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If you saw Donovan McNabb on "First Take" today, you know what this is about. If you haven't, here's the clip. McNabb, the former Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins quarterback, was asked if he thinks Robert Griffin III is a good fit for the Redskins, who are likely to take him with the No. 2 pick in the draft four weeks from today. This was a perfectly teed-up Titleist of a question for McNabb, whose time in Washington was tumultuous to say the least, and he swung hard:

"No. I say that because a lot of times, ego gets too involved when it comes to being in Washington. Here's a guy coming out who's very talented, mobile, strong-armed. We've already heard he's intelligent. Football mind. Are you going to cater the offense around his talents and what he's able to do? Or are you going to bring the Houston offense with Matt Schaub over to him and have him kind of be embedded into that?"

The last part is a clear reference to Redskins offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan and the idea that he tried to fit McNabb into the offensive system he brought with him from the Texans. But there's more:

"We talk so much about Mike Shanahan and the things that he was able to do in Denver. Well, I have a couple of names for you that Mike Shanahan, quarterbacks he's coached and the lack of success that he's had. We have John Beck, who as 0-4. Rex Grossman, 6-11. Jay Cutler, who was his prized possession, 17-20. Jake Plummer, a guy who had success, led them to the AFC Championship against Pittsburgh and then benched him the next year because he wouldn't do what he wanted him to do pretty much. Brian Griese, who was supposed to be the heir apparent to John Elway and hasn't had a lot of success."

To his credit, Skip Bayless asked McNabb if he had an ax to grind. And to his credit, the first two words of McNabb's response were accurate:

"I do but I don't. The whole deal about it is, we hear so much about players who move on somewhere, how the next year will be a lot better. Give him a chance to learn the offense and understand what we do. I never got that chance. And a lot of people haven't."

My inclination is to tread carefully here, since there's obviously a far greater chance that McNabb spends this next football season in those Bristol studios than on a football field. But the plain fact is, the guy needs a mirror.

McNabb makes some fair points about Mike Shanahan and the lack of success he's had as a head coach with quarterbacks other than Elway. He makes some fair points about egos, and I don't think there's anyone who doubts that Shanahan has a big one. He himself might even admit to that. He's a head football coach. The list of men who are those and don't have egos is a pretty short list.

But McNabb this morning was using a platform to grind his ax, plain and simple. My quickie evaluation of him on TV is that he'll be an excellent NFL analyst as long as he's talking about people he hates. His breakdown of the situation in Washington as it pertained to him ignores these elements:

• He was benched by Eagles coach Andy Reid in 2008 and traded by Reid after the 2009 season to a team that the Eagles play twice a year. Clearly, there were some issues with McNabb even before he got to Washington. You don't trade your starting quarterback to a division rival if you think the guy is still worth having.
• Three separate Redskins people who were with the team during McNabb's only season there have told me that the issue with McNabb was that he didn't want to put in the work during the week. Yes, the system in Washington was different from the one he was used to in Philadelphia, but that McNabb's response to that was to shut down and refuse to learn or practice it. One of those three people told me Shanahan was aware, before making the trade, that McNabb had developed the reputation over his final few seasons in Philadelphia of not wanting to put in the work during the week, but that Shanahan believed he could light a fire under McNabb.
• Shanahan was not able to light that fire, and McNabb lost his job to Rex Grossman during the 2010 season. Rex Grossman, folks. Didn't lose the job to Johnny Unitas or Joe Montana. Couldn't play or practice well enough to fend off a challenge from Rex Grossman.
• The Redskins traded McNabb prior to the 2011 season to the Minnesota Vikings for a sixth-round pick. McNabb must not have liked the egos or the system in Minnesota, either, since he played just six games there before losing the job to rookie Christian Ponder, then demanded his release later in the season after being demoted to the scout team.
• No one picked him up off waivers.
• No one has signed him so far this offseason.
• There has been not one report of any team being interested in signing him.

McNabb's career is almost certainly over, and he's clearly bitter about the way it ended. The Shanahans certainly made some mistakes in handling the McNabb situation and said some things that embarrassed a proud veteran and left him very angry. They are not blameless here. But neither is McNabb, and if he's going to sit there and say things like he said this morning on "First Take," he'd do himself and the rest of us a favor if he uttered maybe just one or two words about his own role in the way things turned out for him in Washington.

