NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Senior writer jclombardi highlights Packers headlines.

Packers get back to work: The Packers enter Sunday's game at Minnesota with a chance to bury quarterback Brett Favre and the struggling Vikings (3-6) in the division while also being in the thick of the race for the NFC's top spot in the wide-open conference. The Packers are tied with the Chicago Bears (6-3) atop the NFC North, but only Atlanta (7-2) has a better record in the NFC. The NFC East-leading New York Giants, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Philadelphia Eagles are all 6-3. It should help that the Packers are healthier than they've been all season. They could have their full 53-man roster to choose from when making game-day decisions Sunday. The only players who did not practice Monday were defensive end Pickett (ankle), outside linebacker Matthews (hamstring/shin), tight end Quarless (shoulder) and wide receiver Driver (quadriceps), although McCarthy said Driver was excused for a personal matter. Cornerback/kickoff returner Lee (ankle) was back at practice, as were left tackle Clifton (hamstring/knee), left guard Colledge (back), safety Collins (knee), defensive end Jenkins (calf), halfback Nance (ankle), quarterback Rodgers (ankle) and cornerback Woodson (toe).

Packers are polar opposites of sinking Vikings–Vikings quarterback Brett Favre talks with coach Brad Childress on the sideline during a game on Oct. 31. Favre has gone through a trying season, both on the field and off: There was some pep in their step as the Green Bay Packers returned to practice Monday following their bye week. Coming off three straight victories, rested and healthier than they’ve been in weeks, the Packers (6-3) control their destiny in the NFC North and are looking forward to playing meaningful games in cold weather. ”There’s nothing like November and December football,” said coach Mike McCarthy. “I think this is what it’s all about. This is what you come together in March and prepare for. ”Everything we want to accomplish is right in front of us.” The Minnesota Vikings, picked by many to win the NFC North, are 3-6 and coming off a dispiriting 27-13 loss to the Chicago Bears. They are a team in turmoil, with an embattled coach in Brad Childress, a beat-up quarterback in Brett Favre and a locker room filled with dissension and doubt. Just about nothing has gone right for the Vikings, most notably a failed four-game experiment with malcontent receiver Moss.

No country for old men: The player sent the message shortly after the news broke, and it likely summed up the thoughts of more than a few of Al Harris’ suddenly ex-teammates. "Wow," the player wrote after learning that the 35-year-old Harris, a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback and the fourth-longest tenured player on the Packers' 53-man roster at the time, was being released. "Am I next?" The NFL is a cutthroat business. "It's part of the game," Packers coach Mike McCarthy explained. “Mark has had a tremendous career here. They bring so much experience, both to the field and to the locker room. But it's also the path of our season. Injuries do occur, decisions are made, and we're always going to operate and do what is in the best interests of the Green Bay Packers from the chairs that we sit in. Al Harris and Mark Tauscher have been excellent Packers, and we appreciate that. But at some point, careers do come to an end and you move on and you appreciate what they have done."

After handling the Cardinals with relative ease in Week Ten, the Seahawks find themselves alone atop the NFC West standings thanks to the San Francisco 49ers as they knocked off division foe St. Louis.

Now it’s time for you, the 12th Man, to find yourself in command of the ship here at SeahawksGab for the day with the Tuesday Two Deep poll questions.

Can't get enough NFLGridironGab? Follow SeahawksGab Editor Devon Heinen on Twitter at http://twitter.com/DevonHeinen.

Chicago

Limited participation: CB Zackary Bowman (foot), WR Rashied Davis (quadricep), WR Devin Hester (shoulder), WR Johnny Knox (ankle), C Olin Kreutz (hamstring)

Miami

Did not participate: C Joe Berger (knee), S Chris Clemons (hamstring), QB Chad Henne (knee), T Jake Long (shoulder)

Limited participation: S Yeremiah Bell (toe), T Vernon Carey (knee), S Tyrone Culver (ankle), WR Roberto Wallace (knee)

Full participation: LB Channing Crowder (ribs), LB Karlos Dansby (elbow), LB Tim Dobbins (ankle), DE Kendall Langford (ankle), LB Cameron Wake (hip)

Watching Jeff Reed miss kick after kick this season may finally be over, as reports say the long time Steeler kicker may be out of job as of Tuesday.

