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Panthers' Beuerlein burns it up
Posted: Wednesday December 22, 1999 12:27 PM
Panthers quarterback Steve Beuerlein continues to make a late run at his first Pro Bowl. Beuerlein's passer rating is among the best in the league and with two games left, he's already set team records for passing yards, touchdowns and completions in a season. He also is on the verge of becoming just the 10th quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards and 30 TDs in a season. About the only thing Beuerlein's done wrong this year was accidentally line up under a guard for a snap during the Panthers' win over San Francisco on Saturday. After struggling for years with the Giants, running back Tyrone Wheatley has resurrected his career in Oakland. On Sunday he rushed for 111 yards in a blowout over the Bucs. Coach Jon Gruden told me that Wheatley immediately won over coaches and teammates with his study habits and his willingness to help out even on the Raiders scout team offense. Gruden says that the first time he talked to Wheatley, whom the Raiders had considered drafting out of Michigan in 1995, the back told him, "Hey coach, sometimes one person's trash is another man's treasure." Here are some quick hits: Quarterbacks Tim Couch and Donovan McNabb were the first two picks in this year's draft. On Sunday both were replaced by members of the Detmer family. The five-year-old Jacksonville Jaguars are now the winningest franchise in professional sports history. A .615 winning percentage is just slightly better than the Los Angeles Lakers'. The Steelers could lose 11 games for only the second time in 30 years. It could be worse. The Bengals have done that six times this decade. And finally, Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer needs to boost his quarterback rating in the final two weeks of the season or he could land on the list of the 10 worst seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. Of course, that list is filled with some big names, including Ryan Leaf, Archie Manning and Joe Namath, who finished the 1976 season with a 39.9 rating. Sports Illustrated staff writer David Fleming covers the NFL and appears regularly on CNN/Sports Illustrated.
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