Another week in the United States Football League (USFL) and another loss for the Houston Gamblers.
This is starting to become a universal theme in 2022.
Sadly enough, this team hasn’t won a game since week one of this inaugural season. That was on Sunday, April 17, in a 17-12 victory over the Michigan Panthers.
Seven weeks ago.
Oh, by the way, the Panthers are another team in the league with one lone win.
With any postseason hopes now completely down the drain, Houston’s next goal is fairly simple: garner another win.
Will that come this weekend, as the Gamblers, owners of a 1-6 mark this season, battle a Tampa Bay team that sits at 3-4 overall?
First and foremost, there will be some major changes this weekend when it comes to personnel on the playing field — starting with the quarterback position.
Clayton Thorson, who has been the team’s primary QB this season and leads the league with 10 passing touchdowns, was transferred to the inactive/injured reserve roster on the morning of Thursday, June 2.
Speaking of leading the league in stat categories, the Gamblers are actually USFL leaders in multiple areas despite the one-win season — including passing touchdowns (as mentioned earlier), total tackles (Donald Payne with 85), sacks (Chris Odom with 8), team kicking points (55), team kick return average (27.3) and team punt return average (14.0).
I digress.
Kenji Bahar will likely be the team’s quarterback this weekend when the Gamblers face the Bandits.
In last week’s loss to the Philadelphia Stars, Bahar replaced Thorson with 38 seconds remaining in the first half and completed 10-of-13 passes for 101 yards with one touchdown and one interception; overall this year, he has thrown for 118 yards.
The other quarterback on the team is Terry Wilson, who went undrafted before signing with Houston later this season when roster sizes were expanded; he played college ball at New Mexico and is from Oklahoma City.
Wilson has yet to see action this year for the Gamblers, though that could change this weekend.
It’s never good when your team’s primary QB goes down late in the season, regardless of a poor overall record.
But a pivotal change at quarterback may be just what’s needed for this team.
Will Houston win again in 2022?
Will it happen on Sunday?
Kickoff is just a day away, and I’m excited regardless of what happens.
