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The New Orleans Saints are going to hear about their 0-4 road record in the playoffs. The record is misleading, but not necessarily irrelevant heading into their divisional-round game against the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park.

A look back through those four defeats can provide some context:

• 2010: lost at Seattle, 41-36, in the divisional round. The Seahawks were easy to underestimate as a 7-9 division winner. Matt Hasselbeck and Marshawn Lynch turned in memorable performances. Drew Brees passed for 404 yards, but only two scoring passes. Seattle overcame a 17-7 deficit. The Saints ran out of running backs and became one-dimensional.
• 2006: lost at Chicago, 39-14, in the NFC title game. Brees passed for 354 yards and two touchdowns. The Bears' Rex Grossman completed only 11 of 26 passes for 144 yards, but Chicago suffered no turnovers. The Bears rushed 46 times for 196 yards and three touchdowns. This matchup resembles the Saints-49ers matchup in some ways. Those Bears were 13-3. They were stronger on defense and special teams than on offense. The current 49ers have done a much better job avoiding turnovers. Grossman had 20 picks in 2006, whereas Alex Smith has only five this season.
• 2000: lost at Minnesota, 34-16, in the divisional round. Those Vikings had Randy Moss (121 yards) and Cris Carter (120 yards) catching passes from a pre-injury Daunte Culpepper (302 yards). Jim Haslett was coaching the Saints. Aaron Brooks was their quarterback. Totally irrelevant to the matchup this week.
• 1990: lost at Chicago, 16-6, in the wild-card round. This one also lacks relevance unless the Saints bring John Fourcade out of retirement to replace Brees. Fourcade completed 5 of 18 passes for 79 yards as the Saints' quarterback. Jim Harbaugh was the Bears' primary starting quarterback that season, but he was hurt. Mike Tomczak started this game in his place.

The 0-4 road record sounds bad, and it is, but only two of those defeats came with Brees and coach Sean Payton on the New Orleans payroll. The Saints were much better offensively in 2011 than they were last season or in 2006. What will that mean Saturday?

Two ingredients are mandatory for the success of an NFL franchise.

You need a quarterback to win games and a modern stadium to make money.

And at this moment, it's uncertain if the Minnesota Vikings have either.

So pardon the dramatics, if you will, but I truly believe the Vikings are entering the most critical time period in their 51-year existence.

During the month, they will find out if the state of Minnesota will finance a new stadium or risk losing them to another market. And by the end of 2011, the Vikings should have a decent idea whether rookie Christian Ponder is a true franchise quarterback or just the next in a long line of short-term starters.

Check out the chart to your right. Since their inception in 1961, the Vikings have had only three quarterbacks I would consider long-term starters. Fran Tarkenton (13 seasons), Tommy Kramer (seven) and Daunte Culpepper (five) are the only quarterbacks to have been the Vikings' primary starter for more than three seasons.

The Vikings have filled the other 26 years with a mishmash of journeymen (Gary Cuozzo, Wade Wilson, Rich Gannon) and big-time veterans at the end of their careers (Warren Moon, Brett Favre, Randall Cunningham and Jim McMahon). Their hope is that Ponder, 23, will put an end to their annual search for a Band-Aid solution.

If first impressions mean anything, Sunday's debut performance against the Green Bay Packers was encouraging. Ponder threw aggressively downfield; seven of his 13 completions went for at least 15 yards. He was mobile, routinely buying extra time outside of the pocket and gaining 31 yards on four scrambles. And he without question brought an energy and confidence to an offense that seemed to be treading water for the season's first six games.

"He took charge with confidence," tailback Adrian Peterson said. "He never seemed rattled. Just very comfortable, which is something I am very excited about. He bounced back from two interceptions and continued to go strong, which says a lot about him as a leader."

Peterson said the difference was "definitely very noticeable" and, as someone who just signed a seven-year contract extension, seemed optimistic about the franchise's future.

Smart Vikings observers know not to overreact to the emotional debut of a quarterback candidate, and there are plenty of unanswered questions about Ponder's long-term viability. After watching him float a few passes to the Packers' secondary, I would rank arm strength atop that list. But the next nine games should give us a good sense of where his career is headed.

If all goes well, Ponder will be the Vikings' quarterback when they open their next stadium. Where that facility will be located, of course, remains a topic of fierce debate both in Minnesota and in the NFL offices.

The Vikings' lease at the Metrodome expires in less than four months -- on Feb. 1, 2012. A top league official has already acknowledged the Vikings would be free to pursue relocation options at that point, and owner Zygi Wilf has said he won't sign a short-term lease extension at the Metrodome without financing approval for a new stadium.

Without a deal in place by Feb. 1, the Vikings could technically move to Los Angeles or another market in time for the 2012 season, provided NFL owners grant approval. That timetable has finally moved a decade-long conundrum to the front burner of Minnesota politics, putting enormous pressure on a resolution -- one way or the other -- before Thanksgiving.

Gov. Mark Dayton has set a Nov. 7 deadline for settling on a project site and plan. Wilf prefers a suburban site for a project that would cost $1.1 billion, but powerful members of the business community are pushing for a site in Minneapolis. After making his recommendation, Dayton will oversee two weeks of debate and public hearings prior to a proposed Nov. 21 special session of the state legislature to vote on the final package.

