Roundup : Substitute Bears Have No Trouble Beating Eagles

Some things never change, not even with a strike, pickets, mounted police and non-union teams. The Chicago Bears, even in substitute’s clothing, still own the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Bears’ strike team defeated their Philadelphia counterparts, 35-3, Sunday before 4,074 fans who had to be escorted into Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium through 1,500 intimidating union members supporting the NFL players’ strike.

All the scoring came in the first half. The Bears (3-0) have won 9 of their last 10 regular-season meetings with Philadelphia, and lead the series 22-3-1.

The victory also makes Bear Coach Mike Ditka undefeated in two meetings with his former defensive coach, Buddy Ryan.

“Our quality was better than their quality,” Ditka said. “We had a good group of guys out there.”

The Eagles (1-2) never had a chance despite a roster that included 10 players with prior NFL experience to just two for the Bears. No regular players for either team had crossed the picket line.

The Bears converted two fumbles into scores in a 28-point second quarter, and Mike Hohensee threw two touchdown passes. The Bears recorded 11 sacks and the Eagles 4.

Seattle 24, Miami 20--To Coach Chuck Knox, it wasn’t how his Seattle Seahawks played the game, but whether they won that mattered.

“It counts,” Knox said after Rick Parros scored on a one-yard run with 1:30 left in Seattle’s Kingdome.

Afterward, Seattle’s strike players remained on the field for applause.

Knox said: “The great thing was the excitement for the kids. It was football out there.”

It wasn’t football as usual, though, with a crowd of just 19,448, smallest in Seattle’s 12-year NFL history. There were five lead changes overall, and there were five turnovers in the second quarter alone.

Bruce Mathison, who joined the Seahawks’ strike team on Thursday, completed 20 of 42 passes for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns and he was intercepted 3 times.

Jimmy Teal caught 9 passes for 137 yards, including a 47-yarder to set up the winning touchdown.

Seattle is 2-1, the Dolphins 1-2.

Houston 40, Denver 10--Brent Pease got his chance at Denver’s Mile High Stadium, and the rookie from Montana passed for 260 yards and a touchdown, while John Diettrich kicked four field goals.

It was the first loss for Denver (1-1-1). Houston is 2-1.

“It does not hurt myself and my position to be here,” said Pease, who completed 15 of 25 passes. “I think I can be in the shoes of a (regular Oiler quarterback) Warren Moon.”

The game, played before 38,494 die-hard fans, ended Denver’s string of 130 consecutive sellouts but was the best in the league Sunday.

“The unknown is always exciting. It can also be awfully painful,” Denver Coach Dan Reeves said. “This time it was awfully painful. I felt like we wanted to do a good job today, and put on a good show for our fans, and we didn’t do it. I take responsibility for it.”

Washington 28, St. Louis 21--So much for the defection edge. At Washington’s RFK Stadium, the Redskins (2-1), playing with no players from their regular roster, defeated the Cardinals (1-2), who had 14 striking players cross the picket line.

Wide receiver Anthony Allen amassed a Redskin club-record 255 yards receiving andscored on touchdown pass plays of 88, 48 and 34 yards from Ed Rubbert, a free agent from Louisville who was the last quarterback cut by the Redskins in camp. He completed 14 of 24 passes for 334 yards.

“Maybe we had an advantage by not having anybody come in because our guys have been practicing together,” Washington Coach Joe Gibbs said.

Allen, who played for five USFL teams over two seasons before playing the past two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, caught seven passes. His receiving yardage broke Gary Clark’s club record of 241 yards, set Oct. 27, 1986, against the New York Giants. In addition, Allen’s 88-yard, second quarter touchdown was the longest Washington offensive play since 1975.

“When we came out and they gave us a big hand, it made us feel like people--humans instead of scabs,” Allen said of the crowd.

Dallas 38, New York Jets 24--Kevin Sweeney, the NCAA career passing yardage leader, threw for three touchdowns as a late substitute for Danny White at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.

Sweeney was a seventh-round draft choice this year out of Fresno State, where he passed for 10,623 yards to break Doug Flutie’s NCAA passing mark. He was waived by Dallas in the final cut but returned to complete 6 of 14 passes for 139 yards. Jet quarterback David Norrie, who played at UCLA, was 18 of 33 for 213 yards.

White, running back Tony Dorsett and receiver Mike Renfro did not play after crossing the picket line this week. Veteran defensive linemen Ed (Too Tall) Jones, Randy White, Don Smerek and linebacker Chris Duliban did play.

