Faceoff: The Warner vote; stick with McNabb; Lions GM hunt
CBSSports.com pro football writers Pete Prisco and Clark Judge face off weekly throughout the season.
Pete Prisco
Clark Judge
Pick one quarterback from the old-man's club right now: Jeff Garcia, Kerry Collins, Brett Favre, Kurt Warner.
I'll take Warner, but they're all playing good football. Warner is just playing the best. He is playing like he did when he won MVPs with the Rams. He's accurate and he understands what it takes to play the position. In a league where head spinning by quarterbacks has become a lost art, he's still good at going from one side of the field to the next. He is my MVP right now. The other three have all played good football as well. After Warner, I'd probably take Favre, then Collins, then Garcia. Or is it Collins, Favre and Garcia? That's tough. Favre played well against the Patriots last week, but he has 12 interceptions. Garcia is completing 69.6 percent of his passes, just behind Favre at 69.8. Collins is down the list at 59.0, but his team is undefeated. They're all jumbled together. Warner is clearly the man of this aging group. He's averaging 315 yards a game passing, has 20 touchdown passes and is completing 70.9 percent of his passes. That's amazing for a 37-year-old quarterback.
OK, I'll take the easy way out and go with Warner by a nose over Favre. Warner is in the midst of an MVP season, throwing nearly three times as many touchdown passes (20) as interceptions (7), completing 71 percent of his attempts and leading the league in passer rating. What I like most, though, is this: He has the Arizona Cardinals going to the playoffs. Think about that. The Arizona Friggin' Cardinals. I don't care that the NFC West is soft; he's accomplishing the improbable. And I'll take him over Favre only because I trust Warner not to throw critical interceptions. Both make big plays, but Favre is a gambler prone to big mistakes. I didn't think he would thrive in New York, and I was wrong. The guy's been terrific, but he gives you enough glimpses of Bad Brett to make you worry. Yeah, I know, critics will say Favre outdueled Warner earlier this year, but so what? I'm looking at the big picture here, and the big picture tells me to trust Warner more right now -- right now -- and wasn't that the question?
Is it time for Andy Reid to sit Donovan McNabb?
No. McNabb might not know there are ties in the NFL, showing his lack of league knowledge, but the Eagles still have a chance to make the playoffs. That means McNabb stays. If the Eagles get eliminated, Reid might have a tough call. Does he go to Kevin Kolb, a young player the Eagles like, or do you stay with the veteran passer? The calls in Philadelphia have been to sit McNabb, but he hasn't played that badly: He's fourth in passing yards per game at 271.1 and he has 14 touchdown passes to eight interceptions, but three of those picks came last week in the tie with the Bengals. His accuracy has been off as he's completing just 59.4 percent of his passes, which is the low among passers rated in the top 10 in yards passing. Some of that has to do with missing his receivers for much of the season. As long as the Eagles are still alive, McNabb should stay.
Are you kidding me? The Eagles are a half-game out of second place in the NFC East, for crying out loud. So McNabb stunk against Cincinnati. This is no time to go stupid. I know the Eagles are high on backup Kevin Kolb, but he only gets a shot if and when the Eagles are out of the playoff picture ... and they're far from out of it right now. There is a "sky is falling" mentality in Philadelphia, with outraged fans crying for Reid's ouster and McNabb's benching. Relax, people. Irate fans wanted the coach and quarterback gone from the New York Giants after two games a year ago, and look what happened. Playoff runs start right about now, so give McNabb and the Eagles a chance. I know they don't look like a playoff team, but the Steelers didn't, either, in 2005 when they were sitting at 7-5. Yet they won the Super Bowl.
What's the first thing you would do to fix the Detroit Lions?
I'd find a good football man who has made his bones in scouting. When the Falcons went looking for a general manager, they didn't pick a pencil pusher. They hired Thomas Dimitroff, regarded as a top-notch college scout. That's what the Lions need. They tried pulling somebody from the broadcast booth, and that was a disaster. Matt Millen's bad drafts crippled the roster. That's why a general manager with a strong college draft background is needed, somebody like Cardinals director of player personnel Steve Keim. He is a sharp talent evaluator who gets rave reviews from other teams' scouts. He is liked inside the Cardinals building, but with Rod Graves making the football decisions, Keim is blocked. If he's hired, the Lions could add a numbers guy and let Keim handle the football operations. Some other good football men who might warrant a look are Ravens director of pro personnel George Kokinas, Ravens college scouting director Eric DeCosta, and Gene Smith, the Jaguars director of pro and college scouting. Another one to consider: Ron Hill. He did a nice job when he ran the Falcons and he's now working in the league office.
