Pro Football / Bob Oates : A Memorable Weekend on Several Fields

It was probably Los Angeles’ biggest sports weekend of all time:

--With one swing, Kirk Gibson gained immortality.

--Orel Hershiser joined him nine scoreless innings later.

--UCLA advanced to No. 1 as Terry Donahue finally, if briefly, unleashed a probable professional star of the 1990s, Troy Aikman.

--With victories that ended dramatically with failed two-point conversions, Notre Dame, which moved to No. 2, and USC, which remained No. 3, made Southern California the likely setting for college football’s 1988 deciders, USC-UCLA Nov. 19 and Notre Dame-USC Nov. 26.

--With Bo Jackson back, the Raiders returned to contention in a division that seems likely to be dominated by a .500 team this year.

--In possibly the finest performance by a running back against a superb National Football League defense, Roger Craig of the San Francisco 49ers exceeded anything that Eric Dickerson did in Anaheim--against a comparably effective defensive team--and brought down the Rams.

By 3 points.

Craig is no Dickerson. He doesn’t quite have Dickerson’s speed, and certainly not his durability. But considering the defense he faced, a defense that dogged him throughout the hot afternoon with well-placed, reliable tacklers, Craig’s 60-minute achievement--racing, weaving, jumping, squeezing and bolting for 190 yards and 3 touchdowns--was as brilliant as Gibson’s 1-second achievement.

At quarterback, Joe Montana poses the everlasting threat that makes Craig the running back he is this season.

Dickerson has never had Craig’s luck. He has never played with a respectable quarterback, one who could take the heat off with the kind of downfield pass that Montana whisked to backup wide receiver Terry Greer for 31 yards in Sunday’s second half--on 3rd and 19--to launch the 49ers’ winning 93-yard rally.

Montana? Still larger than life, Montana, 32, has sparked more comeback victories than anyone else in this century, college or pro, starting long ago at Notre Dame and continuing as recently as this week at Anaheim, where the 49ers trailed in the third quarter, 21-17, and won, 24-21.

In one respect, however, Montana is no more than a typical 1988 quarterback: He’s hurt.

The game next Monday night at Chicago’s Soldier Field--where a 49er objective will be an NFL-record 12th consecutive road win--matches battered quarterbacks. Each is one hit away from a premature end to the season. So far, somehow, Jim McMahon has been getting up off the floor to start every game for the Bears.

Denver’s John Elway and three other quarterbacks went down with injuries Sunday, extending the 1988 total to 21, and Elway remains doubtful for next Sunday, along with Cleveland’s Bernie Kosar and most of the others.

One reason for the quarterback-injury epidemic, some are saying, is the emphasis this year on exotic formations with three and four wide receivers.

“Any time you see four wide receivers out there, you know that’s four guys who aren’t going to block for the passer,” said Raider executive Al LoCasale.

Some defensive teams, aware of the mathematics, simply rush the quarterback with more players than the offensive team has available to protect him. And even if he gets the ball off, the passer usually winds up on the ground, with, most likely, an eventual injury.

Here are the mathematics:

--Four defensive backs tie up the four wide receivers.

--A linebacker keys on the one remaining back or tight end, who could be blocking or receiving. In either case, the linebacker ties him up.

--That leaves six defensive players vs. six on offense--but one of the offensive players is the quarterback, who, as he knows all too well, is unable to protect himself.

--Against a six-man rush, the offense can position only five blockers, leaving one rusher to burst through unblocked.

The quicker quarterbacks often throw for a completion in this formation to one of their potential receivers. But just as often, they pay for it.

When teams play with four wide receivers, the quarterback is the odd man out. All too often, he is down and out.

Sid Gillman, a Hall of Fame coach who has taught offensive and defensive players for half a century, called attention the other day to the inevitability of quarterback injuries if the defenses wish to play the game that way.

“It’s a matter of techniques,” Gillman said. “It’s much easier to develop pass rushers than pass blockers.

“Blocking requires so many sophisticated techniques--the way you move your feet and the rest of your body--that it takes years to develop a good offensive lineman.

“Good defensive linemen need quickness and agility, of course, but basically, rushing the passer is just a matter of speed, size and determination. The techniques are much easier to learn.”

Before 1985, most NFL defensive linemen were coached to concentrate on the run first and react to the pass. But in 1985, Buddy Ryan, then the defensive coach of the Bears and now the coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, made defensive football a quarterback hunt. And since then, the position has become increasingly dangerous to play.

This year’s quarterback injuries are probably, as a pattern, even more ominous than they seem.

The return of Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon, who had broken a shoulder bone on opening day, made it easy for the Oilers in Pittsburgh, 34-14.

“You get the adrenaline up quicker when the starter is back,” said guard Bruce Matthews, who has become the Oilers’ most valuable blocker in an all-star offensive line.

The Raiders may have had a similar experience in Kansas City. Their offensive line and defense seemed to be playing better football Sunday, at least for a while, with Bo Jackson back. Emotion continues to be much of the game.

Moon’s return was nicely timed, providing a warm-up scrimmage against the helpless Steelers. The game that matters most to the Oilers is scheduled for Sunday in Riverfront Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals, who had won 6 in a row before their upset at New England.

“I don’t know if (Moon) could go into Cincinnati without a game under (his) belt,” said Houston Coach Jerry Glanville.

Houston and Cincinnati are similar teams. They are probably 1-2 in talent in the American Football Conference, with strong-armed quarterbacks in Moon and Boomer Esiason, but their coaching is often criticized.

And for both teams, Cleveland is right behind in the same division, with Kosar nearly ready to play.

Quote Department:

Mike Ditka, Chicago coach, recalling last year’s 41-0 defeat at San Francisco: “I don’t know of any team that looks forward to playing the 49ers.”

Chuck Noll, Pittsburgh Steelers coach, asked whether he would return next season after his second 1-6 start in 3 years; after losing his last 3 games by a combined score of 88-37; after going 22-32 since the Steelers last made the playoffs in 1984; after losing at home to divisional rivals Houston, Cleveland and Cincinnati for the first time since the division was formed in 1970; before rising from his chair and walking out of his weekly news conference: “I won’t even answer that question.”