NFL News Feed

Washington Post NFL columnist and blogger Mark Maske was online Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 11 a.m. ET to take your questions and comments about week 11 results and all the latest news from around the league.

A transcript follows.

Mark writes the NFL News Feed blog for the washingtonpost.com's pro football group blog, The League. He is the author of War Without Death: A Year of Extreme Competition in Pro Football's NFC East.

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

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20009: Can you explain the rule for downing a punt as it applies to what happened in the Redskins game? I thought the ball was down as soon as it is touched by the kicking team, which means the ball should have been spotted at the 1. When I watched the broadcast of the game, it was clear that Al Michaels and John Madden could not explain the official's ruling, as indicated by the 30 seconds of silence that followed the replay ruling.

Mark Maske: If the guy who's downing the ball is in the end zone--meaning that any part of his body is on or over the goal line--then it's a touchback. That was the debate on that play.

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Arlington, Va.: As a long-time fan of the G-Men who was delighted and shocked by their championship run last winter, I have to confess that I am surprised at the way they continue to shred opponents (Ravens defense was exposed as a fraud on Sunday), despite Eli's (I hesitate to say) mediocrity, baffling play calling by OC Gilbride, somewhat weak and seemingly perpetually injured secondary and off-field issues with Plax. Just goes to show how a dynamic run game and dominating the trenches rule the day in the NFL. How do you think they perform versus their last few tough opponents, almost all on the road...and (it looks like a certainty) the playoffs?

Mark Maske: The Giants clearly are the best team in the NFC and I would contend they're the best team in the NFL. Barring a season-changing injury, they will win the NFC East and get home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. That doesn't mean they're a Super Bowl lock, however. We did see them have a clunker of a game in Cleveland this season, so they can be beaten. To me, it's the NFC East teams that know them so well, that know what they do and aren't afraid of them, that will have the best chance against them in the playoffs.

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New York, N.Y.: One could say that the seasons for the Bills and Redskins have mirrored each other. Both had little expectations from around the league at the start of the season, both were early season surprises with strong records, and both have taken a stumble, losing to teams they should beat, losing prime time games at home, etc. I wonder since no one expected much from them early on that their early success seemed that much more surprising. Can you count recent losses for both teams disappointing, or finally playing to pre-season expectations? But most importantly, if you have to pick right now, who's more likely to grab a wildcard, Skins or Bills?

Mark Maske: I would say the Redskins. The Bills now are buried in last place and Trent Edwards isn't playing very well at all. He has thrown a ton of interceptions the last three games and last night he couldn't complete any passes down the field. Ten of his 16 completions went to Marshawn Lynch, and Lee Evans was a total nonfactor. The Redskins are still playing decent football. Their losses lately have been to the Steelers and a Cowboys team that was playing for its season.

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Reston, Va.: What is with the NFL regular season rule that games can end in a tie? There are 16 games in a season - let the teams play to a win or loss (within reason). That said, how could someone who makes their living playing professional football (I'm looking at you, McNabb) not know that a game can end in a tie?! Is that why he seemed to lack any urgency during their last drive?

Mark Maske: That was pretty stunning for him to have said that. I think the reasoning for not having more than one overtime in a regular season game is to avoid having players pushed to such physical limits of a second overtime or more unless it's the playoffs. Really, it doesn't come up very often. That was the first tie in six years. I don't think it's a major issue over which anyone needs to be losing any sleep. That was a game that neither team deserved to win, frankly.

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Rockville, Md.: Is there any chance that the NFL might change the score of the Pitt-SD game to 17-10? This could have playoff implications under tie-breaking procedures. Since it was the last play of the game, it seems the NFL could do this if they wanted to. The referee has already admitted that they blew the call.

Mark Maske: No chance. The league put out a written statement yesterday, something that it called a rule explanation, saying the score would remain 11-10. There was a mistake made and it's been acknowledged, but there will be nothing done to remedy it.

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Comus, Md.: I'm part of a multi-generational Redskins family. My 96 year old grandfather still says his favorite Redskin was Sammy Baugh.

Needless too say, we were not too thrilled with the Norv Turner era. Among other things, we did not like it that, unlike Coach Gibbs, who took responsibility for everything, Coach Turner would never acknowledge that he had ever contributed in any way to a 'Skins defeat.

