There are still 6 games to review so here goes...

Orlando 55 Tampa Bay 14

Orlando has owned this division in recent years and today they took a step toward reclaiming their spot at the top by making the Bandits walk the plank. Henry Ward had 214 combined yards, rushing for 135 and a TD while adding 79 yards on 3 catches. Thomas Gilbert had 140 combined yards, rushing for 40 and a TD while catching 5 for 100. Dwayne Byrd completed 27/36, 321 yards and 4 TDs to lead the Renegades to the win that evens their record at 3-3.

Houston 25 Detroit 14

This wasn't a traditional Gamblers win as they had no 100 yard rushers or receivers, though Randy Savage had a combined 127 yards and a receiving TD. Earl Drake caught 12 for 100 yards for Detroit but the Houston defense played well overall, limiting the Wheels rushing attack (18 yards on 13 carries) and getting 4 sacks and an INT.

On a side note, Houston is out of last place replaced by Memphis as the whole Southwest is a 4 team royal rumble this year.

Baltimore 19 Boston 7

Raymond Still had 202 combined yards, rushing for 163 and a TD to lead Baltimore to victory. Defensively, the Stars held the Breakers to 172 total yards, forcing 12 punts and an INT. I don't include return yards in combined yardage but after looking at all those Boston punts, I see Raymond Still returned 9 for 76 yards. Still was moving a lot today as Baltimore improves to 2-3-1.

New York 37 Charlotte 9

Jamie Orman completed 27/36, 357 yards, 3 TDs and an INT to lead New York to victory. Dylan Fryer cooked the Hornets secondary to the tune of 9 catches, 167 yards and a score. New York's BCBC ran for 180 yards and a TD on 34 carries. Orman completed passes to 11 different receivers.

Honolulu 34 Los Angeles 24

The game started out back and forth with Honolulu taking a 10-7 lead at the end of the 1st. From there, the Hawaiians held on to the lead, with the range going from +3 to +13. Both teams moved the ball well as James Anderson caught 7 for 114 yards and 2 TDs for Los Angeles while Victor Russell threw for 306 yards and 3 TDs for Honolulu. Dave Yang had 181 combined yards for the Hawaiians, running for 82 and catching 9 for 99 and a TD. Donald Fleming only caught 3 for 71 yards but 2 of them were TD catches.

New Jersey 17 Washington 9

Rookie QB Sam Axe has had an up and down start to his career, similar to his character in Burn Notice, who was often in the company of a beautiful woman whenever Michael Westen called to bring him close to danger. Anyway, today Axe threw a pair of 1st qtr TD passes as the Generals took a 14-0 lead then hung on for their first win since Week 1.

Week 7

Sorry for just getting around to this now, been feeling kind of sluggish last few days. Given how it's so close to week 8 kickoff, this will probably be a cliff notes version. I'm planning on doing more than just game recaps after tonight's games anyhow, given that we'll be at the halfway point of the regular season.

San Antonio 33 New York 17

San Antonio kept their best season ever perfect as Glenn Graham ran for 106 yards and the defense forced 4 turnovers, including 3 INTs. The Gunslingers scored the first 27 points of the game before the Stars made it close at the end, thanks to the 3rd kickoff return TD of the season for New York's Terrance Shull. The record is 6 by Gregory Shea (1977 Memphis) and tied in 2005 by Gus "Hightest" Gas of Houston.

Pittsburgh 23 Philadelphia 9

Philadelphia held Pittsburgh to their lowest point total of the season and likely their lowest yardage as well. The only big stat line came from Patrick Howard, who caught 7 for 136 yards. Holding the Maulers to 23 points is just a moral victory however, as the Bell couldn't crack the end zone against the tough Pittsburgh defense, settling for 3 FGs from The Steve Matthews Band. (Steve Matthews actually started The Steve Matthews Band before leaving to pursue his USFL kicking career, handing the reigns of the band to his brother Dave, and the rest is history.)

San Jose 22 Shreveport 3

San Jose "only" had 416 offensive yards but thanks to their defense that was more than enough to get the win to improve to 6-1 with a comfortable 3 game division lead. The term "only" is relative as most of us would be quite happy with 416 yards of offense, but knowing Smirt he was probably hoping for more. Regardless, a win is a win and his new WR toy Lee Ramos caught 16 for 204 yards and a TD.

