European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 10, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 26 the stars and stripes tuesday january 10,1989 nil playoffs 49ers from Page 21 son and Todd Krumm to Complete a 61-Yard scoring play. The wind was really taking the Ball All Day Long Rice said. Joe told me before the play that the Ball might not be right where i wanted it to be and i Wouldhave to make a play on it. I he did the same on his second touchdown reception in the second period As Montana floated the Ball Over the Middle in the face of a Blitz by Chicago s Jim Morrissey. Rice snatched it off his shoe tops and split two bears into the end zone to make it 14-0. Meanwhile the underrated san Francisco defens Ewas playing like it was supposed to. Chicago got within 40 Yards of the goal line Only twice once to set up Kevin Butler s 25-Yard Field goal that made it 14-3 at halftime the other time when it was stopped on Downs at the 13 after Mike Tomczak had replaced Jim Mcmahon. Mcmahon completed 14 of 29 passes for 121 Yards in his first Start in two months before giving Wayto Tomczak. Montana hit Frank from five Yards out after Rice just missed a diving catch in the end zone on the 49ers first Possession of the third Quarter. Tom Rathman Goethe final touchdown on a 4-Yard run at the end of a 72 Yard drive in the fourth Quarter. We did t talk too much about the weather before this game said Walsh whose team lost 10-9 to the bears Here on oct. 24. The Chicago press and fans made a big Deal of it but not the 49ers." the bears meanwhile had few excuses. When you score three Points you Don t beat Man people fullback Matt Suhey said. When you get to this Point your offence has to score More or you Llave no Chance of the 49ers controlled the game from the get go an kicked our Butts Chicago defensive tackle Dan Ham Pton said. Anybody who says anything different is in some areas i think maybe they wanted it a Littlemore than we did Middle linebacker Mike Singletary added. It was a bitter loss because it could be have been storybook finish said Chicago coach Mike Ditka 49ers quarterback Joe Montana. Passes for 3 touchdowns who suffered a heart attack during the season and who watched As Star after Star went Down with injuries. Yet his team finished 12-4 and beat Philadelphia in its first playoff game last week. It s a great thing this team has done. Give these kids credit for taking us so far Ditka said. Yes but it san Francisco not Chicago which haste team of the 1980 s. Acc s bengals seem to Lack san Francisco s knockout punch by Bob Gates los Angeles times writer Chicago this seemed to be the principal Dif Ference Between the two winners of sunday s National football league semifinals the Cincinnati bengals had a hard time Puttin Buffalo away even after injuries to All pro end Bruce Smith and other defensive stars took the Bills out of the game. Leading by four Points at the half Cincinnati needed a goal line penalty in the third Quarter Towin 21-10. The san Francisco 49ers, leading by 11 Points after the first 30 minutes Here in biting 17-degree weather drove 78 Yards with the second half Kickoff tout the bears away by a score that eventually reached 28-3. At Cincinnati the bengals Hung in and won. You give them some credit for that. On icy Soldier Field the 49ers knocked out the Home team. That was More impressive a lot More. Somehow Joe Montana the 49ers quarterback an Jerry Rice his gifted flanker made this Winter wonder land look like a California Beach. Transcending the elements on a Day when the wind chill Factor was far far under Zero the firm of Montana and Rice could hardly have played More artistically anywhere particularly on the touchdown plays of the first half. By contrast the bengals Laboured at Home against Buffalo team crippled by injuries to five of its six Best defensive players Smith Shane Conlan mar Kelso Ray Bentley and Derrick Burroughs. The conclusion is that super bowl Xxiii Jan. 22 in Miami will be a replay of super bowl Xvi in Pontiac,mich., where the 49ers turned Back the bengals 26-21. On the five plays that broke bears coach Mike Dit a s heart Montana passed to Rice for 133 Yards in front of a Hardy but disappointed crowd of 64,830. This was the Montana of his first two super bowls playoff notes in each of which he was the most valuable player before he Hurt his Back. He has now come As he said All the Way Back. People who Haven t had serious Back problems can relate perhaps to the fear that has plagued Montana most of the time since his operation nearly three year