NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

The final seconds tick off the clock. Beads of sweat trickle down your face as you shuffle through your notes. All around you, phones ring and voices fight to be heard. You're moments away from making Seattle's first pick in the 2011 National Football League Draft and you've decided the team's going to invest in a quarterback and the options at the position are plenty.

There's Jake Locker. He's the local product who has captured the hearts of many. Standing at 6-foot-3, 230-pounds, his physical tools are well known. He's more mobile than most at the position and has a strong arm. His competitiveness has never been in doubt despite playing for one of the country's worst college football teams over the past few years.

There's also the downside to the Husky. He's an erratic passer and, because of his mobility and competitiveness, he's been banged up more than you'd like for someone his age.

What about Ryan Mallet? Not many quarterbacks come in the form of a 6-foot-6, 238-pound gunslinger. He's spent two years in the SEC – a conference everybody knows is among the best if not the best in terms of competition. In the conference, he's not only shown that he can play, but play well. His completion percentage (67.3) has jumped roughly 12 percentage points in his second season at Arkansas and is approaching 70 percent.

He's not all that mobile, though, but is that something you need from your quarterback?

How about a dark horse? Someone that can play with the best of them and that can be had with your pick or possibly a later one if you trade back a few spots and pick up an additional selection or two in the process?

Enter Cam Newton.

In his first year starting in the SEC, Newton's put himself front and center among the nation's top quarterbacks and has built a strong portfolio towards winning the Heisman Trophy. His completion percentage (68.2) is better than Mallet's and, with 1,297 rushing yards on 6.3 yards per carry and 17 rushing touchdowns, is as much a threat on the ground as he is via the air.

With all the hype also comes a serious question mark.

The alleged pay-for-play recruitment scandal has dragged Auburn's signal caller through the mud. Did he or people associated with him take money? Did he or people associated with him even ask for money? How will this situation affect his maturity and decision making on and off the field at the next level of the sport?

With the final seconds waning quicker than they should, you call together the team's decision makers for one last go-over of opinions and the final decision is made.

Now all that is left is to turn in the card to the commissioner and welcome in the next generation of Seahawks football.

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

Senior writer jclombardi highlights Packers headlines.

Fans prepare for Favre’s last game:  This concerns something far more important in the hearts and minds of those who populate our dairy kingdom: Brett Favre. It has been nearly three years since Favre last took a snap for the Green and Gold, and Packer Nation is still divided on their feelings for No. 4. “I am a fan of Brett Favre, but I’m a Packer fan first,” said fan Chris.  Much time has elapsed since Favre’s famous “un-retirement,” an act that left Packer supporters reeling, many of whom find absolution hard to fathom with Favre wearing a purple uniform. “If he had simply stayed with the Jets and left it at that, a lot more people would have forgiven him,” said Travis. “But the fact that he purposely went to a rival, a lot of people are still going to be upset about that.” ”I think the reaction is similar to James leaving Cleveland,” said Sarah. “Everyone gets hurt, everyone gets kind of stung. Deep down, everyone still appreciates him but I think they’re still a little bitter.” As we look into the future on the eve of what is likely Favre’s last game against the team that made him famous, after he dons the dreaded purple jersey to knock heads with opponents in the golden “G” helmets for a final time, will Packer fans ultimately forgive Brett for defecting to the other side? ”I don’t think it will be for two or three years yet,” said Curt. “But five or 10 years down the road, I think they will.” ”I think over time, people will forgive him,” said Travis. “They’ll retire his number at some point and people will be cheering him on again.” Maybe that will happen someday. But it won’t happen Sunday.      .

