The Denver Broncos appear to have struck draft gold with 2011 #2 Overall Pick – outside linebacker Von Miller.  On Saturday Miller was named the NFL Rookie of the Year on defense.  Panthers quarterback Cam Newton joined Miller on the pedestal, bringing home Offensive Rookie of the Year after being drafted with the #1 Pick .

“It’s special because you only get one rookie season,” Miller said. “You don’t get two tries at it. It’s really a one-and-done thing. That was probably the most special thing about it – you only get one shot to accomplish this feat.”

Meanwhile, Tim Tebow was awarded GMC Never Say Never honors for his breathtaking comeback performances through a 6-1 Broncos streak that elevated them to the top of the AFC West.  The Never Say Never is given for, “the best moment or play of the year that represents determination and perseverance.”

Tebow rose above other candidates with two gutsy drives for a touchdown and then a 59-yard field goal in the final three minutes of a crucial win over the Chicago Bears in Week 14.  The Tebow-led Broncos ground out 33 hard-fought yards over 9 plays in overtime, and Matt Prater was true from 51 yards to seal the victory.

At the time Tebow commented, “If you believe, then unbelievable things can sometimes be possible.”

After he accepted the award this weekend in Indianapolis, Tim was sure to give more credit to his team.  “No matter how bad it looked or how bleak it was, we continued to fight and show a lot of courage.  So I’m very thankful for my teammates and my coaches.”

Tebow could have singled out Von Miller as a particularly important cog in the Broncos’ comeback machine.  After a 1-4 start, Miller sparked a defensive resurgence in six Broncos wins by averaging a sack, a defensive stuff, and almost 7 tackles per game.  And it was when Miller was slowed by a massive cast on his surgically repaired hand that Denver returned to earth, finishing the regular season on a three game losing streak.

For sure, the Broncos will need both Tebow and Miller to hold form and even improve if Denver hopes to play beyond the divisional round of the playoffs next season.

For his part, Miller swore to improve drastically in 2012.  “I have no doubt that I’ll be a totally different player next year. It will be night and day.”  Von will have a chance to improve under new Broncos Defensive Coordinator Jack del Rio.

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Just a couple years removed from an ill-fated attempt to turn Denver into Patriots West, head coach John Fox is turning the Broncos into Panthers West.  John’s old pal Jack Del Rio will be the Denver Broncos’ next defensive coordinator.

Late Friday the Broncos came to terms with Del Rio, who served as defensive coordinator under John Fox in Carolina in 2002.  With Del Rio, the Panthers went from the #31 defense in the league to the 2^nd best in a single season before Jack was hired away by the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Del Rio was fired in November after 9 years as Jacksonville’s head coach.

The Broncos turned to Del Rio just days after the Oakland Raiders poached defensive coordinator Dennis Allen from Denver and installed him as their new head coach.  Under Allen and Fox the Broncos improved from the NFL’s worst defense to 20^th.  Denver’s overhauled D played extremely well during an 8 game stretch that saw Tim Tebow and the Broncos grab 7 wins.

There is no doubt that Jack Del Rio is an exceptional defensive mind.  Even as the Jaguars’ offense plummeted to worst in the league, Jacksonville still rolled out the 6^th best defense in 2011.  Del Rio looks like a perfect pickup by the Elway/Fox Administration fresh off a shocking playoff win and division title.

The Broncos will look to Del Rio to provide stability at defensive coordinator.  Jack is Denver’s 7^th new defensive coordinator in as many seasons.  He inherits a young Broncos defense that will need to add talent through the draft or free agency to shore up its porous secondary and lack of depth at interior lineman.

Jack Del Rio is 48 years old and played 11 seasons in the NFL as a linebacker.  He earned a Pro Bowl nod as a Miami Dolphin in 1994, but retired in 1996 after losing his roster spot to rookie Zach Thomas.  Del Rio was a linebackers coach with the Ravens and a conditioning coach in New Orleans before joining Fox in Carolina.

Tweeted Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins from Hawaii, “Love the hire, just hope we can keep him around.”

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Throughout the NFL world folks are wondering what the Denver Broncos will do next.  With a battle against the AFC-best New England Patriots on the horizon, that seems like a fair question.

