NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

Will The Bears Defense Be The Recipients Of Vick’s First Pick?

Bears Gab editors Jeff Fisher and Russ Loede predict what will and won't go down during Sunday's big showdown with Mike Vick and the Eagles.

Mike Vick will throw his first INT of the season vs. the Bears.

• Russ: SELL. A lot of the Bears interceptions are coming off of tipped passes. Very fortunate, team's more opportunistic forcing fumbles. I see Charles Tillman adding to his list of FFs.
• Jeff: BUY. The Bears defensive line will have a hand in causing a Vick pick.

Vick will rush for 70 yards or more.

• Russ: BUY. Vick will have lots of time and room to run. Cover-2 defense will prevent some deep passes from being completed, thus, giving Vick more opportunity to break free from the pocket.
• Jeff: SELL. The Bears speedy defense should be able to corral Vick on the ground.

PHI WR DeSean Jackson will find the end zone.

• Russ: BUY. DeSean will separate from the Bears defensive backs for a score, thanks to Vick buying extra time while eluding pass rushers.
• Jeff: BUY. It'll be hard for the Bears to keep Vick's go-to playmaker out of the end zone.

Jay Cutler will be sacked at least 3 times.

• Russ: BUY. Trent Cole is a tough customer to handle for the best in the biz, let alone a Bear offensive tackle. Philly loves to bring the heat, play aggressive.
• Jeff: BUY. Philly will bring pressure from all over the place, making the Bears O-line look vulnerable at times.

Devin Hester will have a return of more than 40 yards.

• Russ: SELL. I don't see the Eagles giving him much. It feels like this will be a tight game in all phases and facets.
• Jeff: BUY. If Hester continues to return kickoffs in addition to punts, more touches means more chances for a big return.

Cutler will throw an INT.

• Russ: BUY. One of the Philly safeties will grab an errant, Jay Cutler overshot intended for Olsen on a deep post route across the middle of the field.
• Jeff: BUY. Asante Samuel will get his mits on a Cutler pass.

The Bears will score a defensive TD.

• Russ: SELL. Bears will play bend-but-don't-break and D.J. Moore will be on DeSean a lot.
• Jeff: SELL. Bears will force a turnover, but it won't be for six.

Devin Aromashodu will have his best game of the season.

• Russ: BUY. Devin is due. Philly's corners are very undersized and this is the game the team will finally need him.
• Jeff: SELL. With the re-emphasis on the running game and the emergence of Earl Bennett as a go-to guy, that means less opportunities for DA.

JaMarcus Webb will be flagged at least twice.

• Russ: BUY. This one's way too easy.
• Jeff: BUY. Talented #73 is still growing into a starter. Tough Philly D will present challenges for the rookie 7^th rounder.

Andy Reid will hide a leftover turkey leg under his coat.

• Russ: SELL. He will actually hide TWO legs in each of his back pockets. Big-time appetite.
• Jeff: BUY. The smell of stadium brauts will be too much for Reid to resist.

Bears will win turnover battle.

• Russ: PUSH (even). One pick from Jay, one fumble from LeSean McCoy or Maclin.
• Jeff: SELL. Eagles' pressure D will force the Bears into multiple turnovers.

Jay Cutler will run for 30 yards.

• Russ: BUY. Jay is sneaky quick and will need to escape from time to time to keep the defense honest.
• Jeff: BUY. When things are breaking down or the coverage is tight, Jay's finally learned to duck and run.

Matt Forte will carry the ball 20 times.

• Russ: BUY. Bears know they need to keep Vick and friends off the field. Controlling the clock, tempo of the game is key.
• Jeff: BUY. Ball-control gameplan has worked the last two weeks and Lovie will make sure Martz continues that trend.

Greg Olsen will catch a TD.

• Russ: SELL. Kellen Davis steals another red-zone TD from Olsen. I can't stand him. Also, Forte runs one in from goal-to-goal.
• Jeff: BUY. I've given G-reg sh!t all year, but the kid has found a niche in Martz's offense.

Bears will record three sacks.

• Russ: SELL. At first glance, I thought they definitely would. However, I think Vick will get a decent amount of two- and three-yard gains to avoid potential sacks.
• Jeff: BUY. Vick will move around in the pocket to buy time, but will be brought down by Bear LBs and DEs on at least 3 occasions.

LeSean McCoy will run the ball 15 times.

