SPOTLIGHT / A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL : FALSE START

The Cleveland Browns had already fired their coach, lost their quarterback to injury and stumbled to a 3-11 record. They didn’t think it could get much worse.

They were wrong.

Here’s how Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers began:

Mike Pagel, subbing for the injured Bernie Kosar, fumbled while being sacked by Bryan Hinkle on Cleveland’s first play from scrimmage and Donald Evans (remember him, Ram fans?) made the first of his two fumble recoveries.

On the next play, the officials ruled Mike Mularkey stepped out of bounds on his apparent 20-yard scoring catch, but replay official Al Sabato reversed the call to give Pittsburgh a 7-0 lead with 2:31 gone.

On the first play after the kickoff, Jarrol Williams, who later forced another fumble, recovered the first of Eric Metcalf’s three fumbles. Four plays later, Bubby Brister completed a 20-yard pass to rookie Chris Calloway for his first NFL touchdown catch and a 14-0 lead.

Evans then recovered Kevin Mack’s first-down fumble and Brister connected with Mularkey on a two-yard scoring pass with 8:40 left in the quarter to make it 21-0.

At that point, the Steelers had as many touchdowns--three--as the Browns had plays from scrimmage.

The Steelers went on to a 35-0 victory. The Browns could only wonder what fate has in store for them against Cincinnati in the season finale.

“I don’t even know how to evaluate a game like this,” Cleveland Coach Jim Shofner said. “ We never got a chance.”

MOON IS SHOT

Warren Moon was talking about how his status during the week.

“I put up numbers as good as anybody in the game, and they still talk about the same guys (Joe Montana, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino and Randall Cunningham),” Moon said. “I think one thing that will help me is if we can win a little more consistently. I think winning goes along with being mentioned with the great ones. That isn’t always fair, but it just seems to be the way it’s been.

“They tend to say that the ones that get to the Super Bowl are the great ones. If we get to the Super Bowl and win it, I don’t think anyone can argue about my play.”

After suffering a dislocated thumb on his throwing hand Sunday, Houston fans might might argue about what Moon was doing in the game with 1:47 left and the Oilers trailing Cincinnati, 40-20.

ARMCHAIR COACHING

Trailing the Atlanta Falcons by 10 points in the second quarter Sunday, the Rams had a first and goal in the second quarter. On fourth and goal at the two, Mike Lansford kicked a field goal.

Fast-forward to late in the the fourth quarter, with the Rams trailing, 20-13. Again, they have a first-and-goal. Again, they get to fourth-and-goal, this time from the one. Again, they try a field goal, but this time it is blocked.

With the playoffs not hanging in the balance, why not go for the touchdown in both of these situations? Just wondering.

Cornerback Clifford Hicks was in on a couple of tackles for the Buffalo Bills in their victory over the Dolphins. Buffalo has a pretty good defense. Guess Hicks just didn’t fit in with the Rams, who released him a few weeks ago.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Miami wide receiver Mark Clayton, who had missed six games with a knee injury, returned with a stellar game, catching eight passes for 108 yards against Buffalo. . . . Dan Marino was sacked three times, the most against the Miami quarterback since Indianapolis sacked him four times on Sept. 25, 1988. Rookie Mike Lodish of UCLA, linebacker Shane Conlan and nose tackle Jeff Wright got the sacks.

Cleveland’s nine turnovers equaled the all-time high by a Steelers’ opponent set against Kansas City in 1974. . . . The Steelers’ 35 first-half points were the second-most in Coach Chuck Noll’s 22 seasons; they led San Diego 38-0 at the half on Oct. 7, 1973. . . . Pittsburgh hasn’t allowed a touchdown pass in the last 15 quarters.

James Brooks’ 201 yards rushing was the second-highest total ever against the Oilers, surpassed only by Eric Dickerson’s 215 yards in 1984.

The Chicago Bears paid tribute to rookie defensive end Fred Washington, who was killed in an automobile accident Friday, before Sunday’s game by observing a minute of silence, and the flags surrounding Soldier Field were at half-staff. . . . Chicago rookie Mark Carrier had his 10th interception, tops in the NFL and a club record.

Steve Young was making his 10th start for San Francisco. The 49ers are 6-4 in the games Young has started.

Atlanta’s Andre Rison, who was selected to a starting wide receiver spot in the Pro Bowl for the NFC squad, was blanked by the Rams. . . . When Atlanta’s Mike Gann blocked Mike Lansford’s 19-yard field goal attempt in the fourth quarter, it was the fifth block by the Falcons this season. Atlanta also has blocked three punts and deflected two others.

