SPOTLIGHT : A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL : THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE INJURED

Or, call it a tale of three running backs.

The Good: Pittsburgh’s Barry Foster.

He has seemingly come out of nowhere this year with his 865 yards. He gained 118 in 31 carries Sunday and helped the Steelers come from behind to beat Houston, 21-20, and take over the lead in the AFC Central.

“They did some things to key on me, but this team wanted to win this game real bad,” Foster said.

Foster, in his third year out of Arkansas, gained only 488 yards last season, but he has them making comparisons with Franco Harris in Pittsburgh.

Foster’s six 100-yard games are the most by a Steeler since Harris had six in 1976. Harris set the team record of seven as a rookie in 1972.

The Bad: Detroit’s Barry Sanders.

What?!

That’s right, Barry Sanders. Oh, of course he’s one of the best backs in the league. But you wouldn’t know it by his recent performances.

Sanders isn’t getting much help from Rodney Peete and the rest of the Lion offense. Not only are defenses keying on the all-pro runner, they are locking him up.

Sanders, who has only two 100-yard games this season, gained only 38 yards in 12 attempts in a 27-13 loss to Green Bay Sunday.

“Nobody can stop Barry Sanders,” Packer Coach Mike Holmgren said. “But anytime you can hold him down as well as we did, that’s a great job.”

A lot of teams are doing great jobs against the Lions (2-6).

The Injured: Buffalo’s Thurman Thomas.

Thomas, the NFL’s perennial leader in all-purpose yards, left Sunday’s 16-7 victory over New England after suffering an elbow injury.

Thomas fell on his right elbow early in the game. He fumbled near the end of the second quarter and it was run in for a touchdown by New England’s Vincent Brown.

Thomas started Buffalo’s first series in the second half wearing a hockey-style elbow pad similar to the one quarterback Jim Kelly wears.

But then he fumbled again, this one recovered by Buffalo’s Glenn Parker, and Thomas was replaced by Ken Davis. When he left the game, Thomas had 29 yards in 12 carries and had caught five passes for 45 yards.

Coach Marv Levy said Thomas had “an extremely sore elbow,” but that it was X-rayed and “it’s OK.”

DOWN AND OUCH

Going into the weekend, here were the top-rated passers in the NFL: Steve Young, Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon, Jim Kelly and Chris Miller.

Well, one out of five isn’t bad. Kelly was the only one to escape unscathed Sunday.

Young went out in the second quarter with flu.

Cunningham had a terrible first half against Dallas and was replaced by Jim McMahon. Eagle Coach Rich Kotite said a change was needed.

“To use a baseball analogy, we had an ace reliever and I decided to go to him,” Kotite said.

Moon suffered a concussion against Pittsburgh when he was sacked on the second play of the second half.

Miller had the worst of it. He is expected to miss four to six games after injuring his knee against the Rams.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

If they can grow grass indoors for the World Cup, why don’t they start doing it now for NFL games?

Home teams were 9-2 Sunday. Green Bay (against Detroit) and the Giants (against Washington) was the only road winner.

There probably won’t be a more beautiful fall Sunday in the Southland this year. And where were our local teams? The Rams were indoors in Atlanta and the Raiders had a bye. Great day. Rotten schedule.

NAMES AND NUMBERS

San Francisco’s loss to Phoenix left Sun Devil Stadium as the only NFL stadium in which the 49ers have played but never won. They are 0-2 in the home of Arizona State and the Cardinals, dropping a 24-23 decision in 1988, the first year the team moved to Phoenix.

The Browns ran a trick play and it backfired. Quarterback Mike Tomczak ran to the sideline and lined up just inbounds, while running back Eric Metcalf took the snap and threw it to the uncovered Tomczak. Two problems: Tomczak dropped the ball, and the Browns were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct because Tomczak lined up within five yards of the sideline in front of his team’s bench.

The Cowboys have won 11 consecutive home games, the longest streak at Texas Stadium since the team-record 18 home victories in a row in 1980-81.

Vince Workman’s 101 yards in 23 carries marked the first 100-yard rushing performance for Green Bay since Keith Woodside ran for 116 against Chicago on Dec. 17, 1989. . . . Sunday’s game represented the first time in 11 games the Lions faced an opponent with a losing record.

