PRO FOOTBALL : Focus on Offense Covers Up 49er Problem: Pass Defense

Although the San Francisco 49ers are probably the best football team on the West Coast, they aren’t the team they used to be when they had Charles Haley rushing the passer, Tim McKyer at cornerback and Ronnie Lott at safety.

Those were their three best defensive players, but in the last year or so, they have let them all get away, Haley and McKyer in trades, Lott as a Plan B free agent.

In the Buffalo game Sunday, it came as no surprise that the 49ers’ offense, with Steve Young running and throwing, produced 598 yards and four touchdowns against the Bills’ weak defense.

The difference, as Buffalo pulled it out with quarterback Jim Kelly, was that the 49ers’ formerly superb defense yielded 488 yards, four touchdowns and the winning points.

Clearly, San Francisco’s new leaders haven’t yet made up for the loss of the Lott-McKyer half of the secondary.

“As usual, the talk in the Bay Area is all about (quarterbacks) Joe Montana, Steve Young and Steve Bono,” John Robinson said, recalling his games against San Francisco when he coached the Rams.

“But pass offense isn’t the 49ers’ problem. They’re a winning team with any of their three quarterbacks. The problem on that team is pass defense.”

When Bill Walsh was coaching the 49ers in 1979-88, he solidified defense first and continuously. All that time, sports fans focused on Montana and the ingenious San Francisco offense, but under Walsh, the 49ers were always essentially a defensive team. He once plucked three starting defensive backs in one draft.

Taking the opposite tack, the 49ers let Lott leave for the Raiders and traded the two others as troublemakers, McKyer to Atlanta and Haley to Dallas.

“You can’t give up on troublemakers,” the late George Allen used to say. “You’ve got to get them to play.”

Against the Bills, minus a strong pass rush, the rebuilt 49er secondary--safety Dana Hall of Washington was making only his second start--had no defense for Kelly.

As for the Bills’ ineffective defense, that is an old story.

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Shorter list: The 49ers gave halfback Ricky Watters the ball 16 times against Buffalo and he responded with 83 yards, a 5.2 average.

Watters had begun his pro career last week with a 100-yard game against the New York Giants.

As a Super Bowl contender, the 49ers opened the season with two weaknesses, an ailing ground offense and a vulnerable pass defense. The list is apparently down to one item now.

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Road champion: The Raiders are 0-2 for ’92 going into their home opener Sunday against the Cleveland Browns after strange games in Denver and Cincinnati:

--Almost everybody but quarterback Jay Schroeder played well enough to win against the Broncos.

--Then against the Bengals, only Schroeder--and Marcus Allen, when somebody finally thought of him--played well enough to win.

Schroeder, on a hot day in Cincinnati, had the biggest game any Raider quarterback has ever had on the road. His package of 380 yards against the Bengals was the No. 3 passing achievement in club history. When Cotton Davidson and Tom Flores topped 400 in the ‘60s, they were playing at home.

Ironically, the Raider blockers who kept Schroeder in the game couldn’t do much for their running backs.

“With the liberalized rules, pass blocking is easier now than run blocking in some ways,” Raider executive Al LoCasale said. “You can see what your (opponent) is doing. You’re more in charge.”

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Cowher Power: Continuing a modern tradition that has brought in a number of stubby, hard-driving running backs, Barry Foster has headed into NFL prominence this month.

Foster, a 5-foot-10, 218-pound, scat-and-power runner, has gained 297 yards in the season’s first two weeks in leading the underdog Pittsburgh Steelers to improbable victories over the Houston Oilers and New York Jets.

He has been instrumental in making young Bill Cowher a winning coach in his two starts as Chuck Noll’s successor.

Steeler fans are so pleased that they are decorating their cars with bumper stickers reading, “Cowher Power.”

Steeler linebacker D.J. Johnson cautions: “You can’t make or break a season in two games.”

Pittsburgh linebacker Greg Lloyd agrees but adds: “We’re a different team this year.”

And so it seems.

Noll in recent years had a reputation for slow starts. In 1990, the Steeler offense failed to score its first touchdown until October.

The year before, Pittsburgh lost its first two by a composite score of 92-10.

Cowher, 35, has had the courage to send in Neil O’Donnell to replace one of the league’s most promising quarterbacks, Bubby Brister, and he has had the luck to inherit an indispensable helper, a running back with the prowess to take some of the heat off a young passer.

A third-year pro from Arkansas, Foster ran for 107 yards against Houston and 190 against the Jets.

Franco Harris hardly ever did more.

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On their way: After an explosive second Sunday, one that will be remembered for 23 touchdown plays covering 30 yards or more, there are now eight 2-0 teams. And the Steelers aren’t the only surprise.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cincinnati Bengals are also 2-0, and they are also winning under new coaches, Sam Wyche at Tampa Bay and Dave Shula at Cincinnati.

A year ago, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and Tampa Bay finished a composite 13-35.

Does a 2-0 beginning mean anything?

In 1990 and ‘91, of the 12 teams that started that fast, 11 made it to the playoffs.

The exception? The Phoenix Cardinals.

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Quote Department:

Dave Shula, new Cincinnati coach, whose team isn’t scheduled this year against the Miami team led by his father, Don: “The only way we can meet is if we both get in the playoffs (and) I hope it’s this year.”

Terrell Buckley, Florida State cornerback, drafted by Green Bay: “I’ve said all along that I was the best player in the draft, hands down.”

Tom McHale, Tampa Bay guard, on quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who won his second in a row Sunday: “It was the best I’ve seen him play.”

Tim McKyer, Atlanta cornerback, asked about teammate Deion Sanders’ touchdown run Sunday: “He’s the guy who can put us in the Super Bowl.”

Desmond Howard, Washington wide receiver, commenting on his 55-yard punt return and Sanders’ 99-yard kickoff return in the same quarter of the same game: “You look at Deion, and he’s the ideal out there. He’s just having fun, which is what this game is all about.”