NFL Insider: What really happens at the bottom of those NFL piles?

So what really goes on at the bottom of all those NFL piles?

"It gets pretty crazy," Vikings receiver Jarius Wright said. "It's pretty much anything goes sometimes. A lot of grabbing of … everything."

Everything?

"Everything," Wright said. "It gets pretty intense."

The etiquette exhibited in those NFL piles is under scrutiny this week because of the actions of Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict during Sunday's 37-37 tie with Carolina.

The NFL fined Burfict $25,000 for twisting the ankles of quarterback Cam Newton and tight end Greg Olsen in separate pileups. Burfict, who will appeal the fine, reportedly was told he's also subject to the league's escalating fines system as a repeat offender if he has another similar incident.

"I saw the plays and you saw him twisting at their ankles, so I think it was the right call," Wright said. "You can't do that stuff. I can't say what the league should have done, whether it was fining or suspending him. But he definitely got some punishment, which is what he deserved."

Several Vikings players were asked how prevalent such behavior is at the bottom of NFL piles.

"I think the big guys will have better answers for you," safety Harrison Smith said. "I'm normally at the top of those piles."

But first we tried one more "little" guy.

"Me?" cornerback Josh Robinson said when asked for the worst thing he has ever seen at the bottom of a pile.

"I don't know. That's a tricky question. I try to avoid the bottom. And when I get stuck down there, I just close my eyes and hope I get out."

Backup center Joe Berger has been in a few scrums in his 10 NFL seasons.

"I've seen people go for other people's eyes and stuff like that," Berger said. "That's pretty dirty, I think."

Um, yeah.

"It can be pretty bad," Berger said. "You're on the bottom of the pile and your hands are pinned and you can't protect yourself."

Berger said the league has to come down hard when the tape doesn't lie.

"I haven't checked out what [Burfict] did enough to have an opinion on it," Berger said. "But if it's dirty, it's dirty."

In some cases, justice doesn't come from just the league.

"I think there are ways you can show your displeasure, so to speak," Berger said with a smile. "Guys will try to protect themselves within the rules of the game. You don't want to make things worse by getting a personal foul going after a guy. You kind of hope the ref sees it and handles it that way and it's over."

Wright said "stuff like this happens definitely way more than people think." Robinson disagreed, saying, "If it did, you'd see more guys getting fined for it."

Berger said it happens, but not at an alarming rate.

"I don't think it's the goal of a lot of players to intentionally hurt someone else before or after the play," he said. "I think for most of us there's a healthy respect for the game."

Burfict is known as a tough guy. But this, Smith said, is the wrong way to go about enhancing that image.

"You want to be known for being tough during the play," Smith said. "After the play, there's no room for stuff like that. It's not being tough."

FOCUS ON FIVE STORY LINES

1 Peyton passes the Ol' Gunslinger? San Francisco at Denver

Broncos QB Peyton Manning (right) needs two TD passes to tie Brett Favre's NFL record of 508. The Niners defense might be without LB Patrick Willis in this prime-time showdown.

2 Colts on a big roll Cincinnati at Indianapolis

The Colts have won four in a row after losing their first two, while Cincinnati is coming off a tie against Carolina when Mike Nugent missed a chip-shot FG to win the game. Bengals WR A.J. Green might return from an injury.

3 Big test for Chiefs Kansas City at San Diego

The Chiefs need a victory to keep pace in the AFC West. The Chargers have won five straight, but their past three victories came against teams with combined 1-17 record.

4 Marshall meets old mates Miami at Chicago

Chicago WR Brandon Marshall plays his former team, which lost in the final seconds to the Packers last week. Marshall had 167 receptions for 2,228 yards with Miami from 2010-11.

5 Are the Cowboys for real? N.Y. Giants at Dallas

An impressive win at Seattle has owner Jerry Jones upbeat — or maybe it was just that his sexual harassment lawsuit was thrown out of court. Will Dallas go to 6-1 or have a typical flameout?

NFL Chatter

It's hard to imagine a seller's market if the Bills are indeed shopping running back C.J. Spiller before the Oct. 28 trade deadline.

A look at the top 19 rushers this week reveals 13 who were drafted below the second round, including five who were taken in the sixth or seventh rounds and three who went undrafted.

In other words, why in the world would anyone give up any draft pick for a running back who has one 1,000-yard season, turns 28 in August, is averaging 3.4 yards per carry and has two fumbles in 68 carries this season?

