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Six weeks in and the USFL is as hard to predict as ever. Are we finally ready to believe in the Breakers, Machine, or Stars? Are we ready to give up on Texas, Pittsburgh, and Birmingham? And will Portland ever win a game? Still 10 weeks left to play, but the storyline so far in the USFL this spring is expect the unexpected. For the second time in 3 week s the New Jersey Generals went on the road and played a favored opponent tough until the last second, and for the 5th game in a row they have lost. If any team seems to be snakebitten this year it is Coach Schottenheimer’s Generals. In this one it all came down to one play, and that one play did not go their way. Tampa Bay had held a 10-point lead until the final 3:15 of the game, but the Generals scored twice in that span, helped significantly by their defense, but the offense could not do their part to send the game to overtime and once again the Generals tasted defeat. New Jersey played well, particularly along the defensive line, in a game where Phil Hansen recorded two sacks, and achieved the rare trifecta, a sack-fumble-scoop & score. Rookie Sean Ellis had a key play in the 4th, tackling Travis Prentice in the endzone for a safety that helped get New Jersey back in the game, and combined the Generals’ front 7 held Errict Rhett to only 41 yards rushing, but in the end it was not enough. Troy Aikman would have only 1 TD pass on the day, and would complete only 9 of 17 passes as the Bandits tried to keep New Jersey off balance by running the ball with Rhett and Prentice, a combined 35 carries for the two. Rhett would score twice, both on short plunges, and Aikman would hit Randy Moss for a 3rd TD, which, when combined with 3 Vanderjagt field goals had the homestanding Bandits up 30-20 with only 3:15 left. But then things got a bit shakey for the home team. On a 2nd and 12 from their own 2 yard line, the Bandits tried to run off guard with Prentice but the rookie Ellis shook off his block and crushed Prentice still 2 steps inside the endzone. The safety not only pulled New Jersey to within one score, down 8, but also forced Tampa Bay to kick the ball back to the Generals. New Jersey, led by QB Jeff Lewis, who has played well despite the team’s losing streak, moved the ball well, and when Lewis hit wideout Terry Glenn with a 5 yard fade with only seconds left, many in Tampa Stadium felt the game was certainly headed to overtime. But a 2-point PAT is by no means an automatic score in the USFL. In fact the scoring rate is just about 50/50, and New Jersey would need to call the perfect play to get the two points they needed to take the game to extra time. Coach Schottenheimer, often criticized for excessive conservatism in his calls, did it again. With Curtis Enis nursing a knee injury, he had Olandis Gary in the game. Gary had scored a TD earlier in the game on a counter tre call, and rather than add any extra flourishes like a presnap motion, Marty called the same play again. Tampa clearly recognized the playcall and when Gary got the ball 4 yards behind the line of scrimmage Keith McCants was already bearing down on him. Gary did not even make it back to the 2-yard line where the play had originated. New Jersey missed their chance to equalize and once again came up short, falling to defeat for the 5th straight week. For Tampa the close call pulled them to 3-3, and while certainly not a confidence builder, it does mark a 2nd straight close win after starting the year 1-3. PHI 26 BIR 24 Another big game in the Atlantic v. Southern clashes this week saw Philadelphia edge Birmingham to move to 4-2. The upstart Stars, who many predicted to finish last in their division this year, took advantage of a revenge game by HB Stephen Davis, the former Stallion. Davis would run the ball 25 times for 102 yards to help Philly take the W. Add in 2 scores from Bobby Hebert and a defense that held Brett Favre to only 44% completions and you have a rough loss for the Stallions at home. OHI 24 ATL 10 Ohio also moved to 4-2 as their offense again showed up big, with Joey Galloway accounting for 123 yards in the air and a key touchdown. Qadry Ismail contributed 2 more and Ohio moved past an Atlanta club that still struggles to put points on the board, despite a 106-yard day from Tiki Barber. Aaron Brooks gave way to Marc Bulger in the 3rd quarter and Atlanta responded with their 10 points, but It was not enough to catch up in this one. PIT 34 JAX 31 We finally saw the Maulers that most expected this year as the visitors upset the Bulls thanks to three 1st quarter TDs from Andre Rison. The 21-0 hole that Jacksonville found themselves in was too much to come back from as Chris Chandler’s 4 picks doomed the Bulls to defeat. Pittsburgh fed the ball to Terrell Davis in the second half, finishing the gam with 110 yards on the ground, and Andre Rison racked up 111 yards to go with his three early scores as the Maulers end their losing streak and move to 2-4. BAL 23 ORL 16 A good, tough game between two quality teams as Baltimore edged Orlando thanks primarily to a defense that held Orlando below .500 on third down attempts, and an offense led by QB Trent Green, back from injury. Green went 17 of 29 for 278 yards and his late TD toss to TE Cam Cleeland broke open a 16-all tie to give the Blitz the win and move them to 5-1 on the year. MEM 23 WSH 19 Memphis moved their record back up to .500 and knocked Washington down to 3-3 with a hard-fought win at the Liberty Bowl. A key defensive score from FS Tebucky Jones sparked the Showboats to victory, though it would take a late TD toss from Shuler to Lawyer Tillman to give Memphis the win. CHI 7 NOR 33 The Breakers won “Cinderella Bowl 2000” in convincing fashion over the Chicago Machine to move to 5-1. Ricky Williams was the star with 108 yards rushing and 2 scoring plays. TE Austin Wheatley was the surprise of the game, catching 5 balls for 95 yards and a score for the Breakers as they took over sole possession of first place in the Central. HOU 20 TEX 23 Jim Miller was knocked out of the game and Chuck Hartlieb could not get anything going for the Gamblers, who saw their two defensive ends have great games (4 combined sacks), but the offense simply was not there as Texas won their second in a row. Reggie Cobb had a monster day, rushing for 160 yards on 20 carries to lead the Outlaws to their 2nd win of the season. For Houston the question now is whether they return to Matt Hasselbeck at QB or bring in Hartlieb once again. MGN 14 STL 10 A good game for fans of defensive football as the Panthers came back from a 10-0 hole to upend the Knights in St. Louis. Neither offense was particularly effective as the defenses dominated, but a late Flutie to Muhsin Muhammad TD was enough to give the visitors the win and move them up to .500 on the season. ARZ 14 LA 24 The Express reached .500 with their win in Tempe, led by a run game that saw Antowain Smith and Michael Pittman combine for 193 yards and 2 scores on the ground. Jake Plummer was held in check (rushing for -11 yards) and the Wranglers simply had no other run game to fall back on, making their offense one-dimensional. DEN 31 POR 10 Rick Mirer did not survive his first start in the USFL, knocked out of the game after only 9 pass attempts, and Akili Smith was ill-prepared to come in against a tough Denver defense. Rashaan Salaam added 108 yards rushing and Mark Brunell threw for 3 scores as the Gold won this one going away. OAK 7 SEA 24 Another poor offensive performance from the Invaders, another locker room blowup from Ryan Leaf after the game. It appears to be getting ugly by the Bay. Corey Dillon led the Dragons with 110 yards on 23 carries and the defense held Oakland to only 3 of 11 on third down as Seattle moved to 5-1 and dropped Oakland to 1-5 on the year. The game, and the tirade by Leaf, may be a reason why Oakland set up a trade for a potential challenger to the 3rd year QB (see below). A lot of potentially impactful injuries this week, though fortunately most are short term concerns. The most serious injury was to Tampa Bay defensive tackle Pat Riley, who was placed on IR after suffering a neck injury in this week’s game. Fortunately Riley did not suffer any paralysis, but the injury is severe enough that it could impact his ability to return to football in 2001. In Arizona, the concern was for LB Winfred Tubbs, who is now expected to miss 6-8 weeks with his own neck injury. Again, no paralysis, which is always good to hear, but compression of two discs will require some traction for the short term and rehab after that. We think a return for the playoffs is even in doubt should Arizona qualify. On the short term injury list, we find Rick Mirer, who did not last 2 quarters into his first start with the Portland Thunder. The diminutive QB suffered a wrist injury to his throwing hand, which has led to some swelling and tenderness but no significant ligament or tendon damage. Team physicians say he could be back as soon as Week 8. A similar recovery timeframe for Jacksonville HB Sedrick Irvin, who suffered a groin injury in this week’s game. He pulled up midway through a sweep play and hobbled to the sideline. It is believed to be a strain, not a tear, which means 1-2 weeks is likely, though he certainly will not want to rush it as a strain can lead to later damage if he comes back too soon. Houston got more bad news in an already bad season as CB Ashley Ambrose fractured his jaw during a head-to-head collision on Saturday. Ambrose is expected to wear a special compression mask on his face when he returns to action, which is timed out for 2 weeks from now. In LA guard Manuia Saveea will be out for 1-2 weeks with a displaced patella in his left knee, while in Atlanta LB Johnny Holland is doubtful for this week with a hamstring pull. We mentioned that Matt Hasselbeck was removed from the game this week due to injury. It is a nerve pinch in his hip, which means he is Questionable for next week, but with Jim Miller being named the starter, expect Hasselbeck to get time to recover. Finally, Orlando TE Dante Whittaker will miss at least one week after dislocating his shoulder on an awkward landing this week. TRANSACTIONS SEA: Trades QB J. Kitna to Oakland for WR/KR Troy Walters and a 5th round pick. OAK: Cuts QB Dave Brown and signs WR Roell Preston SEA: Signs QB John Walsh & Moves SS Alec Walters to Practice Squad KITNA TRADED TO OAKLAND Well, that did not take long. We reported last week that Jon Kitna was unhappy in Seattle after being dropped to 3rd on the depth chart behind starter Brian Griese and rookie Giovanni Carmazzi. Kitna made it clear that if his services were no longer needed in Seattle, he would like the chance to compete to start elsewhere. Seattle clearly listened, and almost certainly heard from several clubs who were concerned about their QB situations, but they surprised many by taking an early bid from a division rival. Jon Kitna was sent to Oakland, a club with a clear starter in the fiery Ryan Leaf, but a team that needs to push Leaf and potentially have a backup plan if the young QB continues to publicly criticize the team and its coach. Coach Dom Capers is not one to take lip from a player, and Leaf has been offering a lot of it. Oakland gave up their primary kick and punt returner, Troy Walters, along with a 5th round pick to bring in the athletic but erratic Kitna. It is certainly not an ideal placement for the veteran, who would almost certainly have preferred a transfer to Houston, Atlanta, or Portland, but in Oakland he will serve two functions. He will put pressure on Leaf to perform and he will serve as a potential Plan B if Leaf continues to attract too much attention through his post-game rants and off-color commentary to the media. FIRST YEAR COACHES We start our Week 6 recap of the league’s top stories with a very early grade report on the league’s 5 new head coaches. Some have certainly exceeded expectations while others are learning just how bad the situation they stepped into is. We never expect a coach to be out after just 1 year, but the situation is not looking good 6 weeks in for a couple of our first-year head coaches. Mike Nolan (NOR): No coach has had more instant and surprising success than Mike Nolan in New Orleans. Coach Nolan has taken the pieces left him by Mike Ditka and has turned them into the #1 overall scoring defense and the #2 scoring offense. That is impressive considering how poorly this same roster performed a year ago. Trent Dilfer has been a huge boost for the Breakers, something we simply did not see coming. Ricky Williams is on pace for 1,300 yards, and the Breakers are just murder on opposing offenses, #1 against the pass (183 yards per game) and #2 against the run (61 yards per game). If Mike Nolan can keep the pressure on he is a shoe in for Coach of the Year. Grade: A+ Jim Mora Jr. (PHI): If anyone is going to catch Nolan for Coach of the Year, Philadelphia’s Jim Mora Jr. may be the one. The numbers for the Stars are not as gaudy (17th in points per game allowed, 13th in points scored), but Mora has the Stars winning. 4-2 so far this year and winners of 4 in a row. Philly is doing it with a balanced offense, led by veteran Bobby Hebert at QB and former Stallion Stephen Davis in the backfield. The defense is not overpowering, but they play smart and rarely get hit with a big play. That Philly is this successful while currently sitting at -3 in turnover margin is astounding. The question is whether it is a fluke or not. Could this team fade down the stretch? GRADE: A- because we want to revisit this in 4-6 weeks. Bobby Petrino (ATL): Atlanta was a tough spot to come into and expect success quickly. 2-4 may be about as good as Petrino should expect at this point. The fact that the two wins were against Birmingham and Memphis speaks to the ability of this club to play good football when they are focused. The offense is the issue here, ranked 24th of 24 clubs in both points and yardage. The defense is improved, 8th in the league, but they cannot do it all alone. The signing of Bruce Smith is likely a short-term solution, but it is a definite positive so far this year. Now, if they could just get better play from their QB position, maybe they could win 6 or 7 games this year and then build for 2001. GRADE: B, we are giving Atlanta a B because we are seeing growth, just not a lot of wins yet. Dom Capers (OAK): The Invaders provide more drama than an episode of ER. Whether it is the tantrums of QB Ryan Leaf, the defensive meltdowns, or the back-and-forth debate between halfbacks Troy Davis and Siran Stacy, there is just a lot of chaos in Oakland. We like that the defense is currently #6 against the pass, but worry that it is only that highly ranked because they are so bad against the run (24th). The offense has been able to run the ball effectively, whether with Davis or Stacy, but they lack consistency and commit far too many drive-killing penalties. Believe it or not, the 1-5 Invaders are actually +9 in turnovers, thanks to a ballhawking secondary, but that is not enough to put W’s on the scoreboard. GRADE: C, there is a lot to sort out, but Coach Capers is getting some good performances out of key players. Ray Rhodes (POR): What can we say about the 0-6 Thunder? They are 21st in scoring, 23rd in points allowed, and the only major category where they are in the top 12 in the league is in rushing, thanks to Napoleon Kaufmann’s 399 yards so far this year. They have lost close games (19-13 to Chicago, 22-20 to St. Louis) but they have also been obliterated at times (47-28 vs. Oakland, 24-8 vs. Seattle). We don’t see a coherent offensive plan, as Coach Rhodes tried to put in Rick Mirer only to see him get injured this week. Akili Smith is floundering, the receivers are not getting open, and the defense is still just so very bad. We think Coach Rhodes will get at least 1 more year to show growth, but fans in Portland are already impatient after dropping from 13-2-1 in 1997 to 10-6 in ’98, 6-10 last year and now an 0-6 start this year. GRADE: D, we won’t fail Coach Rhodes so quickly, but something has to improve and soon for the Thunder. DID WE DO THAT? Clearly our little weekly review of the USFL has some readers, at least in Houston. After a story last week questioning whether Houston’s lack of offensive production and iffy run defense was essentially wasting the talents of Michael Sinclair and Kavika Pittman as pass rushers, the two came out fuming. The two combined for 4 sacks this week, along with 8 hurries and at least 2 forced throws that led to issues for Kelly Stouffer. And while the offensive woes continued, leading to yet another Houston loss, we are not going to question the motors or the motivation of Pittman and Sinclair. Pittman now has 8 sacks on the year, placing him in 2nd, while Sinclair is still in the top 8 in the league. We suspect that if Houston could just get some semblance of an offense going this deadly combo would be set loose in an even more devastating way. QB Question in Baltimore Baltimore has a problem, the kind of problem a lot of other clubs wished they had. They have an established starting QB in Trent Green, a pocket passer who has the respect of the locker room and who helped lead them to a division title in 1999. They also have a backup in Jeff Garcia, a scrambler and gunslinger, who has seen considerable action this year. With Green injured, Garcia stepped in and outperformed all expectations, leading Baltimore to 3 consecutive wins and currently standing 4th in the league QB Ratings at 110.0. Garcia has yet to throw a pick and is completing 71.4% of his passes. So, what do you do when Trent Green comes back from injury? Do you take out the hot hand of Garcia and go with the Week 1 starter? Lindy Infante is a pretty traditional guy, which means we expect that Green has his job back (he did start this week), but what happens if he struggles? How short is the leash if you know you have a quality player behind him? Do you even provide some series for the more athletic and mobile Garcia? Maybe some sets in the red zone to take advantage of his legs? Infante is old school, but he is also an offensive-minded coach leading a defensive-minded team. The chance to use Garcia to confuse the opposition or even to force them to prep for both QB’s is a tempting proposition. It’s a problem to have two QB’s that play very different styles, but with both winning games, it is a problem some folks in Portland, Houston, Texas, and New Jersey would love to have. Over the past couple of years we have discussed several elements of USFL financing, from stadium deals to TV revenue, but we have never really discussed the big picture. So, this week we offer a basic rundown of how things stand across the league. While certainly trailing the NFL in annual revenue, the USFL is on a par with several of the other major sports leagues, including the NBA, and just slightly below Major League Baseball. Total reported revenue for the league and its 24 franchises in 1999 was a healthy $2.7B, just under the total for MLB but still well behind the $4.1B brought in by the NFL. The USFL’s main sources of revenue were television contracts (roughly 57% of all revenue), sponsorship deals (23%) and stadium sales (tickets, concessions, merchandise) which was roughly 13% of revenue. The league had a shared revenue pool of roughly $900 milliion dollars, roughly $39 million per club, which covered the majority of the $50M salary cap number for each club. On the salary front, while many players are paid at comparable rates to the NFL, the overall salary structure is a bit more modest, with the USFL having a $50M cap per team, compared to the NFL’s $62.1M in 2000. But, this can be a bit deceiving because of the USFL’s unique “Territorial Rights” allowance, which treats any player from each team’s 5 university pool of “territorial schools” as valuing only 50% towards the salary cap. This allows a top tier player like LA’s Cade McNown (UCLA) or Birmingham’s Shaun Alexander (Alabama) to earn an NFL-sized salary while counting only 50% against the cap. Shrewd USFL clubs have long spent more freely on territorial talent at key positions to maximize value on the salary cap. It is one of the reasons we may not see as many trades compared with the NFL because a player like Rodney Thomas costs Birmingham far more than he had cost the Texas Outlaws due to the Outlaw’s territorial waiver for Texas A&M players. The other big piece of the shared revenue in the league is from the gate receipts. Each club retains gate receipts from the first 25,000 ticket sales at their stadia for each game. The actual formula is not quite that simple as season ticket holders and suite sales are treated differently from single game tickets, but essentially the ticket sales generated for the first 25,000 patrons in regular stadium seating is retained by each club while any ticket revenue generated when a team surpasses 25,000 is part of the shared revenue pool. If the number seems low to you, it is. The 25k number was set up when only about half of the league’s teams reached or surpassed that number, but now, with leaguewide attendance typically well above 40k it seems high time to raise that floor. But the truth is that this system, with the low floor, helps keep some clubs afloat. Whether it is Portland, with their smaller 34k capacity stadium or clubs which are struggling with attendance, such as LA (always a battle), Chicago, or Arizona. Even clubs with good fanbases see numbers drop when they have rough seasons or poor weather, so the incentive is not really there to tie too much revenue to any individual team’s ticket sales. We expect the league will eventually push their floor up to 30k but don’t expect it to go much beyond that, at least not until we see attendance hit 50,000 leaguewide (hard to do with Portland still in the mix.) Ticket prices remain a key point of differentiation with the NFL, and one fans certainly appreciate. While we are certainly no longer in the stage where ticket giveaways are common (there are still occasional mass ticket giveaways to boost attendance in some situations, but these are far rarer than in the 80’s), but ticket prices remain low compared to the NFL and even some big time college programs. In 1999 the average NFL ticket price was around $65 (with wide variation between clubs) and the average USFL ticket price was in the range of $25-$40, with New Jersey, Philadelphia, Chicago and LA at the top of the spectrum and Jacksonville, Atlanta, Denver, and Memphis near the bottom. Season ticket rates show a parallel disparity between the two leagues, though one big distinction is that the USFL has been very hesitant to move into the territory of Personal Seat Licenses when moving to a new stadium. This often sets up the USFL as a secondary tenant, as the NFL’s use of PSL’s often gives them priority within new stadiums, but it keeps the cost of season tickets far more affordable for local fans. Variation among teams depends basically on three factors. The first is the agreement between the club and the stadium. This can greatly impact the amount of revenue a club brings in from concessions, parking, and the cost of staffing the stadium for gamedays. Some clubs, like Birmingham, Memphis, Michigan, and Ohio have strong deals because they are either the primary tenant of the stadium or the main revenue generator, so they get a higher cut of all stadium revenue than clubs such as St. Louis, Oakland, Pittsburgh, or Chicago, which are either viewed as secondary tenants or because they simply don’t have a good position of strength to negotiate with the city or stadium ownership. This is obviously a concern for the league, as we have already seen. Teams in non-NFL cities, such as Memphis, Portland, or Ohio, have one issue, which is that they have less leverage to negotiate new stadium construction, but teams in strong NFL cities, like New Jersey, Chicago, St. Louis, or Houston, have a different issue, which is that while a new or renovated stadium is possible, they have to battle to be treated with the same reverence and the same benefits as their NFL counterpart. A few clubs, most notably Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, have had great success partnering with the NFL club in their town and getting fair treatment. Others, such as Atlanta or Washington, have opted for use of a secondary stadium rather than compete with the NFL. In the case of Washington, this was largely not their decision as the Cooke family simply would not include them in any deal to play at their new stadium, something the Feds hope will change with new Redskins ownership. So, looking at all issues, who are the winners and losers in the USFL’s financial model. Well, the first thing we have to say is that even the losers typically are seeing profits. This is not the early 1980’s when we saw some rough finances and shaky owners. The USFL is solid, but there are some clear disparities when it comes to revenue. Star power can boost a club, as can winning, but some simply have better revenue capacity than others. At the top of USFL profitability we find a lot of southern clubs, with Birmingham, Jacksonville, Tampa Bay and Orlando all in the Top 5, along with Denver. Philadelphia is the top club in the Atlantic Division, New Orleans in the Central. At the bottom of the revenue chart we find LA (high expenses, low attendance, shared stadium with the Raiders), Oakland, Atlanta, St. Louis, and Portland. Stadium issues are the main reason for concerns in places like St. Louis and Portland, on field performance has certainly not helped Atlanta, and Oakland as well, though their deal with the A’s is also no help. So, what does the future hold? Well, the new TV deal looks like a good one for the league, with revenue from TV expected to continue to rise over the next 5 years. We are also expecting more revenue for clubs like Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Denver, Detroit, and Houston, where new stadiums are in the works and new deals to split revenue may better support the USFL tenants along with their NFL “partners”. Issues still remain for clubs like Portland, Memphis, St. Louis, and Birmingham, where stadium deals or outdates stadia limit revenue options. Washington has a question before it as well, take an almost certain smaller payout by moving play to Landover as a second tenant to the Redskins in a stadium owned by the club, or stay in an aging RFK with little hope of major renovation. Similarly, Seattle must decide whether to continue to play in Husky Stadium or move in with the Seahawks at the cost of secondary tenant status. Atlanta could also go this route as the Georgia Dome is an appealing option for fans getting tired of watching a bad team play outdoors in the heat and humidity of July in Atlanta. The overall picture is very sunny for the USFL, but this does not mean that there are not clubs that are lagging behind, and when that is paired with cities and ownership groups hoping to bring the USFL to new locations, it can mean instability for the league. Not financial ruin as many feared back in the days when the league actually considered a move to the Fall to compete with the NFL, but potential for club movement certainly. Week 7 could be our favorite week of the entire season, with all 24 clubs in divisional play and nearly all of them still with dreams of a playoff run (ok, maybe not all clubs but certainly more than we will see in position by the final weeks of the year.) Let’s start with the Central Division, which is fully topsy turvy from our predictions. In a huge midseason game 4-2 St. Louis is at 4-2 Chicago. The loser could well fall 2 games behind New Orleans as the Breakers head to Houston to face the offensively-challenged Gamblers. The final game of the week in the Central has 2-4 Texas at 3-3 Michigan. A win by the Outlaws and they may just be in position to make a run, a loss and it may be time to build for the future. In the Pacific Division we have another tasty midseason treat, Denver hosts Seattle with both clubs at 5-1 and atop the division. The winner has the inside track on the division title. 3-3 LA and 3-3 Arizona both hope to win home games against weaker opponents as the Express welcome the winless Thunder to town while Arizona hosts 1-5 Oakland. The best game in the South may be the game in Tampa between the Showboats and Bandits, both coming in at 3-3 and hoping to not fall any further behind Jacksonville . The Bulls are hosting the 2-4 Fire, but should be careful as Atlanta has already upset both Memphis and Birmingham. The Stallions are stuck at 2-4, and life won’t be easier for them as they visit the Orlando Renegades. Finally, the Atlantic provides another solid game with the surprising Philadelphia Stars at 4-2 visiting the Baltimore Blitz (5-1). If Philly can get the road win, they take the advantage in the division, at least for now. In the other games, Washington at 3-3 is trying to stay relevant as they visit New Jersey. Pittsburgh at 2-4 needs to win the Border War with Ohio (4-2) if they want any shot at getting back into the playoff mix. A big week in all 4 divisions with midseason pressure mounting.

Two overtime games, another settled on the last second of regulation, offensive fireworks, defensive battles, this week had a lot of drama and a lot to go over. Philadelphia for a 2nd week in a row edges a division opponent in our Game of the Week, Jake Plummer’s legs help power Arizona to a win, Denver and New Orleans get defensive, while LA and St. Louis combine for 70 points. Comebacks, blowouts, wild finishes. Quite a week in the USFL. Another thriller featuring the resurgent Philadelphia Stars, this one not decided until overtime. In a game that saw Bobby Hebert throw for 393 without throwing a single touchdown and saw Terrell Davis rush for 142 without a single rushing TD, this game was an odd one, but a really fun watch. Charlie Batch threw for 3 scores and it was Philly’s run game that kept them in this one, scoring 4 TDs on the day despite their two big backs averaging only 2.5 and 1.8 yards per carry all game. Pittsburgh started things off with their first drive of the game, using Davis runs to set up an eventual TD on play action as Charlie Batch hit Andre Rison for 6 from the 22-yard line. Philly responded in an almost mirror version, with Hebert’s passing moving the ball down the field before Stephen Davis scored the TD on the ground, a rumbling 17-yard run on 3rd and 2. Pittsburgh rounded out the first quarter with a Rian Lindell field goal, but on their very next drive the Stars took their first lead of the game as Davis ran in a 2nd TD, this time a plunge from 1 yard out. With both defenses struggling to deal with their opponent’s offenses, Pittsburgh stormed right back, Batch hitting Rison for his 2nd score of the day. Add a Jeff Jaeger field goal with 17 seconds left and you go to the half with a very entertaining 17-17 tie game. Stephen Davis added his 3rd TD, a 9-yard run, on Philadelphia’s first drive of the second half, and after trading field goals, the Stars took a 27-20 lead into the 4th. It would take Pittsburgh 3 drives before they finally got in scoring position with just under 2 minutes left to play. Charlie Batch would again connect with his top receiver Andre Rison (6 catches for 93 yards) and Rison would produce his third TD of the game as Pittsburgh tied the score at 27. Philadelphia would try to kick a game winning 56-yard field goal as time expired but the ball tailed off to the right and the game went to an extra period. Pittsburgh got the ball first in the extra period, but a good play on a 3rd and 5 throw by CB Reggie Givens forced the Maulers to punt. The Stars got the ball on their own 17 and proceeded to pick apart the Mauler defense, mostly on short passes from Hebert to Troy Brown (7 catches for 130 yards), Eric Green, and Marcus Pollard. The winning play was a quick draw to backup HB Pat Chaffey, who raced into the Mauler secondary and just edged the ball over the endline as he was tackled. It took a couple of minutes of review, but eventually the referee raised his hands to signal touchdown and the game was over, much to the delight of the Stars faithful. With the win, Coach Mora has the Stars at 3-2 and a surprise contender in the Atlantic. The loss drops the Maulers to a very disappointing 1-4, with all eyes pointed to the Mauler defense, which was expected to be among the league elites this year, but which is currently 14th in points allowed and a woeful 24th of 24 clubs in yards allowed. Coach Thomas is going to have to make some adjustments if the Maulers have any shot at recovering from this poor start. CHI 19 POR 13 OT The second overtime game of the week saw Portland almost pull out their first win of the season in dreary conditions, only to allow a game-tying score with 20 