[Tiger Fan]

TIGERFAN'S SPORTING NEWS : December 11, 1946
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
49ERS CORRAL BRONCOS 13-7, SOLIDIFY HOLD ON NFC WEST LEAD
The San Francisco 49ers took advantage of 4 interceptions to beat the Denver Broncos 13-7. The win moves the 49ers to 10-4 and 2 games ahead of the Arizona Cardinals atop the NFC West. The Broncos are 11-3 and have a 2 game lead on Kansas City in the AFC West.

It was a terrible game for Denver QB Jay Cason. Two of the 4 interceptions he threw were picked off in the San Francisco endzone and a third occurred deep in Denver territory. The one deep in Denver territory by SS Earl Joyce eventually led to a 24 yard field goal from Niners kicker Otis Johnson that made the score 10-7 San Francisco at the time. San Francisco QB Koy Harris was also ineffective, getting picked off twice and completing just 15 of 30 passes but he did connect with receiver Sam Newman for a 57 yard touchdown in the first half.

Meanwhile, in Kansas City Bruce Jones ran for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Chiefs beat Arizona 34-13 to keep their slim chance of an AFC West division title alive. The Chiefs are virtually assured a wild card berth with the win while the Cards also appear to be assured at least a wild card spot.

BILLS DEFENSE COMES ALIVE, MANHANDLES BEARS
The Buffalo Bills have made the playoffs each of the last 3 seasons because of one of the best defensive units in the game. This year the Bills defense has been terribly inconsistant but on Sunday they should the form that got them to the conference championship game a year ago. Buffalo's D just dominated the Chicago Bears in a 16-13 win. Sid *Luckman had the second worst game of his season although he did connect with receiver Ken *Kavanaugh for the Bears only touchdown.

The Bills offense continued to struggle but turnovers and key defensive stands left them with great field position all game. Ken Wilkins hit 3 long field goals and Tom Kennison scored on a 1 yard plunge 3 plays after a Luckman interception to account for all the Buffalo scoring.


EAGLES BACK INTO NFC EAST TITLE
Despite losing 27-13 to lowly Indianapolis the Philadelphia Eagles were assured of the best record in the NFC East after Washington was upset by Houston. Stephen Williams ran for 80 yards and 3 touchdowns to pace the Colts past an unispired Eagles club.

With a 10-4 record the Eagles are in danger of losing a first round bye after losing 3 of their last 4 games. Philadelphia finishes up at Houston and home to Arizona as they battle the Niners for the opening week rest break. San Francisco is home to St Louis and at Washington to end the season.

NFC STILL HAS A BATTLE FOR WILD CARD BERTHS
The Minnesota Vikings remain barely alive in their bid for a second straight playoff berth. The Vikings are 6-8 and just one game behind Washington for the last wild card spot after the Redskins were shocked at home by Houston 17-10. A 39 yard interception return for a touchdown by Roderick Lemons in the third quarter proved to be the winning score. With Sammy Baugh still sidelined at least one more week and games in Indianapolis and at home to San Francisco the Redskins could be in trouble. Minnesota finishes with 2 road games but they are against a pair of 5-9 teams in Atlanta and Tampa Bay.

SAINTS GO MARCHING INTO PLAYOFFS WITH WIN
The New Orleans Saints clinched the NFC South Division for the first time in franchise history with a 24-12 win over Cincinnati. Ryan Boyette passed for over 300 yards and Todd Berger ran for 109 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Saints. The loss officially eliminates the 6-8 Bengals from postseason play.

STEELERS MOVE CLOSER TO PLAYOFF BERTH
The Pittsburgh Steelers moved a step closer to securing the first playoff berth in franchise history with a 27-7 drubbing of the Atlanta Falcons. Elmer *Angsman and Mickey Marangi combined for 162 yards rushing to pace the Pittsburgh attack.

The Steelers are 8-6 and presently a game ahead of both the Jets and Oakland in the battle for the final wildcard spot. Pittsburgh has games remaining in Cincinnati and home to Houston. 2 wins and they are in. The Jets and Raiders play each other next week in a game that will all but eliminate the loser from the playoff race. Oakland finishes up with a tough game in New England while the Jets are home to San Diego in the final week.

The Raiders stayed in the hunt with a last minute 23-17 win over St Louis. Antwan Baker found Greg Kuechenberg with a 40 yard touchdown pass in the last minute to provide the margin of victory. It was one of 3 touchdown passes on the day for Baker.

The Jets playoff hopes suffered a real blow with a 24-18 loss at home to Minnesota. Wes Moore returned a kick 85 yards for a touchdown to open the second half and that seemed to spur the Vikings on to victory. The Jets need to win both of their remaining games including a tough one in Oakland next week if they are to make the playoffs for the 4th time in the last 6 years.



In other action:

Bob Irvin passed for 316 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead New England past Green Bay 31-24. The Pats had already clinched the AFC East title while the Packers are out of playoff contention.

