TUESDAY TIDBITS: "Perception is Reality"

By TJ Troup  

Walter Payton
Credit: Merv corning

Shall we start with the league schedule? Hell yes, since that is something done every Monday after the results of Sunday. 

What looks like the game or games of the week? The second half of NFL '22 is going to feature the teams in the east; in both conferences. 

That said, by New Year's eve will have a handle on who really is playing well individually, and team-wise in those divisions. Sure wish I could state emphatically which games has the most meaning, and would relish hearing from any and all of you about which game you believe is key? 

Watched both Philadelphia and San Francisco play this weekend, and was impressed by both—yet for different reasons. Are you ready for some history tied to November 20th? Here goes . . . the Chicago Bears have a record of 3-5 and are at home in Soldier Field to take on bitter rival Minnesota. 

The Vikings have won the division title for four consecutive years, and to a man, there is no reason for them not to win a fifth. The game was televised in Los Angeles and the defending conference rushing champion was about to embark on a performance that to this day still has me in awe. 

First quarter Sir Walter carries the ball 13 times for 77 yards. Having seen him play in person knew that he had the heart, and stamina to keep "pounding the rock". Second quarter he again carries 13 times, this time for 67 yards, and a one-yard touchdown. Chicago leads at the half 10-0. 

Minnesota may not be controlling the tempo of the game, but the Bears cannot put the Vikings away, and as they have many times since Bud Grant arrived they have clawed back into the game.....trailing 10-7 after three quarters. 

Sir Walter lugged the leather 8 times for 48 yards in the quarter. After failing to convert a fourth down and one situation early in the fourth quarter, the Bear defense forces a Viking punt, but Avellini (a Bear snap taker) misfires and Nate Wright intercepts. Minnesota drives to the Chicago thirty-seven, but punts the ball to Chicago. 

Second and nine and Sir Walter gains nine, and then on second and seven from their own thirty-three on his 38th carry of the game and he breaks free for 58 yards. He carries twice more, including a fourth and goal attempt where he gains 4, but Minnesota takes over on their own two-yard line. 

Tommy Kramer is intercepted by Allan Ellis, and Avellini falls down as the clock runs out. Sir Walter gained 131 yards on 14 carries in the second half in a Chicago 10-7 win. The Bears somehow found a way to win every week and earned their first playoff berth since the title game in '63. 

There have been many players that could literally take a team on his back and carry them to victory, yet Sir Walter stands at the top of the mountain with Jim Brown. 

 Jimmy Johnson and his Dallas Cowboys have won back-to-back Super Bowls, and see no reason why they cannot win a third in 1994. San Francisco with a record of 6-2 beats Dallas in Candlestick 21-14 to finally beat a team they have come to despise. 

Many teams have stumbled after a big victory and now on November 20th, the Los Angeles Rams come to town. Hall of Fame writer Ray Didinger did a masterful job on the 1994 America's Game champion San Francisco 49ers.  

Steve Young
Art credit: Merv Corning

Segment after segment captured the essence of this team, yet Steve Young's quote "perception is reality" hit the bullseye for me. 

The Rams give the Niners a battle and lead 27-24 in the fourth quarter. Steve Young will complete 30 of 44 for 325 yards, and 4 touchdowns during the game, but it is his 4th scoring strike that is most important. 

Why is that you ask? Simply because Young pitches to Jerry Rice for 18 yards and the winning touchdown. 

Five times previously in his career Rice had games of at least 10 catches, and in each of those, he gained at least 147 yards. Today when San Francisco could have faltered; the greatest of all-time latches onto 16 passes for 165 yards. 

The 49ers will then score 165 points in their next four games. All of their victories of course. San Francisco builds a 38-21 lead over the Cowboys in the NFC title game re-match clash, before winning 38-28, and then the destruction of the Chargers in the SB.