seconds to play and then a huge George to Johnnie Morton TD pass in overtime to secure their 5th consecutive loss to open the season. Neither team looked good in the steady rain in Portland, with Jeff George throwing 3 picks and Portland’s Akili Smith completing only 13 passes for 157. The backs too struggled to keep their footing, but when it counted, George found one of Chicago’s new receivers and stole a win on the road to move to 4-1. TEX 17 OAK 16 The Outlaws managed to earn their first win of the season as a last second Tim Seder field goal was enough to edge the homestanding Invaders. Ryan Leaf had found success throwing to Plaxico Burress (5 for 112) and Ed McCaffrey (7 for 92) but every time they got to the redzone things fell apart. For Texas, starter Reggie Cobb struggled (18 carries for 46 yards) but when spelled by Audrey Detson they found more success (10 carries for 62 yards). Not a pretty win, but Texas will take the W all the same. ORL 24 JAX 29 The Bulls raced out to a 29-10 lead and then withstood a 4th quarter comeback attempt from Orlando to earn their 4th win of the season. Kenny Bynum came on in relief of a dinged-up Sedrick Irvin and rushed 19 times for 95 yards and 2 Jacksonville touchdowns. For Orlando, Keenan McCardell’s 2 scores were too little too late as the Bulls move into first place in the South. TBY 23 BIR 21 In a tight rivalry game, the Bandits got back into winning ways as Troy Aikman hit Tai Streets for the winning score in the 4th to upend the homestanding Stallions. Errict Rhett carried the ball 24 times for 74 yards on the day and Streets stepped up with 92 yards receiving as the Stallions double covered Randy Moss all day, limiting him to 3 catches for only 27 yards. Two stallion turnovers, including a late Rodney Thomas fumble, helped Tampa Bay hold the lead and take the win. MEM 10 ATL 13 Five sacks of Heath Shuler and a defense that held Garrison Hearst to only 30 yards rushing were huge factors in Atlanta’s second upset home win of the season. Rookie Marc Bulger came up huge, getting the start when Aaron Brooks went down in practice this week. The former Mountaineer went 20 of 33 for 191 yards and the Fire’s only touchdown, a 25-yarder to Mathis. The result leaves both Atlanta and Memphis at 2-3, part of a 4-club clump with that record in the division. MGN 24 ARZ 31 Another huge day for Jake Plummer running the ball. The Wrangler QB threw for only 228 and 1 score but ran in 3 more touchdowns on a combination of scrambles and bootlegs. He finished the day with 12 carries, leading the club. Is this sustainable? Probably not, but it got Arizona a win over the Panthers, despite 103 yards from Natrone Means and a 316-yard passing day from Doug Flutie. NOR 14 DEN 17 It was a clash of top defenses as the Gold edged the Breakers on a late 4th quarter Jimmie Johnson TD. Denver limited Ricky Williams to 69 yards rushing, but New Orleans did the same, holding Rashaan Salaam to only 42 yards as both clubs cued in on the run all day. The key play in the game was a 3rd and 9 late in the 4th when the Breakers thought they got off the field on a missed pass to Marco Battaglia, but a flag on the field brought the Gold a first down thanks to a questionable Roughing call against LB Robert Hinkley for a low hit on Brunell. Two plays later Brunell hit Johnson for the winning score. HOU 17 SEA 30 Matt Hasselbeck continued to struggle as the Gamblers’ starter and was pulled for Chuck Hartlieb in the final period as Seattle, starting rookie Giovannie Carmazzi for an ill Brian Griese, played conservatively, and leaned heavily on Corey Dillon (26 carries for 108 yards) and their defense to get the job done against a pretty anemic Houston offense. STL 40 LA 30 The offenses were both way ahead of the defenses in this one as the two clubs went back and forth all day. Cade McNown threw for 3 scores, as did Todd Collins. LA’s Mike Pritchard racked up 154 yards receiving while Collins spread the ball to 9 different receivers as the Knights did just enough on defense to earn the win. WSH 3 BAL 14 In a game that saw only 580 combined yards between two defensive clubs, Baltimore made more of their few chances, getting touchdowns from Mike Cloud and a pick six from Tyrone Bell to knock off the Federals. Scott Zolak struggled with the Blitz’s, well, blitzes, sacked 5 times and picked off on 3 plays, including the key defensive score. Meanwhile, both Ron Dayne and Barry Word struggled to get yards against two tough front sevens. OHI 47 NJ 23 The Glory got back to their early season scoring form against a Generals’ defense that has struggled all year. Ohio had over 500 yards of offense as Kerry Collins threw for 339 and 3 scores while Darrell Thompson, who played most of the 2nd half after Eddie George tweaked an ankle, rushed for 104 yards on only 12 carries. Add in 185 and 2 scores from Joey Galloway, 118 from Qadry Ismail and you can see how this game got away from New Jersey. Pittsburgh not only lost a heartbreaker this week, but also lost one of their best defenders when CB Bobby Taylor ruptured his achilles tendon. He will be placed on IR and will be out indefinitely. Memphis’s star TE Adrian Cooper could miss 2 weeks or more with a hip injury that took him out of the game this week. Sedrick Irvin was pulled from the Bulls’ game and could miss 1-2 more with a groin pull (ouch!). Natrone Means is listed as doubtful for Michigan after his heavy work load led to some concerns about his hamstring. Houston may have to go with Chuck Hartlieb for a 2nd week after Matt Hasselbeck’s pull from the game turned out to not be entirely a coach’s decision. Hasselbeck had a pinched nerve in his shoulder which has still not fully resolved. Denver could be without LB Kurt Gouveia as the veteran pulled up short on a pursuit with an apparent hamstring injury. And finally, New Orleans’s veteran DE Jerry Reese is likely to miss 1-2 weeks thanks to a fractured collarbone. TRANSACTIONS PIT: Placed CB Bobby Taylor on IR, Signed CB Chris Watson QB SHUFFLE Well, it has begun, the annual shuffling of the quarterbacks among the league’s struggling teams. The first move came where we expected it to, the 0-5 Thunder, when Portland promoted veteran Rick Mirer to start over struggling 2nd year player Akili Smith on Tuesday. We also saw a shift in Houston, where former Todd Collins understudy Jim Miller will get the Week 6 start for the 1-5 Gamblers. Miller will replace Matt Hasselbeck who started the first 5 games, but who was knocked out of this week’s game. Chuck Hartlieb took over for Hasselbeck, but appears to be on the outs with Coach Willsey, and may soon be trade material. Speaking of potential trade bait, Jon Kitna is none too happy about being benched for Brian Griese in Seattle, and is pushing for a trade to have a shot at starting again. Other players who should be worried about getting the hook include Aaron Brooks in Atlanta (58.1 QBR and only 46.6% completion rate), Scott Zolak in Washington (79 QBR and a 4-5 TD-INT ratio), and possibly even Kelly Stouffer in Texas, who is suffering through an uncharacteristic spell in which he has thrown 6 picks to 5 TDs this year and completed only 56.8% of his throws. A veteran like Jon Kitna, or even displaced former starters like Eric Zeier, Spence Fischer, or Chuck Hartlieb could be seen as a midseason replacement for any of these struggling starters if the terms are right. RUNNING TO GLORY Nope, not another article about the surge in carries and success among USFL running backs, this is a story about QB Jake Plummer of the Arizona Wranglers, who, for the 3rd time this year was the leading rusher for his Wrangler squad. It is certainly not entirely desired by Plummer or his head coach Art Shell, but with Tim Lester and Leeland MacElroy not producing a consistent run game, and with Plummer often opting to scramble, it has become a reality for the Wranglers. Plummer is the leading rusher for the Wranglers with 266 yards over 5 games, which also includes 5 TDs. Compare that with a 5-game total of only 190 for Lester and 89 yards for MacElroy, and you can see why the Wranglers are not ready to give up on the plays Plummer is making with his feet. The good news for the Wranglers is that the tendency to run to daylight has not made Plummer a less effective passer, actually quite the opposite. Plummer’s current 107.2 rating is his highest of any season to date and includes a 9-1 TD-INT ratio, far better than what we are accustomed to seeing from the former ASU Sun Devil. So, for Coach Shell, and for Jake the Snake himself, perhaps the constant bootlegs, waggles, and scrambles are actually working to his favor. The question, of course, is whether this puts him at higher risk for injury, and the jury is still out on that. WHITHER THE PASS RUSH? Not as an overall trend but as the forte of the Houston Gamblers, the pass rush is not what we saw last year. Yes, Kavika Pittman is back from injury, and yes, the combo with Michael Sinclair is still something that offensive coordinators have to game plan for, but so far this year the combo has a reasonable 10 combined sacks, not bad overall, but not the numbers they put up last year. The problem seems to be twofold. First, the offense is not performing well at all (21st in both the run and the pass) and that means that the Houston defense is being asked to spend a lot of time on the field, and deal with a lot of plays, something that always leads to a wearing down of the pass rush. Secondly, the Gambler defense has not been as effective against the run, 18th in the league with a 122 yards per game average. What that means is that neither Sinclair nor Pittman can pin back their ears and go 100% for the QB. They have to deal with the run game because they are seeing a lot more of it. This combination of more plays on the field and more run calls against them means that the pure pass rush strength of this defense is not manifesting. That could be a real issue for Houston all year, especially if they allow teams to build up leads on them and use the run even more in later stages of games. BAD ATTITUDE Following this week’s loss to the winless Outlaws, a clearly upset Ryan Leaf went a bit far in a post-game tirade, to the tune of $30,000. The USFL fined Leaf for a profanity-laced tirade that sounded like a festival of bleeps when it aired on ESPN. Leaf is apparently upset at everything from the play calling of Coach Capers, to the protection (or lack thereof) from his line, and even to the ability of his receivers to get open. This last one seems particularly odd as both veteran Ed McCaffrey and rookie Plaxico Burress have had back to back strong games, the two combining for 204 yards this week against Texas. The only person Leaf does not seem to blame is himself, despite the fact that even in his best season (his rookie year) he completed only 55.6% of his passes. Of course, in that first season he threw 43 TDs to only 17 picks, while last year, in an injury-shortened 10-game season, Leaf threw 11 picks to 11 TDs. This year his ratio stands at 5-2, but overall the Invader offense has been less than stellar, ranked 18th in passing. Coach Capers has stressed the run game (currently 2nd in the league at 127 yards per game) and we have seen much better numbers for the combo of Siran Stacy and Troy Davis, who have combined for 596 yards in 5 games, but this does not seem to be of interest to Leaf, who seems far more concerned that he is facing criticism not only for his on-field decision making, but for some of his extracurricular activities in the Bay Area. It seems that the limited media focus which playing for the Invaders requires may be getting to the young QB. Tirades in the locker room are not winning him much loyalty among his teammates, and not making him any friends either in the media or among an already unsatisfied Invader fan base. It took a little longer than expected, but the TV arrangements for the next 5 years are finally set. As anticipated there will be a 4th broadcast partner for the league as NBC joins the existing arrangements with FOX, ABC, and ESPN as broadcasting partners. The league carved out a 1-game per week option for the new network by reducing the ABC/ESPN deal and restructuring to allow for greater exposure across all platforms. They did this by moving a game from the Saturday afternoon slot to create a unique Friday Night game for NBC. In the new arrangement NBC will broadcast a weekly “Friday Night Lights” game each week at 8pm Eastern time, ESPN will retain its “Saturday Night Football” broadcast, ABC will have the rights to a 5 game slate on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, and FOX will have both a 4-game slate on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and the weekly finale, their “Fox Football Night in America” game at 7pm Eastern Time each Sunday. That gives NBC and ESPN one game each week and ABC and FOX 5 games each week. The rights to the Summer Bowl will remain with ABC for the next 3 seasons, before an alternating format between ABC and FOX is put into place beginning with FOX carrying their first Summer Bowl in 2004. NBC will have rights to air 1 game in both the Wild Card and Divisional rounds, while ABC/ESPN and Fox will split the remaining Wild Card, Divisional, and Conference Championship games. The combined 3 deals are expected to bring the USFL nearly $3 Billion in revenue over the 5 year contract, roughly $600 million per year, not quite in the same category as the NFL but second only to the fall league among sports broadcasting revenue, surpassing Major League Baseball and the NBA for the first time. An intriguing aspect of the contracts is that in the event that the USFL would reduce its regular season from 16 to 14 games, as has been proposed in the past and as is being considered by a subcommittee of ownership, the contract would not show a 1/8th contraction in value as one might expect, but only a 1/15th contraction in value, meaning that the revenue per game broadcast would actually go up in the 14 game format while the overall revenue would shrink. Competition for night games and for the highly-watched playoff games seems to have driven this advantageous aspect of the deal for the league. The deal goes into effect for the 2001 season, meaning the opening game of the regular season will be the first NBC broadcast in league history. No news on broadcast teams from NBC yet, but most fans expect the broadcasters to come out of the network’s NFL pool, though do not rule out the league bringing in members of their Notre Dame and other college football broadcast teams. From our perspective, we would love to see the team of Greg Gumbell and Phil Simms, or perhaps Dick Enberg and Verne Lundquist call games, but with NBC also having former USFL head coach Sam Wyche, former QB Todd Blackledge, and former USFL Special Teams ace Steve Tasker available, we may see a new combo on the broadcasts. They could also bring in former Bandit Chris Collinsworth from their Notre Dame and college broadcasts, or former LA Express TE Todd Christensen. Week 6 brings us back out West for divisional games as Chicago and New Orleans will face off in the Super Dome in one of the most unanticipated battles of 4-1 clubs we may have ever seen. It’s a clash to see who is the bigger Cinderella story between these two clubs. In other Central Division action, desperation is the name of the game when 1-4 Houston visits their in-state rival, the 1-4 Texas Outlaws. Michigan will be in St. Louis in a pivotal game for both clubs trying to keep pace with the surprising Machine and Breakers squads. A good Pacific clash as Arizona heads to the coast to play LA. A bit less drama when Denver heads to Portland and Seattle hosts Oakland as both the Gold and Dragons are 7-point favorites to take those games. In the Eastern Conference it is the Atlantic visiting the South, with some intriguing matchups on the docket. Baltimore clashes with 3-2 Orlando in a big game in the Citrus Bow, while Memphis hopes that home cooking can help them even their record at 3-3 when they face the Federals. Birmingham is in a similar boat, facing the surprising Philadelphia Stars at Legion Field. Ohio hopes they can move to 4-2 with a win in Atlanta when these two 1995 expansion clubs meet. Tampa Bay hopes their home game against the Generals leads to a win and a 3-3 record, while Pittsburgh is reeling and now has to head to 4-1 Jacksonville to face a red hot Bulls team.

