The Salt Lake Tribune from Salt Lake City, Utah • 75

--r rtytrr'rrr vr ty rf'n' T-v The Salt Lake Tribune Sundaj September 4 1 988 D5 Browns Ready to Beat Brones Revived Contenders back they will get Bo Jackson for the second half of the season and they have Howie Long one of the game best defensive linemen wjio wants to atone for an injury plagued sub par 1987 And yet They have the same problem had the past three years Their quarterbacks are Steve Bcuer-lein who's never thrown a regular-season pass Rusty Hilger who failed when he was given the job last year and 32-year-old Vince Evans who has failed a lot with a lot of teaips Kansas City which made the playoffs for the first time in 15years in 1986 plummeted to 4-11 la year They could be better this year they picked up an outstanding defense coordinator in Rust ho hopes to make top draft pick Neil Smith into a terror in his rookie year If he does that may turn loose Bill Maas one of the game's best nose tackles But in Steve DeBerg and Bill Kenney they have two backup quarterbacks Chnstian Qkoye who rejuvenated the running game last year is lost for the first two months of the season with a broken thumb The offensive line has talent but has yet to jell and outside of Carlos Carson the receiving is ordinary The strength is the secondary where Deron Cherry and Albert Lewis are among the best in the game But there are too many holes for the playoffs Woe is San Diego hich could he one of the league's worst teams they lost their last six games after a strike-aided 8-1 start and are continuing to go backward as in the trade of Lachey for overw eight second ear man John Clay Prediction: Denver (11-5) Seattle (10-6) Raiders (7-9) Kansas City (5-11) San Diego (2-14) Playoffs: Bills Browns Oilers Broncos Seahawks Continued From D-2 safety Bennie Blades and linebacker Chris Sptelman should step right A lot of the success depends on the development of third-year quarterback Chuck Long But the retirement of tackle Keith Dor-ney and a plodding running game means he 11 be under a lot of pressure Tampa Bay Ray Perkins has given the quarterback job to Vinny Tes-taverde But it will be rough on-the-job training for a couple of years for last year Heisman Trophy winner particularly because Paul Gruber the offensive tackle who was supposed to protect him signed late and more than half the players will be first- or second-year men Green Bay has a new coach in Lin-dv Infante who has receivers Phillip Epps Walter Stanley and rookie Sterlng Sharpe but little else Infante will start the season with Randy Wright at quarterback He also has to hope that last year top pick Brent Fullwood becomes a full-time player Prediction: Minnesota (11-5) Chicago (10-6) Detroit (5-11) Tampa Bay (4-12) Green Bav (3-13) WEST Eddie DeBartolo owner of the San Francisco 49ers is getting impatient having won two Super Bowls the 80s he doesn see why he shouldn win every year Getting decisively knocked out of the playoffs in the first round the last three years is particularly galling So it may be in or else for Coach Bill Walsh who had the league's best regular-season record at 13 2 hen was summarily dumped from the playoffs by the Vikings 36-24 The big question ts whether Joe NFC TM Montana will remain at quarterback DeBartolo wanted to trade him Walsh wanted to keep him He's being pressed by Steve Young whose scrambling added a new dimension to the offense although Montana will start the season is probably the best technician football He has excellent skills excellent fundamentals and his decision-making is beyond reproach Walsh said Montana and Young will have the NFL best target in Jerry Rice coming off a league-record 22 touchdown catches in 12 non-strike games Plus veterans Dokie Williams and Wes Chandler acquired as possession receivers But the problem may be defense where other than nose tackle Michael Carter the front seven ts just ordinary unless rookies Danny Stubbs and Pierce Holt have an immediate impact Defense isn't the problem for the New Orleans Saints who chased the 49ers to the wire posting their first winning season ever a flashy 12 3 It may be a tough act to follow particularly in view of the 44-10 rout by Minnesota in the wild-card game but