Weekend winners
Peyton Manning. What a performance. Yes, the Denver defense was great, and yes, there were a couple of throws he's like to have back. But that first Broncos drive was critical and it was vintage Manning. Quick reads. On target throws. Then the gut-punch TD that was so wide open you know Manning called it at the line of scrimmage. Man, Sundays are better when that Peyton Manning is involved, you know?
Wade Phillips. Wow, take a bow Wade Phillips. That was a defensive plan for the ages. (And we could easily have put Von Miller here, too, because he was the best player not named Gronk on the field Sunday in Denver.) It completely confused and confounded the Patriots, who decided that their best match-up other than Rob Gronkowski was James White. Yes, James White. That's great coaching, Mr Phillips, making the other team look to option three, four or five - and making them do that quickly.
Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton celebrates after the NFL football NFC Championship game against the Arizona Cardinals, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Charlotte, N.C. The Panthers won 49-15 to advance to the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)Cam Newton. He was projected to be a bust by a lot of folks. (Man, the internet does not forget) Now, he's about to be the face of the league. Seriously. Are we to a point where Cam Newton is the best quarterback in the NFL? Maybe not but we are a lot closer than most realize. Dude was dominant against a top-three Arizona defense, and he did it with his arm, legs and leadership. He will assuredly be the MVP. As for the best, well, there are a lot of folks who say it's Aaron Rodgers, who floundered in big moments this year and the rationale was because he lost top-option Jordy Nelson before the season. Well, Cam and the Panthers lost their No. 1 wide out before the year too, and that has done very little to slow this bunch down. We'll ask this: If the NFL lost all the contracts of every player in the league and they reshuffled the deck and re-drafted the entire league, who are you going to take over Cam Newton right now?
Panthers front office. In the last five drafts, since the 'questionable' decision to take Cam Newton No. 1 overall in 2011 (a debate between Cam, Jake Locker and Blaine Gabbert in retrospect is downright laughable), the Panthers have crushed the draft.
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Weekend losers
Every Patriot this side of Paul Revere and Gronk. First, Gronk is a monster. Dude is a polar bear running around and doing unstoppable things while being double-covered and held. He's a monster - part Frankenstein, part Frankie Goes to Hollywood, part Frank Gifford. And he was the only Patriots star to stand up Sunday. Tom Brady was bad. His offensive line was a train wreck. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski - only the most reliable kicker of roughly the last decade - gags an extra point that completely changed the face of the game and proved to be the difference. Coach Hoodie was outmaneuvered by a guy the Texans fired. OC Josh McDaniels tried to turn a third-string running back in Roger Craig. It was a collapse by the entire collection of them. Well, other than Gronk, who was getting a massage in between monster plays. (And didn't we kind of expect that it would be like the Coors Light bikini team working on Gronk's hamstrings in between plays?)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015, in Seattle. The Cardinals beat the Seahawks 39-32. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson) Carson Palmer. Holy buckets. We said last week that Palmer had as much if not more to gain with two more wins as any of the quarterbacks left standing. A Super Bowl title with his surprisingly lofty stats could have put Palmer on the Hall of Fame short list. Then Sunday happened and unless he finds a monster postseason run in the next few years, Palmer's lasting image may be that six-turnover nightmare in Carolina last night.
Cavs organization. They fire David Blatt, who becomes the first coach in the history of the free world to be fired while his team has the best record in their conference without some sort of scandal. Then they drop a floater in Tyrann Lue's debut against Chicago, a performance so bad it drew boos from the home fans. We think the Cavs are going to the Finals, but man this is a bad look right now, and there are growing talks that they are going to move Kevin Love. Oy.
Southern Miss. Todd Monken leaves the USM program less than two weeks before signing day to take an NFL job with the Buccaneers. Monken did a great job of rebuilding the mess that was USM, but man that's a chop to the solar plexus.
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Super Bowl
We will have two weeks to analyze every facet of the Broncos-Panthers Super Bowl 50 matchup.
And there's a lot to digest. Denver has the best defense in the league; Carolina has the best scoring offense. Each team has one of the best difference-makers on defense in Denver's Von Miller and Carolina's Luke Kuechly.
There will be a ton of talk about the quarterbacks, of course.
First they are the quarterbacks, and they always get more attention.
They also are two of a handful of first-name only sport stars in a 24/7 news cycle that craves celebrity. LeBron, Tiger, Serena, Rory, Peyton are no brainers. They have been forced to welcome Cam to the club in this announce-your-presence-with-authority season.
Denver Broncos general manager and executive vice president of football operations John Elway, left, is flanked by head coach Gary Kubiak as he holds the AFC Championship trophy following the NFL football AFC Championship game between the Denver Broncos and the New England Patriots, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016, in Denver. The Broncos defeated the Patriots 20-18 to advance to the Super Bowl. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) They represent two strikingly different styles in almost every way - play, fashion, commercial persona, you name it.
They do have some similarities, though. They were somewhat controversial No. 1 overall picks - Manning over Ryan Leaf, Newton over a talented field of players. They have pulled more college fans to the NFL than any player in recent memory. (Seriously the number of Auburn fans that have become satellite Panthers fans is only surpassed by the number of UT fans who have Colts and Broncos No. 18 jerseys.)
They also were the prototypes of the changing NFL around them. Manning leading the quick-strike, option route revolution; Newton the physical beast big enough, fast enough and strong enough to be a running quarterback in the NFL.
They are genuine leaders, guys who have the best athletes in the world gravitate toward them and trust in them.
And they each have a ton to gain 13 days from today. Imagine the moment of each winning. Manning walking into the sunset with a second Super Bowl. Cam capping a monster year and moving into the circle of elite.
Let the pre-games begin.
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This and that
- One final thought about the classic AFC title game: Do you think this was what the NFL rules committee had in mind when changing the extra-point rules? That the point after touchdown would be the difference between potential history and in some circles - if Peyton and Denver go and win it all - could have a tangental part in the GOAT discussion? Oh you Roger Goodell.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell arrives for an NFL owners meeting in Irving, Texas, Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade) - We were genuinely excited for the the Warriors-Spurs tonight. Two West powers with a combined 78-10 record. Of course, exactly no one was surprised by the announcement that Tim Duncan will miss tonight. Oh you Gregg Popovich.
- More tennis turmoil. Apparently betting shops closed wagering on an obscure mixed doubles match because of worries about match fixing. First, the phrase 'obscure mixed doubles match' is the height of redundancy since there's never been a prominent mixed doubles match. Second, when the allegations become stories about bookies refusing bets, that's more than smoke. That's fire.
- Amid all the great story lines of a great championship Sunday in the NFL, this story should have received more play. Reggie Wayne let America behind the Manning curtain and told us what "Omaha" means in Peyton's pre snap audibles. It means the play is going the other way than originally called.
- Congrats Rickie Fowler. Nice win, nice check. And he's right, if he wants to make golf a Big Four storyline, dude has to win a major this year. He already has the best player on the planet without a major tag, and that label becomes heavier to tote each empty year.
- This is bad golf
- Did you see this story? Apparently the ESPN 30-for-30 coming this summer on O.J. is staggering and explosive.
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Today's question
We have our normal Monday options: Weekend winners and losers.
We did not know where to put football fans this weekend. Yes, the AFC game was amazing and awesome, but it was being analyzed by Phil Simms, who is quickly soaring up the charts of the worst commentators in all of broadcasting. And this week also meant that we have one meaningful game left until September. No es bueno.
As for the Rushmore, let's expand on the Manning, Newton theory about college sports fans' connectivity. What other athletes were so popular at their college that they carried almost all of the fan base with them to the pros?