USFL WEEK 5 PREVIEW & PICKS

BY ADAM GREENE

We’re a month into the USFL season it’s already looking differently than a year ago. The Stallions are still winning, but are looking downright hideous doing it. And have the New Orleans Breakers discovered a defense?

We’ll be officially at the halfway mark after this week and have the odds, lines and totals with which to do make it even more entertaining for us.

Let’s take a look at the league and pick some games.

USFL POWER RANKINGS

1. NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS (4-0)

We’re a month into the season and the Breakers just faced their toughest test yet and are still perfect after a field goal victory over the New Jersey Generals. They’ve won on offense, but last week it was the defense that stepped up and slowed the Generals down just enough. Last week: No. 1

2. BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS (3-1)

The Stallions bounced back from their first loss of 2023 by holding off the Pittsburgh Maulers by four points. You take any win you can get, but beating the worst team in the league by just four wasn’t the best statement to make after a loss. Last week: No. 2

3. HOUSTON GAMBLERS (2-2)

After the first couple of weeks, I expected very little of the Gamblers, but lo and behold they have played real football in back-to-back weeks. Or, they’ve just played two of the worst teams in the league. Either way, they’ve won two in a row and that’s worth a Top 3 ranking a four weekends into the season Last week: No. 5

4. NEW JERSEY GENERALS (2-2)

The Generals looked as if they’d gotten their season back on track and had a chance to reclaim the top spot in the USFL North, only to fall to the new hot team in that division, the New Orleans Breakers, in what turned into a surprising defensive struggle in the second half. Last week: No. 4

5. MICHIGAN PANTHERS (2-2)

The Panthers opened the season strong with consecutive victories and appeared to leave the stink of 2022 behind them. It turns out, they might need to switch deodorants again after losing in back to back weeks, this time in downright embarrassing fashion in a blowout to the previously winless Memphis Showboats. Last week: No. 5

6. MEMPHIS SHOWBOATS (1-3)

Unscrew the moonshine jar and try not to go blind from drinking it because the Memphis Showboats picked up their first victory in their USFL 2.0 inaugural campaign. And it came against a team that, two weeks ago, looked like one of the best in the league. Last week: No. 8

7. PHILADELPHIA STARS (1-3)

The USFL might just be two years old, but I’d doubt anyone imagined the Stars would fall this far, this fast after making it to the championship game last season. They were barely even in the game against the Houston Gamblers last week. Last week: No. 6

8. PITTSBURGH MAULERS (1-3)

After taking a week off from their basement dwelling, the Maulers re-enter the caverns, this time losing a close one to last year’s USFL Champions, the Birmingham Stallions. They say there’s no such thing as a moral victory, but when you’re a team that’s won two games in two years, you have to hang your hat on anything. Last week: No. 7

SATURDAY

PITTSBURGH MAULERS AT MICHIGAN PANTHERS (-3.5, O/U: 42)

Pittsburgh made it interesting, but couldn’t stack up wins for the first time in their USFL 2.0 franchise’s history. They scored in every quarter and the defense hung tough, but they fell 24-20 to the defending USFL Champion Birmingham Stallions last week. Troy Williams was 21 of 33 for 217 yards, no touchdowns and no picks. He led the team with seven carries for 63 yards and a touchdown. Bailey Gaither caught six passes for 69 yards. Isiah Hennie caught four passes for 43 yards. Tre Walker caught three balls for 41 yards. Kyahva Tezino racked up 11 tackles and one for a loss. Eli Walker had eight tackles and a sack. Arnold Tarpley III had seven tackles. Dale Warren and Bryce Torneden ended with six tackles apiece. Keith Gipson, Jr. ended his night with four tackles, one interception and two passes defended.

The early season good vibes for the Panthers are fading fast after the team suffered its second consecutive double-digit loss, this time falling to the previously winless Memphis Showboats 29-10. Michigan again played both its quarterbacks, with Carson Strong going 9 of 12 for 76 yards, no TDs and a pick. Josh Love was 10 of 15 for 58 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Both guys combined were good for 5.0 yards per pass and that’s just not what professional football is supposed to look like. Steve Scott II led the team on the ground with 12 rushes for 66 yards. Reggie Corbin had 14 carries for 53 yards. Joe Walker caught seven passes for 76 yards and a touchdown. Frank Ginda led the defense with eight tackles. Warren Saba and Sean Mahone recorded seven tackles apiece. Levonta Taylor and Corrion Ballard each registered five tackles. Williams had three tackles, one sack and one tackle for a loss.

Michigan has faceplanted in consecutive weeks, but sometimes all you need to fix what ails you is to play one of the worst football teams on planet Earth. Panthers 20, Maulers 10

HOUSTON GAMBLERS AT BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS (-4.5, O/U: 47)

The Gamblers unleashed maybe their most impressive performance of their first two seasons last Saturday, absolutely obliterating the Philadelphia Stars 41-16 in a game that never really felt that close. Kenji Bahar was sharp in the game, going 15 of 21 for 230 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in the victory. Terry Wilson got a few snaps at QB as well in the blowout, going 2 of 3 for 21 yards. He added nine rushes for 49 yards. Mark Thompson led the team on the ground with 13 carries for 134 yards and three touchdowns. Keke Chism hauled in two passes for 62 yards and a touchdown. Anthony Ratliff-Williams had four grabs for 55 yards and a TD. Josh Pederson caught three for 45. Khalan Tolson led Houston with nine tackles. Manny Bunch had seven tackles, one sack, one tackle for a loss and one pass defense. Isaiah Zuber had five tackles and a pass defense. Reggie Walker and Isaiah Chambers tied with four tackles apiece. Walker added two sacks and two tackles for a loss. Chambers had a sack and a tackle for a loss. Elijah Jones picked up three tackles, one interception and one pass defense.

