Tedford's QBs suffer from separation anxiety: here's the bottom line: Tedford is coaching quarterbacks better at his level than NFL teams are coaching them at theirs

Sporting News, The, March 25, 2005 by Dan Pompei

New Vikings DT Pat Williams has linemate Kevin Williams to thank for his $6 million signing bonus. The reason the Vikings signed Pat from the Bills was to help Kevin, an emerging star, get past the next threshold. The thinking is Pat will reduce some of the double-team attention from Kevin on running downs. The Vikings aren't expecting much from Pat on passing downs. In fact, he probably will be a two-down player for two reasons: With his size (6-3, 317), he isn't much of a pass rusher, and the more snaps he plays the less effective he becomes.

speedreads

The best set of cornerbacks now belongs to the Ravens. In fact, after signing former Titans defensive back Samari Rolle to go with Chris McAlister, the Ravens might have the best pair of corners the league has seen in quite some time.

It's great to see Brett Favre will be playing for the Packers again next season. It's difficult to imagine the NFL without him. Even though he'll turn 36 in October, Favre certainly has enough talent left to remain one of the game's most effective quarterbacks. Now if the Packers could just do something about their offensive line ...

Settle down, New England. The Patriots have lost a number of valuable role players, but none of the losses--or even all of the losses cumulatively--is insurmountable. With Scott Pioli restocking and Bill Belichick coaching, this team will plan and prepare so that the transitions will be nearly seamless.

In light of the attention given to Vikings coach Nike Tice for scalping Super Bowl tickets, the NFL clearly needs to revisit its policies regarding ticket distribution for the game.

dpompei@sportingnews.com