USFL Week 2 scores, takeaways: Breakers claim early title of best team, while league’s top QB is a surprise

Week 2 of the 2022 USFL season is officially in the books. We have a better sense of who the best teams and players are at this point, but there is still plenty of football left to be played. The Michigan Panthers and Pittsburgh Maulers are the two remaining winless teams, while the Birmingham Stallions and New Orleans Breakers are the two undefeated clubs. The Stallions and Breakers face off next week, which should be fun.

Below, we will break down a few takeaways from the USFL’s second week of action. Be sure to check out the USFL standings and season schedule as well. We’ve got all the latest news on our USFL page here. First, here’s a look at all the Week 2 scores:

Friday
New Jersey Generals 10, Michigan Panthers 6

Saturday
Philadelphia Stars 30, Pittsburgh Maulers 23 
Birmingham Stallions 33, at Houston Gamblers 28 

Sunday
New Orleans Breakers 34, Tampa Bay Bandits 3

Breakers establish themselves as best team

Whoa. No one saw what went down on Sunday coming. The Breakers completely obliterated the Bandits, 34-3, in what was supposed to be our early-season matchup between the two best teams. New Orleans jumped out to an early lead and simply just didn’t look back. The offense scored touchdowns on both of their first two possessions, and the defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs from the Bandits on their first three possessions. This defensive unit looks like one of the best in the league, and they made life unbearable for Ta’amu on Sunday. He threw for just 62 yards and an interception! 

Kyle Sloter, on the other hand, threw for 266 yards, two touchdowns and also rushed for a touchdown in the victory. He looks like a solid player, but he has been dealing with multiple injuries. The Breakers also have a couple of intriguing weapons in Jordan Ellis, T.J. Logan and Jonathan Adams. They look like the early favorite to win the championship. 

Eyes on Shea Patterson moving forward

Patterson, who was the No. 1 overall pick in the USFL draft, struggled in the Panthers’ Week 2 loss vs. the Generals, as he completed 14 of 29 passes for 124 yards. He had just 50 yards passing before the Panthers’ final possession! 

When facing a fourth-and-20 from their own 10-yard line with one minute left down four points, the Panthers rallied to move the ball all the way to the Generals’ 16-yard line with five seconds left. However, Patterson’s final throw fell incomplete. He was hesitant to let the ball fly when he had receivers open downfield, and struggled to connect with his wideouts just in general. Maybe head coach Jeff Fisher can find some things to build off of after what was an impressive last gasp, but Paxton Lynch could get more playing time moving forward.

Is Bryan Scott the USFL’s best QB?

Coming into this season, Scott was seen as an interesting story, but probably not as the USFL’s best quarterback. However, after two weeks of action, should we start asking ourselves that question? The Occidental College signal-caller went undefeated and won The Spring League Championship a couple years ago, and now leads the USFL in passing yards (474) and passing touchdowns (4). 

The No. 1 overall pick in Patterson has struggled, and No. 2 overall pick Jordan Ta’amu got crushed Sunday. J’Mar Smith has looked great for the Stallions, but is Scott the real star for this league?

Stallions have true home advantage

The Birmingham Stallions are the only USFL team with “home-field advantage,” and it’s actually been a thing. They are one of the two remaining undefeated teams, and about 17,000 fans showed up for their season opener. They also had a decent amount of people show up for their contest this past Saturday night. If you watched any other USFL game this week, you probably noticed the attendance was terrible. Seriously, it looked like there were less than 100 people there on Sunday. With just one of the eight teams having what appears to be a legitimate fanbase, it will be something to watch. 

First three-point conversion

After scoring a touchdown in the USFL, teams can go for one, two or three points. With the Stars up four points following a score in the fourth quarter, it was the perfect time to go for three.

Saturday was for points

Through the first week of the USFL, betting Unders in games was lucrative. However, you got burned if you were on the Unders Saturday. We had a team score 30 points in a single game for the first time this season, and there were two of them, as the Stars defeated the Maulers, 30-23, and the Stallions defeated the Gamblers, 33-28. These relatively high-scoring affairs were surprising, and for a young league trying to grab headlines, it’s a good thing. The more points the better.