up the season, and yet, when two rivals meet, sometimes there is nothing sweeter for the underdog than to play spoiler, and the Invaders did just that. It was a game that could make defensive coordinators cry. Seventy-four total points, and yet, despite all the points scored, there was never a lead change. Oakland was first on the board, and LA played from behind until the final minutes of the game, when they tied it up and sent it to overtime, only for Oakland to take the W in the extra period. The Invaders controlled the action but never put the Express away, as big play followed big play. Ricky Williams was the offensive star for the Invaders, rushing for 115 yards on 22 carries, but it was his understudy, Justin Fargas who kept finding the endzone, with 3 scores on the day. For LA, playing catchup the entire game, the story was Cade McNown, who threw for 344 yards and 5 touchdowns, but could not get that one necessary score to take the W. The Invaders got off to a fast start, with an opening drive leading to Justin Fargas’s 1st of 3 scoring runs. While LA was still struggling to find their offensive rhythm, the Invaders succeeded on two more drives, getting kicks from Joe Nedney on both to go up 13-0 after 1. LA would finally get on the board when Cade McNown hit L. J. Smith from 15 yards out, but just before the half Fargas again scored, this time a 20-yard sweep, and Oakland would lead 20-7 at the half. LA would shrink the gap on Smith’s second TD grab to open the third, but Oakland responded, and once again it was Justin Fargas with the scoring run. The 4th quarter opened with LA down 27-13, but both teams would mount a furious campaign of scoring that saw 4 TD’s in the 15-minute period. LA would kick it off with a McNown TD pass from 4 yards out to drop the lead to 7, and then, following a costly Joey Harrington pick, they would strike again, with McNown hitting HB Cedric Houston for 6. We had a tie score with 4:07 left to play, but it would not last. On the ensuing kickoff, LA’s coverage failed, and Keith Smith took the kick 102 yards to the house as the Oakland fans went into a frenzy. From being quieted by LA’s comeback, they were back on their feet and ready to celebrate an Invader win. But there was still nearly 4 minutes left to play. The Express took the Oakland kickoff and Cade McNown went to work. He completed 5 of 7 passes on the drive, and with 2:15 left on the clock he once again tied up the game, connecting with slot receiver Dez White for another game-tying touchdown, his 5th TD toss of the game. Oakland, stunned by the LA drive, opted to send the game to overtime, taking a knee on 2 plays to end regulation and regroup. They got what they wanted from the strategy, not only getting a moment to collect themselves, but winning the coin toss as well. With McNown as hot as he was, they opted to go on offense, and it took only 3 plays for that decision to pay off. After 2 Ricky Williams runs got them a first down on their own 33, Oakland went for a kill shot. Harrington handed off to Fargas, who drove towards the right guard, before turning and tossing the ball back to the QB. The flea flicker was working perfectly, and when Harrington looked down field, WR Marty Booker had 3 steps on the safety and was racing towards the right corner. Harrington hit him perfectly in stride and Booker glided into the endzone untouched. Oakland gets a signature win for the year, and a sign that brighter days may be ahead. Joey Harrington makes a lot of fans happy, and Ricky Williams establishes himself as a player to be reckoned with. For LA, this is a tough blow. They risked falling into 3rd in the division, but would luck out in that both Las Vegas and Seattle would also fall this weekend. They maintain their slim lead on their divisional rivals, but will need to win in their season finale to capture the title. HOUSTON 28 ARIZONA 24 A good game in the desert, and one that Houston had to have. The win locked them into a playoff spot and kept them in range to leapfrog Arizona and claim the Southwest title. But this win did not come easy. Houston raced out to a 28-0 lead in the first half, and looked like they would cruise to a win, but Arizona gained momentum with a Santana Moss TD right before the half, and took over the second half, with Moss scoring twice more, but Houston held on and Matt Hasselbeck’s 4 first half TDs were enough to secure the W. LAS VEGAS 0 OHIO 40 An ugly road loss for the Thunder and one that knocked them out of playoff contention as well. The Thunder managed only 8 first downs and rushed for an astoundingly bad -1 yards on the day as Ohio, not known as a defensive power, sure looked like the team with the best record in the league. Ohio outgained Las Vegas 446-162, with Kerry Collins throwing 4 TDs and Eddie George rushing for 119 in the big win. SEATTLE 28 MICHIGAN 35 Michigan knew that this game was their season and they played like it. The win locked them into the playoffs, and they got the offense that has eluded them recently, with Drew Brees connecting on 3 TD passes and both Fred Jackson and Leon Washington finding the endzone as well. For Seattle the setback means they need to win at home next week against Memphis and hope that LA falters at Chicago to switch from the #6 seed to the #3 with a division title to boot. BIRMINGHAM 26 MEMPHIS 13 The Stallions stay alive for one of the last playoff spots by knocking off archrival Memphis in Memphis. In what could be Jim Mora’s last game in Memphis, the Showboats were unable to shut down Birmingham’s problematic offense. Sean Alexander rushed for 90 yards and a score, while backup Maron Barber added another 41 and another score. The Stallions need help, but they could still take the Division title from New Orleans with a win and a Breaker loss. PHILADELPHIA 13 NASHVILLE 27 Nashville gets the win at home only to discover that it was to no avail, as they are eliminated from the playoffs for only the 2nd time in 8 years. With Ahman Green and Robert Mathis both out due to injury, Philadelphia was just not up to the fight that Nashville brought. Frank Gore ran for 121 and Bert Emmanuel caught both Collins TD tosses as the Knights took a 13-0 halftime lead and turned it into a comfortable 14-point win only to discover that tiebreakers cost them a chance for a meaningful Week 14 game. ORLANDO 6 ATLANTA 10 The Atlanta Fire are headed to the postseason, powered once again by that defense. It was a costly win however as starting QB Jeff Lewis, the former Texas Outlaw, was lost for the next several weeks with a neck injury. Lewis, who led Atlanta all year, suffered the injury early in the 4th quarter, with the Fire leading 10-3, had to be carried out on a back brace, but reports have indicated that he has not suffered any spinal injury, so a recover is expected, but not in time for what will be a historic playoff appearance by the expansion Fire. PITTSBURGH 13 JACKSONVILLE 22 Antowain Smith tops 100 yards on the ground and Anquan Boldin does the same in the air as the Bulls win at home and lock up the Southeastern Division title. The defense also flexed its muscles, holding Terrell Davis to only 38 yards rushing. Jacksonville has one home game left against Nashville and will be the #2 seed in the East. Pittsburgh will finish the year at home against Washington, and have already locked up the #1 pick in next year’s draft. Quarterback anyone? BALTIMORE 31 TAMPA BAY 27 The Bandits had a chance to stay on pace with Jacksonville but got sloppy and lost to a Baltimore team that had nothing to play for and came out loose and energetic. The game went back and forth, with Tampa Bay taking the lead midway through the 4th on a Nate Kaeding field goal, but Big Ben Roethlisberger hit Craphonso Thorpe with only 1:04 left in the game to give the Blitz the win and ruin Tampa Bay’s division title hopes. BOSTON 16 WASHINGTON 12 We will say this for the Federals, they continue to play hard, at least on defense. Drew Bledsoe threw for only 214 and Tiki Barber averaged only 3.7 yards per carry, nearly a yard below his season average, as the Feds did their best to hold Boston down. But, with Kordell Stewart out of the game early with a concussion, Jared Lorenzen, the Hefty Hurler himself, came in and completed only 6 of 19 passes as Washington simply could not get that final score they needed. NEW ORLEANS 17 CHICAGO 37 Another upset as the Breakers fail to lock up the Southern Division and Chicago shows they still have some fire. The Breakers had more yardage, but Chicago ate up the clock and Michael Turner’s 140-yard, 2 TD day made life tough for the Breakers. Eli Manning’s 3 picks also did not help, as Chicago got a pick-six from Marlin Jackson, and held New Orleans to only 3 points in the second half to win their 6th of the year. They are hoping to reach .500 as a bit of a pyrrhic victory next week. TEXAS 20 DENVER 17 Finally, one last upset as Denver falls to 0-6 this year in division games and Texas improves their record to 5-8. The Outlaws scored the final 13 points of the game after Denver led 17-7, including a T.J. Duckett TD run, one of 23 carries on the day, producing 87 yards and 2 scores. Denver is eliminated from the playoffs, a rare failure in the past decade, with this loss. Atlanta Pulls Off Stunning First Season The Atlanta Fire this week clinched a Wild Card berth at 7-6. They could finish 8-6 next week, becoming the first expansion team ever to both finish above .500 and score a playoff spot. The best expansion record in USFL history was the 1984 Houston Gambler squad who went 7-9 in their first year, and would go on to win 3 league titles. By making the playoffs in their first season, Atlanta has already made history, can they take it a step further? Fans who suffered through the woes of the 1995 expansion Fire squads have to be over the moon about this version of the team. The first Fire squad in ’95 finished 5-11, not bad for an expansion club, but would win only 4 games in 1996 and 1997, 6 in 1998, and only 2 in 1999. Not exactly the kind of growth you hope to see from a team building a roster. This year’s version already has big playmakers and quality leadership. So much so that league owners are debating whether or not to modify the expansion draft rules for 2008, worried that one of the new teams could repeat this feat. But we would argue against that. Having an expansion team do so well is a story that fans want to follow, and it certainly builds support in town. Atlanta has seen steady growth in attendance all year and expects as many as 53,000 at the Georgia Dome for their regular season finale against the Breakers. That is good for Atlanta as a market, and for the USFL as a whole. Denver Finishes 0-6 in Division for First Time Ever The Denver Gold are out of the playoffs for only the 2nd time since 1992, and they have one clear reason why. They simply could not win division games. Denver finished the year 0-6 against Texas, Arizona, and Houston. That dubious feat has never happened in team history and is rare in general within the USFL. With an overall record of 6-7, that means that the Gold went 6-1 against the rest of the league but could not garner a win in their own division. A weird thing to say, but a reality this year for the rebuilding Gold. Denver does have some positives to build on for next year. Rookie QB Matt Leinart is currently 5th in QB Rating and 7th in yards, a good start for any rookie. The defense was a solid 11th in the league and allowed just over 20 points a game. The issue was the run game, as more and more it seems that Cedric Benson may be a bust. He was given the bulk of the run game load this year after Rod Smart was signed by Atlanta in the Expansion Draft. The result? Smart currently sits 18th in the league with 779 yards despite sharing carries with Kevin Faulk (16th at 828) while Cedric Benson sits in 20th position at 748 despite operating essentially in a lone back situation. So, a rough year in Denver, but one with hope for the future, but perhaps not for the former Texas HB. Nashville Eliminated on Tiebreaker, Cutler to Start Week 14 We know that a lot of fans look at the standings and see Birmingham still alive at 6-7, while Nashville, with an identical record, is eliminated. How is that? Well, it is pretty basic tiebreaker football. Both Nashville and Birmingham would need to win and have the Breakers lose in Atlanta in order to equal all three records at 7-7. So, what happens then? Well, if all three are at 7-7, then the top tiebreaker is the division record, and with New Orleans and Birmingham at 4-2, while Nashville is at 3-3, that tiebreaker eliminates the Knights. If Nashville wins, but Birmingham and New Orleans lose, then it is a 1-on-1 between the Knights and Breakers. Since the Breakers swept the 2 games with Nashville, the result is the same, loss on tiebreaker. With this being the scenario for the Knights, we are not surprised that Coach Johnson has announced that rookie Jay Cutler will get the start in Week 14’s game at Jacksonville. We still expect to see Frank Gore, who is once again 2nd in rushing and hoping to overtake Tiki Barber in Week 14, just like he did last week, but Todd Collins, whose contract runs out after next week’s game, is very likely to have his options determined by how well Jay Cutler plays. A disaster and the team may well rush to resign Collins before free agency, but a good Cutler game and Collins could be seeing his last game in Nashville. For a player that took the Knights to the playoffs 7 of the last 8 years, including a Summer Bowl appearance in 1998, this will be a bitter pill. We think that this reality could lead either to a retirement or to Collins taking the leap and joining a new team, possibly a new league. With one week left, 10 of 12 playoff spots are guaranteed, including all 6 out West, but lots of seeding questions remain. Let’s take a look at each team, what is possible and what is in question. OHIO: The easiest to figure as they have locked up the Central Division title. They have a huge game at Arizona this week, because if the Wranglers win at home, it is Arizona that wins the #1 seed and home field throughout the playoffs. ARIZONA: Defeating Ohio at home would be doubly rewarding for the Wrangelrs. Not only would it lock up the Southwest Division, but the win would also equalize their record with Ohio and give them the top tiebreaker (head-to-head), so Arizona would win the top seed and home field throughout the Western playoffs. HOUSTON: The Gamblers are 5-0 in division, which means that if they knock off rival Texas this week, and if the Glory can beat the Wranglers, it is Houston that will claim the Division and very likely a bye week as the #2 seed. LOS ANGELES: A win at Chicago and the Express claim the Division title. They would be locked into the #3 slot, without a bye, regardless of the results of the games involving Arizona and Houston, so a division title and a home playoff game would be the only rewards. MICHIGAN: The Panthers locked up a Wild Card with their win over Seattle. Their hope is that Houston loses in Texas, which would allow the Panthers to claim the #4 slot and get a home playoff game in 2 weeks. SEATTLE: Tie Breakers make it impossible for Las Vegas to finish above Seattle, even if the two tie in their win-loss record. That means that they are guaranteed the 6th spot, but if they can beat Memphis at home and if LA loses to Chicago, both very possible scenarios, then it would be Seattle claiming the division and jumping up to the #3 spot and a home playoff game. BOSTON: The Cannons are in a weird place. If they win their division, they are guaranteed the #1 seed in the East, but they have a head-to-head game against New Jersey, and a loss in the Meadowlands means that it is the Generals who take the title and the top seed, pushing Boston all the way to #4 in the conference. NEW JERSEY: This may be the biggest regular season game in Generals history. A loss to Boston at home and they are the #4 seed, but a win puts them at #1 overall and gives them a 2-game path to the Summer Bowl. JACKSONVILLE: The Bulls have clinched the Southeast and are locked into the #2 seed, complete with a bye week and a home game in the divisional round, all thanks to a 4-2 division record, compared to Tampa’s 3-3 mark. They can afford to take it easy this week and perhaps rest a few players against Nashville. NEW ORLEANS: The Breakers win the division by defeating Atlanta in Atlanta, but that is not going to be an easy feat. If they falter, it is possible that Birmingham would leapfrog them and take the Southern title, pushing New Orleans down to the #6 seed. That should motivate them to bring their best to the game against the Fire. TAMPA BAY: The Bandits are guaranteed a Wild Card, but can do no better than the 5th seed, which means a road game. And here is the weird part, an argument can be made that they might want to lose this week. If they finish in 6th position, they play the Southern Division winner (likely another 8-6 or even 7-7 team), but if they are in 5th, they face the #1 Wild Card, which will be either New Jersey (10-4) or Boston (11-3). This may be that rarest of situations when it benefits a team more to lose than to win. ATLANTA: Amazingly the Fire have locked up a