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Playoff Seeding: EAST-- 1 ORL 2 OHIO 3 WSH 4 MEM 5 NJ 6 PHI WEST-- 1 LA 2 CHI 3 DEN 4 STL 5 ARZ 6 NOR

Hey everyone, an editor's note before we get to the final regular season recap for 2001. Over the next two weeks I may have very few or even no posts to the league site. This is not a sign that the project is done, and I apologize if this delays the playoff reporting, but I will be intensively dealing with my day job, traveling, working long hours, and trying to work from a chromebook, so the only way I can simulate results is if the VPN and VMWare works really well and I can log into my home computer and use the simulation remotely. So, maybe I can get thorugh the playoffs in these 2 weeks, maybe not. What I can promise you is that the project is not over and that the period between 2002 and 2010 is going to be full of storylines, including how the USFL deals with 9/11, Katrina, the 2008 recession, and a lot of franchise news in an age of instability due to a lot of issues that come up in the 2000's. It is worth sticking around for, so thanks for all your support, comments, suggestions, and interest. Expect even more opportunities to participate as we move forward. And now, on to the big news out of Week 16. A huge final week of the year as Philadelphia and New Orleans get key wins to oust Baltimore and Portland from playoff position and claim the final Wild Card spots. Washington is upset and Ohio takes advantage to earn the Atlantic crown and a bye week. We have league award winners, some immediate retirements following the final games of the year, and perhaps the quietest Black Monday in recent memory. It's Week 16 in the USFL, and that means a lot to talk about. Let's get to it. It was a game that started off as a battle of potential also-rans, but as this game happened simultaneously with the Portland-LA game, the later we got into the game, and the more it was obvious that LA was demolishing the Thunder, both the Gamblers and the Breakers realized that this was actually a playoff game. With Portland’s loss the winner of this matchup would leapfrog them into the 6th and final Western Playoff Spot. By the time the Thunder-Express game got to the half, about 10 minutes before the Breakers-Gamblers got there, it was 28-10 Los Angeles, and the Astrodome started to buzz. Both teams saw the score on the big screen and both put their games into win-&-in mode. It was a sight to see. The game had been a good one from the beginning, with the teams swapping scores. Houston took their first drive all the way to pay dirt, with Matt Hasselbeck hitting TE Dan Campbell for an opening score. New Orleans responded with a big 28 yard screen play for a TD as Ricky Williams plowed over Houston DBs on his way to the endzone. Houston then finished off the first quarter with Koren Robinson snagging Matt Hasselbeck’s second TD pass. LA was up 7-3 on Portland at this point. Midway through the 2nd quarter New Orleans tied the game at 14 with a James Bostic TD and as the quarter wound down, and LA’s lead increased, the Gamblers pulled ahead again with a late Chris Boniol field goal. During halftime both coaches told their players not to watch the scoreboard because the only game that mattered was the one they were playing, but it was clear that as LA piled on points against the Thunder, both the Gamblers and the Breakers knew that this game would be a playoff game for a Wild Card spot. Trent Dilfer, who would throw for 302 yards and 4 scores, opened the 2nd half with a 19-yard touchdown to Raynard Brown. Houston pulled to within one on their next drive with another Boniol field goal, but their settling for field goals was costing them. When Dilfer hit Brown again, this time a 35-yard strike, Houston was now down 8 points. When Lin Elliott’s field goal in the 4th pulled that lead to 11, Houston knew they would need a TD, a 2-point PAT and a field goal to tie. They got the first two with 2:57 left in the game, a Hasselbeck to Robinson touchdown toss, and a swing pass to the pylon for 2 points from Kevin Faulk. With almost 3 minutes left Houston opted to kick the ball deep and trust their defense. New Orleans ran on 1st down, gaining 2, but then surprised Houston with a play action pass on 2nd and 8. Dilfer connected with TE Steve Johnson, gaining 9 yards and a first down. That was the beginning of the end for Houston’s chances. New Orleans ran on three straight plays, and Houston ran out of time outs after 2nd down. The Breakers would have to punt, but it would likely be the last play of the game. New Orleans punted, Houston’s Faulk called for a fair catch and there was one tick of the clock left, but it would need to be a 65-yard pass to reach the endzone. Matt Hasselbeck is not Brett Favre. His arm is not going to make that throw. So, Houston tried for a bit of trickeration. On the final play of the game Hasselbeck threw a hook route to Koren Robinson, who tossed the ball back to Kevin Faulk. Faulk advanced the ball another 5 yards, before getting hit by the safety. He tried to toss the ball back to Antonio Freeman, but it took an odd bounce, and that created a dogpile. The ball would not advance any further. With LA crushing Portland, the 31-28 score meant that the New Orleans Breakers, who had suffered a 6-game losing streak from weeks 9-14, would, thanks to 2 season-ending wins in their division, would eke into the playoffs at 7-9. Portland would be out, and Houston would drop to 6-10. POR 17 LA 52 Portland was one win from a surprise playoff season. LA had benched several of its key players, but it was the Express with a dominant win. Rookie QB Quincy Carter got the start, went 12 of21 with a TD, but the day belonged to the LA run game. Antowain Smith crossed 1,000 yards for the year with 116 in this game, along with 3 TDs. Backup Maurice Smith added another 81 and 2 more scores as Portland simply collapsed on run defense. The loss dumped them to 7-9 and out of the playoffs. PHI 27 BAL 20 The Stars ended the season with 2 straight win, including this key game, and that got them the final playoff spot in the East, bumping Baltimore from the postseason in the process. Despite 123 yards from Ron Dayne, Philly got the job done, with Bobby Hebert connecting with Troy Brown twice and rookie Steve Smith for a 3rd TD to pull out the game and clinch a postseason appearance. WSH 19 NJ 27 Washington’s 3 game losing streak dropped them from the division title and into the Wild Card round. New Jersey’s win here showed that they are ready for the playoffs, though they will still be on the road next week. It was the Generals’ defense that came up big in this one, picking off Kordell Stewart 3 times and giving Tom Brady short fields to work with. PIT 28 OHIO 31 It was not easy, but Ohio pulled out the win thanks to 116 yards from Joey Galloway and an effective use of Eddie George in the passing game (133 yards and a score through the air). The win, coupled with Washington’s loss gives Ohio the Atlantic Division title and a bye week, their first division title as a franchise. MEM 38 ORL 17 Orlando did not rest starters, but they did seem to play a vanilla game on both sides of the ball. Meanwhile Memphis came out hot, with Heath Shuler throwing the ball for 362 yards and 4 scores as the Showboats locked up the #4 seed and a home game in the Wild Card round. It was Orlando up 17-14 at the half, but the second half was all Memphis and that was the difference in the game. Orlando had already locked up home field so we were all surprised that they had Mitchell, Doleman, and Kirby in the game, but they did play nearly all 4 quarters. BIR 28 JAX 35 Results during the 12 Noon games were not going Birmingham’s way, and that, in the end, as much as the Bulls’ efforts, seemed to take the wind out of their sails. Jacksonville built up a 28-14 lead after 3 quarters and even two late Favre TD passes could not bring Birmingham back as they finish a disappointing 8-8 and out of playoff contention. ATL 11 TBY 21 Tampa Bay did their part to finish at 9-7, but they lose out to Philadelphia on tiebreakers, so it was to no avail. They won despite Errict Rhett having to sit out with an ankle injury, though it did not hurt that Atlanta started Spence Fisher, perhaps in an effort to show his talents before an offseason when we expect the QB to be on the trading block. STL 0 CHI 13 The big news out of this game was the injury to Todd Collins. Collins came up lame on a scramble (he is not a scrambler) and that hamstring injury hamstrung the Knights. Of greater concern is the very real possibility that ineffective backup Rob Johnson may have to start next week in the Wild Card round. That is definitely not good news for St. Louis fans who are already deeply worried that this playoff game could be the last for the Knights in St. Louis (more on that below). OAK 31 ARZ 28 Arizona had nothing to gain with a win, nothing to lose with a loss, and that sort of showed in how they played. Yes, Jake Plummer was Jake Plummer, with 83 yards rushing to go with 365 yards passing, but the defense gave up 375 total yards, including 137 on the ground to the usually anemic Oakland run game. Three turnovers (including 2 picks by Plummer) did not help either. SEA 27 DEN 30 Denver rested Brunell as expected, but backup Elvis Grbac did enough to help the Gold win the game, throwing 3 TDs as the Gold moved their record to 11-5 and the #3 seed. They will be at home next week in the Wild Card range. Seattle finished the season a very disappointing 5-11 and with a lot of questions to answer this offseason. TEX 42 MGN 35 The only game with no playoff importance this week turned out to be a pretty fun game to watch. Michigan gave Doug Flutie the start, perhaps again, hoping to increase his trade value, and Flutie came through with 316 yardsin the air and 78 yards rushing, mostly on improvised scrambles. Texas countered with TDs from Detson, Barlow, Query and Alford. Both clubs finish with 10+ losses (Michigan with 13) and the Pontiac Silverdome was somewhat cavernous with only 13,403 on hand for this one, but the game was entertaining throughout, with Texas getting the win on a TD with only 1:32 left to play. The seeds are set, the teams finalized, and we know what we are getting next week. It will be the 7-9 New Orleans Breakers traveling to Denver to face one of the best home field advantages in football. 9-7 St. Louis, likely without Todd Collins, will host the up and down Arizona Wranglers in the other Western Wild Card game. In the East, Philadelphia, who needed 2 wins and help to get to the playoffs now head to Washington to face a familiar divisional foe. Memphis will host New Jersey in perhaps the most intriguing matchup of the week. Resting and healing we have top seeds Orlando and Los Angeles and second seeds Ohio and Chicago. BLACK MONDAY As expected we had a non-event on Monday following the close of the season with no coaches let go. Prior to Sunday’s game the one team that some suspected might go a new direction, Oakland, confirmed that Dom Capers would receive a 3rd year. Jacksonville’s late surge to 7-9 meant Gunther Cunningham would get another year, and the only other team that could potentially change leaders was low-end Wild Card team Arizona with Art Shell, so we knew that if it was coming for Shell it would not be this week. With Pittsburgh’s Emmitt Thomas and Atlanta’s Bobby Petrino already ousted the only real news was that Atlanta would not commit to retaining either of their interim coaching team, and that Pittsburgh stated they would have an open search for a new coach. So, the quietest Black Monday in a long time was not a shocker. LEAGUE AWARDS The league, with its new voting system for league awards, released the season award winners on Wednesday, in advance of the playoffs. Voting was conducted over the past month, designed to remove the late bias that a playoff win or loss could have on final voting. So, we have our league award winners and congratulations to each. MVP: Congratulations to Ohio QB Kerry Collins. The split of votes between Collins and Shuler never developed and Collins came in well ahead of Phil Hansen (2nd) and Shuler (3rd). Ohio has been an offensive powerhouse all year, with Collins at the helm. He finished the year first in the league with 5,466 yards and 51 touchdowns, highlighted by 5 games in which he threw 4 or more touchdowns, including a huge one against Tampa Bay (6 TDs in Week 15) that may have put him over the top. Well deserved, and now fans in Ohio get a week to prepare for the Glory’s first Divisional playoff game. Offensive POTY: Wideout Terry Glenn of New Jersey pulled in the OPOTY thanks to his league leading 1,762 yards. He also finished 4th in receptions with 109 and 2nd in TDs with 17, all with an untested QB at the helm. Glenn is preparing for a Wild Card game that few thought New Jersey would earn in Coach Parcells’ first year, and we know the Memphis secondary is going to focus on him as the Generals’ most dangerous weapon. Defensive POTY: It’s a clean sweep for New Jersey as, to no one’s surprise, Phil Hansen picks up the award. Twenty eight sacks this year put him one below the league record. Add into this the fact that he has grown into an effective run defender as well, with 76 tackles on the season, and it is clear to see that the future first ballot HOF defensive end was a force to reckon with all season. Rookie CB Fred Smoot of Arizona beat out LB Broderick Thomas for 2nd in the voting on the heels of an 8 interception debut season. Rookie of the Year: It is surprising on the one hand that Smoot did not receive ROTY, but defenders rarely do (Hansen was an exception back in his first season). It came down to a battle between HB Deuce McCallister of Washington and WR Chad Johnson of Ohio, and Johnson won this one pulling away. Despite lining up opposite Joey Galloway, it was Johnson who finished the year as the team’s top receiver, raking in 61 receptions to Galloway’s 42, 1,355 yards to Galloway’s 1,287, and snagging only 1 fewer TDs, 11 to Galloway’s 12. Yes, Galloway missed 3 games with an injury, but Johnson proved just as effective as a #1 receiver during this time than in his role as the #2 man in the rest of the season. Coach of the Year: While arguments could be made for Chicago’s Marty Mornhinweg, Ohio’s Al Luginbill, or Orlando’s George O’Leary, the first year of Coach Bill Parcells in New Jersey was such a prime time performance, with the Generals far exceeding expectations, and Parcells is such a known commodity and media darling that you had to know it would go to the Big Tuna. In his first year with the team, Parcells took New Jersey from 3-13 to 10-6, all with an unknown backup QB at the helm for 15 of 16 weeks. He improved a defense that had been 19th in yardage in 2000 up to 7th in 2001, and built an offense around Curtis Enis, Terry Glenn, and young Tom Brady. Perhaps more importantly for the Generals, he made them a hot ticket in Giants Stadium. After several years of finishing well behind the Jets and Giants in media attention, the Generals’ Cinderella rise from the basement to prominence made news, drew in fans, and created a media darling in plucky QB Brady. RETIREMENTS Just a few days out of