ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 24, 1996 TAG: 9612240102
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SAN FRANCISCO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Steve Young won another passing title, and Jerry Rice finished with an NFL high in receptions before they took the rest of the night off and watched Barry Sanders win his third rushing championship.
Playing only the first half in what amounted to a playoff tuneup for San Francisco, Young threw for two touchdowns and Rice held on to beat Detroit counterpart Herman Moore for the receptions title in the 49ers' 24-14 victory over the Lions on Monday night in the final regular-season game of 1996.
San Francisco, headed to the playoffs for the 13th time in 14 years, has a 12-4 record. Detroit (5-11), likely playing its final game under coach Wayne Fontes, lost nine of its last 10 games.
Sanders ran for 175 yards, including a 54-yard touchdown to finish with 1,553 yards for the season, overtaking Denver's Terrell Davis, who had 1,538.
It was Sanders' third consecutive season with at least 1,500 rushing yards, the first time that's been done in NFL history.
Sanders did it against a defense that hadn't given up 100 yards to a rusher for 20 consecutive games until Erric Pegram gained 103 yards during San Francisco's 25-15 victory in Pittsburgh on Dec.15. The yardage by Sanders was the most since Pegram gained 192 against the Niners while with Atlanta on Sept.18, 1993.
Young completed 11 of 14 passes for 96 yards and 1-yard touchdowns to Ted Popson and Derek Loville. Young finished with a passing rating of 97.2, edging Green Bay's Brett Favre (95.8) for his fifth passing title in six years.
Rice had five catches for 49 yards to boost his season receptions total to 108, two more than Moore, who had eight receptions to finish with 106.
San Francisco, which will play host to Philadelphia in a first-round game Sunday, was locked in as a wild card when Carolina beat Pittsburgh on Sunday.
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines KEYWORDS: FOOTBALLby CNB