2022 Tampa Bay Bandits season

2022 Tampa Bay Bandits season
General managerTodd Haley
Head coachTodd Haley
Home fieldNone
Results
Record4–6
League place3rd in South Division
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 2022 Tampa Bay Bandits season was the first and only season for the Tampa Bay Bandits as a professional American football franchise. They played as charter members of the United States Football League, one of eight teams to compete in the league for the 2022 season. The Bandits technically played as a traveling team (since the entirety of the regular season was played at Protective Stadium and Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama) and were led by head coach Todd Haley.

Personnel

Final roster

The Bandits, like all other teams, have a 38-man active roster with a 7-man practice squad.[1]

2022 Tampa Bay Bandits roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

  • 27 Tra Minter
  • 29 Juwan Washington

Wide receivers (WR)

  • 18 Dee Anderson
  • 80 Hasise DuBois

Tight ends (TE)

  • 88 De'Quan Hampton
  • 85 Cheyenne O'Grady
 Offensive linemen (OL)
  • 72 Jalen Booth T
  • 64 Fred Lauina G
  • 67 Darrin Paulo T
  • 75 Dallas Warmack G

Defensive linemen (DL)

  •  8 Zac Daew DE
  • 92 Sulaiman Kamara DT
  • 57 Jeff McCulloch DE
  • 90 Austrian Robinson DT
  • 55 Michael Scott DE
 Linebackers (LB)
  • 43 Emmanuel Beal OLB
  • 50 Anthony Butler
  •  5 T. J. Neal OLB
  • 41 Greg Reaves OLB

Defensive backs (DB)

  •  2 Rashard Causey CB
  • 40 Stephen Griffin S
  • 42 Antonio Reed S

Special teams

  • 44 Ryan DiSalvo LS
 Practice squad
  • 70 Matthew Burrell C/G
  •  9 Guy Myers QB
  • 12 Tyler Rausa K

Reserve

  • 61 Bruno Reagan C (IR)
  • -- Adam Shuler DE (DNR)
Rookies in italics
40 active, 5 reserve, 10 practice squad

Staff

2022 Tampa Bay Bandits staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches
  • Defensive coordinator/defensive line - Pepper Johnson
  • Linebackers - Trey Jackson
  • Defensive backs - Carnell Lake
  • Defensive assistant - Steven Thompson




Schedule

Regular season

The Bandits' 2022 schedule was announced on March 7. They opened the season against the Pittsburgh Maulers.[2]

Week Date Time (ET) Opponent Result Record TV Recap
1 April 18 7:00 p.m. Pittsburgh Maulers W 17–3 1–0 FS1 Recap
2 April 24 3:00 p.m. New Orleans Breakers* L 3–34 1–1 NBC/Peacock Recap
3 April 30 4:00 p.m. Houston Gamblers W 27–26 2–1 Fox Recap
4 May 7 7:00 p.m. Birmingham Stallions L 10–16 2–2 Fox Recap
5 May 13 8:00 p.m. Michigan Panthers* W 27–20 3–2 USA Recap
6 May 21 1:00 p.m. Philadelphia Stars L 28–35 3–3 NBC/Peacock Recap
7 May 28 12:00 p.m. New Jersey Generals* L 13–20 3–4 USA Recap
8 June 5 4:00 p.m. Houston Gamblers* W 13–3 4–4 Peacock Recap
9 June 12 4:00 p.m. New Orleans Breakers L 6–17 4–5 Fox Recap
10 June 18 4:00 p.m. Birmingham Stallions* L 18–21 4–6 Fox Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. * mean that they host the game, since all eight teams play at the same stadium

Game summaries

Week 1: at Pittsburgh Maulers

Week 1: Tampa Bay Bandits at Pittsburgh Maulers – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bandits 10 7 0017
Maulers 0 0 303

at Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Alabama

  • Date: April 18 (delayed)
  • Game time: 7:00 p.m.
  • Referee: Bryan Banks
  • TV announcers (FS1): Curt Menefee, Joel Klatt, Brock Huard
  • Recap
Game information

The Bandits started their season against the Pittsburgh Maulers. The Bandits dominated the first half, scoring 17 unanswered points with 2 touchdowns and a 23 yard field goal. On the Bandits first drive of the game, they drove downfield 68 yards to score with a B. J. Emmons 3 yard rushing touchdown. The teams would trade punts until what would be the Bandits last drive of the first quarter saw them drive 54 yards down field and kick a 23 yard field goal to put them up 10-0 at the end of the first. The teams traded punts again until near the end of the second quarter when a short punt by the Maulers put them at the Pittsburgh's 38 yard line. The drive ended when Jordan Ta'amu threw a 3 yard touchdown pass to Jordan Lasley to put the Bandits up 17-0 heading into the half, which would be the only points Tampa would score. The second half saw the Maulers drive 46 yards to hit a 28 yard field goal to put the Bandits at 17-3, which would be the final score.

