Q: What do you think it would take for Minnesota to acquire Marc Bulger or similar quality quarterback to get their offense going? Don't they really need better wide receivers, too? It just doesn't seem like their offense can be anything but okay without a better quarterback and a better receiving corps.
— Don, Brentwood, Calif.

A: The Vikings clearly need to address their quarterback situation long-term, but the time to do it is the offseason.

It's tough to bring in a quarterback at this point of the year and expect him to learn a new offense well enough to execute it on a playoff caliber team. Plus, the Vikings will have more options in the offseason. Not many teams were looking to dump proven quarterbacks in October.

As for Bulger, it's hard to put a value on him at this point. In the past, he has been a Pro Bowl level performer. This season he has been below average. If I were running the Rams, I'd expect a first round draft pick in return to trade him. If I were trying to acquire him, I'd only want to give a second or third rounder.

Q: Do you think Sean Payton will be coaching the Saints for long? After the dismal play of the Saints the last [four of the last] three games -- penalties, turnovers, horrible play calling at key moments in the game -- the fans are quite fed up with him. Its seems like he does not know how to run a balanced football team.
— P. Lin, Richmond, Va.

A: I think Payton is a fine coach and the Saints are lucky to have him. And I believe Saints management agrees with me. Anytime a team loses, it's easy to blame the head coach for everything that goes wrong.

I'll tell you this — if Payton were to be fired tomorrow, there would be a line of teams around the block ready to hire him.

Q: Do you think the Packers are feeling the post-Favre blues or was this bound to happen after a great year last year and a harder schedule?
— John Freeman, Los Angeles.

A: The quarterback has not been the problem in Green Bay, as much as many of us suspected it might be. The Packers problems have come mainly from their inability to run the ball consistently or stop the run. All that being said, let's not write off the Packers just yet.

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They are currently in first place in a wide open NFC North and have only lost three games. Like almost every other team in the league this year, they can get on a roll and emerge as a strong contender down the stretch.

Q: It certainly seems that any combo of the ‘Skins, Giants, or (hopefully not) Cowboys will have the best two records in the NFC. Can two of these three get a bye week or does it have to go to a division winner and not a "wild card" team?
— Hirsch, Washington, D.C.

A: A team has to win its division to get a bye, so only one team from the NFC East would be off the first week of the playoffs. Then again, don't be so sure two teams from the East will have the two best records in the conference. As it stands now, four other teams in the conference have the same number of wins as the top three teams in the East, and five teams have one fewer win.

Besides, those NFC East teams are going to beat each other up.

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