Vikings scouting report–Halfback Adrian Peterson remains a serious threat: Run offense: As long as halfback Adrian Peterson is healthy, which he appears to be, he's one of the most dangerous runners in the NFL. Peterson (6-feet-1, 217 pounds) has a complete package of speed and power, and he is the NFL's No. 2 rusher. The Vikings' offensive line is in decline. Pass offense: The Vikings, who rank No. 27 in the NFL in scoring, are in even worse shape at receiver.  They waived Randy Moss. Receiver Percy Harvin has been Favre's favorite target, but he injured his ankle against Chicago and was unable to return.  Depending on the health of Harvin, Berrian and Rice, the Vikings might have to lean heavily on Lewis and Camarillo who are pedestrian possession receivers. Favre also is playing behind an offensive line that's had trouble protecting. Run defense: What was the NFL's premier run defense the past four years ranks No. 10 in the league in rushing yards allowed and No. 7 in yards allowed per carry–good but hardly great numbers. Teams always have been able to run at defensive end Allen, but now the Williams Wall at the defensive tackles isn't making up for it. The Vikings have one of the best 4-3 linebacker corps in the league. Pass defense: Neither Allen nor defensive tackle Kevin Williams is rushing the passer as well as in past years, which has exposed the Vikings' suspect secondary. The Vikings rank a respectable No. 9 in passing yards allowed, but their No. 18 ranking in yards allowed per catch is more indicative of their play. Cornerback Winfield remains a top player at age 33, but aside from him…."Winfield is really good," a scout said. "Everyone else is not." Special teams: P Kluwe gets great hang time and placement on his punts, and he ranks No. 3 in the NFL in net average and No. 11 in gross average. K Longwell is as accurate as ever. Harvin is one of the Vikings' best weapons as a kickoff returner. Camarillo (9.3-yard average) is a no-nonsense punt returner who will get what's there.

Packers backup RBs in a battle–Starks, Nance fight for chances: Running back Jackson is challenging himself to have a strong second half of the season for the Green Bay Packers. The question is whether he’ll get any support, beyond backup John Kuhn, from two complete unknowns in the running for the third-string job. Rookie James Starks practiced Monday. Packers coach McCarthy said Starks looked “dang good” in practice. “He’s a big, physical, athletic runner. He’s got a lot to learn,” McCarthy said. “He’s competing to play.” That means Starks is competing with Dimitri Nance, rookie out of Arizona State who was picked up off Atlanta’s practice squad after starter Grant was lost. While Starks took his snaps with the scout team Monday during the portion of practice open to the media, Nance ran a lot of plays with the regular offense. He wasn’t on the scout team at all. The sentiment among a few players is that the Packers are in fact still looking at Starks. Basically, the Packers don’t know what they have in Starks or Nance until they get some playing time. For now, Jackson has emerged as nothing short of a reliable, effort back. He has 460 yards on 108 carries (4.3 average). He managed to survive the first nine games without getting hurt, an accomplishment for any player given the Packers’ luck with injuries this season.

Michael Vick has had an outstanding season, no question, but to annoit him as the league MVP seems a little bit like a knee-jerk reaction after just one tremendous night.

Vick first off has only played in six of his teams nine games, and that has to be taken into consideration. Staying on the field when the team needs you the most is the sign of an MVP, and Vick has to prove he can do it for the remaning 7 games.

Then there’s that little issue of other players around the league that are having MVP type seasons. Here’s just a few that you have to look at before handing the award to Vick for an amazing six game run.

1. Philip Rivers – The Chargers QB is throwing to no names, and is 3rd in the NFL with a 102.9 QB rating and 2,944 yards with 19 TD’s. The team hasn’t played up to his ability, which there’s no doubt about since the club is 4-5.

2. Kyle Orton - Another QB who hasn’t had a ton of help with a 3-6 team, but has thrown 16 TD’s to five picks, and also has 2,806 yards. He’s also played in all nine games as well.

3. Peyton Manning – No doubt that Manning is one of the best – still, and without him the Colts are a well below .500 team. Manning has thrown for 16 touchdowns with 4 picks, and has a QB rating of 93.9 throwing to players most fans have never heard of.

4. Roddy White – The Falcons WR is a star, and has 7 TD’s with 934 yards and 70 grabs, best in the league. The Falcons don’t beat the Saints or the Ravens without him, and he has rounded into the best WR in the game today.

So while there’s some other players that have to be in the discussion, those are four that should be at the top of the list. Vick deserves to be mentioned, but let’s not just hand him the award till the season plays out.

A concussion may sideline Panthers rookie QB Jimmy Clausen Sunday, and because of that, the team has promoted quarterback Brian St. Pierre from the practice squad.

The Panthers made room on the 53-man roster Tuesday by waiving running back Andre Brown, just a week after claiming him from Indianapolis.

Clausen, who took over as the starter after Matt Moore's season-ending shoulder injury, sustained a concussion late in Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay. If he can't play against Baltimore, fellow rookie Tony Pike would make his first NFL start.

