NFL Insider

Washington Post columnist Mark Maske writes the NFL Insider blog, providing the latest news from around the league.

He was online Tuesday, Jan. 2, at 11 a.m. ET to answer questions.

A transcript follows.

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Mark Maske: Hello, everyone. Let's get right to it.

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Baltimore: I hate to join the bandwagon saying the Ravens get no respect in the national media, but I really don't see much love coming their way. They're having a heck of a season, beating the snot out of some decent teams down the stretch. Road wins against Kansas City and Pittsburgh are particularly impressive.

Do you see them making the big game in Miami?

Mark Maske: I almost want to call them the AFC favorite right now. The Chargers are very good. They've been the least flawed team in the entire NFL all season. But Philip Rivers has had some shaky games lately, and the Ravens defense can handle that offense if it's one-dimensional and Rivers isn't doing his part to help out LaDainian Tomlinson. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. We have two weeks of games before we have to worry about that possible matchup.

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Santa Fe, N.M.: Which is going to be the more humiliating collapse: when the Bears lose coming off their bye or when the Colts blow their -- what is it, fifth straight playoff shot?

Mark Maske: I think expectations are way down for the Colts right now. They don't even have a bye. Not reaching the Super Bowl this time around wouldn't qualify as a collapse for them. The Bears losing would be a bigger deal.

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St. Peters, Pa.: It seems to me that the Eagles have stepped up in the last five weeks out of a sense of urgency and some tremendous leadership by Jeff Garcia who, let's face it, probably figured he might never take another snap in an NFL game in his career. Now that they've locked up the NFC East and Garcia got to rest for a game and they're playing the Giants, who they beat once and should have beat twice, do you think the Eagles might be in jeopardy of sitting a little too pretty?

Mark Maske: If you're asking if I think they might be complacent, then no, I don't think so. It wasn't so long ago that they were way, way down after that bad loss in Indianapolis, and I think that's still fresh in their minds. They could lose to the Giants, yes. Anyone can lose to anyone, particularly in the feeble NFC. But at this moment, the Eagles are playing better than anyone else in the conference.

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Washington, D.C.: How close was Green Bay to actually getting into the playoffs? I saw some complicated scenario that would have allowed the Packers to sneak in ahead of the Giants, but the tiebreaker would come down to opponent winning percentage. I'm not a cheesehead, but it's pretty sad to see a team like the Giants back into the playoffs while Green Bay and Brett Favre are just hitting their stride and coming together as a team, especially the way they manhandled the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the road!

Mark Maske: I didn't run the final numbers but it was clear after the Giants won Saturday night that the Packers couldn't make it. It came down to the strength-of-victory tiebreaker, meaning you add up all the wins of the teams that the Giants beat and the teams that the Packers beat. Have at the numbers if you want. It was clear that one bad team was going to make it in the NFC.

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Gaithersburg, Md.: Bigger sleeper in the AFC, New England or Kansas City?

Mark Maske: I like the Chiefs' chances in Indianapolis since they can run Larry Johnson at that Colts defense 35 times. But I don't think either of those teams gets more than one win. The Patriots will be without Rodney Harrison and that really hurts them. It's tough to go on the road in the second round and beat a team coming off a bye, and the Chargers and Ravens are very, very good.

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Washington, D.C.: What sort of talk have you heard regarding Matt Schaub being traded? The Falcons will want to get something for him, any inside info on where he may end up next season as the starter??

Oakland? Green Bay? Houston? Carolina? Minnesota? Detroit?

Mark Maske: I'd say it's too early to handicap that while the Falcons are still looking for a coach. I'm guessing they'll ask for a first-round draft pick for him and that will make a lot of teams reluctant to do the deal. Plus, you have to have a backup quarterback and the Falcons would have to replace Schaub if they trade him.

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Another run???: The Pats are looking primed for another surprise run with all the attention focused on a Chargers-Ravens AFC Championship (defacto Super Bowl).

How much do Tom Brady and Billy B. love being in this position??

Mark Maske: I'm sure they love it. But as I said, not having Rodney Harrison will hurt them. I just don't see them getting past the second round.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Mark, thanks for the chat and happy new year! Out of the teams that switched to young quarterbacks, including the Titans and Redskins, which do you think will be legitimate contenders in '07?

Mark Maske: You have to love the Titans after the way they finished the season, even with the loss to the Patriots. It is so tough to play well and win in this league as a rookie quarterback, and Vince Young pulled it off. With the Redskins, who knows? I do like Jason Campbell, but I don't know that he's quite ready to be a winning quarterback in the NFL yet, and we have to wait and see what the offseason moves are.

