The Steelers want to be disrespected.  They want to be doubted.  They want to be dilatory.  (Sorry, we couldn't think of another word starting with "d" that would fit the theme.)

The point is that the Steelers have been fueled by those who picked against them.  Never mind the fact that many league observers thought that the Steelers would beat the Bengals two weeks ago in the wild card round (we initially did, and then we didn't).  The big one came a week ago, when no one without pierogie guts clogging their arteries thought the Steelers had a chance to enter the RCA Dome and kick the SHT out of the Colts.

What's that, you say?  It was a close game?  Bull.  It was 21-10 when Taz made the pick that wasn't a pick that really was a pick.  We'll project the real final score, given the NFL's admission of Pete Morelli's faux poo, to be 24-10.

This week, the Steelers face another quality foe on the road.  And, unfortunately for the team that wants to play with a chip on its shoulder, Pittsburgh's performance against Indy has made some folks believe that the Steelers will win in Denver.

We don't think it'll happen.  (Cough, cough.)

We think that Jake Plummer will come up big again, as he always has, in high-pressure, high-stakes games, with lots of yards, a few touchdowns, and no mistakes.  (Eye bulge.)

We think that the defensive line made up of former turds from a team named for the color thereof will play like the Fearsome Foursome, the Purple People Eaters, Doomsday, and the Steel Curtain all slapped into one big pile of run-stuffing, quarterback-chasing goo.  (Facial twitch.)

We think that Jerome Bettis will fumble a few more times in Denver, just as he did at the goal line last week.  (Sneeze/fart combo.)

We don't think that the Steelers will be able to figure out how to neutralize the blitz-happy schemes of Denver defensive coordinator Larry Coyer.  After all, the Steelers under coach Bill Cowher really don't have a history of using creative and complex blitz packages, so how could Cowher be in a position to figure out how to move the ball under such circumstances?  (We can't think of any more bodily functions that connote sarcasm.)

We don't think that the Steelers will put together a blitz package of their own that will allow them to confuse Plummer and disrupt his hot reads.

We don't think that Troy Polamalu will have much of an impact.

Yeah, we don't think it's going to be a good day for the Steelers.  We think they shouldn't have even shown up.  We think they'll ultimately wish they hadn't.

For all these reasons, Broncos win, 41-10.

Yeah, that's our pick.  Broncos, 41-10.  Not Steelers, 24-13.  But Broncos, 41-10.

PHONY RAMS RUMOR FLOATED ON SAUNDERS?

Earlier this week, we reported on rumors making the rounds that former Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders said that he was holding an offer to become the next head coach of the Raiders in order to squeeze a contract worth more than $2 million out of Dan Snyder to become the Redskins' offensive coordinator.

Our old friend Howard Balzer, who covers the St. Louis Rams, tells us that there was a published report that the Rams planned to interview Saunders for their head coaching vacancy.  The report, per Balzer, was "totally bogus."  The Rams already had three finalists when the story broke, and there was never an intention to interview Saunders.

So what gives?  It looks to us like another effort by Saunders and/or his agent, Bob Lamonte, to create buzz and/or leverage.  Given that Saunders will make more than $2 million a year over three years in D.C., the ploy (if there was one) apparently worked.

FREE BEER ON SPORTS REPORTERS SET?

We'll admit that we watch, when we can, ESPN's The Sports Reporters.  It really doesn't add much to the national discourse of matters of sport, but it's mildly entertaining, even when Mike Lupica is talking.

We can't remember ever mentioning the show in this here space before, but we're compelled to do so after seeing a bizarre editing job in the early minutes of the January 22 show.  It was, frankly, the kind of thing that would have looked goofy even on local cable access.

The opening shot was of John Saunders flanked by Mitch Albom, Lupica, and some guy we didn't recognize.  The guy turned out to be Michael Kay of the YES network and ESPN 1050.  He gave his opening sentence or two, and then the ball passed to Lupica.

After Lupica was done, it passed to Albom.  But Albom's face, in mid-sentence, was replaced by an image of Jason Whitlock, who even Ray Charles wouldn't have mistaken for Albom.  Whitlock's voice eventually was heard, as he was in the middle of his show-starting salvo. 

Second later, the shot reverted to, from left to right, Albom, Kay, Saunders, Lupica.  And then it abruptly faded into a shot, from left to right, of Whitlock, Albom, Saunders, Lupica.

But the weirdness wasn't over.  Next, Lupica screwed up a line, apologized for it, and then the shot promptly cut to Lupica talking about something else.

What the hell gives here?  ESPN is a major network now, not the 1980 version that showed tiddly winks and backyard trout fishing.

The only explanation we can come up with is alcohol. 

SUNDAY MORNING ONE-LINERS

The Packers have promoted defensive line coach Bob Sanders to defensive coordinator (makes sense to us, given how strong his unit performed last year).

