NFL Insider

The Post's Mark Maske was online Tuesday, Oct. 2 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest news from around the NFL.

A transcript follows.

Mark writes the NFL Insider blog, and is the author of the new book War Without Death: A Year of Extreme Competition in Pro Football's NFC East.

____________________

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

_______________________

Falls Church, Va.: Have to hand it to the Bengals defense for accomplishing something no one else has done this season -- they held the Patriots to less than 38 points!

Mark Maske: I'm sure Marvin Lewis would be overjoyed to hear that one.

_______________________

Miami: Why doesn't the Dolphin organization finally address our single, biggest, decade old problem? We need a front line (not a glorified punt returner) and a quarterback we can develop. Now even our defense is beginning to look like all of our quarterbacks: old, washed-up and casted-off!

Doesn't anybody in the organization see this? I wish we would of kept and developed Brian Griese (I know he had a bad week recently) or develop Cleo Lemon. Stop buying OPG -- Other People's Garbage!

Mark Maske: I am still mystified that they passed over Brady Quinn in the draft to take Ted Ginn Jr., essentially a punt returner. I know they came back in the second round and got John Beck, but to me Quinn was the obvious choice. That's a bad team right now, and I'm not sure there are any great prospects that it will be better in the future.

_______________________

Seattle: What's up with Tampa Bay this year? Their defense seems to have returned in force. Do they have a good shot?

Mark Maske: Certainly you'd have to say they have a good chance in the NFC. The Cowboys are on one tier right now, and the Packers, Seahawks and Buccaneers are on the next. Jeff Garcia is showing that he's simply a winner. The tough thing now will be for them to overcome the losses of Cadillac Williams and Luke Petitgout. Those were some rough injuries and we saw what the Eagles looked like Sunday night without their running back and left tackle -- not good at all.

_______________________

Honolulu, Hawaii: Can anyone explain to me why the Redskins did not pick up Brady Quinn in the NFL draft. They had the 6th pick. Quinn is a future Hall of Fame quarterback. The 'Skins haven't had a good quarterback in years. When Gibbs won Super Bowls, he had very good quarterbacks. I was a rabid Redskins fan for 50 years, but I am now disgusted with them. I think Joe Gibbs has lost it and should leave. To pass on Brady Quinn is unthinkable. They need a great quarterback most of all.

Mark Maske: The Redskins have a very good young quarterback in Jason Campbell. You don't need two of them.

_______________________

Hilliard, Ohio: Mark..

What sort of chance do you think the Redskins have against the Lions given the way they self-destructed against the Giants and their current injury situation?

They're hurting at WR, Moss is questionable, and have added Keenan McCardell. They also have numerous other injuries.

Mark Maske: I think the Redskins will come back and play well coming off the bye. That's usually the case in the NFL. The question is which Lions team will show up, the one that looked so terrible in Philadelphia or the one that just beat the Bears.

_______________________

Money Town: I have a question about the NFL pay system. What happens to a Cadillac Williams now his season is done, does he get paid the same? What about when you get signed and you don't dress, do you get the same paycheck?

Thanks

Mark Maske: Cadillac Williams goes to the injured reserve list and, yes, he is paid the same salary he would be paid if he was healthy and playing. The same thing goes for guys who are on the inactive list and don't dress for a game.

_______________________

Fairfax, Va.: Any word yet on the supposed NFL player involved in another shooting?

Mark Maske: If you're talking about the Reggie Nelson incident, then yes. The rookie safety for the Jaguars, a first-round pick out of the University of Florida, was at a nightclub in Gainesville on Saturday night and there was a shooting near that club around 2:30 a.m. Sunday. The police questioned Nelson on Sunday morning around 10 a.m. and he gave a statement. He is not a suspect and his agent has been quoted as saying that Nelson did not even witness the shooting.

_______________________

way outside Mpls: Hey Mark-

You're Brad Childress. You keep your job after this season (somehow) and it's your turn to make your first-round selection.

You're picking fifth overall since you couldn't win a single division game.

You thinking Hawaii qb?

Mark Maske: Before you would think about using another high draft pick on a quarterback, you'd have to have a pretty good idea whether Tarvaris Jackson can play or not. That will be what the rest of this season is about finding out.

_______________________

Bowie, Md.: Have there been any rumblings about changing the sideline time-out rule, so coaches can't call TOs on field goal attempts. TOs being called fractions of a second before the snap to ice the kicker, and forcing the team to re-kick seem to be happening more frequently. It seems unnecessarily harsh on the kicking team, and borderline unfair.

Mark Maske: I'm sure the competition committee will look at it, but I don't know that it's unfair. It just so happened that back-to-back, you had the scenario where the kicker made the first kick (the one negated by the last-second timeout) and then missed the re-kick. What if the kicker misses the first kick, the one that ends up not counting, and then makes the second? The opposing coach won't look so brilliant if that happens, and that's the risk you're taking.

_______________________

Injured Reserve List: Players still get the same salary but they lose lots of bonuses. Right?