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Westport, Conn.: Can you explain something to me? Everyone has been talking all season long about how feeble the NFC is. How do you make this determination? Not just by record, I assume.

I'm not at all convinced that the Chiefs or the Jets are better than the Eagles or the Cowboys. In fact, I'd say it's the other way around!

Mark Maske: In terms of the conference strength as a whole, the AFC won more of the interconference games for the fifth year in a row. That's a pretty good indication. And tell me which team in the NFC you trust to go out and play well consistently? The Bears? The Saints? It just hasn't happened. And the Giants getting in the playoffs after the way they played down the stretch is all the indictment you really need of the NFC.

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Washington, D.C.: Is firing Jim Mora Jr. really going to solve Atlanta's problems? He's tried everything with Michael Vick to try to get the most out of him, and nothing seems to work. He's tried him as a pocket passer, a runner and a combination. When will the Falcons realize that perhaps their problems are Vick, not the people coaching Vick? Look at what the Eagles have done with McNabb, and the Jaguars with Leftwich, the Falcons just have to face facts that Vick may never mature into a really great QB.

Mark Maske: I do think Mora is a pretty good coach and, more than anything, he talked himself out of his job with what he said during that radio interview about leaving the Falcons at any moment if he could get the University of Washington job. Someone whose opinion I trust said to me the other day, talking about Vick: "What coach are you going to find that CAN win with that guy?" And he didn't mean win nine games and reach the playoffs. He meant be able to win a Super Bowl.

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Washington, D.C.: The regular season's over...Who's your rookie of the year???

Young, Mulroney, Bush, Colston, NFL officials' uniforms...

Mark Maske: Put me down for Vince Young. I don't care what the passing number were or weren't. He won games as a rookie quarterback with a team that wasn't winning before he took over. That is rare. I know Marques Colston had a great year for a team that's in the playoffs and Reggie Bush was electrifying at times, but I'll take Vince Young.

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Alexandria, Va.: So Arizona and Atlanta have already canned their head coaches...Who's head is next on the chopping block??

Can Miami really expect to retain Nick Saban after Alabama's "astronomical" offer?

Mark Maske: I think we'll know about Saban one way or the other very, very soon. I'm guessing Bill Cowher resigns. Art Shell, Romeo Crennel and Jon Gruden could get fired, although I'd say the chances are better than 50-50 that Shell and Crennel stay and even higher for Gruden. When they're knocked out of the playoffs, we'll see about Tom Coughlin and Bill Parcells. I'm still not ruling out Coughlin getting fired or Parcells walking away.

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Washington, D.C.: Obviously early for draft talk, but I got sick of hearing announcers during the West Virginia-Georgia Tech game talk about if Calvin Johnson came out early he may go No. 1 overall. Are they crazy?

CJ is an NFL receiver playing in college, but No. 1 overall, c'mon!

Mark Maske: Maybe they thought the Lions had the No. 1 pick. They need another first-round wide receiver, don't they?

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Arlington, Va.: Mark:

If Tom Coughlin is fired by the Giants, could you see Charlie Weis leaving Notre Dame to coach the Giants and Jon Gruden leaving Tampa Bay to coach Notre Dame?

Mark Maske: It's certainly a scenario that makes some sense. In each case, it's a job that the guy truly seems to covet.

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RE: Cowher's job: Jim Mora in Pittsburgh would seem like a great fit.

Then again, who wouldn't want that job with the resources, passion of the city, tradition, Big Ben, Hines Ward, Willie Parker and Joey Porter?

I understand why Cowher would contemplate walking away, but is he nuts?!!??

Mark Maske: Cowher is tired, I think. He can take a year off from coaching and then come back in and make big, big money as a coaching free agent. I would guess the Steelers would hire from within and make either Russ Grimm or Ken Whisenhunt their head coach.

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Washington, D.C.: Do you think Steelers head coach Bill Cowher will return next season?

Mark Maske: No, I think he's gone and the Steelers seem to know it.

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Fairfax, Va.: Regardless of what happens with Bill Cowher, is Russ Grimm on lots of short lists for head coaching jobs?

Mark Maske: He's one of the Cardinals' six candidates along with Ken Whisenhunt, Mike Sherman, Norm Chow, Jim Caldwell and Ron Rivera. He's gotten himself into that loop now where his name at least will come up most of the time when there's a vacancy.

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Tragic: Any more details in the Darrent Williams murder? How tragic. Did you know what he was like as a person? Obviously this comes as a shock to all, but some guys you can see things happening to, was Williams like this or was this random?

