Power of Caring
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Catch as catch can

NFL receivers aren't pulling 'em down like they used to

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Posted: Friday December 11, 1998 04:20 PM

Grab bag: Colts tailback Marshall Faulk leads the NFL in receptions, but is only on pace for 93 catches AP

By Greg Auman, CNN/SI

For the first time in the 1990s, the NFL's reception leaders will likely have fewer than 100 catches this season. After eight years of yearly receiving marks topping 100 catches, this year's league leader probably will settle for double digits.

"There might not be a guy with 100 catches, but there are teams like the 49ers who seem like they have three with 80 each," Detroit Lions receivers coach Jerry Sullivan said. "Instead of one go-to guy, they let you pick your poison."

Detroit's Herman Moore and Oakland's Tim Brown, the only two receivers with more than 100 catches last season, have had new quarterbacks this year. Scott Mitchell was benched in favor of rookie Charlie Batch in Detroit, while career backup Donald Hollas has filled in for an injured Jeff George for most of the Raiders' season. As a result, Moore's and Brown's numbers have suffered.

Cincinnati's Carl Pickens kept a record pace early in the season, but since Week 7, no one has been on pace for 100. "I don't know if there's one answer," Sullivan said. "Offensive schemes are much more multiple-oriented now. Defenses are seeing three-receiver sets and trying to take away the No. 1 guy."

Teams also are throwing fewer passes. The Lions, for instance, put two receivers over 100 in 1995, when Moore had an NFL-record 123 and Brett Perriman caught 108. But quarterback Scott Mitchell attempted a team-record 583 passes that year, 100 more than the Lions project to finish with in '98. Of the 10 quarterbacks who threw the most passes in 1997, only two -- Green Bay's Brett Favre and New England's Drew Bledsoe -- are on pace to throw as many passes this year.

Colts tailback Marshall Faulk, leading the league with 76 receptions, could still reach the century mark. But his best three-game stretch this season is 23 catches, so he would need a strong finish.

"It's not like teams aren't trying to get their best guys the ball," Sullivan said. "To catch 100 balls in 16 games, you've really got to work at it. You've got to average better than six a week."

Hearst so good

49ers receiver Jerry Rice made headlines weeks ago for complaining about his role in the NFL's top offense, but maybe tailback Garrison Hearst should be the one who deserves the ball more.

San Francisco's talented trio of Rice, Terrell Owens and J.J. Stokes get much of the credit for the numbers the 49ers have put up this year. Their league-high 429.5 yards a game is challenging the 1984 Miami Dolphins as the most prolific offense in NFL history. The 49ers are on pace to fall 72 yards short of the 6,936 yards Miami rang up in '84.

Seventy-two yards, though, might be just one carry for Hearst. The 219-pound tailback entered this season with the longest play of his five-year career at 57 yards. This year, he's had five plays of 65 yards or longer -- three runs, including a 96-run overtime touchdown in Week 1, and two catches. Rice, Stokes and Owens -- combined -- have just three plays of 65 yards or longer this year.

Hearst needs just 259 yards in the 49ers' remaining three games to break Roger Craig's team single-season rushing record. Among the league's top nine rushers, Hearst is the only one who hasn't had more than 25 carries in a game. Of the league leaders, only Terrell Davis averages more yards per carry. Just the same, Hearst isn't complaining.

"Around here, guys know that we have a lot of people who can make plays," Hearst said this week. "I think the coaches are doing a good job for us moving people around, keeping people off balance, changing formation, small things -- where you're trying to figure out, 'OK, who are they setting up to get the ball?' And if we continue to do that, we can always keep people surprised at what we do on the field."

Hearst's numbers make it a tough decision in the NFC's Pro Bowl balloting, which will be announced next week. With Hearst, Atlanta's Jamal Anderson, Detroit's Barry Sanders and Dallas' Emmitt Smith, who do you leave out?

Around the AFC

EAST: How hot is Bills receiver Eric Moulds? The third-year pro has more yards (373) and touchdowns (3) in the last two weeks than he did in either of his first two NFL seasons. With 1,107 receiving yards, Moulds is just 13 yards behind Randy Moss for the NFL lead ... Patriots rookie Robert Edwards rushed for 483 yards and 6 TDs in his first six games, but has just 288 yards and 2 TDs in seven games since ... Dolphins QB Dan Marino and his wife, Claire, have adopted a 1-year-old Chinese girl named Niki Lin. Claire traveled to China two weeks ago to pick up the child, who joins the Marinos' four other children, three boys and one girl ... The Colts will overhaul their defense in the off-season, but they did give tackle Tony McCoy an extension through 2002 this week. Next might be fellow tackle Ellis Johnson, a former first-rounder and, like McCoy, a Florida grad, whose contract runs out after next season. Johnson and McCoy are tied for second on the team with 4.0 sacks ... Only two Jets have made the Pro Bowl since 1990 -- receiver Rob Moore (1994) and cornerback Aaron Glenn (1997) -- but the team could double that this year in QB Vinny Testaverde, Glenn, receiver Keyshawn Johnson and linebacker Mo Lewis.