the regular season and we already have several retirements of note to report. Always tough to say goodbye to players we have come to respect, but retirement is a part of every year. Here are the early announcements that will have their teams scrambling to find solutions for their absence in 2002: Portland guard Stan Parker calls it a career at 37. A staple of the Thunder line for years, Parker is the last player on the roster to have started with the team in their 1 season as the San Antonio Gunslingers. A 1987 draft pick, he started all 16 games that year and retires with a whopping 181 starts under his belt. Seattle LB J.D. Fuller retires after nearly 20 years in football. Fuller came to the league as a rookie in 1984 with the Federals, played with Washington, Orlando and Seattle, and retires with a career total of 1,146 tackles and 59 sacks. Sadly, injuries kept him from playing more than sporadically these past two seasons and both time and physical wear and tear made it time to retire. Atlanta LB Johnny Holland leaves the game after 15 seasons in the league. Holland played for Houston, Jacksonville, and Atlanta over his long career, racking up 1,087 tackles, 43 sacks and 15 interceptions. He was named a 2nd team All-USFL player in 1993 and won two titles, both with Houston. TE Butch Rolle, known for red zone domination that gave him 66 career touchdowns, retired from the Michigan Panthers after 16 seasons in Pontiac. A fan favorite, Rolle was always a clutch target on third down and inside the red zone but never a huge yardage guy. He finished his career with 1,043 receptions for 10,405 yards and 66 touchdowns. And, of course, the big story out of the season’s early weeks, Troy Aikman’s retirement has been known for a while now, but still receives a lot of attention as battle with post-concussion traumas has brought the danger of brain injury to the attention of the nation. The Todd Collins injury would not be a big deal during the year, perhaps a 1-week absence, but when that one week is the first round of the playoffs, his hamstring is a huge issue. He is listed as Doubtful, which is better than “Out” but not what Knight fans want to see. Other key Wild Card week injuries include the following: ARZ: TE Matt Cushing is doubtful with a pinched nerve. DEN: The Gold will be without LB Dat Nguyen (out), CB Deral Boykin (out), and guard Tracy Boyd (out) MEM: DE Dameaion Jeffries is questionable, as is LB Jim Schwantz. Both game time decisions. NJ: CB Kenny Gales is doubtful, LB Bobby Houston is questionable but could play with his broken finger splinted. NOR: We know CB/KR Walt Harris is out. DT Chris Maumalanga is questionable as well. PHI: SS Larry Wigham is on IR and WR Bobby Engram is out again, so it will be Troy Brown stepping in. STL: In addition to the Collins injury, we still have Ahman Green as questionable, center Calvin Collins is out, as is DE Vonnie Holliday. Big news on both the sale of the St. Louis Knights and Portland Thunder. It is not official, but we have heard that both ownership groups have provided the league office with a single offer for final review and league approval. This is intriguing news on both fronts as this indicates that the process has moved further along than we anticipated. This could also be bad news at least for one city hoping to retain their team. Let’s briefly discuss both franchises. PORTLAND: We knew that Portland had 3 potential bids, with two retaining the club in the Rose City while the other would almost certainly include a proposal to relocate the club to Boston. We knew that the grassroots effort to develop community or public ownership through a localized IPO was nearly dead, so we do not expect that this would be the bid now being put forward for final review and approval. That means that it is either the proposal put forward by the Boston Colonials Group, looking to house the team at Boston College’s Alumni Stadium, or the proposal to retain the club in Portland and work towards a new city in Portland’s east side. We know what Thunder fans are hoping for, that the ownership group headed up by Canadian telecom executive Bernard Ebbers and Las Vegas real estate and casino magnate Phil Ruffin, is the bid under consideration. We know that both bids are well-financed, and we also know that current ownership has strong roots in Portland, so our guess is that they are pushing hard for the Ebbers-Ruffin bid to keep the team in the city. Of course, if a big part of the proposal is approval for a new stadium, that is in no way guaranteed, and that could be a major hangup, just as stadium issues have been a hangup for many past sales, including the case of the Boston Breakers and their inability to find a suitable home in Beantown. If, as is currently believed, the Colonials group has a deal in place with BC, that might indicate that they are the frontrunners. After all, the problems in Portland absolutely revolve around the size of Civic Stadium and the somewhat hostile attitude of many Portland residents to spending for a new stadium, despite the popularity of the Thunder. ST. LOUIS: The fact that the sale of James Orthwein’s majority share of the Knights has already found a buyer and that the bid is in for final review cannot be seen as good news for the Gateway City. Grassroots efforts to build up a bidding ownership group of local investors is still at its infancy, which means that any proposed bid would have to represent an outside party. In our investigations, there is no major outside party that has come forward with a bid that would keep the Knights in St. Louis. The ones we know were in talks with Orthwein all represented potential franchise relocation, to Dallas, Miami, or Nashville. So the most likely scenario here is that one of those three bids has been reviewed by Orthwein’s people and has been sent on to the league as the preferred option. While relocation will not be viewed positively by the league, and particularly for a league that has somewhat low representation in the Midwest region (only Chicago, Michigan, St. Louis, and, depending who you ask, Ohio) represent the MidWest, with no franchises in other hubs such as the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, or Kansas City. While a relocation to Dallas, Nashville or Miami would not necessarily mess up the plan to have the Knights share a division with New Orleans, Birmingham, and Memphis, there would be pressure to place a Miami franchise in the same division with the other 3 Florida teams, and a Dallas team in the same division with the other 2 Texas franchises. Both could be done, though both would be awkward. Regardless of the somewhat secondary issue of league alignment, there will be resistance to a move. The league likes St. Louis as a market, even with the Rams not being one of the NFL clubs that has worked well across the league divide. We also know that a move to Dallas will be opposed by the other 2 Texas clubs, a move to Miami will be opposed by all 3 Florida clubs, and a move to Nashville is likely to be opposed by Memphis, but also by Birmingham and Atlanta. In all 3 cases, competition for a broader, regional fanbase is impacted by a new franchise in proximity to existing teams. The biggest concern is likely for a Nashville franchise, as it is estimated that the Memphis Showboats draw no less than 15%, perhaps more, of their fanbase from the Nashville area and cities between the two locations. This dipped a bit from a high of around 27% when the NFL put a franchise in the state capital, drawing many Nashvillians away from the more distant Showboats and towards the Tennessee Copperheads who called Vandy and now Adelphia Stadium home. There is no doubt that Memphis will be impacted if the Knights are sold to a group that proposes a move to Nashville. Lesser impact to be sure, but still significant impact potential for the Stallions and Fire as well, and we could say the same were Dallas or Miami the preferred destination. The big news, regardless of the mystery of which bidder has been selected is that none of these options look like a good plan if St. Louis is going to remain a USFL city. That is going to make for a very weird playoff run for the Knights as fans will either be furious with the team or rally to support what may be their last hurrah in the city. Let’s take a look at the 4 Wild Card games on tap for next week as we get ready for playoff football. Philadelphia (9-7) @ Washington (10-6) RFK Stadium, Saturday @ 3pm ET Three weeks ago we would have given this one to the Federals with little pause, but the Stars have won two straight while the Federals have lost their last 3 games. That does not bode well for the home team here. This one could be ripe for a road upset. That said, the Feds still have the 4th ranked scoring defense and the 8th best scoring offense. Philly comes ranked 10th and 15th in those two categories. Our key to the game, can Stephen Davis get some good early yards and force Washington to respect the run. We think he can, and we are going to pick the upset. Philly by 3. New Orleans (7-9) @ Denver (11-5) Mile High Stadium, Saturday @ 8pm ET We really like the Gold here. They have only lost once in their last 8 games, a 3-point letdown in Jacksonville. And, to be honest, we are still not sure that New Orleans really belongs here at all. They pulled off big wins against Chicago and Houston to get here, but they are not looking particularly good on either defense or offense. Their 19th ranked run defense will be tested by Denver, to be sure. We are picking the Gold by 10. New Jersey (10-6) @ Memphis (10-6) Liberty Bowl Stadium, Sunday @ 12pm ET This one is a tough one to call. Good arguments can be made for either club. Memphis has not lost over the past month and have the 2nd best offense in the league, led by Heath Shuler’s amazing 5,040 yards passing. New Jersey are 2-2 over the final 4 weeks of the season, but have a very tough defense, the league’s best pass rusher, and an offense that can balance the pass and the run. This one is a true tossup, but if we have to give the edge, we give it to Phil Hansen’s ability to put pressure on Heath Shuler. Arizona (8-8) @ St. Louis (9-7) Trans World Dome, Sunday @ 4pm ET If both teams had their starting QB’s we would call this one another toss up game. But when it is Jake Plummer against Rob Johnson, and if Ahman Green is either out or not at 100% we just cannot see St. Louis mustering the offense to win this one. If, as suspected, this is their last game in St. Louis, expect the fans and the team to be energized, but we just don’t think that will be enough. We are going to pick Arizona in this one.

No room for error. That is the message this week. With playoff spots becoming harder to pin down, and a whole slew of teams within range but not secured, there are few games that don't have meaning for teams across the league, just how we like it. Did we just witness a possible Eastern Conference Championship preview? A lot of folks seem to think so as Orlando and New Jersey fought down to the final seconds. Both of these clubs look solid from top to bottom, and while that was expected for the Renegades, the fans in New Jersey have to be excited about a season going much better than anticipated, even with Orlando getting the edge in this one. Second year QB Tom Brady has been a revelation for the Generals, and he again showed a lot of poise as he faced down one of the league’s best pass rushes. He would finish the day with 278 yards passing on 26 of 38 attempts, throwing 2 touchdowns to 1 pick in the game. Across the field from Brady was veteran Scott Mitchell, the undisputed leader of the Renegade offense. Mitchell would win the day, completing 31 of 41 attempts for 279 yards and 3 scores without a pick. Neither team did well in the run game (Enis gained 64 yards, Kirby only 56) so it was on the defenses and the quarterbacks to win this one. New Jersey started off well in front of an enthusiastic 53,302 in the Meadowlands. They opened with a defensive stop on Orlando’s first possession, and followed that with an 11-play drive that put them on the board with a Curtis Enis 4-yard counter run to pay dirt. They would add more points, a Neil Rackers field goal on their next possession before Orlando would get their feet under them. But, Orlando was not going to take long to get back in this one. They closed out the first half with Scott Mitchell hitting Donald Driver for the first Renegade points of the day. Four minutes later, after a 3-and-out gave Orlando the ball in good field position, Orlando took the lead on a Mitchell to McCardell strike. But New Jersey was not done, not by a longshot. The Generals drew closer thanks to another Rackers kick, but the big play was a solid hit by LB Dwayne Rudd on Orlando back Amos Zeroue. Rudd forced the ball out of Zeroue’s grasp and it would eventually be covered up by All-USFL DE Phil Hansen. Three plays later Brady found Ahmad Merrit for a 3-yard TD toss and New Jersey was back on top 20-14. An Orlando drive fizzled on the New Jersey 40 to open the 3rd quarter and the Generals got the ball back and again took it down the field, this time Brady hit the league’s top receiver Terry Glenn with a 27-yard corner route to expand their lead to 27-14, and all looked good for the homestanding Generals. But Orlando is a veteran group and they don’t panic easy. Scott Mitchell closed out the 3rd quarter by connecting with Donald Driver for a 2nd time, cutting the New Jersey lead to a precarious 6 points. The two teams would then battle between the 20’s for most of the remainder of the game, at least until the 6-minute mark, when Orlando got the break they needed. Mitchell hit TE Ricky Dudley on a short 4-yard in route on a 3rd and 6, but LB Bobby Howard could not wrap up the big receiver, and he spun out of the defender’s grip and gained another 22 yards before he was finally brought down. The play sparked the Renegades, and 4 plays later Terry Kirby pounded the ball in from 2 yards out to put Orlando on top 28-27. Still, with over 3 minutes left, the defense would be called on to stymie the Generals and keep them out of field position. New Jersey started their 2-minute drill with 2:55 left to play, skipping the huddle and pushing the ball downfield with a series of 5-8 yard tosses on the edges of the field. Brady hit Glenn on a comeback, Johnson with an out route, Becht with a hook, and then Wayne Chrebet on an out from the slot. With 1:22 left, Brady had moved the Generals into field goal range, but there was time to go for more. And this is likely where Bill Parcells got ahead of himself. Rather than position the ball and kill clock with a couple of Enis runs, he called a play action pass to try to get within the 20. Becht, the intended target, was open, but the big paw of DT Pat Williams clipped the ball on its way over the line, and instead of finding the waiting hands of Becht, it fell right into the waiting arms of LB John Folston. Orlando had taken the ball, killed the drive, and in so doing, clinched the top spot in the conference. A tough day for the Generals, a tough way to lose, but there was a lot in the game to feel good about, that and a sense that this may not be the only time these two clubs meet up. We could