Wednesday Evening Post

Monday night's game with between St. Louis and the Packers was good fun for the Hater Nation. Mike Martz was exposed on a national stage. Ryan Longwell earned enough points to force a tie in a fantasy league. It was a good night.



But all is not well in the Hater Nation.



St. Louis fans are now calling for the firing of Martz. This is something that cannot happen. Who else but Martz would call for a fake-field goal with his team trailing by three scores? Only a genius with the offensive talents of Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, and Marshall Faulk would put the game--and possibly the season--in the hands of kicker Jeff Wilkins.



What other coach would do that? No other coach would try to match wits with Mike Sherman and lose.



Sure, Martz is a genius if Wilkins makes that play. But Wilkins didn't and Martz isn't. But it's this kind of thing that could cost Martz his job. And it's exactly the reason why the Hater Nation needs Martz to stay on the job.



Martz and St. Louis are a match made in heaven. Martz is like Col. Jessup in A Few Good Men. We need Martz on that sideline. We want Martz on that sideline. With Martz, St. Louis is guaranteed many years of mediocrity. St. Louis is guaranteed many seasons of underachieving, with teams that are ill-prepared and unable win on the road.



The Hater Nation needs Martz.



But maybe we are giving St. Louis too much credit there. The team is still run by John Shaw and company. This is the same organization that hired Rich Brooks. The same organization that ran Dick Vermeil out of town after a Super Bowl victory to elevate Martz to head coach. There is good reason to believe that if Martz is fired, St. Louis will hire another coach to continue it's losing tradition.



There is a stark similarity to the fall of St. Louis and the fall of the Cowboys. Dallas ran Jimmy Johnson out of town after two Super Bowl wins. And it has yet to recover.



But it's too big of a risk to take. The Hater Nation has a sure thing with Martz, why would we spoil that?



WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THE NFC?



The NFC is much like the AFC during the 1980s and early 1990s. There are no good teams. The San Diego Chargers would run away with this conference. But instead the NFC will serve up a sacrificial lamb in the Super Bowl.



Who is the leading candidate to win the NFC? The Hater Nation breaks down the conference.



Philadelphia The Eagles are losers of three consecutive NFC Championship Games. So they brought in Terrell Owens and his fist full of championship rings. They should have brought in a running game. The Eagles have no chance.



Atlanta The Falcons have quietly amassed one of the best records in the conference. But they are one Mike Vick injury away from being the Cowboys.



Green Bay Is it any surprise that the Packers have become one of the best NFC teams when it promoted Brett Favre to head coach and demoted Sherman down to offensive coordinator. The Packers running game makes it the favorite.



Minnesota Nice defense Vikings. No chance.



New York The Giants were 5-4 when they benched Kurt Warner in favor of Eli Messiah. They might not win another game this season.



St. Louis. Chuckle.



Seattle The Seahawks where the chic team to pick in the NFC this season. The kind of team that NFL pundits fall in love with. But if there's one coach that makes Martz look like a genius, it's Mike Holmgren.



Holmgren fancied himself a general manager during his tenure in Green Bay. The Packers were wise to resist. Instead of fielding a competitive team with Favre for a decade, Holmgren wanted to prove to the world how smart he was. Holmgren sure did. But not to the results that he expected.



There are a host of teams that at 4-7 including Carolina, Detroit, Dallas, and Arizona. The Lions could make a run if Kevin Jones ever gets it together. The Cowboys defense is a mess. The Cardinals are the Cardinals. They have promoted it�s third-string quarterback this week. Good bye.



The wild card is the Panthers. John Fox has done a better job of coaching this injury-plagued team than his NFC Championship Team.



AND FINALLY



One fans asked, "If St. Louis and the Raiders played, who would you root for?"



We turned to our reader, "The Nuge," for his answer.



"If the Rams play the Raiders, you cheer for the Blimp to crash into the stadium, enveloping the players, coaches, and fans in a horrific fireball. You also hope that Georgia Frontandrearie dies last, her lungs filling with puss as her withered, charred hand attempts to pull a quarter from the pocket of the lifeless body of the season ticket-holder next to her."



Ouch.