In Wayne’s New World, Sanders Doesn’t Get the Ball

Week 12 and the questions:

1. Why should the folks in Detroit insist on the recall of Coach Wayne Fontes?

2. No one wants to mingle with Cheeseheads, but why do the Cowboys play the Green Bay Packers in Dallas every year?

3. What’s wrong with the Chicago Bears?

4. Who is Jamie Brown, and why is he so important?

5. This week’s upset?

And the answers:

1. It doesn’t take a crash-test dummy to figure out why the Lions are such a wreck: mismanagement of Barry Sanders.

And that’s Fontes’ fault. Now if your job was on the line, who would you want working for you? An erratic Scott Mitchell? A washed-up Don Majkowski?

Maybe Fontes doesn’t know Sanders is on his roster. In the last four games--all losses--Sanders has been basically ignored. He had nine carries against the Oakland Raiders, 16 against the New York Giants, 20 against the Packers and 16 against the San Diego Chargers. When he carried 20 times, he gained 152 yards.

Sanders has carried 181 times in the first 10 games, his lowest 10-game total since 1992, when the Lions--surprise, surprise--finished 5-11.

2. The luck of the draw, and it stinks, sure, but the Cheeseheads can relate to that. The NFL schedule follows a formula each year on how teams finish in the standings, and that’s why Green Bay will be playing a seventh consecutive game in Dallas today.

If the Packers win the NFC Central title this season, as they should, then next year’s NFL schedule calls for them to play at the site of the No. 2 NFC East finisher--more than likely the Cowboys.

3. They can’t score. It’s this red zone thing--the Bears move inside their opponent’s 20-yard line, they see red and stop. On 36% of their possessions inside the red zone, the Bears have come away not scoring a point. They have scored 78 points from the red zone--28 teams have scored more.

Worse, quarterback Dave Krieg has completed only 26% of his passes inside the 10.

4. Jamie Brown is 6 feet 8, 320 pounds and could be assigned the most important task in football today--protect the blind side of Denver quarterback John Elway.

Gary Zimmerman, one of the best tackles in the game, might have to sit out against New England because of a sore shoulder, leaving Brown, a fourth-round pick from Florida A&M; in 1995, to make his first NFL start. Brown is best known so far for being the brother-in-law of Dallas wide receiver Michael Irvin.

5. No upset picks, but a prediction: The St. Louis Rams, who are home again and who scored 59 points a week ago, won’t score more than 17 against the expansion Carolina Panthers.

THE TV GAMES

* BIG-TIME SHOOTOUT

Denver (9-1) at New England (7-3), 10 a.m. Channel 4: The Broncos won by 34 points a year ago in New England and have beaten the Patriots eight times in a row. But this one might come down to the last pass thrown by Elway or Drew Bledsoe. The Broncos rank No. 1 on offense, the Patriots No. 6 and the teams rank second and third in scoring points.

--Say what: The Broncos are 8-0 when leading in time of possession, and running back Terrell Davis, who became the 14th player to top 1,000 yards rushing in his first two seasons, gives Denver the opportunity to keep the ball away from Bledsoe.

--Player to watch: Bledsoe, 24, became the youngest player to pass for 13,000 yards, beating Dan Marino, who was 25.

--Finally: The Patriots have scored more than 20 points eight weeks in a row.

* TITLE CLASH

Washington (7-3) at Philadelphia (7-3), 10 a.m., Channel 11: The winner takes over undisputed first place in the NFC East and stays at least one game up on dreaded Dallas. The Redskins appear on the verge of collapse. The Eagles spent the week trying to muzzle running back Ricky Watters, who isn’t happy again with the number of times he is getting the ball.

--Say what: The Redskins have given up 75 points in the last two games, but they have also outscored their opponents, 47-19, in the first quarter this season.

--Player to watch: Charlie Garner. If the Eagles, as they have promised, get the ball to Garner, then Watters is going to be one unhappy sideline pouter.

--Finally: If Philadelphia is trying to hold on to the lead, consider this: The Eagles haven’t lost a fumble in the last five games after losing seven in their first five contests.

* WHO GETS EMBARRASSED?

