Manning-sanity!

There are a lot of talking heads filled with hot air talking about where Peyton Manning is going to sign. This has finally become a real issue due to his release from the Colts and apparent health as shown in the Zapruder film cell phone video of his practice at Duke. From my perspective, after listening to many of the arguments, there are less than five locations that actually make sense. Let's go team by team, starting with the easy ones.

The Giants, Patriots, Packers, Steelers, Falcons, Lions, and Ravens all went to the playoffs this past season and are comfortable with their quarterbacks. The Saints could be added to that group if they signed Drew Brees to a long-term contract, but they used the franchise tag on him and will not go for Peyton. The Panthers and Bengals had great performances from their rookie quarterbacks. The Bears, Chargers, Cowboys, and Eagles had underperforming and injured quarterbacks last season that are all entrenched in their positions and are stars of their teams. And, of course, the Colts released Peyton and will most likely be drafting Andrew Luck.

The next tier of teams could be benefitted by signing Peyton, but it's not going to happen. The Rams play their home games in a dome like the Colts, but Sam Bradford is a good player and deserves the chance that they will be giving him by trading the number two pick. Ryan Fitzpatrick received a big contract extension from the Bills, and Peyton will not want to play in those elements. The Titans have Jake Locker waiting in the wings, possibly to start at the beginning of this upcoming season. And let's get this one out of the way: the Jets talk is out of control, and despite Woody Johnson's infatuation with the star quarterback (see: Favre, Brett), Mark Sanchez is a capable quarterback and Rex Ryan would not want the spotlight off of him. Kevin Kolb was injured last season and has a lot of guaranteed money still coming to him, so it will not be easy for the Cardinals to cut or trade him. The Browns would be better off with a young quarterback through the draft or Matt Flynn in their rebuild, and the Vikings will be going with second-year player Christian Ponder. The Raiders should probably try to get something out of Carson Palmer to justify that huge mid-season trade.

Another group of teams could create openings at their starting quarterback position even more easily, but will not be seeing Peyton play for them. The Texans and 49ers both have decent quarterbacks, but Matt Schaub has only one year left on his contract and Alex Smith is a free agent who had his only good season in this past one. While they will seemingly be in the running, they are focused on their defensive prowess which is complimented by decent quarterback play, meaning Peyton will not fit as a star. The Chiefs will be holding a competition between Kyle Orton and Matt Cassel, and the Buccaneers will likely want to keep developing Josh Freeman with a head coach new to the NFL. The Broncos are an interesting case, with noted lightning rod Tim Tebow at the helm, but this is not an ideal location for Peyton in the elements of Denver. Another team that the media is pushing as a favorite for Peyton is the Redskins, especially due to Dan Snyder's deep pockets. However, if the Manning brothers do not want to play in the same conference to supposedly block one from the playoffs or Super Bowl, they were certainly not be playing in the NFC East together. The Redskins should spend their time trying to trade up for Robert Griffin III instead.

That leaves three teams that will be in the running for Manning's services. The Dolphins appear to be the favorite with an owner that has shown to be crazy and willing to throw around money, but he may not be able to woo Peyton as was the case with potential head coach Jeff Fisher. The two Chads, Henne and Pennington, are not inspiring much confidence in Miami, but Pennington would be a serviceable backup. CBS would be foaming at the mouth to air at least one Peyton Manning-Tom Brady matchup, with the other likely being taken by NBC or ESPN. The Dolphins played the Giants last season, so they will not be facing each other again for four more years, in case the Mannings do not want a showdown. The Seahawks have no viable options at quarterback, but they do play in the NFC, which would make Peyton a closer competitor to Eli. Pete Carroll would love to have a star quarterback to coach in the NFL since he saw many of them during his time at USC. The Seahawks are not guaranteed to face the Giants until 2014, but could play them in 2013 if they finish in the same standings position as the Giants in this upcoming season; they are not scheduled to play each other in 2012. The Jaguars are a big dark horse candidate with a new owner who wants to sell enough tickets to prevent local blackouts even without tarps covering much of the upper-level seating. Their rookie quarterback, Blaine Gabbert, did not show much last season, and there is familiarity being in the same division as the Colts for the last several seasons. It's hard to say whether Peyton would relish the chance to play against the Colts twice per season as Brett Favre did against the Packers, but it probably doesn't make a difference to Peyton either way as the parting with the Colts was pleasant. As another AFC team candidate, this will be one to watch. Their next game against the Giants will be in 2014.

