Last week I pointed out that Tampa Bay had the longest win streak and they lose, prompting Mcarovil to say thanks for the jinx. Prior to that, I had mentioned Portland had the longest win streak and Memphis lost their long streak right after I pointed out how close they were to the Wheels record. Is there something to the commish jinx? We'll find out about the jinx soon enough as Memphis again has the league's longest current win streak at 6.
Storm 41 Panthers 38 (OT)
These two division leaders met in Portland and it was a wild tale of two halves, plus overtime. Michigan scored touchdowns on their first 5 possessions as the Panthers built a 35-7 halftime lead. Portland had 2 turnovers, both in the first half but the Storm forced 3 Panthers turnovers in the second half as they came all the way back to take the lead 38-35 with Oscar Willis's 3rd TD pass of the game with 1:18 left in regulation. With Portland shutting down Michigan in the second half (4 punts, 3 INT's) it seemed the home fans would go home happy once the clock hit 0:00 but the Panthers would move the ball into FG range. John Bibler nailed a 52 yarder at the gun to send the game into a 5th quarter. Portland got the ball first and punted, then forced a Michigan three and out before they kicked the game winning FG on their second OT drive.
Both teams were a perfect 4 for 4 scoring red zone TD's and Michigan was 10 for 17 on 3rd down, but losing the turnover battle was costly. Panthers WR/RB Nicholas Dorey had a combined 310 yards (86 rushing, 224 receiving) and 3 TD's in the loss, while the Storm had two 100 yard receivers.
Portland improves to 10-2 and is the current #2 seed in the American Conference. Michigan falls to 9-3 with this loss perhaps costing them the BYE week but they still have a 3 game lead over Cleveland in the Midwest.
Wheels 13 Invaders 10
Oakland missed a great chance to remain tied with Portland atop the West, despite holding Detroit under 200 yards. The Wheels had a 10-0 lead until 3:04 left in the 3rd, when the Invaders finally got on the scoreboard with a TD. Detroit had amassed just 130 yards of offense before their final drive of the game, which came with 1:14 left after Oakland tied the game at 10 with a FG. The Wheels saved their best drive for last, needing 7 plays for 61 yards to move into FG range. Robert Moulton booted the ball through the uprights at the gun to give Detroit the upset win.
Oakland falls to 9-3, one game behind Portland in the West and part of a 3 way tie for the 2 wildcard spots with Houston and Denver. In a 3 way tie, head to head only counts if one team swept the others, or one team was swept.
Gold 11 Blitz 6
Chicago intercepted Denver QB Andrew Brewer 4 times and sacked him 3 times while holding the Gold to 2-11 on 3rd down. Denver's defense had Brewer's back though, limiting the Blitz to 216 yards and keeping them out of the end zone. The only TD of the game came with 4:17 left as Brewer tossed an 8 yard pass to Richard Funkhouser, and the two point try was successful.
Denver is 9-3, tied with Oakland and Houston for the two wildcard spots.
Wranglers 27 Thunderbolts 10
Arizona got the ball first and drove for a TD and Cleveland did the same on their first drive, then the teams traded punts. The Wranglers third drive is when the game started to turn in Arizona's favor, as they drove 89 yards in 13 plays to take a 14-7 lead. Cleveland punted and Arizona got another TD for a 21-7 lead. Arizona would add 2 FG's after 2 more Cleveland punts and it was 27-7 Wranglers, allowing Arizona to coast to victory over the final quarter and a half.
Cleveland is 3 games out of a playoff spot with 4 to go, so their playoff hopes are becoming a faded dream. Arizona is still in last place but at 8-4, they are 1 game behind the 3 teams tied for the wildcard spots and just 2 out of the division lead. Portland comes to visit Arizona in Week 13 in a de facto playoff game for the Wranglers, as a loss pretty much takes them out of division contention and would likely make them 2 games behind the wildcard.
VooDoo 29 Express 10
The Express have had a roller coaster season on and off the field, but still find themselves at the top of the Pacific despite a 5-7 record. The VooDoo entered the game tied with Birmingham for the South lead, and had the added challenge of facing a new owner with a 1 game track record. I don't know how others feel but I don't like facing brand new owners because of the lack of track record.
New Orleans struggled to put up offensive yards, finishing with 261, but when you have two TD drives covering 18 and 26 yards, the stat lines don't fill. That second short TD drive came with 4:08 left in the 3rd to give the VooDoo a 15-10 lead. For the game, New Orleans allowed 298 yards and 7-19 on 3rd down, but held them out of the red zone all game thanks to the 5 turnovers they forced. Four of those turnovers were INT's and midway through the 4th, VooDoo CB Robert Shuler took one to the house to give New Orleans a 22-10 lead. At the 2 minute warning, Billy Brink took his only handoff and raced 63 yards to the end zone for the game clinching TD.
Los Angeles falls to 5-7 but maintain their 1 game lead on Honolulu while New Orleans maintain their tie atop the South with Birmingham.
Stallions 19 Blazers 6
Birmingham won the turnover battle 2-1 and held Florida out of the red zone all game. Neither team ran the ball great but the Stallions were efficient through the air, completing 26/38 for 287 yards. Birmingham had 3 red zone trips of their own, but only managed 2 FG's. That was enough for the victory though as Birmingham remains tied with New Orleans at the top of the South.
