SPOTLIGHT / A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL : HAUNTED HOUSES

It wasn’t a very good day for home teams, it was a bad day for dome teams, but if you really wanted to suffer, you were a home dome team.

There was no home-field advantage on this given Sunday as visitors won six of 12 games, including five of the six morning games. The only home team to win a 10 a.m. PST game was the Green Bay Packers, who weren’t even playing in Green Bay. Playing in Milwaukee, the Packers beat the Minnesota Vikings, who were out from under their Metrodome.

But it was even worse for those dome teams playing in familiar surroundings:

--The Houston Oilers, playing in the Astrodome, were surprised by the New York Jets, 17-12, on the Jets’ first fourth-quarter touchdown of the season.

--The New Orleans Saints, usually so tough in the Superdome, were anything but super against the Detroit Lions, turning the ball over eight times in a 27-10 loss to the Detroit Lions. The Lions, of course, are another dome team, but they were fortunate enough to be playing on the road this Halloween week.

--The Hoosier Dome roof caved in on the Indianapolis Colts against Miami. The Colts lost quarterbacks Jack Trudeau and Jeff George in the Dolphins’ 27-7 victory and Eric Dickerson rushed 10 times for 27 yards.

--The Dallas Cowboys (well, they’re practically a dome team with that roof at Texas Stadium) lost to Philadelphia in the last minute, 21-20.

The Seattle Seahawks had a bye.

BIG PLAYS

Mike Cofer’s 45-yard field goal with five seconds remaining gave the San Francisco 49ers their 15th consecutive victory, 20-17, over the Cleveland Browns.

Randall Cunningham’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Calvin Williams with 44 seconds left gave the Philadelphia Eagles a 21-20 victory over the Dallas Cowboys.

Darrell Thompson ran 12 yards for his first career touchdown and Shawn Patterson returned an interception nine yards for another score as the Green Bay Packers handed the Minnesota Vikings their fifth consecutive loss, 24-10.

Jimmy Williams returned a fumble 53 yards for a touchdown and the Detroit Lions intercepted three of Steve Walsh’s passes to beat the New Orleans Saints, 27-10.

Rookie defensive end Darrell Davis recovered a fumble by Houston’s Warren Moon in the end zone as the New York Jets defeated the Oilers, 17-12.

Miami linebacker Cliff Odom recovered a fumble for a touchdown and made a vicious sideline tackle that knocked quarterback Jack Trudeau from the game Sunday as the Dolphins beat the Indianapolis Colts, 27-7.

NO CHOKE

Coaches Jimmy Johnson of the Dallas Cowboys and Buddy Ryan of the Philadelphia Eagles have had a running battle of words since Johnson entered the league, and it came to an ugly, name-calling head during the Bounty Bowl last November.

But there weren’t any harsh words this week. Only pork chops, which was this week’s main course at the Cowboys’ media luncheon.

In December 1988, Ryan choked on a pork chop during a coaches’ meal the week before the Eagles played the Cowboys. Ted Plum, then the Eagles’ offensive coordinator, administered the Heimlich maneuver to clear Ryan’s airway. Evidently somebody in Dallas has a good memory--and a unique sense of humor.

The Eagles didn’t choke against the Cowboys, however, with Randall Cunningham’s last-minute touchdown pass giving Buddy and Co. a 21-20 victory.

INJURIES

The Colts lost two quarterbacks. Jack Trudeau sustained a torn ligament in his right knee and will be out for the season. Rookie Jeff George went out with a bruised left knee on a sack by Miami’s Karl Wilson late in the third quarter, leaving 40-year-old Joe Ferguson as the only injury-free quarterback for Indianapolis. Trudeau also missed most of the 1988 season with torn ligaments in his left knee.

Mike Sherrard, the 49ers’ oft-injured receiver who missed most of the past two seasons after twice breaking his right leg, broke a bone in his left ankle and will be out the rest of the season.

Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman hurt both elbows in the loss to the Eagles, but neither of the injuries was thought to be serious.

Chicago cornerback Donnell Woolford was taken off the field on a stretcher after injuring his left ankle in the first quarter. An examination in the locker room showed that he suffered a sprained ankle and pulled groin muscle.

PACKERS ON THE RUN

When the Green Bay Packers drafted Brent Fullwood in the first round in 1987, they thought he would be the answer to their rushing woes. He wasn’t. Fullwood fell so far short of expectation that he was released a couple of weeks ago.

Sunday, the Packers were able to run the ball against Minnesota, gaining 126 yards and taking some of the heat off quarterback Don Majkowski, who was sacked six times. It was their second highest rushing total this season.

“That was a nice change,” said Majkowski. “This is what the doctor ordered for us. It was a desperately needed win.”

