Tuesday, November 28, 2006; 11:00 AM
Washington Post columnist Mark Maske writes the
He was online Tuesday, Nov. 28, at 11 a.m. ET to answer questions.
 |
A transcript follows.
____________________
Mark Maske: Hi, everyone. It's never quiet football-wise in this town, is it? Let's get started.
_______________________
Columbia, S.C.: Everyone is reporting that Shanahan followed the Parcells model for dealing with Plummer -- he let the world see how bad Plummer was. My question is did Shanahan put Plummer in a position to fail with just plain awful play calling -- or did Plummer's play force Shanahan to call the game the way he did? Plummer did make the Pro Bowl last year.
What are your thoughts on Cutler leading Denver?
Mark Maske: I don't see that. I think the quarterback in Denver is always in a situation to succeed. That running game usually works, no matter who's the guy running the ball. The defense has been dominant at times this season. That team simply needs a quarterback who will do some positive things here and there and not make the big mistakes. Plummer is back to making the big mistakes. I think Cutler will do very well. It's not quite a Ben Roethlisberger situation, where a rookie was on a team that had absolutely everything going for it. But it's not too, too far away from that.
_______________________
Columbia: Why are the 9-2 Ravens 3-point underdogs Thursday to the 6-5 (worst offense in the league) Bengals.
Mark Maske: If that's the case, that's an odd one. The Ravens have established themselves as a very dominant team at the moment and the Bengals have been very up and down, although they're coming off a very solid performance. Home field, I guess.
_______________________
Kansas City, Mo: The Chiefs are getting healthy again, and Herm Edwards has the team fired up. Do you see K.C. making the postseason, and if so, can they go deep in the playoffs?
Mark Maske: I do think that's a playoff team, yes. But the AFC is just so loaded at the moment with the Chargers, Colts, Ravens and Patriots, it's hard to see the Chiefs making a real playoff run.
_______________________
Meltdown in NYC: Do you foresee anything changing with the Giants that could salvage this season? I have to wonder if Tiki, among others, will phone it in during the remaining games.
Mark Maske: I don't think Tiki will phone it in. They simply have not responded very well to the injuries they've had. At the time when Eli Manning should be rising to the occasion, he seems to be regressing. We'll know a lot more after they play the Cowboys on Sunday. If they win, all's well again. If they lose, it truly will be time to panic. The Cowboys, to me, are the best team in the entire NFC right now with Tony Romo at quarterback. But you never know. Romo hasn't had a bad start yet, and he's due for one at some point. Everybody has one.
_______________________
D.C.: Granted the guy is an icon, but once again Favre has a game with three interceptions. Any other QB throws that many INTs and they are out the league. Or at least on the bench. Is Favre the last old-school player that will be treated in such a way by the NFL? I see Peyton Manning, getting a level of respect but Favre has had a license to steal these past few years.
Mark Maske: That was particularly true last season, when he was just throwing the ball up for grabs so often. He's played much, much better this season, for the most part. But when you hear some of the comments on TV about him being 90 percent of what he was and still being among the top five quarterbacks in the league, that does make you scratch your head a little bit. He was, simply, among the worst quarterbacks in the league last season. He was on a bad team, yes, but he was a major contributor to that. This season, he's been a mediocre quarterback on a mediocre team. That's fine. You can go out with dignity that way. He was a very good to great quarterback for a long time. But he's not that any more.
_______________________
D.C. "MNF" Fan: Hasselbeck: wildly inconsistent, or just shaking off some rust in the first half?
And didn't Alexander look great out there?
Mark Maske: I'd attribute Hasselbeck's beginning to rust, yes. Those weather conditions probably took people by surprise, too.
That was Alexander's first monster game of the season, really. He'd been hurt, and he'd been looking like he was suffering from not having Steve Hutchinson blocking for him. If those two guys are right, the Seahawks can be a factor. It's not like any team in the NFC has stood up and made its case for being unbeatable in the postseason.
_______________________
How Many Minutes Will It Take...: for the Redskins to sign Mike Vanderjagt? (I'll take 2,160 minutes -- he'll be signed by tomorrow afternoon.)
Mark Maske: There's no reason not to sign the guy if you can, really. Sure, he struggled in Dallas. But he went 13 for 18 even while struggling, and you have to think he'll get his head straight at some point.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: Who would you rather have for the long term, Jason Campbell or Tony Romo?