Anything short of approval at that point almost certainly would push the next round of debate past the expiration of the Vikings' lease.

Would Wilf commence relocation efforts next February? Last week, NFL executive vice president Eric Grubman told 1500ESPN.com: "[T]hey are free to explore their options and from all I know they already could be exploring their options. They do not need clearance from us."

It's more likely that Wilf would put the franchise up for sale under that scenario. Presumably, the new buyer would pursue relocation. In either event, we'll know in a matter of weeks whether that possibility will even exist. Barring an extension of Dayton's pre-holiday deadline, Judgment Day is coming for the Vikings -- both on and off the field.

There has been considerable debate this week on whether the Minnesota Vikings could have, or should have, waited to find a less formidable opponent than the Super Bowl champions for rookie quarterback Christian Ponder's first NFL start.

My take: Ponder was the No. 12 overall pick of the draft and a player the Vikings are counting on to lead them for a decade or longer. There should be no concern about protecting him from fierce opponents, now or ever. If they were afraid to play Ponder against the archrival Green Bay Packers, then I would be concerned for both his and their future.

With that said, it's fair to point out that only five rookie quarterbacks in NFL history have made their first start against the defending NFL champion. As the chart below shows, the Arizona Cardinals' Max Hall was the only such rookie to win that start.

It's interesting to note that former Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer is on the list as well. Kramer and Ponder are two of only three quarterbacks the Vikings have ever drafted in the first round. (Daunte Culpepper in 1999 was the other.) That two of them will have made their first start against the defending champions is interesting to me, if not to anyone else.

Regardless, Ponder will step on the field Sunday in front of a fan base that couldn't have higher expectations for him. Nothing like starting off in the pressure cooker, huh?

"I don't think anyone's expectations have been higher than what I put on myself," he said. "I have high expectations for myself and I prepare myself for success. When things don't go my way, I make sure that they do. I am a perfectionist and I am going to do everything I can and reach my expectations."

The Fever is at its pitch. The Detroit Lions are 3-0 this preseason and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh has bulled into the head (sometimes literally) of every quarterback he has faced. But for now, at least, I suggest you put Suh's newfound celebrity aside and consider the most important development for the Lions this summer.

Quarterback Matthew Stafford has arrived.

(Cue the "It's preseason for cripes-sakes, you hyperbolic two-bit blogger" response.)

I fully recognize Stafford hasn't done anything that counts in 2011. And yes, there is great danger in drawing dramatic conclusions from 31 preseason passes. But if you've watched those throws, and if you've seen Stafford running the offense in training camp, it's reasonable to consider him in a new light.

Does this mean Stafford will rank among the NFL's top 10 quarterbacks this season? You know how irrelevant I think such rankings are. To me, the important point is that Stafford can be the difference this season between an entertaining Lions team and a winning one.

With all due respect to Suh, only a quarterback can singularly impact a team's winning percentage. Some quarterbacks aren't up to it. This summer, Stafford has shown us he can be.

"It's hard because he's missed a lot of time on the field [in his first two seasons]," Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. "But you can see the ownership he's taken in this offense. ... It's not just me talking in the meeting rooms anymore. He's spot on. He's going to have a great career, I really think."

Now in his third season with Stafford, Linehan should know. At every NFL stop, Linehan and his staff have coaxed substantial improvement even from established veterans. In his third year with the Minnesota Vikings, Linehan presided over quarterback Daunte Culpepper's 4,717-yard, 39-touchdown season in 2004. The following year, he resurrected veteran Gus Frerotte's career with the Miami Dolphins.

Now, Linehan appears to be putting the final touches on Stafford, whose development has been overshadowed by two well-chronicled years in injury rehabilitation. In both the preseason and in the training camp practices I covered, Stafford displayed a level of accuracy and confidence that comes only with multiple years in a good system.

That development has manifested during the games in this way: 24 completions in 31 attempts for 356 yards and five touchdowns. Stafford hasn't been intercepted and has a near-perfect 154.0 passer rating. He has looked as comfortable throwing touch passes to the back of the end zone, especially to receiver Nate Burleson, as he has in launching ropes to tight ends in the seam or aiming back-shoulder passes to receiver Calvin Johnson.


I've tried to provide some context for that preseason performance in the chart. It's important that you note I am not suggesting Stafford has risen into the stratosphere occupied by Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. What I do want to note is that Rodgers annually has put up some inflated preseason numbers that have drawn attention and suggested he was on the cusp of greatness.

Rodgers, however, has never had a preseason as efficient as what Stafford has produced through three games.

"The only thing that has set Matthew back before this have been [the injuries]," Linehan said. "He's had his share of bad luck early on, and he needs to put that all behind him and not even think about it."

I'm guessing Stafford reached that point last Saturday night, when the New England Patriots sacked him once and hit him on two other occasions. Most notably, Stafford absorbed a crushing hit from free-blitzing linebacker Jerod Mayo, resulting in a rare underthrow. But Johnson quickly adjusted to haul in a 30-yard reception.

