THE FINAL ENTRY FOR THE 2011 NFL SEASON

Another NFL season is in the books. First, I’d like to offer my congratulations to one Monica Roberts on a great playoff run with a 7-4 record and correctly picking the Super Bowl winner. Me, on the other hand… 5-6 and lost the Super Bowl. So if you took my advice, don’t blame me, you shouldn’t be gambling in the first place.

Oh well.

The new season starts on 6 September 2012 at MetLife Stadium where the Giants will start their title defense against a yet-to-be-announced opponent. Even though every individual teams opponents for the upcoming season are released, the full 2012 NFL Season schedule will not come out until sometime in the spring. Stay tuned to the Watts News Network for when that happens.

It is too early to say who will be playing in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII in February 2013 with the game airing on CBS, but it would not shock me if it was a repeat of Giants-Patriots.

Other teams that could be partying with the Lombardi on Rue Bourbon: Green Bay, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Detroit, and even the Houston Texans. Even the hometown team, the Saints, could become the first team to play in their home stadium. It could be even more of a home game because the NFC would be the home team in Super Bowl XLVII.

Imagine if the Saints win next season’s Super Bowl? The city of New Orleans would be partying for a long time.

It’s sad when the season ends, but for those hardcore followers of the NFL, there is the Scouting Combine, followed by the NFL Draft, then OTAs, free agency, training camps, pre-season, and before you know it we’ll be counting down the hours to opening kickoff.

Even thought the New York Football Giants are the champions, everyone is 0-0 right now.

In closing, I’d like to point out a couple of things. First, the story that will dominate the off-season is where will Colts quarterback Peyton Manning end up playing next season?

Peyton Manning, who did not play a single down in this recent season due to recovering from neck surgery, was recently medically cleared to play. In March, he is due a $28 million roster bonus. The Colts also hold the first overall pick in the 2012 Draft, and they are expected to select Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with that pick. It was believed that the Colts would restructure Manning’s deal so that they can keep some players around and draft Luck so that they can groom him to be Manning’s successor. However, it doesn’t seem to be the case as coach Jim Caldwell and general manager Bill Polian were released after the season. So, it appears that the Colts might be heading towards a rebuilding phase.

Manning does not want to be part of any rebuilding plans, and feels that he can still play in the NFL. He may be physically cleared to play, but which team might take a chance on someone who might have two… or even three years left to play.

Potential places where Manning might end up in 2012 are Arizona, Washington, Miami, Minnesota, and even the Jets. All those teams need a quarterback. I doubt the Jets because it would put him in the same media market as his brother Eli Manning who is the quarterback for the Giants. Plus the Jets would have to part ways with quarterback Mark Sanchez who has led the Jets to 2 AFC Championship games in his first three seasons. And, he would be in the same division with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, adding fuel to the already volatile New York-Boston rivalry.

Same issue with the Dolphins of being in the same division as the Patriots, but maybe a more favorable environment. Though, the Dolphins hired Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin in the off-season and if they are going to get a quarterback via free agency, it might be for Packers backup quarterback Matt Flynn.

Washington… in addition to being in the same division as the Giants, that team is a disaster. We saw what happened when Donovan McNabb left Philadelphia and played behind that atrocious Redskins offensive line.

Arizona and Minnesota would seem to be good places. They play all of their home games in a dome. Minnesota is going to have a healthy Adrian Petersen at running back next season. Arizona was crippled by poor quarterback play last season. They have one of the best pass catchers in the league in receiver Larry Fitzgerald. It all depends if they have the salary cap space to afford him. If Manning ends up with a new team, I expect his deal to have little impact on that team’s cap and a very heavily incentive based contract.

The other point I’d like to make is about Eli Manning.

Before the season started, Eli Manning in a radio interview said that he was an elite quarterback.

When you make throws like this…

Yes, you are an elite quarterback.

Also, if you win two Super Bowls, then yes you are an elite quarterback.

Cowboys fans… get ready to see how the Houston Texans felt when Peyton Manning was the Colts quarterback. Eli has two Super Bowl wins and will be making a run at his third win starting .

I would strongly support the argument that Eli Manning is a better quarterback than his brother Peyton Manning.

Peyton has a career playoff record of 9-10 with a Super Bowl record of 1-1. Eli is 8-3 in the playoffs with a record of 2-0 in the Super Bowl. In addition, against the Patriots in the playoffs, the Colts in the Peyton Manning era are 1-2. The Giants in the Eli Manning era versus the Patriots are 2-0, including being the team that put an end to the Patriots perfect season back in February 2008.

While Peyton Manning has multiple league MVP awards, Eli Manning already has two Super Bowl wins and named Super Bowl MVP twice. Peyton is going to be within striking distance of every single major passing record when he goes into the Hall of Fame, while Eli is entering the prime of his career.

Another thing to point out is that Peyton Manning’s Colts were built to win in the regular season while the Giants during the Eli Manning era have been built to win in the playoffs. Compare the talent level the Colts had from 1998-2010 and the talent level the Giants had from 2004 until now. With barely any roster turnover the Colts have amassed several playoff appearances but only one Super Bowl win. The Giants, the only constants between their win in Super Bowl XLII and Super Bowl XLVI, has been Eli Manning. The receiving corps has changed and the role players on the defensive line are different, but the results are the same: Giants beat the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

I doubt that Eli Manning is done winning Super Bowls any time soon.

Expect him to be in more commercials like this one: