Section B·Page 4
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, September 5,1997
49ers injuries may mean victory for the Rams
Other teams gear up for their games
The Associated Press
Dick Vermell probably never imagined it would come this early. But his St. Louis Rams have a chance Sunday to alter the balance of power in the NFC West.
The San Francisco 49ers come to St. Louis as troubled as they've been since they won the first of their five Super Bowls in 1981. Jerry Rice was lost for the season in a 13-6 loss to Tampa Bay, Steve Young is coming off his third concussion in 10 months, backup Jeff Brohm is hurting, and Steve Maruicci, the new coach, looks like a man who's been told by the captain of the ship: "We're going down — you take over."
It will be tough enough if the relatively inexperienced Brohm plays — he fractured a bone in his right hand relieving Young in Tampa. But if he doesn't, then it's Jim Druckenmiller, the first-round draft choice who didn't even sign until two weeks before the season opened.
Steinberg thinks Young will want to play, but also suggests the Rams will be taking direct aim at him.
And Vermeil, who won his first game since 1982 last week, has been emphasizing the Rams' problems: offensive line, the defense, the youth.
Mariucci would take his worries in a second.
Washington (1-0) at Pittsburgh (0-1)
rebounded to win five straight.
(1-0)
Another crossroads game, especially for the Steelers, overwhelmed 37-7 by the Cowboys last week. That's nothing new
Pittsburgh beaten 24-9 by Jacksonville in its opener last season and
Buffalo (0-1) at New York Jets
An interesting test for the Jets,
who haven lost since Bill Parcells arrived — they were 40 in exhibitions, then overwhelmed Seattle 41-3. Next week is Parcells' return to New England, so this could be a sandwich game — a letdown against a team that still has the experience, defense and coaching to stay competitive.
Kansas City (0-1) at Oakland (0-1) (Monday night)
For now. Oakland might hav
I can't have gotten the quarterback it needs in Jeff George, who combined with Tim Brown on three touchdown passes last week after a bad first half. That it lost in over time may be irrelevant if he continues to
play that way the rest of the season without alienating any teammates or coaches.
Green Bay (1-0) at Philadelphia (0-1)
Listen to the grizzled old coach. "We just got to go on," Fritz Shurmur, the Packers' defensive coordinator, says of injuries that have cost the Packers three starters: running back Edgar Bennett, tight end Mark Chmura and cornerback Craig New-
some. "You'd like to have all of your guns, but it just doesn't work that way in this game .
Injuries are so big a part of this game, you got to be able to play over them."
New England (1-0) at Indianapolis (0-1)
What's more important, good players or superstar coaches like
Denver (1-0) at Seattle (0-1)
Diego.
Maybe not a must win for the
Seahawks, but it's a "must looking a defense that can take them to the Super Bowl. If it remains that tough, it will be a first in Denver.
good" after last week's 41-3 debacle against the Jets. Paul Allen has to be wondering why he's throwing millions into this group? The Broncos did to Kansas City what Mike Shanahan wanted, demonstrat-
Jimmy Johnson stirred
formance in last week's win over the Colts. Marino's problem isn't his head or his heart, it's his oft-damaged legs.
New York Giants (1-0) at Jacksonville (1-0)
The Giants started the quarterback trouble for the Jags when
up south Florida by saying he considered replacing Dan Marino during his 10- of 26 per-
Matthews, whose first five NFL passes were thrown last week, and Jim Miller, who was signed on Tuesday.
Jessie Arm stead crashed into Mark Brunell's knee in an exhibition game a month ago. Now Rob Johnson is hobbling on a sprained ankle. If he can't play, Jacksonville is down to Stieve
Dallas (1-0) at Arizona (0-1)
Playing in Arizona is like a home game for the Cowboys, who have a large fan base in the desert. The way they played in Pittsburgh last week, they don't need that edge — Troy Aikman and
Michael Irvin are enough.
Minnesota (1-0) at Chicago (0-
1)
The Bears showed Monday night in Green Bay why they'll have problems this year. They dominated for 28 minutes, but didn't
have enough punch without the injured Curtis Conway at receiver.
open the win in Buffalo last week.
Minnesota has the punch, particularly if Robert Smith stays healthy (he rarely has). Smith's 78·yard touchdown run broke
Tampa Bay (1-0) at Detroit (1-0)
(1-0)
This could be a good read on the Bucs. The Lions tend to be tough at home, although they've never had to face those new uniforms that make the Buccaneers look a
lot fiercer
(particularly
W ar r e n
Sapp.)
and we were operating on five against Atlanta," coach Bobby Ross said.
(particularly
Warren
Sapp.)
S c o t t
Mitchell got
away with a
bad game
against the
Falcons
because the
Lions got a
good game
from their
defense. "We
have an
eight-cylinder
Carolina (0-1) at Atlanta (0-1)
This kind of game tends to be
Carolina is showing all the signs of a team in turmoil. Steve
Beuerlein looked every bit the backup against the Redskins on Sunday night and Lamar Lathon and Sam Mills, the heart of the defense, hurt their ankles.
Dan Reeves' strength
he can get a team ready,
particularly at home
against a team that's supposed to be better.
Cincinnati (1-0) at Baltimore (0-1)
It took three quarters for the Bengals to wake up against the Cards last week. But at least Jeff Blake is a good fourth-quarter quarterback.
Vinny Testaverde, who finally reached his potential last season, reverted to his Tampa model last week, with three touchdowns, but also three interceptions, including one in the fourth quarter as the
Ravens were driving for what could have been the winning score against the Jaguars.
San Diego (0-1) at New Orleans (0-1)
Off the first week, these may be the NFL's two worst teams — Mike Ditka didn't hesitate to express his dismay with the
Saints' performance in St. Louis. The Chargers lost S t a n Humphries in New England too. Junior Seau might be back for San Diego, and Jim Everett probably will be the quart er b ack against the team and
coach that cut him loose last spring. It would be no surprise if Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel got his first start for the Saints in place of QB Heath Shuler.
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