It's possible, after all, that Griffin will be excellent in Washington. There's nothing anyone's heard about the young man to indicate he's unwilling to work or learn anything new.

ESPN.com bloggers Dan Graziano (NFC East), Kevin Seifert (NFC North), Pat Yasinskas (NFC South) and Mike Sando (NFC West) analyze the NFC.

After a long, late night in the City of Brotherly Love, what better way to wake up than with a steaming plate of links?

New York Giants

The Giants hope they're getting healthier, and while the team offered little insight into the conditions of injured running back Ahmad Bradshaw and injured receiver Hakeem Nicks, Adam Schefter's source tells him Bradshaw "will definitely be back soon," possibly as soon as Sunday's game in San Francisco. Remember, Bradshaw's played through foot problems before. I think the most likely outcome here is that he plays, but he gets a smaller share of the carries relative to Brandon Jacobs the rest of the way as they try to get as much out of him as they can without hurting him worse than he's already hurt.

Want to know what Tom Coughlin's favorite Eli Manning throw from Sunday's game was? Would it surprise you to learn that it was a pass that fell incomplete? Probably not. Improved decision making has been a key element of Manning's big year, and the play in question was one that might have gone differently for him a year ago.

Dallas Cowboys

Todd Archer looks at Jason Garrett's first 16 games as a head coach and concludes that Garrett is firmly in control and has the team headed in the right direction. People have actually been asking me (after a win!) whether there's a chance Garrett gets fired if the Cowboys finish under .500 this year. There is not. Jerry Jones is determined to show patience, and he likes what he sees in Garrett, even if (as is always the case with young people new in their jobs) he has some learning, growing and improving to do.

Jason Witten says it's time for the Cowboys to start to "stack up" some wins and get some separation between themselves and the rest of the middle of the NFC pack. Witten said this two weeks ago, too, and then they went out and lost to the Eagles. Doesn't mean it's any less true, and who knows? Maybe it'll work this time.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles had a chance, for the second week in a row, to play their best when the lights were the brightest. This time, as Bob Ford points out, they flopped. Last week, when they played the Cowboys on national TV on Sunday night, Andy Reid used the prime-time platform as motivation. Whether he tried again this week, I don't know. But something was definitely different.

Like many who were in attendance, Jeff McLane wondered what happened to the Eagles' pass rush against a Bears team that hasn't been tough to pass rush against. This game broke a streak of 31 games in a row in which Jay Cutler was sacked at least once. Jason Babin said the Bears did a good job of emphasizing protection and keeping extra men in, and when the Eagles did get through, Cutler found a way to make a play. The defensive line has been good, but this wasn't their night.

Washington Redskins

Are the Redskins rebuilding under Mike Shanahan? Of course they are. Does he like to use that word? Not necessarily. There was a lot of talk Monday about where the Redskins stand as a franchise in Shanahan's second year, but there's going to be patience shown here, too. Shanahan was given a five-year contract to build something sustainable, and he's just begun.

Dan Daly doesn't think these coaches are being creative enough to address the deficiencies and other issues on offense within the course of the game. Maybe, but I still say there's only so much you can do when you don't have enough good players.

PHILADELPHIA --You couldn't have scripted a more fitting end.

With time literally running out on the Philadelphia Eagles, Michael Vick fired a short pass to the left side. The ball hit DeSean Jackson in the hands and kept going right on through, settling on the turf beyond as the clock ticked down to all zeroes and the score became final.

Bears 30, Eagles 24 in a "Monday Night Football" game the Eagles couldn't afford to lose. The way it ended was stone-cold perfect.

We'll never know what might have happened if Jackson had caught the ball. We'll never know if he could have put a move on the defender and found his way to the end zone for the miracle score and victory. We'll never know because he didn't, and that right there looks like it could turn out to be the story of the 2011 Philadelphia Eagles.

We'll never know. Because they didn't.

This is no longer about the new schemes, the new personnel or the job the coaches are doing. This thing with the Eagles has moved beyond all of that esoteric stuff and right down into the most basic stuff of all. This is about the teetering pile of evidence that the Eagles don't have it when it counts -- that they're simply not tough enough.

