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For the purposes of Hall of Fame discussions, Kevin Greene isn't really "ours." Greene played outside linebacker for four teams in his 15-year career, but none of them were in the NFC North or former NFC Central. But his current position as the Green Bay Packers' outside linebackers coach makes his Hall of Fame candidacy (or lack thereof) a topical offseason point.

Saturday's election of Chris Doleman sharpened the focus on Greene's largely ignored candidacy. Dolman's career total of 150.5 sacks ranks below Greene on the NFL's all-time list, but he became the sixth pass-rusher in the past five years to win election.

The chart shows the top 12 pass-rushers in NFL history, at least based on career sack totals. Eight of them are in the Hall of Fame and two, Michael Strahan and Jason Taylor, aren't eligible yet. That leaves Green and Leslie O'Neal (132.5 sacks) as the only players in this 12-man group to be sitting on the outside.

Greene's 160 career sacks stand out starkly on the chart. If the 44-member voting committee values sacks as much as it appears to, why has Greene remained on the periphery of the conversation? On Saturday, I threw out via Twitter an opportunity to provide a devil's advocate argument to explain a statistical anomaly.

Besides the standard jokes about bias against long hair, most of you suggested the committee considers Greene a specialist. Wrote @kgilly75: "Because all he could do is rush the passer...not good in coverage or run support.."

Again, we in the NFC North aren't really in position to advocate or argue against Greene's candidacy. But given the respect that pass-rushers have received in recent elections, I'm not sure if it's appropriate to place an "all he could do" in front of "rush the passer." Do you? Just curious.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Thirteen modern-era NFL players were finalists for enshrinement Saturday in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Only one was named offensive or defensive player of the year during his career.

That was the Seattle Seahawks' Cortez Kennedy. His eight Pro Bowls, all-1990s selection and overall dominance made my job as his presenter quite simple. State the facts and let Kennedy's career do the talking. Picking the final five out of 15 modern-era finalists is always tough, however, because it usually requires leaving off worthy candidates.

The 43 other selectors and I met for more than seven hours before identifying Kennedy, Chris Doleman, Dermontti Dawson, Curtis Martin and Willie Roaf as the class of 2012. Jack Butler made it as a seniors candidate.

A few thoughts on the process and the results:

• This class made it through at a good time. Larry Allen, Michael Strahan, Jonathan Ogden, Warren Sapp, Bryant Young, John Lynch and Steve McNair become eligible for the first time in 2013. Shaun Alexander, Derrick Brooks, Marvin Harrison, Rodney Harrison, Tony Dungy and Mike Holmgren join the list in 2014. Isaac Bruce, Edgerrin James, Walter Jones, Junior Seau, Chris Samuels, Kurt Warner, Ty Law and Orlando Pace are among those eligible beginning in 2015.
• Former St. Louis Rams
  and Arizona Cardinals
  cornerback Aeneas Williams should feel great about cracking the final 10 in his first year as a finalist. Williams had 55 career interceptions and scored nine touchdowns. He was a big-time playmaker for bad and good teams alike.
• The situation at receiver remains a mess and it's not going to get easier with Harrison becoming eligible in a couple years. Voters are having a tough time deciding between Cris Carter and Andre Reed. Both made the final 10 this year. Reed made the final 10 last year as well. Having both crack the final 10 this year made it harder for one of them to break through. Voters were more likely to choose one wideout when forced to pick only five players.
• Former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. did not make the reduction from 15 to 10. I think it's tougher for voters to quantify how owners and even coaches -- think Bill Parcells, who missed the cut from 10 to five -- contributed to their teams' success. The discussions for Parcells (55-plus minutes) and DeBartolo (42-plus minutes) were more than twice as long as the discussions for other candidates. Hall bylaws prevented voters from considering the legal troubles and suspension that preceded DeBartolo's exit from the game.
• DeBartolo was a finalist in part because he hired Bill Walsh, promoted a winning culture, cared tremendously for his players and helped win five Super Bowls. He spent this weekend with former 49ers player Freddie Solomon, who is in the final days of a battle with cancer. The 49ers' renewed success this past season also reflected well on DeBartolo, who has become a tremendous resource for current team president Jed York, his nephew.
• Electing one pass-rusher (Doleman, who spent part of his career with the 49ers) to the Hall could give former 49ers and Dallas Cowboys pass-rusher Charles Haley an easier time in the future. But with Strahan joining the conversation in 2013, Haley faces stiff competition again. Former Rams pass-rusher Kevin Greene did not make the final 10 despite 160 career sacks.

It's been a whirlwind day. Hall bylaws prevent me from sharing specifics about what was said in the room during the proceedings. The Hall also asked voters not to reveal their votes outright. I voted for five of the six players enshrined on the final cut and supported others. As always, however, reducing to only five in the end required leaving off candidates I hope will make it in the future.

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Arrow indicates direction team is trending.

Final Power Ranking: 30
Preseason Power Ranking: 20

Biggest surprise: It has never been clear why anyone thought acquiring Donovan McNabb as a stopgap starting quarterback was a good idea. All indications were that McNabb had taken a significant step back since his heyday as an annual Pro Bowler, and in truth, he had no more familiarity with the Vikings' new offense than did rookie quarterback Christian Ponder. He threw for an embarrassing 39 yards in a Week 1 loss at the San Diego Chargers, was benched after six starts and waived with five games remaining. I'm not sure the Vikings would have won more games with Ponder or Joe Webb as their Week 1 starter, but the entire episode was a failure waiting to happen. Why wasn't that obvious to everyone?

Biggest disappointment: Tailback Adrian Peterson's shredded left knee will cast a shadow over the organization for months. The Vikings have said they hope to have Peterson back on the field when the season begins, but the truth is no one can know for sure how a running back will come back from two torn knee ligaments and other assorted damage. Newly-promoted general manager Rick Spielman will have a difficult decision to make: Can the team continue to build its offense around Peterson? Does it necessitate the acquisition of a replacement or a philosophical shift? Of all their positions, running back represented the least of the Vikings' concerns at midseason. Now it's among their first priorities.

