Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and the London Raiders feature in Neil Reynolds' Pick Six
Tuesday 19 January 2016 13:33, UK
The NFL never fails to deliver talking points. And this weekend’s American football action included miraculous plays, an almost-miraculous comeback that fell just short and a referee who needs to go to coin-tossing school!
And at the end of the Divisional round's compelling and competitive games, just four teams remain on the road to Super Bowl 50.
Here are some of the major talking points to come out of an intriguing and entertaining weekend.
Stick with Manning?
If you stayed with us until the very end of our coverage on Sky Sports on Sunday night, you'll know that I put the cat among the proverbial pigeons after Denver's win over Pittsburgh by suggesting they bench superstar quarterback Peyton Manning (for the second time this season) for the AFC Championship Game.
I've had a chance to sleep on that opinion now (not for long enough, mind you) and I still maintain that Denver's best opportunity to win that game against New England and to keep pace with Tom Brady is to go with the younger and more physically able Brock Osweiler.
There is no doubt that Manning offers Denver a better mental edge and boasts the all-important play-off experience, but his declining physical skills are evident and he is so limited in terms of the throws he can make in a game. And that was a game played last night with Manning supposedly healthier and fitter than he has been all season.
Despite being gifted outstanding field position all night, Manning could only lead Denver to five field goals and one rushing touchdown. He has only started a drive inside the opponent's 33-yard line eight times in his play-off career and three of those came on Sunday - yet not one of them led to a touchdown. It was good enough to beat Pittsburgh and congratulations to Manning for doing that - I have no desire to see him fail. I'm just saying that more will be required this coming weekend.
Given Manning's vast experience and standing in the game, there was no way the Broncos could make the move back to Osweiler against the Steelers. But I definitely think they should when New England come to town. It offers them the best hope of winning that game. If they don't, Denver are going to need to rely on their hard-hitting and talented defence more than at any other stage in this campaign.
A quarterback rivalry to relish
You'll read a lot this week about a quarterback rivalry for the ages and how we should savour one last go around for Tom Brady v Peyton Manning. And both future Hall of Fame greats rightly deserve to take centre stage for what they have achieved over the years.
But there is a new and potentially breathtakingly exciting rivalry taking shape that could entertain us for the next decade or more. And it pits Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers against Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks.
Cam's Panthers came out on top with a 31-24 win in a contest that really was a game of two halves. Carolina - led by Newton and a smothering and swarming defence - opened up a 31-0 lead at the half. But Wilson was simply brilliant in leading Seattle to 24 unanswered points. The Seahawks just ran out of time in their comeback attempt but this feels like just the first of many chapters between these two teams and quarterbacks.
I don't know about the rest of you, but I could certainly watch a few more head to head battles between Newton and Wilson in the coming years.
Experience does matter
Those who feel I am wrong on Manning might be tempted to point to Larry Fitzgerald, who is in his 13th NFL season as a wide receiver. Fitz was outstanding on Saturday night as he caught eight passes for 176 yards and the game-winning touchdown in overtime as Arizona recorded a thrilling 26-20 win over the Green Bay Packers.
Fitzgerald clearly still has all the physical tools required to be an NFL star and that is, of course, a necessary ingredient to go along with any experience. The Cardinals targeted Fitzgerald time and again when they needed him most with seven of his eight catches coming after half-time.
Quarterback Carson Palmer was enduring an up and down day at the office and felt the best way to get past the Packers was to go to the man who has been a rock - on and off the field - for the Cardinals for the last 13 years. And Fitzgerald, who can still play at such a high level, answered the bell in emphatic fashion and it seemed only right that he should get the winning points in a thriller of a game.
Time for a rule change?
The NFL still doesn't quite have the overtime rule figured out, in my opinion. For years, the first team to score any points in the extra period won the game. Now, both teams must have an opportunity to possess the ball - unless the team with the football first scores a touchdown or concedes a safety.
I don't think that goes nearly far enough towards being fair. And I felt like we were robbed of more drama on Saturday night by not seeing Aaron Rodgers and the Packers get their chance to score points in the extra time.
Rodgers had completed one of the most remarkable comebacks in NFL history, capping a frantic late march with a stunning 41-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to wide receiver Jeff Janis with no time left on the clock. And then he might as well have gone off for an early shower because he never set foot on the field again.
That doesn't feel right to me. In American college football, teams get equal number of chances to win in overtime. Surely that would have been a fairer end to a great game between the Cardinals and Packers? It certainly didn't feel right that Rodgers was powerless to impact the overtime period in the same way as he had done so dramatically late in the fourth quarter.
This may be something the NFL's Competition Committee takes a look at during the off-season.
Pats back in form
The New England Patriots lost four of their last six games to round out the regular season and looked a shadow of their usual selves but they looked eerily familiar on Saturday night as they advanced to their fifth straight AFC Championship Game with a 27-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs are a really good team and they had their chances, but the Patriots used a tried and trusted formula to move on to the next round. The return from injury of wide receiver Julian Edelman was key and Tom Brady's connections with tight end Rob Gronkowski were tough to defend.
In an era that is supposed to be wide open and parity-filled, you have to admire a Patriots team that continues to compete for championships every year. And I cannot see the Broncos slowing Brady enough to stop New England from reaching a seventh Super Bowl in the Bill Belichick-Tom Brady era.
The London Raiders?
It looks like the Los Angeles situation is beginning to take shape. The Rams are in for sure and I think the Chargers will leave San Diego and join them for the 2016 campaign. And that leaves the Oakland Raiders out in the cold and considering their future.
The Raiders are in stadium limbo, they have probably upset their fan base in Oakland by posturing to leave town and they don't seem to have a lot of government support in their current city.
But if they moved to London (the NFL have already said the Raiders will be looked upon favourably for future relocation) they would have the fan support, their pick of three world class stadiums in Wembley, Twickenham and Tottenham Hotspur FC and plenty of government support when you consider the Conservative Party added bringing an NFL franchise to London into their election manifesto.
Add in the fact that Raiders owner Mark Davis said "the world is a possibility for the Raider Nation" and maybe you can see why I am connecting dots and have added two and two to make eight!