Denver started the season with a new coach, a boring quarterback, and a defense that finished last in the league a year ago.  The Broncos had moved on from a 4-12 season by hiring the only coach whose team finished worse than Denver in the 2010 NFL standings.  They picked up a running back named McGahee that was supposed to be three years past washed up, and plugged in a rookie linebacker to spark a non-existent pass rush.

Four months later the Broncos are two wins from the Super Bowl, and their quarterback is the most popular sports figure in America.  Tim Tebow’s Broncos came off a 1-4 start to win 7 of their next 8 before stumbling through a 3-game winning streak and into the playoffs.

For Denver sports fans that was enough.  In Broncos Country the word “playoffs” was so sweet after years of mediocrity that Colorado engaged in a sort of statewide revelry.  When Denver beat Pittsburgh in a Mile High slugfest it was gravy, and the way Tebow-to-Thomas won in OT was nothing short of epic.

Now it’s the high-and-mighty Patriots standing between Tebow and an AFC Championship Game.  So what will the Broncos look like on Saturday evening in Foxborough?  Would you be surprised if Denver came out hot and blasted off to a quick lead?  Would it really be a shocker if they outplayed the Pats?

For the record, it doesn’t matter.  This passionate football fan base is rocking the town no matter what.  We’re living large here in Broncos Country and even Tom Brady can’t spoil the party.

That said – the Denver Broncos can beat New England.  The Patriots are a white collar football team dependent upon tricks and schemes.  The Jets and Ravens have shown the world how soft New England is by knocking them out of the playoffs the last two seasons.  Both New York and Baltimore went on the road to beat the Patriots, and a charged Broncos team can do the same on Saturday.

Denver came out of their win over Pittsburgh with an energy that started two months ago and took weeks to solidify.  The Broncos were already playing hard for John Fox, and then Tebow elevated the whole team to another level.  John and Timmy are the kind of guys football players go to war for.  You cannot scheme for momentum and willpower.  The robotic Bill Belicheck is a great coach, but he is no great leader.

In an era of football that has been defined by spread offenses and big blitzes, the Broncos play traditional football.  They hammer away at opponents as a team for four quarters, and that is the root of all their late game heroics.  Tim Tebow is a warrior, and so are his teammates.  From a bruising offensive line to a smash-mouth defense to a no-nonsense defensive head coach, Denver is playing with a different kind of consistency.  The Broncos play with a brand of determination that is rare and powerful.

So when sports pundits tell me that the Broncos don’t stand a chance against the powerhouse Patriots, I chuckle and wonder how well Tom Brady will play if Denver can get after him early.  I laugh out loud and ponder Tim Tebow, Demaryius Thomas and a healthy Willis McGahee exploiting the AFC’s worst defense.  I break into gut-busting guffaws thinking about how easy it is to take the Patriots’ fair-weather fans out of a game in New England.

Should Denver go down at Foxborough on Saturday, it will still be a nightcap on a fantastic season.  But don’t count these Broncos out.  Whatever it is, they’ve got it.  The Patriots are a mirage drawn up on a chalkboard.  Denver is in town to play some real wild football.

The question is not, “Do the Broncos stack up?”

The real question is this… “Is New England ready for war?”

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The new rules, enacted last season, read more like the fine print on your mortgage than a way to decide a football game. In the end, the problem the rules were amended to solve went entirely unsolved. The concise version of the changes is this -  both teams have a chance to possess the ball in overtime unless the team that receives the initial kickoff scores a touchdown or the defense scores on an interception, safety or fumble recovery.

The time-honored old way – sudden death – is no more. At least for playoff games. The change seems like the league wants it both ways. Since the coin flip played as much into deciding the winner as the plays on the field, they wanted to make overtime a more level playing field, so to speak, without going as far as the college game by adopting a matching-possession rule that can take a 17-17 game and turn it into a 41-38 barn-burner.

Sudden death was the warrior’s way to decide a playoff game. Play until someone scores. Period. Even if it takes an already brutal and exhausting game and doubles it in length. If you lose the coin flip, your defense had better hold. If you win the coin flip, it’s your one best chance to win the game while your defense sits comfortably on the bench.