easily see this as a key playoff game down the line. LA 29 SEA 20 The Express clinched the top seed in the West by knocking off Seattle in Husky Stadium (and getting a little help in New Orleans). Cade McNown threw for 331 and 2 scores and LB Barry Minter logged 13 tackles and a pick as the Express held Seattle at bay all game. CHI 24 NOR 28 The Express clinched in part because New Orleans refused to roll over for division champion Chicago. Trent Dilfer had a great game, throwing for 3 scores and 326 yards against a pretty solid Chicago D. Chicago hurt themselves with 9 penalties on the day, and just could not make the big play when it was needed. They still have the division and the bye, but home field goes through Los Angeles this year. ARZ 21 POR 37 Not a huge upset, but an upset nonetheless. Portland put themselves into a “win and you’re in” situation next week by knocking off the Wranglers at Civic Stadium. Jake Plummer was again forced to be nearly the entire Wrangler offense and gave up 2 picks in the effort, one a Joey Porter pick-six that helped Portland build a 31-14 lead after 3 quarters. Akili Smith connected early and often with Matthew Hatchette, who would finish the game with 145 yards and a score. Patrick Rowe also had a good game, scoring twice for the Thunder as Portland gets close to a possible playoff spot. DEN 30 OAK 27 OT Denver came close to being a 3rd victim of a trap game as Oakland forced them into overtime before a Jeff Wilkens 43-yarder earned the Gold the road win. Smart and Salaam combined for 153 yards rushing, but it was FB Heath Evans who got both rushing TDs in a game that saw Denver QB Mark Brunell knocked out of the game with a shoulder injury. Oakland QB Marques Tuiasosopo looked solid against the Gold defense, throwing for 227 and 2 scores, helped by Rodney Thomas’s 90 yards rushing. HOU 17 TEX 24 Houston could have pulled even with Portland, but the Texas Outlaws don’t care what the records are. This was a grudge match and Texas spoiled the day for their in-state rivals. Jeff Lewis connected with Brian Alford late in the game to give the home team a 24-10 lead and then Texas just slow-played the final minutes, giving up a TD to Antonio Freeman, but not leaving enough time for Houston to get another. Houston is not mathematically eliminated, but this one put them in a world of hurt come Week 16. MGN 9 STL 26 The Knights clinched a Wild Card thanks to a solid defensive performance. Drew Brees was limited to only 173 yards on the day and the Michigan run game gained only 69 total yards. Add in 3 fumbles and it is clear how this one got away from the Panthers. Bert Emmanuel was the main offensive weapon for St. Louis, bringing in 6 for 110 and a score. ATL 7 PHI 23 The Stars kept their slim playoff hopes alive with a much-needed win over the 1-14 Atlanta Fire. Stephen Davis rushed for 94 yards and Bobby Hebert connected on two scoring throws as the Stars pretty much owned this game all the way from the opening kickoff. BIR 23 PIT 33 A bad loss for Birmingham, knocking them out of a playoff position and putting pressure on for next week’s finale. Pittsburgh got a huge 179 yard, 2 TD game from Andre Rison, and their defense came up big as well, sacking Brett Favre 5 times on the day. The loss means Birmingham is tied with Philly and Memphis at 8-7, with no guarantee that even 9-7 will get them into the playoffs. JAX 29 WSH 21 Weird how Jacksonville has started to look like a much better team only after their playoff hopes were smashed. The Bulls win their 4th in the past 5 games after hitting a low point at 2-8. Jacksonville went on a weird tear in this game, scoring field goals on 5 consecutive drives without a Washington answer, moving the score from 14-14 to 29-14 over the course of a quarter and a half as they just kept trotting out Kris Brown to kick one after another. MEM 24 BAL 9 A big win for the Showboats as they sit in playoff position at 9-6. Win and they are in is the name of the game. The loss drops Baltimore to 9-6 but they still control their own destiny to earn a Wild Card. Memphis did it by loading the box and limiting Ron Dayne to only 35 yards on the day. Meanwhile Garrison Hearst found room on the outside repeatedly, ending the day with 97 yards and a 14-yard TD run. TBY 35 OHI 43 We end the week with a true shootout as Ohio clinch their playoff spot thanks to a 6-TD day from Kerry Collins. Collins found TE Steven Alexander and WR Joey Galloway twice each for scores, but also connected with Qadry Ismail (the forgotten man in the new Ohio offense) and HB Lamont Warren. Randy Moss and Chris Doering each caught 2 scores and both had over 130 yards for Tampa Bay, but it was not enough as the homestanding Glory got the W and the Wild Card that comes with it. AIR MILES GALORE If you needed any proof that the USFL is a passing league, just look at the QB numbers this year. Kerry Collins, with one game left on the schedule is already over 5,100 yards, though still well behind Troy Aikman’s 1998 record of 5,675. But he is not alone. There is a very reasonable chance that both Heath Shuler and Cade McNown could join him the very exclusive 5,000 yard club. Three 5,000 yard passers has only happened once before, that amazing 1998 season when Aikman, Leaf and Favre all crossed that threshold. We could also see 4 QBs pass the 40 touchdown threshold as well, with Collins and Shuler already there and both Favre and Trent Green sitting at 38 with one week left. Cade McNown is at 36, so 40 is not totally out of the question for him either. And this is not counting Jake Plummer’s 40 TDs, since 12 of those are rushing TDs in addition to his 28 scoring throws. Quite a year for the QB, but so is every year in the USFL. GROUND DELIVERY Another year and Herschel Walker’s rushing record seems safe once again. Pittsburgh’s Terrell Davis has a solid 1,401, but would need another 361 yards in Week 16 to tie Walker. We don’t see that happening, right? But this is not to say that this year has been bad for backs. There are already 8 rushers over 1,000 yards, including Ahman Green, Tiki Barber, Ron Dayne, Eddie George, Stephen Davis, Corey Dillon, and Errict Rhett. Curtis Enis, Terry Kirby and Ricky Williams should join them next week as each needs fewer than 30 yards to hit the 1,000 yard mark. Reggie Cobb can get there with another 37 yards and Antowain Smith with 97 more. That’s a lot of 1,000 yard backs for a passing league. COACHING HOTSEAT We are expecting a quieter than usual Black Monday next week. After all, Atlanta already fired their coach and with Emmit Thomas’s resignation in Pittsburgh, that is already 2 coaches down. Who else could be on the way out? Dom Capers has to be feeling the heat in his 2nd season with the Invaders. Three wins is not what the Invader ownership was hoping for this year, and 4 is not much better. Seattle had a bad year, without a clear and obvious reason like a wave of injuries. But, last year’s success likely protects Joe Tiller from this year’s surprise decline. We were worried about George Seifert’s security early in the year, but the Bandits came on strong, and they still have a legitimate playoff hope, so we don’t think George is on the outs right now. The strong 2nd half of the season could save a 2nd Floridian as Gunther Cunningham has the Bulls playing well. If they can finish 7-9, then that may just be enough for ownership to give him one more shot. If Arizona drop to 8-8, and especially if they bow out of the playoffs again in the 1st round, that may be enough for the Wranglers to look elsewhere. It would not be the first time a coach with a playoff bound team lost his job at the end of the year. One week to go and a lot still on the line. Here is what we know. Orlando is the #1 Seed in the East and the Southern Champion. Washington and Ohio are both in, but the final week could lead to a flip of the Glory and Feds in positioning. Out West LA has locked up the top seed and Chicago is the #2. Denver, Arizona, and St. Louis are all in. Portland can lock up the final spot with a win next week at the Express, who likely will rest some starters. A Portland loss and the next team up is, believe it or not, New Orleans. If the Breakers can win in Houston they take the final spot, if not, then Houston has a chance but depends on some tiebreakers to potentially edge past Portland, all this only if Portland loses. Back in the East again, all 3 teams at 9-6 are in with a win. New Jersey hosts Washington, Baltimore hosts Philadelphia, and Memphis visits Orlando, another club that very well could rest some key starters. If any of these teams lose, then there is hope for Tampa Bay, Birmingham, and Philly. The Stars, of course, have the most direct path, since they play Baltimore in a very big game at Aetna Stadium. Birmingham is in Jacksonville, where the Bulls have made a solid late season run. Tampa Bay is at home, facing the 1-14 Atlanta Fire, but they know that a win is not enough, they ideally need 2 of the 9-6 clubs to lose if they want into the postseason. A lot of big games this week, to be sure. Big games this week, and fortunately not a lot of big injuries to impede them. It’s week 15, so dings and bruises are typical, but we did not see any huge losses this week and that is good. Perhaps the biggest loss is in Denver where LB Dat Nguyen will likely miss the season finale but be back for the Wild Card round. Philly will be without Bobby Engram again, but no one new is out. Ahman Green remains out for St. Louis, and Orlando is without FS Myron Guyton for another week. Mark Brunell was injured in this week’s game for Denver but is expected to be back for the season finale. Heath Shuler is dealing with some bursitis in his non-throwing shoulder, but with the playoffs on the line we expect he will play. USFL TERRITORIAL SCHOOLS SELECTED This week the USFL held its selection process for each of the 24 franchises’ three territorial schools. As you will recall, the USFL ownership this year decided to return to a 5-round territorial draft to precede the open draft of college players in January. The T-Draft will occur 1 week prior to the open draft. Each club will be able to select up to 5 players from their 3 territorial schools and do have the option of trading away those picks just as they do with open draft picks. This week’s league action was for the GM’s of each of the franchise to participate in a school selection process to determine which three schools each club will draw from for the next 5 seasons. The rules were somewhat simple. Each team, in order of their combined record for the past 3 seasons (with the worst combined record first, the best choosing last) would select a school in each of 3 rounds. Two of the three selections had to be within a designated area corresponding to the franchise’s location, which meant that New Jersey, for example, could not choose Texas, USC, and Michigan. The third selection could be any school nationally, however, if a franchise selected with their first two picks a school that finished the 2000 season in the NCAA Top 25, then their third school would have to be one either from outside the ”Big 5” conferences (ACC, Big 10, Big 12, SEC, and PAC 10) or from a lower division of football. That last rule complicated things a bit, but with so many options available, it did not seem to make too much difference in the final results. As expected, most clubs selected the Big 5 schools in their home states (with some notable exceptions in the Northeast where football powerhouses are few and far between) and then largely stayed regional even with their third pick. Below are the selections for each team, listed by round in which they were taken and a designation of their category) ARZ 1. Arizona State (B5) 2. Arizona (B5) 3. Utah (Non B5) ATL 1. Georgia (T25) 2. Ga Tech (T25) 3. ECU (Non B5) BAL 1. Va Tech (T25) 2. Maryland (B5) 3. BC (Non B5) BIR 1. Alabama (B5) 2. Auburn (T25) 3. So Miss (Non B5) CHI 1. Notre Dame (T25) 2. Illinois (B5) 3. Northern IL (Non B5) DEN 1. Nebraska (T25) 2. Colorado (B5) 3. BYU (Non B5) HOU 1. Texas A&M (B5) 2. Texas Tech (B5) 3. Houston (Non B5) JAX 1. Florida State (T25) 2. Clemson (T25) 3. Ga Southern (Non B5) LA 1. USC (B5) 2. UCLA (B5) 3. SDSU (Non B5) MEM 1. Tennessee (B5) 2. Arkansas (B5) 3. Vanderbilt (B5) MGN 1. Michigan (T25) 2. Mich. State (B5) 3. CMU (Non B5) NJ 1. Oklahoma (T25) 2. Syracuse (Non B5) 3. Rutgers (Non B5) NOR 1. LSU (T25) 2. Ole Miss (B5) 3. Tulane (Non B5) OAK 1. Cal (B5) 2. Stanford (B5) 3. Fresno St. (Non B5) OHI 1. Ohio State (B5) 2. Wisconsin (T25) 3. Cincinnati (Non B5) ORL 1. Florida (T25) 2. So. Carolina (T25) 3. UCF (Non B5) PHI 1. Penn State (B5) 2. Iowa (B5) 3. Temple (Non B5) PIT 1. Purdue (T25) 2. Pitt (Non B5) 3. W. Virginia (Non B5) POR 1. Oregon St. (T25) 2. Oregon (T25) 3. Boise St (Non BS) STL 1. Kansas St. (T25) 2. Mizzou (B5) 3. Louisville (Non B5) SEA 1. Washington (T25) 2. WSU (B5) 3. Hawaii (Non B5) TBY 1. Miami (T25) 2. Miss St (T25) 3. USF (Non B5) TEX 1. Texas (T25) 2. TCU (T25) 3. SMU (Non B5) WSH 1. Louisville (Non B5) 2. Virginia (B5) 3. Marshall (Non B5) You know the drill, week 16, all games played on Sunday, either at 12pm Eastern or 4pm Eastern. Here is the breakdown: 12PM GAMES Philadelphia (8-7) @ Baltimore (9-6): A Blitz win and they are in. Philly still need help but must win. Washington (10-5) @ New Jersey (9-6): Neither team can afford to rest starters in this one. Pittsburgh (5-10) @ Ohio (10-5): Ohio could still pull the division title with a win and Feds loss. Atlanta (1-14) @ Tampa Bay (8-7): Tampa needs the win and some help to sneak into the postseason. Birmingham (8-7) @ Jacksonville (6-9): The Bulls would love to end the season by spoiling the Stallions’ year. Memphis (9-6) @ Orlando (12-3): Expect to see Orlando’s B team, which is good news for the Showboats. 4PM GAMES St. Louis (9-6) @ Chicago (11-4): Both teams could rest players in this one, though St. Louis could use a win to get a home Wild Card game. New Orleans (6-9) @ Houston (6-9): Hard to believe but the winner could make the playoffs at 7-9. Texas (5-10) @ Michigan (3-12): Expect young players to get some field time in this final game for two teams looking to rebuild. Oakland (3-12) @ Arizona (8-7): The Wrangler’s best shot at a home game next week is a win this week. Seattle (5-10) @ Denver (10-5): Denver will likely protect Mark Brunell by benching him here. Portland (7-8) @ Los Angeles (12-3): LA will rest key starters, helping Portland perhaps reach 8-8 and the playoffs.

Playoff Picture: Orlando & Los Angeles have clinched the top seeds in each conference. Chicago has won the Central Division. Washington, Ohio, St. Louis, Denver, and Arizona have clinched playoff spots. Mathematically eliminated teams include: Atlanta, Oakland, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Texas, Seattle, and Jacksonville.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: Denver and Arizona clinch playoff spots, bringing the total to 6 of 10 spots decided. LA, Chicago, Washington, and Orlando are also in, with Orlando and Chicago clinching division titles as well. Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Texas are officially eliminated from contention, joining Atlanta in that dubious distinction.