"Obviously, tonight was a big game for us, and we wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get back to .500," Vick said. "You can't let opportunities like this slip away."

You can't, but that's exactly what these Eagles do. They are 3-5 now, in third place in their division, three games and a tiebreaker behind the Giants and two games behind the NFC's final wild-card spot. And the Bears and Falcons, the two teams currently tied for that final wild-card spot, have something in common. Yep, they both beat the Eagles.

The Eagles have held fourth-quarter leads in each of their five losses. That's mind-boggling. A fourth-quarter lead is, by definition, a chance to win. Control of the game. And five times now, the Eagles have let that slip away. One was to the AFC's Bills up in Buffalo, but the other four are all to NFC teams the Eagles will have to catch if they want to put on a furious second-half run and make the playoffs.

A tough team, with tough players, finds a way to win at least one of those games -- to make the big stop that holds that lead, or mount the big drive that takes it back once it's gone. But the Eagles don't do that, and for that reason they don't look like a team that belongs in the playoffs.

You can sit here and talk all you want about how they have more talent than those teams. More depth, more speed, more athleticism. And you may even be right. But each of those teams has shown that it has more guts than the Eagles have, and it's not even really all that close.

Look at what the New York Giants did Sunday, coming back in the final minute and a half after Tom Brady did everything he could to rip the hearts out of their chests. Look at what Jay Cutler did to the Eagles in this game -- improvising, escaping, making every single play and throw he needed to make to keep a drive alive and win the game.

You don't see the Eagles doing that. The Eagles don't put together game-winning fourth-quarter drives. They give them up. To Eli Manning. To Matt Ryan. To Alex Smith. To Jay Cutler. The Eagles have been out-finished in every conceivable way by a variety of finishers. And they are at a loss to explain why the fourth quarter never seems to go their way.

"I don't know," Jackson said. "We're out there working hard in practice every day on everything we need to do. But things don't always go the way you practice it."

Precisely. They don't go that way for Manning, either, but he's managed to overcome all that's gone wrong for him and the Giants in getting to 6-2. Things sure weren't going the way they go in practice for Cutler on Monday night, but he found a way to win the game anyway.

The Eagles? Well, unless absolutely everything goes right for them, the way it did last week against Dallas or three weeks ago in Washington, they don't look as though they know how to overcome it. No one makes the big play. Everyone seems to find a way to make the costly mistakes. Their good players come up small in big spots, and that brings up a key word that appears three times in this next quote:

"It was a tough football game," Eagles coach Andy Reid said. "In these type of games, we have to be tougher than a tough team like the Bears."

But over and over again this season, they have not been.

We have seen the Eagles at their brilliant, efficient best. But we have not seen them get down in the dirt with another team and come out on top. We have not seen, from these Eagles, anything resembling toughness. That's the thing they need to find if they're going to dig themselves out of this extremely deep hole. The question is whether it's there to be found. And right now it's kind of like that last pass of the game that went through Jackson's hands. We don't know. Because they haven't.

PHILADELPHIA -- Some thoughts on the Philadelphia Eagles' very costly 30-24 loss to the Chicago Bears on "Monday Night Football."

What it means: The Eagles may well need to run the table at this point if they want to make the playoffs. Not only are they 3-5 at the midpoint of the season, they have head-to-head losses to three teams over which they'll have to climb in order to win the division or earn a wild-card spot -- the Giants, Falcons and Bears. They're at the point where they can win almost no tiebreakers and probably have to go at least 7-1 the rest of the way if they want to save their season.

Dumb mistakes: The Bears looked for much of the night as though they were trying to give the game to the Eagles with mistakes, but Philadelphia kept hurting themselves with mistakes of their own. From DeSean Jackson's fumbled punt, to Jason Babin's roughing the passer penalty on a third-down stop, to any number of poor Michael Vick decisions, and right on up until Nnamdi Asomugha's pass interference with five minutes left in the game and the Bears apparently stopped on third down in Eagles territory -- the Eagles repeatedly put themselves in bad positions with mental and physical errors the likes of which they believed were behind them after two straight wins.