Portland 7 Oakland 6

This game would determine 1st place in the West as both teams were 4-2 coming in. Oakland would score first and last but both scores were FGs while Portland got a 2nd qtr TD pass from Raymond Oswalt to Richard Petty. The Storm defense made that score hold up and Portland broke the tie atop the West, improving to 5-2.

I'm going to restart my computer and hope that helps. I have a few tabs open so I can type on one and look at box scores on the other, plus another for standings/stats. I keep getting bad gateway errors and the blue circle of death. Pages loading slower than dial up. I'll hopefully resume shortly.

Well I didn't restart but closed/reopened the tabs, we'll see if it helps.

Michigan 12 Chicago 0

These teams combined for 370 offensive yards with neither topping 200. The Michigan defense forced 4 turnovers, leading to 4 FGs by Jonathon Ruch which was enough for the win as the Panthers pitched a shutout. Chicago still leads the Midwest despite the loss and a 3-4 record.

New Orleans 34 Birmingham 15

New Orleans dominated this game more than the score indicates. The VooDoo not only more than doubled the Stallions in points, but also yards (510-213) and red zone visits (4-2). New Orleans wasn't perfect as Willie Graham threw 3 INTs to balance out his 3 TD passes but the VooDoo defense had his back. Birmingham did not score an offensive TD, getting 3 Al Borland FGs and a Pick Six from Bertram Clark.

This win gives New Orleans a 1 game lead on Birmingham with a sweep of the Stallions as a tiebreaker.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Well that's it for our sole division leaders as Philadelphia leads the East still, despite the loss to Pittsburgh.

I have yet to talk about anyone from the Florida division, aka the Southeast and there is a reason for that omission. This division has been tight all season but this is ridiculous as all 4 teams are tied for first (and last) with identical 4-3 records.

Week 7 cont'd

Orlando 27 Cleveland 6

After a rough start to the season, here are the Renegades in first place. To be fair everyone is in first place but Orlando is 3-0 in division and would be the actual first place team if the season ended today. Dwayne Byrd threw 2 TD passes in the first half while Henry Ward scored 2 TDs in the 2nd half to lead Orlando to victory.

Tampa Bay 20 Jacksonville 13

Jacksonville could have been in first all by themselves with a win but they lost the game of hot potato today. Both teams had trouble with ball security, turning it over 3 times each but Tampa Bay got a pair of rushing TDs from George Stops to help forge this 4 team logjam.

Florida 9 Charlotte 5

I'll skip the baseball puns since I'm trying to be brief. In an offensively challenged game, Florida's John Sanchez ran for 106 yards and the Blazers 3 FGs bested the FG and safety by the Hornets as Florida improves to 4-3.

Oklahoma 30 Houston 28

Had I looked over all games first I probably would have led with this game as the perennial powerhouses had 4 lead changes in the 4th qtr. Usually these two teams plus Memphis usually meet for division supremacy and home field advantage but this season, they're fighting for a wildcard spot. The division could still be in play but San Antonio is showing no signs of weakness.

The first half was led by the defenses as only a Raymond Settles TD pass dented the scoreboard. In the 3rd qtr another TD pass by Settles pushed the Oklahoma lead to 14-0. Dale Baber answered with a long TD pass to Harley Race but Baber was later sacked in the end zone for a safety and a 16-7 Outlaws lead after 3. That lead would get extended by 3 n the 4th qtr before Houston came back with 2 more Baber TD passes to take a 20-19 lead. Raymond Settles would take the lead back with his 3rd TD pass plus a 2 point conversion, then Dale Baber took it back again with a TD pass and 2 point conversion.

At this point we were at the 2 minute warning with Houston leading 28-27. Raymond Settles drove Oklahoma into FG range on the ensuing drive, then Daniel Beaupre made a 33 yard FG to retake the lead 30-28. Houston would get the ball back but ran out of time just as they crossed midfield and the loss drops them to 4-3 while Oklahoma improves to 5-2.

Sorry again, my brother came over for a bit. Let's finish...

More Week 7

Washington 15 Baltimore 3

This game is where 3rd down conversions went to die as they combined to convert 2/32. Two. Out of 32. Ouch. The Washington defense had 6 sacks and Raymond Hosmer booted 5 FGs to kick the Federals to their 2nd win of the year.

