Jerry Rice

NFCSan Francisco (13-4) at Atlanta (14-2)Time: 12: 35 p.m.TV: Chs. 45, 5.Radio: WBAL (1090 AM).Line: Falcons by 3 1/2.Vs. spread: 49ers 6-10; Falcons 11-4.Vs. common opponents: 49ers 10-1; Falcons 10-1.Last week: 49ers beat Packers, 30-27, in wild-card game. Falcons had first-round bye.Series: 49ers lead, 40-23-1.Last meeting: Falcons won, 31-19, on Nov. 15 in Atlanta.Postseason records: 49ers 24-14; Falcons 2-5.Outlook: Both teams are explosive, with four of the two teams' wide receivers ranked among the top seven in conference receiving yards, but this game will be won on the ground.

Jerry Rice is learning to say hello when it's time to say goodbye.The sands are running out of the hourglass for the peerless San Francisco 49ers wide receiver, who already has his ticket punched for the Hall of Fame.In the 27-6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday, he caught two passes for 2 yards. At age 37, Rice is near the end. He has 32 catches all year.As the game wound down in the pouring rain in San Francisco and the only fans left were Steeler fans, he said, "You start thinking, `Wow, what am I doing out there?

Time: 8: 20, chs. 2, 7.Line: 49ers by 10.Vs. spread: Lions 5-8; 49ers 4-9.Outlook: League scouts say that one of the best performances put on by a quarterback in the second half of the season has been by the Lions' Charlie Batch. In a downtrodden year for Detroit, he is a bright spot for the future. But right now, Detroit is staring at a loss. San Francisco, a playoff berth already in its pocket, believes it can still catch the Falcons for the division title, as remote as that seems. That belief keeps the 49ers hungry, and the Lions are the next meal.

N.Y. Giants (4-7) at San Francisco (8-3)Time: 8: 20, chs. 2, 7.Line: 49ers by 13.Vs. spread: Giants 4-7; 49ers 3-8.Outlook: Remember when this matchup was something to get excited about? This year, you'll be lucky to make it to halftime awake. So will the Giants, who have lost three of their past four. The 49ers are still the 49ers, but they're in second place and looking at a wild card. Still, QB Steve Young is more than enough to beat the Giants by himself, and this might be the perfect opportunity to smooth things over with pouting WR Jerry Rice.

Jerry Rice is finding out that coach Steve Mariucci has decided he's now the boss.A year ago, Mariucci, the rookie coach of the San Francisco 49ers, seemed almost intimidated by Rice, the wide receiver who's bound for the Hall of Fame.After Rice suffered a major knee injury in the opener Aug. 31 and underwent surgery, Mariucci let him return for a Monday night game against the Denver Broncos on Dec. 15.The problem is that even for a workout warrior like Rice, it's fool-hardy to try to return that fast.

The sure hands and long strides of wide receiver James Roe were on display once again at yesterday's practice. But, as he heads into the middle of his third season with the Ravens, Roe remains one step shy of invisible.What was supposed to be his breakout season has turned into a breakdown. What seemed like a typical right hamstring pull that Roe suffered in the middle of training camp led to other ailments in the leg, all of which have slowed a player who was never known for his speed.By this time in 1998, Roe had envisioned himself possibly being the team's No. 3 receiver behind Michael Jackson and Jermaine Lewis.

When Dan Reeves coached cornerback Jason Sehorn in his first three years with the New York Giants, he ignored Sehorn's pleas to let him return kicks.Reeves followed the same policy when he went to Atlanta last year and cornerback Ray Buchanan lobbied him to return punts."

James Roe knows the deal. As the Ravens' fifth receiver, he understands why his playing time is so limited. But as a second-year player, he is understandably frustrated by his lack of game-day activity, although he is too smart and feels too fortunate to complain about it.So Roe simply improves, quietly and steadily, on the smaller, unlighted stage known as the practice field. On a typical day, he is out there looking smooth, showing off a fluid move here, a head fake there, catching everything that's thrown to him.At 6 feet 1, 187 pounds, Roe cuts a graceful figure, and history suggests he will be making noise on Sundays before long.

BaseballDiamondbacks: Named Jim Presley hitting coach.Mets: Agreed to terms with 3B Craig Paquette on minor-league contract and invited him to major-league camp. Promoted Tom Hutchison to assistant director of player personnel.Rangers: Agreed to minor-league contract with 3B Scott Cooper and invited him to spring training.Reds: Named De Jon Watson director of scouting and Muzzy Jackson director of player development. Promoted Chief Bender senior adviser of major leagues and player development.

San Francisco (11-1) at Kansas City (9-3)Time: 1 p.m.Line: 49ers by 3 1/2 .Vs. spread: 49ers 8-4; Chiefs 7-3.Last week: 49ers beat Chargers, 17-10. Chiefs beat Seahawks, 19-14.Worth watching: 49ers DT Dana Stubblefield is having a huge season, compiling a league-leading 15 sacks. The Chiefs need a big play or two from QB Rich Gannon, but he has thrown for only one TD in 101 attempts.Outlook: The Chiefs have the ability to surprise, as they showed in their upset of Denver two weeks ago. But today they face the NFL's toughest run defense, and San Francisco has allowed only 10.2 points a game the past five weeks.