Mark Maske: It's just a very, very sad story. I was at the Broncos' training camp the summer of his rookie season and he seemed like a good kid. I know Champ Bailey liked him as a player and as a person. You heard good things about him from the people around the team, and all indications at this point are that he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was a dispute, apparently not involving him directly, at this New Year's Eve party he was attending, and it unfortunately led to gunfire.

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Rookie of the Year : No love for Maurice Jones-Drew?

Mark Maske: Some love. But not ahead of the guys I mentioned.

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Metro Center: Don't these AFC-NFC comparisons sound a little like the AL-NL comparisons everyone was throwing out there during the MLB season?

Mark Maske: Do you mean is it possible that an NFC team wins the Super Bowl? Sure it's possible. But if, say, the Giants get hot here and run the table, does that mean they were an outstanding team all season? No way.

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D.C.: Overall this year, it seems most fans and journalists have been dissatisfied with most teams. That seems to be the case whether the team got in the playoffs or not.

Why is that? Are teams harder to predict or less consistently good this season?

But couldn't that be a sign of better competition and more exciting for the league, rather than a sign of poor teams throughout?

Mark Maske: Today's NFL is set up to be a regression to the mean. The system pulls everyone back toward average. The draft does it. The scheduling formula does it. Free agency and the salary cap take away teams' depth and cohesion. It makes it competitive. It makes it exciting. It keeps everyone in the race. But it doesn't necessarily make for great football being played. There is a difference.

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Washington, D.C.: I seem to remember talk of Jeff Fisher not being around Tennessee after this year, either by his choice or management's. Has Vince Young solidified Fisher's job? And what receiver can the Titans get to help Young?

Mark Maske: Yes, there was that talk earlier in the season. But there's no way they get rid of him after the run they had in the second half of the season, and you would think he'd want to stay.

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Complacency city: After a Super Bowl year it looked like the Seahawks might be ready for the complacency season, then injuries to Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander.

Well, they still won the division and are now healthy. How scary are they in the NFC, considering the overall weakness of the conference and that it seems everyone has forgotten about them?

Mark Maske: They're not very scary at all until you consider how bad the NFC as a whole is.

I mean, that was a pretty pitiful way to end the regular season, losing the three games before the finale. The only thing that keeps you from laughing at them is this quirky little rule the NFL has about the NFC having to be represented in the Super Bowl.

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Washington, D.C.: Happy New Year, Mark - Any chances that Tony Dungy might leave the Colts this offseason? Say, for example, to take the U. of Minnesota job?

Mark Maske: I guess there's always a chance. But he's just such a class act and such a good fit for that organization that you'd hate to see it happen.

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Columbia, Md.: How does a team go down the tubes on defense so quickly like Dallas did in the middle of this season? They look terrible. What is going on with that defense down there? (And please, don't use Terrell Owens in the answer because he has nothing to do with defense.)

Mark Maske: No, it's not just Terrell Owens. We're seeing that first-time starters at quarterback don't get to have everything go right all the time. As to the defense, I really don't know what's going on there because they have some solid, solid players.

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Philadelphia: Let's face it: the Eagles have been tremendous since Garcia took over. Much better than the Cowboys, the Giants and the Seahawks. But can they win when the expectations game isn't in their favor anymore? How far do you reasonably think they can go?

Mark Maske: I don't think it's unreasonable to think they could be in the Super Bowl. They are, right now, the best team in the NFC. But they might have to win in both New Orleans and Chicago to get there, so that's asking a lot.

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Shocked!: Mark,

Were you shocked that the Cowboys and Broncos lost at HOME to subpar teams. These were such crucial games. Back in the day, this never would have happened.

Thanks.

Mark Maske: I was shocked about the Cowboys, and surprised but not shocked about the Broncos. The 49ers were a pretty gritty team all season and you knew they'd at least play hard.

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Oxford, Miss.: Three NFC East teams in the playoffs. At the beginning of the season, this was considered the powerhouse division. By the middle, it was considered a joke. Now, maybe it's the powerhouse again?? What are the chances that one of these three teams goes to the Super Bowl?

Mark Maske: You'd certainly have to give the Eagles a chance. I haven't quite given up on the Cowboys yet, although it's close after that Lions game. It's tough to envision the Giants putting it together for three straight games. It was an accomplishment for the division, yes, but it's mitigated by the fact that the conference had to be bad enough for an undeserving 8-8 team like the Giants to get in.

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Mark Maske: I'm going to run, folks. Thanks, as always, for your questions. Sorry I couldn't get to all of them. See you next week.

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