The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 13

The Salina Journal Monday, December 12,1988 13 Bears clinch home field advantage; Bills close NFL roundup By BARRY WILNER AP Sports Writer The NFC home-field advantage for the playoffs belongs to the Chicago Bears. The AFC edge is back in Buffalo's now. The Bears clinched their fifth straight NFC Central crown Sunday by beating Detroit 13-12 on Kevin Butler's 32-yard field goal with four seconds left while the Minnesota Vikings lost 18-6 at Green Bay. Cincinnati fell to Houston 41-6 and not only lost its grip on the AFC home-field advantage throughout the playoffs but missed a chance to clinch the AFC Central Division. When Buffalo beat the Los Angeles Raiders 37-21, the Bills moved to 12-3, a game better than the Bengals in the AFC standings.

Buffalo, winner of the AFC East, will clinch the home advantage with a victory at Indianapolis next week or a Cincinnati defeat against Washington. In other games with playoff significance, the San Francisco 49ers clinched at least a wild-card spot and took over first place in the NFC West with a 30-17 decision over New Orleans; the New York Giants moved closer to the NFC East championship with a 28-12 victory over Kansas City; the Los Angeles Rams remained in the chase for the NFC West crown and for a wild-card berth by taking Atlanta 22-7; and New England stayed alive for an AFC wild-card spot with a 10-7 overtime decision against Tampa Bay. Defending Super Bowl champion Washington was eliminated from playoff contention by losing to Dallas 24-17 as the Cowboys broke a team- record 10-game slide. San Diego beat Pittsburgh 20-14. At night, Seattle routed Denver 4214 to take over first place in the AFC West and eliminate the Broncos from the playoff chase.

Curt Warner rushed for a team-record four touchdowns and Dave Krieg completed 19 of 22 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns. Monday night, Cleveland is at Miami, where the Browns can clinch a wild-card berth. On Saturday, Philadelphia beat Phoenix 23-17 and the New York Jets took Indianapolis 34-16. BEARS 13, LIONS 12, At Chicago, the Bears made next week's visit to Minneapolis meaningless as far as the division title is concerned. Trailing 12-10, the Bears marched from their 30 to deep in Detroit territory behind quarterback Jim Harbaugh.

The third-string quarterback used a 17-yard pass to Dennis McKinnon and an 11-yarder to James Thornton to; set up Butler's winning field goal on a day when temperatures were in the teens and the wind-chill factor was near zero. On the previous series, the Lions went 80 yards to Garry James' 1-yard touchdown dive for a 12-10 lead. Al Harris blocked the extra point attempt by Ed Murray, and that was the iriargin of victory in Chicago's ninth straight win against Detroit. "It's been a long year for me because I haven't had the opportunities," said Butler, who came into the game with only 11 field goals in 15 tries. "It was a championship kick.

it's always tough when it comes do)vn to that, hearing all the noise and thinking about all those fans in I sure hope I broke their hearts." PACKERS 18, VIKINGS 6 At Green Bay, a Minnesota victory would have made next Monday night's home game with the Bears the decider for the division crown and for best record in the NFC. Instead, the Vikings lost for the second time this season to the Packers, who have won just three games, tied for the worst record in the league. Green Bay broke a seven-game losing streak with its first win in a non-strike game at Lambeau Field since Dec. 1, 1985. The Vikings had not given up a touchdown in 17 quarters and had outscored opponents 167-26 during a five-game winning streak.

Don Majkowski threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Scott and Minnesota made some critical errors. At one point, Carl Lee intercepted a pass and returned it 34 yards for an apparent touchdown, Chicago Bears' place-kicker Kevin Butler celebrates his game-winning 32-yard field goal with four seconds remaining Sunday afternoon which gave the Bears a 13-12 win over Detroit. but the play was called back when Keith Millard roughed Majkowski. OILERS 41, BENGALS 6, At Houston, the Oilers, 10-5, stayed alive in convincing style for the AFC Central crown the Oilers can get it by beating Cleveland next week if Cincinnati loses to Washington. Mike Rozier scored three touchdowns and had 126 yards on the ground, giving him 1,083 yards, his first season.

