SPOTLIGHT : A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL

REAL TURKEYS

To many Americans, Thanksgiving Day means food and football. Well, at least the food is usually tasty.

The NFL loves its traditions, and one of them is to have the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions host Thanksgiving games. But because the Cowboys are in a down period and the Lions have been in one since Vince Lombardi ran the Green Bay Packers, this doesn’t make for many appetizing matchups.

Take this Thursday, for example. We open with Denver at Detroit at 9:30. Not much of an hors d’oeuvre , is it? That game is followed by Washington at Dallas. Now, the Redskins vs. Cowboys is another tradition, but this year’s matchup doesn’t exactly stir up memories of Clint Longley.

Here’s what has happened on Turkey Day in the NFL the past five years:

1989: Detroit 13, Cleveland 10 (Barry Sanders gains 145 yards); Philadelphia 27, Dallas 0.

1988: Minnesota 23, Detroit 0; Houston 25, Dallas 17.

1987: Kansas City 27, Detroit 20; Minnesota 44, Dallas 38 (Just your typical Tommy Kramer-Danny White shootout).

1986: Green Bay 44, Detroit 40 (the Packers’ first Thanksgiving victory since 1961); Seattle 31, Dallas 14.

1985: Detroit 31, New York Jets 20 (Remember Eric Hipple?); Dallas 35, St. Louis 17 (Cowboys take sole possession of NFC East lead. Ah, nostalgia).

Here’s a suggestion for the NFL: Have the Lions play host to the Cowboys one year and have Detroit play at Dallas the next. That would leave one slot free for the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears or New York Giants or somebody else with a decent record. Meanwhile, turn off that set and pass the pumpkin pie.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

Date to look forward to: Monday night, Dec. 3, New York Giants at San Francisco 49ers in a possible matchup of 11-0 teams.

Date to not look forward to: Monday night, Dec. 31, Rams at New Orleans, the last game of the regular season in a possible matchup of 5-10 teams. (The Hancock Bowl seems more promising).

TOUGH TALK

The Washington Redskins had just taken a beating from the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, losing quarterbacks Jeff Rutledge and Stan Humphries in the process. You wouldn’t have thought they would be lackadaisical about Sunday’s game with New Orleans.

But Coach Joe Gibbs, normally an even-tempered man, apparently didn’t think his players were approaching the Saints with the right attitude.

Just after practice began Thursday, he pulled his players back into the locker room for what one player called “as good a chewing out as I’ve had, college or pro.”

One unidentified player told the Washington Times, “He let us have it, about attitude and everything else. Speaking only for myself, it may have been long overdue.”

Said Gibbs, “I just had some things I wanted to talk about.”

Final score: Redskins 31, Saints 17.

Gibbs’ words obviously didn’t go unheeded. But he and the Redskins had other factors in their favor as well--the Saints were the opponent and Mark Rypien returned at quarterback.

The Redskins have now defeated the Saints six times in a row, and Gibbs is 5-0 against New Orleans. The last time the Saints beat the Redskins was in 1979, a 14-10 win at RFK Stadium.

And Rypien, after being sidelined two months recovering from knee surgery, threw for 311 yards and had four touchdown passes.

INJURIES

Green Bay quarterback Don Majkowski strained his throwing shoulder 9:04 before halftime and did not return in the Packers’ 24-21 victory over Phoenix. Cleveland rookie running back Leroy Hoard was carried off the field in the first quarter after crashing head first into Houston kick returner Gerald McNeil. Hoard had some numbness in his arms and legs at first, but the feeling later returned and the injury was diagnosed as a sprained neck. He was taken to the Cleveland Clinic for observation.

Atlanta quarterback Chris Miller left the field with what was described as an injury either to his ribs or sternum in the fourth quarter of a 24-23 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Seattle reserve safety Vann McElroy, a former all-pro with the Raiders, suffered a broken right wrist in the first half of the Seahawks’ 24-21 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

BIG PLAYS

Kevin Butler, whose field-goal attempt at the end of regulation bounced off the left upright, converted a 44-yard attempt 13:14 into overtime to lift the Chicago Bears to a 16-13 victory over the Denver Broncos.

Herschel Walker scored on a 58-yard run with 2:28 remaining and Fuad Reveiz kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Minnesota Vikings to a 24-21 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

A 38-yard field goal by Dean Biasucci with 1:46 remaining lifted the Indianapolis Colts to a 17-14 victory over the New York Jets. Other game-

winning field goals were provided by Dallas’ Ken Willis (23 yards with 4:24 remaining) in the Cowboys’ 24-21 victory over the Rams and Roger Ruzek (46 yards with 1:45 remaining) in the Philadelphia Eagles’ 24-23 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.

