Bring back Parcells
The New York Giants' seven-game losing streak is their longest since 1980, when they dropped eight in a row. New York is two games short of the team's all-time losing streak of nine in 1976. The four straight losses at Giants Stadium are the most since 1983, when the Giants dropped six straight home games.
They plain don't like each other
Several fights, as well as a great deal of trash talking, took place in the Arizona Cardinals-Giants game at the Meadowlands. After a hard hit on Rodney Hampton after a reception, Cardinals safety Lorenzo Lynch got into Hampton's face. Waving his arms wildly, Lynch taunted the Giants running back. Giants quarterback Kent Graham got into a wrestling match with 295-pounder Eric Swann after Swann took him down following another pass. Despite the rancor, neither team was assessed a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
In good company
The Saints' Jim Everett needed 11 yards entering his game to reach 26,000 career passing yards. He finished with 276 yards and his two touchdown passes gave him 156 for his career, tying him with NFL Hall of Famer Roger Staubach. The last time the Oilers lost six in a row was also the last season they missed the playoffs -- 1986.
One is a lonely number
In a game with 156 plays, there was only one turnover in New England's 26-20 overtime win over Minnesota. The Patriots recovered Cris Carter's fumble in the third quarter but couldn't capitalize as Matt Bahr's 39-yard field-goal attempt went wide left. In a game with an NFL-record 112 passes, there was only one sack, of Warren Moon in the third quarter.
It takes two
Apparently, married life agrees with Denver's Leonard Russell.
Russell, whose wedding was on Saturday, ran for 109 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown with 5:43 left, as the Broncos beat the Seattle Seahawks, 17-10.
Snap judgment
With the clock ticking toward zero, Cardinals quarterback Steve Beuerlein inexplicably took a fourth-down snap at midfield and went to one knee, leaving the Giants three seconds to pull out a win.
It also left Cardinals coach Buddy Ryan ballistic.
"It was just ridiculous to give them a chance to win the game," he said. "That is the dumbest damn thing I have seen since I've been in the National Football League."
But he cut up in line
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 over $20,000, including a trip to Europe and two tickets to every event in the stadium in 1995, including January's Super Bowl.
Numbers in the crowd
And then there are the off-the-field stats for the Raiders-Rams game at Anaheim Stadium: 14 arrests and 55 ejections among the crowd. "People spend a lot of money to bring their families, and they can't watch the game because some pathetic idiots want to fight," Rams linebacker Shane Conlan said.
Where was MacArthur Lane?
The Packers' honorary captain yesterday was John Brockington, a running back in Green Bay during 1971-77. Brockington was the first running back in NFL history to gain more than 1,000 yards in each of his first three seasons.