From the "Hey Peyton, the Window of Opportunity Has Officially Closed on Your Squared-Off Noggin" file, Mike Chappell of The Indianapolis Star thinks that the Colts won't re-sign RB Edgerrin James.

New Rams coach Scott Linehan is talking like he wants to get Marshall Faulk's autograph.

Tony Grossi of The Cleveland Plain Dealer says that the Browns might have named offensive line coach Jeff Davidson the team's "assistant head coach" in order to keep him from leaving to become an offensive coordinator elsewhere -- but the reality is that, as long as Davidson is under contract as an assistant coach of any kind, the Browns don't have to grant permission for him to interview for anything other than a head coaching job.

The Falcons plan to interview Rams offensive coordinator Steve Fairchild for the position of quarterbacks coach in Atlanta (hey, Steve, be sure to bring your dunce cap if you get the job).

Pats director of college scouting Tom Dimitroff will interview for the non-G.M. player personnel position in Minnesota.

Not-so-thinly-veiled NFL Network homers Rod Woodson and Terrell Davis will be permitted, without further undermining their own "journalistic" integrity, to wave their Terrible Towel and do the Mile High salute, respectively, at AFC title game.

Colts president Bill Polian promises to address a long-term deal for DE Dwight Freeney "soon."

Giants G.M. Ernie Accorsi campaigned for defensive coordinator Tim Lewis get a head coaching job -- yeah, because the Soup Nazi wants to replace Lewis with Dom Capers.

The fact that we were 1-3 picking games in the divisional round hasn't deterred us from giving the conference championship games a whirl.

First up, the NFC.

The easy answer to the question of whether the Seahawks will reduce the list of franchises that have never been to the Super Bowl from seven to six is "no freakin' way," since we picked the Panthers to make it to the championship round way back in September.  (We also picked the Raiders but, well, a little thing called "reality" got in the way.)

Then there's the analysis we used a week ago to figure out that the Panthers would beat the Bears.  We looked at what the Panthers had done to the Giants in a wild card game at the Meadowlands, and we concluded that there's no way the Bears could do the same thing.  We picked the Panthers by seven, and they won by eight.

Applying that same patented formula to the NFC title game, there's no way that the 'Hawks could beat the Bears in Chicago, and Seattle needed all it could muster to beat the Giants during the regular season.  Advantage, Caroleena.

Delving beyond the obvious and the superficial, we believe that the Seahawks managed to capitalize on a subpar schedule in 2005.  They went 1-2 during the regular season against playoff teams, and a whopping eight of their wins came against teams like the 49ers, Cardinals, Rams, and Texans. 

Sure, the 'Hawks held serve against this six-pack of coffee cakes, but it's hardly the kind of thing that translates into a sure victory against a team like the Panthers.

Of course, Carolina was a mere 2-2 during the regular season against playoffs teams, and the Panthers otherwise fattened up on its fair share of Pop Tarts.

But the Panthers have stepped it up when it matters most, with three straight convincing road wins to cap the regular season and kick off the playoffs. 

They also have the experience in big games, given their Super Bowl appearance two seasons ago.  They earned that berth by winning on the road in the conference championship game, at Philadelphia.

Though, like every team, the roster has changed somewhat in the past two years, the Panthers still have much of the nucleus that carried them to Super Bowl XXXVIII:  Jake Delhomme, Steve Smith, Julius Peppers, Dan Morgan, Mike Rucker, Mike Minter, etc.  And they've upgraded with guys like Chris Gamble, Ken Lucas, Mike Wahle, and Thomas Davis.

They also have the best player in the league right now in Smith, who is having one the most fascinating playoffs runs for a pass-catcher in NFL history, especially since he's less than 70 inches tall. 

Smith is unstoppable, and no matter how the Seahawks try to cover him they won't be able to shut him down.  So whether it's by air, ground, or return, he'll get his touches, and he'll make things happen.

We're not dissuaded by the fact that Carolina's top two tailbacks are out for the year with injury.  Current starter Nick Goings has been effective in relief over the years, and he'll move the chains if the Panthers get the ball to him when the Seahawks are otherwise obsessed with stopping Smith.

When Seattle has the ball, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will be distributing it to three guys who are dinged up -- receivers Bobby Engram and Darrell Jackson and running back Shaun Alexander, who was erratic in last Saturday's win over the Redskins before he got loopified by linebacker LaVar Arrington.  Some think that Alexander could go AWOL with a Super Bowl appearance on the line, and we doubt that quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will be able to beat the Panthers defense through the air.

Bottom line -- Carolina wins convincingly, 27-10. 

Still to come, we'll try to figure out what will go down at the new Mile High in the early game.  For now, the only thing we're relatively sure about is that Steelers linebacker Joey Porter won't be shot in the ass during his current visit to Denver.  Beyond that, who the hell knows?

