Conversation starters from Week 3:

* While it's a little early to begin handing out season awards, New Orleans VooDoo rookie head coach shavar has certainly broken away from the pack and taken the early lead. The VooDoo are 3-0 with a two-game lead in the South Division and back-to-back victories over the defending league champion New Jersey Generals and the defending division champion Birmingham Stallions.
* New Orleans grabbed a 17-0 advantage in the first quarter and fended off Birmingham, 19-9. WR James Sheckler, last season's MVP, caught five passes for 113 yards, including a 57-yard TD. Sheckler has four TD grabs already, tied for the league lead.
* Next up for the VooDoo are the Pittsburgh Maulers (3-0), who are suddenly looking formidable again. Even without potential future Hall of Fame RB John Murray, the Maulers trampled the Charlotte Hornets, 35-14, behind Ryan Tate's three TD passes to WR Robert Wheeler.
* The Memphis Showboats are tied with the Houston Gamblers atop the Southwest Division after routing the San Jose SaberCats, 39-13. WRs Willie Howland and James Betancourt rank Nos. 1-2 in the league in receiving yardage (509 and 359, 5 TDs).
* The Detroit Wheels avoided what would have been the first 0-3 start in franchise history by edging the Cleveland Thunderbolts, 12-6. The Wheels made an interesting decision with 1:13 remaining when they went for it on fourth down from the Cleveland 2 instead of attempting the clinching field goal. That pass was incomplete and the Wheels turned it over on downs, but Nick Stark's interception four plays later sealed the verdict. Detroit SS Howard Huthinson recorded 10 tackles,
* The Jacksonville Bulls (3-0) already have a three-game lead in the Southeast Division after a 44-3 win over the Orlando Renegades. RBs Edward Fields and Dennis Burt combined for 165 yards rushing, QB Charles Evans fired four TD passes, and Gordon Wong intercepted three passes.
* The Portland Storm (0-3) fell to the Arizona Wranglers, 20-9. Portland must beat Detroit this week to avoid the first 0-4 start in franchise history. Jerry Montalvo threw a pair of TD passes for the Wranglers.
* The Michigan Panthers appeared poised for an upset win over New Jersey, leading 10-3, but the Panthers turned up their nose at what would have been a clinching field goal and threw an ill-advised pass in the final 2 minutes that was fumbled away by the receiver. The Generals then drove 87 yards, the final 41 on a defensive overuse penalty against Michigan with 20 seconds to play that resulted in Aaron Paul's game-tying TD reception. New Jersey's Lucio Grant kicked a field goal on his team's first drive of OT, giving the Generals a 13-10 victory.
* A 14-play fourth-quarter drive ended in the go-ahead field goal and the New York Stars (2-1) went on to edge the Georgia Force, 32-27, and remain tied with New Jersey and Philadelphia Bell for first place in the East Division.
* Washington Federals WR Cory Martin had 89 rushing yards, 152 receiving yards, and three receiving TDs during a 41-13 win over the Tampa Bay Bandits.

Witty remarks from The Commissioner go here.

GG wranglers, my team still can't figure out where the end zone is.

Well Houston, you go 25 of 27 with 310 yards passing in the first half.. i think i had like 50 yards total. The fact we even had a "last drive" chance to possibly win is simply unbelievable. You couldn't throw an incomplete, it's a cosmic injustice you aren't writing guides.

Great game Generals.

I'm not sure how we kept it so close. Our passing game is anemic, and zero red zone visits? Ugh.

5 punts inside the 20 put me in bad field position. We had over 400 yards of offense but just 13 points as we kept stalling around midfield. Ugly wins still count, good luck rest of the season.

Gg New York, my defensive issues definite showed in this one.

gg Storm. That felt like an important game since we were both 0-2 going into it. We got the win, but a couple more injuries too. The depth chart is looking like a MASH unit, and starting to run out of depth.

GG Sun

How can I avoid this?