The only other QB was rookie Armanti Edwards, who has been playing receiver outside a few wildcat snaps. The 30-year-old St. Pierre has thrown five NFL passes, completing two for 12 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Bradford, Rams Are Going Through Trying Times

It is not called growing "good times".  Or growing "sweet sweet success".  It is called "growing pains".  And the Rams are going through their fare share of growing pains this season.  They have taken a step forward this season, actually beating teams they should beat (and one that was strongly favored) at home.  That is a huge step forward for the St. Louis Rams franchise that could not beat anyone over the past 3 seasons.  But, their growing pains are exacerbated when they head on the road.  The Rams have failed to get a win on the road in 4 tries, leading in the 2nd half in 3 of those 4 games.  Those three heart-breaking losses have accounted for several steps back for the Rams franchise.

The St. Louis Rams franchise has experienced a lot of regular pains over the last three seasons, winning only 6 games in 3 years.  So far in 2010, the Rams have won 4 games which is 1 more than they won over the past two seasons.  However, with these wins and the weak NFC West, the Rams have eyed a playoff berth a year after going 1-15.  But, it appears the Rams growing pains with a young team and a rookie quarterback might be too much to overcome in 2010.

It is good to see the Rams finally win games, but with winning and growing come higher expectations and growing pains.  The Rams have shown the ability to play good football, something we haven't seen in St. Louis in a long time.  But, the Rams have been unable to execute on a consistent basis, which has cost them games in the 2nd half.  The Rams offense and coaching staff has trusted their defense late in the game.  The Rams defense has protected leads, but also has allowed leads to disintegrate.

The Rams defense is growing by leaps and bounds, but they have experience growing pains.  The Rams offense has taken a huge step forward behind their rookie quarterback Sam Bradford, but they have had their own growing pains, not moving the football when the team desperately needed them to.  The rebuilding of the Rams is not going to happen all at once as the Rams grow up right before our eyes, but that improvement does not help the losses hurt any less.

Rams Lack Killer Instinct:

We could talk all day and night about each and every part that went wrong for the Rams on Sunday, but the over-arching theme of the Rams in 2010 is that they lack a killer instinct.  In all but the dominating win over the Seattle Seahawks, the Rams have attempted to sit on their lead in the 2nd half.

Against San Diego, it worked (barely). Against Washington and Carolina it worked.  But, against Tampa Bay, Arizona, Oakland and San Francisco, the plan went up in flames.  I understand that the team and the coaching staff trust their defensive players, but more often than not the defense has failed to hold the lead.

The problem is not entirely laid on the feet of the defense because the Rams lack the ability to put away teams late in the game.  Against the 49ers, the Rams had 4 straight 3 and outs with each drive they had the chance to make the game into a two score game.  Against Tampa Bay, the offense scored 0 points in the 2nd half as Tampa Bay whittled a 17-3 Rams lead into an 18-17 Tampa Bay victory.

The Rams defense is not good enough to defend a one score lead for a full quarter and the Rams offense is not good enough to go into cruise control and allows breakdowns.  There is a reason Football Outsiders DVOA has the Rams offense ranked 28th and the Rams defense ranked 14th in the middle of the pack.

The Rams have improved leaps and bounds from 2009, but until they can figure out how to put the opposition to the sword when they have a lead late in the game, they will not be able to fight above .500.

Sharper, Saints Pass Defense Ranks 1st

I don't want anyone to get me wrong on this.  Statistically, the Saints defense has been playing extremely well this entire season. Currently, it is ranked 3rd overall. It's 1st in pass defense, 3rd in yards allowed, 5th in points allowed, and 17th against the rush. I don't think anyone would deny that those stats are a lot better than they were this time last year.

However, the two key areas where defensive production has been down when compared to last year is in takeaways and points scored off takeaways. Most of that is due to the more conservative style that Gregg Williams has opted to go with for the most part this season. Rather than the blitz-happy defense of 2009, Williams has been dropping players back into to coverage more, taking away the big plays down the field and forcing offenses to try to beat their speed and skill underneath.

Still and all, theirs has been a relatively quiet success. It hasn't been more evident than when it came time to play the Pittsburgh Steelers, who have historically been defined as the premiere defensive powerhouse of the NFL. Nobody even considered just how good and consistent the Saints defense has been all year, even though they were ranked one spot higher in overall defense than the Steelers were going into that game. All we heard about was how the Saints offense was going to be tested by the swarming Pittsburgh defense. I guess the analysts didn't consider how battle-tested that Steeler offense was going to be trying to matchup against the new-and-improved Saints defense.

