SPOTLIGHT / A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL : LEARNING INS AND OUTS

OK, here’s what happened to the playoff picture Sunday:

Philadelphia, Minnesota, San Diego, Miami and Houston are in. Cleveland and Indianapolis are out. Washington, Green Bay, Kansas City and Denver are still on the bubble.

In the AFC, the Chiefs and the Broncos play next Sunday at Kansas City, with the winner getting the final berth. The Chiefs can win the AFC West if the Chargers lose to Seattle; the Broncos cannot win the division.

The sixth and final NFC berth is down to the Redskins and Packers, but neither team controls its destiny.

The Redskins (9-6) are in if they lose at home to the Raiders on Saturday and Green Bay loses to the Vikings in Minneapolis on Sunday. The Redskins also qualify if they beat the Raiders, then either the Eagles or Vikings win Sunday. If the Giants upset the Eagles in Philadelphia and the Packers defeat the Vikings, that would leave Washington, Philadelphia and Green Bay with 10-6 records. In that case, the Redskins would lose out to the Eagles on the basis of Philadelphia’s superior division record and to the Packers because of Green Bay’s superior conference record.

Any questions?

JAW-BREAKER

To clear up this business of tiebreakers, we yield to Tony Kornheiser of the Washington Post:

“You know that if the Redskins, the Eagles and Packers (and maybe the Vikings and Penn State too) all finish 10-6, they start going to tiebreakers.

“No. 1 is well known, division record.

“No. 2 is easy also, LSAT scores among offensive linemen.

“No. 3 is a little trickier, appearances on Arsenio.

“No. 4, of course, is number of sneakerphones.

“No. 5, guess the weight of Joe Jacoby.

“No. 6, best written essay on ‘The Transportation Themes in Ulysses.’

“No. 7, fewest starters who’ve seen ‘A Very Brady Christmas.’

“No. 8, an old favorite, Marriott points.

“No. 9, new this year, winner-take-all Yahtzee tournament.

“And No. 10 is the coin flip. If coin is not available, cut for high card.”

RECEPTION STILL FUZZY

Speaking of things being unclear, the Pittsburgh Steelers re-created the “Immaculate Reception” on Sunday and Frenchy Fuqua still wasn’t talking.

The Steelers commemorated the 20th anniversary of Franco Harris’ 60-yard, last-minute touchdown catch that beat the Oakland Raiders, 13-7, on Dec. 23, 1972.

Fuqua has never said whether he touched the ball or if it ricocheted off defensive back Jack Tatum’s shoulder pads to Harris. Rules at the time prohibited teammates from tipping the ball to each other.

“Frenchy will take that secret to his grave,” said Terry Bradshaw, who threw the pass and unsuccessfully tried to persuade Fuqua to end his silence on CBS’ “NFL Today.”

“What happened on the play? I’ll say only what I’ve said for years,” Fuqua said. “Something immaculate.”

Hey, great name.

COMEBACK KIDS

Kudos to Ted Marchibroda and his Indianapolis Colts. With Sunday’s 16-13 victory over Phoenix, they improved their record to 8-7 and kept their slim playoff hopes alive until Miami’s victory over the Jets eliminated them.

Those eight victories break the record of seven set by Dallas in 1990 for the best mark coming off a 1-15 record. Marchibroda led the Colts to the biggest turnaround in NFL history, from a 2-14 record in 1974 to a 10-4 mark in 1975.

Nice going, Colts. Say, whatever happened to that running back they had? Wore No. 29?

NAMES AND NUMBERS

The Bears remained without a 100-yard rusher this season. Darren Lewis was high Sunday with 43 yards. Brad Muster had 101 yards in 15 carries--against Indianapolis 21 games ago. . . . The Lions finished 3-5 at home for the second time in three seasons. They were 9-0 at the Silverdome last year.

New Orleans quarterback Bobby Hebert had never lost to an AFC team in his seven-year NFL career until Sunday. The loss to Buffalo gave Hebert a 15-1 mark against the AFC.

