RFL GAME STORIES

RFL Game Stories

Week One
Week Two
Week Three
Week Four
Week Six

Week One

Dallas Wins Opener

Dallas coach Chad Flint was very please with the victory that his team pulled out last night. Dallas won 27 to 25 over Kansas City. "I think that the guys played well under the pressure. We have a lot of new guys and I think it took them a while to get used to playing with each other." Dallas jumped out quick early on with a 90 yard kick return on the opening kick off by Billy Davis. The Drive stalled and they settled for a field goal. KC then answered back with a field goal of there own. Dallas then was lead to two consecutive scoring drives by Shane Matthews that both finished with a Matthews touchdown pass. Then as Flint put it "We just fell into a drought offensively, but we pulled out just in time." Dallas held on in the end after a KC 46 yard touchdown pass from Gannon to pull them within 3 points midway through the fourth quarter. Dallas then took the ball and drove down the field with Emmitt Smith leading the way. On third and goal from the five Matthews hit Irvin for the game clinching touchdown. KC added a touchdown late, but it wasn't enough. Smith had 36 carries for 158 yards on the game, while Matthews completed 24 of 34 for 253 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 int. Keshawn Johnson had 7 catches for 98 yards, and Darren Benson had two sacks. "We showed a lot of growth today, and I hope it continues," said Flint.

DENVER WINS OPENER BUT AT A HEFTY PRICE

DENVER CO, despite a solid 27-7 opening day victory over the Tennessee Oilers, the Bronco locker room couldn't be any gloomier. It appears the team may have to prepare for a season without John Elway. The Bronco Quarterback suffered an undisclosed injury after being sacked on the very first play from scrimmage leaving the status of the injury as "very-serious". Elway is to undergo an MRI tommorrow morning to determine the nature of the injury. Denver head coach, Derek Kim seemed determined to downplay the seriousness of his quarterback's status. "We dont want to jump to any conclusions at this point", said the rookie head coach, "the MRI will be mostly a precautionary measure, I dont think the injury is career-threatening, or season-threatening, for that matter..." After that disasterous first play, doom seemed certain as the Broncos went three-and-out under a heavy Oiler blitz. Fortunately for Denver, Terrell Davis came ready to pick up the slack for his fallen quarterback as he earned game MVP rushing for 187 yards on 32 carries and one score. Backup quarterback Jeff Lewis stepped in and played admirably completing 18 of 28 passes for a 191 yards and 2 TDs including a 40 yarder to wide receiver Patrick Jeffers late in the third quarter. Although the Bronco offensive line run blocked beautifully, letting Denver runners rush for 244 yards, pass protection left something to be desired. The Bronco front five struggled picking up Tennessee's aggressive blitzing scheme allowing Jeff Lewis to be sacked six times. "we've got learn to pickup the blitz better" says Kim, "but I tell you what, god bless Terrell Davis... and our defense". The Denver defense played a soundly efficient game, allowing the Oilers to one touchdown and producing six sacks of there own, including three by defensive tackle Keith Traylor.

FAULK COMES TO KC !

Kansas Cities coach Eric Tatro held a press conferance " I congradulate the Cowboys you played a hell of a game . Changes must be made and I will make them ." He also added " I was pleased with our passing game but our running game sucked ! We need a star player in the Running Back position . " The coach went on to say " I'am proud to say we have such a player . After long talks with Detroits owner Harvey Lust we came away with a premeir running back Marshall Faulk. I see this as a turning point and welcome Faulk to KC . "

Week Two

Dallas Moves to 2-0

The Dallas Cowboys defeated the Green Bay Packers 35 to 22 in RFL week two play. At what cost is yet to be determined. Both Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson went down with injuries. The severeness of these is not yet know. Emmitt went down early in the second quarter. The major story of the game had to be the play of Sherman Williams. He came into the game for Emmitt and ran 21 times for 145 yards, and three TD's. He also had one receiving TD. "I just wanted to show everyone that I can play in the RFL" Williams said. Also stepping up big was Charlie Williams. He had 12 tackles and excellent pass defence in place of the injured Woodson. "I though we played a very good all around game. We hope that Emmitt and Darren are back soon, but I think that we proved today that we can be competitive without them," said coach Flint. Shane Matthews was 19 for 29 with 275 yards, and 2 touchdowns. Keshawn Johnson caught 6 passes for 111 yards, and a touchdown, while Chad Hennings had four sacks. The Game balls were given to Charlie Williams and Sherman Williams.