Baltimore (3-7) at San Francisco (7-3), 1 p.m., Channel 4: The Ravens collapsed against Jacksonville a week ago, while the 49ers lost Steve Young with a concussion and then watched Elvis Grbac throw a crucial interception against the Cowboys. San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown called Grbac an “embarrassment to humankind,” and so the 49ers promoted Grbac as their starter.

--Say what: The Ravens need to take the 49ers into overtime. San Francisco has lost three in a row in that fashion.

--Player to watch: Grbac. If he throws another interception with the game on the line, well, maybe the mayor has a point.

--Finally: Baltimore has scored 10 more points than the 49ers this season--because they have Vinny Testaverde.

* FORD BREAKS DOWN

Minnesota (5-5) at Oakland (4-6), 5 p.m., ESPN: Two weeks ago, the Raiders looked as though they were in position to chase a wild card, but short field-goal misses by Cole Ford have left Oakland in rubble. The Vikings, 4-0 at one time, will now turn to Brad Johnson in place of limping quarterback Warren Moon.

--Say what: Did someone say Jeff Jaeger? Five of six Raider losses this season have been by six points or fewer.

--Player to watch: Minnesota defensive tackle John Randle has more sacks than anyone in the NFL since 1993 (44).

--Finally: The Raiders’ defense on kickoff returns leads the AFC, and watch for the stampede to buy personal seat licenses.

TAILGATING

Carolina (6-4) at St. Louis (3-7): Do Ram fans drive to the dome and tailgate? Will Ram fans continue to drive to the dome? Is all forgiven now that the Rams have scored 59 points?

--Say what: Great joy in St. Louis this week as the town’s warriors are no longer ranked No. 30 in both offense and defense. Offense now ranks No. 28 and defense No. 29.

--Player to watch: Running back Lawrence Phillips had his first 100-yard game as a pro. Now there’s talk of renaming the Gateway Arch in his honor.

--Finally: The Panthers reached the .500 mark (13-13) in their two-year existence with last week’s victory over the New York Giants; the Rams are 10-16 in that time.

HO-HUM

Chicago (4-6) at Kansas City (7-3): The Bears threw a scare into the Broncos last week, and the Chiefs are coming off a big win over Green Bay and await division rival San Diego next week. Might this be a situation to catch Kansas City napping? No.

--Say what: The Bears have given up an NFL-low 13 points in first-quarter play.

--Player to watch: Running back Raymont Harris has gone over the 100-yard mark for the second consecutive week, and he plays behind Rashaan Salaam.

--Finally: The Chiefs are 8-2 against the NFC since 1994, but slow down there, the Bears have beaten Kansas City in four of their last five meetings.

Seattle (5-5) at Detroit (4-6): The Seahawks are coming on, although they are about to go away. Seattle plays four of its final six on the road. The Lions are still coached by Fontes.

--Say what: Majkowski probably will start for Mitchell, who has injured ribs. Majkowski is 25-30-1 as an NFL starter.

--Player to watch: Sanders needs 152 yards in the last six games--remember Fontes is still coaching--for an NFL-record eighth consecutive 1,000-yard season.

--Finally: The Seahawks have beaten the Lions in four of their last five meetings, but doesn’t everybody beat Detroit?

TEASERS

Cincinnati (4-6) at Buffalo (7-3): Bruce Coslet has fired up the Bengals and has led them to three consecutive victories, but is he really that good? Coslet went 1-7 as head coach of the Jets against Buffalo.

--Say what: The Bengals have an NFL-best plus-15 in takeaways versus giveaways, and their 31 turnover recoveries are an NFL best.

--Player to watch: Quarterback Jim Kelly, on the scrap heap a few weeks ago, has thrown for 10 touchdowns in four previous games against Cincinnati.

--Finally: The Bengals have not won four in a row since the opening four weeks of 1989.

Jacksonville (4-6) at Pittsburgh (7-3): This should be a breeze for the Steelers unless Jaguar quarterback Mark Brunell believes all those Steve Young comparisons and starts playing like Young.

--Say what: The Steelers are 30-3 under Coach Bill Cowher when a rusher goes over 100 yards.

--Player to watch: Brunell has passed for more than 200 yards in the last dozen games.

