Two more teams punched their ticket to the playoffs to join Boston. Both Birmingham and Denver are not guaranteed spots after their big wins in week 18. Other teams who helped their cause were Vegas, Tampa, LA, Houston, and the surprising Outlaws who remaini in the race in spite of a losing record.

New Jersey stumbled, opening the door for Philadelphia perhaps. Through it all, Boston just keeps winning. They stand just one victory away from joining Michigan as an undefeated 18-0 in the regular season. It then remains to be seen if they can finish the job, unlike the Panthers who fell in the championship game to Chicago in 1983.

With only a full week and a light week 20 to go, we are in for some great football before the playoffs. Be sure to get your tickets and cheer for the USFL!

1986 USFL Week 18 Stat Leaders

Games

Friday

Las Vegas Ace 38, San Antonio Gunslingers 28

Saturday

Memphis Showboats 10, Tampa Bay Bandits 19

Oakland Invaders 24, Los Angeles Express 52

Sunday

New Jersey Generals 25, Washington Federals 34

Jacksonville Bulls 23, Boston Breakers 37

Birmingham Stallions 44, New Orleans Brass 27

Michigan Panthers 37, Oklahoma Outlaws 49

Houston Gamblers 28, Chicago Blitz 21

Arizona Wranglers 25, Denver Gold 42

Monday

Philadelphia Stars 31, Pittsburgh Maulers 28 – Recap coming soon

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey Generals. Herschel ran 19 times for 182 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also added 12 receptions for 100 yards. The Generals might have lost, but Herschel did his best to help them win.

Defense: Eric Wilson, DL, Tampa Bay Bandits. In a defensive battle against Memphis, Wilson got 9 tackles, a sack, and recovered a fumble for the final touchdown in the game.

Special Teams: David Trout, K, Philadelphia Stars. Trout missed a kick early in the game, but he came back to redeem himself in overtime and kicked the game winner for the stars. He also went 4-4 on extra points.

The regular season continued to separate the wheat from the chaff in week 17. Only 3 games were decided by one score or less. Pittsburgh defeated Los Angeles and Michigan beat the Ace, hurting both teams playoff prospects. Meanwhile, Oklahoma kept hold of a slim playoff chance by defeating the Memphis Showboats.

Division leaders Birmingham, Boston, and Denver all won easily. Boston ran away with their division as the only undefeated team. All three other teams hold significant leads with only 3 weeks left in the season. Come back next week for more exciting action and to see if any other teams punch their tickets to the playoffs!

1986 USFL Week 17 Stat Leaders

Games

Friday

Arizona Wranglers 21, Jacksonville Bulls 35

Saturday

Chicago Blitz 14, Birmingham Stallions 51

Boston Breakers 63, New Orleans Brass 31

Sunday

Los Angeles Express 21, Pittsburgh Maulers 24

Oakland Invaders 37, Washington Federals 20

Oklahoma Outlaws 23, Memphis Showboats 17

Denver Gold 34, Philadelphia Stars 24

Las Vegas Ace 21, Michigan Panthers 24

Monday

Houston Gamblers 25, Tampa Bay Bandits 37

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Ken Toler, WR, Birmingham Stallions. While Breakers QB Shawn Halloran had himself a game, Ken Toler put on a display not often seen on a football field. He caught 7 passes for 137 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Defense: Chester Gee, S, Jacksonville Bulls. Gee terrorized the Wranglers on Friday night, getting an interception, a sack, a forced fumble, and 9 tackles in the game.

Special Teams: Scott Thomas, KR, Boston Breakers. Thomas returned 6 kicks for 218 yards, including an 89 yard touchdown against the Brass.

As the season winds down (only 4 weeks left in the regular season!), teams are starting to show who are contenders and who are pretenders. All of the teams who won are in the playoff hunt right now. Even a couple of the teams who lost, like Vegas and Los Angeles, still have a shot at the post season.

The main story continues to be the Breakers. The fans owners put their financial futures, and perhaps the future of the team, by throwing the bank at former CFL quarterback Matt Dunigan. Dunigan made an instant impact and has the Breakers on the verge of being the second team to go undefeated in the regular season. Michigan also accomplished that feat in the inaugural 1983 season.

