Nfc East

ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins coach Marty Schottenheimer was given two chances during his normal Monday news conference to stand and bray that he really did know what he was doing during the team's horrendous 0-5 start. But even with the platform of a five-game winning streak to stand on, Schottenheimer, whether out of humility or supreme self-confidence, let both pitches sail by like a batter taking a 3-0 fastball. "This is the National Football League," Schottenheimer said. "The minute you blink, well, you only have to look at the results of [Sunday]

Still feisty after all these stretch runs, New York Giants general manager George Young will make no concessions when it comes to the NFC East's long-held supremacy.Forget Green Bay's Super Bowl victory last January. Disregard the three teams tied for first place in the top-heavy NFC Central at 8-3. While many would argue that the NFC Central is the NFL's best division this season, Young is in no rush to join the crowd."I won't concede it," he said this week. "Let the season play out."Understandably, Young has his reasons.

As the Ravens close the book on their disappointing inaugural season against the visiting Houston Oilers on Sunday, they can look ahead to a 1997 season in which an old rivalry will be renewed.Baltimore vs. Washington.According to the NFL's scheduling formula for the 1997 season, the last-place team in the AFC Central will face every NFC East team except the division champion. That means the 4-11 Ravens, who have sewn up last place in the Central, will play everyone in the NFC East but the Dallas Cowboys.

I guess Ray Lewis was right when he said that crime in the AFC North would go up during the NFL lockout. OK, that isn't exactly what he said, but whatever. Four players from the division have been arrested in the past 10 days, pulling the AFC North into five-way tie for arrests since the lockout started on March 11. The AFC West, AFC South, NFC North and NFC East each have four arrests apiece , but the AFC North had none before Steelers receiver Hines Ward was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence on July 9. Then the Bengals started being the Bengals, and next thing you know, the AFC North was back in this thing.

OK, let's assume the NFL really is going to expand in this millennium as promised. Expansion means realignment and realignment means trouble.At least it did the last time the NFL tried it. That was in 1970, four years after the merger with the despised AFL. When then-commissioner Pete Rozelle forced the issue, he encountered a room full of reluctant owners. It took names drawn from a hat to realign, and a $1 million carrot to get three teams to jump to the newly created AFC. Those three teams were Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.

A year later How Super Bowl winners fared in their next season: 1967-Green Bay repeated and beat Oakland, 33-14, in Super Bowl. 1968-Green Bay finished third in NFL Central with a 6-7-1 record. 1969-New York Jets lost to Kansas City, 13-6, in AFL divisional game. 1970-Kansas City finished second in the AFC West Division with a 7-5-2 record. 1971-Baltimore lost to Miami, 21-0, in AFC championship game. 1972-Dallas lost to Washington, 26-3, in NFC championship game. 1973-Miami repeated and beat Minnesota, 24-7, in Super Bowl.

Just four weeks removed from considering another January spent on their sofas, the Washington Redskins find themselves in the driver's seat for the sixth and final NFC playoff berth. Sunday's 35-7 rout of the Dallas Cowboys and losses suffered by Dallas, the Minnesota Vikings and Atlanta Falcons vaulted the Redskins (8-6) three spots to sixth in the conference standings. Washington has posted three consecutive victories since the loss of six of eight games put the team at 5-6, and now the Redskins have an outside shot at grabbing their first NFC East title since 1991 - the last season the franchise won the Super Bowl.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- It didn't take long for NFL owners to find out how thorny the issue of realignment will be in the coming months.Although the owners' annual meetings aren't scheduled to officially start until today, a committee studying realignment got its first look at a half-dozen proposed plans over the weekend.The simplest was a plan in which the NFC East's Arizona Cardinals and NFC West's Atlanta Falcons would switch places.The most complex would move Atlanta and the New Orleans Saints to the AFC and the Seattle Seahawks and Indianapolis Colts to the NFC, with Houston and Minnesota switching divisions.

Jamison Hensley Super Bowl ¿ champion: Patriots AFC ¿ championship game: Patriots over Texans NFC ¿ championship game: Saints over Packers AFC division playoffs: Patriots over Chargers; Texans over Steelers NFC division playoffs: Packers over Eagles; Saints over Falcons AFC wild-card playoffs: Texans over Ravens; Chargers over Jets NFC wild-card playoffs: Falcons over...

Washington (5-3) at Philadelphia (2-7)Time: 1 p.m., chs. 45, 5, 43.Line: Redskins by 6.Vs. spread: Redskins 4-4; Eagles 5-4.Last week: Redskins lost to Bills, 34-17. Eagles lost to Panthers, 33-7.Series: Redskins lead 69-53-5.Last meeting: Redskins won, 28-3, on Nov. 15, 1998, at Washington.Outlook: Eagles rookie QB Donovan McNabb will make his NFL starting debut against one of the league's worst defenses. Hey, timing is everything. The Redskins have allowed 222 points, more than all but three other teams.