SPOTLIGHT / A Glance at this Week in the NFL : ISN’T THAT SPECIAL?

It was a day that would have made George Allen proud.

The late coach always stressed special teams play and that proved to be important in victories by the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Lions and the Washington Redskins.

And it should be no surprise that those three teams made the playoffs last season, with the Redskins winning the Super Bowl.

The Cowboys have been doing this kind of thing very well lately. In their 34-28 win over the New York Giants, a blocked punt gave Dallas its second touchdown and a partial block of another punt sent up a field goal.

Ken Norton’s block of Sean Landeta’s punt was returned three yards by Robert Williams for the touchdown and marked the sixth blocked punt in the last 11 regular-season and playoff games by the Cowboys. Last week, Dallas cornerback Issiac Holt blocked a Washington punt that resulted in a safety.

The blocked punt was only the second of Landeta’s eight-year NFL career and the first since 1987.

The Lions got two touchdowns from special teams in a 31-17 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Mel Gray ran back a punt 58 yards for a score and Melvin Jenkins had a 56-yard return of a blocked field goal.

“Any time you run for a touchdown on a return, it takes the enthusiasm out of the other team,” Gray said. “Special teams are important. If the defense is stalling and the offense is stalling, the special teams unit has to try to give the club a lift. Today, we could.”

The Redskins, Allen’s old team, tried something very special and it worked in a 24-17 victory over Atlanta.

In the second quarter, Washington’s Brian Mitchell fielded Scott Fulhage’s punt at the Redskins’ 42. He ran a few steps, then, with most of the Falcons bearing down on him, he threw a cross-field lateral to Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard.

Howard caught the ball at the 42, streaked down the sideline and scored his first NFL touchdown. It will go in the books as a 55-yarder, measured from the point of Mitchell’s throw.

“We’ve had that play in our playbook since 1983,” said special teams coach Wayne Sevier, “but when we drafted Desmond, the minute after that, I knew we were going to run that play.”

The Redskins got burned on the ensuing kickoff when Deion Sanders took Chip Lohmiller’s kick at the one, streaked up the middle, sailed through a hole at the 30 and cut right, then raced down the sideline untouched.

Sorry, Coach Allen, it wouldn’t have been a perfect day. Those are special teams trying to stop those returns, too.

AFTER THE VERDICT

Freeman McNeil of the New York Jets and Green Bay quarterback Don Majkowski were the two best-known plaintiffs in the antitrust case against the NFL. How did they fare the Sunday after their court victory?

Not well, in Majkowski’s case. He completed 10 of 15 passes against Tampa Bay, but he was benched by Coach Mike Holmgren in favor of Brett Favre at the start of the third quarter with the Buccaneers leading, 17-0, en route to a 31-3 victory.

“He said he wanted to experiment,” Majkowski said. “I’m obviously not happy about it. I didn’t think he was the kind of coach that would have an early hook. I’ve come back from more than 17 points down in the second half. The decision that he made, it didn’t make a difference. I’m angry. They’re the coaches, they make the difference.”

McNeil, meanwhile, had four carries for 28 yards in the Jets’ 27-10 loss to Pittsburgh. The former UCLA standout also caught two passes for 21 yards.

Another plaintiff, New York Giant cornerback Mark Collins, suffered a strained knee during the Giants’ 34-28 loss to Dallas.

THIS JUST IN

This story should probably be classified with the decades-old search for Amelia Earhart.

The NFL announced Sunday that it has discovered a discrepancy in the record of George Halas.

The league, always searching for the correct statistic, has determined that the late Chicago Bear coach should be credited for only five victories in the 1942 season, not six.

Research has determined that Halas was inducted into the Navy prior to the Bears’ Nov. 1 win over Detroit that year and that Luke Johnsos and Hunk Anderson coached the team that day.

Halas’ amended record is 324-151-31. Miami Dolphin Coach Don Shula is still second with a 306-145-6 record in 29 seasons.

The NFL just thought you wanted to know.

OUCH!

