Each week during the season, Parks’s Pulse will present a smattering of thoughts on the previous weekend’s games.
Ranking the games
1) Defenders 33, Renegades 30: Lots of candidates for number one this week. Arlington and D.C. had another explosion of offense. A bizarre decision by Luis Perez ended the Renegades’ playoff hopes in a wild one.
2) Battlehawks 29, Stallions 28: The see-saw nature of the game, plus the potential playoff implications allowed this game to sneak ahead of the UFL’s second-ever overtime contest.
3) Showboats 24, Brahmas 22: Two wins, two overtime victories this season for Memphis. Another game where missed opportunities were the story for San Antonio.
4) Panthers 30, Roughnecks 18: Even without Bryce Perkins, Michigan’s offense kept humming. Houston will be watching the playoffs from home once again, though they’ve showed improvement.
Spotlight off
It’s worth wondering how networks choose their players to watch at the outset of the games. For example, Memphis LB Zeke Vandenburgh has been spotlighted two weeks in a row as one of two players to watch for FOX broadcasts. Yet, Vandenburgh hasn’t started since week four, and has played less than 30 snaps in the previous three games, replaced for the most part by in-season signee Andrew Dowell. Vandenburgh did play 37 snaps against the Brahmas, but he was still out-snapped at the position by Dowell (63) and Steele Chambers (40).
All-access moment of the week, part one
In his role as interim head coach, Payton Pardee of the Brahmas has been one of the most accessible coaches during games. We often get the play calls on a series from the backup QB, but on Friday, Brock Huard stood with Pardee during a series as he called plays, and Pardee would relay the play in layman’s terms to viewers at home. He previewed a trick play in which TE Steven Stilianos would throw the ball. “Very few people know this,” he said, “Steve Stilianos won a state championship in high school as a quarterback. So if this goes according to plan, Steve is going to throw a double pass.” Indeed, Stilianos did just that, finding Dee Anderson down the field for a TD.
Perkins MIA
Fans of the Michigan Panthers (and bettors, and fantasy players) were probably relieved when the team’s final injury report came out on Thursday, listing starting QB and MVP candidate Bryce Perkins as probable after getting in a full practice that day. However, come Sunday, Perkins was held out in favor of Danny Etling. While his absence didn’t negatively impact Michigan’s overall performance, it does raise questions about when this decision was made. “Probable” according to the old NFL injury report system (they stopped listing “probable” on injury reports in 2017) represented a “high likelihood” that the player would be active on game day. It’s possible Perkins aggravated the injury pre-game but we have no reporting to that effect, a byproduct of the UFL not being a priority for legitimate sports news organizations.
Stallions QB runs on Dunkin’
It was going to be hard to beat the story of Panthers RB Toa Taua working at a golf course prior to getting the opportunity with Michigan. Birmingham QB J’Mar Smith may have bested it: After not making the Stallions out of camp (termed by the team a retirement, something Smith denied at the time), Smith took a mental health break from the game but stayed in shape just in case. He took a job at Dunkin’ Donuts, working the morning shift so that he could work out in the afternoons. That preparation paid off when injuries hit and he was needed back in Birmingham.
Friendly fire
You can tell by watching him that Memphis interim head coach Jim Turner is an intense personality. So when his offensive line, Turner’s position specialty, doesn’t play up to par, he’s not above letting them hear about it. FOX caught Turner and guard Jared Thomas getting into it on the sidelines with Turner letting the expletives fly. Thomas later got two big blocks on Jaren Jackson runs, including a touchdown. A lot can be said in the heat of the moment on the sidelines, and the great thing about UFL’s access is they can bring that to the viewers at home.
All-access moment of the week, part two
More J’Mar Smith? More J’Mar Smith. His relationship with head coach Skip Holtz is extensive, beginning in college when both were at Louisiana Tech, and continuing into the pros with the Stallions. They’ve spent seven years together, and that’s evident in the way they communicate. After a drive in which Smith short-hopped two wide receiver screens, Holtz came down on his protégé. “J’Mar, son, if you can’t throw a screen, you can’t play,” Holtz matter-of-factly told Smith.
1 Comment
by Ken Granito
Musings:
1. I have heard some people mention the need to increase the amount of teams that make the playoffs. That cannot be done without expansion. If we get to 12 teams I would have no problems with 6 teams in the playoffs. Even with 10 it is at least a possibility, but with 8 teams and 6 making it, it there would be little reason to play a regular season making it obsolete. However, I feel pretty sure that if each division had 5 teams at least and quite possibly both would still have another team still alive for the playoffs.
2. Everyone keeps comparing TV#s to last season, however, I still think we need to remind everyone that in 2023 the USFL and XFL BOTH outdrew the UFL today. That tells me that there are people that want this to be a good product, but are falling off when it lacks. I think people need to remember that viewership is off by half and half the teams were cut. It is not clear cut, but you have to wonder that a lot of those people are no longer watching, because the league does not invest in their region. To me it IS crucial the league expands. Please note FOX averaged 581,000 fans between two regional telecasts played at the same time. IF I read that correctly that would be over 1,000,000 fans, meaning there is some tie to viewers turning on sets based regionally, meaning if there was a team in New Jersey and Seattle viewership would go up. I understand that there may be some negative affect on the average as people may not be readily available to watch 5 or even 6 games a week, but it might pick up a good number of fans who might watch 2 or 3 games.
3. Add Monday night games. I am not necessarily saying to omit Friday night games. Only Fox can feel what it is comfortable doing, however Friday Night is often an out night, meaning people may not watch, however Monday Football has been on for decades. Place those games in stadiums that don’t draw as much so the Monday attendance won’t suffer much.
4. Milestones: J’Mar Smith & Jalan McClendon each reached 2,000 yards passing in the legacy UFL. Jacob Saylors reached his 10th rushing TD of his career and Justin Hall passed Hakeem Butler for 3rd place in all-time receiving yardage with 1,466 yards. He also tied Deontay Burnett for second place all-time in receiving touchdowns with 10. Deon Cain also passed the 1,000 receiving yards milestone and moved into 9th place passing Jahcour Pearson. Cain now has 1,054 yards receiving and also moved into a tie for 4th place in TD receptions with 9TDs.
5. My new betting plan has me as 5-0 as I again bet on the Battlehawks to beat the Stallions. I did this despite the unbelievably bad passing the Battlehawks bring out each week. So my betting Battlehawks to win and if there is an opposition that makes sense to choose against plan continues to work. This despite the playoff game already being scheduled to be played in St. Louis. You have to imagine how real this feat is. The Battlehawks have been outgained in 6 successive weeks. That goes all the way back to the Brahmas in week 2. So that is the Showboats, Panthers, Defenders, Stallions & Renegades twice. In the three close wins that have happened since they were 2-2 they have been penalized 14 times and their opponents Michigan, Birmingham and Arlington were penalized 30 times. The amount of points the Battlehawks won by in the three games were 12 points. To me, it seems a little help has been given to offset the passing attack. I know some people have been of the mind this is a conspiracy theorists, but sometimes you just need to connect the dots. Hell I am 5-0. My buddy actually went Defenders so he is 6-0 since I brought this out. I didn’t understand the Defenders, but since they play the Battlehawks the last game it seems to work. I would love for the UFL to make me lose. At this point knowing the Battlehawks are already in, I will not wager as much. At this point it is more for curiosity.
6. Overall, we have been seeing so many signings which are good for the league. I am not saying the games shouldn’t be moved up, but I do like the schedule as it allows the league to best sign players. You get them to start the season and when to end the season. That works best for the league.
Have a good week all!