Pro Football SPOTLIGHT

WHO NEEDS AIKMAN VS. YOUNG WHEN YOU HAVE CONWAY?

Maybe it was that swirling Florida storm and those wobbly Steve Walsh flutter balls. Maybe it was the karma of all us Los Angelenos grumbling under our breaths because the Dolphin-Bear game was the one that The Powers That TV substituted when the 49er-Cowboy game was yanked off of our tubes.

Whatever, if you watched the Bears’ 17-14 victory at Miami, you saw a bizarro classic.

Sure, the 49er-Cowboy game was the best matchup of this regular season, but did it feature a fake field goal gone horrendously wrong that ended up as a pretty touchdown pass thrown by a wide receiver (Curtis Conway), tipped away from an eligible offensive lineman (Jerry Fontenot) and caught by a little-used tight end (Keith Jennings)?

Miami reacted well to Chicago’s split formation. Conway, lined up 15 yards to the left of the holder and kicker, took the shovel snap from center and rolled to his right, evaded Bryan Cox and adjusted when primary receiver Marv Cook was covered by hurling a spiral across the field toward Fontenot.

“I saw two of our guys out there, and two of their guys,� Conway said. “Our guys were bigger, so I just decided I’d throw it up there and hope that one of our guys would go up and get it.�

It was a game that had a perfect Donnell Woolford interception in the end zone nullified by a bad call and ruled incomplete, a game that had Woolford’s long interception return earlier in the game made irrelevant by his fumble back to the Dolphins on the play, a game in which Dolphin kicker Pete Stoyanovich left Don Shula stewing on the sidelines by drilling a line drive that got nicked at the line in his attempt to kick a field goal and send the game into overtime.

Said Bear kicker Kevin Butler, who, upon last examination tackled no one, did kick the field goal that put Chicago ahead for good: “We fought, scratched and clawed to get in a position to win. Anytime I can get in and help them win, I’m ready.�

THE GREAT BLAKE

While the NFC was displaying its muddle of struggling young quarterbacks, the other conference showcased a potential new generation of heroes Sunday.

The find of the season so far? Easily, it’s the Cincinnati Bengals’ Jeff Blake, an unknown until David Klinger’s wobbliness and injuries drove him to the sidelines. Blake had his second consecutive brilliant game.

Blake, the 166th selection in the 1992 draft, led the Bengals to a 34-31 victory over the Oilers by throwing for 354 yards and the first four-touchdown performance by a Cincinnati quarterback since 1989.

Blake, who threw for 387 yards last week in only his second NFL start last week in a victory over the Seahawks, bounced off the X-ray table on Sunday to lead two late drives on his bruised left ankle.

And Bengal fans have caught on to the exploits.

“Videos, jerseys, everything around here this week has been No. 8,� said receiver Carl Pickens, who caught two of Blake’s touchdown passes. “Everything is Jeff Blake, and why not? He deserves it.�

JUST LIKE THEY DREW IT UP

Lost in Blake’s wake, but not in the history books, was New England’s Drew Bledsoe, who kept throwing and throwing after struggling to produce points the previous five weeks.

Firing at will after trailing, 20-3, at halftime, Bledsoe completed 45 passes in 70 attempts--both NFL records--in the Patriots’ 26-20 overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

The old records were 68 passes by Houston’s George Blanda on Nov. 1, 1964 and 42 completions by the New York Jets’ Richard Todd on Sept. 21, 1980.

Bledsoe threw for 426 yards and three touchdowns.

“Even when we were ahead, we never were able to take him out of his rhythm entirely,� Minnesota Coach Dennis Green said.

TONIGHT’S GAME: BUFFALO AT PITTSBURGH

6 p.m., Channel 7

Time is running out on the Bills.

Even with Miami’s loss to Chicago on Sunday, Buffalo could suffer difficult-to-reverse damage to its playoff hopes if it doesn’t win tonight. The Bills (5-4) have as many losses as they did all last season, and they have two losses to the team with which they are tied for the last wild-card spot: the Jets.

Still ahead are games against the Packers, Lions (on Thanksgiving), Dolphins, Vikings, Patriots and Colts.

Running back Thurman Thomas has been the key. The Bills have been great when Thomas has played well and they have played poorly when he has struggled. Otherwise, the Bills have been average in every phase of the game.

The Steelers are very fortunate to be 6-3. They were very average and needed four field goals to beat the Oilers last week. They, too, have the easiest part of their schedule behind them. They’ve played the Oilers twice and the Giants and Bengals, but down the line are the Dolphins, Eagles, Raiders, Browns and Chargers.

Steeler running back Barry Foster might not play because of a knee injury. Bam Morris has been an adequate replacement. Steeler quarterback Neil O’Donnell has a sprained ankle, but is expected to play.

Last year, the Steelers dominated the Bills in a Monday night game, 23-0. Pittsburgh controlled the ball for nearly 45 minutes.

