ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando

Rich from Pittsburgh writes: Sando, Guess you're still bitter over losing XL! Sorry for your luck and get over it! Ridiculous that you have the Steelers #2 behind the Giants! And the loss by the Steelers to the Giants earlier in the year has nothing to do with it. The Giants are imploding and the Steelers are getting better against the toughest schedule ever! Rich (PGH) P.S. I know you won't respond! If you do, I'll be shocked!

Mike Sando: One other power rankings voter also listed the Steelers second. He grew up in Pittsburgh and covered the Steelers for years. I grew up rooting for the Raiders and even held season tickets at one point, but those memories seem to be from another life.

Don't take my word for it, though. Check out our power rankings voter breakdown from Week 2. I had the Steelers ranked second at that time. No one had them higher. Ten of the 11 other voters had them lower. I ranked the Seahawks 19th that week. Seven of the 11 other voters ranked them higher. Just sayin'.

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Tom from Pittsburgh writes: I understand that you put the Steelers at #2. But to put the Giants at #1? At least put the Titans there. You look like a typical Diehard Giants fan that is just hoping last year will repeat itself. They are injured and missing key pieces, and they lost games lately. Mark my words, they will lose to Carolina and the Vikings and be the 3rd seed.

Mike Sando: If the typical Giants fan grew up in Northern California rooting for the Raiders, then count me in. No doubt, I'll move down the Giants if they lose at home to the Panthers.

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Nick from New York writes: hey mike, ya havent heard from me in a while. I'm willing to give [Seahawks GM Tim] Ruskell a chance in seattle but there are a few things i cannot get over. that stat u posted about 52/66 drafted players making the pro bowl with teams that drafted them means a couple of things. 1 it's hard to find a pro bowler in free agency cause they are either aging or got their money and no longer care. 2, if you have a pro bowler you need to hang on to them. I guess i still cannot get over the Hutchinson blunder. We didn't even make a play on him. Ruskell seems very egotistical in the way has dealt with things publicly and now pushing out Holmgren. Plus, since we are losing he is nowhere to be found or heard from. How do I get over this? is this unforgivable?

Mike Sando: Tim Ruskell will have a hard time living down the Steve Hutchinson fiasco even though no one anticipated the poison-pill tactics. You might not get over it, but that was a few years ago. If that is your only complaint, then I think it's time to re-evaluate.

I think it's fair to grade Ruskell on what happens next season. He'll have his own head coach in place. He'll have five of his own draft classes in place. The team will be in transition, but that will be no excuse.

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Darren from Walnut Creek writes: Dear Mr Sando, Ive been a diehard hawks fan since 1983. Now that they are back at the bottom of the league and due for a top 5 draft pick, what do you think they will go for? I personally would like to see them take a QB knowing that Hass is near the end and no longer reliable. Wallace has some talent but I want a steady QB that people believe in. Wallace is too erratic to be a playoff caliber QB

Mike Sando: I would not fault the Seahawks for taking this rare opportunity to possibly get a franchise quarterback. If the team goes that route, does the coaching staff buy itself two or three years to develop the young prospect? That would be a fascinating aspect of such a move.

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Jeff from Seattle writes: Mike, If Jim Zorn gets fired as HC, any chance the Hawks give him a chance to interview for the HC job? If not, any idea if he would be interested in the OC job?

Mike Sando: Jim Mora will be the Seahawks' coach in 2009, which means the organization will not open the job for other candidates. Zorn, if no longer coaching the Redskins, would almost certainly be interested in coordinating the offense for Seattle. The question would be how hard the organization would pursue him for such a role. The Seahawks could have made such assurances to him last offseason, but they did not.

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Tom writes: Can someone please explain to me why Cutler is EVEN in the conversation for MVP? Dude's had a handful of good games and 4 or 5 real stinkers. He's thrown 15 INTs and has a passer rating of 88??? If not for Hochuli, he'd be remembered as a goat for losing that game with an unforced fumble. He barely makes it as a Top 10 QB and I'm not even sure about that. He's 12th for QB rating, tied for 3rd worst for INTs, 16th in Completion %, 4th in attempts, 4th in yards, 11th in yards per attempt, 5th in TDs, 9th in TD % and has been sacked only 10 times all season showing he has a decent OL.

