SPOTLIGHT : A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL : MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACKING

Some reflections after watching Washington’s 15-13 victory over Minnesota:

1. Coach Dennis Green has been a positive influence on the Vikings, and he put them in position to beat the defending Super Bowl champions, but he played it too conservatively and it cost him.

The Vikings were trailing, 12-10, when they drove down the field inside the Washington 25 and had a third and eight with less than three minutes to go. Green chose to send Roger Craig up the middle, the Redskins stopped him and Fuad Reveiz kicked the go-ahead field goal.

However, that gave Mark Rypien, needing only a field goal, ample time to get into Chip Lohmiller’s range. Lohmiller kicked his fifth field goal of the day, from 49 yards, and the Redskins escaped.

The point is, on third down, why didn’t the Vikings go for the end zone? Or at least attempt a pass for a first down? A touchdown would have forced Washington to score one of its own and a first down would have killed more clock.

2. Rypien, having a terrible day and hampered by a knee injury, did what he had to on the final drive. He found Art Monk for a crucial 20-yard completion, and when Rypien could have run out of bounds on a scramble, turned it back inside and took a big hit to pick up a few more yards for Lohmiller.

It was the stuff of winners.

3. Let’s hope this is not the beginning of a trend.

We already get close-ups of wives of baseball players and wives of Indy-car drivers.

Let’s not start concentrating on wives of field-goal kickers.

CBS gave us more than enough shots of Gayle Reveiz, especially before, during and after her husband’s kick that put the Vikings ahead.

One word to directors of football broadcasts everywhere: Enough.

HE’S BAAAACK

Were New York Giant fans happy to see Bill Parcells?

For the first time since becoming an NBC analyst, Parcells returned to the Meadowlands to provide commentary on the team he led to two Super Bowl titles. Parcells was Marv Albert’s partner Sunday for the Giants’ 23-10 victory over Seattle.

In the stadium parking lot was a dummy resembling current Coach Ray Handley holding two signs. The first said “Bill please come back,” and the second said “I ruined your team.”

Here is some of what Parcells said about the Giants’ problems.

--On Handley’s ongoing battle with the New York media:

“I think there are times when he’s been a little bit over-sensitive, and hey, there were times when I was over-sensitive, too, plenty of times. Probably more than got publicized. That’s just the way it is. The coach’s relationship with the media, generally speaking in all sports these days, at best is adversarial.”

--On complaints of players, specifically last week’s shouting matches guard Eric Moore had with Handley and offensive line coach Fred Hoaglin:

“I had more than my share of shouting matches with players, too. In the frustration from time to time you get those things and players say things, but you know, coaches have been hollering at players since football started.”

AN OMEN?

The Indianapolis Colts, team of the ‘90s?

Steve Emtman was the star of the Colts’ victory over Miami. He wears No. 90. He weighs 290 pounds. He returned an interception off Dan Marino 90 yards to clinch Indianapolis’ 31-20 victory over previously undefeated Miami.

The play seemed to take 90 seconds.

But the Colts in the Super Bowl? It’s a 90-1 shot, at least.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Green Bay linebacker Brian Noble was carried off the field on a stretcher Sunday near the end of the third quarter against the Chicago Bears. Noble was injured during a goal-line stand when Brad Muster of the Bears fumbled and Jim Harbaugh recovered for Chicago. X-rays proved negative, the Packers said, adding that Noble would undergo an MRI to determine whether his spinal cord was bruised. The Packers said the injury appeared to be a back contusion. “The condition looks much more favorable than it appeared to be when he was on the field,” the team said.

Indianapolis rookie linebacker Quentin Coryatt broke his wrist in the first quarter against Miami and will be sidelined four to six weeks.

Philadelphia held an opponent to less than 100 yards rushing for the 15th consecutive game. Also, it was the 53rd game in a row in which the Eagles held opposing running backs under 100 yards. . . . John Bailey, with 55 yards rushing in 14 carries, was the first Phoenix back to gain 50 or more yards in a game this season.

Detroit’s Mel Gray returned a kickoff 89 yards to the Tampa Bay four-yard line. It was Gray’s second 89-yard kickoff return against the Buccaneers this season. He ran one back 89 yards for a touchdown in the first meeting between the teams on Sept. 27.

