All That’s Left Now Is the Game Itself : After an Eventful Week, Favored 49ers Will Play Bengals in Miami Today

The Super Bowl never knew a week like this, when Overtown rioted and real life intruded upon the revelry. Until now, its greatest privations had been the snowstorm in Detroit in ’82 and that night in Long Beach in ’73 when they invited too many people for the commissioner’s party aboard the Queen Mary and no one had any elbow room.

But no matter the nature of the week that was, it always leads to a football game and so has this one, to today’s meeting of the favored San Francisco 49ers and the cocky Cincinnati Bengals.

This one is also going by the underground nickname of Genius vs. Son of Genius, Bengal Coach Sam Wyche having worked for the 49ers’ Bill Walsh and both being inordinately proud of their noodles.

Of course, after weeks in the spotlight, there are more subplots than that, starting with Walsh’s hints that he might be on his way out.

Gripping, huh?

Not exactly.

Walsh seemed to tire of the subject early in the week, which meant he was perfectly in tune with everyone else, except the San Francisco press, which wanted to know how much longer it would have to tussle with the man one of them once sardonically named “the silver-haired humanitarian/genius,” and 49er owner Edward DeBartolo Jr., who wanted to know who is going to coach his team.

This was Walsh’s revenge. At midseason, with the 49ers floundering, DeBartolo, who had relieved Walsh of his club presidency in the off-season, was passing out hints that he might relieve Walsh of his coachdom, too.

Walsh, in reply, suggested that he might retire.

Then Walsh, the sly fox, turned his team around and got it here, with every expectation of winning, which would make retirement even sweeter revenge. DeBartolo, apparently bracing for the worst, started telling everyone here that he was betting that Walsh wouldn’t coach again.

“But who knows what Eddie will do?” a Bay Area reporter said. “He might offer him $2 million. He might offer him $3 million.”

Indeed, when DeBartolo dropped Walsh from president-coach to coach last year--and took the presidency for himself--he raised Walsh from $1 million a year to $1.3 million, not bad for a demotion. DeBartolo is never sure just how directly he wants to challenge his prickly hired-hand/genius, and Walsh has just demonstrated why once more.

Of course, the 49ers haven’t won this game yet.

They’re 7-point favorites, but those Bengals have looked so comfortable here.

Outgoing, brash and heretofore unrecognized, they ate up Super Bowl week. Coach Sam Wyche laughed from Sunday to Friday, and everyone else joined in.

Was everyone writing his little band of brigands off?

He’d help them.

“No matter what we do, the (49ers) are better than we are,” Wyche said lightly. “If you say, we’re a good running team--they’re better.

“If you say we’re a good tackling team--they’re better.

“If you say we’re a well-coached team--they’re a better-coached team.

“It’s like David and Goliath. We’ve got our smooth stones. We’ve got our leather sandals and we’re looking for vulnerable spots.”

Try their swollen heads.

The 49ers in the Walsh era have been characterized by an iron-fisted blandness. They seem to have been selected for their ability to follow orders and keep their mouths shut. They never fire up the opposition. They never do anything colorful.

That went up in a burst of self-promotion last week when Tim McKyer, a third-year cornerback, leveled a long, loud volley at the Bengals.

He said Eddie Brown “doesn’t even come close” to Jerry Rice, that the other Bengal receivers weren’t much, that Bengal cornerback Lewis Billups talks too much (really) and that the game was a formality.

“I think we can blow those guys out,” McKyer said. “We’ve got better skill people on offense, and our defense is better than theirs. Do you guys see why we’re favored?

“See that finger? That Super Bowl ring is as good as there. It’s going to look nice, don’t you think?”

The Bengals ran to their programs to get the number of that loudmouth (22), but it was hard to tell whether they were angrier than McKyer’s teammates.

The next day, while McKyer was apologizing, 49er safety Jeff Fuller said:

“If that’s what motivates him, give him my regards. . . . We’ll have a little talk with him after this is over.”

What was Fuller worried about, that McKyer would insult someone else? It was too late for this game.

When the media trooped in to see the Bengals, kick returner/wide receiver Mike Martin, who is on injured reserve and is a semifinalist in the soft drink-sponsored pregame talent contest, started yelling in a falsetto voice:

“I’m not as good as Jerry Rice!

“I’d like to be as good as Jerry Rice!

“If I had wings, I could be as good as Jerry Rice!

“I want to be Jerry Rice!

“Somebody, let me be Jerry Rice!”