The Bengals, who have clinched a playoff berth, didn't manage a first down until 44 seconds remained in the first quarter. Cincinnati's offense, ranked No. 1 in the league, had previously been held to a low of 16 points this season. It was the first game in which Cincinnati didn't score a touchdown this year. BELLS 37, RAIDERS 21 At Buffalo, the Bills broke a two-game slide, while Los Angeles, despite falling to 7-8, remained in contention for the AFC West title.

Robb Riddick scored two touchdowns on short runs for the Bills, who gained 255 yards on the ground, 106 by Thurman Thomas. The rookie had a 37-yard touchdown run. A wind-chill factor of minus-14 didn't stop 77,348 fans from helping the Bills establish an NFL record for home attendance this season with 622,793, beating the previous mark of 622,593 set by the Lions in 1980. 49ERS 30, SAINTS 17 At San Francisco, the 49ers, 10-5, will win the division with a victory over the Rams next Sunday night. The Saints, 9-6, will need help from other teams next week to make the playoffs as a wild-card team.

Joe Montana ran for one touchdown and threw 68 yards to John Taylor for another score. Roger Craig ran for 115 yards and Mike Cofer had three field goals in San Francisco's fourth straight win. New Orleans lost its third straight and fifth in seven games after holding a two-game lead in the NFC West just three weeks ago. RAMS 22, FALCONS 7 At Los Angeles, the Rams, 9-6 and tied for second with New Orleans in the NFC West, would win the division title next Sunday night with a victory over the 49ers at San Francisco, coupled with an Atlanta win over New Orleans. The Rams also are alive for a wild card.

Jim Everett threw for 303 yards and one touchdown, completing 24 of 33 passes. Mike Lansford hit three field goals and became the Rams' alltime leading scorer with 10 points. He has 574 points in seven seasons, surpassing the club record of 573 by quarterback-placekicker Bob Waterfield in the early 1950s. PATRIOTS 10, BUCCANEERS 7, OT At Foxboro, New England became the last NFL team to win an overtime game when Jason Staurovsky kicked a 27-yard field goal 3:08 into the extra period. The Patriots, 9-6, were 0-10 in overtimes.

The Bucs elected to kick off starting the overtime with a stiff wind at their backs. But Tony Eason guided the Patriots from their 35 into field goal range. Eason missed the last eight games last season with a separated shoulder, and sat out the first 14 games this year after offseason surgery for nerve damage in his throwing arm. But on Sunday, he started in place of Doug Flutie, who was healthy and had helped the Patriots go 6-3 with him at quarterback. COWBOYS 24, REDSKINS 17 At Washington, the last glimmer of Washington's playoff hopes disappeared as Steve Pelluer threw three touchdown passes to Michael Irvin.

The rookie has scored only twice all year. Irvin's final touchdown came four plays after Robert Williams intercepted a pass and returned it to the Redskins 24. From the 12, Irvin slipped behind cornerback Dennis Woodberry and took Pelluer's pass for the winning points. Pelluer, with a third straight impressive outing after a two-game benching, completed 21 of 35 passes for 333 yards. Irvin had six catches for 149 yards.

CHARGERS 20, STEELERS 14 At San Diego, Mark Malone, in his first game against his former team, threw a touchdown pass and ran for another. San Diego, which had scored only one touchdown in the three previous home games, also got a career-high 170 yards rushing from Gary Anderson. Malone, acquired by San Diego in an offseason trade after being booed out of Pittsburgh, got his first win as a starter since he led Pittsburgh to a 20-16 decision over the Chargers here a year ago. Malone, who completed 17 of 24 passes for 148 yards, had been 0-6 as a starter for San Diego. SEAHAWKS42, BRONCOS 14 At Seattle, Curt Warner rushed for a team-record four touchdowns and Dave Krieg completed 19 of 22 passes for 220 yards and two touchdowns Sunday night as the Seattle Sea- hawks moved into the lead in the AFC West with its victory over Denver.

The loss knocked the two-time defending AFC champion Broncos out of the NFL playoffs with one regular season game left. The Washington Redskins, the defending Super Bowl champions, were eliminated from playoff contention earlier in the day. It is the first time in NFL history that neither Super Bowl team made the playoffs the following season. The Seahawks, 8-7, can win their first AFC West title next Sunday by beating the Los Angeles Raiders. However, a Raiders win would give them the division championship on the basis of the teams' division records.

