Newsgroup: it.sport.americani
Titolo: Infobeat... (risultati NFL di sabato & domenica)

Eccoci qui.
In sintesi:
Complimenti ai Vikings, 556 punti in regular season: nuovo record NFL e
15-1 finale
Terrel Davis sopra le 2000 yds
Jets vincono ancora
Arizona ai playoffs
Marino segna su corsa, ma nun abbasta (it: non e' sufficiente).
John Elway a quota 300 TD Pass (terza prestazione di sempre: Tarkenton
342, Marino 409).
              Saturday's Games
                   KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 31, Oakland Raiders 24 
                   Minnesota Vikings 26, TENNESSEE OILERS 16 
                                            Return to Top
              KANSAS CITY 31, OAKLAND 24
              (Box Score)
              OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Even a victory over the hated
Oakland Raiders could provide little
              more than temporary joy for the Kansas City Chiefs. The
Chiefs, one of the NFL's biggest
              disappointments this season, extended their dominance of
Oakland with a 31-24 win
              Saturday -- giving Kansas City wins in 17 of its last 19
games against the Raiders.
              Derrick Thomas returned a fumble 44 yards for a score, and
Tony Gonzalez caught a
              20-yard touchdown pass to break a fourth-quarter tie for
the Chiefs.
              "Unfortunately, we can't use this as a springboard,
because we're not in the playoffs,"
              Thomas said. "We'll just have to savor this for a while."
              Bam Morris had two 1-yard scoring runs and Pete
Stoyanovich added a 30-yard field goal
              for the Chiefs (7-9). Elvis Grbac, in his first start
since Nov. 8, was 20-of-32 for 254 yards
              with two interceptions and the scoring toss to Gonzalez.
              "We talked all week about this being the one you're going
to remember for eight to nine
              months, so there's some solace in that," Chiefs coach
Marty Schottenheimer said. "But, you
              know, let's face it, we expected far more. We're
disappointed."
              The Raiders lost two quarterbacks to groin injuries in the
contest and finished the game
              with a third quarterback who has missed most of the season
with a groin injury. Also
              standing on the sideline with a groin injury was running
back Napoleon Kaufman, who
              missed the final three games of the season.
              Wade Wilson was 13-of-18 for 127 yards before hurting his
groin while dropping back to
              pass early in the third quarter. Donald Hollas also hurt
his groin and was replaced by Jeff
              George after just 11 plays. George, who has not played a
full game since late September
              because of a groin injury, was 9-of-18 for 138 yards.
              "We're going to have to find some groin-strengthening
machines or something. I've never
              seen anything like it," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. "A
lot of our salary cap was
              standing on the sideline with groin injuries."
              George had a 15-yard scoring pass to James Jett and Wilson
threw a 13-yard TD to Tim
              Brown for the Raiders (8-8), who have not had a winning
season since 1994. Randy
              Jordan added a 10-yard scoring run and Greg Davis kicked a
44-yard field goal for
              Oakland, which lost six of its final eight games.
              With the game tied 17-17, Leslie O'Neal sacked Hollas and
forced a fumble that Thomas
              scooped up and returned for a 24-17 Chiefs lead. The
Raiders tied it with 9:17 left
              George's first TD pass since Sept. 27 at Dallas. But the
Chiefs responded with a 76-yard
              drive, capped by the TD pass to Gonzalez with 5:56 left.
              "The dreaded turnover got us again today," said Brown, who
gave up four of the Raiders'
              six fumbles when he wasn't warming up on the sideline as
Oakland's emergency
              quarterback. "We've just got to find a way to hold on to
the ball."
              The Raiders did not sell out a home game this season. With
12 penalties, the Chiefs set an
              NFL record with 158 this season. 
                                            Return to Top 
              KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 31, Oakland Raiders 24
              (Recap)
                                 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                                 --- --- --- ---  -----
              Kansas City         0   7  17   7    31
              Oakland            14   0   3   7    24
              First Quarter
                    Oak-T.Brown 13 pass from Wilson (Davis kick), 8:22.
                    Oak-Jordan 10 run (Davis kick), 2:18.
              Second Quarter
                    KC-Morris 1 run (Stoyanovich kick), 12:38.
              Third Quarter
                    KC-Morris 1 run (Stoyanovich kick), 11:16.
                    Oak-FG Davis 44, 7:15.
                    KC-FG Stoyanovich 30, 3:53.
                    KC-Thomas 44 fumble return (Stoyanovich kick), 1:15.
              Fourth Quarter
                    Oak-Jett 15 pass from George (Davis kick), 9:17.
                    KC-Gonzalez 20 pass from Grbac (Stoyanovich kick),
5:56.
                                      KC        Oak
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              20        25
               Rushing                  8         4
               Passing                  9        16
               Penalty                  3         5
              THIRD DOWN EFF         3-11      5-14
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         0-0       0-1
              TOTAL NET YARDS         373       321
               Total Plays             58        72
               Avg Gain               6.4       4.5
              NET YARDS RUSHING       119        40
               Rushes                  26        24
               Avg per rush           4.6       1.7
              NET YARDS PASSING       254       281
               Sacked-Yds lost       0-00      6-44
               Gross-Yds passing      254       325
               Completed-Att.       20-32     26-42
               Had Intercepted          2         0
               Yards-Pass Play        7.9       5.9
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   6-0-0     5-0-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           4-50.8    5-43.4
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE    118       127
               Punts Returns         3-15      4-28
               Kickoffs Returns     5-113      6-84
               Interceptions         0-00      2-15
              PENALTIES-Yds         12-98     10-84
              FUMBLES-Lost            1-1       6-2
              TIME OF POSSESSION    27:16     32:44
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Kansas City, Morris 17-96, Anders 5-23, Richardson
1-1,
              Grbac 3-(minus 1). Oakland, Jordan 16-24, Williams 5-14,
Hollas
              1-7, Wilson 1-2, Brown 1-(minus 7).
              PASSING-Kansas City, Grbac 20-32-2-254. Oakland, Wilson
              13-18-0-127, George 9-18-0-138, Hollas 4-6-0-60.
              RECEIVING-Kansas City, Anders 8-49, Gonzalez 5-76,
Alexander
              3-80, Morris 2-28, Lockett 1-15, Rison 1-6. Oakland,
T.Brown
              10-140, Jett 6-85, Mickens 2-35, Dudley 2-26, Ritchie 2-9,
Jordan
              2-1, D.Brown 1-27, Williams 1-2.
              PUNT RETURNS-Kansas City, Vanover 3-15. Oakland, Howard
4-28.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Kansas City, Vanover 5-113. Oakland,
Howard 6-84.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Kansas City, Edwards 11-1-1, Tongue
5-3-0,
              Woods 6-1-0, Parten 6-0-0, McMillian 5-0-0, Davis 4-0-0,
Manusky
              4-0-0, McGlockton 3-1-0, George 3-0-0, Thomas 3-0-2,
O'Neal
              3-0-2, Williams 2-0-0, Favors 1-0-0, Hasty 1-0-0, Ransom
1-0-0,
              Walker 1-1-0, Anders 1-0-0, Crawford 1-0-0, Gonzalez
1-0-0,
              Hughes 1-0-0, Richardson 1-0-0, Roche 1-0-0, Tam 1-0-0,
Warfield
              1-0-0, team 1-0-1. Oakland, Biekert 10-3-0, Lewis 6-0-0,
Jackson
              4-1-0, Harvey 3-3-0, Newman 3-2-0, Russell 3-0-0, Wooden
2-1-0,
              Walker 2-0-0, Morton 2-0-0, Smith 2-0-0, Woodson 2-0-0,
Harris
              1-1-0, Maryland 1-1-0, Brooks 1-0-0, Swilling 1-0-0, Amey
1-0-0,
              Shedd 1-0-0, Wisniewski 1-0-0, Folston 0-2-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Oakland, Harvey 1-2, Woodson 1-13.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-Oakland, Davis 41 (WL). Kansas City,
              Stoyanovich 47 (WL).
              OFFICIALS-Referee Mike Carey, Ump Neil Gereb, HL Sid
Semon, LJ
              Charles Stewart, FJ David Wharden, SJ Doug Toole, BJ Kirk
Doman.
              Time: 3:21. A-52,679. No-shows-NA.
                                            Return to Top 
              MINNESOTA 26, TENNESSEE 16
              (Box Score)
              NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Randall Cunningham threw two
touchdown passes, and Gary
              Anderson added three field goals as the Minnesota Vikings
beat the Oilers 26-16
              Saturday, becoming the highest-scoring team in NFL
history.
              "We wanted it a great deal," tight end Andrew Glover said
of topping the 1983 Washington
              Redskins' mark of 541 points with 556. "We were very aware
of what it took to make those
              historical marks. We're very elated to go down in history,
but at the same time, we have a
              lot of unfinished business."
              Minnesota (15-1) also tied the 1985 Chicago Bears and the
1984 San Francisco 49ers as
              the only teams with 15 victories in a season. And Anderson
became the highest-scoring
              kicker in a season while extending his record of
consecutive field goals to 40 over two
              seasons.
              "Fifteen and one is truly phenomenal," said Vikings coach
Dennis Green. "That means that
              you really had a blessed season. Hopefully, that will give
us momentum going into the
              playoffs."
              Anderson became the first NFL kicker to finish a season
with a perfect record -- 35-of-35
              on field goals and 59-of-59 on conversions.
              He sealed the victory with a 39-yard field goal with 1:10
left. That gave him 164 points this
              season, topping Mark Moseley's 161 with Washington in
1983.
              "I can't even describe it," Anderson said. "People often
tell me that I'm immune to pressure,
              but in the last month I can promise you that pressure's
been getting stronger and
              stronger."
              The loss ruined Tennessee's final game as the Oilers. The
franchise's nickname will be the
              Titans next season after 39 seasons as the Oilers in
Houston and Tennessee.
              Trailing 23-16, Tennessee (8-8) had one last chance at
ending the Vikings' seven-game
              winning streak. Cornerback Darryll Lewis intercepted
Cunningham with 2:46 left, giving
              the Oilers the ball at their 16.
              Steve McNair hit Yancey Thigpen on a 15-yard pass, but he
couldn't move them any
              farther. His pass to Derrick Mason on fourth-and-10
bounced short.
              The loss left the Oilers at 8-8 for a third straight
season, and they are tired of mediocrity.
              "It's sickening watching teams play in the playoffs that
we beat or barely lost to," safety
              Blaine Bishop said. "We have to do something, we can't
continue to be conservative."
              The Oilers led 13-8 at halftime on two field goals by Al
Del Greco and a 2-yard TD run by
              Eddie George. 
                                            Return to Top 
              Minnesota Vikings 26, TENNESSEE OILERS 16
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              Minnesota       2   6  15   3    26
              Tennessee       3  10   3   0    16
              First Quarter
                    Min-Safety, McNair intentional grounding in end
zone,
                    10:55.
                    Ten-FG Del Greco 36, 3:27
              Second Quarter
                    Min-FG Anderson 39, 14:53.
                    Ten-FG Del Greco 33, 10:22.
                    Ten-George 2 run (Del Greco kick), 5:06.
                    Min-FG Anderson 23, :14.
              Third Quarter
                    Min-Moss 5 pass from Cunningham (Moss pass from
                    Cunningham), 9:02.
                    Ten-FG Del Greco 45, 4:07.
                    Min-Carter 38 pass from Cunningham (Anderson kick),
1:18.
              Fourth Quarter
                    Min-FG Anderson 39, 1:10.
                                      Min       Ten
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              22        20
               Rushing                  5         6
               Passing                 14        13
               Penalty                  3         1
              THIRD DOWN EFF         6-13       2-9
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         0-0       0-1
              TOTAL NET YARDS         338       354
               Total Plays             64        59
               Avg Gain               5.3       6.0
              NET YARDS RUSHING       103        90
               Rushes                  29        21
               Avg per rush           3.6       4.3
              NET YARDS PASSING       235       264
               Sacked-Yds lost       0-00      2-21
               Gross-Yds passing      235       285
               Completed-Att.       23-35     18-36
               Had Intercepted          1         0
               Yards-Pass Play        6.7       6.9
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   6-1-0     6-2-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           4-48.8    3-41.3
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE    147       169
               Punts Returns         0-00      3-23
               Kickoffs Returns     6-147     6-146
               Interceptions         0-00       1-0
              PENALTIES-Yds          8-60    13-105
              FUMBLES-Lost            1-0       0-0
              TIME OF POSSESSION    31:37     28:23
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Minnesota, R.Smith 15-73, Hoard 9-26, Evans 2-8,
              Cunningham 2-2, Palmer 1-(minus 6). Tennessee, George
14-54,
              McNair 3-35, Thomas 3-10, Archie 1-(minus 9).   
              PASSING-Minnesota, Cunningham 23-35-1-235. Tennessee,
McNair
              16-33-0-261, Matthews 2-3-0-24.