Linehan said Stafford is a "really smart guy, even though he isn't one to tell you that." More than anything, when I sat with Stafford for a few minutes in training camp, I got a sense that Stafford has fully bought in to how successful he can be in this scheme with the skill players the Lions have surrounded him with. When he gets hit and can't follow through on a throw, for example, he knows he has players like Johnson who can make the adjustment.

"I love playing in this offense," Stafford said. "I'm a big fan. You've got answers versus everything, and [Linehan] gives a lot of control to the quarterback, which is fun for me and good for me. I know when I'm protected, I know when I'm hot, that kind of stuff. But we have the personnel to be really good. We've got three really good tight ends, four or five really good receivers. We have a lot of special talent."

Public discussion about Stafford naturally has centered on his injuries, mostly in the absence of any new developments on the field. I think we've seen enough this summer to move the conversation forward. It's time to start discussing Matthew Stafford in the context of his skills and performance. He has taken that step, and Lions are poised to follow him.

An attempt at perspective regarding San Francisco 49ers-related happenings:

• The 49ers and Maybin: The Buffalo Bills released Aaron Maybin at least in part because he wasn't a good fit for a 3-4 defense. The 49ers run a 3-4 defense. Not all 3-4s are created the same. Perhaps the 49ers could find a spot for Maybin. It's easy to see why Maybin would want to play for the 49ers. He and 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman were roommates at Penn State. Maybin, Bowman and 49ers tight end Vernon Davis grew up in Maryland. Side note: Maybin was the 11th player chosen in the 2009 draft. The 49ers used the 10th pick that year for Michael Crabtree. Update: Rule out Maybin.
• Separation at quarterback: So, starting quarterback Alex Smith has tightened his grip on the job over the past couple days. It's an upset if Smith isn't the starter for Week 1 of the regular season. As a former quarterback, coach Jim Harbaugh should know when a quarterback needs a boost. Smith might have needed one after a rough preseason opener and speculation over the 49ers' intentions for the position amid news that Daunte Culpepper worked out for the team.
• No deal yet for Culpepper: Taking a look at Culpepper opened the 49ers to easy ridicule. Were they really desperate enough at quarterback to consider a 34-year-old UFL passer whose last NFL snap came during the 2009 season? Yes and no. The team would like to add a veteran backup before the season. Doing so wouldn't necessarily affect the team's broader plans for the position. The 49ers know they can wait on Culpepper. Other teams aren't rushing out to sign him. In the meantime, the team can consider its options.

Any Buffalo Bills fans out there with thoughts on Maybin?

Minnesota's Daunte Culpepper and San Diego's Jim Harbaugh were the starting quarterbacks for a Vikings-Chargers preseason game on Aug. 12, 2000.

That was a long, long time ago by NFL standards. Enough time has passed to encompass nearly all of Culpepper's playing career, and for Harbaugh to have held three head coaching jobs in the interim.

Culpepper, now 34 and out of the NFL since the 2009 season, seems an unlikely candidate to provide veteran depth for the Harbaugh-coached San Francisco 49ers.

"We're going to bring in Daunte in for a workout and kick the tires," Harbaugh told reporters Sunday."I'm looking forward to that."

Two questions come to mind immediately: Culpepper? Really?

The 49ers' plans to add a veteran backup for the regular season are well founded. Starter Alex Smith has had injury problems. He took a beating in the first preseason game. Rookie backup Colin Kaepernick needs seasoning.

If the 49ers added Culpepper, they could carry him through camp, see how he fares, then reassess later in the process -- after other quarterbacks become available through release.

The 49ers released David Carr earlier this offseason because he was making solid No. 2 quarterback money and the team didn't value him at that level after re-signing Smith and using a second-round pick for Kaepernick.

Culpepper would sign for the veteran's minimum, presumably, and without guaranteed money. He spent last season playing for the UFL franchise in Sacramento.

If there truly is a "Madden" curse, perhaps it's not reserved for the player who appears on the video game's cover each year.

Maybe the real curse is in choosing him.

"It's very polarizing," said Anthony Stevenson, senior product manager for EA Sports, the game's manufacturer. "No matter what we do, half the people will be really, really happy, and half the people will hate it."

Not even turning the process over to the people will solve EA Sports' annual problem. For the first time in the game's 23 years, fans can vote for their favorite team to be on the "Madden NFL 12" cover.

A representative for each of the 32 clubs has been seeded in a single-elimination tournament. A weeklong vote will be held for each round until a champion is announced April 27 on ESPN. Fans also can participate in a March Madness-style bracket challenge to predict the outcome.

Funzo democracy at work, right?

Turns out, folks aren't entirely thrilled with the individual nominees. Reigning MVP Tom Brady and perennial fan favorite Peyton Manning aren't in the field. The Miami Dolphins and Carolina Panthers are represented by offensive tackles. The Seattle Seahawks' option isn't a player at all.

One of the rumors making the rounds is that unusual nominees were required because some stars declined an invitation, that they were afraid of the so-called "Madden" curse.

Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, Michael Vick, Vince Young and Brett Favre are among the supposedly doomed honorees.

Stevenson doesn't buy the connection, although fans have started Facebook campaigns for their favorite players not to get votes.

"People do believe there's a curse with Sports Illustrated covers or 'Madden' covers," Stevenson said. "As an NFL player, you cannot believe in that. If you believe in something like that, then you concede when you step on the field, and something bad happens it's not in your control.

