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Skolnick: Ask most NFL observers, and they’ll argue that quarterback stability creates coaching stability . With their quarterbacks in place, the Patriots, Colts and Eagles had no need to keep changing head coaches – and so they didn’t. They also thrived during the last decade.

Skolnick: Sure, the Saints won the Super Bowl. But they didn’t do it because of the league’s famed “parity.” Ask most NFL observers, and they’ll argue that quarterback stability creates coaching stability . With their quarterbacks in place, the Patriots, Colts and Eagles had no need to keep changing head coaches – and so they didn’t. They also thrived during the last decade.

Washington Redskins general manager Bruce Allen says there’s nothing to report regarding a potential trade of defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to the Tennessee Titans, according to Post beat man Rick Maese. ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported Tuesday morning that the Redskins and Titans were talking about a trade that would send Haynesworth to his former team.



The Redskins are still asking for too much in return for Haynesworth, according to Mort. Pro Bowl outside linebacker Brian Orakpo told reporters Tuesday that players were attempting to focus on the Dallas Cowboys rather than Haynesworth’s situation.



“It’s very distracting, but we try not to let it get to us,” said Orakpo. “Because we’re tired of talking about it, Albert’s tired of talking about it, [Mike] Shanahan’s tired of talking about it. Everybody is. We want to move on to be a normal team in this league and not worry about individualism. … We got a big game coming up and we can’t be worrying about No. 92 right now and all this speculation.”

“This is my opinion: me not being there, I can promise you, had nothing to do with football. Not in my opinion,” wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said of the Seahawks. “Nobody on that team beat me out.”

Denver coach Josh McDaniels told reporters Tuesday that he has not decided who his backup quarterback will be Sunday at Jacksonville.



McDaniels said that rookie Tim Tebow and veteran Brady Quinn will still compete this week for the job.



“We’re not going to name [the No. 2 QB] right now,” McDaniels said. “We got three that we like and … (Tebow and Quinn) are going to compete and we’ll try to make the decision that we feel is best on game day for our team, based on how we’re going to play the game … There’s a lot of factors that will go into that. How they practice and how things look during the week will probably play a large role in determining who we name as the No. 2.”



Tebow has to be the favorite to be the No. 2 in Denver on Sunday because he moved the ball better than Quinn in the preseason, the team has plans to use Tebow in packages this season and the team has more invested in Tebow than Quinn. Plus, Tebow replaced starter Kyle Orton in the past two preseason games.



Another major hint is that, at this point, the plan is to have just two quarterback active on the 45-man roster. With Tebow likely to get on the field in some packages, such as the Wildcat and in the red zone, he will likely be on the active roster.

Bill Parcells is turning over control of the Miami Dolphins to general manager Jeff Ireland but will retain a role as a daily consultant.

Amid rumors of a possible trade, QB Donovan McNabb says the Redskins can’t win without Albert Haynesworth.

The Miami Dolphins have announced Bill Parcells will have a diminished role with the organization moving forward, with general manager Jeff Ireland taking over football operations.



The Dolphins released a two-sentence statement Tuesday afternoon:

Effective immediately, Jeff Ireland will assume full control over all aspects and decisions in regard to the Miami Dolphin football team and support staff. This was the intent of the structure put in place in the past. Bill Parcells will remain with the club on a daily consultant basis.

Tuesday’s development might not impact the Dolphins much. Nobody really was sure how much influence Parcells had before, and there’s no reason to think he couldn’t have just as much in his new role. It depends on how much he wants his voice to be heard and how much Ireland will want to listen.



Parcells was named executive vice president of football operations in late 2007. He has since rebuilt the Dolphins with his philosophies, helping them rebound from 1-15 to AFC East champions a year later.



Parcells has been the Wizard of Oz, pulling strings from behind a curtain. He was rarely seen or heard from since he joined the Dolphins. He addressed the South Florida media twice, at his introductory news conference and again as a contractual sponsorship obligation to Gatorade.



He didn’t travel to road games, but he was present at workouts, watching from a golf cart when the Dolphins practiced outside or pulling up a chair when they were in their practice bubble.

Our four esteemed ESPN.com panelists spent hours breaking down film of those preseason finales to come up with this week’s Power Rankings. And fans of the New York Giants won’t be happy with the results. For no apparent reason (other than the third preseason game) the voters dropped them from 16th to 19th in this week’s rankings.



NFC West blogger Mike Sando has brought transparency to the voting process with his weekly “How the voters voted” entry. This allows you, the valued reader, to channel your anger in the appropriate direction — toward Hall of Famer John Clayton. Now let’s take a team-by-team glance at how the Beast teams stack up in the all-important Power Rankings, which are devoured by NFL owners and general managers. As we speak, it’s likely that Giants GM Jerry Reese has assigned someone to hang a copy of the rankings in the team’s locker room.



Dallas Cowboys: No. 4 — This is right where the Cowboys were in the last edition of the ESPN.com Power Rankings a few weeks ago. Clayton, who has championed the NFC East’s cause in my sad absence from the voting process, had the Cowboys ranked second overall. But he was canceled out by the cruel votes of AFC bloggers Paul Kuharsky and James Walker.



Philadelphia Eagles: No. 15 — Apparently someone actually liked what the Eagles accomplished in the preseason since the panel moved them up two spots from the previous rankings. Perhaps the Stacy Andrews trade empowered the voters to embrace this offensive line. Kuharsky has fallen hard for quarterback Kevin Kolb and this offense with a No. 11 ranking, but the young man from the AFC North, Walker, had the Eagles at an appalling 18th. Please send your notes of encouragement to the AFC North “comments” section.



Washington Redskins: No. 17 — I’ve recommended that each panelist have his voting rights suspended until next Tuesday for making this error in judgment. And it was noted Skins apologist John “The Professor” Clayton leading the way with a 14th-place vote. The Redskins and Packers made the biggest leap from the previous rankings.



New York Giants: No. 19 — Did you guys see this coming? The panel dropped the Giants three spots based on their preseason performance. I have the Giants going to the Super Bowl, so someone’s obviously wrong. At least Walker was in the ballpark with a No. 16 ranking, but Mike Sando showed Tom Coughlin’s men no respect with a No. 21 ranking. I’ve used every one of Sando’s databases to try and figure out his reasoning. At this point, I’ve come up empty.



Thoughts? Concerns?