But the NFL solution is half-baked. Each team gets a possession – unless the first possessor scores a touchdown. Then, as happened in Denver last Sunday night, the game could end on one snap. Even Demaryius Thomas, the receiver of the touchdown pass that will go down in Broncos history as one of the most exciting moments the Broncos have ever produced, was confused. He scored the touchdown and was already steeling his nerves to sit on the sideline and pray the worn-out defense could hold. But the game was over, and the mayhem around him soon clued him in to the fact that he was the hero.

So, NFL, what do you want? Matching possessions? Or sudden-death? Pick one. The Broncos were the beneficiaries this time, and I am not complaining about that. But for the good of the game, quit trying to confuse your fans, get down off the fence, and come up with a system that works. And while you’re at it, implement the system across the board – from preseason on. Even the prospect of a tie during the regular season makes fans shudder. Hockey eliminated the tie by introducing the shootout, which is one of the most exciting situations professional sports have to offer. NBA plays until there’s a winner. So does MLB. Either go back to pre-2010 rules with strict sudden death and regular season ties, or give us a matching-possession system all season.

And since we’re talking changes, about that replay system…

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Everybody has an opinion on Tim Tebow.  From ESPN talking heads to water cooler conversationalists to old friends swearing vendettas, everybody is talking Tebow.  Following the Broncos’ big Wild Card Round win over the defending AFC Champion Steelers on Sunday, the argument has reached a fever pitch.

With Denver moving on to a Divisional Round playoff game in New England this weekend, the Tebow haters will need to dig deep to find new complaints.  It will be exhausting, but the will to hate Tim Tebow is strong.  As a refresher, let’s take a therapeutic journey through Tebow anti-fandom…

You would think that Tebow’s first 300 yard throwing day – including an 80 yard game-winning toss on the first play of overtime – would silence Timmy’s many haters.  Tebow’s defenders expected to spend today basking in their supreme rightness for having stuck by the erratic quarterback with the winning touch through a couple of tough games.  Any other quarterback with a more traditional approach would be getting nothing but kudos right now for his otherworldly leadership and poise.

But, hark!  What’s that I hear?  He only completed ten passes?  Tim Tebow pitched a few into the dirt?  His completion percentage was sub-.500?  So what if the Steelers were without superb free safety Ryan Clark?  Did Pittsburgh forget to send an 11^th man onto the field to replace him?

The criticisms now border on ridiculous, and the hating can now best be termed ridicule.  Haters gotta hate, and that’s the name of the game for now.  Because Tebow draws so much public attention off the field, everybody feels obligated to manufacture an opinion of his on-field play.  And the easiest opinion to have is that this quarterback doesn’t do it “right”.  The knee-jerk reaction is that Tim Tebow does not look like the gunslinger QB’s we’ve been trained to worship.

What is so astounding is that this knee-jerk reaction has lasted for three months.

Make no mistake – this is not a complaint.  The Pittsburgh Steelers bought into the anti-hype and played arrogant defense.  Hall of Fame Defensive Coordinator Dick Lebeau must have listened to a little too much talk radio last week, because he bit hard on the notion that Tim Tebow could not beat single press coverage on his receivers.  Every pregame chorus of ex-players echoed each other; stack the box and take away the run and the Broncos are done before the halftime break.

Obviously Tebow did beat the coverage.  Against the league’s best passing defense Tim Tebow beat the coverage repeatedly, and the Steelers failed to make adjustments even heading into overtime.  Demaryius Thomas had the game of his life recording 200+ yards on just four catches.  The Broncos played home run football and mashed their way to victory.  So what’s left to say?

Apparently there is plenty of room left for criticism.  Because in this hyper-analytical era of sports, just winning isn’t enough.  And because “football insiders” simply refuse to acknowledge that Tim Tebow is not playing their game.

When Drew Brees is putting up 466 yards in a playoff pitch, it’s easy to foster a skewed perspective.  When the ideal for success is throwing the ball 43 times per game, then a ten-completion effort by Tim Tebow looks paltry by comparison.  But why is this suddenly the only way to play?  The only way to win?

Let’s dig a little deeper for some much-needed perspective…

The Detroit Lions only rushed the ball 10 times against the Saints on Saturday in New Orleans and they lost badly.  The contest was close until the fourth quarter, and the Lions actually led throughout the first half.  But without clock-sapping run plays to limit the scope of the game New Orleans was allowed to run 81 offensive plays to the Lions’ 53.  The imbalance led to a 15-minute difference in time of possession in the Saints’ favor.  That’s a whole extra quarter of offense for New Orleans!

