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AFC PREVIEW : Please, Somebody, Give Bills a Break

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Psst, you want an AFC championship? There’s one available right now. A heck of a deal.

It will be the middle of January, you will be one of only two teams still working, so you’ll make extra money. And your players get really popular, fast.

Anything they say, any kind of silly dance they do in the end zone, everybody will laugh. They can make up nicknames, make up life stories, the world will love them, it’s the American dream.

What? What does the AFC champion have to do?

Not much, really. Just go to Atlanta at the end of January, play the team from the NFC in the Super Bowl and. . . .

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What? Oh. Sorry. You don’t have to yell.

*

It was bound to happen. After having their heads lopped off in the Super Bowl for nine consecutive seasons, being outscored, 349-142, in the process, this year’s top AFC teams are acting as if they don’t want to go near that championship.

The defending champion Buffalo Bills, who could reach make a record fourth consecutive Super Bowl appearance, don’t want the risk of a fourth consecutive embarrassment.

Just ask Warren Moon of the Houston Oilers.

“I’ve heard some of their players say they don’t have a chance to go back to Super Bowl,” Moon said of the Bills. “They are frightened to get back because of what might happen when they get there. And I believe it. I watched a bunch of their players come to the Pro Bowl (last season) and to see those guys . . . it was devastating for them.”

Moon acknowledged, however, that the Oilers are worried about going to a Super Bowl before their veteran team is torn apart. They even think Coach Jack Pardee’s job might be on the line.

“Any coach’s job is always in jeopardy, especially when he’s been in a place a couple of years and not reached expectations,” Moon said. “Jack’s job is probably in jeopardy at some point. I don’t know what point that is.”

Then there are the still-growing San Diego Chargers. They say that after last year’s breakthrough season, they are unsure if they have the emotional makeup to advance those final two steps.

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“We are at least as good as last year, if not better,” General Manager Bobby Beathard said. “But this is a young team, and you always wonder how they will handle their success.”

This leaves the Miami Dolphins, who are causing such a stir in south Florida that they recently attracted 1,800 fans to a promotional breakfast .

The Dolphins’ off-season acquisitions of Irving Fryar, Mark Ingram and Keith Byars give Dan Marino new weapons.

Don Shula’s quest to become pro football’s winningest coach--he will pass George Halas with seven victories--provides the inspiration.

Besides, the AFC’s Super Bowl losing streak started with the Dolphins, when they lost to the San Francisco 49ers after the 1984 season. They owe.

THE ELITE

MIAMI DOLPHINS

* New: Ingram, Fryar and Byars replace the departed Mark Clayton and Mark Duper. Tackle Ron Heller joins a questionable offensive line. Terry Kirby could be the first Dolphin rookie running back to start the opening game since Larry Csonka. O.J. McDuffie will be one of the league’s most exciting rookie return men.

* Old: The Perfect Season.

* Best guess: The title is the Dolphins’ to lose. They finished one game short of the Super Bowl last season, but greatly improved themselves while the Bills remained virtually unchanged.

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There is no telling what Marino will do with three new receivers--four, when you consider Keith Jackson joined the team in the middle of last season.

There is also no telling how much better the league’s 10th-ranked defense will get with linebackers Marco Coleman and Bryan Cox and cornerback Troy Vincent, none with more than two years’ experience.

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS

* New: Jerrol Williams teams with Junior Seau to give the Chargers the quickest, most aggressive linebacker duo in the conference. Darrien Gordon, cornerback and No. 1 draft pick, will eventually replace injured Gill Byrd. Joe Milinichik, a guard from the Rams, lends a hand to the offensive line.

* Old: Missing Air Coryell.

* Best guess: If they can continue their improvement over 16 games as they did over the final 12 games of last season, they will be darn near unbeatable.

But will Coach Bobby Ross’ college atmosphere work as well with higher salaries and expectations? Can the defensive front seven compensate for a potentially porous secondary?

And how soon before the offensive line regroups from the trade of tackle Broderick Thompson and defection of guard David Richards? If quarterback Stan Humphries thinks he was mauled Saturday at San Francisco in the final exhibition game, wait until he gets a load of Cortez Kennedy and the Seattle Seahawks in Sunday’s opener.

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HOUSTON OILERS

* New: Buddy Ryan signs up to coach a defense that was victimized in the greatest comeback in NFL history last January, the Bills overcoming a 35-3 deficit to steal a 41-38 playoff victory. Wilber Marshall joins his former mentor as a leading linebacker.

* Old: Puns involving Warren Moon’s last name.

* Best guess: The biggest problem facing this team is its memory.

