UFL Blockbuster: Birmingham Dominates Stats, Only Beats St. Louis 30-26
Regular Season Showdown May Foreshadow Championship Battle
There are no sure things in pro football, and football betting…even if it’s minor-league football. But, Birmingham and St. Louis are CLEARLY the best two teams in the UFL…so much better than everyone else that it would be a shock if they don’t play again for the league championship in the not-too-distant future.
Most important game of the regular season was Saturday afternoon in Birmingham, when St. Louis came to call. Compelling game, though the final score created a very misleading picture. Hosts won 30-26…but it wasn’t an offensive shootout…and it wasn’t a closely played game in the trenches.
Let’s run the numbers…
Birmingham (-4.5) 30, St. Louis 26
Total Yards: St. Louis 214, Birmingham 349
Yards-per-play: St. Louis 4.4, Birmingham 5.6
Rushing: St. Louis 64, Birmingham 144
Passing: St. Louis 19-32-1-161, Birmingham 21-33-0-230
Third Downs: St. Louis 33%, Birmingham 64%
Turnovers: St. Louis 1, Birmingham 1
Red Zone TD Pct: St. Louis 75% (3/4), Birmingham 60% (3/5)
I mean, that’s a SQUASH! Well, a squash in a defensive battle. You see numbers like that in a college or NFL game, and the yardage winner usually finishes with a double digit victory margin. How can a team score 26 points on 214 yards and 4.4 YPP? Cheap points, that’s how.
TD Drives in Yards
St. Louis 11, 55, 59
Birmingham: 34, 40, 69, 73
St. Louis was gift-wrapped a TD that turned what would have been a double-digit loss into a nailbiter. Though, Birmingham had a couple relatively cheap scores. Longest drives were from the host. Basically a 23-13 type game that blew up because of field position points.
Also worth noting that St. Louis did find the end zone from the red zone three times in four, compared to three in five for Birmingham. A few of the points came from that dichotomy.
Only one team moved the ball consistently (a 64-33% edge on third downs from Birmingham). Only one team was solid all day on the ground (144-64 for the hosts). Savvy St. Louis made it a game anyway. Could happen again in a rematch. But, issues at the point of attack must be fixed to see a repeat nail biter, or an underdog upset in the rematch.
Birmingham moves to 7-0 on the season. St. Louis falls to 5-2. That could mean a tie at 5-2 with San Antonio depending on what happens in Sunday action. But, St. Louis currently owns a heads-up win at SA, with the divisional rematch coming on friendly home turf. Saturday’s showdown was very likely a battle of eventual division winners…and, barring QB injuries, a very clear favorite to be a championship preview.
Birmingham is the best team in the UFL. Not nearly enough margin for error yet to crown the Stallions as champs. If you’re turning stat blowouts into nail biter finishes, you’ve got some work to do.
More UFL coverage Sunday night when I crunch numbers from this weekend’s other three games (Arlington got off the schneid with a blowout of Memphis earlier Saturday that left both teams a woeful 1-6). Next two reports will cover the NBA playoffs for paid subscribers Sunday before lunch time.
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