Pro Football Spotlight

BONO FOR MVP

With apologies to Emmitt Smith, Steve Young, Reggie White, Marshall Faulk and all those other superstars who actually make things look easy, here’s a nomination for somebody who’s getting it done without such aesthetic nicety and athletic skills.

He’s gangly, awkward and sometimes just plain hard to watch, but is there anybody who has contributed more (and more surprisingly) to his team’s success this season than Kansas City Chief quarterback Steve Bono?

On a team that spent the off-season in mourning over the passing of Joe Montana, Bono has been one of the steadiest players in the league, and is amassing the statistics, and victories, to prove it. With Bono at the helm, the Chiefs are 6-1 for the first time since 1969 (their last Super Bowl season), and atop the AFC West standings.

And, after throwing two more touchdown passes and running for another in Kansas City’s 31-26 victory over the New England Patriots, Bono is tied with Chicago’s Erik Kramer with a league-high 14 scoring throws, and has run for two more, including that 76-yard gallop (an NFL record for quarterbacks) against the Cardinals on Oct. 1.

“I don’t feel that I played very well personally,” Bono said Sunday after completing 16 of 40 passes for 209 yards. “But to be 6-1 feels really good.”

Last year, the achy Montana threw 16 touchdowns all year, and rushed for none.

PARCELLS IN SECLUSION

How big a toll is this season taking on Bill Parcells?

With his friends already expressing concern about his fluctuating weight and history of heart problems, Parcells suffered from dehydration after the Patriots’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs--New England’s fifth in a row--and was advised by a doctor to stay in seclusion after the game.

Parcells did not hold the customary postgame news conference after the game on the advice of Jim Dineen, an internist.

Patriot officials said it was not immediately known how serious the condition was, but recent reports have stated that Parcells, winner of two Super Bowls while coaching the New York Giants, is contemplating stepping down as Patriot coach at the end of this season.

SRI LANKA LOVES HARBAUGH

The Fox Network’s Dick Stockton was speaking glibly and globally when he discussed much-maligned Colt quarterback Jim Harbaugh in a lead-in to the Indianapolis Colt-San Francisco 49er game.

“Right now,” Stockton said, near hyperventilation, “the whole world is talking about Jim Harbaugh, the No. 1-rated quarterback in the league!”

MORE STOCKTON

Stockton ended his broadcast of the Colts’ 18-17 upset of the 49ers with equal aplomb, and with a keen sense of NFL perspective.

“This may go down as one of the biggest wins in Colts’ franchise history,” he said.

Franchise history?

Well, nobody would ever want to argue with such wisdom, but could Dick have forgotten that the Colts (guys like Johnny Unitas, who, OK, might never have gotten the world buzzing a la Harbaugh) were a pretty good team before they moved to Indianapolis in 1984?

Let’s see, Dick, would Baltimore’s Super Bowl V victory over Dallas be bigger?

Or the monumental Super Bowl III loss to the upstart New York Jets?

Maybe those two NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 come close?

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TOP PERFORMANCES

PASSING

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Player, Team Att. Cmp. Yds. TD BERNIE KOSAR, Dolphins 42 29 368 3 BRETT FAVRE, Packers 34 23 342 2 WARREN MOON, Vikings 48 33 332 1 MARK BRUNELL, Jaguars 48 30 302 3 JIM KELLY, Bills 36 21 275 3 T. DILFER, Buccaneers 37 24 249 0 ERIK KRAMER, Bears 29 17 245 3 JIM EVERETT, Saints 32 20 242 4 GUS FREROTTE, Redskins 30 15 242 2 DREW BLEDSOE, Patriots 47 25 237 2 STEVE YOUNG, 49ers 40 28 229 1 TROY AIKMAN, Cowboys 30 21 222 0

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RECEIVING

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Player, Team Rec. Yds. TD KEN DILGER, Colts 7 125 1 BILL BROOKS, Bills 6 109 2 MICHAEL IRVIN, Cowboys 7 103 0 JOEY GALLOWAY, Seahawks 5 102 1 JAKE REED, Vikings 5 99 1

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RUSHING

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Player, Team Car. Yds. TD BARRY SANDERS, Lions 18 124 0 RICKY WATTERS, Eagles 30 122 1 JAMES STEWART, Jaguars 17 95 0 DERRICK MOORE, Panthers 21 93 0 NATRONE MEANS, Chargers 22 90 0 GREG HILL, Chiefs 15 83 1

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--Compiled by Bob Cuomo and Tim Kawakami