We are down to one undefeated club, one no one saw coming, at the 1/4 mark of the season. Chicago and Seattle both fall from grace, while a couple of clubs sneak into the 3-1 club, including a revived Jacksonville Bulls squad. In a week that saw the running backs take center stage, Michigan used their former Bull to upend the rival Machine, while in Florida the new look Bulls took it to their downstate rivals from Tampa Bay. But, any discussion of USFL rivalry games has to start with Stars-Generals, our Game of the Week. It does not take much to turn any Generals-Stars game into a full on steel cage match. These two clubs just love to hate each other. So when you get a back and forth game that sees the momentum swing as much as it did on Sunday, well, that is just going to whip up a crowd frenzy, and that is just what we got. With a crowd of approximately 47,000 on hand at Veterans stadium, with a good number of those present visiting Generals fans, things got pretty exciting, both on the field and in the stands, where numerous fights broke out, and at one point a flurry of plastic cups got tossed all over the stadium. According to Stadium security, no fewer than 33 people were detained over the course of the game, not a record, of course, in the home of the Eagles, but still a pretty high total for a game between two clubs not predicted to be in the playoff mix this year. But, as interesting as the action was in the stands, the game itself was better. Both Jeff Lewis and Bobby Hebert played well, with 5 TDs and no picks between them. Both Curtis Enis and Stephen Davis rushed for just about the same yardage (86 and 88 respectively) and both clubs saw their tight ends play a key role as rookie Anthony Becht caught 5 for 59 yards while veteran Eric Green caught 6 for 36 and a score for Philly. It was a balanced game, a well played game, though New Jersey did have 9 penalties on the day, but also a chippy game with both clubs getting in shots where they could. Philadelphia looked the better team early on, scoring on their first two possessions of the game, a Pat Chaffey 2-yard reception and then a nice ball from Hebert to newly acquired wideout Bobby Engram. New Jersey responded in the 2nd quarter with two drives of their own, a Kevin Johnson TD reception and a 1-yard dive from their new acquisition, HB Olandis Gary. With 50 seconds left in the half, Philadelphia retook the lead on a Jeff Jaeger field goal and we had a 17-14 Stars advantage at the break. The 3rd quarter saw the defenses dominate, with neither club able to advance to the other end of the field and plenty of action for the punters. Another Jeff Jaeger field goal opened the 4th as the Stars built up a 6-point lead, but that was short lived as New Jersey mounted their first solid drive of the half, and got a huge 23-yard scoring run by Enis to retake the lead 21-20. Philadelphia immediately responded, driving the length of the field, with Hebert hitting his TE, Green, for the score, and, after a short toss to Marcus Pollard for the 2 point PAT, the Stars were back up 7 with 3:18 left to play. New Jersey moved the ball well on the next drive, getting big chunks against a Philly defense that had clearly tired. The pass rush was not getting to Lewis, and that let the young signal caller look at deeper routes. The score would come on a 46-yarder that was slow to develop, an out & up that broke open the Stars’ secondary. With the game tied, the concern was that leaving 1:46 on the clock for the Stars was too much time. Those fears proved to be well-founded. The Stars took their time, used their 2 timeouts, and got Jeff Jaeger into position. The former NFL kicker lined up the winning kick and with 10 seconds on the clock, Philly did not allow New Jersey any shot at an equalizer. The home crowd was happy, the visitors from Jersey not so much, and the local police and stadium security stayed busy as they cleared the stadium and the parking lot of a lot of drunk guys in gold chains and mesh shirts. In other words, it was a Philly-Jersey game. BAL 29 PIT 18 Baltimore leaned on their rookie halfback again, and Ron Dayne came up with a solid game, rushing for 98 yards on 24 carries. Backup Mike Cloud added another 36 and the Blitz kept Terrell Davis in check (64 yards on 22 carries) to win a tough defensive battle. Jeff Garcia continues to look good in relief of Trent Green, who may be ready to return to action either this week or next. OHI 9 WSH 29 The Ohio offense which was so strong in the first two weeks of the season is now struggling for rhythm. Washington’s strong defense held them to only 207 total yards as Eddie George was limited to 3.2 yards per carry and Kerry Collins was sacked 4 times in the defeat. Meanwhile, Barry Word had his best game of the year, racking up 126 yards on 19 carries for the homestanding Federals. ATL 7 ORL 24 When Tiki Barber came up lame in pregame warmups you had a feeling Atlanta would struggle in this one. He may return next week, but rookie R.J. Redmond struggled to fill his shoes, rushing for only 2.2 yards per carry. Meanwhile Scott Mitchell balanced 3 picks with 3 scoring tosses as the Renegades outgained Atlanta 386 to 148 on a day dominated by the Orlando defense. BIR 28 MEM 38 A great rivalry and a shootout as Memphis gets the job done at home against the hated Stallions. Four picks of Brett Favre, including pick sixesby both Rahim Abdullah and Fred Weary highlighted the day for the Showboats. Favre did throw 4 touchdowns, but those two defensive scores were the difference in an otherwise tight game. JAX 30 TBY 17 Don’t look now but Jacksonville seems to have found the quality of 2 years ago as they move to 3-1 with a convincing win over the Bandits. Despite allowing 156 yards rushing to Errict Rhett, Jacksonville pulled away in this game, one in which Patrick Rowe had a career game with 133 yards receiving, including a gorgeous 79 yard bomb from Chandler. MGN 34 CHI 25 The Chicago-Detroit rivalry was renewed once again as the Panthers knocked Chicago from the ranks of the unbeaten. The star of the game was the Michigan run offense, which clearly figured something out about Chicago’s inexperienced defense. Not only did Natrone Means come up huge with 181 yards and 2 TDs on 32 carries, but backup Winslow Oliver broke several big runs as he gained 73 yards on only 6 carries. STL 34 HOU 23 Houston played the Knights tough for 3 quarters, but Ahman Green eventually wore down the Gambler D to the tune of 120 yards and a score. Bert Emmanuel also had a big game with 139 yards and 2 scores on the day as the Knights move to 3-1, tied with Chicago and only 1 game behind the undefeated Breakers. TEX 13 NOR 41 New Orleans is the last of the unbeatens as once again their defense held a club under 20 points. The offense also had a stand out game, with Trent Dilfer going 25 of 28 for 338 yards and 5 scores against a Texas defense that was supposed to be much better than what we have seen this season. Raynard Brown led all receivers with 160 yards through the air and 3 of Dilfer’s 5 touchdown tosses as New Orleans rolled at home. SEA 27 ARZ 33 Arizona was efficient and effective on both sides of the ball as they edged past Seattle, sending the Dragons to their first loss of the season on a hot Tempe afternoon. Jake Plummer was again both the leading passer and the leading rusher for the Wranglers, while Rocket Ismail had yet another 100 yard receiving game. Former Invader Aeneas Williams had a big game on defense, with 8 tackles and the game’s only pick. LA 12 DEN 17 Denver pounded the ball with Salaam, the big back getting 26 carries for 131 yards and 2 scores, and the defense hounded LA quarterback Cade McNown, sacking the Express signal caller 4 times. LA countered with their own run game, with the combo of Pittman and Smith rushing for 155 yards on the day, but it was not enough as LA fell to 2-2 and Denver took over a share of first at 3-1. POR 28 OAK 47 In a battle of winless clubs, something had to give, and it appears it was the Portland defense as Oakland seemed to score at will in this one. Ryan leaf only completed 47% of his throws, but it was good enough for 2 scores, and another 2 were added by HB Siran Stacy, who had his best game in nearly 3 years against the Portland run defense, rushing for 131 yards on 19 carries. Portland QB Akili Smith spent most of the day scrambling, and was the leading rusher for the Thunder, which is never a good sign. TRANSACTIONS NOR: Placed TE D. Lafleur on IR. NOR: Traded a 4th round pick in 2001 to Atlanta for TE Deems May SEA: Placed T Lomas Brown on IR. Signed T Tobey Miles. RETURN OF THE RUN GAME Two trends have dominated the early part of the USFL season, the first being the rise of some unexpected clubs like Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, and Jacksonville to early success. The other, and perhaps more intriguing change we have seen is a significant return to the run game. Several clubs seem to be shifting away from the pass happy offenses that have brought success to teams like Birmingham and Tampa Bay, and are shifting to a run-first philosophy. This has produced more carries for bellcow backs and more games with totals over 120 yards. We even saw Corey Dillon go over 200 earlier this season. Looking at Week 4 this is clearly the case. In this week alone we had 24 carries from Ron Dayne, 22 from Terrell Davis, 25 from Errict Rhett, 20 from Garrison Hearst, 23 from Terry Kirby, 27 from Ahman Green, 20 from Troy Davis (along with 19 from Siran Stacy), 26 from Rashaan Salaam, a whopping 32 from Michigan’s Natrone Means and a combined 34 from the duo of Antowain Smith and Michael Pittman of LA. We also saw more 100-yard rushers in one week than at any point in the past 3 seasons. Does this mean we are looking at a return to 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust? No, not likely, but what it clearly is saying is that teams, especially in the early stages of the season, when the weather and the field conditions can be a bit dicey, are seeing the value in establishing the run game. As the weather heats up we fully expect the passing game which has become synonymous with the USFL to once again assert its dominance in league offenses, but for right now, those of you would enjoy a good counter tre, or a big back shrugging off defenders, this is your time. Pick your favorite back and enjoy a mini-Renaissance of smash mouth football this spring. TRENT DILFER PROVING HIMSELF After a 5-Td game, we need to talk more about Trent Dilfer. We were pretty quick to question New Orleans’s decision to sign the former Buccaneer. After all, his 6 years in Tampa Bay with the NFL Buccaneers were not exactly All Pro seasons. He never passed for more than 3,000 yards and in 3 of 6 years had as many, if not more, picks than touchdowns. His best year saw him complete only 56.2% of his passes and throw only 21 touchdowns. Now, we understand that the rules and the style of play of the NFL mean that QB numbers are not necessarily comparable to the more wide open USFL, but these numbers in the NFL did not indicate that this was a QB who would come to the spring and become a major factor. And, yes, it is only 4 weeks into a long 16-game season, but what we have seen so far has been very encouraging for the 4-0 Breakers. Dilfer currently sits at #1 in QB Rating, with a score of 126.7. His 11-2 TD-INT ratio is among the league best, with only Brett Favre having thrown more scoring tosses so far this season. He is completing nearly 72% of his throws in New Orleans’s short passing game structure, and his 961 yards, while not Top 10 in the USFL, is certainly enough to help the Breakers take pressure off of Ricky Williams to do it all, and enough to help them reach a totally unexpected 4-0 start. The early results certainly make it look like the move to the USFL was a good one for Dilfer, and the pick of Dilfer was a good one for the Breaker franchise. MEANS MEANS BUSINESS We had gotten so used to Natrone Means underperforming in Jacksonville, and the bemoaning the way the Bulls were using him, that I think most of us were willing to believe that Means himself was the issue. A bigger guy, without breakaway speed, Means always said his goal was to wear defenses down. Well, it seems Michigan is giving him that chance. The big man is averaging 92 yards a game so far this season, with an average of 20.5 carries a game. Compare that to his last year as the starter in Jacksonville, when he only averaged 11 attempts a game, and 48 yards. Michigan is feeding him the ball consistently and what we are seeing is that teams simply cannot keep up the energy level needed to tackle him for 4 quarters. In this week’s game against Chicago, Means carried the ball 32 times, including 13 in the 4th quarter, where he gained 92 of his 181 yards for the day. He simply wore down the Machine defense over time. That is a very good weapon for a club like Michigan to have, the ability to just pound the ball, run the clock, and eat up yards at the end of a game. If Means can hold up for the entire season we may see him reach the 1,000 yard mark for the first time in his career, and we may see Michigan right in the thick of the Central Division playoff race. EARLY ROOKIE WATCH Four weeks in, a quarter of the season, and time to recognize 5 rookies who are making their GM’s look pretty smart. We start with HB Ron Dayne, who is racking up 18 carries and 80.5 yards per game. He has also shown that, while not exactly a wideout, he is capable in the passing game. Dayne currently sits 7th in the league with 322 yards (a pace that would put him above 1,200 for the year), but more importantly, his success has made it easier for backup QB Jeff Garcia in the absence of Trent Green, and that has made life better for Coach Infante and the Blitz, who sit at 3-1 and are looking very solid on both sides of the ball. Plaxico Burress has not been able to produce wins for the 1-3 Oakland Invaders, but he has at least shown clear signs that he could be a player to build around. He currently leads the Invaders with 33 targets, 19 catches, and 224 yards. This week he added 2 touchdowns, his first as a pro, and one which was an instant classic, a toe tap along the sideline of the endzone that seemed to defy gravity. John Abraham has been making waves in Seattle as a defensive disruptor. He has 5 sacks in only 4 games and has helped the Dragons start the year as a top 10 defense in both scoring and yardage defense. Lining up alongside Gilbert Brown means Abraham sees few doubleteams, and that is freeing him up to use his speed on the outside. Good for Seattle, bad for opposing QBs. Mike Brown has stepped into the Michigan defense and made an immediate impact. A big hitter who is unafraid to get up into the run game, Brown already has 24 tackles and 2 sacks for the Panthers. Lined up alongside Chris Canty and Thomas Pittman outside, and with the guidance of veteran free safety Mike Prior, Brown is quickly adjusting to the pro game and becoming a player opposing offenses want to account for. Finally, the Portland Thunder are suffering through a brutal 0-4 start to the year, and their defense has been a huge disappointment, currently 23rd in points allowed, but the one bright spot has been the play of rookie LB Mark Simoneau. Simoneau leads the team with 36 tackles so far this season. He is ranging across the field, allowing Bryce Paup to focus on pass rush. The Thunder certainly have issues on defense (21st in the league with only 6 sacks, last in picks with only 1, and allowing 30 points a game), but Simoneau is certainly not the problem. A rough week across the league as we saw 2 more players join the IR and several more who could miss as much as 2 months before a late season return. The biggest blow was for the Seattle Dragons, who saw their All-USFL left tackle, Lomas Brown placed on IR after suffering a significant issue with his left shoulder. As the outside shoulder, lack of mobility and strength here makes it impossible for a tackle to do his job, and with Brown out, Seattle has to scramble to find protection for Brian Griese. New Orleans suffered a less-dramatic loss, with backup TE David LaFleur out for the year with a ruptured Achilles tendon. They moved immediately, sending a draft pick to Atlanta to land veteran Deems May, who will likely be limited to big formations as Scott Gailbraith is expected to remain the starter. In LA the concern is for DT Chester McGlockton, who suffered a compression of a disk in his mid-back. He is expected to miss 6-8 weeks in recovery. A similar timeframe for Washington DE Bobby Hamilton, who suffered a dislocated elbow and hairline fracture in his upper arm after an awkward fall and pile up this week. Baltimore will also be without a key player due to an arm injury, as guard Hayward Haynes had his wrist severely strained, with possible ligament damage, during a fumble scrum. Others expected to miss at least one game this next week include Birmingham wideout Ernest Givens (hamstring) who always seems to miss 3-4 games a season, Denver CB Bruce Pickens (Finger), Portland LB Joey Porter (knee), Orlando center Mike Devlin (knee) and New Jersey CB Gene Atkins (tendonitis). The status of Tampa Bay WR Chris Doering (concussion), Breakers DT Chidi Ahonotu (neck), Michigan tackle Ross Verba (ankle), Atlanta HB Tiki Barber (hamstring) and LA linebacker Donta Jones (quad) are expected to be game time decisions, all are listed as either Questionable or Probable. Last year we told you about an investigation being led by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch into the financial dealings of Knights owner James Orthwein and issues of over/under reporting ticket sales to various investors, insurance providers and the IRS. It appears that this has taken a turn for the serious, now with other aspects of Mr. Orthwein’s finances being called into question not just by the paper but by state and federal authorities. The ticket concern seems to now be part of a major concern about overvaluation of assets for insurance purposes and undervalue for tax purposes, a relatively common bit of financial voo doo, but one which can get someone into serious hot water if proven. This practice can lead to both insurance fraud and tax fraud charges, and after 2 years of investigation by local media, it appears that a grand jury may be hearing evidence on both of those possible charges. Should Orthwein be found guilty, or potentially should he plea out to a settlement, it could have major implications for his ownership of the Knights. Since the finances of the franchise are directly tied to the investigation and potential charges, it seems unlikely that Mr. Orthwein could maintain principal ownership of the club, and may have to abandon all ownership claims as part of a plea agreement. If that were to happen, the most likely scenario would be that the club would be put up for sale, which is exactly what the USFL has dreaded, a club potentially going on the open market, with well-funded groups from several other cities ready to pounce on a chance to acquire and relocate not only an existing club, but one with a pretty solid squad in place. Of course it would be expected that were the Knights to go up for sale, there would be an ownership group representing St. Louis looking to keep the club in the Gateway City, but at present no such alternative group exists, whereas the groups representing Boston, Dallas, Nashville, Miami, and several other cities are already incorporated, funded, structured, and ready to jump at the chance to bring spring football to their town. We will continue to monitor the situation as it now falls into the hands of various legal teams. Seems the Eastern Conference is hell bent on getting their divisional games done early, as once again we find the Atlantic and Southern divisions in divisional play while out west all 6 Central clubs head off to face Pacific foes. Looking first at the Atlantic, the big game is the rivalry game between the 3-1 Blitz and the 3-1 Federals. With both clubs looking very formidable on defense, this one could be a very low scoring affair. In other games, the Glory, who have lost 2 in a row after a surprising 2-0 start are in New Jersey, where the Generals have dropped to 1-3. Pittsburgh, also disappointed to be at 1-3, travels across the state to visit the Stars, who have won two in a row. In the South we are looking forward to 3-1 Orlando visiting upstate rival Jacksonville, also sitting pretty at 3-1. Tampa Bay has a tough game to get back in the win column as they head to Birmingham to face the Stallions. Memphis is hoping to go over .500 if they can get a win in Atlanta against the Fire. We are down to one undefeated team in the Western Conference, the surprising defensive might of the Breakers. They will be sorely tested as they travel to Mile High to face the 3-1 Denver Gold. Another good matchup has the 3-1 St. Louis Knights facing off against the Express in LA. Michigan, after their big win against Chicago, will be in the desert to face off against the 2-2 Arizona Wranglers. Texas may have their best shot so far this season to get a W as they visit 1-3 Oakland. Chicago is hoping Portland does not score their first win as the Machine visit Civic Stadium to face the Thunder. Finally, Houston is in Seattle to take on the 3-1 Dragons.