              RECEIVING-Minnesota, Carter 6-78, Moss 5-32, Hatchette
3-54,
              R.Smith 3-46, Palmer 2-8, Evans 2-7, Glover 1-10, Goodwin
1-0.
              Tennessee, Harris 4-83, Mason 3-75, Dyson 3-40, Wycheck
3-32,
              Thigpen 3-31, Roan 1-13, George 1-11.
              PUNT RETURNS-Minnesota, None. Tennessee, Mason 3-23.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Minnesota, Palmer 6-147. Tennessee, Archie
5-136,
              Wycheck 1-10.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Minnesota, McDaniel 6-2-1, Griffith
6-1-0,
              Thomas 6-0-0, Hitchcock 5-1-0, Rudd 4-1-1, Ball 4-0-0,
Houston
              3-1-0, Randle 1-2-0, Bercich 2-0-0, Mays 2-0-0, Fuller
2-1-0,
              T.Williams 1-1-0, Fisk 1-0-0, Bass 1-0-0, Berger 1-0-0,
Bland
              1-0-0, Goodwin 1-0-0, Morrow 1-0-0, B.Williams 1-0-0,
Banks
              0-1-0. Tennessee, D.Walker 7-3-0, Bishop 7-2-0, Jackson
7-0-0,
              Lewis 6-0-0, Bowden 3-2-0, Evans 3-1-0, Marts 3-0-0,
Robinson
              3-0-0, Roberson 2-1-0, G.Walker 2-1-0, Stallings 2-1-0,
Salave'a
              2-0-0, Rolle 2-0-0, Lyons 1-1-0, Sidney 1-1-0, Ford 0-2-0,
Sutton
              1-0-0, Dorsett 1-0-0, Killens 1-0-0, Phenix 1-0-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Minnesota, None. Tennessee, Lewis 1-0.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
              OFFICIALS-Referee Tom White, Ump Jim Quirk, HL James
Wilson, LJ
              ben Montgomery, FJ Scott Steenson, SJ Dave Wyant, BJ Bob
              Waggoner.
              Time: 3:04. A-41,121. No-shows-NA.
              Sunday's Games
                   ARIZONA CARDINALS 16, San Diego Chargers 13 
                   ATLANTA FALCONS 38, Miami Dolphins 16 
                   BALTIMORE RAVENS 19, Detroit Lions 10 
                   Buffalo Bills 45, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 33 
                   Carolina Panthers 27, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 19 
                   DALLAS COWBOYS 23, Washington Redskins 7 
                   DENVER BRONCOS 28, Seattle Seahawks 21 
                   Green Bay Packers 16, CHICAGO BEARS 13 
                   NEW YORK JETS 31, New England Patriots 10 
                   New York Giants 20, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 10 
                   SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 38, St. Louis Rams 19 
                   Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35, CINCINNATI BENGALS 0 
                                            Return to Top
              ARIZONA 16, SAN DIEGO 13
              (Box Score)
              TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) - The Arizona Cardinals are back in the
playoffs for the first time in 16
              years -- and they did it with yet another incredible
finish.
              Chris Jacke kicked a 52-yard field goal as time expired
Sunday to give the Cardinals a
              16-13 victory over the San Diego Chargers, who had tied
the game 16 seconds earlier on a
              fourth-down, 30-yard touchdown pass. The victory gave
Arizona the final NFL playoff spot
              and set up a game next Saturday in Dallas. The Cards' last
playoff game was in 1982, after
              a nine-game strike season, and they last made the playoffs
in a nonstrike year in 1975.
              The Cardinals last won a playoff game in 1947, when they
played in Chicago and beat the
              Philadelphia Eagles 28-21 for the NFL championship. But
that's all history to these
              Cardinals.
              "We've got a new team out there," quarterback Jake Plummer
said. "We've got a new
              attitude and a new ballclub that goes out and gives
everything every single game. The fans
              have got to love it. They see how hard we fight. It's a
big step for this franchise."
              As soon as Jacke's final kick sailed through the uprights,
fans in the crowd of 71,670
              swarmed the field and climbed onto the goal posts.
              Jacke wasn't the only Cardinals hero. Arizona safety
Kwamie Lassiter tied an NFL record
              with four interceptions, all off Chargers quarterback
Craig Whelihan.
              "We knew we had to make a lot of plays," said Lassiter, a
backup for the first 11 games this
              season. "We had to outplay their defense. A lot of it was
being in the right place at the right
              time."
              After San Diego's tying TD on a Whelihan-Ryan Thelwell
connection on fourth-and-20,
              Eric Metcalf returned the kickoff 46 yards to the San
Diego 44, and Jake Plummer had
              time for one pass, a 10-yard completion to Frank Sanders
to the 34. The ball was snapped
              with three seconds left, and Jacke was soon being mobbed
by his teammates as the
              Cardinals won yet another close game.
              "Our defense has been put in some bad situations, but we
gave ourselves a chance to win
              in the end," Whelihan said. "The Cardinals ended up making
a great play."
              Plummer has lead Arizona to nine victories when the team
trailed or was tied in the final
              quarter during his two seasons with the Cardinals. Six of
the Cardinals victories this
              season were on field goals in the final four minutes of
the game. Four of them, including
              the win over the Chargers, were on final-play field goals
in the second half of the season.
              The Cardinals (9-7), whose victory ended Tampa Bay's hopes
for the final playoff spot,
              weren't able to stop San Diego most of the game -- the
Chargers had 377 yards in offense.
              But the Chargers (5-11) stopped themselves. In addition to
Whelihan's interceptions, he
              had one fumble, which was recovered by Arizona's Simeon
Rice. That led to the second of
              Jacke's three field goals -- a 36-yarder with 2:57 left in
the third quarter that gave the
              Cardinals a 13-3 lead.
              The victory gave the Cardinals their first winning season
since 1984, when they were in St.
              Louis. Their best record in the 10 previous seasons in
Arizona was 8-8 in 1994. Adrian
              Murrell scored on a 4-yard run for Arizona. San Diego
finished the season with a
              five-game losing streak and a NFL-high 51 turnovers. 
                                            Return to Top 
              ARIZONA CARDINALS 16, San Diego Chargers 13
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              San Diego       0   3   0  10    13
              Arizona         7   3   3   3    16
              First Quarter
                    Ari-Murrell 4 run (Jacke kick), 5:12.
              Second Quarter
                    Ari-FG Jacke 37, 12:32.
                    SD-FG Carney 31, 3:15.
              Third Quarter
                    Ari-FG Jacke 36, 2:57.
              Fourth Quarter
                    SD-FG Carney 26, 9:46.
                    SD-Thelwell 30 pass from Whelihan (Carney kick),
:16.
                    Ari-FG Jacke 52, :00.
 
                                      SD        Ari
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              22        16
               Rushing                 10         3
               Passing                 12         9
               Penalty                  0         4
              THIRD DOWN EFF         5-15      3-14
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         3-3       0-0
              TOTAL NET YARDS         377       270
               Total Plays             78        63
               Avg Gain               4.8       4.3
              NET YARDS RUSHING       174        25
               Rushes                  36        18
               Avg per rush           4.8       1.4
              NET YARDS PASSING       203       245
               Sacked-Yds lost       2-11      4-29
               Gross-Yds passing      214       274
               Completed-Att.       16-40     20-41
               Had Intercepted          4         0
               Yards-Pass Play        4.8       5.4
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   4-0-0     4-0-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           5-45.6    7-43.4
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE     81       165
               Punts Returns          3-8       1-7
               Kickoffs Returns      4-73     4-122
               Interceptions          0-0      4-36
              PENALTIES-Yds          6-54       2-9
              FUMBLES-Lost            1-1       0-0
              TIME OF POSSESSION    34:53     25:07
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-San Diego, Fletcher 23-127, Stephens 10-42,
Whelihan 3-5.
              Arizona, Murrell 18-25.
              PASSING-San Diego, Whelihan 16-40-4-214. Arizona, Plummer
              20-41-0-274.
              RECEIVING-San Diego, Thelwell 5-84, Ricks 3-39, F.Jones
2-26,
              Fletcher 2-21, Stephens 2-9, C.Jones 1-24, Hartley 1-11.
Arizona,
              Sanders 8-106, Centers 6-59, Moore 4-94, Murrell 1-8,
Gedney 1-7.
              PUNT RETURNS-San Diego, Gaiter 3-8. Arizona, Metcalf 1-7.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-San Diego, Bynum 4-73. Arizona, Metcalf
4-122.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-San Diego, Seau 6-4-0, Jackson
6-0-0,
              Harrison 5-2-1, Dimry 5-1-0, Coleman 5-0-1, Dixon 2-3-0,
Tovar
              2-1-1, Hand 2-0-0, Shaw 2-0-0, Spencer 2-0-0, Parrella
1-2-0,
              Fuller 1-1-0, Mims 1-0-1, Burgess 0-1-0, Mohring 0-1-0.
Arizona,
              McKinnon 7-4-0, Lassiter 6-5-0, Bennett 5-7-0, Chavous
5-2-0,
              Miller 4-2-0, McCleskey 4-0-0, Swinger 4-0-0, Williams
3-2-0,
              Smith 3-1-2, Sapp 3-0-0, McCombs 2-3-0, Rice 2-0-0.
Tillman
              2-0-0, Wadsworth 2-0-0, J.B.Brown 0-3-0, Moten 0-1-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Arizona, Lassiter 4-36.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-Arizona, Jacke 45 (WR), 42 (WR).
              OFFICIALS-Referee Bob McElwee, Ump Scott Dawson, HL Tom
Stabile,
              LJ Ron Phares, FJ Bill Lovett, SJ Larry Rose, BJ Billy
Smith.
              Time: 3:12. A-71,670. No shows-NA
                                            Return to Top 
              ATLANTA 38, MIAMI 16
              (Box Score)
              ATLANTA (AP) - Dan Reeves made a surprise visit to the
Atlanta locker room before
              Sunday's game against Miami, urging the Falcons to keep
playing like champions heading
              into the playoffs.
              They did.
              With seemingly nothing to play for, the NFC West champions
jumped to a 21-0 lead over
              the Dolphins just eight minutes into the game and cruised
to a 38-16 victory, completing
              the best regular season in Falcons' history.
              Reeves, recovering from heart bypass surgery, missed his
second straight game, watching
              it on television from his home. But in a brief appearance
at the Georgia Dome, he stressed
              to the Falcons (14-2) that it was important to go into
playoffs on a roll.
              "It was definitely a motivating factor for us," said Chris
Chandler, who threw two
              touchdown passes before leaving with a strained back. "Dan
reminded us that any time
              you're keeping score, the game means something."
              Atlanta had already clinched its first division title
since 1980, a first-round playoff bye and
              the No. 2 seed in the NFC behind Minnesota. Now, the
Falcons go into the postseason with
              a nine-game winning streak, becoming only the sixth
14-victory team in the last decade.
              Not bad for a team that was 3-13 just two seasons ago.
              "We can go all the way," said tight end O.J. Santiago, who
caught both of Chandler's TD
              passes.
              The Dolphins (10-6), coming off a Monday night victory
over Denver, needed another win
              to ensure a home game in the first round of the playoffs.
But Miami played like a team that
              didn't care, losing four fumbles while Dan Marino was
intercepted twice.
              "They were ready to play and we were not," said coach
Jimmy Johnson, seething
              afterwards. "I am embarrassed by the way we played in the
first quarter."
              The Dolphins still earned a home playoff game when New
England lost to the Jets, 31-10.
              Miami will play host to Buffalo next weekend.
              Jamal Anderson carried 18 times for 103 yards, including a
36-yard touchdown. He set
              an NFL record for most rushing attempts in a season,
finishing with 410 to eclipse by three
              the mark set by Tampa Bay's James Wilder in 1984.
              "That's one of those records you don't want to approach
every year," said Anderson, who
              rushed for 1,846 bruising yards this season. "But I feel
good."
              Marino threw for 320 yards -- his third straight 300-yard
game -- but it didn't matter.
              The Dolphins gave up a season high for points despite
allowing an NFL-best 265 for the
              season.
              "It's nice to have a home game," Marino said, "but it
would have been a whole lot nicer to
              have won today and go into the playoffs with momentum."
              Miami defensive end Jason Taylor, second on the team with
nine sacks, suffered a broken
              collarbone in the first quarter and is out for the season. 
                                            Return to Top 
              ATLANTA FALCONS 38, Miami Dolphins 16
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              Miami           0   6  10   0    16
              Atlanta        21   3  14   0    38
              First Quarter
                    Atl-Santiago 62 pass from Chandler (Andersen kick),
14:36.
                    Atl-Santiago 3 pass from Chandler (Andersen kick),
11:08.
                    Atl-Bradford 11 interception return (Andersen kick),
7:00.
              Second Quarter
                    Mia-McDuffie 12 pass from Marino (kick failed),
11:46.