Sago. Even though he has played Well by the standards of other quarterbacks he has t until lately played As Well As he thought he should. In football fear is a mighty neutralizer and Montana understandably was for some time in what for him could be called a slump. He has now been hit often enough to disperse his fears. He no longer worries about the Back. He is now the old Montana again. As for Jerry Rice he s the one who makes the Mon Tana Rice combination a contender for the National football league s Best of All time. In terms of nil history Rice is a different kind of receiver. He does t have the go away Speed of Hall of Farmers Elroy Hirsch and Lance Alworth. Nor is he the quickest receiver of even his own time. But his huge hands make him a threat in any kind of weather most noticeably sub Zero chill Factor weather. And his explosiveness whenever he feels that it Stime to accelerate makes him unique. The most valuable Quality in a receiver is the ability to explode through the Cushion 49ers coach Bill Walsh said. And that s what Jerry the Cushion in a coach s vocabulary is the yardage that a Good cornerback likes to keep Between himself and a Good receiver 3 to 7 Yards depending on the circumstance. On Rice s winning plays sunday he explode through the cushions of first bears cornerback Mike Richardson then cornerback Vestee Jackson. After that the touchdowns and the Victory came easily. Overdose of Rice fells bears by James litre Chicago a the Iron fist wore a Vel vet Glove sunday. Jerry Rice punched a big enough Hole in the vaunted Chicago bears defense sunday to re quire major surgery but so smoothly did he operate that the defensive doctors who will get stuck doing the postmortem after san Francis co s 28-3 pfc championship Victory will be arguing for weeks where the stitches should go. They say his 40 time is 4.6 seconds and it snot that fast compared to a lot of other receivers. But he is explosive said Chicago cornerback Vestee Jackson one of several victims. He knows How to get to the Ball he knows How to adjust and he knows what to do with it once he gets any autopsy by the bears defensive brain Trust might Start with cornerback Mike Richard son and safety Todd Krumm. Both were sport ing third degree Burns not to mention red faces after the always precise Rice ran a Side line pattern on third and nine from his own 39 Yard line Early in the second Quarter spun to the Middle of the Field and made a leaping catch atthe Bear 35. That would have been enough for most wide outs. But Rice who last year set standards for nil receivers that May last into the next dec Ades was t nearly finished. Catching the Ball in front of a spinning Richardson he took one Stepbach toward the sideline leaving Krumm to hug Richardson in futility and then angled Back to the Middle to scamper the rest of the 62 Yard untouched. He finished sunday with five catches for 133yards and two touchdowns that on the heels of a three touchdown performance that helped Bur the Minnesota Vikings the previous week. And if his first to catch left the bears staggering to Ward the operating table his second made cer Tain the patient stayed there. Facing a second-and-10 at Chicago s 27, Mon Tana started Rice in motion from the left Side. And As soon As Jackson finished shadowing Heimall the Way to the right Side Rice rocketed on a slant Over the Middle reached Down to his Knees to catch the Low Ball and left Jackson looking a nothing More than his own billowing breath. Ironically Rice s Best catch of the Day May have wound up on the cutting room floor of the replay official s Booth. On a second and eight from Chicago s 22 on the opening drive of the third period he slipped behind Richardson in the right Corner of the end zone but had to do a 180-degree spin the stretch his 6-foot-2, 200-Pound Frame full out to make a fingertip grab. The officials ruled he did t have Possession. I caught that Ball. Maybe the official had Abad Angle Rice said afterwards. But i really worked for that one. I caught but Given his Success Rice was t inclined to waste any More time arguing. Because like any Good operator he knew the bears would fee worse when they got the Bill. Defense from Page 21 today nose tackle Michael Carter said. We had great coverage and it allowed our pass rushers to get safety Jeff Fuller who intercepted a Mcmahon pass said the defense fooled the bears. We knew that we played Well against them when we played sound defense in the past Fuller said. Today we disguised our defences a lot. It s just matter of bending and not breaking against
