Notes on a Scorecard - Jan. 17, 1994

Buffalo’s longest and perhaps most important play from scrimmage Saturday was not a completed pass or a run. . . .

It was a questionable 37-yard pass-interference penalty late in the first half that set up the touchdown that brought the Bills, who had been badly outplayed, to within 17-13 of the Raiders. . . .

The penalty didn’t fit the supposed crime. . . .

Replays showed that if Raider cornerback Torin Dorn did make contact with Bill wide receiver Bill Brooks, it was incidental. . . .

Other teams, such as Denver against the Raiders during the final regular-season game at the Coliseum, also have been assessed huge amounts of yardage on ticky-tack interference calls. . . .

Clearly, it is time for a rules change. . . .

The NCAA pass-interference rule advances the ball only 15 yards. . . .

The NFL should make it 15 yards in most cases and spot-of-the-foul only for flagrant violations such as that committed by the Houston Oilers’ Cris Dishman against the Kansas City Chiefs’ Willie Davis in the fourth quarter Sunday. . . .

The less influence officials have on the outcome of a game, the better. . . .

Granted, there was nothing controversial about the majority of the Raider penalties, including Howie Long’s four offsides. . . .

Mistakes, curious strategy and the resilient Bills contributed to the Raiders’ return to their pre-Denver second-half form. . . .

Why did the Raiders continue to run the ball when Buffalo switched to an eight-man line? . . .

Why did the Raiders wait until it was too late to blitz Jim Kelly, who was able to take up residence in the pocket and complete 27 passes for 287 yards and two touchdowns? . . .

Oh yes, some credit must be given to Western New York’s Team for reaching the AFC championship game a fourth consecutive time. . . .

Remember, the home-ice advantage in the playoffs wasn’t given to the Bills. They earned it. . . .

The Raiders are reasonably close to making it to the Super Bowl for the first time since the 1983 season. . . .

They need to think better on game days, whether or not that means any changes in the coaching staff. . . .

Their player personnel priority should be to keep Tim Brown, who has developed into one of the NFL’s best offensive performers. . . .

All Al Davis has to do is either match transitional free agent Brown’s highest offer from another team or make him the Raiders’ franchise player and pay him at least the average salary of the top five wide receivers in the league. . . .

The Raiders usually draft the player they believe is the best available regardless of position, but they might be better served this time by selecting the best running back available. . . .

That could be Mario Bates of Arizona State or Byron (Bam) Morris of Texas Tech. . . .

For a change, there will be no hue and cry to do something at quarterback. . . .

I only wish Jeff Hostetler had been given more opportunities to pass on a day when the wind wasn’t a factor. . . .

He demonstrated his competitive fire late in the game when he ran onto the field during a timeout and implored the Raider defense to stiffen so he could get one more shot at the Bills. . . .

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What more can be said about the spirit of Joe Montana, who rallied the Chiefs to victory after throwing an interception in the fourth quarter that would have deflated most other quarterbacks? . . .

Imagine, there was a fight on the Astrodome sidelines and it wasn’t between Buddy Ryan and Kevin Gilbride. . . .

Dallas eventually pulled away, but Coach Jimmy Johnson would have been compared with Leon Lett if the Cowboys had lost to Green Bay after that mind-boggling fake punt on their 28-yard line in the first quarter failed. . . .

Hope you have Ricky Watters on your postseason fantasy football team. . . .

Dan Reeves prepared the New York Giants for the San Francisco 49ers as though it was a Super Bowl game. . . .

UCLA became the only unbeaten top-10 team on a day when the Oregon-Oregon State game was televised in Los Angeles, but the Bruin-Washington game wasn’t. . . .

With so many undergraduates having made themselves available for the NFL draft, Chet Forte says the Senior Bowl ought to be changed to the Junior Bowl. . . .

Unless she is implicated in the Nancy Kerrigan attack, Tonya Harding should be allowed to represent the United States at the Winter Olympics. I mean, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to work in this country?