                    Atl-FG Andersen 35, 4:47.
              Third Quarter
                    Atl-Martin 35 pass from DeBerg (Andersen kick),
14:09.
                    Atl-Anderson 36 run (Andersen kick), 12:24.
                    Mia-Marino 3 run (Mare kick), 6:04.
                    Mia-FG Mare 26, 1:55.
 
                                      Mia       Atl
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              20        15
               Rushing                  2         5
               Passing                 16         8
               Penalty                  2         2
              THIRD DOWN EFF         6-11       4-9
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         1-1       0-0
              TOTAL NET YARDS         400       346
               Total Plays             64        44
               Avg Gain               6.3       7.9
              NET YARDS RUSHING        38       143
               Rushes                  19        31
               Avg per rush           2.0       4.6
              NET YARDS PASSING       362       203
               Sacked-Yds lost       3-22      0-00
               Gross-Yds passing      384       203
               Completed-Att.       25-42      8-13
               Had Intercepted          2         0
               Yards-Pass Play        8.0      15.6
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   4-0-0     7-6-3
              PUNTS-Avg.           2-41.0    2-43.0
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-1       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE    103       135
               Punts Returns         0-00      1-11
               Kickoffs Returns     5-103      3-86
               Interceptions         0-00      2-38
              PENALTIES-Yds          8-49      5-23
              FUMBLES-Lost            4-4       2-0
              TIME OF POSSESSION    32:16     27:44
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Miami, Avery 14-23, Moore 4-12, Marino 1-3.
Atlanta,
              Anderson 18-103, Oxendine 5-32, Green 6-6, Chandler 1-3,
Graziani
              1-(minus-1).
              PASSING-Miami, Marino 21-36-2-320, Huard 4-6-0-64.
Atlanta,
              DeBerg 5-10-0-85, Chandler 3-3-0-118.
              RECEIVING-Miami, Gadsden 9-153, McDuffie 5-82, L.Thomas
4-79,
              Drayton 4-61, Pritchett 2-8, Moore 1-1. Atlanta, Martin
3-105,
              Santiago 2-65, Harris 1-14, Mathis 1-10, Kozlowski 1-9.
              PUNT RETURNS-Miami, None. Atlanta, Dwight 1-11.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Miami, Jacquet 4-103, Surtain 1-0.
Atlanta,
              Dwight 3-86.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Miami, Mixon 6-1-0, Marion 5-2-0,
Bromell
              3-2-0, Jones 4-0-0, Jackson 3-0-0, Bowens 2-1-0, Rodgers
2-0-0,
              Surtain 2-0-0, Z.Thomas 2-0-0, Gardener 1-2-0, Jacquet
1-1-0,
              Walker 1-1-0, Armstrong 1-0-0, Buckley 1-0-0, Burton
1-0-0,
              Gadsden 1-0-0, Parmalee 1-0-0, Stewart 1-0-0, Tanner
0-1-0.
              Atlanta, Bennett 8-0-1, White 7-0-0, Crockett 4-1-1,
Burrough
              1-4-0, Bush 4-0-0, Hall 3-0-0, Smith 3-0-1, Robinson
2-1-0,
              Booker 2-0-0, Dronett 2-0-0, Bradford 2-0-0, Buchanan
1-1-0,
              Swayda 1-1-0, Sauer 1-0-0, Tuggle 1-0-0, Brooking 1-0-0,
Downs
              1-0-0, Fuller 1-0-0, Harris 1-0-0, Williams 1-0-0, Talley
0-1-0,
              Tuaolo 0-1-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Atlanta, Brooker 1-27, Bradford 1-11.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-Atlanta, Andersen (WR).
              OFFICIALS-Referee Johnny Grier, Ump Jim Daopoulos, HL John
              Schleyer, LJ Gary Arthur, FJ Duke Carroll, SJ Ken Baker,
BJ Scott
              Green.
              Time: 2:51. A-69,754. No shows-NA.
                                            Return to Top 
              BALTIMORE 19, DETROIT 10
              (Box Score)
              BALTIMORE (AP) - There were no tears. Only giddy laughter,
as Ted Marchibroda took
              great delight in going out with a victory.
              The Baltimore Ravens beat the Detroit Lions 19-10 Sunday
in a game that ended a
              disappointing season for both teams. It also marked the
conclusion of Marchibroda's reign
              in Baltimore, as he conceded afterward that he expected to
be dismissed by owner Art
              Modell as the Ravens' head coach.
              "I'm not prepared to be here," Marchibroda said, shortly
after thanking his players for their
              effort in the season finale.
              The game marked the end of Marchibroda's three-year
contract. Marchibroda, 67, failed to
              produce a winning season with the Ravens and went 16-31-1
in his three years. But he
              was proud that his players never quit trying, right down
to the final play of a season that
              never lived up to lofty expectations.
              "I told Mr. Modell when he hired me that I'll get the guys
to play for me," Marchibroda said
              during a 10-minute postgame interview in which he smiled
throughout. "As I leave here, I
              can say they played for me. We had a tough climb for three
years."
              Priest Holmes scored a touchdown and became the Ravens'
first 1,000-yard rusher as
              Baltimore (6-10) raced to a 16-0 lead and held on against
the error-prone Lions (5-11).
              The Ravens led 16-0 in the second quarter, then let the
lead dwindle to 16-10 before Matt
              Stover kicked a 30-yard field goal with 5:03 remaining to
clinch the victory.
              Holmes gained 132 yards on 20 carries and finished with
1,008 yards for the season. Jim
              Harbaugh shrugged off an early elbow injury to finish
17-for-26 for 141 yards and a
              touchdown.
              "I wanted to play hard for Ted. It was in my mind to get
this win for him," said Harbaugh,
              who also played for Marchibroda in Indianapolis.
              The injury-riddled Lions were penalized 12 times and their
only turnover was quickly
              converted into a Baltimore touchdown. Barry Sanders needed
50 rushing yards to reach
              1,500 for the fifth consecutive season but finished with
41 yards on 19 carries. A Sanders
              fumble set up Holmes scored 1-yard TD run to make it 9-0.
              "I think the emotion that's most prevalent is
disappointment. Really, it's almost regret --
              like you wasted a whole year of football," Sanders said.
              Detroit trailed 16-3 before Frank Reich directed a 52-yard
drive that ended with a
              touchdown pass to Cory Schlesinger with 13:25 remaining.
Two plays earlier, Herman
              Moore caught a 10-yard pass on a fourth-and-3 situation.
But after Detroit forced a punt,
              the Lions failed to gain a first down and Harbaugh moved
Baltimore 51 yards in 11 plays
              before Stover connected.
              "A disappointing end to a disappointing season -- that
about sums it up," said Reich, who
              was 18-for-29 for 195 yards. 
                                            Return to Top 
              BALTIMORE RAVENS 19, Detroit Lions 10
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              Detroit         0   3   0   7    10
              Baltimore       9   7   0   3    19
              First Quarter
                    Bal-Safety, Roberts holding in end zone, 8:12.
                    Bal-Holmes 1 run (Stover kick), 5:40.
              Second Quarter
                    Bal-Potts 11 pass from Harbaugh (Stover kick), 5:44.
                    Det-FG Hanson 39, :30.
              Fourth Quarter
                    Det-Schlesinger 8 pass from Reich (Hanson kick),
13:25.
                    Bal-FG Stover 30, 5:03.
 
                                      Det       Bal
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              11        19
               Rushing                  3         8
               Passing                  8        10
               Penalty                  0         1
              THIRD DOWN EFF         3-13      5-14
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         1-2       0-0
              TOTAL NET YARDS         236       295
               Total Plays             51        63
               Avg Gain               4.6       4.7
              NET YARDS RUSHING        44       153
               Rushes                  21        35
               Avg per rush           2.1       4.4
              NET YARDS PASSING       192       142
               Sacked-Yds lost        1-3       0-0
               Gross-Yds passing      195       142
               Completed-Att.       18-29     18-28
               Had Intercepted          0         0
               Yards-Pass Play        6.4       5.1
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   4-1-0     4-0-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           6-45.7    6-47.0
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE     85       102
               Punts Returns         4-11      5-45
               Kickoffs Returns      4-74      3-57
               Interceptions          0-0       0-0
              PENALTIES-Yds         12-69      6-60
              FUMBLES-Lost            1-1       4-1
              TIME OF POSSESSION    26:43     33:17
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Detroit, Sanders 19-41, Schlesinger 1-3, Vardell
1-0.
              Baltimore, Holmes 28-132, Potts 2-13, Harbaugh 3-8,
Mitchell 1-0,
              Richardson 1-0.
              PASSING-Detroit, Reich 18-29-0-195. Baltimore, Harbaugh
              17-26-0-141, Richardson 1-2-0-1.
              RECEIVING-Detroit, Moore 10-120, Morton 3-40, Sanders
2-15, Boyd
              1-8, Schlesinger 1-8, Rasby 1-4. Baltimore, J.Lewis 5-40,
Jackson
              4-36, Holmes 3-12, Potts 2-29, Turner 2-19, Rhett 1-5,
Kinchen
              1-1.
              PUNT RETURNS-Detroit, Boyd 4-11. Baltimore, J.Lewis 3-34,
Roe
              2-11.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Detroit, Boyd 4-74. Baltimore, Harris
3-57.
              INTERCEPTIONS-None.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Detroit, Westbrook 6-0-0, Jordan
6-1-0,
              Stewart 5-1-0, Fredrickson 5-0-0, Jeffries 5-0-0,
Scroggins
              5-0-0, Abrams 4-2-0, Aldridge 4-0-0, Porcher 3-1-0, Bailey
2-0-0,
              Supernaw 3-0-0, Ellis 2-0-0, Rice 2-0-0, Campbell 1-0-0,
Jamison
              1-0-0, McPhail 1-0-0, O'Neill 1-0-0, Schlesinger 1-0-0.
              Baltimore, R.Lewis 7-0-0, Starks 5-0-0, McCrary 4-0-0,
Siragusa
              4-0-0, Staten 1-2-1, Burnett 2-0-0, Harris 2-0-0, Jenkins
2-0-0,
              Sharper 2-0-0, Woodson 2-0-0, Brady 2-0-0, Kinchen 2-0-0,
              Thompson 2-0-0, Boulware 1-1-0, Dalton 1-1-0, Moore 1-1-0,
Brown
              1-0-0, Washington 1-0-0, Kopp 1-0-0, Olsavsky 1-0-0.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
              OFFICIALS-Referee Tony Corrente, Ump Ron Botchan, HL Mark
Baltz,
              LJ Tom Barnes, FJ Paul Baetz, SJ Ron Liebsack, BJ Don
Dorkowski.
              Time: 2:52. A-68,045. No-shows-NA.
                                            Return to Top 
              BUFFALO 45, NEW ORLEANS 33
              (Box Score)
              NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Rob Johnson showed that Doug Flutie's
not the only quarterback
              who can lead the Buffalo Bills to victory. Johnson, who
lost his starting job to Flutie
              because of an injury in the fifth game of the season,
threw for three touchdowns and ran
              for a 12-yard score as the Bills beat the New Orleans
Saints 45-33 on Sunday.
              Flutie, who has a minor leg injury, sat out to rest for
the Bills' playoff game next weekend
              in Miami.
              "There's a lot of rust, but I got a whole week of
practice," said Johnson, who made his first
              start since hurting his ribs against the Indianapolis
Colts on Oct. 11. "I just try to do a
              good job when I'm out there."
              Johnson, who was 1-3 before Flutie took over as starter,
finished 12-of-18 for 216 yards
              against the Saints and had a far easier time than his
counterpart, the bumbling Kerry
              Collins. Collins completed just 3-of-12 passes for 23
yards, and was sacked twice,
              intercepted once and also had a fumble before being pulled
in the first quarter for Billy Joe
              Tolliver. Collins has committed 14 of the Saints' 32
turnovers in his 23 quarters of play
              since coming to the team from the Carolina Panthers.
              "Sure, we were behind a lot, but it was still the first
quarter and there was a lot of football
              left to play," Collins said. "Any quarterback would be
surprised to be pulled under those
              conditions."
              The Saints, who had scored just three TDs in December,
appeared totally confused as they
              fell behind 28-0. New Orleans, however, did end up with
its highest point total of the
              season.
              "It's a horror novel we just closed a chapter on," coach
Mike Ditka said after the Saints
              finished 6-10 for the second time in his two years in New
Orleans.
              Before the Saints gained their first yard, they had four
incomplete passes, a 5-yard
              penalty, a timeout, a sack, fumble and touchdown scored
against them. On the third play
              of the game, Shawn Price sacked Collins, who fumbled.
Bruce Smith returned it 18 yards
              to the 1-yard line, and Antowain Smith scored to put the
Bills (10-6) ahead 7-0.
