Quick Kicks

The new court sport

Football fans were well behaved at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium Sunday, unwilling to sacrifice their day with the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers for an afternoon with Municipal Judge Seamus McCaffery.

McCaffery presided at the first ad hoc court established at the stadium to help control drunken, rowdy fans. Just the threat of staring at bars instead of the game kept fans on their best behavior.

The court was set up by city officials, the Eagles and municipal judges after rowdy fans earned front page criticism during last week’s Monday night loss to the San Francisco 49ers. One fan was charged with firing a flare into the crowd and another reported a broken ankle after being attacked.

The scare Bear

Middle linebacker Bryan Cox lost his composure on the field again Sunday, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and the wrath of a Chicago Bears teammate.

Cox was called for a roughing penalty on Tampa Bay quarterback Trent Dilfer, and seconds later, teammate Marty Carter was assessed a penalty for roughing Warrick Dunn.

After the Bucs scored a touchdown, Cox continued his tirade against officials and was assessed another 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

As he came off the field, Cox was confronted by offensive lineman Todd Burger, who began pointing and screaming at his teammate.

Cox was fined $10,000 by the Bears after the season opener when he threw his helmet during a tirade in Green Bay.

See Jason kick

Although Detroit’s Jason Hanson broke the team record for consecutive field goals as the Lions beat Indianapolis, coach Bobby Ross made him work for it.

After Hanson tied Eddie Murray’s record of 19 straight by kicking a 38-yarder, the former Mead High School and Washington State University placekicker broke it with a 52-yarder with less than 2 minutes to play in the first half.

Then, Ross sent Hanson back onto the field for a 55-yarder as the clock ran out. The ball just squeezed over the crossbar, giving Hanson 21 in a row.

By the numbers

When Deion Sanders brought back an interception 50 yards for Dallas, he scored his 14th career return touchdown and broke the NFL record held by former Cincinnati defensive back Lemar Parrish… . Chicago, which has more wins than any other team in league history, picked up the 600th victory in the franchise’s 77-year history… . Keyshawn Johnson, No. 1 pick in the 1996 draft, had the best day of his career with nine catches for 104 yards… . Buffalo’s Andre Reed caught five passes for a career total of 821 and third place on the all-time list… . Ravens linebacker Peter Boulware, who entered the game with a rookie-high 7.5 sacks, got one more.

Noteworthy

The Steelers have never beaten the Eagles at 26-year-old Veterans Stadium… . Tennessee played the first of its three games in 11 days. The Oilers play Dallas on Thursday and Cincinnati on Dec. 4.

The final thought

“They can’t call us losers any more.”

- Coach Bill Parcells, whose Jets are assured of their first non-losing campaign in five years.

, DataTimes