Mark Maske: Right, if you have incentives based on certain statistical benchmarks that you don't reach, you don't make that money.

_______________________

Oakton, Va.: So what's the problem in San Diego? Poor ownership or lousy place kicking?

Mark Maske: You'd have to say that the decision to get rid of Marty Schottenheimer is backfiring, wouldn't you? My biggest problem with it was that Dean Spanos and A.J. Smith at first decided to keep Schottenheimer, then reversed course a few weeks later because they didn't like it that Schottenheimer lost Cam Cameron, Wade Phillips and some other members of his coaching staff and wanted to interview his brother Kurt to possibly replace Phillips. At that point, you've gone from making a decision based on sound reasoning to making an emotional decision based more on personal feelings. Those decisions usually don't work out, and bringing in Norv Turner isn't working out.

_______________________

Eagles O-line...: was truly an offensive line Sunday night -- no complements intended! The Giant's Unemyiora was getting back to McNabb almost as soon as the ball was.

So arm-chair coaching question: why not line up Tony Hunt to help block on the left side? He's a big boy and I'm pretty sure JoePa taught him how to throw a block.

Mark Maske: Andy Reid faulted himself after the game for not doing more to help out Winston Justice in terms of the blocking scheme and play-calling. I buy that it was partially Andy Reid's fault, but the player has to play better, too. That was unbelievable for a guy who does have talent, at least based on how Justice played at USC.

_______________________

Springfield, Va.: The Giants made McNabb look like he's old enough for Social Security. No doubt, the Eagle meltdown was aided by injuries and probably a bad offensive game plan. But McNabb looked like he would have had trouble scrambling away from a tortoise. He just doesn't look like himself at all. Was this because the Giants just had a great night, or is it a sobering glimpse of the future for McNabb?

Mark Maske: It's all of those factors together. The Eagles didn't have Westbrook to be the guy that the Giants had to fear, the guy that could take a short pass and go a long way if the Giants overcommitted to the pass rush. It certainly hurt the Eagles not to have William Thomas at left tackle. All the penalties put the Eagles in obvious passing situations and the Giants do have very good pass rushers with Osi Umenyiora, Justin Tuck, Mathias Kiwanuka and Michael Strahan. But you're also right that the Donovan McNabb from his younger days might have evaded a few of those sacks. Remember that he's still less than a year removed from his knee surgery, though. It's probably unfair to expect him to be that guy at this point. It takes time to come all the way back.

_______________________

Hey, Mark....: How did your picks turn out this week?

Mark Maske: They were as bad this week as they were good in Week 1. You weren't on here that week asking me how my picks turned out.

_______________________

Giants: So, are their two wins and revitalized defense a result of the 'Skins and Philly being pretty bad, or the fact that the D may be buying into a new D coordinator's philosophy/scheme/etc.? And those two losses to GB and Dallas don't look too bad now. Can they make a legit run for the wild card? What would that mean for Coughlin's future, which everyone thought was done in NYC after this year.

Mark Maske: It's hard to say which Giants team is the real team. If they had lost the game to the Redskins, they were probably headed to 4-12 and Coughlin being out the door. Now, who knows? That defense has good pass rushers but if you block them reasonably well, you still should be able to throw the ball on the Giants.

_______________________

Landover, Md.: Who knocks off New England this year? Who has a decent enough defense to actually stop them? Their three WRs really have more untapped potential in my eyes. They all can actually play.

Mark Maske: It is legitimate to start having the conversation about whether the Patriots can go undefeated. But when you look at who's on their schedule -- Cowboys, Colts, Ravens, Steelers -- I don't think it will happen.

_______________________

Long Island, N.Y.: With all the focus on the Cowboys and Packers, I think the team in the NFC that's flying under the radar is the Seahawks.

They're a botched handoff away from being 4-0, have one of the best home field advantages of any team and a ton of experience. If they go to PIT and win this weekend, do they move up to the top level of the NFC regardless if Dal/GB are 5-0?

Mark Maske: The Seahawks were my Super Bowl pick in the NFC going into the season. It's a little bit ominous that Shaun Alexander is hurt again, with that cracked bone in his wrist, and their play has been inconsistent in the early going. But if they start playing every week like they did against the 49ers, there won't be a lot to choose from between them and the Cowboys.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Not sure that I buy that Dallas are as good as they seem. Williams and Hamlin are good against the run and dreadful cover guys: will Dallas have trouble when they get against teams that can throw downfield?

Mark Maske: That's a weakness, yes. I think they have some major coverage issues in their secondary if Terence Newman can't stay healthy and in the lineup and effective with that foot injury that he has. But they're pretty good in the defensive front seven, and they can move the ball and score with anyone on offense.

_______________________

Baltimore: A Ravens question of course: How much pressure is Brian Billick under after going 13-3 in the regular season only to be "one and done" in the playoffs. The 2-2 Ravens sure aren't striking fear into anyone on either side of the ball (especially on offense) and some of Billick's red zone playcalling has been downright odd, considering how well Willis McGahee has been running.