Week 2: vs New Orleans Breakers

Week 2: New Orleans Breakers at Tampa Bay Bandits – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Breakers 14 7 01334
Bandits 0 3 003

at Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Alabama

  • Date: April 24
  • Game time: 3:00 p.m. EDT
  • Referee: Alex Moore
  • TV announcers (NBC/Peacock): Jac Collinsworth, Jason Garrett, Lewis Johnson
Game information
First quarter
  • NO – Kyle Sloter 1-yard rush (Austin MacGinnis kick no good), 7:32. Breakers 6–0. 13 plays, 79 yards, 5:44.
  • NO – T. J. Logan 5-yard rush (Kyle Sloter pass good), 0:15. Breakers 14–0. 12 plays, 70 yards, 5:42.

Second quarter

  • BIRM – Tyler Rausa 21-yard field goal, 5:54. Breakers 14–3. 11 plays, 69 yards, 6:20.
  • NO – Shawn Poindexter 18-yard pass from Kyle Sloter (Austin MacGinnis kick good), 2:28. Breakers 21–3. 7 plays, 56 yards, 3:23.

Fourth quarter

  • NO – Austin MacGinnis 22-yard field goal, 14:49. Breakers 24–3. 10 plays, 55 yards, 2:54.
  • NO – Johnnie Dixon 4-yard pass from Kyle Sloter (Austin MacGinnis kick good), 11:33. Breakers 31–3. 5 plays, 31 yards, 1:50.
  • NO – Austin MacGinnis 30-yard field goal, 1:11. Breakers 34–3. 4 plays, 7 yards, 1:44.

The Bandits faced their division rival New Orleans Breakers. The Breakers struck first on a 79 yard touchdown drive, but the extra point was missed, putting the Bandits down at 0-6. After a Bandits punt, the Breakers marched 65 yards downfield to score another touchdown, converting a 2-point conversion to bring the Bandits down 0-14. The Bandits responded in the second quarter with a 69 yard field goal drive capped off by a 21-yard field goal by Tyler Rausa to bring the Bandits to 3-14. The Breakers responded with a 56 yard touchdown drive to put the Bandits down two scores at 3-21.

In the second half, the Bandits turned it over on downs while the Breakers were unable to score. In the fourth quarter, the Breakers extended to a 3 score lead after a 22 yard field goal. They triumphed more, scoring a touchdown off a Ta'amu interception, putting them at a commanding 3-31 margin. They then made a 30-yard field goal to put them at 3-34 with a little over a minute, which would be the final score.

Week 3: at Houston Gamblers

Week 3: Tampa Bay Bandits at Houston Gamblers – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bandits 7 7 31027
Gamblers 10 13 3026

at Protective Stadium, Birmingham, Alabama

  • Date: April 30
  • Game time: 4:00 p.m. EDT
  • Referee: James Carter
  • TV announcers (Fox): Kevin Kugler, Mark Sanchez, Brock Huard

The Bandits will play against division rival Houston Gamblers.

Standings

South Division
#
W L PCT GB DIV PF PA STK
1 (y) Birmingham Stallions 9 1 .900 - 5–1 234 169 W1
2 (x) New Orleans Breakers 6 4 .600 3 3–3 196 164 L1
3 (e) Tampa Bay Bandits 4 6 .400 5 2–4 162 195 L2
4 (e) Houston Gamblers 3 7 .300 6 2–4 196 208 W2
(x)–clinched playoff berth; (y)–clinched division; (e)–eliminated from playoff contention

Postseason

Bandits did not make it to the playoffs after a lost against the New Orleans Breakers.

References

  1. ^ "USFL to have a "player selection meeting" on February 22–23". Pro Football Talk. January 4, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2022.
  2. ^ "2022 Tampa Bay Bandits Schedule". FBSchedules. Retrieved April 8, 2022.