Philadelphia Stars come up short in making the 2023 USFL Playoffs

Detroit, MI: You go through an entire season and all the practices to play in those games to make the playoffs, and what a treat we had on Father’s Day night as the Philadelphia Stars took on the Michigan Panthers from Ford Field in Detroit: with everything on the line to make the USFL Playoffs.  In other words, the winner of the game would make the playoffs and the loser saw their season come to an end.

The players for the Stars who were inactive:

Today's inactives vs the Panthers:

• Keric Wheatfall WR
• Vad Lee QB
• Carlins Platel CB
• Denzel Williams DB
• Darius Hodge DE
• B.J. Bello MLB
• Sean Brown C
• Khalil Keith G
• Ryan Izzo TE
• Ali Fayad DE

— Philadelphia Stars (@USFLStars) June 18, 2023

In the first half, the Philadelphia Stars came out on fire making big plays led by QB Chase Cookus. The Stars got the scoring started as Cookus connected with Terry Wright from 23 yards out & took the early 7-0 lead.

TOUCHDOWN @Tlove_6! What a catch and what a throw by @CaptainCookus10 🙌 pic.twitter.com/NFy15vpuUG

— Philadelphia Stars (@USFLStars) June 18, 2023

The defense by the Stars was on display, making things all confusing for Michigan. As the first half was approaching, the Stars added to the lead as Cookus connected with Diondre Overton for 29 yards & the 20-6 lead heading into halftime.

TOUCHDOWN @diondreoverton_ 🙌

20-6 with :27 to go until halftime 🤩 pic.twitter.com/OLs0ziqLzL

— Philadelphia Stars (@USFLStars) June 19, 2023

This game would change in the second half as Michigan came out and did the unthinkable – shutting out the Stars while the Panthers scored 17 points. Michigan would defeat Philadelphia 23-20 & end the Stars season while the Panthers move on to the playoffs. 

Following the game, Stars coach Bart Andrus basically said that, “the second half, we were our own worst enemy”.

Bart Andrus was asked about his message to the fans in the City of Philadelphia about missing the playoffs:

I asked Philadelphia Stars (@USFLStars) Coach Bart Andrus about his message to the fans of #Philadelphia on missing the playoffs #USFL #PHIvsMICH #Philadelphia pic.twitter.com/zTLluEU5Wl

— David Malandra Jr (@DaveMReports) June 19, 2023

Final Numbers

Overall, this was a very disappointing way for the Stars to have their season come to an end by being shut out in the second half after putting up big numbers in the first half and having Michigan on the ropes. With this loss, this now falls on the list of notable Philadelphia teams to have questionable performance with everything on the line, especially seeing the Stars play in the USFL Title game during the 2022 season.

We shall see what the Stars can learn from this game and what they can take into the 2024 season. Who knows, maybe we could see the Philadelphia Stars play in front of their fans in the City of Philadelphia.