However, my son is in the Navy, stationed in San Diego. He is now starting to buy into the "everything weird happens to me" Turner rationale. He's decided that Norv is in fact a decent coach who has had just an incredible string of bad bounces and other oddities cut into his victory total.

Do you have any insight into this? My son is a very bright person, honors degree from M.I.T., but I'm wondering if the sea air or some other environmental concern might be coloring his judgment.

Mark Maske: There's a saying that a lot of people in the NFL like to repeat: You are what your record is. Everyone can talk about the injuries or the bad luck that they've had, but in the end it doesn't matter and no one really wants to hear it.

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Tarboro, N.C.: Hi Mark. Good on ya mate. JZorn mentioned at one of his pressers that the OL was having technique problems which attributed to their being beaten to death. Give us a break JZ, this OL has 100 years of experience and if they don't have technique down by now there is no hope. 2009 draft: Junkyard dogs on the D and O lines. What's your take? Cheers and peace out.

Mark Maske: One of the real issues for the Redskins entering this season was the age of the starters on their offensive line. There is going to be some turnover on that unit soon, whether it's done intentionally by the Redskins or forced upon them, so they'd better be ready for that and begin to devote some resources to reinforcements there. I do think there could be some validity to the technique issues when you're talking about going to a West Coast-style passing offense. That is an adjustment for everyone, including those doing the blocking.

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Chicago: I don't understand the big deal about ties. So they tied, so what? When I was a kid in the late 70s/early 80s there was one every year.

Mark Maske: There's plenty done to avoid ties. It's first team to score wins, not each team must get at least one possession. Usually we're talking about whether the coin flip gives the team that wins it too much of an advantage in overtime, not whether there's enough done to avoid ties. Hey, everyone knows what the rules are going in--at least everyone is supposed to know--and I just don't see it being that big of a problem.

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D.C.: Zorn's play calling has gotten really conservative the last five weeks. Is the league catching up to him or is he just playing close to the vest ala Gibbs?

Mark Maske: I think he's looked at his team and decided the way he needs to win games is running the ball, being mistake-free in the passing game and leaning on his defense. That worked pretty well for much of the season. What we haven't seen is the Redskins show they're able to go out and win a game with their passing when the running game isn't working and the defense is struggling a bit, when they need to put the ball in the air and score some points. That's understandable given that the passing game is the part of the offense that was changed with Zorn's arrival while the scheme of the running game was kept intact from the previous regime. But that, to me, is the next step in the progression.

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Herndon, Va.: Do you think Reid and McNabb will both be with the Eagles next season?

Mark Maske: I would say the odds would be against it if they don't make the playoffs. There are plenty of people around the league who didn't expect to see them back this season, so this has had the feel all along, to me, of being a final chance to recapture their success together. But that's just my feeling. I'm not basing it on anything that anyone in that organization has told me. The Eagles are known for their patience, the patience of Jeff Lurie and Joe Banner with Reid as a coach and Reid's patience with McNabb as a quarterback. There has been great stability there, and great belief that they have the right leadership structure, the right coach and the right quarterback in place to win if all works out with the other elements of the team. I'm just basing my feeling on the fact that nothing is forever, not in the NFL and not anywhere else, and eventually there will come a time for everyone to move on.

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Baltimore, Md.: Yes, the Giants are the class of the NFC and, no question, they ran through the Ravens, getting more than 200 yards on the ground. Still, it was a game that really turned, irretrievably, on one play. The Ravens had come back from being down 20-0, had cut the score to 20-10 and were driving. A Joe Flacco pass goes through Derek Mason's hands, hits his helmet, is picked off on the carom and returned for a touchdown. Boom, 27-10, game effectively over.

I'm not saying that the Ravens are nearly as good as the Giants -- but one missed catch clearly changed the outcome.

Mark Maske: I was at that game. The Giants ran right over them. Sure, there are a few plays in every game where you can say what if that hadn't happened? I still don't think the Ravens would have come back to win that game if Mason had caught that ball. The Giants were the better team and they were going to do what they needed to do to win.

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Fairfax, Va.: Have you ever seen a more pathetic display of offense than the Eagles-Bengals overtime period?

Mark Maske: As I said a little earlier, that was one in which neither team deserved to win. A tie was the just and proper outcome.

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Arlington, Va.: I got one for you...

I am a fellow Giants fan.

While I am loving the run the G-men have been on the past year or so, I too have always considered Eli to be the weakest link on the team.