              On the Saints' third possession, Smith sacked Collins for
a 6-yard loss. It was Smith's
              10th sack of the season, the seventh straight in which
he's had 10 or more sacks. It also
              was the 12th season in which he's had a double-digit sack
total, tying him with Reggie
              White of Green Bay for the NFL record.
              Eric Moulds caught a 66-yard touchdown for Buffalo.
Tolliver recharged the Saints'
              offense, completing 23-of-41 passes for 296 yards and
three touchdowns.
              New Orleans scored twice in the final two minutes of the
game: Aaron Craver on a 1-yard
              run and Brett Bech on a 72-yard pass from Tolliver after
the Saints recovered an onside
              kick. It was Bech's second TD catch of the day. The
Saints' 2-point conversion tries after
              each score failed. 
                                            Return to Top 
              Buffalo Bills 45, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 33
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              Buffalo        21   7   3  14    45
              New Orleans     0  14   7  12    33
              First Quarter
                    Buf-A.Smith 1 run (Christie kick 49 yards, 1:29.
                    Buf-Moulds 66 pass from R.Johnson (Christie kick),
12:06.
                    Buf-R.Johnson 12 run (Christie kick), 6:13.
              Second Quarter
                    Buf-Gash 1 pass from R.Johnson (Christie kick),
12:15.
                    NO-Davis 1 run (Brien kick), 6:29.
                    NO-Cleeland 5 pass from Tolliver (Brien kick), 1:56.
              Third Quarter
                    Buf-FG Christie 35, 7:18.
                    NO-Bech 10 pass from Tolliver (Brien kick), 1:00.
              Fourth Quarter
                    Buf-L.Johnson 23 pass from R.Johnson (Christie
kick),
                        14:55.
                    Buf-Linton 8 run (Christie kick). 6:39.
                    NO-Craver 1 run (pass failed). 1:57.
                    NO-Bech 72 pass from Tolliver (pass failed). 1:44.
 
                                      Buf       NO
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              21        26
               Rushing                 10         6
               Passing                 10        16
               Penalty                  1         4
              THIRD DOWN EFF         7-12     10-18
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         1-2       0-0
              TOTAL NET YARDS         308       366
               Total Plays             56        76
               Avg Gain               5.5       4.8
              NET YARDS RUSHING       130        75
               Rushes                  33        19
               Avg per rush           3.9       3.9
              NET YARDS PASSING       178       291
               Sacked-Yds lost       5-38      4-28
               Gross-Yds passing      216       319
               Completed-Att.       12-18     26-53
               Had Intercepted          0         2
               Yards-Pass Play        7.7       5.1
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   8-5-2     6-3-2
              PUNTS-Avg.           3-39.3    4-50.3
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE    107       160
               Punts Returns         3-25       2-8
               Kickoffs Returns      2-58     6-152
               Interceptions         2-24       0-0
              PENALTIES-Yds         10-77      6-45
              FUMBLES-Lost            2-1       2-1
              TIME OF POSSESSION    29:36     30:24
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Buffalo, Linton 13-60, A.Smith 12-42, R.Johnson
4-23,
              P.Williams 2-5, Gash 1-1, Van Pelt 1-(minus 1). New
Orleans,
              Perry 9-45, Tolliver 2-21, Craver 5-8, Davis 3-1.
              PASSING-Buffalo, R.Johnson 12-18-0-216, Van Pelt 0-0-0-0.
New
              Orleans, Collins 3-12-1-23, Tolliver 23-41-1-296.
              RECEIVING-Buffalo, Riemersma 3-26, Moulds 2-90, Reed 2-20,
              K.Williams 2-19, Early 1-37, L.Johnson 1-23, Gash 1-1. New
              Orleans, Cleeland 10-112, Bech 4-113, Craver 3-16,
Guliford 2-26,
              Hastings 2-17, L.Smith 2-11, Dawkins 1-12, Wilcox 1-10,
Perry
              1-2.
              PUNT RETURNS-Buffalo, K.Williams 3-25. New Orleans,
Guliford 2-8.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Buffalo, K.Williams 1-37, Cummings 1-21.
New
              Orleans, Guliford 6-152.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Buffalo, Wiley 4-2-1, Cowart 5-1-0,
Schulz
              4-1-0, R.Jackson 4-1-0, Holecek 4-0-0, H.Jones 4-0-0,
Smedley
              4-0-0, Price 3-0-2, M.Martin 3-0-0, Greer 2-0-0, Perry
2-3-0,
              Irvin 2-1-0, Simmons 2-1-0, Washington 2-1-0, Cummings
2-0-0,
              Northern 1-0-0, B.Smith 1-0-1, P.Williams 1-0-0, Rogers
0-1-0,
              Brandenburg 1-0-0, Linton 1-0-0, Moran 1-0-0, Porter
1-0-0. New
              Orleans, Bordano 8-1-1, Fields 6-2-2, Weary 4-0-0,
Drakeford
              4-0-0, W.Martin 3-1-1, Knight 3-2-0, J.Johnson 3-0-0,
Golver
              2-0-0, Molden 2-0-0, Warner 2-2-0, Wilson 1-1-0, Cota
1-0-0,
              Kelly 1-0-0, K.Mitchell 1-0-1, Tomich 1-0-0, Hewitt 0-1-0,
              Dawkins 1-0-0, Little 1-0-0, Poole 1-0-0, Turley 1-0-0,
Wilcox
              2-0-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Buffalo, M.Martin 1-23, Schulz 1-1. New
Orleans,
              None.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
              OFFICIALS-Referee Larry Nemmers, Ump Jeff Rice, HL Dale
Hamer, LJ
              Ropn Marinucci, FJ Boris Cheek, SJ Rick Patterson, BJ
Bobby
              Skelton.
              Time: 3:24. A-39,707. No-shows-NA.
                                            Return to Top 
              CAROLINA 27, INDIANAPOLIS 19
              (Box Score)
              INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Not even Peyton Manning's record
passing could offset the
              Indianapolis Colts' horrid defense. For the fifth time
this season, the Colts blew a
              double-digit lead, and second-half touchdowns by Michael
Bates, Tim Biakabutuka and
              Raghib Ismail lifted the Carolina Panthers to a 27-19
victory on Sunday in what could
              have been Dom Capers' final game as coach.
              "Today's game makes a statement about the will of this
team," Capers said. "This season
              has been a big test for all of us, and at times it's been
extremely difficult when you go
              through the frustrations and disappointments."
              Nine of Carolina's 12 losses were by seven points or less,
and several newspapers last week
              reported Capers would be fired at the end of the season.
              "I can't tell you any more than I could two weeks ago,"
Capers said of his future. "Really,
              there's obviously been a lot of distractions, a lot of
things that could take this team off
              course. My focus was to do the very best job I could and
not waste time on things you have
              no control over."
              Manning, who set NFL rookie records for attempts,
completions, yards and touchdowns,
              gave the Colts a 13-3 lead with a 44-yard TD pass to
Marcus Pollard early in the second
              quarter. But Indianapolis (3-13) managed only a pair of
field goals by Mike Vanderjagt
              after that.
              "This game mirrored our season," Colts coach Jim Mora
said. "These are things we've done
              all year, and it hurt us all year long. We've had a
terrible time stopping the run, and they
              got after us real well today. I thought we would be better
than this (defensively)."
              A 99-yard return by Bates on the second-half kickoff
pulled the Panthers (4-12) within 3,
              and on the next possession, a 46-yard pass from Steve
Beuerlein to Ismail set up a 5-yard
              TD run by Biakabutuka to put Carolina ahead to stay.
              A 42-yard field goal by Vanderjagt closed Indianapolis to
20-19 at the end of the third
              quarter, but once again, the Colts defense fell apart in
the final period. Biakabutuka, who
              rushed for 109 yards, left with a strained muscle in his
knee, but replacement Fred Lane
              carried seven times for 59 yards on a nine-play drive that
set up Ismail's 5-yard TD
              reception with 3:16 to go.
              The Colts had two more possessions after Ismail's TD, but
Manning, who was 17-for-34
              for 225 yards, was intercepted both times, by Eric Davis
and Lenny McGill, and the
              Panthers ran out the clock. Manning, the No. 1 pick in
this year's draft, finished with
              rookie records of 3,739 yards, 326 completions, 575
attempts and 26 touchdowns.
              "It was kind of the same old story," Manning said. "we
played the first half and established
              a lead, and the second half we made some mistakes and gave
them a few plays, just
              enough to give them a lead and then we're unable to come
back in the end."
              The Colts' Marshall Faulk rushed for 72 yards and caught
four passes for 30, pushing his
              NFL-best total yards from scrimmage to 2,227. He finished
92 yards in receptions short of
              joining Roger Craig as the only players in NFL history
with 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000
              yards receiving in the same season. 
                                            Return to Top 
              Carolina Panthers 27, INDIANAPOLIS COLTS 19
              (Recap)
                                 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                                 --- --- --- ---  -----
              Carolina            3   3  14   7    27
              Indianapolis        3  13   3   0    19
              First Quarter
                    Car-FG Kasay 44, 7:45.
                    Ind-FG Vanderjagt 22, 3:04.
              Second Quarter
                    Ind-FG Vanderjagt 28, 14:58.
                    Ind-Pollard 44 pass from Manning (Vanderjagt kick),
12:09.
                    Car-FG Kasay 27, :25.
                    Ind-FG Vanderjagt 47, :01.
              Third Quarter
                    Car-Bates 99 kickoff return (Kasay kick), 14:40.
                    Car-Biakabutuka 5 run (Kasay kick), 8:33.
                    Ind-FG Vanderjagt 42, 1:02.
              Fourth Quarter
                    Car-Ismail 5 pass from Beuerlein (Kasay kick), 3:16.
                                      Car       Ind
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              18        12
               Rushing                  9         3
               Passing                  9         8
               Penalty                  0         1
              THIRD DOWN EFF         6-16      2-13
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         2-2       0-0
              TOTAL NET YARDS         328       278
               Total Plays             69        58
               Avg Gain               4.8       4.8
              NET YARDS RUSHING       179        72
               Rushes                  43        18
               Avg per rush           4.2       4.0
              NET YARDS PASSING       149       206
               Sacked-Yds lost       5-29      5-19
               Gross-Yds passing      178       225
               Completed-Att.       12-21     17-35
               Had Intercepted          1         2
               Yards-Pass Play        5.7       5.2
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   6-5-1     6-3-1
              PUNTS-Avg.           5-44.4    7-44.4
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE    212        79
               Punts Returns         4-38       1-4
               Kickoffs Returns     6-168      4-75
               Interceptions          2-6       1-0
              PENALTIES-Yds          6-51      3-25
              FUMBLES-Lost            3-1       1-0
              TIME OF POSSESSION    34:40     25:20
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Carolina, Biakabutuka 25-109, Lane 12-72,
Beuerlein 3-0,
              Walter 1-0, A.Johnson 2-(minus 2). Indianapolis, Faulk
18-72.
              PASSING-Carolina, Beuerlein 12-21-1-178. Indianapolis,
Manning
              17-34-2-225, Small 0-1-0-0.
              RECEIVING-Carolina, Ismail 7-109, Biakabutuka 2-23, Floyd
1-20,
              Hayes 1-16, Broughton 1-10. Indianapolis, Pathon 5-35,
Faulk
              4-30, E.Green 3-19, Pollard 2-65, Small 2-58, Dilger 1-18.
              PUNT RETURNS-Carolina, Oliver 4-38. Indianapolis, McGuire
1-4.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Carolina, Bates 4-152, A.Johnson 1-9,
Stone 1-7.
              Indianapolis, McGuire 4-75.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Carolina, Brady 6-1-1, Davis 5-0-0,
Minter
              5-0-0, Terry 4-0-3, Wheeler 3-1-0, Lloyd 3-0-0, Lofton
3-0-0,
              McGill 3-0-0, B.Alexander 1-2-0, Gilbert 2-0-0, K.Greene
2-0-1,
              Barrow 1-1-0, Saleh 1-1-0, Fox 1-1-0, Tatum 1-0-0, Veland
1-0-0,
              Ismail 1-0-0, Richardson 1-0-0, A.Johnson 0-1-0.
Indianapolis,
              Barber 7-2-1, Belser 5-3-0, Burris 5-2-0, E.Johnson 5-2-2,
Berry
              5-1-0, Morrison 5-1-0, Wittington 5-0-0, Hauck 4-1-0,
McElroy
              4-1-0, McCoy 3-0-1, E.Alexander 2-1-0, Herrod 2-0-0,
Montgomery
              2-0-0, S.Greene 1-1-0, Austin 1-0-0, Chester 1-0-0, Thomas
1-0-1,
              Tuinei 1-0-0, Banta 1-0-0, Clark 1-0-0, Elias 1-0-0,
E.Green
              1-0-0, Hetherington 1-0-0, Pathon 1-0-0, Pollard 1-0-0,
Poole
              0-2-0, Chorak 0-1-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Carolina, McGill 1-6, Davis 1-0.