Lousy finishers: The Eagles have held fourth-quarter leads in each of their five losses this season.

No pressure: Heading into the game, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was one of the most harried quarterbacks in the league. But the Eagles were unable to get any consistent pressure on him with their front four against the Bears' offensive line. It may be that they were staying back to prevent Matt Forte and the Bears' running game from beating them, especially after Forte spent the opening drive doing just that. But for whatever reason they could not rattle Cutler, and he was able to make some brilliant improvised plays during Chicago's fourth-quarter comeback.

Shady the star: As usual, the best Eagles player on the field was running back LeSean McCoy, who rushed for 71yards, caught five passes for 46 more yards and tied a 64-year-old Eagles team record by scoring a touchdown in his eighth consecutive game. McCoy finds holes where there don't appear to be any. He keeps plays alive with his athleticism and can turn them big with his speed. If the Eagles do have any hope of recovering from their lousy start and making the playoffs, they rest largely with their ability and willingness to continue to feature McCoy as their star player and focal point on offense.

What's next: The Eagles host the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday afternoon in a game they now absolutely cannot afford to lose. The week after, they travel to New York to play the Giants, who now hold a commanding three-game lead and beat the Eagles in their head-to-head matchup in Philadelphia earlier in the season.

As you get ready for the Monday Night Football game against the Bears in Philadelphia, here's one reason for Eagles fans to be feeling good and one reason for concern:

Feeling good: Earlier in the season Eagles quarterback Michael Vick complained about how hard and how often he was getting hit. Well, what he was going through was nothing compared to the tribulations of Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (who also complained). According to ESPN Stats & Information, no quarterback has thrown a higher percentage of passes while under duress this year than has Cutler, who's thrown 28.9 percent of his passes in situations where he's had to alter his throw or been forced from the pocket due to pressure. (Vick's figure is fourth-highest, at 23.2 percent). The Eagles have excelled at pressuring quarterbacks with their front four and should be able to force Cutler into difficult situations.

Cause for concern: The man's name is Matt Forte. He's the Bears' running back who's in the news because he's not happy with his contract. He's also leading the NFL in total yards from scrimmage and could be a nightmare for an Eagles defense that has struggled to defend the run game and the screen game. The Eagles' linebackers will face a stiffer test from Forte than they have from the Redskins or Cowboys in either of their past two games, and will need to find a way to limit his production.

Well, I went 2-1 last week, losing only with that silly flier I took on the Redskins. (Won't make that mistake again!) Now, a winning week this week would get my season record back up over .500. Dare we dream?

Here are my picks for Week 9. Click the video to hear my explanations:

Cowboys 28, Seahawks 14
49ers 21, Redskins 10
Patriots 31, Giants 24
Eagles 24, Bears 13

Last week: 2-1
Season to date: 11-12

Observations from the Giants 41-13 preseason victory over the Chicago Bears on "Monday Night Football":

We preach all the time that preseason games don't matter, but so few people really take it to heart. Fans like to hang on every play, to wonder whether or not it matters that Eli Manning doesn't look sharp, or to try and figure out whether or not Brandon Jacobs deserves more carries than Ahmad Bradshaw. But in the end, there are no accurate judgments to be made off of these games and the only thing that actually matters in any of them is that nobody gets seriously hurt.

And that's why, regardless of the final score or the potentially very encouraging way the rest of the team played during the game itself, Monday night's victory over the Bears was a disaster for the New York Giants.

Shortly before halftime, Giants starting cornerback Terrell Thomas collided with Giants defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul and limped off the field. At halftime, Giants coach Tom Coughlin revealed to ESPN's Suzy Kolber than Thomas had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee and would miss the entire season.

This is devastating news, first and foremost, for Thomas, one of the very good guys and leaders on the Giants' roster and a player who has one year left before free agency. Thoughts go out to him, and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

But it's also awful news for the Giants, who earlier this preseason lost cornerbacks Prince Amukamara and Bruce Johnson to major injuries (and later in this game saw Brian Witherspoon carted off with a knee injury). Amukamara is out for at least a couple of months, Johnson for the year and now a team that was already struggling for depth at cornerback has lost one of its starters. They've gone from hoping Aaron Ross could be a reliable No. 3 corner and play as their extra defensive back in passing situations to hoping Ross can be a reliable starter and probably using safety Deon Grant in that role as they did last year. The Giants weren't deep to begin with, and they came out of their second preseason game with a major hole on the roster and in the starting lineup.

