This division has been a 2 team race between Baltimore and Washington the last several seasons, and early on it appeared 1991 would be the same. Through 6 weeks, Baltimore was 5-1, Washington 4-2, Charlotte 3-3 and Pittsburgh 1-5. Yeah Charlotte was right there, but they have never finished better than 8-8, and the Hornets have actually gone 1-7 since. The division will still likely go to Washington or Baltimore but nobody wants to play Pittsburgh right now. The Maulers are on an 8 game win streak and find themselves right in the thick of the playoff race.
Washington Federals (11-3) Washington defeated Denver 30-21 Week 13 behind Scott Bieber's 352 yards and 3 TDs. The Federals nearly had 500 yards against the Gold defense and Bieber spread the ball around to several different receivers. Week 14 saw Washington fall behind Birmingham 13-3 before coming back to tie the score at 13. They then allowed a 75 yard TD pass and Robert Sullivan was tackled in the end zone on one of his 17 receptions for a safety and a 22-13 Birmingham lead. Bieber would lead Washington on a couple of scoring drives as they took the lead 23-22 with just over 1 minute left. Unfortunately for the Federals, they let Stephen Ponder take the Stallions to the edge of FG range and they lost the game. They still have the upper hand on Baltimore thanks to the season sweep.
Baltimore Stars (11-3) Jon Snow threw for 281 yards and 4 TDs as the Stars defeated Oakland in Week 13, 35-16. Baltimore ran for 152 yards as a team and Jeffrey Zimmer caught 2 of the TD passes in the win. Week 14 against Orlando saw Baltimore struggle to move the ball in the first half as the Renegades held a 10-3 lead. Jon Snow tossed 2 TD passes in the 3rd qtr to take the lead, and Mark Numbers scored the clinching TD in the 4th qtr as the Stars now find themselves tied for first.
Pittsburgh Maulers (9-5) The beat rolls on for Pittsburgh, as the Maulers have won 8 straight games to launch themselves firmly into the playoff conversation. They defeated Charlotte 36-17 in Week 13 as QB Will Allison threw for 378 yards and 3 TDs, 2 to Robert Erickson. Numbers Zielinski caught 5 for 139 yards and a TD as Pittsburgh had 460 yards in all. Week 14 was against Arizona and struggling rookie QB Zachary Kinkead. Arizona actually had the early 7-0 lead thanks to a Kinkead TD pass but he would later throw a Pick Six to James Lopez and the final Maulers TD came on a strip sack in the end zone by William Milligan. The final score was 31-7 Pittsburgh.
Charlotte Hornets (4-10) Charlotte has not had the kindest schedule with 10 of 16 games against playoff contenders, but 6 of those are divisional games. They faced red hot Pittsburgh in Week 13 and the Hornets fell behind 17-0 and later 30-7 before finally losing 36-17. The Hornets allowed Pittsburgh 460 offensive yards. Week 14 was against a for sure playoff team in the Denver Gold, and it went as expected. Charlotte turned the ball over twice and allowed Denver almost double the offensive yards as they fall behind 21-3 in the 1st qtr in an eventual 31-3 loss.
