European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 2, 1995, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 30 the stars and stripes sports saturday september 2,199549ers Best even if worst happens by Barry Wilner a football writer unless the slew of preseason injuries continues unless Deion goes elsewhere unless the free Agency loss of Ricky Watters destroys the running game and disrupts the passing attack the san Francisco 49ers will Romp through the pfc West again. Even if All those things happen the 49ers might run away with the division. San Francisco fresh off a record fifth super bowl and primed for a sixth is the class of a weak sector not to mention the class of All football. Owner Eddie Debartolo and team by lips re president car men policy. Know How to attract the Best Talent. Atlanta looks like the second Best team albeit Light years behind san Francisco. New Orleans could Challenge the Falcons while expansion Carolina and. The freshly placed rams go at it to stay out of the cellar.1. San Francisco the liners Arentt where they want to be entering the season. Injuries to fullback William Floyd and receiver . Stokes the top draft pick damaged their continuity. The offensive line is aging and not particularly deep. Watters is in Philadelphia and Sanders is playing baseball. All that Means is san Francisco might lose one of its first six games before really getting into gear. By nov. 12, when they visit Dallas in another game of the dec Acle and the next week when they Are at Miami the 49ers should be on stride. A a a a map Steve Young goes after another passing title and Jerry Rice needs 729 Yards to be the career receiving yardage Leader. They merely Are the Best at what they do Rice is the Best receiver Ever. Stokes should be Back by mid season but with John Taylor still around to work with Rice and unheralded Nate Singleton coming on the Rookie wont have to hurry. Tight end Brent Jones makes Doz cons of big catches and with Watters gone could haul in 75 balls. Floyd when healthy will take Over Many of the Rushing duties. Until then the liners will go with untested Derek Loville putting More Strain on Young. We think he can handle it. If Deion were available now the salary Cap pinched 49els would have trouble signing him. But by the time baseball sea son ends they should find a Way a and might give him some offensive response bitties too. You can just see Sanders. Smiling at that Prospect right now. San Francisco made a huge leap defensively in 1994 with acquisitions of linebackers Ken Norton or. And Gary Plummer Rookie tackle Bryant Young Rookie la Lee Woodall Sanders and pass Rush cars Rickey Jackson and Tim Harris. Most of the defensive cast returns with Young and All pro Dana Stubblefield the Guys to watch. Both Are equally adept is. The run and the pass. The secondary is Good without Sanders great with him. Safety Merton Hanks developed into a pro bowl player when he moved from the Corner and he should be even better with a full season of experience at the position. The 49ers have More holes on offence than defense and How strange is that but we re not talking the grand Canyon either and their second string a along with Young Rice and Jones on offence plus the tackles Norton Plummer and Hanks on defense might win the West.2. Atlanta for the Falcons to get anywhere they must Shore up a defense that ranked 27th against the pass and Overall. Yet the cast a file map Steve Young and his 49ers Hope to keep a tight grip on super bowl trophy. Is almost exactly the same with Only linebacker Darryl Talley a newcomer. Talley 35, brings with him leadership and winning experience from Buffalo. An excellent presence on and off the Field he also carries lots of mileage. So does the other outside linebacker 39-year-old Clay Matthews. New coordinator Joe Haering believes there is enough left in both of them As they surround Workhorse Middle linebacker Jessie Tuggle who made 195 tackles in �?T94. Is there enough left in end Chris Dole Man once an All pro sackmaster but an underachiever last season the other end Chuck Smith is a Comer. The secondary wont scare the liners and Quick development by rookies Devin Bush and Ronald Davis is needed. The offence could scare a lot of teams particularly with Eric Metcalf acquired from Cleveland. Sure leading deep threat Andre Rison went the other Way but Metcalf is the All purpose Back this team has lacked for too Long. Jeff