• Russ: SELL. Bears time of possession will not allow it to happen. He will get 20 touches, but only around 12-13 carries.
• Jeff: BUY. Andy Reid loves the pass, but he'll make sure 'Shady' carries the rock enough to keep the Bears honest.

We will hear Briggs' name called more than Urlacher's.

• Russ: BUY. Nothing against Urlacher, but I think Lance will show why he's the Bears best linebacker against Eagles on Sunday.
• Jeff: SELL. While Briggs may make more tackles than Urlacher, FOX's announcers will over-hype the Urlacher vs. Vick matchup.

Earl Bennett will have the best day of any Bear WR

• Russ: BUY. He will make a slew of big third-down catches. Knox will have more yards, but less important catches.
• Jeff: SELL. Even though Bennett does a lot of the dirty work, Knox is still the big-play guy.

Jay Cutler will have more total yards than Michael Vick.

• Russ: SELL. It'll be close early, but the Eagles will be playing from behind. I think Vick goes for an inflated 340 and Jay for 275.
• Jeff: SELL. Bears' emphasis on establishing run game will diminish Cutler's numbers (see BUF, MIA games).

The Bears will win.

• Russ: BUY. Bears win 24-19. Third-down execution is the story of the game. Big win because Packers will win in Atlanta.
• Jeff: BUY. Vick is 0-3 lifetime vs. the Bears. I think it could take OT, but the Bears will beat Vick again, this time 20-17.

Six weeks have come and gone since the Seahawks made a move to try and revitalize a running game that was among the National Football League's worst to start the season.

Out was Julius Jones – completely – and Justin Forsett as the team's primary rushers and in came Marshawn Lynch, a 24-year-old from Buffalo who ran for over 1,000 yards in two of his first four seasons as a pro with the Bills, for a fourth-round pick in April's Draft and a conditional one in next year's. The moves generated buzz amid many of the Seahawks' faithful, but, looking back, has it all been worth it?

The answer might not be as clear as one would think.

Seattle's gone 3-3 in that time and the ground game still hasn't eclipsed the one-hundred-yard average mark this season. In fact, despite increasing their per-game average by 4.2 yards since Lynch's arrival, the Seahawks have actually dropped from 29th to 30th in the league in the category.

Lynch hasn't had a one-hundred-yard game since coming to the Pacific Northwest and has just one game of over 48 rushing yards. His touchdowns in a Seattle uniform match the number of fumbles he's lost – two.

Numbers can be deceiving, though. In each of the three Seattle losses since Lynch joined the team, the game had gotten out of hand. The Seahawks had been outscored by a combined 79 points and were forced to abandon their run game. In fact, Lynch has had just two games since coming to Seattle in which he has had more than 13 carries; however, in the one game that he toted the football more than 20 times – a 22-10 Week Seven win against Arizona – the 5-foot-11, 215-pound Lynch ate up 89 yards and had a 39-yard scamper, his longest of the season.

The Seahawks have also been without starting left tackle Russell Okung for half of the time that Lynch has spent thus far with the team. Of the 253 rushing yards that Lynch has accumulated thus far in Seattle, 169 have come in the three games that the rookie lineman from Oklahoma State has played.

Head coach Pete Carroll has raved about Lynch during his weekly Wednesday press conferences, saying that his presence has been felt as early as day one at practice. Fans might disagree, but should they?

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

The Graphic Above Begs The Following Question:

Who Do You Have In Super Bowl XLV?

I call for Bears-Patriots: A Rematch Of Super Bowl XX, 25 Years Later

While the Steelers got their season back on track with a 32-point win Sunday, they also seem to have the inside track to winning the AFC North over their bitter rivals – the Ravens.

The Ravens do have more home games than the Steelers (4-3) over the final six weeks, and of course one of those is the critical game next Sunday night vs the Steelers, but if you look at the teams the two clubs play, the Steelers have the decided edge there.

The Steelers only face two teams (the Ravens and New York Jets) with winning records. Their opponents’ combined record is 23-37. The Ravens’ opponents are 30-30.

The biggest difference between their schedules is the Ravens play at home this week vs the 7-3 Tampa Bay Bucs, who have played well this year, Houston (4-6) and New Orleans (7-3). The Steelers face the Bills this week, they are 2-8, the Jets at home (8-2) and have a Thursday night game vs Carolina (1-9).

So this week, Steeler fans need to root for the Bucs to go to Baltimore and pull the upset, while the Steelers need to take care of business in Buffalo.

