The midpoint of the season sees only one division truly competitive. While three teams battle for two spots in the Central, four teams are vying for the wild card spot in the East. New Jersey won again to pass Pittsburgh. Boston won and Washington lost to set each team only 1 game apart from one another. Meanwhile, Philadelphia won again to all but clinch the division title.

Chicago, Houston, and Oakland, all playoff teams right now won as well. However, Los Angeles lost, setting up a potential battle for first place in the West. Last, but not least, both Michigan and Jacksonville won their games to close out the results for the week.

USFL Stat Leaders After Week 9 (1984)

Week 9 Scores

Friday

Los Angeles Express 10, Chicago Blitz 34

Memphis Showboats 7, Jacksonville Bulls 28

Saturday

Arizona Wranglers 27, Houston Gamblers 52

Oklahoma Outlaws 21, Birmingham Stallions 42

Sunday

Denver Gold 24, Boston Breakers 27

New Jersey Generals 27, Pittsburgh Maulers 10

Philadelphia Stars 26, San Antonio Gunslingers 16

Washington Federals 9, Oakland Invaders 10

Monday

Tampa Bay Bandits 20, Michigan Panthers 27

Week 9 Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Jim Kelly, QB, Houston Gamblers. Kelly edged out Chicago quarterback Greg Landry on yardage. They both threw 4 touchdowns in their game, but Kelly threw for 441 yards, giving him the majority of votes this week.

Defense: Tim Lucas, Oakland Invaders. Lucas ruled the day in a defensive struggle in Oakland. He got 13 tackles, 2 stuffs, and 3 forced fumbles against the Federals.

Special Teams: Marcus Bonner, KR, San Antonio Gunslingers. Bonner returned 5 kicks for 170 yards and a 96 yard touchdown in the San Antonio loss to Philadelphia.

Week 8 brought some separation in most of the divisions. The only one that remains mildly competitive is the Central with three teams vying for the 2 playoff spots there. A win by Michigan and a loss by Chicago and Houston helped with that outcome. Most of the other games went as expected.

New Jersey won again, pulling them into a tie with Pittsburgh in the division. Generals fans aren’t getting ahead of themselves. However, some quietly think that the team might have finally figured something out and could make a run. Watch this space to see if they’re right.

USFL Stat Leaders After Week 8 (1984)

Week 8 Scores

Saturday

Denver Gold 13, Pittsburgh Maulers 26

Memphis Showboats 20, Los Angeles Express 24

Oklahoma Outlaws 7, Washington Federals 30

San Antonio Gunslingers 23, Jacksonville Bulls 10

Sunday

Arizona Wranglers 7, New Jersey Generals 39

Birmingham Stallions 6, Michigan Panthers 14

Chicago Blitz 13, Philadelphia Stars 19

Monday

Houston Gamblers 28, Oakland Invaders 35

Tampa Bay Bandits 40, Boston Breakers 23

Week 8 Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Joey Walters, WR, Washington Federals. Walters was a one man wrecking crew for the Federals. He caught 7 passes for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Defense: Oliver Davis, DB, Michigan Panthers. Davis made 12 tackles, defended 4 passes, and picked one off. He is one of the main reasons that Michigan defeated Birmingham this week.

Special Teams: Tony Good, KR, Boston Breakers. Good returned 6 kicks for 168 yards as one of the only bright spots this week against Tampa Bay.

Week 6 brought more exciting football to the USFL. In the three Saturday games, Chicago, Houston, and Oklahoma all won by double digits. The wins for Chicago and Houston set them up for a potential divisional battle this season.

Sunday brought a combination of blowouts and single score games. Denver and Michigan both blew out their opponents. Oakland won by a touchdown. Tampa ended Philadelphia’s hopes of a perfect season with a field goal win. Meanwhile, New Jersey remained winless after a two point loss to Los Angeles. In the final game of the week, Birmingham manhandled Boston to stay just one game back of division leading Tampa Bay.