Can it forget the devastation of last January in Buffalo? Can it remember that this could be the last year together for Moon, Lorenzo White, Haywood Jeffires, Ernest Givins and other members of the league’s most exciting offense?

And will somebody please remind them that their defense, despite what happened last year, was ranked third in the league and should only get better?

Bottom line: They can either win now, or face head coach Buddy Ryan later.

TOP CONTENDERS

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS

* New: Super Joe Montana and Marcus Allen make this the most intriguing team of the fall. Equally impressive was the acquisition of offensive coordinator Paul Hackett, who will implement the 49ers’ offense for Montana. Tackles Danny Villa and Reggie McElroy add veteran protection.

* Old: Tomahawk chop.

* Best guess: During one practice this summer, Montana completed 45 of 51 passes. If he can even come close to that with linebackers mistreating his 37-year-old body, this team could win a division title.

Montana doesn’t have Jerry Rice or John Taylor, but he can deal with Willie Davis and J.J. Birden. If Harvey Williams plays as well as he played this summer, he could become another Roger Craig. Allen will be as valuable in the locker room as on the field.

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And if Montana’s elbow does not hold up, as some expect? The defense will still be among the league’s best, but backup quarterback Dave Krieg is just good enough to finish third.

DENVER BRONCOS

* New: Coach Wade Phillips replaces Dan Reeves and makes people smile again. Recent trade acquisition Gary Zimmerman and free agent Brian Habib, both tackles, will solidify protection for quarterback John Elway. Rod Bernstine and Robert Delpino could help running game, although Bernstine needs to stay sound. Rookie slotback Glyn Milburn will make offense more exciting.

* Old: Pictures of fans sitting bare-chested in snowstorms.

* Best guess: Elway says he is relaxed and inspired for the first time in years. He also, for the first time in years, might be allowed to pass the ball before the final two minutes.

Now, if he can only figure out where to pass it. Arthur Marshall? Shannon Sharpe? Burdened with a struggling defense that does not improve with Karl Mecklenburg’s potentially serious inner-ear injury, Elway better find somebody.

BUFFALO BILLS

* New: Billy Brooks will replace James Lofton at wide receiver.

* Old: Coach Marv Levy insisting that the last three years don’t matter.

* Best guess: Same old story. Jim Kelly handing and throwing to Thurman Thomas. Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett running around in opponents’ backfields, pumping their arms.

Is anybody else getting bored with this? There is a feeling that the Bills are.

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS

* New: Will Wolford and Kirk Lowdermilk, two of the best offensive linemen in the league, could change the complexion of the league’s 25th-ranked offense. Rookies Roosevelt Potts (running back) and Sean Dawkins (receiver) will help improve a team average of less than two touchdowns a game.

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* Old: Coaches who still call them “the Baltimore Colts.”

* Best guess: Jeff George’s infantile holdout would have wrecked most teams, but this one is blessed with a coach, Ted Marchibroda, who is more like a grandfather. He has already smoothed enough feathers that George could conceivably regain his starting quarterback job from Jack Trudeau early in the fall.

And then won’t the Colts be swell. Their defense will be one of the league’s best if youngsters Steve Emtman and Quentin Coryatt stay sound. Their running game could be vastly improved with Potts, a second-round pick from Northeast Louisiana who has been the surprise of camp.

They won their last five games last season and have been given the league’s 10th-easiest schedule. From 1-15 to 9-7 to . . . 10-6 and the playoffs?

A LUCKY PUNCH AWAY

PITTSBURGH STEELERS

* New: Kevin Greene, the former Ram, makes the conference’s quickest defense even better. Mike Tomczak was signed as a backup quarterback but could see plenty of action if Neil O’Donnell’s elbow (tendinitis) doesn’t heal soon.

* Old: The Terrible Towel.

* Best guess: Barry Foster showed up at training camp late, but he is already running over defenders as he did last year, when he led the conference in rushing (1,690) with a league-high 390 carries.

Of course, the Steelers cannot do better than last year if they have to give the ball to him 25 times a game. This is where they are in trouble, because receivers Jeff Graham and Dwight Stone have been disappointments in camp.

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RAIDERS

* New: Jeff Hostetler is the Man. Gerald Perry is the Tackle. Joe Kelly is the Linebacker. Gaston Green is the Missing Person. And Raghib Ismail is the Rocket.

* Old: Those who still believe Anthony Smith cannot play every down.

* Best guess: If Hostetler can stay as sharp as he was Saturday in the final exhibition against the Rams, that noise you hear coming from El Segundo could be more than jets. The Raiders have the fourth-easiest schedule in the league and one of the best defenses in the conference.