Again though, the critical game is next Sunday night vs the Ravens on the road. If the Steelers win there, the road to winning the North and being the #1 or #2 seed in the playoffs in the AFC all lines up.

The Brett Favre-Jenn Sterger story continues, as today NFL.com reports that Bus Cook, Favre’s agent, asked what amount it would take to keep Sterger quiet. Her agent says that it’s not about the cash, but Cook is firing back says he never said they would pay Sterger.

The manager for the woman at the center of the NFL’s investigation of Brett Favre said Tuesday that the quarterback’s agent asked about paying her to keep quiet. But that’s not how Favre’s agent, Bus Cook, sees it.

Cook said in a statement that Jenn Sterger’s camp made “numerous overtures” to him. He said he believes money has been the former New York Jets game emcee’s motivation.

Sterger’s manager, Phil Reese, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he called Cook in October to alert him about a forthcoming Internet report alleging Favre sent inappropriate messages and lewd photos to Sterger when both were with the Jets two years ago.

Reese said the reason he reached out to Cook was to compare notes about news that could be damaging to both of their clients.

“I was concerned because I didn’t know exactly what was going to be coming out, and I knew that it wasn’t going to be good for everyone involved,” Reese told The AP in a phone interview. “He asked me if there was a specific figure in mind that could make this go away. I told him, ‘I wish it were that easy, but there’s no putting the toothpaste back in the tube.’”

Cook replied in a statement to The AP on Tuesday that there was never an intention to offer money for silence.

“Her manager and her lawyer have made numerous overtures to me … at least 6 between the two of them,” Cook wrote. “Anyone can figure out why. The point is we were never going to pay them, we didn’t pay them and we will never pay them. Because, there is NO reason to pay them! They should consider that their attempts to negotiate privately and through the media have failed.”

Cook declined to answer further questions about the matter. Joe Conway, Sterger’s attorney, said he called Cook once to introduce himself and followed up with a letter. “It’s not about money. It’s about doing the right thing,” Conway said in a phone interview.

Vincent Jackson is officially back. Today the Chargers added the wide out to the active roster as he nears his return to the field.

Jackson signed his one-year tender October 29 after a prolonged holdout, but had to serve a three-game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, and was placed on the roster-exempt list. He will be eligible to play in Sunday night’s game at Indianapolis.

Jackson started all 15 games he played in last season, catching 68 passes for 1,167 yards and nine touchdowns to establish career highs in each category. During his five seasons in the league, all with San Diego, Jackson has made 198 catches for 3,400 yards and 25 scores.

If he can get even close to the form of where he was last season, it’s just another weapon for the Chargers who are getting better and seem to be on the verge of making a playoff run in the AFC West.

A Revived Defense Makes The Bears Super

Two years ago, a 9-7 Arizona Cardinals team limped into the playoffs, only to make a Cinderella run through the NFC bracket to earn the franchise's first-ever trip to the Super Bowl.

In 2007, a 9-7 wildcard NY Giants team won 3 consecutive road playoff games, then beat the 18-0 Patriots, at the time considered the greatest team of all time, in the Super Bowl to cap a season for the ages.

Why can't the 7-3, 1^st place Chicago Bears – equipped with a top-3 caliber defense and special teams – achieve similar heights? If you do any gambling, I wouldn't bet against them.

After Thursday night's 16-0 white-washing of the Miami Dolphins, it's okay to use the words "Bears" and "Super Bowl" in the same sentence…without laughing.

Thanks to a stifling performance by their defense, the Bears win in South Beach moved them within a half-game of the best record in the NFC. More importantly, they won their third straight tilt with a familiar recipe of great defense and a running game.

It doesn't take a long look across the NFL landscape to make a case for the Bears playing in Dallas in early February. Besides the Monsters of the Midway, the wide-open NFC is stacked with contenders that will draw more national attention because of their offensive prowess…which suits the Bears defense just fine.

Eagles: Sure, Mike Vick is playing out of his mind right now – his 6 TD performance vs. the Redskins as evidence. But he's 0-3 against the boys in blue and orange during his career. Should the Bears manage to beat America's team-of-the-moment in Soldier Field next week, nobody will be laughing at the prospects of Chicago making its 3^rd Super Bowl appearance in 25 years.

