{"id":22379,"date":"2022-05-06T17:30:18","date_gmt":"2022-05-06T21:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/?p=22379"},"modified":"2022-05-06T17:30:48","modified_gmt":"2022-05-06T21:30:48","slug":"usfl-week-4-preview-picks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/nfl\/usfl-week-4-preview-picks\/","title":{"rendered":"USFL WEEK 4 PREVIEW &#038; PICKS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheFirstMan\">BY ADAM GREENE<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just when I think I\u2019ve got the USFL all figured out, they flip the script on me with a few quality games and actual professional football scores. There\u2019s no way I could have suspected that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We even got that patented Jeff Fisher smug post victory walk out he used to do in the NFL, forgetting his team has looked like wholesale dog crap since the league kicked off. The Panthers finally showed up in one game, but Jeff is going to <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Gxrkc6HtzXg\">smell his own fart about it all the way to the coaches\u2019 handshake<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Kentucky Derby 2022 Expert Predictions &amp; Analysis | NFL Draft Odds &amp; More! | BetOnline All Access\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BZ6WEFFPtfA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The good news for the fledgling league, and it\u2019s likely due to the teams playing what looks like real football, is that the ratings took a tick up for Week 3. This is still a venture seriously lacking star power and with no deal with the NFL, there\u2019s probably no way to fix that. As it is, they have found a few guys that slipped through the cracks that will probably find their way to an NFL roster come late July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, hey, this isn\u2019t about those players and their possible income earning potential. It\u2019s all about ours and we will use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/sportsbook\/football\/usfl\/usfl\">the odds and totals for Week 4<\/a> to make it happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>FRIDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>PHILADELPHIA<\/strong><strong> STARS AT MICHIGAN PANTHERS (pk, O\/U: 33.5)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week the Panthers picked up their first victory of the season, knocking off the hapless Pittsburgh Maulers 24-0. The Stars were held scoreless in the fourth quarter to fall to the New Jersey Generals 24-16.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Michigan\u2019s quarterback play was still abysmal, with Shea Patterson completing just 47.1 percent of his passes for 48 yards. Paxton Lynch, a former NFL first round pick, was even worse. He was 3 of 8 for just 23 yards. Reggie Corbin had a day on the ground, rushing 20 times for 133 yards and a touchdown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Stars at least had decent QB performances in their loss. Case Cookus, who I still can\u2019t believe is a real person, took over for an injured Bryan Scott. Cookus went 13 of 20 for 146 yards and a touchdown. Scott, before he hobbled off, was 9 of 13 for 84 yards and a TD. Tight end Bug Howard caught four passes for 78 yards and a score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I feel like Fisher putting a victory together has fooled everyone into thinking the Panthers might be a competent team. I\u2019m going to need to see it two weekends in a row to believe it. Something that rarely happened during his stint with the Los Angeles\/St. Louis Rams. <strong>Stars 24, Panthers 10<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SATURDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>NEW<\/strong><strong> JERSEY GENERALS AT PITTSBURGH MAULERS (+9, O\/U: 33)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Generals picked up their second win a row last weekend, outlasting the Philadelphia Stars 24-16. The Maulers looked every bit like the worst team in the league and solidified that claim by securing an 0-3 start by getting absolutely dominated by the Michigan Panthers, 24-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New Jersey continues its two headed quarterback rotation between Luis Perez and De\u2019Andre Johnson. Johnson might have made a statement against the Stars, completing 75 percent of his passes for 130 yards while rushing for 91 yards and TD. His ability to pick up yardage with his legs while still being a competent enough passer could make all the difference down the stretch. Trey Williams carried the ball 19 times for 110 yards. KaVontae Turpin hauled in five passes for 78 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Maulers got 10 of 19 passing for 83 yards from Josh Love and Kyle Lauletta was 9 of 12 for 41 yards. Madre London had 11 carries for 68 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By getting its ass handed to it by the Jeff Fisher coached Panthers, Pittsburgh showed it\u2019s unquestionably the worst team in the league. The Generals put forth their best performance of the young season a week ago. They should match it Saturday. <strong>Generals 27, Maulers 13<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>TAMPA<\/strong><strong> BAY BANDITS AT BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS (-4, O\/U: 39)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bandits got back on the winning track, defeating the Houston Gamblers with a 10 point fourth quarter comeback, 27-26. In a battle of unbeatens, the Stallions laid claim to the best team in the USFL moniker by taking down the New Orleans Breakers 22-13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For Tampa, Jordan Ta\u2019amu had a decent enough day throwing the ball. He finished 21 of 36 for 255 yards, one touchdown and a pick. Juwan Washington had the best rushing day for a Bandit this season, carrying the ball 15 times for 65 yards and a score. Derrick Dillon caught six passes for 124 yards and a TD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In spite of the victory, last week was not the most accurate performance from QB J\u2019Mar Smith for Birmingham. He completed just 39.5 percent of his passes for 196 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. Smith added 57 yards on the ground. Victor Bolden, Jr.&nbsp; caught six passes for 69 yards and a TD. Cary Angeline had four catches for 66 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Birmingham might be undefeated, but having a QB complete under 40 percent of his passes doesn\u2019t feel like they can stay that way. I\u2019m guessing Tampa Bay stays hot. <strong>Bandits 23, Stallions 20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>SUNDAY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>HOUSTON<\/strong><strong> GAMBLERS AT NEW ORLEANS BREAKERS (-5, O\/U: 39)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Gamblers surrendered a nine point lead in the fourth quarter to fall 27-26 to the Tampa Bay Bandits last week. In a match up between two 2-0 squads, the Breakers came out on the losing end, falling 22-13 to the Birmingham Stallions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Houston got 240 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and a 62.5 completion percentage form Clayton Thorson in the loss. Mark Thompson had 24 carries for 147 yards and a score. Anthony Ratliff-Williams had two catches for 73 yards and a TD.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the Breakers, Kyle Sloter completed a pedestrian 55.3 percent of his passes for 240 yards, two touchdowns and a pick. Jordan Ellis rushed 25 times for 90 yards and Johnnie Dixon caught seven passes for 86 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New Orleans looked like the best team in the league for the first two weeks, but took a stumble last Saturday. I think they right the ship against the Gamblers. <strong>Breakers 27, Gamblers 20<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Last week<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Straight up:<\/strong> 0-4<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Against the spread:<\/strong> 0-4<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Season<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Straight up<\/strong>: 5-7<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Against the spread:<\/strong> 5-7<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Follow Adam Greene on Twitter <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheFirstMan\">@TheFirstMan<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Connect with us our socials on <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/betonline_ag\">Twitter<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/betonline_ag\/\">Instagram<\/a> for the latest sports news, viral moments, betting odds and the occasional memes.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BY ADAM GREENE Just when I think I\u2019ve got the USFL all figured out, they flip the script on me&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":8970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[129],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22379"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22381,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22379\/revisions\/22381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8970"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.betonline.ag\/news-room\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}