Matchup doesn't favor Packers

"Ask Vic" will publish on Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the football season.

Here's the "Ask Vic" Week 11 power rankings:
1. Saints -- Fire! Fire!
2. Rams -- Do they have another gear?
3. Chiefs -- Can they win a big one?
4. Chargers -- Getting better every week.
5. Vikings -- NFC North on the line in Chicago.
6. Steelers -- Jags beat them like a drum.
7. Titans -- Gritty bunch.
8. Patriots -- Showing signs of decline.
9. Panthers -- They can't possibly be that bad.
10. Bears -- Now we'll find out if they're for real.
11. Washington -- Surprise team in the NFC.
12. Texans -- Big test at Washington.
13. Seahawks -- Better than their record.
14. Bengals -- On the edge of goodbye.
15. Packers -- Must-win game in wild card race.
16. Cowboys -- Season on the line in Atlanta.
17. Ravens -- Do or die vs. Bengals.
18. Eagles -- They're done.
19. Browns -- They've become a tough out.
20. Falcons -- Nobody saw this coming.
21. Colts -- Frank Reich was a good hire.
22. Jaguars -- It's Steelers week in Jacksonburgh.
23. Broncos -- Good season if you like bad seasons.
24. Lions -- Patricia needs to shave and start over.
25. Dolphins -- Second-place team in NFL's weakest division.
26. Jets -- Won't lose this week.
27. Bucs -- Did they really beat the Saints?
28. Giants -- Winning is bad.
29. 49ers -- Losing is good.
30. Cardinals -- Big one vs. Raiders. LOL!
31. Bills -- Alas, poor Peterman.
32. Raiders -- They won't win again.

Karl from Albuquerque, NM
Do you think anyone will want Le'Veon Bell on their team next year?
He'll be signed, but I don't think he'll get near the money he was seeking, and that'll make the money he lost in 2018 by not signing the franchise tender greatly regrettable. Bell was his own worst enemy. His agent told him to sign the contract the Steelers offered him. This was his decision and if I'm a team interested in signing him, I'd have to question his love of the game. Does he really want to play, or does he just want the money? Barry Foster is one of the most talented backs I ever covered. He was a solid citizen and an intelligent man. He had everything a team could want in a star running back, except he didn't love the game as a professional football player must love it to endure the commitment it requires. How much does Bell love football? I think that's a fair question of any player who's willing to sit out a season.

Lori from Brookfield, WI
Vic, what are your expectations heading into the Green Bay-Seattle game?
This game is a daunting challenge for the Packers. Not only has CenturyLink Field been a house of horrors for the Packers, the Seahawks are coming off a tough loss to the Rams in which I think they found how good a team they can be. This game is all about the wild-card race, which is the Seahawks' only chance of making it into the playoffs. The Packers will be facing a Seahawks team and a Seattle crowd with a sharp focus on winning. The Packers will have to play, in my opinion, their best game of the season to have any chance of winning.

Jim from Houston, TX
Vic, what are your thoughts on the type of block St. Brown made against Miami’s McCain?
I went back and looked at Hines Ward's peel-back block on Keith Rivers. It's the block that changed the rule. In my opinion, St. Brown's block is similar to Ward's.

David from San Francisco, CA
Vic, what is the difference between the Saints offense and the Packers offense?
The Saints are 5-8-7; the Packers are 7-14-6. Statistically, there's not much difference between the two teams, except the Packers are No. 13 in points per game, the Saints are No. 1. One more thing: When I watch the Saints, my eyes say wow! When I watch the Packers, my eyes want more. I trust my eyes more than I trust stats.

Paul from Cumming, GA
The roughing the passer issues from the first quarter of the season seem to have been largely resolved. Did players adapt, or did the officials start calling a more sensible interpretation of the rule?
I haven't seen a pass rusher burp the quarterback since the flurry of burping penalties early in the season.

Pat from Seneca, SC
Do you have any thoughts about what Gruden is doing with the Raiders?
He's cashing checks, and I have a feeling that's why he took the job. I like Gruden. I think he's a top football man and an outstanding broadcast personality. If I was Gruden's agent, I would suggest approaching Mark Davis for the purpose of reaching some kind of exit settlement and getting Gruden back in the broadcast booth. Taking the Raiders job was a big mistake. It's a floundering franchise with no commitment to excellence. Those days are over.