"If you believe in a curse, you're probably in trouble. You're asking to get hurt. Athletes want to believe their well-being and their success or failure is 100 percent in their hands."

In fact, Stevenson sees the opposite of a curse when it comes to the "Madden" video-game franchise.

"All of our past cover athletes get together every year, and it's almost like the '72 Dolphins," Stevenson said. "They get together, and it's literally a fraternity."

This year's pledge period is a tournament bracket.

Stevenson called Thursday to explain why a few of the more interesting nominees were chosen.

On the decision to nominate New England Patriots running back Danny Woodhead instead of Brady:

"Tom Brady has been there and done that, and certainly he's very deserving of a 'Madden' cover. But Danny Woodhead is such a unique story people fell in love with. He was on 'Hard Knocks.' We followed the emotional cut from the New York Jets. We know Rex Ryan didn't want to let him go. And then to see that division rival pick him up and how integral he was to that Patriots offense ... if you wanted to put a campaign around him from cut to cover, that's just tough to pass up. Everybody loves an underdog."

On choosing the 12th Man for the Seahawks:

"It's the only team that doesn't have an actual player. It's the 12th Man, and the simplest explanation I can give for that is to see the Saints-Seahawks playoff game. That's really all you need to know. They have this unique fan element to it. The 12th Man is legit."

On bypassing Manning for Dwight Freeney for the Indianapolis Colts:

"Like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning is justified to be on the cover any year. But it almost feels that while [Manning] had a very good year, it wasn't his best year. Statistically, it probably was his least successful year in the last five or six. To do it this year seemed a little bit off.

"Dwight Freeney is one of the most feared defenders in the league. We just thought this was something Dwight Freeney could get excited about and get behind and be a brand ambassador."

On choosing the Green Bay Packers' nominee, Aaron Rodgers:

"Green Bay was really difficult. Clay Matthews is a very compelling personality right now. That was a tough decision, but at the end of the day, if you win Super Bowl MVP, you're going to get the nod. But it was a struggle."

On the New York Giants' decision:

"There's Eli Manning. There's Ahmad Bradshaw. But in the end we went with Hakeem Nicks because I felt like he's really the game-changer on that team. He's an up-and-coming wide receiver. I don't think anybody would be shocked if he was a top-three wide receiver at the end of next season. I thought he was fresh blood that would be very interesting."

On selecting left tackle Jake Long over a Dolphins skill-position player such as receiver Brandon Marshall:

"Jake Long's play on the field speaks for itself. But having that lineman -- along with [Carolina Panthers tackle] Jordan Gross -- is something we've never had. We wanted to give fans options. If there wasn't an absolutely obvious choice, and for the Dolphins there wasn't, why not give fans an opportunity to vote for an offensive lineman?"

Controversial nominees only help in getting fans enthused about the process.

In addition to creating buzz for the product, the "Madden NFL 12" cover tournament provides a distraction from an otherwise depressing time for the NFL.

"We thought it was really important to give our fans something to be excited about, put a positive spin on the NFL offseason," Stevenson said. "We're making a concerted effort to engage our fans and let them know that there's still going to be a new, innovating game coming out in August. And, if anything, football fans and 'Madden' fans can take solace in that.

"'Madden' potentially could help fill a void this year. Just because Tom Brady can't lead the Patriots to the Super Bowl doesn't mean you can't. You can still do that in 'Madden' and get your football fix."

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings arrived at this week's scouting combine carrying the most intense personnel burden a team can face: They have no starting quarterback and no clear path for finding an obvious answer in the draft.

You've heard of the Scarlet Letter? In the Nathaniel Hawthorne novel, Hester Prynne is forced to wear an "A" on her chest to signify a moral crime. So let's assign our own Scarlet Letter to the Vikings for putting themselves in this position. We'll slap them with a "B." Their cupboard is Barren at the most important position in professional sports, a hole that will swallow up their new coaching staff unless it is filled quickly and creatively this offseason.

"We're going to look at all avenues at the quarterback [position]," vice president of player personnel Rick Spielman said at the NFL scouting combine, which he and his scouts are scouring for quarterback options. "... But you're hoping that by the time all the dust settles and we're getting ready to go into the season that we have that position pretty much resolved."

We've seen this act before, of course. Consider the first chart: The Vikings have been patching together this position for an extended period of their history, spanning multiple ownership regimes, personnel executives and coaching staffs.

In the 21 years since Tommy Kramer's final season, the Vikings have used 10 different primary starters. Most recently, they set themselves back with an indefensible plan to develop Tarvaris Jackson as their long-term answer. Jackson is a pending free agent and, with the departure of coach/benefactor Brad Childress, seems unlikely to return.

That leaves the Vikings with second-year player Joe Webb as the only returning player who has taken a snap with the team. Spielman said "we're very excited about what Joe Webb brings to the table," but it's hard to believe that new coach Leslie Frazier will open his first full season with a player as raw as Webb as his starter.

History has showed the Vikings can find a temporary solution. This year, it could be Donovan McNabb, Kyle Orton, Vince Young or some other passer whose previous team is willing to part ways. But more important to me is whether the Vikings will make the long-overdue plunge into planning their future at the position.

