To get ready for Saturday's game, I exchanged five questions with Dave Cariello of Canal Street Chronicles, SB Nation's New Orleans Saints blog. My answers to his questions can be found here, and his answers to my questions are below.

1. There's no doubt that what Drew Brees did this season was remarkable, but it seems all of the focus on what the Saints do well is on the passing game. What are some of their other strengths?

Their other strength is the running game. It's amazing how much it's been overlooked but I can certainly understand with what Brees has done. It probably comes as a surprise but the Saints had the sixth best rushing attack in the league this season. Thanks to an incredible rotation of Pierre Thomas, Darren Sproles, Mark Ingram and Chris Ivory, who are all talented in their own specific way, the Saints are able to mix it up and choose the perfect tool for the job. Of course their offensive line is incredibly talented as well. They're the reason Drew Brees has been able to accomplish so much. Jahri Evans and Carl Nicks are the best guard tandem in the league.

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To get ready for Sunday's game, I exchanged five questions with Dane Noble of Windy City Gridiron, SB Nation's Chicago Bears blog. My answers to his questions can be found here, and his answers to my questions are below.

1. After falling to Detroit on Monday Night Football last month, the Bears were a dismal 2-3. Since then, however, Chicago has won three straight games and is now right back in the hunt for a playoff spot. What has been the biggest factor in the Bears' sudden turnaround?

Offensively, everything starts and ends in the trenches. The offensive line has been a huge surprise recently, playing better than they have in years. When they do well, Mike Martz is able to keep defenses off-balance, and Jay Cutler can really carve you up when he has time to make things happen. Defensively, our guys have suddenly remembered how to tackle, and have regained the aggression that they have been known for in recent years. It looks like things are finally just starting to come together.

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To get ready for Monday night's game, I exchanged five questions with Dane Noble of Windy City Gridiron, SB Nation's Chicago Bears blog. My answers to his questions can be found here, and his answers to my questions are below.

1. The Bears were finally able to get Matt Forte going last week, and he rushed for 205 yards on 25 attempts. What changed for this to happen after three straight relatively lackluster weeks for the Bears running game?

In Forte's first three games, he tallied 158, 166, and 82 total yards (rushing and receiving), but his breakout against the Panthers could be largely credited to Mike Martz's commitment to the running game. Forte registered more rushing attempts last week (25) than weeks two and three combined (19). The offensive line did their jobs, and everything just came together. Remember, last year against the Panthers, Forte had big success on the ground as well, rushing for 166 yards on 22 carries with 2 TDs, so with the Bears trying to get their running game back on track, it's no surprise they did so versus Carolina.

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To get ready for Sunday's game, I exchanged five questions with Dave Halprin of Blogging The Boys, SB Nation's Dallas Cowboys blog. My answers to his questions can be found here, and his answers to my questions are below.

1. The Cowboys have dealt with quite a few injuries this season, especially on offense. Are any players not expected to play on Sunday because of injuries?

It's almost certain that WR Miles Austin, DE Jason Hatcher, CB Orlando Scandrick and LG Derrick Dockery will not play this weekend. Obviously the Austin one hurts the most, given that Dez Bryant's status is also uncertain and he barely looked game fit on Monday night. Bryant didn't practice on Thursday. Starting fullback Tony Fiammetta didn't practice on Thursday, making his status uncertain. He provided some much-needed blocking for Dallas on Monday night.

Tony Romo will play and it looks like Felix Jones will go, too. Cornerbacks Mike Jenkins and Terence Newman have been banged up but should play.

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To get ready for Sunday's game, I exchanged five questions with Ted Glover of Daily Norseman, SB Nation's Minnesota Vikings blog. My answers to his questions can be found here, and his answers to my questions are below.

1. How long do you think Donovan McNabb will be the Vikings' starting quarterback? Is he a one-year stopgap until Christian Ponder takes over, or could we actually see Ponder as early as this season?

It depends -- yes and maybe. How's that for definitive?

As far as McNabb remaining the starter, so far Leslie Frazier has been as adamant that McNabb is his starter this year as he was about Brett Favre last year, even after the Vikings were out of it. That tells me that Frazier will probably remain committed to McNabb for the season.

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To get ready for Sunday's game, I exchanged five questions with Joel Thorman of Arrowhead Pride, SB Nation's Kansas City Chiefs blog. My answers to his questions can be found later today on AP, and his answers to my questions are below.

1. The Chiefs' Week 1 blowout loss really caught Lions fans off guard. Were Chiefs fans just as stunned over what happened against the Bills?

Stunned is an understatement. I think a lot of people in KC knew that the Bills weren't as bad as their 4-12 record last year but 41-7? Wow. Just wow. Some fans are going through a meltdown in KC and, while it's just one game, the Chiefs have been outscored 102-24 in their last three games. In general, the fan base figured the Chiefs were going to be a team on the cusp of the playoffs or, at worst, a seven-win team. We didn't expect 41-7 at all.

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(Note: We have two Five Questions posts this week.)

To get ready for Sunday's game I exchanged five questions with Kevin Ewoldt of Hogs Haven, SB Nation's Redskins blog.  My answers to his questions can be found here, and his answers to my questions are below.

1. I was a big fan of Washington's move to acquire Donovan McNabb in the offseason. How long did it take for 'Skins fans to forget that he played in Philadelphia for so long, and how has McNabb played so far as Washington's starting quarterback?

Not long. Once all the other Redskins, especially the team leaders, started speaking up about much of an upgrade this is for the locker room and the team...we all pretty much forgot. We were all sick of Campbell (though we all liked him from a personality stand point), but he was not a leader.

2. Mike Shanahan's return to the NFL by taking the Washington job caught the attention of a lot of people. For quite a while the Redskins didn't seem to have a guy like Shanahan around to take control, but already his work seems to be paying off. How excited were Redskins fans when Shanahan got the job, and is he living up to their expectations?

It was like Mardi Gras when the Shanahan announcement was official. As we all know, Shanahan's policy is that he has full control of the roster and personnel. He made Pat Bowlen hand it over, and surely it would be the same for Snyder. This guaranteed that Snyder would no longer be doing any of his free agency blunders, which is what fans have been asking for years.

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To get ready for Sunday's game I exchanged questions with Rich Tandler, who is the Redskins correspondent for CSN Washington. My answers to his questions can be found here, and his answers to my questions are below.

1. I was a big fan of Washington's move to acquire Donovan McNabb in the offseason. How long did it take for 'Skins fans to forget that he played in Philadelphia for so long, and how has McNabb played so far as Washington's starting quarterback?

Some fans still have difficulty rooting for him but they are in the minority. The way players come and go in Washington, most fans realize that they are rooting for the laundry. There is no questioning his leadership and he has a presence that no quarterback -- no player for that matter -- has displayed in a long time. On the field, he has been inconsistent. McNabb has great touch and accuracy on his deep passes and when he gets hot he can shred a defense. The problem is, he hasn't been hot consistently enough. He has completed just 57 percent of his passes and his QB rating is a mediocre 76 and dropping over the past few games.

After 11 years in the same offense McNabb is navigating a learning curve and there is confidence that the issues will get ironed out. Even given McNabb's struggles there is no question that the Redskins are getting better play at the quarterback position than they have for quite some time.

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