After what was already a lackluster season for the Pittsburgh Maulers (1-5) and trying to keep their playoff chances insight, they had to face the undefeated Birmingham Stallions (6-0) in week seven. They nearly gave them a run for their money before giving up ten points in the 4^th quarter to lose.

 Coach Kirby Wilson described the game as “Another stellar game by the defense that kept us in position all day and all afternoon to be in a position to win, but again critical breakdowns at critical moments we didn’t make enough plays, and that’s the ball game for us right there so back that’s where we are, and back to the drawing board, we got a quick turnaround with Friday being the next game.”

Maulers try to take an early lead

Vad Lee was out there for the Pittsburgh Maulers and started the game right off the bat, going three out and having to punt, which led to the Stallions putting the first points on the board by a good Field Goal by Brandon Aubrey. But on the very next series, the Maulers drove down the field with ten plays for seventy-one yards, with Madre London ending with a rushing touchdown and then a good extra point to have their first lead of the game.  

The rest of the first half would see punt after punt and some great defense by both teams; I think it should be noted that the Maulers held the red-hot Stallions to 139 yards for only 6 points in the first half; the first half would come to an end with the Maulers leading 10-6.

Stallions score 20 points in the second half to stay undefeated

The second half looked like a completely different team when the Stallions came back on the field, and the Maulers looked like the typical Maulers, only having 75 yards of offense and only having two field goals to show for it. Stallions came through with two touchdowns and 224 yards in the second half to secure their spot in the 2022 USFL Playoffs in Canton, Ohio, on June 25h, 2022.

The fourth quarter didn’t come without some drama for the Maulers as Coach Kirby Wilson would bench Vad Lee as they would have a confrontation on the sideline. With four minutes and twenty-five seconds left in the game with only being down a touchdown, Kirby Wilson would bench Lee to bring in newly signed Quarterback Rolland Rivers, who would not lead the team to any additional points. After the game, Coach Wilson was asked which quarterback would be starting next week. If there would now be a change, he stated, “right now we’ll have that decision internally of this week it’s very short turnaround we mentioned earlier, and after we take the motions out of this one and get back together tomorrow morning we’ll make a decision, and we’ll move forward whatever that decision is and get ready to play a game Friday.

With this late-game drama, could the Maulers have pulled off a victory and beat or tie the Stallions to take the game to an Overtime shootout? That is something we will never know, but it certainly drew a lot of criticism from fans, and everyone watching has pulled off a victory and beat or g on television of what exactly is happening with this Pittsburgh Team. Their coach Kirby Wilson has been an issue since day one.

Box Score

Birmingham Stallions

Pittsburgh Maulers

Week 8 Matchup

The Pittsburgh Maulers will face the New Jersey Generals on Friday, June 3^rd at 8:00 pm ET / 7:00 pm CT / 6:00 pm MT / 5:00 pm PT on USA Network.

The Birmingham Stallions will take on the New Orleans Breakers on Saturday, June 4th, at 3:00 pm ET / 2:00 pm CT / 1:00 pm MT / 12:00 pm PT on Fox.

Stay with USFL News Hub as we close in on the final three weeks of the USFL 2022 Season, and be on the lookout for my Pittsburgh Maulers vs. New Jersey Generals Preview/Prediction coming later this week.