Curt from York, PA
Vic, after the Packers-Bears game, you stated you were not impressed with the Bears new head coach, Matt Nagy. Have you changed your opinion since then? Back in the mid-90’s, Matt was the QB at my high school alma mater here in south-central Pa., Manheim Central, so many of us here are rooting for him, but for me, not at the expense of the Packers.
I didn't like his debut game. I thought he buried his face in his play-call sheet and lost feel for the game and for his team. I thought he coached scared and allowed the Packers to rally for the win. Be that as it may, it was his first game as a head coach. Chuck Noll was 1-13, Bill Walsh was 2-14 and Jimmy Johnson was 1-15 in their first seasons as head coaches, and they went on to coach the dominant teams of the '70s, '80s and '90s. Nagy has done a nice job of beating bad teams, developing a young quarterback and putting the Bears into NFC North title contention. Sunday, he'll have a chance to score the Bears' biggest win since 2010. I'll judge him on what happens this Sunday against the Vikings.

Barry from Hayward, WI
Vic, are there any teams you'd say are peaking too early right now?
The Chiefs are the first team that comes to mind. Andy Reid is an early peaker. He's a scheme coach and scheme teams tend to peak early and fail late in the season. We'll see.

John from Darlington, UK
Do you think age is finally catching up with Tom Brady? Or do you think it's just a mini-slump? Watching him play the last two weeks has been difficult. He's missing an awful lot of throws he would usually make with his eyes closed.
I agree, but that's not what would concern me; Aaron Rodgers missed some throws against Miami. What would concern me about Brady is he's beginning to sack himself, and that means he's looking at the rush. You can't look at the rush and have your eyes downfield. Age can cause that to happen. I've never seen a quarterback sack himself as much as Peyton Manning did at the end. The physical skills begin to erode and a quarterback has no choice but to cover up. He senses his own "mortality." I can't help but wonder what Bill Belichick saw in Bernie Kosar that caused Belichick to cut Kosar. If Brady is showing signs of eroding skills, Belichick is seeing it. No coach is a better evaluator of talent than Belichick.

Bob from Cedar Rapids, IA
Regarding college football uniforms, how about a little love to the Iowa Hawkeyes? Back in 1979, when Hayden Fry came to Iowa, he noticed the black and gold colors were the same as the Pittsburgh Steelers'. He requested a uniform from the Steelers to model and they sent Terry Bradshaw's. Hayden said, "We'll look just like the Steelers, until we snap the ball."
The Hawkeye is not on the right side only.

Elizabeth from Sylvania, OH
So, if you win in today's game with offense, not defense, how great is it the Packers have spent the past several years trying to build their defense?
You don't win with defense, but you can lose with it.

Paul from Cumming, GA
Could you share your impressions of Coach Cowher and his time in Pittsburgh?
Bill Cowher's reputation is for being a tough-guy motivator. What's lost is his acumen for being one of the best strategists in modern coaching history. He owns a remarkable record for games in which he held a 10-point-or-greater lead heading into the fourth quarter. It's something like 107-1-1. That's a coach with a plan. That's a guy who knows how to close the deal. Cowher is one of the most underrated coaches of our time. I also admire him for being smart enough to get out a winner and stay out. He's a good analyst because he's embraced his role, instead of acting as a coach doing TV while waiting for his next job. I did a video with him in 2013 when I was with packers.com. It touched me that I was able to reconnect with Coach Cowher after all the years had passed since I covered his first three teams in Pittsburgh. Kire Pire!

Kevin from New Orleans, LA
Got any thoughts on Howard Cosell?
He's so irreplaceable, MNF has stopped trying. I'd rather listen to Cosell and Meredith do a blowout than listen to the current MNF broadcast the best game in the history of the world.

Ben from El Paso, TX
What do the triangle numbers for Green Bay and Seattle tell you as to what kind of game we could expect to see tomorrow evening?
The Seahawks have the league's No. 1 rushing attack. They run to win or they don't win. The Packers will be all out to stop the run, but a big part of stopping the run will be keeping Russell Wilson in the pocket. Seattle's defense is worst at stopping the run, so Aaron Jones needs to be an important figure on offense for the Packers. In my opinion, the triangle rankings favor the Seahawks. They're best at running the ball; the Packers are worst (No. 22) at stopping the run. On the other side of the ball, the Seahawks are best (No.7 against the pass) at what the Packers do best (No. 6 in passing). I don't like the matchup. The Packers will have to play above the X's and O's.