Pittsburgh Maulers USFL Betting
The Pittsburgh Maulers showed significant improvement in the 2023 season. The Maulers were the worst team in the USFL in 2022 but flipped the script with an appearance in the 2023 USFL championship game. The Maulers tried to play their game to stay with the Birmingham Stallions in the 2023 USFL championship game, but in the end, the defending champs were too much. In a game where the Maulers emphasized the control of the clock, the Stallions' ability to put up points in bunches sunk the game plan.
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Pittsburgh Maulers 2023 Season Overview and Championship Game Recap
Last week the Birmingham Stallions beat the Pittsburgh Maulers 28-12 in the USFL championship game. Birmingham was an 8-point favorite. The game went under the total of 45.5. In the regular season, Pittsburgh had a record of 4-6, good for 1st place in the USFL North Division. Pittsburgh has USFL metrics of 8th for offensive yardage, 4th for rushing yardage, 8th for passing yardage, and 7th for scoring offense. On defense, Pittsburgh ranks 1st for total yards allowed, 2nd for rushing yards allowed, 1st for passing yards allowed, and 1st for points permitted.
Pittsburgh held onto the ball for 33:12, but Alex McGough's four touchdown passes — three to Deon Cain — led Birmingham to a 28-12 victory. It was a nearly perfect game for McGough, the USFL MVP after he was similarly dominant in the South Division championship game the week before. In this showdown, McGough went 18 of 25 for 243 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions.
The final nail in the coffin came in the fourth quarter. Maulers coach Ray Horton went for it on fourth down from his 40-yard line with 7:30 left and his team trailing by nine points. Troy Williams' pass fell harmlessly at the feet of Bailey Gaither. The Stallions almost immediately converted the turnover down into points on the ensuing drive.
The Maulers' defense made a few big plays in the game, from a fourth-down stop on the Stallions' first possession to a fumble recovery on a third-and-goal that would have resulted in a touchdown return had there not been an illegal handoff. The offense, however, never really got into a rhythm, and the Maulers had to settle for four Chris Blewitt field goals.
The Stallions have been dominant since the USFL was relaunched in 2022. Skip Holtz's squad has lost just three of 24 games, counting the postseason. Holtz and McGough sent that message home at the end when, instead of lining up in victory formation, McGough ripped off a huge run before the Stallions finally knelt on the ball.
That kind of cockiness works for back-to-back champions. The Stallions are the team to beat, and whoever does it first will have serious bragging rights. Until then, it's the Stallions' league, and everyone else is just playing in it.
Still seething after a disappointing 28-12 setback to the Birmingham Stallions in Saturday's USFL Championship Game, Ray Horton does not believe in moral victories. However, the Pittsburgh Maulers head coach believes his team is headed for big things next season.
"This team is going to be back in this game next year," Horton predicted. "Because we’re going to be better than we were this year. And I don’t know where Skip (Birmingham head coach Skip Holtz) is but tell him his seat is going to be hot because we’re coming after him."
For three quarters, Horton’s Maulers went toe-to-toe with the best the USFL offered over the last two seasons.
While the game didn’t go how he wanted, Horton turned around a team that finished with the worst record in the USFL last season at 1-9, leading them to the championship game a year later.
"We’re not the laughingstocks of the league anymore," Horton said. "This is a team that’s going to be a force to be reckoned with. On defense, it already is. And on offense, we’ll fix it, and we’ll get better.
"This team is going to be one of the best teams in the league. It’s going to be like the Starship Enterprise. This is going to be one of the shining franchises in the league because this team is going to get better."
2023 Pittsburgh Maulers Season Schedule
| WEEK |
MATCHUP |
RESULT |
RECORD |
| April 16 |
@ New Orleans Breakers |
L 15-22 |
0-1 |
| April 23 |
vs. New Jersey Generals |
L 3-20 |
0-2 |
| April 30 |
@ Philadelphia Stars |
W 21-13 |
1-2 |
| May 7 |
vs. Birmingham Stallions |
L 20-24 |
1-3 |
| May 13 |
@ Michigan Panthers |
W 23-7 |
2-3 |
| May 20 |
@ Memphis Showboats |
L 0-22 |
2-4 |
| May 27 |
vs. Philadelphia Stars |
L 31-37 |
2-5 |
| June 3 |
vs. Houston Gamblers |
L 19-20 |
2-6 |
| June 10 |
vs. Michigan Panthers |
W 19-7 |
3-6 |
| June 17 |
@ New Jersey Generals |
W 26-6 |
4-6 |
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