playoff spot in their first season of play. It will be a tough week of prep as Jeff Lewis is out for this game and maybe more (see Injury Report), but if Atlanta can win with David Garrard at QB, they can finish at 8-6 and possibly the 5th seed. But, just like Tampa Bay, is that what they want? If they lose to New Orleans this week, they will stay at #6 and that means playing the Breakers again in a week. Will they go fully vanilla this week to set that up? We shall see. A week that could significantly impact the USFL playoffs as several contenders saw important players go down with injuries that will keep them out of any postseason games. Among those hit hardest, Atlanta, who won this week to clinch a playoff spot, but lost QB Jeff Lewis in the process. Lewis was diagnosed with a tear in his MCL, and even with a brace will not be able to play for at least a month. For Ohio it was wideout Santonio Holmes, who fractured his fibula, meaning he is also done for the year. New Jersey also lost a wideout as Brandon Stokely tore his Achilles in this week’s game and will need several months to recover. Boston will be without LB Pat Thomas, who suffered a significant hip injury this week. Las Vegas, eliminated from playoff contention, also lost Muhsin Muhammad for the next week. Oakland will play their finale without DE Israel Idonije (quad), while Philadelphia will finish the year without WR Roddy White (ribs) and SS Reggie Tongue (arm). Memphis will not be able to play HB Cadillac Williams (ankle), and Denver will miss TE Lonnie Johnson (finger). Washington will end their very disappointing season without Kordell Stewart, who tweaked his hip this week and will rest in the finale. Charlotte Monarchs to Join USFL in 2008 The owners have met, the votes have been cast, and the winner has been announced. The Charlotte Monarchs will debut as the USFL’s 28th franchise in March of 2008. The Monarchs beat out bids from the Raleigh-Durham triangle region and the Tidewater region of SE Virginia to become the next USFL franchise. The team will share Bank of America Stadium with the NFL Panthers, an agreement that is not without its tensions, but a locale that offers over 70,000 seats, by far the largest of the proposed homes for the expansion club. Voting took just over 3 hours, as there remained several owners who required further persuasion one way or the other. While the vote is a closed-door affair, it was known that at least 4 owners were promoting the Triangle Region proposal, and it was believed that a larger group was interested in the Virginia site, but with powerful voices in favor of Charlotte, the proposal led by the Charlotte Football for the Carolinas Group came out on top. The Monarchs will now get to work on building a front office, a ticket sales and marketing division, and on the 18 month process of roster development. Of course, a wide range of logistics also have to be arranged, everything from equipment to publications to transportation contracts. Add in the need to develop local sponsorships and partnerships, community engagement efforts, and advertising for the inaugural season, and it will be a busy year and a half in the Queen City. The club held a celebratory party on Thursday, open to the public at Bank of America Stadium, complete with appearances from North Carolina royalty, former Giant LB Lawrence Taylor and former UNC and Philadelphia Star Kelvin Bryant, as well as minority owners and former Charlotte Hornets Muggsy Bogues and Larry Johnson. At the event, the team unveiled their inaugural uniforms, shown on mannequins as the club does not have any players at this early date. The helmets are as we have seen in graphics before, teal shells with a satiny finish, a deep purple facemask, the crown logo on both sides, and a tapered stripe in gold and purple. The jerseys feature a new element we have not seen before, a series of horizontal stripes (purple, teal, gold on the white jersey, purple and gold on the dark) which stretch across the chest. The design features a crown shape that emerges from the stripes and extends into the base of the collar. The striping is paralleled with twin stripes on the sleeve cuffs. The secondary logo, a shield shape featuring an interlocking C and M to form a castle, is found on each sleeve. The numbers are teal (or white) in a rounded font with gold and purple outlines. The pants maintain a similar multi-color striping similar to the chest stripe, with three pant options ,a white set with purple, teal, and gold stripes, a teal set with purple, gold and white, and a purple set with white, teal and gold striping. These uniforms will not see the field until 2008, but we should expect that replica jerseys, along with everything from t-shirts to hoodies and caps will be on sale soon both in the region and nationwide in the USFL’s online store, where Portland gear has already become a top seller. So now we wait and see what comes next for both Portland and Charlotte as they will soon be interested in hiring key leadership positions, including head coaches, though that could take over a year before we get that far. We already know that the Portland Stags are looking like they have a strong fanbase to draw from, as witnessed by the incredible turnout for the displaced New Orleans Breakers this year. Charlotte looks promising as well, with the team likely to draw fans away from regional allegiances to teams like Baltimore, Washington, Nashville, Atlanta, and Jacksonville, but there are also plenty of football fans in the two Carolinas to fully support the club. We anticipate as well that the league will be busy redesigning everything from the territorial draft to the schedule format, as we already know that 2008 will bring with it a return to a 16-week season, now with 4 divisions of 5 teams and only 2 divisions with 4 teams (Southwest and South). For Charlotte, the real work starts now, but it is also a great time to be a football fan in the Carolinas. QB Posturing Has USFL Worried We are one week away from contract expiration for half of the league, and only about a month from full free agency and the concerns of USFL owners about QB posturing and the potential bidding war between a re-energized NFL and the USFL are coming to fruition. As of now there are nearly 30 unsigned USFL quarterbacks that could join the free agency market, and with the NFL vowing to regain what they see as their rightful edge in talent at the position, there is a real risk of the USFL looking a lot different in 2007. Among the names raising the most concern are veteran starters like Tom Brady, Cade McNown, Todd Collins, Trent Dilfer, Drew Brees, and Jeff Lewis. Add in some of the league’s best backups, players like Ray Lucas, Eric Wilhelm, Ken Dorsey, Craig Whelihan and Jon Kitna and the league may find itself with a dearth of quality after only 1 year of NFL “prioritization” of the position. It seems clear that agents and players alike are hoping the competition will lead to a winfall as competing teams and leagues continue to increase the market value for these players. What is more, the influence seems to be spreading, with several other skill position players apparently willing to decline solid offers in hopes that they too will get wrapped up in the NFL-USFL bidding war. The most recent decline of a contract extension was that of Joey Galloway, who was offered a deal that would make him the highest paid receiver in the league, a deserved title for the Ohio Glory star, but if the NFL is interested, the sky may be the limit on what a contract for Galloway could be. Others who remain unsigned include fellow receivers Muhsin Muhammad, Dez White, Bert Emmanuel, Terry Glenn, Marty Booker, Donte Stallworth, Bobby engram, Taylor Jacobs, Joe Horn, Antonio Freeman and Joe Jurevicius. Halfback Michael Turner of Chicago also remains unsigned, as do Arizona’s Stanley Pritchett, Houston’s Mike Anderson, Denver’s Julius Jones, Ohio’s Musa Smith, and, perhaps most concerning, Seattle’s Corey Dillon. We could be on the verge of a major wave of NFL signings, a wave that could significantly reduce the USFL’s star power, or, alternatively, we could see the USFL spend itself into some financial difficulties, as salaries rise faster than revenues. The Salary Cap is designed to avoid such a situation, but the league may be forced to modify the cap if it wants to retain some of these top tier players. We all know that the NFL has deeper pockets and greater financial leverage in these cases, and while they certainly will not be able to sign every top prospect, the potential is there for a significant talent drain this offseason, perhaps the first of several difficult offseasons for the USFL unless alterations are made to the NFL-USFL transfer system or to USFL finances. Week 14 is all about clinching and seeding, with two “must watch” games and several others that will impact who plays whom in the Wild Card round and who gets the much-coveted byes. All TVs in the nation should be tuned in when Ohio plays Arizona in the desert with the #1 seed on the line. Both clubs come into this one as hot as franchise can get, with Ohio coming off a 40-0 drubbing of Las Vegas, while Arizona had won 9 in a row, before their stumble against Houston in a hard-fought game this week. The other game that should have your full attention is on Saturday, when Boston faces New Jersey, again with the winner taking the #1 seed. New Jersey took the first matchup back in Week 2, 21-19, in a thriller. But Boston comes in riding a 10-game winning streak, can they make it 11 and take the big prize of homefield throughout the Eastern playoffs? Other games with significant playoff impact include Los Angeles at Chicago and Seattle hosting Memphis. LA locks up the Pacific with a win, while Seattle needs to win and get help from the Machine to take the title. In the South, New Orleans clinches an unlikely title with a win at Atlanta, while Birmingham can win it if New Orleans stumbles and the Stallions can win in Orlando. In other games, Houston hosts Texas and could actually catch Arizona and take the Southwest title if the Wranglers lose to Ohio. St. Louis is in Michigan, Nashville in Jacksonville, and Las Vegas is in Tampa Bay in the only other games featuring playoff teams. Games which might garner less interest due to both clubs being eliminated already include Oakland @ Denver, Philadelphia @ Baltimore, and Washington @ Pittsburgh.

Playoff Picture: Eleven of the twelve playoff spots are claimed, with the Southern Division title the only open spot, to be determined by the results of the New Orleans and Birmingham games played in Week 14. While many spots are claimed, the seeding remains very much up in the air, with Boston and New Jersey playing this week to determine the NE division, and Arizona taking on Ohio with the top seed in the West on the line. Currently guaranteed a playoff spot are Boston, New Jersey, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Ohio, Michigan, Arizona, Houston, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Birmingham or New Orleans will take the final spot, meaning that Nashville, Denver, and Las Vegas are the latest teams to be eliminated from contention.

Crunch time. The final weeks of the season, the heat is on (literally) and the races for divisions and playoff spots are getting earnest. No time for a team to lose focus, and as we start to see separation across the league, the battles are at every level, from the elite teams fighting for top seeds and the byes that come with them, to the middle of the pack squads just hoping to find a way into the postseason. Last year’s Seattle run gives everyone hope, but with each week we find 12 teams on the losing end of their games, and this is no time to be losing. Let’s get right to the action with our game of the week, a thrilling overtime clash between two division leaders. OHIO 23 NEW ORLEANS 20 OVERTIME A huge game for the New Orleans (Portland) Breakers as they hosted the Ohio Glory. The Breakers have been defying the odds all year, winning 7 of 11 games despite shuttling between host cities as they struggle with the post Katrina fallout. Ohio had been cruising, but a loss last week refocused them on just how tough it can be to win consistently in the USFL. They met in Portland, where the biggest Breaker crowd yet was their for the club’s final regular season game (any home playoff games will be hosted in Portland as well). The Breakers were ready to take on one of the league’s power players, and we got a back and forth game thanks to both clubs bringing their best. The heroes of the game would be familiar names: Collins ,George, and Galloway for Ohio, Manning, Davis, and Tillman for the Breakers. The approaches very similar, with both clubs trying to get the opposition to focus on the run game and then break out some unanticipated deep balls. Eddie George would finish the game with 25 carries, but New Orleans held him to only 2.8 yards per carry. The Breakers split 35 carries between Troy Davis and Chris Perry, with the two combining for 114 yards. Joey Galloway would snag 4 balls for 133 yards, including a 71 yard strike that came up just short of the endzone. Eli Manning would find 9 different receivers, but McCardell would lead them all with 8 receptions. Ohio started the game with the ball, and after a 7-play drive, they would be forced to settle for 3 when Collins missed on a 3rd and 7 toss to TE Steven Alexander. New Orleans would answer with a kick of their own 2 drives later, reaching the Ohio 30 before having to settle for a David Green field goal. Ohio would try to go up again on their next drive, but John Carney would miss to the right on a 48-yarder. He would have a shot at redemption later, when it mattered most. The Glory would be the next to score, with Eddie George taking an off tackle run to the right side and following his big FB 11 yards into the endzone. It would be the first TD of two on the day for George. New Orleans responded with a 2-minute drill, but came up short, settling for a second Green field goal and a 10-6 deficit at the half. After a scoreless third quarter highlighted by picks of both Collins and Manning, the Glory increased the lead to 11 when George plunged over from the 1 early in the final period. Down by two scores, New Orleans could have panicked and abandoned the run, but with just under 14 minutes left, they maintained balance, and that got them into the endzone, with Manning hitting FB Thomas Tapeh with a 12-yard swing pass at the 5-minute mark. New Orleans would kick away and trust their defense to hold Ohio. That trust proved prescient as the Breakers shut down Ohio on three straight plays, getting the ball back with just over 2:30 left to play. Eli Manning connected on 4 straight pass plays on this drive, the last one a quick 8-yard slant for a score to go up 20-17 with just over 1 minute left. The fans in Portland, who have been outstanding in support of the Breakers, were on their feet as the “home” team took the lead, but 1:12 is enough time to move the ball into field goal range for John Carney, and that is just what the Glory did. It took Kerry Collins only 4 plays to get to the outer edge of Carney’s fieldgoal range. But, trying to get a bit closer, a quick out route turned into a big play as Galloway skirted the sideline and got the ball all the way to the 14-yard line before stepping out. Collins took a knee on the next play, centering the ball for a 31-yard field goal. Calling time out with 3 seconds left on the clock, Ohio lined up and Carney put the ball right down the center of the goalposts. This game was headed to overtime. Ohio got the ball first in the extra period, and while they had some momentum from their final drive, they were unable to get the ball deep enough in New Orleans territory to try the kick. They opted to punt from the Breakers’ 44 yard line. New Orleans earned a quick first down on a Troy Davis 9 yard run and a quick crossing pattern by Az-Zahir Hakeem. But they could not do much more, and 3 plays later they were punting away to Ohio, and time was getting a bit thin. Ohio took the ball over with 3:38 left to play and once again tried to maneuver into field goal range. Collins connected with Stephen Alexander twice in 3 plays, then got a nice 17 yard run on a draw by Musa Smith. Once again they found themselves with a makeable kick, and rather than push the issue by trying to get closer for Carney, they brought the veteran out for a 39 yarder. Again the kick was right down the center, but this time it was a game winner and Ohio escaped Portland with a win over the Breakers. A good game that showed just how much New Orleans had improved over last year, and just how united the team was. For Ohio the win locked up a playoff berth, something the Breakers cannot yet say, but both teams showed they were playoff ready in this game. OAKLAND 18 LAS VEGAS 13 A game the Thunder could not afford to lose, and while the defense played well, the offense struggled, falling behind 16-6 after Ricky Williams made the Thunder pay for a careless fumble. His 13-yard TD run would be the only foray into the red zone for Joey Harrington and the Invaders, but it was enough to snag the win for Oakland. HOUSTON 13 NEW JERSEY 26 An impressive home win