FINS WANTS FORMER BILLS COACH

The Miami Dolphins could end up far better off as a result of offensive coordinator Scott Linehan's departure to accept the head coaching job in St. Louis.  The Fins have offered Linehan's former position to former Bills coach Mike Mularkey, who resigned under odd circumstances nine days ago.

Mularkey, if he accepts, brings to the table the benefit of two years of knowledge of the Buffalo roster, and two years' experience game planning twice a year against the Jets, Pats -- and Dolphins.

Apart from Mularkey's credentials as an offensive coordinator with the Steelers, which got him his shot in Buffalo, Mularkey was regarded as a solid coach in his first season with the Bills.  The wheels fell off, however, in 2005.  Though it appeared that Mularkey would get one more year to turn it around, he quit a week after Marv Levy returned to the franchise as the new G.M., replacing Tom Donahoe.

And if Mularkey lands in South Florida, he likely won't make much less than he was earning with the Bills.  Mularkey was paid $1 million in Buffalo, and Linehan got $800,000 last year from the Fins.

KING CARL SAYS NO PROMISES MADE TO SAUNDERS

Chiefs G.M. Carl Peterson denies that he promised former offensive coordinator Al Saunders that he'd be named the successor to Dick Vermeil when Saunders passed on an opportunity to take over the Nebraska Cornhuskers two years ago.

"I'm telling you he wasn't,” said Peterson, according to The Kansas City Sate.  "Dick Vermeil will verify that.  Al Saunders should verify that.  I couldn't do that for a number of reasons. No. 1, I owe it to the Hunt family to find . . . the best prospect for being the next football coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.  The second part of that is that there's no way I could promise him that because we have a very important diversity policy in the National Football League.  I adhere to that, I support it."

Actually, Peterson could have promised the job to Saunders upon Vermeil's departure without violating the Rooney Rule.  It's the only exception to the requirement that a minority candidate be interviewed for each coaching job.

Regardless, Vermeil backed up his former boss's claim that no promises were made to Saunders.

"He told him he would be a leading candidate," Vermeil said.  "He told him he would be the first to interview or the leading interview or whatever those terms were.  I was sitting right there.  There were no promises made.  Carl never said that."

Peterson said that Her Edwards was his first choice, and that Saunders would have received strong consideration for the job, along with former Giants coach Jim Fassel, if Edwards had not been available or interested.

COYER PULLS A LAZARUS

One of the forgotten facts in the Broncos' stellar season is that defensive coordinator Larry Coyer was in serious danger of getting fired in September.

After a Week One loss to the Dolphins, there were grumblings from the locker room regarding Coyer's predictable schemes.  We even learned that the Fins knew what the Denver "D" planned to do on most if not all plays based on film study. 

It was so bad, so we heard, that Coach Teflon (who'll likely become Coach Kevlar if he wins another Super Bowl) had a list of replacements ready to go.  Coyer saves his cujones when the defense woke up in the second half of Week Two and avoided an 0-2 start by helping the team beat the Chargers.

Since then, Coyer and the Broncos have exploded on a defensive unit that is an unpredictable now as it was predictable in the season-opening loss at Miami.

It's a stunning turnaround about which no one is talking, given that Coach Teflon angrily denied reports that Coyer had been on thin ice, calling yours truly a "complete idiot" (Tef must have been talking to Mrs. Florio).

'DINGER DISPUTE LIKELY NOT ABOUT THE MONEY

Gary Myers of The New York Daily News suggests that the current brouhaha between the Jets and offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger might be about the money.  If Heimerdinger had been fired, the Jets would be on the hook for the difference between 'Dinger's $1 million salary in 2006 and $1.2 million salary in 2007 and the money he'd earn coaching elsewhere.  If he quits, he gets nothing.

But think this through, Gary.  Heimerdinger has made it clear that he wants to quit.  The issue isn't whether he leaves with a fatter wallet, but whether the Jets will release him from his legal obligations.  If anything, the Jets might be able to squeeze the 'Dinger's donger in order to get back some of his 2005 salary in exchange for a waiver of the team's contract rights.

Many believe that Heimerdinger wants out so that he can become the next offensive coordinator of the Broncos, after Gary Kubiak takes the head coaching job with the Texans.  'Dinger claimed earlier this week that the Denver gig isn't open, officially making him the only person getting paid to work for an NFL team not to acknowledge that Kubiak-to-Houston is a done deal.

But, hey, given the way the Jets voluntarily removed their scalps and handed them over to the Chiefs when the time came for Herm Edwards to be carried away to K.C., our guess is that if 'Dinger plays his cards right, he might be able to finagle a premature release of his contract and a little extra walkin' around money.

