European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 8, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday october 8,1994 i sports the stars and stripes Page 31montana will derail chargers by Dave Goldberg a football writer Tust when they were about to go 4-0, the Kansas City chiefs were shocked two weeks ago by the los Angeles rams probably the biggest upset in the nil this year. Now after a week off the chiefs go to san Diego <9 sunday on an to against the Only team that is 4-0. V two things at work Here _ 1, the chiefs probably weren to quite Good enough to be 4-0, particularly since they had the emotional reunion Between Joe Montana and the 49ers two weeks ear pro football predictions her. They managed to stay up for the Falcons but went Flat against the rams. 2, the chargers probably Aren t quite Good enough to be 4-0. But they Are thanks to a Little Good Fortune and a lot of Gutsy play particularly by Stan Humphries. Then they got the week off to heal Humphries knee among other injuries. Are they Good enough to be 5-0? the Odd makers say they Are a by a Point or less than the Home Field advantage. Fine but Montana has a Way of making Odds look silly. Particularly on a weeks rest after a horrible game. Chiefs 24-15 Miami plus 2v4 at Buffalo Don Shula wont admit it but he had a few mixed feelings about beating son David last week. Somehow Marv Levy does no to fit in that category 6 . Get sunday on an radio. Dolphins 31-26 Minnesota plus i i at , giants monday night the giants weren to Good enough to be 4-0, so they Aren t. The Vikings loss last week May have been Ai Case of Arizona being too Good to be 0-4. We know Cris Carter can catch. If Jake Reed and Qadry Ismail join him. 2 . Get tuesday on an radio and to Vikings 27-20 Arizona plus 13 at Dallas buddy son a Roll. For one game anyway. Cowboys 22-13 san Francisco minus 5 at Detroit Charlie Garner riddled the san Francisco defense so imagine what Barry Sanders can do. Still Sanders has run for 297 Yards and a 7.8 average the past two weeks and the Lions Are 0-2. 49ers, 32-25. Los Angeles raiders plus 3 at new England the Odds alone Tell you what Bill parcel is has done for the patriots. The other Edge Parcells knows Jeff Hostetler and How to defend against him 9 . Get chiefs Joe Montana is Back after a weeks rest and taking at the 4-0 san Diego chargers. Sunday on an radio. Patriots 37-33 Denver plus 3 at Seattle pie Broncos always have trouble in the kingdom this Isnit in the kingdom but the Broncos have All the trouble they need. Sea Hawks 31-18 Washington plus 13vi at Philadelphia Heath Shuler is learning More about the nil than he wants to know. . Get monday on an radio and to. Eagles 37-11. New Orleans plus 3. At Chicago Steve Walsh against one of the teams that did no to think he was Good enough. He Isnit. Saints 23-20 Indianapolis plus 6 at new York jets these games have a Way of ending 9-6 or 6-3. There a More scoring this year. 6 . Get sunday on an jets 12-9 Tampa Bay plus 7 at Atlanta Tampa a special teams accounted for two touchdowns last week. Atlanta has Frank Gansz the special teams guru. Falcons 24-11 los Angeles rams plus 8 at Green Bay if you lose 8-5 at Home it gets worse on the Road. Packers 18-5. Last week 5-7 spread 6-6 straight up season 29-34-3 spread 37-29 straight up struggling raiders will look deep against pats by Howard Ulman. Foxboro mass. Apr the los Angeles raiders like to throw deep. On sunday they Hope to catch deep too 9 . Get sunday on an radio. Their wide receivers have world class Speed but disappointing production. In a season in which the raiders were a popu Jar pick to reach the super bowl they Are struggling with a 1-3 record. The quartet of Tim Brown rocket Ismail James Jett and Alexander Wright could break free against the new England patriots who were burned by the Long pass in their first two games both losses. But the patriots 3-2 have won their last three games behind an improved defense and the continued excellence of Drew Bledsoe who has far outdone the Raide jts by leading the nil in passing Yards. A i done to think we get too excited if we see somebody a secondary getting burned for 400 Yards a game a Brown said. A we All know that that could end quickly against despite Jeff Hostetler s tendency to throw deep the raiders rank just 19th in average gain per pass play. The patriots Are third. Brow Ismail Wright who starts has just two catches. Jett has caught Only five balls Ismail 13 and Brown the slowest of the receivers 22 Ismail has averaged 15.1 Yards per catch the same As new England tight end Ben Coates who is much slower. The patriots Are second in the acc with eight interceptions but Are wary of the raiders Long play potential. A was a cornerback in the nil Confidence on the deep Ball lasts about one play a said Rod Smith who plays that spot for new England. A you try to go out there and stay deeper than the that poses problems if the raiders decide to throw Short something Brown said was a key to their Only win 48-16 at Denver. A a it a still dangerous for the defense just to make sure we done to get beat on the Shorter stuff and the running game a Patti of safety Myron Guyton said. A if you put All your focus Oward the deep passing game they re going to beat you Hostetler also has great scrambling ability although he a run Only six times this season. He a been holding the Ball longer waiting for receivers to get open and that has led to some of the 14 sacks against him / a they do not care about sacks a said Patriot coach Bill Parcells who coached Hostetler from 1984 through 1990 with the new York giants. A you sack them so what. They Are going to throw it 20 More Quot they do not want their quarterback to get killed bul they do not care about a while Hostetler has completed 56.6 percent of his passes part of the blame for the raiders problems rests on his shoulders a a we be had some people open and Jeff would be the first to Tel you we be missed some Jongs passes Raider coach Art Shell said. But Brown thinks the troubles run deeper than a few misguided throws. A a we re just not playing with a lot of intensity on game Day a he said. The team also suffered from the hype that it was the class of the acc. A with All the accolades we were getting in the preseason it was hard not to think about a of we be just got to make sure we get Homefield advantage a for the playoffs Brown said. A hopefully everyone is a Little bit More modest around Here now a 1 the diverging directions of the teams a the patriots have averaged Over 120 Yards More per game than the raiders a was symbolized by their most recent games. The raiders who had last sunday off lost to san Diego 26-24 on John carneys Field goal with two seconds left. The patriots beat Green Bay 17-16 last sunday on Matt Bahrs Field goal with four seconds to go. Bledsoe completed 29 of 53 passes for 334 Yards and two touchdowns and was named acc player of the week. He has Many weapons to throw to. Wide and Vincent Brisby fullback Kevin Turner and Coates each has at least 20 receptions. Bledsoe has been sacked just six times
