Fort Worth Star-Telegram from Fort Worth, Texas • 74

Section Page 12 I wwwstar-telegramcom Friday November 2 7 1998 PRO FOOTBALL 011 Sanders up a notch Detroit's Barry Sanders Joined Walter Payton in becoming the second player in 411 NFL history to rush for more than 15000 career yards Sanders also caught one pass for 20 yards and became only the third NFL player to top 18000 combined rushing and receiving yards Rushing Yesterday Career Payton 16726 Sanders 33 yards 15003 Combined rushing receiving yards Yesterday Career Payton 21803 Sanders 53 18025 Herschel Walker 18168 sNeFcLohnidstpoirayyetor in rush for more than 15000 career yards Sanders also caught one pass for 20 yards and became only the third NFL player to top 18000 con- bined rushing and receiving yards Rushing Yesterday Career Payton 16726 Sanders 33 yards 15003 Combined rushing receiving yards Yesterday Career Payton 21803 Sanders 53 18025 Herschel Walker 18168 MOSS APPEAL Vikings receiver Randy Moss' top five games: Date Opponent Res Yards Ws 05 at Green Bay 5 190 2 26 at Cowboys 3 163 3 22 Green Bay 8 153 1 0 15 Cincinnati 4 99 1 6 Tampa Bay 4 95 2 I IF 1101 41016 1 1- Z' i "AATAV 4-1 4 f-' 1 i :2 4 i 'w 4 1 i's It i444 0' 4 a' i 1110 LA 10 i')1 0) i 0i-1 I 't- -10- Av -0 4re- 4it 14 fy 4 i 4 7 4ki irkf 0 t- '-c- 1 tk 14 I 4' 1 s) --0 or 0 I '1 vo- qzt ---ii 1-c- p' f) 0: A 1177 i 4 0 e- 1 -t 40 go000t 0 000410011' 40 1j (' 1 0 4 Vrfoss '1 i -0'rf e' lki rt t4 Nt 1 1- it 1 141' I i 1 4- il I' i I 4) 4 4 I i 0-! sji' t' 4 0 44 4 (A- i i 1 7 l'r i 1 i- 1 0000 1 el 1 :1" te 40t It 1: i 4 if '--1-- I t' 'it 44-16w a lt -i t41 0 1 -)1 Ark -0!" 4101 4 itaP 1 At APINIMPN tn :0 0 1111141W1 -iokt i LWO CO Coin flip turns up for Lions Receiver has three catches all for TDs BY ANDY FRIEDLANDER Star-Telegram Stall Writer IRVING After he had flashed through Texas Stadium like an electrical storm Randy Moss exercised his right to remain silent But then what could he have said to make yesterday's performance more understandable to mere mortals? "I have nothing to say" Moss told the crowd of reporters gathered around his locker "Didn't you see it?" Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle John Randle asked "Didn't that say it all?" Indeed Moss the Minnesota rookie with the speed and impact of a lightning strike had said quite enough in burning the Cowboys with three 50-plus-yard touchdowns that sparked the Vikings' spectacular 46-36 victory at Texas Stadium All that was left was for the witnesses and bystanders to speak in awe about what they had seen "You can sit here and talk about what he does all day" running back Leroy Hoard said "but you're still going to be left shaking your head when he does it So I just watch the film congratulate him and wait to see what he does next" The Cowboys have already seen quite enough thank you from the player they could have had in the NFL draft They had seen him running free behind Kevin Smith and Darren Woodson on the game's fourth snap for a 5I-yard touchdown catch giving the Cowboys a glimpse of what they could expect all day The Cowboys watched as Vikings rookie vr TOUCHDOWN n't take me" Moss told the Fox television crew before taking his vow of silence in the locker room "I'm glad all those teams passed on me" That's because he ended up on the Vikings who have the NFL's most exciting offense and who at 1 1- 1 could be the favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl But much of the reason for that is Moss himself who has caught 47 passes this season for an average of 216 yards a catch He passed the 1000-yard mark yesterday Moss finished with only three catches but he dominated the game with 163 yards and three touchdowns not to mention the 50-yard pass interference call he drew when the Cowboys' Kenny Wheaton grabbed him trying to prevent another huge play The only drawback on Moss' day was a dropped pass late in the fourth quarter Of course he could be forgiven because he had leaped over a defender and stretched his 6-4 frame to get to the ball in the first place "Yeah he surprises me sometimes" Vikings Pro Bowl receiver Cris Carter said "I was surprised he dropped that ball at the end "When the ball's in the air he's just like Jerry Rice When the ball's in the air he has another gear and a tremendous ability to adjust to the flight of the ball Some guys just have it He has it and you can't teach it not to the level that he has it He just has it" Andy Friedlander (817) 5484442 than 50 yards Star-TdegraintRON 