for the Generals as Tom Brady completed 87% of his passes and the duo of Enis and Jackson combined for 133 yards and a score each as New Jersey doubled up the Gamblers. Matt Hasselbeck, with no run game against the Generals’ front 7, threw the ball 44 times, connecting on 24 of those, but it was not enough to put points on the board, not enough points to knock off the homestanding Generals, who move to 9-3 and lock up a playoff berth. PHILADELPHIA 28 BOSTON 31 The Stars, playing for their postseason lives, gave Boston a solid run for their money, but in the end the Cannons pulled off their 9th straight win and moved closer to a possible top seed in the East. Ahman Green and Cedric Cobbs combined for 116 yards and 3 TDs on the ground for the Stars, but Tiki Barber beat that total with 26 carries for 130 and 2 scores of his own. Add in 2 Chad Ochocinco scores and the game was Boston’s. ORLANDO 17 TAMPA BAY 13 The biggest upset of the week as Orlando came into Raymond James Stadium and stunned a mixed crowd of Bandit and ‘Gade fans 55,000 strong. The key play for the Renegades was a pick-six of Culpepper as Kevin Williams returned a pick 40 yards to put Orlando up 10-7 early in the 2nd quarter. Jeff Blake threw two picks, but his TD toss to Rickey Dudley put Orlando up for good as these Florida rivals played down to the wire. DENVER 27 ARIZONA 30 It looked like the Gold had this one won in Glendale, leading 27-17 at the start of the 4th, but Arizona came on with 3 straight scoring drive and you could just feel the air come out of the Gold players. A Stanley Pritchett TD was followed by two Owen Pochman kicks as Arizona first tied the game, and then won it on a final second game winner. Matt Leinart had put together his best game of the year, throwing for 360 yards, but somehow Jake Plummer found a way to will his team to victory, relying heavily on Larry Fitzgerald’s 155 yards receiving to steal the win and take command of the Southwest Division. ATLANTA 23 JACKSONVILLE 20 Another big upset in the South as Atlanta continues to impress, knocking off the 1st place Bulls by limiting Jacksonville to only 299 yards. Rod Smart had his best game of the year for Atlanta, rushing for 135 yards and a 7.9 YPC average. TDs from Josh Reed and David Tyree helped Atlanta stay step for step with the Bulls, and a 51-yarder from Josh Scobee got the Fire their 6th win and a spot as the 6th seed in the East, able to control their own destiny the season’s final 2 weeks. SEATTLE 17 LOS ANGELES 20 The Express leapt over Seattle for first place in the Pacific thanks to their red zone defense. Despite being outgained by the Dragons, 121 yards from Foster and Jones-Drew kept LA on top in this game, never by much, but always up just enough. Corey Dillon had a huge game for the Dragons, rushing for 172 yards and a score, but it was the score that came back that cost Seattle the game. With 7:17 left to play, Dillon busted free on a 37-yard touchdown run, only to spot the yellow flag after the play. Holding on the right tackle meant the play was voided and Seattle had to settle for a field goal that, in the end, did them no good. BIRMINGHAM 9 NASHVILLE 24 The Knights kept their playoff hopes alive and dealt a major blow to division rival Birmingham at the same time. The Knight D had one of its best games of the season, holding Birmingham to only 66 yards rushing, and sacking Jason Campbell 4 times. Todd Collins may have saved his job with the win, as there have been rumors that if Nashville was eliminated Jay Cutler would get the final 2 starts of the season. Collins went 20 of 24 and connected with Bert Emmanuel to help Nashville stay alive, and win himself at least one more week as the starter. MICHIGAN 20 PITTSBURGH 10 Another needed win for the Panthers as they move to 7-5 and sit in pretty good playoff position in the West. Shawne Merriman had a big day for the Panthers, scoring ona pick-six of Brad Gradkowski, one of two picks of the rookie QB. The Panther offense was not exactly a fireworks show, but against the Maulers, they did enough to double up the 1-11 squad. CHICAGO 24 ST. LOUIS 17 Not exactly a Cubs-Cardinals game, but still any time these two cities square off, the fans seem to get into the game. More than 41,600 showed up to watch two teams with losing records go at it, and they played an entertaining game. Both Michael Turner and Maurice Clarett went over 80 yards for Chicago, while break out star Skyhawk Taylor Jacobs had 145 yards receiving, including a beauty of a bomb for 73 yards against the shaky Chicago secondary. Chicago had a 24-10 lead late in the 4th, and while St. Louis made it close with Luke McCown’s 2nd TD toss of the day, there just was not time left for the Skyhawks to come all the way back. BALTIMORE 16 WASHINGTON 22 The Federals make it back to back win with a home W against their rivals from Baltimore. Five Doug Pelfrey field goals and a defensive TD on a fumble return by DE Erasmus James were enough to upend the Blitz, who struggled to move the ball with Ron Dayne averaging only 2.4 yards per carry on the day. The win levels the records of both teams at 4-8, but not good enough to avoid playoff elimination. MEMPHIS 14 TEXAS 31 Trent Dilfer threw for 4 scores as Memphis just had nothing going right. In a game that could point to the end for head coach Jim Mora in Memphis, the Showboats looked tired and flat all game long. Dilfer went 17 of 20 for 250 and TDs to Hilliard (2), Dwight, and T.J. Duckett in his best game of the season. Neither team is going anywhere fast this year, but the win moves Texas to 4-8, a game better than Memphis’s 3-9 record. BOSTON WINS 9TH IN A ROW No team is hotter or more intimidating right now than the Boston Cannons. This week they won their 9th in a row, and while not every game has been a blowout, they have all seemed very comfortable for Boston, who now have a confidence that seems contagious across their roster. It helps that their Trifecta of offensive stars are playing at their best right now. Tiki Barber leads the league in rushing and is hoping that this is the year he finishes the job and takes home the title. Drew Bledsoe is an MVP candidate and leads all passers with 3,276 yards and a 128.1 QB Rating. And what can we say about the man called 85? Chad Ochocinco leads all receivers with over 1,300 yards and his 12 TDs are second only to Joey Galloway’s 15. Add int the fac that Boston’s 2nd receiver, Joe Jurevicius, has over 900 yards himself, and this offense is looking as close to perfect as can be expected. The defense has some vulnerabilities, allowing nearly 255 yards per game passing, but that is often the result of playing with a lead for most of their games. They are allowing just over 20 points a game, which is fairly good, but certainly good enough when your offense is the only one in the league averaging more than 30 per game. Believe I tor not, Boston’s last loss was the wake up call game against Atlanta back in Week 3. Since then they have rattled off 9 straight, including impressive wins over Michigan, Jacksonville, Oakland, and Birmingham. They have had some close calls, like this week’s 3-point win against Philly. They have 2 games left, both in division, as they are at Washington and then finish at New Jersey. That last one is likely to be the game that determines who takes the #1 seed, home field for the playoffs, and a bye week. That could well be the game of the year when these two face off in East Rutherford. JOHNSON CONTEMPLATES FUTURE FOR TODD COLLINS As we mentioned, the press in St. Louis have been asking about Collins and rookie Jay Cutler, and Coach Johnson’s answers have moved from definitive to obtuse. It makes sense. Cutler, out of Vanderbilt, is a local hero and, along with Matt Leinart, one of the top rookies signed by the USFL. He has yet to get a start, despite Nashville’s disappointing season. But while fans seem to have turned on Todd Collins, the club’s QB for the past 12 years, Coach Jim Johnson has not, at least not yet. Collins is still unsigned for next year, and there is some belief that Johnson may use that as his opportunity to make the switch to the younger, more popular QB. But if that is the case, why continue to start Collins now? The answer seems to be that at 5-7, the Knights are still only 1 game behind Atlanta for the final playoff spot and Coach Johnson is not going to give up on a shot to make the playoffs for a 4th straight year to test out a rookie in the final month of the season. Now, if Nashville loses next week against the Stars, we may well see Cutler in action in Week 14’s meaningless matchup against the Bulls, but if Nashville wins in Philadelphia, don’t expect Cutler to take the field. Does that mean Collins will be signed in time to avoid free agency and the anticipated NFL poaching festival come August? We are not sure. The pressure is certainly there to go with the young, and very expensive, Cutler sooner rather than later, but Coach Johnson still has the respect of both ownership and the fanbase in Nashville, so if he wants to stick with Collins, we may see a deal done. COACHES IN TROUBLE The good news for Coach Johnson is that despite a losing record guaranteed this year, he is in no danger of being let go. Many others cannot say that. We count the number of coaches on the hotseat at a minimum of 5, which could make this year’s Black Friday a very busy day. As we look at the five coaches we see playing for their jobs these last few weeks, we rate the odds that they will be a the helm next year. Ron Rivera, Pittsburgh: We place Rivera’s chances at 70/30. Yes, the Maulers are clearly the worst team in the league, but Rivera is in his first year as the head coach, and the focus seems to be on major roster upheaval after this year to give him the kind of team he wants. We fully expect Rivera, who came to Pittsburgh as the defensive guru of the Machine’s league leading D, to get a shot to build a team in his image, at least a 2nd or 3rd year, before the pressure really starts to mount. Jim Mora, Memphis: It seems like every time Jim Mora starts feeling the heat, something happens to provide him with another year with the ‘Boats. It helps that his status within the USFL, and the respect many hold for him, is tough to question. But after a solid 2005 that saw the Showboats in the postseason, this year has been a disaster. Even so, the fact that the club lost Heath Shuler for the year feels like the perfect out for Memphis ownership to retain Mora. But we have to ask, is one player truly that irreplaceable that the team should go from a playoff berth to a 3-win season just because their QB went down? We think right now this is a 50/50 proposition for Mora. Kurt Schottenheimer, Washington. Another 1st year coach, but the Feds went from a division title in 2005 to a potential 10-loss season this year. That is not the kind of first impression you want to give. The offense has been a disaster under Schottenheimer, but what is worse is that this former DC has a defense that pales in comparison to past Federal squads. They are still Top 10 in scoring D, but the yardage totals have been way out of whack compared with recent years. With a team that is struggling to pass the ball all, and rarely tops 20 points, having a mediocre defense will not produce results. We think that there is a better than 50/50 chance, perhaps 60/40 that Schottenheimer becomes a 1-and-done coach. Dennis Franchione, Birmingham. The Stallions and the entire state of Alabama love former Crimson Tide coaches, but Franchione is looking his third consecutive losing season in the face, and losing is not something the fans in Birmingham are fond of. Fans see the issues with Jason Campbell and immediately wonder what Franchione is doing to try to improve their young QB. After a 4-10 season in Campbell’s rookie year, he won only 2 games in 2005, and after a promising start this year, Birmingham has lost 5 of their last 6 and is barely hanging on to any playoff hopes. If they finish the year 6-8 or 5-9, we could easily see the Stallions go in a new direction. We give Franchione only a 35% chance of sticking around. John Mackovic, Texas. Another college coach struggling to make it work in the USFL, Mackovic is following a 3-11 season with another last place finish in the Southwestern Division. Yes, they have already won 4 games this year, but no one is impressed with that kind of incremental improvement. The Outlaws have the 20th ranked offense(scoring) and while their pass defense has been solid, they give up way too many big run plays and long drives to be a truly impactful D. Mackovic’s saving grace this year could be the fact that he has won his last 2 games, but Texas finishes up with Denver and Houston, both on the road. Lose both and the Outlaws finish the year at 1-5 in division, which will not make ownership happy at all. We think Mack may have run out his clock in only 2 years. Bring someone new in, then find a solution at QB and build a sense of newness for a team that has not won 8 or more games since 1999. Six of eight spots are not booked for the 2006 postseason, though no division winners have been set. Joining Boston in the playoffs will be Ohio, Arizona, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and New Jersey. All six are guaranteed no worse than a Wild Card slot. But there is still a lot to be determined with 2 games left to play. Here is our rundown: NE: Boston has a 1 game lead on New Jersey, so this could come down to the wire, though both are guaranteed spots and appear to be the only teams from the division likely to earn a spot. SE: Jacksonville and Tampa Bay are tied at 8-4, so again, down to the wire we go. Atlanta right now sits in 6th position, and controls their own destiny, a game up on both Nashville and Birmingham. Could the expansion club actually make the postseason in their first year? SOU: New Orleans has a 2-game lead on the Stallions and Knights, so a win either week and the title is theirs. Both the Knights and Stallions need a little help to leap over Atlanta for the only remaining Wild Card spot. CEN: Ohio is the clear favorite, with a 2-game lead on Michigan. The Panthers control their own destiny and sit in the 6th position but are only ½ game up on Las Vegas. Chicago is mathematically alive but need a lot of help to have any chance. SW: Arizona has opened up a 2-game lead on Houston, and both the Gamblers and Gold seem to be fading. Houston also has only a ½ game lead on the Thunder, with Denver another ½ game behind that. PAC: LA has the upper hand by a half-game over Seattle and 1 ½ games on Las Vegas. Oakland seems to be fading out of the picture entirely. This week the list of eliminated squads grew to include Baltimore, Washington, Memphis, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Texas. Oakland, Chicago, Orlando, and Philadelphia are on life support. Some big names on the injury list this week, where Philadelphia has shut down Ahman Green’s season due to fracture in his right foot. The team’s leading rusher, and 3-time league rushing champ, will not be on the field again this year. The Stars also opted to put DE Robert Mathis, who was having a strong season, on IR due to a PCL injury. This seems a clear sign that Coach Harbaugh does not harbor many hopes that his squad can capture that last playoff spot in the East. Others sidelined this week include Atlanta guard Gennaro DiNapoli (leg), Blitz LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson (abdomen), Arizona LB Lance Briggs (wrist), New Orleans WR Jerome Pathon (MCL), Pittsburtgh LB Dwayne Rudd (knee) and Boston wideout Joe Jurevicius (nerve). Tory Holt is listed as questionable for LA as is TE Stephen Alexander for Ohio and LB Donterrius Thomas for New Jersey. Expected back in action are Texas SS Lawyer Milloy, LA tackle Kenyatta Jones, Seattle WR Corey Bradford, Nashville FS Bhawoh Jue, and Arizona DT Kyle Williams. OWNERS PLAN PRESSER TOMORROW TO ANNOUNCE 28th USFL TEAM A press conference at league headquarters in New York has been scheduled for tomorrow at 5pm, at which time the league will be announcing its 28th franchise. The contenders are Charlotte (NC), Norfolk/Virginia Beach (VA), and Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill (NC). The winning team will join Portland, Oregon in the 2008 expansion that takes the league from 26 teams to 28. The new team will join Atlanta, Jacksonville, Orlando, and Tampa Bay in the Southeast Division. Early straw polls showed the frontrunner to be the Charlotte Monarchs bid, but that there were enough undecided or wavering votes to give the team to any one of the three bids. The good news for the USFL is that, unlike in some earlier expansions, all three ownership groups have deep pockets and the know-how to pull off a quick start and successful integration into the league. There are questions, of course, such as the Triangle area’s final stadium decision (between NC State’s Carter-Finley Stadium and UNC’s Kenan Stadium), or potential concerns about the corporate and overall economic viability of the Tidewater region, but at the very least we see three bidding groups where financial wherewithal is not an area of concern. As we await the decision on team 28, the question has to be asked about whether and when