The Miami Herald from Miami, Florida • 84

i 21 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1 1994 THE HERALD PRO FOOTBALL THE PICKS to piisli i i iiwgiwr jtN More than anything more than Troy Aikman or Emmitt Smith or Ken Norton or the 11 tD 8lla 1000-yard rusher since Terdell Middleton all the way back when Delvin Williams was rambling for Mianti in 1978None of it will matter ifBrettFavre steady down PHILADELPHIA EAGLES Vision in green See Randall Cunningham run See Randall Cunningham get racked up See the new owner Jeffrey Lurie smile on the way in See anybody Jimmy Johnson Mindset put the Cowboys over the top And now commuting between Tavernier and Miami and Los Angeles and Barry Switzer is tiptoeing across the high wire with Jerry Jones yammering at him fly If Switzer coach pass defense at Oklahoma how can he stop NFC attacks? Plus defense lost stingers Norton Jimmie Jones Thomas Everett and Tony Casillas And if anything happens to Aikman you can hear it now Jones: should have known you keep Aikman when he left Oklahoma for Switzer: should have known you catch lightning in a bottle twice straight on who wins three straight Super EDWIN POPE coaches NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE West San Francisco New Orleans Atlanta LA Rams Central Minnesota Detroit Chicago Green Bay Tampa Bay East 1 Dallas 2 Arizona 3 NY Giants 4 Philadelphia 5 Washington Wild cards: Arizona New Orleans Detroit AMERICAN FOOTBALL 4- CONFERENCE Jones: you ask me that before I hired Switzer: get a word in Dallas is a unique situation but then chaos of some sort will kick in all over the league Every projection could be Sanskrit by mid-October under free-agency zigzagging and new rules for conversions and field goals the old owner Norman Braman smile on the way out See Clyde Simmons and Seth Joyner gone See Rich Kotite pucker NEW YORK JETS Paranoiaville Talk about Dolphins collapsing the Jets lost four of their last five That gave Bruce job to Carroll hitherto most famous for giving the choke sign that Pete Stoyanovich turned into a boomerang demonstrativeness should make a pleasing contrast to paranoia but then everybody in New York does have it in for the Jets they? Losing Rob Moore for a spell would hurt more so if Boomer Esiason really boom any more Call the opener in Buffalo critical ClfVElAXD BROWNS 1 I Stretch stress You have to wonder how many nights Bill Belichick has lain awake wondering Why did I ever get rid of Bernie Kosar? Or how many times Vinny Testaverde has wondered if he can fill capacious bro-gans None of this may matter much until the last three games against Dallas Pittsburgh and Seattle regime has produced a 1-8 record in that pocket of the schedule NEW ORLEANS SAINTS Hum Baby If Jim Everett is going to reach back to his youthful promise he has to step up and drill the ball The offense also has to hope ex- Wild cards: Miami Denver Pittsburgh Art Shell make a deal in these l-through-28 predictions You hold me to each of the 28 rungs on this ladder and I mention money a single time NO DEION DOLPHINS If the Dolphins acquired Deion Sanders they when this went to press pick them to win the Super Bowl and drop the Raiders to third behind the 49ers Edwin Pope fT LOS ANGELES RAIDERS Everybody go long Who are the all-time Monday night football leaders? Not even close Raiders (30-10-1 744) KANSAS CITY CHIEFS No go if it's Bono If 38-year-old Joe Montana survives and flourishes count the Chiefs into the postseason If he over 49ers (21-14 600) and Dol goes lame again count the Chiefs DALLAS COWBOYS Poor Switzer Even shorn Johnsonly and defensively the have to be dealt with especially breezing through that rickety division Is Emmitt Smith the best runner? How would anyone know seeing only his heels? And the only better pro receiver than Michael Irvin is Jerry Rice However it says here that Jones could have found a more likely field boss than Switzer One reason some terrific coaches skipping from college to pro have done so poorly at first is that their NFL teams were so bad viz Johnson and Don Coryell On the other hand as lawyers say some of them never made it at all Dan Devine John McKay Bill Peterson Darryl Rogers Switzerwise owner tolerance for unSuper seasons will be so low poor Barry get a fair chance out even with their hopeful insurance policy in Steve Bono Good Bono is like it says in Latin Montana he in any language The best thing the Chiefs have going for them besides Montana may be Marty Schottenheimer a 94-56-1 regular-season NFL coach who has had some of the worst of luck (5-8) in the postseason Dolphin Jeff bad wheel comes around Coach Jim Mora has to show better than the 1 993 collapse suggested from 5-0 start to 3-8 finish phins (28-19 596) And who plays the first MNF game this season? Right again First crack out of the box the Raiders sashay into Candlestick Park crossbay from where the old Raiders first established Pride and Poise Art gang will be a legitimate contender for Joe Robbie Stadium Jan 29 if it can get through this and then keep Jeff Hostetler in one piece not thrilled about rooting for A1 Davis in