Jerry Rice was having enough trouble being Jerry Rice.

Rice sprained his right ankle, missed two practices . . . and was spotted dancing at midweek at Penrod’s, a local hot spot.

The 49ers had already upgraded him from “questionable” to “probable,” but Rice had just upgraded himself to “play-or-don’t-come-home.”

Well, Jer, uh, how’d the ankle hold up on the dance floor?

“I was OK,” Rice said. “I was just dancing in one spot, facing straight ahead.

“Everybody’s talking about me dancing. I wasn’t going to lock myself in my room. I came down here to have a good time.”

Despite all the space and time devoted to such character-defining high jinks, they either mean nothing today, or whatever they mean is incalculable. Joe Namath popped off in 1969 . . . and won. The Eagles were more diligent than the Raiders in 1981 . . . and lost.

It’s still just a football game, and this is how it shapes up.

WHEN THE 49ERS HAVE THE BALL Hell hath no fury like Bill Walsh when he’s on a roll, and he’s on one now.

Says New England Patriots personnel director Dick Steinberg:

“When he’s got it going, he’s a step ahead of you. When you shut down the run, he’ll do a great job of passing. He doesn’t have any real tendencies, down and distance-wise.”

Walsh has proved that his much-sneered-at short-pass/screen/ draw/play-action-pass/guard- sweep “finesse” style can win championships, of which he has two.

All Walsh’s plays seem designed to gain 5 to 8 yards, and thus he can use any of them on any down. He runs reverses on third and 1, and pulls his guards and sweeps on second and 18.

“Their passing game is controlled at times,” says Bengal defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, “with the tremendous ball control that Joe Montana has, through his ability to read the defense.

“And as soon as you lock into that situation, there goes Rice, 60 to 70 yards down the sideline with the deep one.

“I don’t think anybody can single-cover Rice all day long, but you have to play him one-up a lot of the time. If you double him all the time and Montana sees that, he’s going to go somewhere else and hurt you big-time.

“You have to go into the game prepared to stop the whole package. But what do they do mostly? They run (Roger) Craig and throw the ball to Rice.

“They do a good job of scouting themselves. Their formation charts are balanced. The one tendency they have is the one I just gave you. If you look at who’s carrying the ball, 33’s (Craig) got it under his arm. They move him all around. Now, that might not help you that much, except if you’re playing defense, you better find out where he is.

“Who’s catching the ball? No. 80 (Rice). Just look at their stats. Who’s over 1,000 yards? You better find out where 80 is.

“Montana, you already know where he’s going to be. He’s gonna be underneath the center.”

And often, on the podium afterward, getting the car for being the game’s most valuable player. Two Super Bowls, 66.7% completions, 488 yards, 4 touchdown passes, no interceptions, two autos.

The Vikings (No. 1 in the league in defense) couldn’t handle this offense in the playoffs, and got hit for 34 points.

The Bears (No. 2) gave up 28, at home, in “Bear weather.”

The Bengals were No. 15--the third team that ever ranked in the bottom half of the league in yards allowed, that made it this far in 23 Super Bowls.

They have four strong players on the unit--nose tackle Tim Krumrie (pronounced, Krum-RYE), 235-pound (or more?) strong safety David Fulcher and cornerbacks Eric Thomas and Billups. Thomas is the burner who, as a rookie last season, was left in single coverage against Rice and beaten for the game-winning touchdown in their 27-26 game, but he survived to become a top cover man.

The secondary is talented but young.

The front seven is Krumrie and six guys.

“Krumrie’s really a tough guy,” Steinberg said. “Quintessential nose tackle: super-tough, strong and smart. He has a reputation for making plays from sideline to sideline, but when you say his name to me, I think of him knocking the hell out of our center all day.”

Says Tom Dinkel, a former Bengal teammate: “He just has desire that I’ve never seen. He’s a sick bird.”

The problem is that the rest of Cincinnati’s front seven is semi-ordinary. Inside linebacker Joe Kelly, a No. 1 pick out of the University of Washington in 1986, is just OK. Right end Jason Buck, a No. 1 from Brigham Young in ‘87, is a decent pass rusher but no dominator. Buck and the other end, Jim Skow, are both slight 255-pounders, and this unit was ranked 18th against the rush.

The great equalizer is Fulcher, the huge strong safety--reserve cornerback Rickey Dixon says he’s really 246. How do they get away with playing a safety the size of a good-sized inside linebacker? They use him less in coverage and more as a fourth linebacker, blitzing and stepping up to meet the run.