One more team clinches their playoff destiny as Denver gets a big win in St. Louis to lock up at least a Wild Card. Chicago and Orlando officially take their divisions, and the much-coveted bye week that comes with that, while Washington gets clipped at home by the Ohio Glory in the battle of eagle-themed clubs. That loss means the Atlantic title is still up for grabs with 4 teams all within 1 game of the title crown. Houston slips into the mix thanks to a big win and a Portland loss, while Tampa and Memphis both move up to 8-6 but still sit on the outside looking in. Two weeks to go and this is getting serious. Washington makes their name on defense, Ohio with a high-flying offense, one of them had to give, and what gave, and in a big way, was Washington’s coverage plan for Joey Galloway. With rookie Chad Johnson also posing a threat, the Federals tried to avoid overcommitting to coverage for Galloway and paid dearly. The Ohio State product torched the Federals’ secondary for 214 yards, including a dagger of a 75-yard TD catch as Ohio got more than enough offense and just enough defense to keep Washington from coming back on them, earning a huge divisional win that puts the division title up for grabs with 2 weeks left to play. The Glory were humming on offense in pretty much every way. Aside from Galloway’s numbers you had Eddie George rushing for 111 and a 5.3 YPC average. You had Chad Johnson with 70 yards and a score, TE Stephen Alexander with 1 score, even backup blocking TE Dereck Brown got in on the action. Kerry Collins completed 21 of 30 throws or 377 and 4 TDs on the day as the Glory took it to the Federals’ vaunted defense. The inability to contain Ohio meant that Washington had to get a bit outside their game. The Federals did just that, with Kordell Stewart throwing for 256 and 2 scores while the combo of Deuce McCallister and Rueben Droughns only carried the ball a combined 17 times, far below their average of 32 touches. They had success though, thanks in large part to the rookie’s 9.3 YPC average, gaining him 93 yards on only 10 carries. But, when push came to shove, the Ohio defense stepped up and limited Washington to field goals. Iin the 4th quarter, down 28-16, Washington could only chip away with Doug Pelfrey kicking from 38 and 44 yards. That was not enough as the Feds needed a TD to get back on top, but it would not come. And it wasn’t one player on defense making hay. This was a team effort, with big sacks from LaRoi Glover and Chris Kriewaldt, a forced fumble by John Copeland, and 4 pass deflections for DB Mike Riley, including one on a late third down that forced the Feds to settle for 3 when they needed 7. This was a team victory for the Glory, and a win that moves them to 9-5, only 1 game back of the Federals with 2 to play. They join New Jersey and Baltimore there, and all 3 look very likely to nab a playoff spot, but you know they all want to do one better, knock off the Feds and claim that division title and a bye week. For their part, Washington is still in control of their own destiny. They face Jacksonville in RFK next week before what could be a huge game at New Jersey to close out the regular season. Win both and they are division winners, lose next week and all kinds of crazy could get out for Week 16. This loss to Ohio, at home, was a big one, but the Feds can still put it together and get where they want to go. NJ 27 PHI 17 Let’s stay in the Atlantic, where the Generals got a huge win over their arch rival, Philadelphia, coming into Veterans Stadium and pushing Philly right off the Wild Card cliff. With TDs from Olandis Gary, Terry Glenn, and Kevin Johnson, the Generals knocked Philly down to 7-7 and 2 games back of the cluster of Atlantic squads sitting at 9-5. Bobby Hebert was dinged up in this one as Phil Hansen got him twice to boost his sack total to 25, far and away the best in the league. BAL 34 PIT 20 In the final Atlantic game of the week, Baltimore took care of business to reach 9-5 by knocking off the Maulers in Pittsburgh. Three TDs from Jeff Garcia, including two to Rob Moore (115 yards as well) was enough to defeat the Maulers as Baltimore picked off Charlie Batch twice and sacked him four times in a game where the Mauler offense looked tired and out of sorts. TBY 28 BIR 21 The Bandits came up big in Birmingham with a division win that gets them one step closer to a playoff spot while also dealing a significant blow to Brett Favre and the Stallions. Chris Doering had a huge week, going for 111 yards and 3 scores as the Stallions tried to contain Randy Moss on the other side. Birmingham had a shot to tie the game but a late Brett Favre pick fell into the hands of Samari Rolle and locked up the game for the Bandits. ORL 20 JAX 10 The Renegades shut down the Bulls to clinch the division title and a bye in a game dominated by Orlando’s run defense and pass rush. The combo of Kenny Bynum and Sedrick Irvin combined for only 45 yards on the ground, and despite a 131-yard day from Terrell Owens, the Bulls could not turn yards into points as sacks from Dexter Coakley and Brentson Buckner helped turn them away in clutch moments. A 4th quarter TD run from Terry Kirby helped open up a 2-score lead and that was all the ‘Gades needed to take the win and the division. MEM 35 ATL 17 Memphis got back into the playoff mix by doing what needed to be done in Memphis. Heath Shuler added to his TD total for the year with 4 scoring throws against the Atlanta D, while FB Larry Centers got more involved in the run game, rushing for 41 yards on the day. Atlanta kept it close for a half, largely thanks to Tiki Barber and his 157 yards, 94 in the first half, but eventually they just wore down as Memphis gets the divisional win. ARZ 37 NOR 17 Arizona took advantage of New Orleans’s major losing streak to put themselves in good playoff standing at 8-6. Jake Plummer threw for 2 scores and ran in 2 more as the Wranglers were able to take advantage of a declining Breaker defense to the tune of 334 yards of offense and 6 scoring drives. Raynard Brown caught 6 for 120 as the Breakers tried to come back, but it was not nearly enough for the struggling squad from the Crescent City, who have now lost 6 in a row and drop to 5-9 on the season after a decent 5-3 start. DEN 28 STL 21 The Gold move to 9-5 and are within range of LA after a key win on the road against the Knights. The game was not as close as the score indicates as it was 28-7 until late in the 4th when St. Louis used an onside kick to help add 2 late scores. Denver did it without a strong run game as Rashaan Salaam and Rod Smart were limited to a combined 74 yards, though Salaam did punch in 2 scores, both on 2-yard runs. Peerless Price added 2 scores in the air and the Denver defense sacked Todd Collins 5 times to keep St. Louis off balance. LA 24 TEX 20 The Outlaws put a scare into the Express until a perfect call on a screen led to a Michael Pittman 62-yard touchdown. Pittman, who was a game time decision, ended up outgaining Antowain Smith despite having only 8 carries, but it was the late screen pass that will be remembered as Pittman stiff armed the first defender and then used a back juke to dodge another on his way down the field for the decisive score. OAK 20 CHI 32 Chicago got the win and clinched the division thanks to the St. Louis loss, but the game also saw Oakland go with their rookie, Marques Tuiasosopo at QB. The rookie had a solid day, completing 21 of 44 throws for 255 yards, one TD and one pick, but the day belonged to Chicago’s Jeff George, who threw for 253 and three touchdowns. POR 10 HOU 20 The Gamblers leapfrogged Portland and into the 6th playoff position in the West thanks to a solid 23 of 29 passing from Matt Hasselbeck and a defense that picked off Akili Smith twice and limited the Portland run game to only 55 total yards. Both Tyrone Drakeford and Vince Buck nabbed interceptions off of Smith as the Houston pass rush harassed the mobile QB all game. SEA 28 MGN 27 A pyrrhic victory for Seattle as they upend the Panthers in Michigan but still find themselves outside of playoff position. Brian Griese had a big day against a weakened Michigan secondary, throwing for 401 yards. Mike Hollis kicked 4 field goals and the defense got a safety on a weird path to 28 points. Michigan had a shot late, but a Shayne Graham 58-yard field goal attempt on the game’s final play fell short. ROOKIE ROUNDUP Two weeks left in the year and time to look at the 2001 rookie class to see how the picks have panned out. We start with the obvious success stories. Look no further than Ohio wideout Chad Johnson, whose 1,228 yards and 11 touchdowns speak for themselves. When Joey Galloway went out with an injury for several weeks, Johnson stepped up and became a dangerous target, now paired with Galloway the combo is outright deadly to opposing defenses. In Washington, HB Deuce McCallister has been a revelation as well. Splitting time with Rueben Droughns in the Federal backfield, McCallister has racked up 675 yards and 7 rushing touchdowns, while also adding 242 yards and 3 scores through the air. The Feds love a HB duo strategy, but we could easily see McCallister being designated the starter next season thanks to his production this year. Michigan QB Drew Brees has struggled at times, dealing with a shaky line and undermanned receiving corps, but all three wins for the Panthers have come thanks in large part to Brees’s ability to improvise. The former Purdue QB has 2,236 yards and 17 touchdowns this season, and looks like a player to build around for the future. On defense the biggest revelation of the Class of ’01 has been LA defensive end Justin Smith, whose 14 sacks and 44 tackles have helped the Express all but clinch a division title. In Chicago, the Machine defense has been much improved, and LB Tommy Polley has had a huge hand in that. He is all over the field, racking up 70 tackles so far, along with 6 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 recoveries. Finally, Arizona found a gem in CB Fred Smoot, currently leading the league with 7 interceptions, one for a pick-six. Teams are going to have to stop throwing at him because he is a rookie, and start throwing away from him because he is a very tough corner to beat. Others who have impressed this season include Portland’s short yardage specialist, HB Correll Buckhalter (473 yards and 4 TD), Houston wideout Koren Robinson (61 catches for 871 yards and 5 TDs), Philly wideout Steve Smith (60 receptions for 780 yards and 5 TDs), Pittsburgh DE Kyle Vanden Bosch (9 sacks), and St. Louis FS Bhawoh Jue (4 picks and 51 tackles). HANSEN FOR MVP? Is this the year that someone other than a quarterback can win MVP? With Shuler, Collins, and McNown all making strong cases as the best QB in the game right now, the votes there could easily be split, and if anyone else has the juice to rise above a split QB group, it has to be Hansen. With 25 sacks, Hansen is challenging for Chris Doleman’s record of 29, and unlike past years where the North Dakota product was a single shining light in a dark season for New Jersey, this year the Generals look like real contenders under Coach Parcells. If New Jersey can lock up a playoff spot, and if Hansen can reach 27, 28 or 29 sacks, he needs to be considered for the award, if only as a final recognition of a dominant career. 2001 already marks the 7th consecutive season, and 8th overall, in which the Generals’ edge rusher has reached 20 sacks. 8 times is simply amazing. This year’s 25 sacks (in 14 games) has him only 1 sack behind his personal best, 26 in 1999, a record we expect he will hit and surpass. Add to this the fact that Hansen has not missed a start in his entire 11-season career, a truly astounding feat in itself, and we think that this sure-shot 1st ballot HOF player deserves a chance to earn the MVP this year. FREE AGENCY FODDER? With 2 weeks left in the regular season, there remain a lot of big names whose contracts have not been renewed or who have not resigned. We take a look, position by position at the players who may very well be hot commodities on the free agent market if something does not happen soon: QB: Mitchell (ORL), Griese (SEA), Zolak (WSH) HB: Salaam (DEN), Bynum (JAX), Smith (LA), George (OHI) FB: Crockett (ATL), Neal (MGN) TE: Cooper (MEM), Johnson (POR) WR: Ward (ARZ), Mason (HOU), Glenn (NJ), Rison (PIT), Moore (WSH) T: Webb (BIR), Davis (JAX), Auzene (NOR), Johnson (TBY) G: Pilgrim (DEN), Fisher (TEX), Connover (WSH) C: Olin Kreutz (HOU), Jeff Saturday (OAK), Chris Thome (PHI) DE: Hansen (NJ), Curry (OAK), Copeland (OHI), Holiday (STL) DT: Rocker (LA), Payne (PHI), Brown (SEA), Putzier (TBY) LB: Schwantz (MEM), Cowart (MGN), Alberts (NOR), Miles (PIT), DuBose (PIT) S: Blades (ARZ), Malloy (BAL), Prior (CHI), Glenn (POR), Harrison (STL) CB: Poole (ATL), Woolford (BAL), Allen (CHI), Figures (ORL), Henderson (TEX) K/P: Lindell (TEX) Two more clinched spots as Denver’s win moves them to 9-5 and guarantee’s their spot in postseason play. Arizona also locks up a spot thanks to some conference and divisional tiebreakers. Denver still has an outside shot at the division title but would need 2 LA defeats and 2 wins to overtake the 11-3 Express. Things are a lot tighter in the East where all three 9-5 clubs and all three 8-6 clubs are fighting for 4 spots, and even 7-7 Philadephia can have a say if they go 2-0 down the stretch. The week, more than locking in spots, served to increase the number of teams officially eliminated from contention, a list that now includes Atlanta, Oakland, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Texas, and Jacksonville. Believe it or not, even at 5-9 both Seattle and New Orleans are still mathematically alive. As we enter the final 2 weeks of the regular season, an injury now can have a huge impact both for playoff positioning and the postseason as well. Memphis, for example, will have to scramble on defense as LB Rahim Abdullah has been placed on IR with a torn bicep. Philadelphia loses SS Larry Wigham, and Orlando has two big injuries as both CB Fernando Bryant and DE Israel Ifeanyi are also now on IR. For St. Louis, LB Darrin smith could miss the entire playoff run with a torn hamstring, while LA will be without CB Wendell Davis at least 2 weeks but possibly more due to a fracture in his lower arm. Chicago SS Anthony Prior will be out at least this week, possibly 2 weeks with a broken arm as well, while Philadelphia will miss WR Bobby Engram for 1-2 weeks with a sprained wrist. Ahman Green is listed as doubtful this week, due to a lower back concern, a huge hit for the Knights, while Memphis WR Joe Horn dislocated his knee in practice, which could cost him a week or more. Is the USFL about to have a major shockwave? That very well could be what we are looking at as this week the ownership of the Atlanta Fire have indicated that they are looking to divest themselves of the team. It has been rumored that despite the strong revenue-sharing in the league, the Fire have lost sowhere in the realm of $20M over the past 5 seasons. After strong attendance and following in their first years in the league, the lack of quality play, star power, and the issue of summer heat and humidity have kept ticket sales near the bottom of the league and interest in the cramped sports market of Atlanta significantly lower than we have seen in other cities, including other 1995 expansion cities. With Atlanta’s franchise now in the market, along with Portland and St. Louis, we may be at a moment of some turmoil in the league. We could easily see 2, perhaps all 3 franchises potentially relocating with a year of each other (depending on the timing of the sales). We know that a Boston consortium is one of the favorites for the Portland Thunder franchise, and that the forced sale of the St. Louis Knights by embattled James Orthwein, has yet to find a viable local group to step in and retain the Knights for St. Louis. Now, with Atlanta on the market as well, we could see a major shuffling of franchises, the likes of which we have not seen since 1986 when the Boston Breakers and Chicago Blitz both relocated. Now, there are some who will say that perhaps this is a move for the better. If, for example, the USFL sees St. Louis, Portland, and Atlanta replaced by Dallas, Boston, and Miami, then the league has actually increased its demographics, with larger cities replacing smaller markets. That could be viewed as a good thing, particularly with the competition for TV dollars at an all time high between the USFL and NFL. But, of course, with the USFL already planning a major shift in its alignment for 2002, moving to a 6-division format, any relocation either this offseason or the next, could be a major disruption, creating the kind of weird divisions that cross logical geographic alignments, much like the NFL where Dallas is in the NFC East, though likely not as bad as the old NFC West that had Atlanta and New Orleans in it. We don’t want to raise alarm here. After all we know that there is a strong local bid to keep the Thunder in Portland, a bid that includes a potential new stadium for the city. We also know that Atlanta certainly has corporate and individual wealth that could very well be attracted to investing in the USFL and keeping the Fire in the city. So, it is possible that all three franchises could remain exactly where they are, or that perhaps only 1 city would lose its franchise. We also know that the moratorium on expansion talks ends soon, with 2005 being the earliest possible year that the league could expand beyond its current 24 clubs. We also know that there are owners who look at the 32-team NFL and believe that an expansion to 28 clubs might be needed to retain relative parity with the fall league, a key concept when negotiating television contracts for the league. What we do know is that this is an unprecedented time, when 3 franchises in a highly valued, and profitable league (despite Atlanta’s woes) are up for sale at the same time. It is the best chance for those cities seeking a USFL franchise that we have seen since the 1993 announcement of expansion to 24 clubs, and the most treacherous time for fans of football in St. Louis, Portland, and Atlanta (although we must confess that with 2 of those 3 cities already dual-club cities with both the NFL and USFL, the pressure is not quite the same as when there is only 1 league in town, as in Portland). So, what will come of this? We should know the fate of Portland within a few months, St. Louis and Atlanta may take longer, though certainly the league would like to approve a sale by Orthwein sooner rather than later. What we expect is that this will be a busy offseason, particularly if the league approves a relocation, as they would certainly like to have all the pieces in place in time to make a schedule for the 2002 season with all teams firmly in their stadium contracts. Week 15 has the West in divisional play, and with so much clustering for Wild Card spots, this could be a big week, and yet, when we look at the schedule there is not a single game in the conference that matches up two teams with winning records. Chicago, having clinched the Central, takes their game on the road to New Orleans, losers of 6 straight. St. Louis is at home with the 3-11 Panthers in town, and Houston, hoping to nab the final Wild Card, is in San Antonio for their in-state rivalry with the Texas Outlaws. In the Pacific, Portland’s chance to get into the playoffs depends on them getting a win this week at home against the Arizona Wranglers. Denver travels to Oakland in what should be another W for the Gold, and the LA Express are in Seattle to face the Dragons, with a shot at clinching the division on the line. It’s the South visiting the Atlantic as well this week, and a huge game for the Generals as they host the Orlando Renegades. A win here could get them both a playoff berth and a shot at Washington next week for the Division title. But don’t expect Orlando to play it soft now that they have their division won. They still need that #1 seed to get home field throughout the playoffs. In Baltimore it’s the Blitz against the Showboats in another battle of strong clubs both hoping to lock in a playoff spot. The same in Columbus, where the Ohio Glory will take on the Tampa Bay Bandits in what could be one of the highest scoring games all year. Philadelphia needs help to get back in the playoff mix, but what better opportunity than a home game against the 1-13 Atlanta Fire. Birmingham is in Pittsburgh in the battle of Steel cities, while Jacksonville heads to Washington, where the Feds are hoping they can lock in the division title before facing the Generals next week.