order for this pick to be right I simply think it is time again He will somehow come up with the tailback the Raiders need to put them over the top targetry against the cor-nerbacks already had shut up his critics Even Coach Art Shell deny that Davis still calls the conceptual shots and longloved concept of the ideal passing game is vertical In short throw deep And Davis has people who can get there in Tim Brown James Jett and Rocket Ismail Sure the Raiders will miss Howie Long but the 1 3 years they had him they used him like Chicago stockyards use a pig everything but the oink Which is just how they will use that vertical passing game mm DOLPHINS ATLANTA FALCONS The transient If you remember when UM was recruiting Jeff George three colleges and two pro teams ago a fan Which is what George ran out of in Indianapolis which is why he represents the latest hope to shake their traditional shabbiness Learning the Red Gun? Red light CINCINNATI BENGALS Pair of Davids David Shula will remember from his Dolphins days how hard it is to win without consistent defense Credit the froitt office with giving Little Shoes the SAN FRANCISCO 4SERS Make something happen If memory serves picked Team Shula to go to the Super Bowl only once in the past eight years or so That was in 1992 everybody thought you were Tony Paige reminded me when the Dolphins were 6-0 That team went all the way to the AFC final before finding its level Last as everyone aboveground will recall went 9-2 before the absence of Dan Marino and the prevalence of defensive injuries betrayed them The Dolphins have several deficiencies not the least of which as usual is run-blocking However coming up with the ball instead of turning it loose is the category in which help is most frantically needed Last minus seven in turnovers placed the Dolphins 1 1th in the AFC and 22nd in the NFL in takeaway-giveaway Still with a rehabilitated and rejuvenated Marino and two new safeties hey you time to go out and get Big Dan Wilkinson to join Big John Copeland in what can be an intimidating defense This Shula can coach but he has to get something going with David Klingler at QB or find somebody else Pronto WASHINGTON REDSKINS Good luck Norv They said Norv Turner was a genius with the Cowboys He can prove it by reviving the Redskins with Heath Shuler Tough enough for a rookie QB breaking in without trying to do it with a 4-12 cast That victory over Dallas last long did it? can dis the Dolphins but not dismiss Right to the edge Right again the Bay Area will disgorge both Super Bowl teams The 49ers who slugged the Giants by 41 points in last postseason are practically intact and added fireballs Ken Norton Gary Plummer Rickey Jackson and Richard Dent to a defense freshly motivated by D-coordinator Ray Rhodes from the Packers The offense needs nothing fresher than the usual formula of Steve Young pitching to Jerry Rice and John Taylor and Ricky Watters running If Young goes down trouble to be sure Otherwise I see the 49ers losing more than four games including the Super Bowl Owner Eddie DeBartolo may be a hot dog but what other proprietor has pieced together 1 1 straight seasons with double-figure victory totals? Face it DeBartolo has built the soundest NFL organization And if George Seifert tack on another NFC championship right now you be terribly surprised to see DeBartolo chumming up to Jimmy Johnson MINNESOTA VIKINGS Moonshot Love that Terry Allen running back from knee surgery Love 1 Warren Moon moving out of ilMj bedlam into the more stable environment created by Dennis Green Love Green who keeps his voice down and players up The Vikings partially atoned for their historic gaffe with Herschel Walker by nabbing David Palmer plus a No 1 next year Phasing in Moon at 37 could give the Vikings their best passing (not saying much) since Fran Tar-kenton Thing is NFC Central as simple as the old Black and Blue Division was It takes high-tech now instead of just banging people around LOS ANGELES RAMS Splat! Some admirable archivist dug up a set of training camp rules written by Rams Coach Joe Sty-dahar in One said you chew tobacco you should furnish your own spittoon and not use the wastebasket for this Chuck Knox would let the Rams spit in his cap if it would take them back into Super Bowl contention It TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS Hello and goodbye tation where the player knows hurting and the coach believe it unless an X-ray shows a fracture the width of the Grand Canyon going to have to work this one out because Foster puts most of the pop in the Steelers behind a solid offensive line If the Steelers could take the Chiefs to overtime before exiting those last playoffs think what they could do with a Foster sound of limb and attitude? NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS Not so fast not sure but Bill Parcells is as good as any coach going The' Lvv only mark against him is that he get along with Giants GM George Young even when Young was feeding him major material In any case Parcell restore in one year what the Pats let slide for many Drew Bledsoe is going to be superb