Sources say that the Steelers will try out kickers on Tuesday, and if one of them has a good showing, Reed could be cut.

On Sunday night in the loss to the Pats, Reed totally shanked a 26-yarder. He said that the turf moved as he planted his leg to attempt the kick. Last week, he missed a late field goal in Cincy that could have cliched the win over the Bengals.

When Reed wasn’t missing chip shots, he was busy ripping on the condition of the turf at Heinz.

“I’m not one to make excuses,” Reed said in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I’ll take the credit for the miss. It was a great snap, a great hold, great protection. It’s kind of hard when you plant your foot and the hole — a piece of ground moves where the ball’s under the holder. I almost missed the ball completely.

“I’m not going to make excuses. If you’ve played any kind of sports in your life, you realize that what we play on is not very good turf. It happens.”

Reed is 15-of-22 on field goals this season and his kicking percentage of 68.2 is the lowest of his career — lower than the 71.9 percent in 2003, his second year in the NFL. Reed missed nine field goals that season and the Steelers finished 6-10.

Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano announced in his press conference today that his starting left tackle Jake Long is preparing to start on Thursday night against the Chicago Bears. Long suffered a dislocated shoulder in Sundays game against the Tennessee TItans.

Chad Pennington suffered the same injury, only he has been announced out for the season.

Meanwhile quarterback Chad Henne has not been ruled out for the season despite reports, and Sparano described him as day-to-day. It should only be a matter of time though until we know the full diagnosis on Henne, as he is trying to prepare for the Thursday night game as well. Backup Tyler Thigpen will most likely get the start in place of both Pennington and Henne on Thursday because of their injuries.

So in wake of all of the injury drama that we suffered through last night, it really was not as bad as we expected. Vernon Carey is expected to play as well, as is safety Yeremiah Bell. But the extent of Cameron Wake's hip injury is sill unknown and is something we will be listening closely to for any news.

The New #88 Wearing “Playmaker”

I know a bunch of you are angry about last night's game, and I hear you. It was a bad effort against a team that should have been beaten. But let's keep one thing in mind: It's one game. The Giants are still a top the division, and have a chance to separate themselves next week against the Iggles. Not all is lost. Yes, it was disappointing. But it's not the be all end all. Let's get some Musings on the table.

-Allowing Jon Kitna to go off like that is not acceptable. No pass rush, obviously. And Dez Bryant hurts a lot. But, when the pass rush is down, it exposes a defense. And the pass rush was doing its thing. It has to get pressure for the rest of the D to be successful. It didn't do that. And that allowed the Cowboys to go off like that.

-Dez Bryant is a stud. He reminds me of a more physical Randy Moss. Wow. And he's only a rookie? Wow. The Cowboys have their next Michael Irvin (and you know what? Bryant might end up being better. He's that good).

-The Giants offense was good, if you take away the penalties and interceptions. But you can't take those away. Penalty after penalty. The interception in the end zone. You can have all the big plays you want, but if you negate with penalties, it's not going to matter.

-Did the power really go out at the New Meadowlands? I still can't believe that happened. Just a crazy thing. Imagine the chaos of complete darkness. I'd be scared. What if you were a young kid? Or a parent of a young kid? Those frantic moments would be unbearable.

-One thing I will say about Jon Kitna. Yeah, he should not have 300 plus yards. But he is a veteran who is pretty gritty and has done it in the past. He's not completely untalented.

-Duke Calhoun has a long way to go if he wants to be a NFL wide receiver.

-Ramses Barden showed me something. Of course, he got hurt. But, hey, he's got talent.

-Manningham did step up. Good on him.

-No Bradshaw or Jacobs. Against a Cowboys run defense that isn't that good. C'mon, guys. Gotta do more than that

-I know there was a rag tag offensive line, and that's part of it, but so many false starts (ahem, Will Beatty) just kills a team. You have to be more disciplined than that.