Now where is the criticism of Detroit coaches and players for their over-commitment to throwing the ball?  Is it possible for the Broncos to run the ball “too much” and win?

In Denver on Sunday the Broncos ran the ball 34 times on 55 offensive plays.  The Steelers rushed 23 times on 68 offensive plays.  Yet the difference in time of possession was just 2:01.  The Broncos were more efficient as an offense, outgaining the Steelers 447 yards to 400.  The average Denver pass play went for 15 yards versus 6.1 for Big Ben and the Steelers.  Tebow threw for 72 more yards in half as many attempts.  The Broncos and Tim Tebow (125.6 passer rating) outplayed the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger (75.9 passer rating) hands down.

More importantly, though, the Denver Broncos’ coordinators and coaches put together a better game plan than their Pittsburgh counterparts.  That game plan only required Timmy to complete 10 magnificent throws for an upset victory.  Now, with Tebow doing exactly what was asked of him and winning a playoff game, what is left to hate?

Is it his insistence on communicating with the almighty on national TV?  What’s that got to do with his game, and why is it his problem that his faith makes others uncomfortable?

Is it the way he thanks God for the strength to play football at the highest level and come away with a win?  What is so offensive about a good man carrying the strength of his convictions onto a football field?  Would you rather root for Ben Roethlisberger and his disgusting history of forcing himself on women?  Would you rather root for an assassin like James Harrison who plays to take his opponents out of games?

In the end, the Tim Tebow Hater phenomenon is an exercise in self-loathing.  Tebow is too good, as a man and as a player.  Tim is a constant reminder of how good each of us could be.  He is the sum of his convictions and it makes lesser men froth with jealous rage.  His passionate, sincere belief reminds us where we have failed to follow our own convictions.  He is an example of true heroism in a culture that worships false heroes.  And that is the source of the hatred.  And Tim Tebow just weathers the storm.

So before all you Tebow Haters spend another precious week of life spitting on a righteous man, take a moment in the mirror to ponder just what about Tim Tebow makes you so uncomfortable.  Remember that while you are doing that, Tim Tebow is challenging the established mold for NFL passers on the field and he is challenging the mold for NFL players off the field.  Whether you wish to follow his faith or not is not important.  He is an example of a very successful man, and we should all strive to carry the full force of our own righteous beliefs (religious or otherwise) with us wherever we go.

Now I’ve got to get going.  I’ve been driving this Tebow bandwagon for a few months and its due for a tune up.  While we’ve got it in the shop, I think we’ll add a few thousand extra square feet of carrying capacity.  You know… just in case some haters come around.

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In Carolina we saw John Fox ground ‘n pound his way to a Superbowl appearance and consistent winning over nearly a decade.  His defense-first mindset made Carolina a force to be reckoned with each season, but his limited offensive vision usually had the Panthers fading as more explosive teams blasted off to playoff glory.

Now with the Broncos, we see John Fox as the same steadying influence.  Despite the madness that is Tebowmania, the Fox-Elway Broncos have maintained a steady demeanor.  Make no mistake – coaches that win Championships command their teams like a general commands an army: calm and collected.

But when Tim Tebow finally slotted in as Denver’s starting QB we saw the Broncos take on a different energy.  A defense that had played well enough found a rhythm that had them playing at a higher level.  A run game that had been anemic suddenly had two options most downs that left opposing linebackers flatfooted in sideline-to-sideline pursuit.  Denver traded its best receiver and found that Eric Decker was every bit as useful as Brandon Lloyd.  Was that Eddie Royal that just two-cut sprinted his way to a return TD?  By Game 3 of the New Tebow Era we saw a team that had improved in all three phases.

Wait a minute, though.  This is where it gets good.  With Orton at quarterback and coaching holdovers from the previous (unnamed) administration, the Broncos’ offense looked roughly the same.  Yardage by the bucket load and self-defeating in the Red Zone.  But with Tebow at the helm we have seen John Fox asserting his Panthers personality on the Denver attack.  In Tim’s limited skill set Fox has found his perfect quarterback.

