The Season's Overtime Coin Toss

Even Norv Turner is puzzled about
how he's still coaching the Chargers.

Stally: Ok, so we started this right after the regular season ended, but Austen wrote so much that it took me a while to go through his answer and come up with my own.  Some of the questions might sound dated, but they should still provide insight.

Let's take a look at some of the recent coaching and/or managerial changes as the carousel swings around in full circle.  For each, I'm interested in a A-F grade on the choice to either fire or retain the person and a brief explanation on the grade.

Excluding the midseason firings that we discussed at the time, here's what we've seen (as of Wed. after the regular season):

Conference Championship Week

Brady and Belichick know how to take
care of business in the playoffs. (AP)

Austen: Wow, what an atrocious week I had going 0-4 with my picks in the Divisional Round. The Saints' offense went turn over crazy, the Broncos showed why I thought they were going to be one of the worst teams in the league this season, T.J. Yates threw three interceptions (two of which were thanks to some horrible decision making), and the Giants surprised even me with what they are capable of doing.

This week, we have again some equally perplexing matchups. All of these quarterbacks left were first round picks except for Tom Brady, and two of which (Joe Flacco and Alex Smith) still have a lot left to prove to their team before they are considered the franchise quarterback. Two of the top quarterbacks in the league face off against two of the best defenses in the league and we will see if defenses can still win championships. Let's dive in.

Stally (Twelve-Point Pick) - @New England over Baltimore

Stally: The Patriots showed me something they hadn't all season in beating Denver last week.  They looked rested and refocused and dominated the Broncos on both sides of the ball.  You can say what you want about Tebow's struggles, but you can't ignore Brady's six touchdown passes against a defense that had been a strong point for the team.

Peyton Manning Done?

Austen's Goal Line Stand:

This might be the best we get out of Peyton
Manning for the foreseeable future.

It has been many weeks since I have done one of these, but there really just has not been too many issues I have felt strongly about so I have kept my mouth shut. However, it seems about the right time to start talking about 2012 and what that means for Peyton Manning.

I have been saying for a long time now that Manning's injury is more significant than the Colts have let on. In the NFL, when it comes to injuries, no news is bad news. If there had been any improvement or any sort of progress, we would have heard about it.

The media is constantly desperate for more stories in the NFL (heck even Pacman Jones pleading to a misdemeanor is still a storyline). If Peyton had been seen even throwing a football on his front lawn, that would have been big news. This means he still is not even close to being able to practice on a football field. Considering how much time he has already had to recuperate, this does not bode well for his future as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Divisonal Round

Drew Brees may be out of the comfort of the Superdome, but
he has been unstoppable all year and that should continue.

Neither OXen managed to go perfect last week.  Both foresaw the outcomes of the NFC games with New Orleans and the Giants running away from their opponents.  However, split opinions on the AFC led to a split decision.  Stally was right that Cincinnati ultimately couldn't stick with Houston, but Austen's Tebow pick paid off when the Broncos beat the Steelers on the first snap of overtime.

This week, there are again a couple differing opinions and a couple concurring ones: the Saints are again the go to team this week.

Austen (Eight-Point Pick) - New Orleans over @San Francisco

Austen: This was really the only game that I was confident in my pick. Drew Brees has been on an absolute tear down the stretch. I know the 49ers have most likely the best defense in the league but with all the rules changes in football, that old statement "defenses win championships" is dead and gone. Teams live and die by their offense these days. Take a look at the Packers. They have one of the worst defenses in the league and they only lost one game all year long! The Patriots are the top seed in the AFC and they too have a pitiful defense.

The Super Bowl winners of late have all been offense heavy teams. Yes, the Packers and Steelers had great defenses last season, but they also had top-five quarterbacks. I really think Alex Smith will take too many sacks in this game for the 49ers to pull out a win. At best the 49ers will keep it close in a defensive battle, but who are you going to bet on making the play at the end of the game to win it, Smith or Brees? Yea, I'm siding with Brees. 