George seems to have matured in Atlanta and he has Terance Mathis Bert Emmanuel and , Birden As targets along with Metcalf. The run and shoot might not be a championship offence but it could be Good enough to get Atlanta into the playoffs. How ironic would it be if the Falcons Edge the saints by one game for a playoff berth with Morten Andersen kicking the decisive Field goal in their dec. 10 matchup could happen.3. New Orleans the saints have made a turnaround from being carried by the defense to possessing some offensive explosiveness. It is the defense that will let them Down. Jim Everett resurrected his career in �?T94 with a change of venue and hell have to be on  again to a Strong group of receivers because the running game is Uncertain. Rookie fullback Ray Zellars should help a lot. The line features All pro tackle William. Roaf Center Jeff Uhlenhake and guard Jim Dombrowski. Coach Jim Mora always lived and died with his defense. Hell die quickly if he relies on it too much this year.4. Carolina As an expansion team Carolina would expect to have some holes. Yet the panthers will present a pretty fair starting lineup depth is nonexistent. Coach Dom Capers ran the defense in Pittsburgh. His unit in Carolina features Darion Conner Sam Mills Carlton Bailey Lamar Lathon and Frank Stams at linebacker not a bad Start. Rookie Tyrone Poole will make some big plays in the secondary but the line is weak. A so is the offensive line. Frank Reich keeps the quarterback position w Arm until Kerry Collins is ready a or the line is ready to protect him. Don Beebe and pfc West preview How they la finish 1. 49ers 12-4 2. Falcons 9-7 3. Saints 8-8 4. Panthers 4-12 5. Rams 4-12 new faces by Dave Goldberg football writer a Quick look at the new faces m the pfc West Impact players Frank Reich quarterback and Barry Foster running Back Carolina. Reich Jim Kelly a longtime backup with the Bills finally gets his own team to run in Carolina. He started just eight games in 10 seasons in Buffalo but one was one of the most memorable a the january 1993 playoff game in which he led the Bills to Victory Over Houston after they trailed 353 in the third Quarter the biggest comeback in nil history. Foster the of cd a leading rusher in 1992 with 1,690 Yards for Pittsburgh was dealt with his $2.5 million salary to the panthers after Bam Morris moved ahead of him on the St Clersy depth Chart. Beset by nagging injuries Foster s yardage totals have dropped steadily since his Peak year and the same injuries have set him Back in Carolina. Eric Metcalf running Back kick returner Atlanta. Cleveland Sall purpose version of Dave Meggett he was traded to Atlanta in a salary Cap move. Last year he returned two punts for touchdowns caught 47 passes and ran for 329 Yards and gives the Falcons run and shoot offence a receiver and breakaway threat out of the running Back position and a complement to 260-Pound Craig a Iron head Heyward. Darryl Talley linebacker Atlanta. Left Buffalo after they signed Paup. One of the Unsung heroes of buffaloes four straight acc titles he was consid Rcd expendable because of his big salary and because he a 36. New coaches Rich Brooks St. Louis age 54. Previous Job head coach univer sity of Oregon. Teams previous coach Chuck Knox fired after 1994 season. Professional playing experience none. College playing experience single Wing tailback Oregon St., 1959-63. Coaching experience 32 years two in nil As rams special teams coach 1971-72. Coaching strength motivation. Coaching weakness Lack of nil experience. Dom Capers Carolina age 45. Previous Job defensive coordinator Pittsburgh steel cars. Teams previous coach none expansion team. A professional playing experience none. A College playing experience defensive Back mount Union College. A coaching experience 24 years 11 pro a Baltimore Philadelphia Usel new Orleans Pittsburgh. Coaching strength defensive strategy. Coaching weakness Lack of head coaching experience. A. Mark Carrier Are Veteran receivers and John Kasay is a terrific kicker indoors. The panthers play outside.5. St. Louis the rams now play in St. Louis first outside then in the As yet unnamed dome come october.  wont matter.  be a bad team in either place. Only running Back Jerome Bettis Center Bern Brostek defensive tackles Jimmie Jones and Sean Gilbert linebackers roman Phifer and Shane Conlan and cornerback Anthony Parker Are Worth mentioning. So that Sall Well mention. R