The new hope for the Packer ground game is Darrell Thompson, a first-round pick from Minnesota. Thompson says he momentarily forgot that his 12-yard touchdown run in the second quarter was the first of his career. “Sterling (Sharpe) told me to go back and get the ball. I think I’ll keep that ball.”

OLD FRIENDS

Plan B? Plan Backfire?

Linebacker Cliff Odom wanted a chance to play when he left Indianapolis to sign with Miami. Sunday he hurt the Colts, literally, when his violent hit knocked out quarterback Jack Trudeau. He also recovered a fumble for a touchdown.

Detroit’s Robert Clark was Rodney Peete’s favorite receiver against the Saints, the team that didn’t protect him in 1989. Clark caught six passes for 127 yards in the Lions’ 27-10 victory.

And cornerback Donnie Elder, a Buccaneer last season, made his first interception as a Charger in San Diego’s 41-10 victory over Tampa Bay.

GETTING RUSTY?

The Patriots’ 27-10 loss to Buffalo doesn’t bode well for Rod Rust, New England’s 62-year-old rookie coach.

The last time New England lost six of its first seven games was in 1970. Clive Rush was fired as coach after the seventh game. John Mazur succeeded him and also went 1-6.

The worst record in the Patriots’ other 30 seasons was 2-14 in 1981, when they lost their last nine games. Ron Erhardt was fired after the season.

There is no indication that management is ready to make a coaching change, but with the poor start and the team’s off-the-field problems (the Lisa Olson crisis, the Irving Fryar-Hart Lee Dykes crisis) it could be a close shave for Rust.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Al Toon caught seven passes for 119 yards and moved into third place on the New York Jets’ all-time receiving list behind Don Maynard and Wesley Walker. He has 5,006 career receiving yards and moved past George Sauer into the No. 3 spot. Toon also extended to 70 games his streak for catching at least one pass.

Oiler quarterback Warren Moon passed for more than 300 yards for the 21st time in his regular-season NFL career. . . . Oiler kicker Teddy Garcia, replacing the injured Tony Zendejas, kicked field goals of 42 and 49 yards, but missed two field goals and an extra point.

Stanley Morgan of Indianapolis recorded his ninth reception of the season in the third quarter, moving past Lance Alworth into 13th place on the NFL all-time list with 542 catches. He finished with two catches for 35 yards, bringing his total yardage in 14 years to 10,511. . . . Indianapolis center Ray Donaldson played in his 156th consecutive non-strike game. That would have been a club record, but his streak was officially ended when he missed three strike games in 1987. The NFL ruled that all streaks for consecutive games were broken by players who sat out the strike.

Miami limited Indianapolis to 32 yards rushing and 117 yards passing.

Phoenix Cardinal wide receiver Roy Green became the franchise’s all-time leader in reception yardage. Green caught five passes for 89 yards and has 8,002 yards in his 12-year NFL career. He entered the game five yards shy of tight end Jackie Smith’s mark of 7,918 set from 1963 to 1977 and eclipsed that on a nine-yard catch 1:39 before halftime. . . . Phoenix rookie Johnny Johnson, going for his third consecutive 100-yard rushing game, managed 74 yards in 16 carries against the Bears. . . . The Cardinal-Bear game, which started in 93-degree weather, drew a franchise-record 71,233 at 72,608-seat Sun Devil Stadium. It was the largest crowd since the Cardinals moved from St. Louis in 1988.

The Vikings are 0-4 with Rich Gannon as their starting quarterback since Wade Wilson was injured. . . . The Packers have won six of the last seven games against the Vikings and 12 of the last 16 against their NFC Central Division rivals.

Everson Walls of the New York Giants, a 10-year veteran who had two interceptions against Washington to give him 48 for his career, scored the first touchdown of his career on a 28-yard interception return in the fourth quarter.

IN QUOTES

Tampa Bay quarterback Chris Chandler, who threw four interceptions and fumbled in the Buccaneers’ 41-10 loss to San Diego: “I have to say this was the worst game I’ve ever played at any level.”

Tampa Bay Coach Ray Perkins: “I’m embarrassed. They (the Buccaneer players) should be, too. If they’re not, they should be in another profession.”

New York Giant linebacker Lawrence Taylor: “We have a three-game lead and you should win the division with a three-game lead. We should win unless we do something stupid and we don’t plan on doing something stupid.”

Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson: “We’ve come a long way but we’re not there yet.”

Detroit linebacker Jimmy Williams, who returned a fumble 53 yards for a touchdown against the Saints: “I said to myself, ‘If a lineman catches me, I’ll be embarrassed.’ The last thing you want to see happen on the film is a big lineman running you down.”

Green Bay linebacker Brian Noble on the Packers’ 24-10 victory over the Vikings: “If we hadn’t won, the last nine games would have seemed like forever.”