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Show 6 Page - THE HERALD, Provo, Utah, Monday, December 12, 1983 report and commentary on winners, losers and coming events A full Sports Redskins Scalp Cowboys BY JOE CARNICELLI UPI Executive Sports Editor Things turned out to be easy for Washington and even easier for Pittsburgh Sunday as the NFL playoff picture began to take shape. e Washington took a lead in the NFC East race, romping to an unexpectedly easy 0 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, and can wrap up the division title by beating the faltering New York Giants on Saturday. But Pittsburgh, which routed the New York Jets 34-- 7 Saturday, wrapped up the AFC Central title Sunday in even easier fashion the Steelers didn't even have to play. Houston handed Pittsburgh the title by 7 and upsetting Cleveland knocking the Browns out of the title race. One other club made a strong move toward a division title. San Francisco beat Buffalo and e took a lead over the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West race with one week to go in the regular season. The Rams were upset 21-- 7 by New England. San Francisco can win the division title by beating Dallas next Monday night or if Los Angeles loses to !ew Orleans in its final game Sunday. Denver wrapped up an AFC wild card berth Sunday, rallying from a deficit to defeat nt Baltimore 21-1- 9. Following the weekend's play, six of the NFL's 10 playoff berths have been filled. All three division races in the AFC have been settled Miami is the Eastern champion, Pittsburgh the Central and the Los Angeles Raiders the Western winners. Denver has one wild card berth and the other will be determined next week, with Buffalo, New England, Cleveland and Seattle in contention. Seattle is in the driver's seat, however, needing only a victory over New England to clinch the first playoff berth in its eight-yea- r one-gam- 31-1- 34-2- history. the NFC, Washington and Dallas have been assured of playoff berths but a number of teams are jockeying for the other four berths Detroit can win the Central title with a victory in its final game but Green Bay is lurking right behind. San Francisco can take the West but the Rams and New Orleans are still in the picture. In Saturday's other game, In 23-1- 0 one-gam- 4 Miami defeated Atlanta while in Sunday's games, it was Chicago 19 Minnesota 13; Cincinnati 17 Detroit 9; New Orleans 2D Philadelphia 17 in overtime; Seattle 17 the Giants 12; San Diego 41 Kansas City 38 ; and St. Louis 34 the Los Angeles Raiders 24. Green Bay is at Tampa Bay tonight. The Washington-D- a 11 as game was billed as the NFL's Game of the Year but the Redskins simply blew the Cowboys away in loss at avenging a one-poiWashington in the opening game of the season. Joe Theismann threw for two TDs and John Riggins ran for two more to set an NFL record for touchdowns in a season as the Redskins the pushed their record to 13-best mark in the NFL. "We never thought it would be that easy," said Washington Coach Joe Gibbs. "But everyone believes we will play them again, and that will be the big ran a now i 11 SfcT i wn games on the road. Dallas Coach Tom Landry was downcast after his club's dismal performance. "I don't know why a big game doesn't bring out the best in some teams," said Landry. "But it didn't bring out the best in us. We didn't make a battle of it in the game that would have made us champions." "I think Dallas was just frustrated," said Washington line--, backer Mel Kaufman. "It was a very frustrating day for them. Instead of waiting for things to happen, we went in and forced 31-2- nt theactioa" "One of the reasons our guys played so hard today," said Gibbs, "was the fact that they want that home field advantage for the playoffs." 49ers 23, Bills 10 Joe Montana threw a TD pass to Roger Craig and Ray Wersching kicked three field goals to carry San Francisco one" past Buffalo. The victory Dallas probably will have to settle for a wild card berth but it is expected that the clubs will boosted the 49ers' record to and left them a game ahead of the Rams. 9-- 6 again in Washington on for the NFC title and a berth in the Super Bowl. Dallas has lost the last three NFC title meet Jan. r kill Patriots 8 21, Rams 7 Tatupu scored three TDs to lift New England over the Rams. Tatupu scored on runs of four, five and seven yards. Eric Dickerson of the Rams had 94 yards rushing and set an e rushing record for a rookie, breaking the mark of 1,674 yards set by George Rogers of New Orleans in 1981. Broncos 21, Colts 19 Rookie John El way's TD pass to Gerald Willhite with 44 seconds left completed Denver's rally from a 19-- deficit and lifted the Broncos into the playoffs with a victory over Baltimore. Elway fired three TD passes after Denver trailed . Cardinals 34, Raiders 24 Neil Lomax threw for two TDs and the St. Louis defense shut out Los Angeles in the second half, allowing the Cardinals to upset the AFC West champion Raiders. Saints 20, Eagles 17 (ot) Morten Andersen kicked a field goal at 5:30 of sudden death overtime to keep New Orleans' alive for a playoff berth with a victory over Philadelphia. Andersen earlier hit a career-hig- h Mo si all-tim- LJ i N I LI Washington celebration is interrupted by Dallas' Michael Downs. 