 |
49er QB
Steve Young |
Opinion Man says:
San Francisco-Green Bay
What do you mean this wasn’t for a spot in the Super Bowl? It sure felt like it.
It wasn’t the greatest playoff game ever (San Diego 41, Miami 38 in the Kellen
Winslow OT game, and Miami 27, Kansas City 24 in double overtime were clearly superior),
but this was definitely memorable. …
Best job of not feeling sorry for himself over the weekend goes to 49er WR Terrell
Owens. Until late in the contest he’d had a horrible game, but his spectacular,
34-yard catch midway through the fourth quarter showed tremendous concentration in tight
coverage and set up a go-ahead field goal. Then, he scored the game-winning touchdown on a
25-yard reception with three seconds left to play. …
How on earth do the 49ers win a game in which Jerry Rice does not catch a pass until
the final minute? …
Best reason to feel sorry for themselves over the weekend goes to the Packers, because,
although the refs didn’t call it that way, Rice fumbled the football. True, the
Packers still could have controlled their own destiny with a defensive stop after that,
meaning the refs aren’t solely to blame. But, if the right call gets made, the game
is over, and Green Bay wins. This is a case of a terrific, but flawed, finish. …
San Francisco RB Garrison Hearst’s reputation keeps going up, up, up. …
If you didn’t already realize that quarterback is the most important position in
football, all you needed to see was Brett Favre and Steve Young in action at the end of
this game to be forever convinced.
Buffalo-Miami
Let’s give Jimmy Johnson credit. He likes youth. He also likes his players to
stick around all offseason. Given that Trace Armstrong fell short on both counts early on
in the Johnson regime, it looked as though Armstrong was going to be history. Not so.
Armstrong gets to the quarterback, so Johnson, rather than be rigid, has kept him around.
Result: Armstrong was the guy who made the game-clinching play against Buffalo, sacking
Doug Flutie and forcing a fumble that Miami recovered in the game’s final seconds.
…
Kudos to Thurman Thomas, who scored a touchdown, for the way he has quietly accepted a
secondary role in the Buffalo offense. Pretty impressive for a guy who, earlier in his
career, was often portrayed as irritable, moody and, at the very least, as one who would
bluntly speak his mind. …
After he was ruled down just short of the endzone instead of getting credit for a
touchdown, I thought a frustrated Andre Reed was just getting up off the ground when he
bumped an official, prompting a devastating penalty and his ejection. The ref should have
recognized that proximity caused the bump, should have factored in the emotion of such a
critical playoff moment and should have hung on to his flag. Obviously, it’s never OK
to touch an official, but I think you have to factor in intent. It’s not as if Reed
charged him from five yards away and then bumped him.
Dallas-Arizona
I continue to be impressed at how much juice Emmitt Smith still has in his game after
an off year in ’97. He’s not back to the dominant player he was in his prime,
but he looks much better than he did a year ago. …
The Cardinals already have two keys to a future champion. They have a star in the
making in QB Jake Plummer and a defense that has the potential to be a dominating unit. If
they can build a quality offensive line — and they have quite a ways to go —
they will be a team to be feared down the road. Building such a line is easier said than
done, though. After all, the Buddy Ryan Eagles once found themselves in the same boat and
weren’t able to get their offensive line’s head above water. Hey, Cardinal
scouts, start checking out film of available offensive linemen. …
Hey, Cowboy scouts, start checking out film of available wide receivers. If you
don’t, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin might lead a mutiny. …
Watching Deion Sanders returning a punt is a lot like watching Mark McGwire hit a
baseball. Why does anybody ever kick it to Sanders? …
Can you believe what Barry Switzer did during the Cowboy-Cardinal game? Oh … sorry
… force of habit.
Jacksonville-New England
Jacksonville LB Kevin Hardy was deserving of a Pro Bowl berth this season, but the
voters ignored him. Against the Patriots, he made several eye-opening plays. By all
rights, he should be a highly publicized player. It escapes me why a guy who was the
second player taken in the 1996 draft and is now playing so well does not attract more
notice than he does. …
Jaguar RB Fred Taylor is going to be a major star. Not only is he a big runner who can
be physical, but he also is a skillful runner who can make defenders miss. Combine this
with great offensive tackles to block for him and excellent weapons in the passing game to
take the pressure off of him, and you can only conclude that opposing defenses will have
every bit as difficult a time with Taylor in future years as the Patriots did. …
Did Scott Zolak eat Flutie Flakes at halftime? It was amazing how much better he was in
the third quarter than he was in the first half. |