NOTEWORTHY

The 11-yard fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Miami’s Dan Marino to Keith Jackson was the 20th of the season for Marino. It is the 11th time Marino has thrown at least 20 touchdown passes, an NFL record. . . . Seven of the last nine games between Kansas City and San Diego have been decided by four points or less. . . . Dan Saleaumua of the Chiefs made the 16th fumble recovery of his career, breaking the team record he had shared with Bobby Bell, Willie Lanier and Deron Cherry. . . . You’re out of the will: The loss to Chicago was the first ever for Miami Coach Don Shula to a team for which one of his sons was coaching. Shula’s son, Mike, is Chicago’s tight end coach. Shula has a 6-1 mark in such contests. . . . It was the Bears’ first victory in Miami, leaving New England as the only site at which they have never won. . . . Think of the poor guy he cut in front of: John Drndak of Vero Beach, Fla., became the 10 millionth person to attend an event at Joe Robbie Stadium and was presented with prizes worth more than $20,000, including a trip to Europe and two tickets to every event in the stadium in 1995, including January’s Super Bowl. . . . Oh yeah, these two have a lot in common: Saint quarterback Jim Everett needed 11 yards entering the game to reach 26,000 career passing yards. He finished with 276 and his two touchdown passes gave him 156 for his career, tying him with Hall of Famer Roger Staubach. . . . Miami’s Irving Fryar equaled a career high with nine receptions. . . . Cleveland (8-2) has allowed the fewest points (118) in the NFL, an 11.8 average per game. The Browns have allowed an NFL low 13 touchdowns. It’s the Browns best start since 1965, when they started 10-2 and finished 11-3 on their way to the NFC title game against Green Bay. Cleveland remains the only NFL team not to allow a 100-yard rusher or a 100-yard receiver. . . . Carl Pickens became the first Bengal receiver to catch three touchdowns in a game since Cris Collinsworth in 1986. . . . Before Jeff Blake on Sunday, Boomer Esiason was the last Bengal to throw for four touchdowns in a game--also against Houston in 1989. . . . Barry Sanders became the first running back to rush for 200 yards against Tampa Bay since Eric Dickerson gained 207 yards for the Rams on Oct. 5, 1986. . . . Rookie Mario Bates of the Saints ran for 141 yards in his first start after sitting out six weeks because of a broken jaw suffered in a barroom scuffle with teammate Lorenzo Neal.

QUACK, QUACK

If it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it’s probably being thrown by an NFC quarterback not named Troy Aikman, Brett Favre, Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon or Steve Young.

As the NFC playoff picture solidifies, it’s the dependable, established quarterbacks who are bringing their teams home strongly--and the shaky, breaky guys who are sending their teams into December panic time.

If things remain as they stand after play Sunday, the above-mentioned five quarterbacks will lead the Cowboys, Packers, Eagles, Vikings and 49ers, respectively, into the playoffs, and right now, the Bears, with Steve Walsh still undefeated as a starter this year, are tied with Green Bay for the final two wild-card spots.

Beyond these six teams, all 6-4 or better, nobody else has a quarterback who can move the ball consistently--and none has a winning record.

It’s a bunch including Atlanta’s star-crossed Jeff George, Detroit veteran Dave Krieg, the Rams’ Chris Miller, the Giants’ Kent Graham and Dave Brown, Jim Everett of New Orleans and Steve Beuerlein of Arizona.

George, for example, started 1994 off nicely, throwing 11 touchdowns in his first six games. But as the pressure has been ratcheted up, his numbers have taken a dive: In the last four games, George has thrown for only three scores (one Sunday in the loss to the Saints), and the pass-dependent Falcons have gone 1-3.

The NFC’s surprise star is Walsh, who has stepped in for Bear free-agent millionaire Erik Kramer this year and conjured five victories in five statistically bland starts, including this Sunday’s 188-yard outing.

MORTEN TO THE RESCUE--AGAIN

What are the New Orleans Saints going to do when Morten Andersen retires? Probably lose many close games.

Andersen beat the Atlanta Falcons Sunday with a game-winning field goal for the sixth time in his career--including four of the last five games between the two teams--giving the Saints a 33-32 comeback victory and overshadowing the six field goals by Atlanta’s Norm Johnson.

This time, Andersen’s game winner was a 39-yarder with eight seconds to play, capping a rally from a 20-3 deficit.

“Any play is big when you win a game with it,� Andersen said. “The NFL is all about making big plays when they count. Both sides did that today, we just did it once more.�

INJURY REPORT

The Philadelphia Eagles took a major hit, losing star middle linebacker Byron Evans, the team’s leading tackler, because of a fractured right leg in the second quarter against Cleveland. Evans, one of the last remaining holdovers from the glory days of the Eagles’ defense, is out for the year.

Cincinnati Bengal running back Steve Broussard was in the hospital Sunday night undergoing tests after he hurt his neck and experienced numbness during the game against Houston. Broussard went down while making a block with four minutes to play. He felt numbness in his arms and legs and was taken off the field on a stretcher.

Bronco receiver Derek Russell was treated and released from the hospital after straining some neck muscles and bruising his spinal column making a tackle on an interception against Seattle.

Green Bay Packer receiver Sterling Sharpe left the game with a hamstring injury after extending his receptions streak to 97 consecutive games with a 13-yard catch. He left the game late in the third quarter, finishing with only the one catch. It was only the 12th catch in the last four games for Sharpe, who led the NFL in receptions the last two seasons, including a record 112 last year.

New England Patriot linebacker Todd Collins suffered a torn knee ligament. . . . Cleveland Brown cornerback Antonio Langham strained his left knee.