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Rookie RB Kevin Smith and the Lions still have a chance to get their first win of the season.

John Madden

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

Do you think the Lions have any hope of winning one of their final two games (vs. New Orleans and at Green Bay)?
Marlon form Michigan

Madden: Yeah, Marlon, I do, I think they have hope. I don't know that they are going to win but there is not a dominant team there. Both teams are eliminated from the playoffs so you are not playing a team that is going into the playoffs or needs a win to get into the postseason. You are playing two teams that are already eliminated. That doesn't mean they will beat either of them because they haven't won one yet, but I think in both these games they have hope.

What's behind Philly's turnaround? And do you think it can last?
John from Philadelphia

Madden: Yeah, John, right now the Eagles are playing as good as football as just about anyone. I think the turn around has to do with getting their team healthy. You just see a healthy Brian Westbrook and that makes all the difference in the world in their offense. When they have the threat of him full speed as a runner and as a receiver, and then McNabb looks like he is really feeling good … that’s a big difference.  Sometimes you look at the Eagles and they look a little beat up and it usually goes around someone like Westbrook. When you see them now and they look healthy and their defense feeds off the success of their offense, I think they are playing as well as anyone.  Like I always say, you have to put yourself in position to make a run in December and peak going into the playoffs. They are making a run and kind of peaking to go into the playoffs, but they didn't put themselves in a real good position early and they need someone else's help to get in now.

I just don't understand how Miami is doing it. What's going on there that has made them so good?
Vic from South Beach

Madden: They're really not so good, Vic. I mean they have a good record and they are so much better than they were last year and they are right on that borderline.  They have improved to a point where they're knocking at the door of being a playoff team and a lot of it is Bill Parcells did a good job of coming in and changing personnel. Tony Sparano, first year head coach, has done a good job and I think getting Chad Pennington was a big part of the puzzle … When the Jets got Brett Favre and Pennington was available. It is just their first year of a rebuilding program and they went a lot further than I thought they would and they are going to get better as the years go on.

How much do you think the recent distractions have been part of the Giants recent struggles?
Steve from CT

Madden: Steve, I think losing Plaxico Burress affects the team more than any of the stories and things surrounding the team. It makes it a totally different offense when you don't have a wide receiver that is a deep threat that you have to double. And that makes the dynamics of the defense playing against you totally different. They gang up on the run and they don't have Brandon Jacobs and that's a double edge sword. That hurts them and puts all the pressure on Eli Manning, which indirectly puts all the pressure on the offensive line to pass protect. It makes you one-dimensional and the defense knows it and they just tee off on you. They are not going to get Plaxico Burress back, but I think they have to adjust to the pass offense and I think they have to have more success in their running game, especially first down runs.

Are the Steelers getting lucky with these last-minute wins?
Nolan from Vermont

Madden: They do it too much to say they are lucky, Nolan.  What the Steelers do is they have the best defense in football and they keep them in every game and then if you stay in every game then at the end you just have to find a way to win it and that's what the Steelers do. They couldn't play like that if they didn't have great defense and because they have great defense they seem to have a little more luck than most other teams.

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