The Bears were given another week’s reprieve to organize their search for a head coach when the Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles 34-10 Sunday to advance to the NFC championship game next Sunday.
That means Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt, the hottest name among assistant coaches in the league, will be unavailable for interviews for at least that long.
If the Cowboys upset the 49ers in San Francisco to earn a trip to the Super Bowl, Wannstedt will be out of commission until Jan. 31.
The Cowboys, 49ers, Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins emerged Sunday as the NFL Final Four following a season in which they established themselves early as teams to beat.
The Bills and Dolphins faltered along the way, but will meet for the third time in a rubber game. The Dolphins trounced the Bills 37-10 in Buffalo, and the Bills won 26-20 in Miami, where they will play again Sunday.
The Cowboys and 49ers haven’t met since the 1990 regular season. The 49ers have won all six meetings since 1981, including the ’81 NFC title game subtitled “The Catch.”
Joe Montana’s pass to Dwight Clark beat the Cowboys 28-27 to put the 49ers into their first Super Bowl. It was Mike Ditka’s last game as a Cowboys assistant coach. Ten days later, during Super Bowl week, he was named head coach of the Bears by George Halas.
Wannstedt has been speculated as a candidate for three of the four job openings-the Bears, Giants and Broncos. The fourth, with the Patriots, opened up Friday and their general manager resigned Saturday, so they are behind the other three in the race for a new head coach.
Redskins assistant Richie Petitbon, who officially threw his hat into the Bears’ ring after Washington’s loss to San Francisco Saturday, may have to wait out the week. Even if Petitbon is the first choice of the Bears, team President Michael McCaskey has indicated he wants to be thorough in his decision.
Because Petitbon wants the Bears’ job, McCaskey probably can afford the gamble of allowing the 54-year-old coach to wait. Petitbon’s name has not surfaced in New York, Denver or New England.
Among the weekend’s four losing teams, Petitbon is the only assistant whose name has been mentioned as a candidate for a top job.
When Bears defensive coordinator Vince Tobin removed his name from the list of prospects to succeed Ditka, Petitbon’s chances improved. Already, Tobin’s name has been linked to the Houston Oilers and Detroit Lions, clubs that have fired defensive coordinators.
Although Tobin’s contract with the Bears has another year to run, he has been given permission to seek employment elsewhere along with three other Bears assistants whose contracts run through 1993-defensive line coach John Levra, secondary coach Zaven Yaralian and special teams coach Danny Abramowicz.
The Bears’ new head coach will have the authority to hire his own staff, according to McCaskey.
Tobin and Oilers head coach Jack Pardee know each other from their association in the United States Football League. In Houston, Tobin would inherit one of the best four-man defensive lines in football.
Although Tobin has not said he would prefer to leave the Bears, neither he nor any of Ditka’s assistants can afford to leave their futures in the hands of an unknown head coach.
In the divisional playoffs, only the two-time Super Bowl runnerup Bills broke from the pattern of the playoffs. They were the only visiting team to win. In the three years of the new format featuring three wild-card teams in each conference, the Bills have been the only visiting team to win a divisional game.
In championship games, home teams also have a great advantage. Ironically, San Francisco and Miami are two of only four home teams that have lost conference title games over the last 10 years.
The 49ers lost the 1990 NFC final to the New York Giants in Candlestick Park. The Dolphins lost the 1985 AFC final to New England in the Orange Bowl. Since 1982, only the ’86 Cleveland Browns and ’88 Bears also lost conference title games as home teams.
