I don't think we have enough Q factor for the league to do us any favors. Brady is not enough. Perhaps a healthy Gronk at playoff time helps a bit but we're down a lot of sale-ability. No Wilfork...no Mayo...rookie WR's...dime store Welkers.
Nah...Brady's a few years from retirement so he won't get the same Balloon Ball Thrower dispensation like Peytie and his Welkerettes. It's ordained the HE have home field in the playoffs, Goodell's will be done.
Tonight we saw the league's backup plan to the SF Kaepernick meltdown...Cam Newton..."he's only 24 and a rising SUPERSTAR!!!":...yes, will the young, dynamic ,handsome, self deprecating, charismatic Cam fight through the playoffs to gain HIS first Super Bowl appearance...and incalculable revenue for the league in the process?
and against old war horse Peytie, the Ray Lewis of this year's NFL playoffs? Does anyone actually believe Manning plays another season if he wins the bowl this year??...c'mon..he's practically sitting next to Ray Ray right now.
Of course there's a dark horse matchup that EVERYONE thought was out of the question ...BUT...just LOOK...the Giants have suddenly become relevant...very very relevant...and the Jets?...despite being humiliated, tonight's Pats loss coupled with a Denver victory next weekend and a sudden Jets resurgent win over the Ravens, fitting the win one lose one meme the press is pushing down everyone's throats, and the possibility of the MOTHERLODE of all motherlode Super Bowls, a NY vs. NY matchup IN NY , has to be accounted for here. The Plan...and Plan B.
Teams like the Pats, the Saints, the Ravens, Pittsburgh, Cincy...they're all just fodder this season. You tell me...the Jets haven't beaten the Ravens in Baltimore in decades...they're deserved underdogs on their play alone but who rationally thinks they have a shot this weekend? and the G-men win again, the Jets pull out "the miracle!"..and what exactly are we looking at now?
Remember...Harbaugh Bowl was TRADEMARKED by the NFL before the start of last season. I think if the unthinkable happens and Manning gets injured, the league goes with plan B.... and you can all call me crazy again for thinking this league is scripted.