Playoff Picture: All four current division leaders have locked up playoff berths this week, though none has yet captured their divsion title. Washington, Orlando, Chicago, and Los Angeles will be participants. On the other end of the spectrum, Atlanta has become the first club officially eliminated from contention.

Four weeks away from the playoffs and we have our first clinched spots, with four teams punching their tickets this week. It was a week that saw quite a few upsets and two clashes of teams we expect to see in the postseason. We also saw some clubs falling further out of contention as good starts have turned to sour finishes. What was supposed to be an offensive showcase between Orlando and LA turned into a defensive slugfest. We also saw two teams that we had written off in Jacksonville and Texas rise up and pull off significant upsets. But, we start with another upset, our game of the week between the Houston Gamblers and the Philadelphia Stars. Sometimes it just comes down to one final drive, one chance to pull a game out and get the win when the odds are against you. That is exactly what Houston did after watching Philadelphia cut into their 10-point lead and even the score with only 1:53 to play, but that was enough time for Houston to make its move and put the game into the hands, or rather the feet, of their kicker for a possible game-winning 60-yard field goal. The game had been a bit back and forth all day. Philadelphia was the first to score, with Bobby Hebert hitting rookie Steve Smith for a 23-yard touchdown on the first drive of the game. But Houston is more than capable of trading scores with teams, at least most weeks when their offense is in sync. This week they looked solid, and only 4 minutes after Philadelphia’s opening shot, Houston responded with a Kevin Faulk TD run to even the score. This back and forth continued into the 2nd quarter, with the Stars again taking the lead, this time on a Stephen Davis run. Houston drove again, but could not convert a 3rd and 13 after a somewhat shaky false start call. Chris Boniol came in and pulled them to within 4, 14-10. After stopping the Stars on their own 3rd and long, Houston got the ball back, and used the clock well before Matt Hasselbeck found Derrick Mason for Houston’s first lead of the game, 17-14, and that is how it would go to the half. Neither team fared well with their first drives of the second half, but Houston found pay dirt again with their second drive, a 54-yard, 11-play drive that concluded with Kevin Faulk getting his second short yardage TD on the day. 24-14 Houston after three quarters. Philadelphia was not going to go out without a fight in this one, and on their next drive, ending the 3rd and opening the 4th, the Stars held the ball for 12 plays but could not get in the end zone. They would eventually settle for 3 off the foot of Jeff Jaeger. Five minutes to play and the Stars needed a defensive stop. They would get it, with George Koonce making a big play on third down to deny Hasselbeck a pass to his tight end. Philly got the ball back and Bobby Hebert went to work, hitting Steve Smith, Marcus Pollard, and Troy Brown on a drive that got the stars into Houston territory, then, on 2nd and 2, the Stars faked a run by Davis and Hebert saw Troy Brown in single coverage, he connected with his slot receiver and 38 yards later, Philadelphia had a tie score with 1:53 left to play. But, 1:53 and a tie score is no guarantee of overtime. That was ample time for the Gamblers to get into field goal range, and they did just that, but on a 3rd and 3, the shotgun snap went awry, and Matt Hasselbeck had to dive on the ball at the 43 yard line. With time ticking down, Coach Phillips would make the call, let Chris Boniol take a shot from 60 yards out. His longest of the year had been 52 and that was in the dome. This was a far less hospitable atmosphere at Veterans Stadium. Boniol lined up the kick and gave it everything he had. The ball sailed true, and just cleared the crossbar, to the cheers and celebrations of the Gamblers squad. The Stars returned to their locker room, losers of 3 in a row and now well back of Washington and fading behind New Jersey, Ohio and Baltimore at the worst time of the season to fall back. Houston moved to 5-8, and still have a slim chance at a playoff spot despite their losing record. LA 16 ORL 13 While the Houston-Philadelphia game won our GOTW due to the play on the field, the most anticipated and most watched game was the matchup of the division leaders of the Pacific and Southern divisions as LA traveled cross country to face off against Orlando in the Citrus Bowl. Most pundits thought this one would go to the offenses, but both LA and Orlando put up very strong defensive game plans. LA saw their ground game limited to only 58 total yards, while Orlando had similar problems, with Terry Kirby only carrying the ball 9 times for 29 yards. Orlando held the lead until the 4th, when Cade McNown found R. Jay Soward open for a 73-yard bomb that stunned the Renegades and would end up the winning score for the road team from Los Angeles. STL 20 NJ 10 Another big showdown of potential playoff teams saw St. Louis play one of their best defensive games of the year as they blitzed and befuddled Generals’ QB Tom Brady. They used the blitz well against the run also, stuffing Curtis Enis in the backfield more often than we have seen this season. Meanwhile Ahman Green was able to find gaps, rushing for 105 on a tiring 31 carries. With Steve Israel picking off Brady and returning it for 6, the game was locked up for the visiting Knights, who move to 8-5 and much better playoff standing with the win. TEX 33 OHI 21 A stunner in Columbus as the Outlaws pick off Kerry Collins twice, with one going for a Texas TD, as the Outlaws pull off the 9-point upset. Reggie Cobb shared carries with Kevin Barlow, and Jeff Lewis was efficient on offense as the Outlaws got scores from Carl Pickens and Frank Wainright on their way to a surprise win against a stunned Glory squad. NOR 21 BAL 34 The Breakers drop their 5th in a row and Baltimore wins its 4th straight as turnovers, penalties and a horrible 3rd down conversion rate doomed New Orleans. Jeff Garcia would throw for 264 and 3 scores on the day, while Trent Dilfer was picked twice. The Breakers would connect on only 1 third down play all day as the Blitz simply confused them with defensive shifts and delayed blitzes. CHI 10 PIT 8 Ugly football in Pittsburgh as neither team was able to establish much on offense. Terrell Davis eventually got to 98 yards rushing, but still only averaged 3.8 yards a carry against Chicago’s 8-man front. For their part the Machine only managed 158 yards passing, and got their lone TD on a Jim Kliensasser catch off of a bounce off the hands of intended receiver Kirby Dar Dar. A fluke play for a fluke game as Chicago holds on to win after Pittsburgh got a late Andre Rison TD, but failed on the 2-point play to tie. MGN 19 WSH 34 The Federals moved to a 2-game lead in the Atlantic by not looking past the plucky Michigan Panthers. The Feds’ run game was in top form as McCallister earned Rookie of the Week honors for his 99 yard day, while Rueben Droughns added another 83 for Washington. Kordell Stewart, making use of the play action game, connected for 3 TD passes on the day as Washington thrilled the home crowd with a big win. POR 24 ATL 17 Don’t look now, but Portland is thinking playoffs. They move to 6-7 with a road win in Atlanta as Akili Smith continues to improve under center. It helped that they got solid games from both rushers, with Buckhalter and Kaufmann combining for 99 yards and 2 TDs on the day. The Thunder pass rush got to Mark Bulger 4 times and limited Tiki Barber to only 59 yards rushing to earn the W. ARZ 18 BIR 34 The Wranglers fall again as Birmingham is finding their groove. Despite 139 yards from WR Hines Ward, the Wranglers could not keep pace with Brett Favre’s 286 yards and 3 touchdowns. Marcus Robinson was this week’s big target for Birmingham as the Wranglers kept double coverage on Lawrence Dawsey all day. Robinson would finish with 131 yards and a touchdown. The defense played its part, limiting Arizona to only 62 yards rushing and sacking Jake Plummer 4 times in the home win. DEN 35 JAX 38 OVERTIME In a game they could not afford to lose, the Gold still fell victim to a motivated Bulls team. Jacksonville got another big game from Chris Chandler, who threw for 395 yards and 3 scores. Brunell tried to play keep up, throwing for 450 and 3 scores of his own, but in a game that came down to who could get into field position in overtime, it was Jacksonville who got their on their second drive of extra time, allowing Kris Brown to drive home the winning kick. SEA 27 MEM 34 Any playoff hope Seattle had may have been washed away by the Showboats on Saturday. Three TD passes from Heath Shuler, including a pair by rookie Justin McCaerins, were enough to hold the lead in Memphis. Both McCaerins and Joe Horn went over 100 yards in this one as Memphis improved to 7-6, but still are on the bubble for the playoffs. Seattle falls to 4-9 and look like a team that has some soul searching to do. OAK 21 TBY 44 The Bandits also sit at 7-6 after a convincing home win against the visiting Oakland Invaders. Randy Moss gained 127 yards on only 4 catches, but Tampa got scores from unlikely sources to take the win. TE Branford Banta and HB Travis Prentice added two scores to Errict Rhett’s 2 TD day as the Bandits poured it on down the stretch. We did get to see our first Tuiasosopo sighting after Coach Capers pulled an ineffective Ryan Leaf as the 4th quarter began. The rookie would go 6 of 11 for 69 yards and a garbage time TD to Ed McCaffrey. THOMAS STEPPING DOWN News out of Pittsburgh as their official elimination from playoff contention has moved the Maulers towards a decision. The Maulers accepted Emmitt Thomas’s resignation effective after the conclusion of this season. This is almost certainly an agreed upon “resignation”, meaning that had Thomas not submitted his resignation, he could have been fired even before the season ends. So, Pittsburgh will be joining Atlanta on the coaching market. Not really a surprise when we see how last year’s 3-13 season is being followed up this year. Top candidates for the position? Well, look for the Maulers to look across the state at Jim Mora Jr’s staff in Philly, or possibly to try to snag an up and coming defensive coordinator as that aspect of their club has not been up to its usual standards these past couple of years. Who do we like? How about Orlando DC Marvin Lewis, who has done an outstanding job for the Renegades. TUIASOSOPO OR TUI-NOT-SO-SOPO? We saw Oakland put in rookie Marques Tuiasosopo this week when Ryan Leaf was ineffective. Does this mean that the youngster may get a start or two down the stretch? Maybe. Maybe not. Jon Kitna is expected back from injury this week, and he had been given the starting job over Ryan Leaf until his injury. Leaf could also be given a start, though he is dealing with a sore shoulder as well as being in Coach Cunningham’s dog house. It’s a tough call for Cunningham. If the Invaders want to move Leaf, it would be good to show him doing well to boost the market, but you also want to know if you have something in Tuiasosopo before you make decision on Leaf, as frustrating as he can be in the locker room. Kitna is the steady but unspectacular vet, so he is likely just going to sit by and let this happen, knowing that he will likely have a shot at the starting job next spring no matter what goes down. MVP WIDE OPEN We are at a loss to tell you who is leading the MVP race. We fully expect it will go to a QB, although an argument could be made for Phil Hansen in New Jersey to be sure. Of the QB’s the question is what statistics matter most? Collins leads in yardage and TD’s, but Shuler is right there as well and the Memphis QB has a better QB Rating. It does not help that both clubs have been a bit erratic, and neither is sitting up at 10-3 like Orlando, Washington, LA, and Chicago. But, statistically the QB’s of those 4 clubs are just not quite there. Yes, McNown looks good in yardage (3rd at 4,017) and his TDs (33) are in the general vicinity, but LA is also a run-first club, so is he really putting it all together? I am going to throw a weird one out there. Terry Glenn, WR from New Jersey. If the Generals can finish strong, Glenn should get some looks. He leads the league with 1,501 yards receiving, is 5th with 89 catches, and 2nd with 3 TDs, trailing only Randy Moss. He has been at the top of the league even in years when his QB has been only so-so, but this year with the emergence of 2nd year QB Tom Brady, he is putting together a season that deserves recognition. Week 13 brings us our first clinched spots for the year. No division titles yet, but we can say that 4 clubs are headed to the postseason. All 4 sit at 10-3 and all 4 are currently occupying the top 2 spots in each conference. Washington is in and sits as the top seed in the East right now, with Orlando also guaranteed a spot, but hoping to overtake the Feds and earn home field advantage. The same is the case in the West with Chicago atop the Central thanks to a 4-game win streak. LA has the same record but sits in the #2 seed due to a tiebreaker with the Machine. The action now turns to the bubble teams. Right now 4 clubs, including 3 from the Atlantic, are tied at 8-5, with three more teams sitting at 7-6 and hoping to move up and into playoff positions. In the West, Denver and St. Louis look solid at 8-5, behind them sits Arizona, losers of 3 straight, at 7-6, and then Portland, the conference’s only 6-7 squad. New Orleans, who have lost 5 in a row, slip out of playoff position at 5-8, but could still catch Portland, as could Houston, also at 5-8. And Altanta gets company today as Michigan, Oakland and Pittsburgh are all officially out of playoff contention. A bad blow for Birmingham in this week’s game as SS Darryl Williams ruptured his Achilles and could be out well into training camp for next season. Likewise for Texas LB Jerrol Williams, whose ruptured disk means no less than 3 months out of action. Orlando could be without CB Fernando Bryant for up to 2 months as he has opted to deal with a hernia through surgery. In New Orleans, Wendell Davis could be out the rest of the year due to a fracture in his upper arm, while in Chicago, CB Jimmy Hitchcock, the Machine’s #1 cover guy, could also miss the rest of the regular season due to a broken collarbone. They hope to have him back for the playoffs. Philly could be without Bobby Engram this week as he deals with a sprained wrist, but should be back in 2 weeks. Reggie Cobb of Texas could also be out at least this week as he sprained his ankle in this week’s game. Expected back we have Chicago WR Johnnie Morton, Orlando FS Myron Guyton, Birmingham TE Walter Reeves, Fred Smoot will be on the field again after limited snaps this week, and LA HB Michael Pittman, who left the game this week with knee swelling, was able to practice and is expected to be in action as well. The sale of the Portland Thunder is reaching a critical stage as bids for the USFL franchise have been received and are under advisement from both Portland’s current ownership group and USFL league officials. Any proposal will require both financial and legal review from the league office in New York, as well as a vote of approval by the league ownership, and it appears that the Thunder are moving into this review stage. From reporting done by The Oregonian (Portland’s primary newspaper), the Thunder are considering three potential bids, one of which would have them relocating, something that has the team’s organized fan groups already making noise. As expected, the well-heeled Boston Colonials Football Group has put together a bid for the Thunder, with hopes of relocating the team to Boston. Not much is known about the details of the proposal, or a potential home for the franchise in Massachusetts, an issue that was at the core of why the Boston Breakers eventually relocated to New Orleans. We know that within the Boston financial group there are significant financial resources, as the group contains not only Jeremy Jacobs (owner of the Boston Bruins NHL club) and Edward Linde, Co-founder of the Boston Properties real estate conglomerate, but also has at least 4 other influential local investors, including at least one “football