Consider the Broncos’ win against the rival Raiders yesterday.  Denver went into the Black Hole and beat Oakland into submission with a relentless two-headed rushing attack that left Raider defenders gasping for air by the fourth quarter.  Oakland has always stacked its D-line with monstrous men, and Fox exploited that by running straight at them with a young, athletic O-line until the Raiders crumbled.  Oakland blitzed for three quarters trying to break Tebow, but in the end it was Timmy and Willis McGahee speeding past spent Raider linebackers to big gains on the ground.

This is John Fox football.  In Carolina he had the under-talented Jake Delhomme running a wicked simple offense that took advantage of its strengths to perfection.  It took three games, but Fox is now finding ways to win with Tebow under center.  A permanent wildcat offense – Tebow made no throws in the fourth quarter – has defenses chasing two backs.  And once Tim finds his groove and starts reading defenses downfield we may see an offense versatile enough to keep the best NFL defenses guessing.  The man can throw it straight down a seem, and by stretching the middle Denver becomes dangerous.

The new-look Broncos can best be summarized by a simple option play at the line of scrimmage that has Tim deciding whether to send McGahee up the middle or run off-tackle himself.  This is a play that Tebow rode to two NCAA Championships.  Yesterday he rode it to a victory over the Raiders in Oakland.  The first time Denver ran this play in the first quarter on Sunday we saw McGahee stuffed for no gain.  The second time two linebackers bit inside and Tebow ran outside for a 20+ yard keeper.  A simple deception, but an effective one.  Real man-up football: John Fox football.

Time will tell how far John can ride Tim’s limited but highly focused talent set.  For now it is worth noting that the Fox-Tebow combo is 2-1 this season.  So long as both coach and quarterback continue to improve in their respective roles, the sky is the limit for the Broncos’ grounded approach to offense.

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Tim Tebow’s first mistake as an NFL quarterback was gaining the attention of our frenzied American media.  By accepting a role as an outspoken representative of his faith, Tebow became a lightning rod for praise and criticism alike.  The media bit hard and locked in, and Tim Tebow became a cultural force of puzzling proportions.

Timmy himself is simple, though.  He wears his faith on one sleeve and his pride on the other.  He would likely not shy away from the moniker “Christian soldier”, but such a loaded term seems to hang too heavy.  He knows himself because he built himself in a vision of what it is to be a good Christian man.  He knows his place because he built his life according to plan.

Outside of the nuanced world of football fandom, Tebow draws predominantly black and white reactions to his persona.  You love him or you hate him.  You relish his unwavering faith and willingness to represent his beliefs in every phase of his life, or you cast him as a fool running errands for an obsolete church.  You see him as the conquering hero rallying teammates and teenagers to his cause, or you see him as a model for arrogance.

Following the Denver Broncos’ comeback win in Miami on Sunday, a friend remarked to me that Tebow had a chance to become a singular cultural powerhouse capable of swaying the opinion of millions.  This comment draws on complexities.  By finding himself in Colorado, Tim Tebow landed at the epicenter of a cultural conflict that may someday consume him.  Here in the Great Middle Ground of America, the world is viewed in shades of gray. And as simple and seemingly pure as Tim is, the debate that rages around him is not.

Denver is flanked to the south by Colorado Springs – home to the Air Force Academy, Focus on the Family and a host of other culturally conservative institutions.  To the north and west are Fort Collins and Boulder – both notoriously liberal cities dominated by college campuses, live music and edgy art.  Denver itself is a hybrid of the two – at once liberal by definition, but just as comfortable with Libertarian ideals of personal freedom from governments and nosy neighbors alike.

Colorado has long been a little-known battleground culturally and politically.  Often referred to as a “Purple State” due to its even allotment of Democrats and Republicans, Colorado takes on an even more interesting hue when considering the vast ranks of Unaffiliateds, Libertarians and Greens.  In fact, the state now sports more Unaffiliated voters than D’s or R’s.  That means people with dynamic views transcending platform beliefs.  Rural populations interfacing with urban ideals.  The unassuming expanses of grassy plains contrasted against the imposing depths of the Rocky Mountains.

Into this mess of contrasts steps Tim Tebow.  Should he become his own self-fulfilling prophecy as an NFL quarterback, Tebow will also become an unquestioned hero to fans of all stripes.  No matter how fervent his beliefs, if Timmy is winning football games then he’s already won the hearts and minds of Coloradans.  It’s that simple.

