Longview News-Journal from Longview, Texas • Page 34

Football 4C SUNDAY, August 28, 1994, Longview News-Journal Raiders the front-runners to win wide-open AFC race: Cowboys, 49ers in 2-team battle for NFC supremacy I By Barry Wilner The Associated Press As recently as 1989, the AFC actually was won by someone other than the Buffalo Bills. It only seems like the Bills have been losing Super Bowls forever. Of course, before Buffalo became so dominant in its conference and so astute at losing the big one to the NFC champion, the Denver. Broncos made a habit of failing at Super Bowl time. Not -since the 1983 season has an AFC representative actually won the darn thing, when the Raiders routed the Redskins.

Ever since, been "Just Lose, Baby, for the AFC in the NFL title game. So what better way to break the 11-year schneid than by sending those rowdy Raiders back? It very well could happen this year. While the NFC appears a two-team race between cornerstones: linebacker Lawrence Taylor, who retired, and quarterback Phil Simms. So the quarterback will be a virtual rookie, Dave Brown, who has been outstanding in exhibitions. If anyone can challenge, it may be Arizona, where the arrival of Buddy Ryan has doubled the season-ticket base for a team that won four of its last five under Joe Bugel to finish 7-9.

Philadelphia, 4-0 until Randall Cunningham got hurt and went 8-8 for the season, could surprise people if Cunningham rebounds. Washington (4-12 last year) rebuilds under Norv Turner. Heath Shuler, the No. 3 pick in the draft, may be thrown in at quarterback to learn the hard way. Dallas and San Francisco for the third Minnesota and Green Bay, both 9-7 straight season, the AFC is wide last year, should top the Central, open.

And the wide-open attack and big-play defense of the Raid although Detroit, which won last jvjir year, finally has one quarterback CC A tvsi i sjr By Dave Goldberg The Associated Press When the Dallas Cowboys beat Buffalo 30-13 in' the last Super Bowl, it marked the 10th straight time an NFC team had won the NFL tile and the second straight for the Cowboys. Still, the underpinnings of NFC supremacy may be cracking under the strain of free agency the salary cap and the internal problems of Dallaswhich seeks to become the first team to win three consecutive Super Bowls. A look at the NFC shows just two teams seemingly capable of going all the way: Dallas and San Francisco. Even more striking is that each is one injury away from sinking into mediocrity. This could all go up in smoke, it could all go up in smoke with injuries before Carmen Policy, the 49ers president, says of high expectations in San Francisco with the signings of Richard Dent, Rickey Jackson, Gary Plummer, Ken Norton and Bart Oates.

Dallas, meanwhile, has the core of the team that won two straight titles, but a thinner supporting cast. More importantly, Jimmy Johnson, who pushed all right buttons for those two seasons, is In a TV studio awaiting a coaching vacancy after his breach with Jerry Jones. His replacement is Barry Switzer, out of football for five years and never a coach in the NFL. Can anyone else win the conference? Green Bay, Minnesota and maybe even Atlanta have the best shots. But teams that stays healthy will win with the exception of Tampa Bay, which will be working on an even dozen seasons of double-digit losses.

Still, it starts with Dallas and its three superstars: quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith and wide receiver Michael Irvin. The Giants, who took Dallas into overtime of the final regular-season game last year, have lost $11 million worth of players from their 11-5 team. Moreover, they lost two ers seem suited for breaking instead oi three alter signing tree dropping the Dolphins from a league-best 9-2 to a non-playoff 9-7. This Shula team could be his first Super Bowl squad in a decade. Dan Marino returns from the first major injury of his career, a torn Achilles tendon, even more resolved to get back to the championship game.

Erasing the Bills from the race simply won't happen. They're too savvy, too strong and too determined to prove themselves all over again. Not that they should need to: the Bills are the only team to win four successive conference titles, Until they win a Super Bowl, though, they will carry an unfair stigma. That doesn't give a fair shake to Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, Darryl Talley, Kent Hull and the other stars back for another run at the championship. The Patriots, Jets and Colts shouldn't even dream about such lofty goals.

Pittsburgh and Houston will go at it in the Central, as they have the last two years. The' Oilers lost too much (Warren Moon, Lorenzo White, William Fuller, Sean Jones, Greg Monw gomery) to push the Steelers too far. But theyS shouldn't slip down to the level of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Houston won its final 11 games last season before flopping in the playoffs. It doesn't seem capable of 12 victories and a division title again.

The Browns are in their fourth season under Bill Belichick, and they've made little progress, The Bengals have the league's top draft pick, Dan Wilkinson, and will contend for next year's No. 1 choice, too. PICKS: Division Winners Miami, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles. Wild Cards Buffalo, Denver, Kansas City. AFC Champion Los Angeles.

through and breaking the Bills' hold on the conference. agent Scott Mitchell. Minnesota solved its quarterback "We're getting closer to where we want rotation by acquiring Warren Moon from Houston. But it still depends on defense. to be" Raiders coach Art Shell says.

"I'm not worried about the progress of this team." If the Raiders do win, it will be thanks to that bombs-away passing attack featuring Tim Brown, Olympic gold medal sprinter James Jett, Alexander Wright and Rocket Ismail. Denver's offense shouldn't be underestimated, either. Just having John Elway makes any attack strong. Kansas City is banking on better health for Joe Montana and another Pro Bowl year from Marcus Allen. If those two elder statesmen are up to form, the Chiefs have a shot at their first Super Bowl since 1970.

The scramble in the AFC. East might be just as frantic as in the West. The Bills have won five of the last six division titles, but Miami took the East in 1982 and probably would have last year until injuries ravaged the roster, San Francisco problem last year was defense, the culprit in a "dismal" 10-6 season and the 38-21 loss to Dallas in the conference title game. So Plummer and Norton plug holes at linebacker, and Dent and Jackson bolster the pass rush. New Orleans started 5-0 and finished 8-8.

So Jim Everett, who finally exhausted Chuck Knox's patience with the Rams, was brought in to play quarterback. Atlanta was 6-10 and had the league's worst defense last year. PICKS: Division winners Dallas, Green Bay, San Francisco. Wild Cards Arizona, Minnesota, Atlanta. NFC Champion San Francisco.

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155.00 35,000 MILB WARRANTY 1 IFGaacfricH HIRH PFRFtlRMANPF CTFFI RAI.IAIC LOS ANGELES (AP) The Denver Broncos traded quarterback Tommy Maddox to the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday, returning the former UCLA star to Southern California. In return, the Broncos got a fourth-round draft pick next year. Maddox will likely play a third-string role behind starter Chris Miller and No. 2 quarterback Chris Chandler. On Friday, Denver coach Wade Phillips said that because of Maddox's $850,000 annual pay and salary-cap considerations, the team would release him before Sunday's final cut deadline unless they traded him.

The Denver Post reported Saturday that Maddox refused Oilers re-sign Lorenzo White Houston (ap oners Pro Bowl running back Lorenzo White, who injured a hamstring last season then lost the starting job when replacement Gary Brown rushed for more than 1,000 yards, re-signed with Houston Friday. The Oilers said White signed a bne-year deal worth $475,000, including a $125,000 signing bonus. White, an unrestricted free agent, was the last unsigned veteran on the Oilers' roster. His contract includes several incentives that White can earn if he makes the starting lineup. White, 28, will back up White was the starter last season, but he suffered a torn hamstring at midseason.

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