Try as he might, Marv Levy recognizes that his Buffalo Bills can't avoid the burden. Not only are they favorites to get to the Super Bowl, they look like the first AFC team since 1983 with a good chance to win it.
So no wonder the Bills' practice sessions lead the local news every night.No wonder that the media contingent following the Bills has quadrupled.
And no wonder the operative letters in Buffalo are P-R-E-S-S-U-R-E. But that's relative - everyone would rather have the expectations that goes with winning than go back to the mid-'80s, when the Bills were 8-40 from 1984-1986.
"It will be tough to top what we did, but you don't set goals to be the same," said quarterback Jim Kelly. "You set goals to get better."
What the Bills did was go 13-3, then play two games that set them up as this year's favorite, a 51-3 demolition of the Los Angles Raiders in the AFC title game, followed by a 20-19 loss to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl. To Buffalo fans, that loss was as good as a win because if only ... Scott Norwood had made his 47-yard field-goal try as time expired.
"We had them. It was right there," said Bruce Smith, the defensive player of the year, who in at least one magazine has "guaranteed" a Super Bowl victory this year.
That's just about what the Bills have to do to meet expectations.
The Bills have Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and a veteran offensive line spearheading its no-huddle offense, and Smith, Shane Conlan, Cornelius Bennett and Darryl Talley on defense. If there's one weakness, it's stopping the run. The Giants held the ball for more than 40 minutes in the Super Bowl.
There seem to be few hurdles in the AFC East.
Buffalo opens with Miami, the only team that seems capable of mounting a challenge. And the Dolphins have already lost Sammie Smith, their best running back, with a knee injury that will keep him out at least four weeks.Indianapolis and the New York Jets are rebuilding, and New England, beset by front-office problems, can only go up from the 1-15 record of last year.
The Central Division looks like the jumble it was last year, when Houston, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati all finished 9-7. Give the Oilers and Steelers an early edge this year. The Bengals' defense is a disaster, and look for the Browns, who plummeted to 3-13, to improve under new coach Bill Belichick.
The West may be the AFC's strongest division.
The Los Angeles Raiders (12-4) edged Kansas City last year despite losing twice to the Chiefs, who finished 11-5. Seattle, under Chuck Knox, seems to be in contention every year. San Diego is improving, and Denver is better than its injury-provoked 5-11 mark of last year.
Still, it's fitting that in a year the Super Bowl is being played in frigid Minneapolis, that the AFC road to the title game goes through Buffalo.
The Bills finished strong last season, using the no-huddle offense to slice through opposing defenses at will. Even in the Super Bowl, they managed a point a minute - 19 points for 19 minutes of possession.
But that's the Catch-22.
"The problem with our offense is that if we if we go 1-2-3 out, it makes it that much tougher on our defense." said Levy. "They go off the field, then they come right back on."
Moreover, the defense stays out there, which is one reason the Bills signed Reggie Rogers, Detroit's one-time No. 1 choice after two years off serving 121/2 months in prison for negligent homicide and drafted Phil Hansen, a promising defensive end from North Dakota.
"There are five or six teams in each conference that could win," Levy said. "It depends on breaks and avoiding injury."
One of those teams presumably is Miami, which stayed with Buffalo through the next-to-last week, when it went into Rich Stadium and lost 24-14. Three weeks later, the Dolphins were back for the second round of the playoffs and lost again, 44-34.
But it was a successful year for a team that hadn't made the playoffs since 1985.
Still, to challenge the Bills, Don Shula, Dan Marino and friends still need more beef on defense. They were outmuscled by the league's physical teams last season. Jeff Cross, the best pass rusher, ran out of steam late last season and John Offerdahl, the All-Pro inside linebacker, has been injury-prone.
The Colts have a coming quarterback in Jeff George and an enthusiastic Eric Dickerson, who has been in camp from the start. But to challenge for a playoff spot, George and Dickerson need protection and room from a leaky offensive line and the defense needs help in the secondary and with the pass rush.
The Jets have some good skill players - wide receivers Al Toon and Rob Moore and running back Blair Thomas, but need protection for quarterback Ken O'Brien and help on defense.
In the Central, the sleeper may be Pittsburgh, which didn't score an offensive touchdown in its first four games but finished 9-7. Now offensive coordinator Joe Walton and Bubby Brister seem to be on the same page and 275-pound tight end Eric Green is a coming star.
Houston's Warren Moon-led run-and-shoot offense produced more points than every NFL team but Buffalo. But its defense was inconsistent and it had trouble scoring in close without a tight end.
Cincinnati still has Boomer Esiason, Eddie Brown, James Brooks and Tim McGee, but the defense needs help, particularly against the run. Cleveland has Bernie Kosar and enthusiasm, but still needs an infusion of young talent to get back into contention, even though always optimistic owner Art Modell appraises Belichick by saying:
"Wait 'til you see how we come out of the box."
The Raiders and Chiefs remain the best in the West.
The Raiders are also the oldest, with Roger Craig and Ronnie Lott, picked up from San Francisco under Plan B, adding to the age. The big question is whether Jay Schroeder is a championship-calibre quarterback.
The same was said of Steve DeBerg, until he had a career year at 36 playing quarterback for the Chiefs last year. Kansas City may be coming. Derrick Thomas led the NFL in sacks last year and Barry Word and Christian Okoye are steamrollers as running backs.
But ...
"We're the only team that had more field goals than touchdowns last year," said coach Marty Schottenheimer. "That has to stop."
Seattle is ... Seattle - 9-7 last year and likely to do the same again under inconsistent quarterback Dave Krieg. San Diego has a solid defense but discontented players in defensive end Lee Williams and running back Marion Butts, although rookie Eric Bienemy has looked good replacing Butts.
Denver, the AFC champion three times in four years before fading to 5-11 last year, will be back part of the way. But the Broncos need offensive line help and were without running back Bobby Humphrey for most of camp.
PICKS: East - Bills; Central - Houston; West - Kansas City.
Wild Cards: Dolphins, Steelers, Raiders.
AFC Champion: Chiefs.