Baltimore-born R&B singer Mario lost out on one of the biggest stages in show business when he was voted off ABC's Dancing with the Stars this week. But his impressive run on the hit TV series has given the 21-year-old performer a shot at reaching new audiences - not just as a musician but also as an actor, industry analysts said yesterday. The question now is what use he makes of the newfound momentum. "Being on Dancing with the Stars opened up Mario to a whole different audience who didn't know of his talent and personality - and they got to see him in a different light than your usual R&B singer," says Biff Warren, president of The Agency, a multicultural marketing and media company that includes such clients as Alicia Keys and Jamie Hector.

BEWARE THE TAINTED legacy. It can come from nowhere, and it's impossible to scrub clean. Or so some would have you believe. The latest to slap a permanent smudge to our pristine memories is Jerry Rice. He hasn't even put on a Denver Broncos uniform yet, and to hear some talk, they'll never be able to erase the image from their minds, that it will blot out everything he did in his prime. Will we ever again be able to recall his greatness? Uh, yeah. Proof, and lots of it, resides right here in town, a short walk from Oriole Park: the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum and the new Sports Legends at Camden Yards.

Rankings are a compilation of opinions of eight NFL writers from Tribune Publishing papers across the country (last week's ranking in parentheses): 1. Patriots (1) Offensive coordinator Charlie Weis also deserves credit. 2. Eagles (2) Bet you didn't think the defense would be this good. 3. Colts (3) Look for Peyton Manning to pick up where he left off. 4. Vikings (4) Five more TD passes for Daunte Culpepper. Can you say MVP? 5. Jets (5) Jets don't play as well as their record. 6. Broncos (7)

Since the first few practices of training camp, coaches have been impressed with sixth-round pick Gerome Sapp. Sapp has made his mark the way someone of his draft status has to --- on special teams - and is set to become a leader of that unit with the season-ending loss of Adalius Thomas (fractured elbow) starting tomorrow against Oakland. The rookie safety is third on the Ravens with 13 special teams tackles and a fumble recovery. "I didn't want to be any dead weight," Sapp said. "Right now I think I am producing, but I can always do more.

ASHBURN, Va. - The Washington Redskins' run of good health took a drastic turn one day after absorbing their worst loss of the season. Relatively injury-free for the first five games, the Redskins (3-3) learned yesterday that as many as three starters could join starting left guard Dave Fiore on the sideline for Sunday's game against the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Running back Trung Canidate is dealing with a high right ankle sprain, and cornerback Fred Smoot has a sprained clavicle.

IF YOU WANT style points or finesse, then cheer for the Kansas City Chiefs or the St. Louis Rams. If you want ugly, scrappy, hustling football, then here come the Ravens. The Ravens' 24-10 win against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday was hard on the eyes, but it doesn't matter at this point in the season. All that counts is that they came away with the win. The Ravens allowed the Chargers nearly 400 yards of total offense, and they've won two games against teams that have a combined 1-5 record, but this team is right where it should be at 2-1, and looking awfully mediocre.

SAN DIEGO - Bill Callahan has it. Jon Gruden doesn't. If Super Bowl experience becomes a factor on Sunday, it will be an advantage for Callahan's Oakland Raiders. That's because Gruden's Tampa Bay Buccaneers have precious little of it. Of the five Bucs with Super Bowl experience, three of them (tackle Lomas Brown, wide receiver Joe Jurevicius and special teamer Jack Golden) played for the New York Giants two years ago in a blowout loss to the Ravens. Punter Tom Tupa kicked for the New England Patriots in the January 1997 loss, and wide receiver Keenan McCardell was on injured reserve in January 1992 when the Washington Redskins won. The Raiders have Super Bowl winners in wide receiver Jerry Rice, safety Rod Woodson, linebacker Bill Romanowski, defensive tackle Sam Adams and cornerback Terrance Shaw.

SAN DIEGO - Chuck Noll won four Super Bowls. Don Shula had the perfect season. Vince Lombardi seemed to set the standard for every NFL coach, and Bill Walsh was the first modern-day "genius." But none of them achieved what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Jon Gruden did this season. He became the first coach to get two teams to the Super Bowl in the same season. Call the folks at Ripley's. In four years in Oakland, Gruden ticked off the Raiders so much that they wanted to prove he was the reason they didn't win a Super Bowl.

SAN DIEGO - His helmet hides the receding hairline. His knowledge of the game offsets declining speed. But Jerry Rice's hands - although still reliable - betray him all the time. His rough, battle-scarred mitts show the wear and tear of a 40-year-old body while revealing a tale about the ageless Oakland Raiders receiver. As a teenager in Mississippi, Rice spent the sweltering summers helping his brick-laying father. He worked tirelessly eight hours a day, busting up his hands to build a chimney or a building.

ASHBURN, Va. - At 6 feet 5 and 303 pounds, Chris Samuels is not your prototypical wide receiver. But that's what the burly Washington Redskins offensive tackle was - back in the eighth grade. About five inches and 150 pounds ago, Samuels was a wide receiver for his middle school team. The next year at John Shaw High School in Mobile, Ala., he switched to tight end, backup quarterback and finally tackle. Samuels is still such a fan of the wide receiver position that his role model is a certain Oakland Raider.