They took two quarters off, but still managed to bounce back from their first loss of the season as the Stallions put two touchdowns on the board in the fourth to take down the Pittsburgh Maulers, 24-20, last Sunday. Alex McGough was unimpressive again, but at least this time the team won. He went 17 of 29 for 157 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions while leading the team in rushing with 10 carries for 48 yards and a score. Zaquandre White and CJ Marable had 10 rushes apiece, with White picking up 41 yards and Marable had 35. Davion Davis caught eight passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. Scooby Wright III ended his night with six tackles. Tyree Robinson, Brian Allen and Nate Brooks all picked up five tackles each, with Robinson adding a tackle for a loss.

Houston is coming off consecutive wins and while Birmingham picked up a victory last week, if that win looked any uglier it would show up as my “most compatible” on Hinge. I’m sensing an upset. Gamblers 23, Stallions 20

SUNDAY

NEW JERSEY GENERALS AT PHILADELPHIA STARS (+6, O/U: 43)

The Generals have been a consistent and solid offense since the USFL kicked back off last year, but struggled to move the ball and score last Sunday, falling to the league’s only undefeated team, the New Orleans Breakers, 20-17. De’Andre Johnson was just 7 of 14 for 113 yards and a touchdown while rushing five times for 38 yards. Trey Williams rushed eight times for 70 yards and a score. Darius Victor had nine carries for 64 yards. Cam Echols-Luper caught only two passes, nearly 30 percent of Johnson’s completions, for 71 yards and a score. Chris Orr led the defense with 13 tackles and a half a sack. Shalom Luani had 12 tackles, one tackle for a loss, one interception and one pass defense. Ford recorded 10 tackles. DJ Daniel had eight takedowns and Kolin Hill, D’Juan Hines and Kenneth Randall all finished with six tackles apiece, with Hill notching half a sack.

Philadelphia’s disappointing 2023 got even uglier last Saturday as they lost in blowout fashion, 41-16 to the formerly bottom dwelling Houston Gamblers. Case Cookus did not bounce back from a poor Week 3, instead doubling down with a mediocre performance in the defeat. He was 24 of 36 for 189 yards, one touchdown and one interception for a 77.2 quarterback rating and a downright pathetic 5.2 yards per completion. He added two scrambles for 16 yards to co-lead the team in rushing with Matt Colburn II, who had six carries for 16, but he did at least score a TD. The team rushed for a total of 44 yards. Devin Gray caught eight passes for 61 yards. Dexter Williams had two receptions for just 19 yards, but one went for a touchdown. That added to his three rushes for 12 yards. On defense, Joey Alfieri led the Stars with eight tackles. Sean Brown, Joel Dublanko and LaDarius Wiley all picked up seven tackles each, with Dublanko recording half a sack and Brown got a pass defense. Tristan Taylor recorded six tackles.

New Jersey could not have played worse on offense last season and still nearly pulled out the win. Meanwhile, Philly has looked like garbage on both sides of the ball all season. It’s time for some old school Jersey revenge here, but the offense needs to pick it up quick if they want to make a real postseason run. Generals 23, Stars 13

MEMPHIS SHOWBOATS AT NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS (+7.5, O/U: 47.5)

For the first time in 2023 and, well, the first time since 1985, the Showboats picked up a victory in the sport of football, knocking off the Michigan Panthers in impressive fashion in a 29-10 blowout. Memphis won in spite of a yawn of a game from quarterback Cole Kelley, who went 15 of 26 for 151 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. He scrambled six times for 27 yards and two touchdowns. Kerrith Whyte led the team with 15 carries for 54 yards. Vinny Papale caught three passes for 58 yards. No one else caught more than 30 yards worth of passes. TJ Neal and Troy Warner each finished with eight tackles, with Neal adding one for a loss. Kyree Woods recorded six tackles. Jeff McCulloch, John Atkins, Jeremiah Valoaga and Quenton Meeks all got five tackles apiece. Anthony Butler had four tackles, one tackle for a loss, one interception and one pass defense. Jermaine Kelly Jr. ended his day with three tackles, one pick and a pass defense. 

With the game tied 17-17 heading into the fourth quarter, the Breakers found their defense when they needed it the most, completely shutting down the New Jersey Generals to hold onto a 20-17 victory to keep their record spotless four weekends into the USFL season. McLeod Bethel-Thompson finished 26 of 37 for 279 yards, no touchdowns and one interception in the victory. He scrambled twice for 10 yards. Wes Hills rushed 26 times for 88 yards and two scores. He added seven receptions for 71 yards. Sage Surratt caught six passes for 94 yards. Dee Anderson, Jonathan Adams and Lee Morris all caught four balls, with Anderson recording 43 yards, Adams 37 yards and Morris 36. On defense, Vontae Diggs finished with 12 tackles, half a sack and two tackles for a loss. Jordan Brailford finished with five tackles. Justus Reed had three tackles, one sack and one tackle for a loss.

This is the very definition of a trap game and if Memphis had a quarterback that could throw for 200 yards, you might be tempted to pick it. But I am not, my friend. At all. Breakers 33, Showboats 17

Last week

Straight up: 2-2

Against the spread: 1-3

Season

Straight up: 5-3

Against the spread: 4-4

Follow Adam Greene on Twitter @TheFirstMan.

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