the USFL will expand to 30 teams. With 30 franchises, the league would avoid the unbalanced schedules which we started to see this year, with some teams in 4-franchise divisions and others in 5-franchise groupings. Creating six divisions of 5 teams each would once again balance the league and allow for a more regularized schedule of divisional and inter-divisional matchups. There has been no word from the league on plans beyond the current wave of expansion which began with Atlanta and St. Louis returning to the league after their franchises left for Boston and Nashville respectively. Portland and the soon-to-be-announced franchise will join in 2008, but how long after will the league wait before they consider another expansion? There are certainly cities out there that would make sense, and wealthy ownership groups that could form at any point. The concern, of course, is that a lack of future expansion increases the temptation for teams to use untapped markets as leverage with their current locations, which worked, for example, in Memphis, but can also lead to sudden and unwanted relocations, as we saw with St. Louis and Atlanta. With major markets still yearning for more sports franchises, cities like Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dallas, Indianapolis, Kansas City, San Diego, Miami, and Cleveland, and with emerging markets like Salt Lake City, Louisville, Sacramento, and Austin beginning to consider expansion of their sports markets, the bids will be there if the league decides to expand, but after dealing with two expansion drafts in a 3-year span, it seems very doubtful that the USFL will entertain the idea of another round within the next few years. The mid 2010’s seems the most likely period, when the pain of this round will have faded and the newer teams will be well-integrated into the league. That is when the push may come again. HOF CLASS OF 2006 NAMED On Monday the league made public the five finalists for Hall of Fame induction who will join the ranks of other USFL players in Canton, Ohio. Not surprising we have another group of first year nominees, all of whom are entering the Hall in their first year of eligibility. We expected nothing less with such a strong group of retirees after the 2000 season. The nominees are all household names, and very familiar to USFL fans nationwide. Quarterbacks Bobby Hebert and Troy Aikman remain popular figures, with Aikman joining FOX for their USFL coverage and Hebert still a regular at Panther games. Linebacker Kurt Gouveia remains a folk hero in Denver, where he played his entire career. Wideout Eric Metcalf and halfback Reggie Cobb, while not as automatic as the other three nominees, also had standout seasons, hold many club records, and are certainly worthy members of the class. If stories coming out of the Hall voting group can be believed, Cobb was the closest to not making the cut in his first year, battling it out with DB Vencie Glenn for the fifth and final slot in the Class of 2006. All five members of the Class will enter the hall this October during the USFL Hall of Fame Weekend. For those who attend the weekend in Canton, expect to see a lot of returning USFL legends, from Jim Kelly to Reggie White and Chuck Fusina. The annual October enshrinement has become something of a pilgrimage for USFL alums, both those enshrined and those who simply want to reconnect with old friends. LA’S NEW LOOK It seems only fitting that a club in Los Angeles would be constantly changing its look. Whether you consider this a face lift or just a change of fashion trends, the LA Express have again adjusted their look for 2007. They are significantly reducing the use of the Hermes imagery, and have once again modified their monogram logo, this time adding a specific type of speed to their somewhat ambiguous “Express” moniker. The new look LA Express will prominently feature a monogram that includes a racing jet, ascending through the letters and forming a sort of con trail through them. The new logo still utilizes the dual blue feature from other recent LA designs, but now focuses on the speed of the jet as the depiction of the “Express” identity. The team also introduced a secondary logo that seems to play off the idea of LA Express and LAX (the airport). It is a stylized X, or perhaps hands of a compass that form an X with LA on either side of it. We are not sure exactly how this fits in with the aviation focus, but it is a solid secondary mark on its own, and will appear on the jersey as the chest “name” common on many jerseys across the league. The new logos are paired with a new uniform, including a helmet that returns to a traditional helmet striping pattern and features the “LA” monogram on both sides. In our opinion it is a bit odd, since on the left side of the helmet the jet is racing backwards, but that is always the case with letter or monogram-based logos. The new uniform relies heavily on gradient sublimation in the jerseys, with the dark jersey moving from speed blue to a dark navy as it transitions from the chest up to the shoulders and sleeves. The light jersey does the same thing with white shifting to a light silvery grey on the shoulders. Both jersey’s feature a stripe pattern on the sleeves similar to both the helmet stripe and the initial striping of the franchise back in its early 1980’s iteration. The number font is rounded, with dual outlines on both jerseys. The pants are available in either silver or speed blue, and both feature the same 5-stripe pattern. As looks go, it is still very identifiable as an LA Express design. While we are not sold on the helmet design, we do like the new visualization of speed as portrayed by a jet. The Hermes icons are not lost, they will still be used by the club, but they are no longer among the primary images the team will use. Now, the question remains, can any look help propel the Express to a title? It is something the City of Angels has not seen in the entire history of the USFL, which is not what you generally want for the nation’s 2nd largest market. Week 13, one of only 2 chances for teams to make a move as the season draws closer to playoff time. In past years Week 13 has often been one week of respite from constant division games, usually reserved for inter-conference play, but with the unbalanced divisions the new schedule has a mix of division and inter-divisional games every week, and Week 13 is no exception. Among the divisional games we will be focused on this week we have a big one when Houston travels to Arizona, hoping to claw their way back into the division race. A win by the Wranglers locks up the title for Coach Fassel’s resurgent squad. Oakland will host LA in the other Pacific game, a game that has lost a lot of luster with Oakland’s downward spiral the past month, but still an important rivalry game. In the South, Memphis will host Birmingham, who sit 1 game out of the final playoff spot in the East. Can Coach Franchione get a final 2-week push to make a playoff berth possible or will Coach Mora, likely facing a firing at season’s end, motivate his squad to a home win? In the Southeast it is Orlando at Atlanta, with the expansion Fire on the cusp of a most unlikely playoff berth. Kudos to Coach Gruden and the front office of the Fire for putting together what may be the best expansion club since the first years of the league in 1984. The Northeast has a battle of opposites as the 10-2 Cannons hope to lock up the division title, while host Washington is looking at a drop from First to Worst as they sit at 4-8. Finally, back in the Southwest we have Denver, sitting at 6-6 and needing help to get to the playoffs, hosting Texas, who sit at 4-8 and are already thinking about the offseason. In inter-divisional games, we also have some interesting matchups as Seattle visits Michigan, both sitting at 7 wins and hoping to lock up a winning season with a win this week. New Orleans can lock up the Southern Division title on the road if they can get past a 5-7 Chicago squad that still has faint playoff hopes, but needs to win both of their final games to have a shot. Las Vegas and Ohio face off in a game of opposites, as the Thunder defense will try to take on the Glory offense. Baltimore is in Tampa Bay, where the Bandits are already a playoff lock. Pittsburgh has the same road situation as they visit 8-5 Jacksonville, hoping to steal a win like they did against Ohio. Philadelphia is in Nashville and New Jersey visits St. Louis in our final games on the slate.

Playoff Picture: A windfall for teams looking to clinch playoff spots but we have not seen teams clinch their divisions yet. Ohio and Arizona have locked up the first playoff spots in the West, both at 9-3 and potentially dueling for the top spot. Jacksonville, New Jersey, and Tampa Bay are in the postseason in the East, with New Jersey still only 1 game behind the 10-2 Cannons. Were the playoffs to start today, New Orleans would win the South, Atlanta would also qualify in their 1st year of existence. LA, Seattle, Houston and Michigan would also be in out West, with Las Vegas and Denver on the outside. Eliminated from playoff contention are Washington, Baltimore, Memphis, Pittsburgh, and Texas, with Orlando, Philadelphia, Chicago and Oakland still mathematically alive.

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

Playoff Picture: The Boston Cannons become the first team to clinch a playoff spot, though they are still in a close race with New Jersey for the division title. This week we also saw several additional teams eliminated from the playoff hunt. In addition to the Maulers, St. Louis and the Texas Outlaws are now out of contention, with Washington, Orlanod, and Memphis barely clinging to a very low percentage possibility.

A week that saw a lot of the defensive domination across the league, with 12 of 24 clubs failing to score 20 points or more. We had a bit of sloppiness, a bit of chippiness, but mostly we had defenses making life hard for offensive coordinators and quarterbacks. Las Vegas was particularly impressive, not only holdin the Express offense at bay, but scoring on defense as well. Seattle held Oakland’s offense down, as did Tampa Bay with Birmingham, and Atlanta with the Outlaws. Perhaps the most depressing offensive result was that of the Washington Federals, where Coach Kurt Schottenheimer is getting very little help from his offense as he tries to avoid being a one-and-done replacement for Paul Hackett. But, despite all the defensive football played this week, there were still several games that were exciting, close affairs, and we highlight one of these as old rivals Arizona and Denver faced off in the Mile High City. ARIZONA 31 DENVER 24 Nothing like a rivalry game to up the ante and bring out the best of two teams. We got just that at Invesco Field when the Gold hosted the Wranglers. These two have been tussling for supremacy since 1983, and the fire still burns pretty darn bright when these two Mountain West clubs face off. Matt Leinart may be new to the rivalry, but he understands what it means to Gold fans. “Take your time, grow as a player, but beat Arizona. That is the message I get from fans all the time” said Leinart in a mid-week interview. He did his best to do so, completing 27 of 32 passes, a very strong 84.4% on Sunday, but in the end it was not enough and the Denver faithful went home unhappy. It was simply Jake Plummer being his best self as he threw for 4 touchdowns to upend the Gold and put 2 games of difference between the 7-3 Wranglers and the 5-5 Gold (Houston is also in the mix at 7-3). Plummer started early, hitting Larry Fitzgerald with a 28-yard TD on Arizona’s 2nd drive, but the Gold were eager to please, and they went on a 17-0 scoring run at the end of the first and into the second. New Gold HB Mewelde Moore got it started with a 9-yard scoring run, followed on their next drive by a Kassim Osgood TD reception as Denver jumped up 14-7. They added a Wilkens field goal midway through the 2nd and it looked good for the home team. But, on Arizona’s next possession, Plummer found Fitzgerald again, on an almost identical play, this time from 27 yards out, and the Wranglers were right back in it. They would add an Owen Pochman field goal as time ran out and we went into the half all knotted up at 17. Denver would open the third with a long drive, powered by their run game, a run game that finished the day with 159 yards (101 from Benson and another 55 from Moore). Moore would again get the call in the red zone as he turned a counter play into an outside run with a nice juke move and scooted in for the score. Denver was back up by 7 at the end of the third. But, Arizona still had some tricks in their arsenal. While the run game of Stacy and Pritchett had been largely ineffective, and despite 5 sacks by the Gold defense, Jake Plummer had been able to find receivers all game, hitting Fitzgerald for 85 yards, Santana Moss for 74, and TE Kevin Everett for 109, including the biggest play of the game, a 78-yard TD toss to open the final period. Everett had gotten behind the Denver safety and with a step on him, Plummer lofted a nice ball over the middle and Everett snagged it, shrugged off the arm tackle attempt and was off. Everett and fellow TE Matt Cushing would also contribute on the Wranglers’ final drive, the game winner, as both caught passes in the 2-minute sprint to victory. In the end it was Santana Moss who snagged the 18-yard TD toss with just under 1 minute to play, but what we saw in this game was a patient Jake Plummer, willing to dump the ball down to his backs and tight ends, who combined for 8 receptions on the day. With just under a minute to play, Leinart was called on to deliver a TD drive. He had relied on the run game and wideout Peerless Price all game, but on this drive the run game was a non factor and Price was double-covered by the Wranglers, forcing Leinart to look elsewhere. He connected with J.J. Stokes for an opening 9-yard gain, then with TE Gary Clark for the first down, but that is when things got tougher. He missed on a pass to Kassim Osgood, was forced out of the pocket on what ended as a 1-yard scramble, and then faced 3rd and 9. Looking for TE Tony Jackson, Leinart threw the ball a bit behind his target, and safety Mat Giordano was able to break up the play. 4th and 9 and Denver needed a big play. But, rather than play back in zone, Arizona blitzed. Lance Briggs penetrated between the right guard and tackle, and forced Leinart to make a quick throw. The throw was off target for Stokes, and Denver lost the ball on downs. That gave the win to the much-dreaded Wranglers, and pushed the Gold down to 5-5 and currently on the outside looking in at the playoffs. LOS ANGELES 11 LAS VEGAS 18 Las Vegas’s defense came up with another huge game to keep the Thunder in the thick of an unlikely playoff run. Four sacks and two picks of McNown was enough to keep the Express from scoring a TD on a day when 3 field goals and a safety were all the Express scores. Oh, and we should mention that the game winning TD was a Kenny Wright pick-six by, you guessed it, that Las Vegas defense. PHILADELPHIA 30 NEW JERSEY 12 Tom Brady was clearly not fully back in the game mentally as he struggled to lead the Generals against the Stars. On the other sideline, Kurt Warner completed 87% of his passes (26 of 30) in a dominant performance for Philadelphia. Touchdowns to Roddy White and Edward Stinnett helped build a comfortable Stars lead and the defense did the rest. BALTIMORE 22 BOSTON 35 The Cannons never trailed in this one, building up a 14-3 halftime lead and coasting before a late Blitz TD made it look closer than it was. Drew Bledsoe went 14 of 24, with 5 of those 14 passes touchdowns, including 2 to TE James Whalen. Tiki Barber added 111 on the ground, while Ron Dayne, with 105 yards, was most of Baltimore’s offense. SEATTLE 21 OAKLAND 10 A big win for the Dragons as they take over sole possession of first place in the Pacific. QB Cody Pickett, playing for a banged up Byron Leftwich, went 10 of 12 with 2 TDs and Seattle rushed the ball for 135 yards against the Invaders, who drop to 4-6 with another loss, their third in a row. TAMPA BAY 37 BIRMINGHAM 10 The Bandits got early scores from Kevin Johnson and Willis McGahee, but it was a 3rd quarter Moss TD that put the game away. Tampa would outgain the Stallions 528-260 in a pretty one-sided affair. Tampa moves to 7-3 and stays even with the Bulls, while Birmingham drops to 5-5. TEXAS 10 ATLANTA 24 The Fire make it back to .500 thanks to not one, but two halfbacks gaining 100 yards against the Outlaws. Rod Smart had 21 carries for 103 yards and a score, and Kevin Faulk on only 15 carries had another 126 and a TD as well. Atlanta continues to defy the odds as an expansion team, while Texas drops to 2-8. WASHINGTON 3 MEMPHIS 13 Calls for the firing of 1st year Head Coach Kurt Schottenheimer are getting louder as the Federals cannot muster more than 3 points against a pretty mediocre Showboats defense. Deuce McCallister had 122 yards, but even with Deion Branch back in the lineup, the Federals’ offense was punchless. Meanwhile Jon Kitna was efficient and got a TD from Cadillac Williams early in the 4th to go up by 10 in this hard-to-watch game. JACKSONVILLE 35 