In their 50-year history, the Vikings have drafted only two quarterbacks in the first round: Kramer in 1977 and Daunte Culpepper in 1999. It only takes a look around the NFC North to realize that finding a long-term starter in the modern-day NFL usually requires a first-round commitment. That's how the Detroit Lions got Matthew Stafford (No. 1 overall). It's how the Chicago Bears acquired Jay Cutler (two first-round picks in a trade) and it's how the Green Bay Packers secured Aaron Rodgers (No. 24 overall).

Can the Vikings make a similar grab at No. 12 overall this year? Will they move up to ensure they can draft Auburn's Cam Newton or Missouri's Blaine Gabbert, both of whom will likely be off the board at No. 12? Would Washington's Jake Locker make sense at that spot? Or would the Vikings identify a second-level prospect, perhaps Florida State's Christian Ponder, and maneuver to draft him in the second or third round?

That approach is how the Vikings landed Jackson in 2006, and Childress' insistence that Jackson would develop into a permanent starter held back the team from planning for the eventual retirement of Brett Favre. My understanding is that even last year, Childress' vision was for Jackson to take over whenever Favre retired.

That position caused considerable consternation within the Vikings' front office, which under Spielman had taken a proactive approach to planning for other veteran departures. Center John Sullivan, for example, was drafted in 2008 with the intent of replacing Matt Birk. The same was true for safety Tyrell Johnson, who took over for Darren Sharper in 2009.

Never in his career had Jackson demonstrated the aptitude to be a long-term starter. So why didn't the Vikings seek a successor to Favre as they had with Birk, Sharper and others? I asked Spielman that question Thursday, fully expecting to get the answer he provided.

"We're excited to move forward on everything," Spielman said through gritted teeth.

The real answer, of course, is that Childress had amassed enough internal power to serve as the Vikings' general manager when it came to quarterbacks. He plainly disapproved of Spielman's decision to acquire Sage Rosenfels two years ago and summarily buried him on the bench. And in the previous three years, the only quarterback the Vikings drafted was USC's John David Booty, a project who didn't make it past his rookie year.

Vikings fans should feel optimistic that Frazier agrees with Spielman on the state of the position. And in truth, the first offseason of a coaching regime can and should be a seminal moment at the quarterback position.

On Thursday, I sought out Lions coach Jim Schwartz to talk about the similar position he found himself in two years ago. The Lions had the No. 1 pick, of course, but Schwartz knew he wanted to build his program around the identity of his quarterback.

"[Drafting Stafford] allowed us to select personnel," Schwartz said. "You're not spinning your wheels. If you don't have a quarterback, you're drafting maybe a different kind of running back, maybe a different kind of offensive lineman, than if you have somebody. We had Calvin Johnson. But our ability to get Jahvid Best, Nate Burleson in free agency, to draft Brandon Pettigrew. Those pieces were because of the quarterback that we have. You're probably not going to run the ball 45 times per game when you have a quarterback that you want the ball in his hands.

"So in order to make progress, in order to fit guys to where they're going to be, in order to fit guys to a job description, you need to know what that job description is going to be. Having a quarterback settles a lot of that, knowing what that quarterback can do, knowing his ability to make throws, knowing his ability to process things, those kinds of things, it's all very important.

"The quarterback is the most important position on the team, and if you're strong at that position, you can overcome weaknesses at other positions."

Injuries have prevented Stafford from establishing himself as a franchise anchor, but the point is the Lions have built their team with a clear vision based on his presence. That's something the Vikings have done only rarely in their history.

As the second chart shows, they haven't had many opportunities. The Vikings' prospects for drafting a blue-chip passer at No. 12 overall are murky at best, but years of neglect and poor evaluations have left the Vikings in an unenviable spot.

No one wants their hand forced in a draft, but the Vikings are as close as they can be to that ultimatum. We've seen how far the Band-Aid solution can take them. They won't win a championship with someone else's quarterback. Even they now realize it's time to find one of their own.

The Miami Dolphins have been a lost franchise when it comes to quarterback.

Since Dan Marino's retirement, they've drafted duds (John Beck, Pat White), passed on studs (Drew Brees, Matt Ryan) and chased scuds (Daunte Culpepper, Trent Green).

Monday on the AFC East blog, I wondered where the Dolphins would be had they chosen Ryan first overall in 2008 instead of left tackle Jake Long.

Luis DeLoureiro of NFLStatsAnalysis.net also examined the Dolphins' ongoing quarterback woes for a piece on "The Fifth Down" blog at NYTimes.com.

Chad Henne certainly hasn't looked like the answer. The Dolphins this upcoming offseason probably will resume their decade-long search for the most important player on their roster.

DeLoureiro noted the Dolphins are one of only seven NFL teams to have avoided drafting a quarterback in the first round since 1998. The others are the New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks. All except the Dolphins and Panthers have their man identified.

Counting on Tom Brady- or Tony Romo-type luck isn't a sound organizational strategy.

DeLoureiro pointed out the Dolphins used second-round picks on quarterbacks in four straight drafts, trading for Culpepper and then selecting Beck, Henne and White.

