UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, August 22, 1996
13B
AFC PREVIEW
Buffalo Bills favored to win the AFC
Barry Wilner AP Football Writer
The last three AFC representatives — OK, losers — in the Super Bowl were Pittsburgh, San Diego and Buffalo. The three teams who will win the AFC division crowns this year likely will be the Steelers, Chargers and Bills.
Like every other team in the league, however, this trio has its holes. Free agency, age and injuries, even bad luck, have made sure of that.
The entire AFC is a jumble in which only one team,
be truly awful. Those on the rise, such as Houston, Cincinnati, Jacksonville, New York and Seattle, aren't quite ready to leap into the elite category, such as it is. Instead, the old stand-bus in Buffalo see.
ready for one last-gasp drive for the elusive championship. This time, the Bills just might get it.
The core cast of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Kent Hull and Andre Reed is intact. It's older and more banged-up but with enough experience and remaining talent to get back to the top.
"I've done just about everything I can possibly do except win a Super Bowl," Hull says. "If it comes around the time that we win a Super Bowl, I'm probably going to hang it up."
Kelly had off-season show der surgery and is throwing well again. The amazingly consistent Thomas now has a decent backup in Darick Holmes, if Holmes overcomes a tendency to fumble. Reed might be the No. 3 receiver behind free-agent
pickup Quinn Early and rookie Eric Moulds. Hull, the always-reliable center, has two solid players to his left in tackle John Fina and guard Ruben Brown.
But it's Smith who has gotten the most help in the past few years. The Bills added Bryce Paup last season and the linebacker-end led the NFL with 171/2 sacks to be named Defensive Player of the Year. This season, the big addition is inside linebacker Chris Spielman, a monster against the run and a better team player than the departed Cornelius Bennett.
The secondary, if cornerback Jeff Burris keeps developing and stays healthy, might be the best the Bills have had. Phil Hansen, Ted Washington and Jim Jeffcoat are strong complements on the line for Smith, around whom everything still revolves.
"He's amazing, that guy," Paup says. "He could probably just show up on Sunday and not even look at anything until two minutes before the game, and he'd still be Bruce Smith."
The Steelers have some players
like that, too. Limebacker Greg
Lloyd is an All-Pro on an out-
standing unit. Cornerback
games.
Rod Woodson made the league's all-time greatest squad and is the anchor of another first-rate group. Pittsburgh's defense will decide many
But the offense will miss Neil O'Donnell more than anyone imagined. O'Donnell's last two seasons were terrific, and Jim Miller has much to learn to reach that level.
At least he has lots of support, particularly if Jerome Bettis breaks out of his funk to complement Erric Pegram in the backfield. The receiving corps is deep and skilled, and the offensive line, despite losing tackle Leon Searcy, remains solid, especially at center (Dermontti Dawson) and left guard (free agent Will Wolfford).
San Diego needed a 5-0 run to qualify as a wild card last season, a year after going to its first Super Bowl.
injuries and inconsistency hurt the Chargers, but they produced when they had to.
They still have players who can come through in the conference's most competitive division.
We've been there before, and we want to get back there, to the top," says star linebacker Junior Seau. "We still have the foundation of players who got us to the Super Bowl."
"We've been there before.
Actually, not that many. But enough for another solid shot.
Seau is joined by dependable Kurt Gouveia and unheralded Lewis Bush, but the strength of San Diego's defense is up front, particularly if newcomer Marcus Coleman plays as he did for coach Bobby Ross at Georgia Tech, where they won the national championship.
The Chargers are confident Aaron Hayden's 96.8-yard average in four starts last year was a harbinger. Hayden replaces Natrone Means as the workhorse back, while standout Tony Martin (90 catches in '95)
is by far the best of a questionable for or receivers. Nobody has a better kicking game than the Chargers.
Kansas City, which went 13-3 a year ago and has almost the same cast, should push the Charg-
Which Steve Bono will show up at quarterback? Can Marcus Allen keep going forever in the backfield? Is Tamarick Vanover ready to step up as a game-breaking receiver?
ars. Still, the memory of that 10-7 loss at home to the Colts — after a perfect regular season — is haunting.
At least there are few doubts about the offensive line.
