Witticism in Paradise

Week 17 did a number on the world. Happy New Year everyone, let’s try to make sense of the NFL Playoffs in this young year.

• The Giants defeated the Cowboys for the NFC East championship and the conference’s #4 seed in the playoffs. I can’t think of any QBs other than Rodgers, Brees and Brady that could outlast Eli Manning right now. And that’s just 1st-3rd quarter Eli Manning. Fourth-Quarter Eli is a record-setting phenom. Not to mention, Victor Cruz is a salsa-dancing, pass-catching, tackle-breaking animal. On the other side of the ball, this defensive line can still take care of business like it’s February 2, 2008. I’m high on Big Blue right now, and I’ll think more rationally about their matchup with the Falcons as the week progresses. For now, I’m soaking it in.
• If you had any doubts that the NFL is truly a passing league, the Lions-Packers shootout in Lambeau today proved you wrong. Proved you really wrong. But even though the temporary fate of the NFL may have been written in this pass-happy regular season, it hasn’t yet been sealed. The Packers have allowed more yards this season than any team ever. The Patriots don’t boast too hot a defense either. It’s worth seeing whether or not the “Air-it-out-and-hope-for-the-best” teams like the Packers or the Patriots or the Saints can triumph over more traditional, well-rounded squads like the 49ers, Ravens and Steelers. January is where it really counts, and I don’t think run/defense-first football is dead. Yet.
• The Jets are a mess. Mark Sanchez is not a franchise quarterback, Rex Ryan apparently hasn’t been fed lately and the rest of the team is just a bunch of “stars” patched together that have somehow won 8 games of football this season. Draft down lineman or offensive linemen. Fire Schotty. Create a QB competition in training camp next season. I know Rex likes to stand behind his quarterback and probably needs to in the face of the hounds of New York media, but it’s clearly time for some shaking up.
• Perhaps the most intriguing story of the day for me, or at least the one with the most implications on the future of the NFL, is the Colts securing the first pick in the 2011 Draft. When Roger Goodell takes the stage at Radio City and inevitably announces Andrew Luck as the first overall pick, the person most effected isn’t Andrew Luck. It’s Peyton Manning who will need to do some soul-searching. Will the Colts trade him? Will he mentor Luck for a year or two? Will he be the same player after injury? Will he even play again at all? As a longtime fan of the media-friendly Peyton, it would suck to see him go down the way Favre did in Green Bay. That having been said, if he can come back and play at a high level, taking Luck under his wing for a year or two, the Colts will have Peyton II on their hands, another 15 years of prosperity, and hopefully a clean exit for one of the league’s greats and a surefire hall of famer.