Q: How has Chad Pennington been so good for Miami? He was washed up when we let him go up here.
— Wayne Roberts, Hackensack, N.J.

A: I don’t think anyone who studied Pennington thought he was “washed up.” The issues with Pennington were arm strength and durability.

He is responding to good coaching and playing as well as he had in other spurts of his career. Now if Pennington can keep playing this well over a long period of time, I think a lot of NFL evaluators will be surprised.

Q: What happened to the Jaguars?! This is ridiculous!
— Malcolm, Orange Park, Fla.

A: The Jaguars tried, but failed, to solve their problems from a year ago, and in fact those problems have gotten worse. They still can’t rush the passer, and their whole defense suffers as a result.

Slideshow The '12th' man Check out some wild and crazy NFL fans supporting their teams. NBCSports.com

Ten individuals on other teams have more sacks than the entire Jacksonville defense. And they still can’t get the ball downfield. Their attempts at improving the wide receiver corps have fallen short, and we all might have been guilty of overrating David Garrard. Because the Jaguars struggle in the passing game, defenses have found it easy to stop the run.

Q: With the emergence of Steve Breaston, will the Cardinals be willing to ignore Anquan Boldin’s contract demands?
— Luke Wessel, Phoenix

A: The emergence of Breaston could make it logical for the Cardinals to try to trade Boldin at some point. You never want to get rid of a player as talented as Boldin, but he would bring big compensation in a trade, and the team might be better served with a few high draft picks along with more opportunity for Breaston — especially if Boldin is going to be unhappy in Arizona.

Q: Please explain the rules related to offensive alignments (i.e. when is a tackle an eligible receiver and why does he have to register? How many men must be on the line of scrimmage and can you have more?) Thanks.
— Ken, Columbia, Mary.

A: It’s all about the jersey numbers. Section 3, article 1 of the NFL rulebook states: “An offensive player wearing the number of an ineligible pass receiver (50-79 and 90-99) is permitted to line up in the position of an eligible pass receiver (1-49 and 80-89) … provided that he immediately reports the change in his eligibility status to the Referee, who will inform the defensive team.”

The offensive team must have seven or more players at the line upon snapping the ball.

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