Jet defensive linemen Mark Gastineau and Marty Lyons, the only New York players to cross the picket line, played most of the game. The Cowboys (2-1) had 11 sacks. It was the Jets’ first loss.

Indianapolis 47, Buffalo 6--Using a team that relied on NFL experience, the Colts (1-2) dominated the strike-depleted Bills (1-2) at Orchard Park, N.Y., as Gary Hogeboom threw for five touchdowns to tie a 22-year-old team record set in 1965 by Gary Cuozzo.

Hogeboom, wide receiver Walter Murray and cornerback Jim Perryman crossed the picket line to play with the substitute Colts, and that was enough against the Bills, one of 13 teams without any regulars who defied the two-week-old strike.

Murray caught touchdown passes of 11 and 37 yards and finished with 7 catches for 161 yards. Perryman intercepted a pass that set up the Colts’ first touchdown and then blocked a punt that led to a safety.

“I knew it was a possibility that we could lose, but not quite as badly as we did today,” said Bill Coach Marv Levy. “It was the worst margin of defeat of any team I’ve coached.”

Cleveland 20, New England 10--Larry Mason, released on Cleveland’s final training camp cut, showed he can play in the strike-bound NFL, although he still must prove he can play in the real NFL.

At Foxboro, Mass., Mason rushed for 133 yards, including a pair of one-yard touchdown runs in the fourth quarter in a mistake-prone game of strike substitutes before 14,830, the smallest crowd in Sullivan Stadium history.

“I hope I can get into the NFL,” Mason said. “I know I can do it.”

He was in Miami’s 1983 training camp and played in the U.S. Football League in 1984 and 1985.

The weather--rain at the start of the game and cold and windy throughout--combined with the strike to cut into the attendance. Cleveland is 2-1, New England 1-2.

San Diego 10, Cincinnati 9--While it wasn’t a great moment in NFL history, this strike game at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium had a few great unusual moments.

There was a blocked field goal, a lateral-and-run extra-point conversion brought on by a bad snap and fumbles on three of the first eight plays.

San Diego (2-1) won after Frank Middleton ran one yard for a touchdown and Jeff Gaffney, cut from the Chargers’ training camp, kicked a 24-yard field goal with 2:44 left to leave Cincinnati with a 1-2 record.

“We’ve just witnessed a bit of history, I suppose,” Bengal Coach Sam Wyche said.

The only player on either team to cross picket lines was Cincinnati linebacker Reggie Williams, who received an ovation when he went out alone to represent the Bengals for the coin flip.

“The guys gave everything they had,” Williams said. “I have to admit, I still don’t know everybody’s name.”

Tampa Bay 31, Detroit 27--Paul Tripoli, who failed to win a job with the Canadian Football League or the Buccaneers this summer, became a star in the first week of NFL football with non-striking players.

Tripoli, a 6-foot, 197-pound free safety, returned an interception for a touchdown and set up a field goal at Pontiac, Mich.

“At Toronto I had interceptions in each of the first two games and then they cut me,” Tripoli said. “I thought I could play in the CFL for sure and when I came to camp with Tampa Bay I thought I could make it here, too. You just have to be in the right place at the right time, I guess.”

Tampa Bay is 2-1, the Lions 0-3.

Pittsburgh 28, Atlanta 12--It wasn’t the caliber of play Chuck Noll saw when he led Pittsburgh to four Super Bowl championships, but the Steelers’ coach said two players earned a chance to play next week, strike or no strike.

Former UCLA quarterback Steve Bono ran for one touchdown and threw for another at Atlanta and his backup, Reggie Collier, also completed a scoring toss.

“Both earned a chance to play next week,” Noll said. “They both played well.”

Noll also praised receiver Joey Clinkscales, who had 6 catches for 150 yards and 1 touchdown.

Pittsburgh is 2-1, Atlanta 1-2.

Green Bay 23, Minnesota 16--Alan Risher threw for one touchdown and ran for another and Max Zendejas kicked three field goals in the Metrodome at Minneapolis.

The game, which had been a sellout of about 64,000 before the players’ strike, drew 13,911.

Risher, a 26-year-old from LSU who played in the USFL but has no NFL experience, took the substitute Packers (1-1-1) 61 yards on their second series, hooking up with Lavall Thomas on a 30-yard touchdown pass play.

Minnesota (2-1) answered with a 63-yard scoring pass from Tony Adams to James Brim.