Indianapolis,
              Barber 1-0.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
              OFFICIALS-Referee Ed Hochuli, Ump Chad Brown, HL George
Hayward,
              LJ Bill Spyksma, FJ Peter Morelli, SJ Tom Fincken, BJ Don
Carey.
              Time: 3:14. A-58,182. No-shows-NA.
                                            Return to Top 
              DALLAS 23, WASHINGTON 7
              (Box Score)
              IRVING, Texas (AP) - If nothing else, the Dallas Cowboys
accomplished an unprecedented
              feat this year: sweeping the NFC East.
              "Nobody else will ever be the first to do it," Dallas
coach Chan Gailey said Sunday after the
              playoff-bound Cowboys beat the Washington Redskins 23-7
Sunday night, becoming the
              first NFC East team to go 8-0 against conference rivals.
              "We wanted to do it, but it's not like that was the only
thing on our minds," Gailey said.
              "We wanted to make sure we were healthy enough going into
the playoffs."
              Emmitt Smith ran for a pair of touchdowns, setting an NFL
career record for rushing
              touchdowns, as Dallas (10-6) swept the Redskins for the
first time since 1994.
              While Washington (6-10) saw its four-game winning streak
snapped, Dallas goes on to a
              first-round game at home next Saturday against Arizona
(9-7). The Cowboys beat the
              Cardinals 38-10 and 35-28 during the regular season, and
Arizona has lost nine straight
              at Texas
              Smith broke the NFL record for career rushing touchdowns
on a 1-yard run to cap a
              65-yard drive in the second quarter. A 51-yard pass from
Troy Aikman to Michael Irvin
              set up the score, the 124th rushing TD for Smith, breaking
a tie with Marcus Allen.
              Smith struck again on the Cowboys' next possession as he
broke three tackles on a
              26-yard touchdown run. Passes of 19 and 24 yards to Billy
Davis helped out on the
              88-yard drive.
              Aikman, Irvin, and Smith all sat out the second half.
Smith finished with 67 yards on 10
              carries. Aikman completed 10-of-15 passes for 184 yards
and Irvin caught two passes for
              50. Smith finished the season with 1,332 yards rushing,
his best season since 1995, when
              he had 1,773 yards.
              "This was a game we definitely needed going into the
playoffs," Aikman said. "I think
              everyone felt we needed to come out and get something
going and we did. This team
              accomplished a lot more than anyone outside this
organization thought possible. I think
              this team is ready to hit the playoffs."
              Dallas got field goals of 34 and 23 yards from Richie
Cunningham as the Cowboys took a
              20-7 halftime lead. Cunningham also had a 26-yarder in the
fourth quarter.
              Washington got its only touchdown on a 6-yard pass from
Trent Green to Leslie Shepherd,
              giving the Redskins a 7-3 lead in the first period.
              "The last eight weeks we have scored touchdowns and not
turned the ball over," Redskins
              coach Norv Turner said. "Today we were the opposite. They
did a nice job of blitzing and
              kept us from getting into a rhythm. I thought we could win
the game but we didn't give
              ourselves a chance to win. The situation with us is
unsettled and everything will settle out
              in the next month." 
                                            Return to Top 
              DALLAS COWBOYS 23, Washington Redskins 7
              (Recap)
                                 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                                 --- --- --- ---  -----
              Washington          7   0   0   0     7
              Dallas              3  17   0   3    23
              First Quarter
                    Dal-FG Cunningham 34, 8:33.
                    Was-Shepherd 6 pass from T.Green (Blanchard kick),
:00.
              Second Quarter
                    Dal-E.Smith 1 run (Cunningham kick), 12:38.
                    Dal-E.Smith 26 run (Cunningham kick), 7:40.
                    Dal-FG Cunningham 23, :25.
              Fourth Quarter
                    Dal-FG Cunningham 26, 12:01.
 
 
                                      Was       Dal
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              14        22
               Rushing                  3         9
               Passing                 11        10
               Penalty                  0         3
              THIRD DOWN EFF         4-12      2-11
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         0-1       0-1
              TOTAL NET YARDS         292       378
               Total Plays             58        62
               Avg Gain               5.0       6.1
              NET YARDS RUSHING        80       156
               Rushes                  21        34
               Avg per rush           3.8       4.6
              NET YARDS PASSING       212       222
               Sacked-Yds lost       1-11      2-13
               Gross-Yds passing      223       235
               Completed-Att.       21-36     15-26
               Had Intercepted          1         0
               Yards-Pass Play        5.7       7.9
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   2-0-0     6-0-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           6-37.7    3-38.7
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE     71        76
               Punts Returns          0-0      2-14
               Kickoffs Returns      6-71      2-62
               Interceptions          0-0       1-0
              PENALTIES-Yds         7-102      5-30
              FUMBLES-Lost            1-1       0-0
              TIME OF POSSESSION    27:34     32:26
 
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Washington, Davis 17-70, T.Green 1-11, Mitchell
2-4,
              Shepherd 1-(minus 5). Dallas, S.Williams 23-90, E.Smith
10-67,
              Quinn 1-(minus 1).
              PASSING-Washington, T.Green 21-35-1-223, Mitchell 0-1-0-0.
              Dallas, Aikman 10-15-0-184, Garrett 5-11-0-51.
              RECEIVING-Washington, Shepherd 5-79, Alexander 4-39,
Sellers
              3-18, Connell 2-30, Ellard 2-29, Thomas 2-18, Mitchell
2-9, Davis
              1-1. Dallas, B.Davis 4-60, Bjornson 3-55, S.Williams 3-19,
Irvin
              2-50, Jeffers 2-50, E.Smith 1-1.
              PUNT RETURNS-Dallas, Hughes 2-14.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Washington, Mitchell 5-57, Sellers 1-14.
Dallas,
              Hughes 2-62.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Washington, Patton 7-0-0, Pounds
6-0-0,
              Smith 6-0-0, D.Green 5-0-0, Richard 5-0-0, Lang 3-0-1,
L.Evans
              3-1-0, Jones 3-0-0, Wilkinson 3-0-0, Dishman 2-0-0, Brown
1-2-0,
              Kalu 1-0-1, Boutte 1-0-0, Duff 1-0-0, G.Evans 1-0-0,
Mitchell
              1-0-0, Williams 1-0-0, Kinney 0-1-0. Dallas, Coakley
7-0-0,
              Godfrey 4-2-0, Mathis 3-0-0, Reese 3-0-0, C.Williams
3-0-0,
              Teague 2-3-0, Lett 2-1-0, A.Smith 2-1-0, Woodson 2-1-0,
Ellis
              2-0-0, Stoutmire 2-0-0, Hambrick 2-0-0, S.Williams 2-0-0,
K.Smith
              1-1-0, Wheaton 1-1-0, Myers 1-0-1, Anderson 1-0-0,
McCormack
              1-0-0, Mobley 1-0-0, Strickland 1-0-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Dallas, Godfrey 1-0.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-Dallas, Cunningham 49 (SH).
              OFFICIALS-Referee Walt Coleman, Ump Garth DeFelice, HL
Paul
              Weidner, LJ Dave Anderson, FJ Dick Creed, SJ Terry
McAulay, BJ
              Bob Lawing.
              Time: 2:58.  A-63,565. No-shows-NA.
                                            Return to Top 
              DENVER 28, SEATTLE 21
              (Box Score)
              DENVER (AP) - The Denver Broncos got their groove back.
Terrell Davis and John Elway
              got more than that. Davis ran for 178 yards to become the
fourth back in NFL history to
              gain 2,000 yards in a season, and Elway threw four
touchdown passes to become the third
              passer in league history with 300 for his career.
              Together, they led Denver to a 28-21 victory over the
Seattle Seahawks on Sunday,
              sending the Broncos (14-2) into the playoffs on a high
note after suffering their only two
              defeats of the season the previous two games.
              "For John to throw his 300th TD pass and for Terrell to
get over 2,000, it's really exciting,"
              Broncos coach Mike Shanahan said. "It's always nice to end
a season on a positive note.
              But the real season (playoffs) begins in two weeks."
              When Davis was held to 29 yards in 16 carries in last
week's 31-21 loss to Miami, it left
              him 170 yards shy of 2,000 -- a deficit even he admitted
would be tough to make up.
              Nursing a sore back, Davis managed 54 yards on just six
carries in the first quarter, had
              82 at the half and 133 through three quarters. With a
15-yard run on his 29th carry
              midway through the fourth quarter, he raised his season
total to 2,008 -- the third highest
              in NFL history.
              Eric Dickerson ran for 2,105 yards in 1984 and Barry
Sanders for 2,053 last season. O.J.
              Simpson had 2,003 yards in 1973.
              "It's an elite group, a special club to be in," Davis
said. "I'm happy I'm finally in there.
              "I didn't really think I was going to be able to get it,
to be honest. One hundred seventy is a
              lot of yards when the other team knows you want to get it.
From the first play of the game,
              my linemen were itching to get those yards. They blocked
great, and I just tried to run
              hard."
              Davis became the top career rusher in Broncos history with
6,413 yards, doing in four
              years what it took Floyd Little (6,323) nine years to
accomplish.
              Elway burned the Seahawks (8-8) for two TD passes to tight
end Shannon Sharpe, one to
              Rod Smith and one to Davis. It gave him an even 300 in
what could be the final
              regular-season game of his 16-year career, joining Dan
Marino (408) and Fran Tarkenton
              (342).
              "It was crucial for us to get back and get the feeling of
winning again and really get over
              that hump of 13 wins," Elway said. "Thirteen scared me.
You don't want to go into the
              playoffs with three losses in a row, so it was huge."
              Asked about his 300th career TD pass, Elway said, "Hitting
that was great, because I had
              no real expectation that I'd get it."
              Elway completed 26-of-36 passes for 338 yards, while
Seattle quarterback Jon Kitna was
              22-of-37 for 242 yards.
              Elway's 1-yard TD throw to Sharpe with 11:45 left gave
Denver a 28-7 lead. But the
              Seahawks rallied for a pair of touchdowns in the final six
minutes. Kitna threw a 7-yard
              TD pass to Mike Pritchard, capping a 72-yard drive. With
1:32 left, Ricky Watters threw a
              1-yard halfback pass to Deems May, but the Broncos then
recovered the ensuing onside
              kick and ran out the clock.
              "We ran into a buzz saw today," Seattle coach Dennis
Erickson said. "They ran the ball,
              they threw the ball. They just seemed to do anything they
wanted. Denver was in sync." 
                                            Return to Top 
              DENVER BRONCOS 28, Seattle Seahawks 21
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              Seattle         7   0   0  14    21
              Denver          0  14   7   7    28
              First Quarter
                    Sea-Watters 4 run (Peterson kick), 2:26.
              Second Quarter
                    Den-R.Smith 33 pass from Elway (Elam kick), 10:25.
                    Den-Sharpe 17 pass from Elway (Elam kick), 1:01.
              Third Quarter
                    Den-Davis 2 pass from Elway (Elam kick), 8:26.
              Fourth Quarter
                    Den-Sharpe 1 pass from Elway (Elam kick), 11:45.
                    Sea-Pritchard 7 pass from Kitna (Peterson kick),
5:59.
                    Sea-May 1 pass from Watters (Peterson kick), 1:32.
 
                                      Sea       Den
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              19        31
               Rushing                  5        12
               Passing                 12        18
               Penalty                  2         1
              THIRD DOWN EFF         2-10      8-14
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         1-1       1-2
              TOTAL NET YARDS         241       511
               Total Plays             54        78
               Avg Gain               4.5       6.6
              NET YARDS RUSHING        24       195
               Rushes                  13        40
               Avg per rush           1.8       4.9
              NET YARDS PASSING       217       316
               Sacked-Yds lost       3-26      2-22
               Gross-Yds passing      243       338
               Completed-Att.       23-38     26-36
               Had Intercepted          1         0
               Yards-Pass Play        5.3       8.3
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   4-1-0     5-2-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           6-43.0    2-49.5
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE    161        85
               Punts Returns         2-32      2-14
               Kickoffs Returns     5-129      3-66
               Interceptions          0-0       1-5
              PENALTIES-Yds          5-26      8-75
              FUMBLES-Lost            1-0       2-1
              TIME OF POSSESSION    22:08     37:52
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Seattle, Watters 10-13, Strong 1-6, Kitna 2-5.
Denver,
              Davis 29-178, Loville 7-9, Elway 4-8.
              PASSING-Seattle, Kitna 22-37-1-242, Watters 1-1-0-1.
Denver,
              Elway 26-36-0-338.
              RECEIVING-Seattle, Pritchard 8-88, Fauria 5-67, Watters
4-29,
              Galloway 3-33, Blades 1-16, Strong 1-9, May 1-1. Denver,
R.Smith
              9-158, Sharpe 6-68, McCaffrey 3-36, Davis 2-17, Green
2-16,
              Griffith 2-10, Loville 1-17, Chamberlain 1-16.
