USFL Week 3: New Jersey Generals look for another win, Pittsburgh Maulers look for 1st win
CANTON —The Pittsburgh Maulers and New Jersey Generals are heading to Detroit this weekend in Week 3 of the USFL season. But both teams are heading in different directions.
The Maulers still are searching for their first win of the year under Ray Horton and their first touchdown after suffering their 20-3 loss to the Generals. Next up, the Maulers will play the Philadelphia Stars at noon Sunday in Ford Field.
Horton said his players had a great week of practice and have taken the challenge of turning their season around. Horton still wants to play aggressively, which includes going for it on fourth-down plays.
“Defensively, we’ve been playing winning football, and I like that our offense is taking in challenges to get better, and they see and understand, so I praise them,” Horton said. “I said take this to Sunday. We have no worries.”
Horton continues to praise the Maulers' defense for keeping them in games. Horton has a military mindset for his defensive unit.
“Sometimes you have to make sacrifices, and right now for the defense, we got to make the sacrifice,” Horton said. “We’re going to do everything we can until the offense says ‘Wow, here we go.’ That’s how I talk to the defense.”
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For the Generals, head coach Mike Riley was pleased by their performance last week in the win over the Maulers and looks to continue the momentum. They face the undefeated Michigan Panthers, the division leader, at 8 p.m. Sunday.
“You can sense the happiness of winning, but also the relief of winning,” Riley said. “So what we need to do now is absolutely continue to get better, but it was a very good win.”
Some of Riley’s takeaways from their victory over the Maulers came from the defensive side. The Generals produced three turnovers, five sacks and only allowed three points.
“We played a lot of good defense against Birmingham (in a Week 1 loss),” Riley said. "We just didn’t respond offensively. One thing that I’m the most pleased from the last game is Pittsburgh’s longest running play by a running back was 7 yards. When you do that defensively, you’re doing some good things. Their longest play was 19 yards. You’re probably going to win with those statistics. “
The Panthers are coming off a 24-10 win over the Stars. A week before that, the Panthers beat the Houston Gamblers 29-13.
“Michigan looks like a very solid team,” Riley said. “It’s going to take a full game for us to beat them. We’re excited for the opportunity. It’s early in the year, but things start to take shape of what you pictured what the league will look like, and they look like one of those teams that is a real factor this season.”
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This article originally appeared on The Repository: Pittsburgh Maulers, New Jersey Generals at Ford Field in USFL Week 3
