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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

With Friends Like These …

Raiders quarterback Billy Joe Hobert considers Vince Evans a friend, confidant and mentor. For the moment, he can call Evans an understudy.

Hobert replaced Evans during the fourth quarter of a 29-23 loss to Kansas City, connecting on 5 of 11 passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns. Not bad for a guy who had yet to take a snap during three seasons as a pro.

“All of a sudden, someone walked right into the game and created a spark. The level of play changed,” said Raiders coach Mike White. White said he considered using Hobert earlier, but didn’t because “the quarterback you prepare for a game is the one who plays.”

White declined to elaborate on the status of the quarterback depth chart for next week, however.

Said Hobert with a shrug: “I’m kind of a pawn in the chess game called life.”

Poor decision at crunch time

Vikings quarterback Warren Moon has some sage advice for Buccaneers QB Trent Dilfer, who, besides being one of the least-effective quarterbacks in the NFL, also is one of its biggest dummies.

“Don’t mess around with defensive linemen,” Moon advised after Dilfer was ejected for trying to pick a fight with Vikings’ defensive tackle John Randle. “They’re bigger than you, and you have to play them next time. You should try to stay away from those guys.”

Dilfer, ejected after jumping on top of Randle after the way Randle had tackled him on an incomplete pass, may be taller than Randle at 6-foot-4. But Randle, who’s 6-1, has a nearly 40-pound weight advantage. Not to mention upper arms that are as big around as beer kegs.

“I think he swung at me. Hit me in the face mask,” Randle said. “I wasn’t going to swing. I don’t lose my control. I think he thought I was trying to hurt him. I was just trying to tackle him.”

“John Randle is the kind of player who’s going to go for your knees all game long, and he’s going to tell you about it,” said Dilfer. “I simply let him know that I thought it was cheap.”

Quotable

“We made enough mistakes today to lose three games. That was by far the worst effort of the year.” - New England coach Bill Parcells after the Patriots lost to New Orleans 31-17.

“I don’t take a backseat to nobody.” - San Diego rookie Aaron Hayden after rushing 32 times for 127 yards in the Chargers’ 31-13 victory over Cleveland.

Monday night matchup

Chicago at Detroit

The days of black-and-blue defense have given way to touchdowns and more touchdowns. Chicago quarterback Erik Kramer is second in the NFL with 26 touchdown passes, while Detroit quarterback Scott Mitchell, who has 23, needs four more to become team’s all-time single season leader. The most touchdown passes Kramer had thrown before this season was 11 in 1991, when he led the Lions (6-6) to the NFC championship game.

Barry Sanders makes his 100th career start and needs 96 rushing yards to become the 10th NFL player to rush for 10,000 yards. Sanders ran for 120 yards in Lions’ 24-17 victory over Bears (7-5) in Chicago earlier this season.

, DataTimes