Georgia 30 Southern California 9

This game was where QBs went to get sacked as there were a combined 16 sacks today. Adam Patrick of Georgia is used to getting sacked 5 times in a game as that's pretty much right on average (110 sacks last 23 games) but the Force defense took down John Berrios 11 times. Adam Patrick threw 2 TD passes and Samuel Dunlap had 2 rushing TDs to lead the Force to their 4th win of the season.

Honolulu 19 Denver 17

Honolulu won despite 6 INTs by Victor Russell as the Gold had trouble moving the ball. Denver had a 3-0 halftime lead thanks to 1 of 3 first half Russell INTs. Russell gave Honolulu the lead in the 3rd with a 71 yard TD pass to Donald Fleming. Later in the 3rd, Robert Rivera sacked Denver QB Richard Crum in the end zone for a safety then Michael Sinclair took the free kick 90 yards for a TD as the Hawaiians suddenly led 16-3. Denver would come back with a pair of 4th qtr TDs for a brief 17-16 lead before Russell led a late drive that ended with a Michael Marmon game winning 22 yard FG as time expired.

Arizona 17 Los Angeles 15

Speaking of QBs that are used to being sacked, Arizona's Curtis Kim has been sacked 126 times in the last 23 games, including 5 today. Kim had a mediocre passing day but the Wranglers BCBC ran for 188 yards and a TD. Michael Chapin led the committee with 112 yards and the TD to go with a TD reception among his 2 catches for 50 yards.

Arizona built a 17-3 lead in the 3rd qtr before the Express began a comeback, getting a pair of FGs sandwiching a TD and a failed 2 point conversion. This made the score 17-15 Arizona with 9:57 left. The next Los Angeles drive resulted in a punt with 4:55 to play and they never saw the ball again as Arizona bled the remaining clock for their second win in a row,

New Jersey 19 Boston 3

The Generals win their 2nd in a row thanks to 320 rushing yards from their BCBC. Vic Mackey led the way with 156 yards and a TD while Charlie Harper had a career high 125, his second ever 100 yard game. Rookie QB Sam Axe was a pedestrian 13 for 21, 87 yards and no TDs but also no INTs and just 1 sack. New Jersey kept the ball 3 seconds short of 42 minutes.

Detroit 15 Memphis 10

So at first glance I see total yards are even, Memphis ran the ball well while shutting down the Wheels rushing attack, won the turnover battle 3-1 and had a better 3rd down conversion rate. How did Memphis lose??? Looks like a winning box score to me, but scrolling further, I see the drive charts.

Memphis usually has a buzzkill player in their losses and it's usually Jerry Parker throwing 4th qtr interceptions. In the end that's what ultimately cost the Showboats this game as a Parker 4th qtr INT gave Detroit the ball at the Memphis 32, leading to a 24 yard Mark Lott TD pass to Hector Haynes. The 2 point try failed but that gave Detroit the late lead at 15-10.

Parker had company in the bad goat category (back in the day, before goat meant greatest of all time, goat used to mean someone who screwed up the game, a la Bill Buckner letting the ball go between his legs) as kicker John Eversuck (that's the Memphis fans talking) was 1/4 on FGs with none longer than 42 yards. Had Everhart made his kicks like he's paid to do, Parker's INT wouldn't have hurt so much.

Week 8

Another one of those days I wanted to start this way earlier than now, but what can you do? Stuff happens, like cutdown day in one league, FA 1 in another, game plans, laundry, etc.

I'll probably start with the standings and stats at the halfway point since if I take too long, these will be easier to do now before the sim runs.

Standings wise we have some parity as 17 teams are between 3-5 and 5-3 and just 6 teams with 6 or more wins. San Antonio leads the American Conference with an 8-0 record with San Jose right behind at 7-1. The Gunslingers have a 2 game lead on the 6-2 Oklahoma Outlaws and the rest of the conference are behind them.

In the National Conference it's the 8-0 Pittsburgh Maulers leading the way, with South leading New Orleans 7-1. Birmingham is 1 game behind in the South at 6-2 and the rest of the conference are behind them.

Pacific Division

San Jose leads at 7-1 with a 3 game lead on 4-4 Los Angeles. They have yet to play each other so the opportunity is there for either San Jose to expand their lead or Los Angeles to cut into it. The current #7 seed has a 5-3 record so that remains a possibility for both Los Angeles and the 3-5 Honolulu Hawaiians. Southern California is in last at 1-7 and in the race for the #1 pick.