              PUNT RETURNS-Seattle, Joseph 2-32. Denver, Coghill 2-14.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Seattle, Broussard 2-91, R.Brown 2-13,
Wilson
              1-16, Joseph 0-9. Denver, Hebron 3-66.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Seattle, Simmons 10-1-0, D.Williams
7-4-0,
              Myles 9-0-0, C.Brown 6-0-0, Bellamy 5-4-0, W.Williams
5-0-0,
              Daniels 4-1-1 1/2, Thomas 3-1-0, Joseph 3-0-0, Kennedy
2-0-0,
              Springs 1-3-0, Sinclair 1-1-1/2, Croel 1-1-0, Adams 1-0-0,
              R.Brown 1-0-0, McDaniel 1-0-0, Watters 1-0-0, Wilson
0-1-0,
              LaBounty 0-1-0. Denver, Johnson 5-0-1, Atwater 5-0-0,
Mobley
              5-0-0, Romanowski 4-0-0, Pryce 3-0-1, Crockett 3-0-0,
Cadrez
              2-1-0, James 2-0-0, A.Williams 1-0-1, Tanuvasa 1-1-0,
Coghill
              1-0-0, Gordon 1-0-0, Hasselbach 1-0-0, Traylor 1-0-0,
Burns
              1-0-0, Carswell 1-0-0, Loville 1-0-0, Lynn 1-0-0,
McCaffrey
              1-0-0, Washington 0-1-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Seattle, None. Denver, Cadrez 1-5.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-Denver, Elam 42 (WL), 55 (WL).
              OFFICIALS-Referee Bernie Kukar, Ump Brian Balliet, HL Gary
              Slaughter, LJ Darryll Lewis, FJ Tom Sifferman, SJ Howard
Slavin,
              BJ Bill Leavy.
              Time: 2:58. A-74,057. No-shows-1,877.
                                            Return to Top 
              GREEN BAY 16, CHICAGO 13
              (Box Score)
              CHICAGO (AP) - The Green Bay Packers didn't disappoint the
thousands of loyal
              Cheeseheads who turned Soldier Field into Lambeau South
for Reggie White's going-away
              party. Neither did White.
              Ryan Longwell kicked a go-ahead field goal in the fourth
quarter and LeRoy Butler came
              up with a huge sack and forced fumble in the last minute
as the Packers beat the Chicago
              Bears 16-13 in White's last regular-season game. The win
was the 10th straight for the
              Packers (11-5) over Chicago (4-12), and second in three
weeks.
              White, the NFL's all-time sack leader, has said he's
retiring after the season, and it took
              him about 10 minutes to say goodbye to players at
midfield. But there were still several
              hundred Packers fans waiting for him, and he stopped for a
few minutes, waving to them
              and pumping his fists in the air.
              "It's not over yet," said White, whose Packers play San
Francisco next weekend in an NFC
              wild-card game. "When it's over, it'll be a little more
emotional."
              White leads the NFL with 16 sacks this season. He was
sackless Sunday, though he did
              have four tackles and a pass deflection that led to an
interception and score.
              "I was hoping for a little more momentum," Green Bay coach
Mike Holmgren said. "We
              didn't function as well as I'd have liked. We were a
little sloppy, but we won the game and
              that's what I was hoping for going into the playoffs."
              Tied at 13, Green Bay marched to the Bears 1 on its first
drive of the fourth quarter. On his
              second try, Dorsey Levens jumped over a pile at the goal
line, but Barry Minter knocked
              Levens back for no gain. Longwell, who had missed a
39-yard field goal attempt and a
              point-after try earlier in the day, made an 18-yard chip
shot to give the Pack a 16-13 lead
              with 9:49 left.
              "It was 13-13 and we were struggling," Holmgren said of
why he didn't go for the
              touchdown. "I said, 'Let's get the lead, our defense is
playing pretty well and put it in their
              hands.'"
              Packers backup quarterback Doug Pederson bobbled a handoff
with 2:47 left, and
              Lemanski Hall scooped it up to give the Bears the ball at
their own 48. Chicago got to the
              Packers 33 only to have Butler sack Stenstrom with 54
seconds left. Stenstrom fumbled,
              Butler picked it up and the Packers ran out the clock.
              "I'm disappointed in the loss, having a chance to win a
football game against the Packers
              and not being able to pull the thing out at the end," said
Dave Wannstedt, after what may
              have been his last game as Bears coach. "We had a couple
of opportunities where we had
              to settle for field goals, we couldn't get touchdowns.
That was the difference in the game."
              Although they lost, the Bears outgained the Packers
281-239 in total yards. James Allen
              led Chicago with 60 yards on 22 carries and Stenstrom was
17-of-30 for 199 yards.
              Levens finished with 52 yards on 17 carries and Brett
Favre was 16-of-22 for 153 yards a
              TD and two interceptions. Green Bay's Antonio Freeman
caught seven passes for 65 yards
              and a TD. 
                                            Return to Top 
              Green Bay Packers 16, CHICAGO BEARS 13
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              Green Bay       7   0   6   3    16
              Chicago         7   3   3   0    13
              First Quarter
                    GB-McKenzie 33 interception return (Longwell kick),
7:57.
                    Chi-Allen 14 pass from Stenstrom (Jaeger kick), :38.
              Second Quarter
                    Chi-FG Jaeger 29, 3:54.
              Third Quarter
                    GB-Freeman 8 pass from Favre (kick failed), 8:19.
                    Chi-FG Jaeger 21, 2:29.
              Fourth Quarter
                    GB-FG Longwell 18, 9:49.
 
                                      GB        Chi
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              14        17
               Rushing                  5         3
               Passing                  8        13
               Penalty                  1         1
              THIRD DOWN EFF         6-12      6-14
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         0-0       1-3
              TOTAL NET YARDS         239       281
               Total Plays             53        64
               Avg Gain               4.5       4.4
              NET YARDS RUSHING        70        98
               Rushes                  27        31
               Avg per rush           2.6       3.2
              NET YARDS PASSING       169       183
               Sacked-Yds lost        0-0      2-16
               Gross-Yds passing      169       199
               Completed-Att.       19-26     17-31
               Had Intercepted          2         2
               Yards-Pass Play        6.5       5.5
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   4-1-0     4-0-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           3-41.0    2-43.0
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE    139       154
               Punts Returns         2-25      1-18
               Kickoffs Returns      4-75     4-100
               Interceptions         2-39      2-36
              PENALTIES-Yds          4-35      3-25
              FUMBLES-Lost            1-1       2-1
              TIME OF POSSESSION    28:36     31:24
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Green Bay, Levens 17-52, Favre 3-9, Holmes 3-9,
Pederson
              4-0. Chicago, Allen 22-60, Bennett 5-19, Chancey 4-19.
              PASSING-Green Bay, Favre 16-22-2-153, Pederson 3-4-0-16.
Chicago,
              Stenstrom 17-30-2-199, Horan 0-1-0-0.
              RECEIVING-Green Bay, Freeman 7-65, Thomason 3-27, Levens
3-22,
              Mayes 2-25, Copeland 2-11, Holmes 1-11, Henderson 1-8.
Chicago,
              Engram 5-68, Conway 4-58, Bennett 3-22, Allen 2-27, Penn
2-21,
              Chancey 1-3.
              PUNT RETURNS-Green Bay, Preston 2-25. Chicago, Milburn
1-18.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Green Bay, Preston 4-75. Chicago, Milburn
3-81,
              Bowens 1-19.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Green Bay, McKenzie 1-33, Williams 1-6.
Chicago,
              Collins 1-28, Parrish 1-8.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Green Bay, Koonce 9-0-0, Harris
8-1-0,
              B.Williams 5-3-0, Butler 2-3-1, Sharper 4-0-0, White
4-0-0,
              T.Williams 4-0-0, Terrell 3-1-0, Brown 2-1-0, Lyon 2-0-0,
              McKenzie 2-0-0, Booker 1-0-1, Cooks 1-0-0, Dotson 1-0-0,
Kuberski
              1-0-0. Chicago, Cousin 8-0-0, Carter 6-1-0, Minter 5-2-0,
Hall
              4-2-0, Hilliard 5-0-0, Wells 2-3-0, Collins 3-0-0, Parrish
3-0-0,
              Robinson 2-1-0, Harris 2-0-0, Thierry 1-0-0, Austin 0-1-0,
              Flanigan 0-1-0, Lee 0-1-0.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-Green Bay, Longwell 39 (WR). Chicago,
Jaeger
              48 (WR).
              OFFICIALS-Referee Ron Blum, Ump Bob Wagner, HL Mark
Hittner, LJ
              Walt Anderson, FJ Al Jury, SJ Nate Jones, BJ Bill Schmitz.
              Time: 2:47. A-58,393. No-shows-8,551.
                                            Return to Top 
              N.Y. JETS 31, NEW ENGLAND 10
              (Box Score)
              EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - With the AFC East crown,
their first title of any kind since
              joining the NFL, already tucked away, the New York Jets
received a challenge from their
              hard-driving coach.
              The way they responded Sunday indicates they might be
heading for more championships.
              "I think we played championship football," Parcells said
after Vinny Testaverde threw for
              four touchdowns in a 31-10 rout of Parcells' former team,
the New England Patriots. "I
              told the team playing like a champion isn't once in a
while or a sometime thing. You try to
              do it all the time. Sometimes it does not work out.
              "There were a lot of people in their ears telling them
this game did not mean anything,"
              added Parcells, who in two years has guided the Jets from
1-15 the year before he was
              hired to a franchise-high 12-4 and to a first-round
playoff bye they clinched last week. "I
              tried to make them believe it means a lot. It's about
competition and achievement."
              New York's achievements have been phenomenal this year.
The last time the Jets finished a
              season so hot, they won their only Super Bowl, in 1969 as
a member of the AFL, two
              seasons before the merger took effect.
              It's been 30 years, or since Joe Namath was in the midst
of his Hall of Fame career, that the
              Jets were this strong.
              Testaverde set a club record with 29 TD passes. His 12th
pro season has been his best by
              far and much more than anyone could have imagined when he
signed in June as a free
              agent to back up Glenn Foley.
              The AFC's leading passer, Testaverde had touchdown passes
of 4 yards to Kyle Brady, 8 to
              Curtis Martin, 17 to Dedric Ward and 24 to Keyshawn
Johnson. He was 17-for-27.
              Another key free-agent addition this year, Martin rushed
29 times for 102 yards as the
              Jets held the ball for 38:51.
              The Patriots (9-7) already had made the playoffs despite a
rash of injuries to key players.
              Among the missing Sunday were quarterback Drew Bledsoe,
wide receiver Terry Glenn
              and inside linebacker Ted Johnson. Without them -- and
with the Jets on such a roll --
              the Patriots had little chance.
              New England won't have most of its wounded back for next
weekend's wild-card game at
              Jacksonville.
              "We were looking to go into this game playing
playoff-caliber football," coach Pete Carroll
              said. "But we were nowhere near that level of play; we got
nothing accomplished."
              New England did not get a first down until midway through
the second period. The
              Patriots got a 19-yard field goal from Adam Vinatieri to
cap an 80-yard march in the
              second period, and a 44-yard TD pass from Scott Zolak to
Tony Simmons with 1:31 to go.
              Zolak, starting for Bledsoe for the second straight week,
was just 14-for-31 for 127 yards.
              The Jets, 6-27 in December in the 1990s, went 4-0 this
year, their first spotless record in
              the month. Parcells is 36-20 in December. 
                                            Return to Top 
              NEW YORK JETS 31, New England Patriots 10
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              New England     0   3   0   7    10
              N.Y. Jets       3  14   7   7    31
              First Quarter
                    NY-FG Hall 36, 6:21.
              Second Quarter
                    NY-Brady 4 pass from Testaverde (Hall kick), 14:20.
                    NY-Martin 8 pass from Testaverde (Hall kick), 9:05.
                    NE-FG Vinatieri 19, 3:26.
              Third Quarter
                    NY-Ward 17 pass from Testaverde (Hall kick), 10:31.
              Fourth Quarter
                    NY-K.Johnson 24 pass from Testaverde (Hall kick),
14:55.
                    NE-Simmons 44 pass from Zolak (Vinatieri kick),
1:31.