Mike Sando: I think it's between Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson at this point, with Kurt Warner having an outside chance if he gets hot over the last two games. Jay Cutler isn't in that conversation, but if you ask me to rank guys beyond the realistic candidates, he's in there somewhere. Denver might be a three-win team without him, in my view.

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Indcolt29 writes: That's why i sent you the comment a little over a week ago that you can never count Manning out of the MVP race. He's incredible and liked by most unless one is a New England fan. Colts winning 8 in a row is a huge reason why he may win it. I liked your recent page, Manning reconsiderd, and i liked your breakdown of the NFC West all-star team. Those are fun to do. I like doing them myself for all the divisions and league. Warner is incredible as well. At times he has looked like the Warner of 99-2001. I think the MVP is between Manning and Warner, throw Peterson in there as well.

Mike Sando: Well said. I think it's important for the MVP to lead his team to the playoffs. Manning has done that as of Thursday night, and that goes a long way with me. I probably shouldn't have listed Drew Brees in the top five, but my main focus would be on the three you mentioned. I basically relisted the other guys after reconsidering the top spots.

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Dukeshire from Portland writes: Sands, I'm sure you have covered this but I'll ask again. Where do you see Holmgren next year? Would SF make room for him in the front office if he had interest? Thanks for all the hard work.

Mike Sando: You're welcome. I still think Holmgren probably takes off the 2009 season. I could see the 49ers trying to lure him i
n a front-office capacity, yes. We'll probably see other teams stepping forward as well.

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Eric from Carlsbad, Calif., writes: What's up Sando, What do you think the odds are that when the Chargers don't make the playoffs and they fire Norv, that the Niners pick him up. I know everyone thinks Norv is great as an OC an horrible as a head coach, but if we have him, keep Sing at D coord. and Mad Mike at O coord. we might be able to get Alex back in the rotation with Shaun and actually do something next year. Thoughts??

Mike Sando: I couldn't see the 49ers hiring Norv Turner as head coach, moving Mike Singletary to defensive coordinator and retaining Mike Martz in his current role. Too many competing interests there. They need someone with a unifying philosophy. Singletary seems to have that, but he'll also need to demonstrate the ability to field a top-flight staff. Right now, the 49ers are vulnerable to the same thing that has hurt them in the past, instability at offensive coordinator. That's why I think they'll consider an offensive-minded head coach who calls the plays. Short of that, I could see the 49ers considering Turner as their offensive coordinator, were he to become available.

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Charlie from Lexington writes: This is in response to the Mike Nolan post. I kind of agree with Justin, Nolan was an idiot. After every loss, he would say the same exact things at the press conference. Something to the effect of "We had a good gameplan just didnt execute!"" I mean if you keep losing then your gameplan must suck. I also think Nolan didn't use his talent correctly. I can name a few players that should have been playing but hardly played such as Manny Lawson and Shaun Hill. I am sure all 49ers fans are glad that Nolan is gone! Go Sing!

Mike Sando: Coaches probably get too much blame and too much credit, but it wasn't working with Nolan as head coach, and that was clear. Nolan never seemed to take the blame for anything, which made him seem insecure. That was something I noticed repeatedly in watching him, and I think it hurt his credibility.

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Brad from parts unknown writes: Hey Mike, I have a seahawks based question for you. If given the chance to draft either Taylor Mays or Crabtree, who would you pick and why?

Mike Sando: First we must admit that we cannot know which player will have the better NFL career. All things being equal, I think the Seahawks could use the big-play receiver. That position derailed the Seattle offense this season.

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Boe from Saratoga Springs writes: how and when will we know if the cardinals play on the 3rd or the 4th.

Mike Sando: TV will influence which games air when. The NFL generally announces the dates and times for each game on the final day of the regular season.

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Sean from San Francisco writes: Did Joe Staley injure his ankle on the last play against the Dolphins when Hill fell on it when he was sacked?

Mike Sando: Staley's ankle is bothering him some, but he was able to practice. I just watched that play on video. It was ugly. Staley could have been hurt a lot worse.