West Division

Portland beat Oakland and thus owns the current tiebreaker between the 5-3 co-leaders of the West. They still have to play one more time and Oakland needs to win if they have any hopes of winning the division. Not only would another loss to the Storm mean a sweep and tiebreaker loss, the remaining schedules heavily favor Portland. The Storm's opponents have a combined record of 21-41-2 while Oakland's are 35-28-1.

Arizona might be in 3rd and 2 games behind but their strength of schedule is likely the easiest in the league from here on out, 13-48-3. They could conceivably sweep the season and end up 11-5, putting pressure on Portland and Oakland.

Denver, at 1-6-1, is in last place and in contention for the #1 pick, although that tie will do them no favors in that regard.

Southwest

San Antonio leads the division of death with an 8-0 record. If the playoffs started now, they'd be joined by 6-2 Oklahoma and 5-3 Houston. The Gunslingers still have 4 division games to play including both games against Houston so they shouldn't be printing those division championship T shirts just yet.

The Gunslingers do have the easiest remaining schedule in this division at 30-33-1. Oklahoma's remaining opponents are 33-31, Houston's are 38-26 (22-26 if you take Out San Antonio twice), and Memphis' are 35-29. The Showboats are in last at 3-5 and could go one of 3 ways with their jeckyll and hyde QB Jerry Parker. They have the talent everywhere else to go on a winning run, Parker could continue to give games away in the 4th qtr, or they get a mix of both and hover around .500.

Midwest

This division will most likely have just 1 playoff team as the leading Chicago Blitz at 4-4 are the only team at.500 or better. Detroit and Michigan are tied for 2nd at 2-6 while Cleveland is in last at 1-7. While it seems the Blitz are the favorite to come out of the Midwest, it's too early to count anyone out of this division race despite 3 of the teams in competition for a top draft slot.

Southeast

While the media continue their lovefest with the Southwest, the Southeast is actually more competitive. They don't have a catchy nickname like the division of death but all four teams are within 1 game of each other. Orlando and Florida are currently tied with 5-3 records with the Renegades beating the Blazers for one of their 3 division wins and the current tiebreaker edge. Tampa Bay and Jacksonville are tied at 4-4, one game behind the co-leaders.

Orlando's remaining opponents have a combined record of 33-31, Florida's 31-33, Tampa's 36-28, and Jacksonville's are 30-33-1. As of now it takes a 5-3 record to be in the top 7 in the conference.

South

The New Orleans VooDoo lead the way with a 7-1 record and a sweep over 6-2 Birmingham. The VooDoo also have an easy schedule the rest of the way at 25-38-1. Birmingham's remaining opponents are 37-27 so it will be tough to win the South. The Stallions are currently the top wildcard.

Georgia is 4-4 and in the wildcard hunt. Their remaining schedule is 34-30. Shreveport is 2-6 and likely looking toward 2008.

Atlantic

The 8-0 Pittsburgh Maulers don't have a capital Y next to their name in the standings but it's just a matter of time. They have a 5 game lead with 8 to play, and no disrespect to anyone in that division but you guys aren't catching them this season. Washington is 3-5 and in the wildcard hunt. Baltimore is 2-5-1 and could be in the wildcard hunt with a winning run but their schedule says that's unlikely as their remaining opponents are 40-24. Charlotte brings up the rear at 1-7.

East

Right now this looks like a 3 team race but it won't be long before it's a 2 team race. Philadelphia and New York are tied at the top with 5-3 records but the Bell beat the Stars head to head and own the tiebreaker. Philadelphia also has the schedule advantage as their remaining opponents have a record of 26-37-1 while New York's are 36-27-1.

New Jersey is in 3rd just 1 game out at 4-4 and they do still play New York twice so in theory they can stick around. The Generals have the worst remaining schedule I've seen so far as their opponents are 44-20 and I can attest the Generals generally don't fare well against playoff teams in recent history. I'll be happy if we can end the season 7-9 because we've never lost 10 here.

Boston is 2-6 and would need to go on a serious run to get into playoff contention.

San Jose's Larry Henderson leads the league in passing yards with 3,656 through 8 games. That's on pace for 2nd most all time which is currently 7,237. The most in a season is 7,803 by Portland's William Hill in 1980.

Henderson also leads the league with 27 TD passes and 21 INTs. He's on pace for 54 TDs which would be a top 13 all time season and he's also on pace to tie his own mark of 42 INTs which is 2nd most all time.

