SPORTS WEEKEND : AROUND THE NFC : CENTRAL : Matthews Can’t Hide

The worst possible thing is happening to Bear quarterback Shane Matthews--he’s going to be playing football. Matthews has hung around for five seasons, essentially because he has not played. The undrafted free-agent quarterback from Florida has two quarters of NFL experience, having done well enough in a 1996 cameo performance in Tampa to start this season with the league’s highest quarterback rating, 124.1.

The Bears, while not exactly delivering a vote of confidence, have already announced that Cade McNown will get playing time against the Chiefs.

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Now you know why Barry Sanders went AWOL. The Lions will open the season with only two offensive linemen playing where Coach Bobby Ross had them pegged to start.

Ron Rivers will get the first opportunity to replace Sanders, and then Greg Hill, who failed to impress in Kansas City and St. Louis, will run the ball.

“I’m not Barry Sanders,” Hill said. “My name is Greg Hill. I cannot replace Barry; I don’t think there’s any back in the league that could replace Barry. . . . That guy left here wearing a [size] 26 1/2 shoe. I came here wearing 11 1/2. I can’t stick both my feet in the shoe he left here wearing.”

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Can the Viking offense be stopped?

“No, no. If [quarterback Randall] Cunningham is on point, that means that our offensive line is on point,” Minnesota wide receiver Randy Moss said. “If either one of those two are on, or both of them are on, we’re going to put 60 points on that board.”