With only four teams out of the playoff conversation, the last four weeks of the season promise to be exciting. Stay tuned as teams punch their tickets, settle into their seedings, and get ready for the playoffs!

1986 USFL Week 16 Stat Leaders

Games

Friday

Arizona Wranglers 12, Tampa Bay Bandits 37

Saturday

San Antonio Gunslingers 10, Philadelphia Stars 24

New Orleans Brass 7, Chicago Blitz 20

Sunday

Oklahoma Outlaws 6, New Jersey Generals 37

Washington Federals 16, Memphis Showboats 20

Jacksonville Bulls 18, Denver Gold 35

Boston Breakers 34, Los Angeles Express 19

Birmingham Stallions 31, Las Vegas Ace 7

Monday

Oakland Invaders 40, Pittsburgh Maulers 13

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Cliff Stoudt, QB, Birmingham Stallions. Stoudt helped the Stallions cool down the Las Vegas Ace with a stellar game. He wend 23-32 for 348 yards and 4 touchdowns.

Defense: Sam Mills, LB, Philadelphia Stars. Mills helped the Stars stay on pace with the New Jersey Generals by helping them to a win. He intercepted a pass, sacked the quarterback, and recorded 7 tackles.

Special Teams: Tim Mazzetti, K, Boston. Both Mazzetti and his team remained perfect on the week. He went 2-2 on field goals and 4-4 for extra points to tally 10 points in the game.

Jacksonville opened week 15 by showing the new kids on the block, Vegas, why they might still need to wait their turn this year. Then Philadelphia and Memphis both took care of business at home in their Saturday games. Both teams hope to fight for the final playoff spot in the South division.

Only one Sunday game ended within a single score as Washington stunned New Jersey at home in spite of a huge game from Herschel Walker. All other games were won by at least 13 points. The cream is definitely rising to the top and the playoff picture is coming into focus. A few questions remain with the biggest being, “Can anyone knock off Boston before the playoffs?”

1986 USFL Week 15 Stat Leaders

Games

Friday

Jacksonville Bulls 45, Las Vegas Ace 21

Saturday

Pittsburgh Maulers 12, Philadelphia Stars 23

Tampa Bay Bandits 3, Memphis Showboats 20

Sunday

Washington Federals 37, New Jersey Generals 34

New Orleans Brass 27, Birmingham Stallions 52

San Antonio Gunglingers 14, Boston Breakers 50

Oklahoma Outlaws 31, Michigan Panthers 59

Chicago Blitz 11, Houston Gamblers 24

Denver Gold 42, Arizona Wranglers 17

Monday

Los Angeles Express 25, Arizona Wranglers 16

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Herschel Walker, RB, New Jersey Generals. The Generals lost a heartbreaker at home but it wasn’t because of Herschel. Walker ran 28 times for 228 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also caught 5 passes for 57 yards and another touchdown.

Defense: Alonzo Johnson, LB, Birmingham Stallions. Johnson was an absolute terror in the game against New Orleans. He recorded 6 tackles and an astounding 3 sacks in the game.

Special Teams: Marcus Bonner, KR, Las Vegas Ace. Bonner against showed why he’s a force to be reckoned with as a kick returner. He returned 8 kicks for 217 yards and a 98 yard touchdown.

Week 14 ended with Boston remaining undefeated with their win over division rival New Jersey. It started with a close victory by Michigaan over Philadelphia. Michigan had lost a couple in a row, but got back on track to contend for the Central lead. Birmingham and Vegas both took care of business in their Saturday games to keep alive for the playoffs.

Sunday saw two close games, two absolute blowouts, and both a defensive and offensive battle that ended within two touchdowns. No shocks in the winners on Sunday as all the teams favored won. Tampa moved closer to a playoff spot with their win. Pittsburgh pushed closer to the number one pick with their loss.

Join us again next week as the action continues to heat up in the USFL!

1986 USFL Week 14 Stat Leaders

Games

Friday

Philadelphia Stars 21, Michigan Panthers 24

Saturday

Birmingham Stallions 21, Arizona Wranglers 11

Las Vegas Ace 23, Oakland Invaders 16

Sunday

Pittsburgh Maulers 14, Washington Federals 19

New Orleans Brass 24, Tampa Bay Bandits 55

Jacksonville Bulls 16, Memphis Showboats 7

Oklahoma Outlaws 13, Chicago Blitz 14

San Antonio Gunslingers 7, Houston Gamblers 66

Denver Gold 55, Los Angeles Express 43

Monday

Boston Breakers 41, New Jersey Generals 29

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Bill Johnson, RB, Denver Gold. Johnson rushed for over 200 yards and 4 touchdowns in the Gold’s win over Los Angeles to pull within a game of first in the division. He also added a receiving touchdown.