 
                                      NE        NY
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS               9        21
               Rushing                  2         8
               Passing                  7        13
               Penalty                  0         0
              THIRD DOWN EFF         6-15     13-19
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         0-2       0-0
              TOTAL NET YARDS         249       339
               Total Plays             52        72
               Avg Gain               4.8       4.7
              NET YARDS RUSHING       130       149
               Rushes                  20        41
               Avg per rush           6.5       3.6
              NET YARDS PASSING       119       190
               Sacked-Yds lost        1-8       0-0
               Gross-Yds passing      127       190
               Completed-Att.       14-31     18-31
               Had Intercepted          0         1
               Yards-Pass Play        3.7       6.1
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   3-0-0     6-1-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           6-42.7    4-41.0
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE    182        71
               Punts Returns         2-18      3-39
               Kickoffs Returns     6-164      2-32
               Interceptions          1-0       0-0
              PENALTIES-Yds          2-25      1-10
              FUMBLES-Lost            3-1       0-0
              TIME OF POSSESSION    21:09     38:51
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-New England, S.Shaw 6-81, Edwards 12-47, Cullors
2-2. New
              York, Martin 29-102, Testaverde 2-35, Meggett 4-7, Sowell
4-4,
              Anderson 1-2, Lucas 1-(minus 1).
              PASSING-New England, Zolak 14-31-0-127. New York,
Testaverde
              17-27-1-179, Foley 1-3-0-11, Lucas 0-1-0-0.
              RECEIVING-New England, Edwards 4-8, Coates 2-25, S.Shaw
2-10,
              Purnell 2-8, Simmons 1-44, Cullors 1-15, Carter 1-11,
Jefferson
              1-6. New York, K.Johnson 6-75, Chrebet 4-44, Brady 3-16,
Ward
              2-28, Martin 2-12, Meggett 1-15.
              PUNT RETURNS-New England, Brown 2-18. New York, Meggett
3-39.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-New England, Cullors 5-140, Canty 1-24.
New York,
              Meggett 1-16, Williams 1-16.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-New England, Eaton 7-6-0, Bruschi
7-5-0,
              Milloy 6-4-0, Clay 6-1-0, Moore 5-6-0, Law 5-1-0, Israel
4-0-0,
              Collins 3-2-0, McGinest 2-1-0, Jones 2-1-0, Canty 2-1-0,
Whigham
              2-0-0, Spiers 2-0-0, Thomas 2-0-0, Slade 1-1-0, Carter
1-0-0,
              Wheeler 1-0-0, Cullors 1-0-0, H.Shaw 1-0-0, Bartrum 0-1-0,
              Cottrell 0-1-0. New York, Pleasant 5-0-1, Williams 5-0-0,
              P.Johnson 4-2-0, Mickens 3-2-0, Smith 3-1-0, Farrior
2-2-0,
              Gordon 2-2-0, Green 2-1-0, Lewis 2-1-0, Brown 2-0-0, Logan
2-0-0,
              Cox 1-2-0, Frost 1-1-0, Hays 1-1-0, Lyle 1-0-0, Ogbogu
1-0-0,
              Boose 1-0-0, Cascadden 1-0-0, Ferguson 1-0-0, Chrebet
1-0-0,
              Sowell 1-0-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-New England, Milloy 1-0. New York, None.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
              OFFICIALS-Referee Jerry Markbreit, Ump Ed Fiffick, HL
Sanford
              Rivers, LJ Mark Steinkerchner, FJ Bob McGrath, SJ Don
Carlsen, BJ
              Don Hakes.
              Time: 2:54. A-74,302. No-shows-5,167.
                                            Return to Top 
              N.Y. GIANTS 20, PHILADELPHIA 10
              (Box Score)
              PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Ray Rhodes walked briskly into the
Philadelphia locker room,
              shaking hands with a few people he's gotten to know since
he was hired as the Eagles'
              coach in 1995.
              "All right, all right. It's been real," Rhodes said after
the Eagles' 20-10 loss to the New York
              Giants on Sunday gave them the first 13-loss season in
franchise history.
              Rhodes, who acknowledged two weeks ago he'd be gone after
the season, gave yet another
              concession and farewell speech after the game. But owner
Jeffrey Lurie said all this talk
              about a new coach was "premature."
              "Ray is our coach," Lurie said. "... I want a chance to
sit down with all the coaches, sit down
              with Ray and see what everybody wants to do."
              Only the Eagles (3-13) could have a coach who thinks he's
been fired and an owner who
              disagrees. Rhodes and Lurie agreed on one thing. They will
meet Monday morning before
              what Rhodes -- and almost everyone else -- calls his final
news conference as the team's
              coach.
              The Eagles finished with their worst record since going
2-11-1 in 1972. After going 20-12
              and making the playoffs in his first two seasons, Rhodes
was 9-22-1. The loss assured
              Philadelphia the No. 2 pick in the upcoming draft, behind
expansion Cleveland.
              "When you get a chance to be around a place for four
years, and you go in and talk to your
              players for the last time, you get emotional," Rhodes
said. "It's part of the business."
              Lost in the confusion was the end of an inconsistent
season for the Giants (8-8), who were
              eliminated from NFC wild-card contention before the game
even started by Tampa Bay's
              35-0 victory over Cincinnati.
              "We were watching the game and saw it was 28-0," said
Giants receiver Chris Calloway,
              who caught two touchdown passes from Kent Graham. "We were
kind of down in the first
              half."
              It was also Irving Fryar's final game in the NFL. The
Eagles receiver, retiring after 15
              seasons, had three catches for 36 yards but fell 17 yards
short of becoming the eighth
              player in NFL history with 12,000 receiving yards. He also
fell two catches short of a ninth
              straight 50-reception season.
              "I felt pretty calm," Fryar said. "It was pretty scary,
though. It felt like a funeral. It was nice
              to have all my family and friends from home here to
support me."
              Once the Giants learned their fate, only personal goals
were left. Graham was 15-for-26 for
              133 yards and Gary Brown carried 25 times for 112 yards,
pushing him over 1,000 yards
              for the second time in his career.
              Calloway had five catches for 56 yards, giving him a
reception in a team-record 47 straight
              games. Wide open at the goal line, he dropped a sure TD
pass from Graham late in the
              third. But he grabbed a 5-yard TD pass deflected by Ike
Hilliard that provided the final
              margin in the fourth. 
                                            Return to Top 
              New York Giants 20, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES 10
              (Recap)
                                 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                                 --- --- --- ---  -----
              N.Y. Giants         3   3   7   7    20
              Philadelphia        0  10   0   0    10
              First Quarter
                    NY-FG Daluiso 43, :34.
              Second Quarter
                    Phi-Staley 64 run (Boniol kick), 14:16.
                    NY-FG Daluiso 33, 7:08.
                    Phi-FG Boniol 19, :35.
              Third Quarter
                    NY-Calloway 5 pass from K.Graham (Daluiso kick),
:28.
              Fourth Quarter
                    NY-Calloway 18 pass from K.Graham (Daluiso kick),
5:42.
                                      NY        Phi
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              22        11
               Rushing                 13         3
               Passing                  9         7
               Penalty                  0         1
              THIRD DOWN EFF         9-16      4-13
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         0-0       1-3
              TOTAL NET YARDS         339       264
               Total Plays             71        53
               Avg Gain               4.8       5.0
              NET YARDS RUSHING       209       123
               Rushes                  43        24
               Avg per rush           4.9       5.1
              NET YARDS PASSING       130       141
               Sacked-Yds lost        2-3      2-10
               Gross-Yds passing      133       151
               Completed-Att.       15-26     13-27
               Had Intercepted          0         1
               Yards-Pass Play        4.6       4.9
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   5-0-0     3-0-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           4-47.5    4-39.3
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE     65       196
               Punts Returns          1-1      4-47
               Kickoffs Returns      3-51     5-149
               Interceptions         1-13       0-0
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-New York, Brown 25-112, Way 10-62, Graham 6-27,
Barber
              2-8. Philadelphia, Staley 16-97, Turner 2-12, Walker 5-10,
Detmer
              1-4.
              PASSING-New York, Graham 15-26-0-133. Philadelphia, Detmer
              13-27-1-151.
              RECEIVING-New York, Calloway 5-56, Barber 3-21, Brown
3-15,
              Toomer 2-23, Hilliard 2-18. Philadelphia, Turner 4-27,
Fryar
              3-36, Jells 1-37, J.Graham 1-25, Solomon 1-15, Miller 1-6,
Staley
              1-3, Walker 1-2.
              PUNT RETURNS-New York, Toomer 1-1. Philadelphia, Rossum
4-47.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-New York, Barber 2-20, Toomer 1-31. Home,
Rossum
              3-112, Walker 2-37.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-New York, Strahan 4-3-1, Widmer
4-1-0,
              Armstead 4-0-1, Garnes 4-0-0, Gray 4-0-0, C.Hamilton
4-0-0,
              M.Buckley 3-1-0, Ellsworth 3-1-0, S.Williams 3-0-0,
Phillips
              3-0-0, Monty 1-1-0, Bratzke 1-0-0, C.Buckley 1-0-0,
Sanders
              1-0-0, Lincoln 0-1-0, Peter 0-1-0. Philadelphia, Caldwell
8-2-0,
              Jasper 7-1-0, J.Harris 4-3-0, Dawkins 4-1-0, Willis 4-1-0,
              A.Harris 4-0-0, Zordich 3-1-0, McTyer 3-0-0, W.Thomas
1-2-0,
              Jefferson 1-1-1, Taylor 1-1-0, Vincent 1-1-0, Wallace
1-0-1,
              Marshall 1-0-0, Rossum 1-0-0, Whiting 1-0-0, Reese 1-0-0,
Trotter
              1-0-0, Turner 1-0-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-New York, Garnes 1-13. Philadelphia, None.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
              OFFICIALS-Referee Gerry Austin, Ump Jim Duke, HL Tom
Johnson, LJ
              Ron Baynes, FJ Keven Mack, SJ Tommy Moore, BJ Jack
Vaughan.
              Time: 2:42. A-66,596. No-shows-NA.
                                            Return to Top 
              SAN FRANCISCO 38, ST. LOUIS 19
              (Box Score)
              SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The San Francisco 49ers are getting
the Green Bay Packers where
              they want them. By beating St. Louis 38-19 Sunday for
their 17th straight regular season
              home victory, the 49ers (12-4) earned the right to play
host to the Packers (11-5) in
              Sunday's wild-card playoff game rather than having to
travel to icy Lambeau Field.
              "We had to win this game to avoid going back to 38-below,"
San Francisco coach Steve
              Mariucci said. "This was step one, and next week against
Green Bay is step two."
              Rookie R.W. McQuarters returned a punt 72 yards for a
touchdown and Steve Young
              passed for two TDs and ran for another in San Francisco's
17th straight victory over the
              Rams (4-12). It's the second-longest win streak against an
opponent in NFL history,
              trailing Washington's 18-game run over Detroit. Wade
Richey added field goals of 44, 27
              and 20 yards for the 49ers, who haven't lost to the Rams
since 1990, when they were still
              based in Anaheim, Calif.
              "We needed this, not only to get the next game at home but
to build some momentum
              going into the playoffs," 49ers guard Ray Brown said.
"Now, there's no excuses, no holding
              anything back. Let's just go win this thing."
              But the 49ers didn't escape the regular season closer
entirely unscathed. Garrison Hearst,
              who last week set a single-season team rushing record for
San Francisco, strained his
              right hamstring in the second quarter and didn't return.
Hearst said he felt like he could
              have gone back in, but Mariucci held him out rather than
risk aggravating the injury.
              "I just had a little knot in there," Hearst said. "I'm OK.
I'm just going to take some
              precautions and get some treatment on it."
              Mariucci said he expects Hearst to be able to play against
the Packers, who have won five
              straight against San Francisco and knocked the 49ers out
of the playoffs the past three
              years. Most recently it was a 23-10 victory in the NFC
title game at 3Com Park last
              January, the 49ers' only home loss under Mariucci.
              "I think he's going to be ready to go next week. I
certainly hope so," Mariucci said.
              Steve Bono, who formerly backed up Young and Joe Montana
in San Francisco, started his
              second straight for the Rams after a season-ending knee
injury to Tony Banks. Bono
              capped the Rams' opening possession with a 5-yard scoring
pass to Ricky Proehl. He
              added fourth-quarter TD passes of 25 yards to Amp Lee and
17 yards to Proehl but it
              wasn't enough for the Rams, who finished 0-8 this season
against fellow NFC West teams.
              St. Louis coach Dick Vermeil said the Rams came in hoping
for an upset to take the sting
              out of a disappointing season.
              "It would have been great," he said. "I think you can see
they were excited and ready to
              play, and at halftime we were still there. But that's a
good football team over there,
              especially on offense. And that's all there is to it."
              Young, who set a club record with 36 TD passes on the
season, ran 16 yards for a score.
              Young passed for 4,170 yards for the year, becoming the
sixth player in NFL history with
              multiple 4,000-yard seasons. He threw for 4,023 in 1993. 
                                            Return to Top 
              SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS 38, St. Louis Rams 19
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              St. Louis       7   0   0  12    19
              San Francisco   3   7  18  10    38
              First Quarter
                    StL-Proehl 5 pass from Bono (Wilkins kick), 11:44.
                    SF-FG Richey 20, 4:19.