New Orleans remains a solid contender The Saints strengths are its linebackers placekicker Morten Andersen and an overall toughness that reflects the philosophy of Coach Jim ference who A third straight Super Bowl is possible Last year everyone had Seattle in the Super Bowl even before the season started They finished making the play offs just barely then lost in overtime to Houston in the AFC wild-card game The problem in part was a defense that surrendered too-much rushing yardage largely because Fredd Young and Brian Bosworth never quite got in synch in the middle of the defense This year Young held out and Bosworth wrote a book that offended just about everyone But together with emerging second-year man Tony Woods and a front that includes Jeff Bryant and Jacob Green they give the Seahawks potentially the best defensive front in a division that slipped considerably the last two years Offensively as always the question is the erratic Dave Kneg at quarterback But he has a great running back tandem Curt Warner and John Williams and the receiving corps hich includes the ever-present Stev Largent has been augmented by two quick rookies Brian Blades and Tommy Kane The Los Angeles Raiders have assembled a wonderful track team Willie Gault obtained from the Bears in a trade is the latest addition to Tim Brown James Lofton Co They ve shored up a shaky offensive line in a trade with San Diego for Jim Lachey one of the game best left tackles They have Marcus Allen at running Blur NFC Mora Linebackers Pat Swilling Rickey Jackson Vaughn Johnson and Siam Mills are as good as any unit around The offense depends on the postoperative knee of running back Rue-ben Mayes although plenty of insurance in top draft pick Craig Ironhead'' Heyward Second-rounder Brent Perriman provides a deep threat but quarterback Bobby Hebert needs more consistency The Los Angeles Rams are a strange mixture aging in some spots a little too green at others But the Rams promise there will be no more one-dimensional offense Charles W'hite who blossomed at 29 when Eric Dickerson was traded epitomizes the grind lt-out preference of Coach John Robinson But the Rams drafted for speed running back Gaston Green and wide receivers Aaron Cox and Willie Anderson specifically At best they re an explosive mix that can bring Jim Everett to maturity in his third year at quarterback at worst they make the offense a bit schizophrenic The defense on the other hand seems to be eroding a bit and tne pass rush has never been anything special Outside linebacker Mike Wilcher is the most effective plaver there Poor Atlanta Not only are the Falcons hurting for talent but they've been plagued by holdouts and walkouts although nose tackle Tony Casillas has returned after a two-week walkout Prediction: San Francisco (12-4) New Orleans (11 5) Los Angeles (8-8 Atlanta (3-13) Playoffs: Giants Redskins Vikings 49ers Saints Sears Best highway LT radial! Made by Michelin backed by Sears 9 For on off road Steel-belted U157514 Sears Tire Auto Centers WE INSTALL VLUNFiuENCE With purchase of 2 or more tires trudi limited te albumen! capability depending an vahttla OHat and September 10 SEARS HAS ROLLED BACK TIRE PRICES! look at these great everyday low tire prices Continued From b-2 of speedy wide receivers the emergence of second year running back Bob Perryman and rookie John Stephens from a flock of young running backs There almost nothing plus about the New York Jets who have been divesting themselves of the veterans that made them a playoff team for most of the decade In their place a lot of young hopes and little more but wide receiver A1 Toon Three quarters of the secondarv for example may be rookies cor-nerbacks Terry Williams and James Hasty and safety Eric McMillan First-round draft pick Dave Cadigan is expected to be an instant starter at offensive tackle and the rest of the offensive line is also green Prediction: Bills (11-5) Colts 9-7 Dolphins (8-8) Patriots (8-8 Jets (4 12) WEST Denver has been to two straight Super Bowls and has added Tony Dor-sett to an explosive passing "game Vet because they were blown out twice the biggest game of the vear the suspicion remains that the Broncos are little more than John Elway and 46 other