I caught up with Ira Miller this morning and we talked about the upcoming weekend in the NFL.

Cohn: What do you look for in the 49ers' game against Seattle?

Miller: We'll learn a lot more about them than last week. I really believe Seattle is the best team in the division. Last year was an aberration - injuries, a lame duck coach. Beating Arizona was a good victory for the 49er, don't get me wrong. It's just that people remember Arizona playing in the Super Bowl but the Cardinals weren't a very good team last year. They got hot at the right time, but they weren't that good

Cohn: What will we learn about the 49ers on Sunday?

Miller: Seattle is not an elite team -- none of the NFC West teams is elite, but if the 49ers beat Seattle they will be 2-0 and in first place in the division and you've got to say they are doing better. I would not have expected them to start 2-0. That being said this is supposed to be a running team and they couldn't run the ball a lick against Arizona and we'll see that until Shaun Hill can win games with his arm. The 49ers have challenged league. "We'll run the ball." Well, let's see you run.

Cohn: Can you pick a winner in the game?

Miller: Seattle. It's the best team in the division. I suspect because the 49ers are honoring Eddie this week they will try to whip up a lot of emotion with the fans and players. We'll learn something about Seattle. The  Seahawks are historically a bad road team and I want to see if they can withstand all that.

Cohn: How did Singletary perform against Arizona?

Miller: I thought he was fine. You win an opening game on the road and come from behind to do it. That's a good start.

How did you evaluate Shaun Hill?

Miller: He throws the short pass. He got it done. He was adequate. He did not lose the game. They don't want him to lose games. They don't want him to win games, just not lose and he drove for the wining touchdown. He did fine. Remember it's only one game but he did fine. If he beats Seattle you look at the 49ers a little differently. This is a very big game especially since it's at home.

Cohn: Let's move to the Raiders. What did you feel about their first game?

Miller: They really surprised me. I thought they were better than the 49ers and I thought the offensive line was terrific most of the game. Now, how much of San Diego's struggle was the Norv Turner factor, I don't know? Certainly Tomlinson didn't look like he used to. I'm not impressed with the Raiders' wide receivers but the offensive line played very well. The Raiders should have been a couple of scores ahead at halftime.

Cohn: They have been criticized for not finishing the San Diego game.

Miller: That's a valid criticism. Ultimately a game is either win or lose and they had the win and couldn't hold it. They lost it in the first half. They could have taken control and didn't. They had that dropped pass in the end zone and, by the way, the officials made the absolute correct call.

Cohn: What is the meaning of Sunday's game against Kansas City?

Miller: If they can't beat Kansas City then we're back to where we were and whatever good feeling came out of playing San Diego so tough dissipates. I would not say a win would establish them but certainly it would be a step forward from the last few years because Kansas City is not any good. The Raiders should win the next two games. They play two teams on their level - Kansas City and Denver.

Cohn: How did JaMarcus Russell do against the Chargers?

Miller: Not awful. He threw a few nice passes. He looked improved. Obviously he didn't look great.

Cohn: Your impression of McFadden?

Miller: The running game was very good. McFadden was OK. Bush really looked good. What did it for me was the offensive line. I could have run behind some of those blocks and I'm old and slow now. They were just blowing them out of there.

Cohn: But the Raiders didn't finish at the end:

Miller: San Diego driving down the field is reminiscent of last year and the year before that. I'm not excusing the Raiders but what happened in the first half was important. We tend to focus on the last drive. If they had done what they should have done earlier it's a different game.

Cohn: How did Cable do?

Miller:  I don't know what Cable does actually. He's an offensive line guy. You've  got to give him credit for the line's performance. I haven't seen a Raider offensive line dominate like that for a while.

I gave Ira a few bonus questions. We talked about Belichick.

Miller: Mangini and other assistants who worked for Belichick all fall on their ass when they leave him, Crennel, Charlie Weiss. Josh McDaniels is way over his head in Denver. That tells you how good Belichick is. The more you see of Belichick he's pretty good. It took him a while; he had that experience in Cleveland. His assistants haven't exactly sparkled as head coaches. It's important to realize Parcells got credit for turning all these teams around but he never won a playoff game without Belichick on his staff.

Cohn: Let's talk about Terrell Owens.

Miller: How long will it take him to pop off? Not long. He couldn't have been happy Sunday night. He can't stand Randy Moss and Moss had a good game. Earlier in the game Buffalo had a promising drive but T.O. dropped a critical 3^rd down pass which is what he does. He'll drop a pass and then complain because they didn't throw him enough balls. I get sick and tired of the tv networks talking about him every Sunday. He's a compiler, he compiles stats. He also breaks up teams. It's been 11 years since he played on a team that won a playoff game. In 1998 he played in a playoff game which his team won.

Cohn: Your thoughts on Aaron Rodgers

Miller: Against Chicago he took a real beating early but hung in there and they had enough confidence late in the game to pass the ball. They had 3^rd and 1 and a field goal would win the game and they let him throw and he threw a touchdown pass. It's his second year as starter. He's off to a good start this year. I like him and I like Tedford and maybe he can put to rest that myth that Tedford's quarterbacks are all system guys and can't play in the NFL. And he's testimony to how to handle players. If the 49ers drafted him they would have ruined him. He would have been harder to ruin than Alex Smith because he has more moxie. But they would have found a way to ruin him, too.