THE NFL / BOB OATES : 49ers Are the Exception to Scoring Rule

For most NFL teams, scoring is a struggle this year. Some are averaging only 10 or 12 points a week. Even the Raiders, who are 9-5 and heading for the playoffs, average only 19.5 with their new quarterback, Jeff Hostetler.

Are the defenses too good?

To stop most teams, yes. But for the San Francisco 49ers, no.

Although injuries have hurt their running game, the 49ers are scoring, on the average, four touchdowns and a field goal every 60 minutes.

Steve Young, their left-handed quarterback, is making everyone forget Joe Montana--everyone but 49er fans. Young is one explanation.

Another explanation is their attack. Under offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan, the 49ers have been getting more mileage out of crossing patterns--short, middle and even long--than the rest of the league combined.

That’s how they mauled the Detroit Lions, 55-17, Sunday.

As former 49er Coach Bill Walsh used to say, the advantage of a crossing pattern--with fast receivers and an accurate passer--is that the receiver gets the ball on the run.

Shanahan, building on Walsh’s theories, has developed an offense whose point total this season, 432, is nearly 100 more than that of the AFC leader, the run-and-shoot Houston Oilers, who are averaging 24 points to San Francisco’s 31.

The strategic question on Christmas Day in San Francisco--where the Oilers, coached by Jack Pardee, will play the 49ers, led by George Seifert--is whether Houston’s new defensive coordinator, Buddy Ryan, can slow down Shanahan, Young and Jerry Rice.

Since Ryan’s defense took hold for the Oilers, quarterback Warren Moon has led them to nine victories after a 1-4 start. The 49ers have won seven of their last eight after starting 3-3.

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Elway won it: The Seattle Seahawks (5-9) are playing better than their record indicates. They might not have lost to John Elway and the Denver Broncos in a recent game if they hadn’t lost 35 yards on a pass interference that set up the Broncos’ decisive touchdown.

Said Seattle safety Eugene Robinson: “Beat me physically, beat me on a great catch, but don’t beat me on a penalty. I hate to see the game come down to that.”

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Of Robinson’s complaint--an expression that is being resorted to more and more by NFL losers--this can be said:

--Winning on a penalty is no disgrace because, as a rule, the team that benefited would have won with a good play if the other side hadn’t cheated.

--Defenses are increasingly resorting to fouls if they can’t handle the situation any other way, and their punishment for that should be, if anything, more severe.

--Let’s have an end to moaning about “losing” on a penalty.

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More is better: Now that Charlotte and Jacksonville have joined the league to make 30 teams a reality, will there soon be 32?

Would 32 be better?

It’s a tough question only because, in a 32-team league, the popular but artificial wild-card berth might be doomed.

With 32 franchises, there would be eight champions, each representing a four-team division. That would make for a neat annual playoff lineup minus wild cards.