Biggest need: On a roster full of holes, no positions are more needy than defensive back and offensive line. The Vikings finished the season with Week 1 backups playing both cornerback and one safety positions, and the only incumbent who should have a decent chance to start in 2012 is veteran cornerback Antoine Winfield. Although they led the NFL with 50 sacks, the Vikings' coverage was so poor that opposing quarterbacks still compiled a 107.1 passer rating, the second-highest mark in NFL history. Meanwhile, the Vikings must find a long-term replacement for deposed left tackle Bryant McKinnie and might have to find a new left guard if Steve Hutchinson retires. The future of right guard Anthony Herrera is also up for debate.

Team MVP: Defensive end Jared Allen finished a half-sack shy of tying Michael Strahan's record for sacks in a season (22.5), along the way setting an example of how to continue playing hard despite the weight of a lost season. Runner up goes to Percy Harvin, who shed his migraine issues to become the kind of all-purpose receiver/running back the Vikings envisioned when they drafted him in 2009. He caught a team-high 87 passes and also took 52 carries, combining for 1,312 total yards and eight touchdowns.

Questionable call: Cornerback Chris Cook was arrested in October and eventually charged with strangulation and domestic abuse. In the end, the Vikings took the highly unusual path of dismissing him for the season while keeping him on the active roster and paying him game checks for the final eight games of the season. Coach Leslie Frazier said the organization wanted to give Cook a chance to get is life in order, but Frazier admitted this week that it's unclear what progress he has made. Unless he is incarcerated as a result of his upcoming trial, Cook seems likely to return to the team in training camp.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — When people disappear for a few weeks, it can be easy to forget them. The New York Giants played long stretches of this season without defensive end Osi Umenyiora, but many Giants fans shrugged it off. Jason Pierre-Paul was playing so well on the side opposite Justin Tuck that it didn't much matter. Umenyiora had been effectively replaced.

But then Umenyiora shows up for the final game of the season, finally healthy enough to play in the same game as Pierre-Paul and Tuck, and we are reminded. He flashes his game-disrupting speed off the edge, sacks Tony Romo twice and reminds everybody about the way the Giants' defense was supposed to work all along. Is he better than Pierre-Paul? Debatable right now. But if Umenyiora is the third-best pass-rusher on his team, as Eagles running back LeSean McCoy famously tweeted last summer, then his team has one heck of a pass rush.

"To be able to put those combinations together and feature those guys and the outstanding pass rushers that they are, it's going to give us a real good shot in the arm," Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "You can't double everybody. To have the defense play well, it gives us a chance to play some Giants football."

I think that's a really good way to put it: Gives them a chance. There's this rush today all of a sudden to compare these Giants to the 2007 version that finished the year hot, put together a run and knocked off the Patriots in the Super Bowl. And I understand. Comparisons like that are what we do. Plus, same quarterback, same coach, some of the same players we all know won't be affected by playoff pressure... and a defensive front capable of getting pressure on the quarterback without blitzing. That's what wrecked Tom Brady's undefeated season, and the Giants the last couple of weeks have played defense well enough to remind people of the way they played it that year.

"The way those guys rush, it's just like blitzing," Giants linebacker Michael Boley said. "For them to get up there and rush the way they rush, that takes a lot of pressure off of us in the back end."

Which is the plan, of course, but let's not get too crazy here. The Super Bowl champion Giants of four years ago were a much more complete team than this one is. They had the fourth-best rushing offense in the NFL that year, for example, averaging 134.3 yards per game on the ground. This year's Giants were the worst rushing offense in the league, at 89.2. That year's team had Antonio Pierce playing middle linebacker — a spot currently manned by rookies when it's manned at all. And whatever you want to say about this year's great pass rushers, not one of them is — at least to this point in his career — Michael Strahan-great.

Four years ago, the play of the defensive line elevated the Giants from "good playoff team" to "world champion." This year's defensive line, if it can continue to play the way it played Sunday night, elevates the Giants from "mediocre, flawed team that got outscored by its opponents in the regular season" to "team that might be able to make some noise." The 2007-08 run was a once-in-a-lifetime treat. Even if the Giants do make another one this year, it will stand on its own in team history, built more on clutch performance by this year's stars than on a four-year-old formula for success. But they will need the defense to make it happen.

"We have a very good offense, an outstanding quarterback, and as long as we're able on defense to help keep the team in the game, we have a chance to do something special," Umenyiora said.

A chance, yes. Eli Manning and his receivers can put points on the board with anyone -- yes, even the Packers and the Saints. The question is whether the defense can keep the other team from scoring more. The Cowboys' receivers were consistently beating the Giants' defensive backs Sunday night, but the Giants' pass rush didn't give Romo enough time to find them. That's the formula. If they can't get to Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan consistently and violently on Sunday afternoon, Ryan and his receivers will torch them. If they do that and can't get to Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers the following week in Green Bay, Rodgers and his receivers will torch them.

Right now, though, it looks as though the Giants can get to the quarterback -- maybe as effectively as they have all season. And if they can do that, then yes, they will have a chance.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Maybe it's a good thing that Jared Allen fell one sack short Sunday of setting the NFL record for sacks in a season. Asked what he would have done after breaking Michael Strahan's record of 22.5, Allen laughed and offered a nearly -- nearly -- preposterous scenario that would have made for a new level of in-game pandemonium.

"I probably would have thrown my helmet into the crowd," Allen said, "jumped up, ran up, kissed my wife and my baby in the suite, walked into the locker room and quit. No, I might have done some turf angels. Probably would have cried. [The Chicago Bears] probably would have gotten a first down -- a 15-yard penalty on me. I probably would have taken my shoulder pads off. So probably a good thing I didn't get it, right?"

