A Longtime Backup Steps Forward : McMahon Is Healthy, but Tomczak Will Start for Bears

CHICAGO —  Maybe it’s the name.

Mention Jim McMahon and people will usually respond with descriptions of big games and big plays. Say Mike Tomczak and what do you get? Usually a blank stare.

Maybe it’s the personality.

McMahon wears his on his sleeve. And his headband. Tomczak, on the other hand, goes the low-key route.

Maybe it’s the image.

Think of McMahon and one can still see him quarterback the Chicago Bears’ 46-10 victory over the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl 3 seasons ago. Think of Tomczak and the most recent memory is the interception he threw to cost his team a victory in the regular-season finale against the Minnesota Vikings.

The common perception is that Tomczak is just there to keep the seat warm until McMahon can resume his role as the Bears’ starting quarterback.

That is not the perception, however, of the only man who has a vote in this debate, Chicago Coach Mike Ditka.

Although McMahon has recovered from a sprained knee that sidelined him for 6 weeks, after he had started the Bears’ first 9 games, Ditka will start Tomczak in today’s National Football Conference semifinal playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Soldier Field.

Ditka has had his differences with McMahon but insists that’s not an issue.

“Our offense puts points on the board when Mike is in there,” Ditka said. “That’s basically what it came down to. Nothing else. Nothing political. No personalities involved. But if we’re not moving the ball with Mike, we can make a change. He (McMahon) could play. He’s mobile. But that’s not the way I’m approaching this game.”

McMahon is 49-16 as a starter in his National Football League career, including 7-2 this season, but Tomczak can put up some good numbers of his own. He has won 15 of his 18 career starts, including 4 of 5 this season, but has been in only 2 postseason games, both in a mop-up role, and has yet to throw his first playoff pass.

“People say he’s been slighted, but I don’t think he feels he’s been slighted,” Tomczak said of McMahon. “He’s given me a lot of support, even now, although the tables are turned and I’m the starting quarterback. We all get along real well. It’s not a problem for me or anybody else. It’s not that I’m a better quarterback than Jim McMahon . . . or Jim Harbaugh (the No. 3 quarterback who started 2 games when Tomczak separated his shoulder). I’m just the best for this team right now, health-wise or all around, team leadership and things of that nature. I’ve played well and won some football games.

“You know, this is postseason play. Everybody kind of comes together. Friendships grow closer together because it’s the dash for cash.”

When it comes to dashing, however, no quarterback does it better than the Eagles’ Randall Cunningham, who rushed for 624 yards to give him the distinction of being the first NFL quarterback to lead his team in rushing 2 straight seasons in 36 years. Tobin Rote led the Green Bay Packers in 1951-52.

Cunningham, who rushed for 6 touchdowns, also set club records for passing attempts (560), completions (301) and yards (3,808) this season, along with 24 touchdown passes, his personal best. But he also threw 16 interceptions and finished with just the eighth-best ranking among NFC quarterbacks.

Cunningham’s favorite targets are tight end Keith Jackson, who had a club-record 81 catches and is the only rookie to make the NFC Pro Bowl squad, and running back Keith Byars, who had 72 receptions.

Philadelphia Coach Buddy Ryan leaves no doubt as to Cunningham’s place in his game plan.

“The thing we’ve got going for us now is our quarterback,” Ryan said. “It doesn’t make any difference if the wind is blowing sideways or behind us or in front of us. Randall can pass the football and he can run the football. People can’t tackle him on good turf. How are they going to tackle him on frozen turf? I’m counting on Randall to carry the load.”

Ryan, of course, has more than a passing acquaintance with the cold and wind at Soldier Field, where he spent 8 years as a Chicago assistant, designing the 46 defense that stopped everything and everybody in the 1985 Bears’ path to the Super Bowl XX championship.

Ryan has been gone for 3 years, but the Chicago defense remains impregnable. It was the No. 2 defensive unit in the league this season.

Which is a lot more than one can say about the Eagle defense, last in the NFC and 27th in the 28-team NFL, despite Ryan’s reputation and the fact they have a couple of marquee names. Defensive end Reggie White led the league in sacks for the second straight season, collecting 18 after being credited with 21 in 1987. Safety Terry Hoage had 8 interceptions, tied for second in the NFL with Bear cornerback Vestee Jackson.

For the Bears, anything short of a Super Bowl appearance will be considered a failure. After their blowout Super Bowl win in January 1986, the Bears have returned to the playoffs in each of the last 2 seasons, only to fall to the Washington Redskins both times in their first postseason game.

This time, they are favored by 5 points, taking into consideration the home-field advantage and the Bears’ 12-4 record, best in the NFC. Philadelphia was 10-6 and has not won in Chicago in 10 previous games.

Ryan laughs at such talk.

“Chicago!” he said. “For me, that’s a home-field advantage.”