Defensive general, Jonathan Vilma is having a Pro Bowl calibre year, having recorded 58 tackles, 2 forced fumbles, 2 sacks, and 1 interception.  A slimmer, healthier Sedrick Ellis is also doing his part with 23 tackles and 4 sacks.  Remi Ayodele has also been very impressive when you consider his 21 tackles, 1 forced fumble, and 1 sack.  Will Smith has recorded 21 tackles and 2.5 sacks.  Alex Brown has 18 tackles (14 of which were solo) and 1 sack.  Jeff Charleston has 13 tackles and 1 sack.  Anthony Hargrove has 11 solo tackles and 1 sack.  Marvin Mitchell has recorded 28 tackles (21 of which are solo) and 2 critical forced fumbles.  Jimmy Wilkerson has 10 tackles and 1 sack.   Jabari Greer has recorded 32 tackles (29 solo) and 2 interceptions, 1 of which he returned for a touchdown.  Tracy Porter has 21 tackles and 1 interception.  Malcolm Jenkins has a very impressive 45 tackles (38 solo) and 1 sack.  Leigh Torrence has 17 tackles and 1 critical interception.  Usama Young has 16 tackles and 1 sack.  And rookie Patrick Robinson has played like a seasoned veteran at times.

Even so, the return of Darren Sharper to the Saints defense has been a noticeable one.  His confidence and energy have brought a spark back to the unit as a whole–one that was missing up until he returned.  In his first game back which was the loss to Cleveland, I can remember thinking that he didn't look like a man coming off a serious knee injury at all.  In one play, he leapt over the backs of two defensive linemen to put pressure on Colt McCoy.  It was awesome!  As always, Sharper has been all over the field making his presence known.  From plucking the forced fumble of Heath Miller out of the air against the Steelers to delivering the jarring blow to Jonathan Stewart in the win against Carolina, Sharper has singlehandedly set the tone for what is necessary and expected of the entire team.  That's what makes him such an effective player and such a valuable leader.  You know that wherever the ball is on the field, #42 won't be far away.

It goes without saying that the rest of the players are feeding off of Sharper's energy and that's a very good thing.  Even though they were playing well before he came back, the Saints defense seems to be playing more inspired football since his return–they seem to have their swagger back.  As a complete unit, they're playing like they're more confident and more purpose-driven with him in; they're certainly more energetic, getting back to their turnover-causing prowess of last year.  Long story short, he makes that good defense even better.  I for one am very glad that Sharper is back in the lineup.  Hopefully, his infectious energy will be the final piece that the Saints have needed to get back on track.

Will A Coaching Change Make A Difference?

Following the miraculous comeback against Arizona two weeks ago, owner Zygi Wilf stood outside the Vikings locker room shaking each player and coach's hand and exclaiming "great heart!"

After this Sunday's pathetic display at Soldier Field, I immediately envisioned a downtrodden Wilf standing outside the visitor's locker room kicking every coach and player in the ass as they headed in.

If "Great Heart" was the tagline to follow the victory against Arizona, then "Sh*tty Heart" seems most fitting for the loss to Chicago.

While, as I mentioned, the Vikings are not mathematically eliminated and could still even go 10-6 for the season, there seems to be too much negativity and too many obstacles to overcome to get there.

At this point, Brett Favre seems to be accumulating injuries in a fashion that will allow a graceful exit from the season if the Vikings tank against Green Bay this week.  Already dealing with tendinitis in his throwing elbow, a stress fracture in the ankle, a heel fracture,a laceration to the face, and a calf injury, Favre is now reportedly going to consult with Dr. James Andrew about a possible issue with his biceps that could be related to his 2008 injury while with the Jets.

Also, while I try to avoid the topic these days, one can't ignore the fact that the NFL should soon be wrapping up their investigation into Favre's treatment of Jenn Sterger in 2008.  Favre would surely like to avoid that storyline becoming bigger than it already is. and if he was not playing when any ruling or suspension came down, then that may soften the P.R. blow.

Favre did not sound like a leader of men following Sunday's loss, but rather sounded like the tattered and aging quarterback that he is.

"…We will be watching the playoffs," Favre said on Sunday. "That's probably the better guess than us making the playoffs, and that's just being honest, unless we — old cliché — find a way to turn it around."

