We have our third change at top of our spring fling power football rankings. St. Louis finds out how hungry the beer snake of the Defenders really is. In week three we have all kinds of resignations filed as coaches can’t handle their duties in the spring fling.

The Brahmas are still holding down the lower dungeon apartments in the rankings. We have plenty of movement after a wacky week three in the UFL. We will “Iron” it all out for you but it will not be “Clad,” however you will be glad you read it all. Let’s unfold all the dirty laundry we have in week 4 of the UFL Power Rankings.

#8. SAN ANTONIO BRAHMAS (0-3)

XFL CONFERENCE: Never moved from last week as they are still holding down the fort.

Drama is brewing in Brahma llama land in Texas. Before the Brahmas’ best offensive production of the season occurred, one of San Antonio’s coaches resigned. The offensive coordinator, A.J. Smith, who is a young mind in the game took his ball and went home in a disagreement with Head Coach Wade Phillips about the scheme the Brahmas were running. Without Smith, the Brahmas then had their best game on offense of the season. Scoring 23 points versus a solid Panthers defense while gaining a total of 258 yards on offense, a season high. The Brahmas QB, Kellen Mond, had his best game hitting 19-31 passes for 153 yards including a touchdown pass. Jordan Williams had a monster day on defense with 9 tackles including an 85 yard pick six. The Brahmas kicker could have had one of his best videos for his U-tube followers, but Donald De La Haye missed a kick that could have sent this game to overtime. Then the news hit this week that now Wade Phillips is taking a leave of absence from the team. Which makes Payton Pardee, the Interim Head Coach, while Phillips attends to his personal reasons.

This has been a common theme this season with head coaches and assistants walking away from the spring fling for variety of reasons. Wade Phillips is the UFL’s biggest name in the league at the coaching position with all his years in the NFL.

#7. MEMPHIS SHOWBOATS (0-3)

USFL CONFERENCE: Still haven’t found what they are looking for as they drop 1 spot from last week.

Ken Whisenhunt elected to go for the 2 point conversion instead of tying the game with a 1 point try after the Showboats made a late rally to make things interesting with the Roughnecks. It was a battle of two teams looking for their first win. It was a game that Memphis was dominating most of the way until their starting QB, E.J. Perry, made two stupid throws that changed the momentum in favor of the Roughnecks. Perry was having a pretty good day until his first mistake, a pick six.

Then his second bad throw came in another interception trying to throw it away after being pressured. Both interceptions occurred in the 3rd quarter. Troy Williams finished the game at QB after Whisenhunt made a change at QB. Williams plunged & found the end zone on a rushing touchdown in the late rally. The Showboats out-gained the Roughnecks in the game in total offense with 261 total yards compared to 238 from the Roughnecks. If Troy Williams converts that 2 point conversion for a Showboats win, would Whisenhunt be coaching this team over Easter weekend? Wisenhunt left the Showboats in week one for personal reasons but came back the last two weeks & now has officially resigned. The Showboats offensive line coach, Jim Turner, will get the opportunity to finish off the season for Memphis.

The Showboats season is taking on too much water. It seems like this Memphis franchise is not getting a following as well. It would not surprise me if the UFL relocates this Showboats franchise to another city next year with a different name.

#6.HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS (1-2)

USFL CONFERENCE: Roughnecks strike oil with a victory and move up one spot from last week.

The Roughnecks break an 8 game losing streak that dated back from last season with a win over the Showboats last week. It looked like another loss was on the horizon for this Roughnecks team until they changed the momentum in this game in the 3rd quarter.

It was the Roughnecks defense or a generous gift from the Showboats quarterback, EJ Perry, who threw the ball right into the hands of Leon O’Neal who took it 30 yards to the house for a pick six. The Roughnecks defense had two interceptions off Perry in the 3rd quarter. Before this game, the Roughnecks acquired one of the top notch receivers in the league from the Michigan Panthers in a trade.

Marcus Simms joined the Roughnecks who already have Justin Hall, another solid receiver. Simms was All- UFL last year catching 23 balls for 426 yards and three touchdowns. Now if only the Roughnecks had a solid quarterback. One of them came to life last week wheb Nolan Henderson was slinging the ball down the field and looking good doing that. His touchdown pass was not to Simms or Hall, but instead to Emmanuel Butler.

#5.ARLINGTON RENEGADES (2-1)

XFL CONFERENCE: Dropped 3 spots from last week

The line from the movie Lethal weapon by Detective Murtaugh sums up the last two weeks for the Renegades. They are all dressed up. They look like a football team. The last two weeks this team has scored 20 points after putting up 33 points in the very first game which was the highest by any team that week. The Renegades in week two squeaked by the Roughnecks, 11-9. Then last week Birmingham’s offense was hot garbage. Matt Corral looked like he should stop playing football for good as he was having a very bad game. The Renegades defense has been tough to score on. Donald Payne and company have put the pain on opposing offenses. Somehow they let Corral and that Stallions dormant offense march down the field in the last minutes of the game to score a touchdown while converting the extra point to take the game 10-9. When your defense only gives up ten points, what the hell is offense doing? Luis Perez is top QB in this league which I thought. The Renegades were running the football well. The Renegades went 0-4 in the red zone versus the Stallions. The Renegades running game versus the Roughnecks in week 2 averaged under 4 yards per carry. Now the Renegades have to figure how to score on the BattleHawks this weekend who looked like the best team in the entire league until they were knocked off by the Defenders. All dressed up and nobody to blow may be Bob Stoop’s press conference speech.