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Rich from Bellevue writes: Hey, Sandominator! Let's talk offensive line. You've said repeatedly that the entire NFC West needs to upgrade its line. In your recent chat, you listed o-line as the top draft need for all four teams. It seems there are a lot of teams around the league that need o-line help, and this after last year's big run on o-linemen in the 1st round of the draft (Pittsburgh, for instance, badly needed o-line but all the good ones were gone by the time they got to pick). So is there a dearth of offensive line talent in the league? Are the colleges not produce enough good linemen?

I noticed, in the same chat, you listed top-10 pick o-linemen drafted since '93: Jake Long, Joe Thomas, Levi Brown, D.Ferguson, Gallery, Jordan Gross, Mike Williams, Bryant McKinnie, Levi Jones, Leonard Davis, Chris Samuels, Kyle Turley, Orlando Pace, Walter Jones, Chris Naeole, Jonathan Ogden, Willie Anderson, Tony Boselli, Willie Roaf, Lincoln Kennedy. I find that list very striking, because the longer-ago picks include an awful lot of studs, like Pace, Ogden, Boselli, Walter Jones, while the more recent picks don't impress. Obviously some of them are so brand-new that you have to give them time to develop, but still. So is there some kind of downward trend in the quality of the pool of available linemen? Why might this be so?

Mike Sando: The four "studs" you mentioned were exceptions. I suspect these things go in cycles. I'd like to research it more before making any declarations.

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Stewart from the Bay Area writes: Sando- Dont you think the best option for the Niners next year in Free Agency would be Terrell Suggs? He plays in the 3-4 D like the 49ers, he is familiar with Singletary since he was his LB couch in BMORE. Your thoughts!

Mike Sando: I expect the Ravens to keep Terrell Suggs. If he hits the market, yes, the 49ers would be wise to give him a look, given their need for pass-rush help. But free agents of that quality do not become available very often. When they do, teams overpay. As noted, the 49ers need to focus primarily on building through the draft. It's cheaper and longer lasting.

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Marcos from Las Cruces writes: With Alex Smith publicly saying that he is willing to take a pay cut to come back to the 49ers next year and assuming Singletary is the HC how do you think the 49ers would approach the draft as far as looking at QBs?

Mike Sando: They would have to remain flexible
enough to draft a quarterback if they saw a player they considered to be a likely franchise quarterback. But I don't think they would have to force the issue. Shaun Hill looks like he can play the position well enough to make the 49ers competitive.

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Nathan from Salem, Ore., writes: Mike, It seems the consensus is that Singletary is the future coach of the 49ers. Everyone loves him, analysts, players, and fans. ... My question is, why haven't the niners gave him a contract yet? I have a conspiracy theory that Singletary is going to become a Bear at the end of the year, because lets face it, Lovie isn't any good. Thoughts?

Mike Sando: NFL rules prevent teams from hiring interim coaches on a full-time basis during the season.

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Collin from Syracuse writes: You probably noticed by know im a HUGE 49ers fan but what you didnt know is that i am cousins with Brian Leonard of the Rams so i do semi like to see them do good. When he comes back from injury do you see him ever being a good player for the Rams or does he just have to get out of there for that to happen.

Mike Sando: That depends on what happens with the coaching staff. Current coordinator Al Saunders would prefer to feature tight ends. Leonard didn't really have a spot in the offense before the injury.

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Kenneth from Flagstaff writes: hey mike, love the blog. if you were to look up the history on my computer it would be easily at the top. while there has been ample coverage of the cards, not much has been discussed regarding their draft and where they might go in free agency. with an early exit from the playoffs, they will likely be picking mid to late round. it seems they have plenty of depth at d-line and linebacker (assuming karlos gets resigned). corner should be considered with the recent weak play by hood. is it possible they go rb to pair with hightower or a duel threat tight end to help out the running game? o-line also seems a possibility, however it's hard to pick out only one or two weaknesses in regards to run blocking.

Mike Sando: I wouldn't assume anything on Karlos Dansby. Linebacker might be a position to target at that point of the first round. I could also see them drafting a running back or cornerback or offensive lineman or even a tight end, depending on who might be available.