-Comedy interlude: Saw comedian Chad Daniels this weekend. And I have not laughed that hard in years. I had trouble breathing, I was laughing so hard. Highly, highly offensive. But so funny. Check his stuff out.

-Once again, let's not panic. We got the Eagles this week, and that's a big game. If we win that, we're good. If we don't, then panic. But it was one game, against a desperate team. Yeah, you want to win those. But, splitting the season series against Dallas is not terrible.

From “Operation Desperate Sinking Ship” To “Situation Happy Camper”

The Washington Redskins and quarterback Donovan McNabb have agreed to a new, five-year, $78 million deal that could be worth up to $88 million with incentives.  The fresh ink guarantees $40 million.

Meanwhile, Mike Shanahan continues to keep everyone guessing.  Needless to say, he has come to his senses.  Sorry, Rex Grossman.

As for McNabb, he definitely deserves “job security”.  Finally, he’s appreciated for what he’s truly worth.

McNabb is the NFL’s 28th-ranked passer with a 76.0 quarterback rating. He’s averaging 246.4 yards per game (No. 13 in the NFL) and has seven touchdowns (tied for No. 26) and eight interceptions (tied for 10th most).

The Redskins (4-4) will rely on McNabb for a playoff push in the half of 2010. McNabb is due a $5 million base salary this season and a $6.2 million roster bonus.

The Steelers offense did little all night vs the Pats till it was garbage time, and one reason was the loss of wide out Hines Ward with a concussion.

Ward says that despite the injury, he will go Sunday when the 6-3 Steelers host the 5-4 Oakland Raiders at Heinz Field.

Ward said he could have gone back in the game, but was prevented from doing so by the Steelers’ medical staff.

"I felt like I could have played but our (doctors) felt otherwise," Ward said. "It's my body. I feel like if I want to go back out there I should have the right. They saw me tripping over the grass and the league was going to make a big deal about it, them putting me back out there."

Ward got hit in the first quarter following what looked to be a a five-yard reception, which was then ruled incomplete.

"I'm a competitor and I want to be out there, especially against the New England Patriots,” Ward said. “I worked my tail off all week to get in that position and I got dinged up."

LeSean McCoy Is Part Of Reason #3

The Eagles will face the Redskins tonight for the second time of year. Coming off of a big win, the Eagles will look to keep the momentum going. The Redskins are coming off the bye so, they've had some extra time to reflect upon their last game as well as look forward to the rematch with the Eagles.

This is only the second divisional game for the Eagles this year, and they need to get a win if they want to keep making a push towards the playoffs. The good news is that I really like the match-up this week, and here are five reasons I think the Eagles will beat the Redskins.

1. It's time for revenge
As I mentioned, the Eagles have already played the Redskins once this year. It was a very disappointing game, and neither team really played that well. This was the return of Donovan McNabb to Philadelphia, and he was able to head back to Washington with a game.

It's hard to say that McNabb really beat the Eagles, but he left with the win and that's what counts. This time around, the Eagles will be looking to come in as the road team and leave with a win.

No one likes losing at home, especially to a division rival. The Eagles will have their shot at revenge tonight and need to take it.

2. Confidence is building
This season has been a roller coaster ride for the Eagles. They have experienced a large number of injuries, and it hasn't really provided them with a feeling of stability. It seems like there's a different line-up out there every week, but the team has still managed to win football games.

A lot of the player change has come at the quarterback position. We've seen Kevin Kolb start a number of games as well as current starter, Michael Vick. Both have led the team to wins, but we now have Vick healthy who will start the remainder of the year.

In his first game back, Vick came out swinging and made a ton of plays in the Eagles win against the Colts. Everyone knows that Vick gives the team the best chance to win, and after beating the Colts, everyone has a lot of confidence in this team moving forward.

3. Match-ups favor the Eagles
When you look at this game on paper, the match-ups are definitely in the Eagles favor. The biggest one that jumps out to me is our passing offense against their passing defense.