I was upset when they cut/benched Kurt Warner and began to start Eli. Considering both of their skill sets (I personally think Warner would have been great, but they paid top dollar for Eli, so...), how important is Eli to the team? Is he the most replaceable of all the name players?

Mark Maske: No, to me it's a quarterbacks' league. The Giants only won a Super Bowl when Eli Manning suddenly started playing championship-level football during the playoffs last season. That is a good, solid team all around the quarterback, but don't discount what Manning means.

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Alexandria, Va.: Do you have an impression on whether personnel men around the league think Matt Cassel is a fluke or just a product of the Belichick system or if he has actual talent and will draw interest in the free agent market in the off-season?

Mark Maske: He'll draw interest. Big interest. He'll get big money somewhere.

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Arizona Cardinals: Are they for real? Any chance they could go past the first round of the playoffs?

Mark Maske: I do think they're for real. With the way Kurt Warner is playing and with those receivers, they have a chance against anyone. It will be interesting to see what sort of game they give the Giants this weekend. That game, to me, has major upset potential, and that's coming from someone who thinks the Giants are the best team in the league.

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New York: Phoenix is a smaller market, and they play in a crappy time zone. But for my money we are witnessing something truly remarkable with Kurt Warner, one of the greatest stories in NFL history. They showed him in slow motion, scanning the field with perfect footwork and form -- he is perfection right now.

Mark Maske: You could make a very good case for him being the MVP of the league right now. He's on course to come very close to Dan Marino's record for passing yards in a season. Now, Drew Brees is ahead of Warner and is on pace to break the record. But the Cardinals are winning and the Saints aren't.

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Hanover, Pa.: OK, Why is there "no chance" the NFL will not correct the score to 17-10? The officials said they were wrong (not maybe, not perhaps), and did so immediately, not days after. There were multiple rulings on the field -- fumble touchdown, clear field for PAT; review, penalty, declined, touchdown; re-review (which I don't believe could be done?), no touchdown. If I'm not mistaken, the officials were not within their purview to re-review the play, therefore making their decision to remove the score moot, as it was a decision outside of their capabilities according to the rulebook as it stood at that time.

Mark Maske: There's no chance because it's already done. It's already decided. The league has announced that the score will remain 11-10. When the league admitted that Ed Hochuli got the Jay Cutler fumble call wrong in the Broncos-Chargers game early in the season, it didn't go back and award the game to the Chargers. That's just the way it works.

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Washington, D.C.: Hi Mark, since three coaches, Scott Linehan, Mike Nolan, and Lane Kiffin have been fired in-season, why did the Lions keep Rod Marinelli as coach and instead fire Matt Millen? And who are some other coaches you see getting fired at the end of the season?

Mark Maske: You would think the Lions are going to finish cleaning house at the end of the season and change coaches. As for other coaches, you have to wonder about Herman Edwards in Kansas City and Marvin Lewis in Cincinnati, although my guess would be that both will end up staying. We'll see how things go down the stretch for Wade Phillips in Dallas and Brad Childress in Minnesota. Romeo Crennel helped himself last night with the Browns winning. I would think Norv Turner in San Diego and Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville wouldn't be fired, but you never know. And don't forget that you've got Mike Holmgren leaving the Seahawks and Tony Dungy possibly retiring in Indy, with their successors already named.

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Arlington, Va.: Why didn't they just line up the Eagles' David Akers and the Bengals' Shayne Graham and let them kick FGs until a winner was decided? Oops, wrong sport. There is no shame in a tie in the NFL, unless it's against the Bengals.

Mark Maske: There's a possible solution.

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Is Arizona for real?: I think a better answer is we'll find out this week. They have beaten no one good..

Mark Maske: Beating the teams that you're supposed to beat is a big part of being good in this league.

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Silver Spring, Md.: Wade Phillips after the game Sunday night looked exactly like Tom Coughlin after the Giants beat the Redskins in game three last year. Do you think Wade saved his season with the victory the way Coughlin did last year?

Mark Maske: I don't think Jerry Jones would have made a move during the season. He had been saying he wouldn't, and I do believe that. To me, Wade Phillips's job depends on winning a playoff game this season.

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Mark Maske: I've got to run, folks. Sorry I couldn't get to all of your questions but I did my best to answer as many as I could. See you here same time next week.

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