CENTRAL: The Ravens sent a 1999 third-round pick to Tampa Bay for tailback Errict Rhett, who's managed 164 rushing yards and no touchdowns. Sounds like a bad trade, but the Bucs gave the '99 pick back to Baltimore in exchange for a 1998 fourth-round pick they used on lineman Todd Washington, who's a backup at guard and center but has only played in one game for the Buccaneers ... Oilers receivers Yancey Thigpen and Kevin Dyson, touted as major additions in the off-season, have played in 16 games combined, with 36 catches and four touchdowns between them ... The Bengals give Jeff Blake his first start of the year this week, and may give former practice-squad QB Eric Kresser a chance in the last three games. The team signed Kresser through the 1999 season last week, while Blake is a free agent ... Jaguars quarterback Jamie Martin, making his first NFL start Sunday, is the 12th former World League quarterback to start an NFL game, joining the likes of Scott Mitchell, Brad Johnson and Paul Justin.

WEST: The Raiders' three-game losing streak coincides directly with the loss of cornerback Eric Allen to a season-ending knee injury. Since Allen went to the sidelines, the Raiders have zero interceptions and have given up seven touchdown passes. With Allen in the lineup, the Raiders had 17 interceptions while allowing 11 touchdown passes ... The Chiefs are 5-0 this year when their leading rusher has 50 yards or more, and 0-8 when he doesn't ... Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey goes up against the Giants, who let him go after the 1994 season -- McCaffrey has 10 touchdown passes this year, as many as Giants receivers Ike Hilliard, Chris Calloway, Amani Toomer and David Patten combined ... With interim coach June Jones headed to the University of Hawaii, the Chargers will begin next season with their fourth head coach in as many years ... Seahawks rookie Ahman Green rushed for 100 yards in Week 1 and had fans thinking he would challenge Ricky Watters for playing time. Since then, Green has 62 yards and Watters has 917.

Around the NFC

EAST: Eagles coach Ray Rhodes angered management when he said he felt that safety Matt Stevens and receiver Russell Copeland, both cut by the Eagles, could contribute for other NFL teams. Copeland was picked up by the injury-ravaged Packers, who also worked out former Eagles receiver Chris T. Jones. Stevens was picked up by the Redskins ... Veteran receiver Henry Ellard, cut after a brief stint in New England, will end his career with three games playing for the Redskins, who he played for from 1994-97. "In New England, I knew the offense, but here, I know everyone," Ellard told the Washington Post. Here, I get a chance for closure." ... To stay in front of the race for the last NFC wild card, Arizona must win at Philadelphia, where it's lost six straight, then take care of the Saints and Chargers at home ... Gary Brown has led the Giants in rushing in nine of the last 10 games, including four of the team's five wins. Former No. 1 pick Tyrone Wheatley, active for only four games this year, has just 52 yards in 1998, after 583 last year.

CENTRAL: Packers quarterback Brett Favre sat out of practice on Wednesday, his first missed practice since 1995, according to backup QB Doug Pederson. Favre has started 106 straight games, easily the longest streak in the league ... While it's tempting to go with Steelers rookie fullback Chris Fuamatu-Ma-'Afala as the NFL's most-butchered name, look out for Vikings rookie fullback Obafemi Ayanbadejo, who could see action this week due to injuries to Robert Smith and Moe Williams ... As if things weren't bad enough for the Bears, their radio voice of 14 years, Wayne Larrivee, is leaving to become the play-by-play voice of the Packers. "As a kid back in Massachusetts, I grew up following the Lombardi Packers," Larrivee told the Chicago Tribune. "This is a chance to work for a team that I followed as a kid. There's a certain romantic element to it. As hard as it is to walk away from the Bears, this is something I felt I had to do." To confuse matters worse, two of Larrivee's last games with the Bears will be against the Packers.

WEST: Despite three game-winning field goals this season, all that 49ers kicker Wade Richey is hearing about his how he bruised his heel in a reported hot-tub injury on Thanksgiving. "The funny thing is the hot tub had nothing to do with it," Richey explained to the San Francisco Chronicle. "I was heading down to the hot tub but I was nowhere near it. Then the story was that I slipped getting into the tub. Then it was that I slipped getting out. Now I got people calling me 'Hot Tub Richey' and I don't know if I'm going to be able to shake that." ... For the third straight season, Rams receiver Isaac Bruce has managed to finish with at least 24 fewer catches than he did the year before. Bruce, who played in only four games this year due to a hamstring injury, has gone from 119 catches in 1995 to 84 in '96, to 56 last year and 32 this year. His touchdowns have dropped from 13 to 7 to 5 to 1 ... For frightening consistency, look no farther than the New Orleans Saints, who have allowed exactly three points in their last three wins, all at home. In their seven losses this season, New Orleans' opponents have scored 30, 31, 31, 31, 31, 31 and 30 points.

Around the NFL appears every Friday on CNNSI.com.

 

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