Ha. Allen injected some drama into an otherwise droll Week 17 game, sacking Bears quarterback Josh McCown 3.5 times to finish the 2011 season with 22 sacks. That allowed him to surpass former Vikings record-holder Chris Doleman (21), whom the Vikings brought to the Metrodome for the occasion, and tie Mark Gastineau for the second-most in a 16-game season.

When we first started "AllenWatch" in October, I had my doubts that Allen or any other member of the Vikings could challenge the record. Sundays' 17-13 loss left the Vikings with a 3-13 record. Rarely did the Vikings have opponents in must-pass situations, limiting the opportunities for pass rushers like Allen.

I'm not sure whether Allen himself thought it possible; he said Sunday that his goal was to get 17 sacks so he could eclipse 100 for his career. He said that finishing with 22 was like "being the runner-up at the prom" but added: "I know it's possible now. I know it's possible. I'm going to work my butt off this offseason to try to help my team get back to the playoffs and to try to get that sack title."

The Bears started Sunday's game by regularly chipping and double-teaming the Vikings' edge rushers, according to Allen. But Vikings defensive coordinator Fred Pagac -- in perhaps his last game with the team -- called some blitz combinations that committed the Bears' extra blockers to the inside.

"So I got some one-on-ones on the edge there," said Allen, who collected sack No. 22 by beating left tackle J'Marcus Webb with 4 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

"I told him he had 20 minutes to get one sack," defensive tackle Kevin Williams said. "But they changed it up after that."

Indeed, according to Williams, Allen and others, the Bears regularly devoted two tight ends to help Webb the rest of the way. Allen got nowhere close to sack No. 23. The Bears weren't going to give him the record, as some would suggest Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre did for Strahan in 2001.

Allen said last week that "a sack is a sack is a sack" and that Favre's "slip" didn't diminish Strahan's accomplishment. Had Favre not "fallen," Allen would have walked away from Sunday's game with a share of the record once held by Gastineau.

"It doesn't bother me at all," he said. "Just being in the same breath as Strahan, and Gastineau and Doleman. … Man."

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FALLING

1. Prince Amukamara, Giants cornerback. It may not be nice, or really even fair, to pick on the rookie. But opposing offenses are doing just that, and the New York Giants' first-round cornerback is struggling. Amukamara's problems are emblematic of the overall coverage issues with which the Giants have been struggling throughout the second half of the season. But while those problems were more easily explained when the Saints, Packers and Cowboys were throwing on them at will, the fact the Redskins' offense was able to operate so efficiently and with so much third-down success Sunday was extremely troubling for the Giants.

2. Reasons to criticize Tony Romo. The Cowboys are 5-2 in their past seven games, and during that stretch Romo has 18 touchdown passes and two interceptions -- both of which came in the Thanksgiving game against Miami. The Cowboys' issues in finishing off games against the Cardinals and Giants were on the defense, which continues to struggle on the back end and could cost them again this week against the Eagles. But there's no denying the efficient, responsible and extremely effective way Romo is leading an offense that hasn't missed a beat since its star running back went down with an ankle injury.

3. Tom Coughlin's job security. I've said it before and I believe it: The Giants' head coach is not to blame for what's going on in New York. He was handed an insufficient roster that was ravaged by injuries, and the fact the Giants' 6-2 start was an act of overachievement. I think Giants management would be wise to take a long, serious look at the way its team's roster is constructed, the way certain positions are consistently and stubbornly overlooked and the extent to which needs have not been addressed over the past few offseasons, and Coughlin has nothing to do with that. But all of that said, fair or not, a third straight season without a playoff appearance is the kind of thing that puts coaches (especially New York ones) on the hot seat. And while the Giants' owners are not the type to do anything rash or reactionary, Coughlin has to be uneasy about the way his overall December record looks in the big picture.

RISING

1. Jason Babin, Eagles defensive end. When Babin found himself in Tennessee last year hooked up with defensive line coach Jim Washburn, his career was re-energized. Washburn stripped away everything except the thing Babin does best -- get after quarterbacks -- and told him to focus only on his strength. Babin was wise enough to move to Philadelphia this past offseason, and with six sacks in his past two games he's up to 18 on the season. Babin had 17.5 sacks in the first 66 games of his career. In his past 30, playing for Washburn, he has 30.5. He's currently tied for the league lead and has an outside chance at Michael Strahan's all-time single-season record of 22.5. And he's helping drive an Eagles defense that has turned it on in the past two weeks for the team's longshot playoff push.

2. Dallas Cowboys' playoff chances. Lots of people last week were telling me the game against the Buccaneers didn't mean anything, and with regard to tiebreakers it did not. But with the Redskins beating the Giants, the Cowboys' victory over Tampa Bay may turn out to have been important for keeping them out of any ties. If Dallas beats the Eagles this week and the Giants lose to the Jets, the Cowboys clinch the division and the Week 17 rematch against the Giants will be the Stephen McGee show as Romo and the Cowboys rest and get ready for a home playoff game the following week. Dallas took care of business against a team with a losing record and the Giants did not, and as a result Dallas is the team in the position of strength right now.

3. Rex Grossman, Redskins quarterback. Two early interceptions? Ten games in a row with at least one? Hey, Grossman is who he is. But there's no denying that the Redskins' offense is at its best when Grossman is playing quarterback. He has no tight ends, only two of his five starting offensive linemen, no real No. 1 receiver and a rookie running back. And yet, Washington has averaged 23.5 points over its past five games. That doesn't make them the Packers, but with their defense it makes them a team that's always in the game. The Redskins still need to find a franchise quarterback this offseason if they're to take the next step into a brighter future. But if they bring back Grossman, at the very least they'll know they have a veteran backup capable of putting points on the board if they need to use him.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- He is big, but he believes himself to be part of something much bigger. He is fast, but the speed with which he has become one of the NFL's elite defensive ends is even more impressive than the speed he flashes on the field. Jason Pierre-Paul is the New York Giants' breakout defensive star, in the midst of a spectacular second professional season, and Sunday night he won the Giants their biggest game of the year.