Favre might be being honest, but the facts are that they are not yet out of the race, and as the highest paid player with the most experience, he needs to put on his game face and pull this team together and at least try to make an inspired run at a wild card spot.  If he isn't capable of putting on that game face, or if he feels he isn't physically capable of leading this team through seven hard fought games, then he needs to be promptly replaced.

Brad Childress sounds unaware of Favre's shoulder injury and could provide little clarification on why receiver Bernard Berrian was mysteriously active but absent on Sunday.  Childress could just be downplaying anything and everything to get out from in front of the media cameras as soon as possible, given that a good portion of the sports world is waiting for his job to be taken from him and doesn't want to say anything that might expedite the process.  Professionally, the guy has to be just as metaphorically battered and bruised as his starting quarterback, and it is hard to blame him for wanting to do nothing but focus on winning this coming weekend.

Childress can't be blamed for all the little things that went wrong in Sunday's loss, but the shot of Percy Harvin, Bernard Berrian, and Sidney Rice all sitting on the bench as Favre tried unsuccessfully to lead the team back into short term contention summed up the season perfectly.

Harvin is a tough player whom has been asked to carry a heavy load on offense and on special teams.  He is constantly facing an ailment of some sort and while he can always be counted on to play hard, he cannot always be counted on to be playing.

Berrian caused confusion by being activated for the game and then inexplicably was unable to play after taking up a valuable roster spot.  Rice… well, we all know what happened there.

It is possible that the Vikings could have all three of their top receivers available to them for Sunday's matchup against Green Bay, which could help cure what ails Brad Childress.  However, it is no wonder that some fans are still upset about Childress kicking Randy Moss to the curb, especially after the sight of those three sitting on the bench has been etched into their brains.

Moss may not have had much production in his Tennessee debut, but he did help to clear men out of the box, something that could have helped the Vikings on Sunday.  Adrian Peterson had a dismal day all around on Sunday, but when the Bears put six or fewer players in the box (it happened six times) on Sunday he averaged six yards per carry.  When they had seven or more in the box (happened 11 times), he averaged 1.4 yards per carry.

Anyone out there who asks me if I miss Randy Moss will receive a whole-hearted "yes" as a response.

Peterson carried the ball 17 times, which is an improvement on last week, but he still isn't being featured enough in this offense.  The Vikings ran a good mix of plays in the first half, and I do not believe it is any coincidence that a play action fake to Peterson resulted in a wide open Percy Harvin streaking down the field for an easy catch and touchdown.  All four of Favre's turnovers came when he lined up in the shotgun and the threat of a running play was minimal.

I usually brush off comments about "predictable playcalling" because that is always an easy comment to make after a game is finished, but there is no defending what has become a very predictable offense this year.  Predictable playcalling may be the wrong term, after all, Childress unpredictably called an Adrian Peterson run on third and seven, inside field goal range, during the first quarter on Sunday.

Perhaps "predictable play design" is the more legitimate complaint.  When you have an already struggling offensive line, and you take your dangerous running threat out of the game plan by lining up in obvious passing formations, then that makes the defenses job of getting to the quarterback that much easier.

Regardless, this team needs to turn it around over the next six days if they want to avoid blogs like this one turning their gaze towards the 2011 draft, and I am not certain that either Brad Childress or Brett Favre are capable of doing that.

We'll see, though.

Maybe on Sunday the team can find their "Great Heart."

Mike, How Do You Recover From This Loss?

I was 9 years old on November 12, 1990, when the Redskins lost 28-14 to the Eagles in one of the most gruesome losses in the team's history, forever known as the "body bag game." I still remember watching Jeff Rutledge and Stan Humphries carted off the field, along with seven other Redskins players. I remember seeing Brian Mitchell, a kick returner, having to play as the Redskins emergency quarterback, just so the Redskins could actually have SOMEONE line up under center.

Yet if that game was "the body bag game," I'm naming the heinous loss last night "the Monday Night Massacre."

This is a loss that could, and should, go down among the worst losses in Redskins history. The Redskins weren't embarrassingly bad or laughably bad, they were historically bad. Off the top of my head, in the past decade, here are the five worst Redskins losses (in chronological order):

- Steve Spurrier's shutout loss to the Cowboys in '03, when Tim Hasselbeck registered a whopping 0.0 passer rating
- the 52-7 loss to the Patriots in '07
- The loss to the Bills after Sean Taylor's passing (also in '07, when Gibbs called the back-to-back icing the kicker timeouts)
- Jim Zorn's 45-12 loss to the Giants in '09 (forever known for the swinging gate incident).
- This game.