and Parcells puts the italics where they count on defense including maybe a baby Lawrence Taylor in Willie McGinest Playoffs in Maybe DETROIT LIONS Sleeper? Rumors say the system is giving Scott Mitchell trouble I say be dandy Those who knocked him for the closing slide overlooked the terrible lack of running-game help any Miami QB must endure There at least Mitchell will have Barry Sanders Management milked the new market for WR Anthony Carter to complement Herman Moore picked up another catcher in Johnnie Morton and shipped all three QBs who done the job Erik Kramer Rodney Peete and Andre Ware NEW YORK GIANTS Sound the sirens The cap killed Phil Simms so his erstwhile buddies will stand mjP' or with Dave Brown and Kent Graham bad enough Unfortunately for Dan Reeves a superior coach despite Super-nightmarish Denver days Simms the only one gone So is the great Lawrence Taylor Reeves confronted only the first of many crises to come when he fined Rodney Hampton $4000 for taking off for an undefined family emergency the operative word with these Giants Emergency CHICAGO BEARS Psychology 101 Unlike the Giants the Bears did mine the free-agency lode with runners Mernl Hoge and Lewis Tillman and blocker Andy Heck They also brought in Erik' Kramer who wasted away on the Detroit bench but Dave Wannstedt still has to find someone to catch Kramer if the Bears are to shake off their league-worst offensive standing Given the abuse they took from Mike Ditka hardest job may be just selling the Bears on a good full season GREEN BAY PACKERS Looking for Mr Consistency Ever since Vince Lombardi left if it been one thing it has been another Sean Jones makes a nice bookend opposite Reggie White and Reggie Cobb can run Cobb is extra important because Green Bay had a HOUSTCN OILERS BUFFALO BILLS Not dead yet three most dreaded words are win like Four-Eyes here once said about the Minnesota Vikings them into a Super Bowl is like sending a celluloid-legged man to fight a forest But not as disdainful as most about the chances for a fifth Super exposure Marv Levy is just as resourceful a coach as Bud Grant was with the Vikings Super Bowl cataclysms notwithstanding Free agency done the Bills any favors It took two starting safeties two starting tackles and a star comerback work so hard to build moans General Manager John Butler then the system kicks your Opponents still have to do it on the field No sooner has Craig Erickson made it as regular QB than the Bucs draft Trent Dilfer as hope Then ace linebacker Hardy Nickerson gets chicken pox anything ever change over there? Trying to forget This team is coming back from 12-4 but who can think Oilers without remembering (1) their frittering away that 35-3 lead over the Bills in the playoffs and (2) assistant coach Buddy Ryan punching fellow staffer Kevin Gilbride in that exhilarating display of camaraderie? Neither image is germane now when Jack top problem is whether Cody Carlson can replace Moon in struggle to get past the first postseason date Winning the last 1 1 regular-season games was a step in the right direction Too maybe move to Arizona will at least partially de-stress Pardee i INDIAXAPCUS COLTS Nothing changes Someone in authority in the RCA (formerly Hoosier) Dome should read William excellent new book When the Colts Belonged to Baltimore for some lessons in how to run a ball club And Marshall Faulk better get used to playing punching bag SEATTLE SEAHAWKS Free Cortez Emerged from complete helplessness last year with Rick Mirer stepping up Now they desperately need rookie Sam Adams to free up Cortez Kennedy from double- and triple-teaming SAX DIEGO CHARGERS Retreat The Chargers may have the top-secret top runner in Natrone DENVER BRONCOS Dangerous but that Sure sure the poorhouse is full of people who picked the Broncos to win Super Bowls But the club that gave up 56 points in two games with the Raiders last year was young and Wade Phillips specializes in defense and defense conquers crises when the players are experienced enough and Phillips is coming back with an older crew than last sandbox society Whether it can come back far enough from 27th in the league is the burning issue Offensively watch the dust with John Elway working with star catchers Anthony Miller and Mike Pritchard From this distant perch and without offense to Dan Reeves who is doing just fine with the Giants it appears that Phillips brought a lighter touch to the hosses They could use it ARIZONA CARDINALS New cactus in town Buddy and not with the usual sorry Cardinals offense either Shades of Don Coryell Jim Hart and Dan Dierdorf these guys actually scored the fourth-most points in the conference last year Unlikely chap named Steve Beuerlein remember? Fighting Irish Raiders Cowboys? led the way The big noise though is Ryan Not only was he 0-3 in postseason as Eagles boss the Cardinals won a playoff game in 46 years guessing all that will change with blustering Buddy who can coach despite all Means and scrap defen-V jVH sively but the whole tortured 1 Vta franchise looks a lot worse than last 8-8 Opening in Denver is no help UGtomm itn.