Notes on a Scorecard - Dec. 19, 1994

Sleeping in Seattle. . . .

That’s what the Raiders seemed to be doing Sunday night when they were fortunate to beat a grossly inferior team. . . .

It is assumed that they will play with more intensity Saturday in the Coliseum against the Kansas City Chiefs, who have beaten them in nine of their last 10 regular-season and playoff games. . . .

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There isn’t much difference between the playing personnel of the Rams and the Chicago Bears. . . .

If anything, the Rams might have an edge. . . .

But the Bears defeated the Rams, 27-13, at Soldier Field, are 9-6, and are very much alive in the playoff race. . . .

The Rams are 4-11, losers of six in a row, and out of the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. . . .

Perhaps the best explanation is that the Bears’ Dave Wannstedt is in the invigorating, early stages of what likely will be a distinguished coaching career, while the Rams’ Chuck Knox is just about at the end of what has been a distinguished career. . . .

Wannstedt should be regarded as the leading coach-of-the-year candidate in the NFC. . . .

Another coach doing a terrific job is Bobby Ross. . . .

San Diego’s 21-6 victory over the New York Jets gave the Chargers their second AFC West title in their three years under Ross. . . .

In the three years before Ross’ arrival from Georgia Tech, the Chargers twice finished last under Dan Henning. . . .

If you don’t think the NFC is virtually a cinch to win the Super Bowl again, you weren’t paying attention to the conference showdowns: Pittsburgh-Cleveland Sunday and San Francisco-Dallas last month. . . .

That was nice of Jimmy Johnson to confirm the exclusives of ESPN, NBC and dozens of newspapers that he is staying with Fox TV instead of returning to coaching. . . .

Announcers Kevin Harlan and Jerry Glanville were much too kind to the Rams, often praising them for “not quitting.” . . .

Glanville was a lot funnier as a coach than he is as a commentator. . . .

If Steve Young wasn’t having one of the best years ever by a quarterback, Barry Sanders would be the most valuable player in the NFL. . . .

Sanders’ most remarkable statistic is his six runs of more than 60 yards this season, compared to three for the rest of the league. . . .

Break up the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. . . .

No list of the league’s most exciting quarterbacks would be complete without Brett Favre. . . .

Favre, who led Green Bay to a comeback victory over Atlanta in the Packers’ last game at County Stadium in Milwaukee, is great one minute, awful the next, and rarely ordinary. . . .

Shame on NBC for conducting an interview promoting its upcoming golf coverage during game action at Candlestick Park on Saturday. Poor Dick Enberg turned around too late and misidentified Anthony Miller as Glyn Milburn during a long Denver pass play. . . .

I’m not sorry that the Buffalo Bills won’t be playing in Miami on Jan. 29, 1995, but their accomplishment in reaching four consecutive Super Bowls never should be minimized. . . .

You know the party is over at Rich Stadium when only 56,784 attend an important game against New England and more than 9,000 ticket-holders don’t show up. . . .

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I couldn’t get enough UCLA basketball Saturday night. . . .

Neither could the other ESPN viewers who were unable to watch the Bruins’ rout of LSU at Baton Rouge until only 1:17 was left in the first half. . . .

The trouble was that the first game of a doubleheader in Atlanta went into double overtime, delaying the start of ESPN’s Louisville-Georgia Tech telecast. . . .

By the time the Cardinals had beaten the Yellow Jackets, UCLA had a 39-30 lead over LSU. . . .

Unlike the major networks, ESPN doesn’t have separate feeds and couldn’t break away from Atlanta to show the UCLA game to the Southern California audience. . . .

While beating LSU by 20 points for the second consecutive time, the Bruins demonstrated uncommon depth and their most intense team defense in years. . . .

In games that were shown in their entirety Saturday, Arizona’s victory at Texas El Paso and California’s win over Minnesota also showed the strength of the Pacific-10 Conference. . . .

It won’t be long before Howard Schnellenberger has Oklahoma back among the nation’s football powers. . . .

Imagine all the hours of torrid negotiating that must have gone into the trade that sent Ben VanRyn from the Dodgers to Cincinnati for William Brunson. . . .

Who needs the Senators when Washington is first in war, first in peace and last in the NFC?