INSIDE THE NFL
The Buzz
by Peter King
Posted: Wed October 1, 1997
1. MELEE AT MILE HIGH Denver and New England will put their
perfect records on the line Monday night. The Broncos have
busted the Patriots in their last two meetings—both at
Foxboro—by a combined 71-11. Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe
handed New England all the motivation it needs near the end of
last year's game, when he picked up a sideline phone and yelled
into it, "Mr. President, we need the National Guard! We need as
many men as you can spare because we are killing the Patriots!"
Says New England tackle Bruce Armstrong, "[Sharpe] seemed to be
enjoying it, but ask him where he was last Jan. 26."
2. LET'S MAKE A DEAL? The trading deadline is Oct. 7, but that
doesn't mean much in the NFL. The only body of significance who
could change time zones is Raiders defensive tackle Chester
McGlockton. Don't hold your breath.
3. FIGHTING EAGLES Admit it. You wanted Ty Detmer to belt Ricky
Watters for appearing to short-arm that pass against the
Vikings. The two Eagles had to be separated. Detmer took the
blame for the incident, but the exchange never would have
happened had Watters made a better effort to catch the ball.
4. THANKS, BUT.... Minnesota pols are considering a plan to
build the Twins their own ballpark. If there's no money left to
fund a football stadium, the Vikings could land next to Lake
Erie. Bad news for Cleveland, which would prefer an expansion
team and the built-in edge that Carolina and Jacksonville had
when they entered the league in '95.
5. BLITZED The Bengals are four games into their zone-blitz
experiment, and let's just say the club can stop production on
the Dan Wilkinson for MVP video. The Jets held the ball for
almost 43 minutes in a 31-14 rout. Cincinnati's most ignominious
numbers this season are three and 4.5—as in three sacks and 4.5
yards allowed per rush.
Issue date: October 6, 1997
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