SPOTLIGHT : A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL : UNFULFILLED PROMISE

There were some pretty flashy numbers posted by the Atlanta Falcons against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field.

Quarterback Chris Miller passed for 351 yards and four touchdowns.

Receiver Andre Rison caught 10 passes for 177 yards and three touchdowns, including a 71-yarder.

But the most telling numbers were these:

Chicago 41, Atlanta 31.

The loss left the Falcons with a 1-3 record, and suddenly, one of the NFC’s up-and-coming teams hasn’t gone anywhere yet.

It’s still early, of course, and Atlanta Coach Jerry Glanville sounds unconcerned.

“We dug ourselves a hole in the first half, but I was proud of our effort,” Glanville said. “No man would surrender and no man would quit.”

The Falcons spotted the Bears a 31-7 halftime lead, then scored on their first two possessions of the second half to make a game of it.

But Chicago still won handily, with Atlanta scoring on the last play of the game to make it closer than it might have been.

The story is much the same in Detroit, where the Lions blew a fourth-quarter lead for the third time and also dropped to 1-3 with a 27-23 loss to Tampa Bay.

Like the Falcons, who lost in the conference semifinals last season, much was expected of the Lions, who made it to the conference final.

But with Barry Sanders failing to score and being held under 100 yards for the third week in a row, Detroit is looking vulnerable.

And Lion Coach Wayne Fontes doesn’t like it.

“It’s happened three games now,” he said. “I have to look back at our calls and see what the hell is happening. I don’t understand why it is happening.”

He might not want to take too long finding out.

WHIPPING BOYS

It is even bleaker in New England, where Coach Dick MacPherson talks a good game.

If only the Patriots could play one.

After losing to the extraordinarily ordinary Rams and Seattle Seahawks, MacPherson braced for the arrival of the mighty Buffalo Bills with much bravado.

“There’s no fear of God,” the second-year NFL coach said before the game. “All they can do is beat us. We’re 0-2 now. All they can do is make it 0-3. No problem. Come on down. Let’s go at it.”

It wasn’t pretty.

The Bills rolled up 490 yards in offense, Jim Kelly passing for 308 and Thurman Thomas rushing for 120.

There were few positives for the Patriots. By controlling the ball for 20 minutes in the first half, they limited the Bills to a 6-0 lead. And they were able to avoid a shutout on a Hugh Millen-to-Marv Cook touchdown pass play that covered all of four yards midway through the fourth quarter.

Afterward, a sellout crowd at Foxboro, Mass., jeered the home team as it left the field.

“I just feel that for the football team we have here, we need something good to happen to keep things going,” MacPherson said. “We came close to having something good happening, and then things fell apart.”

The Patriots won three of their last five games last season, but have been unable to build on that.

Asked if there was anything positive his team could take away from the loss, MacPherson had a simple answer:

“No.”

FORM HOLDS SO FAR

An 0-4 start is discouraging, but first-year San Diego Coach Bobby Ross has been there before.

He was an assistant coach in Kansas City in 1980 when the Chiefs started 0-4 and rallied to an 8-8 finish. As coach at Georgia Tech, he started 5-20 before winning 18 of the next 20 and a share of the 1990 national championship.

So far, the signs of a similar turnaround for the Chargers are apparent only to Ross.

“I honestly felt at the half we were going to win,” he said after a 27-0 loss to Houston. “In the first half, we were doing some good solid things. We were controlling the ball and mixing in some passes.

“Then at the start of the second half we were forced to punt, and they scored and we never were able to get back in it.”

The Chargers have seldom been in it, scoring only 29 points in four games.

“I don’t think it’s ever easy when you lose,” Ross said. “I’m not accepting it. I never will. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”

That certainly makes him a man of vision.

FLORES JOINS ELITE

Don Shula has coached in a record six Super Bowls, winning two.

He has more victories than 16 NFL franchises. He is 16 victories short of supplanting George Halas as the all-time winningest coach.

Among his 309 victories are four against Vince Lombardi, five against Tom Landry and seven each against Chuck Noll and Weeb Ewbank.

Now, at long last, he has added Tom Flores to the list. Miami’s 19-17 victory at Seattle was Shula’s first in seven tries against Flores, the previous attempts coming when Flores coached the Raiders.

IN QUOTES

Tampa Bay Coach Sam Wyche after the Buccaneers (3-1) rallied in the fourth quarter for a 27-23 victory at Detroit: “We get a chance to beat on our chests for one more week.”

New England nose tackle Tim Goad after the Patriots’ 41-7 loss to Buffalo: “I said before that this defense hadn’t been tested. We were tested ... and we didn’t pass the test all that well.”

Minnesota quarterback Rich Gannon after throwing four touchdown passes in a 42-7 victory over Cincinnati: “Sometimes it seems like everything is so clear. Today was one of those days. Even when I got sacked, I’d get up and say, ‘Man, I don’t even hurt.”’

Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason, who threw four interceptions in the loss to Minnesota: “I realize football is a rough game; right now, it’s got the better of me.”

Bill Cowher after his first loss as coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers: “I guess we can’t go 16-0.”

HIS BAGS ARE PACKED

Keith Jackson plans to be at practice today.

Never mind that the three-time Pro Bowl selection doesn’t have a contract. Or a team.

Jackson wants to play. Now.

”. . . What I really want to do is sign and get into a team (today) so I can learn the system, so I can be out there playing. . . . It’s no fun sitting here on the beaches of Malibu in 85-degree weather,” Jackson said in an interview on CBS Sunday.

Jackson, a four-year veteran of the Philadelphia Eagles, was one of four players given five days to sign with any team in the league by a federal judge in Minneapolis on Thursday.

For Jackson to get his wish, he would have had to sign a contract Sunday. The Miami Dolphins said they intended to submit an offer Sunday. Dallas, Washington and Detroit also have expressed an interest in Jackson, 27, who has averaged more than 60 catches a season.

But Jackson said there might not be a change of uniform.

“I’ve always stated that the Eagles have a chance to re-sign me,” he said. “I always wanted to sign with the Eagles from the beginning. Starting back two years ago I wanted to renew my contract, but they didn’t do it.”

Under U.S. District Judge David Doty’s ruling, Jackson, wide receiver Webster Slaughter, defensive end Garin Veris and running back D.J. Dozier were given free agent status. Doty ruled that the players were still suffering the effects of the Plan B system outlawed by a jury on Sept. 10.

TWICE COOKED

For Rod Woodson, it couldn’t have been any worse with instant replay.

The Pittsburgh cornerback was unable to field a punt in the fourth quarter and lost the ball when hit by Green Bay’s Tim Hauck. George Koonce recovered in the end zone for an apparent Packer touchdown.

After a brief delay, the officials ruled that Woodson had muffed the ball, giving the Packers possession at the eight-yard line.

On the next play, quarterback Brett Favre completed a touchdown pass to Robert Brooks, who beat Woodson to the corner of the end zone to make the catch.

Woodson, a three-time Pro Bowl selection, also was beaten on a 76-yard touchdown pass play to Sterling Sharpe.

“I played immature,” Woodson said. “It was like a nightmare. It was the worst game a defensive back would want to have.”