SPOTLIGHT / A GLANCE AT THIS WEEK IN THE NFL : THE EYES OF TEXAS ARE REAL GLASSY RIGHT ABOUT NOW

At the end of the first half in Atlanta Sunday, Emmitt Smith was hiding his face in a towel. If his bruised right quadriceps injury is serious--very possible because of the size of his right quadriceps--it will be the Dallas Cowboy fans who will be hiding their faces.

This team can win without Troy Aikman, but absolutely not without Smith, the running back who was the NFL’s MVP until he was kneed by an Atlanta Falcon defender while running a pass pattern with two minutes left in the first half.

In three games this season with Smith unavailable for at least one half, the Cowboys are 0-3 and have been outscored 78-40.

In seven games in which he has been available, they are 7-0 and have outscored opponents 180-78.

The Cowboys are a highly strung group that cannot seem to concentrate without their 209-pound anchor. They have lost as many fumbles in their three games without Smith--six--as in their seven games with him.

Somewhere right now, the San Francisco 49ers are smiling.

JOHNNY U. MIGHT HAVE ENJOYED THIS. THEN AGAIN, MAYBE NOT

Joe Namath. Emerson Boozer. Don Maynard. Gerry Philbin. Johnny Sample. Jim Turner.

Those famous former New York Jets paraded across the Giants Stadium field in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Jets’ world championship team that upset the Baltimore Colts, 16-7, in the most significant Super Bowl ever.

Brad Baxter. Johnny Johnson. Cary Blanchard. Louie Aguiar.

Those were the names of the current Jets involved in scoring plays in their embarrassingly difficult 17-12 victory over the winless Cincinnati Bengals.

The Jets could have handled this better, including scheduling the ceremonies at a more appropriate time. They host the Colts in two weeks. They hosted the losing coach in the 1968 Super Bowl, Don Shula, two weeks ago. Could it be that they wanted to celebrate during a game they were sure to win?

In outfitting the players in 1968-replica uniforms, they also forgot one small thing. The helmets of the world champion Jets were white, not green.

Appropriately, the final play from scrimmage consisted of punter Aguiar throwing a forward pass . . . out of the back of the end zone for a safety.

WE DON’T UNDERSTAND IT EITHER

--And the Kansas City Chiefs thought Joe Montana was a pain. Against the Chicago Bears, Chief defensive end Neil Smith sprained his ankle while intercepting a pass. And linebacker Jamie Fields, in what may be the injury of the year so far, broke his hand in pregame warm-ups .

--What happens when your game is attended by four of the top 10 touchdown passers in NFL history (Dan Fouts, Len Dawson, Joe Montana and Dave Krieg)? If you are the Bears and Chiefs, you combined for zero touchdown passes.

--The star of the Bears’ victory, running back Craig Heyward (estimated 330 pounds), weighs twice as much as the one of the stars of the Raiders’ victory over San Diego, receiver James Jett (estimated 165).

--Gary Brown of the Houston Oilers has rushed for more yards in the last two weeks, 360, than he gained in his first two years with the team, 172.

--Phil Simms of the New York Giants threw his first touchdown pass since Oct. 17.

--Todd Philcox of the Cleveland Browns has thrown for one more interception in his two starts, four, than Bernie Kosar threw in six starts.

--John Elway threw for more yards against the Pittsburgh in the first half, 230, then the Buffalo Bills gained against the Steelers in all of last week’s game, 157.

--Norm Johnson’s two field goals for the Falcons extended his streak to 24 in a row, equaling the third longest in NFL history. But he doesn’t want to go near that record of 29. Since the Chargers’ John Carney set it earlier this year, he has missed six of 13.

--The hardest hit involving USC players this weekend occurred when the Chiefs’ Marcus Allen carried Mark Carrier of the Bears over the goal line while scoring one of his two touchdowns.

--The New England Patriots have lost their last four games by a total of 11 points. Six times this season they have lost by four points or less.

--Mark Clayton of the Green Bay Packers was penalized for taunting after scoring a touchdown that did not even count because of another penalty.

--The New York Jets’ offensive line was penalized for holding on a play in which their offense was taking an intentional safety.