Defense: Reggie White, DL, Memphis Showboats. White added 2 sacks to his league leading total in the Showboats loss to Jacksonville. He also forced a fumble and made 12 tackles.

Special Teams: Marcus Bonner, PR, Las Vegas Ace. Bonner returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown. This proved to be the difference in the Ace’s victory over Oakland.

The Las Vegas Ace continued their march into first by defeating the Houston Gamblers on Friday evening. Tampa and Denver both played themselves into potential playoff spots with wins on Saturday.

Sunday saw no major upsets on the day and helped to solidify some of the races for the playoffs. However, other than Boston running away with the East, all the other division leads remain within a game. The road to the playoffs promises to be fun. Speaking of Boston, they remain undefeated with a two touchdown win over Michigan to close out the week of games.

1986 USFL Week 13 Stat Leaders

Games

Friday

Houston Gamblers 47, Las Vegas Ace 52

Saturday

Los Angeles Express 24, Tampa Bay Bandits 28

Denver Gold 56, Washington Federals 14

Sunday

Chicago Blitz 42, Jacksonville Bulls 49

New Orleans Brass 21, Philadelphia Stars 37

Birmingham Stallions 34, Oklahoma Outlaws 17

Memphis Showboats 61, San Antonio Gunslingers 34

Pittsburgh Maulers 10, Arizona Wranglers 21

Monday

Michigan Panthers 45, Boston Breakers 59

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Matt Dunigan, QB, Boston Breakers. Dunigan continued his highlight of a year by throwing 7 touchdowns against Michigan. To put that in perspective, he had only 5 incompletions.

Defense: Alonzo Johnson, LB, Birmingham Stallions. In a week where two interceptions were returned for touchdown, Johnson stood out on merits. He did everything he could in order to help Birmingham defeat Oklahoma. He had an interception, 2 sacks, a forced fumble, and 3 tackles in the game.

Special Teams: Marcus Bonner, KR, Las Vegas Ace. Bonner again propeled the Ace to new heights. He returned 7 kicks for 210 yards and an 89 yard touchdown.

Vegas continues their hot streak, winning again and within a game of the division lead. Sensational quarterback Randall Cunningham will get some MVP votes this year. Tampa nearly knocked off undefeated Boston, but they had another miracle in their back pocket.

Philadelphia pulled off a bit of a shocker in Houston, New Orleans slowed Denver down just enough to outscore them. Michigan and New Jersey took care of business while Birmingham came out on top in perhaps the game of the week against Los Angeles.

Keep an eye right here as the results from Week 13 come through. Can Vegas take the lead? Will Boston ever lose? Win San Antonio ever win again? All these questions and more will be answered in two days.

Games and Results

Friday

Jacksonville Bulls 32, Oakland Invaders 38

Saturday

Tampa Bay Bandits 44, Boston Breakers 45

Philadelphia Stars 42, Houston Gamblers 40

Sunday

Michigan Panthers 44, Washington Federals 41

San Antonio Gunslingers 9, New Jersey Generals 31

Arizona Wranglers 11, Memphis Showboats 21

Pittsburgh Maulers 20, Oklahoma Outlaws 26

Denver Gold 36, New Orleans Brass 40

Los Angeles Express 21, Birmingham Stallions 28

Monday

Las Vegas Ace 31, Chicago Blitz 13

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Rusty Hilger, New Orleans Brass. Hilger almost single-handedly led the Brass to a win this week over Denver. He went 28-42 for 475 yards and 5 touchdowns in a game where no New Orleans rusher gained over 25 yards.

Defense: Ron Freeman, LB, Pittsburgh Maulers. Freeman’s monster game almost lifted the Maulers to another win. However, his 16 tackles, FF, sack, and 6 passes defended ultimately weren’t enough.