San Antonio's Glenn Graham already has a 228 yard lead for the rushing crown as his 943 yards is on pace for 3rd most all time. Brian Smith of Chicago is a distant second with 715 yards.

Pittsburgh's Felix Vaughn leads the league with 9 rushing TDs, which is well ahead of record pace. The most rushing TDs ever is 15, done 3 times by 2 players and it hasn't happened since 1975. Pittsburgh's John Murray ran for 15 TDs in both 1974 and 1975 while Bruce Fine of Chicago ran for 15 TDs in 1974 during his historic season of 2,056 rushing yards which is still the most today all these years later.

San Jose's Lee Ramos has 1,327 receiving yards, well ahead of Arthur Reina of Oklahoma who is second with 953. Patrick Howard is 3rd with 916 yards and his 12 TD catches are the tops in the league, ahead of the 10 by Ramos. The 1,327 yards is on pace for a Top 5 all time season but I don't think even Smirt can hit the record of 4,075 without a new version of the game.

One record Smirt does own is most receptions in a season. Harold Hedberg set the record in 2004, catching 182 *****, beating the previous record by 40. Smirt and Legend both gave the new record a run in 2005 but Donald Sykes (150) and Benjamin Jones (148) came up short.

Last season Jacob Newman crushed his teammate's record, catching a ridiculous 213 *****. Lee Ramos has 108 so far, which is on pace for 216 and a new record again for a Smirt WR.

Just like Glenn Hampton's 4,075 yards is pretty much untouchable in v4.6, so are his 41 TD catches the same year.

We've had 10 kickoff return TDs, including 3 by New York's Terrance Shull, and 3 punt return TDs.

Allan Stallings of Shreveport has 82 tackles, on pace to break the record of 158 set last season by Lazaro Mason of Baltimore.

We have 11 players with at least 10 sacks already, led by Washington's Ronnie Burke with 16. The record is 71 so that's always safe.

Greg The Hammer Valentine of Houston leads with 22 hurries, well off the record pace. I didn't realize the record was so high but the top mark is 145 by Cleveland's Jim Zarate in 1978. It was a different game back in the 70's but I imagine a few QBs had to change pants at halftime after Zarate scared the literal **** out of them.

Gary Ellis of Baltimore leads the league with 9 INTs and is ahead of record pace. I've talked about this recently a week or 2 ago in game time but the record is 15.

Glenn Graham, San Antonio leads the league with 1,419 yards with Lee Ramos, San Jose second with 1,346. The record was set by Glenn Hampton when he had 4,075 receiving yards. He did nothing else but catch passes as back then he wasn't allowed to play RB. Since 1996 when Hampton set the record the only player to get remotely close was Gus "Hightest" Gas with 3,195 total yards in 2005.

It's already after 1 am, which means I have about 3 minutes per game if I'm going to get them all in before kickoff. It can be done if I'm brief.

Week 8

New Orleans 27 Jacksonville 9

Taking the games in order helps me get through this Cliff notes version quickly. Willie Graham threw for 362 yards and 4 TDs to lead New Orleans to their 7th win of the season. The VooDoo defense held the Bulls out of the end zone, allowing just 3 FGs.

Pittsburgh 34 Portland 10

Felix Vaughn ran for 132 yards and 2 TDs to lead Pittsburgh to a victory over division leading Portland. The Storm turned it over on downs and Raymond Oswalt threw 2 INTs in the 1st half as the Maulers built a 27-0 lead.

Los Angeles 29 Southern California 13

Los Angeles returned the opening kickoff for a TD and the instant 7-0 lead while Juan Francis ran for 117 yards and a 1st qtr TD as the Express took momentum with a 14-0 lead. Los Angeles cruised from there with 5 FGs and 11 sacks on defense, the second straight week John Berrios was sacked 11 times.

San Jose 46 Arizona 21

Larry Henderson threw for 577 yards and 6 TDs, 2 each to Lee Ramos (14-204-2), Jacob Newman (7-140-2), and Lynn McLaurin (7-135-2). Arizona nearly matched the SaberCats yard for yard as Curtis Kim completed 40/56, *** yards but just 1 TD. Arizona had to settle for too many FGs today (5 FGs, 1 TD, failed 2 point) or they could have had a shot to win.

Washington 28 Charlotte 0

Washington QB Michael Erickson threw 3 TD passes and the defense shutout the Hornets as the Federals improve to 3-5.

