Peyton's Place

Peyton Manning needs to lead his team to a win over the San Diego Chargers in their playoff game today. Manning goes into the game with a 9-11 post-season record, including one Super Bowl win.

Whenever the all-time great quarterbacks are discussed, Manning's name always comes up, but with the caveat of his playoff record.  There's not much he can do at this point to change it other than run the table and win three straight. That will get him over .500 for his career.

A loss today will give the critics more to talk about his lack of success in the playoffs.

Final Game For One team

It's getting close to kickoff between the Colts and Pats for their Divisional playoff game. The season will end for one of them tonight.These games have such a finality to them. Mistakes get magnified and can haunt a player for the rest of their career if they make one. Nobody wants to be the one to cost their team the season.

The conditions should be challenging for both teams with rain and wind. I look for the Pats to run the ball a lot. Robert Mathis will have his target on Tom Brady all night trying to put pressure on him.

Most of the "experts" pick the Pats to win. You never know how these games are going to turn out.

The Other AFC Game

I have mixed thoughts about the Chargers/Broncos playoff game. I'm a big fan of Peyton Manning and would like to see him in the AFC Championship game one more time against Tom Brady and the Pats. He has made a remarkable comeback after missing the 2011 season because of neck surgery.

The Chargers also feature fan favorite Danny Woodhead. Although he was undrafted and not invited to the Scouting Combine, he has lasted six seasons between the Jets, Pats and Chargers.

I was surprised when the Pats let Woodhead walk as a free agent. They didn't seem to have much interest in keeping him as a third down back. He was able to get a contract with the Chargers. It worked out great for him.

He has been a big part of their offense as their second leading receiver. His 76 catches for 605 yards and 6 TD's leads all NFL running backs. He also carried the ball 106 times for 429 yards and 2 TD's.

Woodhead defied all of the draft experts because they said he was too small and played at a little school. He had the intangibles that can never be measured.

It should be a great game between the Chargers and Broncos.

Six Coaches And Counting

Jay Gruden finally made it to the NFL as a head coach. He served as offensive coordinator of the Cincinnati Bengals during the 2013 season.

Gruden has traveled a long journey through the coaching ranks starting in 1997.  He made stops in the Arena Football League and United Football League.

His contract with the Redskins is for five years, but it's doubtful that he will last that long. He is the sixth coach hired by owner Dan Snyder in his fifteen years of owning the team. No coach has lasted longer than four seasons.

Snyder is an owner who gets involved, but should really stay out of the picture. Gruden might have a couple of good years at first, but it's inevitable that Snyder will fired him at some point.

Making Career Decisions

I don't know if we will ever get the real reason why Pats Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels took himself out of consideration for the Cleveland Browns head coaching job. He said his interview went great, but it wasn't the right move at this time.

Perhaps, he is waiting to replace Bill Belichick, but when will that happen? Is he willing to wait that long? He can build credibility riding alongside Belichick. Most coaches get fired eventually. It happened to McDaniels in Denver and Belichick in Cleveland.

Maybe, the Pats are his best career choice.

Many Not Experienced

When the Pats play the Colts on Saturday night they will go into the game with 15 rookies on the 53 man roster. They also have three players in WR Danny Amendola, RB Legarrette Blount and LB Chris White who have never been on a playoff team.

Lack of playoff experience can work both ways. However, the Pats have a good blend of veteran leadership which should overcome any concerns.

It's still a one game season and anything can happen.

Riding With The Colts

The Colts made a very interesting personnel move today when they announced the signing of former Pats WR Deion Branch. What motivated both sides to reach agreement on a contract? Branch will receive the standard playoff game check that all players get.

He has not played a down all season and only played sporadically in 2012. Do they think a 34  year old received can help them at this point in the season? What can he tell the Colts about the Pats offense?

I don't blame Branch for doing this. It was perhaps his last chance to have a moment in the NFL. The bigger surprise will be whether he plays against the Pats on Saturday night

Season Ended

It was the last game of the season for the Chiefs, Eagles, Bengals and Packers. That's how playoffs go. It's a one game season for those teams that keep playing. So many teams never make it to the playoffs. Every game has a lot of side stories of players and coaches.

The Pats play the Colts on Saturday night. It's going to be a tough game. The season will end for one of them. You just don't know which one.

Retired, Not Fired

The New York Giants took the easy way out by making Offensive Coordinator Kevin Gilbride their sacrificial lamb for their 7-9 season. Gilbride wasn't fired. Instead the team said he "retired". This strikes me as being very disingenuous. He was there for two Super Bowl wins, but it wasn't good enough to continue in that capacity.

The Giants brain trust held a top level meeting to dissect the season. Apparently, all things pointed at the offense and Gilbride. They blame him for Hakeem Nicks not having any touchdowns passes this season. What about Eli Manning? Does he share part of the blame, as well as the offensive line?

It would be a public relations disaster for the Giants to fire a coach who lead them to Super Bowl wins twice. They took the easy way out, but it doesn't mean they will be any more successful next season.

Bad Game Decisions

Yesterday's snow storm showed what a foolish decision it is to play the Super Bowl in a cold weather city like New York. The February 2nd game could be severely impacted by the weather.

Fans routinely brave the elements to watch their teams. The playoff game in Green Bay tomorrow against the 49er's will have single digit temperatures with windy conditions.

To have the biggest game potentially effected by a blizzard is foolhardy. The primary concern of the NFL is the television audience. People who buy tickets are on their own.

What would the NFL do if a blizzard struck the NJ/NYC metropolitan area? How about six inches of snow during the game? I don't understand the reasoning behind this decision.

Jets Need To Fly

The New York Jets must make all the right personnel moves in the off-season or 2014 is going to be a disaster. The salary cap strangled them this season when they had $23 million in dead money.

QB Mark Sanchez is due a $2 million roster bonus in March and will count $13.1 million against the cap. WR Santonio Holmes will have a $14.9 million cap number. There is no way either will be on the training camp roster.

The Jets should end up with $40 million in cap space to sign free agents and draft choices. They have the 18th overall pick in May's draft. They need a major impact player on offense. They have many needs to address on both sides of the ball.

This is a very critical season for GM John Idzik. He needs to put the right players in place for Rex Ryan in order for both of them to be here next year at this time.

The College Game

I never watch college football, but I should. It would help me know more players in the NFL draft because I usually have no clue of the top players by position.

Tonight, I saw the last four minutes of the Rose Bowl featuring Stanford and Michigan State. Some of those players could be on the Pats roster next season, but I don't know them.

When I watched some of the Fiesta Bowl with Baylor and Central Florida University, I saw Robert Griffin III on the Baylor sideline. I didn't know him in college.