USFL Stat Leaders After Week 6

Week 6 Games

Saturday

Chicago Blitz 22, Washington Federals 6

Houston Gamblers 38, Oklahoma Outlaws 26

Jacksonville Bulls 13, Memphis Showboats 23

Sunday

Arizona Wranglers 17, Denver Gold 41

New Jersey Generals 27, Los Angeles Express 29

Oakland Invaders 21, Pittsburgh Maulers 14

San Antonio Gunslingers 10, Michigan Panthers 27

Tampa Bay Bandits 23, Philadelphia Stars 20

Monday

Boston Breakers 10, Birmingham Stallions 34

Standings After Week 6

Players of the Week

Offense: Richard Johnson, WR, Houston Gamblers. Johnson makes it two weeks in a row for the Houston offense. He gained 193 yards on 13 catches and scored 2 touchdowns in the game.

Defense: Doran Major, S, Memphis Showboats. Major was a factor in the Showboats win over the Bulls this week. He made 9 tackles and returned an interception for a touchdown.;

Special Teams: Clarence Verdin, KR, Houston Gamblers. Verdin returned 5 kicks for 216 yards with a long of 95 that ended in a touchdown.

Week 5 featured three Saturday and 2 Monday games. Philadelphia got the week started with a win over division rival Pittsburgh and added to the rivalry between those two cities. Then Oakland won a defensive battle in San Antonio and Arizona won a close on against Oklahoma.

The four Sunday games brought two close ones with Washington continuing New Jersey’s losing streak to start the season and Los Angeles edged Jacksonville. Memphis won by double digits and defending champion Chicago showed that they still have the goods.

In the two Monday games, Tampa Bay put themselves into the South dividion lead. Then, Houston exerted their will against a suddenly struggling Panthers team. With next week marking a third of the season in the books, expect some in depth analysis.

USFL Stat Leaders After Week 5 (1984)

Week 5 Games

Saturday

Philadelphia Stars 24, Pittsburgh Maulers 10

Oakland Invaders 9, San Antonio Gunslingers 3

Oklahoma Outlaws 26, Arizona Wranglers 31

Sunday

Chicago Blitz 42, Boston Breakers 14

Denver Gold 10, Memphis Showboats 22

Washington Federals 27, New Jersey Generals 24

Jacksonville Bulls 27, Los Angeles Express 31

Monday

Birmingham Stallions 27, Tampa Bay Bandits 31

Michigan Panthers 26, Houston Gamblers 49

Standings After Week 5

Players of the Week

Offense: Todd Fowler, RB, Houston Gamblers. Fowler and QB Jim Kelly led the potent Houston attack. He rushed for 208 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also caught one of Kelly’s 5 touchdown passes.

Defense: Washington Federals Defense. The Federals defeated New Jersey in a close game. Their defense forced four turnovers and returned two for a touchdown for half of Washington’s points.

Special Teams: Tony Good, KR, Boston Breakers. Good provided one of the only bright spots for Boston on the day, returning 7 kicks for 148 yards.

Week 4 kicked off with two blowouts. First, quarterback Cliff Stoudt put on a show for Birmingham as they defeated Memphis 63-24. Then, Chicago continued to win by dispatching with Oklahoma. In the evening game, Los Angeles took sole possession of first place in the west with a win over San Antonio.

Philadelphia continued the trend of winning by multiple scores, but Pittsburgh and Washington provided some suspense in their game and set up a nice rivalry between the two teams. Houston got back to winning by keeping New Jersey winless. Tampa Bay and Michigan finished off Sunday with expected wins. In the final game of the week, Boston easily took care of Jacksonville.

