The following quotes are from NFL scouts, coaches and front-office personnel, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

• "I am totally blown away about why the Packers are trying to play (B.J.) Raji at end instead of nose tackle. If they thought they had a nose, why did they draft Raji in the top 10 to play him out of position? It makes no sense to me. If they think those positions are interchangeable, I've got news for them — they are not."

• "The Niners got thoroughly outcoached against a team that does not have a whole lot more talent than they have. (Falcons offensive coordinator) Mike Mularkey is extremely good. He understands players. He understands schemes. He understands the whole business. He put a shellacking on the Niners from a scheme standpoint and from a personnel standpoint. It was fun to watch. (The Falcons) get more out of their guys than most teams do, and that is a credit to the efficient manner in which they coach." 

• "I don't think Tampa Bay is that bad on defense. (The Bucs) have just reverted back to the way they were under Tony Dungy. The offense sucks again. That is their problem. The defense plays hard. They have good players. There is nothing wrong with the defensive personnel, the players and the scheme. The offense just sucks with (Jon) Gruden gone. (Offensive coordinator Greg) Olson is a mouthpiece. He undercut the offensive coordinator (the fired Jeff Jagodzinski) there. He did not work with the guy. When has (Olson) had success running an offense?"

• "Detroit plays a left and right linebacker. They double-teach the positions. They use over and under fronts, but they don't switch the linebackers. It's more difficult to do that way than when you have the same flow responsibilities from the front and backside. ... Look at their defense — it's at the bottom of the league in completion percentage allowed. They are allowing seven out of every 10 passes to be completed. They hired a defensive coach, but has the defense gotten any better?"

• "Tennessee and Baltimore were mirages last season. They got lucky. (The Ravens) gave (Dominique) Foxworth too much money. Their corners are suspect with (Chris) McAlister gone. Cincinnati is doing some good things, but I think the division still runs through Pittsburgh. (Baltimore) lost Bart Scott, Jason Brown and Rex Ryan. Those are some big hits that are not easy to recover from."

• "Too many GMs like to go to practice and act like big shots. If you are a GM, you don't need to be out at every practice. You need to watch the tape. If you know what you are talking about when coaches have questions, that's what earns respect. You have to be able to watch the tape and figure it out, and coaches know who is watching tape. You can't b.s. your way through evaluations."

• "The comparisons are coming out about how it took (Bill) Belichick a year to cleanse the roster in New England on his second tour of duty. I wonder where that is coming from? If (Eric) Mangini gets fired again, he's pretty much done as a head coach, and he is a young guy to be done. Josh McDaniels is good friends with Eric. (McDaniels) might be the only guy who would take him back. Belichick would not."

• "Assistant coaches know the way to get promoted or get head-coaching jobs is to work with players no one expects to develop. Why do you think Josh McDaniels got hired — because of what he did with Tom Brady or what he did with Matt Cassel? If Brady did not get hurt, we're not talking about McDaniels right now. Coaches know if they want to gain attention, they are more likely to get credit developing late-round picks, not working with great players."

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