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Sunday, October 08, 2000

Maybe people should stop comparing Steelers rookie Plaxico Burress with Detroit's Herman Moore.

Before the season, Burress would gladly have taken as many catches as Moore, considering he holds the NFL record with 123 receptions in a season (1995). But through five games, Moore has just 11 catches for 104 yards and no touchdowns.

Burress, at 6 feet 6, also has 104 yards, but he has done it with just six catches.

It used to be 11 catches for 104 yards was a good day for Moore, who is 6-4. But now he has become more of a short-route, possession receiver in the Lions' offense.

"Am I getting as many calls as I used to get? No," Moore said. "But I'm not going to get caught up in all this stuff about why I might not be getting more chances. I'm just going to keep doing my job."

He and Jerry Rice are the only players in NFL history with three consecutive seasons of 100 or more receptions.

Get a wake-up call

There's a crack in the ship at Tampa Bay, where the Buccaneers no longer sound like a happy family.

Last Sunday, NFC defensive player of the year Warren Sapp was benched in the first quarter by Coach Tony Dungy because he was late for a Saturday morning meeting. He said he forgot to set his alarm clock.

"I was late to work Saturday morning," Sapp said. "That was my crime against humanity."

Sapp said he was embarrassed that he did not start because his wife and mother were in the stands.

"My [coach] sat me down in front of a whole national audience for 15 minutes," Sapp said.

Thunder and Lightning

The Thunder and Lightning in New York has turned to sprinkles as Ron Dayne (Thunder) and Tiki Barber (Lightning) fade.

The two led the Giants to 223 yards rushing in their first game, 167 in the second and 172 in the third. But over the past two games, the Giants rushed for just 93 against Washington and 24 against Tennessee. Barber had 2 yards against the Titans and Dayne had 3.

A McNew person

Quarterback Cade McNown may have stolen the Playboy Bunny girlfriend away from Tim Couch, but he did not steal the hearts of any of his teammates while the Bears suffered through 0-4.

That's why they call him McBrat.

But McNown has had a personality implant over the past week or so.

Before last Sunday's game in Green Bay, McNown asked the coaches to leave near the end of a team meeting and talked with his offense. He explained his previous abrasive actions, which included blaming some interceptions on his receivers being too tired to run hard.

Then, after he threw two touchdown passes to Marcus Robinson to lead the Bears to their first victory, he actually turned humble.

"I felt I was to blame the last four games," he said. "Your job as a quarterback is to help the team win. I shifted some blame over the last couple weeks. It was unintentional. I take responsibility for those losses."

Quick kicks

St. Louis Coach Mike Martz gave his 5-0 Rams the past week off, since they don't play today. They don't report back until Tuesday. ... Redskins owner Dan Snyder has ordered his PA announcer not to give the yardage on opponents' plays. ... Fittingly, the aptly named Charlie Batch doesn't play them one at a time. "We have -- what -- 11 games left?" the Lions quarterback said. "We have to have at least nine of them right now, and we know that." ... The Packers gave up three plays of more than 50 yards last Sunday for the first time since 1954.