USFL Stat Leaders After Week 4 (1984)

Week 4 Games

Saturday

Los Angeless Express 24, San Antonio Gunslingers 10

Memphis Showboats 24, Birmingham Stallions 63

Oklahoma Outlaws 23, Chicago Blitz 42

Sunday

Arizona Wranglers 14, Michigan Panthers 30

New Jersey Generals 16, Houston Gamblers 21

Oakland Invaders 7, Philadelphia Stars 41

Pittsburgh Maulers 27, Washington Federals 34

Tampa Bay Bandits 20, Denver Gold 17

Monday

Boston Breakers 37, Jacksonville Bulls 17

Standings After Week 3

Players of The Week

Offense: Cliff Stoudt, QB, Birmingham Stallions. Stoudt set a record for passing and total touchdowns in their game against Memphis this week. He threw for an astounding 7 and ran for another one for a total of 8 of the Stallions 9 scores in the game.

Defense: Ray Bentley, LB, Michigan Panthers. Bentley led the Michigan defense against Arizona. He caught an interception, forced a fumble, and made 7 tackles in the win.

Special Teams: Donnel Daniels, KR, Arizona Wranglers. Daniel returned 7 kicks for 157 yards. He also returned 2 punts in the game.

Week 2 brought football on more days with games on Friday through Monday. Tampa Bay started it off by defeating Arizona to put the Southern division in a tangle of 1-1 teams by the end of the week. Denver defeated Oklahoma, a team that might be looking for answers sooner rather than later. Then, Michigan ran their regular season undefeated streak to 20 games by beating Pittsburgh at home.

Sunday featured 5 games, 3 early and 2 in the afternoon evening. In the afternoon games, Chicago, Jacksonville, and Philadelphia all won. Both west coast teams took care of business at home in the late games. On Monday night, San Antonio shocked the league by beating Houston.

1984 Stat Leaders After Week 2

Week 2 Games

Friday

Tampa Bay Bandits 40, Arizona Wranglers 21

Saturday

Denver Gold 29, Oklahoma Outlaws 17

Pittsburgh Maulers 17, Michigan Panthers 38

Sunday

Chicago Blitz 21, Memphis Showboats 7

New Jersey Generals 17, Jacksonville Bulls 27

Philadelphia Stars 26, Washington Federals 10

Birmingham Stallions 20, Los Angeles Express 34

Boston Breakers 14, Oakland Invaders 23

Monday

Houston Gamblers 29, San Antonio Gunslingers 41

Standings After Week 2

Players of the Week

Offense: Rick Neuheisel, QB, San Antonio Gunslingers. Newheisel torched the Houston defense for 211 passing yards and 4 touchdowns. He added another 51 rushing and a touchdown.

Offense: Bobby Hebert, QB, Michigan Panthers. Not to be outdone, but Hebert threw for 242 yards against Pittsburgh and 5 touchdowns.

Defense: Chuck Clanton, DB, Birmingham Stallions. While Birmingham lost, Clanton did all he could with 6 tackles and 2 interceptions.

Defense: David Martin, DB, Denver Gold. Martin matched Clanton’s output and the Gold defeated Oklahoma to even their record at 1-1.

Special Teams: Eugene Daniel, KR, Arizona Wranglers. Daniel returned 6 kicks for 146 yards. He also handled punt return duty securing 3 punts.

Tampa Bay started the week in the only Saturday game by thrashing Birmingham. The win did little to soothe the wounds of a disappointing season, but it’s still better to end on an up rather than a down. In the Sunday games with no playoff implications, Philadelphia lost to Washington and Denver lost to Los Angeles.

Boston beat New Jersey and Oakland lost to Chicago. That gave Boston the number two seed and Oakland the number three seed. The Invaders travel to Boston on Saturday to open the playoffs. The win did nothing for Chicago’s playoff seeding as Michigan closed out a perfect regular season and will host Chicago on Sunday in the other playoff game this coming weekend. Look for the playoff preview a little later this week.

