Week 5 is in the books and 2 teams suffered their first loss, leaving the Jacksonville Bulls and Memphis Showboats as the last 2 undefeated teams. The Showboats winning streak is now up to 24 in a row, three short of the record 27 in a row set by the Detroit Wheels. In 1976, Week 12, the Cleveland Thunderbolts defeated the Wheels 26-19 before Detroit won their last 4 regular season games and all 3 post season games including World Bowl III. The 1977 Wheels went 16-0 in the regular season and again winning all 3 postseason games, including World Bowl IV. Heading into 1978, the Wheels had won 26 games in a row and extended that to 27 in Week 1 before losing in Week 2 to those same Cleveland Thunderbolts.
If Memphis can get to 27, it's conceivable they could carry this streak into 1988. The Showboats next 3 games seem like the best chance to end this streak, though they're all at home. Next on the Showboats schedule is the 4-1 Michigan Panthers, followed by 3-2 division rival Houston, who coincidentally was the last team to defeat Memphis, in the 1985 Conference Championship Game. If they get past those 2, they will have a chance to tie the record against their favorite World Bowl opponent, 4-1 New Jersey. The Memphis franchise has defeated New Jersey in 2 of their 3 World Bowl Championships.
Gamblers 34 Generals 19
Speaking of teams who have won 2 of their 3 World Bowls against New Jersey, the Houston Gamblers traveled to Piscataway, NJ for a World Bowl rematch (WB IX and XI). Houston needed this win badly, so as to keep pace with the seemingly unbeatable Memphis Showboats. The stats were relatively even in terms of yards per play, though Houston had 10 more rush attempts at 1 more ypc than New Jersey. This game boiled down to red zone deficiency/efficiency, depending on your perspective. Houston made 5 trips to the red zone, scoring a TD on all but 1 and that one they got a FG. New Jersey on the other hand, continued their recent trend of red zone failures. Despite winning their previous 2 games, the Generals have failed to score a red zone TD in their last 3 games. Today they made 3 trips, coming away with 2 measly FG's, leaving the Generals with just 7 FG's their last 11 red zone trips. That's no way to play if they hope to lose another World Bowl.
Showboats 31 SaberCats 3
Looking over the box score, it looks like a comfortable, boring win for Memphis. Overall, the yardage totals were good, 425-161 Showboats, but the thing I noticed individually is that Willie Howland is human after all. Mr. All World WR only caught 4 for 40 yards and no TD's. Nice of him to let his teammates shine some.
Gold 22 Wranglers 7
The West division is playing some good football, as evidenced by last year's division winner Arizona currently in last at 2-3. The rest of the division sits at 4-1 after the Denver victory. The Wranglers did force 3 Gold turnovers but 2 were late in the game, and overall the Arizona D did not have a good day. They allowed 6 of 16 3rd down conversions and 382 yards. The Wranglers offense didn't turn the ball over but they had trouble staying on the field, as evidenced by their 2-14 3rd down conversion rate.
Storm 20 Wheels 6
Portland is one of the other 4-1 teams in the West and the Storm headed to Detroit to play the hard luck Wheels. Detroit sits at 1-4 but the Wheels are not pushovers anymore, having only allowed 68 points all season. If the Wheels can find a way to score some points, they could be dangerous, but it's nice to see teams improve and get on the right track. Portland is on the right track in 1987, as they're in the top half of the league in all but 1 of the commish ranking stats, where they're ranked 6th overall. The West will be fun to watch the rest of the season.
Invaders 16 Panthers 8
Oakland is the 3rd team in the West tied at 4-1 and they played a tight, defensive game against the Midwest division leading Michigan Panthers. Michigan had been 4-0 coming into the game but 3 turnovers sealed their fate. Despite the loss, Michigan still leads the much improved Midwest. In 1986, that division hardly ever beat anyone outside their division. Fast forward a season and all 4 teams are playing better football.
Express 20 Sun 5
Los Angeles played their first game under the leadership of Zennarius and the Express enjoy their first taste of victory in 1987. This game was a defensive struggle, as a sack of Express QB Robert Burns in the end zone made it a 10-5 game early 4th quarter before the Express scored the final 10 points to give us our final score.