Mark Maske: Very interesting question. I guess, at the moment, I'd take Romo, just because he seems to have that certain something, that proper makeup, that makes him a real leader and a guy that his entire team trusts and rallies around. He knows how to deal with Parcells's bluster. Maybe Campbell has those traits, too. We'll see. The early returns are certainly promising. Ask me that question again at the end of the season.
_______________________
Dallas: Why does it feel like this time of the year, everybody is always talking about a Cowboy run at the Super Bowl? Meanwhile, I can't remember the last playoff game they won. Ten years ago, maybe?
Mark Maske: You're right on. They last won a playoff game at the end of the '96 season. But, I admit, I'm getting caught up in the current excitement about them, too. They were my Super Bowl pick in the NFC going into the season (I had Cowboys against Colts), and they're my Super Bowl pick in the NFC right now.
_______________________
Rockville, Md.: Mark,
What is your take on Jason Campbell? Did he establish himself as a legit starter? Is Gibbs gonna pull out that Brunell card again?
Mark Maske: I would say he clearly has established himself as a legitimate starter. There will be some bumps in the road. He'll make some mistakes and probably lose some games he could have won. But there is absolutely no reason to even think about Mark Brunell being a starting quarterback for this team again unless Campbell gets hurt.
_______________________
Washington, D.C.: In your opinion, what is Vick's problem? I think he is more a running back than a quarterback.
Mark Maske: That's probably true. But he has been a winning quarterback for most of his time in Atlanta, so there is a way to make it work. And I saw their game Sunday. His receivers absolutely let him down with dropped passes. His obscene gesture should have been directed at his receivers, not the fans.
_______________________
Chantilly, Va.: Mark: any love for the Pats yet -- or will they be the worst 13-3 team in NFL history?
Mark Maske: I don't know. I don't dislike them. I have all the respect in the world for Belichick and Brady, as any sane person should. But I was at the game Sunday and that was a Rex Grossman giveaway special by the Bears. I don't know that I came away any more convinced than before that the Patriots, this season, really stack up against the Chargers, Colts and Ravens. If I end up being wrong about that, I'm sure plenty of people will remind me.
_______________________
Milford, Conn.: Hi Mark: Before the Jags game, Tom Coughlin said he planned to retire to the Jacksonville area. Any chance he's there in six weeks?
Mark Maske: It definitely becomes an issue now, doesn't it? I would say the chances are that the Giants extend Coughlin's contract after this season. He has one season left on it after this one and the Giants, like most teams, generally don't have their coach head into the final season of a contract. That is an organization known for its level-headedness, for years under Wellington Mara and now under John Mara. But if the team continues to completely unravel, it's not out of the question that Coughlin gets fired.
_______________________
Dallas: A quick follow up.
So, you're still riding with Dallas even though we haven't won a playoff game in a decade, have no playoff experience as this current group, and that Parcells hasn't won anything since before Gibbs first retired?
Mark Maske: Yeah, I think I am. I'm not saying they're an overwhelming favorite. But at the moment, there seems to be a far greater chance of Rex Grossman going out and losing a playoff game for the Bears than of Tony Romo doing it for the Cowboys. The Dallas defense is very good. The Cowboys can run the ball. They have weapons at wide receiver and tight end. Romo's mobility has mitigated the problems they had along the offensive line, and now the "idiot kicker" is gone.
_______________________
Springfield, Va.: Hi Mark, If you were allowed to publish one article that could include "off the record" material, what kind of impact would that article have on the NFL?
Mark Maske: Actually, I generally don't let people tell me things off the record. Genuinely off the record means you're agreeing not to publish what you're told (as opposed to an agreement where the information is used but the person's name is withheld). But say you as a reporter agree to that, and then you get the same information from someone else who is willing to allow you to use it? If you go ahead and use the information under those circumstances, the first person, the person with whom you made the off-the-record agreement, will think you've gone back on your word. So when someone says to me, "I'll tell you this but you can't use it," I'll generally tell them to just keep it to themselves.
_______________________
D.C.: Many have commented about Jason's poise and calm demeanor. When are people going to reverse their position and call him unmotivated, uncaring, nonchalant, etc.?
Mark Maske: When he has his first three-interception game.
But that's life as the starting quarterback. He'll have to learn to live with that part of it, too.