(Continued from Page 11) and interviews. It reads: "Work is very important, but it is not everything. It is okay to play." For the longest time, Williams wasn't sure when he would get to play. Only once did Williams, who has turned down lesser jobs, second- guess his decision to take this one. "The only time I had any reservations was when I found out about the NCAA penalties," he said.

"I felt an extreme amount of guilt for getting my staff into this. "I always thought as long as we worked hard I would handle the negatives and things would work themselves out. The first time I questioned that was right after a 24-hour period when three young men told me they'd love to play for me but they didn't think we could overcome the obstacles. Good thing for me I only questioned that for 24 hours." It was a question Dean Smith had to be asking himself back in 1960, when Smith took over at North Carolina amid restrictions on games and recruiting by the university after a gambling scandal under coach Frank McGuire. To say Williams will be at Smith's stature 28 years from now is a bit much.

"To compare me to Dean Smith is like comparing a good high school player to Michael Jordan," Williams said. "I'm not going to look at five games as a proving ground; 20 games isn't a proving ground nor is this year a proving But, Williams has answered some of the post-Manning-era questions by coaxing Manninglike numbers out of junior guard Kevin Pritchard (career-high 26 points, six rebounds, six assists) and sophomore forward Mark Randall (24 points, 15 rebounds, four assists) against Temple. Williams, in yet no less demanding tone, has them playing tough but smart defense, a necessity with just four players on the bench. "In the past the guys on the bench might slough off on defense," Pritchard said. "Now everyone comes out playing hard defense for 40 minutes." Frederick said: "I think he's done a good job just with the players to keep them as highly motivated as they seem to be.

He provides a certain amount of emotional security for the kids." Four in playoffs, 12 still have shot By The Associated Press With one week remaining in the NFL season, four teams are in the playoffs and 12 others still have a shot. On Sunday, the Chicago Bears clinched the NFC Central crown with a 13-12 victory over Detroit, while the Minnesota Vikings were upset 18-6 by Green Bay. The Bears also secured the NFC homefield edge through the playoffs. San Francisco also qualified for at least a wild card when it beat New Orleans 30-17. A 49ers victory over the Rams next week gives them the NFC West title.

But a Rams' victory Los Angeles downed Atlanta 22-7 with a Falcons' win over the Saints would make the Rams the division winner. In a three-way tie in the NFC West at 10-6, San Francisco wins with the best record in games between the three teams. In the NFC East, the Giants beat Kansas City 28-12 and remained one game ahead of Philadelphia, which defeated Phoenix 23-17 on Saturday. If the Giants beat the Jets next week, they win the division. If the Giants lose and the Eagles beat Dallas, Philadelphia takes the division.

Buffalo has clinched the AFC East and, at 12-3, has a one-game edge over Cincinnati for home- field advantage throughout the conference playoffs. The Bengals must beat Washington next Saturday to clinch the AFC Central. They also can win the division if Cleveland beats Houston in the final game. The AFC West situation depended on Sunday night's game between Denver and Seattle. The Los Angeles Raiders lost to Buffalo 37-21 to fall to 6-7.

The Broncos and Seahawks went into their night game 7-7. The AFC wild-card race is far less muddled than the NFC. Four teams Houston, Cleveland, New England and Indianapolis are alive. If Houston beats Cleveland next week, it gets a wild card unless it wins the division. In that case, Cincinnati owns one wild card.

Cleveland eliminates the Colts from contention by beating Miami Monday night, but does not secure any playoff berth. The Browns, who can't win the AFC Central, would get a wild-card spot by winning their final two games. Doing so would make Cleveland 11-5. Houston would be 10-6 and would get the other wild card, regardless of what the Patriots do. However, New England can clinch a wild-card berth by beating Denver, coupled with Cleveland losing to Miami or Houston.

The Patriots would beat out the Browns with a better conference record. If Cleveland loses to Miami and beats Houston, and the Patriots defeat the Broncos, all three finish at 10-6. In that case, the Patriots win a three-way tiebreaker, also with a better conference record. Should Cleveland lose both games, the Patriots lose to Denver and Indianapolis beat Buffalo, all three would finish 9-7 and Houston would be 10-6. Either Houston or Cincinnati (whichever doesn't win the division) would get one wild card.