man”, former BC and Philadelphia Stars Head Coach Jack Bicknell. While not verified by league sources, the inclusion of Bicknell in the ownership group has led many to speculate that the former Boston College coach being within the bidding group may be an indication that a deal with Boston College for use of the campus’s 44,500 seat Alumni Stadium may be included in the bid. Alumni Stadium would be a significant improvement over both former USFL homes in Boston (Nickerson Field at BU and Harvard Stadium) as well as over the 34,000 seat Civic Stadium in Portland. Despite the possibility of the much larger market in Boston being secured by the sale of the Thunder to the Boston Colonials Group, the bid is not without challenges. For one, the relocation would disrupt the balance of franchise between east and west and lead to a somewhat “on the fly” realignment of the planned 2002 6-division format, likely bumping either Baltimore or Washington out of the 4-team Northeastern Division, into the Southeast, leading to Atlanta moving, which then moves another club, and another until either Denver or Arizona is moved to the Pacific Division to replace the Thunder. That is very messy and includes the rupture of several regional and divisional rivalries, something which could be enough to cause league owners to cast a negative vote were the bid to move that far. Additionally, we know already that there are concerns of a “ripple effect” with league stability being challenged by a flurry of sales and potential relocations, something we saw in the early years of the league as well as in the mid 1990’s in the NFL. Add to this the threats of legal action from Robert Kraft, owner of the NFL New England Patriots, should the franchise relocate and seek to trademark the Colonials name. Kraft has been an outspoken opponent to the “cozying up” of some NFL ownership groups to their USFL counterparts, steadfastly opposing the use of first Foxboro Stadium, and now the newly constructed Gilette Stadium for the league, and has been openly hostile to the USFL relocating to Boston. The use of a team name as similar to the Patriots in theme, even with a very different proposed logo and color scheme (Navy, Sky Blue and metallic Gold, as seen in the group’s current design) would almost certainly lead to trademark infringement cases being brought even before the club arrived in the area. Were the Boston group the lone bid for the Thunder, we would expect that despite the potential legal issues with Kraft or the realignment concerns, the prospect of the large TV market and well-financed ownership group would move the league to approve the sale and relocation. But, two other bids have also been entered for the franchise, both of which would potentially keep the team in Portland. The first of these is a grassroots “public” option which seeks to treat the Thunder as a public good, sell shares in the club similar to what we see in Green Bay and in part in Birmingham with the Stallions. This bid is viewed as a longshot due to a lack of up front financial support and the somewhat circumspect attitude of league owners to the idea of a fully public ownership of a league franchise. While it would be a path to retaining a team in Portland, it would be a lengthy process, and one which would need a lot more clarity of direction than we have seen to date. The second option, one which came at something of the last minute, is a private ownership group which has come forward with the intention of purchasing the Thunder, remaining in Portland but working to develop a domed stadium on the city’s east side. This group, known as the Portland Football Consortium, does not actually have significant local investment, but appears to be the brainchild of a small cohort of investors who see the potential for Portland if a stadium is on the table. At the lead of this group is Canadian-born CEO of World Com, the 2nd largest long distance carrier in the American market, Bernard Ebbers. Ebbers has brought together 4 primary investors to make this bid, with Las Vegas hotel-casino developer Phil Ruffin, and former MLB player and native Oregonian Dave Kingman among them. The group, while perhaps not as well-financed as the Boston bid, has significant resources, and their plan to develop land in the city’s eastern riverfront could be seen as a potential boon for development in the region, which almost certainly would draw support from city officials, though likely some concerns from citizen groups in the city as well. Having out-of-region ownership is always a concern, but if the league is serious about retaining a presence in Portland, this bid provides them an option other than relocation and the logistical concerns it raises. Local officials will almost certainly fall in line behind the PFC bid, as the loss of the Thunder would be a major blow to the local economy, and we can expect several owners within the USFL to make the case as well, particularly those potentially impacted by realignment should the franchise relocate to Boston. We are likely looking at 2-4 months of investigation, background review, financial modeling, and competing pressures as the team’s current ownership group as well as the league’s financial and competition committees review the bids. We expect that the USFL’s NY office will eventually provide recommendations to the Thunder ownership, including a potential designation of acceptance or rejection of any of the three bids, but that in the end what we expect to happen is for the ownership in Portland to bring a single bid up for vote at the league ownership meeting and that a campaign for approval will accompany the proposal, hoping to garner a secure voting block at or above the 16 votes needed for approval. Week 14 could be one to start separating teams, especially in the Eastern Conference where all 12 clubs are in divisional play. In the logjams at 8-5 in the Atlantic and 7-6 in the South, there is room to gain a leg up with a win this week. Of the three 8-6 clubs, Ohio has the toughest path, as they head to RFK to face the 10-3 Federals, who see a win as a ticket to the division title and a bye. New Jersey has a big game in Philadelphia, where the Stars see a win as essential to getting back in the mix. Baltimore has the best path, though they are also on the road, facing the Maulers in Pittsburgh. In the South, the game to watch will be 7-6 Tampa Bay visiting 8-5 Birmingham. A win here for the Bandits could be huge all across the conference. 7-6 Memphis is loving their chance to move up as they face the 1-12 Atlanta Fire, while Orlando, hoping to clinch the division with a win and a Stallion loss, are at Jacksonville, who have been a bit feisty these past couple of weeks. Out West we don’t have divisional play, but that does not mean we don’t have big games. How about two 8-5 clubs matching up in St. Louis, where the Gold are hoping they can steal a win. Chicago is at home, hoping to lock up the division with a Knights loss and a win over visiting Oakland. LA is also hoping to get help from the Denver-St. Louis game, but they need to focus on winning in Texas first. Portland and Houston, two clubs right in the mix for the final playoff spot, face off in the AstroDome. If Houston can win this one it is a huge swing for them as they take Portland down and put themselves in position to snag that Wild Card. In other games, Arizona is hoping to get back on track as they head to New Orleans to play a dispirited Breaker squad. Finally, Seattle and Michigan square off in the Silverdome in a game between two teams that have underwhelmed their fans to be sure.

Playoff Picture: No team has yet to clinch a playoff spot, however the Atlanta Fire, at 1-11, have become the first club to be officially eliminated from playoff contention.

You have to love divisional football. The rivalries, the high stakes, the animosity, and the history. It was 12 divisional games this week and what did we get? A lot of action, a lot of energy, and a lot of aggravation for half of the fans across the league. Philly got blasted by the Feds, Baltimore upended the Glory, Atlanta again played tough, and Birmingham came up with a big win when they needed it. We got Michigan making life hard for the Breakers, Denver making a case for the division, LA saying “not so fast” and Portland crushing Seattle’s chances to get back into the playoff mix. In other words, what we got was divisional football at its best. The matchup of the Maulers and Generals is not one of the biggest rivalry games in the league. Both clubs hold a lot more animosity towards the Philadelphia Stars than with each other, but you would not have known it from the game. It did not help that Andre Rison came out on Friday with some not so respectful words for the Generals. That got put up on the bulletin board in New Jersey to be sure, and it fired up a game that may have gone very differently without that moment. The Generals came in angry and it showed early, the Maulers got fired up in response, and by the game’s conclusion it was all the refs could do to keep the players in line. Despite the chippiness of the game (10 penalties on Pittsburgh as good evidence), it was a pretty well-played game between a playoff contender and a team that always seems to show up but rarely gets the results. Charlie Batch had his best game of the year, a 444-yard, 4 TD day that won him Offensive POTW, a rare feat for the QB of a losing team. New Jersey countered with an efficient offense that saw Tom Brady complete 20 of 25 passes for 334 yards and 2 scores. The Generals started things off in the 1st with a 13-play drive that concluded with Curtis Enis breaking tackles on his way to a 6-yard TD. The Generals would add 3 more in the 2nd, and Pittsburgh would get on the board in the final seconds of the half with a 37-yarder from Bill Grammatica. 10-3 at the half, but things got hotter in the 2nd half to be sure. New Jersey opened the 2nd half with a quick score from Terry Glenn, a 56-yard scoring play aided by two Mauler defenders essentially picking each other off trying to tackle the speedy General. Down 17-3, Pittsburgh shifted gears. After 15 carries for 70 yards in the first half, Terrell Davis would get only another 5 carries in the 2nd half as the Maulers put the ball in the hands of Charlie Batch. Batch responded, first hitting Andre Rison with a beautiful deep ball for a 69-yard TD. His touchdown dance, a clear taunt of the New Jersey bench, helped once again fuel the animosity between the two clubs, and cost Pittsburgh 15 yards on the kickoff due to unsportsmanlike conduct. New Jersey would go 3-and-out, and with the ball back, the Maulers quickly moved the ball, a 6-play drive that ended with Jay Riemersma catching Batch’s 2nd TD. The Grammatica PAT evened the score at 17, which is how it went into the final period. New Jersey would pull ahead in the 4th, first on a Neil Rackers FG and then on a huge play from the defense, with Jason Sehorn breaking up a Charlie Batch 3rd down toss, then snagging the ball in the air, and racing 54 yards for a Generals TD 27-17 New Jersey. Pittsburgh could have folded at this point, but they roared back. On their next possession Batch hit Eddie Kennison with a slant route that he took to the end zone. 5:30 left and Pittsburgh down by 3. They would get the ball back with 3:23 after New Jersey could not convert a 3rd and 8. Batch would again find an open receiver, this time Jake Reed, 27 yards out, and the Maulers had the lead, their first of the day, 31-27 with 1:22 left to play. The Generals took over and young QB Tom Brady, already building a reputation for himself as a 4th quarter comeback kid, did just that. Brady guided the Generals towards midfield, and with time ticking down, he hit on a huge play, a seam route to Anthony Becht as the Maulers sent the house. Becht had to tap the ball with one hand and then scoop it in on the run, but he made the catch and rumbled his way to pay dirt. Touchdown New Jersey with only 27 seconds on the clock. The fans in the Meadowlands were on their feet, screaming themselves hoarse, a kind of excitement we have not seen from Generals fans in a long time. If anyone doubted how the Generals could capture attention in the NY market, this game showed that with the combination of Coach Parcells on the sideline and a dynamic young QB with a knack for the dramatic, this club could become the darlings of Gotham. BAL 27 OHI 26 Baltimore needed this win and they scrapped for it. Despite giving up 110 yards to Eddie George, and a stellar 7 catch, 177 yard, 2 TD day from Joey Galloway, the Blitz hung around all day, never down by more than 7. They relied on Ron Dayne, who would rush for 151 and a score on the day, and they would get contributions from Rob Moore and Cam Cleeland in the passing game to stick close. They took the lead finally in the 4th when Martin Grammatica nailed a 45-yarder to go up 27-24. Ohio had a chance to pull it out, but Joey Galloway, on the end of a 27-yarder that nearly scored, got the ball popped out on the 2 yard line. Baltimore recovered, and rather than risk it with almost no time left, Jeff Garcia took a safety, gave up 2 points and Baltimore kicked the ball away as the clock wound down to double zeroes, win in hand. PHI 6 WSH 47 We are not sure if Washington is just that good or if something brought Philly in flat, because this one got ugly quickly. Washington scored on their first 4 possessions, leading to a 26-0 lead at the half Bobby Hebert would throw two picks and then get pulled for Will Furrer. Deuce McCallister scored 3 TDs, mostly in goal line situations, and add one more through the air to be the game MVP. BIR 35 MEM 25 Lawrence Dawsey picked a good week to come back from injury. Fans clamored to Liberty Bowl Stadium for this battle of 6-5 clubs. Over 52,000 in attendance as red jerseys from both fanbases rocked the bowl stadium. Dawsey would have a huge return in this one, going for 188 yards and a score, though Marcus Robinson would also have a good day with 2 TD catches. Garrison Hearst also returned from injury for Memphis and his 88 yards and a score helped keep it close until the 4th, when Favre hit Robinson for TDs on two consecutive drives to pull ahead for the win. ATL 19 ORL 24 This one was yet more evidence that the 1-10 Fire are playing hard despite their poor record. Down 21-9 at one point, the Fire came on late but just fell short against the 9-2 Renegades. Tiki Barber again looked good in Rick Neuheisel’s more run-dependent offense, rushing for 110 on 21 carries. Orlando got TD catches from Donald Driver and Terry Kirby on their way to a 10th win on the season. JAX 36 TBY 13 All good things have to end, and Jacksonville ended Tampa’s win streak in a definitive way. Despite being sacked 5 times, Chris Chandler was on fire, completing 25 of 26 passes (a league record 96.2% completion rate). Add in 97 yards for Kenny Bynum, who seems to have surplanted Sedrick Irvin as the lead back for the Bulls, and you get an ugly loss for the Bandits. Both Terrell Owens and Cedrick Tillman were over 100 yards receiving as Jacksonville quieted down the Bandit crowd early in this one. TEX 14 STL 30 The Knights got a much needed win after a rough couple of weeks. Ahman Green was at the center of an offense that gained 395. His 127 yards and 1 Td were key to the Knights win. It also helped that the Knights rediscovered run defense, holding Reggie Cobb to only 42 yards on 18 carries. NOR 14 MGN 38 Drew Brees seems to be learning quickly as he again helped the Panthers offense score a solid win. Brees went 19 of 22 for 197 and 5, yup, 5 touchdowns in this one as the Breakers defense just had nothing on Michigan. Muhsin Muhammad was Brees’s big target in this one, hauling in 4 TDs for himself. Trent Dilfer for New Orleans just could not keep up, especially with Ricky Williams slogging through a 46-yard day. HOU 3 CHI 27 A big day for the Chicago defense, which landed 5 sacks of Matt Hasselbeck, two by rookie Tommy Polley. Chicago also got 124 yards and a score from WR Curtis Conway and 107 yards and another score from Duce Staley to put away the Gamblers and hold court in the Central Division. DEN 20 ARZ 16 A big win for the Gold on the road as they now sit at 8-4. Peerless Price caught 6 for 97 yards and Kurt Gouveia, the old man in the middle, ran back a tipped ball for a TD in this one. Jake Plummer did leave the game in the 3rd with a possible concussion, and that all but