FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-PRE-2 7/28/97
Memories of the big game and a big crowd -- the biggest ever -- are on tap this week as all 30 NFL clubs take the field in the first full week of preseason action.
The week’s schedule begins on Thursday night with a nationally televised rematch of Super Bowl XXXI between the New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers.
It ends four nights later in an American Bowl in the first Monday Night Football game of the year at the site of the biggest NFL crowd of any year -- Mexico City.
In between, there is a reprise of Super Bowl XXIX (49ers vs. Chargers), the debut of the Tennessee Oilers in their new home state, and a meeting of the league’s third-year teams, Carolina and Jacksonville.
On Thursday night on ESPN (8:00 PM ET), the Patriots visit Lambeau Field in Green Bay to take on the team they lost to in Super Bowl XXXI this past January.
"I just remember that we lost the game," says Patriots defensive end WILLIE MC GINEST of the 35-21 defeat in New Orleans. "We were second best and that doesn’t sit too well with me."
The game will feature two of the NFL’s strong-armed young quarterbacks, Green Bay’s BRETT FAVRE and New England’s DREW BLEDSOE. This year, Favre, with 1,759 passing yards in his first six games, can become the second fastest to pass for 20,000 yards after DAN MARINO.
Bledsoe, if he leads the league in attempts this year, can become the first quarterback in NFL history to do so for four straight seasons.
Speaking of NFL history, it will be revisited in a big way Monday night in Mexico City in the second American Bowl of the preseason (ABC-TV, 8:00 PM ET).
Marino’s Miami Dolphins will play the Denver Broncos at Mexico City’s newly named Estadio Guillermo Canedo, formerly known as Azteca Stadium. In 1994, an all-time NFL single-game attendance record was set at the site when 112,376 fans saw the Houston Oilers defeat the Dallas Cowboys in an American Bowl.
JIMMY JOHNSON, the Dolphins’ head coach, is looking forward to the festivities. "It’s truly exciting for both players and coaches," he says. "We feel we made tremendous progress in the past year. I can’t think of a better way to show that progress than in front of an international audience."
Other notable games this week:
On Sunday afternoon on NBC-TV (3:00 PM ET), the Carolina Panthers will visit the Jacksonville Jaguars. Last season, in only their second year of play, the Panthers and Jaguars advanced to their conference championship games. They’ve "met" three times in their short franchise history. In April of 1994, the Panthers topped the Jaguars in a coin flip to determine the first choice in the NFL Draft. That July in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio in the first on-field action in each team’s history, the Panthers made it "two in a row" with a 20-14 victory. The Jaguars turned the tables last September 29 with a 24-14 regular-season victory. Sunday’s meeting will be the first of a four-year arrangement between the teams to meet in preseason through 2000.
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NEW ENGLAND AT GREEN BAY: When these two play Thursday, it will be the earliest preseason meeting ever of two teams who played in a Super Bowl in January of the same year. The next earliest was on August 5, 1991 when the New York Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills 23-17 after their 20-19 Super Bowl XXV victory over the Bills......DENVER VS. MIAMI: New San Diego Chargers head coach KEVIN GILBRIDE says the loudest crowd he has ever heard was the 1994 American Bowl NFL-record crowd of 112,376 in Mexico City. Gilbride was then the assistant head coach for offense of the Houston Oilers.
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The Oilers make their Tennessee debut in the state on Saturday at their home for the next two years, the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, when they host the New Orleans Saints. The Oilers move into a new 67,000-seat stadium in Nashville in 1999.
In the other Super Bowl-revisited matchup of the weekend, the San Francisco 49ers visit the site of this year’s Super Bowl, Qualcomm Stadium, Jack Murphy Field, to face the Chargers. The 49ers defeated the Chargers 49-26 in Super Bowl XXIX. The teams have since met only in the preseason, with the 49ers winning both games.
The week’s fourth nationally televised game (Sunday, TNT, 8:00 PM ET) matches two longtime preseason rivals -- the Oakland Raiders and Dallas Cowboys.
It will be the 17th time the two have met in preseason. The visiting Raiders lead the series 11-5, with the Cowboys winning last year, 35-34. The regular-season series is tied at three.