The surprising 2000 season continued with Chicago, New Orleans, Seattle, and Texas all providing surprising results, and while three of these clubs are more than happy to surprise the pundits and race out to a 3-0 start to the year, the Outlaws are reeling at 0-3 and will need to right the ship quickly. We saw Prime Time hit it big with a dramatic pick six, Ron Dayne come up big, Tim Lester silence his critics, Reuben Droughns flash starter potential, and Charlie Batch lead a huge comeback victory. We start there, with Pittsburgh’s comeback as this week’s game of the week. It did not look good for the 0-2 Maulers at home as the Orlando Renegades used two third quarter scores to change a 10-10 tie into a 20-10 lead with three quarters down, but the Maulers dug deep and, with the full throated support of nearly 45,000 in Three Rivers Stadium, the home squad scored 14 unanswered to upend the Renegades and score their first win of the season. While Batch is certainly not the only hero for the Maulers, he will get the accolades, because on a day when Orlando held last season’s leading rusher, Terrell Davis, to only 32 yards on 18 carries (a 1.8 YPC average), it was up to Batch to rally Pittsburgh back into the game. Orlando had taken what seemed to be a commanding lead thanks to 2 Moe Williams touchdown runs and a pair of Charlie Bauman field goals. Pittsburgh had gotten a 1 yard TD run from Davis, but had been able to do little else through three quarters. But in the 4th, Batch put the team on his shoulders and carried them to victory. He had help in the effort, of course. Andre Rison caught 4 of his 6 receptions in the final period, including a 59-yarder that put Pittsburgh in position for its first of 2 TDs in the quarter. Rison would come up big on several occasions, ending the game with 145 yards on only 6 receptions. In the first drive of their rally, his long reception put the Maulers into the red zone, and led to a Batch to Terrell Davis TD pass on a play action fake. Davis faked receiving the handoff and swung out to the left, where Batch found him for the 1 yard scoring toss. Only 2 minutes later, after a failed Orlando drive, Batch was back in business. Hitting Rison twice, Jake Reed once, another to Jay Riemersma, and then another short TD toss to Freddie Solomon with only 57 seconds left on the clock, the stadium erupted and Batch took a moment to soak it all in. The Maulers would contain Keenan McCardell on Orlando’s desperation final drive, something they had failed to do all day. McCardell had caught 7 balls for 155 yards, but went catchless in 5 plays for Orlando in the game’s final minute. The game ended on a Hail Mary that could not find a receiver, and the Maulers had their first win, a dramatic come-from-behind classic led by a QB who appears to be growing into his role as a team leader. MEM 16 PHI 17 Pittsburgh wasn’t the only winless Atlantic club to use home field to garner their first W. Philadelphia used a stout defense and a bit of luck to send Memphis to their second defeat. LB George Koonce was big, scoring 6 tackles and a pick for the Stars, while both Stephen Davis and Pat Chaffey scored on the ground for the home squad as they edged Memphis by 1. JAX 32 OHI 10 The 2-0 Glory were not so fortunate at home as the Bulls won convincingly thanks to 2 TDs from Chris Chandler and a dynamic 47-yard run from backup HB Kenny Bynum. The Bulls outgained Ohio on the day 423-233 as the Ohio offense which had exploded in weeks 1 and 2 was a lot less potent in the season’s third week. Eddie George faced 8- and 9-man fronts all game, and despite this Kerry Colins could only complete 35% of his passes as Ohio went down to defeat at home. TBY 0 WSH 19 Once again Bandit fans are stunned by the lack of offensive production as Tampa Bay is stunningly shut out by the Federals. Troy Aikman completed 24 of 38 passes but managed only 187 yards as the Federals made deep balls nearly impossible with a complex blitz scheme. They sacked the Tampa quarterback 4 times but pressured him on nearly every passing down. Add to this a surprising day for Reuben Droughns, whose 19 carries produced 101 yards. Washington would run the ball 39 times as they slowed things down for Scott Zolak and won their second in a row with the veteran backup at the helm. ATL 7 BAL 20 The Blitz go ta big game from rookie Ron Dayne to shut down the Fire and earn a home win. Baltimore controlled the clock with Dayne and a very efficient game from Jeff Garcia as they ran off nearly 36 minutes of game time on offense. Dayne would rush for 123 yards and a score to help pace the Blitz on offense, while 3rd year LB Tarek Salah forced two fumbles, recovering one, to keep Atlanta from a comeback. BIR 31 NJ 21 The Generals were solid for 3 quarters, building up a 21-14 lead, but could not contain the Stallions during the final period, when Brett Favre put them up top 24-21. New Jersey looked like they would tie the game, moving into scoring position, but on a truly bad decision, Jeff Lewis tried to force a ball to Terry Glenn and future NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders scored not only his first pick of the young season, but his first USFL pick six, racing the ball back the length of the field and giving Birmingham a commanding 10-point lead with only 1:15 left in the game. NOR 21 MGN 14 In divisional play the New Orleans Breakers continued their unanticipated run of victories, moving to 3-0 with a solid game in Pontiac. Once again it was the defense leading the way as New Orleans held Michigan to only 5 of 15 conversions on third down. Ricky Williams rushed for 86 yards and a score and Trent Dilfer survived two early picks and finished with 2 touchdowns to help the Breakers score their 3rd win to open the season. HOU 14 CHI 25 Chicago also moved to 3-0 to share first with the Breakers, and they too used defense to get the job done. Limiting Matt Hasselbeck to only 14 of 36 passing for a paltry 119 yards, Chicago also grabbed 3 picks to stymie the Gamblers. The Machine, like the Breakers, used the run to control the tempo of the game. They rushed the ball 41 times in the game, including 16 for 74 by Duce Staley and 14 for 97 from Ricky Watters. TEX 6 STL 27 Finishing up the trio of defensive wins in the Central Division, St. Louis thoroughly dismantled the Texas attack, limiting Reggie Cobb to only 50 yards rushing and picking off Kelly Stouffer 3 times to move to 2-1 and try to keep pace with the two surprise teams in first place. Ahman Green added 108 yards rushing and Amani Toomer scored on a fingertip grab to help St. Louis outpace Texas in this key divisional game. DEN 38 ARZ 30 Offense was the order of the day when the Gold visited the Wranglers. Mark Brunell and Jake Plummer both threw for 3 TDs, but the huge surprise was the rushing game of both teams. Denver had 2 100-yard rushers with Rashaan Salaam gaining a respectable 120 yards on 25 carries, while backup Ricky Whittle hit a couple of long TD runs helping him finish the game with 156 yards on only 8 touches. For Arizona Tim Lester had his biggest game in 2 years as he finished with 157 yards in a game that felt more like 1970’s NFL than 2000’s USFL action. OAK 17 LA 31 In a game that was only 10-9 LA at the half, the second half belonged to the Express as Tory Holt scored twice and Mike Pritchard a third time to help LA pull away late. The defense also played a big part, keeping Oakland at bay most of the game, converting only 4 of 13 third downs. SEA 24 POR 8 The battle of Cascadia went to the Dragons who got a very efficient 25 of 27 from Brian Griese and a solid defensive game to upend the homestanding Thunder. Napoleon Kaufmann, who had done so well in Week 2, was stymied, gaining only 29 yards on 16 carries against the rebuilt Dragon defense. The win moves Seattle to a surprising 3-0 atop the Pacific. ROSTER MOVES MGN: Placed K Brett Conway on IR. Signed K Shayne Graham ARZ: Placed LB Winfred Tubbs on IR. Signed LB Anthony McGovern BIR: Placed DT Mike Wells on IR. Signed DT Daryl Gardiner OHI: Placed SS Harlon Barnett on IR. Signed SS Lloyd Lee. LOOKING FOR ANSWERS Three weeks into the season and we have three undefeateds left, none of them playoff teams from 1999, so how is this happening. We already mentioned defense, and that is certainly a big part of what Seattle, Chicago, and New Orleans have accomplished. Over the first three games, these clubs, in order, have allowed 44, 44, and 31 points. They, along with 2-1 Washington, are the top 4 teams in points allowed with these totals under 20 points a game. What else do they have in common? The easy answer is that all three are slowing games down, controlling the tempo and forcing teams to play with fewer opportunities to touch the ball. Let’s take a quick look at how each is accomplishing this. CHICAGO is using a 2-back rotation to keep their backs fresh and provide different styles for defenses to adjust to. Ricky Watters and Duce Staley are almost exactly even in carries, and while Staley has had the bigger gains, both have consistently been able to keep Chicago in short third down scenarios, which certainly makes life easier for Jeff George. George, for his part, has been efficient, not going for the home run ball, but dumping down more often, taking the first downs and sustaining drives. His yards per attempt is down to 7.1, well below past years, and his completion rate is 63.2, one of his better seasons in the USFL or NFL. Controlled, slow, long drives seem to be the key for the Machine. NEW ORLEANS: A skewed run/pass balance seems to be the focus in New Orleans, where not only has Ricky Williams been fed the ball on a regular basis, but Eric Pegram has also been given a chance to make plays. The result is fewer passing plays, fewer clock stoppages, and a lot of time of possession. Trent Dilfer is 21st in the league in pass attempts, with most of the QBs behind him being ones who have simply not played as much because of injuries. When he is throwing, it is usually play action, which has allowed him to garner a 71.4% completion percentage, 2nd only to Jeff Garcia in Baltimore. That combination of high completion percentage and low attempt numbers means New Orleans’s defense is not being asked to play their best 60-70 plays per game, but only 45-55. SEATTLE: Here the story is Corey Dillon. After three weeks he is second only to Ohio’s Eddie George, with 286 rushing yards, and he has 7 more carries, at 69, an average of 23 per game. That is by far the best start to a season in the back’s 4 seasons with Seattle. Coach Tiller is providing Dillon with more help up front, FB Stephen Dobbins has stepped in as the starter after 2 seasons mostly on the practice squad, and is opening holes, and the playcalling, now with Brian Griese as the starter, has certainly shifted. It also helps that teams are focused very much on the dangerous duo of Eric Metcalf and David Boston. With the deep ball ability of both receivers it is hard for defenses to stack the box without risking a play action fly pattern over the top. The threat there means Dillon is seeing more 7-man fronts, and he is taking advantage. All three clubs essentially need to use this similar formula. George, Dlfer, and Griese are at their best when they are not under heavy pressure and when they can deal with 3rd and 3 or 4 instead of 3rd and 10 or more. While Seattle has good talent outside, Chicago and New Orleans rely on the run game to set up the pass, which can be effective, but also means that these teams are built on keeping games to low play counts and low scores. Fall behind too soon and the formula goes out the window. Can these three keep the field tilted their way for the full season? That is a big question, and one which fans in all 3 cities hope to see answered with a resounding “yes”. STEPPING IT UP Yes, it is only 3 weeks into the season, but one of the highlights of the early season this Spring has been the emergence of some players who have been good in the past, but not great. We already highlighted Corey Dillon’s strong start to the year. We should also acknowledge that Eddie George has taken a huge step up, currently leading the league with 322 yards rushing. Among receivers Rocket Ismail in Arizona has seemingly found another gear, leading the league with 369 yards receiving on only 15 receptions, while Rob Moore in Baltimore is among league leaders in both receptions and yards, rare air for this veteran slogger. The success of the run game in Ohio has also helped QB Kerry Collins get off to his best start in the USFL. Currently third in QBR at 112.8, Collins has thrown 6 TDs and no picks in three games and is now getting the ball to more receivers than ever, not focusing exclusively on Joey Galloway each play. Galloway is still getting his targets, but we are also seeing TE Stephen Alexander and former Breaker Qadry Ismail getting a lot of looks. Even Eddie George is getting involved in the passing game, though, admittedly this is mostly through screen plays on longer third down calls. The other big news story is of course the immediate impact of some of the NFL transfers this offseason. Bruce Smith has proven he still has a lot of motor, taking an early lead in sacks and now right there with Phil Hansen. Deion Sanders has also demonstrated that he has not lost a step and can still make an entire side of the field a danger zone for quarterbacks. Trent Dilfer has certainly outperformed expectations in New Orleans, and Baltimore’s Marquez Pope has become an instant leader on the Blitz defense. In Portland, Napoleon Kaufmann has been the one bright spot in a rough 0-3 start for the Thunder, while in Philadelphia Bobby Engram is quickly becoming one of Bobby Hebert’s favorite targets. Despite the trend of the USFL of focusing their financial resources on the college draft and signing NFL players who are largely considered either disappointments or stars on the downward slope of their career, the influx of NFL talent has, at least so far, proven quite advantageous for the USFL clubs willing to make the investment. Not a great week for the league when it comes to player safety as three players end up on IR after season-ending injuries and several others will miss multiple weeks. Concern particularly for Ohio safety Harlon Barnett, who had a helmet-to-helmet collision on the field, leaving him lying motionless for over a minute before staff were able to revive him. He was taken off the field on a back board for precautionary measures. Barnett was taken to a local hospital, where doctors determined that he had suffered a significant spinal compression, leading to a ruptured disk. He is expected to have a full recovery, but the question remains as to whether he will be advised to return to the sport he loves or retire. Arizona got their worst news of the season as starting LB Winfred Tubbs is lost for the year due to a severe tear of the ACL and MCL ligaments in his left knee. The rehab process can take a year or longer, so the Wranglers and Winfred will be looking very much at 2001 as the earliest possible return. In Birmingham, DT Mike Wells also suffered a leg injury, this time a partial tear of his quad muscle in the thigh. This too could take several months to fully heal, and so the Stallions placed Wells on the IR for the remainder of the season. Not quite a severe, though certainly scary for Washington DE Bobby Hamilton, who suffered a neck injury in the game this week. He is expected to recover in time for potential late season action, as the team is estimating 6-8 weeks for full recovery. And finally, Texas lost a very promising rookie for the next 4-6 weeks as DT Chris Hovan suffered a broken collarbone. Fortunately the bone is not displaced, so the recovery will allow Hovan to return for the final month of the season. Injuries are a major concern for any sports league, and this week the USFL announced a major initiative in hopes of reducing the injury rate of its players, particularly focusing on brain injuries. We all understand that football is a violent, collision sport, and that head-to-head contact, which is one of the leading causes of football brain injury, is a significant danger. To help curb the number of significant helmet-to-helmet contact plays and to minimize the impact of those that will occur, the USFL has partnered with Riddell on a three-part platform to protect their players. The first piece of the puzzle will be some rule changes to be reviewed by the Competition Committee. Potential adjustments include a possible addition of an unsportsmanlike conduct foul for deliberate use of the crown of the helmet to lay hits on opposing players. Another could include adjustments to the legal alignments on kickoffs, to reduce the space between receiving and defending lines, thus reducing the speed of initial contact when the two meet. And finally, it is expected that a greater emphasis on late hits, diving tackles, and hits on players surrendering by sliding or stepping out of bounds will be a part of upcoming discussions. The goal in all these cases is to reduce the use of the helmet as a weapon, and to reduce the number of both intentional and unintentional helmet-to-helmet collisions. The second element of this new safety guideline will be the introduction of a new helmet style into the USFL. Riddell has been developing a new helmet, one with a unique shock absorption pattern, longer side panels (ear and chin), and a more rigidly affixed facemask system. This new helmet, called the “Revolution” is expected to be approved by the USFL for immediate use in the league, and we can expect that by the Spring 2001 season it will be seen on the field. Several notable players have been involved in beta testing the helmet during offseason camps and Riddell-sponsored testing programs, including QB’s Ryan Leaf, Spence Fischer, Brian Griese, and Jim Miller. Halfback Eddie George, wideout Lawrence Dawsey, linebacker Mo Lewis, and a range of linemen have also taken part in the testing led by Riddell. Finally, the USFL has aligned with Riddell and with the University of Pittsburgh, to engage in a 2-year study of football-related head injuries as well as the impact dynamics of various types of collision. This study is expected to inform both the USFL’s player safety protocols as well as rules adjustments and helmet design going into the future. It is a first step in what appears to be a very welcome movement within the USFL to value player safety as much as gameplay and profit are valued within the league. After this week’s injury to Harlon Barnett of the Glory, the timing could not be better. Week Four is a full divisional weekend, with all four divisions going to war. In the Pacific that means Seattle putting their 3-0 record up against the homestanding Arizona Wranglers while two 2-1 clubs try to keep pace as Denver hosts LA. Oakland and Portland round out the weekend with both 0-3 clubs looking for their first wins of the season. In the Central we have 2 undefeated teams with good chances to move to 4-0 as the Chicago Blitz host rival Michigan and the New Orleans Breakers host the winless Texas Outlaws. St. Louis is at Houston in another important early season clash. In the South the big game is Birmingham at Memphis. The Showboats cannot afford to fall to 1-3 if they want to defend their title, while Birmingham is hoping to take over the division with a win. Jacksonville is at Tampa Bay with both clubs hoping to get something started while Atlanta visits Orlando with their eyes on a statement win on the road. Finally, in the Atlantic, we have 2-1 Ohio headed for a big test at 2-1 Washington. Another key matchup has the Baltimore Blitz visiting the Pittsburgh Maulers, while in Veterans Stadium one of the league’s best rivalries is on tap when the Generals travel down the turnpike to face the Stars in Philly.

