"I would probably say Donovan McNabb," said Cowher, referring the quarterback under the most pressure. "Only from the standpoint of when you look at (Joe) Flacco, anything he has done to this point has surpassed (expectations). Even with Kurt Warner, he has surpassed expectations.

"There has been so much scrutiny on Donovan, and the talk about the benching and what he has done from that standpoint."

Flacco, a rookie out of Delaware who turns 24 today, leads the Ravens. Warner, 37, directs the Cardinals. And Ben Roethlisberger, 26, who played for Cowher, is the Steelers' quarterback.

Simms is even more convinced McNabb, 33, is under the most pressure.

"Anytime you ask a question like this, I say, well, Philadelphia quarterback no matter what the year, what the scenario is. And if the Philadelphia Eagles lose, no matter what happens, it will be bitter disappointment and all the good feelings that a lot of people have will turn right around the other way and they will point out all the faults that happened during the game that caused them to lose. Nothing but a Super Bowl championship right now is going to satisfy a lot of people across the country, and especially in the Philadelphia area, when it comes to Donovan McNabb."

In the event he leaves

WTMJ Radio and the Milwaukee Brewers continue to operate as if Brewers radio announcer Jim Powell will not return to the team for his 14th season.

Powell is at least a finalist, and perhaps even the preferred choice, to become the radio voice of the Atlanta Braves.

However, the Braves have not announced that Powell has been hired, which means the process hasn't ended. According to one current major-league Baseball radio announcer, sometimes the club tells a broadcaster he is the final choice, and then negotiations begin.

That might be the case with Powell, who has declined to talk about the matter or has not responded to requests for an interview.

Earlier this week, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that the Braves' executive vice president for sales and marketing, Derek Schiller, confirmed that Powell was "among the finalists" for a slot with the Braves.

"I couldn't tell you where it is they are with Jim, other than we know he is a candidate," Brewers spokesman Tyler Barnes said. "Given the fact that we are going to need to have somebody on the air in February calling spring training games lends itself to some urgency that if there is an opening we need to be able to move a process along very, very quickly, but also very thoroughly. At this point we are doing some homework."

Barnes declined to say if any candidates had been interviewed.

"I can't give you any details on where we are with the process," Barnes said. "I can say if there is an opening, there absolutely is no shortage of very, very strong candidates.

"We have to think out of the box. As much as we would like Jim to stay and hope that he does, we also know he is a good candidate for the Braves and we want the best for him."

Barnes emphasized that whoever is chosen to replace Powell, if he departs, will be an employee of the WTMJ Radio, and that WTMJ is "driving the process" of finding a replacement for Powell.

Juuust a bit outside

The American Sportscasters Association, which recently published its list of the top 50 all-time sports broadcasters, did not include Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker in the top 50.

Merle Harmon is on the list at No. 46, but not Uecker. Nothing against Harmon, but a list big enough to include him - or Bill Walton, say - is big enough to include Uecker.

Baseball broadcasting authority Curt Smith ranks Uecker No. 12 all-time among Baseball announcers, two spots ahead of Jon Miller, who ranked No. 19 on the Sportscasters list.

Call SportsWaves at (414) 223-5531 or send e-mail to bwolfley@journalsentinel.com

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