From: timr@sco.COM (Tim Ruckle)
Subject: obligatory Young-bashing (was Re: NINERS WIN a THRILLER (IMHO))
Organization: The Gifted and The Damned
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 20:17:23 GMT
Summary: Montana's shadow darkens NFL's Most Valuable Player


Va negvpyr <Adriene_Nazaretian.101.0@QM.cis.YALE.EDU>
Adriene_Nazaretian@QM.cis.YALE.EDU (ALN - Go Giants!) jevgrf:
} 
} What he fails to mention is that Young looked aweful compared to his regular 
} season.  Why did he look so bad?  The Skins were DECENT, but not all that 
} good.  Was it the weather.

nope.  it was Young's first post-season start.  and there was Joe Montana
suited up on the sidelines.  if the Niners had lost this one, Young's
passing title and league MVP award would have been for naught.  hell,
they *won* the game and somebody's already starting a _Dump Steve Young_
movement.

Young was nervious.  he reverted to the Steve Young of last year, who
felt he had to win every game all by himself.  consequently, he almost
lost it.  my guess is that having weathered this game, he'll be more
focused in the next.

Young went 20-for-30, for 227 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT.  eleven years ago,
in Montana's first playoff game, Joe went 20-for-31, for 304 yards, 2 TDs,
and 1 INT.  incidently, they both led their teams to a *win*.  this time
though, Young gets to start against the 'Boys for the Championship game.

Young's 2 TD passes were better than average for him, and his 73 yards
on 8 runs was his best rushing game of the season.  if not for his two
running plays where he coughed up the ball, we'd probably be talking
about what a stellar performance he put in.  in fact that first fumble,
after scrambling for 9 yards down to the Washington 37, was perhaps the
real turning point of the game.  if the Niners had gone up 14-0 early
in the game i think it would have been a rout from then on...

} Wasnt Youngs last poorly played game in inclimate weather?  

nope.  on December 6th the Niners hosted the Dolphins in a downpour.  Young
was 19-for-27 for 220 yards, 2 TD's, and 1 INT.  (you may remember this game
as the one were Rice caught his 101st TD...)  he played the first half in
the last game of the regular season against the Lions, and while he didn't
look godlike, i don't think you'd call his performance poor.  he fumbled 3
times against the Bucs three weeks ago, but the Niners only lost 1 of those.

the Niners are 3-0 in The Swamp.  i expect that the 'Boys will be wearing
their six-inch cleats (and it's *so* hard to find a decent pair of pumps
in a men's size 16).

} Of all the turnovers, how many of them were youngs fault (fumble, etc)

i would say all of them.  you might say he got a bad break when he had the
ball knocked out by his own teammate as he was picking himself up off the
ground.  but i think it was a mental error, as was not covering up the ball
on another fumble.  i can forgive one INT on an ill-advised pass, but i
sure hope he plays just a tad more conservatively next Sunday when he takes
off running against the 'Boys defense.

Gura jvgu Fhowrpg: Thank God for the Niner DEFENSE,
va negvpyr <BBNM22202E6644@MPA15C>
MPA15C!MP@TRENGA.tredydev.unisys.com jevgrf:
} I'm starting a Dump Steve Young movement.

Young-bashing.  who woulda thunk it.  seems like old times...

} If everyone who thinks that Steve Young's three inexcusable fumbles
} and one stupid interception warrant his explusion from the league will
} send me $10.00 then we can find someone to encourage Steve to start
} his career as lawyer.

well, you'll only need about 300,000 folks to ante up to buy him out for
next year.  mayhaps you can get the defenses of the other 27 teams to
sweeten the kitty a bit so they won't have to face him???

} In watching this game I kept getting the feeling that Young actually
} wanted to lose the game.

nope, he just wanted to keep it close so the 'Skins would beat the
spread.  Eddie had a lot of money riding on this game, and he needs
a large bankroll to pay off the refs in the Super Bowl.  also, those
sacrificial virgins which he offers up to the Luck God are getting
harder and harder to find in California.  supply and demand...

} Thank goodness that the defense didn't agree...they did all the
} defensive things they needed to do in order to win the game.

as they did in close ones in the regular season against the Saints,
Eagles, et al.  on that last defensive stand the 49ers sacked Rypien
4 times in 6 plays, and even after a defensive holding penalty the
'Skins could not even get the ball to mid-field.  and after the game,
Rypien credited the Niner *secondary* for those sacks.

so what else is new: the Niner D is underrated.  that's what happens
when you have an awesome offense.  what most folks don't realize is
that this was a brilliant, calculated move on Seifert's part.  make
it virtually impossible for the opponent not to plan on attacking
the secondary.  concentrate on stopping the run.  let 'em score if
need be, just get our offense back on the field and avoid those ten
minute drives.  lull them into a false sense of security, then when
it's time for a fourth-quarter gut-check, show 'em what you're really
made of.

and they called Walsh a genius...

} WE WANT JOE!   WE WANT JOE!   WE WANT JOE!   WE WANT JOE!   WE WANT JOE!

the biggest news of the game: the Candlestick fans never chanted
this.  not even when Joe started warming up in the fourth quarter.
ponder this for a moment.

look, i'm in the class of Niner Fan that still imagines Joe coming
off the bench to work his magic for the 49ers.  but i still say that
all this Young Bashing is stupid, counter productive, and a criminal
lack of respect for (one of) the best QB(s) in the league.

the best trade the Niners ever had was the one they didn't make with
the Raiders last spring.

-timr

--
The young need old men.  They need men who are not ashamed of age,
not pathetic imitations of themselves...Parents are the bones on
which children sharpen their teeth.
                                                  --Peter Ustinov
Newsgroups: rec.sport.football.pro