49ers Face to Face With Angry Bear

Once a first-round pick by the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bear cornerback R.W. McQuarters could emerge as a first-class headache to his former team Sunday.

McQuarters, the 28th selection in 1998, was traded to the Bears two seasons later for a sixth-round draft pick. He since has emerged as a reliable starting cornerback on a defense on pace to break the NFL record for fewest points allowed.

And he’s itching to get back at the 49ers (4-1), not only for dumping him but for pouring it on last December in a 17-0 victory at San Francisco. In that game--Jerry Rice’s farewell--Terrell Owens set a league record with 20 catches.

“Considering I was there two years ago and they traded me, yeah, it’s personal,” McQuarters said. “You can say payback, you can say revenge, you can say whatever it is. I guess I can say revenge, revenge from last year.”

McQuarters leads the Bears in passes defended (10) and has played a big role in his team’s four consecutive victories, returning a fumble 69 yards for a touchdown against Arizona and putting Chicago in scoring position with a 43-yard interception return against Cincinnati.

The 4-1 Bears lead the league with 43 points allowed--an 8.5 average--which is ahead of the pace set by last season’s Baltimore Ravens (10.3), who broke the record set by the 1987 Bears.

As a 49er, McQuarters could never find a permanent spot in the starting lineup, and embarrassed some in the organization when he was arrested for taking part in a bar fight.

“We had him at a very young age in his professional life,” Coach Steve Mariucci said. “And we were in a see-how-many-draft-picks-we-can-accumulate mode there for a while, which really proved to be beneficial to us....There was some interest on the outside for a trade, and we made the decision to do it.”

Now, McQuarters would love to make them regret it.

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In light of the Sept. 11 attacks, the NFL has decided to change its Super Bowl logo to pay tribute to the country’s rekindled patriotism. Now, instead of a design with a New Orleans theme, the logo features an American flag-striped map of the United States.

“We just thought it had to reflect the mood of the country,” said Jim Steeg, the NFL’s vice president for special events.

The league used to use a more generic Super Bowl logo, but first changed that for the 1993 game at the Rose Bowl by incorporating a rose into the design. The trend continued in subsequent years.

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When they dumped Trent Dilfer after last season and signed Elvis Grbac to a five-year, $30-million deal, the Ravens figured they were getting a quarterback with pinpoint accuracy who seldom makes mistakes.

So far, that hasn’t been the case. Grbac has fumbled four times this season and has had four passes intercepted in his past 30 attempts. He has thrown eight interceptions in five games, about one every 20 attempts. Coming into the season, he had been intercepted once every 31 attempts, so that’s a significant drop. Part of the problem, Coach Brian Billick said, is shoddy pass protection.

A quarterback heading in the other direction is Arizona’s Jake Plummer. He’s coming off consecutive games without an interception. What’s the big deal? In the past two seasons, Plummer threw more than twice as many interceptions (45) as touchdown passes (22).

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There’s no doubt St. Louis has pulled a U-turn on defense, transforming a feeble unit in 2000 into a top-10 group this season. But another amazing turnaround is that of the Cleveland Browns, who have gone from 26th to 10th. They have yet to allow a first-half touchdown.

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San Diego quarterback Doug Flutie, who turned 39 Tuesday, was asked if that sounds old to him.

“Yeah, it does,” he confessed. “But I don’t feel 39. I picture myself at a younger age--from an athleticism standpoint or what I think. When I think of a 40-year-old man, I think of a guy that this part of his life is behind him--the running around playing football, playing basketball, all that--but I don’t picture myself in that light.”

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The Green Bay Packers must be allergic to artificial turf. Brett Favre is 62-11 as a starter at Lambeau Field, but 11-29 as a starter on fake grass. That includes a 2-8 record at the Metrodome, where the Packers lost last Sunday.

In that loss to the Vikings, Green Bay’s Ryan Longwell--the NFL’s all-time leader in field-goal accuracy (84.7% coming into the season)--missed back-to-back attempts from 51 and 42 yards. It was the first time in his career he missed consecutive kicks.

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Matt Millen, first-year general manager of the Detroit Lions, has been a lot of things in his NFL career--player, broadcaster, even an official for a couple of exhibition games. Now, he’s dealing with his most difficult role yet: Bystander.

“I don’t know what I can do,” said Millen, whose 0-5 team is one loss from matching the worst start in franchise history, which came in 1955. “I’ve been wracking my brain on that one. I guess I’ve just got to keep looking at bettering our roster, looking for things that we don’t have--which is speed. That’s all you can do. If you can get a guy or two for next year, then you’ve had a good season [as a general manager].”

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Raider Coach Jon Gruden will make his first return to Philadelphia on Sunday, a place where he gained a true appreciation for music.

When he was offensive coordinator of the Eagles, he came home after a 14-0 playoff loss to the 49ers and turned on a sports radio station, only to hear the host say, “If Jon Gruden had an IQ one point lower, he’d be a plant.”

“Ever since then, I’ve been listening to rock-and-roll stations,” Gruden said. “I learned that in Philadelphia.”