Indianapolis rookie defensive back Ashley Ambrose broke his right ankle against Houston and will be out six to eight weeks. Colt quarterback Jack Trudeau bruised his back on the first play of the second quarter. He was to be hospitalized overnight. . . . Cincinnati linebacker Ray Bentley tore knee ligaments in the first quarter against the Raiders. . . . New Orleans wide receiver Floyd Turner broke his left leg in a second-quarter collision with Chicago cornerback Maurice Douglass. Turner probably will miss the rest of the season. . . . New York Jet right end Jeff Lageman sprained his right knee while sacking Pittsburgh’s Neil O’Donnell on the eighth play and didn’t return. Jet quarterback Browning Nagle left in the fourth quarter with a bruised index finger on his right hand. . . . San Francisco receiver Jerry Rice suffered a concussion against Buffalo.

NOT A NICE GESTURE

New York Jet Coach Bruce Coslet wasn’t happy about a referee’s decision and he took it out on Pittsburgh fans.

Coslet made an obscene gesture toward the stands after the Steelers kicked a disputed field goal just before the end of the first half.

With the Jets leading, 10-7, and Pittsburgh apparently pinned at its 38 with 12 seconds left, Neil O’Donnell’s deflected pass into a group of receivers was caught by Jeff Graham for a 51-yard gain.

The scoreboard clock showed no time left, but referee Gordon McCarter ordered two seconds put on the clock, just enough time for Gary Anderson to kick a tying 28-yard field goal.

Coslet argued with McCarter, and, heading to the locker room, the coach made the gesture toward fans sitting in end-zone seats.

The Steelers won, 27-10.

THE LAST WORDS

Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason, after a week of rape scandal and media scrutiny ended with an overtime victory over the Raiders: “You can’t ask for a better remedy for distractions than what we had today. It just feels so good.”

San Francisco kicker Mike Cofer, who missed a 47-yard field goal that would have tied the Buffalo Bills: “I don’t really feel like anything went wrong except the ball didn’t go through the goal post. If you got points for a kick looking good, we would have won the game.”

New York Giant Coach Ray Handley, after his team came back from a 34-0 deficit, but still lost to Dallas, 34-28: “You don’t want to get overly optimistic about it simply because I’m not sure if it was our inspired play or the fact that they didn’t play hard themselves.”

Tampa Bay Coach Sam Wyche, after the Buccaneers improved to 2-0: “I sat there this week and told the team this was another kind of test for a team that isn’t accustomed to winning. Now we’ll find out if we can handle winning. It’s different from winning one game.”

Chicago Coach Mike Ditka, after a 28-6 loss to New Orleans: “We matched up with them and they beat us. If you want me to stand here and praise their defense, I can’t do that. If you want me to stand here and praise their offense, I can’t do that either. They beat us, that’s all.”

Seattle Coach Tom Flores, after a 26-7 loss to Kansas City dropped the Seahawks to 0-2: “We just have to get better. We’re just not ready for prime time.”

TONIGHT’S GAME

MIAMI (0-0) AT CLEVELAND (0-1)

Site: Memorial Stadium, Cleveland

Time: 6 p.m.

TV: Channels 7, 3, 10, 42

One marvelous exhibition performance, and suddenly Miami rookie Marco Coleman was being compared to the likes of Lawrence Taylor, Cornelius Bennett and Pat Swilling. Before he played a real NFL game.

Even Cleveland Coach Bill Belichick, who as an assistant coach with the New York Giants watched most of Taylor’s career close up, says Coleman has the size and power to alter an opponent’s game plan.

Coleman’s NFL debut comes tonight, when he will start at outside linebacker in the Dolphins’ season opener at Cleveland. Miami’s scheduled opener last week was postponed while Florida worked to recover from Hurricane Andrew.

The Dolphins chose Coleman 12th overall in this year’s draft, making him their second pick in the first round after they selected Wisconsin cornerback Troy Vincent with the first pick, seventh overall.

On Aug. 15, in the Dolphins’ exhibition game against Denver in Berlin, Coleman made seven tackles, sacked Tommy Maddox three times, recovered a fumble and forced a fumble. The rest of the league noticed.

“Marco’s a big guy for a linebacker, probably about 255 pounds,” Belichick said. “In several games, he’s run over some running backs big time. He got a lot of sacks like that.”

Coleman must have been thrilled to watch films of the Browns’ pitiful performance in a 14-3 loss at Indianapolis last weekend. Bernie Kosar was sacked 11 times, one shy of the NFL record, turning Colt rookies Steve Emtman and Quentin Coryatt into immediate stars.

A new star could be born tonight.