New Jersey's Dominant Offensive Attack Too Much For Breakers To Handle
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New Jersey’s Dominant Offensive Attack Too Much For Breakers To Handle

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Week five of the USFL continued today, with a primetime FOX showdown. The 3-1 New Jersey Generals took on the 3-1 New Orleans Breakers, in a battle of elite USFL teams.

New Jersey has been on a roll, winning their last three games. Powered by a fierce ground attack, the Generals have seen plenty of recent success running the football. On the other side, Kyle Sloter has been a gem in New Orleans, throwing for almost 400 yards in a week four win against Houston.

Heading into this affair, fans were expecting an entertaining matchup – and that is exactly what they got. Letā€™s take a look at what happened in Saturday afternoonā€™s game.

First Quarter

To open things up, New Jersey received the football. Flags plagued their first drive, resulting in a quick punt for the Generals offense.

New Orleans brought the intensity from the get go. A fake punt resulted in a 43 yard gain, setting up the Breakers in excellent scoring position. New Jerseyā€™s defense held though, so Taylor Bertolet knocked through a field goal to give New Orleans an early 3-0 advantage.

New Jersey was treated with solid field position, and made the most of it. An incredible catch by Darius Shepherd kept the drive alive, before DeAndre Johnson then found Shepherd again for a bomb, putting the Generals inside the ten.

Two plays later, Johnson called his own number. The athletic QB ran into the endzone through multiple defenders, putting New Jersey on top 7-3.

To close out the first period, both teams traded drives that went nowhere. Heading into the second quarter, New Jersey held a 7-3 lead.

Second Quarter

The Generals continued to dominate on the ground, as they always do. Darius Victor and Trey Williams took the brunt of New Jerseyā€™s drive to start the second quarter, setting themselves up nicely. On fourth and goal from the two yard line, Johnson scrambled in for his second score of the day.

New Orleans did get the ball inside Generals territory to start the next drive, but a tipped pass was intercepted by Shalom Luani, quickly ending that possession. The Generals were in full control, up 14-3.

The Breakers defense did their job, forcing New Jersey to punt. A penalty, followed up by a dropped pass, negated any momentum the Generals had, and New Orleans got the ball back.

This time, they figured out what to do offensively. Anthony Jones provided the team with quality rushing, which allowed Kyle Sloter to get into a rhythm through the air. On an important 3rd and 15, Sloter found Jonathan Adams for the touchdown, making it a 14-10 ball game.

With very little time to work with, Johnson was outstanding. He found KaVonte Turpin deep across the middle for a huge gain of over 40 yards, putting the team in a fantastic position to score before the half.

Darius Victor continued to do Darius Victor things, smashing through defenders to put them inside the five yard line. However, New Orleansā€™ defense held up, forcing a short field goal attempt. Heading into the second half, the Generals led 17-10.

Third Quarter

New Orleans got off to a great start in the third period. After a defensive pass interference gifted the team with a new set of downs, Sloter pushed the ball down the field seamlessly. To cap things off, Sloter found Johnnie Dixon in the back of the endzone, tying the game up at 17.

DeAndre Johnson picked up right where he left off, running and throwing the ball at a high level. Darius Victor then ran it in from eight yards out, putting New Jersey back on top, 24-17.

Rain Delay

We were then hit with a USFL first. Lightning in the area forced a game delay, meaning that we were treated to half an hour of random USFL fun and discussion. According to Victor, ā€œThick Thighs Save Livesā€. When youā€™ve got 30ā€ thighs and run the football the way he does, we just have to take his word for it.

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End Of Third

Things did not get off to a good start for New Orleans once the game resumed. Kyle Sloter took a vicious hit, injuring him while forcing a punt in the process. New Jerseyā€™s offense couldnā€™t get things going on their end, punting the ball right back. Impressively, Sloter took the field for New Orleans, despite all of the injuries.

Fourth Quarter

New Orleans put together a solid drive to open up the fourth, getting inside the Generals redzone. Unfortunately for them, Sloter was intercepted again by Shalom Luani, putting an end to their momentum.

Johnson looked excellent coming out of the break, not skipping a beat whatsoever. Turpin continued to be a major piece of the offense, racking up over 100 yards on the day. However, from the three yard line, Johnson was intercepted by Adonis Alexander, saving New Orleans for the time being.

The Breakers could not capitalize on the turnover. On third and seven, Sloterā€™s pass was tipped at the line, falling incomplete. An excellent punt return from Turpin set the Generals up nicely, and they took a 27-17 lead off of an Austin Jones field goal.

It simply wasnā€™t Kyle Sloterā€™s day, as he struggled mightily throughout the second half. Multiple missed opportunities cost New Orleans dearly in the fourth quarter, and a turnover on downs gave New Jersey the ball back with a ten point lead.

With not much time left on the clock, New Jersey simply held possession for the final minutes. The Generals completed a dominant offensive performance with over 400 yards on the day, and a 27-17 victory in week five.

Final Thoughts

This turned out to be quite the game, despite all of the chaos in between. Both New Orleans and New Jersey proved why they are two of the leagueā€™s best teams, as high quality football was played throughout the gameā€™s entirety.

At the end of the day, New Jersey was the better team today. DeAndre Johnson was an absolute rock star, looking elite from start to finish. There is no doubt about it, the Generals are looking like Championship material.

As for Sloter and the Breakers, today was a wake up call for them. New Orleans has to clean up the offensive miscues – once they do that, theyā€™ll be in good shape.

With todayā€™s result, New Jersey takes firm control of the North division with a 4-1 record. New Orleans drops to 3-2, but still maintains the second seed.

What did you think of New Orleans vs. New Jersey? Which players performed the best in your opinion? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!