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Oz from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., writes: As a Cardinal fan I am elated about the division crown and home playoff game. As a realist I agree with you that the current offense is easily game-planned against (i am not as optimistic as you with Belicheck and subzero temps on the slate this week) and limits our ability to contend this year. So, maybe out of habit, I am going to assume we are not long for the playoffs and look to the offseason.

As much change is coming to the offense likely, I want to focus on the defense. For as much of an "up and comer" Pendergast is assumed to be his defense seems to do some bone-headed things at the worst times and has gotten little rush the last 6 weeks or so.

Do you see the Cardinals maintaining continuity or bringing in a Kevin Butler (LB coach for Pitt) or someone who would be Wiz's own hand-picked guy? I can make an argument for both sides but that leads to my next question. If the stay with Pendergast do you see the Front Office making a splash and going after a big ticket FA? AZ native Terrell Suggs maybe? That secondary will all of a sudden look a lot better when they have Suggs coming off the edge to wreck havoc.

Mike Sando: Ken Whisenhunt has stressed the importance of continuity, so I don't think he would make a major staff move lightly. I know of nothing in the works that way. The next few weeks could affect how he feels about the team from top to bottom. As far as adding a big-ticket free agent, I think the Cardinals will have a hard enough time keeping their own good players, including Karlos Dansby.

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Ryan from Chandler, Ariz., writes: Mike, after reading the past mailbag and with myself agreeing for quite some time that the 49ers safeties are garbage. If Taylor Mayes comes out of USC this year could you see the 49ers foregoing offensive/defensive line to pick him in the draft? I know you haven't studied the players coming out yet, just wanted your opinion and analysis on this. Thanks, Ryan

Mike Sando: General manager Scot McCloughan was with the Packers in 1999 when they drafted safety Antuan Edwards late in the first round. I can't recall another instance of McCloughan or his team drafting a safety that early. McCloughan subscribes to the Ron Wolf philosophy for drafting players. In general, Wolf would not value safeties over the prime positions. He did take George Teague at No. 29 in 1993.

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Marcos from Las Cruces writes: Hey Sando now with Haynesworth becoming an unrestricted free agent by making the Pro Bowl would he fit the 49ers 3-4 defense or is he more of a 4-3 guy?

Mike Sando: I see him as more of a 4-3 guy who can get up the field.

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Jon from parts unknown writes: Hey Sando, i just heard Albert Haynesworth will be a free agent this year thanks to his pro bowl invite. Do you think the niners would throw the money at him to upgrade the D-line? Given the defense we've got, do you think we SHOULD try n get him? How would you see his career panning out in San Fran and the niners immediate future with him on our line? thanks.

Mike Sando: The 49ers should build through the draft, in my view. They've already tried to build a defense through free agency with Nate Clements, Justin Smith and others. Free agency requires overpaying. Albert Haynesworth has been a dominant player playing on one-year deals. If the Titans don't sign him for the long term, perhaps that would mean they thought he wouldn't maintain this level of play on a long-term deal. In that case, the 49ers would be wise to exercise some caution.

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Sean from San Francisco writes: Mike, I was wondering what your thoughts were on the 49ers before that disastrous 4th and 10 sack, when Hill threw the ball (to I believe Bruce) in the end zone? I forget how much time was on the clock, but they seemed to be marching down the field very well with little plays. They were breaking into the red zone with a little time and I thought it might of been smarter to just continue what was working. Then we would of never seen that sack from Porter.

Mike Sando: Yeah, I had the same thought re-watching the game Friday night. They decided to take a game-winning shot to the end zone. Hill wisely didn't force the ball. But if they could have gotten something toward the sideline for a first down, that would have been preferable. Hindsight is pretty easy, though.

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Mark from El Cerrito writes: How much consideration do you think Orlindo Mare received for the Pro Bowl? Mare has stepped in more than adequately for Josh Brown by only missing two field goals and by kicking a ton of touchbacks. I don't know if he is the best kicker in the NFC but he deserves some recognition.

Mike Sando: I do not know how much consideration he received, but he has certainly had a fine season. That position will be interesting to watch. The bar has been set high for Brandon Coutu if the Seahawks decide to go with the young kicker next season.