Pat Leahy of the New York Jets moved into seventh place on the all-time NFL scoring list with 1,351 points. He had six extra points Sunday, lifting the 17-year veteran past Hall of Famer Lou Groza. . . . The Patriots lost rookie quarterback Tommy Hodson with a sprained ankle in the second quarter and receiver Irving Fryar with a pulled hamstring in the second half.

GRAND GOALS

Dallas running back Emmitt Smith, held to 61 yards by Philadelphia on Sunday, still needs 105 yards to break Tony Dorsett’s club rookie rushing record of 1,007 yards set in 1977.

Philadelphia quarterback Randall Cunningham scrambled for 54 more yards in four carries. With 882 yards, he is 88 yards short of breaking Bobby Douglass’ single-season record of 969 rushing yards by a quarterback.

Phoenix rookie running back Johnny Johnson was limited to 50 yards in 15 carries by the Giants. He has 895 yards in 215 carries and needs 105 yards Saturday against Philadelphia to become the first Cardinal to reach the 1,000-yard plateau since Stump Mitchell had 1,006 in 1985.

WHY BOTHER?

Buffalo’s Don Beebe was having an up-and-down day. The speedy but little-known receiver from Chadron (Neb.) State has been one of Frank Reich’s favorite targets in practice, and with Reich subbing for Jim Kelly, Beebe was getting some playing time.

After a 14-yard catch in the first quarter, Beebe left the game. The report from the bench was that he had a neck injury and would not return.

But he did come back and caught two more passes for 50 yards as the Bills were on their way to winning the AFC East title.

However, while blocking in the third quarter, Beebe suffered a broken left leg and will spend the next four months recovering.

IN QUOTES

Cincinnati’s James Brooks, who rushed for 201 yards against Houston: “Everybody was saying that defense is so tough that you can’t run against them, and I said, ‘We’ll see.’ ”

Houston’s Warren Moon, who suffered a dislocated thumb on his passing hand: “It’s one thing to have a division title taken away from us. It’s another thing to have my season taken away from me.”

Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason, who went to the Oilers’ training room to console Moon: “You hate to see it happen to such a good guy and such a great player.” Chicago Coach Mike Ditka on quarterback Mike Tomczak, who guided the Bears past Tampa Bay: “I think Mike did a helluva job. I’m going to have him over for Christmas.”

Tampa Bay quarterback Vinny Testaverde on conditions at Soldier Field, where the temperature was 11 degrees and the windchill plunged to minus-3: “It was like playing on concrete.”

Miami defensive end Jeff Cross, on the Dolphins’ loss to Buffalo: “I never in my worst dreams would have guessed that I would have come out and played as poorly as I did.”

Buffalo defensive end Bruce Smith: “We were ready to play Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday; it was very emotional. We had coaches banging their heads against the walls all week.”

Philadelphia Coach Buddy Ryan, whose team defeated Dallas, 17-3: “We played about as sorry on offense as we have this year. Dallas played as good as they can play. We played just well enough to win.”

Cleveland Coach Jim Shofner, whose team fumbled eight times in a 35-0 loss to Pittsburgh: “Is that a record for fumbles? Do we own it?”

Atlanta Coach Jerry Glanville, on 20-13 victory over Rams: “We did it with spit and glue.”

New York Coach Bruce Coslet, asked how bad New England is after the Jets’ 42-7 victory over the Patriots: “That’s not for me to say. We’re obviously not going to the Super Bowl.”

New England quarterback Marc Wilson: “This is bad, it’s getting worse, and it doesn’t get any easier to live with it.”

NICE BACKUP

The San Francisco 49ers think big.

With home-field advantage throughout the playoffs already clinched and quarterbacks throughout the league going down with injuries, the Super Bowl champions were not about to throw Joe Montana against playoff-hungry New Orleans.

So Steve Young took control of the 49ers’ offense and Montana stood on the sidelines in street clothes and watched the Saints keep their wild-card hopes alive with a 13-10 victory.

Montana, who had not missed a game this season but now has missed at least one game every season since 1984, had been expected to play a portion of the game, based on what 49er Coach George Seifert said earlier in the week.

“Joe is definitely not hurt,” 49er spokesman Jerry Walker said. “He’s fine. If we need him, he’ll dress for the second half.”

After the game, the 49ers said Montana had a pulled abdominal muscle.

San Francisco had a pretty good team on the sidelines. The club had de-activated safety Ronnie Lott and running back Roger Craig. Lott is still bothered by sprained knees he suffered three week ago. Craig was given the week off because of a knee injury.