Oakland 6 Denver 0

Oakland managed just a pair of FGs from 3 red zone trips but it was enough for a victory as they held the Gold scoreless in an offensively challenged game.

New Jersey 16 Baltimore 3

New Jersey won this game the way they used to when they competed for World Bowls, with a strong running game and solid defense. Vic Mackey ran for 97 yards and a TD while the defense had 7 sacks and allowed just 85 total yards.

New York 16 Boston 6

The New York BCBC ran for 230 yards and Jamie Orman threw for 218 and a score to lead the Stars to a divisional win.

Oklahoma 35 Philadelphia 14

Oklahoma got the best of Philadelphia in a battle of World Bowl contenders. Raymond Settles threw 3 TDs and 3 INTs but was not sacked while Joel Jasso threw 2 TDs and 4 INTs with the Outlaws defense sacking him 5 times. Oklahoma also out rushed Philadelphia 190-76 despite the Bell having two more runs than the Outlaws.

Birmingham 43 Georgia 3

Birmingham brought their A game today as Russell Gall threw for 316 yards and 5 TDs while the defense had 5 sacks and 4 INTs.

Orlando 42 Michigan 3

Dwayne Byrd threw for 365 yards and 4 TDs, 2 to John Jones (4-150-2) and Henry Ward ran for 104 and a TD as the Renegades had nearly 5x the yards of the Panthers, 530-113.

Chicago 17 Detroit 9

Brian Smith ran for 105 yards and a TD to lead the Blitz to a division win over the Wheels. Each team had 3 red zone trips but Detroit could only manage 3 FGs while Chicago punched it into the end zone twice with a FG on the 3rd.

Houston 44 Cleveland 10

Houston's defense allowed 27/31 completions to continue the trend of allowing a very high completion percentage. Other than that though, the Gamblers defense played well, getting 6 sacks and allowing negative 2 yards rushing in 23 carries. Offensively Houston had 594 total yards, 249 from Randy Savage. The Macho Man ran for 64 yards and 2 TDs while catching 11 for 185 yards. Dale Baber threw for 449 yards and 2 TDs in the win.

San Antonio 19 Memphis 14

San Antonio has the same 8-0 record as Pittsburgh but the Gunslingers haven't been quite as dominant. The Maulers have beaten everyone by at least 14 and have scored at least 30 in every game but one where they scored 23.

San Antonio does have 5 dominating wins with today being their 3rd close brush with defeat. In the end only wins matter, not style points and the Gunslingers have been doing that every week so far.

Shreveport 16 Honolulu 9

I'm running out of time. Honolulu went up 9-0 then Shreveport closed out the game scoring 16 straight for the win.

Florida 27 Tampa Bay 17

John Sanchez ran for 121 yards and 2 TDs to lead the Blazers to a division win over the Bandits.

Sorry so short but I'm about to lose access to the box scores while the sim runs. Good luck.

Week 9

I'll do the game by game probably after work but I can still share some stuff.

Oakland upset San Jose to give the Invaders sole possession of first place in the West after co leader Portland was upset by Denver. I believe this is the latest in a season Oakland has been in first in quite some time, probably 1978.

Parity is still here as we have 2 9-0 teams and 2 1-8 teams. Half the league is between 3-6 and 5-4.

Pittsburgh's point differential is ridiculous, almost +300 through 9 games. The Maulers have scored 306 while allowing just 34 for a differential of +272.

If you have 5 wins in the American Conference you'd be in the playoffs if they started now.

5 wins in the National Conference gets you in a tiebreaker scenario as 10 teams have 5+ wins there. Three of those 5 win teams are tied for the Southeast lead with Orlando the current tiebreak leader.

If Pittsburgh beats Washington Week 10 they will clinch the Atlantic.

San Antonio had a "test" game against 9 time champion Houston. They passed the test with flying colors by winning backwards so to speak. I'll obviously have more about this in the game recap but this season it's easy to pass on Houston while their run defense has been lights out. The Gunslingers only completed about 60% of their passes when Houston allows 80% but they also ran for over 8 yards a carry when the Gamblers allow 2.3.

That's it for now, time to start getting ready for work.

Week 9

San Antonio 48 Houston 18

This game started bad for Houston and got worse as it went on as San Antonio took the Gamblers behind the woodshed. Jeffrey Herbert fumbled the opening kickoff with San Antonio taking over inside the red zone, and I can hear Scott Hanson inside my head going crazy on the USFL Red Zone Channel.