Currently, the Eagles are 13th in the NFL in passing offense. That's not outstanding, but you have to admit we have some serious weapons through the air. However, the thing that really jumps out is the Redskins ranking against the pass. Heading into Monday's match-up, the Redskins are 31st in the NFL against the pass, or second to last. That's just awful.

They're also 18th against the rush, while the Eagles rank 5th in the league running the football.

Defensively, the Eagles rank just outside the top 10 against the pass and rush. The Redskins offense is pretty much in the middle of the pack and has proven to be very mediocre.

4. The Eagles protect the ball
Vick and McNabb have both thrown for seven touchdowns this year. However, McNabb has thrown eight interceptions while Vick has thrown none. You can argue that McNabb has been on the field much more because Vick has missed time with the injury, but at the end of the day, Vick has done an amazing job of not turning the ball over when he has played.

Turnovers can have a huge impact on a game. For example, look at Asante Samuel last week. His first interception led to the Eagles taking a 10-0 lead very early in the game while his second interception essentially ended the game, sealing an Eagles win.

Vick will continue to be smart with the football, using his legs to make plays when nothing is available through the air.

5. It's the beginning of the end for Washington
Throughout the first half of the season, the Redskins have been playing extremely mediocre but still remaining to be in the thick of things because of the down year in the NFC. I think it's the beginning of the end now for the Redskins.

We saw what happened between McNabb and Mike Shanahan which can't be a good thing for two guys spending their first year with a new team. Both individuals have had a lot of success in the NFL before this, so when they were brought together it was supposed to be magical. However, it's been far from that. The relationship is on the rocks, and I can't see things getting much better.

The second half of the Redskins schedule does not look very promising, and if they can go 4-4 to finish the season, I think they should be happy. However, 8-8 isn't going to get you into the playoffs (at least it shouldn't), so there is going to be a lot of interesting talk surrounding the Redskins in the offseason.

You know the feeling you get when you reach into your pocket of your jeans, and you pull out a 20-dollar bill you had totally forgotten about? It's a mix of surprise, happiness, and bewilderment. I mean, WOW! GREAT! HUH?

I can't believe I found a 20-spot. This is fantastic! I can't believe I lost a 20-spot. How could I be so stupid?

And that's how the Raiders must be feeling right about now. With 7 weeks left in the regular season, the Raiders reached into their pocket Sunday night and found themselves in first place. A month ago they were 2-4 heading to Denver, where, as 8-point underdogs, they completely annihilated the Broncos 59-14. Today in Mile High, another blowout win for the Silver and Black, and they didn't even play.

Hosting the Kansas City Chiefs, the Broncos did to KC what Oakland had done to them. They absolutely destroyed them. It was 35-0 at one point, before they cruised to a 49-29 victory. Before the Chiefs got out of dodge, they'd dropped their second straight game and fallen to 5-4 on the year, tied with the Raiders atop the AFC West, one game ahead of San Diego.

After last week's overtime win over the Chiefs, the schedule broke down completely in Kansas City's favor. You could make a compelling argument that they could win their next 4 games and be 9-3 heading into a December 12th game against the aforementioned Chargers. But now, after today's humiliating loss, last week's OT loss to Oakland, and the week prior to that an OT win over the then-winless Buffalo Bills, that this team is not quite the juggernaut people were making them out to be.

It's quite clear that 10 wins is probably the magic number to win this division, which means the Raiders and/or Chiefs need to go 5-2, while the Chargers can only afford to lose once more to get to double digits.

To think that when talking about double digits, the Raiders were speaking about wins and not losses is taking some getting used to. Can this team really be in a position to fight for a playoff spot? The answer is yes–and here's why:

They can run the ball with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush. And on the defensive side, they can finally stop the run. They may give up the occasional double to a back, but they haven't given up a long one in quite a while. Add into the mix that they can pressure the quarterback, and you've got a real recipe for success. Run the ball, stop the run, pressure the QB equals wins. Keep doing that, and each game you play will become more and more important.

In other words, just keep reaching into that pocket.