Sporting News, July 27, 1987
In what is being hailed as one of the greatest championship games in pro football history, the Philadelphia Stars overcame a 5-touchdown performance from Houston QB Jim Kelly to defeat the Gamblers 39-38 on a last minute score that defied the odds.
In a game for the ages, the Philadelphia Stars, led by QB Chuck Fusina, built a first half lead over the Houston Gamblers, watched as Houston’s Jim Kelly led the Gamblers all the way back and into the lead, and then had just enough for one more drive to take home the title. Houston desperately drove the ball at the end of the game, but came up just short as time ran out before they could get their field goal team in place to attempt a desperation final kick.
It was billed as a battle of two of the league’s best defenses, and while those defenses had their moments, this was an offensive battle of styles. Philadelphia’s balanced mix of inside-outside run game and play action faced off against a wide open aerial assault by the league’s MVP. Early on it looked like slow and steady was going to take the day, as Philadelphia took advantage of two Jim Kelly miscues to build a solid first half lead, only to watch Kelly storm back in the second half.
Philadelphia scored the first 16 points of the game thanks in large part to their defense and a noticeably nervous Houston offense. After an initial 3 and out by the Philly offense, the Stars got their first break when special teamer Chris Snyder downed the Philadelphia punt on the Houston 2 yard line. Houston, rather than try to run it out, set up a play action pass that did not fool the Philadelphia defense. DE Tony Simmons bull rushed the Houston right tackle and caught Kelly in the throwing arm just as he was winding up to throw. The ball fell backwards and out of the endzone, giving Philadelphia the safety and the first points of the game.
They would add to the narrow 2-point lead following the safety kickoff, as two runs, one by Kelvin Bryant and one by backup Jaime Mueller pushed the ball well into Houston territory. A Fusina pass to Mike Quick got Philly close, and then Fusina found former BC wideout Gerald Phelan for a 16-yard score on a corner fade route. The Stars were now up 9-0 on the Gamblers with only 8 minutes gone in the first.
Houston received the kickoff and had a horrific 3-down series. On first down a 1 yard gain by Todd Fowler was called back for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, putting Houston into 2nd and 26. On second down, a blitzing Scott Woerner sacked Kelly to create 3rd and 31. Kelly was pressured again on third down, and his pass to Ricky Sanders was thrown into double coverage, snatched by free safety Rob Porter and returned the 15 yards back to the endzone for a defensive score. Houston was down 16-0 and had only run 4 plays of offense.
On the ensuing possession, Houston turned the tide, using 3 Philadelphia penalties to move the ball to midfield, and Kelly started to find his rhythm. He hit TE Victor Hicks, the game’s leading receiver, on two first down passes, audibled to a draw play that gained 12 for Todd Fowler, and then spotted slot receiver Jim Lachance on a slant route that took him into the endzone for Houston’s first score. Lachance would be the first of five different receivers to catch scoring tosses from Kelly on the day.
At the end of one it was 16-7 Stars, but Houston on its next possession would narrow that margin. The drive started with a Philadelphia miscue as Chuck Fusina’s pass for TE Steve Folsom was tipped at the line, and instead of finding Folsom, fell into the hands of nickel back Domingo Bryant. Houston would move the ball down to the Stars 14 yard line before settling for a Dave Jacobs field goal to move to 16-10.
The Houston D came up big again as the next series was a quick 3 and out for Philadelphia. After a short punt by usually reliable Sean Landeta gave Houston the ball on their 46 yard line, Kelly found Clarence Verdin deep for 32 yards, then got 7 more from Todd Fowler, and again hit Verdin, this time for 5 to get the ball to the Philly 9 yard line. An encroachment call on the Stars took the ball to the 5. Kelly then rolled right, looking to hit Sanders, but with the Gamblers’ top reveiver double covered (as he was all night), Kelly dumped the ball off to halfback Todd Fowler, who laid a shoulder into the safety and fell into the endzone for the score. Houston was now on top 17-16.
After trading short drives, Philadelphia got the ball back with 4:26 left in the half. Fusina hit Donovan and Phelan on two successive passes, a Kelvin Bryant run was followed by a 12 men on the field penalty against Houston, and the Stars found themselves on the Houston 16. From there Kelvin Bryant had his best run of the game, a 16 yard off-tackle rumble, untouched at the line, he delivered a brutal stiff arm to the safety and lunged for the endzone. It took 3 minutes for the instant replay official to make it official, but the ball had crossed the plain and Philly was back on top 23-17.
Kelly had the ball with 2:08 left, and the somewhat partisan Astrodome crowd felt that something good was about to happen. But, they were mistaken. On the first play for the Gamblers, Kelly dropped back, got immediate pressure from Philadelphia DE William Fuller, and though he was able to get the ball off deep, looking for Verdin, it was off target and found its way into the hands of Porter for another interception. This one had no runback as Porter had to rush towards the sideline to make the catch, but it gave Philadelphia the ball with time to spare. The Stars got the ball only to the Houston 41, but that was good enough for Coach Mora to let David Trout try a 58 yard field goal in the controlled environment of the Dome. The ball just edged over the crossbar and the Stars would go into the half with a 26-17 lead.
Undaunted, Houston came out in the second half determined to get the game back. They began the half with a 12-play drive that saw Kelly connect with 5 different receivers, capped off by a TD to Verdin, Kelly’s 3rd of the day. They were back in range at 26-24.
