The Nfl

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Last summer Cowboy pro personnel director John Wooten heard a lot of talk as to how teams would be playing wide-open football this season, with the run-and-shoot Falcons and Oilers leading the way, with even the most conservative teams using four and five wide receivers as early as second down, with offenses everywhere spreading from sideline to sideline. After watching a few of the very good teams—the 8-0 49ers, the 7-0 Giants (heading into Monday night's game at Indianapolis), the 7-1 Bears, the 6-2 Raiders—during the first half of the season, Wooten has noticed one thing about the NFL in 1990. The wide-open game is not having the impact he expected it would.

"It's like the football Vince Lombardi taught," says Wooten. "Teams have turned back the clock. It's almost like football has gotten back to being a pride thing. Teams come out and say, 'We're going to kick your butt.' They're playing hard-nosed, in-your-face football and trying to dominate games physically."

For all the changes in the NFL over the years, the innovations haven't altered the way most good teams go about winning. "Football," says Cardinals running back Ron Wolfley, "always has been and always will be a physical game. You can try to trick and dance around, but it comes down to hitting folks harder than they're hitting you."

Aside from the 49ers, who have maintained their success despite a spotty running game, the consistent winners—who also include the 7-1 Dolphins and the 7-1 Bills—have stuck to the ground. There's one other thing the six teams with the best records have in common: They are all playing intimidating defense and stopping the run.

Dan Marino (nine touchdown passes, seven interceptions) is having one of his worst seasons statistically, but Miami has 939 yards rushing after eight games compared with 639 at the midpoint of last season, and its defense is top-ranked in the league. The Raiders, Giants and Bears are all grinding it out on the ground and allowing less than 15 points a game. Buffalo's defense has been inconsistent, but the Bills' average of 4.5 yards per rushing attempt is fourth best in the league.

The run-and-shoot? It's exciting, which is good for a staid league. However, the jury's out on whether, over the long haul, teams that use this offense can avoid frequent turnovers and play well enough to win championships. The three run-and-shoot teams—the Oilers (4-5), Falcons (3-5) and Lions (3-5)—are 10-15.

"I'm not as sophisticated as a lot of people in this league," says Chicago coach Mike Ditka. "I learned a system under Coach [Tom] Landry, and I think you have to establish the run. If football is played for 2,000 more years, the winners will always go back to the basics."

RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB

"He always was a rally guy," said Giants coach Bill Parcells after seeing highlights of his former backup quarterback, Jeff Rutledge, pulling out a 41-38 overtime win for the Redskins. "Jeff always was at his best in helter-skelter games. The crazier things got, when everything was going wrong, the better he was."