European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 14, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 38 the stars and stripes sports Friday january 14,1994 town Send impatient to e n d 10 Yea r wait byjoe Annadel Al Segundo Calif. A Greg Townsend thought when he played on a super bowl winning team As a los Angeles Raider Rookie it would be the first of Many such experiences. Now 10 years later he s just glad to have a second Chance. The raiders who have won Only two playoff games since beating the Washington redskins 38-9 in the super bowl on Jan. 22, 1984 the last time an acc team has won the big game Are two wins away from meeting the pfc representative at the Georgia dome on Jan. 30. I thought we d get Back to the big game time and time again because we won it so decisively Townsend said As the raiders 11-6 prepared for saturday s Sec Ond round playoff game against the three time defend ing acc Champion Buffalo Bills 12-4 in Buffalo. This is an Opportunity we have to take advantage Townsend fellow defensive lineman Howie Long and Center Don Mosebar Are the three current raiders who played on the super bowl winning team 10 years ago at Tampa Fla. This would be even better than in 1984 if we could make this a 10-year reunion going Back Townsend said. And i m doing my damnedest to make sure ,.Townsend 32, had three tackles and one assist to help the raiders beat the Denver Broncos 42-24 in a wild card game sunday at the los Angeles coliseum. One of those tackles was one of the game s biggest plays Early in the third Quarter with the game tied 21 All Townsend tackled Robert Delpino for a 9-Yard loss As Delpino attempted to sweep right end on a third and-2 play from Denver s 26-Yard line. The Broncos then had to punt for the first time since their first Possession of the game and the raiders scored two touchdowns before the third Quarter was Over to take command. It was a big thrill Townsend said of the play. I thought Denver quarterback John Elway would Audi ble that play. It fell into my Lap. I was just Happy to be there. Townsend entered this season first among Active acc players with 100 career sacks. His playing time diminished considerably but he added 7vi to that total. Townsend who has split time with Anthony Smith in recent weeks acknowledged he s had some difficulty dealing with spending More time on the Bench. It took a Long time. In certain spots i m still Strug gling with it,1 Townsend said. As Long As i can con tribute when i m out there that s the whole key. It takes a Long time to learn that. Winning is the Townsend smiled when asked if his skills have i Greg Townsend sets sights on second super bowl. Finished. I think a Little Speed other than that no he re plied. I think my technique is still there my hunger for the game. I m still learning about this game which is As Townsend pointed out the raiders have played Well enough to reach the super bowl at times this sea son and not so Well on other occasions. It s been up and Down he said. We Don t know As a team How Good we Are. When All 47 Guys make up their mind to play we re unstoppable. When All cylinders Are working we re unstoppable. We showed at times How Good we can be. We showed we doubted ourselves at times As giants jog Rice s memory by Dennis Georgatos Santa Clara Calif. A to this Day it is a play that gnaws at Jerry Rice. He was reminded of it wednesday when asked to recall the san fran Cisco 49ers past playoff encounters with the new York giants. The two teams Are meeting for a sixth time in the postseason on saturday in an pfc divisional playoff. Rice who had 98 catches and led the league in touchdowns 16 and receiving yardage 1,503 this sea son has played three postseason games against the giants. One game though stands out. I would say the playoff game in 86. They beat us 49-3," Rice said. During san Francisco s first offensive series in that game Joe Montana threw a Short slant to Rice who broke into the Clear and was sprinting toward the end zone when his knee bumped his Arm and dislodged the Ball. It rolled into the end zone where safety Kenny Hill recovered. Phil Simms then drove the giants to a touchdown and the rout was on. Who knows i had caught a slant and was off to the races. The Only thing was that i forgot to carry the Ball along with me. But that partic ular play i think Overall made me a better football player said Rice who has taken pains to make sure it does t happen again. New York 12-5 leads the Post season series with the 49ers 3-2, having won the past three including a 15-13 win in the 1990 pfc title game. San Francisco 10-6 has scored just one touchdown in those three losses. Rice has 27 catches for 454 Yards and four ads in six regular season games against the giants but just 12catches for 147 Yards and no touch Downs in the playoff meetings. He Hopes to improve the postseason numbers on saturday. To be honest i feel like this is the biggest game of my career Rice said. These Guys have done a pretty Good Job on me. We would like to do the same thing that the giants Are doing added Rice. They take the Ball use a lot of time on the clock. With the Type of defense they play they Are not going to give up the big play we Are going to have to work under Neath catch the Ball and then hold onto the Ball and try to Advance Heball up the new York which allowed the fewest Points in the league will work on knocking Rice and fellow wide receiver John Taylor off stride to try to disrupt san Francisco passing game. I think it s going to be very important for us to line up and look to try to be physical with them new York linebacker Carlton Bailey said. Said Rice we be been through that Many Many times. I Don t think we can be nil predictions Bye teams bid Farewell to wild cards by Dave Goldberg a football writer a word to the Wise while teams coming off a Bye did poorly in the regular season against teams that had played the previous week the playoffs Are different. That is the Best teams usually win and the Best teams with one exception Are the teams that got last week off. So Here Are this week s games. In order of appearance. Los Angeles raiders plus 61/z at Buffalo 6 30 . Get saturday on an Tyvand radio the los Angeles track club loved that 70-de Gree weather in the coliseum. Now they get 7 degree weather. Of the raiders won on dec 5, 25-24, but they Haven t been the most consistent team this season. Yes they beat Denver three times this year but they always beat Denver winning twice in Buffalo in one season is unlikely at Best. Of this in t the same Bill offence that clobbered the raiders 51-3 in the 1990 acc title game. And Jeff Hosteller in t Jay Schroeder he s the quarterback who beat the Bills in the super bowl for the giants that year. But you can run against the raiders. And Thurman Thomas will. Bills 21-14 new York giants plus 8 at san Francisco 10p.m. Get saturday on an to and radio the giants were the one team that played last week that probably deserved a Bye their re Cord was better than the 49ersbut they had the misfortune to play in a division with Dallas. So Why the eight Point spread Bill Walsh had a theory that san Francisco s proximity to Nevada always inflated the line on the liners he neglected to say that they also were very Good these 49ers still have the explosive offence. But the Unsung defense that used to win super bowls for them now deserves to be Unsung it gave up 4.5 Yards per Rush second worst in the league not exactly the statistic you want going into the game with the league s Best Rushing at tack. Make this one a lot like the 1990 super bowl the giants control the Ball the liners move it. 49ers.20-19 Green Bay plus 13v2 at Dallas 6 30 . Get sunday on an to and radio the packers say that when they lost 36-14 to Dallas Early in the season they were in Awe of the super bowl champions. That won t happen again. The giants who lost 31-9 in Dallas said that before they played Dallas again and took them to overtime. But this is Back in Dallas not in Green Bay and the packers Are much More mistake prone than the giants. One other thing Erik Williams has usually done a Good Job on Reggie White. If Emmitt Smith s shoulder in t ready every thing changes. Otherwise give the packers five Points for experience and make it. Cowboys 31-14.kansas City plus 7 at Houston 10p.m. Get sunday on an to and radios Meone asked Marty sch Ottenheimer on monday do you think you have a Chance Towin that s what we re in business for he replied. The chiefs have two shots the Law of averages when a team wins 11 m a Row like the oilers something has to give. N i pm Tana. The last time he faced buddy Ryan defense he was sacked nine times. He also threw for 428 Yards including four fourth Quarter . Oilers 30-24 act week 4 � spread 4-0 straight up reason 114-110-4 spread 150-78 straight a