0 19-0- d Redskin Darrell Green (28) and Cowboy Drew Pearson Williams (47) intercepts a Danny White pass. (88) Bengals collide as Washington's Greg 17, Lions 9 Pete Johnson ran for 118 yards and two TDs to tie his own Cincinnati record of 14 yard TD pass from running back Matt Suhey and Chicago's defense stopped a late Minnesota charge as the Bears ended the rushing TDs in a season and boosted the vicBengals to a tory over Detroit. The loss kept the Lions, from clinching the NFC Central title. Detroit still can win the division by beating Tampa Bay next Sunday. Seahawks 17, Giants 12 Dave Krieg capitalized cn two of New York's five turnovers for a pair of first-ha- lf TD passes and Seattle moved into position for the first playoff berth in its history by beating the bumbling Giants. Krieg threw TD asses of 12 yards to Steve E argent and 6 yards to Paul Johns. Bears 19, Vikings 13 ' Walter Payton caught a 74- d 1' 8-- 7, playoff hopes. Suhey's TD throw to Payton in the first quarter gave Chicago a 6 lead which the Bears never relinquished. Chargers 41, Chiefs 38 Kellen Winslow caught three TD passes and Rolf Benirschke field goal with kicked a two seconds left, lifting San Diego over Kansas City. San Diego's Dan Fouts was for 285 yards and three TDs before leaving with an injury at the end of the third period. Bill Kenney of the Chiefs hit 31 of41 for 411 yards and three TDs. 7-- 28-ya-rd Falcon Qridders Should Make NBARoundup Bucks Lose To Too Air Force Pilots, Superb 76ers Afr Home r On the first down of their first possession of the night in last Saturday's Independence Bowl game in Shreveport, La., Air Force Academy quarterback Marty Louthan tucked the ball into the stomach of fullback John Kershner, and faked out the Ole Miss defenders and the cameraman. Marty the Ma- took the ball back raced Sician the line of scrimmage then cut upfield for a lengthy gain to set the stage for the first bowl game of the month. The Falcons scored the first of three field goals on that drive and defeated Mississippi, in what was occassionally a monsoon. The victory boosted the Falcons' season record to 10-- the first winning season in the Academy's history. It was also their eighth win in a row and their second straight bowl victory. It also gave coach Ken Hatfield's team a sweep of its games. The Falcons beat Texas Tech, Navy, Army, Notre Dame and Mississippi BYU Marion Dunn . SPORTS EDITOR 9-- 3, 2, non-leag- 1 fib i . jjp BYU beat UCLA. quarterback Steve Young California. k with their only losses conference games against Wyoming and BYU. back-to-bac- The victory over Notre Dame was the second straight for the Falcons and it was the second straight year they won Trothe Commander-in-Chie- f phy for the best service record. This has got to help WAC - - y KJtm Oi M prestige in the football world, and we all know it needs some help. But I think the WAC gets a bad rap and an undeserved one. Hawaii came within seconds of knocking off Oklahoma in the final game of the season. New Mexico beat Texas Tech. San Diego State knocked off i .niMjj F" in and tight end Gordon Hudson were unanimous selections and Wyoming punter Jack Weil was a consensus choice. The WAC is getting there. . A UPI wirephoto taken right after Air Force's win in the Independence Bowl, shows coach Hatfield talking to a sobbing Kershner. I think it is worth a thousand words in describing what has happened to Air Force football. During the game, punter Jeff Kubiak shanked a punt which gave the Rebels a chance to pull out the win. The defense took over and stopped the bid, but I think it should be mentioned that the young man who shanked the kick will take his Rhodes Scholar examination this winter. