And You Thought Situation Was Only Scary in Oakland

Woody Paige of the Denver Post on the Broncos’ 23-20 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday:

“Fear and Broncos strike out again. Boo! That’s what 75,000 were yelling Sunday night at Mile High Stadium, and it had nothing to do with Halloween.

” . . . On a positive note: If the Broncos win their remaining eight games, they might qualify for the playoffs as a wild-card team.

“On a negative note: The Broncos have a better chance of winning the Irish Sweepstakes.”

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Trivia time: Seven players share the Pacific 10 record for interceptions in a game with four. Who is the only USC player in this group?

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Futility: From the Vent column of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “I didn’t know when my grandfather taught me about the Brooklyn Dodgers and their hard-luck World Series run against the Yankees in the early ‘50s that he was preparing me to be an Atlanta Braves’ fan.”

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More Vent: “The Braves have gone into the tank more times than George Patton.”

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Reluctant catch: San Francisco guard Ray Brown is irritated that he was goaded into squaring off with Minnesota defensive tackle John Randle in a recent game.

“Randle is such a jerk,” Brown said. “He baited me and I’m flopping in the boat.”

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Party time: Every Sunday is Halloween for the crazily dressed Raider fans. So Raider receiver Tim Brown didn’t know what to expect before Sunday’s game against Miami: “My wife and I were talking about it. I’m coming to the game with blinders on because it’s going to be real crazy.”

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Party pooper: Dolphin linebacker Robert Jones has a low opinion of Raider fans: “I just think these people don’t have a life. They don’t have anything else to do. . . . To come out there dressed that way and acting that way, it’s not enjoying sport. That’s coming out there to show how ignorant you are.”

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Bitter? Cincinnati Bengal quarterback Jeff Blake on rookie Akili Smith, who won the team’s starting job from Blake before being sidelined because of a sprained toe: “He’s the golden boy. He can say whatever he wants and nothing happens to him. The team was given to him.”

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Don’t hold your breath: Patrick Reusse in the Minneapolis Star Tribune: “Maybe Jeff George can be something he has never been in nine previous NFL seasons with three previous teams: The answer.”

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Beyond hope: Nick Canepa in the San Diego Union-Tribune on the Chargers losing to Kansas City, 34-0:

“What happened [Sunday] in Arrowhead Stadium was beyond awful. It was disgusting. The offense sleeps with the fishes, which, come to think of it, are the only creatures who could find it.”

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Trivia answer: Linebacker Adrian Young against Notre Dame in 1967.

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And finally: Bernie Lincicome of the Chicago Tribune on Washington Redskin defensive tackle Dan Wilkinson running 88 yards to a touchdown with an intercepted pass against the Bears on Sunday:

“All the cheerleaders and half the press box could have caught Wilkinson, but none of the Bears could, or bothered to try.

“ ‘I was like an old Ford trying to get some gas at the gas station,’ confirmed Wilkinson.”