Quick Kicks

West Coast headed south

Philadelphia’s Randall Cunningham and Denver’s John Elway, two of the premier quarterbacks in the league in the ‘80s, are still having trouble with the offense of the ‘90s.

The West Coast offense utilizes more receivers and also uses running backs out of the backfield for short passing plays.

But so far, the Eagles’ and Broncos’ offenses have both been inconsistent.

In defeat on Sunday, the Eagles and Broncos were underwhelming as the two teams tallied just 23 points and 458 yards total.

Say cheese…

Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher learned Sunday there’s still no instant replay in the NFL, not even with an instant camera.

Minnestota kicker Fuad Reveiz missed a 48-yard field goal as the first half ended, but the Steelers drew a 5-yard penalty for too many men on the field.

As the officials conferred, Cowher ran halfway onto the field to argue the Steelers didn’t substitute on the play and couldn’t have had an extra defender. Then, after the Steelers called a timeout, Cowher took the field again and tried to show referee Gordon McCarter an instant picture taken from the press box.

McCarter refused to look at the picture and shooed Cowher off the field. Reveiz, given a second chance, kicked a 33-yarder that put Minnesota up 13-6.

Cowher, enraged with the call, ran directly toward McCarter as the officials and both teams ran off the field. As McCarter declined again to look at the photo, Cowher stuck the picture into McCarter’s shirt pocket and ran off to the Steelers’ locker room.

Replay showed the Steelers had only 11 players on the field.

Excuse me - Mr. Harper!

Tampa Bay receiver Alvin Harper was ejected during the fourth quarter of his debut for the Buccaneers on Sunday when he made contact with an official while disputing a call that was eventually ruled a touchdown.

Harper made a running catch, just inside the left corner of the end zone, that originally was called an incomplete pass because he appeared to be out of bounds.

The call was reversed when referee Mike Carey ruled Harper had been forced out by Washington’s Darrell Green.

In protesting the call, though, Harper put his left hand on head linesman Earnie Frantz’s shoulder. The 7-yard TD gave Tampa Bay a 14-6 lead with 14:53 remaining, but Harper was finished for the day.

“Mr. Harper came up behind me and said, ‘I was in bounds. I caught the ball in the end zone.’ And he grabbed me by the shoulder and jerked me around. That’s a foul in the NFL,” Frantz said.

Local watch

St. Louis reserve quarterback Mark Rypien, a Shadle Park and Washington State alum, was 2 for 2 for 18 yards while leading the Rams to a late field-goal in a 34-28 win over Chicago.

Monday night matchup

The San Francisco 49ers will be the next team to get a chance to stick a fork in any long-term coaching aspirations Detroit coach Wayne Fontes may have as far as staying at the helm of the Lions. This one could get ugly early. The Niners are averaging 31 points a games while the Lions are giving up 21 a game.

, DataTimes