Ranking the games
1) Panthers 26, Brahmas 23: The best game of the season to this point, and probably by a healthy margin. Michigan simply finds a way to get it done.
2) Defenders 27, Battlehawks 15: It’s not always pretty, especially on offense (Jordan Ta’amu again under 50% passing), but you can’t take away from D.C. the quality opponents they’ve defeated.
3) Roughnecks 18, Showboats 17: If you put money on the “over” for this game, you deserve every penny you won. Both teams need to question if they’re starting the right QB.
4) Stallions 10, Renegades 9: Arlington’s offense is going the opposite direction you’d expect at this point in the season. Birmingham sits at 2-1, but this was another rough performance outside of the defensive front.
And then there was one: Three teams entered the third week of the season undefeated, and just one remains standing. Arlington lost to Birmingham, and St. Louis was downed by D.C., allowing the Defenders to vault to the top of the XFL Conference standings by themselves. No team feels as dominant as Birmingham has felt in years’ past by this point in the season, making the race for the UFL Championship wide open. Whatever team can sand down its rough edges and limit mistakes the most as the year moves forward will put themselves in the best position to leave St. Louis as league champion.
All-access moment of the week, part one: Context is important when it comes to audio access, and sometimes that context is missing. For example, Roughnecks head coach Curtis Johnson was dismayed when one of his players went into the game. “Why is he in the game? Don’t you put him in again!” Johnson told an assistant about an unnamed player, later identified as TE Cam Sutton. While that seems embarrassing for the coach and player, it was clarified by Houston defender Byron Vaughns on social media that Johnson was referring to Sutton going out on the punt team, which he did not want his starting tight end to do. And we all believed that…until Sutton was released by the team on Wednesday.
From the GM’s mouth: It was a wild week leading up to this weekend’s games, with two coordinators resigning from their posts and a curious trade made between division rivals. Eyebrows were raised when Michigan sent All-UFL WR Marcus Simms to Houston for OT Cam Carter. Credit ESPN for getting a word with Michigan GM Steve Kazor on-camera before the game to explain the move. Kazor mentioned a conversation he had with Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard discussing the need for offensive line help with Ballard telling him, “join the club.” UFL GM’s don’t meet with the media like their NFL counterparts do, so this was a rare instance of someone in that position speaking out about a move.
Golf course to gridiron: One of the great aspects of spring football is hearing about what players were doing before the UFL came along. For Michigan RB Toa Taua, who was in training camp but didn’t make the team, his journey took him to the links. But not as a golfer…as an attendant. He explained to ESPN’s Cole Cubelic that he was driving carts around a week ago until an injury to Matthew Colburn led to the Panthers calling him back up. He had still been working out, staying in shape while awaiting an opportunity. Taua even earned a few carries as the third back against San Antonio on Sunday.
Rod squad: When you have a unique look, no matter what position you play, you’re going to draw attention from fans. And that’s what has happened in St. Louis with kicker Rodrigo Blankenship. A fan club has emerged called the Rod Squad, complete with t-shirts, goggles, and “Respect the Specs” signs. It certainly hasn’t hurt Blankenship’s mojo, as he remained perfect on field goals, connecting on three against D.C., including one from 56 yards out.
The false start that saved Birmingham: Rare is it when a penalty on a team actually helps that team out. It can be argued that a false start committed by the Stallions helped them defeat Arlington. In the fourth quarter, Birmingham QB Matt Corral threw an interception with the team behind 9-3 and under two minutes remaining. However, upon replay review (initiated by the Command Center), it was determined that left tackle Barry Wesley committed a false start. The Stallions retained possession and Corral hooked up with WR Cade Johnson for the score, followed by a go-ahead one-point conversion that was the difference in the game. With just 20 seconds left, the Renegades didn’t have enough time to stage a comeback.
All-access moment of the week, part two: Take your pick from new Brahmas offensive coordinator/de facto head coach (Wade Phillips was in the locker room, under the weather) Payton Pardee: In a speech to the offensive line on the sidelines, he tried to appeal to the innate nature of those players to want to run the ball. “We’re gonna run this mother f-er [he censored himself] until they can stop it. Then we’re going to repackage it and run it again.” Then, after tying the game with a one-yard conversion run with Jashaun Corbin, Pardee gleefully told one of his assistants, “Welcome to the new San Antonio Brahmas.” It was a succinct way to sum up the difference in philosophy between him and his predecessor, A.J. Smith.
