European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 07, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 30 the stars and stripes sports saturday january 7,1995 Blue Collar Crews ready for slug est by Alan Robinson Pittsburgh a super bowl teams Are supposed to be glamorous with glitzy stars and millionaire Quad under pressure by leading the Browns to an upset in Dallas and a wild card playoff Victory Over new England. The same quarterback who threw six Ter backs not your average Joes super critical interceptions in the Browns two regular season losses to Pittsburgh played virtually mistake free. He was 51-ir-77 for 614 Yards and four ads. There were a lot of people out there who did t think our quarterback could do it Browns coach Bill Belichick said. Still it la take More than one big game to convince the Steeles defense. Defensive end Ray seals recalls How Testaverde would break the huddle see the Steeles stacked up eight across along the line of scrimmage and get that wish i bowl teams have Guys like Joe Montana and Joe Namath. Then Over in the Blue Collar division the acc Central there s Pittsburgh s Neil o Donnell and Cleveland s Vinny Testaverde the quarterbacks who sup Posedly can t take a team to the super bowl but might prevent one from getting there the Browns and Steeles stage on sat urday what More resembles a 15-round title fight than a four Quarter showdown for a trip to the acc championship were anywhere but Here look. Game. The winning quarterback might you can look in a Guy s eyes and just Resit to Tira to a i a a w r f it tit in car to it -. 4 c a in to n trl Al \ ii not in i Lowil a not have the better statistics. He might simply be the Guy left standing. Vinny knows we re going to pressure him said Greg Lloyd the Steeles All pro linebacker and All world intimidator. In the past if you put a Little pressure on him it sort of Shook him a Little bit. He would t make the right decisions. See it seals said. We be got Calls where we bring people from everywhere. The quarterback thinks we re probably bring ing them out of the Concession stands. Right then and there you wonder can he handle it can he handle All of those seven Guys lined up can he. Handle Kevin Greene and Greg Lloyd coming at he s gotten better but at the same time the same time you see Guys coming up he s got to think about it Guys Are going to the line and they re worried " be in his face. Guys Are going to Beto b mis tace buy knocking him  o Donnell also knows the feel of blast Furnace hot pressure and not necessarily from the opposition. Even to some fans o Donnell is considered a major liability the Steeles unknown fac Tor entering the playoffs despite Pitts Burgh s two earlier victories Over Cleve land. Will he be the o Donneil who was Good enough to take the Steeles to the seals saw that look when the Steeles intercepted Testaverde four times on sept. 11 in Cleveland and when they picked off two More passes dec. 18. He did t see it sunday against new eng land. He was a totally different player said seals Testaverde s close Friend when the two were Tampa Bay team mates. He s More confident now More confident than he s Ever been before. I always thought he was a Good Quad Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Michael Dean Perry works out on a stationary bicycle As he prepares for saturday s nil playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steeles. Playoffs the last two seasons or the quarterback in Tampa but he never got much Terback whose erratic streaks had steel pass Protection there. He was miserable ers fans chanting for backup Mike Tom in Tampa wanting to get out and play for a a Good  Testaverde found one but he did t exactly endear himself to the Browns Dawg Pound fans by unseating the re Vered Bernie Kosar. He s still not Quile won them Over and hell be playing As much saturday to silence the disquieted voices of Cleveland As he will the Jack Hammer loud fans of Pittsburgh. Czak Only a month ago my Confidence is Fine o Donnell said. If you Don t execute plays and score Points the quarterback takes All the heat and he expects it. That s the nature of the position ask Vinny. In the last three weeks Testaverde shredded the conventional Wisdom about his inability to deliver bears7 pass defense faces toughest test this season by Dennis Georgatos Santa Clara Calif. A Don Nell Woolford has plenty of respect for the san Francisco 49ers passing attack he also expects the Chicago bears secondary to hold up against it. Jerry Rice might be the greatest receiver of All time said Woolford the Chicago cornerback most Likely to cover Rice in sat urday s divisional playoff John Taylor s a great one too. Brent Jones is a player. They have great receivers. But no Way am i scared Man. I m up for the Challenge. We re human. San Francisco s  Woolford fellow Corner Jeremy Lin Coln safeties Shaun Gayle and Mark Carrier and Nickel Back Maurce Douglass formed the fifth Best pass defense in the league. And while none of them May be going to the pro bowl they created plenty of problems for the opposition surren Dering Only two 300-Yard passing games All year. _. _1we Don t get a lot of notice but we believe we re As Good As anyone in the league Douglass said. We Don t have the one marquee player like a Deion Sanders or a Ronnie Lott but As a group we get the Job done. San Francisco receiver Nate Singleton agreed. _ a. -.-", All of them Fly to the Ball and every body Back there wants to make plays he said. From watching film on them they look rather aggressive and i guess every body turns their play up a notch or two at playoff time. I would say they re a scrappy group of  certainly the 49ers 13-3 pose the greatest test yet for the Chicago secon Dary. Behind an map season by Steve Young san Francisco had the pfc s most productive offence. Three of the conference s top seven touchdown scorers were 49ers with Jerry Rice 15ricky waiters 11 and Brent Jones 9 combining for 35 of san Francisco steam record 66 touchdowns looking on film i Don t even see How they lost three games. They look great Carrier said. Chicago scored Only 30 ads All season so the bears defense will be under pres sure to slow Down the 49ers and keep the game close. We re going to have to be at our Best so Many weapons because they have Douglass said. A you can t wait and see when an Opportunity is going to come. You take your chances when you get them. Carrier said. If we Don t go in being aggressive and trying to make something happen i could be too  " san Francisco Center Bart Gates said he expects the bears to come in Loose and ready to play with their defense anxious to make a statement against the49ers Star Laden offence. It s a Good defense Oates said. They Hustle. They play very aggressive. They be got a Good scheme. It s reminiscent of the cowboys unit three years ago and they re on a Roll right now. They played Well against Minnesota last week a 35-18 wild card win and unless we re ready to play we re going to be in for Abig Surprise. We re not favored by Accident against the bears we have More Talent. But Tal ent alone does t translate into Points on the Board. You have to do what s expected of you. You have to do your Job. If you Don to if the Guys next to you Don to you re setting yourself up for a  oers keep Fisher As Houston a the hous ton oilers coming off an nil worst 2-14 season have decided the Best Man for their coaching Job was the one they temporarily put in charge almost two months ago. Jeff Fisher who started the sea son As Houston s defensive coordinator officially was tabbed to keep the Job thursday despite winning just one of six games after he re placed the fired Jack Pardee nov. 14. ,._. We said from the beginning that wins and losses were not the no. 1 Factor Floyd Reese the oilers general manager said. Reese said he was convinced Fisher was the right Choice when the team showed steady improvement despite introducing an entirely new offensive scheme. They lost their first five games under Fisher before finally winning the season finale Over the new York jets