Packers: Like the Bears, the Aaron Rodgers-led Packers are playing their best ball of the season. But the Bears have already beaten GB…and that was before Chicago established its more balanced offensive identity. The season finale vs. the Bears could decide the North, not to mention home field advantage in the NFC playoffs.

Falcons: Atlanta has a stud QB (Matt Ryan), a Pro Bowl receiver (Roddy White) and a bruising running game. But quick: can you name one starter on their defense? John Abraham is the only guy I can think of without Googling "Falcons defense."

Giants: The team that manhandled the Bears in week 4 was just beaten down by the previously 1-7 Dallas Cowboys. The Giants started strong last year, only to fall face first into mediocrity by the time December rolled around. Could history be repeating itself in NY this year?

This balance at the top of the conference should make for a competitive, wide-open NFC playoff tourney. And with a defense and special teams that rank among the best in the league, why can't the Bears be Super this year?

Suddenly, Super Bowl Champion Chicago Bears doesn't sound so funny anymore, does it?

Monday Night Football Line

After Thursday night's game against the Chicago Bears on national television, ESPN analyst and former Pro-Bowl guard Mark Schlereth had some choice criticism for the Dolphins coaches. Not only are the fans getting more and more impatient with the Dolphins offensive play-calls, but it seems that more and more people are starting to pay attention to Miami's flaws now.

"I just think it's inexcusable. That is an awful job by that coaching staff."

That's an an awful job by that coaching staff regardless. Their best 11 guys are when they get into their Wildcat formation, no disrespect to Tyler Thigpen. They got into the Wildcat exactly zero times [on Thursday night], they did not run the ball at all [on Thursday night]. … I've heard excuses coming out of Miami, I've heard people talking about, 'You know, We have a beat-up offensive line.' All the more reason that you run the football. Let me tell you something, pass protection in this league is 10 times harder than run blocking: assignment-wise, picking up blitz, all those different things.

"With young guys and guys who don't have a lot of experience, much harder than it is to run the football. So don't give me this baloney about Oh, we had guys injured, so we're gonna drop back and throw it. That's garbage. Absolute garbage. The coaching staff for the Miami Dolphins ought to be embarrassed. As a former offensive lineman, when I watch that, what they put on the field, it makes me angry, because I know how hard it is to go out there and pass protect when you've got guys like the Chicago Bears defense breathing down your neck.

"Your job as a defense is to make that offense one-dimensional. Miami walked out of the locker room one-dimensional, they did that for the Bears. Now, the Bears, on the flip side, made them zero-dimensional, because once [the Dolphins] became one dimensional, they were just rushing the passer. And then I would see things like 'We're running play-action.' Hey, yeah, that will getcha. Right? That will get the Bears. Run some play-action. You ran it four times in the first half. Run a couple play-actions, that'll fool them."

Finally someone else has decided to take notice to the awful play-calling that Dan Henning likes to call a gameplan. This kind of stuff has been going on all season, and I believe of which was the chief reason why young quarterback Chad Henne had such an average performance all throughout the season, because of Henning's gameplan.

Schlereth's comments focus on the downfall of the Dolphins high-octane rushing attack, which only had seven carries on Thursday night, but it is so much more than that, and more coaches than just Henning are responsible for the mediocre play of the offense. Quarterbacks coach David Lee. Head coach Tony Sparano. Henning. General manager Jeff Ireland. Those are just some of the people that should be splitting the blame for the offenses play this year.

David Lee:

With Lee being the one who oversees all that goes on with the production of the quarterbacks, it is his responsibility alone to develop Chad Henne into the quarterback that we all know he can be. So in turn it is Lee alone who is at fault for Henne's lack of performance this year. We have all unfortunately witnessed the clutch performances (and sometimes very lucky performances) by New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, and most of that production and development can not only be attributed to their offensive coordinator, but to their quarterbacks coach as well. While Henne can still become a solid, if not elite quarterback for the Dolphins, if he does not, with all of the physical skills that he possesses, it will be partial fault of Lee's if Henne if Miami has to go in a different direction in the next two seasons.

Dan Henning:

We all know the problems with the Dolphins offense. Whether it is the lack of a  ground game, only a year after finishing fourth in the league in rushing, or the questionable offensive calls on third down, we all know Henning should be gone after this season. The team has also witnessed the steady decline in the Wildcat formation, which features the Dolphins best 11 men on the field all at once. But now because of the lack of an offensive line, the team has all but abandoned that formation. So Henning has chose to put the game in the hands of his quarterback, with letting him pass the ball between 30-40 times per game, while only calling dink and dunk plays most of the time. Sure, there is the occasional deep ball, but the fact of the matter is that the Dolphins offense is built to be the kind that can make big plays, but with all of the poor offensive play-calling, the offense is instead focusing on running slants and screens that get stuffed almost everytime. While Lee could be one of the main reason for the lack of production from Henne, it is Henning that is the main reason for the lack of production from the whole offense.