Philadelphia would counter with a drive of their own, starting after a touchback. On the first play of the drive, Fusina faked the handoff to Bryant and found Tom Donovan open along the sideline for 26. On the next play he hit TE Abe Davis for 6. Bryant ran for another 6, and then Fusina found Davis again. Within 5 plays the Stars were at the Houston 29. On 2nd and 3, Fusina set up a perfectly executed screen to Bryant, who found himself with two blockers in front and plenty of space to run. Bryant stayed patient, waiting behind his blockers as they cleared out the weakside linebacker and the corner, allowing Bryant to face the strong safety one on one. Bryant was too much for the smaller safety, and, brushing him aside, he rumbled into the endzone to once again bolster the Stars’ lead, 33-24.
After another back to back set of short drives, the second highlighted by a Simon Fletcher sack of Fusina on 3rd and 3, Houston got the ball back and Kelly went to work. He found Verdin for 6 and then Hicks for 11 on a play where he took a vicious hit, called Roughing the Passer, on 2nd down. The 15 yard penalty moved the ball to the Philly 31. Kelly hit TE Victor Marchand for 5 and then watched as star wideout Ricky Sanders, who had not caught a ball yet, was taken out by DT Jumpy Gaethers on a questionable hit during a Todd Fowler run. Sanders would not return to the game, leaving Kelly without one of his favorite weapons.
Kelly rebounded, and on the very next play found TE Victor Hicks for an 11 yard scoring toss, a beautiful seam route in which Kelly placed the ball just out of reach of the safety Woerner and into Hicks’s hands. Houston again had tightened the lead, now Philly was up by only 2, 33-31.
The Stars got the ball back on the kickoff and Philly started mounting what looked like a promising drive, but Fusina got a bit impatient and threw an ill-advised out route to Mike Quick that instead found the waiting hands of Houston’s Donald Dykes. The safety returned the ball down to the Star’s 27, and 3 plays later, Kelly hit Ricky Sanders’ replacement, former Stallion wideout Greg Anderson, with a short rub route for his 5thTD of the day. Houston was back on top, 38-33 with 7:33 left in the game.
It would be up to the Houston defense to salt this game away, but the Stars had proven all day that they had answers to the complex Gambler D. They received the ball on a touchback and proceeded to have one of the greatest drives in USFL Championship history to take the lead back. The drive was an astonishing 13 plays and ate up nearly 7 minutes of the 4th quarter. Kevlin Bryant was a monster, never busting loose the big play, but grinding out 3, 4, 6 yards at a time, keeping the ball moving and the drive progressing. And when Houston bit on a run, there was Fusina, pulling the ball back and finding Quick or Donovan on back-breaking first down throws. Philadlephia pushed the ball all the way to the Houston 2 yard line, and there were some calling for the Gamblers to allow them to score just to have time to come back.
But Houston’s D, battered by the long drive, but unbowed, did not want to give anything away. They held on first and second down, but on third and three Fusina held onto the ball, rolled to his right and found backup HB Jaime Mueller in the front corner of the endzone. Mueller caught the ball just outside of scoring territory and spun as he fell to cross into the endzone for the score and the lead. Philadelphia would go for 2, but Houston stacked up Kelvin Bryant and the lead remaind one point, Philadelphia 39, Houston 38. With 1:21 left on the clock, Houston would have a chance.
The Gamblers had only 1 time out left after the long Philly drive. This time David Trout did not boot the ball into the endzone, but just shy, forcing Clarence Verdin to make an awkward catch on the bounce. He was only able to return the ball to the 17, where Kelly would have to start. Kelly found Verdin on the first play of the drive for a 12 yard gain. He then looked for Anderson but just as they had done to Ricky Sanders earlier in the game, the Stars doubled the deep threat, forcing Kelly to throw into the middle of the field. The throw got the first down but time was ticking away. Jack Pardee decided to use the final timeout rather than have Kelly run up to the line to spike the ball. This would be huge, because although Houston was still only at their own 31, they still had a shot to get into field goal range.
After an incompletion on first down, Kelly got what he was looking for on 2nd down, TE Victor Hicks matched up one-on-one with a linebacker. Kelly hit Hicks over the middle, and Hicks was off to the races. He rumbled for 53 yards, easily getting the Gamblers into field goal range, but without a timeout, Kelly would have to race the entire offense up to the Philadelphia 24 to try to spike the ball. The seconds ticked away, and the clock hit zero just as the last of the Gambler linemen made it up the field. There just was not enough time. 2 more seconds and the Gamblers would have been able to give Dave Jacobs a shot at a 41 yarder for the win.
Along the sidelines, the Stars players watched as the two squads raced down the field, and when the clock hit all zeroes, an eruption of joy came from the entire Stars sideline. They raced the field before the referees even had time to signal that the game was over. Jim Mora found himself dowsed in Squelcher (the USFL’s official sports drink) and held aloft on the shoulders of some of his offensive linemen. The Stars had won their second championship in 3 years. The Gamblers, undone by time itself, had proven a worthy foe, and Jim Kelly in particular had proven that he was a man to be reckoned with in the league. Kelvin Bryant would take home the Championship MVP trophy. His performance on the Stars’ final drive, and his 112 rushing yards, 40 receiving yards and 2 TDs earned him that honor. Rob Porter, whose two interceptions of Kelly could have also won the award, as could Kelly in all honesty.
For Philadelphia and its fans this was proof that the Stars, who have never gone a season without making a playoff appearance, were a true dynasty. For Houston’s fans, this was a bittersweet end to a season that exceeded all expectations. And for football fans everywhere this was a game they would debate and discuss the rest of their lives. It was a true spectacle, a game for the ages.
Experience for the stars paid off. Kelly will get back there if he stays in the USFL