With 172 yards against the Steelers, Minnesota’s Terry Allen became the third 1,000-yard rusher in Vikings’ history. . . . The Steelers must beat Cleveland next Sunday to secure a first-round bye and home-field advantage for the second round of the playoffs. . . . The Steelers (10), Vikings (10) and San Francisco 49ers (11) are the only NFL teams to win at least 10 division titles since 1970 NFL merger. . . . Barry Foster had his 11th 100-yard game of the season, one short of Eric Dickerson’s NFL record, set in 1984. Dickerson also had 11 in 1986. . . . Foster didn’t return after spraining his upper back with 5:27 remaining. . . . The Vikings failed to intercept a pass for only the second time in 15 games. . . . Harry Newsome’s 84-yard punt in the third quarter broke the Vikings’ record of 77 yards by Mike Mercer against Green Bay on Sept. 16, 1962.

Cincinnati’s Harold Green rushed for 190 yards against New England and is 108 yards shy of James Brooks’ Bengal mark of 1,239 in 1989. . . . David Klingler was taken to a local hospital after the game for testing to see whether he suffered a concussion in addition to a bruised hip. . . . New England’s 176 total yards were by far the fewest against Cincinnati this season. The Bengals have given up 300 yards in 10 of their 15 games, including five 400-yard games.

The Eagles will be seeking their first playoff victory since 1980, when they made it to the Super Bowl and lost to the Oakland Raiders. They have lost in their first game the last four times they’ve made it--in 1981, 1988, 1989 and 1990. . . . If the Eagles beat the Giants next Sunday, they will finish unbeaten at home for the first time since 1949, when they won the NFL title by beating the Chicago Cardinals, 7-0, in the snow.

Kerry Cash’s two receptions gave him 40 for the season, the first time a Colt tight end has caught 40 or more since Tom Mitchell in 1972.

THE LAST WORD

Minnesota’s Fuad Reveiz, on his game-winning, playoff-clinching, 36-yard field goal against Pittsburgh: “I hit it good and I thought it had enough. It’s like playing golf, sometimes you hit on the screws and you know it’s good, sometimes you hit it and you say, ‘Uh oh’ right away.”

Green Bay fullback Harry Sydney, who played with the 49ers last season when they won six games in a row, finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs: “We’re playing our butts off and getting no help at all.”

Washington cornerback Darrell Green, after the Redskins just missed a game-winning touchdown on their final drive against Philadelphia: “It reminded me of the old days when we were kids and Roger Staubach would lead the Cowboys down the field. It made me proud to be a Redskin.”

Philadelphia Coach Rich Kotite on that final drive: “I was doing a lot of praying on the sideline.”

Washington’s Brian Mitchell on the Redskins’ playoff chances: “Now we have to win next week plus we need some help. How? I haven’t even figured out yet.”

Denver quarterback John Elway, who reached 30,000 yards passing in a victory over Seattle: “Up to this point, my career has been measured by Super Bowl losses. I’m happy to have been able to stay around long enough to get 30,000. The next plateau, I suppose, will be the Super Bowl win, and then we can shoot for 40,000.”

New Orleans Coach Jim Mora, on a 20-16 loss to Buffalo: “The best way to describe what the Bills did was they outplayed us. That’s it, they outplayed us.”

Chicago Coach Mike Ditka’s weekly assessment of the Bears: “We had no execution on offense. We didn’t establish anything, and I’m not sure why. From the sideline, I can’t see what the quarterback sees, so I can only assume.”

TONIGHT’S GAME

DALLAS COWBOYS (11-3)

at ATLANTA FALCONS (6-8)

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

From a fan’s point of view, this is a breather for the Cowboys, who can show off on national television, rest their starters and get ready for the playoffs.

Jimmy Johnson, however, is looking at the game like, well, a football coach.

“Any team that’s got 28 touchdown passes is capable of scoring a lot of points,” Johnson said of the Falcons. “And when you put them in the Dome, that makes them even more dangerous.”

Actually, 16 of Atlanta’s league-leading 28 touchdown passes have come on the road.

The Falcons gave Johnson something else to consider in a 35-7 victory last week at Tampa Bay. Cornerback Deion Sanders caught Wade Wilson’s fifth scoring pass.

Atlanta must stop a Dallas pass rush that has 38 sacks this season. The Falcons have been vulnerable to the sack, with three quarterbacks going down 34 times.

The Cowboys could have clinched the NFC East a week ago, but Troy Aikman’s controversial fumble in the end zone late in the closing minutes led to a 20-17 loss to Washington.

The ball got away from Aikman, but the defeat stuck with Johnson for several days.

“I think having an extra day will help us put the Washington game behind us,” he said. “It will be difficult to do. It just hurts to have a game in hand and let it get away.”