A dozen quarterbacks have been drafted in the second round since 2001. Henne and Jimmy Clausen are the only two starting for the teams that took them. Kordell Stewart and Jake Plummer are the only two second-round quarterbacks to have a degree of success since 1990.

DeLoureiro wrote:

For almost 20 years, Dan Marino was the face of the Dolphins. Although he didn’t win a title, he broke just about every significant single-season and career passing record. One would think that, more than anyone, the Dolphins would understand the value of a franchise quarterback. But the team has opted to avoid the risk involved with first-round quarterbacks. Unfortunately, they have also lost out on the reward that comes with first-round quarterbacks.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Let us quickly summarize where the Minnesota Vikings stand with three long, and potentially torturous, weeks remaining in their season.

They literally have no healthy quarterbacks.

They have no idea where they are playing their next home game, scheduled for six days from now. We'll call it "Location TBA Stadium."

Any other questions?

OK, let's expand.

First, interim coach Leslie Frazier said Tuesday that presumptive starter Tarvaris Jackson has a turf toe injury that will "put his availability in jeopardy" for Monday night's game against the Chicago Bears at Location TBA Stadium. Jackson's long history of minor injuries and long recovery periods suggests he won't be ready for this game.

Surprisingly, Frazier suggested that Brett Favre -- who seemed headed into retirement as recently as Monday night -- could be de-mothballed and potentially rolled out as the Vikings' starter. Favre said Monday night that he wouldn't consider playing until the numbness in his right hand subsides, but Frazier suggested that process has begun and said an ultrasound performed Tuesday was "negative" for nerve damage.

"We're hoping to get him back," Frazier said.

For now, we'll file that under the category of a snowball's chance of flying deep below the earth's surface.

I asked Frazier what information he had that would suggest Favre will be ready to take the Location TBA field for this game. His response: "The fact that the ultrasound came back negative helps you be somewhat optimistic. There's no nerve damage, so you feel positive in that regard. Now it's just a matter of the time frame, how long will it take for the numbness to go away. Brett, he's an unusual healer. He comes back a lot sooner than others from most injuries. We'll just have to wait and see."

In the meantime, however, that brings us to rookie Joe Webb, whom Frazier called the "healthiest" of his quarterbacks and one who might well end up taking the first-team repetitions when practice resumes Thursday. (Webb himself was questionable last week because of a hamstring injury.) The Vikings were in the process of moving Webb to receiver as recently as two weeks ago, however, and Frazier acknowledged that trotting him out for the first play at Location TBA "wouldn't be the ideal situation."

For that reason, the Vikings had compiled a list of available veteran quarterbacks, including veteran Patrick Ramsey, and were preparing to sign one of them within the next day or so. (Frazier said former Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper was not one of them.) When asked if he was looking for a veteran who could start Monday, or one to back up Webb, Frazier said it "probably depends on that guy's awareness of what we do."

So when they gather Monday night at Location TBA, it seems the Vikings' most likely starter is Webb. Their second option likely isn't on the roster as of this posting. The Vikings' hopes for Favre rest solely on that -- hope -- and not on significant physical progress in the past 24 hours.

And when might Location TBA be revealed? As of Tuesday evening, the Vikings would say only that they are getting TCF Bank Stadium ready to host the game if emergency construction crews aren't able to repair the Metrodome's collapsed and torn roof in time.

How long they will wait before making a decision is unknown. If they shift the venue, one of the many issues that would have to be resolved is ticket conversion and how they would pare down distribution by about 12,000. My guess is they will find 12,000 volunteers to not sit outside on what is forecast to be a night of single-digit temperatures, but we'll find out soon enough.

Or will we??????????

Buffalo Bills fans thought they had it rough, trying to find a semblance of quarterback stability since their Hall of Fame quarterback retired in 1996.

With Tyler Thigpen about to become the Miami Dolphins' third starting quarterback of the season, it's time to dust off that long list of quarterbacks to have started since Dan Marino hung up that weird boxing-boot cleat after the 1999 season.

Thigpen will be the 15th quarterback to start a game for Miami since Marino retired.

Only twice in those 11 seasons has a quarterback started all 16 games. Those "perfect seasons" came seven years and 11 new starting quarterbacks apart. The Bills at least had Drew Bledsoe starting 48 straight games from 2002 through 2004.

This will be the fourth season in which at least three quarterbacks started for the Dolphins since Marino retired.

2000: Jay Fiedler (15), Damon Huard (one)

2001: Fiedler (16)

2002: Fielder (10), Ray Lucas (six)

2003: Fiedler (11), Brian Griese (five)

2004: A.J. Feeley (eight), Fiedler (seven), Sage Rosenfels (one)

2005: Gus Frerotte (15), Rosenfels (one)

2006: Joey Harrington (11), Daunte Culpepper (four), Cleo Lemon (one)

2007: Lemon (seven), Trent Green (five), John Beck (four)

2008: Chad Pennington (16)

2009: Chad Henne (13), Pennington (three)

2010: Henne (eight), Pennington (one)

Teams usually get six days between games to take inventory of their roster and get healthy.

The Miami Dolphins get three days to recover from Sunday's carnage and significantly less time to come up with a game plan for Thursday night's game against the Chicago Bears in Sun Life Stadium.