NEW ORLEANS 29 A really fun back-and-forth game up in Portland, but the Breakers could not overcome a 35-22 deficit in the 4th and fall to the Southeast Division leaders. Jacksonville got 4 TDs from Jake Delhomme and TD runs from Travis Minor and FB Michael Hayward to power them to the cross-country win. ST. LOUIS 10 OHIO 35 Ohio did not look past another Central Division foe, turning it on in the 2nd half to move from 16-10 at the half to 35-10 by the game’s conclusion. John Carney was a force, setting a team record with 7 field goals on the day. Somewhere is a very happy fantasy owner with a kicker giving him a win for certain. Add in a Mike Doss pick-six, and yet another Joey Galloway TD and you have a comfortable Glory win. NASHVILLE 24 ORLANDO 31 Another entertaining game, this time in Orlando, where the Renegades finally get some breaks. Sedrick Irvin goes for 159 yards on 19 carries, and Al Wilson snags a pick late in the game and runs it back for what would be the winning score for the homestanding Renegades. It was Todd Collins’s second pick of the day, and it was a bad one, almost aimed right at Wilson as Nashville tried to get into late field goal position. CHICAGO 27 PITTSBURGH 14 The Maulers crash back to reality and Chicago improves to 4-6 thanks to two Michael Turner TDs and a George to Lloyd TD throw. Donald Driver had a big day with 6 catches for 112 yards as Chicago tries to claw its way back after a very rough start to the year. HOUSTON 17 MICHIGAN 6 Houston struggles to move the ball, but Michigan has an even worse time in this defensive struggle. Drew Brees threw 3 picks against the Houston pass rush, and Matt Hasselbeck connected with HB Tatum Bell on two passing scores to help Houston move to 7-3 and keep pace with the Wranglers. Michigan drops to 5-5, 3 full games behind Ohio in the Central. Drew Bledsoe Sees Window Closing In a revealing interview this week on Showtime’s “This is the USFL”, Boston QB Drew Bledsoe hinted that he may be considering retirement, but when pressed, he bounced back with a desire to go out on top, so that means making a run for the league title. Asked whether Bledsoe had time to get that done, he replied that the goal is always to get the title this year, not build for later. Boston is in good position for a run, now alone in first place in their new division, but they have been good for a while now and it has just not happened for them. And here is the thing, while certainly all Cannon fans would be happy to snag a title, doing so with the potential that it would lead Bledsoe to retire is not exactly what fans hope for. It is clear that the QB who came over from the New England Patriots after the 2001 NFL season is getting older, he is certainly less mobile, but he still throws the ball like few others and he has helped the once moribund Atlanta Fire ignite their offense after relocating to Boston. His 2005 numbers were his best yet, with 30 touchdowns and 4,444 yards passing. He is on pace for over 3,500 again, and with 22 touchdowns, Boston’s offense is humming, ranked #1 in both yards per game and scoring. So it seems odd that a player at the pinnacle of his game would mention retirement, but only Drew knows his own body well enough to determine when the right time is. Were the Cannons to win it all this year, and were Drew to step away from the game, it leaves Boston with an interesting quandry. Adrian McPherson and Jamie Martin back up Bledsoe, and while McPherson has had a couple of outings with the club, he has not had much chance to show anything. Martin, who came over from the NFL has had even less opportunity. Boston would likely have to consider a retooling, perhaps a rebuild, were Bledsoe to step away. These are the thoughts that concern Cannon fans on Boston sports radio, and while it feels like borrowing worries to think about this now, those worries are real for the Cannons and their fans. Analysis of a Pick Six We wanted to take a closer look at Al Wilson’s pick six in the Nashville-Orlando game, a play that snatched defeat form the jaws of victory for the Knights. It was a play that pretty much had all the hallmarks of a QB who is not as focused as fans or his team would like. Todd Collins had been having a relatively solid day. Yes, the club depends too much on 2nd year back Frank Gore (27 carries for 166 yards in this game), but Collins, the consummate “game manager” at QB, had been solid, 24 of 36 as the game was coming to a close. He had thrown a pick earlier, but also two touchdowns, and with Nashville knotted up with Orlando at 24, the game plan was to use a no huddle offense to get the Knights into field goal range and take the road win over the 2-6-1 Renegades. So what happened? Orlando was in zone defense, as they had been the prior drive. They rushed 4, as they had been doing most of the day, DT Pat Williams was soaking up blockers, but neither DE was right in Collins’s face when he decided to throw the ball. It just appears that he threw the ball without even registering that Wilson was patrolling the middle of the field. Perhaps he thought the MLB would be trailing TE Justin Peele, but in this zone, Wilson let peele pass on to outside LB Dexter Coakley. Wilson was free and looking at the eyes of Collins. Collins never shook him off by glancing at another receiver, he simply stared down Bert Emmanuel on the in-cutting route and apparently did not notice that Wilson was headed that way. The big linebacker easily stepped in front of the pass, brought it in cleanly, and then had a clear path to the endzone for the winning score. When fans of the Knights complain about Collins, and they do, it is usually about the lack of big play ability. He does not have a cannon for an arm, and he rarely takes shots deep, but he is counted on to make good decisions with the ball and to avoid turnovers, allowing the Knights’ defense and run game to wear down opponents. On this day he did neither, he made a bad decision, and produced a costly turnover, exactly what fans do not want to see from a QB who has made a career out of being a bit bland, a bit uninspiring, but usually very solid. While we hear calls for Nashville to go for more of a gunslinger every offseason, this game, and that throw, are absolutely going to make those calls louder. And, sitting at 4-6, two games behind New Orleans and a game behind Birmingham, the Knights might very well be open to listening to those voices. Four weeks left and a lot on the line for teams up and down the playoff table. Clearly we have some teams who need to make a run, clubs like Michigan, Denver, Philadelphia, and Chicago cannot be happy about sitting outside of the 6 clubs in each conference that will earn a spot. Others, like surprising Atlanta and Las Vegas cannot assume that a 7 or 8 win season will guarantee them a spot. They need to focus on reaching 9 or 10 wins to likely wrap that up. A the top of the standings we have teams that cannot rest if they want to both win their divisions and possibly land a #1 seed. Boston now has a 1-game lead on New Jersey. Jacksonville and Tampa Bay are tied at 7-3, while New Orleans, sitting at 6-4, has to be mindful of both the Stallions (5-5) and Knights (4-6) as a late slump could spell disaster for what must be a tired Breaker club. In the West, Ohio has a solid 3 game lead, and could clinch the division with the right results next week. They are, however, only 1 game ahead of Houston, Seattle, and Arizona, all at 7-3, so if they want that #1 seed and homefield advantage, they cannot rest once the division is theirs. The Gamblers and Wranglers appear to be locked in a tight race that could come down to a Week 13 showdown in the desert. Seattle has a 1 game lead on both the Express and Thunder, but faces both in the next 2 weeks, with the Thunder coming up to the Pacific Northwest next week and then Seattle headed to LA in Week 12. If they can win both games, the title almost certainly will be theirs and they can set their sights on a top seed in defense of their league title. We should note that we have had our first official elimination this week, with the 1-9 Maulers too far behind 6th place Las Vegas to claim even the final Wild Card with a 4-game win streak. There are a lot of 2-win clubs (Texas, St. Louis, Washington) who could join them this next week, as distance between the top of the pool and the bottom starts to outweigh the number of games left to potentially catch up. We should know better than to mention that a particular week has been light on the injury report, because that always seems to trigger a much worse week. Call it superstition, but we have seen it again this week. Three more starters added to IR and a flood of new shorter-term injuries. We start with the IR placements. Tampa Bay will need to go to Plan B on special teams as rookie return specialist Devin Hester is out for the rest of the year with a torn ACL. This could be a tough injury to come back from in a position that requires so much lateral agility. Michigan will be without tackle Sean Bubin due to a different knee issue, an MCL tear. Texas's top CB, Nathan Vasher, is done for the year due to his own ACL injury as knees continue to be a major concern for all clubs. Among those with less traumatic injuries we find another Panther, LB DeMarcus Ware, out 2-4 weeks (perhaps the entire regular season) with a torn quad. Texas too got hit a second time, as SS Lawyer Milloy could be out 1-2 weeks with a hernia, an injury that leaves the Outlaws very shaky in the defensive backfield. Seattle will miss TE Bradford Banta due to a groin pull, while Las Vegas is hoping that LB Mark Simoneau can shake off a foot injury in only 1 week. Doubtful this week we have Mike Vrabel (JAX), tackle Kenyatta Jones (LA), tackle Flozell Adams (PHI), WR Javon Walker (JAX), and TE Jeremy Shockey (TBY). Owners Straw Poll favors Carolinas over Virginia The league website, U.com, completed a straw poll of the owners as they prepare for the vote to determine the 28th USFL franchise, and initial reports have the two Carolina teams well ahead of the Tidewater bid. It is early, and until the owners get into the room with each other to sort out their individual concerns and perhaps even do a bit of strongarming, there is nothing set in stone, but early word has Charlotte looking good, with the Carolina Surge bid not far behind and Tidewater in a distant third. It appears that stadium concerns for the Tidewater bid are considerable, as is the much lower economic ranking of the metro area. While the appeal of breaking ground on a new and untapped market is a consideration, there is concern that the Hampton Roads/Tidewater market is not well-suited to support the USFL presence. No such concerns with the booming economies and population centers in North Carolina. The question here is whether or not it is preferable to go with a team sharing an NFL stadium, particularly when the NFL owner in question is somewhat hostile to the concept, or to rely on college facilities at either UNC or NC State, facilities the USFL team would have some difficulty modifying or enhancing without considerable input form the universities and the state government. The poll has Charlotte currently with 9 backers among the 24 eligible voting owners, Carolina with 7, and Virginia with only 2. That still leaves 6 owners who were unwilling to commit one way or another, so we expect there will be some considerable debate during the owner’s meeting and some deals to be made. The unique thing about these three bids is that none of the three are seen as encroaching too much on another owner’s territory. Atlanta, Baltimore, and Washington are the three closest franchises to either southeastern Virginia or North Carolina, and we have not heard any concerns from these three franchises about any of the three bids. Of course, Atlanta, as a recent expansion club themselves, cannot vote in this decision, but even they seem open to any of the three. Adding a regional rival for them in a division that is currently dominated by Florida franchises appears to be amenable to the Fire franchise regardless of the location chosen. The owners will meet just after Week 12 concludes, and we expect this to be the one and only topic of discussion. (A reminder that the poll on our website which asks you to vote as a USFL owner will remain open through the publication of Week 11’s report, and that the results will be published in the Week 13 recap.) Why USFL GMs Are Getting Nervous Sure, it is typical for GMs around the USFL to start getting a bit edgy during the final month of the season. As is expected, they are in the last month for many of their players’ contracts and decisions have to be made about who to prioritize, how much to spend, and who might have to be let go as the clubs prepare for the offseason free agent and draft processes. But this year is different. Why? Because for all intents and purposes the NFL has had enough and is going to start pushing back. The past few years have seen a pretty steady flow of high quality NFL players, particularly at the QB position, heading to the USFL, and that has the fall league concerned. It also has a lot of NFL owners and GMs itching to reverse the trend and start bidding wars for more and more USFL talent. That is to be expected, of course, but with new roster guidelines and a heightened salary cap, the NFL is in a position to simply outspend the USFL if they so choose. It appears most in the USFL expect the NFL to choose this path, particularly with the QB position. And that is a problem. Why is it a problem? Well, just look at the USFL quarterbacks who are in the final season of their contracts and who have yet to sign extensions. It is a list the NFL would be more than happy to plunder. We have Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Todd Collins, Cade McNown, Trent Dilfer Jeff Lewis, and Jon Kitna. Beyond that, among backups there is also some quality with players like Rick Mirer, Tony Banks, Jim Sorgi, Eric Wilhelm and Damon Huard. If the NFL did go on a signing spree, a lot of USFL clubs could find themselves with a major QB issue. It is a position the league has coveted and been willing to spend money on, often money teams cannot afford, since the earliest days of the league when Jim Kelly and Steve Young were plucked out of college to start for Houston and LA. It is the position that has been in many ways the single greatest attribute of the league since those days, and if suddenly the NFL were to get the upper hand and start pulling not just top college prospects like Aaron Rodgers or Alex Smith, but also veteran names like Brady or Brees, that would be a major issue for the USFL, one that could reduce its television pull as well as the quality of play on the field. This is a story we will continue to track, but for now the pressure is on USFL GM’s to make sure that none of their coveted QB talent is available come August when the transfer window opens. “Signed, Sealed, and Delivered” has to be the mantra right now, but we all know that for every player’s agent the mantra is “Don’t sign anything”, because if there is one thing a bidding war is good for, it is agent compensation. Expect a bumpy ride, folks. New Jersey Reveals New Look for 2007 The first of the 2007 uniform updates is out and it is a return to a simpler time for the New Jersey Generals. In a look that recalls very much the early 1980’s look of the team, the Generals drop the side panel and pant striping which they have used since the mid-1990’s and bring back a simple, stripeless jersey with the team logo on each shoulder, and the wide stripe on the pants. The secondary logo of the “Jersey General” will no longer be worn as a patch on the chest, and is completely absent from the uniform. There is a new number font, featuring gold and blue outlines, and a new wordmark, featuring the team name in script in something of a John Hancock signature style. There is no mistaking the Generals’ look for anyone else, as it still maintains its iconic features, and still remains the only red helmet in the league. Week 11, only 4 weeks left, and what do we have on tap? How about Las Vegas, hot off their win vs. LA, now on the road in Seattle. We have Jacksonville at Ohio in what could be a Conference Title preview. New Orleans travels to Nashville and could severely hamper the Knights playoff hopes. Tampa Bay is in Houston for a battle of 7-3 teams. Michigan is in Chicago for a rivalry game that means a lot to both clubs. New Jersey travels to Baltimore. Memphis is in LA, and the Skyhawks visit Philadelphia, who can return to .500 with a win. Denver flies to Orlando to face the Renegades. Oakland is in Texas, and Arizona is in Pittsburgh to face the Maulers. We have Boston in Birmingham and Washington in Atlanta, where the Fire could end up a shocking 6-5 with a home win. Not a week with a lot of divisional rivalries, but one that certainly will influence the playoff race as we get closer to the season’s conclusion.

Playoff Picture: No teams are locked in yet with 4 weeks to play, however Ohio can clinch their division with a win in Week 11. Boston could also clinch a playoff berth in Week 11 with the right combination of results. Pittsburgh becomes the first team eliminated with a 1-9 record.

