SPOTLIGHT / A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL : IN RECORD TIME

Barry Foster stood on the sidelines, fearing that his place in history had been denied. He had rushed for 92 yards against the Cleveland Browns, short of his 12th 100-yard game of the season, which would have tied Eric Dickerson’s NFL mark, set in 1984 with the Rams.

“I had already accepted that I’d done all I could do,” Foster said.

But fate--and Jerrol Williams--intervened. Williams sacked Browns’ quarterback Mike Tomczak, forcing a fumble that Pittsburgh’s D.J. Johnson recovered on the Steelers’ 15 with 1:09 to play and no timeouts remaining.

Back onto the field came Foster.

He ran off right tackle for two yards on first down: 94 yards. On second and eight, he ran for nine yards and his share of the record, by three yards and with 30 seconds to spare.

CHIEFLY, AN EXORCISM

Not until Denver’s offense took the field without John Elway did the jittery Kansas City Chiefs believe they finally had put an end to a curse.

“I looked up and Johnny wasn’t even there,” said All-Pro defensive end Neil Smith. “I looked over and he was on the sideline with his head hanging down and I thought, ‘Oh, man, we finally got him. We finally got him.’ ”

Kansas City Coach Marty Schottenheimer was 1-9 against Elway, with some of the losses particularly disheartening, including two in AFC title games when Schottenheimer coached at Cleveland.

He had carried his luck to Kansas City, going 1-6 against Elway as the Chiefs’ coach, including a 20-19 loss earlier in the season in which Elway engineered two touchdown drives in the closing minutes.

It was, Schottenheimer said, as if he was a voodoo doll and Elway was sticking in the pins.

Until Sunday. With 7:11 remaining and the Chiefs leading, 35-13, in the game that would decide the AFC’s last playoff berth, Elway’s day was done. To the surprise of the Chiefs, their long-time tormentor gave way to backup Tommy Maddox.

The hex was done. The jinx was vanquished.

“It’s impossible even for John Elway to beat you when he’s not even in the game,” linebacker Chris Martin said.

LIKE OLD TIMES

The final game of the season has a traditional aspect for the Indianapolis Colts. It’s a time to punch in on the clock, take a licking and then punch out until training camp. The idea of pregame mental preparation seemed a waste to the Colts on Sunday at Cincinnati, as it has seemed so many other season-ending Sundays.

Except for Coach Ted Marchibroda.

“This game says it all for us,” said quarterback Jack Trudeau, who completed 15 of 19 for 183 yards and led a second-half comeback from a 17-point deficit to a 21-17 victory after taking over for Jeff George, who suffered a concussion on a sack in the first half. “This game shows the way things have changed from last year. In the first half, we kind of played like we did last year.

“Guys were having a good time before the game. It was a talkative locker room. Obviously, we didn’t come prepared to play in the first half.”

Behind 17-0, Marchibroda had seen enough and told his players as much. “I said, ‘We don’t want to go home like this,’ ” Marchibroda said. “It’s like we woke up from the dead all at once.”

Trudeau’s 19-yard touchdown pass to Bill Brooks in the fourth quarter ended a streak of 446 passes without a touchdown catch by a Colt wide receiver.

The wake-up gave the Colts a 9-7 record after a 1-15 mark a season ago, only the fourth eight-game swing in NFL history.

OUT, BUT NOT ON TOP

Offensive lineman Anthony Munoz received a silver platter and halftime plaudits in a ceremony marking his retirement after 13 seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, and he had showed he could still play by throwing blocks that sprang Derrick Fenner for two touchdowns in rolling up a 17-0 lead.

An 11-time Pro Bowl tackle, Munoz, 34, received standing ovations when he ran onto the field for pregame introductions and again at halftime when the team honored him at midfield.

The only thing he didn’t get was a victory. The Colts came back to win, 21-17.

“It’s disappointing,” Munoz said. “It’s the last game I’ll play, and I wanted to win it.”