Expect several roster moves in the coming hours for a team that lost its top two quarterbacks, star left tackle and maybe its sacks leader.

General manager Jeff Ireland will be combing the streets for free agents. It's hard enough to find somebody to contribute on the fly, but to get them up to snuff on a playbook within 72 hours is practically impossible.

JaMarcus Russell, Patrick Ramsey and Chris Simms all have been reported as quarterbacks of interest for Miami. The United Football League season ends in a couple weeks. That would make former NFL starters such as Daunte Culpepper, Jeff Garcia, Brooks Bollinger, Tim Rattay and Josh McCown available. Former starter Cleo Lemon is almost done with his Canadian Football League season.

Starting quarterback Chad Pennington suffered a shoulder injury. Previous starter Chad Henne went down with a knee injury. Pro Bowl left tackle Jake Long reportedly dislocated a shoulder. Outside linebacker Cameron Wake hurt a hip.

The Dolphins have been scrappy in staying above .500 and in the AFC playoff race. But their 29-17 victory over the Tennessee Titans might have been their Waterloo because of the injuries.

The Dolphins won the game but still failed to gain any ground on the New York Jets or New England Patriots, who won on the road to remain two games ahead of the Dolphins.

Now Miami must scramble to field a team and identify somebody on its roster who won't get Tyler Thigpen destroyed. Vernon Carey played left tackle in 2007, but hasn't seen time there since Long was drafted first overall in 2008.

Check back for updates on the Dolphins' roster.

Boston Herald writer Ian R. Rapoport, citing a source close to Randy Moss, reports the receiver is willing to sit out the remainder of the season if an unattractive team claims him Wednesday.

The Minnesota Vikings waived Moss on Tuesday. Clubs can submit a claim for him in reverse order of their records, with the winless Buffalo Bills holding top priority and the 6-1 New England Patriots at the back of the line.

Moss' only NFL options if he gets claimed would be to play for his new employer or refuse to report. Maybe he would reunite with former coach Dennis Green and quarterback Daunte Culpepper with Sacramento of the UFL (I write half-jokingly).

Moss would be free to sign anywhere in the NFL only if none of the 32 teams submits a waiver claim.

The source told Rapoport that Moss "wants a ring" and is "willing to sit out the season."

So unless the Bills want to be publicly embarrassed -- hey, Jim Kelly and Tom Cousineau famously refused to show up in Orchard Park and chose to play in other leagues -- they probably should pass on Moss.

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Buffalo Bills linebacker Paul Posluszny laughed, but he wasn't happy to hear the question.

He kept chuckling throughout his response, although it was obvious by the tone in his voice and the look in his eyes that the topic agitated him.

How close would the game be if the Bills played the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League?

"That's saying that we're minor-league, that a minor-league team could compete with us," said Posluszny, perched on a stool at his locker stall Thursday morning. "The thing that makes me mad is we put ourselves in this situation.

"If we're winning games or competitive, then you're not talking to me about this. But it's our fault. It's my fault. I can't blame you or Las Vegas. We've got to fix it."

The Bills are winless through five games and have played so poorly they're already being talked about as a legitimate candidate to finish the season 0-16. They've surrendered at least 30 points in four straight games, something that never had been done in franchise history.

The trend will be difficult to alter Sunday. The Bills will visit the Baltimore Ravens in M&T Stadium.

For much of the season, the Bills have been out of their league.

Some in the UFL, a five-team league comprised of many former NFL players hoping to extend their careers, believe they would have a shot to beat Buffalo.

"I don't think we could compete with the upper two-thirds of the NFL," Locomotives head coach Jim Fassel said. "The lower-echelon teams, I think it would be an excellent game."

Hartford Colonials quarterback Josh McCown, who spent eight years in the NFL, predicted: "It would be fun to watch. I know one thing: There'd be a lot more pressure on Buffalo than there would be on Las Vegas. There'd be some good give and take."

With that in mind, I asked Las Vegas Sports Consultants, the oddsmaking firm that supplies the numbers for about 75 percent of Nevada's legal sportsbooks, to provide a legitimate spread for the Bills and Locomotives.

The Bills would be favored by 10.5 points on a neutral field.

That's a comfortable margin and not necessarily a true reflection of the difference in class between teams from different leagues. Spreads factor all sorts of game situations, and this number was tempered to account for the likelihood the Bills would outclass the Locomotives early and manage the clock for much of the contest.

"If Buffalo needed to win by four touchdowns and their lives depended on it, they probably could do it," Las Vegas Sports Consultants senior oddsmaker Mike Seba said. "But that's not usually the way it goes down."

Most notable about the spread for this fictional game isn't that the Bills are favored, but the number itself.

Nine NFL games, three of them involving the Bills, have featured a spread larger than 10.5 points so far this season. The Bills are 13-point underdogs Sunday against the Ravens, were 14.5-point underdogs to the New England Patriots in Week 3 and 12.5-point underdogs to the Green Bay Packers in Week 2.

Those numbers indicate the Bills are closer to the UFL than they are to the best NFL teams.

"Even though the Bills might be having a tough time, they're still the NFL," said Daunte Culpepper, the former Pro Bowl quarterback now playing for the UFL's Sacramento Mountain Lions. "I don't think anybody should overlook that. Those players are in the NFL for a reason."