--Finally: As good as the Steelers have been the last two years, they have gone 1-2 against the expansion Jaguars.

Miami (5-5) at Houston (6-4): The winner will still be in the hunt for a wild card.

--Say what: Houston is 14-18 under Coach Jeff Fisher, and 12 of those losses have been by seven or fewer points.

--Player to watch: Miami’s Karim Abdul-Jabbar needs one rushing touchdown to tie Ron Davenport’s team rookie mark of 11.

--Finally: The Oilers have the NFL’s top rushing defense, but Jimmy Johnson is stubborn enough to keep running Abdul-Jabbar.

Tampa Bay (2-8) at San Diego (6-4): The Chargers have been given a gift, an opportunity to jump into the wild-card race with victories over hospitalized Indianapolis, hapless Detroit and helpless Tampa Bay.

--Say what: The Chargers ran for 127 yards last week and began to inquire about what hotel will be used in this year’s Super Bowl.

--Player to watch: Running back Aaron Hayden. The Chargers’ projected starter before the season is listed now as inactive.

Finally: The Buccaneers’ 29th-ranked offense is improving.

PITIFUL

New Orleans (2-8) at Atlanta (1-9): Imagine all the pregame hype for this one. The outcome could hinge on arms of Jim Everett and Bobby Hebert.

--Say what: That’s the arms of Everett and Hebert.

--Player to watch: Everett threw his 200th touchdown pass last week; he has 165 interceptions and a 62-85 record as a starter.

--Finally: Tyrone Hughes is on a pace to break the NFL record for kickoff return yardage because the Saints’ opponents score so much and have to kick off.

New York Giants (4-6) at Arizona (4-6): A rematch of a game no one cared to see the first time around when both starting quarterbacks went down with injuries. The Giants won that thriller, 16-8.

--Say what: Kyle Rote holds the Giant record with seven consecutive games with a touchdown reception; some guy named Thomas Lewis now has four.

--Player to watch: Boomer Esiason passed for 522 yards for Arizona. Bet he doesn’t throw for half that much this week.

--Finally: Esiason had lost his previous seven games as a starter before beating the Redskins.

New York Jets (1-9) at Indianapolis (5-5): The Colts believe they have hit rock bottom. They could still lose to the Jets.

--Say what: The Jets had a 21-point lead on Indianapolis a year ago as they did last week against New England. And lost both games.

--Player to watch: Adrian Murrell needs 128 yards to become the fourth Jet rusher to top 1,000 yards, and first since Freeman McNeil in 1985.

--Finally: The Jets have dropped four in a row to the Colts.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Conference Standings

The three division winners and the three teams with the best record among non-division winners advance to the playoffs. * denotes division leader:

AMERICAN CONFERENCE

*--*

Denver* 9 1 0 .900 262 167 Buffalo* 7 3 0 .700 191 175 Kansas City 7 3 0 .700 206 168 New England* 7 3 0 .700 275 215 Pittsburgh* 7 3 0 .700 230 160 Houston 6 4 0 .600 230 190 San Diego 6 4 0 .600 225 239 Indianapolis 5 5 0 .500 172 208 Miami 5 5 0 .500 238 205 Seattle 5 5 0 .500 206 239 Cincinnati 4 6 0 .400 214 226 Jacksonville 4 6 0 .400 202 208 Oakland 4 6 0 .400 217 190 Baltimore 3 7 0 .300 244 286 N.Y. Jets 1 9 0 .100 172 264

*--*

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

*--*

Green Bay* 8 2 0 .800 288 144 Philadelphia* 7 3 0 .700 228 203 San Francisco* 7 3 0 .700 234 152 Washington* 7 3 0 .700 239 190 Carolina 6 4 0 .600 217 148 Dallas 6 4 0 .600 206 165 Minnesota 5 5 0 .500 169 194 Arizona 4 6 0 .400 164 238 Chicago 4 6 0 .400 144 192 Detroit 4 6 0 .400 208 214 N.Y. Giants 4 6 0 .400 157 189 St. Louis 3 7 0 .300 201 280 New Orleans 2 8 0 .200 152 235 Tampa Bay 2 8 0 .200 115 195 Atlanta 1 9 0 .100 176 303

*--*