When the NFL season opened Sept. 6, journeyman quarterback Bill Musgrave was unemployed. Four days later, the Philadelphia Eagles brought him in to serve as quality control coach, a menial staff job.

Sunday, he called the offensive plays in the Eagles' 13-10 loss to the San Diego Chargers.

That's how brutal this season has become for the 1-6 Eagles. Seven weeks into a nightmare, a career backup cut by the Indianapolis Colts last August is suddenly calling the shots on offense.

"Bill Musgrave called the plays. That's a decision I made. All right?" coach Ray Rhodes said after Sunday's loss. "I just wanted to see if he could get it all turned around a little bit."

Rhodes has been unhappy with first-year offensive coordinator Dana Bible's version of the West Coast offense, which went nowhere with quarterback Bobby Hoying and only slightly farther with Rodney Peete.

After Musgrave reportedly called some plays in the Eagles' 17-12 victory over Washington in Week 6, Rhodes decided this week to strip Bible of his play-calling responsibility altogether and turn the offense over to Musgrave.

Musgrave, 30, got the Eagles inside San Diego's 35-yard line five times, only to find misfortune. Those possessions ended in a missed field goal, a field goal, an interception, a touchdown and a fumble.

Obviously, it wasn't all Bible's fault.

But if desperate times call for desperate measures, Rhodes got the right man. In an undistinguished nine-year career, Musgrave was a clipboard carrier for the San Francisco 49ers and Denver Broncos. He didn't play anywhere in 1997, and tried to make it with the Colts as tutor for Peyton Manning this year. He was the desperate choice, all right.

Coordinating 101

Of the 11 offensive coordinators hired this season, Bible is the most endangered, but he's not the only one struggling. Here are some trouble spots:

Gil Haskell, Carolina: His version of the West Coast offense isn't clicking, either. He has had to play with a patched offensive line, his best running back missed a plane and his best quarterback quit on the team. No wonder the Panthers are 0-6.

Ray Sherman, Pittsburgh: He replaced Chan Gailey and promised to open up the offense, but discovered that quarterback Kordell Stewart isn't inclined to throw deep much anymore. There were a lot of boos for the offense at home in a 16-6 win over the Ravens on Sunday.

Marc Trestman, Arizona: His franchise quarterback, Jake Plummer, is struggling, and the offensive line is terrible. The Cardinals have allowed 25 sacks, including eight in Sunday's loss to the New York Giants.

Tom Moore, Indianapolis: His franchise quarterback, Manning, has thrown 14 interceptions, and until Sunday, the Colts hadn't scored more than two touchdowns in any game.

Next batter

It shouldn't take New Orleans coach Mike Ditka long to get newly acquired Kerry Collins, the quarterback who quit on Carolina, in the lineup. A year ago, Ditka claimed Buffalo's Billy Joe Hobert on waivers after Hobert failed to properly prepare for a game. Four days later, Hobert played for the Saints.

Quarterback has been a carousel position for the Saints in Ditka's two seasons. He has started five different players there in 22 games. Heath Shuler made the most starts (nine) and has a 4-5 record. Next is Danny Wuerffel (3-3), followed by Hobert (3-2), Doug Nussmeier (0-1) and Billy Joe Tolliver (0-1), who started in Week 7.

Home-field what?

You couldn't blame the Tennessee Oilers if they developed an inferiority complex. Unappreciated in Houston, unwanted in Memphis, they're apparently unloved in Nashville.

Despite a Beanie Baby giveaway -- Chocolate the Moose -- the Oilers drew only 33,288 to Vanderbilt Stadium this week for a 44-14 rout of Cincinnati. That left well over 8,000 empty seats. The team moves into its new stadium next year, but will anyone notice?

Flagging effort

There was some grievous officiating around the league Sunday. The Colts couldn't hold a 21-point lead in San Francisco, thanks to some questionable calls. Twice, the Colts had end-zone interceptions waved off because of defensive holding.

And on the 49ers' game-winning field-goal drive, a controversial 27-yard pass-interference penalty was called against the Colts' Tyrone Poole. Said Colts coach Jim Mora: "It was a horrible, horrible job by the officials."

In Tampa Bay, after the Bucs staged a fourth-quarter rally to beat Carolina, 16-13, Panthers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio offered this critique: "I don't know what was worse out there, me or the officiating."

Et cetera

In the last two weeks, the Packers' secondary has surrendered touchdown passes of 68, 56, 52 and 44 yards. With the Packers' loss to Detroit last Thursday, quarterback Brett Favre is 7-19 when he throws 40 or more passes. The AFC leads the interconference series, 17-7, after winning two of three this week. The NFC East went 0-3 outside its division to drop to 4-17 for the season. It was formally Canada Day at Buffalo's Rich Stadium when former CFL star Doug Flutie led the Bills to an upset of Jacksonville.

Best and worst

Best day at the Improv: Bills quarterback Doug Flutie. Making the most of a botched, fourth-down handoff, Flutie scored a 1-yard touchdown run on an improvisational naked bootleg to defeat the unbeaten Jaguars, 17-16.

Worst trip down memory lane: Cardinals quarterback Dave Brown. Replacing Jake Plummer in the waning minutes of a 34-7 loss at hostile Giants Stadium, Brown hardly enjoyed the reunion with old teammates. In little more than two minutes, he was sacked by Chad Bratzke and pounded by Keith Hamilton, who drew a roughing penalty for his overzealous hit.

Best payback: Dolphins linebacker Robert Jones. Cut in the off-season by the Rams for salary-cap reasons, Jones showed his former teammates what they're missing with eight tackles and one pass defensed in Miami's 14-0 victory.

Worst no-show: Redskins. Granted, this was the undefeated Vikings. But there was no pretense of being competitive for the Deadskins in a 41-7 thrashing.

Best sack dancer: Eagles defensive end Hugh Douglas. It went for a losing cause, but Douglas beat Chargers left tackle John Jackson for 4 1/2 sacks, tying a club record.

Worst officiating: The 49ers got blatant "homer" calls all over the place in a 34-31 comeback win over the visiting Colts.

Best play-fake: Lions quarterback Charlie Batch. When Batch faked an inside dive to Tommy Vardell on the goal line, the entire Green Bay defense massed in the middle of the line. Then, allowing enough time for Pete Chryplewicz to slip unnoticed into the end zone, Batch flipped a 3-yard touchdown pass to his tight end.

Most timely injury: 49ers cornerback Antonio Langham. After giving up his third touchdown pass to Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison two series into the second half, Langham had to leave the game with a sprained ankle. If not for the injury, the Colts

might not have blown a 21-point lead.

Pub Date: 10/20/98