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Rick Stroud, The St.Petersburg Times ,published 1987
San Francisco receiver Jerry Rice checked his batteries and went charging downfield with all deliberate speed. In his rear-view mirror was the Buccaneers' Rod Jones, no slow-burner as a former world-class sprinter at Southern Methodist. ``Me? I'm just a slow guy,`` Rice said later, grinning. ``But somehow I get downfield.``
Somehow he had Jones beat on this particular play by - oh, the Howard Frankland Bridge - and hauled in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Joe Montana for the 49ers' first score. Rice later added touchdown catches of 42 and 3 yards in the 49ers' 24-10 win over Tampa Bay. ``You don't plan for Jerry Rice,`` said Buccaneers coach Ray Perkins. ``He's the tallest, quickest, fastest, most stamina he's the best receiver in football.``
And when the best receiver in football gets solo coverage by someone other than the best defensive back in football, the results are numbing: On this day, seven catches for 103 yards and three touchdowns. In fairness to Jones, the Buccaneers blew the coverage on two of those three touchdown passes. Safeties Bobby Kemp and Ray Isom were supposed to take turns helping out on Rice. Instead, the 49ers' brilliant receiver did a little Arthur Murray routine at the line of scrimmage to shake Jones, then shifted into overdrive. ``Well, everybody knew he was a good receiver,`` Jones said dejectedly. ``Everybody knew he was a darn good receiver. I'm giving him credit. But looking at him on film and looking at him in the game, there's really no difference.``
Which is to say you see a lot of Rice's backside on film. Last season, he led the NFL in receiving with 1,570 yards, the third-highest individual total in NFL history. His three-touchdown day against the Buccaneers was the third of his career. Rice saw what would have been a fourth touchdown pass sail long in the third quarter, thanks only to some decent pressure on Montana, who was forced to unload the ball a few steps early. ``He got a lot of pressure and had to put the ball up sooner than he wanted to,`` Rice said. ``But as soon as I realized they had one-on-one coverage, a smile broke out on my face.``
Certainly, Jones didn't find much humor in the play-action fake that froze Kemp and allowed Montana to find Rice on a 42-yard touchdown play in the second quarter to give the 49ers a 14-10 lead. ``We called a dummy audible, where Joe checks off to the running backs and they shift even though it means nothing,`` said Rice, a third-year pro from Mississippi Valley State. ``It pulled the free safety to the middle of the field and gave me more time to get downfield. Joe just hung the ball out there.``
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