NFL: MONDAY REPORT : Jockeying for Playoff Spots Murky at Best

Just to remind people that 16 games is a long season. . . .

Here come the Saints, Packers and Chargers.

There go the Bucs and, to a lesser extent, the Raiders.

While the Giants, 49ers, Bears, Dolphins and Bills continue to sail along at the top of the NFL with a combined record of 42-3, the jockeying for secondary playoff positions is changing every week.

A lot of the action Sunday was on the West Coast, where the Packers handed the Raiders their first home loss of the Art Shell regime. The Raiders, who had won 10 straight at the Coliseum under Shell, now are 6-3 and officially out of the elite.

And the 4-5 Packers are back in the NFC wild-card race, along with the 4-5 Saints, who have unleashed Craig (Ironhead) Heyward and the defense in two straight wins by a total of 56-14.

Heyward, who had 35 yards in 11 carries in his first seven games, gained 277 yards in 39 carries the past two weeks, including 155 yards in Sunday’s 35-7 destruction of the sliding Bucs. Tampa Bay, which started 4-2, now has lost four straight and has been outscored 102-23 in the last three.

Then there are the Chargers, who improved to 5-5 with a 19-7 win over Denver.

San Diego is only 1 1/2 games behind the Raiders and a half-game behind the Chiefs in the AFC West and the difference is quarterbacking.

Steve DeBerg of the Chiefs and Jay Schroeder of the Raiders have had predictable off-days the past two weeks, while the Chargers’ Billy Joe Tolliver hasn’t thrown an interception in four games (121 attempts), after throwing eight in the first six games. Kansas City hasn’t scored an offensive touchdown in 10 quarters.

But the key is defense for the Chargers, who are 5-5 after a 2-5 start. In their first five games, they allowed 322 yards per game and were minus-four in turnover ratio; in their last five, they’ve allowed 199.8 yards and are plus-15 in turnovers, as Burt Grossman, Lee Williams, Leslie O’Neal have all demonstrated Pro Bowl capabilities.

“They’re as good up front as any team we’ve played this year,” John Elway of Denver (3-6), another team going south fast, said of the Chargers.

23-Second Drill-- Against Green Bay last week, Joe Montana drove the 49ers to a touchdown in 27 seconds just before the half.

Sunday night, he drove the ‘Niners to within field-goal range in 23 seconds, throwing a 27-yard pass to Jerry Rice on the sideline with no timeouts left to set up Mike Cofer’s last-second kick.

One reason?

The 49ers set Rice alone on the left side against single coverage while they had three receivers right. One of them was backup quarterback Steve Young.

Getting Physical--The AFC is supposed to be the less physical conference.

But the NFL’s four leading sack teams are all from the AFC--the Dolphins and Chiefs with 35 each; the Chargers and Raiders with 32.