1 ENNIS second of Moss' three touchdowns fellow receiver Cris Carter celebrate the move that froze cornerback Terry Billups "When he caught that hitch and went up that sideline it was amazing" said "You've got to realize the guy is 64 and he's running by people like that That's not normal" The Cowboys could have drafted Moss passing on him with the eighth pick to take defensive end Greg Ellis In all 19 teams let Moss slide one of them twice before Minnesota grabbed him in the 2Ist spot "I'm glad the Cowboys did were for touchdowns of more going going long gone 4 1 1 4 UFO I 1 Steelers dispute call then get booted in OT The Associated Press PONTIAC Maybe the referee made a mistake Maybe the Pittsburgh Steelers did All that's known for sure is that a game of A ons X's and O's Steeters 61) came adnodwtainisto In a Thanksgiving contest 4 marked by a bizarre coin flip to start overtime the Detroit Lions escaped with a 19-16 victory against the Steelers on a 42-yard field goal by Jason Hanson 2:52 1 into the extra period yesterday On the midfield coin flip Jerome Bettis of Pittsburgh called tails But referee Phil Luckett told pool reporters after the game Bettis called "heads-tails" and Luckett went with the first thing he heard "I did not say 'heads-tails' Bettis said "That is a lie That's a bald-faced lie" Detroit cornerback Robert Bailey who was not part of the coin toss said he heard Bettis call one thing and teammate Carnell Lake call another "To me it sounded like one guy called heads and one guy called tails" Bailey said "That way no matter what happens you can argue It's an old trick" In any event the Steelers kicked off and never saw the ball again "I'm not saying we lost the game because of the officials" Steelers coach Bill Cowher said "But it's a shame that this is the center of focus after a game like that" Earlier two controversial calls led to the first of Norm Johnson's two first-quarter field goals for Pittsburgh (7-5) But clearly the biggest disputed call came at the start of overtime giving the Lions (5-7) the right to receive "I've never seen anything as blatant as that" Lake said "I even looked at the Lions and they were like 'Wow' They didn't say any- 1: thing because they wanted the ball The ref made a bad decision" After a 21-yard runback by Terry Fair the Lions went 21 yards in seven plays keyed by a 28-yard pass from Charlie Batch to Herman Moore and a face-mask call against Chris Oldham i 74 After Barry Sanders was stopped for no gain on second down the Lions elected to go for the field goal on third down "1 4) OUCHDOWN too TOUCHDOWN 8 ol three catches yesterday but all 1 XX XX 000000 0 CUNNINGHAM 0 0 KSMITH XXXX 000000 0 4 I SMITH MOSS billg1M11xe XX XX 000000 MOSS 0 -s0 CUNNINGHAM CARTER A ol The Vikings' Randy Moss right and Smith grabbed him but couldn't keep him from making a 56-yard play that put the Vikings up 21-6 And they stared in horror as Moss shrugged off Charlie Williams' tackle and turned a 4- yard hitch into a 56-yard score topping it off vvith a hesitation Moss is receiver Randy Moss made only 1 0 MOSS day of a had situation ie the Cowboys' injury-riddled secondary What was left was no contest What's to come in January however might not be much of a fair fight either Moss looked that good "I don't think it was anything personal against the I )allas Cowboys" Vikings coach Green said "I think Randy just wants to come out and show everyone that he can play" On the fourth snap of the afternoon clearly mindful of Moss Cowboys defenders Darren Woodson and Kevin Smith had made the mistake of taking the bait on an apparent running play to Robert Smith The brief ink-step allowed Moss to lope (li)5'nfield where after Smith lateraled back to the quarterback he giithered in Randall Cunningham's pass and hopped in for his first touchdown viloot 1 On the lead to showing an audible the right Smith and SMITH 0 CUNNINGHAM Realizing the importance of getting ahead early Vikings coach Dennis Green decided to go for the home run early On the games fourth play he called a flea-flicker with OB Randall Cunningham handing the ball to Robert Smith and Smith pitching it back to Cunningham who then threw a bomb to Randy Moss Both CB Kevin Smith and Darren Woodson who were supposed to have double coverage on Moss bit on the run fake leaving Moss wide open for a 51-yard touchdown first play after a Dallas field goal had cut Minnesota's 14-6 Cunningham noticed the Cowboys were Kevin Smith in single coverage on