FIVE THINGS WE KNOW ABOUT THE AFC WEST . . . WE THINK

1. Stick a fork in the San Diego Chargers (4-6). Last year’s division champions never recovered from the loss of two offensive linemen (Dave Richards, Broderick Thompson) and two defensive backs (Gill Byrd, Anthony Blaylock) through injuries, free agency and a trade.

The only question during their final six games will be, is this Coach Bobby Ross’ final six games as head coach? The team and the town love him, but does he truly love his job?

Does he think the stresses of the NFL are really worth it? Wouldn’t he be happier working his special brand of coaching at some college in the Carolinas, a place where players wouldn’t whine to the media or leave town after a few years in search of bigger money?

2. Stick a fork in the Kansas City Chiefs (7-3) without Joe Montana. They will play courageously with Dave Krieg, who has more heart than some teams combined. But Montana still gives them an edge in the most important place on the field--their heads.

If Montana is the quarterback, does Jonathan Hayes still bobble that pass late in the game Sunday, leading to Jeremy Lincoln’s game-deciding interception for the Chicago Bears? Who knows? Maybe Montana throws a softer ball. And maybe Montana leads the Chiefs back down the field in the final minute for a game-winning field goal.

3. The Seattle Seahawks (5-5) will not make the playoffs, but will knock one of the big three out of the contention. In their final six games, they play the Chiefs twice, the Denver Broncos once in Seattle, and the Raiders in the Coliseum.

4. The Broncos (6-4) may win the division despite Coach Wade Phillips. It is no secret why the biggest news Sunday is that they were penalized a season-low three times and committed no turnovers for only the second time this fall.

After years of complaints about tight-fisted Dan Reeves, the Broncos finally realize that Phillips is too genial, too nice, too easy for their own good. If they can discipline themselves, they have the best player in the AFC, John Elway, who can lead them back to the title.

5. The Raiders (6-4) will go as far as rookie running back Greg Robinson takes them. Or as far as you-know-who would have taken them.

THE FINAL SAY

Before the Houston Oilers undressed the Cleveland Browns, 16 fans in Cleveland’s famed Dawg Pound bleacher section took off their shirts.

Standing together, their chests spelled out the word, DIMINISHED SKILLS, one letter per chest. A 17th fan, standing next to them, held up a sign reading “NOT.”

You can guess what they were talking about. It was only the beginning of an afternoon-long protest against the Browns for releasing quarterback Kosar.

In the Browns first home game since the controversial move, some fans wore Dallas jerseys while others chanted, “Bill Must Go.” That reference was to Brown Coach Bill Belichick, who was booed with every move, even when he ran on to the field to attend to an injured player.

The strangest occurrence involved a local vendor who was selling T-shirts with Kosar’s face on them. Kosar’s father Bernie, obviously touched by the sentiment, threatened to sue the man for copyright infringement.

“It’s just gotten to the point where Belichick is not running the show the way it should be run,” said Ron Smith, 54, a season-ticket holder for 24 seasons. “Like Bernie said, the problems here go deeper than the quarterback. Unless they get rid of Belichick, I’m going to cancel my season tickets. I’m fed up with Belichick.”

THEY SAID IT, NOT US

Deion Sanders, after setting some sort of NFL record by high-stepping for nearly 50 yards during a 70-yard touchdown reception in Atlanta against the Cowboys: “I want to thank all those fans who came today dressed like Dallas Cowboys. They gave us a lot of strength. Tell them to come back next week and support Cleveland.”

Irving Fryar of the Miami Dolphins after watching rookie quarterback Drew Bledsoe of the New England Patriots pass for a career-high 275 yards: “Bledsoe--good gracious alive--that boy’s going to be tough. He’s going to be another Troy Aikman.”

Bill Belichick, who by now needs no introduction: “To quote Buddy Ryan, if you listen to the fans, you’ll be sitting up there with them.”

Dave Shula, Bengals coach, after his team threw several crazy laterals in an attempt to return the final kickoff against the Jets: “We had everything but the Stanford band.”

Dan Fouts, CBS commentator and former quarterback, after wondering how kickers can cause the ball to hook: “I’m really not that anxious to find out the reason. Because I don’t want to spend that much time talking to a kicker.”