What to anticipate in Birmingham Stallions vs. Pittsburgh Maulers

Skip Holtz and the Birmingham Stallions (2-1) are looking to get back to their winning methods when they face the Pittsburgh Maulers (1-2) in the 2nd videogame of a Sunday doubleheader at Tom Benson Memorial Stadium (6: 30 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app).

The safeguarding USFL champs lost their veryfirst videogame of the season last week versus the New Orleans Breakers, providing up 45 points in the loss.

The Stallions will appearance to enhance defensively versus a Pittsburgh offense that lastly discovered a stimulate last week, with Maulers head coach Ray Horton making his veryfirst triumph, 21-13 over the Philadelphia Stars.

“I hope what takesplace is the men now trust and think in the procedure of what we’re doing,” Horton stated. “Obviously, will be playing Birmingham this weekend, and it provides another opportunity to do something various, whatever they bring to the table. So, what will attempt to do is construct. Obviously, success and self-confidence go hand and hand. … For us, it’s trust and belief.”

Birmingham Stallions: How can defense limitation dynamite plays?

The Stallions permitted 9 plays of 20-plus lawns versus the Breakers in Birmingham’s 45-31 humbling loss last week. So, restricting huge plays will be a point of focus defensively for the Stallions when they face Pittsburgh on the roadway. 

Birmingham hasactually enabled a league-high 153 hurrying lawns per contest through 3 videogames.

“I idea they played more physical than we did,” Holtz stated about his group’s loss to New Orleans. “I idea in the trenches on both sides of the ball, they won the line of skirmish, and it’s tough to win a football videogame (like that). They’ve got a excellent football group, and they desired it. I informed the group, you wear that crown for a while, and if you start thinking it, it’s going to consume you up.” 

Holtz stated he’s confident to get a couple of gamers back on defense — consistingof linebacker Scooby Wright — to aid tightenup things up on the side of the ball. The Stallions face a Pittsburgh offense that ran for 137 backyards in last week’s win over the Stars, led by quarterback Troy Williams, who hurried for 65 lawns on 7 brings.

Pittsburgh Maulers: Can Maulers continue to trip kicker Chris Blewitt?

It’s uncommon for a group to get a trigger from a kicker, however that’s what tookplace for Pittsburgh when Blewitt signedupwith the group last week.

“When Chris veryfirst came in, he was simply warming up, and he kept moving back, and back and back,” Horton stated. “We brought the entire group up simply to put a little pressure on him, and he made a 62-yarder with space to extra. 

“And I believe the men believed, here we go. Little things mean a lot, and Chris suggests a lot to us.” 

Blewitt completed 5-for-5 on field objectives last week, consistingof a long of 50 backyards. But he missedouton his just extra-point effort.

The Maulers likewise have benefited from strong returns on unique groups. Isaiah Hennie leads the league in punt return lawns with161 Hennie has 82- and 53-yard punt returns to his credit currently this season, while colleague Josh Simmons had a 56-yard kickoff return last week.

The huge returns developed brief fields for the Maulers, making it simpler for the offense to get into scoring position last week. Horton likewise made the switch from James Morgan to Williams at quarterback in Week 3, and the Utah item’s included measurement as a runner assisted produce more juice for the Maulers on offense. 

“Whether it’s dance or music, you feel the rhythm,” Horton stated about the enhanced method his offense carriedout last week. “And to me, it simply had a various appearance throughout the week. The gamers took ownership of what we were doing, and obligation. And I believe that’s what it was, more than anything.” 

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for more than a years, covering the Los Angeles Rams for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma News Tribune. Follow him on Twitter at @eric_d_williams.