_______________________
NW, D.C.: Separate coaches for corners and safeties? How bizarre or out-of-control is this team? Does this point to Gibbs not having control, or Snyder's open checkbook?
Mark Maske: That is a coaching issue and it falls under Gregg Williams, not even Gibbs.
_______________________
Springfield, Va.: I think Chicago needs to follow the Denver lead, even though they are 9-2. Can you see them going far with a inconsistent quarterback?
Mark Maske: That issue was raised after the game in New England and Lovie Smith was very firm in saying that Rex Grossman is his quarterback. There is a veteran backup there in Griese. So it could be tempting to make a move, yes. But at 9-2, I don't think you do it. Grossman has done more good than bad this season. The Bears just have to cross their fingers and hope he doesn't decide to have one of his terrible, awful, dreadful games during the playoffs.
_______________________
Oxford, Miss.: So McNabb is out for the season and maybe part of the next season too and he's been injury plagued for three years now. Why on earth don't the Eagles have a Campbell/Romo type QB waiting in the wings? Garcia and Feely are stop-gap players, not superstars in training, right?
Mark Maske: That very question is being asked, very often and very loudly, in Philly right now. You would think that the quarterback of the future will come on board this coming offseason, even if it's to wait behind McNabb at first.
_______________________
Rockville, Md.: Has anyone talked to the NFL about that crazy officiating on the play when a Raiders WR celebrated a first down by trying to spin the ball on the ground, only to have that called an illegal forward pass rather than the fumble it was? Will every player that fumbles now claim that they were trying to throw a pass? It seems like at the very least the NFL should come out and say the call was right or wrong.
Mark Maske: I think a clarification would be good in this case. That's a play where the officiating department or the competition committee needs to instruct officials not to let the player off the hook for his stupidity in the future.
_______________________
Phoenix: Mark, how smart do the Colts look now in letting Edgerrin James go to the Cardinals? They are rolling along at 10-1 with a running back that scored 4 touchdowns Sunday. Meanwhile James has set an NFL record this year for fewest yards with the most attempts in a game and this week ran for a paltry 18 yards. He certainly hasn't turned out to be the missing piece for the Cardinals that everyone thought he was, has he?
Mark Maske: Edgerrin James is still a very good player, just in a very bad situation now. He didn't become terrible overnight. He just made the mistake of taking the Cardinals' money. The Colts' selection of Joseph Addai in the draft just might end up winning them the Super Bowl.
_______________________
New York, N.Y.: Given the performance of the Skins' D on Sunday, what do you think of Tom Friend's article on ESPN.com? Friend puts the blame for the defense's struggles (particularly the regression of Sean Taylor and the lack of impact of Archuleta/Carter) on Williams' egomaniacal tendencies. Do you think the defense's performance on Sunday vindicates Williams or should credit go to Gibbs for calling out his team last week?
Mark Maske: Gregg Williams deserved a lot of credit for what went right with the Redskins' defense his first couple years here. He deserves a lot of scrutiny and his share of the blame now. That's only fair. He set himself up for it.
_______________________
Scottsdale, Ariz.: Why can't the Cardinals win? The last 20 years we trade players, get draft picks, replace the coaches...nothing ever changes. Is it the owners fault for not wanting to win?
Mark Maske: You can't even fault Bill Bidwill any more. He's put up the money to go out and get some players the last couple years. Some franchises are just destined to be that way, I guess.
_______________________
Towson, Md.: Do you think Father Manning has sabotaged Eli's career by the moves the pulled on draft day to get him to NY? The most scrutinizing city with a young player with some much upside can certainly deflate and ruin the most promising of careers. With that move the pressure was already on Eli before he took a snap. I know it would have been elsewhere, but it is so much more magnified by the moves and the city. Or is this just poetic justice?
Mark Maske: Be careful what you want, huh?
_______________________
Philadelphia: Mark:
Any chance that the 'Skins could lure Ozzie Newsome to be GM? Who are the best candidates for GM in your opinion?
Mark Maske: Other teams have talked about trying to lure him away from the Ravens. He seems intent on staying there, and they seem intent on keeping him.
_______________________
Mark Maske: I'm going to run, folks. Thanks, as always, for the questions, and see you here next week.
_______________________
Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions. washingtonpost.com is not responsible for any content posted by third parties.
