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| William Hill, QB, Portland Storm (14) |
When Portland and Oakland fought to a 20-20 tie, it left both teams at 11-4-1. That opened the door for the Arizona Wranglers to win the division, But, when Georgia's Paul Roberts kicked a 25-yard field goal on the last play of the game, the Force had a 23-21 victory and Arizona was 11-5 and watching the postseason on TV at home.
The Wranglers certainly took a giant leap from 3-13. But, losses in the final three games by 6, 6, and 2 points doomed Arizona.
Portland, meanwhile, was able to celebrate a division championship. The Storm had beaten Oakland, 28-13, in Week 3. That head-to-head victory gave Portland the win and home-field advantage for its first-round playoff game ... against Oakland.
The Storm looked like they would be kicking themselves after William Hill's pass was intercepted by Edward Alston at the Invaders' 7-yard line with 36 seconds to play. But Portland forced Oakland's high-powered offense to punt three times in overtime. Hill was intercepted by Alston again, but the Invaders couldn't capitalize. Portland had earlier erased a 17-7 halftime deficit on TE James Walker's over-the-shoulder catch for an 11-yard TD that tied the score early in the fourth quarter.
This is the second division championship, and third playoff berth, in three years for Portland. Oakland will be attempting to defend the World Bowl title it won last year.
No other playoff berths were decided in Week 16, but there were some games and performances of note.
- Detroit QB Mario Valencia set a USFL/WFL record with his 55th TD pass of the season as the Wheels (14-2) beat the Cleveland Thunderbolts (13-3), 28-17, to win the Midwest Division. Valencia's 10-yard TD pass to WR Rigoberto Gonzales early in the fourth quarter set the record and also gave the Wheels a 21-17 lead. Detroit then drove 80 yards for the clinching score, a 2-yard run by Enrique Pacheco with 3:38 remaining.
- The New Jersey Generals scored with 1:19 to play and were set to tie when Ralph Lopez's PAT kick went wide right, preserving Tampa Bay's 23-22 win.
- Rookie WR Lee Rice of Birmingham caught eight passes for 144 yards, but Denver's Dustin Nichols threw four TD passes as the Gold picked up their third win by corralling the Stallions, 30-11. In its three seasons, Birmingham has gone 4-12, 13-3, 5-11. Weird.
American Conference Playoff Preview
The Portland Storm and Oakland Invaders will go best-of-three again. In 1975, the teams split during the regular season before Oakland won, 36-13, in the playoffs on its way to a World Bowl victory. This time, Portland will enjoy home-field advantage.The other American Conference wild-card game sees Cleveland traveling to Los Angeles to face the Pacific Division champions. The Express won, 32-18, in Week 9. This will be the first postseason game for both franchises, meaning 24 of the USFL/WFL's 32 franchises have taken part in at least one playoff game during the league's first three seasons.
The Detroit Wheels and San Antonio Gunslingers received first-round byes and will await the winners of Thursday's wild-card games.
National Conference Playoff Preview
The New York Stars went from 1-15 in 1975 to 10-6 and an East Division championship this season, but their first playoff appearance is likely to be a short one, as the Georgia Force comes to the Big Apple. Georgia beat the Stars, 65-9, during the 1975 regular season. The Force fell to Pittsburgh in last season's National Conference Championship Game.The Maulers host the Orlando Renegades, who are also making their first playoff appearance. Pittsburgh beat Orlando, 33-13, the last time these teams met, in 1975. Orlando was 10-1 in it last 11 games this season after setherick took over as head coach.
Tampa Bay (15-1) and the New Orleans VooDoo (13-3) earned first-round byes and will await the winner of Thursday's wild-card game.
