The Week That Was

A FULL MOON OVER TAMPA NEXT MONTH?

The temperature at Arrowhead Stadium was 38�, a light rain was falling and the wind was blowing 6 mph—a perfect day for an incompetent run-and-shoot performance by the streaky Oilers. Then Warren Moon went out and threw for 141 yards in the first quarter. And 72 in the second. And 227 in the third. And 87 in the fourth. When it was all over, Moon had 527 passing yards, and Houston had a 27-10 win over the Chiefs. "Yeah, it's shocking," said Kevin Ross, K.C.'s Pro Bowl cornerback, afterward. "Embarrassing, too."

Moon's performance—second only to Norm Van Brocklin's NFL-record 554 passing yards, in a 1951 game—left him 684 yards short of breaking Dan Marino's single-season record of 5,084. The Oilers, who share the AFC Central lead with the Steelers, have two games left, at home against Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. "People tend to say Super Bowl quarterbacks are the great ones," said Moon of his place among the league's premier passers. "If I get there, I don't think anyone could argue with my play."

MUST BE POWERFUL WATER, DARRELL
Since being baptized in teammate Darrell Green's Jacuzzi on Dec. 1, Redskin running back Earnest Byner has rushed for an NFL-high 427 yards, including 149 in Washington's 25-10 win over New England last Saturday in the driving rain.

BEWARE THE 'BOYS
Before the Cowboys' 41-10 win over the Cardinals, Dallas running back Emmitt Smith said, "Cowboy fans are looking for me to replace Tony Dorsett. They've been looking for a lot of things ever since their great players left the game." Smith then had the first four-touchdown day by a Cowboy since Duane Thomas and Calvin Hill each did it during the 1971 season. Smith also gained 103 yards to push his season total to 842. He needs 166 yards and two scores to break Dorsett's team rookie records for rushing and TDs. After the Phoenix game, Cowboy pro personnel director John Wooten said, "The similarities have come to reality."

NEGATIVE FALCON NOTES OF THE WEEK:

?After losing their seventh straight game, 13-10 to the Browns, first-year coach Jerry Glanville's team is 3-11. That's the same record Atlanta had after 14 games in 1989 and in '66, the franchise's first year.

? Deion Sanders, who had three home runs and eight steals for the Yankees in 1990, has two interceptions and 12 fair catches this fall in the sport he's supposed to be good at.

?The last time the Falcons won on the road, on Nov. 20, 1988, Mark Gastineau was leading the Jets in sacks.

ORDEAL OF THE WEEK
An eight-day battle with a kidney stone ended for Giants coach Bill Parcells when he painfully passed the final three fragments of the stone only 15 minutes before the kickoff of New York's 17-13 loss to the Bills.