ended Arizona’s shot. Craig Whelihan could not generate the one good drive Arizona needed at the end. OAK 17 LA 34 The Express won the California Derby and kept a game up on Denver with the win at home despite 115 yards from Oakland’s Rodney Thomas. Mike Pritchard nearly eclipsed 200 yards receiving, ending the day with 199 yards, including a 49-yarder that put fans on their feet. Tory Holt added another 104 in the air as LA kept the pressure on all day with big plays. SEA 20 POR 34 For all the preseason hype, Seattle just has not produced. It did not help that Brian Griese was out with an injury, leaving Giovanni Carmazzi as the Dragon QB. He could not stay upright as Portland got 5 sacks and 9 knockdowns on the backup. On offense, Akili Smith was both the teams leading passer (288 yards, 2 TD) and rusher (66 yards and a score) as he seemed to be channeling some Jake Plummer action. The win helps Portland eye a possible playoff spot, the loss makes Seattle’s path very tough. STATS YOU DON’T OFTEN SEE Our stats page tends to give you the biggies, QBR, Yards rushing, receiving yards, sacks, interceptions, etc. but there are many many more stats that the USFL tracks that we don’t focus on. Here are just a few stat leaders you may not have known about. RECEPTIONS: Terry Glenn is the yardage leader for receivers at 1,421, but he is only 5th in receptions. That title is currently in the hands of Seattle’s Eric Metcalf, whose 94 catches lead Andre Rison of Pittsburgh by 9. RUSHING BY QB: You probably could guess that Jake Plummer’s 474 yards is tops among quarterbacks. But would you guess that even with his benching in favor of Drew Brees, Doug Flutie is still 2nd with 225. Expect both Kordell Stewart and Akili Smith to catch up and pass Flutie by season’s end. HB RECEIVING: Who is the best receiving back this year? If you guessed Errict Rhett or Kevin Faulk you are wrong. It is a bit of a surprise, league leading rusher Terrell Davis with 37 receptions, 5 more than Corey Dillon in 2nd. Now, if we are looking at yardage, that goes to Eddie George in Ohio’s pass happy offense, with 466 yards on the season. Lamont Warren, also in Ohio, is second. How is that for utilizing your backs in the passing offense. TE RECEIVING: It is rare that a TE is in the Top 5 of our receiving list, so we are just not used to seeing them. But if you are looking for a good receiving TE, there are none better than Steve Johnson of New Orleans (66 receptions for 789 yards), Marco Battaglia in Denver (65 for 651), or Jim Kleinsasser in Chicago (61 for 541). None of these are putting up Shannon Sharpe or Keith Jackson numbers, but they are reliable short yardage and red zone targets to be sure. DEFENSE: If run stuffing is what you want, turn to Randall Godfrey in Atlanta. Yes, Atlanta!!. The Fire may be horrible in many ways but Godfrey is still leading the league with 24 tackles for loss, one ahead of Washington’s Al Wilson at 23. PUNTING: Hard to get excited about punting, but if you want booming kicks, look to the 48-yard average of Birmingham’s James Elmore. If you prefer the coffin corner, the best in the game this year is Oakland’s Andy Watkins, with 33 punts inside the 20. RETURNS: If we are going to cover punting, you know we have to give some love to the return men. Right now the best punt returner in the league is LA’s Barry Minter at 13 yards per return, though if you want scores, look no further than New Orleans CB/KR Walt Harris. He has a punt return and 2 kickoff returns for TDs this year, the only player with more than one return for a score this season. LOOK TO THE DRAFT Yes, we have only 1 club eliminated from the playoffs, but we feel pretty confident in saying that we see Michigan, Texas, and Oakland joining them at this point in the first 5 picks of the draft. Yes, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Houston, and Jacksonville could slip down a notch too, but let’s focus on the clubs with 3 wins or less. If you are them, who do you want to invest in for this year’s draft? A tough question for a team that has a lot of needs. ATLANTA: The easy pick for the #1 Draft spot. So what does Atlanta do? Easy to say QB, but is there really a QB worth spending this pick on? The two best options are Fresno’s David Carr and Oregon’s Joey Harrington. Fresno State may remain unclaimed as a territorial school but we fully expect Oregon to be in Portland’s selections when the choice of T-Draft schools are picked. Would Atlanta trade to get a territorial pick from Portland to sign him? We doubt Portland will after seeing Akili Smith develop this year. Nope, a better option would be for Atlanta to go with a big defensive stud like UNC’s Julius Peppers or Ryan Sims, two players who could be T-Draft picks if Atlanta picks UNC as one of their 3 protected schools. They could then look at QB in free agency or take a shot at someone like David Garrard of ECU later in the draft. MICHIGAN: They have their QB, but their run game is pathetic, so it has to be halfback with their first pick. They have an obvious choice in Michigan State’s T.J. Duckett, an almost guaranteed territorial pick. If they whiff on Duckett they could also go after someone like Ladell Betts of Iowa or Najeh Davenport of Miami if they want to stick with a power run game. Another position to look at would be wideout, and we could easily see an Andre Davis (Va Tech) or Reche Caldwell (Florida) being a good pick. OAKLAND: We just don’t see Ryan Leaf sticking in Oakland, despite his pretty good play after returning from a benching. So, it may all depend on if Oakland likes what they see in last year’s pick, Marques Tuiasosopo. If not, they could make a play for Fresno State’s David Carr, a local kid who could be a good option for them. If they do, then they will almost certainly look to the defense. A big DT like Tennessee’s John Henderson or Wisconsin’s Wendell Bryant makes a lot of sense here. TEXAS: The Outlaws may just stick with Jeff Lewis, despite some issues this year. They lack speed outside, so maybe a Donte Stallworth (Tennessee) or Javon Walker (Florida), but they also need to bulk up that line to keep the run game going, so don’t be surprised if they go big on the T-Draft to sign Texas tackle Mike Williams. They could also improve the D with another longhorn, CB Quentin Jammer. Yup, believe it or not, if the playoffs started today Portland would be in and the South would be represented by only 1 team, the 10-2 Renegades. Birmingham at 7-5 would be out, as would 6-6 Tampa and Memphis. Still 4 weeks to go, so nothing is settled, but a win this week would clinch the South for Orlando, and Chicago can wrap up the Central with a win and a St. Louis loss in New Jersey. One more headscratcher, with only 4 weeks left only Atlanta is mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Despite being 3-9, Texas, Michigan, and Oakland are only 2 games out of the 6th playoff spot in the West. Anyone have that in mind when Michigan was 1-9? A week with no season-enders is a good week. We still have a lot of walking wounded, but at least that list did not get much longer this week. A few situations to watch for include WR Johnnie Morton of Chicago (Doubtful with hyperextended knee), Az-Zahir Hakeem in New Orleans (hamstring), tackle Zach Weigert in Pittsburgh (groin), HB Michael Pittman in LA (neck), QB Jake Plummer of Arizona (probable with a deep thigh bruise). Brian Griese is expected to return to action this week for Seattle, as is Matt Light for New Jersey, Matt Stinchcomb in Arizona, John Thierry in Chicago, and Fred Smoot, the league’s interception leader, in Arizona. The Atlanta Fire, needing anything they can get to restore fan enthusiasm in the middle of a very disappointing season, have become the third and final USFL club to reveal a new Reebok design for 2002. The Fire retained the essence of their primary look while still going full overhaul, developing with USFL league officials and Reebok designers a new primary logo, wordmark, and uniform. The new logo reimagines the "flaming A" secondary and incorporates the flame into the letter as a not very subtle homage to another former pro team in the city, the NHL's Atlanta Flames. The flames, no longer orange trimmed in gold, but now stand alone gold and orange elements, emerge from the lower right leg of the A and "burn" up to the upper left. The wordmark also features a more subtle element of this, with a small golden flame within the R of "Fire". So, it would appear that a mere 6 years after the Atlanta Olympics, the symbolism of the Olympic torch is gone, and we see the Fire now use a more generic reference to flames in its logo. While the stand alone logo will be the flaming A design, the helmet will retain its wraparound design of the flames alone. Here the flame pattern seen in the main logo is tilted so that the flames emerge from the front of the helmet and flare towards the back, similar to the original 1995 design but with a very different shape and, once again, without being piped in one color, with separate gold and orange elements. The new uniforms jump on a couple of big trends we are seeing in pro sports branding these days, the removal of stripes and the use of transitional colors. The pants are stripeless, available in white, navy, or orange, and with the team's primary logo on each hip. The jerseys retain the familiar look of either orange or white bodies with navy blue sleeves, but now an ombre (color-shifting) effect is seen in both the collar and in the numbers. On the darker orange jerseys the numbers shift from white to gold (with navy outlines) while on the white jersey the shift is from the fire orange to gold (again with navy outline). The team logo is retained on each sleeve (using a gold outline to allow the navy "A" to be visible. So, a new look for a new start in Atlanta. The club, in the middle of a brutal 1-11 season, and working with an interim coaching staff, is likely going to want to reinvent itself over the offseason, and now they have a look and a logo to use as a means of reimagining themselves after what has to be considered a very difficult startup. Seven years into the expansion club's existence and they are all but starting from scratch again. We follow an all-divisional week with an all-interconference week as the Central clubs head to the Atlantic and the Pacific clubs head South. Which games should you tune in for, well, how about a battle of 7-5 clubs when Arizona goes on a rare trip to Birmingham? How about 7-5 St. Louis in New Jersey to face the 8-4 Generals? And, of course, there is a big one as two division leaders clash in the Citrus Bowl. 9-3 Los Angeles heads to Orlando to face the 10-2 Renegades. Other games include New Orleans @ Baltimore, Texas visiting Ohio, Chicago in Pittsburgh, Houston traveling to Philadelphia, Michigan (winners of 2 straight) facing the Feds in RFK, Portland visiting Atlanta, Denver in Jacksonville, Seattle in Memphis, and the Tampa Bay Bandits hoping to start a new streak with a home game against Oakland.

It was Las Vegas's worst nightmare as we saw five major upsets all in one week. Not only did Atlanta get a shocking first win of the year against a clearly fading St. Louis Knights squad, in St. Louis, but Michigan earned their second win of the year by knocking off Memphis, Washington once again failed against a West Coast team, falling to Oakland, Arizona fell to Pittsburgh, and the Houston Gamblers lost to the Jacksonville Bulls. Just about the only favorites to win were Orlando, regaining their form, and Tampa Bay, who landed their fifth in a row. Safe to say that no one saw this coming. Also safe to say that it may officially be time to panic about the St. Louis defense. The Knights’ usually much heralded defense has been struggling all season, but to give up 31 to the Fire? That seemed completely impossible just a few days ago. But, that is what happened as the Fire stayed within their game, avoided big mistakes, and just kept finding ways to score, eventually sending the game to overtime on a last second Jason Elam field goal, and then getting the game winner on their first possession in the extra period. St. Louis fans were distraught and you could see on the players as well a sense of disbelief as the Knights fall to the last winless club in the league. Tiki Barber was the hero of the day (perhaps along with the Fire defense) as he rushed the ball 28 times for 163 yards. He would also score, but it was backup Mario Greer who got the biggest points of the game, the overtime TD to end it. St. Louis had its usual cast of stars, with Ahman Green rushing for 90 yards and Bert Emmanuel catching 9 balls for 128 yards, but the pieces just did not fit together for the Knights on this day. After trading field goals in the 1st quarter, Atlanta got the first big break, a Todd Collins pick deep in St. Louis territory. It was Tim Hauck nabbing the ball intended for Amani Toomer and returning it to the St. Louis 14-yard line. One play later, Tiki Barber made a great cutback move, lost the linebacker and scored from the 14. St. Louis would narrow the gap with a 2nd field goal, this one from only 23 yards out as the Knights opted not to go for 4th and goal from the 4. That might have been a mistake as Atlanta took their next drive the length of the field, scoring on a Mario Greer run from the 10 after an 11-play drive. It was 17-6 Atlanta at the half, but most fans seemed to be feeling comfortable that their Knights would find a way back. When the third quarter ended with only 1 score, an Atlanta field goal to make it 20-6, the St. Louis fans started to get nervous. It got better for them in the 4th, as the Knights scored on a George Layne dive over the pile to make it 20-13. This was followed by an Atlanta fumble that gave St. Louis the ball back in short order. They would score again, a Jabari Holloway TD reception, but somehow Ryan Longwell doinked the PAT off the right upright. 20-19 Atlanta. The Fire would add a field goal with 3:58 left to play, but that only pushed the lead up to 4 at 23-19. St. Louis needed a TD to go up, and they would get it with 1:26 left on the clock, an Amani Toomer catch over the shoulder from Collins. But, with 1:26 left and only needing a field goal, the win was not secured. Atlanta moved the ball down field with one of the better drives we have seen out of Mark Bulger, and with 28 seconds to play, Jason Elam put the ball between the uprights to tie the game and send it to overtime. In overtime, St. Louis got the ball first but failed to cross the 50. They gave it up to Atlanta and the Fire, seeing their first win in almost a full calendar year, drove the ball down the field with precision and perseverance. When Mario Greer sprinted left and dove for the pylon to give the Fire the win, you could see the collective monkey get off the backs of every Fire player. They would not go 0-16, an ignominious honor that is still held only by the 1991 Baltimore Blitz. Atlanta had found a way to win, and now St. Louis has to head back to the film room and try to figure out just what has caused their defense to fall flat so frequently this year. WSH 30 OAK 35 While Atlanta’s upset was the most shocking it was hardly the only one this week. Oakland got a monster game from Ryan Leaf, coming out of the doghouse, as the QB threw for 324 yards and 4 scores to upend the Federals. Ed McCaffrey caught 2 scoring tosses and Plaxico Burress another as the Invaders just kept going deep on the Federal secondary. MEM 28 MGN 33 The Panthers also got into the upset parade, winning their 2nd of the year by surprising the Showboats in the Silverdome. Drew Brees kept his composure, going 36 of 47 for 373 yards and3 scores, and Siran Stacy actually had a good game, averaging 5.2 yards per carry. Memphis actually had the lead with 5 minutes to play, but Brees hit Laverneous Coles with the winning score with only 1:12 left on the clock. PIT 37 ARZ 20 The Maulers round out the upset weekend with a big road win over the Wranglers. Terrell Davis rushed for 114 and Andre Rison caught 10 of 12 targets for 119 and a score. Eddie Kennison returned from injury and also had a good day, catching 6 balls for 44 yards and a score. Jake Plummer was contained all game, throwing 2 picks and rushing for -8 yards as the Maulers found a way to shut down the Wrangler QB. ORL 27 TEX 24 For three quarters it looked like Orlando would also fall victim to the weekend of upsets, but the Renegades rallied for 