The Sacramento Bee from Sacramento, California • 33

The Sacramento Bee Monday November 19 1984 nrn I NFL week 1 2 49ers 24 Bucs 17 Bears 16 Lions 14 Giants 16 Cardinals 10 Packers 31 Rams 6 Browns 23 Falcons 7 Eagles 16 Redskins 10 Bills 14 Cowboys 3 Seahawks 26 Bengals 6 Patriots 50 Colts 17 Raiders 1 7 Kansas City 7 Broncos 42 Vikings 21 Oilers 31 Jets 20 Chargers 34 Dolphins 28 OT UCKliy Ronnie Lott may be out for three weeks with a separated shoulder Page D7 By Jim Jenkins Bee Staff Writer 1 SAN FRANCISCO Wendell locker is next to the door on the left when you enter the San Francisco dressing room That makes him easy prey for the first swarm of reporters looking for post-game commentary Lesser individuals with this veteran running penchant for fumbling the football at the worst possible times as Tyler did twice in 24-17 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would have long since relocated But Tyler now shrugs his shoulders to the kind of afternoon he had here it included two first-quarter fumbles that wiped out potential 49er TDs and enabled the Buccaneers to make a game of it He waits for the questions The soft ones come first because Tyler from all accounts is a nice guy And in the end there were pluses to talk about: 97 yards rushing putting Tyler over the 1000 mark for the season (1008) and a 1-yard run for the game-winning touchdown in the third quarter Was the ex-Los Angeles Ram happy about achieving the 1000-yard plateau for the third time in his career and the first time in a 49er uniform? "I would have felt better if I lost the ball he replied not wishing to tip-toe around a subject that has always haunted him the fumbles someone wanted to know "I said Tyler smiling they look any different to you? A fumble to a reporter is a fumble Bad news But that was the first half It was gone and there was nothing I could do about it When I came out for the second half I concentrated more Like another day on the job for some people Some days start out bad then end up good kind of what happened i It was a summarizing statement echoed by other 49ers who despite the lackluster effort improved their record to 11-1 tying Miami finally beaten Sunday and Denver for the best records in the National Football League With the win their sixth over the Bucs without a loss the 49ers also clinched a tie for the National Conference West title and assured themselves of no worse than a wild-card playoff berth San Francisco went into the Tampa Bay game as the biggest favorite But the 49ers were in front only 14-10 at halftime and on the ropes in the fourth quarter against the Bucs who were led by former San Francisco starting quar- terback Steve DeBerg DeBerg who lost his job to Joe Montana three years ago and was sent packing to Denver apparently has found a home in Florida He completed 26 of 41 passes for 316 yards and two touchdowns against a 49er secondary that lost Ronnie Lott to injury on the first play But DeBerg as he did so often with the 49ers ultimately self-destructed throwing two costly interceptions and fumbling away the final possession Montana meanwhile was 19 for 23 for 247 and no TDs but except for a few errant throws that ended up incomplete he made no mistakes which probably explains why he is still in San Francisco But this game more than any was a story of defenses And in the case Dean-fenses The celebrated pass rusher was back in uniform after ending a marathon holdout last week and he immediately made his presence known The Buccaneers 4-8 did a credible job for the most part with their young linemen double-teaming Dean whenever he came in for pass-1 ing situations Finally Dean got into face proving (1) why he was the leading sacker in 1983 and (2) that there may be something said for staying away from training camp in favor of the beaches of San Diego first confrontation with Dean however did not result in a sack But it was the next thing to it Dean jarred DeBerg enough to cause his first interception into the arms of linebacker Keena Turner The turnover each team had three led to the first score a 2-yard run by Roger Craig in the second quarter ending a 44-yard seven-play series just goes to show you Fred Dean is capable of doing more to an offense than just sacking the said Turner who played with a hip-pointer Dean did get a sack in the fourth See 49ERS page D7 BeeSkip Shuman San Francisco back Wendell Tyler 26 breaks into the Tampa Bay secondary en route to a first down during first-quarter action i Rookie gives Dean a warm welcome Joe Hamelin how delayed him Steve DeBerg got his pass away wildly Dean flailed at the air So they would double-team block him Dean thought trotting off the field frustrated He played a down of football since January nearly a year and here he was 12 weeks into the season first play back maybe a bit out of shape out of sync and they double-team block him Damn be a long he muttered The quarter came and went and the rookie was talking now cocky-like "Thought you was such a great said Heller to Dean That and stuff like that only worse Dean had held out for more money missed San training camp missed the first 11 games of the National Football League season And so there were all kinds of things that a brash and imaginative rookie could say trying to insult and distract him See HAMELIN page D7 SAN FRANCISCO The reaction to his appearance was mixed But Fred Dean has this