Don't look for replay in playoffs
Posted: Sunday December 13, 1998 04:25 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King checked in with CNN/SI
anchor Bob Lorenz on Sunday morning to talk about instant replay, Kordell Stewart and
April's NFL Draft.
Bob Lorenz: Our non-resident expert Peter King joins us from
Tampa this morning. What's the latest on instant replay?
Peter King: The NFL's competition committee will hold a
conference call this week, but one key member of that committee told me
this morning that replay is dead for the playoffs. Instead, top league
officials will push Commissioner Paul Tagliabue to hold a meeting at the
Super Bowl and try to get owners to adopt replay for the 1999 season. In
turn, they will let the competition committee and the coaches at the March
meetings figure out which form replay will take in 1999.
BL: Are the Bucs going to see a new Kordell Stewart today?
PK: Well, it's strange. Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher has never
told Kordell Stewart not to run, but for some reason Stewart has it in his
mind that he has to be the classic drop back quarterback, not an athletic
quarterback. But here today in Tampa, I think the Bucs think that Kordell
Stewart is going back to his running routes. The Tampa Bay defenders
watched lots of film of Stewart's old scrambles this week and they're
expecting a big change. Last week, for the first time as an NFL starter,
Kordell Stewart had zero runs. That is not the way the Pittsburgh Steelers
should be playing.
BL: Most think Jacksonville quarterback Mark Brunell isn't going
to return until the playoffs. What do you think?
PK: The high ankle sprain which Brunell suffered last week is
usually a four-to-six-week injury. This week in rehab, Brunell said he felt
really well for the first week after a high ankle sprain. Brunell is aiming
himself for the Monday night closer of this season against the Pittsburgh
Steelers, but the Jacksonville Jaguars
probably need that No. 2 bye more than any team in the league. If they can
hold Brunell out through the end of the season, and then get that extra
week off, it is five weeks between the time he gets hurt and the time that
they have to play their first playoff game. Look for Tom Coughlin to play
this on the conservative side.
BL: The Falcons started 1-7 last year under Dan Reeves, which
makes their turnaround so remarkable. Meanwhile, Mike Ditka is one of those
other veteran coaches that came back and isn't having as much success.
PK: Ditka's Saints are 6-7, and this team that is pretty happy to
be 6-7. If a team could be happy to be one game under .500 in December, and
clearly if you look at it, it is kind of interesting New Orleans has its
playoff fate in its own hands if they win out, no matter what Tampa Bay or
Arizona does. New Orleans wins out they are in the playoffs so I talked to
Ditka yesterday and he said, "Hey, we haven't even mentioned the word
playoffs to our team yet, we've got Dallas and Atlanta back-to-back, let's
see what happens there." If the Saints beat Atlanta today -- and I think
with that great new run defense they have, it's going to bottle up Jamal Anderson -- they
have a chance. If they win, then the Saints start thinking playoffs.
BL: Do you think Deion Sanders will play
today or not?
PK: It looks almost certain that Deion sits again today. He is
going to go out on the Arrowhead Stadium turf at about 2:00 to try to run.
It looks like it is going to be very, very dubious whether he can. Now, if
he doesn't go, Deion will miss basically his fourth game of the year. It
looks like with Kevin
Mathis and Charlie
Williams playing corner, they might as well have two guys named Smith
and Doe, because they have just been eaten alive by quarterbacks. Look for
the Chiefs to try and do the same today.
BL: It's notebook time, Peter. What's happening out there?
PK: In San Francisco, Eddie DeBartolo is getting his chips in
order to return to 49er ownership. He is close to an agreement with the
caretaker owner, sister Denise DeBartolo York, to trade his stake in the
DeBartolo corporation for total ownership of the team, if the league will
allow him to return. This is a tough call for Tagliabue because DeBartolo
was convicted of a felony in a Louisiana racketeering case earlier this
year. It is likely Tagliabue will lean toward allowing DeBartolo back,
probably under some kind of NFL probation.
Now one of DeBartolo's first acts would be to try and convince Bill Walsh
to return as the franchise CEO. I talked to Walsh on Friday and he is
definitely interested in returning to the NFL
Now let's move on to some college scouting matters. The National Football
Scouting Combine met this week in Tulsa to discuss what seniors are at the
top of their list. Let's look at the top five quarterbacks. - 1.
Daunte Culpepper, Central Florida
- 2. Donovan McNabb, Syracuse
- 3. Ted White, Howard
- 4. Akili Smith, Oregon
- 5. Joe
Germaine, Ohio State
One upset pick at No. 3 is Ted White, the quarterback at small-college
Howard. Now conspicuous by his absence is UCLA quarterback Cade McNown. I
don't how anybody can do a scouting list of the top senior quarterbacks in
the country and leave off McNown, who is bound to be a very, very good pro.
One other thing to consider in the scouting wait is that Andy Katzenmoyer,
the Ohio State linebacker, is really going to be downgraded. Even though he
is a junior, it looks like he is going to go late in the first round, at
best.
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