Sidelines

The Steelers' Bill Cowher, who began his career as a coach on the same day (Sept. 6, 1992) as the Bengals' David Shula (chart, left), has as many career wins (51) as Shula has losses after Pittsburgh's 20-10 defeat of Cincinnati on Sunday....

In the last two drafts the Jets have used the ninth and first overall picks on tight end Kyle Brady and wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson, respectively. Brady has only two catches this year, and Johnson, who has been injured the last two games, has 21. Meanwhile Wayne Chrebet, an undrafted free agent out of Division I-AA Hofstra, who caught 66 passes in 1995, has hauled in 40, including 12 in New York's 21-17 loss at Jacksonville on Sunday. Among AFC receivers only Tim Brown of the Raiders, with 43, has more receptions....

The Redskins are 14 for 14 in the red zone this year, with 10 touchdowns and four field goals, but they entered Sunday's game at New England with the league's 26th-rated defense, a misleading figure. Although it had been allowing 344 yards per outing, Washington's D was yielding a league-low 11.2 points a game. The Patriots gained 382 yards and scored 22 points against the Skins but still lost 27-22....

Panthers linebacker Lamar Lathon is the game's hottest pass rusher of late, having collected 12½ sacks in his last 12 games. Meanwhile Carolina running back Anthony Johnson has more than filled in for the injured Tshimanga Biakabutuka. Johnson, a seventh-year back out of Notre Dame, ran for 126 yards, his second straight 100-yard performance, in the Panthers' 45-13 win over the Rams....

Eagles kicker Gary Anderson, 37, who was 0 for 5 on field goal attempts of 45 yards or more last year, kicked four field goals in Philadelphia's 19-10 defeat of the Giants and is 3 for 3 from beyond the 45 this year....

Each week the NFL selects an offensive and defensive Player of the Week from both the AFC and the NFC. The Broncos, the league's top-rated offensive team, has failed to have a single player win offensive honors.