SPOTLIGHT / A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL : PARTIAL ECLIPSE

Warren Moon was enjoying the second-best passing day in NFL history, the Houston quarterback having thrown for 527 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Oilers had the game well in hand, but there was still plenty of time left for Moon to eclipse Norm Van Brocklin’s 1951 record of 554 yards.

Should Moon have gone for the record? You make the call.

Moon and the Oilers made theirs, electing to run out the clock in a 27-10 victory without putting the ball in the air.

Anyone watching NBC’s telecast of the game knows how broadcasters Don Criqui and Bob Trumpy felt. They wanted Moon to go for it.

“That’s what records are there for,” Criqui said, “to be broken.”

“I don’t like this,” Trumpy moaned. “How often do you get in a position to break a record from 1951?”

Moon knew he was within striking distance of the record.

“But I was not going to throw the ball just so I would have gotten the record,” he said. “Records are not important to me.”

When people say Moon is a classy quarterback, they aren’t just talking about his skill.

WAKE UP THE BACKUPS

The Buffalo Bills and New York Giants are headed for the playoffs, but they will have to struggle for first-round byes without quarterbacks Jim Kelly and Phil Simms.

Both were KOd in Saturday’s 17-13 Buffalo victory and will miss at least two weeks--the remainder of the regular season. A bye would give them a third week to recuperate.

So the Bills (12-2) and Giants (11-3) will press on. With Kelly and Simms out, the quarterback burden falls to Frank Reich for Buffalo and Jeff Hostetler for New York.

The Bills’ Kelly went down first, twisting his left knee when offensive lineman Will Wolford was pushed into him following a pass play. The preliminary diagnosis, pending further tests scheduled for today, was a sprained ligament that would keep him out from two to six weeks.

“Basically, in my mind, I’ll be ready for the first playoff game,” Kelly said on NBC Sunday. If the Bills beat Miami next Sunday, he said, “Then we’ll get the bye and I’ll have enough time to rest and get ready.”

How’s that for incentive?

Kelly said the knee was sore and swollen Sunday. “They told me to keep it elevated and keep weight off it,” he said.

After Kelly went out, Simms suffered a sprained right foot when he was sacked by Leon Seals. The foot was taped at halftime but he came out of the game for keeps after attempting a third quarter pass to Dave Meggett.

“I was turning to throw to the right,” he said, “and it felt like somebody shot me. I heard it click.”

That finished his day and Simms left Giants Stadium on crutches, with his foot in a cast.

On Sunday, Coach Bill Parcells got a bad report from team doctors.

“This is just a guess at the moment,” Parcells said. “I think we’ll have to wait until midweek to be more conclusive, but my best guess now is he is out for the regular season and possibly longer.

“Any time you lose your starting quarterback, it’s a big loss. It’s part of the game and you can’t dwell on it.”

Reich was 3-0 last year when Kelly was out with a separated shoulder and played so well he was rewarded with a five year $2.5 million contract.

Hostetler completed nine of 16 passes for 97 yards against the Bills after Simms went down. He has started only two games in six-plus seasons in the NFL, but the last one was a year ago in Phoenix, where he beat the Cardinals and where he returns as the starter next week.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Randall Cunningham became the first Philadelphia quarterback to throw for more than 3,000 yards in three consecutive years. . . . Cunningham has also rushed for 828 yards. . . . Philadelphia took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on Keith Byars’ eight-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Toney. It was Byars’ third pass this season, his third completion and his third touchdown.

Vinny Testaverde’s 105 yards rushing in seven carries was the most ever by a Buccaneer quarterback. Mike Rae gained 98 yards in four attempts against the Rams in 1978. Testaverde’s 48-yard touchdown run was the longest run by a quarterback in Buccaneers’ history. . . . The Vikings lost for the ninth consecutive time outdoors.

Dan Marino has 3,084 yards passing and joins Joe Montana as the only players in NFL history to have seven seasons of passing for 3,000 or more yards. Marino, in his eighth year, also moved past Norm Snead into 10th place on the NFL all-time career passing yardage list. Marino ended the contest with 30,937 yards. . . . Marino’s four-yard touchdown pass to James Pruitt in the second quarter was the 237th of his career, breaking a tie with George Blanda for seventh place in that category.

Eric Dickerson of Indianapolis rushed for 117 yards, the 60th time he has run for at least 100 yards. Walter Payton had 77 100-yard games. . . . Rookie quarterback Troy Taylor made his NFL debut for the New York Jets, coming off the bench to throw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Rob Moore in the fourth quarter.

