WEEK 3 PRIMER / T.J. SIMERS : Buccaneers Get New Test : GAME OF THE WEEK: TAMPA BAY AT MINNESOTA, Sunday, 10 a.m., Channel 11

By T.J. SIMERS

Sept. 12, 1997 12 AM PT

Take note, Cheeseheads, this is for all the marbles in the NFC Central Division in a battle between the two best teams. The Bucs have knocked off San Francisco and Detroit, and although the Vikings have won five of the last six meetings between these teams in the Metrodome, Tony Dungy knows all of Minnesota’s secrets after working there for four years.

Quarterback Trent Dilfer has shown remarkable progress for Tampa to date, helped in a large part by rookie running back Warrick Dunn, but the Vikings couldn’t be more pleased with the switch from Warren Moon to Brad Johnson. So what we have here are two happy teams, already one game up on the Packers. If the Bucs win here, there might be no catching them.

Line: Minnesota by 4.

Key stat: The last time the Bucs started a season 3-0 was in 1979.

Are you kidding--edge to Minnesota.

Five Things to Look For:

1. A Tony Banks fumble. Just like Sunday follows Saturday, the St. Louis Ram starting quarterback is going to fumble. Banks, who fumbled an NFL-record 21 times as a rookie, dropped the ball three times last week against San Francisco. In a high school move, he’s now carrying a ball around with him during the week wherever he goes. “I’m holding the ball, trying to do some things to get used to it,” Banks said.

2. Heath Shuler at quarterback for New Orleans--for at least a few plays. The pressure’s on Coach Mike Ditka to pull Shuler and try out Danny Wuerffel after two poor performances and a home-town crowd already booing Shuler’s every move.

“When I brought Heath in I brought him in with the idea that I was going to give him a shot,” Ditka said. “I told him when I brought him in I wasn’t going to jerk him around every time he did something wrong. I’ve done that in the past too. I’m going to give him a chance. Two games don’t make a season.”

Three might.

3. Detroit wide receiver Johnnie Morton not being the first player taken in the expansion draft by Los Angeles’ new football team. Morton, a former Trojan, has now begun jumping into the stands as the players do in Green Bay.

“Coming out here from L.A., you’ve got die-hard fans out here, that’s what I’ve noticed,” Morton said. “It means something to them if they can be near a player, talk to him, touch him. If you do that in L.A., they’re just like, no big deal. They don’t even know who you are.”

Johnnie What’s-His-Name has got a point there.

4. The opening of Raljon Stadium. The Redskins will play the Cardinals in their new 80,116-seat Maryland stadium--less than 18 months after construction began--named after late owner Jack Kent Cooke’s two sons, Ralph and John.

5. Boos in Atlanta. The only one who might get booed more than Bill Parcells returning to New England is Jeff George coming back to Atlanta with the Raiders. George, suspended after three games last year for the Falcons, has not had many kind things to say about the city’s fans.

AROUND THE NFC

EAST

Wide receiver Alvin Harper, a free-agent bust at Tampa Bay after playing for Dallas, came to Washington for more money and still doesn’t have a catch. “It’s going to be hard to keep everyone happy,” Harper said. “But we have four good wide receivers, and we all have to deal with it.” Would someone please name those four good receivers? . . . They might want to think about installing cheap goalposts at Sun Devil Stadium. After the Cardinals beat the Cowboys, fans tore down the goalpost at the north end of the field and carried it down 5th Street and dumped it into a dry Salt River bed. Fans did the same thing twice last year--after Arizona State beat Nebraska and California. Arizona quarterback Kent Graham dropped to his knees after the win, lifted his arms to the heavens and then cried. . . . The NFL instituted the “Emmitt Smith rule” this year penalizing a team 15 yards if a player removes his helmet. Smith used to do it after every touchdown. Against Arizona he got nailed for 15 yards for taking his helmet off to argue a holding penalty. “I see guys doing sexual gestures after sacks and they’re not getting [penalty] flags,” Smith said. . . . The Giants were last in the league in third-down conversions last year, and with new whiz kid Jim Fassel directing the offense, they have hit on only seven of 27 third-down attempts. Guess it wasn’t all Dan Reeves’ fault. . . . The Eagles’ first-round draft pick, defensive end Jon Harris, has been on the team’s inactive list for the first two games because of his poor work in the preseason.

Noteworthy: If the Cardinals beat the Redskins, they will be 2-0 in the NFC East for the first time since 1984.