Stally: I'm siding with Brees as well, but I was under the impression we'd pick the AFC teams first and then move on to two NFC games that I could see going either way.  If this game were in New Orleans, the Saints would be a clear favorite, but the outdoor game at Candlestick will definitely favor the Niners.  That said, do I think San Fran has enough to where it can translate that favorability into a win?  No, I do not.  I'm also taking the Saints, but not with nearly as much conviction as Austen.

Wild Card Round

The Saints crowd noise is tough for any
team to deal with, especially one that
has not made the playoffs since 1999.

Well it is finally here. It is playoff time. The reason every team in the NFL plays those pesky 16 regular season games. The Texans have their first ever playoff berth, the Lions make the playoffs for the first time in over a decade in which they have been consistently one of the worst teams in the league, and Tim Tebow sneaks the Broncos into the playoffs after losing three straight games.

The beauty of the playoffs is that anything can happen. The Packers, Giants, and Steelers have all won the Super Bowl as six-seeds, maybe the Bengals or Lions will do the same? Let's take it slow and take it one week at a time. Stally and I drafted our pick for this week, so here they are.

Stally: Just a note from me.  I had a busy Saturday with a trip to Boston for a big hockey game against Vancouver, so sorry I wasn't able to weigh in before the games.  I'm writing my comments on Sunday morning (and Austen's responses as well).

Stally (Eight-Point Pick) - @New Orleans over Detroit

Stally: The Saints haven't lost at home all season.  I heard a stat on Bill Simmons' B.S. Report that the last three times the Saints were favored by double-digits at home, they covered the spread all three times.  They were favored by double digits again in this one, so I took 'em.  I figured the Lions would put up a fight, but of all four games, this was the only one where I couldn't see one team (Detroit) beating the other.

Austen: I completely agree with Stally, and clearly we were both right. I knew the Lions would be impressive, but there is simply no stopping Brees in New Orleans. I cannot wait to see how he plays in San Fran against probably the best defense in the league. We will see if it is offense or defense that truly wins championships.

The 2011 OXen Awards: MVP + LVP

Eli Manning had a great year, but it was
the season of Aaron Rodgers. (Getty)

The 2011 regular season is over.  The Broncos, the Bengals and the Lions are headed to the playoffs.  The Chargers, the Jets and the Eagles are not.  The San Francisco 49ers went 13-3.  The Indinapolis Colts went 2-14.  Before we dive into the playoffs, the OXen would like to hand out their regular season awards for the Most Valuable and Least Valuable team assets.

It's important to note the difference between the Most Valuable Player and Most Outstanding Player.  College football awards the Heisman Trophy to the player deemed most outstanding.  However, the NFL awards the MVP and by definition, it should  be awarded to the player who had the most value to his teams success (or in the case of the OXen-created LVP, it should go to the one that is most detimental.

Most Valuable Offensive Player

Stally: I have a tough time with this one.  Many people think that it should obviously be Aaron Rodgers, they're the kind of people that ignore that Drew Brees set a record for most yards and for most completions in a season.  Brees also had more touchdown passes and fewer sacks.  It's also worth noting that Rodgers back up, Matt Flynn, passed for 480 yards and six touchdowns in Week 17, which seems to diminish that "most valuable" tag."

Week 17: New Year, Old Rivalries

Kyle Orton's return to Denver is
just one of many storylines. (Getty)

It's been a busy time for the OXen around New Year's, which included a ski trip to Stratton Mountain in Vermont this past week.  We haven't been getting any Goal Line Stands out, we haven't been updating the Final Score, and we're posting this midway through the first slate of games.

One other thing we're not doing much of: agreeing.  Stally got all five disagreements right in Week 16, but it's going to a new level this week with a total of eight (half of the games) dissenting opinions.  As Austen and Stally close out their regular season rivalry, it's rivalry week in the NFL as well, as every game is against a divisional opponent.

Austen (Eight-Point Pick) - @Atlanta over Tampa Bay

Austen: The Bucs are banged up and playing terribly. The Falcons are at home and should be able to win using a punishing run game to give Matt Ryan enough rest going into their playoff game.