BUCS SAY NO TO BARRY

With Bucs defensive line coach Rod Marinelli heading to Detroit to become the head coach of the Lions, Tampa has denied a request to permit linebackers coach Joe Barry to become Marinelli's defensive coordinator.

Though Tampa's stance as to Barry, who has one year left on his contract, isn't unusual for the Bucs, the difference here is that Barry is Marinelli's son-in-law.

We're not suggesting that the folks in Tampa should have coughed up their contractual rights, but we think that the team's hard-headed approach to such matters could, at some point, make it harder to land assistant coaches.  Really, if a guy has another option, why would he go to a team that under no circumstances would permit him to attempt to improve his standing in the coaching industry?

And if the Bucs are going to tell a guy that he can't join his father-in-law, couldn't the Bucs at least have enough class to, you know, tell him about it directly?  In this case, Barry found out about the team's stance from a reporter.

As a result, the Buccaneers now have a guy under contract for a year who will have less of an incentive to go above and beyond the call of duty.  "I was hoping they'd see it as a unique situation. It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me and now it's all for naught," Barry said.

Allow us to step away from the growing throng of folks who already have declared the hiring of former Bucs defensive line coach Rod Marinelli to be a "home run" in Motown and utter a phrase to which military types like Marinelli surely can relate.

"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it."

We say this because Marinelli reminds several league insiders of the last Sgt. York-type who decided to apply principles of the battle field to an NFL practice field. 

Les Steckel.  Minnesota Vikings.  1984.

Steckel was the hand-picked successor to Hall of Famer Bud Grant.  A Vietnam veteran, Steckel was a disciplinarian who installed an obstacle course at training camp.

The team responded with a 3-13 season, despite having essentially the same players who went 8-8 under Grant in 1983, and 7-9 in 1985 after Grant returned for a season in an effort to reverse the damage that Steckel had inflicted on the franchise.

Though Marinelli, also a Vietnam vet, likely won't turn minicamp into boot camp, the Lions can count on something far more demanding than the training camps they've seen in years past.

"I believe in pad practices," Marinelli said Thursday.

As one league insider said on Friday, "Sure, they'll be disciplined.  They'll be the most disciplined 3-13 team in NFL history."  

As we see it, if pro football players didn't respond well to the jarhead thing 22 years ago, they won't respond to it any better now.

The only difference today is that, thanks to free agency, the Lions can try to reshape the roster with players who are more likely to buy in to Marinelli's style.  But it's not something that can happen overnight.  Or in a year.  Or two.

The problem is that there are plenty of turds in the Lions locker room -- and most of them aren't in the latrines.  Charles Rogers won't last.  Plenty of others will want out of town.

And what does all of this mean for quarterback Joey Harrington?  We won't ask.  And we don't expect the Lions to tell.

As to the praise heaped on the Lions by some members of the media for hiring Marinelli, why haven't these same people been mentioning Marinelli as a potential head coaching candidate at any point in the past five, six, seven years?  The guy wasn't an unknown.  And surely some other team took an initial look-see at Marinelli after another Tampa defensive position coach, Herm Edwards, performed relatively well as the head coach of the Jets following his arrival in 2001.

Chris Mortensen of ESPN, in an article regarding the Marinelli hire, quotes folks like Bucs defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, former Bucs coach Tony Dungy, and former Bucs G.M. Rich McKay, all of whom rave about Marinelli.

"Some guys are born to be assistants and some are born to be coordinators, but when I look at Rod Marinelli I see a guy who was born to be a head coach," Kiffin said. "He is a natural leader.  I'm surprised nobody realized it until now."

"I felt the same way about Herman [Edwards]," said Dungy. "Herman wasn't a coordinator . . . he was a leader of men.  Rod is a leader, he's a coach's coach, he's one of the best communicators I've ever been around, he's a motivator and he is a great teacher."

Added McKay:  "Rod really is a special guy and he's a special coach.  A lot of people have taken credit for the turnaround of the Bucs' franchise going back 10 years or so; one of the primary factors to that turnaround was Rod Marinelli."

Mortensen reports that McKay didn't interview Marinelli when McKay's current team, the Falcons, was hiring a head coach in 2004 because part of McKay's wink-nod deal with the Bucs was that, if the team allowed him to leave for a lateral move, McKay wouldn't try to raid the team's coaching staff.

Still, if Kiffin, Dungy, and McKay feel so strongly about Marinelli, why hasn't word previously gotten out on the guy?  The Bucs won the Super Bowl in January 2003 -- a day before the Lions fired Marty Mornhinweg.  But Marinelli's name wasn't mentioned in connection with the ensuing Lions vacancy, or any other job that has opened up after the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

In fact, we're told that the Raiders, who recently interviewed Marinelli for their head coaching vacancy, were actually interested in hiring Marinelli to be the team's next defensive coordinator, but that the Raiders knew the Bucs would deny any requests to interview Marinelli for defensive coordinator positions through January 31, the date on which his contract with Tampa would have expired.

