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Show h nramo?7 b u Ubac cJvJksiBJLdU HOUSTON AT BUFFALO 11 :00 A.M. Sunday, Sept. 19 Channel 2 Consider the contrasting atmospheres which engulfed these two teams when the regular season finally opened The Oilers hadn't won a preseason game They had stumbled around while Bum Phillips calmly tinkered with new players and new ideas. NFL watchers predicted somber things for the team in the wake of all their losses. . But stability prevailed. Ronnie Coleman and Fred Willis, who hadnt played in the last three exhibitions due to in)uries, were the starting running backs. Coleman ran for 142 yards in 25 carries. Willis who beat out incumbent fullback Don Hardman, caught a touchdown pass from Dan Pastonni. Curley Culp and Elvin Bethea, the Oilers best defensive lineman, groaned all summer abcut injuries but when real bullets were loaded into the gun, they led a shutou over Tampa Bay, 20-In Buffalo they held a circus Coach Lou Saban called the weekend before the Monday night opener with Miami 48 hours of hell." to sign the OJ. Simpson biggest contract in sports. Donnie Green, the huge offensive tackle who had been AWOL since the start of training camp in a dispute over attempts to renegotiate his contract, showed up. When the size of 0 J.s contract was revealed (actuary around $2 million for threo years, not the $2 5 million youve heard about), fullback Jim Braxton confronted owner Ralph Wilson on the d line after the Bills Sunday night practice and demanded to renegotiate. Wilson refused, Braxton stalked off and for a while his teammates wondered whether he would even play against Miami He cleared up that part with a statesmanlike pregame speech about staying united as a team. The trouble was that Braxton tore up his knee on the second play of the game and is lost for the season. Consequently, O.J. was used far more against the Dolphins than Saban had intended to use him. He earned five times for 23 yards and turned a Joe Ferguson gain. pass into a nifty, d O J. should be far more geared up for the Oilers. The minus part is that Braxtons superior blocking is a large reason OJ. has been sprung into the open so often in the last five years. Here's how to figure this one' WHEN THE OILERS HAVE THE Bob Gnese picked on the left BALL side of the Bills defense, where only one veteran linebacker, John Skorupan, is stationed. Cornerback Mario Clark is going to be a top player eventually, but Nat Moore took an interception away from him in the comer of the end zone and converted into a touchdown. Dan Faaluiii ii is sure to test Clark via Ken Burrough. Coleman will be aimed at the left side on running plays, since rookie end Ken Jones and inexperienced tackle Jeff Yeates inhabit that side of the Buffalo line. Look for Pastonni to explore the territory of rookie linebacker Dan Jilek on the right side Gnese did it last week. Buffalo may be more willing to blitz Pastorini than they were Griese The Bills put some pressure on the Miami quarterback, but sacked him only once. 13-ya- rd 50-yar- 43-yar- I . u.rrrr the the ball klls have s O.J.', when not cooky say 1 get in playing shape, Im cocky." The Oilers must hope he isnt cocky when they line up Sunday. On second thought, the Oilers have less reason to worry about the Juice than most NFL teams. In four career games against them he averaged only 2 8 on 61 carries. His onty shot at Phillips' three-ma-n line came two years ago. He gained 57 yards in 17 cames. With Braxton hurt and Simpson a virtual stranger in his own backfield, the emphasis shifted to the pas3 against Miami. Joe Ferguson had a good night, throwing three touchdown passes. Two were bombs to speedy John Holland. Braxtons replacement at fullback will be Vic Washington, who was a key Oiler the last time Houston beat Buffalo. Washington actually is a halfback and a beat-uone at that. He weigns only 195, 12 pounds less than Simpsons current weight and he can't give Juice the blocking he came to expect from Braxton. KEY MATCHUPS: MONTLER AND A pair of puzzling football teams, Atlanta and Detroit, get together at the spiffy domed stadium in Pontiac, Mich , in the Lions home opener. The situation is much more tenuous for the Lions, however. With what appears to be considerable talent on the squad, they appeared ready for a fast start at what many felt was a real chance at ending the domination of the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC's Central Division. So what did they do? Fall flat on their collective faces, master up one lonesome field goal for a day's output and lose an embarrasing 10-- 3 decision to the but still punchless Chicago improved, Bears The Atlanta Falcons also had a lackluster opener, dropping a 30-1- 4 count to the Los Angeles Rams. So both Falcons and Lions enter this one 0-The big difference is that Atlanta figured to lose to the powerful Rams. There is considerable mumbling ,n the Motor City where Bill Munson was traded (to Seattle) at his own request, then has sort of had a last ha-h- a as first Joe Reed, then Greg Landry faltered against the Bears. Reed won the quarterback pb in the exhibition season as coach Rick