It's almost time for Week 3 but there's still time to look at Week 2.
We have 10 teams off to 2-0 starts and 10 teams off to 0-2 starts. Every division has at least 1 team 0-2 and all but the West have at least 1 team 2-0.
San Antonio (65), Oklahoma (61) and Birmingham (61) lead the league in scoring.
Boston (0), Washington (12), Portland (19) and Arizona (19) are the lowest scoring teams through 2 weeks.
New York (17), New Orleans (18), San Jose (19), Georgia (19), and Charlotte (19) are the stingiest defenses in points allowed.
Houston (67), Arizona (66), and Washington (66) have allowed the most points.
The champs, New Orleans are off to a 2-0 start after defeating Pittsburgh 22-5. The VooDoo shut down the Maulers run game, allowing negative 8 yards on 20 carries while Mark Adams kicked 5 FGs.
Cleveland and Michigan have new owners but for the Panthers, the new boss is the same as the old boss. Hellbringer is back after a hiatus and his Panthers trailed krappo's Thunderbolts 17-9 in the middle of the 4th. Cleveland had just kicked a FG to take that 17-9 lead when Wesley Her returned the kickoff 101 yards for a TD. Willie Reddish converted the 2 point pass and we were tied.
Just before the 2 minute warning, Reddish was sacked in the end zone to give Cleveland a 19-17 lead. Michigan tried and converted on onside free kick, keeping the ball and Reddish threw a 52 yard TD pass to Brendan Tullis. The 2 point try failed but Michigan took the lead 23-19. Cleveland had time though and Carl Langlois led the Thunderbolts down the field. He only completed 3/6 on the drive but his 19 yard TD pass to #19 Jerry James gave Cleveland the lead, with the XP making the score 26-23. Michigan then drove into Cleveland territory before running out of time.
Last week Memphis won the turnover battle and the yardage battle but lost the game. This week they also won the yardage but 266 is not what Memphis expected. Committing 4 turnovers will do that to an offense. Shreveport only committed 1 turnover but it was costly as Irving Thornton hit the trifecta with a sack, stripping the ball out, and scooping it up and rambling 16 yards for a TD. The Memphis defense saved the day and held on after the Showboats took the lead for good midway through the 4th, 17-16.
Charlotte is off to a 2-0 start after their 20-10 victory over Baltimore. Michael Downey had a sack which caused a fumble that he scooped up and rambled 45 yards for a score. We'll find out a lot about Charlotte the next 6 weeks as their schedule toughens.
Pittsburgh has dominated the Atlantic recently, but it seems the division is wide open now. The Maulers still have talent but Hammond was the key as his system was tough to beat. Hammond is gone and so is the kicker (need to find my password for alt account) so the door is open for Charlotte or rebuilding Baltimore. AI Washington looks non competitive through 2 weeks.
Speaking of AI run Washington, Georgia had their way with them, winning 41-3. Adam Patrick wasn't sacked, which is headline news for him. Patrick threw for 358 yards and 4 TDs while getting nearly 200 yards of help from the running game, led by the 130 from Samuel Dunlap.
San Antonio easily beat AI Arizona 34-3, led by QB George Warner, who threw for 319 yards and 3 TDs. Glenn Graham had 203 combined yards, catching 8 for 89 and rushing for 114 and a TD.
Houston is a top 10 scoring team but their defense has struggled out of the gate in 2009, allowing a league high 67 points. Gamblers QB Dale Baber played well when he was upright, throwing for 329 yards and 3 TDs but the Stallions defense sacked Baber 8 times. Birmingham QB Russell Gall didn't throw for many yards but he completed 15/16 and the running game chipped in 179 yards. Birmingham took a 27-13 lead early in the 4th, then held on for a 30-25 win.
Raymond Settles threw 3 TD passes in the 2nd qtr to help Oklahoma get out to a 21-3 lead on Portland. The Outlaws allowed yardage to the Storm in the 2nd half but Portland was just 1/2 on FGs, had a drive end on downs and their last drive covered 91 scoreless yards before time ran out as Oklahoma held on for victory.
Oakland beat Florida 22-10 as the Invaders racked up 409 offensive yards. QB Domingo Robinson completed 20/28 for 270 yards and a TD, completing passes to 11 different receivers. Oakland also used 5 ball carriers to run the ball not including QB kneeldowns. Defensively, Oakland forced no turnovers and had no sacks but they also held Florida under 200 yards of offense.