Only Week 2 and we are already getting a sense that things may be different this year. Chicago, Seattle and New Orleans are all surprises at 2-0, while Texas and Pittsburgh are equally surprising at 0-2. Scott Zolak came up big for the Federals, while Oakland’s defense again struggled. Some of our new NFL transfers are also looking like rock solid investments as Napoleon Kaufmann has a huge day for Portland, and Bruce Smith leads the league with 4 sacks in 2 games for Atlanta. Seems like this season may prove to be one of the more unpredictable ones, or are we jumping the gun only 2 weeks into a 16 game season? This one was not supposed to be very close, with St. Louis an 8 point favorite in Las Vegas. But, what no one saw coming was that the Thunder would find a weakness in the Knights’ run defense and Napoleon Kaufmann would nearly win the game single-handedly. It took a late rally by the Knights to put this one away for the home team as the Thunder gave the defending Central Division Champs all they could handle. St. Louis started strong, with Todd Collins connecting with his favorite target, Bert Emmanuel on a 10-yard TD toss to open the scoring in the first. Portland countered, and following a 23-yard run by Kaufmann, one of 5 different 20+ yard scampers on the day, the Thunder got on the board with a bootleg throw from Akili Smith to the ageless Webster Slaughter. St. Louis would add 2 field goals in the second quarter, but after 2, they had only a 13-7 lead and it felt like the Thunder were setting the tone with short passes and long runs. This continued on the opening drive of the second half, when a combination of runs from Kaufmann and backup Darius Turner moved the ball down the field for the Thunder, in a drive that was capped off by a Kaufmann 1-yard run to put the visiting side up 14-13. St. Louis would get their next scoring opportunity at the beginning of the 4th quarter, whan an inopportune defensive holding call on a 3rd and 11 gave St. Louis a new set of downs. They responded with a score as free agent signing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar rumbled into the endzone from 6 yards out. The Knights went for 2, but the off-guard run by Ahman Green was stuffed, so it was St. Louis ahead 19-14. Portland would have two solid drives, one including a 45-yard scamper from Kaufmann, but on both occasions they could not punch the ball in and had to settle for 2 John Kasay field goals. Even with these issues, with the 2nd kick at 1:05 left to play, John Kasay put the Thunder up 20-19. But 1:05 can be plenty of time for a club with all 3 time outs left, needing only a field goal. Portland would play prevent defense, and as it so often does, it appears this strategy would prevent them from winning. St. Louis dinked and dunked the ball along the sidelines, catching Kez McCorvey once over the middle and using a time out. They positioned the ball for Ryan Longwell, and the reliable kicker, taking advantage of a weather-free atmosphere inside the dome, connected from 44 yards out as the clock wound down, giving St. Louis a “skin of your teeth” victory, but a victory nonetheless. Kaufmann would finish the game with an impressive 175 yards rushing, while the star for St. Louis was LB Kevin Hardy, whose 10 tackles, including 1 sack, kept them from falling too far behind the Thunder, forcing Portland to kick instead of score touchdowns when they had the upper hand. No receiver went over 100 yards in this game fought mostly in the trenches. With the loss the Thunder fall to 0-2, but they showed some signs of life in this game, something to build on. St. Louis moves to 1-1 after an opening week loss. PIT 10 WSH 21 The Federals defense knew it had to play big to help their club, with Scott Zolak filling in for the injured Kordell Stewart the offense could not be counted on to win the game. The green-shirted Federal defense stepped up, holding Terrell Davis to only 78 yards rushing, sacking Charlie Batch 4 times, and picking off two errant throws on their way to an 11-point win. Herman Moore also came up huge with 9 receptions, 122 yards and a score as he helped transition Zolak into what may be the starting role the rest of the way for Washington. BAL 28 NJ 21 Baltimore got on the board first and both clubs traded scores for 60 minutes, though the Generals would never lead in this one. The Blitz played most of the game with Jeff Garcia at QB after Trent Green went down with an injury which may sideline him for up to 3 weeks. Garcia played well, throwing 3 TDs and completing 23 of 28 passes on the day. With New Jersey concentrating on clogging the running lanes for rookie Ron Dayne (16 carries for only 27 yards) the passing game was the key for the Blitz. Two TD tosses from Jeff Lewis and 93 yards from Curtis Enis kept the Generals close, but they could not get on top in this one. PHI 20 OHI 45 Eddie George had a career game, racking up 219 yards on 22 carries as the Stars’ defense was misaligned, missing tackles, and manhandled up front all game long. Bobby Hebert’s 3 interception day also did not help as the Glory got a convincing home win in this one. Add in 140 yards from Joey Galloway and 2 picks from the Ohio linebacking corps, and you have an easy win for the home team as Ohio moves to 2-0. TBY 24 ORL 27 A great game in the Citrus Bowl on Saturday Night as Orlando got a 4th quarter TD from Danta Whittaker to upend the visiting Bandits. Troy Aikman found Randy Moss 7 times on the night but could not find the endzone. Meanwhile, Donald Driver caught 8 for 104 and Whittaker, an unheralded TE for the ‘Gades scored twice for Scott Mitchell and the offense. BIR 21 ATL 24 The Fire get a huge win at home in front of nearly 43,000 (many having come from Alabama to root for the Stallions) as Tiki Barber rushes for a 4th quarter TD to put the Fire up 24-13, and they hold off Brett Favre in the final minutes to preserve the win. Aaron Brooks played well, scrambling 9 times to avoid Mike Rucker and the Stallion front 4, but also completed 16 of 26 passes for 241 and a score as Atlanta gets their first win of the season. MEM 14 JAX 24 The Showboats came out flat and the Bulls took advantage in this one. By the half it was 24-0 Jacksonville and while Memphis finally got something going in the 2nd half, it was too little too late as the Bulls played keep-away with the ball, handing off to Sedrick Irvin, Kenny Bynum, and Edgar Bennett 17 times in the second half to kill the clock and preserve a good home win over the defending league champions. ARZ 17 CHI 20 Chicago gets the home win to move to 2-0 as they bend but don’t break on defense. Jake Plummer threw for 353, but could only muster 10 points until the final minute of play, when a late score pulled them within 3. LB Keith Brooking for Chicago landed 2 sacks of Jake Plummer, acting as a spy the entire game to keep the fleet footed QB in the pocket and out of the running lanes. DEN 27 HOU 10 The Gold get their first win of the year as they go into Houston and stupefy Matt Hasselbeck. The combo of run blitzes and ferocious outside pass rush was effective against the Gamblers, landing 5 sacks of Hasselbeck and limiting the Faulk-Levins combo to only 65 yards rushing. On offense, Mark Brunell returned to action and hit both Dedrick Smith and newly arrived slot receiver Tamarick Vanover with scores on the way to a 17-point victory. LA 35 MGN 27 The Panthers scored a rarity, 2 safeties in the same game, but could not overcome a very solid and sharp LA Express attack. Cade McNown threw 4 TD passes, including 2 to Mike Pritchard, as LA picked apart the Panther defense. For Michigan both Jeff Campbell and TE Butch Rolle went over 100 yards receiving, bu tit was not enough as the Express outpaced the Panthers. A Martin Bayless pick 6 of 85 yards against Flutie proved to be decisive in the 8-point win. OAK 3 NOR 38 The Breakers surprise again, this time by totally shutting down Ryan Leaf and the Invaders. Ricky Williams rushed for 112 and 2 scores, while backup Eric Pegram gained another 94 on the ground as Coach Nolan used the ground game to eat clock, shorten the game, and keep the ball out of Leaf’s hands. The plan worked as New Orleans controlled the clock for nearly 40 minutes in the game and Oakland never saw the endzone. SEA 20 TEX 13 The Dragons move to 2-0 and the Outlaws fall to 0-2 after a lackluster performance from Reggie Cobb (29 yards on 10 carries) is overshadowed by a dynamic game from Seattle’s Corey Dillon (19 carries for 156 yards). Texas led 10-6 after 3 quarters, but late scores from David Boston and Ken Dilger helped flip the script and send Seattle home on a very happy plane, sitting pretty at 2-0. WEEK 1 ROSTER MOVES WSH: Placed QB Kordell Stewart on IR, signed QB Perry Klien DEN: Placed QB Erik Wilhelm on IR, signed QB Scott Covington LA: Placed WR Rob Carpenter on IR, signed WR Stepfret Williams OHIO OUTPUT When we looked at Ohio in the preseason we said that their defense was a major concern and that the offense might have to carry them. If these first two weeks are any indication, it seems that Coach Luginbill may have been listening. Ohio has opened the season with two back-to-back strong offensive performances, and while the defense has played adequately it has been the play of QB Kerry Collins and HB Eddie George that has the Glory sitting at 2-0. George leads the league in rushing after 2 weeks, and, of course, a personal best and very rare 200-yard game this week helps that a great deal, but the shifty former Ohio State back is looking at this year as a possible break out season. He has toyed with 1,000 yards before, but has yet to reach that target in his 4 years in the league, peaking at 976 in 1998. With over 330 yards after only 2 games, this could well be the year for George to reach the 1,000 mark. For Collins, who has 5 TD passes in 2 games, there is hope that the former Penn State product is finally ready to be all that the Glory hoped when they snatched him away from the NFL. Not that Collins has struggled in the league, passing for over 4,000 yards in each of the last 2 seasons, but his QBR of 112.8 is well above the 81.3 or 86.2 of his first two seasons, and the fact that he has yet to throw a pick is certainly a good sign. We could mention Joey Galloway as well, though in his case it Is hard to imagine him improving much on his last 4 seasons, seasons in which he has averaged over 100 catches and 1500 yards per year. His numbers are actually down a bit this season compared to the last 2 years at this time, which may be a byproduct of George’s success, or could be an indication that the Glory finally have a more diversified offense. Galloway is still seeing plenty of targets, but so are TE Stephen Alexander, WR Qadry Ismail and George as well. While perhaps not great for Galloway’s personal accolades, this diversified passing attack certainly helps the Glory in the long run. BREAKER BLITZ If Ohio’s offense has been a revelation this year, New Orleans’s early defensive success has been a complete shock. The Breakers, expected to be one of the weaker teams in the league, have come out of the gate at 2-0, and it is in large part thanks to their defense. In two games, New Orleans has allowed only 17 total points (14 to Washington and 3 to Oakland), and currently is in the Top 5 in total yards allowed, passing yards allowed, and rushing yards allowed. They are plus 4 in turnovers after only 2 games, and it appears to be a team effort, as no one player is dominating statistically. Lamar Lathon leads an unheralded LB Corps, but one that is getting the job done against the run, a huge help when it comes to dictating offensive options. The Breakers are also among the league leaders with 10 sacks on the season, split among 7 players. The Blitz is a huge piece of the puzzle for the Breakers, as Coach Nolan is sending at least 1 LB on almost every passing down. Robert Hinley, Gerald Dixon and Lamar Lathon account for 5 of the 10 team sacks, with DE Jerry Reese also landing 2 so far. Add in 4 forced fumbles (3 occuring during sacks) and we can see how New Orleans is doing it. The Breakers have a big test this week, traveling to Michigan to face the Panthers, so let’s see if the D can once again determine the fate of the game, allowing Trent Dilfer and Ricky Williams to play a conservative field position game. STATS DON’T LIE, DO THEY? Well, if you are the Philadelphia Stars they might. The Stars, suffering at 0-2, find themselves in a weird statistical place. They are currently 3rd in the league in yards gained, including 5th in rushing thanks to Stephen Davis’s strong start to the year, and 7th in passing. Those are all good signs of a potent offense, but the Stars are also tied for dead last in scoring. That is “no bueno”. While holding onto the ball and gaining yardage is certainly a good thing, and helps keep an iffy defense off the field for more of the game, the goal is to score points and that is just not happening for the Stars. Philadelphia earned only 13 points in their opener at home against Chicago, a game marred by bad weather and a frozen field. They then scored only 20 at Ohio, a club not known for stalwart defense. What is causing the disconnect between yards and points, your first guess is probably a good one, turnovers. The Stars currently lead the league in a bad way with a -5 turnover differential, due both to a lack of defensive ballhawking (only 1 takeaway in 2 games) but also due to 6 turnovers by the offense. Bobby Hebert has 5 picks to only 2 TDs in the early stages of the season. That is a real issue, especially for a club that has weapons on offense, but needs to avoid self-inflicted wounds so as to protect their defensive shortcomings. Three of Collins’s picks have come in the opposition redzone, meaning not only a loss of possession but a loss of points as well. The Stars have proven they can run the ball with Davis and Chaffey. Their receiving corps, while talented, needs time to gel, with newcomer Bobby Engram currently leading the squad in receptions, but it is diversified, with Engram, Brown, Eric Green, and Kevin Dyson all seeing significant action and attention from Hebert, but the Stars need to focus on avoiding the big turnover if they want to turn the corner and return to the better play of past years. A much better week around the league, with two exceptions. Michigan looks like they will be in the market for a kicker after Brett Conway tore his quad trying to tackle on a kick return. Baltimore QB Trent Green hurt his foot on an awkward drop back when his right guard stepped on him, but is only expected to miss 2-3 weeks, leaving Jeff Garcia at the helm. Other injuries of note fall into the Doubtful or Questionable range, meaning a possible return to action in Week 4. These include LB Joey Porter (POR), DE Roosevelt Nicks (BIR), CB Thomas Pittman (MGN), CB Deon Figures (ORL), T Leon Searcy (NJ), and SS John Lynch (SEA). At this past fall’s League Meetings, one of the hot topics was expansion. The league voted pretty one-sidedly to postpone any discussion of expansion to no earlier than 2005, and while that decision makes sense on the one hand, with several cities itching to be added to the USFL roster, it has left a lot of ownership bidding groups looking for alternatives. The truth is that there is a market, a hunger, for USFL football across the country in cities not represented by the league’s 24 teams. There are well-financed groups hoping that they too will have