So that's all that matters from this game, period. But if you want to know what else I saw that might have a chance to matter down the road if by some coincidence regular-season developments jive with preseason performance in specific areas, here you go.

1. On the bright side, Ross looked very good. He knocked down two Jay Cutler passes intended for Roy Williams on third down early in the game. He made another play on a receiver later to prevent a touchdown (though he may have pushed off on that coverage). He made a nice tackle on Marion Barber behind the line of scrimmage in the third quarter. You could do worse than Ross as a fill-in cornerback when one of your starters gets hurt, and it's encouraging that he played well. But again, the Giants were figuring on Ross as their third corner, not one of their top two.

2. Oh, and X-rays on William Beatty's foot were negative. Which is a good thing. Beatty didn't have to take on Julius Peppers all night as we expected, since the Bears moved Peppers over to the other side to terrorize Kareem McKenzie and the Giants' overmatched tight ends. Beatty looked better overall in this game, holding his own and keeping his man off the quarterback, though he still looks a little grabby to me. You don't like to see a left tackle reaching quite as much as Beatty does to try and prevent the edge rush. He's got to do a better job of getting his whole body in front of his guy, or he's going to be a walking holding penalty.

3. Giants' special teams looked better. Devin Thomas is really showing his speed and athleticism on kick returns. Matt Dodge and Steve Weatherford both bombed huge punts all night. There was good kick coverage, including a big tackle by receiver Victor Cruz as he continues to work to try and secure a spot in the receiving corps. Jerrel Jernigan doesn't show much on punt returns, but the Giants had so many problems on special teams last year that if they can get it down to just one, Coughlin is going to be ecstatic.

4. How did those receivers keep getting open between Corey Webster and Kenny Phillips? It happened twice in the first half, and Cutler hit it for a big gain each time. It looked as though the receiver got by Webster and Phillips didn't get over in time to help. There are three possibilities that I can see: 1. Webster let his man go by him without making sure he had the safety help; 2. Phillips was supposed to help but was slow getting over; 3. Phillips went with the tight end up the seam after the tight end got by middle linebacker Jonathan Goff, which would kind of lead back to (1.) though with some blame to be shared by Goff. Either way, I'm certain it'll be discussed in detail in meetings this week. The Giants will obviously need mistake-free play from Webster and Phillips with as vital a piece as Thomas now missing from the secondary.

5. Victor Cruz, preseason wonder. Domenik Hixon had the big touchdown catch, but I really believe the Giants are trying to bring Hixon along slowly as he's coming back from his knee injury. And if that's the case, it opens up opportunities for guys like Cruz to get more reps at wide receiver. Cruz lined up with the starters in the team's three-receiver sets at the start of the game, and he did a lot of good, athletic, impressive things, just like he did last year in the preseason. As long as he keeps contributing on special teams, he's a good bet to make the roster. And if he does and Hixon is still being babied come the regular season, Cruz should get a serious chance to show whether or not his preseason success can carry into the regular season this time.

6. Some notes on the sure things. Manning looked fine, though I wouldn't put him in John Beck's class as a preseason quarterback. (Easy, folks... I kid because I love...) Brandon Jacobs looked especially spry on his touchdown run. And how about Justin Tuck's downfield tackle on Matt Forte? Tuck's a beast, but I couldn't help thinking a linebacker or a safety should have made that unnecessary. Overall, the Giants' defense looked very good, especially when it came time to keep the Bears out of the end zone in goal-line situations. Mark Herzlich's interception on the fourth-down play late in the fourth quarter was the most fun of the stops.

7. Still could use a tight end. Not that this is a Priority No. 1 at this point, but Travis Beckum and Bear Pascoe have been fully underwhelming at a key position for the Giants' passing game. We saw Manning audible at the line a few times and look to check it down, but with Steve Smith in Philadelphia and Kevin Boss in Oakland, he's still looking for reliable options to serve as safety valves. There was a third-down throw on which he and Mario Manningham couldn't connect that made you think he missed Smith. But two more preseason games to go and work still to be done, as is the case with every team.