Tampa's refusal to permit its position coaches to accept promotions to coordinator jobs in other cities is one of the reasons that Marinelli's profile never grew.  The Bucs are notorious for holding back their assistants, and we have no doubt that the team would have prevented him from interviewing with the Raiders, who ransacked the Bucs for cash and draft picks when Jon Gruden was hired. 

And perhaps some of the same competitive malice that prompts the Bucs to block efforts by assistant coaches to improve their standing also kept guys like Kiffin, Dungy, and McKay from creating positive buzz about Marinelli as head coaching material.  If, after all, Marinelli becomes the next Lombardi, then there will be one more successful franchise out there for Kiffin's Bucs and Dungy's Colts and McKay's Falcons to lose to.

Still, word has a way of getting around in the NFL, and the fact that Marinelli emerged out of nowhere while in plain sight makes us wonder whether Kiffin, Dungy, and McKay were merely being charitable in their recent assessments of him.  Perhaps Marinelli is one of those hoorah nut jobs who brings a lot to the table in a supporting role, but who needs to be restrained from time to time by a superior officer who appreciates the bigger picture. 

Left to his own devices and with no one to dress him down, it's possible that Marinelli will become the first drill sargeant since Les Steckel to march a franchise, in perfect formation, right into an ambush.

Word around the league is that there was little or no communication between Chiefs G.M. Carl Peterson and former coach Dick Vermeil as the 2005 season wound to a conclusion, due directly to tensions regarding his status.

There was plenty of talk that, if Vermeil hadn't jumped into retirement, he would have been pushed by Peterson, who had a loaf of Pemmican in his pocket for Jets coach Herm Edwards.  And that talk, regardless of whether it was on the money (our guess is that it was) apparently made things very dicey between Dick and King Carl.

We've also heard that the members of Vermeil's staff who weren't retained by the team that they weren't able to get into Arrowhead Stadium and get their personal effects because the locks had been changed.

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TEAMS WANT ONE ALL-STAR GAME

There's a movement by some teams to pare the postseason college all-star games down to one -- the Senior Bowl.  Apart from the travel demands and associated expenses, some league insiders believe that the other games simply aren't very useful.

As one league source put it, the contests other than the Senior Bowl "have become sh-t in terms of player caliber" and are a "waste of f--king time."

The source also said that the talent level at this year's East-West Shrine Game is "a joke."

SAUNDERS SQUEEZED 'SKINS WITH PHONY OFFER?

Word around the league is that new Redskins offensive coordinator Al Saunders squeezed some extra coin out of Dan Snyder's deep pockets this week by telling the 'Skins that he was sitting on an offer to become the next coach of the Oakland Raiders.

The only problem is that, you know, the Raiders never actually made him an offer to become their next head coach.

On one hand, it's good negotiating tactics.  On the other hand, it's pretty a shaky foundation on which to launch Saunders' career in D.C.

A league source tells us that, contrary to rampant rumors in Chicago, receiver Terrell Owens did not have dinner recently with Bears G.M. Jerry Angelo.

We've received multiple inquiries from Chicago readers who heard local media reports of a Wednesday night dinner between the two.  We've looked into the matter, and we're told that there's nothing to it.

Although Owens remains property of the Eagles, contact between Owens and Angelo would not constitute tampering since the Eagles have granted Owens and agent Drew Rosenhaus permission to seek a trade.

No trade is expected, however, since Owens' current contract calls for $7.5 million in bonus payments within days after the trading period opens.

VIKES TO TRADE CULPEPPER?

Charley Walters of The St. Paul Pioneer Press, whose gossip-driven columns make our rumor mill look like Gospel truth, believes that the Vikings will trade quarterback Daunte Culpepper to the highest bidder in early March.

Walters technically isn't reporting that the trade will happen, but his item likewise doesn't speak in speculative terms.  

Walters thinks that Oakland and Baltimore will be in the running, and that Miami and Arizona also could join the parade.  (With Scott Linehan in St. Louis and the suddenly brittle Marc Bulger working under a relatively modest quarterback contract, we think the Rams are a possibility, too.)

Though we agree that something could happen with Culpepper, we disagree with Walters' suggestion that a first-round pick and a player would change hands.  Culpepper is rehabbing from three torn knee ligaments, and his confidence similarly was shredded through six regular season games in which his play seriously regressed.  At best, the Vikes would get a second-day pick in 2006 and a conditional first-day pick in 2007 that could go as high as a first-rounder based on his performance this season.

We've been troubled by the manner in which vacant jobs have been filled this year, primarily at the coaching level.

Brad Childress, Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, Eric Mangini, Scott Linehan, Rod Marinelli, Gary Kubiak.