NAMES AND NUMBERS

Miami’s Dan Marino extended his NFL record to five seasons with at least 4,000 passing yards. He completed 21 of 39 passes for 217 yards against New England, giving him 4,116 yards for the season. But he failed to break his second-place tie with Johnny Unitas for touchdown passes. Both have 290. Only Fran Tarkenton, with 342, has more.

The Patriots will have the top pick in the NFL draft for the third time in 12 years. In 1982, they took defensive end Kenneth Sims and in 1984 they chose wide receiver/kick returner Irving Fryar.

Pittsburgh kicker Gary Anderson’s 11 points gave him 1,123, moving him into 15th place on the NFL all-time list past Ray Wersching (1,122).

Herschel Walker’s 1,066 yards made him the first Eagles running back to gain 1,000 yards or more since Earnest Jackson’s 1,028 in 1985.

The Eagles haven’t won a playoff game since 1980, the year they lost to the Oakland Raiders in the Super Bowl; they were eliminated in the first round in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

The Eagles finished their first unbeaten, untied home season since 1949.

Miami Coach Don Shula won his 300th game. Only George Halas (319) has won more.

Green Bay’s Sterling Sharpe broke Art Monk’s NFL record by catching his 107th pass of the season with 4:55 to play in the second quarter against Minnesota. He finished with 108.

Minnesota’s victory over Green Bay squares the series at 31-31-1.

THE LAST WORD

Boomer Esiason on playing in what was probably his last game as a Bengal: “It’s been kind of a bumpy train ride of emotion for me this season. If this is where it ends, fine. In no way, shape or form can I see myself here with the present situation. I don’t say that to be antagonistic. I’m being realistic.”

Patriot assistant Dante Scarnecchia on losing in overtime to Miami: “It was just another heartbreaking loss in a season of heartbreaking losses. We had the opportunity to beat a playoff team.”

After Herschel Walker’s 104 yards, Eagle Coach Rich Kotite: “Thank God we have Herschel on our team.”

Giant Coach Ray Handley on his future, which is likely to include unemployment: “It is no different than it was yesterday or two weeks ago. I’m going to sit down with George (Young, the Giants general manager), maybe tomorrow and he is going to make an evaluation. George is going to do what is best for the New York Giants.”

Viking linebacker Jack Del Rio, after Minnesota eliminated Green Bay from the playoffs and put Washington in to play the Vikings on Saturday: “Right now they love us. Saturday, they’re not going to love us.”

TONIGHT’S GAME

DETROIT LIONS (5-10)

at SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS (13-2)

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

The reward might be a little strange, considering the personalities involved. If Joe Montana, a starter for 10 seasons until being injured, plays well enough tonight in his first game in almost two years, he will be San Francisco’s No. 2 quarterback for the playoffs, supplanting Steve Bono.

Steve Young will start for the 49ers against the Detroit Lions, as he has all season in being the NFC’s hottest property, but San Francisco Coach George Seifert said Montana would play two quarters in his return from a torn right elbow tendon.

“The world is going to be watching Monday night, and I’m sure they are excited about seeing Joe on the football field,” 49er receiver Jerry Rice said. “I think it’s good for the morale of the team.

“The guy has fought his way back, and I think it’s only right that he get the chance to show that he can still play.”

Seifert is trying to keep the situation low key, preferring instead to talk about Detroit quarterback Andre Ware, who will be starting for the third consecutive game--and the fourth of his career after spending almost three seasons on the bench.

Detroit comes into the finale having won its last two games under Ware, who has passed for 428 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions in victories over Chicago and Cleveland.

“I think they are coming on,” Seifert said of the Lions. “Andre Ware is starting to enjoy himself and display the abilities everybody kind of thought he had.

“Barry Sanders is quite a talent and Herman Moore, the wide receiver, is dynamite. They have some very, very talented players.”

Ware, the 1989 Heisman Trophy winner, is having none of it.

“I’m kind of the background guy, and that’s how I choose to handle things,” he said. “I would much rather Joe get the credit.

“He’s worked hard to get back. It doesn’t matter to me one way or another whether I’m mentioned in the story or not. My job is to help my football team win, and I’ll do that to the best of my ability.”

The 49ers are assured of a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.