Arizona Comes up Big

The Arizona Cardinals are showing the first signs of life that we've seen from the, at best, mediocre team in years. They handed the San Francisco 49ers the franchise's biggest defeat in team history by beating them 62-23. Hitting hard both in the air and on the ground, Bledsoe was just shy of a 400 yard game with 4 tds passed and no ints. On the ground Garrison Hearst, recently traded from the 49ers, rushed for 288 yds on 34 attempts, with 4 tds scored by him as well. In the 2nd quarter, the Cardinals were down 17-7 and it seem inevitable that the 49ers would win, when they stopped the 49ers for the first time mid field and forced them to punt. From there, the Cardinals carried on with 41 unanswered points until the 49ers scored again late in the 4th Quarter. The Cardinals ended the game with an onside kick and a final 50 yard pass for a TD from Bledsoe to Meeks. No injuries were sustained by Cardinal players during the game, so they'll be at full strentgh next week against Detroit.

Week Three

Dallas Wins a Close One

Dallas had to overcome another injury this week. This one was to Sherman Williams, leaving them with no HBs on the roster. "I just looked at Darryl and said, `here is you chance, you and Tim need to step it up now.' He looked at me and said, `Don't worry, it is under control,' and for some reason, I knew that it was," said Flint. From then on Tim Tindale and Darryl Johnston did the running, and the Cowboys squeaked out a 23 to 16 victory to go to 3 and 0. Michael Irvin hauled in 15 passes, and Trent Brewer had two sacks for the Cowboys. The turning point of the game came early in the fourth quarter when Isaac Bruce fielded the punt and returned it 80 yards for an apparent touchdown. But the play was called back on a illegal block. Then Bruce caught a 54 yard pass down the right sideline, but on the next play, Rypien was sacked and fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by Trent Brewer and returned to the St Louis 45 yard line. "That was the nail in the coffin, they never recovered from that." said Flint.

Week Four

Dallas Beats Arizona in Battle of Unbeatens

Dallas's dream season continued Thursday night when the handed Arizona their first loss of the season, 38 to 16 and moved to 4 and 0. "They just wore us out," said Arizona coach Daryl. "We played our game throughout, and came out on top. Michael, Emmitt, Shane, and Keshawn took turns carrying the load, and that is what I like to see," said Flint. Dallas racked up 504 yards of total offense on the day, with Emmitt Smith running 30 times for 160 yards. Shane Matthews went 23 for 36 for 354 yards on the day with 3 touchdowns. Michael Irvin had 7 catches for 178 yards with a touchdown, while Keshawn Johnson had 6 for 102 with a touchdown. On Defense for the Cowboys, Broderick Thomas had 11 tackles, Charlie Williams had 8 tackles, and Chad Hennings added 2 sacks. "In the first quarter, we looked sad for a while, I thought we were in great danger of falling behind, but our D stepped up big from then on," said Flint. Dallas appeared to be in trouble on their second drive of the game. They already had went three and out on their first drive, and were down seven to nothing facing thrid and twelve on their own 10 yard line. That is when Shane Matthews stepped into the huddle and called the right play. Michael Irvin deep down the right sideline, for 89 yards, and one play later it was tied. This was the beginning of the momentum swing. Arizona would never see the lead again. They were within three going into the third quarter, but Dallas blew them out scoreing three touchdowns to finish the day. "We are on a roll right now, and I hope it never stops," said Flint.

Week Six

Dallas's unbeaten streak comes to an end

After beating Denver last week to move to 5 and 0, Dallas suffered its first loss of the season this week at the hands of the 1 and 4 Falcons. Dallas has recently lost Shane Matthews in the Denver game for the rest of the regular season, and started Pat Barnes this game. "I will start by saying that we sucked. Everything our offense tried to do just sucked. It wasn't all Pat's fault, the only one out there that I saw giving it his all was Emmitt, and that isn't right," said Coach Flint. Dallas finished the day with ony 151 yards of total offense, and while Emmitt ran 26 times for 106 yards, Dallas QB's combined to go 8 for 26 for 47 yards with an interception. On the day Dallas's defense only surrendered 128 yards, and three points, but the offense surrendered nine points, and only put up three. "It really makes you mad when your defense plays like that, and you offense gives up nine points. The defense played the best that it has all season. The DL stepped up big today, but the offense did even really come to the game. If we can't find a way to have a decent offence without Shane, we won't win another game this season," said Flint. On defense for the Cowboys, Darren Benson had 4 sacks, and Dexter Coakley had 8 tackles. "We are starting the search for a new QB, we are going to need one if we expect to make the playoffs. I am very dissapointed in my guys play this week, very dissapointed."