It is not every day we have a result that simply shocks everyone, but we had it this week as the winless Pittsburgh Maulers not only defeated the 7-1 Ohio Glory, but beat them handily. Ohio was a 13 point favorite, a huge differential in a pro game, and yet, when all was said and done, Pittsburgh won by 18 points. It is our game of the week in a week when we had so many games worth recognizing, because it is the only game people are talking about. OHIO 6 PITTSBURGH 24 What just happened? Normally our Game of the Week is a close affair that comes down to the final seconds, but even a 24-6 domination can make GOTW when it is an 0-8 squad knocking off a 7-1 team in a one-sided affair. If anyone had the guts to bet this game for the Maulers, that guy is now ordering an extra steak at Sizzler, because he won big. We are still not sure just how the Maulers did it. They were outgained by Ohio, despite holding the Glory under 300 total yards (272-255). They did not rely on turnovers to even the odds. There were none in the game. They lost the time of possession battle by a slim margin. They just never let Ohio get comfortable. Blitzing was a big piece of the puzzle, as Coach Rivera unleashed a collection of exotic blitzes against Kerry Collins, particularly on 3rd down. Pittsburgh finished the game with 8 sacks of Collins, including 3 from LB Nate Webster, but also sacks from 5 different D-lineman, including newly arrived former Showboat Damaeion Jefferies. On offense, Pittsburgh just kept chipping away, riding Terrell Davis’s 5.6 YPC to 134 yards, but also getting 11 carries for Brandon Jacobs. The two backs scored all 3 Pittsburgh TDs as rookie QB Brad Grakowski put the ball in the air only 15 times, completing 7 for a measly 72 passing yards. Somehow the Maulers held Joey Galloway to only 1 catch for 14 yards, and George to only 1 reception also. The leading pass catcher for Ohio was fullback Michael Templeton. Think about that, Ohio’s leading receiver was the fullback! That is unheard of! For all the misery in Pittsburgh this season, this win is about as shocking as it gets. It has been rumored that Coach Rivera was fielding trade offers for everyone from Davis to DE Kyle Vanden Bosch, and so far has rejected all but the trade that brought Jefferies to town. Will the offers keep getting rebuffed, and can Pittsburgh prove to their coach that they have the right personnel to play his system? That seems to be what this win was about, these players proving they had what it took. For Ohio, the loss is just a huge question mark on their season. Was Pittsburgh a “trap game”, one they looked past as they prepared to face another foe? Unlikely since their next opponent was not a top contender, but expansion St. Louis. Could it be that we have grossly overestimated the Glory? Perhaps. When we look at their 7-1 start, we see that they split with the Panthers, but every other team they have beaten has had a losing record (Chicago 2x, Texas, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, and Washington). What does this mean for their final month, when they will face Jacksonville, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Arizona? It could mean that those teams will not be as intimidated as a 7-1 team might expect. It also means that a team like Michigan can still hope to catch up to the Glory in the division. In many ways, this loss in Pittsburgh has to be a confidence-shaker, something no team wants at this phase of the season. BOSTON 31 PHILADELPHIA 24 A good game at The Linc, but one the Stars could not pull out in the end. Tiki Barber outgained Ahman Green 113-75 and added 2 touchdown runs as Boston outscored Philly 10-3 in the final 15 minutes to take the win in what had been a nip and tuck game all day. The loss drops Philadelphia to 3-5-1, and quite a ways back from Boston and New Jersey’s pace at 7-2. WASHINGTON 16 NEW JERSEY 19 OVERTIME In the week’s only overtime action, New Jersey got a 36-yard Ryan Lindell field goal to wrap up a win they thought they had in regulation. Up by 3 with less than a minute left, New Jersey’s defense wilted in the final seconds, allowing Kordell Stewart and the Federals to tie the game up. The Generals played without starting QB Tom Brady (family issue), so Kelly Holcombe got the start and finished with 246 yards, one TD and one pick. TEXAS 9 BALTIMORE 28 The Outlaw offense continues to struggle, despite 91 yards from T.J. Duckett. For Baltimore, two Eddie Kennison TD’s helped Ben Roethlisberger move the Blitz to 4-5 on the year, 1 game under .500. The star on defense was CB Chris McCallister, who picked off a Trent Dilfer pass and took it to the house for 6. Add in a Ron Dayne 1-yard plunge and you have a pretty handily won game for the Blitz. ORLANDO 21 JACKSONVILLE 34 The Bulls got 4 TDs from Jake Delhomme and the combo of Antowain Smith and Travis Minor added 106 on the ground as Jacksonville retained its hold on the top spot in the Southeast with the home win. Orlando could not get a run game going with Sedrick Irvin, and that hampered them all day as Jackzonville felt comfortable setting up on defense with only the pass in mind. TAMPA BAY 34 ATLANTA 17 The Fire were game, and were only down 20-17 after three quarters, but as their defense tired, Culpepper and the Bandit offense took advantage, with Randy Moss and Willis McGahee both scoring in the final 15 minutes to pull well ahead of Atlanta down the stretch. Jeff Lewis’s 5 picks in the game, including a pair of pick-6s from Andra Davis and Bryan Scott certainly did not help the cause for the Fire either. MEMPHIS 21 NEW ORLEANS 23 Another good crowd in Portland for the Breakers, and another big win as they move to 6-3 on the year. Eli Manning threw for 261 and 2 scores, while Davis and Perry combined for 132 yards on the ground as the Breakers edged the Memphis Showboats and new QB Jon Kitna. BIRMINGHAM 13 MICHIGAN 10 In what felt more like two troubled offenses rather than two shutdown defenses, the Panthers and Stallions struggled to move the ball or to score in this one. Michigan had the lead at 10-6 until well into the 4th quarter before Jason Campbell found Joe Horn from 9 yards out to put the Stallions on top to stay. Drew Brees was picked off, his 2nd of the day, in the final seconds as Michigan tried to get into field goal range. ST. LOUIS 13 CHICAGO 16 Another game where offense was in short supply as the Machine managed only 196 total yards, but still came away with a win thanks to St. Louis’s issues with 3rd down, converting only 2 of 13 attempts all game. Michael Turner rushed the ball 27 times but garnered only 88 yards (3.3 per carry) as Chicago tried to limit Jeff George, who would finish the game only 6 of 18 throwing the ball. Luke McCown got the start for St. Louis and managed to complete 15 of 32 passes, but was also sacked 9 times in the game as his tendency to hold the ball was tested. NASHVILLE 17 LOS ANGELES 20 A tough road game for the Knights as Los Angeles held court with a 3-point win. A McNown to Keyshawn Johnson TD with 4:34 left in regulation gave LA the lead and the win after TD passes to Bert Emmanuel and Derrick Mason had given Nashville the lead in the 3rd quarter. Both Keyshawn and Tory Holt caught TD passes in this one as LA moved to 6-3 and retained a share of first place in the Pacific Division. OAKLAND 20 ARIZONA 28 The Invaders fell back below .500 with a tough loss in Arizona. The Wranglers stay atop the Southwest Division with the win, powered by 3 Jake Plummer TDs on a day when he attempted only 17 passes all game. Ricky Williams scored both TDs for Oakland, but they could not add a third to send the game to overtime, missing on a 4th down end zone shot in the waning moments. HOUSTON 10 LAS VEGAS 3 Las Vegas showed their defense was legitimate, but that their offense still had major issues as these two defensive-minded teams played in a snore of a game. Neither team could get much going offensively all day, so a lone TD from Tatum Bell was more than enough for the Gamblers to pull this one out. Kavika Pittman added two sacks to his yearly total while Las Vegas got picks from FS Sean Jones and LB Shawn Barber to stifle the Panther offense as well. DENVER 22 SEATTLE 17 With Bryon Leftwich sidelined by injury, Cody Pickett got the start, but simply could not do enough against Denver’s defense to get the W. Sacked 8 times, Pickett was under constant fire form blitzing defenders. Meanwhile, Denver’s Matt Leinart had solid protection and relied heavily on WR Peerless Price, who finished the day with 143 yards and a score on 8 receptions. The loss drops Seattle into a tie for 1st place with LA in the Pacific, while Denver stays 1 game back of both Houston and Arizona with the win. Wranglers win 5th in a row. No team in the league is on a hotter streak than the Arizona Wranglers. They have won their last five, including two wins over division rival Texas and defeats of pretty good Tampa, Oakland, and LA squads. Next up for them are 2 matchups with arch rival Denver in 3 weeks, first at the Gold and then, two weeks later, in the new Glendale digs. Sandwiched in-between are the Maulers in what should be a winnable road game. So, how is Arizona doing it? They have the absolute worst defense in the league for yardage, allowing 379 yards per game, but somehow yards are not turning into points, as they are barely allowing 20 per game. The offense, on the other hand, is averaging nearly 25 per game and they are not making mistakes. They have committed only 4 turnovers all year, while collecting 16 takeaways, for a very solid +12 turnover margin. Only Jacksonville’s +15 is any better. Jake Plummer may not have MVP numbers, but his 125.3 QB Rating and 18-2 TD-INT ratio is the best of his career. And while it is unlikely that the Wranglers will produce a 1,000 yard rusher, the combo of Pritchett and Staley has topped 700 total yards, so it is a pretty effective 2-headed snake of a HB combo. Moss and Fitzgerald continue to be dominant receives, each with over 600 yards receiving, but Plummer is also spreading the wealth, with Thabiti Davis, Kevin Everett, Matt Cushing ,and Duce Staley each with multiple receiving TDs. With timely takeaways, few offensive errors, and a defense that is playing much better than last year, the Wranglers are looking like a team on the rebound. Washington in free fall with 7th consecutive loss after 2-0 start. What is happening in Washington? The Feds started the year with two promising wins, knocking off Orlando and Philly, but have since lost 7 in a row. Their offense ranks near the bottom in scoring, averaging just under 16 points per game, and the oft-praised Federal D is giving up over 21, bad enough for 19th in the league. Despite a very talented offense, only Deuce McCallister seems to be living up to his usual standards. The injury to Deion Branch has forced Bobby Engram to be the #1 receiver, a role he is not suited to fill. Newly arrived Mike Williams became Newly on IR Mike Williams in one week. And while Antonio Pierce is becoming a force at LB, leading the league in tackles, the fact that he also leads the team in sacks, with only 4, is not a good thing. Washington’s Paul Hackett stepped away after last year and the Feds promoted Kurt Schottenheimer to the big chair, but after this 7-game spiral, fans are beginning to wonder how to undo that move. Can Hackett return? Will Schottenheimer be back next year? This is a club that won their division in 2005, and now look like one of the league’s worst clubs, all without major changes to the personnel, a reality that does not shine a good light on Schottenheimer to be sure. Terrell Davis’s Statement Game In a season that is looking like the worst in a long time for the Maulers, and with rumors of his decline as a lead back, Terrell Davis silenced the critics this week. He took the team on his shoulders and led Pittsburgh to the biggest upset win in several years. Davis is the one Mauler who seems to be better this year than last. He rushed for only 736 yards last year, and is already well over that total with 794 in 9 games in 2006. And he has had a couple of truly outstanding games, like in week 2 when he rushed for 170 against Birmingham, or in week 6 against St. Louis, but this week’s 134 yard, 2 TD performance was the first time that Davis’s efforts led to a win. With all sorts of talk in Pittsburgh about Coach Rivera hoping to blow up the roster and start fresh in 2007, Davis is the one constant, the best player on a bad team, a 6-time All-USFL selection, an, at 31, a player who still has gas in the tank. Week 9 means we take our first peek at the Playoff Picture, and while it is too early for teams to have clinched any spots, there clearly are a few who are well-positioned with 5 weeks left in the season. In our current conference standings, we see New Jersey and Ohio as the two top seeds, both sitting at 7-2 and in control of their destiny. LA, Houston, Jacksonville, and the Breakers are all currently leading their divisions as well, though in some cases only due to tie breakers. Right now 5-4 is the cutoff for a playoff spot, and in the West (which saw several sub-500 teams qualify last year) it appears that even 5-4 right now does not guarantee a spot. The West actually has more teams with winning records right now than the East, which is a clear reversal from last year, though the swapping of the Central and Southern divisions certainly plays into this. Races to watch as we move forward include a neck-and-neck battle between Boston and New Jersey in the Northeast, a similar situation at 6-3 with Tampa Bay and Jacksonville in the Southeast, and a 1-game race between New Orleans and Nashville in the South. In the Central, it is Ohio with the biggest margin in the league, a 2-game advantage over Michigan. LA and Seattle are tied at 6-3 in the Pacific, and the Southwest has the best 3-team race, with Houston and Arizona at 6-3, and Denver only a game back. Looking at the teams currently out of playoff position, obviously Michigan and Las Vegas, both at 5-4, are right there, but even teams below .500, teams like Baltimore, Nashville, and Oakland, can still get there. With a lot of divisional games left to play, these standings can and will change quite a bit. At the very least what we can say now is that neither conference seems to have a dominant position over the other. That is a positive change after a very weird 2005 race. A big blow to the Generals as RT Orlando Brown is lost of for the season with a ruptured Achilles. Brown is a big part of the Generals’ run game, so this loss will hurt. Other than Brown’s injury, a pretty light week, with the injury list shrinking from Week 8. A few to note, Oakland guard Brendan Stai could be gone for a month with a ruptured disc, and New Orleans will be without wideout Jerome Pathon for at least a month with a torn MCL. Houston guard Chris Naole will likely only miss one week with a hairline fracture in his arm, while rookie FS Darnell Bing will be out for LA at least a week with a shoulder injury. Among those looking to return to action this week and listed as Probable, we have Tom Brady, Texas CB Marlon Kerner, Seattle WR David Boston, Memphis LB Kirk Morrison, Chicago LB Brian Urlacher, Thunder DE Hugh Douglas, Washington WR Deion Branch, Orlando C Todd McClure, Arizona LB Lance Briggs, and Baltimore WR Josh Reed. Rookie Class of 2006 Showing Their Stuff Last year we had a rookie class dominated by HB Frank Gore. This year it looks like a tougher call to make as to who the best rookie is. We are seeing a lot of players on the field, and a lot of good outings as well. Matt Leinart, the only Week 1 starter out of the bunch, is looking solid with a 98.2 QBR, 12 TDs and a Gold team at 5-4. Brad Gradkowski has gotten some starts in Pittsburgh and just pulled off the upset of the decade. Maurice Jones-Drew has been getting significant snaps in LA, and has 5 TDs on the season. Among the receivers we have Oakland’s Greg Jennings with 44 receptions for 653 yards, Orlando’s Brandon Marshall with 328 yards and 3 scores, Santonio Holmes in Ohio taking on the #2 spot and grabbing 459 yards in his first 9 games, and two top tight ends, with Chicago’s Anthony Fasano with 29 catches, including 2 scores and Houston’s Vernon Davis scoring his first touchdown recently. But, despite this success, the bigger story may be the defenders in the class of 2006. Looking across the league, we are seeing a lot of rookie defenders on the field and making an impact. We have Thunder LB A.J. Hawk with 59 tackles, 2 sacks and a safety in 9 games. Birmingham LB DeMeco Ryans is no slouch either, with 57 tackles, 1 sack, a pick, and 3 forced fumbles. Free Safety Darnell Bing in LA has 48 tackles and 2 sacks. Looking at the D-linemen, you have DT Tamba Hali disrupting the O-line for the Generals. The big guy already has 4 sacks on the year, while Orlando DE Kamerion Wimberley has one more, with 5 sacks. LB Chad Greenway is leading the Outlaws’ 8th ranked scoring defense with 50 tackles, and Manny Lawson is seeing a lot of field time for Boston. It is a very deep class, we knew that going into the draft, but that is getting proven each week in USFL games across the league. ESPN Football Network Bulks Up Its Offerings While the current deals with ABC, ESPN, FOX and NBC do not allow ESPN’s Football Network to show lives games from the USFL schedule, the network co-founded by the league and the cable sports “mothership” has announced two new agreements that will certainly make it a more attractive option for football fans. The first is an agreement with the USFL and its broadcast partners to allow for what they are calling a “Live Feed” highlight show. Essentially, during Saturday and Sunday afternoon games, when there are between 2-4 games going on at the same time, the new network will be able to broadcast “peak in” coverage of all active games. The premise is that they will be able to show any particular game for up to 10 uninterrupted minutes, with an emphasis on closer games and action within the scoring range of each game. It is possible that by watching this as-of-yet unnamed show on a Sunday afternoon, fans can catch all the key scoring moments across the league games during the afternoon, something they have largely only been able to do with text-based live feeds on U.com the USFL’s webpage. Now, instead of refreshing their browser to catch what happened on a key 3rd and 8 late in a game, fans could catch that action on the multi-game highlight show on the EFN. With the rise of fantasy football across the nation, we certainly see the appeal of being able to catch scoring plays, highlights, and stats from across the league instead of one home market or national game with a ticker running under the action. The second big addition will come this fall, when the ESPN Football Network will begin broadcasting more college games, thanks to new deals with both Conference USA and the Mountain West. While not a deal with the SEC, as the league had originally hoped, this new deal will put a lot of quality games on live TV across the country, not just in regional coverage. Teams like Tulane, Houston, SMU, UCF, East Carolina, and Southern Mississippi will get far more coverage for fans in the South than they have ever seen before, while fans out west can catch action from BYU, TCU, Utah, Air Force, UNLV, San Diego State and other Mountain West clubs. No, it is not Notre Dame, Alabama, Ohio State, or Miami, but this provides the EFN with quality fall football to go along with their coverage of the USFL, and non-game broadcasting such as the wide range of coach’s shows, prediction shows, draft and offseason recap shows, and special features from USFL Films. All in all, a good step. We are still anticipating the day when EFN will cover live games and hopefully add one of the major college football conferences to their broadcast options, but for now, having a football-only network is still a big deal, and certainly helps make USFL news, players, and personalities available to fans year-round. Nothing wrong with that. Week 10 and the stakes are getting higher. We have a lot of matchups of clubs with winning records this week, and that usually means that both clubs will bring their A game to the match. Of course, after the upset of Ohio, even teams facing weaker opponents need to stay focused. Among the games not to miss this week we have these beauties: Philadelphia (3-5-1) @ New Jersey (7-2): The Generals appear to have a clear advantage here, but this is a rivalry game, and you know what they say, throw the records out when these two meet. Houston (6-3) @ Michigan (5-4): This is a game the Panthers have to have if they want any chance of keeping pace with Ohio, but Houston cannot afford a loss either in a very tight SW Division. Los Angeles (6-3) @ Las Vegas (5-4): The Thunder can take a huge step forward if they can knock off the Express at Sam Boyd, but the Express have been playing well in all three phases, so this will be a tough matchup for Las Vegas. Arizona (6-3) @ Denver (5-4): A win and the Gold are right there with Arizona and Houston. A loss and they could be 2 games back of both with only 4 to play. Arizona feels the pressure too, hoping that Houston stumbles in Michigan. Seattle (6-3) @ Oakland (4-5): The Invaders need to get back to .500 to have any chance at the divisional race. A loss here and they are 3 games behind Seattle. Jacksonville (6-3) @ New Orleans (6-3): The third of three straight “home” games for the Breakers in Portland, and this is a big one, facing off against the SE Division leaders. For Jacksonville, a loss could drop them behind Tampa Bay. Tampa Bay (6-3) @ Birmingham (5-4): A classic South battle here, even with the two now in different divisions. Tampa has to worry about Jacksonville getting a game up on them, while Birmingham cannot afford to fall to .500 with both Nashville and New Orleans coming on in the South. Baltimore (4-5) @ Boston (7-2): A divisional battle, and a rematch of Boston’s 34-11 opening day lambasting of the Blitz. Can Baltimore reverse the results as they travel up to Alumni Stadium, or will the Cannons have another field day against the Blitz? Texas (2-7) @ Atlanta (4-5): The Fire can get back to .500 with a win at home. But they have to be careful not to underestimate a Texas squad that may struggle with offense, but have a top flight D to bring to bear. Washington (2-7) @ Memphis (2-7): Call this one the Disappointment Bowl, as both of these teams have struggled all season long to earn wins and respect. Both were playoff teams last year, but that must feel like a lifetime ago for the current players. St. Louis (2-7) @ Ohio (7-2): How will Ohio bounce back from their shocking defeat against the winless Maulers? Will they take out their frustrations on a weaker St. Louis squad, or will the funk continue and provide the Skyhawks with a chance. Chicago (3-6) @ Pittsburgh (1-8): The Machine need a win to have any hope of a late playoff push, while Pittsburgh, hot off a stunning win, are hoping that this is a pivot point for the franchise moving forward. Nashville (4-5) @ Orlando (2-6-1): The Knights can get back to .500 with a win, but Orlando is not going to make it easy. Their top defense can keep any game close.