Spiller, the ninth overall pick in 2010, is in the final year of his contract. Things aren't going well either. He has yet to play more than 50 percent of the snaps and bottomed out last week with only 12 snaps and six carries for 19 yards in a loss to the Patriots.

"Obviously, you want to get the value that you deserve so you want to have a big year," he told reporters. "Obviously, I'm not off to a great start, but once the smoke clears, I'll be right where I need to be."

Spiller played fewer snaps and had fewer carries than special teamer Anthony Dixon last week. It didn't help Spiller that he fumbled when the Bills were trying to kill the clock in the closing seconds of the first half. The fumble led to the Patriots kicking a field goal to take a 13-7 lead.

THIRD-AND-2

Three observations

• Something for Vikings fans to think about: The Lions' defensive line has 14½ sacks this year. The Bills' defensive line has 16½.

• Not sure what the Rams were waiting on, but left guard Greg Robinson, the No. 2 overall pick, finally started and played all 74 snaps against the 49ers.

• A year ago, the Cowboys gave up a league-worst 24.3 first downs per game. This year, they rank second at 17.0.

Two predictions

• Arizona will be 5-1 when most of its stats say it shouldn't be.

• There's too much attention on DeMarco Murray for him to get a seventh consecutive 100-yard rushing game.

CRAIG'S LIST

We went 10-4 against the spread last week, but it sure felt like one of those opposite days in the NFL. You know the feeling, eh?

You pick the Lions to play like the '78 Bucs and they play like the '76 Steelers. You pick Cleveland to stay in darkness and LeBron raises his staff and commands "Let there be light upon my kingdom! At least until my current contract expires."

You feel good about your two suicide pool picks because they're touchdown favorites at home. Then you wonder why Dallas keeps playing defense and if there's a special commissioner's exempt list for Cincinnati kickers who have ruined the entertainment value of the next 11 Sundays.

But we plow forward. The predicted scores are what we think will happen. The rest is the opposite, which would be the opposite of opposite on opposite day:

MN +5½ at BUF

Bills 24, Vikings 17

Norv Turner will storm the field and flash the Johnny Manziel money sign to the press box when a forward pass is thrown to and caught by Cordarrelle Patterson.

CIN +3 at IND

Colts by 6

Taking Pacman Jones' advice to "do your job," Bengals kicker Mike Nugent will retroactively get himself suspended for the entire 2007 season and seven games in 2008.

SEA -6½ at STL

Seahawks by 10

Another Seahawk won't whine about how tough it is being Super Bowl champs.

ATL +7 at BAL

Ravens by 14

The Falcons will go on HBO, talk like Tarzan, play like Jane. Wait, that already happened.

MIA +3 at CHI

Bears by 7

Brandon Marshall will get over it and leave Chad Henne alone already.

CLE -5½ at JAX

Jaguars by 3

Cleveland will enjoy Brian Hoyer and not worry about who its quarterback will be in 2016.

CAR +6½ at GB

Packers by 7

A four-game winning streak will prompt Aaron Rodgers to tell Vikings fans to "P-A-N-I-C."

TEN +5 at WAS

Redskins by 3

Both teams will go on the radio to tell fans to, "S-U-R-R-E-N-D-E-R."

KC +4 at SD

Chargers by 7

Vikings fans won't use the Chargers' success to e-mail us with thoughts on how Norv Turner is to blame for everything Cordarrelle Patterson hasn't done.

NYG +6 ½ at DAL

Cowboys by 3

Pass. We've been asked to recuse ourselves after calling Jerry Jones a "media whore."

SF +7 at DEN

Broncos by 3

Peyton Manning won't move 509 touchdown passes ahead of Teddy Bridgewater.

HOU +3 at PIT

Steelers by 6

Mike Tomlin will go on the radio and tell fans to, "B-L-A-M-E … T-O-D-D … H-A-L-E-Y."

ARI -3½ at OAK

Cardinals by 7

The Raiders will go on the radio, but no one will be listening.

UPSET SPECIAL

NO +2½ at DET

Saints by 3

For some reason, a guy in Minneapolis won't pick the Lions because he claims they're still the Lions.

Record

Last week/overall:  8-5-1/ 49-35-1

vs.spread: 10-4/ 40-45

Vikings picks: 3-3

Upset specials: 1-5

Mark Craig • mcraig@startribune.com