Indianapolis gets the other Colts and Patriots eliminate the Browns by better conference record and the Colts eliminate the Patriots with a better record against common opponents. The NFC wild-card race, is, well, wild. The only contender that can secure a spot with a win and no help from other teams is Minnesota, 10-5. The Giants, Eagles, Saints and Rams are 9-6. Only the Saints can't win their division.

Coaches (Continued from Page 11) NBA coaches until he resigned from the Indiana Pacers last month, had no trouble understanding why Layden stepped down. "Coaching is a very tough job and expectations are always very high," said Ramsay. "After awhile it begins to wear on you a bit, and from Frank's remarks that I saw on television, I think that's what happened to him." Layden was known for his bulk and quick wit. "He came along at the right time for the NBA," said Phoenix coach Cotton Fitzsimmons. "He was a breath of fresh air.

When everybody was being so serious, he wasn't." But Fitzsimmons also understands the pressure. "I deal with it," he said. "I do some of the same things he did. I learned a long time ago that it's not life and death. During the hours you're on the court, people think it's life and death.

"The world doesn't revolve around our game, although we'd like to think that it does. I don't think China knows we're playing Golden State (Friday night), and they don't Don Nelson, coach of the Golden State Warriors, said Layden's decision didn't really surprise him. "I noticed (Thursday) night that he wasn't coaching," Nelson said. "Jerry (Sloan) did. I thought then that something may be up.

"But if that's what he wants to do, I'm happy for him." As far as how he handles coaching pressure, Nelson admitted, "Not very well, either." Coach Willis Reed of the New Jersey Nets said he "though Frank was going to coach the rest of the year and then give it up." "He said that he's had enough of it," Reed said. "I can understand it because when you get to a certain age you may need to be in a position to move up. He'll still have input, and it was my understanding that this was what he wanted to do anyway." Chiefs (Continued from Page 11) "They just played a defense that let me go to him." The Giants never trailed against Kansas City, but certainly did not look as good as in last week's defeat of Phoenix. New York struggled particularly on offense against the Chiefs, 4-10-1, but managed four scoring drives, relying on the running of Morris and timely Simrns passes to Bavaro. Bavaro, who had caught just 14 passes in the last seven weeks and only two for touchdowns all season, twice got free in a seam of the Kansas City zone defense for touchdowns.

The first one covered 12 yards in the first quarter and gave New York a 7-0 lead. The second was 24 yards in the third quarter and gave the Giants a 14-6 lead. In between, Nick Lowery was putting up all the points for Kansas City, which is 0-6-1 on the road this season. After missing a 29-yarder into a stiff wind in the second quarter, he connected on field goals of 31, 51, 46 and 41, the last one bringing the Chiefs to within 14-12 on the last play of the third quarter. However, the Giants put the game away with drives of 56 and 51 yards.

Anderson capped the longer drive with a 2-yard run with 9:38 to play and Carthon scored from five yards Steve DeBerg of Kansas City hit 15 of 35 passes for 174 yards. He had not been sacked in three games, but the Giants got to him three times for 23 yards in losses. Kansas City, which had won three of its last four games, hung close until the fourth quarter when New York finally got its offense going on a cold and windy day when the wind chill factor made it feel like one degree above zero. The Giants scored on their first possession of the game, going 61 yards in 10 plays with Simms capping the march with a touchdown pass to Bavaro. Morris ran the other nine plays for 44 yards, while Chiefs kept the drive alive when cornerback Kevin Ross was called for holding on a third-and-four play at the Kansas City 20.

The Giants offense got only one first down the rest of the half and that came in the closing seconds with the Chiefs in a prevent. Kansas City had the ball six times in the half, including three possessions that started in New York territory. But the Chiefs only got a 31- yard field goal from Lowery, and that just barely made it inside the left upright. Lowery, who had missed a 29- yarder just minutes earlier, brought Kansas City to 7-6 on the first possession of the second half with a 51- yard field goal. It was the 17th 50- yarder of his career, tying the NFL mark held by another Chief, Jan Stenerud..