Jacksonville won the Southeast in 2008 and they are off to a 2-0 start in 2009 after defeating Tampa Bay 30-10. The Bulls had 409 offensive yards with William Barron completing 25/33 for 292 yards and a TD. Defensively they shut down the pass, as Curtis Torres was 15/34, 116 yards and 2 INTs. James Aguirre ran for 125 yards and a TD in a losing effort.
Philadelphia beat Orlando 21-12 in a battle of playoff hopefuls as Joel Jasso completed 25/45, 274 yards and 3 TDs. Jasso was sacked 4 times but Philadelphia's defense had 5 sacks and an INT as the Bell got the best of the Renegades today.
Looks like this season, Smirt has decided to run over everybody instead of throwing 70-80 times a game. So far it's working as Lynn McLaurin ran for 190 yards and a TD and he leads the league in rushing after 2 weeks. I normally wouldn't type such a miniscule passing line, but those of you that have been here know how pass happy San Jose has been. Not that there's anything wrong with that but Larry Henderson completed 8/13 for 60 yards and a sack...for the entire game. That used to be 1-2 drives.
Before I go to the next game, I feel like posting that I'm in danger meme with that Simpson's kid on the bus. My Generals have San Jose on the schedule tonight and New Jersey sucks at stopping the run, we're 31st in yards per carry. The record for rushing yards in a game was set in 1974 as Philadelphia's Jose Medina ran for 305 yards against New York. Medina also had 303 against Charlotte for the only 2 300 yard rushing games in league history.
San Jose's team record was also set in 1974 when Christopher Gray ran for 239 yards against Charlotte. If I had to guess, McLaurin will have between 240-299 yards, enough to break the team record but not quite enough for the league record.
Detroit led Chicago 7-3 at the half before a wild 3rd quarter. Chicago got the ball first and punted while mark Lott was intercepted on Detroit's first 3rd qtr drive. Chicago took over on the Detroit 3 and 1 play later David Pinkerton's 3 yard TD run gave the Blitz the lead. Detroit would punt then Eric Hansen was sacked and injured, leaving the game for a bit. Alex Allen came in and threw an INT that Donald Molina thought he returned for a TD but was ruled down short of the goalline. It took Detroit 3 plays to convert but they finally took the lead back 14-10 on a short TD run by Matthew Reynolds. Alex Allen then threw another INT which led to a Detroit FG. David Pinkerton returned the ensuing kickoff 98 yards for the game tying TD once the XP went through.
Detroit took the lead for good early in the 4th when Mark Lott found Matthew Reynolds for a 21 yard TD pass. Inside the 2 minute warning facing a 4th and 10 from the Detroit 26, Chicago faced a tough decision...go for it or kick a FG and try an onside kick. The Blitz tried the latter, made the FG but the onside kick failed and they never saw the ball again, losing 24-20.
Honolulu beat Southern California 23-10 to even each team's record at 1-1. Honolulu had a balanced attack as their 3 headed BCBC (ball carrier by committee) had 155 combined rushing yards (not counting the 4th guy's 1 for minus 1). Victor Russell completed 28/33 for 228 yards and a TD. The Hawaiians defense intercepted 3 John Barrios passes and sacked him 3 times.
Through 3 quarters New Jersey led New York 17-7 and pinned the Stars at their own 7 after a punt early in the 4th. QB Jamie Orman completed 5/7 on the drive, advancing to the Generals 25 before James Luna took a handoff and ran the final 25 yards for a score. The XP made the score 17-14 New Jersey. The Generals went three and out then the Stars tied it with a FG. Vic Mackey, who finished the day with 169 rushing yards and a TD, lost a fumble which led to New York getting the tiebreaking FG inside 3 minutes to go. The Generals would get the ball back twice more but couldn't advance into New York territory and the Stars hold on for the come from behind win.
Denver beat Los Angeles 14-10 as Kevin Hillman led the Gold to victory. Hillman caught a 10 yard pass from Bryant Smith as Denver took a 7-0 lead early in the 2nd qtr. Los Angeles would cut it to 7-3 with a FG but Hillman took the ensuing kickoff 104 yards for a TD and the XP extended the Denver lead to 14-3. David Bogner had a 69 yard TD run to cut the lead to 14-10 in the 3rd qtr but the Denver defense forced the Express to punt the rest of the game to hold on for the win.
Last edited at 2/22/2024 6:39 pm