Hire a general manager. If I'm William Ford, I'm not worried about my team going 0-16. Who cares? What matters is getting this mess straightened out, so I'm not focused on this season; I'm in the middle of a comprehensive search for the right man to raise the Titanic. That's why Ford and his minions should be compiling a short list of candidates and interviewing them as soon as possible. I'd want a general manager in place by the end of this season so I can get on with firing Rod Marinelli and hiring my next head coach. That, of course, is just the beginning because a new GM has only one job in Detroit, and that's to blow up the organization and start over. Coaches, players, staff ... no one should be safe. But nothing happens until the Lions find a general manager to put down a map for the club to follow.
I'll take Warner, but they're all playing good football. Warner is just playing the best. He is playing like he did when he won MVPs with the Rams. He's accurate and he understands what it takes to play the position. In a league where head spinning by quarterbacks has become a lost art, he's still good at going from one side of the field to the next. He is my MVP right now. The other three have all played good football as well. After Warner, I'd probably take Favre, then Collins, then Garcia. Or is it Collins, Favre and Garcia? That's tough. Favre played well against the Patriots last week, but he has 12 interceptions. Garcia is completing 69.6 percent of his passes, just behind Favre at 69.8. Collins is down the list at 59.0, but his team is undefeated. They're all jumbled together. Warner is clearly the man of this aging group. He's averaging 315 yards a game passing, has 20 touchdown passes and is completing 70.9 percent of his passes. That's amazing for a 37-year-old quarterback. 
OK, I'll take the easy way out and go with Warner by a nose over Favre. Warner is in the midst of an MVP season, throwing nearly three times as many touchdown passes (20) as interceptions (7), completing 71 percent of his attempts and leading the league in passer rating. What I like most, though, is this: He has the Arizona Cardinals going to the playoffs. Think about that. The Arizona Friggin' Cardinals. I don't care that the NFC West is soft; he's accomplishing the improbable. And I'll take him over Favre only because I trust Warner not to throw critical interceptions. Both make big plays, but Favre is a gambler prone to big mistakes. I didn't think he would thrive in New York, and I was wrong. The guy's been terrific, but he gives you enough glimpses of Bad Brett to make you worry. Yeah, I know, critics will say Favre outdueled Warner earlier this year, but so what? I'm looking at the big picture here, and the big picture tells me to trust Warner more right now -- right now -- and wasn't that the question? 
No. McNabb might not know there are ties in the NFL, showing his lack of league knowledge, but the Eagles still have a chance to make the playoffs. That means McNabb stays. If the Eagles get eliminated, Reid might have a tough call. Does he go to Kevin Kolb, a young player the Eagles like, or do you stay with the veteran passer? The calls in Philadelphia have been to sit McNabb, but he hasn't played that badly: He's fourth in passing yards per game at 271.1 and he has 14 touchdown passes to eight interceptions, but three of those picks came last week in the tie with the Bengals. His accuracy has been off as he's completing just 59.4 percent of his passes, which is the low among passers rated in the top 10 in yards passing. Some of that has to do with missing his receivers for much of the season. As long as the Eagles are still alive, McNabb should stay. 
Are you kidding me? The Eagles are a half-game out of second place in the NFC East, for crying out loud. So McNabb stunk against Cincinnati. This is no time to go stupid. I know the Eagles are high on backup Kevin Kolb, but he only gets a shot if and when the Eagles are out of the playoff picture ... and they're far from out of it right now. There is a "sky is falling" mentality in Philadelphia, with outraged fans crying for Reid's ouster and McNabb's benching. Relax, people. Irate fans wanted the coach and quarterback gone from the New York Giants after two games a year ago, and look what happened. Playoff runs start right about now, so give McNabb and the Eagles a chance. I know they don't look like a playoff team, but the Steelers didn't, either, in 2005 when they were sitting at 7-5. Yet they won the Super Bowl. 
Hire a general manager. If I'm William Ford, I'm not worried about my team going 0-16. Who cares? What matters is getting this mess straightened out, so I'm not focused on this season; I'm in the middle of a comprehensive search for the right man to raise the Titanic. That's why Ford and his minions should be compiling a short list of candidates and interviewing them as soon as possible. I'd want a general manager in place by the end of this season so I can get on with firing Rod Marinelli and hiring my next head coach. That, of course, is just the beginning because a new GM has only one job in Detroit, and that's to blow up the organization and start over. Coaches, players, staff ... no one should be safe. But nothing happens until the Lions find a general manager to put down a map for the club to follow. 