Dallas Cowboys

Three Dallas Morning News writers state their case for what the Cowboys should do with their first-round draft pick.

Cowboys long-snapper L.P. Ladouceur has been spreading his knowledge about financial responsibility during the lockout.

New York Giants

Giants general manager Jerry Reese on his approach to the NFL draft: "You go in here and you try to pick the best player available. You try not to reach. And again, you try not to panic when something happens, because it is pretty intense during draft time. You have to be ready for anything to happen. Strange things can happen on draft day. You just try to keep a cool head during draft time."

Chris Canty said he plans on showing up at the Giants' team facility on Tuesday.

Philadelphia Eagles

Paul Domowitch assesses the history of the linebacker position during coach Andy Reid's tenure in Philadelphia.

Defensive tackle has been a position the Eagles have spent a lot of time on with their past early-round picks.

Washington Redskins

DeAngelo Hall's "clown" comment directed at Bears quarterback Jay Cutler came up again in a recent interview done by the Redskins cornerback.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder discusses why he is suing Washington City Paper.

Scouts Inc.'s Matt Williamson examines the biggest weakness of each NFC East team and offers some potential solutions.

The Redskins' quarterback situation is a nightmare. I am assuming that Donovan McNabb will be elsewhere in 2011. Rex Grossman has a place in this league, but his erratic nature makes him too difficult to count on as a week-to-week starter at such an important position. Grossman is also a pending free agent, although returning to Washington seems like a natural fit. It isn’t a re-signing that I would object to.

But the Redskins have to look elsewhere for their long-term quarterback. That takes us to the draft. Maybe the aggressive Redskins front office would put a package together to move up several spots from their 10th position to land Missouri's Blaine Gabbert or more likely, Auburn's Cam Newton. But with a wealth of needs (I could have picked many different positions for this post), I just can’t see putting the resources into moving up.

It isn’t Washington’s style, but moving backward on draft day would be the prudent move. The Redskins are supposedly very interested in Washington’s Jake Locker, who has a skill set very similar to what Mike Shanahan looks for in a quarterback.

I could certainly see Shanahan and company being smitten with Locker. In a way, he is a combination of Jake Plummer and Jay Cutler. Locker moves very well. He is the strong, athletic type of passer who is needed for Shanahan’s offense, both with designed quarterback movement and with his ability to get the ball deep downfield. If Washington could move down maybe ten spots in the draft, accumulate picks for other needs and land Locker if they so desire, I would be fine with that. But I wouldn’t condone using the 10th overall selection on Locker. It might be better to take a top prospect at No. 10 and then put a package together to move back into the late first round for Locker.

The Redskins could wait even longer and draft a physically impressive prospect like Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick while really working on other areas of the team. Then they would let Grossman steer the ship for a season while Kaepernick learns. Of the veteran quarterbacks available, there isn’t a guy I see as a good fit in terms of upside and what Shanahan wants from the position. The Redskins roster is such a mess that going young might be the right decision as part of a total rebuilding project.

Scouts Inc. watches games, breaks down film and studies football from all angles for ESPN.com.

Giants quarterback Eli Manning joined The Michael Kay Show on ESPN 1050 in New York this week and discussed a variety of topics, including the fallout from Jay Cutler's injury. Manning also seemed open to wide receiver Plaxico Burress returning to the team once he's released from prison.

"I think the Giants will look hard into that," said Manning via sportsradiointerviews.com. "I think they know what kind of player he is. Obviously he knows our system. It hasn’t changed. … If he proves that he’s kind of changed his life and shows he’s committed to the Giants … I think if that’s what the Giants feel, I know what kind of player he can be and we already have a great corps of receivers right now. … To throw him into the mix would be a good thing."

I think the Giants might have some interest in Burress, but a lot of it depends on how Steve Smith comes back from his knee injury. The Giants have talented receivers in Hakeem Nicks and Mario Manningham, but they were spread thin because of injuries this season. Would Burress be comfortable in a reserve role?

