Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 196

I -i Jets (3-9) at vvvffat- A -C- rv Eagles (8-4) at v- Hfr Channel 4 WCBS tine: Chargers by 414 Over-under 37' j'Jsts vs Chargsrs aB-time: Chargers lead 4 Most recent meeting: Sept 4 Jets Rookie Billy Joe Tofliver'wiN start in place ofan ineffective McMahon tor the Chargers whose anemic offense has Scored only nine touchdowns in the last eight weeks The Chargers arc 24th fri toe in total offense (averaging 2885 yards) and 2m to passing (1607-yard -The Chargers' defense hat been aNcMtont to rcoerc points or fewer toeach of toe taat'io games That wW mean prob-t 4 lem for QB Ken who had an easy day against the woefti FaK ie i tu nkui a unr Chargeis (4-8 -1 pjn Channel 2 WNEW (1130) Line: Giants by 3 Over-under 37 1 St Giants vs Eagles aH-Orne: Giants lead 59-472 Most racent meeting Oct 8 1 969 This one probably wtf decide who wine the NFC East The Eagles can gain a huge tiebreaker advantage by beating the Giants a aeoond straight JSJ time A Giants victory would mean a two-game lead with only three game Is x- Look tor the Giants to be more conservative Own in Monday 34-lf 24 loss to San Francisco when they threw for 326 yards but were burned by three ITO Simms interceptions The Giants hope to m-estabMi the ground game More importantly however is the ability to survive without LB 3 Lawrence Taylor who likely wil miss the game with an ankle sprain Johnie Cooks replaces Taylor but don't be surprised to see H-B Pepper become more involved In the pass rush- VV- -K-x'-Ki cons last week 4 combined for 2014 srs DEs Leslie O'Neal and Lee WdQame havej expect much from Jets RB Johnny HectorihQ le 338 yards rushing to last five games Last week theChargers held Erie son to a marc 30 yards on 17 carries Giants Analysis by Hanifan was named interim coach Rams (8-4) at Cowboys (1-11) Line: Rams by 9 Over-under 41 It's amazing how an injury can set the stage for a surprise performance Look no further than last week's sensational effort by Rams WR Flipper Anderson who made up for the absence of Henry Ellard with an NFL-record 336 receiving yards to the Rams' 20-17 win over New Orleans QB Jim Everett threw for a career-high 454 yards as he directed two fourth-quarter touchdown drives to force overtime The Rams need a victory to keep pace with the 49ers but that shouldn't be difficult against the Cowboys who may not win another game aN season Packers (7-5) at Bucs (5-7) Line: Packers by 214 Over-under 45 The Packers battling for their first divisional title since 1972 arc-coming off a dutch 20-19 win over Minnesota That was their second straight win over a 1 988 playoff team they beat the 49ers to San Francisco a week earlier The Bucs are also coming off two straight wins toduding an upset of Bob Glauber Chicago and last week's 14-13 win over Phoenix Key stab The last three meetings have been dedded by three points or fewer Redskins (6-6) at Cardinals (5-7) Line: Redskins by 4 Over-under: 4114 The Redskins are dinging to wild-card playoff hopes to gato a berth they'll have to win their last tour games and pray for help It should be down to three after this one The Cardinals losers of two straight have been racked by injuries and tost week's dismissal of coach Gene Stallings QB Gary Hoge-boom replaces Tom Tupa Washington's offense was on fire last week behind QB Mark Rypien He threw tor a career-high 401 yards to the 38:14 blowout of Chicago Saints (6-6) at Lions (3-9) Line: Saints by 3 Vi Over-under 39 Vi Lions rookie RB Barry Sanders who leads the NFC with 1016 rushing yards faces the league's No 1 rushing defense The Saints average 773 rushing yards allowed and have held nine straight opponents under 100 yards rushing The Saints can't afford a ton one more setback and Bengal (6-6) at Browns (7-4-1) Line: Brcwns by 4- Over-under: 3714 Both are coming off losses: the Browns were shocked by the underdog Lions 13-10 on Thanksgiving Day and the Bengals lost 24-7 to the Bills Because of the cold weather in Cleveland the teams' running games win be crucial The Browns are ranked 20th in rushing averaging only 1 024 yards The Bengals hold a huge edge rushing tor 1 600 per