Extra Points

Much of the blame for the Cardinals' recent troubles—three straight losses—belongs to quarterback Neil Lomax, who was intercepted four times in Sunday's 16-10 loss to the Giants. In the first nine games, Lomax was picked off only six times. Receiver Roy Green offers this excuse: "He's hurting, but he isn't talking about it. You could call it a 'body injury'...his entire body hurts." Over the past three weeks Lomax has suffered a pinched nerve in his throwing shoulder, a sprained ankle, a bruised finger and bruised ribs.

THE BOO OF THE WEEK: This is what wide-open-mouthed receiver Butch Johnson had to say when he was traded from Dallas to Houston on April 13: "I'm just going to go to Houston and catch a lot of passes. I feel real free. I feel like the sky's the limit."

But on July 20 he was traded to Denver, for which he has caught 37 passes for 524 yards and 5 touchdowns. Now he's saying that getting out of Houston pronto was his No. 1 objective all along. He claims his time with the Oilers was "a summer vacation," and that he deliberately dogged it to get traded to either the Broncos or the Raiders.

"I knew before I talked to Hugh [Campbell, Oilers coach] or anyone else that I'd get out of there.... I'm telling you, I didn't play at my level of ability. I had to do it in a way where it didn't look like Brad Van Pelt [who was traded by the Giants to Minnesota and refused to report for 12 weeks]. I did it in a way that didn't hurt the organization. Anyway, how would the nation have looked at me?" Good question.

Buford McGee, the rookie Charger back who was filling in for injured Earnest Jackson, scored the 25-yard touchdown 3:17 into overtime on Sunday to beat the Dolphins 34-28—even though he wasn't running the right play. Don't blame McGee. Ernie Zampese, San Diego's assistant head coach, was the man who boo-booed.

On third-and-10 from the Charger 25, Zampese, who was sitting up in the coaches' box, turned to Dave Levy, offensive coordinator, and said, "log 80," which is a run to the right. However, what Zampese meant to say, was "log 90"—a run to the left—because he wanted to get the ball on the left hash mark for Rolf Benirschke, who is more effective from the left. Levy wigwagged in log 80, and San Diego went right—right into the end zone.

"I knew I said '90' in my own mind, but it came out '80,' " says Zampese. "I screwed up and we scored and won the game."

60 pounds of buffalo meat
20 pounds of assorted vegetables (carrots, celery and onions)
a variety of seasonings (juniper berries, bay leaves, parsley, shallots and peppercorns)
3 gallons of Burgundy
Place in a large roasting pan and let marinate for three days.
Roast 2� hours at 350�.
Stir in 28 New England Patriots.

Well, not quite. That's the recipe Norman Wade, the executive chef at the Westin-Copley Place in Boston, concocted to feed the Patriots before their Nov. 11 encounter with Buffalo. Wade, who was born in England and educated in London and Paris, bought the buffalo from a meat broker in Chicago. It cost $13 a pound.

Wade plans to repeat his Chef's Table Feast soon. "I can get bear, lion, ram, Mahi Mahi [Hawaiian for dolphin fish], even horsemeat," he says. And when the Patriots play the New York Jets? Airline food, of course.