Watching the troubles of the Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rogers, I wondered how backup Matt Flynn f LSU fame would have done. Aftter all, Flynn threw six touchdown passes in the Packers' final game of the season. Meanwhile, Rogers was given a rest, and with the bye week, looked out of synch with his receivers. It was as if the Packers were the team unused to the cold of Lambeau Field, and the Giants the home team.
Of course, the rigid NFL "book" says to always stay wih the quarterback deemed the starter, no matter how badly he performs. Back in the day, teams would play two guys, a la Sonny Jurgensen and Billy Kilmer at washington. And, old George Blanda would come in to relieve Darryl Lamonica for the old Oakland A's. That added a level of excitement ot the game.
What's with all of the dropped passes? Max McGee and Boyd Dowler never dropped so many in their entire careers.
With the losses of Green Bay and New Orleans, the model of high-scoring, sleek offenses and mediocre defenses took a big hit. All season, it appeared as if a new paradigm was taking control in the NFL, but the games this weekend, with the exception of New England's blowout of Dever, showed that defense still matters.
Eli Manning looks like the best QB in the league at present. No one throws so accurately, not even Drew Brees, and he's the closest thing the league has to a classic pocket passer. Some of the blows he took made me shudder, but Eli kept bouncing up. Guess it helps to have grown up as the baby brother in the Manning family.
Watching the Patriots destroy Denver, I could only wonder how in the Broncos beat a team like the Steelers, even if the Steelers missed key guys on defense and Ben Rothliesberger had a bad ankle. So much for the genius of Dick LeBeau.
Well, the mystery of why a penalty wasn't called on the 49ers' Patrick Willis' helmet to helmet hit on the Saints' Pierre Thomas has been cleared up. According to the rules, such a hit is allowed on a running back who has the ball and is going down field. The penalty is called when a defenseless qb is standing in the pocket, or a receiver is crossing the field without the ball. Small consolation for Thomas.
Manning and Willis give the Ole Miss Rebs two players in the NFC champsionship game. Hard to imagine now the Rebs getting such talent.
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