Now all they need is for the Rocket to learn the system and a running back who can stay on the field. Nick Bell was nicked again Saturday, and Green has been nearly invisible since signing from Denver.

JUST HANGING AROUND

NEW YORK JETS

* New: Quarterback Boomer Esiason is reunited with Coach Bruce Coslet, who is mortgaging his job on Esiason’s left arm. Ronnie Lott, Eric Thomas and Leonard Marshall make the defense one of the most experienced--or is it simply oldest?--in the league. Johnny Johnson, a running back who claims he has changed his act since Phoenix, finally allows them to bench Blair Thomas. Marvin Jones should be defensive rookie of the year.

* Old: Nearly the entire locker room.

* Best guess: The Jets treated free agency the way another team in New York once did, signing several high-priced veterans in hope of creating instant chemistry and victories.

CLEVELAND BROWNS

* New: Vinny Testaverde comes all the way from Tampa to start a quarterback controversy. Jerry Ball joins the defensive line and will start every other kind of controversy. Receiver Mark Carrier comes with Testaverde. Houston Hoover, a guard, should help a mediocre rushing attack that is led by Tommy Vardell.

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* Old: TV shots of Art Modell in the press box.

* Best guess: This team is still waiting for Touchdown Tommy Vardell to score a touchdown.

OUT COLD

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

* New: Rick Mirer will be their rookie starting quarterback until he is sacked into submission. Ferrell Edmunds and Kelvin Martin will try to catch his passes, at least the ones Mirer is able to throw.

* Old: Questions about Mirer’s arm, which is perfectly capable.

* Best guess: The biggest shame in the league is that such a wonderful defense--Cortez Kennedy is the league’s best defensive lineman--should be shackled to what has been the worst offense in modern NFL history.

Book it: The Seahawks will score more than 14 touchdowns this year. Maybe 20?

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS

* New: Bill Parcells is the new coach. He acts as if he was put on this planet to yell at Drew Bledsoe, the No. 1 draft pick, who will be the rookie starting quarterback.

* Old: Stadium and ownership questions about a very uninteresting stadium and owner.

* Best guess: Bledsoe will throw the ball 25 times. Leonard Russell will run 25 times. The rest of the team, you’ve never heard about anyway, so what do you care?

CINCINNATI BENGALS

* New: Somebody said Jay Schroeder, Raider castoff, is challenging David Klingler for starting quarterback. We hope that somebody is wrong.

* Old: Comparing Coach David Shula to that other coach with a prominent chin.

* Best guess: In Klingler, running back Harold Green and wide receiver Carl Pickens, the Bengals have three exciting skill players. Now if they can only find someone to block and tackle.

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New Faces in New Places

A look at some of the leading players who joined teams in the AFC in the new era of free agency. With player, position, and former team:

BUFFALO BILLS Billy Brooks, WR, Indianapolis

CINCINNATI BENGALS Jay Schroeder, QB, Raiders Sheldon White, DB, Detroit

CLEVELAND BROWNS Mark Carrier, WR, Tampa Bay Vinny Testaverde, QB, Tampa Bay

DENVER BRONCOS Rod Bernstine, RB, San Diego Robert Delpino, RB, Rams

INDIANAPOLIS COLTS Aaron Cox, WR, Rams Kirk Lowdermilk, C, Minnesota Don Majkowski, QB, Green Bay Will Wolford, OT, Buffalo

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS Marcus Allen, RB, Raiders Reggie McElroy, OL, Raiders

RAIDERS Jeff Hostetler, QB, N.Y. Giants Joe Kelly, LB, N.Y. Jets Gerald Perry, OT, Rams

MIAMI DOLPHINS Keith Byars, RB, Philadelphia Mike Golic, DT, Philadelphia Ron Heller, T, Philadelphia Mark Ingram, WR, N.Y. Giants

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS Reyna Thompson, DB, N.Y. Giants

NEW YORK JETS Clifford Hicks, DB, Buffalo Ronnie Lott, S, Raiders Leonard Marshall, DL, N.Y. Giants Eric Thomas, CB, Cincinnati James Thornton, TE, Chicago

PITTSBURGH STEELERS Kevin Greene, LB, Rams Mike Tomczak, QB, Cleveland

SAN DIEGO CHARGERS Joe Milinichik, G, Rams Jerrol Williams, LB, Pittsburgh

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS Ferrell Edmunds, TE, Miami Kelvin Martin, WR, Dallas Kevin Murphy, LB, San Diego

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