season. ELBERT DRUNGO VS. KEN JONES Jones spots his veteran foe seven years in experience. This is where Coleman will be headed and Ken also must provide some pressure on Pasiorini. KEN BURROUGH VS. MARIO CLARK Mario, whom the Bills feel will become one of the NFLs best corners in time, is still shaking his head over the way Nat Moore picked his pocket for a touchdown last week. He gives away height if not sjoeed to Burrough. F FACTORS Saban was so depressed on a post game radio sfrow after the Miami game that listeners His thought he was going to quit relations with owner Ralph Wilson are fragile . . . The Bills are likely to have a new place kicker for the Oiler game . . . John Leypoldt, who has been on the job since 1971, holds all the teams field goal records but he blew three against the Dolphins, which was the margin of victory. Saban attributed two of the misses directly to Leypoldt, who blew a Monday night game to the Giants, along with Buffalo's four game undefeated stnng, by chip shot last year . . missing a Leypoldt admits hes pressing . . . Saban also wants to trade for a fullback with some size and blocking skill to help O.J. Oilers came out of the Tampa game with no injuries . . . Mike Weger finally worked his way into the starting lineup as the strong safety. He signed as a free agent after playing out his Detroit option. ''if P; "' !' Foranzo struggled to find playing time for three quarterbacks. To complicate the situation Sunday, Reed suffered not one, but two sprained ankles in the second half of the Bear game (when falien on by his own teammate, Lynn Boden), leaving the Detroit starter up in the air. If Reed is sidelined, the nod will go to Landry, who clicked on a long pass to Ray Jarvis in the final two minutes to give the Lions hope of forcing ovedime at Chicago. But he marred the performance on the Lons' final four downs missing three open receivers. Even more of a mystery than the faltering passing of the Lions is their running, which looked so promising Dexter Bussey, coming off e season, couldn't get started against the Bears and neither could fullback Horace King. Rookie hopeful Lawrence Gaines sat it out with a sprained ankle Atlanta has had similar problems moving the ball. Neither Dave Hampton nor Haskel Stanback has been overpowering, but the blocking is suspect because of d the absence of regular tack'es, Brent Adams and Len Gotshalk They are back, now, which should lend some help in that department. Quarterback Steve Bartkowski left room for improvement, too, with his work against the Rams He had three interceptions and finally resorted to short passes to finish as well as 1 6 completions in 31 tries He hit John Gilliam, the fleet newcomer from the Minnesota Vikings, only once. I was nurrying," he explained, "and threw too hard so I overshot some receivers n It can be summed up as blues on both sides. 10:30 A.M. Sunday, Sept. 19, Channel 5 JOE r--S UL'J DETROIT All-Pr- o V, V. AT OR REGGIE McKENZIE VS. CULP: Curley is the key to the Oiler defense, as everyone knows. He will have to be contained. Montler is very strong and so is o Joe D. Reggie, more a finesse guy. The Bills have had good days and bad against Culp in the past. O.J. VS. ROBERT BRAZILE Simpson will be dispatched at all directions, but when he tests the right side of the Houston defense it should be extra interesting, since Brazile is headed for an All-Pr- T ATLANTA p MIKE -- iyw Lie Fa ga ha h be th as re Cl W Cc near-700-ya- rd fir ai lx H 01 injury-enforce- I early-seaso- LAST-MINUT- ... 19-yar- d general deluxe 1040 general 800 humidifier humidifier . -J ri STARTING LINEUPS HOUSTON OILERS DEFENSE HOUSTON OILERS OFFENSE No Namt Ken Burrouoh WR 73 Greg Sampson lT 70 Cty'wAY Havman lG 55 Car' Maock C 60 Ec Fisher RG QG 75 92 34 7 47 44 E iderl Drungo RT VsckAtston TE B'iiv JOhnscn WR Dar Pastonni OB Ronnie Coteman, RB RB Fred win. 20 ?&6 ?) 250 25$ 2n5 ?X) 17Q M 20 C 205 BUFFALO BILLS OFFENSE No Name 80 Jonn Holland WR 78 Dave Foley LT LG 67 Reggie McKenjie C 53 Mikeftftxriier 68 J OeLamieiievre RG 74 DonmeGreen RT , 87 Paul Seymour TE 81 Bob Chandler. WR .. 12 Joe Ferguson 32 J Smosor R8 35 Way irg'cr. RB . 0 V. 08 190 247 242 245 248 270 246 .180 184 2V 175 No. Name 79 Jim While LT 78 CurlevCulo MG 65 Elvin Bethea R 59 TeC Washington OtB 57 Steve Kiner. MLB 54 Gregg Bmgham MLB 52 Robert Braiie OLB 19 Willie Alexander .C 22 ZeKe Mooe RC 28 Mike Weger SS 38 C L Whittington FS BUFFALO BILLS DEFENSE No Name 69 Ken Jones LE 71 MikeKadish LT 62 Jett Yeates RT S3 Sherman White RE LLB 55 John Skorupan 52 Merv Krakau Ml 8 51 Dan Jilek, RiB LC 29 MartoCkark 28 Dwight Harrison RC 24 DougJonee SS . . -. 4j Tory Greene l Installs over your forced air , furnace and pumps healthful moisture back into your living area Can be a help to relieve symptoms ot the common cold, too Reg. 14.75 88 "wrNUL. iwawMMaifcLjii mmfiLiBjg Your forced-ai- r central heating system s dnvmg rnosture cut of your home, causing cracked molding and furniture even dry skin and raspy throats in your family Our humidifier helps prevent all this by maintaining moisture in your home It even helps with the common cold Our model 1040 list 87.90 r |