Irregardless of the few big plays and touchdowns the Redskins managed to muster up, the Redskins were beaten, abused, obliterated, and humiliated. I don't think Manny Pacquiao beat Antonio Margarito last Saturday as badly as the Eagles beat the Redskins, and Margarito actually needed surgery after the fight.

By the time the second half began, there were more players and maintenance staff on the field than there were spectators in the seats of FedEx field. Even the Eagles fans were leaving the stadium at halftime; that's how bad their team was beating down the opponent.

The Redskins allowed an unfathomable performance from the Eagles offense. In 142 previous road games, the Eagles scored 45 points (total) exactly one time. Yet the Eagles had 45 points at the HALF last night. Michael Vick, who looked like the player from Madden 2004 (where even the producers of the game admitted that they made him unrealistically good), had 304 combined yards and 5 TD's at HALFTIME. He's an amazing athlete for sure, but Vick has never been anywhere near this dominant at any point in his organized football career, even when he played at Virginia Tech (I would know, I watched every game of his Hokie career).

Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett should be absolutely tarred and feathered in the streets of Washington. The Redskins defense was skewered worse than a shish kabob. Any Redskins fan knows that the Eagles love to run screen and shovel passes time and time and time again when they play the Redskins (or any other opponent), and yet the Redskins defense is still completely taken by surprise when the Eagles run either play. ESPN's Jon Gruden, sitting up in the press box, was accurately predicting the plays the Eagles would run, yet Haslett, who is supposed to do this for a living, was bamboozled by the Eagles play-calling.

And while I'm almost certainly in the minority on this, Offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan is spared some blame from last night's disaster, because the personnel he's supposed to operate with is beyond abysmal. Donovan McNabb, the newly christened $78 million(?) dollar man, hasn't played a good game since September. But in his defense, he has absolutely nothing to work with on offense. Keiland Williams is the shining definition of mediocrity (I don't care how many yards or TD's he had, they were mostly in garbage time anyway). Joey Galloway is the epitome of has-been, and yet he still gets plenty of snaps (for reasons that should defy each and every Redskins fan). Every single offensive lineman has regressed in their play as the season went on. Fred Davis continues to see more bench time than playing time, even though he may be one of the most talented players on the entire offense.

If the team continues to play this way, the Redskins honestly may not win a single game for the rest of the season. Their schedule over the next seven weeks is absolutely savage. They have two games left against the Giants, (who have soundly beaten the Redskins in each of their last four match-ups), a re-match against the Cowboys in Dallas (they looked like a completely different team yesterday), away games against the surprising, never-say die Buccaneers and Jaguars (who have been playing good football over the last few weeks), not to mention games against Tennessee (away) and Minnesota over the next two weeks. If the Redskins went 0-7 over that stretch, especially after the way they played last night, absolutely nobody would or should be surprised.

But all of that still remains in the future. I'm honestly running out of adjectives to describe how pathetic and infuriating last night's performance was. Redskins fans showed up in droves last night – FedEx field was as loud and raucous as any point in recent memory – and their team repaid them by being completely undressed on national television.

The Redskins added another chapter to the storied history of this team. Unfortunately, it's one that we'd much rather forget and never think about again. Even with a different general manager, different head coach, and different quarterback, it's the same old results.

As Yogi Berra once quipped: "It's Deja Vu all over again"

In a season where the Steelers have seen him miss as many field goals in 9 games as he had the last three years, the club has released veteran kicker Jeff Reed.

Reed, who began the season as one of the 10 most accurate kickers in NFL history, cemented his fate Sunday night by shanking a 26-yard field goal vs the Patriots.

He was the Steelers' kicker since the middle of the 2002 season, but will be replaced by former Redskins and Cowboys kicker Shaun Suisham.

