BAD BLOOD BETWEEN REDSKINS, 49ERS?

Byline: SCOTT MAGOLOFF The Gridiron Grill

The Gridiron Grill's faithful barkeep, Sven, knows there's a fine line between the emotions confined within the many TV screens here and those experienced by the sometimes-rowdy patrons.

With that, he knows to keep a mindful eye during today's San Francisco 49ers-Washington Redskins game, sure to be a testy test for Steve Spurrier as well as the top pick by the Grill crew, which selects the best five games of the day for the bar's main TV cluster.

--Sven the bartender: We got a grudge match on our hands here.

--Sal from the Bronx: You know how we just love to hate. And there's going to be plenty of that going around in San Francisco. I wouldn't be surprised if the 49ers fans tried to pull a Tom Gamboa job on Spurrier.

--Carson City Cal: Wasn't that just an exhibition game with the 49ers? I don't know that what Spurrier did can even be considered running up the score anyway, because in exhibition you're just testing out different things depending on situations. Plus, there were also reports that Steve Mariucci isn't upset at all about it, that he made a comment after the game that was overheard and taken out of context and that's how this whole thing started.

--Marietta Molly: It was 31-7 in that game and fourth-and-1 with less than a minute to go and Spurrier called a pass that went for a touchdown. Let me just say that if the Niners don't get after the Redskins today, I will.

--Sal: I hope Terrell Owens has some of that fight in him. He's been way too quiet in the 49ers' offense this year and he's facing Champ Bailey today.

--Sven: With Spurrier and Steve Mariucci probably pulling some neat offensive tricks out of the bag, what about the defense in the Chicago Bears-New Orleans Saints game?

--Tucson Wade: I like all this talk of bad blood with Spurrier and all, but I'm holding out for a great struggle between the unbeatens. You have to feel for the Bears a little, though, having to face Daunte Culpepper in Week 1, Michael Vick in Week 2 and now Aaron Brooks. Man, Brian Urlacher is really earning his pay chasing down those guys. Didn't he have, like, 12 tackles and two sacks against Atlanta last week?

--Manny from Alameda: Mike Ditka will be watching this one with great interest.

--Sal: He'll always have interest in the Bears, but with the Saints he'll just see how much better the offense is without Ricky Williams, the guy he basically gave up an entire draft for. They posed on that magazine cover together, Ditka in a tux and Williams in a wedding gown. But the Big Easy has been the cause of more than its share of divorces. And the Saints are much happier now with Jim Haslett and Deuce McAllister.

--Manny: That game will be gritty, you know, have a real hard edge to it. But for a flat-out free-for-all, check out that New York Jets-Miami Dolphins game. This matchup has produced some of the craziest plays and endings - it's hard to believe the Jets have beaten the Dolphins eight times in a row.

--Molly: (Reading from a newspaper, as she always is prepared for Sundays) Something's got to give, though. Miami has won 15 consecutive home games in September.

--Cal: Is anyone else shocked that Curtis Martin has a combined eight carries for 11 yards in the Jets' first two games this year?

--Molly: That's the worst two-game stretch of his career. And it won't get any easier against that Dolphins defense. New York should probably go to the air with Patrick Surtain questionable for Miami.

--Sven: I think the Denver Broncos-Buffalo Bills game will be fun.

--Wade: Funny thing is, Denver is just like Chicago with the quarterbacks its defense has had to face so far. The Broncos had the end zone looking like a barren desert, keeping Jeff Garcia and Kurt Warner to a combined one touchdown in those wins. Can Drew Bledsoe do any better?

--Sal: Check out this theory. The fifth game should be the Dallas Cowboys-Philadelphia Eagles, if anything, just based on the bad-blood theme. After looking so impressive Monday night, the Eagles are primed for a letdown and the Cowboys have the kind of defense that can cause turnovers. Throw in a few special-teams plays and you could have cheesesteaks splattered all over the Vet turf.

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San Francisco 49ers coach Steve Mariucci will butt heads with Washington coach Steve Spurrier and the Redskins today in San Francisco.

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press