Well, that's hard for me to imagine. First of all, any prospective team needs to figure out what type of shape Burress is in and then try to determine his level of commitment. Something tells me that Giants GM Jerry Reese will be pretty reluctant to sign Burress this time around.

Manning was also asked to comment on Cutler controversy. He thinks it's poor form for players to comment on each other via Twitter:

"It’s the media’s job, it’s the fan’s job," said Manning of Twitter. "They can say whatever they want and do whatever they want. As a player, that’s not your responsibility to comment and to give your opinion on another player. As a quarterback, I don’t want another quarterback tweeting about my performance or judging me in that way."

Strong words from a guy who's not known for having strong opinions.

In case you missed it, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Bob Ford, an avid supporter of this blog, had a very amusing take on Andy Reid's search for a defensive coordinator today. Here's a quick sampling:

Jan. 17: Sean McDermott hired as defensive coordinator in Carolina by new head coach and former Eagles assistant Ron Rivera. Andy Reid leaves on Caribbean vacation, thus depleting rayon supplies throughout the Lesser Antilles.

Jan. 21: Eagles defensive backs coach Dick Jauron hired as defensive coordinator in Cleveland. Jim Mora removes name from consideration for Denver and Philadelphia jobs. Leaves door open to becoming ambassador to France. Tanned and rested, Reid returns to Philadelphia.

Jan. 26: Mike Trgovac, interviewed by reporters in Green Bay, says he's only thinking about beating the Pittsburgh Steelers and won't comment on anything other than the game. "There's no 'I' in Trgovac," he says, but won't divulge what happened to the "u" and the "e."

Jan. 30: Michael Vick is MVP at Pro Bowl in Hawaii. Cornerback Asante Samuel was selected to roster, but doesn't play because of lingering injury. Jay Cutler on Twitter: "U kid'n me? Sam got to man up, dog!!"

Feb. 4: Allegedly unhappy with housing market in the Charlotte area, McDermott abruptly resigns as coordinator of the Panthers.

Feb. 5: Reid returns from lunch trip to Martinique, calls 5 p.m. news conference and announces the new defensive coordinator is . . . Sean McDermott. "We looked around and he's still our guy," Reid says. "I know that he's going to do nothing but improve as a coach, just like all of us, with experience. I've got a lot of respect for him and the way he does business."

By the way, Paul Domowitch from the Daily News has put together a list of five candidates for the Eagles' vacancy at defensive coordinator. You'll notice that every one of them is involved in coaching the Super Bowl.

The Chicago Bears have now told us that quarterback Jay Cutler suffered a sprain of the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during a 21-14 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. But I'm pretty sure that diagnosis won't quiet the critics who felt like Cutler could've played through the injury in the second half.

ESPN's Michael Wilbon compiled some of the tweets that came rolling in from former and current players across the league. Former Buccaneers linebacker Derrick Brooks may have delivered the harshest commentary once it became official that Cutler couldn't return to the field:

"There is no medicine for a guy with no guts and heart," tweeted Brooks.

Now that news of the MCL sprain has arrived, I'm wondering if some folks will soften their stance toward Cutler. I asked Giants defensive tackle Barry Cofield what he thought of the situation and received a more diplomatic response.

"A wise man once told me that it's easy to be tough with somebody else's body," said Cofield via text.

And I think that's why Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher is so upset with the national response to Cutler's injury. First of all, Urlacher's being a good teammate. But he also wonders how folks watching the game from their homes can feel so certain about Cutler's lack of courage.

It will be interesting to see if Cutler's other teammates continue to stand beside him. Here's what one Bears legend had to say about the topic while appearing on "Mike & Mike" on ESPN Radio:

"I don't know if anybody can play the game when they're not 100 percent or not well," said Mike Ditka. "I can't speak for Jay Cutler. I can't speak for anybody.

"Myself, I would have had to have been paralyzed to come out of the game. I don't want to say that word. I would have had to be completely knocked out to come out of that football game."

And so a quarterback who already had a perception problem is at the center of another storm. And this one appears to have staying power.

In case you missed it Sunday, someone named Erik Walden sacked Jay Cutler twice Sunday and had 11 tackles. Walden was a sixth-round pick by the Dallas Cowboys in '08, but he didn't make the team. He'd spent most of his career with the Miami Dolphins, but the Packers signed him off the street in late October.

