{"id":6274,"date":"2025-01-08T18:03:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T23:03:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/?p=6274"},"modified":"2025-01-10T14:29:40","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T19:29:40","slug":"usfl-playoffs-round-1-1985-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/2025\/01\/08\/usfl-playoffs-round-1-1985-2\/","title":{"rendered":"USFL Playoffs Round 1 (1985)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Denver Gold vs. Oakland Invaders: A First-Round Playoff Clash<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Saturday, June 22, 1985, 5:00 PM ET<\/strong><br><em>Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 1985 USFL playoffs are here, and the Denver Gold will travel to California to face the Oakland Invaders in a first-round showdown. Both teams have shown strengths throughout the season, setting the stage for a highly anticipated clash on the west coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Denver Gold: Ground and Pound<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Denver Gold (10-6) enter the playoffs riding the powerful legs of <strong>Bill Johnson<\/strong>, who finished the regular season with 1,261 rushing yards and an impressive 15 touchdowns. Denver\u2019s offense revolves around its ground game, averaging 5.6 yards per carry as a team. Behind Johnson, the complementary contributions of Todd Gerhart and quarterback Bob Gagliano\u2019s mobility have kept defenses honest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When the Gold go to the air, Gagliano\u2019s favorite targets are <strong>Leonard Harris<\/strong> (1,432 receiving yards, 8 TDs) and <strong>Marc Lewis<\/strong> (1,207 receiving yards, 6 TDs). While Gagliano has struggled with interceptions (17 on the season), his deep-ball ability can create game-changing plays, as evidenced by his long of 69 yards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Defensively, Denver boasts a fierce pass rush led by <strong>Pete Thornton<\/strong> (13 sacks) and <strong>Larry Turner<\/strong> (11 sacks). Their ability to disrupt opposing quarterbacks will be crucial against Oakland\u2019s high-flying offense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Oakland Invaders: Balanced and Efficient<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The Invaders (12-4) secured home-field advantage thanks to their balanced attack. Quarterbacks <strong>Fred Besana<\/strong> and <strong>Craig Sundberg<\/strong> have shared duties, combining for 1,234 passing yards and 10 touchdowns. Besana\u2019s veteran leadership and Sundberg\u2019s efficiency give Oakland versatility under center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the ground, <strong>John Williams<\/strong> leads the charge with 857 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns. His hard-nosed running complements an explosive receiving corps spearheaded by <strong>Gordon Banks<\/strong> (1,115 receiving yards, 5 TDs) and <strong>Reggie LaFrance<\/strong> (510 receiving yards, 4 TDs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oakland\u2019s defense prides itself on limiting big plays, with a secondary led by <strong>David Greenwood<\/strong> and a disruptive pass rush featuring <strong>Terry Wright<\/strong> and <strong>Jeff Stover<\/strong>. Special teams are also a strength, as kicker <strong>Jess Atkinson<\/strong> has been nearly automatic, converting 85% of his field goals this season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Keys to Victory<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Denver Gold:<\/strong> Establish the run early with Bill Johnson to control the clock and keep Oakland\u2019s offense off the field. Gagliano must minimize turnovers against a ball-hawking Invaders secondary.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Oakland Invaders:<\/strong> Protect the quarterback and exploit Denver\u2019s secondary with their deep receiving corps. Stopping Denver\u2019s rushing attack will be a priority for the Invaders\u2019 front seven.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Prediction<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>This game pits Denver\u2019s punishing rushing attack against Oakland\u2019s balanced offense and opportunistic defense. If the Gold can dominate time of possession, they\u2019ll have a chance to pull off the upset. However, Oakland\u2019s home-field advantage and versatility may prove too much for Denver to overcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Prediction: Oakland Invaders 27, Denver Gold 20<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Denver Gold vs. Oakland Invaders: A First-Round Playoff Clash Saturday, June 22, 1985, 5:00 PM ETOakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA The 1985 USFL playoffs are here, and the Denver Gold will travel to California to face the Oakland Invaders in a first-round showdown. Both teams have shown strengths throughout the season, setting the stage for &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/2025\/01\/08\/usfl-playoffs-round-1-1985-2\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">USFL Playoffs Round 1 (1985)<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4341,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[14,11],"class_list":["post-6274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-playoff-preview","tag-denver-gold","tag-oakland-invaders"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4341"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.2guysgaming.net\/usfldr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}