Bryan Cox had two sacks for the Dolphins, breaking the Miami record for sacks in one season by a linebacker. Cox, with 10 sacks this season, broke the mark of nine set by Charles Bowser in 1984. . . . It was the 11th time in Jet quarterback Ken O’Brien’s career that he has thrown three or more touchdown passes in a game. Four of those games have come against the Dolphins. . . . Al Toon became the 10th player in NFL history to catch a pass in 100 consecutive games. Art Monk, Anthony Carter and Jerry Rice are the other active receivers on that list.

The Saints were the fourth consecutive opponent for the Buccaneers that did not play the previous Sunday. Indianapolis, Chicago and New Orleans all played Tampa Bay after a bye week. Detroit had not played in 10 days when they met the Buccaneers. . . . Tampa Bay’s Reggie Cobb has scored a touchdown in five games in a row.

Steeler linebacker Greg Lloyd and quarterback Neil O’Donnell could be fined after throwing balls into the stands. Lloyd threw a ball about 20 rows deep after recovering a fumble in the fourth quarter against Houston. O’Donnell threw another ball into the seats at the end of the game.

THE LAST WORD

Dallas Coach Jimmy Johnson, asked why he thought the Cowboys could run against Philadelphia. “Because we got Emmitt Smith.”

Houston kicker Al Del Greco, who missed a 39-yard field-goal attempt with six seconds left that would have beaten Pittsburgh: “I think I’m a good pressure kicker and I’m not going to change my mind after one kick.”

Dick MacPherson, coach of the 0-8 New England Patriots: “The job of a head coach is to try to find a way to win these games and not get up here and explain why we didn’t.”

New Orleans Coach Jim Mora, after the Saints’ 23-21 victory over Tampa Bay: “That was a long way from being an artistic win by our football team.”

Tampa Bay Coach Sam Wyche, on the Saints: “I really, in my heart, think we played the best team in the National Football League today.”

Green Bay’s Paul McJulien, who had a punt blocked by Detroit’s Bennie Blades: “That’s the first punt I’ve ever had blocked, at any level. Well, I did have one in high school. But I picked that up and ran 85 yards for a touchdown, so I don’t count that as a block.”

TONIGHT’S GAME

MINNESOTA (5-2) at CHICAGO (4-3)

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

When Bear Coach Mike Ditka called off his usual weekly news conference last Monday, his wife, Diana, wasn’t surprised.

“I’ve been married to Mike 15 years and he hasn’t been talking to me at all,” she said. Presumably, that was a joke, but with Ditka you never know.

Regardless of how excited he gets tonight, Ditka probably won’t reach the peak he achieved the last time his team faced the Vikings.

Even so, the Bears shouldn’t have any trouble hearing the signals if quarterback Jim Harbaugh calls an audible. This game isn’t at the Metrodome, where the Minnesota fans were nearly as responsible as the Vikings for a 21-20 victory four weeks ago.

“I’m excited,” Ditka said, putting aside bad memories.

Harbaugh, with the Bears leading, 20-0, in the fourth quarter, changed a play at the line of scrimmage despite Ditka’s instructions to the contrary. Neal Anderson didn’t hear the audible because of the noise at the Metrodome, and Todd Scott intercepted Harbaugh’s pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.

Ditka berated Harbaugh on the sidelines and in a news conference after the game. That loss is the difference between the Vikings and the Bears in the NFC Central race.

Now Ditka is looking ahead.

“This one has some meaning,” he said. “It’s for first place.

“I’m up for the game. The players will move along gradually, but I guarantee they’ll be up for it when they take the field Monday night.”

Minnesota Coach Dennis Green is aware of the ramifications.

“With a victory, we’d be sitting pretty, no question about it,” he said. “But we know the Bears are a good team based on the game we played earlier.”

The Bears, amazingly, rank fifth in the league in passing, trailing only Houston, Miami, San Francisco and Buffalo.

“It’s not something we fell into,” Ditka said of the passing game. “We’ve worked hard to improve in those areas. We’re getting better in some and we’re probably falling backward in the running game.”