Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
Shane from Tempe, Ariz., writes: Hey Mike... What do you think the chances are of the Cards winning a road playoff game? They still haven't beaten a winning team on the road this season.
Mike Sando: On the surface, I don't like their chances in a road playoff game. But I do think Arizona would be a dangerous team for anyone to face. The Cardinals are going to get one home playoff game. That means they would already have a playoff victory under their belts before heading out onto the road. The pressure would be off.
The divisional-round opponent would have been idle for the wild-card round. Perhaps that team would be a little tight. Perhaps that team wouldn't match up very well. Ken Whisenhunt is an aggressive, unapologetic coach and I think the players are the same way. The Cardinals do not appear to be the type of team to shy away from a challenge.
Andrew from Cave Creek, Ariz., writes: Sando, you are being pretty diplomatic on this whole Edge-release story. So I'll do the talking for you a bit, if you don't mind. What is it with this moron James who wants to be released when his team is ready to clinch the division? People quickly forget he left the Colts for free agent boku dollars (to come to the Cardinals) and then the Colts went on to win the Super Bowl the next year. Now he wants to leave when the team he is with is #2 in the league in offense and has a solid shot at home in the postseason. Is he crazy? I mean, maybe he should go - maybe it's a good omen! I mean I know his creepy agent has to make such requests, but what a gamble! What if he went to the seahawks or some lousy team like that? Ugh terrible.
Mike Sando: I also though Edgerrin James' timing could have been a lot better. I understand why he's frustrated. He could defensibly look at the other running backs on the team and wonder what any of them has ever accomplished. But to come out and ask for a release, and then to have your agent talk about it at length in public?
Chris from Tempe, Ariz., writes: Hey Sando, great job on all the info and analysis you provide. Last night my brother and I were talking about the Cards passing attack and how Warner will need to make quick decisive throws against this Giants D. How much of a factor do you see Hightower and JJ becoming in this game catching out of the backfield?
Mike Sando: That depends to a degree on how many receivers are on the field and whether the Cardinals need to keep the back home for pass protection. I still see Warner targeting his wide receivers most of the time.
Bobby from Atlanta writes: First, I agree with your assessment of
Patrick Willis, and the Niners defense as a whole. I think this can partly be attributed to loss of
Bryant Young. Not only was he a steady performer on the D-Line, but his leadership and work-ethic were unparalleled.
Even with the addition of Justin Smith, I don't think the Niners have filled that leadership void on defense. Second, I feel that the Niners' defense will never truly turn the corner until they get an impact nose tackle (if they're going to be a 3-4 team, they never seem to make up their minds) and better play from their safeties. Neither Michael Lewis nor Mark Roman can cover -- I don't know how many times I've seen them get beat this season. I'm hoping Dashon Goldson gets healthy, when he plays, he always seems to be around the ball.
Finally, how do you feel about the QB situation in San Fran? I know Shaun Hill plays with guts and is competitive (see his helmet-less dive for the first down against Arizona on MNF), but I just don't feel he's the long-term solution. Do you think the Niners will pursue a QB in the upcoming draft? They'll most likely have a relatively high draft pick, but I think they may be gun-shy about taking a QB in the first round after their problems with Alex Smith (which is a whole other story). What do you think? Where do you think they need the most help?
Mike Sando: I agree with your assessments and I do expect the 49ers to address the quarterback position in the offseason. They would prefer not to draft one early and they very much want to avoid throwing a rookie onto the field as the starter right away. They did that with Alex Smith. In a perfect world, the 49ers would acquire a veteran capable of getting them through a year or two, at which point a younger prospect might take over the job.
Greg from Wilmington, N.C., writes: With the season pretty much a wash for us faithful Seahawk fans. What do you see in store for the Seahawks i.e. resting injuried players so they can evaluate other players. Also, what sort of changes do you see in the near future with them changing coaches?
Mike Sando: I don't see Mike Holmgren playing a bunch of youngsters down the stretch, in part because a lot of those youngsters have played already. The defense without Patrick Kerney ranks fifth-youngest in the league entering Week 12 games.
Staff-wise, I expect Jim Mora to hire some of his own assistants this offseason. I expect Seattle to become more aggressive defensively and more of a running team on offense.
Chris from Washington, D.C., writes: Mike, thanks for all your work on the blog, I've read you since the beginning of Seahawks Insider. As a Seahawks fan, I am already looking for other things to do with our time. Do you have any suggestions for football related reading to put on my Christmas list? I loved Blindside (maybe Oher to Seattle in April:), and I'm looking to learn more about game planning and the inside of the game.
Mike Sando: You're welcome. Thanks for the support. I haven't read a ton of football books over the years, but two stand out as ones I enjoyed. David Maraniss' When Pride Still Mattered opened a window into the life and times of Vince Lombardi. A great read. I also enjoyed the book Michael Strahan authored last year. That one provided some funny stories and a look at how much things have changed since Lombardi's time.