If the Chiefs are a power this year, it will be because of the defense. Neil Smith, Derrick Thomas, Dale Carter, Dan Saleaumua and mates are capable of carrying a team to unexpected heights.
The Raiders were at those heights,
2 and surging, when everything went wrong last fall. They lost their final six games after Jeff Hostetler
was injured and the backup quarterbacks flopped. There was turmoil in the locker room and among the coaches.
But there's too much talent for a healthy Raiders team to flounder. Added to the defense were Super Bowl MVP Larry Brown at cornerback, Russell Maryland at tackle and Lorenzo Lynch at safety. The Raiders already had monstrous tackle Chester McGlockton, end Pat Swilling and linebacker Rob Fredrickson.
The offense, when run by Hoss, also is impressive, sparked by steady wideout Tim Brown and runners Harvey Williams and Napoleon Kaufman. Top draft pick Rickey Dudley could be a force at tight end.
Indy should grab another wild-card slot, and the Colts proved how dangerous they are in that position with their postseason spurt last January. A shakeup in the coaching staff might be detrimental, but memories of coming within a dropped desperation pass of the Super Bowl should spur Jim Harbaugh, Marshall Foulk, Touw Bennett, Jeff Horn.
Faulk, Tony Bennett, Jeff Herrod et al.
If Houston could expect any kind of home support, it might catch Pittsburgh in the Central. Wait a year on the Oilers, who have rebuilt well.
Cincinnati doesn't have
enough defense to make the playoffs, and Jacksonville doesn't have the experience yet. Miami is being remade by Jimmy Johnson. All three could be major factors in 1997.
But this is 1996.
PREDICTIONS: EAST — Buffalo; CENTRAL — Pittsburgh; WEST — San Diego.
Wild Cards — Indianapolis, Kansas City, Oakland. AFC Champion — Buffalo.
Player may help Chiefs meet goals
Dolphins send steady kicker Stoyanovich to Kansas City for an undisclosed draft choice
Associated Press
DAVIE, Fla. — The Miami Dolphins traded Pete Stoyanovich, the NFL's fourth all-time accurate kicker, to Kansas City yesterday for an undisclosed draft choice.
"I kind of saw things coming," a teary-eyed Stoyanovich said after being informed of the trade. "There will always be a place in my heart for South Florida. It's been a great thrill."
Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson, who puts a high price on field positions, decided to go with untested second-year kicker Joe Nedney because of his long kickoffs.
"Pete can kick off the ball as well, but not as long as Joe," Johnson said.
Kansas City's weak kicking game was highlighted in the Chiefs' first playoff game when Lin Elliott missed three field goals in a 10-7 loss to Indianapolis.
The Chiefs waived Roman Anderson this week, and it was thought that Bjorn Nittmo had won the job. On Monday, Nedney made a 48-yard field goal in the rain against Minnesota, while Stoyanovich hit the uprights on a 42-yard attempt.
Stoyanovich spent seven years with the Dolphins. He holds the Dolphins record for field goals 50 yards or more with 16. He also made the longest goal in NFL playoff history — a 58-yarder against the Chiefs on Jan. 5, 1991.
He ranks as the second leading scorer in Dolphins history with 774 career points. In the past seven seasons, only Atlanta's Morten Anderson has scored more points or made more field goals.
"Very rarely do you trade kickers," Johnson said. "It's an unusual case. Pete is a quality kicker, and Kansas City had problems with their field goals last year. It cost them in the playoffs."
The draft pick that the Dolphins receive from the Chiefs could move up one round if Stoyanovich makes the Pro Bowl.
Nedney, cut by Green Bay in 1995, was signed by the Dolphins last march as a free agent and spent time on the team's practice squad. He made only 39 of 70 field goal attempts while at San Jose State. However, he has worked on his foot work with Miami coaches to eliminate a hook in his kick.
"He's got some big shoes to fill," Stoyanovich said.
"But he has a size 13 foot."
STREETSIDE RECORDS
what you missed while you were away...
Proving Winter Cruel the brand new full length album by KILL CREEK.
See them Friday, August 23rd at the Bottleneck.
mammGth
1403 W.23rd·842-7173
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