And the rest of the story: It has been reported in several places that a frustrated Ray Rhodes will ask out of his contract as coach of the Eagles at year’s end because Philadelphia won’t spend money on free agents.

Rhodes is upset that the Eagles didn’t re-sign defensive end William Fuller, but Rhodes’ contract doesn’t expire until after the 1999 season, and there are others who believe he will go nowhere because of the work it took to get the Philadelphia top job.

CENTRAL

Detroit running back Barry Sanders is averaging 2.1 yards a carry and has 53 yards in two games. Coach Bobby Ross said the problem is not Sanders. “Oh, Lord, no,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with him.” Then it must be the offensive line. . . . After Rashaan Salaam fumbled two more times, Bear fans had enough and began booing him. “They pay a lot of money to see a winning team and when your team is not producing like you expect them to, you kind of get frustrated, so I don’t blame them,” Salaam said. “I’m not really worried about the fans. I’m worried about the coaching staff. As long as they are being tolerable, what the fans and everybody else thinks doesn’t really matter to me. It’s what the coaches and everybody else in this organization think of me that matters.” That will quiet the fans. . . . Brett Favre will be matched against Dan Marino, and according to Favre he never expects anyone to break Marino’s single-season record of 48 touchdown passes, calling it a greater feat than Roger Maris’ record 61 home runs. . . . The Vikings are favored to go 3-0 after this weekend, and remember, a year ago they opened 4-0 before taking a dive.

Noteworthy: The Dolphins are 8-0 against the Packers.

And the rest of the story: Rick Mirer has now learned the Bear offense, and if Eric Kramer doesn’t knock off the Lions, a change might be coming. Kramer is 0-4 against the Lions, who have lost the last five games Kramer has started. So why are they waiting one more week?

WEST

Twenty-nine of Atlanta’s last 33 games have been blacked out locally for failing to sell out, and the Falcons are 0-2 with one of the dullest group of players in the league. . . . Carolina will play without Pro Bowl linebacker Lamar Lathon, who underwent knee surgery, and will replace him with former Saint standout Renaldo Turnbull. . . . The Saints, who might be able to play the rest of the season without scoring, have lost tight end Irv Smith for four games because of a knee injury. . . . The 49er secondary, still considered the team’s Achilles’ heel, will start 5-foot-8 Darnell Walker in place of an injured Marquez Pope at right cornerback. Big deal--the 49ers are playing the Saints.

Noteworthy: San Francisco quarterback Steve Young, who normally does not wear a mouthpiece, will do so now as another preventive measure to avoid a concussion. Listen for the audibles.

And the rest of the story: Carolina quarterback Kerry Collins, ordered not to talk for the last month after shooting off his mouth and then getting punched by a teammate for using a racial slur, is talking again.

“I made a mistake,” Collins said. “I joke around. I’m sarcastic. I said something that wasn’t meant to be taken offensively. Regardless of that, it was. I apologized, but in no way did I mean anything by it.”

AROUND THE AFC

EAST

The Colts have yet to score a touchdown, and Coach Lindy Infante is his own offensive coordinator. “To not have an offensive touchdown so far is about as depressing as you can get depressed about something,” Infante said. The Colts have only two completions of 20 yards or longer--nothing longer than 22 yards. . . . The opposition has already begun double-teaming Miami standout rookie pass rusher Jason Taylor. This week Taylor takes on Packer left tackle John Michels, whom he destroyed in a preseason meeting. . . . The Patriots will probably still be without wide receiver Terry Glenn, but their powerful defense will get Steve Israel and Willie McGinest back from injuries in time to tackle the Tuna. . . . Bill Parcells won nine of his last 11 games in Foxboro and Neil O’Donnell is 2-0 against the Patriots with four touchdowns and one interception.

Noteworthy: The Colts are on pace to match their pitiful sack totals in each of the past three years when they had 29. So far they have one, but they are historically strong finishers.

And the rest of the story: Dan Marino turns 36 Monday and there is talk around the league that Coach Jimmy Johnson might be getting ready to bench him and build with 28-year-old Craig Erickson.