the chance to bring a club to their city, and cities hoping to expand revenue from their very expensive locally-funded stadiums. In many cases we have NFL cities hoping to add a second tenant to their big arenas, while we also see a few non-NFL cities hoping to earn something of a big league status by bringing spring football to town. And so, what should we expect over the next few years? Well, if the league will not even consider discussion of expansion until 2005, that means the earliest possible expansion may not be until 2007 or 2008, and some of these bidding groups may decide that it is too long to wait. The risk is there that these groups will start to make offers to current USFL clubs that are not in ideal situations financially. Relocation is a real prospect. With major markets like Boston, Dallas, Miami, the Twin Cities, and (arguably) San Francisco, not represented in the USFL, and with emerging markets like Nashville, Charlotte, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas hoping to build some clout by expanding pro sports in their areas, there is certainly no shortage of potential destinations. But just which USFL clubs might be in a position to seek greener pastures? Here is our Top 5 potential targets for relocation temptation. WASHINGTON: Yes, DC is a huge market, and the Federals draw pretty well at RFK Stadium, but the ownership of the NFL Redskins, first with Jack Kent Cooke, and now with Daniel Snyder, has been outright antagonistic towards the USFL presence in the city. While there was initial hope that the sale of the Redskins would reboot the relationship between the USFL and NFL franchises in the nation’s capital, it seems that Snyder shares Kent Cooke’s vision of the USFL as unwanted competition and not as a potential local partner. With their own state of the art stadium in Maryland, the Redskins are in no mood to consider a potential new stadium in the District. In fact, they are very likely to fight any effort for even modest renovations to RFK as a potential threat to revenue for their club. This leaves the Federals in a tough position, as clearly the 2nd most popular franchise in the area, despite their success in the USFL, and with a hostile rival currying far more favor with local and national authorities. OAKLAND: We all know what the issue is with the Invaders, it’s that stadium. Oakland-Alameda Stadium is a bit of a pit. Designed far better for baseball than football and well past its prime, it is not a great venue. But, with the Raiders happily sharing Farmers Insurance Field in LA with the Express, and the A’s playing baseball on a modest budget, how do the Invaders get themselves a new facility? They have considered playing at Cal-Berkely down the road, but playing on campus means abandoning beer sales, and that is a huge deterrent for any pro team. The Invaders simply don’t have much leverage in Oakland, but they may find an answer if they look further afield. The money in the area is not in Oakland, or even really in San Francisco (itself trying to find a way to satisfy the growth needs of the NFL 49ers), but in San Jose. With their first pro team, the NHL Sharks, having significant success, and a possible co-tenant in mid-major NCAA program San Jose State, there might be an option for the Invaders to remain in the Bay Area and still get the kind of facility that Oakland seems unwilling to provide. And yet, can a club based out of Oakland’s gritty, yet funky, community really retain its identity if it moves to nerd-centric Silicon Valley? ST. LOUIS: A good team in a city that has a reputation as a baseball town. The Knights were welcomed with open arms when they relocated from LA back in 1992, but when the city also added the NFL Rams, the new dome started to get a bit crowded. Unlike many other cities on our list, who suffer from a lack of negotiating power because they do not have an NFL team in town, the Knights have a different issue. The Rams are now the golden child in the eye of local football fans. The Knights, despite on-field success, are still dealing with the fact that their season runs alongside the MLB Cardinals, a team that has as devoted a local following as any club in baseball. Attendance has been adequate, averaging in the mid 30,000s, but that is not enough to truly make the Knights a revenue leader. Add to this the preferential terms the Rams received with the dome as enticements to relocate from Anaheim, and you can see why the Knights might be ripe for the picking from a well-funded ownership group in Boston, Dallas or Miami. MEMPHIS: Yes, the defending champions, who often are at or near the top of the league attendance numbers, have stadium issues. As with so many other clubs in non-NFL cities, the Showboats are finding it difficult to persuade local authorities to upgrade an aging facility. The Liberty Bowl is a bit of a relic, with few luxury suites and amenities far more appropriate for a mid-major college program like the U. of Memphis than for a pro football franchise. Revenue is adequate, and Memphis certainly has been a welcoming community, but it is not a wealthy city, with a wealthy consumer and corporate base. That is one reason why the NFL expanded to Nashville instead of Memphis back in 1995. Nashville could be a very viable option if the Showboats wanted to expand their revenue stream. The up and coming city is already on the hook for a new stadium to support their NFL Copperheads franchise, and would love a 2nd team to bring in revenue. Can the City of Memphis find the funds to support the improvements the Showboats need? That may be the biggest question for longstanding USFL presence in the city. PORTLAND: The Thunder, like many of the squads on this list, have a decent ownership group, though the loss of Nike founder Phil Knight at the lead of the club was a blow, but they too suffer from the single-tenant concern when it comes to stadium expansion and renovation. With no NFL club in town, and not even a top tier college program to potentially partner with, it is a tough sell to get the city to expend significant resources to either expand Civic Stadium or build a new state-of-the-art facility in the Rose City. The Thunder were able early on to get the former minor league baseball stadium expanded from around 20,000 seats up to its current 34,000 seats, but it still remains the smallest stadium in the league, and is in no position to be expanded again. The odds are just not good that the Thunder will be able to coax the voters of Portland to spend half a billion dollars or more to provide their club with a 50,000+ seat stadium in the near future. That means revenue is stunted for the franchise, something which very well could entice them to look for an option elsewhere. Week 3 flips the script, with the 12 Western Conference teams all in divisional play while the Atlantic Division hosts the Southern in the Eastern Conference. We have some rivalry games out west to start with, including the Cascade Clash as 2-0 Seattle visits 0-2 Portland, the California Derby as Oakland visits LA, and the Mountain Zone Mellee as Denver is in Arizona. In the Central Division we also have 3 good matchups, beginning with a Saturday Night tilt in St. Louis, when the surprisingly 0-2 Texas Outlaws come to town to face the Knights. New Orleans and their 2-0 record will be tested when they visit the Michigan Panthers in Pontiac, and on Sunday afternoon we have Houston heading to Chicago with hopes of knocking the Machine from the ranks of the early season unbeatens. A huge match for the Pittsburgh Maulers, who find themselves 0-2 and facing the 2-0 Orlando Renegades at Three Rivers this Saturday. Ohio is also 2-0 and at home again against a dangerous Jacksonville Bulls squad. Philadelphia will need all the home cooking they can muster as the league champion Showboats are in town. New Jersey hosts Birmingham, with both clubs sitting at 1-1, and Atlanta is in Baltimore, where Bruce Smith will be hunting down backup QB Jeff Garcia of the Blitz. Finally, Tampa Bay will be in Washington as one of these clubs will rise to 2-1.

A new millennium, a new season, a new hope for 24 franchises and 24 fan bases, each filled with optimism and nerves as the USFL kicks off its 18th season of spring football. Lots of excitement around the league as the season begins with a bang. From rookies trying to prove themselves to veterans on new teams, and some NFL imports expected to have a big impact on day 1, there is always a lot to celebrate on opening weekend in the USFL, despite often cold and rainy weather. We kick it all off with our Game of the Week, a shootout in rainy Jacksonville. It had rained most of the day before, and it threatened to do so again on Sunday, but while the field was certainly saturated, the game was largely rain-free, with a couple of momentary showers here and there. The fear of lightning delays turned out to be unneeded and the game, despite some muddy conditions at the Gator Bowl, went off without delay. And what a game it was. Jake Plummer put the Arizona Wranglers on his back, leading the club in both passing and rushing yards and earning Offensive POTW honors for his dual threat role. Chris Chandler kept Jacksonville engaged and had them with a late lead in a game played in front of nearly 51,000 fans, a lot of them buying up Arrington jerseys, available for the first time at the game. The Bulls opened the scoring when Chris Chandler hit the new clear #1 receiver Terrell Owens with a 21-yard corner pattern midway through the first. Owens would relish his new role, catching 8 balls for 107 yards and all three Chandler TD passes on the day. Patrick Rowe and Dez White would account for 7 receptions combined as Chandler hit 9 different receivers on the day. After Arizona got on the board with a field goal, new Bulls starting HB Sedrick Irvin added to the Bulls’ lead with a 12-yard TD run that saw him absolutely lay out a CB with a straightarm. Arizona’s first TD would come, fittingly enough, on a 26-yard Plummer scramble. With the Bulls playing tight man, once Plummer sprinted from the pocket, he had wide open space to make his dash to the endzone. He would do this repeatedly on the day, rushing for 60 yards 5 scrambles and scoring twice on the ground. That he was the leading rusher still has to be a concern for Arizona. Tim Lester had only 3 carries, while newly acquired HB Leeland MacElroy, the former NJ General, had 4 for only 13 yards. Chandler responded to the Plummer TD by tossing another scoring throw to Owens, giving Jacksonville a 21-10 halftime lead, but one which at no point felt secure. They would expand the lead to 24-10 on a Kris Brown field goal to open the 2nd half, but then Arizona would start to battle back. Plummer again scrambled for a score, this time 25 yards, on yet another 4-wide passing play that turned into a running play. This play would cause Jacksonville to have to keep a LB in as spy for the rest of the game, a move that limited Plummer but created better options for the passing game. Arizona followed up their TD with a field goal on the next drive, and then the one mistake Chandler made came up huge for the Wranglers. Trying to hit Dez White on a slant, Chandler’s pass was behind the receiver, landing not in his hands but in those of Wrangler CB Kevin Minnifield. Minnifield caught the ball at full speed and used that speed to race 31 yards to paydirt. What had been a 24-10 Jacksonville lead had turned on its head and was now a 27-24 deficit. Chandler responded as a veteran of his caliber should, leading the Bulls down the field and scoring, yet again to Owens, with 2:35 left in the game. But 2:35 is an eternity in USFL football, and Coach Cunningham would regret sticking with the passing game and not burning up more time in the redzone as Plummer and the Wranglers marched down the field and put a winning score on the board with Plummer’s only passing TD of the day, a 12-yard rub route for Carl Pickens. Plummer, who had spent the entire day throwing as Arizona abandoned the run altogether in a Stallion-like strategy against the Bulls, would finish with 431 yards passing, a career high for the former Sun Devil. Pickens would finish with 103 yards and the key score, while Rocket Ismail would haul in 6 passes for 145 on the day. Arizona’s two new tight ends, O.J. Santiago and Mark Bruener, would combine for 11 receptions and 119 yards as well. For Jacksonville it was a bitter loss, as they had a 14-point lead and could not hold it. Despite the negative outcome, they had to be happy with several aspects of their game, including Owens stepping up as the #1, Sedrick Irvin’s solid day, and the play of LaVar Arrington in his first pro game, with 7 tackles and a sack on the day. But the day ended with a W for the Wranglers and an L for the Bulls, something sure to damper the early season exuberance of the large Gator Bowl crowd more than the rain did. LA 20 TBY 35 Rain also impacted the game in Tampa Bay, but not as much as the Bandits offense impacted Coach Hall’s return to Florida with the LA Express. It was the Errict Rhett show early as the elusive back scored the game’s first 3 touchdowns, giving Tampa a 21-0 lead that they would never relinquish. Rhett would finish the day with 98 combined yards from scrimmage and the 3 scores, with Troy Aikman adding another 375 yards passing and a TD toss to TE Troy Drayton. For LA, Mike Pritchard was the star with 178 yards as the Express threw on almost every play in their attempt to come back. It was not enough, and the Bandits start off the 2000 campaign with a quality win over a 1999 division winner. SEA 27 ATL 23 It was a battle of QB’s trying to prove their coaches right for choosing them when Brian Griese led the Seattle Dragons into Atlanta to face Aaron Brooks and the Fire. In what turned out to be one of the more entertaining games of the weekend, both 1995 expansion clubs showed some good play, though also sloppy with 16 penalties between them. Griese would come out on top, on the scoreboard and the stat box as his 33 of 43, 343-yard day was a far better result than Brooks’s 14 of 38, 157-yard afternoon. Tiki Barber helped keep Atlanta in the game with 120 yards on the day, while Eric Metcalf was the favorite target of Griese, catching 11 balls for 106. POR 27 MEM 33 OT The defending Southern Division champions were tested by the Thunder but prevailed in large part due to another huge game from Heath Shuler (26 of 39 for 365 yards and 5 TD tosses). Adrian Cooper led all receivers with 6 catches, while Joe Horn hauled in 2 scores and 121 yards on the day. For Portland, Napoleon Kaufmann looked solid, but was only able to gain 46 yards on 13 carries, though a nice 29-yard juke and sprint run surely gave Thunder fans optimism about his future with the club. The game would go to overtime, thanks to 3 TD passes from Akili Smith in his best game to date, but in the extra period, a dump off pass from Shuler to FB Larry Centers turned into a clinic on how to avoid tackles as Centers wove his way to the game-winning score. OAK 31 ORL 37 OT The “New Look” Oakland Invaders gave Orlando all they could handle in another overtime thriller. Ryan Leaf threw for 3 scores and Troy Davis gained 119 yards on only 13 carries as the Invader’s new emphasis on zone blocking and slashing runs helped them stay with the Renegades all game. Terry Kirby was the weapon most feared by Oakland Coach Dom Capers, and rightly so. Kirby would rush for 100 yards and catch 