USFL South Division Championship Pittsburgh Maulers advanc overtime win over Michigan Panthers
After a thrilling finish in Saturday's North Division Championship, an overtime victory for the Pittsburgh Maulers, all eyes turned to the South on Sunday, as the powerhouse Birmingham Stallions hosted the New Orleans Breakers in a battle for the South Division Championship.
The Stallions proved to have superior horsepower, posting a USFL-record 47 points en route to a 47-22 victory.
The Stallions, who boast the best offense in the league, will face the Maulers, who have the top-ranked defense, in the championship game in Canton, Ohio (July 1 at 8 p.m. ET). Birmingham defeated Pittsburgh 24-20 when the squads played in the regular season.
Enter sky judge. Mike Pereira looked at the play and saw there was no face mask foul. (It appeared to be holding of the edge of the jersey, but it clearly was not a face mask foul.) The penalty was eliminated, and the touchdown was restored.
That’s significant because, in the NFL, there would have been no similar fix. Face mask calls and non-calls can’t be reviewed. In an NFL postseason game, the late touchdown that resulted in a lead change would have been wiped out, with no way to rectify the clear and obvious officiating error.
“I hope some NFL decision-makers are watching this game, because what Mike Pereira did to clean up that call, to make sure the call was right in the critical moments of a divisional game for the right to go the championship game, it just makes the game so much better,” NBC analyst Jason Garrett said after the sequence of events unfolded. “And it’s an easy mechanism. Mike Pereira and the crew handled it the right way. And there’s justice. It’s something the NFL should look at.”
The Maulers rallied after trailing for the first time in the game (they forced three turnovers in the first half). Bailey Gaither scored a four-yard rushing touchdown to tie the game at 17-17 while Chris Blewitt kicked a 59-yard field goal to put Pittsburgh up 20-17 in the fourth quarter.
Williams finished 23 of 40 for 203 yards with a touchdown pass while Perry went 23 of 38 for 370 yards and two touchdowns. Both teams combined for 701 yards of offense in a game that was supposed to feature two of the league's top defenses.
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