Anthony Dilweg, subbing for injured Don Majkowski, threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Ed West with 16 seconds remaining, rallying the Green Bay Packers to a 24-21 victory over the Phoenix Cardinals.

COLLISION COURSE

What can you say about the 49ers and Giants, both 10-0 and headed for a showdown in San Francisco two weeks from tonight?

Point: The 49ers equaled an NFL record with their 18th consecutive victory, 31-7 over Tampa Bay. It marks the fourth time in NFL history a team has won 18 games in a row. Counter: The Giants have won 13 consecutive regular-season games over two seasons.

Point: Joe Montana went over 3,000 yards passing for the season, becoming the first player to reach that mark seven times. Counter: The Giants held Detroit to 208 yards in a 20-0 victory over the Lions. New York has given up only two touchdown passes by quarterbacks and only three passes over 30 yards.

DEBIG GAME

Kansas City quarterback Steve DeBerg was in a slump. The Chiefs had only one pass completion longer than 20 yards in their past four games.

But on Kansas City’s first possession, DeBerg got the ball to J.J. Birden, who took it 90 yards for a touchdown as the Chiefs defeated the San Diego Chargers, 27-10.

DeBerg completed 11 of 24 passes for 171 yards in the Chiefs’ ball-control attack and the man who has been supplanted by Joe Montana, John Elway and Vinny Testaverde is getting up there with some of the biggest names in NFL history.

He moved past George Blanda twice--into 15th place for career pass attempts (4,008) and 22nd place for career passing yardage (26,951).

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Dallas’ 24-21 victory over the Rams ended an six-game losing streak against NFC West opponents, dating to a 26-20 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 25, 1988. The Cowboys’ last previous road victory against an NFC West team was Dec. 21, 1987, when they beat the Rams, 29-21. . . . Cleveland Gary’s 42-yard run from scrimmage on the second play of the third quarter was the Rams’ longest rushing play of the season and the longest of Gary’s career. He also became the first Ram to rush for three touchdowns in a game since Greg Bell on Oct. 2, 1988 against the Phoenix Cardinals.

The Washington Redskins are 16-2 the week after playing on Monday night under Coach Joe Gibbs. . . . Earnest Byner became the first Redskin to get more than 100 yards rushing this season with 116 yards in 26 carries. . . . Art Monk caught four passes to give him 702 for his 11-year career, making him the third player in NFL history with more than 700 receptions. The others are Steve Largent and Charlie Joiner. . . . The Saints’ Eric Martin broke Danny Abramowicz’s team record of 309 receptions. Martin’s 10 catches gave him 314 in his sixth season with the Saints.

Buffalo’s 14-0 victory over New England was the Bills’ second shutout in three weeks--they blanked Cleveland, 42-0, two weeks ago. The Patriots had not been shut out since Nov. 20, 1983, by Cleveland.

The New York Giants’ 20-0 victory over Detroit was the first time the Lions have been shut out since a 23-0 loss to Minnesota two years ago. The Lions have scored just seven points in the past two weeks without injured quarterback Rodney Peete.

Houston has turned the opening of all 10 of its games into adventures this season. On Sunday, Bernard Ford fumbled away the opening kickoff and set up Cleveland’s first touchdown. In their previous nine opening drives, the Oilers had five turnovers, three touchdowns and one field goal. They have not yet punted on an opening drive. . . . The Browns matched a team record with their fourth consecutive home loss.

Eric Dickerson’s first rushing attempt in the third quarter was the 2,500th of his eight-year career. Only four other backs have carried the ball more. Dickerson failed to rush for 100 yards for the fifth consecutive game--the second time in his career he has gone that many games without reaching the century mark. . . . Rookie Blair Thomas, who had nine catches in his first 10 games with the Jets, had eight for 82 yards Sunday.

IN QUOTES

New York Giants’ running back Ottis Anderson, who needs just 62 yards to become only the eighth player in NFL history to rush for 10,000 yards: “The Cardinals thought I was burned out. But the flame still burns.”

New York Coach Bill Parcells on the Giants: “We’re playing error-free. We’ve got some momentum and we’re starting to squeeze people out. It’s also getting to be our weather.”

Philadelphia’s Roger Ruzek on his game-winning, 46-yard field goal against Atlanta: “I could have hit that one from 60.”

San Diego Coach Dan Henning on the Chargers’ 27-10 loss to Kansas City: “When it’s 11 penalties versus four, and five turnovers versus zero, you’re not going to win. They played the game the way we like to play it.”

Quarterback Mark Rypien, who returned to the lineup two months after a knee injury to pass for 311 yards and four touchdowns to lead the Washington Redskins to a 31-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints: “When you haven’t done anything for five or six weeks, your arm feels great.”