John Madden

Each week John Madden answers readers questions. To ask Coach a question, e-mail him at:

What's the difference in Kyle Orton this year from the past?
Lauren from Illinois

Madden: Lauren, he is just coming into the age of development where if you are going to be one you better be one by now and I think that is the thing with Kyle Orton. And I think he has a pretty good chance to be one.  The drafting of Matt Forte really helped him because that gave him a running game.  He is an NFL quarterback now and he has pretty good weapons on that offense now.  We all know it's a passing league and it's a league where quarterbacks have to make plays, but a running game sure does help.

Which team is in more trouble, Dallas or Indy?
Ed from New Jersey

Madden: It is too early to say, Ed, in the long run if you are looking at the end of the season.  I would say right now for this week it would be Dallas because they are playing without their quarterback. That is a tough thing.  Playing without Tony Romo obviously affects the quarterback position then it affects the wide receivers and then the running game and it affects the way you defend them.  On defense they lost Terence Newman, Pac Man Jones and now they lost Roy Williams. But still obviously the big one is the loss of Tony Romo.  At least the Colts have Peyton Manning, they just don't have great defense.  The big problem for the Colts is that Tennessee is getting a big cushion on them and this is going to be a big week and they have to nail that cushion down a little. 

How much of the St. Louis turnaround do you attribute to the coaching change?
Jason from Missouri

Madden: A big part of it Jason.  Sometimes you just need change and sometimes you need change in approach and Jim Haslett had been there before as a head coach and he wasn't going in there trial and error. He is a tough guy, a fiery guy; maybe that was what the Rams needed at that time.  Obviously you have to have good players and a good organization and you have to have all of those things to be good over a long period of time. But in a short run I think Haslett and his personality were a plus for the Rams. 

Coach, I can't figure it out... are the Patriots a playoff team like when they beat Denver or are they like the team that San Diego handled easily?
Tom from Boston

Madden: They are somewhere in the middle Tom.  They're not as bad as they looked against San Diego and they are not as good as they looked against Denver. Denver just had way too many turnovers and they just looked awfully flat.  The Patriots have a chance to be a playoff team, but it is going to be a battle all the way.

Is Denver's defense really this bad and can they do anything to improve it before the season is lost?
Jon from Colorado Springs

Madden: Yeah Jon, they obviously aren't a good defense but playing from behind always puts a lot more stress on the defense.  In this season they are not going to be a good defense but they can be an average defense if they can get more help from their offense.  You can't take a lot of three and outs and you can't take a lot of turnovers and give up field position. They are not good enough for those things.  If they can eliminate turnovers and score some points offensively, get leads, have some drives where they keep their defense off the field, those kinds of things can help the defense but you can't just lay them out there because they are not good enough for that.