#4. BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS (2-1)

USFL CONFERENCE: Dropped one spot from last week.

Skip Holtz seems like that guy that created Frankenstein. Three championships in a row with three different specimens on his slab in the lab. Somehow Holtz’s creation this season in Matt Corral is not going well despite the Stallions winning 2 games in a row. When is Alex McGough coming back? That is the million dollar question. Corral versus the Renegades completed 19-41 passes for 255 yards. That is a completion percentage of 46.3% which is horrible. Corral threw a touchdown pass which ended up being the game winner in the last minute to beat the Renegades 10-9. He did throw a interception. Could Skip go with Case Cookus, a spring league veteran QB down the stretch who is Corral’s back up? Or will Skip keep working with Matt to eventually get his 4th Frankenstein QB? It is the Stallions defense who should get the victory lap in this 10-9 victory over Arlington. The Stallions defense held the Renegades to only 1 field goal in 4 trips to the red zone.

Its starts down in the trenches for the Stallions which features big ole number 97, Willie Yarbary. Yarbary has been a fixture on the Stallions D-line for the last three seasons. He had a big fumble recovery to help put away this Renegades squad. The Stallions now are 2-0 all-time versus Arlington. The Stallions now have won 10 straight home games dating back from last year.

#3.MICHIGAN PANTHERS (2-1)

USFL CONFERENCE: Moved up one spot from last week.

The Panthers traded away their best wide receiver Marcus Simms to the Houston Roughnecks for offensive lineman, Cam Carter. It’s a crazy trade which makes no sense for the Panthers. Carter is a decent lineman who has played a few seasons in the spring flings. He played well in the USFL with the New Jersey Generals a few seasons ago.

Simms can be a top receiver with most of the teams in the UFL. Maybe Mike Nolan is looking lean on the running game for the rest of the season and wants better pass protection. The Panthers QB is a duel threat as he likes to use his legs more than pass. Bryce Perkins did have 2 rushing touchdowns last weekend versus San Antonio.

Perkins did throw a six pick to the Brahmas defense and did not throw any touchdown passes. Take away that interception & he completed 17-23 for 193 passing yards. Simms who? The Panthers scored all their touchdowns running the ball. The Panthers kicker, B.T. Potter, is no Jake Bates, but he did put the dagger in Wade Phillips’ team with a 28 yard field goal to take the lead for good and put another W in the win column.

#2. ST.LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS (2-1)

XFL CONFERENCE: Dropped one spot from last week.

The St.Louis BattleHawks were playing light years ahead of the competition in the UFL after the first two weeks of the season. The BattleHawks offense was lighting up the score board. The BattleHawks defense were suffocating their opponents in the first two weeks. The BattleHawks are unstoppable at home. Until the Defenders invaded which DC is St.Louis’ arch rival that goes back to the XFL days. It was a close game most of the day between these two teams. Manny Wilkins had two turnovers in the 4th quarter that the Defenders capitalized on to win this game. Wilkins has tallied 498 passing yards this season but has only 1 touchdown pass compared to three interceptions. Wilkins can get the job done using his legs as well. The Defenders defense have found ways to get the turnovers which they did and defended Wilkins really well in crunch time. The BattleHawks defense racked up 83 tackles in the game. Along with 7 pass break ups. BattleHawks corner back Chris Payton Jones broke up three passes.

The BattleHawks free safety, Nate Meadors, had a big day racking up 8 tackles which 5 were solo. The BattleHawks defense was on the field way too long and put in a bad field position from the turnovers as they could not overcome losing their first regular season game at home since their days of the XFL.

#1.DC DEFENDERS(3-0)

XFL CONFERENCE: Jumped 4 spots from last week to land on the top of the power rankings for the first time this season.

The Defenders have not even been in my top 4 teams in any of my power rankings until this week. The beer snake bit me. The Defenders in the first week took out last year’s champs in week 1. I thought that game was a fluke as just a bad day at the office for the Stallions. I felt like they caught a few lucky breaks versus a bad Showboats team in week two. The Defenders showed me something in week three going to St. Louis in hostile conditions and pulling out a win. Now DC is the only remaining undefeated team in the UFL this season. The BattleHawks and Defenders hate each other. These are the two greatest fan bases in spring football and both teams were facing each other without a loss coming into week 3.

The Defenders score a season high 27 points. In the first two games of the season, the Defenders have settled for more field goals than converting touchdowns. The Defenders did get the 3 pointer in this road game as Matthew McCrane has one of the best legs in the league. It was Ty Scott who was beamed up by a beautiful throw by Jordan Ta’amu that went for a 62 yard explosion for the Defenders.

It was another battle between these teams that was close all the way into the 4th quarter. The Defenders defense then forced two turnovers from the BattleHawks QB. Manny Wilkins fumbled the ball away, threw a interception, and the Defenders capitalized on both turnovers. The Defenders held the BattleHawks offense to a season low of only 15 points. The Defenders lead the series now 3 games to 1 over the BattleHawks. The Defenders remain undefeated despite making a head coach change and defensive coordinator change. Every week so far now in the power rankings, I have had a different number one. Let’s see how long the Defenders hold their position at the top of the power rankings.