guys Dorsett mav help but the question remains how the undersized Broncos can keep from wearing down on defense One move has been to demote onetime All-Pro Rulon Jones to pass-rushing specialist and install Andre Townsend and Freddie Gilbert as the regular defensiv ends But the rest is hope that cornerbacks can be found to supplement safeties Dennis smith and Mike Harden and that injuries will remain down Offense' With Elway and his recievers Ricky Nattiel Vance Johnson and Mark Jackson there speed to spare It should get the Broncos to the playoffs again and in a week con- Cornhuskers Demolish Ags Again Continued From D-l Stephens to punter Louie Aguiar set up the next Nebraska score as Aguiar couldn handle on the errant ball and Nebraska Cartier Walker pounced on it at the Aggie 30 Fullback Sam Scmidt bulled over the left side from the 6-yard line three plays later to make 11 The Aggies made two dents into Nebraska territory after that getting to the Husker 33 on one drive and the Nebraska 21 on the next Both were unsuccessful however as Snyder threw an interception to end the first threat and was sacked off the blitz on the other Despite that no one was faulting the Aggie offensive line protection held up pretty well today" said Snyder who was sacked eight times by the Huskers last September I had some bad passes and there were some dropped balls'" Shelton agreed dropped a lot of passes today and we had receivers take the ball and try to make 80-yard runs instead of going for first-and-lOs We used poor judgement trying to throw an 18- to 20-yard pattern when we had a third-and-one" catches I made some bad decisions" admitted USU split end Kendal Smith "1 wasn't getting the ball up field those kinds of things The thing is 1 11 learn fruui Un and get better Snyder rushed 31-of-39 for 187 ards through the air ith tw touch-down passes and one interception while being sacked three times on the afternoon Smith hauled eight passes for 108 yards with one score ith the Aggie offense moving sporadically but doing nothing to hittle the deficit the Cornhuskers rolled up a 28-0 lead by halftime on a 15-yard keeper by Taylor with 3 59 left in the second period and an 11-yard pass from Taylor to Richard Bell just 44 seconds before intermission The rest could have been mailed The Huskers hit paydirt again on their opening possession of the second half when tailback Ken Clark blasted through the right side for a 7-yard TD scamper and a 35-0 advantage Clark ended up with 90 yards for the day The Aggies cut the gap to 35-7 on their ensuing drive when Snyder marched USU 73 yards and found Fatnck Newman with a pass in the right corner of the end zone from the one The Ags got on the board again and made it 63-13 when Smith hauled in a 15-yard scoring toss from Snyder Aogte Motet Mboc Tiro togakxj toe ont USD cateote Satordoy svfsmg sonsned imee it toe towj guoHet He expected to be out 2 3 weeks Acco'dg to koge Acsesc Pod Typiim ire Ags ccroe away wto a hau! of be-eec $250 000 and $300 000 to' soertoemg toom-mj'jws 0 toe Huskers tod1 will be toe" txqaest toke-pome cseck o) toe season USli flanker Patoci yewrpon erst Nebraska 08 Sieve Taylor proved man st nooi Da" togptofsr Uncolr High Sop Oe-go tveo earry on Newman knew where hs chum would end up Our coach warned tom to go to ND'aska so S'e-e ron toe ban oufle New--cn sad i JP5 800 Aaaie Ians were OP hand I Memorial S'adnjm ic toe season opener commg boto flam Uygan and (round me M-dwee to me gome A LABOR DAY SALE! Open Mon 11-4 pm Vi 9 I 6835 SO STATE LIGHT TRUCK PASSENGER CAR strength end durability Steel belted for strength end resistance to impact and cuts Blackwall For on off road IT19S7SRM Our lowest priced IT tire! Economical nylon ply construction Raised outline white letters E7SU traction N5ilC13 P155SQ8i3 PD5SOR13 1999 5999 5499 6499 24" 29" 2-WH BRAK SEARS LIFETIME ALIGNMENT LUBE OIL AND FILTER SPECIAL ONLY! 88 on most cars THrv So 10 SAVE MO Good for as long as you own your car May be done anytime upon your request SfAMS Sa! sftction guaranteed or your money back 1 Roebuck ind Co Meet con tor PROVO 373-8700 vru'yje per side uia 99 TNnj Sap 10 SALT LAKE CriY 321459 or 0 ft MURRAY 268-5151 OGDEN 399-2151 A is on a as te el -Kto.