Spotlight: A Glance At This Week In The Nfl

Never mind that the Giants were a blocked field goal from overtime against the Bears, or that they were a touchdown from defeating the Rams last week. Suddenly, the defending Super Bowl champions are 1-2, and Handley is open to second-guessing from armchair quarterbacks and the New York media.

The Giants can sense what is coming.

"We needed to win this one," quarterback Jeff Hostetler said. "You guys are the ones who hunt for all the negatives; we've got to keep it together. I don't want to quote Bill, but you guys are 'subversive communists.' "

Bill, of course, is Bill Parcells, who departed as the Giants' coach after winning his second Super Bowl last season.

Parcells left big shoes to fill, and Handley seemed a nice fit after guiding the Giants to a season-opening victory over the 49ers. But now the Giants have slipped--twice--and Handley will be under greater scrutiny.

His selection of Hostetler as starting the quarterback is a lingering controversy. Hostetler inherited the job when Phil Simms was injured last season, and he went on to lead the Giants through the playoffs. An injury-free Simms was unable to win his job back in the preseason.

Play-calling is another matter. The Giants, who lived by their conservative game plan last season, have died by it the last two weeks.

Adjustments most certainly will be made. But are drastic changes necessary?

Probably not. En route to the Super Bowl championship, the Giants didn't overwhelm the top teams; generally, they wore them down with power football and won close games. This season, they have played three close games and lost two of them.

"Last year we were making those plays," defensive back Everson Walls said.

This year, so far, they haven't.

BENGAL BUST

Another team not making the plays this season is the Cincinnati Bengals. After qualifying for the playoffs last season, the Bengals are off to an 0-3 start for the first time since 1985.

History isn't encouraging for the Bengals. They started 0-3 in 1984 and finished 8-8. They started 0-3 in 1985 and finished 7-9. Once again, they don't appear to be going anywhere fast.

In fact, no Bengal team that has started 0-2 has finished above .500. But Coach Sam Wyche isn't buying into history. "This gives us a chance to make history. It gives us a challenge."

It remains to be seen whether they are up to it.

IN QUOTES

Denver quarterback John Elway on entering the locker room after the Broncos held off Seattle, 16-10: \o7 "I felt terrible walking in and then I thought, 'Hey, we won, I should be happy,' We did a good job for three quarters. We ran the ball pretty well and we kept them off balance. We played better than we played last week (against the Raiders), that's for sure."\f7

Elway on the Seattle pass rush in the fourth quarter: \o7 "We got ahead and they started bringing everybody on every play. I thought I saw (Coach) Chuck Knox one time." \f7 Green Bay linebacker Bryce Paup, who had 4 1/2 sacks in the Packers' victory over Tampa Bay: \o7 "Some of my sacks were junk sacks. Everybody else did the work and I'm there to make the tackle."

\f7

HOLD THAT LINE

Vinny Testaverde and Troy Aikman, two quarterbacks expected to come into their own this season, will need a little help from their offensive lines to do so.

Testaverde, sacked six times by the Chicago Bears last week before leaving the game with shoulder and knee injuries, went down seven more times in a 15-13 loss to Green Bay.

The most costly of the sacks resulted in a safety when Bryce Paup, who was credited with 4 1/2 sacks on the day, tackled Testaverde in the end zone with 10:29 remaining in the first half.

Despite the lack of protection, Testaverde almost delivered a victory. He passed for 278 yards, including a deflected pass that Willie Drewery took 87 yards for a touchdown to give the Buccaneers a 13-5 lead with 3:59 to play. But Don Majkowski rallied the Packers with two scores in the final minutes.

Testaverde, in his fifth season, realizes the burden of making the Buccaneers a better team rests largely with him.

"It's always frustrating when you're being sacked and don't have time to throw," he said. "When they do it all day long, it certainly makes it every tough for our team to get into scoring position."

The Philadelphia Eagles made it tough for Aikman to get going at all in a 24-0 victory over Dallas. The Cowboy quarterback was sacked 11 times for 67 yards in losses and was forced into throwing three interceptions.

Clyde Simmons, who separated Aikman's shoulder last November, led the way with a team record 4 1/2 sacks. "I'll give Troy credit, he hung in there and took it," Simmons said. "He's a tough guy and he had a tough day."

How tough? Well, the Cowboys didn't cross midfield under their own power until the last two minutes of the game, when they drove to the 8.