He was worked out by the Steelers on Tuesday at Heinz Field. He missed seven of 22 attempts this season, including all four of his attempts between the 40- and 49-yard lines. He had only eight misses combined in 62 attempts during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

Making rules about concussions doesn't change the game of football. Does anyone actually think that Hines Ward had a neck injury on Sunday night?  Of course not, he suffered a concussion of some sort.  He got knocked out.  However, throughout the game he was listed as questionable with a neck injury because if it had been labeled a concussion then he would have been locked out of that game and been under pressure to possibly not play the next week.  Don't be surprised if we find out that this is becoming common with the new rules about what teams have to do about concussions.  Players will LIE about it and trainers will be under pressure to look the other way.  Would it be better to encourage players to be honest?

Parity continues and it's making for an exciting 2010 almost every week. Every week seems to be filled with overtime games and last minute wins.   It speaks to the parity of the NFL that is obvious when you look at the division standings.  19 out of 32 teams are either in the lead or within 1 game of the lead for their division.  An astonishing 24 out of 32 teams are within 2 games of the lead for the division.  That means 75% of the teams in the league are not only in contention, but only a division win and maybe one other lucky week from being tied or in the lead.  Amazing.

The Cowboys need a competent head coach. I feel for Wade Phillips.  I really do.  He's a great defensive coordinator, and desires to be a great head coach, but he just ISN'T.  He's missing some key elements of a head coach that make him able to lead an entire team into battle.  We'll see if long term Jason Garrett has what it takes, but it's clear that Wade Phillips didn't have it.  This team is loaded with talent, and has been for several years, but they have only one playoff game win to show for it under Wade Phillips.

Things I think I know.

Brett Favre should step aside and let the Vikings move on. The Brett Favre experiment for the Vikings is over.  It's just a question of whether he will play for his own statistical benefit for the rest of the season, or step aside and let the Vikings start the process of moving on.  If Favre really cares about the organization that pursued him and his teammates that flew down to convince him to play, he will step aside now.  Not at the end of the already lost 2010 season.

Troy Smith deserves a chance in San Francisco. Before his injury in 2008, Troy Smith had earned the starting job in Baltimore and was playing decent football for a young QB.  Then Joe Flacco changed Smith's life forever by having a spectacular rookie season while Smith recovered.  After waiting in the wings for a chance for two years in Baltimore, the 49ers picked up Smith as almost an after thought.  With a pair of 1st pick overall QBs in Alex Smith and David Carr on the roster, no one thought about Troy.  But two weeks and two 100+ QB rating performances and two wins later, Troy Smith has opened some eyes.  No one should be surprised, Troy Smith is talented and has never had a chance to prove whether he can play or not.

NFL Network announcing continues to be TERRIBLE. It's not even close.  I think some are wishing for some of the horrible Monday Night Football crews before the last couple of years after the NFLN proved once again that they could actually get worse than last year in announcing.  No one thought it was possible; you have to give them credit for that, they set announcing back even further than they did last year in just one game.

Things I know I don't know.

Are late bye weeks an advantage? The Raiders, Chargers, Packers and Saints all had bye weeks this week.  The Raiders and Chargers both had an excellent week as they watched the Kansas City Chiefs fall again and propelled the Oakland Raiders to the top of the division.  The Saints and Packers watched their rivals win and march to the top of their divisions.  But the question is how much having a rest at mid-season or later helps a team get ready for the second half of the season?

Did Mike Vick just win the NFL MVP? He's made the Eagles offense look like an arena football team.  Scoring 70+ points doesn't look out of the realm of possibility.  If Andy Reid hadn't decided to slow things down last night, it's possible they could have scored 50 in the first half of Monday night's game.  He has 11 TD passes and ZERO interceptions, 115.1 QB rating, with 4 rushing TDs and nearly an 8 yard average to add.  He's the Eagles leader now; they want to win with and for him.  If he can stay healthy and keep it up, he may have done a primetime leap frog to MVP?  Is there anyone who doesn't want to watch him play?  Isn't that a mark of an MVP?

Is there any way to improve the NFL officiating? Before retiring, Mike Perrera used to like to point out that one bad call in every game (16 a week) would still be a better than 99% correctly called plays.  If there were only 8 bad calls a week, that would be nearly a 99.9% correctly called week of games.  So how do we avoid the game changing bad calls?  It just so happens that the two most obvious game changing calls happened in the same game that was a primetime "season opener" for Thursday night football.  That facemask call on the defense that should have been offsetting penalties and the Roddy White pushoff that wasn't called were obvious bad calls.  But can fans expect perfection?  Or does a team just have to win in this era of parity by enough to prevent the possibility of bad officiating taking the game away?