After all is said and done, I expect Peyton Manning to in fact be taking his talents to South Beach for the 2012 NFL season.

First football Sunday

To lead off the day's action that is important to me, the Jets were in Houston to face the Texans. I was very pleased with the way the team played, and they convinced a skeptical fan. I did not expect Rex Ryan's tough defense to show up this early, especially with two key players suspended and against one of the top offenses in the NFL. However, the Texans went the whole first half without scoring.

After a three-and-out on their first drive, the Jets offense got down to business in their second drive. The team looked very inconsistent, except on third downs, when Mark Sanchez went 3–4 for 43 yards, setting a tone for a good day on third downs. The only incompletion led to a Jay Feely field goal.

Two offensive drives later for the Texans, it looked like they were rolling towards their first points. Just after entering the red zone, Steve Slaton fumbled at the end of an 18-yard rush when Mike DeVito put his helmet on the ball. On the ensuing drive for the Jets, Chansi Stuckey had one reception for 20 yards and a second reception for 30 yards when he was left wide open for a touchdown; both of these receptions were on, you guessed it, third down.

On the Jets first drive of the second half, Sanchez was 4–4 and both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington ran the ball, with Jones picking up the one-yard touchdown run. After a couple of punts, for some reason, the Texans thought it would be a good idea to go for it on 4th and 2 at their own 49 with just under four minutes left in the fourth quarter. An incomplete pass by Matt Schaub meant that the Jets got the ball, but they went three-and-out.

Sanchez's only big mistake of the game came in the early fourth quarter when he threw an interception to John Busing. Busing fumbled as he was getting tackled, but Dominique Barber picked up the ball and ran 48 yards for the touchdown. The Jets quickly recovered on their next possession: Keller had a 40-yard reception and Jones ran 38 yards for a touchdown. After lining up in victory formation at the end of the game, Sanchez first gave the ball to the referee, then realized he might want to keep it as a memento. 24–7

The Giants game at home against the Redskins seemed to be very similar, as Eli Manning was also throwing for conversions on third downs and the scoring started with a Lawrence Tynes field goal on the first drive. After a long rush by Clinton Portis to start the Redskins offense, Antwaan Randle El was sacked on a play where he should have thrown the ball away after receiving the toss from the quarterback. That stalled the Redskins on their first drive.

The Giants then drove down to the three-yard line and gave the ball to Brandon Jacobs on 3rd and 1 after failing to convert with Ahmad Bradshaw on the first drive. The first quarter ended with no gain, and the second quarter opened the same way, as Jacobs and the offensive line again failed on fourth down. The Redskins only gained three yards, which left the Giants in good field position after the punt. Manning made two completions on third down, the second going to Mario Manningham who avoided tacklers and racked up yards after the catch on a 30-yard touchdown reception.

The defense and special teams ruled the rest of the quarter. Corey Webster intercepted Jason Campbell, keeping his feet inbounds on the sideline. Andre Carter sacked Manning and forced a fumble. Osi Umenyiora made his presence felt in his first game back from injury sacking and forcing and recovering a fumble from Campbell and taking the ball into the endzone. The two-minute drill worked well for the Redskins, but it looked like they would only get a field goal before halftime. However, punter and holder Hunter Smith easily ran the ball in for a touchdown on a fake field goal attempt.

DeAngelo Hall intercepted Manning on the fourth series of the second half, running the ball back to the Giants' 11-yard line. It looked like the Reskins had that one play that would swing the momentum in their favor, but the defense held strong and Shaun Suisham kicked a field goal, and the Giants then answered with two straight drives that ended in Tynes field goals. The Redskins had a little over three minutes left to score 13 points and only used half of that time to score a touchdown on a pass to Chris Cooley, but they could not recover the onisde kick, which meant the Giants could use the victory formation. 23–17

Both teams were shaky against midde-of-the-pack teams, but that can be attributed to the first week of the season. They also showed the reasons why they can be considered good teams this year. The Jets have a tough schedule in the next few weeks while the Giants have it easier after the Cowboys in week two.

Personally, I am still alive with both of my suicide/survivor picks, Saints over Lions and Ravens over Chiefs. I did not do so well picking against the spread in week one, but I was not very confident in my picks. Thanks to Drew Brees for giving me over 60 points in a fantasy football league that awards half of a point for each pass completion and six points for a touchdown pass (Brees had six). No Adrian Peterson love for me, since I did not have a high pick in any league.