None has been a head coach before.  Some (and you know who you are) weren't worthy of a promotion. 

So what gives?

We initially thought it was about the money.  But the more we ponder this, and the more we talk to league insiders about it, we're beginning to realize that it's about something else.

Control.

Whether it's the G.M. or the V.P. of player personnel or the owner's personal crotch washer, folks who already have jobs in these cities want to keep them.  More importantly, they want to preserve their power and influence.

The best way to do that is to avoid introducing into the organization new employees who might be too strong, too dynamic, too good.  Because once a person like that shows up, there's a chance that the guy who writes the checks will emerge from his trance and realize that there might be one or more frauds on the payroll.

We first touched on this concept a week ago, when Packers G.M. Ted Thompson rewarded McCarthy for six years of relative mediocrity as an offensive coordinator by making him the head coach.  In nearly other city, however, there's an argument to be made that the coaching hire was driven not by notions of winning as many games as possible, but by protecting the territory of the other key employees who already work for the team.

Hiring the Tuna's biatch, Sean Payton a/k/a Frankie Muniz, gives Saints G.M. Mickey Loomis a contented lapdog who'll never say or do anything to expose Loomis as a bean counter with no football pedigree.

In St. Louis, the front office recently closed the book on an ugly experience with Mike Martz, who dared to question and challenge guys in the front office who might have been trying to undermine him.  How does the front office avoid that development in the future?  By hiring the guy who seems least likely to pull a Martz moving forward.

With the Jets, assistant G.M. Mike Tannenbaum apparently championed Eric Mangini because another guy might have tried, over time, to neuter Tannenbaum and his boss, Terry Bradway.  Indeed, former coach Herm Edwards made a power grab when he arrived in 2001, initially by refusing to use many of the players that the front office were signing as the season got going.

In Detroit, industry sources previously have told us that former coach Steve Mariucci cooked his goose by making a power play a year or so ago.  So the decision to marry Rod Marinelli, a defensive line coach who'd never even been a bridesmaid, might have been driven by an assessment that he won't ever try to squat and spray on turf otherwise owned by Matt Millen and Tom Lewand.

The only exception to this trend in 2006 could be in Houston, since owner Bob McNair had the foresight to bring in someone who wasn't already entrenched (Dan Reeves) to help hire the best guy for the team -- not the best guy to do the job while at the same time respecting the authority of G.M. Charley Casserly.

The strangest example of this dynamic might be in Minnesota, where another first-time guy quickly got the gig in what one industry sources calls an "inside job."  The Vikes also made an early run at Eagles exec Tom Heckert for G.M., but when Heckert decided to stay put the Vikings abruptly decided against using a G.M. model and are instead looking for a "personnel director."

Why?  Some league insiders think that V.P. Rob Brzezinski has forged a solid relationship with owner Zygi Wilf, and that Brzezinski gently has engineered the staffing process to ensure that his voice will be heard even after a new front office exec is added.  If that exec isn't a G.M., Brzezinski has greater overall say.

We're not saying that Brzezinski or any of these other guys around the league aren't good at what they do.  But we believe that, in most if not all of these hires, the folks advising the owners are perhaps paying too much attention to their own power and not enough attention to the overall objective of any football team -- to win as many games as possible.

Jets head coach Eric Mangini wants to keep offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger.

The only problem is that Heimerdinger doesn't want to stay.

"I'm not upset because this may be a rebuilding situation," he said, according to The Newark Star-Ledger. "I'm upset because I came to work for Herman Edwards and I'm having to stay and work for someone not named Herman Edwards.

"Also, I'm upset because I interviewed for the [head] job and obviously I was third in the pecking order [behind Mangini and Mike Tice].  So, I wasn't good enough for the job and I still have to stay.  I'm not happy with the situation."

(Editor's note:  Boo freaking hoo.)

Also chiming in on the matter is agent Bob LaMonte, who might now become even more loud and obnoxious after getting fired by Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis, who likely thought LaMonte wasn't loud and obnoxious enough.  "My client is grossly unhappy," LaMonte said. "He feels he should have gotten the [head] job.  I just hope we're able to work toward an amicable conclusion."

Here's your amicable conclusion, Bob.  Your client signed a contract.  When you negotiated it, you didn't include a clause permitting him to leave if Herm Edwards is no longer the head coach and if your client isn't named Herm's successor.  So tell your client to be a man and honor his obligations.

As for the Jets, we hope that the organization shows a little strength this time and requires Heimerdinger to stay put.  There's no difference, as we've said before, between coaches who want to break their contracts and players who want to break their contracts.  So if T.O. gets vilified for trying to force his way out of Philly, guys like Herm and Heimer should get some of that treatment, too.

On Thursday, The St. Paul Pioneer Press quoted agent Mason Ashe regarding his desire to promptly commence negotiations aimed at finagling even more money for quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who otherwise has committed contractually to the Vikings through 2013.