Culpepper has heard this kind of barroom and message-board banter before.

He started five games for the Detroit Lions in 2008. That team became the first in NFL history to go 0-16. People wondered if the USC team that featured Mark Sanchez would give the Lions trouble.

But Culpepper wasn't totally dismissive of the Locomotives' chances against the Bills.

"I've played in the NFL, and I've played in the UFL. The competition is there," Culpepper said. "The ability and the level of play is there. The NFL is the best of the best, but there's only about 1,500 jobs in the NFL. There's more than 1,500 guys that can play at the NFL level."

UFL investor Mark Cuban pointed out the NFL is comprised of younger talent, but because of salary-cap issues and veteran minimum salaries, teams rarely fill out their rosters with the best 53 players available to them. That leaves plenty of NFL-caliber veterans out of work.

Cuban knows a little about sports business. He owns the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and has tried to add Major League Baseball to his portfolio. He nearly purchased the Texas Rangers this year.

"You can argue skill positions may be better in the NFL, but you can't argue experience," Cuban said. "The UFL rosters from the bottom up are far more experienced than the Bills are."

NFL teams are reluctant to take chances on veterans as they accrue experience. A player with four to six seasons in the NFL makes a minimum salary of $630,000. Players with seven to nine seasons must be paid at least $755,000.

The average 53-man NFL active roster had 15.7 players who are 24 or younger as of Wednesday, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The winless Carolina Panthers had 27 players in that category. The Bills had 17.

Three of the UFL's five teams had nine or fewer players age 24 or under. The Locomotives had nine on their roster. The Florida Tuskers had two.

"People are afraid to take a five-year vested veteran and pay him the minimum and get the risk that he might get injured," Fassel said. "There's no question that adds up. All you need is five or six guys get hurt and that's $5 million in your cap."

Many NFL clubs don't spend anywhere near to the salary cap anyway. They commonly save money on their reserve players.

"It's not just Buffalo. It's every team," Cuban said. "The balance of talent versus cost versus winning is not an easy one to create. Sure, some teams may spend more than the Bills, but they all go through the same decision process."

As a result, the UFL can field bona-fide players at positions such as quarterback and running back and stock their coaching staffs with NFL-weathered coaches. Fassel, for instance, guided the New York Giants to a Super Bowl XXXV appearance 10 seasons ago.

Last year, Fassel won the UFL's inaugural championship game with former Bills quarterback J.P. Losman. At the time, I got a strong impression Bills fans gladly would've traded their coach-quarterback combo of Dick Jauron and Trent Edwards for Fassel and Losman.

Still, the consensus, even among the most ardent UFL supporters, is the Bills probably would beat the Locomotives handily.

"I have a lot of respect for those guys," Bills running back Fred Jackson said. He came up through the minors as a low-level arena player and then NFL Europa. "I know there's a lot of talent in those leagues. But this is the National Football League. This is the best of the best. I've got to believe with my whole heart it would be a one-sided affair."

There are no guarantees, though, and that's why this fictional game never would take place. It would be all risk, no reward for the NFL.

The last time a "minor league" was granted such an opportunity was in 1961, when the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the more established Canadian Football League beat the fledgling American Football League's Bills in a preseason game.

"As a player for an NFL team, obviously it bothers us that's even a conversation out there," Posluszny said, "that we're playing so bad right now that people think a UFL team can compete with us because they can't.

"Once again, we're 0-5. We haven't proved to anybody that we're a big-time team. It's troubling to us because we're an NFL football team and we should be able to act like it and play like it and win games."

Some random NFC South thoughts that I jotted down on the plane and spoke into my recorder on the drive home from the airport.

• Caught a little bit of Adam Schein and Rich Gannon on SIRIUS NFL Radio and they were talking about the Atlanta Falcons being the best team in the NFC. I’m with them. That was already one of the thoughts I wrote down on the plane as I looked at the NFC standings this morning. No, I’m not ready to fully write off the Saints, but they’ve got some issues right now. I look around the rest of the NFC and I don’t see a team that’s more well-rounded or better coached than the Falcons right now.
• Speaking of airports, I ran into a personnel executive from an NFL team in an airport a few weeks ago and we started chatting about Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman. After watching the highlights of Freeman’s performance in Sunday’s victory against Cleveland, that conversation came back to me. I asked the personnel guy to compare Freeman to another quarterback and I threw out the name Donovan McNabb. The personnel man said there are some similarities, but said Freeman’s size makes him different than McNabb. He thought a little more and came up with an observation I thought was pretty strong. He said Freeman is on the way to becoming what Daunte Culpepper "could have been''. He then added that Freeman is a more “cerebral and mature’’ version of Culpepper and is getting better coaching than Culpepper did through much of his short-lived career that now has him in the United Football League.
• As I flew out of Charlotte this morning, I was pondering Carolina’s quarterback situation. Are the Panthers better off starting Jimmy Clausen or Matt Moore when they come back from the bye? I really couldn’t come to a conclusion. I think Clausen can develop into a decent NFL starter in time, but I worry that throwing him out there with the current supporting cast might ruin him forever.