Tony Sparano:

While I love Sparano's motivational tactics, and his emotion and love for the game, he just is not a good X's and O's type of guy. He has shown that over the years he does not know how to manage the clock, and some of the roster moves do not make sense at all either. This is a guy that is a guru for the offensive line. That was is MO. He came in as an offensive line specialist, and over the three years of his tenure in Miami, the offensive line is no longer a strength of the Dolphins. While Miami is particularly strong in the pass blocking area, the Dolphins offensive line is very poor when it comes to run blocking, and this is the chief reason why the Dolphins only ran the ball 7 times on Thursday. Now that Miami's line is pretty much devastated with injuries, the blocking has gotten worse and worse, as can be expected. But with a guy like Sparano, you would think that he would know what he is doing when he blows up the whole interior of your line like he did with Miami's this past off-season. Gone are Justin Smiley, Donald Thomas, and Jake Grove, and in are Richie Incognito, John Jerry, and Joe Berger. This year's line has nothing on last years offensive line. Plain and simple. The running game has deteriorated because of this factor, and causally the Dolphins offense has declined as well. While it may not be Sparano's fault completely, he has a say in who comes onto the roster and who stays, and in the offensive line's terms, the responsibility lies in his hands.

Jeff Ireland:

While Sparano is not completely responsible for who goes on and off the roster, Ireland is. Ireland is the guy who brought in all of the off-season acquisitions, and Ireland is the one responsible for helping destroy the offensive line, and repeatedly destroying the bottom end of the Dolphins roster. The failures of the Dolphins special teams comes from the lack of chemistry of the special teams unit, which was mostly composed of the bottom end of the 53 man roster, can be attributed to this. The continued high round draft failures such as Pat White, Patrick Turner, Chad Henne possibly, the whiffs in free agency of Jake Grove, the failure to lure in players such as Ryan Clark, Calvin Pace and Antrel Rolle really makes me wonder about this regime, and coaching staff. Ireland has a direct role in every roster move that is made, so one has to wonder now that since he is in his third year running the team, why it is still such a disappointment? The team came into the season with such high aspirations, only to crap the bed with mediocre play by multiple units of their roster, all guys that Ireland brought in. So if the team fails to make the playoffs this year and next year, would Ireland 's tenure be labeled as a failure or not?

The bottomline is that the Dolphins have plenty more problems to worry about right now besides all of the injuries that are taking place. Until the Dolphins get some change in their coaching staff, I won't expect anything out of this team. After all, how can you expect your team to be one of the best when your coaches aren't some of the best?

"We've got to find a way,"  Derek Anderson said.  "This is getting old."  Indeed it is and it doesn't seem like the Cardinals have any new solutions.  There's not much to say about the Cardinals' latest loss, except that it was more of the same.   Arizona was easily handled on both sides of the ball as they never really bothered the Chiefs all day.

For the second straight game in a row, the Cardinals started out strong on their first offensive possession.  Arizona started on their own 31 yard line and quickly gained 17 yards on a Larry Fitzgerald (6 receptions, 90 yards, 1 TD) catch and run.  The Cardinals kept things moving, completing passes to Steve Breaston (5 receptions, 92 yards) and Fitzgerald again.  Arizona drove down to the Chiefs' 18 yard line where they faced a 3rd and 8.  Derek Anderson (25/46, 295 yards, 1 TD) missed down the right sideline to Early Doucet (2 receptions, 13 yards) with a pass that probably should have been caught by Doucet as it went through his outstretched hands.  The Cards had to settle for a field goal, taking an early 3-0 lead.  They would never hold the lead again.