The Giants' breathtaking 37-34 victory over the Dallas Cowboys -- a victory that ended a four-game losing streak and put the Giants, incredibly, back on top in in the NFC East with three games to play -- was a stone-cold shootout. It was a game that cried out for someone -- anyone -- on either team to make a defensive play. And while very few did, Pierre-Paul was the exception. He had two sacks, one of which was a safety. He forced a fumble. He had two tackles for loss. And with the game on the line and time running out in the fourth quarter, he got one of his impossibly long arms up in time to block Dan Bailey's attempt at a game-tying field goal.

"He is something else," a giddy Giants coach Tom Coughlin said. "He has a great motor and he just keeps going. Early on in the game, I was wondering, 'Where the heck is he?' Then he comes back and makes plays like that and gets a piece of the field goal. That was something."

Pierre-Paul is indeed something else -- a physical freak of nature at 6-feet-5, 278 pounds and with elite pass-rushing speed. Those raw physical attributes were the reason the Giants took him with the 15th pick in the 2010 draft. He was a basketball player who didn't take up football until his senior year of high school and played only one year of Division I college ball, but the Giants figured they could get him into their system and develop him. Whatever else the Giants are, they know they can develop pass-rushing defensive linemen, and the environment into which Pierre-Paul was drafted was the perfect incubator for his talent.

"The Giants -- what better place to be a defensive end?" Pierre-Paul said Sunday night. "I'm still learning the whole concept of football. But I look around and we have guys like Justin Tuck, [Mathias Kiwanuka], Osi [Umenyiora], all these Pro Bowlers. When they teach, I listen. We have [former Giants defensive end Michael] Strahan come in here and he talks to us and tells us we're the foundation, we set the tone for the game no matter what we do. When you're part of something like that, you pay attention."

When you have what Pierre-Paul has in terms of physical talent and you add a willingness and ability to learn, you have a recipe for something special. The other players on the Giants' defense knew that Pierre-Paul could be special the moment he walked through their doors two springs ago.

"Everybody said the same thing: Once he gets it, he's going to be a phenomenal player," Kiwanuka recalled. "He's a gifted athlete. We always said, 'If he doesn't know anything else, he knows where the quarterback is.'"

Thing is, Pierre-Paul knows a lot more now than he did a year ago. And his teammates are noticing. He's up to 12.5 sacks for the year, which ranks him among the league leaders. But more important for the Giants, he's the defensive Eli Manning -- the guy who raises his game and makes the huge play when it needs to be made. All year, when the Giants have needed someone on defense to step up and beat his man, Pierre-Paul has delivered.

"He's understanding now," Kiwanuka said. "You don't get lucky and make that many plays. This year, you can go to JPP and ask him a question about a specific defense or a specific defensive play, and he's got an answer for you. You're witnessing the development from good to great."

And so it was that the end of this game found Jason Pierre-Paul, racing along his development curve with the same kind of speed and ferocity with which he pursues quarterbacks. The Cowboys lined up to kick a game-tying 47-yard field goal, and Pierre-Paul wanted to block it. But he got caught up with the guard and couldn't get his hand up in time. Bailey's kick went through the uprights, and an exhausted Pierre-Paul started thinking about overtime.

Seconds later, when he learned that Coughlin had called timeout to ice Bailey, Pierre-Paul began thinking again. He'd been having trouble with that guard all game. So he decided to try to go over special teams center L.P. Ladoucer. The rules say he can't go over the center until the center puts his head up, so Pierre-Paul waited for Ladoucer's head to go up and made his jump. The ball whacked into the base of his left palm, and the shock of the impact of leather on skin meant one thing to Pierre-Paul.

"We didn't have to go into overtime!" he said.

These Giants aren't home yet. They have allowed a heinous 41.3 points per game in their past three games. They seem completely incapable of making a play in the secondary when they need to. When asked after the game how concerned he was about his defense, Coughlin said, "I'm extremely concerned. But right now I'm happy we won."

For all of their failings, though, the Giants are a 7-6 first-place team. And that's because of the individual heroics of the great players on their team. Manning. Hakeem Nicks. Sometimes Justin Tuck. On this night a punishing, retro Brandon Jacobs, who ran it like he used to run it. The best playmaker they have right now on defense is Pierre-Paul. And if they do end up winning this division, they will look back to the Sunday night on which Pierre-Paul beat the Cowboys with his size, his speed, his brains and his long left arm.

New York Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell lit into his defense Thursday in a fiery session with reporters at the team's East Rutherford, N.J., training complex. Among other things, Fewell said he saw on his film review that some players were pulling up short on plays in Monday's loss in New Orleans and that the Giants will "get after" Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Sunday afternoon:

"Being the coach and the leader of the defense, that was disheartening," Fewell said. "It was disappointing more than disheartening. Because we don't coach that. I am going to say it like this, we don't coach pulling up short. We are not going to accept pulling up short so we won't pull up short again."

The Giants' once-fearsome pass rush also has vanished in recent weeks. The Giants have five sacks in their past four games and didn't have any Monday against Drew Brees. The Giants know the pass rush with the four down linemen is the key to the defense, and Fewell vowed that it would look different against Rodgers on Sunday.

"We have to be very disciplined in our rush lanes," Fewell said. "But more so than disciplined, we got to get after his a--. If we do that and he scrambles, then that is the price he is going to have to pay because we are going to hit him. We are going to hit him."

It's obviously good for the Giants that Fewell is fired up and holding his players accountable for their lackluster play in Monday's game. It's good that Michael Strahan made a visit this week and talked to the defensive line. It's good that somebody in East Rutherford finds the defense's most recent effort unacceptable, because it was. But nothing Fewell or Strahan or anybody else who won't wear a Giants uniform Sunday says makes one bit of difference if the same angry feelings aren't also bubbling up inside Justin Tuck and Corey Webster and the Giants defenders who haven't been playing like themselves lately.