psychological filtering system like so many great athletes and so he heard only the cheers and they warmed him He hunkered down got a foothold dug the fingers of his right hand into Candlestick soft faintly moist green carpet and balanced lightly upon them He looked up and met the young and troubled eyes of a rookie out of Penn State Dog-meat thought Dean Sunday afternoon smelled clean from the morning rain and suddenly the crowd was gone and the butterflies frolicked in stomach as always It felt good to be back It felt wonderful Across the line Ron Heller 6-foot-6 and 270 pounds four inches taller than Dean and 40 pounds heavier told himself he could handle this glowering 49er whose eyes are coals in a red-flecked white sea and whose veins stand out from his forearms like glued-on blue yam Dean has been the best pass rusher in recent seasons but Heller told himself it would be all right which was nonsense because dealing with Dean is like walking through an airplane propeller AT THE SNAP Dean flew at him quick and dangerous as a Doberman hit him with the force of a baseball bat barged past and crashed into Janie'S Wilder Tampa setback who some- San Diego OT heroics give Dolphins first loss UCD tests i top team in playoffs All-NCAC football selections Page D8 Sixth-ranked UC Davis was selected Sunday to play top-ranked North Dakota State at Fargo ND Saturday Nov 24 in the first round of the NCAA Division II football playoffs The selection marks the third straight year and fifth time in the last eight years that UCD 9-1 has been chosen for post-season play This will be the first time UCD has opened the playoffs on the road UCD and North Dakota State also 9-1 have split games the past two years in the semifinals both played at Davis Game time Saturday will be 1:30 pm CST The game will not be televised Other first-round pairings match fifth-ranked Northwest Missouri State 10-1 at No 2 Nebraska-Oma-ha 10-1 Central State of Ohio (9-1) and Troy State (Ala) (9-1) who are tied for No 3 at Alabama and No 8 Towson State (Md) 8-3 at No 6 Norfolk State (Va)10-1 Semifinal games will be Saturday Dec 1 at sites to be determined after the first-round games The UCD game winner will meet the winner of Northwest Missouri and Nebraska-Omaha in the semifinals UC Davis fans wishing to make the trip with the team may telephone 752-NCAA for information Approximate air fare is $200 The team will depart either Thursday evening or ji Friday morning The Dolphins in a 3-4 defense were caught inside and their pursuit failed A block by Charlie Joiner near the goal line helped McGee get into the end zone tough going into that situation being a McGee said was kind of scared I was supposed to stay behind Doug and cut off his hip After I cut inside Doug I looked for pursuit but our receivers thrown some good blocks because I see Miami defensive tackle Doug Betters got pinned inside on the play tackle blocked down on Betters said were adjusted for the run AJ Duhe was over the tight end We just come off the blocks and they put us on the Defensive back Lyle Blackwood was critical of performance the entire second half The McGee run and the tying touchdown pass to Sievers were not isolated moments in the opinion of Blackwood playing our responsibilities in the second half and Fouts is no dummy He saw things open The Dolphins who have witnessed greatness from their second-year quarterback Dan Marino were duly impressed by Fouts leave him unmolested and he will tear you Betters said got zilch for a pass rush We had a poor poor performance but we be too hard on ourselves We know how we feel right now and we want to feel like this again this Dolphin Coach Don Shula was complimentary of Fouts and critical of his team "We hurt ourselves with a fumble and an interception when we had early Shula said we couldn't stop when we had to and blew a 1 4-point By Chris Cobb Los Angeles Times SAN DIEGO An unknown rookie running back bearing the weight of history and feeling more than a little afraid broke a couple of tackles and the second longest regular-season winning streak in the pro football record book Sunday Buford 25-yard run on a play called Jab-80 Log gave the San Diego Chargers a 34-28 overtime victory over Miami snapping the unbeaten streak at 16 games and leaving them with an 11-1 record this season The Chargers 6-6 had overcome a two-touchdown deficit in the second half and tied the game at the end of regulation with a 19-play 91-yard drive topped by a 3-yard scoring pass from Dan Fouts to tight end Eric Sievers Uwe von Schamann failed on a 44-yard field-goal attempt with five seconds left in regulation San Diego got the ball first and last in overtime the third such extra period in the last four meetings between the Chargers and Dolphins McGee an llth-round draft choice from Mississippi was in the game because San top runner Earnest Jackson was being treated for cramps The Chargers had moved to the Miami 25 with a couple of passes from Fouts to his tight ends Sievers and Pete Holohan and a 10-yard run by Jackson Up in the press box Charger assistants Ernie Zampese and A1 Saunders decided on a conservative play and relayed It to the sidelines hoping to get into position for a possible field-goal try McGee taking a pitchout from Fouts swept to the right side and got a key block from guard Doug Wllkerson San Buford McGet scores the winning touchdown in overtime.