Dallas has won four games in a row for the first time since 1985. The Cowboys now own the longest current winning streak in the NFL.

Cleveland sacked Atlanta’s Scott Campbell three times and Hugh Millen five times. The eight sacks were the most by the Browns since they had nine against Philadelphia on Oct. 16, 1988.

Chicago’s Mark Carrier tied a team record with his ninth interception.

TOUGH GUY, TOUGH DAY

It wasn’t enough that Kansas City quarterback Steve DeBerg had to watch Warren Moon’s record-setting performance, see the Chiefs fall out of first place in the AFC West and have his string of passes without an interception ended. He also suffered a broken finger, but kept playing.

“Basically, what they said was, ‘If you can deal with the pain then you can play.’ It’s broken at the tip, so it’s already broke,” DeBerg said.

DeBerg had a pass intercepted by Richard Johnson with 2:20 left, his first interception in 234 attempts, second only to Bart Starr’s streak of 294.

THAT TOUCH OF MINK

Atlanta Falcon Coach Jerry Glanville wore defensive back Deion Sanders’ mink coat during warmups for Sunday’s game against the Browns at Cleveland.

“I never had anything that expensive on before,” Glanville said. “I thought I’d slip it on one time, and Deion was good enough to let me do it.”

Said Sanders: “He probably has a hundred furs at home.”

Glanville and the Falcons would have been better off at home. They lost, 13-10, their 18th consecutive defeat on the road.

IN QUOTES

Kansas City linebacker Derrick Thomas on Warren Moon’s 527-yard passing game against the Chiefs: “One of the most unbelievable, incredible, awesome displays any quarterback ever put on.”

Kansas City Coach Marty Schottenheimer: “I would have bet my house that Warren Moon wouldn’t throw for 500 yards against our defense. I’m glad I didn’t.”

Minnesota receiver Hassan Jones on the Vikings’ 26-13 loss to Tampa Bay: “We didn’t play like our season was on the line, even though it was.”

Packer Coach Lindy Infante, whose team fell to 6-8: “Until someone from the league office calls us and says we’re out of it, we’ll keep on trying.”

Cleveland’s Bernie Kosar on the crowd of 46,536, the smallest for a home game in which Kosar has been the quarterback: “In my career, I haven’t gotten too caught up in looking up in the stands and watching what’s going on around me once the game starts. When you’re playing at a solid level, you really block out the peripheral things.”

Eric Dickerson, who rushed for 117 yards against the New York Jets: “One hundred yards is OK, but it’s no big deal to me, I’ve done it so much. I haven’t even had an Eric Dickerson day this year.”

Indianapolis quarterback Jeff George on Dickerson: “Eric is unbelievable. Eric Dickerson has nothing to prove to anybody. He is by far the best running back who ever lived.”

New Orleans Coach Jim Mora on quarterback Steve Walsh, who completed only eight of 26 passes for 95 yards in a 9-6 loss to Pittsburgh: “He probably could have played better, but I’m sure there were other players on our football team that could have played better.”

RIDE HIM, COWBOYS

In a check of the NFL standings this morning, the most surprising item would have to be the Dallas Cowboys’ 7-7 record, keeping them in the thick of the playoff race.

Mention the Cowboys’ resurgence from a 1-15 season and the first name that usually comes to mind is quarterback Troy Aikman, but rookie running back Emmitt Smith has been having an outstanding season.

Smith scored four rushing touchdowns Sunday in a 41-10 victory over the Phoenix Cardinals, tying a club record set by Calvin Hill in 1971 against Buffalo.

Smith, who has rushed for 842 yards, also became one of only five Cowboys to score four touchdowns in a game. The others were Dan Reeves, Bob Hayes and Duane Thomas.

“This was a big day for the team, the coaching staff and the city of Dallas,” Smith said. “And I think we can get better.”

INJURIES

Atlanta’s Andre Rison was carried off on a stretcher with a sprained left knee sustained while making an 11-yard catch in the final minute, but the Falcons said he would probably be able to play next week.

Green Bay quarterback Anthony Dilweg, himself replacing the injured Don Majkowski, was knocked out of the game with 5:17 left with a sprained arch after a hit by Reggie White and replaced by Blair Kiel.

Denver lost two of its top defensive players, safety Steve Atwater (with a rib injury) and linebacker Simon Fletcher (ankle).

Chicago quarterback Jim Harbaugh suffered a dislocated right shoulder.

Anthony Munoz, Cincinnati’s All-Pro offensive tackle, suffered a sprained left shoulder in the second quarter and didn’t return. There was no announcement as to the severity of the injury.