John Kasey’s second-quarter field goal ended a scoreless drought of 159:34 for Seattle, and Tommy Kane’s third-quarter touchdown was the first for the Seahawks since the fourth quarter of a 19-17 loss to Miami on Sept. 27, a total of 223:14.

Three Minnesota players had streaks ended in their loss to Washington: Cris Carter had caught touchdown passes in four consecutive games; Audray McMillian had made interceptions in three in a row; Rich Gannon had thrown a touchdown pass in seven in a row. . . . Earnest Byner had a 23-yard run for the Redskins, his longest of the season.

Warren Moon’s 35th 300-yard passing game ties him for third place on the NFL all-time list with Joe Montana. Dan Fouts is the leader with 51 and Dan Marino has 43.

Matt Stover tied a Cleveland Browns’ record by attempting seven field goals, matching the team mark set by Don Cockroft on Oct. 19, 1975, against Denver. Stover was successful from 29, 28, 21 and 32 yards against New England, but missed from 54, 44 and 31 yards. Cockroft made five of his field goals.

THE LAST WORD

Philadelphia defensive tackle Mike Golic, after the Eagles stopped Phoenix seven times inside the three-yard line: “It felt like we were out there on defense forever. They were so close to the goal line I guess they thought they’d just fall into the end zone.”

Detroit’s Barry Sanders, who broke out of a slump with 122 yards against Tampa Bay: “I’m so excited about winning that I don’t know what to say.”

Tampa Bay quarterback Vinny Testaverde, who was benched by Coach Sam Wyche in favor of Steve DeBerg: “I was a little bit surprised when Sam told me at first. But after thinking through it, it made sense to do what he did. The way the crowd was reacting, and knowing that Steve is popular, it was the right thing to do.”

New York quarterback Jeff Hostetler, after the Giants fell behind against Seattle: “We kept shooting ourselves in the foot. If you keep doing that enough, pretty soon you have no toes left.”

Cincinnati quarterback Boomer Esiason on his team’s troubles against Houston: “You have to go forward on offense and we were going backward by leaps and bounds.”

Chicago Coach Mike Ditka, on a fake punt that gained 43 yards: “It’s great if it works, but if it doesn’t work, it’s back to high school.”

Cleveland quarterback Mike Tomczak, after the Browns beat New England on a touchdown pass with 31 seconds left: “It shows you that in the NFL, it doesn’t take 59 minutes to win a game. It takes 60.”

Bill Parcells, comparing his current job of TV analyst to NFL coaching: “You don’t feel the same thrill. It doesn’t happen up here. It doesn’t happen in many industries. Once you experience it it’s a little bit like a narcotic. That’s why Tom Flores and others go back. You don’t do anything for 28 years, do it with passion, and not miss it.”

TONIGHT’S GAME

BUFFALO BILLS (4-2) at NEW YORK JETS (1-5)

Time: 6 p.m. TV: Channel 7, 3, 10, 42

Looking for an upset? The Jets haven’t beaten Buffalo since the 1987 opener. That’s nine games in a row.

On the bright side, the presence of the high-powered Bills alone makes it more entertaining than last week’s Pittsburgh-Cincinnati snorer.

The Bills, however, have been struggling, losing decisively to Miami and the Raiders in their last two games to fall off the Dolphins’ pace.

Even the offense of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed and James Lofton has been stuffed, scoring 13 points in the two losses after running up 153 in the first four victories.

It’s enough to make Buffalo Coach Marv Levy quote the noted philosopher, Mike Ditka:

“Ditka once told me that people criticized him because the Bears didn’t win,” Levy said. “Then they criticized him because they didn’t win enough. Then he was criticized because they didn’t win a championship. Then, they won the championship, but people didn’t like the way they won it.

“We and everybody else have some fans that probably the day after Pearl Harbor would have been ready to surrender to the Japanese.”

The Jets, who face a tough three-game stretch against Buffalo, Miami and Denver, say they’re not ready to run up the white flag.

“It’s about time we beat them,” linebacker Kyle Clifton said. “The way I look at it, that streak is added incentive.”