The first week of the USFL 2023 season has officially occurred, resulting in a New Jersey Generals Week 1 loss. The Generals had high hopes for the season, but the Birmingham Stallions got the best of them. The final score was 27-10 Stallions, a disappointing start for the Generals. Here are the most important takeaways from the Generals Week 1 loss.
NJ Generals Week 1 Loss Takeaways
Although this was a disappointing loss, it is important to also acknowledge that it was not all bad. These takeaways will include some of the bright spots as well.
Strong Run Game
Although the season began with a Generals Week 1 loss, it was not all bad. While it is easy to focus on the negatives, the Generals’ run game was strong, and actually pretty impressive. It may be the key to the team this year as they move forward. Both of the Generals’ quarterbacks had key plays based on their running abilities. Dakota Prukop only rushed for 12 yards, but one was for a touchdown. That was the only touchdown the Generals scored. De’Andre Johnson rushed the ball for 45 yards, his longest being for 29 yards, according to Fox Sports. While the passing game will need to improve, these were really impressive points from both of them.
Former Oregon QB Dakota Prukop (9) – Eric Evans/GoDuck.com
As for the actual runningbacks, Darius Victor stole the show by rushing for 84 yards, his longest being a beautiful run for 48 yards. As a team, the Generals rushed for 192 yards, which is really good against a team as strong as the Stallions. The issue is those big runs never resulted in big scores. Based on the Generals Week 1 loss, the team can build on that run game but need to make it count in the end.
Turnovers
What truly hurt New Jersey and a big factor in the Generals’ loss were the turnovers. The team was lucky not to throw any interceptions, but the Stallions forced two fumbles. Each turnover ended up resulting in a Birmingham touchdown. These turnovers gave the Stallions 14 points that could have been points for the Generals instead.
Birmingham is a tough team, but these were avoidable. New Jersey needs to work on their ball security if they want to continue the season that the team had in 2022. The team cannot go through great runs just to have them end in costly turnovers.
Former Georgia CB DJ Daniel (14) – Curtis Compton/AJC
Defense
The defense will definitely need to clean a lot up before their next game based on how the Generals’ Week 1 loss went. Stallions quarterback J’Mar Smith passed for 160 yards and one touchdown. They also put in quarterback Alex McGough who passed for 78 yards and one touchdown, according to Fox Sports. The Stallions are definitely a strong team, and that needs to be a factor in this discussion, but there are still things that must be fixed by the Generals.
The defense was not bad either, though. Generals’ cornerback DJ Daniel did have one interception. This is something that fans can look forward to. If they clean up the coverage and put more pressure on the opposing team’s quarterback, the defense could end up being just fine. Linebacker Chris Orr was the team’s leading tackler with eight combined tackles, six solo, and two tackles for loss, according to Fox Sports.
These mistakes that happened during the Generals Week 1 loss could just be because it was the first game of the season. Either way, it was sloppy. New Jersey’s team will not go 9-1 as they did during the USFL’s 2022 season if they play how they did. There is a lot to look forward to with their run game, but the decision-making and the costly mistakes need to be addressed.
The New Jersey Generals will next face the Pittsburgh Maulers in Canton, Ohio. Be sure to read here for which games to watch this season following the Generals Week 1 loss.