              Second Quarter
                    SF-Rice 4 pass from Young (Richey kick), 13:29.
              Third Quarter
                    SF-FG Richey 26, 10:38.
                    SF-McQuarters 72 punt return (Clark pass from
Young), 9:23.
                    SF-Young 16 run (Richey kick), 3:41.
              Fourth Quarter
                    StL-Lee 25 pass from Bono (Wilkins kick), 13:42.
                    SF-FG Richey 44, 7:09.
                    StL-Proehl 17 pass from Bono (pass failed), 5:15.
                    SF-Owens 24 pass from Young (Richey kick), 3:38.
 
                                      StL       SF
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              17        22
               Rushing                  4         7
               Passing                 12        15
               Penalty                  1         0
              THIRD DOWN EFF         2-12      8-16
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         1-3       0-0
              TOTAL NET YARDS         321       397
               Total Plays             60        70
               Avg Gain               5.4       5.7
              NET YARDS RUSHING        57       120
               Rushes                  18        35
               Avg per rush           3.2       3.4
              NET YARDS PASSING       264       277
               Sacked-Yds lost       1-15      3-11
               Gross-Yds passing      279       288
               Completed-Att.       19-41     22-32
               Had Intercepted          1         0
               Yards-Pass Play        6.3       7.9
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   4-0-0     8-1-1
              PUNTS-Avg.           6-42.7    5-38.2
               Punts blocked            0         0
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE    143       166
               Punts Returns          1-0     5-100
               Kickoffs Returns     7-143      3-60
               Interceptions          0-0       1-6
              PENALTIES-Yds          3-15      6-40
              FUMBLES-Lost            1-0       0-0
              TIME OF POSSESSION    24:17     35:43
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-St. Louis, Henley 13-51, Harris 1-4, Lee 3-3, Bono
              1-(minus 1). San Francisco, Kirby 16-60, Hearst 10-21,
Young
              4-20, Owens 1-14, Edwards 3-6, Detmer 1-(minus 1).
              PASSING-St. Louis, Bono 15-30-1-240, Warner 4-11-0-39. San
              Francisco, Young 22-32-0-288.
              RECEIVING-St. Louis, Proehl 7-100, Henley 5-64, Lee 4-46,
              Kennison 2-48, Hakin 1-21. San Francisco, Owens 5-85, Rice
4-49,
              Kirby 4-35, Hearst 3-58, Clark 3-46, Stokes 2-11, Smith
1-4.
              PUNT RETURNS-St. Louis, Kennison 1-0. San Francisco,
McQuarters
              5-100.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-St. Louis, Horne 7-143. San Francisco,
Kirby
              3-60.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-St. Louis, Fletcher 9-0-0, Jenkins
8-0-0,
              Jones 8-0-0, Phifer 6-0-1, Agnew 5-0-0, Winstrom 4-0-0,
Jones
              3-1-0, Lyle 3-1-0, McNeil 3-0-0, Lyght 3-0-0, Sears 3-0-0,
              Carpenter 3-0-0, Farr 2-0-1, Carter 1-0-1, McCleon 1-0-0,
              Williams 1-0-0, Jacoby 1-0-0, Robinson 1-0-0. San
Francisco,
              Norton 5-0-0, McQuarters 5-0-0, Hanks 4-0-0, Walker 4-0-0,
              Peterson 4-0-0, McDonald 3-0-0, Schulters 3-0-0, Bryant
2-1-1,
              Woodall 2-1-0, Pope 2-0-0, Posey 2-0-0, Fann 1-1-0, Givens
1-1-0,
              Richie 1-0-0, Tubbs 1-0-0, Barker 1-0-0, Buckner 1-0-0,
Legette
              1-0-0, Doleman 0-1-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-San Francisco, Walker 1-6.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-None.
              OFFICIALS-Referee Dick Hantak, Ump Carl Madsen, HL Dale
Williams,
              LJ Byron Boston, FJ Lloyd McPeters, SJ Gary Lane, BJ
Richard
              Reels.
              Time: 3:01. A-68,386. No-shows-NA.
                                            Return to Top 
              TAMPA BAY 35, CINCINNATI 0
              (Box Score)
              CINCINNATI (AP) - Tampa Bay got its biggest road win ever
-- in the cold, no less -- but
              couldn't get into the playoffs. The Buccaneers extended
their playoff hopes Sunday with
              their first road shutout, a 35-0 victory over the
Cincinnati Bengals set up by Mike Alstott's
              career-high three touchdown runs.
              But the Buccaneers (8-8) were eliminated about four hours
later, while they were on a
              flight back to Florida. They needed two things to happen,
and got only one. The New York
              Giants beat Philadelphia 20-10 to sustain the Buccaneers'
hopes. Those ended when
              Arizona beat San Diego 16-13 on Chris Jacke's last-second
52-yard field goal to clinch
              the final NFC wild-card berth.
              Instead of building upon their 10-victory season of 1997,
the Buccaneers started off 4-7
              and wound up needing a lot of help down the stretch.
              "We created that situation," coach Tony Dungy said, before
the team headed home. "If we
              don't (make the playoffs), I don't think we have anybody
to blame but ourselves. There
              were some sub-.500 teams that we didn't beat and that
makes it tough on you."
              "It's frustrating because we shouldn't be like that," said
Alstott, who rushed for 69 yards
              on 20 carries. "We should have been playing for home-field
advantage or keeping our
              fundamentals ready for next week. Now we've got to take
what's handed to us."
              The Bucs got everything handed to them by Cincinnati
(3-13). The Bengals fumbled a
              punt, had another blocked, missed a field goal, fumbled a
kickoff and lost another
              quarterback to a hand injury as Tampa rolled to a 28-0
halftime lead. It was the most
              lopsided shutout in Bengals history and the first home
shutout since a 34-0 loss to
              Cleveland in a strike replacement game. The last home
shutout before that was 14-0
              against Buffalo in 1980.
              "Maybe we had some guys already on the highway, already on
the plane flying home," said
              Bengals safety Sam Shade, who also questioned his
teammates' effort during the season. "I
              don't know."
              The 28-point half was Tampa Bay's biggest since 1989 and
tied for the second-best in
              franchise history. The 28-point halftime lead was Tampa
Bay's biggest ever. Things broke
              the Buccaneers' way from the start. They were 0-16 when
the game-time temperature was
              39 degrees or below; it had warmed to 40 degrees (with a
wind chill of 29 degrees) at the
              coin flip on Sunday.
              Trent Dilfer then set the tone by throwing a 50-yard TD to
Robb Thomas -- who had only
              one reception all season -- on the fifth play of the game.
Doug Pelfrey was wide right on a
              40-yard field goal on the Bengals' first possession.
Alstott's 1-yard TD made it 14-0, and
              Eric Bieniemy fumbled the kickoff to set up Alstott's
1-yard run 2:49 later. After Don
              Davis blocked Brad Costello's punt, Dilfer's 4-yard TD
pass to Reidel Anthony made it
              28-0.
              The Bengals lost a quarterback to a hand injury for the
third time in four games when Paul
              Justin hurt his right hand in the second quarter. Eric
Kresser, playing in only his second
              NFL game, was 7-for-17 for 102 yards with a pair of
interceptions.
              Dilfer completed 10-of-16 passes for 111 yards. Warrick
Dunn's 89 yards on 19 carries
              made him the fifth Buccaneer to rush for 1,000 in a
season. He had 978 last season as a
              rookie. 
                                            Return to Top 
              Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35, CINCINNATI BENGALS 0
              (Recap)
                             1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH  FINAL
                             --- --- --- ---  -----
              Tampa Bay      14  14   0   7    35
              Cincinnati      0   0   0   0     0
              First Quarter
                    TB-Thomas 50 pass from Dilfer (Husted kick), 12:29.
                    TB-Alstott 1 run (Husted kick), 2:46.
              Second Quarter
                    TB-Alstott 1 run (Husted kick), 14:57.
                    TB-Anthony 4 pass from Dilfer (Husted kick), 8:07.
              Fourth Quarter
                    TB-Alstott 3 run (Husted kick), 9:20.
 
                                      TB        Cin
                                      ---       ---
              FIRST DOWNS              22        11
               Rushing                 16         4
               Passing                  5         7
               Penalty                  1         0
              THIRD DOWN EFF         9-15      2-10
              FOURTH DOWN EFF         0-0       0-3
              TOTAL NET YARDS         320       246
               Total Plays             69        52
               Avg Gain               4.6       4.7
              NET YARDS RUSHING       223        87
               Rushes                  51        23
               Avg per rush           4.4       3.8
              NET YARDS PASSING        97       159
               Sacked-Yds lost       2-14      2-17
               Gross-Yds passing      111       176
               Completed-Att.       10-16     11-27
               Had Intercepted          1         2
               Yards-Pass Play        5.4       5.5
              KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB   6-3-1     1-0-0
              PUNTS-Avg.           4-39.8    4-35.8
               Punts blocked            0         1
              FGs-PATs blocked        0-0       0-0
              TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE     73       117
               Punts Returns         0-00      2-16
               Kickoffs Returns      1-12     5-101
               Interceptions         2-61       1-0
              PENALTIES-Yds           1-5      5-30
              FUMBLES-Lost            0-0       2-1
              TIME OF POSSESSION    36:28     23:32
              INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
              RUSHING-Tampa Bay, Dunn 19-89, Alstott 20-69, Neal 4-25,
Dilfer
              2-22, Ellison 6-18. Cincinnati, Dillon 14-70, Bennett
5-13, Milne
              1-3, Scott 1-2, Costello 1-0, Kresser 1-(minus 1).
              PASSING-Tampa Bay, Dilfer 10-16-1-111. Cincinnati, Justin
              4-10-0-74, Kresser 7-17-2-102.
              RECEIVING-Tampa Bay, Green 3-23, Williams 2-18, Alstott
2-8,
              Thomas 1-50, Dunn 1-8, Anthony 1-4. Cincinnati, McGee
3-68,
              Dillon 3-51, Scott 2-37, Pickens 2-17, Milne 1-3.
              PUNT RETURNS-Tampa Bay, None. Cincinnati, Williams 2-16.
              KICKOFF RETURNS-Tampa Bay, Green 1-12. Cincinnati, Gibson
4-85,
              Bieniemy 1-16.
              TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS-Tampa Bay, Barber 7-0-0, Brooks
6-0-0,
              Gooch 5-0-0, Quarles 4-0-0, Upshaw 3-1-1, Bouie 3-0-0,
Abraham
              2-0-0, Culpepper 2-0-1, Duncan 2-0-0, White 2-0-0, Vance
1-0-0,
              Ellison 1-0-0, Thomas 1-0-0, Sapp 0-1-0. Cincinnati,
Spikes
              9-2-0, B.Simmons 9-1-0, Hawkins 6-0-0, Myers 6-0-0,
C.Simmons
              5-1-1, Langford 5-0-0, Bell 4-0-0, Shade 3-0-0, Bankston
2-1-1,
              Moore 2-1-0, Foley 2-0-0, Francis 1-1-0, Ambrose 1-0-0,
Purvis
              1-0-0, Randolph 1-0-0, Ross 1-0-0, Granville 0-1-0, von
Oelhoffen
              0-1-0, Wilson 0-1-0.
              INTERCEPTIONS-Tampa Bay, Barber 1-56, Mincy 1-5.
Cincinnati,
              Ambrose 1-0.
              MISSED FIELD GOALS-Cincinnati, Pelfrey 40 (WR); Tampa Bay,
Husted
              18 (WR).
              OFFICIALS-Referee Phil Luckett, Ump Hendi Ancich, HL
Earnie
              Frantz, LJ Dale Orem, FJ Jim Saracino, SJ Laird Hayes, BJ
Ron
              Spittler.
              Time: 2:42. A-49,826. No-shows-NA.

              PASSING-San Diego, Whelihan 16-40-4-214.
Referendum tra i tifosi dei Chargers: lo mandiamo a pulire i cessi, o
per sbaglio pulirebbe quelli degli avversari?
Saluti.
Diego
(Please remove NOSPAM to reply)

 (Please remove NOSPAM to reply)
Domenica sera per la prima e unica volta (purtroppo o.... meno male)
in questa stagione sono riuscito a vedere una partita dei Chargers,
o meglio, avevo in mente di vederla, poi ho gettato la spugna dopo
i primi due quarti perchè non vedevo più partita.
Non ho mai visto in azione Leaf, ma se questo Whelihan è il meglio
tra i QB, avere chiuso 5-11 è già un successo. Certo che vedere gente
come Seau e gli altri della difesa, tirarsi il culo per poi vedere
gettare tutto alle ortiche dal 'cessaiolo' e dagli altri dell'attacco
(anche i ricevitori sembravano avere il sapone al posto delle mani) è
veramente sconfortante.
Speriamo l'anno prossimo....
-- 
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http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Track/5544