Not Same Old Cowboys

Cowboy quarterback Troy Aikman required injections to fight through back spasms and play against Washington on Monday, and while courageous, Aikman appeared too quick to release the ball and seek cover. Running back Emmitt Smith ran with a purpose, but still hasn’t scored a rushing touchdown this season, and now Dallas is in jeopardy of becoming the laughingstock of the league.

The Jaguars destroyed the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday despite losing starting running back Natrone Means because of an ankle injury. They will continue to run James Stewart, and lest anyone forget, quarterback Mark Brunell is recovering and is capable of firing up one of the game’s potent passing games.

ON TV

The line: Dallas by 4 1/2.

* San Francisco (5-1) at Atlanta (1-5), 10 a.m., Channel 11: The 49er victory tour through the NFC West continues. San Francisco has found a running game in Garrison Hearst, has kept Steve Young upright and has developed into the best defensive team in football. The Falcons have nothing going for them.

The line: San Francisco by 10 1/2.

* Denver (6-0) at Oakland (2-4), 1 p.m., Channel 4: Al Davis fired Mike Shanahan as the Raider coach and now Shanahan is calling Davis “a bad man.” You can do that when you are 6-0, have John Elway as your quarterback and have watched films of the dreadful Raiders in action. Word around the league is that quarterback Jeff George has already worn out his welcome in Oakland, seeking the sideline to save his hide rather than playing tough and smart while trying to avoid the opposition’s pass rush.

The line: Denver by 5 1/2.

SUNDAY’S OTHER GAMES

* Carolina at New Orleans, 10 a.m.

The line: Carolina by 5

* New England at N.Y. Jets, 10 a.m.

The Line: New England by 3 1/2

* Arizona at Philadelphia, 10 a.m.

The line: Philadelphia by 8 1/2

* Washington at Tennessee, 10 a.m.

The line: Pick ‘em

* Seattle at St. Louis, 10 a.m.

The line: Seattle by 2

* Miami at Baltimore, 1 p.m.

The line: Miami by 1 1/2

* Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.

The line: Pittsburgh by 5

* N.Y. Giants at at Detroit, 1 p.m.

The line: Detroit by 6 1/2

Five Things to Look For:

1. Forget about Atlanta winning, will the Falcons score a touchdown against the 49er defense?

After six games, the 49ers are on pace to the NFL record for fewest points given up in a 16-game season. Buddy Ryan’s 1986 Bears gave up 187 points; a year earlier, Chicago won the Super Bowl after giving up 198.

The 49ers are giving up an average of 11.7 points a game.

2. The Redskins to lose to the Oilers. The first half of the trend has held this year: The week before Washington plays Dallas, it goes 0-7, including a defeat earlier this year to Philadelphia. Now here’s the kicker, a week after playing the Cowboys, the Redskins have gone 0-5 and Sunday play the Oilers in Tennessee.

3. The beleaguered Cowboys beating the Jaguars. “Barry Switzer is at his best when his back is to the wall,” team owner Jerry Jones said. “Barry thrives on adversity. That’s his calling card.”

Of course, you would expect a team coached by Switzer to be used to adversity. “It gets his juices going,” Jones said. “He certainly can recognize he must bring every skill, every instinct, every ounce of experience he’s got to help this football team straighten out. If he doesn’t do that, he would have let me down. He will do that . . . not let me down.”

4. Barry Sanders not to fumble against the Giants. Sanders had his fumble last week against Tampa Bay, and since his rookie season he fumbles once every 104 times he touches the ball.

Sanders fumbled 10 times his rookie season, but in the next eight years he has fumbled 27 times, while running with the ball 2,523 times and catching 288 passes.

5.No one with the last name of Tobin to get a job in the NFL any time soon. So far the two Tobins, Bill, who is general manager of the Colts, and Vince, coach of the Cardinals, are a combined 1-11.

