There were no cutbacks for pro football`s fat-cat teams Sunday. Like gluttons at a Halloween party, they gorged themselves with bigger and bigger bites out of their divisions as the NFL season neared the halfway point with precious little suspense on the horizon.
The San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants stayed undefeated and one huge game ahead of the Bears in the NFC. The Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills stayed even in the AFC East. The Cincinnati Bengals stayed atop the AFC Central despite losing 38-17 to Atlanta Sunday night after the second-place Houston Oilers were upset by the New York Jets. The AFC West-leading Los Angeles Raiders had a bye.
Defenses treated quarterbacks like uninvited guests in most games. Even Joe Montana came disguised as a human being, throwing only one touchdown pass and two interceptions in a 20-17 win over the Cleveland Browns.
The Giants continued their spell over the Washington Redskins 21-10 by intercepting young quarterback Stan Humphries three times, including one off the shoulder of hapless Earnest Byner in the end zone with 6:51 left and the Giants holding a 14-10 lead. That`s the same Byner who fumbled in an AFC title game when he was about to score the tying touchdown for the Browns.
”We have a three-game lead, and you should win the division with a three-game lead,” Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor said. ”We should win unless we do something stupid, and we don`t plan on doing something stupid.” The Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions and Philadelphia Eagles came from nowhere into the NFC wild-card playoff picture. Despite modest 3-4 records, they are tied for the new sixth spot in the conference.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers showed little interest in making next week`s game against the Bears in Tampa an NFC Central showdown. They got scared off by the lowly San Diego Chargers 41-10. It was Tampa Bay`s third loss of the season to a fifth-place team from last year. Their record dipped to 4-4, allowing coasting room for the 6-1 Bears.
The Packers took candy from a baby, handing the Minnesota Vikings their fifth straight loss. A fumble by Herschel Walker on their first play set up Green Bay`s first points in a 24-10 game that wasn`t that close. The 1-6 Vikings are tied with the New England Patriots for poorest of the poor. They do not have the comfort of playing each other this season.
The lowly and downtrodden got no sympathy anywhere. The world champion 49ers allowed the Browns to taste a 17-17 tie before grabbing the game back on a 45-yard field goal by Mike Cofer with 5 seconds left. It was San Francisco`s 15th straight win.
Cleveland`s Mike Pagel replaced ineffective Bernie Kosar in the third quarter and threw two touchdown passes to make a game of it and add another controversy to coach Bud Carson`s miserable year.
At 7-0, the 49ers and Giants remained on course for their Monday night game Dec. 3 in San Francisco. The Bears remained on course for an extra playoff game against a wild-card team unless they can somehow catch the Giants or 49ers.
The 6-1 Bills and Dolphins are providing the only divisional race, turning the year into beggars` night for the league`s advance men. The Bills lost to the Dolphins in Week 2 and don`t meet again until Dec. 23.
The Dolphins beat the Colts 27-7 after ex-Colts linebacker Cliff Odom recovered a fumble by quarterback Jack Trudeau in the end zone and then knocked Trudeau out for the year with a knee injury. Rookie Jeff George also was injured, though less seriously, leaving the unpleasantries to 40-year-old Joe Ferguson.
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Jets rookie linebacker Darrell Davis sacked Houston`s Warren Moon, forced a fumble in the end zone and recovered it for the touchdown that beat the Oilers 17-12. ”We made too many boo-boos,” Moon explained.
The Chargers intercepted four passes by Tampa Bay quarterback Chris Chandler, who was subbing for Vinny Testaverde, out with a jammed toe. League- leading rusher Marion Butts ran for three touchdowns.
Lions linebacker Jimmy Williams returned a fumble 53 yards for a touchdown and the Lions intercepted three of Steve Walsh`s passes to beat the Saints 27-10.
Packers defensive end Shawn Patterson returned an interception against Minnesota quarterback Rich Gannon 9 yards for his first touchdown. Gannon was intercepted five times.
”I don`t know where we go from here,” coach Jerry Burns said.