Strategy-wise, I once spent quite a bit of time at westcoastoffense.com, but the site went away without much fanfare at some point over the last few years. If anyone knows what happened to that site or if its materials are available elsewhere, please let us know.
You can find quite a bit of coaching-related stuff online. I like this site, too.
You might also look into coaching clinics in your area. I've signed up for them in years past and tried to absorb what various major college coaches were explaining to coaches from the high school ranks.
Casey from Camano Island, Wash., writes: Sando, I keep having this random hair-brained idea pop in to my head. Everybody around the UW, former players, fans, boosters, etc. really want to see them bring in Jim Mora to coach the team.
Lawyer Milloy has said he want's Mora in an article and Cam Cleeland went as far as saying no other coaching hire would get him excited. I know he's locked in to the Seahawks job right now, but there is a certain large jawed coach that broke our heart in in Super Bowl XL. Is there any way the Seahawks let Mora go and pursue Bill Cowher? Do you think Cowher would be interested?
Mike Sando: I don't see the Seahawks' management going that route. Tim Ruskell wanted Mora all along. Hiring someone such as Bill Cowher would probably require handing over some personnel control. I'm thinking Ruskell isn't looking to go that route.
Machiavellie821 from Renton, Wash., writes: Mike, I thought your analysis of Ruskell in response to several emails were balanced. I agreed with you that he was instrumental in getting the Hawks to the Super Bowl.
However, your analysis did not evaluate his recent drafts, which I think he has failed miserably. The defensive line couldn't put a pass rush on the opponent's QB and CBs are physically overmatched. He brought in Baraka Atkins, Tapp, Jackson, and Mebane for the d-line, and Jennings and Wilson for CBs.
With the exception of Mebane, and possibly Wilson, they all stink. They are too undersized but do not have any special speed to compensate for it. Tapp and Jennings are examples of that. Tapp doesn't have an explosive first step to get around the tackles. Jennings is way too skinny. Yet, he wasted a 2nd and 1st round picks on Tapp and Jennings, respectively.
Same story with the offense. Spencer, Sims, and Wrotto are complete busts. Obomanu and Taylor are no more than practice squad players. Even if Branch had turned out to be an okay player, Ruskell got ripped off by the Patriots. He outbidded himself by giving up a 1st round when no other team besides the Jets wanted to trade for him, but NE was not going to trade him to a division opponent.
As fans, we got so excited to see people give out good grades about your team on draft day. I am guilty of this too. But it takes a couple years to evaluate the success of the picks. Time has shown that Ruskell has drafted poorly. Those poor decisions have finally showed up on the field. However, this year is not the end of it. The Hawks will continue to pay for them for the next couple years in rebuilding the d and o-lines, and receiving corps. You mentioned the Rams. Look at how they have fallen to where they are now. A couple years of bad drafts at O-line and cornerback. I agreed Holmgren was not that good of a GM. I don't miss listening to his BS about Robinson, Stevens, and Alexander As recent as Wednesday, he argued that Alexander can still play. With those type of comments, I am glad he is not our GM now. However, he was able to build an offense that became dominant.
Ruskell puts a lot of draft picks and money into the defense. But it is not even among the top 15 in the league. Ruskell used to go onto Q13 pregame show during the home games and professed about how things were done in Tampa. It was very frustrating for me to listen to him because I thought he took too much credit for their success. Given how Ruskell has built the defense in Seattle, we now know that Jerry Angelo and Monte Kiffin are mostly responsible for Tampa's success, and not Ruskell.
It is even more frustrating because he just totally disappears during this losing stretch. I haven't seen him on the pregame shows the last couple of home games. Anyway, I am disappointed that Seattle sports writers and talk shows hosts have brought the spotlight on Ruskell. Maybe they just disagree with me. I like to know what you think about my takes on Ruskell. Thanks, Mike.
Mike Sando: We will find out starting next season. Everything is on Ruskell at that point. As time has passed, I think it's fair to wonder how much Ruskell's personnel has matched what Mike Holmgren and John Marshall are doing scheme-wise. The points you raise might come to pass. I'll give Ruskell until this time next season before drawing more definitive judgments. We need to see players hitting stride under the Ruskell-hired coaching staff.
All hope is not lost. Five of the seven players up front on defense should be top players. Kerney, Mebane, Lofa Tatupu, Leroy Hill and Julian Peterson. Ruskell brought all five of them to Seattle. Kerney's healthy will tell us how that front four pans out, in my view. Rocky Bernard hasn't been the same this season (making me wonder how much Chuck Darby had to do with pushing him). I think Bernard will be gone in 2009.
Sando joined ESPN.com in 2007 after nine seasons covering the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma (Wash.) News Tribune. He lives in the Seattle-Tacoma area with his wife and two sons.
