Matt Hasselbeck believes Seattle's stretch run, which includes five of seven home games, will be a difference-maker. AP

• Monday Morning Quarterback

Welcome to an additional version of the Quarterback, which will run on Tuesdays. (Don't worry, the Monday Morning QB that you're used to will not change). Each week, I'll give you a look at Monday's news, interview a newsmaker, answer your e-mails and give you a couple of more things I think.

I wrote nothing about the Seahawks' impressive win at New Orleans in MMQB, so I thought I'd ring Matt Hasselbeck to check in with him on the win and the near future.

We talked about the schedule. Just back from New Orleans, the Hawks have to get back on the charter Friday for an even longer cross-country trip to Tampa Bay. No team has a tougher opening two games, all things considered, but Hasselbeck wasn't complaining.

"Check out our schedule after, like, Nov. 21," he said. "Once Nov. 21 comes around, we'll be at home a lot, so we like that part of the schedule."

I took a look. Here are the last seven games for Seattle: Miami, Buffalo, Dallas, at Minnesota, at the Jets, Arizona and Atlanta. That's five of seven at home.

"And,'' Hasselbeck said, "we're going to have a real edge there. Last year we were 8-0 at home, and we sold out every game.''

Seattle became the chic NFC pick in the summer, which Hasselbeck noticed. "Hey,'' he told me, "just because some SI writer from New York picks us and Jacksonville for the Super Bowl, I mean, the players and coaches aren't very focused on that.''

"Wait a minute,'' I said. "I jumped off Jacksonville's bandwagon.''

"I saw that," Hasselbeck said. "But you're still on ours."'

And I'm not getting off.

THREE QUESTIONS WITH  ...

San Francisco head coach Dennis Erickson, whose Niners fought the good fight in a 21-19 loss to Atlanta.

MMQBTE: I see where every football person with an opinion thinks you guys will be awful this year. How do you keep your team from getting infected with all the negativity?

Erickson: I honestly believe there's a not a guy in this building who doesn't think we're going to win. Believe me, the glass is half-full here, not half-empty. We all know where we're at. The players have to play their [butts] off. I've got to coach my [butt] off. If we do, we'll be OK. But we all hear the stuff being said about us and it's a major motivation for the players and the coaches.

MMQBTE: Ever have any regrets you left college football for this rebuilding effort?

Erickson: Not at all. I am where I am, and I'm happy to be here. We'll get it turned around.

MMQBTE: How do you like the enforcement of the 5-yard bump zone?

Erickson: Well, I know it's going to be called. People better adjust to it or these games will never end. I think they will [adjust]. The DBs will start bumping the way they were taught, then running with the receivers, not fighting with them, down the field. It'll make for good football.

FROM THE E-MAIL BAG

We have some fresh fodder, including what I believe to be my first-ever e-mail from South Dakota. If you learn one thing about this column, it's that I like to answer the questions from hither and yon.

	MAILBAG Peter King will answer your questions each week in Monday Morning Quarterback: Tuesday Edition. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

ON QUESTIONING PEYTON'S DECISION-MAKING. From Mark Stadem of Baltic, S.D.: "Do you ever think Peyton Manning's decision-making will be unquestionable? John Elway and Dan Marino made questionable decisions at times but some of them resulted in great throws. Brett Favre still makes some "what-the-hell-was-he-thinking" throws and he still is considered one of the best to play the game. The classic gunslingers in this game have always made iffy decisions. Some work out, some don't. They tend to trust their arms too much sometimes. Don't you think Manning has a little of that in him?"

Good observation, Mark. The pass at the goal line to Dallas Clark in heavy traffic (which was intercepted) is more understandable than not having a sense of where he was when he took a 12-yard sack that led to the Colts missing the game-tying field goal in the last minute.

TOUCHE, ROBERT. From Robert Worden of Indianapolis: "Donovan McNabb looks a little different in Philly with someone that can actually catch the ball, doesn't he, Mr. King? I know it was the Giants, but the man can flat play. If he does it again next week, will you tell him you were wrong?"

About what? About calling him out for being less than a mediocre passer (his 57 percent career completion mark in a quarterback-friendly system is a percentage point less than the NFL average completion percentage in 2003) in his career? McNabb had a terrific game Sunday, and if he ratchets up the completion percentage into the 63-64 percent area, I'll credit him for improving to the point where I think he should have been for some time. One other thing: I've heard lots of similar sentiment since I've put myself out there as a guy who doesn't think McNabb's been a great player yet in his NFL career. I like McNabb very much as a person and I like what he stands for. I've simply made a statement that I think any quarterback in this system needs to be a more accurate passer.

THE GUY IN THE SHADOW OF THE MEADOWLANDS DOESN'T LIKE ERNIE. From Nick in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J.: "Peter, hope you'd take a question from right around the block. Because it looks like a second consecutive long year for the New York Giants, isn't it time the media calls out GM Ernie Accorsi on his record? Other than Kerry Collins, not one of his big free-agent signings has panned out. His draft record is bordering on atrocious, not to mention the draft picks the team won't have next year due to the [Eli] Manning trade. By the time Eli is ready, he won't have any talent to work with, as all of the Giants' top talent will be over the hill."

Well, you might be right, Nick. But that's the great thing about time. We'll all know soon enough. I will indict Accorsi on Ron Dayne, who I think was a misfit from the word go because he always had ridiculously big holes to run through at Wisconsin -- he didn't enter the NFL as a fighting, between-the-tackles running back. And I will say he'd better be right on Eli Manning, obviously. But give this huge draft decision time to breathe. The man did preside over a Super Bowl team.

WORRIED ABOUT THE FINS. From Daniel Silva of Centreville, Va.: "I knew the Dolphins wouldn't be great this year without Ricky Williams, but are we really supposed to be this bad? How much of the blame do you think the Dolphins' coaching staff share in the Dolphins seeming to not be as prepared as they should be?"

Only in this way: It's silly that after Jay Fiedler showed he deserved to be a backup quarterback in this league, and after Miami traded a second-round pick to get his successor, A.J. Feeley, that the Dolphins had a quarterback competition and allowed Fiedler to win. They already knew he wasn't the quarterback they wanted, yet they still started him. Even though Dave Wannstedt announced Feeley was his guy starting this weekend against the Bengals, I don't see why the choice wasn't made back in May, when it should have been made.

ZING! From Maureen Serbu of Dayton, Ohio: "The Cleveland Browns don't have official cheerleaders. They use Cleveland-area high school cheerleaders who wear their high school cheerleading uniforms. What you saw at the Starbucks were four Browns fans who happened to be female. Do you assume that every man who wears a Browns jersey and football pants to the game (like my husband and nephew) is a Browns player?

Mea culpa, mea culpa, Maureen. But which four model-pretty women would be dressed in lovely brown Browns warmups, with their names written in script on their rear ends? The mystery deepens. Someone out there has to know.

TWO FOR TUESDAY THINGS I THINK

1. Well, I guess Brett Favre fooled me. I took his bait last week when he told me if the Pack relied on the run heavily in the Monday-nighter against Carolina, they'd surely lose. Well, they relied plenty on Ahman Green, and he didn't let them down. That was an impressive rushing night by Green against a great front and it keyed the Packers' decisive win.

2. I think the Green Bay defense is a whole lot better than I thought. I didn't see any mourning out there over the holdout of Mike McKenzie.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space every week.