Now, he's making a name for himself after replacing the injured Frank Zombo as the starter at right outside linebacker. I vaguely remember Walden from training camp in '08, but nothing about the former Middle Tennessee player stood out. But he was arguably the best defensive player on the field Sunday, and now he'll prepare to face Michael Vick.

"A lot of guys, probably names you haven't heard this season, have come up big for us," Packers Pro Bowl cornerback Charles Woodson told reporters following Sunday's win over the Bears. "Walden had a huge day for us. You haven't heard his name a lot this year. He's a new guy on this team, but he stepped up big.

"That has had to happen with the amount of injuries we've had. We haven't had guys that have been out two weeks, three weeks. We've had guys on [injured reserve] who couldn't come back. Backups and practice squad guys who have been called up, they've had to play and play well in order for us to get into the playoffs."

The Eagles will have to focus a lot of their attention on Packers linebacker Clay Matthews on Sunday, so Walden will probably have plenty of opportunities against one-on-one blocking. Everyone talks about the Packers being a dangerous No. 6 seed based on their offense, but their defense has been equally (if not more) impressive this season.

Three things to know about next Sunday’s Packers-Eagles wild-card game:

1. Can the Philadelphia Eagles recover from two consecutive losses to end the season? I don't think a season-ending loss to the Cowboys on Sunday will have a major impact because the Eagles left most of their stars on the sideline. In fact, it was pretty impressive that a bunch of backups nearly handed the full-strength Cowboys a loss. But the loss to Minnesota last Tuesday is still baffling. The Eagles actually had something to play for in that game, and they didn't show up. If Michael Vick continues to recover from his quadriceps injury and DeSean Jackson's foot heals, the Eagles should regain their devastating speed. Resting the starters against the Cowboys was the right move. Now, the Eagles will face one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Aaron Rodgers. The Chicago Bears held the Packers down for much of Sunday's game, but Rodgers was able to connect with Greg Jennings on a gorgeous throw to set up the winning touchdown.

2. Michael Vick began his remarkable season against this team. When Kevin Kolb left the Eagles' season-opener against the Packers with a concussion, Vick was sensational in relief. He threw for 175 yards and a touchdown to go along with 103 rushing yards. He famously said after the game that he thought the Eagles would've won had he been on the field the entire time. Andy Reid ended up making Vick the starter, and the rest is history. But this week, the sixth-seeded Packers will be game-planning for Vick. Cornerback Charles Woodson may be headed to the Pro Bowl, but I believe that Tramon Williams has had the better season. The Packers' defensive backs will try to be physical with Jackson and Jeremy Maclin at the line of scrimmage. The Packers held Jay Cutler and the Bears to a field goal Sunday in bailing out what is normally a prolific offense. Why did the Bears play their starters when nothing was on the line? It's probably because they desperately wanted to keep a dangerous team such as the Packers out of the playoffs. I think the Eagles would've preferred playing the Giants a third time to playing the Packers again.

3. The Eagles' secondary is about to encounter perhaps the best group of receivers in the league. The Packers' receivers do a tremendous job of running after the catch, as the Giants learned last week. If Rodgers gets in a groove early, the Eagles could be in trouble. The Eagles have given up 31 passing touchdowns this season, which ranks them right behind the Cowboys in terms of worst in the NFC. Rodgers thrives on finding his receivers on crossing routes and watching them add 20 or 30 yards to the play. The Eagles' defensive backs must do a much better job tackling against this group. The Eagles have the offensive firepower to keep up in a shootout, but Reid doesn't want it to come to that. Philadelphia's biggest flaw is its defense, and the Packers have the weapons to expose it. Fortunately for the Eagles, the Packers' offensive tackles have struggled at times. This is the type game when defensive end Trent Cole's ability to get leverage will help in a big way. And the Eagles must figure out a way to keep defensive end Juqua Parker from playing too many snaps. D-end Darryl Tapp made some nice plays against the Cowboys on Sunday and the Eagles need him to continue his strong play. But I can't imagine a better first-round matchup than this. If you can think of the last No. 6 seed that looked this scary, let me know.