Fewell's tirade can only have an impact if it took root in the hearts of the men he coaches, and if they share in his embarrassment over the way they looked Monday. If they're going to continue to mope and wait for other guys to make plays, they're going to keep losing and probably get embarrassed again Sunday by the undefeated Packers. But if they're all as fired up as Fewell was Thursday, things could look a lot different. We have a little less than three days before we find out what kind of defense the Giants' players themselves plan to play Sunday -- inspired or, once again, defeatist.

When a defensive lineman is drafted in the top 10 and isn’t an influential pass-rusher, he’s often labeled a bust.

Atlanta spent the eighth overall pick on Jamaal Anderson in 2007 and he started 60 games for the Falcons over four years. Four-and-a-half sacks later, he was considered a failure and sent packing.

But when the setting and expectations change, so can a player. With the Indianapolis Colts, Anderson has not been a disappointing first-rounder who doesn’t rush well enough. He has been a versatile run-stopper who has helped improve the front and taken a bit off the plate of Robert Mathis. Sometimes Anderson kicks inside as a tackle in nickel situations.

There is nothing to rave about on an 0-8 team, but Anderson is doing enough to rehabilitate his career and position himself for another contract with the Colts or someone else after the season.

“One of my downfalls was my lack of ability to rush the passer, so I thought what better than to come in under two great pass-rushers like Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis?” Anderson said. “I’ve learned a lot from these guys and even though the season isn’t going like we want it to go, I feel like I am getting better week by week.”

A guy with a first-round pedigree usually gets a thorough look after he becomes available. The 2011 Colts didn’t view him like the 2008 Falcons did. And because of some of his physical qualities he will be attractive to some team after this season, a team that could get the sort of reward the Falcons wanted.

“I like Anderson,” said Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. “He can be a big base defensive end for the Colts in short-yardage situations or on run downs, but also can move inside to defensive tackle and give them the athletic ability they want from that position.

“Everyone considered Anderson a bust with Atlanta because he wasn’t a big sack guy. But he always played the run real well. If he would have been a second-round pick, everyone would consider him a solid football player. He was a good pickup for the Colts. In fact, their defensive line in general is pretty strong.”

Anderson sounds like a person who has things in perspective. He still recalls a conversation he had early in his NFL career with Michael Strahan.

“At the defensive end position, you might see a guy who has a huge impact his first year, but it’s highly unlikely it happens,” Anderson said. "My second year I met Michael Strahan in California. He said he remembered watching me on TV playing in college [at Arkansas] and the first thing he said was, ‘This guy looks exactly like me.’

“I took that as an honor, a guy like that saying he saw the same qualities. I remember him talking about his first few years in the league and how he had no idea what he was doing out there, how he couldn’t get the type of production he wanted. But he got about into his fourth year and that’s when he somewhat skyrocketed.”

Could a similar course be ahead for Anderson?

I don’t think he’s anticipating becoming a sack master. But he is only 25. He chose the Colts because he wanted to work with Freeney and Mathis and under respected defensive line coach John Teerlinck. And he believes he can be a productive player with developing upside no matter what others may think.

“It definitely stings,” he said of being regarded as a bust. “It’s not a label you like to have on your name. I remember my first couple years, it was definitely frustrating for me. I was hurt by it, that’s the easiest way to say it. But you have to be able to find your role and you have to be able to come into yourself.

“When Atlanta let me go I had plenty of phone calls from other teams who obviously saw something in me. I don’t look at myself as a bust, I look at myself as a player that’s getting better game by game and year by year and I am going to continue to do that.”

He’d like to remain with the Colts beyond this season. He loves that Teerlinck is still working with him as a pass-rusher and said it’s beyond weird to have joined such a good franchise and now be part of a winless team.

Anderson, defensive end Tyler Brayton (another run-stopper) and linebacker Ernie Sims were the sort of veteran free-agent additions Indianapolis doesn’t usually make. Vice chairman Bill Polian said during the preseason that a market flooded with more free agents than usual after a lockout and a new CBA created a unique situation that left such players available.

He’s not thinking about it now, but Anderson said he’d certainly like a chance to remain with the Colts in 2012.

With Peyton Manning back, big free-agent issues sorted out and the Colts given time to fix a terrible secondary, I’d like to see what Anderson could offer to a better version of the team.

Another in a series on NFC North players whose career trajectory puts them on a path to consideration for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

NFL teams value pass rushing more than any skill outside of quarterbacking, and here in the NFC North we have two of the best of this generation. Chicago Bears defensive end Julius Peppers (89 career sacks) and Minnesota Vikings defensive end Jared Allen (83) have outright dominated many games during their careers. But is either on track for future enshrinement in Canton, Ohio?

My short answer: It could go either way.

Sacks didn't become an official statistic until 1982. In reviewing how Hall of Fame voters have judged pass-rushers since then, a few tenets seem clear:

Hall Of Famers (Careers During Sack Era)

Rank	Player	Sacks
1	Bruce Smith	200
2	Reggie White	198
3	Richard Dent	137.5
3	John Randle	137.5
5	Lawrence Taylor	132.5
6	Ricky Jackson	128
7	Derrick Thomas	126.5
8	Andre Tippett	100
9	Howie Long	84
* Sacks became official in 1982 season.

1. Sack totals alone, no matter how high, don't guarantee enshrinement. Otherwise, linebacker Kevin Greene (currently a Green Bay Packers assistant coach) and defensive end Chris Doleman would have been elected a long time ago. Greene has 160 career sacks, the third-most in NFL history. Doleman's 150.5 rank No. 5. They are two of 25 players with 100 or more career sacks. Eight of those 25 are in the Hall of Fame.
2. The first chart is a list of the eight Hall of Fame defensive linemen and linebackers whose careers took place during the sack era. I included Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Howie Long and New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor, whose careers began in 1981, and eliminated Bears linebacker Mike Singletary because pass rushing wasn't much of a factor in his enshrinement. All but Long had at least 100 sacks. So while 100-plus sacks doesn't guarantee enshrinement, it's almost always a prerequisite. There is every reason to believe that Peppers, who is 31, and Allen (29) can and will pass that milestone.
3. Voters clearly perform a subjective judgment to determine which players with high sack totals deserve enshrinement. Generally speaking, players who seem classified as "pure" pass-rushers, including Greene and Doleman, face a higher bar than those who were more generally regarded as "havoc-wreakers." Examples: Long, Andre Tippett, Lawrence Taylor, Rickey Jackson and John Randle.

