AL BIRMINGHAM — Skip Holtz, the head coach of the Birmingham Stallions, called his team's narrow victory over the Tampa Bay Bandits on Saturday a "Comedy of Errors," in which they fumbled the ball over twice and made several poor offensive snaps.

He would like to see his team's performance improve after seeing it suffer its first season loss against the Houston Gamblers two weeks ago and then witness a ragged win over the Bandits in his team's last game of the regular season.

Holtz attributes his team's late-season troubles to his lack of experience handling this unique situation for the first time in his 34 years of coaching, even though Birmingham secured a spot in the USFL playoffs a month ago.

Holtz remarked, "It was unusual to play those games that, while I hesitate to call them meaningless, won't change the reality of what we need to do next week. "I believe people will pay us considerably extra attention. Going into this week, I believe we'll have a different perspective and much more focus than the previous two."

The Stallions, the top seed in the Southern Division, play the New Orleans Breakers on Saturday (8 p.m. ET on NBC) in Canton, Ohio, without home-field advantage for the first time this year. Along with the other seven USFL teams this year, the Stallions played all their regular-season games in Birmingham.

Holtz stated, "I feel like we have an opportunity to play for the folks in Birmingham, even though we won't have a 'home crowd' advantage when we travel up there. And a big part of what we're going to attempt to do right now is return the trophy to the locals, who have been so encouraging.

According to edge rusher DeMarquis Gates, the Stallions have beaten the Breakers twice this season, so they know what to expect.

The former Ole Miss star has been a key defensive contributor for Birmingham this year, leading the Stallions in tackles (62) and sacks (four) (6.5). Gates was recognized for his performance by being named to the USFL All-Defensive team. He also leads the USFL with 11 tackles for loss.

Getting recognition for your efforts is incredible. But we only want the title. Winning it will be the ultimate reward." Gates said when asked about his performance this season.

After suffering a 20-3 defeat at the hands of the Gamblers over the weekend, the Breakers (6-4) aim to resume their winning ways.

In preparation for Saturday's playoff game, head coach Larry Fedora of New Orleans decided to rest several starters, including quarterback Kyle Sloter, one of the top passers in the USFL this season.

We'll put our mettle to the test this week in practice, Fedora remarked. And regardless of whether we are the team, we believe we are or the team we demonstrated tonight.

Fedora stated that the Breakers still anticipated defeating Houston despite the absence of Sloter and the other starters, starting backup quarterback Zach Smith. Fedora said he would need to practice differently this week, given his team's lackluster performance.

To prepare for a playoff game, Fedora remarked, "you'd like to, at this point of the year, be able to pull off some and maybe not hit as much." "But we must make some fundamental adjustments. Therefore, we must block, catch, tackle, and throw — all the fundamental things required to be a good football team."

In their two losses to Birmingham this year, the Breakers scored a combined total of 22 point.

Fedora will focus on getting Sloter and the rest of the offense back on track because New Orleans has scored just 10 points per game over the past two games.

According to Holtz, Darius Harper, an offensive tackle, was limited last week due to a knee ailment, but he should be ready to play against New Orleans. The starting quarterback for Birmingham should also be healthy because the Stallions benched quarterback J'Mar Smith in favor of backup Alex McGough against Tampa Bay.

Holtz remarked, "We were able to come out of the game pretty clean, relatively healthy. In their two losses to Birmingham this year, the Breakers scored a combined total of 22 points. Fedora will focus on getting Sloter and the rest of the offense back on track because New Orleans has scored just 10 points per game over the past two games.

According to Holtz, Darius Harper, an offensive tackle, was limited last week due to a knee ailment, but he should be ready to play against New Orleans.

The starting quarterback for Birmingham should also be healthy because the Stallions benched quarterback J'Mar Smith in favor of backup Alex McGough against Tampa Bay.

Holtz remarked, "We were able to come out of the game pretty clean, relatively healthy.