CENTRAL

The Bengals’ attempt to install the Steelers’ zone blitz defense has been a bust so far and Cincinnati struggled to beat Arizona before losing to a terrible Raven team. “We’re 1-1,” quarterback Jeff Blake said. “We’re still in the hunt for everything. Everyone’s talking like we just lost our eighth game. That’s ridiculous. When we have a perfect game and we’re clicking, we’ll blow somebody out by 50 points.” . . . Running back Jay Graham, a special teams player, got his first start for Baltimore and ran 16 times for 73 yards, including a five-yard touchdown. “It’s like you get in there, and you say to yourself this is your first play. You’ve dreamed about this since you were 3 years old. Once you get that first hit, everything just blanks out and you’re making plays,” he said. . . . Jacksonville is 10-2 in its last 12 regular-season games--the best mark in the NFL in that time. “It may be a cliche, but this team has come of age,” Jaguar offensive tackle Leon Searcy said. “We line up on Sunday and we believe in ourselves.” . . . For the first time in 20 years the Steelers have put back-to-back games together without recording a sack. The Steelers have given up six passes of 25 yards or more in two games. Last year after six games, they had given up only four of 25 or more.

Noteworthy: You would never guess, but Raven running back Earnest Byner moved onto the list as one of the NFL’s top 20 all-time rushers last week.

And the rest of the story: Baltimore fans cheered when it was announced that Pittsburgh had defeated Washington, much to the surprise of Raven owner Art Modell.

“There’s obviously a great anti-Washington feeling in this city. I was sort of surprised when they cheered the result. After all, Pittsburgh is in our division. They could have been 0-2.”

WEST

The Broncos just got better with the addition of tackle Gary Zimmerman, the key ingredient in keeping John Elway healthy all season. Zimmerman had told the Broncos he was retiring, but never sent his paperwork to the league. . . . Elvis Grbac’s game-winning drive to beat the Raiders has sent everyone’s expectations in Kansas City soaring. “The one thing a quarterback gives you is hope. Elvis Grbac gives you hope,” Coach Marty Schottenheimer said. . . . The Raiders, 3-14 in their last 17 games decided by seven points or fewer, are still reeling from last week’s loss. Cornerback Terry McDaniel took the blame for letting Andre Rison get behind him for the winning touchdown, although safety Eric Turner was supposed to provide help. “It was my guy all the way,” McDaniel said. . . . Charger quarterback Jim Everett needs 28 passing yards to pass Jim Hart as the NFL’s 11th all-time passer. He became the 11th-best quarterback in pass completions last week, passing Johnny Unitas. . . .

Noteworthy: Raider cornerback Larry Brown continues to play like the NFL’s all-time free-agent bust. Brown, a Super Bowl MVP with Dallas who took $12.5 million to join the Raiders, was beaten by Tennessee’s Chris Sanders for a 48-yard touchdown on a third-and-15 play, and against Kansas City, Rison beat him badly twice to set up a field goal just before the half. The Raiders benched him in the second half.

And the rest of the story: After Oakland’s loss Monday night, Coach Joe Bugel locked himself in his office and did not come out until all players and media had left. Bugel said his feelings after the loss were comparable to those he felt after the death of his mother. The locker room doors were kept closed, and only Albert Lewis agreed to speak.

“There were some things going on I didn’t want anybody to see,” Bugel said. “They needed some space at that time.”

ON TV

* Miami (2-0) at Green Bay (1-1), 10 a.m., Channel 4: The Packers bounce back in a big way against Dolphins.

Line: Green Bay by 12 1/2.

* Arizona (1-1) at Washington (1-1), 10 a.m., Channel 11: New stadium for the Redskins, same old players for the Cardinals.

Line: Washington by 7 1/2.

* New Orleans (0-2) at San Francisco (1-1), 1 p.m., Channel 11: Why would the 49ers start Steve Young against a team that cannot score, but can only hurt him?

Line: San Francisco by 11.

* New York Jets (1-1) at New England Patriots (2-0), 5 p.m., TNT: The Patriots dine on tuna, and carry Coach Pete Carroll off the field on their shoulders.

Line: New England by 9.

SUNDAY’S OTHER GAMES

* Kansas City at Buffalo, 10 a.m.--Beware of a letdown.

Line: Kansas City by 4

* Detroit at Chicago, 10 a.m.--Bears getting desperate.

Line: Chicago by 2 1/2

* Oakland at Atlanta, 10 a.m.--Raiders may finally stop a running game.

Line: Oakland by 3 1/2

* Baltimore at N.Y. Giants, 10 a.m.--Another Raven upset?

Line: N.Y. Giants by 3

* Carolina at San Diego, 1 p.m.--No Lamar Lathon, but maybe no problem, either.

Line: Pick ‘em