The Gunslingers turned that into a TD and built a 21-7 halftime lead, which turned into 38-7 early in the 4th. Offensively for San Antonio, they got 5 total TDs from Glenn Graham. Graham ran for 163 yards and 3 TDs, chipping in 6 catches for 30 yards and 2 more TDs. Daniel Cruz also caught 12 for 100 yards but obviously Graham was the offensive star.

Defensively San Antonio gave up some big plays but those came when they already had a nice lead and overall they held Houston down. Dale Baber completed just 15/37, 248 yards, 2 TD, and 2 INT. Randy Savage was held under 100 combined yards and they only held the ball 17:20.

Pittsburgh 20 Orlando 0

It's going to be tough to beat Pittsburgh as their opponent needs to be in top form on both sides of the ball. Orlando's defense did it's job, holding this juggernaut Maulers offense to 306 yards and 20 points, their lowest output of the season. Problem is the Orlando offense was held scoreless by the equally juggernaut Maulers defense.

Eugene Williams caught 8 for 138 yards and 2 TDs to lead Pittsburgh to victory.

Oakland 35 San Jose 32

This game saw 7 lead changes and San Jose got burned by failing on 9/10 4th down conversions. Oakland hadn't scored more than 20 points in a game all season and in their last 4 games the Invaders scored 30 total points.

It wasn't the Invaders defense that won this game as San Jose racked up 564 total yards, although they did sack Larry Henderson 7 times. Henderson threw for 569 yards and 4 TDs with Lee Ramos (12-252-1) and Lynn McLaurin (9-144-1) the leading receivers. Oakland had trouble converting in the red zone , getting just 1 TD in 4 tries. George Coleman caught 7 for 205 yards and a TD as Oakland's most productive player.

Oakland led 27-24 after 3 qtrs then extended the lead to 30-24 with a FG early in the 4th. San Jose would tie it on a Henderson TD pass to Jacob Newman with the 2 point conversion giving the SaberCats a 32-30 lead. Oakland would tie it with a safety after sacking Henderson in the end zone then got the game winning 44 yard FG at the gun to pull off the upset.

Chicago 20 Michigan 3

Chicago improves to 5-4 with this division win today and the Blitz now have a 3 game lead in the Midwest. Chicago had a balanced attack led by Brian Smith who was the leading rusher (70 yards) and receiver (6-72-0), and they got a pair of rushing TDs from the other members of the Blitz BCBC.

New Orleans 19 Florida 6

New Orleans had 422 offensive yards and held Florida under 200 but Willie Graham's ball security issues kept this game close. Graham threw 3 INTs and just 1 TD but the VooDoo BCBC (151 yards and a TD) and their defense had his back as New Orleans improves to 8-1, staying a game ahead of Birmingham.

Philadelphia 34 Boston 0

Philadelphia got 3 TD passes from Joel Jasso and 104 rushing yards from Alfredo Montoya with a TD as the Bell improve to 6-3. Montoya also caught 1 of Jasso's TD passes while the Bell defense held the Breakers to 139 yards.

Those 6 games cover all 8 division leaders as we had 2 games where they played each other, Oakland/San Jose and Pittsburgh/Orlando.Now let's check how teams in the wildcard race fared.

Birmingham 41 Jacksonville 11

Jacksonville put up 356 yards on the Stallions defense but converted just 4/20 3rd downs and the Bulls couldn't crack the end zone, settling for 3 FGs and a safety. Russell Gall threw for 476 yards and 5 TDs to lead Birmingham to victory, getting big games from Gary May (6-162-1) and Michael Torgerson (6-127-2).

Oklahoma 25 Memphis 13

This was a defensive struggle for 3 and a half quarters before Memphis failed on a 4th down conversion attempt inside their own 10 yard line. It failed, allowing Oklahoma a 6 yard TD drive to extend the lead to 22-7. Memphis would score a TD on their next drive to get within 22-13 after the 2 point try failed. The ensuing onside kick also failed and Oklahoma tacked on a FG. Jerry Parker ended the game with an INT, but unlike most of his other 4th qtr INTs this season, this one didn't really hurt as they were 2 scores down when this occured and the clock expired as well.

Good place for me to stop for now, halfway through and time to hit the shower before work.