Denver is a football town despite supporting a wide variety of sports franchises.  Elway is God.  Tebow is the Good Lord’s left hand man.  And that too seems wicked simple.

It may be that Tim Tebow is right where he should be.  It might be the case that this is all part of a grand cosmic plan.  It is entirely possible that God saw fit to send Tim Tebow to Denver and start him on Sundays.  Right now anything seems possible for Timmy and his Broncos.

Time will tell whether or not Tebow can affect a fourth-quarter comeback every week.  Some time after that we will know how hard Tim plans to push his very strong Christian beliefs.  But despite the national media splitting violently over whose guesswork best describes the rest of Tim Tebow’s life on and off the football field, here in colorful Colorado things are pretty simple…

The man is a gamer.  The Broncos are suddenly very exciting.  And once every week we all get together to enjoy the simple beauty of Tebow Time.

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Von Miller and Rahim Moore were the highlights of a defense-heavy draft engineered by the new John Elway/John Fox regime in Dove Valley.  Listen in as Ian Cerveny and Dan Olson review the Denver Broncos’ 2011 NFL Draft picks.

Download Podcast

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When the Broncos announced that they had re-signed Champ Bailey to a four-year deal on Tuesday afternoon, it came as a little bit of a shock.

After all, Bailey had put his Denver-area house on the market a week prior.  Carmelo Anthony had just ditched the Mile High City for Manhattan.  The Avalanche had just dumped their top goalie, power forward and defensive prospect in two knee-jerk trades. The much-loved Mammoth were still in the midst of the worst slide in franchise history.

Nothing in the Colorado sports landscape seemed safe.

Then in swooped the woebegone Broncos with a four-year $43 million deal that will virtually assure Champ Bailey a Denver retirement, a spot on the Ring of Fame, and the enduring love of Broncos fans.  What contrast!

And perhaps that explains the Broncos’ willingness to extend their rebuilding franchise’s checkbook to sign a veteran corner on the downside of his career to a multi-year deal.  Compared to the Avalanche, the Broncos look like they have their proverbial shit together.  Compared to Carmelo Anthony, Champ Bailey (who could have easily found another NFL suitor) seems like a saint.

So when John Elway tweeted Tuesday, “We are thrilled to announce that the Broncos have agreed to terms on a new four-year contract with cornerback Champ Bailey” what he was really saying was, “We’ve got you Denver.”

A sports market bludgeoned by months of Melo-drama and weeks of downright bad hockey got the glimmer of hope they had been secretly praying for.  Champ was back, seemingly for good.

And when Elway tweeted yet later on Tuesday, “The commitment and loyalty that Champ has shown to the Broncos, the city of Denver and this region is exemplary” he was showing off his hand.  President Elway was the proud papa of the most exciting contract that the second-worst team in the NFL had ever signed before Draft Day.  The commitment to keeping defensive stalwart Champ Bailey to complement Tim Tebow on offense said to a beleaguered Broncos fan base, “We’ve got you Denver.”

Whether it be clever marketing or an honest attempt to rapidly right the ship, the Denver Broncos have reminded fans that they are a proud franchise dedicated to putting players on the field worth rooting for.  By filling one hole on an atrocious defense, the Broncos reminded a battle-weary Denver sports market that this is still a football town.

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Falcons 31, Panthers 10
The road to Super Bowl XLV in the NFC will go through Atlanta.  The NFC’s best team totally dominated the NFL’s worst team as Matt Ryan threw for 236 yards and 2 TD’s.  Eric Weems added a 55-yard punt return touchdown for the Falcons.

Ravens 13, Bengals 7
The Ravens held the ball for only 25 minutes and gained only 199 yards in total offense, but the Bengals turned the ball over five times and were shut out for over three quarters as the Ravens won to finish their season 12-4.

Steelers 41, Browns 9
The Ravens’ win was rendered meaningless, however, as the Steelers totally dominated the Browns.  Mike Wallace caught a 56-yard TD pass from Ben Roethlisberger on Pittsburgh’s first play from scrimmage, and the Steelers kept the pedal floored to win the AFC North and earn a first-round bye.