AROUND THE NFC / WEST / No Confidence in Collins

The Panthers wanted to give quarterback Kerry Collins a chance to regain his confidence, but now the team has basically announced: We have no choice but to play the stiff because Steve Beuerlein has a strained ligament in his right knee. The Panthers actually had Beuerlein practice Wednesday in the hopes that he could limp through this week’s game, but then came to their senses: How good do you have to be to beat the Saints? So they switched to Collins, who had seven interceptions and two lost fumbles in his last two starts. . . . The Saints will give Danny Wuerffel his first NFL start against Carolina. “When you’ve got a rookie quarterback, you move around a lot and say boo,” said Carolina cornerback Eric Davis. . . . Without Jerry Rice (knee), the 49ers have scored 152 points in six games--about the same number they averaged going back to 1981. Keep in mind, however, that the 49ers have been playing against the Little Sisters of the Poor, otherwise known as St. Louis, Atlanta and New Orleans.

Opinion: In the first seven games this season, the Saints have faced six teams with new coaches, and have posted a 1-5 mark. What does that tell us? Either New Orleans is just horrible, and it doesn’t matter who the Saints play, or Mike Ditka has lost it and is no match for even the most inexperienced.

CENTRAL / Kramer, Not Mirer, Da Man

Is it possible to berate, abuse and otherwise destroy any remaining confidence Chicago quarterback Rick Mirer might have? Sure, just interview his teammates. “Erik Kramer is the man. Da Man. Theee man. The Homo Sapien,” said Bear running back Raymont Harris after Kramer took over for Mirer. Said wide receiver Curtis Conway: “In my eyes, as long as I’m here I want Erik to be the quarterback here.” . . . . By now everyone knows Detroit’s Barry Sanders was the first back in NFL history to have two 80-yard-plus touchdown runs in the same game. Get this: Hugh McElhenny of the San Francisco 49ers (1952) is the only other back in NFL history to have two 80-yard plus touchdowns in the same season. Sanders, while ever humble, has heard the reports that Tampa Bay Warrick Dunn might be the league’s new Barry Sanders, and appeared extra motivated to reestablish his credentials. “I do a pretty good Warrick Dunn impersonation, don’t I?” . . .

Opinion: The inconsistent Lions, the only NFC Central team playing this week, get the chance to go into their bye week with the division leaders if they can handle the very beatable New York Giants. A good suggestion might be to keep giving the ball to Sanders.

EAST / Graham Cracker a Clapper

When Arizona quarterback Kent Graham went down with a sprained ankle and knee, the hometown fans cheered. “It was tasteless,” offensive tackle Lomas Brown said. “I know they are frustrated. But some fans can’t separate a guy’s livelihood from the game.” Balderdash. Stepping across the crumpled body of Graham, backup quarterback Stoney Case said, “Even if Kent didn’t get hurt, maybe something needed to be done anyway.” Graham completed four of 14 passes and was intercepted twice, which made it difficult for fans to cheer for anything else. . . . . Washington opened 4-2, pretty impressive when you consider that the Redskins have played five playoff teams from a year ago and have only two remaining contests against playoff teams. . . . Although rookie running back Tiki Barber has recovered from a knee injury, the Giants will stick with Tyrone Wheatley as their primary running back. And Danny Kanell, 1-0 as a starter after Dave Brown was forced to sit because of a torn pectoral muscle, might be the team’s field general no matter what Brown’s status is. Kanell was 22-3-1 as a starter at Florida State. . . . Munchkin update: Rodney Peete will replace Ty Detmer at quarterback for the Eagles.

Opinion: How bad is Alvin Harper, who flopped in Tampa Bay after leaving Dallas as a free agent? Harper’s now playing for the Redskins, who will be without wide receiver Michael Westbrook (knee injury), but instead of starting Harper, the Redskins have asked 100-year-old Henry Ellard to save the day.