Given their career arcs, both Peppers and Allen might have to justify a "havoc-wreaker" enshrinement. They've got good chances to break the 100-sack barrier, but how much further will they go? Peppers could reach Randle-Taylor-Richard Dent territory by averaging 10 sacks a year for the next five seasons. I would say that 50 sacks between the ages of 31 and 36 represents the high end of what Peppers might achieve.

Allen is two years younger, and a similar 50-sack run over the next five years could put him in the same territory by 34. That's a reasonable projection, but I wonder if voters will discard Allen into the "pure pass-rusher" category that currently houses Greene, Doleman, Leslie O'Neal (137.5 career sacks), Simeon Rice (122) and Clyde Simmons (121.5).

One gauge to consider is ESPN.com's positional power rankings, which I recognize simply represents the thoughts of eight slappy bloggers. (But remember, Hall of Fame election is determined by 44 other slappy writers and broadcasters.) Allen was rated as the No. 4 pass-rusher but didn't receive a single vote for best defensive player.

For what it's worth, Peppers ranked No. 8 on the overall defensive player list. And I found it interesting last week that when asked to name the NFL's best player at the moment, Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher quickly responded: "Peppers."

In an admittedly subjective question, I ask: If Peppers and Allen finish their careers with similar sack totals, who is more likely to be elected to the Hall of Fame? I'm going to guess Peppers, barring a dramatic career arc adjustment for either player.

Comparing current players to Hall of Famers is only part of the discussion, however. As we noted in our post on Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, candidates must also be compared to their contemporaries. In theory, only those who dominated their respective eras should be enshrined.

Our next two charts addresses that topic.

Since he entered the league in 2002, Peppers ranks third in sacks. Allen, meanwhile, has more sacks than any NFL player since he was drafted in 2004.

So let's say Peppers and Allen finish their careers in the 130-140 sack range. Both will have been among the most productive pass-rushers of their time, but they'll also be "competing" with a number of contemporaries with similar credentials. We of course hope that all deserving players eventually get in, but the definition of "deserving" can be relative.

To that end, it should be noted that defensive end Michael Strahan (141.5 sacks) would seem relatively assured of enshrinement. End/linebacker Jason Taylor (132.5) and Dwight Freeney (94) will also be considered.

Both Peppers and Allen have potential career spans long enough to settle this debate definitively on their own. But as it stands now, with Peppers entering his 10th season and Allen his eighth, we can say they've done enough to enter the Hall of Fame conversation. Both have more work to do, and it needs to be at the same standard they've set thus far.

Earlier: Rodgers has put himself in on the path toward Canton.

With the offseason in full swing, let’s take a look at one major question facing each NFC West team as it begins preparations for the 2011 season:

ARIZONA CARDINALS

What happens to the offensive line?

We've been asking, answering and asking some more questions about the Cardinals' quarterback situation for months. Let's tap a few brain cells to discuss the guys up front.

Center Lyle Sendlein and right guard Deuce Lutui are without contracts for 2011. Left guard Alan Faneca might retire. Right tackle Brandon Keith is coming off hamstring and knee injuries that shortened his first season as a starter. The Cardinals do not have fresh talent in reserve. They have drafted only one offensive lineman in the first four rounds since Ken Whisenhunt became head coach in 2007. Twenty-seven teams have drafted more. As much as the team trusts assistant head coach Russ Grimm to get the most from its offensive line, Arizona could use fresh young talent for him to groom.

The Cardinals went through the 2010 season with the NFL's oldest offensive linemen, counting backups. That wouldn't matter so much if left tackle Levi Brown were meeting the Pro Bowl expectations that came with his status as a top-five overall selection in the 2007 draft. Brown was underwhelming at right tackle to begin his career and a liability at left tackle last season. His salary balloons in 2012, so this could be his last season in Arizona.

ST. LOUIS RAMS

Can the defense take the next step?

The Rams allowed 328 points last season, tied for the third-lowest total since the team moved from Los Angeles for the 1995 season. They allowed seven rushing touchdowns, their lowest total since 1999 and down from 50 combined over the previous two seasons. But with starting defensive linemen James Hall and Fred Robbins turning 34 this offseason, and with questions at linebacker, the Rams' defense will not automatically go from competitive toward dominant.

Hall will be looking to become the 14th player since 1982 (when the NFL began tracking sacks as an official stat) to collect 10 sacks in a season at age 34 or older. The others: Trace Armstrong, Chris Doleman, William Fuller, Kevin Greene, Rickey Jackson, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Tony McGee, Steve McMichael, John Randle, Warren Sapp, Bruce Smith, Michael Strahan and Reggie White.

Robbins is coming off one of his finest seasons. He joined Keith Traylor, Jeff Zgonina and Ray Agnew among defensive tackles to set career highs for sacks at age 32 or older in the free-agency era (since 1993).

Getting similar production and continued good health from two older players is no given. The Rams also need to find help at outside linebacker after losing 32-year-old Na'il Diggs to a torn pectoral muscle 12 games into the 2010 season. The Rams are set at middle linebacker with James Laurinaitis, but they could stand to upgrade around him.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

How well can Jim Harbaugh coach up a quarterback?

When the 49ers' new coach needed a quarterback at Stanford, he recruited one. Andrew Luck set records and led the Cardinal to national prominence. Recruiting isn't a significant part of the equation in the NFL, so Harbaugh will have to settle for the best quarterback he can draft or otherwise acquire. He might even have to give Alex Smith a shot.