This unit is loaded with under-talented over-achievers (Krumrie, Skow, linebackers Carl Zander and Leon White) and has been coming on in the playoffs, limiting Seattle to 18 rushing yards and Buffalo to 45.

On the other hand, both those teams were served up to them on a platter, in their Riverfront Stadium Jungle.

When the Seahawks play on the road, opponents customarily load up against the run and dare Dave Krieg to beat them. The Bills’ best back, Thurman Thomas, seemed to be hurting, and besides, the Bengal offense rarely let the Bills touch the ball, keeping it for 38:29.

There are several keys to the Bengal defense, but a big one is their offense.

WHEN THE BENGALS HAVE THE BALL: THEY’D BETTER KEEP IT

Believe it or not, the Bengals, with their 281-pound-a-man offensive line, used to be known as a finesse team, owing to Wyche’s penchant for double reverses, etc.

In the off-season, however, Wyche wised up (or got wised up by Paul Brown, a theory that some Cincinnati observers cling to, although Brown and Wyche deny it). The Bengals drafted running back Ickey Woods, the line came together and they became one of the great ball-control teams of this or any era. In their regular-season victory over the Bills, they held the ball for 41:18.

The star run blocker is Anthony Munoz, the massive, athletic ex-Trojan who was once a pitcher on Rod Dedeaux’s baseball team, and has caught 4 touchdown passes as a tackle-eligible. The top pass blocker is guard Max Montoya, an ex-Bruin.

What makes their running game go?

It isn’t complex.

“It’s probably because we have 300-pound linemen and a 240-pound back (Woods) who can run 4.5,” says quarterback Boomer Esiason. “We’ve got a little scatback (James Brooks) who runs about 4.4. We’ve got a tight end (Rodney Holman) who can block. We’ve got receivers that can get deep, so teams have to keep their safeties off the line of scrimmage.”

Boomer, himself, is a refreshing young man of 27, with the whole package, give or take a little maturity. He’s big (6-5, 225), mobile, has a powerful left arm and is very much the Bengal leader. He was barely recruited out of high school and the pros didn’t draft him on the first round out of college, so this is the showcase he has waited for.

The 49ers arrayed against him have no particular reputation, but they have been a top-rated unit for years (No. 3 this season), which is why coordinator George Seifert, who runs it while Walsh worries about the offense, is being mentioned for head coaching vacancies.

They have a lot of great role players, but few big names.

The star up front is 290-pound nose tackle Michael Carter, although he doesn’t play much in passing situations, and is said to coast a lot. When he’s on, he throws people around and makes big plays.

Alongside are a lot of little-known, hard-nosed players: rookie defensive end Pierce Holt; inside linebacker Mike Walter, a 6-3 238-pounder who was waived by the Cowboys; Rikki Ellison, an intense 225-pounder whom Steinberg likens to Jack Reynolds.

Seifert has a history of getting terrific secondary play from young players. He uses a scheme that is similar to a matchup zone in basketball: he play tight man-to-man on short routes, but keeps his safeties back to zone off the deep passes.

In the ’82 Super Bowl, the 49ers threw out a unit with two rookie corners (Ronnie Lott, Eric Wright) and a rookie free safety (Dwight Hicks). Now Lott, another former Trojan, is the free safety and younger players--Don Griffin and the famous Mr. McKyer--man the corners.

“Ronnie was awesome coming out of school,” Steinberg says. “He could play anywhere. Great competitor, real physical. He’s been beat up a lot because he’s always played hard. He never learned to play soft. I don’t mean that as a criticism, but as a compliment.”

Add those 49ers up, and they’re a full day’s work.

Ask Tim McKyer.

POSTSCRIPT

It has been a tough week on the locals, and you’d like to say the league is behind them all the way.

You might have to fib to say that, however.

Philadelphia Eagles owner Norman Braman, chairman of the Super Bowl site committee--and a Miami resident--said, “this is not a desirable situation, as far as the NFL is concerned. “The effect (of riots) on the community is disastrous.”

Pete Rozelle, who always says the right thing, a result of preparation as well as poise, later announced at his annual Super Bowl news conference: “The NFL shares in the grief and sorrow of this community,”adding that the riots wouldn’t adversely affect future bids. To determine who really speaks for the league, we’ll just have to see how fast it returns.

Rozell was also asked Friday whether he was embarrassed to be throwing a lavish party that night after the events of the week.

Rozelle said that the uneaten food would be donated to the homeless.