1983 Regular Season USFL Stat Leaders

Week 18 Games

Saturday

Tampa Bay Bandits 37, Birmingham Stallions 7

Sunday

Arizona Wranglers 7, Michigan Panthers 22

Denver Gold 23, Los Angeles Express 28

New Jersey Generals 20, Boston Breakers 32

Oakland Invaders 13, Chicago Blitz 29

Philadelphia Stars 15, Washington Federals 30

Final Regular Season Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Jimmy Jordan, QB, Tampa Bay Bandits. Jordan led the Bandits to a win over division rival Birmingham in the last week of the season. He threw for over 300 yards and 4 touchdowns in the win.

Defense: Eddie Walker, CB, Arizona Wranglers. In spite of the loss, Walker played well for his team, recording 7 tackles and one interception.

Special Teams: Frank Corral, K, Chicago Blitz. Corral wen 5-7 on field goals with a long of 49 and 2-2 on extra points to score 17 of Chicago’s 29 points this week.

New Jersey opened the week with a win over the hapless Arizona Wranglers. Herschel Walker all but guaranteed his MVP award with another stellar performance. Oakland won over Boston in the other Saturday game to bring them even in the playoff race with the Breakers. Birmingham and Washington both got wins on Sunday afternoon.

In the game of the week for week 17, Michigan edged Chicago in overtime. They remain unbeated on the regular season with only one game to go. Chicago looks to get revenge in the playoffs in a couple of weeks. Finally, Tampa Bay ended the week with a shutout win over Denver. The Bandits end a disappointing season, but have reason to be hopeful next year.

USFL Stat Leaders After Week 17

Week 17 Games

Saturday

Arizona Wranglers 10, New Jersey Generals 37

Boston Breakers 9, Oakland Invaders 20

Sunday

Birmingham Stallions 13, Philadelphia Stars 9

Los Angeles Express 6, Washington Federals 22

Michigan Panthers 26, Chicago Blitz 23

Monday

Denver Gold 0, Tampa Bay Bandits 17

Standings After Week 17

Players of the Week

Offense – Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey Generals. Walker continued his late season push for league MVP. He gained over 200 yards of total offense and scored three touchdowns in the Generals win over Arizona. New Jersey needs to capitalize on his talents fast!

Defense – Doug Greene, S, Washington Federals. Greene played a huge role on defense to guarantee Washington’s win over Los Angeles this week. He picked off two passes and added another 9 tackles in the game.

Special Teams – Frank Corral, P, Chicago Blitz. Corral kept the Blitz in the game against the Panthers. He punted 8 times for 345 yards and a 43.1 average. He also booted an 80 yard long!

Three Friday games in Week 16 saw three one score games. Denver beat Arizona, Birmingham shocked Chicago, and the New Jersey Generals got a rare win against the Los Angeles Express. Sunday brought another close contest with the Boston Breakers punching their ticket to the postseason.

The two Monday games went as expected. Oakland won when their kicker hit an extra point that Philadelphia missed earlier in the game. Then, the Panthers blew out the hapless Federals to remain undefeated after 16 weeks. With only two weeks in the season, the playoff picture looks to be locked in with only possible seeding changes between Oakland and Boston possible.

USFL Stat Leaders After Week 16

Week 16 Games

Friday

Arizona Wranglers 10, Denver Gold 13

Chicago Blitz 16, Birmingham Stallions 23

Los Angeles Express 13, New Jersey Generals 14

Sunday

Tampa Bay Bandits 24, Boston Breakers 27

Monday

Oakland Invaders 7, Philadelphia Stars 6

Washington Federals 16, Michigan Panthers 28

Week 16 Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey. Walker led the Generals to a rare win this week. He carried the ball for 155 yards and 1 touchdown to help the Generals defeat the Los Angeles Express.

Defense: John Corker, LB, Michigan Panthers. Corker all but guaranteed his defensive MVP award. He recorded 7 tackles, 1 sack, and an interception in the Panthers win against the Federals.

Special Teams: Lenny Willis, KR, Chicago Blitz. Willis returned 5 kicks for 174 yards and a touchdown to close the Stallions lead to a touchdown. The return gave the Blitz a chance to win, but they couldn’t finish the deal.