The 49ers will need Harbaugh to do what his recent predecessors could not: get good production from limited or flawed talent at the most important position.

Rich Gannon was well-established as an NFL quarterback when Harbaugh arrived as his position coach in Oakland for the 2002 season. The pairing reflected well on all parties. Gannon set career highs for completed passes, attempts, completion percentage, passing yards and passer rating. Gannon was already a good quarterback and the Raiders were already a good team, so it's tough to measure Harbaugh's impact.

Gannon is long since retired. Harbaugh is back in the NFL for the first time since the two were together on the Raiders in 2003. The 49ers don't have a legitimate starting quarterback under contract. Harbaugh has been meeting with Smith and keeping open his options. The stakes are high in the short term because the 49ers have enough talent elsewhere on their roster to compete for a playoff spot.

Outside expectations for Smith are so low that Harbaugh could appear heroic if he could get even a 9-7 record out of the 49ers with Smith in the lineup.

SEATTLE SEAHAWKS

How much more roster turnover lies ahead?

The Seahawks were fearless in overhauling their roster during their first year under general manager John Schneider and coach Pete Carroll.

The team added Marshawn Lynch, Leon Washington, Chris Clemons, Stacy Andrews, Tyler Polumbus, Kentwan Balmer, Kevin Vickerson, Robert Henderson and LenDale White, though Seattle parted with Vickerson, Henderson, White and 2009 regulars Deion Branch, Julius Jones, Owen Schmitt, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Josh Wilson, Lawrence Jackson, Rob Sims, Darryl Tapp, Deon Grant and Seneca Wallace. The Seahawks watched a couple other starters, Nate Burleson and Cory Redding, leave in free agency.

If those were the moves the Seahawks felt comfortable making right away, I figured there would be quite a few to come after the team's new leadership watched players for a full season. And there still could be, but similar wheeling and dealing could be impractical or even impossible if the current labor standoff continues deep into the offseason.

Teams cannot make trades without a new labor agreement. They cannot know for sure whether or not a salary cap will come into play as part of any new deal. It's just tough to act as decisively as Seattle acted last offseason without knowing the rules. That's a disadvantage for Seattle and other teams with much work to do this offseason.

I once heard Tom Donahoe, the former Buffalo Bills president and general manager, call quarterback Drew Bledsoe a future Pro Football Hall of Famer.

Then again, Donahoe used to say a lot of things.

I was reminded of this when taking a glance at players who will make their first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot for 2012.

Buffalo News reporter Mark Gaughan, who's on the Hall of Fame selection committee and last weekend was elected president of the Pro Football Writers Association, blogged the top newcomers to consider the next few years.

The lists are helpful in speculating when fan favorites such as Andre Reed and Curtis Martin will get their Canton calls. They both were finalists this year -- Reed for the fifth time, Martin for the first -- but weren't added to the 2011 induction class Saturday.

Perhaps that development was fitting for Martin because his coach with the New England Patriots and New York Jets will be on the ballot again. They could get in together in 2012.

Bill Parcells has been a finalist twice, but not since 2002 because rules for coaches changed. They now must wait five years from their last game to be eligible for induction, and Parcells returned to the sidelines with the Dallas Cowboys in 2003.

Is Parcells a Hall of Famer? I know Miami Dolphins fans aren't too thrilled with him these days, but he did add to an already remarkable legacy -- two championships, different teams to the Super Bowl, a few organizational turnarounds -- by guiding the Dolphins from 1-15 to the AFC East title as their football operations boss.

Also on the ballot next year will be Bledsoe, running backs Corey Dillon and Tiki Barber, fullback Mike Alstott, guard Will Shields and coaches Bill Cowher and Marty Schottenheimer.

Bledsoe had a fine career with the Patriots, Bills and Cowboys and ranks eighth all-time in passing yards. But he was a Pro Bowler only four times and never was first-team All-Pro. Bledsoe was helpful in getting the Patriots their first championship, so he does have a ring. But that was Tom Brady's team.

Dillon also was a four-time Pro Bowler and won a Super Bowl with the Patriots. He ranks 17th in rushing yards and never led the league in a major rushing category.

Schottenheimer played for the Bills and Patriots before winning 61 percent of his regular-season games as head coach of the Cleveland Browns, Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers. His 200 victories rank sixth all-time, but his 5-23 playoff record will hurt.

That group of first-time candidates -- plus the newcomers for 2013 -- bodes well for Reed. There won't be any new receivers for him to box out. He already has jockeyed ahead of contemporaries Cris Carter and Tim Brown by making the cut from 15 to 10 in the selection process the past two years. Carter and Brown haven't.

Gaughan highlighted first-year players for next few classes.

2013: Quarterback Vinny Testaverde, offensive linemen Larry Allen and Jonathan Ogden, defensive tackle Warren Sapp, defensive end Michael Strahan.

2014: Running back Shaun Alexander, receiver Marvin Harrison, linebacker Derrick Brooks, safety Rodney Harrison and coaches Tony Dungy, Jon Gruden and Mike Holmgren -- if they don't return to sideline work.

2015: Quarterback Kurt Warner, receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, tackles Orlando Pace and Walter Jones and linebacker Junior Seau.

ST. LOUIS -- Fred Robbins' sixth sack of the season Sunday gave the St. Louis Rams' veteran defensive tackle a career high at age 32.

It also highlighted the significant contributions St. Louis is getting from two defensive linemen thought to be past their primes.

Defensive end James Hall, 33, collected 1.5 sacks Sunday, giving him 10.0 for the season.

Hall joins a short list of players to reach double-digit sacks at that age since sacks became an official stat for the 1982 season. The others: Trace Armstrong, Rob Burnett, Richard Dent, Chris Doleman, William Fuller, Kevin Greene, Rickey Jackson, Leslie O'Neal, John Randle, Warren Sapp, Bruce Smith, Michael Strahan, Jason Taylor and Reggie White.

