The San Francisco 49ers have the best midseason record in the National Football League at 7-1, and Coach George Seifert thinks offensive coordinator Mike Holmgren should get much of the credit.
When Seifert was asked before the season about the pressure of replacing Bill Walsh, he said: "Now he (Holmgren) is the guy who really has to replace Bill. I tell him all the time, `You are the one with pressure on you, not me. I didn't replace Bill Walsh, you did.' "Seifert's implication, therefore, is that former BYU assistant coach Holmgren is responsible for much of the 49ers' success, although he might put it differently now.
Holmgren does the play-calling during games, after all the coaches have agreed on a basic plan of attack. But the 49ers no longer use the Walsh tactic of pre-selecting the first 25 offensive plays of the game, to be used regardless of the opponent's defense.
That doesn't mean, however, that the 49ers have made wholesale changes in Walsh's offense.
"When Mike first came here," said Seifert, "there were so many things he resisted about Bill's offense. There were so many things he didn't totally believe in. Now, the funny thing is, he is really defensive about the offense when I recommend a change. He's come full circle."
During the first two years of his 1982-85 stint at BYU, Holmgren was the quarterbacks coach over Steve Young, now the 49ers backup signal-caller.
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THIS WEEK'S MYSTERY: Why is Dan Henning an NFL head coach?
During four seasons with Atlanta from 1983-86, Henning's highest win total was seven. His combined record was 22-41-1. His highest finish was third.
So the San Diego Chargers are looking for a coach before this season, and they notice Henning is an assistant with the Redskins, and they snap him up quick, before anyone else can.
So four games ago the Chargers are 2-2, full of optimism and talking playoffs. And then they lose four consecutive games that they could have tied or won by scoring on their last possession.
Two weeks ago they lost to the Giants after using a Henning-designed conservative game plan, and the coach blamed veteran quarterback Jim McMahon and benched him.
Against the Seahawks Sunday, Henning started rookie Billy Joe Tolliver (you remember him, right? Sixteenth in the nation in pass efficiency his last season at Texas Tech) at quarterback. After more than three quarters, Tolliver had completed 6-of-17 passes for a whopping 41 yards, and the offense had never crossed midfield.
Sit down, Billy Joe.
With less than two minutes left in the game, McMahon fires a 14-yard pass to Arthur Cox to put the Chargers in the lead, 7-3. With 40 seconds left, Seattle's Dave Kreig throws the game-winning touchdown.
In less than a quarter, McMahon completed 9-of-12 passes for 82 yards (double Tolliver's output).
With any other coach you wouldn't have to ask this, but who do you think Henning will start next week?
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BIG GAMES: Players with local ties who had impressive stats last Sunday:
- Broncos' Greg Kragen (Utah State), six tackles and fumble recovery against Eagles.
- 49ers' Steve Young (BYU), 13-of-20 passing for 180 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions against Jets.
- Oilers' Al Smith (Utah State), six tackles against Browns.
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SHORT STUFF: McMahon did make his first reception of the season last Sunday. On the final play of the game he caught his own pass, batted back to him by a defender, and ran four yards . . . Dallas tight end Steve Folsom (Utah) has 11 catches through eight games. In two previous seasons with the Cowboys he had caught just nine tosses.
S.F. cornerback Darryl Pollard (Weber State) was third on the team in defensive points going into Sunday's game against the Jets. Much of that is attributable to his special-teams leading 10 solo tackles . . . When Cowboys kicker Roger Ruzek (Weber State) missed a 31-yarder against the Cardinals last Sunday, it was his first miss under 42 yards this season.
Phoenix return man Vai Sikahema (BYU) is second in the NFC in punt-return average at 12.0 but only 10th in kickoff returns at 20.5 . . . McMahon on why his wife prefers Chicago to San Diego: "She likes four seasons because it means four wardrobes."