Why Are No NFL Teams Finer Than Carolina After Half?

Week 13 and the questions:

1. What’s with Carolina’s finishing kick?

2. What’s with the Seattle Seahawk quarterback hex?

3. This week’s upset prediction?

And the answers:

1. Orange slices at halftime. How else can you explain the Panthers’ ability to lap the field in the second half?

Carolina has outscored its opponents, 127-43, in the second half. The defense has not allowed any team to score more than seven points after halftime, has given up only four second-half touchdowns and has shut out four opponents in that time.

Twenty-three of the NFL’s 30 teams have given up more than twice as many second-half points as Carolina.

2. The day before John Friesz broke his leg, the Seahawks gave him a two-year, $4.5-million contract extension.

This is the same team that traded three high draft choices for Kelly Stouffer, better known as “Kelly Stiff.” They used a first-round draft choice on Dan McGwire, a bigger stiff yet.

They used the second pick in the 1993 draft on Rick Mirer, gave him $8 million in guaranteed money after last season, then benched him and now plan to trade him.

3. If Denver is indeed the AFC’s great hope to end NFC domination, then disregard the following selection. The Vikings beat Denver today, catching the Broncos in one of those NFL traps: artificial turf, a second consecutive road game, a game outside the conference, a two-game lead on the field for home-field advantage, a head coach in Minnesota fighting to keep Lou Holtz unemployed.

THE TV GAMES

* A CAPITOL GAME

San Francisco (8-3) at Washington (8-3), 10 a.m., Channel 11: A clash between two division leaders, and a no-brainer--with apologies to Steve Young. The Redskins have lost five in a row to the 49ers with no reason to think they won’t fall again. San Francisco has Young back in the lineup until he gets hit in the head, and Washington has the worst defense in the league.

--Say what: The 49ers have won 22 of the last 23 games when they rush for 100 or more yards, but no sweat, they currently don’t have anyone who can run for 100 yards.

--Player to watch: San Francisco wide receiver Jerry Rice needs 152 yards for an NFL-record 11 consecutive 1,000-yard seasons.

--Finally: Terry Allen leads the NFL with 17 touchdowns and the NFC with 1,060 rushing yards, but the 49ers’ rush defense is No. 4, and it has given up only two scores on the ground.

* ENTERTAINMENT?

Dallas (7-4) at New York Giants (4-7), 1 p.m., Channel 11: Let’s see if the Giants can score. They lost, 27-0, earlier to the Cowboys when Dallas was struggling and playing without receiver Michael Irvin. The only thing going for the Giants is the hope that Dallas will be looking forward to a Thanksgiving showdown with Washington. Either that, or the Cowboys’ bus gets stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel.

--Say what: Former Cowboy running back Dan Reeves is 2-7 in his coaching career against Dallas.

--Player to watch: Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman moved into second place behind Roger Staubach with 21,966 passing yards. Staubach had 22,700, and although the Cowboys are playing the Giants, Staubach’s probably out of reach this week.

--Finally: Thanks for the memories--the Giants have lost eight of their last nine games to the Cowboys.

* SEND IN THE FLAGS

Oakland (4-7) at Seattle (5-6), 1 p.m., Channel 4: Seattle trumped the Raiders by 34 points a year ago, and nothing much has changed for Oakland. Mirer starts for Friesz, but the Raiders will respond undoubtedly as they always do with penalties, dropped passes and poor calls.

--Say what: Mirer is 1-3 against the Raiders with five touchdowns and five interceptions.

--Player to watch: Seattle’s Lamar Smith started for Chris Warren, who had an injured knee, and had his first 100-yard game with 148 yards.

--Finally: In a show of discipline, the Raiders have 103 penalties for 819 yards.

* LAMBS LED TO SLAUGHTER

Green Bay (8-3) at St. Louis (3-8), 5 p.m., ESPN: The Packers have gone 19-8 over the last two years, and remarkably, one of their losses has come to the Rams--and at home. Now the poor Packers must travel to St. Louis and play the mighty Rams in their dome before a hostile crowd. Makes you wonder why Green Bay even bothers making the trip.

--Say what: Ram rookie quarterback Tony Banks is second on the club’s career rookie list with 129 completions. Behind whom? Dieter Brock with 218.

--Player to watch: Running back Edgar Bennett has caught a pass in 59 consecutive games, second most in team history. Behind whom? ESPN announcer Sterling Sharpe.

--Finally: Wide receiver Isaac Bruce needs 48 yards to become first Ram receiver to have consecutive 1,000-yard seasons since Henry Ellard did it from 1988 to ’91. That means the Rams will trade Bruce in the next year or so.

PENNANT DRIVE

Indianapolis (6-5) at New England (7-4): The Patriots ended the Colts’ joy ride earlier this season with a 27-9 beating, and the Colts have never really recovered. But now can the Patriots recover from last week’s setback to Denver?

--Say what: Curtis Martin has scored a touchdown in six consecutive games for New England.