Mark Maske: I wouldn't think his job would be in jeopardy no matter what happens this season. But you're right, that team should be better right now than it is. To me, they need to get stability at quarterback and then establish themselves as a team that wins with the defense and the running of McGahee.

_______________________

Herndon, Va.: Mr. M: As "the expert," please tell me how, in this age of NFL parity, the Patriots can be so much better than everyone else? Are the front office and Belichick that superior? Of course, getting a world-class quarterback with a 6th round pick didn't hurt.

Mark Maske: That Tom Brady draft pick changed the recent history of the NFL. They had no idea what they were getting. They didn't know they were getting a three-time (or four-time or five-time or however many it turns out to be) Super Bowl-winning quarterback. They've got an all-time great quarterback and an all-time great coach, and they're able to fill in the rest around those parts and get everyone to buy into the program. I still think the Colts are on their level this season, and maybe the Cowboys, Seahawks and Steelers can get there. But they've done nothing to dispel the notion that they're the clear Super Bowl favorite, and there's nothing wrong with starting to wonder if they can go unbeaten. I don't think they will, but the conversation is certainly not outlandish.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: How big is the asterisk on the Patriots record in light of the quality of the competition? Three 1-3 teams and a non-competitive division. We all thought San Diego and Cinci were going to be good, but the fact that everyone beats them has to mean something.

Mark Maske: I don't worry too much about that yet. They're blowing everyone's doors off. It's impressive. We'll see them face plenty of good teams before the season is done. We won't have to wonder for too long.

_______________________

Herndon, Va.: Hi Mark,

Well, now that the Giants defense blew away the Philly offense, maybe the Redskin's offense and loss doesn't seem as unexplainably bad as it did before looking at two weeks of Giant futility? How do you see the Redskins responding coming off the bye week against a surprising (pretender?) Lions team?

Mark Maske: The Redskins let the Giants up off the mat. If the Redskins had finished that game the way they should have finished it, we'd be talking about the Giants right now as a team headed to nowhere. But that's what happens in an NFL season. There aren't many teams that are consistently good in today's NFL. I think the Redskins will play well coming off the bye. Most teams usually do.

_______________________

HOF?: Honolulu, Hawaii says Quinn is a future hall of fame quarterback!? I say slow your roll, Hawaii! Dude's been in the NFL for all of, what, four weeks?

Or, better, if you know so much about the distant future, tell me what stocks to invest in.

Mark Maske: What we saw from Brady Quinn in the preseason is that we're probably talking about at least a decent NFL quarterback. There will be ups and downs when he gets his chance to play, as with any young quarterback in the NFL. But the Browns are playing pretty well right now, so there's no need to talk about going to a young quarterback at this point.

_______________________

Mt Vernon, Va.: With the signing of McCardell, when will the Redskins finally fall on their sword and just release Brandon Lloyd? Their handling of his situation is ridiculous, and smacks of Danny and Vinny not being able to stand up and admit how wrong they were in obtaining him and giving him the huge contract that they did, and how they have no clue as to what they're doing with regards to personnel and contracts.

It's way past time for a GM at Redskins Park!

Mark Maske: To me, the McCardell signing is as much a numbers thing as anything else with Santana Moss hurting this week. But it does get interesting if they keep McCardell around once Moss gets back to 100 percent, because then you would have Reche Caldwell and McCardell both as candidates to move ahead of Lloyd.

_______________________

Redskins Super Bowl QBs?: Jay Schroeder, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien hardly qualify as very good QBs. Rypien had an arm that could launch the ball deep, but that's about it. Schroeder was mediocre, and Williams had a great game...but he was a backup. Gibbs won with his his offensive lines and his RBs, not his QBs. Excepting perhaps JT.

JC is The Man. He's also young. Don't judge him on his learning curve.

Mark Maske: I don't know that Campbell is quite ready to be a Super Bowl-winning quarterback yet. We saw some of the limitations that he still has as a young quarterback during the Giants game. But clearly he is a quarterback right now that you can win some games with, and I do think he will reach the point in the not-too-distant future where you could envision him as a quarterback capable of winning a championship if the team around him has the other parts in place.

_______________________

Baltimore: Have you ever seen such a statistical domination by one team, but on-field domination by the other team like we saw in the Ravens-Browns game Sunday? I looked at the stat sheet, and just couldn't understand how the stats were so lopsided towards the Ravens, but the score was so lopsided to the Browns. 26-12 (Ravens) first downs, 306-207 (Ravens) passing yards, 418-303 (Ravens) total offense, 104 yards for McGahee to 64 yards for Lewis, 0-3 (Ravens) in number of punts, and just a -1 (Ravens) turnover ratio. You look at those stats and say at the very least it was a close game, but in reality, the Ravens were NEVER in it.

Mark Maske: That's why you only worry about the numbers on the scoreboard.

_______________________

Mark Maske: Thanks, everyone. See you here next week.

_______________________

Editor's Note: washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over 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.