It was easily the most depressing week of the season for me and those around the country that pretty much would take any team but the New England Patriots winning another Super Bowl. It’s the kind of weekend that, back when I was just a fan, would have pretty much ruined my interest in the season altogether until the playoffs.
Regardless of our combined melancholy, here are a few things we learned from this weekend’s NFL action.
Peyton Manning should retire at the end of this season
I felt like the man should have retired at the end of last year when he limped, literally, into the postseason with the Denver Broncos and limped right back out again. With his current injury bothering him for the last month, apparently, Manning will miss the first start since he joined the Broncos back in 2012. He’ll play again this year. He should not play beyond it.
Regardless of his mental ability to play the game, Manning has been lacking in physical ability since the latter portion of last season. And while he has, in moments, flashed some of his old arm-strength and accuracy, his consistency is just gone and there’s no real argument to the contrary to make. His time has come and I’m not immune to the hope that he takes one last good run through the playoffs, and the Super Bowl, before he calls it quits.
Fourth-year quarterback Brock Osweiler will make his first start this week against Bears and my guess will probably start the Broncos’ next game too. Denver needs to see what it has in the young QB and Manning needs to help him, because the end is no longer near for the future first-ballot Hall of Famer. It’s here. Time to embrace it.
Sean Payton will not be the head coach of the New Orleans Saints in 2016
Rob Ryan’s firing on Monday was a telling moment for head coach Sean Payton’s future with the Saints. This wouldn’t come as a shock for most teams, as coordinator changes mid-season are usually a sign that the head coach is in trouble, but the Saints’ firing of Ryan sent a big message. It’s obvious that Payton was not included in the discussion of Ryan’s firing, or even consulted as all as his comments early yesterday made clear. Payton learned of the firing from the media, not from team ownership, who obviously went right over his head to hand Ryan his walking papers.
Now, there’s no reason to argue that Ryan should have been fired. The Saints have the worst defense in the league. But to circumvent the team’s head coach with the decision and release it to news organizations without giving him a heads-up should tell you everything you need to know about Payton’s future with the Saints.
The Saints have already let it be known that they’ll let Payton out of his current contract at the end of the season if he wants it. After being embarrassed this way publicly Monday, why wouldn’t he want it?
The Seattle Seahawks won’t make the playoffs
The mystique is gone across the board for the Seahawks. No one is afraid to play them and certainly no one is scared of playing in Seattle anymore, as the 12th man has suddenly found itself neutered. Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals solidified that for good. Arizona is going to cruise to the NFC West title and no other NFC West team will finish better than 9-7.
It’s not the pathetic Seahawks offensive line that’s cost them these games, but their once vaunted defense. Seattle has lost five games and held second-half leads in all five of them. When it’s time to shut an opposing team down, even a struggling one, the Seahawks’ defense has choked up worse than a female porn star seeing Charlie Sheen’s Today Show interview.
You can’t blame it on Kam Chancellor’s hold out now. You can’t claim Richard Sherman has lost a step, because he hasn’t. It’s that teams now know how to attack the Seahawks’ defense. And it’s shown up at the end of every game, even their wins this season.