Special Teams: Zenon Andrushushyn and Novo Bojovic, K, Tampa Bay Bandits and Michigan Panthers. Both scored 14 points in their games. Andrushyshyn brought his team to within one of knocking off undefeated Boston and Bojovic led his team to a win over Washington.

Things are getting exciting nearly 2/3 of the way through the season. In the south, only one loss separates the two teams at the top, Jacksonville and Birmingham. With consecutive losses and wins respectively, the Gamblers are now tied with the Panthers for the Central lead. Perhaps most exciting of all, the Las Vegas Ace have played themselves into playoff seeding and they are only 2 games off of the lead in the Pacific.

The only race that isn’t much of one right now is in the east where the Breakers defeated the Generals to put them one more game back in the division. As the weeks go on, teams will continue to jockey for seeding in the playoffs and hope to get hot at the right time and punch their ticket to Michigan and a spot in the USFL Championship Game.

1986 Week 11 USFL Stat Leaders

Scores

Friday

Oakland Invaders 21, Las Vegas Ace 27

Saturday

Michigan Panthers 9, Birmingham Stallions 31

Los Angeles Express 38, Denver Gold 36

Sunday

New Jersey Generals 28, Boston Breakers 45

Washington Federals 28, Pittsburgh Maulers 49

Memphis Showboats 7, Jacksonville Bulls 19

Tampa Bay Bandits 48, New Orleans Brass 44

Chicago Blitz 28, Oklahoma Outlaws 31

Philadelphia Stars 20, Arizona Wrangler 13

Monday

Houston Gambler 42, San Antonio Gunslingers 17

Standings

Players of the Week

Offense: Rusty Hilger, QB, New Orleans Brass. Hilger did all he could to get his team a victory in the SuperDome. He threw for 496 yards on 28/38 passing for 6 touchdowns. Unfortuantely, it wasn’t enough and the Brass fell just short.

Defense: Reggie White, DL, Memphis Showboats. White had one heck of a game in a loss to Jacksonville, he recorded 10 tackles, 2 sacks, and a forced fumble in the game.

Special Teams: Duane Gunn, PR, Los Angeles Express. Gunn returned 2 punts for 65 yards, including a rare punt return for a touchdown to help the LA Express edge the Denver Gold.

Vegas won their second game in a row. One of last year’s expansion teams, they found gold in their young quarterback, Randall Cunningham. If he continues to play this way, he may contend for MVP honors already. Saturday brough a duo of low scoring defensive battles in New Jersey and Memphis, with the home teams coming out on top.

It was back to exciting offensive USFL action on Sunday and Monday. The Maulers won their second game in a row after finally breaking through. Boston continues undefeated on the season and Los Angeles pulled off a bit of an upset over the Panthers in Michigan. Can Vegas and Pittsburgh keep it up? Will Michigan rebound from their loss? What about Houston, always lurking? Can anyone beat Boston? Come back in week 11 to find out!

1986 USFL Week 10 Stat Leaders

Scores

Friday

Las Vegas Ace 45, Oklahoma Outlaws 33

Saturday

Denver Gold 7, New Jersey Generals 10

Philadelphia Stars 0, Memphis Showboats 6

Sunday

Boston Breakers 49, Birmingham Stallions 26

Washington Federals 37, New Orleans Brass 35

Pittsburgh Maulers 22, Chicago Blitz 21

Oakland Invaders 30, Houston Gamblers 35

Arizona Wranglers 41, San Antonio Gunslingers 23

Monday

Los Angeles Express 41, Michigan Panthers 37

Standings

Players of the Game

Offense: Randall Cunningham, QB, Las Vegas Ace. The young quarterback continues to thrill in Vegas. In this game, he was near perfect, 24/26 for 361 yards and a touchdown. He also added 71 yards on the ground in the win.

Defense: Frank Mattice, DL, New Jersey Generals. In one of two defensive battles this week, Mattice absolutely dominated the Denver Gold’s normally explosive offense. He recorded 9 tackles, a sack, a forced fubmle, and 3 passes defended and 3 hurries in the General’s win.

Special Teams: Mel Gray, KR, Oklahoma Outlaws. After giving up on a possibility of being a feature running back, Gray has floursed in the kick return role. In this game, he returned 6 kicks for 275 yards and two touchdowns. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough and Vegas won the game.