game first in the NFL Bean (6-6) at Vikings (7-5) Line: Vikings by 6 Over-under 40 Maybe Bears coach Mike Ditka was right when he said the NFC Central winner could finish 9-7 Alter ail the Bears and Vikings have been underachievers most of the season and the surprising 7-5 Packers are also in the hunt The Bears have won the NFC Central the past five seasons but if they play as they did to last week's 38-14 loss at Washington the Bears will be out of the postseason picture The Vikings who lost to Green Bay last week boast the top defense allowing 2388 yards a game -Minnesota 54) at home has three of its final tour games at the Metrodome Oilers (7-5) at Steelers (6-6) Line: Oilers by 3 Over-under 40 Steelers coach Chuck NoM refuses to pass this off as merely a rebuilding year He's thinking playoffs And with a victory over the Oilers one of the NFL's worst road teams the Steelers would have a legitimate shot at postseason play The Oilers 5-1 at home but 2-4 on the road were embarrassed 34-0 last week to Kansas City Road ineptitude may be an that stands in the way of a divisional title tor them The Steelers' biggest problem will be contending with the Oilers' defense Houston is excellent against the rush allowing an average of only 950 yards tops to the AFC 49ers (10-2) at Falcons (3-9) Line: 49ers by 914 Over-under 43 The big question is the 49ers' attitude: Will they be flat coming off their dramatic 34-24 Monday night win over the Giants? Or will they roll over the struggling Falcons who saw coach Marion Campbell retire on Tuesday? Choose the latter After all the 49ers have a big showdown with the Rams Monday night Dec 1 1 and they'd much rather go in with their current two-game lead The 49ers are the best December team since 1978 going 27-10 to that span The Falcons meanwhile are in disarray First It was Ralph Nonwood's death last Friday Then it was Campbefl's resignation Jim their playoff hopes are probably gone Lions QB Rodney Peete is expected back from a knee injury Broncos (10-2) at Raiders (6-6) Line: Raiders by 1 Vi Over-under 40Vi With the AFC West title locked up the Broncos must now concentrate on preventing a letdown and losing their grip on home-- field advantage to the AFC playoffs The Raiders meanwhile are barely alive in the wild-card race Key stat: The series has been a sweep every year si nee 1978 The Broncos won 31 -21 Sept 24 Denver is 6-0 to the division and is coming off a resound-' tog 41-14 win over the fading Seahawks it was such an easy win that QB John Elway play in the second half Dolphins (7-5) at Chiefs (5-6-1) Line: Chiefs by 414 Over-under 3814 Dolphins QB Dan Marino may not play because of bruised ribs putting the line off -the board to some Las Vegas betting circles Even if he does play the Chiefs' de- tense would have the edge They blew out the Oilers last week as their No 1 -ranked AFC defense was dominant The Chiefs haven't allowed a 1 00-yard rusher watch out Sammie Smith and haven't given up 300 yards passing Imagine how good the Chiefs would be with a capable QB Colts (6-6) at Patriots (4-8) Line: Patriots by 1 Over-under: 38 QB Marc Wilson becomes the Patriots' fourth starter of the season replacing Steve Grogan As far as Wilson is concerned all's well in New England Last week when the Pats visited Wilson's former team the Raiders DE Howie Long said to Wilson: hear things are going realty good for you back there" Wilson replied: they like me I haven't played yet" It may take only one or two errant throws to change that Meanwhile Eric Dickerson needs 67 yards to become the NFL's first back to rush tor at -least 1000 yards seven consecutive years Monday Night Bills (8-4) at Seahawks (4-8) i Line: Bills by 514 Over-under: 38 Surely ABC-TV officials had no idea this matchup would be so unattractive You can thank the underachieving Seahawks if the ratings are low What could make this game dose is Buffalo's inconsistency on the road The Bills have won only two of their last seven road games and they won away from Rich Stadium since Week 3 Their last three road losses have been to New England Atlanta and Indianapolis 1- (T 4 i cv Monday Bills Bills Bills Bills TBTr.