Gunslingers 7 Breakers 3
A crowd of 35,740 should demand their money back after witnessing this debacle of a football game. San Antonio traveled cross country to Boston as someone was coming out of this game with their first victory of 1987 barring a tie. All of the game's scoring occurred in a short time window, as Boston K Willie Putnam made a 27 yard FG with 2:57 left in the 3rd qtr. The ensuing kickoff was returned for a 108 yard TD by a guy who will gain way more fame in his post USFL career, Chris Cornell. It's currently 1987 in our MFN world, which means Soundgarden is still just a struggling band hardly anyone outside of Seattle knew about. That's it, 7-3 Gunslingers win.
Bulls 30 Bandits 24
Tampa Bay had a good chance to narrow the Jacksonville lead in the Southeast division, leading the Bulls 24-17 after 3. For the game, the Bandits had 494 yards compared to 296 for the Bulls, 399 of that was passing yards. Tampa was also 9-16 on 3rd down but lost the turnover battle 4-1, allowing Jacksonville to score the final 13 points for the come from behind victory to keep a "0" in their loss column. Bandits WR Thomas Whitley caught 9 for 238 yards and 2 TD's.
Outlaws 25 Hawaiians 13
Clint Young had 136 yards rushing, K Roger Ruzich booted 6 FG's and the Outlaws defense forced 3 turnovers as Oklahoma won their second in a row. Despite the loss, Honolulu still leads the Pacific division.
VooDoo 21 Force 3
The yardage stats were even enough, Georgia ran a little better than New Orleans but the VooDoo were better than the Force through the air. Third down conversion rates were similar and both teams made 3 red zone trips and we've now reached the fork in the road. The VooDoo defense forced 4 INT's and a fumble and completely shut Georgia down in the red zone, not even a FG. New Orleans wasn't great in the red zone offensively with 2 FG's and a TD but they did score on all 3 trips. New Orleans leads the South at 4-1 while Georgia seems to be the National Conference version of Detroit, not winning while not getting blown out, except for today.
Stallions 32 Steamer 19
It was South vs South all around in Week 5 as Birmingham traveled to Shreveport to see who would stay a game behind New Orleans. Stallions QB James Lightfoot threw 3 first half INT's but the Steamer couldn't capitalize, only leading 10-7 at the break. Shreveport would extend their lead to 16-7 with 12:21 to play and that's when Birmingham woke up. Two long Lightfoot to Jeffrey Zimmer TD passes plus an XP and 2 point conversion quickly gave the Stallions a 22-16 lead they would not relinquish. Shreveport cut it to 22-19, but the Stallions scored the final 10 points to close out a 25 point 4th quarter which enabled them to snag the come from behind win.
Stars 24 Maulers 9
An even stat game for the most part, no turnovers for either side and the Stars had better yards per play. Pittsburgh had the 3rd down edge (7-19 vs 2-11) but only got 6 points from 4 red zone trips. Baltimore had 3 TD's and a FG in their 4 trips.
Federals 28 Blazers 9
Florida jumped out to an early 9-0 lead thanks to their defense. Ricky Wyatt sacked Scott Bieber for a safety and Eugene Holland returned a Cory Martin fumble for a TD. That was it for Florida as their offense had 250 "nothing" yards, as in they got nothing for points or even red zone opportunities. Blazers QB Sidney Maggard tossed 3 INT's to take over the league lead and Washington was a perfect 3 for 3 in the red zone. The Federals remain tied with Baltimore for the Atlantic lead, a familiar statement last few seasons.
Thunderbolts 30 Blitz 0
Cleveland RB/WR Samuel Draper had a double triple, 33-128-1 rushing and 3-107-1 receiving as the Thunderbolts blitzed Chicago 30-0. Cleveland out gained Chicago 358-148 and kept the Blitz out of the red zone. Both teams are 3-2, one game behind Michigan in the improved Midwest division.
(NY) Stars 12 Bell 6
New York wins a kicking contest against Philadelphia 4 field goals to 2. The Stars of New York were an efficient 29/36 passing but joined the list of teams stubborn enough to run 20+ times against the Bell's stingy run defense (my Generals included). New York gained 20 yards on 23 carries but the 4 FG's were enough to give the Stars their 3rd straight win.
Renegades 31 Hornets 14
Orlando shut down Charlotte's running game and forced 2 turnovers as the Renegades get off the schneid for their first win of 1987. Orlando WR Daniel Williams caught 10 balls for 106 yards and 2 scores.