"I am poised and ready to begin the scheduled restructuring of his long-term contract with the Vikings, as we discussed last summer with Mr. Wilf, so Daunte can assume the position on the NFL pay scale that he so deserves," Ashe said.

Now, The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Culpepper was "livid" with Ashe regarding his comments, and that Culpepper might fire him.

As a result, Ashe has backpedaled faster than Deion Sanders after stumbling into the theater during a Brokeback Mountain love scene.

"I have never forewarned a team about negotiating with me at some point or another, in my 15 years in the business," Ashe said Thursday, according to The Pioneer Press.  "That is not what I said nor my style of representation." 

The Star Tribune also reports that Culpepper recently tried to get negotiations started on his own by sending a letter to several members of the organization, requesting a meeting.  When Culpepper arrived, V.P. Rob Brzezinski was the only team official present, and Brzezinski politely told him that there will be no further negotiations at this time.

This one, then, officially is a full-blown clusterfudge.  Kudos to the Vikes for refusing to put more money on the table.  We hope that the team will continue to take a hard line if Culpepper continues to think that a pathetic performance in 2005 and a horrific knee injury from which he may or may not fully recover merits more money.

Faced with the possibility of hiring a head coach without interviewing any minority candidates, the Bills interviewed Chargers receivers coach James Lofton on Thursday.  The move puts the team in compliance with the Rooney Rule, which requires at least one minority candidate to be interviewed on a face-to-face basis for each head coaching vacancy.

Our friends at WGR 550 in Buffalo report that former Texans coach Dom Capers will interview on Friday.  Leo Roth of The Rochester Democrat & Chronicle has confirmed that Capers is a candidate, and that he will interview on Friday.

And contrary to rumors that the Bills conducted a phone interview with former Buffalo defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell, we're told that there has been no contact between the Bills and Cottrell.

On Wednesday, rumors were flying that Dick Jauron was the favorite for the job.  Other candidates are Mike Sherman and Bobby April.

Chiefs running back Larry Johnson says that new coach Herm Edwards has told Johnson that he'll be the No. 1 tailback entering training camp in 2006.

Priest Holmes has been the starter, but a neck injury forced him to sit out for much of the 2005 season. 

Frankly, we have a feeling that Edwards' statement to Johnson was also intended to be a message to Holmes, who reportedly planned to retire if former Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil didn't.  Herm is loyal to Dick; thus, to the extent that bad blood was brewing behind the scenes between Vermeil and Holmes, Priest shouldn't expect to be absolved by the new coach.

Besides, Johnson is an emerging star.  At 32 and with a growing history of injuries, Holmes is fast becoming yesterday's news.  If he doesn't retire in 2006, our guess is that he'll get one year of Marshall Faulk duty, and that he'll then be dumped in 2007.   

New Jets coach Eric Mangini fired defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson on Mangini's 35th birthday and third day on the job.  Mangini also retained offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger, and has made no decision on whether to keep special teams coordinator Mike Westoff.

Henderson was considered to be a rising star before the 2005 season.  Entering only his second year as the Jets defensive coordinator, Henderson was on the preseason short list of head coaching candidates.  As the team fell apart, so did Henderson's prospects. 

Though the decision to keep Heimerdinger was a surprise in some circles, it makes perfect sense to us.  Mangini is a defensive coach.  He needs an offensive coordinator.  If he dumps Heimerdinger, Mangini will be required to find someone else. 

Besides, having Heimerdinger on hand promotes continuity -- and it  increases the possibility that Chad Pennington will be the starting quarterback in 2006, since he won't have to learn yet another new offense as he continues to recover from serious shoulder problems.

THURSDAY NIGHT ONE-LINERS

Fins coach Nick Saban is saying all the right things about the departure of a guy who, as the rumor mill goes, he wanted to fire during the 2005 season.

The NFL officially has granted special eligibility to 48 underclassmen (which means that any prior statements regarding underclassmen constituted a blatant violations of the rules).

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis sure seems to acknowledging that something happened with Chad Johnson in the locker room at halftime of the playoff loss to the Steelers:  "He has to learn to hold his emotions in check because at that point in the game we needed him to be better than he was in the first half, and not to be the same guy, and to be better."

All but one of the guys on the injury report for the Steelers-Broncos game are listed as probable.

Many of Dick Vermeil's assistants will be on the Chiefs' staff in 2006.

It's one and done for Chris Farley's dad in San Diego.

["I need a 'For Sale' sign for my . . . van down by the river."]

Peter Guinta is the new defensive back coach with the Giants.

Redskins.com reports that all assistants have been retained for 2006 including offensive coordinator Don Breaux; the Redskins official site also acknowledges the hiring of Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders, but no specific title for him is identified.

From Moronweg to Moronucci to . . . Moronelli?