Moss and called to take advantage of it Moss beat Smith deep down sideline made the catch despite pass interference by scored on a 56-yard play Late in the third quarter Cunningham audibled again this time to an simple 4yard hitch pass to Moss But Moss turned it into something special by shaking off CB Charlie Williams' tackle at the point of the catch and bolting down the left sideline When CB Terry Billups had an angle On him at the 10 Moss gave him a breathtaking stop-and-go move and shot into the end zone to finish another 56-yard touchdown Friedlander Lions 19 Stos 16 Pittsburgh 0 I 7 3 0-16 Detroll 0 1 3 10 3-111 emnd Beartee Johnson 30 1021 Johnson 38 441 Hanson 45 155 Third Quartet 24 pm from Stewart (N Johnson kick) 556 Hanson 51 1 44 Orive 10 ploys 42 wind 5 12 Pourth Omelet 21 pies from Batch (Hinson kick) 6 36 Hinson 35 4 33 Johnson 25 01 Overtime Hinson 42 12 08 A-78130 Star-Telegram rolled into one Maybe things will be different should January's chill find the two teams meeting again But as coordinator Billick said "You can't lose a Deion Sanders and have it not affect you But it's just like us losing Jake Reed It scares me to think how we would have done today if we had had Jake" If Billick is equating losing Count Do-Rag with the Vikes losing their No 3 receiver that's wrong But the Cowboys' secondary is in such disarray who's to say what a rematch would bring? Like the fans' banner above the postgame turkey celebration read "Anything is Moss-ible" Or the best one "Our Moss Dallas' Loss" It sure looked that way pilgrims Thanks (1111A0reton (817) 390-7780 lebreton viar-tekgramcom That one carried 51 yards The one at the end of the first quarter where he outfought cornerback Kevin Smith went 56 yards The one in the third quarter also for 56 yards vaulted the Vikings into a commanding 39-22 lead "Randy Moss is a great wide receiver" said someone named Terry Billups stand-in Cowboys cornerback "I le goes out and makes big plays They throw the ball up and if he's covered or not he goes up and gets the ball "We had guys in position and he still went up and got the ball" Just like the scouting report said in other words Moss was everything he was advertised to be except for the disreputable headlines he was supposed to bring And that remains a bum rap Vikings coordinator Brian Billick said "Ile has gown criticism from people who've never met him" Billick said "That has to be a motivation" Moss himself declined to say After the interlude with John Madden and the turkey leg Moss retired to the dressing room and when he emerged elected not to speak Ile does this sometimes the Minnesota writers say Besides it's too late for the Cowboys to declare Greg Ellis a mulligan They missed on Moss as did 18 other teams But as owner Jerry Jones said yesterday one more time "I stopped a long time ago dwelling on a player that we could have drafted and what he could have done for us Don't forget that we picked Troy Aikman over Barry Sanders "When it came to making the pick it was very important in such a high profile situation that we show a sensitivity" No convicted criminals in other words It was the right attitude and the wrong decision all LEBRETON From Page 1 Red or a Randy Young misunderstood Moss making a statement of sorts had slipped behind and around the Cowboys' secondary just enough to catch three passes chew up 163 yards and score three touchdowns "Herschel Payback Time!" a handmade sign in the Vikings' fans section read after the visiting plunderers' 46-36 victory "Vikings thank Dallas for Moss" chirped another For Cowboys fans today the truth hurts Moss is the real deal And then some by the Cowboys in the April draft because of his alleged questionable character Moss took rampant advantage yester PH PCP downs fl 13 Rushes-yin 3485 2370 Passing 208 213 Punt Returns 247 0-0 Kickoff Returns 348 8-128 inlerceptions Rot 00 1-0 CompAll-In 21-36-1 17-27-0 Backed-Yards Lost 5-17 4-32 it Punts 5-44 2 4-44 3 Fumbleslost 4-1 22 Penalties-Yards 4-30 6-86 Una el Possession 35 53 26 59 Individual statistics Rushing Pittsburgh Baths 2867 Mewed 4-22 McAtee 3-0 Hawkins 1 iminus 4) Detroit Crowell 1-35 Sanders 20-33 Batch 1-3 Retch 1-(minus I) Passing Pitieburgh Slowed 2138-1-225 Dation Batch 16-23-0-216 Retch 1409 Receiving Patsburgh Johnson 58 Hawkins 5- 41 Witman 4-35 Blackwell 3-41 Ward 2-35 McAfee 27 Detroit Moore 5145 Morton 4-53 Vardell 3-8 Sanders 1-20 Control I18 Missed tieSd goals Pittsburgh Johnson 53 (SH) Orton Hanson 43 (WA).