4 balls for 28 more to help power Orlando to the overtime win. Ironically it was not Kirby who drove the dagger into the hearts of Invader fans, but newly acquired backup Moe Williams, the former Showboat, who dove in from the 1 to give Orlando the win in overtime. DEN 30 BIR 42 In the Sunday Night game, wrapping up the Pacific v. South showdowns, Birmingham proved they were a solid preseason favorite, dispatching the defending Western Conference Champions thanks to a monster 6 TD performance from Brett Favre. Favre would throw scoring tosses to Dawsey (2), Givens, Reeves, Robinson, and their new starting HB, Rodney Thomas to power the Stallions to a commanding win. Denver looked good early, but when Mark Brunell had to leave the game with an injury, their production could not keep pace with the Stallions. New backup QB Bill Musgrave played well (25 of 33 for 237) but it was simply not enough to stay on pace with Favre’s blistering performance. CHI 19 PHI 13 A cold 33-degree day, with wind and still some residue of snow on the field welcomed the Machine to Philadelphia on Saturday. It made life tough for both clubs as passing was no easy feat. Chicago, with a solid 2-headed running game, made the best of it, with the combo of Watters (64) and Staley (48) giving the Machine over 100 yards on the day. That, along with a nice game from Chicago safety Anthony Prior (8 tackles, 1 pick) helped Chicago hold off the Hebert-led Stars and claim a road win in tough conditions. HOU 26 PIT 23 Pittsburgh was also no picnic weather-wise, but the wind was not quite as impactful, allowing Houston’s new starting QB, Matt Hasselbeck to claim his first victory for the Gamblers. The former BC signalcaller got the call over free agent Jim Miller and returning QB Chuck Hartlieb, and proved quite effective, going 26 of 49 for 354 yards, 2 TDs to 1 pick. Brett Perriman was his favorite receiver with 13 targets, hauling in 124 yards, including a back-breaking 51-TD strike on a 3rd and 13. Pittsburgh moved the ball well, but struggled in the redzone, forced to go for 3 on three occasions where they had been inside the 15. MGN 28 BAL23 The Panthers showed their early season form, going into a tough road game at Baltimore and coming away with a 5-point victory. Natrone Means, in his first start for the Panthers after a late offseason deal with the Bulls, rushed the ball 20 times for 68 yards, and helped Doug Flutie set up play action, including a brilliant fake on a 2nd and 2 that produced the game winning toss to TE Roland Williams. For Baltimore, rookie Ron Dayne looked solid, carrying the ball 11 times for 74 yards, a 6.7 YPC average. NOR 21 WSH 14 Maybe we were too fast to dump on NFL transfer QB Trent Dilfer, after he led the 10-point underdog New Orleans Breakers back from a 14-0 deficit to defeat the Federals. Dilfer certainly was not perfect, but his two TD passes, one each to Ricky Proehl and Az-Zahir Hakeem, as well as a key 27-yard toss to Raynard Brown on their final scoring drive (Ricky Williams 1-yard run) brought the Breakers an unexpected road win to open the season. But the biggest story out of this game will almost certainly be the season ending injury which took Washington QB Kordell Stewart out of action (more on that to come). STL 17 OHI 24 Another huge opening day upset, though this one was at least a home game for the Ohio Glory. Kerry Collins helped Ohio build up a 17-0 lead and they never looked back as Todd Collins struggled through 3 picks for a Knights offense that was just not ready for prime time. Jason Webster, the unheralded 2nd CB of the Glory had a huge game, picking off 2 passes intended for Bert Emmanuel as Ohio switched up their coverage of Emmanuel and Toomer. TEX 23 NJ 31 One final surprise win in the clash of Central and Atlantic squads as New Jersey built up a 31-9 lead and then withstood a furious comeback attempt by Kelly Stouffer to preserve a week one win. Curtis Enis and Lamont Warren combined for 128 yards rushing, and new starter Jeff Lewis went 23 of 35 for 247 and 3 TDs to help New Jersey shock the Outlaws. LATE MOVES So many stories each time a season starts, where do we begin. Let’s start by briefly recapping some of the last-minute transactions as clubs set their Week 1 rosters. Most won’t have a big immediate impact as they involve shuffling the bench a bit, but you never know. Philadelphia made one last move to upgrade their defense, cutting Omar Brown, who had struggled at SS in camp, and signing one of the best remaining free agents, safety Corey Chavous. Expect to see Chavous starting within 1-2 weeks as Philly brings him up to speed on the new Jim Mora Jr. defensive schemes. St. Louis added depth behind Ahman Green by signing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to the roster. KAJ had his best year in 1997 when he rushed for 369 yards per game. He spent last season in Ohio, where he only got 28 carries all season. He is a decent receiver, which is something St. Louis needs from all its backs. New Orleans swapped out fullbacks, bringing in Danny Greene who failed to make the roster in Orlando. Michigan added tackle Jeffery Garcia for depth. Portland did much the same with their D-line, signing George Little, the 35-year-old veteran of 14 seasons with Philly and Birmingham. Little was played 1 year in Canada in 1999 but is now back in the USFL. Ohio and Birmingham added some late free agent quality to their secondaries with CB Mike Riley headed to Columbus and free safety Robert Sparkman now in Birmingham. We had 2 meaningful trades as camps closed as well. In the first, New Jersey improved their DT position by getting Renaldo Wynn from Arizona while the Wranglers hoped to get an offensive spark from New Jersey in the form of HB Leeland McElroy. Two other bench players, including Olandis Gary also changed hands, with Gary taking up the 3rd HB slot for the Generals. Houston sent veteran wideout Hart Lee Dykes to Atlanta, helping the Fire add some outside speed, while Atlanta parted with just about the only CB on their roster not named Tyrone, sending Ronde Barber to the Gamblers. Expect Barber to be a starter from week 1 as he helps Houston improve their secondary. Finally three QB changes were made official with Week 1 starts. Seattle made their choice, starting Brian Griese over 1999’s starter, Jon Kitna. Kitna is not at all happy, and rumors have him asking to be traded rather than sit behind Griese and face a challenge from rookie Giovanni Carmazzi. Griese had a solid first outing, throwing for 343 yards and helping the Dragons get a road win in Atlanta. New Jersey Coach Marty Schottenheimer said it would be an open battle in camp between returning starter Spence Fischer and free agent acquisition, former Panther and Gold QB Jeff Lewis. Marty opted for the more athletic Fischer to open the season and he got immediate results, an opening day victory over Texas and an efficient 23 of 35, 247 yard, 3 TD day from Lewis. Finally, the three-way competition in Houston between returning starter Chuck Hartlieb, free agent acquisition Jim Miller, and rising backup Matt Hasselbeck was tight all the way through camp, but in a Friday walkthrough decision, Coach Willsey chose the least heralded of the three, former BC quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to be his starter. Again, this proved wise as Hasselbeck had a great first outing, throwing for 354 yards and 2 TDs to help Houston get a road win in Pittsburgh. ROOKIE DEBUTS Week 1 is also a time when top rookie signings get their first look at pro ball. While we had no rookie starters at QB this year, we did have quite a few who were given a starting role in their first game. Let’s take a look at how some of the bigger names in the 2000 Draft fared. HB Ron Dayne took the mantle of the run game for the Baltimore Blitz and acquitted himself well, rushing for 75 yards on 11 carries, including a couple of train-hits-deer moments against cornerbacks that thrilled the home crowd at Aetna Stadium. LB Brian Urlacher played his first game at MLB for the Machine and helped Chicago get the road win at Philly, securing 7 tackles, 1 for loss, and 1 pass defended. In Jacksonville, the arrival of LaVar Arrington was much heralded, and the former Penn State star fared pretty well in his first game, 7 tackles, 1 for loss, and a sack was the final line for the rangy backer. Oakland had a surprisingly strong offense on display against Orlando and while he did not have a starring role, Plaxico Burress did display his talent with 3 receptions for 54 yards. Michigan’s rookie strong safety, Mike Brown, came out of the gate strong, winning the Rookie of the Week award with a 10 tackle, 1 sack performance as the Panthers upended the Blitz in Baltimore. Laverneous Coles had a quieter week, catching 1 pass in his pro debut. Birmingham opted to go with Free Agent Rodney Thomas at HB for their game against Denver, limiting Sean Alexander to 1 carry in his pro debut. Seattle rookie DE John Abraham had one tackle in the Dragons’ win, but it was his first pro sack, while St. Louis’s Na’il Diggs debuted with 7 tackles. Finally, Washington had two rookies with solid debuts in their opening day loss. TE Bubba Franks was the second leading receiver for the Feds with 4 receptions for 41 yards, while HB Reuben Droughns played on third down and picked up 4 carries for 39 yards, with most of that coming on one exciting 19-yard rush. BIG NAME FREE AGENTS In addition to the rookies, some big-name NFL transfers also played their first spring game, though most were limited in action after the full NFL fall season. Birmingham started Deion Sanders right out of the gate and the Gold opted to test him against the run. Sanders ended the game as the leading tackler for Birmingham, with 12 stops, despite having the ball tossed in his direction only 3 times all game. In Atlanta, Bruce Smith was limited to playing only on 3rd and 5 or longer, but was solid in limited action, scoring 4 tackles and 2 sacks to share the lead after 1 week. We mentioned that Rodney Thomas was made the starter in Birmingham, but he was not the only new HB to take that position, with Stephen Davis starting for the Stars and the recently signed Natrone Means getting the lion share of the carries for the Panthers. Of the three, Thomas had the best day, rushing for 75 yards in his debut. Means and Davis were not far behind, with Means rushing for 68 yards on 20 carries and Davis earning 68 as well, but on 15 carries. Both Means and Davis scored their first TDs for their new clubs as well. Denver got hit early and often as both Mark Brunell and Eric Wilhelm were knocked out of their opening game. Brunell should be back next week, but Wilhelm is likely done for the year with a fully torn & rolled hamstring. Likewise, Kordell Stewart may be finished for the year as well for the Federals after he both broke his arm and dislocated the shoulder in a gruesome crash against the benches along the sideline on a scramble. It was his non-throwing arm, but it still means both traction and considerable time to heal and rehab might leave the Federals looking at Scott Zolak for the rest of the season. Other considerable injuries on a rough opening week include LA wideout Rob Carpenter (8-10 weeks for a neck injury), Denver guard Tracy Boyd (2-4, PCL), Arizona SS Clifton Black (1-2, Hamstring), MGN CB Thomas Pittman (1-2, turf toe), Memphis FS Tebucky Jones (Doubtful, hip), Orlando RT Paul Gruber (Questionable, wrist), and Texas SS Mike Minter (Questionable, deep thigh bruise). Birmingham WR Tyree Davis was also listed as Questionable though he is essentially going home to deal with a family crisis, details unknown, rather than a physical injury. Snow, rain, mud and wind welcomed the league’s opening weekend, as it almost always seems to do in one shape or another. For the owners who are pushing for a reconsideration of a 14-week season, the game-altering and attendance-dampening March starts are one of the issues they point to as a reason to delay the season start. The other, of course, is the overlap of both USFL playoffs and training camp with the NFL-USFL transfer window. Those in opposition continue to site that the NFL is not having these same types of discussions, so why should the USFL sacrifice 2 games (and the revenue generated) when the NFL is not willing to do the same to create greater gaps between the two leagues. The NFL has not even seemed open to doing away with the 2-week runup to the Super Bowl or its 4-game preseason as options to expand the gaps between the two league’s regular seasons. Of course, even with NFL concessions the issue of early season weather would persist. Unlike the NFL which can use playoff drama to boost attendance in the latter part of the season, when the weather is at its worst, the USFL deals with early season issues around rain, snow, and wind in March and then must figure out how to get fans out to the ballpark on scorching July days late in the year. They have fared well with the latter weather issue, with domes in some of the hotter locations (Houston, San Antonio, St. Louis) and night games helping to deal with heat in places like Atlanta, Arizona, and Florida, but scheduling often does not allow for good options in mid-March, as this week’s rainy weather in Florida and cold, windy conditions in the Northeast proved. With domed stadiums falling out of favor among new stadium projects (Houston being the exception), the best option to maximize early season attendance may well be to delay the season start until April, something the USFL simply cannot do with a 16-game schedule, lest it risk shutting down any chance at a postseason transfer window. And so, the debate continues. What we know this time around is that, unlike the last time this came to a head, there is no way the USFL will move ahead without a clear agreement in place with the players’ union. No more work stoppage or threats of CBA cancellation. The most likely scenario, were a proposal to be made, would be a cut of 2 regular season weeks, the addition of 1 pre-season game, and all players retaining their full salaries from the 16-week schedule to a 14-week schedule. But we are getting the cart before the horse. The Special Committee of the owners has yet to even reveal its report, and any change will likely also require negotiations with the NFL to try to get some concessions from the senior league, as well as with the TV providers, so we are a ways off even if the USFL owners want to make the change, and that is by no means guaranteed. Week Two offers us our first slate of divisional games in the Eastern Conference, with the Pacific clubs visiting the Central squads out West. Washington will host Pittsburgh without Kordell Stewart at the helm, while Baltimore hopes to rebound as they visit New Jersey and Ohio goes for two in a row as they host Philadelphia. In the South, the best early season game may be the Tampa-Orlando match this week, while Memphis is at Jacksonville and Birmingham heads to their budding rivalry with Atlanta on Saturday. Someone will come out at 2-0 when Arizona faces Chicago at Soldier Field. Mark Brunell is expected back under center when Denver travels to Houston on Sunday. LA has a tough second game at Michigan, while Oakland visits the surprisingly tough New Orleans Breakers. Portland and St. Louis will each be seeking their first win of the year when they clash in the Gateway City, while Seattle heads to San Antonio to face the Texas Outlaws.