Rams a Good Bet When It Comes to Perfection

Times NFL writer Robyn Norwood poses--and answers--the burning questions for this week’s games:

Question: Who’ll be the last undefeated team? It’s down to St. Louis, Minnesota and the New York Jets.

Answer: Lay your money on the Rams, who don’t play this week and have Atlanta next week before a potentially dangerous game at Kansas City. The Vikings and Jets don’t have automatic victories this week--and Minnesota has Buffalo in two weeks, while the Jets face Miami in Week 8.

Question: Who’ll win the No Brotherly Love Lost game at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium?

Answer: Former Eagle coach Ray Rhodes, now the Redskins’ defensive coordinator, took the high road this week and wouldn’t talk about facing the team that fired him in 1998. The bet is he’ll crow in private after the Redskins win.

Question: What rivalry exists more in the minds of fans and the memory of Howie Long than in the record books?

Answer: The San Francisco 49ers and Oakland Raiders haven’t met as Bay Area teams since 1979. The last meeting was in 1994 when the Raiders were in Los Angeles.

Question: When will Vince Tobin get fired as coach of the Arizona Cardinals?

Answer: Lose to Cleveland, and it’s only a matter of when the news conference is held.

Question: What innovation did Ram Coach Mike Martz bring to the bye week?

Answer: He really said ‘bye--giving the team the entire week off in a move that will either be hailed as brilliant or bungling, depending on whether the offense keeps up its phenomenal output.