The Giants won their 3rd straight beating Jacksonville 31-29 despite a 379 yard passing day from Jags QB Tommy Bledsoe. Neither club will make the postseason.

Tennessee clinched the AFC South title with a 20-16 squeker over Dallas. The Titans received a scare when QB Manfred Gayle left the game with an injury but he will be fine for next week.

Cleveland is in the playoffs after beating Carolina 31-10. Michael Jones had 2 interceptions including one he returned for a touchdown to pace the Browns. It will be the Browns second trip to the postseason in their franchise history. More good news is QB Bob Slaughter looked very good in the game and his injury woes appear to be behind him.

Baltimore QB John Foster threw for 367 yards and 4 touchdowns to lead the Ravens over Tampa 40-28. However, the defending league champions postseason hopes are long gone.

In battles involving teams already out of the playoff hunt San Diego beat Seattle 27-13 while Detroit topped Miami 26-16.

1947 DRAFT APPEARS TO BE THE YEAR OF THE RECEIVER?
With the college season coming to a close most NFL scouts are in agreement that the deepest position in the draft, at least for elite level talent, will be the wideout spot. A survey of scouts reveals that 3 of the top 5 players and 7 of the top 20 are receivers. Headling the list are a pair of Oklahoma standouts in Hugh *Taylor and Don Schlereth. Between them they made 160 catches and scored 22 touchdowns to lead the Sooners to the Big 6 title and a berth in the Orange Bowl against North Carolina. Tennessee's Roger Clark, who had 85 catches, also ranks among the five best players in the draft.

Just a notch below are Elbie *Nichol and Walt *Schlinkman. Nichol is a bit more of a gamble since he played for small college Cincinnati and did not face elite competion. Schlinkman had 95 catches for Texas Tech and his stock is rising ever since a tremendous finish to his season.

Jim *Keane of Northwestern had the benefit of playing with highly touted QB Otto *Graham but he is a solid talent. Other names you can expect to see in the NFL next season include Army WR Barney *Poole, a Heisman Trophy finalist, Roy Williams of USC, Arizona State's Roger Whitley and Tulsa WR Camp *Wilson.


COLLEGE FOOTBALL
ARMY'S DAVIS WINS THE HEISMAN
For the second year in a row the Heisman Trophy has been awarded to an Army back. Last year fullback Doc *Blanchard narrowly beat backfield mate Glen *Davis for the New York Downtown Athletic Club's Award. This season, with Blanchard missing time with an injury, Davis was the man to lead Army to a perfect 10-0 record. He ran for 1761 yards and 15 touchdowns. With his senior season now complete, Davis is considered a likely first round pick in the NFL draft.

A pair of quarterbacks finished second and third in the voting. Both Georgia's Charles *Trippi and DeMarco Dickinson of North Carolina led their schools to 10-0 records entering the Bowls. Last week Trippi won the Maxwell Award with Davis and Dickinson finishing second and third.


TROJANS SALVAGE A LITTLE RESPECT
An impressive win over Tulane on the road did little to take the sting out of a terrible season for the University of Southern California but it will be the last game the Trojans play this season. USC easily handled Tulane 23-3 in one of just two games over the weekend. The Trojans finish the 1946 season with a 6-3-1 record and a dissappointing 4-2-1 record within the Pacific Coast Conference. A 13-13 tie against Oregon and losses to Stanford and UCLA long ago ended any hopes the Trojans had of a bowl game. Southern California was also embarrassed 31-7 by number 4 ranked Notre Dame. So much more was expected of a club that boasted potential All-Americans in WR Roy Williams and CB Ken Murphy. Both have used up their college eligibility and are likely first round draft picks of the NFL this April.

In the only other game a team of Hawaiian AllStars beat Portland 17-3. Portland finishes it's season with a 3-6 record. The allstar squad will play Utah next week in the final regular season game of the year.

NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
LEAFS SWEEP HOME AND HOME SERIES FROM BOSTON
The Toronto Maple Leafs picked the right time to end their 6 game winless streak, beating Boston in back to back games to move within 2 points of the 4th place Bruins for the final playoff spot. Certainly it seems far too early to be talking playoffs but it is clear Chicago will not be a factor and until their showing this week it looked like the Leafs would be out of the playoff picture by Christmas.

On Wednesday Turk Broda turned aside all 37 Bruins shots for his first shutout of the season as the visiting Leafs blanked the B's 2-0. Ted Kennedy, who has 5 goals in the last 4 games, and Bud Poile scored for the Leafs. In Saturday's rematch at Maple Leaf Gardens Kennedy and Harry Watson were the heroes. Watson scored three goals and Kennedy assisted on all five as the Leafs beat Boston 5-2.

The Detroit Red Wings, despite losing to lowly Chicago on Wednesday, remain atop the standings with 31 points - 7 more than the second place Rangers. New York, with 2 games in hand on Detroit, beat Boston and Montreal this week to improve to 6-0-1 in their last 7 games.



Continued