A Winter Wonderland as Weather Turns Cold

Winter arrived a few days early over the weekend in much of the country, sending a shiver through several NFL stadiums and mucking up playing conditions.

It was so bad in some spots that fans of Fox weather reporter Jillian Barberie actually had reason to listen for once.

* On Saturday at Seattle, where the Seahawks defeated the Oakland Raiders, 27-24, the wind howled and rain pelted the field at Husky Stadium.

* On Sunday, it was so wet and sloppy at East Rutherford, N.J., where the New Detroit Lions beat the New York Jets, 10-7, that guard Jeff Hartings--who scored the Lions’ only touchdown after recovering a goal-line fumble in end zone--botched his spike attempt.

* At Orchard Park, N.Y., scene of the New England Patriots’ 13-10 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills, most of the field was blanketed in snow before game’s end, covering the yard lines.

The Patriots were stranded after the game because Buffalo’s airport was closed due to the storm.

* At Cleveland, where the Tennessee Titans beat the Browns, 24-0, the field was covered with snow before kickoff and gusting winds dropped the wind chill from 20 degrees to a numbing minus-10. The snow blew everywhere throughout the game, and players on both sidelines crowded around space heaters.

Nowhere, though, were the conditions as lousy as they were at Cincinnati, where a little snow, a blast of cold air and a decision not to use the tarp turned the grass field at Paul Brown Stadium into a mess for the Bengals’ 17-14 victory over the none-too-happy Jacksonville Jaguars.

A light coating of snow made it so difficult to see the yard lines that referee Jeff Triplette had the Bengals paint orange lines along the sidelines and end zones.

Just as happened in the last two home games, huge divots flew when players cut and footing was treacherous once the field’s sandy base was exposed.

“This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever been a part of,” Jaguar offensive tackle Tony Boselli said. “The league had better do something about it. We’re risking our careers out there.”

The weather and the Bengals’ decision not to cover the field overnight compounded the problems.

A cold front that moved through early Sunday dropped the game-time temperature to 9 degrees with a wind chill of 20 below zero. It was the coldest game at Cincinnati since the AFC championship game on Jan. 10, 1982, when the Bengals beat the San Diego Chargers in a temperature of 9 degrees below zero and a wind chill of 59 below.

The Bengals chose not to re-sod the field when it got sloppy midway through the season, hoping to nurse it through the final few games. As part of their lease agreement, the team is in charge of taking care of the field at the first-year stadium.

The grounds crew painted the yard-line stripes on the field Thursday and left it uncovered because the paint didn’t dry in the rainy weather. The team was concerned that pulling on the tarp would smear the yard lines.

The field was covered with snow when the teams went out for pregame warmups Sunday. Clods of sod flew up whenever they made cuts, adding to the bad footing.

Jaguar running back Fred Taylor had called the field a “dirt-bike track” after seeing it on film. He was even more sarcastic after playing on it.

“It was more like a horse track out there,” he said. “That’s probably the best cow pasture I’ve played on.”

PLAY ON, BRO!

Bruce and Clay Matthews didn’t know what all the fuss was about. To the brothers, who played at Arcadia High and USC, there’s nothing special about playing football.

“Neither him and I care very much for these kinds of ceremonies,” Clay Matthews said. “Just line up and play.”

And that’s just what Titan guard Bruce Matthews has done during his 18-year NFL career, and what his older brother, Clay, did for 19 seasons before retiring.

On Sunday, Bruce, 39, moved past his brother into fifth place in league history for games played with 279. Clay, 44, played 278 games, 232 as a linebacker for the Cleveland Browns.

Only four players are ahead of the Matthews: George Blanda, who played 340 games as a kicker and quarterback; kickers Gary Anderson (290) and Morten Andersen (289); and defensive end Jim Marshall (282).

So what is the Matthews’ secret to NFL longevity?

“I guess part of it is having bodies than can bounce back from the punishment,” said Clay, who flew in from Agoura Hills to see his brother pass him. “But I think he and I just love to play the game. I hope he can hang around and pass George Blanda eventually.”

ALL HE IS SAYING . . .

Even Dan Snyder gave up, uncharacteristically leaving the visiting owners’ box early in the fourth quarter of the game that formally ended the Washington Redskins’ playoff chances.

Then there is Terry Robiskie, soldiering on as best he can. On Sunday, the interim coach made his case to be retained for next season, despite an 0-2 record in which the Redskins (7-8) have been outscored, 46-16.

“I didn’t get the job in the best of conditions,” Robiskie said after reviewing the films of Saturday’s 24-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers at Pittsburgh. “If the conditions were good, I wouldn’t have gotten the job. It had to be a bad situation for me to get it.

“To take it over with three games to go in the season, it’s three times as hard. To have to start on the road two weeks in a row, I know how difficult it is. . . . I wouldn’t have written it that way. I probably would have asked to play Centreville High. But they won a state championship, so we probably wouldn’t want to play them.”

SORE THROAT A SMALL PRICE

Titan tight end Frank Wycheck, who said last month that the Browns “didn’t belong on the same field as us,” was involved in two skirmishes in Sunday’s victory over the Browns.

“I took a lot of forearms to the throat,” he said. “But it was fun. I just smiled and kept playing.”

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--Compiled by JERRY CROWE