13 points in the 4th quarter to avoid a 3rd straight loss as Keenan McCardell was unstoppable. The Orlando receiver caught 8 passes, 3 for scores, and racked up 121 yards in the process. Reggie Cobb was Texas’s main weapon, rushing 21 times for 126 yards in the defeat. TBY 31 NOR 26 The Bandit resurgence now sits at 5 straight wins after Tampa Bay went into the Super Dome and knocked off the Breakers. Trent Green threw for 300 yards and 3 scores, including 118 to Randy Moss. The Bandits also forced 4 turnovers, including 3 picks of Trent Dilfer, with Samari Rolle returning one for a score to boost the Bandits to 6-5 on the year. JAX 26 HOU 12 Houston blows their chance for a home win as they come out flat against the Bulls. Matt Hasselbeck left the game at the half with a stomach flu and that did not help the Gamblers as backup Brock Huard completed only 11 of 23 passes in the second half. Jacksonville turned to HB Kenny Bynum, who rushed for 130 and a score. Terrell Owens also played a pivotal role in the Bulls’ win, catching 7 balls for 153 yards and a score. BIR 31 CHI 38 Chicago was down 31-28 with 7 minutes to play but got a Duce Staley TD run and a late John Carney field goal to take the home win in front of one of the bigger crowds we have seen for the Machine, 42,073 in Soldier Field on a beautiful summer afternoon. Staley had 2 TDs on the day and WR Curtis Conway caught 7 passes for 117 yards and a score. Birmingham, playing without the injured Lawrence Dawsey, struggled to make big plays against Chicago deep zones. Brett Favre would have 366 yards passing, but it was not enough on this day. OHI 24 SEA 13 The Dragons struggled all game without Corey Dillon, and it did not get better for them when Brian Griese went out in the 3rd with a possible concussion. And while the Dragon defense did much better than most against the Glory, limiting Kerry Collins to 225 yards passing and Eddie George to only 23 yards rushing, mistakes cost them as Ohio scored on a pick-six and a punt return touchdown to take the win. BAL 28 POR 10 Another QB knocked out of the game as Akili Smith left just before the half. Rick Mirer came in and threw 1 TD and 1 pick. Baltimore got much better results from Jeff Garcia, throwing for 234 and 3 TDs on the day. Seven penalties and a 3 for 15 third down conversion rate also hurt any chances Portland had to earn the win. NJ 21 LA 29 A really fun game in LA as the Generals and Express squared off. New Jersey got 2 TDs from TE Anthony Becht and another from halfback Olandis Gary, but LA kept pace all day long, thanks to dual 93-yard days from Tory Holt and Brandon Manumaleuna, both of whom also nabbed a TD along the way. While Curtis Enis was the game’s top rusher with 81 yards, the combo of Antowain Smith and Michael Pittman for LA racked up a combined 123 yards rushing. PHI 10 DEN 31 The Denver D was in synch on Sunday as they collected 3 takeaways against a sloppy Stars club. Rod Smart, in 5 fewer carries, outgained Rashaan Salaam 122 to 75, but that was a total of 197 rushing yards between them as Denver just owned the clock in this game. Add in TDs from Peerless Price and Dedric Smith and Denver rolled to an easier than expected win at Mile High. CHUTES & LADDERS Let’s take a quick look at who is trending up and who is trending down over the past few weeks. Some of these are obvious, others perhaps not. GOING UP: Tampa Bay’s Offense, after a bumpy start to the season, the Bandits offense and new QB Trent Green seem to have found a rhythm, helping the club win their last 5 games. After averaging only 20.3 points per game the first 6 weeks, the Bandits have scored 28, 31, 26, 42, and 31 points during their win streak, a sign that they have found an identity and it is back to Banditball for this club. GOING DOWN: St. Louis Knights’ Defense. One of the more feared defensive units the past few years, this season’s Knight D has simply not held up well. They started the year giving up 38 points in each of their first 2 games, but that was ignored because the O came through and they won those games. But this Knight defense has given up over 30 points in 7 of 11 games so far, an average of 29 points per game over the season. If they believe that Todd Collins and the offense is going to be able to compensate for that, they may be sorely disappointed. GOING UP: Terrell Davis. Not that he ever was too far down, but in a tough year for the Maulers, Terrell Davis is clearing a path for himself to win the rushing title. He has gone over 100 yards in 3 of the past 4 games, including this week’s 114 in the upset of Arizona. He is averaging 99.3 yards a game on the ground, his highest average ever, and he currently stands as the only back over 1,000 yards for the year, with 1092, 118 yards ahead of Ahman Green for the title. Not a bad season for one of the best backs in the league and perhaps the centerpiece of the entire Mauler roster. GOING DOWN: Chris Chandler. Yes, things have been rough for Jacksonville all around, but Chandler in particular has had a rough go of it. His 18 interceptions this year have him well on pace for his 3rd consecutive 20 pick season, and that is not a good thing, especially when we consider that he is off the pace on touchdowns as well, so the balance is not there. With Jacksonville recently trading for Jake Delhomme, this may be a sign that the Bulls are looking to move on from Chandler, which could be a retirement on the horizon or it could mean he is looking for work. GOING UP: Denver’s receiving corps. The Gold have never really been a flashy team, and while Mark Brunell has always been efficient, the Gold simply don’t air it out much, but in their three game win streak, helping them get deep into the playoff mix at 7-4, the Gold seem to have opened things up a bit. Their primary receivers, Dedric Smith, Peerless Price, and TE Marco Battaglia have been finding openings in defenses and making plays. The YAC is still not perhaps what you see in Tampa Bay or Ohio, but the first downs are getting there. And what Denver is doing is also about balance. They don’t have a single target dominating the targets, with Price at 94, Battaglia at 86 and Dedric Smith (who missed two games with injury) at 67, they are spreading the ball around. They could still use some depth behind these three (Danny Farmer and Lloyd Hill are not really scaring anyone) but at the least they are beginning to use the passing game to open up defenses, making life easier for Brunell, but also for Salaam and Rod Smart. GOING DOWN: The Breakers, in general. Sure, we could pinpoint one aspect of the club, or point out that Trent Dilfer’s injury was a major hurdle for them, but he has been back for a few weeks now and the Breakers continue to slump, losing their last 3 games. The defense is a shadow of last year, giving up 28.5 points per game and having difficulty putting together a pass rush. In the past 3 weeks they have given up 35, 48, and 31 points, not good. They also rank in the bottom 5 in rush defense, which means they are having trouble making the opposition one-dimensional. The offense is still top 10 in most categories, but that is yardage primarily, and if the D cannot keep teams under 20 the now 5-6 Breakers could see themselves fall even further behind in the playoff hunt. GOING UP: Coach Marty Mornhinweg’s job security. After lackuster 6-10 and 7-9 seasons his first two years in Chicago, the curve of improvement seems to have taken a sharp upward turn for Coach Mornhinweg and the Machine. The Machine currently sit at 8-3, with a solid 2-game lead over a fading Knights squad. They have a defense that is forcing turnovers and stifling third downs, and an offense that may not be blowing away opponents, is controlling the clock and shortening games. The Machine have won 5 of their past 6 games, and could very easily become the first team to clinch their division. For those who had this as a make or break year for Mornhinweg, it looks like “make” is the verdict. GOING DOWN: Jacksonville Bulls’ Head Coach Gunther Cunningham. After improving from 6-10 to 8-8 in his second season, this year’s current 3-8 record does not bode well for the Bulls’ coach. At best they could get to 8-8, but we don’t think anyone sees the Bulls going 5-0 down the stretch, which means a losing season, and very likely a 10-loss season in Jacksonville. And while many are pointing at the offense and QB Chris Chandler, the bigger issue by far for Coach Cunningham is the Bulls’ defense. Jacksonville is ranked dead last in points allowed, giving up 359 points in their first 11 games, nearly 33 per game. For a coach who came in with a reputation as a defensive guru, that is not good at all. Add to the fact that this is a club that has drafted for defense over Cunningham’s tenure, landing LB Lavar Arrington last year, DE Jevon Kearse in 1999, and both safety Ifeanyi Ohalele and DE Derrick Burgess this year, and you have to wonder what the issue is. The talent is there but the scheme clearly does not work. We are calling Coach Cunningham a coach on the way down, but more than likely he is now a coach on the way out. Taking a look at the playoff standings after 11 weeks, we see that Orlando has regained their spot atop the East while the surprising Chicago Machine are in first on a tie breaker over LA in the West. Ohio and Tampa Bay are both on hot streaks with the Glory winning their last 6 and Tampa their last 5. Headed in the wrong direction are the Breakers, losers of 3 in a row, and both Memphis and Birmingham, losers of 2 straight. From the looks of it, the East is likely to have some teams out of the playoff picture despite having better records than the last couple of Western Division Wild Cards, as Portland and Houston are still right in the hunt at only 4-7, while 6-5 Birmingham, Baltimore, and Tampa Bay are currently on the outside looking in. As teams make the final push with 5 weeks left in the season, injuries continue to be a concern around the league. This week Birmingham had to put their starting center on IR with a torn bicep, Pittsburgh DT Roderick Coleman also on IR with a hamstring, and Oakland made it official, putting Jon Kitna on IR, which means it will be Ryan Leaf for the remainder of the season. Add to this a lot of shorter impact injuries, and you have a lot of teams testing their depth. Among the 1 week, Doubtful and Questionable list this week we find Philadelphia LB Mike Crawford, Orlando safety Myron Guyton, Denver guard Tony Semple, Seattle QB Brian Griese, Portland tackle Kenyatta Walker, and Atlanta safety Adrian Wilson. Expected back in action are Chicago guard Solomon Page, Memphis HB Garrison Hearst, Washington tackle Melvin Tuten, and Michigan LB Andy Katzenmoyer. We have spoken quite a bit in the past year or so about stadium deals, ownership issues, and potential relocation, but we really have not talked about attendance in quite a while, and since that is a big piece of the puzzle, we really ought to. So, first a quick chart showing each team’s stadium, capacity, average attendance from 2000 and through home games this year, and the percentage of capacity for each. I will then follow up with some commentary. (There is one mistake here. Memphis should be listed as a Top 5 attendance leader in place of Tampa Bay) So, what do we see here? Well, a lot of patterns we expected. Teams that have been solid performers over the past few years have better overall attendance than those that have been at or near the bottom of the standings. Teams in the south continue to dominate the top of the attendance leader boards. And a few teams may well be in stadia they will never fill. The USFL has been pretty consistently at or near 40,000 attendees on average for the past 4-5 years, so that is not likely to change any time soon. Playing in 60,000 seat stadia, as most teams do, means that most weeks most games have a pretty good crowd with some open spaces in the upper decks and in both endzones, but for clubs that play in cavernous stadiums like the Glory at Ohio State or Michigan at the Silverdome, the place can look a bit empty even when there is a solid crowd. I think we all understand why Portland, Atlanta, and Oakland are lagging in attendance. In Portland even a bad average of 29,536 provides more coverage (87% full) at PGE Park than at most stadia, but the fact that the club is only pulling about 5,000 more than the league required 25,000 a year is a problem. The bigger problem is in Atlanta, where the Fire have one of the few stadia that actually is matched well to league average attendance, but the lack of quality football put out by the Fire means they cannot take advantage of Bobby Dowd’s size. So, what are the solutions? Well, for one, the pressure has to be put on some underperforming clubs to improve the quality of their teams, get some wins, and build up a fan base. Even a 1983 original 12 club like Oakland cannot draw fans if they are going to lose 10 or more games every year. Second, the league needs to work with partners when new stadiums are on the table to ensure that they are not building 80,000 seat monsters, but 60,000 seat venues that have amenities, suites, and other revenue-generating options. This is not so hard when it comes to cities that share clubs with the NFL, but for others it is a tough sell. Ohio, in particular, but also Portland, Memphis, and Orlando, are not going to have an easy time getting stadiums built, at least not with public money. Finally, we should recognize the good news we have seen in recent years, that more and more often we are seeing the USFL and NFL teaming up to get a new facility built. Just in the next couple of years we will see the Gold move into a “New” Mile High in Denver, the Stars finally get an option other than the simply horrible venue that is Veterans Stadium, the Panthers move downtown into Ford Field, and the Dragons join the Seahawks in a new downtown stadium. Washington is still an issue because the Redskins are simply intransigent about sharing their facility, so RFK will have to remain the venue for the Federals for the foreseeable future. Portland is a problem we already know about, as is Memphis, and St. Louis is still not getting any love when it comes to stadium contracts now that the Rams are in town, but for clubs like Houston, where a new retractable roof stadium will support both the Oilers and Gamblers, the future looks bright from a revenue, and, we hope, an attendance standpoint. Week 12 brings us another of our favorite scheduling gems, an all-divisional week full of regional rivalries. Let’s start in the Atlantic where all 3 games have major playoff implications. Philly (7-4) travels to Washington (8-3) in a battle of clubs still hoping for a division title. The other 8-3 club, Ohio, is home to the Baltimore Blitz, who do not want to slip back to .500 with another loss. In New Jersey, the 7-4 Generals are hoping to knock off Pittsburgh and possibly gain ground on either Ohio, Washington, or both. In the South, the big game is between two clubs on the fringe of the playoff hunt. Memphis and Birmingham are both 6-5 and a win here would be a huge boost for one of them. They face off in the Liberty Bowl, so expect a very rowdy crowd in Memphis for this one. Atlanta, fresh off their first win, are in Orlando, where the Renegades have no desire to slip again. Finally, Tampa Bay can win their 6th in a row if they can get past Jacksonville. Expect a big crowd in Tampa for this one. The matchups in the Central are not quite as engaging, as no two teams with winning records match up. 8-3 Chicago is at home to 4-7 Houston, 5-6 New Orleans visits 2-9 Michigan, and 3-8 Texas is in the dome in St. Louis to face the 6-5 Knights. An upset there and Chicago could have a 3 game lead in the division with 4 games to play. Finally, out West we get a couple of interesting rivalry games. Both Denver and Arizona are 1 game back of LA at 7-4, and they face off in SunDevil Stadium in what could be a truly meaningful pre-playoff game. LA is at home this week against Oakland, who would love nothing better than to knock off their California rivals. Meanwhile the Thunder and Dragons face off in Portland. Both clubs are 4-7 but actually still in the mix for the playoffs. Consider this one a potential elimination game for the loser.

Playoff Picture: With 5 games left, no team has clinched a playoff spot and none is eliminated. The results of Week 12 could alter both situations significantly.