--Player to watch: Indianapolis kicker Cary Blanchard has made a club-record 11 consecutive field goals and improved his team-record accuracy to .868 (46 of 53).

--Finally: Six of the last 10 games between the clubs have been decided by six points or fewer.

San Diego (6-5) at Kansas City (8-3): It’s unclear if the Chargers will show their faces in public again after losing to Tampa Bay. The Chiefs hope so, since they’ve drilled San Diego in 10 of the last 13 meetings.

--Say what: The Chargers are averaging 17 points a game in the ‘90s in Kansas City; the Chiefs are averaging 20 points a game this season, so there you have it: Chiefs 20, Chargers 17.

--Player to watch: The Charger running back--the guy going nowhere. In the last three games the Chiefs have given up an average of 52.7 yards rushing.

--Finally: The Chargers beat Kansas City earlier this season without scoring an offensive touchdown.

Carolina (7-4) at Houston (6-5): A huge game for both teams considering their playoff aspirations.

--Say what: Carolina’s Steve Beuerlein, who starts at quarterback because of Kerry Collins’ injured shoulder, has a career record of 24-25.

Player to watch: Carolina running back Anthony Johnson has four 100-yard games this season--his first since high school seven years ago.

--Finally: Carolina kicker John Kasay is 19 for 19 on field goals inside the 40-yard line.

MISMATCHES

Philadelphia (7-4) at Arizona (5-6): The Eagles have five games remaining against opponents with a combined record of 16-28 and play the hapless Cardinals twice.

--Say what: The Cardinals have scored 30 or more points in consecutive games for the first time since 1988, their first year in Arizona.

--Player to watch: Irving Fryar, who seems to be the only receiver Eagle quarterback Ty Detmer looks for.

--Finally: The Cardinals scored a touchdown in the opening quarter last week for the first time in 19 games.

New York Jets (1-10) at Buffalo (8-3): This is fair.

--Say what: The great career of kicker Nick Lowery might be winding down. He has made only 12 of 18 field goals and 17 of 18 extra-point tries for New York this season. His PAT miss was only the sixth in 559 attempts in 18 years.

--Player to watch: Andre Reed has 749 catches and needs two more to pass Bill receiver coach Charlie Joiner for sixth place on the NFL career list.

--Finally: Running back Thurman Thomas needs 117 yards for an NFL-record eighth consecutive 1,000-yard season . . . and then he will probably sit out the second half of the game.

TIME CAPSULE STUFF

New Orleans (2-9) at Tampa Bay (3-8): The Buccaneers are favored for the first time this century, and that’s how far Jim Everett and the Saints have fallen.

--Say what: In a thriller, the Saints edged the Buccaneers, 9-7, in 1994 at Tampa.

--Player to watch: Quarterback Trent Dilfer has thrown for 519 yards and two touchdowns in completing 72% of his passes the last two weeks. Come on, he was playing the Raiders and Chargers.

--Finally: It’s tough to do, but the Saints rank No. 30 running the ball and No. 30 against the run.

Jacksonville (4-7) at Baltimore (3-8): These teams meet for the second time in three weeks, and it doesn’t get much more exciting than this.

--Say what: The Jaguars have beaten the Browns/Ravens three times in a row.

--Player to watch: Baltimore quarterback Vinny Testaverde leads the AFC with 24 touchdown passes; Jacksonville is second in the conference in pass defense.

--Finally: The Jaguars are 0-6 on the road this season, 2-12 in franchise history.

Atlanta (2-9) at Cincinnati (4-7): The Falcons cannot afford another victory, or they will miss the Peyton Manning sweepstakes.

--Say what: The Bengals have gone 60 games without a 100-yard rusher.

--Player to watch: Cincinnati quarterback Jeff Blake was benched last week after completing eight of 22 passes for 95 yards. Blake returns as the starter, but Erik Wilhelm is warming up.

--Finally: The Falcons have scored the last 17 times they have crossed into the red zone.

Detroit (5-6) at Chicago (4-7): The Lions have already defeated the Bears, 35-16, a real indication of how bad Chicago has been.

--Say what: The Bears have lost five of the last six games to the Lions, and under the brilliant direction of Wayne Fontes, the Lions have gone 13-6 in November and December in the last three seasons.

--Player to watch: Raymont Harris leads the Bears with 431 rushing yards; whatever happened to Rashaan Salaam?

--Finally: The Bears’ defense has limited foes to fewer than 20 points in four consecutive games.

GOING, GOING . . .

Denver (10-1) at Minnesota (6-5): The Broncos look as though they want to wrap up the AFC West Division title and home-field advantage through the playoffs as soon as they can.

--Say what: The Broncos are averaging 165 yards rushing a game, and the Viking defense ranks No. 24 against the run.

--Player to watch: Running back Leroy Hoard, a late addition to the Vikings, had 100 yards against the Raiders.

--Finally: Quarterback Brad Johnson starts in place of Warren Moon, who has a sprained ankle, again for the Vikings.