Another big week of divisional matchups from coast to coast. We had the Blitz and Stars in a dogfight in the Northeast, Jacksonville and Tampa fighting for first in the Southeast, Chicago on the road in Michigan in a Central Division clash, Seattle taking on Las Vegas in a battle of 1st place teams in the Pacific, Denver headed to Houston in the Southwest, and the Battle of Tennessee between the Showboats and Knights in the South. No division without drama, and few games without some as well. Hard to pick a game of the week, but the sheer ferocity of the game between the Blitz and the Stars made it our winner for the GOTW honors. BALTIMORE 24 PHILADELPHIA 19 A game neither team could afford to lose as the Blitz and Stars are watching their early season hopes of a playoff run beginning to fade. Baltimore came into this one a disappointing 2-5, while Philadelphia was not much better at 3-3-1. The Stars were hoping the win would solidify them above .500, while the Blitz needed a W just to keep any slim hopes of a late run alive. In other words, two junkyard dogs fighting over the same bone. Both teams would try to establish the run early, and both would have some success. With Ron Dayne getting some relief as Correll Buckhalter had his highest carry count of the season, while Ahman Green carried the ball 23 times of Philly’s 30 total carries. The early success of both attacks would allow Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner to find success with play action, a game plan both teams like to employ. After a scoreless first quarter, Philadelphia opened the scoring in the second with a 40-yard Mike Nugent field goal. After a timely 3-and-out by the Stars’ defense, they would double their advantage with a second Nugent kick. But Baltimore was beginning to find their way, and on their next drive Kurt Warner connected with TE Daniel Graham on a nice 20-yard play, followed by a 13-yarder to their other TE, Antonio Gates, and very soon Buckhalter was diving over the pile to score the first points for the Blitz. Just over three minutes to play in the half and the Blitz held a narrow 1-point lead. Philadelphia would respond in their 2-minute drill, moving the ball well and with good use of their timeouts, allowing them 3 shots at the end zone before they would have to kick a field goal. It took all three, but on 3rd and goal, Warner hit Steve Smith and the Stars went into the break up 13-7. Baltimore would close the gap on their first drive of the 3rd quarter, adding a field goal to make it a 3-point deficit. But by the end of the third, Philly had added two more Nugent kicks and had what appeared to be a solid 19-10 lead. “Appeared” being the operative word here. Getting the ball back with just over 5 minutes to play, Baltimore again found a bit of offensive rhythm, and in 8 plays they had moved the ball from their own 20 down to the Philadelphia 1-yard line. One more over-the-top plunge from Buckhalter and it was a 2-point game at 19-17. Baltimore would opt to kick the ball away with 3:04 left to play and all 3 timeouts. They would need a stop to get the ball back. They were helped on first down when Coach Harbaugh tried to outsmart the Blitz D. Calling a play-action pass, Harbaugh hoped to catch Coach Coughlin’s team napping, but the defense came up with solid coverage and the ball fell to the ground, stopping the clock with only 3 seconds gone. Baltimore would stuff Green on the 2nd down run, forcing Philadelphia to throw again on 3rd and 10. Once again the ball did not find its target and Baltimore had their 3-and-out with only 29 seconds off the clock. The Blitz got the ball on their own 32 after the punt, and went to work. Big Ben connected with Darnerian McCants on first down for 11, then found Gates for 9 more, followed by a draw to Dayne for 5 and a time out. They would follow that first set of plays with 4 more passes and with just over 30 seconds to play, they were at the 3 yard line and it was Philadelphia panicking to use timeouts to preserve any time. Now, we may never know for certain, but Philly’s defense on 1st and goal from the three seemed very nonchalant. Did they let Ron Dayne score so that they could get the ball back with some time left, or was it just a well-blocked play. Coach Harbaugh insisted he did not tell the defenders to let Dayne into the end zone, but on the field it looked a bit suspicious. If it was Harbaugh’s plan, it was not a good one. Baltimore went up by 5 with only 30 seconds left, and the Stars would need to go 75 yards downfield with only 1 time out left. Short story, they couldn’t, Baltimore took the W, and the fans in Philly would spend the evening questioning everything on local sports radio. JACKSONVILLE 26 TAMPA BAY 10 The Bulls improve to 5-3 and take over 1st place by knocking Tampa Bay off in their own stadium. The Bulls’ D limited the Bandits to only 208 total yards and 1 TD, while Jake Delhomme connected with Jeb Putzier and Rashaun Woods to turn a 10-9 halftime deficit into a 16-point win. Both Woods and Boldin went over 125 yards receiving in a big day for the Bulls as they seek to unseat Tampa Bay as the division’s and the state’s best team. CHICAGO 28 MICHIGAN 36 A bad season for Chicago got even worse as not only did their defense again give up over 30 points, but star DE Anthony Weaver is out for the year after injuring his hip and being taken off the field on the cart. With Weaver out, the Machine gave up 380 yards of offense, including 100 yards on the ground to Ladell Betts. Michigan got 4 TD passes from Drew Brees as well as the rebuilt Chicago secondary simply melted under the Panther onslaught. Chicago drops to 2-6, below St. Louis in the standings. SEATTLE 19 LAS VEGAS 13 The Dragons knocked Steve McNair out of the game and picked off backup Henry Burris to take over 1st place in the Pacific. Byron Leftwich also left early with a concussion, but the Dragons held on and used a late defensive stand to secure the road win and move to 6-2. DENVER 21 HOUSTON 24 A good game between two teams that know each other well. Matt Leinart connected on 2 TD passes, but Matt Hasselbeck did him one better, hitting Roy Williams for a 3rd TD pass late in the 4th to build up a 24-14 lead. Houston would give up a late TD, but it was too little for Denver to come back. Antonio Freeman had a huge game, catching 7 balls for 142 and a score as Houston secured a share of 1st place with the Wranglers. ARIZONA 21 TEXAS 19 Arizona joins Houston at 5-3 after a tough road win against a plucky Texas defense. Jake Plummer was sacked 4 times, but the Wrangler run game had a good day, with the combo of Pritchett and Staley combining for 154 yards. For Texas, both Ike Hilliard and rookie Marques Colston gained over 100 yards receiving, but two Dilfer picks hurt the Outlaws’ upset bid. NASHVILLE 33 MEMPHIS 27 Jon Kitna’s first start as a Showboat was pretty solid: 18 of 24 for 249 and a TD, but it was not enough as Frank Gore just ate up the Memphis defense, rushing for 146 and a score. Backup Leon Johnson added another score, and Bert Emmanuel scored twice as Nashville moved up to 4-4 after a rough start to the year. Memphis drops to 2-6 in what is appearing to be a lost season. PITTSBURGH 13 ST. LOUIS 17 Speaking of lost seasons, Pittsburgh falls to expansion St. Louis for a second time as both teams, surprised us by swapping their QB’s at gametime. Coach Shell gave Luke McCown a chance to impress him, and he may have done that with 263 yards and 2 TD tosses, though he was sacked 9 times in a rude welcome to the game. Meanwhile, Coach Rivera benched Charlie Batch and started raw rookie Bruce Gradkowski. He looked like a rookie, completing only 15 of 35 throws for 114 yards. Kyle Vanden Bosch was the lone bright spot for Pittsburgh, landing 3 sacks of McNown as St. Louis’s O-line struggled to contain him. OHIO 33 WASHINGTON 11 Washington continues to struggle as they give up 434 yards of offense against the 7-1 Glory, including 115 yards receiving for Eddie George and another 103 to Joey Galloway. Kordell Stewart also struggled, throwing 2 picks as the play action game was simply not an option once Ohio went up 26-8 by halftime. ATLANTA 13 BIRMINGHAM 10 In one of the weirdest games we have seen in a long time, neither offense scored a TD in this one, but Atlanta got a safety and a blocked punt, returned for a score by LB Na’il Diggs, while Birmingham’s lone 7-pointer came from a Mike Rucker Sack-fumble-TD. Both offenses were horrendous, but Atlanta managed to do enough to edge the Stallions and send both teams to 4-4 on the season, a great feat for the Fire, but disappointing for the 1st place Stallions. OAKLAND 27 BOSTON 38 Oakland was game or 3 quarters, down only 21-20, but in the 4th Drew Bledsoe connected with both Jerricho Cotchery and Chad Ochocinco (a 90 yarder) to build up a 15-point lead that the Invaders could not match. Tiki Barber’s 101 yards just barely edged Ricky Williams’s 91, in a good game for both backs, but Bledsoe’s 4 TDs helped the homestanding Cannons move to 6-2 and keep even with division-leading New Jersey. NEW JERSEY 29 LOS ANGELES 16 The Generals flew to the West Coast and methodically outplayed the homestanding Express to earn their 6th win. Curtis Enis rushed for 113 yards, and James Jackson added another 93 as the Generals were happy to dominate the clock and the game on the ground. They finished with a 38-22 advantage in time of possession and a 13-point win. ORLANDO 7 NEW ORLEANS 22 The Breakers continue to be the feel-good story of the season, moving to 5-3 and sitting atop the Central Division by winning their first “home” game in Portland. More than 41,000 showed up to root for the Breakers, though there was a noticeable mix of Thunder and new Stag swag in the stands. Eli Manning went 17 of 25 and connected with Cedric Tillman for a score, while David Green added 5 field goals as New Orleans had trouble against Orlando’s red zone D, but not as much as Orlando had trying to get any points on the board. Both the Skyhawks and Maulers Bench QB’s Ahead of Divisional Clash A weird situation in St. Louis as both teams were expected to start their regular starters, Charlie Batch for Pittsburgh, and Quincy Carter for St. Louis, but when the offenses took the field there were new players under center. The Maulers started untested rookie Brad Gradkowski, who started off missing his first 3 passes in a quick opening drive. When St. Louis came out onto the field, it was Luke McCown who started rather than Carter. As rough as Gradkowski’s start was, it was better than McCown’s, as the young QB threw a pick-six on his 2nd throw of the game, giving Pittsburgh an early 7-0 lead. McCown would settle down and finished the game with better numbers than Gradkowski (20 of 32 for263 and 2 scores). Gradkowski certainly struggled, completing only 15 of 35 on the day, and thowing a pick himself, though not a pick six. When asked after the game why we did not see Carter or Batch, both coaches basically said the same cliches about the teams needing a spark and making a change at QB was the way to see if they could get one. Based on the performance of both Gradkowski and McCown, we are not sure if the spark was there, or if both will return to the starting lineup next week. Starting out the year a horrendous 0-8, Pittsburgh may be on the cusp of a fire sale to rebuild their entire roster, and that could include seeking a new QB. St. Louis is still in the process of building a roster, and while 2 wins, both against the hapless Maulers, is a nice start, they will need to do more to secure better QB play in the future. Chicago Woes Continue, Weaver Done For the Season To say that 2006 has not panned out the way Chicago and their fans had hoped would be an understatement. The defense appears to be a shadow of the dominant squad that propelled the Machine to Summer Bowl 2005. The retirements and free agent defections from the secondary have been very apparent, and the dominant LB corps has simply been unable to compensate. Mired at 2-6 and now sitting in 4th place, behind expansion St. Louis due to a tiebreaker, Chicago had to be wondering if this was a lost season. Now, with one of their best defenders, DE Anthony Weaver diagnosed with a broken hip, and lost for the entire season, the calls for Chicago to focus on the future will be even stronger. So, what should they be looking to do over the next 6 weeks? 1. They should try to enhance their offensive production. Defense cannot do it all, so perhaps the rest of this year should be used to improve the 17th ranked scoring offense. What exactly that means is up for debate, but one idea may be to give young QB Kyle Orton some game time to see if he is ready to perhaps replace Jeff George next year. 2. Make deals to bring in some secondary help. Assuming Weaver can be back at 100% for the 2007 season, the impetus has to be on improving the secondary. CB’s Marlin Jackson and Kelvin Hayden are just not getting the job done, and finding an impact safety should also be a top goal for the Machine. 3. Build on youth. Chicago has some good talent under 30 (TE Fasano, HB Turner, WR Lloyd, WR Driver, LB Polley, and LB Urlacher) but they also have some younger talent who just are not seeing time on the field. In addition to Kyle Orton, it would be beneficial to see just what players like Maurice Clarett, Andre Gurode, John Henderson, and Jimmy Williams can do. New Orleans Wins Big in Portland Yes, the win over the Renegades was important for the Breaker’s season, but the bigger win may have been off the field, where the reception by Portland has proven two things: That the nation is behind the Breakers and the city of New Orleans, and that Portland is more than ready to have USFL football back in the Rose City. More than 41,000 attended the game, and, as we reported earlier, we saw a wide range of Thunder, Stag, and yes, some Breaker gear sported by fans. The crowd was decidedly pro-Breaker, which is exactly what the club needs in their home for the rest of the season. The atmosphere was great, with a buy in from Portland fans that far exceeded expectations. All of this is good news for the Breakers and the league, as, after 1 game, it seems that the right decision was made to uproot the Breakers from the Gulf Coast and transplant them to the Pacific Northwest for the majority of the season. Portland will have the Breakers in town the next two weeks, to face the Showboats and Bulls, and then one last huge game against Ohio in Week 12. Then will come the long gap between this season and the first Portland Stags game in 2008, let’s hope that time does not water down the enthusiasm of this city and their football-loving fans. Is Rivera Headed for One and Done? That is the question in Pittsburgh. Ron Rivera was brought in from Chicago to build a top tier defense. And while it is clear that his absence from the Machine has been part of the reason for their precipitous decline, his presence in the Steel City has not led to an equally rapid rise. The Maulers have yet to win a game, and times are getting desperate. Rivera’s defense has been respectable in some senses, 5th in the league in yards allowed, including a pass defense allowing fewer than 200 yards per game and a run defense in the top 12, but they are 20th in scoring defense, in part due to a lot of short fields caused by an inept offensive