Robbins, signed in free agency from the New York Giants, joins Keith Traylor, Jeff Zgonina and former Ram Ray Agnew among defensive tackles to set career highs for sacks at age 32 or older in the free-agency era (since 1993). The Rams are not particularly deep at defensive tackle. Their defense would have a hard time holding up without Robbins, in my view.

The team needs to draft fresh talent at the position. In the meantime, Robbins is providing the steady play Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo sought when he reconnected with Robbins, a player he coached with the Giants.

Robbins has also set a career high with seven passes defensed.

Former New York Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, now with FOX, said Giants players should be "ashamed of themselves" following their fourth-quarter collapse against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. Strahan's good pal and former teammate, Justin Tuck, took exception to Strahan's comment Thursday while talking to reporters. Tuck first established that Strahan will always by "my guy." Then he pretty much went off on him:

"I just don’t understand how he can be on our -- and I’m not saying he’s not on our side -- but talking us up one day and then the next day say that,” Tuck said. "If I’m in that situation I might just close my mouth and not say nothing. But he’s entitled to his opinion and I’m entitled to not really care.

"I’m not ashamed and I don’t think anybody in this locker room should be ashamed. We played a great 52 minutes and it just wasn’t for us. Sometimes things happen and you have no explanation about it. And I don’t have any explanation. I’m not making any excuses. We played like crap those last 8 minutes, but I would never start saying things like that ain’t never happened to anybody else. I’m sure we lost a lot of games when Strahan was here, too."

Strahan made his comments while appearing on "The Dan Patrick Show." Tuck said he didn't plan to reach out to his former teammate anytime soon. We'll let you know if there are any developments.

It's hard to believe that only a month ago, both the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants were in the same boat. The Cowboys improved to 1-2 with what we thought was a turnaround performance against the Houston Texans while the Giants fell to 1-2 following an embarrassing 29-10 home loss to the Tennessee Titans.

From that point on, these teams have been polar opposites. The Giants have turned back the clock (to 2007) with a devastating pass rush that has fueled a three-game winning streak. And most important, of course, my pick to represent the NFC in the North Texas Super Bowl is back in play.

With a 1-4 record, the Cowboys' playoff hopes are hanging by a thread. Desperate times call for desperate owners walking into locker rooms and addressing their players. We've yet to obtain a transcript of Jerry Jones' inspirational message this week, but my gut tells me he went back to the (oil) well for one of his "I was once broke" stories that are best delivered at Jones family campfires -- in forests they own.

Through divine intervention (the NFL schedule maker), the Giants have two cracks at burying the Cowboys for good in the next four weeks. I've already set the ESPN.com record for consecutive obits on the Cowboys' season, but I think a loss to the Giants on Sunday would even make Jones, the Tony Robbins of the NFL, hang his head in resignation. I'm at a complete loss for why the Cowboys are three-point favorites to win this game. (Have four of their five games been blacked out in Vegas?)

On paper and on film, the Giants are the superior team. I would argue they have the best quarterback, running back and wide receiver (Hakeem Nicks) in the NFC East right now. And the arrival of Antrel Rolle and Deon Grant via free agency has turned a position of weakness (safety) into a strength. In the watered-down NFC, the Giants and Eagles have to be considered elite teams.

The Giants and Cowboys are both capable of shooting themselves in the foot (see Giants versus Titans), but Dallas has taken its self-inflicted mistakes to new levels. Coach Wade Phillips, a man who's always on the verge of quoting the favorable portions of his résumé, finally had to adopt the NCAA touchdown celebration rules following two infractions. It's sad when a grown man has to begin his team meetings by reminding players not to leap-frog or flash signs honoring their alma maters, or in Sam Hurd's case, rock 'n' roll.

The Cowboys have spent the week deluding themselves into seeing a 1-4 record as an ugly lie. How can a team that has outgained its opponents by 600 yards be in such a fix? The funny thing is, Giants coach Tom Coughlin was trotting out that "we were the better team" mess following the loss to the Titans.

The Giants had the good fortune to encounter Jay Cutler and his offensive line the following Sunday night and suddenly New York remembered what it was like to play dominant defense. Osi Umenyiora, who infamously threatened retirement this past offseason if he wasn't a starter in 2010, has seven sacks and six forced fumbles in the past three games. And those staggering totals have coincided with the loss of defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka to a neck injury. Kiwanuka is one of the most versatile defensive players in the game, but the Giants have somehow flourished in his absence. At least one Giants defensive lineman jokingly accused Umenyiora of padding his stats in recent weeks.

"One of the funniest things is we have been on Osi because we finally figured out why he always strips the ball ... so he never has to share a sack," defensive tackle Barry Cofield told ESPNNewYork.com. "We figured out Osi's plan and we have to figure out a way to combat that."

Perhaps players simply needed a little time to adjust to new defensive coordinator Perry Fewell's scheme. Some of you might recall the 2007 Super Bowl team starting 0-2 while Michael Strahan, Justin Tuck and Umenyiora adjusted to a new defensive coordinator named Steve Spagnuolo. A goal-line stand against the Redskins in Week 3 served as the springboard for a remarkable season.

I've heard the Cowboys point to the Giants' slow start in 2007 as a source of inspiration, but this team has probably dug itself too deep a hole to stage a dramatic turnaround. The Cowboys have looked so inept that Coughlin's in the unfamiliar position of trying to convince his players not to take them lightly.

"I'm not worried about records," Coughlin told reporters Thursday. "I just look at the tape and make my assessment of the team we're playing. As I said, they're 0-1 in the division. We haven't played yet."

I don't think getting up for this game will be a problem for a team that took great pride (and glee) in opening Cowboys Stadium with a road win last September. Even the empty quote known as Eli Manning took time to sign a wall in the visiting locker room that evening, although he continues to maintain that he was talked into it by a sneaky locker room attendant.

His signature has been painted over, but I bet that dastardly Eli will come armed with a Sharpie on Monday.