Stars 33 Bandits 10
Coming into this game, Baltimore had lost 4 in a row while Tampa Bay had won 6 in a row, so of course Baltimore won. Both teams had 1 turnover each but Baltimore doubled the Bandits in yardage, thanks in large part to the Stars ground game. Tampa Bay ran 14 times for just 23 yards while the Stars ran twice as much (29 times) for more than 6 times the yards (146). The Bandits never had a red zone possession while Baltimore had 3 TD's and 1 FG in 5 red zone trips. Baltimore RB Mark Numbers had 220 combined yards, 75 rushing and 145 receiving.
Tampa Bay remains tied for the Southeast lead at 8-4 with Jacksonville while Baltimore is now 7-5 on the outside looking in.
Renegades 27 Bulls 23
Stat lines were pretty close: total yards 412-411 Bulls, rushing yards Renegades 118-114, passing yards 298-293 Bulls, third down conversions (4-13 Renegades, 4-14 Bulls), 3 red zone trips each (3 TD for Renegades, 2/1 Bulls) and time of possession 31-29 Bulls. Jacksonville threw 3 INT while Orlando lost 2 fumbles.
Jacksonville built a 17-0 lead and still led 23-13 early in the 4th after a FG. Orlando QB Elwood Savage threw 2 of his 4 TD passes in the 4th qtr as the Renegades score the last 14 points of the game for the come from behind, upset win.
Jacksonville maintain their tie atop the Southeast despite the loss.
(NY) Stars 12 Outlaws 10
This was almost a playoff game as the loser will have a much tougher road to the post season. Oklahoma scored the game's only TD with their ground and pound attack, rushing 44 times versus 11 passes. New York was opposite, running 14 times while throwing 47 passes. All that passing didn't help the Stars find the end zone but it was enough for K Daniel Hall to boot 4 FG's, giving New York the 12-10 victory.
New York improves to 7-5, 1 game behind New Jersey in the East and 1 game behind in the wildcard race. Oklahoma falls to 7-5, 9th place in the American Conference.
Generals 33 Bell 16
New Jersey started fast in this game, jumping out 17-0 and 20-3 before settling in and running out the clock. The Generals ran for 3.89 ypc against the Bell's tough run defense and Ric Flair only threw 1 INT as New Jersey out gained Philadelphia 390-258. The Bell had success running the ball but the Generals sacked Philadelphia QBs 3 times and CB Bruce Dickinson intercepted Steven Moore twice.
New Jersey improves to 8-4, maintaining their 1 game lead on New York in the East.
Federals 57 Hornets 0
Washington only had a 31-0 lead after 3, piling on with 26 4th qtr points for the blowout victory. The Federals had 414 offensive yards yet nobody had 100 yards rushing or receiving, nor 300 yards passing. Washington played sloppy at times, but the Federals defense was doing such a great job shutting down the Charlotte offense, it didn't matter. Charlotte gained all of 46 yards on the day, 88 if you don't count sacks and the Hornets turned the ball over 7 times (6 INT).
Washington (9-3) maintain their 2 game lead over Baltimore in the Atlantic.
Showboats 26 Gunslingers 14
Memphis jumped out to a 16-0 lead before San Antonio cut it to 16-14 early in the 4th. The Showboats closed out the scoring with the final 10 points as they win sloppily. Memphis got to the red zone 5 times but only scored 2 TD's and 1 FG, they lost a fumble, gave up 3 sacks and David Allen threw 4 INT's. San Antonio's offense just couldn't take enough advantage though, as their longest play from scrimmage was 24 yards.
Memphis is 11-1 and the current #1 seed in the American Conference.
Gamblers 31 SaberCats 6
Houston got off to a fast start, building a 24-0 halftime lead and Chase Miles had 2 TD's and 215 yards rushing/receiving. San Jose had extreme difficulty through the air, averaging less than 1 yard per attempt. The SaberCats did have success on the ground (21-113) and they forced four turnovers. Three of those were lost fumbles as the Gamblers had ball security issues but the one dimensional San Jose offense couldn't take advantage.
Houston is 9-3, tied with Oakland and Denver for the 2 wildcard spots. I have not looked at the 3 way tiebreaker to see who has it right now, still too much football left to be played.
Sun 32 Hawaiians 15
Honolulu was once 4-3, at the top of the Pacific, but they've lost 5 in a row since. The Hawaiians still throw a ton, 57 times today, but it was the running game that made the difference. Honolulu ran 20 times for 30 yards while Southern California ran 32 times for a whopping 337 yards. Nicholas Wittrock accounted for almost half, with 163 yards on 13 carries.
Southern California improves to 3-9, but that's only 2 games behind Los Angeles for the Pacific playoff spot. Honolulu is in 2nd place in the Pacific at 4-8, 1 game behind the Express.
Steamer 23 Breakers 6
Shreveport dominated 3rd down conversions, red zone opportunities and time of possession for their 4th straight victory. The Steamer were 7-16 on 3rd down (Boston 1-14), had 3 red zone opportunities (2 TD/1 FG) to just 1 for the Breakers (1 FG), and a 36-24 time advantage.
Shreveport stay 2 games behind Birmingham and New Orleans in the South and are now 1 game out of the #6 seed.
Maulers 6 Force 3
Georgia loses yet another one score game as their kicker missed 2 FG's on the day. Both teams combined for 391 offensive yards as Pittsburgh snaps their 9 game losing streak.
