It’s the Little Things That Count, Ain’t It?

Wee Willie Keeler, noted singles-hitting batsman for the 1899-1902 Brooklyn Superbas, once said the key to his success was to “keep a clear eye, and hit ‘em where they ain’t.”

Wee Doug Flutie, though not quite as old as Willie, had a similar game plan in the waning seconds against his former team, the Buffalo Bills, Sunday afternoon:

Keep a jaundiced eye, and scramble where they ain’t.

That was some trail of two quarterbacks in the gloaming at Qualcomm Stadium. First, you had Flutie eluding a pair of Buffalo tacklers, wriggling free from what looked to be a certain sack and legging it 13 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 1:10 to play.

Moments later, just as soon as San Diego’s Ed Ellis blocked a last-gasp field-goal try to preserve the Chargers’ 27-24 victory, Rob Johnson could be seen rolling out and sprinting off the field into the safe sanctuary of the stadium tunnel.

No stopping at midfield for a postgame well-done with his old Buffalo quarterbacking rival. No pausing to smile for a let’s-bury-the-hatchet duet in front of the long-lens photographers. And, suffice it to say, no dinner plans for clam chowder and sourdough at The Fish Market.

Johnson ran so quickly for cover, Bill Coach Gregg Williams needs to get a copy of that tape and break it down as soon as possible. Conclusive proof that Johnson, when motivated, has enough speed to outrun any pass rush.

The Flutie-Johnson reunion was a certifiable crowd-pleaser, giving the people everything they could have wanted and expected.

Johnson had the better numbers--passing for 310 yards to Flutie’s 254.

Flutie won the game.

So what else is new?

Well, on the record anyway, Flutie wasn’t gloating as much as usual. The last week, with all the Rob-hates-Doug questions from the media, had been draining.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” Flutie said. “Too many headaches.”

The most remarkable moment of the afternoon came just before the game, when the Bills and the Chargers dispatched their starting quarterbacks to midfield for the coin toss. There, in a moment frozen in history, Flutie and Johnson shook hands.

Flutie described the occasion as “very professional. He even made eye contact.”

And Johnson? Once out-of-breath writers caught up with him, Johnson said that he and Flutie “just don’t get along personally, that’s all. I respect him professionally.”

Bad blood was a popular theme Sunday. The Rams and the Saints, who once had so many things in common, including Jim Everett and high annual draft choices, now have decided they don’t like each other. Or at least the Saints have. The Rams are too imperious to notice, but Saint Coach Jim Haslett paints these twice-yearly meetings with St. Louis as miniature reenactments of the Civil War. It’s posturing mostly, since Haslett figures he needs to do something to whip his young players into the foaming fervor required to slow down Kurt Warner.

But it is working. New Orleans’ 34-31 upset in St. Louis was its third consecutive win over the Rams, and the Rams’ first defeat of 2001. Any day now, the Rams are going notice and maybe grit their teeth back in Haslett’s direction.

“Bull” was how Haslett described a couple of fanciful scoring plays by the Rams--a flea-flicker pass from Az-Zahir Hakim to Isaac Bruce and a handoff to tight end Ernie Cromwell.

“We don’t play that way,” Haslett said. “We play different. We’re a different type of team. We won three out of four times, so it’s evident.”

That’s bull, of course, but Haslett has his players buying into it. Running back Ricky Williams, very excited, told reporters to “look at the way they scored. We knew they couldn’t play with us. We’re too physical and we’re going to come after them.”

Ram Coach Mike Martz simply shrugged and said, “We’re still going to have fun. That’s our game.... We’ll be OK.”

So the Rams blew a 24-6 halftime lead. It can happen to anyone. In fact, the inability to close is the only thing still separating St. Louis and San Francisco in the NFC West loss column after the 49ers couldn’t hold a 31-16 fourth-quarter lead in Chicago and lost to the Bears in overtime, 37-31.

“This is unbelievable,” said Bear defensive back Mike Brown, and he could have been talking about any number of things: His 33-yard interception return for a touchdown on the first play of overtime, or Shane Matthews leading the Bears to three scores in 20 minutes, or, most likely, the Bears improving their record to 5-1--their best start in 11 years.

David Terrell and Anthony Thomas, a couple of rookies from Michigan, combined for three touchdowns, which had Terrell saying wild things, crazy things, things that haven’t been heard in a Bear locker room since the mid-’80s.

“We’re winners,” Terrell declared, “me and [Thomas], and we’re going to keep doing this kind of stuff. Get us the ball and we’re going to do a tune on defenses.”

Brian Griese and Tom Brady are Michigan alums too, but only one of them was a winner Sunday. In Denver, the old Wolverine teammates finished the same way they wound up on Michigan’s 1997 quarterback depth chart: Griese 1, Brady 2. To put it another way: Denver 31, New England 20.

School was in session for young Brady, who had cruised his first four NFL tests this year without throwing an interception. Against the Broncos, he increased that streak to 162 attempts without an interception before going haywire in the fourth quarter and getting picked off four times.

And what do you call four Tom Brady interceptions in a single quarter?

Yes, that’s right, rimshot, please: A Brady bunch.

And what do you call Washington beating the New York Giants, 35-21, and Dallas defeating Arizona, 17-3, on the same afternoon?

Well, Jim Fassel can’t be quoted here. But Andy Reid, whose Philadelphia Eagles lost to Oakland yet moved a week closer to the NFC East title, would call it a very good day.