Patriots 38, Dolphins 7
With home-field locked up for New England, Tom Brady played less than three quarters against Miami.  That was all he needed, throwing for 199 yards and 2 TD’s.  The Patriots outgained the Dolphins in total offense 502 yards to 250 yards and finished with the NFL’s best record at 14-2.

Jets 38, Bills 7
The Jets rested most of their starters and still blew out the poor Bills.  Rookie RB Joe McKnight ran for 158 yards and 40-year-old QB Mark Brunell threw 2 TD passes for the Jets, including a 52-yarder to Braylon Edwards.

Lions 20, Vikings 13
The Brett Favre Era ended with him standing on the Vikings sidelines, while a bright new era dawned for the Detroit Lions.  Shaun Hill threw for 258 yards and a TD while the Lions’ defense, led by likely Defensive Rookie of the Year Ndamukong Suh, held the Vikings to just 211 yards and no offensive touchdowns as the Lions ended the 2010 season on a four-game winning streak.

Buccaneers 23, Saints 13
The Bucs’ defense held Drew Brees under 200 yards passing and forced three turnovers.  Josh Freeman went 21-26 for 255 yards and threw 2 TD’s to lead the Bucs to an upset win in the Superdome, keeping their slim playoff chances momentarily alive.

Raiders 31, Chiefs 10
Matt Cassel had his worst game of the year, completing only 33% of his passes and throwing 2 interceptions.  Michael Bush gained 137 rushing yards, including a 26-yard TD, to lead the Raiders to the win.  The Raiders became the first team since the AFL-NFL merger to go undefeated (6-0) in their division and miss the playoffs.

In the immortal words of Nelson Muntz……HAH-hah!

Giants 17, Redskins 14
Rex Grossman threw for 336 yards and 2 TD’s for the Redskins, but he & his team also committed four turnovers.  Eli Manning’s 92-yard TD strike to Mario Manningham in the 3rd quarter was the difference for the Giants, giving them the win needed to stay in the playoff hunt.

Packers 10, Bears 3
With their season on the line, the Packers were locked in a virtual stalemate with the Bears for three quarters.  Then, Aaron Rodgers hit Donald Lee for a touchdown early in the 4th.  Nick Collins intercepted a pass from Jay Cutler in the final seconds to secure the victory for the Packers, sending the Buccaneers and Giants to their respective golf courses.

Texans 34, Jaguars 17
Arian Foster secured the NFL rushing title with a 180-yard, 2 TD performance for the Texans.  Houston gained almost 500 total yards in a decisive victory that ended the Jaguars’ playoff dreams.

Colts 23, Titans 20
The collapsing Titans gave the Colts everything they had, but Peyton Manning’s crew triumphed once more.  Manning threw for 264 yards and 2 TD’s, finishing the year with a single-season record 450 pass completions.  Adam Vinatieri connected on a 43-yard field goal as time expired to win the game, and the AFC South title, for the Colts.  With the Chiefs’ loss, the Colts moved up to the #3 seed in the AFC.

Cowboys 14, Eagles 13
Despite resting their starters, the Eagles almost finished the year with a win.  The Cowboys were shut out offensively for most of the game, their lone score coming when DeMarcus Ware returned Kevin Kolb’s fumble for a touchdown in the 2nd quarter.  But the Cowboys picked off three passes from Kolb, and Jason Witten caught a 4-yard TD pass from Stephen McGee with 55 seconds left to end their disappointing season on a high note.

Chargers 33, Broncos 28
Philip Rivers threw for 313 yards and Ryan Mathews rushed for 120 yards and 3 TD’s to lead the Chargers.  Tim Tebow threw for 205 yards and 2 TD’s, and rushed for 94 more and another TD. But his late comeback attempt fell just short and the Broncos locked up the #2 pick in the 2011 NFL draft.

49ers 38, Cardinals 7
Alex Smith led the Niners with 276 passing yards and 2 TD’s in a dominating victory.

But… no one cares.

Seahawks 16, Rams 6
In just his second career start Seahawks QB Charlie Whitehurst went 22/36 for 192 yards and a touchdown, while Seattle’s defense held likely Offensive Rookie of the Year Sam Bradford and the Rams to only 184 total yards as the Seahawks won the NFC West title.  At 7-9, the Seahawks became the first team in NFL history to qualify for the playoffs with a losing record.

Congratulations, Seabags.  You’re the worst of the best!

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