Surprisingly, the Arizona defense held strong all throughout the first quarter, forcing the Chiefs to punt on their only two possessions.  In the second quarter, however, Kansas City roared to life by putting up two touchdowns on consecutive possessions.  The first score came on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Matt Cassel (15/24, 193 yards, 2 TDs) to Dwayne Bowe (6 receptions, 109 yards, 2 TDs).  Arizona gave the Chiefs a short field and Cassel quickly went to work at the Cards' 38 yard line.  In one play, Cassel competed a 37 yard pass to Bowe after he beat Paris Lenon, which put Kansas City on the Cards' one yard line.  Arizona held tough for two downs, but on third down, the Chiefs hit pay dirt when Cassel went to his guy Bowe on a 1-yard completion, beating Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on a quick slant.  After another Cardinals punt, the Chiefs struck again.  This time, the Chiefs drove 78 yards on 5 plays before Thomas Jones (15 carries, 71 yards, 2 TDs) pounded it in on a 1 yard up and over.  The Chiefs took a commanding 14-3 lead and the game was never in contention after 10:14 in the second quarter.

Arizona was able to add a field goal in the third quarter and a meaningless touchdown with no time left in the game when Anderson hooked up with Fitzgerald.  The Chiefs added two more touchdowns and a field goal before it was all over making the final score 31-13.  Thomas Jones and Dwayne Bowe each picked up additional touchdowns on the ground and through the air respectively.  Bowe has been on an absolute tear for Kansas City as of late, recording 10 touchdowns in his last six games, which is a Kansas City franchise record.

Offensively, the Cardinals were doomed after their first possession.  Derek Anderson continued to show why he's not a starting quarterback.  Although his mistakes didn't show up in the box score, he cost the Cardinals points once again.  Anderson missed no fewer than five wide open targets by either firing the ball into the ground or sailing it way overhead.  One was on an absolutely wide open Steve Breaston who beat his defender by about four or five steps down the seem.  Anderson threw the ball about 10-15 yards over Breaston's head.

Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells had a decent day on the ground, but they only combined for 20 carries.  Hightower gained 62 yards on just 12 carries with a 16 yard long around right end.  Wells, who made his return from knee swelling, gained 39 yards on just 8 carries with a 12 yard long up the middle.  Hightower and Wells averaged 5.2 and 4.9 yards/carry respectively, but Arizona trailed for most of the game, which made the running attack an afterthought.  It's too bad because the running backs played quite well and Arizona proved they could run on the Chiefs.  Whenever the Cards gained some ground, though, they shot themselves in the foot whether it was a false start, a holding penalty or an errant pass from Anderson.  "Good football teams don't do (that)," coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "And right now we are not playing like a good football team…[but] I think we were pleased with what we were able to get accomplished in the run game.  If there is one area we can have a little bit of hope in I think that is it because we ran the football a little better."

Defensively, the Cardinals weren't able to continue on their stout first quarter effort.  Eventually the Chiefs proved to be too much for the Cardinals' secondary to keep up with.  Dwayne Bowe time and again came wide open, usually over the middle, and poor tackling once again allowed for yards after the catch.  Matt Cassel, unlike Anderson, didn't miss once during the game.  In addition, Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles eventually wore on the Cardinals up front.  The Chiefs finished with 352 total yards, 159 on the ground and 193 through the air.

The rest of the NFC West lost this week so the Cardinals didn't lose any ground in relation to the rest of the division.  It seems like a moot point, though.  Arizona appears incapable of snapping its 5-game losing streak.  Unfortunately, things are really turning sour in Arizona.   "I feel this is the lowest we can go," Steve Breaston dejectedly explained.  "You have a Monday night game, national TV, better show up there.  If you don't show up there, we're going to be embarrassed on national TV."  The Monday night game is against the other bottom scrapper in the West, the 49ers.

INJURIES:

• WR, Early Doucet (head) – possible concussion
• LB, Will Davis (ankle) – day-to-day
• DE, Calais Campbell (ankle) – day-to-day

AROUND THE NFC WEST:

• 1 – Seattle Seahawks: 5-5, 0 GB, Last Week: L @ New Orleans, 34-19
• 2 – St. Louis Rams: 4-6, 1 GB, Last Week: L vs. Atlanta, 34-17
• 3 – San Francisco 49ers: 3-7, 2 GB, Last Week: L vs. Tampa Bay, 21-0
• 3 – Arizona Cardinals: 3-7, 2 GB, Last Week: L @ Kansas City, 31-13

NEXT WEEK:

Arizona (3-7) will host the 49ers (3-7) on Monday Night Football. It will be the two teams' first meeting of the season.  Amazingly, if the Cardinals win and the Seahawks lose, Arizona would only be one game out of first place, though they would be 1.5 games below .500.  That's how bad the NFC West is this year.