production. Rivera has started making deals, trading away 2nd year WR Mike Williams to bring in another pass rusher, and benching Charlie Batch this week to see what Brad Gradkowski could offer. Neither seem like moves that will improve the situation this year, so the question is whether or not Rivera could survive a 0-win, or even a 1- or 2-win season to get a second year to build something. Pittsburgh ownership has been patient in the past, but it would be a major embarrassment to go winless this year. Having already fallen to the expansion Skyhawks twice has been bad enough for the Maulers, but to go 0-14 would be downright ugly. Pittsburgh has potentially winnable games in Week 10 (against Rivera’s old team, Chicago), and Week 14 (Washington, also on a steep decline), but is not likely to be favored in either home game, and every other game is against a likely playoff team. A winless year could be on the horizon, so what can Rivera do to ensure he gets a year 2 and a chance to build the roster he wants? We just don’t know. Is Atlanta Really a Contender in Year One? Fans in the Capital of the South are beginning to believe the answer is yes. Those around the league are not quite so fast to buy into the hype just yet. Yes, a 4-4 record at this point is quite an accomplishment for Coach Gruden and the Fire front office, and wins over Birmingham, Jacksonville, and Boston show that the Fire are not just getting lucky with a weak schedule. But here is the thing. They still have the 25th rated scoring offense, averaging only 15.8 points per game. They have not had a consistent passing game (172 yards per game), and their defense, while very good in yards allowed (2nd in the league) is not enough to assume they will be in the mix at season’s end. Four wins in eight tries is an amazing feat for an expansion club, and even an 8-8 record by July would be a major coup for an organization that replaces the earlier Fire club which almost always ended the year with 10 or more losses, but contender may just be a step too far. The Anthony Weaver injury was certainly the headliner this week, another bad break for a team on the ropes, but his hip fracture was hardly the only major concern for the week. In Denver, another DE is out for the year as Ryan Denney’s issues have been revealed as a neck injury, including a bone chip that will have to be surgically removed. Denver will also be without backup HB Ahmaad Galloway, though the recent trade for Mewelde Moore helps soften that blow. Birmingham DT Ryan Sims’s groin issue is worse than originally thought and could require some ligament reattachment, keeping him out at least 6 weeks, while Boston’s promising young DE, Jason Babin, could miss as much as a month with a fracture in his jaw. Others who will miss this week, and possibly at least one more, include Seattle WR David Boston and DE John Abraham. Jacksonville WR Javon Walker, Michigan safety Jim Leonhard, Philly guard Ruben Brown, Thunder DE Hugh Douglas, and Seattle QB Byron Leftwich, suffering from a pulled hamstring. 10 Greatest Season Performances in USFL History We have been spending some time in our bullpen looking back and trying to decide which teams, which players, had seasons that stand the test of time. It is not hard to put together a pretty good list of outstanding performances, but ranking them is just fodder for unending debates. We did our best, and in the end we came up with our Top 10 for the best single seasons for either an individual or a team in the 24 years of USFL football (Yes, 2007 will mark the 25th season of the league, hard to imagine.) Here is our ranking. Feel free to debate this as well. 10) 2005: Frank Gore Wins Rushing Title as a Rookie Other than the first season of the USFL, when technically everyone was a rookie, it is hard to find a season where a rookie took one of the main statistical categories by storm. It was not easy, as Gore jumped around the top 5 rushers all season long, but in the end, the newest Nashville Knight pulled it out, leading the league with 1,286 yards when all was said and done. The team that had made Ahman Green a 3-time rushing leader found an instant replacement when Green left for Philadelphia, and the combination of a strong run-based gameplan and an O-line that loves to run block helped the U. of Miami rookie have himself a very memorable Rookie of the Year season. 9) 1990: Tim Mazzetti Sets Scoring Mark for the Ages Yes, a kicker makes this list. And of course it is the first (and only) kicker to be selected as a USFL Hall of Famer, the kicking bartender himself, Tim Mazzetti. In 1990 Mazzetti would set a record for total points that is the kicking equivalent of Bob Beaman setting the world record in the long jump by more than 2 feet. Mazzetti would connect on 38 of 38 extra points and 48 of 53 field goal attempts to finish the year with 182 total points. That is a nice number, but it really stands out when you realize that the 2nd highest total ever was only 159 (Norwood, 1989). Mazzetti, who would be the leading scorer in the USFL a whopping 5 times in 10 years had his best year in 1990, and one of the most prolific scoring years in pro football history. 8) 1991: Phil Hansen’s Ridiculous Rookie Year We said earlier that it is very rare for a rookie to make a huge statistical (or game impact) splash in his first year. In part this is due to typical rookie growing pains, but in the USFL it is also due to the physical toll most players have when they transfer directly from a fall NCAA or NFL season to the spring USFL season, often with fewer than 2 months of rest between the two. That did not seem to affect North Dakota grad and New Jersey General rookie DE Phil Hansen as he declared his presence in the spring league with authority. We all know Hansen now as one of the great sack masters in pro football history, but in the spring of 1991 he was a modest kid from the Midwest just happy to be a pro football player. He earned the start in Week 1 of the season, and never looked back, terrorizing shocked opponents with his power and swim move, earning 23 sacks as a rookie, a league record at the time, and what we now know was just a first act in a long and now legendary career. 2004: Tampa Bay’s 8-Game Swing (from 4-10 to 12-2 in 1 season) We are used to teams making significant improvements year to year, and, of course, others collapsing from one season to the next, but we have never seen a jump like the one the Tampa Bay Bandits pulled off between their 2003 season and the 2004 campaign. 2003’s squad was utterly forgettable. Finishing the year at 4-10, the Bandits struggled on both sides of the ball, a season of miscues and mismatches that led to the dismissal of former 49er George Seifert. What followed was a stunning offseason, one that not only saw the return of “The Ole’ Ball Coach”, Steve Spurrier, but the late signing of former NFL All-Pro QB Daunte Culpepper. The revitalized and reimagined Bandits would go on to mount a 12-2 campaign in 2004, blowing away all preseason predictions and returning the spirit of Bandit Ball that Spurrier had brought to Tampa Bay way back in 1983. It was a magical season, that ended one game short for Bandit fans, as the Bandits fell to New Jersey in the Eastern Conference Championship, but an 8-game swing, from 4-10 to 12-2 is a feat absolutely worth celebrating. 1992: Brett Favre’s Dynamite Debut While not a rookie, Brett Favre in his second season in the league had a coming out party like few others. After a rookie season in which he sat behind Cliff Stoudt and threw only 5 pass attempts in mop up duty, Favre was handed the starting position for the 1992 season, and exploded onto the consciousness of the pro football world. In his first season starting in Birmingham Favre would throw for 5,169 yards and 47 touchdowns. Averaging over 320 yards per game, and helping the Stallions to a 10-6 season, Favre was electric. Birmingham would fall to Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round, but Favre-mania was in full effect in the deep south, a craze that would come to its height the next season when Favre and the Stallions ran up a 14-2 record and took home the franchise’s first (and only) league title. Favre would go on to throw for 58,663 yards and 498 TDs in the USFL before signing with the NFL Jets, and while he had many amazing seasons, that first year will always be remembered as the moment he took the world by storm. 1999: Chris Dishman’s Sack Record After years being considered the 2nd or 3rd best end in the league, behind Reggie White and Phil Hansen, Chris Doleman won the sack title in 1998, just edging Hansen with a league record 25 sacks. The next year, in 1999 he would blow his own record away, landing 29 sacks in 16 games, a mark yet to be broken. Doleman would retire in 2002, but not before winning a title with Orlando in 2001 and not before racking up 198 career sacks. But, despite reaching 20 sacks 4 times in his long and illustrious career, his 29 sacks in 1999 remain the high water mark that every defensive end and blitzing linebacker sees as the unachievable goal. 1998: Troy Aikman’s Monster Year The USFL has always been a QB-driven league, from the early days of Reaves, Fusina and Kelly, to today’s game of Collins, Bledsoe, and Culpepper, but no quarterback has ever had a more profoundly awe-inspiring season than Troy Aikman in 1998. Not only did Aikman lead the Bandits to their first league title since 1983, but he did it with numbers that simply defied explanation. In the 1998 seaosn, Aikman threw for 5,675 yards and 54 touchdowns, shattering the previous records of 5,417 (Kelly 1996) and Favre (48, 1997). In what was an incredible year for passers, with Brett Favre and Ryan Leaf both going over 5,000 yards, Aikman was at the top of his game and at the top of league recordbooks, where he still remains. 1983: Herschel Walker’s Debut Season The 1983 season was an experiment, and the mad scientists of the USFL found their magic elixir in Herschel Walker. Not only was the signing of the nation’s best college footballer a headline grabber and a seat-filler, it was a sign that the USFL would not be content to serve as a feeder league to the NFL, but would go after top talent wherever it could find it. Walker came to the Generals after only 2 seasons at Georgia, in what was a very controversial signing. His contract blew the original league plan of 1.3 million per team for salaries out of the water, but what it also did was provide instant attention to the league, eyeballs on screens and butts in seats. The unparalleled star of the 1983 season, before other teams started to add big name rookies and NFL signings, Walker had the weight of the entire league on his shoulders. What did he do with that? Nothing less than set a rushing standard that has stood to this day. Walker rushed for 1,767 in his first season, a mark neither he nor any other USFL back has been able to match in nearly 25 years. In doing so, he helped put the USFL on the map as a serious league with serious talent. It is safe to say that without Walker’s huge rookie year, the league may not be anything like we see today. 1986: Eric Truvillion’s Brush with 2,000 Yards No shock that Eric Truvillion is on our list. The Bandit speedster has the top 3 passing yardage totals in league history, and still holds the record for receiving TDs with 25 in a single season. It is debatable whether his best year was his 25-TD 1985 season or a year later when he set the yardage record. In 1985 he had 1944 yards, a stunning total in a 16-game season, but a year later he would top it, coming as close as anyone ever has to a 2,000-yard receiving season, gaining 1,959 yards with the Bandits. The fact that Truvillion retired with three 1,900-yard seasons, when no other player has ever reached that number, is truly astonishing. We probably should not highlight only one year, but 1986 was the record-setter, so we pick that one as the high water mark. 2002: Ohio’s Undefeated Season Football is a team sport, so it should be no shock that the top honor goes to a team achievement, and what achievement could be more worthy of the top spot than the league’s only perfect season. The 2002 Ohio Glory obliterated their opposition on their way to a 14-0 regular season, then knocked off Chicago and New Jersey before blowing out the Memphis showboats in Summer Bowl 2002. The 38-14 score still the record for the largest margin of victory ever in a USFL title game. Ohio was simply dominant in 2002. In that magical season Kerry Collins won the QB trifecta (in addition to MVP and League Champ), leading the league in passing yards (4,361), touchdowns (39) and QB Rating (136.6). Eddie George finished third in the league with 1,155 yards, but also caught 34 balls for 878 yards, giving him a stunning 2,033 all purpose yards. Joey Galloway led all receivers with 1,393 yards and scored 13 touchdowns. The Glory would score 455 points as a team that year, but give up only 297, a difference of 158 points, one of the biggest margins for a season in USFL history. But, of course, more importantly, they went through the entire season without a single defeat or tie. Sixteen games, sixteen wins. Only the 1972 Dolphins can equal that with their own unbeaten season. We look ahead to Week 9 and the matchups that could kick off the playoff push over the final weeks of the season. As we have seen each week this year, the new offset schedule that combines divisional games with interdivisional and interconference play each week has assured us that each and every week we have some rivalry games and some games with immediate impact on the standings. That is certainly the case in Week 9 as well. We start with a clash in the Northeast, where the Philadelphia Stars hope to regain .500 with a win, but host a tough Boston Cannons squad in a divisional matchup. Just up the turnpike in East Rutherford, the Generals, sitting at 6-2, hope that the Federals (2-6) continue to struggle as a divisional win certainly helps New Jersey’s case. In the Southeast we have an intriguing matchup, and a real test for the Atlanta Fire, as they host first place Tampa Bay. Some of the other divisional games this week appear to be a bit more lopsided as 7-1 Ohio is expected to simply demolish 0-8 Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh. In what may be a more even matchup than Machine fans would like to admit, the 2-6 Skyhawks come up from St. Louis to face the Machine, who are also 2-6. In the South, Memphis will start Jon Kitna against the Breakers in the 2nd week of Portland football this year. And back in the Southeast, Jacksonville is at home, a game behind Tampa Bay, and facing rival Orlando. Some fun matchups across divisions as well, with Oakland headed to Glendale to face the Wranglers in what could be the first Wrangler game this year with the roof closed on their newfangled retractable roof stadium. Houston has an intriguing matchup against Las Vegas in the desert, and Birmingham is up in Michigan, hoping they can pull out a win and regain the Southern Division lead. Another 4-4 team, Nashville, is in LA to face the 5-3 Express, while Denver, also sitting at 4-4, is at 6-2 Seattle, a tough matchup if they want to get over the hump. Finally we have Texas at Baltimore, a game between two teams still trying to find the winning formula in tough divisions.