Eagles Throwing Cunningham to Raiders : Talented Quarterback Enduring Many Spills on Much-Sacked Team

You can, too, come home again but you’d better make sure your hospitalization is paid up if you’re Randall Cunningham, of the Santa Barbara Cunninghams, UNLV and now the Eagles.

It is the last designation that is likely to get Cunningham killed, the Eagles having already allowed a National Football League record 73 sacks with 25% of the season left. On the Raider defensive line, they’re taking numbers. Oh, says Bill Pickel, I have to wait until after Sean? OK, but I was here before Greg.

Cunningham has taken the fall on 46 of the 73 sacks, which is remarkable, since catching him is no cinch. On his 45 scrambles that got past the line of scrimmage, he has a 9.8-yard average. Two weeks ago he ran for 110 yards against the Detroit Lions, the first 100-yard rushing day for an NFL quarterback in 10 years. He’s the leading Eagle rusher by 80 yards over Keith Byars, who has been benched again. No quarterback has led his team in rushing since the Bears’ Bobby Douglass in 1972.

And running isn’t all Cunningham can do. What the Raiders will be looking at today is a John Elway-level talent.

“He doesn’t just run the way a quarterback would run,” Raider Coach Tom Flores said. “He can run like a halfback. He’s got a tremendous arm. He can throw the ball flat-footed half the length of the field.”

Cunningham is the younger brother of former USC and Patriot star Sam (Bam). A star at Santa Barbara High, Randall always thought he’d be a Trojan, too, but he became a Rebel for the University of Nevada Las Vegas, instead.

“I was considering USC as my first school,” he said. “I switched some classes my senior year and took some astronomy classes they wanted. But when I visited Las Vegas and saw how nice the town was and how nice the people were. . . .

“They treated me completely upper-class, like I was the No. 1 guy they wanted to sign. USC catered more to offensive linemen, showed them a great time. I guess I got a little jealous after a recruiting session.

“UNLV ran a pro-type offense. The quarterback called his own plays. At SC, you pitch the ball to a tailback and make him a Heisman Trophy winner.

“I wanted to be the star, the guy who leads his team to victory. I think that’s how it should be.”

At this point, there isn’t enough to lead and there haven’t been many victories. Cunningham remains a prospect, if a gifted one.

Last season as a rookie, he was caught between his coach, Marion Campbell, who wanted him to be an understudy to Ron Jaworski, and the team owner, Norman Braman, who wanted young Randall playing. Braman, of course, was a rookie himself and later showed his exuberance in other areas, including new coach selection: His first choice to succeed Campbell was 24-year-old David Shula.

This season, the new coach, Buddy Ryan, started Cunningham out as the third-and-long replacement for Jaworski. Ryan, the expert in preparing defenses, knew that the more you gave them to worry about, the more off-balance they’d be. Of course, the more his offense had to learn, the more off-balance it was, too.

And any way you cut it, you can’t make chicken salad if the poultry up front can’t block.

Zero in on one offensive line spot, for example--left guard. Ryan decided before training camp to replace the four-year starter, Steve Kenney, who was considered an OK player and wasn’t any kind of a coach’s problem. Ryan, who is not loathe to speak his mind, said he just wanted to upgrade the position.

So he sent in the, uh, replacements:

1. Kevin Allen. The team’s No. 1 pick in ‘85, the eighth man selected in the draft. He lasted one day, suffered dehydration in practice. Later waived.

2. Greg Naron, a free agent. Kenney, getting the drift, walked out of camp. He was later dumped to the Lions

3. Steve Bogdalek, the 11th-round draft pick. He moved in because Naron walked out of camp, too, apparently distressed that Kenney had walked out.

4. Jim Gilmore, a free agent.

5. Ken Reeves, the starting left tackle. This left a hole at tackle, which was filled by special teamer Tom Jelesky. In one three-week period, Jelesky went from a starter to a reserve to the waiver wire.

6. Nick Haden, a Raider No. 7 draft pick out of Penn State in ‘85, who was cut before camp last summer. He’s there now.

Is this enough discontinuity? Four of the Eagles’ five running backs are rookies. The Eagles have allowed more than 30 sacks by linebackers and safeties, normally the blocking responsibility of the running backs.

Look out, Randall Cunningham.

As for the Raiders, this game starts a different phase. Three of their last four games are at home, with the Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts coming in to close the season. Once, the Raiders were saying things like: Rozelle fixed us this time; he whipsawed us with that tough schedule early, and if we’re out of contention by the end, we won’t draw anything for those games.

They’re 11-point favorites today. They figure to be be favored by at least a touchdown in their last two at home. If they win today, they’ll probably be a slight favorite for the road game, even if it is at Seattle.

Of course, the Raiders generally play better when they’re up against a wall. From now on, the enemy they have to guard against is within.

Raider Notes

What is a quarterback’s role in avoiding sacks? In seven games with Marc Wilson, the Raiders’ offensive line gave up 30 sacks. In five with Jim Plunkett, it has allowed 13. The difference seems to lie in Plunkett’s decisiveness. He makes his mind up faster and gets the ball away quicker. He hasn’t given up the deep throws, either. Plunkett is averaging one more yard per attempt than Wilson. . . . Coach Tom Flores said: “Jim is getting rid of the ball quicker. He’s going underneath a little quicker. He does it a little quicker than Marc. Some of it is by design. Some of it is just Jim.” . . . And why doesn’t Plunkett burn timeouts, as Wilson so often did? When the play is late coming from Flores, Plunkett often jumps into the huddle and calls his own. . . . Buddy Ryan, who called Keith Byars “a franchise back” when he drafted him No. 1, has benched him in favor of the No. 10 pick, Washington State’s Junior Tautalatasi. Byars, coming off a chronic foot injury and struggling with a 2.9-yard rushing average, said last week it “wasn’t fair” and wondered if he had a future with the Eagles. Ryan says he has. . . . Howie Long, whom linemate Greg Townsend called “30 or 40% of our defense” returned to practice last week after sitting out two games because of a blood clot above his right knee. He is expected to see some action today. Flores says that Marcus Allen’s long-sprained right ankle has improved and Allen no longer has to be on the injury report, for the first time since he was hurt nine games ago. . . . Special teams matchup: Eagle punter John Teltschik had one kick blocked for a touchdown last week and another returned for a touchdown. Lester Hayes blocked a Charger punt, and Jerry Robinson recovered for a touchdown.