AROUND THE AFC / WEST/ No George of the Jungle

Everyone knows Oakland quarterback Jeff George lacks courage, but ordinarily no one will say it in the NFL. However, Denver defensive lineman Jumpy Geathers, who is on injured reserve, has played with George and said it. “I personally know him myself, and if you hit him, he’ll fall,” Geathers said. “If you hit him a couple of times, he gets rattled. Good hits. He’ll get rattled. Because some quarterbacks can’t take that kind of pounding. He’s no Steve Young. He’s a nice guy and stuff, but a lot of hitting and a lot personal things get him. And once he starts yelling, you’ve got him. If you make him yell at his players, you’ve got him. You don’t even have to sack him. Just hit him. The pressure on him is more important than the sack.”

Opinion: Chris Warren, considered one of the game’s premier backs, has been dropped to third string in Seattle. Lamar Smith will start, and Steve Broussard will back him up. Smith makes $361,000, Broussard $375,000 and Warren is in the second year of a three-year, $10-million contract. Who cares? Billionaire Seahawk owner Paul Allen has money to burn.

CENTRAL / Morris’ Days Numbered?

If Baltimore running back Bam Morris has his bail revoked for probation violations, he will miss the team’s last four games. Playing for the Ravens, the playoffs are obviously not a consideration. Morris has been charged with violating two conditions of his 10-year probation (for pleading guilty to marijuana possession) by using alcohol and for failing to report to his probation officer seven times between July 6, 1996 and August 1997. “It was something that happened and I’m not going to keep trying to explain it.” Morris said. One suspects he will be explaining it to a judge soon. . . . Oiler owner Bud Adams says he has a feeling attendance will improve in Memphis for his team’s games. Visiting teams to the Astrodome received an average of more than $560,000 a game for the past four years, and Adams promised owners he would guarantee that much money in Memphis and make up the difference if falling short up to $5 million. Adams now expects to hit that $5 million cap by the end of the season, and owners are angry, because they will get small visitors’ shares next season when they must go to Memphis. “I don’t want to rap Memphis,” Steeler owner Dan Rooney said. “But we played a game there against the Saints when Terry Bradshaw was our quarterback and Archie Manning had just come out and we didn’t sell that game out. You draw your own conclusions now.”

Opinion: Pittsburgh’s Jerome Bettis has put to rest the theory that he does not play as hard when not pressed to prove himself to win a new contract. He began this year with a new four-year, $14.4-million pact and now has 686 yards in 139 carries--a 4.9-yard per carry average.

EAST / Monday Night Doltball

The Colts have lost four games by a total of 14 points, but still do not figure to deliver much entertainment for Monday Night TV against Buffalo. “There’s no way in the world we’re an 0-6 ballclub,” safety Jason Belser said. Beg to differ: The record in every paper across America says, 0-6. Colt owner Jim Irsay said the team is expected to sign a new deal with Indianapolis that would keep them from moving to Cleveland. . . . Jet wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, who had trouble catching the ball against the Patriots earlier this season, although he did score a touchdown, ripped into cornerback Jimmy Hitchcock, who will cover him again this week. “I don’t care about Jimmy Hitchcock,” Johnson said. “He’s irrelevant to me. I was the one who dropped two passes; it wasn’t him making plays. If I was him, I’d just be quiet.” . . . The Jets believe the key to beating the Patriots is getting to quarterback Drew Bledsoe. “He’s a laid-back quarterback and if we can get to him, we can rattle him,” Jet safety Victor Green said. Bledsoe was 16 for 34 for 162 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions in a shaky performance against the Jets in the first meeting this year.

Opinion: The Jets have reached a turning point in their first season under Coach Bill Parcells. A week ago they stumbled in a big AFC East game at home against Miami, and now they remain in Giants Stadium to play the division-leading Patriots. While impressive in rebuilding under Parcells, most NFL insiders don’t believe Parcells has the defense to keep his team in the hunt throughout the season.