Week 4: Six teams 4-0 and OT in Baltimore

We are a quarter of the way through 1986 and half of our undefeated teams are in the Southwest Division. They are 15-1 overall, with just 1 divisional game, leaving Houston, Memphis, San Antonio and Oklahoma a combined 14-0 against the USFL/WFL. On the flipside is the Midwest Division which is a combined 3-13. They have played 2 divisional games, leaving them 1-11 against the league.

One of the best games of the week was in Baltimore, as the Stars and Federals played overtime. Baltimore really needed this one but they let the game slip through their fingers. Southern California and Shreveport lost their first games this week while Honolulu, Charlotte, Philadelphia and Boston earned their first wins of 1986.

We had an exciting Week 1 with half of the games decided by 8 points or less while the last 2 weeks have been Blowout City. We had 3 close games in Week 2 and just 1 last week for 12 one score games through 3 weeks. In Week 4 we had 10 games decided by one score so the fans got their money's worth.

Federals 23 Stars 20

Baltimore was too gracious of a host to division rival Washington as they gave the Federals the ball 4 times on turnovers, including their only OT snap. The Stars dominated most of the stats, total yards 421-202, 41 minutes of possession to 26 for Washington, 4 sacks to 2, and better yards per pass play and per completion. Washington won the turnover battle 4-1 though, including this killer fumble in OT to set up the game winning FG. This isn't the first fumble by Jeffrey Gentry, he has 13 in 3+ years in the league and I remember talking about another costly Gentry fumble in a previous blog post.

With the loss, Baltimore is now 2 games behind 4-0 Washington for the Atlantic Division lead.

Hornets 21 Sun 14

Southern California started fast after their cross country trip, jumping out to a 14-0 lead on Charlotte early in the 3rd quarter on this 88 yard TD from Christopher Kimbrough to James Wise. The previously unbeaten Sun wouldn't score another point however, as previously winless Charlotte scored 21 unanswered points for their first victory. Hornets QB Stanley Snyder found WR John Huls for the game winning TD pass. 

Wranglers 24 Gold 20

Arizona takes early control of the West with this win over division rival Denver. Arizona amassed 170 yards on their first 2 drives en route to an early 14-0 lead. Denver fought back to tie the game at 14 before Arizona wrangled the lead back for good. The second half only saw 1 FG for each team with Denver turning it over twice on downs in the 4th qtr.

Force 13 Steamer 6

The Southwest Division overshadows the rest but they're playing pretty good football in the South Division as well. Georgia was at Shreveport to face the undefeated Steamer, but the Force defense forced 4 turnovers, held them to < 3 ypc and < 50% completions. The Steamer defense forced 3 turnovers of their own, but they also gave up the game's only TD as Shreveport falls to 3-1 on the year.

Georgia came into the game ranked 9th in the commish rankings despite a 1-2 record so I'm sure new owner Lucky is happy to have some luck go his way. This win puts them at 2-2 and really tightens the division.

Bell 18 (NY) Stars 13

Philadelphia hosted the Stars of New York and used a 102 yard kickoff return TD by Keith Kovach to propel them to their first win of 1986. Bell LB Robert Swafford added a safety. 

Breakers 15 Bandits 9

No end zone pylons were hurt during this game as nobody crossed the goal line for a touchdown. This game featured 8 FG's, 5 by Boston K Willie Putnam to give the Breakers their first win of 1986.

Hawaiians 27 SaberCats 13

Someone was getting their first win, barring a tie of course, and that team was Honolulu. The Hawaiians had 194 rushing yards  to complement 257 passing yards as they overcome San Jose's aerial assault. No team even comes close to the 62 passes the SaberCats average per game, but it's all been just hot air so far with zero wins to show for it.

Blazers 48 Renegades 0

This game greatly affected both team's commish ranking. Florida had 562 yards of offense while only giving up 171, won the turnover battle 3-0 and had big numbers in yards per attempt, offensively and defensively. The Blazers jumped from 16 to 5 while the Renegades plummeted to 30 from 22.

Showboats 20 Thunderbolts 13
Gunslingers 20 Blitz 18
Generals 20 Invaders 13
Outlaws 12 Storm 7
Gamblers 40 Bulls 13
Stallions 27 Wheels 10
VooDoo 29 Panthers 13
Maulers 20 Express 6