Posts about Peyton Manning

Is a Brady vs Manning AFC title game inevitable?

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This isn’t a guarantee by any means but i’m sure you can guess which teams i’m leaning towards to advance to the AFC championship. It’s surely what the NFL and it’s money-hungry hands want. I’m not speaking for all NFL fans but i’m positive that most non-Ravens/Texans fans would prefer to see Brady face Manning next weekend. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves because as we know, crazy things happen in the NFL. Particularly this week where teams with the bye week can get caught off guard by being a little too confident. Then again there’s a reason that Vegas has the higher seed favored by more than one score (+9.5) but let’s take a closer look at how the Ravens or Texans can spoil some parties.

Biggest factors: Baltimore faced Denver not too long ago (week 15) and it was a lopsided affair in favor of Manning and co. Baltimore is a different looking team this time around with previously injured players not named Ray Lewis being much healthier and ready for action this time around. Can that be enough to slow down Manning? The Ravens need a couple of big plays on defense to help their offense keep up with Denver’s firepower. The Ravens must score quickly because being down by a TD against the Broncos in Denver is a death sentence. I know Ray Rice had 2 fumbles last week but look for screens and things of that sort to neutralize Von Miller’s pressure on Joe Flacco.

A big reason the Texans are playing this game in New England is because one month ago today, the Texans played against the Patriots on to road and it wasn’t pretty for Houston. Tom Brady and co laid the smack down. So what can Houston do to slow down the best offense in the league? Remember, this time Gronkowski is playing. For starters the Texans can’t get into such a big hole. The Patriots are susceptible to teams that can pressure Brady and control the clock. The Texans can do that but only if they score early. Playing catch up is not an option. The Texans biggest stars (Foster and Watt) both need big games and need to influence the game or else it’s going to be a long night for Houston.

Prediction: Like I said earlier, there’s a reason the Broncos and Patriots are favored so heavily at this stage of the season. They’re just better teams. It doesn’t take stats or extensive film study to figure that out, just watch the teams from week to week. That doesn’t mean that I don’t give the under dogs a chance this weekend. There’s always a chance for an upset and if I had to chose one, i’d take the Ravens. They’re not intimidated by any means and the Baltimore offense can catch fire at any moment. Also, Denver did have an extremely easy regular season schedule. I wouldn’t put my money on it though. Denver wins closer than expect and the Patriots roll. Get ready for an enitre week of Brady-Manning hype.

NFC tomorrow.

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Who is the NFL’s MVP through week 14?

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How does one determine the exact criteria needed to be an MVP? Some people take the definition literally, who is the most valuable player on a team relative to their success? Others believe that an MVP is simply the best player on the best team. It’s a little more complicated in the NFL because not only are there many more players, it’s a rare sport where the most valuable player can only affect one aspect of the game. Basketball only has five players on the court playing offense and defense while in baseball some pitchers get a chance to bat. In the NFL, I feel like it’s a combination of being on a successful team but more so the fact that the awarded player is above and beyond his peers in that respective position. 

There are a pack of QBs shuffling in and out of the MVP conversation, all with great reasoning as to why they should be considered for the award. That group includes Aaron Rodgers, RG3, Andrew Luck and Matt Ryan. All four have certain games or moments that have them among the MVP candidates but their consistency has them wavering a bit. On a side note, I think it’s pretty ridiculous that there are TWO rookies in the conversation in the same season. So take one of those four in the 5th spot (personally, i’d take Rodgers) and ranking 4th in the MVP race is J. J. Watt, defensive end for the Houston Texans. I think he is far and above the best defensive player this season (linebackers Von Miller and Aldon Smith are his only competition) and while he took a slight blow on Monday night, he’s still more valuable to his defense than any other player.

Speaking of above and beyond, there’s a running back in Minnesota named Adrian Peterson that has been tearing through defensive players like they’re JV squad. Can someone say first RB taken in your fantasy draft next season? The only hit to Peterson’s MVP campaign is that the Vikings aren’t a playoff team right now but he’s still 3rd place in my book. That could change and if Purple Jesus carries his team into the playoffs, I think he should jump into the lead of the race. Everyone knows that the NFL is a passing league and it’s a quarterback league so naturally the two front runners for the MVP are the league’s two best quarterbacks right now. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are basically 1A and 1B for this season’s award for most valuable player. Both players have excellent cases so it’s going to come down to personal preference. Right now, for myself, it’s Brady at 1A and Manning at 1B but there’s still three weeks left so anything can happen.

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Broncos take care of Raiders; preparing for week 14

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Most people were preparing last night’s game to be a blowout and that is pretty much what happened. From the first quarter, it was all Denver and even when it looked like the Raiders were going to make some sort of comeback it was stalled. The past few weeks Peyton Manning carried the offense but this week RB Knowshon Moreno contributed a solid running performance as the Broncos cruised to a 26-13 victory over the Raiders. It wasn’t a memorable performance by Manning but it did have a significance as he completed his 5,000th pass in his NFL career. Quite the milestone, second all-time but it’s going to be tough to catch Favre’s record of 6,300 completions. As for the Raiders, well they kept the game close for a few minutes after a touchdown catch by RB McFadden but every time they had some sort of momentum there was a costly penalty of turnover.

Best/worst games of this weekend: I’m going to leave out the obvious choice of the mammoth Monday night game. I’m looking at the Bears-Vikings game closely as Chicago is in a bit of a rut and Minnesota is a team desperately trying to save their playoff hopes alive. It’s a similar scenario in the Ravens-Redskins game plus, I would like to see how RG3 does against that defense. I’d also keep a close eye on Saints-Giants and Lions-Packers, both with shootout potential. Game to avoid all costs: initially it was clearly Chiefs at Browns but I feel that those two teams will give it some heart. So we’re going with the Jets visiting the Jaguars as the game to avoid at all costs.

Quick NBA tangent: Alright Moe, your Knicks are a top 5 team in the NBA right now. The way the 3s are falling for New York, they’re practically unbeatable and they looked the part last night as they routed the Heat in Miami. Consequently, Bryan’s Lakers are still in a tailspin out west but only time will tell if they can get it together because the Thunder and Grizzlies look like the absolute class of the western conference.

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