| BRONCOS | DOLPHINS | |
| LEADER | 5-2-1 | |
| STREAKS | Last 2 | |
| COACHES VS. OPP. | Shanahan: 0-1 | Johnson: 1-0 |
| 1996 RECORD | 13-3 | 8-8 |
| LAST GAME | 9/29/85: Miami 30 at Denver 26. Dan Marino throws for 390 yards and three touchdowns and earns AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. | |
| AM. BOWL RECORD | 2-3 | 3-0 |
| TV | ABC (8:00 PM ET): Al Michaels, Frank Gifford and Dan Dierdorf. | |
| QBs | Elway: 287-466-3,328-26-14-89.2 (1C) | Marino: 221-373-2,795-17-9-87.8 (3C) |
| RBs | T. Davis: 345-1,538 (1C)-4.5-13 (1C) | Abdul-Jabbar: 307-1,116-3.6-11 |
| WRs | Sharpe (TE): 80-1,062-13.3-10 | McDuffie: 74-918-12.4-8 |
| OFFENSE | 361.9 (1L) | 322.8 |
| TAKE/GIVE | 0 | +12 (2C) |
| DEFENSE | 279.4 (2C) | 324.4 |
| SACKS | A. Williams: 13.0 (T2C) | Armstrong: 12.0 |
| INTs | Braxton: 9 (T1L) | Buckley: 6 (T3C) |
| PUNTING | Rouen: 41.8 | Kidd: 46.3 (1L) |
| KICKING | Elam: 109 (46/46 PAT; 21/28 FG) | Nedney: 89 (35/36 PAT; 18/29 FG) |
STADIUM hosted all-time NFL single-game record 112,376 fans in 8/15/94 American Bowl between Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers......BRONCOS: SHANNON SHARPE led all NFL TEs with 80 receptions for 1,026 yards in ’96. Became fourth TE in league history with multiple 1,000-yard seasons (1994). Leads TEs in ‘90s with 393 receptions and 4,884 yards......RB TERRELL DAVIS rushed for club-record 1,538 yards last season, becoming first Bronco to lead AFC since 1974 (OTIS ARMSTRONG). Ranks sixth in league history for most rushing yards in first two years with 2,655. Can become seventh player to rush for 1,000 in first three seasons......QB JOHN ELWAY led AFC in passing in ‘96 with second-best career rating (89.2)......WR MARCO MARTOS (Mexico City native) is first player born and schooled in Mexico to play professional football. Started for World League’s Barcelona Dragons in ’97 and had two of WL’s three longest touchdowns from scrimmage (96-yard catch, 5/4; 66-yard catch in World Bowl ’97, 6/22)......Free agent DE NEIL SMITH (Kansas City) ranks third in NFL with 59 sacks since 1992. Has sacked Elway more than any other player (15)......DOLPHINS: One of only two clubs (St. Louis) with NFL-best 3-0 mark in American Bowls......Starters were youngest in NFL last season (25.7 years old)......Dolphins led league in ’96 with 62.0 TD percentage inside redzone (31 of 50)......RB KARIM ABDUL JABBAR was first Dolphin to rush for 1,000 yards (1,116) since DELVIN WILLIAMS in 1978. Can become 16th NFL player with 1,000 yards in first two seasons......QB DAN MARINO needs 31 touchdown passes to become first NFL passer with 400......WR O.J. MC DUFFIE was third in AFC with 26 third-down receptions in ’96......DE TRACE ARMSTRONG had career-high 12 sacks last season......Dolphins’ special teams held opponents to avg. drive start on 24.4 yard-line -- tops in AFC......P JOHN KIDD set club record with 46.3 avg. in ’96. Holds Dolphins’ career mark with 44.6 avg.
NOTE: Numbers and letters in parenthesis indicate league ("L") and conference ("C") rank. "T" = Tie.
FOR USE AS DESIRED
NFL-PRE-2 7/28/97
Thursday, July 31
New England (AFC) at Green Bay (NFC), 7:00 (ESPN)
Friday, August 1
Atlanta (NFC) at Detroit (NFC),
7:30
Cincinnati (AFC) at Indianapolis (AFC) , 6:30
Saturday, August 2
Arizona (NFC) at Seattle (AFC),
7:00
Chicago (NFC) at Buffalo (AFC), 7:00
N.Y. Giants (NFC) at Baltimore (AFC), 8:00
Philadelphia (NFC) at N.Y. Jets (AFC), 8:00
Pittsburgh (AFC) at Kansas City (AFC), 7:00
St. Louis (NFC) at Minnesota (NFC), 6:30
San Francisco (NFC) at San Diego (AFC), 7:00
Tennessee (AFC) vs New Orleans (NFC) at Memphis, Tenn., 7:00
Washington (NFC) at Tampa Bay (NFC), 7:30
Sunday, August 3
Carolina (NFC) at Jacksonville
(AFC), 3:00 (NBC)
Oakland (AFC) at Dallas (NFC), 7:00 (TNT)
Monday, August 4
Denver (AFC) vs Miami (AFC)
American Bowl at Mexico City, Mexico, 8:00 (ABC)
| AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE | NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE | ||||||||||||
| Eastern Division | Eastern Division | ||||||||||||
| W | L | T | Pct. | Pts. | OP | W | L | T | Pct. | Pts. | OP | ||
| Indianapolis | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | Arizona | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| New England | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | Dallas | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| N.Y. Jets | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | N.Y. Giants | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Buffalo | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 10 | 31 | Philadelphia | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Miami | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 20 | Washington | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Central Division | Central Division | ||||||||||||
| W | L | T | Pct. | Pts. | OP | W | L | T | Pct. | Pts. | OP | ||
| Pittsburgh | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 30 | 17 | Green Bay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 20 | 0 |
| Baltimore | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | Minnesota | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 28 | 26 |
| Cincinnati | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | Detroit | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Jacksonville | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | Tampa Bay | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Tennessee | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | Chicago | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 17 | 30 |
| Western Division | Western Division | ||||||||||||
| W | L | T | Pct. | Pts. | OP | W | L | T | Pct. | Pts. | OP | ||
| Denver | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 31 | 10 | Atlanta | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Kansas City | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Oakland | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | New Orleans | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| San Diego | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 | St. Louis | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Seattle | 0 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 26 | 28 | San Francisco | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
LAST WEEK'S
RESULTS
(Announced attendance in parentheses. Home team in capitals)
| AMERICAN FOOTBALL CONFERENCE | NATIONAL FOOTBALL CONFERENCE |
| DENVER 31, Buffalo 10 (69,739) |
| INTERCONFERENCE |
| * Minnesota 28, SEATTLE 26 (23,846) |
| GREEN BAY 20, Miami 0 (59,089) |
| ** PITTSBURGH 30, Chicago 17 (30,269) |
* Pro Football Hall of Fame Game
in Canton, Ohio
** American Bowl in Dublin, Ireland