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I'm proud of the Falcon coaches, players and the entire studentbody. They should be some kind of flyers. ; BYU's basketball team finished third in its Cougar Classic, but that only tells part of the story. I mean, there were moments of sheer brilliance on the floor and I have a feeling those moments are going to come frequently by the time WAC play begins in the New Year. Coach Ladell Andersen has been emphasizing n defense and the players have been concentrating on mastering this part of their game. In the second half against St. Mary's Saturday night it was evident that the Cougars can man-to-ma- play great Air Force back John Kershner embraces coach Ken Hatfield. man-to-ma- n de- fense. In fact, that part of the game overshadowed the record field goal shooting percentage by the Cougars. The Cougars hit 39 of 53 attempts from the field for a school and Classic record of 73.6 percent. The passing game was absou-- . letely brilliant at times, erratic at others. That will come. This RYU tMm ran nass, By United Press International Even playing at home, where they had not lost all season, the Milwaukee Bucks knew their seven-gam- e winning streak was in jeopardy Sunday night. The opponents were the hated Philadelphia 76ers, who had ousted the Bucks from the playoffs in five games last spring and who the Bucks had exacted some revenge on in Philadelphia with a victory on Nov. 4. This time, it was the Sixers who advanignored the home-cou- rt tage, handing the Bucks their first defeat in 10 games in Milwaukee by an identical margin, efforts by behind Julius Erving and Andrew Toney. "We're playing one of the best teams in the league," said 76ers Coach Billy Cunningham. "The missed a jumper and the 76ers then scored seven straight points. nt nt 97-8- 7, nt Milwaukee-Philadelphi- a . rivalry has developed over the last four years. Every time we play them it is a battle." Erving agreed that even without injured center Bob Lanier, "The Bucks are the genuine chief threat for us in the conference." Clint Richardson's layup to open the fourth quarter gave Philadelphia a 7 lead, but Milwaukee fought back and tied the score 9 on Marques Johnson's dunk with 6:28 remaining. With the Sixers up Junior Bridgeman 76-6- 79-7- 86-8- 3, In other games, New Jersey outgunned Denver San Diego edged Dallas Portland defeated Golden State New York topped Los Angtfe 109-9and SeatUe downed Detroit Nets 141, Nuggets 130 At East Rutherford, N.J., Albert King scored 30 points, Otis Birdsong bad 25 and Buck Williams 24 to lead six New Jersey players in double figures. Kiki Vandeweghe , had 37 points and Alex English 31 for Denver. Kelvin Ransey of New Jersey had 16 assists as the Nets won their third In a row. " Clippers 118, Mavericks 111 At San Diego, Norm Nixon scored 35 from the foul line, points, including and had 17 assists. In overcoming Mark Aguirre's third performance of the season, the Clippers snapped a e winless streak against the Mavericks dating to February 1982. Trail BUiert 105, Warriors 101 At Portland, Ore., Jim Paxson scored 27 and Kenny Carr added 22 to lead the glints Larry Smith scored 25 points to lead Golden State. Knlcks 10, Lakers M At Inglewood, Calif., Bill Cartwright scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for New York, as the NBA s top defensive team g held the Lakers to only 40 points in the first half. Bob McAdoo led the Lakers with 27 points off the bench and James Worthy added 21. SuperSonics 135, Pistons 131 At Seattle, Jack Sikma scored 35 points, including 18 in the final period, to lead the ,Sonics. Sikma, who also pulled down It rebounds, had 26 points in the second half. John Long led the Pistons with 28 joints. The game was marred t.' several r .Spor altercations, including one that sent Reggie King to the hospital with a concussion and cuts above the left eye and cheek. Team USA Dumped 6- - 7 By Soviets In Second Warm-U- p Minn. BLOOMINGTON, (UPI)' Team USA is getting a taste of what Olympic hockey is " all about.' , Sergei Kharin scored two goals to lead the Soviet Selects in a 1 romp over the 1984 U.S. Olympic team Sunday night, t was the e second matchup, of a now tied 1 exhibition series that moves to Cleveland tonight. "This is what Olympic hockey is all about," Team USA coach Lou Vairo said. "The better team won nr. Jt.4 4 Uk. wnigm. i i: uiu nut vuc nuiui,k 6-- six-gam- -t.t of our opportunities and when the Soviets take a lead they're really tough. "I'm disappointed with the final score but it's not indicative of the way the game was played. It wasn't exactly the same feeling we had at Lake riacid," he said referring to the Americans'-5-,' win over the Soviets in the series opener Friday in New York. " I think the teams were equal in skill tonight," Tyzhnykh said. "We had a lot or desire to win. We .f learned a bit from Friday's game. 4 , |