At a time when some NFL teams are reaching to hire guys with little or no experience drawing up the X's and the O's, Redskins owner Daniel Snyder continues to take full advantage of the absence of a salary cap for coaching staffs by bringing in a seasoned offensive coordinator who arguably has the chops to run the show somewhere else.

Per ESPN.com, the 'Skins have scalped former Chiefs offensive coordinator Al Saunders with a three-year contract worth more than $2 million annually.

Combined with Joe Gibbs' $5 million per year and defensive coordinator Gregg Williams' $2.6 million annual salary, Snyder is now paying nearly $10 million per year to the top three members of his coaching staff.

Snyder's willingness to pay big money for coaching talent is even more significant in light of the fact that other franchises seem to be going on the cheap with the hiring of guys like Mike McCarthy and Sean Payton and Scott Linehan as head coaches.  

And although there's a chance that each of those guys will be successful, it won't be because of anything currently on their resumes.

In our view, Snyder's addition of Saunders is further evidence of the owner's evolving understanding of the game of football -- and the proper roles of a team's employees.  Several league and industry insiders have noted to us over the past several week that Snyder apparently has stepped away from the football side of the business in the past year or so, entrusting it to the folks with football pedigrees.

And it really shouldn't be a surprise.  Snyder has owned the team for seven years.  In that period of time he has learned from his mistakes, and he has matured.  The guy didn't get so rich in the first place by being stupid, and our guess is that once he recognized that the football business isn't as easy as it looks he realized that it was in the team's best interests for him to trust the experts to do their jobs.

Hey, some owners never figure that one out.  In Snyder's case, we have a feeling that his willingness to spend big and to step back could translate to into a special season in what otherwise will be a wide open NFC field in 2006.

Need more evidence of how crazy this year's round of coaching hires has become?  Look no farther than the fact that 66 percent of last year's new class of head coaches already have begun to sprout so-called "coaching trees."

For years (and we think it all started with Bill Walsh), NFL observers loosely have determined the relative success and stature of head coaches by the number of his assistants who become head coaches.  

And many of the branches of the Walsh tree have gone on to create trees of their own.

Usually, it takes a head coach a few years of significant performance before his assistants begin to get sniffs at one of the 31 other top jobs in the profession.  But not this year.  The 49ers hired Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Nolan in 2005.  Nolan hired Mike McCarthy to be his offensive coordinator.  And the Packers hired McCarthy to be their head coach a week ago.

Ditto for Saban, who came back to the NFL in 2005 after a successful run of college jobs.  Saban hired Scott Linehan to be his offensive coordinator, and Linehan will now be the next head coach of the Rams.

McCarthy's coaching lineage ultimately traces back to Walsh, since Nolan is a member of the Brian Billick tree, which is an offshoot of the Denny Green tree, which is an offshoot of the Bill Walsh tree.

Ditto for Linehan, sort of, since he made his name running the offense for Mike Tice, who rose through the ranks under Green.  Saban, of course, is a member of the Bill Belichick tree, which is an offshoot of the Bill Parcells tree.

In McCarthy's case, he spent more of his time coordinating offenses with Jim Haslett's Saints, who is a member of the Bill Cowher coaching tree, which is an offshoot of the Marty Schottenheimer coaching tree.

The end result is that it's shocking -- and likely unprecedented -- for two brand new head coaches to spawn two more head coaches after only one year together.  

STORM CLOUDS GATHER IN MINNY

A few days back, we suggested that the relationship between the Vikings and quarterback Daunte Culpepper soon could be coming to an end.  In our assessment, the process is already beginning to unfold.  

In our opinion, the Vikings would be wise to accelerate it.

Sean Jensen of The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that agent Mason Ashe plans to reopen talks aimed at finagling more money for Culpepper, who currently is rehabilitating a torn ligament trifecta (and, presumably, a shattered ego).

"I am poised and ready to begin the scheduled restructuring of his long-term contract with the Vikings, as we discussed last summer with [owner Zygi] Wilf, so Daunte can assume the position on the NFL pay scale that he so deserves," Ashe said on Wednesday.

Excuse me?  Mason, are you f--king insane?  You hijacked the Vikings for more money last year because you had your guy sign a deal running through 2013 that didn't properly anticipate his MVP-caliber performance in 2004, and now after your guy played like refried baby crap in 2005 before having his knee exploded you want more money?

For new head coach Brad Childress, who was smack dab in the middle of the T.O. mess last year, it looks like deja turd all over again.

And if Childress learned anything a year ago, it's that cancers like this must be dealt with swiftly and decisively.  Culpepper is due a $6 million roster bonus in March.  

So cut him.  Cut him now.  

Don't even try to trade him.  Just dump him.  So what if you're giving him what he wants?  But getting rid of him, you'll also be getting what you need.